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Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will soon consider crypto as an asset when assessing mortgage risk. Did we really not learn anything?? 🤦

Just like any other technology, there's been rapid evolution in the crypto space with institutional growth of stablecoins, political embrace of crypto, ambitious crypto VC, and much more. Our free Crypto Sum newsletter covers all things blockchain from DeFi to Web3. It's pure intel, with zero noise, daily and free. Check it out.

With the launch of powerful new tools, BILL Spend & Expense is making financial operations easier than ever. Demo BILL and they'll send you an Apple Watch.

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

Learn more about the Litquidity portfolios and subscribe to the strategies on Autopilot.*

Markets

• US stocks rallied yesterday as traders set aside geopolitical concerns and raised hopes for Fed rate cuts

  • Trump is expected to name a new Fed chair early to undermine J Pow

  • S&P and Nasdaq are inches from new ATHs

  • Nasdaq 100 hit a third-straight ATH

• Japan's Nikkei 225 index rose to its highest since February

• US Treasuries are set for a third-straight week of gains, with yields falling to one-month lows 

• Platinum hit a 14-year high

• Dollar dropped to a four year low versus euro and pound 

• Taiwan dollar hit a three-year high

Earnings

• Nike beat Q4 earnings and revenue estimates as quarterly sales declined less than projected amid ongoing inventory cleanup, tariff uncertainty, and a delay in its NikeSKIMS women's line rollout (BBG)

• Walgreens beat earnings and revenue estimates in one of its final quarters as a public company ahead of its planned $10B sale to Sycamore Partners; the firm withheld guidance and is pursuing a divestiture of VillageMD (BBG)

• Full calendar here

Prediction Markets

• NYC may or may not be cooked but let's see what's happening at the national level.

• Trade your predictions on a range of events, only on Kalshi. Sign up with code LIT and get a $20 bonus when you trade $100.

Headline Roundup

• Majority of Fed officials are against a July rate cut (BBG)

• US Q1 GDP growth was revised down to -0.5% YoY (BBG)

• DOGE asked McKinsey and BCG to justify federal contracts (WSJ)

• US IPO stocks are averaging 53% returns YTD (BBG)

• BlackRock plans to put PE and credit into 401(k)s (BBG)

• Deal hunger stirs among US banks (FT)

• Accounting sector prepares for more IPOs after PE binge (FT)

• Japan M&A hit a record $232B in H1 driving Asia deals rebound (RT)

• Fears over US debt and inflation ignite exodus from long-term bonds (FT)

• Foreigners turned net sellers of Japan stocks for time in three months (RT)

• Europe asset management clients are boosting hedges amid volatility (BBG)

• Space VC funding is on track to hit a new record (PB)

• US-G7 deal killed 'revenge tax' that spooked Wall Street (BBG)

• SEC is reviewing rules governing exec pay and perks (BBG)

• China credit ETFs double in number as funds rush to tech bonds (BBG)

• Top US companies walk fine line on climate amid competing pressures (FT)

• Hedge fund Magellan Capital's office was searched by Dubai regulator (BBG)

• CoreWeave CEO joined world’s 500 richest people after 300% surge (BBG)

• Salesforce CEO says 30% of internal work is automated by AI (BBG)

• Meta poached three OpenAI researchers (WSJ) 

• Jane Street joined finance firms flocking to Abu Dhabi (BBG)

• Hanaco Ventures will wind down fundraising as founders chart new paths (CT)

• Reddit vows to stay human to emerge as winner from AI (FT)

• Bill Ackman wants a new rival to take on Mamdani in NYC mayor election (BBG)

• Ex-Barclays CEO Staley lost appeal against UK ban over Epstein friendship (RT)

• CFA Level I pass rate rose above 45% ten-year average (BBG)

A Message from BILL

Take time back. Get an Apple Watch.

Buried in manual expense reports? BILL Spend & Expense combines the BILL Divvy Card and free software to simplify spend control with:

• Scalable credit lines from $1,000-5M¹

• Uncapped cash back²

• Customizable limits

• Real-time spend tracking

And that's just the beginning. BILL also launched powerful new tools to help finance teams delete busy—from automated procure-to-pay to mass payments that handle themselves.

Ready to see what your team can do with more time and less busywork? 

Demo Spend & Expense and get an Apple Watch to track the time you save.³ Then put it toward growth, not gruntwork.

1 Credit lines are not guaranteed and will be determined upon application approval. 2 The BILL Divvy Card is issued by Cross River Bank, Member FDIC, and is not a deposit product.  Rewards are subject to your Rewards Agreement. For more information on Rewards see here. 3 Terms and conditions apply. See offer page for more information.

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Spanish lender BBVA is weighing whether to move forward with its $16B takeover bid for Banco Sabadell, despite Spain's restriction delaying full integration, contingent on shareholder backing

• Asian electronic manufacturer CarUX agreed to acquire Japanese automotive electronics manufacturer Pioneer Corp. from EQT for $1.1B, marking the Swedish buyout firm’s largest Japan exit and its second in the country this year

• PE firm HIG is targeting a $1.1B sale of ex-KPMG restructuring unit Interpath

• Bluestone Equity-backed recreational sports platform Volo Sports acquired rival ZogSports in a $10M-$20M deal

• Meta is in advanced talks to acquire voice replication AI startup PlayAI

• AI cloud computing firm CoreWeave is in talks to buy $5B-listed digital infrastructure firm Core Scientific

• Uber is in early talks to back with founder Travis Kalanick's potential acquisition of the US operations of Chinese autonomous driving startup Pony AI

• UK fintech giant Revolut agreed to acquire Banco Cetelem, a small Argentine lender owned by BNP Paribas

• Shanghai Pharmaceuticals and PE firm Primavera Capital are considering a sale of Australasian health food / sports nutrition firm Vitaco at a valuation of several hundred million dollars 

VC

• Chinese AI chip startup Biren Technology raised $207M in fresh funding and is preparing for a Hong Kong IPO

• Indian drone startup Raphe mPhibr raised a $100M Series B led by General Catalyst

• World Liberty Financial, an Ethereum-based DeFi platform backed by Trump, raised $100M in funding from UAE-based crypto fund Aqua 1 Foundation

• Healthcare provider data intelligence platform Certify raised a $40M Series B led by Transformation Capital

• Mandolin, an AI automation platform for drug access, raised a $40M round from Greylock Partners, SignalFire, Maverick, SV Angel, and more

• Niural, an AI-native global PEO platform for growing companies, raised a $31M Series A led by Marathon Management Partners

• EFFECT Photonics, a next-gen optical solutions, raised a $24M Series D

• Boost, an unattended retail tech startup, raised an $18.7M Series B led by Direttissima Growth Partners

• DataBahn.ai, a security-driven data pipeline platform, raised a $17M Series A led by Forgepoint Capital

• Italian fintech Sibill raised a $14M Series A led by Creandum

• LIDROTEC, a startup building next gen laser systems for low damage, high precision chip cutting, raised a $13.5M Series A-2 led by Lam Capital and Goose Capital

• Handspring, a mental health provider focused on youth, young adults, and their families, raised a $12M Series A led by Cobalt Ventures

• Climatiq, a provider of carbon intelligence infrastructure, raised a $11.7M Series A led by Alstin Capital

• PoliCloud, a startup building distributed cloud infrastructure, raised a $8.7M seed round led by Global Ventures

• Klutch AI, a startup providing AI-powered construction management, raised an $8M seed round led by Bain Capital Ventures and Bling Capital

• French electrification startup DejaBlue raised an $8M seed round led by redalpine

• PhotonPath, a startup designing integrated photonics chipsets and plug and play modules, raised a $6M Series A led by Join Capital

• NiaHealth, a health tech startup for proactive care, raised a $5.75M seed round led by Golden Ventures

• Jarsy, a digital platform democratizing access to pre-IPO investing, raised a $5M pre-seed round led by Breyer Capital

• DRIMCO, a startup creating AI to streamline requirement analysis, raised a $5M pre-Series A led by Ventech and BayernCapital

• Castle, a bitcoin treasury platform for SMBs, raised a $1M pre-seed round led by Boost VC

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Hg-backed Norwegian software firm Visma selected London for its planned IPO which could an over $22B valuation in one of UK's largest tech debuts

• JC Flowers-backed debt collector Jefferson Capital raised $150M for a $1.2B valuation in its IPO

• PayPal-backed digital payments provider Pine Labs filed for an India IPO to raise ~$300M

• Intel Capital-backed Chinese visual perception, AI company Reconova Technologies is planning to raise $100M in a Hong Kong IPO this year

• Kuwaiti convenience store retailer Trolley is planning a rare Kuwait IPO in Kuwait as early as this year

• Rare earths refiner Phoenix Tailings aims to go list within three years

SPAC

• Israeli biotech Minovia Therapeutics will merge with Launch One Acquisition Corp. in a $180M deal

Debt

• South Korea attracted over $11.7B in investor bids for a $1.6B euro bond sale, its first in four years

• Footwear maker Skechers USA priced over $6B in debt to support its 3G Capital's $9.4B LBO,

• Blackstone bought $2B of CRE loans from regional lender Atlantic Union at a 7% discount

• SoftBank's telecom unit is planning to raise $1B in its first dollar bond sale led by Morgan Stanley

• Oaktree-controlled Italian soccer club Inter Milan raised $410M in private credit to repay bonds

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

• Distressed Hong Kong developer New World Development secured 100% lender approval for its $11.1B loan refinancing, the largest of its kind ever in Hong Kong

• Swiss solar manufacturer Meyer Burger's US units filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, seeking to sell most or all US assets

Fundraising / Secondaries

• Avance Investment Management, a PE firm led by former Palladium Equity execs, raised $880M for a targeted $1B second fund

• Counterpart Ventures, a VC firm known for leveraging corporate VC ties, closed its $132M Fund III to back early-stage startups

• Carlyle is launching new funds aimed at individual investors to buy and sell secondaries PE stakes

Crypto Sum Snapshot

• Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will consider crypto as an asset when buying mortgages

• Crypto exchange Kraken debuted payments app Krak to take on Venmo, PayPal, and other P2P giants

• Check out our Crypto Sum newsletter for the full stories on everything crypto.

Exec’s Picks

• Since President Trump's April 2 "Liberation Day" announcement, tariffs have become a central driver of uncertainty and volatility. Many players believe a recession is likely and have questioned whether the economy can absorb such rapid shifts in global trade policy. Read more.

• Jonathan Clements shared an interesting take on the age-old question: Does money buy happiness?

• In another insightful piece on money, Tim Maurer and Tony Welch explore the purpose that money should serve.

• And while we've all heard "there's always someone richer than you," Ben Carlson explains why the Joneses aren't actually that happy.

Financial Services Recruiting 💼

If you're a junior banker looking for your next career move, check out Litney Partners, a recruiting firm established by Litquidity and Whitney Partners (the oldest purely financial services executive search and consulting firm).

We aim to place strong candidates across private equity, hedge funds, venture capital, growth equity, credit, and investment banking.

We're currently seeking talent for some incredible roles. Head over to Litney Partners to drop your resume / create your profile and we'd love to get in touch!

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*DISCLAIMER: Investment advice provided by Autopilot Advisers, LLC ("Autopilot"), an SEC-registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investing carries risks, including loss of principal. As always, be smart out there. Litquidity is compensated to promote AutoPilot. Compensation details available upon request.