Crypto’s original promise was political, not financial. Bitcoin’s first block carried a newspaper headline about failing banks, and Ethereum’s founders spoke of “programmable institutions.” Yet a decade later, on‑chain governance still looks like Web 1.0 message boards welded to multisig wallets. Decisions drag, factions splinter, whales dominate, and participation rates hover in the single digits. Meanwhile, artificial
Backpack, a crypto exchange with ties to FTX, has announced the launch of a new platform that allows creditors to sell their debt claims. This portal offers a fee-free solution for FTX users looking to sell their claims, operating on a non-profit basis to facilitate direct on-platform transactions. Backpack Portal to Support FTX Creditors In
President Donald Trump said Wednesday it was ‘highly unlikely’ he would fire Jerome Powell as chair of the Federal Reserve.
His statements, made in the Oval Office, come less than 24 hours after telling a room full of Republican lawmakers that he was considering doing so.
“No, we’re not planning on doing anything,” Trump told reporters in response to a question about whether he wanted to fire Powell.
“I don’t rule out anything but I think it’s highly unlikely unless he has to leave for fraud,” Trump said, while criticizing Powell’s management of a Fed renovation project that the White House had recently floated as a pretext for removing the Fed chair.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell testifies before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee on June 25. Kent Nishimura / Getty Images
The president had asked GOP lawmakers late Tuesday how they felt about firing the Fed chair, according to a senior White House official. They expressed approval for firing him. The president then indicated he likely would soon but that no final decision had been made.
Still, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., posted on X on Tuesday night that Powell’s firing was ‘imminent,’ something that prompted a sell-off in stock futures before Wednesday’s market open. By noon Wednesday, major stock indexes had recovered to trade almost flat on the day.
CBS News first reported the meeting. A Fed official declined comment to CNBC on the report about the Trump meeting Tuesday, which came after Republicans blocked a procedural vote on crypto legislation that the president favors.
Trump and other White House figures have launched a multipronged attack on Powell to push the central bank to lower its key borrowing rate. Most recently, they have blasted Powell over renovations to the Fed’s Washington headquarters, raising suspicion that Trump could try to remove him for cause.
A recent Supreme Court decision indicated that the president does not have the authority to remove Fed officials at will.
In a CNBC interview Wednesday, Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., the chair of the House Financial Services Committee, repeated that “I don’t see” Trump firing Powell. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also told Bloomberg News on Tuesday that he didn’t expect Trump to move in that direction.
However, Luna, who on Tuesday joined with other party members in blocking the crypto initiative, said on X that a move against Powell is forthcoming.
“Hearing Jerome Powell is getting fired! From a very serious source,” she said, later adding, “I’m 99% sure firing is imminent.”
President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Coca-Cola in the United States will begin to be made with cane sugar, but the company did not explicitly say that was the case when it was asked later about Trump’s claim.
Trump said Wednesday afternoon on Truth Social that he had been speaking to Coca-Cola about using cane sugar in the sodas sold in the United States and that the company agreed to his idea.
‘This will be a very good move by them — You’ll see. It’s just better!’ Trump wrote in the post.
But Coca-Cola did not commit to the change when NBC News asked it later about Trump’s post.
‘We appreciate President Trump’s enthusiasm for our iconic Coca-Cola brand,’ a company spokesperson said in a statement. ‘More details on new innovative offerings within our Coca-Cola product range will be shared soon.’
Donald Trump drinks a Diet Coke during the ProAm of the LIV Golf Team Championship at Trump National Doral Golf Club, on Oct. 27, 2022, in Doral, Fla.Lynne Sladky / AP file
It remains unclear whether Coca-Cola agreed to Trump’s proposal or whether the beloved soda will still be made with corn syrup.
The Trump administration’s Make America Healthy Again initiative, named for the social movement aligned with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has pushed food companies to alter their formulations to remove ingredients like artificial dyes.
Coca-Cola produced for the U.S. market is typically sweetened with corn syrup, while the company uses cane sugar in some other countries, including Mexico and various European countries.
Coca-Cola announced in 1984 it was going to “significantly increase” the amount of corn syrup it was using in its U.S. products, The New York Times reported at the time.
Coca-Cola said it would use corn syrup to sweeten bottled and canned Coke, as well as caffeine-free Coke, but left itself “flexibility” to use other sweeteners, like sugar or high-fructose corn syrup, the Times reported.
Kennedy has criticized how much sugar is consumed in the American diet and has said updated dietary guidelines released this summer will advise people to ‘eat whole food.’
Trump has been known to enjoy Coca-Cola products. The Wall Street Journal reported that a Diet Coke button, which allows him to order the soda on demand, has joined him in the Oval Office for both of his terms.
