India Joins Elite Club With ISRO’s SpaDeX Space Docking Success | Firstpost Spotlight India achieved a historic milestone in space exploration. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully executed its Space Docking Experiment (SpadeX), docking two satellites—Chaser and Target—in orbit. This achievement makes India only the fourth nation globally, after the US, Russia, and China, to master this critical technology. Docking enables the assembly of spacecraft, transfer of crew, and construction of space stations. Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated ISRO scientists, calling the docking a significant step toward India’s ambitious space missions, including its planned Bharatiya Space Station by 2035 and a crewed mission to the Moon by 2040.
Bitcoin was the first decentralized digital currency powered by blockchain technology. It quickly earned the title of “Digital Gold” for the fact that, just like gold, it behaves as a scarce commodity with a limited supply of 21 million coins. No one owns the infrastructure either. Over the years, Bitcoin has been resilient, being subjected to multiple market cycles but eventually giving a CAGR of 167% over the last 10 years! With a strong fundamental and current market momentum, this is just the beginning for Bitcoin if experts have to be believed and that makes it an interesting case for including Bitcoin in Investment Portfolios
The Case for Bitcoin in Portfolios
There are several factors that are critical to this consideration. Let us take a look at the key factors here:
Diversification
Bitcoin has acted as an excellent hedge during periods of economic uncertainty/market downturns. It also exhibits a very low correlation with traditional assets like equities, commodities and bonds thereby providing portfolio diversification.
Inflation Hedge
With supply hardcoded and every increasing demand, Bitcoin is often compared to gold as a hedge against inflation. Whenever there has been currency devaluation and excessive monetary policies in the past, Bitcoin has presented itself as an attractive store of value.
High Growth Potential
Bitcoin has been consistently outperforming all traditional asset classes and remains on the top of the best performing assets in History. Using Blockchain as its underlying technology, it continues to gain adoption across industries thereby becoming a long term bet.
Institutional Adoption: A Turning Point
A huge shift and shot in the arm for Bitcoin was when the first bitcoin ETF that the Securities exchange of the United States of America approved. This led to the growth of new financial models that sharp businessmen like Michael Saylor adopted with etf and direct bitcoin ownerships.
Bitcoin ETFs: The launch of Bitcoin ETFs in January 2024 by financial giants like BlackRock, Fidelity, and VanEck saw inflows exceeding $1.2 billion in the first month, signalling strong institutional demand.
Corporate Treasury Adoption: Companies like Tesla and MicroStrategy have allocated portions of their treasuries to Bitcoin, citing it as a strategic reserve asset.
Regulated Products: The availability of regulated Bitcoin ETFs and other crypto instruments has made Bitcoin more accessible to traditional investors while addressing security and compliance concerns.
So, how does Bitcoin Fit into Modern Portfolios
There is an inherent need to have proper risk management and future proofing wealth, especially with an asset like Bitcoin. There are many ways to achieve this.
Getty Images is buying Shutterstock to create a $3.7 billion visual content company.
The merger comes at a time when companies that use still images are facing increased competition from images generated by artificial intelligence.
The companies said Tuesday that they have complementary portfolios and that a merger will provide customers with a broader array still imagery, video, music, 3D and other media.
“With the rapid rise in demand for compelling visual content across industries, there has never been a better time for our two businesses to come together,” Getty Images CEO Craig Peters said in a prepared statement.
Peters will serve as CEO of the combined business.
“We are excited by the opportunities we see to expand our creative content library and enhance our product offering to meet diverse customer needs,” Shutterstock CEO Paul Hennessy said.
Getty Images shareholders will own about 54.7% of the combined company at closing and Shutterstock stockholders will own approximately 45.3%.
Shutterstock shareholders can choose to receive either approximately $28.85 per share in cash for each share of Shutterstock common stock they own; about 13.67 shares of Getty Images common stock for each share of Shutterstock common stock they own; or a mixed consideration of 9.17 shares of Getty Images common stock plus $9.50 in cash for each share of Shutterstock common stock they own.
The combined company will operate as Getty Images, and will continue to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ‘GETY’ ticker symbol.
Its board will have 11 members, comprised of Peters, six directors designated by Getty Images and four directors designated by Shutterstock, including Hennessy. The chairman will be Mark Getty, current chairman of Seattle-based Getty Images.
Shares of New York-based Shutterstock jumped more than 30% before the market opened, while Getty Images’ stock soared more than 58%.
The CEO of LVMH, Bernard Arnault, oversees a luxury empire that includes Louis Vuitton, Dior, and Moët & Chandon. His strategic acquisitions and leadership have solidified his status as the king of luxury goods. Net Worth: 171 billion.
Michael Dell founded Dell Technologies, a company that transformed personal computing. His decision to take the company private and then public again showcased his business acumen and strengthened his legacy in the tech industry. Net Worth: 119 billion
