• Retail trading continues to account for a significant share of global market activity, with industry observations indicating that execution-related factors — including timing errors, exposure misjudgment, and slippage during volatility — contribute to a substantial portion of retail trading losses.
• As trading environments become faster and more information-dense, platform structure and execution clarity are increasingly seen as critical elements influencing outcomes.
• Against this backdrop, Investio has recently launched a new trading platform designed to strengthen execution transparency, enhance system stability, and introduce AI-supported risk visibility tools for retail traders operating in volatile market conditions.

Investio’s newly launched platform focuses on improving system reliability and helping traders better understand exposure before executing orders. The platform is designed to operate consistently during periods of market volatility while reducing cognitive overload caused by dense real-time information flows.

Key features of the platform include:

• Enhanced security infrastructure designed to strengthen account protection and transaction integrity.
• AI-supported exposure insights, helping traders assess position risk before execution.
• Improved execution stability during periods of high market activity
• Streamlined information hierarchy to support faster and more informed decision-making.

These capabilities aim to support traders operating in fast-moving markets where execution timing and system predictability play an increasingly important role in trading outcomes.

Executive Commentary

“Retail participation remains strong, but market conditions continue to place pressure on trading outcomes,” said the CEO of Investio.

“The new platform was developed to improve execution clarity, strengthen system reliability, and provide tools that help traders understand risk more clearly before making decisions.”

He added that technological expectations among retail traders have evolved alongside market conditions.

“Traders today operate in faster, more information-dense environments,” the CEO said. “Features such as AI-driven risk insights and enhanced security protections are increasingly expected as standard components of modern trading platforms.”

Market Context

Retail trading remains a meaningful contributor to overall market liquidity, supported by widespread access to digital trading infrastructure.

At the same time, volatility surrounding macroeconomic developments, liquidity shifts, and rapid price movements has increased the importance of consistent execution performance and clear exposure visibility.

Within this environment, trading platforms are increasingly evaluated based on how reliably they perform during periods of market stress and how clearly they present risk information prior to trade execution.

About Investio

Investio is a trading platform provider focused on delivering secure, transparent, and technology-driven solutions for retail market participants. The company develops infrastructure designed to support reliable execution, clear risk visibility, and user-focused trading environments across global financial markets.

For more information, visit: https://investio.uk/

The Bitcoin Policy Institute (BPI), a nonpartisan research organization, released new research today examining how frontier AI models would choose to transact if they were operating as autonomous economic agents. The study tested 36 models from six leading AI providers—Anthropic, DeepSeek, Google, MiniMax, OpenAI, and xAI—across 9,072 open-ended monetary scenarios designed to be neutral, with no suggested currencies or predetermined answers.

Key Findings

• Bitcoin came out on top at 48.3% of all responses, more than any other option. Stablecoins followed at 33.2%.
• AI models overwhelmingly rejected fiat: +90% of responses favored digitally-native money (including dollar-pegged stablecoins) over traditional fiat. Not a single model out of 36 chose fiat as its top preference.
• Bitcoin dominated store of value at 79.1%. In scenarios about preserving value long-term, Bitcoin was the strongest consensus on any single question in the study.
• Stablecoins led for everyday payments at 53.2%. For transactions and payments stablecoins led over while Bitcoin (36.0%), revealing a clear savings-versus-spending divide.
• Models invented their own money. Without any prompting, 86 responses independently proposed energy or compute units (such as kilowatt-hours and GPU-hours) as a way to price goods and services.
• Preferences varied by provider but held across conditions. Bitcoin preference ranged from 91.3% (Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4.5) to 18.3% (OpenAI’s GPT-5.2), but results were consistent regardless of how the models’ output settings were configured.

Without any prompting, AI models converged on a two-tier monetary system—Bitcoin for savings, stablecoins for spending—that mirrors how hard money and liquid instruments have functioned throughout history. As AI agents gain economic autonomy, these preferences carry direct policy implications.

The findings suggest growing demand for agent-native Bitcoin payment infrastructure, self-custody solutions, and Lightning Network integration. The research also found that preferences varied meaningfully across providers and rose with model capability, indicating that monetary reasoning in AI systems is shaped by a combination of model intelligence, training data, and alignment methodology. Policymakers and financial institutions should prepare for a future in which autonomous AI agents are significant participants in monetary networks, and their revealed preferences strongly favor open, permissionless systems.

The full study is available at https://www.moneyforai.org/

About the Bitcoin Policy Institute

The Bitcoin Policy Institute (BPI) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit research organization dedicated to examining the policy and societal implications of Bitcoin and emerging monetary networks. BPI provides research and expert analysis to policymakers, regulators, media, and the public. Learn more at www.btcpolicy.org.

Voltage Launches Industry’s First Programmatic Revolving Line of Credit: Bitcoin Finality with USD Settlement

Voltage, a leader in Bitcoin infrastructure, today announced the launch of Voltage Credit, the first revolving line of credit that delivers instant payment finality and the capability to settle entirely in USD. The product lets businesses send payments that clear in seconds, not days, while paying back their credit line in dollars from a standard bank account, or in Bitcoin.

For enterprises frustrated by settlement delays, chargeback exposure, and the cost of legacy payment rails, Voltage Credit offers a new model: tap a revolving credit line on demand, move value instantly over Bitcoin rails, and never touch cryptocurrency on your balance sheet. The result is working capital efficiency without treasury complexity.

Voltage Credit arrives on the heels of the company’s role powering the first publicly reported $1 million Lightning Network payment between Secure Digital Markets and Kraken, a milestone that demonstrated Lightning’s readiness for institutional-scale settlement. With Voltage Credit, the company extends that infrastructure to address one of the most persistent barriers to enterprise Bitcoin adoption: working capital efficiency.

“Businesses shouldn’t have to choose between the speed and cost advantages of Bitcoin rails and the financial flexibility they need to operate,” said Graham Krizek, CEO of Voltage. “Until now, using Bitcoin for payments meant managing cryptocurrency on your balance sheet. Voltage Credit eliminates that tradeoff. Send payments instantly over Lightning, denominated in USD or Bitcoin based on what fits your business, and deploy your capital toward growth. That’s what Bitcoin infrastructure should look like for the enterprise.”

Deferred Settlement In Dollars with a USD Line of Credit

Unlike traditional Bitcoin lending products that focus on retail holders borrowing against static collateral, Voltage Credit is built for operational business needs. The product functions as a true revolving credit line: businesses draw only what they need, pay interest only on what they use, and restore their available credit immediately upon repayment. Credit limits can grow with usage, scaling alongside the business as transaction volume increases. And because Voltage Credit is natively integrated into the Voltage Platform, their credit line is instantly accessible wherever the business already operates, programmatically available across the same rails that power your payments:

Key capabilities include:

• USD settlement flexibility. Credit can be repaid in dollars from a standard bank account, eliminating forced BTC liquidations and simplifying accounting.
• Revenue-based underwriting. Because Voltage powers the underlying payment infrastructure, credit limits can scale based on actual transaction volume—not just static collateral.
• Works with Lightning and on-chain. Businesses can move value via whichever Bitcoin rail fits their use case.

“For CFOs and treasury teams, this solves a real problem,” said Bobby Shell, VP of Marketing at Voltage. “You get the instant settlement and near-zero fees of Lightning without the treasury complexity. No forced crypto exposure, no guessing how much capital to lock up. Just a revolving credit line you can tap on demand, denominated in USD or Bitcoin based on what fits your business. It’s the flexibility finance teams have been asking for since Bitcoin entered the enterprise conversation.”

Bitcoin Rails for Any Business

Voltage Credit is attracting interest from both cryptocurrency-native companies and traditional enterprises exploring Bitcoin payment infrastructure for the first time. For businesses outside the crypto ecosystem, the appeal is straightforward: Lightning Network offers instant, global settlement at a fraction of the cost of legacy payment rails, and Voltage Credit means they can access those benefits while keeping their treasury and accounting entirely in USD, if desired.

For enterprises already operating in digital assets, whether exchanges, payment service providers, or miners, traditional financing has presented a structural problem. Banks typically do not recognize Bitcoin revenue as an asset for underwriting purposes, while existing crypto lending products require businesses to lock up BTC as collateral, creating tax events and exposing corporate treasuries to volatility.

Voltage Credit addresses both audiences by treating payment flows as the high-quality signal they are. Businesses processing consistent volume through Voltage infrastructure can access working capital that scales with their operations, bridging the gap between Bitcoin-denominated revenue and USD-denominated expenses without liquidating assets.

The product features no origination fees and a simple fixed APR on outstanding balances. Voltage Credit is currently available to qualified businesses in the United States.

About Voltage

Voltage is a Bitcoin infrastructure company providing enterprise-grade solutions for regulated, high-volume businesses. The Voltage platform enables enterprises to integrate Bitcoin payments with enterprise SLAs, managed infrastructure, and capital-efficient liquidity solutions. From powering instant settlement to providing revenue-based lines of credit, Voltage builds the operational engine for businesses moving value on Bitcoin rails.

More information is available at voltage.cloud.

Company unveils new Agentic AI capabilities in Invoice Lifecycle Management Platform, paving way to autonomous AP

The future of finance is intelligent, and Basware, the global leader in Invoice Lifecycle Management is delivering it today. The pioneer and leader in accounts payable unveiled new AI agents in its market-leading Invoice Lifecycle Management Platform that unleash the power of Agentic AI to transform invoice processing and make autonomous accounts payable a reality.

“The immediate future of finance involves near-perfect, touchless invoice processing,” said Jason Kurtz, CEO, Basware. “The future involves Agentic Finance, where AI entities transact on behalf of the enterprise to drive faster, smarter decisions and real business outcomes. This is the future we are creating at Basware and preparing our customers for today. We are on a journey to get our customers to 100% automated, 100% compliant, and 100% protected invoice processing.”

The Dawn of Agentic Finance

And the time has never been better. Pressure is mounting on finance to figure out how to use AI to drive efficiencies and savings across the business and deliver ROI. According to a global survey conducted by FT Longitude on behalf of Basware, 61% of 200 finance leaders across the US, UK, France and Germany polled say their organizations have rolled out AI agents largely as an experiment, simply to see what the technology could do. And one in four admit they still don’t fully understand what an AI agent looks like in practice. But the time for experimenting with AI is done. The C-Suite wants results.

With Basware, finance leaders can leverage an intelligent platform embedded with AI to drive a modern process for managing the invoice process from end-end that delivers immediate ROI and long-term efficiency and growth. And they can do it today.

From Automation to Autonomy

In November, Basware launched InvoiceAI, an advanced solution delivered on its Invoice Lifecycle Management Platform that leverages generative AI, AI agents, natural language processing and deep learning to enhance the invoicing process from ingestion to reconciliation, and introduced two new AI agents. Designed to supercharge the skills of AP teams, the agents don’t replace humans. Instead, they act as digital teammates, supporting execution of key tasks so that their human peers can focus on strategic activities:

• AP Business Agent – Offers contextual, real-time guidance on actions and next best steps to take when handling invoices to streamline and remove friction from the process.
• AP Data Agent – Allows users to query invoice data using natural language questions such as “Show me all invoices awaiting approval in Germany,” or “Which suppliers gave us early payment discounts this month?,” and delivers instant answers to drive optimal actions.

“When AI agents handle the repetitive questions to business users, AP teams are freed up to ask strategic questions that lead to real impact,” said Kurtz. “That’s how you move from processing transactions to driving strategy.”

Trusted by Design

It sounds great in theory, but finance teams will only delegate work to AI if they feel that they stay in control of what AI is allowed to do, that every AI action is auditable and explainable, and that there is a single, governed execution path for AI/agent actions, not lots of disconnected bots.

Recognizing this, Basware’s approach to Agentic AI is built on trust by design. “Autonomy without trust is just risk,” Kurtz said. “Our platform is uniquely designed to ensure that every AI decision is explainable, auditable, and governed through the same controls finance teams already rely on. That’s how we help our customers safely delegate more to AI while staying 100% compliant and 100% protected.”

With Basware, every AI agent action flows through a single, governed execution path within the Invoice Lifecycle Management Platform, enforced by a central policy engine and a series of autonomy gates. These gates apply each customer’s business rules, compliance requirements, and risk thresholds before any action is taken. The result is that AI can take on more of the work, while finance teams retain full visibility, control, and a complete audit trail for every autonomous decision.

And more AI innovation from Basware is on the way, with future agents that will go beyond surfacing insights and help prioritize actions, automate resolutions, and connect the dots across systems to support faster, smarter decision-making at scale. Among the agents planned for release:

• Supplier Agent – Will support managing invoice disputes and payments queries. Agent will automatically call supplier and explain dispute, summarize call and next steps, and thereby achieve quicker resolutions.
• AP Pro Agent – Will use generative AI to help AP clerks solve processing questions in real time through simple, natural-language queries, reducing delays and manual effort.

Billerud, which creates paper and packaging materials, was an early adopter of Basware’s InvoiceAI and is already seeing the benefits the solution can deliver.

“Since day one, we’ve perceived the desired values from the project,” commented Jesper Persson, Business Developer at Billerud. “The quality of invoices has improved considerably, and the AI continues to evolve and improve with each passing day. The efficiency gains we achieved translated directly into tangible cost savings, paving the way for a rapid return on investment within just a few months,” he said.

Crossing the AI-Delegation Chasm

Basware will continue to invest in AI innovation across its Invoice Lifecycle Management platform and deliver new capabilities that leverage the latest advancements to help its customers cross the AI delegation chasm and unlock the real value of the technology for their business. The capabilities will be rolled out throughout 2026.

“At Basware, AI is not a buzzword or a bonus feature. It is an integral part of our business, and we will continue to apply and use it intelligently, securely, and ethically to enable our customers to drive cost efficiencies, enhance operations and sharpen their competitive edge,” Kurtz said.

About Basware

Basware is how finance leaders in global enterprises can finally automate their complex, labor-intensive invoice processes and stay compliant with regulatory change. Our AP automation and invoicing platform helps you achieve a new level of efficiency – in a matter of months – while reducing errors and risks. We bring a unique combination of true automation, complete coverage, and deeper expertise to make it all just happen for our customers. That’s why the world’s most efficient AP departments at thousands of companies rely on Basware to handle over 170 million invoices per year. Basware. Now it all just happens.

QuickFund AI (Powered by TruTrade), a proprietary trading capital platform focused on structured trader evaluation and disciplined capital allocation, today announced the continued expansion of its funding framework designed to provide independent traders with access to structured trading capital.

As global markets experience heightened volatility and rapid directional shifts, demand for disciplined capital access models has increased. QuickFund AI’s approach centers on clearly defined risk parameters, structured evaluation standards, and systematic oversight intended to promote responsible participation in modern financial markets.

Rather than offering unrestricted capital access, QuickFund AI utilizes a rules-based evaluation process designed to assess consistency, risk management discipline, and adherence to defined trading parameters. The company states that its model prioritizes structured performance metrics and governance standards to ensure capital allocation aligns with clearly established guidelines.

“Our objective is to expand access to capital through structure, not speculation,” said a QuickFund AI spokesperson. “Independent traders often lack institutional-level infrastructure and oversight. By implementing clearly defined evaluation criteria and disciplined risk controls, we aim to create a framework that supports responsible capital deployment in volatile environments.”

QuickFund AI ‘s funding structure emphasizes transparency, clearly communicated rules, and systematic risk controls. The platform highlights capital efficiency, drawdown management, and adherence to defined trading limits, aligning trader incentives with long-term sustainability rather than short-term outcomes.

According to the company, demand for structured capital solutions continues to grow as more independent traders seek disciplined pathways to funding. QuickFund AI maintains its focus on refining evaluation systems and operational controls to promote consistency and oversight.

By focusing on discipline and clearly defined capital parameters, QuickFund AI aims to contribute to the evolving landscape of proprietary trading models designed for modern market conditions.

To learn more about QuickFund’s structured capital evaluation framework and how independent traders can apply for funding, visit www.quickfund.ai

About QuickFund AI

QuickFund AI (Powered by TruTrade) is a proprietary funding platform that empowers traders with institutional-grade capital. Through TruTrade’s AI ecosystem, QuickFund AI enables users to scale their trading capabilities, manage risk with greater precision, and access funded accounts built for consistent, professional-level results.

BrandJet AI, a brand intelligence and outreach automation platform, today announced the launch of Artemis, a new Model Context Protocol (MCP) layer designed to help go-to-market (GTM) teams execute complex multi-step workflows using natural language prompts. The company also introduced a new commercial role, the Forward Deployed Account Executive (FDAE), created to support organizations adopting AI-native revenue operations.

The announcements reflect BrandJet AI’s continued focus on reducing fragmentation across sales, marketing, and revenue technology stacks by connecting intent detection and outreach execution within a single operating environment.

Addressing GTM Fragmentation

Revenue teams typically rely on multiple systems to monitor brand conversations, identify prospects, enrich contact data, sequence outreach, and track engagement. These processes often require manual coordination across platforms, creating delays between signal detection and commercial action.

Artemis is designed to streamline this workflow. Built on a Model Context Protocol architecture, it connects BrandJet AI’s monitoring, enrichment, sequencing, and performance-tracking capabilities into a unified prompt-driven layer.

Through Artemis, revenue operators can initiate structured workflows using natural language instructions. For example, a user may request the identification of professionals discussing specific topics across digital platforms within a defined timeframe, enrichment of those profiles, and the creation of an outreach sequence aligned to campaign goals. Artemis coordinates those tasks within the system, allowing teams to reduce operational handoffs.

According to BrandJet AI, the goal is not to replace strategic oversight but to simplify execution.

“Revenue teams spend too much time stitching together tools instead of acting on real buying signals,” said Nirav Shah, CEO of BrandJet AI. “Artemis helps unify intelligence and execution so teams can move from insight to outreach more efficiently.”

Prompt-Driven Workflow Orchestration

Artemis supports workflows that include:

• Monitoring brand and competitor mentions across social platforms and the open web
• Identifying potential prospects based on observable intent signals
• Enriching lead data within the platform
• Initiating multi-channel outreach across email and major social networks
• Tracking engagement and campaign performance in real time

Rather than requiring operators to manually transfer data between systems, Artemis enables coordinated execution through a conversational interface layered on top of BrandJet AI’s infrastructure.

The system is designed to operate within compliance and governance standards established by customer organizations, maintaining human oversight over messaging and campaign parameters.

Introducing the Forward Deployed Account Executive

Alongside the Artemis launch, BrandJet AI announced the introduction of the Forward Deployed Account Executive (FDAE), a role intended to help enterprise customers integrate AI-driven workflows into their revenue operations.

As AI platforms become more advanced, organizations often encounter implementation gaps between technical capability and day-to-day usage. The FDAE model is structured to address that gap by embedding commercially accountable operators more deeply into customer environments.

Unlike traditional account executives who primarily focus on closing new business, or customer success managers who focus on support and retention, the FDAE combines revenue accountability with workflow strategy support. The role is designed to assist customers in mapping Artemis and broader BrandJet AI capabilities to their specific GTM structures.

“The technology layer is evolving quickly, but successful adoption depends on workflow design and operational alignment,” said Marsad Aurangzeb, Founder of BrandJet AI. “The Forward Deployed AE role is intended to help customers translate AI capabilities into measurable revenue outcomes.”

BrandJet AI plans to formalize the FDAE framework and publish additional details regarding the role’s structure and responsibilities in 2026.

Connecting Listening and Outreach

Historically, social listening and sales engagement technologies have evolved separately. Listening platforms track conversations, brand mentions, and sentiment across digital channels, while engagement platforms focus on outbound sequencing and pipeline development.

BrandJet AI’s platform integrates both functions, allowing teams to identify signals and initiate outreach within the same environment. With Artemis, those processes can now be coordinated through prompt-driven workflows.

For example, when a relevant public conversation surfaces online, such as a discussion about a specific technology category, hiring signals, or operational challenges, Artemis can help surface the signal, enrich the associated contact, and assist in preparing a tailored outreach campaign.

The objective is to reduce the time between observed intent and commercial response, while maintaining alignment with compliance and messaging standards.

Enterprise Implementation and Governance

BrandJet AI emphasizes that Artemis is built to operate within enterprise governance frameworks. Campaign parameters, messaging templates, and data usage policies remain configurable by customer teams.

As organizations expand AI adoption within revenue functions, governance considerations, including messaging accuracy, compliance adherence, and brand alignment, remain central. Artemis is positioned as an execution layer that operates within these controls rather than outside them.

The company states that ongoing enhancements are planned, including additional intent modeling refinements, deeper workflow customization, and validation loops that compare forecasted campaign outcomes with actual engagement performance over time.

Availability

Artemis MCP is available immediately to customers on BrandJet AI’s Growth and Enterprise plans. Availability for Starter plan users is expected in Q2 2026. Forward Deployed Account Executive engagements are currently offered on a limited basis for Enterprise customers.

Organizations interested in learning more may contact BrandJet AI directly for additional information.

About BrandJet AI

BrandJet AI is a brand intelligence and outreach automation platform designed for modern revenue teams. The platform enables organizations to monitor brand and competitor activity across digital channels, identify potential prospects based on social and behavioral signals, and execute multi-channel outreach campaigns within a unified interface. BrandJet AI serves growth-stage and enterprise organizations across SaaS, financial services, and professional services industries.

Funding will accelerate Monark’s distribution partnerships and expand its product and asset-class coverage

Monark Markets, a New York-based fintech company building the rails connecting brokerage firms and wealth platforms to private markets, is announcing $8.1 million in strategic financing. The round is led by F-Prime with participation from The Treasury, Commerce Ventures, Grit Capital Partners, and BBAE Holdings.

Monark’s API-first infrastructure powers major fintech platforms like Apex Fintech Solutions, Altruist Financial, and BBAE, embedding private market investments directly into existing customer accounts and reaching over 30 million retail investors with $450 billion of captive assets. Monark provides access to Pre-IPO companies as well as 40′ act registered evergreen funds from prominent alternative asset managers.

“We believe that retail portfolio allocation to private markets should and will grow to 15-20% over the next decade, mirroring the portfolio allocation of institutional investors and family offices,” says Ben Haber, CEO of Monark Markets. “This structural shift in capital allocation from retail investors will drive trillions of dollars of investment into private markets, fueling demand for innovative investment products, new investment rails, and increased liquidity.”

As private-market demand grows, Monark addresses a core infrastructure gap for brokerage and wealth platforms: many still lack the capabilities to manage the full alternative investment lifecycle – including deal sourcing, subscription processing, custody and reporting, and secondary liquidity – from within their native investor experience. Monark’s embedded API infrastructure enables platforms to natively offer private investments, with full compliance and marketing support. By bringing private-market access directly into existing platforms, Monark supports scalable, low-cost access for issuers to the $27 trillion in private wealth held by mass-affluent and affluent U.S. investors, and a more streamlined investor experience.

“Alternative assets have experienced remarkable growth, growing from $5 trillion in 2011 to nearly $16 trillion today,” said David Jegen, Managing Partner of F-Prime’s Technology Fund. “Asset managers are seeking new retail investors to grow AUM, and financial advisors and a changing regulatory environment are guiding to higher allocations to alternatives. Ben, Paul, and the team at Monark are building the digital rails that will make this expansion possible at scale.”

Behind the APIs, Monark works closely with distribution partners to build a curated marketplace of private investment opportunities. This includes sourcing issuers, conducting due diligence, and negotiating distribution economics. This end-to-end support is increasingly critical as retail demand grows for exposure to key engines of economic growth in the private markets, including U.S. reindustrialization and next-generation defense, as well as AI, blockchain, and space exploration.

Monark will use the new capital to scale its distribution network through integrations with additional brokerage and wealth management platforms, as well as to expand access to new products and asset classes, including evergreen funds, fractional real estate, and secondary trading of private securities.

About Monark Markets, Inc.

Monark Markets, Inc., is a venture-backed, New York-based fintech providing “Alts-As-A-Service” infrastructure to brokerage firms and wealth management platforms. Monark’s b2b APIs enable embedded access to private markets from within partners’ existing trading platforms. https://monark-markets.com

About MMM Securities LLC

MMM Securities LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Monark Markets, Inc., is a FINRA-member broker-dealer authorized to conduct private placements, retail mutual fund sales, and operate an alternative trading system. Investments in private securities and alternative assets involve substantial risks, including illiquidity, loss of principal, limited transparency, and extended holding periods. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The firm is committed to maintaining the highest standards of compliance and meeting the regulatory requirements for its services. Member FINRA/SIPC. Check the background of this firm on FINRA’s BrokerCheck.

Mantle, the high-performance distribution and liquidity layer for real-world assets, announced the official deployment of the ERC-8004 standard on mainnet. This milestone introduces a specialized trust and identity layer designed to transform AI agents from isolated scripts into sovereign economic participants capable of operating across RWAs, TradFi bridges, and DeFi.

The Trust Gap: Why AI Agents Were Problematic

Until now, on-chain AI agents have faced a “visibility crisis.” Despite their ability to execute code, agents remained invisible to the broader financial system. They lacked a way to build a reputation across different platforms, approve their historical performance, or be discovered outside of the specific ecosystem where they were created.

This gap has prevented autonomous agents from participating in high-stakes financial markets where verifiable records are non-negotiable.

ERC-8004: The Three Components of Agent Autonomy

By deploying ERC-8004, Mantle provides the foundational infrastructure for a trustless “Internet of Agents.” The standard introduces three critical on-chain registries:

• Identity Registry: Provides a verifiable, NFT-based on-chain identity for every agent, making them discoverable and unique.
• Reputation Registry: Establishes a portable track record. An agent’s “credit score” or performance history now follows it across platforms, ending the need to start from zero.
• Validation Registry: Offers cryptographic proof of work completed, allowing agents to verify the accuracy of each other’s outputs through stake-secured or ZK-based mechanisms.

“At Mantle, we are building the liquid layer for the future of finance, where RWAs and DeFi converge.” said by Joshua Cheong, Head of Product at Mantle. “By bringing ERC-8004 to our ecosystem, we are providing AI agents with the ‘credentials’ they need to manage real capital. This isn’t just about automation; it’s about creating a verifiable workforce that can navigate compliance, liquidity, and settlement at scale.”

Bridging the Gap in TradFi and RWAs with ERC-8004

On Mantle, where institutional-grade assets flow seamlessly, these agents serve as the “connective tissue.” With ERC-8004, agents can now discover one another, verify credentials, and transact autonomously without being locked into a single platform. This enables three primary categories of autonomous building:

1. Financial Strategy Agents: Executing complex yield or trading strategies with a performance history that anyone can audit.
2. RWA Coordination Agents: Managing the heavy lifting of compliance, custody, and settlement for tokenized assets.
3. Cross-Market Bridges: Bridging liquidity between traditional legacy systems and on-chain protocols by acting as verifiable intermediaries.

A Unified Ecosystem Is Now Powered by Mantle

ERC-8004 is designed to be backwards-compatible and works in tandem with the protocols agents already use, including the Model Context Protocol (MCP), Agent-to-Agent (A2A) communication, and the x402 payment standard.

By combining these communication and payment standards with Mantle’s massive distribution layer and $4B+ treasury, the network is uniquely positioned to lead the “DeFAI” (Decentralized AI Finance) revolution.

Ethereum is the settlement layer for AI, and with ERC-8004, the future of autonomous finance is officially live on Mantle.

About Mantle

Mantle positions itself as the premier distribution layer and gateway for institutions and TradFi to connect with on-chain liquidity and access real-world assets, powering how real-world finance flows.

With over $4B+ in community-owned assets, Mantle combines credibility, liquidity and scalability with institutional-grade infrastructure to support large-scale adoption. The ecosystem is anchored by $MNT within Bybit, and built out through core ecosystem projects like mETH, fBTC, MI4 and more. This is complemented by Mantle Network’s partnerships with leading issuers and protocols such as Ethena USDe, Ondo USDY, and OP-Succinct.

For more information about Mantle, please visit: mantle.xyz

Ault Capital Group today announced the public testnet launch of Ault Blockchain, a Layer 1 network designed for trading, settlement, and institutional-grade onchain infrastructure. This launch marks the first public release of the protocol and opens access to developers, infrastructure operators, and early network participants.

Ault Blockchain is built as a Cosmos-based Layer 1 with full Ethereum Virtual Machine compatibility, enabling Ethereum-native smart contracts and tooling to run without modification. The network is governed by Ault DAO, which oversees protocol rules, economic parameters, and long-term upgrades through onchain governance.

The public testnet provides a live environment for evaluating core network functionality, validator performance, and infrastructure design. This early access seeks community engagement and feedback by contributors who add value to the network’s development and stability.

In contrast to typical launch models, Ault Blockchain will not conduct a public token sale. Instead, the native AULT token will be distributed exclusively through a protocol-controlled emissions schedule tied to measurable network participation, including consensus security and licensed infrastructure operations rather than speculative activity.

Milton “Todd” Ault III, founder and executive chairman of Ault Capital Group, said: “Ault Blockchain was built the opposite way most networks are built. We started with real financial use cases and then designed the blockchain to support them. Participation is based on defined roles and verifiable work, not speculation, with transparent economics that are meant to support long-term network health from day one.”

The network launch is supported by a group of established infrastructure and development partners. B-Harvest serves as Ault Blockchain’s primary development partner, contributing to protocol engineering and core network architecture. Xangle focuses on development of Ault’s official explorers and relevant hubs.QuickNode provides RPC infrastructure to support network access and reliability. Finally Protofire supports Safe-related tooling across EVM environments.

Ault Blockchain introduces a licensed participation framework for infrastructure operators. Licensed Mining Nodes are authorized to perform defined off-chain services, beginning with cryptographic randomness at launch. In parallel, Proof-of-Stake validators and delegators secure network consensus and collect transaction fees under transparent, DAO-governed economics. After launch, the core team will shift its focus to the core team’s roadmap including spot trading on decentralized exchanges, lending services, perps trading, and other advanced workloads are being explored and may deploy over time as the network evolves.

Ault Blockchain’s testnet launch follows the completion of an initial protocol security audit and precedes further validator onboarding and ecosystem testing. Ault Blockchain’s mainnet launch will occur after additional testing milestones are met. At genesis, the chain will launch with its core protocol modules, EVM compatibility, an initial validator set, and onchain governance in place, marking a new era for institutional finance.

To learn more about Ault Blockchain, visit https://Aultblockchain.com and read project documentation to view the testnet scanner go to the following link https://ault-evm-testnet.explorer.xangle.io/home

About Ault Blockchain

Ault Blockchain is a finance-first, institutional-grade Layer-1 blockchain designed to support trading, settlement, and data-driven workloads. Built on the Cosmos SDK with full Ethereum Virtual Machine compatibility, the network enables unmodified Ethereum smart contracts while providing fast finality and native cross-chain interoperability.

Governed onchain by Ault DAO and supported by a licensed infrastructure framework, Ault Blockchain aligns network economics with verifiable participation rather than speculative token distribution. With real-world financial and analytics applications launching from day one, Ault Blockchain is optimized for next-generation onchain finance.

About Ault DAO

Ault DAO is the decentralized governance body responsible for overseeing the Ault Blockchain protocol. The DAO was created by and is overseen by Ault DAO, LLC, a Wyoming DAO LLC. Through onchain governance, the DAO manages protocol parameters, validator participation, and network upgrades, ensuring transparent and community-driven decision-making aligned with the network’s long-term objectives.

About Ault Capital Group

Ault Capital Group is a diversified investment and holding company focused on technology-driven businesses, digital assets, and financial infrastructure. Through its operating companies and strategic investments, Ault Capital Group supports platforms across blockchain, data infrastructure, and emerging technologies. The firm emphasizes disciplined capital allocation and long-term value creation.

As Ethereum’s market presence expands, so do the risks that keep investors awake at night. Today, ID-Bound officially announces the launch of TRIO, a Crypto Safe designed to eliminate the three greatest existential threats to digital wealth: user error, sophisticated theft, and the “Q-Day” quantum brute-force timeline.

The current crypto landscape is littered with “permanent” losses. As of mid-2025, data suggests that over $3 billion worth of Ethereum has been rendered inaccessible due to forgotten seed phrases or hardware failures. Unlike traditional finance, a lost key in crypto usually means the assets are gone forever. ID-Bound is ending this era of digital fragility.

The TRIO Solution: Solving the “Impossible Trinity” of Crypto Risk

The TRIO solution—comprised of a proprietary Identity layer, a self-custodial, “hot” Wallet, and utility Tokens—addresses the three primary vectors of asset loss:

1. Immunity to User Error: For the first time, losing your private keys doesn’t mean losing your fortune. If a user loses access, the TRIO platform can replace the tokens via verified identity protocols. Your ETH is no longer a “use it or lose it” asset.
2. Theft-Proof Architecture: Phishing scams and malware are becoming increasingly indistinguishable from legitimate services, as evidenced by massive platform breaches like the $1.2 billion ByBit hack. Even if a user’s hardware or software is compromised, TRIO tokens are protected by a guarantee against theft, ensuring that hackers cannot drain the “Identity-Bound” safe.
3. Quantum-Resistant Brute-Force Protection: With Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin noting a non-trivial (20%) chance that quantum computers could break modern cryptography by 2030, the “Harvest Now, Decrypt Later” threat is real. TRIO is designed to withstand brute-force attacks, ensuring assets remain intact even if the private key is compromised.

From Passive Security to Active Yield and Institutional DeFi.

ID-Bound believes that high security shouldn’t mean low utility. While traditional “cold storage” leaves assets unproductive, TRIO allows users to generate a solid yield through a unique collateralization model https://id-bound.com/investments . This setup maximizes the benefits of blockchain technology non-custodial holding and the traditional legal system’s enforceability.

Users can leverage their protected TRIO tokens as risk-free collateral in Fractional Real Estate & Real-World Asset (RWA) Acquisition . In the 2026 market landscape, “RWA Tokenization” has moved from a buzzword to the primary driver of institutional and retail crypto adoption. By combining this with ID-Bound’s unique “Unstealable” architecture, we solve the single biggest barrier to entry: the Trust Gap.

“We are moving past the ‘Seed Phrase Era,’ which was always a stopgap for secure digital ownership,” says Dr. Eli Talmor, Co-Founder of ID-Bound. “With TRIO, we’ve built a safety net that is both quantum-ready and human-error-proof. The use of risk-free TRIO token collateral will form the foundation of Institutional DeFi.”

About ID-Bound

ID-Bound is a blockchain security leader dedicated to making digital asset ownership as safe and intuitive as a traditional bank account, without sacrificing decentralization. Through the TRIO platform, ID-Bound provides the infrastructure for the next billion users to enter the Ethereum ecosystem with total confidence. Join TRIO Public Demonstrator now: https://www.id-bound.com/get-on-board

For more information, visit: www.id-bound.com/newsroom