The nation’s first-ever “crypto czar” got into a bitter spat with former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers during an appearance on the All In podcast on Sunday.

David Sacks—the red-pilled Silicon Valley tech entrepreneur whom President Donald Trump appointed to oversee White House policy on digital currencies and AI—was speaking about the historic loss of U.S. manufacturing jobs to China when Summers fired the first shots.

“The millions of Americans who lost their jobs in the heartlands because we let China into the [World Trade Organization], which is something that Larry supported, that’s what started this whole thing,” Sacks said.

“Respectfully, you’re talking nonsense,” Summers shot back.

“What are you talking about, Larry?” Sacks retorted. “You were Treasury Secretary when we walked China into the WTO, and you’re still defending it!”

Summers wasn’t backing down, continuing to speak over Sacks before the Silicon Valley entrepreneur finally blew his top.

“Wait, wait, wait. Why am I the only one who gets to talk for two seconds before I get interrupted?” Sacks railed. “You guys get five-to-ten minute speeches! Is that the way this works? I get to speak for two seconds, then you interrupt me, [and] you speak for five or ten minutes!”

Given space to finish his thoughts, the crypto czar continued to use the former Treasury Secretary’s support for China’s WTO membership to lay the blame at his feet for the loss of “millions of industrial jobs” over the past 25 years.

A libertarian and close associate of Elon Musk, Sacks has been widely recognized as one of the key figures spearheading Silicon Valley’s ongoing charge to the political right under the new administration, despite his historic support for much-reviled Trump opponents like Hillary Clinton and Ron DeSantis.

He was supposedly also instrumental in lobbying for Trump to pick tech-friendly fellow venture capitalist J.D. Vance as his running mate and has praised the president for moving at “tech speed” on regulatory issues near to his heart, such as ending the Joe Biden government’s supposed “war on crypto.”

INDIANAPOLIS, May 01, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — For the fourth year in a row, Delta Faucet Company, a leader in branded kitchen and bathroom products including faucet fixtures, sinks, and accessories, has earned the J.D. Power Customer Service Certification. This prestigious recognition reflects Delta Faucet Company’s ongoing commitment to building a high-performing, customer-first culture rooted in responsiveness, reliability, and service excellence.

“At Delta Faucet Company, we strive to deliver exceptional experiences for every customer,” said Jill Ehnes, President at Delta Faucet Company. “Our team takes pride in listening closely, solving problems quickly, and making every interaction feel personal. This recognition from J.D. Power reflects the genuine care and dedication our people bring to everything they do.”

J.D. Power, a global leader in consumer insights, advisory services, and data and analytics, recognizes its Customer Service Certification following a comprehensive evaluation process that includes on-site assessments, staff interviews, and an evaluation of best practices across more than 20 categories known to drive operational excellence and customer satisfaction.

“At Delta Faucet Company, customer service isn’t just a function, it’s a mindset that guides how we show up each day,” said Julie Brown, Senior Director of Customer Solutions. “Every interaction with a customer is an opportunity to build trust and strengthen a relationship. We’ve invested in the right tools, resources, and training to empower our team to deliver exceptional service. Being recognized by J.D. Power again in 2025 shows the pride we take in putting our customers first, every time.”

For more information about the J.D. Power Certified Customer Service Program, please visit www.jdpower.com/awards.

About Delta Faucet Company
Headquartered in Indianapolis, Ind., Delta Faucet Company is a leader in faucets, bath and shower fixtures, and related accessories. The company’s faucet and fixture brands include Delta®, Newport Brass®, Brizo®, Kraus®, and Peerless®. Combining design and innovation, Delta Faucet Company’s extensive product line suits both residential and commercial buildings.

Delta Faucet Company is a place where passion flows. From the design of smart solutions to the way employees interact with suppliers and customers, the company’s efforts come to life in their products. For more information about Delta Faucet Company, visit deltafaucetcompany.com.

CONTACT: amanda.fruland@deltafaucet.com +1-317-914-2098

Story Continues

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The Vietnam War greatly impacted U.S. society from the passage of the War Powers Resolution that restricts the president’s ability to send troops into extended combat without congressional approval to the cementing of college campuses as centers of student activism.

Millions of U.S. troops fought in Vietnam. For some Americans, the war that effectively ended with the fall of Saigon 50 years ago Wednesday on April 30, 1975, continues to shape their lives.

They include: A woman dedicated to recovering her father’s remains after the Navy plane he piloted disappeared over Vietnam’s Gulf of Tonkin. A Vietnam veteran who was heckled like scores of other troops when he returned home and now assists fellow veterans in rural Alaska. And an anti-war movement stalwart who has spent decades advocating for free speech after her brother was wounded when Ohio National Guard troops fired into a crowd of protesters at Kent State University.

Here are their stories.

Still waiting for dad to return home

Fifty years after the fall of Saigon, Jeanie Jacobs Huffman has not lost hope of bringing her father home.

Huffman was only five months old when her father, Navy Cdr. Edward J. Jacobs Jr., was reported missing in action after the plane he was piloting to photograph enemy targets vanished in 1967 over the Gulf of Tonkin, off the coast of North Vietnam.

Huffman has dedicated her life to finding the plane and recovering his remains and those of his two crew members. She also serves on the board of directors of Mission: POW-MIA, a nonprofit group dedicated to finding unaccounted Americans from past conflicts.

“It’s a lot of missing, you know, a huge void in my life,” she said, breaking into tears.

A professional photographer, Huffman has made a poster featuring the faces of the 1,573 missing service members from Vietnam.

“After this many years, we should never leave anyone behind,” she said.

A year ago, she visited the Gulf of Tonkin through a trip with the United States Institute of Peace, a nonprofit that promotes education and research on conflicts to prevent future wars. The group’s translator, who was from North Vietnam and also lost family members in the war, walked with Huffman into the water. Holding hands, they both cried, sharing their grief.

“So that was the closest I’ve been to him in 58 years,” Huffman said of her father.

She’s pushing for the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency to conduct an underwater search operation next year in hopes of recovering the plane. The U.S. Department of Defense agency is responsible for recovering and identifying service members listed as missing in action or prisoners of war.

“He deserves to be brought back home,” she said. “Even if it’s just a bone or a dog tag. Even the tangible things, like a dog tag or a piece of his plane, mean a lot to me because I don’t have anything else.”

Finding salvation after so many decades

For George Bennett, the road to sobriety and mental health continued long after flying home through San Francisco in 1968, where “sneering” protesters met returning soldiers in the terminal.

Someone yelled out, “baby killer.” Another spit at them. He and his fellow soldiers were turned away from one airport restaurant.

Only later did he realize how much Vietnam had changed him because the war went against the strict sense of values and Indigenous practices instilled by his parents.

A member of Alaska’s Tlingit tribe, Bennett said, “I would go get my beer and come home … just drink beer and do nothing.”

“I think part of it was the fact that I was ashamed and guilty because I was part of the atrocity that occurred in Vietnam. I feel that I violated the value and some of our cultural norms, and it made me want to run.”

And he did, from bar to bar and job to job.

Finally, he wound up receiving help for alcoholism and post-traumatic stress disorder.

It’s taken him 30 years to feel better, largely because of the support of Mary, his wife of 55 years. She insisted they move to the southeast Alaska city of Sitka, where he has integrated back into his native Tlingit culture.

He’s now Alaska’s sole rural veteran liaison, helping veterans secure benefits in the military’s health care system.

“I really had to find my spiritual way again,” he said. “It took me a while to get there, but here I am.”

Kent State University protester sees lessons for today

Chic Canfora still becomes emotional when she talks about the fall of Saigon.

Canfora was part of an anti-war protest at Kent State University in 1970 when Ohio National Guard troops fired into the crowd, killing four fellow students and wounding nine others, including her brother. The bullets sent Canfora diving for cover.

She believes the protest helped galvanize public opinion that would hasten the withdrawal of U.S. troops and ultimately lead to the fall of Saigon and the war’s demise.

A decade ago, Canfora visited the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington and was overcome at seeing how the number of names of the fallen dwindled after 1970.

“That was the first time it really hit me the impact of the anti-war movement and, so it’s particularly meaningful for me this year,” she said, choking up.

Canfora, who teaches journalism at Kent State, has spent her life sharing what she experienced. She said the lessons learned are more relevant than ever amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on student protesters, fears of deportation for international students and what critics describe as unprecedented attacks on campus speech.

She said she sees echoes of the past when then Ohio Gov. James Rhodes, who sent in the National Guard, called the Kent State demonstrators “the worst type of people that we harbor in America.”

“I was too young and too naive to recognize the danger of such inflammatory rhetoric because, in essence, all of these leaders in our country were putting targets on the backs of American college students who have historically served as the conscience of America,” Canfora said.

“I think students today are going through that same metamorphosis of awareness that I did in 1970.”

___

Watson reported from San Diego.

___ For more coverage of the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War’s end, visit https://apnews.com/hub/vietnam-war.

In some cultures, bears symbolize courage, strength, and wisdom. Investors have a different view. To investors, bears mean falling stock prices and anemic portfolio values.

A bear market occurs when stock prices, according to a benchmark index, fall 20% or more. The S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and the Nasdaq Composite Index are popular benchmarks representing different segments of the U.S. stock market.

All three indexes dipped in the wake of new tariff policies announced on April 2 by President Trump. After stock prices declined, experts began warning of a new bear market in the U.S. Let’s explore what this warning means, whether we’re in a bear market, and what actions you can take to protect your wealth.

Learn more: How to start investing: A 6-step guide

A bear market is a prolonged reduction in stock prices of 20% or more from a recent high point. While some investors may view bear markets as the enemy of long-term returns, periods of weaker stock prices are normal and necessary. Without bear markets, investing risk would be limited. And without risk, investors would pay more for stock, limiting potential returns.

Bear market frequency, duration, and severity

The table below outlines key bear market characteristics, including how often they happen, how long they last, and how severe they are, according to Goldman Sachs research.

Bear markets are temporary detours from bull markets, or periods when stock prices are rising. A 20% gain from a recent low point is an accepted bull-market threshold. Bull markets last longer than bear markets and more than offset bear-market losses. This is evident in the stock market’s long-term returns. Over time, stock prices grow an average of 6.5% to 7% annually, net of inflation, despite periodic bear markets.

Learn more: Create a stock investing strategy in 3 steps

A market correction is a decline in stock prices of less than 20% from a recent high. While there’s no firm threshold, many investors begin talking about corrections when stock prices have fallen 10%. As with bear markets, these price movements are usually measured by changes in a major benchmark index like the S&P 500.

The S&P 500 hit a high of 6,147.43 on February 19, 2025. A 20% decline from that point would be 4,917.88. The index did fall as low as 4,910.42 on April 8. On April 9, President Trump paused most of the new tariffs, and stock prices rose.

In this case, the S&P 500 fell 20% and quickly rebounded. That does not constitute a bear market. However, the index’s closing level of about 5,375 on April 23 remains more than 10% below its February high — which does meet the market correction threshold.

Learn more: Panic of 1907: The stock market crash that brought us the Fed

Market corrections and bear markets happen when more investors are selling vs. buying. This trend is often prompted by uncertainty about future business conditions. Changing tariff rules and a rising conflict with China are two factors that sent investors looking for more safe-haven investments.

Learn more: How to invest in gold in 4 steps

Selling stocks before a bear market or correction begins can be a good strategy. If you sell while prices are still high, you get maximum value. You can then redeploy the funds temporarily in safer assets.

The challenge is that most investors cannot accurately predict the timing of stock market cycles. A mistimed trade can result in unnecessary losses or missed opportunities for gains.

You can avoid mistimed trades by following the simplest bear market investing strategy, which involves making no changes to your plan. Keep contributing to your 401(k) and brokerage account, hold on to your stocks and funds, and wait for the bear market to end.

Learn more: How much should I contribute to my 401(k)?

Maintaining the status quo on your investing activities during a bear market provides these advantages:

1. Your dollar buys more when stock prices are down. You can add to your share count faster in bear markets, which positions you nicely for gains in the future.

2. You avoid realizing losses at temporarily low prices. A stock can fall from $100 to $75 and then quickly rise to $110. You don’t want to sell at $75.

3. You remain invested and able to benefit from recovery gains. Gains near the end of a bear market can be extreme. Staying invested is the only way to participate.

4. You don’t have to make decisions. Bear markets are stressful. You might be anxious about doing something — anything — to stem your losses. Permitting yourself to do nothing can alleviate that worry.

Bear markets happen, and a 20% or more decline in stock prices has a chilling effect on your net worth. The good news is, these cycles are temporary. And that gives you the option to ignore the headlines, stay calm, and continue investing to move toward your long-term financial goals.

Tim Manni edited this article.

In 2012, Mallya’s Kingfisher Airlines went bust. According to Forbes, the company owes Indian banks over £750 million ($1bn). Mallya moved to the UK in 2016 amid mounting pressure from lenders. He’s currently living in London, where he’s fighting extradition to India on charges of fraud and money laundering.

According to the BBC, Mallya was found guilty of contempt in July 2022, accused of failing to disclose his assets. A court in India has sentenced him to four months in jail, yet the mogul remains in the UK. We wonder if the magnate will ever be able to enjoy his newly built home…

Worth £2.5 billion (£3.2bn) as of 2025, Ron Burkle started as the son of a greengrocer but made his fortune buying and selling big American supermarket chains like Ralphs and Jurgensen’s. While he prefers to invest in companies related to the food industry, he has also invested in Airbnb, Uber and the Pittsburgh Penguins ice hockey team, according to Forbes.

He also has a penchant for picking up unusual homes once owned by celebrities…

This out-of-this-world home was built in 1973 for the late American entertainer Bob Hope by the renowned architect John Lautner. Hope died in 2003, but it wasn’t until 2013 that the home hit the market, with a £39 million ($50m) asking price.

After three years of price cuts, Burkle finally picked up the 23,000-square-foot (2,140sqm) UFO house for ‘just’ £10 million ($13m), setting a new record for Palm Springs, according to TopTenRealEstateDeals.com.

With an undulating roof punctuated by enormous curved openings that give views of the sky and surrounding landscape, to say the home is dramatic is an understatement.

Inside, there are six bedrooms, 13 bathrooms and a pool, while Burkle can also enjoy an additional pool outside, as well as a pond, putting green, tennis court and spa.

However, that’s not the only famous home Burkle owns. He also bought late singer Michael Jackson’s fabled Neverland Ranch in Los Olivos, California, in 2020.

Jackson bought the compound in 1987, and although he died in 2009, his home didn’t come onto the market until 2015 – initially with a price tag of £77 million ($100m). However, Burkle – a friend of the Jackson family – bagged himself another deal, paying £17 million ($22m), as reported by US newspaper, The Wall Street Journal.

 

Jackson built a zoo and fairground on the estate. However, now known as Sycamore Valley Ranch, the property has been significantly redeveloped since the entertainer lived there. The French Normandy-style main house has six bedrooms, including a two-storey master suite, formal living and dining rooms, a chef’s kitchen and a hidden safe room. Outside, there are two guest houses, as well as animal shelter facilities and a four-acre (1.6ha) lake, according to TopTenRealEstateDeals.com.

Burkle also bought the Ennis House, Frank Lloyd Wright’s famed Mayan Revival-style home, in 2011 for £3.5 million ($4.5m) and made a tidy profit when he sold it in 2019 for £14 million ($18m).

Daniel Křetínský hit the headlines in the UK in May 2024 when he made a £3.5 billion ($4.5bn) offer to buy the Royal Mail, the UK’s 500-year-old postal service. Aside from that, the Czech billionaire keeps such a low profile that he’s known as the ‘Czech sphinx’.

He made his £7 billion ($9.1bn) fortune largely from the energy industry, although he also likes to splash his cash on football clubs. He owns large stakes in Sparta Prague and West Ham United.

As you might imagine, he has several homes, including an elegant French château…

Château du Marais stands on an 86-acre (35ha) estate just 22 miles (36km) west of Paris. Known as ‘Petit Versailles’, the 18th-century palace is a national historic monument built in “pure Louis XVI style”, according to its official website.

Křetínský picked up the pretty château in June 2022 for a reported £33.2 million ($43m). It had previously been on the market for €52 million (£42.1m/$54.5m), according to TopTenRealEstateDeals.com.

While the upkeep of the 100-room château apparently became too much for its previous owners to bear, its elegantly decorated rooms were long home to generations of French nobility. It is even said to have inspired works by Spanish artist Pablo Picasso.

Despite its beauty, Křetínský is unlikely to live in the mansion. The local mayor revealed that it will be renovated and reopened as a luxury hotel, although a timeline for the project has yet to be revealed.

The house had belonged to the noble Frotier de Bagneux and Pourtalès families for over a century. While they tried to prop up the estate by hosting events and even allowing it to be used as a filming location for the French Netflix series Revolution, they eventually admitted defeat and put the historic home on the market.

It languished unsold for several years before Křetínský bought it, according to the French newspaper Le Monde, in which Křetínský owned a stake until September 2023.

This 1,804-foot (550m) long mirror lake stretches almost as far as the eye can see and dominates the gardens and parkland.

Křetínský also owns one of the most expensive homes in the UK. In 2015, he bought the 14-bedroom Heath Hall on The Bishop’s Avenue (aka Billionaire’s Row) in Hampstead, London, for £63 million ($81.5m). Despite the eyewatering price tag, Křetínský got the mansion at a discount – it was originally on the market for £100 million ($129.3m). Even the sales brochure cost a shocking £2,000 ($2.6k).

Larry Ellison is usually found hovering somewhere on the list of the top five richest individuals on the planet. Another college dropout, Ellison began his career building databases for the CIA but amassed his £185 billion ($236bn) fortune after co-founding software giant Oracle, where he was CEO for 37 years before stepping down in 2014.

In 2012, he bought most of the Hawaiian island of Lanai and has lived there since 2020. That hasn’t stopped him from snapping up a £770 million ($1bn) property portfolio, though. Let’s take a look…

Ellison bought this dreamy Tuscan-style mansion in the super-exclusive gated community of Seminole Landing, North Palm Beach, Florida in 2021. Rumour had it that the tech billionaire planned to tear it down and build a brand new trophy home. However, just one year later, he put the 6.5-acre (2.6ha) estate back on the market – this time for £113 million ($145m), as reported by TopTenRealEstateDeals.com.

Ellison’s sudden change of heart may have had something to do with the £134 million ($173m) home he bought in nearby Manalapan that same year.

Ellison’s inflated price tag may have put off buyers because the beautiful Palm Beach home sat on the market until July 2023, when the listing was removed.

Covering 15,500 square feet (1,440sqm), the mansion was built in 1991 and has seven bedrooms, as well as a wood-panelled snug, a formal dining room with an ornate coffered ceiling, a home theatre and a large country-style kitchen.

Outside, there’s a pristine pool with a cabana, as well as a tennis court, guest house and what appears to be at least one sentry house at the entrance. Dotted with palm trees, the manicured lawns also contain a small lake and enough space to land a helicopter.

However, it’s the private beach with over 562 feet (171m) of ocean frontage that’s the real draw.

It’s unlikely Ellison will ever live in the charming mansion, partly because he spends most of his time in Hawaii, but also because he has so many homes it would be hard to spend time in them all.

His collection of incredible homes includes a Rhode Island mansion once occupied by the wealthy Astor family, a Lake Tahoe lodge and a Japanese-style estate in Woodside, California – as well as his Hawaiian island. And that’s just a drop in the ocean!

Legendary oilman T Boone Pickens was a Texan billionaire businessman credited with reshaping the energy industry in the 1980s. Well known for his “folksy speech and ruthless business practices”, he died aged 91 in 2019.

His enormous ranch in Pampa, Texas, was sold in 2022. Extravagant yet surprisingly elegant, T Boone’s home is a sight to behold…

Lying 85 miles (137km) northeast of Amarillo, Texas, Mesa Vista ranch covers almost 65,000 acres (26,300ha) and stretches 25 miles (40km) along the Canadian River.

Pickens bought the first 2,900 acres (1,170ha) in 1971 and added to it over the following decades. He began work on the main house, known as the Lodge, in 1988, and today it rises from the landscaped parkland like a Mediterranean castle, surrounded by terraced gardens, pools and waterfalls.

This impressive great room has oak flooring, a 28-foot (9m) vaulted ceiling, two fireplaces and limestone accents and is just one of many breathtaking reception rooms.

The Lodge covers 25,000 square feet (2,320sqm) and also houses a large dining room with a massive fireplace, a library with a spiral staircase, a 30-seat home theatre with a handpainted ceiling, a conference room and a commercial kitchen.

The Lodge contains this elegant master suite – and there’s a seven-bedroom guest wing attached to the main house via a covered breezeway. Elsewhere on the ranch, there’s an 11,500-square-foot (1,070sqm) three-bedroom Lake House and a Gate House with another three bedrooms – just in case a whole guest wing isn’t quite big enough to accommodate all your friends and family.

Four-legged friends aren’t left out either; there’s an 11,000-square-foot (1,020sqm) air-conditioned dog kennel with its very own veterinary lab, walk-in freezer and exercise area. There’s one we haven’t seen before!

The incredible amenities don’t stop there. Mesa Vista also has a private airport with a two-bedroom apartment for pilots (naturally), a charming chapel where T Boone and his fifth wife Toni were married in 2014, a 2,250-square-foot (209sqm) entertainment lodge, a golf course and a tennis court.

With all these dazzling extras, it’s hardly surprising that the ranch hit the market for £170 million ($220m), although the price was later reduced to £131.5 million ($170m) and the ranch split in two. A local rancher bought around 27,000 acres (10926ha) in September 2022, and a Texan businessman bought the remainder of the ranch two months later, according to TopTenRealEstateDeals.com.

Billionaire Bernie Ecclestone is credited with taking Formula One motor racing from obscurity to the biggest annual sporting event in the world. The son of a trawler captain, Bernie made his fortune by taking the commercial rights away from the individual F1 teams and selling them on. Thanks to his skilful deal-making, he’s worth £2 billion ($2.4bn) as of 2025.

His daughters Tamara and Petra (pictured here with Ecclestone) have benefitted from their father’s vast wealth. Petra used a chunk of it to buy one of Hollywood’s most famous mansions. Let’s take a look around…

Now dubbed The Manor, this monster mansion is better known as Spelling Manor or Candyland, after Aaron and Candy Spelling. Formerly the home of TV entertainer Bing Crosby, Aaron, a legendary TV producer and father of actress Tori Spelling, bought the estate in the late 1980s. He razed the existing house and built this vast home in its place.

Heiress Petra Ecclestone bought it for £66 million ($85m) in 2011 and gave it a significant makeover, employing more than 500 workers to transform the home into a modern marvel.

This foyer is designed to wow, with 30-foot (9m) ceilings, an enormous chandelier and a double staircase. All in all, there are 123 rooms to explore, including a beauty salon, a barbershop, a bowling alley, a gym, tanning rooms, a nightclub, a home theatre and Aaron Spelling’s original film editing room.

Petra’s husband, Sam Palmer, has likened the estate to a theme park: “I’m a person who’s not really overawed by things,” he told luxury real estate magazine Mansion Global. “But when you see this property, it’s insane. It always reminded me of Disneyland when we opened the gates.”

The 14-bedroom, 27-bathroom mansion boasts a 7,500-square-foot (697sqm) master suite, which is larger than the average American home.

Palmer revealed to Mansion Global that he doesn’t think anyone should live in a house that big. “I used to always think, it doesn’t matter how big the house is, you can only sit on one couch and you can only watch one TV.”

It may be one reason Ecclestone sold The Manor in 2019. Despite sitting on the market for four years, it sold to a mystery Saudi Arabian buyer for a record-breaking £93 million ($120m).

Outside, the almost 5-acre (2ha) estate has a pool made from 170,000 glass tiles and is surrounded by Fendi Casa furniture. There’s also a tennis court, a lily pond, plenty of al fresco dining areas and space to park 100 cars.

The Manor came back on the market in February 2022 with Carlwood Estates for an eye-watering £128 million ($165m) price tag. In November 2024, the price was slashed to £106.4 million ($137.5m) – which isn’t bad, considering the home is larger than both the White House and the Taj Mahal.

One of the five richest men in the world, Bernard Arnault made his massive £136 billion ($175.9bn) fortune by investing in luxury brands. He’s the chairman and CEO of LVMH, which owns luxury brands like Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Christian Dior and Tiffany & Co.

Like any self-respecting billionaire, he reportedly owns a string of properties from Bordeaux to Beverly Hills via the Bahamas. Let’s take a look inside two of them…

Château Cheval Blanc lies in Saint-Émilion, Bordeaux, just north of the Dordogne River and is one of the most prestigious estates in the area. Its land was first cultivated in Roman times but the elegant manor house we see today was built in the 19th century. Arnault bought the estate in 1998 with fellow businessman and old friend Belgian baron Albert Frère.

The pretty limestone façade is said to hide an impressive art collection inside, including works by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Damien Hirst and Andy Warhol.

You can easily imagine the billionaire hosting receptions in these refined rooms. Elsewhere, there’s a 24-seat dining room, an Olympic-sized swimming pool, a tennis court, a library and a ballroom.

In 2011, a modern extension was added. Designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Christian de Portzamparc, the sweeping concrete addition undulates like a wave from an outer wing of the château. It also has a living rooftop garden from which Arnault can admire his domain.

One for a home with history, Arnault also owns this Italian palace. Built in the 15th century, Casa degli Atellani is where Leonardo da Vinci is said to have stayed when he painted The Last Supper in a church across the street. The Duke of Milan gifted the artist a small patch of land behind the house in 1498, which da Vinci still owned when he died in 1519. Arnault bought the petite estate in 2022.

Before the sale, members of the Castellini Baldissera family lived in separate apartments in the Palazzo, and they opened parts of the house and gardens to the public. The stunning complex features peaceful courtyards, intricate mosaic floors and richly painted ceilings. This sitting room gives you an idea of the building’s splendour, with elaborate woodwork, a large fireplace and a painted coat of arms dominating the space.

Casa degli Atellani closed to the public after Bernard Arnault bought it, but rumours hint that it may reopen in the future as a hotel.

Russell Weiner might be the son of right-wing radio star Michael Savage, but his fortune is self-made. He launched Rockstar Energy drinks in 2001, taking out a £39,000 ($50k) mortgage on his home in Sausalito, California to fund his dream.

Fast forward to 2020 and Weiner sold Rockstar to Pepsi Co. for a cool £3.1 billion ($4bn). Worth an estimated £4.2 billion ($5.2bn) in 2025, let’s see what he spent some of that cash on…

In 2022, Weiner set a state record when he paid £31 million ($39.6m) for this stunning ski-in ski-out chalet in Park City, Utah. Standing on 5 acres (2ha), the chalet known as Monitor’s Rest spans 17,000 square feet (1,580sqm) and is built from charred cypress wood and Croatian limestone with a copper roof and Italian steel windows and doors, according to TopTenRealEstateDeals.com.

The six-bedroom, 11-bathroom home has all the usual features of any self-respecting billionaire’s home, like several chic reception rooms, a chef’s kitchen, an indoor-outdoor pool, a hot tub, a gym and a guesthouse.

However, it’s also a ‘wellness home’ equipped with an intelligence network that “regulates circadian rhythm lighting, monitors and calibrates indoor air quality, filters pollutants and removes pathogens and viruses from the air and improves water quality”, according to Engel & Völkers.

If the incredible skiing isn’t enough to keep Weiner and his guests entertained, the home’s amazing amenities certainly will.

Along with this funky bowling alley, there’s a golf simulator, an indoor sports court, a viewing tower, a stone pizza oven, an indoor climbing wall and a cinema. The spa contains a Himalayan salt room, cold plunge pool, hot tub, hammam, ice fountain, infrared sauna and massage room. The driveway is even heated so Weiner can drive right up to his door, whatever the weather.

Despite having more amenities than most small towns, it seems Weiner only bought the house to enjoy one Park City ski season. It flitted on and off the market in 2023, before being relisted with Engel & Völkers in November 2024 for £36.6 million ($47m).

Weiner has other homes to occupy him. In 2023, he sold his Beverly Park, Los Angeles, mansion for £19.3 million ($25m) and turned his attention to a mega oceanfront build he’s constructing across three lots he snapped up in Miami Beach, Florida.

Guy Laliberté was a street performer when he co-founded the entertainment company Cirque du Soleil in 1984. What started as a troupe of stiltwalkers, jugglers and fire-breathers performing in a small town in Quebec City, Canada, Cirque du Soleil has now performed to 400 million spectators in 86 countries and employs more than 4,000 people.

While Guy sold his remaining 10% stake in the upmarket circus company in 2020, he still acts as a creative guide, overseeing the spellbinding shows.

Worth an impressive £928 million ($1.2bn) as of 2025, Laliberté bought this home in Quebec’s affluent Outremont neighbourhood for CA$2.5 million (£1.4m/$1.8m) in 2006. Before moving in, he spent three years renovating the home and turned it into the 50-room megamansion it is today, according to the Canadian newspaper Montreal Gazette.

It now covers 10,100 square feet (938sqm) over five floors and offers space to relax and party in equal measure. Let’s take a look around…

The ground floor has around 3,000 square feet (278sqm) of living space and includes an imposing entryway, a private office, a family room and a library. This private sitting room exudes calm thanks to an abundance of natural light and the use of warm wood finishings.

Despite its perfect condition, the home is full of character and has been designed by someone with a creative eye.

As someone who has worked and performed so closely with a large troupe of people, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Laliberté’s dining table can seat 20 guests. There’s even a large kitchen for the billionaire’s chefs to whip up a feast, as well as a smaller one that the owners can use to make a quick snack.

Elsewhere, there are eight bedrooms, six bathrooms, a billiards room, a DJ booth, a gym, a home cinema and a large beverage cellar.

The home hit the market for CA$13.9 million (£7.6m/$9.9m) in October 2023. The price was then cut to ‘just’ CA$11 million (£5.9m/$7.8m) in April 2025, listed by Marie-Noëlle Nadeau at The Agency.

While the circus impresario clearly spent a lot of time and money tailoring this home to reflect his personality, he’ll still have several other homes to choose from when he waves this one goodbye, reportedly including villas in Ibiza and Hawaii, and a resort island in French Polynesia.

Thomas Flohr’s fortune was valued at £1.8 billion ($2.3bn) by Forbes in 2018, although it’s taken a nosedive since then. He founded VistaJet in 2004 with just two aircraft, and today, it flies 70 jets connecting all seven continents.

A keen amateur racing driver, Flohr houses a collection of rally cars at his seven-storey home in the upmarket ski resort of St Moritz in his native Switzerland, according to the British newspaper the Financial Times. He does, of course, have other homes – let’s take a look around one that hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons…

Flohr bought this Los Angeles mansion back in 2016 in a rather unusual way. Nigerian businessman Kolawole Aluko transferred the property to a company controlled by Flohr to repay a £16.7 million ($21.6m) debt he owed for private flights. Unfortunately, Aluko had been accused of taking part in a “massive government bribery scheme” in Nigeria, according to the business news platform Bloomberg.

While Flohr wasn’t accused of playing a role in the scandal, the US government moved to seize the home, stating that Flohr should have known Aluko was suspected of wrongdoing thanks to media reports at the time, which Flohr denied.

Flohr settled the mansion dispute in 2022 by paying the US £12.4 million ($16m) to keep hold of his home without admitting any fault or wrongdoing – and what a home it is!

The 15,000-square-foot (1,390sqm) mansion instantly impresses with its lofty ceilings – even the front door is double height. This grand gallery-style hallway links the main living spaces, including the great room, formal dining room, library and home cinema – all of which have stone accent walls and walnut flooring.

Despite the gourmet home kitchen, additional chef’s kitchen, six bedrooms, 10 bathrooms, wellness centre and steam room, the real star is the incredible city view. It’s on show from almost every room of the house thanks to numerous glass walls.

There’s also a 5,000-square-foot (465sqm) roof terrace to relax on and enjoy the cityscape below.

Outside, there’s an olive grove, an infinity pool and spa with an outdoor deck and lush landscaped gardens. Despite the home’s beauty, Flohr listed it in 2022 for £49.2 million ($63.5m) with Westside Estate Agency and The Agency, who shot this beautiful YouTube video showcasing the megamansion.

Flohr eventually settled for £17.4 million ($22.5m) in May 2024.

With a net worth of £2.4 billion ($3.1bn), James Packer was the 17th wealthiest person in Australia as of 2024. He inherited an entertainment and publishing empire from his father Kerry, who died in 2005.

Packer briefly dated American singer Mariah Carey (pictured here together in 2015). Just nine months after they got together, the billionaire proposed to the entertainer, whose net worth is thought to be £271.1 million ($350m), with a 35-carat diamond ring.

They split in October 2016, and Mariah reportedly walked away with a multi-million dollar settlement and the ring, which she is said to have sold for £1.6 million ($2.1m).

Packer bought this charming Beverly Hills home for £66 million ($85.2m) in 2018. The almost one-acre (0.4ha) compound was once owned by actors Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman, who lived there for 21 years before their separation.

The seven-bedroom, five-bathroom home was built in 1930 and designed by Wallace Neff, who was hailed as “one of the greatest residential architects in Southern California”, according to Architectural Digest.

It was extensively remodelled before Packer owned it and we imagine he made his mark on the place before he put it up for sale in 2023 for £66 million ($85m).

As we can see from this video shot by listing realtor The Agency, the 12-bedroom, 17-bathroom home boasts an impressive foyer. The sprawling 24,300-square-foot (2,260sqm) mansion is made up of multiple buildings, including a three-storey ‘accessory dwelling’.

Aside from this bistro-style kitchen, there’s a games room, a home theatre, an elevator, a wood-panelled beverage cellar, a gym and a sauna to enjoy. The master suite has its own sitting room with a fireplace as well as dual bathrooms and closets, and a private terrace.

We can certainly see why Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez rented the mansion in 2022 while they looked for a forever home during their very brief marriage.

Outside, there’s a pristine pool and spa with an elegant cabana, as well as garage parking for eight cars.

Packer’s move to list the Beverly Hills pad followed his ex-wife’s decision to educate their three children in London. However, with no takers, Packer took his house off the market in May 2024. He reportedly spends most of his time between California, the upmarket ski resort of Aspen, Colorado, Ellerstine – his Argentinian polo ranch – and a beach house in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

 

Transaction fees on the Ethereum blockchain have fallen to their lowest levels since 2020, currently averaging around $0.168 per transaction. This decline is attributed to a significant decrease in user activity, with fewer individuals sending Ether and engaging with smart contracts, according to on-chain analytics platform Santiment.

Brian Quinlivan, the marketing director at Santiment, noted that when user activity increases, transaction fees tend to rise as users bid higher amounts for expedited confirmations. Conversely, the current lull in transactions has led to a decrease in the need for such bidding, resulting in lower average fees.

The recent drop in fees coincides with broader market challenges. Following the announcement of sweeping tariffs by U.S. President Trump on April 2, traditional and crypto markets experienced downturns. Over the past 14 days, Ethereum’s value has fallen by more than 12.5%, lingering just below $1,600.

Amid this backdrop, traders appear to be exercising caution, waiting for global economic uncertainties to stabilize before increasing their transaction frequency with Ether and altcoins. Quinlivan observed a heightened sensitivity among retail investors towards Ethereum discussions and economic news, as the asset nears critical support levels.

Looking ahead, the Pectra upgrade for the Ethereum network is scheduled to launch on May 7. This upgrade aims to double the layer-2 blob capacity, reduce transaction fees, and allow fees to be paid in stablecoins like USDC and DAI. Additionally, the maximum staking limit will increase from 32 ETH to 2,048 ETH.

The Pectra upgrade follows the Dencun upgrade in March 2024, which had already reduced transaction fees for layer-2 networks and improved the economic landscape for Ethereum rollups.

The second phase of Pectra is anticipated in late 2025 or early 2026, introducing enhancements aimed at improving scalability and data storage efficiency.

VROOMING AROUND: Vespa is doubling down on its lifestyle project introduced last June by kicking off retail initiatives worldwide.

The brand is unveiling a range of pop-ups dedicated to the second chapter of its lifestyle project in key locations throughout the first quarter of 2025.

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The first of such activations bowed this week at Paris’ Galeries Lafayette Champs-Élysées department store.

Decked in icy tones to recreate a mountaintop landscape with a futuristic bent, the pop-ups mark the retail debut of the Vespa Snake capsule collection created to celebrate the Year of the Snake, according to the Lunar Calendar.

The collection comprises the new limited-edition Vespa 946 Snake scooter launched this month, which features a shimmering white design inspired by snowy landscapes and snake-shaped decorations on the fenders and under the saddle, as well as a matching wardrobe.

The latter comprises enveloping long puffer coats and patch-bearing bomber jackets, as well as tracksuits, denim pants and knits done in variations of white, from iridescent and pearly to optical and buttery.

The Paris pop-up remains open through Feb. 5. A day before, Vespa will inaugurate the same concept at Milan’s Rinascente.

The roving pop-up format will then travel to Steffl in Vienna; Galeries Lafayette in Beijing; Vakko in Istanbul; Emquartier in Bangkok; Paragon in Singapore; Trang Tien Hanoi, Vietnam, as well as Plaza Indonesia, in Jakarta, Indonesia.

As reported, parent company Piaggio Group last year banked on Vespa being “not only a mobility brand but a lifestyle one,” as Davide Zanolini, executive vice president of marketing and communication of Piaggio Group, told WWD in June. Vespa was catapulted to global fame by Audrey Hepburn riding on the back of Gregory Peck’s scooter in the 1953 iconic movie “Roman Holiday.”

The lifestyle push incidentally coincided with the launch of the brand’s seminal fashion collection, for which Vespa recruited an experienced team of designers, but Zanolini described it as a platform for experimentation across different fields.

Before venturing into fashion directly, Vespa had orchestrated collaborations in the space previously, linking up with Emporio Armani in 2016; sneaker guru Sean Wotherspoon in 2020, and Dior in 2021.

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Crypto payments firm Mesh has announced an integration with Apple Pay that will enable merchants to accept cryptocurrency payments directly through Apple Pay.

Scheduled for release later in Q2, this integration will facilitate crypto transactions for Mesh’s partner merchants without their own crypto infrastructure.

The Apple Pay integration is powered by Mesh’s SmartFunding technology, which allows customers to pay with cryptocurrencies like BTC, ETH, or SOL.

Merchants can then settle these payments in the stablecoin of their choice, including USDC, USDT, PYUSD, and others.

This technology claims to simplify the transaction process, with users selecting Apple Pay at checkout, authenticating via Face ID, and completing the transaction in fiat currency payments.

The integration capabilities are extended to physical retail environments as well.

Merchants can utilise Apple Pay’s NFC features to provide customers with a consistent payment experience both in-store and online, beyond the traditional point-of-sale terminals.

Mesh CEO and co-founder Bam Azizi said: “We believe that as soon as crypto payments are as seamless as fiat payments, nothing is left to stop the mass migration of global commerce onto blockchain rails. Crypto already offers countless benefits over fiat, and Mesh is solving the UX and convenience pieces.

“With our Apple Pay integration, we’re solving crypto’s existential last-mile problem, bringing to life a plug-and-play solution that turns on global crypto payments through our existing partners.”

This development follows Mesh’s $82m Series B funding round, led by Paradigm and supported by investors such as Consensys, QuantumLight Capital, and Yolo Investments.

Mesh has over 300 integrations, including prominent crypto exchanges and wallets like Coinbase, Binance, MetaMask, and Phantom.

“Mesh integrates Apple Pay for crypto transactions ” was originally created and published by Electronic Payments International, a GlobalData owned brand.

 

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MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin 15-year-old who shot and killed a teacher and a fellow student Monday was only in her first semester at the school but seemed to be settling in, a school official said Thursday as families of the victims remembered them as people of faith who had deep connections within the Christian school.

Abundant Life Christian School student Rubi Patricia Vergara, 14, of Madison and teacher Erin West, 42, of DeForest were killed Monday. Two other students who were shot remained hospitalized Thursday in critical condition.

Barbara Wiers, the school’s director for elementary and communications, told The Associated Press that the attack lasted eight minutes — shorter than the school’s regular snack break. She said the community’s faith and connection to one another has sustained them as they struggle with the possibility that the shooter’s motive might remain undetermined.

“Are we broken right now? Yes. Are we bruised and battered? Yes,” she said. “But we will laugh again, and He will turn our mourning into joy again. And we will go on.”

Police say student Natalie “Samantha” Rupnow shot herself at the school and died at a Madison hospital. Police have said her motivation for the attack remains a key part of their investigation.

This was Rupnow’s first semester at ALCS, Wiers said. The school was working with her family on attendance, but teachers had no significant concerns, she said.

“I pray for this family because right now they’ve lost a daughter and they are wounded,” she said. “And they’re dealing with the fact that their daughter did this terrible thing and hurt these other people. It has to be one of the loneliest, bitterest places to be.”

Vergara’s funeral is set for Saturday at City Church, which is adjacent to the school, and West’s funeral is Monday at Doxa Church in Madison, where she was a member, according to obituaries published Wednesday and Thursday.

West had worked at the school for four years and is the mother of three daughters, according to her obituary. She enjoyed camping with family, attending school sporting events, serving at Doxa Church and spending time with her daughters and the rest of her family, the obituary said.

“ALCS is a better school for the work of Erin West,” the school said in a statement.

West worked three years as a substitute teacher before accepting a staff position as the sub coordinator and in-building substitute teacher, according to the statement.

“She served our teachers and students with grace, humor, wisdom, and — most importantly — with the love of Jesus,” the school said. “Her loss is a painful and deep one and she will be greatly missed not just among our staff, but our entire ALCS family.”

Vergara was a freshman at the school and “an avid reader, loved art, singing and playing keyboard in the family worship band,” according to her obituary.

The school described her as gentle and loving.

“Rubi was a blessing to her class and our school,” the school said. “She was not only a good friend, but a great big sister. Often seen with a book in hand, she had a gift for art and music.”

Attempts to obtain comment from relatives of West and Vergara have been unsuccessful.

The shooter brought two guns to the school. A man in California told authorities he had been messaging her about attacking a government building with a gun and explosives, according to a restraining order issued against him Tuesday under California’s gun red flag law. The order required the 20-year-old Carlsbad man to turn his guns and ammunition in to police within 48 hours, but it’s unclear Thursday whether he complied, would be charged or was in custody.

The order didn’t say what building he had targeted or when he planned to launch his attack. It also didn’t detail his interactions with Rupnow except to state that the man was plotting a mass shooting with her.

A spokesperson for the Carlsbad Police Department said federal authorities were leading the investigation and “we do not believe there is a threat to our city.”

Police, with the assistance of the FBI, were scouring online records and other resources and speaking with the shooter’s parents and classmates in an attempt to determine a motive, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said Wednesday.

Police don’t know if anyone was targeted or if the attack had been planned in advance, the chief said.

While Rupnow had two handguns, Barnes said he does not know how she obtained them and he declined to say who purchased them, citing the ongoing investigation.

No decisions have been made about whether Rupnow’s parents might be charged, but they have been cooperating, Barnes said.

Online court records show no criminal cases against her father, Jeffrey Rupnow, or her mother, Mellissa Rupnow. They are divorced and shared custody of their daughter, but she primarily lived with her father, according to court documents.

Abundant Life is a nondenominational Christian school of about 420 students that offers prekindergarten classes through high school.

Adam Rostad, who lives near Madison, went to ALCS from kindergarten through high school. His grandfather was pastor of the church that helped establish the school, and his mother and aunt both worked there.

Rostad said Thursday that even though he graduated about 20 years ago and doesn’t even consider himself a “church person” any longer, ALCS is family.

He has collected a list of about 440 people who are eager to either cook meals or buy gift cards for those affected and is coordinating with the school and church to make sure that’s the best way to help.

“Bullets don’t really care what your faith is, or if you have one,” Rostad said. “They really don’t.”

___

This story was first published Dec. 19, 2024. It was updated Dec. 20, 2024, to correct that Natalie “Samantha” Rupnow died at a hospital, not at the school.

___

Dell’Orto reported from Minneapolis. Associated Press Writer Ryan J. Foley in Iowa City, Iowa, contributed to this report.

(Bloomberg) — Money for nothing. That’s what a fast growing array of financial products dubbed flash loans are promising the crypto faithful.

The practice is the latest attempt by the digital-asset crowd to rewrite the rules of financial transactions, removing many of the current gatekeepers from the picture in the search to achieve what they call decentralized finance, or DeFi. As with most things crypto, the promise is great, with the perils often equally so.

Here’s how flash loans typically work: Borrowers can take collateral-free loans from lenders and use the proceeds for whatever they want. One of the most popular uses is to arbitrage discrepancies in coin prices on different exchanges. The key is that the loan, the trade and repayment are bundled into the same block of transactions being processed on the Ethereum digital ledger and are executed simultaneously.

The time from borrowing to returning a loan typically takes seconds. In the example, the transaction gets submitted to the network, temporarily lending the borrower the funds. If the trade isn’t profitable, the borrower can reject the transaction, meaning that the lender gets their funds back in either case. As far as the blockchain is concerned, the lender always had the funds. The user pays blockchain processing fees.

“In a way, flash loans make everyone a whale,” said Nikola Jankovic, community manager at flash loan provider DeFi Saver, referring to the crypto industry nickname for large investors who are often able to move markets by themselves.

While there’s no hard number on the current size of the market, one of the biggest players, Aave, said it processed $2 billion of flash loans last year after starting up in January. Several competitors offer similar services.

“I can see them becoming big,” said Aaron Brown, a crypto investor and Bloomberg Opinion columnist. “The same thing exists conceptually in the traditional financial system. I can buy and sell things for many times my total wealth during a day, as long as by the end of the day everything nets out to a positive balance. It’s just with crypto there is no settlement delay, so to do the same thing you need flash loans.”

Stani Kulechov, Aave’s London-based chief executive officer, expects all cryptocurrency networks to eventually offer flash loans.

“At the end of the day, flash loans are going to be everywhere,” Kulechov said. The biggest flash loan Aave has processed to date was about $200 million, he said. Aave has about $3.9 billion in funding capacity, according to data tracker DeFi Pulse.

This democratization of finance can potentially make the crypto market more efficient.

“They have the potential to greatly increase market efficiency as there are no longer high capital costs to exploiting arbitrage opportunities,” said Jack Purdy, an analyst at researcher Messari. “When anyone in the world can execute these trades across disparate markets, it helps crypto prices converge, tightening spreads and reducing inefficiencies.”

But it also has drawbacks as well, which are unlikely to be overlooked by regulators. People have already used flash loan attacks to manipulate coin prices and to steal millions in funds, Brown said.

“Flash loans will continue to be associated with manipulation and hacks,” he said. “But they’re not really essential to those things, they just mean manipulators and hackers no longer need capital.”

And because they happen so fast, manipulators and hackers can likely get away with the spoils before anyone even notices them. They are gone in a flash.

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The acting head of the U.S. federal banking regulator is reportedly stepping down this week.

Brian Brooks, who is currently leading the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), will leave the federal agency within the next few days, Politico’s Victoria Guida reported Tuesday.

Brooks was named Acting Comptroller last summer after first joining the agency in March. He was nominated to serve a full term by President Donald Trump. However, with Trump’s loss in the November presidential election and the Democratic Party retaking the Senate earlier this month thanks to the results of the runoff election in the state of Georgia, it appears more likely President-elect Joe Biden will nominate his own choice to run the agency.

Related: How the OCC Is Building Crypto America (and Saving Banks From Extinction)

In an email, OCC Deputy Comptroller for Public Affairs Bryan Hubbard “refused to confirm such rumors.”

Brooks, the former general counsel at Coinbase, has had a major impact on the OCC’s crypto approach during his brief tenure. During his term, the OCC published several interpretive letters or made statements announcing that banks can provide services to issuers of stablecoins, partner with crypto custodians, conduct payments using stablecoins and operate nodes on blockchain networks.

Possibly his most far-reaching impact came from his push for fintech startups – like crypto companies – to secure national banking charters, allowing them to operate throughout the country without needing to apply for each state’s money transmitters license.

To date, BitPay, Paxos and Anchorage have filed for these charters.

Related: Crypto Long & Short: Traditional and Crypto Markets Are Starting to Converge

However, the crypto-friendly regulator drew backlash from members of Congress, six of whom wrote an open letter after the election asking Brooks to focus on economic relief during the COVID-19 pandemic rather than crypto regulations.

Read more: ‘Inherently Borderless’: Acting OCC Chief Talks Crypto, State Licenses and DeFi

Rep. Maxine Waters, the chair of the Financial Services Committee, went a step further, asking Biden to rescind all of the OCC’s crypto-related guidance as part of a broader effort to revoke the rules implemented under Trump’s tenure.

Brooks has been an advocate for a digital dollar and the crypto space more broadly, and likened decentralized finance (DeFi) to self-driving cars in an opinion piece in the Financial Times Tuesday morning.

These “self-driving banks,” as Brooks put it, could create money market interest rates algorithmically, replacing human committees, and could enable broker-less trades. They could also increase liquidity risks or create asset volatility.

He advocated for a national regulatory approach rather than a patchwork, state-by-state approach, though he noted Congress might have to update legislation to fully allow for the OCC to oversee this sector’s growth.

Are you looking for ways to get into cryptocurrency that don’t require spending any money? Investing in Bitcoin can be risky because of the volatility of the cryptocurrency market, but there are a variety of ways to earn some crypto on the side.

Check Out: 6 Best ChatGPT Prompts To Find Your High-Income Side Gig
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Here are some of the best side gigs that pay you in Bitcoin.

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As crypto projects grow, they sometimes need to hire people for community management.

This role may involve moderating forums, social media platforms and chat groups like Telegram or Discord. Community managers answer questions and help maintain a positive environment for project enthusiasts and investors.

If you’re passionate about a particular project and have good communication skills, this could be a great fit for you. According to Cryptocurrencyjobs.co, the salary for a full-time community manager starts at around $55,000, though you could be paid less if you do it part-time as a side hustle.

If you’ve received gift cards from your friends, family or job, you may be able to sell them online for Bitcoin. You can do this either through a decentralized exchange like Bisq or by finding a user who’s willing to trade on an online forum such as “r/giftcardexchange” on Reddit.

Users who buy gift cards for Bitcoin on an online forum will usually pay around 80% of the face value of the card. When selling gift cards online, make sure to carefully read the rules of the forum or platform you’re using to ensure you make your trades as safely and smoothly as possible.

Read Next: How I Make $5,000 a Month in Passive Income Doing Just 10 Hours of Work a Year

If you have a knack for explaining blockchain technology, want to review the latest crypto platforms or want to cover news and trends in the crypto world, you might be able to find work as a cryptocurrency writer.

There are cryptocurrency blogs and websites out there that pay their freelance writers in Bitcoin, like Cointelegraph. Different crypto projects may also be willing to pay for well-researched articles, guides and other types of content aimed at their users.

How much you can earn will vary depending on the site or project. One example, the website Blockchain News, offers writers the Bitcoin equivalent of $10 per piece of content.

It could be a good idea to research and specialize in a specific cryptocurrency niche, such as decentralized finance, smart contracts or crypto regulation. If you build a portfolio that showcases your knowledge in these areas, you may be able to attract higher-paying gigs from cryptocurrency publications or blockchain projects looking for authoritative content.

You may also be able to find more crypto writing opportunities by interacting with the cryptocurrency community through social media and online forums.

Specialized job boards and platforms such as Cryptocurrencyjobs.co and the subreddit “r/jobs4bitcoin” cater to freelancers who want to get paid in Bitcoin. These sites have offers for various gigs, such as web development, graphic design and programming.

Often, the businesses offering these jobs are crypto companies, which means you can earn Bitcoin and gain experience in the cryptocurrency field at the same time. Payouts will vary based on the employer, but they should be in line with what other businesses would pay for similar work in flat currency.

To maximize your chances of landing a gig, try to tailor your profile to highlight any expertise you have that may be relevant to the crypto industry. You could also mention specific services you can provide, such as blockchain development, content writing or digital marketing for initial coin offerings.

If you have a background in cybersecurity or programming, you can earn Bitcoin by identifying vulnerabilities and bugs in software, websites or applications. Some cryptocurrency exchanges and projects have bug bounty programs, through which they pay users who can find weaknesses in their security.

The Kraken exchange, for example, will pay up to $1,000 for every low-severity vulnerability you find and up to $1.5 million for more critical vulnerabilities. This can be a great way to both make money and make the crypto ecosystem safer for everyone.

Cryptocurrency exchanges like Coinbase and Binance offer affiliate programs that will reward you for referring new users. When you share your affiliate link with your friends, family or social media followers, you can earn a commission in Bitcoin for every sign-up or every transaction they make through your link.

Binance offers additional bonuses if you promote their futures trading. Once users sign up using your link and trade futures on the exchange, you’ll get 10% of all the trading fees they pay, up to $72,000 a month.

If you’re looking to earn Bitcoin online, you can start by figuring out what you’re good at. Are you a writer, a coder or someone who likes completing small tasks online?

Try to find a crypto opportunity that’s the right fit for you, it’s a good idea to learn as much as possible about how blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies work.

Join forums, job boards and social media groups where people talk about cryptocurrencies. This can help you find out what’s new and what opportunities are out there.

Like other tech fields, cryptocurrency has a wide range of opportunities, from technical positions like blockchain development and cybersecurity to non-technical roles such as content writing, marketing and community management.

Make sure to tailor your resume to the jobs you want to land and try to learn as much as possible about the field.

Making a living trading cryptocurrency may be possible, but it’s probably unlikely. Trading comes with high risks and requires a deep understanding of the market.

Because the cryptocurrency market is so volatile, losses can be more sudden than in other markets. It’s important to start small, educate yourself continuously and never invest more than you can afford to lose.

If you want to get a job in the blockchain space, you’ll need to learn about blockchain technology and the specific areas within it that interest you the most.

Building technical skills, such as programming for Ethereum smart contracts, and understanding the principles of decentralized applications may be important if you want to secure a more technical role.

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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 6 Side Gigs That Will Pay You in Bitcoin