Crypto exchange Binance launches in Syria after Trump lifts sanctions

 Binance, one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges, became one of the first crypto trading platforms to launch in Syria after the easing of US and European Union sanctions in May.

Syrian residents can now access Binance’s platform and trade crypto assets like Bitcoin 

BTC

$107,653

, the company announced on Thursday.

The launch follows US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s May 23 decision to lift sanctions on Syria, which was followed by the EU lifting all economic restrictions on the country.

An excerpt from Binance’s announcement on launch in Syria on Thursday. Source: Binance

“In compliance with applicable sanctions, platforms like Binance previously did not serve users in Syria,” Binance’s announcement noted, adding that Syria is no longer classified as a prohibited country under its terms of use with the latest sanctions relief.

Spot, P2P, futures trading available after KYC

Binance’s rollout in Syria features a full access launch, allowing Syrians to trade at least 300 tokens, including Bitcoin, XRP 

XRP

$2.24

, Dogecoin 

DOGE

$0.1893

, Shiba Inu 

SHIB

$0.00001276

, Toncoin 

TON

$3.15

 and Bitcoin Cash 

BCH

$433.30

.

All services, including spot trading, peer-to-peer (P2P) exchange, futures trading and earn programs, are only available once users complete Binance’s Know Your Customer (KYC) checks, Binance MENA highlighted in an announcement on X.

Source: Binance MENA

Additionally, Syrian users can use Binance Pay for seamless cross-border remittances and access tailored educational content in Arabic.

Ongoing conflict in Syria boosts interest in crypto

Binance’s launch in Syria comes amid an ongoing internal conflict in the country following the fall of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.

Syria’s long-running economic instability and civil conflict have likely contributed to increasing interest in crypto due to growing inflation and the number of unbanked people.

Related: Crypto asset reserve bill lands in Ukraine’s parliament

In 2021, Syria ranked as one of the top 10 countries globally for crypto-related search activity, according to a study by TradingView, alongside other major conflict zones like Libya and Palestine.

Top 10 countries by crypto-related search activity (percentage from total inquiries on TradingView). Source: The Fintech Times

According to data from the International Monetary Fund, Syria had a population of 21.4 million in 2010, with an estimated GDP per capita of $2,810. According to some estimates, up to 13 million people of Syrian descent resided outside the country as of 2016.

Cointelegraph contacted Binance for comment but had not received a response by the time of publication.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/binance-welcomes-syria-trump-lifts-sanctions

Medtronic unveils “MiniMed” as name for soon-to-be separated Diabetes unit

 The soon-to-be-separated Medtronic (NYSE: MDT)

 Diabetes unit has a new — yet familiar — name, the company announced.

Our sister site, Drug Delivery Business News, reports today that the medtech giant selected “MiniMed” as the name for the business. Choosing “MiniMed” as the new company’s name means it doesn’t have to deviate far from a recognizable brand. The company acquired a company called MiniMed for $3.7 billion nearly 25 years ago. It still markets its insulin pumps, including the latest in automated insulin delivery technology, as MiniMed systems.

The medtech giant announced last month that it planned to separate the Diabetes unit. The move sought to create “a more focused Medtronic” with a more simplified portfolio in high-margin growth markets. At the same time, it creates an independent, scaled leader in diabetes. The new company — initially given the placeholder title “New Diabetes Company” — aims to accelerate innovation. It comes with the differentiation of a complete ecosystem that addresses insulin management.

The medtech giant says choosing MiniMed honors the company’s roots and reflects a 40-year history of transforming diabetes care.

https://www.massdevice.com/medtronic-minimed-name-separated-diabetes-unit/

Conmed falls as Needham downgrades to hold

 Needham has downgraded Conmed (NYSE:CNMD) to hold from buy citing a decline in its long-term growth rate. 

https://seekingalpha.com/news/4457669-conmed-falls-needham-downgrades-hold

Energy Regulations Threaten Pennsylvania's Tech Boom

  by Elizabeth Stelle via RealClearPennsylvania,

Pennsylvania is on the short list of destinations for cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI). However, the commonwealth – thanks to ill-advised policies pushed by Gov. Josh Shapiro – remains ill-equipped to handle this emerging market.

On Monday, the governor announced a $20 billion investment by Amazon to develop data centers statewide. Though a laudable investment, the governor’s publicity stunt highlights a glaring issue: State policies make it extremely expensive to set up shop in Pennsylvania and tap into the state’s abundant energy resources.

And the governor’s proposals to address this issue will actually make things worse.

Shapiro’s policies to reduce the amount of reliable electricity are the most concerning.

Even without the new influx of data centers, electricity costs are rising in Pennsylvania. On June 1, utility companies increased rates statewide. These companies regularly adjust rates based on market conditions.

And those conditions aren’t great for ratepayers. In this year’s first quarter, wholesale prices in Pennsylvania were up 44%.

What are driving costs? It’s simple supply-and-demand economics. Supply continues to dwindle as regulations force reliable power plants to retire prematurely and force-feed more unreliable solar and wind energy into the state’s energy portfolio.

Meanwhile, demand – driven by AI – keeps escalating.

AI guzzles electricity. A ChatGPT query devours 10 times more electricity than a conventional Google query. To satiate AI’s growing power needs, conservative estimates suggest the United States needs at least 18 gigawatts of additional grid capacity by 2030 – roughly three times the annual consumption of New York City.

Tech companies have already begun to stake claims for increased energy capacity. Case in point: Microsoft’s recent reboot of Three Mile Island. Partnering with Constellation Energy, the tech giant will commandeer the once-shuttered nuclear power plant to power its growing AI capabilities with around-the-clock energy.

And while such deals are great for Big Tech, Pennsylvania households and small businesses remain stuck with ever-increasing electricity bills. Even before the recent rate hike, new polling reveals 78% of Pennsylvanians report increased energy bills over the past two years.

Meanwhile, misguided lawmakers push policies that only exacerbate the problem. For example, Gov. Shapiro’s Lightning Plan – which includes a carbon-tax scheme and mandates more unreliable “green” energy – will add about $157 billion in statewide electricity costs by 2035, according to a new report by Always On Energy and the Commonwealth Foundation. These added costs will double household electricity bills.

So long as these ill-advised policies continue to throttle capacity and generation, the grid will remain a bottleneck to future innovation in Pennsylvania.

To attract new data centers, lawmakers have also flirted with an age-old yet ineffectual solution: corporate welfare. Despite the political appeal, government favors (i.e., tax incentives and subsidies) to attract new businesses often fail.

Pennsylvania’s Independent Fiscal Office found that the commonwealth’s tax credits netted a lousy return on investment, about 25 cents on the dollar.

Others have proven useless: The Pennsylvania Economic Development for a Growing Economy (EDGE) tax credit, which Shapiro wants to expand. has had no takers since its inception in 2022 – not a single dollar.

The best medicine is regulatory reform. Lawmakers should revise electricity regulations to account for reliability and consider all infrastructure costs associated with electricity generation. Also, energy markets need a more predictable permitting process for energy extraction and power plant construction.

Shapiro alluded to fast-tracking permitting for new data centers. Competing with neighbors like West Virginia, which recently passed a bill allowing “microgrid” districts for data centers with standalone power plants, could be beneficial. But there again, the track record of industry-specific reforms is spotty.

Nearly a year ago, Pennsylvania passed the Streamlining Permits for Economic Expansion and Development (SPEED) program to create an expedited permit review and approval process associated with energy production. Today, SPEED remains under development. Shapiro’s call for expedited permitting for data centers appears to be yet another half-measure that won’t accomplish much.

Pennsylvania can’t afford to stop with just one industry. Regulatory reform must be comprehensive and universal, freeing up all economic sectors from onerous red tape.

Pennsylvania, with more than 160,000 individual regulations and restrictions throttling genuine economic development, is one of the most-regulated states. Research suggests a 36% cut in regulations would yield 1% growth in Pennsylvania’s GDP, according to a report coauthored by the Competitive Enterprise Institute and the Commonwealth Foundation.

Before Pennsylvania’s Wyoming Valley can become the next Silicon Valley, the commonwealth must rethink its strategy. Lawmakers must cut red tape, not blank checks to big corporations. Moreover, they must unleash affordable energy, not shackle it with climate-alarmist policies. Without genuine regulatory and energy reform, the commonwealth won’t be able to power the future and will be left in the dark.

https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/energy-regulations-threaten-pennsylvanias-tech-boom

House Strips Reconciliation-Ineligible Provisions From 'Big Beautiful Bill' In Procedural Vote

 The House of Representatives on Wednesday approved a procedural resolution to strip provisions out of the House-passed One Big Beautiful Bill act that would make it ineligible for a filibuster-proof vote in the Senate. Why they were in there is anyone's guess. 

The U.S. Capitol building in Washington on May 22, 2025. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

The resolution passed in a 213–207 vote along party lines, which changes the vote without requiring yet another vote on the full package.

The most notable change was the removal of a planned crackdown on the "employee retention tax," which Republicans were eyeballing as a source of more than $6 billion in savings. They also scrapped $2 billion in funding for DoD intelligence programs and approximately $500 million set aside for missile development. 

As The Epoch Times notes further, the changes to the mammoth tax and spending bill were included as part of a vote on another rule that would allow leadership to bring a vote on a $9.4 billion rescissions package on June 12.

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) was critical of the approach, writing in a post on X that the rule “changes the text of [the One Big Beautiful Bill Act] after it already passed the House. Sneaky!”

The approach may have headed off a more intense showdown between House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who was looking to force greater changes to the bill, and members in the Republican conference, as some were dissatisfied about aspects of the original legislation passed by the House for its lack of serious cuts to spending.

The changes seek to align the bill with the rules of the reconciliation process in the Senate, where the Byrd Rule places significant limits on what can and can’t be included in a reconciliation bill. The rule was adopted in 1985 to limit the ability of either party to use reconciliation bills, which aren’t subject to a filibuster, for simple policy ends.

Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth McDonough, who enforces the upper chamber’s rules, said the provisions stripped from the bill were flagged as problematic.

Had they not been nixed from the bill, it would have been declared ineligible for passage without a filibuster vote, which would have required that Republicans get Democrats’ help to pass the legislation.

Some Democrats urged Republicans ahead of the vote to use it as an opportunity to stall progress on the bill.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) acknowledged that most of the changes to the tax bill were technical corrections but he said the vote also gave Republicans who have expressed concern about the bill a chance to stop it.

“Now you have a second chance to actually stop this one big, ugly bill and the provisions you disagree with,” Jeffries said.

House Rules Committee Ranking Member Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) also urged Republicans to reject the changes in a June 10 letter.

He specifically cited prohibitions on the bill against regulation of artificial intelligence by states for ten years, provisions restricting federal judiciary contempt orders, the termination of Inflation Reduction Act energy tax credits, its impact on the national debt, and the eligibility requirements for able-bodied adults who receive Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/house-strips-reconciliation-ineligible-provisions-big-beautiful-bill-procedural-vote

New Leftist Talking Point: Don't Believe Riot Videos, It's The Algorithms!

 by Steve Watson via modernity.news,

A new leftist directive has dropped. It’s essentially this… You might see some rioty looty kind of videos out of LA and now other cities across the US, but that’s doesn’t mean there’s lawlessness, because it’s the algorithms… or something.

So far from the legacy media we’ve been told what look like chaotic anarchic riots are actually ‘mostly peaceful’, ‘fun’, ‘joyful’, ‘pretty quiet’, ‘relatively mellow’, ‘celebratory’ and all about ‘hope and community’.

We’ve also been told that the riots, sorry, relatively mellow gatherings don’t really matter because they’re concentrated on areas where metropolitan elites don’t ever visit.

Now, NBC News Correspondent Gadi Schwartz has claimed that what people are actually seeing “depends on what your feed is putting in front of your face, a lot of it is algorithmically-controlled.”

Oh. We thought we saw mass looting, but maybe that’s just the algorithm?

Schwartz further suggested that “people are seeing what looks like lawlessness around places in Los Angeles.”

Yes. Yes it does. 

Is it not that then?

Schwartz continued, “Here we saw protests that were sizable, yesterday. Today, there’s almost no one here, and yet, on the 101, we just saw some protesters shut things down.”

“At night, we’re seeing instances of looting,” Schwartz added before turning to Los Angeles City Councilman Hugo Soto-Martínez and asking “How do you characterize what’s happening here in Los Angeles to people that may be seeing this through the lens of, like, social media, outside of California?”

Ahhhh, the lens. Of course.

Soto-Martínez responded, “Most people are protesting and they’re protesting peacefully.”

Ok dude, our algorithm must be off.

“The people causing the violence and the property damage, those are not protesters. Those are looters. Those are vigilantes,” he further declared.

Yeah, seeing a lot of that. Again, algorithms, right?

“The people that are here protesting to keep families together are doing it peacefully and they’re marching with that message,” he continued, adding “The folks that are doing those things, they don’t represent the large community of Los Angeles.”

Not seeing a great deal of that. Can only put it down to the algorithm, again.

Other leftist activists disguising themselves as journalists are also parroting this talking point.

CNN potato Brian Stelter said during an appearance on the network that people have to be careful when they are scrolling on social media because the videos of violence they see could have been from “two days ago,” and can give a “false impression” of how much rioting and violence is occurring.

Oh, it doesn’t count if it happened two days ago?

Stelter said, “We all live on our phones these days, we’re all scrolling through social media. you’ve got to be careful at a delicate moment like this to look at the timestamps, look at the dates, look at when things are actually posted, and if they’re really from the situation they’re purporting to be.”

He added, “A lot of these algorithms are servicing hours old, or even days old content. So you might be looking at a video of something wondering what’s happening in LA. It’s actually two days ago. And that’s only matters because it can get people a false impression of what’s actually happening at a moment of unrest.”

The algorithms again!

They tried this before with the whole ‘cheap fakes’ thing. These paid propagandists simply embolden more Americans to seek and find the truth. They’ve lost control over the narrative, and they reek of desperation.

President Trump’s approval on immigration policy has skyrocketed, and a new 

Insider Advantage poll reveals that around 59 percent of Americans support Trump sending in the National Guard to LA, with only 39 percent opposed.

Even legal immigrants support Trump on the issue, with a massive 40 point swing toward GOP immigration policy.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/new-leftist-talking-point-dont-believe-riot-videos-its-algorithms