The Blockchain is the centralised ledger of all transactions across a peer to peer network. Let’s delve into some of the statistics that will help in adumbrating the importance of Blockchain Technology. This infographic portrays the vital role of Blockchain Technology with respect to businesses and its essence in the monetary world today.
Infographic by provided to us by Fullestop, Web Design & Development Company from India: https://www.fullestop.com
This infographic showcase some appealing facts about Blockchain technologies. The technology is not just about Bitcoins and Cryptocurrency. It actually represents the new way technology-recording information and processing technology. Blockchain actually solves the trust issue problem when two-party exchange the monies.
Infographic by provided to us by ARKA Softwares & Outsourcing Pvt. Ltd.
Blockchain, Cryptocurrency and Bitcoin are the terms that have created quite a buzz. They are grossly misinterpreted and seen as some kind of a fad. This is not without a reason though, especially after the Bitcoin value reached the $20,000 mark, triggering anticipation, uncertainty and conjecture. However, experts feel the worth of bitcoin is the least interesting part in the whole game. It is the underlying technology-the blockchain that has more worth and is going to disrupt industries and make them more efficient.
Although blockchain technology has been around for a few years, 2017 was the year that it really took off. This blockchain revolution promises to touch every industry, while a broad range of financial services has already adopted it, blockchain is also finding applications in non-financial industries such as retail, healthcare, real estate, law enforcement, luxury goods, education, Government and other industries. Due to this many business enterprises are now looking to implement it to power up their business and Blockchain Australia can help.
In this article, I will touch on blockchain uses in your business and uncover the benefits blockchain has to offer for different industries. Before moving on to that, let’s take a look on what blockchain technology is.
What is Blockchain Technology?The blockchain is the digital and decentralised ledger that tracks, records and verifies any transaction or contract between two parties. The ledger is public, distributed and encrypted in order to protect it from cybercriminals and highlights the possibility of eliminating the middleman. It is implemented by three technologies, private key cryptography, distributed peer-to-peer network and protocols for performing transactions and ensuring security & record keeping.
The blockchain is all about decentralisation of the data removing reliance on a single storage unit and replacing it with a network of nodes. Not all blockchain projects are the same, some emphasise more on security but lack transparency while others focus on efficiency. Blockchain offers the following benefits and it is up to organisations how they decide to implement them. Take help of One Stop Media here, as they can better advice you on the implementation process.
Transparency – Blockchain is open to scrutiny and anyone using it can track the history of transactions.
Integrity – Possible only when network consensus is achieved a transaction can take place. There is no way for users to operate independently.
Efficiency – The blockchain is immutable and eliminates the need for manual verification or third-party inputs.
Security – Each link in the blockchain is hashed meaning that the technology is free from error as the computing power and effort needed to unencrypt each link outweighs the benefits.
Role of Blockchain Technology in Your Business
The blockchain technology plays many roles in your business and can boost its growth. Various companies like IBM have already adapted bitcoin technology investing millions in cryptocurrency market. Here are a few roles of blockchain technology in your business.
Contract Management and Smart ContractsContractual transactions are time-consuming and can restrict the growth of a business especially the ones that process a lot of communications constantly. As a public ledger, blockchain validates and records all transactions, making it both reliable and secure. This paves the way for smart contracts for almost any industry such as health, insurance, entertainment that hold some sort of digital asset or security such as account information.
Supply Chain ManagementIn supply chain management, blockchain technology allows for immediate status updates and increase the security, cost-effectiveness, traceability and visibility of the supply chain. Simply put, blockchain can track the movement of goods, their origin and quantity. This brings about a new level of transparency simplifying the processes such as production process assurance, ownership transfer and payments.
Payment Processing and CurrencyAs blockchain does not require a third party or central authority for peer-to-peer transactions, it enables fast, secure and cheap funds transfer across the globe. While there are already various services that process international payments but require sizeable fees per transaction. Other P2P payment services have specific limitations such as location restrictions and minimum transaction amount. That is why more businesses are beginning to prefer cryptocurrency for international transfers and getting online cryptocurrency wallet development for their needs. Cryptocurrency wallets are not only more secure, but users are granted freedom for the movement of their funds.
Blockchain Use Cases in Business FINANCIAL SERVICESThis industry was the first one to implement blockchain technology, let’s take a look at some use cases.
Banking – Banking stands to be disrupted by blockchain technology more than any other industry and the benefits offered include reduced costs, easier auditing, better security, improved data quality and shorter settlement times.
Insurance – One of the key opportunities that blockchain technology offers to the insurance industry is data transparency. The benefits blockchain offers here include transparency and relevant record keeping, reduced cost and time of processing insurance claims, reduction in insurance frauds and improved customer engagement.
NON FINANCIAL SERVICES
Healthcare – For medical and healthcare providers, blockchain technology offers outstanding opportunities in storing an enormous amount of records which are tamper proof, performing pre-authorisation payments, processing complex transactions, storage of complete medical histories of patients for use by physicians and reduced time and increased efficiency in providing quotes.
Law Enforcement – As with insurance and banking, law enforcement is generally organised but entails some centralisation of power. The invention of blockchain has spurred a new organisational model leading to reduced transaction cost, better protection of individuals and organisations, automation of contract performance and smart contracts, intellectual property rights and recording and maintaining property ownership and public records.
Real Estate – Vulnerabilities related to real estate include time-consuming paperwork, errors in public records, possibility of illegal deeds and lack of transparency which can lead to issues. Blockchain technology offers a mechanism to mitigate these challenges with increased transparency in all records, prevention of fraud, no third party involvement which reduces costs and automated payments in property investment.
Education – Academic credentials are those pieces of data that need to be universally recognisable and verifiable. Blockchain technology takes the place of paper documentation and case-by-case checking and the benefits are improved verification procedures, reduction of fraudulent claims, transparent data storage and objective and universally recognised credentials and records.
This is how blockchain technology can power up your business and if you are considering implementing blockchain to your business and need advice then blockchain technology consulting experts can help you in successfully implement blockchain.
Singapore, 12 June 2018 – Singapore-based fintech startup, Chynge has announced that it is launching an all-new decentralized remittance platform that will allow users to make instant, free and safe money transfers across borders.
Leveraging on blockchain technology, Chynge’s platform aims to encourage financial inclusion in parts of the world where access to traditional banking services are limited.
The process of transferring money from country to country is hindered by several factors today – It is too
slow because users are required to visit a bank or money transfer operators, which only offer over-the-counter services during business hours and is almost always delayed by long queues; It contains fees which may be hidden or expensive and users may be burdened by costs that can amount to an average of 7%; It is inconvenient as users have to provide additional information and pay extra charges to meet compliance regulations as traditional financial institutions attempt to combat the scourge of illegitimate fund transactions.
As a response to these problems, the Chynge Central solution will implement three key solutions:
Digitising payments
The process begins with the sender placing any amount of legal tender onto the Chynge remittance platform. The legal tender is then converted to XCLP tokens which is recorded on the distributed ledger. The fixed number of tokens are then transmitted over to the country of the recipient. The tokens are then converted into the local currency of the recipient, which is then collected. The whole digitization process of utilizing blockchain technology to facilitate payments will be done on the back end of the system, giving users with no knowledge of cryptocurrencies and its processes a frictionless experience. Notably, the foreign currency ratio does not fluctuate as differences in value are mitigated by trading on cryptocurrency exchanges.
Ensuring liquidity
Chynge has opened bank accounts in all the target destination markets containing local currency, ensuring sufficient liquidity to facilitate transactions. This system allows for funds to remain within the countries and eliminates extra cost and time when transmitting funds from country to country. This method also removes the risk of currency depreciation.
Compliance aided by smart technology
Chynge Central utilises a “Smart Compliance” method, which leverages on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to create comprehensive profiles of users and their transactions. The system monitors for several aspects such as money laundering, terrorism financing, and other financial crimes, and generates a risk rating for each user, and the system is able to refresh itself with updated information to make even more accurate decisions over time.
Driving the remittance service is Chynge’s distributed ledger system that is backed by the Stellar blockchain protocol, and its own token, XCLP. The XCLP is the first payment token in the world that has no FX risk with AML for anti-money laundering.
Chynge founder and CEO Joe Tusin, said, “Digital technology has allowed us to accelerate the growth towards financial inclusion for everyone in the world. A cumbersome remittance service with extra costs affects people in developing countries most severely. What we aim to do with this service is to make the transmission of funds secure, instant, and fee-less. We believe that this will democratise and socialise money, taking power away from the institutions and giving it back to the people. Money saved can be ploughed back to their families and communities raise their standard of living.”
As part of its fast-moving expansion from Singapore to the rest of the world, Chynge has already established itself in the business hubs of Hong Kong, Brunei Darussalam, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates. Discussions with regulators in the European Union (EU) and Asia-Pacific, have also begun as Chynge continues exploring exciting new territories with sound financial reputations.
Chynge will be launching its public token sale on 28 June 2018, with its platform slated to be ready by the fourth quarter of this year.
When a new technology is easily used by the general public, even if they don’t have the necessary expertise or even rudimentary skills, only then can it be said that it has gained mainstream adoption. Blockchain’s decentralized nature is to be commended because of its availability and openness to anyone who wants to participate in the system.
But in its current state, only those with specific skills such as the interpretation and understanding of computer codes are the only ones who are able to maximize the potentialities of Blockchain resources. In other words, when mainstream deployment is concerned, there is a very slow Blockchain adoption rate. Some observers believe that making its user interface friendlier will solve this problem.
The Primary Reason Why The Slow Adoption Rate
Dr. Yassin Hankir, founder and CEO of Savedroid, said that many people who know nothing about Bitcoin, wallets, etc., think that the crypto world is strange. He believes that the hype given to Bitcoin in the recent past has considerably made people aware and attracted to crypto currency. On the other hand, he also laments the adverse effect of its knowledge gap. He suggests that the development of new user interfaces will allow the general public to understand investing in crypto currencies just like ordinary bank savings account.
The main reason why there is reluctance among the masses to involve themselves in crypto investments or transactions is lack of knowledge. To them it is a complex thing that takes time and skill to understand. For example, the simple wallet address usually consists of a long code series which is very hard to memorize. This makes it difficult to learn and makes it inconvenient for a majority of its supposed users.
How It Will Be Done
According to some observers, the very first need of Blockchain is the development of new user interfaces. This will allow easier and faster applications of crypto currency solutions without requiring the user to have special skills in coding or specialization in a computer language. If the creation of new and friendlier user interfaces will start now, we can expect the mainstream adoption of Blockchain.
According to the CEO of Netcoins, Michael Vogel, various developers are now working on creating new applications. One such application will be useful in an accounting system based on Blockchain. If this app is developed, it would enable accountants to create and access financial and accounting reports on the crypto currency. It will be a user-facing app which does not even require elementary coding skills.
This development is also observed and supported by Agrello, an Estonian Blockchain startup. It claimed that technology is already being created that will enable users to formulate legally binding documents without having any legal or coding skills. This tech will also enable the streamlining of the entire process by using automatic allocation of resources. The Estonian startup is actually going to develop a certain graphical interface which will enable users to compose contracts, and then compile them in codes. They are then managed and controlled by agents based on models of BDI-software on behalf of the users.
Jan Van Melle, the CTO of Avesta, stated that for a technology to be adopted by the mainstream, it must satisfy the following conditions:
Melle further explained that the technology doesn’t have to be understood by the general public for it to be accepted. He cited the example of the mobile phone. Most of the people who use their smartphones don’t really know how their devices work. But still they use them many times a day. The Avesta CTO suggested the modification of the technology’s front end and designing it so that it will be more user-friendly. This will encourage the masses to adopt Blockchain.
Melle also suggests that rather than using a code series as identifiers, Blockchain could use simple account numbers to represent individual wallets. In this way, the anonymity feature of the technology will be retained, but its compatibility will be greatly improved.
A Hybrid Approach Will Help
Blockchain is still evolving. It is still open to many modifications since it is not yet a finished product. In that sense, some have suggested for established organizations to think about a hybrid approach. It is a process wherein the centralization and decentralization of the technologies will be balanced while aiming for a future where the structure of the technology is decentralized.
The goal is to have a hybrid model with a structure that willTo the layman, trust is very important, especially when it comes to monetary transactions. Trusting an invisible and anonymous system that he can’t really understand is very far from his mind. Thankfully, this situation is now being changed. One of the examples is Kakao of South Korea. This telecom giant has recently announced that it will introduce its virtual currency to raise fund for its upcoming Blockchain projects.
James Gorski - Author BIO
In addition to being the editor at designrfix and writing about tech, web and graphic design among other subjects, I love “unplug” and be outdoors hiking and enjoying nature. If you can’t reach me, it’s probably because where I am at doesn’t have cell phone reception.
In the past years, a new industry slowly emerged into our lives. You might have heard of it from mainstream media, online advertising or even from some of your friends. Until recently, it was considered to be a joke without a future, a scam, where you could lose all your money, a bubble that many were curious when it would burst. Government officials from all over the world issued warnings to their citizens to be careful of this new industry they did not understand, while entrepreneurs and well established economists and Nobel Prize winners mocked it every time they got the chance.
However, in the past few months, things started to chance. Governments started to discuss how to regulate it, while the richest families on earth reconsidered their position and decided to enter the game, bringing in their rich friends with them.
Bitcoin – The First Cryptocurrency
The story begins with an unknown programmer (or group of people) that goes by the name of Satoshi Nakamoto who designed Bitcoin and created its original reference implementation along with the first blockchain database. Because any great innovation meets a lot of resistance at first, he chose to remain anonymous to this day. Back in 2008, Nakamoto published a paper on the cryptography mailing list at metzdowd.com describing the Bitcoin digital currency.
A few months later, in January 2009, Nakamoto released the first Bitcoin software that launched the network and the first units of the bitcoin cryptocurrency, called Bitcoins. The innovation behind Bitcoin was that it enabled anonymous and secure transactions between people from all over the world without the need of a middleman, exchange commissions or taxes paid to the Governments. This parallel virtual currency was the first one of what today we call “cryptocurrencies”.
The safest and easiest way is to buy Bitcoin from a trusted exchange, like CoinBase or Bitstamp. You can also acquire Bitcoins through a transfer from another person that already has Bitcoins in his electronic wallet. However, some people prefer the third option: mining Bitcoins by using their computers to solve complex math puzzles. Basically, this is how Bitcoins are created.
Like all other cryptocurrencies, Bitcoins are safely stored in a “digital wallet” that acts like a virtual bank account that allows users to send or receive Bitcoins, pay for goods or even save money, which exists either on the cloud, in an user computer or even on a USB drive.
Blockchain Technology
Because cryptocurrencies are decentralized, meaning they do not use a central server, all transactions are recorded through a system that makes sure that every transaction is unique, anonymous and secure.
All transactions are arranged into pieces of data called blocks, that link to one another forming a chain of blocks, or a blockchain. Each transaction is verified, recorded and stored by computers from all over the world that belong to volunteers, also called “miners”.
In the case of Bitcoin, computers need to solve math problems using their computing power, that in return, earn Bitcoins, thus making this a win-win relationship. It is impossible to hack Bitcoins’ blockchain, because it would take a hacker more than 51% of the network to manipulate the blockchain and get a hold of their funds.
In the case of Ethereum, for each transaction, you need to pay Gwei and GAS. There is a strong bond between these two, because GAS is needed by miners to execute a transaction. The more complicated a transaction is, the more GAS it will need. Gwei is how much you are willing to pay per unit of GAS.
There is a wide range of applications for the blockchain technology. It can be used to keep records of events, medical records, identity, transaction processing, documenting provenance, food traceability, voting and many others than can be safely and publicly stored.
Ethereum – The Second Most Popular Cryptocurrency
After Bitcoin entered the scene, there was a chaos between Governments that wanted to shut it down, because they considered it dangerous and illegal to allow parallel decentralized currencies to exist. They searched for a long time for the founder of Bitcoin, in order to execute him as a public example. On the other hand, most people started to mock Bitcoin, because they believe its existence to be a ridiculous scam. However, developers saw the potential of the blockchain technology and an became really excited about it. They started investing, mining and buying Bitcoins when its value was really low and most people did not believe in it. Some of them even borrowed money to do that, and now, most of those people are billionaires. Some developers took the source code of Bitcoin, modified it and created their own cryptocurrencies, such as Litecoin.
However, the problem was that creating, securing and maintaining an entire blockchain network is not an easy task. The solution to this problem was offered in 2013 by the Russian Vitalik Buterin, who created a new blockchain, called Ethereum. Unlike Bitcoin, which is just a virtual parallel cryptocurrency, Ethereum has an entire ecosystem behind it. The genius behind it is that it allows anyone to create blockchain applications on top of it, without needing to have blockchain network themselves. Ethereum has its own build-in programming language that is turing-complete, meaning you can write software with it that can solve any computational problem.
With Ethereum’s language called Solidity, a contract-oriented programming language for writing and implementing smart contracts on various blockchain platforms, anyone can create smart contracts.
Basically, Ethereum elevated the crypto market to the next level, by introducing smart contracts, protocols that defines financial rules with a clear cryptographic way of verifying transactions in a decentralized way. Ethereum has its own token, called Ether (ETH), and, like Bitcoin, it also contains a log of transactions and events, with the difference that it can be filled with a wider variety of event information. As stated above, Ethereum transactions are verified, recorded and stored with the help of miners, that are rewarded in Ether for their services.
NEO – The Ethereum of China
NEO, the largest competitor of Ethereum, is a next generation smart economy platform (formerly Antshares), and means new and young in Greek. NEO is known for having an incredible rise to fame after its explosive growth. Founded in 2014, it was a real-time open source on GitHub in June 2015. NEO functions similar to Ethereum, but there are lots of differences between these two. NEO is a place where you can build decentralized applications and smart contracts on top of the NEO blockchain. Unlike Ethereum, where you need to learn a new coding language to be able to utilize Ethereum blockchain, NEO is significantly easier to use, because you can write code in Java script, C#, and other already existing code languages. One of the drawback of NEO is that it is still pretty new, and that Ethereum had the head start, and has a lot of startups. NEO has two native tokens, NEO (abbreviated symbol NEO) and NeoGas (abbreviated symbol GAS). Holding NEO in your Wallet makes you GAS overtime.
The Future of Cryptocurrency
In the past year, the crypto market has reached another level. There are too many investors, traders and miners, spinning huge amounts of money, that the Governments are seriously considering to implement Blockchain technologies into different fields, entrepreneurs has seriously started to turn their attention towards this, and programmers have started creating more constructive projects. The best part is that these three entities have started to work together, and solid crypto projects started to appear.
We have decided to make a series of articles about Cryptocurrency and Blockchain for beginners. Stay tuned for more!
YOU MIGHT ALSO WANT TO READ: Ethereum mining – A guide for beginners in cryptocurrency - Part II
According to a report from Financial Times, in 2017, in China, the most patent fillings were for Blockchain technology. According to THomson Reuters from the international patent organization, from 406 Blockchain patents, 225 came from China, 91 from US and 13 from Australia.
In 2017, many ICOs launched into the market, and many people invested into crypto, which led to a spectacular rise of many coins. Usually, in January, all coins decrease in value, because the market is falling. If we look on the graphics from the past years, we can follow Bitcoin’s evolution and see that each month, there is a correction.
And speaking of it, Bitcoin is considered the reference coin for many coins, and it is also considered a refuge coin, alongside Ethereum. The crypto market is influenced by news, and considering that in 2017, there was an incredible evolution in crypto, and many coins got to the moon with a their value increasing from 30 to 50 times, having many people consider crypto a legit and profitable investment opportunity.
Taking into account that all games are made on the macro level and people have a tendency to panic over news and political influence, with a few fake news, it is extremely easy to manipulate the masses of people. Some people started to sell their crypto because of rumours, while others for profit. Some want to buy at a low price cryptocurrencies or Bitcoin, and the only way they can do this is when the price is down. In 2017, the price of BTC reached $20 000, and for some people (myself included) it was a true reason of frustration that they didn’t bought it when its price was lower. Even now, there is a crucial moment to buy, because this is one of the last moments when you can buy a huge amount of cryptocurrencies before the regulation of the crypto market.
Japan was the first country who legalized cryptocurrencies, and this is all what 2018 is about. There will probably be a selection of coins, and the only ones that will stand up are those that have solid projects behind them. The new legislation will be used to put an end to scammers and fake projects, and investors will be able to invest in solid projects, that deserve their money.
In the past, those who invested in an ICO used to keep the coin for another 1 or 2 years, to get a higher profit. Now, those who invest in an ICO sell it right after it is listed on an exchange, because they get them through a private pool, or at a discount during the private sale or pre-sale phase, and they choose the immediate profit over the long term one.
In 2018, after G20, the meeting that will take place tomorrow about global economy, the problem of regulating the crypto market will be brought to discussion, and measures will be taken in this direction. Lots of rumors and panic will be created upon this, but there is no need for any of them, because later, people can feel sorry they panicked and sold some coins for little money, and they lost the opportunity of selling them after moon.
Exit polls VCIOM at the presidential elections in Russia 2018 will be held with the use of block-technologies, according to an official press release
The All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion (VCIOM) intends to use the elements of blockade technology when conducting exit polls (exit polls) at the March 18, 2018 presidential elections in Russia.
This project will be one of the first examples in the world of using a distributed data storage system in the framework of electoral studies. The project involves the storage of data obtained as a result of polls at the exit from polling stations, in a special lock-up storage. This will not allow any external changes in the data, reduce the effectiveness of hacker attacks, ensure the transparency of the process of data collection and aggregation. If successful, the project will form the basis of the program "Digital VTsIOM", developed at the Center and planned for implementation in 2018-2021.
Valery Fyodorov, General Director of the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM), notes: "The exitpole on the detachment is a very important project in every sense. Important for our center, for the research industry, for elections in Russia. Until now, at exit polls, we had to actually close the site on election day so that it would not be attacked by DDOS attacks and other attempts at hacking by numerous anonymous hackers. Thanks to the blockbuster, we repeatedly increase the security of our data from cyberattacks, close vulnerabilities in the transmission of information, ensure the safety and integrity of collected data. The poll on the blockade has not yet been implemented in the world: some attempts to try are being made in Estonia and Ireland. We have a real chance on March 18 to show the world exactly how this can be done. "
“First, the South Korean government will pursue the crackdown on anonymous cryptocurrency trading accounts and will punish market manipulation, money laundering, and fraudulent transactions through joint investigations participated by the local law enforcement and financial authorities.
Second, the cryptocurrency trading ban proposal introduced by Justice Minister Park Sang-ki was a suggestion made by the Justice Ministry on December 28 to bring speculation within the cryptocurrency market under control. The proposal will be discussed and changed by the task force participated by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, central bank, Fair Trade Commission, and other agencies.
Third, excessive speculation and fraudulent activities will be met with severe consequences. But, the government will support and even finance blockchain technology development.”, said the statement of spokesperson Jeong.
The member of the Parliament and Secretary-General of the Centre Party of Estonia, Mikhail Korb said that the modern economy provides growing demands on the quality of human resources. The emergence of new industries and trends generates a demand for focused specialists in labor markets of different countries.
To satisfy the growing personnel demands of companies the platform G-Global Business Portal was established – the consulting marketplace that unites experts and customers.
G-Global Business Portal team creates a marketplace for expert services, a fundamentally new platform for human interaction structured into decentralized protocols.
AMERI Holdings, Inc. (OTCQB:AMRH), a specialized SAP® cloud, digital and enterprise services company, touts itself as a fast growing company. A look at the financials tells a different story: core growth is completely stalled, operating income has been significantly negative, cash levels have been declining, and the company is in a massive $20 million working capital deficit (about 40% of annual sales).
The January 10, 2018, announcement of a blockchain initiative will initially focus on bringing greater supply chain visibility, traceability, and vendor contract simplification (smart contracts) to AMRH's customers in the manufacturing, aerospace, and retail sectors; sent shares soaring.
Over the past decade, an alternative digital paradigm has slowly been taking shape at the edges of the internet.
This new paradigm is the blockchain. After incubating through millions of Bitcoin transactions and a host of developer projects, it is now on the tips of tongues of CEOs and CTOs, startup entrepreneurs, and even governance activists. Though these stakeholders are beginning to understand the disruptive potential of blockchain technology and are experimenting with its most promising applications, few have asked a more fundamental question: What will a world driven by blockchains look like a decade from now? [youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r43LhSUUGTQ]
