University of Girona in Spain Will Have Its Private Blockchain ​​Infrastructure

Maria Rodríguez
-
0
University of Girona in Spain Will Have Its Private Blockchain ​​Infrastructure

The creation of this infrastructure is part of the cooperation agreement between APTE and the Telefónica communications company.

As an exclusive service of the university and the companies that make life within the scientific park, the University of Girona, in Spain, enabled its private blockchain infrastructure. This was announced through a press release published recently by local media.

The press release states that this initiative arose within the framework of agreements that the university has with the Telefónica Company and the association that composes the technological space in the country, this is, the APTE. The main objective of the project indicates that they seek to promote the development of a blockchain-based solution that allows securing payment and digital identification quickly and efficiently.

According to known agreements, the implementation of a pilot project in which APTE will be able to use the entire blockchain infrastructure for three months is highlighted. This, according to the press release, will help improve communication structures and the exchange of private information between the companies involved in the campus.

“The strategy facilitates the creation of channels for the exchange of private and secure information between different companies”, the article explains about the central idea of the project.

It is important to note that the communications company Telefónica expects to be able to use some storage services using blockchain technology, as well as develop a digital identity that facilitates interaction between companies. In this way, it will take advantage of new technologies.

Telefónica will use the Cloud Garden storage service, which will have eight months with the IBM firm and will allow companies to use blockchain, big data or artificial intelligence solutions.

The software of the first of these technologies allows connecting the processes business with platforms, networks and blockchain ecosystems. In addition, contemplate the development of an innovative digital identity service that will have the launch of a public catalog of innovative companies that will connect with each other”, as detailed in the publication.

The Blockchain ​​Shared Use Agreement

A few weeks ago, it was announced that there is an agreement between the Association of Science and Technology Parks of Spain (APTE) and the Telefónica Company to facilitate the development of digital identity solutions and payment processing with blockchain protected security. This is part of the current always.

The agreement between the aforementioned companies, which will be put into operation in a private blockchain network created by their means, will help provide support and assistance to the 52 science parks that are operational within the APTE.

To achieve this objective, the association highlighted that this agreement deepens the ties of cooperation of the institutions with private companies, as well as the technological and economic impulse of Spain to support the new initiative.

“This agreement marks a new milestone in the support and commitment of science and technology parks with scientific and technological development, digital transformation and ultimately the economic development of our country”, it concludes.

By María Rodríguez

Real Estate Technological Project in Switzerland Sells a Building Through Blockchain

Maria Rodríguez
-
0
Real Estate Technological Project in Switzerland Sells a Building Through Blockchain

The building managed to go through a tokenization process and then be sold using blockchain.

According to information related to the real estate sector, the building was bought by the company BrickMark, which is dedicated to real estate investment in Switzerland. The building is located in Zurich, one of the most commercial and famous areas of the country.

To make the purchase and sale agreement, the company created tokens which were backed by bonds that, in this way, represented shares or parts of the property value. This means that people are able to acquire part of the building with the purchase of these tokens and become shareholders of the property. Currently, these tokenized shares can only be acquired by accredited professionals to make institutional purchases in Switzerland.

The central idea to simulate the shares of the building is to create a savings system with part of the rental income of the property. Therefore, the change in the value of the building may represent an investment when the market increases the value of the property.

One of the main reasons why the building is part of a strategic point for such investment is its location in one of the commercial areas par excellence in Bahnhofstrasse, Switzerland. This is one of the places of greatest demand. In fact, there are the largest outlets of the prestigious Swatch watch brand, as well as many other brands of great worldwide importance in its avenues,.

The commercial agreement for the acquisition of the building will allow the former owner of the property, the company RFR Holding, a part of the stock tokens. Therefore, RFR will have approximately 20% of the total amount of the encryption shares, which leads the company to make a profit on the rental of the building.

The company can sell its tokenized shares or auction them after a certain time. Although it is unknown if these shares can only be sold to people related to the sector or these tokens are part of another type of property that can be free trade; this is according to the agreement held between both companies.

The Real Estate Sector and the Innovative Technology of Blockchain

Although the process of transforming the value of property into tokens resulted to be an innovative fact, using blockchain technology to sell the property represents something completely unique and can open a range of possibilities for real estate agents in the future.

According to the movements of BrickMark, it is possible to hope that the real estate business can be transformed by technology. The company has the goal of building a whole business scheme for buying and selling real estate using blockchain technology. According to company calculations, the sector can be worth more than 134 million dollars.

Although this single purchase of the property has been made with this blockchain method, the company expects that a considerable level of business that can consolidate the technology in the sector can be achieved in the coming years.

By María Rodríguez

Doubts Arose in the Community after Peter Schiff Lost His Bitcoins

Alexander Salazar
-
0
Doubts Arose in the Community after Peter Schiff Lost His Bitcoins

The Bitcoin critic claimed that he did not forget his password and blamed it on his wallet. On social networks, bitcoiners stressed the importance of safeguarding funds at the highest level.

American economic analyst Peter Schiff, one of the best-known Bitcoin haters, revealed last January 19th that, when attempting to move his donations in BTC from one wallet to a more secure one, he lost access to his wallet. The CEO of Euro Pacific Capital, a financial advisory company, stated on his Twitter account that he is not the one that forgot his password, but the wallet.

According to Schiff, his wallet was somehow corrupted and the key that he used to monitor his bitcoins was no longer valid, which led him to make his case known. In the comment, the executive included a screenshot of the error message, which reads “error decrypting wallet, please check that your password is correct “.

Schiff’s disappointment drove him to attack Bitcoin again and to proclaim, once more, that owning BTC is a bad financial decision.

Schiff’s decision to move his BTC funds from one wallet to another with higher levels of security is related to the multiple donations in bitcoins that he received last July, which had amounted by then to over USD 2,000. Schiff admitted that he tried to make this change because of someone’s suggestion, not to allow the community that gave them to him to monitor their value.

Another detail that Schiff disclosed is that the wallet was configured by Erik Voorhees, CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange ShapeShift, who allegedly told him that nothing could be done to recover the BTCs.

Doubts in the Community

As the news spread, American entrepreneur and investor Anthony Pompliano intervened to learn about the case and try to help Schiff. The bitcoiner questioned Schiff’s reasons for not having access to his funds and said that programs are only made to obey commands assigned by humans, not to forget anything.

Fellow bitcoiner and investor Caitlin Long considers that Schiff’s case shows how little he knows about Bitcoin and how unprepared he was to handle funds in this way. In a Twitter comment, Long also questioned the executive’s attitude towards Bitcoin.

The creator of the Ethereum network and leader of its development, Vitalik Buterin, also expressed his opinion about what had happened, but in a more conciliatory tone, and said that he was disappointed at the comments on Schiff’s case. The programmer believes that this experience should serve to improve wallet technology to facilitate security.

Voorhees Dissociates Himself

The CEO of ShapeShift dissociated himself from what happened and reported that Schiff sent him an e-mail about the situation one day before. He said that he did not want to embarrass him on social networks, but Schiff himself made his case public and said that Voorhees had configured his wallet.

Voorhees explained that, as a security measure, cryptocurrency wallets generate a series of random words or seed known as the private key, which must be safeguarded. In other words, if the software on a mobile device is stolen, lost or damaged, it allows restoring the wallet to another device and accessing the funds again, but Schiff might have forgotten to record it.

By Alexander Salazar

It Would Take Spain Longer to Replace Cash with Cryptocurrencies

Alexander Salazar
-
0
It Would Take Spain Longer to Replace Cash with Cryptocurrencies

Researchers determined that the Iberian country is dependent on cash to pay salaries. It would take years to implement a hypothetical plan to manage a “cryptoeuro”.

According to joint research between academics from Universidad Politécnica de Valencia (UPV) and Universidad de Valencia (UV) in Spain, Europe is not in a position to manage its cryptocurrency to replace cash.

The paper entitled “Is the Eurozone an optimal area for cash suppression” concludes that a hypothetical Bitcoin-style cryptocurrency operated by the European Central Bank (ECB) to replace cash would not produce positive results.

The authors Nerea Gómez-Fernández, from the Center for Quality and Change Management at UPV, and Juan Francisco Albert, from the Department of Applied Economics at the UV, consider that there are different levels of cash used in the region since its use is declining in some countries while there is a high dependency on it for transactions and salary payments in some others.

The study noted that Spain has one of the highest percentages of banked citizens, but it is the second regarding salaries received in cash, only behind Greece and ahead of Cyprus, which means that it will take these nations longer to replace euro bills and coins. Among the states with the lowest cash usability are Finland, France, Germany, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Estonia.

Concerning these very uneven scenarios, Albert is among those who consider that this is due to “the diverse nature of behavior and permissibility regarding the submerged economy, which is normally associated with greater use of cash.” He also mentioned other elements such as banking crises and the lowest level of relative income in the countries analyzed.

If the region’s financial authorities approved a plan of this type to use a cryptocurrency in the continent, it should be applied gradually and with state support to those sectors of the population with the lowest levels of income and education.

End of Cash

If the hypothetical objective of financial institutions is to fully digitize and create an inclusive payment system, the researchers suggest that it would be best to take advantage of blockchain technology to end cash, thus reducing the costs of transactions and cash printing, as well as fighting corruption and tax evasion.

Throughout the years, the European Union has observed what is happening in the cryptocurrency ecosystem to analyze its evolution and propose new financial mechanisms in its territory. Last September, it was reported that the plans to create its cryptocurrency had been resumed in response to Facebook’s Libra.

Another hint about the creation of a “cryptoeuro” occurred last November when the German Banking Association proposed issuing a digital euro aimed to be competitive with China and the United States of America. The group highlighted the need to create a common payment transaction platform for the whole of Europe with an established legal framework and regulations.

The preliminary document by the European Union proposing to assess the costs and benefits of central bank digital currencies (CBDC) was also a potential endorsement for achieving this objective.

Regarding the well-known interest from central banks in finding a formula to relate to the cryptocurrency, Galo Nuño, a member of Banco de España’s Directorate-General for Economics and Statistics, noted in late 2018 that the banks’ attempt would not only focus on replacing cash with digital payment methods, but also on allowing cryptocurrencies to continue being accepted worldwide and displace traditional money.

By Alexander Salazar

Puzzle Solver Will Receive Prize of over USD 18,000 in Bitcoin

Alexander Salazar
-
0
Puzzle Solver Will Receive Prize of over USD 18,000 in Bitcoin

The participants must use a combination of algorithms and mathematics to decipher the key. The firm Phemex promises a bonus for all the people on the re-tweet chain that guide the winner.

It was announced that the new cryptocurrency derivatives platform Phemex will give a prize in Bitcoin for solving a puzzle that it created. This image includes a hidden private key of a Bitcoin address in which 2.1 BTC (approximately USD 18,000) has been deposited that will be the reward of whoever manages to solve the mystery.

To break the code, the participants will have to use a combination of algorithms and mathematics and, once solved, they will be able to transfer the funds to their address.

The puzzle was attached in a tweet posted on January 16th by the team behind the company. It should be noted that the image is a maze-like portrait of Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto, a Japanese-American resident of Los Angeles bearing the same name as the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, who denies having anything to do with the leading cryptocurrency.

At first glance, the participants can see that the portrait has clues like the words BTC, ETH, XRP, and Phemex all scribbled together, which could help them to unveil the secret. Another clue refers to the prime numbers of the 21-digit mathematical constant “e”: Euler’s number.

It is important to mention that the Euler number is a fixed real number with an important place in mathematics, natural sciences, and engineering. The number “e” in question is irrational and its exact value cannot be written using a finite number. Its approximate value is 2.718281828453602874713526624977.

The company explains that, once a participant finds the private key hidden in the image, he or she can transfer a portion of the prize (1.1 BTC) to the address or public key of his or her wallet. Another BTC will be deposited in the winner’s Phemex account once he or she proves having solved the mystery.

The firm also promises a USD 100 bonus to all the people on the re-tweet chain that guide the winner of the challenge. The publication recommends that the participants tag the smartest person that they know if they cannot solve the puzzle.

The platform clarifies that the purpose of the strategy, besides that of advertising, is to highlight the importance of keeping a private key secure. It shows how simple it can be to get bitcoins once the private key of an address, where the funds are stored, is discovered.

This is not the first time in the cryptocurrency ecosystem that Bitcoin awards have been hidden in images and artwork. In January 2019, it was reported that someone had solved the Bitcoin puzzle hidden in a street mural in Paris, whose creator was Pascal Boyart.

In 2018, an anonymous bitcoiner presented a cryptogram with an image hiding the private keys to 310 BTC, as a reward for anyone that managed to solve the riddle, which occurred in just 8 days. There are also sites like Pineapple Arcade that spread knowledge about cryptocurrencies through games, with incentives in crypto assets.

By Alexander Salazar

Exchanges Are the Safest Option for Cryptocurrencies, According to Zhao

Alexander Salazar
-
0
Exchanges Are the Safest Option for Cryptocurrencies, According to Zhao

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao says that it is better to store cryptocurrencies on exchanges than in wallets with private keys.

Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of the world’s largest exchange, Binance, recently said that it is safer to keep cryptocurrencies on these trading platforms. He even specified that it was better to store funds on an exchange than with well-known private keys.

It should be noted that Zhao became interested in this issue after a comment made by well-known American economic commentator Peter Schiff. In a post through his Twitter account, the former said that he had lost all his bitcoins because his wallet was corrupted and it no longer accepts his password as valid.

The expert also expressed his disappointment at losing his investment by stating that he that having Bitcoin was an even worse idea than he had thought.

This unfortunate event led Zhao to reply to Schiff’s post by claiming that the wallets that advocate storing their keys still have much to improve. He added that, at least for the moment, the safest option to keep the funds was a cryptocurrency exchange.

The Chinese-Canadian executive explained that many hardcore crypto ogs advocate storing their keys when the truth is that most people cannot secure a key even from themselves (losing it). He said that most people find that centralized exchange #SAFUer is reliable, which is reflected in the numbers. However, he thinks that they still need to work on the wallets.

It is important to clarify that the Binance CEO used the word SAFU, which is a term in the crypto community that refers to “safe.”

The Dilemma of Keys

The problem that can be seen in Changpeng Zhao’s suggestion is that exchanges have a history of being hacked. It is worth mentioning that, even his exchange, Binance, suffered a hack of that type. For this reason, some people do not consider exchanges to be the safest way to store cryptocurrencies.

However, the wallets that gave the user private keys to access their digital currencies have become popular. In this way, even if the platform was hacked, criminals would not be able to reach the users’ cryptocoins. The vast majority of the crypto community believes that this is one of the safest ways to keep funds.

The fact that great personalities in the industry do not think in the same way is problematic. Reference is made not only to Changpeng Zhao but also to the creator of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin.

Buterin said that he completely disagrees with users taking responsibility for the management of their private keys. This is because, if there is bad management of the keys, the platform is not to blame.

The Russian-Canadian programmer said that he is disappointed at people replying that it is the user’s job to be very careful and record backup seeds in three places. He suggests creating a better wallet technology to facilitate security.

There is no doubt that the issue of keys and, especially, the one of security when storing crypto funds still need to be studied. In this way, cryptocurrency owners would be provided with better solutions.

By Alexander Salazar

1...1,4031,4041,405...1,654Page 1,404 of 1,654