Axios

Nvidia earnings reports have become a spectacle in recent quarters, underscoring the AI boom and fueling the stock's meteoric rise.

Why it matters: The AI chips company — whose stock is up 97% this year — reports its fiscal Q1 earnings after the closing bell tomorrow.

What we're watching: Analysts are expecting quarterly revenue of $24.6 billion, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

• That would be well over triple the company's performance from a year earlier.

What they're saying: "With markets trending upward and emotions in check, Nvidia's performance will be pivotal in gauging the sustainability of the current market run and the potential for a more inclusive market rally," writes Nationwide chief of investment research Mark Hackett.

The Energy Department is planning a yard sale for the Northeast Gasoline Supply Reserve.

• The release of 42 million gallons of gasoline into the commercial market is intended to lower bills at the pump this summer for U.S. Northeast drivers.

Between the lines: The government will sell 1 million barrels of gas in 10 allotments that should flow to local retailers before the July 4th holiday.

• The requirement to sell off the reserve was included in a recent funding deal from Congress, AP noted.

By the numbers: Gasoline prices average about $3.59 nationally, up around 6 cents from a year ago, according to AAA.

Reality check: Market participants in March were split on how big an impact the release would have on prices, per S&P Global.

We here at Closer are all over the luxury fruit beat, which is why we can't pass up the chance to tell you about the $400 pineapple.

The rumors are true: The Rubyglow Pineapple — made by wholesaler Fresh Del Monte Produce — was briefly on sale at California-based Melissa's Produce for $395.99.

• Devastatingly, it's sold out now.

Context: Two years ago, we told you about the $6 Oishii strawberry, but this takes premium pricing to a new level.

🍍 Nathan's thought bubble: You could have a Rubyglow or, with today's sale price at Walmart, you could be the proud owner of 200 regular pineapples.

Nestlé on Tuesday announced a new frozen food brand aimed at weight-loss drug users in one of the first direct responses by a major food company to the surging GLP-1 medications.

Why it matters: Debate is swirling over whether this new class of treatments will reshape how Americans eat.

At least one person died and 71 more were injured after a Singapore Airlines flight encountered severe turbulence Monday night while flying from London to Singapore, according to multiple reports.

The big picture: ​​​Turbulence-related accidents are the most common type of incident involving air carriers, but deaths from turbulence are rare, according to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

"If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" is an old philosophical thought experiment. There is a monetary policy equivalent right now: If high interest rates don't visibly slow the economy, are they doing anything to bring inflation down?

Why it matters: It's unclear how much the Fed's high interest rate policy is exerting downward pressure on economic activity, raising profound questions about the central bank's power to guide the economy and manage inflation.

Michael Sonnenshein stepped down as chief of Grayscale Investments yesterday... to applause.

The big picture: He was at the helm when the firm aggressively lobbied for spot bitcoin ETFs, and when it won a historic court ruling against the SEC that paved the way for their collective January launch.

• 🍊 That's a shimmering orange feather in Sonnenshein's cap that both traditional finance and crypto can appreciate.

Catch up quick: He expressed "deep gratitude" toward those who were also on what he called "this incredible rocket ship journey" in social media posts, to which industry denizens responded with an outpouring of congratulations.

The price of ether got a surprise bump as odds of an ether ETF approval seemed to increase overnight.

What's happening: Would-be issuers were reportedly told by the SEC to return lightly tweaked 19b-4 filings by this morning.

• Fidelity's amended filing landed, showing dropped mentions of staking features — likely something all issuers will do.

Behind the scenes: Bloomberg Intelligence analysts pivoted on their forecast, raising odds of approval to 75% from 25%, based on "chatter" that the SEC could flip because of politics.

Speaking of DCG subsidiaries, a bankruptcy judge approved Genesis Global's wind-down plan late last week, paving the way for some creditors to get their funds back.

Why it matters: Some $3 billion in cash and crypto will be returned to the lender's creditors, including 232,000 customers of the Gemini Earn program.

By the numbers: Genesis' plan to distribute about 77% of the value of customer claims would seem paltry against FTX's proposed plan to recoup customers 100%, plus interest, but it's better for those holding crypto because they'll get a refund in-kind.

• Like most corporate bankruptcies, FTX's plan fixes creditor claims on the value of the assets when the exchange filed for bankruptcy.

The financial promise of weight-loss drugs is giving another company a boost: This time it's Hims & Hers.

Zoom in: The telehealth company's stock soared over 27% Monday after it said it would begin selling compounded versions of the GLP-1 injections that are soaring in popularity.

OpenAI is pulling back its flirty and "very friendly" voice amid backlash that the tech company is catering to male fantasies with its latest ChatGPT update.

Why it matters: Female voices and personalities have long been used as the default for virtual assistants, which experts say reinforces gender stereotypes and fuels misogyny.

The intrigue: OpenAI's volte-face comes a week after CEO Sam Altman tweeted just one word — "her," the name of the 2013 Spike Jonze film about a man who falls in love with an AI.

• In the movie, the AI's voice was played by Scarlett Johansson.

💭 Our thought bubble, via Axios' Scott Rosenberg: OpenAI hasn't indicated it has any qualms or concerns about the over-friendliness of "Sky," the voice in its demo. But the company wants everyone to understand that "Sky" has no relationship whatsoever to Johansson.

College graduates will join the workforce at a time when the hiring is expected to cool and inflation is still higher than at any point in their formative years.

Why it matters: The outlook is no doubt better than four years ago, when most entered college alongside a pandemic-wrecked economy. Still, grads are grappling with high-stakes questions similar to those facing economists — including when price hikes will slow and how much the labor market might need to soften for that to happen.

OK, you might be thinking, those things sound fine, but why do these projects need to pay participants in these networks in magic space money?

• Why not just actually pay them?

The answer: Because tokens allow participants in the network to share ownership and risk.

Example: Let's imagine I wanted to start a company to measure water levels and flows in bodies of water (rivers, lakes) all over the world. So I create specs for devices and software to do it well.

• I manufacture some but I also open-source it all so that other people could build similar devices to spec, right?
• One option: I could try to raise money, but it would be impossible to know how much would be needed and investors might not bite.

Think of a deck of cards. Thousands of games can be played with a deck of cards, and no permission is needed to invent new ones.

• In fact, a creative person could invent a game that combined a deck of cards with a chessboard, if they wanted. In fact, they have.

Why it matters: Imagine if computer games were as flexible. Directionally, that's where blockchain gaming is headed. In theory.

• Imaginations could really run wild if it were as easy to invent in video games as it is in analog games.

State of play: Crypto people are trying very hard to crack the gaming code, but the efforts so far have been mostly, eh 😒.

San Francisco Fed president Mary Daly told Axios on Friday that it's not clear whether inflation is definitively receding and there is no "urgency" to adjust interest rates.

Why it matters: Inflation cooled for the first time in 2024 last month, relieving economists that progress might not have stalled out. But one month of data has not convinced Fed officials that price pressures are evaporating in a way that puts near-term interest rates back on the table.

Michael Sonnenshein has stepped down as chief of Grayscale Investments, the issuer behind the largest spot bitcoin fund best known by its ticker, GBTC.

Why it matters: Prior to bitcoin ETF approvals in January, The Grasycale Bitcoin trust had been the only game in town since 2013 — but it has started buckling under new competitive pressure since its conversion, hemorrhaging assets and suffering several consecutive weeks of outflows.

The Biden administration released a memo to its allies outlining its actions to combat rising costs — and blaming Republicans for blocking its efforts.

Why it matters: It's an attempt to tell Americans that the White House is focused on bringing prices down at a time when voters are unhappy with the economy, and hold the president responsible for inflation.