Axios

Bitcoin just had itself a week.

• The cryptocurrency is up nearly 20% from where it was on Wednesday morning.

🤔 So are the bitcoin bulls back?

• The jury's still out, Axios' Pete Gannon writes.

Catch up quick: Bitcoin, which had been languishing below a price of $65,000 since early June, jolted to life Wednesday morning, when the Treasury Department announced plans to step up buybacks of long-dated Treasury securities.

Job hunting in 2026 can mean chatting with a robot, getting rejected by AI, encountering ghost jobs and competing with a flood of applicants.

Why it matters: This isn't just candidates venting on LinkedIn or TikTok. The hiring process is increasingly taking longer and application apathy could be eroding trust in America's job market.

Students are returning to campus as the Trump administration continues to reshape American academia.

The big picture: The administration has leveraged federal education funding and threatened litigation against universities deemed misaligned with policy priorities — moves critics say subject academia to political whims.

President Trump said Friday that he would temporarily increase beef imports free of tariffs and that he had secured a commitment to sell the meat at 25% below current market prices.

Why it matters: A global shortage of cattle has driven up red-meat costs for processors and retailers, making burgers and steaks more expensive on menus and grocery shelves.

As Europe grapples with its own China shock, the U.S. has largely given up on trying to persuade Beijing to change the export-heavy economic model that's helping fuel it.

• It's a sharp break from years of U.S. economic diplomacy — including most recently during the Biden administration.

What they're saying: "We did that for 25 years with our best people, and everything got worse," U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told Axios in an interview this week, referring to efforts to persuade China to shift toward greater consumption.

The China-fueled economic upheaval that helped transform American politics is now hitting Europe.

Why it matters: The new strain on European industry is building pressure for the continent to embrace the type of China crackdown it has long resisted.

• It is the next big test of whether China's export boom will push other major economies toward the more protectionist approach that the U.S. embraced years ago.

Marc Lore has agreed to sell his control stake in the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves and the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx to billionaire investor Marc Stad at a $4.5 billion enterprise value, Axios has confirmed.

Why it matters: The NBA's ownership merry-go-round is spinning furiously, as this comes just a week after Mark Walter agreed to sell the Los Angeles Lakers to Joshua Kushner and Bob Iger for $12.5 billion.

There is a growing disconnect between the business and politics of data centers.

Why it matters: Investors may be whistling past the server racks.

Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena has offered to buy rival Italian lenders Banco BPM and Banca Generali for a combined €34 billion in stock. The two offers aren't "conditionally linked," which means that either could happen without the other.

Why it matters: Banca Monte has been trying to repel a takeover by Italy's largest bank, Intesa Sanpaolo. This new effort could make Intesa's bid look more anticompetitive.

The Treasury Department's unusual bond market intervention Wednesday is prompting questions about its commitment to a longstanding cornerstone of American economic statecraft: the strong dollar policy.

Why it matters: The "strong dollar policy" is shorthand for the U.S. government's commitment to policies guided by economic orthodoxy — concern over debt and deficits, non-intervention in markets and central bank independence, among them — that have for the most part characterized both parties' management of the economy for decades.

The apparent goal of the Treasury Department's announcement on Wednesday — at least in Wall Street's estimation — was lowering long-term bond yields. It worked, but not for long.

Why it matters: Analysts believe that the Treasury's plan to boost its own bond-buying program is a risky undertaking. But has the juice been worth the squeeze?

Oil price changes in response to President Trump's social media posts about the Iran war have been shrinking over time, an Axios analysis shows.

Why it matters: Oil price changes ripple throughout the U.S. and global economies, and the conflict has brought unprecedented supply disruption.

America is caught in a historic capital squeeze:

• On one side: Trillions Washington must borrow to pay for the past.
• On the other: Trillions the economy needs to build the future.

Why it matters: The next president will inherit a fiscal reckoning decades in the making. The price it exacts — on taxes, benefits, borrowing and investment — could shape America's prosperity and power for generations.