Entertainment
Trump attempts to bail out his wealthy cryptocurrency backers with U.S. crypto reserve
Just a few days ago, Mashable published an article investigating why Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies were suddenly in a freefall. Of the four main reasons, three were attributable to Donald Trump and his actions as president.
This is not exactly what one would expect from Trump, who promised to be a pro-crypto president after its advocates helped him win the presidency.
But over the weekend, as Bitcoin lost roughly one-fifth of its value, Trump suddenly made an announcement that temporarily sent cryptocurrencies’ values skyrocketing once again.
On his social media platform Truth Social, Trump announced that the U.S. government would create a “Crypto Strategic Reserve” and begin buying various cryptocurrencies. Trump specifically mentioned five: Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Solana, and Cardano.
“A U.S. Crypto Reserve will elevate this critical industry after years of corrupt attacks by the Biden Administration, which is why my Executive Order on Digital Assets directed the Presidential Working Group to move forward on a Crypto Strategic Reserve that includes XRP, SOL, and ADA,” posted Trump. “I will make sure the U.S. is the Crypto Capital of the World. We are MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Crypto immediately went up across the market. Bitcoin, for example, shot up from the $85,000 range to the $95,000 range, ending a seemingly downward spiral that the crypto market was experiencing.
However, critics immediately called out Trump and his administration for the move. For one, it seemed like a bizarre strategy for an administration spearheading a cost-cutting initiative led by Elon Musk to use taxpayer dollars to buy up cryptocurrencies.
Mashable Light Speed
“Nobody announced a tax or a spending program,” White House AI and crypto czar David Sacks said to those critics. “Maybe you should wait to find out what’s actually being proposed.”
Sacks, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist, never shared precisely what was being proposed as a followup.
While most have likely heard of Bitcoin and Ethereum, the other three cryptocurrencies mentioned by the president serve very niche crypto audiences. Solana is probably best known as the platform on which many meme coins are built. For example, Trump’s controversial meme coin is traded on the Solana blockchain. Some crypto advocates even criticized Trump’s inclusion of XRP and ADA due to concerns regarding centralization and the lack of stablecoin issuers.
But speaking of Sacks, a big spotlight was also put on him and his seemingly coincidental connection to the five specific cryptocurrencies that Trump wants the U.S. government to buy.
Sacks was an early investor in Solana and, as a result, had a significant amount of Solana crypto holdings. Sacks claims he has since sold off all of his crypto holdings. However, Sacks has yet to speak to his venture capital firm Craft Ventures and its connection to the five specific cryptocurrencies.
Craft Ventures invests in crypto companies such as Bitwise, a crypto asset manager with significant crypto holdings. Its top five cryptocurrency holdings? Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Solana, and Cardano.
We’ll have to wait and see exactly what Trump and Sacks have planned to fully look into the ramifications here, but so far, it’s not looking good.
As for Trump’s attempt to help the crypto markets, the bounce appears to have been only temporary. As of publication, most cryptocurrencies have dropped back to their trading levels before Trump’s announcement.
Entertainment
SNL opens with another Pete Hegseth press conference
Saturday Night Live returned from a brief hiatus Saturday with a cold open depicting a joint press conference between Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and FBI Director Kash Patel, with “Master of None” creator Aziz Ansari playing the latter.
Colin Jost’s Hegseth hit the familiar beats at the podium — performative machismo, military bravado, and repeated jabs at the secretary’s well-documented drinking habits. This time, Hegseth arrived at the mic hauling an oversized pitcher of scotch, which he assured the room was his one for the day. He then fielded questions from the press about the administration’s handling of U.S. strikes on Iran, dismissing each reporter with the particular brand of smug confidence that has become central to Jost’s portrayal of the character.
Ansari’s Patel proved to be the sketch’s standout, arriving to defend his tenure at the FBI and proceeding to do so poorly. The bit’s centerpiece involved Patel simultaneously denying and admitting that he had locked himself out of his work email for 36 hours after forgetting he had changed his password to “kashmeoutside69.”
Funnily enough, Patel was reportedly locked out of his FBI email in real life and believed, at least momentarily, that he was being fired. As the sketch demonstrated, the distance between SNL’s Cold Open and the actual news cycle has rarely felt smaller.
Entertainment
NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for May 3, 2026
Today’s Connections: Sports Edition will require some knowledge of popular U.S. sports and pop culture.
As we’ve shared in previous hints stories, this is a version of the popular New York Times word game that seeks to test the knowledge of sports fans.
Like the original Connections, the game is all about finding the “common threads between words.” And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier — so we’ve served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.
If you just want to be told today’s puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for the latest Connections solution. But if you’d rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.
What is Connections: Sports Edition?
The NYT‘s latest daily word game has launched in association with The Athletic, the New York Times property that provides the publication’s sports coverage. The sports Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
Each puzzle features 16 words, and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there’s only one correct answer.
If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake — players get up to four mistakes before the game ends.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.
Mashable Top Stories
Here’s a hint for today’s Connections: Sports Edition categories
Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:
Here are today’s Connections: Sports Edition categories
Need a little extra help? Today’s connections fall into the following categories:
-
Yellow: In Good Shape
-
Green: Current NFL Head Coaches
-
Blue: Famous Sports “Curses”
-
Purple: Starts of Big Ten Names
Looking for Wordle today? Here’s the answer to today’s Wordle.
Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today’s puzzle before we reveal the solutions.
Drumroll, please!
The solution to today’s Connections: Sports Edition #586 is…
What is the answer to Connections: Sports Edition today?
-
In Good Shape: AGIL, ATHLETIC, FIT, STRONG
-
Current NFL Head Coaches: COEN, GLENN, REID, RYANS
-
Famous Sports “Curses”: BAMBINO, BILLY GOAT, MADDEN, SI COVER
-
Starts of Big Ten Names: BOIL, BUCK, CORN, HAWK
Don’t feel down if you didn’t manage to guess it this time. There will be new sports Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we’ll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.
Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today’s Strands.
If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Connections.
Entertainment
The DJI Mini 5 Pro drone is $500 off right now at Amazon — save on this content creator favorite
SAVE $500: The DJI Mini 5 Pro Fly More Combo is on sale for $1,099 at Amazon. That’s $500 off the list price of $1,599.
$1,099
at Amazon
$1,599
Save $500
What’s going to happen to the drone market in 2026? Due to legislative pressure on DJI imports in the U.S., there is so much uncertainty at the moment. We expected stock issues by now, but we’re actually seeing strong discounts on some of the best drones in the DJI range.
The DJI Mini 5 Pro Fly More Combo is on sale for $1,099 at Amazon. That’s $500 off and close to the record-low price.
The DJI Mini 5 Pro offers a huge 1-inch CMOS sensor, so whether you’re shooting 50MP stills or 4K/120fps slow-motion, the dynamic range more than delivers. The DJI Mini 5 Pro also makes use of forward-facing LiDAR that powers the new Nightscape Omnidirectional Sensing, meaning it can dodge branches, power lines, and buildings even when you don’t have eyes on your drone.
This popular drone offers 42GB of internal storage, meaning you can actually capture a full session of 4K footage without needing an external card as backup. That can have a massive impact for content creators.
Mashable Deals
Save $500 on the DJI Mini 5 Pro this weekend.
Kyle Larson holds off Justin Allgaier for thrilling Texas win
Bruins D Charlie McAvoy offered hearing in wake of slashing incident
