Techmeme: Fidelity and other spot bitcoin ETF issuers jockey for an early advantage to attract investors, ahead of reported SEC approvals to launch as soon as January 10 (Leo Schwartz/Fortune)

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January 3, 2024, 9:20 AM

Top News

Thomas Germain / Gizmodo:

Facebook rolls out Link History, an opt-out setting that tracks all the links a user clicked in the mobile app, and plans to use the data for targeted ads — Facebook introduces a confusing new setting as the walls close in on Zuckerberg's data machine. — Facebook recently rolled out a new …

More: 9to5Mac, The Verge, PhoneArena, Social Media Today, and BGR

Bluesky: @tylerking.bsky.social. X: @jason_kint, @jason_kint, @thomasgermain, @brendaneich, @jason_kint, @jason_kint, @awinston, and @lmholliday. Forums: Slashdot

Leo Schwartz / Fortune:

Fidelity and other spot bitcoin ETF issuers jockey for an early advantage to attract investors, ahead of reported SEC approvals to launch as soon as January 10 — As the Securities and Exchange Commission appears on the precipice of approving the first wave of Bitcoin ETFs …

Iyaz Akhtar / PCMag:

Samsung plans to hold its next Galaxy Unpacked event on January 17 at 10am PT in San Jose, and streamed on YouTube, to showcase new Galaxy devices and Galaxy AI — ‘Galaxy AI is coming,’ reads the tagline, so get ready for Samsung-developed artificial intelligence.

Krisztian Sandor / CoinDesk:

Filing: MicroStrategy Executive Chairman Michael Saylor begins selling $216M worth of shares, but says he remains “optimistic about MicroStrategy's prospects” — Saylor said earlier that he would use the proceedings from the sales to address personal obligations and buy more bitcoin to his personal account.

More: MicroStrategy, Decrypt, CoinGape, Bloomberg, Coinspeaker, CryptoSlate, Cryptonews, Bitcoin Insider, Cointelegraph, Bankless Times, crypto.news, Cryptopolitan, Coinpedia Fintech News, and The Block

X: @saylor and @e_liminat_e

Jay Peters / The Verge:

X launches a Basic tier for Verified Organizations at $200/month or $2,000/year, in addition to Full Access at $1,000/month and $50/month for each US affiliate — X (formerly Twitter) now has a “basic” tier for Verified Organizations, which gets you a gold checkmark badge (and a few other benefits) …

More: TechRadar, iPhone in Canada Blog, WinBuzzer, and X

X: @verified, @x, and @adrianpcarbone

Ava Benny-Morrison / Bloomberg:

US federal prosecutors charge Tingo Group founder Mmobuosi Odogwu Banye with securities fraud in New York, accusing him of massively inflating Tingo's finances — - Criminal charges follow SEC lawsuit against Dozy Mmobuosi — Mmobuosi is still ‘at large,’ federal prosecutors in NY said

More: US Department of Justice, TechCabal, and Techpoint Africa

X: @uglygame, @hindenburgres, and @sdnynews

Hannah Devlin / The Guardian:

A UK study of 7,000 people born between 2000 and 2002: 48% agreed with “I think I am addicted to social media”; 57% of girls agreed, compared to 37% of boys — Exclusive: Millennium Cohort's finding raises questions about why a large proportion has a difficult relationship with social media

X: @soundmigration. Forums: Slashdot

Fred Wilson / AVC:

2024 predictions: AI will help make Web3 usable in mainstream applications and Web3 will help us trust AI, Web3 regulatory clarity, flat VC investing, and more — As we enter 2024, the capital markets have found their footing and are moving higher. The Fed has taken interest rates as far …

More: GeekWire. X: @antoniogm, @yuris, @rachaelrad, @zoescaman, and @c00v

Rasmus Nielsen / Financial Times:

Despite the focus on generative AI misinformation, much of the policy discourse ignores that politicians pose the gravest threat, ahead of big elections in 2024 — As we head into a big election year, beware the risks of misleading statements from those at very top

X: @fascinatorfun, @jpeterburger, @prateekwaghre, @katray, @rasmus_kleis, @risj_oxford, @acerbialberto, @nivincent, @mr_james_c, @jburnmurdoch, @1br0wn, @jason_kint, and @whotargetsme. LinkedIn: Lars Boering

Samantha Cole / 404 Media:

Pornhub blocks access in two more states, Montana and North Carolina, in protest of the states' age verification laws — Happy new year to people in Montana and North Carolina, who just joined a growing list of states that now require identification to view porn, or are blocked from viewing it altogether …

More: Engadget, The Verge, TechSpot, Mashable, Courthouse News Service, Newsweek, WXII-TV, and Gizmodo

Threads: @alexhcranz, @carnage4life, @carnage4life, and @jacaranda7

Mastodon: @xor@tech.intersects.art, @MichaelTBacon@social.coop, and @MichaelTBacon@social.coop

X: @samleecole, @robleathern, and @samleecole

Forums: r/Montana, r/NorthCarolina, and r/NorthCarolina

Laurie Clarke / Politico:

Critics and tech firms worry that the UK's Investigatory Powers (Amendment) Bill, a surveillance law now whisking through parliament, undermines user privacy — Despite the protestations of industry and campaigners, ministers are whisking a new bill through parliament.

More: 9to5Mac and The UK's technology …

X: @llaurieclarke, @llaurieclarke, @paulfscott, and @webdevlaw. Forums: Hacker News

Sarah Krouse / Wall Street Journal:

Antenna: US customer cancellations at major streamers rose to 6.3% in November, up from 5.1% YoY; 24% of users canceled 3+ subscriptions over the past two years — Hulu, Netflix and other streamers are turning to bundles, discounts and ad-supported plans as customer defections rise

More: The Hill, Digiday, On my Om, PYMNTS.com, The Streamable, Engadget, and The Messenger

Threads: @gergelyorosz_. X: @albertfong98, @c_garthwaite, @bysarahkrouse, @antennadata, @trengriffin, and @sportstvratings

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From Mediagazer

Washington Post:

Internal email: 60 Minutes correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi told staffers Bari Weiss pulled the CECOT segment after the Trump administration refused an interview

Ali Watkins / New York Times:

Channel 4 says Jimmy Kimmel will share a message on Christmas Day as part of its Alternative Christmas Message show, emphasizing the importance of free speech

Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:

Source: Threads plans to add podcast previews to let snippets of shows play directly in user feeds; it is focusing on live events, seeking to attract podcasters

Upcoming Tech Events

Jan 4

Samsung "The First Look" media event

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More News

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:

Roku plans to launch its first high-end TVs in spring 2024, including the 55-inch, 65-inch, and 75-inch Pro Series for up to $1,500

Wall Street Journal:

A look at Shein and Temu's Chinese supply chain: the platforms offer a lifeline to suppliers, but margins are razor-thin, prices must stay low, and unsold stock

Peggy Hollinger / Financial Times:

A look at the battle brewing between satellite operators over the use of orbit spectrum, as SpaceX's Starlink, Project Kuiper, and others push for looser rules

Parmy Olson / Bloomberg:

A profile of Midjourney founder David Holz, who co-founded Leap Motion in 2008 before a $30M sale in 2019, as the AI art tool prepares for the 2024 US elections

X: @bobonmarkets

Financial Times:

Former employees at IRL, which is being sued by SoftBank for fraud, detail several problems that were apparent from the start, including inflated user metrics

X: @gmomurder

Bloomberg:

Airbus begins talks to acquire Atos' cybersecurity and data unit, in a deal that could be valued up to €1.8B; Atos says another company had also made an offer

More: Atos, Tech Monitor, and Financial Times

Sun Yu / Financial Times:

Sources: the Cybersecurity Administration of China approved only ~25% of data export applications since data security laws came into effect in September 2022

X: @nickm4rro and @alecolarizi

James Shotter / Financial Times:

Israel, which has so far set aside $100M to shield its tech startups from the fallout of its war with Hamas, calls on private investors to help the sector

Earlier Picks

Paul Gillin / SiliconANGLE:

London-based Robin AI, which develops a free Microsoft Word add-in for creating and reviewing legal contracts using Anthropic's Claude, raised a $26M Series B

More: FinSMEs, EU-Startups, Tech.eu, Tech Funding News, PR Newswire, Silicon Canals, Neowin, Metaverse Post, Cryptopolitan, LAW.com, and UKTN

Oliver Knight / CoinDesk:

Orbit Chain, which facilitates cross-blockchain transactions, loses ~$81M after an attack on its cross-chain bridge protocol, reminiscent of Lazarus Group hacks

Sean Endicott / Windows Central:

Valve ended Steam support for Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 on January 1, saying the app used a now-defunct embedded Chrome version; <1% of Steam users have those OSes

Ben Schoon / 9to5Google:

X posts with link previews now display titles or headlines in the bottom left corner of the image, but the text size is small and long headlines get cut off

More: TechCrunch, The Verge, Android Headlines, The Register, Cybernews.com, Android Central, Social Media Today, Bloomberg, PYMNTS.com, The Hill, MobileSyrup, Axios, The Messenger, Fortune, and Thurrott

Threads: @carnage4life, @happicamp, @chris, and @crumbler

X: @tsuvik, @jappleby, @mgsiegler, @jrosenbaum, and @selviano