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Jonathan Assia
Co-founder, Chairman of the Board & CEO

Hi, everyone. Welcome to our event of unveiling a huge amount of work that our team has been working on for the past six months. It’s amazing to see so many people, so many familiar faces eTorians from across the globe. Thank you, everyone, for coming here. Our Pro investors that have joined us here to showcase their apps upstairs after the speech. Our partners are here, everywhere from SpaceX AI to Alpine to many other partners or investors. And of course, thank you to my family joining me here as well. And also welcome to the audience on X on YouTube, on our live stream across the globe.

We’ve started eToro with a vision of opening the markets for everyone to trade and invest in a simple and transparent way. But always, there has been a gap between the people who really have access to everything in the market and those who don’t. Initially, at eToro, it was really about lowering the friction, fractional shares in dollar amounts, enabling commission-free stock trading in U.S. shares, bringing crypto to retail and then bringing in a lot of the knowledge that we have in eToro through social, through connecting everybody in eToro to one another.

Today is really about how AI completely levels the playing field between retail investors and the most sophisticated investors across the globe. If I look at the past almost 20 years since me and my brother founded eToro, the first 10 years was really about lowering the barriers to entry. The next 10 years about how

The Tourism Authority of Thailand reminds visitors to have proof of sufficient funds for entry. This has been an existing requirement since 1980, varying by visa category, and excludes children under 12.

Entry Requirements for Thailand

As of July 6, 2026, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) advises visitors to prepare evidence of sufficient funds for entry screening. This is a reminder rather than a new measure. The proof-of-funds requirement has been in effect since 1980 under the Ministry of Interior, with updates in 2000. This rule is supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and enforced by the Immigration Bureau.

Proof of Funds and Entry Guidance

Depending on their entry category, visitors may need to provide evidence of funds in Thai Baht or equivalent foreign currency. Categories and required amounts are as follows: Transit Visa and certain visa-exempt cases require 10,000 Baht per person; Visa on Arrival and Tourist Visa require 20,000 Baht per person. Non-Immigrant Visas also require similar amounts. Children under 12 are exempt. Visitors using the Tourist Visa Exemption Scheme should verify specific requirements based on nationality.

Additional Entry Information

Visitors are urged to verify the latest entry requirements by consulting with relevant authorities such as the Immigration Bureau or Royal Thai Embassies. The Immigration Bureau officers have the final say on entry eligibility, assessing based on current laws and regulations. For further details, travelers can access the Immigration Bureau’s website or contact their call center, which offers English-language support at 1178.

Source : Thailand entry reminder on proof of funds for foreign visitors

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Every SME owner has made a call that turned out badly despite being the right decision at the time, and a call that worked out despite being reckless.

Confusing the two is one of the quietest ways good judgement erodes in a growing business. There’s a surprisingly clean illustration of this problem in, of all places, a simple card game. In FreeCell Solitaire, the overwhelming majority of deals are mathematically solvable — so a loss is rarely bad luck and almost always a process failure. That distinction between outcome and process is worth borrowing for any business that makes decisions under uncertainty, which is to say every business.

The Trap of “Resulting”

Poker players have a word for the mistake of judging a decision purely by how it turned out: resulting. It’s an easy trap to fall into, because outcomes are visible and immediate, while the quality of the reasoning behind a decision is much harder to inspect after the fact. A leadership team that hires a strong candidate who later underperforms, or backs a sound pricing strategy that gets undercut by an unforeseen competitor move, can end up punishing good process because the scoreboard says “loss.”

The trouble compounds over time. Teams that get rewarded and punished purely on outcomes learn, quite rationally, to optimise for outcomes rather than sound reasoning — which often means avoiding well-judged risks and gravitating toward safe, low-variance choices that look better on a quarterly report but compound worse over years.

This isn’t just a psychological quirk to note and move past. It shapes real incentive structures inside a business. A sales director who gets criticised for a well-reasoned bet that didn’t land, while a colleague gets praised for a reckless call that happened to pay off, is watching the organisation teach the wrong lesson in real time. Left uncorrected, that dynamic quietly trains a team to prefer comfortable mediocrity over calculated risk.

Why FreeCell Makes the Point So Cleanly

Most games that involve cards or dice let players blame the shuffle when things go wrong, and plenty of business decisions get the same excuse: market conditions, timing, forces beyond anyone’s control. FreeCell removes that excuse almost entirely. The entire board is dealt face-up from the first move, and independent analysis of the game’s standard deals has found that well over 99% are winnable with correct play. Only a small handful of deals have ever been confirmed unsolvable.

That means a lost game of FreeCell is close to a controlled experiment in decision quality. The deal wasn’t the obstacle; the sequence of choices was. It’s a rare case where the gap between “bad outcome” and “bad process” nearly disappears, because the puzzle was solvable and the player simply didn’t find the solution. Business decisions are messier and rarely offer that kind of clarity, but the underlying question is identical: was this a good decision that ran into bad variance, or a decision that deserved to fail?

Building the Distinction Into How a Team Reviews Decisions

A few practical habits help separate process quality from outcome quality when reviewing how a business decision played out:

• Write the reasoning down before the outcome is known: A brief note on why a decision was made, made before the result comes in, is the only reliable way to later judge process rather than hindsight.
• Ask what information was available at the time: Judging a past decision against information that only emerged afterward is judging a different decision than the one that was actually made.
• Separate “wrong call” from “bad luck” explicitly: Teams that build this distinction into post-mortems tend to make better decisions over time, because they’re rewarding the right behaviour rather than the right dice roll.
• Revisit losing decisions the same way you’d revisit winning ones: A good process that happened to lose deserves the same scrutiny, and often the same praise, as a good process that happened to win.

None of this eliminates bad luck from business, and it shouldn’t try to. It simply stops bad luck from being mistaken for bad judgement, or good luck from being mistaken for skill.

The Takeaway for Growing Businesses

Uncertainty isn’t a flaw in decision-making; it’s the entire environment decisions get made in, whether the stakes are a card game or a hiring choice. The businesses that improve fastest tend to be the ones that get comfortable evaluating the reasoning behind a call independently of how it turned out, rather than treating every result as a verdict on the decision itself. FreeCell happens to make that lesson unusually visible, because it strips away nearly every excuse. Most business decisions won’t offer that clarity. The discipline of asking the question anyway is what separates teams that genuinely improve from teams that just get lucky or unlucky on repeat.

Cramer, a former hedge fund manager and the host of CNBC’s Mad Money, said Monday’s market action was linked to last week’s June jobs report, which showed hiring had slowed from the previous month. That data appeared to push large money managers to adjust their portfolios.

According to Cramer, institutional investors often trade baskets of stocks based on a broader economic theme. When that happens, even strong companies can fall along with weaker names, despite no major change in their business.

“These rotations create dislocations that seem to come out of nowhere. And sometimes those dislocations can give you incredible opportunities to buy high-quality companies at a discount,” Cramer said. “Today we got a bunch of them.”

Cramer pointed to PepsiCo as one such opportunity. He said the recent fall in the stock has given back much of the rally that followed the company’s strong earnings last quarter. With PepsiCo set to report results on July 9, Cramer said the pullback could offer investors a better entry point.

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He also highlighted Starbucks, saying investors are finally getting a chance to buy the stock after its recent decline. Cramer said CEO Brian Niccol is still working on the company’s turnaround, and the fall in the stock has made the risk-reward more attractive. Starbucks is also held by Cramer’s Charitable Trust, the portfolio used by the CNBC Investing Club.
For investors willing to take more risk, Cramer mentioned Constellation Brands. He said the alcohol company’s latest results showed signs that its beer business may be stabilising, even though concerns remain around its spirits segment.Cramer was also positive on TJX Companies, another CNBC Investing Club holding. He said a weaker consumer can help off-price retailers as shoppers look for cheaper options. At the same time, excess inventory at traditional retailers gives TJX more discounted products to sell in its stores.

Outside consumer stocks, Cramer said Monday’s market also showed another pattern. Some artificial intelligence-linked winners rebounded, while healthcare stocks that had recently performed well came under pressure.

One of those healthcare names was Johnson & Johnson, also held by the CNBC Investing Club. Cramer said the company has become more focused after spinning off Kenvue, its consumer health business. He also noted that Johnson & Johnson is planning to move away from orthopedics, which could make the company more attractive as a pure-play pharmaceutical business.

Johnson & Johnson is scheduled to report earnings on July 15. Cramer said the recent weakness could give investors a chance to look at the stock before the results.

The exchange said India remains one of the world’s largest producers, consumers and processors of black pepper, but has lacked an active regulated derivatives contract despite the commodity’s significance. With no active global derivatives benchmark for black pepper currently in existence, the relaunch is expected to provide farmers, traders, exporters and processors with a transparent platform for hedging price risks and discovering market-driven prices.

The contract will be traded in lots of one tonne, quoted in rupees per kilogram, with compulsory delivery at warehouses in Kochi, India’s principal pepper trading and processing hub. Kochi has been designated as the sole delivery centre, with deliveries permitted within a 60-km radius of the city’s municipal limits.

Historically, black pepper futures on NCDEX witnessed strong participation from market participants across the value chain, with delivery at contract expiry consistently touching or nearing 100%, reflecting the contract’s close linkage with the physical market.

The relaunch comes at a time when commodity markets are witnessing heightened price volatility amid changing global supply chains and weather-related production risks. Industry participants believe a regulated domestic benchmark could improve price transparency and offer an effective risk-management tool for the spice trade.

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“India is one of the world’s largest producers and consumers of black pepper, yet we have gradually ceded our role in global price discovery for the commodity,” said Arun Raste, managing director and CEO of NCDEX. “The relaunch of Black Pepper Futures is an effort to bring that benchmark home by creating a transparent, credible and India-centric reference price for the trade. A robust derivatives market will help farmers, processors, exporters and traders manage volatility more effectively while strengthening India’s position in the global spice ecosystem.”
Kedar Deshpande, Chief Business Officer at NCDEX, said the absence of an active global derivatives benchmark had left a significant gap in the market. “The relaunch provides the entire pepper value chain—from growers to exporters—with a regulated platform for pricing and risk management, while reinforcing India’s position in global spice trade,” he said.

The launch is also part of NCDEX’s strategy to deepen its presence in southern India and expand its commodity offerings linked to regional agricultural value chains.

Space may emerge as a new arena for geopolitical rivalry as China extends its influence into Latin America. This expansion could shift the dynamics of international power, with nations competing for dominance in space-related activities and technological advancements, highlighting the growing significance of space in global strategic interests and regional influence.

The United States and China view Latin America as a crucial region for expanding their space ambitions. Latin America’s strategic location offers advantageous launch opportunities, reducing costs and increasing efficiency for space missions. Countries like Brazil possess potential launch sites that could serve as gateways for global space exploration efforts.

Furthermore, Latin America presents valuable scientific opportunities, including access to unique orbital positions and collaborations in space research. Developing partnerships in the region can help both powers share technological advancements and foster regional growth, making space activities more sustainable and inclusive.

Ultimately, the US and China recognize Latin America’s importance in their space strategies. By engaging with Latin American nations, they can secure better launch infrastructure, foster international cooperation, and extend their influence in the emerging era of space exploration. This dynamic positions Latin America as a crucial player in future space endeavors.

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There has never been more scepticism among consumers about polished advertising. Brands invest thousands of dollars to create slick productions and find that an actual customer’s mobile phone recording beats their production by miles.

This change has revealed a difficult fact: authenticity is winning. But somewhere in the middle, many marketers adopted a dangerous belief: The fact that the content is authentic means that it must sound and look rough around the edges!

The paradox is a disconcerting one because it upsets two conflicting needs. Audiences absolutely crave genuine, relatable content from real people. Meanwhile, they won’t wait around to watch videos that they can’t view or hear well. The consumer is really looking for honest, but not apologetic, realness. By seeing real people using real products in real environments, they’re not seeing the crisp ads they are accustomed to in traditional commercials. However, they don’t want to strain their eyes to see the screen or increase the volume to the point of disturbing the neighbour.

Brands that are successful in 2026 realise that authenticity and quality are not mutually exclusive attributes. When balanced properly, they complement each other to make videos that are both authentic and engaging. The difference matters because it could lead to something truly powerful: Real user-generated content that feels authentic and yet retains the production values that hold audiences’ attention. Technology is playing an increasingly important role in this balance, with AI-powered UGC video generation tools helping brands create authentic-looking videos at scale.

The Rise of UGC: Why Audiences Trust Real Voices

The study by Impression digital reveals that 93% of marketers using UGC in their marketing efforts state that this content is working well, better than traditional branded content. But the numbers don’t tell the whole story. What makes UGC work extends far beyond novelty. Trust is the primal currency of audience engagement, and when it’s generated by their kind, it directly translates into engagement and conversion.

User-generated content comes in various formats for different brands and platforms. Product reviews show true experiences to your product offering. Testimonials are quotes from happy customers that tell of how things came to be different in their lives. The Unboxing videos are the first impression without filters. How-to demonstrations illustrate practical application in actual situations. Content that includes “day in the life” elements is great for helping viewers to imagine how they will use the product in their daily lives. Both formats are successful because they are perceived as a recommendation from a friend, rather than an advertisement from a corporation.

When someone sees a video of a fellow customer using your product in their own home, under their own lighting, wearing their own clothes, they believe it. It’s not due to poor production quality. This is because no advertising agency constructed the set. That’s what really makes this authenticity so great: the realism that’s not because the person taking the picture is incompetent but because the moment is real.

Does ‘Authentic’ Really Mean ‘Low Quality’?

Here’s where the paradox fully reveals itself. Many marketers operate under a false belief that shaky camera work equals authenticity, that poor lighting signals relatability, and that unedited clips prove trustworthiness. This misconception has caused real damage to brand potential and audience engagement.

There’s a critical distinction between authentic imperfections and poor production choices. Authentic imperfections show natural expressions, conversational tone, and real experiences. Someone’s genuine pause whilst thinking about what to say feels authentic. A moment where emotion flickers across their face feels authentic. A real environment, with all its minor messiness, feels authentic. These things communicate honesty.

Poor production choices, by contrast, simply make content unwatchable. Unclear audio doesn’t feel authentic. It feels careless. Bad lighting that obscures the product doesn’t build trust. It prevents viewers from seeing what they need to see. A shaky camera that makes people feel dizzy doesn’t add relatability. It creates frustration. The moment a brand conflates authentic with amateurish, they’ve misread the assignment. Audiences respect a customer’s genuine review even more when they can actually see what’s happening.

What Actually Makes UGC Feel Authentic?

Authenticity in video comes from several interconnected elements working together:

• Natural Communication Style — People want conversational scripts, not corporate messaging. They want real opinions stated plainly, not heavily promotional language wrapped in enthusiasm. When a creator speaks the way they actually speak and uses pauses naturally, that registers immediately as genuine.
• Human-Centred Storytelling — Content that focuses on the user’s actual problem and their genuine experience lands differently than product-focused demonstrations. Showing transformation or results gives the narrative a clear arc that audiences follow. Viewers see themselves in the story because it’s structured around a real person’s journey, not a product’s feature list.
• Relatable Visual Style — Everyday environments look different from studio sets because they’re real. Seeing how a product fits into actual daily routines matters more than isolated product shots. Personal perspective shots feel more intimate and true than carefully composed angles designed by someone else.
• Emotional Connection — Viewers connect with creators who use humour genuinely and share personal stories honestly. A creator’s surprise at how well something works or their honest reaction to results feels more real than a performance ever could.

Why Quality Actually Improves Performance

If you know that authenticity and quality go hand-in-hand, you should consider what quality does. The clearer the picture, the longer the viewer will look. Well-paced content is not subject to drop-offs like content which is poorly edited. Quality is what makes a viewer think that a piece of art is credible. If one witnesses a video that is well shot and well edited, then they unconsciously will see that as professionalism, and that will reflect on the brand.

As per Google, 50% of shoppers decide which product or brand to buy based on videos they watch. That’s half of purchasing decisions now hinging on video content. Product demonstrations are clear to aid customers in making informed decisions. Storytelling is a great way to help with persuading. These aren’t luxuries. They’re at the heart of conversion.

UGC video ads are 4x more effective than traditional advertising in terms of CTR. Despite the basic production standards, that performance is not coming! That is what it is doing because it has content that feels real, as well as performing technically well. With short-form video under 30 seconds, particularly on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube Shorts, the first impression and ongoing engagement are the key to survival or failure, which are both rendered impossible if the viewer cannot see and hear what is unfolding on screen.

The Balance Formula: Authenticity Plus Quality Plus Strategy

The best UGC platform relies on three key components that are all in harmony:

• Authenticity infuses true feelings and experiences into the content.
• Quality is the audience able to see the images clearly, enjoy the editing, and hear good audio so they can be engaged?
• The right audience, platform and message are delivered with strategy for maximum impact.

When all three do their job, created content is authentic and absolutely effective.

Numerous brands make common mistakes that can throw off this equilibrium. If UGC feels like a scripted ad, it’s not the point of the UGC. If you over-edit so that your personality is lost, it’s not doing you a favour. Badly produced footage, for no specific reason, is a waste of an opportunity. Without the structure of a story, viewers will get lost. Trends alone don’t necessarily make for content that’s useful to anyone! The other common pitfall is giving too much direction and turning creators into actors instead of advocates!

How AI UGC Generators Enable Authentic Video Creation

Creating authentic UGC at high levels has traditionally been challenging. Brands either had to accept inconsistent quality or impose strict guidelines that undermined authenticity. AI UGC generators solve this paradox by automating the technical side while preserving the human element.

This fundamentally changes how brands approach UGC production. Instead of recruiting creators who already have production skills, brands can work with everyday customers and authentic voices. The AI levels the playing field, ensuring that quality doesn’t depend on whether someone owns professional equipment or understands editing software. It depends only on whether their story is genuine.

The workflow becomes simpler for everyone. Creators add their authentic script without overthinking technical details. The AI handles the rest by giving that script an authentic shape in video format without requiring human editing teams. Brands get authentic content that looks professional. And viewers watch genuine moments presented beautifully, never suspecting that technology enabled the authenticity they’re experiencing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I improve UGC video quality without losing authenticity?

Absolutely. AI UGC video generators enhance quality while preserving authenticity by handling technical tasks like lighting correction, audio normalisation, and stabilisation. You just need to add your genuine script, and the tool generates real videos for you. The result: authentic moments presented professionally, without compromising the real experience viewers crave.

What production elements matter most in UGC video?

Audio is often the highest priority because people will forgive grainy video before they will forgive poor sound. Lighting is second, as it affects visibility and mood. Frame stability matters for watchability. Beyond these fundamentals, consistency matters more than polish. A tool that maintains the same approach across multiple videos builds familiarity and trust.

Can technology help me scale authentic UGC without losing the genuine feel?

Yes. Modern AI UGC video creation platforms like Intellemo AI are designed specifically for UGC-style content and can help you maintain quality consistency across multiple creators and formats. These tools assist with editing, colour correction, and standardisation whilst keeping human storytelling and creative decisions at the core. The key is using technology to handle repetitive technical tasks, freeing your team and creators to focus on authentic, compelling narratives rather than production logistics.

The Path Forward

The future of UGC won’t be defined by “raw versus polished”. It will be about intentionally creating content that combines human connection with professional execution. Audiences don’t reject quality. They reject content that feels fake. The best UGC doesn’t look unprofessional. It looks real because it captures genuine moments presented clearly enough to watch comfortably and be moved by. As technology evolves, brands that leverage these AI UGC tools thoughtfully will find it easier to maintain authentic storytelling at high levels, without the traditional costs and timelines of professional production.

Ford is recalling more than 110,000 vehicles in the U.S. across two separate safety campaigns after federal regulators identified defects involving windshield wipers and a rear drivetrain component that could increase crash risks.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the automaker is recalling 110,626 vehicles in two separate actions affecting certain Mustang, Mustang GTD and Mustang Mach-E models.

The larger recall affects 67,842 Mustang and Mustang GTD vehicles. NHTSA said that under certain cold-weather conditions, the windshield wipers may operate only at the high-speed setting, while the windshield washer system may not function properly. The agency said the reduced visibility could increase the risk of a crash.

FORD RECALLS 741,195 SUVS AND PICKUPS AFTER TRANSMISSION DEFECT RAISES ROLLAWAY RISK: NHTSA

A few brand-new Ford Mach-E Mustangs for sale at a dealership in Santa Clarita, California. (Getty Images)

In a separate recall, Ford is recalling 42,784 Mustang Mach-E vehicles because the rear differential pinion shaft may fracture. 

Ford Motor Co. signage is displayed outside a dealership as the General Motors Co. headquarters building stands in the distance in Detroit, Michigan. (Jeff Kowalsky/Bloomberg via Getty Images )

THE $5 PLASTIC CLIP BEHIND MILLIONS OF FORD EXPLORER RECALLS: REPORT

According to NHTSA, the defect could result in a loss of drive power or unintended vehicle movement if the SUV is parked without the parking brake applied, increasing the risk of a crash.

Dealers will repair or replace the affected components free of charge.

FORD IN DEEP WATER AFTER SWEEPING RECALLS HIT EVERY MODEL SINCE 2020 – WITH ONE EXCEPTION

Ford shares were flat in early trading and are up more than 5% year to date.

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Reuters contributed to this report.