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French AI lab Mistral AI announced Tuesday that it has raised €3 billion (about $3.58 billion) in a Series D round at a post-money valuation of more than €21 billion (about $24.39 billion), confirming earlier reports. The round, which Mistral called “the largest equity fundraising round ever completed by a European technology company,” was led by Samsung Electronics, with EQT-managed Scaleup Europe Fund and existing investor PSG Equity joining as co-leads.
Mistral said it will use the capital to scale its compute capacity, build infrastructure, accelerate commercial growth, and expand its international footprint. The funding also sharpens its strategic positioning: the company insists it is not building a “European ChatGPT,” and while its models have not achieved mainstream consumer adoption, it continues to define itself as an AI research lab with a focus on enterprise and government clients.
Strategic shift toward sovereign AI
The funding supports Mistral’s subtle but significant strategy shift aimed at addressing European concerns about over-dependence on the United States for critical technology. In August, Mistral unveiled tools that let customers choose which regions their AI queries are processed in, and it began hosting third-party, open-weight AI models—including Chinese ones—to strengthen its position as an AI services provider that prioritizes customer control over model selection and usage.
The company on Tuesday described its frontier research as “the foundation underpinning its infrastructure, products and sovereignty,” an indirect response to critics who interpreted its hosting of Chinese models as a pivot to becoming merely an inference provider. Mistral’s emphasis on global ambitions also counters the common misconception that its operations are confined to France. The lab now operates in 20 countries, with a go-to-market strategy focused on helping governments and corporations apply AI while maintaining control—unlike rivals such as OpenAI and Anthropic, which sell their models more broadly.
Geopolitical significance and backing
Samsung’s entry into Mistral’s cap table has the blessing of French authorities. In a post on X, French President Emmanuel Macron said the round reflected France and South Korea’s goal of “building a third way in AI.” The fact that a private funding round warranted such a statement underscores the geopolitical undertones that have surrounded Mistral—mostly to its benefit.
Amid growing demand for sovereign AI infrastructure, not being an American company has reportedly boosted Mistral’s revenue. However, the capital required to compete with leading U.S. labs is not available in France alone. With Dutch chipmaker ASML as a major partner and investor, and now Samsung, Mistral appears to have found a viable path—similar to Germany’s Aleph Alpha merging with Canada’s Cohere.
Mistral still collaborates with U.S. players, particularly Microsoft, through a strategic partnership significantly expanded in July. The Series D also attracted American investors: existing backers such as a16z, Nvidia, and Salesforce Ventures participated, joined by new backers Advent and BlackRock. Still, with Luxembourg’s sovereign fund also joining as a new backer and many European investors doubling down, Mistral’s cap table remains resolutely international—a factor that may reassure the government and enterprise customers it targets.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. The cryptocurrency and AI investment markets are volatile and uncertain; readers should conduct their own research before making any investment decisions.
Originally published on CoinPulseHQ: https://coinpulsehq.com/mistral-ai-raises-3b-europe-largest-tech-funding-round/

Cognition, the startup behind the AI coding assistant Devin, has raised $2 billion at a $48 billion valuation, the company announced Tuesday. The round, led by Andreessen Horowitz, Accel, Founders Fund, General Catalyst, and Avenir, comes just four months after Cognition's previous fundraise at a $26 billion valuation — a sign that venture investors still see room for multiple major players in the AI coding market, one of the most commercially significant applications of generative AI.
The rapid doubling of Cognition's valuation suggests that the AI coding sector, far from consolidating into a single winner, is attracting capital across multiple challengers. That thesis was tested earlier this year when Cursor, a rival coding assistant, agreed to sell to SpaceX for $60 billion in April after reportedly exploring a $50 billion fundraising round.
Revenue growth and the path to scale
Cognition said that since announcing its last fundraise in May, its annualized run-rate revenue has grown from $492 million to $900 million. The company did not disclose how it calculates the run-rate figure, which typically represents a single month's revenue multiplied by 12. At the time of Cursor's funding talks in April, its annualized revenue had surpassed $2 billion, meaning Cognition currently commands a higher revenue multiple than Cursor did just before its sale.
Investors familiar with Cursor's financials said the company sold to SpaceX largely because it was severely compute-constrained — unable to secure enough server capacity to meet demand. Whether Cognition faces similar constraints is unclear, though its infrastructure costs are significant. Cognition leases an Nvidia server cluster that costs hundreds of millions of dollars annually, which could push its total cash burn to $800 million this year, according to The Information.
Like Cursor did before joining SpaceX, Cognition is training its own model based on open-source alternatives. Reducing reliance on expensive third-party models from OpenAI and Anthropic is expected to help cut costs and move the company closer to breakeven over time. The Information reported that Cognition is projected to reach $4 billion to $5 billion in annualized revenue by the end of 2026. By comparison, TechCrunch reported in the spring that Cursor was on track to surpass $6 billion by year-end.
What the funding round says about the AI coding field
The involvement of Andreessen Horowitz is particularly notable. The firm was a major backer of Cursor and profited significantly from its sale to SpaceX. Its decision to lead a round in a direct competitor suggests that investors are not treating AI coding as a zero-sum game — and that the market is large enough to support multiple companies with distinct approaches.
Founded in 2024 by math prodigy Scott Wu, Cognition has attracted a roster of blue-chip enterprise customers, including Mercedes-Benz, NASA, Goldman Sachs, and Citi. The startup's focus on autonomous coding agents — tools that can plan and execute programming tasks with minimal human oversight — differentiates it from more interactive assistants like Cursor.
The divergence in strategies between Cognition and Cursor is instructive. Cursor's model, which leaned heavily on fine-tuned versions of frontier models, proved compute-intensive and difficult to scale independently. Cognition's decision to train its own open-source-based models may offer a more sustainable path, though it carries its own risks, including the challenge of matching the raw capability of models from OpenAI and Anthropic.
For enterprise customers evaluating AI coding tools, the competitive dynamics matter. The presence of multiple well-funded players — each with different pricing, deployment models, and levels of autonomy — gives buyers tap into and options. It also raises the stakes for incumbents like GitHub Copilot, which faces pressure from both startups and the broader shift toward agentic coding workflows.
As the AI coding market matures, the key question is whether revenue growth can keep pace with the enormous capital being deployed. Cognition's run-rate growth is rapid, but so is its cash burn. The company's ability to achieve breakeven will depend on whether its proprietary models can deliver performance that justifies premium pricing — and whether it can avoid the compute bottlenecks that forced Cursor into the arms of SpaceX.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Valuations and revenue projections in the AI sector are volatile and subject to change; readers should conduct their own research before making investment decisions.
Originally published on CoinPulseHQ: https://coinpulsehq.com/cognition-48b-valuation-ai-coding-market/

The United Kingdom's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has reportedly opened discussions with prediction market companies about whether to lift a ban that has barred retail investors from accessing platforms such as Polymarket and Kalshi since 2019.
According to a Friday report from The Times, the regulator is weighing whether to relax the prohibition on binary options, which include event-based contracts covering sports, politics, and weather. The FCA first imposed the ban in April 2019, when it prohibited firms from selling, marketing, or distributing binary options to retail consumers.
At the time, Christopher Woolard, the FCA's executive director of strategy and competition, described binary options as "gambling products dressed up as financial instruments." The ban was introduced after the regulator found evidence of widespread consumer harm, including significant losses among retail traders.
VPN workarounds and growing demand
The Times report suggests that many UK-based retail investors have continued to access prediction markets by using virtual private networks (VPNs) to bypass geographic restrictions. Platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket, both of which operate primarily in the United States, have seen growing volumes despite the regulatory barriers.
The potential shift comes as the prediction market industry expands rapidly. Bernstein Research estimated in April that total trading volume across the sector could reach approximately $240 billion in 2026 and potentially $1 trillion by 2030. Such figures highlight the commercial significance of the market and the pressure on regulators to adapt.
US legal battles cast a shadow
Should the FCA overturn its 2019 ban, platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket may face regulatory challenges in the UK similar to those they are currently managing in the United States. Several individual state gaming authorities have filed lawsuits against these companies over sporting event contracts, arguing that such offerings constitute unlicensed gambling.
Last week, New Jersey officials petitioned the Supreme Court to hear their case against Kalshi, a move that could ultimately clarify the jurisdictional boundaries between state and federal authorities regarding prediction markets. The outcome of that case may influence how other regulators, including the FCA, approach the sector.
Why this matters for UK investors
For UK retail investors, the FCA's review represents a potential turning point. If the ban is lifted, platforms could legally offer event-based contracts to UK users, providing new avenues for trading but also raising concerns about consumer protection. The FCA has historically taken a cautious stance on high-risk financial products, and any regulatory change would likely come with safeguards.
The regulator has not yet made a formal announcement, and the timeline for any decision remains unclear. However, the fact that the FCA is engaging directly with prediction market companies signals a willingness to reconsider its position in light of market developments and international regulatory trends.
Conclusion
The FCA's reported review of its prediction market ban marks a notable development in the evolving relationship between traditional financial regulation and emerging event-based trading platforms. While no decision has been made public, the discussions reflect broader questions about how to classify and oversee products that blend elements of gambling and investing. For now, UK retail investors must continue to rely on VPNs to access these platforms, a workaround that carries its own legal and security risks.
FAQs
Q1: What exactly is the FCA considering changing?
The FCA is reportedly reviewing its April 2019 ban on binary options for retail investors. This ban currently prevents platforms like Polymarket and Kalshi from offering event-based contracts—covering sports, politics, weather, and similar topics—to UK-based retail consumers.
Q2: Why did the FCA impose the ban in the first place?
The FCA introduced the ban in 2019 after determining that binary options were causing significant consumer harm. The regulator described them as "gambling products dressed up as financial instruments" and cited evidence of widespread losses among retail traders.
Q3: How might a lifting of the ban affect UK retail investors?
If the ban is lifted, UK retail investors could legally access prediction market platforms without needing to use VPNs. However, any regulatory change would likely include consumer protections, and platforms may still face legal challenges similar to those seen in the US, where state authorities have sued over sporting event contracts.
Originally published on CoinPulseHQ: https://coinpulsehq.com/uk-fca-weighs-lifting-prediction-markets-ban/

Sequoia Capital redouble d’efforts auprès d’une startup qui vise à résoudre un problème croissant pour les entreprises : sécuriser les agents d’IA qui gèrent désormais des données d’entreprise sensibles à la vitesse de la machine. Le fonds de capital-risque a co-dirigé une levée de 25 millions de dollars en Série A pour Cymphony, une entreprise basée à New York et à Tel Aviv, avec SMBC Fin Atlas Beyond Fund, valorisant la startup à plus de 100 millions de dollars après investissement. Cette levée fait suite à un investissement de seed non divulgué de Sequoia réalisé plus de deux ans auparavant.
Cymphony, fondée en 2024 par Shy Dekel, Idan Berkovits et Edi Gotlieb—tous diplômés du programme Talpiot de l’armée israélienne—construit une plateforme conçue pour offrir aux équipes de sécurité une vue unifiée des employés humains et des agents d’IA, y compris les systèmes et les données sensibles auxquels ils peuvent accéder. La société affirme qu’elle répond à un angle mort critique : les agents d’IA contournent souvent les contrôles d’identité et d’accès appliqués aux travailleurs humains, créant de nouveaux points d’exposition que les outils de sécurité traditionnels ne parviennent pas à détecter.

Instinct, the AI assistant that rocketed to a $2.5 billion valuation, is giving every user a dedicated email address — a move that lets the agent act more independently when signing up for services, contacting businesses, or managing tasks on a user's behalf. Founder Noah Shinn announced the feature on X on September 8, 2026, framing it as "the first step towards enabling your Instinct to own and run its own accounts."
Instinct now assigns each user a unique email address so the AI agent can create accounts, contact businesses, and handle follow-ups without cluttering the user's personal inbox. The feature, announced by founder Noah Shinn, is rolling out now, with early users able to claim their addresses at mail.instinct.com.
The idea is straightforward: many everyday digital tasks — creating accounts, confirming bookings, requesting services — still flow through email. By giving Instinct its own inbox, the company aims to remove the friction of users having to step in and log in or provide credentials. For example, Shinn wrote, Instinct could use its own email to contact a restaurant about a special request, ask a business about availability, or follow up on a service it needs to complete a task.
Why a dedicated email address matters for AI agents
The new feature is more than a convenience — it's a significant step toward what the industry calls "agentic AI," where AI systems don't just answer questions but take actions in the world. For Instinct, having its own email address means it can operate with a degree of independence that wasn't possible before.
Users can also forward emails to Instinct when it needs specific information to complete a task. Shinn illustrated the workflow: if a user wants Instinct to handle a product return, they could forward their order confirmation to Instinct's email address. Instinct would then contact support, provide the order details, ask whether the user wanted a return or replacement, and come back with the return label to print.
Instinct's email can also be added to group threads, allowing the agent to track information exchanged, or it can be sent a long thread to analyze — for instance, summarizing what decisions still need to be made or which tasks are due when. The bot checks back with the user only when it requires their input, but otherwise acts autonomously.
For businesses, though, the feature introduces a layer of obscurity: they may be dealing with an AI rather than a human customer. While that could complicate relationship-building, many consumers may welcome the change — they are increasingly reluctant to hand over personal email addresses and phone numbers for simple one-off transactions.
Instinct's broader push toward autonomy
The email rollout is part of a series of recent updates designed to expand Instinct's capabilities. Last week, the company partnered with 1Password to enable logins to users' existing accounts, a move that complements the new email system by letting Instinct access services without needing the user to share credentials each time.
In August, Instinct integrated with Stripe to offer a more smooth payment experience, allowing the agent to book trips, classes, and appointments, and make purchases. The company also introduced a location-sharing feature that lets Instinct understand where the user is, helping it find nearby businesses, restaurants, or map routes and itineraries. Users can even ask questions about their location history, like where they parked or what restaurant they tried last month.
These moves signal a clear strategy: Instinct is positioning itself not as a chatbot but as a digital concierge that can handle a growing share of everyday administrative work. The $2.5 billion valuation — reported just weeks ago — reflects investor confidence in that vision, even as the broader AI assistant market grows increasingly crowded with players like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini.
Privacy and security remain open questions. Having an AI manage email and payments means entrusting it with sensitive data, and while the 1Password partnership suggests a focus on secure credential handling, users will need to weigh the convenience against potential risks. Instinct has not yet disclosed detailed security protocols for the new email system.
For now, early users can claim their addresses at mail.instinct.com, and the company is likely to watch closely how the feature is adopted. If it proves popular, expect other AI assistants to follow suit — and expect the debate over how much autonomy we're comfortable giving our digital agents to intensify.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. The cryptocurrency and AI technology markets are volatile and uncertain; readers should conduct their own research before making any decisions.
Originally published on CoinPulseHQ: https://coinpulsehq.com/instinct-ai-assistant-email-address/

Shipt, the same-day delivery platform owned by Target, introduced its own AI shopping assistant on September 9, 2026, joining a wave of delivery apps racing to embed conversational AI into the grocery-buying experience. The new tool, called “Ask Shipt,” is available now in the Shipt app and on Shipt.com, according to the company.
Ask Shipt lets customers generate complete, ready-to-buy carts from natural-language prompts or photos. Shipt says users can request things like “Create a cart for my Saturday tailgate for 25 people and include some brunch items,” or upload a photo of a meal seen at a restaurant to have the assistant identify and add all the ingredients to a cart. Budget-conscious shoppers can also ask for ideas such as a weeknight meal for a family of five under $35.
Delivery apps are in an AI assistant arms race
Shipt’s launch comes as the broader delivery industry moves quickly to bake AI helpers into its apps. The same morning Shipt announced Ask Shipt, Instacart rolled out its own AI grocery assistant called Clementine. Uber Eats and DoorDash have also introduced comparable AI features earlier this year, signaling that conversational shopping is becoming a standard layer of the online grocery experience rather than a differentiator.
For Shipt, which operates as a standalone marketplace serving retailers beyond Target, the assistant is an attempt to make discovery easier — a persistent pain point in grocery e-commerce where shoppers often abandon carts because they don’t know what to buy or forget routine items. By converting vague prompts into concrete product lists, Ask Shipt shifts the app’s role from a passive catalog to an active shopping partner.
Photo-based cart building and the Target connection
One of the more distinctive features of Ask Shipt is its photo-recognition capability. A user who sees a dish on social media or at a restaurant can upload an image, and the assistant will parse the visual into a grocery list of ingredients. That feature overlaps with the AI-powered photo search Target has been rolling out on Target.com, along with AI-generated customer review summaries and other personalized shopping tools.
Shipt’s ownership by Target means the assistant also feeds into a broader retail AI strategy. Target has been integrating AI across its digital properties to improve product discovery and personalize the shopping journey, and Ask Shipt extends that push into the same-day delivery layer. Shipt is not exclusively a Target service — it also partners with other retailers — so the AI assistant is designed to work across the marketplace’s broader catalog.
What this means for shoppers and the future of grocery AI
For consumers, the practical benefit of Ask Shipt is reduced friction. Instead of manually searching for each item on a mental list, a single prompt can produce a complete cart in seconds. The budget-focused prompts also add a layer of price awareness, helping shoppers set constraints before the cart is built rather than discovering the total at checkout.
The launch also signals where the grocery delivery market is heading. With Instacart, Uber Eats, DoorDash, and now Shipt all offering AI assistants, the next competitive battleground is likely to be accuracy and personalization — how well the tools handle dietary restrictions, regional product availability, and repeat-order preferences. As these systems ingest more user data, the gap between generic suggestions and genuinely tailored carts will become the key measure of quality.
Shipt has not disclosed usage targets or a timeline for expanding Ask Shipt’s capabilities, but the tool is live immediately, positioning the company to gather user feedback while the AI-assistant category is still young.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. The technology and retail markets are volatile and evolving, and product features may change.
Originally published on CoinPulseHQ: https://coinpulsehq.com/shipt-ask-ai-shopping-assistant/

The German Federal Ministry of Finance has reportedly drafted a proposal to introduce a 25% flat-rate tax on cryptocurrency trading profits, a significant shift from the country's current policy that exempts crypto gains from taxation after a one-year holding period. The draft, seen by German newspaper Die Welt, suggests the new tax would apply to all digital assets acquired after January 1, 2027, with the new regime taking effect in 2028.
Grandfathering for existing holders
According to the draft proposal, the ministry plans to include grandfathering protections. This means that cryptocurrency purchased before the January 1, 2027 cutoff would continue to be treated under the existing rules, allowing long-term holders who acquired assets earlier to still benefit from the current tax-free status after 12 months of ownership. This transitional measure aims to avoid penalizing investors who made decisions based on the existing tax framework.
Under Germany's current income tax law, profits from the sale of private assets, including cryptocurrencies, are tax-exempt if the holding period exceeds one year. This has positioned Germany as one of the more tax-friendly jurisdictions for long-term crypto investors in Europe. The proposed 25% flat tax would align crypto gains with the country's standard capital gains tax rate, which already applies to other investment vehicles like stocks and funds.
Government revenue expectations and political context
Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil first signaled the planned crypto tax overhaul in late April, estimating that the change could generate an additional 2 billion euros (approximately $2.3 billion) in government revenue. The proposal comes as Germany's ruling coalition seeks new sources of income to address budget shortfalls and fund public investments.
The draft is still in its early stages and has not yet been formally submitted to parliament. The ministry has not publicly commented on the details beyond what was reported by Die Welt. Cointelegraph has reached out to the German Finance Ministry for further clarification.
This move is part of a broader European trend toward tighter cryptocurrency regulation. In recent months, Italy's central bank ordered sanctions screening for crypto transfers, and the European Union's Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation continues to shape how member states oversee digital assets. If adopted, Germany's tax change would represent one of the most consequential fiscal policies for crypto investors in the region, potentially influencing investment behavior and market dynamics across Europe.
What this means for crypto investors in Germany
For German crypto investors, the proposal introduces a critical planning window. Anyone acquiring digital assets before January 1, 2027 could still qualify for the current tax-free treatment after a one-year hold, provided the grandfathering clause remains intact in the final legislation. Those considering new purchases after that date would need to factor in a 25% tax on any future gains, regardless of holding period.
The proposal also signals a philosophical shift in how Germany views cryptocurrency — from a long-term investment vehicle to a taxable asset class akin to traditional securities. While the 25% rate is lower than Germany's top income tax rate, which can exceed 40%, it removes the incentive for ultra-long-term holding that previously existed.</n
Conclusion
Germany's draft proposal to impose a 25% flat tax on crypto gains from 2028 marks a notable departure from its historically lenient stance on long-term holders. With grandfathering protections for assets acquired before 2027, the policy aims to balance revenue generation with fairness to existing investors. As the draft moves through the legislative process, stakeholders in the crypto ecosystem will be watching closely for amendments and final details.
FAQs
Q1: When would the new 25% crypto tax take effect?
The German Finance Ministry's draft proposes that the tax apply to crypto assets acquired after January 1, 2027, with the new rate effective from 2028.
Q2: Will existing crypto holdings be affected?
Under the current draft, assets purchased before the January 1, 2027 cutoff would be grandfathered under the old rules, meaning they could still become tax-free after a one-year holding period.
Q3: Why is Germany changing its crypto tax policy?
The government expects to raise an additional 2 billion euros (about $2.3 billion) in revenue, and the move aligns crypto gains with the standard 25% capital gains tax applied to other investments.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Cryptocurrency markets are volatile and tax laws are subject to change. Readers should consult a qualified tax professional regarding their specific situation.
Originally published on CoinPulseHQ: https://coinpulsehq.com/germany-crypto-tax-proposal-2028/

Apple a annoncé mercredi, lors de son événement « Surprise and Shine », qu’elle introduisait Apple Reference Image, une fonctionnalité conçue pour prouver si une image capturée sur l’iPhone 18 Pro est authentique. La société affirme que cette fonctionnalité est « vitale pour les photojournalistes et les photographes », alors que les images générées et retouchées par IA deviennent de plus en plus difficiles à distinguer des photographies réelles.
Apple Reference Image fonctionne en capturant des données signées du capteur de la caméra principale au moment où une photo est prise. Ces données sont ensuite traitées via le service Apple Private Cloud Compute, qui génère une vue d’« image inaltérable » consultable dans l’application Photos. Cette image de référence agit comme un « négatif numérique », permettant aux utilisateurs de la comparer à d’autres versions de la même photo afin de détecter tout changement ou retouche.

Le bitcoin a grimpé jusqu’à un plus haut intraday de 87 000 $ avant de retomber à environ 85 000 $, un mouvement que Cointribune a indiqué comme ayant été amplifié par une vague de clôtures forcées de positions avec effet de levier. Sur l’ensemble du marché crypto, environ 1 milliard de dollars de positions ont été liquidées dans les 24 heures, les positions vendeuses représentant l’essentiel du total avec près de 900 millions de dollars.
La hausse du bitcoin a commencé à partir d’environ 75 000 $ la semaine précédente, et le niveau de 87 000 $ n’avait pas été atteint depuis janvier. Cointribune a rapporté que plus de 139 000 traders ont été liquidés et que la plus grande position unique dépassait 20 millions de dollars. Les chiffres ne concernant que le bitcoin ont montré 454 millions de dollars de positions courtes liquidées contre seulement 53 millions de dollars pour les positions longues, ce qui signifie que les shorts représentaient près de 90 % des données les plus récentes.

Listen Labs, a three-year-old AI market research startup, signed a term sheet for a $125 million Series C at a $1.5 billion valuation, but the round never closed. According to multiple sources familiar with the matter, the company walked away from the deal — a rare move in venture capital — to pursue acquisition talks with Salesforce, which has reportedly discussed buying the startup for around $2 billion.
The financing, which had Menlo Ventures set to lead, collapsed as Salesforce entered the picture. Business Insider first reported the acquisition discussions, noting they are not finalized and may not result in a deal. Listen Labs, Salesforce, and Menlo Ventures did not respond to requests for comment.
A rare walk-away in venture capital
Walking away from a signed term sheet is highly unusual and generally frowned upon in the VC community, according to investors. Startups typically view a signed term sheet as a binding commitment, and backing out can damage relationships with investors and signal instability. However, the prospect of a $2 billion acquisition — a 67x revenue multiple based on Listen Labs' estimated $30 million in annualized revenue — appears to have outweighed those concerns.
Listen Labs was previously valued at $500 million when it raised a $69 million Series B in late January, led by Ribbit Capital with participation from Sequoia, Conviction, and Pear VC. The company's rapid growth — revenue roughly three times that of competitor Simile — had positioned it for a significant valuation jump. In late July, Simile closed a $200 million Series B at a $2 billion valuation led by Greenoaks, setting a new benchmark that Listen Labs was expected to match or exceed.
Why Salesforce is interested
Listen Labs' AI conducts customer interviews over audio or video, generates survey questions, and packages findings into reports and presentations similar to those produced by human market researchers. Fortune 500 companies use such research to gauge customer satisfaction and product feedback, but traditional methods are costly and slow. Listen Labs' technology reduces both time and expense, enabling faster iteration on product changes.
For Salesforce, acquiring Listen Labs could strengthen its AI capabilities by predicting customer needs more accurately. However, one person with experience negotiating exits to Salesforce noted that the 67x revenue multiple may be too steep for the CRM giant to justify. If the talks collapse, several VCs told TechCrunch they expect Listen Labs to return to the market seeking a valuation of $2 billion or higher.
Competitive sector heats up
Listen Labs and Simile are part of a growing wave of startups applying AI to customer research. Competitors include Outset, Keplar, and Aaru, with some taking a synthetic approach — using AI to simulate human behavior and predict responses without interviewing real people. This distinction between automated real-human interviews and fully synthetic simulations is becoming a key differentiator in the space.
Listen Labs was co-founded in 2023 by Florian Jüngermann, a former German national champion in competitive programming, and Alfred Wahlforss, who previously founded staffing startup Bemlo. The two met while pursuing master's degrees at Harvard. Their startup counts Microsoft, Canva, Anthropic, and Sweetgreen among its customers.
As the AI-driven customer research market consolidates, the outcome of the Salesforce talks will be closely watched. A successful acquisition would mark one of the largest exits in the sector, while a collapse could trigger a competitive funding round at a significantly higher valuation. Either way, Listen Labs has demonstrated that AI-powered market research is no longer a niche experiment but a strategic asset worth billions.
This article discusses a potential acquisition and funding round. This is not financial advice, and the venture capital and M&A markets are volatile and uncertain. Deals may change or fall through.
Originally published on CoinPulseHQ: https://coinpulsehq.com/listen-labs-salesforce-acquisition-talks/

Le mercredi, Apple a dévoilé une refonte majeure de son application Santé en même temps que la nouvelle Apple Watch Series 12 et l’Ultra 4, introduisant un onglet Insights piloté par l’IA, un score de préparation quotidien et une nouvelle métrique « Health Age » qui compare vos données biologiques à votre âge chronologique. Cette refonte, propulsée par Apple Intelligence, s’inscrit dans la volonté plus large de l’entreprise de positionner l’iPhone et l’Apple Watch comme des centres névralgiques pour une gestion proactive de la santé.
Le changement le plus visible est le nouvel onglet Insights, qui remplace l’affichage récapitulatif statique par un flux dynamique mettant en avant les informations les plus pertinentes issues de vos données de santé. D’après Apple, l’onglet proposera des conseils personnalisés, des évaluations et des suggestions contextuelles — par exemple, en recommandant à un utilisateur d’ajouter davantage d’intervalles à une course du matin afin d’améliorer sa condition cardiovasculaire.

Apple est officiellement entré sur le marché des téléphones pliables mercredi 9 septembre 2026, dévoilant le Duo lors de son événement « Surprise and Shine ». Si le format de l’appareil constitue une première pour l’entreprise, la plus importante avancée d’ingénierie pourrait être dissimulée dans sa charnière : d’après le directeur du matériel (Chief Hardware Officer) Johny Srouji, elle a été conçue et fabriquée avec l’aide de l’IA et de l’impression 3D.
Lors de la keynote, Srouji a détaillé le processus en expliquant que la charnière est un élément essentiel pour un appareil soumis à bien plus de contraintes qu’un smartphone classique. Pour répondre aux inquiétudes liées à la durabilité qui ont touché d’autres modèles pliables, Apple a mis en place un procédé de fabrication qui utilise une intelligence artificielle afin d’assurer un alignement quasi parfait et une surface d’une grande douceur.

The US Senate returns to session this week with a narrow window to advance the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act, a bill that many in the cryptocurrency industry see as a critical step toward establishing federal rules for digital assets. If the legislation fails to overcome a procedural hurdle, the path to becoming law could stretch into a new Congress with potentially different political leadership, delaying any resolution until at least 2027 — and possibly much longer.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune has scheduled a cloture vote on the bill for Tuesday, Sept. 10. Republicans will need at least 60 votes to break a filibuster, which means support from a handful of Democrats is essential. The chamber has less than 36 legislative days remaining before the current session ends in January 2027, when a newly elected Congress is sworn in. With midterm elections set for November, control of both chambers is in play, and the outcome could fundamentally alter the bill's trajectory.
The legislative clock and what a failure means
Senator Cynthia Lummis, a Wyoming Republican and one of the CLARITY Act's most vocal supporters, warned on Sept. 6 that if the bill does not pass this year, the next realistic opportunity may not arrive until 2030. Lummis is not seeking reelection in 2026, making her departure a notable loss for the bill's advocates in the next Congress.
Should the cloture vote fail, the bill could be reintroduced in the 119th Congress, but it would have to start the legislative process over. If Democrats gain control of the Senate or the House in November, they would likely rewrite the bill to include stronger consumer protections and stricter oversight provisions, which many crypto firms have resisted. A complete overhaul or a full stop to the legislation is possible, depending on the priorities of new committee chairs.
The CLARITY Act is not the only crypto-related bill on the table. The GENIUS Act, which establishes a federal framework for stablecoins, passed earlier in this Congress and was signed into law by President Donald Trump. That law benefited from Republican control of both chambers and the White House — a trifecta that could vanish after the midterms.
Crypto money and the 2026 election cycle
The stakes of the election are amplified by the significant financial involvement of the crypto industry. Political action committees such as Fairshake, which is backed by Coinbase and Ripple Labs, have spent heavily in primaries and general elections to support candidates seen as friendly to digital assets.
One prominent example is Ohio's special Senate election, where former Senator Sherrod Brown — a Democrat who previously chaired the Senate Banking Committee — is running to reclaim a seat against Republican Jon Husted. Brown was defeated in 2024 by Bernie Moreno, a race in which crypto PACs spent millions on ads opposing him. Now, Brown is back, and the industry is again pouring money into the contest.
Not all industry-backed efforts have succeeded. In March, Illinois Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton won the Democratic Senate primary despite being targeted by crypto-funded attack ads. In Massachusetts, Representative Jake Auchincloss, who voted for the CLARITY Act, received about $189,000 in support from a Fairshake-affiliated PAC during his primary race. His opponent, Jason Poulos, criticized the influx of industry cash, saying it gives "oligarchs" outsized influence over representation and federal policy.
What a Democratic-controlled Congress could mean for crypto
If Democrats take either chamber, they would gain the ability to set the legislative agenda on digital assets. Key committee positions would shift, and bills like CLARITY would likely face amendments aimed at strengthening investor protections, increasing transparency, and giving regulators more enforcement tools. Industry groups that have praised the current bill for its clarity might find a revised version less favorable.
Even if the CLARITY Act fails, the executive branch's approach to crypto is unlikely to change before January 2029. President Trump has nominated Paul Atkins to chair the Securities and Exchange Commission and Michael Selig to lead the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, both of whom have signaled they will continue using existing regulatory authority to address digital assets if Congress does not act. A presidential veto would also remain a powerful check on any Democrat-passed legislation, requiring a two-thirds supermajority in both chambers to override.
Why this matters for the crypto industry and investors
The outcome of the CLARITY Act vote and the November elections will determine the near-term regulatory environment for cryptocurrencies in the United States. A clear federal framework could reduce compliance costs for exchanges and issuers, while a prolonged legislative stalemate could leave the industry in a state of uncertainty, with state-level regulations filling the void.
For individual investors, the lack of a market structure law means the classification of many digital assets remains murky, potentially affecting everything from tax treatment to trading access. The SEC and CFTC have both pursued enforcement actions against crypto firms, and without new legislation, those agencies will likely continue to operate under existing, sometimes conflicting, mandates.
Investors should note that the cryptocurrency market is highly volatile and regulatory developments can cause significant price swings. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Readers should conduct their own research before making any investment decisions.
Conclusion
The CLARITY Act faces a decisive test this week, but its fate is intertwined with the broader political sector. A failure to pass would not only delay regulatory clarity but also open the door for a new Congress to reshape the bill — or abandon it entirely. With midterm elections approaching, the crypto industry's influence on Capitol Hill is being tested as much as the legislation itself. The next few months will be critical in determining whether the United States moves toward a comprehensive federal framework for digital assets or continues with a patchwork of state and agency-level rules.
FAQs
Q1: What is the CLARITY Act?
The CLARITY Act, formally the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, is a US Senate bill that aims to establish a federal regulatory framework for digital assets, defining which tokens are securities and which are commodities, and assigning oversight to the SEC and CFTC.
Q2: What happens if the CLARITY Act fails the cloture vote?
If the bill fails to get 60 votes for cloture, it cannot proceed to a final vote in the Senate. It could be reintroduced in the next Congress, but it would need to start the legislative process over, and the new Congress may rewrite or drop the bill entirely.
Q3: How could the 2026 midterm elections affect crypto regulation?
If Democrats gain control of the Senate or House, they could push for a more consumer-protective version of the bill, add stricter provisions, or prioritize other issues. A divided government could also lead to gridlock, leaving the current regulatory uncertainty in place.
Originally published on CoinPulseHQ: https://coinpulsehq.com/clarity-act-failure-crypto-regulation-2026/

Les campagnes de distillation contre les modèles Claude d’Anthropic ont pris une ampleur telle qu’on compte désormais en centaines de millions. Dans un rapport publié jeudi, Anthropic a déclaré avoir observé environ 199 millions d’échanges liés à des attaques de distillation non autorisées, répartis sur cinq campagnes distinctes qu’elle attribue à des laboratoires d’IA basés en Chine, la plus grande initiative étant associée à la famille de modèles Qwen d’Alibaba.
Ce qu’Anthropic dit que les campagnes ressemblent à
La distillation est une technique d’apprentissage automatique standard : un modèle plus petit est entraîné à partir des sorties d’un modèle plus grand afin de transférer des capacités de raisonnement. Le point de friction, c’est le consentement. Anthropic affirme que la chaîne de pensée interne de ses modèles n’est pas exposée aux utilisateurs, et que des campagnes ont néanmoins trouvé des moyens d’en extraire ces traces.

Meta's new AI agent app, Muse, has climbed to the No. 2 spot on the US App Store's top charts, drawing more than 83,000 iOS downloads in the United States since its Tuesday launch, according to estimates from market intelligence firm Sensor Tower. The app is currently limited to US users, and its rise up the charts marks one of Meta's most ambitious pushes into consumer-facing agentic AI to date.
The milestone comes days after Meta agreed to an $18 billion multistate settlement over claims related to social media's consumer harms — a backdrop that could weigh on how quickly users adopt a product that requires handing over more personal information.
How Muse's debut stacks up against Meta's earlier launches
Muse's early numbers are modest when placed next to Meta's previous app debuts. Threads, the company's text-based Twitter rival, was downloaded more than 4.3 million times in the US on its launch day. The standalone Meta AI app saw 108,000 US downloads during its debut.
The comparison with ChatGPT is similarly uneven. In less than a week after its arrival, ChatGPT topped half a million installs in the US, which was its only market at the time. Divided evenly, that works out to roughly 83,300 downloads per day at its debut — a figure Muse took about twice as long to reach.
That gap does not necessarily signal a weak launch. Muse has been climbing steadily: it sat at No. 4 on the US App Store on Wednesday before moving up to No. 2. On Android, however, the picture is less flattering. The app has only reached No. 338 in the Productivity category on Google Play, and Android download figures are not yet available.
Sensor Tower's estimates also exclude usage through the web and WhatsApp, both of which Meta offers as access points for Muse. That means the true engagement picture is likely broader than the download data suggests.
Why Meta is betting on agents — and who else is racing
Muse represents Meta's wager that AI agents capable of completing tasks on a user's behalf will define the next phase of consumer AI. The company has framed the shift as comparable in strategic weight to its 2021 rebrand to Meta Platforms, when it pivoted toward the metaverse.
The competitive field is crowded. Google has pushed forward with Gemini Spark, Anthropic has Claude Cowork, and a wave of startups are targeting narrower use cases. Among consumer-facing agents, the most closely watched rival may be Instinct, an AI agent that operates over text messages and was recently valued at $2.5 billion.
Instinct has moved quickly. This week it rolled out email addresses for all users and announced it is building a social network in which one person's agent can coordinate plans with a friend's. It has also launched integrations with Stripe and 1Password, plus a location-sharing feature that lets the agent take actions requiring real-time location data. The company now has $350 million at its disposal.
Some observers argue that Instinct's approach — building a social graph around who people actually communicate with — could prove more durable than Meta's friend graph, which blends real connections with passive follows. Instinct has drawn scrutiny, too, over security concerns and a privacy policy that critics describe as broad and permissive.
What to watch next
Muse's trajectory over the coming weeks will be a test of whether Meta can convert its enormous existing user base into agent adoption. The app's climb to No. 2 suggests momentum, but the Android ranking of No. 338 indicates the company has significant ground to cover on Google's platform.
Meta will also face questions about data handling. The company has been fined multiple times by the US Federal Trade Commission over privacy violations and has weathered several large data scandals. How Muse handles user information — and how regulators respond — could shape adoption as much as feature quality does.
Meanwhile, Instinct's rapid shipping cadence and fresh capital give it room to expand its feature set before Meta can establish a lead. If agents do become the primary interface for consumer AI, the battle between Meta's distribution advantage and Instinct's social-graph strategy may be the contest to watch.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Early adoption metrics and valuations in the AI sector are volatile and may change rapidly.
Originally published on CoinPulseHQ: https://coinpulsehq.com/meta-muse-ai-agent-app-store-downloads/

OpenAI has temporarily stopped accepting new subscribers to its $200-a-month Pro plan, a move its product lead attributed to demand for the company's newest model overwhelming the infrastructure behind it. Thibault Sottiaux, who leads core products including ChatGPT and Codex, announced the pause on X, saying the Pro tier places the heaviest load on OpenAI's systems of any plan it sells.
"We wanted to take the smallest step that allows us to continue giving the broadest access possible," Sottiaux wrote. Sign-ups for the top tier are now disabled, while ChatGPT's API access and the lower-cost Go and Plus plans remain open to new customers.
What OpenAI actually said
The company had signaled the change in advance. In an earlier post, Sottiaux described demand for the new model, Astra, as far beyond anything OpenAI had handled before — including periods of very steep growth. He said the company was "pulling all the levers possible to sustain the demand" and warned that new Pro subscriptions might have to be paused if the surge continued.
Sottiaux framed the priority plainly: keeping service quality high for people already paying for the plan comes before adding more of them. OpenAI has not said how long the freeze will run, nor has it disclosed how many people are subscribing each day — figures that would help outsiders judge the scale of the problem.
One detail suggests the pressure is recent rather than structural. OpenAI raised usage limits for Codex users as recently as last month, a change that points to capacity being managed month by month rather than years in advance.
Why one model launch can bend a whole platform
Astra arrived on September 3 and has been rolling out across Pro, Plus, Enterprise, and Business accounts, in addition to OpenAI's own products. The company pitched it as a generational step in AI reasoning, coding, and computer use — the three areas where frontier labs compete hardest — and went as far as describing it as the start of what it called the "AGI era."
That framing has a practical cost. Heavier models consume more compute per request, and reasoning-style workloads that "think" for longer before answering can multiply that cost again. The $200 Pro tier, which tends to attract the users running the most demanding workloads, is the natural place for that strain to show up first.
The wider industry has run into the same wall. Google, Anthropic, and xAI have all dealt with capacity crunches during major launches, and the pattern is now familiar: a model ships, usage spikes, and a provider either throttles certain users or absorbs the cost of keeping everything open. What stands out here is that the constraint is showing up on revenue rather than on usage limits — OpenAI is turning away paying customers, not capping the ones it has.
What this means if you use ChatGPT
• Existing Pro subscribers: unaffected. The company said its priority is maintaining service quality for current users.
• New Pro hopefuls: you cannot sign up right now, and there is no published date for when that changes.
• Plus, Go, and API users: still available, including for new customers.
For anyone weighing a paid tier, the practical advice is unchanged: pick the plan that matches your actual usage rather than the top of the range. A $200 monthly plan is built for heavy, sustained workloads — API development, long coding sessions, large-scale document work — not for occasional chat use, and the current freeze removes that choice for now regardless.
The pressure is not confined to OpenAI. Compute supply, data-center power, and the lead times on new accelerators are industry-wide constraints, and every major lab is competing for the same capacity. A launch this large effectively pulls forward demand that would otherwise have spread across a longer period, which is why infrastructure strain tends to arrive suddenly rather than building gradually.
There is no published end date for the pause. The clearest signal to watch is OpenAI's own messaging: a resumption of Pro sign-ups would indicate the company believes it has headroom again, while any further tightening — new rate limits, delayed rollouts, or changes to Astra access by tier — would suggest the crunch is deepening rather than easing.
This article covers a service availability change, not an investment recommendation. It is not financial advice, and markets and technology-sector valuations are volatile and uncertain.
Originally published on CoinPulseHQ: https://coinpulsehq.com/openai-pauses-pro-subscriptions-astra-demand/

Complaints to the United Kingdom's housing ombudsman more than doubled between 2022 and last year, rising from 2,600 to just over 7,000, according to figures cited by researcher Chris Schmitz. Over the same period, the United States' Consumer Financial Protection Bureau saw its complaint volume grow roughly fivefold. Neither agency changed its remit, its staffing model, or its publicity strategy. What changed, Schmitz argues, is the ease with which people can now file a complaint at all.
Schmitz is tracking the phenomenon as part of a broader trend he calls agentic flooding — the rapid rise in applications, petitions, and filings that occurs once AI assistants make administrative tasks trivial to complete. His paper, set to be presented next month at the AI Ethics and Society conference, examines 84 potential cases of flooding across 11 jurisdictions, spanning welfare applications, official judicial appeals, and everything in between.
A pattern that predates every specific AI product
The cases Schmitz examined share a consistent shape. Submissions in each jurisdiction were roughly flat before 2022, then began rising at an accelerating pace as AI technology diffused into everyday use. Crucially, most of the 84 cases had not yet seen that growth slow down, suggesting the trend is likely to continue for years.
Alongside the UK housing ombudsman and the CFPB, Schmitz documented similar jumps in Brazilian judicial petitions and German parliamentary petitions. His full dataset is hosted publicly for other researchers to examine. For methodological reasons, the paper stops short of declaring AI the direct cause of the surge — but the correlation across jurisdictions and service types is difficult to attribute to coincidence.
Schmitz points to a simple mechanism. "People are finding out that this is something one can do, and incrementally, it is just getting easier to do it," he told TechCrunch. "Before it might have been a question of a lot of dragging context together and prompting ChatGPT 3.5 very precisely, it may now be a question of just pasting or taking a photo of a letter with your Claude app and getting a pretty good response in one shot."
The bug bounty parallel — and where it breaks down
The surge has a close analogue in the security industry. Last year, bug-bounty programs reported being overwhelmed by low-quality vulnerability reports generated by large language models. The reports rarely contained genuine security issues, yet companies were still obligated to triage each one, consuming significant engineering resources.
Public services face a superficially similar problem: the same budget, five times the applicants. But Schmitz's data points to a different conclusion. "The vast majority of cases we find are people who are entitled to claim for something, claiming for that thing," he told TechCrunch.
If those people were not claiming benefits or filing complaints before, it was often because the process itself was too forbidding. Policy researchers call this administrative burden — the friction of forms, deadlines, and documentation that quietly excludes people from services they are legally entitled to use. AI tools, in Schmitz's framing, are lifting some of that burden for the first time.
An opportunity rather than a crisis
That distinction matters for how governments respond. A service that treats every new filing as potential spam will invest in filtering, verification, and rejection. A service that treats the surge as evidence of previously suppressed demand might instead redesign its intake process entirely.
Schmitz leans toward the second approach. "A big part of making AI go well is being able to detail out what the good version of things looks like," he said. "And anyone who's ever used ChatGPT to do the tax return knows that there's a good version here where you're being helped. This could be the moment to say, 'we need to rethink pretty much everything about how this process looks.'"
The practical work, however, has barely begun. Most of the jurisdictions in Schmitz's dataset have not yet adjusted their processes, staffing, or digital infrastructure to account for AI-assisted filing. Omudbsman offices and consumer bureaus continue to operate on intake systems designed for a pre-2022 baseline.
What happens next depends partly on whether governments treat the increase as a resource problem or a design problem. The paper's presentation next month is likely to draw attention from civil servants and regulators already grappling with the same question — and Schmitz's data suggests the volume will keep rising regardless of which answer they choose.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is agentic flooding?Agentic flooding is a term coined by researcher Chris Schmitz to describe the rapid growth in applications, complaints, and petitions submitted to public services as AI tools make it easier to complete administrative tasks that were previously too burdensome to pursue.
Are AI-generated public service requests a form of spam?Schmitz's research suggests the opposite is more common: the vast majority of new filings come from people with legitimate claims who previously were deterred by the administrative burden of applying. A smaller share of submissions are clearly adversarial.
How much have complaints increased in the UK and US?Complaints to the UK housing ombudsman rose from 2,600 in 2022 to just over 7,000 last year, while the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau saw complaint volumes grow roughly fivefold over the same period.
What should governments do about the surge in AI-assisted applications?Schmitz argues the increase is an opportunity to redesign public services to be more AI-friendly, rather than treating the additional volume purely as a resource problem to be filtered out.
Originally published on CoinPulseHQ: https://coinpulsehq.com/ai-agents-public-service-requests-agentic-flooding/

Robinhood's cryptocurrency trading volume climbed 61% month over month to $17.5 billion in August 2026, yet the total still sat 38% below the same month a year earlier, according to the brokerage's August monthly operating report published on Thursday.
The figures underline a split picture for the company's crypto business: sequential momentum is improving, but the year-on-year comparison remains firmly negative as the exchange space and retail trading activity continue to shift.
Bitstamp overtakes the Robinhood app
Bitstamp, the crypto exchange Robinhood acquired in June 2025, accounted for $10.1 billion of August's volume, while trading on the flagship Robinhood app contributed $7.4 billion.
Bitstamp's volume rose 53% from July but declined 30% year-on-year. The Robinhood app posted a stronger sequential gain of 72%, yet its volume fell 46% compared with August 2025 — meaning the app now trails the acquired exchange by a meaningful margin. The report also noted that volume from the Robinhood Chain was not included in the totals.
The divergence is not new. In the second quarter, Bitstamp generated $22 billion of Robinhood's $40 billion in total crypto volume, against $18 billion from the app, reinforcing Bitstamp's role as the larger engine of the company's crypto activity.
Crypto revenue falls even as the broader business grows
Robinhood's crypto transaction revenue dropped 38% year-on-year to $100 million in the second quarter, down from roughly $160 million a year earlier. The decline was more than offset by growth in event contracts, options, and equities, allowing the brokerage to report record quarterly revenue and earnings.
That pattern suggests the company's diversification strategy is helping cushion a softer crypto market, even as digital-asset trading volumes remain well below their 2025 peaks.
Why this matters for readers and the wider market
Robinhood's monthly disclosures are closely watched as a real-time proxy for retail crypto participation. A month-on-month rebound signals that retail traders returned to the market in August, but the steep year-on-year drop indicates activity is still far from the levels seen during the prior cycle's peak. Combined with the Bitstamp-heavy volume mix, the data highlights how much of Robinhood's crypto expansion now depends on institutional and exchange-based flows rather than its core retail app.
Conclusion
Robinhood entered September with improving monthly crypto volumes but a still-negative annual trend. Bitstamp remains the larger contributor to digital-asset trading activity, while growth in equities, options, and event contracts has kept overall revenue at record highs. Readers tracking the company should watch whether the sequential recovery in crypto volume continues — and whether it eventually translates into a year-on-year rebound.
This article reflects company-reported figures and is not financial advice. Cryptocurrency markets are volatile and uncertain, and past trading volumes do not guarantee future results.
FAQs
Q1: How much crypto volume did Robinhood report in August 2026?
Robinhood reported $17.5 billion in total crypto trading volume for August 2026, up 61% month over month but down 38% year over year. Bitstamp accounted for $10.1 billion and the Robinhood app for $7.4 billion.
Q2: Why is Bitstamp's volume higher than the Robinhood app's?
Bitstamp, acquired by Robinhood in June 2025, serves a more international and institutional-leaning client base. In both the second quarter and August, it contributed a larger share of Robinhood's crypto volume than the flagship app.
Q3: Is Robinhood's crypto revenue still declining?
Yes. Crypto transaction revenue fell 38% year over year to $100 million in the second quarter of 2026, though growth in event contracts, options, and equities offset the decline and helped the company post record quarterly revenue and earnings.
Originally published on CoinPulseHQ: https://coinpulsehq.com/robinhood-crypto-volume-august-2026/

Le PDG de Nvidia, Jensen Huang, a utilisé sa présence à la conférence Communacopia + Technology de Goldman Sachs, jeudi, pour répéter un chiffre qui serait extraordinaire pour presque n’importe quelle entreprise à cette échelle : environ 70 % de croissance annuelle des revenus l’an prochain. Les analystes s’attendent à ce que Nvidia clôture son exercice fiscal actuel à environ 400 milliards de dollars, ce qui placerait le chiffre de l’an prochain près de 680 milliards.
Le PDG de Nvidia, Jensen Huang, a déclaré que l’entreprise pourrait faire croître ses revenus d’environ 70 % d’une année sur l’autre l’an prochain, ce qui représenterait environ 680 milliards de dollars contre 400 milliards de dollars attendus pour cet exercice fiscal. Il a cité la demande dans tous les grands laboratoires d’IA et fournisseurs de cloud et a indiqué que les commandes d’un seul système Grace-Blackwell progressent de 27 % d’un mois sur l’autre.

Kakao Pay and KakaoBank have signed a memorandum of understanding with crypto infrastructure provider Fireblocks to test stablecoin and other digital asset infrastructure in South Korea, Cointelegraph reported on Sept. 22, 2026. Fireblocks said in its Sept. 21 announcement that the three companies will run proof-of-concept tests built around South Korean regulatory, security and service requirements.
The agreement does not announce a stablecoin, an investment amount, a commercial product or a deployment date, according to Crypto.news. The companies plan to assess infrastructure demand and possible digital asset businesses before deciding whether any framework advances beyond testing.
Key facts
• Kakao Pay and KakaoBank signed the MoU with Fireblocks; Fireblocks dated its announcement Sept. 21, 2026, and Cointelegraph published its report Sept. 22, 2026.
• The parties will run proof-of-concept tests covering South Korea's regulatory, security and service requirements, and will examine distribution frameworks before testing their practical use.
• Fireblocks says its platform is used by more than 2,500 institutions, including over 100 banks, and supports custody, settlement, stablecoin payments, tokenization, trading and compliance across more than 200 blockchains.
• Kakao Group signed a separate July MoU with Circle covering blockchain-based payment infrastructure and won-denominated stablecoin research.
• Fireblocks identified Kakao Pay CEO Shin Won-keun and KakaoBank CEO Yun Ho-young as co-heads of Kakao Group's Stablecoin Task Force, a detail Crypto.news reported.
What the agreement covers
Fireblocks described secure onchain infrastructure as the central technical area of the agreement, with stablecoins receiving specific attention. The announcement states that no single technical design has been selected publicly, and it does not specify a blockchain, token standard, reserve structure, custody model or consumer rollout plan.
Kakao Pay brings mobile payments and financial services to the project, while KakaoBank, one of South Korea's largest internet-only banks, provides the banking component. Both sit inside the wider Kakao ecosystem.
KakaoBank CEO Yun said the parties expect to combine their technology and expertise to "develop secure and accessible digital asset services," a statement that describes an intended direction rather than a confirmed product launch. Kakao Pay CEO Shin said Korea's developing digital asset market "depends on the reliable flow of digital asset distribution." Neither Kakao company disclosed whether a future stablecoin would be issued directly by a bank, another Kakao entity or an outside issuer.
Fireblocks CEO Michael Shaulov said infrastructure for Korean banks and payment platforms needs to be "engineered to meet institutional requirements from day one." The agreement does not state whether Kakao Pay or KakaoBank has committed to using Fireblocks in a production environment.
Fireblocks platform figures
Fireblocks says its technology has been deployed by more than 2,500 institutions, including over 100 banks. Separate data on the company's website says its network processes more than $200 billion in monthly stablecoin volume through more than 300 payment service providers, fintech companies and banks. Those are Fireblocks' own platform statistics and were not presented as Kakao transaction volumes.
The Circle agreement came first
The Fireblocks pact follows Kakao Group's July agreement with Circle, which the reports describe as covering stablecoin payments, blockchain settlement and digital asset infrastructure. Under that arrangement, Kakao said it would combine its consumer platform network, Kakao Pay's payment services, KakaoBank's banking operations and Circle's blockchain technology, with the parties discussing payment and settlement infrastructure, remittances and connections between blockchain networks and existing financial systems.
No won-denominated stablecoin was launched under the July MoU. Crypto.news reported that Kakao and Circle had not set a launch date or confirmed a particular issuance model, while Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire had previously said Circle did not plan to issue its own KRW stablecoin. Crypto.news also reported that the Fireblocks agreement introduces another infrastructure provider into Kakao Group's stablecoin research without replacing or ending the Circle arrangement, and that Fireblocks' announcement does not describe Circle's role in the new proof-of-concept tests or state whether the two relationships will share technology.
Why it matters
Kakao Pay and KakaoBank are among several South Korean financial and technology companies exploring stablecoin opportunities while the country develops its regulatory framework for digital assets. In May, KB Financial Group completed a won-denominated stablecoin pilot covering issuance, offline merchant payments and cross-border remittances, and in July fintech company Toss partnered with Optimism and Sunnyside Labs on a proof of concept for won-based stablecoin payment infrastructure.
The legal framework itself remains unfinished. South Korea's Financial Services Commission has said its planned framework law for digital assets will include stablecoins. The FSC said in August that discussions over the government's second-stage digital asset legislation were still underway and cautioned that some reported provisions had not been finalized, specifically rejecting claims that a proposed ownership cap for major crypto-exchange shareholders had already been settled. A Bank of Korea payment systems report published Sept. 17 said the central bank had created a Digital Asset Research Section after South Korea's Virtual Asset User Protection Act took effect, and that the unit has participated in legislative discussions concerning KRW-denominated stablecoins.
What to watch
The proof-of-concept results and any decision by Kakao Pay or KakaoBank to move a framework beyond testing are the next concrete milestones; the MoU sets no timeline for that. Movement on the FSC's digital asset framework law, including its stablecoin provisions, will shape whether bank- and payment-linked stablecoin work in South Korea can reach commercial deployment.
Originally published on CoinPulseHQ: https://coinpulsehq.com/kakao-pay-kakaobank-fireblocks-stablecoin-mou/