Google has introduced Gemini 3.5 Transcribe for Gemini Audio, adding a new speech-to-text model that can automatically recognize more than 85 languages, identify up to three speakers in prerecorded audio, and remove filler words such as “um” and “ah” during transcription. The company also says the model can pick up specialized terminology without requiring users to preset the language, and it supports custom vocabulary lists for company names, product names, and unusual spellings. According to Google’s published figures, Gemini 3.5 Transcribe posts an average word error rate of 4.0% in streaming mode and 2.6% in non-streaming mode, while scoring 5.50% and 5.04% respectively on the multilingual FLEURS benchmark. Google says final transcription latency is down 70% from Chirp 3. The model is now live in English on the macOS Gemini app, with limited availability for Android’s Rambler dictation in some countries and languages, while developers can access it through public preview in Gemini API tools. Still, third-party rankings from Artificial Analysis place the model fourth on accuracy, behind offerings from ElevenLabs, Microsoft Azure, and Smallest.ai.

Circle co-founder, chairman and CEO Jeremy Allaire used a nearly 47-minute Q2 2026 earnings AMA on Aug. 19, 2026 to lay out how he sees the company, USDC, stablecoin adoption and the broader onchain economy evolving. Across 11 investor questions, Allaire said Circle’s execution has accelerated after its IPO, helped by long-standing cross-functional coordination, measured hiring and wider internal use of AI and agent infrastructure. He also pointed to cyber risk and global operating capacity as two areas where Circle still needs to keep building. On stablecoins, Allaire said real product-market fit is already visible in digital asset markets, digital dollar savings in emerging markets and cross-border settlement. He added that AI agent payments, merchant payments and deeper convergence between traditional finance and onchain finance are likely to become larger drivers over time. In his view, stablecoins can serve everything from sub-cent machine payments to working capital and collateral in capital markets. Allaire described today’s onchain finance stack as being roughly at the “internet in 2002” stage. He said the current onchain stablecoin market is only about $300 billion and argued that it could eventually expand into the trillions. Reserve income will remain a major engine for Circle, he said, but the company is also building transaction and infrastructure revenues through products including CPN and Arc. He called Arc an economic operating system, said its public mainnet is set for Sept. 16, and argued that it is designed to make blockchain infrastructure nearly invisible to end users. He also said USDC adoption can keep rising even if the CLARITY Act does not pass in September.

Fintech company Revolut has launched EURR, a euro-pegged stablecoin, according to Bloomberg. The token will initially be available to eligible customers in Denmark, Poland, and Portugal. Revolut described the launch as the first step in its stablecoin strategy. The company said it plans to introduce additional tokens linked to other fiat currencies later on. Those products are intended to expand the use of digital currencies in cross-border payments and business transaction scenarios. The rollout gives Revolut an initial footprint for its euro-linked token while outlining a broader plan tied to payments and corporate use cases rather than a single-market launch.

Circle co-founder, chairman and CEO Jeremy Allaire used a nearly 47-minute Q2 2026 earnings AMA to lay out how he sees the company’s next phase taking shape. Across 11 questions, he described USDC as a core piece of global payments, cross-border settlement, capital markets infrastructure and the emerging agentic economy, while also arguing that stablecoins are still at an early stage despite growing adoption across digital asset markets and emerging economies. Allaire said Circle’s reserve income should remain a major engine, but he also pointed to transaction and infrastructure revenue from products such as CPN and Arc. He framed Arc as a stablecoin-native chain and a broader “economic operating system,” with Circle’s public mainnet launch set for Sept. 16. He also highlighted EURC’s circulation exceeding €400 million, more than 175 financial institutions joining CPN, and Circle’s view that USDC adoption can keep rising even if the CLARITY Act does not pass in September, given the separate momentum of stablecoin legislation and global demand outside the U.S.

U.S. stocks closed mixed Monday as investors weighed a fresh escalation in U.S. pressure on Iran, renewed debate over Treasury buybacks, and a sharp selloff across AI hardware. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.26%, supported by financials, consumer staples and other defensive names, while the S&P 500 fell 0.28% and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.76%. Oil prices retreated after the market moved to price in sanctions rhetoric, yet Goldman Sachs warned that a prolonged Strait of Hormuz crisis into winter could tighten Europe’s gas balance and force TTF gas above EUR100/MWh to attract enough LNG, with storage currently near 62%, a roughly 20-year seasonal low. On rates, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said no bonds had been bought and that the next buyback would come on Sept. 9, even as speculation continued around using the Treasury General Account, estimated at roughly $935 billion to $950 billion, to support larger long-end operations. Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank and Citadel Securities argued buybacks would not solve the deeper issues of a $40 trillion debt load, fiscal deficits and inflation. In equities, Nvidia fell 2.91% for a seventh straight session despite stronger earnings estimates, while memory, optical networking and EV-related names also dropped. Mega-cap platform stocks were steadier, with Meta gaining 1.66%.

Markets are heading into next week’s Jackson Hole symposium with a clear focal point: Federal Reserve Chair Warsh’s keynote address on Friday, Aug. 28 at 10 a.m. Eastern Time. The annual gathering in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, comes after a relatively quiet August for central bank communication and just as the autumn rate-decision cycle begins to take shape. According to the source article, this will be Warsh’s first appearance at Jackson Hole since becoming Fed chair, and investors are expected to pay closer attention to his views on the economic outlook and the future rate path than to the conference theme itself. Goldman Sachs said historical patterns show Jackson Hole keynote speeches often amplify foreign-exchange volatility. In the current setting, with Warsh’s policy stance still not fully clear, EUR/USD could become one of the market’s most sensitive trading expressions, though past data do not point to a consistent one-way move in the dollar. The event’s broader agenda this year centers on financial innovation and its effects on payments and policy, including possible discussion of artificial intelligence, digital assets and changes in financial markets. Even so, the article says traders may place greater weight on public remarks from central bank officials, including off-camera media interviews during the conference, than on the academic discussion itself.

On Aug. 22, HYPE broke above 77 USDT and set another record, while HOOD climbed 11.69% to $106.22. BTC, ETH and SOL all rose in the CEX top-volume list, and coins such as GALA, STX, ENS and BCH posted strong 24-hour gains on OKX. GMGN’s top meme list was led by UP, WWW and Hachi. The update also noted $3 billion in stablecoins minted by Circle and Tether over the past two days, a record $2.739 billion in short liquidations on Aug. 19, and fresh comments from Vitalik Buterin, Brian Armstrong, Tom Lee and CryptoQuant founder Ki Young Ju.

Morgan Stanley said on Aug. 20 that the U.S. Treasury will double its liquidity-support buyback size for the 10- to 20-year and 20- to 30-year buckets, lifting each operation from $2 billion to at least $4 billion starting Sept. 9. The bank argued that the signal is more important than the buyback itself, because Treasury is using the tool to buy time ahead of the November refunding window. The report also said recent moves in long-end yields and curve steepening are mainly being driven by a repricing of energy prices and the central bank path, not by supply concerns. Morgan Stanley kept its steepener trade view in 7-year and 30-year Treasuries and said the dollar could weaken further if U.S. currency policy returns to the market’s focus.