London

Solana

2026-10-01 09:01:42

Solana confirms second wave of speakers for Breakpoint 2026

Solana has confirmed the second batch of speakers for its Breakpoint 2026 conference, according to Techub News. The newly announced lineup includes practitioners focused on bringing assets on-chain, capital allocators backing the token supercycle thesis, and leaders working on scaling network capacity. The event is scheduled to take place in London this November. The announcement adds another update to preparations for Solana’s annual conference and outlines the types of participants expected on stage, spanning on-chain asset adoption, capital support, and network expansion.

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British Trans

2026-09-30 09:42:03

London station facial recognition trial scanned 500,000 faces and led to no arrests from alerts

British Transport Police ran a live facial recognition trial at London rail stations from February to July, deploying the system 18 times, scanning more than 500,000 faces, and spending £320,786 on equipment rental and police staffing. The system generated only one alert during that six-month period, and that alert was a false positive, meaning no wanted person was arrested as a direct result of the trial. The figures were obtained by Liberty Investigates through freedom of information requests and published with The Guardian on Sept. 29. BTP later extended the trial by four months in August and expanded it to London Underground stations, with the first Tube deployment taking place at Victoria station on Aug. 11. BTP told The Guardian that the extended phase has since produced three confirmed matches, but the individuals identified were found to be complying with Sexual Harm Prevention Orders or other court-imposed conditions. The trial has drawn criticism over proportionality, cost, and effectiveness. Former UK Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner Fraser Sampson said the results appeared limited when judged by whether police actually caught anyone. At the same time, UK police forces continue to widen use of live facial recognition, while lawmakers and rights bodies are calling for stronger legal safeguards around AI and surveillance.

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Velocity

2026-09-15 11:00:00

Velocity extends Series A to $48M, reaches $200M valuation

Velocity, a London-based payments infrastructure firm, has extended its Series A financing round to $48 million, according to CEO Eric Queathem. The new investment values the company at $200 million. Queathem said the round was backed by Visa, Circle, and Ripple. The update adds to the company’s funding profile and highlights support from major payments and crypto industry names. No additional details on the financing structure were disclosed in the provided report.

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DNB

2026-09-03 08:12:55

Dutch central bank moved 86 tons of gold from North America to London

De Nederlandsche Bank, or DNB, transferred 86 tons of gold from New York and Ottawa to London between March and August 2026, according to NL Times as cited by ABMedia. The central bank said the move was driven by rising geopolitical instability and a need to strengthen crisis preparedness. The shipment accounted for nearly one-third of the roughly 313 tons of gold DNB had been storing across the two North American locations, with an estimated value of about 10 billion euros. DNB said gold held in London is easier to trade than gold stored in New York or Ottawa, making it the portion that can be deployed fastest in a crisis. The bank also said a more even split between North America and the UK helps spread risk. After the transfer, the share of Dutch gold stored in London rose from 18.1% to 32.1%, while the allocations in New York and Ottawa each fell to 18.5%. Before the adjustment, New York accounted for about 31.3% and Ottawa about 19.7%. The report said the move fits a broader pattern in which central banks have been repatriating gold or redistributing storage locations in recent years.

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Solana

2026-08-27 18:51:18

Solana reveals Breakpoint 2026 speaker lineup ahead of London event

Solana Foundation has released the speaker lineup for Breakpoint 2026, with the conference scheduled for Nov. 15-17 in London under the theme "Token Supercycle." The event is expected to draw more than 8,000 attendees from over 100 countries, according to the announcement carried by Techub News. Confirmed speakers include MoneyGram CEO Anthony Soohoo, former Coinbase CTO Balaji Srinivasan, and Candy Digital CEO Tad Smith. The first day will center on on-chain financial infrastructure, while the second day will examine AI-driven markets and programmable capital. CryptoBriefing said the agenda reflects a convergence between traditional finance and Web3.

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UK

2026-08-12 12:50:12

UK FCA studies tokenized gold rules as London looks to defend its lead in bullion trading

The UK Financial Conduct Authority is working on a regulatory framework for tokenized gold as Britain looks to digitize parts of the gold market without giving up London’s dominant position in global bullion trading. According to the Financial Times, the FCA has begun talking with financial institutions about how tokenized gold should be regulated and how such products could be used in wholesale financial markets. London’s over-the-counter market currently accounts for about 70% of global notional gold trading, making the issue strategically important for the UK as other markets, including China, expand their own gold trading infrastructure. The discussions go beyond simple digital wrappers for bullion. The FCA is seeking views on whether tokenized gold could be used as collateral in wholesale markets, which would widen its role from spot and derivatives trading into financing, collateral management and settlement. Key regulatory questions still need to be settled, including the legal link between physical reserves and on-chain tokens, custody arrangements, whether reserves are fully backed, the rights attached to token ownership, and how client assets would be handled if an issuer ran into financial trouble. The move fits into a broader UK push to bring tokenization and distributed ledger technology into wholesale finance. The government has said that financial market digitization, if implemented successfully, could add about £33 billion in annual economic output.

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London

2026-08-11 04:44:37

London’s King’s Cross, once known for vice and drugs, is now a top global AI hub

London’s King’s Cross has undergone a striking transformation from one of the city’s most notorious districts into one of the world’s leading centers for artificial intelligence. According to TechCrunch, the area now ranks behind only San Francisco and Beijing as a global AI hub, with companies including Google DeepMind, OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, Isomorphic Labs, Cusp AI, and Synthesia clustered in and around the neighborhood. The shift traces back to redevelopment efforts in the early 2000s, helped by the rise of St Pancras as the Eurostar terminal and the presence of institutions such as University College London and the British Library. The local AI cluster accelerated after DeepMind moved into the area following its 2016 acquisition by Google. That growth is now pushing up real estate costs and intensifying hiring pressure. Knight Frank said AI-related companies have leased more than 1 million square feet of office space in London since June, while prime rents in King’s Cross have risen 18% over three years and vacancy for traditional office space has dropped to 0.9%. Dealroom data also shows London has about 3,600 AI startups, with $12.1 billion of the city’s $14.8 billion startup funding since late July going to AI companies. At the same time, local startups are facing a much tougher fight for talent as US tech firms expand their presence.

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FCA

2026-08-10 04:57:27

FCA discusses tokenized gold regulation with banks, standards expected in months

According to the Financial Times, the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is in talks with industry bodies, including several major banks, on how to regulate tokenized gold. The effort is part of a British push to digitize financial markets and cement London's role as the global gold trading hub. The regulator is expected to announce plans for setting tokenized gold regulatory standards in the coming months. BlockBeats reported the news on Aug. 10, 2026.

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