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Cryptocurrencies fell Tuesday evening as Asia futures pointed lower, triggering a wave of liquidations on the Bybit exchange.

The price of bitcoin was last lower by 6.2% at $59,504.68, according to Coin Metrics. Ether tumbled more than 8% to $2,457.61.

“Crypto markets moved down sharply, triggering a leverage driven liquidation,” said Steven Lubka, head of private clients and family offices at Swan Bitcoin. “The move appears to have been kicked off by a material drop by Ethereum, which has been struggling all year versus bitcoin.”

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Bitcoin falls under $60,000

According to CoinGlass, the futures market has seen $93.52 million in long ether liquidations, which forces traders to sell their assets at market price to settle their debts, across centralized exchanges. Some $85.93 million in bitcoin liquidations have occurred.

“Leverage-driven flushes typically are great buying opportunities,” Lubka added. “And while I expect markets to buy the dip on bitcoin, Ethereum may continue to struggle until investors have a reason to be positive on the asset again.”

For the year, bitcoin is still up 39%. Ether is holding onto a more modest 7% gain.

“This is exactly the type of whipsaw liquidations and price action we see in bull markets,” said Ryan Rasmussen, an analyst at Bitwise Asset Management. “Bulls get over their skis and get wiped out, then it happens to bears, and so on. When you zoom out, a 5% move in the price of bitcoin is a blip on the radar.”

August, a typically quiet month for crypto and risk assets at large, has been particularly volatile this year. However, cryptocurrencies aren’t strangers to big pullbacks in bull markets. Bitcoin is still safely in the range its been sitting in since April – between $55,000 and $70,000.

Some market participants noted that the crypto retracement Tuesday accelerated when news broke that a federal grand jury returned a revised indictment against former President Donald Trump in his criminal election interference case in Washington, D.C.

Trump has positioned himself as the pro-crypto candidate in the upcoming U.S. presidential election. Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate, has yet to share a public view on the industry.

“Traders don’t like instability, and often go risk-off to cash in such environments,” said Bartosz Lipiński, CEO at crypto trading platform Cube.Exchange. “That is probably the case for today.”

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Firefly Aerospace shares jump 15% on strong revenues, boosted guidance

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Firefly Aerospace shares jump 15% on strong revenues, boosted guidance

Jason Kim, chief executive officer of Firefly Aerospace, center, during the company’s initial public offering at the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York, US, on Thursday, Aug. 7, 2025.

Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Firefly Aerospace‘s stock surged 15% on Wednesday after the space technology company issued better-than-expected third-quarter results and lifted its guidance.

Revenues in the third quarter jumped nearly 38% to $30.8 million from $22.4 million in the year-ago period and nearly doubled from the previous quarter.

Firefly’s net loss totaled $140.4 million, or $1.50 per share. The company said net loss included costs tied to its IPO, foreign exchange and executive severance

The company also lifted its outlook for the year, saying it now expects revenues to range between $150 million and $158 million. That’s up from previous guidance in the range of $133 million and $145 million.

This is Firefly’s second quarterly report as a public company. Last quarter, shares slumped after it posted a bigger loss and lower revenues than analysts were expecting.

The Cedar Park, Texas, company went public on the Nasdaq in August during a period of heightened enthusiasm toward space technology. The U.S. government and NASA have leaned on more contracts with companies like Firefly and Elon Musk‘s SpaceX to support moon missions.

But shares of Firefly have lost 70% of their value since their opening day close, and the company’s market capitalization has plummeted from about $8.5 billion to about $2.7 billion on Wednesday.

In September, Firefly shares sank after a rocket exploded during a ground test at the company’s Texas facility, days after receiving clearance from the Federal Aviation Administration over a separate incident. Firefly has since put “corrective measures” in place, the company said on Wednesday. Shares dropped 35% in September and are down 24% this month.

Firefly in July won a nearly $177 million contract with NASA for an upcoming moon mission, and in October, it announced its acquisition of defense tech firm SciTec to boost its national security portfolio.

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Cisco’s stock jumps on earnings beat, strong guidance and $1.3 billion in AI orders

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Cisco's stock jumps on earnings beat, strong guidance and .3 billion in AI orders

Chuck Robbins, Cisco CEO, speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box outside the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 22, 2025.

Gerry Miller | CNBC

Cisco reported better-than-expected profit and revenue for its fiscal first quarter on Wednesday. The stock rose more than 7% in extended trading.

Here’s how the company did in comparison with consensus estimates from LSEG:

  • Earnings per share: $1 adjusted vs. 98 cents expected
  • Revenue: $14.88 billion vs. $14.77 billion expected

Revenue increased 8% from $13.84 billion in the same period a year earlier, Cisco said in a statement. Net income climbed to $2.86 billion, or 72 cents per share, from $2.71 billion, or 68 cents per share, a year ago.

It’s the fourth straight quarter of growth for Cisco following a stretch of four consecutive year-over-year revenue declines, as the company contended with economic uncertainty and delayed spending from government agencies.

Cisco’s networking business, its biggest unit, saw sales climb 15% to $7.77 billion. Analysts were expecting revenue for that segment of $7.47 billion, according to StreetAccount.

Most of the growth in data center spending is focused on artificial intelligence, as companies bolster their investments in servers packed with graphics processing units, primarily from Nvidia. Cisco is trying to tie itself more closely to the AI boom, and last month introduced a new Ethernet switch based on Nvidia silicon.

Cisco said that AI infrastructure orders from “hyperscaler customers” reached $1.3 billion, “reflecting a significant acceleration in growth.”

“Our relevance in AI continues to build,” CFO Mark Patterson said in the press release. “We have a multi-year, multi-billion-dollar campus refresh opportunity starting to ramp, with strong demand for our refreshed networking products.” 

For the fiscal second quarter, Cisco said it expects revenue of $15 billion to $15.2 billion, topping the $14.6 billion average estimate, according to LSEG. Adjusted earnings will be $1.01 to $1.03 per share, exceeding the 99-cent average estimate.

Revenue for the full fiscal year will be between $60.2 billion and $61 billion, with earnings per share of $4.08 to $4.14, Cisco said. Analysts expect sales of $59.7 billion and EPS of $4.04.

While networking is growing and performing better than expected, Cisco’s other two main segments saw revenue declines and missed Wall Street’s expectations.

Sales in the company’s security unit fell 2% from a year earlier to $1.98 billion, missing the average estimate of $2.16 billion, according to StreetAccount. And collaboration sales slipped 3% to $1.06 billion, trailing the $1.09 billion average estimate.

Cisco shares are up 25% this year as of Wednesday’s close, topping the 21% gain for the Nasdaq.

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Defense startup Govini founder Eric Gillespie charged in child sex sting

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Defense startup Govini founder Eric Gillespie charged in child sex sting

Mug shot of Eric Gillespie, Govini Founder and Chairman.

Courtesy: Pennsylvania Attorney General

The founder of Virginia-based defense startup Govini was arrested on charges of attempting to solicit a pre-teen girl for sexual contact in Pennsylvania, authorities said Monday.

The founder, Eric Gillespie, 57, was charged with four felonies, including multiple counts of unlawful contact with a minor, according to the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office.

Gillespie, who lives in Pittsburgh, was denied bail by the judge, citing flight risk and concerns over public safety.

His company has a $900-million U.S. government contract and multiple deals with the Defense Department.

Govini, which last month announced it had passed $100 million in annual recurring revenue and is considered a prominent “unicorn” in the defense technology space, is a key partner in the U.S. Army’s Next Generation Command Control program.

Pentagon officials told CNBC they are looking into the arrest and possible security issues.

Gillespie lists himself as executive chairman of the company on his LinkedIn page.

Gillespie was considered an expert in transparency in government and was appointed to the Freedom of Information Act Advisory Committee by the Obama Administration in 2014.

The White House has referred all security clearance questions to the Department of Defense.

An agent posed as an adult on an online chat platform that the AG’s office said was often utilized by offenders who try to arrange meetings with children, and engaged in a conversation with Gillespie.

The AG’s office said Gillespie then made attempts to arrange a meeting with who he believed was a pre-teenage girl in Lebanon County, which is located near Hershey, Pennsylvania. Gillespie also alluded to methods he used to contact children, and other evidence was found.

Govini did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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The state attorney general’s office would not comment on questions about electronic devices seized during the sting. The AG’s office is asking the public to come forward with any other information on the case.

Govini, along with Anduril Industries, Palantir, Striveworks, Instant Connect Enterprise, Research Innovations, Inc., Microsoft and Lockheed Martin are also a part of the $99.6 million U.S. Army’s Next Generation Command and Control program.

NGC2 is a program for the U.S. Army to transform command and control operations by ensuring commanders have access to critical real-time data and infrastructure in areas where communications may be disrupted.

According to the company, Govini’s suite of AI-enabled applications is used by every department of the U.S. military and other federal agencies. The access to sensitive information is vast.

The software analyzes supply chains and critical details of companies being considered by the U.S. government for acquisition, enabling the U.S. military to make informed decisions.

In a recent Bain Capital press release announcing a $150m investment of Govini, Scott Kirk, Partner at Bain Capital Tech Opportunities, said, “We’re thrilled to support Govini’s next phase of growth as it continues to revolutionize how the U.S. government acquires and deploys the capabilities that keep us safe.”

Bain has not responded to CNBC’s multiple emails for comment.

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