Cryptocurrencies

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Recent Articles about Cryptocurrencies
Stars Learn to Love Their AI Doppelgängers
The Weekend

Stars Learn to Love Their AI Doppelgängers

By Jon Steinberg · Aug 19, 2023 6:00am PDT
Hi, welcome to your Weekend.There’s been a lot of bed-wetting down in Southern California this summer about the dangers of the artificial intelligence boom. Maybe bed-wetting isn’t fair: The Hollywood actors who are striking, in part, over how their AI-generated likenesses will be scanned, stored and monetized, have valid concerns. And they... Hi, welcome to your Weekend.There’s been a lot of bed-wetting down in Southern California this...
Photo by Getty.
The Briefing

Court Ruling Will Create Ripples for Individual Crypto Investors

By Akash Pasricha · Jul 13, 2023 5:00pm PDT
Good news for institutional crypto investors: The courts have your back. But as for individual traders: You’re on your own. That was the spirit of a New York district judge’s ruling on an SEC lawsuit against Ripple Labs, which alleged that the crypto firm illegally sold securities. In a split-the-crypto decision, the judge ruled that Ripple... Good news for institutional crypto investors: The courts have your back. But as for individual...
The Ripple Labs Inc. booth at the Blockchain Week Summit in Paris on March 22. Photo by Getty.
News Analysis

Why the Crypto World Is Celebrating Ripple’s Partial Win Over the SEC

By Aidan Ryan · Jul 13, 2023 1:32pm PDT · 2 comments
The crypto world is celebrating after a federal judge issued a long-awaited ruling in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s case against Ripple Labs, saying some sales of Ripple’s xrp token did not constitute illegal securities sales. Shares in top U.S. crypto exchange Coinbase soared 25% after the ruling dropped, and xrp tokens... The crypto world is celebrating after a federal judge issued a long-awaited ruling in the...
Art by Clark Miller
Rishi and the VCs: London Is Calling, and Silicon Valley Is Happy to Answer
By Chris Stokel-Walker · Jun 30, 2023 9:00am PDT · 3 comments
Art by Clark Miller
The Big Read

Rishi and the VCs: London Is Calling, and Silicon Valley Is Happy to Answer

By Chris Stokel-Walker · Jun 30, 2023 9:00am PDT · 3 comments
It was the worst-kept secret in U.K. tech. For months, the Conservative government of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had been wooing Sam Altman’s OpenAI, trying to coax the San Francisco–based artificial intelligence firm into opening its first non-U.S. office in London. Then, in early June, two weeks after Altman met with Sunak in his... It was the worst-kept secret in U.K. tech. For months, the Conservative government of Prime...
Photo via Getty
Creator Economy

What’s Behind the Redditor API Strike

By Isabelle Sarraf · Jun 6, 2023 4:22pm PDT
People strike over wages, working conditions...and now, apparently, the decision by Reddit to charge developers for access to their users’ jokes, memes and gaming tips. On Monday, the managers of hundreds of forums on Reddit, including some of its most popular ones such as r/gaming and r/music, will take these forums private to protest the... People strike over wages, working conditions...and now, apparently, the decision by Reddit to...
Photo by Shutterstock
Crypto Global

Memecoin Rally Could Bode Well for Bitcoin Network Startups

By Akash Pasricha · May 10, 2023 9:00am PDT
Over the past few months, crypto fans have been fixated on a pair of new tools that allow them to trade NFTs and create new tokens using bitcoin’s underlying blockchain network. That has sparked a surge in trading of Bitcoin-based digital artwork collections including BTC DeGods, Bitcoin Wizards, Bitcoin Punks and Bitcoin Pizzas. There’s... Over the past few months, crypto fans have been fixated on a pair of new tools that allow them to...
Photos by Bloomberg
Crypto Global

Coinbase, Gemini Can’t Resist Overseas Derivatives

By Akash Pasricha · Apr 26, 2023 9:04am PDT
Crypto exchanges based in the U.S. are wading further into overseas markets. Late last week, Winklevoss-founded exchange Gemini said it will soon launch a crypto derivatives trading platform outside the U.S. called Gemini Foundation, confirming our scoop from last month. The first product it will sell—a perpetual futures contract—is a crypto fan... Crypto exchanges based in the U.S. are wading further into overseas markets. Late last week,...
Fraser Kelton, venture partner at Spark Capital. Photo via Fraser Kelton
Former OpenAI Exec Joins Spark Capital as Venture Push Into AI Heats Up
By Kate Clark · Apr 13, 2023 6:00am PDT · 1 comment
Fraser Kelton, venture partner at Spark Capital. Photo via Fraser Kelton
Exclusive

Former OpenAI Exec Joins Spark Capital as Venture Push Into AI Heats Up

By Kate Clark · Apr 13, 2023 6:00am PDT · 1 comment
To gain an edge in the suddenly hot artificial intelligence category, one venture firm is hiring from the startup—OpenAI—that set off the generative AI craze in the first place. Spark Capital has hired Fraser Kelton, the former head of product at OpenAI, as a venture partner, Kelton and Nabeel Hyatt, a Spark general partner, told The... To gain an edge in the suddenly hot artificial intelligence category, one venture firm is hiring...
Garry Tan, CEO of YC. Photo by Getty.
The Briefing

Here Comes the Startup Panic

By Jessica E. Lessin · Apr 11, 2023 5:00pm PDT
Tech startups and investors have had a tumultuous few months. There was the crypto meltdown, the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and, before that, the overall economic fallout from the weak economy and hammering of tech stocks. And as the dust has settled, there’s a new vibe in the air: concern—even a little desperation. Tech startups and investors have had a tumultuous few months. There was the crypto meltdown, the...
An Amazon warehouse in Rialto, Calif. Photo by Bloomberg.
The Briefing

Amazon’s Website Snafu Undercuts Its Image as a Well-Oiled Machine

By Martin Peers · Apr 4, 2023 5:00pm PDT
Who says there are no laughs in tech business news? Our scoop today that Amazon, the premier online retail website, was marking products made by big companies and foreign sellers with a label meant to denote small U.S. businesses has a comedic side (make sure you check out the anecdote about Chomps jerky). But there’s a serious angle here. Over... Who says there are no laughs in tech business news? Our scoop today that Amazon, the premier...
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Art by Clark Miller.

Crypto VCs Revert to What’s Safe: Blockchain’s Building Blocks

By Akash Pasricha · Mar 28, 2023 6:00am PDT · 1 comment
Mention the term “blockchain infrastructure” at a party and you’re likely to meet blank looks. Unless, that is, you’re hanging out with a group of crypto venture capitalists. As investors have pulled back from high-profile crypto names, unnerved by the collapse of firms like FTX, the appeal of crypto infrastructure, or... Mention the term “blockchain infrastructure” at a party and you’re likely to...
Photo-illustration by Clark Miller. Palmer Luckey: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg; Kim Kardashian West: Sarah Silbiger/Bloomberg; Henry Kravis: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg; Peter Thiel: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg; Bob Iger: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg; Jon Winkelried: Bess Adler/Bloomberg; Joshua Kushner and Karlie Kloss: Edward Berthelot/Getty Images; Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, Charles Kushner: David 'Dee' Delgado/Bloomberg; Mukesh Ambani: Prakash Singh/Bloomberg
Josh Kushner’s Budding Empire
By Kate Clark and Abram Brown · Feb 24, 2023 6:00am PST · 16 comments
Photo-illustration by Clark Miller. Palmer Luckey: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg; Kim Kardashian West: Sarah Silbiger/Bloomberg; Henry Kravis: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg; Peter Thiel: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg; Bob Iger: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg; Jon Winkelried: Bess Adler/Bloomberg; Joshua Kushner and Karlie Kloss: Edward Berthelot/Getty Images; Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, Charles Kushner: David 'Dee' Delgado/Bloomberg; Mukesh Ambani: Prakash Singh/Bloomberg
The Big Read

Josh Kushner’s Budding Empire

By Kate Clark and Abram Brown · Feb 24, 2023 6:00am PST · 16 comments
As summer turned to fall last year, Josh Kushner and his Thrive Capital offered a shiny new perk to some of the firm’s portfolio companies: How about a one-on-one meeting with Bob Iger, the 71-year-old former Disney CEO turned freshly minted Thrive venture partner? Eric Glyman, CEO and co-founder of Ramp, a New York–based credit card... As summer turned to fall last year, Josh Kushner and his Thrive Capital offered a shiny new perk...
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong. Photo by Bloomberg.
The Briefing

Coinbase Sets Bar Low for Long-Term Profit Goals

By Martin Peers · Feb 21, 2023 5:00pm PST
When it comes to profit goals, Brian Armstrong isn’t exactly setting the bar high. Coinbase declared today that it was abandoning the goal it laid out two years ago when it went public to operate “at break even, smoothed out over time,” so that losses sustained during crypto winters would be offset by profits made in good times. Instead,... When it comes to profit goals, Brian Armstrong isn’t exactly setting the bar high. Coinbase...