🤝U.S.-China Strike A Deal

 ☀️Good morning. It's Wednesday, Jun. 11, and we're covering,Global Pushback As Trump Eyes New Tariffs On Airplanes, IBM Sets 2029 Target For Practical Quantum Computer With New Starling Roadmap, China, U.S. Strike Tentative Deal On Rare Earths & Tech, and much more. First time reading? Sign up to get this newsletter: Sign up here. 

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MARKETS

Cryptocurrency Prices by Market Cap

• The global cryptocurrency market cap today is $3.46 Trillion, a 1.23% increase in the last 24 hours.

• The total crypto market volume over the last 24 hours is $141.03B, which makes a 8.00% increase.

• The total volume in Defi is currently $41.52B, 29.44% of the total crypto market 24-hours.

• The volume of all stablecoins is now $134.97B, which is 95.70% of the total market 24-hour volume.

• Bitcoin’s dominance is currently 63.09%, a decrease of 0.59% over the day.

Circle’s Wild IPO Sparks ETF Gold Rush As Crypto Reenters The Spotlight

Circle’s explosive IPO is setting off a frenzy not just in crypto, but on Wall Street. After shares of the USDC stablecoin issuer surged over 270% in their first three sessions, ETF issuers raced to file new funds tied to the stock. At least three ETFs — from Bitwise, ProShares, and REX Financial have been filed in record time, offering everything from covered-call income strategies to 2x leveraged bets on Circle’s daily performance. (Read Deeper)

BUSINESS & FINANCE

Global Pushback As Trump Eyes New Tariffs On Airplanes

Five nations — Canada, China, Japan, Mexico, and Switzerland, along with the EU and major aerospace firms are urging former President Donald Trump not to impose new national security tariffs on imported commercial aircraft and parts. The U.S. Commerce Department is considering these tariffs under a Section 232 investigation, which could further escalate tensions in the global aerospace market. Trump has already imposed a 10% tariff on airplane imports.

WHY IT MATTERS: Trump’s team has launched a national security probe (Section 232) that could justify higher tariffs. Critics say it's political posturing that risks a global trade war — and will ultimately hurt American consumers and workers. (Read Deeper)

Google Offers Buyouts Across Teams, Including Search

Google is offering voluntary buyouts to employees across several major divisions, including Search, Ads, Engineering, Marketing, and Communications — as it continues quiet workforce reductions following last year’s mass layoffs. The latest buyouts come from the Knowledge & Information unit (which houses core businesses like Search and Commerce), and follow similar programs in Google’s hardware, legal, finance, and HR departments this year.

WHY IT MATTERS: While the number of impacted employees remains unclear, the move is seen as a softer alternative to abrupt layoffs. Executives say the buyouts are part of a broader cost-cutting strategy as the company invests heavily in AI infrastructure and training. (Read Deeper)

TECHNOLOGY & SCIENCE

IBM Sets 2029 Target For Practical Quantum Computer With New Starling Roadmap

IBM just unveiled its most ambitious quantum roadmap yet—aiming to deliver a practical quantum computer by 2029, and a significantly larger one by 2033. The project hinges on Quantum Starling, a system with ~200 logical qubits, enough to begin outperforming classical machines on select problems. Unlike past approaches, IBM’s team designed their error-correction algorithm around what hardware is actually buildable, a major shift that brings quantum advantage closer to reality.

WHY IT MATTERS: Quantum computers promise breakthroughs in cryptography, materials science, AI, and beyond—but only if they overcome their Achilles’ heel: error correction. IBM’s new approach could finally unlock that potential by the end of the decade. (Read Deeper)

OpenAI Delays Release Of First Open Model Until Later This Summer

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says the company’s long-awaited open-weight model won’t launch in June as expected, but will now arrive later this summer. The delay comes after OpenAI’s research team made an “unexpected and quite amazing” breakthrough that requires more time to refine. The model is expected to rival top open-source AI models like DeepSeek’s R1 and Mistral’s new Magistral, and could include features like linking to cloud-hosted models for advanced queries.

WHY IT MATTERS: With rivals like Mistral, Meta, and Qwen pushing ahead in open-source AI, OpenAI’s credibility with developers and researchers may hinge on delivering something truly best-in-class. (Read Deeper)

AROUND DE WORLD & POLITICS

China, U.S. Strike Tentative Deal On Rare Earths & Tech

After two days of high-stakes negotiations in London, the U.S. and China have agreed on a new framework to revive their stalled trade truce. The deal includes a tentative rollback of China’s export bans on critical rare earth minerals—and a partial easing of U.S. restrictions on semiconductor tech and aerospace goods. But it's far from a done deal. Both sides must now sell the agreement to their respective leaders, Trump and Xi—for final approval.

WHY IT MATTERS: This isn’t just about tariffs. It’s about who controls the future of technology. Rare earths power everything from EVs to fighter jets. Chips are the new oil. The fragile truce buys time, but the fundamental clash between America’s free-market model and China’s state-led industrial strategy is far from over. (Read Deeper)

Austria Mourns After Deadly School Shooting In Graz Leaves 11 Dead

Austria is in mourning after the deadliest school shooting in its modern history left 11 people dead in the city of Graz, including the 21-year-old gunman. The attacker, a former student who legally acquired two firearms, opened fire during morning classes at a secondary school on Tuesday. Victims include six female students, three males, and a teacher, with another woman succumbing to injuries in hospital. Several others remain critically injured.

WHY IT MATTERS: This devastating attack has shocked Austria, a country with strict gun laws and a peaceful reputation, but also one of the most armed civilian populations in Europe. The tragedy has reignited debate on school safety, gun access, and mental health. (Read Deeper)

ENTERTAINMENT & SPORTS

Nintendo Switch 2 Breaks Record As Fastest-Selling Console Ever

Nintendo’s Switch 2 is off to a blistering start — selling 3.5 million units in just 4 days, the fastest launch in company history. The second-generation console launched June 5 and features a larger screen, improved graphics, and fan-favorite games like Mario Kart World. Nintendo expects to ship 15 million units this fiscal year, a bullish target that reflects high early demand. The original Switch launched in 2017 has sold over 152 million units, making it one of the best-selling consoles ever and the backbone of Nintendo’s success in the modern gaming era. (Read Deeper)

England Booed Off After 3-1 Loss To Senegal – Tuchel’s First Defeat As Coach

England suffered a shock 3-1 defeat to Senegal, marking the first loss of Thomas Tuchel’s coaching tenure and the first-ever win by an African team over England. Despite Harry Kane scoring early for his record 73rd international goal, England were outplayed the rest of the match. Goals from Ismaila Sarr, Habib Diarra, and Cheikh Sabaly capped Senegal’s historic victory. Tuchel rotated nearly the entire squad after criticizing the team's attitude in a previous narrow win over Andorra—but the changes backfired. Fans booed loudly as England walked off the pitch in embarrassment. (Read Deeper)

PODCAST(WHAT WE ARE LISTENING TO)

• How to Scale a Profitable Agency with 0 Employees (Using AI Agents). (Listen)

EXTRA BREVITI

• French AI startup Mistral just launched Europe’s first reasoning-focused AI model, joining a high-stakes global race led by American and Chinese giants. (Read More)

• OpenAI Launches o3-pro, Its Most Advanced AI Model Yet. (Read More)

• Mark Zuckerberg is making his boldest AI move yet, as Meta is close to finalizing a $14 billion investment in Scale AI, one of the leading data infrastructure startups powering today’s AI boom. (Read More)

• TikTok Star Khaby Lame Leaves U.S. After ICE Detainment. (Read More)