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This week’s Crypto Biz examines X’s upcoming payment system, the NYSE’s potential 24/7 trading, Block’s expansion into Bitcoin mining, and more.

Custodia Bank is challenging a lower court’s ruling in its battle for a Federal Reserve master account.

Bitcoin market inertia is dragging on, and a BTC price drop over the next fortnight would correspond to classic post-halving behavior.

Quantum computing is the next most significant disruptive technological leap and its rapid evolution and funding will soon make it a reality.

As a pioneer of spend management software, SAP has been on the cutting edge of how to best comprehensively manage company spend and supplier relationships.

Like at home, identifying every dollar you spend and getting the most out of it is more critical than ever for your business. And as we continue to roll out SAP Business AI technology, the teams behind SAP solutions are working on ways to help you reduce the time spent on mundane tasks so you can focus on executing your strategy, unlocking spend potential, and unleashing efficiency.

The first quarter of 2024 was among the most productive in my 18 years at SAP. We debuted new AI capabilities in various SAP spend management solutions. Check out some of these highlights:

• SAP Ariba Category Management: We’ve incorporated generative AI-enabled features that can assist category managers by generating recommendations in the solution’s category segmentation, market dynamics, and cost structure tools.
• Scoutbee Discovery: SAP partnered with Scoutbee, a leading AI-powered supplier intelligence and discovery platform, to launch Scoutbee Discovery. This SAP endorsed app can rapidly identify qualified suppliers that meet specific criteria and can help advance strategic business imperatives. Watch the recording of me participating in a recent LinkedIn Live with the Scoutbee team.
• Concur Request: Now, this service uses generative AI to help provide intelligent cost estimates for trip planning.
• ExpenseIt: Users can upload receipt images to the ExpenseIt solution, which taps AI to help automatically create a new expense with several key fields prepopulated. Plus, ExpenseIt can now itemize hotel folios using generative AI.
• Generative AI search: A new capability within Concur Support allows SAP Concur customers to type questions in natural language and get quick answers using generative AI, without submitting a support ticket.

SAP’s market-leading spend and business network solutions are getting even smarter, working to unlock greater value for our customers. We have many resources devoted to spend management and that’s why we continue to deliver innovation in spend management.

And we are only getting started. By the end of 2024, SAP Business Network is planning the following enhancements:

• Generative AI RFI/RFP responses in SAP Business Network Discovery: With generative AI-enabled responses for postings in SAP Business Network Discovery, suppliers will be able to respond to RFIs promptly and more accurately, helping to save time and reduce costs associated with manual labor and resource allocation.  
• Catalog enrichment using ChatGPT recommendations: This feature can enable suppliers to generate and improve product descriptions and overall catalog quality based on prompts and keyword recommendations from ChatGPT. 
• Intelligent error simplification using generative AI: This feature uses machine learning and a large language model to interpret and categorize invoice rejection reasons, allowing suppliers to reduce the number of failing invoices, improve rapid invoice submission and payment, and optimize cash flow.

For more on how AI is transforming business networks, read this recent article from my colleague Joern Keller.

Eliminate the mundane and elevate the strategic in spend management with generative AI Discover SAP solutions But What Are Our Customers Saying?

Each quarter, G2 highlights the top rated solutions in the industry, chosen by the source that matters most: customers. Spring 2024 is no different, and once again our suite of spend and business network solutions scored extremely well.

• SAP Fieldglass is a G2 Spring Leader in Vendor Management.
• SAP Ariba is a G2 Spring Leader in Procure to Pay, Purchasing, Strategic Sourcing, Supplier Relationship Management, and Contract Lifecycle Management.
• SAP Concur is a G2 Spring Leader in Expense, Travel & Expense, and Invoicing.

What’s more, G2 recently announced its 2024 Best Software Award winners, with SAP Fieldglass and SAP Concur receiving high honors:

• SAP Fieldglass came in at No. 26 in G2’s Best Software Awards across all products and No. 12 in G2’s Best Software Awards for best midmarket products.
• SAP Concur came in at No. 4 in G2’s Best Software Awards for the account and software product category.

My colleagues are also getting their flowers. Etosha Thurman, chief marketing and solutions officer of Intelligent Spend and Business Network, and Steve Seide, global head of Adoption for Intelligent Spend and Business Network, were named Top Procurement Pros in the Supply & Demand Chain Executive 2024 Pros to Know awards. A big congratulations also goes out to Darcy MacClaren, CRO for SAP Digital Supply Chain, who received a Pros to Know Lifetime Achievement award.

Driving Success for Our Customers

Hearing me spotlight our direct and indirect procurement, external workforce, and travel and expense management solutions is one thing. Seeing them in action is something way more powerful. Here are a few recent customer success stories to take in:

• American Eagle Outfitters (AEO), a leading global specialty retailer offering high-quality on-trend clothing, accessories, and personal care products through its portfolio of brands, needed to evaluate indirect purchasing processes and vendor relationships to maximize efficiency. See how SAP Business Network for Procurement and SAP Ariba solutions helped simplify processes and deliver compliant purchasing protocols across the company.
• Power provider to over 900,000 electric customers, Oklahoma Gas & Electric Company (OG&E) faced challenges with the complexity of third-party and cross-department management of contingent workers. After transitioning SAP Fieldglass solutions to internal management, OG&E gained the visibility to make more informed financial decisions, like supplier negotiations.
• 2024 SAP Innovation Award winner Vestas Wind Systems, the world’s largest manufacturer of wind turbines, launched a large-scale quality initiative powered by SAP Business Network to help mitigate product defects in a highly complex supply chain. Now, using SAP Business Network, suppliers complete predefined quality tests and document them before confirming or sending an order. This enables Vestas employees to be warned in advance of any quality issues further up the supply chain, so they can take corrective action.
• Most KUKA employees are based in Germany, where tax regulation is complex and submitting hotel and entertainment expenses is anything but simple. The KUKA team worked together to develop a simple process using SAP Concur solutions, connected to SAP ERP, that allows employees to create hotel and entertainment expenses seven times faster with fewer errors and fewer rejected expense reports.

Join Us at SAP Sapphire!

SAP Sapphire & ASUG Annual Conference is June 3-5 in Orlando, Florida, this year and I can’t wait to meet with customers, partners, and my fellow colleagues. This is the best event in the industry in my opinion and you don’t want to miss out. Join us by registering on the SAP Sapphire event website, where you can also save your spot at the SAP Sapphire Virtual and SAP Sapphire Barcelona events. See you there!

Jeff Collier is chief revenue officer for SAP Intelligent Spend and Business Network.

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As businesses adapt to digitalization, they encounter various trends reshaping tax compliance. From emerging business models to governments’ digital initiatives, the tax landscape is undergoing significant transformation.

Authorities are starting to involve themselves in business transactions, disrupting well-established business processes and taking control of the invoicing flow between suppliers and buyers. As a result, they have the data needed to prevent tax evasion and start auditing taxpayers automatically or even auto-populating tax returns moving toward tax bills. Additionally, sustainability efforts and climate change regulations further impact tax regulations.

Amid these shifts, SAP can provide peace of mind to navigate complexities efficiently. By understanding the evolving tax landscape, businesses can leverage SAP solutions to help streamline compliance processes and drive automation to capitalize on emerging opportunities.

SAP solutions for global tax management are tailored to help address modern tax challenges. SAP S/4HANA Cloud can provide transparency and compliance on a global scale, enabling businesses to embed tax requirements in processes.

Pave the way to strategic tax management and automated compliance with SAP Learn more

Through localized solutions that offer standardized but flexible business processes, a complete suite of solutions facilitates efficient tax management, from e-invoicing to statutory reporting and overall tax compliance. With SAP technology and expertise, businesses can achieve greater accuracy and agility in tax compliance, paving the way for sustainable growth and competitive advantage.

To help tax professionals prepare for and become valuable members of tax transformation projects, SAP is introducing a new course: Unlocking Tax Transformation with SAP.

The course is designed to equip professionals with the knowledge needed to navigate today’s tax landscape and learn new capabilities that can be leveraged as part of SAP S/4HANA-enabled transformations to simplify tax compliance.

The course offers practical strategies to learn about the different tax types, global developments and their business relevance, and the importance of technology with a focus on SAP S/4HANA and SAP solutions for global tax management. It begins on April 30 and enrollment is now open. By enrolling in this course, tax professionals can gain valuable insights into industry best practices and leverage the latest SAP innovations to help optimize their tax processes.

In a time of rapid change, SAP supports businesses on their journey to tax compliance and growth. Through collaboration with SAP and a commitment to continuous learning, businesses can navigate the complexities of taxation with confidence and achieve their long-term objectives.

Erika Buson is part of Product Marketing for Global Tax Management and Entity Close at SAP.

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The transaction fees are the “wild card” for Bitcoin miners, with the current increase representing a crucial revenue boost for BTC miners, according to TeraWulf’s CEO, Nazar Khan.

Publication of SAP SE, Walldorf,
pursuant to Sec. 62 para. 3 sent. 2 half sent. 1 UmwG

– Information about upcoming merger –

1. It is intended to merge Hybris Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (local court of München, HRB 124384) as transferring company in the course of a simplified group merger into SAP SE as acquiring company. Therefore, the assets of Hybris Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung in its entirety together with all rights and obligations are transferred to SAP SE with effectiveness as of 1 January 2024, 0:00 a.m. (“effective merger date”). From the effective merger date to the date of the expiry of Hybris Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung pursuant to Sec. 20 para. 1 No.2 UmwG
   all acts and businesses undertaken by Hybris Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung shall be deemed to have been undertaken for the account of SAP SE.

   SAP SE is the sole shareholder of Hybris Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung. A merger resolution of the acquiring company SAP SE is not necessary pursuant to Sec. 62 para. 1 sent. 1 UmwG. A resolution of the general meeting of Shareholders of SAP SE on the approval of the merger agreement is also not required because SAP SE as the acquiring company holds the share capital of Hybris Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung in full. Since SAP SE holds all shares in Hybris Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung, the preparation of a merger report, a merger audit and an audit report is not required pursuant to Secs. 8 para. 3 sent. 3 no. 1 a), 9 para. 2, 12 para. 3, 60 UmwG.

2. The stakeholders of SAP SE with a combined holding of one-twentieth of the share capital of the company are herewith advised of their right to request the convention of a general meeting to decide on the approval of the merger (Sec. 62 para. 2 sent. 1, para. 3 sent. 3 UmwG).
3. A resolution of the shareholder’s meeting of Hybris Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung on the approval of the merger agreement is not required pursuant to section 62 para. 4 sent. 1 UmwG because SAP SE is the sole shareholder of Hybris Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung.
4. As of the date of this announcement, the following documents can be assessed by the links below:
   1. The draft merger agreement between SAP SE and Hybris Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung.
   2. The annual financial statements and, where required, the annual reports of the companies who are parties to the merger for the fiscal years 2021, 2022, 2023:

      2021 SAP SE Statutory Financial Statements and Review of Operations (HGB)
      2022 SAP SE Statutory Financial Statements and Review of Operations (HGB)
      2023 SAP SE Statutory Financial Statements and Review of Operations (HGB)
      2021 Hybris Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung Financial Statements
      2022 Hybris Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung Financial Statements
      2023 Hybris Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung Financial Statements

 

SAP SE, April 26, 2024

The Board of Directors

Airdrops from two cat-themed memecoins may have paid off the entire pre-order value of the Solana ‘Chapter 2’ mobile device.

Crypto analysts believe the large transfers could have a “big impact” depending on where the capital is getting deployed.

The Bored Apes founder was diagnosed with a heart condition with a 50% fatality rate. But things are looking up for Wylie Aronow and BAYC.

One satoshi is currently worth $0.00065 — but some sats hold inherent “collectible value” in the Bitcoin ecosystem, cryptocurrency exchange CoinEx Global explained.

Today we’re introducing a new customer onboarding experience and quality check enhancements in RISE with SAP Methodology. After April 1, 2024, all customers subscribing to RISE with SAP for the first time will go through this improved experience at no additional cost.

RISE with SAP is a managed cloud offering that can enable customers to unlock continued innovation and transformation by modernizing their business-critical systems and processes in a highly collaborative and measurable way. This offering includes the newly announced RISE with SAP Migration and Modernization program that helps bring renewed focus on the cloud transformation journey by enabling smooth, secure migration of on-premise SAP ERP Central Component (SAP ECC) and SAP S/4HANA customers to the cloud. The key pillars of the program are the RISE with SAP Methodology, transformation incentives, and the innovation road map. The program features offerings tailored to each customer’s unique starting point. Its components are differentiated for SAP ECC and SAP S/4HANA customers and can run with a clean core approach, taking advantage of the latest innovations in RISE with SAP.  

Cloud solutions, infrastructure, and services combined to deliver a clear cloud migration path Explore RISE with SAP

The cornerstone of the program is the RISE with SAP Methodology. The methodology captures the best practices of successful implementations from thousands of RISE with SAP customers over three years and is designed to provide a consistent approach – from planning to go-live to ongoing operations and evolution – that can meet customers’ business transformation goals. Whether through SAP or partner-led engagements, customers can get a clear path with specific implementation stages and success KPIs to be able to take advantage of speed, agility, and all the benefits of the cloud.

Today we’re adding enhancements to the RISE with SAP Methodology, including a new onboarding experience and quality checks throughout the project implementation phases. All new RISE with SAP customers will go through this onboarding experience at no additional cost. The new experience provides guided enablement by SAP-assigned onboarding advisors and related tools and services to help customers implement their cloud ERP solutions with clarity and confidence. The onboarding advisors can guide customers through the overall process aligned with the RISE with SAP Methodology and prepare them to get started with their implementation. The new experience also helps simplify best practice implementation of the clean core, helping to make it a more central, actionable, and measurable standard of all implementations. This helps ensure all RISE with SAP customers can benefit from business agility, faster innovation cycles, and improved value realization. 

The new improvements to the RISE with SAP Methodology include:

• Expert onboarding guidance through embedded launch activities: A dedicated SAP advisor can deliver 1:1 enablement sessions to help educate customers on the RISE with SAP Methodology, clean core strategy, and related tools for implementation. Also, there are role-based, recorded enablement sessions covering business process best practices, solution architectures, and other strategic topics leading up to the go-live milestone. Check out this blog on embedded launch activities to get a full view on what enablement resources are delivered through this new onboarding experience with RISE with SAP. 
• Clean core-focused success plan, runbook, and quality checks: We’ve developed a clean core success plan with clear milestones and KPIs. The clean core success plan is now added to the SAP Activate road map viewer, where customers – with the support of SAP advisors and partners – can review the recommended actions in uniquely created road maps, aligning their needs with best practices to help continually unlock business value faster. We’re also adding new quality gate checks to validate that the actual implementation is in line with recommended clean core best practices before customers proceed to the next project phase. The outcome of the quality gate is the SAP clean core report with feedback and recommendations on how to implement the clean core strategy. These recommendations are recorded and tracked via the updated runbook in the SAP Cloud ALM solution. To learn more, read a blog post on this topic. 

We’ll continue to deliver more tools, templates, training, and oversight to help make it easier for customers to execute an optimal migration or transition to the cloud and achieve their business objectives. Coming later this year is the RISE with SAP system transition workbench. This tool will help the technical implementation of migrating to cloud ERP by providing digital access to SAP-approved best practices and guidance for migrations, automation of tasks, health, and system checks. Stay tuned as we get ready to share more on this in the coming weeks.   

To learn more, join us for our upcoming webinar on May 23, where we will go deeper into this new onboarding experience in the RISE with SAP Methodology. Register here.

Panda Priyadarsana is SVP and GM of Customer Services & Delivery and head of Cloud ERP at SAP.

Photo courtesy of SAP employee Juelma Guerreiro.

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Liquidation levels form an increasingly large cloud above BTC spot price as Bitcoin rests near $64,000.

BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF inflow streak ended on April 24 after IBIT recorded no inflows for the day, according to data from Farside.

A BlackRock spokesperson confirmed the firm wasn’t directly involved in Archax and Ownera’s decision to tokenize shares of BlackRock’s ICS Treasury Fund on Hedera.

The European Central Bank is too busy attacking Bitcoin to worry about the myriad of real scams perpetrated by con artists in the industry.

Bitcoin has constant bull market backing in the ever-expanding fiat money supply, Arthur Hayes concluded.

Airdrops, presales and gaming NFTs are among the innovative ways crypto projects are raising funds with tokens in the post-ICO era.

SEC actions have made developers fearful that their code may end in prosecution. Are smart contracts with immutable code the way to protect themselves?