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VanEck to Liquidate Bitcoin Strategy ETF as Focus Shifts to Spot Bitcoin Investment Vehicles

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VanEck, the asset management firm, has decided to shutter and liquidate its Bitcoin Strategy Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF), a move that comes less than two years after its launch.

The decision was officially announced on January 17th, with VanEck’s board of trustees granting approval for the liquidation and dissolution of the ETF, which had been listed on the Cboe BZX Exchange since November 2021.

This strategic move follows VanEck’s recent approval from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to list shares of its spot Bitcoin ETF.

VanEck explained that this decision was the result of a comprehensive evaluation of multiple factors, including performance, liquidity, assets under management, and investor interest.

In a statement, the firm stated, “VanEck continuously monitors and evaluates its ETF offerings across a number of factors, including performance, liquidity, assets under management, and investor interest, among others.”

Shareholders who hold positions in the Bitcoin Strategy ETF will have until January 30th to sell their shares, as the fund’s ticker symbol, XBTF, is set to be delisted on February 6th.

READ MORE: Ether Surges Over 20% Against Bitcoin in 72 Hours, Traders Bullish on Further Upside

In a post dated January 17th, VanEck hinted that the decision to discontinue the ETF linked to Bitcoin futures was influenced by the SEC’s green light for spot Bitcoin investment vehicles.

VanEck has also made strides in the cryptocurrency space by launching the VanEck Bitcoin Trust ETF, with the ticker symbol HODL.

This ETF started trading on the Cboe BZX Exchange on January 11th, and it has seen impressive success, with all recently approved spot Bitcoin ETFs collectively amassing approximately $4.5 billion in trading volume on their first day of operation.

A report from CoinShares underlined the increasing popularity of cryptocurrency products in the United States, as it revealed that inflows into U.S. crypto products for the week ending on January 12th surpassed those of Canada, Germany, and Sweden.

This data suggests that despite the discontinuation of the Bitcoin Strategy ETF, the interest and investment in cryptocurrencies remain robust and continue to shape the financial landscape.

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Stablecoins Overtake Bitcoin in Illicit Transactions

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In 2022 and 2023, a significant shift occurred in the world of cryptocurrency-related illicit activities as stablecoins eclipsed Bitcoin in terms of transaction volume.

This transformation is highlighted in the latest report by blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, which reveals that from 2018 to 2021, Bitcoin was the “go-to cryptocurrency” for cybercriminals. However, the years 2022 and 2023 saw stablecoins taking the lead in facilitating illicit transactions.

This transition coincided with the overall surge in stablecoin activity, encompassing both lawful transactions and nefarious ones.

Nonetheless, it’s important to note that Bitcoin remains the preferred choice for certain types of illicit activities, such as darknet market sales and ransomware extortion.

Stablecoins have gained favor among cybercriminals, particularly for activities like fraudulent schemes and transactions involving sanctioned entities.

These activities represent the most substantial portion of crypto-related crimes in terms of transaction volume.

READ MORE: Crypto Rating Agencies Gain Importance in Managing Risks Amid Ongoing Industry Challenges

According to Chainalysis, sanctioned entities and jurisdictions accounted for a combined transaction volume of $14.9 billion in 2023, constituting 61.5% of all illicit transactions during that year.

Chainalysis also points out that a significant portion of this volume stems from crypto services that continue to operate in regions not subject to U.S. sanctions.

This allows them to evade the reach of the United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.

In another positive development, blockchain security firm CertiK reported on January 4th that crypto hack revenue had decreased by more than 51% in 2023.

This marked a notable improvement in blockchain security, as noted by CertiK’s co-founder, Ronghui Gu.

Chainalysis corroborated these findings in their report, revealing a 54.3% decrease in crypto hack revenue and a 29.2% drop in profits from crypto scams.

Consequently, there has been a decline in transaction volume associated with illicit addresses in 2023.

In summary, the landscape of crypto-related illicit activities shifted dramatically in 2022 and 2023, with stablecoins taking precedence over Bitcoin for most of the illicit transaction volume.

This change is driven by the increased popularity of stablecoins among cybercriminals, particularly for fraudulent schemes and transactions involving sanctioned entities.

Despite these shifts, efforts to enhance blockchain security have yielded positive results, leading to a decline in hack revenue and scam profits, as reported by CertiK and Chainalysis.

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Interview with the Founder of a Global Digital Business Network Whose Main Currency is the Life Hours Spent by Users

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Egger Mielberg is a mathematician, bioengineer, software developer, and the CEO & Founder of Arllecta. We sat down with him for an interview about his crypto project, his experience and background, and much more.

  1. What does your company Arllecta do?

Our company began its activities with the advent of a new mathematical theory for artificial intelligence that we created. We named it Sense Theory.

Several years of our research in search of solutions to such key problems in the field of creating real AI as identifying basic knowledge and forming new knowledge, led us to the conclusion that current traditional mathematics does not have the appropriate logical tools that could work with such important concepts for AI as meaning and self-awareness. This is how such important concepts in our new theory as semantic or sense function, semantic or sense derivative and other semantic concepts and definitions were born.

After several months of testing in terms of the search algorithm we created by meaning, we received a very high-quality search result that bypassed the existing search solutions of large IT giants by an order of magnitude. After this, we decided to launch several products in the field of AI using exclusively our own algorithms as the base ones in our products.

This is how products such as speechllect – speech recognition and synthesis, medzard – diagnostic system, senseprofile – speech analytics of meetings and others appeared.

  • What is your background? What is your specialization?

Already at the age of 16, I was interested in problems that could not be solved by the greatest minds of mankind. At the age of 17, I actively began to study mathematical analysis and methods for solving incorrectly formulated mathematical problems. Then I realized that in mathematics there are many problems that have not had their solution for hundreds of years. This encouraged me to enter the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics at the European State University. That’s how I became a mathematician.

After graduating from university, I was invited to posgraduate school at the department of applied mathematics without exams. Additionally, I was invited to the Department of Information Technology as a senior lecturer. After a year of teaching, I created two fully innovative courses for university students in Calculus and the C++ programming language.

In 2010, while working in one of the American companies developing complex analytical diagnostic software products for medicine, I decided to write the core of a search system that would bypass the Google project in terms of the quality of searching for relevant information. After a year and a half of work, part of the search algorithms was sold to a European search project.

Working as one of our scientists in the field of medicine, I found the implementation of my mathematical algorithms in the direction of early diagnosis of diseases and methods for quickly searching for energy profiles of chemical compounds for the synthesis of new drugs. After this, we began research in the field of longevity since the problems in this area are perhaps the most incredibly complex and require great talent to solve.

  • Why did you decide to create the SenseChain project and what is it about?

The main reason that made me come up with the SenseChain project is the basic principles of operation of the current global financial system, or rather the consequences to which this system leads, or rather the economic consequences that have already been described many times and have a cyclical nature of repetition.

The facts have become obvious that a person, as a biological species capable of self-education, should not spend the overwhelming time of his entire life earning monetary assets for existence on this planet. The key here is “capable of self-education.” In our opinion, it is precisely the artificially created barriers of the current financial system that do not allow a person who wants to improve their knowledge in the development of technologies in various fields of science and business.

At the current time, to eliminate these barriers, we see the creation of a global unified decentralized network in terms of eliminating the influence of its individual participants on its performance. However, simply creating a decentralized network will not eliminate these barriers and a strong economic model is needed here, as for a full-fledged large state.

This is how SenseChain technology was born.

The SenseChain in our context is a sense-to-sense algorithm based technology.

The four main characteristics of the SenseChain project are:

  • A new digital economic model implemented on the basis of sense business contracts.
  • A Sense-To-Sense algorithm realized. It is an revolutionary sense-focused method of searching a meaning point between a millions of objects of any kind and type. 
  • A new financial digital model based on a digital coin secured by the time spent by network participants.
  • Native coin (SC) – equivalent to job hours (JH);

Stability of the native coin rate (minimum job rate): 1SC = 1JH = $10

One of the main goals of the SenseChain is to unite the people of our planet into one big digital family, giving people the opportunity to earn money and exchange experiences from different countries and to speed up technological progress as much as possible for the benefit of a comfortable and safe life for each of its members.

The main and fundamental difference between SenseChain and any other crypto projects is the implementation of its own paradigm of the main asset in the form of user hours spent and the realized economy. Also, it should be especially noted that SenseChain is not a pure crypto project, it is primarily an IT project with partial implementation of crypto characteristic of the crypto industry. Finally, SenseChain uses its own main network with own native digital currency (coin) – SenseCoin (SC).

  • What is sense coin and how is it different from bitcoin?

In simple words, Sense Coins are the hours spent by a network participant to fulfill a certain sense contract. That is, every Sense Coin

economically secured by the actual spent lifetime of a real person.

In other words, behind each Sense Coin there is work performed under a sense contract for a certain lived time.

In comparison with Bitcoin, the author of which defines it as a chain of digital signatures and the emission of which is associated with the iterative search for a certain hash value, Sense Coin is not such a digital surrogate that cannot, by its nature, form the economic value of the object or subject being used.

Sense Coin is a full-fledged digital currency with its established nominal value, which is economically justified by a specific executed sense contract.

  • Do you believe in the further development of any current project or several projects in the crypto industry?

At the current time in the crypto industry, almost all projects without exception have as their main goal to collect the maximum possible amount of money from users without giving the most important thing, in my opinion, long-term stability in earnings.

And this is not a problem of the creators of such projects, this is a derivative, again I want to repeat, of a weak and not far-sighted global financial system. Current technologies would not exist without the hard work of the best minds in our world. But to move forward in creating technologies that are unique and extremely necessary for humanity, it is necessary to create conditions for creation. These conditions are to provide comfortable conditions for everyone who has the desire to try to explore and create something that is very useful and necessary for all people. And monetary compensation as such should be paid for such work without any technology-incompetent supervisory authorities.

The incentive medium, fiat money, crypto currency, product tokens and other digital derivatives should play a secondary role in any work or scientific research.

And if you look at the top five liquidity projects in the crypto industry, it becomes obvious that all these projects, without exception, introduce more and more new programs or subprojects for users with only one goal – to show the bull rise of their coin or token to the skies. In other words, the creators of the projects offer nothing more than speculation.

I see the future of the crypto industry, at the current time, only if real decentralized economic and financial instruments are implemented, which will provide economic liquidity through real business contracts. I am for a decentralized economy!

  • How do you combine your work on the medical project, Longevity Research, with your other AI projects?

Research in the field of longevity did not arise out of nowhere and is a logical continuation of the implementation of the algorithms of our theory Sense Theory in various fields. Thus, based on the algorithms of the Sense Theory, a hematological preventive method for early diagnosis of diseases was formulated and described in two technological articles. After analytical studies of the practical application of theory algorithms on anonymized data of patients diagnosed with myocardial infarction, we concluded that these algorithms have great potential in any of the most complex areas of early diagnosis. First, of course, we focused on especially dangerous diseases that in most cases lead to death.

In 2024, I will complete my master’s degree at the Department of Biotechnology of the European National Research Medical University. I deliberately entered this university for the practical implementation of my methods both in the field of oncology and in the field of longevity.

So, after an additional year of painstaking analysis, we concluded that without finding the true causes of cancer cells, we will not be able to create an elixir of youth, since the biochemical processes taking place inside a single human organ, or rather, inside individual cells, have their own specifics.

It became obvious to us that by creating the elixir of youth and not creating a cure for eliminating the causes leading to the appearance of cancer cells, we may find ourselves in a situation where, for example, an engineer who created a high-speed car forgot to create a braking system.

  • Do you really believe that among humanity there can be people extremely smart enough to create a real elixir of youth?

We believe, no, we are even 100% convinced that all restrictions without exception are born in our heads. The reasons for this are different. The main reason is the lack of knowledge and the ability to look at a task or problem from different angles using the knowledge of different sciences.

In the current world of digital technology, the main obstacle to creating something new and innovative is the lack of information hygiene. The overwhelming number of people on our planet simply do not know how to conduct a qualitative analysis of the data they receive on the Internet. Our slogan is “Analyze more, ask less.”

Introducing .box – The World’s First Blockchain Native, DNS Routable Domain

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Toronto, Ontario, January 18th, 2024, Chainwire


.box is bridging Web3 and Web2  

Breaking new ground in the domain name industry, My.box Inc. announces the upcoming launch of its Public Beta on January 18th, 2024 at 12:00 PM ET. This kicks off public availability of the first ever domain name system supported natively by browsers, email, and wallets. 

 The future of digital identity 

.box domains offer secure and seamless identity on Web3 and Web2. The holder of ‘example.box’ is empowered with decentralized ownership and access to DNS record management, ENS integration, payments, Web3 authentication, Web3 messaging, websites, and email. Founder of .box, Josh Brandley states, “There are many great things happening at the intersection of Web3, decentralized identity, and domain names – we are the first to tie it all together with a powerful, easy to use product”.   

.box solves the major problem with blockchain domains 

.box sets a new standard in the world of blockchain-based top-level domains. While other new blockchain domain systems generate excitement, they ultimately fall short because they do not work with traditional browsers and email services. In contrast, .box is ICANN-accredited, recognized by the global Domain Name System (DNS), and supported by the Ethereum Name Service (ENS). Both DNS and ENS have established substantial network effects, solidifying their positions as core infrastructure. .box is pioneering an approach that natively integrates the features of both systems, thus delivering a better experience for users. 

The team behind .box 

The .box TLD is owned and operated by Intercap Registry, an ICANN Accredited Registry Operator. Intercap has dedicated over a decade to the development of .box. Core partners include 3DNS and ENS Labs, whose leaders share the vision of bringing the benefits of Web3 to the domain industry. Nick Johnson, Founder of ENS, states: “We have always had a deep respect for the DNS and are very excited to witness this unique .box implementation that supports seamless interoperability between the two systems”. Paul Gauvreau, CEO of 3DNS adds, “Bringing real world domain assets onchain improves almost every use case there is – we anticipate that this product will be widely adopted by Web3 enthusiasts and newcomers alike.”  

Launch pricing 

During launch, .box domains will run through a premium pricing phase, ensuring fair access for everyone. Prices start at $7,680 USDC and then decay exponentially for 6 days until stopping at a fixed rate of $120 USDC. All domains will renew at $120 USDC per year. Domains are minted and managed using the dApp hosted at my.box. Payment is made with ETH or USDC. 

Join the .box community 

  • Secure your .box domain now at https://my.box 
  • Follow .box at https://x.com/boxdomains 
  • Join the .box Discord server to:  
  • Learn how to buy a .box and take control of your decentralized identity. 
  • Qualify for your referral link to earn $18 for each successful referral. 
  • Receive support, updates, and connect with the team. 

For More Information: 

Visit our website at www.my.box or contact Omar Hamed, omar@intercap.com 

Contact

Community Manager
Omar
My.box
contact@omar.box

Launch of Bybit Web3 Swap Accelerates DeFi Revolution

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Bybit, the world’s third-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, has taken a significant stride in the DeFi (Decentralized Finance) revolution by introducing Bybit Web3 Swap. This upgraded platform not only meets the evolving demand for token swapping but also pushes the industry forward by providing users with a secure and user-friendly environment for swapping tokens across various blockchain networks.

Ben Zhou, the co-founder and CEO of Bybit, stated, “Our mission at Bybit has always been to bridge the gap between traditional finance and the power of DeFi. With Bybit Web3 Swap, we’re fulfilling that promise by creating a simpler, user-friendly experience that caters to both experienced DEX (Decentralized Exchange) users and newcomers to the Web3 space.”

Bybit Web3 Swap, a crucial component of the #BybitWeb3 initiative, empowers users to perform decentralized token exchanges across multiple blockchain networks. This opens up opportunities for users to access a wide range of tokens, liquidity pools, and engage in activities such as yield farming and staking.

Key Features of Bybit Web3 Swap:

  1. Expanded Token Support: Bybit Web3 now supports over 2,000 tokens, providing users with a diverse selection for seamless and diversified token swapping.
  2. Intuitive Token Discovery: Users looking for tokens not listed on Bybit will be seamlessly redirected to Bybit Web3 Swap, where they can easily acquire the desired tokens.
  3. Cross-Chain Asset Bridge: Bybit Web3 Swap facilitates the transfer of assets between Ethereum (ETH), Binance Smart Chain (BSC), Polygon, Arbitrum, and other mainstream Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) public chains, enhancing platform versatility and user convenience.
  4. Streamlined One-Step Swap Process: Bybit Web3 Swap simplifies the user experience by combining approval and swap steps into a single seamless operation, making token swaps effortless.

Additional Benefits:

  • No KYC Required: Bybit Web3 Swap stands out by eliminating the need for Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures, prioritizing user privacy and convenience.
  • High Liquidity Access: Users can access the highest liquidity available in the market, ensuring optimal token swap rates across various decentralized exchanges (DEXs).
  • On-Chain Transparency: All transactions on Bybit Web3 Swap are executed on-chain, providing full visibility into fund flows and trading mechanisms, instilling user confidence.

Bybit remains committed to staying at the forefront of innovation by continuously expanding the compatibility of Bybit Web3 Swap.

Upcoming integrations include Polygon zkEVM, zkSync, StarkNet, and Mantle Network, ensuring that users have access to the latest and most advanced blockchain technologies.

Web3 Lending App Wise Lending Falls Victim to $440,000 Exploit in DeFi Breach

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Wise Lending, a Web3 lending app and yield aggregator, experienced a significant breach on January 12, resulting in the theft of 170 Ether (ETH), currently valued at $440,000.

This incident has been confirmed by multiple security experts, who suspect that the attacker may have exploited an oracle price using a flash loan.

The attack was recorded on the blockchain at 7:29 pm UTC, with the perpetrator utilizing an unverified contract featuring an address ending in “d82c” to siphon off the funds.

The attacker also moved various tokens into this contract, including $9,000 in USD Coin (USDC), $2,000 in Tether (USDT), $5,000 in Dai (DAI), 18.51 Wrapped Ether (WETH), valued at $47,694, and various tokens linked to Pendle Finance.

As part of the exploit, the attacker borrowed 1,110 Lido Staked Ether (stETH) tokens, which amounted to $2.9 million, from the Aave lending protocol.

Flash loans, commonly employed by exploiters, are used to manipulate oracle prices, enabling such attacks.

A pseudonymous blockchain security researcher known as Spreek first alerted the crypto community to the Wise Lending attack, posting on X (formerly Twitter), stating, “Looks like Wise Lending exploited for ~170 ETH.”

READ MORE: DeRec Alliance Unveils Ambitious Plan for Decentralized Digital Asset Recovery System

Spreek also speculated in a follow-up post that the vulnerability might be connected to a new Pendle Finance derivative token.

Another security researcher, Officer’s Notes, commented on the situation, remarking, “Another day, another exploit.”

Officer’s Notes suggested that the vulnerability may have been triggered by a 7% price swing between stETH and ETH within a particular pool, possibly due to an AAVE v2 stETH flash loan.

Although 2024 has just begun, the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector has already suffered losses of at least $5 million due to various exploits.

On January 3, Radiant Capital incurred losses exceeding $4.5 million, followed by liquidity manager Gamma Protocol losing over $400,000 to an exploit the next day.

In the previous year, 2023, the crypto industry witnessed losses totaling over $1.8 billion as a result of hacks, scams, and exploits, as reported by blockchain security platform Certik.

These incidents underscore the ongoing challenges and security concerns within the crypto space.

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BlackRock CEO Larry Fink Believes Bitcoin is an Asset Class, Not a Currency

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BlackRock CEO Larry Fink expressed skepticism regarding the practicality of using Bitcoin for everyday transactions, emphasizing that it should be recognized primarily as an asset class rather than a currency.

During an interview with CNBC on January 11, Fink reiterated his belief in Bitcoin as an alternative form of wealth storage, downplaying its potential to replace national currencies.

Fink stated, “I don’t believe it’s ever going to be a currency. I believe it’s an asset class.” He firmly believes that Bitcoin’s primary role is as a store of value.

However, Fink is more optimistic about the emergence of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) in the near future.

He foresees the development of digital currencies that leverage blockchain technology, saying, “I think we’re going to create digital currencies, we’re going to use technology for it. We’re going to use a blockchain.”

Recent data from Cointelegraph reveals that over 100 countries are exploring the development of CBDCs, with 39 countries already piloting, testing, or launching CBDC initiatives.

READ MORE: Turkey Gears Up for Cryptocurrency Regulation Overhaul

When asked about ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood’s Bitcoin valuation predictions, ranging from $600,000 to $1 million, Fink indicated that price speculation wasn’t his primary focus at the moment.

He emphasized his current priority, which is the launch of BlackRock’s newly approved spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), aimed at providing an instrument for storing wealth.

Fink added, “I think if it gets even close to that high, gold will represent even a bigger value. And let’s be clear, if you think it’s digital gold, there’s going to be a reference point between gold and Bitcoin.”

In a separate interview with Fox Business on the same day, Fink highlighted that the approval of the Bitcoin ETF by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) signifies the legitimization of the cryptocurrency industry and will enhance safety for investors.

BlackRock’s ETF approval came alongside approvals for 10 other similar products.

Since receiving approval for its Bitcoin ETF, BlackRock has garnered an impressive record of 576 ETF approvals with only one rejection, underscoring its growing influence and prominence in the world of exchange-traded funds.

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Terraform Labs Co-Founder Do Kwon Seeks Trial Delay Until March Due to Extradition Challenges

Terraform Labs co-founder, Do Kwon, has formally petitioned the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York to delay his impending trial until March.

The grounds for this request are based on the complexities surrounding his extradition proceedings in Montenegro, which have not progressed as swiftly as initially anticipated.

In a letter submitted on January 11 and addressed to Judge Jed Rakoff, Kwon’s legal representatives stressed his strong desire to be present at the trial, which is currently slated for January 29.

Unfortunately, they had previously expected Kwon to have returned to the United States by this time, stating, “Mr. Kwon wishes to attend his trial.

Counsel had hoped the extradition proceedings in Montenegro would proceed more quickly than they have.”

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had filed charges against Kwon in February 2023, accusing him of involvement in a massive cryptocurrency securities fraud scheme worth billions of dollars.

These allegations were closely linked to the collapse of Terraform Labs’ stablecoin, TerraUSD (USTC), and its associated Terra (LUNA) token.

Kwon’s legal team acknowledged the urgency of the trial but indicated that the January trial date would be unfeasible for him to attend.

READ MORE: U.S. SEC Approval of Bitcoin ETF Sparks Global Crypto Market Frenzy

They proposed, “We understand the Court cannot put the trial on hold indefinitely, but an adjournment until mid-March would provide a realistic possibility for Mr. Kwon to attend,” in their letter.

Notably, in December 2023, the Appellate Court of Montenegro took a significant step by annulling the decision of the High Court of Podgorica, which had initially approved Kwon’s extradition to either the United States or South Korea.

Only a week earlier, reports had emerged that both U.S. and South Korean authorities were requesting Kwon’s continued detention for an additional two months after the completion of his current sentence.

There is growing speculation regarding the possibility of Kwon facing multiple sentences in both countries.

Kwon’s legal troubles began in March 2023 when he was apprehended in Montenegro while attempting to leave the country using falsified travel documents.

His legal team’s request for a trial delay until March is underpinned by the intricate and evolving extradition challenges he faces, further underscoring the complexity of his legal predicament.

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Genesis Global Trading Settles with NYDFS, Surrenders BitLicense and Pays $8 Million Penalty

Cryptocurrency firm Genesis Global Trading has reached an agreement with the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), resulting in the cessation of its operations within the state.

This development, disclosed on January 12, involves Genesis agreeing to pay an $8-million penalty to the NYDFS and the surrender of its BitLicense, a license the company had held since 2018.

The settlement stems from an investigation conducted by New York authorities, which unveiled significant deficiencies in Genesis’ Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and cybersecurity programs.

NYDFS Superintendent Adrienne Harris expressed concern over Genesis Global Trading’s lack of a functional compliance program, asserting that it demonstrated a disregard for regulatory requirements and potentially exposed both the company and its customers to security threats.

It’s important to note that this settlement exclusively pertains to Genesis Global Trading, and it is not associated with Genesis Global Capital.

In a separate legal matter, New York’s attorney general had filed a lawsuit against Genesis Global Capital, Gemini, and Digital Currency Group in October.

READ MORE: Bitcoin Surges as U.S. Inflation Data Sparks Crypto Market Anticipation

This lawsuit alleged that the companies had engaged in fraudulent activities through the Gemini Earn program, targeting investors.

Genesis Global Trading, however, did not follow its parent company’s path of filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January 2023.

A spokesperson for the firm confirmed that Genesis Global Trading had ceased its operations in September 2023 and had taken substantial corrective measures to address the concerns raised by the NYDFS.

This settlement is part of a broader context in which concerns have been raised regarding the oversight of BitLicense applicants by the NYDFS. Since 2015, cryptocurrency firms operating within New York have been required to obtain a BitLicense from the regulatory authority.

The Genesis Global Trading case underscores the NYDFS’s commitment to enforcing regulatory compliance and maintaining the integrity of the cryptocurrency market in the state of New York.

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OpenAI Initiates Licensing Talks with Major Media Corporations for AI Content Enhancement

OpenAI, the artificial intelligence (AI) developer, is currently in negotiations with prominent corporate giants such as CNN, Fox Corp., and Time, as reported by Bloomberg.

The aim of these discussions is to secure licensing agreements for their news content, with the ultimate goal of enhancing the accuracy and timeliness of OpenAI’s AI chatbots.

OpenAI is actively exploring partnerships with these media powerhouses to leverage their extensive repertoire of news, video, and digital media content.

For instance, OpenAI is in talks with CNN to obtain licenses for articles that will be used to train ChatGPT and potentially feature CNN’s content in OpenAI products. Both CNN and Fox are exploring licensing options for text, video, and imagery.

In a significant move, Fox Corp. announced on January 9th the launch of a blockchain platform based on Polygon.

This platform is designed to validate the usage of its content by AI companies, reinforcing the protection of its intellectual property.

Jessica Sibley, Time’s CEO, expressed optimism about reaching an agreement with OpenAI, emphasizing the importance of a fair valuation for their content.

As of now, OpenAI’s ChatGPT-3.5, which is freely accessible to the public, relies on training data only up until January 2022.

However, in September 2023, OpenAI introduced a pivotal development, allowing its premium and enterprise models running ChatGPT-4 to access the internet and operate without the constraints of a specific training timeline.

READ MORE: Bitcoin Acceptance Surges: Number of Merchants Tripled Globally in 2023

This forward-looking initiative aims to preemptively address potential copyright infringement issues for OpenAI.

These efforts come amidst a backdrop of mounting legal challenges against OpenAI, with allegations of copyright violations stemming from the use of content in AI training.

The New York Times filed a significant lawsuit on December 27th, asserting that OpenAI’s utilization of their content did not constitute “fair use” and posed a threat to their journalistic endeavors.

Subsequently, on January 9th, OpenAI responded officially to The New York Times’ lawsuit, dismissing it as “without merit.”

OpenAI further affirmed its ongoing discussions with media organizations regarding collaborations and content licensing, emphasizing its commitment to forging partnerships that integrate AI seamlessly into the media landscape.

Additionally, another lawsuit was filed by authors Nicholas Basbanes and Nicholas Gage, advocating for compensation to copyright owners for their work used in AI training.

OpenAI’s strategic pursuit of licensing agreements with media entities is poised to mitigate future copyright-related challenges, fostering a collaborative ecosystem in the AI and media industries.

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