AI is exploding and news coverage about AI may be exploding even more.There are many other negative and risky things to say about AI, but I will focus on the many positives of AI, especially in healthcare. I wrote about this in Health Attitude: Unraveling and Solving the Complexities of Healthcare and I will continue writing blog posts on various areas where AI will have a major impact. This week’s story was about deepfakes. I expect to see a lot of them as we approach the 2024 campaigns.

President Zelenskyy continuously meets with global leaders from around the world. He has gained great respect. This week he welcomed the President of Slovakia Zuzana Čaputová to Ukraine. His message was clear,

Thank you for supporting our people, our army, and helping to restore Ukraine. We really appreciate it. Every assistance provided to Ukraine, every air defense system provided, every military aircraft, every gun, every unit of armored vehicles with which we protect ourselves from Russian aggression are the saved lives of Ukrainian men and women. I believe that one of the main conclusions from our conversation today should be the conclusion that there cannot be any “defense taboos” in security assistance to Ukraine. Every artificial defense restriction for Ukraine is just another terrorist opportunity for the Russian Federation. And it is absolutely fair to provide our soldiers with everything necessary to protect the most important thing – life. I am grateful to Petr Pavel and Zuzana Čaputová for such important support for our country from your countries, and for our meeting.

Regulatory uncertainty continues to loom large. TaxBit reported that during a tense Congressional hearing this month, House Financial Services Committee Chair Patrick McHenry told the SEC chair, Gary Gensler, “Your approach is driving innovation overseas and endangering American competitiveness.” As they did for privacy regulation, the European lawmakers passed landmark new rules for the crypto industry. U.K. leaders plan to position themselves as a “global hub for crypto asset technology.” Like privacy regulation, the U.S. is behind, but some progress is beginning to appear. The following two examples were described by TaxBit.

• Crypto Accounting Reforms are on the Horizon in the U.S.: Last month, the FASB proposed new rules that establish fair value reporting and promote greater financial transparency for corporations holding crypto-assets. Current rules have been exceptionally difficult to meet, resulting in multiple public companies having to restate financial results due to errors in tracking Bitcoin impairment charges. The newly-proposed rules should resolve a major roadblock to corporate crypto adoption and promote investor trust with improved financial transparency.
• NFTs Potentially Being Taxed as Collectibles in the U.S.: In March, the U.S. Treasury and the IRS issued a notice seeking feedback on the proposed tax treatment of nonfungible tokens (NFTs) as collectibles under the tax code in certain scenarios. This move marks an important step towards clarifying the tax implications of NFTs, which have grown in popularity and significance in the digital asset ecosystem over the past few years. 

April shaping up to be a strong month. The six GAMMAT stocks are up to $8.4 trillion. Meta (Facebook) has had an amazing comeback. With Apple closing at $170, it is approaching $3 trillion market cap. Crypto is facing a lot of heat from the SEC but it is looking strong. Bitcoin approaching $30,000. After a successful blockchain conversion, Ethereum is approaching $2,000. There are now more than 23,000 digital assets with a total market cap of $1.2 trillion. Bitcoin is 47% of it, ETH is 19%, and the rest of the 23,000 is 34%.