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Berkshire's first major portfolio adjustment revealed, spending $17 billion in the second quarter to bet on Google

Berkshire Hathaway submitted its 13F holdings report for the second quarter of 2026 to the U.S. SEC. The data shows that in the second quarter after Warren Buffett stepped down, the company's investment portfolio underwent significant adjustments, with a large purchase of Google’s parent company Alphabet, while reducing positions in the financial and consumer sectors.As of June 30, 2026, the total market value of Berkshire's stock holdings rose to $29.9 billion, up from $26.3 billion in the previous quarter. In the second quarter, the company added one new position, increased holdings in seven stocks, reduced holdings in six stocks, and completely sold out of one target, with the top ten holdings accounting for as much as 88.74%.Among them, Alphabet became the biggest highlight. In the second quarter, Berkshire cumulatively increased its holdings of Alphabet Class A and Class C shares by approximately 48.1 million shares, with the new holdings valued at over $17 billion, pushing Google to replace Bank of America as Berkshire's fourth-largest holding. Currently, its top five holdings are Apple, American Express, Coca-Cola, Alphabet, and Bank of America. In addition to Google, Berkshire also slightly increased its holdings in Delta Air Lines, Lennar, and Macy's. The increase in Delta Air Lines has attracted attention, as the market believes this move may reflect the company's optimism about the recovery of air travel demand and improvement in corporate operations.On the reduction side, Berkshire focused on cutting positions in the financial and consumer sectors in the second quarter. Among them, Bank of America saw a reduction of about 30.2 million shares, with the holding ratio decreasing by 5.89%, corresponding to a market value of about $1.72 billion, making it the largest reduction target; First Capital Financial reduced about 4.2 million shares, with the holding ratio decreasing by about 58%; at the same time, it reduced about 11 million shares of Kroger, with the holding size decreasing by about 22%.The market believes that Berkshire ended a streak of 14 consecutive quarters of net stock selling in the second quarter and net bought nearly $20 billion in stocks, indicating that the new leader Greg Abel is pushing the portfolio towards a technology growth direction, marking a shift in asset allocation in the "post-Buffett era."

Gray Research Director: Ethereum is like a "small country," and the issuance of ETH determines the balance between network security and currency

Zach Pandl, the head of research at Grayscale, posted on the X platform comparing Ethereum to a "small country" and discussed the ETH issuance mechanism. He believes that Ethereum has only one core "government function": to protect property rights and value exchange within the system. Unlike traditional countries that provide public services through taxation, Ethereum primarily funds network security through "seigniorage," which is the issuance of new ETH.In this framework, the stakers responsible for maintaining network security are akin to a group providing public services, as they receive rewards through newly issued ETH. Therefore, Ethereum's staking mechanism and ETH issuance policy essentially constitute the network's fiscal and monetary policy. Zach Pandl pointed out that the Ethereum community needs to decide how much "new currency" should be used to cover network security costs. More security typically means stronger protection of property rights, but at the cost of a higher ETH issuance rate and potential other risks.For example, if network security increasingly relies on a few large staking service providers, there remains room for discussion about whether these providers can maintain the asset rights of all users completely neutrally. Pandl believes that, just as in traditional economies, no one knows the "optimal level" of government spending and currency issuance; the same applies to Ethereum. However, Ethereum has several key security thresholds, including: 1/3: an attacker reaching this ratio may affect finality; 1/2: affects blockchain fork choice; 2/3: can control the finality process. Some community members believe that the design of Ethereum's monetary and fiscal policy should consider the security trade-offs brought by these key ratios, while the current mechanism has not adequately incorporated these factors. However, the above analogy is not entirely accurate, as it does not yet involve other important factors such as the ETH burn mechanism, MEV, governance, etc.

Tether CEO responds to doubts after KPMG's first complete audit, we have proven ourselves multiple times

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino, in an interview with The Block, responded to ongoing criticisms raised after KPMG U.S. completed its first full financial audit. He stated that some critics are unable to admit that their past judgments about Tether were wrong, and said, "Honestly, I don't care." Ardoino mentioned that Tether has repeatedly proven its resilience.He noted that in 2022, Tether processed $7 billion in redemptions within 48 hours, which was about 10% of its reserves at the time, and there was no pause in redemptions during that period. He believes that many traditional financial institutions would struggle to handle withdrawals of a similar scale in such a short time. He also stated that criticism itself is not a bad thing, as it makes Tether better and stronger. Even if some critics view it as a "villain," as long as Tether can continue to serve its claimed 650 million users who rely on USDT, especially in emerging markets, he does not mind.According to informed sources, Tether, as a private company, will not publicly share audited financial statements. The company plans to conduct a full audit once a year in the future while continuing to release quarterly attestation reports. Overall, the KPMG audit is an important step for Tether to enhance transparency, but controversies surrounding its reserves, disclosure levels, and systemic impact have not completely dissipated.

Stripe is in talks to acquire PayPal, with a transaction valuation potentially reaching $53 billion

According to Techcrunch, acquisition negotiations between payment giant PayPal and Stripe, along with private equity firm Advent Global Opportunities, are heating up, and a deal may be reached in the coming weeks.In July, Stripe and Advent proposed to acquire PayPal for $60.50 per share, with a total transaction valuation of approximately $53 billion, but PayPal did not accept the offer at that time. However, insiders revealed that the negotiations have not been interrupted and are still ongoing.Neither PayPal nor Stripe has confirmed the related news. PayPal declined to comment, while Stripe stated that it would not respond to market rumors or speculation.This potential sale comes as PayPal seeks to reverse its growth challenges. After taking office in March this year, PayPal CEO Enrique Lores launched a restructuring plan that splits the business into three main areas: payment checkout and PayPal business, consumer financial services (including Venmo), and payment services and cryptocurrency business.Lores previously stated that PayPal would return to its identity as a technology company and strengthen its core payment capabilities. At the same time, the company plans to improve efficiency by cutting costs, with layoffs expected to reach 20% over the next two to three years.Founded in 1998, PayPal's founding team includes well-known Silicon Valley figures such as Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, and Max Levchin. The company experienced rapid growth during the e-commerce boom during the pandemic but has faced challenges such as slowing growth and pressure on its stock price in recent years. If the deal is finalized, it will become one of the largest acquisitions in the fintech industry in recent years.
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