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Update: A quick heads up for existing Kraken users that many people are being targeted for another 30 days of their “Daily Spin” game given out to new users. You will need to make one trade to activate (even buying $1 of BTC or USDG and paying a penny fee works). Then you get 30 days of spins, like free slot machine pulls. The total average winnings over 30 days seem to be reliably at least around $15-$20. Check your offers tab; The e-mail subject was “🎄Spin to win up to $2,500 this Christmas!”, which looked a little spammy so you might have missed it.
Original post:
Crypto exchange Kraken is now offering up to a $150 bonus in crypto after you open a new account and complete the requirements. You can confirm when entering the code, as shown above. You must trade crypto that isn’t stablecoin, like BTC. The details are below. That’s my referral link, which should auto-populate with the promo code 2zr4jyp5 . Thanks if you use it!
- Open an account and deposit at least $100.
- Trade at least $100, earn $15.
- Trade at least $300, earn $20. ($35 total)
- Trade at least $500, earn $50. ($75 total)
- Trade at least $5,000, earn $75. ($150 total)
Select cashback portals are offering bonuses as well, which change regularly but can be upward of $100 as well, like TopCashback and Rakuten (search “Kraken”). The payouts vary up to daily, but I would wait until one is above $100, currently Rakuten is at $150 at time of writing (Hat tip to DoC). I am not 100% certain if this will stack with the referral discount, but I would still try going through the portal link and then adding the referral code. There are multiple successful reports of stacking.
Be on the lookout for a Daily Spin game which offers free spins for 30 days as well.
Other crypto offers:
Pinduoduo in China, Shopee in Southeast Asia, and Meesho in India operate in markets that could hardly be more different -- an upper-middle-income industrial state, a stitched-together archipelago of under-banked economies, and a country where three-quarters of retail is unorganized and e-commerce penetration sits at about 7% -- yet all three have landed on the same business model.
These platforms run asset-light marketplaces specializing in cheap goods and slow delivery, monetizing through logistics mark-ups, advertising, and installment credit rather than retail margins. Temu and Shein are further variations now expanding in the U.S. and Europe.
The economics are thin for all. Pinduoduo's EBITDA margins on GMV (gross merchandise value) sit in a 0-4% band; Meesho's group-wide EBITDA hovers around break-even. Neither charges commissions on most sales; both earn through logistics mark-ups and advertising. Sponsored listings account for 1-3% of GMV at Indian marketplaces and 4-5% at Alibaba and Pinduoduo.
Credit is the more consequential side business. In India, cash on delivery functions as unofficial credit. Meesho CEO Vidit Aatrey said the customers prefer CoD for its "built-in delay," which effectively makes it "a five-day loan." Geography, income, and regulation were supposed to produce different answers. They produced one: a 3% endgame where e-commerce clips a few points of GMV and relies on attention and credit for profits.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
The Pokemon Trading Card Game has quietly transformed into something its creators never intended: a speculative asset class dominated by adults hunting for profit while children struggle to find a single pack on store shelves. The resale market has climbed so high that the latest set, Phantasmal Flames, had a rare Charizard illustration valued at more than $800 before anyone had even pulled one from a pack -- a pack that retails for about $5.3.
Ben Thyer, owner of BathTCG in Bath, has watched his shop become a flashpoint. His staff have received threats from customers, and he's heard reports of attacks and robberies at other stores. He stopped selling whole boxes of booster packs and now limits individual pack purchases. On Amazon, customers can only enter raffles for the chance to buy cards at all.The Pokemon Company printed 10.2 billion cards in the year ending March 2025 and still cannot meet demand. The company shared a seven-month-old statement saying it is printing "at maximum capacity." Thyer sees signs of a correction -- prices on singles and sealed products are falling -- but expects renewed frenzy around Pokemon's 30th anniversary in early 2026.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Microsoft announced on Tuesday its largest-ever investment in Asia -- $17.5 billion over four years starting in 2026 -- to expand cloud and AI infrastructure across India, fund skilling programs, and support ongoing operations in the country. The commitment adds to a $3 billion investment the company announced in January 2025 that is on track to be spent by the end of 2026. A new hyperscale cloud region in Hyderabad is set to go live in mid-2026 and will be Microsoft's largest in India, comprising three availability zones.
The company also plans to integrate AI into two government employment platforms -- e-Shram and the National Career Service -- that serve more than 310 million informal workers. Microsoft is doubling its India skilling target to 20 million people by 2030; since January, it has already trained 5.6 million.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Learn more about how you can use Google Photos to create videos using the app’s new, redesigned video editor.Learn more about how you can use Google Photos to create videos using the app’s new, redesigned video editor.
Michael Saylor's software company Strategy, formerly known as MicroStrategy, built a financial model that some observers called an "infinite-money machine" by stockpiling hundreds of thousands of bitcoins and issuing stock and debt to buy more, but that machine appears to be breaking down. The company's stock peaked above $450 in mid-July and ended November at $177.18, a 60% decline. Bitcoin fell only 25% over the same period. The gap between Strategy's market cap and the value of its bitcoin holdings has nearly vanished.
At one point last week, the company's market value dipped below the value of its bitcoins after accounting for debt. Strategy announced it had built a $1.4 billion dollar reserve by selling more stock to cover required dividend payments to preferred shareholders over the next twelve months. The company also disclosed it might sell some of its coins if its value continues to fall, a reversal from Saylor's February tweet declaring "Never sell your Bitcoin." Professional short seller Jim Chanos, who had questioned the strategy's sustainability, told Sherwood he made money by shorting the stock and buying bitcoins.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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