Category Technology

In recent years, investors have had to get used to the cyclical nature of the crypto markets. The last of these cycles, decentralized finance, is still developing. DeFi tokens have achieved unprecedented valuations in record time only to quickly empty, erasing tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars in market value.

The main reason why encryption and especially altcoins are so volatile is the lack of new money in the markets. Bitcoin and Ethereum may attract institutional investors, but altcoin traders still usually play a game of musical chairs. The rise of DeFi, for example, correlates with the brightness less performance of the pre-2017 alts - it's the same money chasing the next big bomb. Of course, we need new entries, but from where?

"Adoption" is the obvious answer, but it's worth clarifying what it means - real-world companies paying real money for blockchain projects that redistribute part of it to token holders through creative tokenomics.

The perfect use case for a huge market

One of several sectors where blockchain technology can make a real difference is big data. It is a huge market that is worth $138.9 billion by 2020 and will nearly double to $229.4 billion by 2025, according to market and market statistics.

While blockchain is generally a weak candidate for replacing centralized databases, it is fantastic to ensure the provenance and authenticity of the data. Even governments, usually slow in the adoption of new technologies, have begun to implement pilot projects. The Singapore Public Service is seeking to adopt blockchain to verify supplier history in GeBiz, thereby tracking the career movements of public officials and supporting or even replacing audit processes.

Estonia is already using technology to store public records. The UK Land Registry has partnered with the Methods project to develop a platform that stores land registration information and streamlines the process of buying or selling properties.

In the private sector, manufacturers are investing increasing amounts in research and development of integrated big data solutions. Suppliers are working to reduce equipment costs to gain a competitive advantage, optimize sales cycles, simplify customer service, and better understand customer needs.

GoldsteinResearch says key industry participants such as IBM, HP, Google, SAP, Cloudera and Oracle are progressively investing in R&D to develop unified big data solutions to provide enhanced analytics and integrated data management.

Companies are focusing on mergers and acquisitions to diversify their product portfolio with big data and mainframe technologies. For example, in 2015, Microsoft acquired Revolution Analytics to expand its business to cloud-based platforms. Similarly, IBM acquired Cloudant and Cleversafe to strengthen its cloud platform business.

In short, corporate big data is a huge market and blockchain technology can realistically capture a significant part of it. Projects in developing these blockchain big data solutions will achieve "true adoption" in the sense that they can attract new money to the crypto ecosystem.

Moreover, big data does not only concern the corporate market. The DeFi cycle may be deflating now, but the idea of decentralized finance is compelling and here to stay - and big data is right at the heart of it.

From understanding behaviour, patterns to KYC/AML compliance and reliable pricing feeds, big data is everywhere in DeFi. Oracles are an especially important use case with projects like Chainlink, Band Protocol, Tellor and Kylin Network – all of which have been on the market for a while and are growing.

A quantifiable investment

The size of the addressable market for big data blockchain projects is attractive, but what is even more attractive is that they can evolve into quantifiable businesses.

It is difficult or even impossible to apply traditional financial metrics to most altcoins, as there is no revenue. The price reflects hope, not fundamentals. Projects with real economic activity, on the other hand, can be analyzed - you can calculate profit per token or price per token in the same way you would for publicly listed stocks.

This makes big data blockchain projects a more conservative and reliable investment than tokens in the hype cycle. Some think this is a disadvantage, but they are perfect for building a diverse portfolio of lunar shots and reliable winners. Industry resources such as CoinGecko have already realized this trend and are monitoring big data projects as a niche that can become the "next big thing" that will overshadow even DeFi.

Blockchain data projects to watch

The three fastest development big data blockchain projects are Ocean Protocol, Quadrant, and Streamr. All three have real-world apps and real use cases.

Ocean Protocol

Ocean Protocol helps developers create markets and other applications to publish, exchange, and consume data privately and securely. It also provides access control, data science, and other products that developers can use in their applications.

The Ocean Protocol got off to a troubled start with a controversial IEO and community shenanigans. However, the errors were rectified by the fact that the project rose to the top 100 in CoinMarketCap. The project currently has a market capitalization of more than $130 million.

The project roadmap points to the development of a community market in 2020, extensive improvements in the core of ocean protocol, new applications and improved infrastructure, and incentive to provide data.

Quadrant Protocol

Quadrant Protocol is the blockchain arm of Quadrant Global, a big data enterprise location company that has been around since 2014. After conducting an ICO in October 2018, the Quadrant Protocol was flying under the radar with little communication. Unfortunately, this is clearly reflected in the token price, as the project has a relatively low market value and trading volumes.

On the other hand, the company mentioned during its last AMA that the platform is already profitable. If they can find a better tokenomics model, the project may attract more interest from investors.

Recently, quadrant protocol began to communicate more. Your updated project roadmap includes four new initiatives with real-world applications. The first to be released is Cape Canaveral, a consent management platform that introduces transparency into data supply chains by registering user consent in the chain.

The Baikonur Project also looks interesting because it directly involves the community - they can collect and validate location data using a mobile app and be rewarded in the project's native token.

Streamr

Streamr is an open-source software project distributed with contributors worldwide. It is positioning itself as the missing link in creating a real-time data protocol for the decentralized web. Streamr is listed on Binance with a market capitalization of just over $30 million.

The project roadmap is ambitious and includes the refinement of its internal economy and scalability research, which proves that the network has low and predictable latency. Another milestone for them is the creation of data unions for redistribution of data ownership.

Conclusion

In light of the growing importance of big data in all sectors, blockchain projects targeted at this field may be among the best performing. They have the opportunity to capture shares of a multibillion-dollar market and attract new money to crypto.

Projects such as Ocean and Streamr, both listed in Binance and with solid performance, can attract existing traders in the hope of making a profit from fluctuations. At the same time, the quadrant protocol seems to be undervalued without listings on major exchanges.

As blockchain continues to mature, we expect market cycles to become a little less volatile. There's always a "shiny new object" like ICOs or vegetable chips, but at the end of the day, adoption and money talk.

source: dailyhodl.com

As the customer experience moves more and more online, convenience is becoming the top priority. Consumers are accustomed to next-day delivery and orders from their seats - and are unwilling to compromise these benefits.

When today's consumers venture into the store, they are less happy to queue or wait for a slow transaction to complete than ever before. So much so that they can get completely discouraged if they have to fish a card or enter their PIN. The advent of Apple and Samsung Pay has done little to help in this phenomenon, with customers' devices memorizing payment details for them.

As a result, retailers now have the task of providing a frictionless experience if they want to stay competitive and ensure conversions in this modern and fast-paced world. In addition, as digital payment systems developed, data regulations have also evolved, adding another consideration to retailers' dishes. The system needs to have data security, but without sacrificing perfection.

Ensuring customer safety is essential to prevent retailers from having to deal with unnecessary reversals and refunds, as well as to reduce the risk of a potentially catastrophic data leak. It sounds like a lot, but fortunately, this is not something retailers need to tackle on their own. That's where the right payment provider can help.

More and more retailers are reaping the benefits of tokenization to satisfy this perfect but still secure dichotomy. Let's take a closer look at how tokenization works, the benefits it can provide, and how retailers can implement it.

So what is tokenization?

In a nutshell, tokenization is a system that allows the customer to save their data with a retailer for later use. This means that in the future, whenever you want to buy something with your business, your payment details will already be stored, making the checkout process much more smooth.

On the client-side, they'll see this as a "remember me" button on the web page where they entered their payment details. Behind the scenes, Ingenico will save this raw payment data to protected servers, scramble the actual details into a code, and send the "token" to the retailer. The retailer then links the token to the customer's profile so that, on the next purchase, the customer does not have to enter the card details again.

Tokenization is not limited to the desktop; it can also enable the seamless interaction of an omnichannel shopping experience. For example, if a customer buys something in the store but then calls a call centre to make a return, the call centre can track and refund the purchase using the token generated during the in-store transaction. Or, for a click-and-collect solution, tokenization can allow a store to match a customer with their online purchase by scanning the card details.

As a result, tokenization can help retailers implement stronger fraud management, enabling them to better recognize genuine customers as well as allow them to perform customer analytics across channels.

How can tokenization benefit your business?

We've seen how tokenization allows retailers to store online customer details securely and enable quick checkouts with one click. Another advantage is the data insights it provides, which can help retailers get extra information about their customers and adjust their operations to fit in. This data can help retailers identify the origin and end of the payment journey, for example, or track the percentage of online sales compared to in-store sales.

In addition, the use of tokenization can allow retailers to implement recurring payments and/or subscriptions, so customers don't have to keep asking for something they want to buy repeatedly. It also plays an important role in loyalty and rewards programs for consumers – all valuable information gained from tokenization helps retailers personalize the consumer experience.

The next step is how to implement this. Partnering with a provider with the right payment processing delivery experience, including tokenization, online, through omnichannel solutions, means they know and can help retailers know what customers need as well as scale.

Taking advantage of this means retailers can provide a fast and secure channel payment experience that gives customers the ease of use to make the checkout experience as fast and as easy as possible. It can also improve customer loyalty by encouraging you to continue shopping with the same retailers, using tokenization to provide a smoother and more intuitive customer experience.

source: banklesstimes.com

• A new report by the Boston Consulting Group describes that payment providers like Ripple outnumber banks in many industries.
• Banks must develop new technologies to keep up with the latest advances.

Cryptocurrencies have become an integral part of today's financial market and are in direct competition with traditional payment providers such as banks or world-renowned payment networks such as SWIFT or Mastercard. According to a new report by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), banks should develop strongly, otherwise, new young talent in the sector, such as Ripple, will surpass them.

Ripple and other better payment providers than banks in many areas

Over more than 34 pages, the report examines the advantages and disadvantages of traditional and new payment systems and also thoroughly analyses new technologies. According to BCG, blockchain technology is particularly forward-looking as it delivers much better performance in many areas than old banking technologies.

Companies like Ripple outperform banks in terms of speed, price, API integration and overall customer experience. Therefore, BCG calls on banks and other large financial institutions to develop new solutions, because otherwise, young projects like Ripple or Earthport will rob their customers:

''Card networks, fintech and infrastructure providers such as Ripple and Earthport have entered the international payments market in recent years. These challenges often outperform banks in speed, pricing, API integration, and overall customer experience. To stay competitive, banks will need to change their approach.''

For a long time, SWIFT and Co. were considered an absolute reference in the sector and were incomparable. This can be seen in the fact that more than 11,000 financial institutions worldwide are connected to the SWIFT API and that their existing services continue to function seamlessly in their current state. However, BCG claims that new blockchain-based payment solutions offer significant cost and speed advantages:

''Many banks have introduced SWIFT gpi to improve the speed and tracking of international payments. But with challengers providing convenient solutions like 'payment solicitation' that facilitate remittance and reconciliation, banks need to keep updating their own offerings.''

To keep up with the current trend, banks must reduce their cost base, increase operational efficiency, and completely modernize their core business processes. In this context, it may be important to explore new ways to optimize your own business processes with Fintech partners such as Ripple.

The digitization of all processes, from the sending of the transaction to the receipt, should also be fundamentally reviewed to offer the end customer the best possible experience. It is also important to implement a simple and reliable KYC process:

''In addition, as part of their corresponding bank realignment, wholesale banks should consider streamlining the number of corresponding banks in high-risk jurisdictions in order to minimize compliance risks and costs. They should also consider applying global standards to know their client (KYC), screening sanctions, and monitoring transactions to identify money laundering and terrorist financing attempts.''

Ripple and the banking sector

Ripple is already working successfully with several banks, such as Banco Santander. Europe's largest bank uses Ripple's technology in its One Pay FX App, which can process international payments in real-time. Ana Botín, CEO of Banco Santander, says that 50% of the total volume of the transaction is now processed via One Pay FX.

In addition, Ripple has met with several representatives of several central banks in the past, but no sensitive information about cooperation or similar has been disclosed at these meetings to date.

source: crypto-news-flash.com

Key points

• Facebook's plan to launch its own digital currency "Libra" has also increased the stakes for global central banks
• The ECB said this new form of currency will allow fast, easy and secure payments
• Sweden's Riksbank, the National Bank of Switzerland and the People's Bank of China have seriously considered the formation of their own digital currencies
• The European Central Bank (ECB) said this year that it can seek to develop a "digital euro" currency and make it accessible to all citizens and businesses, creating many benefits and risks.

The possible emergence of a "virtual euro" comes at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed many consumers away from handling paper money, while private cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin have become more prominent. In addition, Facebook's (FB) plans to launch its own digital currency "Libra" has also increased the stakes for global central banks.

The ECB said this new form of currency would allow quick, easy and secure payments, but it would only complement the use of money, not replace it.

The issuance and transfer of digital euros would probably be done using the technology known as a blockchain, which supports Bitcoin.

Other central banks, including Sweden's Riksbank, the National Bank of Switzerland and the People's Bank of China, seriously considered the formation of their own digital currencies and moved on with these projects.

"Europeans are increasingly turning to digital in the ways they spend, save and invest," said ECB President Christine Lagarde. "Our role is to ensure confidence in money. This means ensuring that the euro is suitable for the digital age. We must be prepared to issue a digital euro if necessary"

Fabio Panetta, a member of the ECB's executive board, said a digital euro would "strengthen the international role of the euro."

Panetta told the Financial Times: "We have observed a decline in demand for money as a means of payment … It would not be wise not to be ready to do as much as possible to provide as soon as possible a [digital] means of payment by the central bank in case people request these services. "

The central bank continues to study the feasibility and effectiveness of a digital euro and seek public comment. The process can take more than a year and a half.

Martin Sandbu, the FT's European economics commentator, wrote that a digital euro will surely arrive, perhaps by the end of 2025.

"There is an [competitive] advantage for countries that are the pioneers of official electronic money, first because it contributes to an environment in which local companies can invent related financial technology that is based on a digital payment system and, second, because users tend to take more convenient payment solutions as soon as they are available - for international payments in particular", wrote Sandbu. "No central bank would like to be seen as an obstacle to the competitiveness of fintech or witness its constituents opting for alternative currencies in bulk"

Euractiv.com also pointed out that a digital euro would allow the public to "have deposits directly at the ECB" for the first time, a safer alternative for commercial banks (which may collapse) or to withhold money (which can be lost or stolen)

But a digital euro can create other problems. For example, as the FT noted, lack of privacy - consumer spending patterns would likely be monitored by the central bank. In another worst-case scenario, a financial crisis could force customers to suddenly move huge money from commercial banks to a digital currency backed by the ECB.

In addition, a digital euro may be vulnerable to cyber-attacks.

Lukas Wiesflecker, DataDrivenInvestor.com, explained how a digital euro would work.

"The ECB provides every citizen with an account where the digital euro is stored. In other words, a kind of wallet," he wrote. Payment could then be made entirely just by smartphones"

But Wiesflecker pointed out some inherent risks.

"Because institutions have little experience with digital currencies, the impact of a virtual primary bank currency on financial stability is uncertain," he warned. "In addition, there is, of course, data protection and IT security. A digital euro can only... operate on the basis of a secure technical infrastructure. Otherwise, there would be a high risk of theft and digital fraud"

source: ibtimes.com

While there is nothing official yet, a US digital dollar has become a legitimate discussion in cryptocurrency, to supplement the money.

In a historic move, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said on Monday that the Fed is open to collaboration with private companies in creating a U.S. digital dollar. Could this be an official cryptocurrency?

Not yet. While Powell was sure the United States government was not committed to launching a cryptocurrency, he took note of projects such as Facebook's Libra, which prompted banks to take a closer look at the digital currency space. The President of the Federal Reserve also pointed out that there are issues and issues related to monetary policy, including monetary policy limitations. He also mentioned that cybernetics and illegal activities should be a concern.

Powell said at an International Monetary Fund panel:

"We will have many conversations with industry and the involvement of the parties investigated, and this will help us in our work with international currencies and payments. In fact, I think this is one of the issues that is more important for the United States to get right than to be the first"

Real-time payments have been a problem for the Fed, as the U.S. is behind other countries in space. Mexico launched Cobro Digital, which allows users and merchants to make online transactions at digital weights last year, and China began testing a digital renminbi. The Bahamas is the last country to enter the digital fray, announcing on Tuesday that it would launch a national digital currency later this month.

While the Fed is not committing to a digital dollar at the moment, they are in full swing to bolster payments in real-time. The Fed expects to maintain its FedNow system to allow real-time payments 24 hours a day, no later than 2024. So far, the project still seems to be working on time, according to those who are involved.

Despite the Fed's neutral response, a U.S. digital dollar seems almost inevitable. Last January, a survey of 60 central banks conducted by the Bank of International Settlements found that 80% of central banks work in their own digital currencies. That said, only 10% of the banks surveyed believe they disclose a digital currency in the short term, and 20% say they plan to launch something in the medium term.

When an official US cryptocurrency will hit the market, no one knows, but don't play for those notes yet. As Powell emphasized in his statements, any digital dollar would serve as a complement to physical money, not a replacement.

Powell also said:

"Unlike some jurisdictions, here in the United States continues to see strong demand for money. We think it's important that any potential CBDC serve as a complement, not a substitute for, money and the private sector's current digital forms of the dollar, such as commercial bank money"

source: theamericangenius.com

Once again, the crypto market is recovering stronger after a bit of a retreat in September, following the uncertainties and irregularities of the upcoming U.S. election. This month, the market seems to find its direction up while the bulls are furious and gaining momentum every day. Once again, the DeFi market is also experiencing a price recovery on various assets, tokens and projects, bringing up the potential of the DeFi market to be among the biggest gainers once again.

But whether in the high or low season, cryptocurrency traders make money regardless of existing market directions, this type of forecasting market is available only on other projects and exchange platforms outside the DeFi market, notably CEXs centralized exchange markets. Plotx, a DeFi prediction market for cryptocurrency traders, is set to change that by once again establishing the dominance of the DeFi market in what appears to be the expected bull run of 2020.

The Plotx prediction market is set to be the link that will connect traders to various Tokens of DeFi projects, so far the only place where you could find traders with the ability to trade in a low, high or neutral direction is in the future or in centralized margin trading exchanges. In fact, Dex platforms where most DeFi tokens are traded do not maintain a portfolio of orders that allows traders to record their price or can set their trades for further execution; usually, trades are made directly from the liquidity pool.

Plotx is a non-custodial prediction tool that allows traders to earn rewards in the high-yield prediction market, allows traders to win in any direction the DeFi market is taking and can generate an incredible amount of money for traders when you take into account the large amount of volatility that exists in the DeFi market.

The cumulative benefits for users of the Plotx prediction platform are as follows:

Automated systems: New markets are created algorithmically, ensuring the creation of a proven fair and decentralized market for traders, facilitating a complete and smooth Onchain forecasting market experience.

Crypto Markets: Plotx was built for mind-focused crypto traders. It is a community-based project, by a team of experienced traders and specialized in cryptocurrency, who are well aware of the need for a simplified prediction algorithm and tools to facilitate fast prediction processes in the market.

Instant rewards: Predictors wouldn't face the hassle of having to wait for an intermediary to credit their rewards, as the Plotx platform is built completely on a chain, on the Ethereum blockchain. As there is no intermediary, payment is therefore fast and secure.

Liquidity mining: interested users can participate in the liquidity mining resource of the Forecastplatform Plotx, anyone can earn additional rewards for participation and participation in the liquidity pool.

Quick Response: Instead of having to wait for a longer duration for a successful forecast, Plotx helps Predictors shorten the curve by reducing the duration to markets by 1 hour, 1 day, and 1 week so users don't have to lock their funds for long.

Automated calculations: Embedded in the platform is an automated calculation algorithm that calculates the Onchain forecast for each market, feeding users live real data, obtained for seconds throughout the market at a given instant. This will provide the professional with a better effort to make decisions on site.

How does it work?

Plotx allows users to take positions in the low, high or neutral positions in different markets at the same time, Plotx will be the aggregator of these other forecast markets, simplifying the process, reducing the amount of time that would be spent on these different platforms. Each market is created using the automated market trainer and all transactions are processed on the blockchain for transparency purposes. Rewards are instant, without any form of limitation. Players can also use leverage to manage their risks (predictors are strongly advised to use only what they can lose, as this is the best form of trading action).

The elegance, dark-themed background and features of the Plotx prediction platform make it a great attraction for traders. The fast and intuitive experience of the site will ensure that anyone with a simple ability to predict or trade on any stock exchange or forecasting market is already equipped to make predictions on the Plotx forecasting platform. This fix, the much-needed introduction of this tool, will increasingly stimulate better innovations for the DeFi market.

source: blockmanity.com

Ripple published its third annual report on "Blockchain in Payments" with positive results for the blockchain industry, digital asset XRP and cryptocurrencies. The report is based on research conducted from August to September this year. The 854 respondents are involved in providing payment services and are spread across 22 countries.

In addition, Ripple revealed that the companies surveyed range in size in terms of revenue from $500.000 to more than $10 billion. In this sense, Ripple makes a comparison with the 2019 results and states that the blockchain industry is in its final stages of adoption. In the current context, with the global economy affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, the report states:

"Commercial interest in digital assets, when combined with blockchain payment technology, has grown dramatically as early users seek to increase the speed in payment settlements."

In this sense, the report indicates that 79% of participants have shown growth by entering untapped markets and improving their services and products. Of all sectors, the most important was innovation in payment technology, according to 44% of participants. The companies surveyed say their customers expect them to "continue to innovate in payment technologies."

In terms of adoption, the report found that 34% of participants are in the production of some solution with blockchain technology. Therefore, this sector has taken a leap between "the first to adopt the early majority". 24% of participants expect to complete production and pass a pilot test and proof of concept over the next two years, as shown below.

In emerging markets, 37% of participants are in production to implement blockchain technology. Asia Pacific (APAC) is the leading region in these terms with 41%, followed by Latin America (LATAM) by multiplying its share in blockchain production by 6. Then the Middle East and Africa (MEA) with 24% of production and a possible increase to 29%, as shown in the following chart.

XRP and its role in the growing adoption of blockchain

Another key point revealed by the Ripple report is the diversification of use cases by companies using blockchain technology. 98% of participants using a blockchain have deployed technology for supply chain management (62%), trade and finance (51%). So it's not surprising that 99% of participants said their company could use a digital asset like XRP to process payments or as a means of exchange. In contrast to the 2018 results, this number grew by 94%.

Among the strengths that participants said blockchain technology has, the speed to make international transactions received 40% of the responses. In this respect, the XRP digital asset and its instant transfers with Ripple's On-Demand Liquidity solution offer the most important benefit to the responding companies. Along with cost (32%) reliability (27%), as shown below.

Among the obstacles to blockchain adoption, participants mentioned the lack of regulatory clarity, the amount of investment needed to implement technology and security. However, the results show that digital assets like XRP are increasingly becoming an important part of blockchain industry development. The report concludes:

"Emerging markets are leading the charge, recognizing that responsible use of blockchain and digital assets can unleash the enormous potential for its economy. Undoubtedly, both will generate greater financial inclusion and economic growth, not unlike the impact of the Internet. Mature markets can also benefit."

source: crypto-news-flash.com

Chinese citizens can now use the central bank's digital currency at gas stations without an Internet connection. Guangdong Petroleum launched the pilot program for the digital yuan on October 13.

In Shenzhen, citizens can use digital currency for retail payments, such as refuelling at eleven different gas stations. For payments, digital currency holders will have to scan the QR code provided by gas stations. In terms of scanning QR code, the app will work similarly to Apple Pay.

Dual Offline technology

Offline processing is the most interesting and remarkable feature of the digital yuan app. To process, he does not need an internet connection like the WeChat payment application. What's more, it doesn't even need mobile signals for payments, making it a “dual offline” app. Citizens only need charged cell phones to make transactions faster and safer.

People using the yuan digital app for gas station payments have expressed very hopeful and positive feedback on this. According to citizens, it takes a few seconds to complete the transactions. It is possible to use items to purchase digital yuan for refuelling at gas stations in Shenzhen.

Pilot test expansion to more than 110 gas stations

According to the report published by the local news agency, Economic Information Daily, Guangdong Petroleum will expand the digital payments facility in yuan to more than 110 gas stations operating in Shenzhen.

As part of the pilot program of the CBDC project known as Electronic Digital Currency Payment (DCEP), Chinese citizens received $1.5 million in digital currency, the digital yuan. The latest pilot test is part of China's five-year plan, which is working on deploying digital currency and blockchain technology in the country.

According to the Chinese government's plan, the central bank's digital currency is expected to come on stream before the 2022 Winter Olympics. The digital yuan may remove China's dependence on the US dollar.

China is the first country to issue a state-backed digital currency, as it started working on it many years ago when no central bank thought of CBDC. Currently, more than 70 central banks are working in digital currency in one way or another.

source: tokenhell.com

On October 8, 2020, the US Department of Justice (“DOJ”) released the publication “Cryptocurrency: An Application Framework,” (“Framework”) which describes the emerging threats and application challenges associated with cryptocurrency. The DOJ Digital Cyber ​​Task Force produced the Framework to highlight important relationships the DOJ has built with other national and international regulatory and enforcement partners, and its strategic response to address emerging issues related to cryptocurrency and blockchain technology or “Distributed reason” underlying it.

The Structure's stated objective is to ensure that cryptocurrencies and associated technologies are secure and do not jeopardize public or national security. Although the DOJ explicitly recognizes the potential of cryptocurrency in the Framework, it also describes the illicit threats and opportunities that the cryptocurrency provides for nefarious actors. The Framework is divided into three parts.

Part I

Part I of the Framework begins with an overview of the potential threats posed by the use of cryptocurrency and an acknowledgment of the unique challenges it presents due to the inherent resources that may allow illicit use (decentralized operation and a high degree of anonymity). While also describing the legitimate uses of cryptocurrency (for example, allowing worldwide transfers of value without using a financial intermediary, thereby minimizing transaction costs), the report goes on to identify three categories into which illicit uses of a cryptocurrency typically fall:

• Financial transactions associated with the commission of crimes, such as buying and selling drugs or weapons on the dark web, renting servers to commit cybercrimes or soliciting funds to support terrorist activities;
• Money laundering and illegal protection of legitimate tax activities, reporting obligations or other legal requirements; or
• Crimes that directly involve the cryptocurrency market, such as stealing cryptocurrencies from exchanges through hacking or defrauding investors through the use or promise of cryptocurrencies.

Part II

Part II of the Framework describes the legal and regulatory tools available to the DOJ to address these threats. The section describes typical federal crimes accused of misconduct involving cryptocurrency and highlights the DOJ's goal of promoting enforcement by leveraging relationships with other federal regulatory and supervisory agencies, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC") and Treasury Department components, including the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network ("FinCEN"), Foreign Assets Control Office ("OFAC"), Currency Controllership ("OCC") and the Federal Revenue Service (“IRS”). The coordination of the DOJ with state attorney generals and international law enforcement agencies was also highlighted.

Part III

The third and final section of the Framework details the challenges the government faces in applying cryptocurrencies. He points out that complex technologies present new issues for law enforcement and describes the facets of cryptocurrency business models (for example, point-to-point exchanges, Bitcoin kiosks and virtual casinos) and evasive measures (for example, "mixing" cryptography or "falling" assets to hide their origin) that often facilitate criminal activity.

The report ends with responsive strategies that the DOJ is actively employing, including ongoing aggressive investigation and prosecution of malicious actors, maintaining relationships with other enforcement agencies and engaging with the private sector to detect and punish bad actors.

source: jdsupra.com

Global container carriers CMA CGM and Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) have completed the integration process with the blockchain TradeLens, a joint initiative of IBM and Maersk. The top five container shippers announced their partnership with the digital network in May 2019. However, to date, all transactions on the platform have been pilot.

Now that they are in TradeLens, MSC and CMA CGM plan to make data from all their containers available to authorized parties, which should increase the use of the network. IBM says the addition of the two carriers means that data on almost half of the world's ocean container cargo will be available on a single blockchain-based platform.

"Only by working together and agreeing on a shared set of standards and goals can we implement the digital transformation that is now reaching almost every part of the global shipping industry," said Marc Bourdon, SVP of CMA CGM.

The integration process took more than a year and the integration involved the development of new API features. One of the pilots involved 15 customers with more than 3,000 shipments, 100.000 events and 6.000 containers.

Ledger Insights asked IBM about the status of other partner carriers announced. In addition to Maersk, ZIM completed the integration earlier this year. Hapag-Lloyd and ONE are still in the integration process, and IBM did not respond about Pacific International Lines (PIL), which ran an electronic bill of lading test with IBM 18 months ago. Since then, PIL has announced its participation in the Singapore-based GeTS platform, which has its Open Trade Blockchain.

However, the integration of CMA CGM and MSC is an important milestone in the platform's history. Both companies will join Maersk and IBM as TradeLens validators, meaning that "they will have dedicated blockchain nodes against which encrypted data can be validated to ensure authenticity as original documents in good faith issued by each of these operators ". IBM confirmed that they are the only validators other than IBM and Maersk.

In addition, CMA CGM and MSC will promote TradeLens resources and membership to their customers and business partners worldwide, which should further expand the network.

Both shipping companies were also recently involved in a pilot with the port of Rotterdam to use blockchain tokens to authorize the release of containers to transport drivers.

source: ledgerinsights.com