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As the gold price reaches all-time high, Conservation X Labs report unveils critical insights on technologies to counter negative impacts of artisanal gold mining

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WASHINGTON, March 19, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Conservation X Labs (CXL) today released a report on the outcomes and lessons learned from its Artisanal Mining Grand Challenges conducted between 2019 and 2022. The Challenges awarded over $1.75 million in prizes and funding to innovators working to address the environmental and social impacts of artisanal mining globally, and of artisanal and small scale gold mining (ASGM) in the Amazon. 

In March 2025, the price of gold reached new all-time highs, nearing $3,000 per ounce and increasing incentives for gold mining. The ASGM sector is responsible for producing nearly a quarter of the world’s gold supply while also contributing to mercury pollution, deforestation, and ecosystem degradation—particularly in biodiversity hotspots across the Amazon, Africa, and Southeast Asia.

Now more than ever, we need new solutions. From supporting pioneering satellite systems that track illegal mining to copper plates that recover mercury from mining waste, the Artisanal Mining Grand Challenges seeded a new generation of solvers and accelerated the development of solutions to transform the ASGM sector.

CXL ran the Challenges with support from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Andes Amazon Fund, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and Microsoft, in partnership with the Center for Amazonian Scientific Innovation (CINCIA) and a consortium of 22 partner organizations.

Key outcomes highlighted include:

Accelerated development of ASGM solutions: Innovations advanced across four categories: actionable and monitoring data, cleaner mining tools, remediation and restoration, and supply chain tools. Of them, 94% successfully increased their technology readiness levels through field-testing, mentorship, and training.Increased global awareness and a new generation of solvers: The Challenges attracted applicants from 39 countries with finalists from 10 countries, with eighteen finalist teams selected to test and refine their solutions in real-world mining environments in Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Suriname, and Peru. 56% of finalist teams had never applied for USAID funding before, opening up new possibilities for USAID procurement and localization. The Challenges and supported innovations have garnered at least 210 press mentions across media outlets to date.Financial leverage: Innovators have raised over $7.1 million in follow-on funding, with every Challenge dollar helping to catalyze $1.93 in additional investment. Exposure through the Challenges helped donors in identifying promising new solutions to support through grantmaking, as well as position innovators to apply for funding from donors and investors. Major supporters such as USAID, the Moore Foundation, and the World Bank have gone on to fund initiatives that strengthen ASGM regulations, promote mercury-free technologies, and increase community engagement.

The report identifies critical success factors for open innovation in this space, including flexible funding, experienced technical partners, local field-testing partners, and opportunities for cross-pollination.

Despite progress, the report notes significant barriers remain for technological solutions supporting responsible ASGM, including fragmented funding landscapes, weak formalization, regulatory gaps, and lack of dedicated revenue streams for solutions in the sector.

As funders and practitioners develop future solutions, it is critical to build the evidence base to allow for collective learning and adaptive management.

“We’ve learned that transforming the artisanal gold mining sector requires innovative technologies in combination with strong local partnerships and enabling conditions,” said Daphne Yin, Director of Impact at CXL and lead author of the report. “The solutions supported through these Challenges demonstrate significant potential. Their ultimate success depends on continued collaboration across sectors and sustained investment to create pathways to scale.”

To address these challenges, CXL and partners propose a network of place-based Innovation Hubs to advance existing solutions to scale, fill critical innovation gaps, and strengthen the ASGM innovation ecosystem. These hubs would facilitate partnerships between communities, governments, research institutions, and the private sector to create integrated solutions spanning the supply chain.

“Place-based innovation hubs can bridge the gap between scientific breakthroughs and real-world implementation by providing sustained support for cleaner mining technologies, traceability systems, and restoration efforts,” said Luis Fernandez of Wake Forest University’s Sabin Center for Environment and Sustainability and CINCIA. “By embedding these hubs within ASGM-affected regions, we can ensure solutions are tested, adapted, and deployed where they are needed most. These hubs will foster collaboration among scientists, technologists, policymakers, and miners—accelerating the adoption of solutions that prevent deforestation and land degradation while promoting more sustainable economic alternatives.”

“The ultimate goal is to demonstrate and scale innovations that can facilitate a transition to environmentally and socially responsible ASGM,” said Marion Adeney, Director of Fire and Amazon Programs at CXL. “We invite funders, the ASGM community of practice, and organizations working in environment, development, and public health to collaborate with us in this effort.”

Notes to editors

The full report is available in English at Gold Reimagined: Outcomes & Lessons from Open Innovation to Transform the Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining Sector, while a Spanish version of its executive summary is available here.

Find out more about the Artisanal Mining Grand Challenge: The Amazon here.

About Conservation X Labs

Conservation X Labs operates at the intersection of biodiversity, technology and innovation to drive groundbreaking solutions to prevent the sixth mass extinction. By deploying cutting-edge technology, convening communities of interdisciplinary brilliance, and leveraging the power of the marketplace, CXL is uniquely positioned to boldly confront the planet’s most pressing challenges. Founded in 2015, CXL has partnered with a wide range of public, social, and private organizations to launch global innovation challenges and has developed award-winning technologies in collaboration with institutions around the world. Learn more at www.conservationxlabs.org.

Media Contact:
Lindsey Garrison
lindsey@conservationxlabs.org 
Conservation X Labs

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Zetrix AI and China Academy of Information and Communications Technology Unveil Know Your Agent (KYA) Service to Bring Trust and Accountability to AI Agents

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Cross-border pilot across the Middle East, Africa, China and ASEAN with results to be submitted for consideration in ongoing discussions on establishing global AI identity and accountability standards

WUZHEN, China, Nov. 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Zetrix AI Berhad (“Zetrix AI”), in collaboration with the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (“CAICT”), announced the launch of a Know Your Agent (KYA) service, to bring greater trust, transparency and accountability to the rapidly expanding world of AI agents.

Announced simultaneously at the World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, China, and the ICT Development Forum 2026 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, the KYA service introduces a framework that enables AI agents to possess verifiable digital identities linked to businesses or personal users.

The KYA service is designed to allow businesses, governments and digital service providers to verify not only the identity of an AI agent, but also who it represents, what it is authorised to do and whether its actions fall within approved limits.

As AI agents increasingly access online services and execute transactions, organisations need a reliable way to distinguish authorised activity from rogue or unauthorised actions. The KYA service addresses this trust gap by combining verifiable credentials with explicit delegated permissions and checks before protected actions proceed.

“AI is entering a new era where intelligent agents will increasingly make decisions, interact with businesses and execute transactions independently. Greater autonomy must come with greater accountability. The question is no longer just what AI can do, but who is responsible for what it does. Through Zetrix AI’s KYA service, we are working towards a future where every AI agent can be identified, every permission can be verified and every action can be traced to an accountable owner. This is fundamental to building the confidence needed for AI to operate at scale across businesses, governments and borders,” said TS Wong, Group Managing Director of Zetrix AI.

The launch includes a planned cross-border pilot involving organisations in the Middle East, Africa, China and ASEAN. The pilot will evaluate how agent identity and authorisation can be recognised across jurisdictions while preserving local control over identity systems and trust decisions. The results of the pilot will then be submitted to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), IEEE and other Standard Development Organizations (SDOs) for consideration in the ongoing work and conversations on establishing global AI identity and accountability standards.

With AI agents becoming more deeply integrated into everyday digital activities, the ability to establish trusted identities and verifiable authority could become an essential foundation for their widespread adoption.

“As Agentic AI assumes greater responsibilities, the need for KYA services will continue to rise. It is our expectation that this joint service with Zetrix AI will help foster a cross-border trusted network enabling interoperable Agentic AI around the world,” said Xiaoyu YOU, Head of International Department, ASTRON network, CAICT.

Through the KYA service, Zetrix AI and CAICT aim to help lay the groundwork for a future in which AI agents can operate with greater independence, while remaining identifiable, accountable and trusted across borders.

Building Trust in an AI-Driven World

AI agents are increasingly being built today to perform tasks that previously required direct human involvement, from managing digital services and accessing business information to facilitating payments and interacting with other AI systems. While these capabilities promise significant improvements in productivity and efficiency, they also introduce new risks.

Without reliable identity verification and clearly defined authority, organisations may struggle to distinguish legitimate AI agents from unauthorised systems, determine the limits of an agent’s permissions or establish accountability when something goes wrong.

Zetrix AI’s KYA service seeks to address these challenges by introducing a verifiable identity and authorisation framework for AI agents, creating a foundation for more secure and responsible autonomous interactions.

Unlike conventional digital identity systems that primarily verify human users, KYA extends identity verification to AI agents themselves, linking each agent to a verified owner and establishing clear boundaries around its activities.

The KYA service builds on W3C Verifiable Credentials and incorporates AvatarLabs’ Agentic Wallet technology to manage digital credentials, verify delegated permissions and maintain evidence of agent activity.

Giving AI Agents an Identity and Clear Boundaries

At the heart of the KYA service is a simple but effective principle that AI agents should be able to act independently, but never without clearly defined authority and accountability. The KYA service will assign each participating AI agent a verifiable digital identity linked to an authenticated individual or organisation.

Owners can establish specific permissions governing what an agent is allowed to do, including which services it can access, what information it can use, who it can transact with and how much it is permitted to spend. For example, a business could authorise an AI agent to process payments to approved suppliers within a specified spending limit, while requiring human approval for transactions exceeding that amount.

Similarly, an AI agent accessing government or enterprise digital services could be required to demonstrate its identity and authorisation before gaining access to protected information.

The KYA service is also designed to ensure that when an AI agent delegates tasks to another agent, the delegated authority cannot exceed the permissions originally granted. Permissions can be revoked, while signed records of agent activity provide an auditable trail to support accountability.

By combining identity verification, permission controls and cryptographic evidence, the KYA service aims to enable organisations to embrace the benefits of autonomous AI without compromising security, privacy or oversight.

Taking AI Trust Beyond Borders

Recognising that AI agents will increasingly operate across international markets, Zetrix AI and CAICT are also planning a cross-border pilot to test how verifiable AI identities and permissions can be recognised across different jurisdictions. The proposed pilot will involve participating organisations from the Middle East, Africa, China and ASEAN, subject to confirmation.

It will explore practical applications in areas such as cross-border trade, digital payments, government services and interactions between autonomous AI agents. A key objective is to demonstrate how AI agents can operate across different national identity ecosystems while respecting local regulatory requirements, data protection considerations and jurisdictional control.

The pilot will evaluate the effectiveness of identity verification, permission enforcement, revocation mechanisms, privacy safeguards and accountability records in real-world cross-border environments. By testing these capabilities across multiple jurisdictions, the initiative seeks to establish practical foundations for greater interoperability and trust in the global AI ecosystem.

Contributing to the Future of International AI Standards

Beyond the immediate launch, the initiative is also intended to contribute to international efforts to develop common approaches to identity, trust and accountability for autonomous AI.

Zetrix AI and CAICT plan to jointly submit findings from the cross-border pilot to the International Telecommunication Union’s Telecommunication Standardization Sector Study Group 17 (ITU-T SG17), through its Focus Group on Trust and Identity for Humans and Agentic AI (FG-TIDA).

The submissions are expected to include implementation findings, cross-border use cases and recommendations relating to agent identity verification, delegated authority and accountability. These contributions are intended to support ongoing international technical discussions and pre-standardisation efforts, subject to the applicable ITU processes.

Organisations interested in participating in the pilot can contact agentid@avatarlabs.si.

About Zetrix AI Berhad

Zetrix AI Berhad (“Zetrix AI”), formerly known as MY E.G. Services Berhad, is leading the way in the deployment of blockchain technology and artificial intelligence in powering the public and private sectors across ASEAN. Headquartered in Malaysia, Zetrix AI started operations in 2000 as a pioneer in the provision of electronic government services and complementary commercial offerings in its home country. Today, it has advanced to the forefront of technology transformation in the broader region, leveraging its Layer-1 blockchain platform Zetrix and embracing the convergence of Web3, AI and robotics to enable optimally-efficient, intelligent and secure cross-border transactions, digital identity interoperability and automation solutions that seamlessly connect people, businesses and governments.

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KuCoin Shares Insights on Career Development and Building a Lasting Competitive Edge at Hong Kong FinTech Week’s Web3 Career Connect

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HONG KONG, Nov. 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — As digital assets converge with traditional finance and AI, talent needs are changing. Employers increasingly value professional depth and cross-disciplinary capabilities, while new technologies and business models are opening career opportunities.

Against this backdrop, KuCoin’s Head of Talent Acquisition Karina Li shared insights on Web3 talent development at Web3 Career Connect, an official community event of Hong Kong FinTech Week x StartmeupHK 2026.

During the panel “Inside Web3: Building Businesses, Teams & Careers,” Karina described how industry priorities are broadening talent needs, combining technology and crypto experience with traditional finance capabilities in risk management, compliance and governance. AI’s integration with Web3 is also changing skill requirements and opening career opportunities to people from diverse professional backgrounds.

She highlighted the growing importance of structured talent development, with practical responsibilities, mentoring and feedback helping graduates develop independent judgement and ownership.

“Building services that users can trust requires sustained investment in people,” Karina said. “Professional depth and continuous learning help young talent contribute as the industry evolves.”

In a separate presentation, “How to Make the Right Career Choices in the Crypto Era,” Karina offered university students and recent graduates interested in Web3 a framework for evaluating industries, companies and roles. She encouraged them to assess long-term demand, business fundamentals and opportunities to build transferable skills, while seeking experienced colleagues, meaningful responsibilities and room to grow.

Her advice was to establish expertise in a core discipline before expanding across functions, using internships and practical projects to explore their strengths.

About KuCoin

Founded in 2017, KuCoin is a leading global crypto platform built on trust and security, serving over 45 million users across 200+ countries and regions. Known for its reliability and user-first approach, the platform builds trust into every layer of the user experience, combining advanced technology, deep liquidity, and strong security safeguards to deliver a seamless trading experience. KuCoin provides access to 1,000+ digital assets through a broad product suite and remains committed to building a secure, transparent, compliant, and user-centric ecosystem for the future of finance, backed by SOC 2 Type II, ISO/IEC 27001:2022, ISO/IEC 27701:2019, ISO 22301:2019 and ISO/IEC 42001:2023 certifications. In recent years, KuCoin has continued to strengthen its global compliance foundation, marked by key milestones including AUSTRAC registration in Australia, a MiCA license in Europe, and regulatory progress in other markets.

Learn more at www.kucoin.com.

Disclaimer

This announcement is for general informational and corporate news reporting purposes only and does not constitute an offer, solicitation, or recommendation to engage in any digital asset transactions or services in Hong Kong. The event described herein was strictly educational and non-commercial in nature.

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NTT Deepens Financial AI Engagement as Official FinTech Partner of Hong Kong FinTech Week 2026

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NTT and Cyberport convene financial services leaders to explore the pathway from AI sandbox to production

HONG KONG, Nov. 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — NTT Com Asia (NTT), part of the NTT Group, a leading global technology company, is an official FinTech Partner of Hong Kong FinTech Week 2026, reinforcing its commitment to Hong Kong’s financial services and technology ecosystem and supporting industry dialogue around the next stage of AI adoption.

As part of its participation, NTT collaborated with Cyberport to host “Beyond the Sandbox: What It Takes to Move Financial AI from Sandbox to Production,” a closed-door leadership luncheon on 3 November 2026. The discussion brought together senior representatives from financial institutions and the wider financial technology ecosystem.

As financial institutions advance AI initiatives from experimentation towards real-world deployment, building on the momentum of the HKMA Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenA.I.) Sandbox, the luncheon examined the practical conditions required to be in place for financial AI to move from experimentation towards production. Conversations addressed governance and compliance, data and security, infrastructure and scalability, and operating responsibility, while providing a forum for leaders to exchange perspectives on the barriers and priorities shaping financial AI adoption.

Through its collaboration with Cyberport and participation in Hong Kong FinTech Week 2026, NTT aims to deepen engagement with the financial services community and contribute its technology and infrastructure perspective to the evolving discussion around production-ready AI in financial services.

About NTT Com Asia

As part of the NTT Group, a leading global technology company, NTT Com Asia is committed to building a smart and sustainable world through innovation. We empower businesses to accelerate their digital and AI journeys by unlocking the full potential of data.

From smart digital infrastructure, technology services to leading-edge AI solutions, we enable organizations to navigate the evolving challenges of a data-centric world.

For more information, please visit: www.ntt.com.hk

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