Hong Kong regulator approves first crypto company license since June last year
Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) granted a crypto license to Victory Fintech (VDX), an affiliate entity of publicly listed financial services firm Victory Securities (8540). Victory won permission to operate a digital asset trading platform on Friday, according to the SFC’s registry of licensed crypto firms, the first addition since June 17 last…
SpendRule raises $2M, emerges from stealth to help hospitals track spending
Last year, Chris Heckler was coming to the end of a five-year non-compete after selling his last company, a healthcare startup. “I was sitting on the sidelines doing angel investing, and I realized I was too young to retire,” he told TechCrunch. “I wanted to get back into it.” At the same time, Joseph Akintolayo…
College baseball Week 1: Top 25 rankings, play of the week and what to watch
Feb 16, 2026, 10:20 AM ET College baseball’s opening weekend brought us everything we could have dreamed of. From upsets of top teams — UCLA dropped a game to UC San Diego and Louisville dropped its series to Michigan State — to historic grand slams, this season is already packing a punch. And with that,…
Juliette Binoche in a Strong Dementia Drama
Lance Hammer was the toast of the town in 2008 with his hard-hitting, Mississippi-set coming-of-age drama “Ballast.” The Dardennes-esque vérité portrait of lives careening from loss and economic hardship won two awards at the Sundance Film Festival that year — including Best Director for Hammer — and received multiple Film Independent Spirit and Gotham award…
UK far right lines up behind Rupert Lowe in challenge to Reform | Far right
On a cold night in a dilapidated theatre tucked away at the end of Great Yarmouth’s Britannia Pier, Rupert Lowe was launching a far-right revolution. “Millions will have to go,” the MP said as he pledged a policy of mass deportations to rapturous applause and foot stamping from the hundreds of people gathered for what…
Galaxy’s Steve Kurz sees ‘great convergence’ driving crypto’s long-term outlook
Crypto is no longer just an asset class, it is also an ever-more critical part of financial infrastructure, says Steve Kurz, Galaxy Digital’s (GLXY) global head of asset management and co-head of digital assets In “The Great Convergence,” the company’s 2026 investment outlook, Kurz sets out a plan that’s pragmatic about what can be done…
Homeland Security reportedly sent hundreds of subpoenas seeking to unmask anti-ICE accounts
The Department of Homeland Security has been increasing pressure on tech companies to identify the owners of social media accounts that criticize Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to The New York Times. This echoes other recent reporting, with Bloomberg pointing to five cases in which Homeland Security sought to identify the owners of anonymous…
What Kyle Tucker’s Dodgers contract means for MLB labor peace
THERE IS A group of fans who are angry at baseball. There are a lot of them, and they do not exist only on social media. They are inside of group chats that talk about how much money the Los Angeles Dodgers are spending after winning the past two World Series, and they are in…
At Berlin 2026, ‘Free Speech’ Concerns Spark Statement
Almost as soon as this year’s Berlinale opened, the film festival and its assembled luminaries were asked about the current political climate and their own beliefs in everything from the power of art to the scourge of fascism. Not everyone seemed entirely up for the task. As Variety previously reported, when competition jury head Wim…