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CNBC

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  • Why ether ETF inflows have come roaring back from the dead Ether ETFs have finally come to life this year after some started to fear they may be becoming zombie funds. Collectively, the funds tracking the price of spot ether are on pace for their sixth consecutive week of inflows and eight positive week in the last nine, according to SoSoValue. The second largest cryptocurrency has become more attractive to institutions in recent weeks largely due to recent regulatory momentum in the U.S. around stablecoins – many of which run on the Ethereum network – the successful IPO of Circle, the issuer of the second-largest stablecoin; and new leadership at the Ethereum Foundation. “What we’re seeing is institutional recalibration,” said Ben Kurland, CEO at crypto charting and research platform DYOR. “After the initial ETH ETF approval fizzled without a price pop, smart money started quietly building positions. They’re betting not on price momentum but on positioning ahead of utility unlocks like staking access, options listings, and eventually inflows from retirement platforms.” The first year of ether ETFs, which launched in July 2024, has been characterized by weak demand. While the funds have had spikes in inflows, they’ve trailed far behind bitcoin ETFs in both inflows and investor attention – amassing about $3.9 billion in net inflows since listing versus bitcoin ETFs’ $36 billion in their first year of trading. “With increasing acceptance of crypto on Wall Street, especially now as a means for payments and remittances, investors are being drawn to ETH ETFs,” said Chris Rhine, head of liquid active strategies at Galaxy Digital. Additionally, he added, the CME basis on ether – or the price difference between ether futures and the spot price – is higher than that of bitcoin, giving arbitrageurs an opportunity to profit by going long on ether ETFs while shorting futures (a common trading strategy) and contributing to the uptrend in ether ETF inflows. Ether/USD Coin Metrics ETH.CM=:Exchange Ether (ETH) 1 month Despite the uptrend in inflows, the price of ether itself is negative for this month and flat over the past month. For the year, it’s down 25% as it’s been suffering from an identity crisis fueled by uncertainty about Ethereum’s value proposition, weaker revenue since its last big technical upgrade and increasing competition from Solana. Market volatility driven by geopolitical uncertainty this year has not helped. In March, Standard Chartered slashed its ether price target by more than half. However, the firm also said the coin could still see a turnaround this year. Since last week’s big spike in inflows, they’ve “slowed but stayed net positive, suggesting conviction, not hype,” Kurland said. “The market looks like a heart monitor, but the buyers are treating it like a long-term infrastructure bet.”
  • DOJ seizes record $225 million in crypto tied to global 'pig butchering' scams Pig butchering scams surge 40% as crypto sanctions evasion hits $15.8 billion The Justice Department announced Wednesday the largest-ever U.S. seizure of cryptocurrency linked to so-called "pig butchering" scams that have cost victims billions globally. Federal prosecutors filed a civil forfeiture action targeting more than $225 million in cryptocurrency traced to a sprawling web of fraudulent investment platforms. Victims were tricked into believing they were investing in legitimate crypto ventures, only to be scammed by criminal networks often operating overseas. "This seizure of $225.3 million in funds linked to cryptocurrency investment scams marks the largest cryptocurrency seizure in U.S. Secret Service history," said Shawn Bradstreet, special agent in charge of the U.S. Secret Service's San Francisco Field Office, in a statement. Authorities said the network was connected to at least 400 suspected victims worldwide, including dozens in the U.S. Crypto fraud was responsible for more than $5.8 billion in reported losses last year, according to FBI data. The seized funds are now subject to forfeiture proceedings aimed at eventually returning money to victims. The U.S. Secret Service and FBI used blockchain analysis and other tools to trace the cryptocurrency back to stolen assets. The DOJ credited Tether, the world's largest stablecoin issuer, for assisting in the operation. According to the complaint, the funds were linked to the theft and laundering of money from victims of cryptocurrency investment fraud schemes, commonly known as confidence scams that often involve romance. The network relied on hundreds of thousands of transactions to obscure the origin of the funds, using sophisticated blockchain maneuvers to conceal the flow of stolen assets.
  • SK Hynix shares extend gains to over 2-decade highs as parent group reportedly plans AI data center Shares in South Korea's SK Hynix extended gains to hit a more than 2-decade high on Tuesday, following reports over the weekend that SK Group plans to build the country's largest AI data center. SK Hynix shares, which have surged almost 50% so far this year on the back of an AI boom, were up nearly 3%, following gains on Monday. The company's parent, SK Group, plans to build the AI data center in partnership with Amazon Web Services in Ulsan, according to domestic media. SK Telecom and SK Broadband are reportedly leading the initiative, with support from other affiliates, including SK Hynix. SK Hynix is a leading supplier of dynamic random access memory or DRAM — a type of semiconductor memory found in PCs, workstations and servers that is used to store data and program code. The company's DRAM rival, Samsung, was also trading up 4% on Tuesday. However, it's growth has fallen behind that of SK Hynix. On Friday, Samsung Electronics' market cap reportedly slid to a 9-year low of 345.1 trillion won ($252 billion) as the chipmaker struggles to capitalize on AI-led demand. SK Hynix, on the other hand, has become a leader in high bandwidth memory — a type of DRAM used in artificial intelligence servers — supplying to clients such as AI behemoth Nvidia.
  • The CEOs of two major energy companies, Baker Hughes and Woodside, are monitoring the developments between Iran and Israel — but they aren’t about to make firm predictions on oil prices.
  • Google, Scale AI's largest customer, plans split after Meta deal Alexandr Wang, CEO of Scale AI, speaking on CNBC's Squawk Box outside the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 23rd, 2025. Alphabet's Google, the largest customer of Scale AI, plans to cut ties with Scale after news broke that rival Meta is taking a 49% stake in the AI data-labeling startup, five sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. Google had planned to pay Scale AI about $200 million this year for the human-labeled training data that is crucial for developing technology, including the sophisticated AI models that power Gemini, its ChatGPT competitor, one of the sources said. The search giant already held conversations with several of Scale AI's rivals this week as it seeks to shift away much of that workload, sources added. Scale's loss of significant business comes as Meta takes a big stake in the company, valuing it at $29 billion. Scale was worth $14 billion before the deal. Scale AI intends to keep its business running while its CEO, Alexandr Wang, along with a few employees, move over to Meta. Since its core business is concentrated around a few customers, it could suffer greatly if it loses key customers like Google. In a statement, a Scale AI spokesperson said its business, which spans work with major companies and governments, remains strong, as it is committed to protecting customer data. The company declined to comment on specifics with Google. Scale AI raked in $870 million in revenue in 2024, and Google spent some $150 million on Scale AI's services last year, sources said. Other major tech companies that are customers of Scale's, including Microsoft, are backing away as well. Elon Musk's xAI is also looking to exit, one of the sources said. OpenAI decided to pull back from Scale several months ago, according to sources familiar with the matter, though it spends far less money than Google. OpenAI's CFO said on Friday that the company will continue to work with Scale AI, as one of its many data vendors. Companies that compete with Meta in developing cutting-edge AI models are concerned that doing business with Scale could expose their research priorities and road map to a rival, five sources said. By contracting with Scale AI, customers often share proprietary data as well as prototype products for which Scale's workers are providing data-labeling services. With Meta now taking a 49% stake, AI companies are concerned that one of their chief rivals could gain knowledge about their business strategy and technical blueprints. Google, Microsoft and OpenAI declined to comment. xAI did not respond to a request for comment. Rivals see openings The bulk of Scale AI's revenue comes from charging generative AI model makers for providing access to a network of human trainers with specialized knowledge — from historians to scientists, some with doctorate degrees. The humans annotate complex datasets that are used to "post-train" AI models, and as AI models have become smarter, the demand for the sophisticated human-provided examples has surged, and one annotation could cost as much as $100. Scale also does data-labeling for enterprises like self-driving car companies and the U.S. government, which are likely to stay, according to the sources. But its biggest money-maker is in partnering with generative AI model makers, the sources said. Google had already sought to diversify its data service providers for more than a year, three of the sources said. But Meta's moves this week have led Google to seek to move off Scale AI on all its key contracts, the sources added. Because of the way data-labeling contracts are structured, that process could happen quickly, two sources said. This will provide an opening for Scale AI's rivals to jump in. "The Meta-Scale deal marks a turning point," said Jonathan Siddharth, CEO of Turing, a Scale AI competitor. "Leading AI labs are realizing neutrality is no longer optional, it's essential." Labelbox, another competitor, will "probably generate hundreds of millions of new revenue" by the end of the year from customers fleeing Scale, its CEO, Manu Sharma, told Reuters. Handshake, a competitor focusing on building a network of PhDs and experts, saw a surge of workload from top AI labs that compete with Meta. "Our demand has tripled overnight after the news," said Garrett Lord, CEO at Handshake. Many AI labs now want to hire in-house data-labelers, which allows their data to remain secure, said Brendan Foody, CEO of Mercor, a startup that in addition to competing directly with Scale AI also builds technology around being able to recruit and vet candidates in an automated way, enabling AI labs to scale up their data labeling operations quickly. Founded in 2016, Scale AI provides vast amounts of labeled data or curated training data, which is crucial for developing sophisticated tools such as OpenAI's ChatGPT. The Meta deal will be a boon for Scale AI's investors including Accel and Index Ventures, as well as its current and former employees. As part of the deal, Scale AI's CEO, Wang, will take a top position leading Meta's AI efforts. Meta is fighting the perception that it may have fallen behind in the AI race after its initial set of Llama 4 large language models released in April fell short of performance expectations.
  • Here's how to keep Meta AI from sharing your prompts on Facebook, Instagram Artificial intelligence-generated images of women kissing while mud wrestling and President Donald Trump eating poop are some of the conversations users are unknowingly sharing publicly through Meta's newly launched AI app. The company rolled out the Meta AI app in April, putting it in direct competition with OpenAI's ChatGPT. But the tool has recently garnered some negative publicity and sparked privacy concerns over some of the wacky — and personal — prompts being shared publicly from user accounts. Besides the mud wrestlers and Trump eating poop, some of the examples CNBC found include a user prompting Meta's AI tool to generate photos of the character Hello Kitty "tying a rope in a loop hanging from a barn rafter, standing on a stool." Another user whose prompt was posted publicly asked Meta AI to send what appears to be a veterinarian bill to another person. "Sir, your home address is listed on there," a user commented on the photo of the veterinarian bill. Meta AI chats are private by default and can only be shared publicly through a four-step process that includes a pre-post preview, a company spokesperson said. This includes a feature to hide posts. The spokesperson also said the Discover feed is meant to offer "inspiration and AI hacks" to users. Users can adjust settings on the app to protect their privacy and keep the app from sharing their queries on Meta's other apps. Here's how to do it To start, click on your profile photo on the top right corner of the screen and scroll down to data and privacy. Then head to the "suggesting your prompts on other apps" tab. This should include Facebook and Instagram. Once there, click the toggle feature for the apps that you want to keep your prompts from being shared on. After, go back to the main data and privacy page and click "manage your information." Select "make all your public prompts visible only to you" and click the "apply to all" function. You can also delete your prompt history there. Meta has beefed up its recent bets on AI to improve its offerings to compete against megacap peers and leading AI contenders, such as Google and OpenAI. This week, the company invested $14 billion in startup Scale AI and tapped its CEO Alexandr Wang to help lead the company's AI strategy.
  • Scale AI's Alexandr Wang confirms departure for Meta as part of $14.3 billion deal Scale AI founder Alexandr Wang told employees in a memo on Thursday that he's leaving for Meta, confirming reports from earlier in the week about his departure and a large investment from the social networking company. Meta is pumping $14.3 billion into Scale AI as part of the deal, and will have a 49% stake in the artificial intelligence startup, but will not have any voting power, a Scale AI spokesperson said. "As you've probably gathered from recent news, opportunities of this magnitude often come at a cost," Wang wrote in the memo that he shared on X. "In this instance, that cost is my departure. It has been the absolute greatest pleasure of my life to serve as your CEO." Scale AI is promoting Jason Droege, the chief strategy officer, to the CEO role. Droege was previously a venture partner at Benchmark and an Uber vice president. A small number of Scale AI employees will also join Meta as part of the agreement, Wang wrote. A Meta spokesperson confirmed that the company has finalized its "strategic partnership and investment in Scale AI. "As part of this, we will deepen the work we do together producing data for AI models and Alexandr Wang will join Meta to work on our superintelligence efforts," the spokesperson said. "We will share more about this effort and the great people joining this team in the coming weeks." Meta's big bet on Wang fits into CEO Mark Zuckerberg's plans to bolster his company's AI efforts amid fierce competition from OpenAI and Google-parent Alphabet. Zuckerberg has made AI his company's top priority for 2025, but has grown increasingly frustrated with his team, particularly as Meta's latest version of its flagship Llama AI models received a tepid response from developers, CNBC reported earlier this week. Although Zuckerberg has traditionally placed long-standing employees into high-ranking position, he decided that the outsider Wang would be better suited to oversee AI initiatives deemed crucial for the company. Scale AI counts a number of Meta rivals as customers, including Google, Microsoft and OpenAI. Meta is one of Scale AI's biggest clients. The Scale AI spokesperson said that Meta's investment and hiring of Wang will not impact the startup's customers, and that Meta will not be privy to any of its business information or data.
  • Coinbase beefs up subscription plan by offering it with American Express credit card background of header Coinbase on Thursday introduced its first branded credit card in partnership with American Express. The card will be available exclusively to U.S. members of Coinbase One, the cryptocurrency platform's monthly subscription product that offers zero trading fees, increased staking rewards and other perks. Additionally, Coinbase is also creating a lower-cost "Basic" subscription tier. Cardholders will be able to earn between 2% and 4% back in bitcoin, beginning this fall, and take advantage of experiences, protections and other benefits that are offered alongside the American Express network. Coinbase One costs $29.99 a month while a Basic tier with fewer rewards will cost $4.99 a month or $49.99 a year. "We see real potential in the combination of Coinbase and crypto with the powerful backing of American Express, and what the card offers is an excellent mix of what customers are looking for right now," Will Stredwick of American Express global network services said at the Coinbase State of Crypto Summit in New York City. Coinbase's crypto exchange for retail and institutional investors is its core business, but the company has been building its subscription and services offering, comprised of stablecoins, staking, subscriptions like Coinbase One and custody, which supports the majority of bitcoin and ether ETFs. William Blair analyst Andrew Jeffrey said Wednesday that subscription revenue growth "will be the reason long-term investors own the stock." Trading revenue totaled $1.26 billion in the first quarter, while subscription and services revenue came in at $698.1 million for the quarter. Coinbase One launched in 2023 and has grown to more than one million members since. The company also operates a developer platform called Base and a self-custody wallet. The launch of the Coinbase One card comes as the crypto industry prepares for a boom in product launches and rollouts thanks to the pro-crypto policies of the Trump administration and more clearly defined crypto regulations expected from Congress in coming months. This is the first credit card launch for Coinbase, although it introduced a prepaid debit card in partnership with Visa in 2020. American Express has previously partnered with trading platform Abra on a crypto-back card that was due to hit the market in 2022 but never materialized. Other crypto-back cards have been discontinued or removed crypto as a redemption option. Of the remaining offerings, Gemini, the Winklevoss brothers' 11-year-old crypto trading platform that confidentually filed to go public last week, offers a crypto-back credit card, while PayPal-owned Venmo allows users to "earn" crypto from its credit card through an automated "Cash Back to Crypto" function.
  • Nvidia's first GPU was made in France — Macron wants the country to produce cutting edge chips again French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday made a pitch for his country to manufacture the most advanced chips in the world, in a bid to position itself as a critical tech hub in Europe. The comments come as European tech companies and countries are reassessing their reliance on foreign technology firms for critical technology and infrastructure. Chipmaking in particular arose as a topic after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who was doing a panel talk alongside Macron and Mistral AI CEO Arthur Mensch, said on Wednesday that the company's first graphics processing unit (GPU) was manufactured in France by SGS Thomson Microelectronics, now known as STMicroelectronics. Yet STMicroelectronics is currently not at the leading edge of semiconductor manufacturing. Most of the chips it makes are for industries like the automotive one, which don't required the most cutting-edge semiconductors. Macron nevertheless laid his ambition out for France to be able to manufacture semiconductors in the range of 2 nanometers to 10 nanometers. "If we want to consolidate our industry, we have now to get more and more of the chips at the right scale," Macron said on Wednesday. The smaller the nanometer number, the more transistors that can be fit into a chip, leading to a more powerful semiconductor. Apple's latest iPhone chips, for instance, are based on 3 nanometer technology. Very few companies are able to manufacture chips at this level and on a large scale, with Samsung and Nvidia provider Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) leading the pack. If France wants to produce these cutting-edge chips, it will likely need TSMC or Samsung to build a factory locally — something that has been happening in the U.S. TSMC has now committed billions of dollars to build more factories Stateside. Macron touted a deal between Thales, Radiall and Taiwan's Foxconn, which are exploring setting up a semiconductor assembly and test facility in France. "I want to convince them to make the manufacturing in France," Macron said during VivaTech — one of France's biggest tech events — on the same day Nvidia's Huang announced a slew of deals to build more artificial intelligence infrastructure in Europe. One key partnership announced by Huang is between Nvidia and French AI model firm Mistral to build a so-called "AI cloud." France has looked to build out its AI infrastructure and Macron in February said that the country's AI sector would receive 109 billion euros ($125.6 billion) in private investments in the coming years. Macron touted the Nvidia and Mistral deal as an extension of France's AI buildout. "We are deepening them [investments] and we are accelerating. And what Mistral AI and Nvidia announced this morning is a game-changer as well," Macron told CNBC on Wednesday.
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