Live updates: Bitcoin trades near $86,000 as U.S. stocks post small gains

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessents is an early frontrunner to be the White House’s “AI czar,” reports Semafor, citing three sources familiar with the matter.

Bessent has already had a leading role in formulating the Trump administration’s AI policy, the story continued, and his already running Treasury would not necessarily stand in the way of formally taking on the AI role.

Speaking to reporters, President Trump said U.S and Iranian officials met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly today. The meeting went for three hours and went very well, the president added.

While there hasn’t yet been confirmation from the Iranian side, the news is apparently hitting oil prices. WTI crude is now lower by 2.8% to $89.75 per barrel.

PayPal (PYPL) customers can now use Meta’s (META) AI consumer agent, Muse to check out after shopping, the company said a short while ago.

PYPL is higher by 1.2% on the news, but remains lower by 21% year-over-year.

Crypto and U.S. stock market prices are about flat in early afternoon trading, but former bitcoin miners who are now AI infrastructure providers are higher across the board.

Keel Infrastructure (KEEL) and Hut 8 (HUT) are leading with roughly 4% gains, while IREN (IREN), HIVE Digital (HIVE) and Cipher Mining (CIFR) are ahead closer to 2%.

Reiterating a social media post from last week, President Trump — addressing the United Nations — again said he’s approaching decision time on whether to completely annihilate Iran or make a deal to end the war he started.

The price of oil is rising as Trump speaks, with WTI crude now down just marginally for the day at $91.67 per barrel. Earlier, it had fallen as low as $89.18.

Bitcoin is slipping a hair, now trading at $85,700.

Kalshi Klear, the prediction market’s internal clearinghouse, has submitted a regulatory filing seeking permission to offer leverage on event contracts, a step aimed at drawing more institutional liquidity to the platform.