Philip Stafford

🚨 U.S. ENERGY SECRETARY CHRIS WRIGHT REMOVES POST ABOUT NAVY ESCORTING OIL TANKER THROUGH THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ

Maybe the real treasure was the "oil at $120" story research we did along the way

Stablecoin = Fracturedcoin If stablecoins are the future of money, the BIS reckons the future looks a bit rubbish

A slight twist on the stablecoin trilemma:
You can have too much decentralisation as economics splits the market between users who want security and those after cheap fees.
www.ft.com/content/4724...

Meanwhile, for some a good crisis is an opportunity to unveil their "drone-roll up/publicly traded golf courses" play

www.wsj.com/politics/nat...

At the risk of boring everyone,a little context.

$100 oil in isolation isn’t that bad. It averaged around that level from 2011-2014 without severe economic ramifications*.

It’s the pace of the rise that has people spooked. And not knowing where it might stop.

Make 'em laugh

fintechdystopia.com/chapters/cha...

I was sooo cynical and yet somehow not even close to cynical enough

Where things stand with the Department of War A statement from Dario Amodei

I think one of the most staggering industry shifts in my 16 years as a tech reporter is that it’s not become a question of “should our product help the government kill and/or surveil people?” but “to what extent?”

www.anthropic.com/news/where-s...

Trump Defends Addition Of   Ballroom To    Air Force One

Trump Defends Addition Of   Ballroom To    Air Force One https://theonion.com/trump-defends-addition-of-ballroom-to-air-force-one/

‘Is This Insider Information?’ The Prediction Market Bets Driving a Campus Frenzy Kalshi and Polymarket pour money into deals with social-media influencers and students, who try to parlay rumors into cash.

This piece is great but also insane.

Polymarket has offered to pay fraternities, in exchange for signing up users, money that can be spent on throwing “epic parties”—one frat raised $30,510 over a two-week period.
www.wsj.com/business/med...

Kalshi employees "kind of understand that without the tweets and the streamers and all of the social-media stuff that the traders do for them, usually just for free, their marketing would be a lot harder," said Jack Campion, 20, a junior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Kalshi affiliate. In September, Kalshi briefly signed up a 15-year-old videogame streamer who goes by vertid online to promote its brand on X as an affiliate. A week later, Kalshi ended the partnership. "Yo brother, legal team confirmed that we can't work with minors rn," a Kalshi employee wrote to the user in messages reviewed by the Journal. "Kinda sad tbh."

what the fuck are we doing

www.wsj.com/business/med...

2 young billionaires are behind the prediction market boom. They hate each other The 20-something billionaires who run Kalshi and Polymarket are battling it out to be the top prediction market company. Observers and former insiders say the feud is just heating up.

At the center of the prediction markets boom is a bitter rivalry between two 20-something billionaire fintech bros vying for their companies to be distinct, despite everyone constantly lumping them together

"For them, it's existential," a former Kalshi employee told me

www.npr.org/2026/03/06/n...

Axel Springer poised to buy Telegraph in £500mn deal German media group has gatecrashed a proposed acquisition by the owner of the Daily Mail

Massive UK media scoop - Germany's Axel Springer is poised to agree a shock £500mn deal for the Telegraph in a move that will scupper the acquisition of the UK newspaper group by the Daily Mail. W/ the FT's finest @JFK_America @ArashMassoudi

www.ft.com/content/e5cb...

bravo

NYSE Owner Invests in Crypto Exchange at $25 Billion Valuation Intercontinental Exchange Inc. is acquiring a stake in OKX in a deal that values the cryptocurrency exchange operator at $25 billion.

Scratching my head at this one.

OKX isn't one of the leading players, esp in the US, and a year ago settled for $500m for AML rules violations, when DoJ estimated $5bn of suspicious trades went though OKX.
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Wealthy Dubai residents race back to UAE to avoid tax bills Some risk spending too few days in the emirate and too many in the UK

The forgotten victims of war.
"Some are turning to private jet hire in order to prevent them being disqualified from the UAE’s generous tax status"
www.ft.com/content/80bf...

Federal Reserve grants Kraken access to payments system in first for crypto group Digital assets company will be able to connect directly into key parts of central bank’s infrastructure

This is a big deal for crypto, something it's lacked since the Silvergate network went down in 2023.
www.ft.com/content/d84a...

And I thought removing the Ayatollah without any other plan was the worst idea I'd heard this week.

Ruud knows.

Too many decent athletes, not enough footballers.

Trump: "Effective IMMEDIATELY, I have ordered the United States Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to provide, at a very reasonable price, political risk insurance and guarantees for the Financial Security of ALL Maritime Trade, especially Energy, traveling through the Gulf. This will be available to all Shipping Lines. If necessary, the United States Navy will begin escorting tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, as soon as possible. No matter what, the United States will ensure the FREE FLOW of ENERGY to the WORLD. The United States’ ECONOMIC and MILITARY MIGHT is the GREATEST ON EARTH — More actions to come. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP"

Trump: "I have ordered the US Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to provide political risk insurance and guarantees for the Financial Security of ALL Maritime Trade through Gulf. This will be available to all Shipping Lines. If necessary, the Navy will begin escorting tankers through the Strait"

Incentives drive behaviours

Charlie Munger couldn’t have scripted it better

Polymarket users won big with unusual bets on US attack on Iran FT analysis identifies 12 accounts on platform that made large well-timed wagers just ahead of start of conflict

Polymarket users won big with unusual bets on US attack on Iran
www.ft.com/content/2883...

Melania Trump is chairing a UN Security Council meeting.

I'm not joking.

The US currently holds the presidency of the council and that's who Trump chose as chair.

This is strategising steps ahead of the opposition.

Trump struggles to explain why he launched another Middle Eastern war www.ft.com/content/fd31...

Bank Equity Price Reactions to Stablecoin Legislation The growth of stablecoins could reshape competitive dynamics in banking, but whether this benefits or challenges individual institutions depends on their size and jurisdiction.

Y’all look like you need a break from the grueling news cycle (again!). We’ve got you covered!
Check out our note with @rashad-ahmed.bsky.social on bank equity price reactions to stablecoin legislation!

anderseninstitute.org/bank-equity-...

Polymarket Iran Bets Hit $529 Million as New Wallets Draw Notice As US and Israeli bombs fell on Iran this weekend, bettors on Polymarket — where $529 million was traded on contracts tied to the timing of the strikes — were cashing in. Almost immediately, blockchain sleuths began hunting for unusual patterns in recent bets.

As US and Israeli bombs fell on Iran this weekend, bettors on Polymarket — where $529 million was traded on contracts tied to the timing of the strikes — were cashing in

Allies of me are understood to be begging my fellow journalists to stop letting politicians put out doubtful statements through deniable sourcing.

The 'digital gold' store of value in times of uncertainty

This is amazing.

www.getyourfuckingmoneyback.com

The Trump family’s media group is weighing plans to spin off the Truth Social social media platform that is extensively used by Donald Trump, as it seeks to reposition itself as a major player in nuclear energy.

You can have no idea where this sentence is going as.ft.com/r/4860d9c4-7...