SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son used his keynote at SoftBank World 2026 to argue that companies should stop relying on traditional asset-based measures alone and begin using Return on AI, or ROA, as a core management metric. He said businesses need a structured transition toward becoming AI-native enterprises as industries move toward broad AI adoption. In Son’s presentation, Artificial Superintelligence, or ASI, could account for 20% of global GDP by 2040, with annual output reaching 7,000 trillion yen. He also projected a labor transition toward 100 trillion AI agents and 1 billion humanoid robots, describing them as systems capable of autonomous operation, communication, and continuous learning. Son added that supporting this shift would require global AI data center capacity to reach 3 terawatts, with average annual investment of about $5 trillion to push compute to the quetta level, or 10^30. He also said AI can identify thousands of potential vulnerabilities inside systems, which means both individuals and companies need to integrate AI more deeply into daily use and operational design. For companies aiming to become AI-native, Son outlined four steps: maintain a firm AI-led vision, use existing data and industry expertise, automate business tasks with AI agents, and monitor ROA over a three-year period to judge whether spending on AI agents, humanoid robots, infrastructure, and software-hardware systems is producing real productivity and revenue gains.

A digital euro would offer users as much privacy as current technology can provide, according to European Central Bank executive board member Piero Cipollone. In comments published by the ECB after an August 10 interview with Italian outlet ilsussidiario.net, Cipollone said offline payments would be visible only to the payer and the payee, while the Eurosystem would not be able to identify the people sending or receiving online payments. He added that only the banks involved in a transaction would be able to do so, including for anti-money laundering checks. The remarks are the ECB’s clearest response yet to concerns that a central bank digital currency could let authorities monitor how Europeans spend. The digital euro project is now moving through the EU legislative process, with the European Parliament having adopted its negotiating position in July and talks with member states aiming for a deal by the end of 2026. The ECB has also selected 36 payment providers, including Deutsche Bank, UniCredit and Revolut, for a 12-month pilot beginning in the second half of 2027, with first issuance targeted for 2029.

AFX, a high-performance sovereign L1 built for decentralized derivatives, has launched its Mainnet Points Program. The multi-season system rewards genuine ecosystem participation—trading, liquidity provision, and community engagement—with points redeemable for tokens at TGE.

The US Senate passed the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act by 85-5, including a four-year ban on a Federal Reserve CBDC. If approved by the House and signed by President Trump, the Fed would be blocked from issuing a digital dollar through the end of 2030.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reiterated the Trump administration's opposition to a CBDC and urged Congress to pass the CLARITY Act to bring digital asset activity onshore. Republican lawmakers are pushing permanent bans on Fed-issued CBDCs, but the bill faces industry hurdles.

A U.S. Senate housing bill bars the Federal Reserve from issuing or facilitating a retail CBDC until the end of 2030, including substantially similar digital assets.

The U.S. DOJ hit back at four major law enforcement groups, calling their concerns about CLARITY Act enforcement loopholes factually inaccurate. Sen. Lummis plans to release updated bill text on July 4 ahead of a Senate vote later in July.

Congress is split over a Senate housing bill provision that would let a CBDC ban expire in 2030. Ted Cruz has proposed an amendment to remove the sunset clause and make the restriction permanent.