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Circle, the company behind the USDC stablecoin, has raised two hundred twenty two million dollars in a presale of its Arc token, at a valuation of three billion dollars. The round drew backing from Andreessen Horowitz and BlackRock, signaling that institutional appetite for crypto infrastructure remains very much alive heading into the second half of the year.
Shifting to artificial intelligence, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky made a candid admission this week — that nobody, including Airbnb, has truly figured out AI for travel or e-commerce. That honesty is notable, because in the same breath he revealed that AI now writes sixty percent of the company's new code. It's a reminder that adoption and mastery are two very different things.
And in the world of Bitcoin, Strategy — the software firm turned crypto treasury operation — purchased five hundred thirty five bitcoin for forty three million dollars, just days after signaling it might sell some of its holdings. Funded through common stock sales, the move underscores just how committed the company remains to its unconventional balance sheet strategy, whatever the short-term signals suggest.
That's your Tech Beat for today. Keep surfing. Tech Beat out.
