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Happy Friday!

Zuck’s new Threads app…

It feels like that awkward cousin at family gatherings.

In today’s Morning Mashup:

Read time: 3 minutes

💳 Mastercard's AI: The Billion-Dollar Fraud Buster

Mastercard is rolling up its sleeves and stepping into the ring to take on fraud with a shiny, new AI-powered gadget.

It's called the Consumer Fraud Risk tool, and it's set to be the Sherlock Holmes of the banking world.

It's designed to detect and deflect scams involving real-time payments, and it's been trained using years of transaction data from banks in the UK. It's like a hound dog on a mission, sniffing out whether someone's trying to funnel money into an account with a shady history of authorized push payment scams.

Now, let me break down these authorized push payment scams, or APP scams as they are commonly referred to.

Picture this, a fraudster tricks you into authorizing a payment by masquerading as a legit business or individual. Once you hit that 'authorize payment' button, it's game over. They can then grab the money right from your account.

So, how does Mastercard's new tool fit into all this?

It's a bit like having a top-tier bodyguard for your bank account. It uses AI to weigh up a bunch of different factors, like the payer's account history, the payee's account history, and the payment amount. If it gets a whiff of something fishy, it rings the alarm bells at the bank, halting the payment in its tracks.

Nine UK banks have already welcomed this AI sleuth into their ranks, and Mastercard plans to take it worldwide. They're confident this tool can potentially save us billions each year.

Benefits?

It helps banks spot and stop fraud like a pro, keeps our pockets safe from financial losses, and cuts the cost of fraud for both banks and us, the consumers.

The tech is still a work in progress, but it's already showing huge potential to become a game-changer in our fight against fraud.

💰 Bitcoin's Future: The Impact of Miners' June Sell-Off

There has been some noise about the BTC miners making some serious moves in June.

According to the techies over at Glassnode, these miners traded in their pickaxes for cash and dumped more than 4,000 BTC on exchanges. The last time we saw this level of sell-off action was back in March 2019.

So why were miners so eager to part ways with their hard-earned BTC?

A couple of theories are floating around.

Some say they were just riding the wave of the June price surge, cashing in while the getting was good. On the other hand, rumors abound that the recent dip in BTC's value had some miners in a pinch, triggering the sale.

The big three of the mining world - Marathon Digital, Cleanspark, and Hut 8 - didn't help quell these rumors either. They offloaded over 70% of their mined BTC during this period.

And to thicken the plot, this massive miner sell-off aligns curiously with a notable drop in Bitcoin's network hash rate, hinting at miners potentially shutting down operations.

Now, as for what this means for Bitcoin's future?

The short term might see some turbulence, sure, but it's like I always say, the long-term play.

🐦 Threads vs Twitter

The new app, Threads.

This little upstart is designed to help Instagram users slide into more private conversations with their followers.

It's a bit like Twitter with its bite-sized messages but adds a touch of exclusivity. What's more, Threads is cozying up to Instagram's 1 billion user base, which could be its secret weapon in this tech showdown.

But we're not saying Twitter's down for the count.

They've got Elon Musk in their corner, and that guy knows a thing or two about rockets and revivals.

Plus, let's not forget those die-hard Twitter fans - you know, the ones who would rather give up their morning coffee than their daily tweets.

Threads has a long way to go before it can charm this crowd, and it doesn't quite have all the bells and whistles that Twitter does.

Do you know what I find intriguing?

The timing of it all.

Just as Musk is shaking things up at Twitter, Meta decides to launch Threads. Makes you wonder if they're going for a one-two punch, marketing Threads as the cozier, more personal alternative to Twitter's public forum.

And here's a little food for thought - will the influencer crowd jump ship and head to Threads?

They've got the power to swing this battle.

In the end, it's a question of who can pack the bigger punch - Threads with its promise of privacy and massive Instagram user base, or Twitter with its loyal followers and a broader range of features.

Can Threads rope in enough users and outdo Twitter's functionality?

I do not think so but only time will tell.

🧰 Productivity Arsenal

• Respeecher - Create speech that's indistinguishable from the original speaker (Link)

• Lunacy - Keep your flow with AI tools and built-in graphics (Link)

• Webbotify - Chatgpt powered chatbot on your website in just 3 clicks (Link)

• Keyframes Studio - All-in-one platform for creating, editing, and repurposing videos (Link)

• Dectopus AI - Your AI-powered presentation generator (Link) *

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🐦 Tweet of the day

What the Zuck is going on

That’s all for now!

If you have any interesting projects or ideas please reach out to us by responding to this email or by sending us a DM on Twitter: @DerikVasquez & @MorningMillionaire

As always, thank you for your time, and see you soon.