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XRP above $1.42 as traders watch 2025 breakout pattern that led to 66% rally

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XRP is back above $1.42, and traders are starting to focus on a chart setup that sent XRP up 66% in less than two weeks when it appeared in 2025.

News Background

• Analysts flagged a repeating XRP chart fractal from 2025, when a breakout from a multi-week bull flag triggered a rally toward all-time highs above $3.

• A bull flag is a pattern where price jumps sharply, then moves sideways or slightly lower for a while before potentially breaking higher again. Traders usually see it as a pause in momentum rather than a full reversal.

• Current price action again shows XRP breaking out of a bull flag while the 20-day and 50-day moving averages approach a bullish crossover.

• Some traders now view holding above $1.40 as critical, with the level acting as both psychological support and the upper boundary of the recent flag structure.

Price Action Summary

• XRP climbed from $1.4011 to $1.4184, extending its weekly gain to nearly 9%.
• A 74.6M volume spike at 13:00 pushed price to $1.4207 before momentum cooled into consolidation.
• The token spent the final hours stabilizing between $1.417-$1.420 after repeated tests of the $1.422 resistance zone.

Technical Analysis

• XRP continues building higher lows, keeping short-term bullish structure intact above $1.40.
• The repeated tests near $1.42 matter because resistance weakens each time sellers fail to force a deeper rejection.
• Liquidity on Binance has fallen to its lowest level since 2020, which historically creates conditions for outsized moves once ranges finally break.
• The broader setup resembles the 2025 breakout structure where XRP compressed for weeks before accelerating sharply higher.

What traders should watch

• $1.42 remains the key breakout level. A clean move above it opens the path toward $1.47-$1.50.
• Holding above $1.40 is equally important because failed breakouts often turn into fast reversals once momentum fades.
• If the range finally resolves lower, $1.34-$1.37 becomes the first major support zone traders watch.

Perú, Chile y Argentina ingresan en una nueva fase de crecimiento impulsada por los pagos en tiempo real, según un informe de ACI

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Brasil y Colombia han sentado parámetros de referencia en cuanto a la modernización de los pagos en tiempo real y ofrecen una hoja de ruta de eficacia demostrada para Chile, Perú y Argentina

ACI Worldwide se suma a otros líderes del sector, de la tecnología financiera y de las políticas en el Foro Fintech de Chile en mayo para promover el debate sobre los pagos en tiempo real

Perú, Chile y Argentina están ingresando en una etapa crucial de su proceso de modernización de los pagos en tiempo real y al adoptarlos, propiciaría el crecimiento económico y la inclusión financiera en toda la región, según el informe Real-Time Payments: Economic Impact and Financial Inclusion (Pagos en tiempo real: impacto económico e inclusión financiera). Este estudio fue encargado por ACI Worldwide y realizado por el Cebr (Centre for Economics and Business Research), un reconocido centro de estudios económicos.*

Se estima que para 2028, los pagos en tiempo real aportarán miles de millones de dólares en producto bruto interno (PBI) formal en estos tres mercados y ampliarán el acceso a los servicios financieros para millones de personas que históricamente quedaban excluidas del sistema financiero, según este estudio.

  • Argentina: Se calcula que los pagos en tiempo real generarán unos 19.300 millones de dólares adicionales en el PBI para 2028. Asimismo, se espera que la expansión continua de las redes de pagos en tiempo real les permita a 1,1 millones de personas incorporarse al sistema financiero formal.
  • Perú: Los pagos en tiempo real generarían 376 millones de dólares en PBI adicional e incorporarían a 1,4 millones de personas al sistema bancario.
  • Chile: Según las proyecciones, los pagos en tiempo real podrían generar 740 millones de dólares en PBI formal adicional y ampliar el acceso financiero a más de 83.000 personas.

Brasil y Colombia: Referentes regionales consolidados

Las ganancias previstas en Perú, Chile y Argentina se sustentan en un precedente regional establecido con gran contundencia por Brasil y Colombia, donde los pagos en tiempo real ya se han convertido en una infraestructura económica esencial.

Según lo previsto para 2028, el ecosistema Pix de Brasil aportaría 49.900 millones de dólares en PBI formal adicional, lo que demuestra la potencia económica que tienen la escala y el uso cotidiano.

Colombia se ha convertido en un referente regional en materia de pagos en tiempo real tras la implementación de Bre-B y su adopción acelerada en todo el ecosistema financiero, de modo que para 2028 se prevé que los pagos en tiempo real aporten 282 millones de dólares adicionales al PBI del país, aunque su impacto más relevante se producirá en materia de inclusión.

Según lo previsto, se integrarían al sistema bancario colombiano 5,1 millones de personas que antes estaban excluidas del sistema financiero, lo que supone la mayor expansión de la inclusión financiera en América Latina. La velocidad y la escala de la implementación de Bre-B demuestran cómo una infraestructura de pagos en tiempo real e interoperable puede acelerar el acceso a los servicios financieros, consolidando a Colombia como un punto de referencia para los mercados de toda la región que buscan una modernización inclusiva de los pagos.

“Cada mercado está ingresando en esta nueva fase desde un punto de partida distinto”, subrayó Mauricio Fernández, responsable de pagos en tiempo real para Latinoamérica de ACI Worldwide. “En Perú, el impulso del banco central a los pagos en tiempo real y la interoperabilidad podría redefinir el ecosistema de pagos y ampliar significativamente la inclusión financiera. En Chile, la atención se centra en ampliar la adopción, yendo más allá de los pagos entre particulares para abarcar los pagos a comerciantes y las transacciones cotidianas. En Argentina, las reformas normativas y el crecimiento acelerado de las fintech están motorizando la innovación y la competencia, lo que contribuye a ampliar el acceso a los servicios financieros y a sostener el crecimiento económico”.

Citi exec says fragmented crypto systems risk repeating old banking problems

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Miami Beach, FL — Tokenized money will fail to deliver on its promise if it remains siloed within individual banks, according to Ryan Rugg, Citigroup’s head of digital assets for treasury and trade solutions.

Speaking at Consensus in Miami, Rugg said large corporate clients are not looking for single-bank solutions but systems that work seamlessly across financial institutions. “No one wants just a Citi token,” she said. “They want that multi-bank aspect of it.”

The comment reflects a core challenge in the push to bring blockchain-based payments into mainstream finance. While banks have begun issuing tokenized deposits and building internal platforms, many of those systems operate within closed networks.

For global companies, that approach falls short. Rugg said Citi’s clients often manage “hundreds, if not thousands of bank accounts across multiple banks globally,” creating complexity in moving money for payroll, suppliers and investments.

Those clients are increasingly asking for real-time capabilities. In a survey Citi conducted several years ago, Rugg said the response was “basically unanimous” that faster, always-on payments were a top priority.

Blockchain technology offers one path to that goal, but only if systems can connect. Citi has built its own tokenized platform and linked it to its broader banking network, including a 24/7 U.S. dollar clearing system with more than 300 banks. Still, Rugg emphasized that internal upgrades alone are not enough.

“This is another tool in the toolkit,” she said, adding that banks must also modernize traditional infrastructure and connect it with digital systems.

The broader industry faces fragmentation. A growing number of banks, fintech firms and crypto projects are building separate networks, often using different standards. That risks recreating the same inefficiencies blockchain aims to fix.

Rugg argued that shared infrastructure — built “for the industry, by the industry” — will be key to scaling tokenized finance, citing models such as Swift’s global messaging network.

At the same time, regulation remains a constraint. Large banks require clear legal frameworks before rolling out new products. “Unless it is 100% permissible, we are not going to do that,” Rugg said.

Kelp DAO Accuses LayerZero of Deflecting Blame for $300M Bridge Hack

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The liquid restaking protocol argues that the 1-of-1 verifier setup at the center of the April 18 exploit was LayerZero’s own documented default.

Kelp DAO on Tuesday published a detailed rebuttal to LayerZero’s account of the April 18 rsETH bridge exploit, confirming that it will migrate rsETH from the LayerZero OFT standard to Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Token (CCT) standard and accusing the cross-chain messaging firm of “blaming users for an issue that was caused by their own infrastructure failure.”

The statement, titled “Setting the Record Straight,” disputes nearly every claim in LayerZero’s post-mortem, which attributed the $300 million theft to Kelp’s choice of a 1-of-1 DVN configuration. Kelp argues that setup was the configuration LayerZero itself shipped as the default, approved in private communications with the LayerZero team, and used by hundreds of other applications across the ecosystem.

Kelp’s central argument is that the configuration LayerZero is now treating as a fringe choice was, in practice, the platform’s standard. The protocol points to public Dune data showing roughly 47% of LayerZero’s 2,665 active OApp contracts ran a 1-1 DVN security floor at the time of the exploit, with another 45% on 2-2 and only about 5% using 3-3 or higher.

In its post, Kelp published Telegram screenshots showing an alleged LayerZero Labs team member explicitly approving Kelp’s 1-1 configuration during the L2 expansion, alongside separate exchanges in which LayerZero assured the team its DVN was run with full monitoring and alerting.

Infrastructure Breach

Kelp’s second major argument is that the exploit originated inside LayerZero’s trust boundary. Citing reports from Seal911 and Yearn Finance core developer banteg, the protocol notes that the attackers, linked with high confidence to North Korea’s Lazarus Group, fraudulently triggered an attestation from the LayerZero Labs DVN by compromising RPC nodes that LayerZero itself operated.

Kelp argues LayerZero’s own postmortem confirms this when it refers to “our DVN” and “our least-privilege principles,” and pushes back on the framing of the event as a contained “RPC-spoofing attack.”

The team also notes that two additional forged transactions totaling more than $100 million were signed and processed by the LayerZero Labs DVN before being blocked when Kelp paused its contracts, and that LayerZero’s monitoring did not catch the compromise.

Open Questions

Kelp’s post lists four questions it wants LayerZero to answer publicly: how the RPC endpoint lists were accessed, how LayerZero’s documented defaults reconcile with the volume of 1-1 configurations across the ecosystem, why monitoring failed to detect the infrastructure compromise, and the dwell time of the compromised nodes before the forged message was signed.

Migration to Chainlink

Alongside the rebuttal, Kelp confirmed that rsETH will move to Chainlink’s CCIP and the CCT standard across all supported chains, with operational details being finalized by the engineering team. The Defi United coalition is separately working to restore the backing of rsETH and recover stolen tokens still held in attacker-controlled positions on Aave and Compound.

LayerZero has not yet responded publicly to Kelp’s rebuttal.

This article was written with the assistance of AI workflows. All our stories are curated, edited and fact-checked by a human.

Crypto’s barbell; speculation and stablecoin payments won users, Tempo’s Romero says

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Miami Beach, FL — After years of experimentation, crypto today is boiling down to two core uses: trading and payments.

Speaking at a fireside chat at Consensus 2026 in Miami, Tempo’s go-to-market lead, Dan Romero, said the industry is settling into a “barbell” shape, with speculative trading like Hyperliquid’s marketplace on one end and stablecoin-based payments gaining traction on the other.

“The things that have worked over the last five years are speculation and stablecoins,” he said. “In the middle, it’s a bit of a wasteland,” he added, describing a slew of projects that have struggled to find product-market fit despite years of development and funding.

Romero is speaking from experience. Before joining Tempo, he was the co-founder of crypto social app Farcaster, which struggled to gain traction despite hefty venture capital checks and years of hype.

Tempo, a payments-focused blockchain backed by Stripe and Paradigm, is positioning itself firmly on the payments side of that divide. Built as a purpose-specific layer-1 blockchain, the network focuses on enterprise needs like compliance and transaction control — features often missing from public blockchains.

For example, companies can block interactions with certain wallet addresses, a function aimed at reducing regulatory risk, Romero said.

That design reflects a broader shift in how large firms approach crypto. Rather than experimenting with tokens, many are adopting stablecoins as backend infrastructure. “It’s plumbing,” the executive said. “But enterprises like plumbing if it’s better, faster, cheaper.”

Stablecoins are already gaining ground in areas like remittances. One example cited was cross-border payments between the U.S. and Mexico, where crypto rails now account for a growing share of flows.

The next wave could come from internet-native businesses. Startups, especially those built around AI agents, are likely to default to stablecoins as the easiest way to move money globally, he said — much like Stripe simplified online payments more than a decade ago.

New research finds AI in IT service management delivering measurable results as adoption accelerates across industries

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TeamDynamix State of AI in ITSM Report: Early Adopters Achieve Faster Resolution, Greater Ticket Deflection, and Higher Satisfaction — 87% Expect Widespread AI Usage in Production Within 24 Months

TeamDynamix, a leading provider of AI-powered service management (ITSM, ESM, and ITAM) and automation solutions, today released new research examining the current state of AI adoption in IT service management, including use cases, outcomes, and return on investment.

One of the most important shifts we’re noting is that AI is now being used in IT Service Management to address data readiness itself, laying the foundation for even greater impact over time.Share

The report, The State of AI in ITSM: From Exploration to Enterprise Impact, provides a comprehensive look at where the market stands today—and where it’s heading. The findings show a clear shift from experimentation to real-world impact, with early adopters already achieving measurable results in AI for IT service management.

Eighty-seven percent of organizations are either already using AI in ITSM or expect to be within 24 months, signaling rapid market acceleration. Among those adopting AI, results are both consistent and significant: 82% report ticket deflection, 71% report reduced resolution times, and 76% report improved customer satisfaction. Of note, 97% state that AI capabilities will influence their next ITSM platform decision.

Clear ROI Across Core ITSM Use Cases

TeamDynamix customers using AI in ITSM have stated results that align with the broader market trends, including 30–60% ticket deflection, 25% faster ticket triage, and 40–90% faster resolution times.

AI is being applied across the service desk in high-impact ways:

  • 88% use AI for knowledge management, gap identification, and content creation
  • 82% have deployed virtual agents to deflect tickets
  • 71% use AI to accelerate resolution through improved triage

“We’re seeing customers achieve outcomes like 25% faster triage and up to 60% ticket deflection,” said Andrew Graf, Chief Product Officer at TeamDynamix. “One of the most important shifts we’re noting is that AI is now being used to address data readiness itself, laying the foundation for even greater impact over time.”

The study also introduces a practical AI readiness framework, a deployment sequencing guide, and a structured approach for building a compelling executive business case for AI investment.

Native AI on a Unified Platform Drives Greater Impact

In addition to data readiness, integration complexity emerged as a top barrier to AI adoption. Organizations report that AI tools operating outside core ITSM workflows introduce friction, create data silos, and limit ROI. By contrast, AI embedded directly within the service management platform and connected to ticket history, knowledge bases, and asset data enables more seamless remediation and better outcomes.

“Our strategy is to deliver native AI tightly integrated with automation and orchestration,” added Graf. “We drive results by improving data quality and enabling AI to work in concert with the systems that drive service delivery. We have also reduced barriers to entry by creating pre-built AI-driven automation templates to help accelerate adoption of AI for ITSM.”

KuCoin EU Builds ‘Bank-Grade’ AML Machine Head of MiCA Deadline

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With the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) transitional period set to expire on July 1, the stakes for European crypto-asset service providers have never been higher. To navigate this shifting landscape, Vienna-headquartered KuCoin EU is aggressively staffing up its compliance department with financial veterans and former regulators who helped write the rules.

Under the stringent new MiCAR framework, the consequences of regulatory failure are severe; getting compliance wrong can result in staggering fines of up to five per cent of global revenue, the suspension of operating licences, or even criminal liability for management teams.

Bringing in the heavy hitters

To ensure robust operational readiness, the MiCAR-licensed platform has officially appointed C. Kleinhans as its new Anti-Money Laundering Officer (AMLO).

In her new role, Kleinhans will take charge of the platform’s AML, Counter-Terrorism Financing (CFT), and sanctions frameworks. She is responsible for designing and implementing risk-based frameworks while overseeing enterprise-wide risk management, governance, and regulatory engagement.

Kleinhans brings extensive traditional banking experience to the digital asset space. She previously served as the Head of Compliance, AML/CTF, and Sanctions Officer at ICBC Austria Bank GmbH, where she built the bank’s compliance framework entirely from scratch. Her background also spans regional compliance responsibility at Banco do Brasil AG and key AML roles at Raiffeisenlandesbank Niederösterreich Wien AG.

A bench of former regulators

In parallel with Kleinhans’ appointment, KuCoin EU has brought on two highly experienced Deputy Anti-Money Laundering Officers (DAMLOs)—Mr. Klinger and Mr. Träxler—from Compliance Networks.

Both deputies boast exceptional regulatory pedigrees, having spent years working directly as regulators for the Austrian Financial Markets Authority (FMA). They have also served as Chief Compliance Officers for major international financial institutions, including the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). Furthermore, Mr. Klinger previously served as Head of Legal for the Austrian National Bank, where he was directly in charge of financial sanctions supervision for the country’s entire banking industry.

According to the exchange, this expanded team directly reinforces KuCoin EU’s commitment to maintaining a scalable, highly robust compliance framework.

The operating foundation
Sabina Liu, managing director of KuCoin EU

Sabina Liu, managing director of KuCoin EU, emphasized that these appointments are part of a broader, long-term strategy to develop the platform into a trusted, regulated financial institution in Europe.

“At KuCoin EU, compliance is the operating foundation of everything we do,” Liu stated. “Strengthening our AML leadership and capabilities is a critical step in delivering on our commitment to fully compliant operations in Europe. As we continue to build our presence under the MiCAR framework, our focus remains on combining strong regulatory standards with a powerful, locally relevant experience for our European users.”

Authorized as a Crypto-Asset Service Provider (CASP) by the Austrian FMA, KuCoin EU currently operates across the European Economic Area, providing regulated services that include the custody and administration of crypto-assets, alongside crypto-fiat and crypto-crypto exchange services.

Coinbase Cuts 14% Of Workforce, Signals AI-Driven Future

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Coinbase announced a 14% reduction in its workforce on Tuesday, a decision CEO Brian Armstrong described as preparation for what he called a “new way of working” built on artificial intelligence—not a defensive reaction to market conditions.

In a company-wide email, Armstrong cited two forces behind the move: the persistence of crypto market cycles and a transformation in how AI has changed the pace of internal work. 

Engineers at Coinbase use AI to ship in days what full teams required weeks to complete, Armstrong wrote, and the pace of that shift is an acceleration, not a plateau.

Coinbase had 4,951 employees as of December 31, 2025, placing the number of affected workers at an estimated 693 people. Departing U.S. employees will receive a minimum of 16 weeks of base pay, plus two weeks per year of service, their next equity vest, and six months of COBRA health coverage. 

Employees on work visas receive extra transition support. System access was cut on the day of the announcement — a practice Armstrong acknowledged as harsh but defended as a matter of customer data protection.

The cuts follow a pattern that traces to 2022. In June of that year, Coinbase eliminated 18% of its workforce — 1,100 roles — as crypto prices fell and recession fears mounted. In January 2023, a second major reduction of 20%, covering 950 employees, followed the collapse of FTX and a prolonged market contraction. Those two rounds cut headcount by more than 2,100 people. Each time, Armstrong positioned the pain as the foundation for a stronger company on the other side.

Coinbase: AI is changing our company

This round carries a structural argument the prior two did not. The 2022 and 2023 reductions were market responses. The 2026 restructuring is, in Armstrong’s framing, an AI-driven redesign of how the company operates. 

He has fired engineers who refused to adopt tools such as GitHub Copilot and Cursor after securing enterprise licenses for both, and has set a target of 50% AI-written code at Coinbase. 

The logic of the current cuts extends that mandate: if AI increases the output of a small team, a large team becomes a drag on performance.

The org chart changes Armstrong outlined are broad. The company will flatten to no more than five layers below the CEO and COO. Every leader must carry an active individual contributor role — a “player-coach” model. Cross-functional “AI-native pods” will replace traditional team structures, with experiments in one-person teams that fold engineering, design, and product responsibilities into a single role.

COIN shares trade near $210 in pre-market trading, a fraction of the highs the stock reached in late 2024.

State Street says institutions want improved blockchain security in wake of recent DeFi attacks

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Big traditional finance firms need guardrails in a world of blockchain-based assets, particularly given how decentralized finance (DeFi) remains so susceptible to hacks and losses, the head of digital assets at custodial banking giant State Street said on Tuesday at Consensus Miami.

Still fresh in people’s minds, last month turned out to be a hacker’s bonanza in DeFi, with on-chain lending protocol Drift suffering a $295 million exploit early April, followed by a similarly sized attack on KelpDAO later in the month.

Speaking about the future of tokenized real-world assets (RWAs), Angus Fletcher, State Street’s head of digital assets, said the young crypto industry needs to find solutions now. “What are the things we actually need to solve now for a future where we’ve got trillions of dollars worth of activity on-chain? We need to start to unpick those issues now,” Fletcher said.

For institutions, interoperability between blockchains needs to be clearly defined and understood, Fletcher said, for crypto to safely scale.

“There has to be an understanding of what is the legal title and legal right when you have a token on one chain versus on another, on a cross chain basis. Our customers need to know and understand that. As institutions, it’s critical we get there,” he said.

The head of institutional at the blockchain lending protocol Morpho, Dennis Bree, said April was probably the month that has seen the most hacks in DeFi so far. “I think there’s just a general sense of understanding the security vectors, the underlying assets that are used as collateral. And we’re starting now, certainly to see curators do a lot more diligence as we think about the risk of some of those assets,” Bree said.

The everyday barriers to institutional involvement included a plethora of regulatory gray areas, Bree said. He said Morpho has curators coming to them with $10 to $15 billion in assets under management, seeking to understand how a digital vault manages that capital.

“For example, when you’ve got your capital, and you bring it into a blockchain, you have a receipt token, and instead of receipt tokens just increasing by number, they increase by value. So how does the CFO of a treasury firm think about the accounting treatment of that?”

Kraken eyes IPO as it partners with MoneyGram to bridge crypto-to-cash gap

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Miami Beach, FL — Arjun Sethi, co-CEO of Payward and Kraken, said the crypto exchange is “about 80% ready” to go public, underscoring the firm’s IPO ambitions as the company rolls out a new partnership with MoneyGram aimed at solving crypto’s “last mile” problem.

Speaking alongside Anthony Soohoo, chairman and CEO of MoneyGram, at Consensus Miami, Sethi framed the deal as a way to bridge the gap between digital assets and physical cash, a critical gap in global adoption. MoneyGram brings scale: roughly 500,000 retail locations worldwide.

CoinDesk reported in March that Kraken had paused its IPO plans after confidentially filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in November, with sources saying it may revisit a listing when market conditions improve.

“This is the first step of working together to solve the last mile,” Soohoo said, noting that “in many situations, customers still want access to cash.”

That’s especially true in regions where financial infrastructure lags. “People need cash at an onboarding location,” Sethi said, pointing to markets in Latin America and beyond. “Partnering with MoneyGram helps solve that.”

Moderator Ben Weiss noted that users increasingly treat exchanges like banks. Sethi said that the shift reflects a deeper transformation. “A lot of what banks used to do is now being done by crypto firms.”

Both executives pointed to stablecoins as a key unlock. Soohoo said they can “remove waste” and lower costs across the system, while Sethi was more blunt: “Intermediaries are the losers here, but they should be.”

On Kraken’s IPO, Sethi said the company has filed but is waiting for the right moment. “We’re ready,” he said, citing a broader industry reset driven by automation and tighter cost discipline.

MoneyGram, taken private in 2023, is in no rush. “We’re focused on rebuilding the company,” Soohoo said, emphasizing long-term value over quarterly pressure.

The shared goal: cheaper, faster financial access, especially for those left outside the traditional system.

Read more: Kraken’s parent company Payward to acquire derivatives exchange Bitnomial for $550 million in cash and stock