Day: August 24, 2018

People’s Bank of China, Chinese Government warn citizens over “lawless entities” masquerading as legitimate blockchain-related companies

A major potential of blockchain technology is its ability to empower the underserved and disenfranchised across the world. Sovereign Native American nations throughout the United States represent perhaps one of the groups that can most benefit from the possibilities of blockchain. Initiatives by NEM in the US are looking to work with Native Americans across the country.

On August 18, at the 100th annual Crow Fair, NEM systems were demonstrated to the sovereign Crow tribe in Montana. Through collaboration with He3Labs, a network of blockchain experts, and Universal Tribe Partners (UTP), an organization of current and former Native American tribal and business leaders working to connect reservation citizens with economic opportunities, a demo of the NEM infrastructure was held.

The demo included a comprehensive blockchain ecosystem for e-governance and currency, built with NEM’s Catapult Blockchain Engine. Catapult enables the creation of public and private blockchains that leverage the network and smart contract capabilities of the NEM framework.

Rather than building solutions upon existing tribal infrastructure, He3Labs and NEM elected to create an entirely new system from the ground up, as to not inhibit the potential of future expansions and developments of the system or integration with other sovereign tribes.

If all goes well, the goal is to roll out this method of blockchain e-governance to the Crow tribe as well as other tribes throughout the United States. Additionally, there are plans to build blockchain technology hubs on reservations across the states to educate citizens on the capabilities and opportunities associated with developing on and interacting with blockchain architecture. The hubs will also act as resources to connect Native Americans to the global digital economy.

Many reservations remain highly disconnected from surrounding areas, lacking infrastructure in the form of adequate housing and economic and educational opportunities. Unemployment across reservation lands exceeds 20%, and in some tribes, it’s greater than even 60%. As a result, poor health, high suicide rates, drug and alcohol abuse, and many more woes plague these indigenous people.

Blockchain-based e-governance and currency systems will act as a monumental step in developing political and economic infrastructure among the sovereign nations. Additionally, the blockchain hubs will present unrivaled educational and economic opportunities, alleviating the burdens of poverty and unemployment and vastly empowering the currently underserved 1 million-plus Native Americans currently residing on reservation land.

For NEM, this cooperation also has significant implications. Particularly on reservations that operate casinos and other successful business ventures, there are often situations where residents receive significant income from the tribal government, but lack methods to invest or save their money. By providing hands-on exposure to the people who need it most, it is very possible that cryptocurrency will see a lot of activity and investment from Native Americans.

At this moment in time, it is estimated that the average utility consumer spends 20 minutes in a queue to pay their bills 3 to 4 times a month. Over a lifetime, this results in 1,000 frustrating hours wasted for paying utility bills, often complicated by payment systems and missed due dates.

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For the unbanked population, things are more difficult, granted the lack of payment options, the gaps between what utility companies promise and what they deliver, alongside a longer period of time spent waiting in lines.

Introducing Treon

Treon represents an exciting blockchain project, designed with the purpose of disrupting the utility bills market. It hopes to achieve this by providing 1.6 billion households worldwide with a utility payment service, centered on transparency, savings and ease of payment.

Treon’s mobile application will help the unbanked population pay for their utilities digitally, via the Ethereum-based TXO token. The smart contracts functionality will ensure that recurring payments are taken care of in a timely manner, without involving banks. Additionally, the Treon ecosystem will provide a one-stop payment solution that can be used to manage bills to multiple companies.

Cost Savings

In the long run, the service is bound to bring customers savings, as it completely eliminates delayed payments and the associated penalty fees. It also helps keep track of all funds spent on utilities, for better financial planning.

Consumer & Company Benefits

Treon consumers will get access to a user-friendly consolidated view, management of separate utility accounts, the possibility to change and optimize consumption, easy top-up & payment options, smart notifications and rewards as part of the loyalty program.

On the other hand, company benefits include savings on transaction fees, industry involvement, educating customers, application support, incentivising green energy usage and more.

Accessing an Untapped Market

A worldbank.org research has concluded that out of the world’s 2 billion unbanked population, two-thirds own a smartphone, which can be used to access the Treon ecosystem. In other words, the platform will enable users to pay their bills from virtually anywhere, as long as they have a smartphone and an internet connection.

It is believed that Treon will access an untapped market, filled with opportunities in Africa, South America and the Middle East. Given the team’s experience in this region, it is likely that mass-adoption of Treon will unlock a trillion dollar market.

Follow Treon on Telegram or subscribe to their vitalist here for updates and more information.

Creditors of the defunct bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox can now start to submit proofs for claiming refunds in the exchange’s rehabilitation process.

Listen to the 23 August 2018 Bitcoin News Radio Show below.

On this edition of the Bitcoin News daily radio show, we start with a discussion on how the SEC rejected nine Bitcoin ETFs, but has stayed the decision on five until further review. We also discuss how BitMEX is buying one of the most expensive offices in the world. Hear about how China is eradicating crypto trading sites. Learn about an exclusive article on Bitcoin News about the hyperinflation and Petro situation in Venezuela.

Follow the Bitcoin News Radio Show on Anchor, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Radio Public, Pocket Casts, and Breaker. We broadcast a new episode every day, covering the most important topics in the crypto, Bitcoin, and blockchain world!

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Some of the more intriguing developments in the cryptocurrency world take place outside of the top 20 ranked by market cap. Although these changes for smaller-cap currencies usually reflect pump-and-dump cycles, they are interesting nonetheless. For the Theta Token price, things are heading in a sharp upward direction. Massive gains across the board push this small altcoin to a $70m market cap.

Theta Token Price Surges Hard

It is not uncommon for smaller-cap altcoins and tokens to note gains which would normally be impossible. Cryptocurrencies are very fickle creatures, and that volatility often works in both directions. In the case of the Theta Token price, it is evident these gains may not last all that long. Even so, the current level of gains is nothing short of amazing, especially because its value has nearly doubled in just 24 hours.

To put this in its proper perspective, the Theta Token price has increased by 39.56% in the past day. because of this gain, its total value is now over $0.1 per token, with a market cap of just over $70m. One could argue smaller-cap coins are far easier to manipulate, but these gains are not necessarily a sign of the classical pump-and-dump schemes. Only time will tell if there is any real merit to this price increase at such a crucial time for all cryptocurrencies.

This massive Theta Token price gain would not be possible with major changes in the BTC and ETH ratios for this altcoin. THETA Has gained 36.55% over Bitcoin and 36.39% over Ethereum in these past few hours. Combined with the minor USD gain Bitcoin notes at the time of writing, it is only normal the overall Theta Token price sees a major increase in very quick succession.

Whereas some people would assume this current price increase is done through little trading volume, that is not the case. Instead, Theta Token notes $22.87m in 24-hour volume. It represents nearly one-third of its current market cap, which may indicate a lot of coins are simply going back and forth to spike the numbers. Even so, it seems a well-fueled uptrend which may spill over to the weekend.

Surprisingly, most of the THETA volume is coming from Binance and Huobi. This token is listed on some relatively big exchanges, despite most traders being unaware this altcoin even exists. Binance’s BTC pair is ahead of Huobi’s USDT and BTC markets. Binance and Huobi each add an ETH market to complete the top five. Other notable exchanges trading THETA include OKEx and Gate.io, albeit in far less spectacular fashion. No fiat currency pairs are active for this altcoin at this time.

It is impossible to determine how long this positive Theta Token price momentum will last. Current gains seem unsustainable for the long run, although the same was said in September 2017 when the markets rallied for five months on end. A major cryptocurrency market reversal is not on the horizon just yet, but this altcoin shows not everything is doom and gloom where cryptocurrencies are concerned.

With the help of Deloitte, Nasdaq and others, Singapore’s de facto central bank plans to ease tokenized asset settlements

Third-generation decentralized blockchain project Skycoin is now seeking to expand their influence by setting foot into the South Korean market.

The makers of Skycoin’s high-performance ecosystem seeks to introduce a new decentralized networking protocol to displace the inefficient blockchains and their flaws, resulting in a new internet that is faster, more secure, and totally decentralized.

Skycoin pays tribute to Bitcoin as the first generation of decentralized economics for its role in giving global users access to finances only they control, and to Ethereum as Blockchain 2.0, for giving a platform for thousands of Dapps and blockchain projects to launch easily.

But Skycoin is Blockchain 3.0, built from scratch to realize an incentivized ecosystem to promote decentralization and privacy, with an ability to scale indefinitely. It takes the best from Bitcoin and Ethereum, but addresses the persistent issues of speed, centralization and scaling, that have constantly plagued these early blockchain networks.

The full Skycoin suite of technologies form an ecosystem that works harmoniously together.

Skycoin acts as the native digital asset that generates network bandwidth via the production of Coin Hours. Skywire will be the wireless and decentralized mesh network to create a Web 3.0 that is as fast as it is secure. Obelisk is the new consensus algorithm distributing a “web of trust”. Fiber is the parallel network of blockchains that can scale infinitely.

The latest generation of blockchain

Instead of the congestion experienced when multiple blockchain projects housed on one network work simultaneously, Fiber can scale as and when needed. It does so by using parallel blockchains, giving apps 100% customized implementations. In fact, the more projects Fiber hosts, the stronger the system is.

Ethereum’s security issues are also solved by Skycoin’s programming language, CX, which lets users code contractual agreements on blockchain while letting them change these contracts to fix any bugs found. CX looks at the average programmer’s premise of security, making it a general purpose programming language.

Skycoin is all about the real world, tackling actual issues and rewarding Skywire users with financial incentives.

A new horizon in South Korea

Skycoin recognizes South Korea as a country leading the pack in technological advancement. The Bloomberg innovation index puts them consistently in the top spot, while they hold a leading position in technical density.

Its embracement of blockchain is demonstrated by the implementation of classification standards and regulatory frameworks, where its largest conglomerates are already supporting some of the largest crypto exchanges.

This nurturing environment will only help to roll out decentralized technology, with a further advantage of the innate desire of South Koreans to develop products that are simple, fun and easy to use. Their progression from paid texting to free-text apps led to the development of smartphone apps like Kakao Talk have resulted in high user experiences that led them to overtake first movers, and is now the country’s most popular platform. This same philosophy of customer-centric tech is clear in their blockchain approach.

While Ethereum paved the way for a piloting of decentralized tech, Skycoin has built upon and perfected these ideas, resulting in an incentivized platform that can already be easily used. It hopes that this will be recognized and used to help blockchain adoption in the region.

To learn more, visit the Skycoin website and read the whitepaper. Join the Skycoin community on Telegram and on Twitter.

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