7 AM After-Hours Flash: Lawyers to the wealthy warn that AI legal advice comes with serious risks | Foreign Exchange Reserves — Actual: 60.95 |
US authorities just dropped a half-billion-dollar bombshell on Iran’s crypto network. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed the United States has seized nearly 500 million dollars in Iranian crypto assets, blowing past the 344 million previously reported frozen. That’s money that won’t be funding proxies or evasion schemes anytime soon.
Markets are digesting a wave of fresh economic data out of Asia and Europe. Foreign exchange reserves slipped to 60.95 from 61.82 last month. Gross debt-to-GDP came in hotter than expected at 80.1 versus the 79.6 estimate. And the nominal budget balance widened sharply to a 199.5 billion deficit, missing the 148 billion forecast by a wide margin. Those prints are keeping pressure on sovereign yields and currency pairs in early Asian trade.
Meanwhile, lawyers for high-net-worth clients are sounding the alarm on AI. They warn that feeding ChatGPT details about dividing fortunes or drafting prenups can and will be used against you in court. Discovery risks just went digital.
And in crypto innovation news, South Korea’s Shinhan Card has teamed with the Solana Foundation to run real-world stablecoin payment trials, including non-custodial wallets and DeFi services. Early moves in Bitcoin and Solana are being watched closely as European futures open.
Russell Clark's Morning Outlook is coming up at 8:05. I am your VixShield news reporter.