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Nvidia Has Invested in Arm Holdings and a Few Other Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stocks — Should Investors Follow?

by CoinNews February 16, 2024

written by CoinNews

In today’s video, I discuss recent updates affecting Nvidia (NVDA -0.06%). Check out the short video to learn more, consider subscribing, and click the special offer link below.

*Stock prices used were the market prices of Feb. 15, 2024. The video was published on Feb. 15, 2024.

Jose Najarro has positions in Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Jose Najarro is an affiliate of The Motley Fool and may be compensated for promoting its services. If you choose to subscribe through their link they will earn some extra money that supports their channel. Their opinions remain their own and are unaffected by The Motley Fool.

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February 16, 2024 0 comment

CoinNews

Fake Uniswap $10 million airdrop reported as several prominent crypto media scammed

by CoinNews February 16, 2024

written by CoinNews

A sophisticated social engineering campaign successfully duped several prominent crypto news outlets into promoting a fabricated $10 million Uniswap airdrop on Feb. 16. The scammer, posing as a Uniswap Foundation representative, offered coordinated publicity in tandem with the legitimate Uniswap v4 announcement.

CryptoSlate declined to cover the airdrop, noting concerns about potential malicious changes to tracking links post-publication. While Uniswap’s v4 announcement proved genuine, the accompanying airdrop was exposed as a scam.

The scammer meticulously built credibility, referencing a conversation with “Uniswap’s VP of Communication” and proposing favorable payment coverage. This level of coordination suggests an evolution in tactics utilized by scammers targeting the crypto media space.

As the conversation of a potential partnership continued, the scammer began to increase the complexity of their duplicity. Below is a forged screenshot of an email sent to CryptoSlate to prove the campaign’s legitimacy.

However, on reviewing the content, CryptoSlate identified the use of tracking links using redirects rather than typical UTM parameters, meaning that the links could be changed to direct to any website at any time, with the publication having to alter the content.

The scammer was confronted, upon which further communication ceased. The company involved in the scam is registered in the United Kingdom, one of the top three countries for crypto crime in 2023.

Uniswap airdrop scam claims

The article in question, successfully published on numerous crypto media sites, falsely claimed the launch of Uniswap V4 and a $10 million UNI airdrop. It included real links to the Uniswap website, which were then changed to point to a phishing site after Uniswap made its actual announcement.

Specifically, it reported a generous $10 million UNI airdrop to celebrate the V4 launch. It described it as a “first-come, first-serve” initiative to reward the community and attract new users. This move was presented as a strategy to democratize financial participation and engage users. This contrasts legitimate airdrops conducted based on previous wallet activity, not first-come, first-serve.

In contrast, the real news highlights the Uniswap Foundation’s announcement of the tentative launch date for Uniswap V4 following the Ethereum Dencun upgrade. The genuine announcement focuses on the development stages, including core code completion, testing, gas optimization, and security enhancements. It mentions a community audit contest and the deployment to the testnet as preparatory steps for the final launch in the Ethereum mainnet, tentatively scheduled for the third quarter of 2024.

While no financial losses for readers have been reported as of press time, this incident erodes trust. For reputable news outlets, maintaining credibility is paramount. In the aftermath, crypto media and industry observers will look closer at measures necessary to safeguard against increasingly sophisticated social engineering scams.

This incident highlights the risks inherent in the fast-paced crypto news cycle. Publishers face mounting pressure to break impactful stories quickly but must thoroughly vet potential sources. The scammer’s use of self-destructing messages adds a layer of security, hindering post-incident investigations.

It serves as a salient reminder of the due diligence required in crypto reporting. In this instance, the fraudulent airdrop scheme closely paralleled a major legitimate product announcement, increasing plausibility. Journalists are advised to maintain a healthy skepticism and employ rigorous verification techniques, even when confronted with seemingly urgent and enticing opportunities.

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February 16, 2024 0 comment

Finance

Jailed Putin opponent Alexei Navalny has died, Russian media says

by CoinNews February 16, 2024

written by CoinNews

Jailed Putin opponent Alexei Navalny has died, Russian media says

Imprisoned Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny has died, Russian state news agency Tass reported on Friday, citing the prison service of the Yamalo-Nenets region where he had been serving his sentence.

The prison service reportedly said the cause of Navalny’s death was still to be established.

Alexey Navalny’s spokesperson, Kira Yarmysh said in a Google-translated update on the X social media platform that “We don’t have any confirmation of this yet. Alexey’s lawyer is now flying to Kharp. As soon as we have any information, we will report it.”

CNBC could not independently verify the report.

Navalny, 47, was an anti-corruption campaigner and one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most vocal critics. He was serving a 19-year jail term on charges of extremism.

Navalny “felt unwell after a walk, almost immediately losing consciousness,” Interfax reported, citing a statement from the office for the prison service of the Yamalo-Nenets region.

The statement said “all the necessary resuscitation measures were carried out, but did not yield positive results.” It added that an ambulance was called and emergency doctors later confirmed Navalny’s death.

The Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of Russia for the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug region said Friday on Telegram that it is organizing a procedural check into the death of Navalny, according to a Google-translated post.

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is seen on a screen via video link from the IK-2 corrective penal colony in Pokrov before a court hearing to consider an appeal against his prison sentence, in Moscow, Russia May 17, 2022.

Evgenia Novozhenina | Reuters

Navalny, who previously condemned Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine as “the most stupid and senseless war of the 21st century,” was moved to an Arctic penal colony late last year. It is widely considered to be one of the country’s toughest prisons.

Navalny has been held behind bars in Russia since 2021, after spending nearly half a year in Germany recovering from a nerve agent poisoning in August 2020.

The German government said in September 2020 that Navalny had been poisoned by a chemical nerve agent, saying a toxicology report provided “unequivocal evidence.” The nerve agent was in the family of Novichok, which was developed by the Soviet Union. Toxicology tests conducted in France and Sweden also came to the same conclusion.

The Kremlin has repeatedly denied any role in Navalny’s poisoning.

Former CIA Director David Petraeus: I was surprised Alexei Navalny lived for as long as he did

Navalny was a well-known figure in Russia and produced numerous reports on corruption that had flourished during Putin’s leadership. Famously, Putin has a long-running tradition of refusing to mention Navalny by name in public — a decision the Kremlin has previously said stems from the president’s views of the critic.

Navalny had sought to challenge Putin for Russia’s presidency, but was barred from running against him in 2018. Putin will run for president once again next month in an election where he faces only token opposition.

World leaders react

World leaders responded to the news of Navalny’s reported death by paying tribute to his courage as an anti-corruption activist and offering their condolences to his family.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said he was “deeply saddened and disturbed” by the reports, while German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed he was “very sad.” U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called news of Navalny’s death “terrible.”

Reports on Alexei Navalny's death are 'heart-breaking,' U.S. senator says

Other high-profile figures raised questions over the circumstances of Navalny’s death.

In response to the comments from political leaders on Navalny’s reported death, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said via X, “The instant reaction of NATO leaders to the news of Alexey Navalny’s demise in the form of direct accusations vs Russia is self-exposing.”

She added, “No forensic medical examination data IS available, yet the West has already voiced its ‘conclusions.'”

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February 16, 2024 0 comment

CoinNews

Bitcoin Technical Analysis: BTC Consolidates Gains as Traders Eye $53K Resistance Level

by CoinNews February 16, 2024

written by CoinNews

As bitcoin weaves through its dynamic trading patterns, its valuation on Feb. 16, 2024, reveals pronounced bullish indicators. Floating within a 24-hour trading window of $51,364 to $52,884, the digital currency’s market worth firmly grips the $1.02 trillion mark. Bitcoin The volume of bitcoin’s global trades is cruising at $29.86 billion, showcasing a medium-to-high engagement […]

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February 16, 2024 0 comment

CoinNews

US banking groups lobby SEC for rule change to enter Bitcoin ETF market

by CoinNews February 16, 2024

written by CoinNews

Multiple US banking groups are seeking inclusion in the Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) landscape, prompting a request for a rule change to facilitate their participation.

In a Feb. 14 letter to SEC Chair Gary Gensler, a coalition comprising the Bank Policy Institute, the American Bankers Association, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, and the Financial Services Forum advocated their stance.

Crypto custodial

The coalition urged the SEC to reassess a regulation that made it expensive for traditional banks to offer crypto custody services. Current rules require these financial institutions to classify cryptocurrencies as liabilities on their balance sheets. Therefore, the banks must allocate assets equivalent to the crypto holdings to mitigate potential losses and adhere to the strict regulatory capital requirements.

The coalition contended that this rule hampered them from acting as custodians for the newly introduced Bitcoin ETFs, a role they commonly undertook for most other Exchange-Traded Products (ETPs). This limitation, the group argued, stemmed from factors such as the “Tier 1 capital ratio and other reserve and capital requirements.”

They added:

“If regulated banking organizations are effectively precluded from providing digital asset safeguarding services at scale, investors and customers, and ultimately the financial system, will be worse off, with the market limited to custody providers that do not afford their customers the legal and supervisory protections provided by federally-regulated banking organizations.”

The group further emphasized the need to mitigate the concentration risk of a single non-bank entity dominating the custodial services for these Bitcoin ETFs. According to the group, allowing prudentially regulated banks to offer custodial services for SEC-regulated ETFs, akin to qualified non-bank asset custodians, could address this concern.

Coinbase, the largest US-based crypto trading platform, is the unnamed non-bank entity mentioned in the letter. The exchange serves as the asset custodian for 8 of the ETF issuers.

Recommendations

The group urged the SEC to refine the definition of crypto outlined in Staff Accounting Bulletin 121 (SAB 121) to exclude traditional financial assets recorded or transferred on blockchain networks.

“SAB 121 makes no distinction between asset types and use cases, but instead generally states that crypto-assets pose certain technological, legal, and regulatory risks requiring on-balance sheet treatment,” they added.

Additionally, they proposed exempting banks from the on-balance sheet requirements while upholding disclosure obligations. This approach would enable banks to partake in select crypto activities while maintaining transparency for investors.

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February 16, 2024 0 comment

CoinNews

Blockchain-Based Loyalty Rewards Foster Brand-Customer Connection, Accelerate Web3 Adoption — Gennady Volchek

by CoinNews February 16, 2024

written by CoinNews

Universal loyalty programs can serve as potent tools, not only forging a direct link between a brand and its consumers but also influencing the latter’s shopping behaviour, Gennady Volchek, the CEO of the loyalty rewards app Shping, has said. However, by harnessing the power of blockchain and cryptocurrency, these loyalty programs empower brands to connect […]

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February 16, 2024 0 comment

Finance

Temenos shares slide a second day as short seller’s allegations wipe $2 billion off market cap

by CoinNews February 16, 2024

written by CoinNews

Temenos shares continued to crash on Friday, despite the Swiss technology firm’s attempt to hit back at allegations made by short seller Hindenburg Research that have knocked more than $2 billion off its market capitalization.

Hindenburg’s report, which was published on Thursday, accused Temenos of using “aggressive accounting tactics” to boost the share price and gloss over deeper problems inside the company which were driving away its customers.

In a post on its website, Temenos said Hindenburg’s report contains “factual inaccuracies” and “false and misleading allegations,” as the Swiss banking technology company said it “fundamentally refutes” the short seller’s claims.

Temenos
TEMN,
-5.89%
shares fell 8% on Friday, following a 24.9% drop on Thursday. Shares in the Switzerland listed company surged 54% in 2023.

The New York investment fund alleges Temenos CEO Andreas Andreades encouraged the use of manipulative accounting methods inside the company, while failing to recognize deficiencies in its products that had led to widespread dissatisfaction among customers.

The short sellers report notes that Temenos’ executives have sold $1.1 billion worth of stock in the company over the previous 10 years, while purchasing just $26 million worth of shares in the Swiss technology company over the same period of time.

In a post on its website, Temenos said it plans to publish audited results for the full-year 2023 on Feb. 19, and that it is “confident in the strength of its business, financial performance and cash position.” Some are hoping for more comment from the company’s Capital Markets Day planned for Feb. 20.

Temenos did not offer any specific information on which allegations it refutes, and said it was not contacted by Hindenburg prior to the publication of its report.

However, in its report, Hindenburg said Temenos told the short seller it would “fully investigate” and claimed to have taken “every step to be as open and forthcoming as possible with data.”

Temenos was approached by MarketWatch for further comment.

A team of analysts at Jefferies, led by Charles Brennan, raised questions about one of Hindenburg’s points surrounding Temenos’ investments in research and development (R&D).

Hindenburg’s report claimed Temenos listed client specific implementation costs as investments in R&D, leading to the company having a 62% higher R&D capitalization rate than its peers. The short seller said this practice led to a 29.5% artificial boost to 2022 pre-tax profits.

Jeffries analysts, however, said that while Temenos has previously capitalized more of its costs than peers, this practice was debated openly by investors and led to the company enjoying only an incremental benefit between 2018 and 2020. The analysts said Temenos’ “current level of net capitalization appears in line with peers.”

Hindenburg Research derives its name from the 1937 Hindenburg Disaster, which it describes as “the epitome of a totally man-made, totally avoidable disaster.”

The short-seller says it uses “hard-to-find information from atypical sources” to shed light on “man made disasters floating around in the market.”

Hindenburg’s four month long investigation into Temenos was based on sources including interviews with the Swiss firm’s customers and former company executives.

The New York fund, which was founded by Nathan Anderson in 2017, attracted significant attention in 2020 after publishing a report that raised allegations of fraud inside electric vehicle maker Nikola Corporation
NKLA,
+5.83%
that saw shares in the company drop 40%.

Hindenburg Research was approached by MarketWatch for comment.

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February 16, 2024 0 comment

Finance

Starbucks has a new accessible store design. Take a look inside

by CoinNews February 16, 2024

written by CoinNews

The exterior of Starbucks’ new Union Market location

Source: Starbucks

Starbucks has unveiled a new store design focused on accessibility and inclusion, with fresh light fixtures and open floor plans.

The coffee giant opened the first location with the new design on Friday in Washington, D.C.’s Union Market.

“Designing for disabilities is just good design for everybody,” said Sara Trilling, president of Starbucks North America.

She added that designing a more accessible cafe took about two years and that the company solicited input from Starbucks baristas.

Starbucks designed the store to have an unobstructed path for customers.

Source: Starbucks

The Union Market cafe has power-operated doors so customers can use less effort to enter the cafe. Once inside, they can place their orders with baristas using a new point-of-sale system that has an adjustable angle stand, voice assist, screen magnification and photos of menu items.

“Imagine somebody who doesn’t speak English as a first language, and you’re trying to make sure that you’re getting [the order] right and providing great service. You’ll have an opportunity through some visual cues to make those confirmations,” Trilling said.

The counters are also lower, making them more accessible for wheelchair users, for example.

The store’s counters are lower, giving wheelchair users a better experience.

Source: Starbucks

Behind the counter, Starbucks’ new Clover Vertica system for brewing drip coffee has a more accessible design, with a large dial and protruding buttons.

“You can actually feel the settings by touch or using light to indicate when brewing cycles and other things have been completed,” Trilling said.

Starbucks’ new Clover Vertica brewing system features large dials and protruding buttons for easier use.

Source: Starbucks

Digital status boards show customers when their drinks are ready to pick up, in addition to baristas calling out their names.

Starbucks also changed the store lighting to minimize glare, shadows and backlighting that can make it more difficult to see. Insulation has been improved, too, so stores aren’t as noisy.

And Starbucks designed the overall floor plan of the store to be free of obstacles and to have open sightlines.

All future company-owned locations will follow a similar framework. Starbucks plans to open more than 600 new stores this year, increasing its U.S. footprint by 4%, including licensed locations.

The store’s lighting is softer, and insulation keeps noise levels lower.

Source: Starbucks

Building more accessible stores won’t be materially more expensive than using current designs, according to Trilling.

“I think about it as something that’s going to help us in terms of customer connection. It’s going to help us in terms of employee engagement,” she said.

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February 16, 2024 0 comment

Finance

5 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stocks That Could Make You a Millionaire

by CoinNews February 16, 2024

written by CoinNews

While the hype hit new heights over the past year, artificial intelligence (AI) has been around for a while and the enthusiasm is here to stay. Bloomberg Intelligence (BI) estimates that the generative AI market could grow 40%-plus annually and reach $1.2 trillion by 2032. That level of growth will also create an estimated $280 billion in new revenue opportunities from software alone.

Emerging new industries are exciting, but picking the long-term winners can be challenging. For all investors know, the most prolific company of the next 20 years might not even exist yet. That suggests casting a wide net could be the best investment strategy. In this case, the best approach might be to find the early winners, own their stocks, and follow how AI progresses over time.

After pouring through dozens of companies, these five stood out for their strong positions to lead the industry’s growth. Consider buying and holding these AI stocks. They enjoy pole positions in the AI industry and could generate life-changing investment returns over the next decade and beyond.

1. Nvidia: This company owns an estimated 90% of the AI chip market

Artificial intelligence (AI) might seem like it became Wall Street’s hottest trend overnight. Seemingly just as quickly, graphics chip company Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) has taken a stranglehold on the market for chips used to power AI models (it controls as much as 90% of the market). One of its competitors, Advanced Micro Devices, estimates the AI chip market will grow to $400 billion over the next several years. Do the math, and Nvidia’s companywide revenue of $45 billion over the past year looks poised to skyrocket.

The competition will chase Nvidia, but the company’s high-performance chips, combined with its popular CUDA computing software optimized to get the most out of them, create a turnkey package the industry keeps opting for. Perhaps Nvidia’s competitors weren’t ready for the AI surge. Shares have gained over 230% this past year alone, but the long-term demand for AI chips seems poised to drive the stock even higher as Nvidia grows.

2. ASML: Manufacturing cutting-edge chips relies on this one manufacturer

Ironically, most chip companies, including Nvidia, don’t build their chips. They only design them. Chip factories, called fabs, do the building and require cutting-edge machines to make intricate patterns on silicon wafers. ASML (NASDAQ: ASML) designs and builds extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) machines, which are used to create the most advanced chips hitting the market today.

Remarkably, ASML is the only company that makes this type of machine. This machine is so complex that it takes 13 shipping containers and 250 crates to ship and costs up to $400 million each. Naturally, AI and general technology will continue progressing. Breakthroughs will require increasingly better machines to make better chips. ASML should be a long-term beneficiary of the AI boom.

3. Palantir: Enterprises are flocking to use this company’s custom software applications

Big technology companies are spending to build advanced computer systems, but smaller enterprises want to use AI technology to help run their businesses. Because of this, Palantir Technologies (NYSE: PLTR) is seeing growth take off. The company sells custom software applications built on three proprietary platforms: Gotham, Foundry, and AIP. Specifically, AIP was designed for building and deploying AI in commercial applications.

Palantir gets over half its revenue from government customers, the U.S. government being its largest and oldest customer. However, the commercial segment is thriving. Palantir’s enterprise customer base grew 55% year over year in the fourth quarter and 22% over the previous three months to 221. That’s just a couple of hundred companies in a broader corporate landscape of millions. If companies worldwide need AI to compete, Palantir could grow for years.

4. Supermicro: Turnkey server systems are in high demand, and this company is heating up

Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ: SMCI), better known as Supermicro, has evolved from selling components to complete IT solutions over the decades. However, the explosion of data center demand for AI is beginning to reach Supermicro, and the business is taking off. The company’s revenue growth has accelerated, and management believes its total revenue will double this fiscal year (ending over the summer).

Again, its success makes sense. Companies need AI capabilities, but non-technical businesses are far better off hiring a third party like Supermicro to come in and build a system for them. The modular design makes it easier to expand the system if their computing needs grow over time. Management estimates they’re growing five times faster than the broader industry, meaning customers choose them over others. It’s promising for Supermicro’s long-term trajectory and shareholders alike.

5. Microsoft: Its partnership with ChatGPT’s creator is a potential goldmine

The AI hype may have begun with ChatGPT, a generative AI chatbot built by OpenAI. Tech giant Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) jumped on the opportunity and furthered its partnership with OpenAI, tying OpenAI’s growth to its cloud platform, Azure. That has already bore fruit. Microsoft reported an uptick in Azure’s growth in its latest quarter, noting that over half the Fortune 500 already uses Azure and OpenAI in their businesses. Azure is the world’s second-leading cloud platform, only trailing Amazon‘s AWS.

But with Microsoft, you get a diversified business with revenue streams from cloud, gaming, enterprise software, and more. Its massive size and deep pockets also give it a higher floor than most stocks you’ll come across. Of course, a $3.1 trillion market cap means it’s probably too large to make you a millionaire alone. Instead, expect a steady portfolio performer that generally grinds higher over time.

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John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Justin Pope has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends ASML, Advanced Micro Devices, Amazon, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Palantir Technologies. The Motley Fool recommends Super Micro Computer and recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

5 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stocks That Could Make You a Millionaire was originally published by The Motley Fool

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February 16, 2024 0 comment

CoinNews

SEC Inspector General investigating crypto conflicts of interest within federal agency

by CoinNews February 16, 2024

written by CoinNews

The US Security and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Office of Inspector General (OIG) is investigating cryptocurrency-related financial conflicts of interest identified by the accountability group Empower Oversight.

In a Feb. 15 statement, Empower Oversight disclosed that the SEC’s division was in the “final stages of completing” an open investigation into matters relating to the failures of the SEC’s Ethics Office and a former official, William Hinman.

Hinman is accused of participating in matters where he held a financial stake, notably delivering a contentious speech asserting that specific digital assets, such as Ethereum, were not subject to SEC regulation as securities.

Critics within the Ripple XRP community contend that Hinman’s speech unfairly favored Ethereum, potentially giving it an edge over other digital assets in the market.

Empower Oversight emphasized its concerns by presenting documentation indicating that key figures from Ethereum, including co-founders Joseph Lubin and Vitalik Buterin, were involved in drafting the infamous speech.

In addition, the watchdog group also declared that Hinman “blatantly disregarded” instructions not to meet with specific individuals while working at the SEC, such as his former employer, Simpson Thacher, a member of the Ethereum Enterprise Alliance (EEA.)

“When Hinman departed the SEC in December 2020, he returned to Simpson Thacher as a partner. That same month the SEC sued Ripple, alleging XRP was an unregistered security,” Tristan Leavitt, president of Empower Oversight wrote.

This matter was officially brought to the attention of the OIG in May 2022.

Threatens Lawsuit

Empower Oversight has threatened the financial regulator with a lawsuit if it fails to provide information regarding its investigations by Feb. 23.

The group noted that the SEC has failed to provide information about the case since it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in May 2023.

Leavitt said:

“The silver lining is that now we know one reason for the stonewalling is that there actually is an active inquiry by the inspector general, which is almost done. However, whether the OIG report thoroughly addresses all the issues we raised remains to be seen because we don’t know the exact scope of the inquiry. The SEC’s OIG needs to get this right and help prevent similar conflicts of interest from undermining public faith in the SEC’s work in the future.”

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February 16, 2024 0 comment

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