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Sentiment is running high but I doubt we are out of the woods. The S&P500 has continued its upward trajectory, by 3.11% in July, while the cumulative gains over the past 3 months stand at 10.06%. surging Obviously, the Fed’s indication that it might pivot has contributed to the positive sentiment among investors. However, it's also worth noting the resilience of the US economy, which has played a significant role in this outlook. The unemployment rate currently hovers between 3.5% and 3.6%, near 50-year lows. Remarkable. To top it up, the latest for Q2 2023 came in slightly higher than expected for most companies, further improving the market’s confidence. earning reports But despite this renewed optimism, the market remains dire and the higher sentiment should be a cause for concern for any investor. BTC Maintains Resilience Despite Falling Volumes Bitcoin's price remained relatively stable in Q2, even as altcoins like BNB experienced double-digit drawdowns. The latest by Coingecko reveals that BTC outperformed the overall crypto market cap by 6.9%, though it lagged behind the Nasdaq and S&P 500, which gained 14% and 8% respectively. This is interesting as BTC usually behaves like a risk asset and typically outperforms the Nasdaq both to the upside and downside. report Will BTC hold up if the equities market tumbles? Time will tell. However, in spite of BTC's resilience, the declining volumes and activity in the crypto space are evident. Monthly volumes are the lowest they've been since November 2020. Industry Shakers PayPal launches dollar-backed stablecoin On Monday, PayPal unveiled a stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar, aiming to enhance its array of cryptocurrency offerings. This marks an unprecedented step by a prominent U.S. financial entity. The newly introduced asset, named PayPal USD (PYUSD), targets the budding possibilities of revolutionizing transactions in Web3 and other digital-first landscapes. US Court Dismisses Class Action Against Tether & Bitfinex Last week, Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain of the Southern District of New York delivered a concise 6-page verdict, dismissing the class action by Matthew Anderson and Shawn Dolifka against Tether and Bitfinex. The Court determined that the plaintiffs' claim did not present any “plausible allegations of injury”, noting the absence of evidence indicating any actual depreciation in the value of "USDT. Hong Kong debuts retail crypto trading with HashKey and OSL Cryptocurrency trading is finally expanding to individual investors in Hong Kong as regulatory approvals are being granted to local exchanges. HashKey, a digital asset firm, has secured all required licensing to transition from professional to retail users, a move announced on August 3. Along with HashKey, another Hong Kong-based crypto firm, OSL, has also upgraded its existing license from the SFC, allowing the exchange to legally offer Bitcoin and Ether trading to retail investors. Revolut enables crypto withdrawals to external wallets Revolut sent out an email to its European retail users yesterday with the intention to finally abolish its walled garden and allow for deposits and withdrawals of BTC and a number of other crypto assets. This is a long-awaited feature for many of Revoluts users and is something the company has been delaying again and again. The news comes out at the same Revolut is announcing its in the US. Interesting development. discontinuance of crypto services Also published . here

Bulls in Charge While Uncertainty Persists

Bertrade de Montfort had been posted off to France in charge of her mother

By Nenad Zaric, Co-founder and CEO at Trickest Every industry generates massive amounts of data, which is now being used for better decision-making — tech giants understand this. For example, streaming powerhouse Netflix implements data analytics to study viewers’ visual preferences and adjusts content thumbnails to similar content its users have liked to increase viewership. The rise of AI is further influencing this trend, helping companies make sense of their datasets to uncover weaknesses and predict outcomes. However, these advancements are no longer exclusive to engineers, managers, and IT teams who grapple with data daily. This information is increasingly climbing the ladder and knocking on executive’s doors. In fact, one of today’s most pressing challenges for executives is data privacy concerns and cybersecurity. It has never been more important to make key decisions toward better data governance, and data skills are necessary to understand the specific risks and demands a company faces. So, reading reports an engineer crafted with dedicated software programs is no longer enough. A concerning report revealed that only half of C-suite executives were confident in their data literacy, and 45% made decisions based on their gut feeling instead of data-backed facts. Modern executives must have data skills to understand the flow of valuable data in their company and know how to make it work for them, not the other way around. From crucial decision-making to infusing data culture and enabling democratization, positive company changes stemming from data analysis must start at the top. Spot pain points in minutes, not days When a company decides to change directions, these choices begin at the executive level and trickle down to managers and workers — nothing new there. But, while an exceptional leader has always been crucial in driving change, it’s how they do it that is shifting. C-suite directors are in charge of crafting better strategy, financial performance, risk management, and corporate governance, and data is becoming increasingly connected to all of these activities. Imagine you’re meeting with the Head of Sales to discuss the sudden performance drop of a fan-favorite item in your online store. You can’t seem to connect the dots from the sales report you’ve received, and it becomes a hurdle to decode the issue. One skill that can help executives and department heads easily uncover patterns for weak performance is data visualization. Tableau, Microsoft Power BI, and Looker Studio are some of the most prominent data visualization tools. They are easily accessible from popular corporate programs (Salesforce, Office 365, and Google Studio) and help analyze massive amounts of data in visually appealing ways. While you don’t need to be a data scientist to use them, setting up and building charts requires certain data skills and tech acumen, or at least prior training. Whether from a data science and visualization course at Harvard, or self-taught online classes, a few hours and hands-on practice will be time well spent to hone your data visualization skills. With this newfound talent, you can aid and guide department leaders to the answers to their performance questions. In this case, you would pivot to the online sales data in the company database using visualization to track downtime and realize the fan-favorite item’s link has been down, leading to that drop in sales. Expertise in data visualization tools allows executives to stay ahead of the curve in every business vertical by quickly analyzing pain points and understanding what their verticals need. This leads to improved strategies and more accurate decision-making at a fraction of the time it takes to crunch vital datasets. KYC: Know Your Cybersecurity While data management isn’t an executive’s role in itself, knowing its ins and outs allows them to understand the company's successes and areas for improvement. When data increasingly plays a vital role in a business, ensuring that it is being properly managed and secured can save leaders major headaches in the future. Does your company practice master data management? Does it have an outdated data lake that’s slowing down processes? How is sensitive data access managed? These are governance questions investors, stakeholders, and partners might ask, and you must be ready to understand and navigate these concepts. Moreover, adopting good cybersecurity practices starts at the top — especially when 63% of security professionals say users with access to critical business data are their biggest data risk. Knowing the basics of cybersecurity and current trends not only allows top-level roles to mitigate risks from their end but also helps them foresee their IT teams’ needs, like allocating a budget for better endpoint security and enforcing staff training. Beyond courses and academic work, data governance and cybersecurity at a C-suite level are more easily learned through conversations with experts. You can resort to networking and approaching other industry leaders and even your own staff to gauge these concepts and what they mean for your company. As a result, instead of wrestling to understand the demands of security professionals, data-savvy executives will know when needs are pressing or if they can wait, making wiser and more objective business choices alongside their team leaders. Make data work for you — not the other way around There was a time when data was only one of many business assets, something you generate but store for audits or other compliance purposes. Those days are gone, especially as we move toward data-driven solutions that thrive primarily on how a company can implement data for other use cases. Data is no longer a stagnant asset — it can make you money if you derive the right value from it. Knowing the value of your data is only possible if you’re well-informed about it and know its potential. Executives with data skills will be able to take the lead and inject their data into better risk management strategies, extract customer data to improve marketing, and further implement it into AI tools to speed up business processes. Grasping these concepts also impacts the way you communicate with stakeholders. Expressing the importance of data security, governance, and even democratization for your company must come across as more than numbers and graphs — they wish to know the real value of these practices. By clearly explaining the importance of safeguarding data and placing it front and center of your operations, stakeholders will be on the same page about business decisions. Simply put, skipping the data-related courses will do nothing for future executives. In fact, nowadays, being able to run a successful company is directly linked to your data knowledge. So, prioritize these skills if you don’t have them, and make sure to pitch them as a worthwhile talent when climbing the ladder; they will be key to your success. By Nenad Zaric , Co-founder and CEO at Trickest Nenad Zaric Nenad Zaric Trickest Trickest Every industry generates massive amounts of data, which is now being used for better decision-making — tech giants understand this. For example, streaming powerhouse Netflix implements data analytics to study viewers’ visual preferences and adjusts content thumbnails to similar content its users have liked to increase viewership. Netflix Netflix The rise of AI is further influencing this trend, helping companies make sense of their datasets to uncover weaknesses and predict outcomes. However, these advancements are no longer exclusive to engineers, managers, and IT teams who grapple with data daily. This information is increasingly climbing the ladder and knocking on executive’s doors. In fact, one of today’s most pressing challenges for executives is data privacy concerns and cybersecurity . data privacy concerns and cybersecurity data privacy concerns and cybersecurity It has never been more important to make key decisions toward better data governance, and data skills are necessary to understand the specific risks and demands a company faces. So, reading reports an engineer crafted with dedicated software programs is no longer enough. A concerning report revealed that only half of C-suite executives were confident in their data literacy, and 45% made decisions based on their gut feeling instead of data-backed facts. only half of C-suite executives only half of C-suite executives Modern executives must have data skills to understand the flow of valuable data in their company and know how to make it work for them, not the other way around. From crucial decision-making to infusing data culture and enabling democratization, positive company changes stemming from data analysis must start at the top. Spot pain points in minutes, not days When a company decides to change directions, these choices begin at the executive level and trickle down to managers and workers — nothing new there. But, while an exceptional leader has always been crucial in driving change, it’s how they do it that is shifting. C-suite directors are in charge of crafting better strategy, financial performance, risk management, and corporate governance, and data is becoming increasingly connected to all of these activities. Imagine you’re meeting with the Head of Sales to discuss the sudden performance drop of a fan-favorite item in your online store. You can’t seem to connect the dots from the sales report you’ve received, and it becomes a hurdle to decode the issue. One skill that can help executives and department heads easily uncover patterns for weak performance is data visualization. Tableau, Microsoft Power BI, and Looker Studio are some of the most prominent data visualization tools. They are easily accessible from popular corporate programs (Salesforce, Office 365, and Google Studio) and help analyze massive amounts of data in visually appealing ways. While you don’t need to be a data scientist to use them, setting up and building charts requires certain data skills and tech acumen, or at least prior training. Whether from a data science and visualization course at Harvard, or self-taught online classes, a few hours and hands-on practice will be time well spent to hone your data visualization skills. With this newfound talent, you can aid and guide department leaders to the answers to their performance questions. In this case, you would pivot to the online sales data in the company database using visualization to track downtime and realize the fan-favorite item’s link has been down, leading to that drop in sales. Expertise in data visualization tools allows executives to stay ahead of the curve in every business vertical by quickly analyzing pain points and understanding what their verticals need. This leads to improved strategies and more accurate decision-making at a fraction of the time it takes to crunch vital datasets. KYC: Know Your Cybersecurity While data management isn’t an executive’s role in itself, knowing its ins and outs allows them to understand the company's successes and areas for improvement. When data increasingly plays a vital role in a business, ensuring that it is being properly managed and secured can save leaders major headaches in the future. Does your company practice master data management ? Does it have an outdated data lake that’s slowing down processes? How is sensitive data access managed? These are governance questions investors, stakeholders, and partners might ask, and you must be ready to understand and navigate these concepts. master data management master data management Moreover, adopting good cybersecurity practices starts at the top — especially when 63% of security professionals say users with access to critical business data are their biggest data risk. Knowing the basics of cybersecurity and current trends not only allows top-level roles to mitigate risks from their end but also helps them foresee their IT teams’ needs, like allocating a budget for better endpoint security and enforcing staff training. 63% 63% Beyond courses and academic work, data governance and cybersecurity at a C-suite level are more easily learned through conversations with experts. You can resort to networking and approaching other industry leaders and even your own staff to gauge these concepts and what they mean for your company. As a result, instead of wrestling to understand the demands of security professionals, data-savvy executives will know when needs are pressing or if they can wait, making wiser and more objective business choices alongside their team leaders. Make data work for you — not the other way around There was a time when data was only one of many business assets, something you generate but store for audits or other compliance purposes. Those days are gone, especially as we move toward data-driven solutions that thrive primarily on how a company can implement data for other use cases. Data is no longer a stagnant asset — it can make you money if you derive the right value from it. Knowing the value of your data is only possible if you’re well-informed about it and know its potential. Executives with data skills will be able to take the lead and inject their data into better risk management strategies, extract customer data to improve marketing, and further implement it into AI tools to speed up business processes. value of your data value of your data AI tools AI tools Grasping these concepts also impacts the way you communicate with stakeholders. Expressing the importance of data security, governance, and even democratization for your company must come across as more than numbers and graphs — they wish to know the real value of these practices. By clearly explaining the importance of safeguarding data and placing it front and center of your operations, stakeholders will be on the same page about business decisions. Simply put, skipping the data-related courses will do nothing for future executives. In fact, nowadays, being able to run a successful company is directly linked to your data knowledge. So, prioritize these skills if you don’t have them, and make sure to pitch them as a worthwhile talent when climbing the ladder; they will be key to your success.

Why C-Suite Executives Won’t Cut it Without Data Skills Anymore

কেন C-Suite এক্সিকিউটিভরা ডেটা দক্ষতা ছাড়া এটিকে আর কাটবে না

Warum Führungskräfte auf oberster Führungsebene ohne Datenkenntnisse nicht mehr weiterkommen

Por qué los ejecutivos de C-Suite ya no lo lograrán sin habilidades de datos

Pourquoi les cadres supérieurs ne réussiront plus sans compétences en données

सी-सूट के अधिकारी अब डेटा कौशल के बिना काम क्यों नहीं कर पाएंगे

経営幹部がデータスキルなしでは役に立たない理由

최고 경영진이 더 이상 데이터 기술 없이는 성공하지 못하는 이유

Por que os executivos C-Suite não vão mais trabalhar sem habilidades em dados

Почему руководители высшего звена больше не справятся без навыков работы с данными

Üst Düzey Yöneticiler Neden Artık Veri Becerileri Olmadan İşini Kesmiyor?

Tại sao các nhà điều hành C-Suite sẽ không làm việc nếu không có kỹ năng dữ liệu nữa

为什么高管们不再需要具备数据技能

UMG Recordings, Inc. v. Verizon Communications Inc., Court Filing, retrieved on January 29, 2024, is part of HackerNoon’s Legal PDF Series. You can jump to any part of this filing here. This part is 1 of 11. PLAINTIFFS’ ORIGINAL COMPLAINT Plaintiffs UMG Recordings, Inc. and Capitol Records, LLC (collectively, “UMG” or the “Universal Plaintiffs”); Plaintiffs Asylum Records LLC, Atlantic Recording Corporation, Atlantic Records Group LLC, Bad Boy Records LLC, Big Beat Records Inc., Elektra Entertainment Group Inc., Elektra Entertainment LLC, Fueled by Ramen LLC, Lava Records LLC, Maverick Recording Company, Nonesuch Records Inc., Rhino Entertainment Company, Rhino Entertainment LLC, Roadrunner Records, Inc., Rykodisc, Inc., Warner Music Inc., Warner Music International Services Limited, Warner Music Latina Inc., Warner Music Nashville LLC, Warner Records Inc., Warner Records LLC, Warner Records/QRI Venture, Inc., and Warner Records/SIRE Ventures LLC (collectively, “WMG” or the “Warner Plaintiffs”); Plaintiffs Arista Music, Arista Records, LLC, LaFace Records, LLC, Sony Music Entertainment, Sony Music Entertainment US Latin LLC, Ultra Records, LLC, Volcano Entertainment III, LLC, and Zomba Recording LLC (collectively, “SME” or the “Sony Plaintiffs”); and ABKCO Music & Records, Inc. (“ABKCO,” and together with the Universal Plaintiffs, the Warner Plaintiffs, and the Sony Plaintiffs, the “Record Companies” or “Plaintiffs”), by and through their attorneys Oppenheim + Zebrak, LLP, for their Complaint against defendants Verizon Communications Inc., Verizon Services Corp., and Cellco Partnership (d/b/a Verizon Wireless) (collectively, “Verizon” or “Defendants”), allege, on personal knowledge as to matters relating to themselves and on information and belief as to all other matters, as follows: INTRODUCTION 1. Verizon is one of the largest Internet Service Providers (“ISPs”) in the country and knowingly provides its high-speed service to a massive community of online pirates, who it knows repeatedly use that service to infringe Plaintiffs’ copyrights. Over the past few years alone, Plaintiffs sent Verizon hundreds of thousands of copyright infringement notices. Those notices identify specific subscribers on Verizon’s network stealing Plaintiffs’ sound recordings through peer-to-peer (“P2P”) file-sharing networks that are notorious hotbeds for copyright infringement. While Verizon is famous for its “Can you hear me now?” advertising campaign, it has intentionally chosen not to listen to complaints from copyright owners. Instead of taking action in response to those infringement notices as the law requires, Verizon ignored Plaintiffs’ notices and buried its head in the sand. Undeterred, infringing subscribers identified in Plaintiffs’ notices continued to use Verizon’s services to infringe Plaintiffs’ copyrights with impunity. Meanwhile, Verizon continued to provide its high-speed service to thousands of known repeat infringers so it could continue to collect millions of dollars from them. 2. Plaintiffs bring this action against Verizon for contributory and vicarious copyright infringement. Verizon has knowingly contributed to, and reaped substantial profits from, massive copyright infringement committed by tens of thousands of its subscribers. By ignoring Plaintiffs’ notices and its own legal obligations, Verizon facilitated its subscribers’ infringement of Plaintiffs’ copyrights through the continued provision of its high-speed Internet service to known repeat infringers. 3. Plaintiffs are record companies or recorded music businesses that produce, manufacture, distribute, sell, and license commercial sound recordings both in the United States and internationally. Through their enormous investments of money, time, and exceptional creative efforts, Plaintiffs and the recording artists they represent have developed and/or distributed some of the world’s most famous music. Their investments and creative efforts have shaped the musical landscape as we know it, both in the United States and around the world. As a result, Plaintiffs own and/or control exclusive rights to many of the most popular sound recordings performed by classic artists and contemporary superstars, including The Rolling Stones, Ariana Grande, Bob Dylan, Bruno Mars, Elvis Presley, Dua Lipa, Drake, and many more. 4. Verizon markets and sells high-speed Internet services to consumers nationwide. Through the provision of those services, Verizon contributed to and profited from pervasive copyright infringement by its subscribers on P2P file-sharing networks. Verizon’s contribution to its subscribers’ infringement is both willful and extensive, and it renders Verizon equally liable for that infringement. Indeed, for years, Verizon deliberately refused to take action to prevent its customers from using its Internet services to infringe others’ copyrights, including Plaintiffs’ copyrights—even after Verizon was put on notice of particular customers engaging in specific, repeated acts of infringement. 5. Since early 2020, Plaintiffs’ representatives have sent more than 340,000 infringement notices to Verizon. Those notices clearly and unambiguously advised Verizon of its subscribers’ blatant and systematic use of Verizon’s Internet service to illegally download, copy, and distribute Plaintiffs’ copyrighted sound recordings through the P2P network known as BitTorrent. 6. The scope of repeat infringement on Verizon’s network is staggering. Thousands of Verizon subscribers were the subject of 20 or more notices from Plaintiffs, and more than 500 subscribers were the subject of 100 or more notices. One particularly egregious Verizon subscriber was single-handedly the subject of 4,450 infringement notices from Plaintiffs alone. 7. Verizon acknowledged that it received these notices of infringement sent by Plaintiffs’ representatives. Yet rather than taking any steps to address its customers’ illegal use of its network, Verizon deliberately chose to ignore Plaintiffs’ notices, willfully blinding itself to that information and prioritizing its own profits over its legal obligations. 8. It is well-established law that if a party materially assists someone it knows is engaging in copyright infringement, that party is fully liable for the infringement as if it had infringed directly. Further, when a party has a direct financial interest in the infringing activity, and the right and practical ability to stop or limit it, that party also faces liability. Flouting those basic responsibilities, Verizon deliberately turned a blind eye to its subscribers’ infringement. Verizon failed to terminate or otherwise take any meaningful action against the accounts of repeat infringers of which it was aware. Instead, Verizon routinely thumbed its nose at Plaintiffs by continuing to provide its service to subscribers it knew to be serially infringing Plaintiffs’ copyrighted sound recordings. In reality, Verizon operated its service as an attractive tool and safe haven for infringement. 9. Verizon has derived an obvious and direct financial benefit from its subscribers’ infringement. The unlimited ability to download and distribute Plaintiffs’ copyrighted works through Verizon’s service has served as a draw for Verizon to attract, retain, and charge higher fees to infringing subscribers. By failing to terminate the accounts of specific recidivist infringers known to Verizon, Verizon obtained a direct financial benefit from those subscribers’ continuing infringing activity. That financial benefit included improper revenue that Verizon would not have received had it appropriately shut down those accounts as well as the costs that Verizon saved by failing to implement an effective repeat infringer program. In other words, Verizon decided not to terminate repeat infringers because it wanted to maintain the revenue generated from those subscribers’ accounts. 10. To be clear, the infringing activity of Verizon’s subscribers that is the subject of Plaintiffs’ claims, and for which Verizon is secondarily liable, all occurred after Verizon received multiple notices of each subscriber’s infringing activity. Plaintiffs seek damages for infringement of their sound recordings by Verizon subscribers after those particular subscribers were identified to Verizon in multiple infringement notices. Continue Reading Here. About HackerNoon Legal PDF Series: We bring you the most important technical and insightful public domain court case filings.
This court case retrieved on July 12, 2024, storage.courtlistener is part of the public domain. The court-created documents are works of the federal government, and under copyright law, are automatically placed in the public domain and may be shared without legal restriction. UMG Recordings, Inc. v. Verizon Communications Inc., Court Filing, retrieved on January 29, 2024, is part of HackerNoon’s Legal PDF Series. You can jump to any part of this filing here. This part is 1 of 11. UMG Recordings, Inc. v. Verizon Communications Inc., Court Filing, retrieved on January 29, 2024, is part of HackerNoon’s Legal PDF Series . You can jump to any part of this filing here . This part is 1 of 11. HackerNoon’s Legal PDF Series HackerNoon’s Legal PDF Series here here . PLAINTIFFS’ ORIGINAL COMPLAINT Plaintiffs UMG Recordings, Inc. and Capitol Records, LLC (collectively, “UMG” or the “Universal Plaintiffs”); Plaintiffs Asylum Records LLC, Atlantic Recording Corporation, Atlantic Records Group LLC, Bad Boy Records LLC, Big Beat Records Inc., Elektra Entertainment Group Inc., Elektra Entertainment LLC, Fueled by Ramen LLC, Lava Records LLC, Maverick Recording Company, Nonesuch Records Inc., Rhino Entertainment Company, Rhino Entertainment LLC, Roadrunner Records, Inc., Rykodisc, Inc., Warner Music Inc., Warner Music International Services Limited, Warner Music Latina Inc., Warner Music Nashville LLC, Warner Records Inc., Warner Records LLC, Warner Records/QRI Venture, Inc., and Warner Records/SIRE Ventures LLC (collectively, “WMG” or the “Warner Plaintiffs”); Plaintiffs Arista Music, Arista Records, LLC, LaFace Records, LLC, Sony Music Entertainment, Sony Music Entertainment US Latin LLC, Ultra Records, LLC, Volcano Entertainment III, LLC, and Zomba Recording LLC (collectively, “SME” or the “Sony Plaintiffs”); and ABKCO Music & Records, Inc. (“ABKCO,” and together with the Universal Plaintiffs, the Warner Plaintiffs, and the Sony Plaintiffs, the “Record Companies” or “Plaintiffs”), by and through their attorneys Oppenheim + Zebrak, LLP, for their Complaint against defendants Verizon Communications Inc., Verizon Services Corp., and Cellco Partnership (d/b/a Verizon Wireless) (collectively, “Verizon” or “Defendants”), allege, on personal knowledge as to matters relating to themselves and on information and belief as to all other matters, as follows: INTRODUCTION 1. Verizon is one of the largest Internet Service Providers (“ISPs”) in the country and knowingly provides its high-speed service to a massive community of online pirates, who it knows repeatedly use that service to infringe Plaintiffs’ copyrights. Over the past few years alone, Plaintiffs sent Verizon hundreds of thousands of copyright infringement notices. Those notices identify specific subscribers on Verizon’s network stealing Plaintiffs’ sound recordings through peer-to-peer (“P2P”) file-sharing networks that are notorious hotbeds for copyright infringement. While Verizon is famous for its “Can you hear me now?” advertising campaign, it has intentionally chosen not to listen to complaints from copyright owners. Instead of taking action in response to those infringement notices as the law requires, Verizon ignored Plaintiffs’ notices and buried its head in the sand. Undeterred, infringing subscribers identified in Plaintiffs’ notices continued to use Verizon’s services to infringe Plaintiffs’ copyrights with impunity. Meanwhile, Verizon continued to provide its high-speed service to thousands of known repeat infringers so it could continue to collect millions of dollars from them. 2. Plaintiffs bring this action against Verizon for contributory and vicarious copyright infringement. Verizon has knowingly contributed to, and reaped substantial profits from, massive copyright infringement committed by tens of thousands of its subscribers. By ignoring Plaintiffs’ notices and its own legal obligations, Verizon facilitated its subscribers’ infringement of Plaintiffs’ copyrights through the continued provision of its high-speed Internet service to known repeat infringers. 3. Plaintiffs are record companies or recorded music businesses that produce, manufacture, distribute, sell, and license commercial sound recordings both in the United States and internationally. Through their enormous investments of money, time, and exceptional creative efforts, Plaintiffs and the recording artists they represent have developed and/or distributed some of the world’s most famous music. Their investments and creative efforts have shaped the musical landscape as we know it, both in the United States and around the world. As a result, Plaintiffs own and/or control exclusive rights to many of the most popular sound recordings performed by classic artists and contemporary superstars, including The Rolling Stones, Ariana Grande, Bob Dylan, Bruno Mars, Elvis Presley, Dua Lipa, Drake, and many more. 4. Verizon markets and sells high-speed Internet services to consumers nationwide. Through the provision of those services, Verizon contributed to and profited from pervasive copyright infringement by its subscribers on P2P file-sharing networks. Verizon’s contribution to its subscribers’ infringement is both willful and extensive, and it renders Verizon equally liable for that infringement. Indeed, for years, Verizon deliberately refused to take action to prevent its customers from using its Internet services to infringe others’ copyrights, including Plaintiffs’ copyrights—even after Verizon was put on notice of particular customers engaging in specific, repeated acts of infringement. 5. Since early 2020, Plaintiffs’ representatives have sent more than 340,000 infringement notices to Verizon. Those notices clearly and unambiguously advised Verizon of its subscribers’ blatant and systematic use of Verizon’s Internet service to illegally download, copy, and distribute Plaintiffs’ copyrighted sound recordings through the P2P network known as BitTorrent. 6. The scope of repeat infringement on Verizon’s network is staggering. Thousands of Verizon subscribers were the subject of 20 or more notices from Plaintiffs, and more than 500 subscribers were the subject of 100 or more notices. One particularly egregious Verizon subscriber was single-handedly the subject of 4,450 infringement notices from Plaintiffs alone. 7. Verizon acknowledged that it received these notices of infringement sent by Plaintiffs’ representatives. Yet rather than taking any steps to address its customers’ illegal use of its network, Verizon deliberately chose to ignore Plaintiffs’ notices, willfully blinding itself to that information and prioritizing its own profits over its legal obligations. 8. It is well-established law that if a party materially assists someone it knows is engaging in copyright infringement, that party is fully liable for the infringement as if it had infringed directly. Further, when a party has a direct financial interest in the infringing activity, and the right and practical ability to stop or limit it, that party also faces liability. Flouting those basic responsibilities, Verizon deliberately turned a blind eye to its subscribers’ infringement. Verizon failed to terminate or otherwise take any meaningful action against the accounts of repeat infringers of which it was aware. Instead, Verizon routinely thumbed its nose at Plaintiffs by continuing to provide its service to subscribers it knew to be serially infringing Plaintiffs’ copyrighted sound recordings. In reality, Verizon operated its service as an attractive tool and safe haven for infringement. 9. Verizon has derived an obvious and direct financial benefit from its subscribers’ infringement. The unlimited ability to download and distribute Plaintiffs’ copyrighted works through Verizon’s service has served as a draw for Verizon to attract, retain, and charge higher fees to infringing subscribers. By failing to terminate the accounts of specific recidivist infringers known to Verizon, Verizon obtained a direct financial benefit from those subscribers’ continuing infringing activity. That financial benefit included improper revenue that Verizon would not have received had it appropriately shut down those accounts as well as the costs that Verizon saved by failing to implement an effective repeat infringer program. In other words, Verizon decided not to terminate repeat infringers because it wanted to maintain the revenue generated from those subscribers’ accounts. 10. To be clear, the infringing activity of Verizon’s subscribers that is the subject of Plaintiffs’ claims, and for which Verizon is secondarily liable, all occurred after Verizon received multiple notices of each subscriber’s infringing activity. Plaintiffs seek damages for infringement of their sound recordings by Verizon subscribers after those particular subscribers were identified to Verizon in multiple infringement notices. Continue Reading Here. Continue Reading Here . Here About HackerNoon Legal PDF Series: We bring you the most important technical and insightful public domain court case filings. This court case retrieved on July 12, 2024, storage.courtlistener is part of the public domain. The court-created documents are works of the federal government, and under copyright law, are automatically placed in the public domain and may be shared without legal restriction. About HackerNoon Legal PDF Series: We bring you the most important technical and insightful public domain court case filings. This court case retrieved on July 12, 2024, storage.courtlistener is part of the public domain. The court-created documents are works of the federal government, and under copyright law, are automatically placed in the public domain and may be shared without legal restriction. storage.courtlistener

Universal and Sony Music Sue Verizon for Supporting Online Piracy

অনলাইন পাইরেসি সমর্থন করার জন্য ইউনিভার্সাল এবং সোনি মিউজিক মামলা ভেরিজন

Universal und Sony Music verklagen Verizon wegen Unterstützung von Online-Piraterie

Universal y Sony Music demandan a Verizon por apoyar la piratería online

Universal et Sony Music poursuivent Verizon pour leur soutien au piratage en ligne

यूनिवर्सल और सोनी म्यूज़िक ने ऑनलाइन पाइरेसी का समर्थन करने के लिए वेरिज़ोन पर मुकदमा दायर किया

ユニバーサルとソニーミュージックがオンライン著作権侵害を支援したとしてベライゾンを訴える

Universal과 Sony Music은 온라인 불법 복제를 지원하기 위해 Verizon을 고소했습니다.

Universal e Sony Music processam Verizon por apoiar a pirataria online

Universal и Sony Music подали в суд на Verizon за поддержку онлайн-пиратства

Universal ve Sony Music, Çevrimiçi Korsanı Desteklediği İçin Sue Verizon

Universal và Sony Music kiện Verizon vì hỗ trợ vi phạm bản quyền trực tuyến

环球和索尼音乐起诉 Verizon 支持网络盗版

Comparison of Machine Learning Methods: Discussion and Qualitative Analysis

Yaroslav Zubko has crafted a remarkable international career, creating designs for Boeing, Markit, Deloitte, and Tinder. His exceptional work has earned him prestigious accolades, including the DotComm Award and the Clio Awards, one of the oldest creative awards in the US. The latter was received for one of Tinder's most famous projects, Swipe Night. How did he achieve such impressive feats in the competitive world of design? From Law to Designs Zubko’s journey began in the heart of Ukraine, a burgeoning hub for IT and design. Initially, he studied business law at a local college but decided to follow his passion and started studying graphic design online. In 2012, he landed his first job as a web designer at a Ukrainian fitness retail company, Terrasport. That work, along with some other early projects, laid the foundation for his work philosophy, characterized by a harmonious blend of aesthetics and functionality. In 2017, he assumed the role of product design director at UpTop, a New York-based property management startup. There, he was in charge of choosing which product features to research and test and deciding how they would be implemented. “There were nights when I couldn't fall asleep because I was thinking about ideas for the product,” Zubko recalls. Concurrently, he dedicated his time to “Interaction Library,” an ambitious project he had been nurturing since 2016. The initiative aimed to curate a comprehensive collection of interaction samples and interface behaviors, serving as a valuable resource for designers and stakeholders. American Odyssey The library's publication on platforms like Dribbble not only earned Zubko industry recognition but also captured the attention of business leaders. Among them was Tinder's Jonathan Badeen, who extended an offer to the designer, marking the beginning of a new chapter in Zubko’s professional life as the lead product designer at the dating giant in 2018. Zubko was entrusted with reshaping Tinder's user experience, with a focus on monetization and engagement. “I animated and presented over 20 versions of Tinder's app, and used A/B testing methods to understand what ideas were worth implementing,” he recalls. One of the standout achievements during his tenure was the restyling of subscription packages in alignment with Apple Store guidelines. This initiative not only enhanced the user experience but also paved the way for sustainable revenue growth. Zubko’s ability to balance user-centric design and revenue optimization was a testament to his holistic approach to product design. He often noted that his goal was to align Tinder's business objectives with user needs, creating a win-win scenario for the company and its users. His original design solutions helped reinvigorate Tinder's premium offerings, catapulting the app's revenue to new heights. Learning Solutions Transitioning from the realm of dating apps to educational technology and leveraging his previous experience, Zubko launched Fluently in 2019—a mobile application dedicated to immersive language exchange. In 2020, he was commissioned by Riiid Labs, which builds AI-based personalized learning solutions. It is one of the major players in the EdTech field, backed by $250 million in investment funding. At the company, Zubko took on the role of director of product design, contributing to Riiid's mission of revolutionizing personalized learning through AI and gamification. Drawing from his insights into UX/UI design, user engagement, and gamification strategies, Zubko led several notable projects. For instance, he worked on an application that helped American students to prepare for the SAT, a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. He also developed the mobile app DE Saber for Colombian students preparing for the Saber 11, a high school exit examination for college admission. Further, Zubko was invited to join Shiftsmart, a company that developed a platform assisting with team onboarding and training, performance management, scheduling and shift dispatch, and more. Shiftsmart raised a total of $117 million in funding, attracting prominent investment firms such as D1 Capital, Spieker Partners, Oakridge Management Group, and S12F, among others. Zubko served as a Senior Designer at the company and worked on the creation of the mobile app and branding. Towards Rewards Zubko’s original designs have earned prestigious international awards and industry acclaim. For instance, he was recognized as Designer of the Year 2019 by the Ukrainian IT Awards. He also won an international competition, the dotCOMM Awards, and the Italian A' Design Award for one of his freelance projects, FameLab. FameLab is a leading social marketing cloud that delivers authentic engagement on Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook Pages. Zubko created interactive designs for the company’s app. He also contributed ideas and concepts to the Swipe Night initiative created for Tinder by the advertising agency 72andSunny in 2019. This was an interactive mini-series about friends trying to save themselves from the apocalypse. Users could participate in the series by swiping, thereby making decisions for the main characters. Based on users' choices, Tinder would then offer potential matches. In 2020, this project won a Clios, one of the oldest awards in the US, recognizing innovation and creative excellence in advertising, design, and communication. In 2021, Swipe Night was awarded the Entertainment Grand Prix at Cannes and was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Interactive Media. Yaroslav Zubko has crafted a remarkable international career, creating designs for Boeing, Markit, Deloitte, and Tinder. His exceptional work has earned him prestigious accolades, including the DotComm Award and the Clio Awards, one of the oldest creative awards in the US. The latter was received for one of Tinder's most famous projects, Swipe Night. How did he achieve such impressive feats in the competitive world of design? From Law to Designs Zubko’s journey began in the heart of Ukraine, a burgeoning hub for IT and design. Initially, he studied business law at a local college but decided to follow his passion and started studying graphic design online. In 2012, he landed his first job as a web designer at a Ukrainian fitness retail company, Terrasport. That work, along with some other early projects, laid the foundation for his work philosophy, characterized by a harmonious blend of aesthetics and functionality. In 2017, he assumed the role of product design director at UpTop, a New York-based property management startup. There, he was in charge of choosing which product features to research and test and deciding how they would be implemented. “There were nights when I couldn't fall asleep because I was thinking about ideas for the product,” Zubko recalls. Concurrently, he dedicated his time to “ Interaction Library ,” an ambitious project he had been nurturing since 2016. The initiative aimed to curate a comprehensive collection of interaction samples and interface behaviors, serving as a valuable resource for designers and stakeholders. Interaction Library Interaction Library American Odyssey The library's publication on platforms like Dribbble not only earned Zubko industry recognition but also captured the attention of business leaders. Among them was Tinder's Jonathan Badeen, who extended an offer to the designer, marking the beginning of a new chapter in Zubko’s professional life as the lead product designer at the dating giant in 2018. Zubko was entrusted with reshaping Tinder's user experience, with a focus on monetization and engagement. “I animated and presented over 20 versions of Tinder's app, and used A/B testing methods to understand what ideas were worth implementing,” he recalls. One of the standout achievements during his tenure was the restyling of subscription packages in alignment with Apple Store guidelines. This initiative not only enhanced the user experience but also paved the way for sustainable revenue growth. Zubko’s ability to balance user-centric design and revenue optimization was a testament to his holistic approach to product design. He often noted that his goal was to align Tinder's business objectives with user needs, creating a win-win scenario for the company and its users. His original design solutions helped reinvigorate Tinder's premium offerings, catapulting the app's revenue to new heights. Learning Solutions Transitioning from the realm of dating apps to educational technology and leveraging his previous experience, Zubko launched Fluently in 2019—a mobile application dedicated to immersive language exchange. In 2020, he was commissioned by Riiid Labs, which builds AI-based personalized learning solutions. It is one of the major players in the EdTech field, backed by $250 million in investment funding. At the company, Zubko took on the role of director of product design, contributing to Riiid's mission of revolutionizing personalized learning through AI and gamification. Drawing from his insights into UX/UI design, user engagement, and gamification strategies, Zubko led several notable projects. For instance, he worked on an application that helped American students to prepare for the SAT, a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. He also developed the mobile app DE Saber for Colombian students preparing for the Saber 11, a high school exit examination for college admission. Further, Zubko was invited to join Shiftsmart, a company that developed a platform assisting with team onboarding and training, performance management, scheduling and shift dispatch, and more. Shiftsmart raised a total of $117 million in funding, attracting prominent investment firms such as D1 Capital, Spieker Partners, Oakridge Management Group, and S12F, among others. Zubko served as a Senior Designer at the company and worked on the creation of the mobile app and branding. attracting attracting Towards Rewards Zubko’s original designs have earned prestigious international awards and industry acclaim. For instance, he was recognized as Designer of the Year 2019 by the Ukrainian IT Awards. He also won an international competition, the dotCOMM Awards, and the Italian A' Design Award for one of his freelance projects, FameLab. FameLab is a leading social marketing cloud that delivers authentic engagement on Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook Pages. Zubko created interactive designs for the company’s app. He also contributed ideas and concepts to the Swipe Night initiative created for Tinder by the advertising agency 72andSunny in 2019. This was an interactive mini-series about friends trying to save themselves from the apocalypse. Users could participate in the series by swiping, thereby making decisions for the main characters. Based on users' choices, Tinder would then offer potential matches. In 2020, this project won a Clios, one of the oldest awards in the US, recognizing innovation and creative excellence in advertising, design, and communication. In 2021, Swipe Night was awarded the Entertainment Grand Prix at Cannes and was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Interactive Media. won won awarded awarded

How a Designer Landed a Job at Tinder and Achieved International Recognition

Assessing VASP Solvency For Cryptoassets: Conclusions, and References

Authors:
(1) Pietro Saggese, Complexity Science Hub Vienna (CSH);
(2) Esther Segalla, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB);
(3) Michael Sigmund, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB);
(4) Burkhard Raunig, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB);
(5) Felix Zangerl, Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA);
(6) Bernhard Haslhofer, Complexity Science Hub Vienna (CSH). Table of Links Abstract and 1. Introduction Background and related literature
VASPs: A Closer Examination
Measuring VASPs Cryptoasset Holdings
Closing The Data Gap
Conclusions, Declaration of Competing Interest, and References Appendix A. Supplemental material Abstract Entities like centralized cryptocurrency exchanges fall under the business category of virtual asset service providers (VASPs). As any other enterprise, they can become insolvent. VASPs enable the exchange, custody, and transfer of cryptoassets organized in wallets across distributed ledger technologies (DLTs). Despite the public availability of DLT transactions, the cryptoasset holdings of VASPs are not yet subject to systematic auditing procedures. In this paper, we propose an approach to assess the solvency of a VASP by cross-referencing data from three distinct sources: cryptoasset wallets, balance sheets from the commercial register, and data from supervisory entities. We investigate 24 VASPs registered with the Financial Market Authority in Austria and provide regulatory data insights such as who are the customers and where do they come from. Their yearly incoming and outgoing transaction volume amount to 2 billion EUR for around 1.8 million users. We describe what financial services they provide and find that they are most similar to traditional intermediaries such as brokers, money exchanges, and funds, rather than banks. Next, we empirically measure DLT transaction flows of four VASPs and compare their cryptoasset holdings to balance sheet entries. Data are consistent for two VASPs only. This enables us to identify gaps in the data collection and propose strategies to address them. We remark that any entity in charge of auditing requires proof that a VASP actually controls the funds associated with its on-chain wallets. It is also important to report fiat and cryptoasset and liability positions broken down by asset types at a reasonable frequency. JEL Classification: C81, F31, G15, G20, G33, M41, 033 Keywords: Blockchain, Proof of Solvency, Virtual Asset, Cryptoasset, VASP, Accounting, Auditing, Regulation 1. Introduction In 2022, the cryptoasset sector experienced a crash driven by two major incidents that exposed the repercussions of inadequate regulation and accountability in the industry. In May, Terra’s algorithmic stablecoin protocol experienced a stablecoin run, similar to a bank run, on its associated cryptoassets LUNA and UST (Klages-Mundt & Minca, 2021; Briola et al., 2022). This triggered the bankruptcy of the crypto lenders Celsius and Voyager, and the hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (The Economist, 2022). In November, the crypto trading platform FTX filed for bankruptcy, leading to BlockFi’s downfall and bankruptcy consideration for Aax and Genesis[1]. Even more recently, in June 2023, the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) brought forward charges against some of the largest U.S.-based VASPs (SEC, 2023a,b). These companies, and other centralized cryptoasset exchanges (CEXs) like FTX, fall under the broader definition of virtual asset service providers (VASPs). They facilitate financial activity involving virtual assets (VAs), such as their exchange for other VAs or fiat currencies, their custody and transfer via cryptoasset wallets, and portfolio management services for their customers (FMA, 2021; EC, 2018, 2022; FATF, 2021). As Figure 1 shows, VASPs lie at the interface of the traditional and the crypto financial ecosystems, respectively called off-chain and on-chain financial activity in jargon. The aforementioned and other (Moore et al., 2018) incidents that affected cryptoasset exchanges highlight a critical aspect of VASPs, i.e., the lack of proper accounting and business continuity concepts (Zetzsche et al., 2023). While their off-chain activities are audited according to generally accepted accounting principles, on-chain assets are held in pseudo-anonymous cryptoasset wallets across multiple, possibly privacy-preserving DLTs (ElBahrawy et al., 2017) and are not yet systematically audited. Furthermore, whilst VASPs share several characteristics with traditional financial intermediaries, they are less regulated and their activities often lack transparency. Whether and how regulating them is an ongoing, highly controversial debate resembling a tug-of-war game; some argue for more VASP regulations (M¨oser & Narayanan, 2019), while others claim it would come at a substantial social cost and could be misunderstood as undeserved legitimacy[2]. A clear understanding of the financial functions VASPs provide, how they operate, and what risks are involved may provide guiding principles for regulators and policymakers. This paper proposes an approach for determining a virtual asset service provider’s solvency status by measuring their cryptoasset holdings. By solvency, we mean that the total amount of assets held in custody is larger than the total amount of liabilities, whereby the difference is equity. We investigate the VASPs registered with the Financial Market Authority (FMA) in Austria in the context of the Anti-Money Laundering Act. We compare data from three distinct sources: we rely on publicly available DLT transaction records from the Bitcoin and Ethereum DLTs and use established algorithms (Androulaki et al., 2013; Ron & Shamir, 2013; Meiklejohn et al., 2016) to identify and cluster cryptoasset wallets likely controlled by the same entity. Then we reconstruct the VASPs’ cryptoasset flows, compare their net positions to balance sheet data from the commercial register[3], and complement them with supervisory data from FMA. To the best of our knowledge, our work is the first that combines these distinct sources in a unified framework. Also, to our understanding, a consolidated approach to measuring the types of cryptoassets held by VASPs against their liabilities to customers still does not exist, although their activity is based on DLTs whose transactions are publicly auditable by design. Moreover, we position VASPs in the landscape of financial intermediaries, by systematically comparing the services they offer to those of traditional financial service providers. While previous research has compared VASPs to banks (Anderson et al., 2019; Dagher et al., 2015), we discuss why this comparison can be misleading. Our work provides the following contributions: • We study 24 Austrian VASPs and systematize the services they offer. We find that they are most similar to brokers, money exchanges, and funds, rather than to banks; • We provide regulatory data insights showing that their yearly incoming and outgoing transaction volume in 2022 amounted to 2 billion EUR for around 1.8 million users; • We measure on-chain transaction flows for four VASPs and compare their holdings to balance sheet data from the commercial register. Data are consistent for two VASPs only; • We identify gaps in data collection practices and propose strategies to fill them: any entity in charge of auditing requires proof that a VASP actually controls the funds associated with its on-chain wallets; it is also important to report fiat and crypto asset and liability positions broken down by asset types, and at a reasonable frequency. Currently, supervisory auditing of VASPs does not fully exploit the public availability of DLT transactions. We believe our work provides valuable insights toward a better and more systematic assessment of their solvency, and might help make the process more effective and less error-prone. By comparing the VASPs cryptoasset holdings to balance sheet data, we show that the major issues are related to the different management of cryptoasset wallets in different DLTs, the lack of wallet addresses attribution data for VASPs, and the absence of breakdowns by cryptoasset types in balance sheets. The paper is structured as follows. In Section 2, we introduce key background concepts and review the literature. Then we analyze VASPs and their features in Section 3. Section 4 describes the data, our measurement approach, and reports our results. In Section 5 we discuss how the data gap can be reduced, while in Section 6 we draw conclusions. Our study follows an open-source approach and can be replicated on any other entity, provided the data on their cryptoasset wallets. This paper is available on arxiv under CC BY 4.0 DEED license. [1] See https://nyti.ms/3WUnEP7, https://bit.ly/3kIjegD, and https://on.ft.com/3XIogs8. [2] See e.g. https://on.ft.com/3DgFHYD and https://bit.ly/3Y0JqBo. [3] The commercial register is a central, public directory. It contains important information about numerous companies. The primary purpose of the commercial register is to provide business transactions with the opportunity to obtain relevant information about the registered company. Authors: (1) Pietro Saggese, Complexity Science Hub Vienna (CSH); (2) Esther Segalla, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB); (3) Michael Sigmund, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB); (4) Burkhard Raunig, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB); (5) Felix Zangerl, Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA); (6) Bernhard Haslhofer, Complexity Science Hub Vienna (CSH). Authors: Authors: (1) Pietro Saggese, Complexity Science Hub Vienna (CSH); (2) Esther Segalla, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB); (3) Michael Sigmund, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB); (4) Burkhard Raunig, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB); (5) Felix Zangerl, Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA); (6) Bernhard Haslhofer, Complexity Science Hub Vienna (CSH). Table of Links Abstract and 1. Introduction Abstract and 1. Introduction Background and related literature VASPs: A Closer Examination Measuring VASPs Cryptoasset Holdings Closing The Data Gap Conclusions, Declaration of Competing Interest, and References Background and related literature Background and related literature VASPs: A Closer Examination VASPs: A Closer Examination Measuring VASPs Cryptoasset Holdings Measuring VASPs Cryptoasset Holdings Closing The Data Gap Closing The Data Gap Conclusions, Declaration of Competing Interest, and References Conclusions, Declaration of Competing Interest, and References Appendix A. Supplemental material Appendix A. Supplemental material Abstract Entities like centralized cryptocurrency exchanges fall under the business category of virtual asset service providers (VASPs). As any other enterprise, they can become insolvent. VASPs enable the exchange, custody, and transfer of cryptoassets organized in wallets across distributed ledger technologies (DLTs). Despite the public availability of DLT transactions, the cryptoasset holdings of VASPs are not yet subject to systematic auditing procedures. In this paper, we propose an approach to assess the solvency of a VASP by cross-referencing data from three distinct sources: cryptoasset wallets, balance sheets from the commercial register, and data from supervisory entities. We investigate 24 VASPs registered with the Financial Market Authority in Austria and provide regulatory data insights such as who are the customers and where do they come from. Their yearly incoming and outgoing transaction volume amount to 2 billion EUR for around 1.8 million users. We describe what financial services they provide and find that they are most similar to traditional intermediaries such as brokers, money exchanges, and funds, rather than banks. Next, we empirically measure DLT transaction flows of four VASPs and compare their cryptoasset holdings to balance sheet entries. Data are consistent for two VASPs only. This enables us to identify gaps in the data collection and propose strategies to address them. We remark that any entity in charge of auditing requires proof that a VASP actually controls the funds associated with its on-chain wallets. It is also important to report fiat and cryptoasset and liability positions broken down by asset types at a reasonable frequency. JEL Classification: C81, F31, G15, G20, G33, M41, 033 JEL Classification: Keywords : Blockchain, Proof of Solvency, Virtual Asset, Cryptoasset, VASP, Accounting, Auditing, Regulation Keywords Blockchain, Proof of Solvency, Virtual Asset, Cryptoasset, VASP, Accounting, Auditing, Regulation 1. Introduction In 2022, the cryptoasset sector experienced a crash driven by two major incidents that exposed the repercussions of inadequate regulation and accountability in the industry. In May, Terra’s algorithmic stablecoin protocol experienced a stablecoin run, similar to a bank run, on its associated cryptoassets LUNA and UST (Klages-Mundt & Minca, 2021; Briola et al., 2022). This triggered the bankruptcy of the crypto lenders Celsius and Voyager, and the hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (The Economist, 2022). In November, the crypto trading platform FTX filed for bankruptcy, leading to BlockFi’s downfall and bankruptcy consideration for Aax and Genesis[1]. Even more recently, in June 2023, the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) brought forward charges against some of the largest U.S.-based VASPs (SEC, 2023a,b). These companies, and other centralized cryptoasset exchanges (CEXs) like FTX, fall under the broader definition of virtual asset service providers (VASPs). They facilitate financial activity involving virtual assets (VAs), such as their exchange for other VAs or fiat currencies, their custody and transfer via cryptoasset wallets, and portfolio management services for their customers (FMA, 2021; EC, 2018, 2022; FATF, 2021). As Figure 1 shows, VASPs lie at the interface of the traditional and the crypto financial ecosystems, respectively called off-chain and on-chain financial activity in jargon. The aforementioned and other (Moore et al., 2018) incidents that affected cryptoasset exchanges highlight a critical aspect of VASPs, i.e., the lack of proper accounting and business continuity concepts (Zetzsche et al., 2023). While their off-chain activities are audited according to generally accepted accounting principles, on-chain assets are held in pseudo-anonymous cryptoasset wallets across multiple, possibly privacy-preserving DLTs (ElBahrawy et al., 2017) and are not yet systematically audited. Furthermore, whilst VASPs share several characteristics with traditional financial intermediaries, they are less regulated and their activities often lack transparency. Whether and how regulating them is an ongoing, highly controversial debate resembling a tug-of-war game; some argue for more VASP regulations (M¨oser & Narayanan, 2019), while others claim it would come at a substantial social cost and could be misunderstood as undeserved legitimacy[2]. A clear understanding of the financial functions VASPs provide, how they operate, and what risks are involved may provide guiding principles for regulators and policymakers. This paper proposes an approach for determining a virtual asset service provider’s solvency status by measuring their cryptoasset holdings. By solvency, we mean that the total amount of assets held in custody is larger than the total amount of liabilities, whereby the difference is equity. We investigate the VASPs registered with the Financial Market Authority (FMA) in Austria in the context of the Anti-Money Laundering Act. We compare data from three distinct sources: we rely on publicly available DLT transaction records from the Bitcoin and Ethereum DLTs and use established algorithms (Androulaki et al., 2013; Ron & Shamir, 2013; Meiklejohn et al., 2016) to identify and cluster cryptoasset wallets likely controlled by the same entity. Then we reconstruct the VASPs’ cryptoasset flows, compare their net positions to balance sheet data from the commercial register[3], and complement them with supervisory data from FMA. To the best of our knowledge, our work is the first that combines these distinct sources in a unified framework. Also, to our understanding, a consolidated approach to measuring the types of cryptoassets held by VASPs against their liabilities to customers still does not exist, although their activity is based on DLTs whose transactions are publicly auditable by design. Moreover, we position VASPs in the landscape of financial intermediaries, by systematically comparing the services they offer to those of traditional financial service providers. While previous research has compared VASPs to banks (Anderson et al., 2019; Dagher et al., 2015), we discuss why this comparison can be misleading. Our work provides the following contributions: • We study 24 Austrian VASPs and systematize the services they offer. We find that they are most similar to brokers, money exchanges, and funds, rather than to banks; • We provide regulatory data insights showing that their yearly incoming and outgoing transaction volume in 2022 amounted to 2 billion EUR for around 1.8 million users; • We measure on-chain transaction flows for four VASPs and compare their holdings to balance sheet data from the commercial register. Data are consistent for two VASPs only; • We identify gaps in data collection practices and propose strategies to fill them: any entity in charge of auditing requires proof that a VASP actually controls the funds associated with its on-chain wallets; it is also important to report fiat and crypto asset and liability positions broken down by asset types, and at a reasonable frequency. Currently, supervisory auditing of VASPs does not fully exploit the public availability of DLT transactions. We believe our work provides valuable insights toward a better and more systematic assessment of their solvency, and might help make the process more effective and less error-prone. By comparing the VASPs cryptoasset holdings to balance sheet data, we show that the major issues are related to the different management of cryptoasset wallets in different DLTs, the lack of wallet addresses attribution data for VASPs, and the absence of breakdowns by cryptoasset types in balance sheets. The paper is structured as follows. In Section 2, we introduce key background concepts and review the literature. Then we analyze VASPs and their features in Section 3. Section 4 describes the data, our measurement approach, and reports our results. In Section 5 we discuss how the data gap can be reduced, while in Section 6 we draw conclusions. Our study follows an open-source approach and can be replicated on any other entity, provided the data on their cryptoasset wallets. This paper is available on arxiv under CC BY 4.0 DEED license. This paper is available on arxiv under CC BY 4.0 DEED license. available on arxiv [1] See https://nyti.ms/3WUnEP7, https://bit.ly/3kIjegD, and https://on.ft.com/3XIogs8. [2] See e.g. https://on.ft.com/3DgFHYD and https://bit.ly/3Y0JqBo. [3] The commercial register is a central, public directory. It contains important information about numerous companies. The primary purpose of the commercial register is to provide business transactions with the opportunity to obtain relevant information about the registered company.

Assessing VASP Solvency For Cryptoassets: Abstract and Introduction

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