Jun 6

👉Issue #69 of QX Snapshots is out!

Welcome to QX Snapshots - a weekly recap of the key news on emerging technologies. In this newsletter, you will get a "digest" of the latest info on Enterprise Blockchain, AI, Quantum Technology, and Metaverse. Hope it brings you value :)

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Every Friday we share key snapshot news on AI, Quantum Technologies, Metaverse, and Enterprise Blockchain/DLT.

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[Blockchain] Paxos Launches First FSRA Regulated Yield-Bearing Stablecoin, BWRE Capital Raises $3.8M for Italian Bond, and Franklin Templeton Enables USDC Conversions on Investment Platform. Paxos International has launched Lift Dollar (USDL), the first yield-bearing stablecoin regulated by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM). USDL holders earn daily yield from high-quality US government securities and cash equivalent reserve assets. Issued on Ethereum, USDL maintains a 1:1 parity with the US dollar and distributes yield programmatically to eligible wallet addresses. Paxos International partners with global exchanges and platforms to offer USDL to consumers in eligible markets. The company aims to democratize overnight yield and create a more inclusive financial market through this innovative product. Meanwhile, BWRE Capital, in partnership with Dusk Foundation, successfully raised $3.8M in under 6 hours for an oversubscribed Italian tax credit bond on Ethereum. The bond, issued by BWRE Capital B.V., a Dutch company, is fully on-chain and available only to professional investors. The bond will migrate to the Dusk network post-mainnet launch and be tradable on NPEX, a regulated exchange. Also, Franklin Templeton has enabled USDC stablecoin to USD conversions on its Benji Investments platform, allowing users to fund investments in the Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund (FOBXX), represented by BENJI tokens. Zero Hash provides conversion services, supporting seamless purchases of BENJI tokens and conversions of USD proceeds from token sales back to USDC. The feature is currently available to institutional wallets only. The Fund, launched in 2021, is the first U.S.-registered fund using a public blockchain for transaction processing and share ownership records. And, the French Prudential Supervision and Resolution Authority (ACPR)is working on mandatory smart contract certification. A consultation took place, and while most respondents support the concept, there are concerns about the impact on innovation, as blocking uncertified contracts could hinder EU access to new, potentially innovative contracts.

👋 You may enjoy our first episode of QX Institutional, a monthly roundup covering the latest developments in DLT and Blockchain in finance, stablecoins, and real-world asset tokenization. The video is available at the end of this newsletter!

[AI] Cisco Launches $1B Investment Fund, Twelve Labs Series A with NVIDIA, and Kuaishou Debuts Advanced Video Generator. Cisco Investments has launched a $1B global AI investment fund to expand the development of secure and reliable AI solutions. The fund aims to bolster the startup ecosystem and complement Cisco's AI innovation strategy. Initial investments include Cohere, Mistral AI, and Scale AI, with nearly $200M committed to date. Cisco believes it is well-positioned to be the best strategic partner for customers in the AI era, leveraging its expertise in connecting, securing, and advancing AI. Meanwhile, Twelve Labs, an AI startup, has raised a Series A funding round co-led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and NVIDIA's NVentures. The company focuses on building a video search/video understanding platform driven by perceptual-reasoning research, serving tens of thousands of users across various industries. Their state-of-the-art Marengo 2.6, Pegasus 1.0 models and Embeddings API are at the cutting edge of multimodal AI. Also, Kuaishou, a Beijing-based tech company, has released Kling AI, a video generator that rivals OpenAI's Sora. Kling AI can generate 2-minute videos at 30fps and 1080p quality, accurately modeling complex motion sequences and physical interactions using a 3D space-time attention system and a scalable framework. The model can also combine concepts to create fictional scenes. Currently available as a public demo in China through the KWAI iOS app, Kling AI marks Kuaishou's entry into the large-scale generative AI model race. And, current and former researchers from OpenAi, Anthropic, and DeepMind published an open letter called 'A Right to Warn'. They aim to change the incentives of leading AI companies by making their activities more transparent to outsiders, benefiting both the "AI ethics" and "AI safety" camps. The proposal is endorsed by prominent AI figures like Geoffrey Hinton, Yoshua Bengio, and Stuart Russell.

[Quantum Technology] Germany Launches 10-Qubit Quantum Demonstrator, Atom Computing Expands to Denmark, Singapore Invests in Quantum Hub. NXP, eleQtron, and ParityQC, part of the DLR Quantum Computing Initiative's QSea consortium, unveiled a 10-qubit, full-stack ion trap-based quantum computer demonstrator made in Germany. Located in Hamburg, it combines eleQtron's hardware, ParityQC's architecture, NXP's chip design/tech, and a digital twin. This early quantum computing resource allows exploring applications like climate modeling. The next QSea phase aims to scale it into an increasingly powerful, industry-ready system. The demonstrator fosters Germany's quantum ecosystem and digital sovereignty in critical tech areas. Meanwhile, Quantum technology company Atom Computing has selected Denmark as the location for its European headquarters, following a $10.21 million investment from Denmark's Export and Investment Fund (EIFO). The investment aligns with Denmark's national strategy to become a quantum technology hub by attracting international quantum businesses. Atom Computing, based in California, is a leading quantum computing company that recently announced a 1,000+ qubit quantum computer. Establishing a presence in Denmark enables Atom Computing to leverage the country's strengths in quantum research and its collaboration with the USA through the Quantum Information and Sciences Technology (QIST) agreement. The partnership is expected to advance quantum computing applications and strengthen Denmark's position in the global quantum ecosystem. Also, Singapore announced close to S$300 million investment in its National Quantum Strategy (NQS) to strengthen its quantum technology hub over 5 years. Key initiatives include elevating the Centre for Quantum Technologies, new quantum sensor/processor programs, and talent development.

[General technology] Google Expands Cybersecurity Clinics with $25M Fund; Apple Rejects Kaspersky Bug Bounty Claim; Club Penguin Hackers Breach Disney Server. Google has announced 15 new recipients of the Google Cybersecurity Clinics Fund, increasing their commitment to $25 million to support 25 cybersecurity clinics in the US by 2025. Each clinic will receive $1 million in funding, mentorship, security keys, and scholarships to help grow the U.S. cybersecurity workforce and address the nearly 450,000 open cybersecurity jobs. The clinics offer students hands-on experience while providing local organizations with tools to protect against cyber threats. Google is supporting a diverse range of institutions, including HBCUs, HSIs, and Indigenous-serving institutions, to improve diversity within the industry and make cyber education more accessible. Meanwhile, Apple refused to pay a bug bounty to Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab after the company disclosed four zero-day vulnerabilities in iPhone software, which were allegedly used to spy on Kaspersky employees and Russian diplomats. The sophisticated spying campaign, named Operation Triangulation, was suspected to be state-sponsored. Russia's FSB accused the U.S. and Apple of collaborating to enable the spying, which Apple denied. The refusal comes amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and Russia following the invasion of Ukraine. Kaspersky, although not specifically sanctioned, has faced previous accusations of allowing the FSB to use its software for intelligence gathering. Also, Club Penguin fans hacked a Disney Confluence server, initially seeking game-related information but ultimately stealing 2.5 GB of internal corporate data. The breach, carried out using previously exposed credentials, yielded a wide range of sensitive information, including documents on Disney's strategies, advertising plans, Disney+, internal developer tools, business projects, and infrastructure. While the Club Penguin data is outdated, the remaining data is much more recent, with some documents generated as recently as June 2024. The stolen data has been circulating on Discord and could be valuable to threat actors targeting Disney.

🎥 The first episode of QX Institutional is now available, brought to you by the teams at QualitaX, bluechip.org, and RWA World.

This monthly roundup covers the latest developments in DLT and blockchain in finance, stablecoins, and real-world asset tokenization.

➡ DLT and Blockchain in Finance with Anaïs Ofranc: Major funding & Partnerships, Key Industry Initiatives and DLT Interoperability Standards.

➡ Stablecoins Roundup with Garett Jones: Yield-bearing stablecoins, Government-backed stablecoins and Analysis of stablecoin velocity and safety.

➡ RWA Tokenization with Tyler Sherwin and Ray Buckton: Market cap projections for tokenized assets, Institutional developments, and Regulatory highlights, and ecosystem advancements.

𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬, 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞 𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐝𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbypyVfYlvM

👉Issue #69 of QX Snapshots is out!

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