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On Dec. 14, 2023, a federal judge in the Eastern District of California granted Dellone permission to serve notice of his lawsuit directly to the suspected hackers’ bitcoin address — using a short message that was attached to roughly $100 worth of bitcoin Mora sent to the address.

Bitcoin transactions are public record, and each transaction can be sent along with an optional short message. The message uses what’s known as an “OP RETURN,” or an instruction of the Bitcoin scripting language that allows users to attach metadata to a transaction — and thus save it on the blockchain.

In the $100 bitcoin transaction Mora sent to the disputed bitcoin address, the OP RETURN message read: “OSERVICE – SUMMONS, COMPLAINT U.S. Dist. E.D. Cal. LINK: t.ly/123cv01408_service,” which is a short link to a copy of the lawsuit hosted on Google Drive.

From: Here’s Some Bitcoin: Oh, and You’ve Been Served! – Krebs on Security.

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When Apple announced it’s Vison Pro headset, may people commented on the the $3,499 launch price (comparing it to the cost of Meta’s Occulus headset) but I felt that is was not really that expensive in historical context and predicted that there would be plenty of people who will buy one to begin experimenting with it. Me, for example.

 

Banks are spending more on IT, but only a small share of the

total spending is on innovation and modernization

A recent BCG report on banks’ declining share of total assets recommends that retail banks should develop their role as a trusted custodian of customers’ financial well-being, the financial health strategy that I have written about many times before.

BCG lays out why banks are in trouble and losing their relevance and position as apex financial predators. They are losing their share of total societal financial assets to non-banks who are out-competing them in lending. This is no longer banks offloading risky assets but a full-fledged assault by fintechs and techfins.

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For Amex, Delta’s SkyMiles members represent a profitable customer segment. The firm currently has around 7.5 million people holding its co-branded card, representing 30% of SkyMiles’ active members. And they typically steer more of the spend to that card. According to Delta’s CEO, “co-brand spend on the American Express Card is approaching 1% of total US GDP.”

American Express pays for the rewards out of merchant fees. Over the past 12 months it has paid out $15.2 billion of rewards (in addition to what it pays over to Delta and other partners) but has earned $33.0 billion in so-called discount revenue and $58.9 billion in total revenue, once interest income and card and other fees are included.

The only problem is that competition has been driving up the rate at which card companies pay rewards. Over the last 12 months, American Express has paid out 1.07% of purchase volume in rewards, up from 0.80% ten years ago. Other card issuers have seen similar reward inflation. Capital One paid out 1.29% of purchase volume in 2022, up from 0.80% in 2013. And Discover paid out 1.43%, up from 0.94%.

From: The Points Guy – by Marc Rubinstein – Net Interest.

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At around the same time, another innovation opened up airline programs to a broader market than just frequent flyers. In 1987, American partnered with Citi to launch a co-branded credit card. Now, consumers could collect points simply by spending on their card, whether that was on American Airlines flights or not.

From: The Points Guy – by Marc Rubinstein – Net Interest.

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Today, the largest programs have over 100 million members each. The three big ones – American’s AAdvantage, Delta’s SkyMiles and United’s MileagePlus – generated $15.6 billion of revenue in 2022, equivalent to 11% of their parent companies’ total revenue. Because it is typically a more stable income stream, loyalty revenue helps insulate airlines from fluctuations in the business cycle and can be used to secure cheaper funding. During the pandemic, all three used their programs as collateral to issue bonds at more favorable rates than the airlines themselves would have received. 

The industry trade group representing US carriers estimates that 63% of total frequent flyer points earned in 2022 by consumers were generated through credit card use.

 

In my scheme, operator Avios Group has disclosed that 80% of billed revenue comes from external partners. To raise cash in the grip of the pandemic in 2020, it pre-sold a bunch of points to American Express for £750 million. 

 

The consumer value of points varies widely according to how they are used, but The Points Guy puts the value of Avios at around 1.2 pence per point, so the benefit to the consumer is clear

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Facial recognition for cats — Carelogy, a Japan-based startup developing an app that uses AI to detect a cat’s pain based on its facial expression, raises an undisclosed amount of seed funding from Quantum Leap Ventures

From: Big Ring in the Sky – by Brandon Gorrell and Owen Lewis.

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You might think so, based on early order trends for the $3,499 Vision Pro headset. Apple AAPL, +1.55% opened up online preorders for the mixed-reality device earlier Friday, and they seem to be flying off virtual shelves, based on quoted delivery times.

From: Apple’s Vision Pro headset is selling out — but what does that really mean? – MarketWatch.

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Then there’s Amsterdam-based agency LaLaLand.ai, which promises to “create models in five minutes” to help brands become more ‘inclusive’: “Present your garments on a diverse range of models. Position yourself as an inclusive brand, increase your engagement, and drive more sales.”

From: I had my face stolen by AI | Dazed.

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As examples, Fierman points to Nobitex, the largest cryptocurrency exchange operating in the sanctioned country of Iran, as well as Garantex, a notorious exchange based in Russia that has been specifically sanctioned for its widespread criminal use. Stablecoin usage on Nobitex outstrips bitcoin by a 9:1 ratio, and on Garantex by a 5:1 ratio, Chainalysis found. That’s a stark difference from the roughly 1:1 ratio between stablecoins and bitcoins on a few nonsanctioned mainstream exchanges that Chainalysis checked for comparison.

From: ‘Stablecoins’ Enabled $40 Billion in Crypto Crime Since 2022 | WIRED.

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