Augustus eyes AI banking launch after rare OCC approval

Augustus Bank CEO Ferdinand Dabitz says legacy clearing banks cannot fully rebuild their systems for AI and programmable money. Augustus received conditional OCC approval to form a full-service U.S. national bank for AI and stablecoin payments.CEO Ferdinand Dabitz says legacy clearing banks can upgrade systems but cannot rebuild their core models.The plan comes as JPMorgan and Circle expand tokenized liquidity products for stablecoin and payment use.  His comments came after Augustus received conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to establish Augustus Bank, N.A. as a full-service U.S. national bank.  The bank has not launched yet. As previously reported, Augustus must meet pre-opening conditions and become fully licensed before it can add U.S. dollar clearing to its platform.  Stablecoins sit at the center  Augustus plans to build around AI-driven payments, stablecoin settlement and programmable clearing. The company says its bank will serve machine agents, global institutions and programmable dollar flows.  Dabitz said “replacing them” when asked whether Augustus could coexist with traditional clearing banks. He also described the current correspondent banking model as “broken,” pointing to weekend closures, old systems and slow settlement.  Moreover, Augustus wants to use AI for compliance, transaction monitoring, case handling and back-office work. Dabitz said the bank

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Signal Says it Might Exit Canada if Forced to Comply with Lawful Access Bill

Privacy messaging app Signal has said it may exit Canada if forced to comply with the countrys proposed lawful access bill, which would require companies to build technical surveillance capabilities that some argue could threaten end-to-end encryption.  In an interview with Canadian news outlet The Globe and Mail on Thursday, Signals vice president of strategy and global affairs, Udbhav Tiwari, argued that the bill could and leave private messaging services vulnerable to potential cyberattacks.  Bill C-22 is part of a regulatory package introduced in March. It would require electronic service providers to build surveillance capabilities and retain certain user metadata for up to a year as part of a broader push to help law enforcement such as terrorism and child exploitation.  Some have the bill because of its implications for user privacy, echoing concerns of the EUs controversial chat control proposal, which posed threats to encryption by pushing for client-side scanning of private messages.  In an X on Thursday, Canadian Conservative Party Member of Parliament Jacob Mantle claimed that “every member of Parliament in the country” uses Signal primarily for its safety and privacy features, arguing that the bill would contradict that and allow the government to read everyones messages.  Tiwari the firm “would rather

05-16

AI Agents Turn to Digital Arson, Crime in Shared Virtual World: Study

Emergence AI says some autonomous AI agents committed simulated crimes and violence during weeks-long experiments.Gemini-based agents reportedly carried out hundreds of simulated crimes, while Grok-based worlds collapsed within days.Researchers argue that current AI benchmarks fail to capture how agents behave over long periods of autonomy.  AI agents inhabiting a virtual society drifted into crime, violence, arson, and self-deletion during long-running experiments by startup Emergence AI.  In a study published on Thursday, the New York-based company unveiled “Emergence World,” a research platform designed to study AI agents operating continuously for weeks inside persistent virtual environments instead of isolated benchmark tests.  “Traditional benchmarks are good at what they measure: short-horizon capability on bounded tasks,” Emergence AI wrote. “They are not built to reveal the things that emerge only over time, such as coalition formation, evolution of constitution, governance, drift, lock-in, and cross-influence between agents from different model families.”  The report comes as AI agents proliferate online and across industries, including cryptocurrency, banking, and retail. Earlier this month, Amazon teamed with Coinbase and Stripe to allow AI agents to pay with the USDC stablecoin.  AI agents tested in Emergence AIs simulations included programs powered by Claude Sonnet 4.6, Grok 4.1 Fast, Gemini 3 Flash, and GPT-5-mini, with AI

05-16

Drake calls SBF one of his guys, demands his release from prison

There were low expectations for Drake‘s new album but one track released today underperformed even by crypto’s degenerate standards. In his new song DustDrake calls Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) one of his guys and calls for his prison release.  “An FTX penthouse high-riser, yeah / Samuel Bankman, free all my guys up, yeah,” Drake raps on the albums second track.  Drake‘s “free all my guys” framing is a standard hip-hop convention as a solidarity shout-out. It also follows the storyline of “Dust”as an aggressive statement track, which follows the rap genre’s basic victory lap-and-diss sparkline.  The song isnt complicated. Drake simply re-asserts examples of his dominance and successes while casting his rivals as washed-up, living off old plaques and memories. The chorus repeats the simple message, “Go blow the dust off your plaques.”  The music video also adds no more nuance, depicting a childish police car race from the fun-loving rapper.  Elsewhere, he also names himself a “BTC crypto big-timer,” demonstrating his obvious failure to understand how bitcoin (BTC) and crypto are distinct.  As evidence of his status, Drake references his globe-trotting lifestyle via Melbourne‘s time zone, sold-out shows, and dubious references to the Bahamas where SBF stole FTX’s customer money: smoking luxury cigars at Graycliff, and

05-16

XRP’s Rising Volatility Threatens Sellers Near $1.50: Can Bulls Sustain the Momentum?

The post XRPs Rising Volatility Threatens Sellers Near $1.50: Can Bulls Sustain the Momentum? appeared first on Coinpedia Fintech News  With Bitcoin price now aiming for a recovery above $80K, the altcoin market is pumping again. As a result, XRP is seeing increased market activity, with short-term traders now betting heavily around the $1.5 zone. Additionally, several on-chain indicators now point toward a breakout from the current consolidation. If this happens, the XRP price could be pushed toward Januarys high.  XRP Faces Tough Battle Below $1.5  XRP has been experiencing intense volatility over the last few hours. The supply range at $1.5 is creating strong bearish waves, limiting any recovery since Monday. Data from Coinglass shows that XRPs total liquidation has touched $17 million in the last 24 hours. Of this, buyers liquidated heavily after facing resistance above $1.5, amounting nearly $10.4 million.  XRP Open Interest  Interestingly, the Senate Banking Committee‘s May 14 review of the CLARITY Act could trigger short-term XRP price swings if it strengthens XRP’s status as a commodity. As XRPs market volatility surged, it was accompanied by increasing open interest. CryptoQuant data shows XRP open interest rose to about $475 million, above the 30-day average of $441 million. Analysts say this

05-16

Gemini Reports 42% Revenue Growth Amid Expansion

Gemini revenue rose by 42% as credit card and services income offset weaker trading activity.Gemini credit card revenue jumped 300% while trading volume dropped to $6.3 billion.Gemini secured $100M in Bitcoin funding as it expands into derivatives and prediction markets.  Crypto exchange Gemini reported a 42% year-on-year increase in first-quarter revenue after continued expansion into financial services and consumer products helped offset weaker trading activity across its exchange business.  According to the companys Q1 2026 financial update, total revenue reached $50.3 million during the quarter, while transaction revenue remained at $24 million. However, exchange revenue declined 27% year over year to $17.2 million, as lower spot trading activity and softer crypto market volumes weighed on performance.  Geminis total trading volume also dropped to $6.3 billion compared with $13.5 billion reported during the same quarter last year.  The largest growth portion came from the company‘s credit card business. Gemini disclosed that credit card revenue surged nearly 300% year over year to $14.7 million, driven by an expanding user base. Services revenue and interest income also rose by 122% to $24.5 million, highlighting the company’s increasing reliance on non-exchange revenue streams.  The shift toward broader financial services began in 2021 when Gemini introduced consumer finance products, including

05-16

Wall Street Giants CME and NYSE Push for Hyperliquid Oversight

CME Group and Intercontinental Exchange, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, are urging U.S. regulators and lawmakers to increase scrutiny of decentralized derivatives exchange Hyperliquid, according to a Bloomberg report.  The two exchange operators have concerns with officials at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and members of Congress over Hyperliquids fast-growing perpetual futures market. Their concerns center on market manipulation, sanctions evasion and the possible effect of decentralized trading activity on traditional commodity price discovery.  Hyperliquid has become one of the largest on-chain derivatives venues, with strong trading volume in perpetual futures and synthetic exposure to assets such as commodities and equities. The platform operates around the clock and allows users to trade leveraged products outside traditional exchange hours.  The report said CME and ICE believe Hyperliquids decentralized structure and largely anonymous trading environment could allow bad actors to influence prices or avoid financial restrictions. The firms are reportedly pressing for greater oversight, including possible CFTC registration requirements for platforms offering derivatives to U.S. users.  CME and ICE Raise Market-Manipulation Concerns  CME and ICE operate some of the world‘s largest regulated derivatives and commodity markets. Their concerns reportedly focus on whether Hyperliquid’s trading activity could affect reference prices in areas such as

05-16

Zcash (ZEC) Price Prediction: Traders Watch Key $500 Support as Analysts Warn of Pullback Before New Highs

Zcash (ZEC) remains one of the crypto markets strongest-performing assets in 2026, even as traders debate whether the recent rally is entering a cooling phase.  After surging sharply over the past several months, the privacy-focused cryptocurrency is now consolidating near a critical support zone around $500, with analysts divided on whether the next move will be another breakout or a deeper correction.  The latest price action comes after ZEC climbed to nearly $640 before retreating into the $520–$560 range. Despite the pullback, the token still holds substantial gains on higher timeframes, reflecting continued market interest in privacy-focused digital assets and renewed momentum across select altcoins.  ZEC Price Holds Bullish Structure Despite Pullback  Several market analysts continue to view the current retracement as part of a broader bullish trend rather than a reversal. Crypto trader Bluntz_Capital described the ongoing ZEC structure as “one of the strongest trends in crypto,” suggesting the latest dip could provide an opportunity for continuation higher.  A widely shared Binance daily chart showed ZEC trading around $530 while remaining above multiple key moving averages. The setup also highlighted elevated Relative Strength Index (RSI) levels following the recent rally, with traders closely watching whether momentum can stabilize before another upward move.  Market participants across

05-16

Justin Sun’s Liberland has given Vitalik Buterin a medal

Liberland shared an image of a sheepish-looking Vitalik Buterin holding his medal.  The medal‘s name appears to have been inspired by the Commonwealth’s Order of Merit, a 100-year-old award that recognises the distinguished services of people such as Florence Nightingale.  Someone who hasn‘t received Liberland’s highest distinction is Tron founder Justin Sun. The crypto billionaire was, however, elected prime minister of the region back in October 2024.  Sun has been re-elected seven times.  When he first applied for the role, Sun emphasized the need to maintain a strong relationship with the US and boasted about his investments in Trump-linked crypto firm World Liberty Financial (WLFI).  He also praised US Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff as an ally.  These statements haven‘t aged well, however, as Witkoff’s son and WLFI co-founder, Zach Witkoff, is now claiming that Sun is attempting to “torch” the firm as WLFI and Sun launch lawsuits against each other.  Protos is also pretty sure that Sun hasnt set foot in Liberland yet.  Other than courting crypto execs, Liberland has recently publicised how it wasnt affected by a 4.1 magnitude earthquake that struck the Donbas region.  Its president, Vít Jedlička, noted, “Every structure we build in Liberland is designed with events like this in mind.”  These structures include a

05-16

US Banks Shift Digital Asset Focus to Infrastructure Over ROI

The conversation around digital assets in U.S. banking has fundamentally shifted. According to Fireblocks 2026 Financial Grid USA report, banks are no longer debating the business case for digital assets. Instead, the focus has turned to infrastructure: how to build it, in what order, and whether legacy systems can support the transition.  Nearly 68% of surveyed U.S. banks plan to issue their own stablecoins by the end of 2026, far outpacing Europe‘s 36% and APAC’s 11%. Another 79% intend to deploy stablecoins issued by other regulated entities. The market has decided its direction—deposits, payments, and 24/7 settlement are at the core of this push. Notably, 99% of U.S. institutions now prioritize real-time settlement and tokenized deposits as strategic imperatives.  From ROI to Technology Sequencing  Just a few years ago, the key question was whether digital assets could deliver a return on investment. Today, banks are asking how to integrate blockchain into existing systems without multi-year rebuilds. The shift is driven by competitive pressure from fintechs and neobanks, as well as regulatory clarity. The GENIUS framework has introduced a national regulatory floor for stablecoin issuers, and the CLARITY framework, expected later this year, will finalize federal market structure rules.  Institutions that once considered compliance and

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