Business
Elon Musk Changes Twitter Logo to Shiba Inu Causing Dogecoin to Jump 30 Percent
Dogecoin cryptocurrency increased by over 30% on Monday after Twitter CEO Elon Musk changed the blue bird on his company’s website with a Shiba Inu, the digital coin’s logo.
On Friday, lawyers for Twitter and Musk asked a federal court to dismiss a $258 billion lawsuit from 2022 that accused Musk of manipulating the price of Dogecoin and driving it up by more than 36,000%.
Musk posted a meme about the change to his 133.5 million Twitter followers after changing the Twitter logo to a Shiba Inu image. The dog showed only for some Twitter users, including those on the company’s website. Twitter did not reply to a comment request.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 3, 2023
Musk has been promoting Dogecoin for several years. He regularly tweets about the token, created as a joke in 2013, creating predictable volatility each time. Dogecoin is the eighth-most valued cryptocurrency, with a market cap of more than $13 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.com.
In a court filing Friday, Musk’s lawyers characterized his public statements about the coin as “innocuous and frequently silly tweets.”
However, Musk’s public support for the coin extends beyond social media comments. Tesla and SpaceX are two of Musk’s other businesses.
Two of Musk’s other companies, Tesla and the Boring Company, are named in the lawsuit.
Tesla announced in December 2021 that it would take Dogecoin for some merchandise. Musk stated on Twitter then that Tesla would “see how it goes.”
Following that post, the price of Dogecoin increased by more than 20%. When Musk declared on Twitter in January 2022 that Dogecoin payments were now available, the cryptocurrency rose by up to 15%.
Tesla does have digital assets, including bitcoin, on its books, and it still takes Dogecoin as payment for some merchandise.
“We have not sold any of our Dogecoin,” Elon Musk said last year during an earnings conference. “We have it still.”
Musk has stated that he directly owns Dogecoin.
In a recent tweet, Musk wrote “Dogecoin” in response to a picture of himself next to News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch.
What’s Elon Musk’s name doing in the source code for Twitter’s algorithm?
Meanwhile, Elon Musk describes it as “weird” that his name was discovered in Twitter’s algorithm source code alongside designations such as “Democrat” or “Republican.”
Elon Musk responded to questions about the platform’s source code being released on GitHub on Friday.
During a Twitter Spaces event, two users pointed out that Musk’s name had been coded into Twitter’s recommendation algorithm, which explicitly labeled whether Musk had authored a tweet.
“I think it’s strange,” Musk said. “By the way, this is the first time I’ve heard of it.”
A branch of Twitter’s algorithm revealed that the platform not only recognized whether Musk wrote a tweet but also labeled tweets based on whether the user was a “Democrat,” “Republican,” or “power user.” The code segment has since been removed from GitHub.
“What’s going on, guys?” Musk asked Twitter engineers in the conversation.
During the meeting, Brian Wichers, a senior engineering manager at Twitter, stated that the specific categories were added to the algorithm about ten years ago and are “not overly important in how it’s used throughout the code base.”
Another Twitter engineer on the call clarified that the code is only used for monitoring and to “make sure we don’t bias toward one group versus another,” not for “special treatment.”
Musk stated that the code was an example of something the business should eliminate immediately.
“It definitely shouldn’t be dividing people into Republicans and Democrats. That makes no sense,” Musk said. “That’s why I prefaced this that there will be a ton of stupid, embarrassing things,” he added.
On Friday, Twitter published the code determining which tweets appear in a user’s For You timeline. Musk has been saying for months that he will increase transparency by open-sourcing the code of the social media site. On Twitter on Friday, the billionaire stated that the release reflected “most of the recommendation algorithm” and that the remainder would be released in the future.
Musk has previously criticized Twitter’s code and stated during his Twitter Spaces appearance that the business will change its code based on recommendations from outside engineers on GitHub.
Twitter explained how the algorithm determines which tweets to feature in a blog entry explaining the choice to release the code. According to the company, it has a three-step process that gathers the best tweets from “different recommendation sources,” ranks them using a “machine learning model,” and filters out blocked tweets, inappropriate tweets, or posts the user has already seen.
It’s not the first time that questions have been raised about Musk’s material being promoted on Twitter. Platformer reported in February that the billionaire had fired a Twitter engineer after the employee told him his popularity was dwindling on the site and had assigned engineers to investigate why his tweets were receiving fewer views after his tweet during Super Bowl Sunday received less engagement than President Joe Biden’s. According to the publication, Twitter engineers briefly gave Musk’s tweets an “artificial boost”.
Musk appeared to recognize his increased exposure on the site at the time, posting a meme about his tweets, and later stated that the company would be making additional changes to the algorithm.
Platformer revealed last month that Musk was not the only user benefiting from an artificial boost. According to the publication, Twitter has an internal Twitter list of 35 users established to monitor how algorithm changes affected the site’s most popular users but have since evolved into a list of people who receive preferential treatment on the platform.
With over 133 million followers, Musk is the most followed Twitter user.
Business
Forced Sale Google Chrome Could Fetch $20 Billion
Antitrust officials in the US could force the sale of Google’s Chrome browser for up to $20 billion, demonstrating the tremendous worth of the world’s most popular web browser.
Bloomberg Intelligence attributes Chrome’s projected worth to its more than 3 billion monthly active users. The US Department of Justice is preparing to request a federal judge order the browser’s separation from Google’s parent company, Alphabet.
Chrome’s worth comes from its overwhelming 61% market share and its crucial role in Google’s advertising ecosystem. User data enables businesses to better target adverts, and the browser also acts as an important distribution mechanism for Google’s AI technologies.
Industry analysts think it may be difficult to find a suitable buyer. While tech behemoths like Amazon could finance the purchase, they would likely face regulatory scrutiny.
AI businesses, such as OpenAI, may emerge as more viable contenders. They could potentially leverage Chrome to broaden their reach and develop an advertising business.
“It’s not directly monetizable,” one analyst told Bloomberg. “It functions as a gateway to other things. It’s unclear how you would assess that in terms of pure revenue generation.”
Google opposes prospective sales, claiming that they will hamper innovation. The firm does not break out Chrome’s revenue individually in its financial filings, even though the browser’s user data plays an important part in the company’s principal revenue stream, advertising.
The DOJ’s suggestion follows Judge Amit Mehta’s August decision that Google had illegally monopolized the search industry. The judge will consider the recommended remedies at a two-week hearing in April 2024, with a final judgment due in August 2025.
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Business
Bitcoin Has Set a New Record And Is Approaching $100,000.
(VOR News) – Bitcoin broke beyond the $98,000 mark for the first time on Thursday as investors awaited Donald Trump’s second term as president. All of this happened during the day. As such, cryptocurrency has reached a significant turning point.
According to Coin Metrics, the top cryptocurrency was trading at $97,541.61 during the most recent trading session. Merchants provided this information. This suggests a price gain of more than three percent during the previous trading session.
When the period began, Bitcoin peaked at $98,367.00.
During the premarket trading session, MicroStrategy, a platform that facilitates cryptocurrency foreign exchange trading and serves as a bitcoin proxy, saw a 13% gain. Coinbase, on the other hand, had a 2% rise during that period. Furthermore, all of these increases occurred simultaneously.
The market value of Mara Holdings increased by 9%, which helped raise the valuation of mining companies overall. This was among the factors that led to the total rise.
Because of the widespread belief that President Trump will usher in a new era of prosperity for cryptocurrencies, one marked by more favorable laws and the possible creation of a national strategic bitcoin reserve, the price of Bitcoin has been rising steadily this month.
The most recent change brought about by the increase was the consequence of higher financing rates and more open interest in the futures market during Asian trading hours. The rise was the catalyst for this change. This action was prompted by the ensuing rush.
Throughout its lifespan, this legislation was the catalyst for this change for a variety of reasons. At the same time, spot market premiums decreased, according to CryptoQuant statistics. All of this happened at the same time.
Furthermore, a number of short liquidations have been sparked by the recent spikes in Bitcoin’s price, which has caused the price to rise overnight. As a result, the price has gone up much more. As a result, the total number of short liquidations has increased.
According to CoinGlass, these liquidations have effectively produced more than $88 million in capital during the last 24 hours.
Rob Ginsberg, an analyst at Wolfe Research, noted in a study released on Wednesday that “historically, following previous movements of this magnitude, Bitcoin has either entered a consolidation phase or disregarded the overbought condition as investors accumulate.” This phrase relates to the fact that this particular move has happened before.
Ginsberg stated this in reference to the evolution of Bitcoin over time.
Ginsberg’s answer makes reference to Bitcoin’s propensity to go through a period of consolidation. The comment also made reference to this.
He said, “Considering we are emerging from an extended consolidation phase and the price has reached a new high, it suggests that the pursuit is underway.”
The crucial psychological milestone of $100,000 is expected to be reached in the upcoming weeks, and this breakthrough could happen as early as Thursday. It seems likely that this level will be reached. There is a chance that this new development will take place.
This task will be carried out against the backdrop of this historical era. In addition, if Trump were to win a second term, federal budget deficits would increase, inflation would likely increase, and the dollar’s position in international affairs would change.
The administration that Trump would run during his presidency would be responsible for these consequences. All of these characteristics would positively impact the value of Bitcoin as a currency if they were taken into account in the order that they are presented.
The price of bitcoin had risen by more than 130% by the beginning of 2024.
SOUREC: CNBC
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Business
Target Struggles in the Third Quarter: Offers Tempered Holiday Outlook and Price Cuts
Target’s sales rose modestly during the third quarter; nevertheless, profitability declined due to reduced customer spending attributed to inflation and adverse effects from the ongoing costs associated with the October dockworker strike.
Despite ongoing consumer expenditure in the United States, with more prudence, the Minneapolis retailer did not meet Wall Street’s forecasts for the quarter and similarly disappointed industry analysts with its projections for the year’s final quarter.
Target’s price reductions for Christmas products, including a Thanksgiving promotion that lowered the cost of the holiday feast relative to last year’s total, raise concerns about disappointing quarterly results.
Target’s latest quarter sharply contrasts with competitor Walmart, which reported another quarter of exceptional revenues on Tuesday and provided positive forecasts for the forthcoming holiday season. Amazon disclosed last month that its quarterly profits had risen. Amazon surpassed projections with an 11% rise in quarterly revenue.
Target fell over 21%
Chairman and CEO Brian Cornell stated, “We encountered distinct challenges and financial constraints that impacted our overall performance.”
FactSet reports that Target’s net income for the quarter ended November 2 was $854 million, or $1.85 per share, markedly below the anticipated $2.30 and a decline from $971 million, or $2.10 per share, in the same quarter of the previous year.
Despite an increase in sales to $25.67 billion from $25.4 billion the previous year, they fell short of Wall Street’s projections.
Target announced that for the fiscal fourth quarter, it anticipates earnings per share to fall between $1.85 and $2.45. This amount is below the $2.65 per share forecast by analysts surveyed by FactSet.
The retailer announced that in the third quarter, its comparable sales, derived from stores and digital platforms operational for a minimum of one year, increased by 0.3%.
This is inferior to the second quarter’s 2% growth. Several months of decreases, comprising a 3.7% reduction in the first quarter and a 4.4% reduction in the company’s final quarter of 2023, were counterbalanced by the rise in the April–June period.
Cosmetics sales rose by almost 6%, while food, beverages, and necessities such as shampoo experienced gains in the low single digits relative to the previous year.
The positive attributes were negligible. Target’s quarterly customer traffic rose by 2.4%, which, according to Target officials, represents an increase of 10 million sales transactions compared to the previous year. Digital comparable sales rose by 10.8% due to a 20% enhancement in same-day delivery facilitated by the Target Circle loyalty program and double-digit growth in its drive-up service.
Target challenges.
Target’s food and beverage sales constitute under 25% of overall sales, indicating a greater dependence on luxury items such as apparel and accessories.
Target management acknowledged that, like other retailers, the company had to redirect specific items due to the strike of 45,000 dockworkers, the first occurrence since 1977.
The accumulation of commodities in warehouses escalated operational expenses and diminished corporate earnings.
President-elect Donald Trump’s commitment to imposing elevated import tariffs has resulted in difficulties for Target and other enterprises. Trump advocates a 60% tariff on Chinese imports and a 20% levy on all other products. Despite meticulously monitoring trends, Cornell stated that the corporation has prioritized diversifying its supplier network.
“Currently, there exists considerable uncertainty regarding future developments, and we will exercise our flexibility to adapt as necessary,” he stated on the call.
Buyers remain apprehensive due to ongoing uncertainty, as prices, albeit decreasing, remain elevated compared to a few years prior.
“They are exhibiting significant patience, pursuing promotions and outstanding value on essential pantry items,” Cornell stated during a conference call with reporters. “Over the year, they have consistently focused on discretionary categories and are practicing prudent shopping behaviors.”
Target officials indicated a decline in television purchases, although they expressed interest in incorporating candles, frames, and flowers into their home décor.
Target has been reducing prices to boost sales. Last spring, it reduced costs for numerous essentials, including milk and diapers. Almost fifty percent of the numerous goods offered this Christmas are priced below $20. Target is offering a Thanksgiving dinner bundle for four people at $20, which is $5 less than its 2023 Thanksgiving meal package.
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