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Bernstein revisits long-term agreements (LTAs) in the memory industry, highlighting new contracts with purchase commitments, minimum prices, and financial guarantees signed by Micron and SanDisk. These aim to provide an earnings floor for the coming years. Micron has 16 strategic customer agreements, with 14 representing approximately $100 billion in minimum revenue and about $22 billion in cash deposits/commitments. SanDisk has contracts for around $42 billion in minimum revenue and over $11 billion in guarantees. Combined, these ~$33 billion in guarantees make it more costly for major clients to walk away. However, Bernstein models that the potential revenue needing protection over 3-5 years is around $5.2 trillion. The existing guarantees thus cover only about 0.6% of that scale. While LTAs provide a cushion, they cannot fully shield profits in a severe downturn, as clients may still find it cheaper to breach contracts if spot prices fall deeply below floor prices. LTAs are most suitable for large, credit-worthy customers like U.S. cloud service providers with stable, high-volume AI infrastructure needs. Consumer segments (phones, PCs) and some Chinese clients are less likely to adopt them, leaving an estimated 30-50% of the DRAM/NAND market exposed to spot price volatility. AI demand (e.g., HBM for training, storage for inference) supports higher valuations and makes LTAs more attractive for locking in high-demand customers. Yet, Bernstein stresses that LTAs soften, but do not eliminate, the memory cycle. Their true test will come in the next downturn, revealing whether clients honor contracts and whether guarantees provide sufficient pain to maintain supplier discipline.

To purchase the experimental weight-loss drug retatrutide, Americans like Zach are turning to Bitcoin despite initial skepticism. Retatrutide, an unapproved triple-agonist from Eli Lilly, offers significant weight loss but is inaccessible through U.S. channels. Buying from domestic resellers costs around $3,600 annually, whereas Zach found a Chinese seller offering a year’s supply for $240—with Bitcoin as the only payment option. This price disparity led him to learn cryptocurrency for the transaction. Online sellers of such “research chemicals” or peptides often use Bitcoin because traditional payment systems avoid the regulatory and legal risks. Chainalysis data shows crypto payments to grey-market peptide sellers reached $32 million in Q1 2026, suggesting an annualized volume exceeding $100 million, though this remains a fraction of the estimated $1-3 billion black market. The trend intersects with communities like DeSciNYC, where events on peptides draw crowds interested in biohacking and longevity, indicating shared interests between crypto and wellness circles. However, potential FDA moves to legalize certain peptides could shift demand away from the black market and reduce the need for crypto payments.

Cryptocurrency ATM operator Cryptolink has had its 96 terminals temporarily disabled across Australia. The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) suspended the company's registration for three months due to repeated failures to comply with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) rules. Despite a previous fine and an agreement to hire independent auditors, Cryptolink allegedly stopped reporting large transactions (over ~USD 7,000) and failed to respond to regulatory requests. The company's terminals, primarily located in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane, allowed users to buy and (where enabled) sell cryptocurrency for cash, with transaction limits up to ~USD 3,530. This action is part of AUSTRAC's heightened scrutiny of the crypto sector, which it considers high-risk for financial crime. The regulator has signaled it will enforce strict compliance on all crypto service providers, including physical terminal operators.

A U.S. court has issued an order against former FTX top executives Ryan Salame and Caroline Ellison, banning them from obtaining CFTC licenses for ten and eight years respectively. This is the outcome of the CFTC's case following the collapse of the crypto exchange FTX in 2022. Ellison was sentenced to two years in prison in September 2024 and was released in January 2026. Salame received a three-year probation sentence. The CFTC stated their cooperation with the investigation led to the reduced sentences. Meanwhile, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried continues to serve his prison term and is not eligible for release until 2044, with his appeal for a reduced sentence recently denied. Separately, FTX has begun distributing approximately $900 million to affected creditors as part of its reorganization plan, with payments going through BitGo, Kraken, and Payoneer to verified customers.

A US court has banned former top executives of the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, Nishad Singh and Gary Wang, from trading. The order also requires them to cooperate with the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and prohibits them from obtaining licenses from the regulator for ten and eight years, respectively. This concludes a lengthy CFTC proceeding against the former leaders of FTX, which collapsed in 2022. Singh was sentenced to two years in prison in September 2024 and was released in January 2026. Wang received a three-year probation sentence without imprisonment. The CFTC cited their cooperation with the investigation as a reason for the reduced penalties, which allowed them to avoid harsher sentences. FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried continues to serve a prison sentence and will not be released until 2044. His recent attempts to appeal the sentence and seek a pardon were rejected by an appeals court, and the US Senate has recommended against granting him a presidential pardon. Separately, since July 31, FTX has been distributing approximately $900 million to affected creditors as part of its reorganization plan. Payments are being made to accounts at BitGo, Kraken, and Payoneer, but are only available to clients who have completed KYC verification and provided tax forms.