Monday, 02 January 2023

Partners

Good morning!

It's Dennis here. And happy new year!

I could start this new year with a fresh take on why Elon Musk is a moral monster and how the tech industry, or at least, key figures responsible for its profitability are distancing themselves from him. But who starts a new year like that?

Instead, let me tell you what you should expect from Technext Roundup this year.

We will be making significant changes in the coming weeks to better the design of the newsletter and how it reads. You will also be hearing from my colleagues who will be guest writing from time to time depending on the news cycle.

We are going to be introducing new sections and features to get your perspectives and views on events shaping the culture and sharing them with our community of subscribers.

But the newsletter will still remain at its core hard tech news from all over the world.

If this newsletter was forwarded to you, click here to subscribe now.

Below are the tech stories and news you need to know to start your day, carefully curated by Technext.

Summary of the news

Binance has rolled out Apple Pay and Google Pay options
Bahamian authorities said they seized $3.5 billion of FTX crypto assets for "safekeeping"
Fidelity has slashed the value of its Twitter stake by over half
Solana lost $50 billion in value last year

Binance introduces Apple Pay and Google Pay options

Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world by trading volume, has introduced both Apple Pay and Google Pay features. This update will allow enthusiasts to purchase cryptocurrencies from the platform using two of the most popular payment services in the world, Technext reports.

Following the Binance Build update via Twitter last week, several. users responded that they had tried the feature and it works excellently. This move is Binance’s latest to improve the accessibility of the exchange and promote the mainstream adoption of investing in cryptocurrency.

Payment platforms have significantly developed in the financial sector over recent years. Consumers use these applications more frequently than ever, and their implementation into the cryptocurrency world has been steady.

Apple Pay and Google Pay are two of the most popular mobile wallets in the market, and Binance’s latest update will allow more users to purchase crypto easily. Also, this would lead to a vast market share of users interested in purchasing digital currencies.

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Bahamian regulator seized $3.5b of FTX crypto assets

The Securities Commission of The Bahamas says it seized $3.5 billion worth of cryptocurrency from collapsed crypto exchange FTX, CNBC reports.

In a media release late Thursday, the watchdog confirmed the total sum taken from FTX’s Bahamian subsidiary, FTX Digital Markets, and added that the funds were moved into its own digital wallets “for safekeeping.”

The regulator had previously confirmed it was holding some of FTX’s digital assets but did not specify the amount.

The funds were valued at more than $3.5 billion, based on market pricing at the time of transfer, according to the commission. The transfer took place Nov. 12, the day after FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S.

The Bahamian securities commission said the funds are being held on a “temporary basis” until it is directed by the Bahamas’ Supreme Court to deliver them to customers and creditors, or to liquidators of the insolvency estate.

The regulator said it took the funds after receiving information from Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX’s disgraced co-founder, concerning cyberattacks on the systems of FTX’s Bahamian unit.

A word from Polygon

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Fidelity slashes the value of its Twitter stake

Fidelity, which was among the group of outside investors that helped Elon Musk finance his $44 billion takeover of Twitter, has slashed the value of its stake in Twitter by 56%. The recalculation comes as Twitter navigates a number of challenges, most the result of chaotic management decisions — including an exodus of advertisers from the network, TechCrunch reports.

Fidelity’s Blue Chip Growth Fund stake in Twitter was valued at around $8.63 million as of November, according to a monthly disclosure and Fidelity Contrafund notice first reported today by Axios. That’s down from $19.66 million as of the end of October.

Macroeconomic trends are likely to blame in part. Stripe took a 28% internal valuation cut in July, while Instacart this week reportedly suffered a 75% cut to its valuation. But Twitter’s wishy-washy policies post-Musk clearly haven’t helped matters.

The network’s become less stable at a technical level as of late, last week suffering outages after Musk made “significant” backend server architecture changes.

Solana lost $50 billion in value last year

Solana was touted as the cryptocurrency that would challenge ether with an eco-friendlier approach, faster transaction speeds and more consistent costs.

Investors who made that bet had a miserable year. The token’s market cap collapsed from over $55 billion in January to barely above $3 billion at year-end, CNBC reports.

Among Solana’s biggest problems in late 2022 was its close relationship to FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who faces eight criminal fraud charges after his crypto exchange went bankrupt last month. The disgraced former crypto billionaire was one of Solana’s most public boosters, touting the advantages of the blockchain technology and investing over a half-billion dollars in Solana tokens. “Sell me all you want,” Bankman-Fried told one skeptic in January 2021. “Then go f--- off.”

Two of the biggest non-fungible token (NFT) projects built on Solana announced their migration off of Solana’s platform on Christmas Day. But the recent slides came after that news had already broken, making Solana’s recent slide something of a mystery.

In the last week, Solana has declined over 30%. Ether has held steady, shedding 1.7% in the same time period, while bitcoin has only dropped 1.2%. Among the 20 most-valuable cryptocurrencies tracked by CoinMarketCap, the next biggest loser over that stretch is Dogecoin, which has fallen 9%.