Bank of New York Mellon will be the primary custodian for the Ripple’s U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin reserves going forward, the two companies said Wednesday.

The partnership should enhance regulatory compliance for Ripple, the issuer of ripple USD (RLUSD), and boost institutional credibility for the company as well as the fast growing stablecoin industry. BNY is the nation’s oldest bank and primarily serves institutions and corporations.

It also adds to the growing number of traditional institutions and companies showing interest in stablecoins – a shift that has quickly become known as “stablecoin summer” – as the Trump administration rolls back restrictive Biden-era crypto policies and Congress makes progress on passing stablecoin legislation. Amazon and Walmart are reportedly exploring the possibility of using or issuing their own stablecoins. Uber, Apple and Airbnb are among other big companies reported to be exploring them.

“BNY is committed to delivering differentiated, end-to-end solutions, designed to meet the needs of institutions across the entire digital assets ecosystem,” Emily Portney, global head of asset servicing at BNY, said in a statement. “As primary custodian, we are thrilled to support the growth and adoption of RLUSD by facilitating the seamless movement of reserve assets and cash to support conversions and are proud to be working closely with Ripple to continue propelling the future of the financial system.”

Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies whose values are pegged to that of another asset, usually the dollar. They are designed to bring the stability of traditional currencies to blockchain networks (praised for the speed and efficiency they provide money transfers).

In recent weeks, Ripple also applied for a U.S. national banking charter and a Federal Reserve master account, which would allow the company to hold reserves directly with the central and access its payment rails.

Ripple, whose founders are the creators of the XRP token, is a 13-year-old business-to-business payments firm that does much of its business outside the U.S., serving banks, payments companies and other financial institutions with a need for cross-border payments. It launched the RLUSD stablecoin in December 2024.

While BNY has been monitoring crypto for many years, it began its first foray into the industry in 2021, opening a digital assets unit to finance bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

PARIS — Super Micro plans to increase its investment in Europe, including ramping up manufacturing of its AI servers in the region, CEO Charles Liang told CNBC in an interview that aired on Wednesday.

The company sells servers which are packed with Nvidia chips and are key for training and implementing huge AI models. It has manufacturing facilities in the Netherlands, but could expand to other places.

“But because the demand in Europe is growing very fast, so I already decided, indeed, [there’s] already a plan to invest more in Europe, including manufacturing,” Liang told CNBC at the Raise Summit in Paris, France.

“The demand is global, and the demand will continue to improve in [the] next many years,” Liang added.

Liang’s comments come less than a month after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang visited various parts of Europe, signing infrastructure deals and urging the region to ramp up its computing capacity.

Super Micro rode the growth wave after OpenAI’s ChatGPT boom boosted demand for Nvidia’s chips, which underpin big AI models. The server maker’s stock hit a record high in March 2024. However, the stock is around 60% off that all-time high over concerns about its accounting and financial reporting. But the company in February filed its delayed financial report for its 2024 fiscal year, assuaging those fears.

In May, the company reported weaker-than-expected guidance for the current quarter, raising concerns about demand for its product.

However, Liang dismissed those fears. “Our growth rate continues to be strong, because we continue to grow our fundamental technology, and we [are] also expanding our business scope,” Liang said.

“So the room … to grow will be still very tremendous, very big.”

Apple said on Tuesday that Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams, a 27-year company veteran, will be retiring later this year.

Current operations leader Sabih Khan will take over much of the COO role later this month, Apple said in a press release. For his remaining time with the comapny, Williams will continue to head up Apple’s design team, Apple Watch, and health initiatives, reporting to CEO Tim Cook.

Williams becomes the latest longtime Apple executive to step down as key employees, who were active in the company’s hyper-growth years, reach retirement age. Williams, 62, previously headed Apple’s formidable operations division, which is in charge of manufacturing millions of complicated devices like iPhones, while keeping costs down.

He also led important teams inside Apple, including the company’s fabled industrial design team, after longtime leader Jony Ive retired in 2019. When Williams retires, Apple’s design team will report to CEO Tim Cook, Apple said.

“He’s helped to create one of the most respected global supply chains in the world; launched Apple Watch and overseen its development; architected Apple’s health strategy; and led our world class team of designers with great wisdom, heart, and dedication,” Cook said in the statement.

Williams said he plans to spend more time with friends and family.

“June marked my 27th anniversary with Apple, and my 40th in the industry,” Williams said in the release.

Williams is leaving Apple at a time when its famous supply chain is under significant pressure, as the U.S. imposes tariffs on many of the countries where Apple sources its devices, and White House officials publicly pressure Apple to move more production to the U.S.

Khan was added to Apple’s executive team in 2019, taking an executive vice president title. Apple said on Tuesday that he will lead supply chain, product quality, planning, procurement, and fulfillment at Apple.

The operations leader joined Apple’s procurement group in 1995, and before that worked as an engineer and technical leader at GE Plastics. He has a bachelor’s degree from Tufts University and a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in upstate New York.

Khan has worked closely with Cook. Once, during a meeting when Cook said that a manufacturing problem was “really bad,” Khan stood up and drove to the airport, and immediately booked a flight to China to fix it, according to an anecdote published in Fortune.

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