Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 10:05 AM on Wednesday, July 31st, 2019
SPONSOR: ThreeD Capital Inc. (IDK:CSE) Led by
legendary financier, Sheldon Inwentash, ThreeD is a Canadian-based
venture capital firm that only invests in best of breed small-cap
companies which are both defensible and mass scalable. More than just
lip service, Inwentash has financed many of Canada’s biggest small-cap
exits. Click Here For More Information.
Crypto Markets See Second Day of Green, Bitcoin Above $9,700
crypto markets are seeing widespread green, with Bitcoin (BTC) breaking back above $9,700 and many large market cap altcoins seeing solid gains of between 3 and 9% on the day.
Wednesday, July 31 — crypto markets are seeing widespread green, with Bitcoin (BTC) breaking back above $9,700 and many large market cap altcoins seeing solid gains of between 3 and 9% on the day.
Despite trading in a lower price range since dropping back to a four-figure price point in a recent corrections, BTC is today up a solid 2.4%, bringing it to $9,717 by press time.
This mild uptick nonetheless stops short of bringing the coin back
into the green on its 7-day chart, where Bitcoin is still reporting a
fractional 0.7% loss. On the month, losses are starker, topping 8%.
Yesterday, Peter Tchir — a former Executive Director at German multinational investment bank Deutsche Bank — argued
that Bitcoin is an indicator of hidden geopolitical tensions, pointing
to the coin’s momentous performance this May at a time of fraught trade
talks between the United States and China.
Also this week, erstwhile Bitcoin bear and CNBC host Joe Kernen predicted that the top coin could hit $55,000 — a 500%+ price surge — by the time of its next halving in May 2020.
Top altcoin Ether (ETH) — which celebrated its fourth birthday
yesterday — has posted a 1.9% to trade around $212 by press time. In
corrections earlier this week, the coin had circled perilously close to
the round $200 mark, but has since recovered ground and is just slightly
in the red, at 2.2%, on its 7-day chart. On the month, however, Ether
is down over 18%.
XRP is
reporting a 2.7% gain on the day, while among the remaining top ten
coins several alts are seeing stronger upward momentum: Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is posting a 7.5% gain on the day, Litecoin (LTC) is up 3.6% and Binance Coin (BNB) is up 4.1%.
In the context of top twenty coins, Tezos (XTZ) is outstripping all
other assets, seeing a 24% gain on the day following news of the token’s
listing on major United States crypto exchange Coinbase. At press time, XTZ is trading at $1.24
Still among the top twenty, strong gains are being reported by Chainlink (LINK) — up over 9% — as well as by NEO (NEO), IOTA (MIOTA) and Cosmos (ATOM), all of which are up by 4-5%.
Total market capitalization for all cryptocurrencies is at $261,434,827,781 at press time, according to Coin360 data.
Dominating the crypto headlines this week is the hearing devoted to
examining regulatory frameworks for cryptocurrencies and blockchain held
at the United States Senate Banking Committee. Cointelegraph reported live on the most important developments during the hearing as it unfolded.
Yesterday’s Committee hearing notably follows upon earlier hearings in mid-July that had examined the regulatory hurdles surrounding Facebook’s Libra.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 3:36 PM on Tuesday, July 30th, 2019
SPONSOR: ThreeD Capital Inc. (IDK:CSE) Led by
legendary financier, Sheldon Inwentash, ThreeD is a Canadian-based
venture capital firm that only invests in best of breed small-cap
companies which are both defensible and mass scalable. More than just
lip service, Inwentash has financed many of Canada’s biggest small-cap
exits. Click Here For More Information.
Branson-backed cryptocurrency firm launches a super-fast exchange to take on Coinbase
Blockchain’s exchange is the result of work led by a team of former trading industry executives.
The exchange can execute orders in a matter of “microseconds,†according to CEO Peter Smith.
The firm has raised $70 million from investors including Richard Branson, Alphabet and Lakestar.
Blockchain CEO Peter Smith.
Krisztian Bocsi | Bloomberg via Getty Images
Blockchain, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency wallet
platforms, says it’s launched a digital currency exchange aimed at
delivering “lightning-fast†trades.
The company’s exchange, called The PIT, is the result of a
behind-the-scenes effort led by a team of former executives from the New
York Stock Exchange, TD Ameritrade, Google and Goldman Sachs.
According to Blockchain CEO Peter Smith, the new exchange’s matching
engine Mercury can execute buy or sell orders in “40 to 50
microseconds,†an “order of magnitude faster than other market playersâ€
like Coinbase and Binance.
Founded in 2011, Blockchain initially started out with what’s known
as a block explorer — kind of like an internet browser for
cryptocurrency data — and then built digital wallets for users to store
and exchange their crypto. It derives its name from the eponymous
blockchain network that records bitcoin transactions.
Having enjoyed popularity with bitcoin enthusiasts — Blockchain
claims to account for about 25% of daily activity on the bitcoin network
— the company is hoping its exchange platform will help lure in the
uninitiated.
“There’s a huge audience of people who have not yet placed their
first bitcoin trade,†Nicole Sherrod, head of trading products at
Blockchain, told CNBC in an interview. Sherrod previously led the active
trading product team at online stock broker TD Ameritrade before
joining Blockchain.
Sherrod said the new trading platform would give investors a degree of liquidity not seen in competitor exchanges.
“In volatile markets in particular, speed is of utmost importance,â€
she said. “I would not feel comfortable delivering a platform to retail
investors that puts them in a position where they couldn’t get in and
out of a trade with lightning-fast speed.â€
Blockchain CEO Peter Smith says the cryptocurrency firm’s new exchange can executive order in a matter of “microseconds.â€
Blockchain
Cryptocurrencies have gained a reputation for their volatile price
swings. Bitcoin in late 2017 skyrocketed to a near-$20,000 record high,
before plummeting the following year to as low as $3,122. The world’s
best-known digital currency has been on the rise this year, however,
last trading at $9,502.
Bitcoin’s rise in 2019 was attributed in part to Facebook’s plans to
create a cryptocurrency, with analysts saying it brings some much-needed
credibility to cryptocurrencies. Facebook’s Libra project has been
panned by regulators, however, concerned by the risks it may pose to
consumers.
One big hurdle for the industry to overcome is bringing institutional
investors with deep pockets on board. That may be slowly starting to
happen, with financial services giant Fidelity signaling it’s warming to the space. Sherrod said that Blockchain’s crypto exchange is providing liquidity through “institutional-level market makers.â€
Blockchain said its exchange will be available in more than 200
countries, starting with 26 trading pairs. Users will be able to link
their bank account with Blockchain and use U.S. dollars, euros and
sterling to trade cryptocurrencies.
The company has raised over $70 million from investors including
British billionaire Richard Branson, Alphabet venture arm GV and early
Spotify backer Lakestar. It has also accrued over 40 million users,
Blockchain said, who will be able to transfer crypto from their wallets
to the exchange.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 11:49 AM on Monday, July 29th, 2019
SPONSOR: ThreeD Capital Inc. (IDK:CSE) Led by
legendary financier, Sheldon Inwentash, ThreeD is a Canadian-based
venture capital firm that only invests in best of breed small-cap
companies which are both defensible and mass scalable. More than just
lip service, Inwentash has financed many of Canada’s biggest small-cap
exits. Click Here For More Information.
——————
Blockchain is finally becoming the next-gen database of choice
Image Credit: TimeStopper/Getty
In short, a blockchain is a server that can’t crash and a database that can’t be corrupted — all in one easy to deploy package.
When I think of why we need a blockchain, I think of one guy. There was a dev we had hired to build a few important parts of our product for us. A few years previously, in another life, he had been hosting his own servers and one of them crashed. He was telling me this with tears in his eyes: The database, a massive mess full of customer data, point-of-sale info, and inventory information had gone up in smoke. The backups were hosed, as well. And there was no way to rewind the data.
He spent almost 24 hours in an air-conditioned server room, a monitor
attached to the rack and a keyboard on his knees, trying to resurrect
it. He was partially successful, but the real question was whether the
data was accurate. Whether the transactions all matched up, whether he
would keep his job in the morning.
Everything turned out fine and, since then, it has gotten a lot
easier to do his job. Cloud replaced servers while also being cheaper
and more reliable. His lingering fear never went away though. Things are
better, but he can’t be 100% sure things will never go sideways again.
He believes, though, that there’s a stronger safety net available now
than we’ve had before: blockchain.
Benefits like disaster recovery,
security, availability, and automation are all baked into blockchain.
The serverless architecture of public blockchains makes them powerful
proofs of how blockchain can deliver on enterprise-grade reliability for
business databases. The costs are also not much higher: Blockchain’s
ability to instantly replicate may even allow you to safely get away
with the same (or even less) redundancy compared to a traditional
database. Perhaps the biggest advantage? Smart contracts
will regulate changes, so a new hire can’t throw a wrench into
everything — the blockchain will protect you from changes that could
compromise data or stability.
In short, a blockchain is a server that can’t crash and a database that can’t be corrupted — all in one easy to deploy package.
To be clear, blockchain isn’t perfectly suited to solve certain data
problems, the same way that email isn’t suited for instant messaging.
Big data analytics is crazy expensive to replicate, and unless you are
directly monetizing the data (like selling ads), it is not worth the
cost to shoehorn blockchain into an analytical workload. Blockchains are
best for core business transactional data, like your account balance.
They are absolutely mission-critical when it comes to account data and
ownership records, the loss of which would be an existential threat to a
company. A company like Walmart can probably survive the loss of all
website traffic data, but it would be very much at risk if it lost its
inventory ledger.
Business continuity is a major concern for enterprise players as
customers demand nothing less than always-on availability. As businesses
grow though, the pains of migrating databases and updating systems can
lead to massive fumbles. According to Boston Computing Network’s
research, 60 percent of companies that lose their data will shut down
within six months of the disaster. There exists an entire industry of
SysOps, DevOps, and others who monitor code pushes and database
migrations, giving humans plenty of chances to foul up a launch.
So blockchain represents a big opportunity for businesses to move quickly while keeping their operations secure.
Today, it isn’t just about the speed of transactions, it’s also about
verifying and securing those transactions. That’s what has always been
missing in system management and is something that anyone from our
beleaguered dev to the teams that run databases for Twitter, Facebook,
and LinkedIn are learning.
Blockchain tech is the evolution of the database. Smart contracts
enforce business rules, while databases are backed up and verified
continuously. All of the infrastructure and computational needs are
calculated before deployment, and embedded rules ensure compliance from
day one onward.
In fact, it looks a lot like the next generation of what APIs look
like. You’re encapsulating processes, tying them together with requests
for data, and expecting results. Right now, the business logic is
processed on central servers of some kind. What’s innovative with
blockchain is that you can take that logic, wrapped as a smart contract,
and run it on your own. It still adheres to the rules set by the people
who created it, and it must interact as expected.
Now, imagine databases on blockchain using these same robust rules.
Robust databases that are unkillable. You don’t have to worry about your
main server going down. Replication is built-in. Immutable laws exist
that you can’t lose or change. If you’re on a public blockchain, this is
as robust as possible, and you don’t have to pay for any servers. With a
public blockchain, your data is stored cryptographically by the
blockchain’s miners all around the world. If you’re on a private
blockchain, you may run several replicated systems. Or, you can own all
the nodes. You can also use blockchain on cloud platforms like Amazon
Web Services and Microsoft Azure. The key is that blockchain is built to
be replicated, again and again. Traditional databases must be migrated
in specific, expensive ways under certain conditions to guard against
data loss.
Ultimately, this is where blockchain really proves its worth:
combining the basic elements of security, robustness, replication, and
business logic all in its “DNA.†Smart contracts are safe, distributed,
and secure. Your entire dataset is more secure this way, too. This is
why blockchain promises to be the next-generation database.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 10:18 AM on Friday, July 26th, 2019
SPONSOR: ThreeD Capital Inc. (IDK:CSE) Led by
legendary financier, Sheldon Inwentash, ThreeD is a Canadian-based
venture capital firm that only invests in best of breed small-cap
companies which are both defensible and mass scalable. More than just
lip service, Inwentash has financed many of Canada’s biggest small-cap
exits. Click Here For More Information.
In First, SEC Clears Blockchain Gaming Startup to Sell Ethereum Tokens
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has issued a no-action letter to Pocketful of Quarters (PoQ), a gaming startup looking to issue tokens on the ethereum blockchain.
PoQ may legally sell its Quarters tokens to consumers without registering them as securities, the SEC Division of Corporation Finance wrote in its second no-action letter to a company seeking to launch a token sale.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has issued a no-action
letter to Pocketful of Quarters (PoQ), a gaming startup looking to issue
tokens on the ethereum blockchain.
PoQ may legally sell its Quarters tokens to consumers without
registering them as securities, the SEC Division of Corporation Finance wrote in its second no-action letter to a company seeking to launch a token sale. (The first was granted in April to TurnKey Jet, a business-travel startup.)
Quarters are built according to the ERC-20 standard – the first such token to receive U.S. regulatory approval.
In the July 25 letter, Jonathan Ingram, chief legal officer for the SEC’s FinHub wing, wrote:
“Based on the facts presented, the Division will not recommend
enforcement action to the Commission if, in reliance on your opinion as
counsel that the Quarters are not securities, PoQ offers and sells the
Quarters without registration under Section 5 of the Securities Act and
does not register Quarters as a class of equity securities under Section
12(g) of the Exchange Act.â€
“The thing that’s notable here, this is the first ERC-20 public
blockchain token [approved for a sale],†said Lewis Cohen of DLX Law,
which worked with PoQ to secure the letter.
The token is a stablecoin, with PoQ setting the price of the Quarters
as the only seller, PoQ CEO George Weiksner said. This is part of the
company’s compliance requirement with the SEC. (A smart contract
prevents tokens from being sent to unapproved accounts, thereby
restricting secondary trading.)
PoQ also raised money through a registered securities sale using an
investment token, which will remain separate from the Quarters sale.
The two-token system is meant to ensure that users conduct
transactions with Quarters, rather than hold them in the hopes of
securing a return, Weiksner explained.
He said he hopes Quarters will improve the gaming experience for
players who are tired of spending large sums for different platforms,
adding:
“It’s a way to make games better.â€
“The most important thing for teenage boys is playing video games and
this might be the first financial product that they have and it’ll be a
crypto wallet,†said Michael Weiksner, the company’s principal (and
George’s father).
PoQ is working with Apple and Google to sell Quarters tokens in the
App and Google Play stores, respectively, the elder Weiksner said.
Launch conditions
The no-action letter requires a PoQ to follow a number of
commitments, including ensuring that players can’t sell, buy or exchange
tokens with each other. Rather, only developer or “influencer†accounts
will be able to transact with players.
“Players can never buy or sell or exchange to anyone except for
approved developers, and that’s a key component of our … [compliance]
strategy,†Michael Weiksner said.
“Accounts are born as regular accounts but they’re restricted, so
they can’t exchange,†he said. “The default accounts are restricted and
only approved accounts can accept Quarters.â€
At present, only PoQ can approve accounts, and there are no concrete
plans to grant other entities the ability to do so, he said. PoQ is
still looking into whether that’s possible.
Developers and influencers will have to pass know-your-customer (KYC)
and anti-money laundering (AML) processes before they can get an
approved account.
According to the letter, Pocketful of Quarters has fully developed its platform and can go live before any tokens are sold.
Moreover, the Quarters tokens “will be immediately usable for their
intended purpose†with PoQ’s gaming platform when the sale begins, and
“only developers and influences with approved accounts will be capable
of exchanging Quarters for [ether] at pre-determined exchange rates by
transferring their Quarters to the Quarters Smart Contract.â€
The SEC’s Ingram warned that “any different facts or conditions might require the Division to reach a different conclusion.â€
“Further, this response expresses the Division’s position on
enforcement action only and does not express any legal conclusion on the
question presented or on the applicability of any other laws, including
the Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering and related frameworks,â€
he wrote.
Reaching this point took PoQ and DLX the better part of a year, Michael Weiksner said.
Cohen told CoinDesk, “we have long championed the importance of
working with, rather than against, regulators, and we believe the
outcome today of this … letter, the first-ever ERC-20 that can be sold
without being a securities offering, I think it’s an incredibly
important point.â€
He concluded:
“It required a lot of patience, and it shows that not every ERC-20
token is a securities offering and it is a positive event in working
with regulators.â€
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 10:26 AM on Thursday, July 25th, 2019
SPONSOR: ThreeD Capital Inc. (IDK:CSE) Led by
legendary financier, Sheldon Inwentash, ThreeD is a Canadian-based
venture capital firm that only invests in best of breed small-cap
companies which are both defensible and mass scalable. More than just
lip service, Inwentash has financed many of Canada’s biggest small-cap
exits. Click Here For More Information.
————-
The Future Of Banking: Is It All Bitcoin And Blockchain?
At the beginning of July, news broke of Deutsche Bank staff being
sent home as 18,000 job cuts began unraveling before our very eyes. This
news was brought to life with an iconic image of two suited men
carrying their possessions past the doors of a Deutsche Bank branch in
London along with a bag branded “Bitcoins.”
Unfortunately, that image turned out only to be an incredible piece
of timing and coincidence as the men were not now out-of-work bankers
hoofing it from their formal institutional workplace brandishing the
‘future of money,’ on their bags, instead they were tailors walking past
at the right time.
Still, that near-perfect latent image of the finance’s future did
spark a few questions in my mind, and the minds of others. Just how far
are we from a future predicated on Bitcoin and blockchain in banking?
The beginning of the end for banks
To answer this question, I had to look at what is happening in the
world of banking that has led to job cuts and the concerns for the
traditional way of doing things in finance. Living in the United
Kingdom, London is a historical hotspot for banking and the seat of
power for some of the world’s biggest banks.
However, beyond the high-rise glass structures in the city center,
there are signs – usually in the tube stations and bus stops – of a new
way of managing and controlling your money on a day to day basis. No, it
is not Bitcoin – yet – it is the challenger banks.
Challenger banks, as defined,
are: “Small, recently-created retail banks in the United Kingdom that
compete directly with the longer-established banks in the country,
sometimes by specializing in areas underserved by the “big four” banks.”
These banks, also called App-banks, are usually highly customer
focused and made to be as user-friendly and as easy to operate on a day
to day basis as they can. In comparison with traditional banks,
challenger banks try and play to general user frustrations from your big
institutional banks. Sound familiar?
Challenging the legacy
I spoke with Anne Boden, a banking doyen with 30 years experience in
some of the most important financial institutions in the world, and now
the founder and CEO of Starling Bank – one such challenger bank in the UK.
Talking to her about the future of banking was fascinating for
although Boden is aware of Bitcoin, blockchain, and its potential it has
in the banking sector, she believes its time is still far on the
horizon.
In her recently released book, “The Money Revolution” Boden
states: “[Blockchain] is easily the most revolutionary money change on
the horizon and may make a huge difference across the fintech sector.”
BERLIN, GERMANY – NOVEMBER 30: CEO of Starling Bank Anne Boden speaks
on stage during TechCrunch Disrupt Berlin 2018 at Treptow Arena on
November 30, 2018 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images
for TechCrunch)
Getty Images for TechCrunch
Her thoughts on how traditional banks will need to change and evolve
because of several different factors could easily be viewed in the same
way, but with blockchain and cryptocurrency-tinted glasses
“I spent 30-odd years in traditional banking, I worked for all the
big banks, I worked for Lloyds Bank, Standard Chartered, UBS, Zurich,
and RBS. Then I went into AIG, post-financial crisis, to do the
turn-around and I came to the conclusion that it was easier to start a
new bank than to fix the old,” Boden told me.
Indeed, the banking legacy and way of doing things has become so
stagnant that the wants of the banks and the needs of the customers
almost do not line up anymore – especially on a day to day basis.
Challenger banks are this fresh start customers have been baying for,
but in comparison, cryptocurrencies and blockchain could be an entirely
fresh system.
“In this era, it is people like Atom, Monzo, and Starling that have
come to market, and the ones that have been successful are the ones that
have built their own technology,” Boden added. “All these organizations
have been called challenger banks, but you can only really disrupt when
you have a current account – because people are using that every day –
and when you have your own technology.”
Again, Boden is not necessarily referring to that technology as being
blockchain; however, one can see how blockchain is a prime example of
disruptive technology for the banking sector. The world is changing, and
the way people do everything is different, and this is also down to
technology.
“Customers have changed. Customers are buying music differently; they
are shopping on Amazon; they are doing things very differently,” said
Boden. “Technology has changed. Everyone is wandering around with their
smartphones, these phones have better penetration than the laptop, and
then all the time the regulations are changing as well, and that is a
perfect storm to bring something like Starling to the market.”
Starling is one of several challenger banks that are succeeding at
disrupting the banking hegemony with their customer focus, their
everyday usability, and their own technologies. Their success is indeed a
challenge to institutional financial systems, but because this is a
fast-moving space, there are already challengers to the challenger
banks.
A new weapon in the arsenal
Challenger banks, App-banks, mobile payment companies, merchant
services aggregator, peer-to-peer payments companies, are all financial
services that are looking to take a piece of the pie that traditional
banks have held for so long – and it is not just a UK phenomenon.
Circle, Square, and even Revolut,
which is coming to the USA are also disruptive forces in the financial
space, but what they all have in common is a cryptocurrency offering.
Cryptocurrency may be a long way off from being as popular as the Pound
or the Dollar in regards to payments, but some of these companies are
still offering the chance to use this alternative payment method, should
you be so inclined.
This took me to the offices of two other App-banks in the UK, Wirex, and Zeux.
Both companies operate as an alternative banking solution, allowing for
payments and money transfers, but they also each have cryptocurrency
offerings as well.
These offerings are of course not going to be nearly as popular as
the general fiat services of Starling, for example, but they are not
supposed to be – as yet.
“App-banks, or digital banks, are making things more convenient for
everyday customers to manage their banking, “Frank Zhou, CEO of Zeux,
told me. “There are a lot of needs in the early adopter space who are
interested in cryptocurrency, from trading, investing, using it for
payments. Those types of customers are easier to reach as they follow
the newest developments and are willing to give it a try,”
Pavel Matveev, one of the founders at Wirex, explained that the use
of cryptocurrencies need not only be for experimenting though. There are
tangible use-cases within the payment sphere already.
“While App-based and digital banks offer a more convenient means of
managing money, they are still largely based on conventional payment
infrastructure. This means that cross-border payments still take 3-5
days to settle and command relatively high fees,” said Matveev
“Decentralised digital currencies have the potential to revolutionize
many aspects of the payments industry due to their transparency,
mobility, and ease-of-use,” added Dmitry Lazarichev, also of Wirex.
“One of the most significant areas is international remittance.
Cross-border crypto transactions are significantly faster than
conventional methods of transferring money abroad and require very
little in the way of fees and charges.”
Different offerings
What Matveev and Lazarichev, as well as Zhou, had to say about
including cryptocurrencies into the new era of banking, reminded me of
Boden’s view for the future of the industry. The hopes of the two
crypto-offering App-banks is that they can fill small niches for people
with this new technology, and for Boden, the view is that traditional
banks will face stiff competition in these small niches of finance
services.
“What is going to happen is other things happening in the environment
will catch up with the banking industry, they will surprise the banking
industry,” said Boden “The combination of 5G internet of things,
self-driving cars, AI and machine learning will change the profile of
how payments are made.”
“So I think that the nature of payments will change and you will get
new entrants providing some of those new payment mechanisms, and I think
in that environment the incumbent banks will find it harder to compete.
Some will survive and mutate to something relevant, and many of them
will die.”
If cryptocurrency is to become one of those new payment mechanisms,
getting an early foot in the door is vital, but even more important is
offering a service that is usable. Zeux may see this as using
cryptocurrency for general payments, while Wirex could believe
remittances are key for the digital currencies; neither is more right
than the other and perhaps that is the point – there will be a bevy of
offerings in the future.
“Like previous studies of mass adoption, it happens when the majority
can use it as easily as they would use it normally. For example, from
cash to PIN card, Pin card to contactless cards, contactless to mobile
payment. An easy-to-use experience is key to bringing adoption,” said
Zhou.
“I think the market is ready for crypto mass adoption. But, there
needs to be a solution before the mass demand surfaces. Once all the
customers know they can spend their cryptos easily everywhere in any
shops, it increases their willingness to accept cryptos as payment in
the first place. Mass adoption only happens after the solution appears,
not before.”
A changing future
The banking world has, for almost the last century, continued in
pretty much the same way with little to no threat from alternatives.
That is all changing. People would like to believe that the power of
blockchain in the financial system, and the option of cryptocurrencies,
are about to shake up the entire banking space, but they would be
wrong.
There is little doubt that banking will start to incorporate
blockchain, as Boden explains: “I think that blockchain is likely to be
used in certain aspects of the banking business, so probably for trade
finance where you have lots of parties collaborating on a transaction,
but I think you will see blockchain implementation in niche areas of the
business, you won’t see it as a wholesale change for the banking
platform.”
However, for an entire, legacy-based industry of such a traditional
magnitude to overhaul its entire system for a nascent technology is
foolhardy.
In saying that, cryptocurrencies will start to gain more mass appeal.
This does not mean these two sides of the same industry will be what
changes the face of banking. Still, the face of banking is changing, and
that is why traditional banks that are oblivious to this are starting
to show cracks.
Everyday usage of money and payments is already on the march, and
because of the needs of customers, there is an emerging market of
challenger banks, app-banks, financial institutions and payment
facilitators in the wings. Some are already offering blockchain and
crypto services, some may do so down the line, but to say that the only
way to the future of banking is with blockchain and crypto is
short-sighted – there are much bigger demands and many more niches to be
filled.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 10:57 AM on Monday, July 22nd, 2019
SPONSOR: ThreeD Capital Inc. (IDK:CSE) Led by
legendary financier, Sheldon Inwentash, ThreeD is a Canadian-based
venture capital firm that only invests in best of breed small-cap
companies which are both defensible and mass scalable. More than just
lip service, Inwentash has financed many of Canada’s biggest small-cap
exits. Click Here For More Information.
————-
Understanding blockchain technology and its implications on the future of transactions
Blockchain technology will disrupt the way we write and enforce contracts, execute transactions and maintain records.
Since blockchain technology is at the heart of Bitcoin and other virtual currencies, it can at the very least be expected to power even more consequential mediums of exchange in the future.
Shaan Ray Jul 22, 2019 Blockchain technology is transformative, and several commentators expect that it will have a massive economic impact similar to the one the Internet has had in the past few decades.
Blockchain could be the future of the financial industry.
Since blockchain technology is at the heart of Bitcoin
and other virtual currencies, it can at the very least be expected to
power even more consequential mediums of exchange in the future.
However, virtual currencies are merely the first use case of blockchain
technology.
Blockchain fundamentals
The blockchain is an open and distributed ledger. It uses an
append-only data structure, meaning new transactions and data can be
added on to a blockchain, but past data cannot be erased.
This results in a verifiable and permanent record of data and
transactions between two or more parties. This has the potential to
increase transparency and accountability, and positively enhance our
social and economic systems. A blockchain is built by running software
and linking several nodes together.
The main chain (black) consists of the longest series of blocks from the genesis block (blue) to the current block. Orphan blocks (red) exist outside of the main chain.
A blockchain is not one global entity — there are several
blockchains. Imagine a network of connected computers inside a highly
secure office, which are connected to each other, but not to the
internet. A blockchain is similar to this: it can have numerous
connected nodes, but remain totally separate and unique from other
blockchains.
Institutions and banks can build internal blockchains with their own
features for various organizational purposes. A consensus mechanism and a
reward system are required to maintain the integrity and functionality
of a blockchain.
In the Bitcoin blockchain, consensus is achieved by ‘mining’, and the
reward system is a protocol awarding a miner some amount of Bitcoin
upon successfully mining a block. Mining is undertaken by powerful
computers solving complex mathematical puzzles. Once a transaction is
verified and accepted as true by the entire network, miners start
working on the next block. Thus, a blockchain keeps growing (linking
each new block to the one before it).
Implications for transactions
Blockchain technology will disrupt the way we write and enforce
contracts, execute transactions and maintain records. Keeping records of
transactions is a core function of all businesses. These records are
meant to track past performance and help with forecasting and planning
for the future.
Most organizations’ records take a lot of time and effort to create,
and often the creation and storage processes are prone to errors.
Currently, transactions can be executed immediately, but settlement can
take anywhere from several hours to several days. For example, someone
selling stock in a corporation on a stock exchange can sell immediately,
but settlement can take a few days.
Similarly, a deal to purchase a house or car can be negotiated and
signed quickly, but the registration process (verifying and registering
the change in property ownership) often takes days and may involve
lawyers and government employees. In each of these examples, each party
maintains its own ledger, and cannot access the ledgers of the other
parties involved. On the blockchain, the process of transaction
verification and recording is immediate and permanent.
The ledger is distributed across several nodes, meaning the data is
replicated and stored instantaneously on each node across the system.
When a transaction is recorded in the blockchain, details of the
transaction such as price, asset, and ownership, are recorded, verified
and settled within seconds across all nodes. A verified change
registered on any one ledger is also simultaneously registered on all
other copies of the ledger. Since each transaction is transparently and
permanently recorded across all ledgers, open for anyone to see, there
is no need for third-party verification.
From virtual currencies to enterprise
Use The blockchain underlying Bitcoin is currently the largest and best-known blockchain. Ethereum is a separate blockchain:
while it supports the Ether currency, it also acts as a distributed
computing platform that features smart contract functionality.
Therefore, despite having a virtual currency element, it has many more
uses than Bitcoin. For example, companies in various industries raising
funds through ICOs use Ethereum for their projects.
The Hyperledger Project, by the Linux Foundation, aims to bring
together a number of independent efforts to develop open protocols and
standards in blockchain technology for enterprise use.
Here for the long term
Blockchain technology will disrupt the way we write Blockchain
technology, but is still in an early, formative stage, and
cryptocurrencies are only its first major use case.
Beyond cryptocurrency, blockchain technology will change how we
transact, and how we record and verify transactions. This will
revolutionise contracts and reduce friction in the exchange of assets.
Over the next few decades, blockchain technology will percolate
through our organizations and institutions, and shape how we transact
with one another. Just as the Internet continues to power emergent
technologies, we can expect to see new use cases of blockchain
technology across all industries.
Shaan Ray (MBA) is the head of Denver Hill, a group that uses
emerging technologies like blockchain, artificial intelligence, additive
manufacturing and the industrial internet to create new products and
processes.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 9:45 PM on Sunday, July 21st, 2019
SPONSOR: ThreeD Capital Inc. (IDK:CSE) Led by
legendary financier, Sheldon Inwentash, ThreeD is a Canadian-based
venture capital firm that only invests in best of breed small-cap
companies which are both defensible and mass scalable. More than just
lip service, Inwentash has financed many of Canada’s biggest small-cap
exits. Click Here For More Information.
————-
As Facebook Struggles For Blockchain Support, A Truly Decentralized Challenger Emerges
So, what is Celo? In a similar fashion to Libra, Celo is at its core a stablecoin platform
This means that the key value proposition of the assets running on top of the platform is that they are immune to the wide swings in volatility that have plagued leading crypto assets in recent years
Creates an opportunity for companies and projects like Celo, which are building pure blockchain-based financial services aimed at linking the nearly 2 billion people in the world that do not have access to bank accounts or the ability to verify their identity
As Facebook Blockchain Lead David Marcus tries to simultaneously use his testimony in front of U.S. lawmakers to restore trust in the company, and convince them that Facebook will not always be the driving force of its Libra project, it is easy to see why some of its key blockchain competitors are enthusiastic about the company’s entrance in the space.
The prevailing belief is that at some point the inherent contractions
in Facebook’s blockchain strategy and the Libra project are going to
become too much to overcome. Of course, this assumes that the project
launches at all, which is not certain given the regulatory scrutiny it
faces around the world.
This creates an opportunity for companies and projects like Celo,
which are building pure blockchain-based financial services aimed at
linking the nearly 2 billion people in the world that do not have access to bank accounts or the ability to verify their identity.
To the point, it is interesting that some of Libra’s first members,
including venerated venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and
crypto-unicorn Coinbase, have invested in Celo. Some of Celo’s other high-profile investors include LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman and Twitter/Square CEO Jack Dorsey.
Understanding Celo
So, what is Celo? In a similar fashion to Libra, Celo is at its core a
stablecoin platform. This means that the key value proposition of the
assets running on top of the platform is that they are immune to the
wide swings in volatility that have plagued leading crypto assets in
recent years. Many are designed to mirror the price movements of
traditional currency, and most have names that reflect their fiat
brethren, such as the Gemini Dollar. This is a critical need for the
industry, as no asset will be able to serve as a currency if it does not
maintain a consistent price.
A man walks past signs advertising money transfer services and loans
outside a business in Mexico City, Tuesday, April 5, 2016. (AP
Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
However, rather than being a centralized issuer that supports the
price pegs with fiat held in banks, Celo has built a full-stack platform
(meaning it developed the underlying blockchain and applications that
run on top), that can offer an unlimited number of stablecoins all
backed by cryptoassets held in reserve.
Furthermore, Celo is what is known as an algorithmic-based stablecoin
provider. This distinction means that rather than being a centralized
entity that controls issuances and redemptions, the company employs a
smart-contract based stability protocol that automatically expands or
contracts the supply of its collateral reserves in a fashion similar to
how the Federal Reserve adjusts the U.S. monetary supply. In this vein,
Celo co-founder Rene Reinsberg told me that the company actually
“Maintains overcollaterization via a multi-asset crypto reserve composed
of Celo’s native asset, Celo Gold, and a basket of other crypto assets,
such as bitcoin.†This overcollateralization is important, and common
in crypto lending and stablecoin platforms, because it serves as a
buffer against potential volatility.
Additionally, a key differentiator for Celo from similar projects is
that for the first time its blockchain platform allows users to
send/receive money to a person’s phone number, IP address, email, as
well as other identifiers. This feature will be critical to the
long-term success for the network because it eliminates the need for
counterparties in a transaction to share their public keys with each
other prior to a transaction.
And now today, Celo is open-sourcing its entire codebase and design
after two years of development. Additionally, the company is launching
the first prototype of its platform, named the Alfajores Testnet, and
Celo Wallet, an Android app that will allow users to manage their
accounts and send/receive payments on the testnet.
This announcement and product is intended to be just the first of
what will be a wide range of financial services applications designed to
connect the world.
A Bright Outlook But Significant Question Remain
With all of that said, the company’s near and long-term success will
depend on its ability to navigate and address some key hurdles. Three in
particular immediately come to mind:
Stability of the Network. There are currently no
algorithmic/smart-contract based stablecoins in circulation today that
have seen widespread adoption. There are multiple reasons for this.
First, it is simpler to issue stablecoins on a 1:1 basis for fiat kept
in reserves. Second, it is nearly-impossible to design a complex system
that can account for and overcome any threat or challenge. It is likely
that at some point the future the network’s governance structure will be
challenged or that a critical flaw will be discovered in the underlying
code. The platform’s ability to rebound from these challenges without
compromising its decentralized nature will be a key determinant of its
future.
Ability to Adapt to Highly Volatile Fiat. A key
differentiator between Celo and other stablecoin issuers is that anyone
that participates in its governance function can propose a new currency.
The intention is that the platform will support a wide range of global,
national, and local currencies. Given that it is first targeting users
in the developing world, where the currencies are notoriously volatile,
there is a chance that the system could be strained as it seeks to
maintain constant pegs across the network. It is worth noting that the
company has given great thought and care to ensure that it is anti-fragile, and part of this strategy involves using a diverse basket of collateral to support all assets on the network.
Regulation. If the Libra hearings in front of Congress
proved nothing else, lawmakers are very concerned about crypto being
misappropriated for illicit uses. All issuers will need to comply with
existing AML/KYC laws. I asked Rene about this challenge and whether or
not their ability to comply will be hindered by the firms ability to
onboard users with little more than a phone number or some other
numerical identifier. His response was, “Yes, we’ve had conversations
with regulators both in the US and around the world. We think regulation
is critical for this space, particularly when it comes to protecting
consumers. We will absolutely comply with US laws and laws around the
world. We’re looking forward to sharing more on this at a later stage,
closer to mainnet launchâ€
Conclusion
There is a saying “nothing worth having comes easyâ€, and that
certainly applies to Celo and its diligent approach to development.
Additionally, the irony of its launch’s juxtaposition with the Libra
hearings underscores the need for a decentralized approach to connecting
the world.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 9:49 AM on Monday, July 15th, 2019
SPONSOR: ThreeD Capital Inc. (IDK:CSE) Led by
legendary financier, Sheldon Inwentash, ThreeD is a Canadian-based
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companies which are both defensible and mass scalable. More than just
lip service, Inwentash has financed many of Canada’s biggest small-cap
exits. Click Here For More Information.
Bitcoin’s Price Could Rise If Facebook’s Crypto Survives Congress Hearings
Facebook’s fiat and government bond backed cryptocurrency Libra is widely considered a net positive for bitcoin, an anti-establishment asset.
Bitcoin has come under pressure ahead of the U.S. governmental hearings on Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency on July 16 and 17.
The price of a single bitcoin, which stood near $13,000 five days
ago, fell below $10,000 earlier today and tested the 50-day moving
average at $9,900 for the first time since February 18.
Facebook’s head of Calibra – one of the entities set up to govern and develop the crypto project – David Marcus is scheduled testify to lawmakers on the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday and the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday.
The upcoming scrutiny of Libra may be weighing over bitcoin. After
all, past data shows BTC tends to drop ahead of congressional hearings
related to cryptocurrencies and rise on favorable outcomes.
Last year, for instance, BTC fell from $6,820 to $6,070 in five days
to July 12, before rallying to $7,400 on July 18 when the House
Committee on Financial Services gathered for a hearing on “crypto as a new form of moneyâ€.
More importantly, the cryptocurrency remained bid in the following
days and rose to a high of $8,500 on July 24 (according to Bitstamp
data) because the hearing didn’t take an overly negative tone.
On similar lines, BTC dropped from $12,000 to $6,000 in the 10 days leading up to a congressional hearing
on Feb. 6, 2018, where the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC)
chairman and the head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission
testified before the Senate Banking Committee. That hearing was also
surprisingly positive and BTC rose back to levels above $11,700 by Feb.
20.
Going further back, the price action seen ahead of bitcoin’s first
congressional hearing on Nov. 18, 2013, was slightly different in the
sense that the cryptocurrency was solidly bid, rising from $85 to $650
in six weeks leading up to the event.
Again the hearing on the growing popularity of virtual currencies
wasn’t anti-crypto, allowing BTC to extend the rally to highs above
$1,150 on Nov. 30.
Will BTC rise this time round?
Facebook’s fiat and government bond backed cryptocurrency Libra is
widely considered a net positive for bitcoin, an anti-establishment
asset.
This is evident from the fact that BTC rallied from $9,000 to $13,800
in the eight days following Facebook’s unveiling of Libra’s white paper
on June 18.
So, it is hardly surprising that the leading cryptocurrency is
feeling the pull of gravity ahead of the congressional hearings on Libra
and will likely take a hit if the U.S. lawmakers throw a spanner in the
works for Facebook.
It is worth noting that the likes of the Federal Reserve President
Jerome Powell have already called for a halt to Facebook’s project until
concerns from privacy to money laundering are addressed. President
Trump also criticized the project in tweets last week.
BTC, however, may rise well past $13,800 and possibly hit record
highs before the end of the third quarter if the hearings are more
optimistic.
A far as the technical charts are concerned, the short-term outlook
will remain bullish as long as prices hold above $9,614 (July 2 low).
As of writing, BTC is changing hands at $10,300 on Bitstamp, representing 4.86 percent drop on a 24-hour basis.
Daily and 3-day charts
A UTC close below $9,614 would invalidate the bullish higher-lows pattern and confirm a bullish-to-bearish trend change.
That looks likely with the three-day chart reporting a bearish
divergence of the relative strength index (RSI). The indicator has also
dived out of the ascending trendline, signaling the end of the rally
from December lows.
Further, the previous three-candle closed well below the 10-candle
moving average, a level which acted as strong support throughout the
rise from $3,500 to $13,880, as discussed on Friday.
Weekly chart
The long upper wicks attached to two out of the last three candles
indicates bullish exhaustion and so does the bearish divergence of the
RSI.
All-in-all, the charts are biased for a drop to $9,097 (May 30 high),
unless the congressional hearings are more positive than expected. In
that case, prices may rise above $13,800, signaling a continuation of
the rally.
Hourly chart
BTC has recovered from lows near $9,850 to $10,300. The bearish
lower-highs pattern, however, is still intact. Prices may rise to
$11,200 in the next 24 hours if the cryptocurrency invalidates the
bearish lower highs pattern with a move above $10,732.
Disclosure: The author holds no cryptocurrency assets at the time of writing.
The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies.
CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency
Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.
This article is intended as a news item to inform our readers
of various events and developments that affect, or that might in the
future affect, the value of the cryptocurrency described above. The
information contained herein is not intended to provide, and it does not
provide, sufficient information to form the basis for an investment
decision, and you should not rely on this information for that purpose.
The information presented herein is accurate only as of its date, and it
was not prepared by a research analyst or other investment
professional. You should seek additional information regarding the
merits and risks of investing in any cryptocurrency before deciding to
purchase or sell any such instruments.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 2:00 PM on Thursday, July 11th, 2019
SPONSOR: ThreeD Capital Inc. (IDK:CSE) Led by
legendary financier, Sheldon Inwentash, ThreeD is a Canadian-based
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lip service, Inwentash has financed many of Canada’s biggest small-cap
exits. Click Here For More Information.
————-
‘Google Coin’ Within 2 Years as FANGs Will Go Crypto, Say Winklevoss
Speaking about Facebook Libra, the twins, who co-founded cryptocurrency trading platform Gemini, said it was only a matter of time before other tech giants followed suit.Â
Speaking about Facebook Libra, the twins, who co-founded cryptocurrency trading platform Gemini, said it was only a matter of time before other tech giants followed suit.
FANG refers to the unofficial “Big Four†of the internet: Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google.
“Our prediction is every FANG company will have some sort of
cryptocurrency project within the next two years,†Tyler told the
network.
Libra as a payment protocol has not yet launched, but regulators have voiced alarm, particularly in the United States, where several sources have demanded developers halt the project.
Concerns stem from Libra’s potential to bypass the banking system,
something cryptocurrency proponents conversely argue makes the banking establishment overly nervous about losing revenue.
On Thursday, Bitcoin (BTC) itself shed over 10% of its value after a senior U.S. lawmaker delivered fresh concerns about Libra.
For the Winklevosses, however, front-door approaches to regulators is key in getting any disruptive finance offering to market.
Though many say it is not a cryptocurrency at all, the twins even
suggested they would facilitate trading of Libra on Gemini, should it be
open and not subject to prohibitive restrictions.
“We’ll evaluate Libra in earnest, and it might actually be an asset
that is one day listed if it’s an open protocol; that’s possible,†Tyler
continued.
Earlier this week, Tom Lee,
a serial Bitcoin advocate, delivered a similar forecast regarding tech
giants’ future involvement in the digital currency industry.
“The fact that Facebook and likely other FANG companies are going to
create their own digital currencies is validating the idea that digital
money is here to stay,†he told CNBC.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 10:22 AM on Wednesday, July 10th, 2019
SPONSOR: ThreeD Capital Inc. (IDK:CSE) Led by
legendary financier, Sheldon Inwentash, ThreeD is a Canadian-based
venture capital firm that only invests in best of breed small-cap
companies which are both defensible and mass scalable. More than just
lip service, Inwentash has financed many of Canada’s biggest small-cap
exits. Click Here For More Information.
————-
Is Blockchain the New Technology of Trust?
Blockchain continues to be a hot topic across the global start-up ecosystem.
And more entrepreneurs are placing huge bets on this technology. Y
Nidhi Singh Former Correspondent, Entrepreneur Asia-Pacific
Blockchain continues to be a hot topic across the global start-up
ecosystem. And more entrepreneurs are placing huge bets on this
technology. Yet the adoption remains sluggish despite the growing
investment by start-ups and potential investors. Main reasons for this
are fears over security and regulatory uncertainty. Will mass
implementation of blockchain technology remain a distant fantasy?
US-based
rating agency Moody’s Investor Service warns about the risks associated
with the technology. “New risks with blockchain technology in
securitizations may emerge as well as the reinforcement of some already
existing ones. Risks include counterparty concentration, IT and
operational risks, inappropriate blockchain governance and legal and
regulatory issues,†its report says. Another study by auditing firm
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) states that trust is one of the biggest
blockers to the blockchain’s adoption. Concern about trust among
respondents in the survey was highest in Singapore (37 per cent) after
Hong Kong (35 per cent).
Riding the Wave
Despite issues, companies, especially those in Asia Pacific, are not
shying away from the technology. Singapore-based LALA World Chief
ExecutiveOfficer and Founder Sankal Shangari believes blockchain
technology is not only bringing in a difference at the consumer level
but also posing a threat to the established system of governance, which
is obtrusive of financial freedom.
“A lot of myths are floating around the technology. It was dubbed as a
dubious technology, which may look promising, but was porous and could
be compromised. The reality is far from it, the technology is secure and
reliable than any of the other techniques available. But at the same
time, it is complex and in a nascent stage just like the web was in the
early 1990s and that is what helps the naysayers in spreading heresy
about it. The need is to understand its applicability to a particular
problem and the impact it has in solving it,†says Shangari.
LALA ID, a product of LALA World, is a comprehensive solution that
protects the personal information of users through the immutable
blockchain technology. Additionally, the start-up offers features like
crypto payments through its application. “The world is going gung-ho
about the possibilities of the said technology, which is gradually
growing as an infrastructural pillar of economic functionalities,
receiving the attention it deserves,†stresses Shangari.
Varied Uses
Mike Davie’s Quadrant Protocol leverages blockchain and smart
contracts to track the data’s journey along the data chain—from the
originating device to the data scientists that add value to the data—and
provide automatic compensation every time the data is purchased. This
helps create a more sustainable data economy. The start-up serves as the
blueprint that provides an organized system for the utilization of
decentralized data.
“Data quality is vital to the success of artificial intelligence.
Algorithms will believe whatever the data tells them to believe, so
using poor quality data can result in unintended consequences. Data
consumers, therefore, need to know where the data is coming from and be
able to trust the source. At the same time, the original providers of
the data are rarely compensated fairly. Data consumers like data
scientists or AI practitioners can be assured of the quality and
provenance of the data being purchased, while providers are compensated
fairly. All compensation is paid in Quadrant Protocol tokens, which are
recorded on the blockchain,†says Davie.
The company’s primary focus is on location data, which is an
essential tool in understanding the behaviour of potential customers.
The platform processes over 50 billion records a month, enabling
organisations in every industry to obtain data they can use to make
business and policy decisions. It is powered by a protocol that uses
blockchain technology to authenticate and map this data.
Insurtech company Hearti is serving insurers with their proprietary
artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain platform. Keith Lim, Chief
Executive Officer, Hearti, believes blockchain’s immutable nature can
foster trust in the insurance agreements between consumers, insurers and
partners.
“Smart contracts are executed based on events that trigger conditions
within the agreement (for eg. to pay out claims in the event of a
flight delay). When claims data is shared securely on the blockchain,
duplicate claims and fraud can be tracked and detected. Such uses of
blockchain create huge value for our company’s proposition and put it at
the forefront of the industry,†says Lim.
Founded in June 2015, Hearti Lab was born out of the realization that
there was a void in the corporate and personal insurance sector: the
lack of a low-cost, full-featured AI platform for insurance management.
To achieve its vision of developing an integrated insurance platform,
the start-up has developed two complementary platforms: BENEFIT.X and
SURETY.AI.
In Tech We Trust
For Joseph Lee, Chief Technology Officer, BridgeX Network, blockchain
is the “new technology of trustâ€. BridgeX Network is a financial
ecosystem framework, built on a proprietary technology core that bridges
the worlds of cryptocurrencies and fiat.
“We are using blockchain technologies to create a platform to allow
lenders and borrowers to transact directly in a secure environment. The
terms are specified in the blockchain and will be executed automatically
without bias. The costs saved from eliminating intermediaries are
passed to participants on the platform,†says Lee. “Perhaps due to the
newness of the technology, there may still be a trust deficit with the
public. But we strongly believe in it.â€