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AI News

Gemini’s Robotics On-Device outperforms Google’s other models

Gemini’s Robotics On-Device outperforms Google’s other models

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Google DeepMind on Tuesday introduced a new language model called Gemini Robotics On-Device. The firm revealed that the model can run tasks locally on robots without an internet connection.

The new model, which builds on the company’s previous Gemini Robotics AI model that was released in March, can control a robot’s movements. Google also acknowledged that the vision-language-action model (VLA) is small and efficient enough to run directly on a robot. According to the company, developers can control and fine-tune the model to suit various needs using natural language prompts. 

Robotics On-Device outperforms Google’s other models

Head of robotics at Google DeepMind, Carolina Parada, maintained that the original Gemini Robotics model uses a hybrid approach, allowing it to operate on-device and on the cloud. She said that with the new device-only model, users can access offline features almost as well as the flagship’s.

The tech company claims that the model performs at a level close to the cloud-based Gemini Robotics model in benchmarks. Google also said it outperforms others on-device modes in general benchmarks, though it didn’t name those models. 

“The Gemini Robotics hybrid model is still more powerful, but we’re actually quite surprised at how strong this on-device model is. I would think about it as a starter model or as a model for applications that just have poor connectivity.”

-Carolina Parada, Head of Robotics at Google DeepMind.

The firm illustrated in the demo robots running the local model, unzipping bags, and folding clothes. Google acknowledged that while the model was trained for ALOHA robots, it later adapted it to work on a bi-arm Franka FR3 robot and the Apollo humanoid robot by Apptronik.

The tech company claims the bi-arm Franka FR3 was successful in tackling scenarios and objects it hadn’t seen before, like doing assembly on an industrial belt. The firm mentioned that developers can show robots 50 to 100 demonstrations of tasks to train them on new tasks using the models on the MuJoCo physics simulator. 

Google DeepMind also mentioned the release of a software development kit called the Gemini Robotics SDK. The company revealed that its Robotics SDK provides full lifecycle tooling necessary for using Gemini Robotics models, including accessing checkpoints, serving a model, evaluating the model on the robot and in the sim, uploading data, and fine-tuning it. The firm disclosed that its on-device Gemini Robotics model and its SDK will be available to a group of trusted testers while Google continues to work toward minimizing safety risks.

Tech companies join the robotics race

Other companies that use AI models are also showing interest in robotics. Nvidia is building a platform to create foundational models for humanoids. The firm’s CEO, Jensen Huang, noted that building foundation models for general humanoid robots is one of the most exciting problems to solve in AI today.

Huang argued that the humanoid factor is one of the most contested topics in the world of robotics at the moment. He acknowledged that it’s raising venture capital by the boatload while generating massive skepticism along the way. 

Nvidia has also been championing robotic innovation through initiatives like Isaac and Jetson. Last year in March, at its annual GTC developer conference, the company joined the humanoid race with Project GROOT.

Nvidia referred to the new platform as a general-purpose foundation model for humanoid robots. The firm said GROOT will support new hardware from Nvidia as well. 

Hugging Face is not only developing open models and data sets for robotics, but it is also working on robots. The firm revealed earlier this month an OpenAI model for robotics called SmolVLA. 

The company claims the model is trained on community-shared datasets and outperforms much larger models for robotics in both virtual and real-world environments. Hugging Face also revealed that SmolVLA aims to democratize access to vision-language-action (VLA) models and accelerate research toward generalist robotic agents.

Last year, the firm launched LeRobot, a collection of robotics-focused models, datasets, and tools. More recently, Hugging Face acquired Pollen Robotics, a robotics startup based in France, and revealed several inexpensive robotics systems, including humanoids, for purchase.

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Trump's tariff policies hinder investments in the US, slowing down the economy

Trump’s tariff policies hinder investments in the US, slowing down the economy

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According to Commerce Department data, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the US dropped to $52.8 billion in the first quarter of 2025, down from a revised $79.9 billion in Q4 2024.

The decline coincided with business uncertainty surrounding President Donald Trump’s tariff policies.

However, the slowdown may be short-lived, as multiple foreign firms are launching multibillion-dollar manufacturing projects nationwide. Nippon Steel’s acquisition of US Steel for nearly $15 billion is also expected to boost FDI figures in the upcoming quarters.

Trump’s tariff policies hinder investments in the US, slowing down the economy 

The lower first-quarter Foreign Direct Investment inflows contributed to a widening of the US current account deficit to a record high of $450.2 billion as businesses front-loaded imports ahead of Trump’s steep tariffs.

The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis also said the fourth quarter’s current account data was revised to $312.0 billion, instead of the previously reported $303.9 billion.

The data on the current account measures the net movement of goods, services, and investments in and out of the country. Notably, a big and longstanding US trade deficit has in the past been partially offset by investment inflows into US financial assets and foreign direct investment. This majorly consists of plant and equipment, corporate mergers, and acquisitions.

Meanwhile, the first-quarter FDI inflows were the smallest in dollar terms since the $42.4 billion in the fourth quarter of 2022, a time of high post-pandemic inflation.

Other than that drop, quarterly FDI has been above $61 billion since the COVID-19 pandemic eased, reaching a high of $135 billion in the third quarter of 2021, the Commerce Department reported.

Economists have cautioned that the ongoing uncertainty surrounding Trump’s tariffs might hinder companies from making investment choices and could slow economic growth. 

On the other hand, Trump claims that his tariffs are causing a surge in investments as companies try to bring manufacturing back to the US to avoid these tariffs. 

Paul Ashworth, a chief North American economist at Capital Economics, shared his opinion on the topic of discussion. 

According to Ashworth, while uncertainty could have influenced some investment decisions, quarterly FDI was difficult to forecast and could be influenced by specific transactions, like mergers, acquisitions, or large projects.

He called the first-quarter figures “probably noise” instead of suggesting a more serious issue regarding FDI entering the US. 

Economists warn against the longer-term risk to the dollar

In the first quarter, the US current account deficit grew to an all-time high because companies rushed to bring imports to avoid President Donald Trump’s large tariffs on imported goods.

The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis said the current account deficit, a measure of the flow of goods, services, and investments into and out of the United States, surged from $138.2 billion, or 44.3%, to a record of  $450.2 billion.

Fourth-quarter data was revised to show the shortfall at $312.0 billion instead of $303.9 billion, as reported last month. Economists polled had also anticipated the deficit would increase in the fourth quarter to $443.3 billion.

The deficit was equal to 6.0% of gross domestic product, the highest since the third quarter of 2006, when it was 6.3%. That was higher than 4.2% in the October-December quarter.

Goods imports surged $158.2 billion to an all-time high of $1.00 trillion. That rise was driven mostly by nonmonetary gold and consumer goods, notably medicines, dental goods, and pharmaceuticals.

Contrastingly, service imports dropped $1.8 billion to $217.8 billion. Reduced payments for using intellectual property, such as licenses for research and development results, primarily drove this decline.

Still, economists cautioned that the growing current account gap and burgeoning federal government budget deficit represent a longer-term risk to the dollar. Furthermore, Trump’s across-the-board tariffs have dulled some of the dollar’s safe-haven status.

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Is Mango’s Multi-VM approach enough to solve fragmented liquidity?

Is Mango’s Multi-VM approach enough to solve fragmented liquidity?

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Decentralized finance (DeFi) still struggles with fragmented liquidity, where users face higher costs, developers must duplicate their efforts across chains, and capital becomes less efficient because every blockchain operates in isolation.

A new Layer 1 blockchain, Mango Network, claims it runs several virtual machines, Ethereum’s EVM, Solana’s SVM, and Facebook’s MoveVM (Multi-VM architecture) on a shared system. This allows it to connect apps and users from different blockchain communities without risky third-party tools.

Mango even launched a major airdrop to reward early users, and its testnet claims to handle more than 297,000 transactions per second due to high-speed performance.

But can a single blockchain link multiple virtual machines, both enable assets to move freely, process extremely fast transactions, and remain secure?

Some followers say Mango will open up access to liquidity and open the world of decentralized finance to everyone in a more connected and useful way, to a wider array of people. Still, critics worry the system is too complex, too new, and potentially so unstable that it becomes increasingly difficult to untangle as it grows.

Why should anyone care about Mango Network?

Mango Network is a newly launched full-chain Layer 1 blockchain that aims to change how developers build and users interact with decentralized applications across different ecosystems.

While traditional blockchains rely on just one type of virtual machine (VM), such as Ethereum’s EVM or Solana’s SVM, Mango supports multiple virtual machines running side by side within a single network. 

The company may use Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) for Solidity-based apps, MoveVM for applications written in the Move language (originally developed by Meta), and Solana Virtual Machine (SVM) for Rust-based, high-performance programs. 

With this unique structure, Mango creates one platform where developers from different blockchains can build apps using their preferred tools.

At the same time, users interact with these products through one account and ecosystem without leaving the platform or going through risky, expensive, and slow bridging processes.

The company gave away 5% of its MGO token supply to early adopters, testnet participants, and contributors through a community-first airdrop that allowed users to trade, stake, or move their tokens as they please before Mango’s Token Generation Event (TGE).

Mango secured $13.5 million in Series B funding in February 2025 for security audits, ecosystem development, developer onboarding, and expanding toolkits to make it easier to build on the network.

Mango’s vision of shared infrastructure, native cross-VM communication, and unified state management could set a new standard for what a blockchain can do.

Why does DeFi struggle with fragmented liquidity?

Each blockchain (Ethereum, Solana, BNB Chain, etc) has its tokens, apps, smart contracts, and user base locked within its network that traps money and assets in silos.

This isolation slows down the entire DeFi economy because money can’t move freely or interact with other ecosystems, and creates multiple small liquidity pools instead of one large, flexible pool of capital.

Users have to use third-party bridges or deal with wrapped tokens that copy the value of the original asset, but come with their risks, just to move assets between chains, like sending tokens from Ethereum to Solana.

Bridges cause huge losses because they’re often slow, expensive, and complicated, and in many cases, they’ve been hacked or broken. In contrast, wrapped tokens can break the connection to the original asset or lose value if the wrapping system fails.

This fragmentation costs developers time and money and splits their user base across different versions of the same application. They must either stick to one chain and limit their audience or rebuild and redeploy their app across multiple chains to reach more users. It also multiplies their workload and adds unnecessary complexity to DeFi building as they must maintain these versions, manage different smart contracts, and track separate liquidity pools.

On the other hand, users must set up different wallets, learn new interfaces, and pay extra fees each time they move money around just to use apps on multiple chains. The struggle creates a broken experience where users feel like they’re jumping between disconnected worlds instead of using one global financial system. 

How Mango Network tries to fix liquidity fragmentation

Mango Network connects smart contracts on different VMs through a communication protocol built on OPStack (OP-Mango) that syncs all the VMs and ensures data and events are correctly passed between them.

Developers can mix and match components from different VMs, and users can access a unified experience because cross-chain interactions are faster, smoother, and far more secure.

There’s also no need to sync data across different parts of the chain on Mango’s shared global state across all VMs because every virtual machine (EVM, MoveVM, and SVM) reads from and writes to the same underlying ledger. On top of that, users only need one account to access all dApps and services across all supported VMs.

In addition, Mango allows tokens to move freely and natively within the network through a standardized format for digital assets across all VMs, making wrapping, copying, or bridging unnecessary. Developers can now create more reliable apps, and users can transfer or use their tokens more confidently, knowing they won’t encounter compatibility problems.

Mango’s unified liquidity pools across all VMs allow assets deposited into one protocol to be used instantly by another, even if the apps are written in different languages and built for different VMs.You won’t have to copy funds, bridge tokens, or manually move assets between services because a lending protocol built on EVM can contribute liquidity to a DEX written in MoveVM, and vice versa.

Can Mango’s Network handle the load?

Mango Network says the blockchain can process up to 297,450 transactions per second (TPS) and offer sub-second finality. This means a transaction gets confirmed and finalized almost instantly once a user sends it. Mango could support thousands of decentralized apps and millions of users without suffering from congestion or delays if these numbers prove true on the mainnet.

The network processed over 120 million on-chain interactions in more than 500,000 wallet addresses from token swaps, staking, cross-chain transfers, and decentralized trading through its ecosystem partner, BeingDEX, in just a few weeks during its testnet campaign. 

Mango’s parallel execution engine, MoveVM, uses the Move language’s resource-oriented design to process many operations simultaneously rather than waiting for each one to finish before starting the next. Moreover, Solana’s SVM runs on the Sealevel execution engine to provide blazing speeds and high throughput in the Solana ecosystem.

However, testnets may not behave the same way as real economic activity on a live chain because they often involve simulated or incentivized traffic. Mainnet conditions introduce new challenges like malicious behavior, network-wide stress tests, flash loan attacks, and unexpected user spikes that can expose weaknesses in performance or security..

Mango’s true test will come after its Token Generation Event (TGE) and mainnet launch, when real users, real assets, and real market demand begin to flood the chain.

The platform could set a new benchmark for performance in DeFi infrastructure if it can deliver sub-second speeds and high transaction throughput without compromising security, reliability, or developer experience. However, it may need to scale back its ambitions or make rapid improvements if it doesn’t.

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Samsung drives AI transformation in mobile devices

Samsung drives AI transformation in mobile devices

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Samsung Electronics Co. announced plans to hold its latest launch event on July 9, when the company is expected to introduce new foldable smartphones and other Galaxy devices.

The Galaxy Unpacked summer event in Brooklyn, New York, starting at 10 a.m. local time, aims to debut the company’s latest breakthroughs in foldable smartphones and artificial intelligence technology.

The new Galaxy Z Flip 7 and Galaxy Z Fold 7 will focus attention. These devices will bring a better design, features, and overall user experience to help the company remain dominant in the foldable phone market.

The external display on the Galaxy Z Flip 7 is also said to be larger and more functional when the phone is closed. This could make it more friendly to those who prioritize a handset that doesn’t require them to pick up the phone without being as aggressive in the design stakes as Motorola’s Razr Ultra.

The Galaxy Z Fold 7 is believed to follow the firm’s lead and further refine its vision for a smartphone-tablet crossover. The Fold 7 is likely to address some of the problems with foldables, including thinness, the size of the bezels, and durability.

Samsung is confident its relentless technology evolution and leadership will grow foldable devices into a more mainstream product. The company faces fierce competition, especially from Chinese brands like Huawei, Honor, and Oppo, which have aggressively expanded their foldable offerings.

Samsung drives AI transformation in mobile devices

Aside from the hardware, Samsung is also working hard on AI. Among the arsenal we expect the company to unveil is its Galaxy AI suite, an array of AI-powered tools designed to change how consumers interact with their devices. From clever photo editing and real-time translation to productivity gains and better search, Galaxy AI is set to play a significant role in next month’s event.

According to Bloomberg, Samsung is reportedly nearing a deal to put Perplexity’s AI assistant on future Galaxy devices as a pre-installed replacement or supplement to Google Assistant on certain devices in certain markets. The move could represent a significant change in Samsung’s AI strategy, offering it an even larger degree of control over the user experience while reducing the reliance on Google’s ecosystem.

AI integration is coming as Samsung and other tech giants are racing to stay ahead with the increasing demand for smart, context-aware tools. AI has emerged as a critical battlefield in mobile, and Samsung seems set to make a bigger push into that field.

Rivals challenge Samsung’s foldable dominance

Samsung may be the leading player in the global foldable market, but the war has just begun. Some Chinese handset makers have been even more aggressive; Honor unveiled an extra-thin foldable, the Magic V5, that falls to a skinflinty 8.8 millimeters when collapsed for those who need the power but want to look stylish.

In the United States, Google is Samsung’s closest competitor in the world of foldables. Later this summer, the tech giant is also expected to unveil the Pixel 10 Pro Fold, a new and sorely needed challenger to Samsung’s dominance. Google has never approached Samsung’s scale in this area, but its Android-AI story has some unique charm for certain users.

Apple, Samsung’s largest smartphone competitor worldwide, has not released a foldable device. However, insiders indicate that Apple is secretly developing its own foldable iPhone for a possible release by 2026.

Apple’s foray into foldables would turn the market on its head and maybe push foldable phones towards becoming a mass-market product.

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Britain’s new industrial strategy pledges massive development to the country's economy

Britain’s new industrial strategy pledges massive development to the country’s economy

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The British government intends to slash the bills of electricity-intensive manufacturers by up to 25% from 2027. As part of an industrial strategy for the decade 2025-2035, this move could benefit more than 7,000 businesses, according to the government.

Britain will seek to slash the electricity bills of thousands of companies under a new industrial strategy to be published on Monday, June 23. 

This was after hearing calls from businesses to reduce high energy costs, which they argue hurt competitiveness and hinder growth.

Britain’s new industrial strategy pledges massive development to the country’s economy 

Ramping up Britain’s sluggish growth has been a top priority for the government. However, lawmakers and business leaders had flagged the sky-high energy costs many companies already endure as a barrier to that ambition, with industry body Make UK urging the government to abandon climate levies placed on companies.

To address this, Britain has been encouraged to do more to help its important industrial sectors. This will go a long way in improving its competitive edge as the United States and the European Union are also moving in that direction, in a trading world that the US President Donald Trump’s tariffs shook in recent months.

Meanwhile, five sectoral strategies will be released alongside the plan, including advanced manufacturing, creative industries, and clean energy. The industrial strategy highlights eight key sectors where Britain excels, including defense and financial services. 

The government added that it would spare energy-intensive manufacturers from levies such as the renewables obligation to strengthen their international competitiveness.

It also said that the energy measures would be paid for by transforming the energy system, not by ramping up household bills or taxes. Once they consult with stakeholders, they will fine-tune the details and eligibility of the program.

Jonathan Reynolds, the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, commented on the topic of discussion. Reynolds highlighted that addressing energy costs and improving skills have been the top requests from businesses and their biggest challenge. Therefore, according to him, this government has taken note.

Furthermore, Make UK described the industrial strategy as a “huge and necessary step forward,” addressing the skills gap in Britain’s workforce and access to funding. The Confederation of British Industry called it a “clear, positive message” that would lay a strong foundation for growth. 

This industrial strategy, Britain’s first in eight years, aims to increase the British Business Bank’s ability to invest in smaller companies and provide an additional 1.2 billion pounds, worth $1.61 billion annually, for skills development by 2028-2029. 

PM Sir Keir Starmer calls the new industrial strategy a “turning point” for the nation’s economy

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the industrial strategy is a “turning point” for Britain’s economy by backing key industries capable of growth.

However, the Conservatives’ acting shadow energy secretary, Andrew Bowie, has criticized the strategy. According to Bowie, the UK needed a serious approach to energy policy that tackles the root cause of our high energy prices.

He stated that it was amazing that “Labour” is finally recognizing that net-zero costs are so high that they need to spend billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money to help businesses pay their energy bills and prevent them from going bankrupt.

Notably, UK manufacturers now face some of the highest electricity prices in the developed world.

A new British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme would reduce costs by up to £40 per megawatt-hour from 2027. In addition, around 500 energy-intensive companies, such as those in the steel industry, chemicals, and glassmaking, will see their network charges reduced.

Interestingly, these companies are already receiving a 60% discount under the British Industry Supercharger scheme, which is set to rise to 90% after 2026.

Monday’s announcement will also include moves to accelerate how long it can take to connect new factories and projects to the energy grid.

The prime minister stated that the industrial strategy provides companies with the long-term certainty and direction they require to invest, innovate, and create good jobs that help people earn more money. It also seeks to help create over one million new well-paid jobs in the next ten years. 

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Bank of America flags Australian bonds as big winners in post-dollar world

Bank of America flags Australian bonds as big winners in post-dollar world

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Bank of America is pointing global investors toward Australia, predicting that its sovereign bonds are poised to outperform in what it calls a “post-dollar” world.

In a research note released Wednesday, FX strategists Oliver Levingston, Adarsh Sinha, and Janice Xue highlighted Australia’s fixed-income market as a likely hotspot for capital inflows amid ongoing global de-dollarization.

“De-dollarization was a major theme on our trip to the United States and Canada, and we continue to highlight the significant impact small shifts in global fund managers’ asset allocations could have on the demand profile for AUD fixed income.”

The note makes the case that Australia’s relatively small bond market could experience dramatic price swings if global investors keep fleeing U.S. dollar-denominated assets.

Investors have been looking for more sound and undervalued alternatives as the greenback has lost its previously unassailable haven status, particularly after almost a year of political and economic tumult under President Donald Trump.

Investors dump dollar amid Trump-era volatility

The report directly attributes the trend to increasing global discomfort with U.S. financial stewardship. The re-emergence of Donald Trump on the political scene, along with a fresh wave of belligerent trade policies and what the bank calls “economic nationalism,” has only hastened investor diversification.

Trump’s declaration of sweeping tariffs earlier this year, which markets dubbed “Liberation Day,” set off a global market selloff. Investors stampeded to pull out of U.S. markets, anxious about protracted uncertainty and trade isolationism.

This “Sell America” movement was marked by heavy selling of Wall Street stocks, U.S. Treasurys, and even the dollar itself. The U.S. dollar index (DXY), which measures the greenback against a basket of leading currencies, has slid by about 9% year-to-date in 2025, its most significant decline in over 10 years.

Investor conviction in the dollar is non-existent; as Bank of America’s June Global Fund Managers Survey showed, 86% of respondents believe the dollar will devalue in the coming 12 months, a new record low.

The report found fund managers with less of a long-dollar bias than at any time in the past 20 years. Almost 20 percent of the 222 managers polled with $587 billion under management said that betting against the dollar was the most “crowded trade” globally.

This loss of confidence has paved the way for other currencies, particularly those linked to stable economies rich in raw materials like Australia, to gain the favor of global reserve managers and institutional investors.

Central banks boost demand for AUD bonds

Now, Australia is feeling the consequences of that change in sentiment. Its 10-year government bond yield is about 4.24%, which is not that different from the U.S. equivalent of 4.43%. But Bank of America sees this gap widening in the years ahead.

By late 2026, the bank predicts that Australian bonds will have a 75 basis point spread, which would entail stronger demand and higher prices.

The note said that the demand outlook for AUD fixed-income assets appeared strong with support from Australia’s growing superannuation funds and the possibility of bank deregulation.

One big reason is the rising demand for “peripheral dollar bloc assets,” consistently stable currencies in faraway lands from American politics, supported by strong local fundamentals. The proportion of official reserves in Australian dollars has doubled in the past ten years. The strategists estimate that a 1-percentage-point lift in global reserve demand would absorb 185% of the net supply of Australian sovereign bonds for the current fiscal year.

Australia’s large pension funds have also been moving into the local bond market with increasing vigor. These superannuation funds are internationalizing their balance sheets, and the demand for AUD-denominated assets flows.

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Will deposit tokens like JPMD make stablecoins obsolete for institutional use?

Will deposit tokens like JPMD make stablecoins obsolete for institutional use?

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JPMorgan Chase has created a new digital currency called JPMorgan Deposit Token (JPMD) that lives on the blockchain and is only available to trusted institutions like large corporations, asset managers, and pension funds.

JPMD will cater to institutions that want the legal protections, interest payments, and bank integration that regular stablecoins don’t fully offer to move money quickly, safely, and around the clock. 

JPMD combines traditional banking features with blockchain speed and access on a public blockchain (Base, built on Ethereum) to attract big institutions who fear stablecoins like USDC or USDT will raise concerns about regulation, stability, and trust.

But will deposit tokens like JPMD completely replace stablecoins for institutional use, or will they simply serve different purposes and grow side by side?

How are deposit tokens different from stablecoins?

Deposit tokens fit into commercial banks’ existing financial and legal framework because they come with added benefits, like deposit insurance, interest payments, and accounting clarity for managing large volumes of funds.

On the other hand, stablecoins don’t enjoy the same trust or integration with banks because the US Congress is still debating the rules around using and backing them.

In addition, the openness and availability of stablecoins for trading, remittances, lending, DeFi protocols, and as a fast way to store and move value across borders have helped them grow into a $260 billion market.

Constrastly, deposit coins set large transactions, enable tokenized securities, handle business-to-business payments, and manage digital cash in a way that ties back to a real-world bank account to serve the complex needs of institutions.

So, while stablecoins operate outside the bounds of traditional finance and serve a wide global audience, deposit tokens help the banks move money faster and more efficiently within the trusted, regulated walls of the banking system.

Why does JPMorgan believe JPMD is better for institutions?

JPMD combines the convenience of blockchain with the confidence and structure of commercial banking for institutional users who need digital money that moves fast but also complies with strict legal, financial, and operational standards.

JPMorgan hosts JPMD on the Base blockchain (a public Layer 2 network built by Coinbase on top of Ethereum) to protect it from misuse or unwanted exposure and allow only verified institutional clients to interact with the system.

This way, the bank creates access to faster settlements and lower fees while controlling who uses the token through permissioned access. The Base blockchain bridges JPMD to future blockchain use cases with its connection to Ethereum’s broader ecosystem.

Businesses can also use JPMD in treasury operations, accounting systems, and financial reports without the extra friction that comes with third-party stablecoins. This is because the token allows them to treat it like cash they already hold in their JPMorgan accounts.

Accountants, CFOs, and risk officers can easily trust, track, and report JPMD tokens because they are tied directly into the bank’s own infrastructure. This differs from stablecoins that sit outside the banking system and may raise questions about compliance or reserve backing.

JPMorgan also said JPMD will likely pay interest while still providing instant settlement and on-chain liquidity. This will make it more appealing as a long-term financial tool for institutions with large cash balances and wanting their funds to generate yield. The token may also become insured like bank deposits to reduce risk and offer a level of protection that stablecoins currently can’t match in high-value transactions.

Moreover, JPMD makes it easier for institutions to incorporate blockchain-based transactions without overhauling their internal workflows or facing delays due to incompatible systems. The token integrates seamlessly with enterprise treasury platforms, payment processing tools, and settlement engines. It also supports financial reporting systems to manage cash flow, settle trades, facilitate cross-border payments, and ensure regulatory compliance.

Businesses can also settle payments across jurisdictions instantly with JPMD to reduce delays, high costs, and limited operating hours in cross-border business-to-business (B2B) payments and tokenized asset settlements.

What could stop deposit tokens from taking over?

Deposit tokens have less potential as a universal digital cash solution because JPMD is only available to pre-approved institutional clients connected to the bank. While anyone with a crypto wallet can access and use stablecoins, the permissioned nature of deposit tokens prevents smaller businesses, startups, or individuals from accessing the token, despite it running on a public blockchain.

Banks using or issuing these tokens may face strict capital requirements and other compliance burdens. This is because current Basel guidelines classify digital tokens operating on public, permissionless blockchains as high-risk assets.

These institutions may be constrained by rules that make large-scale deployment expensive, risky, or not worth the effort, unless the Basel Committee updates its guidance or makes exceptions for well-structured deposit tokens.

Moreover, JPMD may end up being siloed within a limited ecosystem because many institutions and platforms may prefer Ethereum mainnet, Polygon, Avalanche, or private blockchains for their digital asset strategies over its Layer 2 network built on Ethereum (Base). 

In contrast, Stablecoins like USDC and USDT are highly attractive to developers, fintech companies, crypto exchanges, and users in emerging markets who want to move value across platforms without worrying about permissioned access or network compatibility. These stablecoins operate on multiple blockchains, including Ethereum, Solana, and Tron. They have a wide global reach,  widespread wallet support, and integration with decentralized applications.

Similarly, smaller firms, fintechs, and international businesses may not have the technical infrastructure, legal clarity, or compliance capabilities that large institutions require to work with a permissioned token tied to a US bank. Firms operating in multiple regions or jurisdictions may not want to maintain a relationship with a specific bank to undergo a complex onboarding process. 

It may be difficult for deposit tokens to reach the scale and utility that stablecoins have already achieved when their growth is limited to a small circle of elite users. JPMD and similar tokens remain too tightly linked to individual banking ecosystems.

Stablecoins and deposit tokens will likely grow side by side

The infrastructure around digital tokens and stablecoins will decide which models succeed and at what scale as banks, governments, and global companies continue to experiment with tokenized assets, digital payments, and programmable money.

Both stablecoins and deposit tokens could grow together, serving different types of users and use cases if public blockchains become widely accepted as safe, reliable environments for moving real-world value. 

It’s unlikely that either stablecoins or deposit tokens will completely replace the other, so the more realistic outcome is coexistence. Deposit tokens will likely dominate in highly regulated, high-value environments where trust, control, and integration with existing systems are essential. On the other hand, stablecoins will continue to lead in areas where openness, speed, and accessibility matter most, such as retail payments, global remittances, and decentralized applications.

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Apple in legal trouble after postponing Siri updates until 2026

Apple in legal trouble after postponing Siri updates until 2026

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Apple investors filed a lawsuit against the tech firm in a proposed class action for securities fraud on Friday, June 20.

The shareholders accuse the company of overstating the maturity and readiness of its “Apple Intelligence” AI features—especially those tied to the Siri voice assistant—during its June 2024 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC).

They claimed that the iPhone maker minimized the time it would take to add advanced artificial intelligence to its Siri voice assistant, negatively affecting iPhone sales and lowering its stock price. 

The lawsuit includes shareholders who lost hundreds of billions of dollars in the year ending June 9, after the tech firm unveiled several features and aesthetic changes to its products but kept its AI changes modest.

Apple finds itself in trouble after postponing some Siri updates until 2026

In their statement, shareholders led by Eric Tucker said they were convinced at the June 2024 WWDC conference that AI would emerge as a key driver in future iPhone 16 devices. This followed the launch of Apple Intelligence in a bid to make Siri, Apple’s intelligent personal assistant, a more powerful and user-friendly product.

However,  they said the Cupertino, California-based company did not have a working model for AI-based Siri features. 

They felt it was unlikely that these features would be ready in time for the iPhone 16s. Shareholders noted that the truth started to come out on March 7 when Apple postponed some Siri updates until 2026. This feeling continued during this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference on June 9, where Apple’s view of its AI advancements did not meet analysts’ expectations. 

Meanwhile, since reaching a record high on December 26, 2024, the tech firm’s shares have dropped by almost 25%, resulting in a loss of about $900 billion in market value. 

The case is Tucker v. Apple Inc et al, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 25-05197. 

Notably, Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook, Chief Financial Officer Kevan Parekh, and former CFO Luca Maestri are defendants in the case, filed in San Francisco federal court.

The iPhone maker did not immediately respond to requests for comment. 

Apple unveiled plans for new AI features for future improvement 

Earlier, Apple unveiled several new artificial intelligence features, including a modest update to its software and services that shares the basic technology behind Apple Intelligence. This move had set the stage for future improvements. 

The announcements at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference were more about a series of small improvements. This included live translations for phone calls, which improve everyday life instead of the big plans for AI that Apple’s rivals are using to promote themselves.

Interestingly, a year after it could not deliver promised AI-based upgrades to important products, including Siri, the tech firm has been careful about its AI promises to users, letting them know that it can assist with tasks like locating where to purchase a jacket similar to one they spotted online. 

Behind the scenes, Apple hinted at a plan to provide its own tools to developers alongside those from competitors. This strategy was similar to Microsoft’s last month.

Craig Federighi,  a senior vice president of software engineering at Apple, said the company will provide both its own and OpenAI’s code completion tools in its key Apple developer software, and that the company is opening up the foundation AI model that it uses for some of its own features to third-party developers.

According to Federighi, they make connecting directly to the large language model on Apple devices easier.

In an early example of this feature, the company integrated image generation from OpenAI’s ChatGPT into its Image Playground app. They assured users that their data would not be shared with OpenAI unless they agreed. 

Ben Bajarin, CEO of analyst firm Creative Strategies, commented on the situation. Bajarin explained that one can see that Apple focuses on developing behind the scenes rather than what users see on the surface, which, according to him, most people are not really concerned about.

The iPhone maker encountered unique technical and regulatory challenges as its software developer conference began. 

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Thailand opens public consultation on crypto token issuance framework

Thailand opens public consultation on crypto token issuance framework

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Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has launched a public consultation on proposed rules allowing exchanges—or individuals affiliated with them—to issue utility tokens.

Crypto exchanges would be asked to provide the identities of individuals belonging to a company that issues tokens under the proposal. This announcement is intended to assist the SEC in monitoring and investigating possible insider trading activity, a serious problem for the increasingly international digital asset market.

The action is a part of Thailand’s continued development of crypto regulation. The country has tried to promote and clamp down on the industry recently. Among these were plans announced in May to open the country to tourists to use cryptocurrencies, signalling a greater willingness to adopt digital assets.

But just days later, authorities closed off access to the crypto exchanges OKX and Bybit, citing unlicensed activities and money laundering concerns.

Thailand courts global crypto investors with bold 5-Year tax break 

Just a few days ago, Thailand scrapped capital gains taxes on cryptocurrency sales for five years, in its boldest move yet to become a leading global hub for digital assets.

The Thai Cabinet approved the tax exemption, waiving personal income taxes on profits from crypto sales through licensed digital asset service providers. The policy will take effect from January 1, 2025, through December 31, 2029.

Deputy Finance Minister Julapun Amornvivat called the decision a pivotal step toward Thailand’s vision of becoming “one of the world’s financial hubs.” The government hopes the tax break will draw crypto firms and investors away from established centers like Singapore and Dubai, cementing Thailand’s place on the global digital finance map.

Thailand continues to position itself as “one of the first countries in the world to implement laws governing digital assets and related taxation,” according to Deputy Finance Minister Julapun Amornvivat.

The government expects the new tax exemption to deliver strong economic returns, with the Finance Ministry projecting that crypto assets could expand the Thai economy and boost tax revenues by at least 1 billion baht (approximately $30.7 million) over the medium term.

Industry analysts believe the potential upside may be even greater, citing Thailand’s status as home to Southeast Asia’s second-largest concentration of crypto holders.

“Thailand crypto HODLers are holding $180 billion, and clear regulations and tax reforms will help people to hold more crypto assets,” Jagdish Pandya, founder of Blockon Ventures and organizer of Thai Blockchain Week 2019.

Thailand’s crypto reforms aim to boost market confidence 

The latest regulatory push also appears to be informed by past incidents. In 2022, Thailand faced its own insider trading scandal when the SEC accused the CTO of Bitkub—one of the country’s largest crypto exchanges—of using confidential information to profit from token sales ahead of a major deal.

Insider trading, defined as buying or selling securities based on non-public information, is widely considered illegal across financial markets. Enforcement in the crypto space has gained momentum globally. In 2021, OpenSea’s former Head of Product, Nate Chastain, was charged and later convicted for front-running NFT listings on the platform, receiving a three-month prison sentence. Similarly, three former Coinbase employees were indicted in 2022, with two serving time for leveraging non-public token listing details.

More recently, Binance suspended a staff member in March following an investigation into alleged insider trading, and blockchain analysts have flagged suspicious trading activity related to US President Donald Trump’s memecoin (TRUMP), prompting speculation of insider behavior.

Thailand’s SEC says the consultation period will give the public a chance to weigh in on how best to structure the issuance of utility tokens and prevent illicit practices in an increasingly complex market.

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Trump says he regrets taking advice to hire Powell

Trump says he regrets taking advice to hire Powell

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President Donald Trump unloaded his longest attack yet on Jerome Powell on Friday evening, five months after moving back into the White House.

Speaking via Truth Social, Trump said he should’ve never made Powell head of the Federal Reserve and once again blamed him for costing the US up to $1 trillion a year by keeping interest rates too high. He said, “Too Late Powell complains about costs, much of which were produced by the Biden Fake ‘Government.’”

Trump added that Powell should cut rates to between 1% and 2% immediately. He said this would save the country massive amounts in interest payments. “That ‘numbskull’ would be saving the United States of America up to $1 Trillion Dollars per year,” Trump posted.

Trump says he regrets taking advice to hire Powell

The president claimed he tried “nice, neutral, and nasty” approaches to pressure Powell but said only being nasty got attention. He wrote, “He’s a dumb guy, and an obvious Trump Hater, who should have never been there.”

Trump said he took bad advice when he picked Powell and said Biden made a mistake by keeping him. Trump also said inflation is no longer a concern and the economy is growing fast with factories opening and new tariffs bringing in strong revenue.

He said the Fed should take advantage of this moment and drop rates. “If he was concerned about inflation or anything else, then all he has to do is bring the rate down, so we can benefit on interest costs, and raise it in the future when and if these ‘other elements’ happen (which I doubt they will!),” Trump said.

The rant ended with Trump calling Powell a “total and complete moron” and saying the Federal Reserve Board should override him. He also hinted, again, that he might fire him. “Maybe, just maybe, I’ll have to change my mind about firing him? But regardless, his Term ends shortly!” Trump then posted the custom-made image of comparison below for extra theatrics:

Trump-Powell
Source: Office of the President of the United States

Waller pushes for July cut while others urge patience

According to Reuters, this came just hours before Powell and other Fed officials spoke publicly for the first time since holding interest rates steady this week. The Fed decided to keep rates between 4.25% and 4.5% for now. Behind the scenes, policymakers are split on what to do next. Some believe inflation is still too high. Others want to cut rates soon.

Christopher Waller, a Fed Governor, said Friday on CNBC that he believes inflation isn’t a real threat right now and that the Fed should move forward with cuts as early as next month. “The data the last few months has been showing that trend inflation is looking pretty good,” Waller said. He also said rising tariffs will not create serious inflation. “Any tariff inflation… I don’t think is going to be that big and we should just look through it in terms of setting policy,” he added.

Waller said the Fed shouldn’t sit around and wait for the labor market to get worse. He pointed to signs of stress, including high unemployment among recent college graduates. “I’m all in favor of saying maybe we should start thinking about cutting the policy rate at the next meeting,” he said.

Mary Daly, who runs the San Francisco Fed, offered a more middle-ground view. She told CNBC that a fall rate cut might make sense, but not in July. “A rate cut in the fall would be more appropriate,” she said, unless the labor market weakens faster than expected. She also warned that tariffs could push up costs but said businesses might absorb the hit instead of passing it to buyers.

Daly warned against rushing into cuts without solid data. But she said the Fed also can’t ignore how much the economy is cooling. “We cannot wait so long that we forget that the fundamentals of the economy are moving in a direction where an interest rate adjustment might be necessary,” Daly said.

The latest projections from the Fed show a near 50-50 split. Eight officials expect two rate cuts this year. Seven think there should be none. Those expecting cuts believe the September and December meetings could be the moments to act. The rest want to keep things where they are.

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