Connect with us

Published

on

Representative French Hill, a Republican from Arkansas, left, speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., July 24, 2018.

Zach Gibson | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Republican lawmakers announced late Thursday the launch of a new subcommittee that will oversee the crypto and fintech industries, the first of its kind in the U.S., after a tumultuous period for digital currencies.

French Hill of Arkansas will chair the Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology, and Inclusion, which will be part of the House Financial Services Committee.

Hill, who was also appointed vice chair of the broader committee, said in a statement that a bipartisan effort is needed for “FinTech innovation to flourish safely and effectively in the United States.”

The unregulated nature of the crypto industry emerged as a pressing concern late last year after the collapse in November of crypto exchange FTX. Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX’s founder, was arrested last month on fraud charges and was released on a $250 million bond while he awaits trial.

Hill has been an enthusiastic supporter of the crypto industry. In 2021, he co-sponsored the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) Study Act and said at the time that it’s “important for the Federal Reserve to not delay its important work” on a potential CBDC.

In 2019, well before FTX became a household name, Hill signed a letter, urging the IRS to refine its tax guidance for cryptocurrency users.

“Ambiguity impedes appropriate tax compliance,” the letter read.

Other Republican crypto advocates in Congress have included Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota and Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming.

Though Bankman-Fried was operating out of the Bahamas, he was a skilled Washington operative, forging relationships with heavyweights like Rep. Maxine Waters, (D-Calif.) and Rostin Benham, chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. In the 2022 midterm races, Bankman-Fried gave almost $40 million in publicly disclosed contributions, mostly to Democrats. He and his associates donated to politicians on both sides of the aisle.

Federal regulators have alleged that Bankman-Fried committed criminal campaign finance violations while perpetrating an $8 billion fraud.

FTX’s collapse and Bankman-Fried’s subsequent indictment have provided Republicans like Emmer ample fodder to criticize the work of regulators. Emmer described actions taken by Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler as “haphazard and unfocused.”

Senate Democrats, meanwhile, have already begun to prepare their own efforts to oversee the crypto industry and dictate enforcement actions.

The SEC has stepped up its level of activity since FTX spiraled into bankruptcy. The commission charged crypto lender Genesis and crypto exchange Gemini with the unregistered sale and offering of securities on Thursday, the same day that Hill announced the subcommittee.

WATCH: Bitcoin hits $19,000, SEC charges Gemini and Genesis

Bitcoin hits $19,000, and SEC alleges Gemini, Genesis sold unregistered securities: CNBC Crypto World

Continue Reading

Technology

Palantir stock slumps 9%, falling for a fifth straight day from record

Published

on

By

Palantir stock slumps 9%, falling for a fifth straight day from record

CEO of Palantir Technologies Alex Karp attends the Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit on the campus of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on July 15, 2025.

Andrew Caballero-reynolds | Afp | Getty Images

Palantir‘s stock slumped more than 9% on Tuesday, falling for a fifth straight day to continue its pullback from all-time highs.

The artificial intelligence software provider’s stock has slid more than 15% over the last five trading sessions, after a stellar earnings report earlier this month propelled shares to all-time highs. The report was Palantir’s first-ever $1 billion revenue quarter.

Tuesday’s dip coincided with a broader market pullback.

Palantir is the most significant gainer to date in the S&P 500 in 2025, up more than 100%.

Read more CNBC tech news

Shares have more than doubled as the company benefits from ongoing AI enthusiasm, scooping up government contracts with President Donald Trump pushing to overhaul agencies.

Palantir’s ascent has pushed the company into a list of top 10 U.S. tech firms and 20 most valuable U.S. companies, while also making shares incredibly expensive to own. Its forward price-to-earnings ratio, which tracks future earnings relative to share price, has soared past 245 times.

By comparison, technology giants such as Microsoft and Apple carry a P/E of nearly 30 times and rake in significantly greater quarterly revenues. Meta‘s and Alphabet‘s P/E ratios hover in the 20s.

What to know about Palantir's engineer-led sales strategy

Continue Reading

Technology

Databricks says it’s valued at over $100 billion in latest funding round

Published

on

By

Databricks says it's valued at over 0 billion in latest funding round

Ali Ghodsi, CEO of Databricks speaks on CNBC.

CNBC

Databricks has just entered an exclusive club.

The data analytics software vendor said Tuesday that it’s raising a funding round that values the company at over $100 billion. That would make Databricks just the fourth private company to eclipse the $100 billion mark, following SpaceX, ByteDance and OpenAI, according to data from CB Insights.

Databricks CEO Ali Ghodsi told CNBC’s Brian Sullivan that the total round will exceed $1 billion. The company was last valued by private investors at $62 billion in a $10 billion financing round late last year.

In June, Databricks executives told investors the company was forecasting $3.7 billion in annualized revenue by July, with 50% year-over-year growth.

Snowflake, one of Databricks’ top rivals, is expected to generate $4.5 billion in revenue for the fiscal year that ends in January, representing annual growth of 25%, according to LSEG. Snowflake currently has a market cap of about $65 billion. Other competitors include cloud providers such as Amazon and Microsoft, which are also Databricks partners.

Ghodsi said he heard from a lot of interested investors following Figma’s IPO late last month. Shares of the design software company more than tripled in their New York Stock Exchange debut, a sign that public investors are seeking out tech offerings after in extended lull in the IPO market.

“My phone was blowing up,” Ghodsi said on Tuesday. “So yes, there’s definitely been a big push from outside.”

Figma shares have since retreated from their initial $115.50 closing price. The stock is trading at about $70, still more than double the $33 IPO price.

Ghodsi said the round will help Databricks invest in products that clients can tap when using artificial intelligence models.

Founded in 2013 and based in San Francisco, Databricks ranked third on CNBC’s 2025 Disruptor 50 list. As of June, the company employed 8,000 people. Existing investors Andreessen Horowitz, Insight Partners Thrive Capital and WCM Investment Management are buying shares, a spokesperson said.

WATCH: Databricks CEO on AI: VCs are wondering if agentic AI will actually automate work

Databricks CEO on AI: VCs are wondering if agentic AI will actually automate work

Continue Reading

Technology

Crypto stocks tumble on Tuesday as investors go into risk-off mode

Published

on

By

Crypto stocks tumble on Tuesday as investors go into risk-off mode

The Coinbase logo is displayed on a mobile phone screen with stock market percentages in the background.

Idrees Abbas | Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images

Crypto stocks suffered on Tuesday as investors fled tech stocks and riskier corners of the market.

Among crypto exchanges, Coinbase and eToro fell more than 5% each, while Robinhood and Bullish both dropped more than 6%. Crypto financial services firm Galaxy Digital dropped 11%. In the burgeoning sector of crypto treasury firms, Strategy lost 7%, SharpLink Gaming slid 8%, Bitmine Immersion slumped 12% and DeFi Development tumbled 15%. Stablecoin issuer Circle lost 5%.

Meanwhile, the price of bitcoin pulled back nearly 3% to just over $113,000. Ether was down more than 4% to the $4,100 level, according to Coin Metrics.

Stock Chart IconStock chart icon

hide content

Bitcoin over the past day

Investors appeared to rotate out of tech names on Tuesday. The sector had seen a boost last week as traders weighed the prospect of more interest rate cuts. Also, bitcoin touched an intraday all-time high near $125,000 last week.

On Tuesday, the Nasdaq Composite was down more than 1%, weighed down by declines in Nvidia and other tech heavyweights.

The crypto market tends to be vulnerable to moves in tech stocks due to their growth-oriented investor base, narrative-driven price action, speculative nature and tendency to thrive in low-interest rate environments.

This week, investors are watching the Federal Reserve’s annual economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyo. for clues around what could happen at the central bank’s remaining policy meetings this year. If Fed Chair Jerome Powell signals more dovish policy could be ahead, crypto may bounce.

“With Powell speaking at Jackson Hole, we typically see profit-taking ahead of his remarks,” said Satraj Bambra, CEO of hybrid exchange Rails. “Any time there’s communication uncertainty from the Fed, you can generally expect some profit-taking as traders de-risk their positions.”

Crypto stocks have had a solid run in recent months — thanks to the addition of Coinbase in the benchmark S&P 500 index, the successful IPO of Circle and the GENIUS Act stablecoin framework becoming law. However, investors expect a pullback in August and through the September Fed meeting, where they hope to see central bank policymakers implement rate cuts.

Don’t miss these cryptocurrency insights from CNBC Pro:

Continue Reading

Trending