Block Plans to Lay Off Nearly Half Its Staff, Betting on AI to Boost Company Efficiency

On February 27, Goldman Sachs noted that despite NVIDIA (NVDA.O) posting 73% year-over-year revenue growth and upbeat AI business guidance, the chipmaker’s shares dropped 5.5% following its earnings report—dragging down the semiconductor sector and the S&P 500. Analysts said this reflects a “sell-the-news” dynamic, profit-taking, and worries over the sustainability of AI capital spending by hyperscale cloud providers. While 2026 AI spending is seen rising 62% (down from 73% projected for 2025), supply-demand imbalances and a strong balance sheet could still lift expectations. Current data center demand and memory supply constraints back NVIDIA, with the market now shifting focus to 2027, when capital spending may peak. (FX675)

February 27 — Per The Wall Street Journal, Tools for Humanity (TFH), the firm co-founded by OpenAI’s Sam Altman, is teaming up with Gap, Visa and Tinder to promote World ID, a human verification product that differentiates real people from bots. Visitors at a Gap location in San Francisco are already signing up for World ID. The process uses TFH’s iconic volleyball-sized “Orb” device, which captures facial and iris images. Additionally, a planned Visa payment card will let World ID holders spend digital assets — including Worldcoin, a cryptocurrency users receive as a sign-up reward in most markets. Dating app Tinder is also testing the system in Japan to confirm users are real people and their stated age is accurate. TFH says its Orb device converts a person’s facial and iris images into an anonymous string of numbers, stored on the user’s own device (the company does not retain this data). Trevor Traina, TFH’s chief business officer, notes the firm plans to monetize by charging

Feb. 27 — Per Decrypt, Morgan Stanley — the Wall Street giant overseeing nearly $9 trillion in client assets — has its newly appointed head of digital asset strategy, Amy Oldenburg, stating the firm wants clients to be able to custody and trade Bitcoin on its platform. When asked if the bank also plans to offer Bitcoin-based yield and lending services, she voiced strong support. Speaking Wednesday at the Corporate Bitcoin Conference in Las Vegas, she told Strategy CEO Phong Le: “These are part of our discussions and explorations, and also a natural part of Morgan Stanley’s roadmap. I think we’re still very early in this space.”

On February 27th, Onchain Lens reports POAP founder Patricio Worthalter deposited 2,000 ETH to Binance 9 hours ago—valued at roughly $4.11 million.

Feb 27 — Bitcoin mining firm Marathon Digital Holdings (MARA) saw its stock jump over 16% in Thursday’s after-hours trading, per The Block. The move followed the company reporting a $1.7 billion net loss for Q4 2025 and announcing a joint venture with Starwood Capital to build an AI-focused data center. For Q4 2025, MARA’s revenue fell 6% year-on-year to $202.3 million, down from $214.4 million in the year-ago period. The $1.7 billion quarterly loss marks a sharp reversal from its $528.3 million net profit in the same quarter last year. The swing was primarily driven by a ~30% drop in Bitcoin’s price during the quarter, which led to a $1.5 billion negative change in the fair value of its digital assets. Adjusted EBITDA totaled a negative $1.49 billion, compared to a positive $796 million in the year-ago period.

February 27 – The People's Bank of China (PBOC) announced that starting March 2, 2026, it will cut the foreign exchange risk reserve ratio for forward forex sales from 20% to 0. The move aims to promote foreign exchange market development and support businesses in managing exchange rate risks. Going forward, the PBOC will continue guiding financial institutions to optimize exchange rate risk hedging services for enterprises and maintain the RMB exchange rate’s basic stability at a reasonable and balanced level.