Bitcoin rose more than 10% over the past 24 hours, breaking above $70,000 after hovering near $60,000 for months. Ether gained 20%, while XRP added 15% and Hyperliquid climbed 25%. Earlier this month, BlackRock sent the market an unexpected signal. Separately, U.S. federal debt crossed $40 trillion for the first time as the Treasury said it will step up long-term bond buybacks to rein in borrowing costs.

U.S. stocks fell across the board on Thursday, with the S&P 500 down 0.87%, the Dow off 1.32%, and the Nasdaq lower by 0.72%. Higher crude prices stoked inflation concerns and weighed on risk appetite. Walmart slid more than 9% after weaker-than-expected second-quarter comparable store sales and full-year profit guidance below consensus, dragging on consumer names. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield rose 4 basis points to 4.69%, and the Philadelphia Fed’s August business outlook survey jumped to a five-year high of 47.4.

AI infrastructure company IREN has recorded its first revenue tied to a five-year $9.7 billion contract with Microsoft and has completed $3.65 billion in investment-grade debt financing. The company also has a five-year $3.4 billion cloud contract with Nvidia, giving it a second long-term contracted revenue stream. Over the past 12 months, IREN shares have climbed 114%, far outpacing the S&P 500’s roughly 20% gain. Investors are focused on the company’s ability to convert capacity into revenue after it reported fiscal 2026 third-quarter results on May 7.

Cancer diagnostics company Pacific Edge reported FY26 results showing a net loss of NZ$35.8 million, up 19.5% year on year, while operating revenue fell 47.4% to NZ$11.5 million. Commercial test volumes declined 23.8% to 18,783, even as U.S. commercial insurers covering 10.5 million lives adopted medical policy for its tests. The company said its APAC business contributed NZ$2.0 million in revenue and moved closer to direct-cost profitability, and it completed a NZ$36.1 million capital raising after the balance date.

Universal Store reported FY26 revenue up 12.9% to $376.1 million and underlying NPAT up 16.3% to $40.5 million, with gross margin improving 1.4 percentage points to 62.5%. Bell Potter said the result was a clear beat, and noted FY27 trading has started positively with group retail sales up 9%. The company’s shares surged 17% on the day.

MARA Holdings reported its second-quarter 2026 earnings, with revenue and mining profit both coming in above market expectations. The company also increased its Bitcoin holdings during the quarter. Management said operating efficiency continued to improve. Executives outlined the quarter’s financial performance and strategic progress on the earnings call.

The U.S. Department of Energy awarded Waterleaf P1 HoldCo, a subsidiary of California-based Lilac Solutions, a $100 million grant to build and operate a commercial lithium extraction and refining facility on the Great Salt Lake’s northeastern shore. The award is part of a $500 million program backing critical mineral processing and battery manufacturing projects to strengthen domestic supply. The initiative is aimed at reducing U.S. reliance on China, which holds more than 90% of global refining capacity.

AMD is valued at a market cap of $790.8 billion, and its shares are up 116% so far in 2026. CEO Lisa Su said on the earnings call that Helios delivers up to 15% higher throughput on inference workloads and up to 30% more tokens per dollar versus competitors. Q2 revenue rose 50% year over year to $11.5 billion, led by a 107% jump in data center revenue to $6.7 billion, while gross margin increased to 54% from 40%. The company forecast Q3 net revenue of $12.7 billion to $13.3 billion, above the consensus of $12.5 billion.