The AI upstart didn't use the attack it found, which would have been an illegal act that would also undermine the company's we-try-harder image. Anthropic can probably also do without $4.6 million, a sum that would vanish as a rounding error amid the billions it's spending. But it could have done so, as described by the company's security scholars. And that's intended to be a warning to anyone who remains blasé about the security implications of increasingly capable AI models.
XRP ( ) enters 2026 with years of infrastructure momentum behind it, but its price keeps stalling. Ripple has built payment corridors, secured regulatory clarity, and attracted institutional partners. Yet none of that translated into sustained on-chain activity or consistent price growth. XRP's smart contracts went live on AlphaNet on November 7, 2025, giving developers native Layer-1 capabilities for the first time. The XRP Ledger (XRPL) can now host DeFi applications-lending pools, liquidity protocols, and automated markets-that lock XRP into smart contracts instead of just moving it instantly between wallets.
