Crypto Currency

The Republican Disinformation Campaign Behind Arkansas’s Vile Anti-Trans Law

When young trans people and their allies testified in the Arkansas state legislature over the last weeks, it seemed clear that this was not supposed to be a debate. Rumba Yambú, the director of Intransitive, a group led by trans people in Arkansas, said people with the Christian-right group Family Research Council, or FRC, seemed…

When young trans people and their allies testified in the Arkansas state legislature over the last weeks, it seemed clear that this was not supposed to be a debate. Rumba Yambú, the director of Intransitive, a group led by trans people in Arkansas, said people with the Christian-right group Family Research Council, or FRC, seemed to dominate the agenda. “They were present at every committee meeting,” Yambú recalled when we spoke by phone this week. Even when there were more people speaking against the anti-trans legislation than in favor of it, they said, legislative committees still voted with the anti-trans rights side.This week, Arkansas became the first state in the country to ban gender-affirming health care for young trans people. The bill prevents medical professionals from providing such care by making it punishable with disciplinary and civil actions, along with barring federal funding and encouraging private insurers to deny coverage. If the state’s Republican governor signs the bill, trans youth will be forced to stop treatment they had already obtained, while others will be denied care going forward. Legislators can’t entirely stop people from seeking out what they need to transition, though; like attempts to ban abortion, these bans have only made it more difficult, and more stigmatized. Even before votes were cast, that outcome was playing out in the legislative process itself: Trans people in Arkansas were essentially treated as a disruptive presence to be managed and marginalized, while opponents were given the floor to cast doubt on trans peoples’ lives.In hearings, opponents of trans rights mixed graphic language—the bill’s sponsor, Representative Robin Lundstrom, referred to transition-related care as “mutilation”—with appeals to protect children. (The bill is officially called the “Arkansas Save Adolescents From Experimentation Act.”) Trans people and their supporters were advised by one hearing’s conveners that if their testimony exceeded two minutes, they could be removed from the chamber. One representative pointed out that this unfairly granted far more time to the bill’s supporters, and when he tried to get the opponents a few minutes more to speak, his motion lost. The supporters had 45 minutes to call on their own experts in an attempt to discredit current standards of gender-affirming care, like puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones, which are already recognized as safe, medically necessary, and potentially life-saving. “We need to correct the record,” said Dr. Michele Hutchinson in one recent hearing, “because the folks that spoke before got an awful lot of time to tell you a lot of inaccuracies.” She went on to cite the standards of care for trans youth, which are recognized by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Psychiatric Association, and the Pediatric Endocrine Society, among others. But underneath her appeals to the evidence, Dr. Hutchinson was upset, and she said so. “I’m doing everything I can to maintain my sanity here … just after this bill passed the house, these kids heard about it. I’ve had multiple kids in our emergency room because of an attempted suicide. Just in the last week.” If this bill passes, she said, children will die. “And I will call you guys every single time one does.”As they have in states across the country, Republicans have used debates over anti-trans legislation to flood communities with misinformation and panic about trans people’s lives. Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves signed an anti-trans sports bill in March; announcing the new law, he said President Biden’s affirmation of the rights of trans people, in his opinion, “encourages transgenderism amongst our young people.” This week, a bill similar to the Arkansas law targeting transition-related care was introduced in the Louisiana state legislature–one targeting trans athletes had already been introduced. And in South Dakota, Governor Kristi Noem signed executive orders effectively banning trans women and girls from women’s sports after Republican backlash when she vetoed a similar bill.This wave of bills, reported Katelyn Burns, has grown “directly from the social media disinformation campaign” concerning a custody battle over a trans girl in Texas whose parents disagreed about the validity of her gender identity. The point of such campaigns isn’t merely to pass laws that would intensify anti-trans discrimination, whether that’s in education or health care or across the board. Rather, they are used to transform the attention trans rights have won in recent years into something just shy of a conspiracy theory: one in which trans athletes are dominating sports and in which young trans people can get care on demand from parents and doctors, all under the influence of “trans activists”—adult outsiders.“Folks get surprised that there are trans people in Arkansas,” Intransitive Director Yambú told me this week. “Or forget that we are here. And here’s these legislators coming out and saying, not only are they here, but they are dangerous.”In hearings in Arkansas’s trans youth health care ban over the last month, legislators supporting the bill mocked trans youth at the same time as its sponsor claimed to want to protect them. One cited the Bible to describe trans and gender nonconforming people as an “abomination,” another compared trans kids to children who pretend to be animals. In truth, this comports with other rhetoric painting trans kids as in need of rescue from themselves. “You can’t do this to children,” Arkansas State Representative Robin Lundstrom said on a recent episode of the Family Research Council podcast. The opposition, she said, was “aggressive” and “vicious” and didn’t understand that she just wanted to protect children. (She thanked supporters like the anti-abortion, anti-LGBT group Family Council in Arkansas, whose president called the trans-rights movement “a cultural trainwreck.”)The pretense that this bill was meant to help children falls away when you look at the coordinated messaging from the Family Research Council. As Yambú described, members of FRC like Joseph Backholm, a senior fellow and anti-LGBTQ rights activist, came to Arkansas to testify. In a policy brief on the trans youth health care ban in Arkansas, FRC instructs supporters to adopt a few key tactics: that “‘Gender transition’ is an experiment” and not treatment, that “The government should not force taxpayers to fund it,” and that young people are harmed by it. These are not original talking points; in a sense, FRC has just adopted their anti-abortion claims to use against trans people.The points can each be refuted, but the bigger picture they paint is just as important. That is, FRC and their allies against trans rights know that throwing up blocks to someone’s self-determination, casting doubt on their own capacity to know themselves, is a powerful way to render someone less than a person, less deserving of rights. If that doesn’t work, then cast them as predatory. So when Backholm claims, as he did at a hearing, that a phenomenon called “transgenderism” is motivated by profit-seeking clinics, targeting “thousands of children” who will later “look at themselves with regret,” that’s what he is invoking, the right’s campaigns of misinformation and imagined conspiracies about children at risk. Yet children, in truth, are being used to fuel these adults’ agenda of discrimination and exclusion. As one witness who identified as a member of the trans community and who needed access to trans health care told the legislators, “I point my finger at you and call this what it truly is: propaganda, fearmongering, and oppression … [it] will cause children’s death.”“This act implies that young transgender people are not actually trans, and rather, are mentally ill,” testified Willow Breshears, the founder of the Young Transwomen’s Project. She told legislators that she had been on hormone replacement therapy since she was thirteen, and if she had not been, she may not be alive today. “Health care is a human right, so it is beyond me that any legislator would legalize discrimination in health care, especially for children—’cause bottom line, these are children.”
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What’s next for SEI after reclaiming $0.30? Check forecast

Key takeaways SEI has reclaimed the $0.30 psychological level, paving the way for further rally. The positive performance comes despite Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies recording losses. SEI rallies as BTC and others falter SEI, the 47th-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, is one of the best performers in the top 100 over the last 24

Key takeaways SEI has reclaimed the $0.30 psychological level, paving the way for further rally. The positive performance comes despite Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies recording losses. SEI rallies as BTC and others falter SEI, the 47th-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, is one of the best performers in the top 100 over the last 24 […]
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Bitcoin slides, Ether, XRP, Dogecoin move lower ahead of Fed Chair’s final Jackson Hole speech

Key Takeaways Bitcoin and altcoins fell in a broad crypto market decline ahead of the Fed Chair’s Jackson Hole speech. Market volatility increased as investors anticipated possible Fed rate changes and reacted to ongoing inflation concerns. Share this article Bitcoin slipped under $113,000 on Tuesday, triggering a market-wide downturn that sent Ethereum, XRP, and Solana

Key Takeaways

  • Bitcoin and altcoins fell in a broad crypto market decline ahead of the Fed Chair’s Jackson Hole speech.
  • Market volatility increased as investors anticipated possible Fed rate changes and reacted to ongoing inflation concerns.

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Bitcoin slipped under $113,000 on Tuesday, triggering a market-wide downturn that sent Ethereum, XRP, and Solana lower. The total crypto sector fell to $3.8 trillion, down 3.5% on the day.

The price of Bitcoin dropped nearly 3% in the last day to $112,696, marking a return to levels not seen since the beginning of the month, CoinGecko data shows.

Ether dropped more than 4% to $4,100 after flirting with record highs in the past few days. Losses are spread across major altcoins, with XRP down nearly 6%, Dogecoin and Chainlink off over 5%, and Sei and Cardano plunging 8%.

The pullback comes ahead of the Fed’s Jackson Hole symposium on Friday, where Chair Jerome Powell is scheduled to deliver his keynote address. Markets are bracing for whether he signals a September rate cut or doubles down on inflation concerns, especially after US inflation data offered mixed signals in July.

The headline CPI slowed to 2.7% but core inflation edged up to 3.1% and PPI climbed 3.3%. The combination of weakening job growth and persistent price pressures has raised stagflation fears, which could complicate the Fed’s decision-making.

“Higher‑than‑expected PPI numbers (producer prices jumped 0.9% month‑on‑month against a 0.2% forecast) have complicated the Fed’s policy framework, so the market will be looking for hints on the Fed’s thinking ahead of its September policy meeting,” said QCP Capital analysts in a statement. “Last year, Powell used Jackson Hole to telegraph an easing bias; this year, Trump’s tariffs and political pressure create a much more contentious backdrop.”

Traders are still pricing in a 25-basis-point cut at the September 17 FOMC meeting, though odds have eased following hotter-than-expected inflation readings.

Analysts predict Powell will be cautious during his final Jackson Hole speech. The Fed Chair may acknowledge that risks to employment and inflation are balancing, suggesting a cut could be appropriate if trends continue, but he is unlikely to commit to a specific policy action.

Since expectations for a September cut are already priced in, any hint that action might be delayed could feel like a tightening of policy for investors.

However, signals that quantitative tightening may end or that regulatory shifts are coming could boost liquidity and potentially reignite Bitcoin’s rally toward year-end, analysts suggest.

Elsewhere, US stocks also reflected uncertainty at Tuesday’s market close.

The S&P 500 fell nearly 0.6% and the Nasdaq Composite dropped around 1.5%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up.

Tech and chipmakers led losses, with Nvidia down 3.5%, AMD off 5.4%, and Broadcom lower by 3.6%. Palantir sank 9%, the worst S&P 500 performer, while Tesla, Meta, and Netflix also slipped.

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David Bailey’s Bitcoin treasury KindlyMD acquires $679 million in BTC

Key Takeaways KindlyMD acquired 5,744 Bitcoin worth approximately $679 million through its subsidiary Nakamoto Holdings. The purchase is part of KindlyMD’s strategy to accumulate one million Bitcoin as a corporate reserve asset. Share this article KindlyMD, led by President Donald Trump’s Bitcoin advisor David Bailey, announced Tuesday it had spent approximately $679 million to accumulate

Key Takeaways

  • KindlyMD acquired 5,744 Bitcoin worth approximately $679 million through its subsidiary Nakamoto Holdings.
  • The purchase is part of KindlyMD’s strategy to accumulate one million Bitcoin as a corporate reserve asset.

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KindlyMD, led by President Donald Trump’s Bitcoin advisor David Bailey, announced Tuesday it had spent approximately $679 million to accumulate around 5,744 Bitcoin.

With the latest acquisition, KindlyMD’s Bitcoin stash surpasses 5,764 units, equating to over $655 million at current prices of about $113,840. The company used PIPE proceeds for the purchase as part of its strategy to acquire one million Bitcoin under the Nakamoto Bitcoin Treasury.

Commenting on KindlyMD’s BTC purchase, the first since it completed its merger with Nakamoto Holdings, CEO Bailey reiterated that his team is doubling down on Bitcoin as a cornerstone asset for the future.

“Our long-term mission of accumulating one million Bitcoin reflects our belief that Bitcoin will anchor the next era of global finance, and we are committed to building the most trusted and transparent vehicle to achieve that future,” he added.

KindlyMD now ranks sixteenth among corporate Bitcoin holders, ahead of firms like Semler Scientific and GameStop.

Shares of the company (NAKA) fell 14% at Tuesday’s open as Bitcoin slipped from above $115,800 to $113,846 amid a market-wide pullback.

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Halving Tailwind or Liquidity Trap? Analysts Weigh In on Bitcoin’s Path Ahead

With Bitcoin hovering near record levels, analysts are split on what comes next. Swyftx Lead Market Analyst Pav Hundal warns the charts hint at trouble ahead, urging caution across altcoins. Crypto Analyst Chiefy, however, sees the latest volatility as part of the halving cycle’s natural rhythm…

With Bitcoin hovering near record levels, analysts are split on what comes next. Swyftx Lead Market Analyst Pav Hundal warns the charts hint at trouble ahead, urging caution across altcoins. Crypto Analyst Chiefy, however, sees the latest volatility as part of the halving cycle’s natural rhythm…
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