A June 20 post by cyber Security firm, Group-IB reveals that over 100K ChatGPT logins might have been exposed to the Darkweb.
The exposes happened over the past year and have been traded on the darkweb.
Concerns surrounding ChatGPT user credentials being leaked online and traded on the Darkweb are surfacing after a blog post by Singaporean cybersecurity firm Group-IB. The firm alleges that over 101K ChatGPT logins appear to have been stolen over the past year and traded over the dark web between June 2022 and May 2023.
Calls for caution when using AI as ChatGPT appears to be compromised
Concerns surrounding the usage of Artificial intelligence are increasing as the risks associated with the innovation get uncovered. Regulators worldwide have been working on the issue to prevent their citizens from being harmed.
The EU has already passed the world’s first comprehensive artificial intelligence regulatory framework, with the US proposing a bipartisan bill to introduce a national commission to figure out the best approach to regulate Artificial Intelligence there.
The key similarity in these two regulatory approaches is to protect users from data breaches and mishandling by Artificial Intelligence systems. These dreaded events are exactly what Group-IB has brought to light about ChatGPT. According to the firm, May 2023 alone saw around 27,000 ChatGPT-related credentials on online black markets.
According to our findings, the Asia-Pacific region has experienced the highest concentration of ChatGPT credentials being offered for sale. pic.twitter.com/s3TbsntCgX
— Group-IB Threat Intelligence (@GroupIB_TI) June 20, 2023
It added that the Asia Pacific region had the highest number of leaked credentials, making up around 40% of the whole figure, while Indian based credentials accounted for around 12,500.
These developments come at a time when regulating emerging markets and industries is a main issue in the world. As such, it is expected to attract legal consequences and more oversight as such data breaches are often taken seriously. Keep watching Fintech Express for more updates on this and other Finance and technology-related stories
Ex-Coinbase executive Balaji Srinivasan has called out the US Federal Reserve for lying that the US banking system still stands strong.
Balaji is motivated by the fact that the US Federal Reserve claimed it would only use around $25B for Exchange Stabilization Fund, only to have spent over $102.7 billion by this week.
The US Federal Reserve is under fire again for lying about the general outlook of the US banking system to ‘assure’ investors and citizens that there are no risks. However, the data that is coming forward isn’t all merry. Observers have noticed that the authority is spending more money than previously projected to bail out financial institutions.
EX Coinbase Exec. Balaji calls out US Federal Reserve for lying publicly
The US banking system has been shaken after a recent series of collapses started by the Silicon Valley Bank. Since then, the authorities in charge, like the US Federal Reserve and President Biden, have come out to defend, saying that the banking system stands strong and will weather the misfortunes it has been facing.
They assured investors that all is good and minimal risks are associated with the banking system. However, the word from these agencies and authorities does not match market data and the efforts they put behind the curtains. For instance, the U.S. has been facing high inflation rates; though the US Federal Reserve has managed to gain a bit of control in the battle, more still needs to be done.
It has raised interest rates to 5 to 5.25%, the highest hike since the 2008 financial sector meltdown. Though US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell paused June 2023’s rates hike, he says it is still necessary to raise it at least twice this year. As such, we can see that more needs to be done to harmonize the US financial sector.
In other news, the US is only weeks away from passing the Fiscal Responsibility Act, a bill passed to ‘save’ the US from unfathomable financial consequences as it could have defaulted on its debt. It had breached its debt ceiling as its spending continually eclipses its earning. If it defaulted, over 8 million people would go jobless, with thousands of stocks trading in the red and making huge losses.
This was evaded by only lifting the debt ceiling, which shows that the financial problem still lies underneath. Financial Analyst Joe Consorti has noticed that the risk-taking across US markets is rising as more liquidity is drawn from the US Federal Reserve emergency loan program.
“As liquidity is drawn from the Fed’s emergency loan program, risk-taking rises across markets. There’s a near 1:1 correlation between the usage of BTFP (seen in the BTFP interest rate rising) and the S&P 500:.”
As liquidity is drawn from the Fed's emergency loan program, risk-taking rises across markets.
There's a near 1:1 correlation between the usage of BTFP (seen in the BTFP interest rate rising) and the S&P 500: pic.twitter.com/kHFwJwDoDq
The bank Term Funding Program (BTFP) is a new lending facility launched in March in response to the Silicon Valley Bank. It has risen above the $100B mark while the US Federal Reserve sat back and ‘assured’ citizens that it would only range around $25B. Its immense growth shows that the US banking system is contracting. Wildly, it is projected to continue growing.
Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC is opening its first office in East Africa as engine demand grows.
The company has seen increased demand for hydroelectric power generation and other engines like ships and locomotives in the region.
Rolls-Royce is working on setting up its first office in East Africa as demand for locomotive, ship, and hydropower generation engines grows. In a conference in Nairobi, Kenya, the UK engineering firm CEO John Kelly said that the region is growing at an adorable 6.5% rate, and with a population of 174 million, it’s becoming more promising by the day.
Rolls-Royce to seek collaboration with Kenya and other East African countries
Business in East Africa is taking shape in an encouraging way as international investors are seeking to set up camp. As a result, Rolls-Royce is seeking similar success in the East African market as it has had in Nigeria. In his speech, CEO John Kelly said:
“It’s important for us to be in Africa, to understand Africa and to make sure that we optimize our solutions and our offerings for the market and its requirements.”
The company is also in talks with Kenya Railways Corporation on a deal to power its locomotives. John Kelly revealed this without giving further details. He added that the company also seeks to focus on naval solutions and electricity requirements for data centers, a market growing immensely in Kenya and possibly valued at around $100M in the next three years.
Kenya already produces 80% of its electricity from renewable sources like Geothermal and wind. It also considers nuclear generation, which Rolls-Royce considers a key component of powering the world.
“We want to be front and center in terms of providing those power solutions, both on the land, in terms of energy requirements, in the air, in terms of aviation,” Kelly said.
Keep watching Fintech Express for more updates on fintech-related developments.
Tayyip Erdogan’s Finance Minister has introduced another 6.5% rates hike taking the total to 15%
The move marks a turnaround for the residents of Turkey as their money faces great devaluation owing to a high inflation rate.
As the Ministry of Finance fights an economy-crippling inflation menace, more pain is expected in the Turkish markets for the next short to mid-term basis.
On Thursday, the Central Bank of Turkey delivered another large interest rate hike to battle the overshadowing inflation rise. The move signals a shift towards more conventional economic policies to counter the sky-high inflation rates following the criticism that Tayyip Erdogan had led to higher living costs.
Turkey to brace for more pain in the markets
Residents and Citizens of Turkey will have to brace for tougher economic terms, at least in the short to mid-term, as the Central Bank and Finance Ministry work hand in hand to shave off the sky-high inflation rates that have crippled their economy.
On June 22, the Central Bank announced that it had raised key rates by 6.5%, now boosting it to 15%. This boost is a significant jump from the existing 8.5% that was in effect since March 2021 and follows Erdogan’s new term as the President.
Erdogan has been under fire for watching the cost of living overwhelm the citizens of Turkey. The recent rate hike indicates that the country is moving away from Erdogan’s unorthodox belief that lowering interest rates fight inflation.
This traditional economic theory has proved ineffective, and central bankers worldwide have been going at it differently. The US and UK have both raised interest rates to deal with inflation. Only time will tell how high Turkey will need to set its inflation rates hike before completely taming it. Keep watching Fintech Express for updates on finance and other fintech-related developments.
Stocks in the Eurozone have plummeted as the Markets anticipate a decision from BoE over the interest rates policy.
Market sentiment is sour after US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell forecasted more rates hike for 2023
Eurozone has received news on the necessity for further rate hikes in a sour way making the stocks plummet as they await today’s decision from BoE. The Benchmark Stoxx 600 was down 0.92% at the open Thursday markets, with all sectors trading in the red.
Eurozone stocks plummet ahead of expected rates hike
Inflation rates in the US and the UK are still way above the targets of 2% by the end of the year. As such, more action is needed from the banking heads to keep the economies floating while driving down inflation. While the US has paused rates hike for June 2023, the UK is expected to hike its rates following a positive report from its jobs markets.
This decision will cause more pain in the markets as borrowing money will be more expensive. As a result, the Eurozone Stock market has reacted negatively as it digests the information, with key stocks like the STOXX 600 index falling by almost 1%. All sectors also traded in the red section, with the Automobiles sector falling by 1.55% as banks topped with 1.9%.
The STOXX 600 index has posted declines in all sessions this week.
“Nearly all FOMC participants expect that it will be appropriate to raise interest rates somewhat further by the end of the year,” Powell said in remarks prepared for testimony before the House Financial Services Committee Wednesday.
UK investors now focus on the Bank of England decision, which is set to hike rates by around 25 or 50 basis points as inflation rates remain stubbornly high. These developments came when the Swiss National Bank announced a 25 basis point rate rise, its fifth consecutive hike on Thursday, pushing its rates policy to a 1.75% high.
Analysts are calling for investors to be more cautious with the markets as it will be a long road to reducing current inflation rates. As such, more pain is expected to hit the markets as uncertainty about the total recovery period looms as ‘key’ economies like the US and China are also distressed. Keep watching Fintech Express for more updates on banking and Fintech-related developments and news.
Ripple has confirmed that it has received “in principle” approval to offer digital assets services in Singapore
The new approval allows the company to legally scale on-demand liquidity for XRP users in the country
Ripple has scored another regulatory win as it acquires an in-principle license to serve customers in Singapore. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) approved the approval per a June 22 statement.
Ripple to legally scale on-demand liquidity for XRP in Singapore
Ripple officially allowed to use its subsidiary, Ripple Markets Asia Pacific, to further scale its On-Demand Liquidity. The ODL will help XRP Ripple customers move their cryptos around the world without banks’ intervention as intermediaries.
We’re honored to obtain In-Principle Approval of a Major Payments Institution License from the @MAS_sg – allowing us to offer regulated digital asset products and services, and scale customer use of #ODL. 🇸🇬
Ripple had applied for the institutional Payment license under Singapore’s Payment Service Act, with CEO Brad Garlinghouse praising the Singaporean regulator for its pragmatic approach to crypto regulation. He added that the city-state would provide a prominent gateway for Ripple’s business operations in the Asia Pacific region.
The firm’s Chief Legal Officer, Stu Alderoty, also weighed in on the matter, saying that Singapore’s “early leadership” will pave the way for other regulators to develop a clear crypto regulatory framework.
“MAS has built a workable framework that truly unites consumer protection, market integrity and innovation. They’ve also outlined a clear taxonomy to classify and regulate digital assets – making it possible for companies like Ripple to build and offer compliant products.”
“It’s been said many times, but bears repeating – regulatory clarity is what will help drive crypto utility for real-world use cases.”
This win comes when the firm is battling the US SEC in court for regulatory uncertainties. The firm is defending that XRP is not a security against a hawkish regulator that is going after crypto organizations vehemently. The US SEC has also started legal proceedings against Binance and Coinbase; however, the odds are getting smaller for its win after the expose of Hinman documents.
Hinman was a key executive of the regulator who showed arrogance and dismissal of law in a 2018 anti-crypto speech. Since then, the regulator has gone after different crypto organizations on claims that they were evading being regulated. As a result of public dissatisfaction, a bill has also been tabled to restructure the SEC and make its operations more transparent.
Keep watching Fintech Express for updates on crypto regulation and other Fintech-related developments.
Gemini’s Cameron Winklevoss believes that the race by traditional finance institutions to file for BTC ETF marks a great turnaround for the industry.
He tweeted on June 21 that the window to front-run institutional demand is closing quickly.
Cameron Winklevoss, a Gemini co-founder, believes that the great accumulation for BTC is here with different TradFi institutions racing to buy in. His comments come when BlackRock, the world’s largest investment manager, filed for an ETF, prompting its competitors to follow suit.
ETF filing race by TradFi institutions convinces Cameron Winklevoss that BTC will rally
Analysts now believe that more than ever, more institutional demand for prominent coins like Bitcoin is coming to the crypto space. It follows recent news that BlackRock had filed for a spot in Bitcoin ETF.
As a result, its competitors like Valkyrie, Wisdom Tree, and Fidelity have filed for similar assets with the US SEC. This has driven the demand behind Bitcoin momentarily, with it reclaiming the 50% market dominance. The coin has surged 19% to $30,240 since the BlackRock news came to light on June 15.
Cameron Winklevoss, a Gemini co-founder and a prominent loud voice in the crypto industry, has commented on this matter, saying that “The Great Accumulation” of Bitcoin has begun. He suggested that buying Bitcoin before the ETFs hit the markets would be a great idea akin to a pre-initial public offering purchase of Bitcoin.
The Great Accumulation of bitcoin has begun. Anyone watching the flurry of ETF filings understands the window to purchase pre-IPO bitcoin before ETFs go live and open the floodgates is closing fast. If bitcoin was the most obvious and best investment of the previous decade, this…
He added that if Bitcoin was the best-performing asset of the past decade, it would most likely be the best-performing asset for the coming decade. Others have backed his claims, including MicroStrategy Executive Chairman Michael Saylor, who suggests that retail investors may soon be pushed aside by increasing institutional demand.
However, some analysts believe that more buying pressure will be there than selling pressure, as most investors wouldn’t want to sell their coins to Wall Street. Bitcoin investor Anthony Pompliano took to Twitter to address the matter, saying he expects a tug-of-war between retail investors and Wall Street:
“We have institutions and individuals scrambling to try to get their share of the 21 million Bitcoin that will ever be in existence. The retail investor for 15 years now has a head start and has accumulated all the Bitcoin that’s been mined and put into circulation, but 68% of that hasn’t moved in a year.”
BlackRock shows up and bitcoin is up 20% for the week.
People forget that bitcoin went from $0 to nearly $1 trillion market cap with almost no institutional participation.
If retail investors were good for $1T, what do you think happens when the deep pockets come play?
He added that he expects Bitcoin to be highly illiquid once Wall Street hits the market as investors keep their coins away from institutional investors. Keep watching Fintech Express for updates on crypto adoption and other Fintech-related developments.
Polygon Labs proposes an update to zkEVM validium, a Layer 2 network on Ethereum to bear its flagship PoS sidechain.
The plan is to bring the network’s PoS chain in line with its Polygon 2.0 goal, which seeks to increase security and efficiency in the network.
On June 20, Polygon Labs, the company behind the Ethereum scaling solution Polygon network, published a pre-proposal post seeking to make its primary chain compatible with zero knowledge of Ethereum Virtual Machine technology.
On June 20, Polygon, an Ethereum network scaling solution, expressed that it had tabled a proposal to connect the present PoS chain with its Polygon 2.0 concept. The network’s V2 concept is the future version of the network, which employs zkEVM validium, a zero-knowledge scaling technology.
This integration will increase the network’s immutability while lowering its transaction fees, thus increasing efficiency. The validium update varies from another proposed ZK rollup that seeks to employ an off-chain data availability architecture. The ZK rollup was introduced in the network in March 2023.
Per a post by the network’s co-founder Mihailo Bjelic, the network will become more “future-proof” if the community accepts this proposal. He added that the updated PoS chain would co-exist with old zkEVM in its ecosystem. If approved, the update will be deployed on the mainnet by the end of 2024.
This update would be the first time an existing blockchain network has included ZK proofs and advances to its layer 2. As such, it would be a remarkable event to create a benchmark for other networks. Keep watching Fintech Express for updates on blockchain technology and other crypto-related developments.
A group of US lawmakers has introduced a bill (National AI Commission Act) to establish a commission to oversee AI development and usage.
The bill was introduced on June 20 in a bipartisan effort to make the AI industry safer.
US lawmakers are pushing a bipartisan bill (National AI Commission Act) to regulate the emerging Artificial Intelligence industry and catch up with competitors like the EU while dealing with the risks involved. The bill seeks to create a commission under the Federal government and oversee AI building, distribution, and usage.
US lawmakers pushing to Catch up with AI Regulation
The National AI Commission Act closely follows the recently passed and signed EU AI Act. The EU AI Act monitors how generative AI like GPT4 is built and released commercially. It also protects users by inhibiting live recording, detailing, and other facial recognition systems.
The National AI Commission Act, introduced by Representatives Ted Lieu, Ken Buack, and Anna Eshoo, proposes creating a national body responsible for forming a comprehensive AI regulatory framework. It aims to address the potential risks associated with AI.
If the proposed commission is built, it will bring together experts, government officials, industry representatives, and labor stakeholders to deliberate and decide on the best approaches to streamline the industry. Merve Hickok, the President of the Centre for AI and Digital Policy, voiced support for the National AI Commission, saying that the proposal is timely and crucial.
She expressed that the bill would introduce essential regulations that would bring everyone together to make the industry better and safer. These efforts by EU and US lawmakers come at a time when innovators and remarkable individuals like Elon Musk have been calling for regulating the AI Industry.
Though some people claim that the influential CEOs want lawmakers to slow down AI so they can catch up, there has been genuine concern over the need for regulation in the industry. After the release of GPT AI, others have cropped up, with some being used for military purposes. In the US, one AI even killed its militant operator in a simulation for doing contrary to what was expected of him.
As such, it comes with genuine concern that the industry needs to be regulated. Keep watching Fintech Express for updates on AI and other Technology and regulation-related stories and developments.
India’s Prime Minister has confirmed the visit of Elon Musk to the country
The two had business deliberations geared towards economics and businesses to boost investment in the country.
Musk is looking forward to investing in the country.
Elon Musk has met with India’s Narendra Modi for deliberations on business and investment opportunities as he gears up to invest in the country. The meeting occurred on June 21, 2023, days after he visited France, Italy, and China for similar purposes.
India wants Elon Musk to invest there
Tesla and Twitter CEO Elon Musk has confirmed visiting India to have talks with the serving Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He was on a business trip in the country that involved figuring out the available investment opportunities.
Word is out that Elon Musk is looking for a place to set up a new Tesla Gigafactory, preferably in Asian or European countries. Therefore, he has been visiting potential countries to build good business ties and evaluate the validity of his project there.
It doesn’t come without saying that countries also seek him to start his factories and invest with them. He was in France earlier this month for the VivaTech summit. He met with President Emanuel Macron and the Digital Minister during his visit.
The Minister revealed that the country is seeking him to build his Tesla Gigafactory there, saying that the country is also investing in EV batteries and would welcome EV manufacturers there. The same case went for Italy’s Prime Minister, who met with him earlier this month to lure him into investing in the country.
Musk had also traveled to China to inspect the work in his installments in the country. Now, he is in India for a business trip. However, it doesn’t mention the wanting conditions of India’s infrastructure.
Recently, a train accident happened, claiming the lives of hundreds. Now, observers were keen on the Tesla auto drive being implemented in the country.
Some told Elon Musk that the congestion in the area could be a hindrance, but he brushed it off, saying that the cars are good and computers view obstacles and traffic via slow motion making them less risker.
However, no official information has been released on whether he will set up the next mega project there. Keep watching Fintech Express for updates on the top investors and other Fintech-related developments.
