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- 📈 Trump made $1 billion from crypto in 2025 | Anthropic's AI models restrictions lifted
📈 Trump made $1 billion from crypto in 2025 | Anthropic's AI models restrictions lifted
Here's what you need to know today
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The Big Picture
Trump made $1 billion from crypto in first year back in office. President President Trump's 2025 financial disclosure reveals he earned more than $1 billion from cryptocurrency in his first year back in office. $635m was made in royalties from his own crypto coin and over $500m from World Liberty Financial, a crypto firm founded by his sons. (BBC)
Sydney and Melbourne drag housing market. Capital city home values fell 1.3% over the June quarter, led by Sydney down 3.2% and Melbourne down 2.6%. Regional markets rose 1.1% over the quarter but Cotality warns the pace of growth is slowing there as well. (Capital Brief)
US stocks record biggest quarterly gain in six years. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq surged 14.9% and 21.4% respectively in the three months to June 30, their best quarterly performance since 2020 when markets bounced back from the initial COVID sell-off. Memory companies and AI infrastructure businesses were the biggest winners for the quarter. (FT)
Supreme Court rejects Trump's birthright citizenship order. The Supreme Court has voted 6-3 to strike down Trump's executive order limiting birthright citizenship. The ruling reaffirms that the Constitution guarantees citizenship to nearly all children born on US soil, dealing a significant blow to a policy Trump has pursued for more than a decade. (NYT)
Government considers banning accounting firms from non-audit services. The federal government is considering banning large accounting firms from providing non-audit services. Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino declared industry ethics "simply not good enough" following a string of scandals involving PwC, KPMG and EY. (Capital Brief)
Companies in the news
US lifts export restrictions on Anthropic's AI models. The US Commerce Department has lifted restrictions on Anthropic's Fable 5 and Mythos AI models after the company resolved safety concerns. The restrictions had required US government approval before any foreign national could access the models. Access will be restored from today. (AFR)
ARN drops Karl Stefanovic. ARN Media has cut Karl Stefanovic from a show co-hosted with Eddie McGuire just two episodes in. The move follows Nine parting ways with the long-time Today show host after Stefanovic triggered controversy with a podcast interview with right-wing British figure Tommy Robinson. (AFR)
Lime raises US$167m in Nasdaq IPO. Lime has raised US$167m in its initial public offering, with trading in parent company Neutron Holdings set to begin on the Nasdaq tomorrow. The e-bike and scooter rental company has emerged as one of the few survivors of a capital-intensive race. (FT)
Nike beats expectations but China sales slide. Nike topped Wall Street expectations with gross margin rising 8.9%, boosted by a $986 million tariff refund. However, a 12% drop in China sales sent shares down as much as 8% in after-hours trading before recovering. (CNBC)
FDA clears Zyn to market as less harmful than cigarettes. The US Food and Drug Administration has cleared Philip Morris-owned Zyn nicotine pouches to carry modified-risk marketing claims. The ruling will allow the product to advertise that switching from cigarettes to Zyn reduces the risk of mouth cancer, heart disease, lung cancer, stroke and other conditions. (CNBC)
Coles eyes $4 billion acquisition of Australia’s largest pet care company. Coles is in discussions to acquire Greencross, the largest pet care provider in Australia, with private equity owner TPG targeting around $4 billion. Coles would be following Woolworths, which acquired a 55% stake in Petstock in 2024, into the booming pet care sector. (AFR)
Ford rehires human engineers after AI fails quality checks
In a small win for the good guys, Ford has rehired more than 300 veteran quality inspectors after AI-powered systems failed to match their skills. Ford executives admitted the technology did not live up to expectations despite rolling out 900 AI cameras across its plants.
The savvy veteran workers have since been brought back to conduct the quality checks, mentor younger staff and also help train AI systems, a reminder that the path from AI promise to practical application remains bumpy. Better luck next time AI. (BBC)
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Alan Kohler: Property Is Now a Bad Investment
Alan Kohler has been covering Australian finance for more than 50 years and has seen plenty of ups and downs in his time. He joined us on a recent episode of Equity Mates Investing and broke down why he believes housing can no longer be Australia’s wealth-building engine. (Spotify | Apple | YouTube)
Alan: "I do think that property's a bad investment now. Housing has to stop being the way that people build wealth and just a place to live."
Alan has three key points to his case.
First, the supply side is finally responding. Housing construction is rising for the first time in years. The federal government's negative gearing changes and the halving of the capital gains discount are modest but real signals. Alan thinks Sydney and Melbourne prices are already falling and expects that trend to spread nationally through the rest of the year.
Second, the interest rate environment has structurally shifted. The era of rates that supercharged property values over the past decade is over. Alan does not expect rates to rise again, but he also does not expect them to fall meaningfully. That removes one of the key engines of property price growth.
Third, immigration is coming down. The post-pandemic surge was staggering. Treasury forecast 185,000 arrivals in 2022. The actual number was 513,000. That mismatch drove an enormous amount of housing demand that the market could not absorb.
Put it together and Alan's view is that Australia may be entering a prolonged period of flat or falling real house prices for the first time in a generation. Not a crash, but a slow shift in the role property plays in how Australians build wealth.
For investors who have always assumed property is a one-way bet, that is a significant change in the rules of the game.
