Trump’s pick to run the Fed, Kevin Warsh, says AI will boost productivity so much it should push interest rates down. But sitting Fed governor Michael Barr just pushed back, arguing AI could just as easily raise investment and wages, keeping rates higher. In other words, AI is now part of the Fed’s math, even if no one agrees on the formula. (CNN)

Apple is speeding up plans for three new AI wearables: smart glasses, AI-powered AirPods, and a tiny camera-equipped pendant you can pin to your clothes. According to Bloomberg, production on the glasses could start as soon as December, with a public launch in 2027. All three are designed to stay tethered to the iPhone and run on Apple’s vision of Siri-driven, always-on AI. (TechCrunch)

Amazon shares finally bounced after nine straight down days that erased more than $450 billion in market value. The slide started after the company told investors it plans to spend $200 billion this year—mostly on AI infrastructure like data centers and chips—nearly 60% more than last year. Wall Street isn’t panicking about growth. It’s trying to decide whether this AI bill will turn into profits before it turns into a cash-flow headache. (CNBC)

Nvidia signed a multiyear deal to sell Meta millions of its current and next-gen AI chips, including Blackwell today and Rubin later, plus its Grace and Vera CPUs. Analysts estimate the contract could be worth around $50 billion, making Meta one of Nvidia’s biggest long-term customers even as it experiments with building its own chips. (Reuters)

A new fund is trying to turn private-market giants into public-market trades. Powerlaw Corp. plans to list in New York so everyday investors can buy indirect stakes in companies like SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic — firms that usually stay locked behind VC doors. Instead of an IPO, Powerlaw will sell existing insider shares, effectively packaging late-stage private equity into a stock ticker. It’s a bet that demand for “pre-IPO” tech is now bigger than the public market itself. (Yahoo Finance)

I’ve mentioned this before, but my team is scattered across four distinct time zones: the U.S., Latin America, South Africa, and Eastern Europe.

On paper, “going global” sounds like a huge flex. But if you’re completely new to it, it can feel like a logistics nightmare the moment the 1st of the month rolls around. If you don’t have a plan, you’ll spend your entire Tuesday chasing bank wires, eating 4% “convenience fees,” and explaining to a developer in Istanbul why their funds are stuck in limbo.

Take Turkey, for example. Back in 2016, the Turkish regulator (BDDK) basically told PayPal, “Host your data on our servers or leave.” PayPal chose the latter. Overnight, thousands of freelancers were cut off from their primary income source. To this day, the ban remains in effect because PayPal refuses to localize its entire IT infrastructure just for one market.

If you have a team there today, you cannot just “PayPal it.” You need a localized strategy.

Here is how I break down the big players in my stack.

Formerly TransferWise, this is the gold standard for mid-market exchange rates. It’s not a “bank” in the traditional sense, but it acts like a global local account. It runs on local rails, which means when I send money to my team in South Africa, it arrives as a local transfer, not a slow international wire.

Costs & Fees
They use the real mid-market rate, the one you see on Google. You pay a transparent percentage fee, usually between 0.4% and 1%. No hidden spreads are eating your margin.

Setup
Dead simple. You can open local bank details in USD, EUR, GBP, and ZAR in minutes. Verification usually just means uploading a business document.

Best For
Paying contractors and employees globally. Most of my team prefers this because the money hits their local bank accounts faster, often within hours, and they receive more of what I actually sent.

This is the workhorse for regions where other platforms simply will not operate. Because they have spent years working around messy regulatory environments, they are often the only real option when you are hiring in places like Turkey or certain parts of Asia.

Costs & Fees
Receiving money is often free, but withdrawing to a bank account can cost around 2% to 3% in FX markups. There is also a roughly $30 annual inactivity fee if the account sits unused.

Setup
More corporate and more bureaucratic than Wise. Expect deeper KYC checks that can take a few days.

Best For
Teams in Turkey, Pakistan, or the Philippines, where local banks or Western payment apps make everything harder and more expensive than it should be.

Stripe is the best way to get paid, hands down. It handles everything from SaaS subscriptions to one-click Apple Pay checkouts.

Costs & Fees
Standard pricing is 2.9% plus 30 cents for domestic transactions. International cards add another 1.5%, plus a 1% currency conversion fee. It’s not cheap, but it usually converts a little better.

Setup
Extremely developer-friendly. If you run Shopify or a custom site, this is a ten-minute integration. The dashboard alone feels like a cheat code for tracking MRR and churn.

Best For
Client payments. It gives customers the smoothest, most professional checkout experience, even if it costs you a little more.

Everyone has it. Everyone knows how to use it. It’s the safety net of the internet. When a contractor in a remote region says, “Just send it to my email,” they usually mean PayPal.

Costs & Fees
It is the most expensive option. International transfers run about 4.4% plus a fixed fee, plus a hidden 3% to 4% spread on the exchange rate.

Setup
Instant. If someone has an email address, they can receive money.

Best For
Small, one-off payments, or when someone refuses to use anything else. But this should be a backup, not your primary system.

Regardless of which platforms you use, do not try to track this in spreadsheets.

I use QuickBooks to pull everything into one place. It syncs Stripe revenue, Wise payouts, and Payoneer balances into a single dashboard. When it is time for payroll, this is where I see the real cost of labor. It also makes tax reporting dramatically easier because nothing is scattered across three different apps.

I treat incoming money and outgoing money like two completely different businesses.

The right choice always depends on your team’s local banking rules. But if Wise works in their country, use it. Your team and your margins will both feel the difference.

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