Learned survive mankind the hit of an asteroid to the Earth – The KXAN 36 News

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MOSCOW, 13 APR RIA Novosti. The hit of an asteroid to the Earth will destroy mankind, if some people pre-move to Mars, but there they face danger in the form of gravitational perturbations from Jupiter, spoke in an interview with RIA Novosti head of the laboratory of neutron and gamma-ray spectroscopy Department of nuclear planetology space research Institute of RAS Maxim Litvak.

From the point of view of a global catastrophe, an asteroid strike to the Earth, a part of the civilization could be saved, if it is to live on Mars, he said.

But in the case of gravitational perturbations, caused, for example, rearrangements of the orbits of planets like Jupiter as it is, I assume, was previously in the inner Solar system can be attracted by objects from the asteroid belt, which, as the shrapnel will cut everything in its path, and the probability of their entering not only the Earth but also Mars can be very large, said the scientist.

Besides, according to him, in the fading Sun of humanity, if by that time still exist, too, will not survive on Mars, because it will be gone almost the entire Solar system.

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Learned survive mankind the hit of an asteroid to the Earth - The KXAN 36 News

Chinese Blockchain Investment on the Rise, but Comparison to US Is Apples to Oranges – Cointelegraph

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China is rapidly catching up to the United States with regard to blockchain-related investments, according to a recent report put together by New York-based research firm CB Insights.

The researchers found that the East Asian country accounted for 22% of blockchain investments in 2019, compared to 31% for the U.S. This represents a significant improvement for China when compared to 2015, when it had a meager 2% while the U.S. was getting 51% of total funding.

Headlined by the trade dispute of 2019, competition between the U.S. and China has intensified in recent years. Thats unsurprising considering theyre the two largest economies in the world. At best, however, the findings of this CB Insights report only suggest that U.S.China competition is intensifying in the blockchain space as well. It doesnt give a clear picture of which country is ahead in blockchain development.

In addition, given that there is a slew of conflicting blockchain investment reports out there, its difficult to say for sure just what proportion of global blockchain investment goes to either country. For instance, according to CB Insights, 2019 saw a global investment volume of about $2.8 billion, down from $4.2 billion in 2018.

Earlier in this year, Xinhua Chinas state-run financial media firm and financial data platform Rhino Datareported that Chinese investment deals came in at around $3.44 billion (24.4 billion Chinese yuan) across 245 deals in 2019. This represents a 40.8% drop in investment volume when compared to 2018, the report stated.

Experts say that the majority of the investment in China originates locally for now, but they expect more foreign funds in the near future. Kevin Shao of Bitrise Capital Partners told Cointelegraph that:

Currently, the main investors are mainly domestic venture capital institutions and individual investors as early stage investors. However, we believe that with the increasing internationalization of Blockchain technology, the percentage of foreign investment institutions will increase over time.

There arent any readily available reports focused solely on how much blockchain investment happened in the U.S. last year, but again, the figures from CB Insights mostly show that the blockchain scene in China is picking up. Instead of looking at the figures, it might be worth considering the actual events, including the governments stance, talent distribution and enterprise involvement to obtain a feel for how blockchain competition is shaping up between the two countries.

In October 2019, Chinese President Xi Jinping publiclysupported blockchain technology by urging the country to take blockchain as an important breakthrough independent innovation of core technologies and to accelerate its development. According to blockchain accelerator Consensys, China has over 500 registered blockchain projects, with most of them led by the government.

As part of its support for blockchain, the People's Bank of China the countrys central bank is working to launch a digital yuan, which will be powered by a centralized blockchain. According to reports, the central bank has completed the essential development of the digital currency and is now in the process of drawing up legislation for its circulation.

The Chinese governments stance, led by President Xis speech, has had two effects on the blockchain development scene in the country. First, it has outlined the future path of the industry. Second, it has made mainstream the status of blockchain and promoted its orderly development, thereby opening more opportunities for new players to enter. Qi Qi, the CEO the of blockchain incubator B-Labs, told Cointelegraph:

On the capital side, domestic traditional funds are more willing to get involved, especially paying attention to the field of industrial blockchain, which is a big breakthrough for traditional funds and the blockchain industry itself.

Simon Li, a founding partner at Chain Capital, also told Cointelegraph that the Chinese government is actively embracing the blockchain and will use it in the government affairs system to create many application scenarios.

The U.S. government has a somewhat more cautious approach to blockchain. While a few government agencies mostly military are exploring the use of blockchain in the country, its still hard to say the government is particularly pro-blockchain, and this might limit the flow of blockchain investment in the country. Speaking to Cointelegraph, Sukhi Jutla, the co-founder of MarketOrders a blockchain platform for the jewelry industry said:

Although the U.S. is still a key leader when it comes to blockchain investments, it cannot compete with China. The US is hindered by regulations that are slow and dont keep pace with the innovations of technology. China is able to move with speed as their governments allow them the space to do what they need to do.

Jutla added, Many companies are bogged down by uncertainty and the threat of being sued as the regulations cannot keep pace with the fast-moving technology. Last year, Congress asked Facebook to stop advancing the cryptocurrency project Libra without proper supervision. The Securities Exchange Commission also continues to block Telegrams plans to launch its TON project. Still, the country has no clear plans for developing its own blockchain-based digital money.

The availability of talent is next to governmental influence as a determinant factor of investment flow, and experts believe the U.S. is ahead of China in the area of technical personnel. Kevin Ren, a founding partner at Consensus Lab, told Cointelegraph that despite the Chinese government being outwardly more supportive of blockchain, the U.S. has the edge thanks to the availability of talent:

Due to the shortage of technical personnel and infrastructure, China's current level of development in the area of blockchain still lags behind that of the United States. For example, the blockchain 3.0 project, such as Polkadot, Cosmos, etc., which currently leads the technological trend of blockchain, is mostly still a U.S. project.

Li also believes the U.S. has superior technical prowess. In a conversation with Cointelegraph, he said that there is still a certain gap between our technical level and that of the United States, but China sees great improvements in recent years, and the gap gets gradually narrowed.

China is famed as one of the countries where the adoption of new technology picks up the fastest. A 2018 report titled Me, My Life, My Wallet published by accounting giant KPMG found that consumers in China tend to be more receptive to new technologies, ahead of other top markets including the U.S., the United Kingdom and others.

This is evident in the area of mobile payment, where China leads the rest of the world in adoption. Ren believes that this readiness to pick up new technologies will give China the edge over the U.S. in the mid- to long-term, saying:

China's population base and netizen base, its ability to accept new things (Internet enterprises have completed user education through mobile payment and online shopping), and the constant supply of talents are the kinetic energy for China's blockchain to make great progress.

Brian Platz, the co-founder of Fluree an American company that builds blockchain-based databases told Cointelegraph that Chinas competitive advantage goes beyond its technology-receptive populace. According to Platz:

China may be leading in terms of adoption of digital and mobile payments, but that's only a piece of the blockchain pie. China is also heavily investing in enterprise blockchain infrastructure noting a clear thesis that blockchain technology can provide value across a variety of contexts. This is a powerful combination of adoption one that the U.S. should take seriously and accelerate plans to compete.

However, citing the opportunity for private enterprises to innovate more rapidly, Platz whose company is backed by Steve Cases venture capital firm Revolution believes that the U.S. can be the leader ahead of China in the blockchain scene, adding:

One clear advantage the US does have over China is the opportunity for private enterprise to freely innovate at a rapid pace. It's time to double down on enterprise blockchain efforts, garner support from the government, and build a competitive blockchain industry here in the US.

It has been widely reported in recent years that the majority of blockchain-related patents are held by Chinese entities. Technology news website The Next Web reported in March 2019 that Chinese entities had published 790 patents, while the U.S. had published 762. These figures represented the total, all-time patent publication by these countries.

However, the publication of patents in China appears to be dominated by a few entities, given that the number of U.S. enterprise players invested in blockchain is significantly more than that of China. The business publication Forbes recentlycompiled a list of the top 50 enterprises that have invested into blockchain, and the list is dominated by American firms across different sectors.

To be on the list, the company had to be generating at least $1 billion in annual revenue or have a valuation of at least $1 billion. American companies took up 58% of the list with 29 entries, while only four Chinese companies were featured.

The answer to who is ahead in blockchain development between China and the U.S. depends on who is asked and how they best see the application of blockchain in reality. The two economic giants are following different development paths, with blockchain advancement in China spearheaded by the government and development in the U.S. spearheaded by corporate enterprises.

According to Shao, blockchain development in the two countries is evolving in different directions, making it difficult to declare a clear leader. He stated:

Compared to the United States, China is taking a different path and we cannot compare which path is better or more advanced at the time. China's blockchain industry is focusing on governance, finance and civil fields. But in the financial-related fields, the Chinese government is more cautious and strict compared to the U.S. government.

James Wo, the CEO of U.S.-based Digital Finance Group, also believes that the two countries are approaching blockchain development differently. He said:

I think they have different directions. U.S. cares more about solving infrastructure-level problems including interoperability, scalability etc. While China cares more about the usage of blockchain.

On the other hand, the CEO of B-Labs believes that both China and the U.S. are at the forefront regarding blockchain technology, but the narrative should be that of cooperation:

All the issues that have happened recently make us realize the meaning of a community of shared future for mankind, and aware that global technological cooperation is an essential element for building such a community, in the way from R&D, patents, talent cultivation and beyond.

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Chinese Blockchain Investment on the Rise, but Comparison to US Is Apples to Oranges - Cointelegraph

Recruiters are in need of new document verification methods, and blockchain holds the key – ITProPortal

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Staff shortages have been a major cause for concern in the UKs healthcare sector for some time, and these shortages have been brought to the forefront of the nation in light of COVID-19. With the coronavirus exacerbating the impact of shortages and the obstacles faced by recruiters, those tasked with hiring for healthcare roles across the UK are attempting to plug the widening recruitment gap by sourcing qualified professionals from across the globe. Sectors such as healthcare carry a particular need for verified, authentic credentials and have a higher risk profile associated with under-vetting a potential candidate. The threat of an underqualified hire has not been so palpable to the nation in our lifetime. As time is of the essence during this global pandemic, solutions are required immediately.

The process of making a secure, trusted hire that is satisfactory for both employer and employee is difficult enough in a sector with minimal risk. When it comes to healthcare, matching candidates with employers requires not just the match up of role, hours and pay, but also highly regulated qualifications which must be vetted. Traditionally, professional document verification is known to be a complex, lengthy and costly process, made even more complicated by a high rate of unverified candidates and fraudulent applicants which must be sifted through before a pool of potential candidates can be considered. This concern is highlighted by an investigation by the BBC, which found that in 2013 and 2014 more than 3,000 fake qualifications were sold to UK-based buyers. In 2017, another survey, this time conducted by YouGov found that one in ten Brits lie on their CVs.

One of the latest innovations in the market that has the potential to transform the recruitment process as we know it is a primary source verification (PSV) solution, enhanced by blockchain technology. Innovations like these allow employers and recruiters to search for candidates in a more timely and secure manner, saving precious time. Even more vitally, the cost savings ensure healthcare providers can be spending their money where it is truly needed.

A blockchain is a shared file which records transactions. Each of the transactions, e.g. information, is added in as a block and is stored decentralised in the chain which means that once added in, no one can interfere with or control its content. In practice, this means that once an applicants documents have been added, the applicant nor the recruiter or anyone else can tamper with the records because every member has to agree to its validity and can access the history of record changes.

Ethereum blockchain is an example of a type of public blockchain, which can easily be used across industries to validate documents. It allows users to always retain the ability to access their validation proof, even if the verification provider ceases to exist.

Passports, education certificates and other qualifications are regarded as highly sensitive documents in the eyes of regulatory laws such as the GDPR, and stringent data security requirements apply. Blockchain technology allows such documents to be stored as fingerprints instead, providing a form of encryption and security. Each fingerprint is individual and does not reveal any information about the document it belongs to, which of course safeguards the information it contains and enables the owner of the document - in this case, a job applicant - to choose exactly who can access their verified personal information. In computer science lingo, these fingerprints are called hashes. Bundled together, the signature of these hashes is stored on the blockchain and can be checked against an individuals credentials.

The implications of an innovation such as blockchain verification for document can have huge benefits, especially in a post-Brexit world. It allows recruiters to create a secure portal for applicants, allowing them to upload and verify their professional documents and data onto blockchain, which acts as a form of portable credentials. UK regulators, HR managers and recruiters will then be able to view and verify candidates credentials against the blockchain.

Blockchain can drastically streamline the verification process for regulators and HR managers, by eliminating the continual churn of verification requests on employers and educational institutions every time a new candidate applies for a role.

The decentralised nature of blockchain means this scenario offers a verify once, use forever approach to verification, further reducing the strain on those in charge of hiring applicants from overseas. In addition, by offering an online and on-demand primary source verification (PSV) solution, it will also ensure that candidates credentials are authentic and issued by an accredited institution, eliminating the risk of hiring unqualified, fraudulent individuals.

The process is also expedited for candidates as their credentials only need to be verified once before being saved on the blockchain. They can then share this with potential employers at any point during their careers, who can check the validity of the verification against the blockchain, rather than having to verify the same information over and over every time an individual changes a job.

The blockchain fingerprint also constitutes an important building block within the concept of self-sovereign-identity, something that can be controlled by the user and only the user, so it can never be taken away. In practice, this means if someone secures a university diploma, they can add the fingerprint of that verified diploma to their self-sovereign identity from one of the leading providers like for example uPort and the individual handles the control of their identity and how it is used entirely at their discretion

Through the self-sovereign identity model, individuals in highly regulated sectors such as healthcare, education and financial services can eliminate the friction encountered by providing their pre-verified documents rather than experiencing the same background check process each time. Not only does this save the recruiter time and money, but it also makes the individual powerful, credible and ultimately, far more employable.

Ren Seifert, Trueprofile.io

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Blockchain Games See Surge During the Pandemic Can the Tech Handle It? – Cointelegraph

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As more people self-isolate due to the coronavirus pandemic, gaming platforms all over the world have seen a spike in traffic. One report notes that cell network company Verizon claimed that online gaming platforms have seen a 75% increase in traffic with an overall 20% spike in streaming across the web. Despite the fact that the boost in traffic on online gaming platforms is as a result of the unfortunate pandemic, blockchain games have not been left out.

A recent report shows Microsoft Azure, a service that allows developers to operate blockchain networks for applications such as Xbox, registering record-high levels of latency on its network for the first time as a result of quarantined gamers straining the Xbox app. Although most industry watchers will admit that blockchain gaming is the future, the jury is still out on whether that future can be sustainable.

Apart from Xbox, other non-mainstream gaming platforms have also been gaining new users. War Riders, a blockchain game where players get to build and crash cars in a Mad Max-like experience, is said to have received upward of 70% in new users with an increase in the average time spent in the game.

According to Sebastien Borget, the co-founder and COO of TSB Gaming a San Francisco-based startup that is behind a blockchain game called The Sandbox Cryptovoxels, which is a Sim City-like gaming experience on a blockchain, has also seen an increased number of users recently.

In Borgets observations, the decentralized virtual worlds of games such as CryptoVoxels, Decentraland and Somnium have seen an influx of new users who are meeting and socializing in the metaverse, organizing their own events, meet-ups or even festivals. He added: I think this is great and hosting events and providing activities to do for gamers inside the metaverse is the right way to go.

Borget also mentioned that The Sandbox decentralized gaming platform completely sold out its virtual land presale, generating 3,400 ETH in just five hours on March 31. Other gaming platforms that have had a successful run so far include Cryptowars announcing its v2 launch and Skyweaver launching Season 0, among others.

Edward Smith, the co-founder and lead developer at Neblio, a blockchain as a service company, believes that: Gaming and entertainment will be some of the biggest winners of the crisis our world is facing today, including blockchain-based gaming. According to Smith:

We will start to see more and more blockchain integration into esports as time goes on. The two industries share many of the same users, as gamers are some of the most passionate blockchain users.

There is a general consensus among most industry watchers that interest toward blockchain-based games will grow as more developers lean more toward play-to-earn gaming models as has been the case with popular blockchain games like Gods Unchained and CryptoKitties. Borget also agrees that whats driving more interest is the fact that blockchain games have been pushing further on the play-to-earn side, offering an appealing alternative to make some money while having fun and playing.

Borget also pointed out Axie Infinity as one of the games in the blockchain gaming space that has benefited from a growing active community who are sharing tips on how to make money with crypto gaming. Apart from an opportunity to earn extra income, another factor that is pushing gamers toward blockchain games is the freedom and autonomy that comes with decentralization.

While the gaming industry offers blockchain technology a user-friendly avenue for mass adoption, in turn, the technology can contribute through its open-source, transparent and decentralized nature to the gaming world.

Last year, a decentralized digital card-based game, Gods Unchained, generated significant revenue on the backdrop of the Hong Kong protests after standing up for a gamer who spoke against the actions of the Chinese government. With a promise to give gamers freedom through true ownership and autonomy over their collectibles and winnings, the Heartstone-based game saw a spike in traffic, becoming one of the most popular blockchain games of 2019.

With some arguing that online censorship is on the rise, especially among centralized applications, more gamers are looking toward blockchain games to provide a much-needed reprieve. For years, blockchain developers have been waiting for mass adoption. Even though Bitcoin (BTC) has been in the limelight over the years, it is nowhere close to mass adoption.

Therefore, to match the increasing demand and appetite for entertainment among mainstream gamers, especially during quarantine, blockchain gaming platforms are being forced to adapt. Blockchain games have been gaining traction and acceptance, however, scalability and capacity are still issues for most blockchain networks.

While scalability is less of a problem for private blockchains, gaming platforms that want to support massively multiplayer online games will have to increase the capacity to manage and store large volumes of data. The strain is already being felt by companies, such as Microsoft, Azure that provide blockchain as a service.

In a recent United States Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Microsoft Azure, a platform that allows users to deploy a blockchain network on a cloud without having to invest in hardware infrastructure, reported a decline in its typical network capacity as a result of quarantined gamers putting a strain on its cloud platform.

In a statement, the company admitted that deployments for some compute resource types had dropped after receiving significant demand for its services in some regions including northern Europe, western Europe, the south of the United Kingdom and southern Brazil, to mention a few.

Since Microsofts Xbox application is among the clients Microsoft Azure serves, the increased number of quarantined Xbox gamers is said to have strained the Azure Blockchain network. However, Mike Brusov, the co-founder and CEO of Cindicator, a fintech company offering predictive analysis for crypto investors, begged to disagree:

Capacity is probably not the main problem for blockchain gaming. Azure is Microsofts cloud and a rival to both Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud. So, the increased strain Xbox Live was putting on Azure is probably due to its 65 million gamers spending more time playing, and is not necessarily related to blockchain.

On the other hand, Carlos Roldan, the founder and CEO of Satoshis Games, a blockchain gaming platform, painted a different picture when asked about blockchain technologys capability to handle mass adoption:

There is no blockchain gaming platform, whose infrastructure is distributed or on-chain, that will kick off in a very attractive spectrum to supply the massive demand that is currently going on due to the current scalability issues happening with on-chain gaming infrastructure.

He added that some games based on the Lightning Network have still been able to supply the current demand despite the low demand on the Bitcoins network.

As the world continues to fight the coronavirus pandemic, placing more people in quarantine, industry watchers like Brusov, Roldan and Smith expect growth in the in-game token economy, as more gamers use blockchain games to earn extra income.

Responding to a question about how blockchain games can best prepare for increased mass adoption during this pandemic, Roldan said: In order to scale up and board traditional gamers into blockchain gaming, the onboarding process must be minimal and frictionless. He pointed out that any blockchain game that accomplishes a minimum of skill-based gameplay can achieve mass adoption, adding:

Currently, we see a high volume of blockchain games with around 80% blockchain integration and around 20% (fun) gameplay. This only supplies the demand for gamers within the blockchain users, which is a small niche.

According to Brusov, gaming companies could use tokens for managing access and rewarding gamers as a way to attract more gamers during this period of a global pandemic. Meanwhile, Borget maintained that a natural way of increasing mass adoption is through the adoption of competitive and collaborative gaming that will push blockchain-based games to be played the "way video games are played: built and shared across communities.

Apart from experimenting with different consensus protocols, blockchain gaming platforms can begin to think beyond offering NFT based games and start to delve into interactive and engaging games on the blockchain. As pointed out by industry participants like Roldan, this can be achieved on an off-chain LN.

Related: NFT Floodgates Open With Impressive Lineup of Blockchain Games in 2020

It is also important for game developers to think outside the box and come up with games that are as engaging as traditional games. Furthermore, instead of building blockchain games from scratch, game developers can build on top of preexisting networks like Microsoft Azure or Neblio that provide highly scalable, general-purpose blockchains capable of handling mass adoption.

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Block.one Plans to Start Voting on EOS, the Blockchain It Birthed – CoinDesk

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Block.one plans to start actively voting for EOS block producers sometime next month.

The Cayman Island-based developer house announced Wednesday that, having watched EOS develop over the past two years, it now thinks the time is right for it to come off the sidelines and begin actively contributing to the network.

"Hundreds of BPs and SBPs have contributed a tremendous amount of code, knowledge, and leadership. Initially, in the coming weeks, we plan to use our voting stake to begin highlighting and voting for many of these candidates, potentially even in rotation, to showcase these organizations' achievements, values, and network contributions," the post said, referring to block producers and standby block producers.

Block.one has been looking to participate since a month after the network launched in June 2018. In a July post that year, the company said it would vote for block producers, though this did not happen.

Block.One announced its intention to begin participating in governance in November. At the time, the company said it wanted to play a "proportional role" in suggesting new proposals as well as supporting projects and teams contributing to the overall health of the network.

Following the $4 billion initial coin offering (ICO), Block.one allocated itself 10 percent of the total EOS (EOS) token supply. But its share has slowly declined as new EOS tokens have entered the ecosystem from BPs validating new blocks. Eighteen months after the ICO, in November 2019, the company's share was down to 9.5 percent percent.

As of press time, the most widely supported EOS block producers have support from 2.67 percent of the voting EOS tokens. Block.one's control of 9.5 percent of the supply means that its support could be potentially decisive for any block producer.

Per Wednesday's release, Block.one said it would begin playing an active role first by vocally supporting BPs that have already added code, and it will support block producers who "adhere to the standards we wish to see network wide," the company said.

"Block.one believes staking systems will be a critical component of the future tokenized economy, and to ensure maximum network security and constructive participation, Block.one will begin staking and voting its EOS token position," the company added.

The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.

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How blockchain can change the space industry – Space.com

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Cryptocurrency, blockchain and decentralized data are all buzzwords we've seen floating around in recent years, but the technology is so new that it's hard to see direct applications to our lives, even in space exploration. But blockchain and space have more ties than you might expect.

What these concepts all describe is a different way of storing data, a way that is decentralized (meaning it uses a shared database), transparent (which allows users to see changes to the database) and secure. Within this type of system, users have copies of the data and, because data in a blockchain is stored with cryptographic algorithms, blockchain is hard to hack.

While the most popular use of cryptocurrency has been in the financial sector, other applications it's been used for could be applied for space. One of these possible applications is in supply chains, where could be used to track resources during space mining or to manage large space construction projects. Another such use could be with energy to store and control energy production and consumption by space systems, Helena Correia Mendona, a principal consultant with Portuguese law firm Vieira de Almeida, which studies blockchain, said in an e-mail to Space.com.

Related: Packing for the Moon: New Software Aims to Track Supplies

"The space sector can also give an important contribution for the development and wider use of blockchain, notably through the use of satellites as nodes in the chain either as participating nodes that store data, or validating nodes that validate and add data," Mendona said in the email."In this case, you can use satellites to receive, store and broadcast blockchain data and apps. Hence, the satellite networks can be used as the infrastructure where you store data and through which you perform transactions."

While these possible uses are promising, blockchain is actually already used in space. The first satellite to use the technology was Blockstream, a company that launched in 2017 to distribute bitcoin (a cryptocurrency) around the world. On the security side, blockchain was first used in space by SpaceChain in 2018, Aravind Ravichandran, who studies blockchain and space applications for PricewaterhouseCoopers in France, said in an e-mail interview with Space.com. SpaceChain's satellite was designed for a satellite-based blockchain system that requires communication with a satellite to perform a transaction in the database.

"It was quite a successful mission, because this formed the basis for SpaceChain, which intends to launch a constellation of satellites to support a blockchain-based operating system," Ravichandran said.

More space-y blockchain activity could be coming shortly, too. Ravichandran pointed to the acquisition of Planetary Resources (an asteroid mining company) by ConsenSys (a major blockchain company) in 2018. That deal, he said, "prompted major predictions, including from me, that blockchain will support asteroid mining using a process called 'tokenization,' which is a way of digitizing physical assets to store on a blockchain database."

After the acquisition, ConsenSys launched a subsidiary called ConsenSys Space, headed by Chris Lewicki, the CEO of Planetary Resources. This subsidiary launched TruSat, a blockchain-based database that will monitor orbital positions of satellites something that could be all the more crucial as large fleets of satellites launch under companies such as SpaceX and Amazon. More satellites will bring a higher risk of collision, which could create orbital debris, Ravichandran added.

"Currently, there is no public [satellite] database," Ravichandran said, "and the only one is owned by the US Air Force. Hence, this database is pretty crucial, and the fact that it is decentralized allows for a neutral, unbiased place for getting the positions of the satellites in-orbit."

The blockchain industry is still emerging and all of its possible uses cannot be predicted, but Mendona pointed out that all space industries could benefit from it in applications such as financial technology, government satellite communications, broadcasting and Internet access, among others.

So far, Ravichandran foresees work in satellite communication and points to feasibility studies with launcher and satellite manufacturing companies for supply chain tracking and management. The European Space Agency also published a whitepaper in 2019 which discusses possible blockchain applications in Earth observation as users share data between each other.

As blockchain moves into outer space, Ravichandran pointed to its ability to tokenize spacecraft and payloads as key to its success, which could help in massive upcoming space projects such as the international, collaborative Gateway space station NASA wants to build in lunar orbit.

He further explained that, with blockchain, "you can commercialize space exploration faster and more efficiently. Tokenizing a spacecraft would allow different entities to build different components of the spacecraft, giving institutions like NASA and ESA [the European Space Agency] the ability to procure things efficiently, with much more transparency and traceability."

Mendona, however, warned that blockchain has regulatory issues associated with it that will need to be figured out first, including the nature of cryptocurrency tokens and how to implement data protection. That said, the European Union is among the entities examining the legal issues of blockchain, so she said she anticipates more clarity in the near future.

Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

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Wrapped Bitcoin Aims to Kick-Start DeFi on Tezos Blockchain – CoinDesk

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Tokenized bitcoin (BTC) is coming to the Tezos blockchain.

Announced Wednesday, the Bitcoin Association Switzerland, Tezos Foundation and multiple partners will issue the first tokenized version of bitcoin on the Tezos blockchain, tzBTC. The asset will also be the first vehicle for Tezos-based decentralized finance (DeFi), according to a press release from the association.

Each tzBTC represents one bitcoin on the Bitcoin blockchain and is minted under the new FA1.2 Tezos token standard.

The tzBTC brings the brand and liquidity of Bitcoin to the Tezos blockchain and gains the potential for rich functionality made possible by Tezos smart contracts, Bitcoin Association Switzerland President Lucas Betschart said in a statement.

Another wrapped bitcoin project was announced for Ethereum last week, tBTC. Building a bridge that allows Bitcoin to interact with DeFi makes a lot of sense, investor Fred Ehrsam said of that project. Adding a bridge for Tezos to the most liquid cryptocurrency follows a similar logic.

Roman Schnider, CFO and head of operations at the Tezos Foundation, said the addition of bitcoin is just the tip of the spear as the community builds out DeFi products on Tezos.

This is kind of the first [wrapped] product that we see and there's not much you can trade against at the moment, but there is a roadmap, Schnider said in a phone interview.

Next up, Schnider said, are atomic swaps for building out DeFi exchanges and perhaps a wrapped ether (ETH) token.

tzBTC wont be alone on Tezos, however. The token could soon be joined by Tezos-based DeFi protocol StakerDAO, which is planning to launch this quarter, according to its website. StakerDAO automates capital allocation for staking on various protocols to earn yield for investors.

tzBTC will be overseen by numerous organizations, according to the tokens website. Bitcoin Association Switzerland will regulate keyholders who mint and burn tzBTC. Keyholders include Swiss crypto firms Inacta, Lexr, Swiss Crypto Tokens and Taurus.

Betschart told CoinDesk the idea first originated with Swiss Crypto Tokens, but the non-profit took up the project which retains a bitcoin-first bent.

Our interest is to push the adoption of bitcoin. So we're already involved with some other things to make bitcoin even more usable, Betschart said.

The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.

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ACCA to Explore Potential Applications of Blockchain Technology in the Accounting Industry Together with Tezos Southeast Asia – Yahoo Finance

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SINGAPORE, April 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants ("ACCA") and Tezos Southeast Asia ("TSA") have announced today that they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding ("MoU") to explore applications of Tezos blockchain within the accounting industry.

TSA is a non-profit organization based in Singapore, whose mission is to promote and facilitate industry adoption of the Tezos blockchain in the Asia-Pacific region. Through this partnership, ACCA will contribute their knowledge on accounting standards, while TSA will provide technical integration advice on blockchain technology, with the view of addressing pain points in accounting. The two parties will also develop strategies and education initiatives to promote adoption amongst each other's networks, as well as form partnership programmes to educate members on the fundamentals of blockchain technology.

Caleb Kow, President of Tezos Southeast Asia, said, "Information held on the blockchain exists as a shared and continuously reconciled store across several computers. Attempts to falsify or destroy a record would require immense effort replicated on a global scale, a feat significantly harder in order of magnitudes to coordinate. With this immutable standardization adopted in accounting practices, auditors will be able to verify larger amounts of data more efficiently, requiring less paperwork and with greater confidence. We believe that by partnering with ACCA, there can be mutual understanding to find solutions that could help reduce pain points and benefit finance functions for practitioners within the accountancy sector. The Tezos blockchain takes this further by future-proofing widespread adoption through its unique and proven self-amending feature that can embrace future standards to meet the ever-changing industry needs of tomorrow."

Reuter Chua, Head of ACCA Singapore, said, "The rise of the digital economy has pushed industries to transform and ACCA as a global professional accountancy body continues to think ahead and ensure we embark on new partnerships to deliver new value. The potential applications of blockchain technology in the accounting sector are extensive, ranging from better validation procedures in auditing to accelerating settlement times for transactions, and automating and streamlining compliance processes.

We are thrilled to work with Tezos Southeast Asia to explore the potential of the blockchain technology that is applicable in the accounting environment that will enhance our members' workflows and better prepare them in this challenging environment."

The two parties aim to organize training courses on the fundamentals of blockchain technology towards the end of this year or early next year, with priority given to members of the ACCA. The two parties will also be forming a workgroup to collaboratively build blockchain-powered solutions for accounting.

About Tezos Southeast Asia

Tezos Southeast Asia is a non-profit organization based in Singapore with the dedication to promote and support the Tezos blockchain and ecosystem in Southeast Asia through education and training, as well as industrial partnerships. The organization believes Tezos will fuel social, political and economic innovation on a global scale. Its core mission is to support the Tezos protocol and ecosystem in service of this goal. For more information, please visit http://www.tezos.org.sg.

About Association of Chartered Certified Accountants

We believe that accountancy is vital for economies to grow and prosper, which is why we work all over the world to build the profession and make society fairer and more transparent. We have more than 219,000 fully qualified members and 527,000 students worldwide. They're among the world's best-qualified and most highly sought-after accountants - and they work in every sector you can imagine. Organisations know and trust our designation. We're out there every day, connecting with businesses large and small, governments, educational establishments and opinion formers. We're on top of emerging trends, legislation and legal requirements, helping to shape them. Because of all this, we're able to create the innovative, strategic-thinking accountants our fast-changing world needs. For more information, please visit http://www.accaglobal.com.

SOURCE Tezos Southeast Asia

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ACCA to Explore Potential Applications of Blockchain Technology in the Accounting Industry Together with Tezos Southeast Asia - Yahoo Finance

Zoom Data Scandal Shows Blockchain May Be the Future of Communications – Cointelegraph

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As people around the world started following shelter-in-place orders, popular video conferencing platform Zoom quickly gained new users, noting in a recent blog post that it had reached more than 200 million daily users last month, up from 10 million in December. From virtual conferences to online birthday parties, thousands of individuals have flocked to Zoom in an attempt to remain social at a time when social gatherings are banned.

Yet, while Zoom may have seemed like the perfect alternative to in-person gatherings, a major security flaw has been lurking in the system. Following the sudden balloon in daily users, it was discovered last week that thousands of personal Zoom videos have been left viewable on the open web.

Ankit Bhatia, CEO and co-founder of the Sapien Network social platform, told Cointelegraph that signing into Zoom has never been a secure process:

If you know the server the Zoom call is on, then you only need to run a script to generate the right sequence of numbers at a given time and youre potentially in on a conference, be it a daily technical standup or an AA meeting. This is especially easy when Zoom users dont password-protect their meetings.

In addition to strangers having access to private Zoom videos, personally identifiable information such as email addresses and passwords have also been compromised.

Jeff Pulver, Voice Over Internet Protocol pioneer, told Cointelegraph that the main issue with all major communication services like Zoom is that it uses centralized data storage mechanisms. Due to this, Zoom poses security threats to the confidential information it gathers. He explained:

Companies like Zoom say they cannot access user data, but they still mine the data generated by those apps, such as how often users talk to someone and whose phone numbers they have stored in their smartphones address book. Routing all business and personal data through a centralized server with one main point of contact poses an overwhelming number of threats for information security.

Pulver, who authored the Pulver Order adopted by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to ensure that users need not pay for communication apps such as FaceTime, understood early on the data issues posed by Zoom. He noted that the thousands of data breaches witnessed between 2018 and 2019 should have been a global wake-up call for people who are looking to better understand how their data was being used by third party platforms.

As such, Pulver believes that the best way of making high-security communications services universally available is through the use of blockchain technology. By refraining from centralized control, we will be removing the weak link from the equation the third parties, he explained. Pulver has spent the past year developing a blockchain-based communications network called Debrief.

Unlike conventional video applications, Debrief is an open-source blockchain network upon which communication applications can be built. According to Pulver, leveraging blockchain creates a higher level of security when it comes to users personal information:

Unlike Facebook Messenger or Googles Hangouts, Debrief encrypts user messages by default and also retains virtually no information from users, including messages and address books, on its servers, since they are decentralized.

Karen Sun, Debrief full-stack developer and former solution configuration manager of Ericsson, told Cointelergraph that, Even if our servers get hacked, the perpetrators will not be able to decrypt the messages stored there.

According to Pulver, Debrief has been primarily built for fast and private transactions. Unlike mainstream public chains like Ethereum, the Debrief infrastructure has been constructed to ensure fast and trusted connections specifically for communication. Pulver further noted that Debrief contains an open-source Middleware component, allowing for mainstream centralized applications such as Zoom to utilize Debrief's blockchain by wrapping their code into our code.

While the Debrief Testnet privately launched in February 2020, Pulver mentioned that the MainNet launch is expected in the fourth quarter of this year. The Middleware public launch is also projected for the same period.

For use in the meantime, Pulver explained that a decentralized application has been built on the Debrief network. The DApp provides HD video conferencing, peer-to-peer audio and video calling, messaging, decentralized file storage and more. The beta version of Debrief has just been released, which has already seen over 1.2 million transactions from over 3,000 participating users.

Pulver mentioned that the challenge moving forward will be generating public awareness for blockchain-based communication networks, adding, We need to find developers who want to use our blockchain to see what they are able to do with the APIs.

Additionally, regulatory and data standard challenges might also hamper the adoption of a blockchain-based communication network. A recent Telecoms Tech article highlights these challenges, stating, The current telco industry adheres to a set of data standards, structures, and transmission infrastructure. As such, bringing blockchain applications to this existing framework presents significant challenges. Pulver, however, remains optimistic, saying:

We have the ability to bring this to the communications industry and my hope is to get thousands of people to connect and innovate in a positive, secure way.

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Zoom Data Scandal Shows Blockchain May Be the Future of Communications - Cointelegraph

Can Blockchain based biometric systems be the answer to privacy concerns? – Digit

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Blockchain is a disruptive technological advancement designed specifically to ensure data of individuals or corporations remains secure. It is a decentralized database that is secured using cryptography. This means sensitive data does not need to pass through centralized data aggregators, be it private organizations or the government. Access to the data within the decentralized system is controlled by the individual who owns the data and they can choose to share it as they see fit. Integrating this revolutionary technology with biometrics can open up novel, more secure avenues for identity management and security.It can prove to be an effective way to avoid falling prey to cyber frauds, eavesdropping and hacking, which are becoming increasingly prevalent in todays connected world. The power that blockchain endows on people is that it can give them back ownership of their sensitive data to quite a large extent. With privacy concerns galore, blockchain-based biometrics can instill a renewed sense of security amongst consumers and corporations. Additionally, biometrics identity systems can also make lengthy, arduous processes revolving around identity verification much simpler, which gives users ownership of yet another asset they lose out on regularly - time.

Physical identity proof documents such as driving license, passport, and aadhar card are essential to carry out some of the most basic tasks. However, in a technologically-advanced world where AI is capable of making restaurant reservations for us, carrying around physical copies of our IDs seems like a dated practice. Additionally, ID verification processes at places such as the airport, hotels, banks and more are always laboriously long. Arriving at an airport an hour before domestic flights and 2-3 hours before international ones seem like a colossal waste of time.In order to provide a more seamless experience, multiple airports and banks are beginning to include or completely rehaul identification processes with biometrics technology. In the SITA 2018 Air Transport IT Insights report,it was documented that 77 percent of the worlds airports and 71 percent of global airlines are planning major R&D in biometric ID management.

Additionally, we are already seeing major integration of biometrics in Wallet services such as Google Pay, banking apps, and even our offices! This ensures that you do not have to keep entering card or account information repeatedly to make transactions. In offices, there's no longer a need to keep physical directories of check-in and check out. Biometrics takes care of that and also ensures that dishonest practices such as a friend using your company card to swipe in your attendance in the office does not happen.

However, the question that often arises with biometric solutions are - Where is my data stored? Is it secure? Can it be hacked? Can someone use my biometrics data to authorize fund or asset transfers? The answer is yes, yes, yes, oh and, yes. Terrifying? Even for people that aren't the most paranoid about their data being stored in centralized locations or on the cloud, this can cause them to flinch a little. To inject a healthy dose of security, transparency, and trust into biometrics, blockchain technology can prove to be quite promising.

The current identity management model in most scenarios is entirely based on centralized cloud storage platforms. It paves a path for malicious threats by cybercriminals or hackers. If the cloud storage has vulnerabilities (and almost everything is vulnerable), hackers can manage to get hold of your sensitive identity data. The biometric data stored on centralized databases also have third-party vendors in the picture which further increases the threat to privacy. When it comes to online transactions, an identity management system usually consists of an end-user, a service provider, an identity provider, and the control party or system. As stakeholders rise in number, so does the chances of data breach threats.Not only do stakeholders and cybercriminals pose a threat, but AI is also reaching a stage of development where it fools biometric systems. In November 2018, researchers from New York University found a way to produce fake synthetic fingerprints using AI that could bypass biometric scanners. If hackers find a way into the centralized databases that store biometric data, they could employ AI technology to create synthetic fingerprints and wreak havoc on individuals' lives. Hence, there is a need for the biometrics ID system to be injected with a dose of security and transparency which can be ushered in by blockchain.

tapping the potential of blockchain can transform biometric ID systems by making them significantly more secure. Blockchain technology uses strong encryption algorithms to keep the data secure in decentralized ledgers that can ONLY be accessed by those by the one in authority, or if the authoritative figures have granted others access. There are no middlemen in this technology and it also has lower operational costs than centralized databases as well. By eliminating stakeholders or middlemen, traditionally complex transactions are made infinitely simpler between the sender and receiver, which saves time and the absence of third-party vendors makes it even more secure.Participants on the blockchain network can enjoy instant biometric authentication with low transaction costs, the lack of middlemen and overall, higher processing power. Combining these two technologies means that tech giants can develop seamless solutions for identity management and verification that keep the ID data safe in a distributed ledger system, thereby giving users complete control. With blockchain, user data is stored in distributed ledgers - meaning all the data from multiple individuals are not kept together. This means that there is no singular point of failure in this system. Therefore, cybercriminals are less motivated to individually pick on identity data located in numerous ledgers.These technologies which allow for self-sovereign identity management can be deployed by government agencies, financial institutions, and enterprise businesses. User data is stored in distributed ledgers - meaning all the data from multiple individuals are not kept together. This means that there is no singular point of failure in this system. Therefore, cybercriminals are less motivated to individually pick on identity data located in numerous ledgers. These technologies which allow for self-sovereign identity management can be deployed by government agencies, financial institutions, and enterprise businesses. User data is stored in distributed ledgers - meaning all the data from multiple individuals are not kept together.This means that there is no singular point of failure in this system. Therefore, cybercriminals are less motivated to individually pick on identity data located in numerous ledgers. These technologies which allow for self-sovereign identity management can be deployed by government agencies, financial institutions, and enterprise businesses.

Additionally, our smartphones possess obnoxious amounts of biometric data stored in them. Online fraudsters are increasingly finding creative methods to gain unauthorised access to this data. Coupled with the 5,000 known security flaws in smartphones operating systems, and technologies such as Bluetooth which can also grant criminals access to your phones, the risks are escalating day over day. Blockchain-based smartphones are already on the market and are being developed more as the technology becomes more mature. These smartphones can avoid attacks by cybercriminals to get access to biometric data since the data is stored in the blockchain itself.Blockchain is an immutable technology, therefore external, unauthorised manipulation is not possible which keeps our sensitive biometric data secure.

With blockchain-infused biometrics identity systems, the authorized individual has complete control of the decentralized, distributed ledger and can also actively view who accesses and shares the data within the ledger. The grasp of central powers and corporations over our identity data can be loosened and, in time, completely snatched away.

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What I Learned After Two Months of Lockdown in Wuhan – CoinDesk

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Wei Liu is Head of Business Development for DeFiner.org, a peer-to-peer network for digital savings, loans and payments. He is based in Wuhan, China.

For my family and me, the Chinese Lunar New Year in January 2020 marked the beginning of a new way of life. I live in Huanggang, a city of seven million in the Wuhan region of China, where the COVID-19 pandemic began. After two months, my lockdown experience is finally ending, and Id like to share what Ive learned in quarantine, particularly about how Ive seen blockchain applications provide solutions to the health and economic challenges that face the world.

The unity of the blockchain community was evident from the outbreak of the virus. Blockchain startups, together with local authorities, worked tirelessly to collect and secure medical data, track medical supply chains and provide critical information to medical staff. In the first two weeks of February, companies including Vestchain Technology and Alipay released at least 20 blockchain-based applications to tackle the mounting challenges facing communities and front-line health workers. Since then, one of Chinas largest couriers, SF Express, hasstarted using blockchain technology to deliver supplies to COVID-19 pandemic victims.

To understand how blockchain played a role in tackling the challenges posed by the virus, let me take you through my journey in the Wuhan region during the period.

Huanggang is close to the epicenter of the original COVID-19 outbreak. The authorities put strict rules in place and they have been strongly enforced. Only one person in a household could ever exit the house or apartment, and only for absolutely essential needs. Roads into and out of the city were shut down and heavily policed. The government even created an app for people wishing to venture outside. Users who certify they have no symptoms and they have isolated for an appropriate period will receive a custom QR code the authorities may scan. If your app throws up a green border to the QR code, you may go outside. If its red, you must remain indoors.

I wasnt the households designated essential shopper, so I spent seven full weeks indoors to prevent infection. As I write, many restrictions are loosening but others remain in force, and its clear that it will be many days before things fully return to normal. Ive been relatively fortunate in my isolation. I live in a house, not an apartment, and I live with family, so Ive had the company of loved ones during this trying time. My mother keeps active by dancing, while my little cousin runs and jumps. Even at the height of the pandemic, my family has been healthy and active. While were all looking forward to the eventual lifting of restrictions, I believe this experience has brought an already tight-knit family even closer together.

Within a few weeks, I was receiving thousands of emails a day in my volunteer role.

Though I couldnt leave the house, I was fortunate enough to be able to continue my day job, which remained unaffected given that my business has always operated on a decentralized model. What Ive experienced in the last few months is what my colleagues in the U.S. now face and are coming to terms with. Within a few days of the lockdown beginning, I realized that just doing my regular work wasnt enough. Blockchain workers like me believe in dreaming big; I began searching online with other members of the DeFi community for ways to help.

This crisis instilled a strong collaborative culture in the blockchain and startup world. Providing effective solutions to economic and human problems has always motivated our industry. I quickly learned this when I began helping the Binance Charity Foundation to help facilitate, track and record the movement of vital medical supplies to the hospitals that needed them. Blockchain has a culture of innovation and disruption, so we were able to establish lines of communication and payment very quickly.

Within a few weeks, I was receiving thousands of emails a day in my volunteer role. People Ive not yet met in person are now trusted friends, fellow philanthropic relief workers. Most of our correspondence was through WeChat and social media; we didnt directly use blockchain technology because there were some problems with speed and scale that made WeChat more efficient for our purposes. While the development wasnt yet ready for our mission, blockchain is improving every day, and Im sure the ongoing global crisis has inspired many developers to build (some of whom now have unprecedented amounts of time to create solutions to blockchains obstacles).

Blockchain for supply chain, payments

If a situation like this ever recurs, Im sure the blockchain infrastructure will be ready. Much of my work during this pandemic has been arranging payments across time zones and between previously unacquainted parties. I cant help but think a more robust decentralized financial infrastructure could have made the work easier. For example, countries around the world are distributing one-time or recurring payments to affected citizens, but payment may depend on outdated systems like the American Automated Clearing House (AACH). Some funds will even be disbursed by paper checks. I hear stories of citizens in a number of countries waiting weeks for economic subsidies, and I hope this encourages governments to join the DeFi revolution.

Similarly, DeFi can assist the unbanked in times of crisis like these, if properly adopted. China has the worlds largest population, as well as the worlds highest number of unbanked people, but most countries face similar obstacles. In the U.S., which looks to be the new epicenter of the pandemic, roughly 25 percent of the population is unbanked or underbanked. My career is building tomorrows DeFi platforms. I hope that no society ever faces an ordeal like COVID-19 again, but I want to build systems that will enable quick response to any disasters that do occur. Once DeFi is ready a reality that is fast approaching will officials adopt the technology and improve economic crisis preparedness?

As the crisis in the Hubei province recedes, Im still doing volunteer work. The tools my colleagues and I developed could help hospitals in other outbreak centers across the world. What we worked to ship in, were now beginning to ship out. If my expertise can make someone elses life safer or easier, I feel obligated to help. The people of Huanggang know just how serious this virus is. The blockchain community saw this and coordinated an overwhelming response.

Like millions of others around the world, I will feel relief when I can once again engage face to face with my neighbors, colleagues and others. At the same time, I know I will feel a measure of satisfaction for working in an industry that has helped slow the spread of the coronavirus.

A global crisis of this magnitude requires a collaborative, innovative approach on a large scale. Blockchain technology has the capability to drive forward innovations in helping businesses, hospitals and communities to overcome disruptions. Everyone has a part to play. If you can sew masks, sew masks. If you have spare protective equipment, donate it. If your neighbors are elderly or immunocompromised, volunteer to pick up their groceries. And if theres no reason to go out, stay inside. Youll be doing the world a favor.

The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.

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US Association Object Online Voting With Blockchain – Blockchain Technology – Altcoin Buzz

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The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), believes that the security used in blockchain technology for online voting process is questionable.

Since its inception, blockchain technology has appeared to be advantageous in many ways, including voting. However, the AAAS, a US association thinks otherwise.

On April 9, the AAAS sent an open letter, to the Governors, Secretaries of State, and State Election Directors, urging officials not to allow online voting during elections. The letter reads: At this time, internet voting is not a secure solution for voting in the United States, nor will it be in the foreseeable future.

Internet voting, also known as e-voting, includes the use of email, fax, mobile apps, and other web-based instruments, as a means of voting.

In the letter, the AAAS points out that the use of blockchain technology in online voting can lead to several issues like manipulation of the ballot, uncounted votes, and other privacy violations.

A citation from a 2018 study on election security, was used to support this point: If a blockchain architecture is used, serious questions arise regarding what content is stored in it, how the blockchain is decrypted for public access, and how votes are ultimately transferred to some type of durable paper record. No scientific or technical evidence suggests that any internet voting system could or does address these concerns.

Despite the cumbersome fact that voting with paper ballots, either by mail or in person, is cumbersome and slow, there may be fewer questions regarding tampering in elections.

In an exclusive conversation with Altcoin Buzz, Reuben Yap, Project Steward of Zcoin said: Blockchain cant solve all issues of the problem but it can form an important component in preventing alteration of votes and also serve as a way for voters to verify their individual vote has not been tampered with.

He also believes that it needs to be combined with other methods such as ways to allow a user to check but without revealing which way he voted. He claims that there are several ways to achieve this and the research is improving.

On top of that, he said that it is important to ensure that the code of any voting app or machine is open-sourced and subject to rigorous audits and installed in a tamper-resistant way.

Sure there will always be some risk of vulnerability but so is the current system as well, he said.

To remind, Microsoft Corporation, through its licensing arm, Microsoft Technology Licensing, was granted an international patent on March 26. The patent was for a cryptocurrency mining system using body activity data.

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US Association Object Online Voting With Blockchain - Blockchain Technology - Altcoin Buzz

NEM (XEM) Proof of Importance Delegated Harvesting and more on the Blockchain Network – The Cryptocurrency Analytics

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NEM refers to New Economy Movement. The focus of the project was to create a new economy, which will focus on financial freedom, decentralization, and solidarity.

The NEM works on the concept of Proof of Importance algorithm. The wallet balance, the activity in the network, the quantity of transactions, and the online time of the accounts are taken into consideration to assess importance.

XEM is the native cryptocurrency of NEM. The NEM (XEM) currency consists of two parts: The smallest part is the microXEM, and the thousandth unit is the milliXEM.

NEM tweeted: The cross-chain swap feature on Symbol enables the trade of tokens between different blockchains (as long as they are using compatible hashing algorithms) without the use of an intermediary party, providing interoperability between different platforms.

The metadata feature on Symbol facilitates the users with the ability to attach relevant and important information to their accounts, mosaics, or their namespaces. It further enables off-chain actions, which depend on metadata, therefore, opening up a whole range of plausible actions.

The cross-chain transactions facilitates the trading of tokens between different blockchains; however, both the blockchains need to be using compatible hashing algorithms. There is no need for an intermediary party to provide for interoperability between the platforms.

NEM focuses a lot on creating apps through API. They have a unique system for block formation, known as delegated harvesting. If a user should harvest, they need to have ten thousand in account. Voting is also a process in the network. The votes cast by a voter with higher PoI has the most weightage.

Sydney Ifergan, the crypto expert, tweeted: Proof of Importance (PoI) Weightage of voting, the need to have a balance of 10,000 to harvest blocks. Great strategic themes at NEM (XEM). Importance is important everywhere.

Lon Wong, NEM.io Foundation Ltd, recently stated that the COVID-19 has been affecting everyone. However, he stated that they were able to complete a few significant enhancements, including the support for Sirius Storage and Sirius Super Contract. He spoke about how they had some patches done for stability and performance. Further spoke about how Testnet will be upgraded accordingly before moving over to the mainnet.

They have a clear roadmap for the working of the ecosystem.

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NEM (XEM) Proof of Importance Delegated Harvesting and more on the Blockchain Network - The Cryptocurrency Analytics

Blockchain Interoperability: World Economic Forum Releases Paper Explaining Importance of Effective Communication Between DLT Networks – Crowdfund…

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During the past few years, blockchain or distributed ledger technology (DLT) has been adopted by a large number of companies from several major industries. There are currently hundreds of different DLT platforms being operated across the globe.

Most of these blockchain-enabled networks are unable to effectively and efficiently communicate (or share data) with each other. The World Economic Forum (WEF) recently noted that the present level of blockchain interoperability is far too low for developing robust enterprise-grade applications.

The WEF has released a whitepaper that specifically covers the challenges associated with implementing DLT interoperability. The organization notes that the paper is part of an extensive research project that looks into the feasibility of blockchain-based solutions for supply chain management.

Authored in collaboration with leading professional services firm Deloitte, WEFs whitepaper emphasizes the need for blockchain interoperability. It covers the extent to which current DLT platforms are able to communicate with each other.

The paper points out that the DLT interoperability challenge has mainly been addressed in the context of public blockchain networks. Private (permissioned) DLT chains have been ignored for the most part, the paper argues.

The WEF states that the majority of existing interoperability solutions tend to focus on the Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) blockchains, which are the worlds largest DLT platforms.

Theres not much meaningful interoperability development work going on otherwise (for other blockchains), the paper reveals.

The WEF noted:

In public blockchains, interoperability has been in development for many years for instance, cross-chain, sidechains, proxy tokens, etc. However, a bigger challenge and, at the same time, a much bigger opportunity exists given interoperability among enterprise-grade permissioned blockchains.

The organization said that the present level of interoperability for inter-blockchain communication is not suitable for enterprise use.

The report from the WEF and Deloitte confirmed that a number of DLT networks and technology companies have been trying to deal with interoperability challenges. These include crypto industry initiatives like Cosmos and Polkadot.

The WEF clarified that both Cosmos and Polkadot are only focused on relay interoperability systems, which have been developed primarily for private or permissionless DLT networks.

The report added that none has succeeded in creating interoperability for blockchain platforms other than Bitcoin and Ethereum.

The WEF noted that Hedera Hashgraphs DLT platform, called the Hedera Consensus Service, which went live in February of this year, seems to be promising for enabling blockchain interoperability.

The WEF explained that the platform could potentially introduce a cheap and efficient ordering service that would work with any Hyperledger Fabric compatible network.

The organization also assessed DLT interoperability research and development work conducted by Microsoft. The report revealed that the tech giant is the only major industry participant to have developed blockchain interoperability software so far. This, as companies like IBM, SAP, and Oracle have yet to introduce these types of solutions.

The WEF pointed out that Microsoft had teamed up with Nasdaq to implement a software solution for the Nasdaq Financial Framework, which allows users to launch independent DLT networks through a single, unified interface.

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Blockchain Interoperability: World Economic Forum Releases Paper Explaining Importance of Effective Communication Between DLT Networks - Crowdfund...

The Last Dance director talks project on Michael Jordans Chicago Bulls – The Denver Post

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Jason Hehir was a kid in the stands in Boston Garden on April 20, 1986, the day that Michael Jordan scored a playoff-record 63 points.

It was a Christmas gift from his father, who stuck a note promising Two tickets to the Air Jordan Show in his stocking that holiday season. Its a gift Hehir will never forget, though his current seat for another Jordan show of sorts is considerably better.

Hehir is the director of the ESPN and Netflix production The Last Dance, a 10-part documentary series that debuts April 19 and tells the story of Jordans final Chicago Bulls season in 1997-98 that culminated in a sixth NBA title. Hehirs task: Take 10,000 hours of archived footage, add interviews with more than 100 people, and turn it into about 8 hours of television.

I wouldnt call it a challenge, Hehir said. I would call it a privilege.

The series was moved up two months to provide content-starved fans with something new to watch during the coronavirus pandemic. ESPN was originally planning to release the documentary in June, coinciding with what would have been this seasons NBA Finals.

It will run over five Sundays ending May 17, with two one-hour broadcasts each week.

Im happy if we can bring a little bit of light to people in a dark time here, Hehir said. Sports are such an indelible part of our cultural fabric and lacking that theres a significant hole in enjoyment that people feel, the escape that people can feel from everyday life that sports brings us.

The accelerated launch has only added to a hectic time for Hehir and his team.

There has been much anticipation about the documentary, which in Hehirs mind came together much faster than such a project usually does.

Normally, to do an hourlong archival documentary from start to finish, it takes about a year from the inception of the idea to the research to doing all the shooting to getting it all together, storyboarding it out, mapping it out, editing, getting notes back, it takes about a year, Hehir said. Were doing 10 of those. And we had a little bit over two years to do it so were already working at five times our normal rate.

The pandemic further complicates matters. Hehir and his team are finishing things up while separated, connecting through Zoom meetings but largely in isolation at their own laptops to get the last pieces of the story ready to air.

The documentary goes deeper than just 1997-98, though that season is the overriding theme. It also serves as a retrospective of Jordans basketball life, from his college days at North Carolina through his rise atop the NBA.

Hehir knows there is an ongoing buildup and anticipation surrounding the documentary, and still feels nervousness. He met with Jordan several times over the course of the project, including three sit-down interviews that are part of the documentary.

I hope that people will like it as much as we did, Hehir said.

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The Last Dance director talks project on Michael Jordans Chicago Bulls - The Denver Post

The Latest on Dior x Jordan: The Collab Everyone’s Talking About – Esquire

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How do you make a grail, wellgrail-ier? The Air Jordan 1 is already an icon, a universally beloved sneaker with 35 years of history and a tendency to sell out with each subsequent release. How do you top that? Easy: Just talk to Kim Jones.

The creative director of Dior Men is a magician of the high-low collab. Hes done it once already, at Louis Vuitton, throwing the French fashion house together with Supreme and in- spiring overnight queuesand astronomical resale pricesthe world over. But that was back in 2017, when everyone was high as hell on in-your-face streetwear vibes. Now, in a more muted 2020, hes achieved the same alchemical hype by taking the AJ1, plus a lineup of Jordan Brand apparel and accessories, in a pared-down direction.

Nike

Basketball shorts break from the court in cotton twill. An Air Dior logo appears on a sweater Carolina blue, naturallythat wouldnt stand a chance in the paint. A satin flight jacket, a nod to MJs airtime-heavy game, isnt what youd toss on after warm-ups. This is refined stuff, better suited to the pregame tunnel than the hardwood.

And then there are the sneakers: both high- and low-tops, made in Italy, dressed in Dior gray, and finished with a jacquard swoosh. Sneakerheads are slobbering over them. So are fashion fans. They cost more than ten times what youd pay for in-line Jordan 1s, and when they arriveinitially launch was slated for this month, but the timing has been pushed owing to the current global pandemictheyre going to sell out just as fast (or faster). Grail of grails.

This article appears in the April/May 2020 issue of Esquire.SUBSCRIBE

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Jerry Stackhouse says he was ‘a better player’ than Michael Jordan when the two played for the Wizards – CBS Sports

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Ask a Wizards fan about the Michael Jordan era of the franchise, and you're likely to send them screaming and running away in the opposite direction. This isn't too far off from how Jerry Stackhouse feels about his time in our nation's capital when he was a teammate of the then-40-year-old superstar.

In an interview with ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, Stackhouse reveals just how disgruntled he felt on the Wizards. Not only does Stackhouse say he thought he was a better player than Jordan was at the time, but he also lost any admiration he had for the six-time champion.

It's worth noting that Stackhouse felt like running the offense though MJ tanked their season and that he was traded from a playoff team in the Detroit Pistons for Rip Hamilton who would eventually help the Pistons win an NBA championship. But most of his concern seems to be how the team revolved around the whims of a way-past-his-prime-but-still-talented superstar rather than Stackhouse, who was in his late 20s at the time.

The now-Vanderbilt coach also dealt with injuries during his tenure as a Wizard, playing just 96 of a possible 164 total games. His best season was his first, where he averaged 21.5 points, 4.5 assists and 3.7 rebounds per game in the 2002-03 season -- Jordan, for what it's worth, averaged 20.0 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.5 steals per game in his final season. Stackhouse was traded to Dallas in 2004, along with Christian Laettner and a first-rounder, for Antawn Jamison.

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Jerry Stackhouse says he was 'a better player' than Michael Jordan when the two played for the Wizards - CBS Sports

Jordan calls for Oversight to stop conducting business via Zoom | TheHill – The Hill

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Rep. Jim JordanJames (Jim) Daniel JordanHillicon Valley: Apple, Google launch virus tracing system | Republican says panel should no longer use Zoom | Lawmakers introduce bill to expand telehealth Jordan calls for Oversight to stop conducting business via Zoom Top conservatives pen letter to Trump with concerns on fourth coronavirus relief bill MORE (Ohio), the top Republican on the House Oversight and Reform Committee, called Friday for an end to using Zoom to conduct the panel's business remotelydue to potential security concerns.

Jordan wrote in a letter to Oversight Committee Chairwoman Carolyn MaloneyCarolyn Bosher MaloneyHillicon Valley: Apple, Google launch virus tracing system | Republican says panel should no longer use Zoom | Lawmakers introduce bill to expand telehealth Jordan calls for Oversight to stop conducting business via Zoom Top House Democrats ask inspectors general group for proposals to protect watchdogs MORE (D-N.Y.) that the Zoom video conferencing software, which has become popular for teleworking and virtual social gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic, did not appear to meet security standards needed to handle the panel's functions.

Jordanclaimed thata recent briefing on women's rights in Afghanistan was repeatedly Zoom-bombed, a term for hackers or other uninvited individuals disrupting meetings on the platform. He said in the letter that "the impact of hacking on malware on member and staff devices is still being determined."

A House GOP aide told The Hill that "unauthorized callers from unknown entities tried no fewer than three times to infiltrate a meeting meant only for members of Congress and their staff, which resulted in significant interruption and delay.

But a Democratic aide denied that there were any security disruptions for the committee either during the Afghanistan briefing or another Zoom meeting with the Postmaster General. The aide said that there had only been a miscommunication in which the moderator was not informed about some individuals who were invited to the Afghanistan briefing.Rep. Jordans office was consulted directly and repeatedly about using Zoom and never raised any concerns, so its unfortunate that he is now putting out inaccurate information in this public letter. Had his office consulted with us first, we could have clarified their misunderstandings and provided more information about the steps the committee has already taken to address any potential issues,"Maloney said in a statement.

"The committee has used a number of technologies to help its members obtain information and share it with the American people during this crisis, and it will continue to do so to fulfill its responsibilities under the Constitution," Maloney added.

A Monday readout from Maloney after the video briefing on Afghanistan said that "our committee will continue to leverage new and emerging technologies to follow social distancing guidelines and conduct our work remotely."

Maloney didn't immediately have a response to Jordan's letter. A Monday readout from her after the video briefing made no mention of the interruptions or possible security issues with the Zoom platform, but said that "our committee will continue to leverage new and emerging technologies to follow social distancing guidelines and conduct our work remotely."

Jordan noted in his letter that the Senate sergeant-at-arms has warned Senate offices not to use Zoom for work calls over privacy and security concerns.

The FBI has also issued warnings against using Zoom for meetings due to the security issues and recommended that all meetings be set to private and not shared to social media.

"Given the concerns surrounding Zooms security, it is clear Zoom is not an appropriate platform for Committee business, which may be particularly sensitive during the COVID-19 pandemic. Please immediately suspend any current or future use of Zoom systems for official committee activities and take immediate steps to evaluate the Committees internal cybersecurity preparedness to prevent hackers from accessing sensitive committee information through the Zoom platform," Jordan wrote.

When asked about the Senate sergeant-at-arms warning against Zoom use, a spokesperson for the videoconferencing company told The Hill on Thursday that it was "in communication with US Senate offices and focused on providing the information they need, including about our tailored Zoom for Government offering, which is hosted in a separate cloud and meets the particular specifications of FedRAMP security policies, to make informed decisions about their policies."

The concerns about using Zoom come as lawmakers try to figure out ways to conduct congressional business while away from the Capitol during the coronavirus pandemic.

Members of both parties have called on House leaders to establish a remote voting system so that they can cast votes on legislation remotely, instead of passing bills by voice vote or unanimous consent. But if a single member objects to passing legislation by voice vote or unanimous consent, that may require forcing hundreds of lawmakers to travel to Washington and congregate in the Capitol. Congressional leaders have been trying to avoid bringing all members together as the country practices social distancing.

But Speaker Nancy PelosiNancy PelosiFauci expects 'real degree of normality' by November election 16 things to know about coronavirus for today Pelosi presses Mnuchin on 0B coronavirus 'interim' package MORE (D-Calif.) says it's easier said than done to figure out a secure and reliable way for lawmakers to vote remotely.

"There are some technologies that you might think would be workable, but they might not be secure," she told reporters on Thursday.

Yet Pelosi acknowledged, "I'll be very frank with you: We don't want anybody coming back at any time that might not be healthy for them."

Some legislatures in other states and countries have created remote voting systems so that lawmakers can cast votes during the pandemic. In New Jersey, state legislators passed coronavirus relief legislation by conference call, while the Wisconsin state Senate has been preparing to use Skype for Business for any virtual sessions. And in Wales, members of the Welsh assembly used Zoom to meet virtually for its weekly plenary session.

Updated: 4:24 p.m.

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First Look At The Japan Exclusive Air Jordan 1 Neutral Grey – Sneaker News

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Among Dunk Highs and Lows, Japan had exclusive dibs on some of the best colorways of the early 2000s, and among them, the Air Jordan 1 saw to quite a few that are finally set to arrive once more for the first time since their initial debuts. Next to the much darker Midnight Navy Co.JP, the brand is also providing a refitted Neutral Grey complement replete with much of the metallic polish it boasted originally. The overlays heel wraps, ankle flaps, and swooshes reveal these more aggressively with a medal-like sheen, matching that of the toe box whose surrounding panels prefer a more matted finish. Elsewhere, Wings insignia stamp atop pronounced, rounding off the branding alongside the newly adopted Nike Air at the tongue and its insides self-referential numbering. Grab one of the first looks at its modern look here and expect a release to land at Nike.com hopefully around July 25th.

In other news, a new Infrared Air Jordan 1 Low is coming soon.

Air Jordan 1 Neutral GreyRelease Date: July 25th, 2020Color: Neutral Grey/Metallic Silver-WhiteStyle Code: 555088-029

Source: @earylgvng

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Psychedelic Galaxy Prints And Textured Leathers Join The Air Jordan 1 Low – Sneaker News

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Jordan Brands attention, though briefly directed towards the slew of prepared Summer 2020 releases, has quickly made its way back to the Air Jordan 1 Low as many a scheme has since boiled to the surface. And while the silhouette has frequently detailed its leathers with ornate patterns and added vibrant colors, this latest is one of the first to attempt both since the start of the year. Its biggest and boldest tweak, which lies atop the swoosh, toe box, and even the heel wrap, synergize with a distinct take of the iconic galaxy print, but instead of a rehash of the Galaxy Foam, the pair adds a lighter wash of colors and extra lightning-esque embellishments. Elsewhere, the forward panels which start at the toe and finish at the tip of the tongue dress with luxury as they fully reupholster with snakeskin fabrications. Grab a look at these right here and expect a release at Nike.com to hopefully make it within the next couple months.

In other news, the Jordan Aerospace 720 just got a clean white colorway.

Air Jordan 1 Low GalaxyStyle Code: CW7309-090

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