Crypto World
Jack Dorsey’s Block Could Cut Up to 10% of Staff, Report Says
Block Inc. is pursuing a broad restructuring designed to sharpen efficiency, align its product lines, and knit together Cash App’s consumer payments with Square’s merchant services. The plan has prompted conversations within the company about role reductions during annual performance reviews, a sign that management is tightening cost controls as it recalibrates its business mix. People familiar with the matter say as many as 10% of Block’s workforce could be affected, a substantial slice for a company that employed just under 11,000 people as of late November. The move arrives as Block seeks to balance near-term profitability with long-running bets in crypto and fintech innovation.
The restructure, which began taking clearer form after a 2024 reorganization, is intended to bring Cash App more tightly in line with Square, Block’s merchant services division. By integrating the consumer-to-business payments ecosystem, executives hope to create a more seamless flow of users across services and reduce redundancies within operations. The strategy reflects a broader industry trend: fintech firms are recalibrating their internal structures to preserve margins as competition intensifies and users demand more integrated products.
Beyond cost discipline, Block has pressed ahead with growth initiatives that extend well beyond payments. The company has been expanding its newer lines, including a Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) mining venture under Proto and an artificial intelligence project known as Goose. While some investors worry about “growth at any cost” disclosures, Block is positioning these projects as long-duration bets that could diversify revenue streams in a crypto-rich future. The balance sheet, however, continues to reflect the complexity of crypto exposure: the company’s third-quarter results highlighted both the potential and the risk of its bitcoin activities.
Block shares rallied on the latest trading day, ending Friday up nearly 5%. The move underscores a market that remains sensitive to earnings trajectories and the trajectory of Block’s efficiency drive as investors weigh the potential upside from its crypto and AI bets against the near-term impact of cost reductions.
The company is set to report its fourth-quarter results on February 26. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg expected adjusted earnings of about $403 million, or 68 cents per share, on roughly $6.25 billion in revenue. Those projections sit against Block’s prior quarter, when it posted net income of $461.5 million on $6.11 billion in revenue. Gross profit rose 18% year over year, driven by 24% growth in Cash App and 9% growth in Square, though some performance metrics missed Wall Street expectations and weighed on sentiment.
On the revenue mix, Bitcoin contributed a significant portion in the third quarter, generating roughly $1.97 billion in revenue, a decline from $2.4 billion a year earlier but still the company’s second-largest revenue stream. Block held 8,780 BTC worth over $1 billion by the end of September, though the company logged a quarterly valuation loss of about $59 million on its bitcoin holdings. Those figures illustrate the tension between crypto as a revenue engine and the volatility that accompanies digital asset exposure.
Block’s push into crypto-enabled payments has been a core feature of its broader strategy. In November of last year, Square, Block’s payments arm, rolled out a Bitcoin payments option at checkout via its point-of-sale terminals, enabling merchants to accept BTC directly and offering multiple pathways for conversion and settlement. The feature builds on earlier tools that let merchants convert a portion of daily card sales into Bitcoin as part of Square’s wallet ecosystem, reinforcing the company’s aim to embed cryptocurrency into everyday transactions. The expansion has reached millions of sellers across eight countries, underscoring Block’s ambition to normalize crypto in everyday commerce.
The broader narrative around Block’s strategy also touches on how it manages digital-asset capabilities within a traditional payments framework. Some observers have flagged regulatory and market risks inherent in crypto-adjacent businesses, while others highlight the potential for cash flows from both merchant services and consumer wallets to harness network effects. In parallel with its payments ambitions, Block has signaled interest in stablecoins and other crypto-facilitated capabilities. The company’s crypto endeavors are occasionally framed as a hedge against the volatility of traditional payments margins, even as they introduce new layers of risk that investors must monitor closely. For readers tracking this space, it’s worth noting that stablecoin-related developments have drawn scrutiny and interest from regulators, a dynamic that could influence Block’s product roadmap and timing of crypto-enabled features.
Why it matters
The near-term significance lies in Block’s attempt to fuse its consumer and merchant ecosystems more tightly while continuing to push into crypto and AI experimentation. If the restructuring yields meaningful cost savings without sacrificing growth, Block could improve its operating leverage at a time when fintechs face margin pressure and competitive intensity. The company’s ability to deliver a coherent cross-sell thesis—pulling Cash App users into Square’s merchant services and vice versa—could unlock higher lifetime value per customer and create a more resilient revenue base.
From a crypto perspective, the scaling of BTC-related revenue and the ongoing mining and AI ventures signal a deliberate, long-horizon approach to digital assets as a core strategic differentiator. The Q3 bitcoin rebound in revenue—despite a year-over-year decline—demonstrates that crypto remains a material driver of Block’s top line, even as the company navigates volatility in asset prices and the valuation challenges that come with large BTC holdings. The question for investors is whether the company’s crypto investments translate into durable cash flows or whether they remain a portfolio of bets requiring ongoing capital allocation and risk management.
For users and developers in the payments and fintech space, Block’s moves underscore a broader shift toward platform-centric models that knit together payments, wallets, and crypto services. If successful, the integration of Cash App with Square could yield more seamless onboarding, better data integration, and richer product ecosystems, enabling the company to monetize increasingly large audiences across both consumer and merchant segments. The ongoing expansion into mining and AI suggests Block intends to diversify away from reliance on any single revenue source, a strategy that could resonate with investors seeking exposure to multiple growth vectors within a single corporate banner.
What to watch next
- Feb. 26 – Block’s fourth-quarter earnings release and accompanying guidance, including updated profit metrics and potential commentary on the restructuring’s impact on margins.
- Progress updates on the 2024 reorganization, specifically any milestones tied to aligning Cash App with Square and improving cross-product customer journeys.
- Operational updates from Proto (BTC mining) and Goose (AI) projects, including any partnerships, capital deployments, or pilot milestones.
- Regulatory developments or market signals affecting crypto-enabled payments and stablecoins, which could influence product timing and capital allocation.
Sources & verification
- Bloomberg article on Block cutting up to 10% of staff as part of an efficiency push.
- Block’s reported third-quarter results: net income, revenue, gross profit growth, and Bitcoin revenue details.
- Square’s November rollout of Bitcoin payments for merchants and related capabilities.
- Block’s anticipated fourth-quarter earnings release date (Feb. 26) and consensus estimates.
Block’s restructuring tightens focus on payments and crypto ventures
Block Inc. is pursuing a broad restructuring designed to sharpen efficiency, align its product lines, and knit together Cash App’s consumer payments with Square’s merchant services. The plan has prompted conversations within the company about role reductions during annual performance reviews, a sign that management is tightening cost controls as it recalibrates its business mix. People familiar with the matter say as many as 10% of Block’s workforce could be affected, a substantial slice for a company that employed just under 11,000 people as of late November. The move arrives as Block seeks to balance near-term profitability with long-running bets in crypto and fintech innovation.
The restructure, which began taking clearer form after a 2024 reorganization, is intended to bring Cash App more tightly in line with Square, Block’s merchant services division. By integrating the consumer-to-business payments ecosystem, executives hope to create a more seamless flow of users across services and reduce redundancies within operations. The strategy reflects a broader industry trend: fintech firms are recalibrating their internal structures to preserve margins as competition intensifies and users demand more integrated products.
Beyond cost discipline, Block has pressed ahead with growth initiatives that extend well beyond payments. The company has been expanding its newer lines, including a Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) mining venture under Proto and an artificial intelligence project known as Goose. While some investors worry about “growth at any cost” disclosures, Block is positioning these projects as long-duration bets that could diversify revenue streams in a crypto-rich future. The balance sheet, however, continues to reflect the complexity of crypto exposure: the company’s third-quarter results highlighted both the potential and the risk of its bitcoin activities.
Block shares rallied on the latest trading day, ending Friday up nearly 5%. The move underscores a market that remains sensitive to earnings trajectories and the trajectory of Block’s efficiency drive as investors weigh the potential upside from its crypto and AI bets against the near-term impact of cost reductions.
The company is set to report its fourth-quarter results on February 26. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg expected adjusted earnings of about $403 million, or 68 cents per share, on roughly $6.25 billion in revenue. Those projections sit against Block’s prior quarter, when it posted net income of $461.5 million on $6.11 billion in revenue. Gross profit rose 18% year over year, driven by 24% growth in Cash App and 9% growth in Square, though some performance metrics missed Wall Street expectations and weighed on sentiment.
On the revenue mix, Bitcoin contributed a significant portion in the third quarter, generating roughly $1.97 billion in revenue, a decline from $2.4 billion a year earlier but still the company’s second-largest revenue stream. Block held 8,780 BTC worth over $1 billion by the end of September, though the company logged a quarterly valuation loss of about $59 million on its bitcoin holdings. Those figures illustrate the tension between crypto as a revenue engine and the volatility that accompanies digital asset exposure.
Block’s push into crypto-enabled payments has been a core feature of its broader strategy. In November of last year, Square, Block’s payments arm, rolled out a Bitcoin payments option at checkout via its point-of-sale terminals, enabling merchants to accept BTC directly and offering multiple pathways for conversion and settlement. The feature builds on earlier tools that let merchants convert a portion of daily card sales into Bitcoin as part of Square’s wallet ecosystem, reinforcing the company’s aim to embed cryptocurrency into everyday transactions. The expansion has reached millions of sellers across eight countries, underscoring Block’s ambition to normalize crypto in everyday commerce.
The broader narrative around Block’s strategy also touches on how it manages digital-asset capabilities within a traditional payments framework. Some observers have flagged regulatory and market risks inherent in crypto-adjacent businesses, while others highlight the potential for cash flows from both merchant services and consumer wallets to harness network effects. In parallel with its payments ambitions, Block has signaled interest in stablecoins and other crypto-facilitated capabilities. The company’s crypto endeavors are occasionally framed as a hedge against the volatility of traditional payments margins, even as they introduce new layers of risk that investors must monitor closely. For readers tracking this space, it’s worth noting that stablecoin-related developments have drawn scrutiny and interest from regulators, a dynamic that could influence Block’s product roadmap and timing of crypto-enabled features.
Block’s restructuring and crypto bets illustrate a deliberate attempt to diversify revenue streams while strengthening core services. If the company can successfully integrate Cash App with Square, it would enable more robust cross-selling opportunities and a cohesive loyalty proposition that could boost retention and lifetime value. At the same time, the BTC mining and Goose AI initiatives serve as parallel growth rails, potentially generating new cash flows even as they introduce volatility and execution risk. The next earnings cycle will be crucial in signaling whether the restructuring translates into measurable margin improvement and sustainable long-term growth.
Crypto World
Stanley Druckenmiller Doubles Down on Alphabet (GOOGL) and Amazon (AMZN) Stock Amid AI Cloud Boom
Quick Summary
- Stanley Druckenmiller continued accumulating Alphabet and Amazon shares for the second consecutive quarter
- His Alphabet holdings surged 277% while Amazon positions grew 69% during Q4
- The billionaire investor previously exited Nvidia and Palantir positions, rotating capital into these cloud giants
- Google Cloud delivered 48% year-over-year revenue growth while AWS reaccelerated to 24%
- Both companies currently trade at significant discounts compared to their historical cash flow valuations
Stanley Druckenmiller, who manages capital through Duquesne Family Office, expanded his holdings in Alphabet and Amazon during the final quarter of 2025. This marks consecutive quarters of accumulation for both technology giants.
According to his SEC 13F disclosure, Druckenmiller acquired 282,800 shares of Alphabet’s Class A stock alongside 300,870 Amazon shares. These purchases expanded his Alphabet stake by 277% and boosted his Amazon holdings by 69%.
The legendary investor earned his reputation delivering approximately 30% annualized returns between 1981 and 2010. Market participants and institutional money managers closely monitor his portfolio adjustments.
Druckenmiller previously maintained positions in Nvidia and Palantir but liquidated both holdings entirely. His capital has been redirected toward Alphabet and Amazon instead.
The strategic rationale behind both investments revolves around their dominant cloud computing platforms. Alphabet operates Google Cloud, which ranks as the third-largest cloud infrastructure provider globally. Amazon maintains AWS, the undisputed market leader.
Artificial Intelligence Fuels Cloud Platform Expansion
Google Cloud reported impressive 48% revenue expansion in the fourth quarter. AWS demonstrated renewed momentum with growth reaccelerating to 24% year-over-year.
Both cloud platforms are integrating generative artificial intelligence capabilities and advanced language models. These innovations are attracting fresh enterprise clients while encouraging existing customers to expand their spending.
Alphabet maintains approximately 90% dominance in worldwide internet search through Google. Amazon operates the leading e-commerce platform throughout the United States.
These investments aren’t pure-play artificial intelligence bets. Both corporations generate substantial, diversified revenue streams beyond their cloud computing segments.
Stock Valuations Present Historic Opportunities
Alphabet currently trades at 14.3 times its forecasted 2027 cash flow. Amazon appears even more attractively priced at just 9.7 times projected cash flow for the same period.
When measured against their five-year historical averages, Alphabet trades at a 20% discount while Amazon shows a substantial 48% discount. Both stocks represent historically attractive entry points based on cash flow metrics.
PwC research projects that artificial intelligence will contribute over $15 trillion to worldwide economic output by 2030. Druckenmiller’s recent purchases indicate his conviction that Alphabet and Amazon will capture significant portions of this value creation.
His fourth quarter filing revealed a 29% reduction in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing holdings. This adjustment signals a strategic pivot away from semiconductor manufacturers toward companies deploying AI applications.
The 13F filing documents holdings as of December 31, 2025, and was submitted before the February 17, 2026 regulatory deadline.
Crypto World
Alphabet (GOOGL) Stock Sees Bullish Analyst Upgrades Amid $2.4M Executive Sale
Key Highlights
- Alphabet’s President of Global Affairs and Chief Legal Officer, John Kent Walker, divested 9,093 Class C shares on March 27, generating approximately $2.48 million
- Transaction prices ranged between $273.91 and $278.30 per share
- Needham maintained its Buy rating on March 27 with a $400 price objective
- Wells Fargo increased its price objective to $397 from $387, maintaining an Overweight stance
- The company finalized its $32 billion purchase of Wiz, a cloud security provider, on March 11
John Kent Walker, serving as Alphabet’s President of Global Affairs and Chief Legal Officer, executed a sale of 9,093 Class C shares on March 27, 2026, netting approximately $2.48 million. The sale occurred through several transactions, with share prices spanning from $273.91 to $278.30.
Additionally, on March 31, Walker completed a disposal and re-acquisition of 8,993 Class C shares through a transaction valued at $0 — a structure commonly linked to equity compensation plan activities.
The insider transaction hasn’t dampened investor enthusiasm, as the stock has posted an impressive 84% gain over the trailing twelve months.
Two prominent Wall Street analysts expressed optimistic views on GOOGL during the same timeframe.
Laura Martin from Needham reaffirmed her Buy recommendation on March 27, setting a $400 price objective. This target was initially elevated in February from $330, subsequent to Alphabet’s fourth-quarter earnings disclosure.
Wells Fargo similarly acted on March 27, elevating its price objective to $397 from the prior $387 while sustaining its Overweight designation.
Analyst Ken Gawrelski highlighted that GOOGL possesses “all the pieces necessary to be an AI winner,” citing its computational infrastructure, Google Cloud Platform, extensive distribution channels, and consumer data assets as critical competitive strengths.
Wiz Deal Reaches Completion
Alphabet successfully concluded its $32 billion acquisition of Wiz, the cloud and AI security solution provider, on March 11. Wiz will operate within Google Cloud while preserving its independent brand identity.
Wells Fargo anticipates the transaction will enhance Google Cloud’s platform revenue streams and operating profitability throughout fiscal years 2026 and 2027.
On the innovation front, Google has introduced enhancements to its Gemini AI assistant. Recent features enable users to transfer chat histories from competing AI applications — a strategic capability designed to attract users from alternatives like ChatGPT.
Gemini Enhancements and Developer Capabilities
Google unveiled the Gemini 3.1 Flash Live audio model, engineered for real-time conversational interactions with enhanced accuracy and reduced latency. The technology is currently accessible to developers and enterprise clients across various platforms.
Citizens has retained a Market Outperform rating on Alphabet, emphasizing expansion in AI-driven advertising solutions and cloud infrastructure.
Regarding legal developments, Evercore analysts highlighted a Delaware court decision that may affect insurance coverage disputes for companies including Alphabet. The decision is viewed as beneficial to insurance providers.
Based on InvestingPro analysis, the stock is presently trading marginally above its estimated Fair Value.
Crypto World
Brazil’s B3 stock exchange to launch bitcoin-linked ‘event contracts’
Brazil’s main stock exchange B3 will begin offering six new derivatives contracts on April 27 that allow investors to bet on the likelihood of future events, ranging from the price of bitcoin to movements in the dollar and Ibovespa index.
The instruments, called Event Contracts, operate on a framework similar to prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket. Prices range up to 100 reals ($19), with each contract’s price reflecting the market’s estimated probability of an outcome.
B3’s contracts are regulated by Brazil’s securities authority (CVM) and designed for professional investors, the exchange said.
The six contracts cover mini futures and spot prices for the Ibovespa index, the U.S. dollar, and bitcoin. They are structured with fixed payouts and known risks from the outset, like crypto price prediction markets on Kalshi and Polymarket.
Traders won’t take delivery of the underlying assets, and settlement is instead cash-based. For now, only investors with more than 10 million reals ($1.9 million) in assets or CVM certification can trade the new products.
B3’s vice president of Products and Clients, Luiz Masagão, said the launch is part of a broader push to modernize derivatives trading in Brazil.
The exchange already offers contracts tied to central bank decisions in several countries and has watched the growth of predictive platforms abroad closely, Masagão added.
The exchange late last year revealed it’s working on its own tokenization platform and stablecoin, both expected to be launched this year.
B3’s launch marks the first federally regulated prediction market in Brazil, though it enters an increasingly crowded field. Platforms like Prévias and Palpitada have been operating domestically in a regulatory gray area, while U.S.-based Kalshi recently partnered with XP International, Brazil’s largest brokerage, to offer event contracts tied to Brazilian economic outcomes.
The move also comes amid a global prediction market boom. Notional volume is now nearing $160 billion, according to a Dune dashboard, while unique users have crossed the 3 million mark.
Polymarket and Kalshi dominate the space globally, accounting for most of the notional volume. Intercontinental Exchange, the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, recently doubled down on Polymarket and bringing its total commitment to nearly $2 billion.
Still, the regulatory landscape remains unsettled on both sides of the equator. In Brazil, legal experts say it’s unclear whether oversight of prediction markets should ultimately fall to the CVM, the Central Bank, or the Ministry of Finance.
Crypto World
Watch Fed Chair Jerome Powell speak live to an economics class at Harvard
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Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaks Monday to the Harvard University Principles of Economics class.
This will be one of Powell’s final scheduled public appearances before his term ends in May. The discussion comes with markets anticipating the central bank will be on hold regarding interest rates through the end of the year.
In his most recent comments, Powell characterized the economy as growing at “a solid pace” and said he is not concerned with worries of stagflation, low growth with high inflation. However, he noted that policymakers are taking a cautious approach as multiple factors play out this year, including the Iran war, tariffs and a stagnant labor market.
Powell’s term ends officially on May 15, and there is only one more policy meeting between now and then. However, it’s possible he will stay in the position longer if the Senate does not confirm is designated successor, former Governor Kevin Warsh.
The nomination currently is being held up in the Senate Banking Committee as U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro continues an investigation into the renovations at the Fed’s headquarters. A judge already has quashed a subpoena Pirro’s office sent to Powell, though she is appealing that decision.
Read more:
Recession odds climb on Wall Street as economy shows cracks beneath the surface
Fed’s Goolsbee says he’s worried about inflation in ‘fraught but intense’ climate
Fed Governor Waller urges caution for now, says rate cuts possible later in the year
Crypto World
Grayscale research head lays out bets on $19T tokenization wave
Tokenization has become one of crypto’s favorite buzzwords, but Grayscale head of research Zach Pandl said investors should think about it less as a single trade and more as a long roadmap with different winners at different stages.
Speaking at EthCC conference in Cannes, France, Pandl said that the trend is still in its infancy. Tokenized assets — the process of using blockchain rails to settle, transfer and record ownership of all kinds of financial assets such as bonds, funds and equities — is rapidly growing. However, currently at $27 billion, it still represents roughly 0.01%, a tiny fraction, of global capital markets. That’s projected to swell to near $19 trillion by 2033, according to BCG and Ripple.
Big banks and asset managers already understand the opportunity. “The two things that institutions are aware of are stablecoins and tokenization,” Pandl said. But they are still trying to figure out where to allocate capital to actually benefit from these innovations.
From here, Pandl expects tokenization to unfold in phases, with different types of networks and models capturing value at each stage.
The first winners, he said, may be projects that look more like traditional finance, not less.
“In the early stages of the tokenization process, you will see things that have success that look more similar to how the financial system works today,” he said.
That means institution-centric, permissioned systems that solve practical issues like privacy, identity and control.

Pandl pointed to the Canton Network (CC), backed by Wall Street giants like DRW, TradeWeb, Goldman Sachs and Nasdaq, as a potential winner in this early phase of tokenization.
He said it is “a perfectly reasonable investment” for investors who want nearer-term traction, even if Canton’s approach represents only “a slightly different, slightly upgraded version” of today’s financial system.
The second phase
The second phase of tokenization could be a hybrid model where we have both institution-owned blockchains and a global shared state, with those networks interconnected and speaking to each other. One example for that is Avalanche (AVAX), with hundreds of sovereign, corporate-owned chains (called subnets) live but connected to a primary, layer-1 network.
Ethereum’s ether (ETH), in his view, is the bigger but slower bet. Pandl said he believes the market will eventually move toward “global decentralized finance,” but added that “the tech is not fully ready” and that institutions are not ready either.
That makes ETH the more ambitious investment for those willing to wait for the longer-term shift away from financial intermediaries.
There are also picks-and-shovels plays. Pandl highlighted chain-agnostic service providers such as Chainlink as another way to get exposure, saying they may be “even more compelling” than some blockchains.
Read more: How tokenized assets could become a $400 billion market in 2026
Crypto World
Quantum computing could break Bitcoin sooner, says Google
Network News
GOOGLE SAYS BREAKING BITCOIN IS EASIER THAN PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT: Breaking the Bitcoin blockchain with quantum computers may not be as difficult as once thought, and Bitcoin’s Taproot technology, which enables more efficient, private transactions, may be partly to blame, Google’s Quantum AI team said in a blog post and newly published whitepaper. The team said the computing power required to break Bitcoin’s security may be far lower than previously assumed, raising fresh questions about how soon quantum threats could become a reality.In a new whitepaper, researchers found that cracking the cryptography used by Bitcoin and Ethereum could require fewer than 500,000 physical quantum bits, or qubits, well below the “millions” often cited in recent years. Google has previously pointed to 2029 as a potential milestone for useful quantum systems, saying migration needs to come before that, making the paper’s finding that attacks may require less computing power more significant. Quantum computers use qubits instead of traditional bits and can solve certain problems much faster than today’s machines. One of those problems is breaking the type of encryption that protects crypto wallets.Google said it designed two potential attack methods, each requiring roughly 1,200 to 1,450 high-quality qubits. That is a fraction of earlier estimates and suggests the gap between current technology and a viable attack may be smaller than investors think. The research also outlines how such an attack could work in practice. Rather than targeting old wallets, a quantum attacker could go after transactions in real time. When someone sends bitcoin, a piece of data called a public key is briefly revealed. A fast enough quantum computer could use that information to calculate the private key and redirect the funds. — Sam Reynolds Read more.
OPENAI RAISES RECORD $122 BILLION: Artificial intelligence giant OpenAI has closed $122 billion in committed capital at an $852 billion post-money valuation, a round that dwarfs anything raised in private markets and cements the company as the most valuable startup in history by a wide margin. The funding was anchored by Amazon, Nvidia, and SoftBank, with continued participation from Microsoft. SoftBank co-led alongside a16z, D.E. Shaw Ventures, MGX, TPG, and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price. The investor list reads like a who’s who of global capital — BlackRock, Blackstone, Fidelity, Sequoia, Temasek, Coatue, and ARK Invest all participated. For the first time, OpenAI opened participation to individual investors through bank channels, raising over $3 billion from that tranche alone. OpenAI said it is generating $2 billion in revenue per month, up from $1 billion per quarter at the end of 2024. ChatGPT has more than 900 million weekly active users and over 50 million subscribers. The company claims 6x the monthly web visits and mobile sessions of the next largest AI app, and 4x the total time spent of all other AI apps combined. — Shaurya Malwa Read more.
HOW BITCOIN, ETHEREUM, AND SOLANA ARE PREPARING FOR Q-DAY: As quantum computing edges closer to practical reality, the crypto industry is beginning to confront a question it has long deferred: what happens if the cryptography underpinning trillions of dollars in digital assets no longer holds? The answers, so far, are anything but uniform. Across many of the most well-known ecosystems like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana, responses are diverging along familiar lines: what to do on social consensus and technical iteration, and community members are split between caution and acceleration. Quantum computing is a fundamentally different approach to computation that uses the principles of quantum mechanics rather than classical physics. Instead of traditional bits that are either 0 or 1, quantum computers use “qubits,” which can exist in multiple states at once, a property known as superposition, allowing them to process many possibilities simultaneously. Combined with another feature called entanglement, this enables quantum machines to solve certain complex problems far more efficiently than classical computers, particularly tasks like factoring large numbers that underpin modern encryption. How threatening is quantum computing? Consider this: Quantum computers can solve extremely complex problems within seconds, whereas ‘Supercomputers,’ the most powerful computing machines available today, would take thousands of years for the same problems, according to IBM. And that’s why the threats to cryptographic networks stemming from quantum computing are concerning. And even Google, developer of Willow, a quantum supercomputer, is setting a 2029 deadline to migrate its authentication services to post-quantum cryptography, citing progress in the technology. — Margaux Nijkerk Read more.
BASE TEAM RELEASES 2026 ROADMAP: Base, the layer-2 network from Coinbase (COIN), is doubling down on its push to build what it calls a “global onchain economy,” outlining a 2026 strategy centered on markets, payments and developers. Base is one of the most widely used layer-2 networks in the Ethereum ecosystem, having opened to public use in August 2023. It was initially built using Optimism’s OP Stack as part of the broader “Superchain” ecosystem, though the project has since signaled plans to differentiate its infrastructure as it scales. In February, the Coinbase team said the chain will increasingly rely on its own, in-house code. Layer-2 blockchains are built on top of Ethereum and aim to increase speed and lower costs by processing transactions themselves, while still relying on Ethereum for security. The model has become a key part of Ethereum’s scaling strategy, enabling cheaper and faster transactions without moving activity entirely off the network. More recently, however, some Ethereum leaders, including co-founder Vitalik Buterin, have signaled a shift in focus toward scaling the base layer itself, leaving open questions about how layer-2 networks will fit into Ethereum’s evolving roadmap. For 2026, Base said it will focus on three areas: expanding onchain markets, scaling stablecoin-based payments and growing its developer ecosystem — a push that comes as onchain trading venues and stablecoins see rising adoption among institutional players. — Margaux Nijkerk Read more.
In Other News
- Bitcoin’s reputation has historically been built on extreme boom-and-bust cycles, with steep drawdowns of up to 90% following all-time highs. This cycle, however, the decline has been closer to 50%, a shift that analysts said reflects the maturation of BTC as an asset class. “Bitcoin’s drawdowns compressing to about 50% is a sign of a maturing market structure,” AdLunam co-founder and market analyst Jason Fernandes told CoinDesk. “As liquidity deepens and institutional participation increases, volatility naturally compresses on both the upside and the downside,” he added, saying that “at that point, the narrative shifts from questioning its legitimacy to optimizing allocation.” Fernandes’ comments are in response to Fidelity Digital Assets analyst Zack Wainwright’s X post Tuesday, in which he noted growth is becoming “less impulsive,” with a reduced probability of extreme downside events as bitcoin matures. — Olivier Acuna Read more.
- In Jack Dorsey’s view of the world, the job most at risk from the AI revolution is the middle manager. Dorsey argues in a new essay, “From Hierarchy to Intelligence,” published with Roelof Botha, Sequoia Capital’s managing partner, an investor in Block, that his company’s decision to cut approximately 4,000 of its more than 10,000 employees was not a cost reduction but a permanent restructuring to replace middle managers with AI. Corporate hierarchy, the essay argues, has always existed to solve one problem: routing information through organizations too large for any single person to oversee. Managers aggregate context from below, act as messengers from above, and maintain alignment across teams. AI can now perform those functions continuously and at scale, the authors argue, making the messenger redundant. In place of management layers, Dorsey and Botha proposes two AI-driven “world models.” One aggregates internal data from code, decisions, workflows, and performance metrics to create a continuously updated picture of company operations, replacing the context that managers traditionally carried. The other maps customer and merchant behavior using transaction data from Cash App and Square. — Sam Reynolds Read more.
Regulatory and Policy
- Australia passed legislation creating its first comprehensive regulatory framework for digital assets that requires crypto exchanges and custody providers to obtain financial services licenses. The Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Bill 2025 cleared both houses on April 1, bringing firms that hold digital assets on behalf of customers into the existing Australian Financial Services Licence regime. Australia’s bill creates two new regulated categories under the Corporations Act: digital asset platforms, which hold crypto on behalf of users, and tokenized custody platforms, which hold real-world assets and issue a corresponding digital tokens. Operators of both must obtain an Australian Financial Services License from ASIC, bringing them under the same core rules as brokers or fund managers, including requirements to safeguard client assets, provide standardized disclosures, avoid misleading conduct, and maintain dispute resolution and compensation systems. Instead of regulating crypto itself, the law targets the companies in the middle that control customer funds, aiming to reduce risks like commingling, insolvency, and misuse of assets that have caused losses in past crypto failures. — Sam Reynolds Read more.
- Hong Kong has missed its own March timeline for HKD stablecoin licensing, with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) yet to approve any issuers despite public signals that the rollout would begin last month. At Consensus Hong Kong in February, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said licenses would begin to be issued in March as part of the city’s push to position itself as a regulated hub for stablecoins and tokenized finance. The lack of approvals so far pushes that timeline into April and raises questions about how quickly the framework will move from policy to implementation. “In giving our licenses, we ensure that licensees have novel use cases, a credible and sustainable business model and strong regulatory compliance capabilities,” he said at CoinDesk’s Hong Kong conference.— Sam Reynolds Read more.
Calendar
- Mar. 30-Apr. 2, 2026: EthCC, Cannes
- Apr.15-16, 2026: Paris Blockchain Week, Paris
- May 5-7, 2026: Consensus, Miami
- Sept. 29-Oct.1, 2026: Korea Blockchain Week, Seoul
- Oct. 7-8, 2026: Token2049, Singapore
- Nov. 3-6, 2026: Devcon, Mumbai
- Nov. 15-17, 2026: Solana Breakpoint, London
Crypto World
Jamie Dimon signals JPMorgan (JPM) entry into prediction markets as competition surges
JPMorgan (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon said the bank is considering entering the prediction markets space, signaling growing interest from major financial institutions in a sector that has expanded rapidly in recent months, including among crypto-native companies.
“It’s possible one day we’ll do something like that,” Dimon said on CBS on Tuesday, though ruled out offering markets in sport or politics.
“There’s a bunch of stuff we won’t do. And obviously, we have strict rules around insider information.”
Goldman Sachs (GS) has expressed similar ambitions. CEO David Solomon said during the bank’s January earnings call that the firm is actively exploring the space. “I personally met with the two big prediction companies and their leadership in the last two weeks and spent a couple of hours with each to learn more about that,” he said/ “We have a team of people here that are spending time with them and are looking at it.”
The comments highlight how quickly the sector has evolved. Not long ago, prediction markets were a niche corner of finance dominated by just two credible players: Polymarket and Kalshi. Today, competition is intensifying at a rapid pace.
Several crypto-native platforms, including Coinbase (COIN) and Robinhood (HOOD), have integrated prediction market trading into their offerings, expanding access to retail users and increasing overall market activity.
At the same time, the early leaders continue to grow. Polymarket has secured major partnerships and investments, including ties with Intercontinental Exchange, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange. The company is believed to be valued at around $20 billion. Rival platform Kalshi recently reached a $22 billion valuation following a funding round led by Coatue Management.
The two platforms take different technological approaches. Polymarket operates on blockchain infrastructure, using networks like Polygon (POL) to record trades and settle positions through smart contracts. Users deposit stablecoins, place bets on event outcomes and receive automated payouts based on verified results.
Kalshi does not use blockchain technology, instead operating more like a traditional exchange, offering event contracts under a regulated framework with centralized order matching and settlement.
It remains unclear how JPMorgan or Goldman Sachs would structure their own offerings, particularly whether they would adopt blockchain-based systems or stick to traditional infrastructure.
Regulation remains a key uncertainty. The legal status of prediction markets in the U.S. is still evolving, especially around what types of events can be offered and how contracts are classified. Major banks are likely to wait for clearer guidance before launching products.
Earlier this month, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) took two significant steps toward building a regulatory framework for prediction markets, signaling that oversight of the sector is beginning to take shape.
Crypto World
Cango (CANG) faces NYSE delisting risk, raises fresh capital
Cango (CANG) is at risk of losing its NYSE listing after its shares traded below $1 on average for 30 consecutive days, triggering a compliance notice from the exchange and giving the bitcoin miner a six-month window to recover, the company said in a press release Wednesday.
The New York Stock Exchange flagged the company on March 10, warning that failure to lift its share price back above the $1 threshold by the end of the cure period could lead to suspension and delisting proceedings. Cango said it plans to monitor market conditions and explore options to regain compliance, while its shares continue trading in the interim.
Against that backdrop, the company is shoring up its balance sheet with fresh capital.
In a separate announcement, Cango said it has entered into a $10 million convertible note agreement with Hong Kong-listed DL Holdings, alongside issuing warrants to purchase shares at $2.70 apiece. The financing is paired with a non-binding cooperation framework that could see the two firms pursue additional joint investments tied to crypto mining and AI infrastructure.
Proceeds from the note are earmarked for upstream acquisitions and expanding Cango’s push into computing infrastructure, part of a broader pivot beyond bitcoin mining.
Cango’s recent fundraising comes as the company pivots beyond its roots in bitcoin mining toward a broader strategy centered on energy and AI compute infrastructure. The firm has been positioning its global mining footprint as a foundation for high-performance computing, aiming to repurpose or expand its power capacity to support data-intensive AI workloads, a shift that mirrors a wider industry trend of miners seeking more stable, higher-margin revenue streams.
The convertible issuance follows the closing of a $65 million strategic investment round led by entities controlled by chairman Xin Jin and director Chang-Wei Chiu. The deal, settled in USDT and completed March 31, saw the company issue more than 49 million Class A shares.
Together, the transactions underscore management’s effort to stabilize the company financially while betting on longer-term growth in energy and AI-linked compute, even as it faces near-term pressure to keep its NYSE listing intact.
Cango’s shares have slumped sharply this year, highlighting the urgency behind its latest capital raise. The stock is down more than 70% year to date, recently trading around $0.39 after starting January above $1.40, with sustained selling pressure pushing it below the NYSE’s $1 minimum listing threshold.
Read more: Cango is selling off its bitcoin stash to pay down debt and fund an AI makeover
Crypto World
Ripple expands treasury platform to include digital asset support
Ripple is moving digital assets from the periphery of corporate finance into the heart of treasury operations. The company announced an update to its treasury management platform that adds native digital asset capabilities, enabling finance teams to hold, track and manage cryptocurrencies alongside traditional fiat balances within a single system.
The upgrade introduces Digital Asset Accounts and a unified dashboard that aggregates balances across bank accounts, custody providers and on-chain wallets. The result is real-time visibility into both cash and digital assets, all reconciled within Ripple’s treasury interface, according to the company. The platform supports XRP and Ripple USD (RLUSD), with balances updated in real time and recorded alongside fiat transactions. APIs connect external custodians and sync activity back into the platform.
Ripple emphasizes that embedding digital asset functionality directly into its treasury system reduces the need for separate crypto tools, potentially cutting manual reconciliation and fragmented reporting across banking and custody systems. “The shift is about making digital assets a core part of treasury operations,” said Mark Johnson, Ripple’s chief product officer, noting use cases such as stablecoin settlement and yield on idle cash.
The rollout follows Ripple’s October acquisition of GTreasury for $1 billion, a deal that signaled a strategic push into enterprise treasury software. The company described the product as live for customers in beta ahead of a broader rollout, with availability varying by jurisdiction depending on regulatory requirements and geography.
Key takeaways
- Ripple adds native digital asset accounts and a unified dashboard to its treasury platform, enabling real-time visibility of fiat and crypto balances in one system.
- The platform supports XRP and RLUSD, with live balance updates and on-chain activity reconciled alongside traditional transactions.
- Digital asset functionality is embedded directly into treasury operations, potentially reducing reliance on separate crypto tools.
- The feature is in beta with phased rollout by jurisdiction, following Ripple’s GTreasury acquisition for $1 billion.
Ripple’s crypto-enabled treasury in practice
The integration of digital assets into treasury workflows is designed to streamline how enterprises manage liquidity, settlement, and treasury operations. By presenting XRP and RLUSD side by side with cash balances, treasurers can execute cross-asset transactions and approval workflows without leaving the platform. The real-time updates ensure that treasury teams see the latest asset positions, while the unified reporting helps reduce fragmentation across banking partners, custody providers and on-chain wallets.
In describing the move, Ripple’s Mark Johnson framed it as a natural evolution of treasury infrastructure. “Making digital assets a core part of treasury operations allows companies to manage them alongside traditional balances while enabling practical use cases such as stablecoin settlement and yield on idle cash,” he told Cointelegraph.
Strategic momentum behind the GTreasury tie-in
The product’s release aligns with Ripple’s broader enterprise strategy following its October purchase of GTreasury for $1 billion. Ripple said the treasury product is already accessible to select customers in beta, with broader availability contingent on regulatory considerations and geography.
The enterprise focus fits a wider pattern in the financial sector, where institutions are pushing to bring digital assets into mainstream financial infrastructure rather than keeping them siloed in crypto-native systems. The shift toward integrated asset classes mirrors a wave of institutional activity across payments and capital markets, as practitioners explore how tokenized representations can streamline settlement and custody.
Wider industry context: digital assets becoming part of financial infrastructure
A Ripple-published survey conducted in March found that 72% of more than 1,000 global finance leaders believe companies must offer digital asset solutions to stay competitive, signaling a move from mere experimentation to integration. The findings underscore growing emphasis on custody, security and robust infrastructure as institutions seek end-to-end visibility over crypto and fiat in a single platform.
In parallel, cross-industry moves illustrate the broader trend toward tokenized money and on-chain settlement. In July, Visa expanded its settlement platform to support additional stablecoins and blockchain networks, building on its early use of USDC for settlement in 2021. JPMorgan expanded access to its JPM Coin deposit token in November, enabling real-time settlement for institutional clients on blockchain rails. Meanwhile, Securitize and BNY Mellon announced plans to bring tokenized assets such as collateralized loan obligations on-chain. These developments collectively reflect a growing push to embed digital assets within traditional financial infrastructure rather than treating them as a standalone playground.
As the industry advances, the pace and scope of adoption will hinge on regulatory clarity and the ability of platforms to deliver secure, auditable, and scalable treasury workflows that can operate across jurisdictions.
Readers should monitor how quickly this integrated approach gains traction across sectors and geographies, and how regulators shape the rules for cross-border asset management and settlement in the enterprise space.
Crypto World
Fed’s Barr Calls for Strong Stablecoin Oversight, Citing ‘Long and Painful’ History
Federal Reserve Governor Michael Barr invoked a “long and painful history of private money created with insufficient safeguards” in remarks Tuesday, making the most pointed Fed case yet for aggressive stablecoin oversight under the newly enacted GENIUS Act.
The comments land directly on the two largest issuers in a $200 billion market – Tether and Circle – and signal that the Fed’s implementation posture will be harder-edged than the legislation’s passage suggested.
Barr addressed the GENIUS Act specifically, acknowledging that Congress’s stablecoin framework could accelerate development – then spending the bulk of his remarks cataloguing the risks that framework must contain. That sequencing was deliberate.
It tells markets that the regulatory rulemaking phase, now underway at the Fed and FDIC, will define what the GENIUS Act actually means in practice.
Key Takeaways:
- Barr’s Position: The Fed governor warned that stablecoins will only remain stable if they can be redeemed at par under stress conditions – including during Treasury market volatility and issuer-specific strain.
- Legislative Context: The GENIUS Act, signed into law in July 2025, established the first federal stablecoin framework; Barr’s March 31 remarks focus on implementation gaps that federal agencies must now fill through rulemaking.
- Reserve Risk: Barr flagged issuer incentives to maximize returns on reserve assets as a structural vulnerability – a direct warning applicable to Tether’s reserve composition history.
- Issuer Implications: The GENIUS Act mandates monthly reserve reporting and restricts backing assets to high-quality liquid instruments like U.S. Treasuries; Barr’s remarks signal strict Fed enforcement of those limits.
- Broader Regulatory Landscape: Stablecoin friction is already blocking progress on the Clarity Act, a separate digital asset bill – meaning Barr’s warnings have downstream effects beyond stablecoins alone.
Discover: Top Crypto Presales to Watch Before They Launch
What Barr Actually Said – and Why the Framing Matters
The phrase “long and painful history” is not rhetorical decoration. Barr is pointing at a specific lineage – the 19th-century free banking era when private bank notes traded at discounts and collapses wiped out depositors, money market fund runs in 2008 and 2020, and the 2022 TerraUSD collapse that erased $40 billion in weeks.
That history matters because it tells us exactly how Barr conceptualizes stablecoin risk: as a monetary problem, not just a consumer protection problem.
His core warning was precise: “Stablecoins will be stable only if they can be reliably and promptly redeemed at par in a wide range of conditions, including during stress in the market that can put pressure on the value of otherwise liquid government debt and during episodes of strain on the individual issuer or its related entities.”

That framing matters because it directly challenges the assumption that Treasury-backed reserves are automatically safe – even U.S. Treasuries face liquidity pressure during acute market stress, as March 2020 demonstrated.
Barr also named the incentive problem explicitly: issuers profit from stretching reserve asset quality, and that pressure intensifies as the market grows.
His formulation – “stretching the boundaries of permissible reserve assets can increase profits in good times but risks a crack in confidence during inevitable bouts of market stress” – is a pre-emptive argument against any industry lobbying to broaden the GENIUS Act’s permitted asset list during rulemaking.
Congress and regulators now have a Fed governor on record with a specific structural critique. The question is whether that critique shapes the rulemaking text or gets absorbed as boilerplate.
Explore: Best Crypto Projects With High Growth Potential in 2026
What the GENIUS Act Actually Covers – and Where the Fed’s Position Creates Friction
The GENIUS Act sounds clean on paper, but what matters now is how it actually gets enforced, because the rules it set are pretty strict.
Stablecoin issuers have to show their reserves every month, keep those reserves in safe and liquid assets like short term U.S. Treasuries, make it clear there is no FDIC protection, and follow real banking style rules around capital, liquidity, and AML.
Barr is now pushing the next phase, and his focus is very direct. He wants tight control over what counts as safe reserves, especially under stress, stronger rules to stop companies from escaping into weaker jurisdictions, and capital requirements that actually match real redemption risk. On top of that, he is doubling down on AML and limiting what stablecoin firms can do outside of issuing, to reduce spillover risk.
But the real story is not the law itself, it is the rulemaking that comes next, because that is where things either stay strict or get loosened. The big question is how narrow regulators define “safe assets,” since that decides how flexible issuers can be, and right now Barr is clearly leaning toward a tighter definition.
That tension is already spilling into other legislation, with negotiations slowing as regulators push a more cautious stance, so what we are seeing is not just policy being written, but a broader shift in how seriously the system wants to control crypto going forward.
Explore: Best Crypto Projects With High Growth Potential in 2026
The post Fed’s Barr Calls for Strong Stablecoin Oversight, Citing ‘Long and Painful’ History appeared first on Cryptonews.
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