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Disclosure: Our goal is to feature products and services that we think you’ll find interesting and useful. If you purchase them, Entrepreneur may get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our commerce partners. Quick — name a resource more critical to the future than lithium. It’s not easy. Lithium is the foundation of the modern energy economy, powering electric vehicles, smartphones, and renewable infrastructure. It is also a critical material for the nuclear energy revolution. And demand is only climbing – it is expected to surge 5X by 2040. This spike in demand is pushing governments and global corporations into a high-stakes race for supply. As Elon Musk famously put it: “Do you like minting money? The lithium business is for you.” One entrepreneur took that to heart. Now he’s leading what is arguably one of the most ambitious lithium ventures in the world with sights on staking claim to the renewable energy throne. Meet Teague Egan, founder of EnergyX, who has been dubbed by some as The Lithium King. To meet this moment, he created extraction technology that he says can recover up to 300% more lithium than traditional methods. It didn’t take long for the industry to notice. EnergyX has already earned backing from General Motors, which led a $50M investment round to support its 2035 EV goals, an investment from energy giant Eni, a $5M U.S. Department of Energy grant, and a critical alliance with Korea’s POSCO to expand in North America. Then came one of the biggest moves yet: In 2024, EnergyX secured one of the largest lithium brine assets in the Americas – more than 100,000 acres in Chile’s “Lithium Triangle.” A recent third-party study by engineering firm Worley and geologists Montgomery & Associates confirmed the site’s immense potential, projecting it could generate more than $1.1 billion annually once fully operational, at projected market prices. Egan didn’t stop there either. EnergyX is set to acquire land in America’s Smackover Region from Pantera Lithium, which will bring their U.S. mining territory to nearly 50,000 acres in size. Importantly, this new EnergyX acreage in the U.S. is directly next to Exxon and Chevron’s acreage, who have started lithium business units of their own. The result? Proven technology, vast reserves, strategic partnerships, and a clear path to commercial production. Now, they’re scaling to make the most of it – and inviting everyday investors to join the next chapter. From concept to commercialization: 90%+ extraction efficiency Egan launched EnergyX with a mission to fix a broken industry. Traditional lithium extraction methods are outdated, inefficient, and damaging to the environment, so he set out to create a better way. The result was LiTAS®, EnergyX’s patented extraction platform. Unlike legacy processes, LiTAS® uses a combination of membranes, solvents, and adsorbents – making it the only direct lithium extraction (DLE) platform with all three approaches. That breakthrough has helped the company raise more than $135 million from 35,000+ investors, including a $50M Series B led by General Motors. Now, EnergyX is entering its most exciting phase yet (and inviting everyday investors to join). EnergyX secures one of the largest lithium brine assets in the Americas After establishing its technology, EnergyX turned its sights to securing top-tier lithium resources. In 2023, the company secured mining rights to a 100,000+ acre mining territory in Chile’s “Lithium Triangle,” widely considered the most lithium-rich region on Earth. Dubbed Project Black Giant™, initial estimates were pegged at 2.6M metric tons of lithium. At the time of acquisition, it was already seen as a strategic win, but they were only just discovering the full extent of its potential. Independent study confirms this could be a $1.1B annual revenue generator Before any lithium asset can begin commercial production, it must undergo an independent pre-feasibility study (PFS). This rigorous engineering and economic assessment evaluates the resource’s size, quality, and viability. The independent PFS for Project Black Giant™ revealed EnergyX’s Chilean mining territory has even more upside than initially believed. Third-party research showed at least 4.5 million metric tons of lithium – and as much as 9.8 million. That’s a significant leap from the early 2.6M estimate. Even more impressive? The study confirmed that EnergyX’s LiTAS® system can recover lithium at industry-low capital and operating costs. With both a world-class asset and breakthrough tech under one roof, the study projected Project Black Giant™ could be a $1.1B annual revenue generator once fully operational, at projected market prices. With the PFS complete, EnergyX is now transitioning to commercial extraction to unlock the immense potential of this sleeping giant. Eni partnership and the global energy transition EnergyX’s potential hasn’t gone unnoticed. In addition to GM, the company earned an investment from Eni SpA, one of the world’s largest oil and gas companies. Eni’s involvement underscores a broader industry shift toward clean energy and critical minerals – and EnergyX’s standing as a leader in the field. Together, Eni and EnergyX are exploring ways to deploy lithium extraction tech at scale — positioning EnergyX as a key player in reshaping global supply chains. As geopolitical tensions mount and domestic supply becomes a priority, partnerships like these couldn’t come at a better time. The Americas: The next lithium frontier While China continues to dominate global lithium processing, EnergyX is betting big on the Americas. The Southern U.S., particularly the Smackover Region, has shown some of the highest lithium concentrations ever recorded. With the right tech, this region alone could power a major share of U.S. EV production — without relying on foreign sources. EnergyX’s vertically integrated model — pairing extraction technology with proven reserves — puts it in rare company. No wonder more than 35,000 investors have jumped at the chance to share in EnergyX’s growth. An opportunity to join the next chapter Last year, demand for EnergyX’s stock was so overwhelming that investors maxed out the investment offering, with thousands more reaching out to ask for another chance to join the movement, the company says. Now, with EnergyX ready to

Bitcoin’s Unimpressive Bounce Fails to Diminish Downside Risk; Support Around $112K Bitcoin bulls are struggling to establish a low around $113,000, with weak price and volume performance. Updated Aug 20, 2025, 2:52 p.m. Published Aug 20, 2025, 12:18 p.m. This is a daily analysis by CoinDesk analyst and Chartered Market Technician Omkar Godbole. Bitcoin bulls are attempting to establish an interim low around $113,000, but the effort appears weak in terms of both price and volume. So far, the bounce has been barely notable, with upside capped above $114,000. Additionally, volumes have stayed low relative to what we observed during the early Tuesday drop, as seen on the hourly chart. BTC’s hourly chart. (TradingView) The weak bounce is consistent with bearish momentum signals, as the 50-, 100-, and 200-hour simple moving averages (SMAs) are aligned in descending order and trending downward. On the daily chart, prices have convincingly broken below the rising trendline support, signaling a shift from bullish to bearish momentum. Both the longer-term MACD histogram (50,100,9) and the more commonly used MACD (12,26,0) are showing increasing negative momentum, with deeper bars below the zero line. BTC’s daily chart. (TradingView) Therefore, the odds appear to be stacked in favor of a continued move lower. The first level of support is $11,982, from which the market turned higher on Aug. 3. The 100-day SMA is seen at $11,053. If these levels are taken out, the focus would shift to the 200-day SMA at $100,484. A convincing move above the 50-day SMA at $116,033 would negate the bearish outlook. Resistance: $116,033, $120,000, $122,056. Support: $111,982, $110,053, $100,484. Read more: Markets Today: Bitcoin, Ether Recover From Lows Before FOMC Minutes Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk’s full AI Policy. Omkar Godbole Omkar Godbole is a Co-Managing Editor and analyst on CoinDesk’s Markets team. He has been covering crypto options and futures, as well as macro and cross-asset activity, since 2019, leveraging his prior experience in directional and non-directional derivative strategies at brokerage firms. His extensive background also encompasses the FX markets, having served as a fundamental analyst at currency and commodities desks for Mumbai-based brokerages and FXStreet. Omkar holds small amounts of bitcoin, ether, BitTorrent, tron and dot. Omkar holds a Master’s degree in Finance and a Chartered Market Technician (CMT) designation. X icon AI Boost “AI Boost” indicates a generative text tool, typically an AI chatbot, contributed to the article. In each and every case, the article was edited, fact-checked and published by a human. Read more about CoinDesk’s AI Policy. More For You HBAR Slides 3% as Heavy Selling Pushes Token to $0.23 Support Hedera Hashgraph faces significant selling pressure amid regulatory uncertainty and shifting institutional sentiment in digital asset markets. What to know: HBAR slid 3% from $0.24 to $0.23 over a 23-hour period between August 19–20, trading within a narrow $0.01 range. Heavy selling pressure during the final hour pushed volumes to 85.82 million, marking the most active stretch of the session. Support held at $0.23, with a late recovery suggesting buyers are defending near-term levels despite broader volatility. Read full story Read More

Spot ether ETFs have seen growing demand with cumulative net inflows now more than $13 billion, up from $2.6 billion in April, the report said. Updated Aug 20, 2025, 1:57 p.m. Published Aug 20, 2025, 12:04 p.m. After enduring a drawdown of more than 55% earlier this year and lagging peers amid tariff-driven risk-off sentiment, ether (ETH) has staged a powerful comeback, Wall Street bank Citi (C) said in a research report on Tuesday. The second-largest cryptocurrency is now up nearly 30% year-to-date, testing bitcoin’s (BTC) dominance in a way not seen since late last year. This time, however, ether is taking market share rather than ceding it, the report said. Spot ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have seen a surge of demand. Cumulative net inflows now top $13 billion, up from just $2.6 billion in April, analysts Alex Saunders and Nathaniel Rupert wrote. As ETF balances grow, flows are playing a more direct role in price dynamics, the analysts said. Ether treasury firms have also joined the bid, with large purchases beginning in May. Their collective holdings now hover near $10 billion at current market values, while the equity valuations of these companies have expanded alongside ether’s rally, the report noted. Blockchain data shows large wallets accumulating ether while smaller investors trim exposure. Ether balances on centralized exchanges continue to decline, signaling a shift of supply back on-chain. This dynamic could be amplifying the latest leg higher, creating a squeeze-like effect, the report added. While the rally has been sharp, the bank’s analysts caution it isn’t purely technical. On-chain activity has picked up, reinforcing the move with stronger fundamentals. Combined with a macro backdrop that resembles a “goldilocks” environment, neither too hot nor too cold, ether’s resurgence could have legs, particularly with supportive regulatory signals and bullish narratives in play. Read more: Ether-Led Rally Pushed Crypto Market Cap to $3.7T in July: JPMorgan Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk’s full AI Policy. Will Canny Will Canny is an experienced market reporter with a demonstrated history of working in the financial services industry. He’s now covering the crypto beat as a finance reporter at CoinDesk. He owns more than $1,000 of SOL. X icon AI Boost “AI Boost” indicates a generative text tool, typically an AI chatbot, contributed to the article. In each and every case, the article was edited, fact-checked and published by a human. Read more about CoinDesk’s AI Policy. More For You HBAR Slides 3% as Heavy Selling Pushes Token to $0.23 Support Hedera Hashgraph faces significant selling pressure amid regulatory uncertainty and shifting institutional sentiment in digital asset markets. What to know: HBAR slid 3% from $0.24 to $0.23 over a 23-hour period between August 19–20, trading within a narrow $0.01 range. Heavy selling pressure during the final hour pushed volumes to 85.82 million, marking the most active stretch of the session. Support held at $0.23, with a late recovery suggesting buyers are defending near-term levels despite broader volatility. Read full story Read More

An industry-wide project led by TRM Labs is officially going live, and includes law enforcement and the major exchanges such as Coinbase and Binance. Updated Aug 20, 2025, 2:28 p.m. Published Aug 20, 2025, 12:00 p.m. Money laundering has long been a scourge of the cryptocurrency sector, and the industry has a new answer meant to demonstrate it can head off major problems before they accelerate: the Beacon Network. The new system of illicit-activity alerts, which has been building behind the scenes under the management of TRM Labs, is now officially operational under a broad coalition of law enforcement agencies, exchanges, analysts, individual crypto sleuths and digital assets issuers. Exchanges such as Binance, Coinbase and Kraken have joined issuers and freelance investigators to share real-time information about bad actors, potentially offering an answer to several government efforts to clamp down on costly abuses, TRM announced on Wednesday. As U.S. regulators and Congress actively write legislation and new rulebooks to remedy what’s arguably the industry’s worst reputational challenge — anti-money laundering controls — TRM Global Head of Policy Ari Redbord said the bad guys are getting “faster and faster.” “We need this ecosystem to be locked down, and we need it to be locked down in real time,” he told CoinDesk in an interview. As long as North Korean hackers can rip off more than $1 billion and launder it faster than the industry can respond, the crypto ecosystem is in trouble, Redbord said. The massive recent theft from the Bybit exchange served as a wakeup call. ‘Real-Time interdiction’ Beacon, which has already started work identifying a few cases that TRM couldn’t yet discuss, is designed as a “real-time interdiction network” where membership is non-commercial and doesn’t require any existing business relationships between members. The system is supposed to quickly highlight addresses connected to threats and trigger alerts to block bad actors from cashing out illicit assets from scams, frauds, hacks and criminal activity. “There’s no program like Beacon Network,” said Valerie-Leila Jaber, global head of anti-money laundering at Coinbase, in a statement. “It’s a true early-warning system that helps us identify and freeze illicit assets so law enforcement can recover them.” The network’s inaugural membership features the prominent exchanges and also includes such names as Robinhood, Ripple, Crypto.com, OKX, Poloniex, Anchorage Digital and payments firms PayPal and Stripe. The list of involved companies is extensive and represents the vast majority of global crypto activity, though missing from the current list are leading stablecoin issuers Tether and Circle. And while TRM assures that most of the key law enforcement entities in the U.S. and around the world are participating, the company said it’s unable to name them just yet, apart from the Australian Federal Police. There’s some precedence in the realm of traditional finance (TradFi) for public-private intelligence sharing about bad actors, including at the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), which runs the FinCEN Exchange for trading information. Automated The crypto sector’s project doesn’t have a dedicated staff beyond the compliance and investigative personnel already at the involved companies, led by TRM’s Chris Wong, an ex-FBI crypto investigator. The network will rely on automation for round-the-clock alerts and transaction delays, which will be followed up by human investigators. The automation is necessary, Redbord said, because the bad actors seek to strike when they’re least likely to be spotted. “They don’t sleep, and they know exactly when we are sleeping,” he said. President Donald Trump has directed his administration to make crypto a top policy priority, and it recently issued a report and recommendations on how to tackle that task, including a directive “encouraging domestic and cross-border information sharing, greater participation in sharing programs by digital asset financial institutions and improved information sharing between digital asset and traditional financial institutions.” The current draft of a U.S. Senate bill to regulate the crypto markets includes a section on illicit finance that also considers a path for agencies to “securely share information about potential illicit finance violations and threats and emerging risks.” And the recently passed Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act spurred the U.S. Treasury Department to open a comment period this week encouraging the public to submit new ideas for addressing illicit crypto usage. “This is absolutely the answer to how we can do anti-money laundering and illicit finance investigations way better in crypto,” Redbord said. He said the network will also delve into artificial intelligence to analyze so-called “pig butchering” networks and criminal cartels to potentially be able to anticipate their strategies. And it’ll tap independent crypto sleuths such as ZachXBT to raise their own flags. “There’s no ZachXBT for TradFi,” he said. Jesse Hamilton Jesse Hamilton is CoinDesk’s deputy managing editor on the Global Policy and Regulation team, based in Washington, D.C. Before joining CoinDesk in 2022, he worked for more than a decade covering Wall Street regulation at Bloomberg News and Businessweek, writing about the early whisperings among federal agencies trying to decide what to do about crypto. He’s won several national honors in his reporting career, including from his time as a war correspondent in Iraq and as a police reporter for newspapers. Jesse is a graduate of Western Washington University, where he studied journalism and history. He has no crypto holdings. X icon More For You OKX Hires Former Kraken Regulatory Strategist Marcus Hughes Hughes will take on the role of global head of government relations at OKX, having previously held leadership roles at Kraken and Coinbase. What to know: Most recently, Hughes was global head of regulatory strategy at Kraken, and prior to that the international general counsel at Coinbase. Hughes also serves as a venture partner with U.S. venture capital fund Sentinel Global. Read full story Read More

Markets Today: Bitcoin, Ether Recover From Lows Before FOMC Minutes U.S. stock index futures slipped and Japanese bond yields rose as risk aversion crept into markets. Aug 20, 2025, 12:00 p.m. Japan bond yields rose, equity indexes, crypto measures fell. (DavidRockDesign/Pixabay) What to know: Bitcoin and ether showed recovery from overnight lows, but the broad market showed weakness. Traders are watching for the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting minutes, due later today. Bitcoin and ether (ETH) recovered from overnight lows, even as U.S. stock index futures slipped and Japanese bond yields rose to multidecade highs in move than might make riskier assets less attractive. The CoinDesk 20 Index traded 1.5% lower on a 24-hour basis, pointing to broad market weakness. The CoinDesk 80 Index of next-largest tokens fell 1.4%. Traders are looking to the release of the minutes from the last Federal Reserve policy meeting, scheduled for later Wednesday, while emphasizing the importance of tracking the Treasury General Account, the U.S. government’s account with the Fed. The Treasury is in the process of rebuilding the TGA balance, which may pose a risk to asset prices. In key news, Point72 Asset Management and ExodusPoint Capital Management disclosed equity stakes in crypto payments firm Alt5 Sigma on Monday, according to Bloomberg. Derivatives Positioning Leveraged crypto futures bets worth $448 million have been liquidated in the past 24 hours. Most were longs, which means significant bullish leverage has been cleared from the market. Open interest in BTC, DOGE and XRP has declined, indicating that the price drop has yet to trigger a surge in new bearish bets. Meanwhile, LINK, HYPE and SUI have seen increases in open interest, while OI has held flat in ETH, according to data source Coinglass. Perpetual funding rates for most major cryptocurrencies continue to remain mildly positive, indicating a bias towards long positions. The opposite is the case for ADA and XMR. Solana futures open interest on CME remains elevated near record highs above 4.6 million SOL, with the annualized three-month premium rising to 16% from 12% last week. The uptick indicates bullish capital inflows. BTC open interest is beginning to recover, now at 145.76K BTC, the highest since late July. Premium remains below 10%. In ETH’s case, the premium again faded the spike above 10%, with open interest approaching the 2 million ETH mark. On Deribit, short-dated (one-week) and near-dated (coming months) BTC and ETH puts continue to trade at a premium to calls, reflecting concerns about downside risks. Flows over the OTC network Paradigm featured increased activity in put options tied to bitcoin and ether, with activity across outrights, spreads, and calendar spread strategies. Token Talk Solana token issuance platform Pump.fun has crossed $800.6 million in lifetime revenue, Dune data shows, mostly from its 1% swap fee, with daily intake averaging over $1 million. This puts it among a small list of platforms earning high revenues in the crypto space. Pump originally collected fees when tokens “graduated” to Raydium, but now earns from its in-house DEX, PumpSwap. The model has proven sticky despite competition. LetsBonk briefly overtook Pump in graduated tokens last month, driven by its Raydium LaunchLab integration and Bonk community push, but lost ground as top memecoin deployers migrated back to Pump. Pump’s token ICO last month raised $600 million in 12 minutes, with the platform now running buybacks above market price to stabilize trading. This is indicative of how the launchpad has become an asset in itself. In contrast, LetsBonk revenue has collapsed to under $30,000 a day from around $1 million earlier this month, showing the volatility of memecoin platforms competing for flow. New entrant Token Mill is trying to stand out with a “King of the Mill” mechanism in which fees are used to buy and burn the highest-volume token every 30 minutes. The aim is to gamify volatility as a growth loop. Solana, meanwhile, lost its crown as the dominant memecoin chain to Coinbase’s Base, which has tied token issuance into decentralized social media via Zora. On Monday, Base hosted nearly 58,000 new memecoins versus 33,000 on Solana. Omkar Godbole Omkar Godbole is a Co-Managing Editor and analyst on CoinDesk’s Markets team. He has been covering crypto options and futures, as well as macro and cross-asset activity, since 2019, leveraging his prior experience in directional and non-directional derivative strategies at brokerage firms. His extensive background also encompasses the FX markets, having served as a fundamental analyst at currency and commodities desks for Mumbai-based brokerages and FXStreet. Omkar holds small amounts of bitcoin, ether, BitTorrent, tron and dot. Omkar holds a Master’s degree in Finance and a Chartered Market Technician (CMT) designation. X icon Shaurya Malwa Shaurya is the Co-Leader of the CoinDesk tokens and data team in Asia with a focus on crypto derivatives, DeFi, market microstructure, and protocol analysis. Shaurya holds over $1,000 in BTC, ETH, SOL, AVAX, SUSHI, CRV, NEAR, YFI, YFII, SHIB, DOGE, USDT, USDC, BNB, MANA, MLN, LINK, XMR, ALGO, VET, CAKE, AAVE, COMP, ROOK, TRX, SNX, RUNE, FTM, ZIL, KSM, ENJ, CKB, JOE, GHST, PERP, BTRFLY, OHM, BANANA, ROME, BURGER, SPIRIT, and ORCA. He provides over $1,000 to liquidity pools on Compound, Curve, SushiSwap, PancakeSwap, BurgerSwap, Orca, AnySwap, SpiritSwap, Rook Protocol, Yearn Finance, Synthetix, Harvest, Redacted Cartel, OlympusDAO, Rome, Trader Joe, and SUN. X icon More For You HBAR Slides 3% as Heavy Selling Pushes Token to $0.23 Support Hedera Hashgraph faces significant selling pressure amid regulatory uncertainty and shifting institutional sentiment in digital asset markets. What to know: HBAR slid 3% from $0.24 to $0.23 over a 23-hour period between August 19–20, trading within a narrow $0.01 range. Heavy selling pressure during the final hour pushed volumes to 85.82 million, marking the most active stretch of the session. Support held at $0.23, with a late recovery suggesting buyers are defending near-term levels despite broader volatility. Read full story Read More

How Two Bitcoiners ‘Tripped’ Into Opaque BTC Treasuries Market and Built Massive Information Hub Tim Kotzman and Ed Juline are using social media, AI and new event formats to close the information gap in bitcoin treasury strategy. Updated Aug 20, 2025, 1:50 p.m. Published Aug 20, 2025, 11:52 a.m. Tim Kotzman sat down in a New York studio in September 2024 to record a podcast, something he saw as little more than an experiment. The first few episodes drew almost no attention. Kotzman had no background in journalism, and his only prior podcast experience was appearing on a friend’s show to discuss his private placement fund. The turning point came a few weeks later, when he interviewed Ryan McGinnis of the Quant Bros — a podcast often seen as the earliest outlet dissecting the bitcoin investment strategy of a company called MicroStrategy (MSTR). That episode about the company now renamed Strategy, released in early October, racked up 50,000 impressions within half a day and showed Kotzman the potential of his format. The sudden spike was a turning point. What began as a hobby quickly evolved into “Bitcoin Treasuries,” a media and events platform Tim now runs with Ed Juline, who previously held roles at Strategy and MARA Digital Holdings (MARA). Together, they are building a space where corporations, investors and service providers can access information that, until recently, was fragmented or opaque. Closing the Information Gap The Quant Bros podcast had already highlighted a key shift in the bitcoin landscape: the information asymmetry around corporate bitcoin treasuries. The idea behind these treasury companies is simple: Buy bitcoin in the open market and hold it as a reserve on the balance sheet. However, there are many nuances related to the process, and the pace at which treasury companies pop up can be overwhelming for investors. The duo realized early on that while Strategy’s (and other subsequent treasury companies’) disclosures were public, few outlets contextualized them for a wider audience. In traditional finance and even in crypto, media companies cover earnings, balance sheets, and macro events. But with bitcoin treasury companies, what was missing was clear explanation of their metrics, valuation, and strategic approach. Kotzman and Juline saw the opportunity and built their business around it. As Juline put it, “In bitcoin, you have new players every day, and no clear way to know who to trust. That’s the gap we’re trying to fill.” The AI angle Their approach mirrors bitcoin’s own grassroots trajectory. Just as the largest cryptocurrency spread among the unbanked and early adopters through word of mouth, their work has grown organically through social media, building reach and influence one connection at a time. Rather than launching with mainstream coverage, Bitcoin Treasuries grew from retail interest amplified by social media. Recent shows have attracted millions of viewers across X and YouTube, underscoring how quickly digital distribution can scale conversations. Distributing and sorting through such a large amount of information isn’t easy. That’s where artificial intelligence (AI) came in. “In one digital conference, I interviewed 42 people in 21 hours,” Kotzman said. To make sure the interviews don’t go stale, Kotzman had to move fast, using AI. “AI tools helped us cut and share highlights almost instantly. That’s what takes a conversation from a few hundred people to hundreds of thousands globally.” Reimagining Events The duo also holds events to feed the appetite for information about bitcoin treasuries. Just don’t call them conferences. Their first in-person event, named “Bitcoin Treasuries Unconference,” will be held in New York on Sept. 17. Headlined by Strategy’s Executive Chairman Michael Saylor, the architect of the Tyson Corner, Virginia-based company’s bitcoin buying policy, the event is structured as a town hall rather than a stage of panels. “No slides, no canned speeches,” Juline said. “It’s about letting the audience challenge thought leaders directly.” According to the duo, interest has been global, with attendees registering from Australia, Dubai, Mexico, Switzerland and the U.K. For Kotzman and Juline, this is proof of concept. “Bitcoin is international by nature,” Kotzman noted. “Our job is to connect that community and get useful information into the right hands.” A lasting role Neither sees Bitcoin Treasuries as a short-term play. Advisory work has become an extension of their media presence, linking mid-sized firms with investment banks, custody providers, lawyers, and partners they otherwise might not find. “Big institutions can call Saylor,” Juline said. “Smaller ones can’t. That’s where we come in.” The bigger scope, though, is about distribution. The combination of social media algorithms, AI-driven content production, and a growing appetite for bitcoin knowledge has allowed the two enthusiasts to become essential middlemen to build something lasting in less than a year. “It feels like we tripped into this,” Kotzman said. “But really, it shows how powerful these new tools are. If you hit the right message at the right moment, the whole world can tune in overnight.” Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk’s full AI Policy. James Van Straten James Van Straten is a Senior Analyst at CoinDesk, specializing in Bitcoin and its interplay with the macroeconomic environment. Previously, James worked as a Research Analyst at Saidler & Co., a Swiss hedge fund, where he developed expertise in on-chain analytics. His work focuses on monitoring flows to analyze Bitcoin’s role within the broader financial system. In addition to his professional endeavors, James serves as an advisor to Coinsilium, a UK publicly traded company, where he provides guidance on their Bitcoin treasury strategy. He also holds investments in Bitcoin and Strategy (MSTR). X icon AI Boost “AI Boost” indicates a generative text tool, typically an AI chatbot, contributed to the article. In each and every case, the article was edited, fact-checked and published by a human. Read more about CoinDesk’s AI Policy. More For You Crypto Exchange Kraken Acquires No-Code Trading Firm Capitalise.ai to Expand Pro

Artificial intelligence may end up being more impactful than the Industrial Revolution. The private sector already has invested vast sums into developing and deploying AI. To accelerate AI innovation and adoption in the United States, the Trump administration recently announced a sweeping “AI Action Plan.” AI already is being used in fighting disease, doing sophisticated math, transporting people and products, supporting regulatory compliance, and designing physical structures. Last year, two Nobel Prizes had ties to AI—the Nobel Prize in physics “for foundational discoveries and inventions that enable machine learning with artificial neural networks” and the Nobel Prize in chemistry “for computational protein design” and “protein structure prediction.” In announcing the 2024 chemistry Prize, the Nobel Committee proclaimed, “Life could not exist without proteins. That we can now predict protein structures and design our own proteins confers the greatest benefit to humankind.” An AI-enabled future is inspiring. AI’s considerable capacity to enhance a person’s daily life includes augmenting human skills, raising a person’s productivity, and performing tasks, creating opportunities for people to spend time on more pressing priorities. At a macro level, AI should spur economic growth just as other technological breakthroughs have for centuries. Even more so, imagine if AI-human collaboration identifies a cure for cancer, leads to new food sources that redress hunger, and allows the building of buildings that better withstand earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, and fires—none of which is far-fetched given the pace of AI research and AI’s expanding frontier. We appreciate that as remarkable as AI’s benefits are, AI has stirred concern for many, if not fear. Advanced AI systems are rapidly getting better at what they do. This roots some individuals’ primary worry that humans won’t be able to keep up with AI and that AI eventually will assume control. Attention also has centered on, among other things, the misuse of AI, deepfakes, hallucinations, AI’s effect on jobs, and safeguarding values that certain AI applications might affront. Trust is paramount How we achieve the tremendous benefits and opportunities AI offers while mitigating and managing associated risks will continue as a focus, as a matter of both policy and practice. Trust in AI is needed for AI to flourish over time, delivering gains for humanity. If guardrails and oversight are too lax, risks may turn into actual harms that we aren’t willing to accept as a society. On the other hand, AI guardrails and oversight that is too heavy-handed and restrictive may come at the expense of AI breakthroughs that spur solutions to vexing problems, lead to astounding discoveries, and raise standards of living. With AI innovation and adoption surging ahead, the real-world value of AI is clear. A key unlock to realizing AI’s full promise will be to use AI itself to help mitigate and manage concerns with AI—something the private sector can advance. People modulate their behavior for different situations, self-correct when held to account, and internalize virtues that inform their decisions. Advanced AI may be able to do the same, staying within defined parameters and constraints to meet society’s expectations. As AI advances, it may be possible to architect and train AI systems not only to self-identify if the system is deviating from accepted performance, but also to self-improve to comport with a society’s goals and values. Technological efforts to accomplish this are under way. Even if realized, this type of AI alignment would not entirely address core concerns. AI that supervises AI Another layer needs to emerge: AI that supervises AI. People will need to collaborate with AI agents to monitor that other AI systems do what they are supposed to do. Advanced AI agents can be developed and deployed to identify if other AI agents or deployments of AI act aberrantly or nefariously, do not behave in accordance with performance benchmarks, thwart objectives they were to promote, or pose other harms. For example, with human oversight, a company’s compliance AI agents can help ensure that the AI systems the company uses in its business adhere to legal and regulatory requirements—which is impossible for humans alone to do because of the speed and scale at which a business’s advanced AI systems can operate. The volume and extent of AI uses is enormous and expanding. This presents a difficulty. For example, when using AI to market products, provide interactive customer support, draft agreements, or create other content, businesses need to confirm that what’s generated by their AI systems is compliant. But human bandwidth, on its own, will not be enough to review and assess all the uses for compliance. This capacity gap will widen as AI advances and is adopted more widely and acts more autonomously. Companies can’t fall short of their compliance obligations; nor can they unduly hesitate, let alone pass, on using AI agents in the marketplace when their competitors are actively doing so to get a strategic and operational edge. A solution is for companies to deploy AI agents to bolster compliance, augmenting human effort and judgment. AI agents’ unprecedented ability to evaluate in seconds or minutes whether AI outputs and behaviors comply with extensive legal and regulatory requirements enables the compliant adoption and implementation of AI at scale. AI should be embraced, even as we prepare for the change it brings. Risks need to be accounted for. But they should not dampen the commitment to fostering AI development and adoption. That commitment includes investment in basic and applied AI research. And it includes appropriately calibrating risk management and governance that builds trust without curtailing ingenuity and innovation. Leveraging AI to help ensure that other AI systems operate beneficially and reliably—in accordance with their intended purpose—would contribute to AI’s long-term promise. The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune. Introducing the 2025 Fortune Global 500, the definitive ranking of the biggest companies in the world. Explore this year’s list. Read More

I was a business reporter for almost 30 years, specializing in CEOs – the great, the mediocre, and the really, really bad (sometimes all in one person). From the early 1990s to the late 2010s, I rode shotgun, watching in awe as the Corner Office point of view – ever Alpha – left the political, the academic, and basically every other perspective in the dust.  Shareholder-driven capitalism meant what was good for business was good for, well, everyone. (“everyone” wasn’t supposed to mean income inequality hitting historical highs). That belief, in turn, elevated industry titans from Jamie Dimon and Mark Zuckerberg to Jack Welch and Warren Buffett as the most powerful voices on the planet. The real decisions were made at Davos or in Sun Valley, not DC or Brussels. Politics were an inconvenience. For decades – until companies like Microsoft and Google became well-acquainted with antitrust law – tech companies ignored Washington and didn’t even lobby. Why bother?  As trust dropped for institutions overall but rose for corporate leaders, even social change movements were pushed forward by CEOs. Leaders like former Levi’s CEO Chip Bergh and Dick’s Sporting Goods CEO Lauren Hobart spoke in favor of topics such as gun safety or equity.  Other organizations, political groups, and communities followed corporations’ lead – and it seemed to work for business: Less than five years ago, at the height of the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter protests, The Edelman Trust Barometer showed that employees of all generations were 7.0 to 9.5 times more likely to be attracted to a company that takes a stand on key issues. Even if you didn’t agree with the policies, the point is that executives knew they were fully empowered to make these decisions independently.  Fast forward to today. As the rich get richer and stock market valuations increasingly are tied to a tiny group of corporate behemoths, the leaders of those companies have more economic power than ever. And yet, they have willingly and shockingly lost their ability to use it (except, of course, when they actually join the administration, like good old Elon).  It would be hilarious if it wasn’t so terrifying: The daily parade of CEOs bearing literal golden gifts — Hello Tim Cook! — as they bow and scrape to the President of the United States, horse-trading “investments” in the USA that have little chance of materializing in return for not being taxed or publicly humiliated in a given month. Unlike other organizations that have limited leverage — nonprofits, universities, and, now, they’d like you to think, Congress — these guys actually DO have the clout to resist. But they don’t – or won’t – even as one of their own (Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan) has his job directly threatened by the President, and along with another, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, may soon be signing up to pay a regular vig to Uncle Sam.  Many leaders undoubtedly see this kissing up as a tactic. Be nice, stay under the radar, and all will be good one day soon. Then we can return to our regularly scheduled capitalism. But this is not how corporate leaders have EVER acted in the U.S. They have flexed at will, for better or for worse, because they could.  If CEOs actually united, they could use that market power to pressure the President and his team to move from their chaotic, arbitrary approach to managing the economy to one that at least incorporates rational thinking.  So what could these CEOs do, instead of flattery and humiliation? They could work together instead of letting their power be fragmented. They could use their voices collectively – just as they have done many times before in times of trouble. Just last year (before the election), JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon spoke publicly on income inequality. Last April, when tariffs were threatened, The Business Roundtable spoke up– and had impact. But now that the tariffs are real… crickets.  They could say – loudly and to the world as a group –  that firing the nonpartisan analyst responsible for the nation’s financial data will make it impossible for anyone to trust that anything business people say is true.  They could say that businesspeople are better at business than politicians (even if those politicians are also running a business at the same time) and that boards and shareholders already have a fiduciary duty to do the right thing.  They could talk about how this chaotic tariff cycle makes it impossible to budget, plan or hire when they have no idea what their costs are and that as a result, many of their financial projections are no longer sound.  They could lean into their power instead of giving it away.  They could try cooperating – so that they don’t lose the power to compete. After all, as one famous author once said, they have nothing to lose but their chains. The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune. Introducing the 2025 Fortune Global 500, the definitive ranking of the biggest companies in the world. Explore this year’s list. Read More

President Donald Trump wants the U.S. government to own a piece of Intel, less than two weeks after demanding the Silicon Valley pioneer dump the CEO that was hired to turn around the slumping chipmaker. If the goal is realized, the investment would deepen the Trump administration’s involvement in the computer industry as the president ramps up the pressure for more U.S. companies to manufacture products domestically instead of relying on overseas suppliers. What’s happening? The Trump administration is in talks to secure a 10% stake in Intel in exchange for converting government grants that were pledged to Intel under President Joe Biden. If the deal is completed, the U.S. government would become one of Intel’s largest shareholders and blur the traditional lines separating the public sector and private sector in a country that remains the world’s largest economy. Why would Trump do this? In his second term, Trump has been leveraging his power to reprogram the operations of major computer chip companies. The administration is requiring Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices, two companies whose chips are helping to power the craze around artificial intelligence, to pay a 15% commission on their sales of chips in China in exchange for export licenses. Trump’s interest in Intel is also being driven by his desire to boost chip production in the U.S., which has been a focal point of the trade war that he has been waging throughout the world. By lessening the country’s dependence on chips manufactured overseas, the president believes the U.S. will be better positioned to maintain its technological lead on China in the race to create artificial intelligence. Didn’t Trump want Intel’s CEO to quit? That’s what the president said August 7 in an unequivocal post calling for Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan to resign less than five months after the Santa Clara, California, company hired him. The demand was triggered by reports raising national security concerns about Tan’s past investments in Chinese tech companies while he was a venture capitalist. But Trump backed off after Tan professed his allegiance to the U.S. in a public letter to Intel employees and went to the White House to meet with the president, who applauded the Intel CEO for having an “amazing story.” Why would Intel do a deal? The company isn’t commenting about the possibility of the U.S. government becoming a major shareholder, but Intel may have little choice because it is currently dealing from a position of weakness. After enjoying decades of growth while its processors powered the personal computer boom, the company fell into a slump after missing the shift to the mobile computing era unleashed by the iPhone’s 2007 debut. Intel has fallen even farther behind in recent years during an artificial intelligence craze that has been a boon for Nvidia and AMD. The company lost nearly $19 billion last year and another $3.7 billion in the first six months of this year, prompting Tan to undertake a cost-cutting spree. By the end of this year, Tan expects Intel to have about 75,000 workers, a 25% reduction from the end of last year. Would this deal be unusual? Although rare, it’s not unprecedented for the U.S. government to become a significant shareholder in a prominent company. One of the most notable instances occurred during the Great Recession in 2008 when the government injected nearly $50 billion into General Motors in return for a roughly 60% stake in the automaker at a time it was on the verge of bankruptcy. The government ended up with a roughly $10 billion loss after it sold its stock in GM. Would the government run Intel? U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told CNBC during a Tuesday interview that the government has no intention of meddling in Intel’s business, and will have its hands tied by holding non-voting shares in the company. But some analysts wonder if the Trump administration’s financial ties to Intel might prod more companies looking to curry favor with the president to increase their orders for the company’s chips. What government grants does Intel receive? Intel was among the biggest beneficiaries of the Biden administration’s CHIPS and Science Act, but it hasn’t been able to revive its fortunes while falling behind on construction projects spawned by the program. The company has received about $2.2 billion of the $7.8 billion pledged under the incentives program — money that Lutnick derided as a “giveaway” that would better serve U.S. taxpayers if it’s turned into Intel stock. “We think America should get the benefit of the bargain,” Lutnick told CNBC. “It’s obvious that it’s the right move to make.” Introducing the 2025 Fortune Global 500, the definitive ranking of the biggest companies in the world. Explore this year’s list. Read More

Training and development are vital for both individual and organizational success. They focus on enhancing specific skills as well as nurturing broader career growth. By comprehending the importance of structured training programs and following a systematic approach, you can create effective strategies that meet employee needs. This guide will outline the fundamental steps necessary for designing and implementing successful training initiatives, ensuring your workforce remains competitive and engaged. Let’s explore how you can start this expedition effectively. Key Takeaways Employee training focuses on specific skill acquisition for immediate job performance improvement within a defined timeframe. Development is a continuous process aimed at long-term career growth and broader skill enhancement. Effective training programs boost employee engagement, leading to lower turnover and increased profitability for organizations. Assessing training needs and setting SMART objectives are crucial steps in creating effective training programs. Incorporating diverse training methods and flexible options enhances participation and accommodates different learning preferences. Understanding Employee Training and Development Grasping employee training and development is crucial for cultivating a skilled and effective workforce. Training and development meaning and definition involve two distinct yet interrelated processes. Training focuses on teaching specific skills or protocols within a set timeframe, whereas development is an ongoing process aimed at long-term skills growth and career advancement. To differentiate training and development, consider that training improves immediate job performance through targeted learning, whereas development promotes broader professional growth over time. Recognizing what’s the difference between development and training helps organizations implement effective strategies. By integrating both, companies guarantee consistency in knowledge and processes, leading to improved performance, job satisfaction, and retention rates, finally contributing to a competitive advantage and better profitability. The Importance of Effective Training Programs Effective training programs are essential for promoting a competent workforce, as they not only improve employee skills but also contribute to overall organizational success. Training is different from development in that it focuses on specific job-related skills, whereas development encompasses broader personal and professional growth. Here are some key benefits of effective training: Increased employee engagement leads to 43% less turnover and 23% greater profitability. Demand for job training is high, with 84% of employees expecting employers to provide it. Companies with formal training programs report 218% higher income per employee, emphasizing the financial advantages. Understanding the training and development meaning helps organizations recognize the importance of investing in their workforce, ensuring compliance, safety, and skill retention for long-term success. Steps to Create a Successful Training Program To create a successful training program, you need to start by evaluating the training needs of your organization, pinpointing the specific skills and knowledge gaps that align with your goals. After identifying these needs, set clear objectives using the SMART criteria, ensuring that your training outcomes are focused and achievable. Finally, develop a structured action plan that incorporates various teaching methods to cater to different learning styles, setting the stage for effective training implementation. Assess Training Needs How can you effectively assess training needs within your organization? Start by conducting a thorough needs assessment that gathers input from employees, supervisors, and HR professionals. This helps you identify skill gaps and areas needing improvement. Utilize performance reviews and customer satisfaction surveys to compare current competencies against desired ones. To guarantee that training aligns with organizational goals, prioritize the identified needs. Engaging employees in this process promotes a sense of ownership and encourages them to share their goals and preferences. Gather feedback through surveys and interviews. Analyze performance metrics to pinpoint gaps. Align training needs with business objectives. This structured approach lays the groundwork for a successful training program that boosts productivity and meets employee development needs. Set Clear Objectives Setting clear objectives is crucial for the success of any training program, as it guarantees that all initiatives align with your organization’s goals. Use the SMART criteria—Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound—to create objectives that improve clarity and focus. Involving employees and stakeholders in this process provides valuable insights into skill gaps and training needs, making your program more relevant. Regularly revisiting and updating these objectives, based on employee feedback and performance metrics, helps maintain the program’s effectiveness over time. Establishing clear training objectives not just boosts employee engagement and motivation but aids better retention and application of newly acquired skills in the workplace, ultimately benefiting your organization’s overall performance. Develop Action Plan Developing an action plan is essential for creating a successful training program that meets your organization’s specific needs. Start by conducting a thorough needs assessment to pinpoint training requirements, ensuring they align with business goals and employee skill gaps. Next, set clear and measurable training objectives using the SMART criteria to guide your efforts. Then, develop a structured training action plan with the following elements: Training content and methods that cater to diverse learning styles A timeline for implementation, ensuring smooth execution Continuous evaluation processes to assess effectiveness and make adjustments Formal Training Methods and Approaches As far as formal training methods are concerned, blended learning strategies and online training platforms are becoming crucial. Blended learning combines traditional instructor-led training with eLearning, providing an all-encompassing approach that caters to various learning styles. Meanwhile, online training platforms offer flexibility, allowing you to learn at your own pace and access diverse content from anywhere, making it easier to fit training into your busy schedule. Blended Learning Strategies Blended learning strategies effectively merge traditional instructor-led training with online learning components, allowing you to cater to diverse learning preferences as you improve overall engagement. This approach not merely provides flexibility but also enriches the training experience by incorporating various teaching methods. Live workshops and interactive group discussions encourage collaboration. Video courses and eLearning modules provide self-paced learning opportunities. Gamification elements increase motivation and retention rates. Research shows that blended learning can boost knowledge retention by up to 60% compared to just traditional or online methods. Online Training Platforms Online training platforms have transformed how organizations deliver formal training methods and approaches, making learning more accessible than ever. These platforms provide various options like e-learning modules,