Inxeption, which began operations in 2017, aims to use blockchain
technology to improve various processes for businesses, including
product design, manufacturing and supply chain management.
Neither party has revealed the scope of the deal, which will
reportedly see Inxeption and the UPS Strategic Enterprise Fund work in
tandem in future to develop new features for Inxeption’s platform.
“Business customers need secure platforms that protect their customer
data and proprietary information, while making it easy for them to
interact and even collaborate more effectively with their customers,â€
Inxeption CEO and co-founder Farzad Dibachi commented in the press
release.
Describing its product as an e-commerce platform for the B2B market,
Inxeption joins a steadily increasing pool of blockchain initiatives
focused on using distributed technology to make complex corporate
systems more transparent.
UPS CMO Kevin Warren stated in the press release that “Inxeption’s
technology is attractive to UPS because it helps unlock new efficiencies
for customers using B2B e-commerce platforms.â€
Supply chains have proved a particular area of interest amongst firms developing blockchain solutions in 2019. Several blockchain-based supply chain projects have been announced in the past week alone, as diverse as cobalt supplies and food for the upcoming World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos.
The Inxeption partnership reveals UPS’ belief in blockchain’s
potential, despite cautionary words from a senior executive last month
that forecast little impact from the technology in 2019.
“We have a small team looking at blockchain, but we are still
searching for the killer use case,†the company’s executive vice
president of technology and chief digital officer Linda Jojo told mainstream media in December.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 9:59 AM on Tuesday, January 15th, 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.
————————
HSBC suggests it might have found a… use for blockchain?
HSBC claims to have settled three million foreign exchange (FX) transactions and made payments worth $250,000 using distributed ledger technology (DLT).
The bank said it had made “significant efficiencies” while using its DLT product, HSBC FX Everywhere, for the past year – suggesting the risk-averse financial sector is treating blockchain technology as a legitimate biz tool.
Says it used tech to settle 3 million forex transactions, $250k in payments last year
HSBC claims to have settled three million foreign exchange (FX)
transactions and made payments worth $250,000 using distributed ledger
technology (DLT).
The bank said it had made “significant efficiencies” while using its
DLT product, HSBC FX Everywhere, for the past year – suggesting the
risk-averse financial sector is treating blockchain technology as a
legitimate biz tool.
In a statement, the bank revealed it had been using a
share-permissioned ledger for payments on its internal balance sheets.
“It transforms the process around intra-company foreign exchange
activity, automating several manual procedures and reducing reliance on
external settlement networks.”
The DLT was used for 3 million FX transactions and 150,000 payments,
which HSBC admitted was a small proportion when compared with
traditional processes.
The much-hyped technology has long been criticised by observers who
see it as a solution in search of a problem, as over-eager vendors stick
the buzzword on everything they can.
A recent study
of its use in the international development sector found no evidence of
success – rather just “a proliferation of press releases, white papers,
and persuasively written articles”.
Up until now, the most common example of a practical use of
blockchain – where it was being used to solve a problem in a way other
tech couldn’t – has been in supply chain management, although such
deployments haven’t been a raging success for a variety of reasons.
HSBC’s announcement, which discusses three main benefits for its use
in FX trading, is also notable because risk-averse financial
institutions are typically regarded as being less keen on untested
emerging technologies.
But the bank’s interim global head of FX and commodities, Richard
Bibbey, said that it was now looking into using DLT to help
multinational clients with multiple treasury centres and cross-border
supply chains to “better manage foreign exchange flows within their
organisations”.
In listing the benefits, HSBC said the singularity, transparency and
immutability provided by DLT created a “shared, single version of the
truth of intra-company trades” from execution to settlement, reducing
“risk of discrepancy and delay”.
Meanwhile, confirmation and settlement can be automated by matching
and netting transactions – reducing costs and reliance on external
settlement network – and a consolidated, global view of cash flows and
certainty of funds “supports greater balance sheet optimisation”. ®
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 2:03 PM on Thursday, January 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.
——————————
The $100B Blockchain Proof Of Concept Hiding In Plain Sight
Last year, perceptions of blockchain technology were caught in the crossfire of both cryptocurrency’s swift peak and dramatic plunge.
It’s not surprising: cryptocurrency is the first and most visible application of blockchains, and many people think they are one and the same.
Last year, perceptions of blockchain technology were caught in the
crossfire of both cryptocurrency’s swift peak and dramatic plunge. It’s
not surprising: cryptocurrency is the first and most visible application
of blockchains, and many people think they are one and the same. It may
be convenient and easy to use price or market cap to summarize the
industry narrative. But it’s incorrect. The blockchain space is vast,
spanning industries, each with different adoption curves and
opportunities—and the nuanced value of the nascent technology isn’t
reflected in these numbers. In fact, focusing on these metrics obscures
what is really happening inside the space, putting execs at risk of
developing blind spots that hide potentially disruptive development as
it gathers steam.
But as billions poured into cryptocurrency in 2018, we did we learn
something meaningful. The world got a high-stakes proof of concept
exploring if blockchains could really be a way to safely
transfer digital value from one party to another. Even as large-scale
hacks of companies with poor custody practices filled the news, millions
of people around the world contributed to a global battle test to see
if the technology could safely hold or transfer, at times, well over a
hundred billion dollars of digital value in the form of
blockchain-driven cryptocurrency. This revealed challenges ahead (the
need to evolve consensus and governance mechanisms, improve user
experience, and get to regulatory clarity, to name just a few). But it
also showed us that yes, blockchains can safely transfer digital value.
So how are businesses reacting? Corporations are paying attention,
working hard to understand how this functionality translates to their
industry, and how it shapes potential disruption. Here are several
insider perspectives on where we are today, and where companies are
investing in the technology as we go into 2019:
Jessica Groopman, Industry Analyst and Founding Partner, Kaleido Insights:
The market seems to be entering a winter, as AI did two or three
times before its commercial boom. These kinds of shakeouts are
ultimately a good thing because they help distinguish fact from fantasy.
There are signals that suggest this will be a mild winter, rather than a
full hibernation. First, several adjacent spaces that will influence
adoption are growing, like AI, encryption techniques, and digital
identity management. Second, we see some steps towards mainstreaming,
with regulatory actions, consolidation in crypto-exchanges like
Coinbase, and virtually all of the world’s largest technology companies
building dedicated blockchain-based teams and products. Third,
investment is moving away from speculation, such as in ICOs, and towards practical investmentslike
smart contracts platforms, data exchanges, and prime use cases. One of
most powerful things blockchain has done for business is teach us to think blockchain, i.e. to question the efficacy of centralized processes and think about value chains more strategically.
Brian Lio, CEO of research and advisory firm Smith + Crown:
The current markets are a poor reflection of the actual pace and type
of development that is going on right now. We are seeing increasingly
large brands and sophisticated multi-national organizations realize this
technology has the potential for both disruption and opportunity. They
are starting to perceive there is risk in leaving it up to others to
figure out first. More and more companies are understanding they need to
build their front lines, to understand the power this technology offers
so they can start to prepare for or even take a lead in building what a
blockchain-influenced future looks like for their particular industry.
It’s happening across quite a few industries. Companies are becoming
more public about their exploration, but we are also seeing thoughtful,
innovative foundational work being done behind the scenes as well.
David Post, Managing Director, IBM Blockchain Ventures
We have a high degree of confidence that 2019 will be the year that
enterprise blockchain networks—especially those addressing strategic
industry use cases—will begin to emerge at scale. Blockchain business
models will continue to mature, with both companies and the venture
community helping to shape how these blockchain networks evolve. A
variety of compelling concepts are emerging in financial services,
supply chain, and media and entertainment. And we will see strategically
important networks move to production, as companies partner with
startups to solve complex challenges via the improved trust and
transparency delivered by blockchains.
Linda Pawczuk, principal at Deloitte Consulting LLP
As we head into 2019, supply chain continues to be one of the largest enterprise applications for the technology—in a recent survey
we found 53% of the execs surveyed stated they have ongoing supply
chain use cases for blockchain. We’re seeing pharmaceutical companies,
logistics providers, retailers, government agencies, and technology
firms all working to enhance logistics network visibility via blockchain
technology. We’re also seeing increased investment in digital
recordation, digital identity and IoT from corporates. In the same
survey, greater than 44% claimed to be working on an active use case
using blockchain in at least one of these spaces.
Lou Kerner, Founding Partner of venture firm and advisory CryptoOracle:
Shakeouts are a natural part of our economic system. Economies with
no shakeouts are the unhealthy ones. We’re still in the infrastructure
phase of investing, building the rails that the industry will use to
grow applications and services, and companies like R3 (enterprise
blockchain), Coinbase (trading platform), Circle (finance company), and
Ledger (wallet) are still attracting investment. The crypto bulls, like
myself, believe crypto is a thing. The question is less ‘if’, than
‘when’. The companies getting the most funding today either have
rapidly growing user bases or have great teams going after large
opportunities, like stablecoins.
These insiders paint a measured counterpoint to the gloom and doom of
headlines focused on crypto markets. However, “crypto winter†has
certainly impacted blockchain entrepreneurs, with the price drop
triggering sometimes fatal collateral damage to young businesses. Smith +
Crown’s ICO Tracker shows the Initial Coin Offering (ICO) market chilled from 113 in December 2017 to just three in December 2018
. Poor treasury management practices created cash crises for upstart
companies that kept funds in cryptocurrency after an ICO. Consensys and
Steemit, two well-known firms in the space, reported layoffs in December
while many smaller companies are quietly shutting down.
But as the market plunged, it released another kind of pressure. The
misperception of cryptocurrency price as an indicator of blockchain
potential had triggered overinflated expectations of blockchain
technology. In the (relative) quiet after the fall, blockchain
entrepreneurs now have the space in which to explore how to build on
last year’s work to create something truly meaningful. From the outside,
and next to 2018’s drama, measured but steady progress may feel almost
boring. But inside the community, something very exciting continues to
brew. It just requires more nuanced perception to see it.
I am the founder and CEO of Unblocked Future, a consultancy that
helps executives to drive adoption at the forefront of emerging tech. We
help companies communicate their vision, resonate with stakeholders,
and activate communities for change. I’m also the author of ‘Unblock…
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 5:08 PM on Wednesday, January 9th, 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 U.S. Department of Energy has announced federal funding of up to $4.8 million for universities working on R&D projects, including those related to blockchain.
The U.S. Department of Energy has announced federal funding of up to
$4.8 million for universities working on R&D projects, including
those related to blockchain.
Announced
Monday, the funding is being made available through the department’s
Office of Fossil Energy as a part of the “University Training and
Research†initiative aimed to develop fossil energy applications.
Projects under the initiative are aimed at achieving various
objectives, including the development of early-stage technologies for
more affordable domestic energy resources and improved electric grids,
the department said.
One of the areas being targeted for funding is blockchain technology
that would “secure process signal data and other information flows
within distributed sensor networks for fossil-based power generation
systems.â€
Other potential projects not necessarily including blockchain include
those that would explore advanced computing resources for coal plants
to generate analytical results, improve water reuse processes, and
investigate physical and biological sciences to measure chemical
elements within coal fly ash.
The department said it funds research and development projects to
reduce the “risk and cost†of advanced fossil fuel-based energy
technologies and make more sustainable use of fossil resources in the
U.S.
This is not the first time that the department has looked to explore
blockchain for technological improvements. Last January, it partnered with BlockCypher to develop solutions allowing energy transactions to be settled across multiple blockchains.
And, in July 2018, the department awarded a grant of nearly $1 million to a Colorado-based blockchain startup Grid7 in a move aimed to advance the development of a decentralized energy grid.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 9:15 AM on Tuesday, January 8th, 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.
———————–
Security tokens — digital versions of financial securities like stocks and bonds — are becoming a new buzzword in crypto.
Analysts and executives in the industry see security tokens as a development that could reinvigorate the cryptocurrency space.
A key difference setting security tokens apart from other cryptocurrencies is that they are asset-backed and fall within regulatory parameters, experts say.
The Apple logo is displayed at the Nasdaq MarketSite just before the opening bell in New York on Thursday, Aug. 25, 2011.
Scott Eells | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Cryptocurrencies had a wild 2018, tumbling well below some of the record highs seen toward the end of 2017.
Bitcoin, once
worth almost $20,000, plunged last year, closing out 2018 at a price
below $4,000. Other major virtual currencies, including XRP and ether, also fell steeply.
Analysts and executives in the industry are increasingly pointing to a
fairly new development that could reinvigorate the space: putting
securities like stocks and bonds on the blockchain.
So-called security tokens are becoming a new buzzword in crypto. The
term is part of a phenomenon in the industry known as “tokenization†—
turning real-world assets into digital tokens.
In the case of security tokens, tradable assets like equity and fixed
income are transformed into digital assets that use blockchain
technology, the virtual ledger of activity that underpins
cryptocurrencies like bitcoin.
Security tokens had been talked about for some time, but now one firm is looking to put them to the test.
On Monday, DX.Exchange, an Estonia-based crypto firm, launched a
trading platform that lets investors buy shares of popular Nasdaq-listed
companies, including Apple, Tesla, Facebook and Netflix, indirectly through security tokens.
Each token is backed by one share of the company traders want to invest in and entitles them to the same cash dividends.
“The crypto community has been talking about security tokens for well
over a year now without much progress, so we think the impact will be
huge,†Amedeo Moscato, DX’s chief operating officer, told CNBC by email
over the weekend.
“By tokenizing stocks of some of the biggest publicly-traded companies like Google, Amazon,
Facebook and more, we are opening an untapped market of millions of old
and new traders around the globe cutting out the middleman. â€
watch now
VIDEO02:40
What is a security token?
Investors will be able to trade the digital stocks round-the-clock, even after markets close, DX says.
“The ability to trade around the clock, with a range of currencies,
offers investors both convenience and liquidity,†Dan Doney, co-founder
and chief executive of fintech firm Securrency told CNBC by email over
the weekend.
But Doney questioned whether DX’s exchange was sound on the regulatory front.
“We’re unsure and even skeptical of DX.Exchange’s model because we
don’t think that it’s acceptable to list tokenized shares of a company
without shareholder consent,†he said.
“However, we do think that the model can meet regulatory standards if executed properly.â€
DX stressed that its digital stocks are classed as derivatives — with
the underlying asset being equity of 10 Nasdaq-listed firms — and that
its platform is regulated under the European Union’s Mifid II directive.
Mifid II, a set of reforms to EU investment services regulation, aims
to protect investors and increase transparency and confidence in the
industry post-crisis.
Cyprus-licensed firm MPS MarketPlace Securities is holding the stocks
in a segregated account. DX built the platform on top of Nasdaq’s
Matching Engine technology, which is used across more than 70
international markets.
Experts are pointing to the model as one that could provide a solid
form of investment for traders — versus cryptocurrencies like bitcoin,
which have proven at times to be highly volatile — as well as a new
potential source of fundraising for start-ups and large firms alike.
‘STO’
New security tokens can be issued and sold to investors, similar to
how new digital tokens are sold through a crowdfunding method known as
an initial coin offering (ICO). This is what’s known as a security token
offering (STO).
ICOs were a source of much controversy in the crypto sphere in both
2017 and 2018, with China and South Korea banning the practice and the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rapping a number of ventures and founders over alleged illegal activities.
One supposed cryptocurrency start-up called Giza made off with more than $2 million through a fake ICO scam, a CNBC investigation last year showed.
Dubious as the murky world of ICOs is, the funding method at one point eclipsed early-stage venture capital funding.
ICO projects raked in almost $6.6 billion in 2017 and $21.5 billion in
2018, according to data provided by ICO listing site CoinSchedule.
The difference with STOs, experts say, is that security tokens are asset-backed and fall within regulatory parameters.
“Security tokens use blockchain to allow for efficient transactions
like cryptocurrencies, but are different in all other ways,â€
Securrency’s Doney said.
â€(They) emphasize regulatory compliance, automated regulatory
reporting, and represent share interest in value-producing assets. This
ultimately provides stable value versus the volatility of crypto.â€
Crowdfunding site Indiegogo delved into the world of STOs
last year, hosting a platform that let investors indirectly own shares
of a luxury ski resort by buying security tokens. That token sale
brought in $18 million, according to VentureBeat.
Security tokens and STOs have been compared to “stablecoins,â€
cryptocurrencies pegged 1:1 to government-backed currencies to avoid the
volatility typically seen in the cryptocurrency market. Stablecoins are
seen as another potential area for growth in the crypto industry.
“Cryptocurrencies and STOs will continue to evolve, and digital
stocks are another step in that process,†Daniel Skowronski, DX’s chief
executive, told CNBC by email.
STOs to ‘ramp into the market’ by mid-2019
Advocates also say that security tokens could reduce the cost of
listing a company on the stock market and that they will make it easier
to trade less liquid assets like private equity.
And though it may be early days, one expert thinks the trend of tokenizing securities will become a major theme by mid-2019.
“In terms of timing, we hear that mid-2019 is the time-frame when
most STOs will be able to ramp into the market,†Lex Soklin, partner and
global director of fintech strategy at Autonomous Research, told CNBC
by email.
“Given a longer regulatory approval process for these assets (rather
than none for ICOs), entrepreneurs have a slower path to market. But
perhaps a more stable one.â€
Some even believe that, eventually, everything from artwork to real estate will be transformed into digital tokens.
“Over the next decade, we could very well see the tokenization of the
entire financial markets,†Mati Greenspan, senior market analyst at
eToro, said in a note last week.
“Essentially, anything that has value and can be traded can also be represented as a digital token and traded on a blockchain.â€
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 8:55 AM on Friday, January 4th, 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.
—————–
Falling Crypto Prices Aren’t Stopping Real Blockchain Progress
While public exchanges have been consolidating their hold on the market, private blockchains are getting to work by delivering real business value for enterprises.
Paul Brody is EY’s global innovation leader for blockchain. The views expressed are his own.
The following is an exclusive contribution to CoinDesk’s 2018 Year in Review.
Plunging cryptocurrency values in 2018 and the collapse of the
money-for-nothing white paper market in initial coin offerings (ICOs)
took much of the focus last year for many people when it came to
blockchain mindshare.
All of that marketplace drama, however, concealed an enormous amount
of real progress for the technology that will, slowly but surely, lay
the foundation for a robust revival of the blockchain markets in the
future.
Over the last year, the market did provide lots of drama related to
ICOs. Nearly a quarter of all the ICOs from 2017 lost most of their
value, and the market as a whole declined by nearly two- thirds.
The first half of 2018 was no better. There were nearly 1,000 ICOs
every month, but only 5% of them raised more than $1 million – with one,
EOS, raising around $4 billion.
Not only did the bulk of the money raised go to a very small number
of the ICOs, but nearly every aspect of the world of blockchain also
became more consolidated and, dare I say, centralized, in 2018 – rather
counterintuitive for blockchain, since decentralization is at its core.
Public blockchains consolidate
According to a study
by EY that examined the ICOs’ progress and investment
returns, ethereum, which is the dominant platform and shows the highest
activity among developers and on social media, became even more
dominant, with more than 95% of all ICOs and funds raised.
The market for exchanges consolidated rapidly as well, with 73% of
daily trading volume in the first half of the year taken by the top 10
exchanges. Though the full-year numbers are yet to be updated, that
trend seems set to continue.
The biggest exchanges are consolidating their positions in part by
rapidly maturing their processes and approach to regulatory compliance.
Know-your-customer procedures are being tightened and many of the big
exchanges are, or soon will be, audited by some of the major financial
services organizations (EY included). These same exchanges have been
beefing up their security as well, with fewer large-scale thefts in 2018
than in 2017.
Another big trend last year in the world of public blockchains was
the surge in popularity of stablecoins of all kinds, mostly based on
fiat currencies. While stablecoins offer some advantages, including
stability, they do raise the single most important question remaining
for public blockchains: why are they useful?
Parking money in a stablecoin is beneficial if it’s between
investments or purchases as a way to avoid volatility, but it’s not a
very good investment in and of itself. The purpose of capital markets is
to allocate capital to productive uses and, at least for the moment,
that doesn’t seem to be happening. For public blockchains in 2019, this
is the single most important question.
Private blockchains deliver
While public exchanges have been consolidating their hold on the
market, private blockchains are getting to work by delivering real
business value for enterprises. At EY, a number of systems entered
production status, including our software licensing solution with Microsoft and a maritime insurance joint venture with Maersk and Guardtime.
Looking at the enterprise space, there are three key learnings from the work with blockchain in 2018.
First and foremost, the biggest rule in blockchain seems to be: “If
it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.†Over and over again, when companies are
working on projects where blockchain seemed to be an excellent fit, they
did not move forward because they already found a solution to their
problem. Despite the fact that blockchain in nearly every case would be
better, that isn’t necessarily enough to justify replacing already
existing processes, given the cost and risk.
Second, and very closely related to the first learning, is the
primacy of solving real problems. While chief innovation officers
sometimes love to do blockchain proofs of concept, the technology is far
past that. It’s all about the focus on productizing and solving
solutions for line-of-business executives — with real ROI. If one can,
with confidence, point to an ROI from a solution, then there’s no need
to worry about which blockchain platform or future comes to pass. There
is a return from this investment, no matter what.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, it is clear that companies are
prioritizing operations before finance. While tracking products and
assets as they move through the supply chain is useful, there are a lot
of financial services that could add value, from the very simple
approach “payment upon delivery,†to complex services like factoring
receivables and trade finance.
However, in most cases, companies want to achieve confidence in their
operational systems before closing the loop with payments and financial
services, a challenge they will start to take up at the start of 2019.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 8:12 AM on Thursday, January 3rd, 2019
Announced that it has committed USD$500,000 to acquire 248,201 Preferred Series A-1 Stock in TODAQ Holdings Inc.
TODAQ is a blockchain powered “bank of the future†that offers both a supply chain solutions platform and a consumer solutions platform to enterprises, banks, and smart cities for all their asset and money transactions.
TORONTO, Jan. 03, 2019 — ThreeD Capital Inc. (the “Companyâ€) (CSE:IDK), a Canadian-based venture capital firm focused on investments in promising, early stage companies and ICOs with disruptive capabilities is pleased to announce that it has committed USD$500,000 to acquire 248,201 Preferred Series A-1 Stock (the “Subject Sharesâ€) in TODAQ Holdings Inc. (“TODAQâ€). The Subject Shares represent approximately 1.3% of all issued and outstanding preferred and common shares of TODAQ as of January 3, 2019. The Subject Shares will be acquired in a series of private placements and not through the facilities of any stock exchange.  The Company, through the preferred stock acquisition, will also receive Toda Notes (“TDNâ€) royalty rights to approximately 176 million TDN out of a total supply of 237 TDN, representing approximately 0.13% of the total TDN supply.Â
TODAQ is a blockchain powered “bank of the future†that offers both a
supply chain solutions platform and a consumer solutions platform to
enterprises, banks, and smart cities for all their asset and money
transactions. It intends to also provide these clients access to value
added finance and insurance services. Its solutions are powered by the
TODA Protocol, a soon to be open source fourth generation public and
ledgerless blockchain that provides secure and efficient management for
the ownership of any type of digital assets. It is a decentralized
technology that is efficient enough to be run on only low power mobile
devices (without crypto mining), and settle P2P one-way and two-way
atomic swap transactions in half a minute, requiring close to zero
electricity.
The value proposition for TODAQ’s clients include: major cost
reduction of transaction, reconciliation, escrow, trade finance, and
insurance fees; improved data quality and auditability that can easily
be integrated to ERP, AI, and other management systems; and frictionless
interoperability with customers as well as supply chain and
distribution partners. TODAQ is currently commercializing and
executing its first contracts including a sharing economy project in
Korea covering tens of thousands of urban residents, an oil & gas
supply chain project in Europe and the Middle East, followed by mining,
manufacturing, pharmaceutical and education projects. TODAQ’s solutions
platforms are based on a software as a service recurring revenue model.
The Toda Note is a USD-backstopped digital note designed to
accelerate commerce and industry as well as complement existing fiat
currencies (which can also be put directly on the Toda blockchain). Due
to the TODA Protocol’s efficiency, TDN is not needed to settle or reach
consensus on protocol-based transactions of other TODA based digital
assets. There will be a total of 237 TDN cryptographically generated,
with a distribution period of about a decade to place the entire supply
into the global market. Any node or low power device taking part in
distributed consensus or settlement work can also have a very small
probability of generating a net new TDN so that there is a slow but
capped inflation of the overall TDN supply over time.
The target market for TDN is individuals, businesses and
organizations (which pass OECD know-your-client standards) that are
building solutions and conducting real economy transactions on the TODA
protocol. Approximately 75% of the TDN supply will be directed towards
this target market, approximately 15% is set aside to build the
underlying USD backstop through private placement investment and
secondary market exchanges, and 10% of the TDN supply is set aside for
founding shareholders. In the early stages, TDN distribution will focus
on populations especially in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin
America in order to access the largest markets that can benefit from
TODA’s unfair trust and efficiency advantage.
TDN will be distributed through a mechanism similar to a universal
loyalty program where every TODA based node (wallet) will receive a
small TDN grant. As each node does work to settle transactions, add
additional nodes to the protocol ecosystem, or execute commercial
transactions, it can earn more TDN. TDN wallets will also be available
for download to mobile devices from app stores in Q2 2019, and on
activation can also receive TDN direct distribution.
ThreeD is a publicly-traded Canadian-based venture capital firm focused on opportunistic investments in companies in the Junior Resources, Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain sectors.  ThreeD seeks to invest in early stage, promising companies and ICOs where it may be the lead investor and can additionally provide investees with advisory services, mentoring and access to the Company’s ecosystem.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 9:09 AM on Wednesday, January 2nd, 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.
———————
Even as the hype surrounding blockchain reportedly subsides, it argues that their offerings of regulator-approved infrastructure for crypto are a major watershed in the sector becoming mainstream.
A further example, the Review continues, is the improvement in smart contract technology that will enable its use in multiple legal contexts — making the crypto adage “code is law†one step closer to becoming an accepted reality.
News
MIT Technology Review has published an article today, Jan. 2, arguing that 2019 is the year in which blockchain will become mundane. The Review is a magazine that is independent but wholly-owned by the United States Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
The article gives a laconic overview of its take on the recent
history of blockchain, claiming that the technology was “a revolution
that was supposed to disrupt the global financial system†in 2017, but
that it was a disappointment in 2018 — in light of the significant
decline in the valuations of virtually all blockchain-based crypto
assets and currencies.
Nonetheless, the Review argues, on the cusp of the new year, many
“innovative-sounding projects are still alive and even close to bearing
fruit.†Together with several large corporations’ plans to launch major
blockchain-based projects this year, 2019 is thus reportedly set to be
“the year that blockchain technology finally becomes normal.â€
As an example of the impending transformation of the sector, the Review cites the forthcoming entries of stalwart Wall Street players such as New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) owner Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) and investment giant Fidelity into the cryptocurrency business.
Even as the hype surrounding blockchain reportedly subsides, it
argues that their offerings of regulator-approved infrastructure for
crypto are a major watershed in the sector becoming mainstream.
A further example, the Review continues, is the improvement in smart
contract technology that will enable its use in multiple legal contexts —
making the crypto adage “code is law†one step closer to becoming an
accepted reality.
The article’s final argument is that this normalization of the
technology and the sector will entail a significant reshaping of the
ideology that gave cryptocurrencies and blockchain their first impetus.
Crypto’s roots as an anti-government movement is being upended, the
article claims, by the advent of national cryptocurrencies — whether
they be Venezuela’salready-launched controversial oil-backed cryptocurrency the Petro, or other states’ plans for their own state-backed coins.
A further example given is the endorsement of exploring the case for central bank-backed cryptocurrencies (CBDCs) by International Monetary Fund (IMF) head Christine Lagarde this fall.
Almost one year ago, in mid-January 2018, Cointelegraph published
an analysis of the heat surrounding the blockchain revolution —
encapsulated by the lucrative possibilities of businesses using the tech
as a buzzword in their name to cash in on the over-hyped market.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 10:27 AM on Friday, December 28th, 2018
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.
———————
Do you know that Gartner
has predicted that “Blockchain’s business value-add will grow to
slightly over $360 billion by 2026, then surge to more than $3.1
trillion by 2030”?
Neeraj Sabharwal
Technologist at Xavient and hands-on leader with cloud and big data expertise. Exploring blockchain solutions.
I know that most of you have probably heard initial coin offerings and cryptocurrencies. But what about enterprise blockchain?
ICOs have made a significant impact — both in a positive sense and
in a negative one — across several industries thanks to blockchain. The
positive impact comes in the form of raising awareness about blockchain
technology, and the negative side of things stems from the misguided
conflation of blockchain and cryptocurrency.
Do you know that Gartner
has predicted that “Blockchain’s business value-add will grow to
slightly over $360 billion by 2026, then surge to more than $3.1
trillion by 2030”?
In a sense, we as technologists are betting on the future, and based
on my experience in the blockchain industry, there is a need for a
product or software to help businesses to get ready for a better future
by increasing revenue on their investments and reducing cost to deploy
smart contracts.
We are almost to 2019, and what’s the story now?
According to Accenture
research, 2015 was the year of blockchain exploration and investment,
which led to early adopters embracing the technology in 2016 and 2017.
Accenture’s prediction is that from 2018 to 2024, there will be
significant growth, as we will see more validated information from
lessons learned and new use cases, better software, service providers
and accurate clarity on all the hype of cryptocurrency. Maturity in
regard to blockchain adoption will kick in by 2025.
There is a need of simplicity when it comes to any new technology,
and I believe that once we have a simpler approach to deploy smart
contract and blockchain then it can open the door to more opportunities.
It’s also why I believe one of the top trends in 2019 to watch for is
blockchain as a service. Companies like Amazon, IBM and Microsoft stand
to benefit
from the potential widespread adoption of blockchain, indicating that
big players are likely working on figuring out the true implementation
of blockchain as an enterprise solution.
Also, there are lots of companies, particularly in the financial
sector, that have already either created their own blockchain projects
or are invested in blockchain startups. Visa, for example, released its B2B Connect
platform earlier this year to facilitate cross-border
business-to-business (B2B) payments via blockchain. And Goldman
Sachs and JPMorgan are among a group of companies that have invested $32 million in enterprise blockchain startup Axoni.
So what exactly is blockchain as a service?
It’s a platform that comprises multiple blockchain technologies and
enables developers to write and execute smart contracts without spending
time on deploying and managing the blockchain. To understand this in
detail, let me draw a picture for all of you to understand how
blockchain as a service and smart contract as a service can enable
businesses to use blockchain.
Let’s look at health care as an example, where you may just want to
share patient information between various health care providers. So,
let’s say in this context your application is based on
exchanging patient information between hospitals, insurance companies
and pharmacies. Your traditional application connects to software that
provides a blockchain-based gateway that lets you store and process
information from blockchain in the form of blockchain as a service,
which can then lead to the idea of smart contract templates. I won’t go
into the details of the smart contract, but just to provide some
background: A smart contract is a piece of code that runs on blockchain
and executes various business rules and logic to make sure that only
relevant information is being processed and exchanged. Also, if there is
a need of any checks or validations on the information before it’s
being published, then smart contract provides that, too.
There are a couple of options to get started with BaaS and SCaaS. You
can either build a blockchain team or center of excellence and create
your own BaaS or you can leverage cloud-based solutions, such as Microsft Azure, AWS or IBM. As of writing this article, Google is a little behind with its own offerings, but nevertheless, it too has its own blockchain initiative.
There are also various startups that are based on their own version
of blockchain as a service that use technologies covered either by the
above-listed cloud vendors or uses open source technologies.
While blockchain is still a nascent technology, that doesn’t mean
enterprises aren’t looking for ways to put it to good use. I think you
can expect to see more blockchain-as-a-service offerings in 2019.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 9:06 AM on Thursday, December 27th, 2018
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 has already started to level the playing field by disrupting correspondent banking and democratizing payments.
In 2019, blockchain will start to move beyond payments and will begin to unbundle securities, loans and other derivative financial products. Companies like Securitize*, Dharma, Dydx, Compound Finance and The Ocean are all interesting companies working on the next phase of Decentralized Finance (DeFi).
Asheesh Birla is senior vice president of product at Ripple.
The following is an exclusive contribution to CoinDesk’s 2018 Year in Review.
Industries across the board – from cable companies to grocery stores –
are desperately trying to hold on to their most prized possession: the
bundle. The conventional wisdom goes “if you control access and
distribution then consumers have little choice to go anywhere else.â€
Unfortunately for sleepy incumbent bundlers, we’ve seen companies
like Netflix and Amazon unbundle nearly every part of our lives. The
same is now underway in crypto and finance, where some of the largest
financial institutions are seeing their bundles face serious headwinds.
As the unbundling picks up in 2019, I expect it create opportunities
for smart blockchain companies that can find their niche and be
successful. But with that opportunity also comes great risk. If
entrepreneurs and builders get over their skis or promise too much –
like many did in early 2018 – they risk losing credibility and giving
away their first-mover advantage.
Asia Leads the Way
For decades, the largest global financial institutions controlled much of the financial system underpinning the global economy.
Blockchain has already started to level the playing field by
disrupting correspondent banking and democratizing payments. In 2019,
blockchain will start to move beyond payments and will begin to unbundle
securities, loans and other derivative financial products. Companies
like Securitize*, Dharma, Dydx, Compound Finance and The Ocean are all
interesting companies working on the next phase of Decentralized Finance
(DeFi).
Over the last several years, mobile app companies like Grab, Gojek
and Paytm have expanded their offerings to include payments,
investments, remittances, loans and insurance. They are rapidly
capturing newly banked consumers as many Asian economies move from cash
to digital.
Regulators in Asia are providing clearer guidelines on blockchain and
crypto projects, partially because they consider blockchain a catalyst
for economic growth.
Additionally, over 80 percent of all cryptocurrency trading volume is
based out of Asia, so there is strong appetite to build out a workable
infrastructure. If Grab, Gojek, and Paytm can control distribution to a
newly banked set of consumers, they’ll then start to look towards
blockchain to source a better experience for payments, loans and other
derivative financial products.
Back to basics
Over the last few years, the crypto space deviated from the original
vision of financial access, which was well articulated in Satoshi
Nakamoto’s bitcoin white paper. Similar to the internet boom and bust,
nearly every imaginable use case from tracking flower freshness to
Kodakcoin used blockchain as a buzzword to gain influence and attract
eyeballs.
However, just like the early internet, use cases have to match where the technology is in its development stage.
For example, Netflix wouldn’t have been successful streaming TV shows
in the year 2000 when fewer than one percent of people had access to
broadband. In the last few years, it’s become clear that payments are
the one use case where blockchain works today.
In 2019, blockchain will build on this momentum and branch into
decentralized finance applications such as loans and insurance products
that leverage blockchain-based smart contract platforms.
I’ve always found that some of the best building happens in down
markets. As long as builders can stay focused on solving very specific
use cases, we will see more competition, innovation and a much-needed
unbundling.
That’s a great thing for the entire industry.
Disclosure: Ripple’s Xpring is an investor in Securitize.
Have an opinionated take on 2018? CoinDesk is seeking submissions for our 2018 in Review. Email news [at] coindesk.com to learn how to get involved.
