Aaron Rafferty

Aaron Rafferty

Food Policy

Nine States Seek $10.3 Million From Kroger After Blocking the Largest Grocery Merger in U.S. History

Apr 4, 2026

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5 min read

Nine States Seek $10.3 Million From Kroger After Blocking the Largest Grocery Merger in U.S. History

Oregon is leading a nine-state coalition seeking $10.3 million from Kroger in legal fees after successfully blocking the $24.6 billion Kroger-Albertsons grocery merger

Aaron Rafferty

Food Policy

Sysco's $29.1 Billion Restaurant Depot Deal Puts 725,000 Independent Restaurants Under a Distributor That Doesn't Compete on Price

Apr 4, 2026

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6 min read

Sysco's $29.1 Billion Restaurant Depot Deal Puts 725,000 Independent Restaurants Under a Distributor That Doesn't Compete on Price

Sysco's $29.1 billion acquisition of Restaurant Depot puts 725,000 independent restaurants under a distributor that competes on service, not price, and leads in processed food.

Aaron Rafferty

WYDE Weekly Newsletter

$EAT just hit #1 on Base. Three states legalized DAOs. The FDIC is implementing stablecoin rules Monday.

Apr 4, 2026

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11 min read

$EAT just hit #1 on Base. Three states legalized DAOs. The FDIC is implementing stablecoin rules Monday.

$EAT hit #1 on Base at +150%. Three states signed the DUNA Act. Schwab opened crypto to 38.9 million accounts. The FDIC is implementing stablecoin rules Monday. Here's the full week.

Aaron Rafferty

Legal

FDIC Schedules April 7 Board Meeting to Advance GENIUS Act Stablecoin Rules

Apr 3, 2026

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6 min read

FDIC Schedules April 7 Board Meeting to Advance GENIUS Act Stablecoin Rules

The FDIC scheduled an April 7 board meeting to advance GENIUS Act stablecoin rules, including prudential standards for bank-issued payment stablecoins and a reputation risk ban.

Aaron Rafferty

Pharma

Anthropic Acquires Stealth Biotech Startup Coefficient Bio in $400 Million Stock Deal

Apr 3, 2026

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5 min read

Anthropic Acquires Stealth Biotech Startup Coefficient Bio in $400 Million Stock Deal

Anthropic acquired stealth biotech startup Coefficient Bio for $400 million in stock, bringing ex-Genentech AI drug discovery researchers into its healthcare division.

Aaron Rafferty

Crypto & DeFi

Charles Schwab Opens Waitlist for Spot Bitcoin and Ethereum Trading Across $12.2 Trillion Platform

Apr 3, 2026

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5 min read

Charles Schwab Opens Waitlist for Spot Bitcoin and Ethereum Trading Across $12.2 Trillion Platform

Charles Schwab opened a waitlist for spot Bitcoin and Ethereum trading through its $12.2 trillion brokerage platform, with launch targeted for H1 2026.

Aaron Rafferty

Philanthropy

Family Sues Nonprofit Over $21 Million Donor-Advised Fund It Can No Longer Access

Apr 3, 2026

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5 min read

Family Sues Nonprofit Over $21 Million Donor-Advised Fund It Can No Longer Access

A family is suing WaterStone after the nonprofit cut off access to their $21 million donor-advised fund. DAFs hold $326 billion with no payout requirements.

Aaron Rafferty

Global Affairs

IMF Declares Tokenization a Structural Shift in Financial Architecture, Outlines Five Policy Pillars

Apr 3, 2026

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4 min read

IMF Declares Tokenization a Structural Shift in Financial Architecture, Outlines Five Policy Pillars

The IMF published a note calling tokenization a structural shift in financial architecture, not a marginal efficiency gain. Tobias Adrian outlines five policy pillars.

Aaron Rafferty

Government & Fraud

FBI Arrests 15 in $50 Million Southern California Hospice Fraud Crackdown

Apr 3, 2026

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5 min read

FBI Arrests 15 in $50 Million Southern California Hospice Fraud Crackdown

FBI arrests 15 in $50 million Southern California hospice fraud crackdown. Operation Never Say Die targets sham facilities billing Medicare for non-terminal patients.

Aaron Rafferty

Legal

Coinbase Receives Conditional OCC Trust Charter as Banking Lobby Pushes Back

Apr 3, 2026

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4 min read

Coinbase Receives Conditional OCC Trust Charter as Banking Lobby Pushes Back

Coinbase received conditional OCC approval for a national trust company charter. CLO Paul Grewal fired back at banking lobby criticism within hours.

Aaron Rafferty

Government & Fraud

Safe Launches Safenet Beta to Block Unsafe Transactions Before Execution

Apr 3, 2026

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4 min read

Safe Launches Safenet Beta to Block Unsafe Transactions Before Execution

Safe launched Safenet Beta, an on-chain transaction security protocol that blocks unsafe transactions before execution, 48 hours after the $280M Drift exploit.

Aaron Rafferty

Food Policy

18-Year-Old Builds Garage Microplastic Filter That Outperforms Municipal Water Treatment

Apr 3, 2026

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4 min read

18-Year-Old Builds Garage Microplastic Filter That Outperforms Municipal Water Treatment

An 18-year-old from Virginia built a garage microplastic filter that removes 95.52% of particles at 87% reusability, outperforming municipal water treatment plants.

Aaron Rafferty

Food Policy

RFK Jr. Launches $144 Million Federal Program to Detect and Remove Microplastics From the Human Body

Apr 3, 2026

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4 min read

RFK Jr. Launches $144 Million Federal Program to Detect and Remove Microplastics From the Human Body

HHS Secretary RFK Jr. announced a $144 million STOMP program to detect and remove microplastics from the human body. An 18-year-old already built a filter that works.

Aaron Rafferty

WYDE Ecosystem

$EAT Hits #1 on Base 7-Day Gainers at 150.7% After Week-Long Climb Across Ecosystem Leaderboards

Apr 3, 2026

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5 min read

$EAT Hits #1 on Base 7-Day Gainers at 150.7% After Week-Long Climb Across Ecosystem Leaderboards

$EAT is the #1 top gainer on Base over 7 days at +150.7%, with over 17,600 meals funded. Every dollar from trading fees creates five meals.

Aaron Rafferty

DoorDash Bets on Rivian Spinoff ALSO's $200M Round for Autonomous Last-Mile Delivery

Apr 2, 2026

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4 min read

Juries found Meta and YouTube liable in back-to-back trials for addictive platform design harming children, awarding $381 million combined in damages.

Aaron Rafferty

Aaron Rafferty

Nine States Seek $10.3 Million From Kroger After Blocking the Largest Grocery Merger in U.S. History

Sysco's $29.1 Billion Restaurant Depot Deal Puts 725,000 Independent Restaurants Under a Distributor That Doesn't Compete on Price

$EAT just hit #1 on Base. Three states legalized DAOs. The FDIC is implementing stablecoin rules Monday.

FDIC Schedules April 7 Board Meeting to Advance GENIUS Act Stablecoin Rules

Anthropic Acquires Stealth Biotech Startup Coefficient Bio in $400 Million Stock Deal

Charles Schwab Opens Waitlist for Spot Bitcoin and Ethereum Trading Across $12.2 Trillion Platform

Family Sues Nonprofit Over $21 Million Donor-Advised Fund It Can No Longer Access

IMF Declares Tokenization a Structural Shift in Financial Architecture, Outlines Five Policy Pillars

FBI Arrests 15 in $50 Million Southern California Hospice Fraud Crackdown

Coinbase Receives Conditional OCC Trust Charter as Banking Lobby Pushes Back

Safe Launches Safenet Beta to Block Unsafe Transactions Before Execution

18-Year-Old Builds Garage Microplastic Filter That Outperforms Municipal Water Treatment

RFK Jr. Launches $144 Million Federal Program to Detect and Remove Microplastics From the Human Body

$EAT Hits #1 on Base 7-Day Gainers at 150.7% After Week-Long Climb Across Ecosystem Leaderboards

DoorDash Bets on Rivian Spinoff ALSO's $200M Round for Autonomous Last-Mile Delivery

Anthropic Leaked Its Own Claude Code Source Twice in One Week

OpenAI Raised $122 Billion on Monday. SNAP Cut Refugees Off Food Aid on Tuesday.

Treasury Proposes Paying Whistleblowers Up to 30% for Reporting Fraud and Sanctions Violations

Refugees and Asylum Seekers Lost SNAP Food Aid as New Federal Restrictions Hit April 1

Google Quantum AI Proves Breaking Crypto Encryption Needs 20x Fewer Resources Than Previously Estimated

Three U.S. States Now Grant DAOs Full Legal Status as DUNA Act Momentum Accelerates

$381M verdict against Zuck. 90% SBA Financing for Food SMBs. $EAT at ATH. We signed our national partner.

NYC Sues Ridehail App That Offers 60% Cheaper Rides by Letting Drivers Keep Every Dollar

A 15-Year-Old Built a Crowdsourced Database of Laws Killing African Business

Juries Find Meta and YouTube Liable in Back-to-Back Social Media Addiction Verdicts

WYDE Newsroom