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ThreeD Capital Inc. $IDK.ca – Mass Adoption is Coming: The Biggest US Automaker Turns to Blockchain to Help Save Millions in Identity Theft $HIVE.ca $BLOC.ca $CODE.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 9:59 AM on Friday, February 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.

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Mass Adoption is Coming: The Biggest US Automaker Turns to Blockchain to Help Save Millions in Identity Theft

  • General Motors Financial has partnered with blockchain company Spring Labs to help reduce identity theft.
  • It’s a move that could potentially save the car maker millions of dollars in fraud costs.

Ben Brown

As CCN previously reported, 95% of carmakers expect to use blockchain technology in the next three years, but General Motors is leading the pack.

The partnership will see GM Financial, the finance branch of General Motors, join Spring Labs’ Spring Founding Industry Partners Program. The initiative is designed to advance the role of blockchain in data sharing.

This is a huge nod towards real-world adoption of blockchain technology.

Very excited to officially unveil our partnership with @gmfinancial, one of the largest global providers of auto financing with operations in North America, South America, and Asia. https://t.co/DQ3HPpslXf

— Spring Labs (@SpringLabsMain) February 11, 2019

Speaking to Forbes, GM Financial Chief Strategy Officer Mike Kanarios said he believes blockchain technology will deliver a “better, faster, and cheaper system” to identify fraud.

Solving a Million Dollar Problem

GM Financial is fighting a huge problem: synthetic identity fraud. It’s the fastest-growing form of identity theft in the US. Synthetic identity fraud is a process where someone blends various parts of people’s stolen data to create a new identity.

It’s effective and incredibly difficult to trace. By using synthetic identity fraud, an individual can take out multiple credit cards or a loan on a car.

“As the captive finance arm for General Motors and one of the world’s largest auto finance providers, we are continually innovating and evolving our fraud prevention and detection capabilities to better serve and protect our customers and dealers.” GM Financial Chief Strategy Officer Mike Kanarios.

GM Financial is responsible for issuing loans, finance, and leasing options. It has a presence in North America, South America, and Asia. The company is a huge target for fraudsters and it reportedly loses millions of dollars per year fighting identity theft.

General Motors isn’t just selling small-ticket items. If a fraudster buys a car, it can be almost impossible to track them down to reclaim the money. Blockchain technology could help identify and verify individuals before they are approved for a car loan.

Blockchain technology could save General Motors millions in money lost to fraud.

Spring Labs: Raised $15 million to Kickstart Blockchain Adoption

Spring Labs is a blockchain startup that has already raised $15 million in seed money. It is developing the Spring Protocol, a blockchain-based network which allows companies to share data and information privately. The protocol ensures the underlying source of data is never revealed.

To spur growth, Spring Labs launched the Spring Founding Industry Partners Program. It has so far invited a handful of FinTech startups to work together on research and development of its technology.

“We are excited to partner with GM Financial to create solutions on our developing network to address vexing economic problems such as identity fraud.” Adam Jiwan, CEO of Spring Labs.

The ultimate goal is to get companies to share information via the Spring Protocol. By doing so, they can spot and stamp out cases of identity fraud.

General Motors Leading the Charge in Blockchain

General Motors is one of the few Fortune 500 companies taking meaningful steps in blockchain adoption. GM Financial is also a member of the Hyperledger project, an initiative designed to drive real-world blockchain solutions.

62% of auto execs agree that blockchain will shake up the industry within three years, but it might be here sooner than they think.

Source: https://www.ccn.com/mass-adoption-is-coming-the-biggest-us-automaker-turns-to-blockchain-to-help-save-millions-in-identity-theft

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ThreeD Capital Inc. $IDK.ca – Major Swiss Stock Exchange SIX to Launch New #Blockchain – Powered Digital Exchange $HIVE.ca $BLOC.ca $CODE.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 11:16 AM on Thursday, February 7th, 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.

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Major Swiss Stock Exchange SIX to Launch New Blockchain-Powered Digital Exchange

  • Switzerland‘s principal stock exchange SIX Swiss Exchange will test blockchain integration for its forthcoming parallel digital trading platform SDX in the second half of this year.

By Marie Huillet

Switzerland‘s principal stock exchange SIX Swiss Exchange will test blockchain integration for its forthcoming parallel digital trading platform SDX in the second half of this year. The news was reported by Cointelegraph Deutschland Feb. 4.

SIX Swiss Exchange sees roughly 5.19 billion Swiss Francs (CHF) (~$5.18 billion) in daily turnover, and has a market capitalization of over 1.67 trillion CHF ~($1.6 trillion).

CEO Jos Dijsselhof told Cointelegraph Deutschland in an interview that the company had chosen the technology for the time efficiency and improved security it can offer across all stages of stock trading and settlement:

“The fact is, it takes two days for the buyer of a stock to become the owner. The trade itself only takes a fraction of a second, but after that payments have to be settled and titles transferred. If we put it all on our digital exchange, then the whole process takes only a few seconds. This makes the market more efficient, but at the same time also takes risks out of the system. “

Dijsselhof added that wholly digital, blockchain-powered stock trading will not only minimize risks, but widen the range of tradable titles, affirming his ambition that SIX would succeed in building “a whole new stock market on the blockchain with completely integrated trading, handling and custody of digital assets”.

In an interview with Reuters published Feb. 6, SIX exchange chairman Romeo Lacher noted that the exchange aims to finalize a launch date for the new platform in late summer — with the exact date remaining subject to legal and regulatory clarification with Swiss market watchdog the Financial Market Supervisory Authority.

Reuters further reported that SIX expects its blockchain-based SDX digital exchange to supersede its existing marketplace within a decade. Lacher said the company also has plans to launch its own Security Token Offering, which will offer investors an equity stake in exchange for capital.

Unnamed SIX officials told Reuters that SDX will begin by rolling out support selected stocks, followed by bonds, and possibly exchange-traded-funds (ETFs).

As Cointelegraph has previously reported, SIX listed a pioneering multi-crypto-based exchange-traded product (ETP) in November, which tracks five major cryptocurrencies.

Other major global exchanges are similarly looking to rehaul their platforms — in whole or in part — with blockchain. In January, major global securities marketplace Deutsche Börse reported it was “making significant progress” on its blockchain-based securities lending platform, which will use blockchain consortium R3’s Corda technology.

Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/major-swiss-stock-exchange-six-to-launch-new-blockchain-powered-digital-exchange

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Posted in All Recent Posts, Blockchain stocks, Canadian Blockchain Stocks, Smallcap Blockchain stocks, ThreeD, ThreeD Capital | Comments Off on ThreeD Capital Inc. $IDK.ca – Major Swiss Stock Exchange SIX to Launch New #Blockchain – Powered Digital Exchange $HIVE.ca $BLOC.ca $CODE.ca

St-Georges Eco-Mining $SX $SX.ca $SXOOF Announces Termination of #ZeU’s Asset Purchase Agreement with Tiande and Updates Spin-Out Listing $HIVE.ca $BLOC.ca $CODE.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 8:45 AM on Monday, August 13th, 2018

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  • Subsidiary ZeU Crypto Networks Inc. has received a termination notice for the asset purchase agreement dated February 23, 2018, as amended May 17, 2018, among ZeU, Qingdao Tiande Technologies Limited, an affiliate of Beijing Tiande Technologies Limited’s
  • Termination notice received by ZeU was accompanied by a request to negotiate a new agreement.
  • A negotiation team composed of Vilhjalmur T. Vilhjalmsson and Mark Billings was appointed to review new proposals.

Montreal, Quebec / August 13, 2018 – St-Georges Eco-Mining Corp. (CSE: SX) (OTC: SXOOF) (FSE: 85G1) announces that its subsidiary ZeU Crypto Networks Inc. (“ZeU”) has received a termination notice for the asset purchase agreement dated February 23, 2018, as amended May 17, 2018, among ZeU, Qingdao Tiande Technologies Limited, an affiliate of Beijing Tiande Technologies Limited’s (collectively “Tiande”), with the intervention of Guiyang Tiande Technologies Limited, pursuant to which ZeU agreed to purchase the rights (the “Rights”) to substantially all the intellectual property of Tiande, as more particularly described in St-Georges February 26 and May 22, 2018 press releases.

The termination notice received by ZeU was accompanied by a request to negotiate a new agreement. A negotiation team composed of Vilhjalmur T. Vilhjalmsson and Mark Billings was appointed to review new proposals. Unfortunately, despite significant concessions offered by ZeU to negotiate and finalize a new agreement, the demands made by Tiande were simply not possible to accommodate in terms of both commercial viability and securities regulations. The overriding and irreconcilable factor was the unprecedented demand by Tiande that St-Georges somehow bears alone the financial burden of the downturn in blockchain and cryptocurrency valuations over the past six months. These revised and unreasonable financial demands by Tiande rendered the transaction commercially impossible for ZeU and very unlikely to have received the acceptance of regulatory authorities during the listing process.

To this end, ZeU has commenced the process of consulting with its legal advisors to seek full reimbursement and compensation of its expenses, as well as, to review potential actions on behalf of its shareholders.

CURRENT STATUS OF ZEU

The current status of ZeU is as follows. First, it still 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. Second, as a result of work product over this past 6 months, ZeU has a number of meaningful commercial opportunities available to pursue, including MOU’s that have already been signed with clients that are still willing to negotiate definitive agreements. As such, ZeU intends to pursue its listing process on the CSE.

MANAGEMENT CHANGES TO FOCUS OPERATIONS

As a result of the continuing development of ZeU, the following changes will be implemented effective immediately, Mark Billings will assume the position of Executive Chairman of St-Georges and Vilhjalmur T. Vilhjalmsson will assume the position of Interim President & CEO to fully focus their efforts on following up on the legal status of the transaction termination, the mineral exploration and processing technology development within St-Georges. Frank Dumas will focus his time on St-Georges’ subsidiaries, ZeU Crypto Networks Inc. and Borealis EHF in the capacity of President to accelerate the numerous current opportunities and developments.

ZeU management understands that shareholders will have many questions over the coming days and will provide full accessibility via its CEO Verified Discussion Forum on AGORACOM at https://agoracom.com/ir/St-GeorgesEco-MiningTechnologies/forums/discussion where shareholders can post questions and/or read answers in a fully transparent manner. Shareholders are asked to post their questions and management will address them when the answers become available.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

“Mark Billings”

MARK BILLINGS, EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN

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.

Copyright (c) 2018 TheNewswire – All rights reserved.

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California Gets First #Blockchain-Only #RealEstate Deal $SX $SX.ca $SXOOF $IDK.ca $HIVE.ca $BLOC.ca $CODE.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 10:33 AM on Thursday, July 26th, 2018

  • In a milestone event for the project, real estate startup Propy announced the completion of a transaction involving only their platform and Bitcoin (BTC) as a means of payment
  • The significance stems from the fact this is the first deal of this nature in California

Kate Fomina, a licensed real estate agent in the state, represented both counterparties. One of the most interesting facts about the transfer was that all of the parties involved were separated by immense physical distances. While the buyer (Luke Carriere) was located in New York, the seller (Diana Dominguez) was in Northern California. Furthermore, at the time the process began, Fomina (the broker) was in Hong Kong and the escrow agent was in San Francisco.

The underlying technology is obviously more exciting to people interested in crypto. The Propy Transaction Platform uses smart contracts to enable the entire process to go smoothly, be recorded on the ledger and be legally binding. The startup was also behind the first ever blockchain property purchase, which happened in Ukraine.

Natalia Karayaneva, CEO of Propy commented on the recent deal:

“We believe that blockchain technology can truly revolutionize the real estate purchasing process and the management of public records […] Propy streamlines a complicated process into a simple online transaction, and we’ve seen significant traction in the industry already — buyers and sellers are increasingly turning to blockchains and cryptocurrencies. We’re excited to facilitate more property transactions, and reach more milestones in our goal to automate the real estate industry via blockchains.”

The announcement comes approximately at the same time as the first-ever physical delivery of Bitcoin futures, traded on the CME, took place. While the two stories are very different in nature, they are indicative of a growing interest in the use of cryptocurrencies not only as a speculative asset class.

Read more: https://cryptovest.com/news/california-gets-first-blockchain-only-real-estate-deal/

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Posted in All Recent Posts, Bitcoin, Blockchain stocks, Blockstation, Canadian Blockchain Stocks, St Georges Eco-Mining Technologies, ThreeD, ThreeD Capital | Comments Off on California Gets First #Blockchain-Only #RealEstate Deal $SX $SX.ca $SXOOF $IDK.ca $HIVE.ca $BLOC.ca $CODE.ca

3 Ways #Blockchain Is Already Delivering Real-world Results $IDK.ca $SX $SX.ca $SXOOF $AAO.ca $HPQ.ca $HIVE.ca $BLOC.ca $CODE.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 10:39 AM on Tuesday, July 3rd, 2018
  • Most people are familiar with blockchain technology in relation to bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies
  • The two are inextricably linked in the minds of everyday people. It’s fair to say that the bitcoin market has flourished in recent years, with the price of bitcoin peaking at nearly US$20,000 in December 2017.

By Ben Beard

However, cryptocurrency is a volatile commodity as the recent US$17 billion market collapse illustrates all too well. The cryptocurrency market had seemed more stable in recent months, but it was the calm before the storm, and the hack of South Korea’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange triggered a huge market decline as investors sought to offload their crypto assets.

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies notwithstanding, blockchain is, nevertheless, an exciting technology. It has the power to change the world as we know it, in many exciting areas.

Distributed ledger technology is poised to change the world. Blockchain, as it’s better known, is being rolled out over numerous industries. Blockchain technology is scalable. It can be used to create a worldwide ledger, with data stored on thousands of servers. This information is accessible to everyone, in real-time. The blockchain is virtually incorruptible. Every single transaction is given a timestamp that can’t be altered. It’s already having an impact on industries where efficiency matters the most.

The following three sectors are where blockchain is already having a major ripple effect.

Logistics

Blockchain technology is changing the face of modern logistics. Fifty years ago, very few businesses traded on a global scale. Today, international trade is not just for Fortune 500 businesses. It’s now easier than ever to unlock your business’s global potential thanks to cloud technology, innovative fintech, and e-commerce solutions. Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) now has 340 million online buyers in Europe alone. It’s clear that trading online is more profitable than ever, but no matter what niche you are in, you have to take care of your bottom line.

This is where blockchain comes in. Blockchain makes the logistics of transporting goods from A to B more efficient. Existing technology can already track shipments, but this data is vulnerable to misinterpretation and tampering. Blockchain applications solve the problem of authenticity, adding a layer of accountability and trust to global logistics. Companies save money and customers enjoy a better service. It’s a win-win for everyone.

Healthcare

Healthcare is already benefitting from blockchain technology, especially in pharma and biotech, but it has the potential to do so much more. Healthcare generates a huge amount of data. There are approximately 325 million US citizens with medical records. Then we have medical research, assorted information, and a host of other data. It’s hard to keep track of all this data, so the system has become incredibly cluttered over the years.

Blockchain is changing the face of modern healthcare, by offering a safe and secure third-party mechanism for storing data. 86.9% of physicians now use electronic medical records, but the system is still fragmented, and mistakes cost lives. Blockchain has the potential to unify the EMR system, making data more accessible and easier to track across different platforms. The blockchain is also a solution to the problem of reconciliation and fraud within a bloated healthcare system. It’s impossible to alter data in the blockchain, which in the long-term, should save money and improve patient care.

Finance

Finance is probably the best-known application for blockchain technology since most people associate it with cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. However, bitcoin and blockchain are not the same thing. Bitcoin transactions are stored on the distributed ledger, but bitcoin blockchain is different to that used in other applications. However, whilst Bitcoin is still viewed with suspicion by governments and financial institutions, the underlying blockchain technology is being adapted to revolutionize the banking sector.

In 2016, Goldman Sachs estimated that blockchain technology could potentially save them $6 billion a year by 2020, by eliminating additional costs. They also predicted that blockchain would reduce the number of errors and fraudulent transactions, thus saving even more money.

Banks traditionally use secure databases for transactions. Banks need to establish a secure connection to send and receive money, which is time-consuming and expensive. Blockchain technology allows transactions to happen instantly, regardless of the location. Global payments are cleared within seconds, instead of days. IBM (NYSE:IBM) is already working in blockchain global payment solutions, so it’s only a matter of time before global currency transactions move on to the blockchain.

Blockchain technology is still in its infancy, so we have yet to see what distributed ledger tech is truly capable of.

Don’t forget to follow us @INN_Technology for real-time news updates!

Securities Disclosure: I, Ben Beard, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Editorial Disclosure: The Investing News Network does not guarantee the accuracy or thoroughness of the information reported in contributed article. The opinions expressed in these interviews do not reflect the opinions of the Investing News Network and do not constitute investment advice. All readers are encouraged to perform their own due diligence.

Source: https://investingnews.com/daily/tech-investing/blockchain-investing/blockchain-already-delivering-real-world-results/

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Posted in All Recent Posts, Augusta Industries, Bitcoin, Blockchain stocks, Canadian Blockchain Stocks, HPQ-Silicon Resources Inc., Smallcap Blockchain stocks, St Georges Eco-Mining Technologies, ThreeD, ThreeD Capital | Comments Off on 3 Ways #Blockchain Is Already Delivering Real-world Results $IDK.ca $SX $SX.ca $SXOOF $AAO.ca $HPQ.ca $HIVE.ca $BLOC.ca $CODE.ca

JPMorgan $JPM National Bank of Canada $NA.ca others test debt issuance on #blockchain $SX $SX.ca $SXOOF $IDK.ca $AAO.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 10:24 AM on Friday, April 20th, 2018
  • The platform was built over more than a year using Quorum, a type of open-source blockchain that JPMorgan has developed inhouse.
  • Banks have poured millions of dollars to develop blockchain to streamline processes ranging from cross-border payments to securities settlement.
  • JPMorgan is considering spinning off Quorum because the technology has attracted significant outside interest.

Chris Ratcliffe | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Pedestrians cross a foot bridge towards the offices of global financial institutions, including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and the commercial office block No. 1 Canada Square, in the Canary Wharf financial, shopping and business district in London, U.K.

J. P. Morgan Chase & Co has tested a new blockchain platform for issuing financial instruments with the National Bank of Canada and other large firms, they said on Friday, seeking to streamline origination, settlement, interest rate payments and other processes.

The test on Wednesday mirrored the Canadian bank’s $150 million offering on the same day of a one-year floating-rate Yankee certificate of deposit, they said in a statement. The platform was built over more than a year using Quorum, a type of open-source blockchain that JPMorgan has developed inhouse and is in discussions to spin off.

Participants in the experiment included Goldman Sachs Asset Management, the fund management arm of Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Pfizer Inc and Legg Mason Inc’s Western Asset and other investors in the certificate of deposit.

Banks have poured millions of dollars to develop blockchain, the software first created to run cryptocurrency bitcoin, to streamline processes ranging from cross-border payments to securities settlement.

“Blockchain-related technologies have the potential to bring about major change in the financial services industry,” David Furlong, senior vice president of artificial intelligence, venture capital and blockchain at National Bank of Canada, said in a statement.

JPMorgan is considering spinning off Quorum because the technology has attracted significant outside interest, Umar Farooq, head of blockchain initiatives for JPMorgan’s corporate and investment bank said in an interview.

He said it was taking too much time to field requests for help from users at other companies.

Charging for assistance is not an option because software support is not the bank’s business, a person familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity. The source was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

The spin-off discussions are in the early stages and the bank has received interest from financial institutions and large enterprise technology companies, Farooq added. He declined to name the companies.

JPMorgan plans to beef up the Quorum team with dozens of engineers from the bank’s other divisions who have become familiar with the technology, he said.

Blockchain is in the early stages of development in the financial industry, but JPMorgan is optimistic about its potential, Farooq said.

“We haven’t really seen a lot of really large scale things go into production yet. There are few cases where blockchain can really shine.”

Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/20/jpmorgan-national-bank-of-canada-others-test-debt-issuance-on-blockchain.html

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#Blockchain can be new economic pillar $SX $SX.ca $SXOOF $AAO.ca $HQP.ca #Blockstation

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 11:34 AM on Monday, April 9th, 2018

  • Bermuda is placing the emphasis on quality over quantity when it comes to attracting business opportunities in the blockchain and digital currency sector
  • If it gets things right the advantages will likely include adding a new pillar to the economy that can generate revenue to help reduce the island’s $2.5 billion public debt, together with the creation of jobs, education opportunities

Scott Neil, Assistant Business Editor

Apr 9, 2018 at 8:00 am

Bermuda is placing the emphasis on quality over quantity when it comes to attracting business opportunities in the blockchain and digital currency sector.

If it gets things right the advantages will likely include adding a new pillar to the economy that can generate revenue to help reduce the island’s $2.5 billion public debt, together with the creation of jobs, education opportunities and increasing Bermuda’s reputation in global markets.

Those were points highlighted by Chris Garrod in a presentation on the topic to the Bermuda Chamber of Commerce.

Mr Garrod, who is a partner at Conyers, Dill & Pearman, is involved in the blockchain and insurtech space. He played a role in the Bermuda launch of blockchain-based tokens Unikrn and iCash during the past seven months. In addition, he is on both working groups that form the Government of Bermuda’s Blockchain Task Force, announced in November. The task force’s aim is to advance the development of blockchain technology in Bermuda.

Mr Garrod said Bermuda is seeking to be the world leader in blockchain, not merely the offshore blockchain leader. He acknowledged that there is stiff competition from the likes of Singapore, Switzerland, Gibraltar, British Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands.

He noted that Cayman has been “progressing the most” among competing jurisdictions, and said: “Most of the queries I am getting from clients are saying ‘We’re trying to decide between Bermuda and Cayman’. They like Bermuda because we have a new, young, tech-savvy Premier and a new government. They are Googling Bermuda to see if it is moving into this space.”

Mr Garrod believes blockchain will be the next internet, and said that will become apparent over time. Using an analogy, he said in terms of development blockchain is today at the same stage as the “dot-com era” of the internet, when the likes of the now defunct Netscape Navigator web browser ruled the roost.

He said with blockchain “there will be failures, like Netscape and Pets.com, but you will have survivors like eBay and Amazon”.

Mr Garrod explained there were financial and non-financial uses for blockchain. Describing non-financial uses of the technology, where no regulation is required, he mentioned a proposal to update land registry details on blockchain, an aim aired by David Burt, the Premier, during a discussion linked to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January.

Other potential uses for non-financial blockchains are in the healthcare sector, where patient information could be speedily transferred and accessed between hospitals and institutions.

Mr Garrod pointed to the transport and shipping arena. He said Maersk, the world’s largest shipping company, has its own private blockchain allowing it to securely monitor movements of its cargo and goods. He also mentioned self-executing smart contracts, such as insurance policies that are automatically triggered when a specific circumstance occurs, such as a delayed flight resulting in a travel insurance payout.

In addition, Mr Garrod said: “Fifteen per cent of financial institutions are now using some form of blockchain.”

Financial uses of blockchain include utility tokens that are issued to fund a business and provide associated benefits, cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and altcoin, which are bought as investments and are traded on exchanges, and security tokens that have attributes of both utility tokens and cryptocurrencies.

Mr Garrod said the next steps for Bermuda regarding its digital ledger technology and blockchain ambitions include amendments of the Companies Act, and the development of a code of conduct with anti-money laundering, and know-your-customer requirements. Further steps include the creation of a Virtual Currency Business Act.

Mr Garrod said: “Will our regulations be perfect to begin with? No. It is a fast-moving space.” However, he pointed out that Bermuda had successfully improved and streamlined its initial regulations for other sectors, such as insurance and reinsurance, in the past.

He added that the code of practice for the Virtual Currency Business Act, which is being finalised, will have stringent AML requirements, while the code of conduct for the ICO [initial coin offering] legislation is also in the works.

“The emphasis is still quality over quantity, which is what Bermuda has always tried to emphasise,” said Mr Garrod. “We have always taken that approach, whether it was our funds industry or our insurance industry, and that is going to be the same approach with this brand new industry — blockchain. We only want the best; the quality business.”

Source: http://mobile.royalgazette.com/international-business/article/20180409/blockchain-can-be-new-economic-pillar&template=mobileart

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Posted in All Recent Posts, Augusta Industries, Blockchain stocks, Canadian Blockchain Stocks, HPQ-Silicon Resources Inc., Smallcap Blockchain stocks, St Georges Eco-Mining Technologies | Comments Off on #Blockchain can be new economic pillar $SX $SX.ca $SXOOF $AAO.ca $HQP.ca #Blockstation

Eight Ways #Blockchain Will Impact The World Beyond #Cryptocurrency $SX $SX.ca $SXOOF $IDK.ca #Blockstation

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 1:29 PM on Friday, March 9th, 2018
  • From banking and secure communications to healthcare and ride-sharing, blockchain will have a huge impact on our future
  • Of course, to understand how blockchain will change the world, you first need to understand how it works

Kage Spatz is a Strategist, Entrepreneur & CEO at Spacetwin — an innovative digital marketing and monetization agency.

From banking and secure communications to healthcare and ride-sharing, blockchain will have a huge impact on our future. Of course, to understand how blockchain will change the world, you first need to understand how it works.

Have you ever purchased coffee or produce that is labeled as a fair trade product? How can you trust that information? What about when you meet someone on a dating website? How do you know they’re really the 35-year-old startup founder and wakeboarder that they say they are?

Society today is filled with uncertainty and trust issues — and with valid reason. To be sure your purchase is really helping a coffee bean farmer in Ethiopia or that your date is actually who they say they are, you’d need a system with strong security where records are stored and facts are verified by many witnesses so that no one could cheat it.

Blockchain: Simplified

This type of system is called blockchain. No central person or company owns it. Rather, information is stored across a system of many personal computers so that there is no middleman. It’s decentralized and distributed so that no one person can take it down or corrupt it. However, anyone can use the system and help run it, as information is protected through cryptography.

It’s essentially an ever-growing list of transactions (listed in blocks) that are verified, permanently recorded and linked in chronological order. For most users, the beauty of blockchain will be in the unknown. Just as most of us are unaware of how 4G technology works or how silicon is processed to produce central processing units, we continue to use our smartphones on a daily basis. Similarly, blockchain will be a perfect “backstage” to many changing technologies and will impact the way we educate, manage, consume, govern and communicate.

How Blockchain Will Change the World

• Banking and Payments: Not only does blockchain allow anyone to exchange money faster, more efficiently and more securely (see bitcoin currency), but many banks are already working on adopting blockchain technology to improve their transactions.

• Cybersecurity: All data is verified and encrypted in blockchain using advanced cryptography, making it resistant to unauthorized changes and hacks. Centralized servers can be very susceptible to data loss, corruption, human error and hacking. Just look at the many hacks we’ve seen in the past few years with Target, Verizon, Deloitte and Equifax. Using a blockchain decentralized, distributed system would allow data storage in the cloud to be more robust and protected against attacks.

• Internet of Things: Today the Internet of Things (IoT) includes cars, buildings, doorbells and even refrigerators that are embedded with software, network connectivity and sensors. However, because these devices operate from a central location that handles communications, hackers can gain access to the car you’re driving or to your home. According to Kamil Przeorski, an expert in Bitcoin and Ethereum capabilities, Blockchain has the potential to address these critical security concerns because it decentralizes all of the information and data. This is increasingly more important as IoT capabilities increase.

• Unified Communications: Blockchains can enable faster, safer and more reliable automated communication. Automated or digital communication based on pre-built algorithms is already occurring at scale in some industries. Examples of this include emails, system alerts and call notifications. Matt Peterson, co-founder of Jive Communications and an early adopter and miner of Bitcoin told me that while a lot of communication is currently automated, this type of communication is generally non-critical and asynchronous. He said that “Blockchains can shift the playing field to allow authorized, bi-directional communications and transactions that occur more freely in an automated environment and produce an immutable record of communication.” This will greatly enhance the safety and reliability of our communications.

• Government: If corrupt politicians and long lines at the DMV give you a headache, you’re not alone. With blockchain, we could reduce bureaucracy and increase security, efficiency and transparency. Welfare and unemployment benefits could also be more easily verified and distributed and votes could be counted and verified for legitimacy.

• Crowdfunding and Donating to Charities: Donating to a worthy cause is never a bad idea. But what percentage of your donation is actually being given to those it’s meant for? Blockchains can help ensure that your money gets exactly where you need it to go. Bitcoin-based charities are already creating trust through smart contracts and online reputation systems and allowing donors to see where their donations go through a secure and transparent ledger. The United Nations’ World Food Programme is currently implementing blockchain technology to allow refugees to purchase food by using Iris scans instead of vouchers, cash or credit cards.

• Healthcare: Wouldn’t it be great if doctors did not have to “fax over referrals” anymore? Why can’t all of our medical information be stored in a central database? The centralization of such sensitive information makes it very vulnerable. With all of the private patient data that hospitals collect, a secure platform is necessary. With the advent of blockchain, hospitals and other healthcare organizations could create a centralized and secure database, store medical records and share them strictly with authorized doctors and patients.

• Rentals and Ride-sharing: Uber and Airbnb may seem like decentralized networks, but the platform owners are in complete control of the network and naturally take a fee for their service. Blockchain can create decentralized peer-to-peer ride-sharing apps and can allow car owners to auto pay for things like parking, tolls and fuel.

While blockchain is still relatively new and many experiments will fail before they succeed, the possibilities for innovation are endless. Along with the eight points listed, it will affect retail, energy management, online music, supply chain management, forecasting, consulting, real estate, insurance and much more. Let’s prepare ourselves for a future where distributed, autonomous solutions will have a huge role — both in our personal lives and in business.

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2018/03/09/eight-ways-blockchain-will-impact-the-world-beyond-cryptocurrency/2/#311824a1300b

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