Ukraine to use blockchain technology in curtailing corruption when selling government assets
The Minister of Finance for the Ukraine, Oleksandr Danilyuk, was a speaker at the sold-out ‘Blockchain Incredible Party’ conference ([BIP001](http://bip001.com/)) which took place Thursday in Odessa, Ukraine. In his speech, Danilyuk gave his vision for Ukraine as the leading nation in blockchain technology use, showcasing it for public service management and improving government efficiency and transparency.
50 shades of blockchain
I’ve written about Bitcoin and blockchain for half a decade, and now banks are all talking about it too. There is a belief that the blockchain technology that came from the Bitcoin structure could revolutionise banking.
Mediachain adds integrity layer to online content
We live in an age where online content often has no attribution attached, from songs to cat gifs and HD movies. Sharing content has become so ubiquitous and easy that ownership information can be quickly lost and hard to track. It then becomes effortless to replace that information, compounding the problem further.
Blueshyft and Bitcoin Australia partner to sell bitcoin over the counter at 1,200 newsagency shops
Access to bitcoin in Australia became far easier today, as a Melbourne-based startup, Bitcoin Australia, teamed up with one of the largest retail networks in Australia, Blueshyft. Anyone with some cash, a phone number, and an email address, can now purchase bitcoins over the counter at more than 1,200 retail locations. The process takes less than 30 minutes, using iPad-based terminals at newsagency shops nationwide.
For all the talk about blockchain, what is really happening?
There is a lot of talk about blockchain. A lot. Loads. But when you get past all the talk, what is actually happening with blockchain? Answer: not enough. I say this because there are some stand out firms out there – like R3, Digital Asset Holdings, Ripple – who have gained traction with the banks, but the banks are still unsure of their commitment to blockchain developments. Talking with several, they see their commitment was funding these firms to do the work for them. Now that they have funded, they feel that’s it.
Four genuine blockchain use cases
Almost a year after first releasing MultiChain, we’ve learnt a huge amount about how blockchains, in a private and non-cryptocurrency sense, can and cannot be applied to real-world problems. Allow me to share what we know so far. To begin with, the first idea that we (and many others) started with, appears to be wrong. This idea, inspired by bitcoin directly, was that private blockchains (or “shared ledgers”) could be used to directly settle the majority of payment and exchange transactions in the finance sector, using on-chain tokens to represent cash, stocks, bonds and more.
Ethereum New Zealand Conference to expand blockchain understanding in the business world
The Ethereum conference, “The Blockchain - Disrupting Global Commerce: Understanding the Blockchain, Smart Contracts and Ethereum,” is taking place on May 17 in Auckland and continuing on May 19 in Wellington, New Zealand. It’s got an exciting lineup of speakers to talk about Ethereum, and It’s hosted by an offshoot of New Zealand-based web, mobile, and Internet of Things development company, 3months. The company offers a range of smart contract services including consulting, training, prototyping, and deployment.
Delaware to ‘embrace the emerging blockchain and smart contract technology industry,’ with distributed ledger shares
The state of Delaware is perhaps the most friendly jurisdictions for Bitcoin and blockchain technology in the U.S. Delaware Governor, Jack Markell, recently announced the details of a new initiative to “embrace the emerging blockchain and smart contract technology industry.” The Governor unveiled the plan during a keynote address at Consensus 2016, a technology conference in New York focused on blockchain innovation. The sell out event was attended by a variety of leaders from across the blockchain industry, as well as Delaware's Deputy Secretary of State, Rick Geisenberger, and Corporation Law Section Chair of the Delaware State Bar Association (DSBA), Matt O’Toole.
How peer-to-peer changes the financial world
Another factor of reimagining finance for the internet age is the very nature of person-to-person connectivity and peer-to-peer networking. These two factors are very different and also different in the nature of how people are connecting. In the developed world, we have the viral connectivity of the smartphone; in the developing world, we have the basic connectivity of the mobile phone. Soon, both will transition into smart and mobile objects from cars and televisions to heating systems and refrigerators. In fact, with Nest and Samsung Home, it’s already pretty much there.
Beware the impossible smart contract
Ethereum-like smart contracts are on the MultiChain roadmap. The answer I always give is: no, or at least not yet. But in the hype-filled world of blockchains, smart contracts are all the rage, so why ever not? Well, the problem is, while we now know of three strong use cases for permissioned Bitcoin-style blockchains (provenance, inter-company records and lightweight finance), we’re yet to find the equivalent for Ethereum-style smart contracts.
Credits and Skyscape partner to provide Blockchain-as-a-Service to the UK Public Sector
Founded in November 2014, by Nick Williamson and Eric Benz, Credits is a Blockchain Software as a Service (SaaS) initiative from the Isle of Man, with an office in Lodon. Williamson also founded Manx startup Pythia, the parent company building Credits. Credits began offering the Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) tools, for building secure and scalable blockchains, on April 6. The Level39 member launched the public beta version of their PaaS at Money 20/20.
Blockchain platform, Emercoin, moves beyond cryptocurrencies
While cryptocurrencies have received increasing attention with the rise of Bitcoin, there is perhaps more excitement and utility for real businesses in using the underlying technology, the blockchain. Founded by Shumilov in December 2013, Emercoin was established as a currency for various internet projects, including social networks, research projects, networking, and gaming, as well as supporting and sponsoring high-tech projects such as robotics, electric vehicles and submersibles.
UK Government awards £250k grant to develop blockchain foreign exchange prototype
Innovate UK works with companies to de-risk, enable, and support innovation. Incorporated by Royal Charter in February 2007, Innovate UK was originally established as the “Technology Strategy Board,” which is still the organization's legal name. The organization has committed over £1.8 billion to innovation, and has helped more than 7,600 organizations with projects since 2007. They estimate adding between £11.5 billion and £13.1 billion to the UK economy, creating 55,000 extra new jobs. Earlier this month, Innovate UK announced it will invest a further £561 million in UK-based disruptive businesses.
UK Cabinet Minister, Rt Hon Matt Hancock, spearheads government blockchain adoption
The Imperial College of London's Centre for Cryptocurrency Research and Engineering and Digital Catapult ran a policy hack day for UK government representatives on the 26th April, in order to help government officials identify possible applications of blockchain technology in public service delivery. The event was attended by representatives from policy, academia and government, with in-depth discussions around how and when blockchain could be applied in a broad variety of government use cases.
The Parallel 2016 US Presidential Election
The United States has historically favored centralized voting methods. Over time, punch cards and lever machines gave way to electronic voting machines and optically scanned ballots, which were used prolifically in the 2012 election. Both of these systems are vulnerable, and depend on a trusted central auditing authority to count the votes. Even in the United States, one of the most successful democracies in the history of the world, there have been numerous cases of potential voter fraud, murky ballot handling, flawed registration processes, and vulnerable technology.
Steam accepts bitcoin with BitPay
The Valve Corporation recently started accepting bitcoin payments on the digital distribution platform Steam. The service offers some of the world's most popular video games, including Grand Theft Auto, Dota, Fallout, Team Fortress, and Counterstrike. At any given time of the day, several million users are on the platform, the peak number of players logged in last weekend was just shy of 13 Million. More than 125 Million gamers had active accounts in 2015.
