AI Unlocks Trillion-Dollar Potential for Solo Entrepreneurs

Welcome back!

Here’s your must-read news this morning:

• Bitcoin’s new record high

• Solo AI trillionaire one day? 

• Hegseth’s drone order

I’ve got all the details for you, so let’s dive in.

— Josh

MARKETS

🚀 Bitcoin Reaches New All-Time High of $118,000

The Scoop: Bitcoin soared to a new all-time high above $118,000 early Friday, climbing 6% in 24 hours, driven by robust institutional demand and growing spot Bitcoin ETF inflows, signaling a potential major bull run.

The Details:

• Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $1.18 billion in inflows on Thursday, led by BlackRock’s IBIT ($448 million) and Fidelity’s FBTC ($324 million).

• Institutional interest is bolstered by regulatory shifts, including the GENIUS Act and removal of a crypto broker tax rule, reducing barriers.

• Companies are increasingly allocating Bitcoin to strategic assets, following firms like Strategy, increasing demand amid improved ETF accessibility.

• Short-term risks, like tariff uncertainties and July’s CPI data, could trigger profit-taking, but analysts expect sustained growth from rate cuts and institutional adoption.

What’s Next: With favorable regulations and strong ETF inflows driving Bitcoin’s momentum, analysts predict continued price growth into late 2025, potentially reaching $150,000-$200,000, unless macro uncertainties or profit-taking disrupt the rally.

Markets Roundup

🏦 Economy & Stocks

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Trump escalated tariffs on Canadian imports to 35%, effective August 1. (FBN)

• OMB Director Russell Vought accused Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell of misleading Congress about a $2.5 billion headquarters renovation that exceeds its initial budget by $700 million. (CNBC)

• Germany’s upper house of parliament approved a €46 billion ($53.73 billion) tax relief package on Friday, set to take effect from 2025 through 2029. (INV)

• San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly forecasted two interest rate cuts in 2025 and suggested that the inflationary impact of new tariffs may be limited. (BBG)

• China’s economy is projected to slow to 5.1% GDP growth in Q2 2025 from 5.4% in Q1, intensifying pressure on Beijing for more stimulus, a poll indicates. (RTS)

• America First policies are driving a craft beer boom in red states, boosting local breweries like Montana’s Bitterroot Brewing with U.S.-made equipment and ingredients. (FOX)

• Levi Strauss raised its full-year adjusted earnings guidance to $1.25-$1.30 per share, surpassing its prior $1.20-$1.25 forecast and analysts’ $1.23 expectation, while planning to offset higher tariff costs. (CNBC)

💵 Energy & Commodities

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: MP Materials secured a multibillion-dollar Department of Defense partnership to expand domestic rare earth magnet production and reduce reliance on foreign supplies. (RTS)

• The European Commission proposed revamping its Russian oil price cap with a floating benchmark linked to global crude prices to restore the sanctions tool’s effectiveness amid declining oil markets. (YF)

• Insurance costs for shipping through the Red Sea have more than doubled to 0.7% of a ship’s value following recent Houthi attacks that sank two vessels and killed four seafarers. (GBF)

• International Energy Agency chief Fatih Birol urged nations to adopt more urgent measures to counter escalating global energy security threats. (OP)

• The Nuclear Regulatory Commission anticipates approving the Tennessee Valley Authority’s plan to construct a small modular nuclear reactor by the end of 2026. (BBG)

🌕 Crypto

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Ether's price surged 9% in 24 hours, reclaiming $3,000 for the first time since February, as BlackRock’s spot Ethereum ETF saw a record $300 million in daily inflows. (TB)

• Senate confirmed former blockchain executive Jonathan Gould as the new head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in a 50 to 45 vote. (TB)

• Australia’s Reserve Bank selected 24 industry participants for the next phase of its wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) testing initiative. (ITN)

• Pump.fun acquired Kolscan, a Solana-based copy-trading wallet tracker, marking its first acquisition. (CC)

• Rumble teamed up with MoonPay to launch a crypto wallet, allowing users to buy, sell, and swap digital assets. (CD)
  

TECH

🧠 AI Opens Trillion-Dollar Possibilities for Solo Entrepreneurs

The Scoop: With generative AI revolutionizing entrepreneurship, solo founders now account for 35% of U.S. startups in 2024—up from 17% in 2017—unleashing the potential for a single visionary to create billion- or even trillion-dollar companies, according to a report.

The Details:

• A Carta report highlights a surge in solo-founded startups, driven by AI tools like Anthropic’s Claude 4, which handle coding, design, and operations in minutes.

• Anthropic’s Mike Krieger built a prototype in 25 minutes using Claude, a task that once took hours, showcasing AI’s ability to replace entire founding teams.

• Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei predicts a one-employee, billion-dollar startup by 2026, fueled by AI’s integration with platforms like GitHub and Stripe.

• OpenAI CEO Sam Altman also predicts a one-founder billion-dollar company will emerge soon, while Mark Cuban envisions a solo founder leveraging AI to create a trillion-dollar company.

What’s Next: As AI agents evolve into sophisticated collaborators, solo founders are set to redefine wealth creation, potentially launching billion- or trillion-dollar companies from a single laptop.

Tech Roundup

🧠 AI

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Goldman Sachs is testing an AI-powered autonomous software engineer from the AI startup Cognition. (CNBC)

• Amazon Web Services will launch an AI agent marketplace next week with Anthropic as a key partner, aiming to streamline enterprise access to autonomous AI tools. (TC)

• Google announced that its Veo 3 AI video generator will now include an image-to-video feature within the Gemini app, expanding creative capabilities for users. (MASH)

• Coinbase partnered with Perplexity AI to deliver real-time AI-powered crypto data to traders. (CT)

• Financial operations startup Ramp launched its first AI agents, designed for company controllers to autonomously enforce expense policies, and block unauthorized spending. (PYMT)

🤖 Hardware & Robotics

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Elon Musk announced the expansion of the Tesla's robotaxi service area in Austin and the integration of xAI's Grok chatbot into Tesla vehicles starting next week. (CNBC)

• France’s military plans to deploy a robotic army by 2040, with advanced ground robot capabilities expected within three years to enhance combat effectiveness. (INDY)

• China’s military warned that humanoid robot soldiers could lead to “indiscriminate killings” and urged ethical oversight to address moral and legal risks. (SCMP)

• Indian surgeons performed the country's first-ever robot-assisted vasovasostomy. (DE)

• Next Robot unveiled Al Dente, an AI-powered pasta and risotto cooking robot, producing dishes in 4-5 minutes. (FOR)

🚀 Defense & Space

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: A convoy of mysterious vehicles was spotted near Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, fueling speculation of a new Chinese armored vehicle debut at a September military parade. (TWZ)

• The U.S. Air Force is developing fighter jet components using shape memory alloys, enabling self-healing structures that revert to their original form after stress. (IE)

• The Pentagon’s BIO INSPECT project is developing tiny sensors to monitor biological tissue health in real time, aiming to aid soldiers’ wound recovery. (DO)

• Scientists at Beijing Institute of Technology claim to have created the world’s lightest insect brain controller to direct bees for surveillance. (SCMP)

• Jared Isaacman, Trump’s former nominee for NASA Administrator, is considering a run for Congress as a Republican. (FP)

💰 Venture Capital & Deals

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Varda Space Industries secured $187 million in Series C funding, led by Natural Capital and Shrug Capital, to advance its pioneering drug manufacturing efforts in orbit. (CNBC)

• iCapital, a fintech platform for alternative investments, raised over $820 million in a funding round co-led by SurgoCap Partners and T. Rowe Price-advised accounts, boosting its valuation to more than $7.5 billion. (CB)

• Harmonic, co-founded by Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev, raised $100 million in a Series B round led by Kleiner Perkins at an $875 million valuation to develop AI surpassing human mathematical abilities. (BBG)

• Paradigm led a $50 million Series A for Agora, a stablecoin startup enabling firms to create versions of its U.S.-dollar stablecoin AUSD. (TB)

• Foundation EGI raised $23 million in Series A funding, led by Translink Capital, to develop its AI-powered Engineering General Intelligence platform for transforming manufacturing processes. (TFN)

• LGND raised $9 million, led by Javelin Venture Partners, to enhance AI and human interaction with Earth data for industries like insurance and finance. (TC)

FREEDOM

🚁 Hegseth Orders Massive Drone Production and Strategic Deployment

The Scoop: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a directive on Thursday to accelerate U.S. drone production and deployment, empowering commanders to procure and test drones independently and mandating combat simulations across all military branches to outpace Russia and China in unmanned warfare.

The Details:

• Hegseth’s memo rescinds restrictive policies, allowing colonels and captains to test 3D-printed and commercial drones meeting security standards.

• Small drones are redefined as consumable munitions, bypassing bureaucratic tracking and simplifying acquisition, with new training sites mandated within 90 days.

• Weaponization approvals are slashed to 30 days and battery certifications to one week.

• In June, Trump signed an executive order to form a task force addressing national security and public safety threats from drones, targeting unlawful uses like spying and drug smuggling.

What’s Next: Hegseth aims to equip every Army squad with small, expendable first-person view (FPV) drones by October 2026, granting troops flexibility to modify drones in the field, while units like the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, refine FPV drone tactics.

Freedom Roundup

🏛️ Policy

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Department of Health and Human Services banned illegal immigrants from accessing taxpayer-funded services. (NYP)

• Treasury Department and IRS scrapped a rule requiring decentralized crypto exchanges to report customer transactions for taxes, easing industry regulations. (TB)

• State Department announced plans to lay off nearly 2,000 U.S.-based employees. (FOX)

• House Republicans pressed the intelligence officials to speed up a national security review of Chinese drone makers DJI and Autel Robotics over spying concerns. (DXL)

💬 Free Speech & Woke Overreach

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Justice Department and Education Department launched investigations into the hiring practices and DEI programs of the state of Minnesota and George Mason University. (RTS)

• JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon labeled Zohran Mamdani a “Marxist” and criticized Democrats’ DEI efforts, describing them as having "big hearts and little brains." (FBN)

• Missouri AG Andrew Bailey (R) sent letters to Google, OpenAI, Meta, and Microsoft, alleging their AI chatbots exhibit bias against Trump and demanding transparency in their operations. (AGO)

• ASML, the world’s largest computer chip equipment maker, has eliminated its U.S. DEI targets to align with regulations. (RTS)

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DISCLAIMER: The CAPITAL newsletter is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, or professional advice. Readers should conduct their own research and consult a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions. The CAPITAL newsletter and its owner and operator, Josh Caplan, are not liable for any loss or damage resulting from reliance on this information. The CAPITAL newsletter is solely owned and independently operated by Josh Caplan, separate from any employer affiliations.