DMind.ai is an open-source AGI research lab aiming to create a robust, transparent AI infrastructure for digital finance, starting with Web3, which includes cryptocurrency, DeFi, and real-world asset tokenization. The goal is to create open AI models, benchmarks, and datasets rooted in deep, expert-curated knowledge, supported by a global open-source community. The goal is to empower developers, builders, and researchers across the digital financial ecosystem by sharing tools and research. DMind-1. Fully open-source and built on the robust Qwen3-32B model, DMind-1 is fine-tuned specifically for the nuanced world of Web3: Expert-Level Understanding: DMind-1 excels at complex crypto topics such as DeFi protocols, tokenomics, smart contracts, and strategic investment planning. Enhanced Accuracy and Reasoning: It demonstrates significant improvements in Web3 task accuracy, expert-level reasoning, and provides reliable, precise interactions. Cost-Effective Excellence: Impressively, DMind-1 outperforms larger, general-purpose, general-purpose models on Web3-specific tasks—all at just 10-30% of their token cost. DMind.ai also launched the “DMind Web3 Benchmark,” the first comprehensive evaluation standard designed exclusively for Web3-specific reasoning and domain expertise. The benchmark quickly made waves, skyrocketing to the #1 spot on Huggingface’s dataset rankings shortly after release. This open-source evaluation suite contains thousands of expert-reviewed questions spanning nine core areas – from blockchain fundamentals and infrastructure to DeFi, NFTs, DAOs, token economics, security, and more. The benchmark provides precise domain-level scoring, empowering precise model comparisons and fostering deeper community insights.
Endless’s on-chain AI platform combines Stability’s image generation tech that lets users transform simple sketches into high-quality, stylistically consistent images for building Web3 apps
Endless Web3 Genesis Cloud aims to accelerate the adoption of decentralized artificial intelligence (AI) by integrating Stability AI’s image generation capabilities with its robust Web3 infrastructure. Supported by academic resources from the University of Surrey, Endless bridges Web2 and Web3 ecosystems, offering a one-stop platform for building Web3 applications with a Web2-level user experience. Its modular framework enables efficient AI application development, facilitating the rise of hyper-intelligent AI agent systems. Endless’s custom Sketch-to-Image workflow enhances its product offering. Utilizing Stability AI’s technology will initially target high-demand, pain-point-intensive use cases, showcasing the enhanced user experiences enabled by technical synergies. Key applications include: Streamlined Content Creation: By integrating Stability AI’s “sketch-to-image” functionality with Endless’ on-chain AI infrastructure, users can transform simple sketches into high-quality, stylistically consistent images. This lowers the creative barrier, encouraging broader participation while boosting efficiency for professional creators through AI-driven style learning and automated complex draft generation. On-Chain Assetization and Trading: Creators can leverage Stability AI’s AI-generated content (AIGC) tools to produce works efficiently, then use Endless’ to mint these creations as on-chain assets, such as non-fungible tokens (NFTs), ensuring verifiable ownership and seamless trading. Endless’ community-driven token incentives further motivate creators to contribute high-value content to the platform.
KILT’s decentralized document signing solution lets users create verifiable, privacy-preserving signatures using credentials stored on their own devices without compromising control over data
KILT Protocol is launching a suite of next-generation products to bring decentralized identity (DeID) into mainstream use. The company will bring its core identity infrastructure to the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) world in 2025, allowing developers to integrate KILT credentials into smart contracts and applications with minimal overhead. KILT’s consumer products include Clans, Sporran 2.0, DIDsign 2.0, KILT Pay, and DID-as-a-Service. Clans is a mobile-first platform that rewards users for engaging with content and social campaigns, while Sporran 2.0 enables users to manage credentials, sign documents, and access services using decentralized sign-on. DIDsign 2.0 introduces decentralized document signing, while KILT Pay bridges the gap between credentials and financial transactions. The KILT Foundation will support these developments, focusing on growing the ecosystem and expanding partnerships.
SEC Chair Paul Atkins wants to let DeFi thrive with fewer rules and a potential “innovation exemption” aimed at protecting developers
The U.S. SEC may soon ease the regulatory burden on decentralized finance platforms as Chairman Paul Atkins outlines a potential “innovation exemption” aimed at protecting developers and enabling new blockchain-based systems to thrive. In the final session of a five-part crypto roundtable series, SEC Chairman Paul Atkins signaled a notable shift in regulatory tone, especially regarding decentralized finance (DeFi). Atkins said he has directed SEC staff to explore exemptions or guidance that would let DeFi platforms operate with fewer barriers. The proposal seeks to support on-chain financial systems and reflect the technological shift toward decentralized models. He emphasized that this principle should not vanish online, especially in a financial ecosystem increasingly powered by decentralized technologies. The comments mark a stark contrast with previous SEC leadership, which leaned heavily on enforcement and broad interpretations of securities laws. He rejected the notion that writing code constitutes a regulated activity if that code enables financial transactions. Commissioner Hester Peirce echoed this view, warning against infringing on First Amendment rights. Atkins called for reevaluating legacy frameworks and asked staff to assess whether new guidance or rulemaking would help entities interact with DeFi tools while remaining compliant.
Fresh institutional inflows and rising demand for tokenization driving Ether’s outperformance vis-à-vis Bitcoin; likely to reach and/or surpass its all-time high price by the end of the year
Ether outpaces bitcoin on fresh institutional inflows and rising demand for tokenization, signaling a potential push towards its all-time high. ETH zoomed 5% in the past 24 hours, leading gains among majors. Ether ETFs have attracted more than $800 million in the past two weeks alone, outpacing bitcoin’s sub-$400 million, according to SoSoValue data. That’s helped the spread between ether’s implied volatility and bitcoin’s reach its highest level since late 2022 — a sign traders expect bigger price swings ahead. “Investors are finally recognizing the compelling investment opportunity that Ethereum presents. It’s still trading well below its all-time highs, while bitcoin is already near its ATH levels,” said Jeff Mei, COO at BTSE. He pointed to Ethereum’s growing role in tokenizing real-world assets like stocks, money-market funds, and U.S. Treasuries, adding that it was “very likely that Ethereum will reach and/or surpass its all-time high price by the end of the year.” Open interest in ether perpetuals on Kraken hit an all-time high of 30,000 ETH this week, said Alexia Theodorou, Head of Derivatives at Kraken. “This signals a notable uptick in speculative activity around the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap,” she noted. However, she cautioned that the market “has yet to form a clear directional consensus,” with the long/short ratio still well below January levels.
RISE leverages Ethereum’s network and Shreds transaction architecture to enable real-time transactions on standard hardware with ultra-low latency of 5-milliseconds and throughput of over 50,000 TPS
RISE, a real-time blockchain scaling Ethereum with record throughput and ultra-low latency, has secured a $4 million investment from Galaxy Ventures, raising its total funds to $8 million. RISE’s breakthrough transaction architecture, powered by Shreds, enables record-breaking latency as low as 5-milliseconds, making it ideal for advanced DeFi use cases like orderbook strategies, options, high-frequency trading, and market making. The blockchain addresses the tradeoff between low latency and high throughput, ensuring real-time transactions on standard hardware. RISE will also implement performance-compatible sequencing to leverage Ethereum’s network of validators and unlock synchronous composability between Ethereum and RISE. Key Differentiators of RISE: Shreds: Sub-blocktime transaction confirmations enabling as low as 5ms round-trip latency; Scalable Throughput: Currently benchmarked at over 50,000 TPS, with plans to exceed 100,000 TPS; Based Sequencing (Coming Soon): Unlocking a true extension of Ethereum and solving liquidity fragmentation for users; Secured Shreds (Coming Soon): Preconfirmations economically secured by Ethereum Validators, significantly improving the security profile.
BIS-led bank consortium Project Agora to create a unified, programmable financial ledger combining tokenized commercial bank deposits with wholesale central bank money as a regulated alternative to private stablecoins for cross-border and institutional payments
Project Agora, led by the BIS and seven central banks, aims to create a unified, programmable financial ledger combining tokenized commercial bank deposits with wholesale central bank money — challenging the role of stablecoins in regulated finance. The initiative provides a credible, regulated alternative to private stablecoins for cross-border and institutional payments, potentially redefining how programmable money is used without relying on crypto-native infrastructure. The interplay between Project Agora’s outcomes and the potentially broader integration of stablecoins across the U.S. market could represent a potential inflection point in the evolution of digital money. While stablecoins offer speed and global reach, their lack of regulation and transparency invites scrutiny, and Project Agora raises the bar by embedding compliance and trust into digital money systems, pressuring stablecoins to evolve or risk obsolescence in institutional finance. Project Agora is seeking to address the wholesale heart of cross-border systems. By offering tokenized central bank money alongside commercial tokens on a shared digital infrastructure, banks may be able to crowd out private stablecoins for interbank and institutional transfers, without ceding oversight or public trust. Agora doesn’t kill stablecoins. But by offering a credible, supervised alternative, it raises the bar, forcing private issuance to compete on compliance, resilience and institutional usability rather than just speed.
Societe Generale’s dollar-backed stablecoin launch points to the global landscape for issuance beyond the US, underpinned by worldwide demand for U.S. dollars and expanding use cases in FX, cross-border payments and cash management
Societe Generale-FORGE (SG-FORGE) is to launch a new stablecoin, the USD CoinVertible, on both the Ethereum and Solana public blockchains (ticker code: USDCV). The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, will act as reserve custodian, enabling seamless integration between traditional and digital financial ecosystems. The USD CoinVertible is the second stablecoin issued by SG-FORGE after the EUR CoinVertible (ticker code: EURCV) launched in April 2023, allowing investors to benefit from a robust access to stablecoin markets and a seamless trading experience on two major currencies. SG-FORGE will propose to its clients instant 24/7 conversion between fiat currencies and stablecoin, enabling immediate, around-the-clock transactions in both USD and EUR. USD CoinVertible and EUR CoinVertible are designed to support a wide range of client activities, including crypto trading and cross-border payments, on-chain settlement, foreign exchange transactions, and collateral and cash management. The stablecoins will be listed on various crypto exchanges and available to institutional, corporate and retail investors through different crypto brokers and payment service providers, with liquidity provided by several reputable market makers. Trading of USDCV is expected to start early July. Both USD CoinVertible and EUR CoinVertible are Electronic-Money Tokens (EMT) fully compliant with the European Markets in Crypto-assets (MiCA) regulation.
Matera and Circle enable the first native integration between a real-time banking infrastructure and a fully-reserved, transparent stablecoin allowing s financial institutions to offer seamless multi-currency account experiences
Matera has announced a commercial partnership with Circle. This alliance marks the region’s first native integration between a real-time banking infrastructure and a fully-reserved, transparent stablecoin, positioning Matera’s Digital Twin realtime ledger at the forefront of interoperability between local currency balances and digital dollars. The integration between Matera’s Digital Twin and Circle’s Platform allows financial institutions to offer seamless multi-currency account experiences, where BRL, USD, and USDC balances coexist and operate in real time. These scenarios become viable without requiring institutions to build complex infrastructure from scratch. The integration natively connects local payment rails (like PIX) to global liquidity in USDC, unlocking faster, cheaper, and more transparent global payment operations. With Circle’s technology, Matera’s clients will be able to offer USDC as a balance option in their platforms. This allows people to send, receive, and pay with USDC around the world — just like using local currency. The collaboration between Matera and Circle advances the concept of a “stablecoin-ready banking platform” building bridges between traditional and digital money. More than just innovation, this is the foundation of a new global financial architecture—interoperable, inclusive, and readily available.
Financial Stability Board Chair warns of stablecoin risks – should a stablecoin collapse causing fire sales of short term bills, this could impact the stability of the mainstream financial system
Two days after the hugely successful stock market listing of stablecoin issuer Circle, the Chair of the Financial Stability Board (FSB), Klaas Knot, reiterated the risks of stablecoins. The Financial Stability Board (FSB) monitors and makes recommendations about the global financial system. Mr Knot acknowledged the ability of stablecoins to address some of the challenges of cross border payments, but highlighted that they also introduce risks. “A key question stands out: will stablecoins replace traditional bank-based cross border payments, or will they remain a niche solution in a fragmented global payments ecosystem? While the answer is unclear, the potential risks are not,” he said. One of his key concerns is the increasing use of short term money market instruments as stablecoin reserves. Should a stablecoin collapse causing fire sales of short term bills, this could impact the stability of the mainstream financial system. The FSB Chair highlighted how a failure could come to pass. “Without strict oversight, could these reserves fund riskier ventures, with stablecoins acting as conduits for leveraging the financial system? This scenario is not hypothetical. We have seen how loosely regulated financial instruments can amplify risks rather than mitigate them.” His concern is that despite stablecoins resembling bank deposits or money market funds, in some jurisdictions they are outside the regulatory perimeter. The FSB made its latest high level stablecoin recommendations in 2023. But Mr Knot warned of regulatory arbitrage. “We should not allow stablecoins to exploit gaps in oversight to gain a competitive advantage or to introduce hidden risks into the financial system,” he said.