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B: Japan

• Orange Caesar demands “spoiled” Japan buys US rice
• Sanseito showing up in the mainstream media
• Land prices up 8% across Tokyo
• Conbini coffee up 9%
• SEGA store to open in Shibuya this month.
• Free Japan domestic flights for tourists?
• Mt. Fuji climbing fees doubled to 4000JPY.
• Could this be our final July 5th in Tokyo?

B: Bitcoin (~57 mins)

• good or bad
• • https://x.com/documentingbtc/status/1940406789138440626?s=61
  • a new venture called Erebor is being launched by a consortium of tech billionaires to serve Bitcoin, crypto, and other tech-focused businesses in the U.S.:
  • Led by Palmer Luckey (founder of Oculus and defense-tech firm Anduril) .
  • Backed by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, alongside Joe Lonsdale (co-founder of Palantir and 8VC) .
    
  • What we know so far:

• The bank is named Erebor, a Tolkien-inspired nod, and has filed for a national bank charter with U.S. regulators
• It’s designed as a digital-first bank, headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, with a satellite office in New York—primarily serving tech startups, crypto firms, AI, defense, and manufacturing businesses, as well as individual investors or employees in those sectors .
• Leadership will include co‑CEOs Owen Rapaport and Jacob Hirshman, the latter a former adviser to stablecoin issuer Circle. Mike Hagedorn is also listed as president .
• Erebor plans to hold stablecoins on its balance sheet, aiming to be “the most regulated entity conducting and facilitating stablecoin transactions” .
• It targets the growing need for banking solutions by crypto startups and high-risk tech ventures that traditional lenders shy away from, particularly following Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse in March 2023 .
  

Why it matters now:

• SVB’s collapse left a gap in banking for tech and crypto companies. Erebor is directly aiming to fill that niche .
  
• With its stablecoin-ready infrastructure and digital-centric model, it’s positioning itself at the forefront of the future of fintech and Web3 banking .
  

Erebor’s registration for a fully regulated national charter signals serious intent to serve as a compliant and credible alternative to unregulated crypto platforms .