Circle, issuer of the world’s second-largest stablecoin, USDC, posted estimate-beating first-quarter earnings as revenue rose 20% and it raised $222 million for its Arc blockchain network in a presale of the ARC token.

Earnings per share (EPS) of 21 cents beat analyst estimates of 17 cents, while revenue rose 20% to a less-than-forecast $694 million. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) grew 24% from a year earlier to $151 million, the New York-based company reported.

USDC onchain transaction volume jumped over 260% from the year-earlier quarter to $21.5 trillion, and USDC in circulation increased 28% to $77 billion.

The ARC token presale values the project at $3 billion. The fundraising round included investment from a mix of Wall Street heavyweights and crypto-native firms, including BlackRock, Apollo Funds, a16z crypto, ARK Invest, CoinDesk’s parent company Bullish, Haun Ventures, Intercontinental Exchange and Standard Chartered Ventures.

The fundraising marks Circle’s most ambitious expansion beyond USDC and payments infrastructure, pushing the stablecoin issuer deeper into the race to build blockchain infrastructure for institutional finance.

Circle also published the Arc whitepaper on Monday, outlining ARC as a “native coordination asset” designed to support governance, validator security and network operations across the chain.

Arc, which began testing in October, is being positioned as a blockchain optimized for stablecoin-based capital markets and regulated financial activity, which includes tokenized assets, cross-border settlement and onchain finance.

Unlike USDC, which functions as a dollar-pegged payment token, ARC appears intended to play a role closer to ether (ETH) on Ethereum or SOL on Solana — helping coordinate the network’s economic and security model.

CRCL shares were nearly 1.2% higher at $115 in pre-market trading at around 7:30 a.m. ET.

UPDATE (May 11, 11:20 UTC): Adds Circle’s first-quarter earnings report information and restructures article to lead with earnings.

Immediately after Morgan Stanley announced it was rolling out E*Trade, charging a mere 50 basis points undercutting established rivals Coinbase, Robinhood and Schwab, Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas said “crypto exchanges should be scared.”

Others were less blunt, saying the Wall Street giant’s “isn’t entering crypto to complement Coinbase—it’s entering to replace it…”

The battle for cheap crypto trading resembles the trading fee race when spot ETFs launched in 2024, which saw providers begin high, offering 50 basis points before Morgan Stanley undercut them all with a 14 basis point offering.

In the long run, this means that trading crypto will be cheaper, where the clear winners will be retail traders, while crypto exchanges see their margins significantly trimmed, potentially affecting the likes of Coinbase, who recently cited financial issues as a reason for to reduce its workforce by 14%.

When announcing E*Trade, Jed Finn, Morgan Stanley’s head of wealth management, suggested the move was more about dominance than control. “This is much bigger than trading crypto at a cheaper rate.

“In a way, the strategy is disintermediating the disintermediators.” He added: “It’s going to be very competitive in the next couple of years,” explaining the move is aimed at ensuring its 8.6 million clients remain within its banking system instead of resorting to other platforms as the demand for crypto increases.

In his X post last week, Balchunas echoed Finn’s sentiment, framing the Wall Street giant’s move as a “SHOTS FIRED” moment. “Morgan Stanley is rolling out crypto trading on its E*Trade platform for 50bps per trade, undercutting Schwab’s 75bps (who undercut Coinbase).”

He said that based on his knowledge of how Schwab works, it will “likely won’t let this stand. Others will probably undercut too.” He also said that “by the time the dust settles it’ll be pretty dirt cheap to trade crypto everywhere.” Before concluding by saying “this is why (traditional financial) TradFi is no joke and crypto exchanges should be scared.”

However, crypto-native leaders rebuffed the “doom and gloom” narrative as U.S.-centric.

“While we respect Eric Balchunas’s insights on TradFi’s push into crypto, the perspective feels somewhat localized to the U.S. market and oversimplified for quick engagements on X,” said Kevin Lee, chief business officer at Gate, which ranks seventh on Coingecko with a 24 hour volume of nearly $2 billion.

Lee also told CoinDesk that Balchunas’ comments do not “fully capture the mature, global evolution of the crypto industry.”

The Gate CBO explained that the recent moves by the Wall Street giants to cut spot trading fees reflects the ongoing reduction of commissions that is normal to see when competition intensifies.

“This mirrors long-established patterns in equities markets, where fierce competition naturally compresses fees,” Lee said. “Smart platforms moved on long ago from fee-only models to diversified revenue streams including staking, structured products, institutional services, and ecosystem growth.”

Georgii Verbitskii, derivatives trader and founder of TYMIO, a non-custodial decentralized finance (DeFI) protocol, told CoinDesk he believes Morgan Stanley’s move into crypto trading is a good sign.

“This is clearly positive for crypto adoption overall,” Verbitskii said. “Morgan Stanley bringing crypto trading to millions of brokerage users is another sign that digital assets are becoming part of mainstream investment infrastructure, although the 50 bps fee itself is not especially competitive.”

Keneabasi Umoren, a crypto market analyst and Web3 researcher, recently told CoinDesk, he does not believe Wall Street will “kill exchanges, but it will squeeze U.S. spot-trading and custody revenue and push exchanges further into derivatives, DeFi and global markets.”

Anchorage Digital, the first federally chartered crypto bank in the U.S., says it will take a back seat to the Global Dollar stablecoin (USDG) consortium, which includes Robinhood and Kraken.

USDG, which has a circulating supply of around $3 billion, is issued by Paxos Digital Singapore and supervised by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Other members include Galaxy Digital, OKX, Visa, Worldpay and Bullish (the owner of CoinDesk).

“We’re still supportive of it, and want to see it succeed, and are still part of the thing,” said Anchorage Digital co-founder and CEO Nathan McCauley in an interview. “But maybe not as up-front of a role as before.”

McCauley said that previously, Anchorage might have been boosting USDG specifically, but now the firm will take a more neutral approach. “I think one of the things you’re gonna see from us is increased neutrality on the stablecoins. It just makes sense to be neutral and not specifically be pushing any one stablecoin.”

Anchorage recently mentioned as many as 20 banks and tech giants are currently looking to issue stablecoins with the San Francisco-based custody firm. In April, Anchorage said it would partner with stablecoin issuance platform M0, which works with MetaMask and Bridge.

“With us becoming a white-label stablecoin issuer for so many different groups, you start to think about what’s the incentive structure, and is everything still aligned,” McCauley said.

Paxos did not respond to requests for comment by press time.

MoneySkills unveils AI trading platform with automated execution and no-code crypto strategy tools.

One-click deployment, round-the-clock automated execution, and zero software costs redefine how ordinary investors access complex cryptocurrency strategies.

MoneySkills, a platform built specifically for AI-driven quantitative trading and automated strategy execution, announced today that its intelligent trading platform will go fully live in 2026.

MoneySkills aims to make complex algorithmic trading easy for mainstream users. It combines advanced AI-driven optimization models with a streamlined no-code interface, eliminating barriers such as traditional technical expertise, continuous market monitoring, and high software costs.

To celebrate the launch of its new platform and lower the barrier to entry for new users, MoneySkills is offering all newly registered users a sign-up bonus worth $15, along with $50 in free trial credits — enabling users to explore the platform’s full range of features without any upfront financial investment.

Breaking down the barriers to algorithmic trading

Historically, quantitative trading has been the exclusive domain of institutional investors and highly skilled individuals, requiring sophisticated programming skills, complex strategy design, and substantial infrastructure investment.

MoneySkills challenges this status quo with its unique “One-Click Activation” feature, allowing users to immediately deploy pre-configured AI trading strategies upon completing registration.

No programming knowledge, parameter configuration, or quantitative trading experience is required. Once activated, the platform automatically handles market monitoring, trade execution, and strategy optimization — freeing users from the tediousness of manual trading while ensuring uninterrupted, round-the-clock market participation.

The main advantages of one-click activation include:

• Zero Manual Setup: No programming, no parameter adjustment, and no prior experience required.
• Executes without manual intervention: The system automatically places orders and manages trades based on built-in strategic logic.
• Deploy immediately: A strategy can go live within minutes of registration.
• Save Time: Users no longer need to monitor screens or react to market fluctuations in real time.

AI optimization is the core

At the core of MoneySkills lies an advanced AI optimization engine that continuously analyzes market data and executes trades based on a clearly defined set of rules. Unlike manual trading, which is susceptible to emotional decision-making, fatigue, and time constraints, MoneySkills‘ automated approach ensures that its strategies operate stably within the 24/7 global cryptocurrency market.

This model is particularly well-suited for users seeking to enhance their trading discipline, alleviate operational stress, and save time, while still actively participating in the digital asset market. The platform’s AI layer continuously optimizes trade execution based on ever-changing market conditions, providing a smarter and more flexible trading experience — without user intervention.

How to get started

Getting started with MoneySkills takes just a few minutes:

1. Visit the official MoneySkills website and complete the registration process.

2. After registering, users can receive a registration bonus of $15 and $50 in free trial credits. The bonus will be automatically deposited into their account (click here to complete the registration).

3. Activate an AI trading strategy with a single click — no configuration or technical setup required.

4. Monitor strategy performance anytime via the web or mobile app. Users can get started without any fees, there are no complicated registration requirements, and no trading experience is needed.

Completely free: No hidden fees

MoneySkills is completely free of charge. There are no subscription fees, software licensing costs, or requirements to purchase any auxiliary trading tools. For new users, this zero-cost entry point minimizes the financial risk associated with exploration; for long-term participants, it ensures that the value generated by intelligent strategies remains undiminished by administrative overheads.

This reflects MoneySkills‘ broader mission: to make AI-driven quantitative trading truly accessible to a wider audience, regardless of their technical background or capital size.

Safety, transparency, and stability emphasized from the very beginning of the design

Security and operational transparency are MoneySkills’ top priorities. The platform employs robust security safeguards at every level, ranging from account protection and data integrity to the predictable, compliance-driven execution of automated strategies. Far from operating as a “black box,” 

MoneySkills maintains clear and transparent processes, enabling users to stay fully informed at all times regarding the performance of their strategies and the allocation of their funds.

This commitment to stability is also reflected in operational performance. The platform is designed to ensure reliable and uninterrupted trade execution across diverse market environments, thereby guaranteeing that user-activated strategies continue to perform as expected — whether the market is trending, experiencing high volatility, or undergoing a consolidation phase. For users who entrust their trading activities to automated systems, the combination of security, transparency, and consistency serves as the cornerstone of their confidence.

Looking ahead: AI-powered trading will become the new standard

The cryptocurrency market is maturing rapidly, and users’ expectations for trading tools are changing accordingly. As manual trading is gradually supplanted by automated, AI-driven approaches, platforms like MoneySkills are spearheading a significant structural shift in how retail investors engage with the digital asset market.

MoneySkills boasts a rapidly growing user base, featuring a product architecture centered on ease of use and automation, alongside a clear commitment to eliminating the traditional cost and complexity barriers associated with quantitative trading. Entering 2026, MoneySkills will not only be a platform designed for experienced traders, but also for anyone ready to use their money more intelligently.

About MoneySkills

MoneySkills is an AI-driven quantitative trading platform dedicated to making automated cryptocurrency trading strategies easily accessible to everyone. Upholding core principles of security, efficiency, simplicity, and cost-free access, the platform enables users of all experience levels to deploy smart trading strategies and generate returns without any technical barriers or upfront investment.MoneySkills supports both web and mobile access, ensuring that users can manage their trading strategies anytime, anywhere.

For more information, visit the official MoneySkills website.

XRP (XRP) rallied 9% over the weekend to $1.50 as several technical and onchain indicators suggested it was due for a “full-scale” upward breakout.

Key takeaways:

• XRP’s funding rates and Bollinger Bands indicator warn of volatility in the coming days.
• XRP’s symmetrical triangle breakout targets $2.05.

XRP bullish reversal signals emerge

Data from TradingView showed XRP/USD remained 60% below its multiyear high of $3.66 reached in July 2025 and traded 21% below its yearly open of $1.83. 

Despite this drawdown, several price indicators hinted at a potential upward breakout ahead.

Analyzing XRP’s funding rates on Binance, analyst Darkfost flagged a key bullish signal, setting XRP/USD up for an upward run. 

Related: XRP price copies 2025 chart fractal that last time sparked 66% gains

The funding rates 30-day sum on Binance have “maintained a bearish bias for nearly three months, even as XRP has posted a 27% gain over the same period,” the analyst said in a recent post on X, adding:

“When such a strong consensus forms, especially after a correction exceeding 60%, it is often a sign that a potential reversal may be developing.”

XRP/USD funding rates. Source: CryptoQuant

Previous instances show that XRP tends to rise sharply when funding rates recover after prolonged periods of being negative.

This notably happened in April 2025, when XRP reached $1.25, before a “bullish recovery eventually triggered a rally that led to a 126% advance,” the analyst added.

Meanwhile, the Bollinger Bands indicator, used by traders to assess price momentum and volatility within a certain range, reached its tightest point in 10 months, signaling that a significant price move could be underway.

The two-day XRP Bollinger Bands have slipped to their tightest level since July 2025, as shown in the chart below.

The XRP/USD pair surged about 90% in July 2025 to its multi-year high at $3.66, after breaking above the upper boundary of the Bollinger Bands. The gains were 72% in July 2024.

XRP/USD two-day chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Analyst Seth said XRP has printed the “tightest Bollinger Band squeeze in years” on the daily time frame, adding:

“History says this kind of setup resolves with force.”

XRP/USD daily with tightening Bollinger Bands. Source: X/Seth

As Cointelegraph reported, multiple technical indicators suggested that XRP/USD is bottoming out, pointing to a possible rally to as high as $12.

XRP symmetrical triangle breakout is underway

The XRP/USD pair has broken above a symmetrical triangle on the daily chart, a setup typically associated with bullish reversals after prolonged consolidation.

The price has been compressing between two converging trend lines since February, with the upper boundary now acting as key support near the $1.40 psychological level.

A daily candlestick close above this level could open the way for a run toward the bullish target of the prevailing chart pattern at $2.05, roughly 41% above the current price. 

XRP/USD daily chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Meanwhile, the moving average convergence divergence (MACD) indicator is trading above the zero line and has produced a bullish cross, indicating rising buying momentum. Historically, similar MACD crossovers have preceded strong rebounds in XRP.

Analyst CW8900 said a “full-scale rise for $XRP is imminent,” after the price bounced off a multi-year support line on the three-day chart. 

XRP/USD three-day chart. Source: X/CW8900

As Cointelegraph reported, buyers must break and sustain the XRP price above the $1.40- $1.61 seller congestion zone on the daily chart to signal a long-term trend shift.

xBubble allows users to complete specific tasks with simpler prompts by automatically building and dispatching task-specific AI agents.

Today, DAPPOS is launching xBubble, a low-prompt AI agent designed for users who want results, not prompt-tuning sessions.

With xBubble, users can turn short requests into deliverable work across creating image/video, websites, documents, and scheduled solutions, without testing models, assembling tools, building solutions, or vibe coding skills themselves.

xBubble is built around two core systems: Bubble Engine, which generates and tests task-specific SOPs that can be executed by AI agents, and Bubble Pilot, which reads a user’s request and dispatches it to the best available AI solution.

“Powerful AI no longer requires users to learn AI,” said the DAPPOS team. “xBubble inverts the relationship. We have AI learn AI, and we have AI use AI, so users don’t have to. The system evolves faster than any user can, and leverages AI more effectively than they can.”

Why low-prompt AI

AI capability is improving rapidly, and access is no longer the constraint. But as models grow more powerful, the gap between users who know how to operate AI and users who don’t is widening, not closing. The same model that produces professional results for power users often returns disappointing output for everyone else — and the gap compounds with every model release.

Closing that gap takes real work. Power users study how each model behaves across different task types, research which combinations of tools and skills chain together for a given workflow, and run repeated debugging cycles before outputs become reliable. They build internal playbooks of what works on which task, and re-learn the operating manual every time a new model launches — the know-how rarely transfers cleanly to the next release.

The bottleneck has shifted from model capability to model usability. The question is no longer only whether AI can complete a task. The question is whether ordinary users can reliably turn their goals into the right AI solution.

xBubble is designed to close that gap by inverting the relationship. Instead of users learning AI, xBubble has AI learn AI. Instead of users figuring out how to use AI, xBubble has AI use AI on their behalf. Bubble Engine does the learning. Bubble Pilot does the using. Users only state the goal.

The low-prompt approach

Dispatch task-specific AI solutions

Most AI products give users a blank box and a set of powerful tools. The user has to decide which model fits the task, which tools to chain, how to format the output, and how to recover when the result misses — and to re-learn that decision tree every time a new model arrives.

xBubble takes a different approach. It gives users a dispatch layer.

A short request is not sent to a general AI agent, but passed to a specified agent who can best understand and execute it. Bubble Pilot reads the user’s intent, identifies the task type, and routes the request to a solution that Bubble Engine has already built and tested.

This is what xBubble means by low-prompt AI. The goal is not to remove user intent. Users still describe what they want. The goal is to remove the burden of operating AI. Model choice, prompt structure, skills writing, tool selection and result testing move from users into the system.

Bubble Engine: A system that builds AI solutions for users

Bubble Engine is the part of xBubble that learns AI on the user’s behalf. It is the solution factory behind the system.

For a specified task, Bubble Engine uses AI coding agents to generate solution variants, build test harnesses, combine candidate models and tools, and evaluate outputs against task examples and quality criteria. The strongest route becomes an SOP (Standard Operating Procedure): a reusable solution that can be dispatched whenever a similar request appears.

Instead of relying on a fixed prompt template, Bubble Engine can generate task logic, test different execution paths and revise the solution for specified tasks. Bubble Engine will also test how versatile the SOP is before publishing it into xBubble’s dispatch layer.

This changes the unit of progress. A generic AI agent takes time and effort to deliver reliable results. xBubble starts from solutions that have already been designed for specific task types.

Bubble pilot: AI for using AI

Bubble Pilot is the part of xBubble that uses AI on the user’s behalf. It is the runtime dispatch layer that turns Bubble Engine’s solutions into delivered results.

It reads a short user trigger, identifies the task type, checks whether a matching SOP exists, and routes the request to the best available solution. If a specialized SOP fits, the user gets a task-optimized execution path. If no specialized SOP fits cleanly, Pilot falls back to a general-purpose agent so the user can still complete the task.

The user-facing change is simple. The work of choosing the right model, tool, and solution moves out of the user’s head and into the system.

The user states the goal. Bubble Pilot picks the path. Bubble Engine has already built the path.

Over time, recurring fallback requests can also inform what Bubble Engine builds next. When users repeatedly ask for a task that does not yet have a specialized SOP, that pattern becomes a candidate for solution generation and testing. Each new SOP expands what Bubble Pilot can dispatch. Each dispatch decision gives the system more signal about where low-prompt execution is most useful.

Available today

xBubble launches as a complete AI agent product, not a single-feature preview. It ships with 10+ core capabilities organized into two modes with multiple running environments that mirror how users actually work with AI.

Bubble computer

Bubble Computer is xBubble’s end-to-end project workspace. It unifies xBubble’s full capability stack into a single execution path, so a request that spans research, writing, design, and verification ships as one project rather than as a stitched-together chain of sessions. When Bubble Pilot detects multi-step work, it routes the request to Bubble Computer, where a sandbox spins up, specialized skills load on demand, and the project runs end-to-end without the user managing intermediate steps.

Within a single Computer run, xBubble can research a topic, draft documents, generate visual assets, verify claims, and deliver a final output. The user states the goal once. Bubble Computer handles model selection, tool routing, skill loading, and step coordination. The deliverable is the work product, not a conversation about one.

Bubble Personal

Bubble Personal is xBubble’s local-environment mode. It brings cloud AI home as a secure solution for work that requires access to a user’s own machine, operating across local files, browsers, apps, and schedules. Bubble Personal can automate website operations that need personal accounts, generate morning briefings from a user’s calendar and inbox, organize thousands of photos, or collect market data into a user’s drive overnight.

Bubble Personal runs on a sandboxed execution model. Installations, downloads, and system-level changes happen inside cloud containers and are destroyed once the task completes. On the user’s machine, only explicitly authorized actions execute, with no software installs or environment modifications. Heavy compute and risky operations stay in Bubble Cloud, and clean results flow back to the local workspace, giving users cloud-scale capability without local-environment risk.

Supported tasks

xBubble has two modes: fast and work. Fast mode is designed for simple daily tasks like research while work mode uses SOPs to deliver stable and professional results. Currently, we have supported the following task type:

• Voice Dictation: captures spoken input and turns it into clean text
• Text to Speech: reads xBubble’s responses aloud in natural voices
• Talking Avatar: generates visual content with style, format, and output structure handled by the system
• Deep Research
• Slides Creation
• Docs Creation
• Fact Check
• Scheduled Tasks
• Poster Creation
• Image Creation
• Video Creation
• Website Development

Built for results, save hours spent on learning AI

xBubble is built for users who know what they want but do not want to learn how AI is operated or spend time on multiple rounds of conversations with AI.

The core product thesis behind xBubble is simple: AI should learn AI. AI should use AI. Users just need to state goals.

Bubble Engine handles the learning. It studies how models behave, tests which tools and skills chain together, and builds reusable execution paths. Bubble Pilot handles the using. It reads each request and dispatches it to the right path. Users ask for outcomes and receive results.

Looking forward

DAPPOS will continue to improve Bubble Engine’s ability to build AI solutions for more complicated tasks. This leads to better performance for more tasks. As more SOPs are built by Bubble Engine, xBubble can also route more requests away from generic agents and toward task-optimized execution, making performance better with less response time.

The goal is simple: users should spend less time operating AI and more time using the results.

About DAPPOS

DAPPOS is an artificial intelligence company focused on building low-barrier AI products for general users and professionals. The company has secured over $20 million in funding from leading investors, including Polychain, Binance Labs, Sequoia China, IDG Capital, and OKX Ventures.

Learn more: https://medium.com/@dappos.com