One of the developers behind the crypto-mixing protocol Samourai Wallet has publicly expressed hopes for a pardon, along with FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried. US President Donald Trump is reportedly considering pardoning 250 people to commemorate the country's 250th birthday on July 4, according to The Wall Street Journal. An official announcement could come on June 14, Trump's birthday, or during the Independence Day event on July 4, the WSJ reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. However, the pardons are still in the preliminary stages and have yet to be confirmed. More than 16,000 formal requests for presidential pardons were submitted last year. Read more
A gunman fired shots in the hotel hosting the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on Saturday, causing United States President Donald Trump and his cabinet to be rushed out before the suspect was taken into custody. Here is a timeline of the incident and its immediate aftermath. Around 8:35pm ET (5:35am PKT on Sunday): Guests at the Washington Hilton dinner took cover when shots were heard, video footage showed. Soon after, Secret Service agents rushed towards Trump, escorting the president and his cabinet from the ballroom. U.S. President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and CBS News senior White House correspondent Weijia Jiang attend the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington, DC, US, April 25,. — Reuters Guests take cover after US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump were rushed out of the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner by Secret Service agents when a man opened fire with a shotgun on...
US President Donald Trump will appear at an event for holders of the TRUMP memecoin after the White House previously said it wasn’t locked into his schedule. The White House has reportedly confirmed that US President Donald Trump will attend the exclusive event for top TRUMP memecoin holders at his Florida residence on Saturday, after questions were raised earlier this month over whether he would attend. Reuters reported on Friday that the White House confirmed Trump would deliver a keynote address at the gala luncheon organized by the company behind his Official Trump (TRUMP) memecoin. The gala is set to take place at Mar-a-Lago. It will be open to the top 297 holders of the TRUMP token, and the top 29 holders will also qualify for a private reception with the president. Read more
The American Bankers Association is concerned that stablecoin yields would lead to mass deposit outflows from smaller community banks. The American Bankers Association (ABA) has criticized a White House report that claimed banning stablecoin yields would only have a negligible impact on banks, arguing that the conclusion was reached by asking the “wrong question.” The White House’s Council of Economic Advisers claimed in a research paper on Wednesday, on the “Effects of Stablecoin Yield Prohibition on Bank Lending,” that under a baseline scenario, banning stablecoin yield may only increase bank lending by $2.1 billion, representing a marginal net increase of about 0.02%. ABA chief economist Sayee Srinivasan and vice president for banking and economic research Yikai Wang said in a statement on Monday that the “live policy concern” is not whether prohibiting yield on stablecoins would impact bank lending but whether allowing yield on stablecoins would encourage deposit outflows, particularly from community bank...
Reuters reported that White House staff were warned against using confidential information after suspicious Iran-linked oil futures bets and fresh scrutiny of prediction markets. The White House warned staff against improperly using confidential information to place bets in futures markets after suspicious oil trades ahead of President Donald Trump’s March 23 Iran announcement drew scrutiny, according to Reuters. Reuters reported on Thursday that the White House sent the internal email on March 24, a day after Trump ordered a five-day delay in attacks on Iran’s energy infrastructure. The warning followed a roughly $500 million bet on Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude futures placed in a one-minute burst shortly before Trump’s March 23 announcement, according to Reuters calculations based on exchange data. Oil prices fell about 15% after the policy shift. Read more