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The avenue has experienced major retail developments and property acquisitions at lavish prices by luxury conglomerates and no longer seems blighted by vacant storefronts.

Fifth Avenue is getting ready to mark its bicentennial in November, and there’s plenty more than a milestone to celebrate.

The ritzy, internationally renowned thoroughfare, which commands the world’s highest commercial rents, has undergone an unprecedented degree of investment, retail development and transformation in Midtown for the past two years, and it all seemed to conspicuously take off around the August 2023 opening of the redesigned Tiffany flagship with its completely transformed interior.

The Tiffany metamorphosis, which some sources pegged at $250 million to $350 million, while other sources estimate that cost was as high as $600 million to $800 million, including the art, was followed by a flurry of property acquisitions at lavish prices by luxury conglomerates. Prada bought 724 Fifth Avenue, site of its New York flagship, and the building next door where Abercrombie & Fitch formerly operated, for $835 million. Kering, owner of Gucci, Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta and Alexander McQueen, bought the 115,000-square-foot retail space at 715–717 Fifth Avenue for $963 million, considered the most expensive high street retail deal in the U.S. Armani will vacate the site and move to the designer’s mixed-used project under construction and opening in October at 760 Madison Avenue, and Dolce & Gabbana will also vacate the site and relocate to 695 Madison Avenue.

“New York City’s Plaza District is the only place on Earth where residential, retail, office and hospitality — at the highest end — are all located,” claimed Will Silverman, managing director at Eastdil Secured, a real estate investment bank that advised the sellers in Prada’s and Kering’s property purchases on Fifth Avenue. “There is no other city on Earth where these premium uses are all in the same place,” said Silverman. “That creates a unique foot traffic experience,” to the Plaza District, which runs from 50th to 58th Streets, west to Seventh Avenue and east to Third Avenue. “Anytime someone raises the bar on the Fifth Avenue experience, the customer has been there to meet it.”

“It’s just been one deal after another on Fifth Avenue,” said Robert Siegel, chief executive officer, Metropole Realty Advisors Inc. “Billions and billions are being poured in. About two years from now, Fifth Avenue will be restored as the most iconic retail destination in the world for the ultra-affluent. If you remember when Warner Brothers opened its store on 57th and Fifth (in 1993) where Louis Vuitton is now, everybody said luxury on the avenue is dead. But it’s all been coming back again.” Siegel said that retail availability on Fifth in Midtown is becoming scarce.

Once blighted by too many empty storefronts, the vacancy rate on Fifth Avenue Midtown has dropped significantly. On the luxury corridor from 49th to 60th streets, the availability rate — vacant space, space available for sublease, and space soon to become available —stood at 17.4 percent at the end of the first quarter this year, a 10.1 percent decrease from five years ago when availability peaked at 27.5 percent, according to Cushman & Wakefield.

“The intersection of Fifth Avenue and 57th Street is arguably the most important intersection in North America,” claimed Charlie Koniver, a founder and principal in Odyssey Partners real estate which specializes in high streets and represented Brookfield in leasing to Chanel and Chopard in the Crown Building. “Anything in and around that area is very important to luxury brands. They know the traffic is there. They know the tourism is there and they know the daytime population is going to support the highest level of productivity.”

A Unique Moment in Time

Aside from the traffic, brands are drawn to “the prominence of Fifth Avenue facades,” Koniver said. “There’s height, stature, and an artistic expression that brands look for.”

With the recent string of multimillion-dollar Fifth Avenue property deals, “It’s a very unique moment in time,” Koniver said. “Heritage brands in the luxury world really find it important to maintain a long-term commitment,” on heritage streets. “But this is not the only time brands have done this. Tiffany did own its building prior to LVMH’s acquisition of Tiffany, and LVMH has owned its property where LV is for a very long time.”

Among the major projects in the works or soon to happen on Fifth Avenue in Midtown:

LVMH will demolish its Louis Vuitton flagship on the northeast corner of 57th Street, and build a tower with a new LV flagship at an estimated cost of $500 million. LVMH, according to media reports, is said to be seeking a site for a Cheval Blanc hotel and has eyed 745 Fifth Avenue, housing the Bergdorf Goodman men’s store.

Rolex at 665 Fifth Avenue is redeveloping its U.S. flagship and office headquarters, creating a 28-story structure with nearly 200,000 square feet of office and retail space.

A tower anchored by an 80,000-square-foot Ikea store is in the planning phase for 570 Fifth Avenue between West 46th and 47th streets. As part of Ikea parent company Ingka Investments’ strategy to expand Ikea’s presence in urban areas, the company will have a one-third stake in the 1-million-square-foot project, which is slated to open in 2028.

The Crown family, owner of the Little Nell Hotel in Aspen and a major owner of Rockefeller Center, will invest $185 million to open a 130-room hotel at 10 Rockefeller Plaza, right off Fifth Avenue.

Also in the works, a plan to redesign Fifth Avenue itself.

“We want to make Fifth Avenue more inviting for New Yorkers and tourists. Fifth Avenue is very crowded on the holidays. It becomes difficult to walk the streets,” said Madelyn Wils, interim president of the Fifth Avenue Association, a business improvement district covering 46th Street to 61st Street along Fifth Avenue, as well as 57th Street from Madison Avenue to Sixth Avenue.

“When Fifth Avenue was first created 200 years ago, it was built with very wide sidewalks. In 1915, however, construction was finished on making the roadbed wider for cars, narrowing the sidewalks,” Wils explained. “With our plan, we want to give people a lot more space for walking, cycling, sightseeing and window shopping — like a boulevard from Bryant Park to Central Park.”

Wils said she expects the plans for the redesign project to be completed sometime in the fall. Besides widening the sidewalks, the plan could encompass landscaping and artwork. There could also be a furtherance of vehicle-free days on Fifth Avenue. Last year, on Dec. 3, 10, and 17, Fifth Avenue from 48th Street to 59th Street was closed to vehicle traffic from noon to 6 p.m. For developing the redesign of Fifth, the association is working with the Central Park Conservancy, Bryant Park, the city’s Economic Development Corp., and landscape architects.

Among the plans for the avenue’s bicentennial celebration, several luxury flagships and hotels will create special activations, menus, and merchandise; the Fifth Avenue Association will provide tours examining the avenue’s rich history and role in holidays, film and culture, and also planning a car-free birthday party in early December. The sidewalks from 46th to 61st streets will be transformed with decor and photo opportunities, while the vehicle-free streets holiday program will return with “curated” programming, food and beverage, and musical performances organized by retailers. The celebration will carry into 2025.

Ferragamo and Cartier on Fifth Avenue.

Luxury appeal: Ferragamo and Cartier on Fifth Avenue. Lexie Moreland/WWD

Hot Dogs & Luxury

Fifth Avenue isn’t immune to what ails many parts of New York City. Homelessness and sellers of illegal and counterfeit merchandise are evident. “The security issue is a palpable thing in New York. You do have to be extra mindful,” said Koniver. “The sale of fake luxury goods is a real issue, but vendors like those selling hot dogs is part of the cultural fabric of New York City, but they do inhibit visibility and take away from the luxury experience.”

Retailers along the avenue have been trying to get the city to crack down on sellers that are not allowed on Fifth except for Sundays. “We are hoping that with this plan, we will be able to give them a spot on the side streets that will be more intentional,” said Wils.

Yet quality-of-life issues haven’t blunted the influx of luxury as well as lower-priced stores. It’s been fueled by the post-pandemic return to brick-and-mortar shopping, landlords re-evaluating rents, and property sales reflecting conglomerates intent on preserving a future on the avenue. Over the past two years, openings include the Tag Heuer flagship at 645 Fifth Avenue; Swarovski’s first New York flagship at 680 Fifth Avenue; and Chopard, the Aman New York hotel, and Chanel’s watch and fine jewelry boutique all in the Crown Building at 730 Fifth Avenue.

Billions and billions are being poured in. About two years from now, Fifth Avenue will be restored as the most iconic retail destination in the world for the ultra-affluent. If you remember when Warner Brothers opened its store on 57th and Fifth (in 1993) where Louis Vuitton is now, everybody said luxury on the avenue is dead. But it’s all been coming back again.

Robert Siegel, CEO, Metropole Realty Advisors Inc.

Moncler, retail sources said, is expected to take space in the GM building, on Fifth Avenue between 58th and 59th streets where Under Armour once planned to open but ran into financial difficulties. A lease is said to be in the works. Moncler did not respond to inquiries on the matter.

For more of a general audience appeal, Mango opened a flagship at 711 Fifth by subletting the former Ralph Lauren space; Abercrombie relocated with its updated format to the former Hollister site at 668 Fifth Avenue replacing the A&F store a few blocks north. And Hoka athletic footwear opened at 579 Fifth capping eight years of footwear openings along the avenue including Nike, Puma and Adidas.

Others strengthening their commitments on Fifth include Bulgari, which extended its lease. Hublot and Tag Heuer reinvested in Fifth Avenue through relocations between 51st and 52nd Street. Kim Kardashian’s shapewear brand Skims leased 20,000 square feet at 647 Fifth for a store that is expected to open next year.

But two prime sites have remained vacant for years — the former Henri Bendel flagship at 712 Fifth Avenue, and the former Tommy Hilfiger store at 681 Fifth Avenue. Metropole’s Siegel is trying to lease the former Hilfiger space which he says has 22,000 square feet with 42 feet of frontage. The former Henri Bendel site at 712 Fifth Avenue is owned by the Paramount Group real estate investment trust. Bendel’s closed in January 2019, and Harry Winston is expanding into some of the space. It’s a beautiful building with multiple levels and nooks and crannies with potential for a food hall, though retailers have noted it’s a challenging configuration for fashion merchandising.

Securing a Future

Rents in the upper 50s on Fifth are tracking at $2,500 to $3,000 a foot; in the lower 50s it’s closer to around $2,000 a foot. At one time, the corner of 57th and Fifth peaked at $5,000 a foot. Luxury brands take the view that if they have the money, and plan to occupy a Fifth Avenue location for the next few decades or longer, it pays to buy the property. They gain a salable asset that likely rises in value over time and can be leveraged if needed. In late November, Cushman & Wakefield reported that Fifth Avenue retained its spot as the world’s most expensive shopping street with average rents of $2,000 a square foot, followed by Tsim Sha Tsui in Hong Kong and Via Montenapoleone in Milan.

“The number-one thing that’s happened on Fifth in the last year is investments from luxury users, but it’s now also a mass market story with the Ikea investment,” said Silverman, of Eastdil Secured. “Whether it’s Prada, Kering or Ikea, it’s all companies with spectacular access to information and intelligence,” enabling them to realize and tap into the area’s potential. “It’s the idea of wanting and making sure you secure a location for eternity. That’s becoming increasingly important.”

“Stores have to be more creative about the experiences they provide so when you come in, it’s an event that’s interesting, an art exhibit, or Champagne,” said Wils. “You have to provide personal attention, more things to look at and do. Tiffany is a good example of that. On every floor there is an enormous amount of artwork and every floor is different. Tiffany understands how to draw people in. But most of the retailers at this point know they have to do something, to go that extra mile. And stores have changed, particularly high-end luxury stores.”

“When you examine the retailing on Fifth Avenue from 42nd Street to 59th Street, it’s really broken into three different segments,” observed Gene Spiegelman, vice chairman and principal at Ripco Real Estate. Forty-second to 48th streets is a section more populated by mass merchants and still some local shops. Forty-eighth to 53rd streets, dominated by Rockefeller Center, St. Patrick’s Cathedral and Saks Fifth Avenue, is very tourist-oriented with several contemporary and mass-appeal stores such as Lego, Uniqlo, Zara, Cole Haan and Michael Kors. And from 54th to 59th streets it’s much more luxury retail and hotels, with The Peninsula, the St. Regis, Swarovski just opened at 680 Fifth, Chanel and Chopard recently opened, Rolex under construction, and the new Tiffany. Each of these segments have seen recovery.

“Another interesting storyline revolves around the future of Saks Fifth Avenue and Bergdorf Goodman,” Spiegelman added, referencing Saks’ owner HBC reaching a deal last month to acquire the Neiman Marcus Group which owns Bergdorf’s, and HBC’s approximate $250 million investment to renovate and modernize the Saks flagship.

For the Saks-Neiman’s merger to go through, it must be approved by the government. A decision could take months. Along Fifth Avenue, Spiegelman noted, “There really are different retail storylines,” suggesting a unique retail narrative.

Gold Fields GFI -3.60%decrease; red down pointing triangle is set to buy Osisko Mining for $1.57 billion, giving the South African company full control of the Windfall project in Canada.

Under the deal Gold fields is offering 4.90 Canadian dollars in cash for each Osisko share held. The price is a 67% premium to its closing price of 2.94 Canadian dollars on Friday.

“Over the past two years, beginning with our initial due diligence in 2022 and throughout our joint ownership of the Project since May 2023, we have developed a strong understanding of Windfall and its potential, and view it as the next long-life cornerstone asset in our portfolio,” Gold Fields Chief Executive Mike Fraser said Monday.

VC funding points to capital returning to Europe as interest in region grows

Revolut backer Balderton Capital has raised $1.3bn in Europe’s largest ever new venture funds focused on start-ups in the region, as capital returns to private technology companies.

London-based Balderton, which has backed artificial intelligence start-up Wayve and Royal Match developer Dream Games, closed a $615mn early-stage fund and a $685mn fund for “growth” investing in more mature start-ups, reflecting “growing interest in European tech”, according to managing partner Bernard Liautaud.

Liautaud pointed to data from Invest Europe and Cambridge Associates that showed European venture capital funds had outperformed their North American peers over 10- and 15-year periods. “There is a much bigger list of large global leaders coming out of Europe and we have many in our portfolio,” Liautaud said.

The fundraise follows new capital for several of the region’s top VC firms this year, including Accel’s European arm, Index Ventures and Creandum.

The European venture capital industry has been more active than at any time before the boom year of 2021, when Balderton and many of its peers last raised capital. VC investment in the region rose 12 per cent in the second quarter year on year, according to Dealroom, which tracks private tech financings.

Balderton poured money into Revolut’s earliest funding rounds, becoming its largest investor. The fintech group this month launched an employee share sale at a $45bn valuation, making it Europe’s most valuable start-up.

“You can imagine how much that propels the fund,” Liautaud said. “To have a great track record is one where you have consistent performance and sometimes you have an outsized return.”

Unlike other large venture capital firms with roots in Europe, such as Index Ventures and Atomico, which also invest in US companies, Balderton exclusively backs European start-ups.

However, that means the 24-year-old firm has largely missed out on the latest wave of “foundational” AI start-ups based in Silicon Valley, such as OpenAI and Anthropic, which are investing huge sums to create the large language models that underpin chatbots such as ChatGPT.

Following large funding rounds for European AI start-ups Mistral, Wayve and Poolside AI, AI now accounts for 18 per cent of all European VC funding, more than doubling in the past decade, according to Dealroom.

But its analysts found that the top five global investors in generative AI are US-based, including Silicon Valley-based Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners, which have all opened offices in London in the past few years.

Since 2019, US funding for generative AI companies had totalled $54bn, compared with $3bn for each of the next largest countries, China and the UK, Dealroom said. That data suggests European investors are being outgunned by their US peers in the biggest tech trend of the moment.

“We haven’t been convinced that [the underlying AI infrastructure] is necessarily the best place to get the best returns, because of the amount of capital required to be a great company,” Liautaud said. Investing vast sums to support the fast-evolving technology has become the domain of tech giants such as Microsoft, Google and Amazon.

That still left the “enormous” opportunity of AI applications built on top of that infrastructure, he added.

“The risk is that the applications are actually not going as fast as predicted in commercial terms,” Liautaud said. While many companies are trialling AI, few of those are leading to large long-term contracts for AI software companies.

“But the opportunity is that it actually goes very fast and it actually transforms every sector,” Liautaud said. “And that’s what we’re betting on.”

While the capital available for European start-ups has increased several times over in the past 15 years, the pace at which VCs have been able to realise those investments through initial public offerings has slowed drastically in the three years since Balderton’s last fundraising.

“The bar has gone up enormously because there have been disappointments in the past,” Liautaud said. “I think now, to go public, you basically have to be three times bigger than before.”

Companies that would have been able to IPO with $100mn in annualised revenues were now being told to wait a few more years until they reached $300mn to 400mn in sales, he added. In the meantime, however, mergers and acquisitions were picking up, with a series of smaller purchases of under $1bn.

“The IPO market will determine the fate of one of those huge hits,” said Suranga Chandratillake, a partner at Balderton who sits on Wayve’s board. “But a really important part of a consistent VC fund cycle is smaller exits.”

This week, Coach owner Tapestry reports full-year results amid a slowing US economy and stalled takeover bid for Michael Kors parent Capri.

In recent weeks, luxury fashion’s biggest players, including LVMH and Kering, sounded the alarm about slowing global demand and an uncertain outlook for the remainder for the year.

Macro-economics and shifting consumer preferences are mostly to blame. China’s economy remains in the doldrums — with real estate values depressed and youth unemployment high — while Americans and Europeans, especially more aspirational shoppers, are still struggling to recover economic enthusiasm amid the lingering effects of post-Covid inflation. Meanwhile, travel, restaurants, concert tickets, wellness and cosmetic procedures feel like more tempting purchases than expensive handbags — particularly in the light of dramatic price hikes for luxury fashion goods.

Where does that leave the accessible luxury segment, and its leading player Tapestry — the Coach, Kate Spade and Stuart Weitzman owner — which Thursday reports quarterly sales as well as results for its full fiscal year?

Investors will be watching closely to see if the group’s long-term drive to curb markdowns is on track in a softening US economy (slower-than-expected growth numbers sparked a market panic last week) as well as updates on a takeover bid for rival Capri, which was challenged this spring by US competition authorities.

They’ll also be watching to see whether customers who are forgoing purchases from top luxury brands might still be in the market for a decent looking bag if the price is right. Conversely, accessible luxury brands’ reliance on lower-income, aspirational customers could pose a problem: in recent weeks, luxury groups pinpointed falling demand from that cluster as the principal issue in the United States.

Sales at Michael Kors owner Capri fell 12 percent excluding currency shifts last quarter, the company reported Thursday in a gloomy sign for the segment. But Ralph Lauren’s business held steady, with 1 percent sales growth and higher-than-expected profits.

Meanwhile, in Europe, the ubiquity of Polene and Sézane shopping bags on the Paris street suggests that hunger for new accessible luxury concepts persists.

Where will Tapestry fall?

Credit card data from Citi Research suggests a steep decline in spending for luxury leather goods and ready-to-wear, while watches saw unexpected growth.

US consumers spent 11 percent less on luxury goods in July compared to the same month last year, Citi Research said Friday citing data from a panel of 10 million credit card-holders. The drop suggests further deterioration in luxury demand at the start of the third quarter: June’s credit card data showed a 7 percent drop.

Luxury leather goods and ready-to-wear were the categories most impacted by the slowdown, with sales falling by 19 percent and 15 percent respectively, Citi said. Jewellery was more resilient, registering a 6.5 percent drop. Luxury watchmakers were an unexpected bright spot, with sales growing by 10 percent, posting a double-digit increase for the first time since early 2022.”

The US economy seems to be deteriorating at a faster pace than previously expected. For lower-income consumers in particular, excess savings have eroded with inflation,” Citi’s analysts said in a note to clients. “For the past couple of years we have seen luxury demand weakness in entry-level categories usually targeting aspirational consumers, with sharp multi-year price increases posing a risk to volume growth.”

Long-shot American attempt fueled by opposition effort to document the president’s overwhelming defeat at the polls

BOGOTÁ, Colombia—The U.S. is pursuing a long-shot bid to push Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to give up power in exchange for amnesty as overwhelming evidence emerges that the strongman lost last month’s election, people familiar with the matter said.

The U.S. has discussed pardons for Maduro and top lieutenants of his who face Justice Department indictments, said three people familiar with the Biden administration deliberation. One of the people said the U.S. has put “everything on the table” to persuade Maduro to leave before his term ends in January.

Another person familiar with the talks said the U.S. would be open to providing guarantees not to pursue those regime figures for extradition. The U.S. in 2020 placed a $15 million bounty for information leading to Maduro’s arrest on charges of conspiring with his allies to flood the U.S. with cocaine.

The talks represent a flicker of hope for a Venezuelan political opposition that meticulously collected voter tallies showing its candidate, little-known former diplomat Edmundo González, defeated Maduro in a landslide in the July 28 election. Over the past two weeks, Maduro has jailed thousands of dissidents, maintained the military’s loyalty and tasked the Supreme Court, stacked with his handpicked allies, with resolving the election impasse, buying him time.

International action may be the only avenue to force out Maduro, who over 11 years of authoritarian rule has overseen an economic implosion, diplomatic isolation and the exodus of nearly eight million Venezuelans—more than war-torn Syria and Ukraine. Maduro has given transnational gangs a haven, U.S. and Colombian officials say, and allowed Russia, China and other U.S. rivals to gain a foothold in the Western Hemisphere.

Maduro’s total grip on power stacks the odds against the Biden administration. The U.S. had made an amnesty offer to Maduro during secret talks in Doha, Qatar, last year, but he declined to discuss arrangements where he would have to leave office, said people familiar with the matter. One person close to the regime said Maduro’s position hasn’t changed, for now.

Maduro has said that he is open to talks as long as Washington shows him respect. At other times, he tells the U.S. to mind its own business. “Don’t mess with Venezuela’s internal affairs, that’s all I ask for,” Maduro said in a news conference Friday.

Latin America’s three most populous countries—Brazil, Mexico and Colombia—are also involved in trying to resolve the standoff. U.S. officials want these countries—run by leftist leaders sympathetic to Maduro—to take a tougher stance than their current position of pressuring him to present evidence he won.

The U.S. has five months before Venezuela’s presidential inauguration to pull off a deal and much depends on the outcome of the presidential election in November.

A Donald Trump victory could squelch the talks if the former president revives his previous aggressive policies toward Maduro that began in 2019, when his administration leveled oil sanctions and supported a shadow Venezuelan government to topple the regime.

Still Maduro mistrusts Washington, no matter who inhabits the White House, said people familiar with the sentiment in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas. This includes the Biden administration, even though it had lifted most economic sanctions in the hope of fostering a free and fair July election.

Focus on carrots, not sticks

So far, the talks have taken place virtually between Jorge Rodríguez, president of Venezuela’s congress and a Maduro confidant, and Daniel P. Erikson, who directs policy toward Venezuela at the White House National Security Council. U.S. officials have signaled that they won’t force Western oil companies to leave Venezuela.

An NSC spokeswoman declined to comment on diplomatic engagements with Caracas but said the U.S. supports international efforts to demand transparency over the vote count and will determine next steps based on U.S. interests.

“We are considering a range of options to incentivize and pressure Maduro to recognize the election results and will continue to do so, but the responsibility is on Maduro and Venezuela’s electoral authorities to come clean on the electoral results,” the spokeswoman said.

The Biden administration “is focusing on carrots, like offering to lift the indictments in exchange for transition talks, rather than sticks like sanctions,” said Geoff Ramsey, a Venezuela expert at the Atlantic Council, the Washington think tank.

Ramsey said Republicans could use the engagement with Maduro to attack the Democrats in an election year, which could be damaging if the U.S.’s efforts fall through.

Vote count persuaded U.S. to act

The U.S. attempt to offer Maduro a face-saving option dovetails with the opposition’s strategy, which favors negotiations that would include guarantees for regime leaders and a transition to a González government.

The U.S. talks wouldn’t be happening without the Venezuelan opposition’s monthslong preparations to document and make public the vote tally, which showed González won by almost 38 percentage points, collecting 7.3 million votes to Maduro’s 3.3 million.

Opposition leaders said they were sure Maduro would steal the election. He had already banned the most popular opposition leader, María Corina Machado, from running.

They decided their best shot at documenting victory was to obtain the paper tabulation of the ballots that every Venezuelan voting machine emits, known as an acta. Venezuelan law requires actas be made publicly available. The opposition trained tens of thousands of poll watchers, who are permitted into voting stations to retrieve the actas, which look like a grocer’s receipt.

An opposition organizer said: “I told our poll watchers: ‘They can try to kill you but don’t leave the voting table until you have the actas.’”

As the voting ended, poll workers noticed González was winning at station after station, even in the Caracas neighborhood called 23rd of January—a stronghold for the radical leftist movement that has ruled for a quarter-century. “We couldn’t believe it,” said one poll worker.

Another poll worker across town was stunned as he saw Maduro losing in districts that had been “hyper-Chavista,” referring to the president’s predecessor and mentor, Hugo Chávez.

Soldiers, who normally carry out the regime’s orders, did nothing to stop the opposition’s effort, the whole process amounting to a mini-rebellion against Maduro in a country where he controls every institution, including the National Electoral Council.

“They were happy,” the poll worker in 23rd of January said of the soldiers. “It was surprising.”

The poll watchers, using a QR code on the actas, sent the results electronically to the opposition. They also kept physical copies, posting many on social media.

Regime allies and the military managed to throw out some opposition poll watchers and seized actas in some voting stations. But it wasn’t enough to stop the flood of evidence.

Long after the voting ended, the regime was silent, even though the country’s modern electronic-voting system is designed to spit out results minutes after polls closed. It wasn’t until after midnight that the election council’s president, Maduro confidant Elvis Amoroso, said the president had won, citing no evidence.

By then, the opposition was on its way to collecting 83% of the actas. Their tally showed González had won far more votes in every Venezuelan state and nearly 300 of 330 counties.

Jennie Lincoln, who oversaw the Carter Center’s effort to monitor the election, said Amoroso didn’t present station-by-station results, as required by electoral law, and still hasn’t. Without offering proof, the regime has said a North Macedonian hacker had breached the system, making it impossible to publicly share the actas.

“And the hacking,” Lincoln said, “it’s bogus.”

Amoroso didn’t explain how he determined Maduro had won, having never shown others at the election-council headquarters the actas on which the election outcome is based, said Enrique Márquez, a former presidential candidate who had a representative at the headquarters on election night.

The results collected by the opposition were similar to pre-election surveys by independent pollsters and exit polls. The opposition digitized the actas and published them on a website accessible to any Venezuelan. “We were able to show the world the truth and what had happened in Venezuela,” Machado told The Wall Street Journal.

The regime response

From the presidential palace, Maduro, 61, has called the opposition’s strategy a coup and launched a crackdown, with his regime pledging to investigate Machado and González.

As of the end of the week, Maduro said more than 2,400 dissidents and protesters had been arrested.

National Guard troops and the regime’s paramilitary gangs, the motorbike-riding “colectivos,” have attacked protesters. Antigovernment activists have fled to Colombia, while hundreds of Venezuelans who had publicly come out against Maduro report that their passports have been annulled. The human-rights group Provea says 24 people have died.

“There will be no forgiveness,” Maduro warned his adversaries. Two prisons will be built to hold the new political prisoners, the president said, with many toiling away at hard labor.

Eric Farnsworth, a former American diplomat and analyst at the Council of the Americas policy group in Washington, said the election results stunned Maduro. Farnsworth said the leader has signaled he is willing to take Venezuela toward a more hard-line dictatorship, like that of Nicaragua under Daniel Ortega, where political killings are far more common and no dissent is brooked.

“He’s been shown to be unpopular and also illegitimate. How does he combat that? With further oppression,” said Farnsworth. “As a practical matter, it makes him more dangerous. That makes being in the opposition a very risky thing.”

The regime has announced what it calls Operation Knock-Knock, which means a knock at the door at any hour and arrest. In one case that went viral, uniformed agents recently showed up at the home of a young man without a warrant. The proof of wrongdoing: a video of him protesting.

“Inciting hate,” an agent told the family, showing them the video on his phone. Relatives demanded to see a warrant but the agent warned, “If you want to make this worse, we’ll make it worse,” before they took the man away. The family posted a video of the encounter online.

Maduro is trying to steer people from X and WhatsApp, ordering that Elon Musk’s company be blocked for 10 days and exhorting Venezuelans to deinstall WhatsApp to suppress information about the vote and the crackdown.

Machado said change can come if the opposition can keep its people on the streets.

But there are consequences for those going up against Maduro, said Juan Barreto, a former Caracas mayor once closely aligned with the regime. After calling for the regime to release the actas, he infuriated his old comrades—some of whom are calling for his arrest.

“This is a moment to remain calm and have nerves of steel,” Barreto said.

The assets in question were evidently given to Tether as collateral.

Defunct cryptocurrency exchange Celsius has filed a lawsuit against Tether alleging misappropriation of assets and seeking approximately $3.5 billion in BTC returns, damages and legal fees.

Tether reports that Celsius, in its lawsuit, seeks the return of approximately $2.4 billion worth of Bitcoin (BTC). However, publicly available court documents show that Celsius has asked the court for relief in the amount of 57,428.64 BTC or its current market dollar equivalent, plus damages and legal fees.

Celsius sues Tether

The lawsuit alleges that, during Celsius’ bankruptcy proceedings, Tether loaned it a specific amount of Tether (USDT) (the company’s stablecoin backed by the United States dollar). In return for this loan, Celsius sent Tether 39,542.42 BTC in collateral.

As the price of Bitcoin dropped, and per the two parties’ agreement, Celsius was required to provide further collateral to avoid liquidation.

According to the lawsuit, Celsius claims Tether liquidated the BTC at a price point that almost exactly covered the debt without giving it the opportunity to provide additional collateral.

Tether responds

According to Tether, the lawsuit is baseless. The company called the proceedings a “shake down” and pledged to “vigorously defend” itself against “unwarranted allegations” in a recent blog post.

Tether says that, rather than liquidating Celsius’ position in violation of their contract, it was Celsuis that requested the selloff after choosing not to provide additional collateral:

“When Celsius chose not to post additional BTC it directed Tether to liquidate the BTC collateral Tether held in order to close out its roughly 815 million USD₮ position with Tether.”

While Tether has left no doubt about its commitment to fighting the suit, it’s also been quick to reassure USDT stakeholders. Citing its $12 billion in consolidated equity, the company stated that “even in the most remote scenario in which this baseless lawsuit will get somewhere, Tether token holders will not be impacted.”

Damages

As mentioned above, the exact amount Celsius seeks appears to be in question. The number currently being reported throughout the crypto community and cited in Tether’s blog post accounts for 39,542.42 BTC, worth about $2.4 billion as of Aug. 10.

However, according to page 28 of the legal filing, the plaintiffs also want two other transfers made during the same period voided.

As part of the suit’s “prayer for relief,” the plaintiffs ask the court to “require Defendants to relinquish to Plaintiffs the 15,658.21 Bitcoin, 2,228.01 Bitcoin, and 39,542.42 Bitcoin preferentially transferred by Plaintiffs to Defendants” or its current US dollar value.

Together, those three transfers amount to 57,428.64 Bitcoin. As of Aug. 10, at a price of $60,627 per BTC, Celsius is apparently seeking approximately $3.48 billion in Bitcoin.

Furthermore, the Celsius suit also seeks no less than $100 million in damages “plus additional damages to be determined at trial” and legal fees.