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Leading auction house presents spectacular summer lineup, anchored by expanded Goldin 100 experience and highly-anticipated USA 250 Auction

April 29, 2026 –  Goldin, the internationally recognized auction house known for rare and record-breaking collectible sales, today announced “Goldin’s Summer of Greatness,” a comprehensive series of auctions and experiences running throughout May and June 2026. 

The company’s recent record-setting $16.5 million sale of Logan Paul’s PSA Grade 10 Pikachu Illustrator card—the most expensive trading card ever sold—propels Goldin’s momentum into the summer months with astounding auctions and experiences across sports, history, and entertainment.

“Whether you’re a collector of Americana, you grew up watching Star Wars, or you’re an avid global soccer fan, Goldin is your go-to all summer long,” said Ken Goldin, Founder and CEO of Goldin. “This is truly Goldin’s greatest summer ever – across sports, history, and entertainment. And it all leads up to our in-person Goldin 100 closing event, which is going to be absolutely amazing. We’re so excited to share it with you!”

One of the most prominent seasonal events for the company, Goldin 100 Auctions consistently generate excitement from collectors for their rare, hand-selected offerings–and they are about to get even bigger. Starting this summer, all Goldin 100 Auctions will culminate in an immersive, in-person livestream experience, hosted at the Goldin Headquarters, to celebrate the close of the sale, featuring box breaks, special guests, and more. Scheduled for May 27 – June 27, the Summer Goldin 100 Auction is led by a 2003-04 Exquisite Collection LeBron James Limited Logos Patch Autograph (#23) and a Shohei Ohtani Superfractor. 

The summer slate also celebrates Americana through the highly-anticipated USA 250 Auction, opening May 8, which highlights formative moments of American history and identity ahead of the country’s 250th anniversary. The auction will feature historically important material connected to the nation’s founding and enduring legacy, including an original 1776 Declaration of Independence Broadside, an Aug. 14, 1945 Glenn McDuffie signed and personally owned U.S. Navy uniform as seen in the “V-J Day in Times Square” photograph, and a Bob Ross-painted U.S. bomber jacket, offering collectors access to artifacts that reflect pivotal moments and American leaders.

Goldin dives into the history of popular culture with multiple entertainment-focused auctions, including a Vintage Star Wars Auction opening May 1, led by a 1979 Kenner Star Wars Boba Fett Rocket Firing/J-Slot Prototype Action Figure, as well as the Spring Pop Culture Auction, set for May 21 and led by the “Iceman” Prop Helmet from Top Gun. In addition to action figures and screen-used props and costumes, the entertainment auctions will span music, celebrity, and broader pop culture moments, allowing fans to embrace nostalgia and obtain tangible pieces of core memories.

“Goldin’s Summer of Greatness,” further features spectacular sports auctions tied to some of the most recognizable athletes, teams, and moments across global competition. 

The Global Football Auction is planned to open May 11, timed ahead of the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup, and is led by a 2019-20 Topps Chrome Bundesliga Autographs SuperFractor #72 Erling Haaland signed rookie card (#1/1). With overwhelming interest and highly coveted soccer consignments in queue, Goldin is also preparing for a Global Football Auction Part 2 later in the summer. 

The company’s first ever Combat Sports Auction is scheduled to open May 14 and is led by a 2013 Topps Chrome Conor McGregor 1/1 rookie card. The 2026 June Vintage Elite Auction is slated to begin late May, boasting both a 1952 Topps #311 Mickey Mantle PSA NM-MT 8–one of the finest pack-fresh copies in existence–and a 1933 Goudey #144 Signed Babe Ruth PSA VG 3 (MC) and PSA/DNA NM 7 Autograph, POP 1, with only three higher-graded copies known. These specialty sales will be hosted in conjunction with Goldin’s monthly Sports Elite auctions throughout May, June, and July.

Simultaneously, Goldin continues to expand its presence in live commerce through initiatives like Lights, Camera, Bid, a nationwide search for the auction house’s new eBay Live host, which runs through May 22 and highlights the growing role of personality-driven programming within the collectibles space.

“Goldin’s Summer of Greatness” aligns multiple categories under a single campaign, reflecting the breadth and depth of the company’s expertise and highlights Goldin’s position as an internationally renowned leader across collectibles, where interest continues to grow across sports, pop culture, and historical artifacts alike.

Additional details, including a larger list of featured items and expanded auction highlights, will be announced nearer to each auction’s opening date.

NEW YORK, US – 29 April 2026 – De Beers Group recently announced the launch of its new Desert diamonds Bridal campaign undersigned by A Diamond Is Forever, celebrating a fresh and authentic vision for the modern proposal. This campaign marks a significant moment in De Beers’ ongoing commitment to redefining how natural diamonds express individuality, love, and timeless beauty.

Desert diamonds, first unveiled as a beacon in October 2025, draw inspiration from the colors of the earth from which they originate. The campaign celebrates a unique spectrum of colors — each shade telling a story of resilience, authenticity, and enduring love. The bridal campaign will build upon the success and momentum of the Q4 Desert diamonds launch.

Evolving the modern bridal aesthetic and highlighting the distinct character of each stone, Desert diamonds’ warm hues echo diverse forms of love, with sunlit whites and champagnes, soft sand tones and sunset blush and dawn colors reflecting the uniqueness of nature’s beauty. Together, these colors celebrate the evolving journey of love in all its forms – authentic, true and timeless.

The Desert diamonds bridal campaign is an industry-wide umbrella program, the goal of which is to create demand for natural diamonds by reigniting consumer desire with a new and relevant message. Retailers and designers across the industry have been working to develop pieces that showcase the full desert-inspired palette, including notable jeweler Kindred Lubeck, who will unveil her first bridal collection in conjunction with the campaign launch.

Launching 13 April 2026 across the United States, De Beers’ A Diamond Is Forever Desert diamond bridal campaign is supported by an integrated marketing effort across digital, social, and experiential channels, while also including out-of-home, social media and publishing partnerships. Using evocative storytelling, that creative spotlights how each natural diamond is as unique as the love it represents. Premium targeting efforts across digital platforms and geotargeting around key retailers will result in an estimated reach of 25 million American consumers – placing Desert diamonds in bridal content while leveraging shopper data and look-a-like audiences. Further amplification across the Brides, Martha Stewart, and greater People Inc. portfolio will educate, inspire and reinforce Desert diamonds as the enduring choice.

Sandrine Conseiller, CEO of De Beers Brands & Diamond Desirability, said:
“The success of Desert diamonds reinforces the spirit of authentic, evolving love. Today’s brides want something truly unique that delivers meaning and individuality. Natural diamonds, forged by nature over billions of years, in a range of color choices are the perfect symbol of a love that is uniquely theirs – resilient, genuine, timeless, colorful. This soft palette of natural colors celebrates the modern couple’s desire to celebrate the individuality of their commitment and the promise of a forever that truly reflects their story.”

 

Peer-reviewed Physical Review Research paper shows efficient preparation of financial distributions on quantum hardware

NEW YORK CITY – April 28, 2026 – Haiqu, a leading developer of quantum middleware, today announced the publication of joint research with HSBC in Physical Review Research demonstrating an efficient approach to encoding real-world probability distributions into quantum circuits.

Quantum state preparation, the process of encoding classical data into quantum states, is widely recognized as a major bottleneck when implementing many quantum algorithms on hardware. This challenge is particularly relevant for applications such as financial risk modelling and simulation, where complex probability distributions must be loaded onto quantum devices.

The research uses matrix product state (MPS) methods to construct shallow quantum circuits that encode smooth functions, including probability distributions, directly into quantum states. It also introduces a sampling-based workflow that avoids storing the full discretized dataset in classical memory, enabling larger encoding circuits to be generated.

The approach was validated on finance-relevant models including heavy-tailed Lévy distributions, commonly used to capture extreme market events. 

On IBM quantum hardware, circuits up to 25 qubits produced samples that passed standard statistical tests, showing the method can accurately reproduce the probability distributions these models rely on in practice. 

Using the sampling-based workflow, the researchers also executed circuits up to 64 qubits, reproducing qualitative features of the target distributions under realistic device noise and demonstrating feasibility at larger scales. Similar behavior was observed in simulations up to 156 qubits, indicating the approach can extend to substantially larger problem sizes.

“Preparing complex probability distributions efficiently is a key step in many quantum algorithms,” said Dr. Philip Intallura, Group Head of Quantum Technologies at HSBC. “This work shows how they can be implemented with much shallower quantum circuits, bringing practical applications such as financial risk modelling closer.”

“One of the biggest practical barriers is getting realistic financial data onto today’s quantum hardware,” said Mykola Maksymenko, Co-founder and CTO of Haiqu. “This work shows a scalable path around that barrier and helps move quantum finance workflows from theory toward execution.”

Read the paper in Physical Review Research.

India, Apr 28:: Visa (NYSE: V), a global leader in digital payments, has unveiled its Visa Consulting and Analytics (VCA) Whitepaper – India’s Affluent Economy 2025- 2026. 

The VCA Whitepaper examines “affluence in India“ primarily from a behavioural perspective rather than solely in terms of income. Drawing on insights from a Visa-commissioned YouGov study, supplemented by recent Visa-Net data encompassing travel, dining, retail, and lifestyle sectors, the whitepaper analyses how affluence is influencing consumption patterns across the country. 

The study reveals ‘affluent India’ is growing and entering a new phase where consumption is more intentional and deliberate and closely tied to personal identity. Rather than buying more, affluent consumers are choosing purchases that feel meaningful, visible and worth repeating. 

Interestingly, as consumers move up the affluence ladder, discretionary categories account for a larger share of credit card spending, underscoring the role of credit cards as primary enablers of bespoke lifestyle spending. 

A rapidly expanding affluent base 

The VCA Whitepaper highlights a sharp expansion in India’s affluent population. Recently, individuals earning over ₹10 lakh rose from 69 lakh to 130 lakh, highlighting a significantly larger base of consumers with the capacity to spend beyond necessities, and participate more actively in discretionary categories. 

Affluence spreads beyond metros and is defined by behaviour 

Affluence is no longer limited to metro cities like Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru. Wealth is increasingly spreading to emerging cities such as Ahmedabad, Surat, Jaipur and Lucknow, with consumption behaviour in these markets mirroring metropolitan patterns. 

Key Highlights from the report: 

Credit-cards are the primary instrument empowering the growing Indian affluent cohort enabling access to the premium products and exclusive experiences they seek.

 Luxury is moving from ownership to access:

• Over 50% of affluent consumers use cards for elite memberships, and 7 in 10 are drawn to limited‑edition drops and gated collections.
• Status today comes from belonging, curation, and seamless access, not just visible possessions. For example: Consumers increasingly prefer concierge‑led travel, or curated dining experiences and only through trusted intermediaries because the real premium is time saved and effort removed.
• Luxury retail intensity increases:
• The report shows that 2 in 5 affluent consumers spend over ₹5 lakh annually on luxury retail, and 4 in 1 exceed ₹10 lakh in annual luxury spending.
• Technology as lifestyle:
• Technology is increasingly becoming a lifestyle category, with average spends of ₹60,000 or more per visit on high-end gadgets, and 2 in 5 Ultra Elite consumers treating technology as a luxury purchase.
• Wellness becomes routine:
• Ultra Elite consumers are eight times more likely to visit spas and show five times higher penetration for cosmetic stores compared to non affluent consumers.
• Travel as the primary driver of affluent spending:

• Among the Ultra Elite, travel accounts for 58% of discretionary spends, while retail and luxury together account for 28%, indicating a strong tilt toward experience led consumption.

• Global spending rises with affluence:

• Cross border spending penetration in elite tiers is at 63%

• Dining becomes frequent:

• Nearly 4 in 5 affluent Indians dine at premium establishments at least three times a year, while 1 in 4 visit luxury venues more than five times annually.

• Higher dining benchmarks:

• An annual dining spend marker of around ₹2 lakh, with ₹20,000 emerging as a new spend floor per experience and ₹50,000 cited as a premium benchmark.

• Retail turns selective:

• 3 in 4 affluent consumers make a high-end retail purchase at least once every quarter, while 1 in 4 buys something premium every two weeks.

Commenting on the findings, Sushmit Nath, Head of Visa Consulting & Analytics, India and South Asia, said, “Our analysis in this VCA Whitepaper – India’s Affluent Economy, shines a light on how affluence is no longer episodic. The propensity towards discretionary spends is far higher and not just reserved for milestones. This marks a definite shift in how premium consumption contributes to the broader economy, especially as affluence expands beyond large metros. Increasingly, this premium spend is experience-led, driven by demand for exclusivity, bespoke journeys and seamless access across travel, dining, wellness and curated lifestyle moments.” 

What the data signals about India’s affluent economy

The VCA Whitepaper points to a fundamental reshaping of India’s affluent economy.

• As the number of high-income individuals and affluence expands beyond metros, discretionary spends across the segment are seen to be central to everyday consumption.
• Affluent consumers increasingly seek – ecosystems, not products. They value an integrated ecosystem as a coherent lifestyle stack that combines their choice of experiences across – travel, dining, wellness, payments, and digital identity.
• The affluent cohort seeks seamless, connected experiences that are naturally a part of their lifestyle. They place a higher premium on saving time and an access to bespoke, exclusive experiences through reliable enablers. 

Kolkata, Apr 28 (BNP): India’s engineering exports to New Zealand are projected to nearly double over the next five years, rising from about USD 140 million to nearly USD 280–300 million, supported by the recently signed Free Trade Agreement (FTA), officials said.

The agreement provides zero-duty access for Indian goods, significantly improving market competitiveness and easing trade barriers for exporters.

Industry representatives noted that the pact is expected to deliver strong benefits, especially for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), by expanding stable and predictable market access in a smaller but high-growth export destination.

Engineering exports to New Zealand have already shown steady growth, increasing to around USD 140.5 million in 2025–26, compared to USD 129.8 million in the previous year, indicating rising demand even before the full impact of the FTA takes effect.

Officials believe the agreement will further strengthen India’s engineering export footprint and support long-term trade diversification.

Bangalore, Apr 28: Vayavya Labs Private Limited, a Silicon-to-System engineering company, today announced plans to scale its engineering workforce to 400+ tech professionals over the next 14 months, driven by sustained global demand across Semiconductor Software, Automotive Embedded Systems, Electronic Design Automation (EDA), ADAS Validation, and Digital Twin/Virtual ECU development.

The company has maintained a strong growth trajectory over the past several years, with increasing depth and scale of engagements across its specialised engineering areas. This momentum is further strengthened by MosChip Technologies Limited’s recent strategic acquisition of a controlling stake in Vayavya Labs, positioning the company for its next phase of expansion.

Vayavya Labs is undertaking a focused hiring initiative across engineering and program leadership roles. The company’s workforce currently comprises approximately 28% women, reflecting its continued emphasis on building a more diverse and inclusive talent base, alongside a young and dynamic team with an average age of 29 years.

The expansion will be centred around digital twin/virtual ECU development, automotive cybersecurity, ADAS/AD verification, embedded software and system engineering. Select roles will also support the company’s growing international operations across the United States, Europe, and Japan.

Over the past five years, Vayavya Labs has delivered consistent revenue growth, with international business increasingly contributing a larger share of overall revenues. This reflects the rising global demand for India’s deep engineering capabilities in high-complexity technology domains. The company works with eight of the top ten global semiconductor companies, along with leading organisations across automotive, consumer electronics, and communications sectors.

This growth is underpinned by a long-term focus on engineering depth and innovation, including proprietary methodologies such as its patented Hardware-Software Interface (HSI®) framework, domain specific agentic AI framework, nine granted patents, and ongoing contributions to global semiconductor and automotive standards.

“Our focus has always been on solving complex engineering challenges with depth and precision. The demand we are seeing across semiconductors and automotive software continues to grow in both scale and complexity, requiring talent that can operate at the intersection of hardware and software. As we move into the next phase of growth, we are strengthening our engineering teams to support this demand while building on delivery capabilities that are already proven and scalable,” said RK Patil, Co-Founder and CEO of Vayavya Labs.

At a time when segments of the global technology industry are witnessing workforce rationalisation, Vayavya Labs’ expansion underscores its sustained growth, backed by strong demand in advanced engineering domains.

Mumbai, Apr 27 (BNP): Indian benchmark indices closed lower on Tuesday, pressured by a sharp rise in global crude oil prices and renewed geopolitical tensions in West Asia.

Investor sentiment remained cautious throughout the session amid uncertainty over developments involving the United States and Iran, which kept global energy markets volatile.

At the close, the Sensex declined 416.72 points (0.54%) to 76,886.91, while the Nifty fell 97 points (0.40%) to 23,995.70.

Broader Markets Show Relative Strength

Despite weakness in frontline indices, broader markets outperformed. The MidCap index rose 0.28%, while the SmallCap index gained 0.42%, indicating selective buying interest.

Sector Performance Mixed

Market action was uneven across sectors:

• Oil & Gas and Metal stocks gained on higher crude prices
• Banking stocks remained under pressure, with PSU Bank and Nifty Bank among top losers

On the Sensex, stocks like Adani Ports, ITC, Bharti Airtel, and Tech Mahindra ended in the green, while HCL Tech, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, and Infosys were among the major laggards.

Oil Prices Drive Global Concern

Global crude oil prices surged nearly 3% to around $111 per barrel, driven by concerns over supply disruption and geopolitical uncertainty in West Asia, particularly around the Strait of Hormuz.

The rise in oil prices is seen as inflationary for import-dependent economies like India, adding pressure on equities and currency markets.

Rupee Weakens Against Dollar

The Indian rupee also came under pressure, trading near 94.54 per US dollar, impacted by rising crude prices and sustained foreign institutional investor (FII) outflows.

Outlook

Market experts expect volatility to persist in the near term, with global oil price movements and geopolitical developments likely to remain key drivers of investor sentiment.