Digital Financial News

The rapidly evolving landscape of blockchain and cryptocurrency has long been taking over the art world. Once only available to a few, the disruption of the NFT industry through blockchain has made art, or ‘digital art’ accessible to everyone, far beyond the VIPs and the exclusives of art galleries. From the advent of Banksy to the proliferation of Crypto Punks, the modern art world has become surrounded by digital collectibles.

Parliament on December 19 indicates a significant surge of 28 percent in unclaimed deposits held by banks, reaching a total of ₹42,270 crore as of March 2023. Compared to the preceding financial year of FY22, where the unclaimed deposits with both public and private sector banks stood at ₹32,934 crore, the current figure represents a noteworthy increase to ₹42,272 crore by the end of March 2023, marking a 28 percent rise.

In the dynamic world of digital currencies, Bitcoin (BTC) has once again made headlines with a remarkable surge, surpassing the $43,000 threshold. This leap contributes to a significant uptick in the global crypto market cap, which now stands at an impressive $1.61 trillion, marking a 3.82% increase over the past day.

Imran Khan addressed a virtual internet rally on Sunday night through a voice clone, a first of its kind use of the technology. His Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party used artificial intelligence (AI) voice cloning platform ElevenLabs to clone the jailed cricketer-turned-politician’s voice by feeding the AI model with audio of his previous speeches, The Guardian first reported.

delisted on Wednesday after 74 years on the Tokyo exchange, following a decade of upheaval and scandal that brought down one of Japan's biggest brands and ushered in a buyout and an uncertain future. The conglomerate is being taken private by a group of investors led by private equity firm Japan Industrial Partners (JIP) which also includes financial services firm Orix, utility Chubu Electric Power, and chipmaker Rohm. The $14 billion takeover puts Toshiba in domestic hands after protracted battles with overseas activist investors that paralysed the maker of batteries, chips, and nuclear and defence equipment.

Bard and AI-based searches, Reuters reported. The announcement from the Alphabet company comes ahead of the pivotal 2024 US Presidential election. While the US election garners global attention, 2024 is also crucial for other nations.

SAO PAULO (Reuters) -Creditors of Brazilian retailer Americanas approved a restructuring plan on Tuesday, which features a $2.5 billion capital injection by main shareholders and a divestment agenda aimed to cut its around 50 billion reais ($10.28 billion) debt.

Accenture forecast second-quarter revenue below Wall Street targets on Tuesday, anticipating cautious spending by clients as macroeconomic uncertainty remains an overhang. Analysts expect IT services expenditure to remain muted in the near term as businesses typically decide their annual budgets only after February. Accenture itself has pointed to slower budget-related decision-making, especially in tech and media companies.

Google Maps, Namma Yatri, and Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) will help users get an end-to-end seamless experience in open mobility, senior executives from the three organisations told ET in a joint interaction. ONDC—the government-backed open network for online commerce—is, for example, working with Namma Yatri and Google Maps to onboard mobility options such as local trains, autorickshaws, cabs, and metro.

early-stage venture capital firm Blume Ventures said it has achieved returns of more than five times of invested capital from its first fund, including an extension fund. Through the Fund-I and Fund-IA (the extension fund), the firm invested a total of Rs 114 crore between 2010 and 2015. As much as 98% of the returns were generated from 17 companies or a fifth of the portfolio of the first fund.

Finhaat has raised $3 million in its first institutional fundraise led by agri-focused venture fund Omnivore, along with participation from early-stage venture fund Kettleborough VC. Finhaat runs an online distribution platform through which insurance products are sold to consumers in rural and semi-urban India.

language models (SLM), which are trained on smaller datasets and have limited capabilities than large language models, because they meet their domain-specific requirements at a lower cost. These companies include ecommerce firm Flipkart, which has developed an SLM to help it understand the interests of shoppers. Another model was developed jointly by Hyderabad-based non-profit Swecha (formerly Free Software Foundation Andhra Pradesh) and call centre software provider Ozonetel.

DCB Bank and Easy Home Finance have agreed to tie up for disbursing affordable home loans. DCBs' affordable housing loans will be routed through the mortgage company's tech platform to enable quick disbursements, according to a statement by the companies. «Our expertise in origination and credit assessment will be boosted with the expertise and digital tech of Easy Home Finance,» said Narendranath Misha, head-retail and agri loans at DCB Bank.

Nine more banks have joined China’s digital yuan pilot, bolstering the number of banks offering CBDC wallets to 60.

Iosco says that its recommendations should support greater consistency of regulatory frameworks and oversight for the nascent sector in member jurisdictions. They cover six areas: understanding DeFi arrangements and structures; achieving common standards of regulatory outcomes; identification and management of key risks; clear, accurate and comprehensive disclosures; enforcement of applicable laws; and cross-border cooperation. The DeFi recommendations compliment others for crypto and digital asset markets issued last month. Jean-Paul Servais, chair, Iosco, says: "The risks of crypto-asset markets are real and we are tackling these in a coordinated manner, seeking consistent implementation of these Iosco Recommendations across our membership to best protect investors globally."

Asset manager 7RCC has formally submitted a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) application focused on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Gibran Rakabuming Raka, a vice presidential candidate in the upcoming Indonesian election, aims to accelerate Indonesia’s position as a leader in the digital revolution by cultivating expertise in blockchain and cryptocurrencies.

The UK Treasury has revealed its regulatory framework for a Digital Securities Sandbox under the Financial Services and Markets Act.

Mint, Thampy Koshy, managing director and chief executive of ONDC, said that the onboarding of new users is being scaled up at a rapid pace on the ONDC protocol. “In January, we announced public availability of ONDC in Bengaluru. At that time, we had just around 1,000-1,200 transactions per month.

startups, young minds come together and manifest how creativity, innovation, and hard work can transform the way they work across various industries in the country. Startups are buzzing with ideas and energy, reflecting the optimistic outlook of the nation.

By Dietrich Knauth