Latest from Gizmodo
Gizmodo
22 minutes ago
- Business
- Gizmodo
Trump Claims He Built Crypto—Just as His Family Cashes In
In a series of bombastic new comments on June 27, President Donald Trump didn't just embrace the world of cryptocurrency; he claimed to be its founding father. Painting a picture of a failing industry that he single-handedly rescued, Trump cast himself as the visionary who transformed crypto into a 'very powerful industry' essential for American dominance. It's a bold claim, especially for a man who, as recently as 2021, called Bitcoin a 'scam' that was 'based on thin air.' The pivot from crypto's highest-profile skeptic to its self-proclaimed architect is stark. Speaking at a White House press conference, Trump positioned his involvement as a long-held secret, predating his 2024 run. 'I got involved with it a couple of years ago, and before the second term,' he said. 'I got involved before I decided to run… It's become amazing. I mean, it's the jobs that it produces, and I notice more and more of you pay in Bitcoin.' This new narrative conveniently overlooks crypto's actual history, which began with Bitcoin's creation in 2009 and was shaped by innovators like Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin. Instead, Trump frames himself as the unlikely savior of crypto who saw its potential when no one else did. 'That was an industry that wasn't doing particularly well,' Trump claimed, before making his most jaw-dropping assertion: 'I'm president, and what I did do there is build an industry that's very important.' For those who follow the space, the U-turn is whiplash-inducing. In 2021, Trump's main objection was that crypto was 'another currency competing against the dollar,' telling Fox Business that he wanted the dollar to be 'the currency of the world.' Today, he argues the opposite. 'I mean, people are saying it takes a lot of pressure off the dollar, and it's a great thing for our country,' Trump said. He now frames crypto not as a threat, but as a strategic asset in a geopolitical chess match against China. 'If we didn't have it, China would,' he declared. 'China would love to, and we've dominated that industry.' While Trump's rebranding may seem sudden, it follows a period of intense crypto lobbying and a series of pro-crypto moves by his administration. Since returning to the White House, Trump has fully embraced the industry, which many see as the future of finance. This new wave of financial services is largely built on blockchain technology, a decentralized digital ledger that records transactions securely without needing a middleman like a bank. This 'decentralized finance' (or DeFi) is at the heart of the crypto movement. The Trump administration has actively worked to legitimize it. With the Genius Act, it recently secured passage of a law for stablecoins (a type of crypto pegged to a stable asset, like the U.S. dollar, to reduce volatility) and even announced the creation of a U.S. crypto reserve. This regulatory embrace, which also includes his family's growing crypto empire, has fueled a market rally. Bitcoin is currently trading, according to data firm CoinGecko, over $105,000, and the total value of the crypto market is nearly $3.4 trillion, a colossal recovery from the 'crypto winter' of recent years, which saw the spectacular collapse of exchanges like FTX. For an industry that has weathered fierce debate and volatility, Trump's public anointment is a powerful, if revisionist, seal of approval. The man who once saw crypto as an enemy of the dollar now sees it as a patriotic legacy that he personally built.
Gizmodo
32 minutes ago
- Business
- Gizmodo
Silicon Valley Is Cashing Its Check After Backing Trump
The cost of living is increasing, wages for workers are stagnant, and people are looking for a break. Silicon Valley is getting one instead. According to Bloomberg, a little-known tax benefit known as the Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS) that has become a favorite carve-out of tech startups would get expanded under a spending bill proposed by Republicans in the Senate and could potentially put more than $17 billion back in the coffers of Silicon Valley execs. The QSBS provision is a tax exemption that applies to the stock of qualified small businesses like certain tech startups. The rule allows shareholders in one of these businesses to sell or exchange their stock while being exempted from some or all of the capital gains tax that they would otherwise have to pay on those sales. The specifics are a bit complex, but currently, it is set up to allow early-stage investors to benefit if they hold onto their shares for five years. The proposed changes to the rule, per Bloomberg, would expand the benefit considerably. A provision slipped into the so-called 'One Big Beautiful Bill' would allow investors to come in later, cash out earlier, and still score a nice chunk of cash-free income off their investment. According to data from the Department of the Treasury, about 33,000 people have claimed the QSBS benefit in the last decade. They netted $51 billion in 2021 alone from it, which was a record year. Notably, the Treasury also found that 90% of the income claimed through QSBS came from taxpayers who were reporting more than $1 million of gains—basically, folks who are cashing out big time without paying anywhere near what an average person has to hand over to the federal government. The Treasury Department projects that the QSBS provision will keep about $44.6 billion from being taxed from 2025 to 2030. If the Republicans' proposal moves forward, that would add another projected $17.2 billion in revenue that doesn't come back to the government over that period, according to data provided by the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation. According to The Guardian, Silicon Valley executives and employees poured about $394 million into Donald Trump's 2024 election campaign. So scoring $17.2 billion in tax breaks certainly seems worth the spend. That's a cool 4,265% return on investment! For what it's worth, Democratic lawmakers proposed significantly rolling back the QSBS rules back in 2021, in a way that would have slashed the amount of income that could be excluded from taxes in half. Instead, the rich get richer.
Gizmodo
36 minutes ago
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
Behold, a Script for ‘The Batman Part II'
It feels like the only thing we've heard about The Batman Part II for years now is that various people are waiting on a script to be delivered. Now, with all the energy of a schoolboy rushing to file homework that was due earlier in the week, Reeves has provided evidence: some words that will potentially be in The Batman Part II exist. Reeves took to social media this afternoon to seemingly confirm that the latest version of his sequel to the 2022 DC film was finally ready to be sent off to James Gunn, with a blurry black and white photo of himself and co-writer Mattson Tomlin sitting before a copy of the script. Partners in Crime (Fighters) @mattsontomlin — Matt Reeves (@mattreevesLA) June 27, 2025Of course, don't expect any secrets to be revealed out of this blurry first look beyond 'Oh hey, the script exists!' Squint hard enough and you can just about make out that the movie is at least still currently called The Batman Part II, but that's about it. But still, the very fact that this required a teasing social media post speaks to the overlong back-and-forth between interviews as fans clamor for any kind of update on the film. Which, at this point, has mostly been James Gunn telling people that the script was expected soon and people should get off Reeves' back for the delays. 'I'll also say Batman Part II is not canceled. That's the other thing I hear all the time—that Batman Part II is canceled. It's not canceled,' Gunn recently lamented to Rolling Stone about fan impatience. 'We don't have a script. Matt's slow. Let him take his time. Let him do what he's doing. God, people are mean. Let him do his thing, man.' It would appear then, that Reeves has finally done his thing. Now he just has to prepare for those same fans crying 'Script when?' to immediately pivot to 'Filming when?' followed shortly after by 'Trailer when??'. The Batman Part II is currently slated to hit theaters October 1, 2027. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what's next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
Gizmodo
an hour ago
- Business
- Gizmodo
Trump Kills Trade Talks With Canada After It Hits U.S. With Digital Services Tax
President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he is terminating all trade talks with Canada after the country decided to move forward with a digital services tax on U.S. tech companies like Meta. The president, who also mentioned high dairy tariffs, called Canada 'a very difficult Country to TRADE with,' in a Truth Social post. Trump characterized the digital services tax as a 'direct and blatant attack on our Country.' The new Canadian measure imposes a 3% tax on digital services revenue made from users in the country for companies generating more than $20 million Canadian ($14 million U.S.) annually and will start to be collected on Monday, according to Bloomberg News. 'They are obviously copying the European Union, which has done the same thing, and is currently under discussion with us, also,' Trump wrote on Truth Social. 'Based on this egregious Tax, we are hereby terminating ALL discussions on Trade with Canada, effective immediately.' Trump went on to suggest that he would impose a new tariff on Canadian goods exported to the U.S., though he didn't indicate what that might look like. 'We will let Canada know the Tariff that they will be paying to do business with the United States of America within the next seven day period. Thank you for your attention to this matter!' Trump wrote, using his now-common sign-off. The new Canadian digital services tax also applies retroactively back to 2022. Trump was threatening to annex Canada, dubbing it America's 51st state, even before he took office for a second time in January. And relations with Canada have become incredibly hostile thanks to Trump's unnecessary provocations. Trump imposed tariffs on the entire world after his 'Liberation Day' announcement on April 2, which slapped at least 10% on all goods coming into the U.S. from every nation in the world. For months, the president's team has been negotiating with other countries, but so far hasn't actually inked a solid deal with any of America's largest trading partners. The U.S. and China have reportedly agreed to a rare earths deal, and the UK has agreed to a trade deal in principle, but Trump's negotiators keep going on TV to insist real, comprehensive deals are just around the corner. Trump had previously promised 90 deals in 90 days, but that simply hasn't happened. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Bloomberg TV on Friday that the U.S. was 'close to the finish line' on a deal with India, but they've been saying that for weeks. There was early speculation back in April that India may be the first to sign a major new trade deal with the U.S. Trump has been frustrated with economic policy domestically as his so-called Big Beautiful Bill hasn't yet made its way to his desk for signing. The bill is a massive tax cut for the wealthiest Americans and would kick roughly 10 million people off Medicaid. Trump had hoped to sign the bill by July 4 for Independence Day, but it remains to be seen whether that will happen. But the president wrote on Truth Social after his Canada post that he was looking forward to Republicans making that happen on schedule. 'The House of Representatives must be ready to send it to my desk before July 4th,' Trump wrote. 'We can get it done. It will be a wonderful Celebration for our Country, which is right now, 'The Hottest Country anywhere in the World'.'
Gizmodo
2 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
James Wan Offers a Mildly Discouraging Update on That ‘Train to Busan' Remake
Released in 2016, Yeon Sang-ho's Train to Busan proved there were still plenty of fresh thrills to be mined from the zombie genre. It spawned an animated prequel and a sequel, and nobody was surprised when an American remake, to be titled The Last Train to New York, was announced. A 2023 release date made things official… almost. Obviously, The Last Train to New York—which at one point had Timo Tjahjanto (May the Devil Take You, this year's Nobody 2) attached to direct and Gary Dauberman (It and It Chapter Two) penning the script—has yet to actually get off the ground. In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, would-be producer James Wan said The Last Train to New York is still 'a passion project' for his company, Atomic Monster, while also making it sound like it's very much on the back burner right now. 'Everything about it is really exciting,' he said. 'I hope that could get off the ground eventually. Got to be honest with you, I'm not quite sure where it sits right now.' If The Last Train to New York ever happens, it sounds like horror fans should expect more of a reimagining than a remake—though you have to suspect 'zombies on the subway' will still play a big part of the story. 'Creatively, it takes place in the same world as Train to Busan,' Wan told EW. '[The zombie outbreak is] happening epidemically around the world. So if Train to Busan is this particular slice of the story in South Korea, we want Train to New York to be the one set in America.' There's been no shortage of zombie tales for the gruesomely inclined lately—28 Years Later just hit theaters—and American remakes of foreign horror hits don't always succeed. However, The Last Train to New York does sound intriguing. Are you holding out hope it'll eventually come into the station? Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what's next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
