Former Bolt CEO Maju Kuruvilla’s startup triples to $100M valuation

Spangle has raised $15 million in a Series A round to expand its AI-generated shopping experiences.

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Global Fintech Funding Rebounds to $53B After Prolonged Downturn

The US continued to dominate global fintech investment, while the UK retained its position as the world’s second-largest destination.
The post Global Fintech Funding Rebounds to $53B After Prolonged Downturn appeared first on TechRepublic.

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Kalshi CEO says they’re supportive of proposal to ban government officials from insider trading

The CEO of prediction market Kalshi, Tarek Mansour, has taken to social media to share support for a bill which would ban government officials from using prediction markets.
The bill is in reference to one which could soon be introduced by Ritchie Torres who is a United States Representative, based in New York. The Bill will be called the ‘Public Integrity in Financial Prediction Markets Act of 2026.’ It comes amid growing concerns about insider trading in wartime, sparked after a Polymarket bet on Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, reportedly paid out around $400,000.

Notable: Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour says on Linkedin the prediction market company is “supportive” of legislation from Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) to ban government officials from insider trading on platforms like theirs pic.twitter.com/k8T9lykf1a
— Brendan Pedersen (@BrendanPedersen) January 7, 2026

While it hasn’t yet been brought in, or passed the usual stages as it’s at the very beginning of the process, Mansour has made Kalshi’s feelings on the matter known. The LinkedIn post opens with: “Insider trading is banned on Kalshi (and always has been.)
“This should be obvious, but some recent reporting has been conflating regulated prediction markets with unregulated, offshore prediction markets. What non-American, unregulated platforms do has no relationship to what regulated, American platforms do.”
He goes on to speak about alleged cases of insider trading in the industry and says these are about “unregulated, offshore platforms.” He also explains how a regulatory first approach was firmly believed in from day one at Kalshi “because it is the right thing to do.” He says this is why they didn’t launch for years, suggesting they were waiting for US regulatory approval.
What is the bill which could ban government officials from using prediction markets?
The post continues: “Kalshi is supportive of the bill Ritchie Torres is looking to introduce to affirm the ban on insider trading on prediction markets. Why? Because we already implement it. However, it’s important to emphasize that this American bill only applies to regulated, American companies and not to unregulated, non-American companies, which is where the alleged issues are occurring.”
Representative Ritchie Torres has spoken out in an Instagram video about his bill: “…I just felt compelled to introduce legislation that would prohibit insider trading in prediction markets among federal government officials because there’s a risk of not only corrupting the market, but corrupting the government itself.”
Featured Image: Via Rep. Ritchie Torres Instagram
The post Kalshi CEO says they’re supportive of proposal to ban government officials from insider trading appeared first on ReadWrite.

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Cambodia’s $15B Crypto Scam Empire Collapses After Arrest

Alleged scam kingpin Chen Zhi was arrested in Cambodia and extradited to China, bringing a dramatic close to one of Asia’s largest criminal networks.
The post Cambodia’s $15B Crypto Scam Empire Collapses After Arrest appeared first on TechRepublic.

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Elon Musk’s Grok AI appears to have made child sexual imagery, says charity

It said analysts discovered the images on a dark-web forum, by users who claimed to have used Grok

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Meta faces China probe over acquisition of AI agent startup Manus

China to probe Meta’s acquisition of artificial intelligence startup Manus to assess its compliance with export control laws.

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Fireblocks Buys Crypto Firm TRES Finance for $130M

The deal merges Fireblocks’ trillion-dollar infrastructure with TRES Finance’s financial intelligence platform.
The post Fireblocks Buys Crypto Firm TRES Finance for $130M appeared first on TechRepublic.

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CNBC Daily Open: Magnificent Seven competition heats up

It’s the first time since 2019 that Alphabet has overtaken Apple in valuation, and another sign of how Apple is falling behind in the AI race.

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JPMorgan Chase becomes the new issuer of the Apple Card

Apple expects the transition to take 24 months

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China’s first ‘AI tiger’ goes public as Zhipu climbs in Hong Kong debut

Shares of China-backed Zhipu made small gains on their Hong Kong debut, following a $558 million initial public offering.

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