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#builtwithbitcoin
Paxful is a rising peer-to-peer Bitcoin marketplace that aims to jockey localbitcoins.com
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Popping the Bitcoin Bubble The Bitcoin bubble, is it here to stay or is it popping as we speak?
Blockchain in Healthcare Here is a simple test to check if Blockchain is coming for you: Are you a provider or receiver of healthcare?
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Automotive Industry and Blockchain We witnessed a technological revolution. And slowly, a new digital currency in the form of Bitcoin became mainstream.
Could we see Bitcoin’s value double because of Bakkt?
Bakkt created some buzz back in August when it was announced by the Intercontinental Exchange.
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Crypto Kitties, still relevant?
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US Midterm Elections Results in Two Pro Crypto Officals The US Midterm elections are over and the results are in. Republicans will continue to rule the Senate, and Democrats dominate Congress.
Why would someone pay $140,000 for a cat that is not even real?
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Do I catch your eye with the word cryptocurrency, or blockchain? Check out the 101’s at cryptochats.io today to learn the in’s and out’s of the newest technology. Join the revolution today!
CryptoChats.io
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SEC RoundUp The SEC has demonstrated its ability to flex its muscles on a few unwilling and unregulated token issuers and an unregistered exchange.
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Paraguay, the next Mining Mecca? Nearly a quarter of its population lives in poverty. The country suffers from the highest inequality of land ownership in the world.
Popping the Crypto Bubble- Part 2 The Bitcoin bubble, is it here to stay or is it popping as we speak? Continued
#BUILTWITHBITCOIN BUILDING SCHOOLS Paxful is a rising peer-to-peer Bitcoin marketplace that aims to jockey localbitcoins.com for its number one spot. Paxful is on the rise with popularity and their doing so with a purpose. Announced earlier this year, Paxful has successfully built their second school in Rwanda using only donations made with cryptocurrency. The building was built for just a little over $100,000 donated in Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Dash and Bitcoin Cash. Paxful partnered with Zam Zam Water to build the building ensuring that it has all the amenities western civilization children take for granted including running water, a cafeteria, tablets and computers. The school built is a new primary school dedicated to educating students between ages 6 and 15. It’s a six classroom school with 6 full time teachers already hired and the philosophy to teach classical liberal arts education. Blockchain and cryptocurrency education and technology will also be a staple at the school so the student can educate their parents as well as understand the technology of the future. “We encourage the cryptocurrency sector to contribute more to humanitarian projects. The #BuiltWithBitcoin initiative is an example of bitcoin being used as more than a speculative tool but a testament to the usefulness of cryptocurrency. To date, we have built two schools – a nursery, and a primary school in Rwanda, Africa- and provided scholarships to Afghan refugees, and plan to continue these philanthropic ventures.” Paxful currently aims to build 100 schools across Africa as well as donate to many other African education causes. “To date, we have built two schools – a nursery, and a primary school in Rwanda, Africa- and provided scholarships to Afghan refugees, and plan to continue these philanthropic ventures.”
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Popping the
CryptoBubble Blox Space
Part 1
Prices don’t lie and, from experience, bitcoin doesn’t usually stay this stable for such long periods of time. At the moment of writing, bitcoin is still below the USD $7000 levels; nonetheless, if we take into account the contrarian rule for investing, as well as the dynamics of volume and volatility when aligned to a spike in general people’s interest, we may be able to predict a significant rise in bitcoin’s price within the next few months. You don’t need to take my word for granted, just look at the current market volatility. I understand it’s your money that is at stake and the market has been quite bearish. But it’s also mine and everyone else’s who decided to change from fiat-currency to cryptocurrency. To most people you know, bitcoin is an investment vehicle; maybe a bit more worrying, is the fact that the focus is not even bitcoin anymore, it’s mostly altcoins. Where else we could we get those massive gains?
I love new ideas, new projects, new ways of thinking and innovation in general. I also love the concept of decentralizing trust and money and the super-power/super-responsibility that comes with it. Obviously, the debate is considerably more interesting when the total marketcap of (insert top-10 project name) is worth billions. At some point we need to stop and ask ourselves, how happy are we with the actual progress of the cryptocurrency space? So many companies have surged, yet where is real change? Is there a bubble or is the market undervalued? Is price aligned with technology development and adoption, in any way? What about the million dollar question:
CAN WE STILL GO TO THE MOON?
For one, I have absolutely no idea if we can still make epic gains; plus I really couldn’t care less.
Don’t take me wrong, I hope the market turns bullish and we do see a massive bull-run, breaking the Bitcoin below USD 7000 trend. I hope all projects deliver upon their promises. My desire is that everything works out just fine, and everyone who invested takes home some profits. Interestingly enough, despite the current negative sentiment, there’s tons of bullish news coming from left and right. “New institutional players like Fidelity and Bakkt are coming into the market!” “The cryptocurrency seasonality is about to strike!” The problem is, of course, reality works a little bit differently. For one, consider you’re an institution competing with (let’s say) coinbase; would you rather invest in the same market as your competitor, or would you bet on newly developed cryptocurrencies, not owned by coinbase? Plus, we need to take into account the average investor mindset, usually focused in short-term gains, moons and lambos.
“YEAH BUT IN ORDER TO MAKE MONEY, YOU NEED TO SPEND MONEY!” Right, but does it make sense most projects put the financial burden on investors and not founders? Where is the actual risk sitting at? The problem is, of course, reality Who’s money is at stake? works a little bit differently. Honestly, just like you guys, I do want to make tons For one, consider you’re an of money, get rich and don’t institution competing with (let’s say)have to worry about anything elseyou for rather the rest of my coinbase; would invest in days, focusing only doing what as I love. theinsame market your competitor, However, there are many paths to achieve that goal. or would you bet on newly developed You don’t neednot 100 owned BTC to by start a decentralizing cryptocurrencies, coinbase? (whatever business) platform with economic Plus, we need Or to at take into incentives. least youaccount shouldn’t. One of the things thethataverage investor drives my passionmindset, towards cryptocurrency is usually focused gains, what’s aboutintoshort-term come: when people with an actual moons and lambos. need for the technology start participating, hordes
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Sure, our gains are important.
33%
But there’s something way bigger coming, that will change the entire panorama. No, I’m not talking about institutional investors. Imagine when those 33% unbanked people around the world realize they can simply download an app and get paid in a currency accepted everywhere. The true beauty of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies remains to be its decentralized, permissionless and transparent nature. However, in order for that to happen, we might need to put greed aside for a second and think of better ways to redistribute money. If you don’t see how that is important for your personal gain, let me clarify. Think of what happens when you include 2.3 billion people on the financial system.
UNIMAGINABLE, ISN’T IT? I cannot conceptualize the impact on our daily lives, but from a financial standpoint, this is what I see: 2.3 billion more customers for every business, potentially. By including people who did not have a chance to participate in the world economy, you can now reach new customers everywhere; because the means of exchanging are borderless and permissionless, no one can be blocked from exchanging value and services. The digitization of the world, via mobile smart-phones with internet access, will change how we do business. Forever. For example, in African or Latin American countries you might know it’s near impossible to take money out, due to the many currency-related restrictions imposed by central banks. Since 2009 you can simply hop over that problem by transacting in cryptocurrency.d It might not be easy but with the right set of tools, motivation and people, we could see new specialized crypto-related businesses flourishing through developing countries. eveloping countries.
BLOCKCHAIN IN HEALTHCARE – WHAT TO EXPECT IN 2019 AND BEYOND Here is a simple test to check if Blockchain is coming for you: Are you a provider or receiver of healthcare? If your answer is yes, brace yourself for the next generation of healthcare. While not many people are aware of Blockchain technology, its potential, and how it is disrupting industries, Blockchain based platforms have already caused a revolution in the finance industry and the healthcare industry is not far away. Advisory consulting organization Deloitte reports that 35 percent of healthcare institutions aim to start Blockchain systems in their IT departments by the end of 2018. It is evident that many are excited about how technology unravels new avenues in this field in 2019. “I think there’s going to be about two or three years of disappointment set in once people find out it’s not the greatest thing since sliced bread. And then they’re going to have to figure out how to build a skilled staff, how to change the mindset and change the current systems to be able to accept this,” says Prashant Nataranjan, Director Solutions at Oracle. The fact that the opinion leaders understand this phase of doubt is also good for the future of healthcare and Blockchain.
HOW DOES BLOCKCHAIN WORK?
It will not be a new advancement until the Healthcare industry starts realizing the great benefits Blockchain technology can unlock for them. One of the biggest problems affecting digital health records today is data breaches that cause massive losses every year. In the US alone, the cost of these data breaches goes up to 6.2 billion dollars annually. In a world where health records are on Blockchain, these breaches cannot happen as information can only be accessed if the private key of that information is provided by the owner of that information.
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A Blockchain is a decentralized ledger of transactions that several parties have access to. Every transaction is immutable, traceable, and linked to all the previous blocks in the chain. No new transactions can be added in the chain unless a majority of parties in this interconnected system verify it as true. While every user is a participant in this decentralized system, users only have access to that of others’ information which they have been given permission for. This system allows for much greater security, anonymity, and interconnectedness than any of the conventional systems in use today.
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2019 AND BEYOND
HOW CAN IT REVOLUTIONIZE HEALTHCARE?
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Another area of great potential for Blockchain technology is health record interoperability. Hundreds of thousands of hospitals around the world use nearly as many digital health systems. These records are not synchronized, and the systems simply cannot talk and share among themselves. This results in frequent data loss, repetition of diagnosis and tests, and ultimately higher health care costs for the patients. This lets the doctor immediately see past diagnosis, test reports, and prescribed medication. For patients requiring urgent medical assistance, this can save lives. The times cut down by interconnectedness in a giant web of medical records will improve service efficiency and efficacy.
Putting healthcare records on Blockchain can enable privacy and sharing of this data simultaneously. When patients are visiting new doctors or hospitals through their private key, they can give access to their comprehensive medical record to the new doctor. Blockchain can create unique identifiers for medical assets in an institution. Tracking will become easier with Blockchain, improving follow-ups, reducing counterfeiting and ensuring compliance. Many systems and devices in hospitals are either outdated or not serviced properly. The need for compliance and tracking becomes more important as data breaches take the world by storm. Smart asset management will be possible by Blockchain technology. The technology ensures that every part of the chain, starting from the supplier to the user, is tracked and verified through smart tracking options. Physicians, nurses and other professionals will just have to log in and view the status of any given asset, with complete surety that the data will remain confidential within the realms of Blockchain technology.
BLOCKCHAIN IN HEALTHCARE What To Expect In 2019 And Beyond EHR Management One of the best features of Blockchain is the ability to start and complete smart contracts. Smart contracts can run data, share data, create agreements and initiate programs. This service can create automated systems of patient health data that can be managed by the patients themselves. There can be the adoption of cryptographic standards on how the data should be transferred from one format to the other. The person on the receiving end can view this data by entering the private key. This process becomes very smooth with the help of smart contracts. Many companies have started adopting smart contracts for EHR Management. Healthcare solutions developed by these companies will run on Blockchain technology and smart contracts, managing an authentic profile for the creators and maintaining confidentiality. Data sharing also becomes easy with Blockchain, powering functions that are necessary for PHI handling.
Hard to hack: The decentralization of data has immense benefits for healthcare professionals. As we enter a new year, we will see a trend of storing data not on one server, but on a network of computers. This factor makes it less important for cyber miscreants. For example, the attempt of stealing data and holding in ransom is quite impossible, because everyone has a copy of that data. If you are thinking about a member of the network changing the data, you must know that this data can be added on the computer, but not altered. This is a key benefit of Blockchain, which is why 56 percent of healthcare experts think that this technology will become a norm by 2020.
Healthcare experts believe that the biggest barriers to the introduction of the new technology include immature technology (56%) and inefficient skills of staff (55%). 10
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The Hurdles The benefits of this technology in the healthcare sector are immense, but there are some hurdles as well. The system will still take a couple of years before we see it running in healthcare institutions. Changing the whole technology infrastructure in a busy institution may not be difficult if it is a company or a service-based business, but healthcare institutions face challenges of their own.
Many experts also believe that this technology is still in its infancy, and cannot be trusted to run such a serious system this early. There is a huge lack of understanding between key opinion leaders and those who are willing to propose this technology. The HIPAA and other bodies will slowly adapt, if they do, to the new workings of Blockchain technology in healthcare. Integrating HIPAA policies in this technology means converting the regulations on 1996 into those of the current age. It won’t be an easy fit, considering privacy and protection, but the shift will happen as the regulators figure a way out. Needless to say, the regulations will further slowdown adoption, so consider it a slow but steady route towards the future of healthcare.
LAST WORD While the hurdles pose a roadblock to this groundbreaking technology, the benefits outweigh all the doubts. The wheels are already in motion to set the tone for the next era of improved healthcare technology. Keeping a tab on news and events related to Blockchain technology, healthcare IT can prepare for what lies ahead.
Could we see Bitcoin’s value double because of Bakkt? Bakkt created some buzz back in August when it was announced by the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), which operates 23 regulated marketplaces and exchanges globally, would be launching a crypto startup named Bakkt. ICE which also owns the New York Stock Exchange and other global markets, announced they are aiming to launch Bakkt in late November, early December. What will Bakkt address? The goal of Bakkt and of ICE overall, is to give the public a federally regulated marketplace for Bitcoin. With the aim of transforming Bitcoin into a global currency, ICE has partnered with some of the United States’ most well-known enterprises. According to Fortune Magazine, with Microsoft, the Boston Consulting Group, and Starbucks on board, Bakkt offers the ability “for major money managers to offer Bitcoin mutual funds, pension funds, and ETFs, as highly regulated, mainstream investments.” Kelly Loeffler, who has been ICE’s Chief Communications & Marketing Officer and worked for ICE for 16 years, was announced CEO of Bakkt in August. Working closely with ICE founder and chief, Jeff Sprecher, who happens to be her husband, Loeffler has seen personally what it takes to create a mainstream trading empire. For those who don’t know, the Intercontinental Exchange is one of Wall Street’s go-to markets. On October 15, posted on Medium, Loeffler made a significant announcement pertaining to Bakkt. Adam White, who helped build America’s largest trading platform for digital currencies, Coinbase , will be joining Bakkt. With White’s expertise, Bakkt hopes to make their vision come to market more quickly. After all, Coinbase serves over 32 countries and in six years has more than 25 million customers.
What’s this means for Bitcoin: For those who have followed Bitcoin and its value, Bitcoin surged to $19,000 in December of 2017, only to fall to roughly $6,300 today. When asked if this is a red flag for cryptocurrencies, specifically Bitcoin, White in an interview with Fortune Magazine explained “Far too often the public looks at price and market size to determine the progress in digital currencies,” says White. “What matters is that the number of daily transactions for all cryptocurrencies is up year over year. And we’re also seeing the introduction of new protocols from open source software developers that make cryptocurrencies far easier to use.” Bakkt overall does not seem to fear these fluctuations in the value of Bitcoin. In fact, in the same interview Loeffler weighed in on her beliefs on the current state of crypto. “The digital market is fragmented like the energy market in the early 2000s. ICE was the pioneer attracting more and more institutions to trade energy, which is what created today’s liquid market,” she says. “We’re about to see a revolution on the same scale in cryptocurrencies.” 14 BLOXSPACE
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Good Luck Bitoin Overall, I believe we could see the value of Bitcoin double in the next year in part because of Bakkt. With Bakkt already working with Microsoft and Starbucks, I see more companies joining in too. Internally, with their hire of Adam White, I see this as the beginning of creating an even more powerful team to grow the company even more. The most important thing about Bitcoin is getting it somewhere, where it is regulated. To some extent keeping volatility low hinges on regulation.
SUMMARY The fear over security of your cryptocurrency has been another issue too that is addressed with Bakkt. With a wide range of security solutions integrated into Bakkt’s platform, fraudulent transactions and market manipulation can be tracked.
Because the Bakkt solution is already funded and not reliant on future markets and growth that hasn’t happened the platform is already ahead of those ETF applications that are being rejected.
Bakkt is keeping in mind the failure of Bitcoin ETF applications earlier this year. As Bakkt CEO Kelly Loefffler explains, “a critical element to price discovery is physical delivery. Specifically, with our solution, the buying and selling of Bitcoin are fully collateralized and pre-funded. As such, our new daily Bitcoin contract will not be traded on margin, use leverage, or serve to create a paper claim on a real asset. This supports market integrity and differentiates our effort from existing futures and crypto exchanges which allow for margin, leverage, and cash settlement.”
Bakkt and its solution working to mainstream Bitcoin, is huge for cryptocurrencies in general. With solutions such as the Lightning Network, which is currently working to expedite payments and transactions involving cryptocurrencies off the blockchain, the world will be introduced to a new world of payment transactions. Even the simple recognition of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology by exchanges like ICE is a huge step in the right direction for digital assets, let alone an exchange working on a solution to incorporate the technology.
Is CryptoKitties Still Relevant? Why would someone pay $140,000 for a cat that is not even real? The internet wondered as hundreds of users jumped onboard to play the popular game Cryptokitties. You will still not understand how someone can love a virtual cat so much until you get your own Cryptokitty. Cryptokitties is one of the world’s first games based on blockchain technology. The technology is used to collect digital cats. Who doesn’t like fluffy felines? There isn’t much difference when you pick and choose a kitty with dreamy eyes and colorful fur. Users can buy and trade these ‘cats’ in exchange for real-world dollarssomething that makes you more attached to your cryptokitties. CryptoKitties are a form of blockchain collectibles, as each of them has a unique “genetic” code and traits – some rarer, more desirable or more expensive than others.
JUST A GAME A Novelty The distinguishing factor about cryptokitties is the novelty that comes with owning a cat. These digital cats are one of the most expensive novelties you can own and flaunt around. It is human nature to want something that is the talk of the town. The sole expression of novelty has powered marketing campaigns for years. The case is same with cryptokitties. Once bought, the owner will have sole ownership of that kitty. If you like it, you will have to pay thousands of dollars to seize ownership. The love for this game is still intact, as it was reported that one kitty was sold for $155,000! The owners like it when you say that cryptokitties pay homage to one of the major 90s fads- the Beanie Babies. People used to pay extraordinary amounts of cash in exchange for cute stuffed animals. However, unlike the Beanie Babies, cryptokitties can breed and produce offspring with some unique characteristics. This is also like the digital spinoff of the Beanie Babies craze. Before top-tier investors like Andreessen Horowitz gave the company 12 million dollars, countless people had already bought and traded cryptokitties. The main reason behind this investment was one core function of the game: to be able to safely keep collectibles online.
The game did nor promise profits in any of the promotions when it was launched in 2017. The startups relying on ICOs in our era are hungry for more cryptocurrency, but this platform kept it very single. It always was a game where you can trade digital kitties in exchange for real-world money. As a player, you buy a beautiful cat, and if you want to breed, you find a suitable match for the cat. When the offspring arrives, you can sell it to a user who pays a good price. There is not much to question about cryptokitties, a fact that made hundreds of user line up for kitty acquisition. It was just an interesting game, as promised.
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A Challenge Many people are debating that this novelty is not going to last very long. Statistics from Blockchain analytics sites like Diar show that the number of cryptokitties transactions has decreased in the last 3 months. In June, the number of transactions fell a whopping 98.4 percent. That does not affect the popularity of the game, because it is still a favorite ethereum-related game for users. However, the public interest in these digital cats is decreasing due to one major challenge. Even the cofounders agreed that the skyrocketing transaction costs of ethereum would affect the demand for cryptokitties. The owners had the major challenge of scaling when the cryptokitties were first launched. The average price of a cryptokitty has dropped significantly since the launch. Diar reports that the price per kitty used to be $41, and is now something around $5. It is a shocking statistic that will pose greater challenges for the future of cryptokitties. The decrease in a number of transactions is always bad news in the marketplace.
The Solution Now, they are trying to expand the avenues of the game to turn it into a deliverable platform outside buy and sell of kitties. The co-founders have a soon to be launched program set for developers who want to create similar experiences by learning from cryptokitties. This gives users many reasons to return to cryptokitties. The groundbreaking thing about cryptokitties is that they familiarized people with a new way of using Blockchain technology. The true value of digital assets stored on the internet was cemented in the mind of digital experts. The way we perceive digital art as changed through cyrptokitties. There are so many routes to take now. Moreover, when there is personalization, the game becomes even more interesting. There are billions of options for a potential cryptokitty, means there is a cryptokitty meant for your choice. Selective breeding in this game can also get you your dream kitty! You can even dress up your cryptokitty! When you buy a cryptokitty, it is not just a game anymore. It is a valuable collectible. Even if the game shuts down, your kitty will be alive on the ethereum network as a hash code. You can even gift it to your grandchildren in the fast future. People are ready and up to the task for charitable kitty purchases and donations. It gives new meaning to cyberart and the meaning of art itself. Moreover, cryptokitties have given new meaning to thirdparty apps. Third-party of fanmade art used to be frowned upon by many. With Blockchain technology, this goes out the window. In fact, third-party apps and developer community contributions are hugely celebrated. Now there are new ways of dealing with cryptokitties- as a game, as a developer or a thought leader!
Further in 2018 As we move towards the end of 2018, the cryptokitties concept may be slipping in the past. New trends have emerged from the popularity of this game, and new experiences will be created from the platform as promised by the co-founders. 2018 has been a phenomenal year for Blockchain technology, and Ethereum-based apps have seen a major uplift. We are still eager to find out the next step. Will it be a mainstream kitty adoption or something entirely new? Stay tuned to find out more.
Automotive Industry & Blockchain What’s the future look like?
This past decade has had its fair share of ups and down. The world recovered from the financial crises. Some industries grew while others suffered. We witnessed a technological revolution. And slowly, a new digital currency in the form of Bitcoin became mainstream. While many industries suffered, the automotive sector continued to show a positive growth rate. Now, the turnover of the sector is expected to cross €2 trillion. This is equal to the GDP of the sixth largest economy in the world. In a separate direction, blockchain too has been growing. By 2024, its market is expected to surpass $3 trillion. When you think of blockchain, you think of cryptocurrency. You think of conducting transactions using the digital currency. The chances are you don’t think of how the technology can also be incorporated in the automotive industry. The two worlds, i.e., automotive and blockchain, can meet. And they have already. We see solutions like The Autoblock creating rage in the market. We hear conversations about how self-autonomous cars can benefit from using technology in the future. When you combine the two industries, here is what the future would look like.
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Development of cars that are immensely user-friendly You only have one set of car keys. Sometimes you lose them. Sometimes you can’t find them. When either of this happens, you are bound to feel annoyed. However, there is no other way for you to unlock your car. Well, with blockchain, in the future you can be provided with a way. A blockchain network, which would be run by the car manufacturer, would allow you to be given private keys to control your car. You can use smart contract to give occasional but temporary access to others as well. At other times, no one else but you would have control over the private key. This helps in keeping your car secured.
Better data management Various stakeholders can benefit from receiving transparent and accurate data about your vehicle. Currently, there is no network or system in place that delivers it to them. For instance, the type of car insurance package you receive depends on your driving history. With the help of blockchain that centralizes and encrypts all information related to your vehicle, an insurance company can gauge your performance as a driver and give you an insurance plan that is suitable to your needs. Moreover, blockchain data can also be accessed by dealerships when you are trading or selling your car. This would make the car valuation process transparent and reflective of the true state of your vehicle. The current vehicle valuation system is considered to be biased and controlled. But, with blockchain’s decentralized nature of data management, this will not be the case. This benefit isn’t just in the cards for the future. Instead, the Autoblock is delivering this solution currently as well. With time, more such companies are bound to spring up.
However, the addition of a smart contract will allow you to transfer access control to others in times of need. So, whether it be giving access to family members of shipping service, you can do it all in your absence without compromising the security of your car. This will make the vehicles of the future user-friendly as well as highly secured. You can lease cars easily via smart contracts as
The End of Counterfeit Parts An essential element of the automotive industry is its supply chain function. Currently, the automotive industry’s supply chain function is marked by a high rate of recall. One reason for this is the use of counterfeit parts and the lack of ways to control it. Counterfeit parts are causing a monetary problem of over 45 billion dollars. Manufacturers are forced to use them at times due to the lack of information about the components. In most cases, manufacturers only have access to the value chain function before theirs. So, they would know about the vendor that delivers them the parts, but nothing before that. This is why counterfeiters have been able to get away with it. This lack of visibility is what can be targeted in the future. Common parts that are counterfeited without the knowledge of the manufacturer are filters, brake pads, radiators, and airbags. Using such elements put customers at risk. After all, the counterfeit is of low quality. Hence, such brake pads are bound to wear thin quickly. A future where blockchain and automotive industry combines will help in controlling this problematic industry. Each part can be registered on the blockchain network. This will allow manufacturers to trace the part across the value chain easily. This will help the manufacturers in knowing which parts they receive are truly authentic and which cannot be used in developing automobiles. Blockchain will bring suppliers of parts and car manufacturers closer via integrating them on one system. With improved visibility, the supply chain can be transparent. And, if the components used are authorized, customers are exposed to lesser risk. This, in turn, will reduce recalls.
EASY AUTHENTICATION OF OWNERSHIP Have you ever been pulled over and asked to show your car documents to verify if the car is indeed yours? Have you ever misplaced your documents and suffered from the inconvenience that came afterward? Well, you are not alone. Currently, you must carry your car registration and license every time you hit the road. However, the future looks entirely different from this. In a world where all your data is secured on the blockchain, anyone can verify your ownership instantaneously without the need of any documents. This isn’t just going to be convenient for drivers who won’t have to carry documentation with them.
Instead, it will also mean that traffic police spend less time checking and verifying your documents and more time stopping other serious crimes. Additionally, the use of blockchain can also make the transfer of ownership an easy feat. Rather than tackling never-ending paperwork and waiting for ownership to transfer from one person to the other, a blockchain solution can do it all swiftly. The use of smart-contracts and instant update in the network means the transaction can be set in stone very quickly.
CONVENIENT TRANSACTIONS OF USED CARS If you have ever bought a used car, you would know that it is always a gamble. If you are buying it from a dealership, they always try to hide the car’s faults and make it look better than it is. Even if you take a mechanic along, there is only so much he would be able to tell you. The good news for car buyers and the bad news for dealerships and sellers is that blockchain can revolutionize this process in the future. As mentioned earlier, blockchain allows all vehiclerelated data to be uploaded on the network. No one can influence this information. It is encrypted and secured. Whether it be mileage, age, number of accidents or repair, you can know the true state of the used car, thereby knowing what you are getting yourself into.
CONCLUSION These are just some of the many ways blockchain can transform the automotive industry in the future. Whether or not the industry would be able to realize these benefits soon is something time will tell. However, if properly implemented, blockchain technology can transform the industry for the better.
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US Midterm Elections result in two Pro Crypto Officials in Office
The US Midterm elections are over and the results are in. Republicans will continue to rule the Senate, and Democrats dominate Congress. There are many new leaders that have taken seats, to many to shake a stick at in fact, but there are two new leaders that are raising hype in the crypto world. The gubernatorial elections resulted in two new democrat, pro-crypto, leaders being appointed governor. One for California and one for Colorado.
California Winning 59% of votes in California is democrat Gavin Newsom, defeating his republican contender John Cox to become California’s governor. According to the The Sacramento Bee, the local newspaper, Newsom became one of the first highprofile politicians to accept campaign donations in Bitcoin back in 2014. For Newsom’s latest campaign run, he hosted a BitPay page that accepted Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash for campaign donations. Newsom reportedly received $116,800 in campaign donations from the crypto celebrity Winklevoss twins in 2017. Though it’s been confirmed the twins did make this donation, they did so using fiat currency and made none of the donation using crypto. Newsom does not often express his support or interest in blockchain, but shows what support he does subtly. Newsom has not made any direct speeches, comments or posts on where he stands on the topic. Newsome stated back in 2014 that he’ll “promote the technology ever so subtly by saying I’ll accept bitcoin in the campaign.”
Colorado Republican Walker Stapleton was met with defeat this election when his democratic opponent Jared Polis sealed down 51.6% of votes. Polis also hosted a BitPay account for his campaign that similarly accepted Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash.What dramatically differs these two pro crypto governor’s, is that Polis unlike Newsom, is not subtle when it comes to talking and promoting his stance on blockchain technologies. In fact, Polis devoted an entire page on his campaign website to talking about the five areas of blockchain technology that he plans on exploring into in his blockchain policy. The five areas include voter protection, cybersecurity infrastructure, blockchainbased solutions to improve Colorado’s energy grid, and the use of public ledgers so that there’s more transparency regarding state contracts, expenditures, and other government bureaucracy.
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Colorado Polis’s blockchain policy pulls a lot of its foundations from the US state of Wyoming, who back in March of this year defined cryptocurrencies as “Utility Tokens”, creating a new class of assets. Wyoming’s legislature has also recently passed a bill that effectively exempts cryptocurrencies from state regulations,. The bill was signed into law by Governor Matt Mead. Polis outline his desires for blockchain firms to “flock to the state” stating that further work and development of the industry can create “government applications that save taxpayers money and create value for Colorado residents.” Polis continued on to state that he promises “to create a statewide safe harbor designed to exempt cryptocurrencies from state money transmissions laws.” Polis has plans to “establish legislation that protects ‘open blockchain tokens’ or cryptocurrencies that are exchangeable for goods and services,” from heavy and tiresome licensing requirements that apply under extant securities and currency laws.
Nationwide While any crypto or blockchain legislation has yet to create and impact in the US, certain leaders such as Polis and Mead have hopes that they will. Congress still seats some blockchain supporting officials (not one woman among them) after the elections. Though Brad Sherman, sometimes called “the most hated congressman” in the crypto world, will continue to hold the same seat he’s held since 1997 winning 70% of the vote. What does America need to do, so that i can capture the attention of it’s voters and make way for a generation of pro-blockchain officials? It needs a ruckus. The political world is still to bland for crypto and blockchain political news to grab any attention. When you see a candidate that’s ‘pro blockchain’, it doesn’t grab as much attention as it should That’s because we don’t have any radical anti-crypto or anti-blockchain candidates running, or at least none who actually make it into the elections.
Disagreement and arguments is what grabs voter’s attention. No one turns on the TV to watch a presidential agreement. People turn on the TV to watch a presidential debate, or any debate for that matter. No one’s attention is going to be grabbed by candidates who all agree blockchain is good, or neutral parties. We need pro and anti crypto candidates to take the stage next election. Not only will having disagreeing viewpoints on crypto and blockchain grab voter’s attention, but it will encourage and entice voters to educate themselves on the topics.
The SEC RoundUp The SEC has demonstrated its ability to flex its muscles on a few unwilling and unregulated token issuers and an unregistered exchange.
FOR BETTER
The two token issuers, Airfox and Paragon, found themselves trapped in a lawsuit corral from the SEC not to long ago. The reason for their wrangilin? Both of them failed to register their tokens as securities with the SEC. Their other crimes? Nothing. Neither Airfox nor Paragon exhibited any worrisome or fraudulent activity that would otherwise attract the SEC’s attention. The lawsuits of Airfox and Paragon both resulted in the return of the security funding to investors. Due to recent regulations, all ICO’s and exchanges are now required to register with the SEC. EtherDelta, a crypto exchange platform, reportedly knowingly did not register with the SEC in attempts to avoid regulation. The SEC’s pursuit of EtherDelta is the first occurrence of the SEC going after an exchange rather than an ICO. The SEC’s recent lawsuits appear to be statements to the public rather than just individual lawsuits. It also indicates that the SEC may be more interested in targeting exchanges rather than ICO’s when it comes to cracking down on regulation.
OR
FOR WORSE?
Is the SEC trying to Destroy ICO’s and Crypto? The answer to the above question is really a matter of opinion and speculation. Some dramatists would declare that the SEC is the evil of the crypto world and aims to round up all ICO’s and eliminate them one by one. While the SEC is establishing heavy regulations and flexing their muscles on uncooperative parties, their intentions may not be as negative as they seem. The SEC has been viewed as the enemy of ICO’s since the dawn of their creation. Many believe that the regulations the SEC places upon ICO’s completely destroys the point of them entirely. ICO’s are designed to be a way of crowdfunding for start-up blockchain companies that have little to no money to fund their project. Increasing regulations from the SEC continues to make it harder and harder to register and run a legal and successful ICO. But it may not be as negative as you think. From a non-radical standpoint, the SEC is just trying to regulate a relatively new way of funding, whilst protecting investors from fraudulent ICO’s. Think of the round up of ICO’s like a round up of cattle. The cattle are then branded as ‘SEC approved’ and released back into pasture to roam free. The SEC is not the enemy, it’s just trying to eliminate those who makes it look like they are. 24
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The SEC isn’t the problem, but it’s also not the solution ICO’s and cryptocurrencies in general were designed to be a decentralized asset; a medium of exchange free from regulation. These are the pipe dreams that were the foundations for all major cryptos and ICO’s. If these aspirations and goals for ICO’s and cryptos may seem too good to be true… they are. There’s always that one guy in the room who takes your promise for a good idea and a better world, and twists it. As soon as cryptocurrencies sprung into existence, so did its scams. The idea behind cryptocurrency was to create a borderless currency that could be exchanged instantly and without the need for any form of trust between the two parties. The idea for ONE borderless currency has long since died as more than 2,000+ cryptos are currently listed.
What is the problem? The problem as you may have guessed, is people. We are NEVER going to be able to stop people from being people and following their own desires. Bitcoin was the first. All other altcoins are just people being people thinking they can do what someone else did better. Whether they can or not, is mute. People being people is what leads to innovation, development and fraud and there’s no way to separate them. Even with the SEC Approval Branding, Someone, Somewhere will figure out how to fake the brand on their ICO cow and make a new scam.
Now it could be understood why we would need more than one international crypto, maybe 10 or 100 max, but 2,000+ seems like far to many. And of that 2,000 nearly 95% of them are virtually worthless. The crypto market has been rife with pump and dump ICO scams since 2015, rendering all of the ICO’s tokens worthless. Not to mentions the current market decline that has already soiled many a good cryptocurrency. The SEC has nothing to do with the people who soiled the good name of crypto. The SEC is only trying to reduce the growing number of crypto scams in attempts to protect ignorant investors. Though the SEC will only to continue to install more regulations, it will never solve the mass of fraudulent activity that surround cryptocurrencies.
What is the Future? Security Token Offerings (STO’s) currently hold the most promise in the future of cryptocurrencies. Different from ICO’s, with STO’s you are actually buying a portion of the company you are investing in, or are promised a portion of it in the future. STO’s will still need to register with the SEC, but in their essence they are a much more ‘secure’ investment than traditional ICO’s. But the addition of more STO’s into the market still does not solve the 2,000+ cryptos that are in circulation, and at this point it’s unlikely that anything will in the near future. When the time does come, it’s a prediction of mine that Bitcoin will the the last one standing, ultimately more valuable than it is today. While cryptocurrencies may still have a bright future ahead of them, the bigger picture is what’s even brighter.
Blockchin Technology is the solution. Blockchain is the underlying technology behind cryptocurrencies and was created by the same person who created Bitcoin. Blockchains distributed ledger technology holds great promise for many industries, some far more valuable and important that cryptocurrency. Blockchain technology can be applied to almost any industry with any type of supply chain or tracking. Blockchain is no doubt the future. The crypto market at time of writing appears as though is tumbling down to a bitter end. Prices continue to fall at double digit rate for all major cryptos with no clear sign of a bottom. No matter what direction the corralled cryptos go, blockchain is here to stay.
Will Paraguay become the World’s next Crypto Mining Mecca?
P
araguay. Nearly a quarter of its population lives in poverty. The country suffers from the highest inequality of land ownership in the world. Access to good health care is scarce, and small towns still fall victim to raids that result in burnt down homes, churches and schools. Ciudad del Este is a city in Paraguay that sits along the border of neighboring Brazil and Argentina. Ciudad del Este is rife with crime, smuggling, cartels and… CPU’s? While some in Paraguay are suffering on a daily basis, others have become multimillionaires in a matter of months. How are they doing this?
THE ITAIPU DAM The colossal Itaipú dam is situated north of Ciudad del Este along the Paraná river. Brazil and Paraguay have joint ownership of the Itaipú’s outputs, splitting them equally. But every year Paraguay is forced to sell their surplus of energy from the dam to Brazil at an extremely discounted rate.
In an interview with The Guardian, Gregorio Bareiro, an air conditioning business owner, talked about Paraguay’s newly found crypto mining industry and it’s hydroelectric resources.
“PARAGUAY TODAY IS THE ONLY PLACE WHERE THERE’S ABUNDANT ENERGY,” SAID BAREIRO ENTHUSED. “WE CAN BECOME THE CENTRE OF GLOBAL BITCOIN MINING.”
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WHAT TO DO WITH THE EXCESS POWER According
to
the
interview,
Bareiro became involved with the cryptocurrency industry when some miners came to his shop looking for cheap AC alternatives in attempt to stuff out the subtropical heat that plagues Paraguay. Bareiro now owns and rents out over 750 mining computers
to
Brazilians,
North
Americans and Europeans with plans to construct portable mining facilities. It’s estimated that they are currently 20,000 mining units in Ciudad del Este, each and every one of them mining Bitcoin of Ethereum. Each of them constantly consuming the power produced by the Itaipú dam. The Itaipú dam is the world’s most powerful and efficient hydroelectric dam facility. With such a large amount of surplus energy, it makes the city the perfect spot for the world’s next mining mecca.
Many money hungry entrepreneurs and a few solemn politicians are eager to attract the owners of major mining facilities in China, the US and parts of Europe. Bareiro believes that they could lure the major mining corporations to relocate operations to Paraguay if they lower their electricity prices even further (currently around $0.05 per Kilowatt hour). “In 10 years, it would generate enough money to pay Paraguay’s external debt,” he suggested. “With our resources, we ought to have electric helicopters, drones for transporting goods …” But others in Paraguay strongly disagree with the point of view Barrio holds. Rather than bringing in mining operations to suck up all of paraguay’s power, other believe Paraguay should focus on distributing the power equally and using it to create jobs in domestic industries. Mining if you don’t already know, doesn’t’ create a lot of jobs. Since almost all the work is done by computers, you can have a multimillion dollar mining corporation but only 11 people on staff. Many Paraguay officials don’t want that for their country. Those who oppose Bareiro suggest that the excess of power should be used to develop domestic industries, such as manufacturing, that will create millions of jobs and help lift people out of poverty. Paraguay has a desperate need to stimulate its economy and boosts its GDP.
TECHNOLOGY IS THE WAY TO GO Whether you’re on Bareiro’s side or not, there seems to be a general consensus amongst the people of Paraguay that technology is the way to go. With the Itaipú dam standing tall over Cuidad del Este, and the rumble of its hydroelectric power clear to all, the next move for Paraguay is to develop it’s tech industry. “If the country takes advantage of Itaipú now, while its population is still small, “it could put Paraguay on the edge of the technological frontier,”” Cristine Folch of Duke University stated in The Guardian interview. Weather Paraguay decides to pursue the attraction of miners, tech giants, or manufactures, it’s clear that Paraguay is an emerging tech capital in the world.
The Bitcoin Bubble Is Popping -Part 2
In order to get to the bottom of that question, first we need to worry about adoption. I personally believe there are 3 reasons that could lead to potentially increasing worldwide adoption of cryptocurrency: A Better User Interface; A Better redistribution of money; Continuous decentralization. If you think I forgot about scalability, transaction fees or block size, please rest assured I haven’t. To me those aren’t real problems; as the network grows in security (more miners), user adoption and developer community, I believe we will see those issues getting resolved. Some others will appear, of course, but that’s the nature of innovation. You need to break stuff in order to build new things so it’s not the tech problems that frighten me, to be honest; the values and paths we choose to support our decisionmaking, that is what concerns me.
But we’ll get into that in a bit. So, why is User Interface at the top? Simple answer: would you be able to use the internet without DNS being active? Killer user-friendly apps, which make the bridge between the infrastructure and the user are the key which might unlock this puzzle. The first real challenge is making cryptocurrency indistinguishable from digital fiat-currency. We need ways to safe-guard users from making bad decisions, like not keeping their private keys safe, accessing websites via ads, or keeping their entire assets in a single place. To achieve that, we have two main schools of thought to follow. Learning by doing or, Regulating the markets.
This article shouldn’t be taken as financial advisement as it represents my personal opinion and views. I have savings invested in cryptocurrency so take whatever I write with a grain of salt. Do not invest what you cannot afford to lose and always read as much as possible about a project before investing
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As regulation is usually the way to avoid, especially during the early development stages of any novel technology, we should educate people and allow them to make bad decisions. It’s hard to lose your money, I have been there (many times before). I’ve also been scammed, tricked, made bad decisions on where to store my money, lost private keys and so on. What’s the only good thing about it? Each time I failed I learned something that helped in the future. What “experts” usually don’t tell you is that you shouldn’t be afraid to fail, especially if you’re starting in a new field. Consider the following: the sooner you fail the sooner you learn. This is, if I had not made all those mistakes back in the day, I would probably do them later on. And I could have lost way, way more money!
The hardest lesson we all learn with time is that there are no safeguards in real-life. A stupid comment on twitter can lose you your job; a click in the wrong ad can infect your laptop; just being in the wrong place at the wrong time can change your life drastically. We need to accept we don’t control most things that come our way. The only thing that matters is whether we’re prepared to deal with them or we’re not. One thing I’m pretty sure of: blocking people from investing, reasoning it’s in their best interest, is just plain wrong. Unless the same rules apply to other markets. Like, oh I don’t know. Gambling? #doublestandardsmuch?
Bitcoin Bubble
Why is making bad choices that important? Firstly, in order to learn, most people need to do stupid stuff and make incredibly irrational decisions. Secondly, regulation needs to adapt to a new reality, because: If it’s OK to gamble, it should be OK to buy cryptocurrency. If it’s OK to share my data with the highest bidder, it should be OK to let me monetize it as I see fit. Thirdly, everyone makes bad decisions at some point. No exceptions here. If someone tells you how certain they are about something, run away as fast as possible Honestly, nothing in life is certain, much less an unregulated market like crypto. Sometimes, even the greatest people make the most stupid mistakes. Do you follow, for example, the brilliant Andreas Antonopoulos? Did you know his co-author on “Mastering Bitcoin”, a blockchain bibble for so many crypto-enthusiasts, was the person responsible for creating Parity? Which got hacked not so long ago? The harsh truth is that people make mistakes and bad things happen. What really matters, at least to me, are the intentions and values on which decisions were made. Either a commercial airplane pilot who wasn’t able to account for time correctly and crashed a plain; or a doctor who failed to correctly diagnose a disease killing a patient, people make bad decisions sometimes, that lead to destructive outcomes.
Those events, however, can have a positive impact on future generations, because Human Beings have the capability to learn from them. Critical thinking is key, as we cannot impose too many regulations on something that is already internally regulated. That’s why Bitcoin works, as its internal consensus mechanics promote good behavior and punish bad actors. If you wonder why we might need to slow down on regulation think of what the current state of finance is doing to the world. There is a clear separation and segregation of classes as the rich can invest while the poor can only work for a pay-check. Screw that. Make money work for you. This is not a new idea, not even related to cryptocurrency at all, but it’s an important mindset to have. Maybe the story of rich-dad, poor-dad can be an inspiration to you, regarding how to look at money. 30
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How can we better redistribute money?
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Bitcoin initiated a process of rewarding participants for securing the network. That’s already pretty cool and quite an achievement, but we need to aim at doing it better. Right now you need special hardware to maintain the security of the network. In time, I hope the mechanics change in order to allow for more people to be rewarded for maintaining the network’s security. Real change, in my opinion, will come from different proof-of-consensus. For example, there might be a different implementation that requires all participants to secure the network. This is, anyone who participates needs to validate transactions at some point, getting rewarded to do it. Currently ,the logic dictates you need to spend energy to maintain the network’s security, which is a fair trade-off. But other logics might appear with different goals. What if instead of energy you staked your time or attention?
If everyone agrees to a change in the protocol rules you can potentially just fork bitcoin into a new proof-of-work mechanic, rewarding everyone who already participates in the current bitcoin blockchain (like bitcoin cash, private, gold etc). There are of course opinions against keeping doing hardforks, as it potentially steals hashing power from the main network. But hey, that’s a feature of decentralization. People should be able to do whatever they want. If someone believes they have a better way of reaching consensus, let them try. If the overall goal is to improve the network, adoption and user reward I hope people try new things, as it’s the only way to achieve the best possible outcome for everybody.
TOKENIZING THE WORLD ECONOMY Another potential solution is if businesses everywhere start adopting a different mentality. What if instead of giving people equity, you can give them a direct way to make money by using your product/services? I understand it’s hard to conceptualize a token which has no real value, as it’s not connected to an organization’s equity, but try to see it from a different perspective: you can now purposely give away tokens to users, for free, as they use your product or service. Those tokens could let them vote upon governance, reward them with a fixed income or allow them to donate back tokens so you can build new features or maximize your business utility.
on’t forget: the more selfish your actions are the worst the overall outcome for the most.
The goal here would be to directly redistribute gains, for example, among the people who support your network: users. Those users can be anyone, your suppliers, buyers, employees, investors, etc. Everyone who interacts with your business could potentially be rewarded for participating. Imagine not having just a source of income, but potentially dozens at the same time, just from sharing your data, buying products, using services or interacting with a network. We could completely shift how the world works by literally giving back to your network. We now have a chance to shift from measuring wealth in profits to measuring wealth in network users. Because all users would have tokens! As crypto-assets are inter-changeable, everyone can easily exchange them for digital cash. Or any other digital asset you see fit. Maybe instead of having 150 currencies, we will end up with hundreds or thousands of digital assets, all of which could potentially be exchanged amongst themselves. We now come to the final point that can greatly influence overall adoption.
Don’t forget: the more selfish your actions are the worst the overall outcome for the most. I understand that for some of us to win, others need to lose; that’s just how balance works. Except this time the winners can be the many and the losers the few. I know it’s a bit of a stretch, but who knows? With a different attitude comes a different outcome.
DECENTRALIZED PROTOCOL LAYERS Only with standardized and trusted contracts deployed, which use a very easy and friendly interface, we actually have a chance of people trusting the entire system. It’s pretty cocky to say “the blockchain can’t be hacked” when software and websites built over it, can. For more than 2 centuries we had a system that only worked in some parts of the world, it wasn’t all inclusive, it was permissioned by required people to identify themselves and did not work 24/7 nor did it reward participants. -Come to think about it, no one born after 2008 will ever live in a world where fiat-money is the only option. That’s reassuringThings have changed and we all must make an effort to turn this market into a huge success. From investors, to developers and from miners to users, it’s up to all of us as individuals to promote good agents and to punish bad actors.
IS BITCOIN A BUBBLE No. Our immense greed and lust for money is. If you fear the market will collapse think of the Internet bubble. Do you remember how it ended? No bubble will destroy bitcoin, we’ve been there already. Now, if there is a bubble it means we weren’t able to control our greed for quick profits and allowed for enormous over-valued silly projects to emerge. Just like during the 2000s. Seems to me Bitcoin isn’t the mother of all bubbles. We are.
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