#data

The scientists at Nvidia have pioneered a new technique that converts textual content into imagery, helping to tackle the data storage predicaments that arise during the formation of novel models. Currently, the specifics of a single concept occupy roughly 100 KB. This efficiency stems from the fact that the approach doesn't reengineer the entire model; instead, it adjusts select "internal representations", bypassing the need to retrain the model entirely.

A Twitter debate has erupted, speculating that Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) might be involved with the BALD memcoin rugpull. Blockchain analysts delved into the developer’s on-chain history and discovered a connection between the wallet address deploying the BALD token and ETH funding from wallets linked to FTX and Alameda Research. An anonymous DeFi commentator suggested that this link might indicate SBF’s attempt to recover some losses. Data editors found that the same wallet address had made numerous transfers (400) to blacklisted USDT addresses and appeared to have strong connections with Alameda Research.

CryptoQuant data indicates that there's been a 99% decrease in the number of active addresses, along with a 98% drop in transaction volume. The majority of airdrop recipients (95% of them) opted to sell their tokens, with a significant 80% getting rid of their tokens entirely.

NFT royalties on Ethereum hit an eye-popping 699,816 ETH, roughly translating to $1.8 billion. However, data analytics firm Nansen's deep-dive analysis points to an unsettling trend. Despite sustained NFT volumes in 2023, royalties for this year only constitute 9.4% of the total payout, a stark contrast to 2022, which accounted for over 64% of the total ETH paid. The culprit behind this disparity is the downward trend in effective royalty rates, which fell from 2.5% in 2022 to a scant 0.6% by July 2023. Some NFT projects such as Yuga Labs, behind popular initiatives like Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC), are among the few benefiting, receiving 9.4% of all royalties.

Arkham Intel Exchange has acknowledged two on-chain investigators with approximately 9,519 ARKM (valued at ~$5,000) for information on Do Kwon & Terra's wallet holdings. This new data suggests a potential inconsistency in Terra's previous declaration of possessing a single Luna Foundation Guard wallet.

LunarCrush, the data analytics company, has reported that the most frequent search on their platform is now the SHIB token, overtaking Optimism (OP) and Worldcoin (WLD) which landed in the second and third spots respectively. Notably, this "meme token" has shown a surge in its overall social engagement by 20% and has held a strong social dominance of 4.8% in the past 24 hours.

Germany's data watchdog has been scrutinizing the Worldcoin initiative since the previous year due to apprehensions concerning the extensive processing of confidential biometric information. Currently, concerns have been raised about Sam Altman's project from the United Kingdom, France, and Germany.

Worldcoin Addresses Security Concerns Worldcoin has released its audit reports amid increasing criticism of its data collection practices. The audit revealed a total of 29 security issues with the protocol. Out of these, 27 have been fixed, one was mitigated, and another was acknowledged. The audit was conducted by security consulting firms Nethermind and Least Authority.

The UK's data watchdog is setting its sights on Worldcoin, Sam Altman's initiative offering free crypto for iris scans. With digital ID on one side and cryptocurrency on the other, it's caught the Information Commissioner's Office's attention. "We note the launch of WorldCoin in the UK and will be making further enquiries," a spokesperson for the ICO says.

Ethereum co-founder has raised four primary concerns of Worldcoin: privacy, accessibility, centralization, and security. While Worldcoin's Proof-of-Personhood (PoP) system is designed to authenticate unique users without revealing personal data, Buterin warns that any data leak could lead to misuse of identity information. He also points out that accessibility is an issue, as participation requires physical access to a device called "Orb," potentially limiting the project's reach. Lastly, he mentions security risks such as phone hacking and coercion to scan irises. Despite these concerns, Buterin does see the value in the concept of Worldcoin, and suggests a combination of social-graph-based, general-hardware biometric, and specialized-hardware biometric techniques as a potential solution.

Bloomberg reports that Apple is working on its own GenAI model, codenamed Ajax. The chatbot leverages Google's framework and runs on Google Cloud, with a primary focus on maintaining user privacy and confidentiality. For now, Ajax will be used for in-house purposes like creating product prototypes and analyzing data. However, it might become available to the public in the future.