What The FinTech #135 - 2 Apr 2023
Medhy Souidi
Transformation Lead - Head of Innovation & Experiences at DBS HK | Host of What the FinTech | Senior Editor at Money20/20
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What The FinTech Episode 55 - NodeReal
??????Excited to share the latest episode of "What The FinTech," featuring an in-depth conversation with Freddie Ng, Head of Growth at NodeReal. As a cutting-edge blockchain and web3 technology startup founded in 2021, NodeReal is dedicated to providing a one-stop infrastructure and comprehensive solutions for the high-speed blockchain era.
?? NodeReal's mission is to empower developers, innovative web3 applications, and large-scale Web2 applications to explore blockchain with the most reliable and scalable solutions, enabling them to tap into new business opportunities.
?? In this episode, Freddie discusses the vision and offerings of NodeReal, as well as the impact they're making on the blockchain and web3 landscape:
?? NodeReal's focus on supporting the massive adoption, growth, and long-term success of the Web3 ecosystem.
?? The unique challenges and opportunities they've encountered as a startup in the rapidly evolving blockchain industry.
Don't miss this fascinating discussion about the future of blockchain, web3 technology, and NodeReal's role in shaping this innovative space. Listen now and be inspired by Freddie Ng's insights and experiences! ??
Remember to subscribe, like, and share our podcast with fellow fintech and blockchain enthusiasts, and let us know your thoughts in the comments or on social media.
Stay tuned for more engaging conversations right here on "What The Fintech!" ??
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What was the FinTech this week in:???
HONG KONG
Standard Chartered’s B2C cross-border payments play
Standard Chartered Bank has begun to roll out a new B2C solution that enables people who travel abroad to pay for things via a direct connection to their domestic bank account. The bank is working with Shanghai-based fintech Allinpay Merchant Services (Singapore) to stitch together the means for a Singaporean person to pay merchants via a QR code and have the payment debited from their Singaporean bank – regardless of whether or not their bank is Standard Chartered. That build required three pieces, or “engines”: for foreign exchange, for QR collections, and for payments. For Standard Chartered, the partnership will give it a view into payment flows over Allinpay’s network. These merchants are customers of Allinpay, not necessarily of Standard Chartered, but the bank will gain some insight into their businesses, which gives its retail banking salespeople an edge in cross-selling or pitching products. Secondly, the bank is straddling domestic payment rails. This service is available to all Singaporeans (and in reverse, will be available to all Hongkongers). This will give the bank some aggregate insights into trends and behavior. More tangibly, Allinpay flows settle through the bank, helping it grow its deposits. The partnership, however, comes at a time when some regional governments are knitting together their domestic faster-payment systems. Singapore has done this with Thailand and India. This could render private solutions such as the StanChart-Allinpay partnership irrelevant in the longer term.
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LeapXpert raises $22m for FinServ messaging platform
Business communications vendor LeapXpert has raised $22 million in a Series A+ funding round led by Rockefeller Asset Management through its Technology Ventures Group. With financial services firms getting into hot water with regulators over their use of apps such as WhatsApp for client communications, LeapXpert has built a communications platform that promises compliance, adherence to information security, and data governance. Using LeapXpert, companies provide their employees a single corporate identity for business communication through iMessage, WhatsApp, SMS, Telegram, WeChat, Signal, Line, and voice calls. All employees’ business communication can be recorded while their personal messages remain private. Meanwhile, clients communicate natively on their preferred messaging app. The platform also integrates natively with Microsoft Teams.?
SINGAPORE
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Spore drivers may be able to use credit, debit cards to enter JB by Sept 2024: Malaysia minister
Malaysia is planning to allow drivers from Singapore to use their credit and debit cards to pay for the toll and road charge at the two border crossings into Johor by the end of the third quarter of 2024, allowing them to put aside their Touch ‘n Go stored-value cards. The government is in discussion with concessionaire Plus Expressways, which operates the road charge system at the Johor checkpoints at the Causeway and Second Link, to allow foreign visitors to use their internationally recognized credit and debit cards.
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S ‘pore startup Take App builds app to simplify WhatsApp ordering
Take App is an online ordering platform that helps small businesses streamline their ordering process through WhatsApp. To cater to business owners who may not be well-versed in technology, Youmin developed Take App with a user-friendly interface. The platform leverages the use of online menu websites and WhatsApp, eliminating the need for any app installations or complicated settings. Initially starting as a nonprofit to assist small restaurants in Singapore in accepting online orders, Kim discovered a significant opportunity to turn Take App into a commercial venture. In the early days of Take App, Youmin manually created order forms for a few restaurant owners who consistently uploaded their food options to Facebook groups. He shared the order form links in their Facebook group posts as comments and encouraged customers to use them to save time for the owners.
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43% of Singaporeans own cryptocurrency despite declining confidence
In Singapore, cryptocurrency ownership has increased to 43% from 40% in 2022, despite a hit in overall confidence on the difficult year the industry had in 2022, the 2023 Independent Reserve Cryptocurrency Index (IRCI) found. Singapore scored 55 on the IRCI this year out of 100, down from the 61 recorded last year. Nevertheless, 44% of Singaporeans hold at least 10% of cryptocurrency in their portfolio, where 46% invest up to $1, 000 per month on cryptocurrency. Despite the hit in confidence, long-term investors are seeing their persistence paying off —78% who have been in the market for five years or more saw the value of their cryptocurrency portfolio increase, while 40% of those who have invested in cryptocurrency for less than a year reported losses. 77% of investors hold two or more different cryptocurrencies. The primary reason for investing in cryptocurrency has shifted towards diversifying portfolios at 54%, a 10% rise from last year. Overall, 23% are investing more than $1, 000 per month in cryptocurrency, an increase of 4% from last year. Meanwhile, there has also been a significant surge in cryptocurrency ownership among the 46- to 55-year-old age group at 55% compared to 30% in 2022.
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New joint venture formed to deploy EV charging in S ‘pore and M'sia
Green technology solutions provider Yinson GreenTech, through its subsidiary Yinson EV Charge Pte Ltd, and LHN EVCO Pte Ltd announced a joint venture to deploy chargEV services and operate fast charging hubs in Singapore to provide cross-border charging capability. Through the agreement, users of the chargeEV app will now have access to charge hubs in Singapore, starting with its newly deployed charger in Ang Mo Kio, as well as its extensive network of 300 charging points in Malaysia with just one-step payment activation. By the end of 2023, Yinson GreenTech and LHN EVCO Pte Ltd aim to deploy five more charging points consisting DC chargers across Singapore. ―By partnering with LHN in launching the first cross-border charging network, we are reducing range anxiety for travel across Singapore and Malaysia, making the transition to electric vehicles easier. EV drivers from Singapore and Malaysia will now be able to travel seamlessly across the border using the chargEV app to access our rapidly expanding network of fast and reliable charging stations, said Erik Barclay, CEO of Yinson GreenTech.
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CHINA
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Baidu Hurries to Ready China’s First ChatGPT Equivalent Ahead of Launch
Baidu is racing to meet the deadline with the ChatGPT equivalent chatbot, still struggling to perform some basic functions. To develop the artificial-intelligence-powered chatbot, dubbed Ernie Bot, hundreds of people have been working around the clock. Other teams have been asked to lend their staff and their powerful computer chips, which Chinese companies can no longer buy because of U. S. sanctions. The AI model that is the basis of the chatbot is still being trained with data ahead of the scheduled launch. Baidu plans to roll out the product in stages, first opening it up for public testing to a restricted pool of users. Baidu said that it will embed Ernie Bot into its search engine first and will open it to the public in March. The rush reflects how Baidu is taking a calculated gamble to get ahead of Chinese rivals. A successful launch could help catapult the company, back into the ranks of China‘s most prominent technology companies.
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Xiaohongshu makes livestream shopping breakthrough with soft sell approach
Chinese social e-commerce app Xiaohongshu is gaining traction in the livestream shopping sector thanks to Chinese actress Dong Jie, who generated over RMB 30 million ($4. 3 million) in sales in a live stream, with many goods costing thousands of yuan per unit. Dong‘s success could give Xiaohongshu‘s livestream e-commerce business a significant boost, opening up a new revenue stream for the company. Many e-commerce platforms made their livestream shopping breakthrough through star hosts. Selling high-end fashion items, Dong‘s livestream style resonated well with Xiaohongshu‘s user base, which comprises mainly urban women with greater purchasing power. Although Dong has so far only streamed twice, she sold more than RMB 50 million and RMB 30 million worth of products during the two sessions, according to Xiaohongshu.
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Huize Partners with Ping An Health Insurance for Joint Launch of “Chang Xiang An”
Huize Holding Limited (HUIZ), a leading digital insurance product and service platform for new generation consumers in China, announced the signing of a new strategic partnership agreement with Ping An Health Insurance Company of China, Limited (“Ping An Health Insurance”). In addition, the two companies also announced the launch of ―Chang Xiang An , a cost-effective long-term medical insurance product customized to meet consumers‘ long-term protection needs. Compared with other offerings in its category, ―Chang Xiang An features strengthened protection in three key areas: (i) long-term protection: guaranteed policy renewals for 20 years to provide customers with peace of mind over the long run; (ii) designed for the entire household: with a maximum eligibility age of 70, discounts on family subscriptions, and family deductible benefits; and (iii) comprehensive healthcare management services: providing customers with full-spectrum health and medical protection through access to 20 major healthcare management services.
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CPN, WeChat Pay to attract Chinese
Central Pattana (CPN) is joining forces with WeChat Pay to stimulate Thai tourism, creating a seamless shopping experience for Chinese tourists. The company assesses high potential for the collaboration as CPN owns a variety of popular malls in key tourist destinations. WeChat Pay said it provides attractive exchange rates at selected CPN merchants at key malls, namely CentralWorld, Central Phuket, Central Pattaya, Central Chiangmai, Central Village, Central Samui Central Rama 9.
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ASIA
领英推荐
Companies in Asia willing to allocate up to 20% of their operating budgets to ESG efforts, with a focus on environmental projects
Managing climate risk continues to be a growing priority –and opportunity –for companies across Asia. On average, companies that viewed ESG as a high priority (83%) were prepared to allocate about 20% of their budget within the next three years towards environmental, social and governance (ESG) projects, up from about 18% currently. The online publication aims to pinpoint the challenges faced by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) across five key industries –real estate, mobility, F&B/hospitality, power, and agriculture –as well as the opportunities to enable their transition to a low-carbon economy. The findings were the result of an inaugural survey conducted in August last year of 800 SMEs across six markets in Asia. Environmental projects will take a lion‘s share of their sustainability investments, as nine in 10 believed that environmental factors would have the biggest impact on their respective industries. Access to funding and knowledge capital were also important drivers for businesses to engage in environmental initiatives.
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Philippine startup Enstack secures $3m to empower SMEs
Enstack, Southeast Asia‘s first SME superapp, provides SME‘s with an end-to-end app to manage their businesses, including multiple storefronts, inventory, and integrated payment and shipping solutions. ―Enstack‘s mission is to empower underserved SMEs with integrated tools that grant flexibility, in a business landscape that is shaping-up to be a combination of both online and offline commerce. The all-in-one superapp makes it simple for businesses to digitize regardless of what business they own and where they are in their entrepreneurial journey, said Macy Castillo, founder. Enstack was created to offer a superapp that fulfills the diverse needs of entrepreneurs across the region, making it easy for business owners to digitize, no matter what kind of business they own or where they are in their entrepreneurial journey. Enstack came out of beta last October, saw 5x growth in the fourth quarter of 2022, and is now expected to grow by another 10x by the end of the year.
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Shopee Malaysia offers personal loans to its users through SLoan digital financing
E-commerce firm Shopee Malaysia is now expanding its services to offer personal loans to its users. Sloan, a digital financing solution gives its users more financial flexibility to meet their needs and complement the way they manage their personal finances in an easy, convenient and secure manner, says Shopee Malaysia. SLoan helps Shopee sellers strengthen their short-term working capital and gives them a greater financial capacity to scale and grow their business. According to Shopee‘s frequently-asked-questions section, eligible Shopee sellers can obtain up to RM120, 000 in loan facility to grow their business with an interest rate of up to 18 per cent per annum. It also said that Shopee promises easy application and fast loan approval within 24 hours for eligible applicants. The new service also offers fast and secure repayment features through multi-channel payment platforms. Users can also opt for flexible loan tenures to fit their needs.
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Malaysia Airlines rolls out EnrichMoney Visa prepaid card
Malaysia Airlines has launched a new Visa prepaid card within its Enrich programme, EnrichMoney card. Just like AirAsia’s BigPay, EnrichMoney’s card is tied to the balance in the e-wallet that one will need to sign up for on the app, and it offers competitive exchange rates for travellers to spend overseas directly using the card. The Visa prepaid card is powered by Merchantrade Asia and includes a multi-currency e-wallet where one can buy, sell, and hold up to 20 different currencies. Malaysia Airlines promises that the card will offer the best exchange rates with no fees on overseas transactions, alongside the ability to lock or limit spending for security and impulse control. To get the card, you‘ll need to download the EnrichMoney app and sign up using an Enrich account, which you can register for if you don‘t already have one. You‘ll then have to verify yourself using your IC or passport and a selfie. There is a minimum reload amount of USD 22. 58 when one first signs up, although a USD 2. 26 issuance fee and USD 4. 52 refundable deposit (which one will get back if he cancels the card) will be deducted from the balance, leaving him with USD 15. 81.
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Strike enables quick money transfers from the US to Vietnam
Strike, a digital payments platform built on Bitcoin‘s Lightning Network, announced the launch of fast, secure, and low-cost money transfers from the US to Vietnam, further expanding its cross-border payment service. Strike has partnered with Getbit to enable lightning-fast transfers from US dollars that are received as local currency in a recipient‘s bank account in Vietnam, providing a low-cost and more efficient alternative to traditional remittance providers. Strike uses Bitcoin‘s Lightning Network to make digital payments faster, cheaper, and more accessible for people globally. With Send Globally, dollars are converted into bitcoin and sent via the Lightning Network to a third-party partner. That partner converts the bitcoin into local currency and sends the local currency directly to the recipient‘s bank. This way, the sender doesn‘t have exposure to bitcoin or worry about bitcoin‘s tax treatment or volatility, and the recipient simply receives their local currency directly into their account.
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VinAI Democratizes AI In Vietnam As Dr. Hung Bui Sails are set high
VinAIis one of the world‘s top 20 Artificial Intelligence research-based companies developing world-class products and services. VinAI has over 250 dedicated resources, of which over 200 are AI scientists, SW engineers, or AI interns. Their vision is to transform our state-of-the-art AI researchinto impactful technology solutions for the global market. The company‘s head office is located in Hanoi, Vietnam, with additional technology hubs across the US and Australia. It‘s strategic funding is from the VinGroup, one of the largest conglomerates in Asia, and they devote all their resources to turning innovative ideas into reality and building a better future for everyone. The creation of VinAI would be an immense challenge, but the end product would be worth it. Just about everything that we did at VinAI were first in Vietnam. Some of the specific challenges included:Set uncompromised world-class standards. Build and instill the culture of research and innovation –―yes we can invent it here . Solve the talent problem via a strategic hiring and training program designed to unlock the untapped local STEM talent pool. Identify and focus on problems commercially relevant to both the local and global market.
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Amazon-backed Acko nears $120 million in new funding(Techcrunch 03/29)
Insurtech Acko, is among the handful of startups attempting to take on India‘s antiquated insurance industry with a digital-first product. It develops and sells bite-sized auto insurance products (aimed at drivers and others in transportation-related scenarios), healthcare protectionsto employers, as well as protection for gadgets. The startup has distribution partnerships with a number of firms, including Amazon, travel and hotel booking platform MakeMyTrip, ride-hailing firm Ola, insurance giant Bajaj Finance, Urban Company, and fintech CRED.
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Group mulls anti-monopoly bill vs Grab, other companies working in transport sector
A network of digital advocates is urging the government to come up with anti-monopoly measures in order to prevent transport network vehicle service (TNVS) companies from controlling the whole transportation sector. Grab Philippines, a famous TNVS service, is currently offering ride hailing services for cars and taxis. In 2022, it acquired Move It —a motorcycle taxi service while offering tricycle-hailing services in five provinces. It also acquired the operations of its former competitor Uber in Southeast Asia. "If Grab ventured into the tricycle hailing service, what stops them from also going after buses, UV express service, jeepneysand even pedicabs, " according to Ronald Gustilo, national campaigner of Digital Pinoys. "While this possibility may seem good at first glance, it may actually lead into chaos on our roads as it will destroy competition in our public transportation system, "he added. Gustilo said this as pubic utility vehicles like traditional jeepneys and UV Express face possible phaseout by Dec. 31, 2023 should they fail to consolidate and join corporations or cooperatives, a move being done to push for their modernization into electric minibuses. Instead of better services for drivers and cheaper fares for passengers, the group claimed that Grab's acquisition of Uber actually "worsened" conditions, this while commiting numerous violations over alleged overpricing causing them to pay millions in fines and give credits to riders.
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HDFC Bank to launch revamped payments, banking application soon
HDFC Bank, India's largest private sector lender, will soon be launching its revamped mobile and internet banking platforms, besides a "better version" of its payments application –PayZapp. These launches are part of the bank's Digital 2. 0 initiative, withthe payments app aimed at directly competing with PhonePe and Google Pay -the top two third-party application providers (TPAPs) in the UPI space. The bank is transforming its technology architecture by making it more cloud native so that it can be scaledon demand. "We will soon introduce a better version of the app, which is a significant step-up from the current version. For example, it will allow card payments on the same app.
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Crunchfish partners with IDFC FIRST Bank to demonstrate offline retail payments in RBI's pilot
IDFC FIRST Bank is set to be a part of RBI's pilot project to enable offline payments. This project will give access to digital payments even when there is no network. This unique digital payment solution was designed by Crunchfish for merchants and customers under the RBI's Regulatory Sandbox Program. This project will provide support for offline retail payments based on a Digital Cash platform to the payment ecosystem of India. IDFC FIRST Bank will be one of the first few banks to be a part of this pilot project by HDFC Bank. The application was approved by RBI to demonstrate offline payments between two banks. The Development and Demonstration Agreement which is a non-commercial agreement has now been signed to give IDFC First Bank access to the Digital Cash SDK. Commercial terms for deployment will be regulated in a Software License Agreement. IDFC FIRST Bank believes in providing customer first products and being a part of this pilot only resonates with the Bank's ethos. This solution will open up more customer base and regions for adoption of cashless digital payments.
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Shopee, PLDT, Smart upskill local sellers in partnership with Talavera, Nueva Ecija LGU
Shopee recently partnered with leading digital services provider PLDT and its wireless unit Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart), to educate local sellers endorsed by the local government unit (LGU) of Talavera, Nueva Ecija through Pilipinas: Aahon and Babangon, a learning caravan created byPLDT and Smart to help MSMEs expand their livelihood opportunities through technology. For this session, PLDT and Smart trained attendees on how to effectively take photos for their business, while Shopee helped the MSMEs in attendance learn how they can grow further by taking their business online. A Shopee seller was also present to share his experience growing his enterprise on the platform.
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Grab Philippines seeks 20, 000 additional driver slots
Grab Philippines, which is keen on expanding presence in the provinces, is seeking additional 20, 000 slots for transport network vehicle service (TNVS) as the initial allotment by the government has already been filled. The ride-hailing service provider was still lacking in terms of number of driver-partners, which has yet to reach the pre-pandemic level. Prior to the pandemic, Grab had about 65, 000 drivers on its platform. He need for more drivers plying the roads given the increasing demand for mobility with the further reopening of the economy. Apart from Metro Manila, they were looking forward to enlist more drivers in the regions, including Cebu and Davao. Grab is set to launchits services in Iloilo this week with 100 TNVS slots, Grab beefs up provincial network as demand rises. The super app operator previously shared its intent to allocate TNVS slots in Pampanga, Albay, Camarines Sur and Bacolod city. It is keen on expanding in Mindanao cities to fast-track digital transformation initiatives
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TripleA partners with ipaymy to support cryptocurrency payments
Singapore-based expense payment platform ipaymy has partnered with TripleA to support the commercial adoption of cryptocurrencies. The partnership will allow ipaymy's customers in Singapore to pay their rent, invoices, taxes, and employee salaries with cryptocurrencies, even if their recipient doesn't accept this form of payment. ipaymy leverages TripleA's white-label crypto solution in order to create a streamlined and simplified payment experience. To be specific, the system allows users to fund a payment through any crypto wallet while the recipient receives the payment directly into their bank account in fiat currency. In partnership with TripleA, ipaymy’s crypto payment solution allows users to benefit from a single, cost-effective transaction that ensures funds will always be settled to the recipient during the next business day. Each transaction is also accompanied by payment advice that aims to help with reconciliation and payments such as employee salaries and corporate taxes.
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Goldman on tokenization: we’re not allowed to issue on public blockchain
The benefits of tokenized bond issuance were discussed at the Crypto Assets Conference, with issuers represented by Siemens and kfw, investors by Union Investment, and Goldman Sachs discussing its DLT issuance platforms. While Siemens has issued a bond on a public blockchain, Goldman’s DLT solution is underpinned by a private blockchain. According to Mathew McDermott, head of Digital Assets at Goldman, most of the development from the U. S. banks will be on private blockchain for safety and soundness reasons. That said, McDermott acknowledged the velocity, speed and low cost of transacting on a public blockchain, particularly a layer 2 solution. That was one of the reasons for Goldman’s digital assets platform design. It has a smart contract layer where the transaction activity happens, but the final settlement is on the underlying blockchain. And that’s ‘currently’ a private blockchain. Ramin Ghafari, head of Financial Technologies at Siemens Treasury, had a different perspective. In February, Siemens issued a €60 million bond on the Polygon public blockchain, which is a side chain of Ethereum. He said the Siemens Treasury is keen to be independent of individual banks, so locking into the platform of a single bank would not be ideal for him. The Siemens issuance used Germany’s forward-leaning eWpG legislation. That meant there was no central security depositary. And Union Investment revealed that it invested directly in the Siemens bond rather than going via a bank. The transaction also benefited from shorter settlement times of T+1 rather than T+7. The lower cost also meant that Union gets an additional 15 basis point on a one year bond.
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Blockchain startup Fetch.?ai grabs $40M to provide monetization and other tooling for AI-generated information
AI is riding high on a curve of hype, which means some of the practical questions that might grow louder over time — the many costs (financial and social), the business models — may not be the most front of mind right now. Today a startup called Fetch. ai is announcing $40 million in funding in anticipation of when that shifts. Fetch. ai, says it is building tooling that focuses on “autonomous agents, network infrastructure, and decentralised machine learning” that help enable communication and actions between AI applications, the idea being to make the work produced by them more actionable. CEO Humayun Sheikh said in an interview that he also believes there is a role for Fetch. ai to play in the creation of learning models, providing a more equitable and traceable approach to AI by way of distributed ledgers for entities to feed data into those models. The startup also has plans to build services to take results from applications powered by generative AI and to turn them into transactions. For example, asking a chatbot for the best flights from London to Istanbul might in the future not just be a list of flights and prices, but results sorted and personalized to how you prefer to travel. Fetch. ai wants to provide the tools to actually connect those results with the purchase of tickets. And those purchases, Sheikh said, will be made with FET tokens, the native currency on its blockchain.
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Coinbase says it's working on 'flatcoins'- stablecoins that track the rate of inflation
In a recent blog post, Coinbase encouraged developers to work on inflation-linked "flatcoins. " The tokens will enable users to "have stability in purchasing power while also having resiliency from the economic uncertainty caused by the legacy financial system. The crypto exchange said that it's made the inflation-pegged tokens one of its four main priorities for Base, a network it launched last month where developers can build decentralized blockchain applications. Coinbase's other priorities for its Base network are to develop blockchain-based reputation and limited order book systems and to build tools that make the decentralized finance (DeFi) space safer. Aside from Coinbase, Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio is another big name who had previously backed the idea of a flatcoin. Dalio sees flatcoin as an alternative to bonds that pay out a yield in line with inflation.
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Emperia outfits Tommy Hilfiger with cross-metaverse virtual hub
Premium lifestyle brand Tommy Hilfiger today launched a cross-metaverse virtual hub in partnership with 3D technology and virtual reality (VR) platform provider Emperia. As part of the launch, the retailer is simultaneously unveiling several virtual experiences across various platforms, including Decentraland, Roblox, Spatial, DressX and Ready Player Me. To simplify the process of navigating among these virtual worlds, the Emperia platform will provide a central hub to easily move in and out of each experience. As today’s metaverse distribution requires placement on multiple non-integrating platforms, companies face special challenges in assuring consistent branding. Emperia’s interoperable approach, as in its collaboration with Tommy Hilfiger, bridges the gap and enables multi-world experiences to be integrated into brands’ Web3 and ecommerce strategies. Emperia’s dataset capabilities would also allow granular insights into the user journey and engagement across different metaverse experiences, enabling a cross-data approach that was never offered before.
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NVIDIA and Microsoft to bring metaverse and AI to the public
NVIDIA and Microsoft have partnered to provide Microsoft enterprise users with access to industrial metaverse and AI supercomputing capabilities via the cloud. Under the agreement, NVIDIA will host two new cloud services on Microsoft Azure: the first is the Omniverse Cloud platform as-a-service, which provides immediate access to a full-stack environment to design, develop, deploy, and manage industrial metaverse applications; the second is the NVIDIA DGXTM Cloud, an AI supercomputing service that provides businesses with immediate access to the infrastructure and software needed to train advanced models for generative AI and other types of AI.
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Microsoft is building a cryptocurrency wallet into its Edge browser
Microsoft is building a cryptocurrency wallet for its Edge browser even as the crypto markets struggle, according to sources familiar with Microsoft’s plans. Microsoft’s description of the crypto wallet says it has “simplified experiences that make Web3 easier to interact with” and that it has “integrated security features to protect you from unsecure addresses or apps. ”?Microsoft Edge will advertise the ability to purchase cryptocurrency from Coinbase and MoonPay through the built-in crypto wallet. It will also include the ability to connect decentralized apps to the wallet feature and support collecting and storing non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
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7 个月I need money exchanger they exchange hongkong dollar to RMB