Exodus announces the launch of XO Pay, a new service that allows customers to buy and sell cryptocurrency directly within the Exodus Mobile wallet. Developed by Exodus and powered by Coinme’s Crypto-as-a-Service API platform, XO Pay is the first self-custody wallet with native on-ramping. XO Pay eliminates the need for third-party exchanges, providing a seamless crypto buying experience for customers with all the benefits of self-custody. JP Richardson, Co-Founder and CEO of Exodus. “By integrating the purchasing process directly into our mobile wallet, we’re removing barriers and simplifying the journey from fiat to crypto, and back.” Key Features of XO Pay: Complete purchases in under 60 seconds with quick and easy onboarding; Maximize buys with industry-leading competitive rates; Access world-class support from Exodus’ elite customer service team. Customers can initiate a purchase by tapping the Buy & Sell icon in the Exodus Mobile app, selecting their desired cryptocurrency and purchase amount, and choosing XO Pay as their provider. The platform will then guide customers through a straightforward verification process. “By creating a Web2 checkout experience into a Web3 self-custody wallet, Exodus has set a new bar for crypto user experience,” said Neil Bergquist, CEO and co-founder of Coinme. “Exodus’ innovative integration of Coinme’s APIs delivers the seamless in-app purchase flow users expect while keeping them in full control of their assets.”
Silicon Data’s index tracks the hourly cost of renting a GPU by sourcing its pricing data across markets from hyperscalers and neoclouds and normalizing it using factors such as GPU types, platforms and hardware configurations
Silicon Data, a market-intelligence firm that focuses on the cost of GPUs, created what it says is the first daily index to track the specialized chips vital to powering AI. The company’s Silicon Data H100 Rental Index tracks the hourly cost of renting a GPU, according to founder and Chief Executive Officer Carmen Li. “There is zero transparency now for GPU costs,” Li said. “This is the first step, to help market participants gain transparency into the convoluted world of AI costs.” The goal is to turn GPUs into a benchmarked asset class that can be traded like any other financial instrument, Li said. The firm sources its pricing data across markets and technology companies, including so-called hyperscalers and neoclouds, according to Li. The index is normalized based on a variety of factors including GPU types, platforms and hardware configuration. That’s because GPU prices can be affected by a wide range of factors, including their brand, performance metrics, and hardware and software specifications. Silicon Data’s index is also based on historical data. It re-calibrates based on the importance of each factor at the time. The primary users of the index are banks that license and distribute it for internal risk management, hedge funds that license the underlying data, and asset managers or private equity firms that are financing or building out data centers where GPUs are used. Though the index itself can’t be traded yet, it provides a benchmark for traders and others to follow as they would a stock index. It also gives insight into the cost of goods for those building AI products or in need of GPU computing power.
Self-directed IRAs could allow retail investors to benefit from upfront tax deduction, portfolio diversification through access to private market assets, long-term growth potential and protection against inflation
Self-directed individual retirement accounts (IRAs) allow investors to put their retirement savings in private market assets like real estate, private equity, venture capital and crypto. The demand for self-directed IRAs has steadily grown as it has become easier for retail investors to open these accounts and tap into alternative markets. Anticipated major economic shifts will likely accelerate this trend in investor preferences. Investors concerned about the 2025 economic trends could benefit in several ways by opening a self-directed IRA (SDIRA) for their retirement savings. Tax Advantages: An SDIRA offers the same tax benefits as a traditional IRA: tax-deferred growth and an upfront tax deduction on contributions. Investors can tap into alternative markets while saving on taxes. Diversification: Investors reduce risk and the chance of significant losses by adding uncorrelated assets to a portfolio. A self-directed IRA with alternative assets does so by not having all eggs in the traditional market basket. Long-Term Growth: Many alternative investments offer higher growth potential. While these investments require a long-term focus, they can outperform the stock market over time. Inflation Protection: Alternative assets perform especially well when inflation is high. An SDIRA provides this protection for retirement investors. The coming months will force investors to manage inflation, uncertainty and interest rate risk, a painful combination. Fortunately, modern investment strategies and capabilities are up to the task. Through an SDIRA, investors can tap into alternative markets previously only available to high-net-worth individuals. These other assets provide further diversification and are another hedge against economic risks.
Blackstone and Vanguard’s interval fund to expand alt investments access to retail investors by blending low-cost, passive strategies in public markets with high-cost, higher return-yielding private assets
Blackstone, Wellington Management and Vanguard Group this month filed to launch a multi-asset interval fund, called the WVB All Markets Fund, aimed at bringing private markets exposure to a wider base of retail investors. The fund now faces the typical scrutiny of alternative investments that offer investors some exposure to investments that don’t trade on a daily basis and cost more than low-priced exchange-traded funds pegged to stock and bond indices. According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dated May 7, the WVB Fund will be structured as an interval fund – an investment vehicle that allows limited quarterly redemptions of between 5% and one-fourth of the fund’s net asset value. Wellington will act as the fund’s investment advisor. “Vanguard and Blackstone stand at opposite ends of the asset-management spectrum,” noted Jason Kephart and Bridget Hughes, both senior principals for Morningstar, in a research note. “Vanguard champions low-cost, predominantly passive strategies in public markets, while Blackstone leads in private-market investing, offering access to less liquid, often less transparent opportunities that come with the potential for higher returns, albeit at a much steeper cost than Vanguard’s razor-thin fees,” they wrote. There are benefits to such public and private investment partnerships, the Morningstar analysts noted. “For public-market asset managers, partnering with private-markets specialists, rather than acquiring them or building in-house capabilities, offers several advantages,” according to Morningstar. “First, it‘s faster: Partnerships can be negotiated quickly and come with built-in implied credibility. They’re also typically less expensive upfront and help preserve a firm’s culture and identity. Add potential broader distribution benefits from both sides, and the appeal grows stronger. And if things don’t work out, partnerships are easier to unwind than acquisitions.” But, the Morningstar analysts asked, is any such investment partnership greater than the sum of its parts? The ratings agency noted other high-profile investment managers have recently announced similar funds. “The biggest question for investors is whether these high-profile partnerships deserve a place in their portfolios,” they wrote. “Despite the brand-name pedigree of the asset managers involved, most of these strategies are untested.” “Some have only recently launched; others, like the WVB All Markets Fund, won’t debut until late 2025,” according to Kephart and Hughes. “Even the partnerships themselves are new. Their promise of seamless collaboration is more aspiration than a proven advantage.” “What is known is that private assets bring added complexity, reduced liquidity, and higher fees,” they wrote. “Investors must weigh whether the potential benefits of private-market exposure are enough to clear those hurdles.”
Tesco’s VAR-style tech at self-checkout tills uses camera that records customers’ actions and detects when items may not have been properly scanned to combat shoplifting
Tesco has introduced VAR-style replay technology at its self-checkout tills to combat shoplifting. The technology uses artificial intelligence to detect when items may not have been properly scanned. If a shopper fails to scan the items correctly, they are warned to remove from the bagging area and try again. Retail experts believe this visual evidence makes shoplifters more likely to pay for items rather than risk being caught. The technology could lead to the removal of security measures from everyday products. Shoplifting has reached record levels in the UK, costing retailers £2bn annually, and staff facing increasing violence and abuse.
Crypto-native firm FalconX closes its first Bitcoin-backed financing facility from investment bank Cantor, indicating rising demand for trusted, institutional-grade credit infrastructure for digital assets
FalconX has closed its first Bitcoin-backed financing facility from Cantor, a premier global investment bank. This transaction represents the first step in a broader credit framework that FalconX intends to scale beyond $100 million with Cantor. The transaction marks a pivotal milestone in institutional digital asset adoption, underscoring the growing convergence of traditional finance and crypto infrastructure. Cantor’s Bitcoin Financing Business, which expects to make available up to $2 billion of financing in its initial phase, provides leverage to institutional investors who hold Bitcoin, bringing scale, structure, and sophistication to the digital asset industry. “Over the past two years, we’ve seen institutional demand for credit grow dramatically, driven by the need for capital-efficient trading, hedging, and liquidity strategies,” said Josh Barkhordar, Head of U.S. Sales at FalconX. “Digital assets have lacked the institutional-grade credit infrastructure that’s essential to well-functioning capital markets. This collaboration between Cantor and a crypto-native firm represents a significant step toward building that framework, enabling digital assets to function with the same depth and reliability as traditional markets.” As institutions increasingly demand high-trust counterparties to access digital asset markets, FalconX looks to expand its role in bridging traditional and digital finance through secure, scalable credit infrastructure.
Ulta Beauty’s use of centralized first-party data to build unified customer profiles based on preferences and transactions across different channels and AI-driven personalized recommendations in real-time drives a 95% repurchase rate
Ulta Beauty centralized scattered customer data to build unified profiles, by looking at preferences and transactions across different channels. Ulta deployed advanced AI and ML models to understand the customer, predict what they’re likely to do next and send them personalized recommendations. The messages can change in near real time based on new customer actions. Ulta also measures the results. This new capability helps Ulta build stronger relationships and drive growth. The retailer said that nearly all its customers come back. This personalization has led to 95% of customers repurchasing products at Ulta, according to CMO Kelly Mahoney. But there’s another benefit to this approach, too. Using AI for print campaigns — those aimed at magazines, for example — has reduced costs without hurting effectiveness, the retailer claimed. Ulta’s loyalty program, Ulta Beauty Rewards, is central to its data-driven personalization. Each interaction — whether it’s a product review, app click or in-store visit — feeds the retailer’s marketing engine.
D2C jewelry brand Wanderlust + Co sets up first US brick and mortar store to offer city-specific and personalization services driven by success of high-converting pop-ups together with curated community meets
Viral female-founded jewelry brand Wanderlust + Co is expanding Stateside. The playful and accessibly priced label has chosen New York City and Philadelphia for its first U.S. brick and mortar locations—on Bleecker Street and the King of Prussia Mall respectively. While Malayia based Wanderlust + Co has its roots as a digital-first brand, it has already established five locations across Asia in Malaysia and Singapore and is stocked with some 400 retailers worldwide. The U.S. region, however, accounts for 40% of global website traffic and conversions together with a 20-25% repeat purchase rate among U.S. shoppers. According to CEO and founder Jenn Low, these permanent spaces were also a response to insights gathered from a series of high-performing U.S. pop-ups together with intimate media dinners and one-on-one meetings. They demonstrated significantly increased conversion when people could physically engage with the product. The offering of these stores tap into broader spectrum market trends such as city specific products and personalisation services which are key when it comes to drawing customers in-store and and building a local community. While appealing in particular to a Gen-Z consumer, personalisation and storytelling amplify the emotional resonance of jewelry. The New York and Philadelphia stores both offer on-site piercing alongside personalisation services such as welding, engraving and a jewelry adjacent ‘patch bar’ where customers can personalise canvas key-chains, choosing from a series of iron-on designs—”allowing customers to bring their stories to life, making each piece uniquely theirs.”
Salesforce’s acquisition of Informatica to elevate its data management capabilities including catalog, integration, governance, quality, privacy and Master Data Management (MDM) for deploying agentic AI
Salesforce is making a big bid to become a much larger player in the enterprise space, announcing an $8B acquisition of Informatica. The move will bring together two large, established enterprise software providers with decades of real-world experience. By acquiring Informatica, Salesforce aims to enhance its trusted data foundation for deploying agentic AI. The combination will create a unified architecture enabling AI agents to operate safely, responsibly and at scale across enterprises by integrating: Informatica’s rich data catalog, integration, governance, quality, privacy and Master Data Management (MDM) capabilities; Salesforce’s platform includes Data Cloud, Agentforce, Tableau, MuleSoft and Customer 360. According to Forrester Analyst Noel Yuhanna, Salesforce’s acquisition of Informatica fills a gap in its data management capabilities. “The acquisition markedly elevates Salesforce’s position across all critical dimensions of modern data management, including data integration, ingestion, pipelines, master data management (MDM), metadata management, transformation, preparation, quality and governance in the cloud,” Yuhanna told VentureBeat. “These capabilities are no longer optional—they are foundational for building an AI-ready enterprise, especially as the industry accelerates toward agentic AI.” To fully realize AI’s promise, Yuhanna said that vendor solutions must tightly integrate data and AI as two sides of the same coin. In his view, this acquisition strengthens Salesforce’s ability to do just that, laying the groundwork for next-generation data that can power intelligent, autonomous and personalized experiences at scale to support AI use cases. Yuhanna sees the acquisition as a major advancement for Salesforce customers. He noted that Salesforce customers will be able to seamlessly access and leverage all types of customer data, whether housed within Salesforce or external systems, all in real time. It represents a unified customer data fabric that can deliver actionable insights across every channel and touchpoint. “Critically, it accelerates Salesforce’s ability to deploy agentic AI, enabling low-code, low-maintenance AI solutions that reduce complexity and dramatically shorten time to value,” Yuhanna said. “With a fully integrated data management foundation, Salesforce customers can expect faster, more innovative, and more personalized customer experiences at scale.” The opportunity is equally appealing for Informatica customers. In Yuhanna’s view, this acquisition unlocks a faster path to agentic AI workloads, backed by the reach and power of the Salesforce ecosystem. As data management evolves, intelligent agents will automate core functions, turning traditionally time-consuming processes like data ingestion, integration, and pipeline orchestration into self-operating data workflows. Tasks that once took days or weeks will be executed with zero to little human intervention. “With a unified data, AI, and analytics platform, Informatica customers will benefit from accelerated innovation, greater operational agility, and significantly enhanced returns on their data investments,” he said.
Mistral AI’s agent framework combines its Medium 3 language model with persistent memory, tool integration and orchestration capabilities that allow maintaining context across conversations
Mistral AI released a comprehensive agent development platform that enables enterprises to build autonomous AI systems capable of executing complex, multi-step business processes. Mistral’s approach combines its Medium 3 language model with persistent memory, tool integration and orchestration capabilities that allow AI systems to maintain context across conversations while executing tasks like code analysis, document processing and web research. The timing suggests coordinated market movement toward standardized agent development frameworks. All the major agent development platforms now support the Model Context Protocol, an open standard created by Anthropic that enables agents to connect with external applications and data sources. This convergence indicates that the industry recognizes agent interoperability as a key determinant of long-term platform viability. Mistral’s approach differs from competitors in its emphasis on enterprise deployment flexibility. The company offers hybrid and on-premises installation options using as few as four GPUs, addressing data sovereignty concerns that prevent many organizations from adopting cloud-based AI services.