Happy Friday!

Ripple’s Chief Technology Officer has commented on the many rumors about XRP announcements featuring central banks: “you’re fooling yourself!”

Donald Trump has weighed in on prediction markets and his opinion may surprise you.

Plus, join Cboe and Benzinga for an exclusive online webinar at 11 a.m. ET, Thursday, May 7, to learn how to use time option expirations to take advantage of volatility. 

TOP STORY

'You're Fooling Yourself,' Top Ripple Exec Says About Alleged Major XRP Announcements

Ripple CTO David Schwartz today torched the XRP conspiracy theory playbook.

"If you're investing time, money, or emotion based on them, you're fooling yourself," Schwartz wrote on X, directly addressing speculation that Ripple is quietly coordinating a massive central bank XRP adoption strategy.

The NDAs are real—Ripple's partners insist on confidentiality — but Schwartz was explicit: non-disclosure agreements don't signal an imminent bombshell.

On the 30 central bank claim circulating in XRP communities, Schwartz drew a hard line: "A conspiracy theory would be something like claiming that many of those central banks are going to back their currencies with XRP."

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QUICK N DIRTY

Bitcoin ETFs have added over $2B in net inflows over the last 8 days but price hasn’t really moved: here’s what else is driving markets today.

Donald Trump will speak at a TRUMP memecoin event tomorrow, blissfully unaware or unbothered by the fact that his coin is down over 95% from the top.

$145,000 is Arthur Hayes’s Bitcoin target for the end of the year. What makes him so bullish?

FINTECH FOCUS

Trump Says He's 'Not A Fan' Of Prediction Markets, But Soldier Betting On His Own Raid Gets A Pass

Trump says he's "not happy" with prediction markets — but his entire orbit is long the sector.

The president made the Pete Rose comparison in the Oval Office after federal prosecutors charged Army Special Forces Master Sgt. Gannon Van Dyke with turning $33,000 into $409,000 on Polymarket by betting on the Maduro raid using classified information.

Trump's sympathy was notable: "If he bet against his team, that would be no good, but he bet on his own team."

The conflict is impossible to miss. CFTC Chairman Mike Selig — a Trump nominee — has spent his tenure defending prediction markets, scrapping Biden-era restrictions and suing three states to assert federal jurisdiction.

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