~Bitcoin News of the Day

• As of market close on Thursday, BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF has now accumulated an astonishing $33.17 billion in value, according to data self-reported by the firm. BlackRock’s gold ETF now trails that figure slightly, with $32.96 billion in net assets.

Global Trade & ~Econ

• Trump took a dim view of the Powell Fed during his first term in office, calling policymakers “boneheads” and once compared Powell to a golfer who couldn’t putt. Powell, who was nominated by Trump in November 2017 and took office the following February, largely shrugged off the criticism then, and he again deflected Thursday.

~Politics_and_Law

• With efforts to pause the war – which has been a top priority for President Joe Biden – firmly stalled, US officials informed their Qatari counterparts about two weeks ago that they must stop giving Hamas refuge in their capital; Qatar agreed and gave Hamas notice about a week ago, sources said.

~Stacker_Sports News

• Sasaki helped Japan win the 2023 World Baseball Classic. His fastball has been clocked at 102.5 mph, and he has a 29-15 career record with a 2.10 ERA over four injury-shortened seasons with the Marines. He pitched a perfect game against the Orix Buffaloes in April 2022 — racking up 13 straight strikeouts and finishing with 19.

~Tech & ~Science

• I’m already hearing discussions about the new administration nixing the elaborate executive order on AI that Joe Biden mandated. Some worry that the new president’s mega-adviser Elon Musk—who has his own AI company and builds AI into his other enterprises, like Tesla and Neuralink—will have an outsize and possibly inappropriate influence on government policies and contracts. I’ve also heard speculation that the movement to regulate AI might be, um, trumped by the threat of China’s full-throated efforts in the field. That’s important, because the ground rules of today’s AI, and the quirks of its inventors, may affect whether the worst fears about the technology come true.

~History with Mystery

• In November 1954 the East German author Max Zimmering travelled from the GDR to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). His route was arduous. From East Berlin he flew to Warsaw, then on to Vilnius, in what was then the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic. From there he traversed the Soviet Union’s various republics, hopping from Vilnius to Moscow to Sverdlovsk (today’s Yekaterinburg), then flying on to Irkutsk in Siberia, where he boarded a plane to Chita, and then to Hailar in China’s Inner Mongolia on the Sino-Soviet border. From there he flew on to Harbin in the northeast of the country, then to Mukden, in Manchuria. From Mukden, Zimmering took the final part of his journey, flying to Pyongyang. Along the way he travelled with a diverse crowd, all headed to China, Vietnam or Korea: Romanian engineers, East German trade envoys, Bulgarian technicians, Polish and Czech doctors.

~Entertainment World

• Beyoncé continues her reign as the queen of the Grammys: She leads the 2025 awards with 11 nominations, even sweeping all four country categories with her historic Cowboy Carter album. Post Malone also earned seven nominations, while Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan picked up six apiece.

Thanks for reading 🙏