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Urban Clouds
    • Aug 16

👉Issue #79 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 :)


If you are interested in emerging technologies and you like what you read, consider subscribing to our newsletter on LinkedIn!


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


Join our +450 trusted readers at U.S Bank, Eurasian Development Bank, EY, Morgan Stanley, BNY Mellon, Microsoft, Verizon, Facebook, ServiceNow, ConsenSys, Polygon Labs, Duke University, Sky, Informa, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Santander, and others.





[Blockchain] Hamilton Lane's $5.6 Billion Secondary Fund Goes Digital on Polygon; MetaMask and Mastercard Introduce Debit Card; KfW Partners with Boerse Stuttgart for Digital Bond. Hamilton Lane's $5.6 billion Secondary Fund VI is now exclusively available on Polygon, to qualified investors on Securitize's tokenized platform. This follows their previous collaborations on tokenized funds. The fund, which closed in June 2024, exceeds its $5 billion target and is accessible through a feeder fund Polygon. It offers a streamlined digital investment process with a lower minimum investment of $20,000, compared to the typical $5 million. This move continues Hamilton Lane's 24-year history in the secondary market, where they manage about $21 billion in assets. The collaboration aims to broaden access to private market opportunities using blockchain technology. Meanwhile, MetaMask, Mastercard, and Baanx have launched the MetaMask Card, a revolutionary Mastercard debit card allowing users to spend cryptocurrency directly from their self-custodial wallets. Currently piloting in EU countries and the UK, the card instantly converts crypto to fiat for purchases anywhere Mastercard is accepted. It simplifies crypto spending by eliminating the need to transfer funds to exchanges or banks. The card works with USDC, USDT, and WETH on the Linea network. This collaboration aims to make crypto more mainstream for everyday transactions. The initiative is part of Consensys' mission to empower individuals through trust-based interactions in the digital economy. Also, Boerse Stuttgart Digital has been selected by KfW, Germany's largest development bank, as the infrastructure partner for its new blockchain-based digital bond. This partnership marks a significant advancement in the digital financial sector.. This collaboration strengthens Boerse Stuttgart Digital's position as a fully regulated one-stop-shop for digital assets in Europe. The project aligns with KfW's efforts to drive digitalization in issuing and settlement processes. And, Nasdaq has chosen Komainu as a Core Custodian for its Crypto Indices, highlighting both companies' commitment to high standards in digital asset markets. 


🎥 Our latest episode of QX Insights is now available: "Institutional Adoption: Ethereum Staking Rate Swap Using CESR" 

Watch our video primer on CESR swaps. In this video, we discuss CESR methodology and the utility of fixed versus floating swap, starting with a brief refresher on Ethereum Staking, then explaining the needs of various stakeholders participating in the staking ecosystem, what CESR is, and how it can help address those needs.





[AI] xAI Unveils Grok-2 Models, Nous Research Launches Open Source Hermes 3, and Primate Labs Debuts Geekbench AI Benchmark Suite. xAI has released Grok-2 and Grok-2 mini, advanced language models with improved reasoning capabilities. Grok-2 outperforms Claude 3.5 Sonnet and GPT-4-Turbo on the LMSYS leaderboard. Both models show significant improvements in various benchmarks, including science knowledge, general knowledge, and math. They are now available in beta on the 𝕏 platform for Premium and Premium+ users, offering enhanced chat, coding, and reasoning abilities. The models will also be accessible through an enterprise API later this month. xAI plans to introduce multimodal understanding and is focusing on advancing core reasoning capabilities with their new compute cluster. Meanwhile, Nous Research has released a new open source model named Hermes 3, an advanced AI model fine-tuned from Llama 3.1. It offers improved reasoning, creativity, and personalization capabilities compared to closed-source models. Hermes 3 features long-term context retention, complex roleplaying, and enhanced function-calling. It's designed to be highly adaptable and steerable, addressing the lack of flexibility in current frontier models. The model can enter an "Amnesia Mode" with a blank system prompt, demonstrating unique roleplaying abilities. Hermes 3 is available in 8B, 70B, and 405B parameter versions. Nous Research aims to explore individual-alignment, artificial consciousness, and open-source AI development, pushing boundaries that larger companies and governments may avoid. Also, Primate Labs has released Geekbench AI 1.0, a comprehensive benchmarking suite for AI and machine learning workloads across Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS. The benchmark offers three overall scores to reflect the complexity of AI performance across different hardware and frameworks. It introduces accuracy measurements alongside speed tests to provide a more holistic view of AI capabilities. The benchmark is designed to help developers ensure consistent app performance across platforms, allow hardware engineers to measure improvements, and enable users to assess device performance. 



[Quantum Technology] New Quantum-Resistant Encryption Standards Set by NIST, IBM Leads with Post-Quantum Cryptography, and EU's ARCTIC Project Targets Cryogenic Quantum Advances. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has finalized three post-quantum encryption standards designed to withstand attacks from quantum computers. These standards are ready for immediate implementation and are part of NIST's eight-year effort to develop quantum-resistant cryptography. The algorithms are based on complex math problems that would challenge both conventional and quantum computers. NIST encourages system administrators to begin integrating these standards into their systems promptly. Two additional sets of algorithms are still under evaluation as potential backup standards. This initiative aims to safeguard electronic information, from emails to national security data, against future quantum computing threats. Meanwhile, IBM has announced that two of its developed algorithms, ML-KEM and ML-DSA, have been published among the first three post-quantum cryptography standards by NIST. These standards aim to protect data against potential quantum computer attacks. A third algorithm, SLH-DSA, was co-developed by a researcher now at IBM, while a fourth, FN-DSA, is selected for future standardization. IBM is pursuing a dual mission of advancing quantum computing and ensuring quantum-safe security. The company is integrating post-quantum cryptography into its products and has introduced a Quantum Safe roadmap, along with related technologies and services to help clients transition to quantum-safe systems. Also, Imec is leading ARCTIC, the first EU Chips Joint Undertaking project, focusing on cryogenic technologies for quantum computing. The collaboration involves 36 partners from 11 countries, aiming to establish a European supply chain for cryogenic quantum technologies. The project will develop new materials, fabrication processes, and simulation approaches to overcome challenges in quantum computing, such as signal integrity and heat issues in cryostats. Participants will also test new designs of traveling-wave parametric amplifiers to improve quantum computer efficiency. 



[General technology] Massive US Data Leak Exposes 2.7 Billion Records, GitHub Vulnerability Threatens Repositories, and Breakthrough Brain Implant Restores Speech in ALS Patient.  A massive data leak on a hacking forum has exposed nearly 2.7 billion records of personal information for US residents, including names, social security numbers, and addresses. The data allegedly comes from National Public Data, a company that collects and sells personal information. Initially offered for sale by a threat actor called USDoD, the data was later leaked for free by another hacker named Fenice. While the leak doesn't impact 3 billion individuals as previously reported, it likely contains outdated information for most US residents. The breach has led to class action lawsuits against Jerico Pictures (dba National Public Data). Affected individuals are advised to monitor their credit reports and be cautious of potential phishing attempts. Meanwhile, a newly discovered GitHub vulnerability called ArtiPACKED could allow attackers to take over repositories and access cloud environments. The issue stems from misconfigurations and security flaws in GitHub Actions artifacts, which can leak tokens for third-party cloud services and GitHub. This vulnerability primarily affects open-source projects, exposing GitHub tokens that could grant unauthorized access to repositories and allow code poisoning. GitHub has classified this as an informational issue, leaving users responsible for securing their artifacts. Several major open-source repositories are susceptible to this attack, prompting organizations to reevaluate their use of the artifacts mechanism. In other, more positive news, researchers have successfully restored speech in an ALS patient using a Blackrock Neurotech text-to-speech brain implant. By the second day, the patient communicated using a 125,000-word vocabulary, with decoded words displayed on a screen and vocalized through text-to-speech software. This breakthrough demonstrates significant progress in brain-computer interfaces for restoring communication in paralyzed patients. Companies like Blackrock Neurotech, Medtronic, Synchron, and Neuralink are working to commercialize such technologies.






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