Silicon Valley Tech News Roundup of the Week – May 23rd
China reveals plans to crack down on bitcoin mining
In a meeting chaired by Vice Premier Liu He on Friday, China vowed to crack down on cryptocurrency mining and trading activities. This move comes on the heels of the decision made by three Chinese financial regulators. It prohibits financial institutions from the crypto-related businesses.
State Council’s Financial Stability and Development Committee also stated they plan to shut down illegal activities in the securities market. It is to ensure the stability of forex, bond, and stock markets.
China is known as the global hub of bitcoin mining. As such, these activities attracted the attention of various regulatory bodies.
Tim Cook testifies in Apple vs. Epic suit
Tim Cook took the stand to testify in Apple vs. Epic suit. Epic Games are the makers of Fortnite, one of the most popular games in the world. In their suit, Epic Games claim 30% commission Apple Store takes on all in-game purchases is unfair since Apple does not allow any other app stores to work on iPhones and iPads. That way, companies cannot avoid Apple’s payment methods and commission for iPhone sales. It brings into question the competitiveness of the platform.
In his testimony, Mr. Cook claimed not allowing other app stores helps keep iPhones secure. Likewise, he stated Apple does not have a profit and loss statement for App Store, and he doesn’t know if it makes a profit.
Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers wanted to know about the dissatisfaction of app developers with the platform since a survey revealed 39% of developers are unhappy with the distribution. Mr. Cook claimed dissatisfaction is due to the fact App Store rejects over 40% of new apps weekly.
This Thursday saw the much-anticipated release of BTS’s new single “Butter.” The video aired on Thursday at 12 am ET/1 pm KST and managed to amass 113 million views within 24 hours. This makes “Butter” the video with most YouTube views within 24 hours of release. It is also the biggest YouTube video premiere with 3.9 million viewers watching concurrently. “Butter” hit number 1 on the iTunes chart two hours within the premiere of the video.
BTS broke their record set by the last year’s release “Dynamite,” which got 101 million views the first day of the release.
