Latest news with #MattMorgan
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
World Liberty Financial token valued at $0.20 in Trump crypto project's ALT5 treasury deal
World Liberty Financial's deal with ALT5 Sigma Corporation has put a value on WLFI, the Trump-backed DeFi project's token, for the first time since its sale last year. On Monday, ALT5 announced plans to pivot to become a so-called crypto treasury company, selling 200,000 new shares and using the proceeds to buy up the $1.5 billion worth of WLFI. The firm will swap half of the newly-issued shares directly for WLFI held by World Liberty Financial in a deal that values the token at $0.20, Matt Morgan, ALT5's chief investment officer, told DL News. It's not clear if World Liberty Financial is the only participant swapping WLFI tokens for shares. The firm said that several other unnamed institutional investors and venture capital firms participated in the share sale. It's the first time that WLFI has received a valuation since World Liberty Financial sold $550 million worth tokens to investors between October and March. At the time, investors paid varying prices for WLFI depending on how early in the sale they bought it. Large WLFI holders include Tron founder Justin Sun, who bought $75 million worth during the token sale. On its launch, WLFI was programmed so that buyers couldn't trade it, meaning that there was no way for the market to value the token. Conflict of interest The deal also highlights the growing crypto treasury company trend. Michael Saylor's Strategy was a trailblazer in this regard. The firm has issued debt or shares to buy Bitcoin since 2020, a ploy which has seen its shares skyrocket by over 3,500% since. Over the past year, a new wave of crypto treasury companies have copied Saylor's playbook on the back of a favourable crypto regulatory environment under the Trump administration. Many of these companies issue debt or shares to buy up their cryptocurrency of choice, and often emerge through reverse mergers with struggling publicly traded companies. Sometimes there's a conflict of interest between the treasury companies and the issuers of the crypto asset they buy. Tron Inc, a crypto treasury company that says it will buy up TRX, the native token of the Tron blockchain, has Weike Sun on its board, the father of Justin Sun. The firm listed the father-son relationship among its potential conflicts of interest in its S-3 filing last month. As a part of ALT5's crypto treasury swerve, the firm added several World Liberty Financial executives and backers to its board of directors. They include World Liberty Financial CEO Zach Witkoff, the project's COO Zak Folkman, and Eric Trump, President Donald Trump's son. All three new appointees hold WLFI and therefore have a financial interest in the token's value. Morgan said he's not at liberty to comment on matters that may involve commercially sensitive information relating to his role or ALT5 when asked about the potential conflict of interest of the board appointments. Trading the token The WLFI token is designed to govern World Liberty Financial. Those who hold the token can vote on changes to the protocol, its creators said. The project makes clear that it isn't a decentralised autonomous organisation, a type of crypto collective popular among DeFi projects. In July, WLFI holders voted to make the token tradable after the question was put to them by the project's creators. World Liberty Financial said in an X post that the token could begin trading as soon as the end of August. Tim Craig is DL News' Edinburgh-based DeFi Correspondent. Reach out with tips at tim@
Sky News AU
11-08-2025
- General
- Sky News AU
Fire truck exposé reveals astonishing crisis across Victoria as firies struggle with 'borderline catastrophic' capability
Two firefighters have come forward to expose the 'borderline catastrophic' state of the service after an astonishing fire truck crisis was uncovered in Victoria by a secret documentary filmed inside the state's fire stations. The documentary, called Breaking Point, exposes how firefighters are forced to cope with aging vehicles and a scarcity of fire trucks which could lead to a loss of life in the future. Firefighters in the documentary have claimed fire trucks have broken down on highways, large ladders have malfunctioned and the equipment on the trucks has broken 'every day'. 'There's going to be loss of life one day. It's not a matter if something tragic is going to happen, it's when,' one firefighter said. Speaking to Sky News to discuss the revelations, Fire Rescue Victoria fire fighter Matt Morgan said it was a 'matter of time' before someone perished due to an issue with the trucks. Mr Morgan told Sky News host Steve Price there was a risk fire truck equipment would break down in the middle of an emergency situation. Price told viewers half of Fire Rescue Victoria's 200-strong fleet of fire trucks were past their 15-year use-by and there had been 500 breakdowns in the past year. There is also the risk no truck could be available when one was needed. 'We saw it happen at Derrimut last year at the chemical fire there,' Mr Morgan said. 'The usual aerial appliance that we wanted from Sunshine has been missing in action for months and so we had to wait for one to come from Richmond another 25 minutes further away. ' (It's) a matter of time before we'll be going to someone's funeral purely because what's happened to the truck. Absolutely guarantee it.' Asked why the union had not exerted more influence on the state government to fix the issue, Mr Morgan said because 'all politicians are the same'. Acting station officer Kat Dunnell said it was a 'major issue' which was prevalent 'right across the state', but did not want to lay the blame. 'It's about how do we get this fixed and it's going to take quite a bit of funding and quite some time to get this fixed because you can't just go out… and buy them off the shelf, they need to be ordered,' she said. The pair of firefighters said it was 'an easy decision' to come forward, and insisted they were supposed to 'leave the job in a better condition' than when they found it. 'We've been raising it internally for quite some time and now is the time to, you know, we just keep getting told we're a world-leading fire service. We're not. We're borderline catastrophic,' Ms Dunnell said. 'When injury can occur as a result of not having a truck or not having working truck and being sent into a fire to perform a rescue. To me, that just shows a huge lack of respect for our profession, that we're not given the equipment that we need to perform our role.' Mr Morgan said Victorians were not getting the service 'they pay for', but insisted his teams would 'always go the extra mile'. 'Victoria's firefighters aren't going to give up and they're not going to fail to respond. We're going to always go that extra mile for the folks,' he said.
Sky News AU
11-08-2025
- Automotive
- Sky News AU
‘Breaking Point': Secret documentary exposes Victoria's fire truck crisis
A new secret documentary, 'Breaking Point', filmed at Victorian fire stations, reveals the alarming unreliability of aging fire trucks. Over 500 breakdowns have been reported in the past year, with many trucks past their 15-year use-by date. Firefighters Kat Dunell and Matt Morgan have joined the show to blow the whistle on the deadly failing standards of the vehicles.
Yahoo
30-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Oasis star Noel Gallagher slams Glastonbury as 'woke' and 'virtue signalling'
Oasis' Noel Gallagher slammed Glastonbury as "woke" in a podcast interview before this year's festival got underway. In the interview the musician called the festival at Worthy Farm "kind of preachy and a bit virtue-signalling". Historically, Glastonbury has supported left-wing political causes for more than fifty years, including when the Oasis guitarist appeared there with Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds in 2022, the Express reports. READ MORE: Glastonbury fans blast Sir Rod Stewart for 'disrespect' after message to festival founder READ MORE: Glastonbury fans make same complaint moments into Neil Young's headline set Join the Manchester Evening News WhatsApp group HERE But his regular attendance there didn't stop Gallagher from hitting out at Glastonbury. He told podcaster Matt Morgan: "It's getting a bit woke now, that place, and a bit kind of preachy and a bit virtue-signalling. "I don't like it in music - little f**king idiots waving flags around and making political statements and bands taking the stage and saying, 'Hey guys, isn't war terrible, yeah? Let's all boo war. F**k the Tories man,' and all that. It's like, look – play your f**king tunes and get off." He added: "Donate all your money to the cause – that's it, stop yapping about it" The musician went on to say he doesn't think that drawing attention to politics at Glastonbury makes any difference. He said: "Let's just say, for instance, the world is in a bit of a f**ked up place … what's all the kids in a field at Glastonbury going to do about it? "Everybody knows what's going on in the f**king world, you've got a phone in your pocket that tells you anyway. "What is the point of virtue-signalling?' Gallagher's comments were made before this year's Glastonbury festival got underway, but have resurfaced after some acts made political statements onstage. These included punk duo Bob Vylan who led a chant of "death, death to the IDF" at the West Holts Stage in their set on Saturday, which have been condemned by Glastonbury and are reportedly being investigated by police. Irish rap group also led chants of "f*** Keir Starmer" during their performance. Glastonbury has sought to distance itself from the artists' comments, saying in a statement: "With almost 4,000 performances at Glastonbury 2025, there will inevitably be artists and speakers appearing on our stages whose views we do not share, and a performer's presence here should never be seen as a tacit endorsement of their opinions and beliefs." "However, we are appalled by the statements made from the West Holts stage by Bob Vylan yesterday. Their chants very much crossed a line and we are urgently reminding everyone involved in the production of the Festival that there is no place at Glastonbury for antisemitism, hate speech or incitement to violence."
Business Wire
11-06-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
United for Oklahoma and the Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association Announce Tribes' Impact on State's Economy
BUSINESS WIRE)--First American tribal nations in Oklahoma contributed $23.4 billion to the state's economy in 2023, according to a new study released Wednesday. Tribal leaders announced the results of the study – commissioned by United for Oklahoma and the Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association – on Wednesday at the Oklahoma History Center. Compared to previous periods, the new report indicates the largest increase in economic activity between the years studied. From FY 2019 to FY 2023, economic activity rose $4.9 billion, nearly double the increase recorded between FY 2017 to FY 2019. The study found that the tribes directly employed more than 55,600 Oklahomans and supported a total of 139,860 jobs to tribal citizens and non-citizens, accounting for more than $7.8 billion in wages and benefits to Oklahoma workers in 2023. 'The contributions of tribal nations to the Oklahoma's success are substantial and enduring,' said Matt Morgan, chairman of the Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association. 'Through our business enterprises and healthcare facilities, we support jobs in rural areas where economic opportunities are often limited. Tribal impact reaches far beyond employment. We invest in infrastructure, fund health care, champion public education and deliver programs that meet critical community needs. We honor the legacy that brought us here and remain focused on building a bright future for all Oklahomans.' The report highlights significant tribal contributions to health care, public education and workforce development in 2023: Tribes spent $582 million providing health services to Oklahomans with over 3.5 million unique patient visits. Through gaming compacts between tribal governments and the state, tribes submit a percentage of their Class III gaming revenues for the exclusive right to operate gaming in the state. In 2023, tribes sent $208 million in exclusivity fees to the state — a 36% increase since 2019. More than $177 million of the fees went to fund public education across Oklahoma. When combined with the education portion of exclusivity fees, tribes delivered $351 million for Oklahoma education programs in 2023. The economic impact study was conducted by Dr. Kyle Dean, professor of economics and director of the Center for Native American and Urban Studies at Oklahoma City University. Dr. Dean analyzed data from 19 tribal nations based in Oklahoma. 'Tribal nations serve as a significant economic force, consistently contributing to the state's economy with increasingly transformative impact,' said Dr. Dean. 'With over 100,000 jobs supported and an ever-expanding scope of investments, tribes help build sustainable economies and stronger communities across the state.' Learn more at United For Oklahoma is a public education initiative supported by a coalition of tribes that are committed to nurturing mutual respect, shared strength and productive partnerships. The mission of the initiative is to raise awareness of tribal impact across the state. Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association (OIGA), established in 1986, is a non-profit organization of Indian Nations with other non-voting associate members representing organizations, tribes and businesses engaged in tribal gaming enterprises from around Oklahoma. The common commitment and purpose of OIGA is to advance the welfare of Indian peoples economically, socially and politically.
