News linked to both this project and an event.
Odaily News: Brad Lightcap, Special Projects Lead and former Chief Operating Officer (COO) at OpenAI, is set to leave the company. Over the past year, Lightcap's responsibilities at OpenAI have been adjusted multiple times, with his most recent role being in charge of "special projects."Lightcap has long been a core member of OpenAI's management team. Earlier in 2026, during a company executive reshuffle, he transitioned from the COO position to lead special projects, overseeing cross-company matters including complex deals and strategic investments, reporting directly to CEO Sam Altman. His departure comes at a time when OpenAI is continuously expanding its commercialization efforts, advancing enterprise business, and pursuing strategic partnerships. Previously, the company had undergone multiple rounds of organizational restructuring, including transferring some COO responsibilities to other executives.Brad Lightcap joined OpenAI in 2018, having previously worked at Y Combinator and JPMorgan. He has been one of the key operations and business leaders during OpenAI's transformation from a research institution into a commercial AI company. (The Information)
Bitcoin analyst Plan B stated on the X platform that the core of Bitcoin's long-term value lies in scarcity, not short-term price fluctuations.Plan B believes that many people focus on Bitcoin's price charts, while the S2F model he uses focuses on the degree of asset scarcity. This model measures scarcity through "existing supply ÷ annual new production," where the S2F for gold is approximately 60. Due to Bitcoin's fixed total supply of 21 million coins and its predictable issuance schedule, its S2F is currently around 120 and continues to rise over time.The Bitcoin halving mechanism is an important driver of the S2F model. Approximately every four years, the Bitcoin network reduces the block reward by half, decreasing new supply and roughly doubling the S2F level, making it the core supply-side event observed by the model.Plan B emphasized that the S2F and its upgraded version, the S2FX model, predict long-term average value rather than precisely forecasting market tops or bottoms. Bitcoin's price typically fluctuates around the model's estimated value, and investors should focus on multi-year cycle averages rather than single-day price highs. Additionally, Plan B believes that as scarcity increases, Bitcoin is undergoing different stages of development, including proof of concept, payment network, "digital gold"/store of value asset, and institutional-grade financial asset. Each increase in scarcity could bring new market narratives and capital inflows.However, Plan B also reiterated that "all models are wrong, but some are useful." He stated that the S2F model is merely a tool for long-term understanding of Bitcoin's scarcity, not a trading signal or a "crystal ball" for price prediction. Although the model has withstood major events such as the COVID-19 pandemic and China's mining ban, it still has limitations.
According to Bloomberg, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently issued an internal letter explicitly exempting asset-backed securities (ABS) related to AI data centers from core investor protection regulations introduced after the 2008 financial crisis, including the "risk retention" clause requiring issuers to retain a portion of the debt. The SEC determined that data centers are not financial assets that liquidate over time, therefore securities linked to them should not be subject to the same regulatory constraints as ABS related to auto loans or mortgages. Although this move does not constitute a formal rule change, since companies had previously voluntarily complied with relevant regulations out of compliance prudence, the substantive impact cannot be underestimated. In terms of market size, the annual issuance volume of data center ABS has surged from $2.4 billion in 2020 to $15.5 billion in 2025, growing more than sixfold in five years, and is expected to hit a new record high in 2026.
: Japanese yen stablecoin operator JPYC Inc. has announced an extension of its Series B funding round, bringing total funding to approximately 6 billion yen, or roughly $38 million. The latest investment includes approximately 1 billion yen (about $6.3 million) from Tokyo-listed logistics company AZ-COM Maruwa Holdings. Core business: operating JPYC, a stablecoin pegged 1:1 to the Japanese yen. JPYC launched the stablecoin in October 2025 and became the first digital currency to be registered as an official electronic payment instrument under Japan's revised Payment Services Act. Each JPYC is backed by yen bank deposits and Japanese government bonds, and holders can redeem them for regular yen on demand. AZ-COM Maruwa Holdings plans to use JPYC to pay approximately 2,300 business partners and independent contractors for transportation work and outsourced services, primarily covering truck drivers and subcontractors. The company is also developing a dedicated wallet application and plans to link payments with delivery confirmation records, potentially executed through GPS tracking or smart contracts.
Axis Robotics has announced the completion of a $12 million seed funding round, led by Hack VC, with participation from Nomad Capital, Pi Core Team Ventures, 10K Ventures, and several angel investors.According to the introduction, Axis Robotics primarily addresses the data needs for Physical AI and robotic models. It leverages large-scale simulation, first-person real-world data collection, and human-in-the-loop post-training to build a closed-loop data workflow, enabling the scalable production of structured and diverse robotic data. This funding will be used to accelerate the development of a massive, parallel, human-in-the-loop global data engine.
according to the latest report data from TokenInsight, the TradFi perpetual contract market continued its rapid growth trend in Q2 2026, with the competitive landscape further concentrating. Binance ranked first with a trading volume of approximately $380 billion, holding a market share of about 59.96%; Bitget ranked second with approximately 11.01%, and OKX ranked third with approximately 10.97%. The two platforms each had a quarterly trading volume of around $69 billion, forming the core tier of the market alongside Binance.From the perspective of platform penetration rates, the proportion of TradFi perpetual contracts in the derivatives business of different exchanges still shows significant variation. Among them, Binance leads with a penetration rate of 8.65%, closely followed by Bitget at 8.61%, indicating that top-tier platforms are accelerating the integration of traditional financial assets into the crypto derivatives market.
Crypto KOL Phyrex published a systematic analysis of rToken issued by Reality under Bitget, arguing that rToken should not be merely understood as "tokenized stocks." Its core value lies in achieving asset composability upon integration with a unified account, breaking the limitations of RWA liquidity silos. Phyrex provided an in-depth breakdown of three directly implementable trading strategies: amplifying US stock directional exposure, Delta Neutral arbitrage, and staking-borrowing loops. For institutions, the core value of rToken lies in three major mechanisms: direct order connection to the US stock order book to eliminate de-pegging risk, UTA unified account cross-margining to improve asset efficiency, and weekend collateral valuation pegged to Friday's closing price to ensure controllable risk. This ultimately enables managing Crypto, stock tokens, and derivative positions within a single account, reducing costs associated with multi-platform rebalancing and fund transfers.
According to Korean media Etoday, Korean securities firms have shown significant divergence in their assessments of SK Hynix's prospects, with the core divergence centering on whether AI storage demand can drive long-term growth. KB Securities maintains a "Buy" rating for SK Hynix. Based on the case of TSMC's ADR issuance in the US in 1997, it judges that SK Hynix's ADR listing will boost global investor participation and is expected to drive a synchronized revaluation of ADRs and Korean domestic shares. KB Securities also expects that in 2027, global DRAM and NAND wafer capacity growth rates will be only 7% and 4% respectively, lower than demand growth rates of 17% and 19%, and the tight memory supply situation may intensify further compared to 2026. BNK Investment & Securities, however, believes that the logic of hyperscale cloud service providers continuously increasing AI infrastructure investment is weakening, and the ADR listing will not significantly alter SK Hynix's domestic share valuation.
: According to official sources, Astarter, an autonomous AI Economy infrastructure on the BNB Chain ecosystem, has announced strategic support from institutions including Vega Ventures, UZ Capital, Go2Mars, and BitBT Ventures, further strengthening its AI ecosystem layout. Astarter had previously received lead investment from EMURGO, along with strategic support from other institutions such as MH Ventures, Avstar Capital, 316VC, CRT Labs, and Megala Ventures.It is reported that Astarter aims to build a full-stack infrastructure on the BNB Chain for AI agents, providing on-chain AI agents with dedicated computing power, runtime execution, on-chain settlement, and identity capabilities. Its products encompass the AI computing power node ABox, a decentralized exchange (DEX), a Launchpad, and the CORE agent layer, with the native token being AST. The Astarter mainnet and TGE are planned for launch in the third quarter of 2026. This strategic partnership is expected to further advance Astarter's development in computing power networks, products, and ecosystem.
According to the latest macro-trend report released by QCP Group, market focus is shifting from the “signing-related optimism” surrounding multiple macro events toward post-signing execution risks. The U.S.-Iran Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) has been formally signed; Brent crude oil prices have retreated below USD 80 per barrel, easing tail risks. However, traffic volume through the Strait of Hormuz remains at just 14 transits—well below normal levels—and a 60-day technical negotiation window has now opened. Market pricing is pivoting toward actual tanker flow volumes and progress on compliance with the Lebanon ceasefire. The Federal Reserve unanimously held interest rates steady at 3.50%–3.75%, but signaled its intention to keep rates higher for longer. The median dot-plot projection for 2026 was raised to 3.8% (up from 3.4%), with the range widened to 3.4%–4.4%; forward guidance was simultaneously scrapped. Core PCE inflation forecasts stand at 3.30%, and headline PCE at 3.82%—both above target—confirming that inflation—not growth—remains the primary constraint. Following its IPO, SpaceX’s stock price has declined approximately 27% from its peak of USD 211 to USD 155, yet it remains 14.5% above its IPO price of USD 135. Market narrative has shifted from IPO momentum to AI financing logic: its USD 20 billion note issuance is earmarked to refinance an xAI bridge loan, while the ~USD 60 billion Anysphere/Cursor transaction converts equity into acquisition currency. SpaceX is now being integrated into the AI capital formation cycle. In the crypto market, S
Dune co-founder and CEO Fredrik Haga stated that Dune is laying off 25% of its staff this week as part of a restructuring aimed at further concentrating efforts on developing the industry's core data products.Haga noted that the company is increasing investment in AI-driven tools, using Dune MCP to enable teams and agents to build dashboards and workflows without requiring knowledge of SQL or data infrastructure. Additionally, as assets like currencies, stocks, and bonds accelerate their migration on-chain, the company is heavily investing in the data layer and providing services to institutions. Dune currently has ample financial reserves, having completed a $69.42 million Series B funding round led by Coatue in 2022. (theblock)
Bernstein has reiterated its "Outperform" rating on Figure Technology Solutions (FIGR) and maintained a price target of $67, implying approximately 72% upside from the current share price of $38.97.Figure posted strong Q1 2026 results: loan origination volume reached $2.9 billion, up 113% year-over-year; adjusted revenue was $167 million, surpassing market expectations by 6% and up 92% year-over-year; adjusted EBITDA was $82.7 million, with a margin of approximately 50%, slightly above market consensus. However, GAAP diluted EPS was $0.18, missing expectations by about 9%, primarily impacted by $26 million in stock-based compensation expenses.Bernstein analysts believe this performance should reshape market perception of Figure, viewing it not as a traditional credit company, but as a "tokenization-driven capital markets platform." Core profitability stems from network fees and operational leverage from scaling, and the valuation framework remains based on 25x 2027 EBITDA. Additionally, the tokenization ecosystem continues to expand: the yield-bearing security token YLDS reached $598 million (up 80% quarter-over-quarter); the stock lending product balance stood at $368 million (up 79%); and the small business loan segment contributed $60 million in revenue.Figure's current share price remains not far from its 2025 IPO offering price of $36, but still significantly below its all-time high of $78. (The Block)
Odaily Odaily News: In the OpenAI lawsuit, Satya Nadella testified in court as Microsoft's CEO at the U.S. District Court in Oakland, California. The case centers on the ongoing legal dispute over OpenAI's non-profit structure and its path to commercialization. The lawsuit, filed by Elon Musk in 2024, accuses Microsoft of "aiding and abetting the breach of charitable trust obligations" during OpenAI's transition from a non-profit organization to a commercial entity. Microsoft has been making strategic investments in OpenAI since 2019, with cumulative investments reaching approximately $13 billion by 2023, making it one of OpenAI's most important external supporters.During the trial, Satya Nadella reviewed the early partnership between Microsoft and OpenAI, mentioning that the two parties had established deep technological and computing power collaboration before the launch of ChatGPT. In his earlier testimony, Musk stated that Microsoft's additional investment of approximately $10 billion in OpenAI in 2023 was the key turning point that prompted him to file the lawsuit, adding that the scale of the investment altered OpenAI's original non-profit-oriented structure. During the trial, Musk stated: "We are concerned they are turning a charitable organization into a commercial tool." He also questioned Microsoft's potential dominant position in the development of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) and pointed out that its deep integration with OpenAI could impact the competitive landscape of the industry.The case is currently still under trial, and the debate surrounding OpenAI's governance structure, non-profit status, and control over the AI industry is expected to continue. (CNBC)
Coinbase announced a “seven-figure” strategic investment in Centrifuge and selected it as the primary asset tokenization partner for its public blockchain, Base. Under the partnership, Centrifuge will serve as the core infrastructure for issuing tokenized assets on Base, enabling the onchain issuance and trading of real-world assets (RWAs), including ETFs, credit funds, and structured products. The two parties have previously collaborated—for instance, launching the first compliant onchain S&P 500 index fund on Base.
Odaily News Keel Infrastructure and Hive Digital Technologies saw their stock prices rise on April 22. Keel completed the sale of its Paso Pe mining facility in Paraguay, securing $13 million in funds, with the aim of fully exiting the Bitcoin mining business and shifting its focus to high-performance computing and AI development in North America. Hive Digital Technologies completed a $115 million private placement, with the funds to be used for purchasing GPUs and developing data centers. The stock prices of the two companies have risen by over 40% and 31% respectively in the past month. Additionally, Core Scientific announced plans to issue $3.3 billion in high-yield bonds to fund its transition to AI infrastructure.
Odaily News Bitcoin Core developer Jameson Lopp stated that compared to potential future quantum computing attacks, he would prefer to "freeze" approximately 5.6 million long-dormant BTC from the network rather than letting them be acquired by attackers. These bitcoins have not moved for over 10 years and may be permanently lost, valued at around $420 billion at current prices. If future breakthroughs in quantum computing lead to the private keys of old addresses being cracked, these assets could be transferred again, potentially triggering severe market volatility or even a crisis of confidence. Although the community recently proposed BIP-361, the proposal is still in its early stages and is not a formally promoted solution, but rather more like a contingency plan for an "extreme risk." (CoinDesk)