Tether is about to enter the $25 billion crypto artificial intelligence sector, according to a post by its CEO Paolo Ardoino on X.

Tether AI, according to Ardoino, is a “fully open-source AI runtime, capable of adapting and evolving on any hardware and device, no API keys, no central point of failure, fully modular and composable, WDK-infused to enable USDT and Bitcoin payments.”

WDK is Tether’s Wallet Development Kit, a modular software development kit that enables businesses and developers to integrate non-custodial wallets and user experiences for Bitcoin and USDT across any app, website, or device, Ardoino explained in a November post on X.

On its Tether.ai website, Tether says its AI platform will integrate Keet, a peer-to-peer chat platform. Not much else is known about Tether’s AI initiative.

CoinGecko’s index of AI tokens is trading flat after the announcement.

Crypto traders aiming to profit from a volatility surge should watch the Binance-listed ether-bitcoin (ETH/BTC) ratio, which could soon experience wild swings, according to a key indicator called Bollinger Bands.

Bollinger Bands are volatility bands placed two standard deviations above and below the 20-day simple moving average of an asset’s price.

The so-called Bollinger band squeeze occurs when the bands contract tightly around the price, suggesting low volatility and a period of consolidation. The market typically builds energy during the squeeze, which is eventually released in either direction, leading to a volatility explosion.

The Bollinger Bands on the ETH-BTC chart are now the tightest they have been since June 2020, according to TradingView.

The squeeze indicates that ether could soon experience increased volatility against BTC. Traders watch closely to see which way the price breaks out of the bands because, often, the big move happens in the same direction.

The volatility bullish signal comes as Ethereum’s Pectra upgrade, which aims to improve the blockchain’s scalability and validator operations and may sput market activity.

The impending upgrade, due May 7, greatly increases the maximum ETH a validator can stake, from 32 ETH up to 2,048 ETH. It also raises the number of «blob» data units per block from 3 to 6, allowing for a maximum of 9. Additionally, the upgrade will start the transition to the EVM Object Format (EOF), a new structure designed to make smart contracts more efficient.

«Layer-2 networks stand to benefit the most. By doubling blob capacity and making call data more expensive, Pectra solidifies blobs as the standard for rollup data posting. This reinforces Ethereum’s role as a data availability layer and strengthens its rollup-centric scaling strategy,» analytics firm Nansen said in a report shared with CoinDesk.

«DeFi will also see a lift,» the firm noted, saying, NFTs and blockchain games may benefit from the broader improvements.

Donald Trump is pushing back against claims that he’s profiting from the TRUMP memecoin, his official cryptocurrency that launched days before his presidential inauguration.

Chainalysis recently reported that the TRUMP token earned $900,000 in fees in a two day span for its backers.

The wallets of the largest holders of the token are controlled by CIC Digital LLC, an entity also used for his NFT collection, and Fight Fight Fight LLC, which is co-owned by CIC Digital. Collectively, they own 80% of the TRUMP tokens.

“I’m not profiting from anything,” Trump said during an interview with NBC News, adding that he hadn’t looked at the token’s performance and that any financial benefits would be incidental. “If I own stock in something, and I do a good job, and the stock market goes up, I guess I’m profiting,” he said.

The TRUMP token has seen strong market activity in recent weeks. It’s currently trading around $11.20, a significant drop from its all-time high of $44.19, but still up 20% over the past month.

Recently, the White House announced that the largest 220 holders of the $TRUMP token would be invited for dinner with the President.

Eric Trump, the son of President Trump, will be a headline speaker at Consensus 2025 in Toronto.