From Mining to Artificial Intelligence: A $9.1 Billion Contract Shifts Riot Platforms' Business Model

US September CPI Set for Release Tonight: Overall Inflation May Hit Five-Month High, Potentially Reshaping Fed Rate Path

U.S. September CPI, scheduled for release tonight, is expected to show overall inflation accelerating to its highest monthly pace in five months, potentially reshaping the Federal Reserve's interest rate path. Economists forecast headline CPI rising 0.6% month-on-month and 3.6% year-on-year, largely driven by elevated energy and gasoline prices. In contrast, core CPI (excluding food and energy) is projected to moderate to a 0.2% monthly increase and 2.5% annually, indicating more subdued underlying price pressures. This divergence is crucial for the Fed's policy outlook. Officials remain divided on the need and timing for further rate hikes. While some, like Fed Governor Waller, emphasize policy flexibility and see no need for consecutive hikes, others, like Cleveland Fed President Mester, point to broadening inflation pressures beyond energy and advocate for "timely" adjustments. Market pricing currently shows low odds for an October hike but high expectations for December. Analysts note the asymmetric market risk: a higher-than-expected CPI could trigger a significant reassessment of the Fed's tightening pace, while in-line or softer data would support the view of a pause this month. Key inflation reports and upcoming commentary from Fed officials will be critical as the central bank enters its pre-meeting quiet period ahead of the October 31 decision.

marsbit14m ago

China's Semiconductor Industry's Most Expensive 'Early Bet'

China's semiconductor industry is witnessing one of its most expensive "early bets" as Guangdong-based YueXin Semiconductor, despite consecutive years of heavy losses, achieved a market capitalization exceeding 100 billion RMB on its first day of trading on the ChiNext board. The company's valuation, reaching over 40 times its 2025 revenue, is not based on current profits but on future potential, primarily tied to its position in the silicon photonics (SiPho) market for AI infrastructure. YueXin operates 12-inch wafer fabs focusing on mature process nodes (180nm to 55nm). While it reported a gross margin of -24.46% in H1 2026 and cumulative net losses exceeding 7.5 billion RMB over three and a half years, a key driver for investor optimism is its improving capacity utilization, which reached 96.38% in 2025, helping to reduce per-unit depreciation costs. The core of its high valuation lies in its development of a SiPho process platform, positioning it as a rare player in China capable of mass-producing 12-inch silicon photonics wafers for data centers, with claimed customers including major cloud service providers. This aligns with the growing demand for high-speed interconnects in AI clusters. The company is expanding, with its Phase IV fab targeting more advanced nodes and planning to double its total monthly capacity to 120,000 wafers. However, significant risks remain. The path to profitability is long and dependent on multiple assumptions: successful ramp-up of new capacity, maintaining high utilization, increasing the share of high-value products like SiPho and BCD power management chips, and avoiding severe industry price wars. The company itself projects it may only achieve overall profitability by 2029, a forecast that includes expected government subsidies. In essence, YueXin's market debut represents a "growth option valuation." Investors are paying upfront for its anticipated transition from a loss-making regional fab to a profitable, national-scale player in specialty processes. The ultimate test will be whether, in the coming years, its key financial and operational metrics—gross margin turning positive, sustained high utilization, and revenue growth—can validate this costly early bet.

marsbit14m ago

Fearing Bitcoin Theft, Some People Convert BTC into ETFs

Ledger distributor CryptoBilis's devices suspected of tampering, losses around $100 million, the 'self-custody of private keys' principle for hardware wallets shaken. CZ warns of supply chain risks; OneKey introduces anti-counterfeiting and bus encryption. On October 12, Ledger stated all confirmed cases originated from CryptoBilis. IBIT is being used as a substitute, but the key point is that BlackRock does not hold private keys; all 805,000 BTC are held cold by Coinbase Custody. Subscriptions and redemptions are handled via internal bookkeeping on Coinbase Prime, not on-chain transfers. Actual on-chain movement occurs only during daily end-of-day batch sweeps into cold storage. In August, BlackRock lowered the minimum for swapping Bitcoin for IBIT shares to $1 million. Choosing IBIT means exchanging self-custody risks for multiple layers of trust in Coinbase, BlackRock, brokerages, and trust regulation.

36m ago

Too long; didn't read (TL;DR):<br>· Cognition determines everything. It's all about cognition. Yellow hair, lean muscle, crypto—they're all about cognition.<br>· In the AI era, everything will become very cheap. The only valuable thing is lifespan. Youth is wealth.<br>· You might be rich materially now, but you're poor in terms of your physical body.<br>· Muscle is equivalent to your most important bank account. It's a strategic reserve, it's the cash on your person.<br>· You can't roll back a version; you can only update forward.<br>· Business opportunities must be discovered globally. Never limit yourself to opening a small shop at your doorstep and making money from the old lady downstairs.<br>· You can use cheats to reveal the map; using cheats is revealing the map. With enough information, you don't need to make decisions.<br>· There's no such thing as IQ in this world; there's only the amount of information you have.<br>· All those who become the correct answer did not know they were correct before they became the answer.<br>· Pursuing meaning is actually not that meaningful; the experience itself might be. It's more important to start the journey than to figure out why you're taking it.

45m ago

Dalio Warns: The U.S. Treasury Bear Market Is "Far From Over," Supply-Demand Imbalance Risks Continue to Accumulate

Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates, warns that the bear market for U.S. Treasuries is "far from over," with a structural supply-demand imbalance pushing the market toward a historic debt crisis. He argues the U.S. is in a vicious cycle where rising rates increase borrowing costs and debt levels, a spiral that will continue until the economy and markets are under sufficient stress to restore balance. This contrasts with more bullish views from firms like BlackRock and Morgan Stanley Investment Management. Dalio cites data showing U.S. government debt relative to revenue is at its highest since WWII and worsening. With approximately $32 trillion in marketable debt outstanding, net issuance is projected to hit $2.1 trillion this year, alongside rolling over about $10 trillion in maturing debt. The Treasury is increasingly relying on short-term bills (now ~50% of issuance vs. a typical 20%), raising rollover risks and future interest costs as rates rise. A critical pressure point is weakening foreign demand. Overseas investors hold about $3.2 trillion of Treasuries, but purchases are slowing as supply climbs. Japan and China are key: Japanese policymakers may incentivize domestic institutions to repatriate funds to support the yen and JGBs, while China's substantial holdings (estimated by Dalio at ~$4 trillion in total U.S. financial assets) face motivation to reduce exposure due to potential yuan strength and FX losses. Competition for capital is intensifying. Total net fixed-income financing needs (federal, corporate, household, local government) could reach ~$4.4 trillion in 2027, excluding rollovers. Corporate bond issuance, fueled by AI-related capex, is up nearly 30% year-on-year, straining credit markets as spreads widen. Rising debt servicing costs are squeezing fiscal space. A 1 percentage point increase in the average interest rate would add roughly $310 billion in annual interest expense. With market rates between 4-5.5% versus the existing debt's ~3.5% average, refinancing at higher rates will steadily increase the burden. Dalio notes total debt service costs are approaching 200% of federal tax revenues, raising "death spiral" risks. Globally, OECD government borrowing is hitting record levels (~$18 trillion in 2026), adding to market pressure. Even equities face headwinds as companies have become net equity issuers, with annualized issuance reaching $1.8 trillion in H1 2026, largely driven by AI funding needs. Dalio concludes that the supply of financial assets (debt and equity) appears to far exceed what demand can absorb. He expects rates to keep rising until the imbalance narrows, ultimately putting pressure on interest-sensitive sectors of the economy and markets.

marsbit49m ago