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Apron Network Completes Private Sale Funding Rounds

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Apron Network, a decentralized infrastructure network built on the Polkadot blockchain, has revealed the closure of its private sale funding rounds. The funding round was successful and led by a group of crypto VCs who invested in developing the blockchain platform:

NGC Ventures(https://www.ngc.fund/home)

Digital Finance Group(https://www.dfg.group/)

PAKA(https://www.paka.fund/)

Digital Renaissance Foundation(https://drf.ee/)

Candaq(http://candaq.com/#/)

Vega Ventures(https://www.vegaventures.com/)

Private Sale Round:

CMS holdings(http://cmsholdings.io/)

Monday Capital(https://www.monday.capital/)

NGC Ventures(https://www.ngc.fund/home)

Digital Finance Group(https://www.dfg.group/)

Spark Digital Capital(https://www.sparkdigitalcapital.com/)

Republic(https://republic.co/)

AU21 Capital(https://au21.capital/)

Vega Ventures(https://www.vegaventures.com/)

Funding major step towards the expansion of its ecosystem 

Apron Network will use the funding capital to solidify its position as one of the Polkadot ecosystem’s top platforms. The blockchain platform has also assembled a team of enthusiasts and experts towards ensuring the long-term success of the network. 

The team behind Apron believes that the current infrastructure of the Polkadot ecosystem and cross-chain application is not entirely perfect. The decentralized network platform aims to build a decentralized platform that will suit the ecosystem’s most urgent needs. This will be expanded in the future to onboard new service providers into the Polkadot network. 

With the funding completed, Apron Network will focus on preparations for the upcoming Kusama slot auction and platform launch. There are also plans to deliver the web3 open grants milestones in the coming days. 

Apron has also continued technical improvements launching one of its POC version services for Heco testnet developers. The rest of the infrastructure service will be gradually launched within Q1 2021. 

Apron is also working within the roadmap, with the testnet expected to launch as scheduled in Q2 2021 (April). Once launched, all the essential utilities will be made available for developers to build interoperable applications within the Ethereum and Polkadot ecosystem for free. 

Apron will continue to develop new products and release its Apron Beta Network in Q3. These developments will culminate in the launch of the Apron mainnet in Q4, encompassing the network’s full utilities to operate correctly. Following the launch of the mainnet, Apron will continue to provide technical support towards building seamless infrastructure services on other public chains and continuous improvement of its network. 

To create a holistic approach within its ecosystem, Apron will be exploring partnerships, community activity, and brand awareness. As part of this activity, Apron will host a series of campaigns and events to engage with members, facilitating interactions and participation among our users and interested participants.

About Apron:

Apron Network is committed to building a decentralized infrastructure service network platform to provide application developers, application users, and infrastructure operators with a decentralized network based on blockchain technology infrastructure services.

Apron will connect to multiple public chains such as Ethereum, BSC, Filecoin, and Helium, including Layer 2. Provide developers with low-cost multiple blockchain ecological infrastructure services.

To learn more about Apron Network, Please join our social networks:

Discord: https://discord.gg/esx6W3PYVp

Telegram: https://t.me/ApronNetwork

Twitter: https://twitter.com/apronofficial1

Medium: https://apron-network.medium.com/

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FinHarbor Launches AI Co-Investigator for AML

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Nicosia, Cyprus, July 20th, 2026, FinanceWire

A self-hosted LLM connected to the platform’s ledger, KYC/KYB, KYT, and audit trail takes over the routine layer of AML investigations – while every decision with regulatory consequences stays with a human

FinHarbor, a technical platform provider for launching compliant, modular financial products, has announced the launch of its AI Act-ready compliance module – an AI co-investigator that works on top of the platform’s existing compliance stack and is deployed entirely inside the client’s own infrastructure.

The timing matters. On 2 August 2026, the EU AI Act’s transparency obligations take effect for customer-facing AI systems, while the recently adopted simplification package moved the high-risk requirements to December 2027 – a preparation window, not an amnesty. FinHarbor’s answer is a module designed around the Act’s logic from day one: documented, supervised, and architecturally incapable of acting alone.

The problem: compliance teams drowning in false alarms

The economics of AML operations are well documented. According to Google Cloud, more than 95% of alerts generated by rules-based AML systems turn out to be false positives at first review, and roughly 98% never result in a suspicious activity report. Compliance teams at growing platforms spend the bulk of their time reconstructing cases from disconnected tools rather than investigating genuine risk.

The industry results from applying AI to this layer are equally documented. HSBC, working with Google Cloud, cut alert volumes by more than 60% while identifying two to four times more genuinely suspicious activity. In a Coforge deployment at a leading US bank, an AI-powered alert optimization framework reduced false positives by 70% and improved fraud detection rates by 35%.

What the module does

FinHarbor’s co-investigator operates across the platform’s unified ledger, KYC/KYB, KYT, transaction monitoring, and append-only audit trail. In practice, it:

  • Pulls client and transaction data on demand. An analyst asks a question in plain language; the module queries the platform’s databases directly – no SQL, no waiting for a data team.
  • Clears the routine layer of AML alerts. Recurring false positives are classified and closed with documented reasoning, leaving human analysts only the cases that warrant judgment.
  • Assembles the full case. Transactions, counterparties, KYC/KYB history, on-chain trail from KYT, sanctions and PEP screening results – linked into a single investigation profile instead of a manual reconstruction across tools.
  • Drafts SAR/STR narratives. The module prepares the regulatory filing in the accepted format; the compliance officer reviews, edits, and signs.
  • Prioritizes the investigation queue by risk score, so the highest-risk cases surface first.
  • Answers regulator and auditor requests with an export from the unified audit trail rather than a manual evidence-gathering exercise.

A co-investigator, not an autopilot

The module’s operating principle is built into its architecture: AI investigates, humans decide. It never files a SAR, blocks an account, or takes any action with regulatory consequences on its own – every such step requires a human signature. This human oversight model, together with system documentation and model risk management, is how the module addresses the AI Act’s high-risk regime, while built-in disclosure ensures that in any chat-based scenario users always know they are interacting with AI.

The same architecture covers DORA: the append-only audit log meets third-party oversight requirements and streams directly into the client’s SIEM.

Deployed inside the perimeter, not in someone else’s cloud

The module runs as a self-hosted LLM within the client’s own environment, connected to the platform’s modules and databases through an MCP server behind the client’s authentication. Setup means scoping access – which modules and accounts the model can read, under which API keys and limits – selecting the model, and configuring redaction rules for regulated fields. Documentation and human oversight are part of the deployment, not an add-on.

This is also why the module’s relevance extends well beyond the EU. The core design principle – regulated data never leaves the client’s perimeter – answers the same requirement under GDPR, UK GDPR, Switzerland’s revFADP, Brazil’s LGPD, and Saudi Arabia’s PDPL. The AI Act is the entry point, not the boundary.

“Compliance teams don’t need another dashboard – they need the routine taken off their hands without giving up control,” said Ilya Podoynitsyn, CEO of FinHarbor. “Our co-investigator reads the same ledger, the same KYC files, the same on-chain data our platform already maintains, and does the legwork: assembles the case, drafts the narrative, documents every step. But nothing that matters to a regulator happens without a human signature. That’s not a limitation we accepted – it’s the design principle we started from.”

The module is currently running in pilots on several client projects. The underlying infrastructure – MCP and self-hosted LLM deployment within the client perimeter – is already part of the FinHarbor platform and publicly documented. The module is delivered as part of the platform, with commercial terms defined per deployment.

About FinHarbor

FinHarbor is a technical platform provider for launching compliant, modular financial products – from wallets and neobanks to crypto ramps and OTC desks. Built on years of real-world fintech experience, the platform covers onboarding, compliance, wallets, transactions, cards, and reporting, delivered with a microservice-based architecture (ISO/PCI DSS-certified), a robust API layer, and on-premise or cloud-ready deployment. FinHarbor supports fiat-only, crypto-native, and hybrid business models across markets in Europe, MENA, and beyond.

Learn more: www.finharbor.com

Contact

Maxim Yakushev
FinHarbor
press@finharbor.com

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Kazakhstan and China to Establish a Smart Transportation Corridor

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At the Kazakhstan–China Business Forum in Shanghai, Chairman of the Management Board of Samruk-Kazyna JSC Nurlan Zhakupov highlighted joint projects that are shaping the future of transit and logistics across Eurasia.

“The competitiveness of transport routes no longer depends solely on infrastructure. Data, digital platforms, and artificial intelligence are becoming increasingly important,” he said.

The next stage of cooperation should focus on developing an intelligent transport corridor that integrates modern logistics routes with artificial intelligence, big data, digital twins, and intelligent freight management systems. Today, the joint transport and logistics network connects the Port of Lianyungang, Khorgos Gateway, the Xi’an Terminal, the Aktau Hub, and the ZHETYSU Logistics Complex in Almaty. In 2027, the network will be expanded with the addition of a dry port in Chengdu, further strengthening the route from China’s Pacific coast through Kazakhstan and the Caspian Sea to Europe.

The development of the transport corridor is being supported by large-scale infrastructure projects. The construction of the Bakhty–Ayagoz railway line will establish the third rail border crossing between Kazakhstan and China, with an annual capacity of up to 25 million tonnes.

“Together, we will strengthen the Middle Corridor as one of the key transport routes of the 21st century,” Nurlan Zhakupov said.

Samruk-Kazyna serves as Co-Chair of the Kazakhstan–China Business Council, with China’s CITIC Group serving as the Chinese Co-Chair. Following the Council’s two most recent meetings, more than 110 commercial agreements worth approximately USD 20 billion have been signed across the energy, transport, digitalisation, and industrial sectors.

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Samruk-Kazyna and Huawei Discuss AI Infrastructure Development in Kazakhstan

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Nurlan Zhakupov, Chairman of the Management Board of Samruk-Kazyna JSC, met with Phillip Gan, President of Huawei for the Middle East and Central Asia.

The parties discussed the implementation of joint projects and the prospects for further cooperation in digitalization, telecommunications, and artificial intelligence. They also reviewed cooperation on the development and modernization of telecommunications and IT infrastructure, including data transmission and communications networks, data centers, server and networking equipment, data storage systems, and other digital infrastructure.

Nurlan Zhakupov noted that Huawei is one of the world’s leading technology companies and emphasized that the implementation of joint initiatives will mark an important step in Kazakhstan’s digital transformation, support the development of high-tech infrastructure, and strengthen the country’s position in the global technology landscape.

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