Breaking: Telegram CEO Pavel Durov allegedly arrested in France

August 24, 2024 Coin Telegraph

Arrest

Reports are trickling in via social media, but so far, we haven’t seen any official confirmation.

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has allegedly been arrested in France on numerous charges related to his operation of the social messaging platform. This comes according to unconfirmed accounts via social media and unverified press reports.

According to the reports, Durov was arrested when his plane landed at the Bourget airport outside Paris. He allegedly faces charges of terrorism, trafficking, conspiracy, fraud, money laundering, and more.

In the wake of the reported, yet still unconfirmed, arrest, the TON cryptocurrency developed by Telegram has taken a more than 10 percent dip from its early Aug. 24 high of $6.86 to $6.07 as of the time of this article’s publication.

India Strikes Crypto Exchange Bybit: Major Fine Issued, Website Blocked

DNA computing breakthrough could turn living cells into functioning blockchains

August 24, 2024 Coin Telegraph

Blockchain

Scientists built a DNA computer capable of playing chess.

In the not-so-far future it may be possible to run entire computer networks inside of living cells thanks to a recent breakthrough in molecular computing from scientists in the US.

According to research published on Aug 22., a team of scientists at North Carolina State University and Johns Hopkins University have built a functional DNA computer.

As Cointelegraph previously reported, DNA storage has been around for a while. But this may be the world’s first functional molecular computer capable of conducting both storage and compute functions via DNA — instead of using electricity, like regular desktop computers and smartphones.

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Big tech is prepping an explosive pivot to robotics

August 24, 2024 Coin Telegraph

artificial intelligence

The ten most valuable tech firms in the world are all involved in developing technology for the robotics industry.

The next big thing in the technology industry appears to be consumer robotics and there could be massive implications for both Main Street and Wall Street.

An analysis of the top ten tech firms in the world by market capitalization, their 2024 performance to-date, and what we’ve been able to glean about their current budgets indicates that big tech is ready to move beyond chatbots.

There are currently countless robots in the world. They’re used to build cars, stitch clothing, and even handle nuclear materials. But these specialized machines are purpose-built to perform specific tasks and typically not available or even useful to the average person.

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US, African Nations Discuss Responsible AI Use in Military Applications

August 24, 2024 Bitcoin.com

The United States is urging countries to collaborate on the responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) in military applications. A senior State Department official, Mallory Stewart, emphasized the need for countries to agree on AI guidelines that align with international laws. Concerns about the potential negative consequences of AI in military applications, such as prolonged […]

India Strikes Crypto Exchange Bybit: Major Fine Issued, Website Blocked

Elon Musk’s Twitter buyout is going so poorly that banks had to issue pay cuts

August 22, 2024 Coin Telegraph

Banks

The “hung” loans have led to bankers calling it the worst buyout since 2008.

There have been thousands of corporate buyouts in the 14 years since the 2008 banking crisis. And, according to the banks holding the loans, none of them have been worse than Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter.

A report from the Wall Street Journal indicates that approximately $13 billion in loans used in the purchase of Twitter (now X) are stuck on banks’ balance sheets.

The typical practice for this type of debt financing is for banks to sell that debt to other investors. Since X is a private company, this practice allows investors who weren’t involved in the initial financing phase to become stakeholders.

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Skyfire launches blockchain payment network that lets AI spend your money

August 21, 2024 Coin Telegraph

artificial intelligence

The company is currently focused on B2B, but there are countless potential applications for consumers.

Blockchain development firm Skyfire recently launched a payment platform that allows artificial intelligence agents to spend money autonomously.

Helmed by former Ripple VP of products and services Amir Sarhangi, the company’s platform makes it possible for a business to give a pre-loaded wallet to an AI agent. The company’s protocol converts the cash into USD Coin (USDC). When the agent’s task involves payment, the platform handles the conversions, thus enabling autonomous payment agents.

An AI agent is, for lack of a better term, a “bot” that’s designed to carry out a certain task. Examples include AI agents that monitor inventories across multiple sites in order to autonomously generate orders, or bot that monitors sale prices across multiple online marketplaces.

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Babylon Launches Trustless Bitcoin Staking Protocol on Mainnet

August 20, 2024 Bitcoin.com

babylon

Babylon has launched its bitcoin staking protocol on mainnet, marking a significant step in integrating Bitcoin’s security into proof-of-stake (PoS) ecosystems. The launch is set to provide bitcoin holders with new staking opportunities, leveraging the network’s decentralized nature. Bitcoin Staking Protocol by Babylon Goes Live Babylon‘s mainnet launch introduces a staking protocol that allows bitcoin […]

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Solana ETF ‘still in play’ despite Cboe filing removal — VanEck exec

August 19, 2024 Coin Telegraph

bitcoin etf

VanEck is still advocating for its Solana ETF with regulators, said Matthew Sigel.

Asset manager VanEck’s plans for a Solana exchange-traded fund (ETF) are “still in play” despite the removal of Cboe Global Markets’ regulatory filing proposing to list the fund on its exchange, according to an X post by Matthew Sigel, VanEck’s head of digital assets research.

“Some have noticed that the 19b-4 for the VanEck Solana ETF has been removed from the CBOE website,” Sigel said, adding:

On July 9, national securities exchange Cboe filed a request with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission seeking to list VanEck’s and 21Shares’ planned SOL (SOL) ETFs and asking the SEC to make a final decision by March. The filing is referred to as a 19b-4 and is distinct from the S-1s filed by issuers.

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EigenLayer’s EigenDA touts 10x cut in data prices

August 19, 2024 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

The data availability protocol is also introducing a "free tier."

EigenDA, EigenLayer’s data availability protocol, has cut prices for its service by 10x and introduced a ‘free tier’, according to an Aug. 19 EigenLayer blog post.

EigenDA is a “data availability layer” operating on EigenLayer’s Ether (ETH) restaking platform designed to reduce the costs of storing and accessing onchain data for Ethereum’s layer-2 scaling chains. The price cut comes as EigenDA is pushing to onboard more layer-2s to its platform, which launched in April.

EigenDA’s mission is to make “reliable, scalable, and secure data availability (‘DA’) abundant,” according to the blog post. “In pursuit of this goal, and enabled by the scalability of its design, EigenDA strives to be the most price-performant DA solution.”

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Tokenized RWAs are ’a $30 trillion opportunity’ — Polygon exec

August 19, 2024 Coin Telegraph

Tokenized RWAs are ’a trillion opportunity’ — Polygon exec

Coin Telegraph

High-net-worth individuals and private equity funds will drive adoption, said Colin Butler.

Tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) represent a $30 trillion market opportunity globally, Colin Butler, Polygon’s global head of institutional capital, told Cointelegraph in an interview.

Adoption will largely be driven by high-net-worth individuals dramatically increasing portfolio allocations to alternative assets — such as private credit — as tokenization brings liquidity and accessibility to historically illiquid asset classes.

“The idea is that there are $300 trillion in global assets, half of which—$100 trillion—are owned by individuals with net worths between $1 million and $30 million” whose portfolio allocations to alternative assets are often negligible, Butler said.

Technology