The founder of HyperVerse, one of the many iterations of a crypto project accused by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission of being a pyramid scheme, continues to promote new projects.
Why it matters: It's become increasingly cool in crypto to publicly challenge regulatory authority, but Sam Lee, who's also wanted on U.S. criminal fraud charges, is testing the limits.
The U.S. government's debt is on track to rise to $54 trillion over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
The big picture: Raw numbers don't tell you much about whether a given level of debt is burdensome or not. The rubber-meets-road test of sustainability is how much of the nation's resources go to service that debt every year — and the news is gloomy.
Americans under 40 saw their wealth rise by a staggering 80% since pre-pandemic — a far higher rate than any other age group, per new data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Why it matters: This is about "stonks and stimmies" — as well as the risk-taking proclivities of youth.
The U.S. deficit is expected to climb over the next 10 years with higher interest payments set to account for a historic share of government spending, the Congressional Budget Office said on Wednesday.
Why it matters: New projections from the nonpartisan agency show deficits jumping from $1.6 trillion this year to $2.6 trillion in 2034, alongside a slightly less gloomy prediction for the nation's fiscal health than previously estimated.
But a little company in the U.K. with 25 employees has been sending things into space for over a decade.
Sent Into Space, the WSJ noted today, makes a business out of sending "stuff" into "space" (at 110,000 feet, it's technically just the stratosphere, but the pictures will fool you).
Details: A chicken nugget, Jameson whiskey, a wedding dress, and a meat-and-potato pie have all taken the trip, per the report.
Um, why? It's fueled some pretty good marketing campaigns. And why not?
Between the lines: There are no rockets involved. A polyethylene balloon takes the object up for its photo shoot before descending back down to Earth.
A single trip can cost between a few thousand dollars to "hundreds of thousands," per the WSJ.
"Continued investments in diversity initiatives are essential to the success of your business and our country's economy."
— Leaders of a dozen nonprofits representing the economic rights of minority communities, in a letter today to Fortune 500 CEOs, assailing the backlash to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission isn't done cracking down on crypto lending — it announced a $3 million in fines against TradeStation over its lending program today.
Why it matters: Offering customers yield for allowing a third party to lend out their cryptoassets was a popular product in the blockchain business, but then many of the companies offering it fell apart in 2022.
Toyota expects to notch an annual profit of more than $30 billion when its fiscal year closes in March, it said Tuesday.
Why it matters: That would be a record profit for the Japanese car giant, suggesting its decision to emphasize gas-hybrid vehicles, rather than fully electric models, is paying off.
Meta stock hit a high above $485 per share on Friday. That's a jump of more than 23% from where it closed on Thursday before the company reported earnings and announced its first-ever dividend.
Why it matters: Dividends are a form of financial engineering. They don't change anything fundamental about a company's size or profitability — and yet they can have an enormous effect on its valuation.
