May 18, 2026 @ 1:24 am By Michael Wong  |  

US startup Sprouts.ai has raised $9 million in a pre-Series A funding round led by True Global Ventures and Accel, as investors continue backing companies building autonomous tools for enterprise sales and marketing teams. The latest round brings Sprouts.ai’s total funding to $14 million since… Read More

May 18, 2026 @ 12:23 am By Michael Wong  |  

Hong Kong regulators and market participants have released a sector-focused transition finance guide for the technology industry, as the city seeks to give banks, investors, and issuers more practical tools for assessing climate transition plans in digital infrastructure and ICT financing. The Hong Kong Green… Read More

May 18, 2026 @ 12:19 am By Michael Wong  |  

Singapore’s central bank will ease some rules governing the sale of complex investment products to retail investors, as regulators seek to balance investor protection with growing demand for self-directed investing platforms and digital financial services. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said it will proceed… Read More

May 17, 2026 @ 11:21 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Asset managers VanEck and Grayscale Investments have taken fresh steps to advance their proposals for spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tracking BNB, the native token of the BNB Chain ecosystem. On May 15, 2026, both firms submitted updated registration statements to the US Securities and Exchange… Read More

May 17, 2026 @ 11:20 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has chosen UK data analytics and AI specialist Quantexa for a £175 million, ten-year partnership. Announced on 14 May 2026, the agreement represents one of the largest Decision Intelligence projects ever undertaken in government. It will overhaul the tax authority’s… Read More

May 17, 2026 @ 7:22 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

A recent report indicates that China’s artificial intelligence venture market is demonstrating notable resilience amid a broader slowdown in venture capital activity, according to a new Q2 2026 analyst note from PitchBook. While overall VC deployment has contracted significantly since its 2021 peak, AI-related investments… Read More

May 17, 2026 @ 7:06 pm By Michael Wong  |  

Qatar has launched a $30 million deep-tech venture fund that will invest in early-stage startups headquartered in the country that are developing tech with measurable social or climate impact. The fund adds to a wave of state-backed investment vehicles across the Gulf aimed at attracting… Read More

May 17, 2026 @ 6:59 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The online commerce ecosystem has long centered on human consumers navigating endless feeds, targeted promotions, algorithmic suggestions, search engine tweaks, and casual browsing. Yet a significant shift is said to be currently underway. Stripe co-founder and president John Collison argues that “agentic commerce”—where autonomous AI… Read More

May 17, 2026 @ 3:36 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Digital asset traders and investors focused on the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector are increasingly favoring high-return strategies while sidelining protective measures, leaving substantial capital exposed to sophisticated attacks. This behavior persists despite warnings from leading blockchain analytics providers and evolving regulatory scrutiny from US authorities…. Read More

May 17, 2026 @ 3:35 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Harvard University’s endowment is said to have significantly scaled back its cryptocurrency exposure, while Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company has steadily expanded its commitment to Bitcoin. Recent 13F filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) highlight these shifts among major institutional players navigating… Read More

May 17, 2026 @ 3:30 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Nubank (NYSE: NU) and Revolut decisively stand out as leading global digital banks, each pursuing distinct strategies for growth and monetization. Nubank, primarily operating in Latin America, has built a model centered on high-volume lending in emerging markets with elevated interest margins. It generates the… Read More

May 17, 2026 @ 3:29 pm By Michael Wong  |  

Australia’s NEXTDC has opened a $720 million data center in Malaysia, betting on rising demand for AI infrastructure and cloud services in Southeast Asia as governments and companies race to expand digital capacity. The facility, known as KL1 Kuala Lumpur, marks NEXTDC’s first international expansion and comes… Read More

May 17, 2026 @ 11:39 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Banco Santander (NYSE: SAN) has unveiled a new initiative to scout the world’s high-potential innovations at the intersection of quantum computing and artificial intelligence. Titled Santander X Global Challenge | The Quantum AI Leap, the program is a collaborative effort with IBM, Bluzec, and the… Read More

May 17, 2026 @ 10:42 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The non-fungible token (NFT) industry, which endured a prolonged slump, could be entering a phase of renewed interest, according to leadership at Yuga Labs. The company’s recently appointed CEO, Michael Figge, has suggested that NFT prices dropped excessively during the bear market, becoming disconnected from… Read More

May 17, 2026 @ 9:14 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The T3 Financial Crime Unit has announced the freezing of more than $450 million in illicit funds worldwide. Launched as a collaborative effort between Tether, TRON, and blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs, the unit continues to expand its role in disrupting illegal financial activities across… Read More

May 17, 2026 @ 8:28 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Dune Analytics has indicated that traditional asset managers are now actively shaping lending markets on Solana. Recently this month, crypto-native issuer Ethena deployed $200 million of its USDG stablecoin into two isolated lending pools—one on Kamino Finance, curated by Sentora, and the other on Jupiter… Read More

May 16, 2026 @ 5:14 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Recent on-chain metrics show that substantial Cardano (ADA) investors have significantly increased their dominance over the network’s native cryptocurrency. Wallets containing at least one million ADA tokens now collectively own about 25.09 billion units. This represents roughly 67% of the overall circulating supply—the highest level… Read More

May 16, 2026 @ 5:10 pm By Michael Wong  |  

Recursive Superintelligence has raised $650 million at a $4.65 billion valuation in a funding round led by GV and Greycroft, according to the company. The round also included participation from AMD Ventures and NVIDIA, placing the stealth-mode AI lab among a growing group of venture-backed… Read More

May 16, 2026 @ 4:51 pm By Michael Wong  |  

Los Angeles-headquartered fintech Fasset said it raised $51 million in a Series B funding round backed by SBI Group, Investcorp, Arz Portföy, and strategic family offices. The round comes as the company looks to expand stablecoin-powered banking and cross-border payment services across emerging markets, according… Read More