Commerzbank Comes up with Blockchain Payment System for Automated Trucks

Andres Chavez
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Commerzbank Comes up with Blockchain Payment System for Automated Trucks

The frequency with which the blockchain technology has been successfully applied by financial institutions has increased in 2019. With each passing day, more banks experiment with it and take advantage of its transparency and efficiency to come up with payments platforms and other related services that represent an upgrade when compared to older, traditional methods.

A case that has made the news this week has been that of German bank Commerzbank, a top institution in the field in the European nation. The company recently developed a blockchain-powered system that facilitates machine to machine payments.

Paying for Power Charging Between Machines: No Humans!

The potential applications are something to dream about. To be more specific, the product developed by Commerzbank will be used to let automated trucks to pay for power charging without the need of having a single human being involved in the whole operation.

The German institution has called the development a “concrete pilot project” so far: the firm worked alongside its incubator research and development unit, with the involvement of Daimler Trucks also a notable fact.

According to Commerzbank, the project recently announced “deals with fully automated payment processing of charges between a tank charging station for electricity and a lorry system.” It is certainly a step in the right direction in the quest for automation in the automotive industry.

It Has already Been Tested

The announcement made this week by Commerzbank clearly states that the associates and partners of the project have already tested the system and it is fully functioning. When performing test transactions, the financial institution sent euros to Daimler Trucks via its innovative blockchain product.

The release did not provide lenghty or specific details about how the system works. It is not clear the way that euros pass through the network, or the manner in which the charging station gets and processes the payment.

The release explains that machines of that kind are growing “increasingly interconnected and increasingly autonomous.” It observes that it is becoming necessary to achieve mutual settlements without the involvement of the human being.

A Renewed Interest in Blockchain Affairs

“Current payment systems can not yet map such a fully automated payment process,” the Commerzbank realized. Stephan Muller, who is currently the divisional board member of transaction banking at Commerzbank, the system is the result of an renewed interest in blockchain technology by the bank.

“Following the recent digitization of securities transactions and the use of blockchain technology, we are now focusing on DLT-based payment structures. As a bank, we naturally also see our mission as creating new digital payment architectures for our customers,” he stated.

By Andres Chavez

Japanese E-Commerce Giant Rakuten Will Launch its Own Crypto Exchange

Andres Chavez
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Japanese E-Commerce Giant Rakuten Will Launch its Own Crypto Exchange

Big time companies continue to bet on cryptocurrencies not only as payment methods, but also as resources to store value. The future of money, as these assets are often dubbed, continue to get a big boost when huge corporations and enterprises with international operations add them to their projects.

The latest company to do so has been the Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten, which announced this week that it would be launching its own cryptocurrency exchange. The piece of news was published on a written statement by the company itself.

A Huge, Multi-Purpose Company

Rakuten is, without a doubt, among the most influential businesses in Japan and the world, serving a huge market that surpasses the 1.2 billion people at a global scale. It offers not only an e-commerce platform, but also several payment services and other goods.

According to the company’s official statement, the Japanese powerhouse is ready to expand its business catalog and offer trading services, in light of the crypto revolution that has taken over the world’s financial landscape over the last couple of years and, especially, in recent months following Bitcoin’s price recovery.

“Rakuten Wallet, Inc., a consolidated subsidiary of Rakuten Group and operator of a crypto asset (virtual currency) exchange business, announced that today it has launched a spot trading service for crypto assets in which users can conduct spot trading of crypto assets through a dedicated smartphone app,” the firm stated.

A Popular Sentiment

Rakuten customers and users had been looking for the company to launch a crypto exchange for quite some time now, and the idea has enormous potential if implemented correctly, given the size of the Rakuten online community and the things that can be achieved with a token and a proper ecosystem.

The Asian company started teasing with it since it acquired a Bitcoin exchange approximately a year ago in a deal worth $2.4 million. Back then, Rakuten was allegedly preparing to pave the way for its own trading platform with the acquisition of “Everybody’s Bitcoin,” taking advantage of an already-in-place infrastructure.

Japan is, by far, the second biggest crypto exchange market behind the United States of America and larger than other notable hubs, such as South Korea and Europe. Per data from CryptoCompare, the country’s cryptocurrency market accounts for roughly 10% of the global Bitcoin volume.

Focusing on Security

The expectation is for Rakuten to focus on security of its platform and also user funds, in order to provide a safe place for people to interact with local retail crypto investors.

The firm also stated that additionally, “a number of security methods have been implemented to ensure the safety of customers’ assets. All crypto assets owned by customers are stored in an environment isolated from the internet, known as the ‘cold wallet,’ and private keys are managed through a multisignature scheme.”

Having a top-tier e-commerce company entering the crypto business will only help people’s confidence on the reliability of local platforms, further improving an already emerging field.

By Andres Chavez

Electricity Company in Peru Will Use Blockchain ​​Technology to Improve its Processes

Maria Rodríguez
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Electricity Company in Peru Will Use Blockchain ​​Technology to Improve its Processes

SEAL is the first public company in Peru to adapt its services and operations to a blockchain network

One of the main electricity companies in Peru plans to use blockchain technology to improve its security procedures and increase transparency in the provision of the service in its locality. The Electric Society of Arequipa (SEAL) seeks to give strength to the service through new technological advances, to benefit the electrical system in the Arequipa region. This would help improve management transparency for its customers.

This news was revealed last Tuesday, August 13th, by the Peruvian media, Andina. The publication ensures that this measure is part of the new adaptation and updating project of its technological platform, giving space to the digital transformation within SEAL.

Among the main benefits of this adaptation within the company is the method of receiving payments and charges in a completely digital way; in this way it would be in the past the printing of invoices and certificates thus reducing stationery costs. This also makes it sure that more than 500 thousand clients of all Arequipa can adapt to the alternative.

“SEAL, now with blockchain, offers a more reliable and transparent environment to its customers through the controlled digitalization of their receipts. This initiative puts us at the forefront of technology because it guarantees transparency and information security, as well as accessibility”, a company spokesperson explained.

The functionality of the service has a personalized identification system; since once the person receives the payment invoice on the service, he will have access to a QR code. With said code, the user will have access to a blockchain network where he can verify his personal data and get detailed information about his electricity consumption. In this way, SEAL becomes the first service company in Peru to offer these services to customers.

It should be mentioned that in the information about the Company’s project, it is not specified which blockchain system the company uses, neither its technical characteristics.

José Málaga, who is General Manager of SEAL, commented that one of the most important things for the company is that all the information registered in the system will be recorded and cannot be deleted, only information on a client’s file can be added. This will ensure that the data is immutable within the blockchain platform, and will allow users to be more confident about their consumption.

It is believed that this is part of the Transparency Standard plan, in which the Peruvian State takes part to improve all management of information related to the services and products that the public administration controls.

Peru is one of the Latin American countries that is beginning to open up in the crypto world and blockchain technologies. Recently, an exchange house of Chilean origin, Instanz, announced that it will make updates on its systems in Peru; therefore, it is expected that it will soon exchange Soles for some cryptocurrencies. Among them, Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ether, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash and Tether stand out.

By María Rodríguez

The US, the Virgin Islands and Luxembourg with the highest Bitcoin trading volume

Willmen Blanco
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The US, the Virgin Islands and Luxembourg with the highest Bitcoin trading volume

Bitcoin is the second network regarding hashrate growth, only surpassed by Litecoin. According to CoinShares analysts, BTC is the least volatile cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin reached its highest trading volume in June 2019, according to CoinShares. Analysts say that the cryptocurrency ecosystem is going through “a positive period,” which seems to benefit Bitcoin.

The document notes that, during that period, the Bitcoin trading volume also broke an annual record. At that moment, the US, the British Virgin Islands and Luxembourg were the countries with the highest Bitcoin trading volume.

The US market has transacted a total of US $36,000 million in BTC in the last six months. The British Virgin Islands took the second place with US $16,000 million, followed by Luxembourg with over US $11,000 million in BTC. Japan is considered the fourth largest Bitcoin market in US dollars, exchanging a total of US $8.6 billion. South Korea and the United Kingdom take the fifth and sixth places, respectively, according to CoinShares.

The report highlights that the reason for Bitcoin’s bullish rally is the inflow of institutional money. They add that Litecoin, Ethereum and Ripple have also grown steadily, in both their markets and their networks, in the last six months.

The volatility of Bitcoin’s price has also improved this year. It is calculated at 0.50, whereas in 2017 the cryptocurrency recorded a volatility of 1. Similarly, the correlation between the Bitcoin and gold markets has increased in recent months, and it is estimated at 0.040 for 2019.

Besides, CoinShare analysts say that Bitcoin is the second blockchain regarding hashrate growth, increasing 48% in recent months. However, Litecoin has surpassed Bitcoin in relation to these figures, reaching a growth of 161% this year.

The Litecoin, Ethereum and Ripple Situation

The increase in Litecoin hashrate suggests that new miners have connected to the network in recent months. This proportion is higher than that of Bitcoin, although profitability had not improved until the middle of the year. However, after the second Litecoin halving, the profitability in this network decreased, thus leading to a fall in hashrate.

The report adds that Litecoin’s price began to increase in April 2019, unlike the behavior of ETH and BTC. The cryptocurrency has maintained a stable price in recent months, according to BitInfoCharts. April was also the month with the highest trading volume, with the United States, the British Virgin Islands, Luxembourg and the United Kingdom being the four countries with the highest LTC trading volume in US dollars.

This market has a volatility of 0.75, which has been decreasing from previous fluctuations in 2017 and 2018. Similarly, the correlation between LTC and gold is 0.019.

On the other hand, Ether has not had an actual bullish market in the last year, despite showing a revaluation of its prices in May. This cryptocurrency, which has a volatility of 0.75, is particularly popular in the United States, the British Virgin Islands and South Korea.

Regarding hashrate, Ethereum is the network that has shown the lowest growth, according to CoinShares. Its hashrate has not grown in 2019, but it has decreased 6% if compared to 2018. There are fewer miners working on this network, a trend that could be a consequence of their probable migration to its new network and the change in the mining protocol.

Ripple, on the other hand, registered the highest trading volume in early May. The cryptocurrency has become popular in the markets of South Korea, Luxembourg and the British Virgin Islands, moving the United States to the fourth place. CoinShares estimates that the volatility of the XRP is 0.75.

Analysts conclude that the data about the Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Ripple networks and markets suggest a slow but steady growth. They also consider that projects like Lightning Network and Ethereum 2.0, as well as Ripple’s partnerships with banks, allow services related to these blockchains to continue growing and specializing.

By Willmen Blanco

CoinShares: Institutional Money Inflow Could Be Causing Bitcoin’s Rise

Willmen Blanco
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CoinShares: Institutional Money Inflow Could Be Causing Bitcoin’s Rise

Currently, Bitcoin is not so exposed to speculation, contrary to its bullish rally of 2017. The correlation between the Bitcoin and altcoin markets is not so strong anymore.

The flow of institutional money into the cryptocurrency market could be one of the reasons for Bitcoin’s bullish market in 2019, says CoinShares. Analysts from the firm suggest that the launch of the Facebook, Bakkt and Fidelity projects legitimized the Bitcoin market, in the eyes of investors.

In the report, whose title is “H1 Crypto Report 2019,” it was noted that the price of Bitcoin had an “aggressive recovery” after the second quarter of 2019. The analysts underscore that, although the rally reminded of the historical price increase of 2017, both events have occurred due to different factors and causes.

Bitcoin received widespread attention from the media in 2017, after its bullish trend began to be recorded. Twitter posts and Google searches related to Bitcoin reached record numbers. Even alternative currencies to Bitcoin, such as Ether, Dash or Litecoin, showed an increase in their prices for that year.

It is worth noting that these four factors, which accompanied the 2017 Bitcoin bullish rally, are not present today. CoinShares analysts believe that the 2017 Bitcoin market was so speculative that all the news and the overexposure of social networks encouraged minority investors.

However, today they believe that the prices of Bitcoin have increased due to the flow of institutional money into the cryptocurrency industry. Experts suggest that the announcement of Fidelity to inaugurate a Bitcoin escrow service, or the launch of the Bakkt platform for future contracts and Bitcoin escrow, are events that have legitimated the cryptocurrency in the face of traditional investors.

A Change for the Rise

The Facebook cryptocurrency project, Libra, has also played a relevant role in favor of the cryptocurrency market. The fact that companies such as Visa, MasterCard or Uber now want to venture into projects like the Libra network can counteract years of negative press, says the report.

CoinShares analysts are not the first to have noticed the differences between the Bitcoin bullish market in 2017 and that in 2019. Will McDonough, director of blockchain development at Diginex Americas, said that current investors know more about cryptocurrencies and have valued the risks of investing in them. Matti Greenspan, senior analyst at eToro, considered jointly with McDonough, that today Bitcoin has more sustainable prices.

A study conducted by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) also indicated that the interest in the Bitcoin market in 2017 was highly influenced by social networks. For this reason, the researchers determined that the news and posts on Twitter and Reddit could have led to the manipulation of the price of Bitcoin by then.

Additionally to all the reasons described above, in the last few months the correlation of Bitcoin with other altcoins has decreased considerably. The most popular cryptocurrency in the ecosystem now has a market with behaviors similar to those of gold, suggesting that an increasingly growing number of investors are using Bitcoin as a safeguard of value.

By Willmen Blanco

Panama Will Use Blockchain ​​Technology for Enterprise Registration

Maria Rodríguez
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Panama Will Use Blockchain ​​Technology for Enterprise Registration

Most agribusiness and manufacturing companies will benefit from this new online registration system that will use blockchain.

Ramón Martínez, who is the Minister of Commerce and Industries of Panama, recently commented that his office prepares a series of measures that will put into operation the development of the country’s technological platforms. One of these measures is the creation of a registry of commercials companies using a blockchain platform.

During a session of the National Council for Industrial Policy (CONAPI), Martínez commented that a web domain will soon be put into operation. It will serve as the basis for registration, as well as the assembly of the blockchain platform that will support the entire operation. Thus, companies engaged in manufacturing and agribusiness must capture the registration data of their company to be registered in the RIN (National Industry Registry). The operation will also help companies to digitalize the request for the Certificate of Industrial Development (IFC).

This information was made public due to a recent report issued by the Ministry of Commerce and Industries of that country. The document details that, previously, these registration procedures were conducted in the industrial inspection and evaluation bodies manually, so this new blockchain system will speed up the process and allow the digitalization of the data.

Minister Martínez explained that this new web platform will be of great help and will be a quick way to complete the registration. Although he did not give more details, he said that the web platform will be compatible with any computer and mobile device. Also, he insisted on underlining the advantages of blockchain platforms for these data accumulation tasks.

“With these applications, the use of paper is eliminated, the processing is facilitated through the connection with the public institutions involved and traceability, efficiency, simplification and transparency in the processes are generated”, Martínez concluded.

The Government of Panama Friendly with Blockchain Technology

The use of blockchain technology in the registration of data for the commercial sector indicates that the government is increasingly involved with the idea of ​​implementing blockchain in its procedures. This is the reason why an amendment to the bidding and contracting law was recently introduced, so that the state can use this technology to provide more transparency and efficiency in these administrative procedures.

For this reason, the government is in the task of contemplating these technologies in all areas to increase the rate of traceability, immutability, and security in tenders, to facilitate their processes and help their citizens. Another relevant aspect is that the implementation of the “virtual notary” figure is planned to help users of these platforms to complete their documentation successfully.

It is not the first time that Panama has made progress in the adoption of blockchain technology and the crypto world. A few weeks ago, the Banesco multinational banking institution, based in Panama, conducted some international transfer tests with the Ripple exchange company, using a type of blockchain platform as a base. Blockchain could be part of more projects of this type in the near future.

By María Rodríguez

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