Walmart Is Looking to Patent its Own Digital Asset

Andres Chavez
-
0
Walmart Is Looking to Patent its Own Digital Asset

The Libra revolution started the second Facebook unveiled the project last June, and it has not only impacted the industry directly, but also, it has inspired other big companies to consider similar projects. Despite its current issues with lawmakers and financial watchdogs, Libra is serving as a model for other firms to develop functional digital currencies.

According to a recent patent filing, American stores chain Walmart may be looking to come up with its own crypto project, in the form of a dollar-backed cryptocurrency in the same mold as Facebook’s ballyhooed Libra coin.

“System and Method for Digital Currency via Blockchain”

With the calendar turning to August, most precisely on the 1st, a patent filing under the number 20190236564 was published by the USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office.) The document is named “System and Method for Digital Currency via Blockchain.”

The document explains a method for: “Generating one digital currency unit by tying the one digital currency unit to a regular currency; storing information of the one digital currency unit into a block of a blockchain; buying or paying the one digital currency unit.”

Additionally, Walmart states that the proposed digital currency product can offer a low-fee place (or zero fee, for that matter) to store value, and that people can easily redeem and convert it to store cash in specific retailers, stores, and partners. According to the filing, the accounts could be interest-bearing.

Several Scenarios Being Considered

The filing also says that there is the possibility that the digital asset can be developed with the ability to be spent just about anywhere: in that case, there would be USD backing to facilitate deposits and withdrawals. Another scenario has the coin tied to other digital assets, and not to fiat money.

Walmart proposes its digital currency project as an alternative to low-income households that can find banking and other financial services’ prices extremely steep. They could have, according to the filing, “an alternative way to handle wealth at an institution that can supply the majority of their day-to-day financial and product needs.”

The prominent retail store is very ambitious in its project: the “Blockchain-protected digital currency” could even rival traditional banks because it would eliminate the need for credit and debit cards, two of the most widely used financial products of today.

A Pre-approved Biometric Credit

Regarding that, the patent states that “the digital currency may act as a pre-approved biometric […] credit. A person is the ‘credit card’ to their own digital value bank, “which would be a very convenient scenario for people looking to manage their finances in a more direct way.

Walmart is already picturing its cryptocurrency as a part of a broader system, powered by the blockchain technology and acting like a full-fledged ecosystem. The company is forecasting the creation and development of an “open-platform value exchange for purchases and for crowdsource work.”

That way, users would be able to acquire goods and products for themselves and for others, as well. They could use the platform to hire a handyman, or a technician, for example.

Libra, despite its current struggle to earn the green light from regulators around the world, has a similar objective in mind: offering a low-cost value transfer network in an ecosystem powered by its own digital currency.

By Andres Chavez

Santander Bank Completed First Transaction with Smart Contract on a Blockchain

Willmen Blanco
-
0
Santander Bank Completed First Transaction with Smart Contract on a Blockchain

The President of Santander Bank, Ana Botín, said that the transaction was completed through we.trade. The smart contract will be executed automatically through the banking system.

Technology is increasingly allowing the application in business of smart contracts, which are reaching all the corners of the world. In the banking sector, international commercial transactions are being officially conducted on a blockchain platform. Such is the case of Banco Santander, which has just announced its first operation on a blockchain through a smart contract.

In fact, after testing a development for more than a year, financial institutions have made live exchanges possible through smart contracts. To that end, they are conducting transactions through the we.trade platform for financing open account trade.

In this context, Ana Botín, President of Banco Santander reported on July 31st that the banking entity completed the first “BPU blockchain-based” transaction, through the financial resource we.trade and a smart contract between a customer of said Bank and another of Nordea Bank in Sweden.

Through her Twitter social network account, she said that she was pleased to “have completed” that transaction. In detail, she said that the BPU is similar to a letter of credit (LoC), but financing and payment are automated through a “smart contract.”

Botín referred to a tweet posted in July 2018 in which she indicated that, to address the problem of trust and financing when making a transaction, LoC are usually used.

On that occasion, she said that in Europe distances are so short that products can arrive before LoC are processed. Consequently, 80% of the exchanges are done based on trust.

Botín considers that we.trade’s solution is that it uses smart contracts that are automatically executed through the banking system when certain conditions are met. Besides, participants know that their banks have identified everyone in the network, as well as the location of the assets.

He highlighted that Santander, as a provider of banking services for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), is part of the we.trade consortium. In fact, it began more than a year ago in a pilot project to serve customers in Spain, but this operation with Norde, implies that it expanded its implementation.

What does we.trade do?

According to some news media, we.trade is a resource to manage, track and protect open account business transactions between SMEs in Europe, which was developed based on the Hyperledger Fabric environment and built by IBM.

This platform seeks to provide transparency about the status of transactions and shipments, which it digitizes along with the rest of the process, from the creation of the order to the execution of the payment.

SMEs use we.trade through their banks and can also take advantage of the platform to access financial services.

Among the financial products available through the platform, there is precisely the bank payment undertaking (BPU), where the buyer’s bank provides the seller with an irrevocable commitment to pay the invoice on the due date. There is also financing, where the seller’s bank provides support by discounting said LoC.

For its part, the Spanish bank was working on the development of a blockchain-based application for more than three years when Santander UK announced its intention to become the first bank to exploit Ripple technology to conduct international transactions. In 2015, Santander InnoVentures had invested US $4 million in Ripple.

By Willmen Blanco

Content Creators May Receive Tips in BAT via Twitter

Willmen Blanco
-
0
Content Creators May Receive Tips in BAT via Twitter

Tip delivery with BAT on Twitter has ben available since May 2019, as a test. It works by linking the user’s Twitter account to the Brave Reward application.

The Brave team reported on August 1st that the function that allows Twitter users to tip with the platform’s native cryptocurrency, the Basic Attention Token (BAT), is already enabled in the main desktop browser.

In a statement published on its blog it was announced that the launch of the service was official, which now makes it possible for creators to have a special tip button in each tweet. In this way, when users find a message that they like, they can use this button to give tips in the form of a cryptocurrency like BAT.

This feature, which makes it easy for users to tip on Twitter with BAT, is called Twip. It had already been enabled in May 2019 as a test, for the Nightly version of the Brave browser. The tool works by linking the Twitter account to the Brave Rewards application, created in 2019 so that users can finance the creation of content with the native token.

When users visit Twitter with the Brave desktop browser and have enabled Brave Rewards, they will see a new “suggestion” button in each tweet. By clicking on this button, users can send BAT directly to the author of the tweet for the amount they choose.

With the recent announcement, the Brave team also lists a number of features associated with the tip service on Twitter. These include the issuance of periodic advice, as well as a mechanism to send recommendations to the author. Similarly, it is possible to preset the delivery of recurring donations. In that sense, it is recommended that content creators register on the Brave Creator Program in order to receive messages from the public immediately.

System Extension

The tip system is not new to Brave. Previously, it only worked with YouTube and Twitch. The company explains that today there are almost 60,000 verified creators in the Brave Rewards application. In the near future, it is expected to enable the option for more content platforms, such as Reddit, GitHub and Vimeo.

The system also provides users with cryptocurrency rewards for viewing advertising. These users can also buy the tokens and load them into their Brave Rewards wallet. To this end, Brave allocated some 100,000 grants in BAT (each equivalent to approximately one dollar), aimed primarily at desktop users located in regions that do not have access to the Brave Ads platform.

With all these options, Brave has been adding a large number of users in recent months. Although previous announcements made the price of the token come to register a noticeable increase, this time there is no significant change in the price of BAT, which has a slight bearish trend. At the time of writing this article, it is priced at US $0.23.

With this new development cryptocurrency users have another option at the moment of granting tips to content creators through their Twitter accounts. It would be a great experience for cryptocurrency beginners before focusing on larger targets like Bitcoin.

By Willmen Blanco

Data Storage Giant Seagate Partners with IBM to Test Anti-Fraud Blockchain Tracking

Andres Chavez
-
0
Data Storage Giant Seagate Partners with IBM to Test Anti-Fraud Blockchain Tracking

Criminals are always lurking, whether it is the physical or the digital world: hackers, scammers, and fraudsters have constantly evolved to keep themselves one step ahead of the security measures, with the intention of performing their shady operations and make a profit off it.

That is why companies, more than ever, need to be on the lookout for possible fraudulent activity that may interfere with their operations and ultimately damage their reputation. Enter Seagate, the worldwide famous data storage firm, which is now hosting a pilot for anti-fraud bblockchain tracking with the help of another widely known enterprise.

Determining the Scalability of a Live Platform

What Seagate is doing is testing how helpful the blockchain technology can be to fight potential frauds. The information was reported this week in a Forbes article, which explains that after already collaborating with tech giants IBM on a proof of concept in 2018, Seagate will be working with the latter once again, this time on a blockchain based product trial, which is now in the pilot stage, to determine the scalability of a live platform.

The pilot has not been launched at the time of writing this piece, but according to Seagate’s research group managing technologist of data security Manuel Offenberg, the company has already given the green light to do it.

The project involves monitoring the products of the hard drive manufacturer and tracking them through the blockchain, by watching over products sent via various steps to the final client, which will be IBM for the purposes of the trial (as one of the recurrent Seagate’s customers.)

A Verifying Tool

Product returns will also be tracked back to Seagate. That would help Seagate make sure that counterfeit drives are not returned in place of the article in a real-life scenario, as the article explains.

The platform also has the potential to be used as a verifying tool to make sure that any item sent back due to malfunctions or defects (or any other unspecified motive) has undergone a possible “certified erase” process, made to delete any user information. This is promising, especially in the European Union, which is now under the controversial General Data Protection Regulation approved in 2016.

Offenberg stated: “When a drive … comes back as part of its returns process, if we can prove that the drive was cryptographically erased, and therefore, the information is no longer on the device, then, from a risk perspective, this reverse supply chain can treat that device differently.”

IBM: Both the Customer and the Technology Provider

“In this case, IBM is both the customer of these drives, as well as the technology provider for the underlying Hyperledger Fabric platform,” he explained.

The report also contains quotes by Monty Forehand, who is currently Seagate’s product security officer. He observes that whilst the company’s items already come with a QR code-based protection tag, it does not use the blockchain technology.

If everything goes smoothly in the supply chain pilot and other factors allow for it, Seagate will begin to enjoy the benefits of the blockchain technology and take one step towards modernization.

By Andres Chavez

Moments during Trump’s Presidential Term that Benefited Bitcoin

Willmen Blanco
-
0
Moments during Trump’s Presidential Term that Benefited Bitcoin

In the end, the relationship between Trump and Bitcoin brings benefits to the cryptocurrency. From Hillary Clinton to Cambridge Analytica, Bitcoin seems to be everywhere.

Donald Trump’s presidential term in the US has seen events and discussion points illustrating the advantages of using digital and apolitical currency like Bitcoin.

Trump recently tweeted that he dislikes Bitcoin but Congress members seem to realize that they would not be able to implement a ban on crypto assets.

Whenever an important event involving Bitcoin occurs, there is an opportunity that more people learn about the value of the digital currency system.

Trump and Russia

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) was hacked during the 2016 election cycle, supposedly by hackers related to a branch of Russian intelligence. The e-mail records of the hacking were published by WikiLeaks, an organization having a long and extensive history with Bitcoin.

DNC e-mails revealed a preference for Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders, among DNC leaders. Obviously, Trump was a beneficiary, since the content of the e-mails was incorporated into his “Crooked Hillary” narrative.

The US Department of Justice claimed that the Russian government had used digital currency to finance some activities related to the attack. It is said that Russian hackers used Bitcoin to make payments related to the operation, in addition to mining the cryptocurrency.

Besides, the NSA informer, Edward Snowden, stated that he used Bitcoin to pay for the servers, since he was sending some documents to journalists in 2013.

Additionally, Trump’s chief advisor and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, received an e-mail threatening to release the President’s tax returns unless a 52-bitcoin ransom was paid. The sender of the e-mail was posing as the hacker behind the DNC attack.

Cambridge Analytica

During the US presidential election in 2016, the Trump campaign worked with the Cambridge Analytica political consultancy, known for accessing the personal data of millions of US Facebook users without their consent. In 2019, executives from the firm were caught boasting about having invented the “twisted Hillary” campaign during Trump’s running for president.

Cambridge Analytica’s scandal has made the general public more aware of all the personal data accessible to governments and businesses through the Internet. As well as limiting the type of information available to Google, Facebook and other large social networks, part of Bitcoin’s commercial appeal is to limit the level of access and control that large institutions have over their finances.

Darknet Market’s Repression

A third incident connecting Trump with Bitcoin is his focus on closing several darknet markets. According to former US Attorney General Jeff Sessions, President Trump ordered several government agencies to prosecute “transnational criminal Internet organizations” such as AlphaBay and Hansa.

Similar to Senator Charles Schumer’s public outrage over Bitcoin and Silk Road in 2011, this type of focus of attention by the media on darknet markets tend to draw more attention to people’s possibility to receive medicines at home at the press of a button, almost as easily as trying to order regular items from Amazon.

Whether it is the interference in Russian elections or the repressive measures against darknet markets, which illustrate the usefulness of Bitcoin, or the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which simply makes Internet users reflect more deeply on their online activities, President Trump has found himself connected to important Bitcoin-related stories in recent years.

In his book The Art of the Deal Trump clearly states that “bad publicity is sometimes better than no publicity at all”, like in the case of Bitcoin.

By Willmen Blanco

The United States Understands that It Cannot Succeed in Banning Bitcoin

Willmen Blanco
-
0
The United States Understands that It Cannot Succeed in Banning Bitcoin

Bitcoin is becoming increasingly strong, even before the institutionalism of the United States. Despite the fact that opinions remain hostile, the issue is already being debated daily.

Banning Bitcoin (BTC) is not an option, since it is a worldwide innovation. This idea, widespread among bitcoiners, was reaffirmed by the Chairman of the US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, Mike Crapo. During the hearing on cryptocurrencies and regulation held on July 31st, 2019, before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Affairs, he showed that the official position in the United States seems to be of greater openness and recognition to the characteristics and potential of Bitcoin.

Mike Crapo said that banning the use of Bitcoin in the United States would be an impossible achievement as it is considered to be a global innovation.

Bitcoin is an increasingly powerful reality, with more than 10 years in operation and with the most robust network among the rest of cryptocurrencies in terms of hash rate and investment. It went from being originally an experiment among cypherpunks to being the subject of debate between the powerful, and the United States remains an important worldwide reference.

People no longer talk about Bitcoin just for its price, which is about 50% below its historical maximum, but for its features/characteristics and the resilience of its network. The recognition on the part of Crapo only reaffirms Bitcoin as a good currency, one that fully fulfills its functions regardless of whether the powerful seek any occasion to censor the Bitcoin community.

In addition, it is significant that a representative of the institutionalism of a country, which usually imposes its own agenda through sanctions and other coercive measures, openly acknowledges that, even in the case that the United States decided to start on a path to deep prohibition, Bitcoin would continue to function. The innovation that Satoshi Nakamoto made available to Bitcoin users has a broader scope than the persecution measures that the US or any other country may impose.

Crapo’s opinion is a new sign of the confirmation and maturity of this technology. In addition to this representative, Congressman Patrick McHenry also stated in early July 2019 that “there is no capacity to kill Bitcoin.” The president of the United States, Donald Trump, had also posted his opinion on the cryptocurrency through his Twitter account.

An increasing number of representatives of the government of this country realize that Bitcoin brings something different to the rest of payment systems and exchange of value. This characteristic/feature is the fact that its use is truly decentralized and it would be very difficult (practically impossible) to completely ban any activity connected/associated with its operation, as countries such as China or India have proposed.

Seemingly, the position that these decision makers from the United States are showing could have some kind of influence in other allied countries. Maybe there will not be an immediate adoption there, but the growing positioning of Bitcoin as a topic of discussion and interest in the agenda of the main countries of the world makes it the best option for investors.

By Willmen Blanco

1...1,5061,5071,508...1,654Page 1,507 of 1,654