The first wave of non-tribal retail sales kicked off in September, with Minnesotans spending more than $31 million on marijuana.
Minnesota adult-use cannabis sales hit $31 million since September launch is a post from: MJBizDaily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs
On-chain analytics firm Santiment has revealed how Bitcoin is currently in a bullish zone based on the behavior of whale and retail investors.
In a new post on X, Santiment has talked about how Bitcoin investor behavior currently compares between the top and low ends. Sharks and whales make up for the former category, while retail investors represent the latter. Formally, the wallet ranges of the two sides of the market are defined as 10 to 10,000 BTC and less than 0.01 BTC. Below is the chart shared by Santiment that shows the trend in the Bitcoin supply held by each of these cohorts over the last few months.
As is visible in the graph, the Bitcoin sharks and whales have seen their combined supply rise during the last few days, indicating that the large investors have been accumulating. Meanwhile, the retail investors have sold instead. This could imply that the big-money hands are backing the latest price rally, while small holders don’t believe the run will last, so they are exiting with their profits. If history is to go by, this may actually be a positive signal.
According to the analytics firm, whale and retail behavior diverging in this manner puts the market in what it defines as the “Very Bullish” zone. “This is the ideal setup for a bull run,” noted Santiment.
In the chart, the analytics firm has also highlighted four other zones for BTC based on the trajectories followed by the whale and retail supplies. “Very Bearish” (colored in red) follows the same contrarian logic as the Very Bullish region, with the zone appearing when large entities are selling, and retail is accumulating. Bearish (orange), Neutral (yellow), and Bullish (blue) map out the spectrum between the two extreme regions.
Bitcoin’s latest venture into the green Very Bullish zone has come as sharks and whales have loaded up on 32,693 BTC (worth about $3.1 billion) since January 10th, corresponding to a supply increase of 0.24%. Retail investors have sold 149 BTC ($14.4 million) in this window instead, equivalent to a drop of 0.30%.
It now remains to be seen whether BTC will stay in this region for long or if another shift in investor behavior will take place. “How long it lasts depends on how long retail doubts the mini rally that has formed,” explains Santiment.
Bitcoin witnessed a break beyond the $97,000 level on Wednesday, but the bullish momentum has since cooled, with the BTC price returning to the $96,900 mark.
Bitcoin Magazine
Russia Moves to Make Crypto ‘Everyday Finance’ as Lawmakers Prepare Retail Access Bill
Russia is moving closer to opening its crypto market to everyday investors, as lawmakers prepare legislation that would remove digital assets from a special regulatory category and allow broader, though still capped, retail participation.
Anatoly Aksakov, chairman of the State Duma’s Committee on Financial Markets, said a draft bill is ready for consideration during the spring parliamentary session.
The proposal would effectively normalize cryptocurrency within Russia’s financial system, signaling a shift toward treating digital assets as part of “everyday finance” rather than an exceptional or experimental instrument, according to local media outlet TASS.
Under the expected framework, non-qualified investors — individuals who do not meet Russia’s professional or high-net-worth criteria — would be permitted to buy cryptocurrency up to a limit of 300,000 rubles, roughly $3,800.
The legislation would remove crypto from a special financial regulation regime that has historically constrained their use.
Supporters argue this change would help integrate digital assets more deeply into the economy, making crypto ownership and transactions increasingly “commonplace” for Russian citizens.
While the bill does not signal a fully liberalized market, it marks a notable evolution in Russia’s stance after years of tight controls and skepticism from financial authorities.
Beyond domestic trading, the bill is also designed with international considerations in mind. Lawmakers expect the new framework to support the use of cryptocurrencies in cross-border settlements and to enable the issuance of tokens in Russia that could be placed on foreign markets.
Such mechanisms are seen as particularly relevant as the country continues to explore alternatives to traditional financial rails for international trade.
The move aligns with a broader, carefully calibrated approach from Russian regulators. In recent months, policymakers have emphasized the need to balance innovation with risk management, especially when it comes to retail investors.
The Bank of Russia has previously warned that unrestricted access could pose systemic risks, calling broad retail participation a “drastic step” if introduced without safeguards.
In December, the central bank proposed a model that would allow non-qualified investors to trade crypto only after passing a risk-awareness test, while maintaining bans on anonymous and privacy-focused digital assets.
Around the same time, the Finance Ministry signaled it was working with the central bank on a coordinated policy that would permit retail access within clearly defined thresholds.
Officials have repeatedly stressed that limits on transaction sizes and investment volumes are essential to preventing excessive speculation and protecting households.
The proposed 300,000-ruble cap reflects that philosophy, offering exposure without opening the door to large-scale retail risk.
This post Russia Moves to Make Crypto ‘Everyday Finance’ as Lawmakers Prepare Retail Access Bill first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.
Amazon is planning a massive new big-box store near Chicago to blend online convenience with physical retail, escalating its rivalry with Walmart.
The post Amazon’s New Retail Strategy Takes Aim at Walmart appeared first on TechRepublic.
Amazon is planning a massive new big-box store near Chicago to blend online convenience with physical retail, escalating its rivalry with Walmart.
The post Amazon’s New Retail Strategy Takes Aim at Walmart appeared first on TechRepublic.
Six and a half years ago—after a failed corporate sale attempt, massive financial losses, and the departure/layoff of many key staff—I wrote about what seemed at the time like the "imminent demise" of GameStop. Now, after five years of meme stock mania that helped prop up the company's finances a bit, I'll admit the video game and Funko Pop retailer has lasted much longer as a relevant entity than I anticipated.
GameStop's surprisingly extended run may be coming to an end, though, with Polygon reporting late last week that GameStop has abruptly shut down 400 stores across the US, with even more closures expected before the end of the month. That comes on top of 590 US stores that were shuttered in fiscal 2024 (which ended in January 2025) and stated plans to close hundreds of remaining international stores across Canada, Australia, and Europe in the coming months, per SEC filings.
GameStop still had just over 3,200 stores worldwide as of February 1, 2025, so even hundreds of new and planned store closures don't literally mean the immediate end of the company as a going concern. But when you consider that there were still nearly 6,000 GameStop locations worldwide as of 2019—nearly 4,000 of which were in the US—the long-term trend is clear.
© Ava Williams/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
Chargebacks aren’t just a payments problem. They’re an operational signal.
The post Chargeback Management Best Practices: How Businesses Can Reduce Payment Disputes at Scale appeared first on TechRepublic.
Chargebacks aren’t just a payments problem. They’re an operational signal.
The post Chargeback Management Best Practices: How Businesses Can Reduce Payment Disputes at Scale appeared first on TechRepublic.
Marijuana rescheduling is an enormous win and a transformative shift, but it won't make business easier overnight, our columnist writes.
Why marijuana rescheduling is a real shift, but not the finish line is a post from: MJBizDaily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs
The number of active cannabis cultivation permits in the U.S. has dropped by 24% since 2023.
Massive drop in cannabis cultivation permits behind licensing contraction is a post from: MJBizDaily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs
The number of active cannabis cultivation permits in the U.S. has dropped by 24% since 2023.
Massive drop in cannabis cultivation permits behind licensing contraction is a post from: MJBizDaily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs
Cannabis MSO PharmaCann is selling some of its Colorado retail assets to Vireo Growth Inc. for $49 million in newly issued Vireo shares.
Cannabis MSO Vireo bets on Colorado with $49 million acquisition is a post from: MJBizDaily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs
Prominent right-wing media figures and lawmakers alike sounded the alarm over President Donald Trump's consideration of marijuana rescheduling.
Conservative alarm fuels hopes President Trump will reschedule marijuana is a post from: MJBizDaily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs
A partnership between High Times and Hoodie Analytics gives retailers and brands increased visibility on the publication’s digital platform.
Cannabis e-commerce option is bringing industry closer to normal is a post from: MJBizDaily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs
A ballot initiative that would end the Maine adult-use cannabis industry can begin collecting signatures.
Campaign to end Maine adult-use marijuana legalization cleared to begin is a post from: MJBizDaily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs
Cannabis prices are falling in Connecticut but remain nearly double those in Massachusetts.
Connecticut cannabis prices drop – but so do sales is a post from: MJBizDaily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs
President Donald Trump said the White House is "looking... very strongly" at rescheduling marijuana.
Trump confirms marijuana rescheduling interest but timeline uncertain is a post from: MJBizDaily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs
[Editor’s Note: Agents of Transformation is an independent GeekWire series and 2026 event, underwritten by Accenture, exploring the people, companies, and ideas behind the rise of AI agents.]
Imagine telling your AI assistant that you need a new winter jacket. It already knows your style preferences and budget from previous purchases. The AI searches across dozens of retailers, analyzes reviews, checks for sales, and comes back with a list of ranked options.
You pick one you like. The AI asks if you want to wait until the price drops. A week later, there’s a sale. The AI completes the purchase, applies loyalty points, selects the fastest free shipping option, and sends you a confirmation. Your jacket shows up within days.
This is the promise of “agentic commerce” — AI systems that research, compare, and even buy on your behalf. Tech giants, startups, and retailers are all racing to build it. McKinsey projects the market could reach $1 trillion in the U.S. alone by 2030.
For the latest installment in our Agents of Transformation series, we interviewed startup founders, consumer brand marketing leaders, industry analysts, and others to better understand how agentic commerce could change the way we shop — now, in the future, or maybe not much at all.
Some key takeaways from our reporting:
Major players are making moves.
Adobe reported that AI-driven traffic to U.S. retail sites jumped 670% year-over-year on Cyber Monday.
But it’s still early days. For ChatGPT, referrals to e-commerce apps represented only 0.82% of all sessions over Thanksgiving weekend. In a recent OpenAI study of about 1.1 million ChatGPT conversations, 2.1% of activity was classified as “Purchasable Products.”
There’s still a big gap between the pitch and what these tools can actually do today. Practical use cases remain limited.
“I am shocked at the promises versus reality,” said Emily Pfeiffer, a principal analyst and digital business expert with Forrester.
Still, the builders we spoke with see the current moment as the beginning of a fundamental shift.
“I think this is much bigger than even the invention of the online store,” said Jonathan Arena, co-founder of e-commerce AI startup New Generation.
McKinsey outlines three main ways agentic commerce could work:
Today’s reality is closer to a fancy search than full autonomy. AI chatbots can suggest products, but completing a purchase still typically requires clicking through to a retailer’s site. A handful of retailers have experimented with checkout-in-chat, but Pfeiffer said some polished demos don’t actually work in the real world.
“The experiences that are out there today, in my opinion, are extremely premature,” she said.
There’s also a broader debate about whether AI shopping assistants are solving a problem that doesn’t exist for specific purchase categories. For fashion, gifts, home decor — things where discovery is part of the value — many consumers may not want an agent to shortcut that process.
Agentic commerce could work best for low-consideration, commodity purchases — like household staples and replenishment items.
The concept becomes more complex outside of a brand’s own site or app, in AI search tools where an agent might eventually handle the entire shopping process without a user ever opening a retailer’s website. Pfeiffer believes this is where truly autonomous commerce is most likely to show up, though probably in specific situations rather than as a full replacement for browsing.
But she said any substantial shifts will take time. “If we get there, it’s not soon,” Pfeiffer said.
Agentic commerce isn’t possible without the right infrastructure. E-commerce websites were designed for humans typing keywords into a browser — not AI agents that need to read pages and place orders on their own.
New tools are starting to fill that gap.
For retailers, this patchwork can be confusing and expensive, especially as there’s no guarantee which protocol will become dominant.
“Each protocol is a burden for the merchant,” said Kumar Senthil, founder of Firmly, a Seattle-area startup building software that hides some of this complexity. His company, which recently partnered with Perplexity, lets merchants connect to multiple protocols through a single interface.
Firmly is trying to solve a basic problem: merchants can’t afford to integrate with every AI platform, but they also don’t want to miss out on any of them.
Senthil, who previously built Samsung’s e-commerce platform, said online retailers need to have “microstores” everywhere. Their traditional websites, he predicts, will go dark.
“The stores are going to be distributed across the internet,” he said.
But AI assistants need to draw on data from somewhere — which means a brand’s homepage could still serve an important purpose, even if the act of purchasing gets dispersed.
Brands like Brooks Running are refocusing their sites to make them easy for AI systems to read and understand. “We’re continuing to emphasize crawling, indexing, and ranking technical SEO opportunities through the lens of AI,” said Ryan Ngo, vice president of North America marketing and e-commerce at the Seattle-based company.
Beyond making a website “AI-ready,” Arena said brands should let shoppers ask questions about their products in plain language, using built-in AI chat on their own sites. “People are going to be frustrated that your website can’t answer them,” he said.
In Pfeiffer’s view, the bigger strategic risk lies in places brands don’t control — AI-powered search tools like ChatGPT or Gemini that could become powerful new gateways for finding and buying products. In that world, brands face the same decisions they once confronted with Amazon: what to share in each place people might shop, what to keep exclusive, and how to protect pricing and sensitive data.
Amazon helped shape modern online shopping when the Seattle-based giant started selling books on the internet more than three decades ago. The company is now a giant in online retail, and it’s staring at another potential shift with the rise of agentic commerce.
Amazon is in a tricky spot. The company captures roughly 40% of U.S. e-commerce spending and has a fast-growing advertising business that brings in around $70 billion a year — revenue that depends on humans browsing and clicking.
In November, Amazon sued Perplexity to stop the startup from using its AI browser agent to make purchases on its marketplace, citing computer fraud laws and security risks, along with a “significantly degraded shopping and customer service experience it provides.” Amazon has maintained what Bloomberg described as “a walled garden” that doesn’t allow autonomous shopping on its site.
Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas called the lawsuit “a bully tactic” and argued consumers should be free to use whatever AI assistant they prefer.
“Amazon should love this. Easier shopping means more transactions and happier customers,” Srinivas wrote. “But Amazon doesn’t care. They’re more interested in serving you ads, sponsored results, and influencing your purchasing decisions with upsells and confusing offers.”
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy acknowledged on a recent earnings call that agentic commerce “has a chance to be really good for e-commerce” and said that he expects the company to partner with third-party agents over time. But he also said agents “aren’t very good” at personalization and often display incorrect pricing and delivery estimates.
“So we’ve got to find a way to make the customer experience better and have the right exchange value,” Jassy said.
Amazon’s AI shopping assistant, Rufus, now has more than 250 million active customers. Amazon says that customers using the assistant during a shopping trip are 60% more likely to complete a purchase.
The company has also been testing a “Buy For Me” feature that lets customers purchase products from other brands’ sites, from inside Amazon’s mobile shopping app.
Senthil, the Firmly CEO, sees Amazon as potentially vulnerable. He questioned whether Amazon’s delivery speed advantage — long considered a competitive moat — will matter as much in a world where consumers place less emphasis on faster shipping times.
The rise of third-party AI agents, such as Perplexity’s Comet browser, could also weaken Amazon’s grip on customers. E-commerce journalist Jason Del Rey noted that if agents own the relationship and steer shoppers across sites, Amazon risks looking more like fulfillment infrastructure. That raises a long-term question, he said — if agents sit between shoppers and stores, who ends up capturing most of the value?
But others don’t expect AI tools to displace Amazon for now.
“It is highly unlikely that ChatGPT will be a dominant shopping cart mainly because e-commerce isn’t a problem that needs fixed,” said Sucharita Kodali, a retail industry analyst with Forrester. “It’s perfectly easy to buy on Amazon as hundreds of millions of people around the world already do every year.”
Kodali added: “It’s unclear what value ChatGPT is bringing to retailers, other than dis-intermediating Google.”
Last month Google unveiled a suite of AI shopping features powered by Gemini, including “agentic checkout,” which lets users set rules such as maximum spend or product specifications. It’s also building the infrastructure layer with AP2.
Microsoft, meanwhile, is positioning itself to help retailers and brands adapt to agentic commerce, whether building assistants into their websites or surfacing their offerings in third-party chatbots.
“We prioritize robust frameworks, open standards, and trust infrastructure so intelligent agents can operate reliably and securely throughout the commerce ecosystem,” said Kathleen Mitford, corporate vice president of global industry at Microsoft, responding to questions via email.
Finding the perfect winter coat based on your personal preferences may be just the start when it comes to AI assistants knowing what to purchase for you.
“Imagine an agent recognizing that the bathing suit you’re buying isn’t just another item, but part of preparing for an upcoming vacation and tailoring recommendations accordingly,” Mitford said.
That example would require consumers to offer up more personal data such as calendars and budget information. But it could enable a better experience, according to Arena.
“We’re talking about a brand being able to personalize experiences to all of their customers across the internet — not only on a first-party website that they own,” he said.
John Larson, who helped launch business messaging company Zipwhip (acquired by Twilio), said conversational commerce is evolving toward two-way interactions, enabling retailers to have more effective interactions with customers.
“We do believe that real conversational commerce leveraging agentic AI is absolutely the future,” said Larson, now an investor in Seattle startup Ambassador. “You’re getting your needs met, and you’re having a conversation.”
Lorrin Pascoe, CMO at Vancouver, B.C.-based footwear retailer Vessi, said he believes AI agents will become an important way to reach customers. “For us, it’s really realizing that this isn’t a gimmick,” he said. “It is something that is foundational in changing behaviors.”
Vessi began in 2018 as an online-only footwear company. This month, it’s opening its first U.S. store in Bellevue, Wash. — reversing the course that brick-and-mortar retailers took when e-commerce pushed them online. It’s a reminder that retail rarely follows a predictable path, and in the same way, there’s no telling where agentic commerce will ultimately land.
Plant-touching cannabis companies would benefit from marijuana rescheduling, but it's one step on a longer reform road.
What’s next after President Trump reschedules marijuana? is a post from: MJBizDaily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs
Login