Stability In Volatile Markets: What You Need To Know About Stable Coins

Forget supply and demand. Unlike traditional cryptocurrencies, stable coins are concerned with achieving a fixed price. “Stable coins are trying to strike the balance of not being dependent on a central bank, while also securing price stability,” said Brigitte Luginbuhl, CEO of SwissRealCoin

Source: Stability In Volatile Markets: What You Need To Know About Stable Coins., Andrew Rossow, Sep 7, 2018

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Blockchain for Airlines and Aircraft Leasing | LinkedIn

The aircraft leasing industry is one of the fastest- growing industries globally. A number of factors have resulted in this growth, including but not limited to, a year- on-year increase in passenger traffic, the rise of low-cost carriers (LCC) and the growth of the APAC market.

Given the nature of this capital-intensive industry, it is interesting to note some of the antiquated systems and practices, which are still commonplace. For example, the maintenance of an aircraft is a process that uses cumbersome databases at best and, at worst, a paper- based system prone to losses and errors throughout.

With the rapid rise of digital technologies in other industries, it seems only a matter of time until the aircraft leasing game is affected. To that end, this article will explore the potential benefits of adopting Blockchain technology in the aircraft leasing industry and assess a number of potential use cases, which have a truly disruptive potential for all stakeholders involved.

Source: Blockchain for Airlines and Aircraft Leasing | LinkedIn, Hans Casteels, IBM | September 4, 2018

Photo by Mircea Iancu from Pexels

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Global Blockchain in Business Survey 2018: PwC

What is the state of blockchain today? In PwC’s 2018 survey of 600 executives from 15 territories, 84% say their organisations have at least some involvement with blockchain technology. Companies have dabbled in the lab; perhaps they’ve built proofs of concept. Everyone is talking about blockchain, and no one wants to be left behind.

Four key strategies can help them build trust and stay on a path toward successful execution.

Source: Global Blockchain in Business Survey 2018: PwC

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Stablecoins: designing a price-stable cryptocurrency | Hackernoon

A useful currency should be a medium of exchange, a unit of account, and a store of value. Cryptocurrencies excel at the first, but as a store of value or unit of account, they’re pretty bad. You cannot be an effective store of value if your price fluctuates by 20% on a normal day.

This is where stablecoins come in. Stablecoins are price-stable cryptocurrencies, meaning the market price of a stablecoin is pegged to another stable asset, like the US dollar.

Source: Stablecoins: designing a price-stable cryptocurrency, Haseeb Qureshi, February 19, 2018

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Brooklyn Roasting and IBM Send Yirgacheffe Through the Blockchain – Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine

It’s an admirable effort, but there are some key omissions, first and foremost the price paid for the coffee, which is not shown in the blockchain ledger. Secondly, the suggestion that “fairness” or some vague concept of supply chain equity is bolstered by blockchain seems unfounded. IBM and Brooklyn Roasting show only the Fairtrade premium-associated investments back into the coffee-growing community — investments made in 2016, with or without blockchain technology.

So while opening the books is commendable, the opening itself is by no means a solution to deep-rooted problems affecting the equitable trade of coffee.

Source: Brooklyn Roasting and IBM Send Yirgacheffe Through the Blockchain – Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine, Nick Brown | July 26, 2018

n-roasting-and-ibm-send-yirgacheffe-through-the-blockchain/” target=”_blank”>Brooklyn Roasting and IBM Send Yirgacheffe Through the Blockchain – Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine, Nick Brown | July 26, 2018

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How Can We Make Intellectual Property Rights ‘Smarter’ With The Blockchain? | Forbes

“While the digitization of copyrighted songs themselves is nothing new through platforms such as Grokster, Napster, and iTunes, what is new and very exciting for copyright owners is the vast potential by which blockchain technology may soon be able to create a workable digital footprint that would assist in better enforcement of unauthorized digital uses that continue to proliferate in the wild, wild west of the internet, particularly with respect to social media sites. The blockchain footprint would also be immensely helpful for other artists, filmmakers, producers, and anyone who wants to find information relevant for licensing—the name of the song, the artist who wrote the song, the year it was produced, and who currently owns the rights to the song.”

Without this new and emerging technology, it is nearly impossible for artists and/or their attorneys to easily access this information, even with today’s existing technology. By digitizing IP rights and moving them onto the Blockchain and a distributed ledger, we can effectively secure and protect creators’ rights, while making them publicly accessible, turning them into “smart IP rights”.

Source: How Can We Make Intellectual Property Rights ‘Smarter’ With The Blockchain? | Forbes, Andrew Rossow, July 24, 2018,

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The Supply Side: Blockchain holds potential for retail applications – Talk Business & Politics

Coca-Cola is starting a pilot to use blockchain to identify inhumane labor conditions in its sugar supply chains. Coca-Cola plans to create a secure decentralized registry for workers and their contracts to help securely record their workers’ identities while providing a trail in case employers abuse their power.

Blockverify offers transparency to pharmaceutical, luxury, diamond and electronic supply chains. Blockchain works to verify counterfeit products, diverted goods, stolen merchandise and fraudulent transactions.

VeChain is a blockchain system that embeds customized chips into luxury products and allows manufacturers to trace the product from end to end. Consumers can scan a product with a mobile app to instantly know whether it’s real or fake.

NPD said the next step for retailers is to develop their own cryptocurrency to prevent customers from having to use credit cards when shopping online. NPD said the practice makes sense for the retailer, because if the customer could send the payment transfer via blockchain, it would avoid third-party clearing house fees retailers pay for processing card payments.

Source: The Supply Side: Blockchain holds potential for retail applications – Talk Business & Politics, Kim Souza, July 2, 2018

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