ILLINOIS - The crypto exchange Binance and its former CEO, Changpeng "CZ" Zhao, was ordered respectively to pay $2.7 billion and $150 million to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for anti-money laundering violation. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois has officially approved a consent order against Binance and its former CEO, Changpeng Zhao, concluding the enforcement action initiated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), reported CryptoTvPlus.
The court’s decision, formalizing a settlement first disclosed on November 21 it's an historical event in the CFTC’s efforts to enforce regulatory compliance in the digital asset space.
“The court determined that Zhao and Binance violated the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and CFTC regulations, imposed a $150 million civil monetary penalty against Zhao personally, and required Binance to repay 1.35 billion dollars in illicit transaction fees and to pay a $1.35 billion fine to the CFTC,” the Commission wrote in the statement.
Since March 27 against CZ and Binance the agency sued the executive and the exchange for evading federal laws and operating an illegal derivatives exchange.
For Zhao the Department of Justice could provide an 18-month sentence, while Binance will pay 1.8 billion dollars within the next 15 months and another 2.51 billion dollars later, as part of the deal. “I must take my responsibilities, this is the best thing for our community, for Binance and for myself,” said the billionaire, certainly aware that, facing a trial and faced with the gravity of the accusations, the punishment could have been far superior.
SOURCES: CrytpotvPlus
Ilaria Vanni is a TV journalist for italian broadcasting and coordinator of The Meta Economist portal. She has a philosphy degree and she's now studing the economic and technological issues connected to the new frontiers of the metaverse.
Changes for Google's cryptocurrency advertising policy. A new era of advertising for “Crypto Trusts” is coming with the update of policy that will permit the use of the trusts related to cryptocurrencies. The new policy will take effect on January 29 2024, ahead of the expected approval of Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs). That is to say "keep going with advertising, but with a good regulation.
So what will happen by next year is that advertisers will find authorization to insert ads in the United States for "Cryptocurrency Coin Trusts," a category of financial products that allows investors to trade and turn shares into trusts. Those trusts will hold large pools of digital currency. Google has defined these trusts as closed-end funds that invest exclusively in cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin.
The changes are not limited to just the United States but will apply globally to all accounts advertising Cryptocurrency Coin Trusts. The Google's intention is to stem crypto scams. A report from Lloyds Bank, cited by Crypto news, highlighted how a growing number of UK investors have been or are at risk of being scammed by a series of fake adverts posted on social media. The number of cryptocurrency investment scams reported by victims increased by 23%. The most common age range for victims of cryptocurrency scams is 25 to 34, making up a quarter of all cases.
SOURCE: Cryptonews
Read also ---> Google's Gemini enters the AI market with a completely new model by Ilaria Vanni
Ilaria Vanni is a TV journalist for italian broadcasting and coordinator of The Meta Economist portal. She has a philosphy degree and she's now studing the economic and technological issues connected to the new frontiers of the metaverse.
Ethereum is the world's second-largest blockchain and is living a difficult situation for months with the U.S. government. Data is now showing a sort of censorship. As Coindesk recently reported we can observe an "effort by block builders to exclude transactions linked to entities sanctioned by the U.S. government". In details, four of the five biggest "block builders" on Ethereum are excluding transactions sanctioned by the U.S. government.
If we want to analyze the present situation we need to take a look to some facts. Last year the U.S. government decided to sanction Tornado Cash – a "privacy mixing" program on Ethereum that helped people transact without leaving a trace. The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said that the program Tornado Cash was used by terrorists and other U.S.-sanctioned entities. It ended with Tornado Crush added to the same blacklist as Iran, North Korea and Hamas. In response, some blockchain advocates were defiant; they balked at OFAC's attempt at "censorship" and gloated that Ethereum would be immune to it as a result of its decentralized construction.
After that almost 72% of data blocks posted to MEV-Boost, middleware that powers almost all of the validators that write blocks to Ethereum, are now considered "censored," up from about 25% in November 2022. "Block builders have the authority to decide which transactions (and in which order) they put into their blocks and which they want to censor," - Toni Wahrstätter, researcher at the Ethereum Foundation, explained - "This means block builders decide upon the content of the blockchain."
What we all know is that a blockchain network provides a shared data record that is virtually impossible to change. Unfortunley the consequences of this situation are ironically defeating the original blockchain's aim, that was creating transparency between economic transactions. Some block builders are now using "private mempools" – issuing transactions directly to builders, rather than Ethereum's mempool, to guarantee their inclusion. This can lead to the normalization of private order flow, meaning less transparency. In other words the problems that blockchains were built to avoid.
SOURCES: CoinDesk
READ ALSO ---> "Google's Gemini enters the AI market with a completely new model" by Ilaria Vanni
Ilaria Vanni is a TV journalist for italian broadcasting and coordinator of The Meta Economist portal. She has a philosphy degree and she's now studing the economic and technological issues connected to the new frontiers of the metaverse.
Once upon a time there was "Bard", the Mountain View Company first AI, conceived as ChatGpt's competitor. Now Google is ready to embrace a new AI era and has just presented, on December 6th, a new model of artificial intelligence: Gemini.
Gemini it is capable of interpreting texts, images, audio, video and code. The new language model was announced last summer and now Gemini 1.0 has been released in three different versions, first for the United States market and in 170 countries with English as the only language.
Gemini is set to be "multimodal", which means it is capable of understanding and operating across different types of information. Not only textual, written, but also images, audio, video and code. The second important characteristic is that it is "flexible". Alphabet ecosystem, from DeepMind to Google Research collaborated to create Gemini.
It is known that Google's intention is to bring Gemini into all its products and on all its platforms. Let's list the names of the three versions in which Gemini has been optimized:
Gemini Ultra, is the model with the greatest capabilities and has been perfected to carry out particularly complex tasks. The second, Gemini Pro, is designed for the diversification of tasks. In the end Gemini Nano, is created for on-device tasks and therefore customized to the final user. We doesn't known which of the functions will be free or not. Looking at the bigger picture, there will also be a new Bard version. Bard is now working with online available information, is currently integrated into the search engine and answers users questions.
As the Corriere della Sera reported: "From today Bard will use Gemini Pro and, from next year, Google announces that there will be a new version - Bard Advanced - which will instead be based on Gemini Ultra. For now, Bard continues to only answer questions posed in text form, although in the near future it will also support other modes, including voice".
SOURCES: Bloomberg, CNN, Corriere della Sera
Ilaria Vanni is a TV journalist for italian broadcasting and coordinator of The Meta Economist portal. She has a philosphy degree and she's now studing the economic and technological issues connected to the new frontiers of the metaverse.
FRANCE - The company Societe Generale has issued its first digital green bond, leading an important step toward a blockchain system working side by side with the classical finance. The bond is a Security Token directly registered by SG-FORGE on the public Ethereum blockchain. Société Générale is the fourth bank for capitalization of banking groups in the Eurozone. It is the fourth biggest French bank by total assets after BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole and BPCE.
This operation is ensuring greater transparency and traceability of ESG data. AXA Investment Managers and Generali Investments, fully subscribed these security tokens. This transaction represents the first digital green bond issued by Societe Generale to exploit the differentiating features of the blockchain, which allows for greater transparency and traceability, as well as greater fluidity and speed in transactions and settlement.
This inaugural transaction is structured as a 10 million euros senior unsecured bond with a 3-year maturity. An amount equivalent to the net proceeds of this bond will be used exclusively to finance or refinance Elispective Green Activity, as defined in the Green, Social and Sustainability Bond Framework of Societe Generale which, since its first inaugural issue in 2015, has been an issuer common occurrence of instruments of this type. This issuance also marks a first step towards the use of blockchain for data storage and as a certification tool for issuers and investors to promote greater ESG data transparency and positive impact on a global scale.
The Société Généra's operation brings two fundamental innovations for the green bonds. The first thing is related to the informations on carbon emissions related to the digital green bond infrastructure, those infos will be available 24 hours a day in open access directly in the bond's smart contract. So that issuers and investors can measure the carbon emissions of their issues on the financial platform. In particular this tool was introduced by a new SG-FORGE service that follows the publication of its first comprehensive report on carbon emissions on Security Tokens. The other new option is to settle the delivery of securities on-chain (the data that are part of a blockchain) through the Euro CoinVertible, the digital asset issued by SG-FORGE in April 2023. While Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC) solutions are in the testing phase, this range of settlement methods demonstrates SG-FORGE's broad capabilities in providing a full range of on-chain services.
SOURCES: La Stampa, Finance Community
Ilaria Vanni is a TV journalist for italian broadcasting and coordinator of The Meta Economist portal. She has a philosphy degree and she's now studing the economic and technological issues connected to the new frontiers of the metaverse.
NEW YORK - Forbes places on Ethereum its "Under 30" list. 30 names of 30 brilliant young people, in different categories, that could make the future of business. The decision is valid for the North America's list. So the data and profiles of the people included on the list, will be permanently recorded on blockchain. This decision indirectly promotes Web 3 and the new technologies linked to Web 3 and also underlines an important fact. Many blockchain and crypto innovators were part of the list in previous years.
The announcement was made by Forbes itself and will be active on Ethereum blockchain. This is to permanently archive published data, including profiles of individual people, but also to promote the potential of blockchain technology and Web3. The list has been published for 30 years now, and represents a now prestigious recognition for individuals in every type of sector, from media, through sports, technology, finance and education, up to art and music. “Forbes is at the forefront of combining traditional media with cutting-edge technology,” said Vadim Supitskiy, chief digital and information officer at Forbes. “By launching our 'Under 30' on the Ethereum blockchain, in addition to recognizing emerging young leaders, we are also demonstrating the vast untapped potential of blockchain technology in the field of data storage and security.”
As we can read in the official article by Forbes, on November the 28th, was announced the 13thannual Under 30 List for the Class of 2024, recognizing 600 leaders from North America, within 20 different industries, many of whom are creating meaningful change through their entrepreneurship.
“This is one of the most diverse and ambitious Under 30 classes to-date, and particularly in terms of the scope of their work and impact of their leadership,” said Kristin Stoller, Senior Editor, Forbes Under 30. “The large majority are founders or cofounders of a company, but creators and performers are also making their mark as they build their brands beyond traditional artistic scopes.”
Collectively, the Class of 2024 has raised $3.6 billion in fundraising and the celebrities, musicians and creators on the list captured a combined 780M+ social media following. Gen Z gained a stronger presence on this year’s list, making up 33% of the list, up from 22% in 2023.”
SOURCEs: Forbes, The CryptoGateWay
Ilaria Vanni is a TV journalist for italian broadcasting and coordinator of The Meta Economist portal. She has a philosphy degree and she's now studing the economic and technological issues connected to the new frontiers of the metaverse.
SINGAPORE - Cryptocurrency exchange Zipmex Thailand has thrown investors into disarray by announcing an immediate suspension of digital asset trading until early next year. On November 25, 2023 at 1:00 PM, the Company temporarily suspended digital asset trading and deposits. The decision was made in response to the stringent criteria imposed by the Thai Securities and Exchange Commission, as stated by the platform through a post on Facebook on Saturday afternoon.
In an official post we can read: “Zipmex Limited wishes to ensure the proper and compliant conduct of its business operations in accordance with the stability criteria of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Thailand.” However, customers will still be able to withdraw Thai baht and digital assets from their Trade Wallet via the website and mobile app until January 31, 2024.
As The Paypers reported: "The suspension follows several difficulties for Zipmex, with the most recent one being in April 2023 when the company delayed paying its customers due to an attempt to increase returns for them. At that time, Zipmex requested an additional extension that would enable a longer moratorium on its debt in Singapore amid the firm’s liquidity issues. In January 2023 the company was the subject of an investigation by SEC Thailand due to a potential breach of local regulations for digital asset service providers. The Thai SEC requested Zipmex to clarify whether it was operating as a digital asset fund manager without permission in the region and, if true, the company was obliged to obtain a permit before conducting business in Thailand. Investigations into the activity of the exchange had been going on for an extended period of time".
So what we know so far is that the exchange company, based in Singapore and operating in Thailand, Australia and Indonesia, is currently subject to sanctions by the Thai SEC and this began several months ago. The sanctions stem from the improper use of a digital asset custody service and steering customers to another exchange, Singapore's Zipmex Pte, causing a potential conflict of interest.
Lately the platform has been hit by a number of difficulties over time. Last year, it suspended withdrawals due to market volatility and liquidity crisis resulting from exposure to Babel Finance. Zipmex has also run into problems repaying creditors following losses related to exposure to cryptocurrency lenders such as Babel Finance and Genesis. Zipmex's $100 million takeover attempt collapsed earlier this year when the buyer, V Ventures said, withdrew its takeover offer. Despite attempts to restructure and sell a majority stake, the Thai Securities and Exchange Commission's investigation into alleged regulatory violations in the offering of digital products continued to cast a shadow over the exchange.
SOURCES: Crypto News, The Paypers
Photo credit: Steve Johnson
Ilaria Vanni is a TV journalist for italian broadcasting and coordinator of The Meta Economist portal. She has a philosphy degree and she's now studing the economic and technological issues connected to the new frontiers of the metaverse.
As a perfect plot of twist, Sam Altman is returning as the chief executive of OpenAI. Altman, who was taken out in a video call by the OpenAI board on Friday, was reinstated as CEO on Tuesday night. Altman is returning alongside co-founder Greg Brockman. As Pbs reported: "the hot tech startup behind ChatGPT is not only bringing Altman back, it’s also overhauling the board that fired him, ending a dramatic five-day standoff that’s transfixed Silicon Valley and the artificial intelligence industry. Geoff Bennett discussed the latest with Mike Isaac of The New York Times".
According to sources interviewed by Reuters, the sudden and temporary dismissal of Sam Altman last week by the OpenAI board of directors was the consequence of the discovery of an Artificial General Intelligence that Altman wanted to commercialize before studying its consequences on the 'humanity.
After the Board decision over the firing of Almtma, 700 of the 800 OpenAI workers decided to collect signatures to bring Altman back. Almost all the employees were ready to follow ChatGpt's father to Microsoft. As we wrote here, among the signatories of the letter to the Board, in addition to the employees, the names of:
Three of the previous four members of the board of directors have been ousted. Out Ilya Sutskever, head of the OpenAI scientific team and that last week was the protagonist of the anti-Altman faction. Out Tasha McCauley, computer scientist at the Rand corporation, in contact with movements that support the Terminator thesis. Out Helen Toner, director of the center for security and emerging technologies at Georgetown University, also close to the millennialist movements of artificial intelligence, and author of an academic research that criticized ChatGpt and exalted its direct rival, Anthropic Claude. All three were convinced that Altman was not transparent enough and for years they fought to limit his powers, until they took the decision to oust him from Open AI.
As Time reported: "the board’s new chair is Bret Taylor, the former co-CEO of Salesforce. Also on the new board are Larry Summers, the former Treasury Secretary, and Quora CEO Adam D’Angelo, the only remaining member of the board that fired Altman. It is unclear whether more members will be added subject to further negotiations”
SOURCES: Time, Pbs
PHOTO CREDITS: LaPresse
READ ALSO ---> "Top performance in the weekend for AI tokens" by Ilaria Vanni
Ilaria Vanni is a TV journalist for italian broadcasting and coordinator of The Meta Economist portal. She has a philosphy degree and she's now studing the economic and technological issues connected to the new frontiers of the metaverse.
Over the weekend, AI tokens went at the top of their trend, linked to a series of developments related to key companies in the sector. There were a couple of example followed by a big enthusiastic answer about this trend. One is the Elon Musk statements on xAI tokens: "Elon Musk said that X Corp shareholders boast a 25% stake in xAI, his new AI venture, and that he recently began testing his Grok chatbot. As Crypto Slate explains, Sam Altman's move from OpenAI to Microsoft, where he will head a new research team on advanced artificial intelligence, also had positive repercussions. Bittensor's TAO token rose a further 4.2% after rising 77% over the past week. Ocean Protocol's OCEAN, Fetch AI's FET, and SingularityNet's AGIX have increased by up to 16% in the last 24 hours". Data from CryptoSlate shows that digital assets in the sector grew by more than 9% over the last day and by over 11% during the past week. Additionally, tokens in the sector saw their trading volume exceed $1 billion during the last 24 hours.
On the surprising raising of AI tokens a central role was played by YPRED, whose pre-sale is sailing quickly towards 5 million dollars. yPredict is an advanced platform used for research and analysis in the field of trading. Its goal is to provide valuable information to help operators make informed decisions. It brings together artificial intelligence/machine learning experts, financial quants and expert traders, committed to developing various analytical tools and platforms that use the latest financial forecasting methods and metrics. yPredict offer access to data-driven insights, proven analytics metrics and even a prediction marketplace.
The cryptocurrency market is always going ap and down, for this reason it can discourage the less experienced from investing their money in any token. YPredict, an all-in-one trading dashboard, was born to simplify the prediction of price movements for those who want to invest in cryptocurrencies. The aim of yPredict is to become a point of reference for investors, analysts and traders, given that it uses artificial intelligence to make the results of its forecasts accurate and offers metrics that are easy to understand for everyone, even the less experienced. The platform offers a free subscription, but you will need to have YPRED tokens to access the premium tools.
yPredict stands out as one of the most cutting-edge cryptocurrency platforms, thanks to the integration of Artificial Intelligence. It offers a range of interactive services based on real-time market data, such as creating crypto predictions through AI, which analyzes assets precisely thanks to access to relevant data and machine learning models. Furthermore, the platform provides a trading signal system that allows users to receive real-time notifications on the best market opportunities, even for assets already present in their wallet. Finally, yPredict offers market sentiment analysis, allowing you to identify purchasing trends and identify cryptocurrencies to monitor more carefully. According to numerous cryptocurrency market experts, the promising future of this platform is largely linked to the key role of its native token: YPRED. The services mentioned previously, in fact, are accessible exclusively through the purchase of a subscription with the YPRED token, which gives them a crucial role in the internal dynamics of the ecosystem.
SOURCE: Crypto Slate, Coin News, Coin Market Cap
Photo credit: Steve Johnson
Ilaria Vanni is a TV journalist for italian broadcasting and coordinator of The Meta Economist portal. She has a philosphy degree and she's now studing the economic and technological issues connected to the new frontiers of the metaverse.
