☕️Bricks & Bitcoin

Good morning.

After a hard-fought win against ASIC, Block Earner is gearing up for its next move: Bitcoin-backed mortgages and crypto-backed credit cards. No fiat, no fuss.

Block Earner is doing its level best to bring DeFi products into the mainstream reports Capital Brief, but despite being “very confident” that its new products won’t land the company back in court, gaining regulatory clearance might not be so straightforward.

🏆 LOI Subscriber #TBD

Market movers

Clarity Pharmaceuticals shares tumbled Monday, but with key trial readouts looming, shorts could soon find themselves on the wrong side of a major biotech rebound.

The quick sync

• Blackstone plots a major sell-off of AirTrunk’s data centres to unlock billions, testing investor appetite just months after its record-breaking takeover. (AFR)

• BGH Capital-backed ForHealth is set to profit from Labor’s $8.5b Medicare spend, expanding urgent care clinics and bulk-billing services nationwide. (AFR)

• ISS advises ARN investors to oppose CEO Ciaran Davis's performance rights and executive pay due to missing earnings targets disclosure. (Capital Brief)

• Labor's YouTube exemption from Australia's social media ban remains unlegislated with scrutiny mounting ahead of final rules. (Capital Brief)

• APRA faces backlash from smaller banks over surprise shift in supervision model, leading to talks with the sector. (Capital Brief)

Trading floor

M&A

• Alkane and Mandalay merge in $1b deal to expand gold and copper production. (Capital Brief)

• Domain extends CoStar’s due diligence on $2.8b takeover bid. (Capital Brief)

• Novomatic will fully acquire Ainsworth Game Technology by buying the remaining 47.1% stake for $337m, offering a 35% premium to shareholders. (Capital Brief)

• Chugoku Electric will sell its stake in NSW’s Boggabri mine for half the price expected a year ago due to falling coal prices. (AFR)

• James Hardie outlines key details of $14b Azek merger, maintaining governance and ASX listing plans. (Capital Brief)(AFR)

Capital Markets

• Flight Centre cuts profit outlook amid US tariffs, launches $200m buyback. (Capital Brief)(AFR)

• Brambles cuts FY sales guidance as tariffs and weak consumer demand weigh. (Capital Brief)

• Datt Capital calls for a board spill at Koonenberry Gold, citing concerns over executive pay ahead of a major gold discovery. (AFR)

• Telix Pharmaceuticals’ glioma imaging agent, Pixclara, was not approved by the FDA, requiring more clinical evidence for future consideration. (Capital Brief)

• UComms collapsed with $240k owed to the tax office, transferring its assets to a new company, and appointed a liquidator due to insufficient funds. (AFR)

• JOLT Charge seeks new funding for global expansion, with a valuation of $300m. (AFR)

• ASX rises 1% after Wall Street rally and easing trade tensions. (Capital Brief)

• Fonterra’s $4b consumer business spin-off could be at risk due to uncertainty over its branding agreement with Bega Cheese. (AFR)

• The Australian Fashion Council slammed Shein's pop-up timing before Australian Fashion Week and warned about the impact of US tariffs on low-cost, poor-quality imports. (Smart Company)

• Toubani Resources secures a $250m debt deal with a family office, granting the office an 18% stake and a board seat. (AFR)

• Gold miners drop as bullion prices pull back from record highs, though gold remains up 25% this year. (Capital Brief)

• Sandon Capital is testing shareholder support for a potential leadership change, though no immediate action is planned. (The Australian)

• Challenger is seeking partnerships to expand into private credit, with talks underway with potential partners like ORDE Financial. (AFR)

• Zyft raises $7.5m, boosting valuation to $37.5m, and appoints Richard Stevens as new CEO. (Capital Brief)

• Bdna is courting private equity as it looks to expand internationally. (AFR)

• CBA downgrades global growth forecast to 2.4% for 2025 due to US-China trade war and weak economic performance in major economies. (Capital Brief)

• A major blackout has brought Spain and Portugal to a standstill, caused by a technical fault, with power restoration expected to take up to 10 hours. (Capital Brief)

• IBM pledges US$150b investment in U.S. tech manufacturing, focusing on mainframes and quantum computing. (Capital Brief)

• National Storage’s 4.78% stake in Abacus Storage King is seen as a "greenmail" attempt to secure a higher price or assets from the ongoing buyout, though it has no plans to make a competing offer. (The Australian)

• Alphabet is leading a surge in high-grade bond issuances with a $5b sale, as 15 companies capitalize on stabilizing debt markets. (Bloomberg)

• Steve Horvat’s family company, Sava Engineering, was pushed into liquidation after creditors rejected his rescue plan, affecting A-League club Western United. (AFR)

• Coinbase to launch Bitcoin Yield Fund for institutional investors, targeting 4%-8% returns via cash-and-carry strategy. (Bloomberg)

• New Zealand's proposed law change may help Commonwealth Bank and ANZ avoid significant payouts in a long-running legal dispute over home loan disclosures. (AFR)

• Mastercard moves to future-proof payments, partnering with crypto firms to let merchants settle in stablecoins as regulation clears the way for digital currencies. (Bloomberg)

• Passwords from 14,000 Commbank, 7,000 ANZ, 5,000 NAB and 4,000 Westpac customers are flooding dark web markets in a booming cybercrime trade. (ABC)

• Donald Trump’s tariff turmoil is smashing Australian profits faster than boards dared admit, with more shocks looming. (AFR)

• WiseTech founder Richard White quietly settles with ex-employee over sex-for-visa allegations as scrutiny of his leadership intensifies. (AFR)

• StrongRoom’s likely buyer vows to prioritise governance as court audits founders’ credit cards amid fraud allegations and a $10.4 million investor lawsuit. (AFR)

• Rio Tinto warns of “material uncertainty” over the future of its Bell Bay aluminium smelter, with closure looming unless a new power deal is struck by December 2025. (AFR)

• Lynas posted lower production but higher revenue in the March quarter and expects volatile rare earths markets ahead. (Capital Brief)(AFR)

• Elite universities quietly plot resistance as Trump targets research funding, admissions and academic freedom. (WSJ)

• Donald Trump tells Canada to vote for ‘51st state’ in election day intervention. (FT)

• BlackRock shareholders urged to vote against Larry Fink’s pay by ISS. (FT)

• Pirelli strips China’s Sinochem of control in attempt to avert exclusion by Trump in US. (FT)

• CBS’s '60 Minutes' blasts its owner Paramount for tightening editorial control as the media giant battles Trump in court and seeks his approval for an US$8b Skydance deal. (FT)

• Andersen, the revived Arthur Andersen offshoot, has filed for a US IPO to test investor appetite for professional services firms amid a fragile listings market. (FT)

• Goldman Sachs-backed Splice bets on AI-driven music creation with US$50mn acquisition of Spitfire Audio’s rich orchestral library. (FT)

• CEOs of Nvidia, Eli Lilly and other corporate giants will join Donald Trump at the White House to showcase US$2 trillion in US investment pledges made in the first 100 days of his second term. (Bloomberg)

VC

• AI startup Nscale seeks $2.7b to build global AI infrastructure with ByteDance, including $1.8b in private credit and $900m in equity. (Bloomberg)

People moves

• Novonix names Michael O’Kronley as CEO ahead of US production expansion. (Capital Brief)

• Tony Moussa departs KPMG after an unsuccessful refinancing attempt for Jon Adgemis’s Public Hospitality Group, with plans for a new venture in private capital. (AFR)

• Goldman Sachs appoints Sushil Bathija and Vikram Chavali as heads of M&A and sponsors M&A for Asia ex-Japan. (Reuters)

The watercooler