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ThreeD Capital Inc. $IDK.ca – Societe Generale-Owned Bank Launches #Blockchain Exchange Note $HIVE.ca $BLOC.ca $CODE.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 9:45 AM on Monday, April 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.

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Societe Generale-Owned Bank Launches Blockchain Exchange Note

  • Kleinwort Hambros, a Societe Generale-owned private bank and wealth manager, has launched an actively managed exchange-traded note (ETN) targeting the blockchain sector.
  • The London-based bank announced the news on Monday, saying its Luxembourg-listed ETN will invest in companies that could “profit most” from the development and increasing uptake of blockchain technology.
  • ETNs are unsecured debt securities that, like exchange-traded funds (ETFs), are traded on a stock exchange.

Yogita Khatri

The blockchain note will initially have 20 stocks diversified across areas including technology, shipping, oil and gas, custody and industrials.

Kleinwort Hambros’ portfolio manager John Birdwood said:

“We have seen increasing interest from clients in the area of blockchain and we are very excited to be able to cater to this demand with the launch of our first blockchain note.”

The product will provide its clients with the “diversified exposure to the promising growth prospects blockchain technology offers, while maintaining the rigorous active management,” Birdwood added.

It’s worth noting that the ETN will be only available for Kleinwort Hambros’s existing and new clients, with a minimum investment of £1,000 ($1,305).

The centuries-old bank has assets under management of £14.2 billion ($18.52 billion) and over 900 employees as of last year, according to its own figures.

In similar news, investment management company Invesco and Elwood Asset Management jointly launched a blockchain exchange-traded fund (ETF) on the London Stock Exchange last month.

The crypto community’s ongoing wait for a bitcoin ETF, however, is still awaiting a decision from the Securities and Exchange Commission in the U.S. However, several exchange-traded products (ETPs) for bitcoin and other cryptos have gone live for trading in Europe.

Societe Generale image via Shutterstock

Source: https://www.coindesk.com/societe-generale-owned-bank-launches-blockchain-etn

ThreeD Capital Inc. $IDK.ca – Kakao’s Blockchain Arm Raises $90 Million in Private Token Sale $HIVE.ca $BLOC.ca $CODE.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 4:00 PM on Wednesday, March 13th, 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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Kakao’s Blockchain Arm Raises $90 Million in Private Token Sale

  • Ground X, the blockchain subsidiary of South Korean messaging giant Kakao, has raised $90 million in a private coin offering.
  • As reported by Bloomberg on Monday, Ground X CEO Jason Han said that IDG Capital, Cresendo Equity Partners and Translink Capital had participated in the round.
  • The firm is also reportedly planning to raise “a similar sum” in another round starting Tuesday, before launching its blockchain platform in June.

Yogita Khatri

Kakao first revealed its plan to set up a blockchain subsidiary back in March 2018, soon after confirming that it had launched Ground X to develop a blockchain-powered platform as a foundation for application developers. Kakao’s top execs said at the time that the plan was to integrate future blockchain-based services with Kakao’s existing internet offerings, such as the Kakao Talk messaging app.

Ground X launched a test network (or testnet) for its proprietary blockchain network, dubbed Klaytn, last autumn. It has already partnered with 26 companies that aim to run apps on Klaytn, Han told Bloomberg. These include South Korean video game developer Wemade and video streaming platform Watcha, as well as a unit of Chinese travel agency Zanadu.

The subsidiary has also said it will work with the Seoul Digital Foundation, an organization created by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, to develop blockchain projects focusing on social and public services.

Ground X could be summed up as “partial or gradual decentralization,” Han told CoinDesk Korea last year, adding that some of Kakao’s services could be decentralized.

He added:

“The token economy is a business model that no one could have imagined before. Until now, Kakao has only operated in Korea, but through blockchain we could expand into the global market. That means taking a portion of the profits we earn as an intermediary and using it to expand our market by sharing it with users.”

Jason Han image via CoinDesk archives

Source: https://www.coindesk.com/kakaos-blockchain-arm-raises-90-million-in-private-token-sale

Polymath and #KABN Announce Consortium to Accelerate the Creation, Distribution, and Management of Digital Securities Across Multiple Jurisdictions and Platforms $HIVE.ca $BLOC.ca $CODE.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 8:58 AM on Tuesday, March 12th, 2019
  • Polymath formed a consortium in close collaboration with KABN (www.kabn.network),
  • Polymath is leading the effort to make it easier for organizations to create digital securities from traditional assets through partnerships and a community that supports a transparent and compliant process for issuers and investors

TORONTO & SAINT MICHAEL, Barbados & GIBRALTAR — Polymath (www.polymath.network), the global leader in software solutions that enable assets to be digitized, distributed, fractionally owned, and ultimately liquidated, has formed a consortium in close collaboration with KABN (www.kabn.network), a global financial services platform that has developed, among its suite of products, a patent pending, blockchain based, GDPR compliant, Always On, global identification and accreditation as a support service for investors and other types of contributors.

Polymath is leading the effort to make it easier for organizations to create digital securities from traditional assets through partnerships and a community that supports a transparent and compliant process for issuers and investors. Through its extensive service provider network with firms like KABN, Polymath provides security token issuers with access to top quality service providers.

“Our solution supports the creation of digital securities from a wide range of traditional and non-traditional assets,” said Kevin North, CEO of Polymath. “The intention of this partnership is to create a best practice model for customers who need help with the full lifecycle of an STO (Security Token Offering). In this model, the issuer would work with an integrated network of providers who are committed to ensuring that offerings are compliant with securities laws, rules, and regulations across multiple jurisdictions and trading platforms, increasing the value proposition by reducing the distance and friction between investors and issuers. To date, the full STO path is not clear for most of our issuers, so we formed this partnership with the intention of making this a less daunting journey.”

KABN will also be the first organization to launch its digital securities offering using this process. More information about the KABN Security Token Offering can be found at: www.KABNtoken.com

“Working with Polymath, KABN supports the compliance requirements for digital securities with its Always On solution providing a faster, better and more economical solution for issuers and investors to validate and verify identity, KYC and AML, and manage liquidity programs,” said Ben Kessler, CEO of KABN. “KABN is also the first company to tokenize its company assets and create digital securities with this process, proving the model and paving the way for others to do the same in a manner that meets jurisdictional securities rules and regulations and supports a value proposition for stakeholders, the Blockchain community, issuers and investors.”

Polymath and KABN are receiving overwhelming support from the capital markets and blockchain communities as it introduces the framework to program partners to advance the creation of digital securities and make it easier for issuers and investors to interact through decentralized platforms globally.

Together with Pegasus Fintech (Gibraltar) Limited, a consultant organization, a consortium of Professional Service providers, Broker Dealers, Blockchain Developers, Exchanges, Authorized Agents and other Solution Providers have committed to supporting this process and the KABN Token offering. The initial parties committing their support to this growing consortium include:

Tokenise.io (UK)Global Blockchain Network (US)
MLG Blockchain (Canada)Evoke Capital (Canada)
Hyperion Technologies (US)Secure Digital Markets (Canada)
Hassans (Gibraltar)Digital Assets Management (Gibraltar)
Crypto SA (Australia)KABN (Gibraltar)
Ten Capital (US)Polymath (Canada/Barbados)
Razlin Capital (UK)

About Polymath (www.polymath.network)

Polymath Network (Polymath) is a decentralized platform that makes it easy to create security tokens. The platform simplifies the complex technical challenges of creating a security token and aims to bring the multi-trillion dollar financial securities market to the blockchain.

About KABN (www.kabn.network)

KABN, a integrated financial service platform offering neo banking type solutions, has received approval by Visa to launch its crypto-linked card and banking wallet program. KABN has partnered with Transact Payments Ltd, a European e-money institution and Principal Member of Visa, global processor GPS and platform technology provider Panovate to launch the program in the UK and subsequently the EEA in the 2nd quarter of the year.

Branded the Pegasus Flyte Visa card, the KABN card program offers an “on/off ramp” conversion process for a variety of cryptocurrencies to fiat together with multi-currency fiat transactions. Cardholders will be able to use their Pegasus Flyte Visa cards to spend in-store, online, and at ATMs wherever Visa is accepted globally.

The Pegasus Flyte program will also offer a robust loyalty and customer engagement platform. The anchor of the program is KABN ID, a Blockchain and biometrically-based, “Always On” validation and verification process. This patent-pending, GDPR compliant process allows for efficient and frictionless customer acquisition and onboarding.

About Pegasus Fintech (www.pegasusfintech.com)

Pegasus Fintech is a full-service Blockchain, technology and accelerator growth advisory that supports regulatory compliant programs and offerings.

Forward-Looking Statements: Except for historical matters contained herein, statements made in this press release are forward-looking statements. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, words such as “may”, “will”, “to”, “plan”, “expect”, “believe”, “anticipate”, “intend”, “could”, “would”, “estimate”, or “continue”, or the negative other variations thereof or comparable terminology are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Also, forward-looking statements represent our management’s beliefs and assumptions only as of the date hereof. Except as required by law, we assume no obligation to update these forward-looking statements publicly, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future.

Contacts

For more information:
Polymath
RJ Reiser, CGO
[email protected]

KABN
Ben Kessler, CEO
[email protected]

ThreeD Capital Inc. $IDK.ca – 10 Major #Blockchain Trends in 2019 $HIVE.ca $BLOC.ca $CODE.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 10:58 AM on Friday, March 1st, 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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10 Major Blockchain Trends in 2019

  • While cryptocurrencies took a hammering, 2018 was huge for Blockchain, the technology that underpins Bitcoin and a myriad of other coins.
  • Blockchain has plenty of use cases outside of the cryptocurrency space with IBM, Oracle, and Amazon and other multi-billion dollar companies trying to capitalize on the disruptive technology.
  • Now, it’s time to find out what major Blockchain trends will define the current year.   

By: Alex Morris  

From the Internet-of-Things (IoT) convergence to startups for the unbanked — find out what to expect from Blockchain in 2019

While cryptocurrencies took a hammering, 2018 was huge for Blockchain, the technology that underpins Bitcoin and a myriad of other coins. Blockchain has plenty of use cases outside of the cryptocurrency space with IBM, Oracle, and Amazon and other multi-billion dollar companies trying to capitalize on the disruptive technology. Now, it’s time to find out what major Blockchain trends will define the current year.   

STOs replacing ICOs

Security tokens (STOs) have been a hot topic in the crypto space, and it looks like they will continue to be hot now that Overstock’s tZERO announced the launch of the new STO platform on Jan. 21. The Blockchain-powered platform will provide any company with the opportunity to raise funds by launching its own STOs. Prior to that, the startup made an announcement about the completion of its utility token distribution.

STOs, which combine the best features of the stock market and cryptocurrencies, arose as a fully regulated alternative to ICOs, which turned out to be the passing fad of 2017.   

Tokenization creating more investment opportunities

The launch of the Estonia-based DEX, which buys the shares of the biggest companies in the world in the form of ERC20 tokens, proved that 2019 is all about tokenization. The Ethereum-powered startup will allow non-US investors to engage in the US stock market without any limitations pertaining to their location or investment amount.  

Crypto startup Zilliqa also recently introduced Hg Exchange, a fully regulated exchange that allows accredited investors to buy US stocks.   

Tokenization already became a pervasive trend in 2018, going far beyond the stock market, but this is the year when pretty much everything will be tokenized – art, wine, real estate, etc.

Blockchain and IoT forming an alliance

Back in January, leading digital security company Gemalto released a report that states that 23 percent of responders think that Blockchain technology could be a boon for securing IoT-powered devices. Meanwhile, almost 91 percent of businesses who do not utilize Blockchain consider making use of the technology in the future.

The number of IoT-powered devices is expected to reach 26.66 bln in 2019, but less than half of all businesses can detect whether their device experienced a security breach.   

IBM also illustrated the benefits for this convergence with the help of their game-changing platform Watson IoT. Apart from bringing more security to the table, Blockchain significantly simplifies the task of managing different devices and increases the efficiency of the transaction.

Wall Street transitioning from dabbling to actions

The fact that cryptocurrency prices took a nosedive in 2018 doesn’t mean that the global financial industry is going to suddenly give up on Blockchain. As U.Today reported earlier, Bakkt, the ICE-backed exchange, was supposed to go live in January, but its launch was eventually delayed due to the longest government shutdown in history. Speaking of other ‘big-fish’ players, NASDAQ and the NYSE plan to launch Bitcoin futures while also being keen on Blockchain. Since the crypto hub died down, there is a good reason to believe that 2019 will be the year of exciting developments in the Blockchain space.

More decentralized exchanges appearing on the horizon

Decentralized exchanges, while actually living up to Satoshi’s vision, have numerous usability issues that take a toll on their popularity. There is no centralized authority that manages the users’ funds, but it’s also a double-edged sword problem – there is no way to revert a certain transaction if private keys are stolen or lost. Keep in mind that there are certain degrees of centralization. Case in point: the Bancor DEX, which suffered from a $13.5 mln hack, though Charlie Lee later claimed that no decentralized exchange can lose its funds.   

With that being said, major crypto startups – from Binance to Tron – have launched their own DEXs in order to spearhead the shift towards decentralization in the crypto world.     

Governments will continue looking into Blockchain

The wide variety of Blockchain applications are being explored by governments across the globe (even those ones who are openly hawkish towards cryptocurrencies). China cracked down on Bitcoin, but this country is hell-bent on becoming the leader in the Blockchain race. Shanghai, Guangzhou and other major cities are all supporting Blockchain developments. As reported by U.Today, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) launched an initiative to incentivize business who are working with the DLT technology. Moreover, there are specific Blockchain guides in China for educating government officials.

Estonia is yet another country that is focused on the e-Estonia program that will digitize the government. Meanwhile, Dubai could become the very first government that is powered by Blockchain. The implementation of Blockchain could help Dubai save up to $1.5 bln per year by cutting the red herring and creating a fully paperless government.

Blockchain-powered startups banking the unbanked

Africa, where a substantial part of the population remains unbaked, represents a breeding ground for different startups that utilize Blockchain technology in order to increase economic inclusiveness. The Rohingya Project went even further by using Blockchain to restore the identity of stateless Rohingyas and give them access to banking services.  

Real-word use cases beyond fintech  

It is worth noting that Blockchain is the most disruptive technology of the last decade, but it remains unknown to the general public. Yes, along with Bitcoin, Blockchain was one of the buzzwords in the tech space, but it’s all about real-world adoption. According to PwC research, 84 percent of companies have dipped their toes into Blockchain, but they are not ready to embrace it due to numerous ‘trust issues.’ Those who will be able to integrate Blockchain into their businesses will turn out to be the true winners of 2019.

Scalability becoming one of the main issues

Without a doubt, scalability is one of the major bottlenecks of Blockchain, which poses a major hindrance to mainstream adoption. That became very evident when CryptoKitties, one of the best-known dApps, created congestion on the Ethereum network. Bitcoin and Ethereum are only able to handle seven and 25 TPS (this level of scalability doesn’t hold a candle to mainstream payment processors in the likes of VISA).

Hence, many promising solutions, such as sharding and sidechains, are expected to be implemented in 2019. Bitcoin’s Lightning Network (LN), for example, is witnessing growing popularity with major industry players, with an eye-popping 830 percent surge in half a year. LN will significantly boost Bitcoin adoption while solving scalability pain points.   

Blockchain jobs will become more common

Despite Bitcoin, the major use case of Blockchain, taking a hammering in 2018, the number of Blockchain-related jobs continued to grow throughout the year. Moreover, as reported by CNBC, the salaries of Blockchain engineers skyrocketed to $175,000 per year, which means that they receive the highest salaries in the software development niche on par with AI specialists. According to Hired CEO Mehul Patel, ‘there’s a ton of demand for Blockchain.’ On top of that, Upwork, the leading freelance platform, had a 35,000 percent uptick in the number of Blockchain freelancers (it’s the fastest-growing freelance sector).

However, earning a six-figure salary is not an easy feat. Blockchain developers have to code in numerous languages, including Go and Solidity. As mentioned above, major companies do not want to miss the boat on Blockchain, so they are striving to hire talented programmers.

Source: https://u.today/10-major-blockchain-trends-in-2019

ThreeD Capital Inc. $IDK.ca – Report: Blockchain Home Equity Loan Platform Raises $65 Million $HIVE.ca $BLOC.ca $CODE.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 10:38 AM on Thursday, February 28th, 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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  • A blockchain-based home equity loan platform, Figure, has raised $65 million from various major financial and venture capital firms, tech news site TechCrunch reports on Feb. 27.

By Aaron Wood

The firm, which was founded by SoFi founder and former CEO Mike Cagney, reportedly raised the funds from such majors as Morgan Creek, DST Global, DCM, Ribbit Capital and Nimble Ventures. The recent investment bumps the total funds raised by the firm up to $120 million, according to TechCrunch.

Cagney’s new firm, which reportedly has issued over 1,500 equity lines, is purportedly targeting older clients who are “cash light and rich in equity” or “CLAREs.” The company is currently lending $1.5 million per day, a figure which Cagney expects to double every few months, reports American Banker.

The founder told American Banker, “At the end of 2019, Figure should look like a robust financial platform that can meet the needs of our customers.” Cagney also added that Figure is moving into other areas like wealth management, checking accounts, and unsecured consumer loans.

Cagney’s former company SoFi is partnering with major United States-based crypto exchange Coinbase to roll out crypto trading support. The partnership with Coinbase will purportedly allow SoFi to launch crypto services by the second quarter of this year. CEO Anthony Noto said in an interview:

“Our target audience wants to see what the price of cryptocurrency is, and to buy it. They have a desire to do that and in many cases they already are.”

Noto assumed the role of SoFi CEO after Cagney stepped down amid sexual harassment allegations in 2017. Cagney told American Banker:

“One of the biggest takeaways is that at SoFi, we grew so fast and we never really understood what we were going to grow into, and culture never took a front seat. [At Figure] we have a very clear adherence to a ‘no-asshole’ policy.”

Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/report-blockchain-home-equity-loan-platform-raises-65-million

St-Georges’ subsidiary #ZeU Crypto Entered Agreement to Provide Credit Card & Remittance Provider Prego International with #Blockchain Technology Solutions

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 7:52 AM on Monday, December 24th, 2018
  • Executed an agreement with Prego International Group AS to develop and integrate certain proprietary technologies in a Global Multi Payment and E-Money Services Platform
  • Prego, based in Norway, is a global payment solution provider which develops and operates a range of payment services for partners and clients worldwide

Montreal / December 23, 2018 St-Georges Eco-Mining Corp. (CSE: SX) (OTC: SXOOF) (FSE: 85G1) is pleased to announce that on December 21, 2018, it executed an agreement with Prego International Group AS to develop and integrate certain proprietary technologies in a Global Multi Payment and E-Money Services Platform.

Prego, based in Norway, is a global payment solution provider which develops and operates a range of payment services for partners and clients worldwide, including Everyday Digital, a solution which is Prego`s proprietary white label alternative e-money and payment platform. Everyday Digital is fully flexible and configurable, combined on conventional processing platform, integrated with blockchain technology with real-time processing providing everything from specific payment functionality to full current accounts including Direct Debit, Faster Payments, CHAPS, BACS and contactless Visa & MasterCard debit cards and Closed Loop payment cards (Virtual Everyday $ cards).

Under the Agreement, ZeU and Prego will share equally the costs of the Services as follows:

  • – Phase 1 – preface/innovation lab: USD$675,000, which shall include the setup cost and license fees of the full platform, prepared for pilot operational phase (timeline – Q2 2019); – Phase 2 – pilot operational: USD$750,000, which shall include full system integration with “POC” testing and user testing with stress test of the platform in 60 days with a complete report (timeline – Q3 2019); and – Phase 3 – project launched and running – upscale/internationalization. It shall include a full platform, service ready to go, for implementation in multiple global markets. (timeline – Q4 2019).

“(…) We believe that this technology agreement will open opportunities to provide blockchain based services combined with conventional payment services to the market in a very smart and user friendly way.(…) This agreement will strengthen both companies market opportunities and will pave the way to many more new initiatives to come (…) commented Ronald Erikson, Prego Executive Chairman.

Frank Dumas, President and CEO of ZeU, indicated that “The team at ZeU is excited to be working with Prego to provide a key complement to the foundation for its advanced end-to-end Global Multi Payment and E-Money Services, deploying proprietary software, and innovative business models. We expect to leverage the equal revenue sharing agreement between the two companies to accelerate the development and deployment of our business initiative (…)”

Other Corporate Matters

BigData on Blockchain

In early December, ZeU filed for an additional provisional patent named ‘System and Method for Augmenting Database Applications with Blockchain Technology’.

The application developed by ZeU and related to this invention patent provides a migration method that allows a database application that accesses a local database to be synchronized with a blockchain. Data to be written into the database, but requiring synchronization, will be sent to a blockchain for consensus voting automatically, and only the data that gets consensus is made to persist and viewed by application. It also allows a software application to access a local relational database and via a migration service synchronize the status and data of the database with blockchain. The data is sent to the blockchain for consensus automatically, and only thereafter viewed by the application. This approach resolves transaction conflicts both in local nodes and globally. The invention is protocol agnostic and ZeU management believe that it could be used as a gateway to share data between application using different protocols.

Additional Patent Applications

ZeU management is working on additional patents related to random number generation and encryption in relation with blockchain application. These technologies are being developed to be used in payment solutions, gambling industry and secure messaging.

CSE Listing

ZeU is pursuing its listing process on the CSE and expect to be listed in Q1 2019.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

“Frank Dumas”

FRANK DUMAS, DIRECTOR & COO / President & CEO of ZeU Crypto Networks Inc..

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.