Barcelona. Catalunya. 11/09/2023. Foto De Pepín.

$300M crypto long liquidations — 5 things to know in Bitcoin this week

Bitcoin (BTC) starts a key week for macro markets with a bump as the weekly close gives way to a sharp 7% BTC price correction. In a fresh bout of volatility, the largest cryptocurrency broke down toward $40,000, reaching its lowest levels in a week. Arguably long overdue, Bitcoin’s return to test support nonetheless caught bullish latecomers by surprise, liquidating almost $100 million in…

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AI in Finance: Automating Processes and Enhancing Decision-Making in the Financial Sector

Introduction: 

In today’s rapidly evolving world, technology continues to reshape various industries, and the financial sector is no exception. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a game-changer, revolutionizing the way financial institutions operate and make critical decisions. By automating processes and providing valuable insights, AI is transforming the financial landscape, enabling greater efficiency, accuracy, and customer satisfaction.

AI Applications in Finance:

Automation of Routine Tasks: Financial institutions deal with massive amounts of data on a daily basis. AI-driven automation tools can streamline tasks such as data entry, processing, and reconciliation, reducing manual errors and increasing operational efficiency. Additionally, AI-powered bots can handle customer inquiries and support, freeing up human agents to focus on more complex issues.

Fraud Detection and Security: Cybersecurity is a top priority for financial institutions. AI algorithms can analyze vast datasets in real-time to detect unusual patterns and anomalies, flagging potential fraudulent activities before they escalate. This proactive approach enhances security measures and safeguards customer assets.

Personalized Customer Experience: AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants offer personalized interactions with customers, providing quick responses to queries and offering tailored financial solutions based on individual preferences and behavior. This level of personalization enhances customer satisfaction and loyalty.

AI for Risk Assessment and Management:

Credit Scoring and Underwriting: AI-powered credit risk models can assess an individual’s creditworthiness more accurately, incorporating a wide range of factors to make data-driven decisions. This expedites loan underwriting processes, allowing financial institutions to serve customers faster while managing risk effectively.

Market Analysis and Predictions: AI algorithms can analyze market trends, historical data, and other influencing factors to predict market fluctuations with higher accuracy. By leveraging AI-driven insights, investment professionals can make more informed decisions, optimizing investment strategies and portfolios.

Improving Financial Decision-Making:

Algorithmic Trading: AI-driven algorithmic trading systems can execute trades based on predefined criteria, eliminating emotional biases and executing trades with greater precision and speed. This technology has the potential to outperform traditional trading methods, benefiting both investors and institutions.

Portfolio Management: AI can optimize portfolio performance by considering various risk factors, asset correlations, and individual investment goals. Through data-driven portfolio management, investors can achieve a balanced risk-return profile, aligning with their specific financial objectives.

Ethical and Regulatory Considerations:

As AI becomes more prevalent in the financial sector, it’s crucial to address ethical concerns and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements. Financial institutions must be vigilant in identifying and mitigating biases present in AI algorithms to maintain fairness and transparency in decision-making processes. Additionally, adhering to data privacy laws is essential to protect customer information and build trust with clients.

Real-world Examples of AI Adoption in Finance:

JPMorgan Chase: The multinational bank utilizes AI to streamline customer interactions through their virtual assistant, providing personalized financial advice and support.

BlackRock: The investment management firm employs AI-powered algorithms to enhance its portfolio management and make data-driven investment decisions.

Challenges and Future Outlook:

While AI offers tremendous benefits to the financial sector, challenges remain, including data privacy concerns, algorithmic biases, and potential job displacement. Addressing these challenges is vital to maximizing the potential of AI in finance. Looking ahead, the future of AI in finance is promising, with advancements in Natural Language Processing (NLP), predictive analytics, and machine learning expected to reshape the industry further.

Conclusion:

AI is revolutionizing the financial sector by automating processes, improving decision-making, and enhancing customer experiences. Financial institutions embracing AI can gain a competitive edge, providing better services, reducing operational costs, and managing risks more effectively. However, ethical considerations and regulatory compliance must remain at the forefront of AI adoption to ensure a sustainable and equitable financial landscape for the future. With responsible implementation, AI is set to continue transforming finance, empowering institutions to thrive in the digital age.

On March 20, 2022, the New York Times published a 14,000-word puff piece on cryptocurrencies, both online and as an entire section of the Sunday print edition. Though its author, Kevin Roose, wrote that it aimed to be a “sober, dispassionate explanation of what crypto actually is”, it was a thinly-veiled advertisement for cryptocurrency that appeared to have received little in the way of fact-checking or critical editorial scrutiny. It uncritically repeated many questionable or entirely fallacious arguments from cryptocurrency advocates, and it appears that no experts on the topic were consulted, or even anyone with a less-than-rosy view on crypto. This is grossly irresponsible.

Here, a group of around fifteen cryptocurrency researchers and critics have done what the New York Times apparently won’t.

I like how snarky the critics are in this piece:

Rich vs Poor trait

Website

vice.com

Bitcoin Sellers Lose Historic $7.3 Billion In Three Days of Pain

Everyone from short-term holders to mining companies have locked in huge losses as Bitcoin's price struggles to stay afloat.

It’s not clear if Bitcoin and the rest of the crypto market have bottomed out at this point. While Bitcoin's price has risen above the $20,000 level that many analysts warned as a key price support, there are growing concerns that many key institutional players in the wider crypto ecosystem are illiquid and teetering on the edge of insolvency. 

In the aftermath of crypto lender Celsius Network freezing withdrawals on its platform, as well as other firms either facing insolvency or liquidity concerns, two major crypto lenders have been offered credit lifelines to prevent meltdowns that might further spark crypto panics. Crypto lender Voyager Digital announced a deal with Alameda Research last week, a trading firm created by crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried, that would provide credit "intended to be used to safeguard customer assets in light of current market volatility and only if such use is needed." On Tuesday, Crypto lender BlockFi chief executive Zac Prince revealed the company secured "a $250M revolving credit facility providing us with access to capital that further bolsters our balance sheet and platform strength” with FTX—Bankman-Fried’s crypto exchange.

Ghost Pokemon PC Fan Covers made by SakuraiArmory

What are ERC-20 tokens on the Ethereum network?

Ethereum ERC-20 tokens are the key for anyone to create smart contract compatible cryptocurrencies that meet the guidelines set by Ethereum.

If you have investigated Ethereum, Ethereum block chain, or any other cryptocurrency that uses the ecosystem, you have probably seen or heard the term ERC20 development . This mysterious acronym plays a very important role in Ethereum and cryptocurrencies in general. This mysterious acronym plays a very important role in Ethereum and in cryptocurrencies in general.

From there, they can harness the power of the entire ecosystem and Ethereum block chain. But what are they really and why are they so important?

What is an ERC-20 token?

Ethereum Request for Comment number 20, better known as ERC-20 is the Ethereum standard for smart contract enabled tokens. Unique in Ethereum’s blockchain, these expendable tokens are interchangeable with other tokens.

IMPORTANT: Expendable tokens should not be confused with non-expendable tokens (NFT).

An ERC-20 token can refer to an asset, property, right, access, cryptocurrency or any other element that is not unique and can be exchanged for another. Basically, ERC-20 tokens allow digital assets to be easily interchanged with each other.

ERC-20 tokens explanation: why were they created?

When smart contracts started to stand out, there were many obstacles to overcome. Especially since anyone could create them. At the time, there was no generalized standard encoding, which meant there was no way to guarantee that different tokens could be used, exchanged, or created.

Before standardization, each application had to create its own token, and users working on different platforms had to face a difficult and long process to transfer them from one side to the other.

The introduction of ERC-20 allowed people and projects to be interconnected. With many well-established digital coins adopting the ERC-20 standard.

Advantages of Ethereum ERC-20 tokens

Developers, project creators, companies, communities and individuals see great benefits in the use of Ethereum ERC-20 tokens. We have selected some that highlight how each type of user can benefit.

Interconnected projects

A standardized approach to tokens makes it easy to transfer and exchange them. This allows different projects and communities to collaborate with each other, while offering users the possibility of easily changing their files for others.

Easy coin creation

Thanks to standardization, developing your own token couldn’t be faster. By following a few simple steps, a developer can have a new coin running smoothly and on short notice.

Name of your file

Decide your symbol

Specify the decimal

Confirm how it will divide

Security and protection

All ERC-20 tokens have a built-in digital purse function, which means that anyone with the token can protect it by storing it in their purse. This allows token holders to maintain full control over their digital assets, rather than leaving them in a bag.

Profitable development

Much time, effort, and money has been invested in developing the ERC20 token development standard — it would be incredibly expensive to try to replicate it. All the hard work has been done for you, which means your developers can easily create a token that offers a great user experience without all the associated costs.

How are ERC-20 tokens standardized?

There is a selection of functions and events that a token must complete to obtain the ERC-20 standardization. If you fulfill the minimum functions, it will guarantee the safety of your token, its holders and the Ethereum block chain. If you cannot provide what is listed below, you will not be able to create an ERC-20 compliant token.

Total offer: This is the total number of chips to be issued.

Balance: How much of the token is in an owner’s account.

Transfer: Automatically executes transfers from a certain number of tabs to a preselected recipient address.

Transfer from: Same as the previous one but specifying the address from which the operation comes, not that of the recipient.

ETH AND ERC-20: What’s the difference?

ERC-20 is developed to be used in the Ethereum blockchain. However, this does not mean that it is the same as the Ethereum cryptocurrency. Eth or Ethereum is the native token used by Ethereum blockchain to process a transaction on the network.

ERC-20 is used as a standard to create fungible tokens enabled for smart contracts that can be used in the Ethereum ecosystem. Basically, ERC-20 is the foundation of most cryptocurrencies that use Ethereum as the host block chain.

Bottom line: What are ERC-20 tokens?

ERC-20 tokens are the standard for creating cryptocurrencies compatible with smart contracts hosted on Ethereum’s blockchain. Before its existence, anyone who created new tokens had to find creative ways to exchange them with each other. It was a long and complicated process. Now anyone can create an ERC20 token generator that is interchangeable with any other ERC-20 token.

Harnessing the power of Ethereum’s block chain and ERC-20 tokens, developers, projects, and cryptocurrency communities can create viable tokens cost-effectively and quickly.

These tokens allow for a more interconnected and viable Ethereum ecosystem, providing the platform for projects to start, prosper and expand.

Technology peaked at this aesthetic

Let's get back to Black Mesa!!!