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Real star of the White House UFC fight may be the Claw: a behemoth cage constructed for the Octagon

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Real star of the White House UFC fight may be the Claw: a behemoth cage constructed for the Octagon

Donald Trump walked out to the strains of Kid Rock’s “American Bad Ass” and a roaring standing ovation just before he took a familiar cageside seat at a 2024 UFC event at Madison Square Garden. Long a fan of cage fighting before he entered the political arena, Trump has rooted on the bloodthirsty bouts and congratulated winners — he likes winners so much — for more than 25 years at UFC shows from Florida to New York to New Jersey.

He’s just never had a home game.

Trump’s next walkout will be the president’s shortest one yet, from the Oval Office to the Octagon for the implausible sports spectacle on the South Lawn of the White House billed as UFC Freedom 250.

The mixed martial arts show on Sunday night that is streaming on Paramount+ is timed for Trump’s 80th birthday and the celebration of the nation’s 250th anniversary.

First there was the fight for independence! Now the biggest fight of ’em all is for the lightweight championship!

Or something like that.

Trump first publicly floated the idea of a UFC fight night at the White House at a July 2025 rally in Iowa and promised a “full fight” with 20,000 to 25,000 people. Some of the top stars in the sport lobbied — it is Washington, after all — for a spot on the card; Conor McGregor wrote on social media, “Count me in.”

Count McGregor out. Same for Jon Jones and Ronda Rousey, who took her comeback match to Netflix rather than a date in Washington on UFC’s streaming service. As for those 25,000 fans on site, that’s a bit of a hyperbolic political speech from the president, with about 4,000-plus people expected at the temporary arena; but outside, up to 120,000 fans, who won free admission via lottery, are expected to watch in the open air at the Ellipse, a prominent public park south of the White House.

The true star of the $60 million-plus show is the unprecedented setting where a cage was constructed on the traditional site of the Easter egg roll every spring. The White House had to make room for the Claw, a four-sided mass that arcs more than 90 feet (27 meters) into the air and features lights, speakers, thick snakes of wiring and four large screens so fans not seated right next to the Octagon can follow the cage fighting below.

The undertaking might seem crazy to those who diss the fight game or have unfavorable reviews of the current administration.

It’s just another day for Trump, who is still navigating a war with Iran, attended the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in April that was cut short by a shooting, boasted this week about his love of soaring inflation, shut down parts of Manhattan when he attended an NBA Finals game in New York and even had the staging of the Freedom 250 challenged by a federal lawsuit that was rejected Friday.

So, the show will go on for UFC.

Oh yeah. The fights!

The seven-bout card has largely been ignored outside of the MMA diehards, with all the hype of what UFC CEO Dana White has called a “1 of 1 event” focused more on the uniqueness of fighters training in front of the Washington Monument and a news conference at the Lincoln Memorial, among other promotional stops around the nation’s capital.

“It’s going to be a pain in the ass getting in and out of there,” White said. “Once you’re in, it’s going to be incredible. As long as the weather is good, it’s going to be amazing.”

White says the outdoor show will go on rain or shine. The Friday night news conference at the Lincoln Memorial was delayed for about an hour because of lightning.

In a card that has been panned by fans online as underwhelming, Alex Pereira of Brazil will meet Ciryl Gane of France for the interim UFC heavyweight title. Spanish-Georgian lightweight champion Ilia Topuriathen takes on interim champ Justin Gaethje, one of just two Americans who currently hold even a share of the UFC’s 11 championship belts.

There are five other fights on the main card that include former title-fight participants Michael Chandler and Derrick Lewis and former 135-pound champion Sean O’Malley.

Middleweight Bo Nickal, a three-time NCAA Division I wrestling champion at Penn State, has forged a friendly relationship with Trump after they met in 2019 at the White House during a ceremony for collegiate national champions.

“As somebody who is as powerful and busy and doing all the things that he’s doing, he does take time out of his day to give me a call once in a while,” said Nickal, who takes on Philadelphia fighter Kyle Daukaus. “I’ve been golfing with him a couple of times. It’s surreal to be able to do that. I grew up in a town of 5,000 people in Wyoming, and to be able to golf with the president and hang out with him is like, unbelievable.”

Up next, Nickal gets to fight in front of him.

He just won’t fight on national broadcast television.

Rather than air the show or at least portions of the card on CBS, the Freedom 250 is being used to drive subscriptions on Paramount, which is controlled by the Ellison family, also close allies of Trump, and this year became the new home to UFC events across the United States as part of a $7.7 billion, seven-year deal.

White had vowed Super Bowl-type viewership (125.6 million this year) after the date was announced, though streaming will severely curtail those numbers. If UFC and Paramount can snag some subscribers though casual viewers interested in either patriotism or a potential trainwreck, maybe they’ll become new fans.

Just getting to the White House is the big win.



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Bitcoin surpasses $64,00 as Friday’s ETF inflows reach highest level since May 14

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moneyvests
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Bitcoin surpasses $64,00 as Friday's ETF inflows reach highest level since May 14

Bitcoin climbed above $64,000 on Saturday, reaching an intraday high of more than $64,200. The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization is up more than 1% over the past 24 hours and is now up over 8% from its June low of just above $59,000.

Sentiment has also been supported by further positive developments on the geopolitical front in the Middle East.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister stated on X: “We are closer to a peace deal than ever before. With finalisation likely within the next 24 hours, Pakistan is preparing for the electronic signing of the agreement immediately afterwards, followed by technical-level talks next week.”

Meanwhile, Friday recorded the largest daily inflow into U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs since May, with net inflows totaling $85.9 million. The last time inflows exceeded this level was on May 14.

On Friday, a Standard Chartered analyst said that ETF holders have anecdotally been liquidating their positions to free up cash to participate in the SpaceX initial public offering. After SpaceX’s IPO launch on Friday, it may finally ease that selling pressure, the analyst added.



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Is Solana winning the tokenization race despite SOL’s technical weakness?

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moneyvests
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Is Solana winning the tokenization race despite SOL's technical weakness?


Equities trading on-chain is a solid example of TradFi–DeFi integration.

Despite the SEC ruling out the Innovation Exemption proposal, equity tokenization continues to gain momentum. Exodus, for example, has launched Exodus Markets with Ondo Finance, offering access to more than 200 tokenized stocks, ETFs, and RWAs.

In essence, this brings TradFi assets on-chain, allowing investors to trade them through blockchain-based infrastructure.

The key question, however, is where these assets are being issued. Notably, Exodus Markets has brought 200 tokenized assets to Solana, further cementing the network’s growing role in the tokenization narrative.

Solana
Source: X

And the momentum doesn’t stop there.

Securitize is expanding STAC, its tokenized AAA CLO fund, to Solana in partnership with BNY, while Ethena plans to allocate $250 million to the fund. The significance is hard to overlook.

CLOs account for more than $1.3 trillion in global issuance, making them one of the largest fixed-income markets in the world. 

As these assets move on-chain, Solana is increasingly emerging as a settlement layer for institutional capital. Yet SOL’s price action tells a different story.

The asset remains well below the $100 mark, with its broader technical structure still lacking a decisive bullish shift.

That raises the key question: Are investors still focused on Solana’s [SOL] weak technical structure, or are they beginning to bet on the network’s strengthening fundamentals?

As institutional assets move on-chain, Solana takes center stage 

Liquidity on Solana continues to trend sharply higher.

A key driver has been Ethena’s USDe, whose supply on Solana has surged more than 260% over the past month to exceed $500 million.

Against this backdrop, Ethena’s planned $250 million allocation to Securitize’s tokenized AAA CLO fund carries added significance. 

In this context, Ethena’s $250 million allocation to Securitize’s AAA CLO fund is worth watching. The move connects one of crypto’s fastest-growing stablecoin protocols with a tokenized product, further expanding the range of institutional assets being brought on Solana.

What’s interesting is that all of this is happening while SOL remains under technical pressure.

SOLSOL
Source: TradingView (SOL/USDT)

As the chart above shows, SOL has been stuck in a broader downtrend for nearly eight months, creating a noticeable disconnect between Solana’s improving fundamentals and its price action.

Against this backdrop, Solana’s tokenization momentum continues to build. With tokenized equities increasingly flowing onto the network, a much larger opportunity is starting to take shape.

The global equity market is worth $100 trillion, and as these assets move on-chain, they will need a settlement layer. 

So far, the early signals suggest Solana is emerging as one of the leading destinations for that activity. In turn, this adds fuel to the growing debate around whether SOL is being undervalued.

While the token remains trapped in a prolonged downtrend, the network itself continues to attract liquidity, partnerships, and tokenized asset issuance at an accelerating pace. 

Final Summary

  • Tokenized assets are increasingly choosing Solana, with major players bringing equities, CLOs, and other RWAs onto the network.
  • SOL remains under pressure despite this growth, raising questions about whether the market is undervaluing Solana’s fundamentals.



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Suze Orman to 54-Year-Old With $600,000: Skip the 1.5% Fee and Manage It Yourself

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moneyvests
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Suze Orman to 54-Year-Old With $600,000: Skip the 1.5% Fee and Manage It Yourself


Quick Read

  • Suze Orman told a 54-year-old with $600,000 to skip Fisher and TMG Marketing and manage her own portfolio using index ETFs and dollar-cost averaging.

  • A 1.5% advisory fee drains $9,000 annually from a $600,000 portfolio, which is roughly 1,500 times the cost of owning SPY.

  • Orman’s benchmark for hiring any advisor: they must beat the S&P 500 by at least 5% per year after fees, or an index fund wins.

  • Are you ahead, or behind on retirement? SmartAsset’s free tool can match you with a financial advisor in minutes to help you answer that today. Each advisor has been carefully vetted, and must act in your best interests. Don’t waste another minute; learn more here.

On the June 11, 2026 episode of Suze Orman’s Women & Money, titled “Caution, Caution, Caution!”, a 54-year-old caller laid out a problem many pre-retirees face. She has $600,000 to invest: $400,000 in a Roth IRA and $200,000 in a traditional IRA. She is weighing two firms, Fisher and TMG Marketing, both charging a 1.5% advisory fee, against managing the portfolio herself. Her words: “I’m too old to be starting over. Help, please.”

pixelfit / Getty Images

Orman’s reply cut to the bone: “Nobody ever asks a question like this that they don’t know the answer to. So before you hand over this money to somebody that you really maybe don’t know, why don’t you give it a try on your own?”

The stakes of a 1.5% fee at age 54

A 1.5% annual advisory fee on a $600,000 portfolio compounds against the saver every year until the money is spent. With about a decade until traditional retirement age, that fee structure has real time to bite. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:SPY) charges a net expense ratio of 0.000945%. Orman’s caller would be paying her advisor roughly 1,500 times what an S&P 500 index fund charges, before the advisor even proves they can beat the market.

The verdict: do it yourself, and here is the test

Orman’s position was direct. “You could easily do this on your own… Many of the ETFs that I’ve talked to you about. Many of the individual stocks, you can start by dollar-cost averaging.” She then gave the only benchmark that justifies paying anyone 1.5%: “It is not the firm… It is the advisor… What is their track record?… Has the advisor made at least 5% more a year than the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index after fees? All of that is important with anything, otherwise you are just better off in an ETF that’s the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.”



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Perpetual futures could become crypto’s next ETF moment

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moneyvests
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Perpetual futures could become crypto's next ETF moment

The comparison may indicate how much the U.S. crypto derivatives market could change over the next several years. While spot bitcoin ETFs opened the door for traditional investors to gain exposure to bitcoin through brokerage accounts, regulated perpetual futures could give both retail and institutional traders access to one of crypto’s most popular trading instruments without needing to use offshore venues.

Prediction market platform Kalshi, which launched U.S. perpetual futures last week, said on Wednesday that it already crossed $1 billion in trading volume.

Palmer argued that one reason perpetual futures became so successful outside the U.S. is their simplicity. Unlike dated futures, which require traders to manage expirations and contract rolls, perps allow positions to remain open indefinitely.

“I think it’s a simple derivative structure compared to some of the nuances of dealing with dated futures,” he said. “If I buy a June [future], then it expires, and if I want to keep my position on, I have to roll it.”

Kraken believes removing those complexities — and eventually allowing crypto assets to be used as collateral — could help bring U.S. traders closer to the experience available in international markets, he said.

For now, the company sees the launch of regulated perps as just the beginning. Despite crypto derivatives generating trillions of dollars in annual volume globally, Palmer said the U.S. market remains in its early stages.



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Jim Cramer Is Surprised Starbucks (SBUX) Has Fallen Even Though Coffee Prices Have Eased

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moneyvests
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Jim Cramer Is Surprised Starbucks (SBUX) Has Fallen Even Though Coffee Prices Have Eased


We recently published Jim Cramer Didn’t Hold Back On SpaceX’s IPO & Discussed These 12 Stocks. Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) is one of the stocks discussed by Jim Cramer.

Coffee chain Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) is a frequent feature on Jim Cramer’s radar. For a year, the CNBC TV host has discussed the firm’s turnaround effort being led by CEO Brian Niccol. Even though market sentiment has often fluctuated for Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX), Cramer has kept the faith in the firm. Stifel discussed the firm on May 7th, as it raised the share price target to $117 from $115 and kept a Buy rating on the stock. Earlier in the year, on March 9th, Wolfe Research cut the rating to Peer Perform from Outperform and pointed towards the need for sustained execution. This time, in a tweet, Cramer wondered why Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) wasn’t performing well even though coffee prices had started to ease:

“With the collapse of coffee and a real good game plan, surprised SBUX has fallen this hard–club name”

Jim Cramer Is Surprised Starbucks (SBUX) Has Fallen Even Though Coffee Prices Have Eased

darya-tryfanava-DmpdY8wYNps-unsplash

In his appearance on Squawk on the Street on April 30th, the CNBC TV host made a big prediction for Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX):

“SBUX could be a multi-year rocket ship here”

While we acknowledge the potential of SBUX 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 Cathie Wood 2026 Portfolio: 10 Best Stocks to Buy. 

Disclosure: None. Follow Insider Monkey on Google News.



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SIREN crashes 67% after losing key support – Can bulls stop the bleeding?

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moneyvests
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SIREN crashes 67% after losing key support – Can bulls stop the bleeding?


SIREN extended its decline dramatically over the past 24 hours as panic selling swept across the market. 

The token plunged 67.09% to $0.1620 while its trading activity accelerated aggressively during the sell-off, with 24-hour volume surging 248.46% to $171 million. 

Such a sharp increase in volume reflected intense market participation rather than renewed buying interest. Instead, traders appeared to have rushed to exit positions as bearish sentiment strengthened throughout the session. 

As a result, Siren [SIREN] erased a substantial portion of its recent recovery and fell to levels not seen since its earlier consolidation phase. 

Why is Open Interest still rising?

Despite the severe decline, derivatives traders continued increasing exposure. Open Interest climbed 25.34% to $37.72 million even as SIREN suffered one of its sharpest daily corrections. 

This divergence suggested fresh positions entered the market while the price moved lower. 

Rather than signaling confidence, the increase in leverage likely reflected growing speculative activity as traders positioned for further volatility. 

In many cases, rising Open Interest during a steep decline indicates new short positions entering the market instead of aggressive accumulation. 

The combination of falling prices and rising Open Interest reinforced the view that sellers maintained control of the market structure.

Source: CoinGlass

Long traders absorb the bulk of losses

Liquidation data revealed a heavily one-sided event that punished bullish traders. Long liquidations reached approximately $624,000 while short liquidations totaled only about $35,000. 

This imbalance showed that buyers absorbed the overwhelming majority of forced closures during the decline. As long positions unwound, additional sell orders entered the market and intensified downward pressure. 

The liquidation cascade likely accelerated the speed of the breakdown and contributed to the dramatic daily loss. Unlike balanced liquidation events, this distribution reflected a market where bullish conviction deteriorated rapidly. 

Source: CoinGlass

Support breaks as sellers tighten control on SIREN

Technical conditions deteriorated significantly after SIREN lost the crucial $0.435 support level that had previously acted as a foundation for consolidation. 

The daily chart showed strong selling pressure from the recent $1.30 rejection zone, pushing the token toward its next major support at $0.053.

With the former support now lost, sellers maintained control of the broader trend and left buyers with little room to regain ground. RSI also weakened significantly, falling to 33.57 and approaching oversold territory.

While such readings can sometimes trigger short-term relief bounces, the indicator had not yet signaled a clear reversal.

Unless SIREN stabilizes above current levels and attracts fresh demand, traders will likely continue monitoring the $0.053 support zone as the next critical downside target.

SIREN price actionSIREN price action
Source: TradingView

Final Summary

  • SIREN lost a major support level as panic selling accelerated sharply.
  • Rising Open Interest suggests traders still expect significant volatility ahead.



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