The Implications of Fusing 5G and Blockchain

The Implications of Fusing 5G and Blockchain


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5G promises to boost development efforts in IoT and blockchain

Analysts have been anticipating the implications of the Internet of Things (IoT) for several years. However, there have been two main impediments to its success: capacity and security.
But now, the introduction of a new technology could change that. This year, major carriers like AT&T and Verizon will be introducing 5G, the latest generation of cellular mobile communications. The 5G platform brings a high data rate, reduced latency, energy savings, cost reduction, higher system capacity and massive device connectivity, according to analysts.
The combination of 5G and blockchain technology has the potential to unleash a surge of economic value. In order to understand this connection between 5G and blockchain, one must think of the relationship as multifold. The power of 5G coverage through its reduced latency, high speeds and capacity allows for IoT devices to become widely used. Simultaneously, these devices can leverage the security, decentralization, immutability and consensus arbitration of blockchains as foundational layers.
That means smart cities, driverless vehicles, smart homes and other sensor-driven enhancements will finally have a technology that can handle their needs.

As foundational layers, blockchains can provide consensus and security while the majority of IoT transactions and contracts occur on second-layer networks, with the opportunity to settle payment channels and transaction disputes on-chain. The network capacity of IoT, however, will be enabled by the power of 5G coverage.
Furthermore, 5G will directly assist blockchains by increasing node participation and decentralization, as well as allowing for shorter block times, driving forward on-chain scalability — all of which, in turn, further supports the IoT economy.
Here is a first look at how 5G is rolling out and when real usage might be seen.
The rollout of 5G
Network providers have started rolling out 5G within select United States cities, while global coverage is expected to come online in 2020.
Verizon will start delivering its coverage in Chicago and Minneapolis from April 11, with services moving to 30 cities throughout the remainder of 2019.
On the vendor side, Samsung is expected to release its 5G-compatible Galaxy S10 model next month. Other companies, such as Huawei and LG, have announced models of their own that are expected soon.
In terms of modems, we are still waiting to see one that supports both 5G and LTE. Qualcomm is expected to release such a product, the X55, in either Q3 or Q4 of this year.
Apple consumers will have to hold off until 2020 before seeing a 5G-compatible iPhone, though, with the company apparently still evaluating market conditions.
Waking up the Internet of Things
The benefits of 5G are its high speeds, capacity, low latency and ability to connect with vast numbers of devices. Latency refers to the time between when a signal is sent and received. In blockchain terms, latency is the time between a transaction being broadcast and it being received by nodes. However, for IoT, whether it be applied to smart homes or autonomous vehicles, achieving low latency is critical if devices are going to communicate with each other without experiencing long lag times.
This reduction could unlock another concept, the Internet of Skills (IoS). This is the process by which specialists conduct their work remotely through virtual reality headsets. For instance, a dentist would be able to perform procedures remotely. If latency cannot be minimized, then the specialist will not be responsive enough, endangering the patient and undermining the entire function.
It is these new applications that are driving the projections for the economic impact of 5G. A study from Qualcomm showed that 5G could lead to $12.3 trillion in additional global GDP by 2035.
Importantly, 5G — with speeds of up to 10 gigabits per second — is an improvement to current home broadband services, as well as cellular networks. To put this in perspective, the average global, nonmobile internet speed stands at just 7.2 megabits per second. As such, 5G could well become the de facto internet network worldwide.
The effects of 5G on IoT and related concepts are going to be further augmented by multi-access edge computing. This is a form of networking whereby service is disseminated from centralized nodes to peripheral ones, resulting in an even greater increase to speeds while also reducing latency.
IoT will rely on this capacity and ability for tremendous numbers of devices to connect with each other. It has been estimated that there could be as many as 100 billion IoT connections by 2025, according to research from Huawei, with growth likely turning exponential after that.  
Ramping up automation
When talking about automation, it is typical to think in terms of robots replacing paid jobs currently done by humans. However, in reality, the scope of automation may eventually be far broader than this, including the replacement of chores and unpaid mundane tasks.
This can already be seen in the advent of smart homes, with domestic appliances communicating with each other, keeping stock levels and managing inventory. Autonomous cars and trucks are already moving past testing, with legislation being the main impediment.
Within the next decade, traditional industries — such as agriculture, mining and drilling — all anticipate automation through high-speed IoT, powered by billions of sensors and devices communicating over 5G.
Bottlenecks
These applications are dependent on extensive 5G coverage to provide the capacity, speeds, and latency required for these systems to perform as intended at a global scale.
But two other potential roadblocks toward 5G could present themselves.
First, malicious devices could cause chaos within networks, empowered by their interconnectivity.
Second, the 5G rollout will encompass an explosion in transactions and payments between these devices. Such volumes will likely dwarf the current capacity of centralized and decentralized financial infrastructure.
The blockchain referee
Blockchain innovations could likely solve the first problem. Public, decentralized blockchains are proficient at ensuring immutability, tamper-resistance and establishing consensus among distrusting entities.
Thus, they can be used as a foundational layer for settling disputes between IoT devices that cannot settle transactions or smart contract conditions. Since these devices can transact with money and operate vehicles, establishing an underlying protocol layer with robust security is paramount. Blockchains can excel at this.
Decentralized blockchains offer further benefits over the current client-server model used in IoT. Their decentralized architecture means that identity can be protected and guaranteed. Currently, IoT devices identify themselves via cloud servers, with their identification data held in these databases. As such, the data can be compromised, stolen or imitated, presenting a major security threat to any application that runs atop such a network.
By using a decentralized blockchain, we can protect these identities through the use of asymmetric cryptography and secure hashing algorithms. Devices would be registered according to their own corresponding blockchain addresses, guaranteeing their identity. This blockchain layer can provide a level of security and frictionless identification unmatched by the existing centralized infrastructure.
Scaling up
Unfortunately, the second problem of scale cannot be directly solved by blockchains. The sheer extent of IoT means that decentralized blockchain architectures are not capable of handling the necessary throughput. This is at least true on layer one — i.e., blockchains themselves.
It is both possible and preferable to defer the majority of transactions to layer two protocols like the Lighting Network that operate on top of blockchains, through the use of payment channels or sidechains.  
However, given that every device will need to have its own address and on-chain transactions, there will need to be an on-chain capacity that reaches tens of thousands of transactions per second. In short, scalability must improve significantly on both layers.
Blockchains such as Bitcoin Cash ABC, with block size increases, and Ethereum, through sharding, are building out far greater on-chain capacity. Simultaneously, we are seeing the steady progress of the Lightning Network as it rolls out, along with sidechains such as Liquid from Blockstream, while Ethereum’s Plasma network continues to advance. The buildout of 5G and layer two blockchain infrastructure are fortuitously occurring simultaneously, providing the necessary scalability and coverage for an IoT-oriented economy.
One other route for system architects would be to add other structures, such as graphs between the base blockchain layer and IoT devices. Designs such as directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) can be used to achieve far higher throughput. However, this typically results in undermined security and decentralization.
Navigating the trilemma of scalability, security and decentralization is a prerequisite to any blockchain-based IoT network, and deficiencies in any of these three areas could be cataclysmic for users and would undermine the purpose of using such a protocol in the first place. Until developers can produce alternative designs that achieve high throughput without sacrificing security or decentralization, IoT networks will have to use the more limited, yet secure blockchain structure.
Tamper-resistant data
5G empowered IoT devices are set to drive a massive increase in data transfer. Cisco projects that they will generate 847 zettabytes by 2021. Although blockchains at their core are distributed data storage systems, it is unfeasible to store significant amounts of data on-chain. If this IoT data is not stored on-chain, though, this still leaves it open to attacks.
However, it is quite possible to store hashes of data on-chain, with links pointing out to external data storage sites for the whole dataset. Indeed, such external storage could be run on other decentralized protocols, such as the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) or OrbitDB. While this does not guarantee the same level of tamper-resistance, it does offer a stronger level of security than centralized alternatives. Importantly, by storing hashes on-chain, any tampering of the data will result in a change in the hash, thus drawing attention to such an attack, along with a time record via the timestamp.
Empowering smart contracts
Blockchains can also directly benefit from 5G in terms of functionality and performance.
One such example is smart contracting. Blockchain smart contracts often depend on oracles. These oracles relay external data to the contract. Of course, this information can only be transmitted with internet access. For applications such as supply chains, 5G can facilitate these oracles in remote areas where they otherwise would not be possible.
Network improvements
Blockchains can also derive network improvements from 5G.
The massive increases in range and bandwidth, in parallel with the reductions in latency aided by edge computing, could lead to a surge in additional nodes joining public blockchains. By extending coverage to remote areas as well as providing increased connectivity to nonstatic devices such as mobiles and tablets, there could be significant increases in network participation and, with that, improved security and decentralization.
In addition, due to latency reductions, developers would have more scope to experiment with reductions in block times, thus increasing on-chain throughput. In turn, this would offer far better support for IoT devices using blockchains for settlement, consensus and security.
A multi-fold relationship
To truly appreciate the values of 5G, IoT and blockchain, you have to consider them as synergistic rather than offering wholly separate value propositions. With the right architecture, this technology stack — along with second layer solutions, edge computing, virtual reality, augmented reality and IoS — is set to create an unprecedented amount of value while simultaneously radically altering working conditions, employment and recreation.





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http://cryptocurrency.atspace.co.uk/the-implications-of-fusing-5g-and-blockchain/

DLT in Migration Policy: How Blockchain Can Help Both Refugees and Host Nations

DLT in Migration Policy: How Blockchain Can Help Both Refugees and Host Nations


George Soros and the United Nations are already into it


As the United Nations Refugee Agency warned in the first days of September, the death rate for refugees attempting to reach Europe has risen. That sounds even more cruel considering that the numbers trying to make the crossing has fallen.

For every 18 people crossing to Europe over the central Mediterranean between January and July 2018, one person died. This is twice more than over the same period in 2017, when there was one death for every 42 refugees and migrants attempting the crossing.

Summer in the United States brought the scandal with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection Agency (CBP). Both bodies were accused of having a zero tolerance policy and of separating illegal immigrant children from their parents. Annual immigration arrests have soared since January 2017, from 110,568 in 2016 to 143,470 in 2017.

Although the buzzwords ‘refugee crisis’ were left in the year 2015, the problem of mass migration remains one of the central topics in the 21st century, given the vast number of economical and socio-political crises — from Syria to Venezuela — and even the global climate migration crisis, awaited by scientists. Given the importance and difficulty of a decent migration policy, can we rely on decentralized technologies to make it better? In fact, yes. 

The global passport

The first and foremost problem that could arise if you’ve been displaced or are fleeing from war, terror or hunger is the loss of documents. Refugees can be left without their passports, proprietary rights or diplomas during an emergency escape and the lack of security on their way to the countries of asylum. That, in turn, leads to problems and delays in the bureaucratic process of their identification and acceptance into their new homeland. As Norwegian Refugee Council research found, 70 percent of Syrian refugees lack basic identification and documents showing ownership of property.

Host nations certainly has a share in the damage, as they face problems concerning the accessibility of vital information about the newcomers — dealing with the undocumented refugee, the immigration service can’t gain the information about his/her health status, family ties or criminal record, or verify any other vital data that helps them make a decision. Needless to say, this may lead to the designation of refugee status being exploited by economic migrants, fugitives or even the war criminals that caused the mass displacement to begin with.

Not only governmental bodies deal with an individual’s documents, and thus the problems could get worse after asylum or even a new passport is granted. Being less binded by humanitarian ethics, business could have even more rigid demands for proven documentation. It’s hard enough to get a high-qualified and well-paid job even for a native professional, but the absence of a diploma lowers one’s chances to close to zero — regardless of real skills and career experience.

The same could be applied to the myriad of other aspects of life in our highly bureaucratized world. From public medical assistance to bank credits, the lack of necessary papers put refugees in an excluded position and pushes them to other traditional structures — based on ethnicity or religion — that offer some compensation and assistance in the face of the host nation’s indifference. The results of such dynamics can barely be labelled as successful integration.

Another important issue is data security. Refugees’ personal identities are carefully re-established with the support of clever biometric systems set up by the U.N. Agency for Refugees (UNHCR). UNHCR registers millions of refugees and maintains those records in a database. But the evidence suggests that centralized systems like this could be prone to attacks. As a report on UNCHR’s site notes, Aadhaar — India’s massive biometric database and the largest national database of people in the world — has suffered serious breaches, and last year, allegations were made that access was for sale on the internet for as little as $8. 

Funding and governing

But there’s a great distance between asylum seekers and their problems as a legal migrants in a new country — and not every refugee is able to cover it, even if all the necessary documents were brought safely. Despite the significant financial supply and the attention of various national, multinational bodies and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), the problem of governance and funding remains a serious flaw in immigration policy.

Awaiting the decision of host nations, refugees spend months and years in camps and centers, where they often lack the basic comforts and even security. Rounds and rounds of interviews, documents and appeal procedures separate them from their new life and they’re not safe from the failures and ineffective communication within the system. And the cost of a ‘statistically rare’ error is the individual destiny.

Money distribution is another fundamental bureaucratic activity with a high risk of errors and malpractice. The cost of error is shockingly high. Researchers at the Bristol-based group Development Initiatives estimated that at least $22 billion of the $100 billion-plus reported by donors as bilateral official development assistance in 2011 was never transferred to developing countries. The money was instead spent on activities in donor countries, or put toward the cancellation or rescheduling of debts. In its report about the efficiency of Greek refugee camps in the midst of the Syrian crisis, subsidized by various international bodies, The Guardian cited an anonymous senior aid’s official estimation that as much as $70 out of every $100 spent had been wasted.

In its 2017 report, Human Rights Watch warned about the lack of transparency in donor funding, specifically in providing education opportunities for at least 1.6 million school-age children from Syria. NGOs accounted for hundreds of millions of under-delivered funds and highlighted the main problems — among them were the lack of information about the projects that donors are funding and their timing; and a lack of consistent, detailed and timely reporting by donors.

Finnish experiment

Finland, a country with a population of 5.5 million, cannot boast huge numbers of refugees. For 2018, it set a quota of 750 people, mainly flying from Syria and the Democratic Republic of Congo. That’s way less than neighboring Sweden, which promised to take in 3,400. Nevertheless, the country sets a global example of the use of effective technology in immigration policy: It’s using blockchain to help the newcomers get on their feet faster.

For three years already, the Finnish Immigration Service has been giving asylum seekers prepaid Mastercards instead of traditional cash disbursements, and today, the program has several thousand active cardholders. The card is linked to a unique digital identity stored on a blockchain. The system, developed by the Helsinki-based startup MONI, maintains a full analogue of a bank account for every one of its participants.

People can use their accounts to pay bills, shop or receive salaries. Every transaction is recorded in a public database maintained by a decentralized network. This enables the Immigration Service to keep track of the cardholders and their spending. And for immigrants, a MONI account means a simple and ready-to-use banking tool, as well as the permanent ability to verify their identification to their employers.

From Soros secrets to U.N. adoption

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2018, the billionaire investor and philanthropist George Soros revealed that his structures already use a blockchain in immigration policies:

“Blockchain technology can be put to positive use. And we use it, actually, in helping migrants to communicate with their families and to keep their money safe and to carry it with them.” 

However during the Q&A session, Soros didn’t reveal the details of this implementation and no additional information has been shared ever since. While billionaires keep their good deeds in secret, the U.N. — the main international force in providing humanitarian aid and migration assistance — already stepped up in adopting blockchain technology.

In 2017, Accenture and Microsoft Corp. teamed up to build a digital ID network using blockchain technology, as part of a U.N.-supported project to provide legal identification to 1.1 billion people worldwide with no official documents. The companies unveiled a prototype of the network at the U.N. headquarters during the second summit of ID2020.

The aim of the tool is to store biometric data — a fingerprint or an iris scan — on a blockchain and thus help individuals prove their identity, even in the case of the loss of paper documentation. The platform also will connect existing record-keeping systems of commercial and public entities. David Treat, a managing director in Accenture’s financial services practice, went as far as to state that such digital identity is a “basic human right”:

“Without an identity, you can’t access education, financial services, healthcare — you name it. You are disenfranchised and marginalized from society.”

The U.N. is no stranger to the blockchain at all. The multinational body held a variety of public events discussing the innovative technology — and in July 2018, even set up the “High-Level Panel on Digital Cooperation,” which explicitly puts blockchain technology on the agenda. Earlier in May, it signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with blockchain platform IOTA to explore how the technology could increase efficiency.

The organization is also responsible for one of the largest-ever implementations of the Ethereum blockchain for a charitable cause in recent history. In May 2017, the U.N.'s World Food Programme (WFP) directed resources to thousands of Syrian refugees by giving the refugees cryptocurrency-based vouchers that could be redeemed in participating markets.

The codes of cryptographically unique coupons representing an undisclosed number of Jordanian dinars have been sent to dozens of shops. What it takes from cashiers is just to verify the user’s identity by using eye-scanning hardware. The pilot program alone, which ran for 10,000 Syrian refugees, has been said to save the agency $150,000 a month while eliminating a 98 percent of bank-related transfer fees.

In February 2018, Robert Opp, a director at the World Food Programme, told Bloomberg that the U.N. would expand its blockchain-payments system. The agency expects to cut millions of dollars in bank transfer fees by switching to distributed ledgers based on the Ethereum digital currency network. WFP’s official site mentions that, as of January 2018, more than 100,000 people residing in camps have redeemed assistance through the system. And the next stage of the project will see an expansion to all 500,000 Syrian refugees in Jordan receiving support from the WFP.

And at least six other U.N. agencies — including the U.N. Office for Project Services (UNOPS), the U.N. Development Programme (UNDP), the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF), U.N. Women, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the U.N. Development Group (UNDG) — are now considering blockchain applications that could help support international assistance, particularly supply chain management tools, self-auditing of payments, identity management and data storage.

Of course, blockchain can’t solve all of the political problems that immigration policy suffers. It’s just a technological tool — albeit a very ambitious one — and it won’t teach the xenophobes compassion, and won’t guarantee refugees successful cultural integration or create well-paid, meaningful and socially protected job vacancies. It is useful for policy but can’t be a substitute for political will.

We also can’t simply brush off the controversial nature of the degree of control which blockchain promises to the host nations and humanitarian agencies. Decentralized ledger technology (DLT) undeniably takes pride in its crypto-anarchic and cypherpunk roots, and challenges the power we’ve given to governments and financial systems. Thus, we can’t question something illiberal in those biocontrol capacities that blockchain could help obtain for governmental immigration agencies.

Immigration probably won’t become a less problematic topic any time soon, as long as we have wars, hunger and inequality — not to mention the looming threats of climate change — and the lack of a final philosophical solution to the question of borders and national welfare. But what blockchain could do is to help refugees get more transparent and generous financial aid, save their vital documents and track the process of applications without any human mistakes. That sounds like a good package for a start.


https://cryptocurrency.atspace.co.uk/dlt-in-migration-policy-how-blockchain-can-help-both-refugees-and-host-nations/

German Finance Minister Doubts Crypto Can Currently Replace Traditional Currencies

German Finance Minister Doubts Crypto Can Currently Replace Traditional Currencies


Germany’s Finance Minister Olaf Scholz does doubts that traditional fiat currencies can currently be replaced by cryptocurrencies.


Germany’s Finance Minister Olaf Scholz doubts that cryptocurrencies can currently replace traditional fiat currencies, Cointelegraph auf Deutsch reports today, September, 18.

"I would doubt today, whether it has a perspective as a currency model, " said Scholz at a “citizens dialogue” at the German-Dutch Army Corps in Münster. Scholz compared cryptocurrencies to the tulip fever bubble in the Netherlands in the 17th century saying, "and the danger is great that there will be such a tulip inflation."

Scholz said that the necessary computer processes for the mass implementation of cryptocurrencies are so expensive and energy-intensive that it could not work, but that he did not want to speak for the future “20 to 30 years.”

According to Scholz, cryptocurrencies should also be closely observed by regulators, as they could be used for terrorist financing, money laundering or other criminal activities. He added that “...we do not believe that they already have an economically significant importance today.”

European legislators have met in several capacities in the past several weeks in order to discuss their concerns over cryptocurrencies and the potential remedies to problems associated with digital assets.

On September 4, members of the European Parliament met to discuss regulations for Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), which while being a “very interesting and promising vehicle instruments” for raising capital, require more regulatory oversight in the view of many European legislators.  

At a recent meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council in Vienna, European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis claimed that crypto needs further regulation. While noting that crypto is “here to stay,” Dombrovsksis stressed that the European Union (E.U.) will focus on the development of crypto asset classification and regulatory mapping.

Prior to the aforementioned meeting, a report by Belgian think tank Bruegel urged European regulators to adopt uniform regulations on cryptocurrencies at the E.U.-level. The report notes that while regulations are left to national entities, there is an opportunity for “regulatory arbitrage” for crypto businesses.


https://cryptocurrency.atspace.co.uk/german-finance-minister-doubts-crypto-can-currently-replace-traditional-currencies/

Crypto Daily News: SpaceX Engineeer Starts Own Crypto Exchange and Zimbabwe Finance Minister Speaks Out About...

Crypto Daily News: SpaceX Engineeer Starts Own Crypto Exchange and Zimbabwe Finance Minister Speaks Out About...

crypto daily news

In today’s edition of Crypto Daily News, we’ll cover the details of the SpaceX engineer’s new crypto exchange and what Zimbabwe’s Finance Minister said about crypto lately.


Crypto Daily News: September 17th, 2018
Former SpaceX Engineer Starts a Crypto Exchange

Joshua Greenwald, former SpaceX engineer, is currently the CEO of LXDX and the company just announced that it is launching its own public digital currency exchange.


LXDX currently holds its own proprietary software that’s focused on levels of performance not currently seen in the current crypto market. LXDX offers a low latency solution for ...


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https://cryptocurrency.atspace.co.uk/crypto-daily-news-spacex-engineeer-starts-own-crypto-exchange-and-zimbabwe-finance-minister-speaks-out-about-bitcoin/

Jack Ma on Blockchain: Chief Exec Thinks Blockchain Will Be “Useless” If It Doesn’t Help the...

Jack Ma on Blockchain: Chief Exec Thinks Blockchain Will Be “Useless” If It Doesn’t Help the...

Jack Ma on Blockchain

Jack Ma, Alibaba’s Executive Chairman, has never been shy about his thoughts on the newest and latest technology. The Chinese businessman, investor, and philanthropist has been a long-proponent of blockchain technology but recently made a firm statement on its future. Let’s take a closer look at Jack Ma on blockchain.


Jack Ma on Blockchain

Ma believes that blockchain and other advanced technologies still need to prove they can help society evolve in a “greener and more inclusive” direction, local news outlet cnBeta reported.


Ma told those present at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference held ...


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http://cryptocurrency.atspace.co.uk/jack-ma-on-blockchain-chief-exec-thinks-blockchain-will-be-useless-if-it-doesnt-help-the-environment/

Nasdaq to Acquire Cinnober: Is the Stock-Exchange Preparing for Cryptocurrency?

Nasdaq to Acquire Cinnober: Is the Stock-Exchange Preparing for Cryptocurrency?

Nasdaq acquiring Cinnober

Nasdaq announced Friday that it is in the midst of acquiring Swedish trading solutions provider Cinnober. So why is it important for crypto-enthusiasts that Nasdaq acquiring Cinnober might happen? Well, Nasdaq is Nasdaq—the second-largest stock exchange in the world, but Cinnober is known for its acceptance of digital assets and its involvement in helping institutions to invest in them.


So you can see the potential excitement here if Nasdaq is taking over this company. Is Nasdaq preparing for crypto-trading on its exchange?


Is Nasdaq Acquiring Cinnober?

The anticipation across the industry for a Bitcoin ...


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http://cryptocurrency.atspace.co.uk/nasdaq-to-acquire-cinnober-is-the-stock-exchange-preparing-for-cryptocurrency/

Is the Narrative of the Crypto Industry Changing? Ripple Exec. Says Yes

Is the Narrative of the Crypto Industry Changing? Ripple Exec. Says Yes

Ripple and XRP

Cory Johnson said it first. Ripple and XRP are not the same things; XRP is not a security. And yet, the San Francisco-based company often finds itself repeating this information. The latest time came today, Monday, September 17th. Not only did the head of government and regulatory relations at Ripple today bring back the XRP security debate, but Sagar Sarbhai also noted that the narrative in the crypto industry is changing.


True or false?


Ripple and XRP: Security or Not?

First, Sagar Sarbhai told CNBC on Monday that Ripple does not find XRP to ...


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http://cryptocurrency.atspace.co.uk/is-the-narrative-of-the-crypto-industry-changing-ripple-exec-says-yes/

Ripple Could Launch xRapid Solution ‘In the Next Month or So,’ Says Exec

Ripple Could Launch xRapid Solution ‘In the Next Month or So,’ Says Exec


A Ripple exec told CNBC that the company could launch a commercial version of its payment platform xRapid “in the next month of so.”


Ripple could launch a commercial version of its payment platform xRapid "in the next month or so," CNBC reported September 17. Head of regulatory relations for Asia-Pacific and the Middle East at Ripple Sagar Sarbhai told CNBC that Ripple has been making strides toward the launch of its product xRapid.

The xRapid product is a real-time settlement platform designed to speed up international payments. Built for commercial use and backed by XRP tokens, xRapid addresses the issue of minimizing liquidity costs and making cross-border payment transactions faster. xRapid claims to significantly reduce the capital requirements for liquidity. Sarbhai said in an interview with CNBC:

"I am very confident that in the next one month or so you will see some good news coming in where we launch the product live in production."

Sarbhai also noted that regulators’ approach to cryptocurrencies has been significantly changing from the narrative of “blockchain good, crypto bad," to taking a more tempered approach toward digital currencies and seeing the benefits of crypto.

In August, Ripple partnered with three crypto exchanges — U.S.-based Bittrex, Mexican Bitso, and Philippine Coins.Ph — as part of an xRapid solution to build a “healthy” ecosystem of digital asset exchanges. The new partnership will enable xRapid to move between XRP, U.S. dollars, Mexican pesos, and Philippine pesos.

This spring, various financial institutions participated in a pilot of the xRapid platform, which tested payments between the U.S. and Mexico. The participants reported transaction savings of 40–70 percent. In addition to saving on costs, the parties noted an improvement in transaction speed — from the average 2–3 days to “just over two minutes.”










https://cryptocurrency.atspace.co.uk/ripple-could-launch-xrapid-solution-in-the-next-month-or-so-says-exec/

Major Content Delivery Network Introduces Decentralized Content Gateway

Major Content Delivery Network Introduces Decentralized Content Gateway


CloudFlare has introduced a new content gateway that will allow users to access content regardless of the state of the server on which it is stored.


Major U.S.-based content delivery network (CDN) CloudFlare has introduced a new decentralized content gateway via its InterPlanetary File System (IPFS), the firm announced in a blog post September 17.

The announcement was made during Cloudflare Crypto Week, a week devoted to the adoption of new cryptography-powered technologies. Cloudflare’s IPFS Gateway is the first product to be released as a part of Cloudfare’s Distributed Web Gateway project that plans to “encompass all of [its] efforts” to deploy distributed ledger technology (DLT).

Cloudflare’s IPFS Gateway service is a method of content access from the IPFS that does not require users to install and run any special software. The new gateway hosted on IPFS aims to support “many new highly-reliable and security-enhanced web applications.”

The IPFS is a protocol and network that is designed to enable peer-to-peer storing and sharing of data on a distributed ledger developed by Protocol labs.

By incorporating the IPFS protocol, Cloudflare aims to bring a new decentralized way of accessing information on the Internet that allows users to keep content available regardless of the state of servers that host it, for example if a server is hacked, or shut down as a result of a natural disaster.

While the IPFS intends to “[embrace] a new, decentralized vision of the web” by providing access to “any of the billions of files stored on IPFS” and a tool for building websites hosted on IPFS, it also raises content sensitivity concerns.

In this regard, Cloudflare admitted the possibility of sharing abusive content via IPFS, noting that the company “does not have the ability to modify or remove content from the IPFS network,” citing that Cloudflare’s IPFS gateway is just a “cache in front of IPFS.” The company added:

“If any abusive content is found that is served by the Cloudflare IPFS gateway, you can use the standard abuse reporting mechanism described here.”

In May 2017, ProPublica reported that Cloudflare provided services to neo-Nazi sites such as The Daily Stormer, and allegedly shared personal information on individuals who complain about their content. The company has subsequently reacted to the allegations, claiming that it will change complaint policies in order to provide more safety for users who report on Cloudflare.




















https://cryptocurrency.atspace.co.uk/major-content-delivery-network-introduces-decentralized-content-gateway/

Crypto Markets Drop Sharply, Ethereum Loses Week’s Earlier Gains

Crypto Markets Drop Sharply, Ethereum Loses Week’s Earlier Gains


Crypto markets see a sharp decline, with Bitcoin dropping by $200 within a few hours and total market cap below $200 billion again.


Crypto markets have seen a sharp decline today, September 18, with Bitcoin (BTC) down $200 and market cap dropping as low as $192 billion within a few hours. As of press time, 93 out of 100 top cryptocurrencies by market capitalization are in the red, while losses among the top 20 coins reach over 10 percent, according to CoinMarketCap.

Percentage of Total Market Cap (Dominance). Source: Coinmarketcap

Among altcoins, EOS and VeChain (VET) have seen some of the biggest losses over the past 24 hours, down 10.29 and 10.47 percent. The fifth top cryptocurrency by market cap, EOS is now trading at $4.88, VET, the last in the top 20 coins list, is trading at $0.0127.

Recently, senior Dubai law enforcement official Lt. General Dhahi Khalfan Tamim suggested that digital currencies will “soon” replace cash, claiming that the only obstacle to the mainstream adoption of the industry are lack of public awareness as well as crime prevention policies.

With that, Ripple’s head of regulatory relations for Asia-Pacific and the Middle East stated today that crypto assets and blockchain technology are now being addressed in a more holistic manner by global policymakers.













https://cryptocurrency.atspace.co.uk/crypto-markets-drop-sharply-ethereum-loses-weeks-earlier-gains/

American National Standards Institute to Address Blockchain at Upcoming Forum

American National Standards Institute to Address Blockchain at Upcoming Forum


The ANSI will discuss blockchain and AI application issues at its next Legal Issues and Joint Member Forum.


The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) will discuss blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI) issues at its next Legal Issues and Joint Member Forum, according to an announcement published September 17.

The ANSI is a U.S.-based private non-profit establishment that is comprised of over 125,000 companies, with international organizations, academic and governmental bodies, and corporations among its members. The institute does not develop standards, but administers and coordinates the U.S. voluntary standards and conformance assessment system.

At the upcoming forum entitled “Empowered by Innovation: Cutting-Edge Technologies Driving Real-World Solutions,” attendees will reportedly focus on legal and ethical concerns and explore concrete applications of blockchain technology and AI.

Per the announcement, experts from various industries like healthcare, transportation, food safety, and others will discuss possible blockchain and AI deployments, and how standards and conformity assessment can facilitate the further application and development of these technologies.

Previously, the ANSI set a number of international level standards, including the original standard implementation of the C language, which further became ANSI C, and the first computer programming language standard “American Standard Fortran,” known as “FORTRAN 66.”

One of the institute’s nine standard panels, the Nuclear Energy Standards Coordination Collaborative (NESCC), is aimed at identifying and catering to the need for standards in the nuclear industry.

Recently, the World Economic Forum (WEF) published a report dubbed “Building Block(chain)s for a Better Planet”, where it outlined more than 65 blockchain use cases for solving the “most pressing” environmental challenges. Per the report, the next important step in introducing blockchain applications for environmental protection is the establishment of a “responsible” and “global” blockchain ecosystem, as opposed to funding specific, separate projects.
















http://cryptocurrency.atspace.co.uk/american-national-standards-institute-to-address-blockchain-at-upcoming-forum/

Spanish Autonomous Community of Aragon to Become First in Country to Apply Blockchain

Spanish Autonomous Community of Aragon to Become First in Country to Apply Blockchain


The Spanish autonomous community of Aragon has partnered with a blockchain consortium to create blockchain-based services in its public administration.


The autonomous community of Aragon in northeastern Spain will be the first in the country to apply blockchain technology in its public administration, local news agency Europa Press reports Monday, September 17.

Aragon is one of Spain’s 17 autonomous communities, which were created with the goal of guaranteeing a qualified amount of autonomy for different nationalities and regions in the country.

Fernando Gimeno, the counsellor of Finance and Public administration in the Aragonese government, has signed a contract with Alastria — a blockchain ecosystem of more than 274 entities, including companies and institutions which create blockchain-based tools in line with Spanish and E.U. legal frameworks. As a result of the partnership, Aragon will become the first Spanish autonomous community to provide blockchain-based services at the state level.

Gimeno called the contract "transformative", stating that the world will "realize suddenly and strongly" the power of blockchain technology in the near future. He also stressed that blockchain is "the future of technology" and "fundamental" for public administration.

The Aragonese counsellor thinks blockchain will improve transparency and the efficiency of the administration, which in turn will attract business and investments. He further added that employees of the regional administration are already being trained to work with the technology in order to get acquainted with its "enormous potential.”

Neighboring Catalonia has also expressed interest in blockchain-based tools for its public administration, Cointelegraph reported in June 2018. The Autonomy's Department of Digital Policies planned to develop a strategy for incorporating blockchain by the end of December 2018.

As blockchain-based technologies become integrated in public administration all over the world, the former ruling party in the Spanish government, Partido Popular, considered giving tax breaks to companies that use blockchain technology.

Later in June, Spanish left-wing political coalition Unidos Podemos suggested that the Spanish government establish a subcommittee responsible for studying the potential of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency regulation.

















http://cryptocurrency.atspace.co.uk/spanish-autonomous-community-of-aragon-to-become-first-in-country-to-apply-blockchain/

Crypto Markets See Mixed Signals as Total Market Cap Holds Position

Crypto Markets See Mixed Signals as Total Market Cap Holds Position


Crypto markets have seen a mix of red and green, with some small fluctuations and total market cap holding position.


Sunday, September 16: crypto markets have seen a mix of red and green today, with some small fluctuations and total market cap holding position.

Coin360

Market visualization from Coin360

Bitcoin (BTC) is negligibly up on the day, and trading at around $6,504 at press time. The major cryptocurrency is holding weekly gains, up about 5.1 percent over the past 7 days.

BTC

Bitcoin weekly price chart. Source: Cointelegraph Bitcoin Price Index

Ethereum (ETH) is seeing small gains, up around 1 percent over the past 24 hours. The top altcoin is trading at around $222 at press time, up almost 13 percent over the week.

ETH

Ethereum weekly price chart. Source: Cointelegraph Ethereum Price Index

Total market cap keeps holding position, fluctuating around the $201 billion point for the most part of the day, with an intraday low of $199 billion. At press time, the total market cap is at around $203 billion.

Total

Total market capitalization weekly chart. Source: CoinMarketCap

Recently, Silicon Valley venture capitalist Tim Draper predicted that the combined cryptocurrency market cap will hit $80 trillion in the next 15 years, citing the variety of markets that will be transformed by the cryptocurrency industry.

Stellar (XLM) and Dogecoin (DOGE) are seeing biggest gains among the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market cap over the past 24 hours, up 2.6 and 4.3 percent respectively. Stellar, the sixth top coin by market cap, is now trading at $0.21, while DOGE, ranked 20th, trades at about $0.006 at press time.

Tezos (XTZ) and Binance Coin (BNB) have seen the largest losses out of top 20 coins over 24 hours period, down 3.9 and and 2.6 percent respectively. Tezos, which saw the largest gains among top 20 coins yesterday, is now trading at $1.58, still up 27 percent over the week, with BNB trading at about $9.88 at press time.

Yesterday, Binance co-founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) revealed that the company will start beta testing a crypto-fiat exchange in Singapore on September 18. As of press time, Binance is ranked number one by adjusted trading volume on CoinMarketCap, seeing a volume of about $823 million over a 24 hour period.






















http://cryptocurrency.atspace.co.uk/crypto-markets-see-mixed-signals-as-total-market-cap-holds-position/

Binance to Start Closed Beta Testing of New Crypto-Fiat Exchange in Singapore

Binance to Start Closed Beta Testing of New Crypto-Fiat Exchange in Singapore


Crypto exchange Binance will start closed beta testing of a new crypto-fiat exchange in Singapore on September 18.


Binance, the largest global crypto exchange, will soon start private beta testing a crypto-fiat exchange in Singapore, as Binance co-founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) tweeted on September 15.

As Changpeng Zhao revealed, the testing will be launched on September 18:

“I just slipped that we will begin #Binance Singapore fiat exchange live money closed beta testing on Sept 18th, in 3 days. Invitation only first. Exciting!”

According to Finance Magnates, prior to posting the news on Twitter, CZ first revealed the plans to launch the fiat exchange while speaking at a recent blockchain event led by crypto assets-specializing firm Cumberland. The conference also featured another disruptor of the industry — Tyler Winklevoss, co-founder and CEO of crypto exchange Gemini.

While no further details have been specified, the crypto-fiat Singapore-based exchange will presumably support the local Singapore dollar, Finance Magnates notes.

In mid-July, Singapore was ranked the third most favorable country for Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) in terms of the number of top global ICO projects.

Earlier this week, Binance signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Malta Stock Exchange’s fintech and digital asset subsidiary, MSX PLC, to launch a new security token digital exchange.

And earlier in August, Binance LCX, a joint venture between Binance and Liechtenstein Cryptoassets Exchange (LCX), announced the launch of crypto-fiat exchange in Liechtenstein to enable trading between Swiss Francs (CHF) and euros (EUR) against major digital currencies pairs.






























https://cryptocurrency.atspace.co.uk/binance-to-start-closed-beta-testing-of-new-crypto-fiat-exchange-in-singapore/

Blockchain Study: Gemini Custodian is Able to Alter or Reverse Gemini Dollar Transactions

Blockchain Study: Gemini Custodian is Able to Alter or Reverse Gemini Dollar Transactions


Blockchain research shows how a Gemini custodian is able to change, stop, or reverse GUSD transactions every 48 hours.


The implementation of the recently launched Gemini dollar (GUSD) stablecoin can be completely changed by a Gemini custodian every 48 hours, according to a study authored by blockchain researcher Alex Lebed and crypto consultant Alexey Akhunov, published on Medium on September 11.

In the research, the authors review the code of the GUSD’s smart contract in order to demonstrate that the implementation of the Gemini USD can become non-transferrable or frozen at any moment, which is noted in the Gemini dollar’s white paper. The option of pausing, blocking, or reversing GUSD transfers is one of the basic technical principles of the new centralized stablecoin introduced by Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, according to the white paper.

The Gemini dollar white paper describes this feature along with other three main principles of the GUSD blockchain design, citing the need for the ability to manage token transfers in case of unforeseen circumstances:

“[Gemini can] pause, block, or reverse token transfers in response to a security incident (i.e., catastrophic event).”

Specifically, the study’s authors review the smart contract of the Gemini dollar, implemented as an ERC20 token on the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain, in order to demonstrate how to users can “independently” detect that feature.

The research is based on the Gemini address that was found on both a Reddit thread and Bitcoin Talk, while the researchers claimed that nevertheless, there is still “no trustless ways to know” that this address is the only address of Gemini.

As the study has found, Gemini’s custodian is able to generate an unlimited amount of Gemini USD, and it can completely alter the implementation every 48 hours, making the coins non-transferable. In conclusion, the study’s authors appeared to question such an custodian ability in regard to “truly decentralized and censorship-resistant monetary systems.”

Following approval from the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), the Winklevoss brothers launched the new centralized stablecoin Gemini dollar on Monday, September 10. The GUSD is backed by U.S. dollars that are “held at a bank located in the United States and eligible for FDIC ‘pass-through’ deposit insurance, subject to applicable limitations.”

The Gemini dollar represents the first crypto-related asset from the Winklevoss twins, who previously received a second rejection from regulators to launch Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) in July.


















https://cryptocurrency.atspace.co.uk/blockchain-study-gemini-custodian-is-able-to-alter-or-reverse-gemini-dollar-transactions/