Rating System for Smart Contracts Is Established in the Ethereum Network

Alexander Salazar
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Rating System for Smart Contracts Is Established in the Ethereum Network

The Ethereum Trust Alliance (ETA) seeks to increase the levels of security and trust in the network. The organization will create a smart contract registry and a public consultation indicator.

It was announced that six audit and security companies making life in the cryptocurrency ecosystem have decided to jointly create a rating index for the smart contracts developed on the Ethereum network. The Ethereum Trust Alliance (ETA) is an initiative that provides information so that users gain greater awareness of the security of smart contracts and know how to distinguish them after undergoing security checks.

The organization, which is comprised of the startups MythX, Quantstamp, Runtime Verification, Sooho, SmartDec, and ConsenSys Diligence, considers that, for this field of the crypto industry to evolve, it is necessary to establish an indicator that serves as a reference, to both users and institutions, which will result in having access to more accurate information and being aware of the potential risks.

As the ETA stated on its website, only a small flaw in the code of a smart contract is needed to block or lose tens of millions of US dollars in an instant, which has occurred on many occasions. Currently, it is still not possible to easily know that a smart contract has undergone a full security audit, according to the organization.

It should be noted that the project compared its proposal with the service provided on a global scale by credit rating agencies, such as the case of Moody’s, which establishes a scale of risks of various financial assets. Similarly, the ETA will report to the Ethereum community which smart contracts have undergone certain levels of rigorous testing to help ensure that vulnerabilities have been addressed. In other words, the higher the level of the ETA, the lower the associated risk will be.

Given that the initiative will be based on a badge system, there will be specifications that contain the requirements for each level. The ETA reported that anyone can use tools or audits to meet the requirements and apply for the registration of the ETA. A third party will review the request and the badge will be issued. Besides, it was highlighted that the service is free.

It is believed that multiple aspects within the cryptoecosystem could be influenced by the fact that there is an indicator of the security of a smart contract, especially that of Ethereum. From dApps to DeFi (decentralized finances), the evaluation and audit of smart contracts would give them a higher level of reliability so that users or investors can decide which service to use.

It should be remembered that smart contracts are computer programs that can be fulfilled automatically after two or more involved parties meet a set of pre-established conditions. Although that the Ethereum network is one of the best-known platforms for developing this type of software, smart contracts can also be created through TRON or EOS, among others. In the case of Bitcoin, it is possible to generate smart contracts through the RSK platform.

By Alexander Salazar

Commercial Aviation Spare Parts Will Be Authenticated in a Blockchain through New Consortium

Alexander Salazar
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Commercial Aviation Spare Parts Will Be Authenticated in a Blockchain through New Consortium

The MRO alliance will keep a history of the maintenance of aircraft parts. Through that type of registration, the industry would save USD 3.5 billion.

It was reported that a group of corporations linked to the aircraft maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) sector established a blockchain consortium to authenticate commercial aircraft spare parts.

The MRO Blockchain Alliance is an organization that seeks to establish a new standard based on distributed ledger technology (DLT) to keep track of equipment repairs and verify the origin of the spare parts.

Among the members of the organization, the most prominent are Bolloré Logistics, Cathay Pacific, FLYdocs, HAECO Group, Ramco Systems, the International Aeronautical Telecommunications Society (SITA) and Willis Lease Finance Corporation. Even though the date for the start of the new platform’s operations was not specified, a SITA statement indicated that the concept testing will be performed within the next months with various participants.

Challenge for the Network

It should be noted that the project poses a major challenge as it is a sector in which 25 million spare parts are processed per year and another 3 thousand are added, thus covering 20,000 suppliers for 144,000 daily flights, all arranged in an industrial market that generates about USD 100,000 million every year. Another technical detail that was not clear is the type of blockchain that will be used, but SITA provided details of its operation.

The company explained that the alliance will use blockchain to register and track two separate information chains for each part of the plane: a digital thread and a digital passport. The former provides the real-time status, chain of custody, follow-up, and tracking of the parts over time. The latter, the same as a human passport, provides the unquestionable identity of a part and contains other vital data such as airworthiness certification to prove ownership.

Of course, SITA’s role as an information technology provider will go further, since it will also ensure the governance of the alliance, the delivery of all the necessary blockchain technology components, and the validation with international regulators and organizations.

In case the project is consolidated, the consulting firm PwC indicated that the application of this type of registration could generate savings of USD 3.5 billion and an increase of around 4% in the revenue of the aerospace industry, which translates into about USD 40,000 million.

Blockchain in Aeronautics

In December 2016, the consulting firm Accenture suggested that the global aviation industry could be optimized by using blockchain technology. That announcement drew attention since solutions had not been proposed for this sector but other industries.

A year later, in December 2017, the largest commercial aircraft manufacturer worldwide, Boeing from the USA, announced that it would seek to eliminate falsifications of its GPS systems with a blockchain.

The applications of DLT, an original Bitcoin technology as a digital system, have expanded over the years to various economic sectors such as food distribution, identity certification and, in this case, validation of spare parts.

This technology allows two or more people to conduct transactions without the participation of trusted third parties or intermediaries. All the operations are then registered in a distributed or decentralized database whose information cannot be modified.

By Alexander Salazar

Container Terminal in Chile Recorded 40,000 Movements Using Blockchain ​​Technology

Maria Rodríguez
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Container Terminal in Chile Recorded 40,000 Movements Using Blockchain ​​Technology

The Terminal has managed to exceed positive figures from years before the implementation of this blockchain platform.

Chile’s renowned container terminal San Antonio International Terminal (STI) recently reported that it registered a total of 40,000 movement operations using a specialized blockchain platform.

The information that was also reviewed through the Trade News media, last February 6th, added that the platform that was adapted to the terminal is also called TradeLens, a blockchain platform created and promoted by the company IBM and Maersk.

According to the news that was published in local media, the blockchain platform has already been used in various terminals and ports in the world, as well as it has helped to optimize its loading and unloading operations. The platform enables a means of exchanging information within a platform that only permits authorized agents within the logistics chain. This platform also improves traceability in all its operations.

The use of this platform by the terminal corresponds to a special plan for growth and expansion of all operations, as José Iribarren, who is General Manager of STI, explained.

“We started implementing TradeLens in December 2019 and we hope to use it progressively in all our operations, which is an effort for our clients, who will eventually be able to count on the benefits of an online interaction with shipping companies, customs agents, carriers, warehouses and each of those that make up this chain, providing them with great security, representative feature of this platform”, he said.

Security results to be a support that STI hopes to reinforce with the progressive increase in the presence of blockchain technology in its operations. They emphasize that it is a high priority to ensure that the information arrived without major setbacks to the sectors involved in the operations.

The additional information that was released about the system that is now used by the terminal, indicates that the new encryption method, using blockchain technology, ensures all the processes of entry and exit of the loads and downloads of the shipping companies in the docking and undocking, as well as the weight of the containers.

The platform also allows the recognition of the containers, and in just a few seconds, it can provide vital information about the handling of the product, the condition of the content and its location within the terminal.

Iribarren wanted to add that the use of this blockchain platform puts the San Antonio Terminal among the most sophisticated and intelligent ports in the world, providing high-quality services.

“It is a technology that is being adopted by the main ports of the world and in STI we want to be part of this progress because it is a better service for our customers”, he said.

By the end of last October, representatives of IBM and Maersk announced that more than 50 ports and terminals in Latin America would already be using this blockchain platform in their operations, so this adaptation of the systems corresponds to a service update and working methods in the San Antonio Terminal in Chile.

By María Rodríguez

Tether Launched its US Dollar-backed Stablecoin

Maria Rodríguez
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Tether Launched its US Dollar-backed Stablecoin

The confirmation time for transactions will be as low as four seconds and transaction fees will be a fraction of a percent, according to Algorand.

The stablecoin operator Tether recently launched its US dollar-backed stablecoin USDT on the Algorand proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain.

In a press release issued on February 10th, Tether explained that USDT on Algorand will feature confirmation times as low as four seconds and transaction fees will be a fraction of a percent.

“Our latest collaboration with Algorand leverages the speed and security of Algorand’s protocol to give traders fast settlement and reduced counterparty risk in their fiat to digital assets transactions”, Tether Chief Technical Officer Paolo Ardoino said.

Ardoino says the launch on EOS is necessary, citing the highly awaited launch of eosfinex as the reason.

The official website of Algorand explains that Algorand “is an open-source public blockchain based on a pure proof-of-stake consensus protocol that supports the scalability and decentralization needed for today’s economy”.

Tether is the first stablecoin that was launched on Algorand’s blockchain platform, according to the press release. Until now, USDT has already been launched on Ethereum, EOS, the Liquid Network, Omni and Tron (TRX) so this is another stablecoin that is now available for crypto users.

USDT is the leading stablecoin on the market and, during the first days of February, it has a market value of $4.6 billion and also reports a 24-hour trading volume of $46.1 billion. These figures are according to CoinMarketCap, a website for tracking the capitalization of various cryptocurrencies.

Major financial institutions including central banks and major technology and financial services firms have entered the stablecoin space. For this reason, the crypto world continues growing and financial institutions are giving their support to stablecoins backed in traditional assets such as gold or fiat currencies like the Dollar.

Last March 2019 it was reported that six international banks signed letters of intent to issue their stablecoins backed by their national fiat currencies on IBM’s now-live blockchain-powered payments network, called Blockchain “World Wire” (BWW), which is the first blockchain network of this kind to integrate payment messaging, clearing and settlement on a single unified network and allows participants choose from a variety of digital assets.

BWW currently supports more than 47 currencies for payments across 72 countries. It disintermediates legacy bank settlement systems by introducing the XLM token as an efficient, immutably-tracked settlement instrument for fiat currencies between institutional parties.

“Our view for stablecoins is really that they should be more broadly accessible and what World Wire seeks to do is to provide fungibility of digital assets across financial institutions”, IBM Head of Blockchain Solutions, Jesse Lund, commented last March 2019.

IBM’s cross-border payment network, Blockchain World Wire (BWW) was launched in collaboration with Stellar (XLM) in September 2018. BWW aims to leverage cryptocurrencies to enable near real-time international settlements between banks.

This is just another advantage that the crypto technology offers and now is very useful to save not only time but time too.

By Maria Rodriguez

The US Navy Makes Invests 9.5 Million Dollars to Improve its Communication Security with Blockchain

Maria Rodríguez
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The US Navy Makes Invests 9.5 Million Dollars to Improve its Communication Security with Blockchain

The United States Army hopes to continue strengthening the use of blockchain technology in its operations in the coming years, according to some military sources and Simba Chain CEO, Joel Neidig.

As part of a direct security action, the Naval Air Warfare Center, based in California, which belongs to the United States Navy research group, has approved an investment of close to 10 million dollars so that the startup Simba Chain can create blockchain software to establish an encrypted messaging platform that helps keep military information secure.

During an interview with Simba Chain CEO, Joel Neidig, the system will be operational as soon as possible and will also have a set of updates that will improve the software for some years. “The platform will be operational this year, with continuous updates over the next 4 years”, Neidig detailed.

On the other hand, the news was initially revealed by the United States Navy, when last February 6th a press release announced that the Navy would have contacted Simba Chain to develop a platform capable of ensuring communication for the entire Department of Defense using blockchain technology.

According to data provided by the Naval Air Warfare Center, the military authority directly invested the sum of $ 9.5 million to Simba Chain to start the project as stated in the Small Business Innovation Research agreement, in Phase III, and that will last approximately 5 years.

According to this phase, Neidig mentioned that “this is the first of many contracts. We will announce the next contracts later in the spring”.

It is not the first time that Simba Chain works with military agencies in the United States. The company would have worked in mid-2019 with a blockchain-based solution to facilitate administrative work in the supply chain of the US Air Force.

Besides, Simba Chain also collaborated with the creation of the current Department of Defense platform, supporting the development of the communication system using the blockchain. According to the press report, this would be the third phase of the objectives with the military sector.

The Solution

The communication platform that has been created by this startup will facilitate secure communications between land and water platforms.

“This is a victory not only for SIMBA and our partners but also for the Department of Defense, which has pursued a unique approach, a solution to carry out sensitive and critical operations for the mission in a way that is immutable and irrefutable. We plan to deliver a ‘bulletproof’ platform that meets all objectives”, Neidig explained in the interview.

The United States Army has seen with great interest in the development of communication solutions using blockchain technology, due to the low cost of this technology and the high quality and safety it offers.

In this way, blockchain technology would operate in an important military entity of the United States, achieving more spaces in different industries, and showing the benefits it can contribute with.

By María Rodríguez

The United Kingdom is looking for Experts in Crypto Technology for Regulations after Brexit

Maria Rodríguez
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The United Kingdom is looking for Experts in Crypto Technology for Regulations after Brexit

The United Kingdom has conducted important actions after its exit from the European Union, among the most urgent ones is the need to hire experts in regulatory crypto technology to help establish a legal framework for the use of these assets.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the most important authority in the entire coalition of countries that make up the United Kingdom, issued a statement expressing the need to hire an expert who can help them create a regulatory framework after the United Kingdom left the European Union.

Since last January 31st, 2020, the United Kingdom ceases to be part of the international coalition of Europe, which means that a large part of the agreements established by these countries is without effect, including financial ones. This also means that the regulation or legal establishment corresponding to crypto technology would be incomplete so the authorities consider financial reform as urgent.

According to a publication issued on the LinkedIn social network last February 6th, the FCA is in search of an expert who has experience in the world of cryptocurrencies and related technology. In this way, it hopes to face the task of creating a legal and regulatory framework for digital assets.

The proposal is expected to help establish the rules in line with the 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directive of the European Union. This directive, better known as 5AMLD, has become one of the most recognized teams for making great progress against money laundering and financing terrorist groups in European countries. This proposal entered into force on January 10th.

The announcement clarifies that among the main duties of the occupant of the position will be to actively and directly support the intelligence agencies to supervise operations and actions to be taken regarding these assets. The person will also be responsible for the processing of all applications that may arise from companies linked to these technologies throughout the United Kingdom.

Although the need for an expert in this area is currently highlighted, it is known that the United Kingdom has been carefully working on this financial technology. The regulator has approved all the operations of the most important companies in the sector to work normally.

It should be noted that among the main actions that the United Kingdom has conducted on this technology, it is to decriminalize and allow the use of the two main cryptocurrencies in the world, Ether (ETH) and Bitcoin (BTC). Although this means that they will be free from regulation, they will not be complete without control to protect the block of nations.

It was also stressed that it may be necessary to create a set of laws with a high level of demand for this industry to have credibility and strength in the future.

The announcement of employment for regulatory experts issued by the United Kingdom is a sign of the importance that the crypto industry is taking in the financial sector of different countries of the world.

By María Rodríguez

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