n In the first half of the next year, ICO regulation will be introduced by the Securities and Commodities Authority of the United Arab Emiratesn
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United States Wyoming Targets Land Records in Blockchain Project With Overstock
n A new project with Overstock for land record data sees Wyoming continue its blockchain integrationn
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United Capital CEO: Blockchain Will Eventually Impact Every Financial Transaction
Although blockchain is still clearly in its early stages of adoption, it is becoming increasingly clear that the technology underpinning Bitcoin and cryptocurrency will ultimately affect the daily lives of all individuals.
This sentiment is shared by Joe Duran, the founder and CEO of United Capital, who expressed his confidence in the blossoming technology while speaking to CNBC, explaining that non-tech savvy investors can look at blockchain as being a high-tech immutable library book log, that keeps track of everyone who borrowed a book, and information regarding how long the book was borrowed.
Duran also expressed confidence in how far reaching the impact of blockchain would be, saying:
“Blockchain itself is going to be part of every transaction that occurs in the world. It’s going to take a decade before it’s there.”
Blockchain is already seeing increased utilization across a broad spectrum of markets, and the charge is undeniably being led by U.S. tech giant, IBM.
As previously reported, IBM recently released its blockchain-based Food Trust product, which allows retailers, wholesalers, and suppliers, to track the origins and logistics of perishable food items in order to better verify the freshness of these items.
Notable companies signed on the use this blockchain product are Nestle, Kroger, Unilever, and Tyson foods.
Will Adoption of Blockchain Affect That of Cryptocurrency?
In addition to being optimistic about blockchain technology, Duran also expressed his thoughts on the future of digital currency, telling CNBC that “Digital currency is the future of money — there is no doubt about it.”
Despite believing that cryptocurrency will be widely adopted in the future, Duran explained that he believes that cryptocurrency as we know it today may not be widely adopted, with governments and central banks offering digital versions of fiat currencies, like a digital USD or a digital Yuan.
“There will be a U.S. dollar crypto; there will be a Chinese yuan crypto. It will just be exactly what we know today, but in a digital version that gives governments the ability to oversee where the money is going,” he said.
That being said, Duran believes that digital currency won’t be hoarded as an investment asset, but as a utility to pay for daily purchases and things like rent and utility bills.
The main question surrounding Duran’s thoughts on the issuance of digital fiat currencies from governments is whether or not citizens will prefer those to decentralized digital currencies, that are free from the risks that are incurred when utilizing a state-backed currency.
An example of this can be seen in Venezuela, where citizens are turning to privately developed cryptocurrencies, like Dash and Bitcoin, to conduct transactions, rather than using the country’s state-issued cryptocurrency, the Petro.
Regardless of how cryptocurrency usage develops in the future, Duran is tremendously excited about the future of blockchain technology, exclaiming that:
“It’s unimaginable just how broad the impact is going to be to our lives, but there is no doubt in my mind that 10 years from now, blockchain will be as big as the internet is in our lives.”
Featured image from Shutterstock.
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Celsius Network to Manage Funds for United Nations Initiative
n Celsius Network has become a founding member of the SDG Impact Fund within the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals initiative, aiming to raise money for charityn
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Presenting a United Front of Blockchain Companies to Work With Congress
n nn nn Its a sign of the times and the growing maturity of the crypto industry that a new industry trade association launched in Washington, D.C., on September 11, 2018, to lobby the U.S. government on a range of issues from taxation to regulations to educate members of congress about the growing success of blockchain and to encourage lawmakers to allow innovation to flourish and benefit the economy.Kristin Smith, director of external affairs for the new Blockcha
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Gibraltar United Will Pay Players in Crypto Next Season in World First
A little-known European football club has become the first on the planet to introduce cryptocurrency payments for players. Gibraltar United will pay part of their player’s wages in the brand new Quantocoin.
Gibraltar United Embrace Cryptocurrency as a Means of Payment
Gibraltar United aren’t exactly the most prestigious football club on the planet. In fact, they were only certified by UEFA in 2013. The team currently play their football in the tiny premier division of the British Overseas Territory.
There are just 10 teams that compete in the league each year. However, rather than making history for their prowess on the field, Gibraltar United are instead innovating behind the scenes – by becoming the first to pay players in crypto.
According to a report in The Guardian, a myriad of factors have lead the club’s owner Pablo Dana to make the bold step of paying players in digital currency.
One such factor is that transparent, blockchain-based payment methods could be useful in ending corruption in football. Another is that many foreign players struggle to set up bank accounts in Gibraltar. The permissionless nature of cryptocurrency payments completely removes this obstacle for team members.
However, those cynical would argue that Dana is using his ties to Gibraltar United to help pump a project he is affiliated with. The report in The Guardian states that Dana is indeed an early investor in Quantocoin and the media attention the Gibraltar United announcement is getting the token can only be good for the said investment.
That said, it makes sense that such a step has been taken in Gibraltar. They have consistently striven to remain at the cutting edge of blockchain legal innovation by creating a regulated framework for running initial coin offerings (ICOs). Additionally for Dana, the territory’s embrace of online gambling in the last couple of decades makes them ideal to be at the forefront of a potential fintech revolution:
“It [Gibraltar] was the first that regulated betting companies 20 years back, when everyone was seeing them as horrible. They put compliance and anti-money laundering regulations and created a platform – they have the intelligence to do the same with cryptocurrencies.”
The Quantocoin token that Gibraltar United will use to pay players was built on the Waves blockchain. Don’t worry if you’ve never heard of it before though. The project hasn’t even finished its ICO phase yet. It was only launched at the beginning of this month and will last until late April 2019.
As 2018 continues, more stories are emerging of sports clubs embracing digital assets. Earlier this year, NewsBTC reported on NBA team the Sacramento Kings becoming the first professional sports club to mine cryptocurrency. The team have created a data centre within their state-of-the-art arena dedicated to raising money through crypto mining to help local charitable causes. We also reported on the Major League Baseball launching a collectable trading game on the Ethereum network.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
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United Arab Emirates: OneGram, Gold-Backed Cryptocurrency That Complies With Sharia Law
United Arab Emirates-based OneGram is issuing a gold-backed cryptocurrency in attempts to convince Muslims that investing in cryptocurrencies complies with their faith.
Islam and Cryptocurrency
The growing global interest in cryptocurrencies naturally extends into the Gulf and southeast Asia, the main centers of Islamic finance. But because cryptocurrencies and associated technologies are products of financial engineering and objects of speculation, the coins don’t fit particularly well with the religion. This is because Sharia principles, in addition to not permitting interest payments, emphasize real economic activity based on physical assets, not speculation.
In attempts to sway the debate, cryptocurrency startups are looking to launch instruments backed by physical assets and thereby certified as valid by Islamic advisors. Case in point: in order to attempt to limit speculation, each OneGram cryptocurrency unit is backed by at least a gram of physical gold stored in a vault.
“Gold was among the first forms of money in Islamic societies so this is appropriate,” said Ibrahim Mohammed, who founded the firm with other investors last year. “We are trying to prove rules and regulations from Sharia are fully compatible with digital blockchain technology.”
OneGram
So far, tens of millions of dollars worth of the coins have been issued (about 60% of the total planned amount). OneGram hopes to issue all of them before an exchange listing that’s planned for the end of May. The company obtained a ruling that its cryptocurrency conforms with Islamic principles from Dubai-based Al Maali Consulting, which is one of dozens of advisory firms around the world that offer opinions on whether financial instruments meet Sharia standards.
OneGram isn’t the first startup to take this approach. In Malaysia, HelloGold launched an initial offer of its gold-backed cryptocurrency in October, after receiving approval from Islamic scholars at Kuala Lumpur-based Amanie Advisors.
Manuel Ho, HelloGold’s chief marketing officer, said its coin conforms with Islamic principles because transactions occur within a defined period, making them less volatile and addressing the issue of ambiguity of pricing. There are others, too: United Arab Emirates-based Halal Chain conducted an ICO in December. Halal Chain’s price is linked not to gold, but to data on Islamically permissible goods.
Sharia Law Globally
National Sharia authorities have not ruled on whether cryptocurrencies are permissible, and while several global bodies recommend standards for Islamic finance, none has the authority to actually impose them. Many governments seem ambivalent: worried about the potential for instability, but unwilling to lose the chance of benefiting from new technology.
The Saudi Arabian and UAE central banks warned their citizens about the risks of trading Bitcoin, but have not imposed outright bans. Islamic jurists in South Africa have ruled in favor of cryptocurrencies, arguing they have become socially acceptable and commonly used.
In October, however, the Durban-based Darul Ihsan Centre refrained from endorsing them, citing concern over potential pyramid schemes. Further, some scholars in Turkey, India, and Britain have labeled cryptocurrencies impermissible. In January, Egypt’s Grand Mufti declared they should not be traded.
What makes the debate particularly complex is that there are thousands of digital coins each with unique features related to distribution, mining, and trading, said Farrukh Habib, research officer at Malaysia-based International Shariah Research Academy for Islamic Finance. Because of this fact, Habib believes that a “blanket” Sharia ruling on cryptocurrencies is not appropriate:
“They are also very different in terms of their underlying commodities, projects or businesses, so it’s not appropriate to have a blanket Sharia ruling for all,” said Habib. “Most of the existing Sharia rulings either deal with only Bitcoin, or include all types of cryptocurrencies, disregarding their peculiarities.”
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United States Postal Service Files Patent Application for Blockchain-Based Techs
In promising news concerning government adoption of distributed ledger technology, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is looking to leverage blockchain in order to build a more secure and efficient identification system. This is according to a patent titled “Methods and Systems For A Digital Trust Architecture,” filed yesterday, March 22nd.
The filing reads: “as more of life’s daily interactions move to online activities, it is apparent that the tools that provide trust to the users are lacking in their ability to adequately provide a desired level of security. Tools that have evolved from physical interactions, like face-to-face communication, and the ability to “go there” to resolve issues, are not possible in a digital environment.”
USPS: Trust and Security
As per the application, in an increasingly digitized world, the agency’s current system doesn’t provide the desired levels of trust and security — it specifically cites concerns such as transaction tampering and insecure messaging. In providing a solution to the security and trust issues that plague USPS users, the agency believes that provisioning a secure digital infrastructure will provide a more secure messaging and authentication service. The filing references the use of email as a form of digital signature, but at the same time recognizes the security limitations of these centralized platforms.
The application reads: “There are many excellent reasons for online interactions to continue as they have been. However, in a multi-party, open source environment, there is also a need for a secure, trusted, and enforceable online environment, to enable greater trust and therefore an expansion of offerings online.”
To combat this, the USPS has proposed a system that leverages blockchain, public and private identification keys, and email integrated into decentralized systems. It also calls for a blockchain component that “may be configured to receive records from the user and add the records to a blockchain.”
Also of note: The Postal Service’s application highlights the use of a “special digital token.” Per the text, the token is used to create a record for the user for inclusion in a blockchain: “The block chaining of a special digital token provides evidence that a specific transaction occurred, and specifically who was involved.”
Yesterday’s application is the first thing to materialize from the Postal Service with regards to blockchain, but it likely won’t be the last: in 2016 a report from the USPS suggested that the mail carrier was considering creating its own cryptocurrency as well as using related technology for supply chain applications.
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United Nations Forms DLT Coalition to Fight Climate Change
The United Nations are paying attention to innovative technologies. Especially when it comes to enhanced climate action, a lot of interesting things will happen. Right now, their objective is to utilize blockchain technology for this specific purpose. As a result, the Climate Chain Coalition has been formed. An interesting development that will help put blockchain technology on the map even further.
It is good to see the United Nations pay attention to blockchain technology. This new innovative technology can help them achieve many different goals in the future. For now, the main focus is on climate change and coming up with viable solutions. Creating the Climate Chain Coalition makes a lot of sense in this regard. It will elevate the fight against climate change to a whole new level.
United Nations and DLT Technology
More specifically, this coalition is formed by 25 organizations working on distributed ledger technology. This global initiative has announced they are open to more members joining the risks moving forward. Enhancing climate action and sustainability are the two main priorities for the time being. It is evident the United Nations needs some sort of innovative approach to addressing climate change. How blockchain will factor into all of this has yet to be determined at this point.
It is true DLT-based applications can impact many different aspects of life. Enhancing the environmental integrity is an option well worth looking into right now. Most other solutions and projects to date have not been overly successful when it comes to climate change. Even though DLT may not be the answer per se, it remains to be seen what the future holds. There are multiple advantages to this particular technology than one might think.
More specifically, the blockchain can be used for improved monitoring, reporting, and verification of information. It can also benefit transparency, traceability, and cost-effectiveness of climate action. Whether or not it will help build trust between climate actors, remains to be seen. It is good to see the United Nations focus on newer technologies in this ongoing battle. Avoiding duplication of effort will allow for better and more streamlined efforts in the future.
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Japan’s BitFlyer Opens Bitcoin Exchange in the United States
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