Public Companies Are Buying More Bitcoin Than ETFs For Third Quarter In A Row

 by Jenna Montgomery via BitcoinMagazine.com,

Corporate treasuries have surpassed exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in Bitcoin accumulation for the third consecutive quarter, according to new data from Bitcoin Treasuries.

Public companies acquired approximately 131,000 BTC in Q2 2025—an 18% increase from the previous quarter—compared to an 8% uptick, or 111,000 BTC, among ETFs. 

“The institutional buyer who is getting exposure to Bitcoin through the ETFs are not buying for the same reason as those public companies who are basically trying to accumulate Bitcoin to increase shareholder value at the end of the day,” said Nick Marie, head of research at Ecoinometrics. 

In April alone, public company holdings rose 4% while ETFs increased just 2%.

“They don’t really care if the price is high or low, they care about growing their Bitcoin treasury so they look more attractive to the proxy buyers,” Marie said.

“It’s not so much driven by the macro trend or the sentiment, it’s for different reasons. So it becomes a different kind of mechanism that can push Bitcoin forward.”  

Despite the surge in corporate adoption, ETFs remain the largest entity holders of Bitcoin, controlling more than 1.4 million BTC—about 6.8% of the fixed supply cap. Public companies now hold around 855,000 BTC, or 4%.  

Some analysts have linked the surge in corporate participation to the favorable policy shift under the Trump administration. In March, Trump signed an executive order for a U.S. Bitcoin reserve, signaling strong federal support for Bitcoin. The last quarter where ETFs led in BTC accumulation was Q3 2024, prior to Trump’s reelection. 

Recent moves include GameStop’s entry into Bitcoin holdings, KindlyMD’s merger with David Bailey’s Bitcoin treasury company, Nakamoto, and ProCap’s launch of a Bitcoin treasury strategy ahead of its public debut via SPAC. 

Still leading the pack is Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), which holds 597,000 BTC.

“It’s going to be very hard to catch Strategy’s scale,” said Ben Werkman, CIO at Swan Bitcoin. “They’re going to be the preferred landing spot for institutional capital.” 

Looking ahead, Marie believes the current pace of corporate Bitcoin adoption may not last forever, suggesting this could be a temporary opportunity. “You can think about this wave as a bunch of companies that are trying to benefit from this arbitrage,” he said. 

Still, Werkman sees long-term value in the model. “What people really like about these companies is that they can do something spot Bitcoin holders can’t: go out and accumulate more Bitcoin on your behalf,” he explained. 

https://www.zerohedge.com/crypto/public-companies-are-buying-more-bitcoin-etfs-third-quarter-row

LA city council hikes minimum wage for struggling hotels to $30/hour

 

By Olivia Murray

California never learns. Actually, let me be more specific: leftists never learn.

The people are already reeling from the statewide minimum wage hike signed into law by Gavin Newsom, which went into effect a little over a year ago—since then, businesses and the job market have been in total turmoil. We saw the closure of a beloved restaurant that had been open for thirty years, and a report from March of this year revealed that “the state is shedding jobs at an alarming rate,” estimating that number was around 16,000.

Yet, the obvious link between a government mandated increase in the minimum wage and economic fallout did nothing to deter the Los Angeles city council from upping the ante, which recently voted to mandate a phased-in citywide minimum wage hike for hotels and airport workers: The first increase up to $22.50/hour will happen this month, and by 2028, that number needs to be $30/hour.

One big problem though is that the hotels in Los Angeles are struggling. If you didn’t know any better, you might wonder how in the world are hotels in southern California losing money? Southern California has always been a tourist hotspot: it’s got surfing, hiking, Hollywood, world-class food, and lots of sunshine.

But, you do know better: years of far-left Democrat control destroyed it. Who wants to vacation in a city where bums, hypodermic needles, and human waste cover the sidewalks? Iconic designer boutiques along Rodeo Drive have closed for good, citing smash-and-grab crime as the reason. And the local government’s position against immigration law and order recently turned the city into a third world riot scene.

About a month-and-a-half ago, Karen Palmer at SF Gate wrote that “Los Angeles tourism has fallen off a cliff” — but like any good useful idiot, she blames the scamdemic and wildfires. Ironically, both of those reasons are also Democrat-induced problems.

Anyway, according to an item published at the New York Post, hotel owners are “fed up” with the attacks on business. As in all leftist-controlled economies, the goal of these hotel owners is just to “survive” and keep their head above water until help arrives—spoiler alert, you voted your way into communism, but you won’t get to vote your way out. Haven’t they “seen this movie” before?

One hotel owner reveals exactly where that money will come from, if at all:

‘You’re going to have a lot of hotels in Los Angeles that will become run down,’ Beccaria said. He also told the WSJ that he put a hold on a $10 million planned renovation of his hotel due to the wage increase.

 

Cue the bed bugs, roaches, stained mattresses, grimy amenities, and crumbling ceilings and walls. What’s absurd is that in the next few years, LA is set to host the Olympics, the Super Bowl, FIFA World Cup games, and an NBA All-Star game—is this really what Democrats want the world to see?

Now, here’s the kicker:

‘We would love to sell,’ Jon Bortz, chief executive of Pebblebrook Hotel Trust, told the WSJ, referring to his hotels. Bortz owns about 9 hotels, two of which are located in the city and seven others in the greater-L.A. area.

‘But nobody will buy them,’ Bortz added.

Nothing destroys property values like a leftist government!

New York: Los Angeles is your canary in the coal mine.

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2025/07/la_city_council_hikes_minimum_wage_for_struggling_hotels_to_30_hour.html

Fed Chair Should Be Investigated by Congress, FHFA Head Says

 

Bill Pulte, who leads the Federal Housing Finance Agency, called on Congress to investigate Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, alleging that his recent testimony to the Senate about the central bank’s planned renovations to its headquarters was “deceptive.”

“I am asking Congress to investigate Chairman Jerome Powell, his political bias, and his deceptive Senate testimony, which is enough to be removed ‘for cause,’” Pulte said Wednesday in a post on social media platform X, alleging that Powell made inaccurate statements without providing evidence.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-07-02/fed-s-powell-should-be-investigated-by-congress-fhfa-head-says

'Trump Tells States He’s Holding Back $6.8 Billion for Schools'

 The Trump administration is holding back nearly $6.8 billion in federal funding for K-12 schools it was scheduled to dole out July 1, Education Department staff told state education agencies on Monday afternoon—the day before the funding, by law, was required to start flowing.

Thousands of school districts and dozens of states that had banked on those funds to cover staff salaries, vendor contracts, curriculum materials, technology tools, and other priorities will now have to consider slashing student services—including some mandated by federal law—or tapping other funding sources if the federal money doesn’t show up on time or at all.

Each year on July 1, by law, states receive the bulk of the federal education money Congress allocated for the upcoming K-12 school year. This year’s allocations were supposed to roughly mirror last year’s, after Congress passed a continuing resolution in March that extended the previous year’s funding levels government-wide.

But in an unsigned email message sent after 2 p.m. Monday reviewed by Education Week, the Education Department informed states that the agency won’t be sending states any money tomorrow from the following programs:

• Title I-C for migrant education ($375 million)
• Title II-A for professional development ($2.2 billion)
• Title III-A for English-learner services ($890 million)
• Title IV-A for academic enrichment ($1.3 billion)
• Title IV-B for before- and after-school programs ($1.4 billion)

“Decisions have not been made concerning submissions and awards for this upcoming academic year,” the email reads. “Accordingly, the Department will not be issuing Grant Award Notifications obligating funds for these programs on July 1 prior to completing that review.”

The White House last month proposed a 2026 federal budget that would eliminate all five of those education funding streams, but Congress has not yet acted on that proposal. In effect, today’s move reflects the Trump administration advancing its budget priorities a year early, before Congress has considered them.

In a separate email sent at 4:27 p.m., the department told congressional staffers that it’s holding back funds from all the programs listed above, as well as grants for adult basic and literacy education ($729 million nationwide). Questions about the changes, the letter says, must go to the Office of Management and Budget, not the Education Department.

“The department is currently referring all questions from the hill, states, and stakeholders related to these programs to our OMB colleagues,” wrote Brandy Brown, deputy assistant secretary of K-12 education in the Education Department’s office of legislation and congressional affairs.

As with its fiscal 2026 budget proposal, the Trump administration’s moves to withhold the nearly $6.8 billion appear to have spared the two largest Education Department funding streams for K-12 schools: Title I-A for low-income students ($18.4 billion) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ($15.6 billion).

Still, states need the funding to flow on schedule, said Carissa Moffat Miller, CEO of the Council of Chief State School Officers, in a statement.

“Schools need these funds to hire key staff and educate students this summer and in the upcoming school year,” Miller wrote.

The Education Department on Monday afternoon referred questions from Education Week to the federal Office of Management and Budget, which didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

The news that the funds wouldn’t go out July 1 comes after weeks of mounting speculation and hints from top officials that the Trump administration would hold back, or “impound,” funding from programs the president doesn’t support.

State leaders and advocacy organizations sounded the alarm in letters to the Education Department and Congress in recent weeks after routine federal dispatches with funding allocations for Titles I-C, II-A, III-A, and IV-B never showed up. Those four programs alone make up more than 10% of federal spending on K-12 schools in 33 states, according to the Learning Policy Institute.

Lawsuits are likely to follow, as they have for similar funding changes the administration implemented earlier this year.

Federal law prohibits the executive branch from withholding congressionally appropriated funds unless it gives federal lawmakers an opportunity to approve or reject the move within 45 days.

The U.S. Constitution gives Congress, not the president, the power of the purse—but top administration official Russell Vought, whom Trump appointed to lead the Office of Management and Budget, has said he believes restrictions on impoundment are unconstitutional. On Capitol Hill last week, Vought said the administration hadn’t decided whether to ask Congress for permission to impound education funding.

The administration so far this year has already withheld billions of federal dollars for education and other priorities across the government. Only a fraction of those cuts—and virtually none that affected K-12 education—were included in the administration’s first rescissions proposal, which Congress has until July 18 to consider.

https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/trump-tells-states-hes-holding-back-6-8-billion-for-schools/2025/06

'10-year NHS reboot plans to put health service 'on people's doorsteps''

Putting the NHS “on people’s doorsteps” is at the heart of plans to reboot our ailing health service.

Millions will be helped closer to home in a bid to ease the burden on hospitals, under a decade-long blueprint to revive the NHS. New teams of health professionals are to treat and care for patients nearer where they live, Keir Starmer is due to unveil on Thursday. As Downing Street seeks to recover from a bruising rebellion this week over welfare reforms, the PM is launching the government’s 10-year health plan. The strategy is split into three strands to move the NHS from analogue to digital, treatment to prevention, and from hospital to more community care.

Starmer is billing the blueprint as “care on people’s doorsteps” – declaring it is time to "reform or die". But the Lib Dems attacked it, branding the plan “a castle built on sand” – and highlighted the need to “tackle the crisis in social care”. The so-called “Neighbourhood Health Service” is set to feature teams established in communities “to dramatically improve access to the NHS”, the government says. The teams are to “free up overstrained hospitals from perpetual firefighting so they can focus on delivering”, it adds. The neighbourhood teams will be based in new health centres, eventually open 12 hours a day, six days a week, the government says.

It comes after a damning review of the NHS last year by ex-Labour health minister Lord Darzi found the health service was still struggling “with the aftershocks of the pandemic”. The NHS was, he concluded, “in critical condition”. The majority of outpatient care is intended to happen outside of hospitals by 2035 – with less need for hospital appointments for things such as eye care, cardiology, respiratory medicine and mental health. Neighbourhood health services are set to be rolled out nationwide to bring tests, post-op care, nursing and mental health teams closer to homes.

The move is designed to give access to a full range of services, allowing hospitals to focus on the sickest. Neighbourhood health centres will be staffed by teams including nurses, doctors, social care workers, pharmacists, health visitors, palliative care staff and paramedics. Debt advice, employment support and stop smoking or obesity services will also be included in new services.

Meanwhile, “local areas will be encouraged to trial innovative schemes like community outreach door-to-door – to detect early signs of illness and reduce pressure on GPs and A&E”, the government says. The plans also outline training for thousands more GPs, with the government pledging to "bring back the family doctor" – ending the "8am scramble" to get an appointment.

Starmer, who led Labour to victory at last summer’s election after 14 years of Tory rule, said: “The NHS should be there for everyone, whenever they need it. But we inherited a health system in crisis, addicted to a sticking plaster approach, and unable to face up to the challenges we face now, let alone in the future. That ends now. Because it’s reform or die. Our 10 Year Health Plan will fundamentally rewire and future-proof our NHS so that it puts care on people’s doorsteps, harnesses game-changing tech and prevents illness in the first place.

"That means giving everyone access to GPs, nurses, and wider support all under one roof in their neighbourhood - rebalancing our health system so that it fits around patients’ lives, not the other way round. This is not an overnight fix, but our Plan for Change is already turning the tide on years of decline with over four million extra appointments, 1,900 more GPs and waiting lists at their lowest level for two years. But there’s more to come. This government is giving patients easier, quicker and more convenient care, wherever they live.”

Health secretary Wes Streeting said the plan “will turn the NHS on its head, delivering one of the most fundamental changes in the way we receive our healthcare in history”. He added: “By shifting from hospital to community, we will finally bring down devastating hospital waiting lists and stop patients going from pillar to post to get treated. This Government’s Plan for Change is creating an NHS truly fit for the future, keeping patients healthy and out of hospital, with care closer to home and in the home.”

New tools are to be rolled out to support GPs over the next two years, with AI scribes said to be ending “the need for clinical notetaking, letter drafting, and manual data entry to free up clinicians’ time to focus on treating patients”. And “digital telephony” will be used so all calls to GP practices are quickly answered, the government says. Meanwhile, dental care professionals are set to work as part of the neighbourhood teams. Dental therapists, who tend to carry out some of the straightforward work of dentists, could undertake check-ups, treatment and referrals, according to the plan. And there will be a new requirement for newly-qualified dentists to practise in the NHS for a minimum period, intended to be three years, the government says.

Lib Dem leader Ed Davey said: “This plan will be a castle built on sand until ministers finally tackle the crisis in social care. Years of Conservative neglect pushed the NHS to breaking point, with overcrowded A&Es, people waiting weeks to see a GP and parents unable to find a dentist for their children.” He added: “Without bold action to fix the social care crisis, our NHS will remain overwhelmed and patients will continue to suffer."

Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said a key part of making sure the plan is successful "will be resetting the relationship between the NHS and the public so that local communities are placed at the heart of these reforms and people are supported to be active agents in their own health and wellbeing".

Sarah Woolnough, chief executive of the King's Fund thinktank, said: "... our call for a fundamental shift of care from hospital to community and a more people-first approach has been echoed by successive governments, so, whilst welcome, the vision itself is not new, the radical change would be delivering the vision." The plans follow the government earlier this year announcing NHS England was being abolished to “cut bureaucracy”.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/ten-year-nhs-reboot-plans-35489211

FDA flags blood pump controller issue linked to 3 deaths

 The FDA has issued an alert about a potentially high-risk issue involving Abiomed’s Automated Impella Controller, which is used with the company’s blood pump systems. 

Abiomed, now part of Johnson & Johnson Medtech, notified customers June 23 with updated instructions for use and urgent recommendations, including having a backup AIC console on hand in the event of a device failure, according to a July 1 news release from the agency. 

The FDA noted that the AIC may fail to detect a pump during console-to-console transfer or initial case startup without displaying a visual alarm. This could lead to inadequate hemodynamic support, posing critical risk for patients in cardiogenic shock. 

The devicemaker recommends immediately switching back to a functioning console if the screen remains stuck after 20 seconds during a transfer or case start. 

The issue has been linked to three patient deaths. 

https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/supply-chain/fda-flags-blood-pump-controller-issue-linked-to-3-deaths/

5 nursing home, hospice operators charged in federal crackdown

 Five nursing home operators, hospice and home-health agencies have been charged in the Justice Department’s 2025 National Health Care Fraud Takedown investigation, which identified more than $14.6 billion in intended losses to Medicare, Medicaid and other government programs.

The Justice Department provided details on the individual cases against all 324 defendants on its website.

Here are five nursing home operators, hospice and home-health agencies included in the investigation:

1. New York City-based Centers Health Care will pay $6,063,500 to the U.S. government to settle claims that 44 of the system’s skilled nursing facilities in New York, Rhode Island, Kansas and Missouri submitted cost reports with “one or more false statements or material omissions” regarding transactions with organizations related to the system through common ownership or control.
   
   
2. Six Villa Healthcare nursing homes in Michigan will pay $4,500,000 to the U.S. government and the state of Michigan to settle a lawsuit alleging the facilities failed to provide or provided “materially and grossly substandard” servings to nursing home residents. Villa Healthcare is based in Lincolnwood, Ill.
   

3. Individuals associated with Laguna Hills, Calif-based Careplus Hospice were charged with facilitating a $2.7 million hospice fraud scheme in which they allegedly billed false Medicaid and Medicare claims for patients who were not terminally ill and did not qualify for hospice services.
   
   
4. Individuals associated with Arizona-based companies Apex Mobile Medical, Apex Medical, Viking Medical Consultants, and APX Mobile Medical were charged in connection to a $1 billion amniotic wound allograft fraud scheme, transactional money laundering and health care kickbacks. The defendants allegedly targeted older adult Medicare patients to administer allograft treatments when not medically necessary and without coordination with the patient’s physicians. The alleged scheme resulted in the submission of more than $1 billion in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare, the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Tricare and commercial insurers over 14 months, of which $600 million was paid.
   
   
5. Individuals associated with the Richmond, Texas-based United Palliative & Hospice Company, Residential and Cedar Hospices were charged in connection to a $110 million healthcare fraud and kickbacks scheme. The defendants allegedly enrolled Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries in hospice services, though the beneficiaries and their families believed they were receiving palliative or home health services. The resulting claims totaled about $87 million in Medicare and Medicaid payments.

Read the full case summaries here.

https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/post-acute/5-nursing-home-hospice-operators-charged-in-federal-crackdown/