Month: April 2025

Judge rules Google illegally monopolized adtech, opening door to potential breakup 

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A federal judge has found that Google has violated antitrust laws by “willfully acquiring and maintaining monopoly power” in the advertising technology market, rounding out a two-year saga after the U.S. and eight states filed its initial complaints against the Alphabet-owned company. The court will set a briefing schedule and hearing date to determine appropriate … Read more

Understanding Concentrability in Direct Nash Optimization

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:::info Authors: (1) Corby Rosset, Microsoft Research and Correspondence to corbyrosset@microsoft.com; (2) Ching-An Cheng, Microsoft Research; (3) Arindam Mitra, Microsoft Research; (4) Michael Santacroce, Microsoft Research; (5) Ahmed Awadallah, Microsoft Research and Correspondence to hassanam@microsoft.com; (6) Tengyang Xie, Microsoft Research and Correspondence to tengyangxie@microsoft.com. ::: Table of Links Abstract and 1 Introduction 2 Preliminaries 2.1 … Read more

Make a brand impact by hosting a Side Event during TechCrunch All Stage Week in Boston

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Want to tap into the energy of 1,000+ startup founders, investors, and tech leaders descending on Boston for TechCrunch All Stage on July 15? Host your own Side Event during “TC All Stage Week,” happening July 13-19! Whether it’s a networking mixer, workshop, morning run, fireside chat, or cocktail hour — you call the shots. … Read more

Cash-based crypto can enable financial inclusion for billions

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Opinion by: Alexander Guseff, founder and CEO of Tectum Crypto companies have spent years pushing digital wallets and exchange apps, convinced they’ll bring financial inclusion to the world. Here’s the reality: 1.4 billion people remain unbanked, and crypto adoption has barely exceeded 8%. For all the talk about decentralization and accessibility, the industry continues to … Read more

Crypto for Advisors: Generating Yield With Bitcoin

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In today’s crypto for advisors, Todd Bendell from Amphibian Capital breaks down bitcoin yield products as a strategy to grow bitcoin holdings beyond price appreciation. Then, Rich Rines, an initial Core DAO developer, provides guidance to Bitcoin developers in Ask an Expert. Exclusive event alert for financial advisors: Join CoinDesk for Wealth Management Day on … Read more

Google loses adtech monopoly case

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The US Department of Justice has won its antitrust case against Google, which accused the company of operating a monopoly in the advertising technology industry. “Plaintiffs have proven that Google has willfully engaged in a series of anticompetitiveacts to acquire and maintain monopoly power in the publisher ad server and ad exchange marketsfor open-web display … Read more

Crypto Stock Tracking ETF Coming Soon From VanEck

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VanEck is bringing an actively-managed exchange-traded fund (ETF) tracking digital asset stocks to the market after receiving approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The VanEck Onchain Economy ETF (NODE) will aim to hold 30-60 stocks, VanEck’s head of digital asset research Matthew Sigel, said in a post on X.The management fee will … Read more

Crypto, stocks enter ‘new phase of trade war’ as US-China tensions rise

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Cryptocurrency and equities markets entered a “new phase of the trade war, amid ongoing tariff escalations between the United States and China. Global trade war concerns intensified on April 15 after the White House published a fact sheet announcing that Chinese imports would be hit with tariffs of up to 245%. The penalties include a … Read more

Mark Zuckerberg says TikTok slowed Meta’s growth

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In Meta’s antitrust trial on Wednesday, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified that TikTok’s success was a risk to Meta’s business, saying the short-form video app was a “top priority” and a “highly urgent” competitive threat when it arrived in 2018, according to Bloomberg and other outlets. The reports come from a packed first week of … Read more

Eliza Labs launches auto.fun, a no-code AI spin on Pump.Fun

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Eliza Labs, the developer behind the AI agent framework ai16z, announced the launch of auto.fun, a new no-code platform allowing users to launch AI agents on Web3 applications. Auto.fun allows for the creation, deployment and monetization of AI agents by non-developers without programming knowledge, according to an April 17 announcement. The platform supports the creation … Read more

Sinners is a breathtakingly terrifying ode to Black mythology

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Horror movies centering Black characters are not a new phenomenon, but the genre’s resurgence in recent years has ushered in a fresh wave of ambitious and occasionally phenomenal features that spin the United States’ legacy of racism into captivating, supernatural tales. Sinners, writer / director Ryan Coogler’s latest project, feels very much like a product … Read more