Industry News

Tracks company news, strategic changes, funding activities, and personnel adjustments across the blockchain and crypto industries, delivering a full-spectrum industry overview for our users.

Kraken Cuts 150+ Jobs as AI Reshapes Crypto Exchange Operations

Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has reportedly laid off over 150 employees as part of cost reductions achieved through company-wide AI implementation. The move has delayed Kraken's planned U.S. initial public offering (IPO) until at least next year, with a public listing goal now set for 2027. The layoffs reflect a broader industry trend, where AI-driven efficiencies have contributed to significant workforce reductions across crypto firms this year, including a major cut of 4,000 staff at Block Inc. earlier in 2026. Amid a declining crypto market impacting public companies' finances, Kraken joins other firms like data provider Dune in restructuring and focusing on core operations.

TheNewsCrypto05/18 14:16

Kraken Cuts 150+ Jobs as AI Reshapes Crypto Exchange Operations

TheNewsCrypto05/18 14:16

Goldman Sachs Dumps XRP and Solana ETFs in Major Crypto Portfolio Shake-Up

In a significant portfolio shift, Goldman Sachs has eliminated its holdings in XRP and Solana exchange-traded funds (ETFs) as of Q1 2026, according to SEC filings. The bank's Q4 2025 filing had shown about $154 million invested across four XRP ETFs, but these positions were absent in the subsequent quarter. While divesting from these altcoin products, Goldman Sachs maintained substantial investments in Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs. It held $690 million in BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) and $25 million in Fidelity's Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC), despite a 10% reduction in each. Its stake in the iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA) was cut by over 70%, leaving a position worth approximately $114 million. The move highlights the bank's strategic reallocation within the crypto ETF space, favoring the two largest digital assets over other alternatives like XRP and Solana.

TheNewsCrypto05/18 13:37

Goldman Sachs Dumps XRP and Solana ETFs in Major Crypto Portfolio Shake-Up

TheNewsCrypto05/18 13:37

From 'Cash Incinerator' to 'Money Printing Machine': ChangXin Technology's Remarkable Turnaround, Raking in 50 Billion in Half a Year

Changxin Technology: From "Money Incinerator" to "Money Printer" in Six Months Changxin Technology, a Chinese DRAM chipmaker once dubbed a "money incinerator" for years of massive losses, has staged a staggering financial turnaround. Its updated IPO prospectus reveals explosive 2026 first-half results: revenue forecast of 110-120 billion yuan (up 613-677% year-on-year) and net profit of 50-57 billion yuan (up 2244-2544% year-on-year). This half-year profit rivals that of major state-owned energy giants. The reversal stems from a historic memory chip super-cycle fueled by AI. Massive demand from AI servers, consuming 8-10x more DRAM than traditional servers, coupled with a supply crunch as major players shift capacity to premium HBM, has driven DRAM prices to multi-year highs. As China's only large-scale DRAM IDM (integrated design and manufacturing) firm, Changxin was positioned to capitalize. With upgraded product lines (DDR5/LPDDR5) and high capacity utilization, it achieved both volume and price increases, doubling its global market share to 7.67% in just half a year. This follows a decade of heavy investment and losses totaling 36.65 billion yuan, a gamble led by Chairman Zhu Yiming, who famously vowed to take no salary until the company was profitable. The IPO aims to raise 29.5 billion yuan, implying a valuation that some analysts project could reach 1-2 trillion yuan long-term. Debate persists over the sustainability of profits given DRAM's cyclicality, but supporters point to structurally sustained AI demand and Changxin's strategic national importance. The story is a textbook financial comeback, rewarding persistent investment in a critical industry.

marsbit05/18 13:04

From 'Cash Incinerator' to 'Money Printing Machine': ChangXin Technology's Remarkable Turnaround, Raking in 50 Billion in Half a Year

marsbit05/18 13:04

Meme Wrapped Contracts: Is alt.fun Real Innovation or a Pseudo-Need?

A new platform called alt.fun on Hyperliquid has gained attention by merging meme coin creation with leveraged futures trading. Unlike typical meme platforms like Pump.fun, alt.fun requires creators to select an underlying asset (like HYPE or S&P 500) and a leverage level (2x, 3x, or 5x) to take a long or short position. The issued meme token is directly linked to a corresponding leveraged token (LT) on BounceTech, which represents that perpetual contract position. This means the token's price is driven by both the standard bonding curve (community buying/selling) and the performance of its leveraged underlying asset, allowing value to increase even without new purchases. The platform's "graduation" to a DEX pool requires a市值 of $9,000, achievable through market demand or underlying asset growth. While this mechanism can amplify gains in trending markets, it also introduces significant risks from asset volatility, leverage decay during rebalancing, and potential liquidation during sharp price moves. Despite early traction—with its top token ALT reaching an $8.8M market cap—alt.fun faces challenges. Its limited selection of 14 underlying assets constrains variety, leading to tokens with identical financial profiles. More fundamentally, critics argue it misunderstands the meme coin ethos: its tokens are primarily financial instruments tied to asset performance, lacking the community-driven narratives and cultural appeal essential for sustaining meme coin value. The article concludes that while mechanically innovative, alt.fun may be better suited as a niche DeFi product than a true meme platform.

marsbit05/18 12:45

Meme Wrapped Contracts: Is alt.fun Real Innovation or a Pseudo-Need?

marsbit05/18 12:45

Dialogue with Figure Robotics Founder: Behind the $39 Billion Valuation Lies Ambition to Mass-Produce Millions of Units

Title: Figure's Founder on the $39B Valuation and the Ambition to Mass Produce a Million Humanoid Robots In a Sourcery podcast interview, Figure founder and CEO Brett Adcock discusses the rapid rise of his humanoid robotics company. With a valuation that surged 15x in 18 months to $39 billion, Figure aims to create general-purpose humanoid robots for work in factories and homes. Adcock states that the company's primary goal is to make robots that perform real, paid work autonomously. He shares Figure's aggressive scaling plan: producing thousands of robots this year, with an ultimate ambition to reach one million units annually. Adcock explains Figure's vertically integrated strategy, designing its own motors, sensors, and joints to control its supply chain and destiny. He details the challenges, including achieving long-term, reliable, end-to-end autonomous operation—a feat no one has yet accomplished. The biggest risk is executing this complex vision at scale, but Adcock believes the potential market is enormous, representing a significant portion of global GDP. The interview also covers his departure from OpenAI, citing that Figure's internal AI team eventually surpassed OpenAI's capabilities for robotics applications. Adcock concludes by highlighting his focus for the year: large-scale commercial deployment of robots and advancing toward a "general robot" capable of any human task, potentially seeing the first signs of AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) in the physical world at Figure.

marsbit05/18 10:26

Dialogue with Figure Robotics Founder: Behind the $39 Billion Valuation Lies Ambition to Mass-Produce Millions of Units

marsbit05/18 10:26

Why Did OpenAI Decide to Make a Phone? ChatGPT Is Taking the Permissions Apple Won't Give

The article discusses OpenAI's surprising move into developing its own AI-powered smartphone, reportedly targeting a 2027 launch. Initially driven by faith that superior AI models alone would secure its dominance—evidenced by ChatGPT's viral success—OpenAI now faces a strategic pivot. Key challenges include slower-than-expected revenue growth and competition from rivals like Anthropic's Claude Code, which successfully monetized a specific, high-value user base (developers) by deeply integrating into workflows. OpenAI recognizes that for ChatGPT to evolve from a conversational tool into a true "AI Agent" that completes tasks (e.g., booking travel, managing files), it needs direct system-level permissions and a default user interface. Currently, as a service integrated into platforms like Apple's iOS and Microsoft's Windows, ChatGPT lacks the necessary access and control ("sovereignty") over hardware, data, and user interactions. Building its own device is seen as a way to give ChatGPT its "first body"—a dedicated terminal where it can operate with full autonomy, bypassing the limitations imposed by partner ecosystems. This shift underscores a broader realization: in the AI Agent era, owning the end-user device and experience is critical to capturing value and maintaining competitive advantage, even if it means directly competing with former allies like Apple.

marsbit05/18 10:19

Why Did OpenAI Decide to Make a Phone? ChatGPT Is Taking the Permissions Apple Won't Give

marsbit05/18 10:19

AI Benefits Senior Staff? 40% of CEOs Plan to Cut Junior Positions, Young People's Jobs Are More at Risk

The traditional assumption that senior employees are first in line during layoffs is being inverted in the AI era. A survey of 415 CEOs by Oliver Wyman and the NYSE reveals 43% plan to cut entry-level positions in the next 1-2 years to shift towards a mid-to-senior talent structure, a sharp rise from 17% last year. The logic is that AI excels at automating routine, cognitive tasks typically handled by junior staff (e.g., coding, data review), while the experience and judgment of senior employees remain harder to replicate. Research indicates this shift primarily manifests as a hiring freeze for junior roles rather than mass layoffs. Goldman Sachs estimates AI currently nets a loss of about 16,000 US jobs monthly, disproportionately impacting Generation Z concentrated in highly automatable white-collar roles. This raises long-term concerns about a broken talent pipeline, as companies risk having no future senior managers trained internally. Despite the dominant trend, a minority of successful AI adopters, like IBM and Salesforce, are expanding junior hiring, arguing these employees are adept at using and building AI tools. However, most companies are still in early AI deployment phases, with 67% in planning/pilot stages and many reporting returns below expectations. The overarching reality is a weakening of job security across all levels, as organizations reshape for an AI-augmented, leaner future.

marsbit05/18 05:00

AI Benefits Senior Staff? 40% of CEOs Plan to Cut Junior Positions, Young People's Jobs Are More at Risk

marsbit05/18 05:00

The AI Mirror Behind DeepSeek's Financing: Alibaba to the Left, Tencent to the Right

The DeepSeek financing round exposed a strategic divergence in AI approaches between Alibaba and Tencent. When the AI startup sought external funding, Alibaba reportedly sought "ecosystem control," wanting to deeply integrate DeepSeek's technology into its own platforms like Taobao and Aliyun. Tencent, in contrast, offered a minority financial investment without demands for exclusivity or control over the startup's technical direction, aligning with its historical "open ecosystem" strategy. ByteDance, largely absent from these talks, pursues a third path: massive in-house investment in its own model, Doubao. These choices stem from corporate DNA: Alibaba's e-commerce and cloud heritage favors closed-loop control, while Tencent's social and investment background prefers open connection. Alibaba, with its mature in-house AI stack (Tongyi Qianwen, Pingtouge chips), could afford to walk away. Tencent's self-developed Hunyuan model, though catching up, allows it to engage externally from a position of greater flexibility. The article posits these strategies—Alibaba's "castle" of vertical integration, Tencent's "port" of open ecosystems, and ByteDance's aggressive C-end push—will lead to a sustained, multi-polar competitive landscape in China's AI sector, rather than a single winner-takes-all outcome.

marsbit05/18 04:43

The AI Mirror Behind DeepSeek's Financing: Alibaba to the Left, Tencent to the Right

marsbit05/18 04:43

How Did Institutions Adjust Their Crypto Asset Holdings in Q1? Who Increased and Who Exited?

The Q1 2026 13F filings reveal a sharply divided picture of institutional activity in crypto assets. Sovereign wealth funds and bank capital increased exposure, while major endowment funds notably de-risked. The most significant buying came from the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala, which expanded its position in the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT). JPMorgan Chase dramatically increased its IBIT exposure by 174%, with other global banks like RBC, Scotiabank, and Barclays also adding to Bitcoin ETF holdings, while using options for asymmetric protection. Conversely, the Harvard Management Company (Harvard University's endowment), once a major academic holder, cut its IBIT position by 43% and fully exited a BlackRock Ethereum ETF. The reallocated capital flowed into traditional assets like TSMC, Microsoft, and gold. Other Ivy League endowments showed varied strategies: Brown and Dartmouth maintained Bitcoin positions, with Dartmouth making a nuanced shift by moving Ethereum exposure to a staking ETF and adding a Solana staking ETF to capture yield. Hedge fund Jane Street significantly reduced Bitcoin ETF holdings, locking in profits, while Wells Fargo increased its Ethereum stake. Overall, institutions are deploying traditional capital market tactics—buying, selling, hedging, and rotating—within crypto via spot ETFs. The Q2 reports will be crucial to determine if Harvard's retreat is an outlier or the start of a broader trend among endowments.

marsbit05/18 02:55

How Did Institutions Adjust Their Crypto Asset Holdings in Q1? Who Increased and Who Exited?

marsbit05/18 02:55

Encrypted ETF Weekly Report | Last Week, US Bitcoin Spot ETF Net Outflow $9.95 Billion; US Ethereum Spot ETF Net Outflow $255 Million

Last week, U.S. Bitcoin spot ETFs saw significant net outflows totaling $995 million over three days, with a major contribution of $317 million from BlackRock's IBIT. Their total net asset value (NAV) stands at $104.2 billion. U.S. Ethereum spot ETFs also experienced net outflows of $255 million over five days, largely from BlackRock's ETHA ($186 million out), bringing their total NAV to $12.93 billion. In Hong Kong, Bitcoin spot ETFs recorded a net outflow of 24.91 BTC, reducing their NAV to $323 million. Hong Kong's Ethereum spot ETFs saw no inflows, with an NAV of $68.13 million. U.S. Bitcoin spot ETF options showed increased activity, with a total nominal trading volume of $797 million and a put/call trading ratio of 1.63, indicating a bullish market sentiment. The total open interest reached $23.08 billion. Key developments include VanEck and Grayscale simultaneously filing amended proposals for BNB ETFs, signaling potential SEC review progress. Grayscale also filed for the first U.S. privacy coin ETF (Zcash). Avenir Group remains Asia's largest institutional holder of Bitcoin ETFs. 21Shares launched an actively managed crypto ETF (TKNS), and Bitwise's Hyperliquid ETF (BHYP) is set to list on the NYSE. Institutional activity varied: JPMorgan dramatically increased its Bitcoin ETF holdings (IBIT up 174%), while Jane Street significantly reduced its exposure (IBIT down 71%). Dartmouth College disclosed holdings of $7.7M in Bitcoin ETF and $3.4M in a Solana ETF.

链捕手05/18 02:01

Encrypted ETF Weekly Report | Last Week, US Bitcoin Spot ETF Net Outflow $9.95 Billion; US Ethereum Spot ETF Net Outflow $255 Million