Few new technologies have raised as much discussion as blockchain. One reason is the controversy, concern, and perceived opportunity around blockchain-based cryptocurrencies (such as bitcoin and ether) and crowdfunding via initial coin offerings (ICOs). But what is blockchain’s role in the enterprise?
This article gives some ideas to think about. Take those trends with grain of salt. There will be a crash ans bubble burst on blockchains in few years.
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Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook this week revealed plans to announce details on June 18 and confirmed its cryptocurrency will be a “stablecoin”
What Facebook’s Cryptocurrency Means: 6 Predictions
https://www.forbes.com/sites/caitlinlong/2019/06/09/what-facebooks-cryptocurrency-means-6-predictions/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Larry Cermak / The Block:
Binance announces that it will stop serving trading customers in the US from September; Binance gets ~15% of its traffic from US customers — Binance, the largest crypto-to-crypto exchange by volume, has announced that it will stop serving U.S. individual and corporate customers on its main platform, Binance.com.
U.S. customers to be blocked from trading on Binance.com
https://www.theblockcrypto.com/2019/06/14/us-customers-to-be-blocked-from-trading-on-binance-com/
Quick Take
Binance has announced that it will stop serving US individual and corporate customers on Binance.com in September
Non-verified U.S. customers will likely still be able to bypass the restrictions and trade on Binance.com using a VPN
Binance currently gets approximately 15% of its traffic from U.S. customers
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook announces Libra cryptocurrency: All you need to know
The use cases, technology and motive behind the new digital money
https://techcrunch.com/2019/06/18/facebook-libra/
Facebook has finally revealed the details of its cryptocurrency, Libra, which will let you buy things or send money to people with nearly zero fees. You’ll pseudonymously buy or cash out your Libra online or at local exchange points like grocery stores, and spend it using interoperable third-party wallet apps or Facebook’s own Calibra wallet that will be built into WhatsApp, Messenger and its own app.
Facebook won’t fully control Libra, but instead get just a single vote in its governance like other founding members of the Libra Association, including Visa, Uber and Andreessen Horowitz
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook’s cryptocurrency Libra unveiled
https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/facebook-cryptocurrency-libra-unveiled
Facebook Opens a New Window. is rolling out a new cryptocurrency Opens a New Window. platform that could provide the embattled social media giant with a new revenue stream of historic proportions as it contends with a possible federal antitrust probe and continued scrutiny over its data privacy practices.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook’s Libra coin is crooked developers
They’ll steal your money, not just your data
https://techcrunch.com/2019/06/18/libra-analytica/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Libra currently looks more like a fiat currency than a cryptocurrency
https://techcrunch.com/2019/06/19/libra-currently-looks-more-like-a-fiat-currency-than-a-cryptocurrency/
Facebook unveiled a cryptocurrency called Libra yesterday, as well as the Libra Association, a not-for-profit that will oversee all things Libra. While Libra’s white paper draws a lot of inspiration from other cryptocurrencies, the current governance model and blockchain implementation remind me of banks more than bitcoin.
Permissioned blockchain
you won’t be able to run a node in your backyard. Only founding members of the Libra Association will be able to run a node. There are currently 28 members, such as Vodafone, Mastercard, Visa, Stripe, Uber and Spotify
In other words, it looks like a blockchain, but it’s not a real blockchain. It’s not truly decentralized. It’s not truly open
Facebook is well aware of that, as the company says it plans to let anyone run a node at some point over the next five years
Tomi Engdahl says:
Authorized resellers
The Libra cryptocurrency is a stablecoin, as it is tied to a basket of fiat currencies and securities. So it requires a lot of oversight to make sure that every time the Libra Association mints a Libra
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cloudflare’s Ethereum Gateway
https://blog.cloudflare.com/cloudflare-ethereum-gateway/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://techcrunch.com/2019/06/18/how-facebooks-libra-is-similar-in-concept-and-motivation-to-kiks-kin-cryptocurrency/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wall Street Journal:
Bitcoin rises above $10K for the first time in over a year, as the unveiling of Libra and increased institutional support spur hopes of mainstream adoption — The world’s most popular cryptocurrency gets a boost from Facebook’s plan to launch Libra — Bitcoin rose over $10,000 …
Bitcoin Is Back Above $10,000 and Investors Say This Rally Is Different
The world’s most popular cryptocurrency gets a boost from Facebook’s plan to launch Libra
https://www.wsj.com/articles/bitcoin-is-back-above-10-000-and-investors-say-this-rally-is-different-11561201454
Tomi Engdahl says:
Anna Baydakova / CoinDesk:
FATF says its members, including US and EU countries, should adopt regulations within 12 months requiring crypto exchanges share customer info when moving funds
All Global Crypto Exchanges Must Now Share Customer Data, FATF Rules
https://www.coindesk.com/fatf-crypto-travel-rule
A powerful intergovernmental organization devoted to combating money laundering and terrorism financing has finalized its recommendations on regulating cryptocurrencies for its 37 member countries.
As expected, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards released Friday include a controversial requirement that “virtual asset service providers” (VASPs), including crypto exchanges, pass information about their customers to one another when transferring funds between firms.
Calling the “threat of criminal and terrorist misuse of virtual assets” a “serious and urgent” issue, FATF said in a public statement that it will give countries 12 months to adopt the guidelines, with a review set for June 2020.
The so-called travel rule is a longstanding requirement for international banks when sending each other money on customers’ behalf. But blockchain industry advocates argued it would be onerous if not impossible to put into practice with crypto, harmful to user privacy, and counter-productive to law enforcement goals.
Individuals are not VASPs if they use crypto to buy goods or services or if they make “a one-off exchange or transfer,” FATF said.
FATF is also giving countries the option of requiring foreign VASPs that provide products or services within their jurisdiction to register with the appropriate authorities.
Short-term impact?
Data analytics company Chainalysis, among others, has warned that instead of more transparency, the now-official rule would spur services to shut down or drop off the radar.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nearly all Bitcoin trades are fake, apparently
https://www.technologyreview.com/f/613201/nearly-all-bitcoin-trades-are-fake-apparently/
There have been suspicions for a while that the markets are overinflated. In fact, fears of market manipulation have held up regulatory approval for a number of proposed Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), frustrating many enthusiasts who believe that the eventual approval of ETFs will spur broader adoption of the technology by investors.
Now, in a twist, a company hoping to list an ETF has reported to US financial regulators that around 95% of all Bitcoin trading volume has been faked by exchanges.
Faked by Unregulated Exchanges, Study Finds
https://www.wsj.com/articles/most-bitcoin-trading-faked-by-unregulated-exchanges-study-finds-11553259600
Bitwise’s research casts new doubts about fraud in nascent market
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nathaniel Popper / New York Times:
Executives at seven of Facebook’s Libra partners say the companies have only signed nonbinding agreements and have not yet paid to join the Libra Association — SAN FRANCISCO — One of the biggest selling points of Facebook’s ambitious plans for its new cryptocurrency, Libra …
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/25/technology/facebook-libra-cryptocurrency.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Golnaz Esfandiari / Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty:
Iran’s Energy Ministry says that power consumption jumped 7% in June, largely due to Bitcoin mining, making the power grid unstable, seizes 1,000 Bitcoin miners
The Bitcoin Bite: Iran Says Power Grid Hit By Cryptocurrency-Mining Surge
https://www.rferl.org/a/the-bitcoin-bite-iran-says-power-grid-hit-by-cryptocurrency-mining-surge/30024290.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Daniel Palmer / CoinDesk:
Walmart China uses VeChainThor blockchain to show customers the path a food product took, from its source to the shelves, with 23 product lines listed now
Walmart China Teams with VeChain, PwC on Blockchain Food Safety Platform
https://www.coindesk.com/walmart-china-teams-with-vechain-on-blockchain-food-safety-platform
Walmart China has launched a blockchain-based platform aimed to address food safety concerns in the country.
Announced Tuesday in a press release, the Chinese arm of the U.S. supermarket giant said it has teamed up with blockchain project VeChain, PwC and others on the initiative, which comes as the latest in a line of food tracking projects launched by the firm.
The new Walmart China Blockchain Traceability Platform already boasts 23 product lines tested and listed, VeChain said, with another 100 planned by the end of the year across 10 product categories including fresh meat, rice, mushrooms, cooking oil and more.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook Libra Cryptocurrency Being Put on Hold by House Lawmakers
https://www.mobileappdaily.com/facebook-libra-cryptocurrency-project-on-hold
Senate Banking Chair Mike Crapo has also scheduled a meeting over Facebook cryptocurrency concerns.
In a blow to Facebook’s aim to kick-off with its proposed cryptocurrency project Libra, House Democrats have officially directed Facebook to put the development of Libra cryptocurrency project on hold. It will also clasp Calibra, a digital wallet complimenting Libra.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://techcrunch.com/2019/06/23/whos-going-to-use-the-big-bad-libra/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.economist.com/leaders/2019/06/20/facebook-wants-to-create-a-global-currency
Tomi Engdahl says:
This Guy Mined Bitcoin With a Computer That Helped NASA Land on the Moon
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/d3nqk7/this-guy-rigged-an-apollo-guidance-computer-to-mine-bitcoin
An Apollo Guidance Computer would need a billion times the age of the universe to mine a single block.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Trump calls Libra a bank. Libra says nope
Facebook answers how Libra taxes and anti-fraud will work
https://techcrunch.com/2019/07/12/facebook-libra-taxes-trump/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Donald Trump Just Made Bitcoin A 2020 Election Issue
https://www.forbes.com/sites/billybambrough/2019/07/13/donald-trump-just-made-bitcoin-a-2020-election-issue/?utm_source=FACEBOOK&utm_medium=social&utm_term=Valerie/#76616c657269
Tomi Engdahl says:
Finanssivalvonta antoi maksulaitoksen toimiluvan ensimmäistä kertaa kryptovaluutta-alan yritykselle
Luvan saanut yritys on ensimmäinen Suomessa ja Pohjoismaissa sekä kolmas yritys Euroopassa.
https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-10878776
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cryptocurrency Crimefighter Chainalysis Becomes First Blockchain Company To Make Next Billion-Dollar Startups List
https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeldelcastillo/2019/07/16/cryptocurrency-crimefighter-chainalysis-joins-next-billion-dollar-startups/
Two years ago, Jonathan Levin testified in front of a U.S. financial services panel that his little-known company, Chainalysis, had located 650,000 missing bitcoin stolen from Mt Gox, then the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world. His sleuthing uncovered $1.2 billion in bitcoin (or $6.5 billion in current prices) investigators thought was lost for good. Not so, Levin told the stunned panel. He had found the money — and Chainalysis had found its calling, as a tool to crack crypto crime.
Tomi Engdahl says:
How Leading Enterprises Are Building Blockchain Innovation On AWS
https://www.forbes.com/sites/amazonwebservices/2019/06/24/how-leading-enterprises-are-building-blockchain-innovation-on-aws/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Blow To Bitcoin As Top Accountants Make Serious Facebook Warning
https://www.forbes.com/sites/billybambrough/2019/07/23/blow-to-bitcoin-as-top-accountants-make-serious-facebook-warning/
Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies have been largely ignored by the world’s regulators over the last ten years, with only some small attempts to protect investors from wild bitcoin price swings and dodgy crypto exchanges.
Now, forensic accountancy firm BTVK has warned the bitcoin and crypto “wild west” could be coming to an end, with global regulators closing in on bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchanges as a result of the spotlight brought by Facebook’s libra project.
Tomi Engdahl says:
10,000 IRS Letters Hunt Crypto Use: Even If You Don’t Receive One, Here’s What To Do
https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2019/07/27/10000-irs-letters-hunt-crypto-use-even-if-you-dont-receive-one-heres-what-to-do/?utm_source=FACEBOOK&utm_medium=social&utm_term=Bonnie/#626f6e6e696
Tomi Engdahl says:
China’s official digital currency is nearly ready
https://engt.co/2yTcQrS
As much as China frowns on cryptocurrency, it’s happy to introduce its own form of virtual cash. The People’s Bank of China has revealed that its digital currency “can now said to be ready” after five years of work. Don’t expect it to mimic crypto, however. According to payments Deputy Chief Mu Changchun, it’ll use a more complex structure.
There’s no mention of just when the currency would be ready.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Walmart Files Patent for Blockchain-Backed Drone Communication
https://www.coindesk.com/walmart-files-patent-application-for-blockchain-backed-drone-communication
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook’s Libra Association is being investigated by EU antitrust regulators
https://engt.co/2zeZUfO
Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency project is being probed again, this time by European Union antitrust regulators. The European Commission said it is “currently investigating potential anti-competitive behavior,” related to the Libra Association, Bloomberg reports. In a questionnaire sent out this month, the EU authority expressed concerns that Libra would unfairly shut out rivals.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Crypto means cryptotheology
https://techcrunch.com/2019/08/25/crypto-means-cryptotheology/?tpcc=ECFB2019
Cryptocurrencies are a religion as much as they are a technology. They almost have to be, given their adherents’ gargantuan ambition of fundamentally changing how the world works. This means they attract charlatans, lunatics, frauds, and false prophets, and furious battles are waged over doctrinal hairspliitting; but it also means they inspire intransigent beliefs which can, and do, unify many thousands of wildly different people across continents and time zones.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Australian who says he invented bitcoin ordered to hand over up to $5bn
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/aug/28/australian-who-says-he-invented-bitcoin-ordered-to-hand-over-up-to-5bn
US court orders Craig Wright to share cryptocurrency haul with the estate of American programmer David Kleiman
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Australian man who claimed to have invented cryptocurrency bitcoin has been ordered to hand over half of his alleged bitcoin holdings, reported to be worth up to $5bn.
The IT security consultant Craig Wright, 49, was sued by the estate of David Kleiman, a programmer who died in 2013, for a share of Wright’s bitcoin haul over the pair’s involvement in the inception of the cryptocurrency from 2009 to 2013.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/aug/28/australian-who-says-he-invented-bitcoin-ordered-to-hand-over-up-to-5bn
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hyperledger Unanimously Approves First Ethereum Codebase For Enterprises
http://on.forbes.com/6183EfYIT
“Historically, we have seen more demand for the permissioned networks because of the different features enterprises don’t want to share,” says Grace Hartley, an operations lead at ConsenSys. “But we’re seeing now, and we think Hyperledger will be a part of this, that the mainnet compatibility will become more of a player for enterprise use cases.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
As global central banks grapple with Facebook’s plans to create a cryptocurrency similar to bitcoin but backed with traditional currency, sources say China is taking a big lead with plans to disperse its own state-backed cryptocurrency to 1.3 billion people.
Alibaba, Tencent, Five Others To Receive First Chinese Government Cryptocurrency
http://on.forbes.com/6189EfRKV
The Beijing headquarters of China’s central bank, the People’s Bank of China, where research into the technology behind bitcoin is about to culminate in an entirely new kind of cryptocurrency backed by the government.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Trust and transparency in supply chain models is essential to creating an inclusive economy that promotes social equality, as well as reduces waste by accurately aligning the supply and demand.
Accenture And Amazon Managed Blockchain Connecting Small-Scale Producers Into The Value Chain
https://www.forbes.com/sites/amazonwebservices/2019/08/28/accenture-and-amazon-managed-blockchain-connecting-small-scale-producers-into-the-value-chain/?utm_source=FBPAGE&utm_medium=social&utm_content=2596147282&utm_campaign=sprinklrForbesMainFB#41077cb23adc
Accenture’s vision of the circular supply chain combines supply chain, blockchain, identity, biometrics, and payment capabilities. To make this vision a reality, Accenture is working with AWS, using services such as Amazon Managed Blockchain.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hyperledger is a set of open source tools aiming to build a robust, business-driven blockchain framework. https://red.ht/2NFwDUc
An introduction to Hyperledger Fabric
https://opensource.com/article/19/9/introduction-hyperledger-fabric?sc_cid=7016000000127ECAAY
Tomi Engdahl says:
Someone made a single bitcoin transaction of over a billion dollars
https://boingboing.net/2019/09/10/someone-made-a-single-bitcoin.html
I would say 94,504 bitcoins is real folding money, buy you can’t fold bitcoins. In any case, someone moved $1,018,147,900 worth of bitcoin between wallets and no one knows for sure who it was.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Brian Behlendorf talks about starting Apache, the tension between pragmatism and idealism, and why he’s excited about blockchain. https://red.ht/32InRc6
Tomi Engdahl says:
Bitcoin Market Falls Sharply As Litecoin Suddenly Crashes
https://www.forbes.com/sites/billybambrough/2019/09/23/bitcoin-market-falls-sharply-as-litecoin-suddenly-crashes/?utm_source=FACEBOOK&utm_medium=social&utm_term=Valerie/#76616c657269
Bitcoin and cryptocurrency market watchers were on high alert today as the eagerly-anticipated Bakkt crypto platform went live.
The bitcoin price failed to perform, however, with bitcoin losing around 2% of its value since Bakkt began trading its “physically” settled bitcoin futures contracts, with some $8 billion wiped from the wider cryptocurrency market today.
Meanwhile, litecoin, the fifth largest cryptocurrency by market value, has suddenly gone into free fall, losing almost 10% of its value in a matter of minutes.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Telegram’s new TON is about to become the biggest blockchain in the world. https://decrypt.co/9637/telegram-slips-past-regulators-busy-trashing-libra
Tomi Engdahl says:
Huge Bitcoin Mining Farm Burns Down in China, Destroys $10M in Computers
https://interestingengineering.com/huge-bitcoin-mining-farm-burns-down-in-china-destroys-10m-in-computers?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Article&utm_campaign=organic&utm_content=Oct02
Video has appeared of the blaze at Innosilicon’s enormous data center in China
Bitcoin ablaze
While Innosilicon has not confirmed the fire took place, plenty of bitcoin mining experts are speculating about the effects it has had on the market, as The Independent reports.
Some experts say the loss to the bitcoin mining network might have actually contributed to bitcoin’s recent price rise, which has seen its value go up by over $500 in the last 24 hours.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Several studies have recently pointed to the damaging environmental effects of bitcoin mining. One suggests that that electricity consumption from Bitcoin mining will be greater than that of the U.S. by 2020.
Another study, published last year in the journal Joule, estimated that Bitcoin networks the world over consumed about 2.55 gigawatts of electricity and would soon reach 7.67 gigawatts.
https://interestingengineering.com/huge-bitcoin-mining-farm-burns-down-in-china-destroys-10m-in-computers?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Article&utm_campaign=organic&utm_content=Oct02
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cryptocurrencies
The World’s Most-Used Cryptocurrency Isn’t Bitcoin
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-01/tether-not-bitcoin-likely-the-world-s-most-used-cryptocurrency
Controversial stablecoin tops Bitcoin in dollar trading volume
Opaque nature favored by traders raises regulator concerns
What’s the world’s most widely used cryptocurrency? If you think it’s Bitcoin, which accounts for about 70% of all the digital-asset world’s market value, you’re probably wrong.
data from CoinMarketCap.com show that the token with the highest daily and monthly trading volume is Tether, whose market capitalization is more than 30 times smaller. Tether’s volume surpassed that of Bitcoin’s for the first time in April and has consistently exceeded it since early August at about $21 billion per day, the data provider says.
With Tether’s monthly trading volume about 18% higher than that of Bitcoin, it’s arguably the most important coin in the crypto ecosystem. Tether’s also one of the main reasons why regulators regard cryptocurrencies with a wary eye, and have put the breaks on crypto exchange-traded funds amid concern of market manipulation.
Tether is the world’s most used stablecoin
“For many people in Asia, they like the idea that it’s this offshore, opaque thing out of reach of the U.S. government,”
Asian traders account for about 70% of all crypto trading volume, according to Allaire, and Tether was used in 40% and 80% of all transactions on two of the world’s top exchanges, Binance and Huobi, respectively,
Tomi Engdahl says:
How Telegram quietly snuck its blockchain past regulators
TON will be the largest blockchain ever when it launches next month, but it’s not on regulators’ radars.
https://decrypt.co/9637/telegram-slips-past-regulators-busy-trashing-libra
Tomi Engdahl says:
97% of South Korean Cryptocurrency Exchanges in Danger of Shutting Down: Report
https://ethereumworldnews.com/97-of-south-korean-cryptocurrency-exchange-in-danger-of-shutting-down-report/?fbclid=IwAR1MUoZhHpa7N6m8uK08rSgINA8vuGHaj1dEKifAPyeUIWLGTEQleLN5jWM
South Korea’s regulatory authorities have strongly favored backing blockchain-related projects over decentralized cryptocurrencies. Some recent events confirm that the nation’s government is more supportive of distributed ledger technology (DLT) itself rather than speculative tokens.
Prixbit shut down in August “due to negative internal and external influences,”
Korean regulators introduced real-name accounts for crypto traders as part of a nationwide anti-money laundering (AML) effort in January of last year. However, only the four largest exchanges have been able to engage in banking relationships.
Local crypto markets must now share users’ transaction data with financial institutions.
According to Jong-baek, “transactions of cryptocurrencies even with real-name basis could be vulnerable to money laundering, terror or other illegal activities.”
However, these types of accounts can expose trading platforms to potential hacks and other security-related issues.
Korean Authorities Are More Supportive of Blockchain Projects, Instead of Cryptocurrencies
Tomi Engdahl says:
The U.S. Government Tried To Shut Down Bitcoin
https://www.forbes.com/sites/billybambrough/2019/10/08/the-us-government-tried-to-shut-down-bitcoin/
Bitcoin conspiracy theorists have long suspected the U.S. government, among others, would like to shut down bitcoin.
Now, it’s been revealed federal prosecutor-turned bitcoin and cryptocurrency expert Katie Haun was asked to look into “shutting down” bitcoin by her boss at the U.S. attorney’s office in 2012.
Governments around the world have struggled with how to regulate and license bitcoin, with some trying to ban it or shut it down.
Others in the U.S. government were quick to tow the line, with U.S. Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin adding his voice to the assault on bitcoin, Facebook’s planned Libra crypto project, and other cryptocurrencies, warning they pose a “national security” risk to the country.
Tomi Engdahl says:
SEC puts a stop to Telegram’s cryptocurrency plans in the US
https://engt.co/2BgWHOd
SEC says Telegram can’t avoid federal securities laws by labeling their product a cryptocurrency.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Credit giant Visa has confirmed it is leaving the Libra Association, started by Facebook to create and manage the libra cryptocurrency.
Visa Exits Facebook’s Libra Cryptocurrency Group
http://on.forbes.com/618611Zro
Tomi Engdahl says:
EBay, Stripe and Mastercard drop out of Facebook’s Libra Association
https://tcrn.ch/35BdhpU
Oof — a week after PayPal announced plans to part ways with Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency project and the related association of the same name, three more names are reportedly breaking away: eBay, Stripe and Mastercard. (Update: and now Visa!)
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cryptocurrency’s bad day continues as the SEC blocks Telegram’s $1.7 billion planned token sale
https://tcrn.ch/2pf7F3E