Techmeme: Tracing the origins of Crypto Capital, a shady payments processor behind the Bitfinex's $850M shortfall, that many call “the central bank of crypto” (Tim Copeland/Decrypt)

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May 5, 2019, 11:10 PM

Top News

CNN:

After Facebook bans seven extremists, Trump, in a series of tweets, complains about the ban, retweeting extremists' tweets, and issuing vague threats — New York (CNN)Facebook barred seven users from its services earlier this week, citing its policies against “dangerous individuals and organizations.”

More: Trustnodes, American Thinker, Business Insider, ABC News, Deadline, Breitbart, Slate, The Hill, and Variety

Tweets: @realdonaldtrump, @realdonaldtrump, @oneunderscore__, @maggienyt, @cnn, @agirlcalledlina, @mikeisaac, @secularmav, @ericswalwell, @jaketapper, @brianstelter, and @juddlegum

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Shuli Ren / Bloomberg:

Ride-hailing economics are more favorable in Southeast Asia than in US; Uber may have left its best growth prospects behind by ceding market to Grab and Go-Jek — Emerging markets outshine the U.S. in ride-hailing, as the burgeoning success of Go-Jek and Grab shows.

Tweets: @rmnth, @business, @jrichlive, @bopinion, @texastee, @mihirssharma, @clairejiao, @docolumide, @vpiparsania, and @sub8u

Jon Russell / TechCrunch:

Thunes, a B2B fintech firm that spun out of TransferTo in Feb., raises $10M Series A led by GGV, to make financial services more accessible in emerging markets

Laura Bliss / CityLab:

Innisfil, Ontario, which in 2017 decided to subsidize Uber rides in lieu of a public bus system, has been forced to raise fares and cap rides as adoption grows

Tweets: @citylab, @turkernational, @citylab, @nachosbracko, @nqrw, @bdtetlow, @sphillipsluethi, @citylab, @citylab, @sean_yyz, @grescoe, @humantransit, @wswmuc, @schmangee, @citylab, @citylab, @mikeboos, @citylab, @mslaurabliss, @citylab, and @citylab

Kev Needham / Mozilla Add-ons Blog:

Expired certificate caused Firefox add-ons to stop working on Friday; Mozilla has issued a fix for most issues, advises others not to try any workarounds — Updates: — Some users are reporting that they do not have the “hotfix-update-xpi-signing-intermediate - bug-1548973” study active in “about:studies”.

More: Mozilla, CNET, Techdows, ZDNet, Neowin, SlashGear, The Verge, Softpedia News, Engadget, Tor Blog, TechSpot, Forbes, Mozilla Discourse, MSPoweruser, Slashdot, BetaNews, VentureBeat, and Digital Trends

Tweets: @awfulyprideful, @artemr, @kiranpal, @torproject, @stshank, @firefox, @fugueish, @mozamo, @bad_packets, @textfiles, @firefox, @rvstaveren, and @bad_packets

Los Angeles Times:

How Bird is trying to make its unit economics work, experimenting with its business model, developing own scooters better suited for sharing, and more — A year ago, Bird Rides Inc. was flying high — and Silicon Valley was betting that it would keep on climbing.

Tweets: @expolineledger, @latimes, @gerberkawasaki, @pinboard, @latrilife, @mdudas, @teddyschleifer, @melissakchan, @disruptepreneur, @martinsfp, @alexisohanian, @latimes, @kyoshino, @alexisohanian, @aaschapiro, @charliearchy, @dmitry140, @jason, and @gaufre. Thanks:@dmitry140

Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:

What to expect at Google I/O 2019: midrange Pixel 3a and 3a XL, Nest Hub Max, a 10-inch smart display with a Nest Camera, Android Q updates, and more — Google's annual developer conference, Google I/O, is nearly upon us. In a few days' time, a keynote address headlined by CEO Sundar Pichai …

More: Ars Technica, CNET, Mashable, Daily Express, CNET, Tom's Guide, 9to5Google, The Verge, Engadget, and TechCrunch

Chance Miller / 9to5Mac:

Ming-Chi Kuo: 2019 iPhones will feature new antenna technology which will improve iPhones' indoor navigation performance — TF Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is out today with a new report on Apple's supply chain as it pertains to the 2019 and 2020 iPhones.

More: AppleInsider, MacRumors, iPhone Hacks, TechSpot, SlashGear, Patently Apple, and CNET. Tweets: @appleinsider

Matthew Yglesias / Vox:

An overview of the debate over breaking up big tech and why antitrust might not be the best concept to address most issues people have with big tech companies — There's a pervasive feeling that the tech giants are too powerful ... but they're also really good for consumers.

More: Gizmodo. Tweets: @mattyglesias, @larry_irving, @ezraklein, @gershwin93, @benpauker, @joshelman, @halsinger, @went1955, @linamkhan, @alecstapp, @recode, and @willoremus

Cecilia Kang / New York Times:

Sources: FTC commissioners remain divided along the party lines on whether to hold Mark Zuckerberg personally liable for Facebook's future privacy violations — The F.T.C. chairman seems to have the votes to approve a settlement. One of the biggest issues has been whether to hold Mark Zuckerberg liable for future violations.

More: PYMNTS.com, Mashable, FutureSin, ResearchBuzz, Axios, The Verge, and Washington Post

Tweets: @nytimesbusiness, @profgalloway, @profcarroll, @austinfrerick, @privacyproject, @nytimesbusiness, @mayazi, @iansherr, @demandprogress, @matthewstoller, @nytimes, @jason_kint, @billmcgev, @privacydigest, and @raju

Eugene Kim / CNBC:

Research: Amazon could already offer next-day delivery to 72% of the US population, after growing its US logistics infrastructure ~3X in the past four years — KEY POINTS — Amazon is already capable of offering same-day and one-day delivery to 72% of the total U.S. population, according to RBC Capital Markets.

Tweets: @eugenekim222 and @aaronklein

Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:

Israel responds to an alleged Hamas cyberattack with an airstrike, marking the first time a country has reacted with immediate military force to a cyberattack — Israel military said it bombed building housing Hamas cyber forces. — For the first time, Israel has used brute military force …

More: Engadget, The Times of Israel, The Verge, and Wall Street Journal

Tweets: @renditionsec, @campuscodi, @campuscodi, @campuscodi, and @campuscodi

Rochelle Toplensky / Financial Times:

Sources: after considering Spotify's complaint about App Store fees, the EU has decided to launch an antitrust probe into Apple's conduct — The EU will launch a formal antitrust investigation into Apple in the next few weeks after Spotify accused the iPhone maker of “tilting the playing field to disadvantage competitors”.

More: 9to5Mac and Engadget. Tweets: @insideerick

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About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 11:10 PM ET, May 5, 2019.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.

From Mediagazer

New York Times:

WaPo begins widespread layoffs, cutting into international coverage and more; sources: it is laying off 30% of its employees, including 300+ of 800 journalists

Katie Robertson / New York Times:

NYT reports adding 450K digital subscribers in Q4 and 1.4M in 2025 for 12.78M in total, putting it on a pace to reach its stated goal of 15M by the end of 2027

Deadline:

At a US Senate hearing, Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos committed to a 45-day theatrical window and discussed a meeting with Trump, YouTube, residuals, and more

More News

Munsif Vengattil / Reuters:

Sources detail Facebook's efforts to label photos, private posts, more to improve its AI, employing hundreds in Hyderabad, India, alone, raising privacy issues

Tweets: @munsifv and @munsifv

Tim Copeland / Decrypt:

Tracing the origins of Crypto Capital, a shady payments processor behind the Bitfinex's $850M shortfall, that many call “the central bank of crypto”

More: Amy Castor. Tweets: @nlw, @decryptmedia, @krugermacro, @noelleinmadrid, @decryptmedia, and @timccopeland

Kate Fazzini / CNBC:

Research: cybercriminal organizations often mimic legit businesses, hiring “CEOs” and project managers, setting quarterly goals, and competing for customers

Emil Protalinski / VentureBeat:

What to expect from Microsoft Build 2019: a primary focus on Azure and AI, plus announcements related to Windows 10, Microsoft 365, HoloLens, and GitHub

More: Hindustan Times, Laptop Mag, ZDNet, Redmond, Bitcoinist.com, Digital Trends, Wired, Gizmodo, Silicon UK, Tech Observer, Barron's Online, Computerworld News …, PCMag, CNET, Pocket-lint, ITworld.com, and ZDNet

Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:

Virginia-based DivvyCloud, which provides cloud infrastructure automation software, raises $19M, says its client base doubled in the past year to 20+ companies

Joseph Cox / Motherboard:

Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, and AT&T hit with class action lawsuits for selling customer location data

More: SlashGear, BGR, Bloomberg Law, and Mashable

Tweets: @antoniogm, @josephfcox, @josephfcox, and @josephfcox

Earlier Picks

Alex Hern / The Guardian:

YouGov and Cambridge poll of 25,000+ people in 23 countries finds that UK citizens trust social media platforms less than any other nation surveyed

Tweets: @cilipinfo, @yougov, @martinsfp, and @mattnavarra

Celia Wan / The Block:

Bitfinex is trying to raise $1B via initial exchange offering of LEO tokens to provide liquidity as it seeks access to $850M it says were frozen by governments

More: CoinDesk, CoinDesk, Amy Castor, Modern Consensus, SludgeFeed, NewsBTC, Cointelegraph, CryptoGlobe, AMBCrypto, Ethereum World News, Cointelegraph, and Messari Crypto

Tweets: @felixsalmon, @coindesk, @theblock__, @icodrops, and @asglidden. Thanks:@dogetoshi

Forbes:

A profile of Lemonade, a millenial-friendly discount insurance startup, which has raised $480M in five rounds, the last one at a $2B+ valuation, says source

Tweets: @forbes

Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:

Some Git source code repositories, including at least 392 from GitHub, have been wiped and replaced with a ransom demand in a possible coordinated attack

More: Motherboard, CryptoGlobe, GitLab, Information Security …, Neowin, BleepingComputer, and The Register

Tweets: @campuscodi, @gitlab, @gcluley, @empathic_dev, @campuscodi, @xrobau, @campuscodi, @campuscodi, @danielrufde, @campuscodi, @campuscodi, @campuscodi, @campuscodi, and @campuscodi

Mike Isaac / New York Times:

A look at Dara Khosrowshahi's tenure as Uber prepares to go public; source: CEO decided Travis Kalanick isn't welcome on the NYSE balcony for next week's IPO