Aptos Labs and Microsoft have announced a strategic partnership to showcase the convergence of artificial intelligence (A.I.) and blockchain technologies. 

Aptos Labs, a leading blockchain developer, and Microsoft, a key backer of A.I. advancements through OpenAI, are joining forces to create the innovative Aptos Assistant, a ChatGPT-powered chatbot designed to provide users and developers with comprehensive information and analysis of the Aptos ecosystem.

Aptos Labs And Microsoft Forge Alliances For Blockchain Development

According to a report by Yahoo Finance, unlike previous endeavors in the crypto-related A.I. space, which primarily revolved around licensing OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Aptos Labs’ collaboration with Microsoft ventures beyond boundaries. 

The partnership encompasses various facets, with Aptos Labs hosting validator nodes on Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing platform, integrating its programming language, Move, into Microsoft’s popular coding platform, GitHub Copilot, and exploring opportunities to connect with major financial institutions seeking to build blockchain-powered applications on Azure.

Rashmi Misra, General Manager of A.I. and Emerging Technologies at Microsoft, expressed excitement about the fusion of A.I. and blockchain, stating: 

The intersection of A.I. and blockchain is among the most interesting combinations of emerging technologies. By fusing Aptos Labs’ technology with the Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service capabilities, we aim to democratize the use of blockchain.

Aptos Labs has already secured substantial funding of $400 million from investors, according to Crunchbase, highlighting the confidence in their technological prowess. The collaboration with Microsoft further solidifies its position as a formidable player in the blockchain space.

While A.I. startups have dominated funding in 2023, raising nearly $25 billion, compared to around $3.6 billion for crypto ventures, Mo Shaikh, Co-founder and CEO of Aptos Labs, believes that A.I. and blockchain are not mutually exclusive. 

Shaikh emphasizes the importance of blockchain’s ability to provide verified and accurate information, minimizing the risk of A.I. models generating false statements or hallucinations.Aptos Labs has already secured substantial funding of $400 million from investors, according to Crunchbase, highlighting the confidence in their technological prowess. The collaboration with Microsoft further solidifies its position as a formidable player in the blockchain space.

While A.I. startups have dominated funding in 2023, raising nearly $25 billion, compared to around $3.6 billion for crypto ventures, Mo Shaikh, Co-founder and CEO of Aptos Labs, believes that A.I. and blockchain are not mutually exclusive. 

Shaikh emphasizes the importance of blockchain’s ability to provide verified and accurate information, minimizing the risk of A.I. models generating false statements or hallucinations.

The practical implications of this collaboration are still unfolding. Still, Shaikh underscores elements such as the A.I. assistant and integration into Github Copilot to represent a larger vision of deep integration and co-development between Aptos Labs and Microsoft. 

APT Rebounds As Collaboration With Microsoft Reignites Investor Interest

APT, the native token of the Aptos blockchain, experienced a significant surge of over 17% following the announcement of its partnership with Microsoft. 

This surge marked a crucial turning point after a prolonged downtrend that persisted since the beginning of February. Notably, APT had reached an all-time high of $20 before succumbing to the downward trend.

The decline in APT’s price can be attributed to an unlock event on February 12th, where Aptos released 4.5 million APT tokens. 

The unlock event, involving the release of a significant number of tokens, resulted in increased selling pressure, leading to a continuous decline in APT’s price. 

However, the recent partnership announcement with Microsoft has injected new life into the token’s value, reigniting investor interest and resulting in a remarkable price surge. 

Despite experiencing some retracement, APT still holds a 10% profit since the disclosure of the partnership with Microsoft. It is currently trading at $7.3340, representing a 63% decrease from its all-time high reached in January 2023.

#aptos #Binance #cryptonews #bitcoin

☑️✅According to information from reserve audits, the exchange purchased around 100,000 BTC and 550,000 ETH between March 12th and May 1st, amounting to approximately 3.5 billion USDC. Binance had an excess of 3.5 billion USDC, but this decreased to 24 million.

As a reminder, significant troubles arose for Silvergate in March, leading to the bank's closure. The issue was compounded by Circle holding a substantial amount of funds in the bank, causing an immediate depegging of USDC upon the news.

Interestingly, during this time, Bitcoin surged from $23,000 to $31,000, and Ethereum from $1,400 to $2,100. This happened precisely after the Silvergate collapse and when Binance was making its purchases.

As Binance sold only part of its investments afterwards, the $25,000 range is now an area of strong buyer interest, and the exchange will try hard to prevent the price from dropping below it. This is yet another reason for buying in the event of a correction.

#Binance #crypto #BTC #BNB

😍Hello Dear Readers

✔️Welcome to this article where I'm excited to present a selection of coins that hold the potential to significantly enhance your financial prospects in the near future. These coins have the capacity to enrich your portfolio and yield substantial returns. Without further ado, let's dive into the list.

Fetch (Fetch.ai): Fetch.ai serves as a remarkable platform, empowering users to create agents and manage real-world tasks. This cutting-edge AI project has captured attention. With a current price of just $0.19 and a market cap of $205 million, it emerges as a gem with an undervalued market capitalization.

Agix (SingularityNET): Next on our list is Agix, a coin intricately connected with SingularityNET. Agix facilitates users in purchasing and monetizing AI products on its marketplace using its native coin. Priced at $0.20 with a market cap of $416 million, Agix holds considerable potential.

XMR (Monero): Monero, renowned for its exceptional privacy features, offers untraceable and anonymous transactions. Given the increasing prominence of privacy regulations, its future looks promising. Having been in the market since 2014, it boasts stability. Currently valued at $159.62 with a market cap of $2.9 billion.

AAVE: AAVE stands as a decentralized lending platform, granting users the ability to borrow and lend cryptocurrencies online. Engaging in lending activities on this platform can earn users interest. Priced at $65.36, AAVE holds a market cap of $1.04 billion.

BAT (Basic Attention Token): BAT is the native token of the innovative Brave browser, a platform that substitutes traditional internet advertisements with ads that reward you in BAT tokens. With a current value of $0.21 and a market cap of $300 million, BAT showcases unique potential.

✔️As you explore these promising coins, keep in mind that investing involves both opportunity and risk. It's advisable to conduct thorough research and consider consulting with financial experts before making any investment decisions.

🤑I've provided a selection of top coins, but it's crucial to #DYOR (Do Your Own Research) before considering any investments in these #Gems.

If you found this helpful, please show your support by liking the post and sharing your favorite coin in the comments.

#crypto #bitcoin #cryptonews

😍Greetings, dear readers,👍

Today, I'm here to share with you the story of how my bank account became frozen and offer some valuable insights on how you can prevent this unfortunate situation from happening to you, thus safeguarding your hard-earned funds.

Back in February of this year, I was going about my day when I attempted to make a payment via UPI (Unified Payments Interface). To my surprise, I encountered an error during the transaction. Initially, I didn't think much of it and made another attempt, only to be met with the same fruitless outcome. Suspecting that something might be amiss, I promptly contacted my bank to seek clarity on the matter.

To my dismay, I discovered that my bank had taken the precautionary step of freezing my account due to suspicions of illicit funds being involved. Further investigation revealed that a person who had sent me funds through a peer-to-peer (P2P) transaction had engaged in fraudulent activities. Consequently, the accounts associated with this individual were flagged and blocked.

From this experience, I've gained valuable insights that I believe can help you avoid falling into a similar predicament. Here are a couple of key takeaways:

Exercise Caution with P2P Transactions: When engaging in peer-to-peer transactions, it's crucial to exercise vigilance. Avoid transacting with individuals who have completed less than 50% of their trades or possess a completion rate lower than 95%. These statistics can serve as indicators of a potentially risky transaction partner.

Prioritize Consistency in Payment: Whenever you make payments, especially within cryptocurrency platforms like Binance, ensure that you are transferring funds to a bank account that bears the same name as the account holder's name registered on the platform. This consistency helps establish a secure and legitimate transaction environment.

By heeding these simple yet essential guidelines, you can significantly reduce the likelihood of encountering financial complications and protect your assets from potential threats. Stay informed, stay cautious, and keep your financial well-being a top priority.

#crypto #crypto #FDUSD #Binance

DAO, GMT, ICP, BMEX, APT, and SAND token unlocks are lined up this week.

Crypto tokens worth upwards of $212 million are set to unlock this week. According to the latest data, five projects – Dao Maker (DAO), STEPN (GMT), Internet Computer (ICP), BitMEX (BMEX), Aptos (APT), The Sandbox (SAND), according to data compiled by DropsTab.

The token unlocks could potentially create some significant sell pressure.

Token Unlocks: Weekly Edition

The DAO Maker Token is the governance token of the DAO Maker ecosystem built on top of the Ethereum blockchain. The token unlock of 20.82 million DAO, representing 7.41% of the total supply, is scheduled for August 9th.

GMT is the native token of a WEB 3 lifestyle app called STEPN which has “Social-Fi and Game-Fi” elements. The token unlock of 87.92 million GMT, accounting for 1.47% of the total supply, is also set for August 9th.

ICP is the native utility token of layer-1 blockchain Internet Computer and is used to facilitate network governance and reward participants. It’s scheduled for an unlock of 3.31 million ICP, which is over 0.7% of the total supply, on August 11th.

BMEX is a functional utility token designed for use on the crypto exchange, BitMEX. More than 18.5 million of BMEX, representing 4.12% of the total supply, will be unlocked on August 11th.

APT, the native token of a layer 1 blockchain Aptos, that uses the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism, is scheduled for another unlock event on August 12th involving the release of 4.54 million APT, which is around 0.45% of the total supply.

SAND, the ERC-20 utility token built on the Ethereum blockchain and used throughout The Sandbox ecosystem, is slated to witness an unlocking event on August 14th, during which 308.46 million SAND or 10.28% of the total supply will be released.

Collectively, this week will see the unlock tokens worth over $212 million.

Pressure on Price?

Token lockup, often called a vesting period, is essentially a specific timeframe during which tokens are restricted from being traded or liquidated. The length of this interval is determined by the team’s chosen approach and can extend for multiple years in certain instances.

Hence, the release of crypto tokens usually amplifies selling pressure on the assets, influenced by both the number of unlocked tokens and their influx into cryptocurrency exchanges.

Previous unlocks, too, have demonstrated more declines amidst new tokens entering the market. All five assets have already been experiencing significant bearish pressure.

APT was the biggest loser of the five tokens, seeing its value decline by more than 8% over the past month. DAO also recorded a decline of nearly 5% during the same period, followed by SAND with a little over 4%. Other tokens, such as GMT and BMEX, also noted an underwhelming price performance and were down by 3.7% and 2.4%, respectively in the last month. ICP was the highest gainer among all, with a minor decline of 1%.

#crypto #cryptonews #Binance

Global digital payments giant PayPal Holdings Inc. is stepping into the stablecoin market.

The fintech behemoth, which was founded more than 25 years ago, is set to become the first major financial institution to launch its own US dollar-backed stablecoin, which will be called PayPal USD (PYUSD).

The stablecoin is going to be issued by Paxos Trust Co. and will be fully backed by US dollar bank deposits and other liquid equivalents, such as short-term treasuries.

PayPal first made moves into crypto back in 2020, when it began allowing users to easily buy coins like Bitcoin (BTC), Litecoin (LTC) and Ether (ETH). 

It now manages about $1 billion worth of crypto.  

PayPal’s move to enter the stablecoin market is a big boost for the up-until-now sluggish adoption of stablecoins, given the platform boasts a whopping 431 million userbase.

Up until now, stablecoins remain mostly used by cryptocurrency speculators as a stable digital asset to hold between trades, or as a stable digital asset for moving value between wallets/exchanges.

Stablecoins haven’t yet been able to make much inroads into everyday payments.

But PayPal is hoping to change this.

PayPal USD (PYUSD) – How Does It Work?

PayPal USD, which is designed to be redeemable for actual US dollars at any time, will be usable to fund purchases on the PayPal platform, as well as on PayPal’s alternative and very popular payments app Venmo.

Users will be able to seamlessly move PYUSD between their PayPal and Venmo wallets, as well as to wallets outside of PayPal’s ecosystem of platforms.

Initially, PayPal expects PYUSD to be used within web3, but the platform hopes that the stablecoin will quickly achieve broader societal adoption, such as for remittances and small payments.

In September, PayPal will begin publishing months reports detailing the assets that back PYUSD, in order to avoid any possible controversy that the token might not be adequately backed.

PayPal Making Moves as US Stablecoin Regulation Nears

PayPal is making moves into the stablecoin market in anticipation that this sector of the crypto market will soon benefit from regulatory clarity in the US.

A Republican-backed stablecoin bill recently cleared the House Financial Services Committee and will soon face a vote on the House floor, the furthest any such legislation has ever gotten.

However, the bill may not progress any further given a lack of bipartisan support.

House Financial Services Committee Chair Patrick McHenry, a Republican who has been strongly pushing for stablecoin legislation, responded to the news of PayPal’s stablecoin launch via a statement by reiterating his belief that “stablecoins — if issued under a clear regulatory framework — hold promise”.

“Clear regulations and robust consumer protections are essential to enabling stablecoins to achieve their full potential,” McHenry said.

Clear regulations would potentially be another giant step forward for the stablecoin market, which, up until now, has been marred by controversy that has dented investor confidence in the product.

Despite efforts to increase transparency about its reserves, Tether, the issuer of the most widely used stablecoin USDT, continues to face FUD that its token might not be sufficiently backed.

Meanwhile, the dramatic collapse of web3 ecosystem Terra’s UST algorithmic stablecoin last year cost retail investors billions.

#cryptonews #crypto #paypal