#data

After launching its new token, NEXT, Connext experienced a Sybil attack during the airdrop phase. A perpetrator managed to acquire $38,000 in tokens, which were earmarked for genuine users. Notably, Connext is a protocol built for the secure transfer of both assets and data across different networks. Interestingly, the project’s prior efforts to implement an anti-Sybil program proved to be ineffective in preventing the hacking attempt.

The French Data Protection Agency (CNIL) has conducted inspections at Worldcoin's Paris office due to concerns about the company's biometric data collection practices. Worldcoin, co-founded by ChatGPT CEO Sam Altman, scans users' irises in exchange for a digital ID and the promise of free cryptocurrency. The Worldcoin Foundation, incorporated in the Cayman Islands, has expressed its willingness to undergo the review and affirms its commitment to complying with regulatory requirements.

London's Herodotus, in collaboration with StarkWare, has launched an "on-chain accumulator" tool that lets users read and verify any part of Ethereum's history. This tackles Ethereum's current limitation of validating only the last 256 blockhashes. The tool uses "storage proofs," a cryptographic method, to confirm the validity of data. This could be a game-changer for creating permissionless account recovery systems and insurance protocols that rely on historical on-chain data.

X, previously known as Twitter, has successfully obtained the Rhode Island Currency Transmitter License, enabling it to offer cryptocurrency payments and trading services in the U.S. This acquisition, confirmed on August 28 via NMLS data, aligns with X's ambition to be a "cryptocurrency-friendly" platform. Earlier, X had integrated features like Bitcoin tipping and NFT profile picture support. With this license, users might soon be able to send, receive, and store crypto directly on X, further mainstreaming cryptocurrency use.

OpenAI and Microsoft are under fire in a class-action lawsuit over alleged web scraping to gather private data for training AI models like ChatGPT. The lawsuit, filed on Sept. 5 in San Francisco, accuses the companies of using stolen private info, including personal data from countless internet users, without consent. The plaintiffs argue that without this data theft, products like ChatGPT and DALL-E wouldn't be the billion-dollar businesses they are today. They seek damages and a halt to the alleged illegal data scraping.

This collaboration seeks to digitize various sectors, including government services, healthcare, and education. The Google Distributed Cloud (GDC) services will enhance local infrastructure and data processing capabilities, aligning with El Salvador’s vision to become an innovation hub. President Nayib Bukele emphasized the importance of technology and foreign investment for the nation’s development: “Google’s global experience combined with the audacity of El Salvador will redefine the technological landscape.”

European crypto-related exchange-traded products (ETPs) experienced a boost in net inflows during June and July, breaking a nearly three-month trend of global ETP outflows. Europe-based ETPs saw inflows of €150 million in June and €60 million in July. The trend change might be attributed to BlackRock's spot bitcoin ETF application. However, recent data indicates a downturn in August, possibly due to the SEC's delay in deciding.

Social app friend.tech has recorded protocol fees amounting to more than $1.42 million within the past 24 hours, positioning it among the top three crypto projects in terms of user-paid fees. It now stands as the third-highest project for user-paid fees, following Ethereum and Lido Finance, according to data from DeFiLlama. Built on Coinbase’s Base Layer 2 chain, friend.tech is a social app that integrates with X (Twitter). It allows users to trade tokenized shares linked to each other’s profiles. Shareholders enjoy exclusive content access and private chat rooms in X.