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Bitcoin crossed eighty-one thousand dollars this week, but the story underneath the price is just as interesting. For sixty-six consecutive days, traders shorting Bitcoin have been paying an annualized carry of twelve percent — and analysts say that's not panic, it's institutional hedging. Large players are buying spot while simultaneously shorting futures to lock in gains, which means the rally may have a more disciplined foundation than previous cycles.
Meanwhile, Coinbase is restructuring in a significant way, cutting fourteen percent of its workforce as CEO Brian Armstrong points to both a down market and the accelerating role of artificial intelligence in exchange operations. Armstrong says the company is flattening its org chart and leaning into AI tooling — a move that reflects a broader industry pattern of using market slowdowns to reshape headcount around automation rather than simply wait for conditions to improve.
And on that note, a warning worth taking seriously. An MIT artificial intelligence researcher is cautioning companies against automating entry-level jobs out of existence. The argument is straightforward: even if AI outperforms junior employees today, eliminating those roles removes the pipeline through which the next generation of skilled workers actually learns. Short-term efficiency gains, the argument goes, could create a very real long-term talent drought.
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