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Heatbit's $899 Water Heater Element Mines Bitcoin While It Heats Your Tank
BTCdecentralized miningmining hardwareBitcoin mining
XRP Eyes $1.40 Breakout as Ripple Brings BlackRock and IMF to New York
Ripple's Swell 2026 conference in New York drew representatives from BlackRock and the IMF, fueling expectations that the XRP Ledger could become an institutional capital standard. Franklin Templeton clients recently bought $3.55 million in XRP ETF shares, helping XRP break out of a long consolidation. It now holds steady around $1.32–1.33, closing in on the psychological $1.40 resistance. Ripple will also showcase AI-driven payments, expanded RLUSD use in On-Demand Liquidity, and a cross-border settlement partnership with Swiss fintech Arf.
XRPInstitutional AdoptionRipple SwellAI Payments2 hours ago
Visa Reportedly in Late-Stage Talks to Acquire Fireblocks for $2.5 Billion
Payments giant Visa is reportedly in late-stage negotiations to acquire crypto custody and stablecoin infrastructure provider Fireblocks for roughly $2.5 billion—about 69% below Fireblocks' $8 billion valuation from its January 2022 Series E round. Fireblocks offers institutional custody, stablecoin settlement, and tokenization infrastructure to banks and payment firms, and both companies have backed the Open Standard initiative for stablecoin infrastructure. No final agreement has been announced, and talks are ongoing.
USDCStablecoin InfrastructureAcquisitionFireblocks22 hours ago
XRP ETFs Surpass $1.8 Billion in Cumulative Inflows Since Launch
Spot XRP ETFs have drawn $1.8 billion in cumulative net inflows since launching, even as institutional demand has cooled and a broader market downturn has weighed on the ETF ecosystem. Still, the funds pulled in modest inflows over the past week, including about $708,500 on October 22 alone. Analysts say the $2 billion milestone could be within reach if momentum picks up, a sign that investors are steadily gaining XRP exposure through issuers like Bitwise—a trend that bodes well for broader adoption.
XRPInstitutional Demandcumulative inflowsETF milestone22 hours ago
Ripple Launches 24/7 Institutional Stock Trading With RLUSD-Backed Loans
Ripple has launched 24/7 stock trading for institutional clients on its prime brokerage platform, Ripple Prime, while allowing its native stablecoin RLUSD to be used as loan collateral. The move expands RLUSD beyond payments and treasury management into institutional trading and financing, potentially improving capital efficiency. However, market observers note that liquidity in emerging 24/7 equity markets remains limited, and large institutional orders could face price impact, posing a potential challenge to adoption.
XRPInstitutional Tradingstablecoin collateral24/7 stock trading2026-10-21
Standard Chartered to Absorb Zodia Custody After Signing Acquisition Deal
Standard Chartered has signed a definitive agreement to take full ownership of digital asset custodian Zodia Custody. The deal, subject to regulatory approval, will see Zodia's regulated custody business folded into Standard Chartered's securities services division, while its software and professional services operations will be spun off into Zodia Solutions under SC Ventures. The move extends the bank's recent push to expand institutional crypto services in Singapore and the UAE.
2026-10-21
Ripple Prime Launches 24/7 Stock and Commodity Swaps
Ripple Prime has rolled out 24/7 perpetual swap trading across more than 100 reference markets, including equities, commodities, and FX. Institutional clients can post RLUSD as collateral and gain weekend exposure through Trade.xyz perpetual futures on Hyperliquid. HSBC warns that limited liquidity could constrain participation by large institutions, calling it an incremental rather than revolutionary step. Trading firm Virtu is already using the service.
XRPHSBC liquidity concernsinstitutional brokerage24/7 perpetual swaps2026-10-21
OpenAI Acquires Orchestra Bio to Put AI Agents in Charge of Drug Development Grunt Work
OpenAI has acquired San Francisco startup Orchestra Bio, which uses AI agents to help pharma companies track drug development progress, for an undisclosed sum. The Orchestra team and platform will be folded into Rosalind, OpenAI's product line for biologists and chemists. Bringing a new drug from discovery to approval can take up to 15 years and cost over $2.6 billion, with fewer than 10% of candidates clearing human trials. The deal follows Anthropic's roughly $400 million acquisition of Coefficient Bio in April, underscoring how AI labs are racing to stake a claim in drug development workflows.
2026-10-20
XRP Treasury Stock XRPN Now Live on Uphold
Uphold has listed XRPN, the XRP treasury-backed stock from Evernorth Holdings, giving users the ability to buy fractional shares through its app. XRPN debuted on Nasdaq on October 12, with Evernorth holding roughly 473 million XRP and about $300 million in cash. The company plans to work with Ripple, Kraken, Coinbase, and BitGo to deploy its reserves into institutional lending and DeFi strategies starting in Q4 2026. The stock offers indirect exposure to XRP but is not the same as holding the token directly, and investors take on company operating and treasury strategy risks.
XRPinstitutional exposureUphold listingXRP Treasury2026-10-20
Anthropic Gives 5% of Itself to the Public. Musk Responds by Giving Away SpaceX Shares
Anthropic announced it will place 5% of its shares into a newly created public benefit fund, with plans for an IPO as early as November at a valuation of about $2 trillion—making that stake worth roughly $100 billion on paper. The fund is structured as a wholly owned LLC rather than a nonprofit, allows the board to add 2% more shares each time the company's valuation rises 50%, and bars the money from lobbying or political donations. Musk quickly responded on X, pledging to give one SpaceX share to every American child next year—worth over $10 billion at current prices—and calling it the first of many similar moves.
2026-10-19
Circle touts 175+ institutions as CPN takes bronze at Money20/20 payments awards
Circle announced that its stablecoin payment network, CPN, won bronze in the payments category at the Money20/20 Money Awards, saying more than 175 financial institutions are involved in building the network. Its Q2 earnings had already disclosed 175 institutions registered as of the end of June, up 29% quarter over quarter, though it did not say how many are actively processing payments. CPN's annualized transaction volume stood at $14.7 billion at the end of Q2, up 76% quarter over quarter. The article also notes related moves by Visa, Mesh, and Mastercard in stablecoin payments and risk screening.
USDCCircle Payments NetworkInstitutional AdoptionStablecoin Payments2026-10-19