A library of snippets
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The ECB is investigating the deployment of the digital euro’s offline functionality on an embedded Secure Element (eSE) and embedded SIM (eSIM) of end-user’s devices. The ECB aims to improve its understanding of market, technical, and business aspects of such a deployment, to facilitate a timely and seamless rollout of the offline digital euro solution.
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Heller’s biggest hope for GPT-5 is that it’ll be able to “take more agentic actions”; in other words, complete tasks that involve multiple complex steps without losing its way. This could include reading a legal fling, consulting the relevant statute, cross-referencing the case law, comparing it with the evidence, and then formulating a question for a deposition.
From: OpenAI’s GPT-5 Is Coming Out Soon. Here’s What to Expect. – Business Insider.
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What’s holding crypto back is the get-rich-quick vibe of greedy bros showing off their Bored Apes NFTs, and a seemingly endless cycle of rug-pulls and exit scams.
From: Trump’s Crypto Embrace Could Be a Disaster for Bitcoin | WIRED.
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Replacing personal IDs with anonymous digital ones would allow the state to monitor online activity while limiting companies’ ability to track consumer behaviour.
From: China’s data watchdog plans tighter control of internet users.
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The Cyberspace Administration of China, alongside the country’s Ministry of Public Security (MPS), released draft regulations to issue unified digital IDs for internet users on Friday last week. Concern about the idea has increased over the past few days.
The IDs, which would be jointly administered by the CAC and police, are initially envisaged as voluntary and would be used in place of real names and phone numbers to register on internet platforms.
From: China’s data watchdog plans tighter control of internet users.
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Scam losses originating on social media were up 17 per cent in 2023.
Scam reports were up 31 per cent.
And the social media companies are dragging their heels.
From: Address to National Press Club, Canberra | Treasury Ministers.
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The writer is deputy governor of the Bank of England for financial stability
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In countries such as India, Brazil and Sweden, people can pay retailers directly from their bank accounts without using cards, and can pay using a mobile phone number or a QR code — allowing even the tiniest businesses to accept payments cheaply.
More fundamentally, we should consider applying new tokenisation technology to conventional money, rather than in the cryptoasset markets where they were first employed.
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Australian bank Westpac is now offering debit cards to children as young as eight in a move it says will help them hone their financial skills.
The bank has brought down the age at which kids can get a card from 14, although it comes with a host of parental controls and safety features, including daily and weekly spending limits, push notifications to parents, and a block on online payment.
From: Westpac starts offering debit cards to eight-year-olds.
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Roblox, the virtual world gaming platform, reported a record 79.5 million average daily active users (DAUs), representing a 21% increase from the previous year, the company said in its second-quarter earnings report released Thursday (Aug. 1).
From: Roblox Retools User Engagement, Sees 21% Jump in Active Users.
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Our data shows that over 90 per cent of APP fraud starts online or over the phone, through social media, fake messages and calls. Despite this, the technology and telecommunications sectors bear no responsibility for reimbursing victims.
From: PSR stands firm over reimbursement model for APP fraud.
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