1. Brazil’s Central Bank Expands Drex CBDC Pilot Program
Running from October 14 to November 29, the Central Bank of Brazil is inviting submissions for the second round of its Drex central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot program. This phase seeks innovative business cases, particularly those suitable for smart contract implementation. Although the exact launch date for Drex remains unclear, project coordinator Fábio Araújo has indicated that live testing might commence following this trial.
The central bank plans to review an unlimited number of proposals, emphasizing privacy and compliance in line with Brazil’s General Data Protection Law. So far, this pilot phase has successfully identified 13 use cases, including international trade financing and foreign currency market optimizations. The integration of strong privacy solutions will be crucial for the broader adoption of Drex, as it aims to replace Brazil’s current real-time gross settlement system.
2. Australia Launches Its First Ethereum ETF
On October 15, Australia marked a significant milestone by launching its first exchange-traded fund (ETF) directly linked to Ethereum (ETH). The Monochrome Ethereum ETF (IETF), launched on the Cboe Australia platform, quickly garnered $176,600 in assets on its first day. This ETF stands out for offering dual access, allowing investors to trade in either cash or Ethereum, with a management fee of just 0.50%.
The introduction of this ETF is a noteworthy advancement in Australia’s crypto ETF market, following the launch of Monochrome’s Bitcoin ETF earlier this year. As more investors show interest in regulated crypto investment products, the market is witnessing a shift toward organized and secure options, mirroring trends seen in other countries like the U.S.
3. Italy Proposes Major Increase in Bitcoin Capital Gains Tax
In a bid to enhance public services and support economic development, Italy has proposed raising the capital gains tax on Bitcoin from 26% to 42% as part of its 2025 budget plan. This announcement, made by Deputy Economy Minister Maurizio Leo on October 16, reflects a shift in Italy’s tax policy towards digital assets.
Additionally, the proposed budget aims to remove income thresholds for the Digital Services Tax, broadening its application to include more businesses. The tax changes are part of a larger strategy to generate approximately 3.5 billion euros from financial institutions to support public projects, including healthcare initiatives. This proposal represents a significant move in Italy’s approach to managing the growing acceptance of cryptocurrencies within its economic framework.
4. Nvidia Unveils New AI Model Surpassing GPT-4o and Claude-3
On October 15, Nvidia made headlines with the stealthy introduction of its latest AI model, Llama-3.1-Nemotron-70B-Instruct, which reportedly outperforms leading rivals like OpenAI’s GPT-4o and Anthropic’s Claude-3. This model, based on Meta’s Llama-3.1 framework, integrates Nvidia’s improvements to deliver a more efficient and user-friendly tool, designed to help developers generate human-like responses for various tasks, including coding support.
Despite having 70 billion parameters, the Llama-3.1-Nemotron model is designed to provide high performance without the processing burden of larger models. It has scored impressively on multiple evaluation metrics, establishing itself as a formidable contender in the competitive AI landscape. Nvidia’s focus on open-source models signals a shift towards accessible AI technologies that cater to a wide range of applications across industries.
