Ripple Gives AI Agents Their Own Crypto Wallets | CoinDesk Daily

Ripple is bringing wallet technology to the XRP Ledger so apps and AI agents can create accounts, hold crypto and make payments without users managing their own software. The company said the network has processed more than 13 million agent payments through the X402 standard, amounting to about 25% of all ledger activity.

The approach puts account creation and payment capability within reach of applications and AI agents, while reducing the need for users to manage wallets themselves. Ripple’s reported payment count and share of ledger activity indicate that agent transactions already represent a substantial portion of activity on the network.

Standard Chartered launched crypto trading for wealthy clients in the United Arab Emirates. The bank described it as the first offering of its kind from an international bank in the country and its first direct crypto trading service for affluent clients in any market. It will handle custody and settlement in-house through a closed-loop model, without requiring separate wallets or third-party platforms.

Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams said one more interest-rate hike this year may be appropriate, but saw no need for further increases in 2027. Bitcoin briefly rose during Asian morning trading after his comments, as the dollar weakened and stocks across Asia gained.

CME FedWatch put the odds of rates holding steady at 0.8% and the odds of one additional hike at 7.1%, while most traders were betting on more. Those figures point to expectations favoring further tightening, despite Williams’s view that no additional hikes may be needed in 2027.