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Microsoft $MSFT and EY Are Rolling Out #Blockchain Technology for #Xbox $SX $SX.ca $IDK.ca $AAO.ca $HPQ.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 3:47 PM on Friday, June 29th, 2018

It will expand to other products including Bing, MSN

4 hours ago

  • Microsoft and EY are partnering on a blockchain platform for publishing royalties.
  • If Microsoft and EY’s blockchain product is successful, it should shape the way video game developers, creators and publishers of all types earn money online

Last week, the companies debuted a content rights and royalties platform built on the blockchain, which will allow Microsoft and its partners to process millions of transactions in a faster and more reliable way.

Working with Microsoft and EY’s platform, publishers in music, gaming, television and other entertainment industries will someday be able to connect to the blockchain, where they can create and agree on business terms. When users buy content, those royalties are coded onto the blockchain based on the previously agreed upon conditions before the money is reviewed and distributed to the proper publishers. And it would all happen at a rapid pace. While it currently takes some businesses 45 days to translate clicks to money owed through a manual process, the blockchain program could process millions in a more automated fashion.

“Microsoft has an amazing experience if you buy a game on the Xbox,” Paul Brody, EY’s global innovation leader for Blockchain, said in an interview. “It’s pretty much a straightforward kind of click-and-buy activity for the end user.”

Behind the technology, however, is a lot of complexity, as there are thousands of different software vendors and publishing houses that have thousands of titles. These products are sold all around the world in different jurisdictions with all kinds of tax rules and different rules in the purchasing of contracts and payment agreements.

According to Brody, the system reduces the transaction cost for publishers by 99 percent and cuts Microsoft’s own operating costs in half.

“If you care about how your business is doing and you want to manage by how you’re actually driving the car and not looking 90 days back in the rear-view mirror, the value proposition is just incredibly compelling for the publishers,” he said.

The system is built on top of the Quorum blockchain, a blockchain protocol that has additional layers of privacy controls for enterprise businesses. The network is also built using Microsoft’s Azure Cloud.

For starters, the companies have partnered with Ubisoft and several other video game publishers to roll out the blockchain for Microsoft’s Xbox gaming console. However, if all goes well, that could later be rolled out to other Microsoft properties including hardware, Bing search and the Azure marketplace. It could also even work for movie royalties.

“All these contracts—content contracts, search contracts, the hardware, intellectual property contracts—all of these are already managed by my team,” said Rohit Amberker, director of royalties and content operations at Microsoft. “So we’ve started with the gaming portfolio, but we will be expanding this to Bing, MSN, Surface and many others … So any time you have this intellectual property licensing contracts, this will eventually support all of those businesses.”

The transaction process currently used by Microsoft and its partners is very “painful,” said Amberker. That’s partially because of how complex and slow it is—each transaction without the blockchain takes a minute to complete. And when you have millions of transactions, that time quickly ads up.

The plan is to first take the software to larger publishers, which can in turn do the same with game developers, who will then be able to work with audio and video artists whose intellectual property goes into the games.

This isn’t Microsoft’s first foray into the blockchain. In February, the company debuted a blockchain-powered identity management software to help consumers maintain control of their own personal data rather than entrusting it to third parties.

Microsoft and EY also aren’t the only companies seeking to make transactions more trustworthy and efficient using the blockchain. Last week, IBM and Mediaocean debuted a blockchain-enabled ad network for tracking advertising transactions.

Source: https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/microsoft-and-ey-are-rolling-out-blockchain-technology-for-xbox/

#Blockchain Data Storage Could Soon Be The New Standard $SX $SX.ca $SXOOF $IDK.ca $AAO.ca $HPQ.ca $HIVE.ca $BLOC.ca $CODE.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 11:23 AM on Monday, June 25th, 2018
  • With growing concerns over data privacy and security, users are calling for companies to find better ways of handling sensitive information
  • Blockchain data storage has the potential to offer much-improved security solutions compared to traditional databases used today

Why Move to Blockchain Data Storage?

Data breaches have been a pressing issue for many tech companies over the past few decades. With an increasing amount of sensitive data stored on company databases, we have continued to see new hacks affecting a wide range of industries, leaving user data exposed. As a result, hackers have acquired information that has led to widespread identity theft, illegal data sells on the dark web, and other major concerns.

For example, the 2017 Equifax hack exposed tax ID and driver’s license details of 145.5 million people. In 2018, the issue only appears to be getting worse. Dixons Carphone reported that 7 million individuals had been affected by a hack that started in July 2017 but wasn’t discovered until June 2018.

In many cases, consumers not only have to be worried about the possibilities of such hacks but also the fact that companies are often unaware of the issues for months or even years.

While the implementation of GDPR does help make sure that more companies comply with data privacy standards, better security is also a big factor that companies need to research and implement.

GDPR

Potential Concerns for Blockchain

Since data has traditionally been stored on centralized databases, it has become more likely that any given hack will lead to a large amount of data exposure for a large number of users.

Despite the promises of blockchain to provide better security, it’s still important to consider some of the risks of blockchain implementation. Contrary to popular belief, the blockchain is indeed hackable. Sybil attacks, routing attacks, and DDoS attacks all present major security challenges for emerging blockchain projects.

For PoW consensus algorithm projects, 51% attacks executed by miners on blockchain networks have proven to cause big security issues for a number of projects. The Verge, and other projects, for example, have faced regular 51% attacks.

The fact that blockchain technology is still relatively new also means that the teams in charge of securing data have to consider a variety of possible (oftentimes theoretical) security scenarios. They then must design sophisticated solutions to prevent data breaches from occurring. In several cases, projects have had to make reactive changes to their security measures instead of being more proactive in preventing threats.

Scalability Needs Improvement

While security is a major concern, it’s not the only factor for companies and users to think about. Even with the advent of decentralized blockchains, there are still a lot of developments that need to happen.

It may take some time before companies and users can consider large-scale data storage on the blockchain an overall better solution. While security is essential for blockchain data storage adoption, so is usability.

In mid-2018, most of the major blockchains haven’t demonstrated enough scalability yet to meet potential increases in user demand. When thinking about cryptocurrency payments on the blockchain, the amount of data storage needed is actually quite low, considering the large amounts of data needed to save photo and video files.

Projects like Storj and Filecoin are working on making cloud storage of large files not only possible but also practical.

For many companies and users, however, blockchains have an even more immediate potential to store sensitive data that requires less storage. For example, financial and identity-related information stored on the blockchain could soon become practical to implement even with a few small improvements in scalability.

There are a number of scaling technologies like sharding and off-chain protocols being researched and implemented. These can make blockchain data storage more scalable, potentially allowing millions (or even billions) of users to store data securely.

Advantages of Blockchain Data Storage

Even with these concerns, blockchain still has a few advantages over traditional data storage security. As mentioned above, traditional data storage solutions rely heavily upon centralized databases to maintain security. For hackers, the target to attack is much clearer. Once a hack is successfully executed on a centralized database, vast amounts of data can be accessed by hackers.

With blockchains and distributed ledger technologies, however, hacks are much more difficult to execute. In Storj, for example, only a small amount of data can be accessed in a hack since data is encrypted and distributed across a large network of databases.

Blockchain ultimately aims to eliminate the all-too-common news reports of large-scale hacks which affect millions of users as seen in companies of today that rely upon centralized databases.

The Potential of Blockchain Data Storage

A number of blockchain projects are aiming to make data storage more secure. The potential benefits promise to be groundbreaking for end users. Blockchain projects not only have the potential to create the architecture for inherently more secure data storage systems but also to allow individual users to have full authority over which parties are allowed to view data.

In many cases, blockchain projects are using native cryptocurrencies as part of tokenomic models. These allow users to monetize from any third-party data use while also preventing any possibility of identity theft and other issues seen in recent years due to large-scale data breaches.

Final Thoughts

With continued large-scale hacks of traditional databases, consumers are increasingly wary of vulnerable, outdated data storage technologies as well whether or not companies are keeping sensitive data safe.

Yes, blockchain technology still needs some improvements in security and scalability before it can be considered the hands-down, go-to solution for data storage.

It’s still to be determined when exactly blockchain can become the ultimate solution and when user adoption will follow. Still, there are many signs of a momentum shift away from traditional database technologies and towards better data security via decentralized blockchains.

Source: https://coincentral.com/blockchain-data-storage/

Swiss City Plans #Blockchain Voting Pilot Using #Ethereum-Based IDs $SX $SX.ca $SXOOF $IDK.ca $AAO.ca $HPQ.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 11:20 AM on Monday, June 11th, 2018
  • Swiss city of Zug, known for its proactive support of the blockchain industry
  • launching a voting pilot that will base both polling system and residents’ IDs on blockchain technology
  • e-voting pilot, which will take place between June 25 and July 1,
    • developed as part of the city’s efforts to adopt more blockchain applications and will tie in with a digital identity trial currently underway
Jun 11, 2018 at 12:00 UTC

The Swiss city of Zug, known for its proactive support of the blockchain industry, is launching a voting pilot that will base both polling system and residents’ IDs on blockchain technology.

The e-voting pilot, which will take place between June 25 and July 1, has been developed as part of the city’s efforts to adopt more blockchain applications and will tie in with a digital identity trial currently underway, the city government said in an announcement on Friday.

In July 2017, the city announced plans to launch an ethereum-based application called “uPort” to digitize local residents’ ID information. The pilot phase got started in November and now has over 200 residents signed up for the new service, according to the announcement.

By using their digital ID, local residents will be able to cast votes in the one-off blockchain polling pilot, though the city government indicated that the vote is a “consultative test” and the results will not be binding.

The primary goal of the trial, it added, is to the review the security aspects of the polling system, examining whether the platform is able to achieve “immutability, testability and traceability” while maintaining voters’ privacy.

The use case for blockchain in voting systems – with its potential to remove election fraud and provide immutable records – is one that has seen notable interest both from authorities at various levels of government, as well as within finance.

Nasdaq announced in November it was developing an electronic shareholder voting system based on blockchain for the South African capital markets, while Santander used the tech for shareholder voting at its annul AGM in May – possibly a world first.

Over in Russia, Moscow’s municipal government announced in March that it was extending its use of a blockchain-based voting platform to the city block level. The Digital Home service allows neighbors in high rises to electronically vote and communicate on issues to do with building maintenance and management.

And, in the same month, the U.S. state of West Virginia launched a voting pilot project for absentee voters in the military by using a mobile application powered by blockchain technology, while Sierra Leone also notably piloted the tech in a presidential election.

Source: https://www.coindesk.com/swiss-city-plans-to-vote-on-blockchain-using-ethereum-digital-id/

China is suddenly full of nice things to say about #blockchain technology $SX $SX.ca $SXOOF

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 2:34 PM on Wednesday, June 6th, 2018
  • Last weekend TV viewers in China learned that “the value of blockchain is 10 times that of the internet says China Central Television
  • It was the first time that China’s top media outlet educated a domestic audience so thoroughly on the concept and value of blockchain

Last weekend TV viewers in China learned that “the value of blockchain is 10 times that of the internet.” The source? China Central Television (CCTV), the government-controlled main broadcaster. It was perhaps the biggest official endorsement of the technology in the country so far.

CCTV’s hour-long show about blockchain (video in Chinese) included government officials and international crypto experts like Don Tapscott, the Canadian author of Blockchain Revolution. It was the first time that China’s top media outlet educated a domestic audience so thoroughly on the concept and value of blockchain.

Although the show warned against blockchain-related fraud, its overall portrayal of the technology was positive—noteworthy considering China banned initial coin offerings and shut down crypto exchanges last fall, and subsequently cracked down on crypto mining.

During the crackdowns, CCTV routinely blasted crypto projects. Now, China’s crypto community is thrilled about the change in tone, with many taking to social media to share a screenshot of the three sentences CCTV used to define blockchain at one point in the show:

Blockchain is the second era of the Internet.
The value of blockchain is 10 times that of the Internet.
Blockchain is the machine that produces trust.

Each of those lines can be traced back to blockchain bigwigs and Western media reports. For example, it was Zhang Shoucheng, a Stanford physics professor and the founder of blockchain-oriented VC firm Danhua Capital, who first floated the idea that blockchain is 10 times more valuable than the internet. Appearing as a guest on the show, Zhang predicted that blockchain will give rise to companies with market values at least 10 times bigger than centralized companies like Google and Facebook.

In a speech last week, Chinese president Xi Jinping called upon his country to take the lead in developing new technologies like artificial intelligence, the internet of things, and blockchain. The latter has become a surprisingly hot topic at political gatherings in China.

But China’s embrace of blockchain is compromised. For one thing, Beijing has made it clear that it wants blockchain, but not cryptocurrencies. In other words, it’s not interested in public blockchains, with tokens as a requirement because that’s the incentive for anyone to participate in the network. In addition, by banning cryptocurrencies, China is also rejecting some fundamental ideas often associated with blockchain technology, such as free asset movements and non-government-controlled money. In fact, the Chinese central bank is developing its own centralized digital currency.

Xu Hao, a senior official with the Guizhou government, drove home that point in the show:

“When talking about blockchain, many people are talking about ‘decentralization.’ I’d like to make a small change to the word. I think the essence of blockchain is ‘de-intermediarization.’ There is no way to get rid of the center.”

Blockchain, in other words, with Chinese characteristics.

Source: https://qz.com/1298221/china-is-suddenly-full-of-nice-things-to-say-about-blockchain-technology/

How #Blockchain Technology Can Save The IRS $SX.ca $SXOOF $IDK.ca $AAO.ca $HPQ.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 11:14 AM on Tuesday, June 5th, 2018
  • IRS plans to spend $291 million updating 140 computer systems to help it implement the new tax law
  • InformIation-technology costs and other back-office operations will consume more than 90% of the money Congress is giving the IRS for implementation.
  • Overall, the IRS budget is estimated to be $11.4 billion in the next fiscal year

Adam Bergman , Contributor

According to a previously undisclosed Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) document, the IRS plans to spend $291 million updating 140 computer systems to help it implement the new tax law. Those information-technology costs and other back-office operations will consume more than 90% of the money Congress is giving the IRS for implementation. Overall, the IRS budget is estimated to be $11.4 billion in the next fiscal year.

For the IRS, keeping up with changes in the tax law and new technology can be quite expensive. The internet has created many positive changes for the IRS, including reducing costs for many services, such as tax return filing, data analysis and the exchange of information.  However, it seems that once again a new technology revolution is upon us; blockchain.

Shutterstock

Blockchain technology is based on the ideals of trust, security, speed, and cost efficiency. A blockchain is a digital ledger and can be designed to record any type of public or private transaction in real time.  The most widely used public blockchains involve cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, however, blockchain technology can be employed without the involvement of cryptocurrency.

Cryptocurrency transactions, such as Bitcoin, are recorded in a blockchain, which can be thought of as a worldwide digital spreadsheet or ledger.  Blockchain leverages the capital of a large peer-to peer network to verify and approve each transaction.  Blockchain is encrypted and can be public or private. Blockchain encryption involves public and private keys (much like a two-key system to a vault) to ensure security. Each time a transaction is verified by a network, the transaction is stored in a block which is linked to the preceding block, thus, creating a chain.  Each block must refer to the preceding block to be valid.  In other words, if you wanted to steal a Bitcoin, you would have to rewrite the coin’s entire history on the blockchain.

Blockchain and its digital ledger platform can revolutionize the way data is analyzed, exchanged and stored by the IRS. Blockchain can help the IRS lower costs and increase security, as well as enhance the speed in which it accesses and reviews taxpayer data.  Here are just a few small examples of some of the issues the IRS is currently experiencing.

  • In 2017, approximately $600 billion dollars were rolled over from 401(k) plans to IRAs. Currently, the IRS could wait up to a year in order to receive the rollover data on the IRS Form 1099-R.
  • If a business pays an independent contractor an amount in excess of $600 during a taxable year, the IRS could wait up to a year in order to receive the data on the IRS Form 1099.
  • When a taxpayer mails a check to the IRS for a tax payment, the IRS may have to wait three to seven days for the transaction to settle.
  • The IRS reported that in 2017, there were 242,000 cases of taxpayer identity-theft reports, a big drop from 2015, but still a significant ongoing issue.
  • Spending within the IRS has declined by $533 million and its staff has dropped 14 percent since 2012.

The implementation of a private blockchain platform by the IRS can be transformational from a speed, security, and cost perspective.  Private blockchain or distributed ledger technology, as referred to by the financial services industry, can make the IRS a more cost effective and efficient regulator. Because tax return data is highly private, a public blockchain model, such as Bitcoin, would likely not be a suitable option for the IRS since anyone would be able to access and interact with it.  Whereas, a private blockchain model would allow the IRS and only other permitted parties to view the blockchain data. With a private blockchain model, transactions can be verified privately or by approved third-party verifiers, removing the need for anonymous miners who require a financial reward as well as the need for large amounts of electricity.

For example, when a bank or financial institutions transfers 401(k) plan funds to an IRA, the transaction can be verified and reported by the parties on a blockchain so that the IRS will have immediate access to the data.  The same technology can be employed for almost all Form 1099 related transactions, which amount to over one billion dollars a year, according to the IRS.  Likewise, a digital ledger platform could let the IRS or other government regulators audit individuals or corporations in real time, giving them instant access to financial or tax return related data.  Moreover, using a private blockchain platform will offer the IRS far more security against taxpayer identity theft because of cryptography. Smart contracts technology can help the IRS manage and enforce settlement agreements with taxpayers, as well as manage various other agreements with individual and corporate taxpayers.

We have just started scratching the surface of the potential impact of the blockchain revolution for all industries, including government agencies, such as the IRS.   As a 2016 PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) report stated, “Distributed ledger technologies offer institutions a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform the industry to their benefit, or not.” Blockchain technology can potentially provide the IRS with a greater impact than E-filing. It will help the IRS save costs, allow for real time tax related data analysis, reduce fraud, as well as help agents better manage audits. The next time Congress is formulating a budget for the IRS, they would be wise to consider the many benefits that blockchain technology related investments can better the agency. Failing to do so could prove to be an IRS nightmare.

Adam Bergman is a tax partner with IRA Financial Group and president of IRA Financial Trust Company. Contact him via email at [email protected] or call him at 800-472-0646 Ext 12.

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2018/06/04/how-blockchain-technology-can-save-the-irs/#584ab320e7ab

St-Georges Eco-Mining $SX.ca $SXOOF Signs Agreement to Spin-Out Subsidiary #ZeU $HIVE.ca $BLOC.ca $CODE.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 9:50 AM on Thursday, May 31st, 2018

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  • Announced the signing of an arrangement agreement providing for the spin-out of its subsidiary ZeU Crypto Networks Inc
  • Intend to list ZeU on the Canadian Securities Exchange
  • Shareholders will receive 11,249,825 shares of Zeu,
    • representing one share of ZeU for every eight common shares of St-Georges held

Montreal, QC / May 31, 2018 – St-Georges Eco-Mining Corp. (CSE: SX) (OTC: SXOOF) (FSE: 85G1) is pleased to announce the signing of an arrangement agreement providing for the spin-out of its subsidiary ZeU Crypto Networks Inc. with the intent of listing ZeU on the Canadian Securities Exchange.

Under the terms of the Arrangement Agreement, shareholders of St-Georges at the time of the completion of the Spin-Out, anticipated to be the latter part of July, will receive 11,249,825 shares of Zeu, representing one (1) share of ZeU for every eight (8) common shares of St-Georges held based on the current issued and outstanding share capital. A St-Georges Shareholders’ meeting to approve the Arrangement Agreement is set for July 5, 2018 and proxy materials related to the meeting will be delivered to shareholders and made available on SEDAR in June 2018. A copy of the Arrangement Agreement will also be filed on SEDAR. The Arrangement Agreement is subject to the acceptance of the CSE.

ZeU holds an exclusive license to use Qingdao Tiande Technologies Limited and Beijing Tiande Technologies Limited’s (collectively “Tiande”) proprietary technologies, patents and know-how to develop and commercialize novel mineral commodity production chain control, tracking and trading exchanges, and has entered into a binding asset purchase agreement with Tiande, and the intervention Guiyang Tiande Technologies Limited, to acquire substantially all the intellectual property of Tiande, as more particularly described in St-Georges February 26 and May 22, 2018 press releases.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

“Frank Dumas”

FRANK DUMAS, PRESIDENT & CEO

About St-Georges

St-Georges is developing new technologies to solve the some of the most common environmental problems in the mining industry.

The Company controls directly or indirectly, through rights of first refusal, all of the active mineral tenures in Iceland. It also explores for nickel on the Julie Nickel Project & for industrial minerals on Quebec’s North Shore and for lithium and rare metals in Northern Quebec and in the Abitibi region. Headquartered in Montreal, St-Georges’ stock is listed on the CSE under the symbol SX, on the US OTC under the Symbol SXOOF and on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol 85G1.

The Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or the accuracy of the contents of this release.

The release contains forwarding looking information and statements as defined by law including, without limitation, Canadian securities laws and the “safe harbor” provisions of the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (“forward-looking statements”), respecting St-Georges’ plans to spin-out its subsidiary ZeU. which is intended to be listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange. Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to materially differ from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements including that the spin-out may not be completed as planned or at all due to failure to obtain shareholder or regulatory approval ,the inability to complete the Acquisition, raise sufficient capital to adequately fund ZeU or a decision of the board of St-Georges not to proceed, which decision can be made at any time prior to closing. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made and a number of assumptions that may prove to be incorrect, including, without limitation, assumptions about general business and economic conditions, the timing and receipt of required approval and continued availability of capital and financing. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements contained herein. The foregoing list is not exhaustive and St-Georges undertakes no obligation to update any of the foregoing except as required by law.

Forget #Bitcoin: #Blockchain is the Future $SX $SX.ca $SXOOF $IDK.ca $AAO.ca $HPQ.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 11:52 AM on Tuesday, May 29th, 2018
By Nathan Reiff | May 27, 2018 — 5:55 AM EDT

Cryptocurrencies of all types make use of distributed ledger technology known as blockchain. Blockchains act as decentralized systems for recording and documenting transactions that take place involving a particular digital currency. Put simply, blockchain is a transaction ledger that maintains identical copies across each member computer within a network.

Any party is able to both review previous entries and record new ones, although most blockchain networks have complex rules for the addition of new groups of records, “blocks,” to the chain of previous records. The blocks and the contents within them are protected by powerful cryptography, which insures that previous transactions within the network cannot be either forged or destroyed. In this way, blockchain technology allows a digital currency to maintain a trusted transaction network without relying on a central authority. It is for this reason that digital currencies are thought of as “decentralized.” (See also: How Does Blockchain Work?)

While blockchain is most famous for its role in facilitating the rise of digital currencies over the past several years, there are also many other non-cryptocurrency uses for this technology. Indeed, some blockchain proponents believe that the technology could far outpace cryptocurrencies themselves in terms of its overall impact, and that the real potential of blockchain is only just now being discovered. As such, it’s likely that financial advisors and many others in the investing world will encounter blockchain technology much more in the years to come, whether it is linked with a specific cryptocurrency or if it’s being utilized in any number of other applications. Below, we’ll explore some of the most exciting and popular use cases likely to bring blockchain further into the world of mainstream business and finance.

Cross-Border Payments

Traditionally, the transfer of value has been both expensive and slow, according to a report by Deloitte, and especially for payments taking place across international borders. One reason for this is that, when multiple currencies are involved, the transfer process typically requires multiple banks in multiple locations before the intended recipient can actually collect his or her money. There are existing services to help facilitate this process in a faster way, but these tend to by quite expensive.

Blockchain technology has the potential to provide a much faster and cheaper alternative to traditional cross-border payments methods. Indeed, while typical money remittance costs might be as high as 20% of the transfer amount, blockchain may allow for costs as low as 2%, as well as guaranteed and real-time transaction processing speeds. There are hurdles to be passed, including regulation of cryptocurrencies in different parts of the world and security concerns. Nonetheless, this is one of the most promising and talked about areas of blockchain technology application. (For more, see: Bitcoin’s Most Profitable Use: the $600 Billion Overseas Remittance Business?)

Smart Contracts

Smart contracts are often seen as a highly powerful application of blockchain technology. These contracts are actually computer programs that can oversee all aspects of an agreement, from facilitation to execution. When conditions are met, smart contracts can be entirely self-executing and self-enforcing. For proponents of smart contracts, these tools provide a more secure, more automated alternative to traditional contract law, as well as an application that is faster and cheaper than traditional methods.

The potential applications of smart contract technology are essentially limitless and could extend to almost any field of business in which contract law would normally apply. Of course, while highly touted, smart contracts are not a magical substitute for old-fashioned diligence. In fact, the case of the Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) is a cautionary tale and a warning to investors to not assume that smart contracts are any better than the information and organization that a user puts into them. Nonetheless, smart contracts remain one of the most exciting ways that blockchain technology has already extended beyond the cryptocurrency space and into the broader business world. (See also: Understanding Smart Contracts.)

Identity Management

One of the most problematic results of the internet age has been identity security. As diligent as many individuals and organizations are in maintaining their online identities and securing private information, there are always nefarious actors looking to steal and profit off of these digital items. Blockchain technology has already demonstrated the potential for transforming the way that online identity management takes place.

Blockchain offers a tremendous level of security, thanks to independent verification processes that take place throughout member computers on a blockchain network. In digital currency cases, this verification is used to approve transactions before they are added to the chain. This mechanism could just as easily be applied to other types of verification procedures, including identity verification and many other applications as well.

At this point, blockchain is a technology with an exceptionally broad set of potential uses. Although blockchain is most famous for its connections to the blossoming cryptocurrency world, several other applications have already been explored. Perhaps even more exciting, though, is that new ways of utilizing blockchain emerge every day. As such, whether you are directly involved in the digital currency space or not, it’s essential to develop an understanding of blockchain and how it may be used to transform the business and investment worlds. (For additional reading, check out: All About Amazon’s New Blockchain Service.)

Read more: Forget Bitcoin: Blockchain is the Future | Investopedia https://www.investopedia.com/tech/forget-bitcoin-blockchain-future/#ixzz5GtuZEx4l

St-Georges Eco-Mining $SX.ca $SXOOF Announces Spin-Out of Subsidiary #ZeU Crypto Networks & Intellectual Property Acquisition Agreement Amendment with Tiande $HIVE.ca $BLOC.ca $CODE.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 1:18 PM on Tuesday, May 22nd, 2018

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  • Intends to spin-out its subsidiary ZeU Crypto Networks Inc.,
    • intent of listing ZeU on the Canadian Securities Exchange
  • Transaction is being undertaken to focus the efforts of St-Georges on its core mining, metallurgical processes and commodities management technologies related activities,
    • Seeking to maximize shareholder value of the technologies to be acquired by ZeU by placing them in a separate public company

Montreal, QC / May 22, 2018 – St-Georges Eco-Mining Corp. (CSE: SX) (OTC: SXOOF) (FSE: 85G1) announces that it intends to spin-out its subsidiary ZeU Crypto Networks Inc., with the intent of listing ZeU on the Canadian Securities Exchange. The transaction is being undertaken to focus the efforts of St-Georges on its core mining, metallurgical processes and commodities management technologies related activities, while seeking to maximize shareholder value of the technologies to be acquired by ZeU by placing them in a separate public company. The spin-out will allow ZeU management to initiate and grow operations with no further restrictions.

Shareholders to receive one ZeU share for every 8 St-Georges shares.

It is proposed that the spin-out would be effected by way of a plan of arrangement (the “Arrangement”) which would see shareholders of St-Georges receive an aggregate of 11,249,825 shares of ZeU, representing one (1) share of ZeU for every eight (8) shares of St-Georges held, and St-Georges would retain 8,750,175, of the 20,000,000 shares of ZeU St-Georges currently owns. Additional information regarding distributions to shareholders will be disclosed by way of circular in the coming weeks.

Financing

ZeU is planning to complete an initial tranche of the previously announced debenture financing, prior to the spin-out, for up to an aggregate amount of $10 million dollars. The company won’t seek additional amounts within that proposed financing and will instead initiate a separate private placement in parallel to the Spin-Out transaction (“Concurrent Financing”) to be completed concurrently with the Arrangement by way of subscription receipt of ZeU (the “Subscription Receipts”) at a price of C$1,000 per Subscription Receipt. Upon closing of the Arrangement, each holder of Subscription Receipts will receive, for no additional consideration and subject to adjustment, one special warrant (the “Special Warrants”) that, upon the satisfaction of certain conditions, shall be automatically exercised, for no additional consideration, to acquire $1,000 principal amount of 10% unsecured convertible debentures of ZeU (each, a “Convertible Debenture” and, collectively, the “Convertible Debentures”). Each Convertible Debenture shall be convertible into common shares of ZeU, as applicable, at a price of $1.00 per share, subject to adjustment in certain events.

Further details of the spin-out transaction, the Arrangement and the Concurrent Financing will be contained in the management information circular to be mailed to shareholders of St-Georges and filed on SEDAR in connection with the meeting of shareholders to be held to approve the transaction, currently contemplated to be held in July 2018. The Arrangement remains subject to approval by the shareholders of St-Georges, receipt of a final court order from the Superior Court of Quebec, and the approval of the listing of ZeU by the Canadian Securities Exchange. Notwithstanding the receipt of all requisite approvals, the directors of St-Georges reserve the right to elect to not to proceed with the Arrangement.

Amendment to Tiande Assets Acquisition Agreement

St-Georges also wishes to inform that, further to its February 26, 2018 press releases, ZeU has signed an agreement amending (the “Amending Agreement”) certain terms and conditions of its definitive asset purchase agreement dated February 23, 2018 with Qingdao Tiande Technologies Limited (“Qingdao”) and Beijing Tiande Technologies Limited (“Beijing” and together with Qingdao, the “Vendors”) with the intervention of Guiyang Tiande Technologies Limited to purchase substantially all the intellectual property of the Vendors (the “Acquisition”).

The purpose of the Amending Agreement is to eliminate uncertainties related to the closing of the Acquisition, expedite the Arrangement, which will allow ZeU to fully commit to the development of the Vendors’ Blockchain Technology, and facilitate the Concurrent Financing.

The material terms of the Amending Agreement are the removal of the minimum $10,000,000 concurrent financing condition, and the reorganization of the purchase price to provide for: (i) the delivery on the closing date, which will now occur concurrently with the completion of the Arrangement, to Vendors of 30,000,000 common shares of ZeU and 75,000,000 common share purchase warrants of ZeU exercisable at of $1.00 for a period of three years (3 years) following the listing of ZeU on a recognize stock exchange; (ii) the delivery, to the extent and only if all of the Milestone Conditions (please see February 26, 2018 press releases for details) are satisfied, an additional 45,000,000 common shares of ZeU; and (iii) the delivery, to the extent and only if the Patent Condition (please see February 26, 2018 press releases for details) is satisfied, of a final 75,000,000 common shares of ZeU.

The Acquisition remains subject to requisite regulatory approval and satisfaction of closing conditions contained in the agreement, including completion of the Arrangement.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

“Frank Dumas”

FRANK DUMAS, PRESIDENT & CEO

Medias and Regulators Only: 514.295.9878

About St-Georges

St-Georges is developing new technologies to solve the some of the most common environmental problems in the mining industry.

The Company controls directly or indirectly, through rights of first refusal, all of the active mineral tenures in Iceland. It also explores for nickel on the Julie Nickel Project & for industrial minerals on Quebec’s North Shore and for lithium and rare metals in Northern Quebec and in the Abitibi region. Headquartered in Montreal, St-Georges’ stock is listed on the CSE under the symbol SX, on the US OTC under the Symbol SXOOF and on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol 85G1.

The Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or the accuracy of the contents of this release.

The release contains forwarding looking information and statements as defined by law including, without limitation, Canadian securities laws and the “safe harbor” provisions of the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (“forward-looking statements”), respecting St-Georges’ plans to spin-out its subsidiary ZeU. which is intended to be listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange. Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to materially differ from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements including that the spin-out may not be completed as planned or at all due to failure to obtain shareholder or regulatory approval ,the inability to complete the Acquisition, raise sufficient capital to adequately fund Zeu or a decision of the board of St-Georges not to proceed, which decision can be made at any time prior to closing. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made and a number of assumptions that may prove to be incorrect, including, without limitation, assumptions about general business and economic conditions, the timing and receipt of required approval and continued availability of capital and financing. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements contained herein. The foregoing list is not exhaustive and St-Georges undertakes no obligation to update any of the foregoing except as required by law.

HTC’s new phone is all about the #blockchain $SX $SX.ca $IDK.ca #Blockstation $AAO.ca $HPQ.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 10:25 AM on Wednesday, May 16th, 2018

  • There’s no doubt about it: “Blockchain” is the biggest tech buzzword of today, the equivalent of “web 2.0” at its heyday a decade ago, and naturally, everyone wants in.
  • Latest company to join the blockchain party is HTC, who has announced the HTC Exodus, a smartphone that fully embraces blockchain technology

Blockchain is a crucial technology that underlies Bitcoin. It’s a decentralized, cryptographically secured database that’s near-impossible to tamper with, which makes it great for securely storing financial transactions data. But after Ethereum expanded on Bitcoin’s original idea, letting anyone run fully fledged apps on the blockchain, we’ve seen everyone jump on the bandwagon, from photography companies to burger chains.

So is HTC just riding the hype without much substance? Not necessarily.

On a teaser website, HTC says the phone will be “dedicated to decentralized applications and security.” The company lists several ways in which the Exodus phone will do this: For example, it will support decentralized applications (Dapps) and it will have a hardware element that will connect to cryptocurrency wallets. Both of these are doable: There’s already a phone called Sikur that focuses on security and has a built-in cryptocurrency wallet, and Sirin labs has announced its cryptocurrency-oriented Finney phone in May.

HTC also claims that every Exodus phone will be a node — a vital part of Bitcoin and Ethereum’s architecture, which broadcasts messages across the network. “We want to double and triple the number of nodes of Ethereum and Bitcoin,” HTC’s site says. The idea is interesting, but running a node eats up processing power, storage and bandwidth. It’s already possible to run a Bitcoin or an Ethereum node on a smartphone, but optimizing this for the mass market is not trivial.

There’s no word on the phone’s specs, though things like camera performance would likely be secondary to the phone’s utility as a blockchain-friendly device.

For this project, HTC has assembled a team led by Phil Chen, who was one of the architects behind the Barnes & Noble Nook, as well as a long-time product manager at HTC.

There’s no word on the price, either, but you can already reserve the phone by giving up your email, here.

Source: https://mashable.com/2018/05/16/htc-exodus/#0KD87U04piq2

#Facebook is reportedly starting a #blockchain team $SX $SX.ca $SXOOF $IDK.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 11:56 AM on Wednesday, May 9th, 2018
  • Facebook is reportedly shaking up its management team in a gigantic way today
  • Head of the company’s popular Facebook Messenger app will now be in charge of “a new internal team dedicated to exploring blockchain technology.”

No, not Bitcoin: Blockchain is the encrypted-in-plain-sight technology that can make for trustworthy transactions online.

May 8, 20181:19 PM PDT

Facebook is reportedly shaking up its management team in a gigantic way today — and according to Recode, the head of the company’s popular Facebook Messenger app will now be in charge of “a new internal team dedicated to exploring blockchain technology.”

Recode reports that several prominent Instagram executives will be joining the blockchain team as well.

You might be wondering: What is Blockchain? And why would Facebook be pursuing the technology? We’ve got a whole article dedicated to answering the former question — not to mention our series Blockchain Decoded — but if you’re in a hurry:

Blockchain is the digital ledger technology that famously powers cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, but is more generally an encrypted way to keep a record of digital transactions, and can be used as a way to figure out who to trust online.

Recode doesn’t say specifically why Facebook might be looking into Blockchain right now, and Facebook didn’t immediately respond to our request for comment.

But in his January memo, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote that he wanted to study decentralizing technologies like encryption and cryptocurrency — “that take power from centralized systems and put it back into people’s hands,” in his words — and figure out how to use them in Facebook’s services.

Blockchain’s promise hasn’t kept pace with the hype, but it’s catching on for everything from tracking shipments through ports and across oceans to guaranteeing the provenance of a diamond necklace. At Facebook, it could be used in any number of areas, from running advertising infrastructure to easing person-to-person e-commerce to assuring user identities in an era of scams and bots. Facebook has a lot of users and a lot of industry clout, and that increases the importance of any efforts to form industry-spanning partnerships built on blockchain.

That said, exploring blockchain is hardly a surprise. In this day and age, a tech company doing so is about as shocking as exploring mobile phone apps or artificial intelligence tools.

Disclosure: Sean’s wife works for Facebook as an internal video producer.

Source: https://www.cnet.com/news/facebook-is-reportedly-starting-a-blockchain-team/