The most significant event in the history of the Bitcoin (BTC) blockchain – the Halving event – is now slated for April 2024, implying that it is exactly a year away. While the timeline for this event is often known beforehand, the fact that April is here has increased the seriousness of the tracking of the halving event.

Halving is a network event in which the reward scheme being awarded to the miners in the Proof-of-Work (PoW) system that powers the Bitcoin blockchain is reduced by half. At present, the reward is pegged at 6.25 per block, and by the next halving which coincides with Block 740,000, the reward will be slashed to 3.125.

This reduction implies a deflationary tendency in the Bitcoin protocol and it further elongates the timeline that the 21,000,000 total BTC supply will be produced. 

Industry Response to Bitcoin Halving

Many experts in the crypto marketplace consider Bitcoin Halving as a very significant event that solidifies the technological narrative being championed by the world’s largest digital currency by market capitalization.

In line with the forthcoming Bitcoin Halving, Mike McGlone, the Bloomberg Intelligence Senior Commodity Strategist has described the year 2024 as a very significant one for the BTC blockchain. According to the market veteran, there is a high certainty that there will be a convincing global recession by next year, and when the time comes, the attractive appeal of Bitcoin will be recognized by institutional investors.

“Importantly, what prevents that trajectory? In the bigger picture of these $10,000 moves being in play, I think well that a significant amount of bitcoin now could make you lose your hair,” McGlone said in a statement. “The bottom line is that astute…

Italy has become the first Western nation to officially ban the artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT over privacy concerns. The European country seeks to launch an investigation regarding suspected breaches of its data privacy rules. This investigation would also ascertain whether the OpenAI chatbot complied with General Data Protection Regulation.

On Friday, the Italian data-protection authority called for the suspension of ChatGPT following a March 20th platform breach. According to the Data Protection Authority (GDDP), a user’s data was exposed to another user via the AI chatbot.

Amid allegations that ChatGPT breached at least one user’s conversations and payment information, the GDDP also raised another pressing issue. The Italian data watchdog pointed out that information regarding the data compiled by OpenAI is inadequate. In a press release, the security watchdog said:

“The Privacy Guarantor observes the lack of information to users and all interested parties whose data are collected by OpenAI, but above all, the absence of a legal basis that justifies the collection and massive storage of personal data, to “train” the algorithms underlying the operation of the platform.”

Furthermore, the GDDP pointed out that ChatGPT-rendered information does not always reflect real data. The agency concluded that the chatbot could be inaccurate in processing personal data.

Italy ChatGPT Ban Comes as Data Watchdog Alleges Chatbot Lacks Filter for Verifying User Age

The GDDP also alluded to how ChatGPT may have breached its own data protection rules. The Italian data watchdog explained that although the chatbot has age limitations, it lacks a filter for verifying user age. This operational deficiency implies that those below the age-13 limit could be exposed to age-inappropriate answers.

Following the ChatGPT ban in Italy, the GDDP…

Elon Musk reportedly plans to visit China in April to meet with the country’s Premier Li Qiang. However, inside sources explained that the timing of Musk’s visit remains subject to Li Qiang’s availability. 

The Elon Musk trip to China would be the first time the Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) CEO would visit the East Asian nation since Covid. Musk last visited China when President Xi Jinping was still serving his second term as leader of the world’s second-largest economy. Xi Jinping secured a third five-year term as China’s president earlier this month. 

Musk’s planned China trip comes amid increasing tensions between Beijing and Washington. The Tesla CEO is in the middle of this diplomatic strife because China houses the EV maker’s largest manufacturing facility. The prominent East Asian country is also Tesla’s largest market outside the United States. 

The exact Purpose of Musk’s China Visit Remains Unknown

By meeting with Li, a senior government official and close ally of President Xi Jinping, Musk seeks a realignment of personal interests. Beijing recently shored up efforts to revitalize foreign investments in China following more than two years of Covid-triggered restrictions. 

Reports did not officially state the purpose of Musk’s trip to China or what he intends to discuss with Li. However, speculations suggest that Musk and Li’s meeting could address the benefits of a potential foreign investment between both parties. 

Musk and Li met before at the 2019 opening of Tesla’s Shanghai plant when the latter was still party secretary of Shanghai City. Then, Li was instrumental in constructing and opening the city’s manufacturing plant, which is now Tesla’s production hub. 

In 2020, Musk and Li met again, albeit virtually, when they participated in an online forum. At the time, the Tesla boss expressed…

Brian Armstrong, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of American publicly traded crypto exchange Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ: COIN) has come out to kick against the call to stop the development of ChatGPT, the chatbot developed by OpenAI.

Armstrong took to his Twitter page to dissociate himself from the call for the halt as he noted that for advancement to be made, fear must not be allowed to prevail over innovation.

“Count me among the people who think this is a bad idea,” Brian Armstrong wrote in a recent tweet, in response to a call by more than 1,500 tech leaders signing an Open letter calling for at least a 6-month moratorium in the development of further Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions.

“There are no ‘experts’ to adjudicate this issue, and many disparate actors will never agree. Committees and bureaucracy won’t solve anything,” Armstrong added.

Armstrong’s position is understandable because he was among the core pioneers of the crypto exchange business in the US. Even after more than a decade, the technology underpinning the marketplace he runs is still experiencing skepticism and rebuff from regulators, lawmakers, and some members of the public.

As a pro-new technology-focused veteran, Armstrong’s Coinbase has started testing the use of ChatGPT to determine a token’s security review. Being an adept user, Armstrong supports the school of thought that the good being churned out by AI solutions far outweighs the bad.

“As with many technologies, there are dangers, but we should keep marching forward with progress because the good outweighs the bad. The marketplace of ideas leads to better outcomes than central planning,” he said, adding, “Don’t ever let fear stop progress, and be wary of anyone trying to capture control in some central authority.”

ChatGPT: Experts Disagree with Coinbase CEO

Though the…

Alibaba Group Holding and JD.com are reportedly involved in developments that could revive the long-dormant tech IPO landscape in China. Both tech giants are setting plans to float initial public offerings in the East Asian nation. These developments, three expected 2023 monumental Chinese debuts, could prop up the country’s flailing tech industry and reshape Hong Kong’s stock market.

Alibaba’s logistics arm, Cainiao Network Technology, recently initiated talks with banks regarding a public offering. In addition, two JD subsidiaries also recently filed for first-time share sales on Thursday. According to inside sources, the three expected listings could generate around $5 billion, or 6.6 Singaporean dollars.

The China tech IPO developments stoke hopes that the prominent Asian economy seeks to unlock its private sector potential. Furthermore, the Chinese tech IPO revival also ends a drought following the suspension of Ant Group’s record IPO last year. Additionally, the welcome development is a full-circle moment for Beijing after it cracked down on internet tech giants in 2021. This crackdown included tight regulatory sanctions on companies such as Alibaba and Tencent, as well as stiff requirements for foreign listings.

Analyst Comments on China Tech IPO Development

Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Catherine discussed China’s openness to inducing tech public listings this year, saying:

“(It) indicates Beijing’s support for more buoyant capital market activities within China’s tech sector ahead. This should help lift overall market sentiment and anticipation for the listing of other mammoth companies within the sector.”

Several Chinese tech companies have resubmitted listing applications for Hong Kong in the past week. These include logistics giant Lalatech Holdings, fitness app Keep, as well as social media…

Chinese technology corporation Huawei posted its biggest annual decline in profit in 2022. The company said it has never experienced such a decline in yearly profit as it did last year. According to Huawei, the annual profit decline was due to the strict pandemic controls in China that affected many companies. Notably, Chinese businesses across different sectors felt the impact of the US sanctions and control measures as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Huawei Sees Lowest Decline in Annual Profit

According to the manufacturing company, the annual profit declined 69% YoY to $35.6 billion yuan ($5.18 billion). These figures are the lowest since 2011 when the company fell 54% year-over-year. Notably, the sale of the Honor smartphone brand added to the manufacturer’s 2021 big pup in profit. Apart from the pandemic controls and US sanctions, Huawei blamed rising commodity prices and increased expenses on research and development for the huge annual profit decline.

Speaking at the company’s annual report press conference, Huawei’s Rotating Chairman Eric Xu, noted:

“In 2022, a challenging external environment and non-market factors continued to take a toll on Huawei’s operations. In the midst of this storm, we kept racing ahead, doing everything in our power to maintain business continuity and service our customers. We also went to great lengths to grow the harvest – generating a steady stream of revenue to sustain our survival and lay the groundwork for future development.”

The company’s chief financial officer Sabrina Meng said the overall business tallied with forecasts despite the annual profit decline. The CFO stated that the liability ratio was 58.9% while the net cash balance was 176.3 billion yuan. She mentioned the balance of the total asset that reached 1 trillion yuan, claiming that Huawei’s financial position remains…

The European arm of FTX, FTX EU, has just opened a new website where customers in Europe may lay claims to their lost funds. The move, which is meant to give relief to customers, comes four months after the large-scale collapse of the FTX exchange in November.

FTX EU Bags Regulatory Approval to Launch

According to a Finance Magnates report, the new website was approved by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC). However, the website will be focused solely on helping affected customers to claim their FIAT balances from before the collapse. This means that the platform will not be offering any other products or services as it did before. In a statement, FTX EU said partly:

“The website will only be used for all FTX EU LTD clients to be able to claim their FIAT balances.”

The idea behind the new website is simple and expected to go without much of a hassle. This is because, while the platform serves users in the Europe Economic Area and the Middle East, it only launched seven months before FTX collapsed. Therefore, there is an expectation that the number of users that will submit withdrawal requests will not be so large.

It is also worth mentioning that FTX continues to find various ways to ease its customers’ pains. Another of its subsidiaries, FTX Japan similarly allowed the withdrawal of funds totaling about $50 million just last month.

CySEC directed FTX EU to halt all its operations on November 9, 2022. At the time, the regulator cited reasons bordering on customer protection and asked the firm to proceed immediately with some actions. Two days later, however, Coinspeaker reported that the global FTX Group and its 130 affiliates eventually filed for bankruptcy.

FTX Europe was headquartered in Switzerland in the short period it operated. According to CySEC, the firm was only approved to carry out investment services which can be in the form of derivatives or other…

OpenAI, the fast-growing Artificial Intelligence (AI) startup behind the popular platform, ChatGPT may be welcoming a probe from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for the violation of section five of the FTC Act that targets deceptive and unfair practices. The probe might be triggered following a formal complaint filed by the Center for AI and Digital Policy.

“The FTC has a clear responsibility to investigate and prohibit unfair and deceptive trade practices,” the center’s founder and president, Marc Rotenberg, said in a statement. “We believe that the FTC should look closely at OpenAI and GPT-4.”

That ChatGPT has taken the center stage in AI discourse is not an exaggeration as the platform scored more than 100 million users within the first few months of its release. The recently launched GPT-4 is even more advanced, however, there have been complaints about the application giving false answers.

The basis of the complaints and Section Five that was violated posited that OpenAI employed deceptive tactics to market its product to consumers and sniff out the competition. This complaint may even get more defined attention from the regulator who updated its terms recently, calling on firms like OpenAI to desist from inflating their capabilities.

In addition, the FTC wants all the potential risks to be explored by the developers of AI programs.

“You need to know about the reasonably foreseeable risks and impact of your AI product before putting it on the market,” the agency wrote. “If something goes wrong—maybe it fails or yields biased results—you can’t just blame a third-party developer of the technology. And you can’t say you’re not responsible because that technology is a ‘black box’ you can’t understand or didn’t know…

The Cardano blockchain has been recently working its way to becoming the top EVM chain in the crypto space. Milkomeda co-founder Sebastien Guillemot recently announced that the development can happen as early as next month.

This is because Milkomeda is introducing a new feature that would allow Cardano users to use any EVM contract directly from any Cardano wallet, and all within ADA. Thus, developer Guillemot added that Cardano is set to become one of the largest EVM networks in terms of user base.

Furthermore, Milkomeda plans to launch staking rewards for all EVM users, including the developers of the smart contracts. Thus, it will also make Cardano the largest EVM-compatible chain having a full operational staking rewards system. Guillemot has also invited those interested in building on Cardano’s EVM layer and receive rewards for five days. He wrote:

“Not only this, but it will be the largest EVM chain with staking rewards fully operational! Milkomeda (@Milkomeda_com) is soon enabling staking rewards for all EVM users, including smart contract developers Build in Cardano’s EVM layer and get paid automatically every 5 days!”

However, some users have expressed discontent with this development on Cardano adding that it leads to questioning the validity and the uniqueness of the Cardano blockchain as a standalone blockchain network.

Cardano Users Can Access Ethereum dApps

Amid the current development from Milkomeda, Cardano users will soon be able to access Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) contracts directly from the Cardano wallets.

An Ethereum Virtual Machine basically refers to an environment wherein all Ethereum accounts and smart contracts can live together and work as a mutual computer used by developers for creating decentralized applications (dapps).

Deploying EVM on other blockchains would allow developers to build…

Aircraft engineering company Virgin Orbit Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: VORB) has revealed plans to halt operations after failing to secure a funding lifeline as expected. The company’s CEO, Dan Hart, relayed the unfortunate news to employees on Thursday, adding that there would be a massive layoff. Before the move to halt operations, there were words on the street that Virgin Orbit was expecting a $200 million investment from venture capital investor Matthew Brown. Reuter cited a term sheet that shows that the company was about to close a deal with the investor via a private share placement.

Virgin Orbit Moves to Halt Operations Amid Financial Crisis

The news came to light while Virgin Orbit was on the verge of going bankrupt. Hence, the expected capital was crucial to the company’s survival as it is in its most challenging financial mess since its inception. The firm recorded an almost $44 million loss in the third quarter. During the same period, its cash reserve plunged from $122 million to $71 million. In addition to the expected investment from Brown, there were rumors that Virgin Orbit was discussing with two restructuring firms for financing. The said firms are Ducera and Alvarez & Marsal (A&M).

However, all efforts to secure a funding lifeline have proved abortion for Virgin Orbit, who has resorted to halting all operations. The CEO revealed that the company could not secure the funding that would have provided “a clear path” out of the current financial situation. During an all-hands meeting, he explained that Virgin Orbit is left with no choice but to halt operations and “implement immediate, dramatic, and extremely painful changes.”

As a result of the “painful changes,” Virgin Orbit is dismissing almost all of its workers. The company will fire all but 100 positions. The…