More than 250 Zambian university students recently participated in an online boot camp and hackathon which saw over 100 earning certification in smart contract development. The students who complete their minimum viable products (MVPs) can apply for grants ranging from ,000 to ,000. Students Trained in Decentralized Application Development More than 250 students from St. […]
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Chinese Armys Blockchain Provider Approved for New Hyperledger Certification Program
Hyperledger green-lit a Beijing-based firm that serves the Chinese army to join its new certification program, as military blockchain use expands.
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Chinas Central Bank Introduces Certification System for Fintech Products
n The Peoples Bank of China, the countrys central bank, has introduced a new system for certifying 11 types of fintech hardware and softwaren
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BitGo Completes Further SOC 2 Compliance Certification Year After Deloitte Award
n Blockchain security firm BitGo has gained a further security certification from an external auditor after a review of its compliancen
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Korean Crypto Exchange Earns Key Government Cybersecurity Certification
n nn nn South Korean cryptocurrency exchange GOPAX has become the first blockchain company to attain K-ISMS certification, the official standard in Korea for information security management systems. This is an important sign of approval by the Korean government regarding GOPAXs cybersecurity infrastructure.K-ISMS certification is an official domestic standard regarding the establishment, management and operation of information security systems for selected industr
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Stellar Receives Certification from Islamic Scholars, Religious Validity of Crypto in Question?
Islamic scholars have given blockchain platform Stellar, and its native cryptocurrency Lumens, Islamic certification. The California-based startup was also given guidelines on the specific assets that can be traded using its blockchain by the Shariyah Review Bureau.
Stellar’s Certification Opens Doors in the Huge Middle Eastern Remittances Market
The Shariyah Review Bureau’s certification is part of a wider strategy by Stellar to enter the remittances market.
They’ve spent the previous twelve months looking for partnerships around the Gulf region. Lisa Nestor, the startup’s director of partnership, spoke to Reuters saying:
“We have been looking to work with companies that facilitate remittances, including in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. It’s a huge market.”
Both Stellar’s blockchain itself and its native cryptocurrency, Lumens, is covered by the certification. With a total market capitalisation of .38 billion, Lumens is the seventh largest digital asset at present.
The Shariyah Review Bureau is licensed by the central bank of Bahrain. The Islamic advisory firm’s assistant general manager, Mansoor Ahmed, told Reuter’s about the decision to extend the certification to Stellar:
“For the blockchain technology there was no issue, the main thing we needed to consider was the use of the underlying cryptocurrency.”
Previously, there have been somewhat mixed messages about cryptocurrencies and the underlying blockchain technology coming from Islamic thinkers. This is because Islam has a clear set of rules about what is to be permitted in finance. Speculation and interested payments are largely shunned in the religion.
Earlier this year, NewsBTC reported on Egypt’s Dar Al Iftaa issuing an Islamic ruling (Fatwa) against Bitcoin. The Counsellor of the Republican’s Mufti, Dr. Magdy Ashour, stated:
“This currency is used directly to fund terrorists.”
Meanwhile in a completely contradictory move, a London mosque also became the first in the U.K. to accept Bitcoin and Ether as a means of donating earlier this year. The chairman of the Shacklewell Lane Mosque, also referred to as Masjid Ramadan, took an entirely different position to the Egyptian government body:
“It’s new money. It’s moving with the times. It’s no different from transferring money from the bank.”
However, the Shariyah Review Bureau’s certification could help close the debate on whether digital currencies and assets are to be permitted in Islam. The advisory firm stated that the transfer of Lumens was similar to transferring rights. This form of economic activity is deemed acceptable in Islam. This clearly bodes well for other digital assets being seen in the same light by the religion.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
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IndiaChain: Government’s Blockchain-based Certification For Education Degrees
The Indian central government is embarking on its first implementation blockchain-based solutions, starting with the digital certification of education degrees, which will be issued using the distributed ledger technology starting with batches graduating next year. The project, IndiaChain, is partnering with the Indian Institute of Technology (Bombay) and colleges under the Delhi University.
IndiaChain will be linked to IndiaStack, other government digital identification databases, and the government’s digital locker project. IndiaStack, a set of code developed around India’s unique identity project Aadhaar, helps developers build products and services on top the country’s growing digital infrastructure.
The trials are being conducted by Niti Aayog, the government’s policy think tank. According to the group, the pilot trials will begin soon, and once they are successfully completed the full-scale implementation will start. The plan is to start issuing digital certificates on the blockchain for students graduating in 2019 and onwards.
Fake education certificates/degrees are a huge problem in India, a country that graduates over five million students every year. They are not hard to obtain: A paper certificate that looks exactly like an original can be bought for as little as Rs 2,000 (just over ). In fact, as recently as January 29th the Delhi police arrested three men, including a Delhi University graduate, who was allegedly involved in running a massive fake degree racket.
The problem down the line is that companies hiring recent graduates by the thousands, typically software and service providers, have to spend a lot of money to verify the certificates and transcripts they receive. A digital certificate based on blockchain technology would help address this problem. In the case of IndiaChain, verification will be done via an app, and authentication can be instantaneous once the certificate holder themselves approves of the access. Another advantage is that records cannot be tampered with, as changes to individual blocks can be made only with the approval of all parties processing the block.
During his recent budget presentation, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced intentions to clamp down on cryptocurrencies, but showed support for adopting blockchain-based technology for developing solutions. “The Government will explore the use of blockchain technology pro-actively for ushering in the digital economy,” the minister said. Already, Indian states Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka are looking at implementing governance projects on the blockchain at the state level, with applications that include land title registry, power distribution, health records, insurance, and more.
The post IndiaChain: Government’s Blockchain-based Certification For Education Degrees appeared first on NewsBTC.
CFTC to Discuss Digital Currency Futures Certification Process
Five weeks ago, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission CFTC announced three exchanges had self-certified Bitcoin derivatives products. Following the subsequent backlash from the Futures Industry Association FIA, the CFTC has announced two public committee meetings to review the self-certification process, procedures and operational controls for listing and trading digital currency futures. The news comes on the heels of SEC and NASAA independent statements which discussed the concerns
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BCDiploma: the unique opportunity to take part in the blockchain data certification revolution
BCDiploma is presenting a breakthrough proposition by making the best of Ethereum to offer a world-beating one-click diploma and data certification service. BCDiploma is an innovative framework that allows to certify data and share it through a simple URL link.
10 good reasons to contribute to the BCDiploma’s presale ICO and to not miss the 20% bonus
#1 Market fit for diploma authentication
Schools and universities face increasing degree falsification and forgery worldwide. All stakeholders in the education field are willing to offer their graduates an innovative digital tool aimed at defending their brand. HR professionals are also eager to have a reliable way to check a candidate’s diploma.
#2 A strong Token
BCDiploma’s token, BCDT, is the fuel of BCDiploma’s ecosystem. Entities, schools, universities and other BCDiploma partners will require tokens to use the service. For each and every certified data issuance, the BCDiploma smart contract will burn a percentage of BCDT tokens automatically.
#3 Expert team
Founders have 10+ years of experience in the education software market and know exactly what schools are expecting and how to meet their requirements.
#4 Schools / universities ready for adoption of a blockchain degree authentication service
Renowned schools and universities are following technological evolutions to avoid forgery and degree counterfeiting. We are aware of their concern, and have taken as our mission to bring a solution adapted to the issues they’re facing as fake certifications are strongly hurting their reputation and business.
#5 Data First technology
BCDiploma is not based on hash technology to authenticate the diploma. Instead, its innovative technology stores the the diploma’s data directly in the blockchain and certifies the school’s identity on Ethereum.
#6 Blockchain as a service
BCDiploma offers schools and universities a turnkey solution and a transparent access to blockchain technology. No specific blockchain knowledge is required to use the service.
#7 Forever available
BCDiploma’s DApps (blockchain specific decentralized applications) are open-source and the diploma content & data are stored on a public blockchain: therefore schools and universities are guaranteed to retain access to data and DApps forever.
#8 Open to anyone and cost-effective
Any entity can use the BCDiploma authentication service. The unit cost of each certification will be approximately .5, without a subscription or recurring fee. The service will be free for graduates and for anyone who consults the diploma, and will not require an ethereum address.
#9 Compliant with coming regulations
European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which will become enforceable by in May 25, 2018, is now the new reference text on personal data protection, and will become applicable globally. The innovative solution developed by BCDiploma is already compliant with this new regulation.
#10 It is just the beginning…
BCDiploma is the first use case of the EvidenZ framework, designed to certify all kinds of data: certificates of competence, diplomas, certificates, professional registers, administrative data. The fields of application are countless, and EvidenZ’s simplicity of use aims to set it as the standard of certified data.
In a nutshell, BCDiploma’s presale ICO is a unique opportunity to take part of the certified data bright future with a 20% bonus. Presale is running and will end on January, 18th.
Join our Telegram channel: https://t.me/BCDiploma
Learn more about BCDiploma at www.bcdiploma.com
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US Medical Board Group Launches Blockchain Certification Pilot
A national non-profit group for state medical boards is launching a new blockchain pilot focused on digital certifications.
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