Free Republic

Despite having called Bitcoin BTC +0.59% an "immature asset class" that is inappropriate for long-term investors, Vanguard Group has become the largest shareholder in Strategy, according to a report from Bloomberg. Through its funds, the $10-trillion money manager owns 20 million Strategy shares or 8% of the outstanding common stock, according to a Bloomberg chart. Vanguard most likely passed Capital Group Cos. to become the top shareholder of Strategy shares during the fourth quarter, the report said. Strategy (ticker MSTR), formerly known as MicroStrategy, has become a proxy bet for Bitcoin as the company's chief business proposition has been acquiring...

The X account of Elmo, a Sesame Street hero, posted antisemitic content on Sunday night, calling to "kill the Jews." The content was quickly deleted. In its tweets, Elmo posted, "Kill all Jews." "Elmo says ALL JEWS SHOULD DIE. F-K JEWS. DONALD TRUMP IS NETANYAHU’S PUPPET BECAUSE HE IS IN THE EPSTEIN FILES. JEWS CONTROL THE WORLD AND NEED TO BE EXTERMINATED. “RELEASE THE FILES @realDonaldTrump CHILD F-KER.” Reports said that ten minutes prior to the antisemitic incitement, the hacker posted a photo of Elmo on the moon, wishing readers, "Happy crypto all-time high day, everybody! From Elmo and @onchainstudios....

Bitcoin topped $112,000 on Wednesday afternoon, notching a new record.The flagship crypto’s rise came on a day when investors returned to risk-on mode, driving the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite to a record close.Bitcoin has been trading in a tight range in recent weeks.Bitcoin hit a fresh record on Wednesday afternoon as an Nvidia-led rally in equities helped push the price of the cryptocurrency higher into the stock market close. The price of bitcoin was last up 1.9%, trading at $110,947.49, according to Coin Metrics. Just before 4:00 p.m. ET, it hit a high of $112,052.24, surpassing its May 22 record of...

People continue to ask if Bitcoin will replace the dollar. They believe that the recent surge in Bitcoin indicates that it will topple the USD as the world’s reserve currency, but that is merely propaganda. You must understand that Bitcoin is simply a trading vehicle, not a currency. I cannot stress that point enough. My opinion has been unpopular, and clients have walked away due to my stance on crypto. That’s fine, as I am not in this for the money. I can only adequately inform my clients of the unbiased truth and hope that those willing to listen will...

KNOXVILLE, TN — Local Libertarian Steve Kocot was unsure about how best to invest his money and was torn between investing in shiny rocks or some of those newfangled magic computer coins. Kocot's dilemma reportedly came about as soon as he heard on the internet that the collapse of his government-manipulated fiat currency was imminent and that he needed to preserve his wealth in a more stable form before the American empire disintegrated. "It's only a matter of days or weeks or months or years or decades," he said. "Everything our government's Keynesian economic house of cards is built upon...

The United States should stockpile guns, ammunition and drones instead of bitcoin, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said Friday at the inaugural Reagan National Economic Forum in California. "We shouldn't be stockpiling bitcoins," Dimon said when asked about how industrial policy is entwined with national security policies during a panel. "We should stockpiling guns, bullets, tanks, planes, drones, you know, rare earths. We know we need to do it. It's not a mystery."

The mayor of Panama City, Mayer Mizrachi, said the city could potentially establish a bitcoin reserve. The Mayor of Panama City, Mayer Mizrachi, is taking notes on bitcoin from the leader of El Salvador. Speaking at Bitcoin 2025 in Las Vegas on Thursday, Mizrachi said he’s been thinking of ways Panama’s capital city, which is home to the Panama Canal, could implement bitcoin payments. This includes potentially setting up a strategic bitcoin reserve for Panama City, as well as possibly taking payments — including for passage through the Panama Canal — in bitcoin, Mizrachi said. “What if you have a...

At Bitcoin 2025, economist and author Saifedean Ammous laid out a bold vision for the future of global finance, asserting that Bitcoin - not the U.S. dollar - will anchor tomorrow’s economy, with Tether as the bridge...Saifedean Ammous, CEO of Saifedean.com and author of The Bitcoin Standard, delivered a data-driven keynote at the Bitcoin 2025 Conference, warning of inevitable U.S. dollar decline and positioning Bitcoin as the only rational hedge.“Default, devaluation, or default by devaluation are inevitable,” Ammous declared, adding pointedly, “Tether can’t fix what a century of fiat democracy ruined.”Using projections and flow charts, Ammous argued that Tether’s Bitcoin...

The second suspect in the alleged kidnapping and torture of an Italian bitcoin dealer inside a SoHo townhouse was seen scowling as he was remanded without bail in court Tuesday night. After he partied it up in the Hamptons over the weekend, William Duplessie appeared in Manhattan Criminal Court, where his lawyer claimed the 33-year-old crypto trader’s criminal case will “begin to unravel” when more details come out. “The facts here are hotly disputed, his involvement is hotly disputed,” attorney Sanford Talkin claimed to Judge Julieta Lozano during his nighttime arraignment hearing. Duplessie, who sported a frown at the hearing,...

The 37-year-old Crypto trader accused of kidnapping a 28-year-old Italian man inside a luxurious SoHo apartment repeatedly shocked his victim with electric wires, held him upside down from the top of a staircase, cut his leg with a saw and threatened to kill the victim’s family — all to get the password to the man’s Bitcoin account, prosecutors said Saturday. Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Eric Schumacher ordered John Woeltz held without bail on assault and kidnapping charges as police continued to search for his accomplice. He also issued a restraining order against Woeltz, so if he does get out of...

A gang of wealthy 'crypto bros' have been arrested for luring their former business partner to a stunning New York City mansion before torturing him for weeks. The group are accused of kidnapping the 28-year-old Italian man before committing sickening acts on him in the $75,000-per-month rented brownstone in Soho. They alleged to have Tazed him, pistol-whipped him and threatened to carve him up with a chainsaw if he did not give up the millions of dollars in his crypto account. But their plot was foiled when the victim - who has not been named - escaped and flagged down...

A month before President Trump’s inauguration, Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff flew to the United Arab Emirates with two goals: discussing regional issues with the Abu Dhabi royal known as the “spy sheikh,” and attending a cryptocurrency conference. Less than five months later, Witkoff’s son, co-founder of the crypto venture World Liberty Financial, took the stage at a conference in Dubai to announce the company had struck a deal for the sheikh’s company to buy $2 billion of their new cryptocurrency. The expected tens of millions of dollars in annual profits would be split between the Witkoffs and their co-founders—and...

NEW DELHI: US President Donald Trump’s attempt to be a broker in the conflict between India and Pakistan has the spotlight on a deal the hostile neighbour recently negotiated with World Liberty Financial (WLF), a cryptocurrency venture in which the president’s family has 60% stake. The deal was signed between WLF and the hastily-launched Pakistan Crypto Council, which early last month appointed as its adviser Changzpeng Zhao (CZ) — founder of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance — with the ambitious objective of making Islamabad South Asia’s crypto capital. Though the Crypto Council was barely a month old, WLF sent...

In a massive sting operation straight out of a crime thriller, Spanish police have smashed one of Europe’s most powerful underworld banks – a slick, secretive syndicate laundering millions using the ancient and shadowy “hawala” method. Cash, crypto and contraband – the works. In unbelievable scenes, Spain’s National Police, backed by EUROPOL and EUROJUST, swooped on a web of luxury and illegality. The secret January raids – now revealed – saw over 250 officers hit 13 locations across Spain and Belgium in a coordinated blitz, nabbing 17 suspects, seizing mountains of loot and blowing apart a money-moving machine that had...

Flailing and struggling amid a brutal assault, this is the moment the daughter of a major cryptocurrency company executive and her two-year-old child were the victims of a violent attempted kidnapping in Paris. The 34-year-old was walking down Rue Pache in the capital yesterday morning when three armed men approached her. The group tried to force her and her toddler into a white van after hitting the child's father, who tried to intervene. Footage filmed by an onlooker from his apartment window also shows the woman - believed to be the daughter of a top crypto exec - grab a...

Miami International Autodrome First Grand Prix2022 Number of Laps57 Circuit Length5.412 kmRace Distance308.326 kmLap Record1:29.708Max Verstappen (2023)Track

Nothing sums up the spirit of our current times like Haliey Welch—a.k.a. Hawk Tuah Girl—becoming an overnight celebrity only to see her rapid rise lead to a meteoric downfall after she ended up at the center of a cryptocurrency scam.

Singaporean Malone Lam – arrested and charged over one of the biggest crypto heist in the US – splurged up to US$500,000 (S$665,000) a night at clubs and was seen giving Hermes Birkin bags to models and influencers in his lavish outings. The US Department of Justice (DOJ) said the 20-year-old and co-accused, American Jeandiel Serrano, 21, were arrested in September 2024 and charged with “conspiracy to steal and launder over US$230 million in cryptocurrency from a victim in Washington, DC”. At today’s prices, the 4,100 stolen Bitcoin are worth more than US$450 million. In his latest court hearing last...

Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum are targets of choice for online criminals, who often exploit weaknesses in major trading platforms or individual users’ digital “wallets” to make major scores. A recent $1.5-billion heist of Ethereum from the Bybit platform — attributed by the FBI to North Korean hackers — is believed to be the largest yet in an ever-longer litany of thefts. How common is crypto theft? Cryptocurrencies are based on blockchain technology, which publicly records transactions between people holding and exchanging them. That has not kept a lid on theft, with an estimated $2.2 billion worth of the assets...

I own a small amount of crypto assets in my portfolio, so I am not against this asset class per se. I do object to the federal government starting their own reserve fund. Crypto is a relatively new asset and we are still in the beginning stages of exploring how it works as an asset for investing. We have already determined that it does not work as a currency in the U.S. The primary reason is that you must declare capital gains or losses with each transaction. The government should not pick winners and losers. Right now, the Trump administration...