Big Banks Are Competing With Retail, Tech And Telecom Companies Now Operating Like Banks

Booting up the long-awaited Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl while in Russia when the game launches on the 20th of November could be set to land you in a whole lot of trouble. A report on VGC quotes a Russian Government official who says that a Stalker 2 ban is being considered on the game as it could “justify terrorism”. Quite how and why is less clear, other than the fact the game is being made by Kyiv studio GSC Game World and the Russians are currently in the middle of a “special military operation” against Ukraine. Stalker 2 already will not be sold in Russia, but it can currently be pre-purchased and ordered on digital storefronts such as Steam and a VPN is possible. State Duma Deputy Anton Gorelki told Russian state-run news agency RIA Novosti that if the game is considered to have extremist or anti-Russian sentiment, then tough measures could be taken as the game would be considered to “justify terrorism”. RIA Novosti quoted Gorelki as saying, “If illegal information is found in the game (extremism, justification of terrorism, incitement to ethnic hatred, and so on), then severe measures will be taken for its dissemination, and violators will be held accountable.” Even more chillingly legal advisor Mikhail Mushailev has since warned that buying the game and playing it via VPN could be interpreted as financially supporting a “hostile force” something which Russian law defines as terrorism. Stalker 2’s support of Ukraine’s armed forces was always likely to get it in hot water in Russia but the threat of simply playing it potentially leading to serious sanctions will not be lost on many potential gamers who have already had to wait an extra two years for the game’s release.

Sol Strategies (CSE: HODL) (OTC Pink: CYFRF), a Solana-focused publicly traded holding company, has completed the acquisition of four validators from Cogent Crypto. Known for achieving a 99% slot success rate, Cogent’s validators stand out among the top performers in the Solana ecosystem, surpassing industry benchmarks like Jupiter’s 98% success rate. This acquisition brings Sol Strategies’ total delegated SOL to 948,804 (valued at CAD $285.87M / USD $203.66M), marking a 699,012 SOL increase.

Xbox head honcho Phil Spencer has promised that fans of the brand will have more consoles and “other devices” going forward, but that any technical refresh of the existing Xbox line-up is unlikely. Speaking to Rolling Stone after the company launched its new “This is an Xbox” ad campaign – a slightly bizarre piece of work showing various devices such as a Meta Quest 3, a Steam Deck, and a laptop alongside the slogan, “This is an Xbox” (it even included a cat litter tray with the words, ‘This is a cat box’), Spencer said, “We’ll definitely do more consoles in the future and other devices” While the “other devices” are slightly mysterious, rumors have been around for a good while that Microsoft would really like to get itself into the handheld gaming market, but as yet they are nothing more than hopeful industry murmurs, although Spencer himself has been quoted that, “the expectation is that we would do something” More interesting perhaps was the seeming confirmation that we won’t be seeing any iterations of this particular Xbox line, like we have seen with the PS5 Pro – which to be fair, hasn’t exactly set the world alight. Spencer told Rolling Stone, “ We think about hardware that can create unique value for our players or creators on our platform.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is gearing up to investigate Microsoft’s cloud computing business for anti-competitive practices. The FTC has not yet made any formal requests for documents or other information from the tech giant. One of the key allegations against Microsoft is that the company imposes punitive licensing terms on its productivity software (such as Microsoft Office), thereby preventing customers from moving to competitor’s platforms, sources told the Financial Times on Thursday (November 14). Specific examples of this behavior include allegedly making Office 365 incompatible with other software, increasing the subscription fees for users leaving the platform, and charging exit fees to users who wish to leave. President-elect Donald Trump has indicated his plans to place cryptocurrency-friendly candidates in the SEC.

The meme coin market continues to heat up, with Pepe coin dominating discussions following its remarkable rally and unexpected listing on Coinbase. This development has sparked widespread excitement in the crypto community, propelling Pepe to astonishing growth levels that even seasoned investors couldn’t have predicted. Over the past week alone, Pepe has surged by 90%, climbed 97% in the last month, and recently achieved a new all-time high, solidifying its status as one of the most dynamic tokens in the market. For those who feel they missed out on Pepe coin’s rise, a new opportunity is emerging with Pepe Unchained, which is currently in its presale. As the latest addition to the Pepe ecosystem, this Layer 2 blockchain project could potentially redefine the meme coin landscape.