Author: GT

Consumer-grade phone surveillance apps aren’t only intended to stay stealthy; some of these apps are also making it increasingly difficult to remove them.  TechCrunch has identified a stealthy phone monitoring app for Android that requires a password to uninstall, effectively blocking Android device owners from being able to remove the app. The spyware app, which we’re not naming so as to not give it any publicity, relies on whoever is planting the app to enable a built-in feature in Android that allows apps to “overlay” content on top of all other apps. Once granted this permission, the spyware app uses…

The crypto market has lost 6% of its total market cap within the last 24 hours as President Trump’s announcement of Bitcoin has fallen 6% to $81,000 within the last 24 hours following Trump’s White House speech on Wednesday during which he announced a plan for sprawling new tariffs on foreign imports. Cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin have been hit harder by the news, with Ethereum falling 7%, Solana falling 13%, and XRP falling 8%. The overall value of the entire crypto market has tumbled $160 billion in the last 24 hours, from $2.78 trillion to $2.62 trillion. The crypto market…

Thatch, a startup that aims to transform the health insurance experience for employers and employees alike, has raised $40 million in a Series B round of funding, it tells TechCrunch exclusively. Index Ventures led the financing, which included participation from existing backers Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), General Catalyst, SemperVirens, PeopleTech Partners, The General Partnership, and new investor ADP Ventures. In total since its October 2021 inception, Thatch has raised $84.5 million in equity funding.  While the San Francisco-based startup declined to reveal its new valuation, co-founder Adam Stevenson told TechCrunch that it was about three times higher than its Series A…

Hidden Road, a prime broker that focuses on both crypto and traditional assets, has received an inbound takeover approach, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. Takeover talks are ongoing with a crypto native company that wants to acquire Hidden Road, the people said, but there is no certainty that any deal will be done. Hidden Road declined to comment. The company has raised about $50 million in the last 12 months, from investors including crypto venture capital firm Dragonfly Capital, one of the people said. One of the investors, a crypto native firm, has since made an…

Elon Musk has long been credited with turning Tesla into a beacon of innovation, the visionary who pushed the world into an era of electrification. But his slide into politics — specifically his alignment with President Trump and activities within the federal government — has dragged Tesla into uncertainty.  For many would-be Tesla buyers, the brand has lost its progressive luster. And while Musk has long been the face of Tesla, that link has taken a negative turn as the billionaire oversees mass layoffs and the elimination of federal programs via the Department of Government Efficiency. Tesla’s disappointing first-quarter deliveries…

Coinbase COIN and Robinhood HOOD are two names that are discussed simultaneously when it comes to topics related to cryptocurrency. Both these stocks have been under the spotlight, given President Donald Trump’s crypto favoritism. Movement in Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency, impacts these stocks.  The easing of regulatory control to accelerate crypto adoption, including institutional, raises optimism. Integrating artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain technology to enhance security and efficiency is appreciable. However, cyber threats remain a challenge. But as an investment option, which stock is more attractive? Let’s closely look at the fundamentals of these stocks. America’s largest registered crypto exchange is…

As YouTube Shorts continues to compete with TikTok, the platform is announcing new upcoming features to help creators publish engaging short-form videos. Creators will get access to an improved video editor, the ability to generate AI stickers, a feature that syncs content to the beat of a song, enhanced templates, and more. The launch of the new tools comes just days before the April 5 TikTok ban deadline. Given the timing of the announcement, YouTube is likely looking to court creators to its platform and capitalize on the potential void left by TikTok if it faces a ban in the…

The global market rout on Thursday, sparked by President Donald Trump’s announcement of widespread tariffs, had an outsized effect on fintech companies and credit card issuers that are closely tied to consumer spending and credit.Affirm, which offers buy now, pay later purchasing options, plunged 19%, while stock trading app Robinhood slid 10% and payments company PayPal fell 8%. American Express and Capital One each tumbled 10%, and Discover was down more than 8%.President Trump on Wednesday laid out the U.S. “reciprocal tariff” rates that more than 180 countries and territories, including European Union members, will face under his sweeping new trade…

More than two years after Google was caught flat-footed by the release of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, the company has dramatically picked up the pace. In late March, Google launched an AI reasoning model, Gemini 2.5 Pro, that leads the industry on several benchmarks measuring coding and math capabilities. That launch came just three months after the tech giant debuted another model, Gemini 2.0 Flash, that was state-of-the-art for the time. Google’s director and head of product for Gemini, Tulsee Doshi, told TechCrunch in an interview that the increasing cadence of the company’s model launches is part of a concerted effort to…

Bitcoin (BTC) is under significant pressure following President Donald Trump’s announcement of new trade tariffs, raising concerns among investors about a potential decline to $71,000. According to Charles Edwards, founder of Capriole Investments, the crypto is experiencing “very high risk” conditions due to these tariffs. On April 2, Bitcoin’s value dropped nearly 8.5% in response to the tariff announcement, contrasting sharply with the S&P 500, which managed a slight gain of 0.7% on the same day. Edwards highlighted that the uncertainty surrounding U.S. business expectations is reminiscent of previous economic downturns observed in 2000, 2008, and 2022. He noted that…