Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

Delta Air Lines is dividing up the front of the plane into even smaller groups, offering a new "basic" fare for business and first classes that comes without perks like free seat selection and airport lounge access.

The carrier is following United Airlines, which made a similar change earlier this year to its Polaris long-haul business class and other higher-tier cabins. Carriers are seeking to maximize what they can get out of high-spending customers, whose resilient travel demand has helped bolster the industry.

Basic tickets in the Delta One lie-flat, long-haul cabin will go by the new name Basic Business, the airline said Wednesday. There's a similar basic product for first class, which is more common on shorter-haul routes and in premium economy.

That means customers on those tickets will get seats assigned at check-in, earn fewer miles than more expensive options, only be allowed to make changes or cancellations for a fee and do not have the option for same-day standby or confirmed flight changes.

The seats go on sale Wednesday for flights starting in September and are only available in select markets. Delta didn't immediately say which ones would have the basic offering.

Delta, the country's most profitable airline, has been working on these changes for more than a year. Delta's former President Glen Hauenstein said on an earnings call last July that the "segmentation that we've done in main cabin is kind of the template that we're going to bring to all of our premium cabins over time because different people have different needs."

The Atlanta-based carrier reports second-quarter results on Friday.

Read more about airlines' race to win over big spendersUnited ditches more economy seats to make room for bigger premium cabins with new layoutsWhy airline class wars will intensify in 2026Caviar and privacy: Airlines' business-class wars are hereDelta says premium travel is set to overtake coach cabin sales next yearAmerican Airlines is arriving late to the luxury travel boom. Can it catch up?First-class seats are getting so fancy they’re holding up new airplanesAirlines can’t add high-end seats fast enough as travelers treat themselves to first class

New AI-powered capability will enable carriers to deliver renewal quotes directly inside agency management systems July 08, 2026 09:00 ET  | Source: Applied Systems

CHICAGO and HARTFORD, Conn., July 08, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Applied Systems today announced its submissionless commercial insurance experience, with The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE: TRV) as the first anchor carrier to participate in the initiative. Powered by Cytora, Applied’s agentic AI platform for carriers, the new capability will allow carriers to proactively deliver renewal quotes directly within Applied Epic, the leading agency management system, before the remarketing process begins.

The integration uses agentic AI to identify renewals within an agency’s full renewal portfolio across targeted lines of business and preemptively deliver renewal quotes without agencies needing to initiate remarketing. When a policy becomes eligible, Cytora will digitize risk data stored in Applied Epic and route it automatically to participating carriers’ quoting services. Quotes are returned directly to the management system, creating a connected, frictionless flow of risk information between brokers and insurers. The result is stronger agency engagement and a simpler, faster way to do business.

“Applied sits at the center of the insurance lifecycle, which, along with Cytora’s leading agentic AI technology, allows us to reimagine how the commercial insurance transaction flows,” said Michael Streit, President, Applied Systems Carrier. “As an industry leader and our first anchor carrier, Travelers will help shape how risk flows in the future. We look forward to expanding this capability to more stakeholders, creating more efficient and profitable partnerships for brokers and carriers across the distribution channel.”

“Applied shares our commitment to using AI to simplify the commercial insurance transaction,” said Greg Toczydlowski, Executive Vice President and President of Business Insurance at Travelers. “Delivering renewal quotes before remarketing begins lets our agents and brokers spend less time on process and more time advising customers, which is a win for the customer, for our distribution partners and for us. The capability also plays to our strengths – the visibility into a distribution partner’s full renewal portfolio combined with our data, analytics and product breadth gives us a meaningful competitive advantage in putting it to work.”

About Applied Systems

Applied Systems is the leading global provider of cloud-based software that powers the business of insurance. Recognized as a pioneer in insurance automation and the innovation leader, Applied is the world’s largest provider of agency and brokerage management systems, serving customers throughout the United States, Canada, the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom. By automating the insurance lifecycle, Applied’s people and products enable millions of people around the world to safeguard and protect what matters most.

About Cytora

Cytora is an agentic AI platform that enables commercial insurers to digitize and decision risk at scale. Acquired by Applied Systems in September 2025, Cytora’s modular platform spans risk digitization, decisioning and workflow automation – processing submissions from any source, enriching them with external data and routing them decision-ready to underwriters. Cytora is deployed across leading commercial carriers globally.

About Travelers

The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE: TRV) is a leading provider of property casualty insurance for auto, home and business. A component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Travelers has more than 30,000 employees and generated revenues of nearly $49 billion in 2025. For more information, visit Travelers.com.

Applied Announces Submissionless Commercial Insurance Experience with Travelers as First Anchor Carrier Partner 

Applied Announces Submissionless Commercial Insurance Experience with Travelers as First Anchor Carr... New AI-powered capability will enable carriers to deliver renewal quotes directly inside agency mana...

Contact Data Lauren Malcolm Applied Systems 678-438-5093 [email protected]

Key Takeaways Agnico Eagle returned $375M in Q1 2026 via dividends and buybacks, about half of free cash flow.AEM raised its quarterly dividend 12.5% and renewed a $2B share repurchase program in May 2026.AEM aims to return about 40% of free cash flow to shareholders this year after roughly one-third in 2025. Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (AEM - Free Report) is leveraging its strong cash flow to boost shareholder value through dividends and share buybacks. AEM returned $375 million in the first quarter of 2026 through dividends and share buybacks, accounting for around half of its free cash flow.

Agnico Eagle raised its quarterly dividend by 12.5% to 45 cents per share in February 2026. It also renewed its normal course issuer bid (NCIB) in May 2026, allowing it to repurchase and cancel up to $2 billion worth of its common shares.

AEM’s first-quarter free cash flow climbed 23% year over year to roughly $732 million. Free cash flow was a record $4.4 billion in 2025, up 105% year over year. The upside was backed by higher realized gold prices and robust operational results.

AEM returned around $1.4 billion to its shareholders in 2025, representing a third of its free cash flow. It sees the potential to increase that to roughly 40% this year.

Agnico Eagle is executing a disciplined capital allocation strategy, capitalizing on its strong cash generation to enhance shareholder value, support a robust pipeline of growth projects and reduce debt. With gold prices staying supportive despite the recent selloff, AEM is well-positioned to sustain this shareholder-focused approach.

Among its peers, Barrick Mining Corporation (B - Free Report) generates healthy cash flows, positioning itself well to take advantage of attractive development and exploration opportunities and drive shareholder value. Barrick returned $2.4 billion to its shareholders in 2025 through dividends and repurchases. It repurchased shares worth $1.5 billion last year. Barrick’s board authorized a new $3 billion share buyback program. Its new dividend policy targets a total payout of 50% of attributable free cash flow on an annualized basis.

Newmont Corporation (NEM - Free Report) has distributed $3.4 billion to its shareholders through dividends and share repurchases in 2025. It has returned $2.7 billion to its shareholders since Feb. 19, 2026. Newmont has executed buybacks of $6 billion under the earlier authorized share repurchase programs, including $2.4 billion since the fourth-quarter 2025 earnings call. NEM’s board has approved an additional $6 billion repurchase program.

The Zacks Rundown for AEMAgnico Eagle’s shares have rallied 27.7% in the past year against the Zacks Mining – Gold industry’s growth of 46.6%.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

From a valuation standpoint, AEM is currently trading at a forward 12-month earnings multiple of 11.3, a roughly 21% premium to the industry average of 9.34X. It carries a Value Score of C.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AEM’s 2026 and 2027 earnings implies a year-over-year rise of 59.7% and 0.7%, respectively. The EPS estimates for 2026 and 2027 have been trending higher over the past 60 days.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

As of market close on July 7, the S&P 500 (^GSPC 0.42%) and Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC 0.23%) are up 9.6% and 11.1% year to date (YTD), respectively, and hovering around all-time highs. The tech sector -- which makes up 38% of the index -- is largely responsible for the strong gains because it is up 24.5% YTD.

However, some noteworthy value stocks are doing even better than the tech-heavy S&P 500. Kimberly-Clark (KMB 2.75%) is up 13.7% YTD, and that's without even factoring in two $1.28 per share dividend payments. Earlier this year, Kimberly-Clark raised its dividend for the 54th consecutive year, retaining its spot on the list of Dividend Kings, which have at least 50 consecutive years of dividend increases.

Here's why Kimberly-Clark remains a great dividend stock to buy for the second half of the year.

Image source: Getty Images.

1. Kimberly-Clark is recession-resistant Kimberly-Clark has a portfolio of leading household and personal care brands, many of which are paper-based. Its crown jewel is Huggies, which is the No. 2 diaper brand in the world behind Pampers. Other notable brands include Kleenex, Kotex, Scott, and Cottonelle.

Demand for these products tends to be consistent across economic cycles, though Kimberly-Clark's margins have been under pressure due to rising costs and inflationary pressures on consumer spending. In Kimberly-Clark's first-quarter 2026 earnings call, it forecasted $150 million to $170 million in additional costs if oil remained around $100 per barrel. Oil prices have come down significantly since that late April earnings call, but the months when oil was elevated will affect its full-year margins.

However, Kimberly-Clark is implementing productivity initiatives, new pricing with suppliers, and hedging programs to improve margins. Kimberly-Clark's chief financial officer, Nelson Urdaneta, said the following on the Q1 2026 earnings call:

I'd also remind everyone that we've got a solid track record over the last four years of recovering any input cost inflation and actually expanding margins. If you look at 2023 through 2025, we expanded both gross margins and operating profit margins beyond the levels pre-pandemic. So we're confident in our ability to cover all these input costs over time.

Kimberly-Clark isn't immune to consumer spending trends or macroeconomic factors, but it has done a good job adjusting to the new normal of cost inflation.

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2. A major acquisition is right around the corner In November 2025, Kimberly-Clark announced the acquisition of Kenvue (KVUE 1.80%). The consumer health company spun off from Johnson & Johnson in August 2023 and owns many noteworthy brands, including Aveeno, Neutrogena, Tylenol, Listerine, Johnson's, and BAND-AID.

Since then, Kimberly-Clark and Kenvue shareholders have overwhelmingly approved the acquisition, and Kimberly-Clark has moved forward with key organizational and leadership decisions.

The deal will diversify Kimberly-Clark's revenue streams and enhance its resilience in a recession. Kimberly-Clark expects the transaction to close before the end of the year.

3. Kimberly-Clark is dirt cheap You may think that Kimberly-Clark would command a premium valuation, given that its stock price is outpacing the S&P 500 and Nasdaq in 2026. However, Kimberly-Clark fell 23% last year and is down 18.1% over the last decade.

Kimberly-Clark now trades at just 15.2 times analyst consensus 2026 earnings estimates of $7.54 per share. Its 10-year median price-to-earnings ratio is 21.9.

A top high-yield dividend stock to buy now Investors who believe the Kenvue acquisition is the right move are getting a chance to buy Kimberly-Clark at a dirt cheap valuation. Kimberly-Clark expects the combined company to deliver $2.1 billion in annual run rate synergies by the second year following the acquisition, unlocking operating leverage and boosting margins.

In the meantime, investors can count on Kimberly-Clark's high-yield dividend. Although a high yield can sometimes indicate that a dividend is becoming unsustainable, Kimberly-Clark's earnings and free cash flow still exceed its payout.

With an established and recession-resistant portfolio of brands, Kimberly-Clark stands out as an attractive value stock for investors looking for an alternative to high-flying growth stocks. Unlike hyperscaler cloud computing companies, Kimberly-Clark isn't spending a ton of capital expenditures on big ideas that it needs to pay off. Rather, it is a stable stalwart that has rewarded income investors for decades.

Therefore, Kimberly-Clark can continue to outperform the S&P 500 and Nasdaq because its earnings growth expectations are already low. So even decent results would likely be received well by investors. However, Kimberly-Clark isn't without its risks.

If the Kenvue acquisition doesn't go as smoothly as planned or fails to unlock the cost savings Kimberly-Clark hopes for, it could make its dividend less affordable, which could strain its balance sheet. The combined company must also prove it can extract value from a larger portfolio of brands, which comes with a slew of execution challenges from a new leadership team.

Therefore, some investors may want to wait for the dust to settle after the Kenvue acquisition before buying the stock. Investors who don't mind the uncertainty can scoop up shares at an attractive valuation.

Key Takeaways BlackBerry says QNX's GEM segment is expanding beyond automotive into safety-critical embedded markets.BB secured a royalty commitment and expanded a customer relationship through its latest SDP 8 platform.BlackBerry says its strongest robotics pipeline yet supports long-term Physical AI growth opportunities. BlackBerry Limited (BB - Free Report) continues to see growing opportunities for its QNX business across robotics and industrial automation through its General Embedded Market (GEM) strategy. The company stated that GEM remains the fastest-growing segment within QNX, expanding its long-term opportunity beyond automotive into robotics, industrial automation, medical devices and other safety-critical applications.

During first-quarter fiscal 2027, BlackBerry secured a significant royalty commitment from a leading semiconductor equipment manufacturer and expanded its relationship with Luminex through an upgrade to its latest SDP 8 platform. These wins reflect continued progress in expanding QNX adoption and deployment across embedded markets.

The company highlighted Physical AI as a key long-term growth driver. As intelligent machines become increasingly autonomous and operate around people, BlackBerry said that safety, security, reliability and real-time determinism become more important. QNX technology is deterministic and safety certified, making it suitable for systems where failure is not an option. BlackBerry noted that automotive has served as a proving ground for Physical AI, describing modern vehicles as robots on wheels and emphasizing QNX’s role in supporting advanced autonomous and safety-critical systems.

BlackBerry also stated that its experience in the automotive market positions it well for opportunities in robotics and industrial automation. The company believes the capabilities it developed for automotive applications, including real-time determinism, safety certification, security and reliability, translate well to these adjacent markets. Management identified robotics, industrial automation and medical instrumentation as the three primary GEM categories where QNX’s technology is well aligned with customer requirements.

On the last earnings call, the company stated that its pipeline across robotics and industrial automation is the strongest it has been, with encouraging opportunities developing in both markets. Management expects to report additional wins as they materialize and noted that GEM continues to be the fastest-growing segment within QNX.

Taking a Look at BB’s CompetitorsCrowdStrike (CRWD - Free Report) continues to strengthen its growth pipeline through product innovation, AI expansion and broader platform adoption. The company introduced Charlotte AI AgentWorks, a no-code platform developed with AWS, NVIDIA and OpenAI, along with Agentic MDR to automate security workflows. Falcon Data Security expanded protection across endpoints, cloud, SaaS and AI environments. Management highlighted a record second-quarter pipeline and increased partner engagement, supporting demand across enterprise and public sector customers. Falcon Flex also gained momentum, adding more than 300 accounts in the first quarter and reaching more than $1.9 billion in ending ARR, reflecting stronger customer commitments and expanding platform adoption.

Palo Alto Networks (PANW - Free Report) continues to benefit from higher cybersecurity priority as enterprises deploy AI and look to consolidate vendors onto fewer platforms. Platformization is translating into larger commitments, supported by expanding next-generation security ARR and RPO, and management guidance implies continued growth in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026. Momentum in Network Security, SASE and Prisma AIRS, along with early execution on the CyberArk and Chronosphere integrations, supports the long-term revenue mix shift toward recurring software and free cash flow. For fiscal 2026, Palo Alto Networks now expects revenues in the range of $11.41 billion to $11.42 billion, suggesting year-over-year growth of 24%.

BB Price Performance, Valuation & EstimatesShares of BlackBerry have surged 25.6% in the past month compared with the Internet-Software industry’s growth of 5.3%.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Regarding the price/book ratio, BB is trading at 8.67, higher than the industry’s multiple of 4.71.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for BB earnings for fiscal 2027 has been revised downward over the past 60 days.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

BlackBerry currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

The Number $8.662 billion. That is what Mounjaro alone generated for Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY | LLY Price Prediction) in the first quarter of 2026, a single product, a single quarter, up 125% year over year. The figure was disclosed in Lilly’s Q1 2026 earnings release on April 30, 2026, an actual reported figure.

This key growth driver is what I’d argue is the central investing thesis behind investors who have continued to buy LLY stock at more than $1,200 per share, positioning this stock for a potential stock split (at least in my view).

What It Means Mounjaro is now doing roughly the annual revenue of a mid-cap pharma company every 90 days.

When investors add Zepbound at $4.160 billion in the same quarter (up 80%), and the incretin franchise pushed group revenue to $19.799 billion (55.55% higher than a year earlier), it’s clear to see that there’s no shortage of growth with this biotech giant. Impressively, the company’s volume climbed 65% year over year this past quarter, while realized prices fell 13%. That is a mix Eli Lilly can live with.

Overall, I think the company’s volume growth is its operating leverage, and by all measures, these numbers are surging. With operating income recently hitting $8.915 billion (up 64.84%), and net income landing at $7.396 billion, higher by 168.04%. Non-GAAP EPS of $8.55 beat consensus of $6.7921 by a 25.88% margin, the biggest surprise in the four-quarter streak of beats.

Market Reaction Shares closed at $934.60 on the day of the Q1 earnings report, up 3.07% from the prior close of $851.21. The move has continued since, with LLY stock now trading right around $1,200 per share. That’s good for a gain of around 14% since its earnings report (outpacing the overall NASDAQ), and good for a gain of nearly 450% over the past five years alone.

In other words, forget semiconductor stocks, Eli Lilly is the high-growth large-cap stock many investors are watching perhaps more closely right now.

Bull Case Every claim behind Lilly’s four-digit share price is measurable. The company’s management team recently raised its full-year 2026 revenue guidance to $82.0 billion to $85.0 billion from the prior $80.0 billion to $83.0 billion, lifted non-GAAP EPS guidance to $35.50 to $37.00 from $33.50 to $35.00, and pushed performance margin guidance to 47.0% to 48.5%. These are guidance figures for the full year.

Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Eli Lilly didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.

I think the important thing to note is that this is a biotech giant with a pipeline that’s broadening its base. CEO David A. Ricks framed the quarter this way: “2026 is off to a strong start, we delivered 56% revenue growth in the first quarter and raised our full-year revenue guidance by $2 billion. A key milestone was the U.S. FDA approval of Foundayo, the only approved GLP-1 pill that can be taken any time of day, without food and water restrictions.”

Beyond incretins, key products in immunology, oncology and neuroscience grew 160% year over year, with Ebglyss up 141%, Omvoh up 115%, and Jaypirca up 79%. Four acquisitions were announced in the quarter (Orna Therapeutics, Centessa Pharmaceuticals, Kelonia Therapeutics, and Ajax Therapeutics), extending the pipeline into cell therapies, sleep-wake disorders, in vivo CAR-T, and myelofibrosis.

Importantly, insiders are also voting with their own wallets. Four of the company’s top directors bought shares on the same dates in April, May, and June 2026, at prices climbing from $919.90 to $988.09 to $1,129.35. That is board-level buying at progressively higher prices, month after month. The sell-side is aligned: an average analyst price target of $1,220.39, with 6 strong buys and 17 buys against 5 holds. On forward earnings of roughly 33x, this is priced as a growth compounder.

Bottom Line A four-digit share price and a $1.06 trillion market cap make Lilly a natural candidate for a split conversation, and the fundamentals give management room to push for such a move.

For long-term holders, the number to remember is the one that drove the run: -Mounjaro at $8.662 billion in a single quarter, growing at triple digits. The next scheduled read on that trajectory is Lilly’s Investment Community Meeting on December 7, 2026. Until then, an ex-dividend date of August 14, 2026 is the next mile marker.

To sum it up, Eli Lilly’s share price growth is loud. The revenue growth supporting this move could be even louder.

Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Eli Lilly didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

Cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (PANW) rises 3,770% since first institutional outlier inflow signal in 2013.

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PANW is an AI-first cybersecurity company offering network security solutions to enterprises, service providers, and governments. PANW’s third-quarter 2026 report showed $3 billion in revenue (a 31% year-over-year rise), $8.13 in next generation security annual recurring revenue (a 60% jump), non-GAAP per-share earnings of $0.85, and raised full-year revenue guidance to a high end of $11.425 billion and up to $3.79 in non-GAAP diluted EPS.

No wonder PANW shares are up 30% this year – and they could rise more. MoneyFlows data shows how Big Money investors are again betting heavily on the stock.

Institutions Returning to Palo Alto Institutional volumes reveal plenty. In the last year, PANW has enjoyed strong investor demand, which we believe to be institutional support.

Each green bar signals unusually large volumes in PANW shares. They reflect our proprietary inflow signal, pushing the stock higher:

Source: www.moneyflows.com Plenty of technology names are under accumulation right now. But there’s a powerful fundamental story happening with Palo Alto.

Palo Alto Fundamental Analysis Institutional support and a healthy fundamental backdrop make this company worth investigating. As you can see, PANW has had strong sales and earnings growth:

3-year sales growth rate (+18.9%) 3-year EPS growth rate (+199.6%) Source: FactSet

Also, EPS is estimated to ramp higher this year by +8.9%.

Now it makes sense why the stock has been generating Big Money interest. PANW has a track record of strong financial performance.

Marrying great fundamentals with MoneyFlows software has found some big winning stocks over the long term.

Palo Alto has been a top-rated stock at MoneyFlows. That means the stock has unusual buy pressure and growing fundamentals. We have a ranking process that showcases stocks like this on a weekly basis.

It’s had six Big Money outlier inflow signals in the last year, gaining 67.3% in that time. The blue bars below shows when PANW was a top pick…institutions love this stock:

Source: www.moneyflows.com Tracking unusual volumes reveals the power of money flows.

This is a trait that most outlier stocks exhibit…the best of the best. Big Money demand drives stocks upward.

Palo Alto Price Prediction The PANW action isn’t new at all. Big Money buying in the shares is signaling to take notice. Given the historical gains in share price and strong fundamentals, this stock could be worth a spot in a diversified portfolio.

Disclosure: the author holds no position in PANW at the time of publication.

If you are a Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) or are a serious investor, take your investing to the next level and follow our free weekly MoneyFlows insights.

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Lucas is a well-versed equity investor and educator. He currently is co-founder of research and analytics firm, MAPsignals.com, which focuses on finding outlier stocks by following the Big Money.

Editors’ Picks

Nio stock price dropped below a crucial support level as demand for Chinese electric vehicle shares fell. It dropped to a multi-month low of $4.88 in New York, down by 40% from its highest point this year despite its strong delivery numbers.

Nio has emerged as one of the fastest-growing Chinese EV companies, helped by the traction of its newly launched vehicles. 

Data released last week showed that its deliveries jumped by 62.9% YoY in June, bringing its second-quarter figure at 107,658. Its quarterly figure was about 50% higher than where it was last year. 

Nio, its main brand, delivered 21,908 vehicles, while ONVO had 11,743. Firefly, the smaller brand delivered 6,946 vehicles during the month. This surge coincided with the launch of NIO WorldModel, which was installed to over 700k vehicles.

The ES9 model has now had over 120k deliveries, while ES9 sold 10,000 vehicles in 30 days, a sign that the brand is resonating with customers. In contrast, most Chinese EV companies like BYD, Li Auto, and XPeng continued to see weak growth. 

Li Auto delivered 98,330 vehicles, representing an 11.5% annual decline. XPeng sold 103,295 vehicles, roughly unchanged from a year ago, while BYD delivered 1.1 million vehicles.

Therefore, the ongoing Nio stock plunge is likely happening as investors remain concerned about its growth trajectory. Also, there are concerns about its profitability growth. After reporting a net profit earlier this year, the recent earnings report showed that it made a $48 million loss in the first quarter.

Most of Nio’s metrics are doing well, especially in an industry that is facing substantial pressure. For example, despite the ongoing price war, the company’s gross profit margin rose to 18.8%, higher than many Chinese EV companies. This performance means that it may close the gap with Tesla, which has a margin of 21%.

Nio has other factors that could support its stock over the long term. For example, recent results showed that its research and development expenses declined by 40% year over year, mainly due to lower personnel costs. In addition, the company has largely completed the most capital-intensive phases of its R&D efforts, particularly in vehicle design and development.

Nio has also improved its balance sheet, with the amount of cash and equivalents rising to $7 billion. The management believes that it will not need to raise cash in the near term, which has been a source of concerns among investors.

Therefore, the recent weakness in Nio’s stock appears to be driven largely by fading investor enthusiasm for EV stocks rather than by deterioration in the company’s underlying business performance.

Nio stock chart | Source: TradingView

Technicals point to more weakness in the near term. It has formed a head-and-shoulders pattern, and most recently, it dropped below the neckline. Also, it dropped below the 100-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA), while the Relative Strength Index (RSI) has continued falling.

Therefore, the stock will likely remain under pressure because of the general sector weakness. This retreat may see it fall to the psychological level of $4. Its strong fundamentals may help it bounce back later this year.

Key Takeaways FCEL is drawing investor interest as AI data centers increase demand for steady on-site power.FCEL's proposal pipeline reached about 4 GW, with 89% tied to potential data-center customers.FCEL plans to lift Torrington capacity to 500 MW as its 12.5-MW modular block supports growth. FuelCell Energy (FCEL - Free Report) has been one of the strongest clean-energy stocks recently, with shares climbing nearly 300% in the past three months. After such a sharp move, investors may wonder whether the opportunity has already passed. However, FCEL’s rally is not based only on short-term excitement. The company is gaining attention because artificial intelligence (AI) data centers need huge amounts of steady electricity, and existing power grids often cannot supply that power quickly enough. FuelCell Energy offers on-site fuel-cell systems that can provide continuous power where it is needed. This gives FCEL a clearer growth story, especially as investors also watch Bloom Energy (BE - Free Report) and Plug Power (PLUG - Free Report) in the clean-power and hydrogen space.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

AI Data Centers Are Driving FCEL’s Opportunity

AI data centers run powerful computers around the clock. These facilities cannot afford power shortages or long delays in getting electricity. FuelCell Energy’s systems are designed to provide reliable baseload power directly at customer sites, helping reduce dependence on slow grid upgrades, new transmission lines or long utility interconnection timelines.

This is why FCEL’s business pipeline has expanded sharply. The company’s submitted proposal pipeline reached about 4 gigawatts in the fiscal second quarter, up more than 250% from the prior quarter. Around 89% of that pipeline is tied to potential data-center customers. That means most of FCEL’s current growth opportunity is linked to AI and digital infrastructure. Bloom Energy is also benefiting from the same theme, as BE markets on-site power systems for data centers and mission-critical facilities. Plug Power, meanwhile, is pursuing hydrogen and fuel-cell applications across several markets. While Bloom Energy and Plug Power are larger clean-energy names, FuelCell Energy is building a focused story around AI-driven demand for dependable electricity.

Image Source: FuelCell Energy

Modular Product and Manufacturing Scale Add Support

FuelCell Energy has introduced a standardized 12.5-megawatt (“MW”) FuelCell Energy Block. For a layman, this works like a power building block. A customer can begin with one block and add more as electricity demand increases. This is important for data centers because they often want to grow in phases instead of building all their power capacity at once.

The company says the 12.5-MW block uses its proven 1.25-MW modules and is designed to reduce repeat engineering and permitting work. That could make projects easier to plan and faster to deploy. FuelCell Energy is also expanding its Torrington, CT, manufacturing facility. Management now plans to raise annual production capacity to 500 MW, compared with the earlier 350-MW target. The company has said it will expand capacity in line with customer demand, contracted backlog and capital support. This disciplined approach matters because investors want growth, but not reckless spending. Bloom Energy and Plug Power also need strong execution to capture clean-energy demand, so FCEL’s ability to convert proposals into firm contracts will be critical.

Partnerships and Earnings Estimates Strengthen the Case for FCEL

FCEL’s story is not limited to data centers. The company continues to deliver fuel-cell modules to Gyeonggi Green Energy in South Korea and is involved in work tied to the AI Daegu Data Center opportunity. These projects support its international clean-energy presence. Another important opportunity is carbon capture. FuelCell Energy is working with ExxonMobil on technology that can capture carbon while producing power. Two carbon-capture modules were sent to Rotterdam for delivery to ExxonMobil’s facility. If this technology proves successful, FCEL could gain another long-term market beyond power generation.

Apart from price performance, FCEL’s earnings outlook is also improving. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal 2026 earnings implies a 59% improvement, while the estimate for fiscal 2027 points to another 27% improvement. This does not mean FCEL is already highly profitable, but it suggests analysts expect losses to narrow as the business scales. FuelCell Energy also ended the latest quarter with nearly $441 million in total cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash. That gives the company flexibility to support manufacturing expansion and commercial activity. Management has indicated that reaching a consistent annual production of at least 100 MW is important for moving toward positive adjusted EBITDA. Simply put, FCEL needs more volume to spread costs across a larger revenue base.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Conclusion

FuelCell Energy is not a risk-free stock. The company still needs to turn its large proposal pipeline into signed contracts, grow backlog, improve profitability and compete with Bloom Energy and Plug Power. However, the stock’s sharp rally looks supported by real growth themes, including AI data-center power demand, modular fuel-cell products, manufacturing expansion, international projects, carbon-capture potential and improving earnings estimates. For investors who understand the risks, FCEL may still offer upside even after its near-quadruple move in three months. FCEL stock is currently a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Table of contents

World Liberty Financial’s USD1 has gone from a March 2025 launch announcement to the fourth-largest stablecoin in the world in roughly fifteen months, overtaking PayPal’s PYUSD and Sky’s DAI along the way. Its rise has been driven less by retail adoption than by a handful of enormous institutional deals — most notably a $2 billion settlement between Abu Dhabi-based MGX and Binance that was paid entirely in USD1 — and by the fact that the project sits inside a company co-founded by the Trump family. Here’s what USD1 actually is, how it works, and what to weigh before using it.

Key Takeaways USD1 is a US dollar-pegged stablecoin issued by World Liberty Financial (WLFI) and custodied by BitGo Trust Company under a South Dakota trust charter Reserves consist of cash, short-term US Treasury bills, and government money market funds, verified through monthly AICPA-standard attestations and a live Chainlink-powered proof-of-reserves dashboard Circulating supply has grown from about $3.3 billion at year-end 2025 to roughly $4.5 billion by mid-2026, making USD1 the fourth-largest stablecoin behind USDT, USDC, and Sky’s USDS, according to DefiLlama’s stablecoin tracker USD1 runs natively on around ten blockchains, including Ethereum, BNB Chain, Tron, Solana, Aptos, and the Stripe-backed Tempo L1 World Liberty Financial is majority-owned by a Trump family business entity, which is entitled to a share of token sale proceeds and stablecoin profits — a fact worth knowing before treating USD1 as a neutral financial product USD1 Price Today MetricValuePrice~$0.9987Market Cap~$4.45B24h Volume~$775MCirculating Supply~4.46B USD1Holders~617KRank#4 stablecoin by market cap Live price and supply data via CoinGecko and CoinMarketCap.

Note: as a stablecoin, USD1’s price is designed to stay near $1.00 — deviations of more than a fraction of a cent typically signal peg stress rather than “price movement” in the way a normal crypto asset would show it. For how USD1 fits into the broader market, see today’s crypto market overview.

What Is USD1? USD1 is a fiat-collateralized stablecoin issued by World Liberty Financial, the same company behind the WLFI governance token. Each USD1 is intended to be backed 1:1 by a corresponding dollar held in cash, short-duration US Treasury bills, and other cash equivalents through government money market funds. The stablecoin launched on Ethereum and BNB Chain in March 2025 and was designed from the outset for institutional settlement rather than retail spending — WLFI co-founder Zach Witkoff pitched it at launch as combining “the power of DeFi” with “the credibility and safeguards of the most respected names in traditional finance.”

That institutional framing has largely held up in practice. USD1’s fastest growth has come from large counterparty deals rather than organic retail demand — Forbes reported that Binance-linked wallets held roughly 87% of USD1 supply at one point, and Binance has run multiple liquidity-seeding campaigns, including a booster program that briefly offered up to 20% APR on USD1 deposits before being cut to 8%.

USD1 uses a standard mint-and-burn mechanism: new tokens are created only when an equivalent dollar amount is deposited with the custodian, and tokens are destroyed when holders redeem. BitGo Trust Company — which operates under a South Dakota trust charter — holds the reserves and processes institutional redemptions, typically within one to two business days. Retail holders generally don’t redeem directly with BitGo; instead, they convert USD1 to other stablecoins or fiat through exchanges and DEXs.

Two transparency mechanisms back the peg claim. A monthly attestation report, prepared by an independent accounting firm under 2025 AICPA criteria for asset-backed fiat-pegged tokens, confirms that USD1 tokens outstanding are matched or exceeded by reserve assets. A separate real-time proof-of-reserves dashboard, powered by a Chainlink oracle on Ethereum, shows total reserves, the collateralization ratio, and supply by network on an ongoing basis. World Liberty Financial introduced the live dashboard in February 2026, shortly after a brief depeg incident (more on that below).

It’s also worth knowing where the yield goes: interest earned on the underlying reserve assets accrues to BitGo and World Liberty Financial-affiliated entities — including a Trump-affiliated entity, DT Marks DEFI LLC — rather than to USD1 holders themselves. That’s standard practice across most fiat-backed stablecoins, including USDT and USDC, but it means holding USD1 doesn’t generate yield on its own; any return comes from separately supplying it to a lending protocol.

Which Blockchains Support USD1 USD1 launched on just two networks and has expanded aggressively since:

Ethereum and BNB Chain — the original launch networks and still the deepest liquidity venues Tron — where dollar-stablecoin transfer volume is heavily concentrated Solana — added as USD1 pushed into high-throughput DeFi Aptos, AB Core, Mantle, Monad, Plume, Morph — newer integrations added through 2025 and 2026 Tempo — the Stripe-backed layer-1, where USD1 launched natively in May 2026 as an early TIP-20 token Cross-chain transfers run on Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) rather than a proprietary bridge — a deliberate choice, since Circle’s competing CCTP standard is USDC-specific and unavailable to other issuers.

USD1 and World Liberty Financial USD1 can’t really be separated from the company behind it. World Liberty Financial was founded in late 2024 by Zachary Folkman, Chase Herro, and Zach and Donald Trump Jr., alongside other Trump family members, and describes Donald Trump as its “chief crypto advocate.” A Trump family business entity owns 60% of World Liberty Financial and is entitled to 75% of net proceeds from WLFI token sales as well as a share of stablecoin-related profits; by December 2025, the family had reportedly profited around $1 billion from token proceeds alone.

The project has also drawn foreign investment at a scale unusual for a young crypto company. A firm tied to the Abu Dhabi royal family purchased $2 billion of USD1 in 2025, and reporting from the New York Times indicated Abu Dhabi-linked interests separately agreed to acquire a 49% stake in WLFI. These ties, combined with the Trump family’s direct financial stake, have made USD1 a recurring subject of conflict-of-interest reporting rather than a purely technical stablecoin story — worth factoring in alongside the reserve and custody details above.

On the regulatory side, USD1’s structure is built to align with the GENIUS Act, the federal stablecoin law signed in July 2025 that requires full reserve backing, monthly public disclosure, and licensed-issuer status for payment stablecoins. Implementation is still ongoing through 2026, and in January 2026 a World Liberty trust entity applied for a US national banking charter, which — if granted — would give the issuer direct bank-grade infrastructure instead of relying solely on BitGo as custodian.

USD1 vs. USDT vs. USDC USD1USDTUSDCIssuerWorld Liberty FinancialTetherCircleMarket cap (mid-2026)~$4.5B~$170B+~$73BCustodianBitGo TrustTether InternationalRegulated banking partnersReserve attestationMonthly (AICPA standard)QuarterlyMonthlyChains~10, incl. Ethereum, BNB Chain, Tron, Solana15+20+Primary use caseInstitutional settlement, DeFi collateralTrading pairs, EM remittanceRegulated payments, DeFi USD1 is far smaller than the two incumbents and has no realistic path to displacing either in the near term. Its differentiation is regulatory positioning and political access rather than scale: it launched compliance-first under a framework built toward the GENIUS Act, and its sponsors have secured settlement deals — like the MGX-Binance transaction — that smaller or newer stablecoins typically can’t access.

Risks Worth Knowing USD1 briefly depegged to around $0.994 in February 2026, an incident WLFI attributed to a coordinated attack on co-founders’ social media accounts — a claim that hasn’t been independently verified. The peg recovered within roughly 30 minutes and reserves were confirmed intact, but the episode prompted the launch of the real-time proof-of-reserves dashboard described above.

Supply concentration is a separate concern: with the bulk of USD1 historically held in Binance-linked wallets, the token’s liquidity and price stability depend heavily on a small number of large holders rather than a broad, diversified base. World Liberty Financial’s own risk disclosures also note that USD1 is not legal tender and not deposit-insured, and that BitGo or WLFI-affiliated parties retain the ability to freeze or block specific addresses — a level of centralized control that’s common among regulated stablecoins but worth being aware of before treating USD1 as equivalent to holding cash.

Finally, USD1 is young and its issuer is young: World Liberty Financial has faced congressional scrutiny over conflicts of interest and, separately, a defamation lawsuit tied to public criticism of the project. None of this affects whether current reserves back current supply, but it’s relevant to how much institutional trust the project can sustain if political or legal pressure increases.

Where to Buy USD1 USD1 is listed on most major centralized exchanges as well as several DEXs:

Binance — deepest liquidity, multiple pairs including USD1/USDT and BTC/USD1 Coinbase — added USD1 support as part of WLFI’s push for mainstream accessibility Kraken, OKX, Bybit, Gate, MEXC, Bitget Raydium and PancakeSwap for on-chain swaps via Solana and BNB Chain respectively Self-custody wallets that support USD1’s underlying networks (MetaMask, Phantom, and similar) can hold the token directly using its contract address once added manually or through an exchange’s “add to wallet” integration.

Frequently Asked Questions What is USD1 stablecoin? USD1 is a US dollar-pegged stablecoin issued by World Liberty Financial, a company co-founded by members of the Trump family. It's backed 1:1 by cash and short-term US Treasury securities held through custodian BitGo Trust, with monthly reserve attestations and a real-time proof-of-reserves dashboard.

How do I buy USD1 stablecoin? USD1 trades on major exchanges including Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, OKX, and Bybit, as well as decentralized exchanges like Raydium and PancakeSwap. Create an account on a supported exchange, deposit funds, and trade for USD1 directly or swap another stablecoin like USDT or USDC for it.

Who owns USD1 stablecoin? USD1 is issued by World Liberty Financial, which is majority-owned by a Trump family business entity entitled to 75% of net token sale proceeds and a share of stablecoin profits. Reserves backing USD1 are held by custodian BitGo Trust Company, not by World Liberty Financial directly.

Which blockchain is USD1 on? USD1 runs natively on roughly ten blockchains, including Ethereum, BNB Chain, Tron, Solana, Aptos, and the Stripe-backed Tempo network. Cross-chain transfers use Chainlink's CCIP protocol rather than a single native chain.

Is USD1 safe? USD1 is backed by cash and short-term US Treasuries held with a regulated custodian and publishes monthly attestations, similar to USDC's model. It briefly depegged in February 2026 but recovered within 30 minutes with reserves confirmed intact. As with any stablecoin, it isn't deposit-insured or legal tender, and holders should weigh custodial and issuer-concentration risk before use.

Published Wed, Jul 8, 2026 · 09:16 PM

[NEW YORK] Bitcoin tumbled as renewed geopolitical tensions rattled digital asset markets, eclipsing what had been a muted reaction to Strategy Inc’s latest sale of the token earlier in the week.

The largest cryptocurrency fell more than 3 per cent to around US$61,691 on Wednesday (Jul 8) as tensions flared up once more between the US and Iran. The selloff picked up steam after US President Donald Trump said the tentative ceasefire with Iran was over, raising the prospect of renewed military conflict between the two countries. Other cryptocurrencies, including Ether and Solana, also fell.

Bitcoin later pared some of its losses and was trading at around US$62,100 in early morning New York.

“Bitcoin took a quick dive after Trump’s comments, as the market frets about further fuel-linked inflation and potential rate hikes to counter it,” said Caroline Mauron, co-founder of Orbit Markets. “We expect some support around US$61,500, but the market is likely to remain volatile as the geopolitical and macro situations develop.”

Brent crude advanced nearly 6 per cent to US$78.55 a barrel. Stocks extended declines, with the MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropping as much as 1 per cent and India’s Nifty 50 Index sliding 1.5 per cent. S&P 500 futures slid 1 per cent.

Trump’s comments came after the US carried out strikes on Iran, which followed attacks on commercial ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Both sides accused the other of violating the ceasefire.

Bitcoin had been looking stronger in July after a 20 per cent drop in June, its worst month in four years. The token is up about 5.5 per cent so far this month.

The cryptocurrency had been relatively resilient after Strategy – the Michael Saylor-founded company that has become the token’s largest corporate buyer – disclosed a US$216 million Bitcoin sale on Monday. Markets barely reacted to the news, a far cry from last month, when Strategy’s disclosure of its first Bitcoin sale since 2022 precipitated a selloff.

“A forced seller of that size not denting the market is a real signal worth noting,” said Sean Rose, an account executive at market intelligence firm Glassnode.

SEE ALSO

Some long-term Bitcoin holders had also resumed buying before the latest Middle East flare-up, adding as many as 31,800 tokens per day to their holdings from June 20 to July 6, according to Glassnode. 

US-listed spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, meanwhile, have added more than US$500 million in three consecutive days of inflows. Investors had pulled more than US$4.5 billion from the funds in June, their worst month since launching in early 2024.

Still, Bitcoin remains down more than 50 per cent since reaching a high above US$126,000 last October. The upside, however, may be lower risk. Glassnode’s Bitcoin Risk Index fell to 0.56 on July 6 from its maximum reading of 1 at the start of the month, which Rose said is “a real de-risking signal.”

Another sign is emerging. Bitcoin has been shaken in recent months by long-term holders taking profit when the token starts to recover, but there are signs that opportunities to do so may be drying up. Net unrealised profit/loss now sits at 0.17, according to a report from Bitrue Research Institute, suggesting most Bitcoin holders have little profit left to take.

As for Strategy, traders may no longer be viewing its decisions with the same apprehension, after having withstood two recent sales. The company has also announced structural changes, which give it broader authority to preserve liquidity and sell Bitcoin when issuing new stock becomes less attractive. It also greenlit the repurchase of US$1 billion of its preferred securities and an additional US$1 billion of common stock.

By reorganising its balance sheet, Strategy “may have finally gotten out of its own way,” Jeff Dorman, chief investment officer at Arca, wrote in a report published on Monday.

The question remains whether Bitcoin’s brittle recovery this month can hold, particularly as geopolitical tensions continue to unsettle global markets. Financial institutions that have been drawn to digital assets are now increasingly looking at stablecoins and other uses of blockchain as ways of growing their presence in the sector instead.

“Institutions are not necessarily looking to take more directional exposure to tokens right now, but they are increasingly interested in using blockchain rails to make financial markets more efficient, programmable, and globally accessible,” said Boris Alergant, an executive at Babylon Labs. BLOOMBERG

Growth in the number of users on the XRP Ledger network has become increasingly apparent thanks to on-chain data. James Rule XRP, a creator of crypto education content, revealed that wallets created in 2024 and 2025 now account for nearly 40% of all wallets on the network. This highlights a period of strong and steady growth for the XRP Ledger over the last two years.

Wallet statistics highlight user adoptionUnlike price volatility, the number of new wallets provides a more robust indicator of long-term network adoption. Each new wallet represents either a new user or institution joining the XRP ecosystem. This participation ranges from holding the asset and processing payments to issuing tokens, developing decentralized applications, or engaging in tokenization activities.

With around 40% of XRP wallets established in just 2024 and 2025, it is clear that network growth is driven by more than short-lived price movements, reflecting deeper adoption.

While multiple wallets can belong to the same user and therefore wallet numbers may not exactly mirror unique users, the sheer magnitude of the increase points to broadening interest across the network. Notably, this expansion comes after a protracted period of regulatory uncertainty for Ripple and XRP in the United States.

Corporate engagement supports network expansionThis period of rapid growth has coincided with higher institutional interest. Made in USA Inc., a US-based technology firm, recently made a significant investment by acquiring a complete technology stack for the XRP Ledger, affirming its commitment to the network. The move underscores the XRP Ledger’s emerging role as a platform for enterprise blockchain solutions. Made in USA Inc. is recognized for its focus on technology-driven initiatives in the US market.

Mini glossary: XRPL, or XRP Ledger, is an open-source blockchain network tailored for payments and asset transfers. Tokenization refers to representing physical or digital assets on a blockchain.

This investment suggests that companies are pivoting from short-term trading to real-world use cases. The fact that activity on the network is being driven by infrastructure investment, not just market speculation, signals the foundation for a new phase of growth for the XRP Ledger.

Rising demand in Japan stands outA similar upward trend is being observed internationally. Japan’s SBI VC Trade, operating under the SBI Holdings umbrella, has announced that its customer accounts have surpassed 2 million. As a digital asset trading platform, SBI VC Trade’s customer milestone and its XRP and Bitcoin reward programs signal sustained interest in digital assets.

SBI VC Trade’s milestone of more than 2 million customer accounts—alongside growing institutional investment in the XRP Ledger—shows that the network’s use is expanding beyond speculative trading.

With the Japanese yen under pressure, investors’ pivot toward alternative assets is supporting demand for digital currencies. The combination of rising wallet numbers, increased institutional investment, and broader participation raises expectations that on-chain volume, liquidity, and developer activity in the XRP Ledger network may continue to strengthen over time.

For years, discussion around XRP centered largely on regulatory matters and price movements. Now, the latest data show a growing focus on measurable user adoption. The surge in new wallets over the past two years suggests that the XRP Ledger could be entering a fresh phase of expansion.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.

Exchange reserves have fallen to a seven-year low of about 1.6 billion XRP, half what they were at the October 2025 peak. ETFs have absorbed nearly a billion tokens. Ripple still holds roughly 36 billion in escrow. This is the full map of where XRP’s supply actually sits in mid-2026, what moved, what it means, and why a shrinking float has so far failed to move the price.

Summary

XRP exchange reserves have fallen to a seven year low while spot ETFs have accumulated nearly one billion tokens and long term holders continue moving coins into private wallets. Ripple still controls about 36 billion XRP in escrow, but steady monthly releases and relocks have not stopped exchange balances from shrinking to multi year lows. The report says tighter supply alone has not lifted XRP’s price, with weak market demand continuing to outweigh the effects of a declining tradable float. Something unusual is happening to XRP’s supply, and it is happening quietly, underneath a price chart that has spent 2026 telling a story of decline. Exchange reserves, the pool of tokens sitting on trading venues ready to be sold, have fallen to roughly 1.6 billion XRP, the lowest level in seven years and down about 50% from the October 2025 peak of 3.76 billion. On Binance alone, the largest venue for the asset, reserves have dropped 20% since November 2024 to about 2.6 billion tokens across its wallets, pushing a metric called the Scarcity Index to its highest reading in more than two years. Meanwhile the seven US spot ETFs have quietly accumulated more than 970 million XRP, locked in custody on behalf of fund holders, after nine consecutive weeks of net inflows.

Tokens are leaving the places where they can be sold and accumulating in the places where they tend to sit still. In most assets, that migration is the textbook setup for a supply squeeze. In XRP, the price has fallen anyway, trading near $1.13, down roughly 70% from its July 2025 peak of $3.65, through the entire period in which the float was tightening.

That contradiction is the story. This piece maps the full distribution of XRP’s supply as of mid-2026: what sits on exchanges, what the ETFs hold, what Ripple controls in escrow and operational wallets, and what the remaining tens of billions in private hands are doing. It then works through why a halving of exchange reserves has not produced the price response the squeeze thesis predicts, the competing explanations for the gap, and the specific conditions under which a tight float starts to matter. The supply side of XRP has rarely been this interesting; the demand side is the reason nobody has noticed.

The map: 100 billion tokens, five buckets XRP’s supply structure is unlike any other major asset, and the map has to start from its founding fact: all 100 billion tokens were created at launch in 2012. There is no mining, no issuance schedule, no future supply beyond what already exists. About 14 million XRP have been permanently destroyed as transaction fees since then, a rounding error, leaving total supply just below 100 billion. Everything else is a question of where the existing tokens sit, and in mid-2026 they sit in five buckets.

The first bucket is Ripple’s escrow, the largest single concentration of XRP in existence at roughly 36 billion tokens, about 36% of total supply. These are time-locked on-chain contracts releasing one billion XRP on the first of each month, of which Ripple typically relocks 600 to 800 million and keeps a net 200 to 300 million for operations, a mechanism this publication has explained in full. In July, Ripple relocked about 70% of the monthly billion, releasing 300 million into circulation. The escrow is the structural overhang critics cite and the transparency mechanism defenders praise, and either way it is the slowest-moving bucket: at current net-release rates, depletion is roughly nine years out.

The second bucket is circulating supply proper, about 62 billion tokens, and the remaining buckets are subdivisions of it. Exchange reserves, the third bucket, are the sellable edge of the market: roughly 1.6 billion tokens across venues, the seven-year low. The fourth bucket is the ETF complex: seven US spot funds holding a combined 970 million or so tokens, a bit over $1 billion in assets, tokens held by custodians and effectively removed from trading circulation for as long as fund investors stay put. The fifth bucket, by far the largest slice of circulating supply, is everything else: private wallets, corporate treasuries, whale cold storage, and long-term holders, somewhere near 59 billion tokens whose owners have, on the evidence of on-chain data, been net withdrawers from exchanges for over a year.

Two things stand out from the map. First, the actively tradable float, the exchange reserves, is now under 3% of circulating supply and under 2% of total supply, remarkably thin for a top-six asset by market value. Second, the two fastest-growing buckets, ETF custody and private cold storage, are both one-way doors in the short term: tokens flow in easily and come back out only when holders make an affirmative decision to sell.

What moved, and why The reshaping of the map over the past eighteen months has three drivers, each visible on-chain.

The first driver is the ETF complex, which did not exist before November 2025. Since the first spot XRP fund launched, the products have absorbed roughly $1.5 billion in cumulative inflows, and because they hold the underlying token, every dollar of inflow is a market purchase moved into custody. The funds have now recorded nine consecutive weeks of net inflows, adding $17 million in the latest week even as Bitcoin and Ethereum funds bled, a rotation this publication has tracked. Nearly a billion tokens now sit in ETF custody, and the mechanism only reverses if fund investors redeem at scale, which, so far, they have done on exactly one notable day, the quarter-end outflow of June 30.

The second driver is whale and institutional withdrawal. CryptoQuant data shows the Binance drawdown accelerating recently, from about 2.8 billion tokens in May to 2.6 billion in early July, exactly the window in which the Scarcity Index broke out to 0.77. Large-holder activity has strengthened while retail stays cautious, new-wallet creation hit a three-month high, and Korean venues have recorded repeated multi-million-token outflows. The pattern, tokens moving from hot exchange wallets to cold private ones, is the classic signature of accumulation by holders with no near-term intention to sell.

Notably, this is the reverse of December 2024, when the Scarcity Index collapsed because holders were depositing XRP onto Binance in bulk to sell the rally to $3; today’s flows run the other way, out of the venues, into storage, at prices two-thirds lower.

The third driver is the escrow’s steady arithmetic. Ripple’s net release of 200 to 300 million tokens a month adds roughly 4-6% to circulating supply annually, a bounded, scheduled inflation the market can model years ahead. In 2026 the company has if anything leaned conservative, relocking 70% in recent months, and part of what it does release goes to institutional counterparties off-exchange, never touching the tradable float at all. The escrow is a source of supply, but it is a metered one, and its pace has not changed while the exchange drawdown accelerated, which means the drawdown is demand-side behavior, not a supply-side trick.

The puzzle: a tightening float and a falling price Here is where the story stops being simple. Every element above, reserves halved, ETFs absorbing, whales withdrawing, metered issuance, belongs to the standard playbook of a supply squeeze, the setup in which shrinking availability meets steady demand and the price ratchets upward because sellers become scarce. XRP has instead spent 2026 falling, from $2.41 in January to near $1 in late June, before the modest recovery to $1.13. The float tightened; the price halved. Any honest supply analysis has to explain that, and there are three serious explanations, not mutually exclusive.

The first is that scarcity on exchanges measures potential, not pressure. A thin order book amplifies whatever demand arrives; it does not create demand. Through 2026, demand has been the missing side: derivatives open interest collapsed from last year’s highs, retail participation stayed weak, funding rates flipped decisively negative as price approached $1, and ETF inflows, while persistent, ran at a pace of tens of millions per week, roughly the same order of magnitude as Ripple’s monthly net escrow release in dollar terms. Australian lawyer and longtime XRP commentator Bill Morgan has made the sharper version of this point: neither the supply-squeeze thesis nor the older escrow-dump fear explains XRP’s price well, because the dominant variable is simply Bitcoin, which fell through the same months and dragged the whole market with it. On this reading, the tight float is dry tinder, and 2026 has been a year without a spark.

The second explanation is that the headline reserve numbers may overstate the tightness. Skeptics of the squeeze thesis note that measured exchange reserves depend on which wallets analysts attribute to which venues, that internal transfers can masquerade as outflows, and that estimates of total platform-held XRP across all venues and custodians run far higher than the headline 1.6 billion, with some placing 14 to 16 billion tokens within fast reach of order books. The February-March episode in which roughly 350 million XRP dipped and rebounded on Binance, likely internal wallet reshuffling rather than organic flow, illustrates how noisy the data is. If the true sellable supply is several multiples of the visible reserve, the squeeze is further away than the dashboards suggest.

The third explanation is structural: the sellers who matter are not on exchanges yet. Millions of tokens were accumulated between $1.50 and $1.90 during the spring’s failed rallies, and holders underwater at those levels represent a standing wall of supply that will migrate back onto exchanges precisely when price approaches their break-even. Add Ripple’s monthly release and the possibility of ETF redemptions in a risk-off shock, and the tight float is best understood as tight at current prices, with reinforcements waiting at higher ones. Santiment’s MVRV data showing holders at their deepest unrealized losses in the token’s history cuts both ways: it signals capitulation-grade sentiment, and it also marks exactly where the exit orders cluster.

How to read the metrics without fooling yourself Because the supply story runs on a handful of dashboards, and because those dashboards are routinely misread in both directions, a short field guide to the metrics is worth the space.

Exchange reserves are an attribution exercise, not an audit. Analytics firms tag wallets they believe belong to venues and sum the balances, which means the headline number moves when tagging improves, when exchanges reorganize custody, and when internal transfers cross the tagged perimeter, none of which involves a single token changing owners. The 350 million XRP that appeared to leave and re-enter Binance across February and March was almost certainly internal wallet management, and any single week’s reserve print should be read with that episode in mind. The signal is in the trend across months and across independent data providers, and on that standard the 2026 drawdown is robust: the direction has been consistent since late 2024, it appears in CryptoQuant, exchange-published data, and third-party trackers alike, and it has accelerated instead of mean-reverting.

The Scarcity Index is a ratio, and ratios have two moving parts. The index compares available supply on Binance against demand conditions, so it can rise because tokens leave, because buying absorbs, or both, and it can whipsaw, as it did on the round trip from 0.80 in spring to 0.34 in June to 0.77 in July, without the underlying reserve base moving anywhere near as violently. Its historical extremes are more informative than its level: the deeply negative readings of December 2024 marked holders flooding coins onto the venue to sell a top, and the current two-year high marks the opposite regime, coins leaving into weakness. As a regime indicator it has value; as a timing tool it has embarrassed everyone who used it as one this year.

ETF holdings are the cleanest series in the entire picture, because fund custodians disclose and the products file, which is why the roughly 970 million tokens across the seven funds is the number this piece leans on hardest. Even here, one habit matters: distinguish flows from assets. Net assets fall when the price falls even while inflows continue, which is exactly what happened through the spring, deposits arriving as valuations shrank, and reading the AUM decline as investor exit inverted the truth. Flow data, positive for nine consecutive weeks, is the demand signal; asset data is mostly a price echo.

Escrow figures, finally, come with the strongest health warning of all, because the number that matters is not the billion that unlocks but the net that stays out, and the net is only knowable after the relock lands days later. Ripple’s own quarterly reports, the on-chain escrow contracts, and the monthly relock transactions are all public, and the discipline is to compute the net against the trailing 200-to-300-million average before drawing any conclusion. A month in which the net spikes above the band is a genuine signal about the company’s cash needs; a month of headlines about a billion-token unlock that ends in a 70% relock, like this July’s, is a signal about headlines. Every metric in this story is public, which is XRP’s genuine advantage as an object of analysis, and every one of them rewards the reader who checks the denominator before repeating the numerator.

What history says about tightening floats The squeeze thesis is not being invented for XRP in 2026; it has a track record in this asset and others, and the record is worth consulting because it cuts both ways.

The supportive precedent is 2024. Exchange outflows through that year preceded the powerful multi-month rally that carried XRP from under a dollar to its January 2025 highs above $3, with Korean regional demand and shrinking sell-side reserves amplifying the move once the SEC settlement and ETF approvals supplied the demand spark. The structure of that episode maps closely onto today’s: months of quiet withdrawal, a scarcity metric stretching to extremes, skeptics dismissing the data, and then a catalyst arriving into a market with far fewer sellers than buyers expected. Holders who lived through it read the current seven-year-low reserves as the same picture at an earlier frame.

The cautionary precedents are just as instructive. The Scarcity Index itself has whipsawed within 2026: it climbed to nearly 0.80 in the spring, sagged to 0.34 by late June amid heavy long liquidations, then broke out to 0.77 in the first week of July, and the price fell through the entire sequence. A metric that can round-trip that violently inside one quarter is measuring flow conditions, not destiny, and the June reading arrived alongside more than $13 million in single-day long liquidations, a reminder that leverage positioning can overwhelm spot scarcity on any given week. December 2024 offers the mirror lesson: reserves ballooned precisely at the top, as holders raced to deposit and sell the $3 rally, which is to say the metric is at its most bullish after prices have already fallen and its most bearish after they have already risen, a lagging emotional gauge as much as a leading structural one.

The broader crypto record adds a final nuance. Bitcoin’s great supply-squeeze narratives, the 2020-21 exchange exodus, the post-ETF custody absorption of 2024, each eventually mattered, and each mattered on the demand side’s schedule, not the supply side’s. Assets have sat at multi-year reserve lows for quarters while prices drifted, and then repriced in weeks once flows arrived, because a thin float does nothing until someone leans on it, at which point it does everything at once. That asymmetry, long stretches of irrelevance punctuated by sudden amplification, is the honest historical summary, and it is why the traders who take the supply map seriously express the view through patience and position sizing, the same execution discipline any thin market demands, rather than through timing calls the data cannot support.

There is one more structural actor worth watching that previous cycles lacked: the corporate and fund treasuries. Beyond the seven ETFs, a growing roster of listed companies has adopted XRP treasury strategies, and the ETF custodian wallets themselves have become the single most legible accumulation channel in the asset’s history, absorbing roughly 750 million tokens in their first two months alone. Treasury demand is slower and stickier than trader demand, it neither chases rallies nor panics in drawdowns on the same timescale, and its growth quietly raises the floor beneath the float. Whether it grows fast enough to matter against escrow issuance is, like everything in this story, a race whose lap times are published monthly.

What would make the float matter The supply map becomes decisive only when demand shows up, so the forward-looking question is what could supply the spark, and the candidates are concrete.

The nearest is legal. The CLARITY Act’s commodity classification for XRP, if enacted, is the gate behind which the large conditional forecasts sit: JPMorgan and Standard Chartered have each projected $4 to $8.4 billion in first-year ETF inflows under passage, an order of magnitude above the current run rate.

Flows of that size, arriving into a float of under two billion exchange-held tokens, are the scenario in which the scarcity math stops being academic; the Senate’s three-week window is therefore as much a supply-side story as a regulatory one. The second candidate is institutional adoption converting to token demand through collateral and settlement use, the slow path whose honest accounting runs through Ripple Prime, and the third is simply the market cycle: XRP has historically fallen harder than Bitcoin in downturns and snapped back harder in recoveries, and a thin float mechanically steepens the snapback.

Against these, the checkable risks: a CLARITY failure pushing institutional flows past 2027, ETF inflows decelerating or reversing for consecutive weeks, or reserves rebuilding as underwater holders redeposit into any rally. The dashboard for all of it is public. Exchange reserves, the Scarcity Index, weekly ETF flows, and the monthly escrow relock are each published within days, and together they will show the squeeze forming, or failing, in close to real time.

The conclusion the map supports is narrower than either camp’s slogan. XRP’s tradable supply has genuinely, measurably contracted to multi-year lows while long-horizon buckets absorbed the difference, and that contraction has been irrelevant to price for a year because demand collapsed faster than the float did. Scarcity is not a catalyst; it is a multiplier waiting for one. The honest position is that XRP enters the second half of 2026 with the most squeeze-prone supply structure it has had since at least 2019 and no evidence yet of the demand that would trigger it, which makes the supply map neither bullish nor bearish on its own, but the single best lens for judging how violently the price will move when the demand question, one way or the other, finally resolves.

One final frame is worth carrying away, because it reconciles everything above into a single sentence: XRP in mid-2026 is an asset whose company is accumulating credentials, whose long-horizon holders are accumulating tokens, and whose traders have spent a year accumulating losses, and the supply map is the ledger on which all three behaviors are legible at once. The reserves data records the holders’ conviction, the ETF flows record the institutions’ patient entry, the escrow relocks record the company’s restraint, and the price records the absence, so far, of anyone forced to compete for a shrinking float. Markets in this configuration tend to resolve abruptly rather than gracefully, because thin floats do not permit gradual repricing in either direction: the same scarcity that would turbocharge an inflow shock also means a demand collapse finds few bids on the way down, which is the double edge the squeeze narratives rarely mention. The map says the stage is set. It has never claimed to know the play.

For readers who want to run the numbers themselves, the recipe is short. Take the circulating supply of roughly 62 billion, subtract the ETF custody balance published in the funds’ daily disclosures, subtract the aggregated exchange reserves from at least two independent trackers, and treat the remainder as the private-holder bucket whose behavior the withdrawal trends describe. Cross-check the month’s escrow arithmetic against the on-chain relock, and note the week’s ETF flow direction. Fifteen minutes of public data, repeated monthly, reproduces every structural claim in this piece and will catch the turn, whichever way it breaks, well before the headlines do.

The last variable, as always with this asset, is the one no dashboard tracks: how much of the withdrawn supply belongs to hands that will actually hold through the next stress test. Cold-storage balances built at $1.10 by buyers who watched the token at $3.65 carry a different resolve than balances built chasing a rally, and the 2026 drawdown has, if nothing else, transferred an unusual share of the float to owners who bought weakness deliberately. That is not a prediction. It is the one qualitative fact the quantitative map quietly implies, and the one that will decide whether the next demand shock meets a wall of break-even sellers or an empty room.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. Digital asset markets are volatile and you can lose your entire investment. On-chain and market figures are estimates current as of July 8, 2026, and may change. Always do your own research.

Hard forks are usually discussed in big-picture terms, but the final approach is often decided by smaller technical cleanups that do not sound dramatic at all. Cardano’s 9.0.1 hotfix falls into that category.

It is not the sort of release that creates instant market euphoria. It is the sort of release that helps a network avoid unnecessary problems while moving toward a major change.

For more details, visit the official GitHub platform.

TL;DR Cardano released node version 9.0.1 as a recommended hotfix for mainnet validators.The update addresses issues tied to the network’s bootstrap and script behaviour.It keeps the Chang hard fork process on a steadier technical footing. Why A Hotfix Still Matters Intersect’s release notes frame the update as a recommended fix for all mainnet validators, which tells you this is more than cosmetic maintenance. Validators need stable, predictable software when a governance-heavy event is approaching.

In other words, this is part of the real work behind the Chang hard fork narrative. The marketing version is about governance evolution. The operational version is about making sure the machinery behaves properly.

What It Says About Cardano’s Phase Cardano’s supporters have long argued that the project’s slower style reflects caution and discipline. Releases like this fit that argument better than price chatter does.

For the market, the takeaway is simple: governance milestones only matter if the software path toward them remains solid. That is why even a bug-fix release deserves attention.

This report is based on the Cardano node release notes.

This article was written by the News Desk and edited by Samuel Rae.

Developers within the Ethereum Foundation are exploring a new approach to slow down the rapid growth of data on the network. Researcher Toni Wahrstatter has suggested integrating certain elements of the UTXO (Unspent Transaction Output) model into Ethereum. This concept mirrors aspects of the architecture that Cardano has successfully used for years.

Reducing data load is at the core of the proposalThe main challenge Ethereum faces stems from its account-based structure, which requires every wallet’s balance to be persistently stored as active data. Even when a transaction occurs only once, these records continue to occupy space on the blockchain’s memory. Through Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 8141, Wahrstatter has introduced the idea of ‘Frame Transactions’ that would make simple payments single-use.

Under this system, transaction details would be validated from historical blockchain records only when needed. In active memory, a single bit would indicate whether a transaction output has been spent. Wahrstatter estimates that this framework could reduce unnecessary data growth from basic transfers on Ethereum’s base layer by as much as 99.8%.

Mini glossary: UTXO stands for unspent transaction output, a model where each new payment consumes a previous unspent output. eUTXO is an extended version, adapted by Cardano to allow for more advanced features like smart contracts.

Wahrstatter’s proposal aims to make simple payments single-use, which he believes would cut data growth on the base layer by 99.8%.

The proposal has entered the initial “Strawman” discussion phase within the Ethereum community, with Vitalik Buterin among those following the developments. However, implementing such a change would require not only a technical assessment but also a thorough evaluation for compatibility with existing applications.

Hoskinson criticizes with accusations of hypocrisyCharles Hoskinson, founder of Cardano, responded sharply to these developments. Hoskinson parted ways with Ethereum in 2014 following disagreements with Vitalik Buterin, particularly regarding the network’s commercial direction and long-term architectural roadmap.

Hoskinson believes that within the Ethereum ecosystem, there remains an unspoken taboo against acknowledging his contributions.

For Hoskinson, this debate is not just technical but also symbolic. From day one, Cardano was designed around the Extended UTXO—eUTXO—model to address scaling challenges. Ethereum, on the other hand, has long championed the account-based system as the opposite approach.

Technical overlaps raise new risksThe UTXO model is historically associated with Bitcoin, which operates mainly as a value transfer system with limited capacity for smart contracts. Cardano extended the same logic to create a more flexible infrastructure for complex applications.

Ethereum researchers now considering features inspired by this model to tackle memory constraints is, in some quarters, seen as indirect validation of solutions pioneered elsewhere. Still, merging two disparate architectures is no small feat. Such a hybrid approach could create compatibility risks for the many DeFi applications currently operating on Ethereum.

This means Ethereum now faces two main options: either continue to manage its growing database as is, or pursue a hybrid solution involving a more radical architectural shift.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.

Tether burned 2.5 billion USDT on the Ethereum network, marking one of the largest stablecoin supply reductions in recent months. According to CryptoQuant data, this was the largest single-day Ethereum-based USDT burn since the 3.5 billion USDT burn on February 10th.

Another notable development in the market was the sharp drop in USDT balances flowing in and out of Binance via the Tron network. According to the data, the USDT balance circulating through Binance’s Tron channel fell to approximately $860 million.

This level is the lowest recorded since the $391 million low seen on December 29, 2025. It also marks the first time in a long time that the balance has fallen below $1 billion.

Analysts note that Tether’s large-scale burn on Ethereum should not be interpreted as a direct signal regarding market direction.

Stablecoin issuers typically conduct such operations for purposes such as investor repayments, treasury management, reserve optimization, or cross-chain liquidity balancing. Therefore, the burning data alone may not necessarily indicate an expected rise or fall in the market.

However, it is noted that the decrease in the USDT supply on Ethereum and the simultaneous contraction of USDT liquidity in Binance’s Tron channel should be considered together. According to experts, the simultaneous occurrence of these two developments could send important signals, especially regarding exchange-based stablecoin flows and cross-chain liquidity distribution.

In the cryptocurrency market, stablecoin movements are closely watched as they offer important clues about investor behavior, exchange liquidity, and overall risk appetite. These recent developments involving Tether have also caught the attention of market participants.

*This is not investment advice.

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  TL;DRIn H1 2026, BSC cut block intervals to 450 ms, brought in-memory finality down to 650 ms, and nearly doubled benchmark throughput to ~5,200 TPSThe H2 objective is to double mainnet throughput again, on a stated path toward a 10x improvement across BNB ChainA next-generation L1 architecture is in development on a design path toward the 1M TPS end-of-life goalSix months ago, BNB Chain set three priorities for BSC: speed, throughput, and protocol stability. This roadmap opens with the receipts and closes with what comes next - a second half focused on doubling performance again, and an architecture designed for the decade ahead.

What Changed in Six MonthsThe clearest way to read H1 is through what a transaction experiences on BSC today versus January:

Performance Indicator

Baseline (Jan 2026)

Post-Optimization (June 2026)

Block Interval

750 ms

450 ms

Memory Finality

1,125 ms

650 ms

Benchmark Throughput (TPS)

~2,800 (~210 MGas/s)

5,200 (~400 MGas/s)

Alongside speed, the network became steadier: following the Osaka/Mendel hard fork, re-org occurrence on BSC mainnet was significantly reduced.

The Engineering Behind the NumbersNone of these gains came from a single change. Four features carried most of the load:

Block-Level Access List (BAL): Pre-declares state access patterns to improve execution efficiency and support future parallel processing.Incremental Snapshot: Enables faster chain synchronization for lagging or new nodes.EVM SuperInstruction: Decreases interpreter overhead by fusing common opcode sequences, directly driving throughput.Extended Voting Rules: Enhances the fast finality mechanism to ensure consistency under adverse network conditions.The BSC Rust client also reached a milestone: full Reth v2.0 compatibility, including Sparse Trie Cache, Proof V2, and RocksDB support, delivering a 2x performance improvement. 

From Protocol to Product: Middleware DeliveredH1 wasn't only about the base layer. Middleware shipped to reduce complexity for advanced business scenarios:

Agentic AI Strategy: Developed and launched the BNB Agent Studio and BNB Agent SDK, integrating tools like AWS Bedrock AgentCore and LLM gateways to enable autonomous on-chain agent deployment.Payment Infrastructure: Advanced the Middleware Payment Protocol (MPP) SDK, focusing on end-to-end integration and partner implementation efforts.Institutional Privacy: Researched and drafted frameworks for institutional-grade privacy.The Second Half: Three CommitmentsDouble the throughput. The immediate objective is a 2x throughput increase on BSC mainnet, scaling toward a long-term 10x improvement for BNB Chain. Isolate the noise. Advanced resource isolation will minimize cross-application interference, so one application's demand spike doesn't degrade another's performance.Lower the barrier. Gas fee structures will be refined to reduce entry costs for both Web2 and Web3 enterprises, a prerequisite for mass adoption.Delivering It: The BSC PipelineThe commitments above map to concrete workstreams already in motion:

Capacity. BEP-675 will be implemented alongside further performance tuning to boost network capacity. Builder processing efficiency will be strengthened through BAL integration and EVM execution refinements.Congestion resistance. Dedicated lane solutions will keep the network operating consistently through peak activity. FOCIL-inspired technology will bolster transaction inclusion guarantees, and BAL-based parallel execution will decrease block import latency.Precision pricing. Rather than applying global fee changes, versatile gas fee adjustments will target specific industry verticals.We're also building for the next wave of institutions arriving onchain. That means making the infrastructure flexible enough to meet their requirements, exploring new token standards that make it easier to issue and move stablecoins, and developing privacy frameworks that work with different compliance and regulatory needs.

At the same time, AI-driven security will make the network safer, and teams building RWAs, stablecoins, and DeFi projects will get hands-on technical support and ready-made middleware.

Designed for the Decade: A New L1 Takes ShapeBeyond the existing stack, BNB Chain is developing a next-generation L1 architecture built to support different use cases than the existing ones:

High Performance: 100K+ TPS through co-optimized consensus, parallel execution, and LtHash-based storageUltra-Low Latency: Sub-50ms transaction preconfirmation and sub-1-second block finalityTxStream: No public mempool. Transactions stream directly to the block leader, cutting latency and blocking front-running by designPriorityLane: Reserved block space for mission-critical traffic (oracles, liquidations, bridges), governed on-chainNative Privacy: Protocol-level confidential transactions with selective disclosure for complianceAccount Abstraction Suite: Gas sponsorship, GasToken, transaction batching, scheduled execution, passkey signing, and access key control. The goal is to achieve Web2-grade UX, nativelyBNB Powered: Extends BNB's utility into trading, payment, privacy, and AI scenarios while staying interoperable with the BNB Chain ecosystemWe plan to ship it on testnet by the end of 2026, with mainnet release following in early 2027. More updates to come soon.

Post-Quantum ReadinessThroughout H2 2026, BNB Chain will keep testing methods, evaluating solutions, and deepening its research into quantum-resistant security across the protocol stack.

Two principles guide this work. First, protect early: attackers can record encrypted data today and decrypt it years from now once quantum computers catch up. We're testing a hybrid approach that layers quantum-resistant protection on top of today's cryptography, rather than swapping it in abruptly. Second, make the upgrade seamless: we're researching how account abstraction can let users adopt quantum-safe security without changing their existing addresses or breaking anything they've already built.

There's no finish line here. Quantum computing will keep evolving, and so will our testing and research. The point is that when it matures, BNB Chain's infrastructure is already prepared.

Research That ShipsBNB Chain will continue to collaborate with top international academic and research institutions to explore the latest technology research and productization practices in blockchain technology. 

Looking AheadH1 2026 set targets, delivered them, and measured the results on mainnet. H2 applies the same discipline to a harder set of problems: doubling throughput again on a live network, isolating applications from each other's load, pricing the chain for the next wave of enterprises, and laying the architectural foundation for what comes next.

The goal has not changed: to establish BNB Chain as the premier global network for high-frequency trading and AI integration - defined by speed, institutional-grade reliability, and infrastructure that holds up under real use.

, /PRNewswire/ -- Super Micro Computer, Inc. (NASDAQ: SMCI), an AI, Enterprise, Storage, and 5G/Edge Total IT Solution Provider featuring Data Center Building Block Solutions® (DCBBS), today announced the launch of Kubernetes Edge AI appliances in collaboration with Red Hat and Everpure. Supermicro has validated a full-stack edge Kubernetes solution, powered by the industry's leading Kubernetes-driven hybrid cloud application platform, Red Hat OpenShift, and the first Kubernetes data management platform tailored for AI workloads from Portworx by Everpure. This turnkey appliance, complete with preloaded software and hardware, is made available to customers through Supermicro.

Simplify Edge AI Deployments with Validated Kubernetes Solutions "AI inferencing at the edge requires more than just hardware—it demands a validated, scalable platform that customers can deploy with confidence," said Vik Malyala, chief business officer, Supermicro. "Together with Red Hat and Everpure, we are delivering a turnkey Kubernetes Edge AI Appliance that simplifies deployment, accelerates time-to-revenue, and enables customers to efficiently scale AI workloads across distributed edge environments."

For more details on the validated, full-stack edge Kubernetes solution with Red Hat and Everpure, click here.

By combining Red Hat OpenShift with Supermicro's edge computing infrastructure and the Portworx by Everpure data management platform for AI workloads, organizations can more easily deploy, manage, scale, and secure AI applications across distributed edge environments.

"As AI-driven applications continue to reshape how businesses operate at the edge, the need for a robust, consistent, and scalable platform is paramount. Red Hat OpenShift delivers that foundation, providing the common hybrid cloud application environment that simplifies the complexity of deploying, orchestrating, and managing AI workloads. In collaboration with Supermicro and Everpure, we are committed to empowering customers with a supported, integrated, and high-performance solution that accelerates their time-to-value for AI inferencing at the edge," said Kelly Switt, senior director, Intelligent Edge and Industrial Business Lead, Red Hat.

Portworx by Everpure provides the Kubernetes-native storage and data management layer for Supermicro's Edge AI Appliances. This enables enterprises to run AI inference, containers, and virtual machines at edge locations with the same enterprise-grade data services available in their core data centers. Unlike array-based storage solutions that require dedicated hardware at each site, Portworx offers software-defined, aggregated local storage on Supermicro's compact edge servers into a resilient, self-healing data platform that operates autonomously, even during network outages. The result is enterprise-grade high availability and data protection at every edge location, with consistent storage policies and a unified operational experience that extends seamlessly from edge to core to cloud.

"Enterprises deploying AI at the edge face a critical infrastructure gap, they need enterprise-grade storage and data protection, but they can't run traditional arrays in environments like retail stores or factory floors," said Greg Muscarella, general manager, Portworx by Everpure. "Together with Supermicro and Red Hat, we're delivering a validated, turnkey solution that combines Portworx services customers rely on like consistent management, built-in resilience, and the operational simplicity to scale to thousands of sites without the need for on-site IT expertise." 

Supermicro is a leader in computing edge infrastructure, with one of the largest, most energy efficient, and most diverse portfolios of edge servers and devices, in a full range of form factors. This enables Supermicro to develop tailored solutions for each customer use case, with optimized initial acquisition cost, and total-cost-of-ownership (TCO). 

Supermicro DCBBS delivers complete, modular AI infrastructure built from validated components and subsystems, enabling flexible deployment from individual servers and networking to full rack-scale and data center-level solutions, including software and services. Supermicro continues to lead the industry with its comprehensive portfolio of AI infrastructure solutions, enabling organizations worldwide to deploy scalable, efficient, and environmentally responsible AI data centers.

About Super Micro Computer, Inc.

Supermicro (NASDAQ: SMCI) is a global leader in Application-Optimized Total IT Solutions. Founded and operating in San Jose, California, Supermicro is committed to delivering first-to-market innovation for Enterprise, Cloud, AI, and 5G Telco/Edge IT Infrastructure. We are a Total IT Solutions provider with server, AI, storage, IoT, switch systems, software, and support services. Supermicro's motherboard, power, and chassis design expertise further enables our development and production, enabling next-generation innovation from cloud to edge for our global customers. Our products are designed and manufactured in-house (in the US, Taiwan, and the Netherlands), leveraging global operations for scale and efficiency and optimized to improve TCO and reduce environmental impact (Green Computing). The award-winning portfolio of Server Building Block Solutions® allows customers to optimize for their exact workload and application by selecting from a broad family of systems built from our flexible and reusable building blocks that support a comprehensive set of form factors, processors, memory, GPUs, storage, networking, power, and cooling solutions (air-conditioned, free air cooling or liquid cooling).

Supermicro, Server Building Block Solutions, and We Keep IT Green are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Super Micro Computer, Inc.

All other brands, names, and trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE Super Micro Computer, Inc.

July 08, 2026 08:01 ET  | Source: EXL

NEW YORK, July 08, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ExlService Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXLS), a global data and AI company, will release financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2026, on Tuesday, July 28, 2026, after the market closes. An earnings news release, investor fact sheet and presentation will be published on the company’s investor relations website offering an overview of the financial results.

The company will host a conference call at 10:00 a.m. EDT the following day, Wednesday, July 29, 2026, with Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Rohit Kapoor and Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Maurizio Nicolelli, who will provide insights into the company’s operational and financial results.

To listen to video live webcast or to participate in the call, please register here. A replay of the webcast will be available for approximately one year.

About EXL 

EXL (NASDAQ: EXLS) is a global data and AI company that offers services and solutions to reinvent client business models, drive better outcomes and unlock growth with speed. EXL harnesses the power of data, AI, and deep industry knowledge to transform businesses, including the world's leading corporations in industries including insurance, healthcare, banking and capital markets, retail, communications and media, and energy and infrastructure, among others. EXL was founded in 1999 with the core values of innovation, collaboration, excellence, integrity and respect. We are headquartered in New York and have approximately 67,000 employees spanning six continents. For more information, visit www.exlservice.com.

Contact:
Andrew Thut
Head of Investor Relations and Capital Markets 
[email protected]  

Norway’s National Criminal Investigation Service, known as Kripos, announced the arrest of 28 men across seven countries following an operation conducted in early June 2026. The suspects allegedly used Monero to pay for access to child sexual abuse material on multiple dark web forums. Three children were safeguarded, and over 460 items were seized, including electronic devices, crypto wallets, and illegal drugs.

The arrests spanned Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Canada, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Germany. Europol supported the operation, underscoring the kind of multi-jurisdictional coordination that has become increasingly common in dark web takedowns.

How Monero became the payment method of choice, and how that’s changing Monero sits in a specific corner of the crypto market: privacy coins, designed to obscure sender, receiver, and transaction amount by default. Bitcoin leaves a public trail. Monero, in theory, does not. That’s why it became the preferred currency for illicit dark web transactions.

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Kripos developed new methods for tracing Monero transactions in 2025. The agency has not disclosed exactly how those methods work, which is deliberate. But the operational result speaks for itself: 28 arrests across seven countries tied to payments made in a coin that many assumed was beyond reach.

More arrests are expected as the investigation continues, according to Kripos.

One suspect was also reported to have used artificial intelligence extensively to generate illegal material. Some victims were identified as family members of the suspects.

What this means for privacy coins and the investors who hold them Major exchanges, including Kraken and Binance, delisted Monero in various markets between 2021 and 2023 under regulatory pressure. The Financial Action Task Force has repeatedly flagged privacy coins as high-risk assets for money laundering and illicit finance.

This operation fits into a broader pattern. The Kidflix takedown and Operation Grayskull in 2025 collectively led to hundreds of arrests globally and relied heavily on forensic crypto analysis.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.

Strategic agreement establishes framework for deployment of up to 1.8 GW of power generation capacity Initial major award includes approximately 1 GW of gas turbines and generators delivered by 2030 to support scalable, behind-the-meter power solutions
HOUSTON and LONDON, July 08, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kodiak Gas Services, Inc. (NYSE: KGS) (“Kodiak”), a leading provider of critical energy infrastructure, and Baker Hughes (NASDAQ: BKR), an energy technology company, announced Wednesday a multi-year strategic agreement under which Baker Hughes will provide power generation solutions to support Kodiak’s expanding energy infrastructure initiatives. The agreement is anchored by an initial equipment award that will enable approximately 1 gigawatt (GW) of reliable, scalable power generation capacity to be delivered by 2030, with the broader framework providing a pathway for up to 1.8 GW of power over time.

The initial major order includes NovaLT™16 gas turbines, Frame 5 gas turbines and BRUSH™ Power Generation generators, providing core technologies to deliver dependable power for growing data center and energy infrastructure demand.

Baker Hughes’ high-efficiency power generation technologies are expected to support behind-the-meter projects in key U.S. markets where accelerating electricity demand and grid constraints are increasing the need for flexible, rapidly deployable power infrastructure.

"We are excited to embark on our relationship with Baker Hughes through this strategic agreement," said Kodiak’s President and CEO Mickey McKee. "Our customers require dependable, efficient and rapidly deployable power solutions, and access to Baker Hughes' industry-leading technology, training and support enhances our ability to meet that demand at scale. This framework supports our long-term strategy of expanding Kodiak's energy infrastructure capabilities while delivering exceptional reliability and value to our customers."

"As demand for power continues to accelerate, driven by the rapid expansion of digital infrastructure and data centers, the ability to deliver reliable, efficient and scalable power solutions quickly is critical," said Baker Hughes Chairman and CEO Lorenzo Simonelli. "This agreement reflects the growing need for flexible power generation technologies; together, our gas turbines and generator technologies will help customers bring new capacity online faster to support the continued buildout of critical digital and energy infrastructure."

The multi-year rolling agreement provides flexibility to align capacity commitments with evolving data center demand and phased project development schedules. Through the agreement, Kodiak expects to leverage Baker Hughes' power generation portfolio to support both existing operations and future growth opportunities. The framework is designed to foster closer commercial and technical collaboration between the companies, streamline project execution and reduce lead times for critical power infrastructure deployments. It also sets forth the companies’ commitments to technical training, the provision of spare parts and a mutual interest in entering into a long-term services arrangement for the equipment.

About Baker Hughes
Baker Hughes (NASDAQ: BKR) is an energy technology company that provides solutions to energy and industrial customers worldwide. Built on a century of experience and conducting business in over 120 countries, our innovative technologies and services are taking energy forward – making it safer, cleaner and more efficient for people and the planet.

About Kodiak
Kodiak is a leading contract compression, distributed power, and energy infrastructure services provider in the United States. It serves as a critical link in the infrastructure chain that enables the safe, reliable and efficient production of energy. Headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas, Kodiak provides contract compression, distributed power, and related services to oil and gas producers, midstream customers, and digital infrastructure operators.

For more information, please contact:

Media Relations

Baker Hughes
Adrienne M. Lynch
+1 713-906-8407
[email protected]

Kodiak Gas Services
Graham Sones
+1 936-755-3259
[email protected]

Investor Relations

Baker Hughes
Chase Mulvehill
+1 346-297-2561
[email protected]

Kodiak Gas Services
Graham Sones
+1 936-755-3259
[email protected]

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/eb9ad084-95fd-4926-b86d-9fd7cd97c076

Baker Hughes, Kodiak signing ceremony Baker Hughes Vice President of Sales for Gas Technology Equipment Riccardo Barbieri and Kodiak Gas S...

Key Takeaways On June 25, 2026, Winnebago missed on earnings by 19.5% for fiscal Q3 2026.Winnebago cut its FY2026 earnings guidance as the environment remains challenged. Shares of WGO are down 23% year-to-date and trade with a forward P/E of 16. Winnebago Industries, Inc. (WGO - Free Report) is facing a challenging environment as the consumer is on the sidelines. This Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) recently cut its fiscal 2026 earnings guidance.

Winnebago manufacturers outdoor recreation products under the Winnebago, Grand Design, Chris-Craft, Newmar, and Barletta brands. It builds motorhomes, travel trailers, fifth-wheel products, outboard and sterndrive powerboats, pontoons, and commercial community outreach vehicles.

The company has multiple facilities in Iowa, Indiana, Minnesota, and Florida.

Winnebago Missed on Earnings in Fiscal Q3 2026On June 25, 2026, Winnebago reported its fiscal third quarter 2026 earnings for the period ending on May 30, 2026, and missed on the Zacks Consensus by $0.16. It reported $0.66 versus the consensus of $0.82, or a miss of 19.5%.

It was the first earnings miss in the last four quarters.

Net revenues fell 9.9% to $698.7 million from $775.1 million a year ago primarily driven by lower unit volume, partially offset by selective price adjustments and product mix.

There was growth in the Motorhome RV segment, but it was partially offset by declines in the Towable RV and Marine segments.

“Our teams continue to execute in a retail environment that remained challenging through the third quarter,” said Michael Happe, CEO.

“Industry retail demand was pressured by broader macro factors, including elevated fuel costs, geopolitical uncertainty, and weak consumer confidence which continued to drive cautious dealer ordering and tighter inventory management across the channel,” he added.

Winnebago Cuts Fiscal 2026 Earnings GuidanceWinnebago expects the environment to remain challenged. It now expects North American RV wholesale shipments in the range of 290,000 to 310,000 units.

As a result, it has lowered its full year fiscal 2026 earnings guidance to the range of $1.65 to $2.00. This is compared to its prior guidance range of $2.10 to $2.80.

“Our outlook reflects a measured view of the environment,” Happe said.

“We expect demand conditions to remain challenged in the near term, with continued variability across segments,” he added.

Analysts are Bearish on WinnebagoNot surprisingly, given the company’s guidance cut, the analysts are also bearish.

Four estimates were cut for both FY2026 and FY2027 in the last 30 days.

The fiscal 2026 Zacks Consensus fell to $1.91 from $2.34 during that time. The most accurate estimate is even more bearish at $1.81.

Yet this is still earnings growth of 14.8% as Winnebago made $1.67 in fiscal 2025. However, earnings have declined the prior 3 years.

Analysts were also bearish on next year. The Zacks Consensus on fiscal 2027 has fallen to $2.58 from $2.96 in the last month. But this is still 35.1% growth.

Have earnings hit bottom? Here’s the price and consensus chart.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Shares of Winnebago Fall Further in 2026Given the dreary outlook on earnings, you can imagine that the shares have suffered over the last few years.

Shares are down further in 2026.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Given the earnings decline, it’s not that cheap on a price-to-earnings (P/E) basis. It now trades with a P/E of 16. A P/E under 15 usually indicates value and a P/E under 10 can indicate deep value.

Winnebago does pay a dividend of $1.40, which is yielding an attractive 4.6%.

But investors might want to stay on the sidelines with Winnebago until the business, and earnings estimates, are turning around.

Analysis of First Quarter 2026 Data Uncovers Accelerated Migration of Consumers Toward the Extremes of Economic stability and Pressure

, /PRNewswire/ -- Equifax® (NYSE: EFX) today released its first quarter 2026 Market Pulse Index, a measure of U.S. consumer financial health derived from anonymized credit, debt, income, and asset data along with VantageScore insights. The Market Pulse Index dipped from 61.6 to 60.9, marking its second straight quarter of decline, with drops observed across all generations. The Market Pulse Index continues to track a K-Shaped economy, highlighting three consumer segments - Thrivers (the top 10% with an index above 80), the Pivoting Middle (those with an index between 50 and 79), and Strivers (the bottom 20% with an index below 49) - each experiencing different financial situations.

"As the U.S. continues to navigate a K-shaped economy, where different segments of the population experience divergent financial realities simultaneously, we see that reaching the top financial tier creates powerful momentum, much like compounding interest, with those with the greatest amount of wealth continuing to accumulate more," said Emmaline Aliff, Advisory Leader at Equifax. "But for those who haven't reached the top financial tier, recent inflation and debt concentration are applying severe downward pressure. This pressure is contracting the size of the middle class."

Churning in the Middle Class

Within the Market Pulse Index consumer segments, the top-tier Thrivers group shrunk slightly, while the Strivers group expanded. At the same time, the Middle tier remained the same. This shows that consumers are moving toward the extremes of the financial stability spectrum rather than maintaining the middle.

The group with peak financial resilience, Thrivers, experienced a 5% drop in total size. The group facing heightened economic pressure, Strivers, saw a 2% increase in total size. The traditional "Pivoting Middle" tier saw a 0% change in total size during the first quarter of 2026. A review of data over a six quarter period, from the third quarter of 2024 until the end of the first quarter of 2026, tells the story of where the middle class is moving. A significant portion of individuals leaving the middle class are moving into the Strivers category, and 97% of that movement is explained by holding under $100,000 in assets. Conversely, more than two-thirds of those successfully climbing from the Middle to the Thrivers tier belong to the Affluent segment (over $1 million in assets).

Every Generation Saw a Downturn

For the second consecutive quarter, index values saw a downward trend across all age segments:

Generation Z dipped slightly to an average index of 58.9 (-0.1% QoQ). However, they exhibited significant variability, with an 11.73% segment showing upward index movement closely tied to proximity to family or neighborhood wealth safety nets. Millennials dropped to an average index of 58.1 (-1.2% QoQ). They lead all generations in significant index decreases (12.98%), as they navigate their prime earning years without the accumulated family wealth safety net that benefits younger consumers. Millennials also represent the largest portion of Strivers at 7.59%, driven primarily by a lack of assets. Generation X decreased to an average index of 60.3 (-0.8% QoQ) as they continue to balance peak career debt against the rising costs of essential needs. With an average index of 64.3 (-0.2% QoQ), Boomers+ remain the most financially stable segment with between 58% and 69% of the Boomer population remaining completely steady within their index range.  Boomers in the Thriver segment account for 3.80% of the total U.S. population — the highest among all generations within the Affluent tier. The Equifax Market Pulse Index provides a comprehensive view of U.S. consumer financial health by synthesizing anonymized credit, debt, income, and asset data with VantageScore insights. The Index is designed to capture the combined effects of multiple economic forces rather than focusing on a single variable. Measured on a scale of 1 to 100 — where 100 represents the greatest financial strength — the Index delivers a holistic picture of consumer economic well-being, allowing for precise comparisons across diverse demographics and generations.

The Equifax Market Pulse Index was built using AI and machine learning methods leveraging proprietary Equifax wealth and asset data along with data from the Equifax credit file and VantageScore 4.0 to provide a comprehensive view of consumer financial health. It distills the credit, debt, income, capacity, and assets of U.S. consumers into one benchmark number to reflect the cumulative index of both positive and negative financial factors. To learn more, read the full Market Pulse Index here.

ABOUT EQUIFAX INC.
At Equifax (NYSE: EFX), we believe knowledge drives progress. As a global data, analytics, and technology company, we play an essential role in the global economy by helping financial institutions, companies, employers, and government agencies make critical decisions with greater confidence. Our unique blend of differentiated data, analytics, and cloud technology drives insights to power decisions to move people forward. Headquartered in Atlanta and supported by nearly 15,000 employees worldwide, Equifax operates or has investments in 24 countries in North America, Central and South America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific region. For more information, visit Equifax.com.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Tiffany Smith for Equifax
[email protected]

SOURCE Equifax Inc.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) will release its second quarter earnings report after the closing bell on Wednesday, July 15.

Analysts expect the Lowell, Arkansas-based company to report quarterly earnings of $1.71 per share, up from $1.31 per share in the year-ago period. The consensus estimate for J.B. Hunt Transport’s quarterly revenue is $3.21 billion. It reported $2.93 billion last year, according to Benzinga Pro.

On April 15, J.B. Hunt Transport Services reported better-than-expected first-quarter financial results.

J.B. Hunt Transport shares fell 1% to close at $275.00 on Tuesday.

Benzinga readers can access the latest analyst ratings on the Analyst Stock Ratings page. Readers can sort by stock ticker, company name, analyst firm, rating change or other variables.

Let’s have a look at how Benzinga’s most-accurate analysts have rated the company in the recent period.

Considering buying JBHT stock? Here’s what analysts think:

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Michael Coates has joined the Solana Foundation as its Chief Information Security Officer after a career spanning leadership roles at Mozilla, Twitter and enterprise security startup Altitude Networks.

Summary

Michael Coates has joined the Solana Foundation as Chief Information Security Officer after previously leading security at Mozilla, Twitter and Altitude Networks. Coates said Solana’s transaction scale and multi billion dollar daily stablecoin activity influenced his decision to join the foundation. His work will focus on strengthening crypto security, improving application security practices and working with policymakers on cybersecurity standards. According to a post shared by Michael Coates on X, he has taken over as CISO of the Solana Foundation, where he will lead security efforts across the network as blockchain adoption and institutional activity continue to grow.

Coates cites Solana’s scale as a key factor Explaining his decision, Coates said Solana now handles tens of billions of dollars in daily stablecoin volume while processing more transactions each day than most of the cryptocurrency industry combined. He also pointed to recent tokenization activity on the network, including the launch of SpaceX tokenized shares on the same day the asset debuted on Nasdaq.

Big Update for me – a new chapter and I'm now CISO of @SolanaFndn .

I've always been drawn to fast moving new frontiers. Head of Security of Mozilla during the height of the browser wars, the first CISO of Twitter as they burst onto the world's stage, and even as a startup… pic.twitter.com/nrxtpxIKqZ

— Michael Coates (@_mwc) July 7, 2026 Coates enters the role after serving as Head of Security at Mozilla during the browser competition era and becoming Twitter’s first Chief Information Security Officer as the social media platform expanded globally. He later founded enterprise SaaS security company Altitude Networks, which entered the crypto sector after its acquisition by CoinList.

Within the Solana Foundation, Coates said his work will include strengthening operational security, improving application security practices and addressing risks unique to digital assets. He added that he also plans to work with policymakers and standards bodies on cybersecurity regulation affecting the crypto industry.

Describing the current threat environment, Coates said attackers remain heavily motivated to steal digital assets and noted that malicious uses of artificial intelligence are becoming an increasing security concern. He added that AI can also strengthen defensive capabilities when used effectively and referenced his congressional testimony on the subject earlier this year.

The appointment comes as digital asset firms continue bringing experienced leaders from technology, cybersecurity and regulatory backgrounds into senior positions while institutional participation expands across the sector.

A similar trend emerged last year when former U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Christopher Giancarlo joined Swiss digital asset bank Sygnum as a senior policy advisor. Sygnum said at the time that Giancarlo would advise on global regulation, strategic partnerships and international growth, underscoring the industry’s continued recruitment of experienced executives as crypto infrastructure develops.