Author | Lightnews

Trump Fires Joint Chiefs Chairman Amid Flurry of Dismissals at Pentagon

Ralph Humphrey σ @ralphhumphrey.bsky.social · Feb 22

Friday night after many Americans started their weekend, President #DonaldTrump fired the U.S.'s top military officer, Gen. Charles Q. Brown, Jr. Announcing it, on his for-profit social media platform, he thanked Brown for his 40 years of service.
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/21/u...

The decision to fire Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., a four-star fighter pilot, upends a tradition in which the Joint Chiefs chairman traditionally remains in place as administrations change.

Bybit Hit by Crypto’s Worst Hack With Almost $1.5 Billion Stolen

Ralph Humphrey σ @ralphhumphrey.bsky.social · Feb 22

Researchers believe that the Lazarus Group, a hacker group alleged to be run by the #NorthKorean government, is behind the hack of #Bybit, the world's second largest #crypto exchange. #ETH #BTC www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Crypto exchange Bybit said it was hacked, resulting in what analysts estimate was the loss of almost $1.5 billion worth of tokens in the biggest theft ever committed in the industry. Researchers belie...

Associated Press Sues White House Officials to Restore Access

Ralph Humphrey σ @ralphhumphrey.bsky.social · Feb 22

Three #WhiteHouse officials have been sued by the Associated Press after their reporters were banned from covering White House events. A federal court will decide if the ban is constitutional. #DonaldTrump #Constitution www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

The Associated Press sued three White House officials after its reporters were banned from covering events at the White House and traveling aboard Air Force One over President Donald Trump’s objection...

Bybit crypto exchange hit with record $1.4 billion Ethereum hack

Ralph Humphrey σ @ralphhumphrey.bsky.social · Feb 22

The world's second-largest crypto exchange, #Bybit, was drained of about $1.4 billion worth of Ethereum and staked Ether by a hack. #BTC #ETH #crypto
www.thestreet.com/crypto/marke...

Ethereum fell 5% after the world's second-largest crypto exchange suffered a $1.4-billion exploit

www.thestreet.com

Ralph Humphrey σ @ralphhumphrey.bsky.social · Feb 20

Governor Kathy Hochul is said not to be seeking NYC Mayor #EricAdams' removal but to increase the state's oversight. Under NY state's constitution, the governor is can remove NY City's mayor, but this power hasn't been used in the state's 235-year history.
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/20/n...

Hochul to Seek New Oversight, but Won’t Remove Adams for Now

Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York is said to be planning to announce that she will not remove Mayor Eric Adams at this time, but she will seek to increase the state’s supervision of New York City’s affair...

Binance.US restores fiat deposits and withdrawals for the first time since 2023

Ralph Humphrey σ @ralphhumphrey.bsky.social · Feb 19

For the first time in almost two years, Binance.US is allowing customers to deposit and withdraw U.S. dollars. This ability was suspended after the SEC sued #Binance, Binance.US, and the firm's co-founder CZ. #crypto #BTC #Eth
www.theblock.co/post/341730/...

Fiat functionality was paused in June 2023 after the SEC sued Binance.US, alleging violations of securities laws.

www.theblock.co

Ralph Humphrey σ @ralphhumphrey.bsky.social · Feb 18

Chris Waller, a voting member of the U.S. #FederalReserve’s Federal Open Market Committee believes rate cuts should be paused until #inflation rates come down. This view is bearish for risk assets, but the question is whether this is priced in. #Fed #FOMC
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Fed’s Waller Favors Pausing Rate Cuts Until Inflation Bump Fades

Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said recent economic data support keeping interest rates on hold, but if inflation behaves as it did in 2024, policymakers can get back to cutting “at some ...

UK-based trader wins fight against extradition to US on insider dealing charges

Ralph Humphrey σ @ralphhumphrey.bsky.social · Feb 14

A British Court rejected the extraterritorial reach of United States securities law by barring the extradition of a man to the U.S. wanted on allegations of insider trading, overturning 20-year-old precedent. #InsiderTrading
www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-...

A British-Lebanese securities trader wanted in the United States for alleged insider dealing on Wednesday won his fight against extradition at the United Kingdom's Supreme Court.

www.reuters.com

Ralph Humphrey σ @ralphhumphrey.bsky.social · Feb 13

U.S. Defense Secretary, #PeteHegseth, backs appeasement to end the war in #Ukraine. On the social media platform, Truth Social, that he is majority owner of #PresidentTrump said: "this war must and will end soon.” www.nytimes.com/2025/02/12/w...

Hegseth Says Return to Ukraine’s Prewar Borders Is ‘Unrealistic’

In his first trip abroad, the new U.S. defense secretary told allies, including NATO officials, that a durable peace could only come “with a realistic assessment of the battlefield.”

Exclusive | Elon Musk-Led Group Makes $97.4 Billion Bid for Control of OpenAI

Ralph Humphrey σ @ralphhumphrey.bsky.social · Feb 10

A group led by #ElonMusk made a $97.4 billion bid to buy the nonprofit that controls #OpenAI. #ArtificialIntelligence
www.wsj.com/tech/elon-mu...

The unsolicited offer complicates Sam Altman’s plans to convert OpenAI to a for-profit company.

www.wsj.com

Ralph Humphrey σ @ralphhumphrey.bsky.social · Feb 7

#Crypto exchanges Gemini, Kraken, and Bullish as well as peer-to-peer payments firm #Circle appear to be planning initial public offerings as the atmosphere at U.S. regulatory agencies shifts after the election of president #DonaldTrump. #IPO $BTC #ETH www.coindesk.com/business/202...

Billionaire Winklevoss Twins-Backed Crypto Exchange Gemini Looking to Go Public: Bloomberg

The exchange looking at IPO listing as soon as this year, the report said.

www.coindesk.com

EU prepares to hit Big Tech in retaliation for Donald Trump's tariffs

Ralph Humphrey σ @ralphhumphrey.bsky.social · Feb 7

The #EuropeanUnion has put together a retaliatory mechanism to hit U.S. companies with including big tech firms to ward off President #DonaldTrump's imposition of #tarrifs. $GOOG $APPL $META $MSFT
financialpost.com/financial-ti...

The EU is planning to hit Silicon Valley with retaliatory measures if Donald Trump follows through on tariff threats. Read more.

financialpost.com

Grammys 2025 live updates: Winning moments and red carpet highlights from music’s biggest night

Ralph Humphrey σ @ralphhumphrey.bsky.social · Feb 3

The 67th #Grammy Awards kicked off tonight. #Beyoncé, #SabrinaCarpenter, #KendrickLamar, #CharliXCX and others won awards announced before the televised broadcast. www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...

Follow our live updates on the 2025 Grammys red carpet, winning moments and highlights from the awards ceremony.

www.washingtonpost.com

Thousands of U.S. Government Web Pages Have Been Taken Down Since Friday

Ralph Humphrey σ @ralphhumphrey.bsky.social · Feb 2

Over 8,000 federal government webpages have been removed since Friday, pursuant to an order going after #diversity initiatives. However, among the pages removed were ones on scientific research, hate crimes and veteran's care. #DonaldTrump
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/02/u...

Federal agencies moved to satisfy Trump’s orders to remove topics like diversity initiatives and “gender ideology.”

Andreessen Horowitz Backs Neuralink Rival in New Round

Ralph Humphrey σ @ralphhumphrey.bsky.social · Jan 31

A rival to the #ElonMusk-backed brain implant company #Neuralink has received funding from a prominent venture capital firm. Andreessen Horowitz is funding Echo Neurotechnologies Corp. headed by neurosurgeon Edward Chang. Echo has raised $50 million. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Prominent neurosurgeon Edward Chang has raised about $50 million for a brain implant startup.

Ralph Humphrey σ @ralphhumphrey.bsky.social · Jan 30

The Grayscale Bitcoin Miners ETF ($MNRS), the latest ETF offering from #Grayscale, tracks an index whose biggest constituents include the Bitcoin miners listed on the chart below:
#BTC $MNRS #Bitcoin #ETFs $MARA $RIOT $CORZ $CLSK $IREN $BTC #crypto

Microsoft Probing If DeepSeek-Linked Group Improperly Obtained OpenAI Data

Ralph Humphrey σ @ralphhumphrey.bsky.social · Jan 29

#Microsoft and #OpenAI are investigating whether Chinese artificial intelligence firm, #DeepSeek used OpenAI's technology without authorization. #ArtificialInteligence www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Microsoft Corp. and OpenAI are investigating whether data output from OpenAI’s technology was obtained in an unauthorized manner by a group linked to Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek, ...

‘Back to 1897’: Latin America scrambles to respond to Donald Trump’s aggression

Ralph Humphrey σ @ralphhumphrey.bsky.social · Jan 29

At an emergency meeting Thursday, the heads of Latin American countries will discuss how to respond to the #DonaldTrump's #deportation tactics. They will meet under the auspices of #CELAC, an organization one analyst described as a platform for #China. www.ft.com/content/feaa...

Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro finds little support for confrontational stance against US

www.ft.com

Trump Says Colombia Will Accept Deportees, Ending Tariff Standoff

Ralph Humphrey σ @ralphhumphrey.bsky.social · Jan 27

#Colombia agreed to allow planes carrying Colombian migrants to land in the country, allowing its citizens to be repatriated. The #Trump administration threated to levy 25% tariffs on Colombia for barring the flights. #BreakingNews #immigration www.wsj.com/world/americ...

The president has made immigration an early priority to start second term, with ICE making over 900 arrests Sunday.

www.wsj.com