Techmeme: Revolut says it had $361M in 2020 revenue, up 57% YoY, non-adjusted operating loss reached $277M due to staff costs, and retail customers rose 45% to 14.5M (Romain Dillet/TechCrunch)

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June 21, 2021, 10:45 AM

Top News

Global Times:

China's Sichuan Province closes crypto mines, following Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, and Yunnan; an estimated 90% of China's mining capacity has now been shut down — Many Bitcoin mines in Southwest China's Sichuan Province - one of China's largest cryptocurrency mining bases - were closed as of Sunday …

More: Wall Street Journal, Reuters, The Block, Insider, Bloomberg, CoinDesk, Decrypt, TNW, Forbes, Gizmodo, CNBC, Financial Times, Finbold, Bloomberg, Forkast, Bloomberg, Agence France-Presse, Cointelegraph, BitcoinExchangeGuide, The Daily Hodl, New York Post, CNBC, blockchain.news, Cryptonews, Blockonomi, Pandaily, and CoinDesk. Tweets: @rizzn

Coco Feng / South China Morning Post:

As China expands its crackdown on cryptocurrency mining farms, analysis shows the price of GPUs has fallen on many e-commerce platforms in the country — Graphics cards from companies including Nvidia and Asus saw prices fall by as much as two-thirds on e-commerce platforms amid China's …

More: Finbold, The Economic Times, Cointelegraph, Cryptonews, Coinspeaker, blockchain.news, and CoinDesk

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Facebook rolls out Live Audio Rooms, available to verified public figures and select Groups, and its podcast service, available to select partners, in the US — In April, Facebook announced a series of planned investments in new audio products, including a Clubhouse live audio competitor as well as new support for podcasts.

Sami Fathi / MacRumors:

Germany's Federal Cartel Office announces an antitrust investigation into Apple's App Store, pre-installed apps, and more — Germany's Federal Cartel Office, the Bundeskartellamt, today initiated proceedings against Apple on the claims of anti-competitive behavior related to the App Store …

More: Bundeskartellamt, Reuters, Bloomberg, mobilesyrup.com, Silicon Republic, 9to5Mac, TechCrunch, Reuters, AppleInsider, and iMore

Tweets: @samifathi_, @kartellamt, @markscott82, and @markscott82

Richard Pallot / ITV:

Investigation finds Amazon has been destroying thousands of unsold goods at its UK-based Dunfermline warehouse; source says 130K items are destroyed per week — Exclusive: Watch footage showing the ‘destruction zone’ in Amazon's Dunfermline warehouse where millions of unsold items are destroyed every year

More: Insider and ITV

Tweets: @itvnews, @angelarayner, @zarahsultana, @atbwebb, @sam_l_shead, @itvnews, @misszing, @itvnews, @tomwarren, @olifranklin, @alexhern, @janeygodley, @itvnews, and @anneapplebaum

Mary Biekert / Bloomberg:

Securitize, which helps companies issue asset-backed security tokens, raises $48M Series B co-led Morgan Stanley and Blockchain Capital — - Firm gathers $48 million in its Series B fundraising round — Teixeira of Morgan Stanley to join Securitize's board

More: The Block, CoinDesk, Finextra, PR Newswire, Decrypt, and Cointelegraph

Sam Shead / CNBC:

Google says it has decided not to reopen Campus, its London-based startup space, after the pandemic forced it to close — - The Silicon Valley tech giant announced on Monday that it has decided “not to reopen” Campus in East London after it was forced to close by the coronavirus pandemic.

More: Bloomberg, campus.co, Insider, Medium, and TechRadar

Tweets: @googlestartupuk, @nicklevine, @ruskin147, @mikebutcher, @googlestartupuk, @sarahdrinkwater, @googlestartupuk, @googlestartupuk, @sarahdrinkwater, and @jamesliamcook

Romain Dillet / TechCrunch:

Revolut says it had $361M in 2020 revenue, up 57% YoY, non-adjusted operating loss reached $277M due to staff costs, and retail customers rose 45% to 14.5M — Fintech startup Revolut has filed some financial results and is sharing details with the press. In 2020, the company reported $361 million …

More: The Guardian, The Block, Finextra, Sifted, Bloomberg, Coinspeaker, Yahoo Finance, Revolut, CNBC, and Insider

Martin Arnold / Financial Times:

European Central Bank board member says a digital euro will protect consumer privacy and protect the eurozone from the “threat” of competing cryptocurrencies — Fabio Panetta admits some oversight by regulators is necessary to avoid misuse — The introduction of a digital euro …

More: Crypto Briefing, Coinspeaker, CoinDesk, PYMNTS.com, Cointelegraph, and Decrypt

Tweets: @danawrey, @mamdorsky, and @mamdorsky

Douglas Busvine / Reuters:

Forto, a freight forwarding service that gives customers real-time data, raises $240M led by SoftBank's Vision Fund 2 at a $1.2B valuation — Forto has raised $240 million from investors led by Softbank (9984.T), the freight technology startup said on Monday, and will invest in expanding …

More: TechCrunch, PR Newswire, Silicon Canals, Tech News, and Tech.eu

Sarah Frier / Bloomberg:

Real estate mogul Frank McCourt says he plans to invest $100M to build a blockchain-based database of social connections, sidestepping the dominant social apps — Frank McCourt wants to build a blockchain-based alternative to Facebook — Frank McCourt, the billionaire real estate mogul …

More: Decrypt, PR Newswire, Cointelegraph, Coin Journal, CoinDesk, South China Morning Post, and Slashdot

Sam Shead / CNBC:

A look at Founders Forum, the annual UK event branded as the “Davos of tech” attended by Europe's top CEOs and investors from technology and media — - Attendees of the annual Founders Forum event included the former U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron, ex-Finance Minister George Osborne …

More: Beyond Search

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From Mediagazer

Sara Fischer / Axios:

The AP says it plans dozens of US staff cuts as part of a broader restructuring away from hyper-local print coverage and toward video and national topics

Wall Street Journal:

Sources: three Gulf sovereign-wealth funds have agreed to commit a total of ~$24B to back Paramount's $81B WBD deal; Saudi Arabia's PIF agreed to provide ~$10B

Natalie Korach / Status:

Sources: journalists attending WHCD plan to wear 1A-themed accessories, in a RCFP-coordinated campaign to express solidarity amid Trump's press restrictions

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More News

Choe Sang-Hun / New York Times:

A look at the huge rise of esports in South Korea, where thousands of young people compete to go pro, and efforts to create sustainable jobs in the industry

Tweets: @sameeryasir, @nytimesbusiness, @almostbernard, and @nytimes

Patrick Shanley / Washington Post:

A look at the future of E3, once the dominant gaming event, as the pandemic, withdrawal of Sony, and rise of competing events has weakened its impact and appeal

More: TechCrunch. Tweets: @launcherwp, @pshanley88, and @pshanley88

Julia Fioretti / Bloomberg:

Sources: Full Truck Alliance, a Chinese Uber-like service for trucks, raises $1.6B after pricing at $19, the top of the range; trading begins today on NYSE

More: Reuters

Stephanie Findlay / Financial Times:

Sources: Indian payments company Paytm is seeking to raise up to $3B in its forthcoming IPO, targeting a valuation of $29B; the company was last valued at $16B

Ax Sharma / BleepingComputer:

Researcher finds iPhone bug that disables wireless functionality after joining a WiFi network called “%p%s%s%s%s%n”; resetting network settings fixes the issue

More: CodeColorist, Macworld, androidauthority.com, Gizmodo, BGR India, Pocketnow, The Hacker News, Gizchina, SlashGear, Ubergizmo, iThinkDifferent, 9to5Mac, phonearena.com, HotHardware.com News, MacRumors, PCMag, BetaNews, ZDNet, Forbes, Wccftech, and Livemint

Tweets: @vm_call, @vm_call, @kennwhite, @insane_irish, @gossithedog, @securestep9, @gossithedog, and @jaimyn_m

Alan Suderman / Associated Press:

Tax experts say that ransomware victims' ransom payments are probably tax deductible in the US, unless they were paid by an insurance company

More: TechRadar. Tweets: @thegrugq, @mikko, @gossithedog, @sosowski, @xamat, and @thegrugq

Brian Heater / TechCrunch:

Wristcam, which makes a $299 Apple Watch band with a camera capable of taking 4K images and recording 1080p video, raises $25M led by Marker LLC

Tweets: @brianfagioli and @daniel_duan. Thanks:@vscpr

Earlier Picks

Dr. Ian Cutress / AnandTech:

Interview with Jim Keller, a chip expert lauded for his work at AMD and Apple, on ARM vs x86 vs RISC-V, managing 1,000 people at Intel, and plans at Tenstorrent

Tweets: @iancutress, @anandtech, @0xcats, and @hkanji. Thanks:@anandtech

Matt Dougherty / KHOU-TV:

Some power companies in Texas are remotely adjusting the smart thermostats of users enrolled in their energy saving programs to reduce strain on power grids

More: XDA Developers, BGR, Protocol, Android Police, KnowTechie, The Verge, SlashGear, Insider, AppleInsider, Gizmodo, USA Today, and Click2Houston.com

Tweets: @dellcam, @dcseifert, @elpasotimes, @erratarob, @apoorv_bh89, @stealthygeek, @vickerysec, @film_girl, @nuclear94, @mollyjongfast, @arvindpawan1, @grantstern, @jgamblin, @natebeachw, @phil_lewis_, and @karlbode

Rita Liao / TechCrunch:

Amber Group, a Hong Kong-based crypto finance startup that provides trading and asset management services, raises $100M Series B at $1B pre-money valuation

More: Blockworks, CNBC, Forkast, Silicon Republic, Bloomberg, CoinDesk, Decrypt, TNW, Coinspeaker, Tech News, and Cointelegraph. Tweets: @_annabellehuang

Wall Street Journal:

Analysts say the dominance of TSMC, which makes ~92% of the world's most sophisticated chips and 60% of chips used in cars, poses risks to the global economy

More: Wall Street Journal. Tweets: @silvermanjacob, @jasonmillerindc, @zackkanter, @djtgallagher, @jchengwsj, @scottlincicome, and @chinarealtime

Ezra Fieser / Bloomberg:

A look at El Zonte, a surfing village in El Salvador dubbed Bitcoin Beach after an anonymous 2019 donation turned it into a controlled alt-currency experiment

Tweets: @andrewrosati, @codinghorror, @apompliano, and @kejalvyas

Christopher Mims / Wall Street Journal:

Pandemic boosted the “phone-ization” of PCs, which are adopting power efficient CPUs and thin designs, a trend which will accelerate with broader adoption of 5G

More: The Overspill. Tweets: @gregorymbryant, @dsilverman, @psb_dc, @parthodasgupta, @onelinders, @stevesi, @mims, and @mims