Tuesday, January 16, 2024

Coinbase offering custody, trading, and financing to a majority of bitcoin ETF issuers, including BlackRock, poses concentration risk and may intensify scrutiny (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg:
Coinbase offering custody, trading, and financing to a majority of bitcoin ETF issuers, including BlackRock, poses concentration risk and may intensify scrutiny  —  - Coinbase provides custody, trading, financing for ETF issuers  — Arrangements pose concentration risk, may intensify scrutiny



A PwC survey of 4,702 CEOs ahead of Davos: 25% expect generative AI to lead to up to 5% headcount cuts, 46% expect GenAI to boost profits in 12 months, and more (Sam Fleming/Financial Times)

Sam Fleming / Financial Times:
A PwC survey of 4,702 CEOs ahead of Davos: 25% expect generative AI to lead to up to 5% headcount cuts, 46% expect GenAI to boost profits in 12 months, and more  —  Impact of cutting-edge AI tools on work and society set to dominate discussions at World Economic Forum in Davos



Vodafone and Microsoft agree to a 10-year, $1.5B deal to develop AI, digital payments, IoT, and other businesses; Vodafone will use OpenAI for customer service (Thomas Seal/Bloomberg)

Thomas Seal / Bloomberg:
Vodafone and Microsoft agree to a 10-year, $1.5B deal to develop AI, digital payments, IoT, and other businesses; Vodafone will use OpenAI for customer service  —  - Microsoft also plans to invest in Vodafone's IoT spinout  — Vodafone will also use OpenAI technology in $1.5 billion deal



Monday, January 15, 2024

After NFT sales dropped 63% YoY to $8.7B in 2023, OpenSea CEO Devin Finzer talks OpenSea 2.0, set to offer improved differentiation between NFT categories (Hannah Miller/Bloomberg)

Hannah Miller / Bloomberg:
After NFT sales dropped 63% YoY to $8.7B in 2023, OpenSea CEO Devin Finzer talks OpenSea 2.0, set to offer improved differentiation between NFT categories  —  - NFTs have lagged behind Bitcoin in crypto resurgence  — OpenSea CEO Devin Finzer said more use cases for NFTs are here



Apple's September 2023 change to how its Podcasts app automatically downloaded episodes has dramatically curtailed download numbers for some podcasts (Max Tani/Semafor)

Max Tani / Semafor:
Apple's September 2023 change to how its Podcasts app automatically downloaded episodes has dramatically curtailed download numbers for some podcasts  —  Apple has quietly tightened its reporting of how many people listen to podcasts, sending shock waves through an embattled audio industry still reeling …



Switzerland-based SoftwareOne, which advises companies on cloud strategies, rejects Bain's $3.5B takeover, ending months of back-and-forth; SWON.SW drops 10%+ (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg:
Switzerland-based SoftwareOne, which advises companies on cloud strategies, rejects Bain's $3.5B takeover, ending months of back-and-forth; SWON.SW drops 10%+  —  - Bain had offered the equivalent of 18.8 Swiss francs per share  — Company has been in negotiations with Bain for several months



Sources: the US State Department ordered embassies to push back against foreign influence campaigns, as officials worry anti-US views are taking root worldwide (New York Times)

New York Times : Sources: the US State Department ordered embassies to push back against foreign influence campaigns, as officials worry ...