A cartoon image of US President-elect Donald Trump holding a Bitcoin token to mark the cryptocurrency reaching over $100,000 displayed at a Coinhero store in Hong Kong, China, on in Hong Kong, China, on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024.
Paul Yeung | Bloomberg | Getty Images
President Trump’s return the White House is expected to usher in a golden, if chaotic, age of crypto in the U.S., according to Bernstein.
Over the weekend Trump launched a meme coin, “Official Trump,” that rose to a market cap of $73 billion in two days before a 50% drawdown. The move came just as Gary Gensler, an opponent of crypto startups in his harsh enforcement approach as the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission, left his post.
That may be a short-term price to pay for a long-term goal of cryptocurrency innovation in a permissive regulatory environment, said Bernstein analysts led by Gautam Chhugani.
“Whichever way you see it, we think a new chaotic crypto era is here,” he said in a note published Monday. “The President of America has his own coin. Our view would be to view the event as a signal that a new crypto regulatory era is here to stay and invest in the more valuable parts of the ecosystem.”
“Given the previous U.S regulatory regime was about crackdown on crypto builders and enforcement actions on token-related activities, a token launch by the President, is a huge social signal to U.S builders: build away in the U.S, and don’t be shy of launching tokens,” Chhugani added.
The Trump meme coin was recently trading at about $38.41 on Tuesday, almost 50% off its high.
A disclaimer on the Trump coin’s website says it is “intended to function as an expression of support for, and engagement with, the ideals and beliefs embodied by the symbol ‘$TRUMP’ and the associated artwork, and … not intended to be, or to be the subject of, an investment opportunity, investment contract, or security of any type.”
There are 200 million coins initially available, which will grow to 1 billion over three years, according to the website. Only 10% are available to the public, with another 10% held in liquidity and 80% to “creators and CIC Digital,” an affiliate of The Trump Organization.
The meme coin is the latest fundraising effort to come out of the Trump team – which has also launched two NFT collections – Trump Digital Trading Cards on the Polygon blockchain and Trump Bitcoin Digital Trading Cards on the Bitcoin blockchain – as well as the DeFi platform World Liberty Financial on Ethereum.
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Tesla is recalling around 10,500 units of its Powerwall 2, a backup battery for residential use, according to a U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission disclosure out Thursday.
“The lithium-ion battery cells in certain Powerwall 2 systems can cause the unit to stop functioning during normal use, which can result in overheating and, in some cases, smoke or flame and can cause death or serious injury due to fire and burn hazards,” the CPSC recall notice said.
While Elon Musk‘s electric vehicle and clean energy company blamed the issue on a “third-party battery cell defect,” it did not name the supplier.
The recall notice said Tesla previously received 22 customer reports of the Powerwall 2 overheating, including five fires resulting in “minor property damage,” but no known injuries.
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Tesla’s Powerwall products are sold via its Energy division, along with giant, backup batteries that are built for utility-scale projects and use at large business facilities.
The Powerwalls work with Tesla’s solar photovoltaics, or solar rooftops, and can store electricity in a home for use at a later time, including during blackouts or during days or hours when electricity prices are higher.
In a separate notice on Tesla’s website, the company emphasized that the issue does not affect owners of newer model Powerwall systems, specifically Powerwall 3. The company website also said, “all affected units are being replaced at no cost to customers.”
Tesla’s biggest growth engine in the third quarter of 2025 came from its energy division, which sells Powerwalls. Tesla Energy saw revenue jump 44% to $3.42 billion in the third quarter, and as of the end of September, its energy segment represented about one-quarter of Tesla’s overall revenue.
Tesla shares fell by more than 7% on Thursday. Representatives for Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.
Major League Soccer is stepping onto a bigger stage next year, when all of its matches will find a new home on Apple TV.
Beginning in the 2026 season, MLS games will be available on Apple’s flagship streaming platform, which currently includes Major League Baseball games as well as scripted series like “Severance.”
The move marks a big shift for both the league and Apple’s media strategy, as the tech giant will end Season Pass — the separate subscription service for MLS games provided by Apple.
Apple and MLS had inked a 10-year media rights deal in 2022 that saw Apple become the exclusive global home to the U.S. professional soccer league. However, rather than feature matches on the fledgling streaming service, Apple instead launched Season Pass for an additional subscription solely for MLS games.
“This idea that you could watch all of our matches in one place with a push of the button globally was unprecedented. We really, really liked that concept with Season Pass, and it worked because people reacted really well to the product,” MLS Deputy Commissioner Gary Stevenson said in an interview.
Season Pass — which costs $14.99 a month, compared to the $12.99 charged for the separate monthly Apple TV subscription — kicked off in 2023. Apple doesn’t provide subscriber metrics for its streaming services.
Stevenson said that conversations about moving the league to Apple TV started as Apple’s main streaming platform grew.
“They came to us and said, ‘Let’s put it on Apple TV,’ and we said, ‘We’re all in,'” said Stevenson. “So this was good news for us.”
While Stevenson didn’t go into specifics, some terms of the deal changed as part of the move to Apple TV.
“But it’s not like it was a big renegotiation because what we’ve been focused on is the distribution, and how to make it a better and more accessible experience for the fans,” said Stevenson.
Since jumping into the streaming game, Apple has methodically added sports to its platform and has secured exclusive rights in an increasingly fragmented sports viewing ecosystem.
Most recently Apple and Formula 1 inked a five-year exclusive media rights deal, meaning all races will stream on Apple TV in the U.S. beginning next year. Apple is paying roughly $140 million annually for the F1 rights, CNBC previously reported.
Apple has been looking to change the current sports viewing experience. While live sports garners huge audiences in the pay TV bundle, the rise of streaming has led to a fractured market in which consumers often require multiple subscriptions to watch one sport.
At a recent event, Apple Senior Vice President of Services Eddy Cue said the market has “gone backwards,” when it comes to sports viewership.
“You used to buy one subscription, your cable subscription, and you got pretty much everything they had. Now, there’s so many different subscriptions, so I think that needs to be fixed,” Cue said during a panel in October.
Since MLS kicked off its media rights deal with Apple, there has been little information about how Season Pass has performed — and some skepticism about its success.
However, MLS Commissioner Don Garber told CNBC Sport in an interview last year that Apple Season Pass subscriptions had exceeded expectations, though he declined to provide specific numbers.
“We have more subscribers than we and Apple thought we would have,” Garber told CNBC at the time, adding that there would be more transparency at a later date.
Apple also doesn’t release numbers for Apple TV, but Cue has reportedly said that the platform has “significantly more than 45 million” viewers.
The broader reach for the league will come after the MLS completed its 30th season. It has been working to capitalize on the growth of soccer’s popularity in the U.S., particularly ahead of the World Cup, which will take place in North America next year.
The league, which pales in comparison to the popularity of the NFL, NBA and other U.S. pro sports that have existed for decades before the MLS, has also seen fandom increase in recent years after global superstar Lionel Messi started playing for Inter Miami CF.
Oracle CEO Clay Magouyrk speaks at a Q&A following a tour of the OpenAI data center in Abilene, Texas, U.S., Sept. 23, 2025.
Shelby Tauber | Reuters
Two months ago, Oracle’s stock had its best day since 1992, soaring 36% to a record after the company blew away investors with its forecast for cloud infrastructure revenue.
Since then, the company has lost one-third of its value, more than wiping out those gains. Midway through November, the stock is on pace for its worst month since 2011.
The hype was sparked by Oracle’s strengthening ties to OpenAI. But the mood of late has turned, with investors questioning whether the AI market ran too far, too fast and whether OpenAI can live up to its $300 billion commitment to Oracle over five years.
“AI sentiment is waning,” said Jackson Ader, an analyst at KeyBanc Capital Markets, in an interview.
Ader said that of the big cloud companies in the GPU business, Oracle is expected to generate the least amount of free cash flow. To fund the capex required for Oracle’s business, Ader expects Oracle to turn to more creative financing tools.
Oracle is looking to raise $38 billion in debt sales to help fund its AI buildout, according to sources with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be named because the information is confidential. Bloomberg reported on the planned debt raise last month.
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The company needs a massive pool of capital as it works with partners to develop and lease data centers across Texas, New Mexico and Wisconsin, while also buying hundreds of thousands of graphics processing units (GPUs) from Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices to run AI models.
At Oracle’s big annual conference in October, called AI World, tech enthusiasts cheered the company’s cloud infrastructure design as being easily scalable. Investors remained largely enthusiastic at the time, thanks to Oracle’s over $450 billion in signed contracts that hadn’t yet been recognized as revenue.
Skepticism started to hit shortly after the conference. Oracle shares fell 7% on Oct. 17, as investors questioned the company’s ability to reach its lofty outlook announced at its investor day. Oracle said it expected to reach $166 billion in cloud infrastructure revenue in the 2030 fiscal year, up from $18 billion in fiscal 2026.
Oracle’s next quarterly earnings report is expected in mid-December.
Andrew Keches, an analyst at Barclays, said off-balance sheet debt facilities and vendor financing are two options for Oracle. Keches recently downgraded Oracle’s debt, citing the company’s “significant funding needs.”
“We struggle to see an avenue for ORCL’s credit trajectory to improve,” Keches wrote in a note to clients this week.
Oracle Corp Chief Executive Larry Ellison during a launch event at the company’s headquarters in Redwood Shores, California June 10, 2014.
Noah Berger | Reuters
Oracle bulls point to founder Larry Ellison’s long and storied track record. A hedge fund manager who asked to remain anonymous told CNBC that Ellison is “someone you don’t want to bet against.”
And Rishi Jaluria, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, said in an interview that Oracle could rebuild its momentum in the market with more AI deals. However, Jaluria currently has a hold rating on the stock.
As more investors look to hedge their bets, Oracle’s 5-year credit default swaps have climbed to a 2-year high, a level that’s not alarming but worth watching, credit analysts told CNBC. Credit default swaps are like insurance for investors, with buyers paying for protection in case the borrower can’t repay its debt.
Oracle didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Last month, CNBC’s David Faber asked Clay Magouyrk, one of Oracle’s two CEOs, whether OpenAI will be able to pay Oracle $60 billion a year. Magouyrk responded, “of course,” while also pointing to OpenAI’s growth prospects and rapid rise in users.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a post on X last week that the company will top $20 billion in annualized revenue this year and reach hundreds of billions of dollars by 2030.
Gil Luria, an analyst at D.A. Davidson, told CNBC’s “Fast Money” on Wednesday that Oracle represents the “bad behavior in the AI buildout.” He contrasted Oracle with Microsoft, Amazon and Google, which he said all have the available cash and customer demand to justify their rapid expansions.
For Oracle, however, there’s an overreliance on OpenAI, a cash-burning startup, Luria said. Additionally, he said that gross margins for renting out GPUs are dramatically lower than the roughly 80% margin in the company’s core business. Luria has a hold rating on the stock.
In terms of the $100 of stock appreciation that initially followed the last earnings report, “it makes a lot of sense that that’s completely gone away,” Luria said.