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Alphabet highlights new AI-related risks in tapping debt market

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Alphabet taps $20B bond sale to fund AI capex

Google CEO Sundar Pichai gestures to the crowd during Google’s annual I/O developers conference in Mountain View, California, on May 20, 2025.

David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

As Alphabet returns to the debt market to fund its artificial intelligence buildout, the company is acknowledging new risks tied to the rise of AI and its hefty investments in infrastructure.

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In its annual financial report late last week, the Google parent highlighted the potential impact of AI on the company’s core advertising business and the possibility of ending up with “excess capacity” from its costly commitments.

“To meet the compute capacity demands of AI training and inference, as well as traditional cloud computing services, we are entering into significant leasing arrangements with third party operators, which may increase costs and operational complexity,” the company stated in the filing with the SEC. Large commercial agreements could also increase “liabilities and obligations in the event of nonperformance by us, our counterparties, or vendors,” Alphabet said.

One of the headline numbers in Alphabet’s earnings report was $185 billion, representing the high end of what the company says it may shell out in capital expenditures this year, more than double its 2025 capex.

To help finance its AI ambitions, Alphabet is planning to raise $20 billion from a U.S. dollar bond sale, according people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named because the details are confidential. The planned sale would take place over four tranches, including a 100-year bond deal in sterling, the people said, with one adding that the deal is five times oversubscribed.

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Bloomberg first reported on the planned debt funding, which was originally expected to reach $15 billion.

Alphabet held a $25 billion bond sale in November. Its long-term debt quadrupled in 2025 to $46.5 billion. CFO Anat Ashkenazi said on last week’s earnings call that as the company considers its total investment, “we want to make sure we do it in a fiscally responsible way, and that we invest appropriately, but we do it in a way that maintains a very healthy financial position for the organization.”

When asked on the call what keeps executives up at night, CEO Sundar Pichai responded “compute capacity,” adding, “power, land, supply chain constraints, how do you ramp up to meet this extraordinary demand for this moment?”   

Alphabet taps $20B bond sale to fund AI capex

In total, Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta and Amazon are now projected to increase capex this year by more than 60% from the historic levels reached in 2025, as they load up on high-priced chips, build new facilities and buy the networking technology to connect it all.

At the center of Google’s AI strategy is Gemini, its large language model and AI assistant that’s going head-to-head with OpenAI’s offerings and Anthropic’s Claude.

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Pichai said on the earnings call that the Gemini AI app now has more than 750 million monthly active users, up from 650 million monthly active users last quarter.

With more consumers adopting generative AI, Google has to face the potential of people decreasing their use of internet search, which means possible changes in the company’s dominant ad business. It’s another thing that Google included in the risk sections of its financial filing for the first time.

“We and our competitors are constantly adjusting to meet this shift and provide new and evolving advertising formats,” the filing says. “There is no assurance that we will adapt effectively and competitively to meet this shift, and that such advertising formats, strategies, and offerings will be successful.”  

Thus far, Google has been able to fend off concerns that AI will cannibalize its search and ads business. Ad revenue in the fourth quarter increased 13.5% from a year earlier to $82.28 billion.

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— CNBC’s Seema Mody contributed to this report.

WATCH: Clearly Google is getting very good returns on capex

Clearly Google is getting very good returns on capex, says D.A. Davidson's Gil Luria

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Crypto World

Franklin Templeton launches crypto division with 250 Digital acquisition

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Franklin Templeton launches crypto division with 250 Digital acquisition

Wall Street asset management giant Franklin Templeton is launching a dedicated cryptocurrency division as it deepens its push into digital assets, anchored by a planned acquisition of crypto investment firm 250 Digital.

The new unit, called Franklin Crypto, will bring together the 250 Digital team and its liquid crypto strategies — previously managed by CoinFund — under one structure aimed at institutional investors, the firm said Wednesday.

Former CoinFund executive Christopher Perkins will lead the division, with Seth Ginns serving as chief investment officer alongside Franklin Templeton digital assets executive Tony Pecore. The group will report to Sandy Kaul, the firm’s head of innovation.

The move builds on Franklin Templeton’s existing digital asset business, which manages about $1.8 billion, and signals a shift toward offering more active crypto investment strategies alongside its current products.

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“This is an exciting addition for Franklin Templeton,” CEO Jenny Johnson said, adding that the deal strengthens the firm’s ability to deliver dedicated crypto expertise to clients globally.

The launch of Franklin Crypto reflects a broader trend among large asset managers that are moving beyond passive exposure, such as exchange-traded funds, toward building in-house capabilities.

Perkins said the effort is aimed at meeting that demand. “Crypto’s institutional moment has arrived,” he said, pointing to growing interest from large investors seeking structured exposure to digital assets.

The transaction also includes an experimental element: part of the consideration will be paid using BENJI tokens, linked to Franklin Templeton’s on-chain U.S. Government Money Fund. The fund uses blockchain infrastructure to process transactions and record ownership.

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That approach suggests early steps toward conducting mergers and acquisitions using tokenized assets, with settlement occurring more directly on blockchain rails.

The acquisition is expected to close in the second quarter of 2026, subject to approvals and other conditions. Financial terms were not disclosed.

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Avalanche (AVAX) gains 4% as index moves higher

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9am CoinDesk 20 Update for 2026-04-01: vertical

CoinDesk Indices presents its daily market update, highlighting the performance of leaders and laggards in the CoinDesk 20 Index.

The CoinDesk 20 is currently trading at 1968.28, up 1.0% (+20.29) since yesterday’s close.

Eighteen of 20 assets is trading higher.

9am CoinDesk 20 Update for 2026-04-01: vertical

Leaders: AVAX (+4.0%) and HBAR (+3.6%).

Laggards: BCH (-2.1%) and BNB (+0.0%).

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The CoinDesk 20 is a broad-based index traded on multiple platforms in several regions globally.

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Bitcoin Breaks 5-Month Losing Streak With $68K March Close: What’s Next?

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Cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin Price, Markets, BTC Markets, Price Analysis, Market Analysis

Bitcoin (BTC) closed March in green, ending the longest monthly losing streak since 2018. Data suggests that the coming months may prove to be profitable for BTC.

Key takeaways:

  • Bitcoin ended March 2% higher, marking the first green monthly close in six months.

  • A similar streak in 2018/2019 led to an over 316% BTC price rebound over five months.

  • Bitcoin price faces stiff resistance at $70,000-$72,000, where key trend lines converge.

Past multi-month downtrends were followed by 300% price gains

Historical price data from CoinGlass confirms Bitcoin printed its first green monthly candle in six months, closing March 2% higher after five straight months of losses.

“This is a massive dose of hopium,” analyst Ash Crypto said in an X post on Wednesday.

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The analyst was referring to a possible shift in momentum, which might lead to a sustained recovery, as seen in previous cycles.

Related: Crypto Fear & Greed Index stuck on ‘extreme fear,’ but is there a silver lining?

The last time this happened was in 2018/2019 when BTC closed February 2019 in green, after six consecutive red months, as shown in the figure below.

This led to a reversal with over 300% returns the following five months, as Bitcoin recovered from the 2018 bear market.

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“Last time BTC dumped 6 months in a row, it pumped the following 5 months in a row that came after!” trader Satoshi Flipper said in a Wednesday post on X.

Cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin Price, Markets, BTC Markets, Price Analysis, Market Analysis
Bitcoin monthly percentage returns. Source: CoinGlass

If history repeats itself, the reversal may continue in April, suggesting that BTC price may have bottomed at $60,000.

Bitcoin’s bullish monthly close is a ”catalyst for fresh inflows into early April,” Trader Caleb said, adding:

“April starts with momentum.”

Bitcoin has a well-established tendency for significant price swings in April.

Since 2013, April has been a green month for eight of the past 13 years, with average returns of about 12.2%

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However, Bitcoin also tends to move in the opposite direction to March in April, and this is true for nine out of the past 13 years. 

In recent years, Bitcoin dropped in April after closing March in green, three out of four times between 2021 and 2024. 

Therefore, while the end of past multi-month drawdowns suggests a rebound is due, data demonstrates that BTC price could also slide in April.

Watch these Bitcoin price levels next

Data from TradingView shows BTC price up 2.5% on the day to trade at $68,470 as the $69,000-$70,000 resistance remains in place.

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Analysts expect Bitcoin’s range-bound price action to continue for longer, with important price levels to look for in case of a breakout. 

These include the $70,000-$72,000 supply zone, coinciding with the 50-day simple moving average (SMA), the 50-day exponential moving average (EMA) and the 1w–1m cohort cost basis

This is also where investors acquired approximately 650,000 BTC, marking a potential point of sell pressure, according to the cost-basis distribution data from Glassnode.

Breaking above this level could see BTC/USD revisit the $76,000 range high and eventually the $80,000 psychological level.

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BTC/USD daily chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Zooming out, trader Sheldon Diedericks said Bitcoin could “push into resistance” at $83,000 on the monthly time frame, a key support level from April 2025. The 200-day EMA is also close to this area.

BTC/USD monthly chart. Source: X/Sheldon Diedericks

On the downside, the 200-week EMA at $68,300 and the 200-week SMA at $59,400 remain key levels to watch. Below that, the next major level is Bitcoin’s realized price around $54,000.

As Cointelegraph reported, Bitcoin’s bear market bottom could be formed once BTC price drops toward or below its realized price.