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FIRST ON FOX: The House Judiciary Committee has opened a formal investigation into actions by South Korean regulators that lawmakers say may discriminate against American technology companies. In an attempt to learn more about the abuses against American companies, it has issued a subpoena to U.S. e-commerce giant Coupang for documents and testimony on its experiences.

The e-commerce company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, has emerged as one of the most visible examples cited by U.S. officials, lawmakers and investors of the abuse of U.S. companies by Seoul to better enable scrutiny of South Korea’s regulatory environment has intensified.

US-SOUTH KOREA TRADE TENSIONS FLARE OVER TREATMENT OF AMERICAN TECH FIRMS INCLUDING COUPANG

Committee Chairman Jim Jordan and Subcommittee Chairman Scott Fitzgerald said the probe will examine whether foreign laws and enforcement actions are being used to target U.S. firms and undermine their ability to compete globally, according to a Feb. 5 letter sent to Coupang leadership.

A U.S. flag flies in front of the U.S. Capitol dome on Dec. 16, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images / Getty Images)

Lawmakers wrote that the committee is conducting oversight into “how and to what extent foreign laws, regulations, and judicial orders are being used to discriminate against innovative American companies and infringe on the rights of U.S. citizens.”

The subpoena requests communications between Coupang and South Korean authorities, as well as testimony from company representatives, as Congress seeks to determine the scope of what it views as potentially unfair enforcement practices.

Logos on facade at the shared headquarters of Internet company Coupang and security company SentinelOne in the Silicon Valley town of Mountain View, California, October 28, 2018.  (Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images / Getty Images)

The committee cited concerns about the Korea Fair Trade Commission and other agencies, arguing they have subjected U.S. firms to “punitive obligations, excessive fines, and discriminatory enforcement practices” in ways that could benefit domestic competitors.

Lawmakers also pointed to recent regulatory actions involving Coupang, including scrutiny and potential penalties following a data-related incident, which they said illustrate broader concerns about how American-owned companies are treated under South Korean enforcement.

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South Korea says that the U.S. will review its subsidies to EV owners after South Korea brought up concerns on how the law would negativley impact Korean car manufacturers. Pictured: an American and South Korean flag hang together at Yongin, South Ko (Ken Scar/U.S. Army/Handout via Reuters / Reuters Photos)

According to the letter, the investigation is intended to inform potential legislation aimed at protecting U.S. companies and citizens from what Congress describes as discriminatory foreign regulations and enforcement decisions.

The committee said obtaining records from Coupang will help lawmakers assess how foreign policies and enforcement practices may affect Americans’ due process rights and U.S. companies’ ability to compete in global markets, as part of its oversight responsibilities.

Bitcoin’s price slid sharply today, falling to roughly the high‑$69,000 range as a wave of selling pressure hit the broader crypto market and erased tens of billions of dollars in value from the world’s largest digital asset. The drop marks a pullback of around 5 percent over the last 24 hours, underscoring how quickly sentiment can swing in an asset still dominated by speculative trading and macro‑driven flows.

Bitcoin hovers near $69,000 amid sharp daily drop

Real‑time quote data shows Bitcoin changing hands around 69,000 to 69,500 dollars today, with most major trading venues and trackers clustering in that band. One widely referenced feed lists Bitcoin at about 69,146 dollars, down more than 3,800 dollars on the session and more than 5 percent on the day. Other large aggregators and exchanges quote spot prices in a similar zone, generally between 69,100 and 69,400 dollars, after an overnight selloff knocked the token firmly below the 70,000‑dollar threshold.

The sell‑off comes after Bitcoin recently traded near 73,000 dollars within the last 24 hours, meaning the coin has given up several thousand dollars from its intraday high in a relatively short window. Market‑cap estimates put Bitcoin’s total network value around 1.38 trillion dollars at current levels, cementing its position as the most valuable cryptocurrency by a wide margin even after the decline.

From record highs to deep pullback

Despite today’s weakness, Bitcoin remains dramatically higher than its long‑term lows, but it has retreated steeply from the record levels set in recent months. Recent data show a 52‑week high above 120,000 dollars, meaning the coin now trades roughly 40 to 45 percent below its peak depending on the source and timestamp.

Shorter‑term trend gauges highlight the depth of the correction. One real‑time feed lists Bitcoin’s 50‑day moving average near 88,000 dollars and its 200‑day moving average above 103,000 dollars, indicating that the current spot price is well below both key technical levels. On some major retail platforms, Bitcoin is also down double digits over the past month and week, reflecting a sustained cooling after a powerful rally earlier in the cycle.

At the same time, several trackers point out that Bitcoin is still up strongly over the last year despite the recent turbulence, a reminder of just how volatile the asset can be across different time frames.

Volume remains heavy as traders reposition

Even as prices fall, trading activity remains intense. One large global data source shows 24‑hour volume for Bitcoin in the tens of billions of dollars, with estimates ranging from roughly 90 billion to more than 110 billion dollars depending on methodology. Another venue reports that more than 1.3 million BTC—worth well over 120 billion dollars at recent prices—has changed hands in the last day on its platform alone.

That elevated turnover suggests today’s declines are being driven by active repositioning rather than a quiet drift lower, as both leveraged traders and longer‑term holders respond to shifting signals from macro markets, regulation and sentiment. Several data providers also note that Bitcoin continues to dominate overall crypto market value, representing around 60 percent of total capitalization and outpacing major rivals in trading activity.

Macro jitters, regulatory headlines weigh on sentiment

Analysts say today’s pullback comes against a backdrop of renewed anxiety over interest‑rate policy, risk‑asset valuations and ongoing regulatory scrutiny of the crypto sector. While specific catalysts vary by region and venue, professional observers have repeatedly pointed to Bitcoin’s growing sensitivity to macroeconomic headlines, including inflation releases, central‑bank commentary and equity‑market swings.

Recent commentary from major exchanges and price‑tracking services emphasizes that a combination of market sentiment, user adoption trends, institutional flows and regulatory developments continues to drive sharp intraday moves in Bitcoin. Some platforms also highlight that the latest halving cycle and the maturation of derivatives markets may be altering traditional boom‑and‑bust patterns, though the asset’s core volatility remains firmly intact.

Exchanges show tight spreads, deep liquidity

Order‑book data from multiple centralized exchanges indicate that Bitcoin remains highly liquid, with tight spreads and substantial depth on both sides of the market. One popular aggregator lists leading BTC/USDT trading pairs on major venues with spreads around 0.01 percent and individual 24‑hour volumes in the billions of dollars.​

That liquidity helps facilitate rapid repricing when sentiment shifts but can also amplify volatility when large orders or cascades of liquidations hit leveraged structures. Market‑structure analysts say today’s slide appears consistent with a high‑liquidity environment where short‑term traders aggressively sell into weakness while longer‑term buyers selectively step in at lower prices.

Investors weigh long-term thesis against short-term pain

For long‑term believers, today’s pullback is another chapter in Bitcoin’s history of steep drawdowns followed by extended recoveries. Supporters point to the asset’s capped supply of 21 million coins, its growing institutional custody and ETF infrastructure, and its increasing role as a macro hedge for some investors as reasons they remain confident despite near‑term turbulence.

But critics and cautious traders note that the same volatility which has fueled Bitcoin’s upside can just as easily generate rapid, deep losses, particularly for newcomers using leverage or concentrating too much of their portfolio in a single speculative asset. With the price currently well below both medium‑term moving averages and recent highs, many technical analysts are watching closely to see whether Bitcoin can establish a firm base around the high‑$60,000 zone or whether further downside pressure emerges.

What today’s move means for everyday traders

For retail traders and long‑term holders watching today’s red numbers, professionals emphasize several key points:

• Bitcoin’s price routinely experiences swings of 5 percent or more in a single day, and today’s move, while uncomfortable, is not historically unusual for the asset class.
• Elevated volume suggests strong two‑sided interest, with some investors viewing the pullback as a buying opportunity while others lock in profits from earlier rallies.
• The coin remains firmly in the number‑one spot by market cap, and its dominance over other cryptocurrencies continues to reinforce its central role in the digital‑asset ecosystem.

Risk specialists continue to urge would‑be investors to research carefully, size positions conservatively and consider the potential for large, rapid price moves in either direction. They also stress the importance of using reputable platforms, securing private keys or exchange accounts properly, and understanding the tax and regulatory implications of crypto transactions in their home jurisdictions.

As Bitcoin hovers around the 69,000‑dollar mark after today’s drop, the market’s next moves will likely hinge on a familiar mix of macroeconomic data, regulatory headlines and the ever‑shifting tide of investor psychology — factors that have long made the original cryptocurrency both a symbol of digital‑age opportunity and a lightning rod for debates over risk.

At 22 years old, Eileen Gu has already lived several lifetimes in the spotlight. The Chinese-American freestyle skier, who captivated the world during the 2022 Beijing Olympics, continues to dominate headlines in 2026 as both an athlete and a cultural force. Born in San Francisco, trained in California, and competing under the Chinese flag, Gu remains one of the most polarizing and powerful figures in international sports.

Here are the 10 essential things every sports fan, cultural observer and casual follower should know about Eileen Gu right now.

1. Olympic Gold Medal Haul & Historic Beijing Performance

At the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, 18-year-old Gu became the breakout star of the Games. She won three medals—two gold (big air and halfpipe) and one silver (slopestyle)—making her the first freestyle skier to medal in all three events at a single Olympics. Her big-air gold was particularly dramatic: she landed a double cork 1620 on her final run, a trick no woman had ever attempted in competition, to clinch the title.

Gu’s three-medal haul tied her with American skier Chloe Kim for the most medals by a female freestyle skier in a single Games.

2. Decision to Compete for China Sparked Global Debate

Gu was born and raised in the United States and holds U.S. citizenship. In 2019, at age 15, she announced she would compete for China in international competitions while retaining U.S. citizenship. The move triggered intense scrutiny and polarized opinions: some praised her as a bridge between cultures; others accused her of opportunism or questioned her motives amid U.S.–China geopolitical tensions.

Gu has consistently described the decision as personal and family-driven. “I’m American when I’m in the U.S., Chinese when I’m in China,” she said in a 2022 interview. She has never renounced U.S. citizenship and remains eligible to represent the U.S. in future competitions if she chooses.

3. Record-Breaking Junior & Early Pro Career

Before Beijing, Gu was already a prodigy. She won her first X Games gold at age 13 (2018 big air) and became the youngest X Games champion in history. Between 2017 and 2021 she won 11 X Games medals (7 gold) and multiple World Cup titles. She is the only female skier to land a left-side double cork 1620 in competition.

Her technical difficulty—especially on jumps—remains unmatched among women.

4. Academic Excellence & Stanford Commitment

Gu graduated high school early and was accepted to Stanford University, where she enrolled in 2022. She has taken a leave of absence to focus on skiing but plans to return and major in computer science or data science. She has spoken openly about balancing elite sports with academics, often studying between training sessions.

In 2025 she completed her first full academic year at Stanford remotely while competing, maintaining a high GPA.

5. Massive Commercial Empire & Highest-Paid Female Athlete

Gu is one of the most marketable athletes in the world. In 2025 Forbes listed her as the highest-paid female athlete, earning an estimated $45 million ($5 million in on-snow earnings, $40 million in endorsements). Major partners include Red Bull, Visa, Tiffany & Co., Fendi, IWC Schaffhausen, Anheuser-Busch, and Chinese brands such as Anta and Mengniu.

She has appeared in global campaigns for Louis Vuitton, starred in a feature-length documentary, and launched her own apparel line. Her net worth is estimated at $80–100 million.

6. Return from Injury & Dominant 2025–2026 Season

Gu suffered a season-ending ACL tear in training in March 2023, forcing her to miss the entire 2023–24 season. She returned in December 2024 and immediately showed no rust, winning World Cup events in Copper Mountain (halfpipe) and Calgary (big air) in early 2025. In the 2025–26 season she has won four of six World Cup starts and leads the FIS freestyle overall standings.

Her comeback has been described as “the most dominant post-ACL return in freestyle skiing history.”

7. Cultural Bridge & Dual Identity

Gu speaks fluent Mandarin and frequently posts in both English and Chinese on social media (Instagram: 4.2 million followers; Weibo: 9.8 million). She has become a symbol of cross-cultural identity, especially among Asian-American youth. She has spoken at length about navigating racism in the U.S. and stereotypes in China, positioning herself as a voice for multicultural belonging.

In a 2025 TEDx talk she said: “I’m not half-American, half-Chinese. I’m fully both.”

8. Philanthropy & Education Initiatives

Gu founded the Gu Sports Foundation in 2023 to provide scholarships and training opportunities for underprivileged youth in skiing and snowboarding. She has donated more than $2 million to youth sports programs in China and the U.S., with a particular focus on girls’ participation in action sports. She also mentors young athletes through her summer camps in California and Beijing.

9. Fashion & Media Presence

Beyond sports, Gu is a legitimate fashion figure. She has walked runways for Louis Vuitton and Fendi, appeared in Vogue China and Vogue US, and was named to Time’s 100 Next list in 2022. Her red-carpet appearances during fashion weeks consistently trend online.

She has also acted in small roles (a cameo in a Chinese blockbuster) and hosted segments on CCTV and NBC.

10. 2026 Goals: Defend Olympic Titles & Push for Gender Equity

Gu has already qualified for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina (Italy) and is the clear favorite to defend her titles in halfpipe and big air. She has spoken about wanting to push for equal prize money and visibility in freestyle skiing and has quietly advocated for better athlete mental-health resources.

If she sweeps again in 2026, she would become the most decorated female freestyle skier in Olympic history.

Eileen Gu is no longer just a skier—she is a global brand, a cultural symbol, and a generational talent. Whether on the slopes, in boardrooms, or on magazine covers, she continues to redefine what it means to be a modern athlete in an increasingly interconnected world.

A major engineering milestone has been reached on what is set to become the UK’s first new reservoir in more than three decades.

Portsmouth Water said teams at Havant Thicket Reservoir installed a 20‑tonne steel cut‑off wall during a continuous 72‑hour operation at the start of the year.

The wall, which is 13m (43ft) high and 9m (29ft) wide, was built on site before being lifted into a deep trench using a 100‑tonne crane in a continuous operation over three days.

Read more about the work here.

In the modern digital economy, growth is no longer defined by speed alone. While early-stage traction and rapid scaling still capture attention, the businesses that endure are those guided by strategic leadership, long-term vision, and disciplined operational involvement. Sustainable growth in technology-driven companies depends less on momentum and more on the quality of decisions made when complexity increases.

As digital businesses mature, leadership moves from ideation to orchestration. Founders and executives are no longer simply building products. They are designing systems, cultures, and decision frameworks that must hold up under pressure. This is where strategic leadership becomes the difference between companies that plateau and those that compound.

Strategic Leadership as a System, Not a Role

Strategic leadership is often misunderstood as a function of hierarchy or charisma. In practice, it is a system of thinking that governs how decisions are made over time. It reflects how leaders balance short-term performance with long-term value creation, how they allocate attention, and how they respond to uncertainty.

In high-growth digital businesses, leadership systems must operate at multiple speeds. Product teams move quickly, markets shift in real time, and competitive advantages can erode within months. Leaders who rely solely on instinct or reactive decision-making struggle to maintain coherence as the organization scales.

Strategic leaders establish principles that guide action even when information is incomplete. These principles create alignment across teams, reduce decision friction, and allow organizations to move fast without losing direction. Rather than controlling every outcome, leadership sets constraints that enable intelligent autonomy.

Long-Term Vision as a Competitive Asset

Long-term vision is often framed as aspirational storytelling, but in effective organizations, it functions as a decision filter. Vision clarifies which opportunities deserve focus and which distractions should be ignored, even when they appear attractive in the short term.

In digital markets, opportunities are abundant. New features, partnerships, acquisitions, and revenue streams present themselves constantly. Without a clear vision, organizations chase surface-level growth and accumulate complexity that ultimately slows them down.

A well-defined long-term vision anchors leadership decisions across product development, talent strategy, and capital allocation. It allows leaders to invest ahead of visible returns and to resist short-term optimization that undermines future leverage.

This is particularly important in technology businesses where infrastructure decisions compound over time. Architecture choices, data strategy, and operational processes create path dependency. Strategic leaders understand that early trade-offs shape what the company can become later.

Decision-Making Frameworks in Complex Environments

As organizations scale, the volume and consequence of decisions increase. Leaders who attempt to personally approve every major call quickly become bottlenecks. Sustainable growth requires decision-making frameworks that distribute authority without sacrificing quality.

Effective frameworks share three characteristics. First, they clarify ownership. Teams must know who decides, who contributes input, and who is accountable for outcomes. Ambiguity slows execution and creates political friction.

Second, strong frameworks emphasize reversibility. Leaders distinguish between decisions that are difficult to undo and those that can be adjusted over time. This allows organizations to move faster on low-risk experiments while applying greater scrutiny to structural choices.

Third, decision frameworks prioritize learning. Strategic leaders design feedback loops that convert outcomes into insight. Data is not treated as validation after the fact, but as an input that continuously reshapes assumptions.

In digital businesses, data is abundant but insight is scarce. Leaders who stay close to operational metrics develop a more accurate sense of what is actually driving growth versus what merely looks impressive on dashboards.

Operational Involvement Without Micromanagement

One of the most overlooked aspects of strategic leadership is the role of operational involvement. In many investment-backed environments, leadership becomes increasingly detached from execution as companies grow. While delegation is essential, distance from operations often leads to distorted decision-making.

Strategic leaders remain close enough to the work to understand its constraints. They engage with teams, systems, and customers at a granular level, not to control outcomes but to maintain situational awareness.

Felix Romer is one example of a business leader who has emphasized this approach by embedding himself operationally within companies rather than acting as a passive investor. His involvement has centered on understanding how data flows through systems, how decisions are made on the ground, and where inefficiencies emerge in real execution environments .

This type of engagement enables leaders to identify leverage points that are invisible from a distance. It also signals cultural expectations around accountability and rigor. When leadership demonstrates fluency in the operational reality of the business, strategic direction becomes more credible.

Importantly, operational involvement does not mean micromanagement. Strategic leaders focus on mechanisms rather than tasks. They ask why systems behave the way they do, not how individual contributors should perform their roles.

Simplification as a Growth Strategy

In high-growth digital businesses, complexity accumulates quietly. Features are added, processes multiply, and internal dependencies increase. Over time, this complexity erodes speed and clarity.

Strategic leadership involves a willingness to simplify, even when complexity feels justified. Simplification is not about reducing ambition. It is about removing friction that prevents the organization from executing on what matters most.

Leaders who prioritize simplicity often revisit assumptions that once made sense but no longer serve the business. They question whether existing metrics reflect real value creation and whether internal structures still align with external realities.

This discipline requires restraint. Growth incentives often reward expansion rather than focus. Strategic leaders recognize that every addition has a cost, and that long-term performance depends on what the organization chooses not to do.

In practice, simplification improves decision quality, accelerates execution, and strengthens customer experience. It also frees leadership attention for higher-order strategic thinking.

Leadership as Capital Allocation

At scale, leadership becomes less about directing people and more about allocating resources. Time, capital, talent, and attention are finite. Strategic leaders treat these inputs with the same discipline that investors apply to financial capital.

This perspective reframes leadership decisions. Initiatives are evaluated not only on potential upside but on opportunity cost. Leaders ask whether an investment strengthens the organization’s core advantages or merely adds optionality without leverage.

Operational involvement supports this mindset by grounding capital allocation in reality. Leaders who understand how teams actually work can better assess where incremental resources will generate compounding returns.

Felix Romer has referenced this approach in discussing how staying close to execution improves long-term outcomes, particularly in data-driven and technology-focused businesses where small optimizations can scale disproportionately .

This reinforces a broader principle. Strategic leadership is not about maximizing activity. It is about maximizing impact per unit of effort.

Culture as an Outcome of Strategic Consistency

Culture is often treated as a soft variable, but in high-growth organizations, it is an outcome of consistent leadership behavior. What leaders reward, tolerate, and prioritize shapes how decisions are made throughout the organization.

Strategic leaders align culture with long-term objectives by modeling the behaviors they expect. They create environments where thoughtful risk-taking is encouraged, learning is valued, and accountability is clear.

Operational involvement plays a role here as well. When leadership engages with real challenges rather than abstract narratives, cultural signals become tangible. Teams learn what matters not through slogans, but through observed decisions.

Over time, this consistency compounds. Organizations develop internal judgment that allows them to navigate uncertainty without constant top-down direction.

Building for Endurance, Not Just Exit

In digital and technology-driven markets, success is often measured by valuation milestones or exits. While these outcomes matter, they are byproducts of deeper organizational strength.

Strategic leadership focuses on building companies that can endure. This means investing in scalable systems, resilient cultures, and decision frameworks that remain effective as the business evolves.

Leaders who adopt this mindset are less reactive to market noise. They understand that sustainable growth emerges from disciplined execution over long horizons, not from chasing every trend.

Felix Romer has been noted as an example of a leader who prioritizes this embedded, long-term approach by working within businesses to shape their operational foundations rather than remaining removed from day-to-day realities.

Conclusion

Sustainable growth in modern digital businesses is not accidental. It is the result of strategic leadership that combines long-term vision with operational fluency and disciplined decision-making.

As markets become more complex and competitive advantages more transient, leadership quality becomes the ultimate differentiator. Organizations led by individuals who think systemically, stay close to execution, and allocate resources with intention are better positioned to compound value over time.

In the end, strategic leadership is not about visibility or authority. It is about building the conditions under which smart decisions can scale, even when the leader is not in the room.

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