Global oil markets are now responding to the most serious disruption to Middle East energy supply since the 1970s. Following coordinated US and Israeli military strikes on Iran on 28 February 2026, the Strait of Hormuz has effectively closed to commercial shipping, putting roughly 20 per cent of the world's daily oil supply in jeopardy. With Brent crude reaching $85.41 per barrel by 5 March and forecasters warning of $100 or beyond, governments, energy agencies and shipping insurers are all reassessing the stability of global supply chains.

OpenAI has secured $110 billion in a landmark funding round that values the company at $840 billion, underscoring the scale of capital flowing into artificial intelligence infrastructure¹.

At the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos this January, tokenization — the on-chain representation of traditional assets such as funds, bonds and securities — took centre stage in discussions on the future of financial market infrastructure.

The 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo are shaping up as more than a fortnight of competition. Organisers and economic analysts project substantial long-term structural effects across northern Italy, aiming to turn the Games into a catalyst for regional development rather than a one-off event.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) updates its World Economic Outlook, signalling a resilient global economy even amid geopolitical and trade uncertainties. In its January 2026 update, the IMF projects that global real gross domestic product will expand by 3.3 per cent in 2026 and 3.2 per cent in 2027, slightly higher than previous forecasts and roughly on par with estimated growth in 2025.

Artificial intelligence is no longer confined to pilot projects within financial institutions. Major banks and asset managers are now embedding AI systems into core operations, signalling a shift from experimentation to integration.

New retail data indicates that consumer spending has remained firmer than many analysts expected as the year end shopping period approaches. Sales figures from several major economies show steady demand across both online and physical stores, despite ongoing concerns about inflation and borrowing costs.

Gold and silver are trading at record levels in October following a series of documented geopolitical and macroeconomic developments.

Bitcoin climbed to a record $126,080 on October 6, marking a major milestone for the digital asset market.

The interplay between TradFi (Traditional Finance) and DeFi (Decentralized Finance) is evolving from competition to collaboration.

In a revolutionary development, quantum computing is poised to revolutionize the financial services industry, potentially reshaping risk management, investment strategies, and fraud detection.

C12, a French spin-off of the Physics Laboratory of the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, has successfully secured €18M in its latest funding round, propelling its development of carbon nanotube-based universal quantum computers.

Konami Digital Entertainment has unveiled its latest venture into the digital asset space with the introduction of 'Resella,' an NFT platform utilizing the Avalanche blockchain and backed by Ava Labs.

New data from DappRadar, a market intelligence firm, has revealed a significant surge in the total value locked (TVL) within the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector, marking the highest level in 15 months.