Fabi.ai announced the launch of Workflows, a revolutionary data insights pipeline feature that enables data and product teams to build automated, intelligent workflows that deliver personalized insights directly to stakeholders’ preferred tools. Unlike legacy BI platforms that create “dashboard graveyards,” Workflows meets business users where they actually work—in Slack, email, and Google Sheets—while leveraging AI in the data analysis process to generate meaningful summaries and actionable recommendations. The product addresses three critical failures of legacy BI: restricted data access that ignores real business workflows, misaligned incentives that prioritize seat sales over insight sharing, and the creation of static dashboards that users ultimately abandon for spreadsheets. Workflows transforms this paradigm by automating the delivery of fresh, AI-enhanced insights directly to the tools teams use daily, without forcing data experts to an advanced degree in the vendor’s tooling. Key capabilities of Workflows include: Universal Data Connectivity: Connect to any data source including Snowflake, Databricks, MotherDuck, Google Sheets, Airtable, and more; Integrated Processing Tools: SQL for querying, Python for advanced analysis, and AI for natural language processing and insight generation working seamlessly together; Smart Distribution: Automatically push AI-generated, customized insights via email, Slack, or Google Sheets on configurable schedules; AI-Powered Analysis: Leverage AI to process unstructured data, extract insights from notes and comments, and generate executive summaries; Python-Native Architecture: Enterprise-grade security with scalable AI processing capabilities
Zango Global raised $4.8 million in seed funding led by Nexus Venture Partners to provide artificial intelligence agents to financial firms and banks, with an aim to transform how they deal with regulatory compliance. Zango uses AI agents, a type of artificial intelligence software that can make decisions, do research and achieve specific goals with a degree of autonomy. Agents are designed to carry out tasks with minimal or no human oversight, while adapting to changing circumstances. This allows them to continuously integrate knowledge, including regulatory information, so they can respond to inquiries or draft consulting reviews complete with citations. The company said its large language models and AI agents don’t just read and interpret regulations with a high degree of accuracy. They can integrate directly into a company’s day-to-day operations. In one example given by Zango, a bank involved with a regulator had a process that would have taken 48 hours, reduced to under four hours using the agentic AI platform. Using the platform, the company said, aiming to remain compliant and launching a new product or service can be as simple as spinning up an agent and asking: “I want to launch a lending product in X market. What do I need to do?” The agents will go to work, track down all the necessary resources and produce research, compliance requirements, records, citations, an impact assessment and a gap analysis helpful for future-proofing the product.
Well-funded AI startup Anysphere Inc. is expanding beyond its viral generative AI code editor and into “agentic AI” with the launch of new web and mobile browser-based orchestration tools for coding agents. With its new application, developers can send natural language prompts from a mobile or web-based browser directly to the background agents, instructing them to perform tasks like writing new features or fixing bugs. Using the web app, developers can also monitor fleets of agents that are busy working on different tasks, check their progress and register those that have been completed within the underlying codebase. Anysphere explained that developers can instruct its AI agents to complete tasks via the web app, and if they’re unable to do so, they can seamlessly switch to the IDE to take over and see what’s caused it to come unstuck. Each of its agents has its own shareable link, which developers can click on to see its progress.
Zerve, the agent-driven operating system for Data & AI teams, announced a partnership with Arcee AI, a language model builder to bring model optimization and automation capabilities to the Zerve platform, enabling data science and AI professionals to build faster, smarter, and more efficient AI workflows at scale. Through the new partnership and integration, Zerve and Arcee AI enable users to automate AI model selection within their existing workflows using an OpenAI-compatible API, without incurring infrastructure overhead. Arcee Conductor enhances AI pipeline efficiency for users by intelligently selecting between SLMs and LLMs based on input complexity, cost, domain relevance, and other variables. This collaboration allows data science and AI engineering teams to: Optimize model usage by routing tasks to the most appropriate model, improving accuracy and runtime performance; Enhance automation by combining Conductor’s routing with the Zerve Agent’s dynamic workflow control; Maintain seamless integration through plug-and-play compatibility with existing Zerve environments; Cut costs by deploying lightweight, lower-cost models where applicable.
Financial services infrastructure provider OpenPayd launched a partnership with blockchain company Ripple. The collaboration will see OpenPayd’s global fiat infrastructure, including real-time payment rails, multicurrency accounts and virtual IBANs, support Ripple Payments into euros and British pounds. “By combining Ripple Payments with OpenPayd’s rail-agnostic and fully interoperable fiat infrastructure, we are delivering a unified platform that bridges traditional finance and blockchain,” OpenPayd CEO Iana Dimitrova said. “This partnership enables businesses to move and manage money globally, access stablecoin liquidity at scale, and simplify cross-border payments, treasury flows and dollar-based operations.” Ripple Payments is Ripple’s cross-border payment solution, employing blockchain, digital assets and a network of payout partners to deliver cross-border payments and on/off ramps for banks, FinTechs and cryptocurrency firms. The partnership is part of OpenPayd’s efforts to expand its newly launched stablecoin infrastructure, with the company providing direct minting and burning capabilities for Ripple USD (RLUSD). Businesses will be able to convert between fiat and RLUSD, accessing OpenPayd’s suite of services using a single API.
Membrane Labs has launched an institutional-grade risk engine purpose-built for lenders operating in digital asset markets. Powered by Bitpulse, a leader in crypto underwriting and quantitative risk infrastructure, the system delivers real-time VaR analysis, position stress testing, portfolio exposure modeling, and other tools to empower institutions to thrive in the open economy. “Institutions can’t afford blind spots when billions move at blockchain speed,” said Carson Cook, Founder & CEO of Membrane Labs. “Our risk engine brings clarity and actionability to risk management—without requiring clients to build a quant team from scratch.” The risk engine equips institutional credit and risk teams with the tools to quantify VaR, simulate stress scenarios, and analyze exposures with greater speed and precision. Fully integrated into Membrane’s loan and collateral management infrastructure, these capabilities enhance real-time visibility across the entire credit lifecycle, streamlining decision-making and improving operational efficiency and visibility. In partnership with Bitpulse, Membrane’s risk engine is powered by Bitpulse’s Risk Engine API suite, a leader in quantitative risk infrastructure, bringing advanced analytics directly into Membrane’s institutional workflows.
Katana, a vertically integrated DeFi chain, has launched its mainnet with over $240 million in “productive TVL,” capital that is actively deployed into lending and trading strategies. Incubated by Polygon Labs and GSR, Katana is designed to concentrate liquidity, generate real yield, and route value back to users. The blockchain functions more like a coordinated financial venue than an open playground, avoiding liquidity fragmentation that has plagued DeFi for years. Katana is positioning itself to solve structural liquidity challenges that have long limited institutional participation in DeFi. By concentrating liquidity across chains and protocols into fewer, more accessible pools, Katana can support high-volume, capital-efficient transactions. Institutional appeal is central to Katana’s strategy, with features like real-time rewards, transparent APY breakdowns, and sequencer fee recycling designed to meet the demands of firms that need yield, efficiency, and accountability. At the core of this system is VaultBridge, a mechanism that deploys bridged assets like ETH, USDC, and wBTC into yield-generating strategies on Ethereum. Alongside VaultBridge, Katana introduces chain-owned liquidity, a system that redirects sequencer fees back into the network. This creates a self-reinforcing loop: as activity on the chain increases, so does the pool of capital available to users, which in turn improves trading execution, reduces slippage, and boosts overall yield. Katana’s token design reflects a broader shift in how DeFi infrastructure is being built. It is centered on turning every layer of infrastructure into a yield engine, focusing on transparency yield sources, sustainable incentives, and a clear link between usage and revenue. Katana is built using Polygon’s CDK framework and the OP Stack, with finality provided by Succinct’s SP1 zk prover. However, the long-term test will be whether the ecosystem can continue delivering competitive yields without overrelying on emissions.
ALT5 Sigma Corporation, provider of Crypto-as-a-Service infrastructure, has launched a comprehensive stablecoin management solution for U.S. institutions. Designed for regulated entities, the platform enables seamless integration, utilization, and oversight of stablecoins-regardless of the issuing entity or blockchain protocol. Whether managing proprietary tokens or leveraging market leaders, institutions can operationalize, monitor, and scale stablecoin use through ALT5 Sigma’s infrastructure. Integration with existing workflows and systems is supported via robust APIs. ALT5 Sigma’s infrastructure supports both permissioned and permissionless stablecoins, enabling institutions to: Integrate stablecoins into core operations, regardless of the blockchain or issuance model; Manage risk, compliance, and wallet infrastructure through built-in KYC/AML and monitoring tools; Connect to internal systems via APIs, including treasury, ERP, CRM, and banking platforms; Enable programmable flows, such as recurring disbursements, settlement automation, and cross-border transfers. Ron Pitters, Chief Operating Officer of ALT5 Sigma Corporation said, “By integrating stablecoins into enterprise systems, we enable real-time payments, automated settlements, and streamlined treasury functions-without requiring custom blockchain development.”
A recent study from Penn State researchers introduces a diffusion-based approach to automatically generate valid quantum circuits—offering a scalable alternative to today’s labor-intensive quantum programming methods. The proposed framework, dubbed Q-Fusion, achieved 100% output validity and demonstrates promise for accelerating progress in quantum machine learning and quantum software development. Unlike LLM-based approaches that treat circuit generation like language modeling, or reinforcement learning that requires trial-and-error with human-defined rules, Q-Fusion learns the patterns of circuit structure directly from data. This bypasses the need for hand-crafted heuristics and enables the model to discover novel circuit layouts. Q-Fusion points toward a more scalable future, where models can rapidly explore vast design spaces and generate circuits that are physically viable on actual quantum hardware. The authors note that diffusion models offer advantages over generative adversarial networks (GANs) and other common generative techniques due to their stability and flexibility with graph-structured data. Q-Fusion also incorporates hardware-specific constraints such as limited qubit connectivity and native gate sets, ensuring that generated circuits can potentially be deployed on real quantum devices without extensive post-processing. As quantum computing continues to mature, tools like Q-Fusion could play an essential role in making the technology more accessible and productive. Automating the generation of valid, deployable quantum circuits will reduce the workload on quantum software engineers and accelerate the pace of experimentation. The model’s diffusion-based approach is not only a strong alternative to other QAS methods but also opens new possibilities for combining machine learning with quantum program synthesis. It also aligns with trends in AI where graph-based diffusion models are showing strong performance across domains ranging from drug discovery to chip design.
Microsoft Quantum is advancing the global quantum ecosystem by developing powerful error-correction codes for various types of qubits. These codes require very few physical qubits per logical qubit, can check for errors in a single shot, and exhibit a 1,000-fold reduction in error rates. Microsoft’s qubit-virtualization system, a core component of the Microsoft Quantum compute platform, enables the creation and entanglement of reliable logical qubits from high-quality physical qubits. Microsoft’s new 4D geometric codes require very few physical qubits to make each logical qubit, have efficient logical operations, and improve the performance of quantum hardware. This family of codes reduces the number of steps required to diagnose errors, resulting in low-depth operations and computations. Incorporation of these codes into the Microsoft Quantum compute platform will enable the creation and entanglement of 50 logical qubits in the near term, with the potential to scale to thousands of logical qubits in the future. Microsoft is bringing the capabilities for quantum advantage forward by coupling state-of-the-art quantum hardware with the Microsoft Quantum compute platform, which includes error correction, cloud high-performance computing, and advanced AI models. Microsoft’s team of experts is available to provide insight and technical expertise on use cases, industry challenges, and opportunities for innovation and collaborative research projects. Microsoft and Atom Computing have co-designed a pairing of neutral-atom qubits with the Microsoft Quantum compute platform, offering extensive scalability, low susceptibility to noise, and high fidelities needed for quantum error correction. The most groundbreaking use cases of quantum computing are likely to be achieved when quantum is used to improve and accelerate other technologies, such as high-performance computing and AI.
Oxford Quantum Circuits (OQC), a global leader in quantum computing solutions, has developed a new approach to quantum error-detection that could accelerate the development of commercially viable quantum computers. The company’s breakthrough, the Dimon approach, uses a dual-rail dimon qubit technology to detect and suppress errors at the individual qubit level, reducing the hardware overheads required for quantum error-corrected logical qubits. This breakthrough has the potential to fundamentally change the economics of quantum computing by reducing the infrastructure and hardware costs needed for commercially-useful quantum computation. The research demonstrates that superconducting qubits can be made more robust with minimal increase in size and complexity. OQC’s breakthrough represents a major step towards a parallel transition in quantum technology, allowing for the development of affordable quantum computing infrastructure by 2028.
IBM revealed its expected roadmap for building the world’s first large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computer, which would enable scaling up quantum computing for real-world practical results. The technology giant said it expects to be able to deliver the platform in 2029. The new computing system, dubbed IBM Quantum Starling, will be built at the company’s campus in Poughkeepsie, New York, and is expected to perform 20,000 times more operations than today’s quantum computers. According to the company, this new platform would require the memory of more than a quindecillion of the world’s most powerful supercomputers, that’s a number equal to a 1 with 48 zeros after it. IBM already operates a large, global fleet of quantum computers and released a new Quantum Roadmap that outlines its intent to build out practical quantum solutions. The company’s most recent IBM Heron, a 156-qubit quantum processor, released in 2024, demonstrated high fidelity with error-correction. The company said Starling will be able to access the computational power required to solve monumental problems by running 100 million operations using 200 logical qubits. The company intends to use this as the foundation for IBM Blue Jay, which will be capable of executing 1 billion quantum operations over 2,000 logical qubits. To reach the fault-tolerance needed for large scale, the company revealed in its roadmap that it will build new architectural components to assist with correcting errors in real-time to create exceptional fault-tolerance. This includes “C-couplers,” that connect qubits over longer distances within Quantum Loon, a processor expected this year. Another processor, IBM Kookaburra, expected in 2026, will be the company’s first modular processor design to store and process encoded information that will combine quantum memory with logic operations, a basic building block for scaling fault-tolerant systems beyond a single chip. In 2027, IBM Quantum Cockatoo will entangle two Kookaburra modules using “L-couplers” to link quantum chips together like nodes in a larger system, marking the final advancement toward building Starling in 2029.
State Employees’ Credit Union of Maryland (SECU), a $5.7B credit union with 23 financial centers across Maryland, has partnered with MANTL, an Alkami solution team, to improve its in-branch and online account opening processes for businesses and retail members. The partnership will allow SECU to open new member accounts on any banking channel, at any time, demonstrating SECU’s commitment to providing the best possible banking experiences. SECU will leverage MANTL’s Consumer Deposit Origination to transform the online account opening experience and streamline the in-branch experience for members and employees. The Business Deposit Origination will allow SECU to better attract, serve, and deepen relationships with businesses across its target markets. By integrating MANTL with its core processing system, SECU will automate over 85% of application decisions, including Know Your Customer, Anti-Money Laundering, Bank Secrecy Act, product service ordering, funding, and core booking.
With the release of iOS 26 Beta 2, Apple has fixed one of the more glaring issues with Liquid Glass. The refreshed user interface modernizes the operating system’s look and feel with a design system inspired by the optical qualities of glass, including the way it refracts light and its translucency. One of the users’ larger concerns was with how Liquid Glass made the Control Center (the menu accessed by swiping down on the right side of the iPhone’s screen) nearly unreadable. Because of its semi-transparent nature, it was hard to differentiate the Control Center’s buttons and sliders from the icons and widgets on the iPhone’s Home Screen that appeared underneath. In the newly released beta, Apple has addressed the problem with the Control Center by adjusting the background blur, which better obscures the Home Screen content underneath. Notifications in the first beta were also hard to read, as many had pointed out. In the updated beta, they’re a bit sharper but still need work, especially for readability on brighter and lighter backgrounds. Also in Beta 2, Apple has added an Accessibility section to the App Store’s product pages, enabled iCloud sync for the Journaling app on iPads, added order tracking features to Apple Wallet, introduced an Apple Music Radio widget, and more.
Google’s adding a slew of AI features to its productivity-focused Chromebook Plus line of devices, including a screen-selection tool for search and text capture, a tool that explains complex text, and NotebookLM. The new screen-selection tool works similarly to Google Lens and the “Circle to search” feature in Chrome on smartphones: long-press the launcher button or use the screenshot tool to select what is on your screen, and Google will instantly search for it. The tool also lets you select text and quickly add an event to the calendar. Users can now access Google’s AI image-generation features with the quick insert key, as well as AI-powered writing tools. The new “Simplify” feature lets you use AI to explain, simplify, or summarize any text you have selected. Google’s also giving all new Chromebook Plus users one year’s subscription to the Google AI Pro plan, which includes access to the Gemini app; video editing tool Flow; image-to-video creation tool Whisk; Gemini in Gmail, Docs, and Chrome; and 2TB of storage. Alongside these features, Google is launching two exclusive AI features for Lenovo’s new Chromebook Plus 14: One uses AI to recommend tab and document organization, while the second lets users edit images using the Gallery app to remove backgrounds or make stickers. Lenovo’s new Chromebook comes with an OLED touch screen and runs on an ARM-based MediaTek Kompanio Ultra chip.
Monzo’s clean UI and uncluttered interface was revolutionary and the bright orange branded cards made me feel like I was part of a special club. Here’s what I like about the UX/UI.
- It shows you what you’ve spent: This might seem obvious but it’s not a given on banking apps. My Nationwide app doesn’t show me how much I’ve spent in a day, it just shows me what my balance is. This makes it more difficult to tally up what I’ve spent on a particular day and work out how much my monthly direct debits cost, for example.
- Transferring money is easy: In other banking apps, adding a new payee can be a pain. There are card readers to contend with and what seems like endless identity checks. In Monzo, it takes a limited number of clicks to transfer your cash. You can transfer money to someone using just their phone number, and you can send them a link to pay you with.
- Check trends in spending: Monzo has changed the way it displays trends in spending and I must admit I preferred the previous interface, but it is still handy to be able to see at a glance how much you’ve spent in different categories, such as Transport, Shopping and Eating Out in a month or a year (though whether anyone needs to know how much they’ve spent on Eating Out in a year is debatable).
- Splitting the bill is fun: I don’t use this function often but you can easily split a bill within the Monzo app, and you can also do this for ongoing household expenses. Fun little animations show how it works and the amount each paying and who you’re splitting with is really clearly laid out on the screen. This is another case where the user interface makes it really clear what’s going on, which is exactly what you need in a banking app.
Better Mortgage’s technological advancements are anchored by two proprietary tools: TinMan, the company’s end-to-end loan origination system, and Betsy, a voice-based AI loan assistant. At the core of Better Mortgage’s AI strategy is a clear conviction: automation should elevate, not eliminate, human expertise. Betsy was built to work in tandem with loan officers—not in place of them. Every interaction she has with a borrower is fully visible within the Tinman dashboard, giving loan officers complete transparency and the ability to jump in with full context at any point. Her warm hand-off capabilities, including real-time summaries and status notes, ensure a seamless transition from machine to human. The shift from AI to human feels intuitive, not abrupt, reinforcing the trust borrowers place in their loan officer while still benefiting from around-the-clock digital support. Importantly, loan officers aren’t being sidelined by this technology — they’re being elevated. Betsy surfaces key borrower insights, tracks outstanding questions or documents, and anticipates next steps, allowing originators to step into each conversation already informed. Betsy allows loan officers to focus their energy on building relationships and driving decisions forward. The scalability of this hybrid model is already visible through Better’s NEO Powered by Better initiative. Partner companies like NEO Home Loans are now able to serve significantly more families without increasing headcount—proof that tech-human collaboration isn’t just efficient, it’s expansive. Ultimately, Betsy and Tinman aren’t replacements. They’re reinforcements. Together, they enable a concierge-level mortgage experience where accuracy, speed, and human empathy converge.
Sezzle has introduced features it says are designed to help customers weather increased financial pressure. “With record-low consumer confidence — the Conference Board’s index recently plunged to its lowest level since May 2020 amid fears of tariffs and recession — the current climate makes budgeting tools more essential than ever,” Sezzle said. Among the new features are Sezzle Balance, designed to simplify the repayment process for consumers through a pre-loadable digital wallet. There are two additional products in beta: “Express Checkout,” described as a “streamlined flow that reduces friction for returning shoppers,” and Browser Extension, a tool that automatically prompts shoppers to earn Sezzle Spend and save with available coupons. “When shoppers see real savings, they come back — it’s that simple,” said Charlie Youakim, Sezzle Chairman and CEO. “That’s why we’re focused on delivering value at every touchpoint, whether it’s through smarter discovery, seamless checkout, or transparent pricing. The more we help consumers feel in control and save money, the more they trust and choose Sezzle as their go-to way to shop.”
Powering the future of the consumer credit ecosystem, Spinwheel is rewiring how consumer credit data is accessed, activated, and embedded into financial workflows. Today, the company announced the close of its $30 million Series A funding round, led by F-Prime with participation from QED Investors, Foundation Capital, and Fika Ventures. Spinwheel’s real-time consumer credit data and payments platform currently supports more than 15 million users and 165 million connected credit and liability accounts, facilitating over $1.5 trillion in consumer debt across its network. The new funding will accelerate development of its agentic AI platform, expand its data sets and product offerings, and scale its go-to-market team as it builds the foundational infrastructure to transform the consumer credit data and payments ecosystem. Today, the consumer credit ecosystem is buckling under the weight of legacy systems. U.S. consumer liabilities have reached $19.5 trillion—up from $13.3 trillion just a decade ago. Additionally, the average American holds between 10 to 14 credit accounts. Despite the scale, the infrastructure supporting credit data access and payments remains fragmented, slow, and riddled with friction for financial institutions, while consumers are left juggling multiple logins and outdated information. “Financial providers are faced with immense customer service friction, high operational and acquisition costs, missing or outdated data sets and a cumbersome, disjointed experience for consumers who, in turn, are struggling to view, understand and manage numerous liability and credit accounts. We are transforming this challenge by building the foundational infrastructure to power the future of the consumer credit ecosystem,” said Tomás Campos, co-founder and CEO, Spinwheel. “We believe this is an enormous opportunity that will outpace open banking. With a focus on first principles and innovation, we will elevate our financial clients’ ability to deliver better credit outcomes to consumers like never before.” Spinwheel was built to establish a unified infrastructure layer that simplifies how liabilities are accessed, activated, and resolved. Spinwheel partners with lenders, marketplaces, personal financial management platforms, and other financial companies to provide real-time, verified consumer credit data to process payments as part of their clients’ existing workflow and operations via APIs. The company’s proprietary, credentialless technology requires only two data fields—phone number and date of birth—streamlining and simplifying user actions and delivering a more complete consumer credit profile, empowering financial clients to provide better financial products and a seamless experience for the consumer. Spinwheel’s clients see significant improvements in conversion rates, increased revenue, lower operational and acquisition costs, as well as mitigated risk. “Spinwheel is tackling one of the most complex and consequential frontiers in financial data: real-time consumer liabilities. While open banking has largely focused on assets, there is a large opportunity in mapping the full liability picture across credit cards, mortgages, student loans, and more,” said David Jegen, Managing Partner at F-Prime. “We’re in the early innings of this category’s evolution. Spinwheel’s team has the right combination of deep technical skill and market insight required to lead in a market where challenges are large and the stakes are high.” This latest funding will accelerate its technology to further automate credit management and unlock more data through its agentic AI platform, expand into new access points and offerings for non-traditional data and sources, and build out its go-to-market team. Spinwheel’s infrastructure is built with bank-grade security standards, ensuring that while data is made more accessible.
Radcred has launched a digital-first lending platform to meet the rising demand for online payday loans, offering same-day funding and soft credit checks for borrowers historically overlooked by traditional banks. The new system aims to simplify access to small-dollar financing by matching applicants with licensed lenders through a fully secure online process. Radcred’s lending platform connects borrowers directly to a network of licensed, state-compliant payday lenders. With soft inquiry checks and same-day loan processing, the platform is built for speed and accessibility. Unlike traditional banks, Radcred offers options for those with poor or limited credit histories. The platform supports applications from users across all 50 states, focusing on underserved groups such as part-time workers, gig economy professionals, and those recovering from financial setbacks. Through encrypted processing and smart-matching technology, Radcred ensures quick turnaround times often funding requests within hours. Borrowers can secure a $255 payday loan, a $500 loan no credit check loans or another small-dollar amount based on the offers provided by Payday lenders. The process involves no hard credit pull, helping protect the borrower’s FICO score. All offers are presented upfront, with clear repayment timelines and fee disclosures. The platform works seamlessly on both desktop and mobile devices, ensuring broad accessibility for users in need of instant loans.
Savvy Wealth, a digital-first platform for financial advisors centered around modernizing human financial advice, announced the successful close of a $72 million Series B funding round, led by Industry Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on private technology investments. Savvy will leverage the fresh funding to accelerate its core technology offering, hire top technical talent and expand recruitment of independent advisors and advisory teams to its affiliate registered investment advisor (RIA), Savvy Advisors. The firm will also accelerate the development of artificial intelligence (AI) solutions to build personalized knowledge bases on each client, providing predictive, real-time intelligence tailored to individual financial profiles and needs. Ritik Malhotra, Founder and CEO of Savvy Wealth. “At Savvy, we’re embedding AI inside the core of our CRM and advisor-facing tech stack to ‘10x’ their capabilities – unlocking predictive, real-time insights that strengthen human relationships. As modern advisors continue to choose independence, Savvy’s boutique culture, cutting-edge technology and full-service platform offers them a welcome home where their voice matters.” Recently surpassing $2 billion in assets under management, Savvy continues to build upon the sophistication of its offering, which includes solutions designed to meet the complex needs of high-net-worth investors. As Savvy expands its client base, it plans to evolve into a modern wealth management platform that offers more premium services to vertically integrate all of an individual or family’s financial needs.
Robinhood (NASDAQ: HOOD) has launched micro crypto futures for Bitcoin (BTC), Solana (SOL), and XRP in the U.S., expanding its futures trading suite for over 26 million funded users. This move adds to its January rollout of full-sized BTC and ETH futures, providing retail investors with lower-barrier access to crypto derivatives. Micro futures contracts require significantly less capital than traditional futures, allowing traders to speculate on price movements or hedge positions with reduced risk exposure. These smaller contracts offer greater flexibility and are aimed at making futures trading more accessible to a broader user base. Robinhood’s internal data highlights growing crypto activity on the platform, with notional trading volumes reaching $11.7 billion in May 2025. That figure represents a 36% increase from April and a 65% year-over-year surge, indicating strong retail interest in cryptocurrency markets. As crypto adoption continues to grow, Robinhood’s introduction of micro futures positions the firm to better serve both casual traders and more experienced investors seeking diversified trading tools. By lowering the entry threshold, Robinhood aims to capture more trading activity while promoting responsible participation in the volatile digital asset market. With these micro futures, Robinhood is solidifying its role as a major player in crypto derivatives trading, enhancing its competitive edge and expanding access to key digital assets like Bitcoin, Solana, and XRP.
VanguardX Finance Institute announces the launch of VanguardX Mind, a structured decision-making platform developed under the leadership of Charles Laurence. The system integrates strategic modeling, simulation, and scenario-based learning to enhance investment reasoning across market conditions. VanguardX Finance Institute has officially launched VanguardX Mind, a comprehensive trading and strategy development system designed to strengthen the connection between investment education and real-world decision-making. Developed under the direction of Professor Charles Laurence, the platform introduces a new paradigm for structured financial training built on logic, adaptability, and scenario planning. VanguardX Mind is comprised of four core modules engineered to foster strategic clarity and cross-cycle awareness:
- Trading Signal Decision System – Highlights structured market entries and exits through contextual logic analysis.
- Programmatic Execution Module – Simulates execution strategies across shifting economic conditions.
- Investment Strategy Decision Engine – Supports multi-variable evaluation of sectoral and thematic opportunities.
- Expert and Advisory System – Delivers high-level insights to support advanced learners and institutional participants.
Unlike traditional passive instruction models, VanguardX Mind has been fully embedded into the instructional design of VanguardX Finance Institute, encouraging students to build, test, and refine personalized investment strategies. Emphasis is placed on real-time feedback, post-trade review, and modular decision architecture. The platform is targeted toward emerging strategists, institutional analysts, and mid-career professionals seeking practical command over capital deployment and market interpretation. VanguardX Mind supports users in navigating volatility, identifying regime shifts, and maintaining strategic discipline under pressure.
Curiosity in fixed income sparked after interest rates started to move higher three years ago, said Erin Lyons, co-head of credit research firm CreditSights. “It didn’t make sense for you to put your cash there. So we saw a lot of investors focusing on equity markets and then moving into alternatives,” she said. “Now that rates are back up … it’s a viable asset class.” Income and yield-focused portfolios are gaining popularity with clients for several reasons, said Mike Casey, president of American Executive Advisors in Washington, D.C. One of the main factors is the ability to gain earnings even when the market is flat or choppy, he said. “A portfolio with strong yield and income can help offset some downside volatility and preserve overall portfolio value,” he said. “There are more income and yield generating options now than ever before including traditional bonds, structured products, private credit funds, equity income ETFs and more.” Dane May, co-founder and principal of DePaolo & May Strategic Wealth has also seen a strong resurgence in interest in fixed income, particularly in shorter-duration instruments. Even more notably, he said, is rising interest in ETFs that stack Treasury bill yields with additional income from risk premiums. These are similar in spirit to structured notes but delivered in ETF form, such as Simplify Enhanced Income ETF (HIGH) and Simplify Treasury Option Income ETF (BUCK). “After back-to-back years of strong equity performance, combined with a new administration pushing meaningful policy shifts, many investors are turning to fixed income. Add in attractive T-bill rates and greater access to ETF-based strategies that reduce correlation without relying on traditional credit or duration, and it’s easy to see why this space is gaining traction.” Henry Yoshida, CEO and founder of Rocket Dollar said “If fixed income serves as a tool in your portfolio to generate an income stream, then it’s fulfilling a specific purpose regardless of the immediate interest rate environment. However, if you are holding fixed income in your portfolio solely for diversification, investors may benefit from other assets that are noncorrelated to equities, such as private credit, real estate and other alternative investments.” When it comes to investing, it is important to have a carefully planned mix of bonds as well as stocks, and to diversify the portfolio within those different types of investments, said David B. Rosenstrock, director of financial planning and investments at Wharton Wealth Planning. This can help investors ride out periods of uncertainty, such as the one we are currently experiencing with tariffs, he said. One role of bonds in a portfolio in addition to providing income is to smooth out and reduce the volatility, said Rosenstrock. Bonds can provide an additional stream of income in a portfolio, with less risk than stocks, he said.
Ant International’s Alipay+ has completed the first e-wallet payment transaction conducted through smart glasses, working with Meizu to process the payment in Hong Kong using the AlipayHK platform. The transaction was conducted on Meizu’s StarV Snap smart glasses, with users able to scan QR codes and authorise payments without accessing their mobile devices. Behind the scenes, Alipay+ has integrated AI-powered voice interface, intent recognition, and voiceprint authentication technologies to support the payment process. For Alipay+, smart glasses offer another channel as hardware evolves. The platform has introduced other innovations, including NFC integration that combines QR and card payments, plus AI features built on its GenAI Cockpit platform for financial technology companies. The glasses utilise the company’s optical waveguide displays and advanced voice processing to create what executives describe as a natural payment experience. The partnership materialised in April when Meizu announced it would integrate Alipay+’s software development kit across its entire smart glasses range. This combines Meizu’s optical waveguide display technology, voice noise reduction systems and camera-based code scanning technology with Alipay+’s payment authentication systems. Meizu’s decision to embed payment capabilities directly into its smart glasses reflects the company’s broader strategy of creating an integrated ecosystem spanning smartphones, augmented reality devices and automotive technology.
Meta has officially announced its next pair of smart glasses with Oakley. The smart glasses have double the battery life of the Meta Ray-Bans and are able to capture 3K video. The models are based on Oakley’s HSTN design and are described as Meta’s “first product for athletes and fans alike.” The glasses feature a front-facing camera, along with open-ear speakers and microphones. You can use the glasses to listen to music, take photos, and make and receive calls. The glasses also feature Meta AI, letting you ask questions on the go. In addition, you can ask Meta AI about what you’re seeing and also get it to translate languages. The Oakley Meta HSTN glasses can last up to eight hours with typical use and up to 19 hours on standby. You can also charge them up to 50% in 20 minutes. Plus, the glasses come with a charging case that can deliver up to 48 hours of charging on the go. The glasses are available in six frame and lens color combos: warm grey with ruby lenses, black with polar black lenses, brown smoke with polar deep water lenses, black with amethyst lenses, clear with grey lenses, and black with clear lenses. All of these are compatible with prescriptions for an extra cost. Some pairs come with Oakley Prizm Lens technology, which makes it easier to see in different lighting and weather conditions, helping you see more and perform at your peak. The new glasses are the latest chapter of a multi-year partnership with EssilorLuxottica, the parent company of Oakley, Ray-Bans, and other eyewear brands.
RP1, a leader in spatial computing software and infrastructure, has unveiled the world’s first Metaverse Browser, a gateway to the first open ecosystem for 3D content. The future of the spatial internet will consist of persistent 3D content and millions of real-time, third-party services, transforming how people interact and businesses operate. RP1’s 3D Browser connects the entire global population with 3D content within a single, persistent XR ecosystem, spanning education, commerce, entertainment, digital twins, smart cities, work, transportation, and even space exploration. This marks the first real software foundation for the spatial internet, featuring industry-first technologies. Major players like Apple, Meta, Google, and Samsung are racing to develop AR glasses that will eventually replace smartphones. Breakthrough Innovations Behind RP1’s Metaverse Browser: Unprecedented Scalability to connect the entire world’s population (vs. 40 users per instance/server in current 3D platforms like Roblox or Meta Horizon Worlds) in a single unsharded architecture with full spatial audio and 6DOF, making it seamless to connect with anyone, at any time, and with any content. Unlimited Map that includes a fully-continuous, 1:1 scale digital twin of Earth, our solar system, and the farthest reaches of the universe, for frictionless discovery and navigation of augmented and virtual spatial content. Real-time API that enables any real-time third-party service, including AI, payments, games, and businesses (stores, hotels, etc.) to easily connect to the 3D browser across both augmented and virtual environments. Decentralized Hosting for businesses to run their own worlds and services on their own servers, not inside a closed platform like Roblox or Meta.
Snap has launched a stand-alone Lens Studio iOS app and web tool, designed to make it easier for anyone to create AR Lenses through text prompts and simple editing tools. With the Lens Studio app, users will be able to do things like generate their own AI effects, add their Bitmoji, and browse trending templates to create customized Lenses. Up until now, Lens Studio has only been accessible via a desktop application for professional developers. While the desktop application will remain the primary tool for professionals, Snap says that the new iOS app and web tool are designed to allow people at all skill levels to create Lenses. While Snap currently has an ecosystem of over 400,000 professional AR developers, the company is looking to attract more people who are interested in creating Lenses with the launch of these simpler tools. The company is also rolling out advanced tools for professionals. Snap released new Lens Studio tools that AR creators and developers can use to build Bitmoji games. The tools include a turn-based system to enable back-and-forth gameplay, a new customizable Character Controller that supports different gameplay styles, and more.
Pay-by-bank solution provider Trustly reported that its total payment value increased by 54% year over year in 2024, driven by new products and partnerships in North America and Europe. The firm’s total payment value reached $85 billion, up from $55 billion in 2023. “Strategic partnerships have been critical for Trustly,” Trustly Group CEO Johan Tjärnberg said. “In Europe, our ongoing collaboration with [His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC)] strengthens our public sector leadership. In North America, expanded engagements with financial institutions and gaming providers highlight the strength and adaptability of our risk engine.” Trustly processed 1.3 billion HMRC payments totaling 4.7 billion pounds (about $6.4 billion) in January. The company’s collaborations in North America include BNY’s Bankify, Newline by Fifth Third, Coinbase, IGT, Light & Wonder, and an expanded partnership with Cross River Bank that now includes the FedNow® Service in addition to the RTP® network. On the product front, Trustly launched its artificial intelligence-powered recurring payments solution in June 2024, saying that a single integration enables merchants to accept repeat transactions directly from customers’ bank accounts. “By eliminating friction in repeat transactions, we’ve enabled merchants to better serve their customers and capture more revenue,” Tjärnberg said. “Similarly, our proprietary data engine, Azura, is driving higher engagement and conversion — proof of our innovation’s tangible impact.”
Polygon’s launch of Heimdall v2 upgrade not only pushes transaction speeds but also appears to have implications for compliance, especially for fintech startups in Asia. Heimdall v2 is a revamped consensus client that significantly enhances the Polygon PoS network’s performance. The switch from Hex to Base64 encoding and the use of CometBFT for consensus allows for a staggering reduction in transaction confirmation times, going from 90 seconds to just 5 seconds. This leap in speed is crucial for anyone looking to adopt pay solutions that can facilitate instant transactions or accept cryptocurrency payments. With this kind of efficiency, it seems like Polygon is gearing up to be a major player in crypto banking, allowing for real time payments without missing a beat. Polygon’s advancements might indeed put them at a disadvantage. The bar has been raised for faster payments and scalability; keeping up with that will be tough. As Polygon looks towards institutional partnerships, smaller entities could find it hard to compete in terms of market share and tech capabilities. Polygon’s Heimdall v2 is a notable advancement with far-reaching implications for crypto payments and compliance. By enhancing transaction speed and security, it positions itself as a leader in the space, providing fintech startups a fighting chance in regulatory challenges. As the landscape evolves, these changes will undeniably influence the future of currency digital payments.
Wirex Pay Chain is now officially supported on Fireblocks, the leading digital asset and payments infrastructure platform. This integration enables Fireblocks’ institutional clients to easily access Wirex Pay’s self-custodial stablecoin payment infrastructure, offering a secure and scalable gateway to stablecoin innovation. Through this support, Fireblocks customers can now issue fully stablecoin-backed Visa debit cards, open stablecoin checking accounts, and manage high-volume treasury and payments — all while retaining complete control over their assets. Wirex Pay redefines enterprise-grade finance with a focus on control, flexibility, and regulatory alignment: Retail App – Stablecoin Checking Accounts: Open stablecoin-backed current accounts with a Visa debit card, enabling instant global payments and yield on balances. Business Banking – Corporate Stablecoin Accounts: Manage fiat and stablecoins with built-in treasury, corporate cards, and real-time settlement—all fully self-custodial. Stablecoin BaaS – Stablecoin Infrastructure APIsStablecoin Infrastructure APIs: Embed stablecoin accounts and card issuing into any fintech or wallet product using modular APIs and smart contracts. Pavel Matveev, Co-Founder of Wirex said, “This unlocks a powerful new chapter in institutional stablecoin adoption — bringing together security and programmable payments infrastructure to Fireblocks’ digital asset network. Now, institutions can launch stablecoin-backed card programs and checking accounts at speed, with full control and built-in compliance.”
PayPal announced multi-year agreements with the Big Ten and Big 12 Conferences that will modernize the distribution of institutional payments from universities to student-athletes in a new revenue-sharing model. The new institutional payments initiative enables athletic departments to seamlessly dispense payments through PayPal, ensuring a secure, efficient, and transparent way to distribute funds to payees. With the funds in their wallets, students will have the option to access all the benefits of PayPal’s commerce ecosystem, from seamlessly buying tickets to a sporting event or purchasing their books for the year at the university bookstore. The recent court decision, which allows colleges and universities to share revenue directly with student-athletes, stands to revolutionize college sports. This partnership helps make that real by distributing those funds to student-athletes in a fast, simple, and secure way. Venmo is doubling down in its focus on younger consumers by expanding its position as a cornerstone of campus life and commerce. Venmo will be the presenting partner of the first-ever Big Ten Rivalry Series, spanning football, men’s and women’s basketball, embedding the brand in some of the most iconic matchups in college sports. With the Big 12, Venmo will serve as the official partner of the Big 12 Conference across Big 12 football, basketball, and Olympic sports championships for both men and women. Venmo will also be seen across all 16 institutions’ athletic events. Venmo is accelerating the expansion of its commerce capabilities, introducing even more ways to use a Venmo balance beyond peer-to-peer, from everyday purchases on campus to earning rewards in-store and online 1 with the Venmo Debit Mastercard. Venmo will be working with the Big Ten and Big 12 to enable acceptance for real-world campus spending, including at bookstores, for ticketing, concessions, and merchandise, giving students more flexibility to shop and pay with the app they already use every day. Students who use the Venmo Debit Card can for a limited time unlock up to 15% cash back at select national brands with added features like tap-to-pay when added to a mobile wallet, automatic transfers to top up your balance, and the ability to shop internationally anywhere Mastercard is accepted with no foreign transaction fees.
