Russian military blogger Mikhail Zvinchuk, the operator behind the Rybar Telegram channel, recently surfaced in an interview with the Chinese outlet Guancha, offering a non-Western assessment of the ten-week U.S.-Iran war.

The interview is notable given that Washington has targeted the private Russian think tank, with the State Department’s Rewards for Justice program offering up to $10 million for information related to Rybar-linked foreign election interference operations.

The main topic of the hour-long conversation between Zvinchuk and the host representing Guancha was the Iranian conflict.

“The main goal of Trump is to shake up the market. Because if you monitor all logistics companies, oil companies, and LNG companies, you will find that big players have started to consume mid-tier and small players.”

He continued, “For example, Maersk, one of the biggest logistics companies in the world, can wait for just one or two months and suffer financial losses. But some smaller companies from Greece simply can’t withstand such pressure.”

Zvinchuk noted, “And it helps this conflict monopolize the market. So Iran is just a mere tool to achieve market monopolization. Because you know quite well that Trump’s policy relies on profit. He is a businessman or merchant, so he acts in his and his team’s financial interests. And if you place your financial interest above political reputation and above your nation, then your actions have to have economic roots.”

In other words, Zvinchuk is claiming that the US-Iranian conflict is not just about Iran or the nuclear threat, but about forcing a market shakeout in the energy and logistics space. The war has clearly disrupted shipping, snarled global supply chains, and already begun to rewire energy flows. 

The market shakeout Zvinchuk refers to, especially in the energy sector, has affected Gulf countries such as Qatar, which have seen energy flows dramatically reduced or halted by the conflict. The direct result, as we mentioned earlier in the conflict, is that the US has become a direct beneficiary:

US LNG Export Terminals “Running Near Maximum” As MidEast Energy Infra Descends Into Chaos

Qatar Dethroned As ‘LNG King’ As U.S. Seizes Throne, Reshaping Future Of Gas

Fill ‘er Up: Record Armada Of Tankers Bound For US Gulf To Load Oil

In fact, last week’s U.S. Department of Energy report showed U.S. fuel exports hitting record highs, with exports from the Gulf of America becoming the world’s emergency gas station…

US Crude Oil Exports

US Diesel Exports

Other topics were discussed during the hour-long interview between Zvinchuk and the Guancha host, but what captured our attention was how the U.S.-Iran war was being framed through an economic lens rather than the security aspect of nuclear threats. 

Western audiences are saturated with official White House messaging, selective corporate media leaks, and domestic propaganda, but it is occasionally useful to examine foreign propaganda as well to help understand how adversarial and non-aligned actors interpret Washington’s goals in the Middle East through an economic lens. 

In our view, the conflict is ultimately about empire, control of maritime chokepoints, and securing global energy supply chains ahead of the 2030s.

Zoltan Pozsar of advisory firm Ex Uno Plures recently explained it best: the Trump administration is “methodically building a portfolio of assets” to pressure China, centered on strategic energy supply nodes and maritime chokepoints that have historically supported Beijing’s cheap crude imports. 

Authored by Nick Giambruno via InternationalMan.com,

“The first panacea for a mismanaged nation is inflation of the currency; the second is war. Both bring a temporary prosperity; both bring a permanent ruin. But both are the refuge of political and economic opportunists.” 

— Ernest Hemingway

Thanks to the fiat currency system, governments at war can tap into a nation’s savings by financing conflict through currency debasement. Under a gold standard, governments had to have the gold or impose taxes if they wanted the funds to prosecute a war. When the gold ran out, the war stopped. But not in a fiat currency system. They can continue debasing the currency until they hyperinflate it.

That’s why there’s a simple equation you should sear into your memory:

War = Inflation

The historical pattern is clear.

If the first casualty of war is truth, the second casualty is the currency.

For example, the US money supply (M2) more than doubled during World War I and about tripled during World War II.

During Vietnam, the money supply rose roughly 90%, and during the 2003 Iraq War era, it rose about 65%.

War is expensive. The US government often ends up financing it by going deeper into debt and debasing the currency to service that debt.

How much will the war in Iran cost? Nobody knows the exact amount, but I am confident it will result in meaningful currency debasement.

According to the Iran War Cost Tracker, the conflict has cost at least $74 billion so far. Other estimates, such as those from CSIS, put the cost at around $2 billion per day. But these estimates almost certainly understate the true direct costs, not to mention the indirect costs of the war.

Further, the Pentagon is now asking for an additional $200 billion in emergency war funding. And that is on top of its recent request for a 50% budget increase to $1.5 trillion.

Lastly, it’s worth noting that recently Iran destroyed at least one E-3G “Sentry” Airborne Early Warning & Control aircraft in Saudi Arabia, along with 2 or 3 KC-135 tanker aircraft in the same strike.

This marked the first combat loss of an E-3 in history. Each unit costs at least $540 million.

After the strike, the US likely has only around 8 operational E-3s left, with none currently in production. It remains one of the most important aircraft in the US Air Force.

A cheap Iranian Shahed-136 drone, costing roughly $7,000 per unit, was what took out the $540 million E-3. That works out to a cost asymmetry of roughly 77,286 to 1 in this strike, which has to be a record, or close to it, for the biggest cost asymmetry in a single military strike.

If the war drags on for a few more weeks and Hormuz remains closed, I think we will see an economic collapse far larger than the one caused by the global lockdowns during the Covid mass psychosis. In response to that slowdown, the US government went on its biggest money-printing binge in history and increased the money supply by 40% in a matter of months. I expect the economic disruption from a prolonged closure of Hormuz to be even greater, and thus the accompanying monetary “stimulus” to be even greater as well.

In short, the Iran war and its side effects could unleash a tsunami of new government spending, which was already in the stratosphere.

How is the US government going to finance all of this spending?

It will do so by issuing new debt—Treasuries—but to whom, and on what terms?

First, it is important to understand that the overwhelming majority of new issuance has been in short-term T-bills. There are dwindling buyers—suckers—willing to buy long-duration US debt.

That is typical in a debt crisis. As demand for long-term bonds weakens, investors gravitate toward short-term instruments like T-bills instead of 10-year notes and 30-year bonds.

It is the same pattern you see in emerging-market crises. The market shortens maturities as conditions deteriorate. Only a fool would want to lend a bankrupt government money for the long term.

Further, the Chinese are divesting their Treasuries rather than buying more. The Japanese, the single largest foreign holder, are selling Treasuries to support the yen and prop up their own warped bond market.

So, who will be buying all of the new paper the US government is likely to issue to finance the Iran war and its effects?

There is only one real candidate: the Federal Reserve, which buys Treasuries with “money” it creates out of thin air by debasing the currency.

As the war spending grows, the real cost won’t only show up in Pentagon budgets or Treasury auctions. It will show up in the purchasing power of the dollars in your bank account.

The key question is what to do before the next wave of debt, money printing, and inflation hits.

That’s why I’ve put together a simple, urgent guide showing the top 3 strategies you need right now to help protect your money and personal freedom. Get it now.

In a very surprising revelation, the Israelis supplied UAE with advanced anti-air defense systems as it came under attack from Iran during Operation Epic Fury. More interesting is that it even sent IDF troops top operate the systems.

This is according to no less than two top Trump administration diplomats. First, US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz was the first government official to publicly confirm that Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system was used to shoot down Iranian missiles targeting UAE.

via Associated Press

Waltz revealed the information at an event hosted by the Israeli Mission to the UN in New York. “We saw the UAE make use of the Iron Dome provided to it by Israel,” the Israel Hayom daily cited Waltz as saying.

The UAE had been heavily targeted by Iran – more than any other regional Gulf state, with Kuwait also being a heavily targeted nearby country sitting very close to the Islamic Republic..

Axios was the first to report the Iron Dome transfer back in late April, which was accomplished early in the conflict. “Israel sent the United Arab Emirates an Iron Dome air defense system with troops to operate it early in the war with Iran” – it said, citing two Israeli officials and one U.S. official.

“The military, security and intelligence cooperation between Israel and the UAE has reached new heights during the war,” the report continued. “The unprecedented deployment of the Iron Dome system during the war was not previously made public.” Astoundingly, this operation involved placing a small amount if Israeli soldiers on Gulf Arab soil:

Israel reportedly deployed an Iron Dome battery to the United Arab Emirates early in the war with Iran, and sent several dozen troops to operate it.

It marked the first time the system has been sent to another country outside of Israel and the US, Axios reported Sunday, citing Israeli and American officials.

The second American diplomat to provide high level confirmation that the Israeli-provided system was active in defending UAE is Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee. 

“I’d like to say a word of appreciation for United Arab Emirates, the first Abraham accord member,” Huckabee said at a Tel Aviv Conference this week. “Just look at the benefits. Israel just sent them Iron Dome batteries and personnel to help operate them.”

“The Gulf states now understood they will have to make a choice – is it more likely they will be attacked by Iran or Israel?” Huckabee posed before the Israeli audience. “They see that Israel helped us and Iran attacked us. Israel is not trying to take over your land, and is not sending missiles to you.”

So clearly there is a coordinated effort to finally make public very sensitive information – that for the first known time in history Israel is directly transferring weapons to a Gulf Arab state.

🇺🇸🇮🇱🇦🇪 U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, confirms Israel sent Iron Dome batteries to the UAE:

Can I say a word of deep appreciation and admiration for the United Arab Emirates? I think that the UAE is an example. They were the first Abraham Accord member, but look at the… pic.twitter.com/PV658EXcCi

— Ariel Oseran أريئل أوسيران (@ariel_oseran) May 12, 2026

While the UAE and Israel normalized relations in 2020 as part of the aforementioned Abraham Accords, there’s been a growing covert relationship between Israel and some Gulf states going back to the early phase of the Syrian proxy war.

Israel and the Sunni autocrats conspired to overthrow Bashar al-Assad, a longtime key ally of Iran, and they cooperated on funding and supplying anti-Damascus jihadi insurgents. Out of this shadow war came a greater mutual understanding.

Authored by Chris Summers via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

A Chinese national has been indicted by the federal authorities in Florida for his alleged role in a plot to import and distribute large quantities of a new synthetic opioid, protonitazene, which is “significantly more potent than fentanyl,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida said in a May 11 statement.

An undated image of nitazene tablets in the hand of a police officer in Australia. (Australian Federal Police).

Jia Guo and Seven Schmidt, an associate from Las Vegas, Nevada, are charged with conspiracy to import protonitazene into the United States from China and conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute protonitazene. “If convicted, each defendant faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each of the two counts,” the attorney’s office said.

The pair allegedly began operating a drug trafficking operation in September 2024. In the statement, the attorney’s office said the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) had investigated the pair, with assistance from China’s Ministry of Public Security.

“The indictment alleges that a China-based supplier and a domestic distributor worked together to bring a deadly synthetic opioid into the United States and turn it into counterfeit pills for distribution across the country,” U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Jason A. Reding Quiñones said.

Guo allegedly procured the protonitazene in China and shipped it to co-conspirators, including an associate in Miami-Dade County, who used special presses to manufacture counterfeit pills, which were then distributed to drug dealers throughout the country.

Schmidt allegedly used the alias “Vegas” to order large amounts of the pills and had them delivered from Florida to Nevada by the U.S. Postal Service.

It was not immediately clear whether Schmidt or Guo had legal representatives who could comment on their behalf.

‘One Pill Can Kill’

In September, Frank Tarentino, who heads the New York Division of the DEA, warned about the growing threat from new synthetic opioids called nitazenes, which are being imported from China. He said they are increasingly prevalent on the illicit drug scene.

Nitazenes are delivered in the form of counterfeit pills mimicking drugs such as Xanax or Percocet, according to the DEA. They are more resistant than fentanyl to naloxone, a medication that can reverse opioid overdoses.

“Here in the United States, we have found it in heroin, methamphetamine, in some cases fentanyl, and more alarmingly, we have now seen it pressed into pills,” Tarentino said in a Sept. 10, 2025, interview with NTD, a sister outlet of The Epoch Times.

“These pills are made to look familiar, but one pill can kill,” Reding Quiñones said on May 11. “If you use South Florida as a gateway to import synthetic opioids, make counterfeit pills, or profit from addiction, you will face federal prosecution.”

In October 2025, the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) introduced the new task forces to target transnational organized crime operating in the United States.

The attorney’s office said the prosecution is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, “Protecting the American People Against Invasion.”

Reding Quiñones said the charges showed why Homeland Security task forces were needed.

With roughly half of planned U.S. data center buildouts this year expected to be delayed or canceled amid mounting power constraints and local opposition, tech bros are increasingly looking beyond Earth and toward space for the next phase of compute expansion.

This dovetails with one of our most investable themes, “Data Centers In Space Are Coming: Here’s How To Profit,” in which we outlined how SpaceX, leveraging Starship’s affordable launch costs and the Starlink network, could make it commercially viable to deploy spacecraft packed with chip stacks and build out a massive mesh network of orbital compute satellites.

Moments ago, The Wall Street Journal reported that Google is in discussions with Elon Musk’s SpaceX as a key launch provider for orbital data center deployments.

WSJ: Google is in talks with SpaceX for a rocket launch deal as the search giant expands its own efforts to put orbital data centers in space.

The speculative technology has been at the center of SpaceX’s pitch to investors ahead of its planned public listing this summer

A… https://t.co/eg9yE3J1Uz

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) May 12, 2026

The discussions center on potential Starship launches for Google’s Project Suncatcher, which aims to test satellite-based computing hardware by 2027, the outlet reported, citing sources.

“We’ll send tiny racks of machines and have them in satellites, test them out, and then start scaling from there,” Google CEO Sundar Pichai told Fox News in a recent interview.

Pichai noted, “There’s no doubt to me that a decade or so away, we’ll be viewing it as a more normal way to build data centers.”

With the SpaceX IPO scheduled for June and commanding a valuation between $1.25 trillion and $1.75 trillion, we recently outlined for readers exactly how to profit from the commercialization of space. Read more here.

The urgency for orbital data center deployments comes as Canaccord Genuity analyst George Gianarikas warned in mid-April that “the American data center boom is hitting a formidable wall of logistical friction.”

Gianarikas is referring to the latest outlook by Sightline Climate, which is also reinforced by recent articles from Bloomberg and others, and reveals a sobering reality for 2026: nearly half of the nation’s planned 16-gigawatt capacity faces cancellation or delay, with only 5 gigawatts currently under construction.

This inertia stems from a volatile mix of local permitting hurdles, community resistance, and a desperate reliance on overextended global supply chains for critical components like transformers and helium.

Mounting localized resistance against data centers has caused growing alarm among the tech bro world, such as Chamath Palihapitiya, founder of Social Capital and co-host of the All-In Podcast, who recently warned that data center sentiment among the American people is actually polling worse than ICE agents.

Hyperscalers are planning to spend a staggering $700 billion in capex on data center buildouts and other AI infrastructure this year.

We expect capex commitments toward orbital data centers to accelerate over the next several years, especially as Starship shifts from years of flight testing into full commercialization.

Starcloud…

.@Starcloud_ plans to build a 5GW orbital data center, lower energy costs by 10x, and reduce the need for energy consumption on Earth, including deployment of the Starcloud-1 satellite powered by an NVIDIA H100 GPU. pic.twitter.com/yPEddTWnh7

— NVIDIA Robotics (@NVIDIARobotics) May 11, 2026

For hyperscalers facing mounting constraints on land, power, permitting, and local opposition, space offers no zoning battles, no community resistance, and full access to solar energy.

Via The Libertarian Institute

A Ukrainian diplomat said to the Israeli press that Tel Aviv is missing an opportunity to save the lives of its soldiers by working with Kiev on anti-drone technology. 

Speaking with Ynet about Kiev’s anti-drone capabilities, Ukraine’s ambassador to Israel, Yevgen Korniychuk, said, “We are fighting from a different angle against the same axis of evil.“

via YNet

“Unfortunately, we do not see much interest or appetite from the Israeli leadership in this field. I do not want to speculate about the reasons for that. I am very sorry to hear reports about soldiers who were hit by drones, because we suffer from exactly the same thing.”

He added, “When meeting people from different parts of Israeli society, I often hear frustration over the fact that Israel is missing an opportunity to save more of its soldiers’ lives. Most Israelis support Ukraine and do not understand why Ukrainians are able to deal with drones and Israel is not.”

Israel has faced thousands of drone attacks by Iran and Hezbollah. Over the past month, Hezbollah has released dozens of videos of its drones targeting Israeli soldiers occupying southern Lebanon. 

Ukraine has sent about 200 drone experts to the Middle East to help the US and Arab states take down Iranian drones. Russia has used a variant of an Iranian drone during the war in Ukraine. 

Komiychuk lamented that while some Arab countries were willing to accept Ukraine’s assistance, Israel was not.

“As you know, President Zelensky recently made several regional visits in the Middle East, mainly to discuss security cooperation and advancing peace,” he said. “I worked hard to create direct political contact for our leadership. However, you cannot come to someone’s home without an invitation.”

While both Ukraine and Israel have been top recipients of American military aid and support, the relationship between Tel Aviv and Kyiv is strained. The most recent point of friction was a Russian grain shipment that Israel received. Kiev demanded that Tel Aviv refuse the grain, claiming it was stolen by Russia from Ukraine. 

Kormiychuck said that while tension existed between Israel and Ukraine, “My duty as ambassador is to find common ground for mutual benefit and development, and I truly believe our conversations could have been much better.”

Rooting out Chinese communist spies appears to be moving higher on the agenda at the U.S. Justice Department, with Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche now at the helm.

On Monday, the DoJ indicted Arcadia, California, Mayor Eileen Wang for working with the Chinese government. The larger concern is that Chinese communists have penetrated deeply into many levels of the U.S. government, as well as corporate America.

Spies are like cockroaches: if there’s one, there are likely many more.

You are not gonna believe what I just found

The California Mayor who admitted to being a Chinese spy donated to the Democrat Senate Campaign Committee

Democrat Senators are being funded by Chinese spies

If it was the other way around, it would be front page news for weeks pic.twitter.com/wlHyLYzdub

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) May 12, 2026

That brings us to a recent podcast appearance by Mark Fisher and Brian Chisholm, Republican members of the Maryland House of Delegates, who raised alarm bells about one of their Democratic colleagues in Annapolis: Delegate Chao Wu, who was born in China and has pushed a state-level bill that would require AI companies to disclose sensitive trade data on their models.

“Welcome back to the Dumbest Bill in America. We have, of course, with us Delegate Brian Chisholm,” Fisher said.

Fisher continued, “Because we believe that we have a communist Chicom among us. Well, and let me tell you why…” 

He said, “First of all, the bill is House Bill 823 from 2025. It was introduced by Delegate Wu — spelled W-U. And the bill basically says that if you’re going to engage in AI training — artificial intelligence training — you have to disclose your training models and your training data every time you change it. Well, that would of course be a trade secret, wouldn’t it?” 

Chisholm chimed in, saying, “So what their goal also in China… Look, China knows they can’t take us down with tanks and bullets and all that. They have to kind of backdoor it. So they send in spies — people like Chao Wu — and try to gain intelligence, correct?” 

He continued, “That’s the goal. The fight right now is who can get the intelligence faster. Why they sent us… it says something about Maryland. Maybe we’re like the JV team that they sent Chao Wu to, because he’s not the greatest of spies. I mean, his trail… and I’m sure you’re going to bring up the article. We know he was working for the CCP when he was in college. You can’t just reject it at one time…”

Chicom of the Year Award — HB 823 from 2025 requires the disclosure of AI training data. What is the purpose of this bill? Join @chisholmstrong & me for the Dumbest Bill in America! pic.twitter.com/RkWT4c7JGK

— Mark Fisher (@fisher4maryland) April 30, 2026

The article Chisholm was referring to…

Of course, Maryland Democrats call anything optically displeasing “racist” …

Meanwhile, Dems in the state are “busy sending private letters policing podcasts and using CCP-style speech tactics.” 

Maryland families are still reeling from the $1.5+ billion in new taxes & fees rammed through by @mddems.
Instead of fixing our broken budget, skyrocketing costs, or crime — the Speaker is busy sending private letters policing podcasts and using CCP-style speech tactics against… pic.twitter.com/2RMaquCqhu

— Maryland Freedom Caucus (@MDFreedomCaucus) May 11, 2026

To sum up, HB 823 could compel AI developers in the state to publicly disclose commercially sensitive details about their training model pipelines, creating an opportunity for foreign competitors, such as China, to collect open-source data. 

Now, why would a Chinese-born Maryland lawmaker, right down the street from Data Center Alley, want to push such a bill?

Authored by Nancy Lubale via CoinTelegraph.com,

Market analysts said Bitcoin’s (BTC) upside remained intact despite the 2.5% correction from its multi-month high of $82,800 reached on May 6.

Key takeaways:

Bitcoin has successfully re-entered expansion territory as the Bull Market Support Band turned to support.

Bitcoin’s Stablecoin Supply Ratio has recovered from historic lows, indicating fresh liquidity is returning.

Bitcoin’s spot taker CVD flips positive, suggesting real spot demand is back

Bitcoin’s price momentum is expanding

Private wealth manager Swissblock stated that Bitcoin is “still at full momentum,” despite the slight correction from recent highs.

Swissblock said that the latest rally saw the Bitcoin price momentum “successfully reignited and pushed back into full expansion territory.”

Bitcoin is now consolidating inside the cost-basis battlefield, with the true market mean and the short-term holder cost basis around $80,000 acting as support and the active realized price at $85,000 as resistance. 

Meanwhile, “momentum remains structurally strong,” the wealth manager said, adding:

“As long as momentum stays above the transition area, bulls retain control.”

Bitcoin price momentum. Swissblock

Echoing this observation, analyst The Great Mattsby pointed out that Bitcoin’s Bull Market Support Band has now turned into support, while the 21-week exponential moving average has crossed back above the 20-week simple moving average.

“The trend has officially flipped back to bullish.” 

BTC/USD weekly chart. Source: X/The Great Mattsby

Bitcoin liquidity signals “strong recovery”

The Stablecoin Supply Ratio (SSR) has recovered from its lower historical range below 10, the same zone that marked market bottoms in mid-2021, 2022 and mid-2023. 

Each time the SSR recovered from these lows, Bitcoin broke out of range and staged a strong rebound, as shown in the chart below.

Bitcoin Stablecoin Supply Ratio: Source: CryptoQuant

The recovering SSR suggests that stablecoin liquidity is returning to exchanges again, potentially setting the stage for another bull run for BTC price.

The Binance Stablecoin Supply Ratio Oscillator tells the same story. The chart below shows that Bitcoin’s 90D Stablecoin Supply Ratio Oscillator has moved back into positive territory, reaching 12-month highs at 2.8.

“This reflects a strong recovery from the negative zone, with stablecoin purchasing demand becoming more active during the current rebound,” CryptoQuant analyst Zizcrypto said in a Tuesday QuickTake note, adding:

“For context, the oscillator previously reached 2.43 in May 2025 and 4.00 in November 2024 — both during stronger market phases.”

Stablecoin supply ratio oscillator. Source: CryptoQuant

Bitcoin’s transaction activity is at 20-month highs

The strength in BTC price is reflected in Bitcoin’s network activity, with daily transaction count rising by 116% in May to 831,450 on May 9.

This metric was last at similar levels in September 2024, before Bitcoin later rallied above $100,000 during the broader market surge following the US presidential election.

Bitcoin’s network activity is “more active than when it was at $100K,” analyst CW8900 said in an X post on Saturday, adding:

“The network is already showing signals of a bull market.”

Bitcoin daily transaction count. Source: CryptoQuant

Bitcoin’s daily active address count has also climbed, increasing by 7.1% over the last week to 707,719, while total fee volume surged 37% to $279,300 over the same period, according to Glassnode’s latest Market Pulse report.

“Such a significant increase suggests heightened onchain activity, potentially signaling bullish market conditions.”

Bitcoin daily active address count. Source: Glassnode

Increasing transaction count, daily active addresses and fees means more users are interacting with the network. It suggests high network activity, often correlating with increased interest and market confidence.

Bitcoin’s “real demand” is back

Bitcoin’s 90-day spot taker cumulative volume delta (CVD), a measure of the difference between buy and sell volume over three months, shows a “significant shift in capital flow structure,” according to CryptoQuant analyst Rei Researcher. 

The metric flipped positive (green bars in the chart below) in early May as the price broke above the $78,000 resistance and has remained positive since. 

“Taker Buy Dominance in the spot market indicates buying pressure from ‘major players’ (Whales/Institutions) looking to hold $BTC rather than just speculating via derivatives,” the Rei Researcher said in a recent Quicktake note, adding: 

“Real demand has prevailed. When bulls are willing to pay higher prices to own $BTC, a sustainable uptrend usually follows.”

Bitcoin spot taker CVD. Source: CryptoQuant

If the CVD remains green, it could set the stage for another rally as seen in the past. A similar occurrence in May 2025 accompanied 65% BTC price gains. 

Meanwhile, Bitcoin’s spot demand is also accelerating, with spot CVD rising 47% to $62 million from $42 million a week ago, additional data from Glassnode shows.

“This increase indicates a significant uptick in buying aggression among market participants,” the onchain data provider said, adding:

“This behavior implies heightened conviction, with aggressive traders actively setting higher market prices, potentially signaling continued bullish momentum.”

Bitcoin: Spot CVD. Source: Glassnode

As Cointelegraph reported, Bitcoin’s market value to realized value (MVRV) ratio suggests BTC’s market structure is strengthening, which may be an early sign of a new bull market.

There was a bit of a narrative shift on display in Congress as back-to-back hearings on Capitol Hill with top defense and Trump admin officials played out Tuesday, with Secretary of War Pete Hegseth repeatedly on the defensive as he and the administration face intensified scrutiny over the Iran war.

And the growing frustration vented in Congress is not just being sounded by Democrats. As Washington Post’s Tuesday headline aptly described: Hegseth, Caine encounter intense bipartisan frustration with Iran war. It seems President Trump has been made keenly aware of potential growing rebellion among GOP ranks, and biting criticisms over how the conflict and Strait of Hormuz standoff is going, given he decided to level the word “treason” in an afternoon Truth Social Post. It seemed also aimed at a series of apparent recent sensitive or classified info leaks within the administration and Pentagon to the media, related to the conflict…

Trump stated while en route to China: “When the Fake News says that the Iranian enemy is doing well, Militarily, against us, it’s virtual TREASON” – and he went on to charge that “they are aiding and abetting the enemy!”

“Only Losers, Ingrates, and Fools are able to make a case against America!” he also wrote.

This moment might remind the American public of another key turning point in US history when past president cast all criticisms of wars of choice in the Middle East: When President George W. Bush was gearing up to launch new forever wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in the wake of the September 11 attacks, he declared, “Either you are with us or you are with the terrorists.”

This week also saw arch-neoconservative Robert Kagan break from Trump’s Iran War in the the pages of the generally pro-war Atlantic:

It’s hard to think of a time when the United States suffered a total defeat in a conflict, a setback so decisive that the strategic loss could be neither repaired nor ignored.

Defeat in the present confrontation with Iran will be of an entirely different character. It can neither be repaired nor ignored. There will be no return to the status quo ante, no ultimate American triumph that will undo or overcome the harm done. The Strait of Hormuz will not be “open,” as it once was. With control of the strait, Iran emerges as the key player in the region and one of the key players in the world. The roles of China and Russia, as Iran’s allies, are strengthened; the role of the United States, substantially diminished. Far from demonstrating American prowess, as supporters of the war have repeatedly claimed, the conflict has revealed an America that is unreliable and incapable of finishing what it started. That is going to set off a chain reaction around the world as friends and foes adjust to America’s failure.

Kagan doesn’t hold back:

Even if Trump were to carry out his threat to destroy Iran’s “civilization” through more bombing, Iran would still be able to launch many missiles and drones before its regime went down—assuming it did go down. Just a few successful strikes could cripple the region’s oil and gas infrastructure for years if not decades, throwing the world, and the United States, into a prolonged economic crisis. Even if Trump wanted to bomb Iran as part of an exit strategy—looking tough as a way of masking his retreat—he can’t do that without risking this catastrophe.

If this isn’t checkmate, it’s close.

But what might Trump also be responding to in his fresh Truth Social Post? Along with some media leaks, he also may have caught a glimpse of his top Pentagon officials and general in the hot seat all day.

Below are some highlights at a moment of growing bipartisan anger related to Iran operations. Most of the fireworks below involved Democrats’ line of questioning. As a reminder, Wednesday will mark day 75 of a conflict that the White House initially said would take a matter of ‘days’ or weeks at most.

*  *  *

Pentagon Struggles to Articulate Strategic Vision & End-Game

Sen. Coons: “What is your plan for reopening the Strait of Hormuz?”

Hegseth: “I would just note that the majority of your question was highly disingenuous and loaded with suggestions that I very much don’t agree with.” pic.twitter.com/Mh9Q8Yu2N8

— The Bulwark (@BulwarkOnline) May 12, 2026

When Will the Strait Reopen? The Most Powerful Military in the World ‘Held Hostage’

DURBIN: Could you explain to the American people why with the vast investment we’ve made in national defense and military, how Iran after they are attacked by us is still capable of stopping the traffic in the Strait of Hormuz?

CAINE: It’s a complex situation

DURBIN: As we… pic.twitter.com/tzncZCEYKj

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 12, 2026

Mounting Iran War Costs to the Taxpayer

Reed’s line of questioning exposes how Pentagon officials have been full of it when talking about how much Trump’s Iran war has actually cost pic.twitter.com/Cu2gQR9dQo

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 12, 2026

Trump Was ‘Forced’ To Lift Sanctions on Russian/Iranian Oil At Sea

HEGSETH: We know Russia is a nefarious actor and account for tha–

SHAHEEN: All evidence to the contrary. We’re not accounting for that if we’re giving Russia the opportunity to earn $4 billion a month by leaving sanctions lifted pic.twitter.com/Z0OoSUpOLn

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 12, 2026

“At the Request of the Pakistanis it was Paused…”

Massive humiliation for Trump. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirms Donald Trump was forced to halt a major naval operation Project Freedom.

He accidentally exposes absolute weakness, admitting the administration abruptly suspended it merely because Pakistan demanded it. pic.twitter.com/SCv0B69x3e

— Furkan Gözükara (@FurkanGozukara) May 12, 2026

Plan To Escalate if Necessary 

Pete Hegseth on Iran:

We have a plan to escalate, if necessary. We have a plan to retrograde, if necessary. pic.twitter.com/qOuCjU5bm6

— Clash Report (@clashreport) May 12, 2026

*  *  *

President Trump before leaving to China issued a message which is definitely not going to sit well with much of the American public. The midterms will get here fast, after all…

Trump on Iran War:

Reporter: What extent are Americans’ financial situation motivating you to make a deal?

Trump: Not even a little bit. I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation pic.twitter.com/TJ94pGpqD8

— Acyn (@Acyn) May 12, 2026

Authored by Sundance via The Conservative Treehouse,

Appearing on MSNBC to talk to Lawfare ally Nicole Wallace, wife of New York Times narrative engineer Michael Schmidt – the guy who received leaks from FBI Director James Comey via Daniel Richman, former CIA Director John Brennan notes there are “legions” of operatives still embedded within the DOJ, FBI and CIA who are working against President Donald Trump.

This is not a surprise as we have noted the Trump administration continues to take apart the tentacles of Lawfare and Intelligence operatives in Main Justice, various U.S. Attorney offices, FBI Headquarters, FBI field offices and various Intelligence Community silos.

Marco Rubio has been working to clean up the National Security Council as well as the State Department operations, including USAID.  Tulsi Gabbard and John Ratcliffe have been working on the NSA and CIA collaboratively, and Todd Blanche has been working through the Dept of Justice.  FBI Director Kash Patel has removed about ten percent of the problem in his agency.

Unbelievable. Former CIA Director John Brennan just said the quiet part out LOUD, that there are still a “legion” of bureaucrats within the intel and justice communities who are actively sabotaging the executive authority of President Trump:

“There’s still a legion of… pic.twitter.com/XhBLzhy7s2

— Andrew Kolvet (@AndrewKolvet) May 11, 2026

The core problem goes back to what we outlined on these pages {GO DEEP} and is not limited to those operatives who remain from the Obama/Biden era.  Some of the problems surface as a result of ‘republican’ voices recommending “sleeper cell” staff and sketchy personnel for positions in the administration. [I’ll put an example below]

One way to tell if the agency head or leader understands the challenge is by paying attention to how they talk about the agency’s mission objective.

Leaders like Marco Rubio and Tulsi Gabbard have openly acknowledged the problem and are actively tackling corruption within their ranks. Even John Ratcliffe has admitted his agency was politically weaponized and has taken steps to address it. There’s still a lot of work ahead, but their actions show visible progress.

People like Pam Bondi and Kash Patel have praised the institutional embeds without drawing attention to the corruption beneath them. Thankfully, Acting AG Todd Blanche seems to be taking a more confrontational approach internally, so maybe Kash Patel will follow suit. This isn’t about style—it’s about results, and there’s an urgent need for action.

To give an example of “sketchy” recommendations and predictable outcomes, I would draw attention to the lesser visible appointment of Morgan Ortagus.  Do you remember this very weirdly worded announcement, two weeks prior to the inauguration?

Via Truth Social

I have no idea who “them” is referencing in the announcement.

[…] “I’m not doing this for me, I doing it for them”

There were always three options for “them”: (1) the strong republican support people; or (2) people in the Middle East who would be dealing with her; or (3) Stephen Witkoff and Jared Kushner.  Regardless, of who “them” was, it was obvious President Trump was not thrilled by “their” request.

Mrs. Morgan Ortagus is a long time Deep State operative with roots in the U.S. intelligence community and USAID {citation}.  It was very predictable that she would undermine the goals of President Trump and she only lasted six months in the job.  Ortagus was quietly dispatched from her position in June 2025.

CTH predicted {SEE HERE} Mrs. Ortagus would be a big mistake because she was, quite frankly, one of the “legion” insiders referenced by former CIA Director John Brennan.  Ortagus’s entire career profile was/is textbook intelligence operative, likely legacy CIA.

Not coincidentally, former National Security Advisor Mike Waltz was removed from his position only a month before Ortagus lost hers.

On the day he was announced CTH said National Security Advisor Mike Waltz would be the first administration member to get the boot, because in the non-pretending world Waltz was a horrible choice just like Ortagus.  Mike Waltz was removed as National Security Advisor in May 2025, {citation} Ortagus was removed as Middle East envoy in June {citation}.

If the goal was to eliminate the Deep State, President Trump couldn’t take on a deeply corrupt Intelligence Community while also appointing its allies. Their close ties to the Intelligence Community made the failures of both Waltz and Ortagus predictable.

That said, behind the veneer of John Brennan’s statement on MSNBC is a guy who realizes the Trump administration has changed the dynamic and the agency systems Brennan is talking about no longer exist; at least they no longer have the same capabilities.

The need for control is a reaction to fear, and Brennan’s fear is both visible and very well founded.

The DOJ and FBI operate under the influence of the Intelligence Community, which ultimately holds the reins. The key figures leading the IC have made changes to the institutions that have significantly reduced the impact of bad actors within the DOJ and FBI.

The key positions are the National Security Advisor, the Secretary of State, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Marco Rubio, Tulsi Gabbard and John Ratcliffe are the people to watch, and we can tell by the counsel(s) they have put into place that each of them has clear eyes and a steady hand on those critical institutions.

Since mid-year 2025, around the same time Waltz and Ortagus were dispatched, you will note significant changes began surfacing in the National Security Council, the State Dept, the DNI and importantly the CIA.  Some of the changes make headlines, many do not; however, each is important and builds on a larger goal of dismantling a highly weaponized and political intelligence apparatus.

Internationally, what we see in the reaction of allied -or oppositional- governments and their intelligence agencies, is in large part a geopolitical reaction to the consequential changes being made by Rubio, Gabbard and Ratcliffe.  Each building upon a system that fundamentally changes U.S. policy to be in alignment with President Trump.  Each of them should be commended.

Domestically, the accountability developments involving James Comey, John Brennan, John Bolton, Michael Atkinson, Eric Ciaramella and others yet to emerge, stem from the transparency brought by the same trio working upstream from Main Justice and the FBI. The combined intelligence apparatus of the U.S. can cut through the chaff and countermeasures of Lawfare operatives, and I feel optimistic watching them in action.

Again, it’s not just the silo heads that are making a positive impact, it is the personnel decisions they are surrounding themselves with.  The amount of sunlight now coming over the horizon is toxic to the interests of those who organized shadow operations.

As long as Rubio, Ratcliffe and especially Gabbard, keep pushing the truth to the surface; as long as they keep exposing all the corruption that was used to manipulate and weaponize our government; as long as they keep strategizing on ways to declassify evidence former officials buried under false pretenses; then the DOJ, FBI and more importantly We The People, will have information we can use to make decisions.

Ultimately, it is the truth which makes evil enterprise retreat.