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Fritz
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BlockChains go Main Stream
« on: 2015-04-04 10:55:03 » |
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Seems folks are really starting to use BlockChains as found in BitCoin for business solutions. Though as the banks get involved I wonder how they will try to scam it for their profits.
Cheers
Fritz
Swiss Banking Giant to Open Bitcoin Block Chain Lab
Source: Cryptocoins News
Author: Joel Dalais
Date: 2015.04.03
The Wall Street Journal has reported that Swiss banking giant UBS have now publicly stated their plans to open a technology lab in London to explore block chain technology and applicable usage in financial services. More banks are dipping their feet in the proverbial waters of the cryptocurrency sector; is this another stone upon the starting avalanche?
The lab will open later this month at Canary Wharf in London (UK), in the Fintech accelerator space Level39. The lab team and external guests will be tasked with experimenting with block chain tech and designing ways how it can be adapted to various existing financial services to make such services more efficient and cost effective.
Potentially such projects as how the block chain can be better used than traditional services to reduce risk, possibly due to the publicly open transparent model. And to design ways to manage and analyze vast amounts of data, such as would be contained within a block chain of services.
This move is a key example of how big players that already exist within the financial sector are starting to see the future potentials of block chain tech, past the currency. The wall street journal reports that many in financial services have expressed interest in the technology behind bitcoin. The interest is also evident from recent employment opportunities from Nationwide and Worldpay; both have been looking for block chain professionals.
LLC to Integrate Blockchain-Based RibbitRewards
Source: Ribbit
Author: Marketwired
Date: 2015.04.03
Key Facts
RibbitRewards™ is the first rewards program based on blockchain technology (patent pending), the same technology Bitcoin uses.
Card Capture International can now position to seamlessly offer RibbitRewards to both merchants and consumers through its credit and debit processing channels.
Ribbit.me is set to launch Marketplace.life™, the first-ever p2p marketplace where buyers and sellers earn RibbitRewards for each transaction, with Card Capture International's merchant services accepting major credit cards.
Ribbit.me, the creator of RibbitRewards, the world's first rewards program based on blockchain technology and with its own marketplace, today announced a strategic partnership for Card Capture International DBA Cocard to serve as a merchant processor on Marketplace.life and to incorporate Ribbit.me's blockchain-based RibbitRewards program into its payment processing portfolio.
Marketplace.life is an eBay-like, p2p marketplace where merchants and shoppers benefit from the convenience of using one rewards program for all of their purchases, while earning RibbitRewards for each transaction. The marketplace is easy and free for all to use, accepting all major currencies, both fiat and digital. A percentage of RibbitRewards go to buyers, sellers and to charity.
"Card Capture's expansive merchant base is an ideal entry point for mainstreaming our rewards program built on blockchain technology," said Sean Dennis, Ribbit.me CEO. "The RibbitRewards program has the potential to save billions of dollars a year across the rewards industry from operating efficiencies, consolidating rewards onto one platform and taking it off balance sheet. We are excited for Card Capture International to be among the first to realize these benefits."
"We are pleased to embark down this innovative path with Ribbit.me and believe our investment in their success will have long term financial benefits for our merchants," said Elan Bennett, Card Capture International Owner. "The team at Ribbit.me is comprised of progressive and forward thinkers with sound financial backgrounds in payments, banking and technology. Taking this step with them puts us on the forefront of what is now almost certain to become the future underpinning of all rewards programs."
Ribbit.me is developing a retail plug-in and mobile app so that RibbitRewards can be earned on any merchant platform. Watch for signs that say "Earn RibbitRewards Here" to appear in retail shopping outlets soon.
About Ribbit.me
Ribbit.me! USA is a U.S.-based Delaware C Corp. Our mailing address is P.O. Box 1817, NY, NY 10159. For more information about RibbitRewards, visit www.ribbit.me. You can also follow us on Facebook (facebook.com/Ribbit.me and facebook.com/Marketplace.life) and Twitter (@RibbitRewards).
Embedded Video Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_09gwWKfvk
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Where there is the necessary technical skill to move mountains, there is no need for the faith that moves mountains -anon-
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Fritz
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Re:BlockChains go Main Stream
« Reply #1 on: 2015-04-19 17:30:00 » |
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nod to Sat; the change is happening.
Cheers
Fritz
Source: TNW
Author: Sander Duivestein
Date: 2015.04.17
This research is courtesy of Sander Duivestein, professional speaker and trendwatcher at VINT, the International Research Institute of Sogeti
A symbol for ‘nothing’ doesn’t seem to mean very much, but the biography of the number ‘zero’ shows what a dangerous idea it has been since its very first creation. The Sumerians of ancient Babylon invented it about 5,000 years ago, the Greeks banned it, the Hindus worshiped it, and the Church branded it as demonic figure that implied the negation of God.
Rehabilitation started in northern Italy in the 13th century. Zero became the most important tool in mathematics. It enabled the merchants of Venice to create modern finance: they invented the double-entry bookkeeping system. In her book ‘Double Entry’ author Jane Gleeson-White states that double-entry bookkeeping is ‘one of the greatest advances in the history of business and commerce’. She argues that ‘the process of recording profit and loss was nothing short of revolutionary: it fuelled the Renaissance, enabled capitalism to flourish, and created the global economy.’
Jacob Soll, the author of ‘The Reckoning’, states that basic accounting tools not only form the basis of modern capitalism but also of ‘the nation-state’. Our present is the outcome of this innovative system of accounting.
The acceptance of the double-entry bookkeeping system didn’t happen overnight. One of the main obstacles was the Church. Pope Leo the Great forbade charging interest on loans by canon law. In his eyes banking was sinful. It was prohibited to profit from money ‘without working’. Soon various ways around the prohibition were devised. Christianity and Judaism generally ban usury, but allowed usury towards heretics. Thus Christians could lend to Jews and vice versa.
History repeats itself
With the introduction of the binary number system, the base-2 internal machine language of computers, we are now seeing the dawn of a new system for double-entry accounting. Instead of using a centralized ledger — that is controlled by banks, notaries and insurance companies — the Bitcoin Blockchain proposes a new distributed bookkeeping system, where every node in the network maintains its own copy of the ledger. The ledger is completely transparent, everybody has the same view on reality. There is an excellent video that explains it further over on Khan Academy.
The blockchain is a shared single source of truth. Or as Alex and Don Tapscott explained it: ’It basically enables a global spreadsheet — an incorruptible digital ledger of economic transactions that can be programmed to record not just financial transactions but virtually everything of value and importance to humankind: birth and death certificates, marriage licenses, deeds and titles of ownership, educational degrees, financial accounts, medical procedures, insurance claims, votes, transactions between smart objects, and anything else that can be expressed in code.’
No wonder that the popes of our modern economy find it hard to grasp how Bitcoin and blockchain technology works. A new Renaissance might be at the horizon. The blockchain not only radically transforms the way we do commerce, but it basically redefines the nature of the firm and has the potential to fundamentally shift the way in which our society is hierarchically organised.
A supercomputer for any kind of reality
Melanie Swan, author of ‘Blockchain: Blueprint for a new economy’ says that ‘in some sense, blockchain technology could be a supercomputer for reality.’
n his upcoming book ‘The Blockchain: Mapping the future of decentralization’ author Simon de la Rouviere builds upon this idea. He argues that the blockchain can even support ‘alternate realities as legitimate avenues to “live” in several ways’.
Using a combination of decentralized finance, property, trade, organisations, artificial intelligence and law, it not only creates a decentralized basis for our current reality, but any other one.’ So the blockchain is basically a supercomputer for every kind of reality we can imagine. It’s a ‘computational universe with true time dimensionality.’
The possibilities are endless. At the moment we are only scratching the surface of what alternate realities blockchain might enable. Just think of all the virtual realities that the blockchain can support: Minecraft, the massive multiplayer online game EVE Online, just to name a few. And what about Oculus Rift? Last year Mark Zuckerberg acquired the company for $2 billion. During his keynote session at the F8 conference he showed the above picture that summarises his vision for Facebook neatly.
Facebook moves from simple text messages to realtime virtual reality experiences. In the near future billions of people will communicate, interact, play and trade with each other in the virtual reality that Facebook displays on their eyeballs.
The blockchain might be the ultimate protocol to support this kind of global digital nation. With bitcoin blockchain there are no borders or limits. Blockchain cracks Pandora’s Box. It’s a rabbit hole inside of a rabbit hole inside of a rabbit hole…
Robocorps and robosociety
In his book ‘Sapiens’ author Yuval Noah Harari tells a brief history of humankind. He explains that one of the things that separates us humans from animals is the fact that we can imagine things. ‘Fiction has enabled us not merely to imagine things, but to do so collectively.’ One of the greatest figments of our collective imagination are corporations.
Humans have invented corporations to overcome the boundaries of Dunbar’s number, the ‘cognitive limit to the number of people with whom one can maintain stable social relationships.’ Over the last couple of centuries these companies have become the main players in our economic arena. Measured by their generated income, some of these structures are even bigger than nation states!
Now, with the invention of the bitcoin blockchain, the idea of corporations is evolving. Blockchain removes all kinds of friction. In doing so, it enables leaderless organizations. Companies whose mission statement is encoded into the blockchain and can thus operate completely autonomously. These so called Decentralized Autonomous Corporations (DACs) aka Robocorps are a new economic entity, next to people and corporations, that are entering and participating in our economy and society.
Wrong Side of History
For centuries, ‘capitalism’s basic institution‘, the corporation, has remained relatively unchanged.
Hierarchy, vertical integration and bureaucracy — hallmarks of the industrial age — still reign. We now stand at the edge of a new digital revolution. The internet is beginning a new phase of decentralization. As I’ve explained at the beginning of this article, the decentralized ledger removes all kinds of friction and thus the need for intermediaries. It therefore creates an alternative future that enables a new kind of company, a new kind of economy and a new kind of democracy and society. The future is the reverse of the centralized 20st century.
In a recent interview, former U.S. treasury secretary Larry Summers, one of the world’s most influential economic thinkers, made the following statement: ‘The people who rejected the internet as a curiosity for scientists were on the wrong side of history, the people who rejected digital photography as really an artificial thing were on the wrong side of history, and the people who felt that nongimmicky tennis racquets were made with wood were on the wrong side of history.
So it seems to me that the people who confidently reject all the innovation here [in new (blockchain-based) payment and monetary systems] are on the wrong side of history.”
It’s time for companies to wake up . Don’t fight the new system, but experiment with it and try to innovate. Embrace the possibilities of the bitcoin blockchain. It’s Digital Darwinism: adapt or die.
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Where there is the necessary technical skill to move mountains, there is no need for the faith that moves mountains -anon-
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Re:BlockChains go Main Stream
« Reply #2 on: 2015-05-01 14:22:32 » |
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One more step to main stream; freezing the rate at transaction time, converting to the vendors currency, all move this to a solution that might take. I still am concerned the Banks are going to find a way to game this like everything else they have touched.
Cheers
Fritz
This Digital Wallet Could Finally Get You Into Bitcoin
Source: Wired
Author: Davey Alba
Date: 2015.04.30
Jeremy Allaire wants everyone to use bitcoin.
Allaire is the co-founder and CEO of Circle, a digital currency startup that also touts a bitcoin wallet, which the company released last September. While bitcoin has grown in popularity in recent years, it’s still widely seen as money for privacy-minded geeks. Allaire wants to change that perception, which is why the next version of Circle’s wallet is designed to let users also hold, send, and receive US dollars.
In other words, the Circle wallet will soon work just like Venmo or any other money-transfer app, except it also works seamlessly with bitcoin, so you can handle your money in the form you value the most. The new features are slowly rolling out to Circle users over the next few weeks, but you can sign up for a preview today.
“We’ve been in a kind of ‘speculative value’ phase with bitcoin so far, which has been all about bitcoin the asset, and people trading, buying and selling it,” says Allaire. “But mainstream users should also be able to get the benefits of the utility value of the bitcoin protocol—how it’s instant, global, secure and free.”
A Hybrid System
Allaire acknowledges that the idea behind its wallet has already been out in the wild. Using bitcoin as part of a payment system is not a new phenomenon, especially among online payments startups. BitPay, Coinbase and Braintree—which feed into both eBay and PayPal—can already process bitcoin for merchants. In February, influential payments startup Stripe, which helps drive payments on everything from Facebook to Lyft, also went all-in onbitcoin bandwagon.
But as Allaire points out, these payment processor startups simply give merchants the ability to receive bitcoin payments, which are instantly converted to the currency of the merchants’ choice. For the everyday consumers, user-friendly options for paying with bitcoin are limited, which has slowed mainstream adoption of the digital currency.
Circle’s new features are meant to reduce the friction of using bitcoin. “If I say I believe in the bitcoin movement and I want to hold bitcoin instead of dollars, but a friend doesn’t necessarily care about bitcoin, or even care that I want to have bitcoin, that’s fine,” Allaire says. “Circle will convert any money that friend sends me to bitcoin, but make it so that they would still be sending dollars.”
One other feature the company offers is absorbing the risk of volatility in case the value of bitcoin fluctuates during a money transfer—it freezes bitcoin’s value right when the sender initiates the transaction.
Open Borders
He compares the broader effort to the way information travels online. “The bet we’re making as a company is that we’re moving into this phase where value transfer is based on open protocols in the same way that transferring information on the internet is based on open protocols,” he says.
Eventually, Allaire explains, Circle wants to be able to make it so that transferring money is just as free as moving any other kind of information on the internet across countries and borders. But it’s trickier, he says, because of bureaucracy, which requires banking partners in different countries and licensing from governments. Circle already has some operations set up in Europe, and it’s eyeing China, Allaire says.
But Allaire is a bitcoin believer who thinks true cross-border payments are only a matter of time. “We want to allow people to be able to send and receive money not through yet another walled garden, but through the behaviors they already have, like email and messaging,” he says.
Leading the Way
With its updated wallet, Circle joins a slew of other tech startups that have recently cropped up to upend stodgy financial institutions and their slow-moving ways. Efforts from these companies are infusing old-school industries with high tech mojo, letting people do things like draw intelligent information from static bank statements and even transforming bank services like home loan financing and small business loans. Wall Street has started to pay attention—and is even fueling some of these efforts.
Case in point: Last night Circle revealed it picked up a new $50 million round of funding, co-led by Goldman Sachs and IDG Capital Partners.
“They’ve realized that Silicon Valley is where innovation is happening,” Allaire says. “It’s software-based and internet-based, and they’re not historically companies that have led in that area—so it makes sense that they want to partner and learn.”
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Where there is the necessary technical skill to move mountains, there is no need for the faith that moves mountains -anon-
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Fritz
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Re:BlockChains go Main Stream
« Reply #3 on: 2015-05-15 10:47:36 » |
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The kids are getting creative ...
Cheers
Fritz
Coinstructors Proposes Disruptive "Blockchain Solution For Greece" Amid Eurozone Crisis; is Bitcoin 2.0 The Answer
Source: Digital Journal
Author: Newwire
Date: 2015.03.24
Digital Currency consultancy Coinstructors – Hackcoin and online seminars “Mind The Gap Expo” organizers – are forging significant partnerships across various digital currency sectors and jurisdictions.
The most disruptive project is A Blockchain Solution for Greece. Originally a side project for a white paper for an Asset backed Digital Token for an island worth 500 000 Euros.
After deeper research and the discovery of the great Greek Fire sale of the country’s assets, the project has expanded into a real life exploration project. Can the blockchain actually solve real world issues or is it simply vaporware.
One Thing Challenge alongside Brian Kelly “Fast Money Commentator” will be moderating a special panel of guests and was already featured on CNBC A Bitcoin-like solution for greece. The online seminar will be available globally on the 20th of May 2015 at www.drachmae.money. Pre-Register today to not miss out on exciting panel discussion followed up by different Blockchain Solutions being presented.
Bitcoin and digital currency companies and projects worldwide are invited to exhibit at the highly anticipated online Blockchain Solution For Greece Seminar Drachmae. Interested parties can use BTCBUZZ10 in their contact information to receive a 10% discount off their virtual booth.
Coinstructors’ latest partnership in the digital currency space is with Bitcoin PR Buzz to provide PR and media consultancy to blockchain based projects and startups worldwide. Other intiatives include the Expolike Joint partnership for Finance, and digital currency events such as Crypto Money Expo and Mind The Gap Expo
Coinstructors is also in the process of consulting Jetcoin on technology solutions for implementation of the Jetcoin system, and potential partnerships between jetcoin and other sports clubs.
Hackcoin Events are being hosted in Hong Kong on the 23rd of May and it is not too late to join: visit www.hackco.in to register.
The first event will be hosted at the UBS Bank, Crypto 2.0 Lab at level 39, Canary wharf, London on the 20th of June, where 20 hackers will be working on Smart Contracts for Hack DAY. Hackers can register at www.hackco.in/london. The London Hackcoin will be broadcast over the web live via www.mindthegapexpo.com where anyone can see live interviews with hack attendees and visit exhibitors online.
Exhibitors for Drachmae, Mindthegapexpo and the the live Hackcoin broadcast are welcome to use BTCBUZZ10 in their contact information to receive a 10% discount off their exhibit.
Coinstructors has also recently launched its Jobs board where anyone can post their CV’s and Job offers alongside project listings www.jobs.coinstructors.com
Some of the most significant innovations coming into play are within the Unbanked sector and Hybrid banking systems. 44Phones has joined Coinstructors to enable POC Blockchain based services for the Unbanked of Lower economies “Blockchain based system similar to M-Pesa”
About Bitcoin PR Buzz:
Bitcoin PR Buzz has been proudly serving the PR and marketing needs of Bitcoin and digital currency tech start-ups for over 2 years.
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Where there is the necessary technical skill to move mountains, there is no need for the faith that moves mountains -anon-
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Re:BlockChains go Main Stream
« Reply #4 on: 2015-06-19 13:08:41 » |
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The tinkering begins to facilitate the Bankster's and Big Bother's wants.
Cheers
Fritz
Elliptic Announces The Bitcoin Big Bang - A Breakthrough In Bitcoin Anti-Money Laundering
Source: Digital Journal
Author: Press Release
Date: 2015.06.18
LONDON--(Business Wire)--Elliptic (www.elliptic.co), the bitcoin analytics and security firm, today announced a breakthrough in bitcoin transaction monitoring and compliance. In an industry first, the company has launched ‘The Bitcoin Big Bang’ (www.elliptic.co/bigbang), an interactive visualisation that plots the emergence and interconnectivity of the key players in bitcoin since its genesis in 2009.
While the full transaction history of every bitcoin in existence (the blockchain) has always been a matter of public record, until now, the ownership of individual addresses has remained largely anonymous. This has allowed illicit marketplaces such as The Silk Road to proliferate, and discouraged bitcoin’s mainstream adoption by the finance industry.
Elliptic CEO, Dr. James Smith, said, “If digital currency is to take its legitimate place in the enterprise it inevitably must step out of the shadows of the dark web. Our technology allows us to trace historic and real-time flow, and represents the tipping point for enterprise adoption of bitcoin. We have developed this technology not to incriminate nor to pry; but to support businesses’ anti-money laundering obligations. Compliance officers can finally have peace of mind, knowing that they have performed real, defensible diligence to ascertain that their bitcoin holdings are not derived from the proceeds of crime.”
For the past year, Elliptic’s team of PhD data scientists and engineers has worked to map the full 35 GB transaction history of the bitcoin blockchain. Using proven heuristics and sophisticated network analysis, The Bitcoin Big Bang visualisation identifies more than 250 of the largest entities and the historical transactions between them. Illicit marketplaces and money laundering services are identified by name, while standard entities are described purely by their primary business to protect privacy.
Elliptic has harnessed the underlying technology supporting the visualisation to deliver a full suite of ground-breaking anti-money laundering (AML) services. The API will enable real-time compliance, by alerting recipients of bitcoin payments linked to known thefts, illicit marketplaces and other criminal activity.
Dr. Smith continued, “Elliptic’s founding principle is to bring confidence and certainty to enterprises working with bitcoin. We were the first bitcoin custodian to provide comprehensive insurance, the first to be Big Four accredited and now the first to visualise the flows of bitcoin and explode the anonymity myth of the blockchain.”
The Elliptic AML suite will be available in July to a select group of early customers.
ENDS
About Elliptic
London-based Elliptic provides bitcoin analytics and security services for the enterprise. Elliptic was the world’s first bitcoin firm to secure insurance for bitcoin assets, the world’s first bitcoin firm to receive accreditation by KPMG, and has now pioneered a ground-breaking suite of bitcoin AML services. Elliptic is backed by Octopus Ventures and is the founding member of the UK Digital Currency Association (UKDCA), working with the UK government and financial regulators to help shape a sensible regulatory framework for digital currencies.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150618005071/en/
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Where there is the necessary technical skill to move mountains, there is no need for the faith that moves mountains -anon-
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Fritz
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Re:BlockChains go Main Stream
« Reply #5 on: 2015-06-19 23:29:24 » |
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Did not see that coming; nice.
Cheers
Fritz
Senate recommends Ottawa use a ‘light touch’ when regulating Bitcoin
Source: Global News
Author: Alexandra Posadzki
Date: 2015.06.19
TORONTO – A report from Canada’s Senate says Ottawa should use a “light touch” when considering any regulation of Bitcoin and other digital currencies in order to avoid stifling the growth of these new technologies.
The report, the culmination of more than a year of research by the Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce, recommends that the federal government employ “almost a hands-off approach” when it comes to virtual currencies, monitoring the situation as it evolves and only introducing regulations as necessary.
The Bitcoin Alliance of Canada says it welcomes the report’s findings and is urging the government, as well as the private sector, to consider them.
Bitcoin is a digital currency that is exchanged through peer-to-peer computer networks and is not issued or controlled by a central bank or any other authority.
Virtual currencies like Bitcoin employ blockchain technology — computer code that makes up the currency’s underlying architecture.
The Senate report says blockchain technology has many promising applications, and recommends that the federal government consider using it to enhance the protection of private information.
“Our committee was told that by cutting out third parties, blockchain technology can give consumers and governments a more effective level of online security,” Sen. Irving Gerstein said during a news conference Friday.
Blockchain technology could be used to securely and permanently register marriages, births, real estate deals and a “myriad” of other transactions, Gerstein added.
Digital currency can also benefit people in the developing world by providing them with access to financial services, thus improving their quality of life, he added.
“However, there are two sides to every coin – even a Bitcoin,” said Gerstein. “The power offered by blockchain technology for people to protect their identity has a flipside.”
n particular, the committee report noted risks that the technology could be used to launder money or finance terrorist activities.
“The consequence of this risk of criminality means a certain amount of regulation is needed,” Gerstein said, noting that Bitcoin exchanges – the “on and off ramps” where customers convert state-issued currency into digital currency – should be regulated as money services businesses.
“However, balance is something almost all witnesses stressed, and the committee is of like mind,” said Gerstein.
“We recognize that these new technologies may have other innovative and, as of yet, unimagined applications, and we are at a delicate stage in their development. Accordingly, the committee has concluded that the best strategy dealing with digital currencies is to tread carefully when contemplating regulations so as not to stifle innovation.”
Kyle Kemper, executive director of the Bitcoin Alliance of Canada, said despite the lack of explicit legislation requiring them to do so, most Bitcoin exchanges already adhere to the rules governing money services businesses.
“You have to be proactive in the absence of any clear guidelines,” Kemper said.
“The Bitcoin exchanges have been treating Bitcoin like a foreign currency. The major ones are registered with FINTRAC (Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada). They take compliance and money laundering incredibly seriously, because at the end of the day, they want to be showing that Bitcoin and digital currencies are safe.”
During its research, the committee interviewed 55 witnesses and went on a fact-finding trip to New York City. Among its conclusions is a recommendation that more research be conducted on the regulatory environment for digital currencies in the next three years.
© The Canadian Press, 2015
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Where there is the necessary technical skill to move mountains, there is no need for the faith that moves mountains -anon-
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