Andrew Yang, a 2020 US Presidential Candidate, Advocates for Cryptocurrency Regulations

Andres Chavez
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Andrew Yang, a 2020 US Presidential Candidate, Advocates for Cryptocurrency Regulations

Regulating the crypto industry has long been one of the primary obstacles left for digital assets in their road to full global adoption. Since they involve novel technologies, devices, and applications, coming up with a universal legal document it is easier said than done in most cases.

In that sense, Andrew Yang, who is slated to run for President of the United States in the 2020 elections, is including cryptocurrency regulations and the need to find clear regulations for these digital assets in his campaign for the Democratic Party. The politician named some strategic operative points in a policy published on his web page.

Looking for New Horizons

In fact, the implementation and adoption of digital assets and the associated regulations are an instrumental part of Yang’s campaign for next year. Yang is a well-known entrepreneur who put $120,000 from his pocket to develop Venture For America (VFA,) a blockchain accelerator which goal is to build startups in emerging locations.

In the published document, the politician states that the current administration has shown very little advancement regarding the development and launch of a nation-wide regulatory framework for crypto assets. In fact, various federal agencies are claiming conflicting approaches, and Yang has made it clear that the country needs to come up with a way to define how cryptocurrencies should be regulated because it would foster investors’ involvement.

“We should let investors, companies, and individuals know what the landscape and treatment will be moving forward to support innovation and development. The blockchain has vast potential,” he stated in his website about the subject of cryptocurrency regulation.

Conflicting Regulations

According to the American presidential candidate, crypto markets are currently developing at a faster pace than rules and legal instruments are able to keep up, which has caused some states to have conflicting regulations in a number of cases. The Democrat says that he intends to “create clear guidelines in the digital asset world so that businesses and individuals can invest and innovate in the area without fear of a regulatory shift.”

Yang highlights that, if elected, he will promote legislation that provides clarity in the cryptocurrency/digital asset market space by “defining what a token is, and when it is a security (e.g., recognizing “utility tokens”;) defining which federal agencies have regulatory power over the crypto/digital assets space; and providing for consumer protections in the space; while also clarifying the tax implications of owning, selling, and trading digital assets.”

Nurtuting Crypto While Also Protecting Users

U. S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, a fellow presidential candidate that made her intentions public in January, has also touched the subject in the past, observing that “the challenge is how to nurture productive aspects of crypto with protecting consumers.”

On the other hand, Warren Davidson and Darren Soto have also shown involvement in the discussion, reintroducing the Token Taxonomy Act, a bill that would prevent crypto assets from the “securities” classification and that also searches for clearer and smoother regulations in the American blockchain space.

By Andres Chavez

Blockchain Could Contribute USD $ 40 Billion to the Aerospace Sector

Maria Rodríguez
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Blockchain Could Contribute USD $ 40 Billion to the Aerospace Sector

Nowadays, information about the time of use of the parts and the history of each aircraft is stored, in many cases, manually and inefficiently

Employing blockchain technology to achieve greater efficiency in the aerospace sector could raise its income to USD 40,000 million, according to a PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report, published on April 18th.

Through the website of PwC, known as one of the biggest consulting firms in the aerospace industry, Antonio Requena, Responsible Partner of that blockchain platform, said that the impact of blockchain technology on airlines can be massive because it would store the necessary information in a more appropriate way, as well as the history of the devices.

“It is possible to make grow the value of aircraft in the secondary market with this technology. The improvement of efficiency as a consequence of the application of the blockchain technology could increase the income of the sector up to four percent, some USD 40,000 million dollars, and cut the maintenance costs by five percent, some USD 3,500 million”, explains the study.

According to what PwC estimates, and included in the report “Data for the life of the aircraft. How the adoption of blockchain can provide a boost of power and efficiency to the aerospace industry “, this technology would allow restricting access to the information only to authorized personnel. This would also imply an increase in security and protection against competition.

Numerous Benefits

One of the main advantages blockchain technology offers to the aerospace world is the storage of information efficiently, since most of the crucial data to keep airplanes in the air is collected manually and this causes money and time waste.

On the other hand, blockchain technology could also store information regarding the time of use of the pieces, record the repairs operations or replacements of the pieces to reinforce the data management, register the location of the technicians, the manufacturer of the piece, or the exact address of the place where the aircraft will be stored.

In this way, blockchain continues to prove that it is more than a digital transaction record book. It is not only used in the digitization of the public administration of different countries, or to keep medical records and preserve copyright, but it could also be used to record each replacement of the innumerable pieces of an airplane, or to follow the commercialization of food and different products (traceability).

These records in the aerospace sector would be possible since blockchain technology creates “birth certificates” from the stages of different processes. In the case of aircraft, blockchain can create records that will easily be updated and revised by the authorized persons, or the parties involved in the process.

In 2018, the aerospace sector reached 848,000 million dollars. It is a competitive industry which transports millions of people and tons of goods every day and seeks to cope with the increase in demand for air traffic.

The inclusion of blockchain technology would generate, according to the analysts of PwC, a future of increasing profits that would increase with time and with the optimization of the necessary processes.

By María Victoria Rodríguez

Forbes Highlights 50 Successful Blockchain Companies Rated in Almost One Billion Dollars

Maria Rodríguez
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Forbes Highlights 50 Successful Blockchain Companies Rated in Almost One Billion Dollars

Among some of the companies on the list that have used distributed accounting technology are Microsoft, Google, IBM, Amazon, Bitfury, and Ripple

The renowned business magazine Forbes published a list on which it collects the names of 50 successful companies that use blockchain technology and also are valued in millions of dollars. These companies stand out for their work. They are related, directly or indirectly, to the world of distributed accounting technology and cryptocurrencies.

The list was published on Tuesday, April 16th on the website of the American magazine and is called “Billion Dollar Babies Blockchain”. The companies mentioned are the most outstanding of 2018 for their use of financial technology.

To make this list a reality and collect all the necessary information to do it, the Forbes team consulted experts in the blockchain industry to identify more than 100 large companies which use this technology directly or through consortiums. In this way, half of the nominated companies were selected.

In the third edition of “Fintech 50” by Forbes, the 50 most important companies that incorporate in their projects and in their daily work the platform emerged with Bitcoin are reviewed. The list includes a wide variety of firms, among which there are exchanges, traditional financial institutions such as banks, food companies, social network administration companies, and others.

Giants such as Amazon, Microsoft, IBM, BBVA and Intel use Hyperledger technology, whilst Google, Samsung and Signature Bank use Ethereum technology. The publication details the names of these and other companies, as well as the chain-block protocols they use daily.

Among the companies involved in the cryptocurrency sector are the popular exchange of the United States, Coinbase; the European mining and hardware firm, The Bitfury Group, and the financial services company that uses the XRP blockchain, Ripple.

Forbes’ study highlights that these global corporations have resorted to blockchain technology due to its transparency and its ability to store information in an orderly and safe manner for all the participants or people interested in the project.

Although the market for cryptocurrencies is, up to now, changing (falling or rising), the ability of blockchain technology to rapidly conduct business processes such as transactions and smart contracts, in addition to saving billions of dollars that are spent on traditional procedures, is one of its most attractive advantages.

The Richest Ones

The founders of Bitfury, Coinbase and Ripple were also on the Forbes list related to “The Richest People in Cryptocurrency”, published last week. In addition, the Forbes site published an article which analyzes the influence of blockchain technology in the current time and the cryptocompanies that were part of the Fintech 50 list.

In its articles, Forbes writes that the blockchain companies listed in Fintech 50 are “building infrastructure to support both public cryptocurrency markets and initiatives that could transform the way current financial transactions are executed and recorded”.

Everyday more and more companies are interested in the distributed ledger technology, in order to conclude their processes faster and efficiently. Even public administrations in Pakistan, Canada, The US, and Latin American countries such as Peru are looking for different ways of using cryptocurrencies’ technology.

By María Victoria Rodríguez

Study shows 20 Decentralized Digital Identity Projects in Latin America

Willmen Blanco
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Study shows 20 Decentralized Digital Identity Projects in Latin America

The projects that are being conducted in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Colombia, among other countries in the region

On April 23rd, a study written in Spanish, that aims at compiling and publicizing the initiatives on decentralized digital identity that are being conducted in Latin American countries, was presented. This work was sponsored by the Blockchain Iberoamerica Alliance, Blockchain Spain, and the organization of self-sovereign digital identity SSIMeetup.

The ecosystem of decentralized digital identity in the Ibero-American world, by Lucas Carmona and Alex Preukschat, compiles a list of initiatives and use cases that approach the area in a novel way, with the support of crypto asset or blockchain technology. This written report describes the projects conducted in Spain, Portugal, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Peru, Chile, Uruguay and Costa Rica. Other countries were not included because they had no projects on the study topic.

Regarding the activity related to self-sovereign identity (SSI), Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and Mexico are said to be the countries in Latin America with the largest number of cases of decentralized digital identity. In the specific case of Brazil, three important projects are mentioned: Identity Tech, BlockIoT and eID +. These are initiatives that offer DLT services in the field of digital identity, both within the public and private sectors.

Argentina has initiatives such as the DIDI project, led by the Bitcoin Argentina Foundation and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in Buenos Aires. Meanwhile, in Colombia an outstanding effort has been made by the IDEMA to digitize the National Civil Registration and Identification processes since 2017. In Mexico, the “Tecnológico de Monterrey” initiative is introduced, which develops a case of decentralized digital identity use in education.

In the Iberian Peninsula, the variety of solutions that advance in Spain are shown, led by Alastria ID, as well as other constructions on public blockchain platform, such as Ethereum. Services are added on identity platforms, research projects with public financing and use cases in educational institutions.

On Decentralized Digital Identity

In the prologue of the publication it is explained that the digital identity is one of the most widely explored topics today, under the label of “self-sovereign identity” (SSI). It is conceived as the set of own data and features that distinguish some individuals from others.

Currently, there are a series of models and technological solutions for managing and processing this personal information, which are run in both centralized and decentralized nodes. In this last modality exploration is being conducted with distributed accounting technology (DLT). These blockchain systems of sovereign identity use Blockchain to register decentralized identifiers (DID), which can be accessed without the need of a central directory.

In order to write the report, the authors established differences between various types of projects. In this way, those that operate as authentication solutions that use blockchain technology or aspire to be decentralized were evaluated. Similarly, those that use SSI platforms such as uPort, Sovrin, Learning Machine or Veres.One were studied.

Also considered are the initiatives that aspire to be SSI platforms, mainly concentrated in Spain, in addition to those that use solutions based on SSI platforms to bring digital identity to use cases. In many of them, functionalities related to blockchain technology are implemented, dispensing with SSI standards.

By Willmen Blanco

Litecoin’s Processing Power Hits its Record Highs

Maria Rodríguez
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Litecoin’s Processing Power Hits its Record Highs

Recently, Litecoin’s hash rate managed to overcome twice its previous peak and now it is over its historical maximum. This change has a positive effect on the security levels

The Litecoin platform continues to increase its hash rate levels, after registering low numbers at the end of 2018. During last week, the processing power of the Litecoin (LTC) network has been twice over its historical maximum.

The lowest numbers of 2018 were registered at the end of last year. In March of that year, they were below 150 TH/s. So far this year 2019, the first increase in hash rate was registered on April 8th, when it reached its new peak of 359 TH / s. The second one was presented this Sunday, April 14th, when the network averaged 347 TH / s.

According to data from BitInfoCharts and Litecoin.com, these graphics are shown in two figures above the best historical average recorded by Litecoin. On May 24th, 2018, the network reached a hash rate of 342.8 TH / s. Before this date, it had not been able to overcome that record until now.

The importance around the increase of the hash rate levels is that this achievement allows the increase of the security of the network. This happens because as long as there is more processing power, it is more difficult for an attacker to alter the information stored in a certain blockchain platform.

These recent peaks in the Litecoin processing power match another historical top of the network: the difficulty of mining, which last week reached a peak of 11,815,000, as shows another BitInfoCharts graphic.

Until now, Bitcoin has a hash rate of more than 42,000,000 Th / s, according to the BitInfoCharts information. But Litecoin is still far from its maximum quotes, like happens with the rest of the crypto market.

Since January of this year, LTC has recorded a 160% increase in value against the U.S. dollar as one of the best performing cryptocurrencies in the global market, as well as Binance Coin (BNB), Enjin Coin (ENJ), and Augur (REP). In spite of that, currently, the LTC price is USD 77.6, well below the USD 359 quoted in December 2017.

Franklyn Richards, an early Litecoin team member who operates Litecoin.com said: “Another potential explanation for the recent rise, besides price, may be more efficient mining hardware being issued /used. If this were the case, we are not expressly aware of it”.

Charlie Lee, the creator of Litecoin, said on January 28th: “Fungibility is the only property that is missing from Bitcoin & Litecoin. Now that the scaling debate is behind us, the next battleground will be on fungibility and privacy. I am now focused on making Litecoin more fungible by adding confidential transactions”.

Litecoin currently ranked as the number five by market cap. It is up 5.94% over the past 24 hours. LTC has a market cap of $5.07B with a 24-hour volume of $2.24B.

By María Victoria Rodríguez

Lithuania Seeks to Regulate the Use of Cryptocurrencies by Means of Legal Amendments

Maria Rodríguez
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Lithuania Seeks to Regulate the Use of Cryptocurrencies by Means of Legal Amendments

It is expected that the reform of the law will help prevent some financial crimes such as money laundering and theft, as well as raise a fence to avoid financing terrorism

Lithuania has been among the European countries that have had a significant increase in commercial activity with cryptocurrencies, so the country has decided to increase the control and supervision measures to companies that offer services related to these digital assets.

Exchanges companies, providers of shelter services and ICO promoters, (Initial Currencies Offers), are some of the main ones related to these measures. It was also known that the initiative seeks to directly promote the prevention of robbery and extortion, as well as to attack hacking and money laundering using cryptocurrencies.

The news was revealed in the last April 8th, through the media The Baltic Times, which covers countries such as Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia. Through the press release, it was known that the Parliament of that country is creating a regulatory environment, related to these technologies, which would allow an adequate and clearer use of them. The intention is to potentiate these tools in order to grow the economy.

The Director of the Financial Market Policy Department, at the Lithuania’s Ministry of Finance, Sigitas Mitkus, gave the information about the project. In addition, he said he is enthusiastic about the legislative process as a tool of protection for merchants who use these technologies. “We want to create a transparent legal environment for virtual currency exchanges, wallet operators and ICO initiators. We also want to contribute to guarantee better consumer protection”, he explained.

As is known about the law reforms in that European country related to this matter, only the entities supported by the law and registered in the official Registry Center are operative. The law that supports these companies is the Law on the Prevention of Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism.

One of the most important aspects of this amendment is the duty to report to the Financial Crimes Investigation Service, all those large transactions made with cryptocurrencies in the Lithuanian territory.

Another aspect of this new reform is that all transactions made with cryptocurrencies and equivalent of 1,000 euros, must be notified to the competent body, which will request the company to ask for the identification of the client. This is in order to track the transaction and who performs it.

Mitkus commented that the statutes will also apply to the exchange houses and to convert cryptocurrencies into fiduciary money. “By introducing limits for financial operations, we go beyond the European Union directive and we will probably become the first ones in the world to implement the recommendations of the International Financial Action Task Force and apply the requirements, not only to the conversion of virtual currencies to traditional currencies, but also when converting one virtual currency into another”.

Lithuania is one of the countries which are in the process of adoption to these new technologies that have taken boom worldwide. Last year, the Ministry of Finance of Lithuania published a guide related to the issuance of ICOs, in which the Central Bank highlights its position about ICOs and digital assets.

By María Victoria Rodríguez

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