Shopify changes its compensation practices to let staff choose a mix of cash, restricted stock units, and stock options; Shopify stock is down 75% in 2022 (Stefanie Marotta/Bloomberg)

Stefanie Marotta / Bloomberg:
Shopify changes its compensation practices to let staff choose a mix of cash, restricted stock units, and stock options; Shopify stock is down 75% in 2022  —  Shopify Inc. is changing its compensation practices to let staff decide how much of their pay will be cash versus equity …

Unsealed court docs in a privacy user profiling suit against Meta show that apps from Zynga, Yahoo, and others had extensive access to users' friends' data (Natasha Lomas/TechCrunch)

Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:
Unsealed court docs in a privacy user profiling suit against Meta show that apps from Zynga, Yahoo, and others had extensive access to users' friends' data  —  It's not the crime, it's the cover up... The scandal-hit company formerly known as Facebook has fought for over four years to keep …

Sources: BeReal is exploring adding paid features to avoid advertising; the app now has 15M DAUs, up from 10K in March 2021, and is now valued at ~$600M (Financial Times)

Financial Times:
Sources: BeReal is exploring adding paid features to avoid advertising; the app now has 15M DAUs, up from 10K in March 2021, and is now valued at ~$600M  —  Photo-sharing app BeReal is exploring the addition of in-app payments for extra features to avoid Instagram-style advertising …

US DOJ forms the Digital Asset Coordinators Network with 150+ federal prosecutors across the country to target illegal activities involving digital currencies (Dustin Volz/Wall Street Journal)

Dustin Volz / Wall Street Journal:
US DOJ forms the Digital Asset Coordinators Network with 150+ federal prosecutors across the country to target illegal activities involving digital currencies  —  New effort is part of trend toward putting more resources to target illegal activities involving digital currencies

US SEC's crypto guidelines push up costs for lenders, disrupting projects

Banks' cryptocurrency projects have been upended by US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accounting guidance that would make it too capital-intensive for lenders to hold crypto tokens on behalf of clients, according to more than half a dozen people with knowledge of the matter. https://ift.tt/cQZtwyq

Celsius files for permission to sell its stablecoin holdings

Bankrupt crypto lender Celsius Network , filed a request for sale of its stablecoin holdings, in a bid to generate liquidity to fund its operations. https://ift.tt/n8IPRml

Lina Khan-led FTC to stop gig platforms from harming delivery boys

The Lina Khan-led Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in the US has announced a new policy to tame gig economy companies and platforms in order to protect all kinds of delivery partners/online cab drivers from unfair contracts, pay and hours. https://ift.tt/u9OLo3p

Tencent fires entire editorial staff at gaming publication Fanbyte

Chinese conglomerate Tencent has laid off all of the editorial staff at Fanbyte, an online gaming publication owned by it. https://ift.tt/DiayqYh

Apple iPhone 14 comes to Blinkit, promises delivery in minutes in these cities

Apple reseller Unicorn Info solutions has partnered with Zomato-owned quick-commerce platform Blinkit to deliver Apple iPhone 14 series in India. The company is promising to deliver the latest-gneration iPhones in minutes. https://ift.tt/bC9aIuc

Former TikTok and ByteDance staff say TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew's power is limited, with ByteDance's founder and other executives making most decisions (New York Times)

New York Times:
Former TikTok and ByteDance staff say TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew's power is limited, with ByteDance's founder and other executives making most decisions  —  Shou Zi Chew, TikTok's chief executive, is balancing how to be an autonomous leader while juggling the demands of the app's Chinese parent company.

Chinese loan apps under scanner: ED freezes funds worth over Rs 46 crore from payment gateway accounts

The searches were launched on September 14 at multiple premises of the accused in Delhi, Mumbai, Ghaziabad, Lucknow and Gaya. Sixteen premises of banks and payment gateways in Delhi, Gurugram, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jodhpur and Bengaluru in respect of an investigation related to an app-based token named HPZ and related entities were also covered, the federal agency said in a statement. https://ift.tt/gS8BZ0D

Samsung may launch the flagship Galaxy S23 series in February 2023

The company is expected to launch three new smartphones under the Samsung Galaxy S23 series which will include -- the Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23+, and the Galaxy S23 Ultra. The company seems to be on track with the early next year release window as the battery that is likely to be used for the Galaxy S23+ has already been listed in a certification database. https://ift.tt/IpW3cOq

A look at Shanghai's status as China's chip hub: SMIC and SMEE making 14nm and 90nm chips, ~$36.95B market size in 2021 or ~25% of China's total, and more (Jiaxing Li/South China Morning Post)

Jiaxing Li / South China Morning Post:
A look at Shanghai's status as China's chip hub: SMIC and SMEE making 14nm and 90nm chips, ~$36.95B market size in 2021 or ~25% of China's total, and more  —  Shanghai is styling itself as China's semiconductor highland with the city now accounting for one quarter of the country's semiconductor value output …

How signing documents may get easier during Microsoft Teams meetings

According to Windows Central, the application lets users add a document to a meeting for attendees to sign, such as a purchase agreement, invoice, or NDA. https://ift.tt/vMfFeLh

Crypto market maker Portofino, founded by former Citadel Securities executives, emerges from stealth with $50M from Peter Thiel's Valar Ventures and others (Tom Matsuda/The Block)

Tom Matsuda / The Block:
Crypto market maker Portofino, founded by former Citadel Securities executives, emerges from stealth with $50M from Peter Thiel's Valar Ventures and others  —  - Former Citadel Securities execs Leonard Lancia and Alex Casimo have raised $50 million as they launch crypto market maker Portofino Technologies.