According to Juan Otero, CEO of the crypto-native travel booking platform Travala, many mainstream companies that attempted to use non-fungible tokens (NFTs) for customer or user loyalty programs may have seized the opportunity prematurely. Otero argued that at the time, Web3 companies had not “even figured out the best ways to use NFTs in loyalty […]
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Real World Blockchain Adoption: Morpheus.Network Supply Chain Platform Adopted by Canadian Giant, Federated Co-operatives Limited
The world is going through an unprecedented crisis following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The disruption caused by the spread of this disease has slowed the movement of people as well as goods. However, that doesn’t mean that there is a complete stop of imports and exports of essential goods, foods and medicine as most countries are striving to keep these supply chains unaffected by any means necessary.
It is not an easy task for producers and retailers to export or import these products at the speeds necessary, while also ensuring regulatory compliance, which is a very challenging and costly task.
Even in a time of crisis, these rules are rarely relaxed. In fact, countries may demand much more stringent compliance as they want to ensure the safety of the products and reliability of the supply chains responsible for the movement of these essential goods. The majority of companies are following manual, time-consuming methods of managing all relevant documents and approvals to facilitate easy movement of goods across borders and within their established supply chains.
Conventional supply chain management practices require companies to manually process a huge number of regulatory certifications and documentations. This time-consuming process translates to a huge monetary cost to the suppliers as well as buyers.
Using Morpheus.Network Supply Chain Middleware to Overcome Challenges
The use of latest technology to automate supply chain management can help companies cut down on time as well as associated costs. Recently, one of the top 50 largest companies in Canada – Federated Co-operatives Limited (FCL) did just that by collaborating with Morpheus.Network, a supply chain SaaS middleware platform which seamlessly integrates legacy and emerging technologies such as Blockchain, Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and Machine Learning.
FCL is a Canada-based wholesaling, manufacturing, marketing and administrative co-operative owned by more than 170 independent retail co-operative associations with a revenue of .2 billion USD (2019). FCL is largely a business-to-business (B2B) operation linking hundreds of suppliers through FCL warehouses. Its core business includes wholesaling, manufacturing, marketing and administration in four areas; agriculture, energy, food and home and building solutions. It employs over 23,000 employees and has over 1,400 retail food stores, home centres, gas bars/convenience stores, agro centres, propane plants and feed plants.
As a part of a 3-year partnership, Morpheus.Network is automating the collection and management of documents from each supplier while providing a self-serve supplier portal for them to securely upload and manage their documents. All the documents uploaded through the portal are validated by third-party compliance organizations using OCR capabilities, and relevant parties receive automated alerts before they expire. The crucial service offered by Morpheus.Network helps companies like FCL comply with current government regulations including the Safe Food for Canadians Act and Regulations (SFCA & SFCR). The SFCA and SFCR regulate food products imported into or exported from Canada or traded between provinces. These regulations add new licensing, preventive controls, and traceability requirements to help ensure food safety and consumer protection.
The Morpheus.Network platform creates a unique digital footprint for each supplier, showing the current and historical compliance status, backed by blockchain technology as an immutable record. These records are designed to match the new licensing, preventing controls and traceability requirements as put forth by the latest SFCA & SFCR.
Morpheus.Network is helping solve supply chain challenges for clients around the world. The latest addition to its client list is Vitalcan – a leading Argentinian pet food and supplements company. Morpheus.Network has provided Vitalcan with supply chain middleware to support all stakeholders. It enables the company to develop and track inbound and outbound workflows, digitize documents and data in real-time, and maintain Agri-Food compliance as prescribed by SENASA.
Morpheus.Network is intensely focused on helping companies and Government organizations remove barriers to optimize and automate their global supply chain operations. Helping companies with food and safety regulatory compliance is crucial in building robust supply chains which ensures our food – for humans and pets alike – is as safe as possible.
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Central Bank of Russia Expects Crypto Draft Bill to Be Adopted in Spring 2019
n Russias central bank believes that the draft bill on crypto regulation is prepared enough to be adopted in spring 2019, in accordance with the order of president Vladimir Putinn
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Developers Have Adopted Crypto En-Masse, What’s the Missing Piece?
It isn’t a secret that Bitcoin has yet to see adoption. Few online merchants accept the cryptocurrency. And the same could be said for retailers and food establishments. But, over the past 24 months, the underlying industry tides have begun to shift in Bitcoin’s favor, as forward-thinking developers have started to flow into this space en-masse. A prominent venture capitalist claims that this should set the stage for BTC to garner traction with a mainstream audience.
Developers Adopting Crypto Is Bullish
Chris Burniske, a partner at Placeholder Ventures, noted that while crypto hasn’t seen mainstream adoption yet, developers have begun to flock to developing blockchain services and platforms. Burniske explains that coders adopting a newfangled innovation before the general public is only natural, touching about the qualms that developers face with working on centralized platforms that are overly competitive and constraining.
1/ Crypto’s not seeing mainstream user traction, but it is seeing mainstream developer traction, and the developers are the precursors to the users.
— Chris Burniske (@cburniske) March 3, 2019
He adds that as cryptocurrencies and their respective networks are permissionless, “fringe” developers can build what they want, when they want, and in whatever manner they would like, fostering innovation and setting precedent for pro-consumer products. And with that, he concluded that instead of garnering traction through psychological conversion, crypto will succeed through “novel services, or on-par services offered for cheaper than companies can, which will convert mainstream users to crypto.”
But he made it clear that the road to the creation of such offerings isn’t cut and dried. Or is it really?
What’s Going To Catalyze Mainstream Bitcoin Demand?
Although Burniske seems to be under the impression that it will be hard to “convert” retail investors from the legacy system to one based on decentralization and peer-to-peer qualities, adoption may be closer than some may expect.
Jack Dorsey, the chief executive of both Square and Twitter, recently confirmed that he would be looking into adding support for the Lightning Network into Square’s Cash App, one of the most popular applications on the App Store. Commentators argued that this integration, which would push merchants to accept BTC, could be just as large as a crypto-backed exchange-traded fund (ETF).
South Korean technology mainstay Samsung took to the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona to divulge that its flagship — the Galaxy S10 — would come with a crypto wallet built-in, opening dozens of millions up to this space.
Just recently, Kroger, a billion American retailer, divulged that it would be dropping support for Visa-based plastic, due to rapidly growing interchange fees. In a statement, Kroger’s Mike Schlotman remarked that Visa has evidently been “misusing” its position to charge retailers “excessive fees.”
Related Reading: Crypto Programmer: Goal of Bitcoin is to Bypass Existing Financial System, Not to Support it
While Schlotman and his peers made no mention of Bitcoin or cryptocurrencies, the ecosystem surrounding this nascent asset class quickly got to work, picketing for Kroger to accept BTC in some way, shape, or form. Establishment skeptic Anthony Pompliano, who heads Morgan Creek Digital, spearheaded this movement.
After news of Kroger’s sudden decision to drop Visa spread, Pompliano reached out to the American institution on Twitter, claiming he would fly down to Kroger headquarters to give them a Lightning Network demo. Funnily enough, someone responded. Nick, a product manager at Kroger Digital, remarked that he would “love to set up a conversation.”
Just finished up first call with someone on Kroger Digital team.
World-class, forward thinking crew.
Looks like things are progressing.
Stay tuned
— Pomp (@APompliano) March 3, 2019
And just days later, Pompliano took to Twitter to confirm that he finished up a call with Kroger Digital’s “world-class, forward-thinking crew,” before quipping that “things are progressing.” Some took this as a hint that the long-standing American company is seriously looking into Lightning, which promotes near-free, rapid, secure, somewhat private, and immutable transactions, much unlike Visa’s hefty fees and relatively lengthy confirmation finality times.
If the Ohio-headquartered company accepts Bitcoin, the cryptocurrency would be endorsed by a bigwig. And more likely than not, the dominos will fall, creating a wave of “FOMO” that could sweep across the vast ocean that is corporate America. But who will follow Kroger’s footsteps, if at all? Considering Bakkt’s partnerships, it could very well be Starbucks, Microsoft, or some combination of the two.
Across the pond, adoption has also been doing well and is arguably on orders of magnitudes ahead of America. Case in point, Japan has seen monumental levels of adoption. Per previous reports from this outlet, local banking giant Mizuho Financial will be launching its own digital asset, while e-commerce heavyweight Rakuten has plans to integrate cryptocurrency payments into its business.
So, it remains clear that fundamentals in this space aren’t doing all too bad, despite what cynics and some mainstream media outlets would like to say.
Featured Image from Shutterstock
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Blockchain Technology Adopted for Land Registry and Sea Trade
Blockchain technology is rapidly being adopted for public purposes. New South Wales’ plan to fully digitize property transactions and Abu Dhabi Ports’ test to improve cargo visibility and streamline trade flows are two new examples of the disruption taking place today.
New South Wales Partners with ChromaWay to Digitize Property Transactions by July 2019
As the Australian state of New South Wales prepares to digitize property transactions by July 2019, the recently privatized Land Registry Services has announced a blockchain-based proof of concept (PoC) for electronic property conveyancing in partnership with Stockholm-based startup ChromaWay.
The firm will leverage proven approaches from implementations in Sweden and India.
“Under blockchain models, the data in a registry will remain secure and immutable, while also being accessible and searchable. It will provide an incontrovertible chain of ownership. It also has potential to transform land planning and development processes with a simplified, more efficient approach that removes burdensome paper-based processes and duplicated work that is currently the norm.”
When the Australian state finally moves to eConveyancing in July 2019, all paper certificates of title will be canceled. All land registry will be lodged electronically with a comprehensive view of rights, restrictions, and responsibilities, according to Adam Bennett, CEO of the land registry service.
“Rapid and far-reaching technology change is impacting traditional approaches to land dealings registration and general business operations around the globe. NSW LRS is embracing this new world by conducting a series of targeted experiments with globally-recognised technology companies.”
Other land sector actors, including Property Exchange Australia, may benefit from the increased transparency and reduction of data duplication as the business settles property transactions online. Pending regulatory approval, the changes to NSW LRS core systems, and core and non-core services are expected to smooth functioning of local and national property markets.
Ports in UAE and Belgium Test Blockchain Pilot to Streamline Trade Flows and Supply Chains
The Port of Antwerp, Europe’s second-largest seaport, has partnered with Abu Dhabi-based blockchain firm Maqta Gateway to implement the first international pilot for its “Silsal” project. The solution aims to link stakeholders across the trade community using blockchain in order to provide full cargo visibility and streamline trade flows and supply chains.
The pilot will test the technology’s capabilities to exchange, identify, and acknowledge cargo documents and certificates between the two ports.
Maqta Gateway, which is a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Ports, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Port of Antwerp to exchange experiences as both parties test the blockchain solution, said Captain Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi, CEO of Abu Dhabi Ports.
“This is an important moment for us as we prepare to implement the first applied blockchain solution of its kind between Abu Dhabi and the world. Our technology experts at Maqta Gateway are working with world-class international partners, such as the Port of Antwerp, to deliver fast, reliable, and secure trade transactions through rigorous development and testing programs.”
According to a whitepaper published by World Economic Forum (WEF) in collaboration with Bain & Company, blockchain may boost trade volume by .1 trillion in the next 10 years.
Featured image from Shutterstock
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Jack Dorsey Wants to Help Get Bitcoin Adopted as a Global Means of Payment
The CEO of payments company Square has said that he wants his firm to help Bitcoin become a global payment choice.
Dorsey: ‘We Could be in Every App Store Instead of Five’
Jack Dorsey, the founder and CEO of Square and the co-founder and CEO of social media platform Twitter, was speaking at the Consensus conference today in New York.
“The internet is going to have a native currency so let’s not wait for it to happen, let’s help it happen. I don’t know if it will be bitcoin but I hope it will be.”
Dorsey is of the opinion that the use of the number one digital currency or another altcoin as a global payment would lower the barrier for the payment company to enter new markets, reports CNBC. He added:
“If we were able to use it a currency today, we could release our apps in every app store around the world instead of the five we’re in.”
He stated that as the company deals with fiat currency it had to approach the market differently, find a unique banking partner, and work with different regulators.
This isn’t the first time that Dorsey has been bullish on the future of Bitcoin. In March, it was reported that the Square CEO said that he believed the digital currency would become the globally accepted ‘single currency‘ of the Internet within the next 10 years.
In November, Square began the introduction of Bitcoin buying and selling options on Square Cash, the mobile payment app developed by Square, for a small section of their users. Since then the payment company has rolled out additional features for its users, which now sees them able to buy, sell, and transfer Bitcoin with the app. Dorsey has also committed personal funds to Lightning Labs as the team continues its work on the Bitcoin scaling proposal known as the Lightning Network.
Earlier today it was reported that Square Cash is growing at a faster rate compared to PayPal’s Venmo, according to Nomura Instinet. Analyst Dan Dolev said that with the roughly 28 million downloads, the number of Square Cash downloads was just one million fewer than Venmo’s levels.
In a note to clients, Dolev stated that:
“Historically, Venmo saw more downloads versus Square, but the gap appears to have peaked in July 2017.”
In the first quarter of 2018, Square reportedly sold .1 million in Bitcoin; however, it spent .9 million purchasing the cryptocurrency, meaning it’s adjusted revenue amounted to 0,000.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
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Bitcoin May Soon be Adopted for Use in Iran
The Iranian government is preparing its infrastructure that will see the country adopting bitcoin, according to a high ranking government […]
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