Brevan Howard Asset Management

Disrupting the traditional financial system using blockchain

Decentralized Finance (DeFi)

0x Labs provides decentralized exchange infrastructure across several major blockchains. This enables enterprises to integrate exchange functionality into their existing applications and create markets for tokenized assets, including cryptocurrencies, DeFi tokens, and NFTs. It currently supports seven major blockchains, including Ethereum, Polygon, Fantom, Avalanche, Optimism, BNB Chain, and Celo.Additionally, the platform also provides Matcha (a decentralized exchange aggregator that enables users to search for the best prices on tokens) and the 0x API (a solution for supplying multi-chain aggregated liquidity). As of April 2024, the company’s Matcha solution offered users access to over 5 million tokens and liquidity from over 130 sources. The company has staff across the globe and has also made technical contributions to several Ethereum standards, including the NFT token standard (ERC721).In April 2023, the company launched a suite of new application programming interfaces (API) that provides crypto developers with tools to build DeFi products. These include Swap API, which connects developers to over 100 exchanges, and Tx Relay API, which enables trades without gas fees.Key customers and partnershipsAs of April 2024, 0x served several DeFi projects, including MetaMask, Coinbase Wallet and Coinbase NFT, Polygon Wallet, Brave, Matcha, dYdX, and Zapper. 0x had also enabled over USD 141 billion in tokenized value to flow across 66 million trades and over 7 million wallets.Funding and financialsIn April 2022, 0x Labs raised USD 70 million in Series B funding led by Greylock. The funds were earmarked to develop the company’s product and service offerings by integrating new chains (including non-Ethereum virtual machine ones such as Solana), investing in cross-chain functionality, and expanding support for NFT swaps and integrators.

Morpho Labs is an open-source, decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) that develops an on-chain peer-to-peer layer that enables users to borrow and lend cryptocurrencies. The platform combines P2P lending with the liquidity of lending pools in the form of structured vaults. This enables users to receive an improved APY while maintaining the pool’s flexibility. These structured vaults are designed and curated by several institutional risk managers. It's also based on a peer-to-peer (P2P) exchange model built on lending protocols such as Aave and Compound.&nbsp;Moreover, the protocol also enables developers and institutions to build decentralized applications and vaults on top of its base layer named Morpho Blue and integrate it into their own risk and compliance management systems.Key customers and partnershipsIn February 2024, Morpho announced that it had selected Gauntlet, a blockchain research firm, to design and manage risk for its lending vaults. As of May 2024, the company’s institutional risk managers included Re7 Capital, Steakhouse, and B.Protocol (in addition to Gauntlet).&nbsp;Funding and financials In July 2022, Morpho Labs <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/11569">raised USD 18 million</a> in a funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz to further develop its product. The company also went on to receive an undisclosed investment from Pantera Capital in February 2024.

Bringing the benefits of blockchain to the enterprise

Enterprise Blockchain Solutions

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 TRM Labs offers a suite of products for financial and governmental institutions that cater to different aspects of financial security and crime prevention. These include TRM Transaction Monitoring, an automated and risk-based transaction monitoring solution for crypto assets; TRM Know-Your-VASP (virtual asset service providers), a tool to measure and monitor the risk of cryptocurrency businesses; TRM Forensics, a product to trace the flow of funds and link suspicious activity to real-world entities; and TRM Tactical, a tool to collect, investigate, and triage blockchain data on the frontline​​. Additionally, the company provides training through TRM Academy, offering courses for certified investigators, crypto fundamentals, crypto-compliance specialists, and advanced crypto investigators​​.
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 TRM Labs announced a partnership with K2 Integrity in November 2022, aiming to deliver a combined solution to the public and private sectors, enhancing connectivity between traditional finance, virtual asset service providers, and public sector agencies. The collaboration supported financial institutions, governments, regulators, virtual asset service providers, Web3 startups, NFT marketplaces, DeFi platforms, and other emerging service providers in proactively managing the risks of virtual assets and their related technologies​​.
 
 
 TRM Labs&rsquo; solutions were integrated by Binance Custody in October 2022 to enhance regulatory compliance and risk mitigation for client holdings. TRM's analytics and intelligence technology will assist Binance Custody in screening high-risk wallets, monitoring suspicious transactions, and managing regulatory and reputational risks associated with digital assets. The integration strengthened Binance Custody's commitment to secure and compliant services for clients in the rapidly growing digital economy.
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 The company raised USD 70 million in Series B funding in November 2022 led by Thoma Bravo, with participation from new investors like Goldman Sachs and existing investors such as PayPal Ventures and Citi Ventures. The proceeds were used for investment in product development and talent and to meet the growing demand in response to fraud incidents in the crypto space.
 
 
 
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 Story Protocol offers an open-source, decentralized platform that enables users to manage provenance tracking, revenue sharing, and licensing of their intellectual property. Users can connect their applications and ​​track how their IP is used and changed across different mediums (such as literature, images, games, and audio) while also controlling how associated parties share in revenues. The company also aims to provide crowdfunding, capital formation, IP discovery, licensing modules, authentication for AI content, and community growth.
 
 
 
 
 Story Protocol aims to create a global IP repository by enabling a large network of third-party developers and services to build their applications on its platform
 
 
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 
 In September 2023, Story Protocol 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/21604">
 raised over USD 54 million
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 in funding led by a16z crypto.
 
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A decentralized version of the web powered by the blockchain

Web3 Ecosystem

Mina Protocol is an open-source layer-1 blockchain launched in March 2021 by ​​O(1) Labs. Mina uses recursive Zero-Knowledge Succinct Non-Interactive Arguments of Knowledge (zk-SNARKs) and advanced cryptography in its architecture, which allows the blockchain to maintain a consistent size of 22 kB regardless of the number of transactions carried out. As a result, the nodes across the blockchain are required to store only a small part of the blockchain instead of the entire database. Mina’s proof-of-stake consensus mechanism, combined with the underlying architecture, reduces the resources required to process and validate transactions, reducing the barrier to entry in order to become a validator. The platform’s native token, MINA, can be used to transact and participate in the blockchain.Mina also enables the easy programmability and implementation of zero-knowledge smart contracts (zkApps), which provide a range of benefits such as preserving user privacy, the ability to execute unlimited off-chain computations at a flat fee, and connecting Web2 websites to Web3. The blockchain also enables zkApps to be accessed by other chains and devices such as a smartphone.Key customers and partnershipsMina partnered with Celestia to integrate Celestia's modular Data Availability layer with Mina Protocol to improve the functionality and performance of zkApps built on Mina. This integration offers a programmable component within Mina's existing developer toolkit to enable higher throughput.Funding and financialsIn March 2022, Mina raised USD 92 million in an initial coin offering co-led by FTX Ventures and Three Arrows Capital. The company aimed to use fresh funds to attract developers to the Mina blockchain.

Wormhole offers a cross-chain protocol for interconnecting blockchains, enabling communication, asset transfers, and Oracle data feeds. The protocol supports over 30 blockchains including Solana, Ethereum, and Sui. Wormhole sends messages cross-chain using various verification methods to attest to the validity of a message. These options are all available to developers in Wormhole’s platform, depending on the chains involved in a given transaction, and the verification methods will continue to grow over time to incorporate new technologies.The protocol integrates zero-knowledge (ZK) technology to improve trust guarantees, cross-chain composability, and network security. This integration aims to decentralize the verification layer and move toward a trust-minimized model using ZK technology. It also integrated X Layer, an Ethereum layer-2 protocol, to improve scalability and flexibility while lowering transaction fees.Moreover, the company launched an independent technology company specializing in building products, tools, and reference implementations called Wormhole Labs, it assists in the growth of cross-chain activity and development. In October 2024,&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/34508">the company launched Portal V2</a>, an upgrade to its cross-chain asset transfer application, improving transaction speed and user experience across multiple blockchains. Portal V2 enables faster transfers, native-to-native cross-chain swaps, and introduces features like auto-detection of networks, a streamlined interface, and transaction history functionality.Key customers and partnershipsAs of November 2023, the company reported to have executed transactions worth over USD 35 billion, handling more than 2 million cross-chain communications daily across 30+ chains.The company partnered with Succinct, a software solutions provider, in June 2021 to enhance its protocol’s efficiency and inter-chain operability. This collaboration aimed to leverage Succinct's expertise in algorithm optimization and data compression techniques, thereby reducing latency and improving the throughput of cross-chain transactions. In September 2021, Wormhole entered a strategic partnership with AMD, a semiconductor company, to boost the security and computational capabilities of its cross-chain protocol.

Using data and automation to achieve 24/7 production.

Smart Factory

Avathon (formerly SparkCognition) offers a suite of AI-powered data analytics solutions for businesses, specializing in the industrial sector. The company’s offerings include: 1) Industrial AI Suite, which enables users to connect datasets with configurable AI models, identify and contextualize risks to equipment, analyze maintenance actions, monitor performance, and visualize multi-asset systems, without requiring coding experience, and 2) Visual AI Advisor, which leverages computer vision to analyze real-time data from existing camera infrastructure for a number of different use cases, such as safety monitoring, visual inspection, and machine monitoring.&nbsp;In May 2023, the company launched the Generative AI Suite, a solution specifically tailored for the industrial sector, which enables users to build and deploy custom large language models (LLMs) on either private or on-premise cloud environments. Users also autonomously augment data sets by generating text, images, audio, and other signals and create imagery for use in simulated real-world environments. It claims to&nbsp;reduce the foundational information needed for decision-making by up to 20x.Since 2021, the company has acquired a number of companies to further develop its product offering. This includes Indian visual AI startup&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/9370?industryIds=6">Integration Wizards</a> (March 2022) to expand its intellectual property (IP) portfolio to improve vision capabilities as well as digital knowledge platform Maana (July 2021), software developer for the renewable energy industry Ensemble Energy (May 2021), and financial technology company AIM2 (February 2021).&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/34997">In October 2024,&nbsp;</a>Avathon unveiled a new system-level AI platform that provides solutions for managing and monitoring critical industrial infrastructure. The AI platform addresses various industrial issues, including maximizing the uptime of capital-intensive assets, enabling efficient manufacturing ramp-up, and ensuring worker safety in industrial settings.&nbsp;Key customers and partnershipsSparkCognition’s clientele comprises large companies such as Boeing, Hitachi, and British Petroleum. It has also built partnerships with Google for cloud platform services, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise to offer AI predictive maintenance on HPE Edgeline Converged Edge Systems, and OSIsoft to integrate SparkCognition’s machine learning technology with OSIsoft’s PI system to improve data and process data analytics.&nbsp;

Eliminating financial intermediaries by directly connecting individuals and businesses

P2P Financial Platforms

Republic is an online investment platform that allows both accredited and non-accredited investors to invest in a diverse range of offerings, including startups, real estate, video games, cryptocurrency projects, and more. Founded in 2016 by alumni from AngelList and Uber, Republic aims to democratize access to investment opportunities that were previously limited to wealthy accredited investors.
Republic operates as a funding portal registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). The platform conducts rigorous due diligence on companies seeking to raise funds, accepting less than 5% of applicants. This vetting process involves evaluating factors such as the team, product, market potential, and financial projections.
One of Republic's unique features is the Crowd SAFE (Simple Agreement for Future Equity), which represents all investors as a single line item on a company's cap table, simplifying the investment process. Investors on Republic can participate in various investment types, including equity crowdfunding, real estate investments, and token offerings for cryptocurrency projects.
Republic offers investment minimums as low as USD 10 for some offerings, making it accessible to a wide range of investors. The platform charges no fees to investors; instead, it generates revenue by taking a 6% cash commission and 2% in securities from the companies that successfully raise funds.

Cryptocurrencies

Lightning Labs is a blockchain infrastructure company that develops software to scale the Bitcoin network through the Lightning Network, a layer-2 solution enabling fast and low-cost Bitcoin transactions. Their flagship product, the Lightning Network Daemon (lnd), is an implementation of the Lightning Network protocol that allows users to instantly send and receive Bitcoin payments with minimal fees, addressing Bitcoin's scalability limitations. The company aims to make Bitcoin a viable global payment system by enhancing its throughput capabilities.
Lightning Labs' solutions leverage smart contracts, bidirectional payment channels, and cryptographic proofs to facilitate secure off-chain transactions while anchoring to the Bitcoin blockchain. This approach reduces the load on the main Bitcoin network, enabling higher transaction volumes and near-instant settlement times. The company's technology is utilized by various Bitcoin companies, including exchanges and wallets, to improve their payment processing capabilities.
In addition to lnd, Lightning Labs is working on innovations like Taro, a protocol for issuing assets like stablecoins on the Bitcoin blockchain using the Taproot upgrade. This would allow stablecoins and other digital assets to leverage Bitcoin's security while benefiting from the Lightning Network's scalability. The company aims to establish Bitcoin as the settlement layer for a multi-asset ecosystem built on top of the Lightning Network.
Key customers and partnerships
In March 2018, leading cryptocurrency exchange Kraken integrated the Lightning Network, leveraging Lightning Labs' technology. This move enabled Kraken users to conduct faster and cheaper Bitcoin transactions through the Lightning Network.
River Financial, a prominent Bitcoin financial services platform, also adopted the Lightning Network, likely utilizing Lightning Labs' solutions from its early stages.
Lightning Labs has established partnerships with notable industry players like Jack Dorsey's Block (formerly Square). In 2018, Block invested in Lightning Labs' seed round, indicating strong confidence in the company's vision and technology.

Digitizing the commercial real estate value chain

Commercial PropTech

Republic is an equity crowdfunding platform that enables investors, including non-accredited ones, to invest in various types of private investment opportunities such as startups, real estate projects, video games, and crypto offerings. Launched in 2016 by founders with extensive experience in the venture capital industry, Republic has grown to support over 100 companies in raising funds, amassing a community of hundreds of thousands of investors. The platform differentiates itself through features like its trademarked "Crowd SAFE" investment structure, low investment minimums starting from USD 10, and a rigorous multi-stage vetting process where less than 5% of applicants get listed.
Republic's key offerings encompass early-stage startup investments, typically structured using its proprietary "CrowdSAFE" variation of the traditional SAFE (Simple Agreement for Future Equity) model. This enables investors to obtain future equity in the startups without the complications of convertible notes. Republic has expanded its investment verticals over time, now covering areas like fractional real estate investing, video game funding (through its acquisition of Fig), and crypto projects. The company generates revenue by charging successful fundraising companies a commission of 6% in cash plus an additional 2% in the form of securities issued.
While startup investments inherently carry high risks with potential total loss, Republic emphasizes transparent risk disclosure and investor education. Its highly-rated mobile app and user-friendly interface aim to simplify the investment process. For companies listed on the platform, Republic conducts comprehensive due diligence evaluating factors such as the team, product, market potential, and business traction before approval.
Key customers and partnerships
In April 2020, Republic acquired the video game funding platform Fig, expanding its offerings into the gaming industry. This strategic acquisition enabled Republic to provide investment opportunities in both new and established video game titles.

Using AI to mimic and understand human language

Natural Language Processing Tools

SparkCognition is an artificial intelligence company founded in 2013 that develops AI-powered software solutions for various industries. The company's product portfolio includes machine learning, deep neural networks, natural language processing, and knowledge graph technologies aimed at predicting outcomes, prescribing actions, and enhancing safety across sectors like industrial, oil and gas, renewables, financial services, transportation, and government. SparkCognition's solutions address challenges such as preventing unexpected downtime, maximizing asset performance, optimizing resources, and proactively addressing safety and cybersecurity issues.
In March 2023, SparkCognition launched its Generative AI Platform, specifically designed for the industrial sector. This platform enables organizations to apply AI even with sparse datasets by autonomously augmenting data sets and generating high-quality synthetic content. The company is also developing industry-specific large language models to enhance its offerings. SparkCognition's Industrial AI Suite for Renewables provides asset performance management capabilities for renewable energy projects, helping operators detect underperformance, improve planning decisions, and streamline reporting processes.

Empowering the modern soldier with cutting-edge technology

Military Tech

SparkCognition is a global leader in artificial intelligence (AI) software solutions, founded in 2013 by Amir Husain. The company develops AI technologies to predict outcomes, prescribe next best actions, and automate workflows across various industries. SparkCognition's product portfolio includes machine learning, deep neural networks, natural language processing, and computer vision technologies. The company's solutions are designed to minimize downtime, maximize asset performance, optimize resources, and proactively address safety concerns.
SparkCognition's flagship offering is the Industrial AI Suite, which provides asset performance management (APM) solutions for industries such as energy, manufacturing, and defense. In March 2023, the company launched its Generative AI Platform, specifically tailored for the industrial sector. This platform enables organizations to apply AI even with sparse data sets, enhancing and accelerating outcomes. The technology can autonomously augment data sets by generating synthetic text, images, audio, and other signals, allowing customers to reduce the amount of foundational information needed for decision-making by up to 20 times.
The company has expanded its reach through acquisitions and strategic partnerships. In 2021, SparkCognition completed three acquisitions to break into new markets, including the purchase of Ensemble Energy to expand its offerings in the energy sector. SparkCognition also operates two subsidiaries: SparkCognition Government Systems (SGS), which focuses on AI solutions for government and national defense, and SkyGrid, a joint venture with Boeing that develops AI and blockchain solutions for airspace management of drones and unmanned aircraft.
Key customers and partnerships
SparkCognition serves clients across various industries, including defense, finance, manufacturing, automotive, telecommunications, and energy. Notable customers include Boeing, Hitachi High-Technologies, and Aker BP. In June 2024, National Grid Renewables selected SparkCognition's Industrial AI Suite for Renewables to optimize the performance and efficiency of its solar, onshore wind, battery energy storage systems, and hybrid projects.
The company has also formed partnerships to expand its reach in different sectors. In May 2024, SparkCognition Government Systems partnered with Carahsoft to enhance public safety with visual AI-driven security solutions. This collaboration aims to bring SparkCognition's AI technologies to government agencies and national security leaders, focusing on mission readiness and asset performance optimization.

Grass is an online community that offers reward for people who provide unused internet for AI developers and enthusiasts.

Story Protocol is a web3 technology developer whose goal is to change the way narrative universes are formed. The company's technology enables creators to develop a narrative plot with ownership and motivation by allowing them to create, control, and license intellectual property on-chain.

Morpho is an on-chain peer-to-peer layer on top of lending pools. Rates are seamlessly improved for borrowers and lenders while preserving the same guarantees. Morpho combines the efficiency of P2P with the liquidity of lending pools. Users enjoy an improved APY while maintaining the pool’s flexibility

NFTfi is an NFT collateralized lending marketplace that can use NFT assets as collateral for a loan or lend to other users. It enables NFT holders to borrow cryptocurrency from lenders by using their NFTs as collateral. When they accept a loan offer,  the NFT goes into a secure escrow smart contract and receives the wETH, DAI, or USDC from the lender directly to their wallet. To determine whether an NFT is worth a loan, users employ a common practice in the traditional art world in which banks, large galleries, or auction houses offer loans to artists.

Wormhole covers a range of use cases to make chains for tokens, NFTs, apps, and other generic messaging applications. They build protocols on wormholes that can use data, assets, and messages from other chains.

PolySign develops state-of-the-art, secure, scalable infrastructure for financial institutions to fully leverage their digital assets. The company also develops a secure and scalable infrastructure for financial institutions to fully leverage their digital assets. They aim to integrate with existing financial organizations and global markets, and rigorously embrace the highest standards for regulation.

TRM Labs is a blockchain intelligence company that helps financial institutions, crypto businesses and government agencies detect and investigate crypto-related financial crime and fraud. Our products are trusted by leading companies including PayPal, Visa, FTX, Uniswap, Anchorage, and federal agencies such as the FBI and IRS. Every day, we tackle challenges in data engineering, data science, and threat intelligence to advance our mission to build a safer financial system for billions of people.  To accomplish our mission, we have raised over $79M from JPMorgan Chase, Visa, Citi, PayPal, Block, Tiger Global and Bessemer. Our team is made up of world class experts from the FBI, U.S. Secret Service, US Treasury Department, McKinsey, Coinbase, and top-tier tech companies. TRM is a remote-first workplace, with hubs in San Francisco, Washington, DC and London.

OrBit Markets provides crypto derivatives, exotic options, and structured products to meet the growing demand for more sophisticated yield enhancement and investment solutions in digital assets.

Halborn is a cybersecurity company protecting blockchain organizations from cyber attacks. It serves as a third-party partner to continuously assess an organization's most vital assets, drive maximum automation and provide world-class cybersecurity consulting and execution every step of the way - far beyond smart contracts.

0x is an open protocol that facilitates low friction peer-to-peer exchange of tokens on the Ethereum blockchain.

Lightning Labs is building the next generation of decentralized, resilient financial infrastructure. We believe systems based on cryptography, blockchains, and smart contracts will enhance financial cooperation around the world in unprecedented ways at scales both large and small.  We have developed Lightning Network Daemon (lnd) the most advanced and most developer-friendly implementation of the Lightning Network protocol. Along with Neutrino, an open platform that enables users with mobile devices to conduct blockchain and Lightning Network transactions quickly and easily. We’re hiring. See our open positions: http://lightning.engineering/careers.html Get involved: http://dev.lightning.community/

Starlight is an all-in-one solution for companies to manage their crypto assets. We offer everything a company needs to operate in the crypto economy from setting up wallets, to buying crypto, to tracking expenses. Starlight helps you manage the details - so you can focus on running your business.

Mina is building a privacy-preserving gateway between the real world and crypto — and the infrastructure for the secure, democratic future we all deserve.

Block Tackle is a San-Francisco-based studio dedicated to creating the first generation of fun-first blockchain games. It is actively building an engaged community around its debut game, SkateX, in the run-up to its highly anticipated drop of a collection of 3D animated skateboard NFTs.

Colexion is the most premium blockchain-based NFT marketplace to discover and buy exclusive digital collectibles of megastars curated by top crypto artists.

Republic gives people the opportunity to invest in the future they believe in by providing access to startup, real estate, crypto, and video game investments. Focused on creating a diverse, sustainable, and connected world, Republic has facilitated over $500 million in investments from over one million members of the global community. With a global team in six countries, Republic is backed by Galaxy Digital, The Motley Fool, Binance, Naspers, AngelList, and more.

Avathon is an artificial intelligence technology startup that builds AI technology solutions for industrial applications. A highly awarded company recognized for cutting-edge technology, Avathon develops AI-Powered cyber-physical software for the safety, security, and reliability of IT, OT, and the IoT.  The company's technology is capable of harnessing real-time sensor data and learning from it continuously, allowing for more accurate risk mitigation and prevention policies to intervene and avert disasters. Avathon cognitive software, DeepArmor, is utilized to prevent and detect malware with a high level of accuracy and efficacy by using advanced machine learning and artificial intelligence. They help customers analyze complex data, empower decision making, and transform human and industrial productivity with award-winning machine learning technology and expert teams focused on defense, IIoT, and finance.

Brevan Howard Asset Management LLP is an investment manager authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority in the United Kingdom.

<div> Brevan Howard Asset Management LLP is an investment manager authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority in the United Kingdom. </div>

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PROMINENT_CATEGORY

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Aptos Labs, a provider of layer-1 blockchain infrastructure, has joined forces with Microsoft, SK Telecom, and Brevan Howard (a fund management firm) to introduce a new decentralized finance (DeFi) platform, named Aptos Ascend. The platform is specifically designed for institutional usage and includes a range of features such as customizable tokens, regulated transaction access, zero-knowledge transaction privacy, and network controls that can be upgraded.

With this collaboration, Aptos aims to use Microsoft's Azure cloud infrastructure and its OpenAI solutions to expand its product portfolio. Furthermore, SK Telecom will enable users to access its wallet-as-a-service technology, ensuring regulatory compliance, while Brevan Howard will supply asset management services.

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