🤝Telegram’s xAI Deal Hits Pause

Good morning. It's Thursday, May. 29, and we're covering, Nvidia Shares Surge As Earnings Smash Expectations, Despite $8B China Hit, Telegram CEO Announces $300M xAI Deal, Musk Denies It’s Signed, U.S. Court Blocks Most Trump Tariffs, Says He Overstepped Authority, and much more. First time reading? Sign up to get this newsletter: Sign up here.

We always Listen and respond to questions and feedback, email us at [email protected]

MARKETS

Cryptocurrency Prices by Market Cap

• The global cryptocurrency market cap today is $3.42 Trillion, a 0.63% decrease in the last 24 hours.

• The total crypto market volume over the last 24 hours is $128.95B, which makes a 0.87% increase.

• The total volume in Defi is currently $40.86B, 31.69% of the total crypto market 24-hours.

• The volume of all stablecoins is now $123B, which is 95.39% of the total market 24-hour volume.

• Bitcoin’s dominance is currently 62.66%, a decrease of 0.38% over the day.

$10B Bitcoin Options Expiry Looms, Volatility Ahead

Over $10 billion in Bitcoin options are set to expire on Deribit this Friday at 08:00 UTC, with traders laser-focused on the $95K–$105K range—a critical zone due to heavy delta exposure. Around 93,000 contracts will settle, split 53% calls (bullish bets) and 47% puts (protection against price drops). While Bitcoin trades near $107,700, the potential for gamma-driven hedging as contracts expire could create price turbulence, particularly near the $100K mark. According to Volmex, $2.8B in delta exposure is concentrated at $95K, $100K, and $105K, raising the risk of dealer-driven market moves. (Read Deeper)

BUSINESS & FINANCE

Nvidia Shares Surge As Earnings Smash Expectations, Despite $8B China Hit

Nvidia defied concerns over U.S. chip export restrictions to China, posting first-quarter revenue of $44.1B, up 69% year-over-year, and earnings of $0.96 per share, both beating Wall Street forecasts. The company’s data center business alone grew 73%, driven by global demand for AI infrastructure. Despite losing $8 billion in revenue and taking $4.5 billion in inventory write-downs from blocked GPU exports to China, Nvidia’s stock surged nearly 5% after hours, bringing it close to record highs. The company is now the world’s most valuable, surpassing Microsoft and Apple in market cap.

Why It Matters: Nvidia’s results reinforce its dominance in the AI boom, even as the $50B Chinese market effectively closes. With backing from Trump’s AI agenda and new ventures abroad, Nvidia is positioning itself as the global AI infrastructure backbone for the next decade. (Read Deeper)

E.l.f. Beauty To Acquire Hailey Bieber’s Skincare Brand Rhode In Deal Worth Up To $1B

E.l.f. Beauty is acquiring Hailey Bieber’s skincare brand Rhode in a deal valued at up to $1 billion, its biggest acquisition yet. The deal includes $800M in cash and stock, plus an additional $200M earn-out based on future performance. Rhode, launched in 2022, has already hit $212M in annual revenue with only 10 products and no retail footprint (yet). Hailey Bieber will stay on as chief creative officer, overseeing product innovation and marketing. Rhode was the No. 1 skincare brand in earned media value last year, growing 367% YoY.

Why It Matters: This is a bold bet on the continued strength of celebrity-led, high-end skincare amid tariff uncertainty and slowing organic growth. E.l.f. is funding $600M with debt at a time of high interest rates and sourcing 75% of its goods from China, where Trump-era tariffs may soon rise. (Read Deeper)

TECHNOLOGY & SCIENCE

Telegram CEO Announces $300M xAI Deal, Musk Denies It’s Signed

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov announced a $300 million partnership with Elon Musk’s xAI, saying the deal will bring Grok, xAI’s AI chatbot to Telegram users starting this summer. The yearlong agreement reportedly includes a $300M upfront payment to Telegram and 50% revenue sharing on xAI subscriptions sold through the platform. But hours later, Musk posted on X that "no deal has been signed," casting doubt on the announcement. xAI and Telegram have not responded to clarification requests.

Why It Matters: If confirmed, this would be a major leap for Grok’s global reach—integrating with a massive, encrypted messaging network used heavily in Eastern Europe and beyond. But Musk’s denial highlights ongoing uncertainty about how his companies are governed and communicate. (Read Deeper)

China’s DeepSeek Quietly Updates Its R1 AI Model, Closes Gap With OpenAI

Chinese AI startup DeepSeek has quietly released an update to its R1 reasoning model, further intensifying competition with U.S. leaders like OpenAI. The new version, R1-0528, was uploaded to Hugging Face without an official announcement or release notes. LiveCodeBench, a prominent reasoning and code generation benchmark from UC Berkeley, MIT, and Cornell, ranks DeepSeek's latest just behind OpenAI’s o4 mini and o3 — and ahead of Elon Musk’s xAI (Grok 3 Mini) and Alibaba’s Qwen 3. While DeepSeek reps call R1-0528 a "minor trial upgrade," the company is still expected to launch a more powerful R2 model later this year.

Why It Matters: This low-key but high-performing update signals that China’s AI frontier is rapidly catching up, even amid U.S. export restrictions. The race is no longer just about raw power — it’s about agility, efficiency, and execution. (Read Deeper)

AROUND DE WORLD & POLITICS

U.S. Court Blocks Most Trump Tariffs, Says He Overstepped Authority

A major ruling from the U.S. Court of International Trade has struck down key Trump-era tariffs imposed under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), arguing the law does not grant presidents unlimited power to impose tariffs on broad national security grounds. The court blocked Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs 10% duties on nearly all global imports and others based on claims that trade imbalances and illegal immigration posed national security threats.

Why It Matters: This is a major legal rebuke of Trump’s expansive use of national security to justify sweeping trade measures—and a potential limit on executive trade authority going forward. It also revives debate over Congress’s constitutional role in trade policy. (Read Deeper)

Elon Musk Leaves Trump Admin Role After 130 Days, Plans To Refocus On Tesla, SpaceX, xAI

Elon Musk has officially wrapped up his role leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under President Trump, hitting the 130-day cap allowed for “special government employees.” Musk thanked Trump for the opportunity and said the DOGE mission aimed at reducing federal spending — will “only strengthen over time.” The world’s richest man, Musk juggled the federal gig alongside CEO duties at Tesla, SpaceX, and AI startup xAI. He said his focus will now shift back to his businesses, although he plans to continue light involvement in government affairs and keep a small White House office.

Why It Matters: Musk’s exit from formal government work could ease pressure on his time, but his multi-front involvement from AI to space to public policy — raises growing concerns about focus and accountability, especially at Tesla. His government stint may have ended, but his influence in Washington remains. (Read Deeper)

ENTERTAINMENT & SPORTS

Andrew & Tristan Tate Charged With Rape And Human Trafficking In The U.K.

British prosecutors have filed 21 criminal charges against controversial internet personalities Andrew and Tristan Tate, including rape, human trafficking, and controlling prostitution for gain. Andrew, 38, faces 10 charges; Tristan, 36, faces 11 — all stemming from a CPS investigation prompted by a file from Bedfordshire Police. The charges are separate from the high-profile case in Romania, where the brothers were indicted in 2024 on similar counts after being arrested in 2022. (Read Deeper)

Chelsea Win Conference League To Complete UEFA Clean Sweep  

Chelsea came from behind to beat Real Betis 4–1 in the UEFA Conference League final in Poland, becoming the first team in history to win all five major UEFA club trophies. Trailing at halftime after a goal from Betis' Abde Ezzalzouli, Chelsea roared back in the second half with assists from Cole Palmer, goals from Enzo Fernandez, Nicolas Jackson, Jadon Sancho, and a late strike from Moises Caicedo. The result also ends Spain’s 27-final unbeaten streak in European and international men’s football. Chelsea now turn to the Club World Cup in the U.S. this June. (Read Deeper)

PODCAST(WHAT WE ARE LISTENING TO)

• Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX, has recently articulated a compelling thesis on the future of Bitcoin and the global financial system. In a recent discussion on the Bankless podcast, Hayes delves into the implications of shifting monetary policies and their potential impact on cryptocurrencies. (Listen)

EXTRA BREVITI

• Telegram’s xAI Deal Hits Pause, TON Tumbles. (Read More)

• Stellantis Dumps Amazon, Switches to Google’s Android for In-Car Software. (Read More)

• Tesla Testing Driverless Model Y in Austin, Eyes June Launch. (Read More)