How South Korea Traders Swapped XRP for AI

South Korea’s crypto market is almost entirely run by high-risk retail traders who aren’t

interested in slow gains—they want wild volatility and massive upside.

For years, XRP was their absolute Favorite asset, constantly dominating local

exchanges like Upbit and often out-trading Bitcoin itself.- Won-denominated AI token

activity reached an 18% market share—19.5 times higher than in neighbouring Japan –

Now, with the global tech rally spilling over from domestic chipmakers like SK Hynix,

those same traders dumped their old Favorite and chased the hot new narrative,

rotating straight into AI tokens like Worldcoin.

Wells Fargo wants Kraken in its corner.

The banking giant is in talks with Kraken’s parent company, Payward, to plug straight into

its crypto liquidity pools.

It’s a massive pivot from the old regime—Anchorage Digital’s CEO Nathan McCauley

famously noted that “more than 40 banks had rejected the company’s requests for

accounts.”

This deal isn’t a shot in the dark; it’s a classic case of firing bullets before cannons.

Wells Fargo previously served as Nasdaq’s exclusive capital markets adviser for its $100

million investment in Payward, giving the bank front-row due diligence on Payward’s

balance sheet. Having vetted the crypto firm for Wall Street’s premier exchange, Wells

Fargo is now ready to move from external adviser to primary client.

OKX Secures Wall Street Backing at $25B Valuation

Crypto exchange OKX expanded its cap table at a $25 billion valuation, drawing equity

investments from Circle, Ripple, SC Ventures, and NYSE parent Intercontinental

Exchange (ICE).

The capital allocation directly aligns major legacy guardians with OKX’s tokenized stock

platform, where daily volume across real-world assets (RWAs) has scaled to $3 billion

ahead of listing 63 U.S. equities. Frame-of-mind was clear as founder and CEO Star

stated, “It was a choice for long-term strategic partners rather than a need for cash.”

Crypto Leaders Clash Over AI Wallet Breaking Threat

Coinbase Head of Cryptography Yehuda Lindell dismissed claims that AI could breach

wallet keys, calling recent warnings “the very definition of FUD”. His pushback counters

Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake’s recommendation for Bitcoin (BTC) and

Ether (ETH) holders to prepare for “bunker mode”—a preemptive key migration affecting

31.2% of circulating BTC supply—due to fears AI might break Elliptic Curve Digital

Signature Algorithm (ECDSA) security. Lindell stated, “There is zero evidence that AI

shortens the timeline for breaking ECDSA.”

Robinhood Adds 294 Bitcoin To Corporate Balance Sheet

Robinhood Markets Inc. (HOOD) acquired 294 Bitcoin (BTC) for its corporate treasury to

demonstrate long-term conviction in digital assets to its user base.

The purchase represents 0.5% of the company’s $5 billion cash reserve and places the

platform 74th among public corporate Bitcoin treasuries.

Robinhood initiated the acquisition to show “that it truly believes in the asset class”