PAY

THE ADVENT OF BITCOIN CREATED A NEW WAVE OF APPLICATIONS, CRYPTOCURRENCIES AND STABLECOINS THAT HAVE CAUSED DIVISIONS IN THE WIDER TECH SECTOR. A SERIES OF ENERGISED DEBATES ABOUT THE TRUE NATURE OF BITCOIN AND ALTCOINS HAVE RECENTLY VEERED TOWARDS USECASES FOR ESTABLISHED GIANTS LIKE FACEBOOK.

Irrespective of which side of the pond one sits on, it seems crypto has also caught the attention of social media giant Facebook, which is reportedly developing a cryptocurrency that will let users send money via its WhatsApp messaging app. The cryptocurrency would first launch in India, a country with over 200 million Whatsapp users and the world’s leader in sending money overseas.

According to Bloomberg, this would be achieved through the creation of a stablecoin, also known as a digital currency pegged to a fiat currency like the US Dollar. Such currencies are often less volatile than regular cryptos – as is their intended purpose. Stablecoins took the limelight throughout most of 2017, with the highest profile one being Tether – a coin surrounded by controversy. In fact, questions about Tether’s transparency regarding its professed 1:1 Tether to fiat reserve remain an unnerving marker of uncertainty for many.

Hinting its entry into the market, Facebook has over 2.5 billion global users and $40 billion in annual revenue, despite the stock market’s dismal 2017 performance. It could easily be said that a well-established platform like Facebook could have everything it takes to develop a fullyfunctional and ubiquitous stablecoin. If successful, the venture could be like the falling of small stones that starts another avalanche in the crypto universe.

While the social media mammoth has been very hush-hush about its blockchain initiatives, a spokesman teased some insight into their plans to move in this direction: “Like many other companies, Facebook is exploring ways to leverage the power of blockchain technology. This new small team is exploring many different applications. We don’t have anything further to share.” As the industry titan leans ever-closer to the crypto bandwagon, should expectations be adjusted accordingly?

In exclusive commentary with the Block, well known venture capitalist Tim Draper outlined his cautious optimism about the development, wishing Facebook’s venture success despite some lingering reservations.

“We welcome Facebook into Bitcoin’s cryptoverse. I am concerned with any cryptocurrency that is tied to fiat though. It seems to be technology without a market. Why create crypto if you just tie it to government political currency!”

According to Tim, ‘fiat currency’ is synonymous with ‘political currency’, which anchors his Bitcoin maximalist approach on the matter. This is in line with Tim’s broader belief that fiat currency will be slowly eaten up by a better currency which is global, decentralised and frictionless.

At the same time, Tim notes that at least “Facebook is tying it to the Dollar and not to the Nigerian Naira.”

“Still, the currency will hold political risk with seemingly no benefit. Maybe they should just use Dollars. Or better, Facebook should use Bitcoin, seeing how poorly they are being treated by governments around the world.”

Taking a more optimistic stance, Scott Stornetta, the founding father of blockchain technology referenced in Satoshi’s original whitepaper, outlined his belief that various use-cases could find a home under the DLT umbrella.

“I, for one, welcome any introduction of blockchain technology. Some express concern that anything associated with an entity such as Facebook is not being true to the peer-to-peer ideals of the blockchain ethos. But we should welcome all varieties of use of the technology, and then let users decide which brings the most benefit.”

WeChat, who created a payment coin to the same effect. That said, Jay noted that the devil is in the details.

“I am yet to name the stablecoin as a cryptocurrency as we have little information on how Facebook plans to implement this coin. It’s plausible, perhaps even likely, that this will be a centralised and trust-based solution.”

Taking a more critical approach, Jay also outlines questions about supply chain controls, tax implications and Indian compliance. Without a sufficiently decentralised approach, Jay says that Facebook’s stablecoin will be “nothing more than an alternative trust-based payment channel with immediate distribution and a slick UX. Great for Facebook’s bottom line, but lesser the progression of selfsovereignty and decentralisation.”

Ultimately, the evolution of stablecoins as frictionless intermediaries is bound to gain prominence over time, particularly due to the understated significance of Bitcoin.

Founder of Unique Block Group, Jay Coshan, also weighed in on the issue, acknowledging that Facebook’s entry into some aspect of finance has been a long time coming.

“This prospect has been in the cards since the company hired David Marcus (former president of PayPal) way back in 2014, not to mention their focus on blockchain being made apparent as of May 2018. Even Zuckerberg’s sister, Randi, became involved advising blockchain ICO startup Pledge Camp last year.”

He goes on to say that Facebook’s move is welcome, but that it was undeniably inspired by the success of their Asian competitors,

In a fresh blog post, Lebanese–American essayist, scholar, statistician, former trader, and risk analyst, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, said: “Bitcoin is a currency without a government… its mere existence is an insurance policy that will remind governments that the last object establishment could control, namely the currency, is no longer their monopoly. This gives us, the crowd, an insurance policy against an Orwellian future.”

Putting this into perspective, the stablecoin landscape seems to be flexing its muscles as more ambitious projects make headway. Depending on their effectiveness as “inbetween currencies”, this could potentially direct the ecosystem towards further mainstream adoption.

IN MALTA’S

A.I. & BLOCKCHAIN ECOSYSTEM

Acunetix is the market leader in automated web application security testing, and is the tool of choice for many Fortune 500 customers. It automatically and accurately scans HTML5, JavaScript and Single-page applications, audits complex authenticated web apps, reports on a wide range of web vulnerabilities, including SQLi and XSS, and includes vulnerability management features.

www.acunetix.com www.aetoken.io www.agopolis.com www.amlexa.com

AEToken provides blockchain enabled secure payment solutions for the affiliate marketing industry. Affiliate marketing is the primary lead driver for the Casino, Gaming and Adult industry and AEToken revolutionises these processes by eliminating the need for minimum payouts, reducing complaints with built in dispute resolution and minimising fraud by smart contracts.

AGOPOLIS is a groundbreaking social network that provides a much needed platform for today’s independent music artists to be discovered. It employs a utility token-based model (AGOPOLIS Coin) for artists to take control of their own music’s destinies by readily broadcasting and selling their tracks throughout the network’s platform.

IT Legals Ltd (ITL) specialises in Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Counter-Terrorist Financing (CTF) web applications and due diligence back-office services for the Blockchain industry. ITL’s AMLEXA, is the first Artificial Intelligence Platform for Remote Customer Due Diligence that automates identification, risk assessment and on-going monitoring.

MAKSIM JEVSEJEV CEO

Advendor is a brand new affiliate network using a CPA model, allowing for effective cooperation between publishers and advertisers. For the advertisers this means that their budget is spent only on target actions: providing a more flexible and economically efficient way to work with the system. For publishers it provides an opportunity to maximise their profits from the attracted traffic.

www.advendor.net www.afilexion.com/about-afilexion www.almond.io www.avanzia.com.mt www.avinoc.com www.bdo.com.mt www.bitcoin.com www.bitstarz.com

Afilexion was initially established as a joint venture project between Avviza Advisory and GTG Advocates in 2016, to service gaming clients they had in common. Over time, the partners at GTG Advocates and the founder of Avviza Advisory, realised that whilst both firms were already amongst the leading mid-tier firms in their respective fields, their expertise and experience, when combined together, created exponential value to their clients.

Almond is a new blockchain-based ecosystem that aims to create an alternative goods market to better benefit consumers, the planet and purpose-driven brands. A secure, hidden code is included on partner products to allow brands to share supply-chain data, the product’s CO2e footprint and offer brand cryptocurrency token rewards.

Avanzia Taxand is a corporate service provider licensed by the MFSA. Whilst offering a plethora of services including the formation of your business and the provision of ancillary services thereto, Avanzia Taxand remains highly focused on taxation matters. Avanzia Taxand maintains a standard of excellence and a personalised service.

AVINOC is a consistent, integrated and permissionless base data layer for decentralised, transparent and worldwide coordination of business flights within the general aviation, to achieve optimal utilisation and reduce costs significantly. Every user involved in AVINOC possesses a local copy of all relevant data. This creates new opportunities for global, direct, permissionless, and fast communication between participants involved in the complex aviation business.

For the past 40 years, BDO Malta has acted as auditors, tax advisers and consultants for numerous Maltese and international companies, including online gaming companies. BDO Malta provides professional advice to projects that are blockchain-related, including but not limited to the setting up of ICOs, crypto-funds, cryptocurrency exchanges and platforms, structuring them in a way which enables efficient audits of DLT setups.

Bitcoin.com is your premier source for everything Bitcoin related. We can help you buy Bitcoin and choose a Bitcoin wallet. You can also read the latest news, or engage with the community on our Bitcoin Forum. Please keep in mind that this is a commercial website that lists wallets, exchanges and other Bitcoin related companies.

BitStarz is big and we really do mean big. With a 10-minute average cashout time, crypto and fiat support, 1,600+ games, 24/7 customer support, and more than 1 million registered players, we’re not just an award-winning crypto casino - we’re the online casino that everyone is talking about!

ALEXEY ERMAKOV CEO

We created an app that facilitates quick deposit and exchange of funds, provides secure storage and easy withdrawal options. The Aximetria bank card gives our clients total freedom to use cryptocurrencies in any part of the world.

www.aximetria.com

ELENA KOLMAKOVA

A professional trading platform with a wide range of financial assets. In addition to classic investment opportunities and the most profitable trading conditions, Binomo offers trading with cryptocurrency pairs - Bitcoin, Litecoin, and the Crypto Index. The undisputable advantages of these new assets are high volatility and the ability to trade around the clock, including on weekends. Bitcoin’s market cap is the largest among other virtual coins and its intensive rate growth creates good opportunities for earning.

www.binomo.com www.bitfury.com www.blackmoonplatform.com

The Bitfury Group is the world’s leading full-service blockchain technology company and one of the largest private infrastructure providers in the blockchain ecosystem. Bitfury develops and delivers both the software and the hardware solutions necessary for businesses, governments, organisations and individuals to securely move an asset on the blockchain.

Blackmoon is a platform which allows cryptocurrency owners to purchase blockchain tokens linked to investment funds’ performance. Blackmoon allows asset managers to issue and distribute blockchain tokens linked to their funds’ performance, access previously unavailable classes of investors, raise capital and increase liquidity of the investment proposition. The company’s vision is to create a new standard for the asset management industry that will bridge the gap between the traditional and crypto financial universes.

JONATHAN GALEA Managing Director

Blockchain Advisory Limited is one of the very few Maltese advisory firms which has actively worked on past and present ICOs, STOs, exchanges, and crypto-funds. Its Managing Director, Jonathan Galea, and Partner, Anton Dalli, have been active in the field of blockchain and cryptocurrencies for more than ten years collectively.

www.bca.com.mt

Co-Founder & CEO

Books Without Borders aims to delight readers, publishers, libraries, philanthropists, and authors with a fresh approach to digital book distribution. Wherever there’s a BWB button - on websites, apps, or screens near authors, we deliver digital books on the rights holder’s terms. Readers just need to swipe and read. The organisation is peerto-peer, decentralised and based on DLT.

www.bookswithoutborders.com

& Partner

Caledo houses advocates, academics, technologists, policy and regulatory experts, economists, and security and fintech specialists, to provide its clients with an exceptional one-stop-shop environment. In a world where developments in technology are constantly pushing the boundaries of laws and society, we believe that an interdisciplinary expertise is the lynchpin for innovation in our industry.

www.caledogroup.com www.closecross.com

London-based company, CloseCross Ltd is the developer of a multiparty, decentralised derivatives trading platform driving democratic participation. By introducing simple 3-click-trading, helping to eliminate unquantified risks, and making trading 90% cheaper, CloseCross promises to level the playing field for those wishing to participate in the $1200 trillion financial derivatives market.

FRANCESCO DE SANTIS Chief Marketing Officer

Bloomio is redesigning the venture capital industry. We are an equity crowdfunding platform powered by blockchain, connecting startups with individual investors. The platform allows startup founders to raise capital by tokenising equity, and gives investors the ability to trade startup stakes through a secure blockchainbased marketplace.

www.bloomio.com

& CEO

BTCBIT is a reliable and convenient cryptocurrency exchange service provider and payment processor that deliver services in more than 220 destinations. The company has an mpeccable reputation for striving for the pursuit of high ethical standards and quality of services to its customers world over.

www.btcbit.net www.ccmalta.com www.chronobank.io

Chetcuti Cauchi Advocates is one of the largest law firms in Malta and enjoys a history of tech-oriented work, serving clients in the online gambling, digital games, crypto and blockchain sectors. Besides familiarity with the legal aspects of blockchain technology, the firm strongly bridges technology with the financial regulatory aspects and has positioned itself as a top legal and tax advisor to the fintech and blockchain sector.

ChronoBank is re-imagining hiring for the blockchain age. Founded in Australia following its successful token sale in February 2017, the company has developed a sophisticated blockchain-based hiring ecosystem. ChronoBank is led by an executive team with deep domain experience in HR, banking, and fintech. It boasts one of the strongest technical and product teams in the blockchain world and is well-funded to innovate in all sectors of HR.