Key Takeaways
- Mirendil, backed by a16z, Kleiner Perkins, and NVIDIA, raises $200M seed to accelerate AI R&D and democratize AI capabilities.
- Bitcoin has dropped 53% from its October 2024 high, while MicroStrategy (MSTR) is down over 80%, with historical precedent for further decline.
- Core PCE inflation rose to 3.4% in May, the highest since October 2023, remaining above the 2% target for 63 consecutive months.
- Arca emerges from stealth with $64M in seed and Series A funding, aiming to redefine wealth management through an AI-native platform.
- U.S. national debt increased by $3 trillion in under a year, matching the time it took to accumulate the first $3 trillion.
- Leveraged ETF trading volume in the U.S. has surged 50% above its 2025 record, averaging $45 billion daily.
1. AI and Venture Capital
- Marc Andreessen announced the launch of Mirendil, a company focused on self-accelerating AI R&D to advance science and democratize AI capabilities. The company raised $200 million in seed funding led by a16z and Kleiner Perkins, with participation from NVIDIA. — via 1 2
- Arca, an AI-native wealth management platform, emerged from stealth with $64 million in seed and Series A funding from General Catalyst, Index Ventures, and Venrock. The platform aims to free advisors to focus on client relationships and trust. — via 1
- Reid Hoffman shared Satya Nadella's vision of building infrastructure to enable 20 million AI agents to collaborate with Microsoft employees. — via 1
2. Macro and Markets
- Bitcoin has fallen 53% from its October 2024 high, marking its largest and longest drawdown since 2022. MicroStrategy (MSTR) is down over 80% from its peak; Charlie Bilello notes the stock plunged 99.86% during the dot-com bust, suggesting further risk. — via 1 2
- The Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge, core PCE, rose to 3.4% in May, the highest since October 2023, and has now exceeded the 2% target for 63 consecutive months. — via 1 2
- The U.S. national debt increased by $3 trillion in less than a year, matching the time it took to accumulate the first $3 trillion (over 200 years). — via 1
- U.S. listed leveraged ETF trading volume has surged 50% above the record level set in the first half of 2025, averaging about $45 billion per day. — via 1
- CEO economic outlook survey rose to 91 in Q2 2026, the highest since Q4 2024, with hiring, capital spending, and sales expectations all improving. CFO optimism about their own firms continues to rise, though inflation has replaced trade/tariffs as the top concern. Investor bullish sentiment jumped to 44.9%, far above the historical average of 37.5%. — via 1 2
- Housing data: New home supply months rose to 10.3, highest since 2009; national average rent $1,645, with New York highest at $3,046; 30-year fixed mortgage rate edged down to 6.59%. — via 1 2
- First-quarter GDP was revised up to +2.1%, but consumer spending was sharply revised down to +0.5%. The Atlanta Fed's GDPNow model cut Q2 2026 real GDP estimate from +3.0% to +2.5%. — via 1 2
- Ben Carlson highlighted the extreme returns in tech: Sandisk +4385%, Western Digital +974%, Micron +809%, while Oracle -30%, Microsoft -27%, Meta -23% over one year. — via 1
3. AI and Productivity
- Morgan Housel noted that AI's best use in finance is to give advisors analytical tools, allowing them to focus on real client relationships. — via 1
- Marc Andreessen pointed out that many people publicly deny using AI but secretly do, revealing a gap between public stance and private behavior. — via 1 2
