Unveiling Risks in the Global Financial Landscape as Japan Considers Rate Adjustment

DESIGNER IVARLUSKI ASERON and model-then-photographer-then-designer Jo Ann Bitagcol have teamed up to open a pop-up at Rockwell’s Powerplant Mall. Their store opened with a Dec. 1 launch and will run until February next year.

The post Why Ripple’s CTO Doubling Down on XRP Ledger, Three Key Drivers appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. In a recent tweet, Ripple CTO David Schwartz indicated that his hub had been running on rippled v2.6.2 with no issues reported. This information from the Ripple CTO prompted a question from an X user who asked what the hub was for. Responding to this question, Schwartz outlined three reasons why he chose to run a hub on XRP Ledger. First, he hadn’t been running any XRPL infrastructure for a few years and thought it would be cool to start again. It has a few purposes:1) I hadn’t been running any XRPL infrastructure for a few years and thought it would be cool to start again.2) There had been some instances of increased latency between some validators, and I thought one good megahub could meaningfully reduce network… — David ‘JoelKatz’ Schwartz (@JoelKatz) December 7, 2025 Second, there had been some instances of increased latency between some validators, and he believes that one good megahub could meaningfully reduce network latency and network diameter and increase reliability. Third, there were some localized issues with XRPL not performing as well as expected in some cases, and he needed a hub to test his theories for what might be causing these issues. Ripple CTO explains XRP Ledger push In August, Ripple CTO David Schwartz unveiled plans for a hub dedicated to UNL validators, other hubs and servers running XRPL applications. This, as a single server, would operate as a production service aiming for maximum uptime and reliability, relying on a single hub. Data gathered from it to understand network behavior and performance, and no disruptive testing would be done unless there were very unusual circumstances justifying it. The announcement of the hub and its launch came weeks before the Ripple CTO announced resignation from his role by the end of this year. In September,…

The post BlackRock boosts AI and US equity exposure in $185 billion models appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. BlackRock is steering $185 billion worth of model portfolios deeper into US stocks and artificial intelligence. The decision came this week as the asset manager adjusted its entire model suite, increasing its equity allocation and dumping exposure to international developed markets. The firm now sits 2% overweight on stocks, after money moved between several of its biggest exchange-traded funds. This wasn’t a slow shuffle. Billions flowed across multiple ETFs on Tuesday as BlackRock executed the realignment. The iShares S&P 100 ETF (OEF) alone brought in $3.4 billion, the largest single-day haul in its history. The iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) collected $2.3 billion, while the iShares US Equity Factor Rotation Active ETF (DYNF) added nearly $2 billion. The rebalancing triggered swift inflows and outflows that realigned investor exposure on the back of performance data and macroeconomic outlooks. BlackRock raises equities on strong US earnings The model updates come as BlackRock backs the rally in American stocks, fueled by strong earnings and optimism around rate cuts. In an investment letter obtained by Bloomberg, the firm said US companies have delivered 11% earnings growth since the third quarter of 2024. Meanwhile, earnings across other developed markets barely touched 2%. That gap helped push the decision to drop international holdings in favor of American ones. Michael Gates, lead portfolio manager for BlackRock’s Target Allocation ETF model portfolio suite, said the US market is the only one showing consistency in sales growth, profit delivery, and revisions in analyst forecasts. “The US equity market continues to stand alone in terms of earnings delivery, sales growth and sustainable trends in analyst estimates and revisions,” Michael wrote. He added that non-US developed markets lagged far behind, especially when it came to sales. This week’s changes reflect that position. The move was made ahead of the Federal…