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Binance Signs Agreement With Bermuda Gov’t On $15 Mln Investment, Jobs

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance signed an agreement with Bermuda to allocate $15 mln on fintech education projects and blockchain startups in the country #NEWS

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance signed an agreement with Bermuda to allocate $15 mln on fintech education projects and blockchain startups in the country #NEWS

Promoted: Helbiz, Blockchain and the New Future of Mobility

Transportation mobility options are not only critical for many people’s lives, but they are also a key element of a thriving economy. As our world becomes more urbanized though, many are choosing not to purchase …

helbiz

Transportation mobility options are not only critical for many people’s lives, but they are also a key element of a thriving economy. As our world becomes more urbanized though, many are choosing not to purchase a car of their own due to the ever-growing and increasing cost of ownership.

There is already a growing body of evidence that suggests car ownership may no longer be a good deal. When people become unhinged from their cars, they no longer have to worry about issues such as parking, insurance, maintenance and fuel costs.

It’s evident that the sharing economy, a rapidly growing social phenomenon that has sprung out of the digital economy, is upending the trajectory of many industries and, in general, challenging the status quo. Using this model, owners share resources they’re not using, such as a car, a bicycle, or other mobility option for marginal profit.

A new startup company, Helbiz, envisions a world of decentralized transportation by way of an on-demand, peer-to-peer (P2P) marketplace. The company is poised to serve as the nexus between those seeking short-term mobility rental and those with access to a private vehicle, bike, motorcycle or even an airplane.

To usher in the decentralized sharing-economy business model, Helbiz is championing the notion that mobility options can become money-making assets for owners who choose to rent them. In other words, Hellbiz wants to monetize the cars and other mobility assets that often sit idle the vast majority of the time. This value proposition is of particular appeal to a new generation of potential users who harbor a “car-free, rent it when you need it” mindset.

Helbiz intends to provide mass consumer adoption by implementing a state-of-the-art application available on smart devices that enables users to unlock and start a car digitally, without the need for paperwork or correspondence. In other words, the users’ mobile device becomes the car and ignition key whenever they need to rent one.

“Our solution will provide a means for car owners seeking to rent out their personal vehicles on an hourly or daily basis, all through our mobile and web application, without the need for any interaction, pre-bookings or key exchanges,” said Hellbiz founder and CEO Salvatore Palella.

Palella went on to note that car locks will be controlled by the app, allowing owners to more efficiently monetize the time their car would otherwise sit parked at home or work. “What’s nice is that the owner can fit in multiple rentals during a day and always have their car back before they need it. This added level of freedom, along with less friction, is what we believe is necessary for car sharing to become truly mainstream.”

A new normal in P2P car rentals

A veteran of the financial and investment world, Palella believes the blockchain is the future of business, having the potential to upend status quo models that exist in transportation. The idea for Helbiz, he said, grew from his own life experience.  

“As I started traveling more and more for work, my own car would sit untouched for longer and longer periods, from weeks to sometimes months at a time collecting dust in my garage in Italy.” Every time he landed in a new airport, Palella would have to spend valuable time driving through full parking lots of private cars; then he would have to go through the process of renting a car. Overall, he found the rental process lengthy, tedious, expensive and limited in vehicle selections.

“I began thinking, What if you could rent out your car, but without the need for extensive communication, key exchanges, paper contracts, and insurance? An owner could rent out their car hassle- and risk-free without having to be physically present. This would allow renters to simply walk up to the car and unlock it directly from their phone and drive off within seconds, avoiding the time-consuming process of typical car rentals.”

From a business perspective, if car sharing is ever going to be adapted by mainstream society and integrated into daily life, Palella believes that it is essential for companies to combine the pros of business-to-consumer (B2C) and P2P business models. By fusing the rental convenience of scheduling and drop-offs, B2C models (Car2Go, DriveNow, Zipcar), with the business scalability and inventory of the current P2P models (Turo and Getaround), Helbiz intends to offer unique value for renters and rentees that has not yet been done.

When asked about Helbiz development road map, Palella added, “We have been fortunate to secure numerous partnerships over the last month for the overall ecosystem, allowing us to significantly improve the use of our Helbiz token, both from an integration, transaction and partnership perspective, even beyond the transportation sector. Paired with our transaction wallet application, we believe that our token offers wide and seamless use of the ability for third parties to integrate.”

Currently, Helbiz is working directly with the internet payments and money transfer company Skrill and their CEO, Lorenzo Pellegrino, on a large-scale partnership, with the goal of promoting the mainstream adaptation of digital currencies, and in particular their use and integration through Helbiz. According to Palella, this partnership, along with a few other integration opportunities in the works, could eventually make Helbiz one of the most widely accepted digital currencies in the world.  

Helbiz has also recently been working on a partnership proposal directly to the board of one of the largest global auto manufacturers. Because this partnership would mean implementation and integration on every level, all the way back to the car factory, Palella said that if implemented, the partnership could shift the perception of car sharing completely.

In the meantime, the back end of Helbiz’ platform is fully developed, with work continuing to take place on the front end with optimization and procedural testing in progress before going into beta phase.

“Ideally, in 18 months we will be established in the major United States markets with enough cars available in Los Angeles to enable some citizens to give up their car and completely rely on Helbiz, said Palella. “We’ll also be close to expanding to Europe and have sealed the deal with an auto manufacturer we are currently trying to work with. We have started production and integration on both the hardware and software side of their production line, allowing for a user experience unlike anything ever seen before.”  

This promoted article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

Litecoin Price Analysis – Development slows while low fees and fast block times continue

Litecoin (LTC) has recovered over 30% since April 12th, which closely correlates with most crypto markets. The Pearson Coefficient of LTC and BTC has been 0.5457 since December. The LTC market cap now stands at US$8.34 billion, with exchange-traded vol…

Litecoin (LTC) has recovered over 30% since April 12th, which closely correlates with most crypto markets. The Pearson Coefficient of LTC and BTC has been 0.5457 since December. The LTC market cap now stands at US$8.34 billion, with exchange-traded volume of US$398 million in the past 24 hours.

NEO, Stellar Lumens, IOTA, Litecoin, EOS: Technical Analysis for April 28, 2018

While we were generally expectant of a follow through, bears stepped in and reduced last week’s buy pressure. However, our buy projections remain valid since most coins are in the green territory, one week later. Even as EOS cements its spot in the top 5, I see potential in Litecoin and IOTA which continues to

The post NEO, Stellar Lumens, IOTA, Litecoin, EOS: Technical Analysis for April 28, 2018 appeared first on NewsBTC.

While we were generally expectant of a follow through, bears stepped in and reduced last week’s buy pressure. However, our buy projections remain valid since most coins are in the green territory, one week later. Even as EOS cements its spot in the top 5, I see potential in Litecoin and IOTA which continues to court headlines.

Let look at these charts:

EOSUSD (EOS)

It’s consistency that draws value over the long term and that is what we are seeing if we consider EOS and its value in general. To begin with, prices are up 2.5x since Dawn 3.0 launch and why not, the update came earlier than anticipated.

At the moment, crypto space commanders are battling to become block producers while other start ups are readying to launch their products at the EOSIO mainnet. On the trading front, some exchanges as ZebPay are listing EOS in the process increasing its trading volume and liquidity.

On the charts, EOS is up 17 percent in the last 24 hours amassing a market cap of $14.26 billion and cementing its position in the top five. In my view, EOS should add more as it looks to clear this year’s highs of $18.6. In the coming week, I expect EOS to appreciate higher and as such I recommend buying on dips. As such, our immediate support lies at $14 or the 23.6 percent Fibonacci retracement level.

LTCUSD (Litecoin)

VPE a German OTC is now offering opportunities for whales to invest in promising digital assets as Bitcoin and Litecoin. As it has been the case world over, the unregulated nature of cryptocurrencies is the assets undoing as it freezes out institutional investments. With this, investors can now trade in a secure environment as it meets all of the statutory AML and KYC requirements.

From price action, we still hold to our bullish forecast and in the last 24 hours or so, Litecoin is up three percent with a market cap of $8.51 billion. Even though the expansion is moderate and under performs our expectations, we still expect prices to edge higher today. As before, Litecoin buyers should buy on dips with every stochastic sell signal and aim for $180 and $240 in line with our previous recommendations.

XLMUSD (Stellar Lumens)

The crypto sphere is not as solid as it was last week but regardless of this shaky week, Stellar Lumens is registering impressive gains. In the last seven days, Stellar is up 10 percent but this is still a shadow of what it was this time last week when it was up in the excess of 25 percent.

In my view, whether Lumens will test $1 is still a subject of debate and for that to happen we need to see strong partnerships. If the market continues expanding like it has been doing then we shall keep our strategy intact.

As it is, we have bullish stochastics in the 4HR chart but nothing concrete in the daily chart. I recommend patience for conservative traders until prices breach 50 cents. On the other hand, aggressive traders can as well buy now and place their stops at this week’s lows at 33 cents. Nothing changes as we shall still maintain our take profits at 70 cents or there about.

IOTUSD (IOTA)

It’s the application part that draws attention and not big talks. After a host of top notch tech players towed in, Fujitsu and Intel are now partnering to create this “AI, IOT machine vision that runs on Xeon processors”. Of course, this is big for IOTA. It’s even gets better.

If you register with Coinfalcon, there is an IOTEUR pair for your selection.

In our daily chart, it’s clear that prices are still in consolidation mode and oscillating within April 25 high low. We shall be neutral with a bullish skew as per our previous IOTA technical analysis. I recommend patience until there is a stochastic buy signals printing at around $1.60 in lower time frames or buyers pushing prices beyond $2.20, our immediate resistance. Because of this trade plan, our immediate take profit lies at $3 and $4.5 in the short term.

NEOUSD (NEO)

Not only are NEO prices stagnant but there haven’t been price moving news in the last couple of days. Yes, NEO is up five percent in the last 24 hours but we don’t have market moving events. What is now available is that Aphelion wallet has been updated and is available for download while NEX is letting their supporters know their ICO progress.

Week over week, NEO is down one percent. As long NEO is still trading within April 25 bearish engulfing candlestick we shall remain neutral. I would like to see support at the middle BB at around $65 to $70 else buyers can enter this trade if prices move past $90. As before, NEO bulls should aim for $110.

 

The post NEO, Stellar Lumens, IOTA, Litecoin, EOS: Technical Analysis for April 28, 2018 appeared first on NewsBTC.

WhatEOS holds successful Sydney Roadshow, looks towards Melbourne

April 24, 2018 — Sydney, Australia — WhatEOS, an organization regrouping a community of EOS enthusiasts formed by companies supporting EOS blockchain technology including CollinStar Capital, successfully held its first roadshow in Sydney, Australia, on April, 20, 2018. At the event, held at Sydney’s Portside Centre, WhatEOS was introduced by marketing representative Acqeel Ziyad and security manager Roger Zhou to a full room of entrepreneurs, Blockchain and cryptocurrency specialists. The next stop will bring together EOS fans in Melbourne in May. The event was held in the presence of Jayden Wei, Managing Director of CollinStar Capital, and moderated by Acqeel Ziyad, who on top of

April 24, 2018 — Sydney, Australia — WhatEOS, an organization regrouping a community of EOS enthusiasts formed by companies supporting EOS blockchain technology including CollinStar Capital, successfully held its first roadshow in Sydney, Australia, on April, 20, 2018. At the event, held at Sydney’s Portside Centre, WhatEOS was introduced by marketing representative Acqeel Ziyad and security manager Roger Zhou to a full room of entrepreneurs, Blockchain and cryptocurrency specialists. The next stop will bring together EOS fans in Melbourne in May.

The event was held in the presence of Jayden Wei, Managing Director of CollinStar Capital, and moderated by Acqeel Ziyad, who on top of being a marketing representative for WhatEOS, is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of Fintech Review — a publication focusing on the intersection of finance and technology.

During his presentation, Acqeel emphasized that “EOS is a leader in the Blockchain sphere globally. Technologies being developed by the team are going to have a major impact on the way people see parts of Blockchain technology, most notably consensus algorithms such as EOS’ DPoS mechanism”.

Roger then introduced the organisation as one aiming to become Oceania’s most stable and secure EOS Block Producer (BP). EOS Block Producers are points of connection in a Blockchain which collect transactional information and pack them into blocks. According to the EOS.IO Technical White Paper, the consensus algorithm utilised by EOS — Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS) — requires 21 Block Producers to run the entirety of the EOS network.

Block Producer elections help mitigate centralization and maintain the stability of the EOS network. Using the DPoS algorithm, those who hold EOS tokens can vote for Block Producers through a continuous approval voting system. Anyone can choose to participate in block production, and will be given an opportunity to produce blocks, provided they can persuade token holders to vote for them.

Roger explained that to achieve this, “the WhatEOS team has created multiple specialist departments, including the cloud service development team, legal team, and a vetted security team, with additional help and support from world-renowned cryptocurrency development communities”.

WhatEOS uses local and cloud servers to store data, creating a hybrid system which will adopt the advantages, and alleviate some of the disadvantages of both systems. They take a multi-regional approach to building the node, which will help prevent it from facing certain geo-political obstacles while ensuring that it won’t be exclusively running in one single country for security and availability purposes.

WhatEOS consists of an exceedingly experienced and educated team, including members of many other highly successful Blockchain projects, exchange platforms and related companies. Many members of the team have previously worked on projects together and are able to communicate effectively with each other.

WhatEOS has a number of co-sponsors, providing funding to set up the crucial infrastructure to run the system. These consist of the aforementioned CollinStar Capital; Hyper Pay — a company providing a multi-functional zero-fee digital asset wallet; and JNB — an exchange platform based in Japan, focused on providing strong service, security and support.

Additionally, there are four main strategic partners joining WhatEOS. These are: Alibaba Cloud, who will be providing WhatEOS with world-class cloud computing infrastructure; Hatchstone, a VC investment and advisory firm, which will be providing legal and compliance advisory; and HPX, a cryptocurrency exchange with a focus on providing RMB pairs for leading cryptocurrencies with zero-fees for EOS trades. Finally, the CollinStar Joint Laboratory, based at Monash University’s Clayton campus in Melbourne, with a newly established arm at Hong Kong Polytechnic university, will provide necessary academic research to assist with WhatEOS’ future services.

The WhatEOS ecosystem is held accountable by a three-part system. Firstly, with a range of rigorous internal control measures, then using professional external auditing services to act as a more in-depth accountability system, and lastly by the community, ensuring that WhatEOS works in the best interests of the EOS and Blockchain community. The architecture of WhatEOS’ server is highly capable, with an advanced security design, incident response plan, and robust disaster recovery strategy. This, alongside WhatEOS’ technical capabilities including all aspects relating to the industry — from research to building core infrastructure, to complex management systems, to app development, and beyond, makes it a top-tier competitor in the race to become an EOS Block Producer.

Contact:

Influence Matters Public Relations

[email protected]

This is a sponsored press release and does not necessarily reflect the opinions or views held by any employees of The Merkle. This is not investment, trading, or gambling advice. Always conduct your own independent research.

U-VID’IFY Ltd. ICO Token Sale-Pre-Registration The First Video-Based Classified World Market, goes live 5/7/2018 12:00 UTC

(April 27, 2018) – The token sale for the world’s first video-based classified market and community, V-Commerce (virtual-commerce) has begun. U-VID’IFY is a revolutionary decentralized all-in-one global market application for mobile and pc use developed for virtual classified advertising, marketing, e-commerce and influential markets. This global powerhouse application offers its members low listing fees and rewards by offering incentives based on reviews and positive application candor. This creates more financial gain to consumers and businesses marketing goods and services while also creating an enjoyable marketplace. This is a win-win solution for global financial opportunities and marketing enterprises. Currently, consumers spend

(April 27, 2018) – The token sale for the world’s first video-based classified market and community, V-Commerce (virtual-commerce) has begun. U-VID’IFY is a revolutionary decentralized all-in-one global market application for mobile and pc use developed for virtual classified advertising, marketing, e-commerce and influential markets. This global powerhouse application offers its members low listing fees and rewards by offering incentives based on reviews and positive application candor. This creates more financial gain to consumers and businesses marketing goods and services while also creating an enjoyable marketplace. This is a win-win solution for global financial opportunities and marketing enterprises.

Currently, consumers spend $450 billion each year across e-commerce, social media, classifieds, influencing, careers and professional services. Current centralized platforms today are in desperate need of technical upgrades.  They’re stuck with 2D content, and pose serious risk of security, misrepresentation and fraud from centralized data housing. Additional flaws include: no authentication on products and services, no product origin and mobile authentication, KYC, lack of guarantees and claims for breach of trust. Also, there are no incentive driven systems for users to maximize profits for their application credibility.

U-VID’IFY changes the game and is specifically designed primarily for the dire need of consumer(s) protection and loyalty incentivized use. Now members have the ability to operate and conduct services in a safe, secure, fast and rewarding global virtual community. U-VID’IFY has the latest HD/4K native video advertising tools, user incentives and impenetrable security measures. Combined with smart contract transactions, proof of product and/or goods authentication It’s clear the U-VID’IFY application will become the leader in online advertising/marketing solutions.

UVD is an ERC20 token with a maximum supply of 22 billion. The crowdsale will offer 40% UVD tokens to the public starting on May 7, 2018 12: UTC for three rounds with discounts varying per round. Registration is now open for early entry, but tokens will only be available after May 7, 2018. Influencers and bounty participants will gain 6% UVD bonus tokens on all direct referrals from members assigned referral codes.

The platform will offer complete security for its members and token monetization from all possible methods of threat through turn key blockchain technology, smart contracts and blockchain based proof providers. Whether for e-commerce, branding, social awareness or influencing, U-VID’IFY offers 99% of goods sold online today in organized category and sub category directories. Users can easily acquire UVD tokens through the currency exchange directly on the iOS/Android app. All sales and reward tokens can be transferred, withdrawn or stored to any wallet that accepts ERC20 tokens or the application’s built in wallet. There are no limitations on withdrawals, transfers or UVD usage.

U-VID’IFY is superior and rises above all existing online advertising commerce platforms today. Key elements are low micro fees, impenetrable security and for the first time, incentive tokens for both buyers and sellers on review basis. The scope for financial independent margins is unlimited, and U-VID’IFY expects to meet and exceed global demand for many years to come.

Follow U-VID’IFY (UVD) token sale on Facebook, Twitter, Telegram, Medium and Reddit.

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For more information, please visit: https://www.uvidify.io/

This is a sponsored press release and does not necessarily reflect the opinions or views held by any employees of The Merkle. This is not investment, trading, or gambling advice. Always conduct your own independent research.

Helen Disney, Founder of Unblocked, Interview with Pradeep Goel, CEO and Founder, Solve.Care.

TheMerkle Qtum interviewPradeep: “Blockchain will put me – or people I trust – firmly in charge of my healthcare” Why is blockchain an appropriate technology for use in healthcare and in what ways do you see blockchain technology affecting the sector? Blockchain is a technology which can help us to fundamentally re-imagine the healthcare IT system architecture. You can imagine it being a bit like tipping a mainframe on its side. Current healthcare IT systems are mostly custom-built within their own silos, their own data structures and using their own business logic. They are all confined vertically and the owner dictates everything

TheMerkle Qtum interview

Pradeep: “Blockchain will put me – or people I trust – firmly in charge of my healthcare”

Why is blockchain an appropriate technology for use in healthcare and in what ways do you see blockchain technology affecting the sector?

Blockchain is a technology which can help us to fundamentally re-imagine the healthcare IT system architecture. You can imagine it being a bit like tipping a mainframe on its side. Current healthcare IT systems are mostly custom-built within their own silos, their own data structures and using their own business logic. They are all confined vertically and the owner dictates everything from back office functions to scheduling, access to care, delivery of care, payments, quality measurement and so on. By definition, this type of vertical architecture creates multiple, duplicative information and huge overheads. Since the consumer is not an empowered owner of their own data, it also leads to lack of access and lack of say for patients and many frustrations for doctors too. Both remain at the mercy of the system. By tipping the mainframe on its side, as I call it, to create a horizontal system, blockchain technology is allowing us to build healthcare systems that are not system-centric but relationship-centric. There will be no need for call centres or 3rd party intermediaries once we have these systems in place. That means we will be able to decentralise relationships and disintermediate the middlemen in healthcare. I believe blockchain’s impact on healthcare is not so much about data but much more exciting if it is instead viewed as a new way of organising healthcare relationships.

What are some of the bigger uses cases in healthcare that could benefit from blockchain technology?

There are probably 3 major use cases that are exciting to us right now and that we are also working on at Solve.Care Foundation:

Scheduling – In healthcare, scheduling appointments is currently a huge problem. No matter which country you live in, you have probably experienced the nightmare of trying to book a doctor’s appointment: engaged phone lines, inconvenient appointment hours, difficulty of rescheduling etc. The list goes on. Our approach is to create a frictionless scheduling system where a family doctor or specialist could share their available appointments and a smart contract would set out the terms of the appointment contract – e.g. what happens in the event of a cancellation, agreed length of appointment, complaints procedure, fee for appointment and/or cancellation etc. Automating the system in this way avoids the need for annoying phone calls, allows either the patient or the doctor to reschedule, facilitates smooth payment processes (if required) and provides transparency to all sides. There are so many smaller uses cases and efficiencies just within this one single procedure of scheduling – it’s amazing how much time, money and hassle this could save to patients all over the world.

Care Utilisation/Care.Protocol – This use case relates to how we access care and the quality of care we receive. So, let’s say we see our family doctor or a specialist and get some advice but we want a second opinion (or even a third opinion). How can we easily access that information and get analysis and advice at a price we can afford? Our Care.Protocol allows for storage of different types of ‘Сare.Сards’ stored in a personal digital healthcare wallet. These cards represent different types of new online services – for example, a 2nd Opinion Card could give you access to a marketplace of possible providers of second opinions. The 2nd Opinion card would notify providers the patient is looking for advice and their budget. A 2nd Opinion Smart Contract (a kind of computer program that executes agreed actions when agreed conditions are met) would then kick into action to offer the user the right advice at a price of their choice. The same type of innovation could also be used to fill prescriptions in a kind of prescription marketplace – would you prefer the medication to be delivered to your home at price A or collect from a local pharmacy at price B, or perhaps filled on a repeating, regular basis at price C, for example? Such services give the patient much more control and choice over their own care.

Billing and Payments – A large part of the administrative burden of healthcare relates to billing and payments, especially (but not exclusively) in insurance-based systems. Bills need to be checked so we need the ability to analyse and compare the bill to make sure it is accurate and fair. We may also want to enter a pharmacy marketplace to get better price discovery on the medication we buy – much quicker and easier than having to physically go to a whole bunch of different pharmacies in person. We may have medical reasons for checking prescriptions too – like avoiding dangerous drug interactions. What if the system could automatically check back on your medical history to make sure you don’t have prescriptions for medications that may be dangerous to take in combination? This type of innovation could save many many lives.

Is there a need for some kind of healthcare information architecture to be defined so that all the solutions being built on blockchain have some degree of commonality? If so, who should design this architecture – government or the private sector?

In my view, the role of government is not to design such an architecture but rather to set the rules of the game, such as ensuring compliance with data protection regulation like HIPAA in the USA or GDPR in Europe. The history of government-run healthcare IT systems is otherwise littered with failures so the best approach to creating such an architecture would be if thought leaders in the blockchain industry were to lead by example and/or if they could form a consortium to define industry standards and terminology. No healthcare IT infrastructure is ever static but perhaps regional architectures could be created. These architectures would meet the needs of different types of systems such as the UK/EU, or the US system and maybe a different type of architecture again is needed for less developed countries who may not have existing health IT infrastructure to battle with – that can even be a strength in building something new from the ground up.

In your past experience, when you were building healthcare IT systems, did you use a well-designed architecture and what did it look like? Is it applicable to blockchain?

Existing standards in healthcare are already there but they were designed for centralised systems not for blockchain-based systems so we need to take what works from the best of existing standards and then see what can be applied to a decentralised multi-party system. Solve.Care Foundation is already working on some ideas about creating such an architecture with the intent to publish it in 2018 as a common resource and we hope others will contribute to it as well.

How are you at Solve.Care implementing your own architecture? What are the key principles that you are using to design your own platform?

Information architecture is both a science and an art form. There are certain healthcare IT architecture principles relating to access, storage, audit etc. that are already well-defined and developed. They are actually similar in healthcare to what exists in finance. The art comes in the ability to think about data in a whole new way – in the context of relationships or what we call ‘entity pairs’ and how to manage all the data related to that pair effectively. So, what are the conditions for sharing data, what are the conditions under which access to data can be delegated and who has liability at each stage? These conditions and needs will be different for different entity pairs – say patient-doctor or doctor-doctor or doctor-insurer or patient-insurer. Blockchain technology is actually perfect for enforcing and managing the variety of bi-lateral relationships that exist in healthcare.

What should blockchain developers working on healthcare applications be careful about?

Different types of blockchains have different properties so we need to define what type of data we are working with and what is the transactional use case. Equally, don’t just pick on one blockchain that you like the look of and try to jam every use case into that framework – it just won’t work. In healthcare, for example, data is not homogenous so what works for managing clinical data might not work for managing clinical events – we need to marry the right type of blockchain to the right use case.

What advice would you give to someone trying to put Electronic Medical Records on a blockchain?

There are 3 major dimensions to healthcare data – clinical data (medical conditions, prescriptions, test results, quality of care), financial data (payments and billing) and administrative data (historical record of events that took place). Although many of the current blockchain healthcare startups are focused on clinical data and providing Electronic Medical Records using blockchain, 80% of healthcare data is actually financial and administrative. It may seem ‘boring’ but administrative functions are actually what users of healthcare systems struggle with the most and where most of the frustration sits with patients or their carers, doctors and nurses. EMRs are important but they are only a fraction of the problem and most current solutions are not being integrated with the care administration process. So entrepreneurs are focused on solving ownership of the results of our care but not on revolutionising how patients can actually access care in the first place and then manage their care. If we compare the healthcare system to booking flights before the Internet era, we can make an interesting comparison. Think of the time and expense taken just to do something like a flight booking, which we can now do at the click of a mouse – in the past you had to call the travel agent, pay them a large fee, wait while they discovered and compared prices for you, deal with all the admin. Processes of paying, receiving tickets in the mail and so on. Now we have online sites like Booking.com or Expedia where all these process are combined in very few steps – we have price discovery and comparison, plenty of information and choice, fairly frictionless payment and instant receipt of an e-ticket to our inbox. We can perhaps compare the future of healthcare using blockchain to this transformation. Being a patient will become more like being your own online healthcare travel agent. It will be a tremendously more efficient and fair way to transact on healthcare decision-making and will allow us to have a much more grown-up, transparent conversation about healthcare costs as well.

How will blockchain-based healthcare solutions deal with compliance issues like data security, privacy rules and so on?

Healthcare data security and privacy is very important but, when it comes to the application of blockchain technology to healthcare data, the debate has become over-simplified. We already have plenty of ability to encrypt and secure healthcare data. Of course the biggest risk in any system is the risk of data breaches – that applies whether the data is stored on a traditional server, in the Cloud or in a system using blockchain. Blockchain may actually even be helpful in allowing us to track down who was able to fraudulently access that data and how. The only solution to breaches in any system is proper diligence. But the real issue in managing healthcare data on blockchains is how to access that data with the proper consent. We need to look at consent management in a totally new way. This is why Solve.Care’s platform approaches consent management so carefully – by need, by person and by time. We need a robust consent module and – under certain conditions – a robust consent delegation module giving conditional access, such as access to data for next of kin if triggered by a care emergency. These layers of agreed access put me or only the people I trust firmly in charge of my care.

You have spent a quarter of a century building healthcare IT systems – what are the key dos and don’ts that others building the systems of the future need to know?

One key thing I have come to understand is that we need greater clarity of roles – no one has yet clearly articulated a plan for ownership of healthcare data, custodianship of that data and how we define the roles and liabilities of other users of that data. The flow of information and funds in most current healthcare token sales/Initial Coin Offerings is not addressing these points. The contractual terms involved in the new healthcare arrangements we are talking about may be more complex for consumers to understand so there is perhaps going to be a greater role for healthcare advocates and educators to guide patients on what types of terms and conditions they are willing to sign up to. But we also need to think about this provision of information in news ways. So this guidance, for example, can also be provided within an online care community. Just as your smartphone knows when you are driving by sensing your speed of movement and offers to turn off your message alerts to prevent dangerous distractions, so an online care community could use aspects of healthcare data transparency to the patient’s advantage. Occurrence of a particular care event could trigger certain care cards to pop up automatically inside your healthcare wallet. So let’s say you have an accident which affects your mobility, a healthcare transportation card might appear in your wallet giving you various options to travel to a doctor’s appointment. Once we have the right healthcare IT architecture in place, a wealth of innovative possibilities will come from a kind of ‘healthcare app store’ created by the community itself solving and responding to its own problems. Community volunteers could offer a rota for car sharing rides to local patients who can’t drive but need to go and collect their medication, for example. Once we build a sharing economy for healthcare, the potential for redefining healthcare and harnessing human ingenuity and goodwill in these new types of way is almost unimaginable.

This is a sponsored press release and does not necessarily reflect the opinions or views held by any employees of The Merkle. This is not investment, trading, or gambling advice. Always conduct your own independent research.

Yondo ICO To Shape The Future of Online Video With Artificial Intelligence

Listed amongst Google Docs, Slack and Mailchimp as one of the“Top 9 Must-Have Online Tools” on Forbes.com  (1).  The leading all-in-one ecommerce video solution, Yondo, goes crypto to shape the future of online video. Yondo continues to lead the video marketing world and is upgrading its platform with the latest in tech trends via its ICO: AI-based video. AI implementation featuring a specially-developed video bot that provides users with interactivity, information and customization during the video. The video bot generates information related to the video on demand. This can be recipes for cooking shows, facts for history lectures or any

Listed amongst Google Docs, Slack and Mailchimp as one of the“Top 9 Must-Have Online Tools” on Forbes.com  (1).  The leading all-in-one ecommerce video solution, Yondo, goes crypto to shape the future of online video.

Yondo continues to lead the video marketing world and is upgrading its platform with the latest in tech trends via its ICO:

AI-based video. AI implementation featuring a specially-developed video bot that provides users with interactivity, information and customization during the video.

The video bot generates information related to the video on demand. This can be recipes for cooking shows, facts for history lectures or any other relevant material. Viewers are totally immersed and informed, taking promotion and user interactivity to a whole new level.

Blockchain network. Blockchain alongside AI and decentralized computing for the platform will make transactions transparent, reduce fees and serve as a platform for Yondo loyalty programs. Smart Contract functionality will also be based on the blockchain network.

All of this is part of a strong outlook for Yondo, with the company operating in 114 countries, offering integrations with over 30 of the world’s top online services and experiencing business growth of over 200% in the last 6 months.

Yondo Tokens promise strong growth as they will be widely used within the already popular platform and directly connected to the company rewards system. Learn more about YON distribution in Yondo’s White Paper.

If you were looking for a promising product that’s ready to go, Yondo is your ICO of choice. Be part of the future of online video, with Yondo’s presale.

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Contact information

Valeriya Shcherbina

Communications Manager
[email protected]

This is a sponsored press release and does not necessarily reflect the opinions or views held by any employees of The Merkle. This is not investment, trading, or gambling advice. Always conduct your own independent research.

Tokenbox reveals latest Roadmap for 2018

Tokenbox ecosystem is advancing in a very rapid pace. After shaping and growing the team of blockchain and FinTech oriented professionals, Tokenbox revealed a renewed Roadmap that features further steps of creating the platform up until the end of 2018. As of now, the team is working on the “invisible” part of the platform, its very core, including the backend and stack development. May and June promise to be eventful for Tokenbox. First, in several weeks first users will be able to register on the platform, authorize and pass the KYC procedure. A multi-currency wallet, one of the main features,

Tokenbox ecosystem is advancing in a very rapid pace. After shaping and growing the team of blockchain and FinTech oriented professionals, Tokenbox revealed a renewed Roadmap that features further steps of creating the platform up until the end of 2018.

As of now, the team is working on the “invisible” part of the platform, its very core, including the backend and stack development.

May and June promise to be eventful for Tokenbox. First, in several weeks first users will be able to register on the platform, authorize and pass the KYC procedure. A multi-currency wallet, one of the main features, will be available along with a payment processing option and some built-in analytics tools. Referral program will get a nice bonus to those users who refer Tokenbox to a friend.

This summer the Alpha- & Beta- versions of Tokenbox platform will be revealed. They will feature a customer analytics module, a rating system, an internal risk management system, integration with trading terminals. At the end of Q3 demo accounts trading will be finally replaced by real accounts.

Q4 is very important: Tokenbox platform is expected to launch, fully operational. Users will be able to use an investment account and tokenize their funds. The legal team expects to receive the DLT license of Gibraltar.

The timeline is said to be the minimum plan for this year. The Roadmap will definitely be expanded at some point, according to feedback that the team expects to get from the pioneers, those who register first.

And if it’s still not enough — in a short yet informative interview Tokenbox Chief Technical Officer Max Lukutin explains how the process of the platform’s creation is actually going on.

This is a sponsored press release and does not necessarily reflect the opinions or views held by any employees of The Merkle. This is not investment, trading, or gambling advice. Always conduct your own independent research.

Nasdaq, Bank of America: Cryptocurrencies Pose a Threat and Should be Regulated

The CEOs of Nasdaq Inc. and Bank of America Corp. have said that cryptocurrencies pose a threat and that they should be regulated. Adena Friedman, CEO of Nasdaq, and Brian Moynihan, CEO of Bank of America, were both speaking at a conference in New York hosted by the MIT Sloan School of Management on Friday, reports Bloomberg.

The post Nasdaq, Bank of America: Cryptocurrencies Pose a Threat and Should be Regulated appeared first on NewsBTC.

The CEOs of Nasdaq Inc. and Bank of America Corp. have said that cryptocurrencies pose a threat and that they should be regulated.

Adena Friedman, CEO of Nasdaq, and Brian Moynihan, CEO of Bank of America, were both speaking at a conference in New York hosted by the MIT Sloan School of Management on Friday, reports Bloomberg.

According to Friedman, initial coin offerings (ICOs) should be subjected to securities laws, an argument that has been heard from Jay Clayton, chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). As a result, the agency has issued several subpoenas to companies in order to determine how ICOs are presented to potential customers. The agency has also warned of pump-and-dump schemes involving them.

During the conference, Friedman stated that retail investors deserved protection if they were going to put their money into a product, whereas Moynihan argued that cryptocurrencies could be used for illegal reasons.

“The idea of anonymous currencies just never turned out to be a good thing,” Moynihan told the conference. “You have a real potential risk.”

He added that the use of digital currencies could fill a gap to move large sums of illicit money, which fiat money can’t do because high denomination bills don’t exist, and because of the anonymity that some cryptocurrencies present.

Interestingly, these comments from Friedman come at a time when the CEO said earlier this week that the stock exchange would be open to becoming a cryptocurrency exchange once the industry has matured. In an interview with CNBC, she said: ‘I believe that digital currencies will continue to persist it’s just a matter of how long it will take for that space to mature.’ Nasdaq is also teaming up with Gemini, the digital currency exchange founded by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, to use its SMARTS technology to monitor trading manipulation.

However, while the Bank of America claimed in its annual filing in February, to the SEC, that the cryptocurrency market is a risk to its business, its competitors have been showing increasing interest in the industry. Earlier this week, it was reported that Goldman Sachs had made its first hire in its cryptocurrency markets unit, signalling its seriousness in helping clients to invest in digital currencies.

Since December, the Wall Street bank has been hinting at setting up a trading desk dealing with digital currencies. The bank is aiming to have its platform up and running by the summer of 2018, at the latest.

Image from Shutterstock.

The post Nasdaq, Bank of America: Cryptocurrencies Pose a Threat and Should be Regulated appeared first on NewsBTC.

Is the Tokyo bitcoin whale set to strike again? – MarketWatch

Bitcoin News (press release)Is the Tokyo bitcoin whale set to strike again?MarketWatchSpeculation is growing that the trustees for the now-defunct Mt. Gox cryptocurrency exchange are getting set for another significant bitcoin sale. On April 26, a webs…


Bitcoin News (press release)

Is the Tokyo bitcoin whale set to strike again?
MarketWatch
Speculation is growing that the trustees for the now-defunct Mt. Gox cryptocurrency exchange are getting set for another significant bitcoin sale. On April 26, a website that tracks the Mt. Gox cryptocurrency wallets indicated that the trust had ...
Bitcoin Markets Steady for Another Gox Dump, 16000 Coins Moved by TrusteeBitcoin News (press release)
Bitcoin price crash fears raised after Mt Gox transfers 16000 tokensTrustedReviews
Cryptocurrency Price Update: Bitcoin Futures Increase While $10000 Resistance HoldsCoinJournal (blog)
CCN
all 20 news articles »

Singapore’s Fast Track Patents and Crypto Ride-Hailing Show Fintech Enthusiasm

The Singapore government has just announced its FinTech Fast Track Initiative, which seeks to accelerate patent granting processes for many fintech areas, including blockchain-based payments. Low Yen Ling, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Ministry of Trade and Industry and Ministry of Education, announced the programme during the 2018 World Intellectual Property Day on the 26th April. …

The post Singapore’s Fast Track Patents and Crypto Ride-Hailing Show Fintech Enthusiasm appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

The Singapore government has just announced its FinTech Fast Track Initiative, which seeks to accelerate patent granting processes for many fintech areas, including blockchain-based payments.

Low Yen Ling, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Ministry of Trade and Industry and Ministry of Education, announced the programme during the 2018 World Intellectual Property Day on the 26th April.

Singapore’s Intellectual property Office hopes to shorten the fintech application process from its current 2 years to about 6 months, stating that a technology that utilizes blockchain to facilitate banking payments will be eligible under the new fast-track scheme. The IP office stated that “The incorporation of blockchain technology to improve the security and efficiency of clearing and settlement across borders for transaction and payment is deemed as a Fintech invention.”

The new initiative is seen by many as a further indication of Singapore’s desire to be amongst Asian frontrunners such as Japan in the promotion of the technology in the region, and also to promote and develop its overall use in Singapore’s fintech sector.

The move comes just weeks after the Singapore government launched a blockchain competition with government funding in a bid to reward and select successful blockchain startups.

Singapore has recently seen new areas open up for blockchain and cryptocurrency, such as the ride-hailing market. First Uber, and more recently “Grab,” after the Uber/Grab merger, has cornered the market, but now five new players have emerged, including Singapore based MVL.

MVL says it wants a revolution, not profit, enabling the transparent sharing of the all data related to driving, accidents, repairs and other mobility related transactions. It claims its blockchain platform will gather and track data on vehicle activity, and customers providing data themselves will be awarded MVL points, which can then be converted into MVL coins. Riders will receive rewards for rating their drivers and drivers will be rewarded for safe driving and data collection.

Talking to Singapore’s Straits Times, Hugh Mason, chief of corporate innovation firm JFD claims that the dynamism in Singapore’s ride-hailing market is “fantastic” and “just within a few years the disrupters are being disrupted themselves”

 

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