The 14 largest global funding rounds in the first half of 2026 totaled $4.3 billion, with prediction market platforms taking a large share of the biggest deals. According to NS3.AI, Kalshi raised $1.2 billion and Polymarket secured $600 million. Together, the two companies represented more than 40% of the top 14 funding rounds during the period.

FalconX has obtained a Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) license from Malta’s Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) ahead of the EU compliance grace period expiring on July 1. According to NS3.AI, the license authorizes FalconX to provide crypto trading, custody, liquidity, and institutional services. The authorization applies across the European Union and the European Economic Area.

Oil declined as shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz picked up on hopes for a permanent US-Iran deal, according to Bloomberg. The move also followed fresh warnings from a Wall Street bank about the risk of a potential supply glut.

The European Central Bank is considering doubling the share of bank reserves that must be held in non-interest-bearing accounts to reduce its own interest expenses and ease side effects from its anti-inflation measures. According to Jin10, six sources said ECB policymakers are discussing raising the minimum reserve requirement to 2% from 1% on banks’ customer deposits and some other funding sources. The change would help national central banks in cash-rich countries such as Germany reduce losses linked to paying interest on bank deposits held above the required level. The sources said excess deposits have risen to several trillion euros over the past decade due to bond-buying stimulus programs. The move would also absorb part of the surplus liquidity and support the ECB’s efforts to steer banks away from holding large amounts of free cash. The issue is set to be revisited in the ECB’s so-called framework review this year. The sources said a decision on the potential measure is expected before autumn. They added that internal discussions remain at an early stage and the ECB’s Governing Council has not yet held a formal discussion on the proposal.

A coalition of more than 140 companies, including Visa and Mastercard, has launched Open Standard and Open USD, a dollar-pegged stablecoin aimed at the $300 billion stablecoin market. According to NS3.AI, Open USD is expected to go live later in 2026 across multiple blockchains, including Solana, Stellar, Base, and Polygon. The coalition said the stablecoin will not charge minting or redemption fees. It also plans to share most reserve interest with companies that use the stablecoin.

A survey by the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF) found that global central banks are accelerating adjustments to their foreign-exchange reserve allocations as U.S. political and geopolitical risks rise. According to Jin10, OMFIF’s survey of 74 central banks showed that, for the first time, more central banks plan to reduce their U.S. dollar allocations over the next decade than plan to increase them, indicating waning appeal for the dollar. The report said geopolitical factors have become a major driver behind reduced willingness to invest in the dollar. It added that rising uncertainty around U.S. trade policy has also contributed to a broader trend toward de-dollarization. Despite these shifts, the dollar still accounts for about 58% of global central bank reserves and is expected to remain dominant in the near term. At the same time, central bank demand for gold has risen markedly. A record share of surveyed institutions said they plan to increase gold allocations to hedge geopolitical risks and instability in the financial system. The report also noted growing interest in the euro and the Chinese yuan, which have drawn more attention for use in international trade and for diversification. Some emerging-market currencies were also viewed more favorably. Overall, the survey described a gradual diversification of the global reserve system, with the dollar still leading but with its marginal advantage declining.

SPEEA, the union representing U.S. engineers and technical workers, said it plans to negotiate separately with Boeing on two collective bargaining agreements. According to Jin10, one agreement covers about 13,000 engineers and the other covers about 4,000 technical workers.

OpenAI has found ways to run its models on far fewer Nvidia chips, cutting inference costs by more than half, even as Nvidia (NVDA) shares rose. According to BeInCrypto, The Information reported OpenAI engineers achieved the savings via new software optimization methods, while OpenAI and Broadcom (AVGO) on June 24 unveiled Jalapeño, OpenAI’s first custom chip. OpenAI said early tests show better performance per watt, with first deployments at a gigawatt scale by the end of 2026 and Microsoft as lead partner. BeInCrypto also cited Meituan training its 1.6 trillion parameter LongCat-2.0 model on domestic chips without Nvidia hardware.

The volume of payments made with cryptocurrency cards has exploded, with monthly transaction volume exceeding $1.5 billion.

Jinse Finance launches the "Jinse Web3.0 Daily," providing you with the latest and fastest news on AI, DeFi, DAO, NFT, and the metaverse.

Payments, cross-border payments, stablecoins—in such a crowded cross-border payment arena, where is the next stop? Golden Finance: Only by stepping into the mud can you have a chance to touch the gold.

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Looking at the long term, what could truly trigger the next round of interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve is not the current short-term supply shock, but rather the massive capital expenditures and demand expansion driven by the AI ​​revolution.

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The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to block President Trump from firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, making the Federal Reserve the only independent institution to retain protections for its officials' tenure.

The old game is over. MicroStrategy, the world's largest Bitcoin holder, has chosen to bow to reality.

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Meta has unveiled a new brain-to-text AI system that can translate a person's brain activity into written sentences without requiring invasive brain implants, marking a significant step in the race to develop practical brain-computer interfaces.