Technology News from Bond Buyer

Nearly 21% of muni volume traded electronically in the first quarter, up from the previous quarter and surpassing the previous record set in the fourth quarter of 2023, according to a Coalition Greenwich report by Kevin McPartland and Neha Jain.

Artificial intelligence will help maintain the nation's global competitiveness, according to a panel of political and tech leaders at the Milken Institute's Global conference.

The average muni bond trade size fell below $204,000 in the first quarter, down 5% from 2025, according to Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board data.

While moratoriums on artificial intelligence hubs and public pushback against data centers dominate the news, more than 800 Midwest communities have approved major data centers, with Illinois as a growing hotspot with 229 sites.

High-yield bond trading is "very bursty," with a lot of information at once and then nothing, said Matt Smith, founder and CEO of Spline Data.

Munivestor aims to help municipal governments by allowing them to raise capital directly from investors of all sizes in concert with advisors and regulated market partners.

Wisconsin and Ohio lawmakers are showing signs of diverging on data centers as grassroots opposition grows in both states.

With customization, asset managers and advisors can better align portfolios with clients' needs.

Moody's assigned its first-ever rating to munis backed by bitcoin ahead of a deal in New Hampshire. 

"The secondary infrastructure demands [of data centers] will increasingly flow through to municipal balance sheets, driving incremental issuance across multiple sectors," said J.P. Morgan strategists.

U.S. public finance entities could see heightened "cyber reprisals" by Iran and its proxies amid the continuing conflict in the Middle East, with these attacks from state-sponsored actors, hacktivist groups, and lone wolves likely to become more frequent, Fitch Ratings warns.

Market Intelligence analyst Jeff Lipton distills what he heard onstage and in the hallways at The Bond Buyer's 2026 National Outlook, from policy uncertainty and the muni tax exemption to AI's growing role and credit risk hotspots.

A recent report from The Bond Buyer found that data quality and accuracy was the top concern among AI skeptics in the industry.

NFMA "serves a lot of core functions," said Angela Kukoda, its 2026 chair.

If building out AI tools requires a big investment, "it sure helps to have the capital," said Justin Marlowe, a research professor in the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy.

Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook said AI could boost productivity, but warned the transition may raise unemployment and force difficult tradeoffs between inflation and jobs.

A California lawmaker introduced legislation that would require data centers that use excessive amounts of energy to pay a surcharge to avoid rate hikes on residents.

Jeff Lipton compares The Bond Buyer's 2026 Predictions Report to his outlook series.

Financial advisory firm PFM is leveraging its modeling system Synario and partnering with DebtBook, a treasury market accounting software platform.

The development of powerful quantum computers has serious implications for how state and local governments protect sensitive information.