The cryptocurrency landscape has been a subject of intense debate and skepticism. However, the increasing involvement of institutional investors paints a different picture. Let’s explore this further. The Rise of Institutional Interest Over the past few years, the attention and excitement around Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have grown exponentially. This has led to many questions, especially from institutional investors. Are hedge funds and other large investors genuinely buying significant amounts of cryptocurrencies? What purpose does it serve in their portfolio? In September 2021, the answers became clear. Data confirmed that Bitcoin has been increasing in institutional investment portfolios since early 2020. Philip Gradwell, Chief Economist at Chainalysis, noted that starting in mid-March 2020, there was a significant increase in Bitcoin being held by large investors. These investors were buying at least 1000 bitcoins each, suggesting an investment of more than $30 million at a time, indicating that hedge funds and other entities with deep pockets were involved. This shift in investment patterns indicates a growing trust in the potential of cryptocurrencies. The Shift in Perception In its early years, Bitcoin was often dismissed by institutions as a flashy, worthless digital asset favored by criminals. However, the sentiment has shifted dramatically. Bitcoin, which once seemed to be on an ideological collision course with institutions, now bears the hallmark of institutional acceptance. This change in perspective has been driven by Bitcoin’s outstanding performance relative to other asset classes. Today, family offices, hedge funds, and traditional money managers view cryptocurrency products and services differently. A staggering $17 billion worth of institutional capital has poured into the crypto space in just one year. This shift is not just about numbers but a fundamental change in how institutional investors perceive the value and potential of cryptocurrencies. The Role of Major Players When giants like BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager with $9.5 trillion assets under management, add crypto to their balance sheets, it sends a powerful message. BlackRock is among the 16 mutual fund managers, including Morgan Stanley Investment Management, that have gained exposure to the crypto market. This involvement by major financial institutions signifies a broader acceptance and validation of the crypto market. Furthermore, endorsements by influential figures like Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk, as well as financial experts like Paul Tudor Jones and Ray Dalio, have bolstered confidence in the crypto space. The Reality of Scams Like any other sector, the crypto world is not immune to scams. However, labeling the entire crypto market as a scam due to the actions of a few malicious players is an oversimplification. The increasing involvement of institutional investors, the growing adoption rate, and the technological advancements in the crypto space all point towards a legitimate and promising future. It’s crucial to differentiate between individual fraudulent activities and the broader, genuine potential of the crypto market. The Current State of Institutional Crypto Investing The cryptocurrency landscape has evolved significantly, and institutional investors have played a pivotal role in this transformation. Here’s a snapshot of the current state: 1. BlackRock’s Foray One of the most significant developments in the crypto space was BlackRock’s move to file for a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) through the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This move by the world’s largest asset manager sparked a new wave of optimism around the crypto market. Following BlackRock’s lead, other major firms such as ARK Investment, Valkyrie, and Fidelity also filed their applications for a Bitcoin ETF. 2. Significance of Institutional Interest Ed Moya, a senior market analyst at OANDA, emphasized the importance of BlackRock’s interest in the crypto space. He highlighted that this move marked a turning point in dispelling the notion of cryptocurrencies as a fleeting trend. The interest from such a significant player signaled to many that crypto is here to stay. 3. Global Crypto Adoption While crypto adoption is progressing slowly, there’s a steady global interest. The regulatory environments in regions like the U.S. and Europe are still taking shape, which might be influencing the pace of adoption. However, blockchain projects are progressing, indicating a committed interest in the space. 4. Bitcoin ETFs and Mainstream Acceptance The momentum of Bitcoin ETFs has had a ripple effect on the broader crypto market. While Bitcoin ETFs haven’t ignited widespread interest, they have influenced the perception of cryptocurrencies. A spot Bitcoin ETF is seen as critical for further mainstream acceptance of cryptocurrencies. 5. Future Outlook The long-term outlook for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies will be influenced by several factors, including the development of central bank digital currencies, the adoption of smart contracts, and sustained public interest. If Wall Street remains committed to the crypto space and more investors allocate a portion of their portfolios to crypto, Bitcoin’s potential for significant rallies increases. Conclusion The involvement of institutional investors in the crypto market is a testament to its legitimacy and potential. While scams exist in every sector, it’s essential to differentiate between individual fraudulent activities and the broader, genuine potential of the crypto market. As the crypto landscape continues to evolve, it’s clear that its potential is being recognized and harnessed by some of the world’s most influential financial institutions.

In a quaint Regency-era office overlooking London’s Russell Square, I cofounded a company called DeepMind with two friends, Demis Hassabis and Shane Legg, in the summer of 2010. Our goal, one that still feels as ambitious and crazy and hopeful as it did back then, was to replicate the very thing that makes us unique as a species: our intelligence. To achieve this, we would need to create a system that could imitate and then eventually outperform all human cognitive abilities, from vision and speech to planning and imagination, and ultimately empathy and creativity. Since such a system would benefit from the massively parallel processing of supercomputers and the explosion of vast new sources of data from across the open web, we knew that even modest progress toward this goal would have profound societal implications. It certainly felt pretty far-out at the time. But AI has been climbing the ladder of cognitive abilities for decades, and it now looks set to reach human-level performance across a very wide range of tasks within the next three years. That is a big claim, but if I’m even close to right, the implications are truly profound. Further progress in one area accelerates the others in a chaotic and cross-catalyzing process beyond anyone’s direct control. It was clear that if we or others were successful in replicating human intelligence, this wasn’t just profitable business as usual but a seismic shift for humanity, inaugurating an era when unprecedented opportunities would be matched by unprecedented risks. Now, alongside a host of technologies including synthetic biology, robotics, and quantum computing, a wave of fast-developing and extremely capable AI is starting to break. What had, when we founded DeepMind, felt quixotic has become not just plausible but seemingly inevitable. As a builder of these technologies, I believe they can deliver an extraordinary amount of good. But without what I call containment, every other aspect of a technology, every discussion of its ethical shortcomings, or the benefits it could bring, is inconsequential. I see containment as an interlocking set of technical, social, and legal mechanisms constraining and controlling technology, working at every possible level: a means, in theory, of evading the dilemma of how we can keep control of the most powerful technologies in history. We urgently need watertight answers for how the coming wave can be controlled and contained, how the safeguards and affordances of the democratic nation-state, critical to managing these technologies and yet threatened by them, can be maintained. Right now no one has such a plan. This indicates a future that none of us want, but it’s one I fear is increasingly likely. Facing immense ingrained incentives driving technology forward, containment is not, on the face of it, possible. And yet for all our sakes, containment must be possible. It would seem that the key to containment is deft regulation on national and supranational levels, balancing the need to make progress alongside sensible safety constraints, spanning everything from tech giants and militaries to small university research groups and startups, tied up in a comprehensive, enforceable framework. We’ve done it before, so the argument goes; look at cars, planes, and medicines. Isn’t this how we manage and contain the coming wave? If only it were that simple. Regulation is essential. But regulation alone is not enough. Governments should, on the face of it, be better primed for managing novel risks and technologies than ever before. National budgets for such things are generally at record levels. Truth is, though, novel threats are just exceptionally difficult for any government to navigate. That’s not a flaw with the idea of government; it’s an assessment of the scale of the challenge before us. Governments fight the last war, the last pandemic, regulate the last wave. Regulators regulate for things they can anticipate.

Reliance Retail said it has signed a joint venture agreement with Ed-a-Mamma to acquire a 51% stake in the brand The Reliance Group company said it would closely collaborate with founder Alia Bhatt and leverage the management strength of its subsidiary Reliance Brands for growth of Ed-a-Mamma Founded in 2020, Ed-a-Mamma manufactures and sells kids wear and maternity wear products Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL) on Wednesday said it is acquiring a majority stake in Alia Bhatt’s children’s wear brand Ed-a-Mamma. In a statement, RRVL said it has signed a joint venture agreement with Ed-a-Mamma to acquire a 51% stake. RRVL said it aims to closely collaborate with Bhatt and leverage the management strength of its subsidiary Reliance Brands to spearhead the business. Founded in 2020, Ed-a-Mamma manufactures and sells kids wear and maternity wear products. The startup operates in an omnichannel model, selling across ecommerce platforms and offline retail chains including Lifestyle and Shoppers’ Stop. “With sustainability as its core proposition the brand has garnered acclaim for its meticulous attention to detail, using ethically sourced materials and eco-conscious production processes. This aligns seamlessly with Reliance Brands’ vision of fostering a more responsible future for the fashion industry,” said Isha Ambani, director of Reliance Retail Ventures Limited. (This is a developing story)

Tencent has announced that it will launch an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot on its home turf this week. With the launch, the company will be among other big tech companies in China, including Baidu and SenseTime Group. These companies released their AI chatbots last week.The company has released a post that shows a demo conversation a user has with the AI chatbot. The chatbot is able to write promotional materials. The development comes after China started to approve AI chatbots for public release last month.According to a report by news agency Reuters, Tencent has been developing its own AI model named “Hunyuan” for months. Last month, the company said it was expanding the test of the model internally.In a report in February, the publication claimed that Tencent formed a team to develop a ChatGPT-like chatbot named “HunyuanAide”.Over 70 LLMs in ChinaRecently, Baidu CEO Robin Li said that various companies have released more than 70 large language models (LLMs) with over 1 billion parameters in China. Baidu also has its own AI chatbot called Ernie. Li said the latest version of Baidu’s AI chatbot, Ernie 3.5, has a processing speed twice that of the previous version and it offers 50% improved efficiency. He also noted that the company will launch a new version in the near future.Other companies that have launched AI chatbots include TikTok owner ByteDance as well as AI start-ups, Baichuan Intelligent Technology, Zhipu AI and MiniMax. Unlike other countries, China is making it mandatory for companies to submit security assessments and receive clearance before releasing AI products to the masses. The government accelerated efforts to support companies developing AI as the technology to compete with the US.

It’s easy to trick the large language models powering chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard. In one experiment in February, security researchers forced Microsoft’s Bing chatbot to behave like a scammer. Hidden instructions on a web page the researchers created told the chatbot to ask the person using it to hand over their bank account details. This kind of attack, where concealed information can make the AI system behave in unintended ways, is just the beginning. Hundreds of examples of “indirect prompt injection” attacks have been created since then. This type of attack is now considered one of the most concerning ways that language models could be abused by hackers. As generative AI systems are put to work by big corporations and smaller startups, the cybersecurity industry is scrambling to raise awareness of the potential dangers. In doing so, they hope to keep data—both personal and corporate—safe from attack. Right now there isn’t one magic fix, but common security practices can reduce the risks. “Indirect prompt injection is definitely a concern for us,” says Vijay Bolina, the chief information security officer at Google’s DeepMind artificial intelligence unit, who says Google has multiple projects ongoing to understand how AI can be attacked. In the past, Bolina says, prompt injection was considered “problematic,” but things have accelerated since people started connecting large language models (LLMs) to the internet and plug-ins, which can add new data to the systems. As more companies use LLMs, potentially feeding them more personal and corporate data, things are going to get messy. “We definitely think this is a risk, and it actually limits the potential uses of LLMs for us as an industry,” Bolina says. Prompt injection attacks fall into two categories—direct and indirect. And it’s the latter that’s causing most concern amongst security experts. When using a LLM, people ask questions or provide instructions in prompts that the system then answers. Direct prompt injections happen when someone tries to make the LLM answer in an unintended way—getting it to spout hate speech or harmful answers, for instance. Indirect prompt injections, the really concerning ones, take things up a notch. Instead of the user entering a malicious prompt, the instruction comes from a third party. A website the LLM can read, or a PDF that’s being analyzed, could, for example, contain hidden instructions for the AI system to follow. “The fundamental risk underlying all of these, for both direct and indirect prompt instructions, is that whoever provides input to the LLM has a high degree of influence over the output,” says Rich Harang, a principal security architect focusing on AI systems at Nvidia, the world’s largest maker of AI chips. Put simply: If someone can put data into the LLM, then they can potentially manipulate what it spits back out. Security researchers have demonstrated how indirect prompt injections could be used to steal data, manipulate someone’s résumé, and run code remotely on a machine. One group of security researchers ranks prompt injections as the top vulnerability for those deploying and managing LLMs. And the National Cybersecurity Center, a branch of GCHQ, the UK’s intelligence agency, has even called attention to the risk of prompt injection attacks, saying there have been hundreds of examples so far. “Whilst research is ongoing into prompt injection, it may simply be an inherent issue with LLM technology,” the branch of GCHQ warned in a blog post. “There are some strategies that can make prompt injection more difficult, but as yet there are no surefire mitigations.”

United Airlines had to halt all of its flights across the US due to a computer malfunction, as reported by ABC News. The airline requested the Federal Aviation Administration to pause all departures nationwide. However, just an hour later, United resumed its operations and lifted the ground stop.On Tuesday, United had to cancel seven flights and delayed 364 others, which accounted for 13 per cent of its scheduled operations. Flights already in the air were not affected.“We are experiencing a systemwide technology issue and are holding all aircraft at their departure airports. Flights that are already airborne are continuing to their destination as planned. We will share more information as it becomes available” the airlines said in a post on social media platform X. “Thank you for your patience as we work on a resolution to get you on your way as soon as possible.”“United asked the FAA to pause the airline’s departures nationwide. For more information, contact United regarding its request and monitor http://fly.faa.gov for updates,” wrote the Federal Aviation Administration on its official social media handle. “We have identified a fix for the technology issue and flights have resumed. We are working with impacted customers to help them reach their destinations as soon as possible,” replied the airline to its earlier post.United told Engadget that a software update resulted in a widespread slowdown in its technology systems. The airlines stated that they are looking into the cause of the issue, but clarified it is not a cybersecurity concern.On September 28 the United Kingdom’s air traffic control system experienced technical problems that resulted in the cancellation of more than 500 flights in and out of British airports. Britain’s National Air Traffic Service (NATS) stated that the issue caused restrictions to the flow of aircraft in and out of the UK on one of the busiest holidays of the year for travel. Travellers experienced widespread flight delays into London from popular vacation destinations. Later in the day, NATS announced that the technical issue had been identified and resolved, and they were working closely with airlines and airports to manage the affected flights as efficiently as possible. According to BBC News, over 230 flights departing the UK and at least 271 flights scheduled to arrive in the UK were cancelled.

Xbox has announced that its September update is coming soon and will bring a host of features for gamers. This update will allow gamers to stream their Xbox gameplay on Discord, bring variable refresh rate for Xbox Series X|S consoles, give them new places to view and redeem Rewards and provide new wish list notifications to track games. Additionally, the platform is rolling out Xbox voice reporting, which allows gamers to report inappropriate in-game voice chat. Plus, there are “some great updates” on PC.Streaming games from Xbox to DiscordStarting this week, gamers can stream gameplay directly from their Xbox to their Discord friends by clicking on “Stream your game.” For this, users have to link their Discord account and then they can join voice channels from the Xbox console by pressing the Xbox button on the controller to open the guide, scroll to ‘Parties & chats’, and select ‘Discord’.Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) for Xbox Series X|S consolesVariable Refresh Rate (VRR) will allow the users’ TV or monitor to adjust its refresh rate based on the frame rate of the content that is being watched, for a smooth gameplay.Starting this week, gamers can choose to enable/ disable VRR by selecting an option, go to General > TV & display options > Video, and then go to the dropdown menu for VRR. You can select if you want VRR to be “Always On,” “Gaming Only,” or “Off.”New places to view and redeem RewardsGamers will be able to find Rewards in the new Rewards tab. Gamers can navigate there by pressing the Xbox button to open the guide, choose Profile & system, select profile, and then choose My Rewards.Additionally, gamers can “find the Redeem Rewards catalogue directly from the Rewards tab in your profile. To check it out, open the guide and go to Profile & system > your profile > My Rewards.”Xbox voice reportingIn July, Xbox announced a platform-wide voice reporting feature to give players the option to capture and report inappropriate in-game voice chats. “Voice reporting equips Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One players with the ability to capture a 60-second video clip of an in-game voice incident that they believe violates Xbox Community Standards and submit it as evidence to the Xbox Safety Team for review,” the company said.This feature is purpose-built to support the wide variety of in-game interactions between players on games including Xbox 360 backward compatible titles. However, Voice reporting will be available starting this week to Xbox console players in select English-language markets (US, UK, Canada, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand). Xbox app on PC experience updatesXbox also updated the Xbox app on PC with new features, faster performance and celebrations for upcoming games. There are also improvements to game details page load times for faster access to install buttons. There are new fonts, button styles and animations across the app. There are updates across the Library and Installation queue, including filters for Installed, Owned, and In Game Pass.

Marshall has launched its latest TWS earbuds, Motif II ANC, in India. The earbuds offer features such as 30 hours of battery life, Active Noise Cancellation, Transparency mode, LE Audio support, and more. Priced at Rs 19,999, the earbuds are available for purchase on Marshall’s official website. The earbuds come with a charging case, USB-C charging cable, user manual, and safety information. They are compatible with the Marshall Bluetooth App and offer wireless connectivity through Bluetooth 5.3 LE.

The decision was taken by the index maintenance sub committee (equity) of NSE Indices as the shares of Jio Financial did not hit the price band on two consecutive trading days The NSE said the exclusion shall not be deferred further even if Jio Financial hits the price band on September 6 Besides Nifty 50, the stock will be delisted from Nifty 100, Nifty 200, Nifty 500, Nifty Energy, Nifty India Manufacturing and 13 other indices Reliance Industries Ltd’s (RIL’s) demerged arm Jio Financial Services Limited (JFSL) will be excluded from the NSE indices, including the benchmark Nifty 50, from September 7.  “In accordance with the index methodology, as JIOFIN has not hit price band on two consecutive trading days on September 4, 2023 and September 5, 2023 at NSE, the index maintenance sub committee (equity) of NSE Indices has decided to exclude JIOFIN from various indices as listed hereunder effective from September 7, 2023,” said NSE in a statement.  It added that the exclusion shall not be deferred further even if Jio Financial hits the price band on September 6. Besides Nifty 50, the stock will be removed from Nifty 100, Nifty 200, Nifty 500, Nifty Energy, Nifty India Manufacturing and 13 other indices. RIL spun off Jio Financial as a separate entity in July this year, after which the latter became a publicly listed entity in late August.  The company had a lacklustre start on the bourses, hitting the lower circuit for five straight sessions before gaining at the fag end of August. However, the stock has pared losses since then.  Shares of Jio Financial continued their rise on Tuesday as well, gaining 0.73% to end the session at INR 255.30 on the NSE. The stock touched an intraday high of INR 259.7. Meanwhile, as per Nuvama Alternative Research, Jio Financial’s delisting could reportedly see the sale of nearly 105 Mn shares worth $324 Mn by Nifty passive trackers. The research firm also said that NSE would emulate BSE’s 20% filter even as retail investors await NSE’s price band circular for the stock. The development comes days after the BSE removed Jio Financial from its indices. However, MSCI and FTSE indices continue to retain Jio Financial without any impact on inflow or outflow. Amid all this, Jio Financial appears all set to shake up the financial services industry. At the conglomerate’s 46th Annual General Meeting (AGM) last month, chairman Mukesh Ambani unveiled a blueprint of the company saying it will launch products in the payments and insurance segments, apart from its already announced foray into the asset management space.  Jio Financial will also explore blockchain technology and the central bank digital currency (CBDC) to build new-age products.  As per the company, Jio Financial became the world’s highest-capitalised financial services platform at the time of its inception before the delisting announcement.  Be it testing a soundbox for payments or building products in the general insurance and health insurance spaces, Jio Financial has a plethora of offerings up its sleeves and this has sent alarm bells ringing across India’s burgeoning fintech ecosystem. The Reliance Group company will take on startups like Zerodha, Paytm Money, INDMoney and Groww, among others.