Author: GT

Linktree is launching a set of new features aimed at helping creators earn more money directly from its platform. The new tools include the ability to sell courses, earn from brand-sponsored links, and build shoppable storefronts. The launch of the new monetization features will help Linktree stand out among other similar platforms like Beacons and Shorby, as they expand on Linktree’s simple link-in-bio service. The new features also enable Linktree to compete with creator monetization platforms like Patreon. To allow users to build and sell courses directly on Linktree, the company is partnering with Kajabi. The new capability will enable…

The crypto market’s rally stalled on Wednesday after U.S. Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent reiterated that a proper trade deal between Washington and Beijing would take years to ink out. Bitcoin (BTC) is up 2.6% in the last 24 hours and 12.2% in the last seven days, trading at $93,600 for the first time since the beginning of March. The largest cryptocurrency was outperformed by large swaths of the market, with the CoinDesk 20 — an index of the top 20 coins, excluding stablecoins, memecoins and exchange tokens — rose 4.2% in the last 24 hours. Sui (SUI) jumped 24%…

Health insurance giant Blue Shield of California is notifying millions of people of a data breach. The company confirmed on Wednesday that it had been sharing patients’ private health information with tech and advertising giant Google since 2021. The insurer said that the data sharing stopped in January 2024, but it only learned this February that the years-long collection contained patients’ personal and sensitive health information. Blue Shield said it used Google Analytics to track how its customers used its websites, but a misconfiguration had allowed for personal and health information to be collected as well, such as the search…

Investors continued to buy risk assets on Wednesday, including growth stocks, tech stocks, and cryptocurrencies, following a sharp move higher on Tuesday. And as highly correlated assets, it’s no surprise they’re all up in unison today. The move in crypto is largely because of macroeconomic news, rather than anything about crypto itself. Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) is up 2.9% since the stock market closed yesterday, Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) is up 5.1%, and Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) is up 6.2%. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue » The…

Finding new sources of critical minerals is a costly business. Worldwide, companies spent $12 to $13 billion on exploration in 2023. The upshot: Mining is the definition of a hit-or-miss business. Companies today use advanced models of the Earth’s crust to pinpoint the best prospects, but even then only about three out of 1,000 attempts to find a deposit are successful. Prospectors still have to drill deep into the Earth, pulling up cores of rock to prove if their hunch was correct. “About 70% of the capital that exploration companies raise goes to drilling,” Ted Feldmann, founder and CEO of…

XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) is moving higher thanks to some positive-looking developments on the macroeconomic front and a potential coin-specific catalyst trading. The cryptocurrency’s token price was up 2.4% over the previous 24 hours of trading as of 5:45 p.m. ET. Meanwhile, Bitcoin was up 2.7% over the last day, and Ethereum had risen 4.3%. After comments from President Donald Trump yesterday indicating that tariffs on Chinese products would come down substantially, Reuters reported today that the administration was open to lowering import taxes on the country’s goods from 145% to between 50% and 65%. Adding another positive catalyst, President Trump…

The European Union has fined Apple €500 million (about $568 million) and Meta €200 million (about $227 million) for allegedly breaching the bloc’s Digital Markets Act, according to The Wall Street Journal. The EU has accused Apple of failing to comply with an obligation to allow app developers to inform customers of alternative ways to buy digital products. In regard to Meta, the EU says that the company must stop requiring users on Instagram and Facebook to agree to personalized ads or be forced to pay for a subscription. The Commission is still deciding whether it will accept Meta’s “less-personalized…

WhatsApp announced on Wednesday it’s launching a new feature that will allow users to add an extra layer of privacy to chats. The new “Advanced Chat Privacy” setting prevents you and the people you’re chatting with from exporting chats and auto-downloading media to their phone. The setting also prevents users from mentioning Meta AI in messages or asking Meta AI questions. The idea behind the feature is to give everyone in a group reassurance that no one can take what is being shared and said outside the chat. It’s worth noting that users can still take individual screenshots. WhatsApp says…

NEW YORK (AP) — Elon Musk has been called a Moonshot Master, the Edison of Our Age and the Architect of the Future, but he’s got a big problem at his car company and it’s not clear he can fix it: damage to its brand.Sales have plunged for Tesla amid protests and boycotts over Musk’s embrace of far right-wing views. Profits have been sliced by two-thirds so far this year, and rivals from China, Europe and the U.S. are pouncing. On Tuesday came some relief as Musk announced in an earnings call with investors that he would be scaling back…

Photo: Win McNamee (Getty Images) Bitcoin continued it torrid trading streak, flirting with $94,000 on Wednesday morning, despite a robust stock market rally. Some investors have been pulling money out of stocks and stashing them in gold and crypto, which have sent the values of both soaring. Analysts remain bullish on Bitcoin and how high it could go. Robert Kiyosaki, investor and Bitcoin expert, tweeted on April 20, “BITCOIN is $84k today. Strongly believe Bitcoin will reach $180k to $200k in 2025.” Kiyosaki is not alone in his thinking. “There is high short-term uncertainty, but we see solid foundations for…