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Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

JPMorgan Chase boosted longtime chief executive Jamie Dimon’s pay 8 per cent to $39mn last year, his largest remuneration at the US bank.

The pay rise for Dimon, the longest-serving CEO among the biggest US banks, was roughly double the bump he received in 2023.

JPMorgan notched up record annual profits last year, with the New York-based group’s trading and investment banking units posting a blockbuster performance in the fourth quarter. Shares of the bank rose 41 per cent in 2024, in line with other large lenders.

“The annual compensation for 2024 reflects Mr Dimon’s stewardship of the firm,” JPMorgan said in a regulatory filing late on Thursday.

Dimon’s 2024 pay package included a $1.5mn salary, a $5mn cash bonus, and the rest in restricted stock. The $39mn remuneration matches that of Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon, who was handed a 26 per cent raise.

Dimon, 68, has been running America’s biggest bank since 2006, seeing it through the 2008 financial crisis that reshaped the industry and other periods of tumult such as the coronavirus pandemic.

JPMorgan in 2021 awarded Dimon a $50mn retention bonus that would tie him to the bank until at least the middle of 2026.

The Wall Street group also doled out double-digit pay raises to other top executives for last year.

Jennifer Piepszak, who earlier this month was named JPMorgan’s chief operating officer, was paid $21.5mn, up 16 per cent from 2023. Daniel Pinto, who Piepszak is replacing as COO, got a 5 per cent raise to $31.5mn.

Marianne Lake, who runs JPMorgan’s retail bank, also received a 16 per cent raise to $21.5mn. Lake is considered to be among the top contenders to one day replace Dimon. Piepszak, at the time of her promotion, said she was not interested in JPMorgan’s top job.

Doug Petno, who is the co-head of JPMorgan’s commercial and investment bank and also seen as a contender to replace Dimon, received a pay rise of 21 per cent to $20mn for last year.

• Apple has joined the board of the Ultra Accelerator Link consortium
• The link is a key technology that binds GPUs, not unlike synapses on neurons
• UALink is emerging as the biggest rival to Nvidia’s proprietary NVLink

Back in June 2024, we reported how a number of big tech names had banded together to form the Ultra Accelerator Link (UALink) Promoter Group, a strategic move aimed at reducing Nvidia‘s dominance in the AI accelerator market.

Directly competing with Nvidia’s proprietary NVLink technology, UALink seeks to develop a new industry standard for high-speed, low-latency communication for scale-up AI systems in data centers. It already has the backing of Intel, AMD, Google, Microsoft, Meta, HPE, Cisco, and Broadcom, but now Apple has joined the UALink board too.

Added support for DLSS 4 with Multi Frame Generation for GeForce RTX 50 Series graphics cards, which boosts FPS by using AI to generate up to three times per traditionally rendered frame – enabled with GeForce RTX 50 Series on January 30th. DLSS 4 also introduces faster single Frame Generation with reduced memory usage for RTX 50 and 40 Series. Additionally, you can now choose between the CNN model or the new Transformer model for DLSS Ray Reconstruction, DLSS Super Resolution, and DLAA on all GeForce RTX graphics cards today. The new Transformer model enhances stability, lighting, and detail in motion.

Investors shift focus to Remittix, a new DeFi project raising millions in presale with hopes of changing global transfers.

Recent reports reveal that those who have invested in top altcoins, especially Solana, have turned towards new DeFi projects like Remittix (RTX). In their optimism about this debut crypto platform, these investors predict that it will perform impressively in the industry by potentially changing global transfers.

Interestingly, Remittix is already gaining traction, especially in its token presale, which has raised millions from investors. Keep reading and find out why Remittix is poised to meet expectations.

Solana stumbles after record high

Recently, Solana saw a significant surge with the altcoin price reaching a peak of $294.33 on January 19. However, it has since fallen by 14% from that level as it is currently trading at $251. Current analysis indicates that Solana may face more challenges ahead.

Notably, Solana’s network saw transaction fees surge to $1.4 million in 10 minutes after the TRUMP token launch, but transactions plummeted from 450,000 to 150,000. This decline indicates reduced activity and interest, contributing to the altcoin price decline from its all-time high. 

Total Value Locked (TVL) in Solana liquidity pools also dropped substantially from $12.191 billion to $10.964 billion on January 19th because investors began to lose faith in the token. 

As the TVL continues to decline, further drops in price are likely. 

Analysts suggest that if SOL falls to a support zone between $222.80 and $210.10, it might bounce back from its recent decline. However, if negative sentiment grows and the support fails, SOL could drop even lower.

Remittix: The next-gen remittance token

Looking at the much support Remittix has gained from holders of top altcoins like Solana over the weeks, it is indeed not any regular cryptocurrency. In fact, some believe it embodies a forward-thinking approach to global transfers that prioritizes user experience, transparency and accessibility. 

The core of this platform’s features is the RTX token which benefits both growth and practical use. The project design features a permanent 1.5 billion token limit to create scarcity that benefits users when others join the platform. When users own RTX they directly participate in the platform’s development process and management decisions as stakeholders.

Remittix stands out for its commitment to transparency. Traditional cross-border payment systems often hide true transaction costs behind opaque fees and inflated conversion rates. Remittix tackles this issue head-on, making sure that users are fully aware of what they are paying. This clarity builds trust and allows users to feel confident in their transactions.

The platform also excels by integrating cryptocurrencies with conventional banking systems, creating a quick, secure, and cost-effective method for international money transfers. Users can convert over forty different cryptocurrencies into fiat currency and send it directly to bank accounts around the globe. This capability not only simplifies the remittance process but also opens doors for those who may have felt excluded from the traditional financial system.

Excitingly, RTX is currently priced at just $0.0272 and the demand is now more noticeable than ever. With over 250 million tokens already sold, Remittix has raised more than $5.2 million in its presale. Analysts are buzzing about its potential, projecting an impressive 50x increase  in the altcoin price, possibly before the year runs out. As Remittix solidifies its position in the financial landscape with its unique blockchain-powered payment solutions, early investors are poised to reap significant rewards.

To learn more about Remittix, visit the Remittix presale and join the Remittix community.

Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance is planning to build what could become the world’s largest data center in Jamnagar, India, with a capacity of three gigawatts to capitalize on surging AI demand.

The facility would dwarf the current largest data center, Microsoft’s 600-megawatt site in Virginia, Bloomberg reported Friday. The project could cost between $20 billion to $30 billion, the report added.

Ambani raised more than $25 billion in 2020 from a group of investors including Meta, Google, Silver Lake, General Atlantic, KKR, Mubadala and PIF to fund the growth of Reliance’s retail and telecom ventures that now dominate the country. Reliance is India’s most valuable company.

Ambani aims to power the facility primarily with renewable energy from an adjacent green energy complex that will produce solar, wind and hydrogen power.

Ambani is buying chips from Nvidia for the data center, the report added. Nvidia and Reliance announced a partnership to build infrastructure for AI applications in India in October.

The Jamnagar project comes as OpenAI, SoftBank and Oracle this week pledged up to $500 billion for AI infrastructure in the United States through their Stargate Project.

Bitcoin (BTC) surged past $106,000 on Thursday morning in the U.S. on reports that U.S. President Donald Trump will talk later today with Nayib Bukele, president of bitcoin-friendly nation state El Salvador.

Bitcoin advanced more than 3% to session highs in the minutes after the report, erasing early morning losses. It was up 2.2% over the past 24 hours.

Earlier this morning, prices started to climb as U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis posted on social media to “stay tuned for 10:00 a.m.” Eastern Time, only to gave back most of the gains after reports that the Senate Banking Committee would vote to confirm Lummis as chair of the panel’s new digital assets subcommittee.

Fueling the gains was speculation that bitcoin and crypto regulation might be among the talking points between the two leaders. El Salvador has become as a nascent crypto hub under Bukele’s leadership. It was the first nation state to adopt BTC as legal tender in 2021 and accumulated over 6,000 BTC worth $622 million as a strategic reserve.

Trump said last year on the campaign trail that, if elected, he aims to position the U.S. as a global leader in the digital asset space. He also made several crypto-specific promises including creating a national stockpile, or strategic reserve, of bitcoin.

He’ll speak to Bukele at 3:30 p.m. ET.