Chinese Research Of Blockchain In Finance

Maria Rodríguez
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Chinese Research Of Blockchain In Finance

A recent Chinese study reaffirms that blockchain technology improves financial services.

Blockchain technology will further improve the transparency of financial transactions, the flexibility of the system and automated processes. It will be very important in fields like payment and settlement. The Academy of Information Technology and Communications  and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China emphasized the positive impact of blockchain technology on the transformation of traditional financial services.

Tencent Holdings, an Internet service provider, published a report which includes eight basic conclusions about the implementation of blockchain in China on July 24th. According to the report, blockchain technology will further improve

“the transparency of financial transactions, the flexibility of the system and automatic processes that affects the methods of record keeping, accounting and agreements of financial services payments.”

The study makes another asseveration,

“In addition to digital currency, the characteristics of blockchain can play an important role in the fields of payment and settlement, financing of the supply chain, securities trading, insurance and credit reports”.

The report points out that during the blockchain application process it is necessary to differentiate between the “currency” application and the “chain” application, a reference to the basis of blockchain technology for most cryptocurrencies,

“For the application of the ‘currency’, the financial risk must be strictly guarded. For the application of the ‘chain’, it must be legally regulated.”

Recently, three Chinese telecom operators created a blockchain research group to build a “next-generation telecommunications network”. China will also lead an international research group which will study the internet standardization of objects and blockchain technology, according to news disseminated in that country.

China downplayed blockchain technology in early July. As China was the first country to establish a general prohibition of the Initial Offers of Currencies (ICO) and its exchanges, now the country has some difficulties with the decentralized characteristic of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies.

An Amazing Tool

A group of Chinese researchers from Tshinghua University presented a blockchain-based program in June that safeguard digital versions of important cultural objects, which could be shared through a network of blocks. Those objects will be scanned to generate a virtual representation.

Blockchain technology is more than a system to preserve digital transactions security and the previous new is an example of this. Around the world there are people investigating how they can make a good, and also different, use of blockchain technology.

Cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology are part of traditional payments transformation and a key to predict the evolution of human life.

 

by María Victoria Rodríguez

Blockchain In Public Service In Catalonia

Maria Rodríguez
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Blockchain In Public Service In Catalonia

Catalonia will use blockchain technology to improve digital services in its public administration

Many countries are implementing blockchain technology at the government level. They seek to achieve a new model of “digital organization”. Even the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) will now use blockchain for the traceability of donations.

The Government of Catalonia revealed a plan for the implementation of blockchain technology in its public administrative activity, according to the official press release of July 24th. The Generalitat of Catalunya, an official governmental institution of the Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia, will promote blockchain technology

“with the aim of improving digital services to the public sector and promoting the potential of this technology among the Administration, companies and citizens”.

According to sources, the Digital Policies Department of Catalonia will develop a plan called “SmartCat” to incorporate blockchain technology in all public administration activities by the end of December, 2018. The strategy of the Department of Digital Policies will form an interdepartmental working group, in order to promote the

“knowledge, training and creation of talent in the field of blockchain as well as identify the areas of maximum potential of technology and economic value”.

Spain has adopted the use of blockchain technologies in many industries. Last May, Barcelona Tech City, a private non-profit association, announced the creation of a specialized space for the development of blockchain technology, and the Bank of Santander became the first global company to use blockchain technology for investors’ voting.

The Secretariat of Telecommunications and Information Society, and the Government of Catalonia, launched their plan in 2014. The Catalan government has promoted international events, such as the Blockchain Solutions World contest. The second edition will take place in October of this year. It also launched several development projects in different areas of the administration.

Jordi Puigneró, adviser of Digital Policies and Public Administration of Catalonia, told La Vanguardia, a Spanish newspaper, that the aim is to achieve a new model of digital governance with distributed accounting technology.

“Estonia and Singapore also have administration projects. While Sweden is transforming the property registry, in Australia electronic voting is tested, digital identity is introduced in Japan and The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) will use it for the traceability of donations,”

said the adviser.

Worldwide, more than 1,600 reliable and quotable cryptocurrencies exist in the main exchange houses and crypto-active markets. Spain and Latin America are two potential growing markets in terms of crypto-assets and cryptocurrencies.

 

by María Victoria Rodríguez

Antigua & Barbuda Accept Cryptocurrency For Citizenship

Emanuel Adrade
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Antigua & Barbuda Accept Cryptocurrency For Citizenship

To become a citizen of Antigua and Barbuda requires an investment of USD $100,000, and today you can pay that fee with approximately 12 Bitcoins. The Antigua and Barbuda Investment Citizenship Program Law was amended by the country’s parliament allowing payments to be made using Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The resolution was announced by the country’s Prime Minister, Gaston Browne, and the Minister of Finance and Corporate Governance and Public-Private Partnerships, according to the Antigua News Room.

According to Browne, the decision was made with the goal of making it more convenient for citizenship applicants who own cryptocurrencies. By adding this payment method, the program should attract a new domographic from the world of cryptocurrency.

“It also expands its market because we have a number of cryptocurrency investors who may be willing to assume our citizenship, but who would only pay in cryptocurrencies,”

said the Prime Minister to the country’s parliament.

“If you do not accept the cryptocurrency, then you will be literally excluded from that market.”

According to the Prime Minister, payments made in cryptocurrencies will be converted daily to US dollars in order to avoid losses from volatility. To be eligible for citizenship through the Investment Citizenship Program Law of Antigua and Barbuda, individuals may choose to invest in the country amounts ranging between USD $400,000 and USD $ 1.5 million or make a contribution of USD $ 100,000 to the National Development Fund of the country. It is also required that additional amounts be paid depending on the number of dependents.

The country has initiated several efforts to enable a friendly environment for
cryptocurrency. Last April, for example, the cabinet instructed the country’s attorney general to draft a law that would allow government services to be paid for using Bitcoin. At the time, the country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Immigration, Everly Paul Chet Greene, argued that the immutable nature of blockchain enabled the ability to trace transactions and, therefore, served to soften the state’s reputation as a tax haven.
Due to its thriving financial sector, as well as a large online gaming industry, the country has been seen as particularly susceptible to money laundering and other financial crimes. Greene also argued that allowing government services to be paid for with Bitcoin would solidify Antigua and Barbuda’s reputation as a pioneer in the region.

 

by Emanuel Andrade

Samsung Smartphone Cryptocurrency Storage

Samuel Larreal
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Samsung Smartphone Cryptocurrency Storage

According to Samsung, smartphones are the safest way to store cryptocurrencies.

Samsung Electronics, the smartphone manufacturing industry behemoth, recently commented through an official blog that cryptocurrency wallets based on mobile phones are the safest option for the short and medium term storage of cryptocurrencies. The post explains that smartphones are a very safe place to store digital money in cryptocurrency wallets, up to the equivalent amount that we migh usually keep in our physical wallet. To save long-term cryptocurrencies, Samsung recommends creating multiple backups of the private key associated with the wallets.

The smartphone producer stated that private keys should be stored offline to maximize their security, which means that they should not reside on a mobile phone or any device that connects to the internet regularly. The blog post comments that mobile phone cryptocurrency wallets are the best place to store “spendable” money due to a feature called Trusted Execution Environment (TEE). The TEE runs its own execution independently, which means that the RAM and storage of the phone are separated from the main operating system of smartphones. Because of this, the Android operating system cannot directly access the TEE, even if the operating system is hacked. In this sense, you can only access the TEE through an application programming interface (API). According to the blog post,

“This is why smartphones have an edge over laptops and desktops for cryptocurrency wallets: without the benefits of the hardware-based TEE, the keys are more vulnerable. There is a significant caveat: a naïve wallet developer might choose to simply store the keys on the normal internal storage of the phone, in which case there’s little additional protection from using the smartphone platform.”

However, Samsung says that some novice developer could make the mistake of designing a cryptocurrency wallet that keeps private keys on the smartphone’s hard drive, which would make it vulnerable to hacking, and there is always the risk that a wallet be infected with a malware.

 

by Samuel Larreal

Blockchain Projects In Chechnya

Samuel Larreal
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Blockchain Projects In Chechnya

Chechnya launches blockchain projects for municipal services and real estate.

Authorities of the Russian bank Vneshekonombank (VEB), in partnership with the local government of the capital of the Chechen Republic, Grozny, recently announced the development of two blockchain-based projects, focused on both, municipal and real estate services. Both projects are currently running in a “beta” phase. According to the developers, the first pilot is focused on creating a municipal-level payment system, backed by distributed ledger.

The second pilot will be focused on real estate management in the city, in an effort to increase transparency around local fixed assets. According to Grozny’s Mayor,

“Thanks to the efforts of the VEB bank, platforms based on the distributed ledger were created that improve the transparency of the charges of the public services, as well as allow to securely store the contractual obligations and optimize the provision of services to the residents of the city.”

Currently 20% of local budget is allocated to municipal expenses. These projects should reduce costs significantly in the coming months. These developments are occuring in the midst of a digital growth in the region. Authorities have said to local media that the recently launched pilots are expected to be completely operational within the following three months.

Other blockchain-based projects have been announced for the near future in the Chechen region; including a municipal voting system completely based on blockchain, as well as a price management system for public services of various categories.

VEB began to show interest in the decentralized industry at the end of 2017, when it inaugurated the first blockchain competence center in Moscow, focused on blockchain projects that could be useful for government entities and in the general public sector.

 

by Samuel Larreal

KT Corporation Creates Blockchain Network

Samuel Larreal
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KT Corporation Creates Blockchain Network

KT Corporation announces the creation of a blockchain network for AI, user authentication, IoT, and other usages.

KT Corporation, one of the most influential South Korean telecommunication companies, recently announced the launch of a blockchain-based network in order to incorporate the technology in various advanced technologies, such as artificial intelligence and fifth-generation networks, to make inroads into emerging markets.

According to local news outlet, The firm revealed its KT Network Blockchain on Tuesday morning. In an announcement the company stated that the system could support up to 2,500 transactions per second (TPS) thanks to its integration with its high-speed commercial network. The firm also communicated their goal of increasing the system’s capacity to 10,000 transactions per second by the end of this year, and even 100,000 transactions per second at some point in 2019. According to Seo Young-il who heads the blockchain centre at KT

“Processing speed and capacity of existing public blockchains are slow and low, which is unsuitable for commercialization. On the other hand, private blockchains lack transparency and security. The KT Network Blockchain has secured both performance and reliability.”

The company also said it is interested in using blockchain technology for identity authentication in international roaming services, allowing users to securely share information throughout a distributed communication network. The company said it would work with Asian operator NTT DoCoMo to start exploring the possibilities of blockchain-based technology for international data roaming.

KT’s blockchain network is expected to have an important role for energy exchange in the second half of 2018, with the corporations functioning as nodes to exchange unused energy along a distributed network.

“This will enable internet connection and identity authentication at the same time while effectively preventing attacks from hacking,”

according to Seo Young-il. ”

“This will help customers use the internet of things (IoT) products at home more safely and contribute to vitalizing the IoT-related industry”

 

by Samuel Larreal

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