PayPal’s entrance into the stablecoin market on Aug. 7, 2023, was welcomed by many in the industry, with Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire stating that competition from PayPal was ‘great to have.’
The news of the launch led to a modest 4% rise in the price of Bitcoin, and within days, exchanges were offering low-fee promotional opportunities for traders willing to utilize PayPal’s PYUSD. Before the end of August, Coinbase, Kraken, and HTX had listed the stablecoin, adding Venmo support just a month later.
Five months after its launch, PYUSD has now claimed the number eight position by market cap in the global stablecoin charts, having captured the $300 million mark around Jan. 22. However, PYUSD drops to eleventh overall when ordered by volume, with just $10 million in 24-hour trade volume. This puts it only slightly ahead of UST Classic, which, with a price 98% off its originally intended $1 peg, traded just $500,000 less over the past day.
Stablecoins by market cap (source: CMC)
Still, PayPal’s PYUSD climb to $300 million in value locked in five months is impressive. In addition to an increase in market cap, the token has seen steady on-chain activity, with a modest 200 – 400 transactions per day.
PYUSD transfers since launch (source: Etherscan)
However, PYUSD has yet to break into the DeFi landscape in any meaningful way, as the below table and diagram highlight. The majority of the PYUSD liquidity sits on centralized exchanges, with Crypto.com being the largest single holder of the token at $113 million, just over one-third of the total market cap.
PYUSD holders (source: Arkham Intelligence)
The visualization below depicts the transactions between major entities exclusively for PYUSD. Entities with more substantial PYUSD holdings are shown larger than those with smaller amounts. The entities with no logos on the far right are unknown wallets holding above $30,000. The logos in the top right depict business entity tokens, likely treasury holdings.
Interestingly, there are several connections between PYUSD issuer Paxos, Uniswap, and Curve. Yet, these entities do not then link into the major exchanges, suggesting the DeFi and CEX ecosystems for PYUSD are wholly separate.
While PayPal was subpoenaed by the SEC when PYUSD had half the current market cap, it was reported to have complied with requests, and little has been heard on the matter since. The announcement of the filing marked the local low for PayPal’s stock price also, with it rallying 24% since November.
Further, PayPal Ventures has recently started using the PYUSD stablecoin as a mechanism for strategic investments, using it for a stake in the institutional crypto platform Mesh. Amman Bhasin, Partner at PayPal Ventures, commented,
“As the world of financial services undergoes rapid transformation, we believe that user ownership and portability of assets will become a critical building block of product innovation, with crypto serving as the first beachhead where this is possible.”
Thus, while PYUSD still has some way to go to catch behemoths such as Circle and Tether, the debutant and web2 disruptor is certainly in the process of cementing its position in the industry.
GRIID begins trading on NASDAQ post-SPAC merger, enhancing market presence.
NASDAQ debut follows a successful merger with Adit EdTech Acquisition Corp.
GRIID’s listing underscores the growing integration of cryptocurrency firms into traditional markets.
GRIID, a US-based Bitcoin mining company, has officially commenced trading on the NASDAQ Global Market, heralding a new chapter in its journey. Known for its vertically integrated mining facilities leveraging sustainable energy, GRIID’s foray into the NASDAQ marks a notable milestone in the cryptocurrency sector’s intersection with traditional financial markets.
The move signifies a pivotal moment for GRIID, emphasizing its strategic expansion and commitment to delivering value to shareholders.
GRIID’s SPAC merger
GRIID’s NASDAQ listing comes on the heels of a successful merger with Adit EdTech Acquisition Corp, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). This strategic move underscores GRIID’s dedication to fortifying its market position and enhancing shareholder value. With the completion of the merger on January 2nd, GRIID swiftly transitioned to public trading, showcasing its agility in capitalizing on market opportunities.
As GRIID joins the ranks of publicly traded Bitcoin miners on NASDAQ, including industry giants like Coinbase Global and Marathon Digital, the cryptocurrency ecosystem continues to integrate into mainstream finance. GRIID’s presence on NASDAQ not only bolsters its visibility and liquidity but also underscores the growing investor interest in cryptocurrency-related ventures.
GRIID’s NASDAQ debut marks a significant milestone for the company and the broader cryptocurrency industry. With its innovative approach to Bitcoin mining and strategic market moves, GRIID is poised to make waves in the financial landscape, further bridging the gap between traditional finance and the burgeoning world of digital assets.
Decentralized social media protocol Friend.Tech captured attention last year but has noticeably faded from the radar recently.
CryptoSlate, using Dune Analytics data compiled by 21.co, discovered a concerning trend – the platform’s failure to attract new users, coupled with indifference from its existing user base. On Jan. 28, the platform garnered a mere 19 new users engaged in at least one transaction, a stark contrast to its peak of over 70,000 users in September.
A separate dashboard by Cryptokoryo sheds light on the extent of the downturn. On the same date, Friend.Tech recorded only 5,544 transactions, signaling a staggering 99% decrease from its peak volume of almost 540,000.
Friend.Tech Transactions (Source: Dune Analytics)
Adding to the downward spiral, DeFillama’s data reveals a consistent negative outflow throughout this month.
Per the data, Friend.Tech experienced positive USD flow only on Jan. 16, with $313,000 entering the platform. However, more than $5 million flowed out on other days, significantly dropping the total value of assets locked on the platform to $30 million.
Friend.Tech USD Flow and TVL (Source: DeFillama)
Moreover, this decline is further reflected in the fees generated by the network, plummeting from a daily average of nearly $1 million to a mere $50,000 in the last two days.
‘Biggest lowlight’
Several reasons could be blamed for Friend.Tech’s falling numbers. However, issues began when multiple users suffered sim-swap attacks due to the platform’s lax security. CryptoSlate reported that at least $20 million in the platform users’ assets were vulnerable to these attacks.
While efforts to address security concerns were made promptly, this incident reflected the platform’s challenges in keeping pace with bug fixes and implementing essential policies for its rapidly expanding user base.
The platform’s viral success also spawned copycats like Stars Arena on other blockchain networks, including Avalanche. DeFillama data shows these protocols are also struggling for adoption and use.
Teng Yan, Head of NFT Research at Delphi Digital, called Friend.Tech’s setback the “biggest lowlight” of the past year. He highlighted the project’s potential to make crypto mainstream but criticized its team’s execution.
“[Friend.tech] could have been a top consumer app bringing crypto mainstream. An on-chain reputation layer built on top of existing social graphs. Great idea but poor execution,” Yan added.
Friend. Tech’s viral growth
Friend.Tech introduced an innovative way for users to monetize their popularity in the crypto space, allowing users to buy and sell “keys.” These keys enabled buyers to send private messages to sellers.
As a result, several high-profile figures, both from the cryptocurrency world and the broader entertainment industry, used Friend.Tech to connect to their community, and the platform was driving transactions on Base, the layer2 network it was built on.
Despite this initial success, the blockchain-based social network faced a rapid decline, losing 95% of its activity within a month of launch. Yet, a revival occurred in September, with daily trading volumes nearing $10 million. At its peak, the protocol boasted a TVL exceeding 30,000 ETH ($50 million), outperforming giants like Uniswap and the Bitcoin network in fees generated.
Victoria, Seychelles, January 29th, 2024, Chainwire
Bitget, the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange and Web3 company, announces the listing of De.Fi (DEFI) in the Innovation Zone and Web3 Zone. Through this strategic listing, Bitget continues its mission to pioneer innovative blockchain and crypto ecosystem developments.
De.Fi (DEFI) is making waves as the Web3 SocialFi & Antivirus platform, revolutionizing accessibility and gamification capabilities while integrating cutting-edge risk mitigation technology. This comprehensive approach aims to unlock opportunities and cater to the ever-expanding investor base. In the spirit of innovation, De.Fi has designed and implemented a series of security solutions over the past four years. Notably, its De.Fi Antivirus Suite, which is officially utilized by Coingecko, zkSync, Fantom, and various others, has successfully prevented over $1.1 billion of users’ funds from being stolen in 2023.
Gracy Chen, Managing Director of Bitget, states: “Bitget seeks a good way to support the development of different blockchains and ecosystems. This project showcases the innovative potential and support for the crypto ecosystem, aligning with our commitment to offering our users access to cutting-edge projects. We aim to create a Spot Market with rich choices and excellent quality projects.”
Bitget has consistently broadened its market presence, excelling in both spot and derivatives trading among centralized exchanges. The platform’s mission centers on fostering opportunities for users to invest in high-value projects.
Notably, in 2023 alone, Bitget added over 350 new listings, marking a steadfast commitment to expanding the variety of digital assets in its spot market. Furthermore, Bitget Wallet supports over 100 mainnets and 250,000+ tokens, offering users substantial options for their investment strategies. Additionally, with its on-chain trading function Bitget Swap, users enjoy seamless cross-chain trading capabilities among nearly 30 mainnets.
About Bitget
Established in 2018, Bitget is the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange and Web3 company. Serving over 20 million users in 100+ countries and regions, the Bitget exchange is committed to helping users trade smarter with its pioneering copy trading feature and other trading solutions. Formerly known as BitKeep, Bitget Wallet is a world-class multi-chain crypto wallet that offers an array of comprehensive Web3 solutions and features including wallet functionality, swap, NFT Marketplace, DApp browser, and more. Bitget inspires individuals to embrace crypto through collaborations with credible partners, including legendary Argentinian footballer Lionel Messi and official eSports events organizer PGL.
Hybrid Cloud Mesh, which is generally available now, is revolutionizing application connectivity across hybrid multicloud environments. Let’s draw a comparison between Hybrid Cloud Mesh and a typical service mesh to better understand the nuances of these essential components in the realm of modern enterprise connectivity. This comparison deserves merit because both the solutions are focused on application-centric connectivity albeit in a different manner.
Before we delve into the comparison, let’s briefly revisit the concept of Hybrid Cloud Mesh and a typical service mesh.
Hybrid Cloud Mesh
Hybrid Cloud Mesh is a modern application-centric connectivity solution that is simple, secure, scalable and seamless. It creates a secure network overlay for applications distributed across cloud, edge and on-prem and holistically tackles the challenges posed by distribution of services across hybrid multicloud.
Service mesh
A service mesh is a configurable infrastructure layer that manages all connectivity requirements between microservices. It manages service-to-service communication, providing essential functionalities such as service discovery, load balancing, encryption and authentication.
Language libraries for connectivity have partial and inconsistent implementation of traffic management features and are difficult to maintain and upgrade. A service mesh eliminates such libraries and allows services to focus on their business logic and communicate with other services without adding any connectivity logic in situ.
Hybrid Cloud Mesh versus service mesh: a comparative analysis
1. Scope of connectivity
Hybrid Cloud Mesh: Goes beyond microservices within a containerized application, extending connectivity to applications regardless whether they’re form-factor deployed across on-premises, public cloud and private cloud infrastructure. Its scope encompasses a broader range of deployment scenarios.
Service mesh: Primarily focuses on managing communication between microservices within a containerized environment. Although many service meshes have started looking outward, enabling multi-cluster any-to-any connectivity.
2. Multicloud connectivity
Hybrid Cloud Mesh: Seamlessly connects applications across hybrid multicloud environments, offering a unified solution for organizations with diverse cloud infrastructures.
Service mesh: Typically designed for applications deployed within a specific cloud or on-premises environment. Many service meshes have expanded scope to multicloud connectivity, but they are not fully optimized for it.
3. Traffic engineering capabilities
Hybrid Cloud Mesh: Utilizes waypoints to support path optimization for cost, latency, bandwidth and others,. enhancing application performance and security.
Service mesh: No traffic engineering capabilities. Primarily focuses on internal traffic management within the microservices architecture.
4. Connectivity intent expression
Hybrid Cloud Mesh: Allows users to express connectivity intent through the UI or CLI, providing an intuitive, user-friendly experience with minimal learning curve.
Service mesh: Requires users to implement complex communication patterns in the sidecar proxy using configuration files. Service mesh operations entail complexity and demand a substantial learning curve. The expert team responsible for managing the service mesh must consistently invest time and effort to effectively utilize and maintain the service mesh. Due to steep learning curve and tooling required (such as integration with CI/CD pipeline or day 0 to day 2 automation), service meshes can be adopted only after customers gain a certain scale to make the investment worthwhile.
5. Management and control plane
Hybrid Cloud Mesh: Employs a centralized SaaS-based management and control plane, enhancing ease of use and providing observability. Users interact with the mesh manager through a user-friendly UI or CLI.
Service mesh: Often utilizes decentralized management, with control planes distributed across the microservices, requiring coordination for effective administration.
6. Integration with gateways
Hybrid Cloud Mesh: Integrates with various gateways, promoting adaptability to diverse use cases and future-ready for upcoming gateway technologies.
Service mesh: Primarily relies on sidecar proxies for communication between microservices within the same cluster. Typically features on the proxy are extended to meet requirements.
7. Application discovery
Hybrid Cloud Mesh: Mesh manager continuously discovers and updates multicloud deployment infrastructure, automating the discovery of deployed applications and services.
Service mesh: Typically relies on service registration and discovery mechanisms within the containerized environment.
8. Dynamic network maintenance
Hybrid Cloud Mesh: Automatically adapts to dynamic changes in workload placement or environment, enabling resilient and reliable connectivity at scale without manual intervention.
Service mesh: Usually, the day 2 burden to manage a service mesh connecting applications across multicloud is huge due to complexity of operations required to manage dynamic infrastructure changes. It requires manual adjustments to accommodate changes in microservices deployed in a multicloud environment. There’s significant effort in keeping it running such as—upgrades, security fixes and others apart from infrastructure changes. This takes away a lot of time and very little time is left for implementing new features.
9. Infrastructure overhead
Hybrid Cloud Mesh: Data plane is composed of a limited number of edge-gateways and waypoints.
Service mesh: Significant overhead due to sidecar proxy architecture which requires 1 sidecar-proxy for every workload.
10. Multitenancy
Hybrid Cloud Mesh: Offers robust multitenancy; moreover, subtenants can be created to maintain separation between different departments or verticals within an organization.
Service mesh: May lack the capability to accommodate multitenancy or a subtenant architecture. Few customers may create a separate service mesh per cluster to keep the tenants separate. Hence, they must deploy and manage their own gateways to connect various service meshes.
Take the next step with Hybrid Cloud Mesh
We are excited to showcase a tech preview of Hybrid Cloud Mesh supporting the use of Red Hat® Service Interconnect gateways simplifying application connectivity and security across platforms, clusters and clouds. Red Hat Service Interconnect, announced 23 May 2023 at Red Hat Summit, creates connections between services, applications and workloads across hybrid necessary environments.
We’re just getting started on our journey building comprehensive hybrid multicloud automation solutions for the enterprise. Hybrid Cloud Mesh is not just a network solution; it’s engineered to be a transformative force that empowers businesses to derive maximum value from modern application architecture, enabling hybrid cloud adoption and revolutionizing how multicloud environments are utilized. We hope you join us on the journey.
Learn more about Hybrid Cloud Mesh
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In the fast-paced world of cryptocurrency, investors are always on the lookout for the next big opportunity. With tokens like Honk, Bitbot, and LCX making waves in the market, the question arises: can Honk outperform its competitors?
Let’s delve into the price predictions and potential of these tokens.
Honk: surging towards to $1
Honk, the first goose-themed coin on the Solana blockchain, has been making headlines with its impressive price movements. Inspired by the audacious goose from the viral game “Untitled Goose Game,” Honk has captured the attention of investors with its unique concept.
In recent days, Honk has seen significant growth, with its price surging by over 755% in the last month to trade at $0.022 at press time. This impressive performance can be attributed to its growing community support and the anticipation of future developments in the project.
Honk price chart
Looking ahead, analysts predict that Honk could reach an average price level of $0.44 by the end of January, with the potential to hit a maximum price of $1 before the end of 2024 if bullish conditions prevail. However, investors should be mindful of potential market fluctuations that could impact Honk’s price trajectory especially as the market continues to react to the just approved spot Bitcoin ETFs.
LCX: a crypto-exchange token making waves
LCX, a Liechtenstein-based centralized crypto exchange, has also been on investors’ radars due to its promising blockchain infrastructure. While LCX experienced significant growth in 2021, it has faced challenges in maintaining momentum in the current market environment.
Despite its recent struggles, LCX remains a promising project with real-world use cases. Over the past month, the LCX token price has surged by an impressive 186%. The current bullish trajectory has recovered almost all of the 2023 drawbacks.
LCX price chart
Analysts project that LCX could see a resurgence in the coming months, with the potential to reach a price level of $0.61 if bullish conditions prevail. Investors should keep a close eye on the LCX exchange’s progress as it navigates the cryptocurrency landscape and seeks to solidify its position in the market.
Bitbot: pioneering automated trading
Bitbot, the world’s first Telegram self-custodial trading bot, has been garnering attention for its innovative approach to automated trading. With institutional-grade tools and a focus on user experience, Bitbot aims to revolutionize the way investors engage with the market.
Currently in its presale stage, Bitbot offers investors the opportunity to buy in before the price increases. With a total supply of 1,000,000,000 tokens and a presale allocation of 300,000,000 tokens, Bitbot’s presale stages offer investors a chance to participate in its growth.
The presale is in its second stage and has raised over $342K in a slightly over week since the presale launched. A single BITBOT token is going $0.0105 in the current stage and is expected to rise to $0.011 in the next stage. If interested, visit the Bitbot presale website and purchase your BITBOT tokens.
Conclusion
While Honk shows promise with its impressive price movements and potential for future growth, investors should not overlook alternative investment opportunities presented by tokens like LCX and Bitbot. Each project offers unique features and potential for returns, making them worth considering in a diversified investment portfolio.
As the cryptocurrency market continues to evolve, savvy investors will keep a close watch on these tokens and others like them, seeking out opportunities for growth and diversification in a rapidly changing landscape.
The cryptocurrency has dipped following the most bullish recent event in crypto history, the launch of spot bitcoin ETFs, apparently causing a crisis in faith.
Market drawdowns are part and parcel of the bull market, and investors want to use these opportunities to spot frontrunners. Demand is waiting for dips if markets are dumping and tokens are performing well. These become the fastest movers in bullish conditions.
Bidding strong altcoins today unlocks better gains tomorrow. Then what crypto can you buy today? Realistically, investors are spoilt for choice with dozens of solid altcoins, but Chainlink (LINK) and Galaxy Fox ($GFOX) are especially notable. LINK pumps as market dumps, and the GFOX presale smashes the $3 million mark.
Chainlink (LINK) pumping as market dumps
Chainlink is a blockchain abstraction layer that powers nearly all of DeFi with its Oracle services. This network feeds external data into smart contracts, and LINK is the top crypto to buy for investors interested in pick-and-shovel plays. While the market dumps, Chainlink has been pumping, and investors want exposure to the interoperability middleware layer.
Fink is on CNBC every other day talking about asset tokenization. Chainlink’s Cross Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) creates a network of smart contracts that allow digital assets to move unobstructed between chains. CCIP will unlock the ability to move between permissioned (bank blockchains) and public blockchains.
Acting as the bridge between DeFi and TradFi is a great value proposition, and $LINK’s performance in the current conditions indicates a massive run loading later this year.
Galaxy Fox (GFOX) shoots past $3 million
Galaxy Fox has not received the memo of the market dump, and this presale continues to shatter milestones. Most recently, crossing $3 million raised, this ICO shows no sign of slowing, and its current trajectory signals a massive price discovery phase at launch later this year.
Introducing a new hybrid model to the space Galaxy Fox blends the best of two genres. Its tokenomics and branding are straight from the meme coin genre with a token burn and taxation system. The burn permanently removes tokens from circulation, making GFOX deflationary, and taxation funds several mechanics, including ecosystem growth via the Treasury and staking payouts.
Deflationary assets are forecast to perform excellently in 2024 as rising demand meets falling supply, and this characteristic makes $GFOX a perfect answer to what crypto to buy today. Passive income plays a big part in this galactic ecosystem, with all GFOX holders able to earn staking rewards. The unique taxation system has created a superb asset: holders earn a yield on an asset with a declining supply.
Galaxy Fox’s Web3 runner game leverages the classic P2E mechanic, adding a dash of entertainment and another earning avenue for holders. Presales have historically performed excellently in bull markets, and GFOX is easily counted among the top cryptos to buy right now.
Closing thoughts
Markets get overheated and overextended, then need to cool off. Tokens that continue moving are the pockets of opportunity, and this is where investors should focus their attention. What crypto to buy today? Anything outperforming relative to the market.
Galaxy Fox’s stellar performance makes it an obvious buy now. GFOX still has a tiny market cap, and its location in the memecoin and GameFi narratives gives this hybrid easy 100X potential. Multi-billion dollar valuations were common for P2E projects in the last cycle. Add in GFOX’s deflationary nature, and participating in the Galaxy Fox presale today is a no-brainer.
IBM® recently announced that it has worked with its business partner, Beijing Shuto Technology Co., Ltd. (hereafter as Shuto Technology) to help a joint venture Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) in China to obtain information in an accurate and cost-effective way for on-site technicians. This makes the client’s equipment repair work more efficient and improves the reliability of its equipment.
Founded in 2006, Shuto Technology is a leading asset management solution provider in China that focuses on helping industry-leading enterprises build asset operation and management platforms, and empower their core competitiveness through digitalization. With the professional ability and rich accumulation in the field of asset management, Shuto provides full-stack services of asset management (EAM) for hundreds of industry leading enterprises. Shuto also combines IBM Maximo® best practices and international standards (e.g. ISO55000), various business, process and data standards, management strategies and KPI systems that cover the asset lifecycle to form the best practices of asset management (EAM) in various industries.
In today’s automotive industry—with its rapid growth and increased market competition—improving equipment stability, reducing maintenance costs and improving production quality have become top priorities. However, for large automotive enterprises, the traditional equipment management and maintenance methods are faced with many challenges:
Technical difficulties in maintenance: With the continuous transformation of automotive technology and process, maintenance technology is also constantly upgrading. Maintenance workers need to consume a lot of energy to check up the equipment data to understand and learn new skills, resulting in not only low maintenance efficiency, but also leading to a decline in employee satisfaction and loyalty.
High cost of equipment maintenance: Due to the many auto parts, maintenance personnel need to master a more comprehensive failure analysis and diagnosis capabilities, resulting in a lot of investment in manpower, material and financial resources. This will make it harder to transfer existing skillsets in talents enablement.
Unstable maintenance quality: The traditional maintenance approach relies on personal experience and the capabilities of maintenance workers. It is difficult to investigate the root cause due to the lack of professional technical guidance and unstable quality of maintenance that leads to frequent failures. The stability and lifecycle of the equipment is also decreasing, which is prone to production quality problems such as low yield rate.
To cope with these challenges, a major joint-venture automotive enterprise in China needs a holistic approach to achieve rapid access to equipment knowledge, intelligent diagnosis of faults, and expert online guidance, to make the maintenance process standardized, intelligent and transparent. Likewise, the venture looks to reduce costs and increase efficiency while enhancing user satisfaction and improving the comprehensive benefits of enterprise asset management.
Based on the AI-powered capabilities of IBM Maximo Application Suite (MAS), Shuto Technology joins hands with IBM Client Success Team and IBM China Development Lab to provide intelligent knowledge mapping, AI intelligent maintenance diagnosis, and AR remote maintenance assistance for the maintenance work of this automobile enterprise, making it an AI-powered EAM assistant.
The introduction of these features empowers maintenance personnel with all-around support and guidance, enabling them to quickly and accurately locate problems and provide solutions, as well as realize instant assistance from remote experts through AR-augmented reality technology, which improves maintenance personnel’s digital one-man capabilities, shortens mean time to repair (MTTR) by an average of 25% and improves maintenance efficiency while dramatically reducing the cost of enterprise equipment operation and maintenance.
Specifically, IBM Maximo Application Suite’s Intelligent Maintenance Assistant (Maximo Assist) can provide enterprises with the following capabilities:
Intelligent Maintenance Knowledge Graphs: Intelligent Maintenance Knowledge Graph function utilizes AI technology through the import of equipment documentation, and uses knowledge extraction capabilities to establish a full-text search knowledge graph, provide a fast and accurate knowledge base, help on-site personnel give independent solution to technical problems, and provide rapid access to equipment and maintenance information.
AI intelligent maintenance diagnosis: AI intelligent maintenance and diagnosis uses AI technology and intelligent diagnostic models to guide technicians in diagnosing faults in the form of questions and answers. Likewise, it provides the percentage of fault possibility through AI diagnostic model analysis and formulates a fast and accurate maintenance plan. At the same time, the diagnostic process bolsters the accuracy of model analysis with the help of the powerful self-learning ability of AI, to continually improve through the use and feedback.
AR remote maintenance assistance: AR remote maintenance assistance uses AR augmented reality technology to realize real-time visual sharing and interaction between remote equipment experts and field personnel, providing visual maintenance guidance and technical support, and at the same time builds a platform for enterprise knowledge inheritance through the expert database and passes through the “last mile” of experts to the production site.
Break through the bottleneck of maintenance efficiency and empower the existing knowledge system
Through the deployment of IBM Maximo Application Suite Intelligent Maintenance Assistant (Maximo Assist), the automobile enterprise has gained the following benefits:
Improve the efficiency of information acquisition: Through the implementation of the IBM Maximo Application Suite, the maintenance management level of this large automobile enterprise has been successfully optimized. This has changed the traditional on-site maintenance approach where personnel used to run to the data room to flip through the information; adopting the intelligent positioning of maintenance data through on-site scope helps promote transparency, standardize the maintenance management, and automate the maintenance method. Thistop-down approach to maintenance data and document standardization provides valuable intangible assets that lay solid foundation to corporate knowledge and learning and development (L&D)
Shorten repair time: Through the construction of fault diagnosis model, IBM Maximo Application Suite platform can accurately track down the problems, find out the root cause and provide solutions in a problem response mode called PDCA. In addition, Maximo Assist can accurately jump to the function of the document corresponding to the fault and the repair solution, and allows users to provide feedback and ratings on the repair solution. Likewise, it can provide best practice repair methods based on historical data and sort the matching degree. In addition to improving maintenance efficiency and reducing the mean time to repair (MTTR), it also provides maintenance personnel with more convenient and accurate solutions for difficult troubleshooting.
Enhance and empower existing IT systems: IBM Maximo Application Suite can be seamlessly integrated with the client’s existing work order system, asset management system and human resource management (expert database) and other systems to automatically generate maintenance knowledge graphs. At the same time, through instant training of AI models, maintenance knowledge is combined with work order and asset business to ensure that equipment maintenance information can be accurately, timely and completely reflected in the standard work of the enterprise’s own asset management platform, thus building a comprehensive maintenance knowledge base. This integrated solution ensures the data integration and information sharing within the company, enhancing inter-system data connectivity to improve the efficiency and quality of maintenance work.
Establish a “Four-Pool” knowledge system: Given the inefficient retention of skills and experience, the client and Shuto Technology created an enablement system to support maintenance skills enhancement and personnel training, also known as the “4 knowledge pools:”
An equipment knowledge pool for knowledge accumulation and query;
An equipment course pool of learning resources for eliminating weak points in skills;
A talent pool able to quantitatively evaluate the knowledge and skill mastery of personnel with gamification features;
An expert pool incorporating experts in all relevant areas to support the maintenance guidance of field operators.
Through the creation of the “four pools,” around the “knowledge accumulation–knowledge sharing–skills evaluation–skills inheritance” training model, the client manages to improve equipment management and employee competence, providing a merit-based motivation mechanism of performance bonuses, promotion and recognition, with the “four pools” at the core.
IBM works with business partner to build an ecosystem of intelligent and efficient equipment management
After adopting IBM Maximo Assist, the client’s equipment maintenance efficiency improvement has begun to bear fruit, shortening average repair time from 13 minutes to 9 minutes. For next steps, Shuto Technology and IBM will continuously deepen and expand the application of the intelligent maintenance assistant, integrate with more information systems (e.g. production systems, IoT platforms etc.) of the client to optimize data sharing and business synergy.
At the same time, the two companies will help the client expand its use of Maximo Assist, build a unified equipment knowledge sharing and management platform, create an expert pool at the group level, and build a cross-region and cross-factory remote maintenance guidance and service center.
As Zhu Shufeng, General Manager of Shuto Technology said, “Intelligent digital transformation is the future of enterprises, and IBM Maximo is an ideal solution for achieving that goal. The successful implementation of this project not only reflects the leading position of Shuto Technology in the field of enterprise asset management, but also highlights our deep understanding and practice of combining innovation with equipment maintenance. Shuto Technology will maintain a close partnership with IBM, accelerate our R&D efforts and deployment, and continuously innovate to build a more intelligent and efficient equipment management ecosystem that provides our clients with sustainable growth and value add.”
Learn more about the IBM Maximo Application Suite
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Avalanche has spiked double-digits amid new momentum forecast for rally to $100.
BITBOT could be the pick of presale tokens with its investment potential buoyed by its likely dominance of Telegram crypto trading landscape.
Bitbot (BITBOT) token is creating a huge wave of interest from traders as the market bounces following Bitcoin’s upside this weekend. Meanwhile, one of the top altcoins currently signaling potential momentum is Avalanche (AVAX).
AVAX has seen double-digit gains as analysts point to its future potential. The opportunity available with BITBOT’s presale is however attracting huge attention.
Avalanche (AVAX): A potential rally to $100?
Avalanche (AVAX) stands out as one of the top performing altcoins in the past 24 hours. The token’s price was trading at $35, up 12% as bulls pushed higher following the recovery from lows of $32.
With prices up 8% in the past week, it looks like Avalanche is building fresh momentum.
Crypto analysts are bullish on AVAX long term. Amid other factors, Avalanche’s growing traction as a smart-contracts Layer 1 blockchain and expectation ahead of Bitcoin’s halving could prove key tailwinds for AVAX price.
A rally similar to the breakout recorded when prices rose from lows of $9 in 2023 could put AVAX on the track to December highs of $50. Amid a bullish outlook for the Avalanche network and the broader market, it is possible AVAX is one of the top altcoins currently trading below $100.
But while this token may present a good investment opportunity, investors eyeing near-term gains are also aware of what’s possible in the presale market.
Bitbot (BITBOT): Redefining Telegram based crypto trading
Bitbot’s upcoming launch of a new Telegram trading bot has the entire space excited. As the crypto presale landscape becomes one of the best markets for unearthing gems, traders keen on what’s trending have flocked to Bitbot.
The Telegram trading bot looks to stand out from the rest by focusing on the security of its users’ assets. Its non-custodial trading solution is the first in the world for Telegram trading apps. With it, users can trade directly from their app’s interface.
Wondering what this means? Simply, this is the feature that puts into practice the fact that if its “not your keys, [its] not your crypto.”
Also key are the anti-MEV and anti-rug features that add another security layer, with users protected against MEV bots and potential scams.
Also distinguishing Bitbot is that its trading solution delivers institutional-grade tools to retails traders. Anyone can leverage the same tools institutional investors tap into to trade different cryptocurrencies and products, regardless of a trader’s skill level or experience.
BITBOT presale attracts traders
Bitbot’s advanced trading capabilities and security, market experts say it could dominate the Telegram trading space. That has seen a remarkable surge in interest for BITBOT, the ERC-20 token of Bitbot.
The token will offer holders governance rights in the Bitbot ecosystem. It will also provide access to key network features, including revenue share, trading discounts and access to best presale gems in the market.
BITBOT’s presale launched last week, hitting stage 1 milestone within 72 hours as traders allocated $200k to their positions. The project continues to see this pace, with over $346k raised so far as stage 2 draws to a close.
According to the Bitbot whitepaper, a total of 300 million BITBOT are available in the presale phase. This accounts for 30% of the total supply of 1 billion BITBOT.
A total of 20 million tokens will be available at each of the 15 presale stages as the project targets to raise $4.32 million.
For more information on Bitbot, visit their website.
Arthur Hayes, the former CEO and co-founder of crypto exchange BitMEX, has predicted how low Bitcoin could drop following its recent decline. Hayes also revealed two altcoins he will be investing in once the current Bitcoin bottom is in.
Bitcoin Still Going To Drop To As Low As $33,600
In his most recent blog post, Hayes hinted that Bitcoin was going to experience a 30% correction from the Spot Bitcoin ETF approval high of $48,000. If so, the flagship crypto token is expected to drop to $33,600. In line with this, Hayes believes that BTC will thereafter form support between $30,000 and $35,000.
The BitMEX co-founder was getting ready for when that happens, revealing that he had purchased strike puts for Bitcoin at $35,000. Hayes further elaborated on a scenario that will see him double down on his crypto investments.
He believes that the Bank Term Funding Program (BTFP) will not be renewed because neither Janet Yellen nor Jerome Powell has mentioned anything about it. However, if they do extend the BTFP, Hayes stated that he will close all his put options and “go to maximum levels of crypto risk by continuing to sell treasury bill and purchasing crypto.”
Meanwhile, Hayes plans to start “bottom fishing” if Bitcoin drops below $35,000 as predicted. He revealed that he will “load up on Solana and WIF” if that happens. Interestingly, Hayes mentioned that BONK is the “last cycle’s doggy money,” which could explain why he is choosing Solana’s second-largest meme coin over the foremost one, BONK. According to him, “If it ain’t Wif Hat, it ain’t shit.”
Arthur Hayes’s position is that the BTFP is likely responsible for Bitcoin’s recent dump. He stated that Bitcoin is already anticipating that the BTFP will not be renewed, something which could end up being a catastrophic event. Hayes explained that this funding was important for banks as they could not survive without the government’s support.
He predicts that the cessation of the BTFP would cause a mini-financial crisis and force the Federal Reserve to take action with a rate cut, tapering of Quantitative tightening, and a resumption of money printing via quantitative easing (QE). Hayes suggested that such a move could be bad as he claims that BTC’s price action proves him right.
Hayes also highlighted the argument that Grayscale’s GBTC outflows were responsible for Bitcoin’s recent decline. However, he quickly dismissed it as he noted that the argument was “bogus,” considering that inflows into the newly listed Spot Bitcoin ETFs supersede what has gone out of GBTC.
Featured image from CNBC, chart from Tradingview.com
SDF officials “decided that the bug posed little risk given the phased rollout plan,” but after “robust feedback” from the developer community, the foundation is now planning to “disarm” its own validators to prevent them from voting to upgrade the network on Jan. 30, according to the post.
OKX Exchange discontinues Mining Pool services, citing business adjustments.
New-user registrations are halted immediately; existing users are allowed until Feb 25.
Complete cessation of mining pool-related services scheduled for Feb 26.
In a recent announcement, OKX, a major cryptocurrency exchange, has disclosed plans to cease its Mining Pool and related services. This decision, attributed to business adjustments, is set to impact users starting January 26, 2024.
The discontinuation schedule, outlined by OKX, indicates a phased approach with new-user registrations ceasing immediately and existing users having until February 25, 2024, to utilize the service before a complete halt on February 26, 2024.
OKX business adjustments
While revealing its intention to discontinue the mining pool services, OKX cited business adjustments as the driving force behind the decision.
Effective immediately, new-user registrations for mining services are no longer being accepted. Existing users, however, have been granted a brief window until February 25, 2024, to continue utilizing these services. Come February 26, 2024, all mining pool-related services provided by OKX will be discontinued, marking the end of an era for its mining operations.
Mining pools play a pivotal role in the cryptocurrency ecosystem by allowing miners to combine their computational power to solve blocks more efficiently. These pools enable individual miners to collaborate, thereby increasing the chances of successfully mining a block and receiving rewards. By pooling resources, miners can achieve more consistent and stable mining income compared to solo mining. Additionally, mining pools contribute to the overall security and decentralization of blockchain networks by distributing computational power across multiple participants.
While OKX’s decision to discontinue its mining pool services may disrupt the operations of some users, it underscores the importance of adaptability and strategic adjustments in the dynamic world of digital assets.
Renewable energy, also known as clean energy, is produced from natural resources that are generated and replenished faster than they are consumed—such as the sun, water and wind. Most renewable energy sources produce zero carbon emissions and minimal air pollutants. Fossil fuels (oil, coal and natural gas) on the other hand, are finite resources and release harmful greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs), including carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane, when burned. They are widely considered to be the main causes of climate change and specifically, global warming.
Understanding the types of renewable energy sources available can be a key step towards reducing your carbon footprint and for organizations, reducing the environmental impacts of your operations and supply chain.
Solar power
Solar energy has evolved to be efficient, versatile and resilient. Currently, there are two main ways to generate solar power: photovoltaics (PV), which is used for smaller scale applications, and concentrating solar-thermal power (CSP), which is used mainly for utility and industry-scale applications.
Solar PV installations, which include solar panels, have a unique set of challenges including cloud movement, weather, tree location and more. To help overcome these challenges, technological advances are making solar cells more flexible, lighter, easier to install, less expensive to produce and more powerful by requiring less space to collect the same amount (or more) of light.
Today, solar power is used across industries for a variety of applications. Individual homes and businesses might install rooftop solar panels to generate on-site electricity. On a larger scale, solar farms can be installed on vacant land for industrial applications, helping to reduce energy spending. Data centers, hospitals, government facilities and more use solar power to supplement energy needs.
Wind power
The modern wind turbine was built in 1940 and the technology has evolved steadily and significantly since. Today’s wind turbines vary from small (single home or business) to utility-scale (offshore wind farms). Wind energy is a cost-effective way to incorporate clean, sustainable energy into the power supply. And when it comes to wildlife impacts, wind power projects rank lower than any other energy source.
Although used for general electricity generation, localized wind power is still also used to mill grain and pump water. Wind power can also provide energy for electric vehicle charging stations.
In September 2022, the White House announced an initiative to expand U.S. offshore wind energy production by 2035 using large-scale floating turbines that can be placed in deeper water. This has the potential to more than double production capacity.
Hydropower
Water is the largest source of renewable energy. Hydroelectric power relies on the movement of water and is the greatest contributor of renewable electricity across the globe. It uses marine and tidal energy, the flow of rivers and streams, reservoirs and dams to move turbines that generate electricity.
Beyond electricity generation, many industries leverage hydropower for operations. For example, mining uses water in remote locations to aid in extractions and textile and chemical manufacturers may use on-site hydropower systems to power processes such as washing, fabrication, sanitation and more.
Tidal power in particular has yet untapped potential. Several tidal power technologies are currently being researched and developed including:
Tidal barrage: Dams with turbines are placed at the entrance to bays or estuaries so that when water is released through it generates power.
Tidal current: Turbines anchored to buoys or the ocean floor take advantage of ocean current movement.
Wave energy: Wave movement and pressure are used to generate power—ocean areas with strong wind currents work best.
While water is an abundant natural resource, it can be sensitive to environmental changes. For example, diminishing winds can affect the number and power of waves and drought conditions can reduce the amount of water in reservoirs, streams and rivers.
Geothermal
Geothermal energy systems convert heat from within the Earth (in the form of hot steam and hydrocarbon vapor) into electricity. The electricity generated from geothermal energy is used across industries. For example, it provides heat for agricultural greenhouses as well as heating and cooling for manufacturing and food processing. Geothermal energy is also used to heat and cool commercial buildings including hospitals, schools and more. Geothermal heat pumps (GHPs) are used for smaller scale applications, such as powering homes.
Both large geothermal power plants and smaller-scale GHPs require a relatively small footprint compared to other renewable energy sources. Additionally, the inexhaustible heat flow of the Earth’s interior provides a continuously replenishable source of fuel.
Biomass energy
Biomass uses organic materials and byproducts to provide direct heat, generate electric power and create biofuels including biodiesel and ethanol. Biofuels can be used in industrial boilers to generate steam that powers processes. They also have the potential to replace fossil fuels in the transportation sector.
Bioenergy offers more consistent total energy generation than solar and wind energy, but it does cause low-level greenhouse gases. These gases combined with additional environmental effects including landfill-use effects, cast doubt on how sustainable biomass energy really is.
What about nuclear power?
Nuclear power requires the rare and non-renewable mineral uranium but is still considered a low carbon emission source of energy. The next generation of nuclear power plants and generators are smaller, more versatile and energy efficient. Advanced small modular reactors (SMRs) can vary in size based on need and have a variety of applications including power generation, desalination, heating and more.
Together, nuclear power and hydropower provide three quarters of the world’s low-carbon energy, but due to safety concerns and operating costs, nuclear power generation is being reduced in advanced economies. With minimal new investment being made, nuclear power generation may be reduced by two-thirds by the year 2040.
Understanding the power grid
Understanding where and how power is generated can help you determine the most effective renewable energy strategy. Many power grids use a combination of renewable power and fossil fuels to provide a stable electric supply. Microgrids—small, independent networks—connect into the main grid and use renewable power and alternative energy sources to balance load requirements. Since microgrids offer local supply with greater grid stability and resiliency, they help reduce the likelihood of energy supply disruptions.
There are many renewable energy source options available, so people and organizations can choose the best option to meet their sustainability goals. Whether with a dedicated, on-site renewable energy system, a grid that utilizes a mix of energy sources or a hybrid approach that uses a combination of both, the choice can be based on convenience, cost-effectiveness or other factors.
At IBM, 64% of the company’s energy consumption across global operations comes from renewable sources. Of that, 49% is sourced directly from renewable power suppliers and 15% directly from the grid. You can read more about IBM’s impact here.
Renewable energy meets emerging technology
Technologies including artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics are key to enhancing the benefits of renewable energy. They can help streamline and automate energy technologies, like creating create customized models to promote energy supply optimization.
For example, data provides immense value to energy and utility companies. Insights regarding the performance and health of operational assets, including digital ones, along with maintenance, repair and replacement schedules is crucial to keeping the power on. Integrating AI can further optimize energy and utilities operations with new insights that delve into the root causes of problems as well as building a predictive maintenance framework. Read how Bruce Power is managing their future now with a dynamic enterprise asset management (EAM) platform built using the IBM® Maximo® Application Suite.
Join forces with like-minded peers to help accelerate your own renewable energy and environmental goals.
