Author: GT

OpenAI on Wednesday brought the tech behind its new and improved image generation feature in ChatGPT to its API, allowing developers to integrate it into their apps and services. OpenAI’s new image generator, which launched for most ChatGPT users in late March, went viral for its ability to create realistic Ghibli-style photos and “AI action figures.” It’s been a mixed blessing for OpenAI, leading to millions of new sign-ups for ChatGPT while also greatly straining the company’s capacity. Over 130 million ChatGPT users created more than 700 million images in just the first week of the tool’s availability, according to the company.…

Kent Nishimura / Bloomberg via Getty Images Shares of Cantor Equity Partners—a blank check company headed by the son of President Trump’s commerce secretary—continued to soar after announcing plans on Wednesday to form the world’s third-largest corporate Bitcoin treasury. Cantor will merge with Twenty One, which will own 42,000 bitcoin and be majority-owned by stablecoin issuer Tether and its affiliated exchange Bitfinex. Twenty One follows in the footsteps of Michael Saylor’s Strategy, the world’s largest corporate holder of Bitcoin. Wall Street’s getting a new Bitcoin treasury. Shares of Cantor Equity Partners (CEP)—a blank check company headed by Brandon Lutnick, son…

Protests against Elon Musk and Tesla have been spreading around the world thanks to the CEO’s involvement in the Trump administration. Now those protests are listed as an official “risk factor” in paperwork Tesla is required to file with federal regulators. The new language, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday morning, shows the backlash against Musk has risen to such a level that Tesla’s lawyers feel the need to warn investors it could damage the company’s brand and business. While risk factors are typically written to be broad and overly cautious, sometimes the inclusion of new (or…

The Federal Reserve has joined its fellow U.S. banking regulators in deleting its crypto guidance of previous years, including notices that banks should get pre-approvals before they get involved in crypto activity. Now, all three agencies — including the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. — have joined in reversing those previous policies, leaving crypto matters at banks in the hands of their managers and compliance executives. In the absence of guidance, the banking industry awaits new laws from Congress to define how the digital assets industry should operate in the U.S. “These…

In mid-April, OpenAI launched a powerful new AI model, GPT-4.1, which it claimed “excelled” at following instructions. But the results of several independent tests suggest the model is less aligned — that is to say, less reliable — than previous OpenAI releases. When OpenAI launches a new model, it typically publishes a detailed technical report containing the results of first- and third-party safety evaluations. The company skipped that step for GPT-4.1, claiming that the model wasn’t “frontier” and thus did not warrant a separate report. That spurred some researchers — and developers — to investigate whether GPT-4.1 behaves less desirably…

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Group is set to launch XRP futures contracts on May 19, expanding its cryptocurrency derivatives offerings to include a fourth asset after Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana. The XRP futures will be cash-settled and based on the CME CF XRP-Dollar Reference Rate, calculated daily at 11:00 a.m. UTC. Two contract sizes will be available: a micro contract representing 2,500 XRP and a standard contract for 50,000 XRP. This follows earlier speculation in January when a CME webpage referencing XRP futures briefly went live and was then removed, sparking discussion among traders. XRP’s addition comes as institutional…

Amid rumors that the company is eyeing an IPO, Discord appointed former Activision Blizzard Vice Chairman Humam Sakhnini as CEO. Discord co-founder Jason Citron will leave his CEO role after 13 years at the company. Discord straddles the gaming and social media spaces — despite its initial emergence as a platform for online multiplayer gamers to communicate, it has become a prominent social media platform in its own right, growing to over 200 million monthly active users. The company’s choice to appoint a new CEO from within the gaming industry signals that it sees its future more so in gaming…

Bitcoin reserves on exchanges have dropped to their lowest levels since November 2018, with a significant decrease observed since November 2024. This reduction, totaling more than 425,000 BTC, is largely attributed to public companies acquiring the digital asset. According to Fidelity Digital Assets, the current supply of Bitcoin on exchanges is approximately 2.6 million BTC, marking the lowest level in over six years. Publicly traded companies have been responsible for purchasing nearly 350,000 BTC, a trend that is expected to continue growing in the near future. One of the primary drivers behind these acquisitions is Strategy, a firm co-founded by…

After a sluggish couple of years, fintech appears to be making a comeback. In the first quarter of 2025, fintech startups globally raised a combined $10.3 billion — marking the highest level of funding since the first quarter of 2023, according to CB Insights research. The average deal size of $17.7 million also marked the highest since 2021. Notably, several crypto-related startups are among those raising larger rounds in 2025, a reflection of renewed investor appetite in the space.  But investors are also backing other types of financial technology companies, including some in the payments, banking, and fraud prevention sectors.…

Serbia’s Prince Filip Karađorđević believes Bitcoin is being held back by market forces but expects a massive surge in its price. In an April 24, 2025, interview with Simply Bitcoin, Filip discussed how some market participants might be suppressing Bitcoin’s price action. He drew parallels to the 2021 market, where he believes the price was kept from rising significantly, and warned that this could happen again in 2025. However, he remains confident that Bitcoin’s deflationary nature means its value will continue to rise over time. Filip also mentioned the concept of the “omega candle,” which was introduced by Bitcoin advocate…