Our favourite stories from around the web today.
1. Burnt Banksy launches XION blockchain, with USDC as primary currency
Burnt Banksy announced the launch of XION’s mainnet, “the first blockchain purpose-built for mainstream adoption and the first to use USDC, a fully-reserved digital dollar, as its primary transactional currency.” (Coindesk)
2. Binance launches AEVO on Launchpool
Users will be able to stake their BNB and FDUSD into separate pools to farm AEVO tokens over five days, with farming starting from 2024-03-08 00:00 (UTC). Binance will then list AEVO at 2024-03-13 10:00 (UTC) and open trading with AEVO/BTC, AEVO/USDT, AEVO/BNB, AEVO/FDUSD and AEVO/TRY trading pairs. (Blockchain News)
3. Nigerian central bank hires Gluwa to advance eNaira through credit profiles
Nigerian central bank hires Gluwa to advance eNaira through credit profiles. The pioneering African CBDC has few users, but creating credit histories for them will promote financial inclusion. (Cointelegraph)
4. MicroStrategy raises convertible notes offering to $700M amid stock rally
MicroStrategy Upsizes Convertible Debt Offering to $700M to Buy Even More Bitcoin. MicroStrategy upsized its convertible debt offering to $700 million from $600 million to buy bitcoin. The conversion price of the notes represents 42.5% premium to March 5 close. (Cointelegraph)
5. The IGF’s Multi-stakeholder Advisory Group & Leadership Panel met last week in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
On 27th February 2024, the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) 2024 commenced its first open consultations and Multi-stakeholder Advisory Group (MAG) meeting at the Hilton Riyadh Hotel, marking a pivotal step towards shaping the global digital governance agenda. (Twitter)
6. AWS follows Google in announcing unrestricted free data transfers to other cloud providers
Amazon’s cloud computing subsidiary AWS has revealed that it will allow customers to transfer their data out of its ecosystem with no so-called “egress fees” attached. (TechCrunch)
7. Nvidia is the ‘kingmaker,’ says analyst firm Omdia — company projected to make $87 billion from data centre GPUs in 2024
Nvidia could make $87 billion from its data centre GPUs alone in 2024, according to market research firm Omdia. The firm’s latest report shows estimates for how much money Nvidia made with its AI- and server-focused GPUs in 2023 and how that momentum may make 2024 an even bigger year for Nvidia. (Tom’s Hardware)
8. Linux malware campaign targets misconfigured cloud servers
A cryptojacking campaign involving Linux malware is targeting misconfigured Apache Hadoop, Confluence, Docker, and Redis instances with new and unique malicious payloads, cybersecurity firm Cado Security warns. (Security Week)
9. Musk says X could soon receive payment licenses in New York, California
Elon Musk said on Wednesday that his social media platform X could soon receive approval for a money transmitter license in New York, putting the platform a step closer to offering payment features. (USNews)
10. Apple escalates Epic Games feud by blocking Fortnite app in EU
Apple escalated its feud with Epic Games on Wednesday, blocking the Fortnite video-game maker from launching its own online marketplace on iPhones and iPads in Europe. (Reuters)
11. LinkedIn back up following brief outage
Microsoft’s LinkedIn said on Wednesday it was back up after a brief outage that had impacted thousands of users. (Reuters)
12. OpenAI, Microsoft AI tools generate misleading election images, researchers say
Image creation tools powered by artificial intelligence from companies including OpenAI and Microsoft can be used to produce photos that could promote election or voting-related disinformation, despite each having policies against creating misleading content, researchers said in a report on Wednesday. (Reuters)
13. Former Google engineer indicted for stealing AI secrets to aid Chinese companies
Linwei Ding, also known as Leon Ding, was charged with four counts of trade secret theft for transferring Google’s trade secrets and other confidential information to Chinese companies. (Reuters)
