5 things to know about Facebook’s cryptocurrency

Frances Haugen called on lawmakers in Brussels to seize the opportunity to create a "global gold standard" as they draft oversight regulation for tech giants.

Facebook became Meta Platforms on October 28 and subsequently announced its grand plans for bringing the virtual and physical worlds together in the metaverse. Since then, tech and entertainment giants have been jumping on the bandwagon and staking their own claims as builders of a new reality. But what exactly is the metaverse and what are the risks associated with it? Peter O'Brien takes a closer look in this week's Tech 24, the first in a new live format.

PM Narendra Modi has framed cryptocurrencies as a domain that needs to be closely policed, warning they present a risk to young people. DW talked to economist Eswar Prasad about how Modi could regulate the sector.

Many Facebook groups based in Mali and Nigeria began sharing a video of a helicopter on December 9, claiming it showed an aircraft delivering weapons to terrorists. In Mali, the posts often accused the French government of operating the helicopter, while posts coming from Nigeria laid the blame on the Nigerian government. In reality, the video is from neither one of these countries – it was filmed in the Central African Republic during a routine supply drop.

Narendra Modi, India’s Prime Minister, has warned younger generations about the threat Bitcoin poses. In his keynote address at The Sydney Dialogue, hosted by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Modi spoke on the technology development India has experienced and how it could help guide the safety of cryptocurrency.

For the first time since inception in 2004, Facebook lost about 5 lakh users on a daily basis during Oct-Dec 2021. That saw the shares of its parent company, Meta, plunge 20 percent on the exchanges, wiping off $200 bn in market capitalisation.

The US Justice Department announced its "largest financial seizure ever" and the arrest of a New York couple for allegedly laundering money stolen through a 2016 hacking.

The price of Bitcoin dipped in early trading on Wednesday, after the US Justice Department announced it had arrested two people and seized Bitcoin worth $3.6 billion that was stolen from the exchange Bitfinex in 2016. The investigation is being closely watched by players in the cryptocurrency sector as to how investigators are tracking criminal activity involving the tokens. Also today, we report on protests in Argentina against the latest agreement with the International Monetary Fund.

Here are a few reasons to pick up a copy of The Guardian on Wednesday⁣.⁣

Facebook and Instagram's parent company, Meta, has been designated as an "extremist" organization by a Russian court. But Meta's WhatsApp is excluded from the ban.

Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on Thursday.⁣

The European Union agreed on new regulations that require social media companies and online marketplaces to remove illegal content. Advertisement targeting minors will also be banned.