🔥 Ripple data reveals stablecoins are becoming the go-to tool for corporate treasury

Digital assets are no longer a fringe experiment in finance, they’re fast becoming a core part of how banks, asset managers, fintechs and corporates plan to move money, store value and manage risk. That's the key takeaway from fintech firm Ripple's survey of more than 1,000 global finance leaders, which reveals how the industry sees digital assets as urgent, and no longer optional.

▪️7 in 10 respondents said finance leaders must offer some kind of digital asset solution to stay competitive, underscoring a broad sense that the “digital asset revolution” is already underway.
▪️74% of leaders said stablecoins can improve cash‑flow efficiency and unlock working capital, highlighting their growing appeal as treasury tools and not just payment rails.
▪️31% use stablecoins to collect payments for customers, and 29% accept stablecoins directly.
▪️More banks and asset managers want to tokenize assets and they need partners to do it. Of those looking, 89% focus on safe storage and custody first.
▪️97% flagged security and certifications like ISO and SOC 2 as critical, with operational support and industry‑specific experience also weighing heavily.

The bottom line: digital assets are becoming a strategic necessity, and the infrastructure decisions made today are expected to shape competitive edge tomorrow.

#Stellar

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🤖 China develops new ultra-cold alloy that can reach -273°C without helium. It may surprise DARPA.

Scientists from China have developed a new cooling technology based on a rare-earth alloy that can reach temperatures close to absolute zero without relying on helium-3. Such an alloy could enable compact, helium-3-free cooling systems for superconducting quantum chips, advanced electronics used by military equipment, and space applications.

The team built a compact, solid-state refrigeration module with no moving parts that reached 106 millikelvin (mK), which is -273°C. The cooling module relied on a rare-earth compound consisting of europium, cobalt, and aluminum (EuCo₂Al₉, ECA), which features thermal conductivity comparable to metals, but which can also cool itself and other components efficiently using adiabatic demagnetization (ADR).

The development comes amid growing interest in helium-3 alternatives. It comes at a time when the US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is actively hunting for exactly such a technology.

#BRICS

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❗️Senators say they've reached compromise on yield to advance crypto market bill

The two U.S. senators negotiating a controversial provision in the crypto industry's market structure bill — Republican Thom Tillis and Democrat Angela Alsobrooks — have reportedly agreed on a compromise that could advance the industry's top priority to the next stage in the Senate.

"Sen. Tillis and I do have an agreement in principle,” — Alsobrooks told on Friday. “We’ve come a long way. And I think what it will do is to allow us to protect innovation, but also gives us the opportunity to prevent widespread deposit flight.”

They have agreed in principle on an approach to stablecoin yield in the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, and that potentially knocks down one of the top unresolved issues in the wide-ranging bill. The White House was reviewing updated legislative text on Thursday. Alsobrooks said the new language will seek to bar yield payments “on a passive balance,” but the details remain unclear.

“In working with the White House, I think we have an agreement,” Tillis said. “Now we have to vet it with industry, because they are a party to an ultimate deal.”

Though the stablecoin question was at the forefront of the Clarity Act negotiations, there remain a number of other points to iron out, including the bill's treatment of decentralized finance (DeFi). Lawmakers have suggested in recent days that the Clarity Act could get a Senate Banking Committee hearing late next month. If it's approved there, it advances toward the Senate floor.

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🆕 Microsoft rolls back some of its Copilot AI bloat on Windows

Microsoft announced a series of changes focused on improving the quality of its Windows 11 operating system, which notably includes dialing back the number of entry points to its AI assistant, Copilot. The company said it will reduce Copilot AI integrations in some apps, starting with Photos, Widgets, Notepad, and its Snipping Tool.

Under the heading of “integrating AI where it’s most meaningful,” Pavan Davuluri, EVP of Windows and Devices, wrote that Microsoft is becoming more intentional about “how and where Copilot integrates across Windows.” Its goal, he explained, is to focus on AI experiences that are “genuinely useful.”

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🤖 Scientists develop brain-inspired chip for more efficient AI hardware, cut energy use by 70%

Researchers at the University of Cambridge have developed a high-performance memristor using a specialized hafnium oxide. A memristor is a low-energy component that mimics how our brain cells connect, helping conserve energy. This nanoelectronic device could potentially reduce AI energy consumption by up to 70%.

“Filamentary devices suffer from random behaviour,” said Dr Babak Bakhit. “But because our devices switch at the interface, they show outstanding uniformity from cycle to cycle and from device to device.”

Our brains process and store information in the same place: the synapse. The neuromorphic (brain-inspired) chip using a stable, low-energy memristor that handles both tasks in a single chip, using a hafnium-based thin film. It swaps out erratic, high-voltage filaments — which physically grow and snap inside older devices — for a smooth, reliable switching interface.

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🚫 Pinterest CEO calls for ban on social media for youth under 16

Pinterest CEO ​Bill Ready called on world leaders to ban social media ‌for youth under 16. Ready posted his statement while a trial is under way in Los Angeles about youth social ​media use. Google and Meta face allegations that their ​apps are fueling a youth mental health crisis. The ⁠jury is deliberating on a verdict.

"We need a clear standard: ​no social media for teens under 16, backed by real enforcement, ​and accountability for mobile phone operating systems and the apps that run on them," — Ready wrote in an essay posted on his LinkedIn account.

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🏢 Lego to build massive 80-acre solar park for its $1.5b carbon-neutral US factory

The LEGO Group is doubling down on clean energy as it builds out its first U.S. manufacturing hub in Chesterfield County, Virginia, pairing large-scale solar generation with a carbon-conscious factory design. The installation will span nearly 80 acres and include more than 30,700 ground-mounted panels. Together, they will deliver a peak capacity of 22 megawatts.

The company plans to install a massive ground-mounted solar array alongside its upcoming LEGO Manufacturing Virginia site this summer, signaling a broader push to align industrial operations with renewable energy targets in the U.S.

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🌍 Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin enters the space data center game

Blue Origin, the space conglomerate founded by Amazon chair Jeff Bezos, has asked the U.S. government for permission to launch a network of more than 50,000 satellites that will act as a data center in orbit. Shifting massive compute to space is attractive because solar energy is free to harvest and, once in orbit, there are fewer regulations restricting corporate activities.

Blue Origin’s attorneys described “Project Sunrise” as a network of spacecraft that will perform advanced computation in orbit to “ease mounting pressure on U.S. communities and natural resources by shifting energy — and water-intensive compute away from terrestrial data centers.”

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💊 China clears world’s first commercial brain implant to restore hand movement in paralysis

China has approved a brain-computer interface (BCI) device designed to restore hand movement in people with paralysis, marking what regulators say is the world’s first commercial clearance for such technology. The approval was granted by the National Medical Products Administration, China’s drug regulator, allowing the system to be sold for clinical use. The device was developed by Borui Kang Medical Technology in Shanghai.

It is designed to help patients with quadriplegia caused by cervical spinal cord injuries regain the ability to grasp objects using a robotic glove. BCIs, connect neural signals in the brain to external devices. In this case, brain signals are translated into commands that activate the assistive glove, enabling patients to perform basic hand movements.

Clinical trial data showed significant improvements in hand grasping ability among participants. The agency said the gains helped improve patients’ quality of life.

#BRICS

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🆕 Microsoft announces sweeping Windows changes - but no apologies

In a post titled "Our commitment to Windows quality," published on Microsoft's website and sent via email to millions of members of the Windows Insider Program, Windows boss Pavan Davuluri laid out a laundry list of changes Microsoft plans to make in Windows 11, starting this month.

▪️More taskbar customization, including vertical and top positions: repositioning the taskbar - the ability to reposition it to the top or sides of the screen, making it easier to personalize a workspace.
▪️Integrating AI where it’s most meaningful, with craft and focus: reducing unnecessary Copilot entry points, starting with apps like Snipping Tool, Photos, Widgets and Notepad.
▪️Reducing disruption from Windows Updates: the ability to skip updates during device setup to get to the desktop faster, restart or shut down without installing updates and pause updates for longer when needed.
▪️Faster and more dependable File Explorer: focus on a quicker launch experience, reduced flicker, smoother navigation.
▪️More control over widgets and feed experiences: introducing quieter defaults, more control over when and how widgets appear.
▪️A simpler, more transparent Windows Insider Program.
▪️Improved Feedback Hub: rolling out the largest update to Feedback Hub yet to Insiders, with a redesigned experience that makes it faster and easier to submit feedback.

This sounds like an admission that the entire Windows creation process has been broken for a long time. Microsoft shipped the products that don't meet customers' quality standards and the testing regime for the past few years has been insufficient.

Meanwhile, a simple "We're sorry" wouldn't hurt. Do you agree? 🤔

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🇺🇸 Palantir AI system wins key Pentagon status

Palantir’s Maven AI system will become an official program of record, Deputy Secretary of Defense Steve ​Feinberg said in a letter to Pentagon leaders, a move that locks in long-term use of Palantir’s weapons-targeting technology across ‌the U.S. military.

In the letter to senior Pentagon leaders and U.S. military commanders, Feinberg said embedding Palantir’s Maven Smart System would provide warfighters “with the latest tools necessary to detect, deter, and dominate our adversaries in all domains”. The decision came weeks after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declared Anthropic a supply-chain risk.

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🆕 US Departments of Justice and Defense crush four massive botnets totaling 3,000,000 devices

The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) and its network of partners are on quite a roll lately, scoring the third botnet takedown in this calendar month alone. The DoJ brought offline the combination of networks known as Aisuru, Kimwolf, JackSkid, and Mossad. The DoJ says that Aisuru was responsible for about 200,000 DDoS attacks, while Kimwolf scored 25,000, JackSkid 90,000, and Mossad 1,000.

The Aisuru botnet primarily targets networking and adjacent gear, such as home and office routers, IP cameras, Wi-Fi access points, and gateways. Kimwolf's favorite nourishment, meanwhile, is Android-based streaming devices such as TV boxes, Smart TVs, Android tablets, and digital photo frames.

The operation took out the command-and-control servers for a total of 3 million devices and had the help of the U.S. Department of Defense, Canada, Germany, and a group of major internet connectivity players, including Akamai, Amazon, and Cloudflare. The Defense Criminal Investigative Service seized multiple domains, virtual servers.

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