ECB Seeks Digital Euro Partners; Visa Launches New Web3 Service; Indian CBDC; OpenAI Upcoming GPT Store Launch; Google Readies Bard Advanced and more!
Hi Everyone,
Welcome to QX Snapshots - a weekly recap of the key news on emerging technologies. In this newsletter, you will get a "digest" of the latest info on Enterprise Blockchain, AI, Quantum Technology, and Metaverse.
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[Blockchain] ECB Seeks Digital Euro Partners; Visa Launches New Web3 Service; OECD Explores Blockchain in Italian SMEs; India's Digital Currency Hits 1M Daily Transactions. The European Central Bank issued calls for applications to establish framework agreements with potential providers of key components for a potential future digital euro. This doesn't represent a commitment to launch development work or issue a digital currency, which depends on legislative approval. Rather it prepares the Eurosystem to tap external expertise if warranted later. Services sought include alias look-up, fraud/risk management, app and SDK development, offline functionality and secure payment data exchange - while settlement would be handled internally. Top-ranked respondents will be invited to submit bids. The process aims to equip the ECB with partnerships for critical building blocks, keeping open the possibility of a digital euro if approved. Meanwhile, Visa launched a Web3 loyalty service enabling brands to provide digital wallets for customers to store rewards and experiences . Developed with SmartMedia, it aims to revolutionize programs through gamified and immersive activities beyond transactional rewards. SVP Gilmore said traditional loyalty hasn't changed in 10+ years, but their solution allows securing relevant, engaging value exchange between brands and evolving consumers. In other news, the OECD published comprehensive research on blockchain adoption by small and medium enterprises and entrepreneurs in Italy . It analyzes the blockchain ecosystem's development against Italy's SME landscape, characteristics of blockchain service providers, opportunities and challenges they face across sectors and firms targeted. It illustrates regulatory trends and provides actionable recommendations like improving education and awareness, enabling data-driven policies, using blockchain to deliver public services, financing innovative SMEs, and promoting international cooperation. Findings can inform the digital transformation of SMEs in other countries too. Also, India's central bank digital currency reached 1 million daily transactions in December , meeting the 2023 goal set last July. By contrast, volume was just 10,000 in July when the pilot launched. Now the Union Bank of India controversially plans to pay some employee benefits into staff digital rupee wallets to drive usage. However, the bank employee union complains staff shouldn't be compelled and were not consulted.
[AI] OpenAI Upcoming GPT Store Launch; Google Readies Bard Advanced; Perplexity's $73M Funding; Midjourney's Copyright Controversy; Apple and Disney Face AI Ethics Shareholder Votes. After delays, OpenAI's GPT store for sharing and selling customized AI agents will launch next week. Users can build GPT chatbots using OpenAI's GPT-4 model. While currently only for Plus subscribers, the store lets creators monetize based on usage. The store aims to expand access to custom AI. Meanwhile, Google Bard's website indicates an upcoming "Bard Advanced". This version will likely require payment, unlike the free basic Bard. It references 3 free months of Bard Advanced before needing to pay. Bard Advanced will leverage Google's new powerful Gemini Ultra AI model. While not publicly available yet, Gemini Ultra will drive the upgraded chatbot. Also,? AI-powered search engine Perplexity announced a $73.6M Series B raise at a $520M valuation . New investors include NVIDIA, Elad Gill, and Jeff Bezos. In other news, lists allegedly showing over 16,000 artists used without consent to train Midjourney's AI leaked online, renewing copyright debates. They appear connected to a class action lawsuit claiming Midjourney infringement for using datasets like LAION-5B. The suit seeks compensation and aims to add more plaintiff artists. Artists are employing tools like Glaze which alter images to foil AI style mimicry. The incidents spotlight ethical issues in generative AI creation and training. Though legal uncertainty persists, backlash pressures companies to address artist consent and attribution in building commercial AI services. At the same time, the SEC denied requests by Apple and Disney to omit shareholder votes on their use of AI technology. The proposals were filed by a labor union raising concerns about AI replacing workers and unfairly utilizing their creative output. While companies increasingly adopt AI for efficiency, Apple and Disney have lagged in addressing ethical issues compared to peers. The rejected bids to skip votes means the tech giants must add the AI reporting items on upcoming meeting ballots.
[Quantum Technology] Rigetti and Moody's Push Quantum Finance; Baidu Exits Quantum Race; DARPA's Logical Qubit Breakthrough Reshapes Quantum Computing. Quantum computing company Rigetti is deepening its collaboration with Moody's Analytics to explore using quantum machine learning in finance. Building on previous work forecasting recessions, they aim to run more complex computations on Rigetti's advanced quantum systems. By tackling operationally relevant industry problems Rigetti seeks "narrow quantum advantage". With financial institutions investing in quantum, achieving real-world impact requires collaborating with end-user experts like Moody's. This allows focusing quantum advancements on valuable business challenges. Meanwhile, Chinese tech leader Baidu announced it will exit quantum computing development, instead donating its quantum lab and equipment to the Beijing Academy of Quantum Information Sciences research institute. This follows a similar move by Alibaba in November, pointing to a strategic shift as Chinese companies recalibrate focus away from direct quantum pursuits toward supporting academic efforts. With quantum requiring long timelines for commercialization, the tech giants may prioritize short-term business realities. However, the donations continue close industry-academia partnerships advancing China's quantum research overall, despite obstacles around entrepreneurial technology commercialization. In other news, a DARPA-funded team announced developing the world's first quantum circuit with logical qubits, a significant stride towards fault-tolerant quantum computing . The researchers, led by Harvard Quantum Initiative's Dr. Mikhail Lukin, worked on DARPA's ONISQ program seeking quantum advantage in combinatorial optimization problems. Using Rydberg atoms, they built quantum circuits with around 48 error-correcting logical qubits - the largest assembly yet. Rydberg qubits' interchangeable nature and manipulability with lasers enable rapid scaling. DARPA praised its bet on less proven qubits unlocking this breakthrough. With logical qubits now demonstrated, the path toward practical large-scale processors is charted, promising a computing revolution that potentially reshaping society.
[Metaverse] "Walmart Partnership with Unity; Gangwon's Olympic Metaverse Debut; and 'Ready Player One' Author Brings OASIS to Life in Readyverse. Walmart is partnering with gaming engine Unity to deliver its immersive commerce vision . It will integrate Walmart's commerce APIs for developers to enable direct in-game sales of physical products across 20+ platforms. It connects virtual and real lifestyles while monetizing developers. 1M+ monthly Unity developers can leverage Walmart's retail power. Pilots selling real paint, decor etc. in mobile game House Flip and avatar worlds proved the concept. Official Unity SDK with Walmart checkout will enable creators to boost engagement and earnings without exiting games. Meanwhile, the 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games in Gangwon has launched the first ever metaverse for an Olympic event. Developed with the IOC and South Korean government, it offers inclusive interactive experiences globally to engage young fans. Users can explore venue recreations, play mini-games in ski jumping and curling, interact with other fans, and learn about Olympic values. Accessibility features include six language translations and customizable avatars expressing emotions and dancing. The metaverse will also have real-life spaces at Gangwon's experience center for trying winter sports virtually. By extending the Olympics into an immersive virtual world, organizers aim to increase accessibility and showcase the next generation of athletic talents. Also, Ready Player One" author Ernest Cline is collaborating with the film's producer and company Futureverse to bring the novel's virtual world OASIS to life as the Readyverse metaverse. Users can explore the environments, characters and stories through immersive experiences like games. It allows audiences to spend more time in beloved fictional worlds. They plan to eventually incorporate other internet IP into the Readyverse as well. Bridging entertainment IP with virtual worlds has been challenging, but advances now make consumer metaverses viable. By letting users purchase digital goods, the Readyverse also fulfills the book's theme of wish fulfillment through virtual ownership.
[General technology] ?Maxar's Ovzon 3 Satellite Launches with SpaceX; ESA Develops Miniature Thruster System ATHENA for Small Satellites. Maxar Space Systems announced the successful launch of the Ovzon 3 satellite aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Maxar manufactured the specialized satellite for client Ovzon using its new all-electric Modular Architecture Platform, enabling parallel processing for efficiency. It also features Maxar's first deployment of Roll-Out Solar Arrays. As Maxar's first project with Ovzon, it showcases their ability to meet global satellite communications needs. Ovzon CEO Per Norén expressed gratitude for the close teamwork realizing the company's strategy to revolutionize mobile broadband. With capabilities now in hand, Ovzon can enable customers to fully leverage its SATCOM-as-a-Service solutions. Meanwhile, the European Space Agency developed a tiny new thruster system called ATHENA to maneuver small satellites in space . Using electrospray technology, it propels electrically charged particles to produce thrust. The palm-sized, eco-friendly thrusters etched onto silicon wafers can be grouped as needed to fit various spacecraft. Unlike massive rocket engines launching payloads from Earth, ATHENA is designed for in-space propulsion of cubesats and satellites up to 50kg, with hopes to eventually support 300kg crafts. As space technology miniaturizes, propulsion must also shrink for small spacecraft. ATHENA's adaptable nature, non-toxic propellant and miniaturized high-precision thrust make it a promising innovation to enable the next generation of tiny satellites and probes.
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FEATURED: Non-Atomic Arbitrage in Decentralized Finance
By: Lioba Heimbach, Vabuk Pahari, Eric Schertenleib
“The prevalence of maximal extractable value (MEV) in the Ethereum ecosystem has led to a characterization of the latter as a dark forest. Studies of MEV have thus far largely been restricted to purely on-chain MEV, i.e., sandwich attacks, cyclic arbitrage, and liquidations. In this work, we shed light on the prevalence of non-atomic arbitrage on decentralized exchanges (DEXes) on the Ethereum blockchain. Importantly, non-atomic arbitrage exploits price differences between DEXes on the Ethereum blockchain as well as exchanges outside the Ethereum blockchain (i.e., centralized exchanges or DEXes on other blockchains). Thus, non-atomic arbitrage is a type of MEV that involves actions on and off the Ethereum blockchain. In our study of non-atomic arbitrage, we uncover that more than a fourth of the volume on Ethereum’s biggest five DEXes from the merge until 31 October 2023 can likely be attributed to this type of MEV. We further highlight that only eleven searchers are responsible for more than 80% of the identified non-atomic arbitrage volume sitting at a staggering 132 billion US$ and draw a connection between the centralization of the block construction market and non-atomic arbitrage. Finally, we discuss the security implications of these high-value transactions that account for more than 10% of Ethereum’s total block value and outline possible mitigations.
With this work, we uncover the prevalence, centralizing effects, and implications of non-atomic arbitrage. Our measurement study highlights that more than one-fourth of DEX volume is likely to be non-atomic arbitrage and that HFT builders specialized in non-atomic arbitrage have an advantage in the PBS auction in times of high volatility. Besides highlighting the centralizing effects of non-atomic arbitrage on the block construction market, we also discuss its security implications as well as effects on the broader Ethereum ecosystem and its users. Finally, we point at possible mitigations and hope that the insights from our work positively affect future developments.”
Read the full article: here .
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