Crypto Industry News & Market Trends

Baidus ERNIE 5.1 tops AI leaderboards, costs 94% less to train

Tech　　Baidus ERNIE 5.1 tops AI leaderboards, costs 94% less to train　　Baidu just did something that should make every AI lab reconsider its cloud computing budget. The companys ERNIE 5.1 model, launched on May 9, has climbed to fourth place globally on the Arena leaderboard and claimed the top spot among all Chinese AI models, with a score of 1,223.　　The kicker: it got there while spending just 6% of what competitors typically burn on pre-training.　　How Baidu pulled it off　　The secret, according to Baidu, is what the company calls a “parameter efficiency” leap. ERNIE 5.1 reduced its total parameters by two-thirds compared to ERNIE 5.0, while only activating half of the remaining total size during inference.　　The result has been independently validated as achieving flagship-level intelligence.　　The timing is notable. Sino-US tech competition has intensified substantially, with US export controls on advanced chips forcing Chinese AI labs to squeeze maximum performance from constrained hardware. ERNIE 5.1‘s cost efficiency isn’t just an engineering flex. It‘s a strategic response to a geopolitical reality where access to cutting-edge Nvidia GPUs isn’t guaranteed.　　The crypto angle: Ernie Chain and on-chain AI　　Baidu hasn‘t launched a token for ERNIE 5.1 itself. But the company’s blockchain initiative, Ernie Chain, has been live

05-13Industry

IEA says world oil supply to fall by 3.9 million bpd in 2026

Finance　　IEA says world oil supply to fall by 3.9 million bpd in 2026　　According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the world oil supply to fall by 3.9 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2026 assuming the oil flows from the Strait of Hormuz, a critical passage to almost 20% of global energy supply, will gradually resume from June (prev. forecast 1.5 million bpd fall).　　Additional projections　　IEA sees total world oil supply 1.78 million bpd lower than demand in 2026 in monthly report (vs. 0.41 million bpd higher in previous report)　　World oil demand falling by 420,000 bpd in 2026 on Iran war (prev. forecast 80,000 bpd drop).　　Total global supply loss from Hormuz closure at 12.8 million bpd since February.　　Global oil refinery runs are falling by 1.6 million bpd across 2026 on attacks, lower crude availability, and export restrictions.　　War in the Middle East is depleting global oil inventories at a record pace, IEA says, after 246 million barrels drawn down in March-April.　　Market reaction　　No visible reaction by the WTI Oil price after the IEA projections release. As of writing, the WTI Oil price is down almost 1% lower to near $97.50.

05-13Industry

Nvidia (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang Makes Last-Minute Addition to Trump’s Beijing Delegation

Tech　　Nvidia (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang Makes Last-Minute Addition to Trumps Beijing DelegationJensen Huang made a surprise last-minute addition to Trumps China delegation following media reports about his initial exclusionPresident Trump is conducting his first China visit in almost ten years, scheduled for Thursday and Friday meetings with Xi JinpingUS export controls have significantly eroded Nvidias position in Chinas artificial intelligence chip sectorOther CEOs joining the trip include Elon Musk, Tim Cook from Apple, and Kelly Ortberg representing BoeingUS trade representative Scott Bessent conducted preliminary discussions with Chinese counterparts in South Korea before the summit　　The Nvidia chief executive wasn‘t included initially. Jensen Huang’s name was missing from the White House‘s original manifest for Donald Trump’s Beijing journey, despite other prominent corporate executives being confirmed as participants.　　This is absolutely insane.　　President Trump is currently flying to China with all of the following people to request “deals” with Chinas President Xi:　　1. Elon Musk, Tesla and SpaceX CEO　　2. Jensen Huang, Nvidia CEO　　3. Tim Cook, Apple CEO　　4. Larry Fink, BlackRock CEO　　5. Stephen…　　— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) May 13, 2026　　The situation shifted during a stopover in Alaska. Huang was observed joining Air Force One en route to Chinas capital, after receiving a direct invitation from Trump in

05-13Industry

Square reaches 1m Bitcoin-enabled merchants in U.S. rollout

Blocks Square has reportedly enabled roughly one million U.S. merchants to accept Bitcoin payments. Squares auto-enrollment push has now enabled roughly one million U.S. sellers to accept Bitcoin payments.Lightning Network support lets customers pay in BTC while merchants receive U.S. dollars by default.Blocks wider Bitcoin strategy includes Cash App rewards, Bitkey custody, and proof-of-reserves reporting across products.　　The rollout uses the Lightning Network, allowing customers to pay in BTC while sellers receive U.S. dollars by default.　　The update follows Squares earlier plan to bring Bitcoin payments to eligible sellers by 2026. Block said in 2025 that the feature would allow merchants to accept Bitcoin through Square hardware, with near-instant settlement and real-time exchange rate handling in the background.　　Lightning removes payment friction　　Squares setup is designed to reduce the risk that merchants face from Bitcoin price swings. Customers pay in Bitcoin, while the system handles conversion before settlement. Sellers can opt out if they do not want to accept the payment option.　　Crypto.news previously reported that Square began onboarding merchants in July 2025. That report said merchants could keep Bitcoin or convert it into fiat currency, while Lightning supported faster and cheaper payments than many traditional card rails.　　Additionally, Block has framed the rollout as part

05-13Industry

Japanese Yen : Recovery against US Dollar faces resistance near 158.30 – UOB

Finance　　Japanese Yen : Recovery against US Dollar faces resistance near 158.30 – UOB　　UOB strategists Quek Ser Leang and Lee Sue Ann note USD/JPY remains underpinned after a volatile session that saw a spike to 157.76 and a brief drop to 157.04 before closing at 157.61. Intraday, the pair could edge higher but is expected to stay below 157.95. Over 1–3 weeks, any further recovery should meet significant resistance around 158.30, with strong support now at 156.70.　　Dollar Yen recovery momentum moderates　　“24-HOUR VIEW: Two days ago, USD rose and closed 0.33% higher at 157.16. Yesterday, when USD was at 157.30, we indicated that ”the rapid increase in upward momentum suggests USD could rise further to 157.65.“ We also indicated that ”a break above this level is not ruled out, but the major resistance at 157.95 is likely out of reach.“ We added, ”to sustain the build-up in momentum, USD must hold above 157.00 (with minor support at 157.15).“ While our view was not wrong, the price movements did not quite turn out as expected, as after rising to 157.76, USD plunged sharply, but briefly, to 157.04, and then rebounded to close at 157.61 (+0.29%). While there has been no further increase in

05-13Industry

TON AI smart contracts: Acton toolchain for faster builds

Tech　　TON AI smart contracts: Acton toolchain for faster builds　　TON AI smart contracts may have just become a lot less tedious. Pavel Durov has unveiled TON Cores new AI-powered toolchain, Acton, pitching it as a way to cut through the manual work of blockchain development and speed up the process dramatically.　　The launch date is already set: Acton went live on May 8, 2026. Its promise is simple and ambitious at the same time — help developers turn templates into working blockchain logic faster, with TON saying the tool can make smart contract development 10 times faster.　　That claim will grab attention on its own. However, the bigger story is what TON is trying to do here: make developer experience a selling point in a crowded blockchain race where speed, ease of use, and onboarding matter almost as much as the chain itself.　　TON launches Acton to speed up smart contract work　　Durov‘s announcement puts Acton at the center of TON’s push to make building on the network easier for developers.　　Acton is described as an AI-powered toolchain from TON Core, and its core function is to automate the transformation of smart contract templates into autonomous agents. Instead of requiring developers to write large amounts of

05-13Industry

Brent Crude Rises On Supply Risks, Says Commerzbank

Tech　　Brent Crude Rises On Supply Risks, Says Commerzbank　　Analysts at Commerzbank have noted that Brent crude oil prices are currently being supported by heightened supply risks, according to a recent market commentary. The assessment points to a combination of geopolitical tensions and production uncertainties that are contributing to upward pressure on the benchmark.　　Factors Behind the Supply Risk Assessment　　Commerzbank‘s analysis focuses on several key factors that are tightening the global oil supply outlook. These include ongoing disruptions in key producing regions, potential sanctions impacts, and voluntary production cuts by major exporters. The bank’s commodities research team emphasizes that while demand-side concerns remain, the immediate price driver is the supply side.　　The assessment comes amid a period of relative volatility in energy markets, where traders are weighing the risk of supply shortfalls against a global economic backdrop that could dampen consumption. Commerzbanks view aligns with a broader market sentiment that the balance of risks is tilted toward higher prices in the near term.　　Implications for the Energy Market　　The supply risk premium is not a new phenomenon, but its current prominence reflects specific events. Recent geopolitical developments have raised the possibility of further disruptions to crude flows from the Middle East and other key export routes.

05-13Industry

Bank of Montreal sells truck and trailer financing business to Stonepeak for C$14.5B

Tech　　Bank of Montreal sells truck and trailer financing business to Stonepeak for C$14.5B　　The Bank of Montreal is parting ways with its truck, trailer, and equipment financing business in a C$14.5 billion cash deal with Stonepeak, the New York-based infrastructure investment firm. BMO announced the sale on May 11, 2026, from both New York and Toronto. The deal covers BMOs Transportation Finance and Vendor Finance businesses. BMO will retain a 19.9% minority stake post-close.　　The transaction is structured as an all-cash acquisition at approximately C$14.5 billion. Financing for the acquisition is being led by PGIM, the investment management arm of Prudential Financial, which is handling the asset-based financing component. Bank of America is serving as the lead arranger on the deal. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026, pending regulatory approvals. BMO is the eighth-largest bank in North America by assets.　　Stonepeak manages over $58 billion in assets under management as of early 2026 and has been expanding its portfolio in the infrastructure sector.　　By selling these units for C$14.5 billion in cash, BMO frees up capital that can be redeployed into higher-priority areas. The retained 19.9% stake is structured just below the 20% threshold that would typically require

05-13Industry

Tether’s Paolo Ardoino Makes Case for Small On-Device Translation Models

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino has turned the spotlight on a very different corner of artificial intelligence: translation that happens entirely on-device, without sending sensitive text to the cloud.　　In a recent post, Ardoino framed the issue around privacy, speed, and practicality. His point was simple enough, but it touches a problem that millions of users encounter every day. When someone translates a medical note, a private message, a legal contract, or even a personal journal entry through a cloud service, that text leaves the device and enters someone elses infrastructure.　　In many cases, users do not fully know where the data goes, how long it is retained, or who may be able to access it. Ardoino argued that this is not just a theoretical concern, but a real one, especially in use cases where confidentiality matters.　　According to Ardoino, the answer is not to rely on larger and larger general-purpose AI models. Instead, he argued that translation is one of those jobs where small, dedicated models can beat “Goliath.”　　In his view, if the task is translating one language into another, there is no need to use a massive model that can also write poems, summarize articles, and perform a dozen unrelated tasks. For

05-13Industry

XRP Healthcare Enables XRP & RLUSD Swaps for XRPHAI Ecosystem

Tech　　XRP Healthcare Enables XRP & RLUSD Swaps for XRPHAI Ecosystem　　XRP Healthcare has to its XRPHAI ecosystem by enabling direct swaps in XRP and RLUSD through the XRPH Wallet, strengthening its push to connect blockchain infrastructure with practical healthcare use cases.　　This new activation enables eligible users across the global XRP community to seamlessly swap XRP or RLUSD for XRPHAI directly within the XRPH Wallet, unlocking access to XRP Healthcares expanding AI-driven healthcare ecosystem on the XRP Ledger.　　Unlike many crypto reward models that rely on passive token holding, XRP Healthcare positions XRPHAI around active participation and verified wellness behavior.　　Through its Proof of Health framework, users earn XRPHAI by engaging with healthcare and wellness tools inside the XRPH AI app rather than simply holding tokens for speculation.　　The XRPH Wallet and XRPH AI App are designed to work together as a unified ecosystem, connecting wallet functionality, AI-powered healthcare services, accessibility tools, and reward mechanisms into a single integrated infrastructure.　　Ripple Ecosystem Shifts Toward Real-World Utility as XRP Healthcare Expands Infrastructure Adoption　　The development strengthens XRP Healthcares long-term push to build XRP-powered healthcare infrastructure on the XRP Ledger.　　Since launching the XRPH Wallet in 2023, the company has positioned itself among the early adopters focused on enabling XRP-based

05-13Industry

...

834836

...

1000