Doomscroll News

Tag: China

  • Deconstructing the Crypto Market Collapse of October 10, 2025

    On October 10, 2025, a single geopolitical announcement triggered the largest deleveraging event in the history of digital assets, exposing the fragile, overleveraged core of a euphoric market. This was not just a market crash; it was a Black Swan event that stress-tested the entire crypto ecosystem, revealing its deepest vulnerabilities and its surprising strengths.

    Executive Summary

    The cryptocurrency market was shattered on Friday, October 10, 2025, by what appeared to be a singular geopolitical shock. In reality, it was the catastrophic failure of a market structure defined by extreme leverage and paradoxical sentiment. This historic deleveraging event, the largest in the history of digital assets, demonstrated the profound systemic risks that had built up beneath a surface of bullish euphoria.

    President Donald Trump’s announcement of 100% tariffs on China was the undeniable catalyst. However, this report will show that the collapse resulted from a dangerous confluence of factors. The market was primed for volatility by a widely accepted “debasement trade” narrative, where a US government shutdown was ironically seen as a tailwind for asset prices. This perception led to all-time highs for Bitcoin and an unprecedented buildup of speculative, leveraged long positions.

    The tariff announcement acted as a pinprick to this overleveraged bubble, triggering a violent liquidation cascade that erased between $9.5 billion and $19 billion from derivatives markets in 24 hours.¹³, ¹⁹ On-chain analysis reveals that the decentralized derivatives exchange Hyperliquid was the primary venue for this deleveraging.¹³ Furthermore, forensic evidence points to the strategic actions of sophisticated whale traders who not only anticipated the market’s vulnerability but also positioned themselves to profit immensely from the chaos.², ¹² This suggests the event was both a market-wide panic and a predatory hunt.

    The analysis concludes with an assessment of the market’s structural health in the aftermath, identifying key indicators that will define its trajectory and offering a forward-looking perspective for navigating the new paradigm.

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  • An Analytical Overview of the FTSE China 50 Index Constituents: Q4 2025

    Decoding the FTSE China 50

    The FTSE China 50 Index is a real-time, tradable benchmark designed to provide international investors with exposure to the largest and most liquid Chinese companies listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (SEHK). Administered by FTSE Russell, the index comprises 50 constituents selected based on market value and liquidity, employing a transparent, rules-based methodology. To prevent over-concentration in any single entity, individual constituent weights are capped at 9% on a quarterly basis. This structure makes the index a critical tool for creating index-linked financial products, such as Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and derivatives, and serves as a key performance benchmark for global investors seeking access to the Chinese market through an established international exchange. This report provides a detailed profile of each of the 50 constituent companies, reflecting the index’s composition as of October 1, 2025. The list is current following the FTSE Russell Q3 2025 quarterly review, which concluded with no changes to the index’s membership.   

    Clarifying Index Composition: H-Shares, Red Chips, and P Chips

    A nuanced understanding of the FTSE China 50 requires a clear distinction between the types of share classes eligible for inclusion. Unlike indices focused on mainland-listed A-shares, the FTSE China 50 is composed exclusively of stocks traded on the SEHK, which fall into three specific categories designed for international investment. This composition is fundamental to the index’s role as a gateway for global capital into the Chinese economy.   

    • H Shares: These are securities of companies incorporated in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) but listed and traded on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong. While subject to PRC corporate law, they are traded in Hong Kong Dollars and are freely accessible to international investors. This category typically includes China’s large, state-owned enterprises in foundational sectors like banking and energy. Examples within the index include Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) and Petrochina.   
    • Red Chips: These are companies incorporated outside of the PRC (often in jurisdictions like Hong Kong or the Cayman Islands) but traded on the SEHK. A company qualifies as a Red Chip if at least 30% of its shares are held by mainland state entities and at least 50% of its revenue or assets are derived from mainland China. This structure represents state-controlled interests operating through an international corporate framework. CITIC Limited is a prominent example in the index.   
    • P Chips: Similar to Red Chips, P Chip companies are incorporated outside the PRC and trade on the SEHK. The key distinction is ownership: a P Chip is controlled by private-sector Mainland China individuals or entities, not the state. The company must also derive at least 50% of its revenue or assets from mainland China. This category includes many of China’s most dynamic and globally recognized technology and consumer companies, such as Tencent Holdings and Alibaba Group.   
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  • Why Cryptocurrency is a House of Cards

    In late April 2025, an elderly investor in the United States became the victim of a devastating social engineering attack. The prize for the hackers: 3,520 Bitcoin, worth over $330 million. What happened next was a masterclass in modern money laundering. The stolen funds were rapidly funneled through at least six different exchanges and swapped for Monero (XMR), a cryptocurrency famous for its promise of privacy. The massive purchases caused Monero’s price to surge by a verifiable 8.2% in just two hours, triggering such extreme volatility that some illiquid markets saw temporary intraday spikes as high as 50%.

    This single, dramatic event is more than just another crypto-theft headline. It’s a key that unlocks the door to the crypto ecosystem’s most surprising and misunderstood secrets. It peels back the curtain on the popular narratives and reveals a far more complex—and often contradictory—reality. What follows are five critical truths, drawn from academic research, leaked data, and strategic analysis, that challenge everything you think you know about digital currency.

    1. The World’s Most “Untraceable” Coin is Shockingly Easy to Trace

    For criminals and privacy purists alike, Monero (XMR) is the holy grail: a digital currency advertised as completely untraceable. It is the preferred medium of exchange on darknet markets and the ransom currency for sophisticated cybercriminal gangs. Its core promise and entire reason for being is “untraceability.”

    But a groundbreaking academic paper, “A Traceability Analysis of Monero’s Blockchain,” revealed a shockingly different reality. In a real-world analysis of Monero’s public ledger, researchers uncovered devastating flaws in its privacy protections.

    • The Zero Mix-in Flaw: Monero’s privacy relies on “mix-ins,” which are decoy transactions used to hide the real sender. The analysis found that a staggering 65.9% of all Monero inputs used zero mix-ins. Without any decoys, these transactions were trivially traceable.

    • The Cascade Effect: Each of these easily traced transactions created a domino effect. As researchers identified the real sender in one transaction, they could use that information to eliminate it as a decoy in other transactions. This “cascade effect” allowed them to de-anonymize other, seemingly protected transactions.

    The final conclusion was stunning: a passive adversary—meaning someone with access only to the public blockchain data and no special hacking tools—could trace a conclusive 88% of all Monero inputs. This massive gap between theory and practice hasn’t gone unnoticed by authorities. The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has awarded contracts to blockchain analysis firms like Chainalysis specifically to develop Monero-tracing tools, proving that the world’s most “private” coin is anything but.

    But if the privacy is an illusion, what about the price itself? The data reveals an even more fragile foundation.

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  • Ford’s New Slogan: “Built Ford Tough… With a Little Help from Our Comrades”

    Is that the sound of rattling bolts on a new F-150 or the clinking of vodka glasses in a celebratory toast? Rumor has it, Dearborn might be getting a new sister city: Moscow. With Ford’s stock taking a beating and debt levels reaching for the stratosphere, analysts are wondering where the company will find its next big bailout. After all, when your electric vehicle ambitions are already entangled with Chinese battery technology, what’s a little more foreign investment between adversaries?

    While European allies seem to be keeping their checkbooks closed, don’t be surprised if the next Ford press conference is catered with borscht and the company unveils a new “From Russia With Love” financing plan. Forget diluting shares; the real power move is diluting your national allegiance. The new Ford insignia might just be a hammer and sickle superimposed over the blue oval. Will the stock go up? Who knows. But one thing’s for sure: the cup holders in the next-generation Mustang better be big enough to hold a bottle of Stolichnaya. After all, with over $160 billion in debt, you’ve got to be damn creative to keep the assembly line running. As for their EV battery “lies,” it turns out the secret ingredient might not have been lithium, but a healthy dose of geopolitical pragmatism. So, get ready for the all-new Ford Pravda, coming soon to a dealership near you. Just don’t ask about the trunk space; it’s probably full of rubles.

  • A Tale of Two Wests: Bitcoin, Geopolitics, and the Theoretical Choice Between Oregon and Idaho

    It is a curious theoretical exercise to consider the choice between a place like Bend and one like Boise, not merely as a preference for a city, but as a vote for a divergent future. One looks at Boise’s enthusiastic embrace of the Bitcoin ecosystem and sees a strange paradox. Here is a political culture deeply rooted in ideals of American sovereignty and independence, yet it champions an industry whose very existence relies on a constant supply of specialized hardware forged in China. This creates a profound strategic vulnerability, a dependency that, from a certain critical perspective, borders on the treasonous. It makes one ponder the long-term political calculus of the Republican party; is this a blind spot so vast it could lead to a monumental landslide?

    In this light, Oregon’s political landscape appears as a more complex, and frankly, more reassuring ecosystem. It isn’t a monolithic bloc. You have the necessary friction of principled opposition from figures like Representative Suzanne Bonamici, a vital check against unchecked enthusiasm. Even more telling, perhaps, are those who maintain a wise and prudent silence, who refuse to be swept up in the fervor. This diversity of thought suggests a healthier, more resilient political body.

    And so, the musing turns to the very lines on the map, to concepts like ‘Greater Idaho’ and the ‘State of Jefferson.’ From this perspective, the Greater Idaho movement seems less like a liberation and more like an absorption into that very system of paradoxical dependency. But Jefferson… ah, Jefferson represents a conceptual break. It is the chance to forge a new political entity, one founded not on the uncritical adoption of flawed systems, but on a healthier skepticism and a desire for true independence that is free from the digital supply chains of a global adversary.

  • Satoshi’s $140 Billion Ghost: The ‘Made in China’ Problem with Crypto’s Gold Rush

    On one side, you have the absolute control of the Federal Reserve system, which can de-bank citizens for protesting government mandates. Take the Canadian truckers who opposed COVID-19 vaccine requirements, whether it was the failed Johnson & Johnson shot they pulled, Russia’s Sputnik V, or China’s Sinovac. On the other side, you have the equally ridiculous, sketchy reality of today’s cryptocurrency, where the entire system is deeply flawed.

    Arguably the biggest problem is the ghost founder. Even now, in September 2025, no one has a clue who Satoshi Nakamoto is. This anonymous creator is sitting on a wallet containing an estimated 1.1 million bitcoins that has never been touched. Depending on the market’s wild swings, that stash is worth somewhere between $125 billion and $140 billion. This isn’t some quaint mystery; it’s a ticking time bomb at the heart of the ecosystem. This single, unknown entity holds enough power to crash the entire market with a single transaction, making a mockery of the whole idea of “decentralization.”

    This fundamental flaw is matched by a very tangible problem: the centralization of power in the hardware. It’s a modern gold rush, but the only company selling the shovels and axes, the ASIC miners, is China. Their near-total dominance over manufacturing creates a massive vulnerability that directly impacts the individual prospectors.

    YouTuber VoskCoin provides a perfect case study of this broken system. Despite a huge following with sponsors and YouTube revenue, he has still spent probably hundreds of thousands of dollars to build his “family farmer” crypto operation, and he has documented the shady practices of Chinese ASIC manufacturers. He points out that miners ordered from China frequently arrive with no warranty, and there’s widespread suspicion that manufacturers “pre-mine” on the machines, selling them to the public only after their most profitable days are over. Many of these high powered ASICs require specialized immersion cooling fluid to operate, but using it often voids the warranty you likely never had in the first place. He has also warned his followers about rug pulls in the ASIC minable coin space, like the situation around Alephium (ALPH), where new miners are hyped up and then fail to deliver.

    The financial and operational risks for an independent miner are astronomical. VoskCoin has shared electricity bills as high as $18,000 and recently suffered a catastrophic lightning strike that wiped out a huge chunk of his mining capacity. He attributes the failure to his own self-admitted ignorance in not ensuring the proper grounding was installed, a costly mistake in this high-stakes environment. This harsh reality starkly contrasts with the industrial scale mega operations, like the one connected to Hut 8, that have corporate backing.

    This exposes the raw truth of the crypto dream for the average person. It’s a field where the essential hardware is controlled by foreign companies with questionable ethics, and all the risk is pushed onto individuals. It’s unclear under what authority a president could reveal Satoshi Nakamoto’s identity, but perhaps that level of shock is exactly what’s needed to force a national conversation about the sketchy foundations of the whole system. We have to find a path that balances financial privacy with the clear and present dangers of a system so heavily dominated by a single foreign power. Let’s just hope the final solution isn’t also “Made in China.”

  • A New Vision for American Power: The Peace Through Strength Act

    Rename the NDAA: It’s time to stop calling our primary military bill the “National Defense Authorization Act.” A name that reflects our true goal, The Peace Through Strength Act, is a more honest and strategic choice.

    Pivot from Ukraine to Harden NATO: Stop funding the un-winnable conflict in Ukraine and redirect those resources to prepare our actual NATO allies for Russia’s real test. This means wargaming and preparing for “Gray Zone” attacks on the Baltics and probes of the Suwałki Gap, ensuring our treaty commitments are backed by undeniable force.

    Secure Our Northern Flank: Acquire Greenland: We should begin the process of purchasing Greenland from Denmark. This move would secure vital rare-earth minerals, grant the U.S. permanent strategic dominance in the Arctic, and provide an unshakeable check against Russian and Chinese ambitions in our hemisphere.

    Give Taiwan a Choice: Present Taiwan’s critical industries (like TSMC) a “golden ticket” offer to relocate to the United States. If they refuse, our strategic focus will pivot to reinforcing our treaty allies in the region, including Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, and Australia.

    Redefine National Service: Instead of forcing women into draft registration, inspire a new patriotism. Allow women to register for the Selective Service with the clear understanding they would serve in a smaller capacity and primarily in non-combat and support roles, promoting national readiness through inspiration, not a mandate.