Tag Archives: data

Nigerian Court Rules Binance Must Provide Resident Traders’ Data to EFCC

Nigerian Court Rules Binance Must Provide Resident Traders’ Data to EFCC

A Nigerian federal high court has ordered Binance Holdings Limited to provide the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) with comprehensive data and trade history of all Nigerians trading on its platform.

Justice Emeka Nwite gave the interim ruling on February 29, 2024, following an ex-parte motion raised by Ekele Iheanancho, the EFCC’s legal attorney.

Data to Unravel Money Laundering by Nigerians on Binance

According to local news outlet Punch, the court interim order was granted to allow the EFCC to investigate alleged money laundering violations and terrorism financing activities processed by Nigerians on Binance.

 

This means the anti-financial crime agency has the legal backing to request and access Nigerian traders on the exchange and conduct investigations.

Nonetheless, it is worth noting that Justice Nwite’s ruling stemmed from an ex-parte motion filed by the EFCC, which was based on specific sections of the Nigerian constitution.

This includes Sections 6(b), (h), (I), 7(1), (a)(2), and 38 of the EFCC Act, 2004. Other are Section 15 of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022 (as amended) and the inherent powers of the court.

The highlighted legal provisions mandated the report of suspicious transactions to the Nigerian authorities and penalties for non-compliance.

The ex-parte motion filed by the EFCC claimed that Binance trading activities in the Nigeria region feature obvious elements of criminality.

An Affidavit was also filed by Hamma Bello, an operative of the anti-graft agency and member of its Special Investigation Team (SIT) within the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA). This was in support of the motion brought forward by the EFCC.

According to local news media, the filed document stated that the EFCC received intelligence on money laundering and terror financing on Binance. This led to the commencement of a thorough investigation by the EFCC.

Nigeria Trading Volume On Binance Capped at $21.6 Billion for 2023: The Looming Danger

Bello further stated that Binance’s request and compliance to release detailed data on Nigerian traders on Binance is of the utmost public interest and national security.

According to him, “The team uncovered users who have been using the platform for price discovery, confirmation, and market manipulation, which has caused tremendous distortions in the market, resulting in the Naira losing its value against other currencies.”

 

Bello reiterated that the damage caused by the Binance was clearly explained to the representatives of the exchange.

It could be recalled that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, accused Binance of facilitating $26 billion of illicit funds in Nigeria in 2023.

Meanwhile, the crypto exchange has proceeded to release trading volume data by Nigerians for 2023, which is capped at $21.6 billion.

 

This was closely followed by a request to delist the Naira on March 5 to mitigate depreciation.

As the case unfolds, crypto enthusiasts, investors, and experts in Nigeria believe the exchange won’t succumb to Nigeria’s court demands.

This is because an act of meeting the demands of the court would go against the ethos of cryptocurrency and decentralization.

 

Dialogue or Sanction: Will Crypto Win?

Case observers believed the potential exit of Binance from Nigeria looms and could affect the growth of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology in the country.

 

According to Anndy Lian, a blockchain expert, Nigeria had the world’s highest proportion of crypto users.

Between June 2022 and June 2023, it had a 9% year-over-year growth of $56.7 billion in crypto transactions.

However, these figures could drop if the world’s largest crypto exchange by trading volume restricts trading operations in Nigeria.

While the Nigerian government and the EFCC believe this will help the Naira gain more value, citizens have shared concerns about basic blame games and lost priorities.

If a dialogue between both parties does not happen soon, Nigerian traders may have to look for other alternatives for their trading needs.

Source:https://www.economywatch.com/news/nigerian-court-rules-binance-must-provide-resident-traders-data-to-efcc

Anndy Lian is an early blockchain adopter and experienced serial entrepreneur who is known for his work in the government sector. He is a best selling book author- “NFT: From Zero to Hero” and “Blockchain Revolution 2030”.

Currently, he is appointed as the Chief Digital Advisor at Mongolia Productivity Organization, championing national digitization. Prior to his current appointments, he was the Chairman of BigONE Exchange, a global top 30 ranked crypto spot exchange and was also the Advisory Board Member for Hyundai DAC, the blockchain arm of South Korea’s largest car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Group. Lian played a pivotal role as the Blockchain Advisor for Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), an intergovernmental organization committed to improving productivity in the Asia-Pacific region.

An avid supporter of incubating start-ups, Anndy has also been a private investor for the past eight years. With a growth investment mindset, Anndy strategically demonstrates this in the companies he chooses to be involved with. He believes that what he is doing through blockchain technology currently will revolutionise and redefine traditional businesses. He also believes that the blockchain industry has to be “redecentralised”.

www.anndy.com
j j j

Why Blockchain could be the solution for data quality and ethics in AI

Why Blockchain could be the solution for data quality and ethics in AI

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the world in unprecedented ways, offering new possibilities for innovation, efficiency, and social good. It also poses significant challenges and risks, especially when it comes to the quality and ethics of the data used to train and operate AI systems. Data is the fuel that powers AI, and the quality and ethics of data directly affect the accuracy, reliability, and fairness of AI outcomes. Poor data quality can lead to errors, biases, and inefficiencies, while unethical data collection and usage can violate privacy, security, and human rights. Therefore, it is imperative to ensure that the data that feeds AI is trustworthy, transparent, and accountable. This is where blockchain technology can play a vital role.

Blockchain is a distributed ledger that records transactions in a secure, verifiable, and immutable way. It can provide a decentralised and tamper-proof platform for storing and sharing data among multiple parties, without the need for intermediaries or central authorities. It can also enable smart contracts, which are self-executing agreements that can trigger actions based on predefined rules and conditions. Blockchain can enhance the quality and ethics of data in AI in several ways, such as:

  • Authenticity: Blockchain can verify the origin and provenance of data, ensuring that it is authentic and reliable. The ability to track the changes and modifications made to data over time, creating an audit trail that can help detect and prevent fraud, manipulation, and corruption. For example, it can help verify the identity and credentials of data providers, as well as the consent and permissions of data subjects. It can also help validate the quality and accuracy of data sources, as well as the integrity and consistency of data processing and analysis.
  • Augmentation: I believe it can augment the intelligence and capabilities of AI by providing access to large and diverse datasets that can enrich the learning and performance of AI models. It can also facilitate data sharing and collaboration among different stakeholders, such as researchers, developers, regulators, and users, enabling cross-domain and cross-border data exchange and interoperability. The technology can also leverage smart contracts to automate data transactions and operations, such as data acquisition, aggregation, annotation, cleaning, and labeling, as well as data monetisation, compensation, and governance.
  • Automation: As mentioned in my speeches, blockchain helps to automate the ethical and legal aspects of data and AI, such as compliance, accountability, and transparency. It can embed ethical principles and values into the design and development of AI systems, as well as the data that feeds them. It can also enforce ethical rules and regulations through smart contracts, such as data protection, privacy, security, and consent. It can also provide mechanisms for monitoring, auditing, and reporting the impacts and outcomes of data and AI, as well as for resolving disputes and addressing grievances.

Blockchain and AI are complementary technologies that can create synergies and benefits for each other. I have mentioned very briefly in my earlier article on trends to look at in 2024. Blockchain can improve the trustworthiness of data resources that AI models pull from and increase the speed of AI operations by connecting models to automated smart contracts. AI can enhance the efficiency and scalability of blockchain by optimising its performance, security, and usability. Together, they can create a more trustworthy, transparent, and accountable data and AI ecosystem that can foster innovation, value creation, and social good.

However, this combination is not a silver bullet that can solve all the challenges and risks of data and AI. They also have their own limitations and drawbacks, such as technical complexity, performance issues, energy consumption, and governance challenges. Therefore, it is important to adopt a holistic and balanced approach that considers the opportunities and challenges of both technologies, as well as the ethical and social implications of their integration and application.

The potential of this intersection is not only theoretical, but also practical and observable. Recently, several developments have highlighted the emerging synergy between AI and cryptocurrency, which is a subset of blockchain technology that enables digital currencies and payments. For instance, Grayscale Investments, the world’s largest digital asset manager, published a research report that reveals the impressive performance of AI-related crypto assets, which are up 522% in the last year, outperforming the Utilities and Services Crypto Sector (+86%) over the same period. The report also discusses how blockchain and AI can address future AI-related societal issues, such as the rise of deepfakes, concerns around data privacy, and concentration of power.

Another example of the convergence of AI and cryptocurrency is the AI fever that took over the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January 2024, pushing crypto aside as the new cool kid on the block. Some of the world’s biggest companies, such as Intel and Salesforce, showcased their AI products and services, while the AI House hosted events and discussions on various topics related to AI and blockchain, such as verifying content authenticity, reducing model bias, and improving access and competition within AI development. The AI dominance at Davos reflects the rapid rise in AI investments and interest last year, sparked by the explosion of popularity of ChatGPT, the AI chatbot developed by OpenAI, and launched at the end of 2022. ChatGPT is an AI system that can generate natural language responses to any text input, using a large dataset of internet conversations. It has been widely praised for its ability to produce coherent, engaging, and sometimes humorous dialogues, as well as for its potential applications in various domains, such as education, entertainment, and customer service.

In my opinion, it also raises some ethical and technical challenges, such as the risk of generating harmful or misleading content, the lack of transparency and accountability of its algorithms, and the difficulty of verifying and controlling its data sources. This is where blockchain technology can come in handy, as it can provide solutions for ensuring the quality and ethics of the data and AI. For instance, blockchain can help verify the origin and validity of the data used to train and operate ChatGPT, as well as the consent and preferences of the users and data subjects. Blockchain can also help track and audit the changes and outcomes of its interactions, as well as enforce ethical rules and regulations through smart contracts. Blockchain can also help augment and automate ChatGPT’s capabilities, by providing access to more diverse and reliable data sources, facilitating data sharing and collaboration, and enabling data monetisation and governance.

In conclusion, blockchain technology can offer a valuable solution for enhancing the quality and ethics of data and AI, as well as for creating synergies and benefits with AI and cryptocurrency. This intersection is not only theoretical, but also practical and observable, as evidenced by the recent developments in the field, such as Grayscale’s new study and the AI fever at Davos. These developments indicate a transformative phase where AI and cryptocurrency coalesce, fostering a landscape ripe for innovation and societal benefit.

This union is not only redefining blockchain’s utility, but also addressing critical challenges in AI governance and development. However, this union also requires a careful and balanced approach that considers the opportunities and challenges of both technologies, as well as the ethical and social implications of their integration and application.

 

 

 

Source: https://ciosea.economictimes.indiatimes.com/blog/why-blockchain-could-be-the-solution-for-data-quality-and-ethics-in-ai/107618432

 

Anndy Lian is an early blockchain adopter and experienced serial entrepreneur who is known for his work in the government sector. He is a best selling book author- “NFT: From Zero to Hero” and “Blockchain Revolution 2030”.

Currently, he is appointed as the Chief Digital Advisor at Mongolia Productivity Organization, championing national digitization. Prior to his current appointments, he was the Chairman of BigONE Exchange, a global top 30 ranked crypto spot exchange and was also the Advisory Board Member for Hyundai DAC, the blockchain arm of South Korea’s largest car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Group. Lian played a pivotal role as the Blockchain Advisor for Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), an intergovernmental organization committed to improving productivity in the Asia-Pacific region.

An avid supporter of incubating start-ups, Anndy has also been a private investor for the past eight years. With a growth investment mindset, Anndy strategically demonstrates this in the companies he chooses to be involved with. He believes that what he is doing through blockchain technology currently will revolutionise and redefine traditional businesses. He also believes that the blockchain industry has to be “redecentralised”.

www.anndy.com
j j j

Binance Team Rebuffs Any KYC Data Leaks On Dark Web

Binance Team Rebuffs Any KYC Data Leaks On Dark Web

In the latest development, a github hack leak revealed that Binance’s users’ data might be facing some threats with a large amount of KYC information now available on the dark web platforms. This led to a major buzz in the market forcing the Binance team to respond.

Binance Security Team Assures Saftey

In response to recent concerns raised by users, Binance’s security team has diligently evaluated the situation, as is customary for all potential threats. The team has conclusively confirmed that there is no indication of a leak from Binance systems, and user accounts remain secure.

Binance assures its users that their accounts are safeguarded against various potential risks. The exchange has incorporated multi-layered security measures in place, including Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), biometrics, and authenticators.

Binance extends its appreciation to users who bring potential bugs and security issues to their attention. The proactive reporting also allows the platform to thoroughly investigate any concerns and, where necessary, take prompt action to enhance user protection. Furthermore, as the cryptocurrency landscape evolves, Binance said that it remains committed to maintaining the highest standards of security for its user base.

Last week, Binance also initiated quick action after freezing $4.2 million worth of XRP, stolen from co-founder Chris Larsen’s account. Binance CEO Richard Teng has affirmed his support for Ripple’s investigations and commitment to closely monitoring the external wallets of the exploiter.

Addressing the Rising Crypto Scams

Last week, Binance raised alarms about a troubling resurgence in cryptocurrency scams exploiting the current market conditions. Notably, scammers are exploiting the identities of industry figures such as Yi He, Binance’s co-founder, and Anndy Lian, a prominent blockchain author.

Impersonators have created deceptive LinkedIn profiles using Yi He’s identity to approach potential victims, offering token listings on Binance in exchange for significant payments. Yi He also emphasized her minimal involvement with LinkedIn and non-participation in listing discussions, urging caution against false claims of insider connections.

Additionally, Anndy Lian disclosed WhatsApp scams where fraudsters impersonate Binance staff, enticing individuals to join cryptocurrency groups with false promises of passive income.

 

Source: https://coingape.com/binance-team-rebuffs-any-kyc-data-leaks-on-dark-web/?utm_source=sidebartabnews

Anndy Lian is an early blockchain adopter and experienced serial entrepreneur who is known for his work in the government sector. He is a best selling book author- “NFT: From Zero to Hero” and “Blockchain Revolution 2030”.

Currently, he is appointed as the Chief Digital Advisor at Mongolia Productivity Organization, championing national digitization. Prior to his current appointments, he was the Chairman of BigONE Exchange, a global top 30 ranked crypto spot exchange and was also the Advisory Board Member for Hyundai DAC, the blockchain arm of South Korea’s largest car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Group. Lian played a pivotal role as the Blockchain Advisor for Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), an intergovernmental organization committed to improving productivity in the Asia-Pacific region.

An avid supporter of incubating start-ups, Anndy has also been a private investor for the past eight years. With a growth investment mindset, Anndy strategically demonstrates this in the companies he chooses to be involved with. He believes that what he is doing through blockchain technology currently will revolutionise and redefine traditional businesses. He also believes that the blockchain industry has to be “redecentralised”.

www.anndy.com
j j j