News
Each day, DailyAlts tracks major developments across the alternative investment world. Our content is procured from primary contacts in the industry and secondary sources across the web. Our goal is to give readers the most up-to-date news and engaging experience to open new doors and areas of knowledge. Our stories cover nine separate verticals of the alternative investment industry.
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Chipmaker AMD (NASDAQ: AMD) has unveiled a range of innovative AI solutions spanning from data centers to personal computers. The AMD Instinct MI300 Series features data center AI accelerators, while the ROCm 6 open software stack introduces new features supporting Large Language Models (LLMs). Additionally, the Ryzen 8040 Series processors come equipped with Ryzen AI capabilities.
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Digital Assets: Bitcoin Surges Past $50K, Promise Of Weekend Histrionics?
Bitcoin made two lows over the past week, both around $45,700. It now appears to be on an uptrend after touching that double-bottom, and in a sudden move over the past couple of hours, penetrated the psychological resistance of $50,000, and is positioned at $50,580.19 at writing. But will it sustain above the $50K level?
Alternative Investments/(non)-ESG: The BAD Investment Company Launches ETF for Betting, Alcohol, Drugs
The BAD Investment Company has launched a new ETF as “an intriguing alternative for a new wave of retail investors who may be frustrated with aspects of the ESG movement.” The BAD ETF tracks the EQM BAD Index (BADIDX).
Venture Capital: Israel’s Future Meat Raises $347M To Build US Facility
In what is claimed to be the largest investment round for a cultured meat startup till date, Israel-based Future Meat announced the close of its $347 million Series B round co-led by ADM Ventures, the venture investing arm of ADM (NYSE: ADM), the Menora Mivtachim pension and insurance fund which manages over $85 billion in assets, and S2G Ventures.
Artificial Intelligence: Israeli Researchers Devise AI Tool To Predict Blood Infection
A team of researchers from the laboratory of Prof. Noam Shomron from Tel Aviv University’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine, in collaboration with other researchers, including Dr. Ahuva Weiss Meilik, head of the I-Medata AI Center at Ichilov Hospital, have developed an AI tool that identifies patients who could fall seriously ill due to blood infection. Blood infections are a significant cause of deaths across the globe.
FinTech: Mastercard And Google Pay Team Up To Offer Tokenized Card Payments In India
Through a tie-up between Mastercard (NYSE: MA) and Google Pay for tokenized card services, Google Pay users can now pay safely through Mastercard debit and credit cards. G-Pay users can also use tap-to-pay at POS terminals and online, as well as make in-app purchases through the Mastercard cards.
Venture Capital: Nicola and Andrew Forrest’s Minderoo Foundation Launches $100M Strategic Impact Fund
The Strategic Impact Fund is entirely women-led. The $100 million Strategic Impact Fund by Minderoo Foundation, owned by Nicola and Andrew Forrest, will invest in ‘impact’ projects that address issues such as gender inequality, ending modern slavery, and freeing the oceans of plastic and making them more sustainable. The fund’s investing aims to have a…
Digital Assets: Manasquan Bank Enables Crypto Transactions Via Bakkt
Manasquan is a New Jersey-based mutual community bank established in 1874, currently having assets of $2.7 billion. Manasquan Bank will soon allow its clients to buy, sell and hold cryptocurrency through its mobile banking app via an arrangement with digital asset platform Bakkt Holdings (NYSE: BKKT). Bakkt’s platform allows banks to easily integrate a crypto…
Artificial Intelligence: MIT Researcher Develops Mirai – An AI To Accurately Predict Breast Cancer
Regina Barzilay, an AI expert at MIT and a breast cancer patient, decided to bring her skills in an AI specialty known as natural language processing to the prediction of cancer. Along with a student protege and a Mass General doctor, she built Mirai – an AI that can predict with unprecedented accuracy the chances of a healthy person developing breast cancer.
Digital Assets: Dubai World Trade Centre To Be Key Zone And Regulator For Crypto; Binance Signs Cooperation Agreement
The Government of Dubai on Monday designated the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) as a comprehensive zone and regulator for virtual assets and crypto including digital assets, products, operators and exchanges. Seen as one of the most crypto-friendly administrations the world over, the Dubai government is looking to create new economic sectors, and sees digital assets as “progressive.”
Alternative Investments/Digital: Japanese Finserv SBI Group To Offer Multi-Crypto Fund
Tokyo-based financial services company SBI Group (TYO: 8473) has announced the launch of a crypto asset fund that will invest in seven different cryptocurrencies. Touted as “Japan’s first cryptocurrency fund for general investors,” the fund will allow exposure to bitcoin (BTC), ethereum (ETH), polkadot (DOT), chainlink (LINK), litecoin (LTC), xrp (XRP), and bitcoin cash (BCH).
FinTech: Indian Fintech Razorpay Offers Instant Settlements To Amazon Sellers
Razorpay, the fast-growing Indian fintech, announced Razorpay Instant Settlements, a facility designed to ease working capital woes for Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) sellers by paying out digital settlements within 10 seconds at any time of the day, even holidays.
Venture Capital: Stenon, Which Is Out To Disrupt Labs For Soil Testing, Nabs $20M
Stenon, a German agtech that is providing laboratory independent real-time soil analysis, has raised a $20 million Series A round from Founders Fund, David Friedberg’s The Production Board and existing investors including Cherry Ventures and Atlantic Labs.
Artificial Intelligence: The City Of Galveston Deploys AI To Help Maintain Sewers
The City of Galveston, Texas, is grappling with the problem of maintaining its sewers and sewer waste management amidst a tight labor market where not many people appear interested in the job. Currently, investigation and rectification of a sewer problem is a laborious task that needs to be completed to ensure proper waste disposal in the interest of public health. The City applied AI to assist its workforce.
FinTech: Rocket Companies Buys Personal Finance App Truebill For $1.275B
Rocket Companies (NYSE: RKT) announced today its acquisition of Truebill, the personal finance app, for $1.275 billion in cash. The deal will bring Truebill’s 2.5 million members as potential clients to the Rocket platform, and add $100 million in annual recurring revenue to Rocket’s $1.3 billion of annualized servicing fee income.
Venture Capital: Indian Used Car Platform CARS24 Nabs $450M
Within a space of just three months, Indian used cars platform and market leader CARS24 has nearly doubled its valuation from $1.84 billion to $3.3 billion with its latest Series G funding round comprising $300 million of equity and $100 million of debt. The equity round was led by Alpha Wave Global. The $100M debt came from diversified financial institutions in the UAE, India, and Australia.
Digital Assets: Swiss SEBA Bank Launches Gold-Backed Token
Investors can now buy physical gold in the form of a digital token from SEBA, a Swiss entity that is a fully integrated, FINMA licensed digital assets banking platform. The token, also termed a ‘stablecoin,’ represents ownership of responsibly sourced gold.
Artificial Intelligence: Zurich Insurance Snaps Up AlphaChat To Automate Customer Service
Zurich Insurance Group has acquired Estonia-based company AlphaChat, which provides conversational artificial intelligence (AI) technology for customer service automation. The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Digital Assets: Ledn Lands $70M For World’s First Bitcoin-Backed Mortgage Product
Global digital asset savings and credit platform Ledn announced a $70 million Series B funding round led by 10T Holdings and joined by new investors Golden Tree Asset Management, Raptor Group and FJ Labs. The company also announced its new bitcoin-backed mortgage product, the first product of its kind that will enable Ledn clients to use their bitcoin (BTC) holdings to purchase a property while continuing to benefit from potential price appreciation of both assets.
Venture Capital: Big Ticket Funding Rounds Of Note
From instant grocery deliveries to weight care management, investors shelled out hundreds of millions of dollars in funding rounds.
Alternative Investments/ESG: BNY Mellon Launches Trio Of Active, Transparent, Equity ESG ETFs
The BNY Mellon Sustainable US Equity ETF (BKUS), BNY Mellon Sustainable International Equity ETF (BKIS) and BNY Mellon Sustainable Global Emerging Markets ETF (BKES) are three new actively managed, sustainable ETFs launched by BNY Mellon Investment Management this week on the New York Stock Exchange.
Alternative Investments/ESG: Goldman Sachs Launches U.S. Large Cap Equity ETF Tracking The Paris Climate Agreement
Earlier this week, Goldman Sachs Asset Management launched the Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta Paris-Aligned Climate U.S. Large Cap Equity ETF (GPAL). The ETF may be attractive to investors seeking equity exposure colored with responsibility towards climate change and carbon emissions in line with Paris Agreement targets.
FinTech: “Instalments By Barclays” Available To Amazon UK Customers Effective Today
British bank Barclays (LON: BARC) announced today a tie-up with Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) offering a pay-later option to the e-commerce giant’s customers in the UK. The new flexible payment method, dubbed “Instalments by Barclays,” is available to finance purchases of £100 or more on amazon.co.uk through a reusable credit account from Barclays.
Artificial Intelligence: French Regulator Cracks Down On Clearview AI With Order To Delete Data
French privacy watchdog Commission Nationale Informatique & Libertes (CNIL) has deemed the facial recognition start-up Clearview AI to be in default of the privacy laws of the country because it unlawfully collected and used the personal/biometric data of the French people in the absence of a legal basis, and did not comply with individuals’ rights to access or delete their data.
Digital Assets: Deutsche Börse Eyes Crypto Assets, Buys Majority Of Crypto Finance AG
Deutsche Börse (ETR: DB1) announced today the completion of a transaction to acquire a majority stake in Crypto Finance AG, a regulated provider of services in respect of digital assets including trading, custody and investments. The deal allows Deutsche Börse to set in place an ecosystem for digital assets under a European regulatory framework.