Ethereum Founder on How Facebook Can Do Crypto Right
Facebook could use blockchain technology to overhaul its business model, giving users more control over how their data is used, said Joseph Lubin, the founder of the crypto platform Ethereum.
Using a decentralized ledger would allow Facebook users to “store their own personal data in encrypted form” and decide which companies have access to their information, Lubin said. Giving users more control over their information could increase the quality of Facebook's data.
“If you know that this data is protected well, you can put it on data markets and Facebook can potentially participate in those sorts of data markets,” Lubin said Monday in an interview with Cheddar.
A new Ethereum-based system, uPort, is already providing this service. Users can store all of their data in a secure "wallet" that can be used to log in to other apps and make digital transactions.
Last week, Cheddar [reported](https://cheddar.com/videos/facebook-plans-to-create-its-own-cryptocurrency) that Facebook may be building its own cryptocurrency, part of the social media company's exploration of how to use blockchain technology.
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/ethereum-co-founder-joseph-lubin-2).
Amid a backdrop of ongoing tariff uncertainty, more and more gamers are facing price hikes. Microsoft raised recommended retailer pricing for its Xbox consoles and controllers around the world this week. Its Xbox Series S, for example, now starts at $379.99 in the U.S. — up $80 from the $299.99 price tag that debuted in 2020. And its more powerful Xbox Series X will be $599.99 going forward, a $100 jump from its previous $499.99 listing. The tech giant didn’t mention tariffs specifically, but cited wider “market conditions and the rising cost of development.” Beyond the U.S., Microsoft also laid out Xbox price adjustments for Europe, the U.K. and Australia. The company said all other countries would also receive updates locally.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said Thursday that the majority of iPhones sold in the U.S. in the current fiscal quarter will be sourced from India, while iPads and other devices will come from Vietnam as the company works to avoid the impact of President Trump’s tariffs on its business. Apple’s earnings for the first three months of the year topped Wall Street’s expectations thanks to high demand for its iPhones, and the company said tariffs had a limited effect on the fiscal second quarter’s results. Cook added that for the current quarter, assuming things don’t change, Apple expects to see $900 million added to its costs as a result of the tariffs.
Visa is hoping to hand your credit card to an artificial intelligence “agent” that can find and buy clothes, groceries, airplane tickets and other items on your behalf.
Shares of Deliveroo, the food delivery service based in London, are hitting three-year highs on Monday after it received a $3.6 billion proposed takeover offer from DoorDash.
X, the social media platform owned by Trump adviser Elon Musk, is challenging the constitutionality of a Minnesota ban on using deepfakes to influence elections and harm candidates.
The State Bar of California has disclosed that some multiple-choice questions in a problem-plagued bar exam were developed with the aid of artificial intelligence.
