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Urban Clouds
    • Jul 26

👉Issue #76 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. 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] Hamilton Lane Launches $556M Fund on Solana; Partior Debuts FX Settlement Solution; Superstate Introduces Tokenized Bitcoin Fund; BlackRock Eyes Ethena; Stables and Mastercard Unveil Euro-Pegged Stablecoin Card. Hamilton Lane, managing over $900 billion in assets, has launched its $556 million Senior Credit Opportunities Fund (SCOPE) on the Solana blockchain. This marks the first institutional fund directly launched on Solana, offering accredited investors access to private credit with a 10% annualized yield. The move is facilitated by Libre, a Web3 protocol jointly developed by Brevan Howard's WebN Group and Nomura's Laser Digital. Meanwhile, Partior, a DLT-based interbank clearing and settlement network, has introduced a Payment versus Payment (PvP) settlement solution for the foreign exchange (FX) market. It aims to eliminate settlement risk by ensuring simultaneous exchange of currencies between counterparties. The solution is designed to address the $9.6 trillion daily FX market's challenges. Also, asset manager Superstate has introduced USCC, a new tokenized fund leveraging the "cash and carry" strategy for bitcoin and ether. The ERC-20 token generates yield by simultaneously buying spot BTC/ETH and shorting futures, offering a delta-neutral position. CEO Robert Leshner emphasizes it's a highly-regulated product for qualified investors, structured as a Delaware Trust. And, BlackRock, is pitching its $500 million tokenized fund to Ethena for inclusion in the stablecoin issuer's real-world asset (RWA) investment strategy. This move comes as Ethena seeks to diversify its $2 billion treasury into higher-yielding assets to boost returns for USDe holders. And, Stables has partnered with Mastercard to launch a virtual card for its new euro-pegged stablecoin in Europe. This move marks Stables' first expansion outside the UK, offering users a seamless way to spend their digital euros at millions of Mastercard-accepting merchants worldwide. The collaboration aims to bridge the gap between traditional finance and digital assets, potentially accelerating stablecoin adoption in the European market. The German Banking Industry Committee and Federation of German Industries released the results of the proof of concept for the Commercial Bank Money Token (CBMT) project, involving five banks and five enterprises. 



[AI] DeepMind's AI Scores Silver at Math Olympiad; Mistral AI Debuts Massive 123B Parameter Model; Stability AI Unveils Novel 4D Video Synthesis; Meta Launches Open-Source Llama 3.1 AI Models. Google DeepMind’s AlphaProof and AlphaGeometry 2, successfully solved four out of six problems from this year's International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO), achieving a silver medal level performance. This marks the first time an AI system has reached this standard in the prestigious competition. Meanwhile, Mistral AI has launched Mistral Large 2, a 123 billion parameter model with a 128k context window, supporting 80+ coding languages and dozens of human languages. The model excels in cost efficiency, speed, and performance, particularly in code generation, reasoning, and multilingual tasks. It's designed for single-node inference and long-context applications, setting new benchmarks in performance/cost ratio. Also, Stability AI has introduced Stable Video 4D, an AI model that transforms a single object video into eight novel-view videos from different angles. The model generates 5 frames across 8 views in about 40 seconds, with users able to specify camera angles. Currently in its research phase, Stable Video 4D shows potential for applications in game development, video editing, and virtual reality. The model, available on Hugging Face, represents a significant advancement in 3D dynamic video synthesis. And, Meta has released Llama 3.1, its most advanced open-source AI model family to date. The flagship 405B parameter model rivals top closed-source AI models in capabilities and performance. The release also includes upgraded 8B and 70B models with multilingual support and extended 128K context length. Key features include state-of-the-art tool use, improved reasoning, and support for advanced applications like long-form summarization and coding assistance. Meta emphasizes the importance of open-source AI for innovation and has partnered with major tech companies for widespread deployment. The new models are available for download and immediate development, with Meta aiming to lead the open-source AI landscape.



[Quantum Technology] IonQ Sets Quantum Leap for 2025; Classiq Unveils Qmod Quantum Coding Language; SC Hedge Fund to Pioneer Quantum-Enhanced Investment Strategies. IonQ, a leading quantum computing company, has announced its ambitious roadmap for 2025, setting new technical benchmarks for the industry. The plan includes achieving 64 algorithmic qubits, demonstrating a two-qubit gate fidelity exceeding 99.9%, and showcasing a quantum advantage for a commercially relevant problem. These milestones aim to solidify IonQ's position in the quantum computing market and accelerate the development of practical quantum applications. The company's focus on improving qubit quality and quantity reflects the growing demand for more powerful and reliable quantum systems in various sectors, from finance to pharmaceuticals. Meanwhile, Classiq has introduced Qmod, the first high-level language for quantum coding, now available globally. Qmod simplifies quantum algorithm development through declarative programming, allowing developers to focus on functionality while Classiq's compiler handles hardware implementation. This breakthrough aims to make quantum computing more accessible to scientists and engineers, potentially accelerating its adoption in solving real-world problems across various industries. Also, Quantum Transistors, an Israeli startup developing integrated quantum processors, has secured up to €17.5 million from the European Innovation Council (EIC). The funding includes a €2.5 million grant and a potential €15 million equity investment. The company aims to make quantum computing more accessible by leveraging existing semiconductor industry investments to create scalable quantum technology. And, Jordan Fowler and Carter Burns, founders of Shaw Circle hedge fund in South Carolina, are leveraging quantum computing to optimize risk management and investment strategies. Partnering with SC Quantum and the University of South Carolina, they're exploring quantum solutions for complex financial tasks that classical computers struggle with. The team plans to launch a $50 million institutional hedge fund in January 2025, aiming to use quantum computing to capture volatility and optimize portfolios, potentially giving them an edge over traditional Wall Street firms.



[General technology] Stargazer Goblin's Malware Distribution-as-a-Service Thrives on GitHub; Cloudflare Report Exposes Surging Internet Threats; CrowdStrike Outage Costs Fortune 500 Companies Billions. A threat actor known as 'Stargazer Goblin' has created a malware Distribution-as-a-Service using over 3,000 fake GitHub accounts to spread information-stealing malware. The operation, called Stargazers Ghost Network, utilizes GitHub repositories and compromised WordPress sites to distribute password-protected archives containing malware like RedLine and Lumma Stealer. Check Point Research discovered this large-scale scheme, estimating that the threat actor has made over $100,000 since its launch. Despite GitHub taking down over 1,500 malicious repositories, over 200 remain active. Meanwhile, Cloudflare's latest report highlights significant changes in Internet security, with mitigated traffic averaging 7% globally. DDoS attacks remain the primary threat, while API traffic now comprises 60% of all traffic. The report notes a 93% increase in HTTP DDoS attacks year-over-year and reveals that organizations have up to 25% of API endpoints unaccounted for. Additionally, enterprise sites integrate an average of 47 third-party endpoints, posing potential security risks. The data underscores the need for robust security measures in an increasingly complex digital landscape. Also, CrowdStrike's global outage, caused by a faulty update, is estimated to cost US Fortune 500 companies $5.4 billion, not accounting for Microsoft’s losses. Banking, healthcare, and major airlines are expected to be most affected. The incident, described as the largest IT failure in history, exposed the vulnerability of modern tech systems. CrowdStrike has apologized and plans to improve its update process. The outage affected 8.5 million Windows machines, grounding flights, disrupting hospitals, and crashing payment systems. Delta Air Lines continues to face significant disruptions, prompting a US Department of Transportation investigation. The incident highlights the risks of widespread dependence on single cybersecurity providers.







FEATURED: Intents are Proof Obligations


By: SevenX Ventures






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