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☆ Crypto firm Ledger hikes prices of iPod-inspired wallet by 40% and launches new mid-tier option
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-26 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The Ledger Flex is a new, cheaper hardware crypto wallet from French startup Ledger. Ledger finally released Stax, its long-anticipated hardware crypto wallet, and is shipping units out to people who preordered the product in May. In addition to raising the price for Stax, Ledger is also releasing a new crypto hardware wallet. The Ledger Flex features an E Ink screen, similar to the Ledger Stax. The Ledger Flex, which costs $249, is smaller than the Ledger Stax and comes with a 2.8-inch display.

Persons: Stax, Ledger, Tony Fadell, Ledger Stax, Pascal Gauthier, Ledger's Stax, Ledger's Gauthier, Foxconn Organizations: Stax, Ledger, Flex, Google, CNBC, Apple Locations: Ledger, solana, London, Vietnam

☆ Revolut clinches UK banking license, ending three-year wait
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-25 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Revolut cards is seen in this illustration photo taken in Krakow, Poland on March 29, 2024. British fintech startup Revolut said on Thursday that it had received a banking license with restrictions from the U.K.'s Prudential Regulation Authority, bringing to an end a three-year wait. The London-headquartered firm now has time to build up its U.K. banking infrastructure and operations ahead of officially launching. Revolut first applied for its banking license in 2021, but it has faced lengthy delays. A U.K. banking license will allow Revolut to take customer deposits and also issue products like loans and credit cards.

Persons: Francesca Carlesi, Revolut, Revolut's financials, — CNBC's Ryan Browne Organizations: Prudential, Authority, Barclays, CNBC Locations: Krakow, Poland, British, London, U.K

☆ Britain will soon lay out new plans to regulate 'buy now, pay later' firms like Klarna after delays
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-25 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Buy now, pay later firms like Klarna and Block's Afterpay could be about to face tougher rules in the U.K.Britain's new Labour government will soon set out updated plans to regulate the "buy now, pay later" industry, a government spokesperson told CNBC. "Regulating Buy Now Pay Later products is crucial to protect people and deliver certainty for the sector," the Treasury spokesperson told CNBC via email Thursday. The government first set out plans to regulate the sector in 2021. BNPL plans are flexible credit arrangements that enable a consumer to purchase an item and then pay off their debt at a later date. Most plans charge customers a third of the purchase value up front, then take the remaining payments the following two months.

Persons: Block's, Tulip Siddiq, Siddiq, Keir Starmer's, Christopher Woolard, BNPL, — Organizations: Labour, CNBC, Treasury, . Treasury, Keir Starmer's Labour Party, Financial Locations: Britain

☆ What Google's decision to keep cookies means for the internet
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-23 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

In this article GOOGL Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNTGoogle announced in a surprise move that it would reverse its years-long plan to phase out third-party cookies. The U.S. internet giant said late Monday it is reversing a long-planned move to ditch third-party cookies — the critical text files that track users' web activity for advertisers. And what does Google's decision mean for how you interact with the web moving forward — or, for that matter the advertising industry? Roughly 40.9% of websites globally use cookies to gather data on users, according to data from W3Techs, a web technology research firm. This issue forms the main reason why Google has now decided to terminate its planned depreciation of third-party cookies.

Persons: Daniel Acker, Matthew Holman, Cripps, it's, Google's, Steve Silvers, there's, Silvers, Authority —, Vasiliki, Makou, Jennifer Elias Organizations: Google, Bloomberg, Getty, CNBC, Competition, Authority, ICO, Data Locations: U.S, W3Techs, Europe, London

☆ Autonomous AI workers that talk to each other will arrive in 2025, Capgemini predicts
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-22 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Such a system would entail a collection of agents that work together to solve tasks in a distributed and collaborative way, according to Capgemini. Brier said the so-called AI agents fall into two types: individual agents that carry out tasks on your behalf, and multi-agent technology or, "agents talking to agents." In 2023, the number of firms adopting generative AI was 6%, according to Capgemini, but this year, that number has risen to 24%. According to the report, 10% of firms with an annual revenue of $1 billion to $5 billion are implementing generative AI. In aerospace and defense, 88% of organizations have invested in generative AI, for retail, that number drops to 66%.

Persons: Pascal Brier, Capgemini, Brier, it's Organizations: Istock, CNBC, Brier Locations: U.S, Europe, Germany

☆ Britain's Labour faces an uphill battle as it looks to rein in AI's key players
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-19 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

By taking aim at the most powerful AI models, Labour would impose tighter restrictions on companies such as OpenAI, Microsoft , Google , Amazon , and AI startups including Anthropic, Cohere and Mistral. Matthew Houlihan, senior director of government affairs at Cisco, said any AI rules would need to be "centered on a thoughtful, risk-based approach." Even so, a U.K. AI law would be a step above the U.S., which currently doesn't have federal AI legislation of any kind. Sirion's Liu said one thing he's hoping the government doesn't do, is restrict open-source AI models. Herman Narula, CEO of metaverse venture builder Improbable, agreed that restricting open-source AI innovation would be a bad idea.

Persons: Keir Starmer's, King Charles III, doesn't, Starmer's, Matt Calkins, Appian, Lewis Liu, Liu, Rishi Sunak, Peter Kyle, Kyle, Zahra Bahrololoumi, Matthew Houlihan, Bill, Chris Holmes, Holmes, Matthew Holman, Cripps, Holman, Sirion's Liu, Herman Narula, Narula Organizations: Future Publishing, Labour, European Union, Microsoft, Google, CNBC, Conservative, BBC, AI Safety Institute, Cisco, Authority, EU, AI Safety, Tech, London Tech Week Locations: Jiangsu province, China, Ireland, Salesforce, U.S

☆ Microsoft, CrowdStrike shares fall in premarket trading after major outage hits businesses worldwide
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-19 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

CrowdStrike makes software to help firms manage their security in IT environments. Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike saw its shares plunge Friday, after an update led to a major outage, impacting businesses across the world. Shares of the company, which makes software to help firms manage their security in IT environments, tanked 14% in U.S. premarket trading. Microsoft , which also reported issues affecting its Azure cloud services and Microsoft 365 suite of apps, fell 2% in premarket trading. Please refresh for updates.

Persons: CrowdStrike Organizations: Microsoft Locations: U.S

☆ How a software update caused one of the world's biggest IT blackouts
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-19 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

On Friday, the cybersecurity firm experienced a major disruption following an issue with a software update. CrowdStrike is a cybersecurity vendor that develops software to help companies detect and block hacks. In the case of Friday's outage, machines running Microsoft's Windows operating system crashed due to a fault in the way a software update issued by CrowdStrike interacted with Windows. We approximate impact started around 19:00 UTC on the 18th of July," Microsoft said in an update at 5:40 a.m. Unless Microsoft and CrowdStrike (if they are involved) pull something miraculous out of the bag, this could be painful to recover from."

Persons: George Kurtz, Patrick T, CrowdStrike, —, Kurtz, Andy Grayland, They'd Organizations: CrowdStrike Inc, Montgomery Summit, Fallon, Bloomberg, Getty, TV, CNBC, Fortune, Windows, Machines, Microsoft, CrowdStrike, Linux Locations: Santa Monica , California, Texas, U.S

☆ Microsoft's hiring of staff from AI startup Inflection referred for UK merger probe
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-16 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Mustafa Suleyman, co-founder and chief executive officer of Inflection AI UK Ltd., speaks at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 18, 2024. If it finds reason to investigate further, the CMA can refer the case for an in-depth investigation, known as a "Phase 2" probe. The CMA said it would announce a decision on whether to refer the case for a Phase 2 investigation by Sept. 11. Microsoft announced in March it had hired Suleyman from Inflection, along with a number of other key employees at the firm. Both Suleyman and Simonyan were former employees of DeepMind, the Google-owned AI lab.

Persons: Mustafa Suleyman, Inflection's, Suleyman, Karen Simonyan, Simonyan Organizations: Ltd, Economic, Britain's, Markets Authority, CMA, Microsoft, DeepMind, Google Locations: Davos, Switzerland, Washington

☆ The next front in U.S.-China tech battle? Underwater cables that power the global internet
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-16 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Subsea cables are the backbone of the internet, carrying 99% of the world's data traffic. What are subsea cables? Subsea cables are the backbone of the global internet, carrying 99% of the world's intercontinental data traffic. More recently, U.S. tech giants including Meta, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon have invested significant sums to lay down their own cables. Many international subsea cable projects are reportedly circumventing China today due to concerns over data security and Beijing's expanding geopolitical influence.

Persons: TeleGeometry, Andy Champagne, Joe Vaccaro, Vaccaro Organizations: Photodisc, Getty, Yemen's, U.S, Asia America Gateway, Akamai Labs, CNBC, Cisco, Meta, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, U.S ., Echo, State Department, Wall Street, Submarine Systems, Team Telecom Locations: Yemen's Iran, China, Ireland, Asia, U.S, U.S . West Coast, Singapore, Indonesia, Africa, Europe, Pacific, Estonia, Hong Kong

☆ Man who claimed to be inventor of bitcoin referred to UK prosecutors for alleged perjury
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-16 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Craig Wright, self-declared inventor of Bitcoin, arrives at federal court in West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., on Friday, June 28, 2019. LONDON — Craig Wright, an Australian man who claimed to be the inventor of bitcoin , was on Tuesday referred to British prosecutors for committing alleged perjury. On Tuesday, British High Court Judge James Mellor decided to refer a case against Wright's claim to be the inventor of bitcoin to the Crown Prosecution Service — which is the organization that prosecutes criminal cases investigated by the police in England and Wales. The CPS will now consider whether Wright should be prosecuted for what Mellor called "wholescale perjury and forgery of documents," and decide on whether a warrant for arrest and possible extradition is needed. Wright has remained mostly silent since a High Court ruling was issued claiming that he had lied "extensively and repeatedly" in his evidence attempting to prove the case that he was bitcoin's inventor, Satoshi Nakamoto.

Persons: Craig Wright, James Mellor, bitcoin, Wright, Mellor, Satoshi Nakamoto Organizations: LONDON, British, Court, Crown, Service, CPS Locations: West Palm Beach , Florida, U.S, Australian, England, Wales

☆ The world's top 250 fintech companies of 2024
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-10 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailThe world's top 250 fintech companies of 2024Using a rigorous methodology, CNBC and Statista named the top 250 fintech companies globally for 2024. CNBC Tech Correspondent Ryan Browne has more.

Persons: Statista, Ryan Browne Organizations: CNBC, CNBC Tech

Microsoft reportedly said that it would give up its observer seat on the OpenAI board amid regulatory scrutiny into generative artificial intelligence in Europe and the U.S.Microsoft's Deputy General Counsel Keith Dolliver wrote a letter to OpenAI late Tuesday, according to multiple media reports, saying that the position had provided insights into the board's activities without compromising its independence. But the letter added that the seat was no longer needed Microsoft had "witnessed significant progress from the newly formed board," according to the Financial Times. CNBC has reached out to Microsoft and OpenAI for comment. The European Commission previously said Microsoft could face an antitrust investigation, as it looked at the markets for virtual worlds and generative artificial intelligence. The Commission, which is the executive arm of the EU, said in January that it is "looking into some of the agreements that have been concluded between large digital market players and generative AI developers and providers" and singled out the Microsoft-OpenAI tie-up as a particular deal that it will be studying.

Persons: Keith Dolliver, OpenAI Organizations: Microsoft, U.S, Microsoft's, Financial Times, CNBC, European Commission Locations: Europe

☆ The German government owns around $2 billion in bitcoin — and it's freaking out crypto investors
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-08 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Bitcoin has also been under selling pressure from the German government as well as collapsed bitcoin exchange Mt. Last month, the German government began selling bitcoin from a wallet operated by the country's Federal Criminal Police Office, referred to locally as the Bundeskriminalamt, or BKA. Bitcoin price reactionIn tandem with these sales, bitcoin has seen its price fall dramatically. At one point in the day, the entire crypto market had shed more than $170 billion in combined market capitalization in a 24-hour period, CoinGecko's data showed. Germany's bitcoin sales aren't the only concern for crypto investors.

Persons: Bitcoin, it's, wasn't, bitcoin, —, Nobuaki Kobayashi, James Butterfill, CoinShares, Germany's BKA, Joana Cotar, Cotar, Olaf Scholz, Christian Lindner, Michael Kretschmer, she's, Samson Mow Organizations: Federal Criminal Police, Arkham Intelligence, CNBC, Saxony, Federal Criminal Police Office, German Bundestag Locations: Gox, bitcoin, Germany, Saxony, Federal Republic of Germany, German, Berlin

☆ CNBC Daily Open: French left-wing shock victory, Boeing guilty plea
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-08 | by ( Abid Ali | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

This report is from today's CNBC Daily Open, our international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open brings investors up to speed on everything they need to know, no matter where they are. However, recent profit-taking and valuation concerns led to a pullback and a rare downgrade from a Wall Street analyst. Get the CNBC Daily Open report in your inbox every morning and keep up to date with the markets wherever you are. Kolanovic wasn't the only Wall Street strategist to be caught out by the bull run — but rival banks have incrementally increased their calls.

Persons: Skydance, David Ellison, Marko Kolanovic, Kolanovic, Lori Calvasina, Calvasina, Tesla, Tom Narayan, Squawk, Narayan, Tom Sosnoff, Bill Ackman, Warren Buffett, Sosnoff, — CNBC's Pia Singh, Alex Harring, Holly Ellyatt, Ruxandra Iordache, Ryan Browne, Samantha Subin, Lim Hui Jie, Leslie Josephs Organizations: New York Stock Exchange, CNBC, Nvidia Nvidia, Wall, Paramount, Skydance Media, Paramount Global, Hollywood, Boeing, Justice Department, JPMorgan, RBC Capital Markets, RBC Locations: Hollywood

Gox, the Japanese bitcoin exchange that collapsed into bankruptcy a decade ago, on Friday said that the company has begun to make payments in bitcoin and in bitcoin cash to some of its creditors. After declaring bankruptcy, 140,000 of the missing bitcoin were recovered — which means that roughly $9 billion worth of bitcoin will be returned to owners, in today's prices. Gox, Arkham Intelligence said Friday. Gox users, according to Arkham. A further $63.6 million of bitcoin was sent to an unknown counterparty, which Arkham said was "likely a listed repayments exchange."

Persons: Thomas Trutschel, Gox, bitcoin, Arkham Organizations: Photothek, Arkham Intelligence Locations: Mt, Gox, bitcoin, Tokyo, Arkham

☆ European markets open higher with UK election results in focus
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-05 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Keir Starmer, leader of the Labour Party, campaigns ahead of the general election, in Redditch, UK, on Wednesday, July 3, 2024. LONDON — European stocks opened mostly higher on Friday as the U.K.'s general election draws focus in the region. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index rose 0.3% higher in early morning deals. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index climbed more than 0.2% as investors reacted to election results. Travel and leisure stocks were the standout gainers Friday, climbing 0.6%, as most sectors traded in positive territory.

Persons: Keir Starmer Organizations: Labour Party, LONDON Locations: Redditch, UK

☆ Over $170 billion wiped off cryptocurrencies as market tanks on Mt. Gox bitcoin payout fears
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-05 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Cryptocurrencies plunged on Friday as investors focused on the payout of nearly $9 billion to users of collapsed bitcoin exchange Mt. As of 9:20 a.m. London, time, bitcoin's price slumped more than 6% in 24 hours to hit $54,237.18, its lowest level since late February, according to data from CoinGecko. Rival token ether sank around 10% to $2,869.36. Altogether, the entire cryptocurrency market has shed more than $170 billion in combined market capitalization in the last 24 hours, according to CoinGecko data. This breaking news story is being updated.

Persons: Cryptocurrencies Organizations: CoinGecko Locations: Gox, London

☆ Bitcoin slides to two-month low as Fed signals it's not ready to cut rates yet
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-04 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

A worsening macroeconomic climate and the collapse of industry giants such as FTX and Terra have weighed on bitcoin's price this year. STR | Nurphoto via Getty ImagesBitcoin's price slumped to around $57,000 apiece Thursday, hitting a two-month low after the U.S. Federal Reserve released minutes from its June meeting indicating the central bank isn't yet ready to cut interest rates. Since then, bitcoin has pared losses somewhat and was trading at $57,932.57, down 3.4% as of 5:05 p.m. London time. Higher interest rates are typically less favorable for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as it dampens investor risk appetite. ETFs allow investors to buy a product that tracks the price of bitcoin without owning the underlying cryptocurrency.

Persons: bitcoin, Bitcoin, Crypto, CCData Organizations: Getty, U.S . Federal Reserve, Federal Reserve, Securities and Exchange Commission Locations: London, U.S, Gox

☆ Revolut CEO confident on UK bank license approval as fintech firm hits record $545 million profit
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-02 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON — The boss of British financial technology giant Revolut told CNBC he is optimistic about the company's chances of being granted a U.K. banking license, as a jump in users saw the firm report record full-year pre-tax profits. Several small financial institutions have been able to win approval for a banking license with few customers, he added. "U.K. banking licenses are being approved for smaller companies," Storonsky said. A bank license would enable it to offer loans in the U.K. One conditions set by the Bank of England for granting Revolut its U.K. banking license, was to collapse its six classes of shares into ordinary shares.

Persons: Revolut, Nikolay Storonsky, we'll, Storonsky, SoftBank Organizations: CNBC, British, EMI, Prudential, Authority, Bank of England, Financial Times

In a few days, bankrupt Tokyo-based bitcoin exchange Mt. Disbursements will be in a mix of bitcoin and bitcoin cash, an early offshoot of the original cryptocurrency. Gox — short for "Magic: The Gathering Online Exchange" — was once the largest spot bitcoin exchange globally, claiming to handle around 80% of all global dollar trades for bitcoin. Gox users would likely translate to huge sales in bitcoin as investors look to lock in gains. Vijay Ayyar, head of consumer growth for Asia-Pacific at crypto exchange Gemini, said that the overall impact of the Mt.

Persons: Omer Taha Cetin, that's, Disbursements, bitcoin, Gox, —, John Glover, Glover, James Butterfill, bitcoin's, Gemini, Lennix Lai, Butterfill, Bitcoin, Jacob Joseph, Joseph, Alex Thorn, Thorn, Vijay Ayyar, Gox disbursement, Ayyar Organizations: Anadolu, Getty, CNBC, bitcoin, Barclays, CoinShares, Gemini, JPMorgan, Arkham Intelligence, Analysts, U.S . Securities, Exchange, Federal Reserve Locations: Tokyo, Gox, Mt, bitcoin, Asia, Pacific

☆ Meta accused of breaching EU antitrust rules over ad-supported subscription service
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-01 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Shares of Facebook parent Meta are down more than 30% this year amid a troubling macro environment and weaker-than-expected results. Facebook parent company Meta was on Monday accused by EU regulators of failing to comply with the bloc's landmark antitrust rules over its recently introduced ad-supported social networking service. The Commission labelled the ad-supported subscription option a "pay or consent" model — which means users have to either pay to use Meta's platforms ad-free, or consent to their data being processed for personalized advertising. The company separately told Reuters in a statement that its ad-supported subscription model "follows the direction of the highest court in Europe and complies with the DMA." Meta has previously pointed to this ruling as a reason for introducing the subscription offer.

Persons: Meta Organizations: Facebook, Meta, CNBC, Reuters, European Court of Justice Locations: Europe

☆ Crypto firm Circle gets approval to issue stablecoin in EU under bloc’s strict rules
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-01 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

In this article USDC.CM= Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNTLaunched in 2018 by crypto firm Circle, USDC is now the second-biggest stablecoin globally, with more than $30 billion worth of tokens in circulation. The company said it is also opening up its Circle Mint, which allows businesses to mint and redeem Circle stablecoins, in France. That's because according to MiCA, crypto businesses are able to offer their services in one EU country and "passport" them out into other markets within the bloc. After that point, crypto companies will have until July 2026 to become fully compliant with MiCA. Launched in September 2018 by Circle and crypto exchange Coinbase, USDC is now the second-biggest stablecoin globally, with $32.4 billion worth of tokens in circulation, according to CoinGecko data.

Persons: Circle, it's, Prudentiel, Jeremy Allaire, Allaire, cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, USDT Organizations: Getty, EMI, Union's, U.S ., Investors, European Union, Circle Locations: France, Crypto, U.S, European

Users of collapsed bitcoin exchange Mt. At the height of its success, the platform was the largest spot bitcoin exchange in the world, claiming to handle around 80% of all global dollar trades for bitcoin. Gox creditors creates "downside risk" next month, though it would be short-lived. Gox creditors take place in July, [this] creates a trajectory where crypto prices come under further pressure in July, but start rebounding from August onwards," the analysts wrote. Gox creditors opted for in-kind reimbursement has to do with the tax implications.

Persons: Kiyoshi Ota, Gregory Greene, Greene, Bitcoin, Greene's, John Glover, Ledn, Glover, Gox, Alex Thorn, They'll, Roger Ver, Blockstream, Adam Back, Greg Maxwell, Bruce Fenton, Thorn, there's, There's, Luke Nolan, CoinShares, JPMorgan Organizations: Bloomberg, Getty, Mt, CNBC, bitcoin, Online, Galaxy Digital, Bitcoin, Barclays, JPMorgan Chase, Gox Locations: Gox, Illinois, bitcoin, Mt

Bitcoin mining companies have expansive data centers, with access to fiber lines and large amounts of power across the U.S. They're exactly the types of facilities needed for compute-intensive AI operations, which means their sites and technology are in high demand. Core Scientific will deliver 70 megawatts of computing infrastructure to support CoreWeave's operations. Earlier this month, CoreWeave offered to buy Core Scientific for $1.02 billion, not long after their initial agreement. Core Scientific rejected the bid.

Persons: JPMorgan Chase, CoreWeave, Adam Sullivan Organizations: JPMorgan, Core, Nvidia

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