Good morning. In this edition:

• 🪙 It’s “Crypto Week” in the House
• 🍿 Superman flies to solid opening
• 👜 The business of fake luxury handbags

…and much more.

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~4.14-minute read (1,102 words).

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"Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it."

–Gilda Radner (1946-1989)

Today we’re proud to announce the launch of DONUT Games, a collection of traditional puzzle games, as well as some original ones we’ve developed in-house, updated and delivered daily.

Behind the move: Over the past few months, we’ve been extensively sourcing feedback from our readers. And while we’ve gotten amazing responses on all types of topics, much of what we heard fell into one of two camps (we’re paraphrasing):

• The first: “These emails are great, but kind of long.” (We’ve been working to make them shorter, yet still as impactful.)
• The second: “U got games on your phone?”👀

Well, we’ve heard you, and the first games are going live this afternoon. Be on the lookout for an email with the 🍩🧩 emojis.

Congress is on the verge of remaking the US financial system to embrace crypto, with a series of bills set for approval after House Republicans declared the next five days “Crypto Week.”

The agenda consists of three measures:

1. Stablecoins: The Senate-approved GENIUS Act would establish rules for who could issue stablecoins—a form of crypto that’s tied to assets such as the US dollar, and allows for quick payment processing.
2. Market structure: This measure would create a framework for regulating crypto by establishing it as a new category of registered digital assets. Crypto businesses would also be able to obtain new types of banking licenses.
3. No Fed-backed digital currency: The third bill aims to prevent the Federal Reserve from ever creating a digital version of official US currency, which Republicans say would be unnecessary government intrusion.

These could fundamentally change how many Americans make payments and invest their money

New stablecoin legislation would help spur major retailers like Walmart and Amazon to start issuing their own stablecoins, and accepting them as payment.

• If widely adopted by customers, stablecoins could potentially save corporations billions of dollars in swipe fees they pay every year to credit card companies, banks, and fintech startups like Square.
• Businesses shelled out $172+ billion in US transaction fees in 2023, a ~50% increase from before the pandemic.

The market structure legislation is expected to similarly spur major finance companies to embrace crypto, and crypto companies to make a push into financial services. Analysts also expect more crypto-related products to enter the mainstream market through brokerage accounts, allowing more retail investors to access trading tools.

The other side of the coin…Several prominent Democrats have voiced opposition to the House GOP’s crypto push. At the center of many lawmakers’ resistance is President Trump and his family's considerable personal investments in crypto—which they argue raises major questions of corruption—as well as the House legislation’s lack of consumer protections and national security safeguards.

Zoom out: The price of bitcoin, the world’s leading cryptocurrency, hit a record high of $118,000+ late last week.

📊 Flash poll: In general, how do you feel about GOP lawmakers’ push to approve a series of new crypto-related bills in Congress?

• Support
• Oppose
• Unsure/other

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It’s a bird, it’s a plane: It’s Superman, swooping in to save the day for DC Studios. Like a speeding bullet, the film, starring David Corenswet as the titular Man of Steel, zoomed to a solid $122 million in its opening weekend at the North American box office.

• It marks the second-largest domestic debut for director James Gunn, and the third-largest of 2025 behind A Minecraft Movie and Lilo & Stich.
• The movie brought in $217 million globally, putting it on track to exceed its reported all-in budget of ~$325 million as early as this month.

The stakes are high for Clark Kent & co.

Superman marks the first entry in the relaunched DC Universe (DCU), which is starting fresh with a new interconnected series of superhero films after its last iteration imploded following a streak of poor box office results.

• The creative reboot is being led by Gunn, who previously helmed Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy franchise before being fired in 2018 for past offensive social media posts.
• Future films include 2026’s Supergirl and Clayface, as well as a new take on Wonder Woman that’s currently in development.

Zoom out: The DCU relaunch comes amid another major makeover for parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, which has now turned in five-consecutive #1 hits following one of the worst box-office runs in its 102-year history.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 📝 President Trump announces 30% tariff on goods from EU and Mexico, effective Aug. 1.
• 💰 Elon Musk's SpaceX to invest $2 billion into xAI, Musk's AI company; capital is part of xAI's $5 billion fundraise that was announced last month. | Google hires Windsurf CEO Varun Mohan, other senior R&D employees, in $2.4 billion AI talent deal; OpenAI previously discussed $3 billion deal for the AI coding startup but the exclusive period has since expired.
• 📦 US online spending rises ~$24.1 billion from July 8-11 due to sales events such as Amazon Prime Day; mobile shopping responsible for ~53% of sales.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

in partnership with MorningSave

• 🎸 Yesterday marked the 40th anniversary of the famous Live Aid concert, which was watched by an est. ~40% of the world at the time.
• 📺 Amaya Espinal and Bryan Arenales revealed as the winners of Love Island USA 2025.
• 🏆 World #1 Jannik Sinner defeats Carlos Alcaraz to win his first Wimbledon title and fourth career Grand Slam; on the women's side, Iga Świątek tops American Amanda Anisimova to win her first Wimbledon and sixth major title. | Chelsea beats PSG 3-0 to win the FIFA Club World Cup. | Washington Nationals take Oklahoma high schooler Eli Willits with #1 pick in 2025 MLB Draft; see complete Day One draft tracker by clicking the link.

*From our partners: 🙌 Burberry 2-piece travel fragrance set for only $39.99… Featuring the adventurous, spirited, and bold Burberry perfume for women. Includes chic box perfect for gifting. Luxurious, yet understated. Save $52 (reg. $92) here at MorningSave.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🤖 Veo 3, Google's latest AI video tool, now generates short movies with sound based only on still photos and prompts. | New analysis of 15 million biomedical abstracts indicates at least 13.5% of papers published in 2024 were written in some part by AI.
• 🦠 Arizona resident died from the plague, aka "Black Death," health officials confirm; it marks the first recorded death from the disease in the county since 2007.
• ✈️ Research team supported by Purdue University hopes to solve one of aviation's greatest mysteries: the location of Amelia Earhart's long-lost plane.

US, WORLD & POLITICS

in partnership with Travis Makes Money

• 🇺🇸 State Department lays off 1,350+ employees under new reorganization plan from the Trump admin.
• 📝 Secret Service’s “cascade of preventable failures” led to Trump assassination attempt one year ago, per new Senate committee report.
• 🏛️ AG Pam Bondi fires 20+ DOJ employees who worked on cases involving Jan. 6 Capitol riot and/or President Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents. | FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino reportedly threatens to resign over lack of transparency in recent Jeffrey Epstein memo from the US gov’t. (Dive deeper: Epstein saga officially concludes, but mysteries abound)

*From our partners: 🧠 Most people work harder, not smarter. Here's the difference… Travis Chappell interviewed hundreds of wealthy entrepreneurs, like Shaq and George Kamel, to crack their money-making strategies. His Travis Makes Money Newsletter reveals what actually works in 2025—not theory, but proven tactics from people the world's highest performers. Subscribe free here.

☝️ NASA's Parker Solar probe recently captured the closest-ever images of the Sun, taken ~3.8 million miles from our star’s surface. They’re expected to help scientists better understand the origins of solar wind and its effects on life on Earth.

🤔 Did You Know? A species of bacteria called Xylella fastidiosa, which has killed millions of olive trees in Italy and caused losses of $1+ billion in recent years, can trace its Italian origin back to a single infected coffee plant imported from Costa Rica in 2008.

📰 Worth a Read: Inside the shadowy, lucrative business of ‘superfake’ luxury handbags

🖱️ Clickbait: Did Shakespeare write Hamlet while he was stoned?

Monday: MLB Home-Run Derby

Tuesday: Consumer Price Index for June; MLB All-Star Game; Arizona holds primary to fill vacant US House seat; Emmy nominations revealed

Wednesday: National AI Day

Thursday: British Open tees off; date of national anti-Trump protest dubbed “Good Trouble Lives On”; Disneyland celebrates 70th birthday

Friday: I Know What You Did Last Summer and Smurfs hit theaters; monthly US consumer sentiment index

+Over the weekend: The WNBA All-Star Game is on Saturday.

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On Friday, we covered how Russia has further escalated its aerial attacks against major Ukrainian cities in recent weeks, culminating with massive drone strikes on back-to-back nights over the past two days.

❓ Our question to you: In general, how do you feel about the way America’s role in the Russia-Ukraine conflict has changed since President Trump took office?

• Support: 26%
• Oppose: 60%
• Unsure/other: 14%

⏪ Last time: When we previously asked this question in late February, the responses were:

• Support: 27%
• Oppose: 60%
• Unsure/other: 13%

Click here to read some of the most thoughtful longform responses.

+Note on sample size: We received 1,792 votes and 206 longform responses.

Guess the definitions of the following Greek/Latin root words:

1. Frig
2. Juxta
3. Libr
4. Mim
5. Vent

🫂 Tired, lonely, or depressed? One solutions-focused journalist is arguing for more social prescriptions, aka professional healthcare referrals for activities and resources in your community to combat common mental health issues.

🪸 UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography, in collaboration with the Jacobs School of Engineering, developed a gel called SNAP-X, which contains nano-particles that slowly release some of coral larvae’s favorite “smells” into the water to encourage them to grow.

🍕 One Chicago pizzeria is honoring their former customer Pope Leo XIV with a new menu item: “Pope-erroni” Pie. 

+Note: These stories previously appeared in a May 2025 edition of Positive DONUT, our weekly newsletter surfacing all the good things you don't hear about in the news.

1. Frig = Cold (e.g., frigid)
2. Juxta = Beside (juxtaposition)
3. Libr = Book (library)
4. Mim = Repeat (mimic)
5. Vent = Wind (ventilation)

+Clue for the Games newsletter: The second answer to today’s Conjoiner sequence can be found by clicking here.