The Business And Technology Network

Helping Business Interpret And Use Technology

3 takeaways from this year’s e-Conomy SEA 2024 report

Southeast Asia’s economy has rapidly expanded over recent years — and there’s no sign of slowing down. In fact, the GDP growth of Southeast Asia is projected to outpace …

Spot bitcoin ETFs see $541 million in outflows, largest daily negative flow since May

The outflows of over $540 million on Monday marked the bitcoin ETFs’ second-largest daily net outflows since debut.

Healthcare firm Semler Scientific buys 47 additional bitcoin, taking total holdings to 1,058 BTC

The Nasdaq-traded healthcare tech firm announced its new bitcoin purchases alongside the release of its third-quarter earnings report.

5 top new movies to stream this week on Netflix, Prime Video, and more (Nov. 5 – 11)

There are lots of new movies coming to streaming services this week, including “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story”, “A Different Man”, and more.

What’s New in DePin? Peaq’s Token Launch Date, GAIB and io.net Outreach, Roam Telecom Layer

Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks (DePin) are transforming the tech by enabling decentralized projects in real-world infrastructure.

Here’s the latest news in the DePin sector: Peaq announced a launch date for its new token and broader functionality for its “peaqosystem,” GAIB and io.net teamed up for outreach solutions in their shared GPU/AI compute sphere, and Roam is transforming into a DePin telecom layer.

Peaq Announces Blockchain and Token Launch Date

Peaq, the Layer-1 blockchain ecosystem for DePins, recently announced a widespread launch of their protocol and new PEAQ token. The firm has already been incorporating dozens of projects into the “peaqosystem”, and currently empowers 39 separate DePins. However, this broader launch on November 12 will enable several novel features and applications for all of them.

Read More: What is a Layer-1 Blockchain?

DePin Projects on Peaq's DePin Projects on Peaq’s “Peaqosystem.” Source: Peaq

The PEAQ token will enable users to enjoy much more functionality on this platform. The company’s site claims this utility token can “enable people and machines to transact, help produce new blocks, take part in network governance, and guarantee machines’ trustworthiness.” In other words, it will power sophisticated new apps to supercharge blockchain functionality.

GAIB and io.net Partner Up

AI DePin firms GAIB and io.net have also joined forces to enhance access to GPU resources for AI development. GAIB announced a separate partnership with Aethir and GMI Cloud last week, aiming to reach a similar goal.

io.net, for its part, has recently been working to optimize AI model training. Together, they hope to increase AI accessibility dramatically.

“Working with io.net will allow us to further our mission of making AI compute accessible to literally everyone. We are excited to work hand in glove to push the boundaries of what’s possible,” said Kony Kwong, CEO of GAIB.

Specifically, the two firms mention outreach programs as much as technical solutions: marketing initiatives, community engagement, onboarding, etc. Tausif Ahmed, VP of Business Development at io.net, described this as “a natural evolution of our existing relationship with GAIB,” since they already share overlapping expertise with AI GPU research.

Read More: What Is DePIN (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks)?

Roam Launches Telecom Layer

Roam, a DePin telecom company, announced via press release that it is “transforming from a standalone DePin project into a public platform.” Specifically, it plans to build physical Layer-1 infrastructure, connecting new devices and people for a coherent WiFi ecosystem. Its “Telecom Data Layer” program will consist of four core modules to revitalize their user experience.

The Roam Network aims to be global, open, and wireless. Through its core functions, it will give users incentives to validate nodes and attract developers to build new third-party apps.

In the main, ROAM will offer WiFi around the world through a radical blockchain-powered telecom structure. It also claims to be working on an eSIM card to enable access without a traditional card.

The post What’s New in DePin? Peaq’s Token Launch Date, GAIB and io.net Outreach, Roam Telecom Layer appeared first on BeInCrypto.

Crypto Whale Sparks 8x Surge In $OPK Price with Massive Buy-in

A mysterious crypto whale, who previously invested 9,600 SOL into tokens $Pnut and $FRED, has now started accumulating a third token, $OPK, causing its price to skyrocket.

Within just an hour, the whale’s actions drove $OPK’s price up by an astonishing 800%.

The token $OPK—short for “Obi PNut Kenobi”—takes inspiration from an iconic image: a squirrel wielding a lightsaber, as seen in Elon Musk’s pinned tweet.

Over the past two hours, the whale spent 1,500 SOL, valued at approximately $248,000, to purchase 84.32 million $OPK tokens, bringing the average cost per token to $0.0029.

As a result of this surge, the whale is already sitting on an estimated floating profit of $30,000.

今日花费 9600 枚 SOL 重仓 $Pnut$FRED 的神秘巨鲸开始建仓第三个代币 $OPK

Marqeta CEO: ‘Days Are Numbered’ for Analog Payments

Card issuing platform Marqeta touted its upcoming collaborations — including a launch with VisaFlex Credential this week — during its third-quarter earnings call on Monday (Nov. 4).

The company missed analysts’ expectations, and Wall Street punished its stock, dropping the price almost 32% in trading throughout the day. Despite the earnings miss, company officials told analysts they expected to see growth, especially as the connected economy and demand for digital payments grows.

“The days are numbered for the status quo as consumer and businesses want modern financial products,” Marqeta CEO Simon Khalaf said during the earnings call for the quarter ending Sept. 30.

“The modernization of payments started more than a decade ago on the acquiring side but has gained momentum on the more complex issuer processing side in the last five years. Despite the great progress we made, this transformation is still in its early stages. And Marqeta currently accounts for only about 2% of the issuer processing volume in the markets we operate.”

In responding to a question during the earnings call, Khalaf said Marqeta is preparing to launch a solution using Visa Flexible Credentials this week.

“We are in the midst of a launch, as in like going live, and we expect that actually to happen either tomorrow or Wednesday,” he said. “And we’ll start into the ramp phase on [Nov. 15].”

In May, Visa announced its Flexible Credentials offering, which lets users access several accounts and toggle between payment methods, including credit, debit and BNPL.

Last week, Marqeta also introduced Marqeta Flex, a new solution designed to increase the availability of buy now, pay later (BNPL) options for consumers. It allows consumers to see personalized BNPL options within their payment apps and gives more access to BNPL providers for card issuers and digital wallets.

By the Numbers

The company reported a 30% year-over-year increase in total processing volume (TPV), reaching $74 billion. Net revenue climbed 18% to $128 million, while gross profit surged 24% to $90 million.

Khalaf attributed the positive results to operational discipline and the launch of innovative new products. “Our true growth trajectory was back on display as we lapped the Block contract renewal,” Khalaf stated. “We combined this with several new product announcements that further enhance the Marqeta platform to provide transformative payment solutions at scale.”

Recent Product Highlights

Marqeta pointed to recent solutions as examples of its momentum and continued growth:

  • Marqeta’s new Portfolio Migration service simplifies the process of moving existing card programs to their platform. This was proven by the successful migration of millions of Klarna cards.
  • Marqeta Flex offers a new way to integrate BNPL options into payment apps and wallets, increasing accessibility and personalization for consumers. Affirm and Klarna are the first BNPL providers to use this solution.
  • The UX Toolkit provides customizable components for building modern payment interfaces, allowing Marqeta’s customers to create better user experiences with less development effort.

The post Marqeta CEO: ‘Days Are Numbered’ for Analog Payments appeared first on PYMNTS.com.

Early ENS Investor Transfers $2.47M To Binance Amid Upcoming Token Unlocks

An early investor linked to the $ENS token recently transferred 154,000 ENS tokens, valued at approximately $2.47 million, to Binance.

This recharge marks the investor’s first significant transfer in three months.

疑似 $ENS 早期投资方时隔三个月再次向 #Binance 充值 15.4 万枚 ENS,价值 247 万美金

2022.05.04 以来该地址曾收到项目方分发的 386 万枚代币,而 2024 年来已累计向交易所转移价值 642 万美金的 ENS,目前仍持有 202 万枚(约 3236 万美金)

钱包地址 https://t.co/5P6tzDH4lU https://t.co/wmF5hikLVd pic.twitter.com/tyPweK63aY

— Ai 姨 (@ai_9684xtpa) November 4, 2024

Since May 2022, this address has received a total of 3.86 million ENS tokens directly from the project’s distribution.

Throughout 2024, it has transferred $6.42 million worth of ENS tokens to various exchanges, while still holding a sizable 2.02 million ENS, currently valued at around $32.36 million.

IMX and ENS Token Unlock Event Approaches 

These movements come as a wave of large token unlocks is set to hit the market. Among the most notable, $15 million worth of IMX and ENS tokens are set for release on November 5 and November 7, respectively.

Following shortly after, on November 8, $68 million worth of EIGEN tokens (27.8 million) and $21 million in FLR tokens (1.7 billion) will unlock. The week concludes with a notable event on November 11, when Aptos will release 2.2% of its circulating supply, amounting to about $93 million.

DL DATA DROP

Another big week for token unlocks.

$15m $IMX and $15m $ENS unlock Nov 5 and Nov 7.
27.8m $EIGEN ($68m) and 1.7b $FLR tokens ($21m) unlock Nov 8.@Aptos unlocks 2.2% of its float ($93M) on Nov 11. pic.twitter.com/KrKKDohVGw

— DL Research (@dl_research) November 4, 2024

This ENS transaction, alongside the upcoming token unlocks, has heightened interest within the crypto community as traders prepare for potential market shifts in the days ahead. With such a high volume of tokens becoming available, investors are keeping a close eye on price trends and market responses to these developments.

Disclosure: This is not trading or investment advice. Always do your research before buying any cryptocurrency or investing in any services.

Follow us on Twitter  @themerklehash to stay updated with the latest Crypto, NFT, AI, Cybersecurity, and Metaverse news!

Image Source: andranik2018 123RF  // Image Effects by  Colorcinch

The post Early ENS Investor Transfers $2.47M To Binance Amid Upcoming Token Unlocks appeared first on The Merkle News.