Welcome to QX Snapshots - a weekly recap of the key news on emerging technologies. In this newsletter, you will get a "digest" of the latest info on Enterprise Blockchain, AI, Quantum Technology, and more.
Hope it brings you value :)
[Blockchain] BlackRock's BUIDL Fund with Daily Dividends and Intra-Day Redemptions, Eurex, Fasanara Leverages ERC-3643, and Sygnum to Offer EURCV. Securitize has announced two major updates to BlackRock's tokenized treasury fund (BUIDL): daily dividends and intra-day redemptions. Previously paying monthly dividends (over $17 million since March 2024), BUIDL now distributes dividends Monday-Friday directly to investor wallets. The fund also now allows multiple redemption times throughout the day, replacing the previous 3pm ET single window. These enhancements aim to provide investors with greater flexibility and improved cash flow management, positioning BUIDL as a leading on-chain investment vehicle. Meanwhile, Eurex Clearing received BaFin approval to use HQLAᵡ's DLT platform for digital collateral management, with JP Morgan as the first pilot in Q2 2024. The solution enables institutions to meet margin requirements quickly without liquidating securities, potentially preventing situations like the 2022 UK gilts crisis. HQLAᵡ's platform works by creating digital records of frozen collateral at custodians, enabling immediate ownership transfers. The platform is backed by major banks and Deutsche Börse, with Eurex managing a €49 billion collateral pool and clearing €11 trillion monthly trades. Also, Fasanara Capital, managing $4.5 billion in assets, has launched FAST, a tokenized Money Market Fund using the ERC-3643 "T-REX" standard on Polygon blockchain. The fund offers instant settlement, real-time NAV tracking, and peer-to-peer transfers. Developed with Polygon, Apex Group, Tokeny, and Chainlink, FAST addresses growing demand for on-chain MMFs as stablecoin markets reach $207.6 billion. ERC-3643 ensures regulatory compliance through on-chain validation at every transaction. Fasanara, having facilitated $250 billion in crypto trading in 2024, combines blockchain benefits with regulatory compliance in this innovative financial product. And, Sygnum is partnering with Societe Generale-FORGE to offer the EURCV stablecoin to its 20+ partner banks in Q1 2025. This MiCA-compliant, 100% collateralized stablecoin runs on Ethereum and enables free transfers between counterparties without preapproval.
[AI] Stargate Project: $500B for U.S. AI Infrastructure, OpenAI Launch Operator AI Agent, While China's DeepSeek Emerges as a Global AI Contender. The Stargate Project, a new venture between OpenAI, SoftBank, Oracle, and MGX, was announced and it plans to invest $500 billion over four years in AI infrastructure across the United States, with $100 billion available immediately. The project aims to create 100,000 jobs and strengthen US leadership in AI. Masayoshi Son will chair the initiative, with SoftBank handling finances and OpenAI managing operations. Key technology partners include Arm, Microsoft, NVIDIA, and Oracle. The first data center is under construction in Texas. Meanwhile, OpenAI has launched Operator, an AI agent powered by the Computer-Using Agent (CUA) model that can interact with web browsers to perform tasks like filling forms and online shopping. Using GPT-4o's vision capabilities and reinforcement learning, Operator can navigate websites through a remote browser by clicking, typing, and scrolling. Currently available to U.S. Pro users as a research preview, it supports multiple simultaneous tasks and custom instructions. Operator hands control back to users when encountering limitations or requiring sensitive information like login credentials and payments. And, Chinese startup DeepSeek has released DeepSeek-R1, a large language model performing on par with OpenAI's o1 in reasoning tasks across chemistry, mathematics, and coding. The model is significant for being open-weight, allowing researchers to study and build upon it, and costs approximately one-thirtieth of o1 to run. Despite U.S. export controls on AI chips, DeepSeek achieved this breakthrough with minimal resources ($6 million vs. Meta's $60 million for Llama 3.1). This development signals China's growing competitive edge in AI development.
[Quantum Technology] DNL Launches €25M Global Quantum Tech Fund; IBM and NERSC Expand Quantum Access, QuEra Computing's Quantum Readiness Report 2025. QDNL Participations has announced a €25 million first close of its new global fund targeting €60 million for early-stage quantum technology startups. The firm, which previously focused on Dutch quantum startups with a €15 million fund, has expanded its team by appointing Chad Rigetti as venture partner and Kris Kaczmarek as investment director. Backed by diverse investors including Quantum Delta NL Foundation, QDNL aims to address the shortage of specialist quantum investors globally and shape category-defining companies in the quantum industry. Meanwhile, NERSC is launching an IBM Quantum Innovation Center in January 2025, providing approved users access to IBM's quantum computers via cloud. The collaboration enables researchers to use IBM's transmon superconducting qubits and Qiskit software for scientific applications. Users will receive training and technical support from both NERSC and IBM staff. The partnership aims to integrate quantum technologies into HPC workflows and prepare for future quantum computing advancements. This follows Berkeley Lab's "utility-scale" breakthrough with IBM in 2023, with current systems being 50 times faster than the original experiment. Also, QuEra Computing's Quantum Readiness Report 2025 reveals that global quantum computing budgets are expected to increase by 20% in 2025, with 65% of organizations feeling ready to adopt quantum technology within 2-3 years. Main adoption barriers include high costs (51%), talent shortages (45%), and unclear ROI. The US leads global quantum adoption at 70%, while Europe lags at 14%. Neutral-atom (33%) and superconducting qubits (31%) are considered the most promising technologies. Despite global leadership acknowledgment, 48% of organizations still prefer local quantum technology solutions.
[General technology] HellCat and Morpheus Ransomware Share Codebase as December Breaks Attack Records; LTE and 5G Flaws Expose Cellular Networks, New Global Malware Campaign. SentinelOne researchers discovered that HellCat and Morpheus ransomware operations, both nascent entrants to the ransomware ecosystem, are using identical code for their payloads. The analysis revealed shared characteristics including identical file encryption methods using BCrypt, similar file extension exclusions, and matching ransom note templates resembling Underground Team's format. Neither ransomware changes file extensions after encryption. This suggests both groups are recruiting common affiliates or using a shared codebase. The findings come amid record ransomware attacks in December 2024, with 574 incidents reported and FunkSec leading with 103 attacks. Meanwhile, researchers from the University of Florida and NC State University have uncovered 119 security vulnerabilities in LTE and 5G implementations, affecting various open-source cellular network solutions. The flaws can enable attackers to disrupt city-wide cellular communications without authentication. The "RANsacked" study found issues primarily in MME (79), AMF (36), and SGW (4) implementations, with 25 vulnerabilities enabling pre-authentication attacks. The vulnerabilities could allow attackers to breach core networks, monitor subscriber data, and target specific users, particularly through compromised base stations or femtocells. Also, a new global malware campaign is using fake CAPTCHA verification to spread the Lumma information stealer, targeting multiple industries across Argentina, Colombia, USA, Philippines, and other countries. The attack begins when victims visit compromised websites and are directed to copy-paste commands into Windows Run, triggering a chain of events that bypasses security measures to install Lumma. The malware is also being distributed through counterfeit Reddit and WeTransfer domains.
Circle Announces Acquisition of Hashnote and USYC Tokenized Money Market Fund - Circle
Ethereum Gets a Wall Street Sales Force - Bloomberg
The Solana Thesis: Internet Capital Markets - Multicoin Capital
Kansas bill aims to allocate 10% of retirement funds to Bitcoin ETFs - Cointelegraph
A new (digital) age at the SEC - a16zcrypto
KfW issues another €9 billion in digital bonds using Clearstream’s D7 - LedgerInsights
Artificial Intelligence in Financial Services Whitepaper 2025 - World Economic Forum
Spain to grant $155 mln in subsidies to help companies develop AI - Reuters
China’s ‘artificial sun’ sets nuclear fusion record, runs 1,006 seconds at 180 million°F - CharmingScience
