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Jerome Powell held what is likely to be his final press conference as Federal Reserve chair Wednesday after the FOMC voted 8-4 to hold rates steady at 3.50%–3.75%. Four dissents underscored a warning to incoming Fed leadership, while Powell also pushed back on expectations for near-term easing.
Powell said he will remain on the Fed’s Board of Governors beyond May 15 for a period he described as “to be determined,” citing the Trump administration’s ongoing investigations into the Fed. He added that the Fed has “been having to resort to the courts” and that this process is “not over.”
On the outlook, Powell described an unusually difficult environment for policy, driven by four supply shocks arriving in quick succession: the pandemic, the Ukraine invasion, tariffs, and the Iran war. He said each shock can raise inflation and unemployment at the same time.
Following his comments, the odds of a rate cut in 2026 fell to 1% (down from roughly 25% last week).
Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft, and Meta reported Q1 2026 results Wednesday after the close. The overall takeaway was that AI-related capital expenditure is beginning to translate into results, cloud growth is accelerating, and the debate over return on investment is shifting in a more constructive direction.
Alphabet was the standout. Google Cloud grew 63% year-over-year to $20.1 billion, its fastest growth since 2022. CEO Sundar Pichai said enterprise AI solutions became the primary driver of cloud growth “for the first time in Q1.”
Meta has begun paying select creators in USDC on Solana and Polygon, marking a return to crypto payments four years after shutting down its Libra project amid regulatory pressure.
The rollout is currently limited to creators in Colombia and the Philippines. Creators can link a MetaMask, Phantom, or Binance wallet to their Facebook payout account and receive earnings in Circle’s USDC. Stripe is described as handling backend infrastructure and crypto-specific tax reporting.
Meta said it is not issuing its own stablecoin; it is using USDC. The program also does not include an off-ramp, meaning creators must convert to local currency through a third-party exchange.
Sky Protocol, the rebranded version of MakerDAO, reported record Q1 2026 results Tuesday. The $13 billion protocol generated nearly $124 million in gross revenue and almost $61 million in net revenue in the first three months of the year—its highest income since MakerDAO launched in 2017.
The company attributed the performance to growing institutional interest in on-chain yield products and to its real-world asset collateral model, which generates revenue from loan stability fees, liquidation fees, and peg stability module fees.
Despite the results, the SKY governance token fell about 2.4% on the news, highlighting that revenue growth does not necessarily translate into token-holder value unless tokenomics provide a direct mechanism such as buybacks.
Steak ’n Shake, a 91-year-old burger chain, began accepting Bitcoin payments in May 2025 across all U.S. locations. Since then, same-store sales have risen “dramatically,” according to the report.
The company said payment processing fees dropped 50% compared with credit cards via the Lightning Network. It also routed customer-paid Bitcoin directly into a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve rather than converting to cash, formalizing a $10 million treasury purchase in January and adding another $10 million in April ahead of the Bitcoin 2026 conference.
Steak ’n Shake also launched a Bitcoin-themed milkshake and, in March, began paying hourly employees a 21-cent-per-hour Bitcoin bonus funded from the reserve.
COO Dan Edwards described the approach as a self-reinforcing cycle: customers pay in Bitcoin, sales rise, Bitcoin revenue funds restaurant upgrades and employee bonuses, and improved stores attract more customers. The company reported having 210 BTC in its treasury and counting.
Crypto majors fell after the FOMC, with rate-cut odds for 2026 dropping to near zero. Bitcoin was down 2% to $76,000, while ETH fell 3% to $2,260 and SOL was down 2% to $83. HYPE fell 4% to $39.
Premium gym chains are entering a “golden era” that is ending or already in decline, as rising operating costs collide with shifting consumer preferences toward more flexible, community-based ways to exercise. Long-term memberships are shrinking, margins are pressured by higher rents and facility expenses, and competition from smaller, more personalized…
