The University of Wyoming (UW) has launched a Center for Blockchain and Digital Innovation.

As mentioned on UWs website:

Wyoming is a pioneer state known for firsts. In recent years, the state passed groundbreaking legislation to create a regulatory environment to foster blockchain application growth and diversify the economy.

The announcement also noted that the University is establishing a new Center for blockchain or distributed ledger tech (DLT) and digital innovation so that they can offer appropriate training programs to the states upcoming workforce.

As explained by the University of Wyoming, a blockchain is a digital or online record of transactions in which each transaction gets added to the chain after it has been verified by several independently functioning computers (commonly referred to as nodes).

Blockchain or DLT has been used to issue decentralized cryptocurrencies or digital assets. However, it has many other applications such as its use to enhance supply chain processes and digital payment and settlement systems. Many large enterprises currently use the DLT networks in ID verification systems and trade finance applications (among other use cases).

Steven Lupien, Adjunct Professor of Finance and Director of the new UW Digital Innovation Center, stated:

This tech is going to fundamentally change the way businesses and consumers operate in the future, very much like the internet did.

There are several other universities with their own blockchain or DLT centers. They include Arizona State University, the University of Arkansas, Carnegie Mellon University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Duke University, the University of Michigan, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University and the University of Texas-Austin.

Caitlin Long, the CEO at Avanti, a digital asset focused bank that recently received regulatory approval to offer services in Wyoming, stated:

UW is in rarefied air. Were working with some of the top scientific universities in the country.

Long has served on the Wyoming Blockchain Task Force and currently chairs UWs WyoHackathon. She has been working cooperatively with Wyoming State legislators including Rep. Tyler Lindholm and Sen. Chris Rothfuss. Long has helped with establishing important blockchain-related legislation in Wyoming.

She added:

Its about economic diversification. Its always been about jobs and bringing in outside capital to the state. Now, well have employers looking for UW graduates.

UW President Ed Seidel remarked:

This new center supports three of the four pillars weve established to guide the university: being more computational, interdisciplinary and entrepreneurial.The university is committed to helping drive future economic development in Wyoming, and this center has incredible potential to do so.

College of Business Dean Dave Sprott said that the university will offer a minor at the undergraduate level that will be open to any major by next fall. The university may also offer technical graduate certificates and a joint law and masters degree.

In February 2020, the University of Wyoming was awarded a $500,000 gift in Cardanos ADA tokens from IOHK (Input Output Hong Kong), which is an organization supporting the Charles Hoskinson led Cardano blockchain project. The award has been doubled to $1 million through a state matching program. The donation from IOHK will reportedly be used to set up a blockchain or DLT lab in the College of Engineering and Applied Science.

Read the original here:

University of Wyoming Establishes Center for Blockchain and Digital Innovation - Crowdfund Insider

The official U.S. election results posted by the Associated Press will use two different blockchains to prove the results at any given time are official.

For the first time ever, the official U.S. Presidential election results will be posted on the ethereum and EOS blockchains by the Associated Press.

Beyond just posting the results, though, the AP is using the blockchains behind the scenes in its own application programming interface (API), meaning anyone tapping into the official AP results can verify the accuracy using the blockchain data.

As Facebook, Twitter and others have taken advanced steps to fight off false claims about results earlier in the day that might influence later voters, using the unalterable blockchain to time-stamp the results could pave the way for how future elections are handled.

AP is the gold standard in counting the vote and declaring election winners, saidDwayne Desaulniers, AP director of data licensing, in a statement. The AP has been calling U.S. elections since 1848.

On the surface, the API is just like any other software interface, where a company gives access to its data to either a paying customer, or the general public.

First, software developers at various news and research sites build their own mobile app for viewing results, or identify their existing app as a repository for the data. Then, during the election, the app polls the API at regular intervals, looking for information such as race results on a state and national level, including vote counts, delegate counts and whether or not a race has been called.

Additionally, the Associated Press voting data will be posted to Everipedia, a blockchain-based competitor to Wikipedia that uses software called an oracle to ensure the data that comes from outside the blockchain is accurate. Everipedia built its oracle using Chainlink, open-source software that uses the $4 billion link cryptocurrency as part of its consensus-building process.

Once the data is verified as authentic, it will be posted to the public ethereum and EOS blockchains, which in addition to tracking their native cryptocurrencies (ether and EOS, respectively), can be used to track any other data in exchange for a tiny fee, called gas. Unlike bitcoin, which is largely limited to tracking the cryptocurrency, ethereum and EOS have entire computer languages that can be used to write applications that run like a website, but without centralized servers.

Making this powerful technology more accessible is key to realizing its full potential, saidDaniel Kochis, head of business development at Chainlink, in a statement. And publishing the APs electoral race calls onto the blockchain for the first time is a big milestone in that journey.

While blockchain technology has been used to track actual votes of smaller elections, and has proved somewhat promising, the APs use to track the results is the largest scale use of the technology in elections to date.

Of course, while using blockchain to prove the AP election race calls are official is a potential solution to fraudulent claims designed to influence uncast votes, the data is only as strong as the voting process itself.

Other more elaborate blockchain solutions in the works, including Voatz, Votem and Agora Vote, purport to solve the problems of proving ones identity remotely (a possible boon to voting during a pandemic) and providing proof that ones vote was accurately counted. Both of which could still end up being problems that remain to be solved in this years election.

Read this article:

How To Track Official Election Results On Ethereum And EOS - Forbes

Blockchain technology can help countries like Kenya from losing billions of dollars to corruption, according to an official at the United Nations drugs and crime agency.

David Robinson, the regional anti-corruption advisor at the UNs Office on Drugs and Crime, believes that new technologies like blockchain will help Kenya combat government corruption and other economic crimes.

According to Nation Media Group on Nov. 3, Robinson claimed that blockchain-based solutions can provide full traceability of transactions, protecting public registries from fraud and forgery. The official said:

Robinson said that technologies like blockchain are an important tool for increasing trust, as corruption represents a breach of the public trust. Online trust became a key asset for transactions between strangers and building confidence in government, he stated.

Kenya is reportedly losing up to a third of its budget to corruption each year due to a lack of modern equipment and technology for fighting graft. Failures to track corruption cases reportedly cause the country to lose as much as $6 billion each year.

A number of countries around the world have been looking at both blockchain technology and crypto as potential tools to combat corruption. In September 2020, Denmarks Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a report analyzing the use of blockchain in the fight against corruption. In July, the chairman of Kazakhstans anti-corruption service called on the state to develop a national digital currency to fight corruption in the country.

Read the rest here:

UN drugs and crime wing advises Kenya to use blockchain against corruption - Cointelegraph

NEW YORK, Nov. 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --Blockchain Technology in Healthcare Market Research Report by Function (Claims Adjudication & Billing Management, Clinical Data Exchange & Interoperability, and Supply Chain Management), by End User (Healthcare Payers, Healthcare Providers, and Pharmaceutical Companies) - Global Forecast to 2025 - Cumulative Impact of COVID-19

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05913643/?utm_source=PRN

The Global Blockchain Technology in Healthcare Market is expected to grow from USD 5,475.81 Million in 2019 to USD 38,747.63 Million by the end of 2025 at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 38.55%.

Market Segmentation & Coverage:This research report categorizes the Blockchain Technology in Healthcare to forecast the revenues and analyze the trends in each of the following sub-markets:

Based on Function, the Blockchain Technology in Healthcare Market studied across Claims Adjudication & Billing Management, Clinical Data Exchange & Interoperability, and Supply Chain Management.

Based on End User, the Blockchain Technology in Healthcare Market studied across Healthcare Payers, Healthcare Providers, and Pharmaceutical Companies.

Based on Geography, the Blockchain Technology in Healthcare Market studied across Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe, Middle East & Africa. The Americas region surveyed across Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and United States. The Asia-Pacific region surveyed across Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, South Korea, and Thailand. The Europe, Middle East & Africa region surveyed across France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, United Arab Emirates, and United Kingdom.

Company Usability Profiles:The report deeply explores the recent significant developments by the leading vendors and innovation profiles in the Global Blockchain Technology in Healthcare Market including Blockpharma, Chronicled, Factom, Farmatrust, Gem, Guardtime, Hashed Health, International Business Machines Corporation, Isolve, Medicalchain, Microsoft Corporation, Patientory, Pokitdok, Proof.Work, and Simplyvital Health.

FPNV Positioning Matrix:The FPNV Positioning Matrix evaluates and categorizes the vendors in the Blockchain Technology in Healthcare Market on the basis of Business Strategy (Business Growth, Industry Coverage, Financial Viability, and Channel Support) and Product Satisfaction (Value for Money, Ease of Use, Product Features, and Customer Support) that aids businesses in better decision making and understanding the competitive landscape.

Competitive Strategic Window:The Competitive Strategic Window analyses the competitive landscape in terms of markets, applications, and geographies. The Competitive Strategic Window helps the vendor define an alignment or fit between their capabilities and opportunities for future growth prospects. During a forecast period, it defines the optimal or favorable fit for the vendors to adopt successive merger and acquisition strategies, geography expansion, research & development, and new product introduction strategies to execute further business expansion and growth.

Cumulative Impact of COVID-19:COVID-19 is an incomparable global public health emergency that has affected almost every industry, so for and, the long-term effects projected to impact the industry growth during the forecast period. Our ongoing research amplifies our research framework to ensure the inclusion of underlaying COVID-19 issues and potential paths forward. The report is delivering insights on COVID-19 considering the changes in consumer behavior and demand, purchasing patterns, re-routing of the supply chain, dynamics of current market forces, and the significant interventions of governments. The updated study provides insights, analysis, estimations, and forecast, considering the COVID-19 impact on the market.

The report provides insights on the following pointers:1. Market Penetration: Provides comprehensive information on the market offered by the key players2. Market Development: Provides in-depth information about lucrative emerging markets and analyzes the markets3. Market Diversification: Provides detailed information about new product launches, untapped geographies, recent developments, and investments4. Competitive Assessment & Intelligence: Provides an exhaustive assessment of market shares, strategies, products, and manufacturing capabilities of the leading players5. Product Development & Innovation: Provides intelligent insights on future technologies, R&D activities, and new product developments

The report answers questions such as:1. What is the market size and forecast of the Global Blockchain Technology in Healthcare Market?2. What are the inhibiting factors and impact of COVID-19 shaping the Global Blockchain Technology in Healthcare Market during the forecast period?3. Which are the products/segments/applications/areas to invest in over the forecast period in the Global Blockchain Technology in Healthcare Market?4. What is the competitive strategic window for opportunities in the Global Blockchain Technology in Healthcare Market?5. What are the technology trends and regulatory frameworks in the Global Blockchain Technology in Healthcare Market?6. What are the modes and strategic moves considered suitable for entering the Global Blockchain Technology in Healthcare Market?

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05913643/?utm_source=PRN

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Los Angeles, CA, Oct. 30, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- (via Blockchain Wire) If youve been looking into the Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, and Decentralized Finance (DeFI) movement for more than five minutes, youve probably run into the name Damon Nam. Damon is a 20 year IT professional, Microsoft alumnus, entrepreneur, and currently the Founder and CEO of Coin; an emerging financial services and technology company.

During his 17-year tenure at Microsoft, he assumed a number of different roles within the Microsoft Services organization. In his last role at Microsoft as a US Services Program Director, he was responsible for driving and managing Microsofts entire partner program for the US subsidiary; a program with approximately seventy-five partner organizations and a total book of business of over $90 million in revenue. With a great deal of business and information technology services experience under his belt, Damon, who has had years of interest in blockchain technology, decided it was time to put his particular talents to the task of tackling the problems in the traditional financial services industry. To that end, he founded Coin, a US-based FinTech startup.

Todays financial solutions, centralized banking entities, and devaluing dollars from continuous money printing by governments across the world, have sparked a renewed interest in sovereign wealth management for consumers. This has resulted in a large demand for an open financial system driven by blockchain technology and alternative assets such as Bitcoin. While innovative, the complex nature of todays solutions in the blockchain industry has created a dynamic that eliminates a large percentage of the population that seeks to join the revolution. Damon and his team at Coin want to completely democratize this industry and bring it to the masses by creating a paradigm shift that makes wealth management for digital assets seamless, simple, affordable, and accessible. Thereby, also reducing the wealth gaps that exist in our society and creating equal opportunity and a level playing field across the world. Damons goal is to develop solutions that reduce the complexities and pitfalls of the worlds traditional financial system and its inherent problems of high costs and risks that stem from corruption, human involvement, and custody of customer funds.

Coin XYZ, Inc. develops blockchain solutions to empower the world to execute secure financial transactions with freedom and simplicity. Coin is led by a team of Microsoft veterans including Byron Levels, and prominent advisors such as Christina Apatow, founder of FetchyFox, Jeremy Gardner, founder of Augur, Alex Mashinsky, founder of Celsius Network, as well as Pete Cashmore, founder of Mashable. For more information about Coin, please visithttps://coindefi.org.

Coinis staying the course and creating this new reality for all of us. They have architected a decentralized network that contains products and services that work cohesively together to solve these problems and empower consumers to manage their wealth. So whats the platform that is going to disrupt the financial and blockchain industries might you ask?

The Coin Exchange, an all-in-one cross-chain P2P decentralized cryptocurrency wallet, exchange, and assistant powered by atomic swap and artificial intelligence (AI) technology. Coin Exchange includes an integrated cryptocurrency wallet for users to store popular digital assets such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and more. For exchanging assets, Coin Exchange leverages atomic swaps which replace the need for any third party involvement. This ensures low fees and is the most secure method of transferring value, as transactions occur directly between users, on the blockchain. This also makes Coin Exchange non-susceptible to hacks as users are the only custodians that can access their funds and no personal data is collected or centrally stored.

The Coin Exchange also includes browser extension support for the Internets most popular web browsers such as Google Chrome and Safari. When installed, this feature extends its capability by using AI technology to execute transactions faster and provide insights to help users save time and money. Similar to Grammarlys grammar recognition, Coin Exchange includes an assistant that can recognize blockchain-related keywords from any webpage. This allows Coin to provide education, insights, or help consumers execute financial transactions directly from any webpage with an input field. For example, users can send, receive and exchange transactions in a guided process or simply by typing text commands such as Send $50 Bitcoin to @cryptojane in any input field on the Internet. What is currently considered a complex task, can now be completed in a matter of seconds while browsing the web.

Unlike other solutions in the financial/blockchain industry today, the Coin Exchange brings a fresh innovative user experience to an industry filled with complexity and confusion. For example, instead of requiring users to navigate and login to their banking website or app, Coins AI works behind-the-scenes and seamlessly merges personal finance into the natural workflows of our daily activities on the Internet including browsing the web, creating documents, and updating social media.

By leveraging emerging technology, we are placing the power back into the hands of the people, and empowering consumers to manage their wealth with an innovative digital assets experience that is simple, secure, and personalized, says Damon Nam, founder and CEO at Coin.

The Coin Exchange creates a seamless, unified experience while browsing the Internet to help bridge the gap and bring cryptocurrencies to the masses. The shift to sovereign wealth management has already begun Damon and his all-star team at Coin aspire to become the industry-leading financial organization that leads the charge to disrupt the norm.

Contact:Damon NamCEOCoinDamon@coinve.st

https://coindefi.org

Originally posted here:

Coin Founder Damon Nam Is Disrupting Finance and the Blockchain Industry with his Venture Coin - GlobeNewswire

E-commerce is expected to surpass $4.6 trillion globally by 2022, with the seamless experience of e-wallets boosting its popularity. The simplicity of services like PayPal and Stripe has helped to improve customer experience while giving merchants easy access to new markets.

Blockchain-based solutions represent the next logical evolution of this trend. By eliminating middlemen, cross-border blockchain payments can result in even faster transfers while significantly reducing costs for both merchants and customers.

In a traditional payment flow, three to five parties facilitate a single transaction. Together, they make up what is called the payments stack. These different parties work together to create trust. The process confirms that transactions can be carried out and manages the transfer of funds. At the same time, this trust has a cost, which is ultimately borne by merchants. Each party within the payments stack takes a small cut of a transaction.

A typical transaction involves a payment processor checking with the issuing bank whether a customers card can be charged. Once a transaction is validated, which occurs within a few milliseconds, a merchant has a guarantee they will be paid at a later date. Over subsequent days, funds are transferred from the issuing bank to the acquiring bank.

The traditional stack involves numerous charges. Card networks and other parties can also raise their fees. As recently as September 2019, Visa added a fixed charge of 0.02 EUR for merchants using 3-D Secure, which is increasingly required under new PSD2 legislation.

Cost isnt the only issue merchants face with the traditional stack. The speed of transactions can also be a problem. While validation takes place in milliseconds, it can be days before money finally arrives in a merchants bank. This is not ideal for small- to-midsize businesses that depend heavily on cash flow to pay suppliers and employers.

The picture is even worse for merchants when we look beyond card payments. In the U.S., the average B2B payment cycle takes about 34 days to complete, with almost half of invoices being paid late.

So-called holdbacks are another issue that has come to prominence recently. Here, acquirers keep a percentage of a merchants revenue as collateral in case a service is not provided, and refunds must be issued. Holdbacks have particularly affected the travel industry as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Most travel is booked in advance, and given the uncertainty introduced by COVID-19, holdbacks have increased significantly. This has led to reduced cash flow for merchants and ultimately to the insolvency of Thomas Cook and Flybe.

While traditional payments are geared towards creating trust, 78% of businesses reported attempted or actual B2B payments fraud during 2018, with international fraud rising 136% from 20172019. Although nearly half of payment fraud is related to pen-and-paper processes, digital methods and credit cards are not immune.

Faced with this situation, it is not surprising that more and more companies are turning to fintech to reduce payment costs, particularly when it comes to B2B payments, where 1.8% interchange fees for cards introduce excessive overhead.

When we view the payments stack as a means of generating trust, the promise of blockchain becomes clear: it can eliminate the stack entirely. Customers send funds directly to merchants, with transactions being verified by a decentralized network.

Blockchain promises great improvements for merchants in terms of speed and cost. No middlemen are required to check whether funds can or cannot be sent the network will reject a transaction if a wallet has an insufficient balance. Once a transaction is confirmed, funds arrive within minutes. The only cost is a network fee, paid by the customer themselves.

Whats more, blockchain is ideal for protecting against fraud and encouraging transparency. The fundamental problem blockchain solves the double spending problem is directly related to preventing fraudulent transactions. Blockchain is designed to make it impossible to spend coins you do not have.Moreover, since blockchains are public ledgers, regulators can easily perform automated audits.

Blockchain is also a universal solution. While the U.S. has ACH for bank transfers and the EU has SEPA, Bitcoin works the same everywhere. No bureaucracy is required to send funds overseas. Not only does this make designing integration protocols relatively simple, but it gives merchants easy access to new overseas markets.

A 2019 report from the European Payments Council indicated an increase of cryptocurrency use alongside the growth of e-commerce.

Blockchain has too many advantages over traditional payment solutions for merchants to ignore. By accepting cryptocurrency, merchants can tap into a growing multibillion-dollar market and get a taste of a cashless, borderless future.

More here:

Blockchain leaves traditional payments in the dust - PaymentsSource

Blockchain In Government Marketreport analyses the market potential for each geographical region based on the growth rate, macroeconomic parameters, consumer buying patterns, and market demand and supply scenarios. The report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global Blockchain In Governmentmarket for 2020-2025.

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Blockchain In Government Market 2020: Potential Growth, Challenges, and Know the Companies List Could Potentially Benefit or Loose out From the Impact...

The global AI market is projected to reach $266 billion by 2027. According to IDC, worldwide spending on AI is expected to double in four years, reaching $110 billion in 2024.

However, the rapid increase in the global adoption of AI has led to concerns over privacy, fairness, and transparency.

Gothenburg, Sweden-based tech start up Unbiased aims to solve these issues. It is building solutions to solve ethical challenges in AI and big data using blockchain technology.

The company has announced the launch of its Data Marketplace tool. The tool is intended to be a 'one-stop-shop B2B solution' for enterprises working with AI and Machine Learning applications.

The solution includes privacy-centric and decentralized AI development tools to companies who are working with AI and Machine Learning applications including data collection, annotation, labelling and analytics which are all recorded on the blockchain.

The project was introduced in beta in March 2020, and is now live for commercial use.

Currently, most dataset generation tools for training supervised Machine Learning and AI algorithms tend to be centralized, with no transparency in the process. This can bring biased results as the algorithm learns, and can be kicked off track by rogue data.

The start-up uses the Telos blockchain to track all actions on the Data Marketplace platform, including the creation of projects and tasks, worker contributions, and exchange of data. Unbiased chose Telos' governance engine, Telos Decide, for integration into business workflows.

The Unbiased Data Marketplace is supported by Unbiased WorkForce, a crowdsourcing platform with data collection and annotation tools needed to source AI and ML datasets. The platform currently supports over 20 project and task types.

You can contribute and earn money for your work by signing up for Unbiased through the App Store, Google Play, or the web app, finish the qualifier tasks, and start to work on paid tasks.

The first sets of tasks are live now with initial projects focusing on data collection and audio transcription.

Sukesh Tedla, Founder and CEO of Unbiased said: "Unbiased uses the Telos blockchain to improve transparency and integrity, allowing users to trust and validate whether their dataset annotations are happening according to set requirements."

Gartner research has revealed that organizations deploying AI grew from 4 to 14 percent over the past two years so protecting data transparency, trustworthiness, and ethics in the multi-billion dollar AI industry is critical.

The European Union are researching the far-reaching impacts of AI and how to best address transparency challenges.

Perhaps the immutable ledger and transparency of the public blockchain will provide the decentralised, trusted solution AI and ML desperately needs.

Read this article:

Blockchain aims to solve AI ethics and bias issues - ZDNet

Even as technology percolates within supply chains, logistics operations continue to be fraught with visibility issues. This problem stems from logistics stakeholders struggling to trust their partners both upstream and downstream in the value chain, jeopardizing data interconnectivity and the resulting efficiency gain.

Blockchain as a technology can be a powerful tool to infuse trust into a value chain, especially in situations that require transactions to be made based on data arising from different stakeholders in the network. FreightWaves spoke with executives from Data Gumbo, a blockchain-based smart contract platform, to understand how blockchain can be leveraged across the logistics industry to ensure seamless transactions.

At Data Gumbo, we automate the execution of contracts between buyers and sellers using a combination of data held by those parties and other third parties to confirm those transactions have occurred. Our platform then automatically calculates the appropriate payments and pushes that information back in a pre-reconciled way to the parties systems of record be that SAP, Oracle or QuickBooks, said William Fox, chief product officer at Data Gumbo.

Data Gumbo works in the oil and gas logistics space, where it helps enforce trust into transactions incurred around the trucking of produced water that is hauled from oil wells to disposal facilities. Fox explained that the company frequently heard from trucking companies that complain of their payments getting delayed, as the usual 30-day payment terms get extended to over 45 days due to invoices getting disputed and kicked around before being paid.

A blockchain network serves to eliminate such disputes, while also reducing massive physical paper documentation that translates into saved operational costs. Savings can be looked at in other ways. For instance, in the diesel context, there are 3-6 cents per gallon of saved costs on our platform. Getting paid on time reduces the interest charge of financing your customer, whos not paying fast enough and less administration, middleware and subscription software that needs to be paid from your pocket, said Fox.

To enable such transactions through the blockchain network, it is crucial for data that enters the system to be standardized across the value chain. Since it is not feasible to ask every stakeholder in the trucking supply chain to be compliant with data standards, Data Gumbo looks to bridge the gap by acting as a standardized aggregator.

We utilize standards where theyre available. But we map our data to a standard model within our system. In essence, we arent trying to get the industry to standardize but use our internal model to map data, said Andrew Bruce, the CEO of Data Gumbo. This relieves companies of the burden to standardize while getting on the network.

Data Gumbos quest to create seamless trusted transactions centers around ensuring the data it uses is reliable and with little margin of error. Within the blockchain consortium, the margin of error is capped at 1.6% for transactions to remain automated between two parties, with a larger margin of error in transactions needing manual intervention before approval.

This way, companies become highly interested in data. This is because there is a high incentive in making sure the data quality is high, and data is accurate, said Bruce.

Data Gumbo recently partnered with Texas Alliance of Energy Producers to deploy its interconnected blockchain network to its members, powering smart contracts that help stakeholders cut operational costs and increase efficiencies in commercial transactions. By ensuring a trusted environment for data sharing, Data Gumbo has enabled energy producers to capture the value and mitigate risk via better and informed decisions.

More here:

Blockchains compelling case in bringing trust, visibility into supply chain transactions - FreightWaves

CoinDesk is monitoring the U.S. election, following candidates for the Senate and House of Representatives in addition to the Presidency.

The list below includes a number of lawmakers important to the crypto space, whether they be politicians who are proponents of innovation and light-touch regulations, or those who have dismissed the cryptocurrency space or come out against related topics like privacy and encryption.

Here are the candidates were watching over the next few days as the final vote is tallied.

President

Donald Trump (R) U.S. President Donald Trump, first elected in 2016, has only commented publicly on cryptocurrencies once, tweeting in July 2019 that he was not a fan of Bitcoin a month after Facebook unveiled the Libra project. Trump has nominated a number of federal regulators relevant to the crypto space, including CFTC Chairman Heath Tarbert and SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, as well as Attorney General William Barr, who has publicly opposed encryption and announced a report criticizing privacy coins and privacy-enhancing tools like bitcoin mixers.

Joe Biden (D) Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden has not commented on cryptocurrencies during his push for the presidency, although his campaign joked it was not accepting Bitcoin after his account was compromised during the 2020 Twitter hack. Potential Biden appointees reportedly include Boston Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard, who oversees the central bank branchs work on digital dollar research. Biden hasnt discussed encryption during the campaign, but he played a seminal role in the original Crypto Wars; as a Senator in the early 1990s, Biden proposed legislation that would have effectively banned encryption, spurring Phil Zimmerman to create the Pretty Good Privacy software for encrypting email.

Jo Jorgensen (L) Jo Jorgensen, a senior lecturer at Clemson University, is a proponent of free market healthcare and replacing social security. Shes said multiple times on Twitter that she is a fan of Bitcoin. Bitcoin adherents trend libertarian so maybe theyre also a fan of hers.

Brock Pierce (I) Brock Pierce, known for his work as a child actor in The Mighty Ducks as well as his effort to create a crypto-friendly community in Puerto Rico, is running as an independent candidate. Pierce co-founded Realcoin, which eventually became the Tether stablecoin. He later was a co-founder of Block.One, the company behind the EOS blockchain.

Top 5 Senate races to watch

Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) Lummis, who served in the House between 2009 and 2017, first invested in bitcoin in 2013 and has said she is impressed by bitcoin as a store-of-value. She won her primary race to join the U.S. Senate representing Wyoming, and is expected to win her seat easily. With a crypto-friendly banking law tapped by Kraken and Avanti Financial, Wyomings state government has taken the lead on crypto assets in recent months.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) Cotton chairs the Senate Banking Committees economic policy subcommittee, and has advocated for a digital dollar and the modernization of a dollar, saying it needs to be better than bitcoin. Previously, Cotton has made remarks supporting the scrutiny and regulation of cryptocurrencies in light of concerns about their use in illicit activities, as well as concerns that Facebook is trying to use Libra to enter into new markets. He is one of the co-sponsors of the Lawful Access to Encrypted Data Act, which would require encrypted communication systems to include backdoor access for enforcement agencies.

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) Warner has expressed concerns about Libra, writing to its governing body last year to discourage the Chinese yuan from being included in the fiat basket underlying the cryptocurrency. The Senate Banking Committee member has also suggested that Facebook might use its user base to rapidly scale up Libra when it launches.

Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) Rounds was the first U.S. senator to embrace the Libra stablecoin project, praising the initiative in an open letter sent to Anchorage, one of the Libra Associations members last year (notably, Anchorage is based in South Dakota). He contrasted Libra with FedNow, the Federal Reserves planned real-time payments system. He has also praised the South Dakota Division of Bankings decision to grant Anchorage a trust charter.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) Graham is one of the co-sponsors of the Lawful Access to Encrypted Data Act, which would require encrypted communication systems to include backdoor access for enforcement agencies. He has also overseen a hearing on the impact cryptocurrencies may have had on U.S. elections, specifically looking at foreign interference concerns.

Other Senate races

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) Blackburn is one of the co-sponsors of the Lawful Access to Encrypted Data Act, which would require encrypted communication systems to include backdoor access for enforcement agencies.

Sen. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) As a Congresswoman in the U.S. House of Representatives, McSally proposed using a blockchain to store and share information about endemic diseases. She was first elected to the Senate in 2018.

Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) The former CEO of crypto derivatives and warehouse provider Bakkt has not mentioned Bitcoin since being appointed to the U.S. Senate by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) late last year.

Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.) Perdue co-sponsored a bill calling for tighter sanctions on the petro, Venezuelas central bank digital currency, among other relief efforts for migrants from the country.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) Durbin co-sponsored a bill calling for tighter sanctions on the petro, Venezuelas central bank digital currency, among other relief efforts for migrants from the country.

Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) Markey has called on the Trump administration to take stronger action against North Korea, claiming a lack of cybercrime provisions in sanctions on the country do nothing to restrict North Koreas ability to steal cryptocurrencies. He has also called on the Federal Communications Commission to take action against SIM swappers, who often steal cryptocurrencies from their victims after hijacking their phones.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) Cornyn co-sponsored a bill calling for tighter sanctions on the petro, Venezuelas central bank digital currency, among other relief efforts for migrants from the country.

Top 10 House of Representatives races to watch

Rep. Ted Budd (R-N.C.) A first-term Congressman, Budd has co-sponsored a few bills to provide regulatory clarity around cryptocurrencies in the U.S. (alongside Rep. Darren Soto (D-Fla.)), including the Virtual Currency Consumer Protection Act of 2018. Hes also sought to clarify crypto taxation laws, introducing a bill to prevent double-taxation on crypto transactions. Last year, he also wrote a letter with Coin Center asking SEC Chair Jay Clayton to say whether he agreed with a division head that ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, was not a security.

Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) A first-term Congressman, Davidson is a firm proponent of cryptocurrencies and creating regulatory clarity for the space through legislative action. He has sponsored the Token Taxonomy Act at least twice (with Rep. Darren Soto (D-Fla.)) in the hopes of amending U.S. securities laws to create clear buckets for cryptocurrencies.

Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) A third-term congressman, Emmer is a co-chair of the Congressional Blockchain Caucus. He introduced a bill aimed at encouraging innovation by creating safe harbor for blockchain startups. Emmer also twice-introduced a bill that would benefit taxpayers holding crypto. His latest bipartisan bill on securities clarity seeks to classify tokens as commodities.

Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.) A fifth-term congressman, Foster is co-chair of the Congressional Blockchain Caucus. Along with Rep. French Hill (R-Ark.), Foster urged the Federal Reserve to consider the creation of a central bank digital currency in a 2019 letter to Chairman Jerome Powell. The same year, Foster was among the lawmakers who called for clarity on crypto taxation. In the past hes advocated for creating secure digital identity tools and predicted in 2018 that a central bank issuing its own cryptocurrency could impact the U.S. dollars status as a global reserve currency.

Rep. French Hill (R-Ark.) A third-term congressman, Hill wrote a letter to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell with Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.) asking the government to consider a national digital currency. He is a member of the Congressional Blockchain Caucus. In a video interview with Yahoo Finance, Hill stated that blockchain tech is part of the future.

Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) A longtime Congressman from Massachusetts, Lynch has participated in a number of pro-blockchain initiatives in the House of Representatives over the past few years, including heading up a FinTech Task Force established by the Financial Services Committee. Hes also called on the White House to consider using blockchain tools to support COVID-19 relief efforts.

Rep. David Schweikert (R-Ariz.) Schweikert has been an active proponent of cryptocurrencies in the U.S., introducing a number of bills to regulate cryptocurrencies and acting as one of the Congressional Blockchain Caucuss co-chairs. Just last month, he reintroduced a bill with Rep. Darren Soto (D-Fla.) that would let smart contracts and other information stored on a blockchain act as legal records. Hes also attempted to create a de minimus exemption for small payments conducted using cryptocurrency, a position many crypto advocates and lobbyists have called for.

Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) A longtime Representative from California, Sherman has made his anti-crypto stance clear over the past few years, going so far as to call for a complete ban on cryptocurrencies during a House Financial Services Committee hearing. More recently, during a hearing over the Libra project, he said the stablecoin project would be a godsend to criminals and touted the dollars role in enforcing sanctions.

Rep. Darren Soto (D-Fla.) Soto introduced two bills on digital taxonomy and blockchain innovation that passed the House of Representatives, and were incorporated into the Consumer Safety Technology Act (H.R. 8128). Soto has also introduced two amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act that could boost the use of blockchain tech in the U.S. military, which were unanimously passed by the House.

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) The Chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee has called a number of hearings around crypto and blockchain, including several after Facebook unveiled the Libra initiative. Shes said in public statements that private crypto projects like Libra cannot be allowed to compete with the U.S. dollar, and has called for a complete halt in development until lawmakers and regulators can get a better grasp of the project and how it might be regulated.

Other House of Representatives races

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) A second-term congressman, Gaetz is a member of the Congressional Blockchain Caucus. In 2020, along with other members of the caucus, he signed a letter addressed to President Trump asking the administration to use blockchain technology to streamline pandemic relief efforts. Gaetz also signed a 2019 letter asking the IRS to clarify tax rules as they apply to crypto assets.

Rep. Jess Chuy Garcia (D-Ill.) A first-term congressman, Garcia introduced the Protecting Consumers from Market Manipulation Act in 2019 with Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.). The bill called on the Financial Stability Oversight Council and the Federal Reserve to put together a report on the implications of digital currencies which it defined as a form of exchange and store of value but not real currency or real money.

Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas) A former state senator, Garcia has not taken an overly active role in calling for crypto regulation, but introduced a bill that would classify stablecoins as securities after a House Financial Services Committee hearing about Libra last fall. She later modified the proposed text to specify the securities designation would only apply to managed stablecoins, referring to those backed by a basket of fiat currencies that are actively managed by a governing entity. In her view, Libras subsequent revamp was insufficient to address regulatory concerns.

Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (R-Ohio) A first-year Congressman from Ohio, Gonzalez has participated in a few hearings around blockchain technology, asking an infosec executive whether the U.S. had the ability to shut down anonymity-enhancing tools like Dark Wallet. He has also sponsored a bill empowering the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to study whether blockchain and other new technologies might be useful for the agencys data collection and analysis efforts.

Rep. Lance Gooden (R-Texas) A first-term congressman, Gooden was among the lawmakers that called for the IRS to clarify tax laws as they apply to crypto assets, airdrops and forks in 2019. Gooden and Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas) introduced the Managed Stablecoins are Securities Act of 2019, aimed at classifying actively-managed stablecoins like the Facebook-sponsored Libra as securities and establishing oversight under existing securities laws.

Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) A fourth-term congressman, Gosar introduced the Crypto-Currency Act of 2020, which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services. The draft bill asked to clarify which federal agencies regulate digital assets, and to require those agencies to notify the public of any licenses, certifications or registration requirements. The bill was not considered by the committee.

Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) A second-term congressman, Gottheimer co-sponsored the Token Taxonomy Act which would exempt tokens from U.S. securities law. It was reintroduced to Congress in 2019, after it did not leave committee in 2018. He is a member of the House Financial Services Committees Fintech Task Force, and was among the group of lawmakers who signed a bipartisan letter to Trump adviser Larry Kudlow asking him to include blockchain in the administrations initiatives for emerging technologies.

Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) A sixth-term congressman, Guthrie introduced the Blockchain Promotion Act of 2018 with Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Calif.). The bill called for the creation of a working group to study the technology, and create a common definition for government purposes. In 2020, the congressman introduced HB6938, a bill to survey the prevalence of blockchain technology across industries and governments globally, with the goal of setting up a national blockchain strategy.

Rep. Trey Hollingsworth (R-Ind.) A second-term Congressman, Hollingsworth signed a bipartisan letter to Trump adviser Larry Kudlow urging the administration to include blockchain in its initiatives for emerging technologies. Along with other lawmakers, Hollingsworth held a briefing with financial regulators to discuss how machine learning and AI can reduce money laundering and terrorist financing.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) A first-term Congresswoman, Jayapal co-sponsored a stimulus bill with Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) that would create a Digital Dollar Account Wallet accessible to every U.S. resident and granting them access to financial services. The chief idea is to use this system to issue $2,000 per month to each resident, backing the funds by minting a pair of $1 trillion coins. Jayapal is also a member of the House antitrust subcommittee, and told CNBC earlier this month that new bills targeting Big Tech monopolies could be introduced next year.

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) A second-term congressman, Khanna is a member of the Congressional Blockchain Caucus. He was among the 11 lawmakers that signed a letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to consider blockchain technology for streamlining the distribution of funds and supplies to those in need during the COVID-19 pandemic. He also signed a letter addressed to the federal government, urging the administration to use blockchain solutions in pandemic relief efforts.

Rep. Sean Maloney (D-N.Y.) Maloney, a second-term Congressman, has introduced legislation to provide some clarity around how the Commodity Futures Trading Commission collects information about digital commodities contracts and swaps. At the time, he said it was the first crypto derivative-specific legislation to make it out of committee.

Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Calif.) A fourth-term Congresswoman, Matsui introduced the Blockchain Promotion Act of 2018 with Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.), aimed at defining blockchain technology by creating a working group to research the space. She also co-introduced the Blockchain Innovation Act, calling for a report on the state of blockchain technology in consumer protection and other areas. At a 2018 congressional committee hearing, Matsui asked Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey to explain the potential applications of blockchain.

Rep. Ben McAdams (D-Utah) A first-term congressman, McAdams signed a 2020 letter to the U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, calling for the department to use blockchain technology to streamline pandemic relief efforts. He also signed a similar letter addressed to President Trump and federal officials months later. He is a member of the House Financial Services Committees fintech task force. McAdams has been critical of Facebook in the past, arguing that Libra might enable child exploitation by protecting predators.

Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) Running for his fifth term in Congress, McHenry is the Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee, which oversees much of the crypto space. Hes warned against regulating the nascent space too heavily, saying theres a great opportunity around this technology. However, hes also raised concerns with certain projects, calling for a hearing around Libra as soon as it was announced last June.

Rep. Jerry McNerney (D-Calif.) A seventh-term congressman, McNerney signed a 2020 letter to the U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, calling for the department to use blockchain technology to aid pandemic relief efforts and the distribution of relief funds. He also signed a letter to President Donald Trump, explaining the benefits of blockchain in streamlining administrative processes.

Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-N.Y.) A third-term congressman, Rice introduced the Homeland Security Assessment of Terrorists Use of Virtual Currencies Act in 2019. The bipartisan bill passed the house, and requires the department of homeland security (DHS) to develop a threat assessment report on virtual currency use by terrorist organizations. The bill was co-sponsored by Reps. Peter King (R-N.Y.), Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) and Van Taylor (R-Texas).

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) A fourth-term congressman, Swalwell accepted bitcoin for his 2020 presidential bid and signed a letter urging the IRS to clarify tax laws as they apply to crypto for a second time. He has been quoted saying, Blockchain can change the world, if we let it.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) A first-term Congresswoman, Tlaib co-sponsored a stimulus bill with Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) that would create a Digital Dollar Account Wallet accessible to every U.S. resident and granting them access to financial services. The chief idea is to use this system to issue $2,000 per month to each resident, backing the funds by minting a pair of $1 trillion coins. Tlaib has also overseen certain House Financial Services Committee hearings around the crypto space.

Read more:

Here Are the 2020 Election Races Crypto Should Watch - Coindesk

The Global Blockchain in Media, Advertising, and Entertainment Market report, published by Verified Market Research, is an extensive compilation of the essential aspects of the global Blockchain in Media, Advertising, and Entertainment market, assessed thoroughly by our team of researchers. The market intelligence report offers insightful data and information relevant to the market to acquaint the readers with the lucrative growth prospects existing in this industry, eventually helping them formulate effective business strategies. The global Blockchain in Media, Advertising, and Entertainment market report has been methodically curated using industry-verified data to offer information concerned with the leading manufacturers and suppliers engaged in this sector. It further focuses on their pricing analysis, gross revenue, product portfolio, sales network & distribution channels, profit margins, and financial standing.

Global Blockchain in Media, Advertising, and Entertainment Market was valued at USD 53.8 Million in 2018 and is projected to reach USD 4,584 Million by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 73.9% from 2019 to 2026.

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The global Blockchain in Media, Advertising, and Entertainment market is highly consolidated due to the presence of a large number of companies across this industry. The report discusses the current market standing of these companies, their past performances, demand and supply graphs, production and consumption patterns, sales network, distribution channels, and growth opportunities in the market. Moreover, it highlights the strategic approaches of the key players towards expanding their product offerings and reinforcing their market presence.

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Public Private

Global Blockchain in Media, Advertising, and Entertainment Market, By Enterprise Size

Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) Large Enterprises

Global Blockchain in Media, Advertising, and Entertainment Market, By Application

Licensing & Rights Management Digital Advertising Smart Contracts Content Security Online Gaming Payments

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Key Geographies Encompassed in the Report:

North America (U.S., Canada)Europe (U.K., Germany, Italy, France, Rest of EU)Asia Pacific (India, Japan, China, Australia, Rest of APAC)Latin America (Brazil, Argentina, Rest of Latin America)Middle East & Africa (Saudi Arabia, U.A.E., South Africa, Rest of MEA)

Market Taxonomy:

Chapter 1: Methodology & Scope

Definition and forecast parametersMethodology and forecast parametersData Sources

Chapter 2: Executive Summary

Business trendsRegional trendsProduct trends

Chapter 3: Industry Insights

Industry segmentationIndustry landscapeVendor matrixTechnological and innovation landscape

Chapter 4: Regional Landscape

Chapter 5: Competitive Outlook

Company ProfileBusiness OverviewFinancial DataProduct LandscapeStrategic Outlook

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Verified Market Research is a leading Global Research and Consulting firm servicing over 5000+ customers. Verified Market Research provides advanced analytical research solutions while offering information enriched research studies. We offer insight into strategic and growth analyses, Data necessary to achieve corporate goals, and critical revenue decisions.

Our 250 Analysts and SMEs offer a high level of expertise in data collection and governance use industrial techniques to collect and analyze data on more than 15,000 high impact and niche markets. Our analysts are trained to combine modern data collection techniques, superior research methodology, expertise, and years of collective experience to produce informative and accurate research.

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Blockchain in Media, Advertising, and Entertainment Market: Key Facts And Forecast Predictions Presented Until 2027 - Eurowire

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --Today, hip-hop anti-hero MF DOOM and Rhymesayers Entertainment announce an innovative partnership with Illust Space to deliver augmented reality masks just in time for Halloween.The enigmatic rapper is stepping into the realm of digital collectibles, teaming up with Illust Space to make a splash in the decentralized finance and art market with a collection of augmented reality masks minted on the blockchain.

Sign Up for More Information on the Auction HERE

MF DOOM's augmented reality masks will be accessible at an auction, set to go live in two separate "Drops", the first auction starts on October 23, 2020 and the second auction starts on October 28, 2020 on the Illust Space auction platform. There will be a total of 11 masks available for auction, with eight masks in two variants for drop 1, and three more masks in two new variants for drop 2. Collectors will be able to buy, sell, and trade as well as project the augmented reality masks into the "real world" through Illust Space's web application and participating partnerships. See below for more information on this cutting-edge collaboration.

Sign up for more information on the auction here: https://app.illust.space/

"This collaboration with MF DOOM represents a tipping point for augmented reality, the NFT market, and the ubiquitous digital layer that is a battleground for big tech," says Rob McCarty, Co-Founder and CEO of Illust Space. "With Snap, Instagram, Niantic, Adobe, Microsoft, Alphabet, and Apple fighting for augmented reality platform dominance, the least we can do is ensure an equitable system for artists to create, sell, and track their work."

More about MF DOOM:One of hip-hop's most beloved anti-heroes, the ever-inventive MF DOOM (often referred to as simply DOOM) has received widespread praise for his sharp, candid rhymes, as well as his choppy, sample-heavy production style. Initially known as Zev Love X, a member of the short-lived but influential Golden Era rap group K.M.D, the MC/producer born Daniel Dumile re-emerged at the end of the '90s with a persona and logo patterned after the Marvel Comics super villain Dr. Doom. He reinforced his enigmatic persona by donning an elaborate iron mask during all of his public appearances, in addition to occasionally hiring stand-ins for his performances. MF DOOM's music has been described as, "the fine line between insanity and genius". Unconventional, abstract, unorthodox; these words merely scrape the surface of defining his approach musically, conceptually, even rhythmically. MF DOOM is the living personification of Hip-Hop as an act of rebellion.

About Illust Space:Illust Spaceis a platform agnostic gateway for artists, technologists, idealists, and pragmatists to populate the "immersive layer" with art and culture. Using its proprietary blockchain auction and minting platform "Hash the Mesh", Illust Space is offering augmented reality artists the opportunity to publish and track provenance of their 3D art across video games, apps, social media networks, galleries, metaverses, and amongst the emerging class of digital art collectors.

MF DOOM Socials:Twitter:@MFDOOMInstagram:@MFDOOMFacebook:@MFDOOMWebsite:https://gasdrawls.com/More info:https://rhymesayers.com/artists/mfdoom

SOURCE Illust Space

Augmented Reality Solutions for Cannabis, Music, and Retail

More here:

MF DOOM Announces Augmented Reality Blockchain Auction - PRNewswire

Breitling is partnering with Arianee to issue a new kind of certificates of authenticity for its luxury watches. Instead of relying on physical certificates, the watchmaker gives you a unique digital passport that certifies the origin of the watch.

Behind the scene, Arianee is using non-fungible tokens compliant with the Ethereums ERC-721 standard (remember CryptoKitties?). By using a blockchain-based solution, Breitling ensures that its digital passports remain future proof and cant be altered due to consensus mechanisms between nodes, nobody can connect to a centralized database, change some values or remove some data.

If you buy a Breitling watch, you get a guarantee card that you can scan. After downloading the Arianee wallet app on your phone, you can add your watch to your digital wallet. You can see the serial number and the activation date of the digital warranty.

As you may have guessed, those digital certificates can be helpful when youre trying to sell your watch. A feature lets you prove the authenticity of the watch. You can also transfer the certificate to another owner.

Breitling can also add information over time. For instance, you can imagine a timeline of repairs with timestamps so that you can keep track of the whole story. Soon, the brand could also offer insurance products through this new channel.

When it comes to privacy, the certificate isnt tied to your name, email address or other personal information. Your wallet address is the only unique identifier associated with you.

Arianee proves that non-fungible tokens can provide some interesting use cases in the luxury industry. Breitling also works with Dentsu Tracking to track its supply chain. With digital certificates, end customers also see the benefits of supply chain regulation.

Read the original here:

Luxury watch maker Breitling issues digital certificates on the Ethereum blockchain - TechCrunch

The blockchain platform will guarantee the security and confidentiality of the cattle producers' data;

The investment fund created by the company will promote the socioeconomic development and conservation of the Biome

SO PAULO, Oct. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --With the aim of increasingly sustainable production, JBS is announcing the Together For the Amazon program, a set of initiatives that seeks to enhance conservation and development of the Amazon Biome, engaging the industry and proposing actions that go beyond its value chain. The program encompasses climate change, which was allocated priority within the JBS global sustainability targets presented in 2019.

The fundamental pillars of the Together for the Amazon program are: (i) development of the value chain; (ii) forest conservation and restoration; (iii) support for the communities; and (iv) scientific and technological development.

The first pillar consists of the JBS Green Platform, a ground-breaking initiative that will cross-check information of the Company's direct suppliers with livestock transportation data from preceding links in the supply chain. By using blockchain technology, the company will guarantee the confidentiality and security of the personal, commercial and sanitary information of the producers, as well as transparency in the analyses of the suppliers.

The Company will also launch engagement campaigns so that, by the end of 2025, its suppliers' suppliers are also on the JBS Green Platform. In addition, JBS will provide legal, environmental and animal husbandry advisory to assist producers with improvements in stewardship and the environmental regularization of their properties, while also expanding its educational actions in sustainability to its supply chain.

For over a decade, JBS has been monitoring 100% of its cattle supplying farms using strict sustainability criteria, including zero tolerance of deforestation, encroachment on protected areas like indigenous lands or environmental conservation units, hard labor, or the use of areas embargoed by Ibama. This daily analysis covers more than 50,000 properties in the Amazon region, an area greater than the size of Germany.

"We are publicly reiterating our commitment to the sustainability of the Amazon. We hope to scale up, not only in combatting deforestation, but also in fostering the bio-economy, sustainable agriculture and social development", says Gilberto Tomazoni, Global CEO of JBS.

JBS Fund for the AmazonThe other three pillars will be achieved through the JBS Fund For The Amazon, created to finance initiatives for expanding forest conservation, promoting sustainable development of the local communities, as well as scientific and technological development, with a contribution of R$ 250 million over the first five years. With the participation of other stakeholders, the target is to reach R$ 1 billion by 2030.

The Fund will be headed up by Joanita Maestri Karoleski, former CEO of Seara, with the support of a Board of Directors, a Fiscal Council, a Consultative Council and a Technical Committee. The latter two will assist in choosing the projects that will receive contributions, audited by KPMG. The entire process will be reported, and the results published on the program site.

CONSULTATIVE COUNCIL

TECHNICAL COMMITTEE

SOURCE JBS

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JBS will use blockchain technology to enhance conservation of the Amazon - PR Newswire India

An analysis by PwC shows blockchain technology has the potential to boost global gross domestic product (GDP) by $1.76 trillion over the next decade. That is the key finding of a report assessing how the technology is being currently used and exploring the impact blockchain could have on the global economy.

Through analysis of the top five uses of blockchain, ranked by their potential to generate economic value, the report gauges the technologys potential to create value across industry, from healthcare, government and public services, to manufacturing, finance, logistics and retail.

Blockchain technology has long been associated with cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, but there is so much more that it has to offer, particularly in how public and private organizations secure, share and use data, comments Steve Davies, Global Leader, Blockchain and Partner, PwC UK.

As organizations grapple with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, many disruptive trends have been accelerated. The analysis shows the potential for blockchain to support organizations in how they rebuild and reconfigure their operations underpinned by improvements in trust, transparency and efficiency across organizations and society.

Blockchains success will depend on a supportive policy environment, a business ecosystem that is ready to exploit the new opportunities that technology opens, and a suitable industry mix.

Across all continents, Asia will likely see the most economic benefits from blockchain technology. In terms of individual countries, blockchain could have the highest potential net benefit in China ($440bn) and the USA ($407bn). Five other countries Germany, Japan, the UK, India, and France are also estimated to have net benefits over $50bn.

The benefits for each country differ however, with manufacturing focused economies such as China and Germany benefiting more from provenance and traceability, while the US would benefit most from its application in securitisation and payments as well as identity and credentials.

At a sector level, the biggest beneficiaries look set to be the public administration, education and healthcare sectors. These sectors are expected to benefit approximately $574bn by 2030, by capitalising on the efficiencies blockchain will bring to the world of identity and credentials.

Meanwhile, there will be broader benefits for business services, communications and media, while wholesalers, retailers, manufacturers and construction services, will benefit from using blockchain to engage consumers and meet demand for provenance and traceability.

The potential for blockchain to be considered as part of organizations future strategy is linked to a research with business leaders that showed 61% of CEOs said they were placing digital transformation of core business operations and processes among their top three priorities, as they rebuild from COVID-19.

One of the biggest mistakes organizations can make with implementing emerging technologies is to leave it in the realm of the enthusiast in the team. It needs C-Suite support to work, identify the strategic opportunity and value, and to facilitate the right level of collaboration within an industry, comments Davies.

Given the scale of economic disruption organizations are dealing with currently, establishing proof of concept uses which can be extended and scaled if successful, will enable businesses to identify the value, while building trust and transparency in the solution to deliver on blockchains potential.

The report warns that if blockchains economic impact potential is to be realized, its energy overhead must be managed. Growing business and government action on climate change, including commitments to Net Zero transformation, will mean that organizations need to consider new models for consolidating and sharing infrastructure resources to reduce reliance on traditional data centres and their overall technology related energy consumption.

Excerpt from:

How will blockchain impact the global economy? - Help Net Security

At stake

Invest: ethereum economy, a full day of conversation, workshopping and networking around the future of money, goes live today at9 a.m. ET.

Starting off with a keynote speech from Ethereum co-creator Vitalik Buterin, the virtual event will also see appearances from MakerDAO Co-Founder Rune Christensen, Gauntlet CEO Tarun Chitra and CFTC Chairman Heath Tarbert, among many, many more.

The most in-depth conference to date dedicated to the Ethereum economy is a gated event. You canregister nowto gain access to the days panels as well as video-on-demand content released in the coming days.

First, a few words fromLeigh Cuen.

Value proposition?

The fully virtual CoinDeskinvest: ethereum economyis kicking off with a keynote from none other than Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin, delivering a speech titled Eth 2.0 and the Road Ahead. This raises the question of whether people should invest in a project that failed to scale the first time around. The answer may be more complicated than a simple yes or no.

The fact is, Buterin and dozens of his co-founders created something real, a robust community that ships code, lobbies lawmakers, tests and uses products, broadcasts marketing materials and orchestrates live events.

Sure, Buterin and Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubinsubsidizethis community development through organizations like ConsenSys and the Ethereum Foundation. But there areplenty of peopletaking on such responsibilities for themselves, without any direct connection to the founders.

The real question is, can a volunteer community that reaches *beyond* the traditional tech industry make reliable software?

Many skilled and experienced technologists contributed to Buterins Eth 2.0 roadmap, but the communitys diversity is also a hindrance. These people have different goals and skill levels. Computer systems rely on simplicity, not complexity. Complex systems break easily. In order to work efficiently, Ethereums builders may need to prioritize and focus with more rigor than they did in the past.

The first version of Ethereum built a proof-of-concept using a new software toolbox, with all kinds of gadgets. Thatinitial modelwas uneconomical to use in times of high traffic, which isnt ideal for any mainstream platform.

Will people use the Eth 2.0 toolbox to build a sturdy, secure platform? Or will it remain a playground of unicorn-themed experiments with friends? Even for a trust-minimizing technology, Ethereums long-term value is reliant on trust in the communitys ability to focus and deliver. This event, Invest: Eth, is their pitch to the public on their competence to do so.

What not to miss

Heres a quick guide to the virtual panels you wont want to miss.

9:00 a.m. 9:30 a.m. ET.Keynote: Eth 2.0 and the Road AheadVitalik Buterin will discuss the future of the world computer, why the transition from Proof-of-Work to Proof-of-Stake consensus is necessary to fulfilling its mission and how the Ethereum community will get there.

10:00 a.m. 10:30 a.m.A New Age: A Primer on Eth 2.0 Monetary Policy and Game TheoryDelphi Digitals Alex Gedevani will break down Eth 2.0s new monetary policy and incentive structure fundamental to understanding Ethereum as an investment opportunity.

1:00 p.m. 1:30 p.m.Can CeDeFi Eat the World? CZ Talks 1:1 With Leigh CuenBinance CEO Changpeng Zhao offers a vision for the centralized exchange he built to cannibalize itself. By promoting decentralization on all fronts and relying on the BNB token for value accrual, Binance Chain has quietly become among the most important chains in the ecosystem. As the DeFi economy ramps up and fierce competition from both centralized and decentralized counterparts continues to mount, can Binances CeDeFi ambitions prevail?

2:00 p.m. 2:30 p.m.Wall Street and Off-Chain ETHGrayscales Michael Sonnenshein, ErisXs Thomas Chippas and OKexs Lennix Lai will discuss the fundamental value proposition of ether and the litany of tokens and financial products Ethereum has wrought.

2:45 p.m. 3:00 p.m.Trade Secrets: The Triple Point Bull Case for ETHDavid Hoffman of Bankless argues that, with the migration to Eth 2.0 and the implementation of EIP-1559, ETH is poised to become the worlds first triple point asset one that creates value through being locked in DeFi, staked or consumed outright.

3:30 p.m. 3:45 p.m.Trade Secrets: Fast and Cheap Why Sam Bankman-Fried Chose to Build on SolanaSBF lays out the calculus behind the decision to move Serum from Ethereum to the Solana blockchain and what might happen to Ethereum if faster and cheaper alternatives catch on.

4:30 p.m. 5:00 pmStablecoins, Hyper-Collateralization and the DeFi EconomyThe rise of fiat- and algorithm-backed stablecoins has largely put cryptos volatility narrative to rest. Now, they have become the bridge into the DeFi economy as well as an engine of hyper-collateralization and money games. Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire will discuss these programmatic tools with Aaves Stani Kulechov and dYdXs Antonio Juliano.

9:00 p.m.Keynote: Andre Cronje + Ian Lee (Ideo CoLab)DeFi luminary Andre Cronje and IDEO CoLab Managing Director Ian Lee will appear for a late night discussion.

The ledger

Camila Russo, the founder of The Defiant and the author of The Infinite Machine, writes about the internet of value being built on or using Ethereum. This section has been excerpted fromits original.

Decentralized web

The internet is at the cusp of entering a new phase, one where entrenched rulers are dethroned, more power is reclaimed by individuals and value moves as freely as cat GIFs.

To understand why we need a better internet in the first place, consider this question: Isnt it weird the internet isnt good at money? Think about it. The applications we use every day to search, to communicate, even to shop; the companies that dominate the web are very bad at dealing with money, even if theyre very good at making it. Theres a separate checkout process, where you repeatedly enter all your information. Cards issued in some countries dont work on local websites in other countries. Sometimes you wait for what feels like an eternity watching that tiny wheel turn, to have the transaction fail.

More complex transactions are almost unthinkable. Influencers and creators should be able to monetize their likes, retweets and views, with micropayments streamed from followers, without any platform taking a cut. Less-famous mortals should get paid if they opt in to view ads or consent to sharing their information. Transferring ownership of valuable assets, from art to real estate, shouldnt take several intermediaries and tons of paperwork.

Theres the internets TCP/IP protocol. There are apps built on top of it. And, separately, theres the financial system, which relies largely on infrastructure built before the internet was invented. SWIFT, IBAN, the rails handling most international money transfers, werent designed to handle actual money. Theyre messaging systems where transfers can take up to five days and cost around $50. National money transfers fare a bit better, but in the U.S. they still take at least one business day to settle (money rests on weekends, apparently).

Attempts to update these systems SEPA in Europe, the Faster Payments initiatives in the U.S., VisaNet for card payments have resulted in a messy patchwork that doesnt solve the core problem. Fintechs try to improve the situation, but theyre building on the same old carcass.

At a time when we have global, cheap, fast communications, we should have an equally global, cheap, fast financial system.

An internet of valueThe internet is ruled by innovation-stifling monopolies that have stopped us having an internet-of-value. Organizations built on top of the current internet network have almost no other option than to become for-profit corporations, with code thats proprietary and closed to the public. But when the network itself is designed to transfer value, it enables different business models to emerge.

In this new frontier, users retain control of their funds and their personal information. They roam freely without bowing to any king. Value that is, money, assets, securities, property is as native to internet apps as cat videos. And its already happening.

This is not about crypto. Its not about the next bitcoin, or getting in on the next hot token that will pump.

This is about a shift in the very foundation of the web.

There is a money layer thats being added on top. A distributed network that transfers value without relying on banks, settlement and clearing agents. Money moves faster, cheaper and globally just like the rest of the internet does.

And this network isnt only good at transferring value. It can also process anything a computer can, allowing developers to build applications on top. The difference from the internet apps were used to is that in these applications value isnt an afterthought; its at the very core. The name of this new base layer for value is Ethereum.

Payments can be made seamlessly, and thats just the start. More complex financial services are now at the fingertips of anyone with access to the network. Users can trade tokens at a few taps, and because value can be programmed this can range from the networks native token ether, to synthetic representations of everything from gold to a Tesla stock. It can even tokenize San Franciscos poop index, where people can profit from the citys rising number of feces sightings.

Venezuelans can buy tokens linked to the value of the dollar. And not only that, they can deposit them in lending protocols and earn interest on those tokens. Speculators can borrow from those asset pools to trade. Others can have a computer program automatically execute a trading strategy, like a robo-adviser on steroids. Theres a no-loss lottery, streaming salaries almost by the second, tokenizing and trading limited-edition T-shirts, which are delivered in their physical versions, and can also be worn in virtual reality worlds.

For developers, financial applications are the low-hanging fruit to build on top of a value network, but its only the beginning.

DeFi on Ethereum has taken the crypto world by storm this summer and set the stage for the long anticipated ETH 2.0 transition, expected to begin in late 2020.

Lets face it: These protocols can be rather clunky and difficult to use, and thats a big turnoff for new entrants into the ecosystem. At #investeth Unlocked, youll leave with a high-level understanding of where the Ethereum and DeFi ecosystems are heading and how you can utilize these tools on their own.Before you register for invest: ethereum economy, heres a primer on the journey to Ethereum 2.0.

Who won #CryptoTwitter?

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Blockchain Bites: Your Guide to Invest Ethereum Economy - CoinDesk - CoinDesk

Last month, India was shaken to the core by an alleged gang rape of a fifteen-year-old girl, which the perpetrators reportedly filmed and shared online. Sadly, this type of crime and its documentation occur in every country. For survivors of sexual violence, knowing that images of their ordeal exist and circulate online can cause even more emotional damage. The images may also be used to blackmail and silence the victim.

Cloud storage platforms and social media networks, where photos and videos are stored every time they are posted or shared, typically do not tackle this issue, citing respecting user privacy. Developments in technology, however, can provide a solution that will enable cloud platforms to remove illegal imageries, limiting user privacy concerns.

The COVID-19 pandemic and recent social and political unrest have created a profound sense of urgency for companies to actively work to tackle racial injustice and inequality. In response, the Forum's Platform for Shaping the Future of the New Economy and Society has established a high-level community of Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officers. The community will develop a vision, strategies and tools to proactively embed equity into the post-pandemic recovery and shape long-term inclusive change in our economies and societies.

As businesses emerge from the COVID-19 crisis, they have a unique opportunity to ensure that equity, inclusion and justice define the "new normal" and tackle exclusion, bias and discrimination related to race, gender, ability, sexual orientation and all other forms of human diversity. It is increasingly clear that new workplace technologies and practices can be leveraged to significantly improve diversity, equity and inclusion outcomes.

The World Economic Forum has developed a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Toolkit, to outline the practical opportunities that this new technology represents for diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, while describing the challenges that come with it.

The toolkit explores how technology can help reduce bias from recruitment processes, diversify talent pools and benchmark diversity and inclusion across organisations. The toolkit also cites research that suggests well-managed diverse teams significantly outperform homogenous ones over time, across profitability, innovation, decision-making and employee engagement.

The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Toolkit is available here.

The majority of people who share and view abusive images do so on completely legal, popular social media platforms and through ordinary messaging services. Research from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children measured the growth rate of child sexual abuse imagery on the internet. The results are horrendous: a frightening increase from 3,000 reports of such images in 1998, to 1.0 million in 2014, and to 18.4 million in 2018. Social media networks provide both viewer participation and sufficient storage space, meaning that large files, e.g. videos, can be easily stored and shared. Hence the key to cutting the supply of such content is to remove it from the cloud.

A technological solutionTechnology exists, however, to assist cloud storage platforms to remove all illegal and abusive images from their databases, and prevent the addition of new ones. This solution combines both blockchain technology and a technology called PhotoDNA, which has been developed by Microsoft and Dartmouth College. PhotoDNA creates a unique digital fingerprint of a digital image or video. This digital fingerprint remains mostly the same even if the image is cropped, resized, changed with filters, or manipulated in some other way. Importantly, while it is easy to generate a fingerprint from an image, it is impossible to reverse-engineer the image from a fingerprint. There is therefore no risk of fingerprints being misused to covertly disseminate images. In the case of sexual exploitation images, this is of particular importance.

Blockchain is a decentralized and distributed database that allows multiple parties, who do not necessarily trust each other, to create a trusted source of truth they can share, update and work with. Unlike a centralized database, with blockchain no single party is in charge of or owns the database. Everybody owns it equally.

Some law enforcement agencies already have databases of child sexual exploitation imagery and their digital fingerprints, however they usually do not share them with anyone. What they could use however, is a way to coordinate their activities, be it locally or globally, in order to remove these images regardless of their jurisdiction. It is here that blockchain technology is a game changer. It can allow for a global coordinated database, accessible by all, and yet owned by none, in order to scan and remove images - regardless of where in the world they are posted. Using both technologies, the agencies could share the fingerprints they have already collected as part of a joint global effort. Each agency could then access this information, even if it doesnt have any fingerprints to share.

Being blockchain-based, the database is highly secure by nature. Specifically in our use case, there are no incentives for hackers to attack it, as the database will not hold any images, only fingerprints of images. As I explained above, the digital fingerprint by itself is meaningless since it cannot be used to recreate the image, nor does it link back to the original image. In this context, its only value is to offer a way of labelling or categorizing images without actually looking at or sharing them.

Cloud storage platforms would get read-only access to this blockchain database of digital fingerprints of illegal images. Generating an images digital fingerprint is fast and easy. So is the process of looking up a fingerprint within the database. Therefore, cloud platforms could generate a digital fingerprint of any image that is uploaded and check whether it exists in the database. In the same manner, this process would allow them to scan already existing stored data and look for illegal content that had already been uploaded. Local law enforcement agencies would be required to provide instructions on the next steps, once an image has been identified as illegal. The following chart sums up the screening procedure:

Orbs

Image: Detecting illegal images from a users point of view.

Importantly, the entire process will be completely transparent, since it will be recorded on the blockchain, enabling visibility of each new piece of information being added to the chain. Enforcement agencies will be able to see who added which fingerprints. Cloud platforms will know exactly which fingerprints they need to screen in which jurisdictions. Enforcement agencies will easily be able to check whether their restrictions are properly enforced by cloud platforms. This alone would be a major reason for using blockchain.

To be sure, no solution is perfect and this solution alone cannot eradicate exploitative imagery. Users would most likely be averse to having their content screened - or even tagged or removed. And once illegal content is discovered by a cloud platform, the onus could be on that platform to take the next step and coordinate actions with law enforcement, opening up a larger debate on freedom of speech and censorship.

Additionally, technology cannot stop highly determined perpetrators. These individuals will continue posting abusive images of children on the illegal corners of the internet, also known as the darknet. There will never be one single solution that will eliminate sexual images of children from the internet.

Still, while we can not eliminate the problem, we can make a significant dent in it. Perpetrators who are very technologically savvy will have to be tracked down and stopped in other ways. However for most of the online users who do not have the technological expertise to access the darknet, we can, and should easily and quickly remove these images. Importantly, since the blockchain is immutable, every transaction on it is documented forever. Meaning that if someone did try to upload illegal images, was rejected and then tried to delete those images from their own systems, the blockchain would still have a record that they attempted to upload illegal content. This, I imagine, could be a very useful tool for law enforcement.

As a Co-Founder of Orbs, the largest blockchain infrastructure company in Israel, it was important for me to use our technology for good and promote blockchain for social impact. Consequently, I founded the Hexa Foundation, a nonprofit that promotes the use of blockchain technology for social impact. At the Foundation we focus on educating governments on the potential added value and efficiencies of blockchain, and on executing blockchain projects that create social impact. We are currently in talks with governments and enforcement agencies to explore the opportunity of using blockchain as a solution that will help cloud platforms remove these images.

Change will not be simple. As in many solutions that require coordination, the hardest part here is aligning interests and politics of enforcement agencies globally. There is reason for optimism here: Since no one claims ownership over this database, and it is shared amongst all players, the incentive to participate will hopefully be greater than in other consortium efforts in which politics can sometimes hamper advancement. Still, in order to kickstart progress, at least one major agency would need to lead the way. Some of the agencies that we are in touch with are showing great interest and are hopefully willing to take the lead. Wide adoption, however, will take time. It will also take a mindset shift and new training to ensure that a wider set of policing agencies understand the role new technologies like blockchain could play in crime prevention

It is blockchain which allows for coordination between bodies in a way that was not previously possible, and thus creates an effective and efficient solution - and one that I hope can help the healing process of victims, globally.

Abusive images of children are in themselves a form of abuse. Every person who shares or views such images becomes complicit in the original abuse, and further damages the victim. There have been many reports of survivors haunted by the continued circulation of images recorded years ago. It can make it extremely difficult if not impossible for them to perceive their suffering and trauma as being in the past. Instead, their ordeal just continues. By succeeding to remove one part of the problem we actually can, today, make an impact for the better.

See more here:

Here's how blockchain could help crack down on abusive imagery - World Economic Forum

The 116th U.S. Congress convened on January 3, 2019 and will conclude on January 3, 2021 - and while 2020 will represent for millions one of the most unprecedented years in history, Congress has still found time to introduce 40 bills on the subject of cryptocurrencies and blockchain.

Of the 40 bills introduced, 11 have passed the House of Representatives and two have become law. The two laws are part of much larger bills involving the appropriations process where one called for a briefing to Congress on how cryptocurrency affects economic sanctions and another called for a briefing on how the Department of Defense could potentially use blockchain technology.

For the nine bills that passed the House of Representatives but wait action by the U.S. Senate, three bills call for essentially the same action by the Department of Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to explore blockchain and digital identity technologies to improve the data analysis process and distribution of information to other law enforcement bodies.

The United States Capitol Building at night in Washington DC

The Financial Technology Protection Act of 2019 (H.R. 56), was sponsored by Congressman Ted Budd (R-NC) and Congressman Stephen Lynch (D-MA) and passed the House of Representatives all the way back on January 4, 2019. The bill involved the creation of an, Independent FinTech Task Force to Combat Terrorism and Illicit Financing and also offered a reward for terrorists found using digital currencies. The bill was co-sponsored by then Representative Mark Meadows (R-NC), now the current White House Chief of Staff, as well as Congressman Darren Soto (D-FL) and Congressman Warren Davidson (R-OH).

The Homeland Security Assessment of Terrorists' Use of Virtual Currencies Act sponsored by Representative Kathleen Rice (D-NY) was a bill that also passed the House of Representatives on January 29, 2019. Co-sponsored by Congressman Van Taylor (R-TX), Congressman Peter King (R-NY) and Congressman Brad Sherman (D-CA), the bill asks Homeland Security to conduct an assessment of terrorist use of virtual currencies.

The Fight Illicit Networks and Detect Trafficking Act or the FIND Trafficking Act was introduced in both the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate by Representative Juan Vargas (D-CA) and Senator Catherine Cortez-Mastro (D-NV). The House version of the bill, H.R. 502, required a report by the Government Accounting Office (GAO) on virtual currency use in sex and drug trafficking. The bill also asked the GAO to examine how the unique characteristics of virtual currencies could be used to track and prosecute the illicit use of cryptocurrency.

Finally, the remaining three bills that made it out of the House of Representatives include the Blockchain Innovation Act (H.R. 8153), The Advancing Blockchain Act (H.R. 6938), and part of the Digital Taxonomy Act (H.R. 2154). The Blockchain Innovation Act and the part of the Digital Taxonomy Act that were sponsored by Congressman Darren Soto (D-FL) were added into the Consumer Safety Technology Act (H.R. 8128) that passed the House of Representatives. On the same day, the American Competitiveness on More Productive Emerging Tech Economy (COMPETE) Act (H.R. 8132) passed the House of Representatives as well. Co-sponsored by Representative Cathy McMorris-Rodgers (R-WA) and Representative Bobby Rush (D-IL), the bill included the language from the Advancing Blockchain Act from Congressman Brett Guthrie (R-KY).

Of the 40 bills, the types of legislation are broken done into four categories. The breakdown by percentage includes the Use of Cryptocurrency by Terrorists, Money Launderers, Human and Sex Traffickers at 30%, Regulatory Clarity for Crypto and Blockchain Companies at 40%, the Use of Blockchain Technology In Government & Business at 22%, and the Digital Dollar legislation at 8%. For 30 out of 40 bills (70%) that would either impact cryptocurrency use by criminals or improve cryptocurrency and blockchain regulations, none have successfully become law over the last two years in the U.S.

Percentage breakdown of the types of cryptocurrency and blockchain bills in Congress

Thus, the only actions impacting the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry are from agencies or financial regulators themselves, whether it is the recently released Cryptocurrency Enforcement Framework by the Department of Justice, enforcement actions from the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) or Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), or most notably the recent guidance in the form of interpretive letters released by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).

The first bill introduced in the 116th Congress was extremely interesting when looking back at what has transpired over the last two years in terms of racial strife faced by our nation. On January 3, 2019, Congressman Bobby Rush (D-GA) introduced the RESCUE Act for Black and Community Banks that looked to spur growth for minority banks, Black banks, community banks, womens banks and low-income credit unions. The bill included a blockchain study to be carried out by the Comptroller General of the GAO to see, whether such technology could be used to increase investment by lower-income individuals in startups and other crowd-funded companies.

Rush also later introduced, as shown above, one of the bills (American COMPETE Act) that successfully passed the House of Representatives in dealing with how the U.S. will compete with China on emerging technologies such as blockchain. While there are typically the usual suspects in Congress that introduce the majority of legislation, which include Congressman Tom Emmer (R-MN), Congressman Darren Soto (D-CA), Congressman Warren Davidson (R-NC), Congressman Ted Budd (R-NC), as well as Congressman David Schweikert (R-AZ) and Congressman Bill Foster (D-IL). Emmer, Soto, Schweikert, and Foster are Co-Chairs of the Congressional Blockchain Caucus and have also played a critical role in sending letters to get the attention of the administration on these technologies as well.

For example, Soto led the charge on a letter last year to the National Economic Council asking the White House to hold a forum on blockchain, and this year asked the U.S. Treasury Secretary to evaluate blockchain for speeding up the processing of Covid-19 stimulus checks and wrote President Trump on the criticality of this technology as well. Foster, along with Congressman French Hill (R-AZ), wrote a letter last year asking the Federal Reserve what types of efforts the central bank had started to take in terms of investigating a central bank digital currency (CBDC).

A full report of all 40 bills with corresponding research will be released toward the end of 2020 by the Value Technology Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit research think tank on blockchain and cryptocurrency in Washington D.C.

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In 2019-2020, Congress Introduced 40 Crypto And Blockchain Bills - Forbes

The Deutsche Energie-Agentur, also known as DENA the main governmental group responsible for energy innovation in Germany is looking to move its energy ecosystem to a decentralized database.

When infrastructure cant go down - when the lights need to stay on - the systems you use need to be resilient, and decentralized technologies deliver that, Parity Technologies head of public affairs, Peter Mauric, told Cointelegraph. Parity Technologies stands as one of the companies involved in DENAs project. Mauric added:

The concept of microgrids smaller, decentralized energy grids to improve resiliency energy generation, storage and distribution have been a focus for the energy industry for years, so we should not be surprised that similar decentralized approaches are being explored across the entire energy market.

Working with over 20 other crypto and blockchain entities, Energy Web will build a distributed energy resource database for Germany at the request of DENA, an Oct. 13 blog post from Energy Web detailed, adding:

The project will enable energy assets in Germany, such as thermostats, solar PV systems, batteries, and electric vehicle charging stations to undertake automatic registration with a decentralized ledger of identities, allowing their utilisation by the German grid for a range of services such as virtual power plants and frequency regulation.

Germanys energy innovation wing, combined with Energy Web and numerous blockchain and crypto companies, essentially want to digitize the countrys energy system by storing necessary components on a decentralized database.

One of DENAs brass, Philipp Richard, explained in the post that the endeavor faces remaining hurdles in terms of setting the project into motion, although blockchain-based digital identities (which are currently undergoing testing) look favorable.

Built for the next generation of energy ecosystems, Energy Webs open-source blockchain-based decentralized operating system, called EW-DOS, holds as a key component of the new decentralized databases test model.

The project, however, plans to utilize multiple blockchains, and include technology from KILT Protocol and Parity Substrate which come from BOTLabs and Parity Technologies respectively, the post said.

As a core blockchain infrastructure development company, we are excited to be working closely alongside Energy Web and our partners to implement this solution for DENA using Substrate, the blockchain-building framework we built for Polkadot, Mauric said. Polkadot has gained significant prevalence in the crypto space in recent weeks, seeing the price of its DOT asset rise dramatically.

The new project follows the inception of the Future Energy Lab, which is a broad, recently-announced move from DENA. This project is aimed toward developing a trio of initiatives a blockchain machine identity ledger (BMIL), a CO2 emissions visualization, and a smart contract register, the post said.

UPDATE Oct. 13, 20:06 UTC: This article has been updated with added information and quotes from Parity Technologies.

Continued here:

Germany looks to blockchain to help decentralize their energy economy - Cointelegraph

The Associated Presss (AP) 2020 election results will be recorded on a blockchain database, a first for the nearly 200-year-old news agency.

Announced Thursday, the collaboration between the not-for-profit wire service and the Everipedia tech startup will see more than 7,000 state and national election race calls recorded on a blockchain, with a publicly accessible user interface displaying the results. Everipedias database runs on top of EOS, the 14th-largest blockchain network by market cap, according to Nomics, though the race calls themselves will be recorded on the Ethereum blockchain.

Chainlink was chosen as the intermediary between the AP data and Everipedia, according to a press release.

Everipedia will publish the final results declared by AP after sufficient votes are counted, said Dwayne Desaulniers, the news organizations director of enterprise, environmental, social and governance and data licensing.

For us this is different and very interesting, he said. Were watching very closely to see how our work can be applied to this media. Everipedia has been good to work with, a solid partnership. We do the race calls, they do the technical stuff.

The AP will call the presidential, Senate, House of Representatives, state and local elections, in a process that could take anywhere from a few hours to days depending on how results are reported by election officials, Desaulniers told CoinDesk in a phone call.

Well watch the data and whenever we see enough data thats complete, that factors in all the mail-in [ballots] and all of the votes. Whenever our race callers then decide to declare a winner theyll do so, he said. Most of them will be on election night Were ready to make really great race calls whenever the data and rules tell us that were good.

Everipedia, a sort of decentralized alternative to Wikipedia with its own token, will be recording the results for posterity, said Sam Kazemian, the projects president and co-founder. It launched its mainnet on top of the EOS blockchain in 2018.

While this is the first time APs election results will be recorded on a blockchain, the company has worked with other blockchain initiatives in the past. AP tried to license articles with now-defunct blockchain startup Civil in 2018.

Election day

Roughly 4,000 AP employees will be deployed across the U.S. on Election Day, working from polling centers, city halls and clerks offices around the country. As precincts begin reporting numbers, these employees will start recording the vote results in an internal system, updating as new numbers roll in.

The proprietary system will compare the results with similar data from two, four and six years ago in an effort to prevent any major errors from creeping through, Desaulniers said.

This data will, in turn, go to race callers, individuals who are familiar with the politics of the region they are in. (Desaulniers is a race caller for the U.S. state of New Hampshire.) These individuals compare current data with historic data and internal models that AP builds to declare if and when certain races are won.

Its very intense, he said. I think its the biggest journalistic enterprise that were aware of.

Everipedia takes over the process at this point. Once a race is called, that information is entered into another internal AP system. Everipedia will pull the final declaration from an API and record it on its own ledger, permanently storing what AP sees as the final result.

So when we declare a governor has won, Everipedia will get that data immediately from our systems and theyll be able to publish that, he explained.

What Everipedia will not record are the vote totals; while most races will be called on Nov. 3, not every race will be. Those that are too close to call or which may end up going to a recount will not be called, Desaulniers said.

On top of the normal races that are tight and require time to call, 2020 has a massive number of voters who are using mail-in ballots so they can avoid large crowds during the coronavirus pandemic, which might make it difficult for precincts to report voting numbers quickly.

As of Oct. 14, 13.2 million absentee ballots have been returned with a further 68.6 million yet to be returned, according to the New York Times.

This is sort of an extraordinary year, Desaulniers said. Theres no one system, one set of rules. Some states will only begin counting the early votes on election night, and therefore in some counties, in some races, it will extend into Wednesday and possibly later.

For AP and Everipedia, this means the running list of races called will be continuously updated past Election Day itself.

Trusted systems

In Kazemians view, working with AP is a matter of trust.

The organization is a non-governmental, unbiased arbiter with close to two centuries worth of history, and has earned its reputation, he said.

Its a different approach from projects that hope to solve the problem of figuring out which sources to trust by creating a system wherein token holders vote on what the truth is for a given story.

This is one of those times where Im super pro-blockchain but, like, it might probably be better to actually trust the centralized organization thats professionally done this for over 100 years right. This is a good example of that, he said.

This lets Everipedia focus on making the data easily accessible on-chain and publicly readable, he said. In this collaboration, Everipedia will handle all aspects of storing the data on its EOS-based network.

The 2020 election is a sort of proving ground. Kazemian envisions other efforts with different news and media organizations.

Storing APs race calls on its network can be beneficial for prediction markets or futures-defined products that are focused on the election, he said.

These markets might be looking for a specific result at a specific time, but it is likely that the projected winner of the election might change depending on how mail-in ballots are counted and when the full results roll in, Kazemian said.

It allows people to build prediction markets that resolve around what a verified organization says or reports or allows people to vote or reward or create smart contracts, autonomous systems around whatever information is being put on-chain, he said.

In a statement, Chainlink head of business development Daniel Kochis noted that the process would result in a verifiable, tamper-proof record for tracking the election.

Kazemian noted the uncertainty around this years election timing, where President Donald Trump might appear to be in the lead as in-person votes are counted, but Democratic challenger and former Vice President Joe Biden may be declared the winner after the mail-in ballots and early votes are counted, as one scenario.

CORRECTION (Oct. 16, 2020, 06:30 UTC): Everipedia does not have its own native blockchain as this article originally suggested; the data is being recorded on the public Ethereum ledger.

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AP Election 2020 Results Will be Recorded on a Blockchain - CoinDesk - CoinDesk