Crypto World November 2019: Bitcoin Lightning, BTC ATMS, Ripple acquired MoneyGram

Crypto World November 2019: Bitcoin Lightning, BTC ATMS, Ripple acquired MoneyGram

by | Nov 29, 2019 | News

Bitcoin’s Lightning Network Can Be Used for Private Messaging

Lightning Labs revealed an experimental project: Whatsat, an application of the lightning network which may be utilised to send private messages.

Just like bitcoin, it is censorship-resistant. However, unlike encrypted programs that morph messages to info, securing the text to keep the messages private from prying eyes, there is no central thing to prevent users from using the system.

The developer Joost Jager said:

“Lightning is a peer to peer network in which anyone can participate. There is no central entity that has the ultimate power to decide on [what] users are allowed to communicate.”

Personal messaging is a huge thing in the electronic era, but it is still simple for bad intentioned actors to intercept messages which are not encrypted.

Ghana May Issue Digital Currency in ‘Near Future’

The governor Ghana’s central bank, Ernest Addison, stated that Ghana might issue an electronic form of the country’s currency, the cedi in the”near future”. He also said they are in discussions to develop a pilot project in a “sandbox environment”.

Addison’s opinions, made in Ghana’s Annual Banking Conference, were revealed in a public transcript.

The Bank of Ghana governor said Ghana is experiencing rapid digitization with the help of the mobile banking industry. “Mobile cash” transfers grew by 70% from 2017 to 2018.

Addison said he’d approved that the central bank to issue digital money backed 1:1 by cedi and held electronic wallets Monday. But the digital money is different from cryptocurrency. The governor stated in the press conference:

“It is just electronic money backed by currency,”

So [the central bank] cannot create money; they are only having an electronic representation of the cedi that the Bank of Ghana puts into circulation. So it is not crypto.”

Simon Malls Has 5 New Bitcoin ATMs

Bitstop set up five bitcoin ATMs at Simon Property Group locations within the last month: Carlsbad Premium Outlets in Carlsbad, California, Mall of Georgia in Buford, Georgia, Miami International Mall in Miami, Sawgrass Mills in Sunrise, and The Avenues at Jacksonville, Florida.

They are a part of Bitstop’s drive to woo crypto beginners: individuals who shop at malls, do not know much about blockchain and have a bitcoin wallet.

The co-founder and CEO Andrew Barnard explained these places are similar to the old cliche: “If you build it, they will come.”

“Once you put these ATMs down and you give people easy access, the people go and figure out how to use it,”

With these new places, Bitstop is continuing to build out vulnerability among novices and handhold them through the process of purchasing their very first bitcoin. He explained the kiosks represent a gateway to first-timers.

He said individuals buy from an ATM within an investment, but also to then purchase on the internet or send remittance payments residence.

The average purchase is $160 bucks. And Barnard said traffic is particularly heavy around the 1st and 15th day of every month, which he explained is money back for many consumers.

China’s Digital Yuan Will Target Retail Payments First

Speaking in the Caixin Hengqin Forum at Zhuhai, former leader of the People’s Bank of China Xiaochuan Zhou said the nation will highlight the retail usage of electronic payment to the electronic yuan.

“There are two goals for international digital currencies,”

“The first one, which is also what China envisions is to develop digital payment and its use for retail system in the country, while the other goal is to cross-border payment for international financial institutions.”

According to Zhou, both of these aims will need different technical designs for the electronic yuan, and China may expand its capacities once it implements the electronic payment role.

Zhou said China is a challenging environment to try the new electronic money, and a country with a smaller population might be better because the cycle for money flow is briefer.

“In case there is something wrong, it will be easier to steer the boat into a different direction,”

Ripple Has Acquired MoneyGram For $50 Million

Ripple made the final payment to purchase MoneyGram at a cost of $4.10 per share, which is over a dollar per share of the stock’s recent price of approximately $3.00. The action first started in June 2019.

Ripple owns just under 10% of MoneyGram’s outstanding common stock.

MoneyGram plans to utilize this funding inflow to support its operations, specifically since it expands its usage of Ripple’s On-Demand Liquidity product, the renamed xRapid payment system which uses the XRP cryptocurrency.

Since June, MoneyGram has started using XRP to run trades in Europe, Australia and the Philippines, and now transacts approximately 10% of its own Mexican peso foreign exchange trading volume.

In an announcement, MoneyGram chairman and CEO Alex Holmes said that the venture was “transformative,” noting that the corporation could settle trades “in seconds.”

South Korea Takes Legal Step to Stamp Out Unregistered Crypto Exchanges

South Korea passed a legal amendment to oblige assets exchanges to register with the  Financial Services Commission (FSC).

This change was made to align fight money laundering,  and it asks crypto exchanges to have so-called actual name virtual bank account – sub-accounts for consumers inside a market’s main account – to avoid falling foul of the laws.

The opposition lawmakers had voiced worries that exchanges without real-name digital balances would be made to shut, bringing additional contraction of the national cryptocurrency market.

In 2018, the FSC outlawed anonymous digital balances with the consequence that just four exchanges were abandoned with real-name digital balances through contracts with local banks: Bithumb, Upbit, Korbit, and Coinone.

Ukraine Plans to Tax Crypto Gains at Low 5% Rate

Ukraine’s parliament received a cryptocurrency tax draft bill.

Written by 13 members of the parliament, the bill defines crypto-assets as a “special type of valuable property in the digital form, created, accounted for and disposed of electronically,”, for example, cryptocurrencies, tokens and other forms are not defined in the draft.

“We are confident that the adoption of this [draft] law will create conditions for the launch of the virtual assets market in line with the legislation of Ukraine, taking into account the balance of interests of entities engaged in transactions with virtual assets and the state, which will get additional tax revenue from such transactions,” said the ministry.

If the bill passes parliament, the earnings from trading assets will be calculated as the difference between the buy price and the price received in the sale. Profits should be declared as “other” form of earnings, while reductions might not be balanced to decrease the whole financial result before taxation, the record states.

Crypto income will generally be taxed at the normal speed, which will be 18% in Ukraine. However, in better information for dealers, there is a first 5% rate on private income from the selling of crypto assets to get a five-year period after approval of the invoice (assuming it moves).

Revenue of crypto assets wouldn’t be responsible for value-added tax (VAT).

Tokenized assets would observe another tax program, being described as electronic assets certifying possession or non-property rights. In such cases, tokens are taxed in precisely the exact same manner as the products or services financing them.

Michael Chobanian, creator of this Ukraine-based crypto trade Kuna and president of this Blockchain Association of Ukraine, stated he considers the law would operate, however, there are additional challenges confronting the business which have to be dealt with.

“If the National Bank of Ukraine doesn’t allow banks to open accounts for crypto businesses in Ukraine nothing for the industry will really change,” Chobanian said.

The ministry lately declared a partnership with all the Binance cryptocurrency market for help developing regulations for crypto from the nation.

Coinbase has added support for 5 new crypto options to its Visa debit card

Coinbase declared that holders of Coinbase Card are now able to spend XRP, basic attention token (BAT), augur (REP), 0x (ZRX) and stellar (XLM). These add to the already available options: bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH), bitcoin cash (BCH) and litecoin (LTC).

Coinbase clients in Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Hungary, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Poland, Romania and Sweden have also been given access to Coinbase Card.

Zeeshan Feroz, CEO in Coinbase UK, said in a statement:

“By more than doubling the number of assets our customers can spend on Coinbase Card, as well as introducing the card to 10 new countries, Coinbase continues to help drive crypto’s role as a utility, and not just an investment.”

The Coinbase Card has been introduced back in April to function both the U.K. and EU states. Coinbase issues it “immediately” and converts cryptocurrency into fiat money when clients make a trade using the debit card.

According to the company, the card may be used anywhere that accepts Visa. There are charges for ATM transactions over the value of $200 – 1% domestically and 2% international, and fees for some trades.

Coinbase also supplies an iOS and Android program which allows users to create Visa obligations on their cellular devices. The Coinbase Card is issued by Paysafe Financial Services Limited, a company approved by U.K. regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority.

Will Bitcoin disappear? How could BTC disappear and what would happen after that?

Will Bitcoin disappear? How could BTC disappear and what would happen after that?

by | Nov 26, 2019 | News

Have you ever wondered yourself what would happen if Bitcoin disappeared? And in what context would this happen? Some crypto enthusiasts have considered it and came up with some scenarios. How can Bitcoin disappear?

Which one will it be? Could be all of this, or could be none. But the answer may lay in the general perception of Bitcoin.

What is the crypto community saying about the future of Bitcoin?

Before committing to a product, such as Bitcoin, or any other product people might use in their day to day life, they should and will ask themselves: Do I really need it?

In the particular case of Bitcoin, the question is: Do I really need it for my finance?

Most people have come to accept the way traditional financial institutions work and have invaded their lives as long as they get what they want out of it. Even with the creation of Bitcoin, the hype has now faded and do not care so much about this intrusion of privacy.

Some believe that the mass (that is aware of Bitcoin) is “losing the vision for Bitcoin” and that there are not a lot of people supporting it and believing in it. And for the future of Bitcoin, this can be a problem. Possibly, a problem that could lead to its disappearance.

Other are more inclined than ever to use crypto, due to the financial system which has shifted over the past 11 years since the creation of Bitcoin. The increasing number of restriction seems to be detrimental to fiat and convincing some that Bitcoin has a future and it waits for them.

The lack of vision might be also a transition state until another financial crisis hits, which can be happing any day now.

Overall, the engaged crypto community remains optimistic and hopes for the best.

What could make Bitcoin disappear?

One of the possible future scenarios is that Bitcoin disappears. How is that even possible?

Well, imagine Bitcoin no longer on the top of the cryptocurrency market. The competition is getting bigger by the day. And what if Bitcoin gets ‘substituted’ by one of these altcoins?

Ethereum, Ripple, EOS, Litecoin are just a few of the cryptocurrency that could substitute Bitcoin.

BUT… the community believes that this will not happen. “It would have happened already” is what the enthusiasts believe. The reality is that at the moment, there are many other coins with lower transaction fees and on faster blockchains, and yet, people seem to prefer Bitcoin. Why is that?

Bitcoin is the coin with the largest transactional volume. It is the one coin listed on every single crypto exchange in existence and anyone in the crypto community will accept Bitcoin for a job. Simply put, Bitcoin is desirable.

Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency and with each year that passes, it seems to be getting stronger.

So if you are afraid that Bitcoin will be substituted by another coin, then this is the time to observe what others are stocking up. And do the same. But judging but the volumes, there is no sign something like this will happen anytime soon.

Andrew Yang for president? Meet Andrew Yang, the 2020 US Bitcoin-friendly presidential candidate

Andrew Yang for president? Meet Andrew Yang, the 2020 US Bitcoin-friendly presidential candidate

by | Nov 22, 2019 | News

Andrew Yang for president? Andrew Yang, a Democrat candidate for the 2020 US presidential elections, brought more attention upon himself after he announced that he would be accepting Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency donations for his presidential campaign.

Who is Andrew Yang?

With cryptocurrency being an increasingly more interesting subject to the world, Andrew Yang took advantage of the momentum of Bitcoin and the topic of blockchain in the US and announce it to be a possible source for his campaign.

While some see this in a not so favourable light, considering to be a strategic move to gain popularity, other Bitcoin enthusiasts took a look at his social media channels, to observe that Yang has been talking about Bitcoin since 2013. So, who is Andrew Yang?

Yang is an entrepreneur. Andrew Yang is the founder of a non-profit organisation, VFA (Venture for America, which has as its primary goal to “Mobilizing the next generation of entrepreneurs and equipping them with the skills and resources they need to create jobs.”

It is worth mentioning that all this attention Yang received after announcing he will accept crypto as donations for his presidential campaign came in a rather hostile environment. You see, the regulation for blockchain companies and cryptocurrencies in the US are not what the crypto enthusiasts have hoped for. But have his statements for far made anyone want Andrew Yang for president?

Is Andrew Yang a real Bitcoin supporter?

We all saw the recent tweets and campaign messages Yang posted on his Twitter. They are all basically a variation of “Let’s build the future together”. Some of his advocates applauded him, and added: “Nothing stops crypto, even Presidential candidates are jumping on!”. But, as some followers rushed to ask in the comments, is Yang, a faithful cryptocurrency supporter? And aren’t cryptocurrency donation harder to trace and hence, could be from illicit funds and could come from foreign lands?

Even so, the 44-year-old Asian promises to bring the wind of change in American politics. In his defence, there are tweets from 2013, about the price of Bitcoin:

This is proof he knows and talked about Bitcoin before most of us did, but just because he is talking about cryptocurrency, does it mean that his policies are sensible? The topic of Andrew Yang’s candidacy is controversial, and winning the electoral race against Trump might need a bit more help from the minorities. And usually, minorities are too busy with their day to day struggles to know enough world-changing technologies.

But for now, the only thing clear is that Yang hopes to fund his presidential campaign with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

How can life sciences and healthcare industry benefit from blockchain applications?

How can life sciences and healthcare industry benefit from blockchain applications?

by | Nov 14, 2019 | Blockchain

Medical records, intellectual property clinical data and supply chains can all be improved with the power of blockchain. Life sciences and the healthcare sectors can be one of the main beneficiaries of blockchain technology. So let’s dig in to find out how can life sciences and healthcare sectors benefit from blockchain applications and what are the main challenges?

What is the blockchain’s potential uses in the healthcare industry?

Given the sophistication of contemporary healthcare systems, it’s perhaps unsurprising that the prospective uses of Blockchain technology that, thus far, are greatest publicised at the financial services industry, are just now becoming evident for the life sciences and healthcare industries. Decentralized ledgers can increase transparency and security in these industries, offering patients control over their healthcare and this could also lead to lower prices.

The UK is open to the possibility of integrating blockchain into its systems. In January 2016, the Office for Science authorities released a study on the tech. The private sector is also embracing Blockchain.

Many pharmaceutical manufacturers and vendors (like Pfizer, Genentech and AmerisourceBergen) are partners at the MediLedger Project, started in September 2017, which intends to utilize Blockchain technologies to help establish compliance with medication distribution chain regulations like the US Drug Supply Chain Security Act.

In September 2018, Philips established the Philips Blockchain Lab and has partnered with Blockchain recordkeeping startup Tierion to analyze how Blockchain technology might be utilised in the health care sector.

How can life sciences and healthcare sectors benefit from blockchain applications?

In April 2019, the International Association for Trusted Blockchain Software was started, to promote the international government and growth of Blockchain engineering. Here are some real-life possible applications:

Medical documents

Since the Office for Science report indicates, medical records may be registered in a decentralised Blockchain instead of a central database. There might be a lesser risk of unauthorised access since the Blockchain would comprise protocols regulating how individual records could be retrieved and by whom. By way of instance, a secretary at a GP surgery may only hold the secret to access restricted information regarding a patient, like their name, though a physician would have a whole key allowing access to all medical data.

Medical records may also give patients full access to their own individual information. Patients may specify what treatment they need to get in various conditions or ask that particular family members be allowed to create medical decisions in the case of an emergency. In the same way, it might allow patients to document and upgrade their organ transplant options while providing medical professionals instant access to their option, which might help to avert the reduction of organs as a result of transplant window being overlooked.

Different projects are underway that are aimed at replicating some of those possible use cases. In the United Kingdom, the tech firm Medicalchain declared in 2018 a partnership with all the Groves Medical Group, a health care services provider located in London, to build a Blockchain platform pilot, targeted at providing patients with improved access to their medical records.

Public and private health programs normally use their own systems for monitoring each individual’s medical information. This might lead to fragmented information received by healthcare providers. A patient may authorise access to their individual records included on a Blockchain to all healthcare providers, both private or public, thus providing all suppliers with a complete version of a patient’s health information.

This isn’t quite as far-fetched as some may believe. In Estonia, a data safety startup, Guardtime, has announced a partnership with all an Estonian eHealth Foundation that will find it deploy a Blockchain-based platform to procure more than one million individual healthcare records. In the same way, IBM Watson Health declared in 2017 it had signed up a research initiative with the US Food and Drug Administration aimed at establishing a secure, scalable and efficient exchange of health information utilizing Blockchain technology.

Intellectual property

Proof-of-existence platforms have been designed to provide innovators with a tamper-proof means of storing encrypted data, allowing organizations to validate the date where they generated intellectual property, like patents. The time-stamped files can subsequently be utilized as irrefutable proof that an ingenious step happened at a specific time and before anybody else. Courts across the globe will, nevertheless, have to be convinced about the safety and veracity of those time-stamping systems until they set the required legal precedents.

Clinical information

If blockchain would be coupled with additional technological improvements including wearable technology and information analytics, it would enable pharmaceutical companies to securely gather more detailed medical information regarding patients in real-time. The health information uploaded into the blockchain could be assessed to identify patterns representing potential conditions a patient could suffer, or be in danger, from later on.

Some pharmaceutical companies are currently time-stamping the outcomes of clinical trials as a method of providing proof of if clinical trial outcomes were acquired for inclusion in clinical analysis reports to regulators. Recording clinical trial results in real-time in an immutable Blockchain may make it even more challenging for clinical trial outcomes to be then manipulated by researchers, as an instance, in which the attention of a clinical trial is shifted to match the outcomes.

Supply chains

The ethics of the distribution chain is of utmost significance to any pharmaceutical producer. The Blockchain might be used to assign every batch of medication using a distinctive electronic serial number, with each batch being monitored as it goes through a set of trades and throughout the several phases of the distribution chain. Drugs go from the factory to the main warehouse, then neighbouring warehouses, then to the pharmacy and ultimately to the individual. Intermediaries throughout the distribution chain will then have the ability to confirm the receipt of medication and supply upgrades.By monitoring movements in realtime, it’ll be a lot tougher for counterfeit drugs to enter the distribution chain. This might be especially valuable in developing nations where it’s estimated that over 30% of medication are counterfeits. It might also ease prompt product remembers if flaws are then found.

Data protection

Quite a few use cases of blockchain in the life sciences and health care industries relate to this feature, monitoring and management of health care data.

But, applying a few of the needs of data security laws to blockchain-based software can be hard due to the inherent characteristics of Blockchain (see what’s a Blockchain?). Consequently, data stored on a Blockchain cannot be deleted. This will be problematic where the Blockchain operates in EU jurisdictions where the General Data Protection Regulation (679/2016/EU), which came into effect across the EU in May 2018, gives individuals the rights to be forgotten, erase data and correct data (see Practice note, Data protection and life sciences: impact of EU General Data Protection Regulation).

Holding private personal information only for the required amount of time is another challenge because the blockchain functions act as an immutable record. Some businesses might attempt to cope with this problem by keeping the private data off ledger in which the information could be deleted as needed, instead of holding the information on the ledger.

Likewise, another attribute of blockchain is that data can be encrypted to make certain the data stored on the blockchain is protected. But, it’s very likely that the encryption employed to a blockchain now is going to be made obsolete as more complex encryption methods are developed.

Again, an off-ledger alternative which enables encryption to be upgraded may help ensure that data stored on a blockchain stays secure as time passes. But while keeping data off ledger can help with these technical problems, it might not be suitable for many programs and use cases.

From the beginning, organisations need to give careful attention to compliance with data protection laws. In the life sciences and healthcare industries, this may entail the selection of sensitive medical information. It was seen how labs will answer the challenge of reconciling some of their inherent characteristics of blockchain with present data security laws. While technological solutions might help to address some of the challenges, it is still possible that regulators need to deal with the special challenges introduced by Blockchain technology.

Read more about What is Blockchain?
The hype is fading but blockchain has a lot of substance and uses to create a better world

The hype is fading but blockchain has a lot of substance and uses to create a better world

by | Nov 11, 2019 | News

Throughout the last years, endless articles and research papers were published about blockchain and the’dispersed ledger’ technologies which have been keeping the tech audience actively engaged. But as the steam blows off, is there substance left in the theoretical uses of the blockchain technology?

YES.

In an OECD event about the blockchain technology, held in September, delegates discovered that there are more than 200 cases of this technology set up in public services globally. The illustrations supplied by Marcos Bonturi, the OECD’s manager for public governance, added Mongolia’s use of a blockchain to authenticate medicines (as a method to fight off the 40% of fake pharmaceuticals available in the nation),  and Italy’s system which monitors the academic qualifications.

Now that the online has the option to have transparent transactions, and which makes it impossible to change records already created, the blockchain technology has proved valuable in cryptocurrencies, in which they supply an indisputable record of possession.

And software is emerging in public agencies, stated Bonturi: a blockchain is assisting the homeless to access get public services in Texas, while in Ghana the government is working with private partners to construct digital territory registries. A blockchain-based property registry is currently working nicely in Estonia, he added, and states such as Sweden and Chile are expecting to adhere to a similar concept of the Baltic country.

We will see more developments in the near future, and according to a paper from OECD: “Digitisation is viewed as a new source of growth, efficiency and relevance in today’s increasingly digital world.”

By supplying much more transparency and traceability for the contents of trucks and boats coming at national boundaries, blockchain could enhance safety, tax earnings, record-keeping and efficacy, according to the paper.

However, there aren’t any cases of blockchain in performance on the planet’s boundaries: Boris Johnson’s discussion of “technological options” allowing the UK and Irish regulatory regimes to diverge without producing the demand for a physical boundary stays firmly in the area of science fiction.

Generally, however, talks of blockchain’s capabilities are more inclined to realistic projects. According to Barbara Ubaldi, the paper’s lead author and deputy head of reform of the public sector at the OECD in Paris, “We have moved past the hype”.

Blockchain moves past the hype

Barbara Ubaldi stated that the advancement in providing blockchain software in the public sector has come at a slow pace. There’s no solid evidence of development in several locations. Fundamental challenges are the “power construction in the public sector” and also an”urgent need” for closer cooperation with the private industry. Additional important barriers include a lack of high quality data, a demand for the production of shared standards, and inadequate interoperability between public sector IT systems.

According to the OECD paper, risk aversion is another barrier.

Two-thirds of the nations surveyed in an OECD study stated that they prioritise standardised options over programs built around business demands, with many nations preferring to utilize proven technologies instead of exploring untested options.

That risk aversion is evidenced by public bodies’ lack of assurance within the regulatory atmosphere. “Regulators are behind the curve” on establishing rules governing issues like the use of information and the security of citizens’ privacy, states Bonturi, asserting that lots of nations lack the type of regulatory framework needed for blockchain to progress past well-meaning but small pilot strategies. The states that may advance the quickest, Bonturi adds, are those who provide the “path of least resistance” with regard to regulatory hurdles.

How to move ahead

Nonetheless, there are bright spots in certain nations, providing useful courses for civil servants everywhere. The OECD report praises the debut from authorities such as Australia, Estonia, New Zealand and the UK of electronic marketplaces, which facilitate the procurement of innovative digital technology and the commissioning of small providers.

Considering that the 2014 launching of the UK Digital Marketplace, the OECD states it has observed over £4.3bn (US$5.5bn) value of contracts pass, with almost half of that going to small and midsize enterprises. This has been followed in the UK this season from the debut of SPARK, an innovation market that allows public business clients to access the newest technology.

Stronger cooperation with the private sector may also accelerate advancement. Chile, Panama and Latvia are among the nations that have encouraged public-private cooperation on pilot schemes analyzing emerging technologies. And Estonia has supplied a “sandbox” environment for tech businesses to work on solutions and applications.

To realise the entire potential of blockchain, universally-transparent structures and authorities might need to accept that lots of blockchain programs are best directed by sectoral bodies or private businesses. Lots of public business blockchain experiments have followed a centralised, government-led strategy, as shown by a recent analysis from the EU Joint Research Centre, together with officials claiming the majority of the decision-making abilities. But among the tech’s key advantages is its ability to give accurate, confirmed information to everybody involved within the field of action; and if they lack the ability to make decisions utilizing it, a lot of blockchain’s potential wouldn’t be unrealised.

The EU Joint Research Centre report contains an example of a Maltese authorities project, which had started in 2017, and was made to verify academic qualifications. The ‘Blockcerts’ permits the production, issuing, seeing, and confirmation of certificates via blockchain.

It enables easy integration with existing instructional record-keeping systems and offers complete ownership of the documents to users using wallets. Using this system will actually save money, as requirements to inspect certification copies or transcripts are no longer needed. This past year, Italy started using the identical ‘Diplome’ program on a bigger scale to validate academic qualifications.

Blockchain has an identity

The OECD centre’s report points out that the blockchain may be expanded to authenticate different kinds of identity and certification, noting that Malta is investigating its use to check the identity of refugees in public service delivery. The most important barrier to wider adoption, researchers say, is too little consistency between nations’ legislative and regulatory frameworks, which emerges from the growth of internationally-accepted blockchain identification systems.

So blockchain is starting to come across real programs in public service delivery. And these, of course, are those who best match the technology’s attributes: providing international visibility of transactions and agreements between people, blockchain can offer certainty and clarity for those active in a business — government bodies one of them.

Presently, states Ubaldi, blockchain’s biggest potential lies in identification affirmation. A fifth of the planet’s inhabitants, the OECD states, are still with no legal or formally recognised individuality. So the chances are obvious but do not believe the hype.

Who are the people influencing blockchain’s mainstream adoption?

Who are the people influencing blockchain’s mainstream adoption?

by | Nov 7, 2019 | News

Considering the vast business opportunities blockchain offers, becoming mainstream is just a matter of time. In 2015, there were 5 million wallets. Only 3 years later, in 2019, the number of blockchain wallets surpassed 42 million. Over the past 11 years years, blockchain transformed the way companies conduct their business and how people prefer to do transactions. And with all these happening, mainstream adoption is still taking its time. But adoption will not happen on its own. Public people and industry leaders will be the ones to drive the mainstream adoption of blockchain. So who are the people influencing blockchain’s mainstream adoption and who are working tirelessly to build an operational blockchain ecosystem?

John McAfee

The creator of McAfee antivirus and cybersecurity tools, John McAfee believes that the blockchain will be adopted in mass just like it happened with the internet. The famous computer programmer has deep-rooted ties with cybersecurity, and it is understandable why he thinks so, considering that blockchain provides critical security options by decentralizing information and computational infrastructure resources.

Vitalik Buterin

Buterin is a Russian-Canadian computer programmer and co-founder of the Ethereum Network and Bitcoin Magazine.

Using as a platform Ethereum, programmers can construct a wide variety of decentralized software, called DApps. These DApps can operate successfully on the Ethereum network instead of using a centralized computer location. While its own mainstream adoption has not clicked yet, Ethereum is growing daily. Actually, Ethereum’s programmers are working tirelessly to solving present scalability challenges and planning potential transactions to both shared network and also proof-of-stake consensus protocol.

Charlie Lee

Lee is mainly known as the founder of Litecoin, which is one of the most popular cryptocurrencies. As Lee declared this year, he will enhance Litecoin’s fungibility and will address its privacy issues by adding confidential trades. Lee declared in an interview: “[I] … think for sure cryptocurrency will be one of the currencies that people will use; it will achieve mass adoption one day. The volatility will come down and things will be priced in cryptocurrencies.”

Andreas Antonopoulos

Antonopoulos, another person to add to the list when thinking about the people influencing blockchain’s mainstream adoption. Andreas Antonopoulos is a speaker, author of Mastering Bitcoin, The Internet of Money, and Mastering Ethereum, a programmer and an entrepreneur.

He represents a huge information source for Institutions,  blockchain business, researchers and incubators such as DAO Maker.

After his “Thoughts of the Future of Money” talk, during the Q&A session, someone asked the following question: “Which scalability options should the community adopt?” and Antonopolous replied, “That’s an easy one to answer: All of them.” He further explained that scalability problems don’t get solved, they only get “pushed further out,” and since the network expands, new forms of application and use-cases become visible to present new capacity challenges.

Nick Szabo

Nick Szabo is known for building Bit Gold, which is considered by some the precursor of Bitcoin. Szabo is a renowned computer scientist, legal scholar and cryptographer who developed the idea of Smart Contracts. 

Companies like Modium, Ambrosus and Chronicled are integrating Smart Contract using IoT to improve traceability. One example of such a smart contract happens when the sensor that monitors the temperature of meals in transit record their data to the blockchain. That’s when the smart contract is initiated and executes a payment to the provider.

Erik Voorhees

Voorhees is an American-Panamanian founder of Shapeshift. Erik Voorhees is also one of the top-recognized Bitcoin Entrepreneurs and Advocates. In a recent interview, he said:

“Mass adoption needs to be specified according to the specific use case. While we aren’t at mass adoption of any of these categories yet, we are certainly past the point of ‘mass adoption’ in at least a couple.”

Marvin Steinberg

Steinberg is one of the primary Security Token Offering (STO) specialists. Marvin Steinberg is the creator of SteinbergInvest, which owns various subsidiaries such as CPI Technologies, the only firm supplying white-label STO solutions. Currently, he is leading the $700 million Time Square tokenization project, which might significantly increase the adoption of tokenized securities.

Marc Andreessen

Andreessen is the co-founder and a partner of the famous venture capital company Andreessen Horowitz. Besides being a powerful advocate of both Bitcoin and blockchain, he is among those who consider that blockchain technology can assist realign incentives between users and platforms. Andreessen is an integral investor in several blockchain ventures. Actually, he has developed an industry-centric venture capital finance. In addition, he works as a key blockchain adviser to other institutions.

Jed McCaleb

Jed McCaleb is a developer and co-founder of Stellar Development Foundation. Stellar Foundation is a low-cost utility network. In fact, it employs an exceptional consensus protocol along with a set of reliable anchors, like banks and payment processors, to ease near-instantaneous and extremely affordable monetary trades on the Stellar blockchain system. This lets users swap and send money across international borders. Actually, it enables cost-effective micropayments.

Roger Ver

Roger Ver is also an American and one of the oldest investors in, and promoters of, Bitcoin. He is commonly called “Bitcoin Jesus” due to is devotion and constant support for its adoption. Actually, he utilizes his entrepreneurial spirit to preach the gospel to anyone who’d listen to financing early crypto startups. Ver invests in projects that build new crypto protocols and software.

Blockchain for Securing Global Supply Chain

Blockchain for Securing Global Supply Chain

by | Nov 5, 2019 | News

Blockchain technology has the capability to alter the worldwide supply chain and enhance the speed and safety of tackling the flow of products at international boundaries. But researchers say a lot of questions still remain about how the transformation will occur.

Weidong “Larry” Shi, an associate professor of at the University of Houston stated:

“It’s an emerging technology. It’s evolving,”

This was stated in a paper, published in the International Journal of Production Research, which investigates the possible disturbance and assures that blockchain can secure the global flow of products and identifies differences between the private sector and governmental agencies that have to be addressed. The paper is funded by the University of Houston and led by its Department of Homeland Security Center of Excellence.

Shi said this indicates that embracing blockchain to monitor the movement of products globally may benefit both business and agencies charged with ensuring the protection of cargo entering the United States. “It could move items through customs more quickly, and it would allow customs to focus its resources on the minority of cargo that needs closer scrutiny,” he said.

The paper is concentrated on six distribution chain “pain points”: traceability, dispute resolution, freight integrity and safety, supply chain digitalization, compliance, and stakeholder management and trust. And of course, the key challenges for mass adoption.

“The wide adoption of blockchain technology in the global SC (supply chain) market is still in its infancy,” they wrote. “Industry experts project that on average, it may take about six years for the widespread adoption of blockchain.”

According to Shi, one of the challenges is to decide which blockchain technology ought to be utilized. He forecasts which will be ascertained industry-by-industry and also the need for shared standards and applicable regulations and laws.

Widespread adoption may also need organizations to share some information with both governments of the nations by which the products pass, in addition to with their opponents. But the benefits could be considerable, from enhancing the capacity to confirm where products come from and what path they travelled to get to the end-user, to solving concerns about counterfeit solutions.

Blockchain would decrease fraud, Shi said. “The data can’t be changed. Everyone (along the supply chain) has a copy. You can add information, but you can’t change it.”

Three years ago, people didn’t know what blockchain was,” Shi said. “They thought it was bitcoin. Now they understand that it’s a technology.”

The investigators are working with both business and the national authorities, and Shi said they discovered high interest among business, including a couple of pilot projects employing blockchain technology. However, any alternative, he stated, should incorporate the demands and responsibilities of U.S. Customs and Border Protection so as to make sure it meets the objective of pre-clearing most freight before it enters a port. “It is a better way of sharing data, and a better picture of what is going on.”

Crypto World October 2019: Bitcoin is not a security, Canada wants crypto, Europe doesn’t accept crypto as fiat substitute

Crypto World October 2019: Bitcoin is not a security, Canada wants crypto, Europe doesn’t accept crypto as fiat substitute

by | Oct 31, 2019 | News

Canada set off to create its own cryptocurrency

If you can not beat’em, join ’em.

Allegedly, Canada is beginning to embrace the notion of launching a cryptocurrency. It’d replace fiat and, provided the inherent and automated coverage connected with crypto, would permit the nation to continuously monitor all financial moves by everybody in the nation.

China wants to become a leader in the blockchain industry

China is still a major force in the blockchain industry.

This is a fact, based on the number of businesses which have been founded in China, and now the number is getting higher. The Cyberspace Administration of China approved 309 brand new blockchain providers in October 2019. The businesses are offering solutions from eCommerce to tourism and from health care to legal issues.

The SEC has no Interest in regulating bitcoin as a security

After Cipher Technologies Bitcoin Fund filed a registration statement, the SEC responded in writing that it didn’t think Bitcoin was a security. Even though the SEC has provided several signs that it doesn’t believe Bitcoin for a security, this was the first printed statement by the bureau that Bitcoin wasn’t a security for purposes of the Investment Company Act of 1940.

“current purchasers of Bitcoin are not relying on the …. efforts of others to produce a profit. Accordingly, because Cipher intends to invest substantially all of its assets in Bitcoin as currently structured, it does not meet the definition of an ‘investment company’ under the Investment Company Act.”

The SEC noted if Bitcoin were a security, it could, “raise substantial other issues” since Bitcoin would subsequently become an “unregistered publicly-offered security”

ECB president says cryptocurrencies are no substitute for money

Central banks and government regulators are still express uncertainty over cryptocurrencies.

The most recent banker to question the usefulness of cryptocurrencies has been Mario Draghi, the powerful president of the European Central Bank (“ECB”). Draghi especially addressed so-called stablecoins, that can be electronic tokens with values attached to additional, stable assets like U.S. dollars.

In a letter to Eva Kaili, a European lawmaker, Draghi noted that stablecoins have popular appeal for the reduced rates of volatility and funding from recognized technology businesses, like Facebook, which has declared its stablecoin, Libra.

He also warned us that stablecoins aren’t a suitable substitute for cash in the regions of financial policy, market infrastructures and financial system stability. He said that “stablecoins and crypto-assets have had limited implications in these areas.” Despite his skepticism, Draghi attempted to strike a conciliatory note by stating that the ECB’s present stern view is that electronic assets could change in the future because of the accelerated pace of technology and shifting business models.

Bitcoin blockchain reached $1 billion in cumulative transaction fees

On Oct. 30, 2019, the bitcoin blockchain reached $1 billion in cumulative transaction fees.

“This milestone is a really cool milestone just because it shows how much people value block space,” said Bryan Aulds, founder of bitcoin wallet Billfodl. “And that it’s something people don’t mind paying for, which I think is really important moving forward.”

Based on data in blockchain analytics startup BlockChair, the quantity of bitcoin trade fees collected yearly has decreased in the last few decades. This is a result of the arrival of scaling alternatives on bitcoin such as “Segregated Witness” along with also the Lightning Network.

And though the cumulative quantity of bitcoin trade fees converted into USD amounts to about $1 billion, the sum is really much bigger in case you take into account the market value of bitcoin today. In accordance with Coin Metrics information, 204808.3479 BTC was distributed in trade fees to miners since 2009. At today’s cost, that is equal to $1.86 billion.

The cumulative size of transaction fees on the bitcoin system is just set to grow bigger in the coming years, as different mechanisms for rewarding miners like block subsidies gradually decrease.

“Over the long run, the transaction fees will eventually have to replace the block [subsidy],” said Jameson Lopp, CTO of bitcoin management startup Casa. “There’s a reason why it’s called the block subsidy in the code. It’s because it is subsidizing the security of the network,” adding:

“The understanding all along is that this subsidy via inflation will have to be replaced by the people who are paying to use the network via transaction fees.”

“We have another 10 to 13 years of decent subsidies left before it drops away to pretty negligible amounts,” said Billfodl’s Auld.

While this occurs, miners might need to begin adjusting sustainability steps around the relatively more volatile worth of trade fees instead of block subsidies.

“You have to start thinking more about the game theory around miner profitability and what would happen if the profitability of a miner becomes a lot more volatile from hour to hour, day to day,” said Lopp. “For example, we already know there are both daily and weekly cycles of demand for block space.”

UNICEF started accepting cryptocurrency

UNICEF will now receive contributions of cryptocurrencies, through its newly-established UNICEF Cryptocurrency Fund. UNICEF will utilize cryptocurrencies to finance open-source technologies benefiting children and young people across the globe.

Under the arrangement of this UNICEF Cryptocurrency Fund, donations will be stored as cryptocurrency and used as cryptocurrency, not converting it to fiat.

“This is a new and exciting venture for UNICEF,” said Henrietta Fore, UNICEF Executive Director. “If digital economies and currencies have the potential to shape the lives of coming generations, it is important that we explore the opportunities they offer. That’s why the creation of our Cryptocurrency Fund is a significant and welcome step forward in humanitarian and development work.”

Is blockchain going to Space?

Is blockchain going to Space?

by | Oct 17, 2019 | Blockchain, News

The blockchain that provides unprecedented safety and confidence for consumers (as it can’t be hacked or controlled), represents a new means to process present procedures, produce cost savings, and safely exchange data and worth. Blockchain, together with Internet of Things and Artifical Intelligence, have been called the “holy trinity of disruptive technology.”

Blockchain in FinTech

With its roots in fintech, blockchain has helped empower the cryptocurrency trend that started with Bitcoin. These days, the entire world is moving toward electronic possession of cash. The main reason is the decentralized ledger that blockchain uses, the blockchain.

Back in August 2017, a mistake by Google temporarily caused almost half of Japan to be denied access to the internet. While connectivity has been restored over the hour, users underwent slow link rates, which influenced industries like finance, where online trading has been stopped.

Within this scenario, dispersing the bitcoin blockchain through satellite could have assured the blockchain stayed in sync with the rest of the planet and so, unaffected by net outages.

Blockchain technology today touches virtually every business, by protecting medical records and individual privacy, to monitoring food security and medicine supply chain compliance, to supporting art credibility, to validating petroleum and gas trades as well as property ownership internationally.

Within the international space business, new and existing space innovators attempt to capitalize on blockchain’s assurance from the race into Low-Earth orbit (LEO), producing new opportunities for cooperation, new satellite-as-a-service business models, and new techniques to deal with the space distribution chain as well as how to construct payloads.

“There are huge opportunities for blockchain in satellite networks,” says Helena Correia Mendonça, chief consultant in the aerospace and ICT branches of a Portuguese law company, Vieira de Almeida (VdA), in which she has educated African American and European customers on space issues. She believes the embracing blockchain in the space industry was the natural step in blockchain’s expansion.

Enhancing the Satellite Value Chain

Mendonça states blockchain in satellites generates transparency, confidence, and efficacy in the satellite worth series.

For example, in logistics, utilizing smart contracts for starting and operating satellites, obtaining transparent data for insurance purposes, and exercising governmental functions (for example resorting to blockchain from the licensing procedure for establishing a satellite and also in tracking space surgeries).

It’s also beneficial in regards to the supply of blockchain data via satellite and even in turning tanks to “smart emancipated devices” through utilizing smart contracts.

Satellites may also be significant sources of distance information for upgrading blocks and confirming the integrity and source of data. And will drive smart contracts and logistics software while being really beneficial to the insurance market.

In a developing area such as Africa, it might also lead has contributed to more fiscal inclusion due to satellites’ ability to connect those otherwise excluded.

“One of the issues many of these countries have is determining the ownership and registering land, as well as identity … We know developing countries are using their government’s blockchain for this purpose,” says Mendonça. “If you get blockchain in satellites, you also get the benefit of blockchain without the need for these huge investments in ground networks.”

Blockchain can consequently become truly global using satellites.

Deep space applications like space mining may also leverage blockchain to help monitor and manage tools, states Mendonça.

Brian Rider, CTO for Seattle-based LeoStella, that is revolutionizing constellation structure of smallsats, sees two programs for blockchain in distance.

The first is supplying a worldwide distribution system that’s persistent and sovereignty agnostic. The second one is utilizing the blockchain to deliver advantage computing processing to distance.

“I really think it could become the core of how satellite activity and tasking are secured [in the future],” he says. “The thing that keeps me up at night is not hackers breaking into data that is being transacted across a satellite, but hackers taking control of satellites. Blockchain is a key aspect of how we will secure our constellations in addition to using blockchain to support commercial transactions.”

Deep space applications like space mining may also leverage blockchain to help monitor and manage tools, states Mendonça.

Dennis Gatens, a 30-year veteran of satellite, cloud and telecom solutions, currently serving as Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) for Cloud Constellation, agrees, noting that assignments to the moon and especially Mars will need crews to make conclusions “inside the human loop” due to transmission time delays involving crews close or around Mars and tools back on Earth.

Edge computing, empowered by blockchain and AI, will perform crucial roles. “Eventually, deep space will become part of the national security strategy, and blockchain will play a valuable role in making sure that data is secure and not compromised,” he says.

Enabling Cloud Services in Space

Cloud Constellation and IBM’s Space Tech group hope to leverage both AI and blockchain as they work to enable a cloud transformation in space.

The two companies, in a current co-authored white paper, compared the importance of blockchain in distance to the first Industrial Revolution.

Gatens states Cloud Constellation intends to provide global connectivity directly into the enterprise and protected data storage in orbit, using a roadmap to data and advantage computing from IBM, as a part of its SpaceBelt Data Security as a Service (DSaaS) portfolio.

Blockchain over satellite gets rid of the dependence on terrestrial infrastructure to the movement, memory, or computation of information and that, based on Gatens, eliminates a substantial vulnerability for information breach or compromise of information.

“Blockchain gives you the ability to have a chain of custody associated with data, whether the data is at rest or in motion; from end-user to end user, satellite to satellite, moving in and out of storage on our satellites, or you are combining it with artificial intelligence to look for anomalous transactions or attempts at anomalous transactions.”

Tracking the Satellite Supply Chain

Naeem Altaf, IBM’s Distinguished Engineer and CTO for SpaceTech, sees great opportunities for SpaceBelt and IBM’s blockchain service to monitor and confirm the transport and trust of providers throughout each stage of the procurement, construction, launching and testing of a satellite.

“Today, we use terrestrial networks to talk to data centers,” he says. “In the future, Cloud Constellation will have a sort of data center in orbit where companies can upload their data and bypass the terrestrial network.”

Authorities and fiscal applications will be to embrace the space blockchain, Altaf states, though other businesses will not be far behind. Altaf says any business with sensitive information along with a great deal of remote websites which will need to acquire information from various sources may use space blockchain.

Another place is that the production of satellites out of procurement to the launching website: blockchain could monitor a satellite’s motion, sharing information with all providers, and may apply rules like any modifications made to the satellite demand the validity of the group.

Cloud Constellation chose Seattle-based LeoStella to construct its 10-satellite LEO system. Nine will probably be busy and the last one will work as a hot spare and will have a first data storage capacity of 1.6 petabytes for clients on orbit.

“We selected LeoStella because they aligned with our vision and have the ability to manufacture the kind of satellite we need,” says Gatens

Two optical rings will interconnect the whole constellation to guarantee redundancy and self-healing for high accessibility. The SpaceBelt system will communicate with protected SpaceBelt access points situated at business clients’ places via connectivity with present Geosynchronous Orbit (GEO) satellite services.

“We are about two-and-a-half years away from first service availability and we hope to do some early customer evaluations in the service in fourth quarter of 2021,” says Gatens.

Even though Cloud Constellation has recently started to talk about blockchain, two additional companies have made remarkable inroads: Blockstream and SpaceChain.

Enhancing the World’s First Blockchain-enabled Public Satellite Service

“We see satellite technology as very useful to augment and reinforce exiting blockchain applications,” states Chris Cook, CTO, Blockstream, a blockchain and fiscal cryptography firm, and also the first to disperse bitcoin blockchain via satellite.

Bitcoin now has a market cap of $183 billion and the general cryptocurrency market cap is $273 billion, even though Cook quotes the total market size to become substantially bigger if one counts all of the ancillary businesses in the business.

Blockstream jumped to the space industry with Blockstream Satellite, just two years ago. This is the world’s earliest public satellite service which permits everyone to operate and keep bitcoin nodes, without the limitations of conventional network connectivity.

The service, provided from five transponders on four GEO communication satellites, is absolutely free to anybody as soon as they buy about $100 in parts, including a tiny 45-inch antenna. Cook states Blockstream does not have any clue how many consumers are utilizing the system since the service and network are made to safeguard the anonymity of consumers.

“When we launched in 2017, we had two-thirds of the world covered: North America, South America, Europe and Africa,” says Cook, adding that Asia Pacific from Australia to Japan, China, and part of India was added a year later.

“Our forthcoming release, which is outside in the Fourth Quarter (Q4), is a large improvement to the ceremony at which we’re further increasing our policy and accessibility options around the globe and are raising our bandwidth with more interesting programs,” says Cook, signaling the bandwidth has improved by a factor of five and also the Asia/Pacific area, which now utilizes C-band connectivity, will probably be incorporating Ku-band for a portion of the area.

“While our core satellite network is designed to distribute the bitcoin blockchain, we’ve also enabled service where anybody can send any data they want via our satellite network and then pay for it in bitcoin,” he adds.

Leveraging Open Source Satellites for Constellation Collaboration

Singapore startup SpaceChain, a partner of Cloud Constellation, is constructing an open-source satellite community that incorporates blockchain. The organization’s CEO and creator Zee Zheng considers that these technologies will allow a new age of seamless international cooperation.

The business introduced two blockchain-enabled satellite payloads into orbit over SpaceChain’s initial year of operation and three more are planned in the following 18 weeks.

“Our satellite payloads are the only blockchain-enabled satellite payloads in the world right now,” says Zheng. “We have witnessed how the smartphone industry has evolved and we see this trend for software-defined satellites. If they offer a secure development environment with an open-source platform, there is great potential.”

SpaceChain now supplies a satellite crypto wallet over SpaceChain’s personal network, enabling transactions without using the world wide web.

Zheng says new area companies are wanting to utilize the blockchain to forge partnerships with different businesses. They would like to explore constructing a joint constellation collectively by sharing with an open-source platform.

“We want to have multiple startups launch satellites to form a constellation with a shared protocol,” says Zheng. “It will no longer be one company launching 70 to form the constellation; it can be five companies and each of them launches 10 to 15, to form the constellation together. We believe blockchain creates many new opportunities to partner — which is one thing the industry is lacking.”

Zheng notes that SpaceChain would like to use open-source distributed technology to earn more application uses instances and, at precisely the exact same time, more decentralized networks to the space market.

Identifying Hurdles to Widespread Blockchain Space Adoption

There are some issues that need to be overcome before blockchain programs become mainstream.

IBM’s Altaf believes the largest problems is that blockchain is a process-based alternative which needs organizations to agree to operate a specific way, something which could possibly be challenging in the satellite market where businesses are often reluctant to share info.

“Big players like Amazon and Walmart can force their suppliers to adhere to their blockchain network because they are their biggest customer,” he says. Not true for the satellite industry.

Another issue concerns the hardware differences between terrestrial and distance networks. The distance blockchain demands radiation-hardened hardware.

“Most of this architecture is proprietary — we have to do a lot more work to get Intel or ARM (Advanced RISC Machines) processors, currently used on your phones or to run your computer, hardened enough to work in space.”

Irrespective of the operational versions, all space blockchain advocates agree on something: the potential for blockchain software in distance is unstoppable and will result in unprecedented new service capacities.

Blockchain, LEO Market Spark More Nimble Satellite-Manufacturing Models

Keeping pace with the explosion in LEO constellations and satellite versions which are leveraging technologies such as AI and blockchain demand new revolutionary approaches not just in orbit but using satellite payload layout, based on Brian Rider, CTO of LeoStella.

Formed as a joint venture between Thales Alenia Space and Spaceflight Industries, that delivers the Dark Sky geospatial intelligence assistance, LeoStella looked in the exploding LEO marketplace and recognized that it had a much better, nimbler version for constructing satellites which could benefit from inventions like blockchain and AI.

“We don’t think of ourselves as a traditional small satellite market … but as a forward-thinking, constellation and space infrastructure provider,” says Rider.

The business helps commercial businesses such as Cloud Constellation that need to make value-added cloud solutions from area infrastructure ascertain the best means to do it in a design standpoint.

It has the ability to create around 40 satellites per year within their Seattle mill, which follows procedures and manufacturing methodologies utilized in the automotive sector. In accordance with Rider, LeoStella’s manager of programs formerly led the distribution chain for Tesla’s semi-truck jobs.

“We have the ability to take satellites or long-lead components off the production line and quickly repurpose them to create a first-to-market advantage,” he says.

The business also provides complete transparency to its own manufacturing line, together with LeoStella and clients together making decisions regarding risk and schedule.

“We provide opportunities to bring in new technology — if a new communications or camera system comes on the market, we can integrate those into production where satellites are actively being produced,” he says.

UNICEF will start accepting crypto donation, but will not convert it to fiat

UNICEF will start accepting crypto donation, but will not convert it to fiat

by | Oct 15, 2019 | News

Will charities and worldwide organizations help in the mass adoption of cryptocurrencies?

Cryptocurrency adoption took a significant step forward with information that UNICEF will shortly be accepting Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) contributions.

Christina Lomazzo along with her blockchain team at the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) will allow the donation of cryptocurrencies.

This pilot program will mark the first moment when the foundation will accept cryptocurrency in the form of donation. The very first donation made will come from the Ethereum Foundation and consists of a contribution of 1 BTC and 10,000 ETH. The pilot program will also be a collaboration with UNICEF USA, UNICEF Australia, UNICEF New Zealand, and UNICEF France.

An important aspect of this program is that UNICEF will not convert the cryptocurrencies into fiat. Instead of mechanically convert them into fiat money, the global organization appears to be interested in HODLing and spending cryptocurrencies.

The idea behind the move is to enhance transparency and increase the number of contributors. With each donation listed on the blockchain, there’s very little space to ‘shed’ funds and what’s visible on the public ledger.

International Organizations Appear to Blockchain Technology

The United Nations and its branches have shown themselves receptive to cryptocurrencies. There’s presently a ‘paradigm change’ happening at the greatest levels of worldwide power which might imply a wave of adoption is forthcoming.

The pro-cryptocurrency place goes much beyond UNICEF. This past year, Antonio Guterres, the UN secretary-general, talked about the chance of utilizing blockchain technologies in solving world problems. The program’s focus is to supply ultra-accessible monetary services and electronic networks from 2030.

UNICEF has taken the bold move of accepting cryptocurrencies and not converting them to liquid cash. Instead, they’re betting long-term on the idea. Let’s hope that other international organizations follow. Let us hope that other organizations will follow.