🔥 2026 is shaping up to be another defining year for XRP

Recently, Brad Garlinghouse, Ripple CEO, and Monica Long, Ripple's president, along with others on the Ripple leadership team traveled to Dublin, London, Singapore and Sydney to meet with the Ripple Team.

A few notes from the road:

🔥 Centers of gravity are never stagnant, and getting out of the US coastal mindset is imperative. It is necessary to think globally.

🔥 Ripple is championing a maniacal focus and eliminating bureaucracy for employees to be owners. Activity ≠ progress.

🔥 Adoption doesn’t happen overnight. Platforms are better than point solutions.

🔥 AI is becoming a fundamental part of Ripple products – especially in cash forecasting and liquidity management in real-time for the office of the CFO, but the end goal is much bigger.

🔥 2026 is shaping up to be another defining year. Ripple in the right markets with the right capabilities across payments, custody, liquidity and treasury management. There's a huge opportunity ahead and XRP is at the center of it.

#Stellar

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🆕 Google rolls out new Gemini capabilities to Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drive

Google announced on Tuesday that it’s bringing a slew of new Gemini-powered AI capabilities to Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drive. The new features let users do things like quickly generate fully formatted first drafts, slides, and sheets based on information from their Gmail, Chat, and Drive.

The tools are designed to make the apps more personal and capable of helping users get things done faster, right within the platforms themselves, instead of needing to switch to a separate tool or chatbot. All the new features are rolling out today in beta and will first be available to Google AI Ultra and Pro subscribers. They’re available in English worldwide for Docs, Sheets, and Slides, and in the U.S. for Drive.

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🇺🇸 'America is now the crypto capital of the world,' CFTC's Selig says as digital asset rules take shape

U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair (CFTC) Michael Selig said that "America is now the crypto capital of the world" during speech at the FIA's annual industry conference. The CFTC is drafting a crypto asset taxonomy and providing registration guidance for non-custodial software developers, while also reviewing rules for leveraged retail commodity transactions and the classification of true crypto-perpetuals.

"The U.S. is at the beginning of another great wave of innovation, as markets continue to digitize and crypto assets become mainstream," - said Selig.

The CFTC chair pointed to the adoption of blockchain technologies, crypto assets and smart contracts as forces introducing new methods for trading, clearing, settling and collateralizing commodity price exposure, alongside artificial intelligence systems executing orders at speeds and volumes far beyond human capacity.

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🤖 Dolphin-shaped robot removes dangerous oil spills with 95% purity filtering system

Engineers at RMIT University in Australia have built a remote-controlled robotic “Electronic Dolphin” designed to vacuum oil from the surface of water using a filter inspired by sea urchins. Its dolphin-like shape allows it to move easily across the surface while collecting contaminated liquid. At the front of the robot sits a specially designed filter. A small pump draws oil through the filter and into an onboard storage chamber.

The current prototype runs for about 15 minutes on its battery. Engineers expect future versions to run longer as pump power and storage capacity increase. By combining robotics with specialized materials, the research team aims to create a faster and safer way to remove oil from sensitive waterways without putting human responders at risk.

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📺 YouTube ads are about to get even longer and they’ll be unskippable

YouTube viewers watching on TVs may soon have to sit through even longer ads, with Google rolling out new 30-second unskippable spots on its television app. The change means some ads that previously allowed users to skip after a few seconds will instead run the full half-minute with no option to bypass them except for subscribing to YouTube Premium.

“Google AI dynamically optimizes between 6-second Bumpers, 15-second standard, and 30-second CTV-only non-skippable ad formats, ensuring your campaign reaches the right audience at the right time,” - Google explained.

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💸 Ex-Meta AI chief Yann LeCun's AMI raises $1.03 billion for alternative AI approach

Advanced Machine Intelligence (AMI Labs), the new venture co-founded by Turing Award winner Yann LeCun after he left Meta, has raised $1.03 billion at a $3.5 billion pre-money valuation. AMI is working on world models, or AI that learns from reality, not just from language.

LeBrun thinks that AMI Labs is fundamentally different: its goal is to understand the real world. This could have applications in healthcare, where AMI Labs’ first partner will be Nabla, the digital health startup of which he’s now chairman. The funding round was co-led by Cathay Innovation, Greycroft, Hiro Capital, HV Capital and Bezos Expeditions.

AMI aims to build systems capable of reasoning and planning in complex real-world settings. The company's near-term target customers are organizations operating complex systems, including manufacturers, automakers, aerospace companies, biomedical firms and pharmaceutical groups.

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🤖 New photonic chip runs AI in trillionths using light, cuts heat and energy use

Researchers at the University of Sydney have built a nanophotonic chip prototype that performs AI calculations using light instead of electricity. The experimental device processes information using photons, allowing operations to take place in trillionths of a second.

Instead of relying on electronic signals, the chip carries out calculations as light travels through nanoscale structures embedded in the device. To evaluate the prototype, the research team trained the chip to classify more than 10,000 biomedical images. The photonic neural network could identify images with an accuracy between 90% and 99%.

AI is increasingly constrained by the energy consumption. Photonic computing could help reduce that burden because light can travel through materials without electrical resistance, significantly lowering heat generation and power use compared with electronic chips.

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🇺🇸 Trump announces 'historic' $300 billion oil refinery in Texas, thanks 'partners in India, Reliance'

President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that India’s Reliance Industries was supporting a proposed oil refinery project in Texas that he described as a ‘historic’ development for the U.S. energy sector. Trump characterised the initiative as a turning point for the country’s energy infrastructure and domestic refining capacity.

“I am proud to announce that America First Refining is opening the FIRST new U.S. Oil Refinery in 50 YEARS in Brownsville, Texas,” - Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

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🔥 Ripple to Secure Australian Financial Services License, Expanding Payments Offering Across APAC

Ripple today announced plans to secure an Australian Financial Services License (AFSL), further expanding its regulated footprint in Asia Pacific. The license enables Ripple to expand its payments offering in Australia.

“Australia is a key market for Ripple, and an AFSL strengthens our ability to scale Ripple Payments across the region. By leveraging blockchain technology and digital assets, we enable customers to move value globally with greater speed, transparency, and reliability. We remain focused on working closely with regulators to support the next phase of growth for digital asset infrastructure,” - said Fiona Murray, Managing Director, Asia Pacific, Ripple.

Ripple will obtain its AFSL through the proposed acquisition of BC Payments Australia Pty Ltd, which is subject to finalizing the standard completion process. This will strengthen Ripple’s ability to offer a licensed, end-to-end platform for moving funds globally.

With the ASFL in place, Ripple Payments can manage the full lifecycle of a transaction, from onboarding and compliance through funding, FX, liquidity management, and final payout, while integrating both traditional banking rails and digital assets.

#Stellar

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⚡ Mastercard launches new Crypto Partner Program

Mastercard Crypto Partner Program - a new global initiative that brings together more than 85 crypto‑native companies, payments providers, and financial institutions to create a forum for meaningful dialogue and collaboration as this space continues to mature.

🔥 Binance, BitGo, Circle, Gemini, Marqeta, MoonPay, Paxos, Ripple and WorldPay are among the companies to join. 🤝

As digital asset technologies mature, Mastercard will continue focusing on what it do best: enabling trust, setting standards and connecting systems at scale. By bridging on-chain innovation with the framework that powers everyday payments, Mastercard is helping ensure that what’s next works with what already does.

#Stellar

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💻 Human brain cells set to power two new data centers, thanks to 'body-in-the-box' CL1

Cortical Labs, the Australian tech startup behind the CL1 biological computer, has just announced a new partnership with data center company DayOne to establish the 2 data centers, powered by the ‘body-in-the-box’ CL1s, in Australia and Singapore. The company has already appeared with an update just a week ago that showcased its ability to play DOOM.

The CL1 units consist of a silicon chip with 200,000 lab-grown human neurons ‘grown’ on top, converted initially from human blood cells. These neurons respond to electrical stimuli to and from the chip, forming networks like the neural arrays in our own brains. The system is shown to be able to learn and adapt, with the CL1 equipped with life-support features that keep the conditions suitable for the neurons to remain alive for up to 6 months.

A facility in Melbourne, Australia, will consist of 120 CL1 units, but it expects its joint project in Singapore with DayOne to have about 1,000 units. The neural approach used by the CL1 requires far less energy than a typical computer, requiring only a fraction of that used by conventional AI chips.

@QSIMedia

🔥 SG-FORGE’s EUR CoinVertible is now live on the Stellar network

As part of its multichain strategy, Societe Generale-FORGE (SG-FORGE) announces the successful deployment of its MiCA-compliant, EUR-backed stablecoin (EUR CoinVertible), on the Stellar network. This launch opens new opportunities for retail users and businesses to access a secure, transparent, and scalable digital euro stablecoin, powered by Stellar‘s innovative blockchain infrastructure.

With this integration, SG-FORGE aims to accelerate EUR CoinVertible adoption by enabling new use cases, which facilitate seamless crypto-to-crypto transactions between end users, and broader integration into financial applications and services. Following its deployments on Ethereum, Solana and the XRP Ledger, this launch strengthens SG-FORGE’s commitment to delivering compliant crypto-assets built on transparency, security and operational efficiency.

#Stellar

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⚡🔥 Ripple kicks off share buyback at $50 billion valuation

Ripple has kicked off a share buyback that would value the company at $50 billion, cementing it as one of the most valuable digital-asset firms at a moment of uncertainty for the cryptocurrency sector.

The company plans to buy back up to $750 million in shares from investors and employees. Ripple plans to run the tender offer through April.

The move highlights Ripple’s financial stability. Strong capital reserves allow the company to keep investing in products, partnerships, and infrastructure built around the XRP ecosystem.

#Stellar

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🛰 FCC says Amazon must focus on its own buildout, not SpaceX

The head of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chastised Amazon.com Inc. for filing a petition critical of rival satellite operator SpaceX while Amazon itself is behind on meeting deployment obligations. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr suggested that Amazon overstepped in a request for regulators to deny SpaceX’s plan for a 1 million-satellite constellation.

"I think ⁠Amazon should focus on getting Amazon's house in order with their own launches and their own satellite constellation, rather than worrying about other people that are ‌actually ⁠out there launching satellites at the pace and cadence that SpaceX is," - FCC Chair ⁠Brendan Carr told.

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🇺🇸🛢 Trump signals US will tap oil reserve to ease price shock

President Donald Trump indicated he would tap the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help ease oil prices.

“The decision would substantially reduce the oil prices, as we end this threat to America and this threat to the world. We’ll do that — and then we’ll fill it up,” - Trump said. “I filled it up once, and I’ll fill it up again. Right now we’ll reduce it a little bit, and that brings the prices down.”

Earlier today, 32 member nations of the International Energy Agency unanimously agreed to President Trump’s request to lower energy prices with a coordinated release of 400 million barrels of oil and refined products from their respective reserves.

"As part of this effort, President Trump authorized the Department of Energy to release 172 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, beginning next week. This will take approximately 120 days to deliver based on planned discharge rates," - said U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright. “Rest assured, America’s energy security is as strong as ever."

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🎮 Microsoft confirms next-gen Xbox, codenamed Project Helix, will be powered by custom AMD SoC and feature 'FSR Diamond'

At its GTC 2026 keynote, Microsoft took the wraps off Project Helix, announcing the first hardware details for the next-gen Xbox. The company reiterated how Helix will run both console and PC games, while confirming a partnership with AMD for its custom silicon, as expected.

The biggest new info from the presentation was a surprise reveal for AMD's next-gen FSR "Diamond" stack that will be deeply integrated within Project Helix. It seems like Project Helix is being built around neural rendering, and the next-gen FSR stack will play a big part in achieving this. Microsoft mentions next-gen ML-based upscaling and ray regeneration for both ray tracing and path tracing, which will be a first for consoles. The company even says Helix will support multi-frame-gen thanks to FSR Next.

The new "Xbox Mode" that debuted on Asus' Xbox Rog Ally devices will also be heading to Windows 11 this April.

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🚗 Nuro is testing its autonomous vehicle tech on Tokyo’s streets

Nuro, the Silicon Valley-based startup backed by Nvidia, Uber, and SoftBank, is testing its autonomous vehicle technology in Japan.

Toyota Prius vehicles equipped with Nuro’s self-driving software — and human safety operators behind the wheel as backup — began testing on public roads in Tokyo. Nuro said testing in Japan introduces a number of new challenges and different driving styles and rules. For instance, vehicles drive on the left side of the road, and Tokyo’s streets have dense traffic. Road signs and lane markings are also different in Japan.

The company did suggest that there will be future expansions. The testing marks the first overseas expansion for the startup, which upended its business model two years ago.

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🇺🇳 Top UN Body condemns Iran attacks against Gulf neighbors

The United Nations Security Council approved a resolution denouncing Iran’s attacks on its Gulf neighbors, calling on Iran to halt strikes that have disrupted global energy markets.

The top decision-making body at the UN voted Wednesday in favor of a resolution that condemned the strikes carried out by Iran using missiles and attack drones against Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan. Out of the 15 member states on the Security Council, 13 voted in favor, with China and Russia abstaining.

The resolution, proposed by Bahrain on behalf of the Gulf Cooperation Council, decried Iran’s retaliation against a number of civilian targets, including energy facilities, as a violation of international law. It also called for freedom of navigation in international shipping lanes, including the Strait of Hormuz.

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⚡🔥 Bitget Wallet integrates Stellar network for stablecoin payments

Bitget Wallet has announced an integration with the Stellar blockchain network as part of upcoming Onchain Payments Matrix initiative to expand its stablecoin payment infrastructure, covering crypto card, QR payments, bank transfers, and on- and off-ramp functionality. The rollout will proceed in phases, with regional availability dependent on local payment integrations.

The integration is designed to leverage Stellar's fast settlement times and low transaction costs to support cross-border transfers, merchant payments, and consumer cash-out scenarios within a self-custodial wallet environment. Beyond payments, users will gain access to the Stellar mainnet, enabling them to hold, swap, and transfer supported assets.

Bitget Wallet has also indicated plans to introduce automated XLM distribution to reduce onboarding complexity by helping users meet network activation requirements and to expand real-world use cases for USDC and other stablecoins on the Stellar network.

#Stellar

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