Palmer Luckey, Backed by Palantir’s Joe Lonsdale, Launching Crypto-Focused Bank Erebor

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Tech billionaire Joe Lonsdale, co-founder of Palantir, announced his investment in Erebor, a new U.S. digital-only bank founded by Palmer Luckey, co-founder of defense tech company Anduril. Erebor aims to fill the gap left by Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse in March 2023, which severely impacted startups and venture capital firms dependent on SVB’s services.

Erebor has applied for a national bank charter and plans to serve tech companies across sectors like artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency, defense, and manufacturing, as well as individuals connected to these industries. The bank’s name, drawn from Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, references the Lonely Mountain fortress known for reclaiming treasure.

Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, with a secondary office in New York, Erebor intends to operate with a digital-first approach. Leadership includes Owen Rapaport and Jacob Hirshman, a former advisor to stablecoin company Circle.

The bank plans to hold stablecoins—a crypto asset class pegged to fiat currencies—to facilitate faster cross-border payments and digital financial services. Erebor aims to become “the most regulated entity conducting and facilitating stablecoin transactions,” signaling its focus on compliance in the evolving crypto banking space.

Besides Lonsdale, Erebor’s backers reportedly include Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund. Neither Luckey nor Lonsdale are expected to be involved in daily operations.

Nvidia Regains Title as Most Valued Company in June on AI Optimism

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Nvidia reclaimed its position as the world’s most valuable company by market capitalization in June, reaching $3.86 trillion, driven by renewed investor optimism over its AI leadership and rising demand for its AI chips. This valuation was about 4.3% higher than Microsoft’s $3.69 trillion market cap at the end of June.

Despite this, Nvidia’s value remains below Apple’s record high of approximately $3.92 trillion set in December 2024. Apple ranked third with a market capitalization of $3.1 trillion at the end of June.

Other tech giants also saw significant gains: Meta Platforms rose 14% to $1.86 trillion, Broadcom increased 13.9% to $1.3 trillion, and Amazon grew 7% to $2.33 trillion. Meanwhile, Tesla’s market value dropped 8.3% to $1.02 trillion, affected by CEO Elon Musk’s public conflict with former President Donald Trump.

Daniel Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, forecasted that Nvidia and Microsoft would both surpass $4 trillion market caps this summer, with a focus on reaching the $5 trillion mark over the next 18 months, signaling that the tech bull market is still in its early phase, led by the AI revolution.

EU Seeks Private Investment to Lead Quantum Technology by 2030

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The European Union is turning to private funding to strengthen its position in quantum technology, aiming to reduce dependence on the U.S. and China, EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen announced Wednesday. Quantum computing promises vastly faster processing speeds than traditional computers and could revolutionize various sectors, potentially generating trillions of dollars in value over the next decade, according to McKinsey.

Virkkunen highlighted that while Europe has already invested over 11 billion euros ($13 billion) in public funding for quantum technology over the past five years, only 5% of global private investments flow to Europe. To address this gap, the EU plans to intensify efforts to attract private capital in the coming months.

The EU Quantum Strategy also calls for greater collaboration among member states to pool expertise, enhance research and infrastructure, and support a vibrant ecosystem of startups and scale-ups. A key focus is helping startups avoid acquisition by foreign entities or relocation to regions with better funding opportunities.

Looking ahead, the European Commission intends to propose a “Quantum Act” next year to build on the strategy and further promote Europe’s quantum ambitions.