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Ethereum Price Coiling: The Network Hit $8 Billion Tokenized U.S. Treasuries Milestone

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Ethereum price is coiling as tokenized U.S. Treasuries on the network crossed $8 billion for the first time in history. A huge milestone.


Ethereum price is coiling. Trading above $2,300, ETH is holding above recent support as tokenized U.S. Treasuries on the network just crossed $8 billion for the first time in history. This is a milestone that reframes the story.

Token Terminal data confirms the figure doubled within six months. For context, the same asset class crossed $1 billion as recently as Q4 2024. So, this is an 8x expansion in just 18 months.

Ethereum price is coiling as tokenized U.S. Treasuries on the network crossed $8 billion for the first time in history. A huge milestone.
Tokenized US treasuries, Ethereum, TokenTerminal

Ethereum isn’t just a trading vehicle; it’s becoming core financial infrastructure. The Bridge stablecoin also launched on Ethereum this week, adding another liquidity layer to a network that has been accumulating stablecoins at a pace that’s frankly difficult to overstate. Institutional accumulation signals have been building quietly behind the headline volatility, too.

Discover: The best crypto to diversify your portfolio with

Can Ethereum Price Reclaim $2,500?

CoinGecko data shows ETH’s daily volume contracted to the $20 billion area with a weekly recovery of 3%, showing that buyers are testing the range floor with intent. Year-over-year, ETH is up 26% from its May 2025 level of $1,700-$1,800, which puts the current price in a structurally stronger position than the charts imply.

The immediate support sits at $2,200, the April 29 low. Resistance clusters near $2,400, then the psychologically significant $3,000 zone. The all-time high of $4,950 represents a -39% drawdown from the current price as a gap that looms large on any longer-term chart.

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When, not if, volume returns, ETH could easily clear $2,500 resistance and target $3,000, driven by institutional flows tied to the tokenization narrative. But a close below $2,200 could reopen downside toward the $2,000 handle.

The tokenized Treasury milestone doesn’t guarantee a price move. But it does suggest the floor is better-supported than raw price action implies.

Discover: The best pre-launch token sales

Bitcoin Hyper Targets Early-Mover Upside as Ethereum Tests Key Levels

Ethereum at $2,300 is a recovery play, but recovery from a -39% drawdown to ATH means even a strong bull run leaves substantial time and capital at work before significant gains materialize. Traders sizing up risk-reward ratios are increasingly looking at earlier-stage infrastructure plays where the upside math looks different.

Bitcoin Hyper ($HYPER) is one project drawing serious presale volume in that context. It’s positioning as the first-ever Bitcoin Layer 2 with Solana Virtual Machine (SVM) integration. Hyper targets Bitcoin’s core limitations like slow transactions, high fees, and no programmability, while preserving Bitcoin’s security model.

The performance is aggressive: faster execution than Solana itself, via extremely low-latency Layer 2 processing paired with a Decentralized Canonical Bridge for BTC transfers.

The presale numbers are concrete. $32.6 million raised at a current price of $0.0136, with staking rewards available for early participants.

Research Bitcoin Hyper before the presale stage concludes.

The post Ethereum Price Coiling: The Network Hit $8 Billion Tokenized U.S. Treasuries Milestone appeared first on Cryptonews.

Mexican parents criticise ending school year a month early for World Cup

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The federal government faces widespread anger for saying the school year could end on 5 June to accommodate the football tournament.

3 Styles at Work: How to Wear The Silk Scarf

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An essential isn’t essential unless it’s versatile. It should pull its weight, appeal to any personality, and fit in seamlessly with various aesthetics. To put this theory to the test, we’ve asked three Vogue editors to style the same piece, each in their own way.


The silk printed scarf is having its moment—the spring/summer 2026 runways made the case, and our editors are fully convinced. From Kallmeyer’s oversized striped scarves to the ease of Dries Van Noten’s pareos, the message was clear: this isn’t just a throw-on accessory, it should be the focal point of your look. Go bold with saturated hues and graphic prints, or let a neutral tone do the quiet work. Either way, their versatility is endless. It’s the difference between wearing clothes and building a look. See how each editor styled theirs, below.

Maddy Fass, fashion market director

“I’m always a fan of a dress over pants so I was captivated by the styling in Julian Klausner’s debut mens show for Dries Van Noten SS26. Multicolored printed sarongs were effortlessly tied and swished over relaxed trousers, topped with tailored blazers, and grounded with the ease and casualness of the classic flip-flop. I was instantly interested in recreating the formula for myself and the spring-to-summer transition we’re in now is really the most opportune time.”

Dries Van Noten

printed scarf

Leading China’s DeepSeek AI Price Prediction of XRP, Bitcoin and Ethereum by The End of 2026

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Leading China’s DeepSeek AI Price Prediction of XRP, Bitcoin and Ethereum by The End of 2026


Leading China’s DeepSeek AI just dropped its end-of-May price prediction for the three biggest names in crypto. And the model is not messing around.

On Bitcoin, DeepSeek is calling $85,000 to $92,000. The logic is straightforward. Post-halving supply compression is smashing into a wall of ETF inflows at the same time macro fears are cooling off.

Less Bitcoin being mined, plus institutions aggressively buying, equals a supply shock that forces another leg higher.

Source: Deepseek AI Price Prediction

DeepSeek keeps $72,000 as the base case, though, because it knows a hawkish Fed or wave of profit-taking can derail the whole thing fast.

On Ethereum, DeepSeek is eyeing $4,500 to $5,000. The model is pointing at the Dencun upgrade, rising staking yields, and ETF speculation around ETH products all hitting simultaneously.

DeepSeek thinks institutions are starting to treat staking yields like a legitimate income stream, not just a crypto gimmick. Base case lands at $3,800.

But if gas fees spike again or Layer 2 competitors start eating Ethereum’s lunch, DeepSeek sees $3,100 as the ugly alternative.

Mind you, this is a dream right now for many Ethereum holders. This basically means he is bullish anyway.

Ethereum (ETH)
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On XRP, DeepSeek is targeting $1.80 to $2.20. The entire thesis rests on one thing. Regulatory clarity.

DeepSeek does not think XRP needs a full-blown meme season to run. It just needs the SEC situation to be resolved and Ripple’s payment network to get a clean legal runway.

Without that, DeepSeek slaps a $0.90 ceiling on it and calls it a day.

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The most interesting thing about DeepSeek’s outlook is what it is not doing. It is not just throwing big numbers at the wall. Every bullish target comes with a specific scenario that kills it. The model is optimistic, but it built the exit door into every room.

Price Prediction: Can Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP Hold Momentum Into May as Deepseek AI Says?

Bitcoin is trading around $80,582, still inside the breakout zone DeepSeek was focused on. Structurally solid as long as it holds above $78,000 to $80,000.

Momentum has cooled slightly after testing $82,000, but the setup is still intact. Reclaim $82,000 with volume, and the path toward DeepSeek’s $85,000 to $92,000 range starts aligning fast.

Fail to do that, and Bitcoin likely chops between $78,000 and $84,000 waiting for a macro catalyst to force the next move. Clarity Act, maybe?

Ethereum is the laggard right now at $2,317, sitting below the $2,500 reclaim zone DeepSeek’s bullish thesis depends on.

The fundamental case around staking yields, ETF speculation, and the Dencun upgrade is still alive. But the price is not confirming any of it yet.

Get back above $2,400 and eventually $2,500, and the expansion opens up quickly. Stay below it, and the low $2,200 region becomes a real risk.

XRP is sitting right at the most sensitive level of the three. Trading around $1,40, directly under the $1.40 to $1.50 resistance cluster.

DeepSeek’s $1.80 to $2.20 target still depends on regulatory clarity and Ripple ecosystem momentum. But technically, XRP needs to establish strength above $1.50 before anyone starts seriously pricing those levels in.

The story across all three is the same. Bullish narratives are active. Institutional and regulatory catalysts exist. But price is only partially confirming them. DeepSeek’s targets are still on the table. The market just has not committed to chasing them yet.

Maxi Doge: Early-Stage Meme Coin Targets Outsized Growth

While Deepseek outlook suggests XRP and Bitcoin could still post significant gains, their already sizable market caps limits extreme upside in a bull run compared with smaller, newer, canine coins.

Maxi Doge ($MAXI) is coming for them. The project has raised $4.7 million in its ongoing presale as traders pile in to snap up the next biggest Doge-themed coin before the CLARITY Act passes.

Maxi Doge is a loud, degenerate, gym bro, and alpha doge. He claims to be both a rival and an envious distant cousin to Dogecoin in a viral marketing campaign that embraces the fun and irreverent tone that defined the 2021 meme coin boom.

MAXI is issued as an ERC-20 token on the Ethereum proof-of-stake network, resulting in a smaller environmental footprint compared with Dogecoin’s proof-of-work model.

Early presale buyers can currently stake MAXI for returns of up to 65% APY, with yields gradually decreasing as the staking pool expands.

The token is $0.0002806 in the current presale stage, with automatic price increases scheduled at each funding milestone. Purchases are supported via wallets such as MetaMask and Best Wallet.

Stay updated through Maxi Doge’s official X and Telegram pages.

VISIT MAXI DOGE HERE

The post Leading China’s DeepSeek AI Price Prediction of XRP, Bitcoin and Ethereum by The End of 2026 appeared first on Cryptonews.

Coinbase (COIN) earnings Q1 2026

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Coinbase posted lower-than-expected first-quarter results as crypto prices fell, weighing on one of the company’s key revenue drivers – spot trading of digital assets.

Here’s how Coinbase In its quarter ended March 31, the stock performed compared to Wall Street’s expectations based on an analyst survey by LSEG:

  • Earnings per share: Loss of $1.49 versus expected profit of 27 cents
  • Revenue: $1.41 billion versus expected $1.52 billion

Coinbase shares fell 4% in after-hours trading.

The company, which operates the largest cryptocurrency market in the United States, recorded transaction revenue of $755.8 million, compared to $805.2 million that analysts had expected. Subscription revenue was $583.5 million versus an estimated $619.3 million.

Severe slowdown

Given the drop in cryptocurrency prices at the start of the year, investors expected a sharp drop in trading volume. Bitcoin rose 12% in March but posted a 22% decline in the first quarter.

Coinbase’s net income is often distorted by accounting rules that require it to value its large crypto holdings based on the price at the end of the quarter, causing its reported profits to fluctuate wildly even when no assets are sold.

Best known for its cryptocurrency trading platform, Coinbase is seeking to diversify its revenue streams through subscription and services businesses, including revenue from stablecoins and staking.

Stablecoin sales totaled $305 million, up from $274 million last year, driven by growth in the USDC stablecoin market cap and a record-breaking average of USDC held in Coinbase products.

The era of easy bargains and hype-driven returns in cryptocurrencies is coming to an end as exchanges increasingly focus on more diversified trading revenues derived from prediction markets and tokenized real-world assets rather than relying on more speculative investments.

“We’re trying to diversify the things that people can trade so that as markets change and behaviors change, we always have something that people want to trade,” Coinbase Chief Financial Officer Alesia Haas told CNBC. “This diversification will help curb some of the volatility we have seen in pure crypto trading.”

Investors are looking for signs that Coinbase can still make money as crypto trading declines. Central to these efforts is Coinbase’s success in strengthening non-transactional operations to offset the cyclicality of transaction fees during downturns.

Beyond crypto

While revenue and profit results fell short of expectations, Coinbase saw promising growth in its diversified offerings, including event contracts and support for trading crypto derivatives and tokenized real-world assets.

The company reported derivatives trading volume of approximately $4.2 billion in the first quarter, up 169% from the same period last year. Despite this year’s collapse in crypto prices, the exchange gained share globally in both spot and derivatives trading, reaching an all-time high market share of 8.6% in crypto trading volume.

Coinbase also predicted that its prediction market business would reach $100 million in annual revenue by the end of this year. The business segment was launched in collaboration with Kalshi at the end of January.

Moves to diversify away from crypto underscore Coinbase’s efforts to create an “everything exchange” – an initiative unveiled a year ago by CEO Brian Armstrong to make the company less dependent on trading tokens like Bitcoin, Ether and XRP.

During Coinbase’s management call with analysts at 5:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, investors listened in for updates on the trading platform’s margins and operational discipline following this week’s announcement that the company will cut about 14% of its workforce, or 700 jobs. Coinbase noted that the layoffs were part of a broader, AI-driven restructuring effort, citing the crypto downturn as a catalyst.

The job cuts underscored Wall Street’s expectations that subdued trading conditions could continue into the second quarter.

Read the full Coinbase shareholder slide Here.

Correction: This story has been revised to clarify that Coinbase’s CEO is Brian Armstrong. An earlier version misspelled his name.

Instacart Promo Code: $15 Off | May 2026

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Like many others, I first used Instacart during the early days of the pandemic when it was a lifesaver. Literally. As the primary caretaker of my immunocompromised grandmother, I was at a loss for how to do something as simple as feed her without risking dangerous exposure. And although I love delivery from a restaurant, it’s expensive and unhealthy. With Instacart, I was able to get her healthy groceries and favorite comfort foods delivered to us right at home without having to risk exposure.

Even now, post-COVID, Instacart still saves the day for me. I live in Brooklyn, and there are many heavy things I need from the grocery store that I physically can’t haul up and down the subway stairs and throughout the streets. With Instacart, I can have any grocery store of my choosing come to me. Welcome to the future. If you’ve been curious about this grocery delivery service, now is a great time to check it out and save big. If you’re an old stan like me, fear not, we have an Instacart promo code and various deals to slash those grocery bills.

Find the Best Instacart Promo Code for Massive Savings

Here’s the best place to find the latest Instacart savings and Instacart discount codes, as we are constantly scouring the web to find things like savings for first-time users, deals on specific items or brands, discounts on Instacart+ memberships, and more. Make sure you check back often, we update these Instacart coupons when we find great new deals and add more when new seasonal deals pop up.

Get Free Delivery on Your First 3 Orders

This deal is so good that I wish I were a new customer. If you’ve never used Instacart, now is a fantastic time to try it out and save massively. Right now, when you sign up for Instacart, you’ll get $0 delivery fees on the first three orders. Depending on your order size and location, that can amount to some serious cash savings. Like other delivery services, you are paying for convenience, and delivery fees can add up fast. To sign up, you’ll just need to enter your email address, set up a profile, and get to shopping! Get free delivery on your first 3 orders today, just make sure you hit that $10 order minimum, and know that some service fees may still apply.

Claim a $50 Instacart Credit by Applying for the Instacart Mastercard

If you use Instacart as the primary way you get groceries, getting an Instacart Mastercard might be a good idea to help you save even more on the purchases you were already going to make. And right now, you’ll get a $50 Instacart credit, which will be automatically loaded to your account once the card has been approved. With your eligible Mastercard, you’ll get three free months of Instacart+, along with $10 off your second order placed each month.

Snag $10 Off Petco Orders for Your Pets

If you’re already an Instacart member, you can still save. Right now, pet parents don’t have to haul heavy bags of kibble or litter to-and-fro. With this Instacart coupon, you’ll get a $10 discount on orders over $50 from Petco through Instacart. So whether you want to save a trip or save your back, Petco on Instacart can help you get everything from chew toys to treats and litter, delivered to your door with a $10 Instacart discount.

Enjoy $10 Off Walgreens Essentials Delivered Fast

In complete honesty, these days I use Instacart mostly when I’m sick or hungover. Instacart has partnered with Walgreens to deliver essentials like Gatorade, Advil, soup, and whatever else your ailments might call for. Plus, you’ll get a $10 discount on orders over $40 placed at Walgreens through Instacart. Go ahead, stay in bed and let the goodies come to you.

Refer a Friend to Shop & Get a $10 Bonus

If you know someone who hasn’t tried Instacart, now’s a great time to spread the love. When an Instacart customer makes a referral, they can get up to $40 in credits to use across their first two orders, and you’ll get a $10 credit for referring them once their delivery is complete. That’s big savings, and it’s easier than ever to refer. You can refer through text, email, or social media using your personalized referral code or link. Plus, there is no limit to the number of users you can refer to Instacart. To start in-app, tap the Account icon in the upper right corner of the app, tap Refer a friend, and share your referral link via contacts, text, email, social media, or other channels. If you do this on the web, you’ll click the horizontal lines, tap “Invite friends,” and share your referral link or code via contacts, text, email, social media, or other channels to secure the Instacart discount.

Activate Unlimited Free Delivery With Instacart+ Membership

Having an Instacart+ membership has tons of benefits, including free delivery on orders over $10, $0 delivery fees on eligible restaurant orders over $25, a free Peacock subscription, and access to New York Times Cooking. You can unlock all of these benefits with Instacart+, for $99 per year or $10 per month for unlimited free delivery and other Instacart+ membership perks.

Trump-Backed American Bitcoin Posts $82M Loss Despite Record BTC Mining Output

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Trump-Backed American Bitcoin Posts $82M Loss Despite Record BTC Mining Output




Despite the headline loss, the company emphasized that it continued accumulating Bitcoin rather than selling into weakness.

American Bitcoin (ABTC), the Trump family-backed BTC company, released its Q1 2026 financial results earlier in the week, and they showed a nearly $82 million net loss for the period.

This was despite the firm mining a record 817 BTC.

Mining Output Goes Up, But BTC Price Drop Hits Earnings

Per documents it filed with the SEC, apart from the 817 BTC it mined, American Bitcoin also bought another 803 BTC, which took its strategic reserve to 7,021 BTC by March 31.

However, at the time of writing, the stash had grown to about 7,300 BTC after the firm purchased an additional 300 units, which saw it climb the ranks of publicly traded companies holding Bitcoin to number 16.

Mining revenues declined to $62.1 million from $78.3 million, due to lower prices per Bitcoin mined of $76,000 compared to the previous quarter’s about $100,000. Still, the company posted a gross margin over 50% and cut its cost to mine by 23% to $36,200 per Bitcoin, down from $46,900 or so in Q4 2025.

Satoshis per share, the firm’s preferred measure of value creation, rose by about 20% quarter-over-quarter to about 663.

“Strip out the non-cash mark-to-market adjustment on our Bitcoin required by FASB, and the underlying business was profitable, and we did not sell a single coin,” CEO Mike Ho said in the earnings release.

President Matthew Prusak framed the cost improvement as the key operational story, saying:

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“We produced Bitcoin at 52% gross margin despite a 22% decline in Bitcoin price, reflecting meaningful cost improvements that partially offset the price headwind. Every share of American Bitcoin owns more Bitcoin today than it did three months ago.”

ABTC shares fell 8.4% to around $1.15 following the earnings release, keeping the stock far below its 52-week high of $14.65.

Expansion Strategy Mirrors Wider Bitcoin Treasury Trend

The production gains were partly the result of a hardware acquisition completed in early March 2026, when American Bitcoin took delivery of 11,298 next-generation miners from Bitmain.

As was reported at the time, that deal added about 3.05 EH/s of capacity at an efficiency of 13.5 joules per terahash, deployed at Hut 8’s Drumheller site in Alberta, Canada.

The company’s total owned fleet now stands at approximately 89,242 miners with 28.1 EH/s of capacity, though its operational fleet delivering active output is 58,999 miners at around 25.0 EH/s, still roughly half the scale of the largest publicly listed Bitcoin miners.

American Bitcoin is not alone in reporting large headline losses driven by Bitcoin’s poor run at the beginning of the year, as Strategy, the largest corporate owner of the flagship cryptocurrency, earlier in the week reported that it had incurred a net loss of $12.54 billion in Q1 2026.

DOGE used ChatGPT in a way that was both dumb and illegal, judge rules

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After being deployed from DOGE to NEH, Justin Fox used search terms, which he labeled as “Detection Codes,” to identify grants that he dubbed the “Craziest Grants” and “Other Bad Grants.” The search terms included, among other terms, “BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color),” “Minorities,” “Native,” “Tribal,” “Indigenous,” “Immigrant,” “LGBTQ,” “Homosexual,” and “Gay.” When Fox was asked whether he “r[a]n this list of words through every grant description” he received from NEH, he confirmed, “yes.” In this way, Fox constructed and applied explicit classifications based on protected characteristics and used them as the operative criteria for revoking federal grants.

Oil Jumps on US-Iran Tensions as Crypto Stalls: LiquidChain Presale Nears $750,000

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Thursday 7 May 2026 – Rising tensions between the US and Iran pushed oil prices higher on Thursday, sharpening market focus on the Strait of Hormuz and keeping crypto trading subdued. The broader digital asset market remained near $2.7 trillion, while Bitcoin hovered around $81,500 after a strong seven-day run.

Brent crude futures rose 0.67% to $101.95 a barrel, and West Texas Intermediate gained 0.65% to $95.70 in early trading. The move followed President Trump’s statement that Iran would face bombing “at a much higher level” if it rejected his administration’s new peace deal. He also said the US naval blockade of Iranian ports would end once an agreement is signed, reopening the Strait of Hormuz to all traffic.

Against that backdrop, crypto price action was muted. Most major assets posted only fractional 24-hour changes, and the Fear and Greed Index stayed neutral at 51, underscoring a cautious tone across risk markets.

Uncertainty around the Strait of Hormuz, a key artery for global oil flows, has revived concern over inflation, growth, and the Federal Reserve’s next steps. That macro backdrop helps explain why crypto has struggled to extend recent gains despite Bitcoin’s relative resilience.

On X, crypto analyst CW said Bitcoin appears to have completed an important retest after a recent breakout pattern, suggesting the prior corrective phase may be ending and that momentum could improve if broader conditions stabilize.

LiquidChain Draws Attention as Broader Market Treads Water

While the wider market remains in a holding pattern, the LiquidChain (LIQUID) presale has continued to advance and is on track to reach the $750,000 milestone within the next few weeks.

LiquidChain (LIQUID) is building a Layer 3 blockchain designed to bring together Bitcoin liquidity, Ethereum’s DeFi infrastructure, and Solana’s transaction speed in one execution layer. The project says its high-performance virtual machine and trust-minimized cross-chain proofs allow assets from the three networks to interact without wrapping, with the goal of improving liquidity depth and execution speed for traders and developers.

The LIQUID token is allocated across development, growth, rewards, listings, and protocol operations. Tokenomics assign 35% to development, 32.5% to LiquidLabs growth initiatives, 15% to the AquaVault for activations, 10% to rewards, and 7.5% to exchange listings.

In a market dominated by macro headlines, the project’s pitch is centered on fragmented cross-chain liquidity rather than short-term trading narratives. That has helped keep buyer interest intact even as broader crypto markets remain largely flat.

Presale Access, Payment Options, and Staking Terms

Users looking to join the sale can go to LiquidChain’s official website, connect to Best Wallet or another compatible wallet, choose an allocation, and confirm the purchase. Buyers can also stake a claim in the same transaction.

Payment options include ETH, BNB, SOL, USDT, USDC, and a bank card. The Best Wallet app also supports the LIQUID presale through its “Upcoming Tokens” tab and is available on the Apple App Store and Google Play.

The current presale price is $0.01457, and staking is available at an APY of 1,513% during this phase.

For ongoing updates, users can follow LiquidChain on X and join its Telegram channel.

Visit LiquidChain.

The post Oil Jumps on US-Iran Tensions as Crypto Stalls: LiquidChain Presale Nears $750,000 appeared first on Cryptonews.



Television Academy Endorses Bill to Create Post-Production Tax Credit

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The drive to pass a post-production tax credit bill in the California legislature received a boost Friday night when the California Post Alliance announced that the Television Academy has joined the fight.

News of the TV Academy’s decision was revealed at the California Post Alliance (CAPA) town hall that featured California Assemblyman Nick Schultz, who is championing the bill to create a targeted state tax incentive for post-production. The Television Academy confirmed its endorsement of the legislation in a statement to Variety.

“With over 20,000 of its members living across the state of California, the Television Academy endorses this legislation to keep post-production work here where so many of our members live,” a TV Academy spokesman said.

The CAPA meeting drew about 200 people to Evergreen Studios in Burbank.

“Their advocacy sends a powerful message that preserving jobs for California’s post-production community is essential to the future of television,” CAPA president Marielle Abaunza said of the TV Academy’s support.

Schultz, a Democrat who represents the Burbank area, introduced AB 2319, which would create a targeted tax incentive for post-production work even if the film or TV show was shot elsewhere. Schultz took center stage at Friday’s meeting, explaining the process and urging editors, musicians, visual-effects people and other post-production professionals to support the effort.

“My two next-door neighbors work in post-production,” Schultz told Variety before the meeting. “I have neighbors on my block that haven’t worked in more than a year. At a time when people are having a lot of trouble having any faith in their government, this is a bipartisan issue. This is about keeping people working and doing what they love.”

California has seen a loss of more than 4,400 jobs and $500 million in annual wages, which breaks down to $268 million in direct wages to post workers, $120 million in wages paid to supplier businesses, and another $119.5 million in wages supported by post-production worker spending, according to statistics presented at the meeting.

The bill has already been passed by the Assembly’s Arts, Entertainment, Sports & Tourism Committee and the Revenue & Taxation Committee. “Where we’re at now is, the bill is sitting in Appropriations,” Schultz said. “On Friday we’ll find out which bills survive and move to a full vote of the Assembly and which ones do not.

“I have rated this bill as my number-one priority this year. We’re accompanying the bill with a $100 million budget ‘ask’ to help launch the program. If it gets out of Appropriations next Friday, sometime over the course of the following three or four weeks we would take it for a full vote on the Assembly floor.

“I am cautiously optimistic that we would get bipartisan support based on some of the bipartisan votes that we had in the policy committees,” Schultz told Variety.

AB 2319 would provide a 35% to 50% tax incentive for post-production work done in California. The state’s current Film & Television Tax Credit program provides $750 million in incentives for films and TV produced in the state; the new bill, if passed, provides that rebate for post-production even if the filming takes place elsewhere.

CAPA treasurer Jennifer Freed added that the tax credit would be earned when a company spends at least 75% of its post-production budget in California (or $1 million, whichever is less). “Even if a project didn’t shoot here, let’s finish it here,” she said.

L.A. music people were especially hopeful about the bill as a major step towards returning some of the scoring work that has gone elsewhere (primarily London, Prague, Vienna and Bratislava) in recent years. “Anything related to scoring is eligible for the credit,” music contractor Peter Rotter said, “including musicians’ wages, studio recording costs, cartage, mixing and mastering, orchestration, music preparation and music supervision.

“The bill is really our last opportunity to bring back equality and competition with the rest of the world, and the rest of the U.S.,” Rotter said. “California still has the talent, the determination, the artistry and the extraordinary history that made this industry what it is today. But preserving that legacy cannot happen unless we all come together and show our representatives how important this bill truly is.”

Dennis Dreith, former president of the Recording Musicians Association and former administrator of the Film Musicians Secondary Markets Fund — both of which have joined the CAPA campaign — noted that AB 2319 is also “the first-ever California legislation to specifically incentivize music scoring in the state.

“Tax credits are not a new thing and have proven highly effective in luring work away from Hollywood,” he added. “The United Kingdom offers very substantial tax incentives for motion pictures not only to film in the U.K. but to score films there as well.” London scoring stages are constantly booked, unlike those in L.A. (including recording facilities at Fox, Sony and Warner Bros.) that are often empty.

During a Q&A after the general remarks, a number of visual-effects craftspeople expressed concern that the VFX portion of the bill focuses on post-production, whereas considerable VFX work (notably “pre-visualization” elements) begins during pre-production; they expressed hope that revisions to the language could help their situation. Schultz encouraged more dialogue on the topic as the process moved ahead.

“We have the best-trained people in the world,” Assemblyman Schultz said. “We have the human capital that you can’t just export or recreate elsewhere. We should have done this a decade ago. If this bill doesn’t make it this year, you all have my commitment — you can take it to the bank — that I will run this bill next year and every year until we get it done.”

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