Monday, July 08, 2019

The Blockchain In The News


Ethereum Leaders Are Slowly Courting Persian Gulf Royals and Investors Ethereum’s leaders are pursuing a “moonshot” in the Middle East....... is partnering with finance experts in the Persian Gulf to show that the world’s second largest blockchain is compatible with Islamic law. ....... work to certify ethereum’s Sharia compliance. ...... here’s a hypothetical case where say, the Saudi sovereign wealth fund invests, like, a trillion dollars [in ethereum projects] ...... his firm issued a paper saying ethereum smart contracts can be halal, or compliant with Islamic banking rules ....... make Dubai “the first city fully powered by blockchain by 2021.” ...... digital permits and an automated “process of attesting any document by governmental entities.” ...... the understanding and appetite for investment in blockchain technology is accelerating.”


Cuba Eyes Cryptocurrency as Solution to Sanctions, Financial Woes the country’s Communist government announced on state-run TV that it would potentially use crypto as part of a package aimed to boost incomes for as much as a quarter of Cubans and assist with market reforms....... the state appears to be placing a lot of hope in its crypto dreams


The State of the Blockchain Revolution Many of us are old enough to remember what using the internet was like in 1995: The crackling, hissing and discordant tones of a dial-up modem, followed by long wait times for ugly websites to load. To all appearances, those days are far behind us – yet looks can be deceiving. The internet that has matured so spectacularly over the last 25 years is about to be reborn, and what will replace it is still in nascent form. The technology behind this rebirth is blockchain....... a system designed to liberate information is not always ideal for protecting valuable assets, like money, votes, intellectual property and personal data. With blockchain, we can trade and move assets through a distributed database that is autonomous and self-policing (i.e. very difficult to hack)......... Transactions can thus occur without the once-necessary involvement of third parties (e.g. banks and governments) to ensure trust. This capability has transformative implications for business and society. Sectors that are still reeling from relatively recent waves of digital disruption may be upended all over again by blockchain’s radical removal of the middleman.......... The convoluted trail of documentation required in the logistics industry – such as bills of lading, export licenses and certificates of origin – can share a network state on a blockchain. That means suppliers, purchasers and consumers all have access to identical, unalterable and accurate information about the products’ status and origins. In 2016, IBM began working with Walmart and other retailers on a blockchain-powered solution to enable food traceability across the entire supply chain. The current system is designed to identify the origin of any contamination of the food supply, so that users of the system can remove it swiftly........ fraudulent or erroneously labelled seafood is rampant, affecting up to one-third of the market in such countries as the United States. In such a byzantine seafood supply chain, irregularities easily go undetected. With blockchain, users can illuminate the more obscure corners of the industry........ Patients at Toronto’s highly regarded University Health Network, Canada’s largest research hospital, can opt in to receive a digital identity containing their medical records to take control of their treatment. Adding blockchain would empower patients to create value with their personal data, potentially donating it to further scientific efforts or even selling it.......... Start-ups can now raise money by selling equity shares on the blockchain (incurring relatively miniscule administrative fees), or tokens that token holders can later exchange for products or services once the company is up and running....... In addition to guaranteeing that business is conducted according to a single version of the truth that is as complete as possible, blockchain networks can control how agreements between parties are executed, via smart contracts. Assets exchanged through the blockchain can carry their own inviolable terms of use. Smart contracts compel a Goliath to deal as honestly with a David as it would its fellow corporate giants....... Think of Uber drivers and others in the so-called “sharing economy” whose earnings have been sliced to the bone by aggregator apps and their algorithms. Smart contracts on the blockchain could one day replace the sharing economy intermediary platforms, thereby ensuring participants are fairly compensated for the value they create. Or consider the plight of independent musicians, who must increasingly live on the road to make ends meet now that album sales have dried up industry-wide. Singer-songwriter Imogen Heap is the force behind Creative Passport, a database for musicians that, among other things, uses smart contracts to circumvent industry barriers that come between artists and their rightful revenue......... With an assist from the Internet of Things, automated transactions on the blockchain can transform our wasteful relationship with energy....... blockchain may help revive the legitimacy of democracy itself. Why do we still have to queue up, often for hours, at a physical polling place to cast our ballot on Election Day? Increasing ease of voting through digital access would bring untold numbers of citizens, especially young people, into the democratic fold. ...... a fully virtual system could not win public trust without the cutting-edge cryptography of blockchain to prevent cyber-interference...... we could engineer votes as smart contracts, obliging winning candidates to act on the promises and platform on which they campaigned...... many established players recognise that blockchain represents a direct threat to their business model and are handling it gingerly........ as with any innovative technology, the brave early adopters will capture the most value

First Successful Blockchain-tracked Shipment from South Korea to the Netherlands
After Experimenting With Bitcoin and Ethereum, DocuSign Is Accelerating its Blockchain Ambitions
Why IBM’s Blockchain Isn’t a Real Blockchain
Blockchain blossoms in Haiti
Blockchain Startups Raised $822 Million in H1 2019: New Report
Facebook vs Google: Who Will Dominate The World Of Crypto-blockchain?
Briefing: China’s use of blockchain a ‘strategic weapon’ – report
Platforms and Blockchain Will Transform Logistics
Paradigm Shift: Biometrics And The Blockchain Will Replace Paper Passports Sooner Than You Think
Blockchains CEO buys Nevada-based bank to get closer to blockchain vision
Singapore emerging as global centre of blockchain expertise
Why Rising Number of Mining Companies Are Embracing Blockchain Technology
Is Google Chasing The 90% Potential Of Blockchain That Facebook Left Out?
5 Blockchain Breakthroughs Coming in the Next 5 Years
Cube System Announces New Blockchain eCommerce Platform
Galaxy Digital Leads $5.5 Million Round for Contract Management Startup
JPMorgan CEO Dimon Says Crypto Companies ‘Want to Eat Our Lunch’
Dubai Chamber of Commerce Signs MoU on Blockchain Trade Solutions
How Malta Is Becoming the Global Capital of Crypto | Cointelegraph Documentary




Blockchain’s real promise: Automating trust Combining the distributed ledger with other technologies such as artificial intelligence cuts costs and makes supply chains traceable. ......... Combining blockchain—the distributed ledger technology that forms the basis of the digital currency Bitcoin—with artificial intelligence (AI) and the internet of things (IoT) ....... eliminates time-consuming and expensive manual efforts, automating trust between partners and bringing traceability to supply chains. ........ “Blockchain is fundamentally changing a lot of things” ........ the cost of establishing trust in a supply chain is incredibly high. ...... $461 billion worth of fake goods are sold annually, amounting to 2.5 percent of global trade. ...... total global counterfeiting is expected to surge to $1.82 trillion by 2020, exposing businesses to revenue loss, quality issues, and potential reputational damage....... a digital “birth certificate,” which includes relevant data such as product specifications, provenance, and cost, gets entered into enterprise resource planning systems (ERP) and then integrated with blockchain. That provides an immutable, secure distributed ledger that serves as an authoritative and secure source for all participants in a supply chain ..........






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Sunday, June 30, 2019

Paxful: Buy Bitcoins Instantly

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Wednesday, June 19, 2019

Facebook's Blockchain Push: Libra

Facebook has taken a public relations beating since 2016. A lot of people blame Facebook for Trump.

There are serious privacy and security issues that the entire sector of tech needs to address. 5G is so promising, but one major line of attack on Huawei has been to do with privacy and security.

But tomorrow is not going to wait. And of the tech giants - Microsoft, Google, Apple, Amazon, Facebook - looks like Facebook has made the boldest move on the biggest of the next big things: The Blockchain.

Taking banking to the unbanked is a noble goal. They say poverty is a lack of cash. Direct cash to the poorest two billion would eliminate poverty. I am all for it.

A Libra is like a dollar, or a euro, or a yen, or renminbi. The worth of one Libra likely will be pegged to a basket of all those major currencies. This is something the governments of the world should have long done but never did. That's the first part. The second part is anyone anywhere on the planet will be able to move money as near or as far as they want for zero costs. That's revolutionary. The best use case scenario would be where direct deposits are made into the accounts of the two billion poorest. That is the best way to fight poverty. Poverty is lack of cash. Inject cash.

What Facebook should do next - and I said this years ago - is add a voting feature to its Groups, and a book-keeping feature.

Libra will be governed by a body where Facebook will have only 1% of the vote. Calibra will be a Facebook app, but then anyone else is free to build a Calibra competitor, including the other members of the Big Five.















Libra: White Paper



Bitcoin’s digital gold, but Facebook’s Libra is the digital dollar—here’s why that matters there are some crucial differences between Libra and a cryptocurrency like bitcoin. ....... what Libra is doing is creating a digital version of the U.S. dollar, yen, euro. It’s like a stablecoin, but you still have all the characteristics of a fiat currency ...... With Libra, Facebook users will be able to exchange their dollars for Libra tokens, thus entrusting Facebook and its fellow backers with building a reliable ledger of all transactions ....... Libra users will have to trust the company that has perhaps been most plagued by issues around trust and privacy: Facebook. ...... it’s like the AOL moment: AOL got you online, Libra’s going to get you into crypto

The Senate will hold a hearing next month on Facebook’s Libra currency “Facebook is already too big and too powerful, and it has used that power to exploit users’ data without protecting their privacy,” Brown said yesterday. “We cannot allow Facebook to run a risky new cryptocurrency out of a Swiss bank account without oversight. I’m calling on our financial watchdogs to scrutinize this closely to ensure users are protected.”

FACEBOOK’S LIBRA REVEALS SILICON VALLEY’S NAKED AMBITION a comprehensive, borderless economic system for its platform, which is based on a new cryptocurrency, Libra. ....... The company plans to sit ostentatiously on its hands when it comes to governing the project, just one member of the so-called Libra Association, with a total of 28, to emphasize the separation between the currency—which will have a record of your every purchase—and the company ........ whatever scandals may trail the big Silicon Valley companies they are not scaling back, whether that means studying how to eavesdrop on people’s brainwaves to read their minds or building a currency to circumvent borders and national regulation ....... Move fast and break things may have destroyed civic institutions and jeopardized our democracy, but the opposite should be downright scary: Move slow and they break you up. ........ “Libra holds the potential to provide billions of people around the world with access to a more inclusive, more open financial ecosystem,” he said, adding, “We know the journey is just beginning, but together we can achieve Libra’s mission to create a simple global currency and financial infrastructure that will empower billions of people.” ...... spoke of the high fees for transferring money back home, the inefficient requirements of traditional banking, and, most sweepingly, of bringing financial services to the “unbanked” across the far corners of the globe. ......

Libra Quotes we should be able to send money as quickly and securely across borders as we send photos and email. ........... e frictionless commerce for hundreds of millions of people around the world ....... We are committed to ensure that the Internet of
Everything comes with the inclusion of everyone. ........ we know how important it is to promote financial inclusion. We are
committed to developing solutions that are efficient, innovative, and cheap. ...... a new, global digital currency, built on blockchain technology. ....... creating a world without financial borders, where everyone can prosper. ...... Libra has the potential to be one of the most impactful financial innovation opportunities of our time ........ there is an
opportunity to better reach Spotify’s total addressable market, eliminate friction, and enable payments in mass scale. ......... The Libra Association has the potential to significantly expand access to the global economy ........ Sending money to your friend shouldn’t be harder than getting them an Uber ride home. ....... Union Square Ventures has always looked to back platforms that will bring cryptocurrencies to mainstream consumers at scale. Libra is exactly that type of effort, and we look forward to participating in its development and governance. ......... In Digital Societies people should be able to access financial services regardless of where they live or how much they have. ......... This has the potential to be truly transformative and will benefit those who have never used, or are struggling to access, financial services around the world. ....... We are particularly enthusiastic about the potential of Libra’s programming language, Move. Thoughtfully designed smart contracts operating on a widely accessible and stable global currency platform will unlock never-seen-before gains from trade, benefiting society at a meaningful scale. ....... Kiva is focused on addressing the systemic barriers impeding access to financial services for 1.7
billion unbanked individuals around the world. We’re proud to serve as a Founding Partner of the Libra Association and excited by the potential for new technologies to create a more inclusive financial system. ....... More than 1.7 billion people today are financially cut off from the world, with no access to a bank account- a poverty trap that could deepen as the rest of the world becomes ever-more connected. A global digital currency has the potential to spark financial inclusion for the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people, connecting them to the local, national, and global economy ......... Libra has the potential to level the playing field for the 1.7 billion people who remain unbanked and excluded from formal financial services – over half of whom are women! This may be the pivotal moment in time when we look back and recognize we had the key that unlocked the door for billions of people! ....... What we’ve found in almost two decades of work with the financially vulnerable is that when provided with
the right tools, people make good financial decisions. We’ve all read that blockchain is a solution in search of a problem. Financial exclusion and insecurity are clearly problems, both globally and in our home here in the U.S. If a blockchain-based stable cryptocurrency can make a lasting dent in this problem - by offering underserved people critical tools: a stable, secure, convenient place to store and move funds - we should do all we can to understand and explore the opportunity. ....... By simplifying access to the financial transactions that so many of us take for granted, these tools help build resilience and opportunity for the underserved. ....... It represents a highly disruptive step change not just for the cryptocurrency industry, but also for the broader financial system.

Facebook's cryptocurrency Libra aims to 'put the currency back in cryptocurrency' While the “founding members” of Libra include some very big names in payments and commerce—like Visa, MasterCard, PayPal, Stripe, Coinbase, and eBay—many still see the entire project as a Facebook venture, considering the simultaneously coordinated announcements and that Facebook executive David Marcus oversaw the Libra launch. ...... It really is designed to be a unit of purchase and a unit of daily transactions, as opposed to a speculative asset—which is, candidly, where many cryptocurrencies have stood. ...... eventually, when the Libra blockchain launches, it aims to have 100 founding members, with no one member having more than 1% say in the governance.

Bitcoin Faces Technical Hurdle as Libra Steals Crypto Spotlight

Welcome to the official White Paper a new decentralized blockchain, a low-volatility cryptocurrency, and a smart contract platform that together aim to create a new opportunity for responsible financial services innovation. ...... 1.7 billion adults globally remain outside of the financial system with no access to a traditional bank, even though one billion have a mobile phone and nearly half a billion have internet access. ...... All over the world, people with less money pay more for financial services. Hard-earned income is eroded by fees, from remittances and wire costs to overdraft and ATM charges. Payday loans can charge annualized interest rates of 400 percent or more, and finance charges can be as high as $30 just to borrow $100........ We believe that many more people should have access to financial services and to cheap capital. ...... global, open, instant and low-cost movement of money will create immense economic opportunity and more commerce across the world......... people will increasingly trust decentralized forms of governance. ........ a global currency and financial infrastructure should be designed and governed as a public good. ...... the promise of “the internet of money.” ...... Moving money around globally should be as easy and cost-effective as — and even more safe and secure than — sending a text message or sharing a photo, no matter where you live, what you do, or how much you earn. ....... people need to have confidence that they can use Libra and that its value will remain relatively stable over time....... Unlike the majority of cryptocurrencies, Libra is fully backed by a reserve of real assets. A basket of bank deposits and short-term government securities will be held in the Libra Reserve for every Libra that is created, building trust in its intrinsic value. ........ any consumer, developer, or business can use the Libra network, build products on top of it, and add value through their services. ...... The goal of the Libra Blockchain is to serve as a solid foundation for financial services, including a new global currency, which could meet the daily financial needs of billions of people. ....... “Move” is a new programming language for implementing custom transaction logic and “smart contracts” on the Libra Blockchain. Because of Libra’s goal to one day serve billions of people, Move is designed with safety and security as the highest priorities. ......... We believe that the world needs a global, digitally native currency that brings together the attributes of the world’s best currencies: stability, low inflation, wide global acceptance, and fungibility. ..... anyone with Libra has a high degree of assurance they can convert their digital currency into local fiat currency based on an exchange rate, just like exchanging one currency for another when traveling. ....... will be backed by a collection of low-volatility assets, such as bank deposits and short-term government securities in currencies from stable and reputable central banks......... the ability to send money quickly, the security of cryptography, and the freedom to easily transmit funds across borders. Just as people can use their phones to message friends anywhere in the world today, with Libra, the same can be done with money — instantly, securely, and at low cost.......... success will mean that a person working abroad has a fast and simple way to send money to family back home, and a college student can pay their rent as easily as they can buy a coffee.














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Sunday, May 26, 2019

God And Science















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Friday, May 24, 2019

Uber And The Public







Why Silicon Valley Loved Uber More Than Everyone Else Uber was the most valuable private company in history, but the public market has not been as enthusiastic. The reason explains a lot about how the tech industry works.......... Silicon Valley’s cultural divergence from the business reality. ....... Uber has taken more money than any other company from the dense set of moneymen who bankroll new(ish) companies. Its investors include Alphabet, Google’s parent company; Jeff Bezos; Softbank; the Saudi sovereign wealth fund; a slew of marquee venture-capital firms; Goldman Sachs; and even Tim Ferriss, whose work week is probably even shorter now. In 2014, the company set the record for the largest valuation ever for a private tech company—at $17 billion—and then smashed its own mark many times. ....... He and his firm would rely on their instinct instead of putting a number on the company’s value the standard way—by looking at the market Uber was targeting and figuring out how much market share it could win. ......... Drivers drove and riders rode—and the only thing necessary to connect them was an app on a phone. The model didn’t just make financial sense to people trained to think in Silicon Valley in the 2000s; it made ideological sense.......... “We’re in this political campaign, and the candidate is Uber. And the opponent is an asshole named Taxi” ...... The company tried to catalyze riders to contact their local officials telling them to allow Uber to operate, no matter the rules on the books; the effort was called Operation Rolling Thunder. ........ In Kalanick’s national crusade against Taxi, he literally hired Barack Obama’s campaign manager, David Plouffe. In a tough battle in New York, he brought in Michael Bloomberg’s former campaign manager, Bradley Tusk, and won. Tusk later founded a venture firm based on the idea they could help start-ups with politics. ....... For providing this kind of service to Uber, Tusk may have made $100 million........ The company created a loyal user base in a legal gray area, then when a city’s elected political leaders made a decision Uber did not like, the company would use its power to push their political messaging to their users. Elected officials became like customer-service representatives during a cable outage, desperate and nervous.......... Uber really was about the triumph of individualism, an ethos that infuses Silicon Valley so thoroughly that it’s hard for most here to see. Companies that fit that pattern are more likely to garner VC attention, get funding, and find success. That’s how Silicon Valley shapes the world. ......... But they cannot sustain companies within their bubbles of influence forever. They must leave the nest for the public markets, where they are judged on their bottom lines. So far, the market says: This company is worth $50 billion less than its executives and bankers thought.......... And in Uber’s world, the market is always right.





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Monday, May 20, 2019

Tech Talk (9)

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Monday, May 13, 2019

Larry Page














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