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Brett Brownlee’s entrepreneurial streak started simply: as a kid, for kid reasons, with his brother. “Growing up, he and I just used to push mowers around our parents’ subdivision to try to save up money to buy basketball shoes,” he says. The venture looks a bit different these days. Brownlee makes a living running Archway Lawn Care in the St. Louis area. The company brings in millions of dollars in revenue each year and employs around 50 people during peak season.

That isn’t to say things have always been easy. Archway’s staffing has been a bit of a revolving door, with many employees working there for a year or less. “At times like now where it seems everyone’s hiring,” says Brownlee, “we don’t get very many, if any, applicants at all.”

To bridge the labor gap, Archway relies on temporary seasonal workers from abroad. In 2023, it employed 29 of them. But that visa program is so dysfunctional, Brownlee says, that it puts him on a “rollercoaster of emotions every year.” Small business owners who use the program have to deal with workers arriving too late in the season, workers leaving too early, or even receiving no workers at all.

There’s “no certainty whatsoever” for employers, he continues. “We rack our brain every day on why we keep doing it because it’s frustrating, to say the least.”

Archway is one of many American small businesses that can’t find enough willing native-born workers and needs foreign laborers to get the job done. The federal government doesn’t make it easy for them, artificially capping the number of seasonal workers who can come to the U.S. each year. That barrier means it’s often easier for workers to enter the country and gain employment illegally.

COVID-era government policies have created lingering problems for American small businesses. Lockdowns caused abnormally high numbers of businesses to close for good. To make matters worse, in June 2020 former President Donald Trump went so far as tobanthe temporary seasonal workers that businesses like Archway need,sayingthey “present a risk to the U.S. labor market.” As of February, there were 9.5 million job openings in the U.S. but only 6.5 million unemployed workers,perthe U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Labor shortages and policies that keep out foreign workers are connected. But America’s main pathway for temporary seasonal workers is broken in ways that predate the Trump administration and the pandemic, and in ways that kneecap the businesses that provide beloved goods and services. FromMaryland crabberstoColorado ski resorts, American businesses depend on a regular stream of helpers from abroad. Yet the businesses that want to do things “the right way” often realize that means going without workers, forgoing growth opportunities, and failing to reach their potential. ‘Half Your Team Is Injured’

The old saying that immigrantsworkthejobsthat Americans don’t want is generally truebut it’s especially true in the context of seasonal employment. “Finding labor to work [the] seasonality of our business has been challenging,” says Christian Sain, director of golf and grounds management for the Richmond-based Country Club of Virginia. “This is where the H-2B program has been something that fits our industry well, fits our golf course well.”

The H-2B visa is a pathway that exists to bring temporary, nonimmigrant, nonagricultural workers to American businesses. The landscaping industryemploysthe most H-2B workers, but seasonal laborers also find work at carnivals and amusement parks, fisheries, restaurants, resorts, and more. Most H-2B workers come from Latin America, but Jamaica, the Philippines, South Africa, Serbia, and Ukraine alsosentthousands of laborers in FY 2022. Their contributions keep outdoor spaces beautiful, ensure that popular seasonal institutions operate smoothly, and allow small businesses to keep providing the goods and services that consumers rely on.

Small business job openings have finally fallen to pre-pandemic levels, according to a March National Federation of Independent Business surveybut 86 percent of small business owners “hiring or trying to hire” reported “few or no qualified” applicants nonetheless. There were more than a million open jobs in construction and manufacturing and over 1.1 million open jobs in leisure and hospitality as of February,accordingto the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The H-2B visa program ideally could help solve these problems. But in its current form, it can’t reliably get willing workers to employers when they’re needed and it can’t respond to the forces of supply and demand. It’s also horribly complex,boastingover 175 rules that regulate everything from recruitment to wages.

The governmentissuesH-2B visas in two rounds: one starting in October and the other in April. “About 150 days before the job start date,”wroteDavid J. Bier, director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute, in a 2021 Cato paper, an employer must “submit a prevailing wage determination” to the Department of Labor. (This is the minimum wage for H-2B workers, and as of 2020, the hourlyaveragewas $14.09.) American employers must file a temporary labor certification, which “determine[s] whether or not there are sufficient qualified U.S. workers who will be available and that any employment of H-2B workers will not ‘adversely affect’ the wages and working conditions of similarly employed American workers,” Bier continued. Employers are placed into groups based on their filing order.

That order has a huge impact on when a business receives its workersand whether it gets them at all. Lucky filers land in Group A, which the Department of Labor adjudicates first. This year, the Country Club of Virginia is in Group Fthesecond-to-lastgroupwhich means “we have no chance of getting our workers at all,” says Sain. “Right now, we’re just falling behind because we don’t have our workers….It’s like being on a team and half your team is injured.”

Workers often arrive too late in the season, explains Andrew Bray, senior vice president of government relations and membership at the National Association of Landscape Professionals. “That’s always what the issue is,” says Bray. Landscaping companies are “signing these contracts sometimes with liquidated damages provisions and they’re not sure if they’re even going to have their workers.”

“We have 29 H-2B guys that are all getting ready to go home in the next three weeks or so,” per the visa program’s rules, Brownlee said in early November. “But I have probably six weeks’ to eight weeks’ worth of work left still to do that’s already been sold with my labor here….Now I have to go back to my customers and tell them, ‘Sorry, our labor force had to go home, and I can’t find enough guys locally, and now we have to wait until spring.'”

Even though 2023 was a record year for Archway and the business got all the H-2B workers it applied for, Brownlee says, “We’re not going to go out and buy a bunch of new equipment or new trucks or anything like that for next year, because we don’t know if we’re going to get these same guys back next year or not.” That’s money that won’t reach other businesses and keep the economy moving.

The government knows there’s huge demand for the program. In 2022, the Department of Laborapprovedabout 210,000 petitions by employers for H-2B workers, Bray says. “But we have this cap that doesn’t reflect the actual demand.” Only 66,000 H-2B visas aregrantedevery yeara limit that hasn’t changed since it wasestablishedin 1990. In other words, the government acknowledges a need for H-2B visas that is far greater than the number of visas that regulations allow to be issued each year.

Because the visas are distributed via a randomized lottery, many employers who apply for workers simply lose out. The lottery “selects entire petitionswhich include all the workers that an individual employer is seekingrather than selecting individual beneficiaries from each petition,” wrote Bier, so “employers either receive all their workers or none.”

On top of that, the program is very expensive for the businesses that se it. The Seasonal Employment Alliance, an H-2B advocacy group,estimatedthat employers spend between $1,500 and $3,000 for each H-2B worker they bring in. Administrative costs tend toaddan extra $1 to $3 to the hourly wage employers are mandated to pay H-2B workers, “bringing the real cost of employing H-2B workers well above what it would cost to hire US workers.”

Thanks to all these mandates and regulations, it would be far easier for a small business to hire undocumented immigrants than laborers on work visas. “I’ve had more illegal immigrants or people without papers try to get jobs with us than any local help,” says Brownlee. “Having to turn them away, it’s frustrating, because we’ve spent over a decade using the H-2B program, doing everything in our power to keep a legal work force, and I’ve got people that are willing to work that don’t have papers and I have to tell them ‘no.'”

“It kind of puts companies like us between a rock and a hard spot of trying to keep a legal work force and stay competitive,” he adds. ‘A Risk to the U.S. Labor Market’

One of the most visible roadblocks to a better visa pathway consists of politicians who otherwise claim to champion the interests of small businesses and American workers.

As an ostensibly COVID-related measure in April 2020, Trumpissuedan executive order suspending green cards for certain immigrants whose entry he argued would be economically “detrimental to the interests of the United States.” At the time, due in part tooppositionfrom business groups, he didn’ttouchtemporary visas for seasonal workers, farm workers, and other foreigners.

But a month later, with the U.S. economy still in shambles, Sens. Tom Cotton (RArk.), Ted Cruz (RTexas), Josh Hawley (RMo.), and Chuck Grassley (RIowa)urgedTrump to suspend many of those visas for up to a year “or until unemployment has returned to normal levels.” The country’s “guest worker programs,” including the H-2B visa, “remain a serious threat to the U.S. labor market’s recovery,” argued the senators. “There is no reason why” young people “should not have access to seasonal, nonagricultural work…before those positions are given to imported foreign labor under the H-2B program,” they continued.

Trump granted their wish in anexecutive orderone month later. A Department of Labor and Department of Homeland Security review of nonimmigrant visa programs, Trump’s order explained, found that “the present admission of workers within several…categories also poses a risk of displacing and disadvantaging United States workers during the current recovery.” He barred the entry of certain nonimmigrant workersincluding H-2B visa holdersthrough the end of 2020. Trump would laterextendthe order, with President Joe Biden rescinding it in February 2021. (Trump, it should be said, hasemployedhundreds of H-2B workers at his golf clubs and resorts over the years.)

Opponents of these work visa programs often hold the common yet mistaken view that foreign workers displace American ones. But after Trump banned H-2B workers, Biernotedthat “government data show that almost no U.S. workers applied for H-2B jobs, despite the spike in unemployment.” Brownlee explains that the extra revenue Archway gets thanks to its H-2B workers “allows us to pay [American workers] more to be supervisors and managers for these guys who are coming in on these seasonal visas.”

“It’s created opportunities for guys internally here that started with us literally 10 years ago making 10 bucks an hour that are now making anywhere from $5070,000 a year,” he adds.

“Each H-2B worker actually supports 4.6 U.S. jobs,” says Bray. “That means a company that can hire more workers to make sure they can fulfill the positions within their own organization, that company can grow.”

The issues with H-2B visas and other nonimmigrant work programs don’t always come up in the political battles. They’re hidden within layers of the antiquated U.S. immigration system and all its artificial caps and bureaucratic bloat. “It doesn’t matter if it’s a Democratic administration or a Republican administration,” Brownlee says. “It’s been the same way for probably six or seven of the last 10 years.”

By design, the H-2B visaand many other work visas, temporary or notis not responsive to market forces. Visa caps all but guarantee that supply won’t match demand. The government also mandates that businesses try to recruit American workers before they can hire H-2B workers. “Even if U.S. workers reject the jobs, the law can still require the positions to go unfilled, thus harming employers and U.S. workers in complementary employment,”wroteBier. Doing away with these barriers would mean removing layers of protectionism that stifle the U.S. economy.

Issuing more temporary work visas could also help reduce the number of unauthorized crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border. “The vast increase in the number of H-2 guest worker visas issued to Mexicans can explain a large percentage of the decrease in Mexican illegal immigrants,”wrotethe Cato Institute’s Alex Nowrasteh and Andrew C. Forrester in 2019. “From 20002018, a 1 percent increase in the number of H-2 visas for Mexicans is associated with a 1.04 percent decline in the number of Mexicans apprehended on average.”

Theyconcludedthat it would be “simpler and cheaper to issue more H-2 visas than to hire more Border Patrol agents” to address unauthorized immigration. Instead, U.S. officials have chosen a path that encourages more chaos at the border and punishes Americans whose businesses can’t survive without foreign workers. ‘The Short End of the Stick’

Small businesses have seen relief here and there, but not the solutions they say they need.

“There’s been various increases in the past through one-year policy changes,” says Bray. The Department of Homeland Securityannouncedin early November that it would do just that for FY 2024, releasing over 64,000 supplemental H-2B visas. But businesses that use the program are still waiting on a lasting solution, Bray notes: “We need a more permanent fix to the cap so it actually reflects demand.”

One fix that Brownlee wants is a returning worker exemptionan exemption to the annual cap for workers previously employed under the H-2B program. “Congress previously passed such an exemption for fiscal years 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2016,”wroteBloomberg’s Andrew Kreighbaum. Lawmakers tried to pass a returning worker measure in a Department of Homeland Security funding bill in September 2023, Kreighbaumreportedat the timebut the provision was ultimately stripped from the final bill.

“It feels like every year we get all these rumors that there’s going to be a fix…and then during the spending bill negotiations, something has to get taken out at the eleventh hour and it’s always H-2B, and it’s always the returning worker exemption or the cap stuff,” Brownlee says. “‘We’ve got to keep things status quo, we don’t want to rock the boat.’ We always get left with the short end of the stick.”

H-2B visas bring workers where they’re needed, to the benefit of small businesses and both American and foreign workers. Along with other temporary work visas, they can help reduce the pressure of unauthorized migration along the U.S.-Mexico border. Despite its flaws, the H-2B program is essential for thousands of American businesses, especially small seasonal ones.

By failing to reform the pathway, policy makers are forcing businesses to forgo growth and provide service below their standards. “You feel like you’re pushing the stone up the hill constantly,” says Sain, “but you just never get it to the top.”

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Lectric Ebikes may be launching a new XP 4 this week, and it could change everything

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Lectric Ebikes may be launching a new XP 4 this week, and it could change everything

Lectric Ebikes appears to be preparing for a major new product launch, teasing what looks like the next evolution of its wildly popular folding fat tire electric bike. Based on the clues, it looks like a new Lectric XP 4 could be inbound.

In a social media post released over the weekend, the company shared a minimalist graphic reading “XP4” along with the message “Tune in 5.6.2025 9:30AM PT.” That date – this Tuesday – suggests we’re just hours away from the big reveal of the Lectric XP 4.

If true, this would mark the next generation of the most successful electric bike in the U.S. market. The current model, the Lectric XP 3.0, has become an icon of accessible, budget-friendly electric mobility. Starting at just $999, the XP 3.0 offers a foldable frame, fat tires, a 500W motor, a rear rack, lights, and hydraulic brakes – all packed into a highly shippable design that arrives fully assembled. It’s the kind of package that has helped Lectric claim the title of best-selling e-bike brand in the U.S. for several years in a row.

With the XP 3.0 still going strong, the teaser raises plenty of questions. Will the XP 4.0 be a modest update or a major leap forward? Could we see new features like torque-sensing pedal assist, a location tracking option, or upgraded performance? Or is Lectric preparing a more comfort-oriented variant, maybe even with upgraded suspension or even more accessories included standard?

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The teaser image, which features stylized stripes in grey, blue, and black, may hold some clues. One theory is that the colors represent new trim options or component upgrades. Another possibility is that Lectric is preparing multiple variants of the XP 4.0 – perhaps targeting commuters, adventurers, and off-road riders with purpose-built versions. We took the liberty of a bit of rampant speculation late last year, so perhaps that’s now worth a revisit.

At the same time though, Lectric’s penchant for launching new models at unbelievably affordable prices has never run up against such strong pricing headwinds as those posed by uncertainty in the current US-global trade war fueled by rapidly changing tariffs for imported goods.

lectric xp 3.0 hydraulic
Previous versions of the Lectric XP e-bike line have seen sky-high sales

Whatever the case, Lectric’s knack for surprising the industry with high-value, customer-focused e-bikes means expectations will be high. The brand has built a loyal following by delivering reliable performance at a price point that few can match, and any major update to the XP lineup is likely to ripple across the market.

As a young and energetic e-bike company, Lectric is also known for throwing impressive parties around the launch of new models. It looks like I may need to hop on a red-eye to Phoenix so I can see for myself – and so I can bring you all along, of course.

Be sure to tune in Tuesday at 9:30AM PT to see what Lectric has in store – and you can bet we’ll have all the details and first impressions as soon as they drop.

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Industry calls for urgent crypto law reforms after Australian election

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Industry calls for urgent crypto law reforms after Australian election

Industry calls for urgent crypto law reforms after Australian election

The Australian crypto industry has called on the newly reelected Labor government to urgently make digital asset legislation a top priority to ensure Australia doesn’t fall further behind global markets.

The incumbent Australian Labor Party was returned in a landslide on May 3, picking up 54.9% of the two-party-preferred vote, against the Liberal and National Parties on 45.1%. Both parties went to the election promising crypto law reform, but only the opposition pledged to deliver draft legislation within 100 days.

Joy Lam, Binance’s head of global regulatory and APAC legal, said the exchange has been consulting with Treasury officials since late 2023 about its proposed legislation, and it was now time for action.

“Timing is really quite critical now because obviously it’s something that has been discussed and kicked around for quite a few years,” she told Cointelegraph.

Coinbase managing director for APAC John O’Loghlen said the reelected Albanese Government has the “opportunity and the responsibility to move quickly on this issue” and called for a Crypto-Asset Taskforce to be established within its first 100 days “with the aim of bringing forward legislation that protects consumers, promotes innovation, and stops the exodus of talent and capital to other markets.”

Cryptocurrencies, Australia, Bitcoin Regulation
Reelected Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Source: Anthony Albanese

BTC Markets CEO Caroline Bowler said that “beyond the political implications, this result sets the stage for meaningful progress in Australia’s approach to digital asset regulation.”

Lam noted that the UK released its draft regulations last week, stablecoin bills are moving forward in the US, and the EU has already implemented its MiCA legislation.

“So there’s a very clear shift. Everyone’s moving towards providing the regulatory framework that is needed for the industry to develop in a sustainable way. So time is really of the essence now.”

Draft crypto legislation within months

Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ office told Cointelegraph that exposure draft legislation would be released sometime this year for consultation, and any legislated reforms would be “phased in over time to minimize disruptions to existing businesses.”

Although the Treasury has draft legislation on “regulating digital asset platforms” and “payments system modernization” scheduled for release by the end of June, Lam isn’t confident. “I don’t know whether this quarter specifically is still sort of the timeline,” she said.

Related: Australian election will bring pro-crypto laws either way

While the ALP has been attacked by some over not taking any action in its first term in government, that may actually have resulted in a better outcome than legislation that took its cues from the approach of Joe Biden’s administration, which took a hard line on banks dealing with cryptocurrency and viewed most coins as securities. 

Industry figures report a noticeable evolution in the government’s approach to crypto between when proposals were first put out for consultation at the end of 2023 and when the Treasury released its much more positive “Statement on Developing an innovative Australian digital asset industry” in March this year.

Cryptocurrencies, Australia, Bitcoin Regulation
Australia Votes running tally on the Australian election. Source: ABC

The statement sets out key priorities, such as using the existing Australian Financial Services License (AFSL) regime to underpin the regulation of Digital Asset Platforms and payment stablecoins. It’s focused on the safe custody of client assets by centralized providers and sidesteps issues around decentralized finance platforms

Lam welcomed the use of the AFSL regime. “Obviously, we don’t need to reinvent the wheel,” she said. “It’s something that people know and understand. It’s a pretty sensible move, and it’s also going to be much easier for regulators.”

Tokenization and sandbox

The government will also review the Enhanced Regulatory Sandbox, which aims to provide space for innovative digital asset startups to grow free of red tape. The statement also highlights opportunities with tokenization.

Lam said the change in emphasis showed the government has been listening to the industry. 

“It reflects the industry feedback that they would have received in 2023 as a result of the consultation, as well as the changing landscape because obviously it’s been evolving pretty quickly internationally,” Lam said.

“They do have the benefit now of looking at what has worked and hasn’t worked in other jurisdictions, and really building on those lessons.”

Dea Markovy, policy director at Fireblocks, told Cointelegraph that “a lot of the groundwork and research is done” and it was looking broadly positive.

“Of course, a lot of details are still to come around Australia’s Digital Asset Platforms (DAPs) regime. What is significant here is the willingness of the Government to cut through the complexity and uncertainty on crypto intermediaries licensing.” 

The securities regulator ASIC released its own crypto regulations proposals (INFO 225) in December, and feedback from those consultations will help inform the government’s new legislation. 

“In essence, it details how different token issuances and crypto intermediation will fit into Australia’s existing securities legislation, providing for a transition period,” explained Markovy.

The draft guidance suggests NFTs, in-game assets and memecoins are not financial products — the local equivalent of a “security” — while a yield-bearing stablecoin or a gold-backed token probably are.

The Treasury statement also highlighted issues with debanking. Lam said that simply regulating the industry would go a long way toward solving the issue.

“What we really want from governments and regulators is that clean licensing framework, because that goes a long way to mitigating the risk and giving the banks the comfort that they need,” she said. “And then, there’s probably going to need to be some additional guidance given to banks.”

Magazine: ZK-proofs are bringing smart contracts to Bitcoin — BitcoinOS and Starknet

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World

At least 15 injured in ‘US-British’ strike on Yemeni capital, according to Houthi group

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At least 15 injured in 'US-British' strike on Yemeni capital, according to Houthi group

Yemen’s Houthi rebel group has said 15 people have been injured in “US-British” airstrikes in and around the capital Sanaa.

Most of those hurt were from the Shuub district, near the centre of the city, a statement from the health ministry said.

Another person was injured on the main airport road, the statement added.

It comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to retaliate against the Houthis and their Iranian “masters” following a missile attack by the group on Israel’s main international airport on Sunday morning.

It remains unclear whether the UK took part in the latest strikes and any role it may have played.

On 29 April, UK forces, the British government said, took part in a joint strike on “a Houthi military target in Yemen”.

“Careful intelligence analysis identified a cluster of buildings, used by the Houthis to manufacture drones of the type used to attack ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, located some fifteen miles south of Sanaa,” the British Ministry of Defence said in a previous statement.

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On Sunday, the militant group fired a missile at the Ben Gurion Airport, sparking panic among passengers in the terminal building.

The missile impact left a plume of smoke and briefly caused flights to be halted.

Four people were said to be injured, according to the country’s paramedic service.

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