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American Express (Amex) plans to extend its AI capabilities through partnerships for validating transactions, approving credit lines, analyzing customer sentiment, and predicting finances, without creating its own large language model. The company aims to integrate AI into various activities and services while maintaining a cautious approach to incorporating the latest generation of AI technologies.

12 crypto startups raised over $151 million this week, highlighting the growing interest in Web3 gaming. Openfort secured $3 million to develop its wallet-as-a-service product, with plans to use account abstraction for a seamless gaming experience. The surge in investments indicates a promising future for Web3 gaming, blockchain platforms, and new technologies.

The Central Bank of Brazil prepares for its CBDC pilot project with participation from global companies like Visa and Microsoft. The digital real platform, set to kick off in mid-June 2023, focuses on privacy and programmability, while addressing challenges like financial privacy, transaction volumes, and potential monopolies in the ecosystem.

The Brazilian Central Bank has selected crypto-friendly neobank Nubank among other firms for its central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot project. The move signals a shift in attitude and possible recognition of incorporating crypto-related businesses in the development of a CBDC.

The Pudgy Penguins NFT project highlights the importance of strong community support and effective leadership in overcoming setbacks. After a turbulent start, entrepreneur Luca Netz acquired and rebuilt the brand, focusing on developing intellectual property and bridging the gap between real-life toys and digital NFTs to drive success.

OKX, the world’s second-largest crypto exchange, releases an upgraded app for Hong Kong users, offering safe and secure spot trading of 16 widely-used cryptocurrencies. This comes ahead of Hong Kong’s new regulatory framework for virtual asset service providers, with OKX demonstrating their commitment to regulatory requirements, security measures, and compliance capabilities.

The HKMA recently launched a pilot project called Cyber Hong Kong Dollar, a CBDC involving 16 companies, including Alipay Financial, Mastercard Asia, Ripple Labs, Visa, and HSBC. The e-HKD aims to test six potential use cases while results are expected at Hong Kong Fintech Week 2023.

Azteco, a Bitcoin payments firm, receives $6 million seed funding led by Jack Dorsey to simplify Bitcoin purchasing for unbanked populations through a unique voucher system. The system aims to address financial management, money transfer, and credit access issues for over two billion unbanked individuals worldwide.

Bitcoin rewards company Fold expands its presence in Latin America, establishing an office in El Salvador. Despite recent concerns over high blockchain transaction fees, the nation’s adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender makes it an ideal location for Fold’s expansion.

The ITTF partners with Floki, an Elon Musk-inspired cryptocurrency, to sponsor the World Table Tennis Championship Finals. This collaboration marks the first-ever union between table tennis and cryptocurrency, aiming to revolutionize the sport and spearhead its digital transformation while increasing visibility for Floki’s metaverse game, Valhalla.

The future of blockchain technology offers immense potential in security, transparency, and equitable power distribution, but faces challenges like increased energy consumption, scaling issues, and regulatory obstacles. Balancing benefits and risks is crucial, considering concerns related to environmental impact, market stability, and illicit activities.

The Lightning Network (LN) aims to address Bitcoin’s slow transaction speed by enabling high-volume micropayments with near-instant times, minimal fees, and a capacity of 1 million transactions per second. However, concerns like manual address entry errors and ongoing refinement warrant caution. LN has garnered attention from companies like Kraken and Coinbase, but debates on LNURL adoption persist.