Lenovo, Nokia, and Vodafone Join IBM to Improve Logistics with Blockchain

Willmen Blanco
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Lenovo, Nokia, and Vodafone Join IBM to Improve Logistics with Blockchain

IBM Blockchain will apply the new TYS technology to TradeLens. The IBM project plans to expand globally.

IBM has launched a new blockchain project called Trust Your Supplier (TYS), with large firms such as Anheuser-Busch Inbev, GlaxoSmithKline, Lenovo, Nokia, Schneider Electric and Vodafone already on board.

It was announced on Monday, August 5th, 2019, that TYS has joined IBM’s successful supply chain and blockchain logistics tracking consortia, among which are Food Trust and TradeLens.

It was explained that TYS aims at incorporating suppliers, a generic term related to a wide and varied range of information, such as ISO certifications, bank account data, tax certifications, insurance certificates and other supplier data necessary for exchanging purchase orders and invoices.

Marie Wieck, general manager of IBM Blockchain, said that the process of incorporating data is normally performed manually at many companies, even at those with very efficient supply chains, only in terms of the investigation and validation of those suppliers. She noted that getting a new supplier to join quickly, especially when new capabilities emerge every day, is critical to the speed with which new products and services are introduced.

Renee Ure, Chief Supply Chain Officer for Lenovo’s Data Center Group, stated that through TYS both buyers and suppliers will the see the procurement benefits of blockchain through reductions in cost, complexity and speed.

In retrospect, business projects that use a blockchain have the reputation of advancing at a glacial pace, moving from proof of concept (PoC) to pilot testing and, if there is luck, to live production.

However, in this case, IBM has emerged with a fully formed live production blockchain.

Big Blue began working on the project internally with its own purchasing division and is using the Blockchain to manage 4,000 of its 18,500 suppliers. IBM said that it expects to see a reduction from 70% to 80% in the cycle time for new existing suppliers, with a reduction potential of 50% in administrative costs within its own business.

It was reported that TYS is currently limited to existing participants, with commercial availability plans in the third quarter of the year. Wieck said that, for now, its footprint is limited to North America, but the goal is a global network.

Network of Networks

A key innovation at the heart of TYS is a “digital passport” to identify the provider in the blockchain network.

One of the first IBM Blockchain partners, Chainyard, who also relies on Hyperledger Fabric, helped design this aspect of the project. Validation processes by third parties such as Dun & Bradstret, Ecovadis and RapidRatings provide external verification or auditing capabilities for suppliers through the passport.

Wieck indicated that the digital passport is specifically designed for TYS. However, like most things done by IBM, it was created with the vision of using open interfaces.

In that case, some facets of TYS could also be applicable to TradeLens, the IBM Blockchain ecosystem launched jointly with Maersk in 2018. Wieck said that there are many examples of shared documents, currently used, that could be expanded with the network of TYS providers.

She commented that TradeLens, for example, is working on optimizing invoice settlement, factoring and resolving invoice disputes.

Finally, Wieck explained that they have been talking about the notion of interoperability among blockchains, the idea of ​​a network of networks that can expand economies.

By Willmen Blanco

Approximately Six Million Blockchain Invoices Have Been Issued in Shenzhen Since 2018

Andres Chavez
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Approximately Six Million Blockchain Invoices Have Been Issued in Shenzhen Since 2018

Shenzhen is known around Asia and the world as one of China’s most important industrial centers, which is saying a lot since the country as a whole is famous for its manufacturing prowess in several fields and areas.

And, more recently, the city is making the news for being a pioneer, this time when it comes to blockchain-related affairs. Roughly six million blockchain invoices have been issues in Shenzhen since the moment of their creation, approximately a year ago, according to local authorities.

An Average Daily Issuance of 44,000

The first blockchain-based invoice was originally issued in the southern end of the city in August 2018. The tax bureau of the metropolis informed this week, quoted by Chinese news agency Xinhua that the average daily issuance of the invoice is 44,000, and the total face value is now up to 3.9 billion yuan (the equivalent of 554 million U.S. dollars) for transactions that cover 113 sectors.

Shenzhen is located in the Guangdong Province, and is the home of dozens of industries and factories. The commercial activity is notable in the metropolis; this is because it has enough production to satisfy the local markets and to export to several parts of the planet. It is now, in addition, a proud home of blockchain technology.

Up to this point, over 5,300 firms in Shenzhen have already signed up for the use of blockchain invoices, a resources that has been on the rise since last August, when a group of restaurants, stores, banks, and markets launched it.

It All Started in a Restaurant

To be more specific, the very first establishment to use blockchain invoices was a Shenzhen restaurant. After being developed by the worldwide known local online company Tencent, along with the tax bureau of Shenzhen, the city piloted the first ever blockchain invoice last August.

A year has already passed and it is fair to assume that it has been received with open arms by the Chinese markets, and now, blockchain invoices are being used in retailing, catering, finance, hospitality, and several other sectors and fields in Shenzhen.

More Related Developments

This year, in the month of March, the city came up with the nation’s first ever blockchain invoice issued for a subway ticket, according to reports from several media outlets. Now, more and more companies want to implement the resource, not only in China, but also at an international scale.

For instance, Standard Chartered, a widely famous British financial institution, recently completed its first blockchain-based supply chain financing transaction as a part of the Digital Guandong project.

The aforementioned Digital Guandong Project is the result of a strategic alliance made by several prominent institutions. Among them are the already mentiond Tencent, China Unicom, China Telecom and China Mobile.

It is clear that the blockchain technology is not only here to stay, but also, that it has tangible benefits and applications to enhance our quality of life as a society and to facilitate processes and transactions that were otherwise problematic and slow.

By Andres Chavez

Seoul Will Launch its Own Cryptocurrency to Develop a Smart City

Maria Rodríguez
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Seoul Will Launch its Own Cryptocurrency to Develop a Smart City

Citizens will receive the digital currency when they use public services or pay taxes.

The capital of South Korea, Seoul, is planning to launch its own cryptocurrency by November this year. The purpose is to advance in its objective of becoming a smart city and allow its citizens to actively participate in the governance of the city.

As it was reported by local media, the name of the digital currency would be S-Coin and its main objective will be to facilitate cooperation between citizens and obtain important information for city governance.

When paying taxes or complying with other citizen duties, city inhabitants will receive this new cryptocurrency, which they can also obtain when using public services or participating in public surveys, for example.

One of the characteristics of this new digital currency is that the Government will program this asset to decide and establish in detail how much can be spent, as well as the amounts and the frequency to make use of S-Coin. In this way, the Government expects this cryptocurrency to be a positive influence on the actions of these South Korean citizens and also on the development of an intelligent city.

Among the examples or cases of use of this digital currency, local media explain that parents could reward their children by giving them some kind of “awards” with the asset, so that children can exchange the cryptocurrency for candy in specific stores allowed for that transaction.

Towards an “Industrial Revolution”

It is not the first time that this country decides to launch a local cryptocurrency. Recently, Busan, the second most populous city in South Korea after Seoul, decided to launch its own cryptocurrency with the aim of improving its economy and becoming a leading space in the development and adoption of blockchain technology.

In this sense, the President of South Korea, Moon Jae-In, declared, at the end of July, that using blockchain technology in the territory is a matter of “survival”, given that the world is on its way to a fourth industrial revolution.

“While regulatory innovation in the era of industrialization was a choice, it is now a matter of survival as we are experiencing the fourth industrial revolution, characterized by users in all industries and fields”, he said.

Among other benefits of using Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) and starting to use their own cryptocurrencies, President Moon added that the creation of blockchain-real-use-cases seeks to protect personal data at all times, and contributes to the formation of a greater presence international for South Korea, whilst blockchain applications in finance will contribute greatly to the revitalization of the country’s economy.

In other regions of the world, such as in the United States, there are cities that have decided to create their own cryptocurrencies, with the aim to facilitate all types of transactions. Iceland (Auroracoin), Scotland (ScotCoin), Argentina (BitARS), France (Francs) and Peru (Inkacoin) are some of the territories that also decided to have their own cryptocurrencies, although having a more national reach.

By María Rodríguez

The Second Halving in Litecoin’s History boosts its Price by 11%

Willmen Blanco
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The Second Halving in Litecoin’s History boosts its Price by 11%

The halving occurred at the height of block 1,680,000 of the Litecoin network. The Litecoin block reward was reduced from 25 to 12.5 LTC for each mined block.

It was reported that the second halving of the Litecoin cryptocurrency already occurred, an event in which the issuance of tokens in its network was reduced by half. This fact, coupled with the recovery of the cryptocurrency market starting during the second quarter of this year, has produced significant growth in Litecoin prices since the beginning of 2019.

The halving reduced the reward of miners in the Litecoin network from 25 LTC to 12.5 LTC per mined block from block height 1,680,000. This programmed reduction is part of the coding of projects that operate under the same economic rules as Bitcoin. In the case of Litecoin, the event occurs every 840,000 mined blocks, the second time occurring on August 5th, 2019.

Halvings usually influence the valuation of cryptocurrencies, a fact that connoisseurs describe as normal. As stated, this is because market players accumulate coins, anticipating the impact that the reduction of the reward to miners will have on the supply of tokens.

In the case of Litecoin, within the framework of the 2019 bullish cycle in the cryptocurrency market, the influence of halving has boosted its performance even above that of Bitcoin. The maximum price of Litecoin this year was more than US $ 146, that is, it multiplied almost five times compared to the US $ 30.5 at which it was valued at the beginning of 2019. This increase implies a percentage differential of 380%.

However, like the rest of the market, Litecoin has been suffering a correction in its price for several weeks, which brought it below US $ 80. Despite this, its recovery so far in 2019 has remained positive, with a percentage of 254%.

After the reduction of Litecoin (LTC) block rewards, its price has risen slightly, which could be due to the high media exposure that Litecoin has received lately due to the proximity and occurrence of halving. At the time of writing this article, the price of LTC stands at US $ 97.81, reflecting an increase of about 11% so far this day.

After the halving, several investors expected that the price of LTC would plummet, as it was a public and notable event that all market participants were awaiting, which could be a market exit point for whales, that is, the biggest investors.

The Litecoin cryptocurrency was created in 2011 by computer scientist Charlie Lee, who set out to create a lightweight version of Bitcoin in terms of energy consumption of mining activity. The issuance of Litecoin was set at 84 million LTC, and its average block confirmation time is two and a half minutes, in contrast to the average 10 minutes that it takes the Bitcoin process.

The first Litecoin halving, which took its issuance of 50 LTC to 25 LTC, occurred in August 2015. At that time, cryptocurrency prices also experienced a significant increase, in the months before the event and some months after it.

By Willmen Blanco

Samsung Includes 13 more dApps in its Blockchain Keystore

Andres Chavez
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Samsung Includes 13 more dApps in its Blockchain Keystore

Over the last couple of years, Samsung has demonstrated time and time again that it is more than just a company that sells tech devices. The South Korean giant is an enormous business that is also known for the creation and development of innovative ways to improve people’s lifestyle.

The firm is now including 13 new decentralized apps (dApps) to its catalog. Up until this week, Samsung had four in its arsenal, but the new increase takes the count to a staggering 17 options in the company’s Blockchain Keystore, which is the online app market associated with the brand.

An Increasing Number

Samsung has made the Blockchain Keystore available since March 2019, and the four dApps with which it started were a social media platform, a password wallet, a game, and a billing app. More options could be added in the not so distant future, as Samsung shows its commitment to enriching the Keystore.

Among the new offerings, according to a specialized crypto site from South Korea, are several options that range from additional social media platforms, such as Anpan, to entertainment networks like The Hunters.

Samsung is continually working to stay ahead of the game when it comes to innovative technologies, such as the blockchain and crypto related products. The Asian business is one of the biggest companies of its field to focus on the development of crypto-centric services and products; and a proof of that is the release of the Galaxy S10 that came this year.

One Step Ahead of the Game

“Although other companies have not done so yet, we have already made a blockchain wallet and released it,” the firm said via a release. Samsung is, therefore, preparing new features even before the competition releases a similar product, but knowing that it will happen eventually.

Samsung’s wallet, however, only lets people store ETH-based ERC-20 tokens and protocols; hence, there is considerable room for improvement in order to secure a larger chunk of the market share.

Some of Samsung’s biggest and most prominent rivals have already begun welcoming crypto to their operations and projects. Apple may be the most powerful competitor, but it has not yet developed and launched a wallet, according to the mentioned site. However, they came up with a “CryptoKit” in June, designed for iOS 13, which means they are not too far from Samsung.

Other Prominent Enterprises

LG is also taking steps towards the development of crypto and blockchain related services and products. In July, the company trademarked “ThinQ Wallet,” which is allegedly the foundation for a future crypto wallet and network. According to the trademark, the item is supposed to provide transaction, settlement, and e-money services.

Huawei, a Chinese market giant, is lagging a bit behind, as it has not yet developd any crypto-related apps. According to the quoted site, however, the company “has no plans to put a password wallet on its smartphone because the Chinese government has not authorized it.”

Samsung’s Blockchain Keystore is off to a sluggish start, however, as its apps have only 30 reviews, which pales in comparison with those available in the Google Play Store, which surpass on thousand feedback comments.

By Andres Chavez

Fall in the Value of the Dollar against Bitcoin in Recent Years

Willmen Blanco
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0
Fall in the Value of the Dollar against Bitcoin in Recent Years

The dollar has lost more than 19,000,000% against Bitcoin since the year 2010. In August 2010, the dollar was equivalent to more than 1,754 million satoshis.

The growth achieved by Bitcoin (BTC) with respect to the dollar and other fiat currencies is very well known worldwide. Between August 2010 and August 2019, the price of BTC has gone from US $ 0.07 to US $ 11,756, according to data from Buy Bitcoin Worldwide. However, observing the situation from the opposite perspective, the process of loss of value undergone by the dollar has been in recent years can be seen more clearly.

The usdsat.com portal presents data allowing users to understand what has happened, through a graph that visually represents the fading of the fiat currency against the main cryptocurrency in the market. The website compares the value of the US dollar in satoshis, that is, the Bitcoin fractions.

At the time of writing this note, each US dollar was equivalent to 9,203 satoshis or 0.00009203 BTC. The same graph shows that in August 2010, the equivalent value was more than 1,754 million satoshis or 17.54 BTC per dollar. Between the two moments, the US fiat currency has lost a total of 19,063,196.40%.

Another interesting fact is that, during the largest bullish rally in Bitcoin history so far, the minimum value of the US dollar with respect to BTC was 5,170 satoshis per dollar. Since then, the US fiat currency has recovered value against the cryptocurrency, although only so far this year it has gone from more than 26,000 satoshis per dollar to the current 9,203 satoshis.

Cryptocurrency Market Growth

It is logical that figures like these lead Bitcoin users to keep cryptocurrency protected in the long term, as an investment method. In fact, according to figures from the Coinbase exchange house, it was recently learned that of all the cryptocurrencies used in the platform, BTC is the most used to “Hodl,” a term that is known in the ecosystem as the action of conserving an asset awaiting increases in its long-term value. According to the exchange house, Litecoin and Ether are the other cryptocurrencies mostly “Hodled.”

During the second quarter of the year, Bitcoin’s increase in price represented 165%, a figure presented by CoinGecko in its most recent quarterly report. These data respond to the increase in BTC from US $ 4,103 to US $ 10,888. During that period, the equivalent value between the US dollar and satoshis went from about 25,000 satoshis per dollar to just over 9,000, as recorded in the chart presented by usdsat.com.

The positions of analysts on the most immediate future of the market are diverse. However, the most recent predictions include that of Pantera Capital’s CEO, Dan Morehead. According to the executive, BTC could reach US $ 42,000 by the end of 2019. In that case, the equivalent value reflected by usdsat.com would be below 2,300 satoshis per dollar.

To conclude, it can be said that Bitcoin remains in a bullish trend despite the falls that it has suffered since its launch. Investors can feel safe as the cryptocurrency par excellence has proven to be the most stable.

By Willmen Blanco

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