Latest / Connecting the Dots / SoftBank Bets Big on AI, Digital Yuan Evolves, and a Major Data Breach

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SoftBank Bets Big on AI, Digital Yuan Evolves, and a Major Data Breach · Connecting the Dots

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  Today's tech news moves fast, but understanding
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  it shouldn't be hard. That's why Snarful Solutions
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  Group brings you Connecting the Dots, where we
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  break down what's happening in tech and why it
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  matters to you. Now, let's dive in with your
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  hosts. Back to Connecting the Dots. I'm Alex.
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  And I'm Morgan. Good morning. And a very happy
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  Monday to you. It is December 29th, 2025, and
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  we are definitely charging toward the new year.
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  We absolutely are. But it seems the tech world
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  is not taking any kind of holiday break. No,
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  not at all. Our sources today are just packed
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  with these huge shifts. We're talking capital,
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  currency, and of course, consumer risk. The big
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  day. But before we get to all that, let's quickly
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  set the stage a little bit about the world outside
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  our doors and on Wall Street. Yeah, so on the
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  weather front, if you're in the eastern half
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  of the country, you're going to want to bundle
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  up. There's an intense winter storm moving through
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  the upper Midwest and the Great Lakes. Lizard
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  conditions, right? Lizard conditions and a big
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  Arctic front that's dropping temperatures pretty
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  much everywhere in the eastern U .S. So expect
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  sharply colder air and some of that lake effect
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  snow around Erie and Ontario straight through
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  New Year's. And here at home in Sacramento, our
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  phones are just buzzing with multiple hazards
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  and effect alerts. So yeah, a good day to be
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  inside. A very good day to be inside connecting
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  these dots. So looking at the markets from Monday,
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  we saw a bit of a pullback, maybe some end of
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  year profit taking. I think that's a good read.
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  The Dow dipped about four tenths of a percent.
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  And the S &P 500 was down about half a percent.
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  But the weekly view is still positive. Exactly.
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  If you zoom out just a little, both are holding
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  onto weekly gains. So it feels like stability
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  is still the main story despite the daily cooling.
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  Bitcoin had a slightly rougher day. It was down
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  just under 0 .7 % and that does dip it into the
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  negative for the week. Yeah, nothing catastrophic,
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  but definitely feels like part of that, you know,
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  pre -New Year cooling off a little bit of holiday
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  noise. Probably not a major structural worry
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  heading into 2026. Before we jump into our top
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  three tech stories, let's thank our first sponsor.
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  This analysis is brought to you by Old Glory.
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  And if you're still looking for any of those
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  at oldglory .com. All right, let's unpack our
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  stories for today. We have three that really
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  deal with the massive scale of digitalization.
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  We do. We're going from the physical foundation
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  of AI to how a state digitizes its own currency,
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  and then finally to the risks that come with
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  that shift. So we're starting with capital, a
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  huge. $4 billion bet on artificial intelligence.
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  That's right. We're talking about SoftBank Group
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  Core, the Japanese tech and investment giant.
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  They've just announced they're acquiring the
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  NYSE listed private equity firm, Digital Bridge
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  Group Inc. For $4 billion in cash. Yeah. And
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  that includes Assuming their debt it does and
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  this isn't just you know typical M &A chatter.
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  This is a big strategy play So why is that? I
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  mean digital bridge is all about digital infrastructure
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  right data centers fiber cell towers So why is
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  soft think? Spending this much money on the physical
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  plumbing of the internet right now Because that
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  physical plumbing is the only thing that can
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  actually fuel the AI boom I mean you can have
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  the most brilliant AI software in the world,
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  but it's worthless if you can't run it It's worthless
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  without the massive data centers, the cooling,
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  the sheer power capacity to run those models.
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  SoftBank is strategically buying the picks and
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  shovels, not the gold. And what's really fascinating
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  here is the valuation debate. Our sources are
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  highlighting this. Digital Bridge manages 108
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  billion in assets. But its stock has been wobbly.
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  Very wobbly. The market cap recently dipped below
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  $3 billion. There was all this talk about a potential
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  AI bubble popping. So SoftBank just swooped in
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  and paid a billion dollar premium. That's where
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  the analysis gets so interesting. They paid $4
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  billion, which is a huge premium over the market
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  price. And what that reflects is this intense
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  institutional conviction that these data center
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  assets are just undervalued by the public market.
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  So they think Wall Street is wrong. They do.
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  In fact, JPMorgan analysts had previously set
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  a $28 per share target, which would be about
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  a $5 billion valuation. They called it an attractive
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  takeout price. So even at $4 billion, SoftBank
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  feels like they're getting a deal. They're being
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  opportunistic, not over king. Right. And you
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  have to remember who we're talking about. SoftBank's
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  CEO, Masayoshi Son, I mean, $4 billion is almost
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  a small investment in his grand scheme. Isn't
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  he the one behind that $500 billion Stargate
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  data center project with Sam Altman and Larry
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  Ellison from earlier this year? The very same.
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  And that context is absolutely key here. This
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  $4 billion Digital Bridge deal isn't the whole
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  vision, it's an acceleration engine. An engine,
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  how so? Digital Bridge already has $14 billion
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  of capital that's committed and... in -flight
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  across the AI ecosystem for 2025. So Softbank
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  is basically just buying a massive ready -to
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  -go pipeline of data center infrastructure. A
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  proven one, yes. It's a huge shortcut. It means
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  that for anyone watching this space, the idea
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  that AI demand might be peaking is probably wrong.
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  Very wrong. Softbank, with its history of making
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  these colossal bets, is showing that institutional
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  capital is still pouring billions into the foundations
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  of AI. Because those foundations are just non
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  -negotiable for the next decade of tech. It's
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  a compelling argument that the physical buildout
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  is really only just beginning. I think so. So
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  from institutional capital betting on infrastructure,
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  let's pivot to how states are trying to control
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  the financial flow on that new infrastructure.
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  We're going to China. and their central bank
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  digital currency. Right. This is a major policy
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  shift coming from the People's Bank of China,
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  the PBOC, and it's all about their digital Iran,
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  the ECNY. And for anyone who's not familiar,
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  CBDC is basically a digitized form of a country's
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  official currency issued and backed by the central
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  bank itself. Exactly. And the big news here,
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  which is set to take effect January 1st, 2026,
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  is that commercial banks offering these ECNY
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  wallets will now be mandated to pay interest
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  to users. It's a complete game changer. It fundamentally
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  alters what the ECNY is. The PPOC is officially
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  moving it from what they call digital cash to
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  what they are now calling a digital deposit currency.
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  And this whole transition is really about boosting
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  adoption. Which has been a bit of a struggle,
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  right? Even with the pilot programs running since
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  2019, it's had a hard time competing with giants
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  like Alipay and WeChat Pay. A very hard time.
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  But if you suddenly start offering interest,
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  you look a lot more attractive than a zero interest
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  wallet from a tech company. But the changes go
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  deeper than just interest rates, don't they?
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  Oh, absolutely. This whole digital RMB 2 .0,
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  as they're calling it, means it's being formally
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  integrated into the banking system. There are
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  two huge regulatory steps here. OK, what are
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  they? First, ECNY balances will now be protected
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  under China's deposit insurance system, just
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  like a regular bank account. Wow. That's a huge
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  stamp of legitimacy, a big security blanket for
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  the average person. It is. And second, the PBOC
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  is using reserve requirements to cement its place.
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  Balances will now be factored into commercial
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  bank reserve calculations, and any non -bank
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  payment providers will face 100 % reserve requirements.
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  So the state is really flexing its regulatory
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  muscle to make sure this currency succeeds. They
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  are. And when you connect this to the bigger
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  picture, the ECNY is already a global player.
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  By November of 2025, it had processed over 3
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  .48 billion transactions. Value to what? $2 .38
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  trillion. And it's also the main currency used
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  on Enbridge, which is that platform for instant
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  cross -border payments between central banks.
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  So China is using deposit insurance and interest
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  payments to compete at home, but also to make
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  their state -backed digital currency the most
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  robust and attractive option for growing their
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  financial influence abroad. That's the takeaway.
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  It's a powerful move to formalize their digital
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  financial control. It shows that when adoption
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  lags, the state can just move the regulatory
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  goalposts. Which brings us to our third and final
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  story, the darker side of all this digital acceleration.
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  Right, the vulnerability of our data. And this
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  is illustrated by the largest data breach in
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  South Korean history affecting the retailer,
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  QPeng. Coupang, which is often called the Amazon
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  of South Korea. This breach affected 33 .7 million
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  customer accounts. An absolutely staggering number,
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  a massive slice of the entire population. The
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  scale alone is deeply concerning. So let's get
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  into the damage report. What exactly was compromised
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  and what was kept secure? Well, the good news,
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  if there is any, is that the most critical financial
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  data was safe. So credit card numbers, payment
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  info. That's right. Credit cards, payment information,
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  and maybe most importantly, login credentials
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  and passwords were not exposed, so that does
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  mitigate a lot of the immediate financial risk.
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  Okay. But the bad news? The bad news is what
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  they did get. And it's basically the entire toolkit
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  for identity theft and fraud, full names, phone
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  numbers, email addresses, physical mailing addresses,
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  and detailed order information. Oof. The PII.
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  Personally Identifying Information. All of it.
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  And here's the part that really raises the alarm
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  bells. The timeline. Right. The company only
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  found out about the breach on November 18th.
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  Correct. But the breach itself had allegedly
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  been ongoing since June 24th. So that's almost
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  a five -month window. A nearly five -month exposure
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  window where data was just flowing out completely
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  unnoticed. In cybersecurity terms, that is an
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  eternity. And the alleged perpetrator. Reports
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  are pointing to a former Chinese employee. a
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  former employee using unrevoked access tokens,
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  which the police are now investigating. And this
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  whole thing comes after other massive breaches
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  in South Korea this year, like the one that hit
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  SK Telecom's 27 million subscribers. It really
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  suggests a major national issue with internal
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  monitoring and access control. I'd say so. The
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  big takeaway for all of us, for anyone who shops
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  online, is the danger of this PII even by itself.
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  Even without credit cards, this data is gold
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  for phishing scams. Highly targeted phishing,
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  yeah. I mean, imagine you get a text message
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  that says, your recent order of a blue coffee
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  maker from Coupang scheduled for delivery to
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  123 Main Street has been delayed. Click here
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  to confirm. It's hyper specific. That combination
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  of your real name, your real address, your actual
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  order history, it makes the scam look completely
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  legitimate. You're exponentially more likely
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  to click. The CEO has apologized, but the immediate
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  takeaway for consumers has to be vigilance. You
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  have to assume your personal info is now public.
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  Exactly. Scrutinize every single text, email,
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  or call pretending to be from Coupang or any
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  other delivery service, especially now during
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  the holiday return season. It's prime time for
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  this kind of fraud. That is some very sound advice.
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  Before we move on to our final thoughts, we just
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  at skone .com. So let's quickly recap the three
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  major forces we saw driving the world of tech
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  today. First up, Softbank's $4 billion acquisition
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  of Digital Bridge. It's proof that institutional
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  capital is still betting heavily on the physical
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  foundations of AI, believing that infrastructure
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  boom has a long, long way to run. Second, China
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  is using its regulatory power—we're talking mandatory
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  interest and deposit insurance—to formalize its
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  digital yuan as a superior digital deposit currency.
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  That solidifies its status at home and abroad.
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  And third, that massive coupang breach. It's
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  a critical reminder of the risk of all this accumulated
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  PII and that even without passwords, your data
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  provides powerful tools for highly convincing
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  targeted fraud. All three of these stories really
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  show that this digital acceleration is becoming
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  highly formalized. It is in corporate strategy,
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  in state policy, and unfortunately in consumer
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  risk exposure. The systems are maturing. They're
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  becoming fully integrated into our financial
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  and commerce infrastructure. And when you look
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  at SoftBank pouring billions into the physical
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  hardware and China formally integrating the ECNY
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  into its central banking reserve system. That
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  whole push is toward the complete tokenization
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  of value. Which brings us to our final provocative
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  thought for you to mull over. With state central
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  banks showing the path toward fully tokenized
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  currency systems, how long until we see a major
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  global financial institution, one that's outside
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  of state, control, fully tokenize its core deposit
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  system? That might just be the ultimate question
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  for the financial landscape of 2026. A great
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  place to leave you thinking. Absolutely. Thank
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  you for connecting the dots with us today. We
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  appreciate you listening. We're here to help
• 13:33
  its narvel, so reach out on our website if you
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  have any more questions. That's a wrap on today's
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  top stories. Remember, tech doesn't have to be
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  complicated, and we're here to help connect the
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  dots. If you've got questions or want to learn
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  more, visit us at snarful .com. Thanks for listening,
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  and we'll catch you next time.