The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit has upheld the Federal Reserve’s right to deny Custodia Bank a master account, dealing a major setback to Wyoming’s Special Purpose Depository Institutions and the broader digital asset banking sector. Writing for the majority, Judge David Ebel found that the Fed’s authority under Section 342 of the Federal Reserve Act allows “broad, and potentially unbounded, discretion” over account approvals, rejecting arguments that the Monetary Control Act’s “shall be available” clause mandates access. Dissenting Judge Timothy Tymkovich argued the opposite, insisting that “shall means shall,” and warning that unelected Reserve Bank officers should not wield veto power over state-chartered banks. The decision leaves Reserve Banks as gatekeepers to the nation’s payment rails. Custodia’s next move may hinge on a parallel case in the Ninth Circuit that could trigger Supreme Court review.
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New findings from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) reveal a significant gender gap in political tolerance among college students. Writing for Eternally Radical Idea, Chapin Lenthall-Cleary reports that male students “are over 3.5 times more likely than women to be ‘perfectly tolerant’ of opposing views,” regardless of political affiliation. The FIRE data, drawn from its annual College Free Speech Rankings, show that men across ideological lines display similar levels of openness to controversial speakers, while women, liberal and conservative alike, are markedly less willing to let ideological opponents speak. Lenthall-Cleary notes that this pattern persists even when controlling for issue salience, suggesting social preferences, not policy positions, may underlie the divide. “No matter how well-intentioned, we must never ban speakers or silence students,” he writes, warning that suppressing speech undermines democratic learning and reform.
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In Pirate Wires, Mike Solana warns that California’s proposed 2026 wealth tax could “end the concept of private property,” calling it a populist overreach disguised as fiscal reform. The initiative, backed by labor and healthcare union leaders Jim Mangia and Suzanne Jimenz, would levy a 5% annual tax on total assets of billionaires who lived in the state in 2025, including unrealized gains. Solana argues the measure, intended to fill a $6.2 billion Medi-Cal shortfall linked to expanded healthcare coverage for undocumented residents, risks institutionalizing perpetual state claims over citizens’ possessions. Comparing it to the 1913 income tax, he cautions that such levies inevitably expand beyond the ultra-wealthy. “Your property is no longer something you own, but something you lease from the government,” he writes, urging legal safeguards against taxation of already-taxed assets and concluding bluntly: “Buy some Bitcoin.”
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Russia has emerged as the world’s second-largest hub for Bitcoin mining, commanding roughly 16% of global hashrate, according to new analysis by Jaran Mellerud for Hashlabs. Once propelled by Siberia’s vast hydropower surplus, the industry now consumes about 4 GW, nearly 3% of Russia’s total electricity, signaling the end of its previous “limitless growth” phase. Mellerud writes that Russia’s mining landscape is transitioning from grid-based hydro regions like Irkutsk to off-grid gas-powered sites in Yamalo-Nenets and Khanty-Mansi, where stranded or flared natural gas is converted to electricity. Regulatory tightening, higher tariffs, and ruble strength are squeezing margins, while new federal laws formalize registration and impose regional mining bans through 2031. “The wild east era is over,” Mellerud concludes, as the sector consolidates into a strategic domestic industry increasingly aligned with Russia’s energy giants.
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