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India cracks down on prediction markets: Polymarket goes dark, Kalshi could be next

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India cracks down on prediction markets: Polymarket goes dark, Kalshi could be next

Polymarket, the world’s largest decentralized betting platform, has gone dark for users in India. The website says, “This site can’t be reached. Check if there is a typo in polymarket.com.”

Refreshing the page does not resolve the connection issue.

The outage follows an April 25 advisory from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) directed at VPN service providers. The advisory warned that local users were continuing to access “illegal and blocked prediction market and online betting platforms” despite “domestic prohibitions.”

According to the directive, internet service providers were required to terminate access to prediction markets, with Polymarket among the primary targets.

While Kalshi, a platform regulated by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), is currently still accessible, it may soon face a similar fate. Local media reports, citing an anonymous source within MeitY, claim the agency has “already issued a blocking order to Polymarket and are in the process of issuing an order to Kalshi as soon as Friday.”

CoinDesk reached out to Polymarket and Kalshi for a comment.

Prediction markets enable users to wager real money on the outcomes of binary events, such as referendums, financial asset price movements, and election results. These platforms saw a massive surge in global popularity during the 2024 U.S. presidential election, becoming a primary venue for investors to hedge or bet on political outcomes.

However, the Indian government classifies the activity on these platforms as online money gaming. As a result, they fall under a category that is completely prohibited under the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act 2025.

The Indian government has maintained a consistently “risk-averse” and prohibitive stance toward the cryptocurrency sector, prioritizing financial stability and capital control over industry growth. New Delhi has utilized a “shadow ban” strategy through punitive taxation, including a 30% flat tax on gains and a 1% tax deducted at source (TDS) on all transactions, which has effectively throttled domestic trading volumes.

The Ministry of Finance has focused on bringing the sector under strict Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Counter-Strike Financing (CFT) oversight via the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU). This regulatory environment has pushed many local crypto startups to relocate to more friendly jurisdictions like Dubai or Singapore, as the government and the Reserve Bank of India continue to signal that it views private cryptocurrencies more as speculative “money games” than legitimate financial innovation.

India’s Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance met crypto exchanges Binance, WazirX and Zebpay in Delhi on May 20 to discuss regulations and taxation for what it calls a virtual digital assets (VDA) industry.

The committee expressed concerns over massive outflows from the country via the crypto channel.



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Bitcoin trades near $77,700 as analysts eye $75,000 support after liquidation wave

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Bitcoin trades near $77,700 as analysts eye $75,000 support after liquidation wave

Bitcoin traded near $77,733 by midday Hong Kong time, according to CoinDesk data, little changed over the past 24 hours, after sliding as low as $76,685 and failing to hold above $78,000 during U.S. trading hours.

Derivatives positioning suggested the recent selloff may have been more of a leverage flush than the start of a broader market breakdown. Open interest, a measure of outstanding leveraged futures positions, held relatively steady while funding rates stayed low or negative, a sign that traders were not aggressively piling into bullish bets before the drop.

“There was no massive accumulation of leveraged longs prior to this, meaning most of those liquidated in this drop were leveraged funds attempting short-term bottom-fishing. Second, this signals that we are not in the middle of a structural trend reversal downward. The temporary bottom of $75,000–$77,000 remains well-defined,” Tim Sun, senior researcher at HashKey Group, told CoinDesk

The bigger problem, he said, is macro: investors are de-risking as long-term yields rise, oil and inflation risks remain in focus, and there is “currently no compelling reason for new capital to enter the market.”

CoinGlass data showed $200 million in crypto liquidations over the past 24 hours, split almost evenly between long and short positions, suggesting the move was less a one-sided capitulation than a volatile market whipping both directions.

Sun pointed to the U.S. 30-year Treasury yield, which recently pushed above 5%, as the more important pressure point. Higher long-term yields tend to weigh on speculative assets by raising the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets like bitcoin while tightening broader financial conditions.

The next catalyst may come from geopolitics.

Sun said a meaningful de-escalation in U.S.-Iran tensions could cool oil prices and inflation expectations, easing pressure on yields and giving bitcoin room to rebound.

But if yields remain elevated and geopolitical risks persist, bitcoin may stay stuck in what he described as a defensive, range-bound market, with the $75,000 to $77,000 zone serving as the key near-term support level.



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XRP ETFs attract inflows amid wallet surge. bitcoin, ether funds struggle.

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XRP ETFs attract inflows amid wallet surge. bitcoin, ether funds struggle.


XRP held near $1.37 by midday Hong Kong time on Thursday, according to CoinDesk market data, with fresh ETF and on-chain data suggesting some investors may be rotating into XRP. Meanwhile, market leader bitcoin hovered around $77,400 and ether (eTH) remained under pressure.

CoinGlass data shows XRP-linked funds pulled in $8.88 million in the latest session, extending a streak of positive flows that includes $18.52 million on May 14 and $10.87 million on May 15. Across the past week, XRP products have attracted roughly $42 million in net inflows.

This has caught analysts’ attention because money has been leaving the largest listed crypto products. Bitcoin ETFs lost another $100.9 million in the latest daily session, following redemptions of $648.6 million, $331.1 million, and $290.4 million earlier in the same stretch. Ether products also remained under pressure, losing $32.6 million in the latest session.

The data suggests a selective appetite for alternative crypto exposure, though XRP’s broader network growth trend remains weaker than late 2025 levels.

Onchain activity offers a second, though less definitive, signal.

XRP recorded the fourth-largest daily spike in wallet creation this year, with 4,300 new wallets added in 24 hours, according to Blockchain analytics firm Santiment.

Fresh wallet creation can sometimes point to new network participation, particularly when paired with capital inflows.

But the broader Santiment chart suggests caution.

XRP’s network growth has generally trended lower since late 2025, making the latest move look more like a sharp one-day spike than clear evidence of sustained adoption.

For traders, the question is whether XRP is seeing the early stages of a broader rotation trade, or simply a short-lived burst of speculative positioning while the wider crypto market remains under pressure.



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Burned Out, a Sabbatical Led Her to Open a Surf Camp in Sri Lanka

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Burned Out, a Sabbatical Led Her to Open a Surf Camp in Sri Lanka


This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Rebekah Kellow, 57, who runs Wanderlust Surf Camp in Sri Lanka, where weeklong packages, including accommodation and surf lessons, start from $575. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I’d been a teacher for decades, so September always meant going back to school.

But in 2022, while my colleagues returned to their classrooms, I was out on a surfboard in Sri Lanka, thinking to myself: Maybe I don’t have to go back.

I was a few months into my yearlong sabbatical when I realized I’d outgrown my old life.

I moved to Guernsey, a small British island off the coast of France, over 20 years ago, as a single mother with my then 5-year-old son. I took a teaching job at a local school and eventually worked my way up to a senior leadership role.


A woman surfing.

Burned out from work and nearing 50, she began reassessing her life. 

Provided by Rebekah Kellow.



As the years passed, the workload caught up to me. Stress made me very sick, and I took six weeks off before gradually returning to work. Approaching 50 also made me reassess my life.

I remember sitting with my line manager during a goal-setting review. For my personal goal, I said I wanted to take a sabbatical. I was told that I wasn’t allowed to write that, but I refused to change it.

Over the next few years, I downsized my house, bought a rental property, and waited until my son finished university before finally taking the sabbatical.

The year that changed everything

I always knew that the central part of my sabbatical would be training as a surf instructor. I’d surfed on and off in the past and taken lessons, although I never made much progress.

I’d spoken to people at my local surf school for years, and they recommended a course in Sri Lanka. Once I had the dates for that, I planned everything else around it.


A woman teaching a class.

During her sabbatical, she volunteered in Tanzania, traveled around Indonesia, and went to Sri Lanka for a surfing course. 

Provided by Rebekah Kellow.



I volunteered in Tanzania on a teaching project for three weeks, then spent about a month traveling in Indonesia before heading to Sri Lanka for the ten-week course.

When I arrived, everyone else was in their 20s, and I was 54, so it was a challenge. I had quit drinking the year before and upped my swim training, but the surfing itself was incredibly difficult.

However, I kept going. I was out there for an hour and a half, twice a day, sometimes in the most terrifying waves. By about week three, I started to feel strong.

I was also doing an hour of yoga every day, eating healthy, and getting to bed early. It was physically hard, but I felt so included and supported by the instructors and my fellow students. I never felt like an outsider.


A woman surfing.

Although the surfing course was tough, Kellow said she felt supported by the instructors and fellow students. 

Provided by Rebekah Kellow.



After the course, my plan had been to continue volunteering and traveling around the world.

But I ended up canceling because I fell in love with Sri Lanka — and most importantly, the people.

I looked at my pension and Sri Lanka’s cost of living and realized I could make it work if I was careful. So, I went back to Guernsey and retired early.

I worked a season at a surf school in Guernsey and even returned to Indonesia for a month to make sure I wasn’t just in love with the idea of living somewhere tropical. Sri Lanka still felt right.


A woman and her son posing in front of Guernsey Surf School.

Back in Guernsey, she worked at a local special school to gain experience. In this photo, she is pictured with her son, who has been supportive of her journey. 

Provided by Rebekah Kellow.



Betting on myself

In 2024, I went back to Sri Lanka and established my first business, a spa and yoga studio, with a yoga and meditation instructor I had met there.

It allowed me to obtain a resident visa, learn the ins and outs of running a business in Sri Lanka, and paved the way for what I really wanted to do: start a surf camp.

To help fund the project, I also returned to the role I retired from in Guernsey on a seven-month contract.

About a year later, my dream became a reality when I opened Wanderlust Surf Camp with a local surf instructor in Arugam Bay, a popular beach town on Sri Lanka’s eastern coast.

I don’t teach surfing here in Sri Lanka, but I’m very involved in the day-to-day running of the business, handling bookings, answering inquiries, and managing guest relations.


Back view of a woman holding her surf board.

In 2025, she opened a surf camp in a popular beach town on Sri Lanka’s eastern coast. 

Provided by Rebekah Kellow.



We offer weeklong packages with accommodation, breakfast, and two surf sessions a day. The camp, which can accommodate up to 16 guests, has three private rooms and a luxury dorm.

My days start early. We head out for a sunrise surf, then come back to the camp for breakfast. It gets very hot after that, so there’s some time to rest before we go out into the water to catch the sunset.

It’s a completely different life from the one I had before.

I have redefined who I am: I am no longer a teacher, approaching the end of my career, burnt out and weary. I am a surfer and a businesswoman.

If I hadn’t taken that sabbatical, I would probably be less fit, less healthy, and less happy.

These days, I feel completely free to do whatever I like whenever I like. Without all of this, I think I would have just been crawling my way to retirement as a jaded person.





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MongoDB (MDB) Remains Well-Positioned In The Database Market And Has Durable Growth Potential, Says BMO Capital

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MongoDB (MDB) Remains Well-Positioned In The Database Market And Has Durable Growth Potential, Says BMO Capital


With a short float of 4.43% and upside potential of 15.50%, MongoDB, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDB) earns a place on our list of the best cloud stocks to buy as Azure growth hits 40%.

MongoDB (MDB) Remains Well-Positioned In The Database Market And Has Durable Growth Potential, Says BMO Capital

On May 15, 2026, BMO Capital analyst Keith Bachman raised the firm’s price target on MongoDB, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDB) to $360 from $285 while keeping an “Outperform” rating on the shares.

In a note analyzing the competitive state of the database market with a focus on AI, the firm said MongoDB, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDB) and Postgres tend to win in different use cases, with both positioned to acquire AI workloads. BMO added that MongoDB remains well-positioned in the database market and has durable growth potential.

That view was supported by a recent customer win involving India’s Emergent Labs, a $100 million ARR AI coding platform serving 190 countries. The company chose MongoDB Atlas over PostgreSQL to power AI agents that build production-ready applications from natural language prompts, underscoring MongoDB’s growing relevance relative to its peers.

Against that backdrop, Citi took a more bullish stance on MongoDB, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDB).

On May 12, 2026, Citi raised its price target on MongoDB, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDB) to $450 from $400 and kept a “Buy” rating on the shares. Citi also opened an upside 90-day catalyst watch on the stock, noting that its channel checks suggested a significant ramp in Atlas usage in Q1 at several AI-native customers.

The firm further said MongoDB, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDB) was “bucking the trend” of a weaker software budget environment, adding to the case that demand for Atlas remains a key part of the company’s growth story.

MongoDB Inc. (NASDAQ:MDB) provides a general-purpose database platform through cloud-based, enterprise, and community offerings.

While we acknowledge the potential of MDB as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you’re looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.

READ NEXT: 33 Stocks That Should Double in 3 Years and 15 Stocks That Will Make You Rich in 10 Years.

Disclosure: None. Follow Insider Monkey on Google News.



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SpaceX IPO could be bad news for Tesla stock, investors warn

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SpaceX IPO could be bad news for Tesla stock, investors warn

SpaceX’s pending IPO reportedly scheduled for June will double Musk’s publicly traded companies, joining Tesla as a target for investors betting on the CEO’s moonshot goals around automation and space exploration. But rather than seeing twice the opportunity to cash in on a Musk-led enterprise, investors and analysts instead see red flags for Tesla stock.

“This cannot be a positive for Tesla,” Joe Gilbert, portfolio manager at Integrity Asset Management, told Bloomberg. “We believe that Musk’s focus will predominantly be lasered on SpaceX. Musk has proved to be able to balance multiple initiatives simultaneously in the past, but it feels like SpaceX is his new baby at the expense of Tesla.”

Tesla has had a difficult year: It saw the company’s first full-year revenue decline in its history last year, and despite improved sales in the first three months of this year, deliveries have fallen below analysts’ expectations, and production has continued to outpace sales.

Tesla did not respond to Fortune’s request for comment.

Though its stock is down about 5% year-to-date, Tesla’s stock trades well above what its fundamental performance reflects, according to analysts. Musk has recently touted Tesla as less of an electric vehicle producer and more of an AI and robotics company, exemplified by his projection that 80% of the company’s total value will be represented in its humanoid Optimus robot, despite no evidence of the project’s scaling, let alone to Musk’s goal of an annual capacity of 1 million robots.

SpaceX tells a different story. Among the stakeholders in conversations about putting data centers in space to scale the growth of AI, SpaceX has already shown promise of strong returns with Starlink, its satellite internet with more than 10 million subscribers, as well as its grip on the global orbital launch market, using reusable rocket boosters. The company’s IPO prospectus reveals a full-year revenue of $18.7 billion in 2025, a 33% year-over-year increase from 2024, but also that its losses are expected to similarly swell as it looks to expand rapidly. With a projected $1.75 trillion valuation, SpaceX would dwarf even Tesla’s $1 trillion worth.

“It’s sexy,” Ross Gerber, a Tesla investor and CEO of investment firm Gerber Kawasaki, told Fortune. “Everybody likes sexy things in the investment business.”

How does SpaceX’s IPO make Tesla’s troubles worse?

SpaceX being the new belle of the ball will only mount pressure on Tesla, according to Dave Mazza, CEO of Roundhill Investments. Investors bought into Tesla in part because of its ambitions around AI and robotics, and SpaceX’s success could undermine Tesla’s vision.

SpaceX’s success will likely depend heavily on Musk’s fanbase because, reportedly, 30% of its IPO may be allocated to retail investors, about three times the usual available for individuals, “pulling directly from the same pool that has been Tesla’s most loyal buyer base,” Mazza said.

“Tesla’s valuation has never been justified by vehicles alone, and investors are paying for the autonomy and physical AI thesis,” Mazza told Fortune. “SpaceX’s IPO sharpens that scrutiny, because investors will now have a cleaner, purer Musk innovation bet to benchmark against, which raises the bar for Tesla to actually deliver.”

Investors like Gilbert are also concerned about Musk’s personal investment of time and energy into Tesla, suggesting a renewed focus on the aerospace company would sap attention from Tesla. The concerns echo those of investors last year, when Musk was a special government employee overseeing the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), admitting it was challenging to juggle so many projects, while also alienating a consumer base that has historically leaned to the left and sought after EVs.

Mazza said this risk is present for all of Musk’s projects, however, and isn’t specific to SpaceX’s IPO. If you’re going to invest in a Musk-run company, you are buying with the understanding that he both brings value to the business, while also being largely responsible for its potential demise, he said.

“That concern is already priced in, as Musk’s divided attention has been a headline risk for years,” Mazza said. “The more relevant question is execution: Tesla needs to deliver on robotaxi and autonomy on its own timeline, and SpaceX going public doesn’t change that calculus one way or the other.”

Could SpaceX’s merger help save Tesla?

While SpaceX’s IPO may be bad news for Tesla stock, it could ultimately be good for business, Gerber said. The aerospace company going public has increased speculation of these two companies merging, a move that would grow Musk’s dominion over the AI market. SpaceX already owns Musk’s xAI, and the companies are already working jointly on developing Terafab, a semiconductor plant in East Texas.

A merger would simplify investor decisions to a simple binary, Gerber argued: If you believed in Musk’s vision, you would buy shares, and if you didn’t, you would invest elsewhere. But a merger would also shield Tesla from some investor scrutiny if other components of Musk’s ventures found success, especially as the EV-maker’s promises around full self-driving features have yet to come to fruition.

“This period of time could be very difficult for Tesla, on top of the fact that now you’re throwing out SpaceX,” Gerber said. “In a typical Elon fashion, there’s lots of messiness with all this, and how that all gets reconciled is through a merger.”



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Bitcoin and ethereum prices today, Thursday, May 21, 2026: Bitcoin and ethereum prices following a similar path

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Bitcoin and ethereum prices today, Thursday, May 21, 2026: Bitcoin and ethereum prices following a similar path


Bitcoin (BTC-USD) opened at $77,472.17 on Thursday, up 0.9% from Wednesday’s opening price. The value of bitcoin moved down to $77,276.02 by 7:17 a.m. ET.

Ethereum (ETH-USD) opened at $2,127.36 on Thursday, up 0.8% from Wednesday’s opening value. Ethereum’s price edged lower to $2,116.73 by 7:17 a.m. ET.

Both bitcoin and ethereum prices are following a similar path so far this week. The two largest cryptocurrencies have opened lower each day since the start of the week, but reversed course higher at this morning’s open. There is some optimism in the markets following the president’s comments that the war with Iran is in its final stages. However, no investors are overreacting to those seemingly positive comments, since both the U.S. and Iran have also been hinting that further escalation could happen in the coming days.

Current price of bitcoin and ethereum

Bitcoin

The price of bitcoin this morning was 0.9% higher than yesterday’s open. Here’s a look at how the opening bitcoin price has changed versus last week, month, and year:

  • One week ago: -2.3%

  • One month ago: +2.1%

  • One year ago: -27.5%

The all-time high for bitcoin was $126,198.07 on Oct. 6, 2025. The all-time low value for bitcoin was $0.04865 on July 14, 2010. 

Ethereum

The price of ethereum this morning was 0.8% higher than yesterday’s starting price. Here’s a look at how the opening ethereum price has changed versus last week, month, and year:

  • One week ago: -5.8%

  • One month ago: -8.1%

  • One year ago: -15.7%

The all-time high for ethereum was $4,953.73 on Aug. 24, 2025. The all-time low value for ethereum was $0.4209 on Oct. 21, 2015. 

Bitcoin, ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies are rapidly evolving. Follow the latest developments from Yahoo Finance and others here.

What is a crypto credit card?

A bitcoin or crypto credit card generally works just like any other credit card. When you apply and get approved, you’ll be assigned a credit limit, and you can use your card to make purchases. If you don’t pay your total balance by your card’s monthly due date, you’ll start to accrue interest at your assigned APR.

The difference is the types of rewards you’ll earn. Instead of earning airline miles, rewards points, or cash back on your spending, you’ll earn crypto. The percentage back you earn on each purchase — such as 3% back on gas or 2% back at restaurants — is converted from U.S. dollars to bitcoin or another cryptocurrency at the current market value. You can then access your rewards through your connected crypto account.

For example, say you make a $500 purchase that earns 3% bitcoin rewards. You’ll earn $15 in U.S. dollars on that purchase. With a bitcoin credit card, your $15 may be converted at the current bitcoin value (about 0.00014 bitcoin in October 2025) and deposited in your crypto account.

The biggest benefit of crypto rewards is the potential for growth over time. Let’s say you had a total bitcoin rewards balance worth $100 USD at the end of 2024. By early October 2025, the value of those same rewards would have increased to about $114 — even if you didn’t earn any additional rewards over that time.

Learn more: Do you need a bitcoin credit card? What you can gain (and lose) by earning bitcoin rewards on spending

Bitcoin and ethereum price charts

Whether you’re brand new to tracking the value of bitcoin and ethereum or a more seasoned crypto investor, Yahoo Finance’s price-of-bitcoin chart and price-of-ethereum chart below show a visual history of how the currency’s value continues to move and evolve.

More on crypto from the Yahoo Finance team: 



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