South African Central Bank Integrates Blockchain For Payments

Samuel Paz
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South African Central Bank Integrates Blockchain For Payments

     The South African Central Bank, the SRBA (South African Reserve Bank) recently announced the successful implementation of their innovative payment system based on blockchain.  This is a revolutionary breakthrough that could change the banking world forever.

According to SRBA, a proof-of-concept of 14 weeks was successfully completed, in
which they managed to process 70,000 transactions in just a couple of hours, with an
average of 1 to 2 transactions per second, all of them anonymously.

The report published by the SARB indicates that in this pilot test, members of a banking consortium participated, including Discovery Bank, FirstRand, Absa, Capitek, Investek, Nedbank, and the Standard Bank.

The bank announced the start of the test phase, called Khokha, in February of this year,
forming an alliance with the Ethereum startup ConsenSys. This payment platform is
built on Quorum (blockchain platform) and developed by the renowned investment bank JP Morgan.

The bank acknowledged the fact that the proof-of-concept was a success does not necessarily mean that it will replace the Real-Time Gross Settlement System
(RTGS) without carrying out further investigation and more management and regulation of the system. The SARB indicated in their report, that a large number of factors should be taken into consideration in the evaluation of this type of support systems that can be integrated into the RTGS, adding all the legal and regulatory factors, concluding that a plan fully integrated by payments based on DLT, is not a priority for the nation.

 

by Samuel Paz

Local Cryptocurrency’s in New York

cwjadmin
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Local Cryptocurrency’s in New York

“We want local cryptocurrency’s in New York” – Rom Kim

Rom Kim, a New York state legislator, recently proposed the A11018 project, which, if approved, will modify the law on the development of urban corporations of New York, and will launch 10 pilot programs to create local community currencies, which could be cryptocurrencies or other alternative digital forms of money. This is according to public
documents.

They will encourage residents of the communities to spend locally, thus supporting the ecosystems of their neighborhoods. This law specifically mentions the use of blockchain for,

“Allowing this to be implemented perfectly by allowing consumers, citizens and
business owners to exchange dollars and cryptocurrencies instantly,” says the
legislator, who also added that it would have a “significant long-term social impact”.

This project, points out the creation of a local use case for cryptocurrencies, in which it
can combat “unduly negative perceptions” towards this space, and adds that “more and
more members of the younger generation are not only familiar but they expect a
widespread use of blockchain technology.”
Kim, also added that,

“By giving a new mission and purpose to this form of currency, we are empowering people to take ownership of local growth. By exchanging your dollars for a local community currency, even in the form of a digital cryptocurrency, people will keep their money. in their neighborhoods, they pay taxes and also get tangible rewards for positive civic action.”

Through a statement, Kim established that,

“The community currencies are the next step to promote regional economic growth and local civic participation” and adds that “every local dollar spent in a store inevitably stimulates the growth of local employment”

 

by Samuel Paz

Twitch’s Streamlabs Now Support Cryptocurrency Donations

Samuel Larreal
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Twitch’s Streamlabs Now Support Cryptocurrency Donations

     Twitch, one of the most popular streaming platforms has made it possible for streamers to accept cryptocurrency “tips” by using the company’s streaming app, Streamlabs . This Friday the streaming giant announced their live stream operators can now accept cryptocurrency donations from their fans, using Coinbase as the payment processor. Streamers will have to connect the service to their Coinbase accounts, which will automatically allow users to utilize the payment option.

The service will initially support Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash the four cryptocurrencies supported by Coinbase. Streamlabs will be looking into adding other coins in the future.

Streamers do not have to pay a fee to use the service, but they will incur transaction fees if they decide to sell the coins for fiat on Coinbase.

According to Newzoo, Twitch users streamed more than 2 billion hours of content during the first quarter of 2018, and approximately 15 percent of Twitch streams are via Streamlabs OBS. Streamlabs also supports other streaming platforms, including YouTube, Mixer, Facebook Live, Periscope, and Picarto. The company says that it paid out more than $34 million in tips during Q1. This new implementation could become a meaningful increase in Coinbase users as the streaming service’s popularity rises.

 

by Samuel Larreal

Vietnam Bans Import Of Cryptocurrency Mining Hardware

Samuel Larreal
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Vietnam Bans Import Of Cryptocurrency Mining Hardware

     The government of Vietnam has temporarily banned the import of cryptocurrency mining hardware.

As CWJ has reported before, many countries such as Venezuela have changed their import policies regarding cryptocurrency mining in recent months. Today, Vietnam was added to that list, as the local Ministry of Finance proposed a temporary blanket ban on cryptocurrency mining hardware imports.

According to local news outlet VN Express, the Ministry of Finance raised the proposal this Monday, alleging that cryptocurrency mining hardware can be used to launch new digital currencies qualified as “very difficult to regulate.” This new measure follows a tendency taken by Vietnamese authorities since 2017, when cryptocurrencies as a form of payment was declared illegal, with legislation taking effect in the first quarter of 2018. As VN Express reported, the imports of mining rigs have already reached over 6,300 in the first four months of 2018 alone, a significant increase in pace to the 9,300 rigs imported in the entire year of 2017. This increase has also been reported by other media outlets like The Hanoi Times. Vietnamese authorities have increased their calls to regulate cryptocurrency businesses after a scam was unveiled this April, and Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc urged the Vietnamese government and financial bodies to toughen the

“management of activities related to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies,” warning that the crypto investment space is “evolving in a more complicated manner.”

 

by Samuel Larreal

“Bitcoin, The Native Internet Currency” – Steve Wozniak

Samuel Paz
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“Bitcoin, The Native Internet Currency” – Steve Wozniak

      Despite not having invested in cryptocurrencies, Steve Wozniak (Co-Founder of Apple) firmly believes in the future potential of Bitcoin, in which he indicates that it will become the main currency, worldwide. The CEO of Twitter and Square, Jack Dorsey, recently commented through his Twitter account, his hope with respect to Bitcoin, of becoming the native currency of the internet.

To which Wozniak replied,

“I really believe in what Dorsey says, which does not mean I definitely think it will happen, but I truly hope so, it seems like a very pure way of thinking,”

Wozniak spoke positively of cryptocurrencies in general, especially those that are limited to a specific amount. He indicated that even though not having invested in any cryptocurrency, supports the development of this technology. Wozniak explained that his support leans more towards Bitcon, pointing out that,

“Only Bitcoin is true digital gold, and that’s something that I think is great”

Wozniak continued saying that other cryptocurrencies tend to sacrifice something that Bitcoin already has,

“Being completely decentralized and not having any kind of central control is one of the first things they must sacrifice to make their business model profitable,”

 

by Samuel Paz

Blockchain Technology vs. The Internet

Samuel Paz
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0
Blockchain Technology vs. The Internet

Blockchain technology is more valuable than the internet itself

According to Chen Weihong, host of the popular segment on Chinese television called “Dialogue”, blockchain technology will has an economic value 10 times more than the internet.

In a one-hour segment on the CCTT finance channel, Chen had a segment aimed at educating viewers about what blockchain is, their risks, potentials and implications for this technology that is revolutionizing the entire world.

Also, Chen featured high profile guests on his show, such as Dan Tapscott, author of  “Blockchain Revolution”, the CEO of Xunlei, Chen Lei and Zhang Shoucheng, owner and founder of Danhua Capital, a firm dedicated to investment in blockchain technology.

After a brief introductory discussion and an explanation of basic basic blockchain terminology, the host, Chen Weihong, established that blockchain technology could be the second phase of the internet, and that the value would amount to 10 times more than the actual internet.

“While the real value of the internet is in adding individual pieces of information to a place, – which is exactly what Google and Facebook do – we are now entering an era where information is being decentralized so that individuals can add its own data, and that’s why the real value of the blockchain is so exciting,”

said Chen.

During the course of the program, other topics were discussed such as the risk of ICOs, noting that projects should have known spokespersons, and to avoid fraudulent offers and thus continue to debug blockchain projects throughout China.

 

by Samuel Paz

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