DEEPSEEK
DeepSeek is an AI company and a family of large language models based in Hangzhou, China. It was founded in 2023 and funded by High-Flyer, a well - known quantitative asset management giant. DeepSeek is dedicated to developing advanced large language models and related technologies. It has released several models, including DeepSeek LLM, DeepSeek Coder, DeepSeekMath, and DeepSeek - VL. The latest version, DeepSeek - V3, which was launched in December 2024, has 67.1 billion parameters and was trained on a dataset of 14.8 trillion tokens. It uses FP8 training and open - sources the native FP8 weights. Benchmark tests show that it outperforms Llama 3.1 and Qwen 2.5 while matching GPT - 4O and Claude 3.5 Sonnet. In addition, DeepSeek - R1, which was officially released on January 20, 2025, performs on a par with OpenAI O1 in terms of mathematics, code, and natural language reasoning tasks. DeepSeek's models have a wide range of applications, such as chat and coding scenarios, multilingual automatic translation, image generation, and AI painting. With their high performance and low cost, DeepSeek's models have quickly gained popularity. For example, on February 2, 2025, the DeepSeek app climbed to the top of the download charts in 140 countries on the Apple App Store and also topped the Android Play Store in the United States
Binance expands with blockchain hub in Georgia
Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has opened a blockchain hub in Georgia to promote crypto adoption in the country, create more jobs and attract talent to the blockchain sector.
Animoca Brands Cuts Metaverse Fund Target to $800M
Animoca Brands, a Hong Kong-based developer of blockchain gaming technology, has reduced its target for its metaverse fund by 20% to $800 million due to volatility in the crypto sector. The company's market capitalization has also fallen from $6 billion to below $2 billion, signaling a change in sentiment in the crypto industry.
US Fed denies Custodia Bank membership over crypto concerns
The US Federal Reserve has denied Custodia Bank's membership application due to concerns over its involvement in the crypto industry. The Fed cited heightened illicit finance and safety and soundness risks, as well as a lack of a sufficient risk-management framework for its proposed cryptoasset-related activities. The bank is also prohibited from running crypto-related services if accepted as a member.
Nasdaq to Launch Digital Asset Custody Services
Nasdaq is preparing to launch its custody services for digital assets by the end of Q2 2022, starting with Bitcoin and Ether. The exchange has applied for a limited-purpose trust company charter from the New York Department of Financial Services to oversee the new business and aims to eventually build a broad suite of services for its digital assets division. Its entry into the crypto market could potentially boost institutional investor confidence and pave the way for more traditional financial institutions to offer similar services.
SpankChain Shuts Down SpankPay Crypto Payment Processor
Ethereum-based adult entertainment platform SpankChain has closed down its crypto payment processor, SpankPay, after losing its payment service provider Wyre in February and failing to find a new one.
Australian Banks Ordered to Report Crypto Transactions
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has ordered local banks to report on cryptocurrency transactions amid concerns over the contagion of recent banking collapses, including that of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). The regulator is seeking more information and insight into banking exposures to crypto assets and associated risks.
Australian Bankers Association cost of living probe shows bank pressure
The Australian Bankers Association (ABA) has launched a cost of living review to determine how the COVID-19 epidemic, global supply chain restrictions, geopolitical tensions, and other factors have raised Australia's already high cost of living. The research will examine Australia's economic policies and ways to cut living costs.
Court Approves Voyager Digital's Acquisition by Binance.US
The US District Court rejected the government's appeal to halt Binance.US's acquisition of bankrupt brokerage company Voyager Digital. The court confirmed its prior approval of Voyager Digital's Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan, which involves selling assets to Binance.US to repay customers. The court also allowed Binance.US to issue repayment tokens to impacted Voyager customers, despite objections by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Signature Bank Under Investigation by US Government Bodies
Signature Bank is reportedly under investigation by both the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice over concerns that the bank did not take adequate measures to detect potential money laundering by its clients. The bank was closed on March 12 as part of a series of bank closures that also included Silvergate Capital and Silicon Valley Bank.
SEC Rejects VanEck Spot Bitcoin Trust Proposal
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission has denied the proposal for a spot Bitcoin trust by investment manager VanEck. This decision follows a trend of the SEC denying every application for a spot Bitcoin trust over the last six years. Two SEC commissioners have released a statement criticizing the decision and alleging a double standard in the Commission’s approach to commodity-based exchange-traded products (ETPs).