News & Updates
The latest news and updates from companies in the WLTH portfolio.
Watch: SpaceX's successful test flight and splashdown for Starship
SpaceX has completed a test flight of its Starship megarocket, followed by a successful soft splashdown in the Indian Ocean an hour after launch. It was the rocket's 13th test flight. The company, owned by Elon Musk, cited engine failure at liftoff during an aborted launch attempt last week. This was also the second flight for this version of Starship, called V3, and its first flight as a publicly traded company.
SpaceX carries out successful Starship test flight, first since going public
Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. SpaceX's Starship on Friday sailed through its first test flight since the company went public. "Starship is intact, floating in the ocean and transmitting telemetry!" company head Elon Musk said on X. The ship serenely splashed into the Indian Ocean to wild cheers from SpaceX employees, who were watching live footage from the company's Starbase. "I'm losing my mind right now," spokesperson Dan Huot said on the livestream. "This is the first time we've put an intact Starship in the water." "This is a dream scenario for the team that's trying to get this heat shield data." The flight aims were similar to those of a mostly successful voyage carried out in May, which debuted the latest edition of the powerful Starship, its third-generation model. The primary goals of this 13th test launch were to once again demonstrate those redesigns in flight, this time without any hiccups. The upper stage deployed 20 Starlink V3 satellites, a test SpaceX said "will provide critical data as we prepare to expand our Starlink constellation" of the company's satellite internet service. The approximately one-hour flight also tested upgrades to the mammoth ship's heat shield. The company had said after its May test that it had made "several modifications to hardware and software to address issues seen on the previous flight." The landing burn of the booster was still a bit harder than the company hoped. "Just looking at the booster real quick, it didn't look like we lit all 13 engines that we were planning for that initial land and burn," said Huot. "We were targeting a softer splash on it, and as you saw, it came in with quite a bit of velocity." - Moon-bound? - A previous attempt at launch was abruptly scrubbed just as the booster began to ignite, in an automatic stoppage that occurred after some engines did not start. The launch was then further delayed over weather and visibility concerns. Friday's flight was the first after Musk's SpaceX went public on Wall Street in June, with a record initial public offering. The rocket company has rapidly expanded its satellite internet service and voiced lofty ambitions for AI data centers in space. There's a lot riding on SpaceX's progress: The company is under contract with NASA to produce a modified version of Starship to serve as a lunar landing system. Sharing an image of the Starship rocket passing the Moon, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman commented that "pretty clear from this shot that SpaceX knows where we are going!" "When Starship comes online, its capabilities will be game-changing, not least of which will be ensuring we never give up the Moon again!"
SpaceX's Starship rocket lifts off for 13th test flight
SpaceX's Starship rocket lifted off from Texas on Friday and deployed its first 20 upgraded Starlink satellites into suborbital space, one of many testing goals in the company's 13th test mission as it races to begin routine service with the rocket by the end of the year. The roughly 122m Starship rocket system blasted off around 6:50pm ET from SpaceX's Starbase company town, with the Super Heavy first stage booster sending its Starship upper stage on a suborbital trajectory. The roughly hour-long mission will conclude with Starship's reentry through Earth's atmosphere and a splashdown in the Indian Ocean. As Starship approached 26,400km/h in space some 10 minutes into its flight, the Super Heavy booster returned to Earth and impacted the Gulf of Mexico harder than expected, SpaceX said, though it had reignited more engines than its botched return in May during a previous test flight. The Starship test flight is SpaceX's 13th since 2023, featuring a new version of the rocket crucial to the company's plans to expand Starlink, land humans on the moon for NASA and eventually deploy thousands of artificial intelligence-processing satellites in orbit. Twenty minutes into its spaceflight, Starship began deploying 20 Starlink V3 satellites, dispensing them one by one via the ship's "Pez"-like payload deployment. Flying over a shadowed Earth, thunderstorms with flashes of lightning were visible in the background 190km below, according to a camera fixed to the rocket and streamed live by SpaceX. A crowd of SpaceX engineers in SpaceX's Hawthorne, California, facilities could be heard on the live stream cheering at the rocket's mission milestones, at one point chanting "US." While in space, the Starlink satellites - a new "V3" version with greater bandwidth capabilities - will deploy solar arrays and antennae to briefly connect with SpaceX's Starlink network of some 10,000 satellites orbiting above. The Starlinks are the first to be deployed by Starship, though they will follow the ship's suborbital trajectory into Earth's atmosphere and burn up. Some of them have spotlights and cameras that will record Starship's heat shield as it hits intense atmospheric friction later in the mission, giving SpaceX key testing insight into how well the rocket survives its return from space. SpaceX plans to use Starship by the end of 2026 to begin launching thousands of Starlink V3 satellites, expanding the constellation's capacity to be able to connect directly to mobile devices such as cell phones. The current network only connects to Starlink-branded dishes.
Watch: SpaceX's successful test flight and splashdown for Starship
SpaceX has completed a test flight of its Starship megarocket, followed by a successful soft splashdown in the Indian Ocean an hour after launch. It was the rocket's 13th test flight. The company, owned by Elon Musk, cited engine failure at liftoff during an aborted launch attempt last week. This was also the second flight for this version of Starship, called V3, and its first flight as a publicly traded company.
SpaceX again postpones its Starship test launch
The previous test launch took place in May, when SpaceX launched Starship S39, the premier prototype of the company's third-generation spacecraft NEW YORK, July 24. /TASS/. US company SpaceX has once again postponed the 13th test launch of its Starship spacecraft. "Now targeting Friday, July 24 for Starship's thirteenth flight test, due to weather," the company said in a statement, posted on the X social network. The launch was initially slated for July 16, but was aborted at the last moment. US entrepreneur Elon Musk attributed the cancellation to an engine failure. In his words, some of the engines did not start, triggering an automatic launch abort. The launch was postponed until July 23. The previous test launch took place in May, when SpaceX launched Starship S39, the premier prototype of the company's third-generation (V3) spacecraft. However, it exploded after splashdown. SpaceX experts said its specialists had updated its software, fixing problems identified during the 12th launch. According to the developer's plans, the Starship space system will be versatile and capable of being used in various versions for manned flights to low-Earth orbit, satellite launches, and missions to the Moon and Mars, as well as to more distant celestial bodies. The reusable Super Heavy booster and Starship are designed to land vertically.
SpaceX delays Starship's 13th test flight to Friday due to weather By Investing.com
Investing.com -- Space Exploration Technologies Corp (NASDAQ:SPCX) on Thursday postponed the 13th test flight of its Starship launch system by one day, citing unfavorable weather conditions at its Starbase launch site in Texas. "Now targeting Friday, July 24 for Starship's thirteenth flight test, due to weather," the company said in a post on X. Track SpaceX supplier stocks and the aerospace sector with InvestingPro SpaceX added that "a key objective for the flight test is to get clear imagery from the ground of Starship's heatshield as it flies at a higher dynamic pressure during ascent, which won't be possible with today's weather conditions." It said visibility is forecast to be ideal for a Friday attempt. The company had originally planned to launch the mission on Thursday. The 13th test flight is expected to advance SpaceX's development of Starship, the fully reusable rocket system designed for future lunar and Mars missions as well as commercial satellite launches. The flight follows SpaceX's previous Starship test in May, during which the Super Heavy booster was successfully recovered, while the upper-stage spacecraft completed much of its planned mission profile before experiencing a loss of attitude control during re-entry. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration earlier this month cleared SpaceX to proceed with Flight 13 after reviewing the previous test, allowing the company to continue its flight test campaign. SpaceX has said the latest mission will include upgrades aimed at improving the reliability of both the Super Heavy booster and the Starship upper stage as it works toward more frequent launches and eventual full reusability.
Meta in Talks to Lease AI Computing Power to Anthropic in Potential $10 Billion Deal - NaturalNews.com
The discussions mark a possible step toward a new business for Meta, which is building a cloud infrastructure unit to sell excess AI computing capacity from its massive data-center buildout [2]. The new line would put Meta in direct competition with established cloud providers such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud, officials said [1]. Meta's Data Center Expansion Meta has been rapidly expanding its data center network to support its own AI ambitions. A leaked internal memo disclosed plans to double the company's overall computing capacity to 14 gigawatts by 2027, with 7 gigawatts to be deployed this year, according to reports [3][4]. The memo also detailed long-term supply contracts for memory, flash storage, and fiber-optic equipment amid a component shortage, the documents stated [4]. To fund this expansion, Meta borrowed $30 billion in debt, signaling that even cash-rich tech giants can no longer cover the astronomical costs of the AI race from revenue alone, according to an analysis [5]. The company has also signed multibillion-dollar deals with CoreWeave and Amazon for computing resources, and its own AI chips are slated to begin production in September [6][7][8]. Meta has said it may build more data centers than it needs based on the number of customers using its AI products, the report noted [1]. Investor Concerns and Zuckerberg's Remarks Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently acknowledged that AI agent development over the past four months "hasn't accelerated in the way we expected," according to transcripts of his remarks [1]. The comment has raised questions about demand for Meta's AI infrastructure, the report stated [1]. Selling excess computing power to companies such as Anthropic could provide a new revenue stream and potentially alleviate investor concerns about Meta's multiyear data-center spending spree, analysts said [1]. At the same time, Meta has faced scrutiny over its data practices. The company launched Meta AI, a chatbot powered by Llama 4 that collects intimate details from conversations to monetize for targeted advertising, with critics warning that Meta AI turns private discussions into opportunities for product recommendations and ads [9]. Meta also cut about 8,000 jobs in May, part of a broader trend as AI adoption accelerates, according to reports [10][11]. The layoffs and the potential compute lease reflect a company under pressure to justify enormous capital outlays in a rapidly shifting market. Similar Strategies by Other Firms Meta is not the only company exploring the leasing of AI computing capacity. Elon Musk's SpaceX, which acquired his AI startup xAI earlier this year, has been renting massive amounts of computing capacity from its Memphis data centers to Anthropic, according to people familiar with the matter [1]. That strategy could help xAI generate more than $50 billion in revenue by 2028 and $100 billion by 2030, company projections indicate [1]. The arrangement mirrors a broader trend where AI companies seek computing power from large infrastructure holders, industry observers said [1]. Other deals in the sector include Reflection AI signing a $1 billion compute deal with European AI infrastructure firm Nebius, and OpenAI in talks for a massive 10-gigawatt data center in Ohio with a potential buildout cost exceeding $500 billion [12][13]. Smaller and mid-sized companies often lack the financial resources to compete with giants like Meta and OpenAI, leaving them dependent on leasing capacity from larger players, one analyst noted [14]. Competitive Landscape Meta's own AI models have not gained significant traction, according to recent industry reports. An assessment noted that "amid a fast-moving AI race... Meta's models are nowhere to be found" [1]. The company has launched Muse Spark 1.1, an AI model for agentic coding, but acknowledged it is behind competitors like Anthropic and OpenAI, which have offered similar models for longer periods [15]. Meta is also developing in-house AI chips to lower GPU costs, but the project remains in early stages [6][16]. Anthropic, a direct competitor in AI development, would use Meta's computing power while building its own systems. The deal, if completed, would mark an unusual arrangement between two competing firms, according to experts [1]. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has warned of the potential dangers of AI, cautioning that systems should not be dismissed as "just math" or "software," and that the technology could lead to significant job displacement [17][18]. The evolving competitive dynamics highlight the immense capital and infrastructure demands shaping the AI industry.
Elon Musk's Tesla, SpaceX Stock Nosedive Leads Nearly $20 Billion Profit For Short Sellers
Sponsored This page may contain affiliate links. If you sign up through these links, we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. This does not influence our editorial reviews or rankings. Short sellers against Elon Musk-led Tesla Inc. and SpaceX have raked in nearly $20 billion in paper profits from the recent nosedive in both shares, data from S3 Partners and Ortex Technologies show. Elon Musk's Tesla Stock Plunges Close To 15% The Tesla stock fell nearly 15% on Thursday to close at $319.69 after the electric vehicle firm's disappointing second-quarter earnings report. This marked the largest daily drop in a year for the company. The loss on the earnings report came as a reminder of investor doubts about the company's high-priced artificial intelligence and robotics business. Ihor Dusaniwsky, the managing director at S3 Partners, said that the one-day drop alone would leave the one-day sell-off about $4.12 billion in the red for Tesla. The other finding from the S3 was that approximately 3% of Tesla's outstanding shares are sold short. BNP Paribas analyst James Picariello maintains a sell rating on Elon Musk-backed Tesla, with a price target of $280. He warned that expectations of the firm's AI plans are still hyped. He continues, "As Tesla continues to pursue ambitious AI goals via an exceedingly aggressive capex timeline, we weigh severe caution on the speed of its AI progress ramp -- and the significantly high bar already embedded in the stock's valuation." The stock valuation for Tesla stands at 151 times the company's expected earnings over the next year, which makes it the priciest of the Magnificent 7 tech stocks. Despite such a premium, it's the group's poorest performer this year. After falling on Thursday, Tesla stocks are off by nearly 30% from their yearly highs, giving bearish investors about $8.92 billion in paper gains. What Do Experts Say About Tesla? Tesla's spending on AI has also sparked controversy. Some Tesla investors believe that the company is not investing enough heavily enough into its robotaxi and humanoid robot projects. They compared Elon Musk's firm to several large technology companies have been criticized for investing heavily in AI projects that are not always yielding the desired results. Meanwhile, declining auto profit margins have prompted questions as to whether its core auto business will help fund those long-term investments. Tesla also has the highest short interest amongst the Magnificent Seven stocks. In contrast, Meta Platforms has the second-lowest percentage with just 1.6% of its float being sold short. However, not all investors are turning negative. On Thursday, retail investors bought $42 million in shares of Tesla, making it the most purchased stock on Vanda Research's list, according to the data. Buoyed by the pullback, though, Morningstar analyst Seth Goldstein stated "For long-term investors, we view the pullback as a good opportunity." Goldstein has given the Elon Musk's Tesla stock a fair value of $450. Furthermore, now, the market is pricing in massive odds for Tesla-SpaceX merger. SpaceX Short Interest Outpaces TSLA In the interim, bearish wagers against SpaceX also have proven profitable, which has even surpassed the profits made by Tesla short sellers. Investors who are shorting the stock have seen an estimated $15.5 billion in paper profits since the company went public in mid-June, according to Ortex Technologies. The SpaceX stock is trading much lower than the $135 per-share IPO price despite hitting a record high of $225.64. The stock reached a new low on Wednesday of $115.26. About 360 million shares, or about 56% of the firm's free-float shares, were on loan as of Tuesday, according to Ortex data. Ortex co-founder Peter Hillerberg said, "There is no sign of short sellers taking profits on SpaceX." He added, "If anything they are leaning in harder." In response to the widespread short selling interest, Elon Musk fiercely responded on X last Friday. At the time, he wrote, "The survival probability of firms who maintain a significant short position in SpaceX over time is very low." For tokenized stock trading, visit our page on Best Platforms to Trade Tokenized Stocks.
Claude voice gets Opus and Sonnet as Anthropic challenges GPT-Live - Cryptopolitan
Anthropic is taking a different path from OpenAI's GPT-Live, focusing on stronger reasoning models and tool access rather than a fully speech-native voice system. Anthropic is giving Claude's voice mode a major upgrade, allowing paid users to run spoken conversations on its more powerful Opus and Sonnet models for the first time. Until now, every voice request was routed through Haiku 4.5, Claude's smaller and faster model. The upgrade will make voice mode more suitable for handling difficult tasks and is just weeks after OpenAI's release of their own conversational platform upgrade called GPT-Live. Claude voice finally moves beyond Haiku Voice mode has been part of Claude since last year, letting people speak to the chatbot rather than type. The catch, as Engadget noted, was that Anthropic pushed those spoken requests through Haiku, its smallest and fastest model, to keep response times low. That trade worked for quick questions and fell apart on anything harder. The new release lets users pick Opus or Sonnet instead. Anthropic told TechCrunch that voice now defaults to whichever model the user last used in text chat, running its fastest variant so the exchange still flows. A model picker inside the interface lets users swap between Haiku, Sonnet, and Opus without leaving the conversation, per 9to5Mac. TestingCatalog, which spotted the feature under a flag before the announcement, reported that the picker had sat inside voice mode for roughly three weeks as a cosmetic control, with every session still routed to Claude Haiku 4.5 regardless of the choice. Selecting Opus or Sonnet only began changing the actual model this week. App connectors make voice useful for work tasks The upgrade also opens voice mode to Claude's app connectors. TechCrunch reported that the assistant can now reach into Gmail, Google Calendar, Slack, Canva, and Notion, so a spoken request can move a meeting, draft an email, or spin up a Notion document. Engadget confirmed voice can pull context from connected apps once a user grants permission. Anthropic framed the tasks this unlocks as longer, messier ones: rehearsing a client pitch, getting feedback on how you communicate, or working through product research aloud. "This release is focused on intelligence and tool access," the company said, adding it plans more voice work later this year. As Cryptopolitan reported, Anthropic reached a roughly $350 billion valuation in November 2025 and derives approximately 80% of its revenue from more than 300,000 business and enterprise customers. That makes connector access the more important part of the voice upgrade. Enterprise users can ask Claude questions regarding their emails, calendars, Slack messages, and documents using voice queries, making this tool more relevant to how larger customers have deployed Claude for themselves, as seen in applications like the autonomous agents used in Alberta, spanning 27 ministries, and at Deloitte, with 470,000 employees. Anthropic expands language support for voice users 9to5Mac listed 11 supported languages: English, French, German, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Brazilian Portuguese, and Spanish for both Latin America and Spain. Moving between these languages does not happen automatically. Engadget said that users would need to say out loud that they are going to switch their language or choose a new one in the voice settings menu. Free accounts remain capped at Haiku and a single connected app but can still speak in every supported language. Claude and GPT-Live take different paths These two companies seem to be going about voice technology in different ways. According to a representative from Anthropic, Claude has a turn-based system, meaning it listens, thinks, and then speaks. This is unlike OpenAI's GPT-Live, which simultaneously listens and speaks. It was released for all ChatGPT subscribers on July 8, 2026, and was referred to as "the primary interface to computing." Anthropic did not change Claude's underlying voice model in this release and has not fully detailed the technology behind its voice stack, TechCrunch reported. That means users may not see major improvements in areas such as smoother interruptions. According to TestingCatalog, Claude still seems to use text-to-speech technology for its voice, with the voice output coming from ElevenLabs. Nevertheless, TestingCatalog was able to see that interruption processing is still working fine. One edge Anthropic keeps is tooling. TechCrunch pointed out that OpenAI's refreshed voice mode changed its conversational style but still cannot use tools to complete tasks. The new voice mode is rolling out in beta to all users on desktop, mobile, and web.
Polymarket sees July Fed hold at 74% as BTC nears $69K and ETF inflows
Bitcoin's $69K Test and ETF Inflows Trigger Polymarket Repricing on the July Fed "No Change" Line On Polymarket's "Fed Decision in July?" ladder, traders have pushed the leading "No change" contract up to 73.75% (+2.25pp) on $88.07M volume. The move follows a bitcoin-focused catalyst about a $69,000 test and ETF inflows, offering a read on how macro-rate expectations are being priced in real time across the ladder. Key Takeaways * Polymarket's leading outcome is "No change" at 73.75% implied odds (Yes 73.75% / No 26.25%). * After a bitcoin/ETF catalyst hit the tape, the market nudged toward a hold, with long-tail hike/cut outcomes still priced as low-probability tails. * This ladder resolves on 2026-07-29, so odds can keep updating into the July Fed meeting decision window. A market-focused article framed bitcoin as facing a $69,000 test while ETF inflows continue, but with professional caution tempering sentiment. The piece centered on the tension between positive flow signals and more guarded positioning as price approaches a key level. Ladder Snapshot: "No Change" 73.75% on $88.07M Volume vs "25 bps Increase" 24.65% as Tails Near 0% This is a price-ladder style Fed decision market, so each row is its own separately traded outcome with its own Yes/No probabilities, not a single "settlement price" bet. Right now the ladder is dominated by "No change" at Yes 73.75% / No 26.25%, while a "25 bps increase" sits at Yes 24.65% / No 75.35% -- a clear split between a base-case hold and a meaningful but minority hike scenario. The tails are priced close to zero: "50+ bps increase" Yes 0.75% / No 99.25%, "25 bps decrease" Yes 0.35% / No 99.65%, and "50+ bps decrease" Yes 0.15% / No 99.85%, signaling traders see extreme outcomes as remote versus the central hold/hike debate. Despite today's +2.25pp uptick in the leading "No change" line, the historical summary flags high volatility and a weakening consensus, with odds down 7.0pp over both 24h and 7d and a reversal_detected=true -- consistent with fast repricing rather than a stable, one-direction view. With $88.07M in volume, this is a heavily trafficked contract where new macro or risk-asset headlines can quickly reweight the hold-versus-hike balance before the 2026-07-29 resolution. Watch whether the ladder keeps consolidating around "No change" (73.75% Yes) or whether probability migrates back toward the "25 bps increase" line (24.65% Yes) as the July meeting approaches, especially given the high-volatility, reversal-flagged recent history. Cross-Market Signals Traders Watch Next: Linking the July Fed Ladder to Bitcoin Price Targets, ETF Flow Contracts, and M If you're using this July Fed ladder as a macro anchor, the next step is checking how adjacent Polymarket contracts are pricing the path around it. "Fed Decision in September?" has "25 bps increase" leading at 51.5% on $4.28M volume, while "Fed rate hike in 2026?" sits at 74.0% on $4.55M and "How many Fed rate cuts in 2026?" has "0 (0 bps)" at 84.5% on $44.67M -- useful cross-checks for whether traders see a one-off move or a broader regime. And for a reminder that liquidity and momentum rotate quickly across categories, "Ballon d'Or Winner 2026" has Harry Kane at 40.95% on $20.35M, up 13.9pp, underscoring how fast consensus can shift in non-macro markets too. Odds Trend By the Numbers * Platform: Polymarket * Market: Fed Decision in July? * Contract type: Price strike ladder: each rung has separate Yes/No; Yes means the spot price is above that USD strike at settlement. * Resolution window: Jul 29, 2026 (UTC) * Status: Active (open for trading) * Volume: ~$88,068,720 Top strike rungs +1 more strikes not shown
Polymarket holds Iran regime-fall odds at 10.5% as US-Iran strikes escalate
U.S.-Iran Strike Headlines Fail to Move Polymarket's "Iranian Regime Falls Before 2027" Odds Off 10.5% Polymarket traders are holding the "Iranian regime falls before 2027" contract near a 10.5% Yes implied probability (89.5% No) even as a fresh round of U.S.-Iran strike headlines hits the tape. The market's read-through is visible in a flat last price alongside $22,956,796 in matched volume and a modest 24h/7d drift higher in Yes odds. Key Takeaways * Prediction markets price "No" as the clear favorite: 89.5% implied odds that the Iranian regime does not fall before 2027 (Yes 10.5%). * Despite escalation headlines as a catalyst, the contract is flat at 10.5% Yes, suggesting traders see limited incremental probability of regime collapse on this timeline. * Settlement is tied to the "before 2027" window, with resolution set for 2026-12-31; the market's Yes odds are up about 4.0pp over 24h and 7d in the summary. A U.S. military statement said it was launching a new round of strikes against Iran as clashes escalated around regional shipping routes, including efforts to limit threats to civilian mariners and commercial vessels near the Strait of Hormuz. The report also described attacks attributed to Iran-backed Houthis on oil tankers and threats to disrupt other trade routes, alongside accounts of explosions reported by Iranian state media in multiple locations. The backdrop is a widening confrontation framed around control and security of critical maritime corridors. Market Reaction Data: $22.96M Matched Volume, Flat Last Price, and a +4.0pp Drift in Yes Odds (24h/7d) This is a binary Polymarket contract: a "Yes" share represents the market-implied chance that the Iranian regime falls before 2027, currently 10.5% Yes versus 89.5% No. Pricing is unchanged on the latest snapshot (10.5% current and previous), which is a signal that, at least at the margin, traders are not converting the latest escalation catalyst into a higher near-term collapse probability. Still, the historical summary shows a +4.0 percentage-point lift in Yes odds over both 24 hours and seven days (latest 10.5% vs avg_last_5 of 9.8), consistent with a slow repricing rather than a breakout move. The same summary flags low volatility and a neutral trend with "consensus: weakening," which fits a tape where conviction is softening without a decisive shift away from the dominant "No" baseline. With $22,956,796 in volume, the market is liquid enough that this small drift can be interpreted as broad-based marginal updating, not a one-tick headline spike. Watch whether the Yes side can sustain above the recent 5-point average (9.8%) while volume continues to build; a move would matter most if it comes with a clear break from the current 89.5% "No" anchor ahead of the 2026-12-31 resolution date. Traders Also Monitor Related Polymarket Contracts on Hormuz Shipping Risk, Oil Price Spikes, and Broader Geopolitical Ta Beyond the flagship contract, Polymarket traders are also pricing a cluster of linked event paths that can move faster than regime-change timelines. In "Strait of Hormuz traffic returns to normal by July 31?", the market is at 98.95% No, while "Will the U.S. invade Iran before 2027?" sits at 69.5% No and "Iran leader end of 2026?" is led by Mojtaba Khamenei at 71.95%. For nearer-term de-escalation signals, "Israel x Iran ceasefire continues through...?" is pinned at 100.0% on July 18, giving traders a quick-read barometer alongside the longer-dated risk markets. Odds Trend By the Numbers * Platform: Polymarket * Market: Will the Iranian regime fall before 2027? * Resolution window: Dec 31, 2026 (UTC) * Status: Active (open for trading) * Leading implied prob.: 10.5% * Volume: ~$22,956,796 * Top outcomes: Yes: Yes 10.5% / No 89.5%; No: Yes 10.5% / No 89.5%
Polymarket 2028 odds: Vance leads at 19.85% as voter-roll claims circulate
Polymarket Reprices the 2028 Winner Field After Voter‑Roll Headline -- Shifts Show Up Candidate‑by‑Candidate On Polymarket's "Presidential Election Winner 2028" market, pricing is concentrated at the top of the field, with the leading outcome JD Vance at 19.85% on $669,569,933 in volume. Traders are reacting against a news hook about voter-roll claims, but the market's repricing shows up as relative, candidate-by-candidate probability shifts rather than a single narrative bet. Key Takeaways * Polymarket currently prices JD Vance as the top 2028 winner at 19.85% (Yes 19.85 / No 80.15) in the multi-outcome market. * A voter-roll related headline is the catalyst, but the market signal is dispersion across candidates, with Donald Trump still priced at 1.35% (Yes 1.35 / No 98.65). * This contract resolves on 2028-11-07, and the recent tape shows weakening consensus: -3.65pp over both 24h and 7d in the latest summary window. A newly published commentary claims DHS identified 278,000 noncitizens on voter rolls, framing it as a major election-integrity issue. The piece presents the number as a discovery by the agency and treats it as politically consequential. That claim is the immediate headline catalyst being discussed alongside election-related prediction markets. Market Reaction Data: $669,569,933 Volume, JD Vance at 19.85% vs Rubio 13.85% and Newsom 12.55% (Trump 1.35%) This is a multi-outcome Polymarket contract: each named candidate is its own outcome with a standalone Yes price (implied win probability) and a complementary No price, not a single Yes/No on "the election." Right now JD Vance leads at 19.85% (Yes 19.85 / No 80.15), ahead of Marco Rubio at 13.85% (Yes 13.85 / No 86.15) and Gavin Newsom at 12.55% (Yes 12.55 / No 87.45), while Donald Trump sits at 1.35% (Yes 1.35 / No 98.65). The market-level context reads as a softening tape rather than a sharp conviction swing: the summary shows a -3.65pp move over both 24 hours and 7 days, with "bearish" trend, "moderate" momentum, "low" volatility, and "weakening" consensus -- signals consistent with traders trimming the leading probability rather than crowding into a single alternative. With $669,569,933 in volume on an active market, the key pricing takeaway is that this headline is being absorbed as marginal information that can be arbitraged across multiple candidates, which is exactly where prediction markets update faster than single-shot polling narratives: they reweight an entire field continuously until the implied distribution stabilizes. Watch whether the market continues to de-risk the front-runner price band (the top outcome and the next two) or whether the field compresses, since this contract does not settle until 2028-11-07 and interim headlines can shift relative probabilities without changing the eventual resolution rules. Cross‑Contract Watchlist: How 2028 Odds Traders Hedge With Election Integrity, Macro, and Crypto Polymarket Markets Zooming out from the 2028 winner tape, traders often hedge the same thesis across nearby Polymarket contracts where the resolution criteria differ and the risk is cleaner. On the short-horizon side, "99.65%" in "Trump out as President by July 31?" shows how little the platform is pricing near-term turnover risk, while the long-horizon partisan funnel is active in "49.0%" "Republican Presidential Nominee 2028" (with $678,189,273 in volume). And for those mapping political headlines into event timing, "45.5%" on "US announces end of Iranian blockade by...?" highlights how resolution dates can turn the same news cycle into a very different trade. Odds Trend By the Numbers * Platform: Polymarket * Market: Presidential Election Winner 2028 * Contract type: Price strike ladder: each rung has separate Yes/No; Yes means the spot price is above that USD strike at settlement. * Resolution window: Nov 07, 2028 (UTC) * Status: Active (open for trading) * Volume: ~$669,569,933 Top strike rungs +46 more strikes not shown
SpaceX is turning away Falcon customers in major bet on Starship
[WASHINGTON] SpaceX has started to turn away satellite operators seeking dedicated rides to orbit aboard its staple Falcon 9 rocket beyond 2028, people familiar with the matter said, underscoring the massive bet Elon Musk is making on its unproven Starship. Musk's rocket, satellite and artificial intelligence juggernaut has also stopped building some non-reusable components for the Falcon family, such as the rocket's massive upper stage, said one of the people. SpaceX is currently not taking future reservations for its Falcon 9 rideshare program, in which multiple satellite operators hitch a ride to orbit on a single rocket, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the information is confidential. SpaceX's plans could change for a number of reasons, including development setbacks with the futuristic Starship vehicle, the people said. The company is likely to still use the Falcon 9 for launches for the Department of Defense and NASA, some of the people said. Representatives for SpaceX, the Pentagon and NASA did not immediately respond to requests for comment. SpaceX has publicly stated that it intends to off-ramp its Falcon 9 rocket for Starship, but has not disclosed a timeline. When the company does take the step, it will mark one of the most significant strategic shifts in its launch business in decades. It is also a major undertaking, requiring SpaceX to push through development setbacks and cement the technology leaps needed to bring the long-delayed vehicle to market in the span of about a year and a half. Delays with Starship have contributed to a stock sell-off that has seen the shares fall below the US$135 price at its history-making initial public offering in June. SpaceX rose 2.6 per cent and closed at US$118.24 in regular trading on Thursday (Jul 23), but remains down about 24 per cent over the last month. For years, SpaceX has commanded a near-monopoly on sending people and cargo to orbit using Falcon 9, the most prolific launch vehicle in the world. The Falcon 9 slashed the cost of getting to space and enabled the growth of large-scale satellite networks, including SpaceX's Starlink. Starship is central to Musk's ambitions to put data centres in space, expand the Starlink communications network and send humans to the moon and Mars. But it is not yet operational and has so far faced a testing cycle marred by explosive setbacks, malfunctions and delays. SpaceX delayed its scheduled test flight on Thursday for the second time in about a week. If Starship is not ready to launch commercial missions by the end of 2028 and the company does not revert to the Falcon family, it would slash access to orbit for the many space companies that rely on SpaceX to get to space amid a global heavy-lift rocket shortage. BLOOMBERG
Polymarket challenges France block as Kalshi launches new hub
We uphold a strict editorial policy that focuses on factual accuracy, relevance, and impartiality. Our in-house created content is meticulously reviewed by a team of seasoned editors to ensure compliance with the highest standards in reporting and publishing. Today in prediction market news, we're following the biggest developments shaping the industry, including Polymarket's decision to challenge France's website block, Kalshi's launch of its Midterms Hub ahead of the 2026 elections, and fresh debate over prediction markets as former White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and CME Group CEO Terry Duffy weigh in on the sector. We'll also cover new questions surrounding a Polymarket-linked crypto wallet, the platform's expansion of its restricted countries list, and breaking developments across prediction markets, election forecasting, crypto, regulation, and sports event trading throughout the day.
SpaceX delays Starship Flight 13 launch to Friday over weather conditions
SpaceX has postponed the 13th integrated test flight of its Starship rocket to Friday, July 24, citing unfavourable weather conditions. The company said the key objective of the mission is to capture clear ground imagery of Starship's heat shield as the spacecraft experiences higher dynamic pressure during ascent, a task that cannot be achieved under the current weather conditions. Visibility is expected to be favourable for the revised launch attempt. The 90-minute launch window was scheduled to open at 4:15 am IST from SpaceX's Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas. The latest attempt comes after the previous countdown was aborted moments before liftoff due to an engine startup issue. SpaceX has since replaced two Raptor engines, carried out additional checks and prepared the vehicle for another launch attempt. Starship, standing about 123 metres tall, is the world's largest and most powerful rocket system. It consists of the Super Heavy booster and the Starship spacecraft, both designed for full reusability as part of Elon Musk's plans for missions to Earth orbit, the Moon and eventually Mars. The upcoming test flight will build on previous milestones, including stage separation, controlled splashdowns and improvements to the upgraded vehicle. SpaceX also plans to use the mission to test satellite deployment capabilities by carrying 20 Starlink satellites, which are expected to follow a suborbital path before burning up in Earth's atmosphere. SpaceX has conducted 12 Starship test flights since 2023 as it continues development of the rocket, which is also expected to play a role in future lunar missions, including NASA's Artemis programme.
Alphabet Just Revealed Its Big Stake in SpaceX
* Alphabet disclosed in its earnings report that it had roughly $94.1 billion worth of SpaceX stock at the end of the second quarter. * Tesla reported it held about $3 billion worth of SpaceX shares; Nvidia and Cisco are also likely shareholders. SpaceX's list of shareholders includes a who's who of big tech companies. Google parent company Alphabet (GOOG) disclosed that it had a SpaceX (SPCX) stake worth about $94.1 billion as of the end of June, according to its second-quarter earnings report. Based on SpaceX's market cap at the end of the second quarter, or $2.2 trillion, Alphabet's investment represents about 4%. Tesla (TSLA) also disclosed a stake in SpaceX, albeit a more modest one worth $3 billion, per its second-quarter earnings report. Nvidia (NVDA) and Cisco (CSCO), are also likely shareholders given their early investment in xAI, which merged with SpaceX in February. Why This Matters to You Ordinary investors likely have a position in SpaceX in their retirement portfolios because the stock was added to major indexes and the funds that track them. Alphabet disclosed that it had two tranches of SpaceX shares, with $80 billion worth subject to "short-term restrictions on the ability to sell," according to the company. The rest, or some $14.1 billion is restricted for trading through the end of September 2027, filings show. The tech companies' respective stakes in SpaceX are likely a touch lighter given the stock's recent decline. Shares closed Thursday at around $118, almost 13% below its IPO price of $135 -- a boon for some investors who bet that the stock would decline. Early investor status, however, does put the spotlight on the coming wave of lock-up expirations that could free them up to trade their shares. The first of a series of staggered releases is set to occur on August 6, two days after SpaceX reports earnings for the first time as a public company. Read the original article on Investopedia
Opinión | The Roots of Our Discord
Puerto Rico has achieved the most when we have united together around shared principles and demanded clarity and concrete action from the United States, writes Adi Martínez and Edouardo Ortiz (Shutterstock) Puerto Rico's toxic battles over political status have contributed to maintaining 125 years of U.S. colonial rule. Too often Boricuas have turned against one another, fomenting conflict and division instead of energy for change. But if we keep focusing exclusively on our own divisions, we will keep missing one of their principal causes: the ambiguity that the United States itself has created and perpetuated.
Alphabet Just Revealed Its Big Stake in SpaceX - AOL
Tesla reported it held about $3 billion worth of SpaceX shares; Nvidia and Cisco are also likely shareholders. SpaceX's list of shareholders includes a who's who of big tech companies. Google parent company Alphabet (GOOG) disclosed that it had a SpaceX (SPCX) stake worth about $94.1 billion as of the end of June, according to its second-quarter earnings report. Based on SpaceX's market cap at the end of the second quarter, or $2.2 trillion, Alphabet's investment represents about 4%. Tesla (TSLA) also disclosed a stake in SpaceX, albeit a more modest one worth $3 billion, per its second-quarter earnings report. Nvidia (NVDA) and Cisco (CSCO), are also likely shareholders given their early investment in xAI, which merged with SpaceX in February. Why This Matters to You Ordinary investors likely have a position in SpaceX in their retirement portfolios because the stock was added to major indexes and the funds that track them. Alphabet disclosed that it had two tranches of SpaceX shares, with $80 billion worth subject to "short-term restrictions on the ability to sell," according to the company. The rest, or some $14.1 billion is restricted for trading through the end of September 2027, filings show.The tech companies' respective stakes in SpaceX are likely a touch lighter given the stock's recent decline. Shares closed Thursday at around $118, almost 13% below its IPO price of $135 -- a boon for some investors who bet that the stock would decline.Early investor status, however, does put the spotlight on the coming wave of lock-up expirations that could free them up to trade their shares. The first of a series of staggered releases is set to occur on August 6, two days after SpaceX reports earnings for the first time as a public company. Read the original article on Investopedia
SpaceX Is Turning Away Falcon Customers in Major Bet on Starship
SpaceX has started to turn away satellite operators seeking dedicated rides to orbit aboard its staple Falcon 9 rocket beyond 2028, people familiar with the matter said, underscoring the massive bet Elon Musk is making on its unproven Starship. Musk's rocket, satellite and artificial intelligence ...
Vulcan Centaur swapped out again: NASA goes with SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket for launch of space weather mis...
The change in rockets for the SunRISE mission may be related to recent anomalies experienced by the ULA Vulcan Centaur rocket during its most recent launch. When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. NASA is shaking things up for its next mission to research the sun. The six satellites of NASA's Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment (SunRISE) mission are poised to launch to Earth orbit soon, to serve as an early warning system for incoming solar storms. They were originally slated to lift off on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Vulcan Centaur rocket but have now been assigned a SpaceX Falcon Heavy, according to a NASA mission update. SunRISE will fly to space as part of a rideshare mission sponsored by the U.S. Space Force's (USSF's) Space Systems Command (SSC). Though it's not stated specifically in the NASA release, that may be a hint as to why the mission's rocket was changed. On its most recent launch, USSF-87, Vulcan experienced an anomaly in one of its solid rocket boosters -- the second such incident to occur during the rocket's four launches to date. Vulcan succeeded in delivering the USSF-87 payload to its designated orbit on that launch, but the recurrence of the booster issue during ascent prompted the Space Force to pause national security launches on Vulcan until it could be addressed. Which mission SunRISE will be manifested on has not yet been released, but SSC has already shifted other launches between Vulcan and SpaceX's Falcon 9, so NASA's change in rockets for SunRISE could indicate either that the mission has been remanifested on a different SSC rideshare, or that another SSC mission has been shifted from Vulcan entirely. SunRISE is a heliophysics study under the NASA Science Mission Directorate's "missions of opportunity" umbrella and is part of the Explorers Program run by Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. It consists of six small satellites, each about the size of a mailbox. The mini-constellation's mission is led by scientists at the University of Michigan and will be managed out of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. The half-dozen smallsats will be delivered to an orbit about 22,000 miles (35,000 kilometers) above Earth -- just above a geostationary parking altitude -- and fly in a giant 10-mile (16-km) "X" formation, each extending its roughly 10-foot (2.5-meter) antenna booms to act as a single large radio telescope to track solar radio bursts. These kinds of bursts travel faster than the energetic particles from a solar storm, and precede their arrival when shot towards Earth. Powerful solar storms, like the one that hit Earth in January, are capable of disrupting or disabling satellites by interfering with onboard electronics, sensitive instruments and communications systems. If a storm is severe enough, it can pose a radiation threat to astronauts in orbit and even airborne passengers flying near Earth's poles, where the planet's magnetic field is weaker. SunRISE will help researchers better understand the behavior of incoming solar radio bursts, but the mission won't serve as an alert system by itself. Instead, scientists will use data collected by the spacecraft to improve prediction models for impending space weather, which in turn could lead to mitigation plans to better thwart the effects of such solar events on orbital infrastructure. Falcon Heavy is SpaceX's heavy-lift launch vehicle, capable of launching up to 58,860 pounds (26,700 kg) to geostationary transfer orbit. It's a triple-booster rocket that consists of three modified Falcon 9 first stages, and has launched 12 times since it debuted in 2018. Four of those have delivered national security payloads to orbit, with the most recent of those, USSF-52, launching in December 2023. Falcon Heavy's most recent flight overall occurred this past April, when it sent the Viasat-3 F3 telecom satellite to orbit. Falcon Heavy's next mission will lift off with NASA's Nancy Roman Space Telescope, currently set for no earlier than Aug. 30. SunRISE is scheduled to launch later this year, but a more specific launch window has not yet been announced.