Is this the moment to load up on bitcoin?

Is this the moment to load up on bitcoin?

Bitcoin [BTC] fell below $60,000 – an important support level – for the first time in 20 months as a tech stock sell-off and expectations of higher US interest rates triggered a broader retreat from risk assets, the Financial Times reported. The cryptocurrency’s long-standing correlation with equities is also showing signs of weakening: BTC is down 32% and solana [SOL] down 47%; neither has regained ground when stock markets have rallied.

Major quantum merger

WISeKey International [WKEY] and subsidiary SEALSQ [LAES] said their joint venture Quantisimo has signed a non-binding letter of intent with GigCapital8 [GIW] to explore creating a Nasdaq-listed quantum technology platform. The proposed merger would value the combined company at roughly $575m before any acquisitions, with plans to purchase up to five additional quantum companies and potentially increase enterprise value to around $2bn. The transaction is expected to close in Q1 2027.

Anthropic denounces “brazen” AI theft

Anthropic has accused Alibaba [BABA] of conducting a large-scale “distillation” campaign to extract the capabilities of its Claude artificial intelligence 
(AI) model. In a letter to US senators, Anthropic alleged that operators linked to Alibaba “brazenly” carried out nearly 29m interactions with Claude through thousands of fraudulent accounts, describing it as the largest extraction effort of its kind. The AI developer urged Congress to strengthen protections against model theft.

Which is the most promising of these industrial automation stocks?

Industrial automation is emerging as one of the most compelling investment themes within industrial technology, spanning industrial robots, machine vision systems, factory software, warehouse automation and smart sensors. Structural demand is strong: Gartner expects robots to handle the majority of operational workloads in half of all new warehouses in developed markets by 2030. Aureon examines three distinct ways to invest in the accelerating shift towards AI-driven industrial automation.

Micron’s market-saving quarter

Global markets bounced back on Wednesday after memory chip firm Micron [MU] recorded nearly 15-fold growth in quarterly profit. MU shares rose 16% in after-hours trading, while Japan’s Nikkei and South Korea’s Kospi jumped 4% and 5.5%, respectively. The blockbuster results underscore the unprecedented demand for memory chips essential to AI training.

Is SK Hynix next?

The South Korean memory chip maker [000660:KS] could issue American depository shares in July, allowing access to a fresh pool of investors and potentially pushing its market cap closer to that of US rival Micron. Analysts see an upside of 30-38% for the company’s shares, which trade at a discount to Micron’s despite controlling a larger portion of the global HBM market by revenue.

Which EV challenger is pulling ahead?

On paper, Lucid [LCID] and Rivian [RIVN] have a lot in common. Looking to the future, however, the roads begin to diverge. Much like Tesla’s [TSLA] highly publicised pivot to humanoid robots, both companies are focusing on new strategic verticals that may offer more room for growth than the struggling luxury US electric vehicle (EV) market. Aureon takes a closer look at what lies ahead for these EV challengers.