John Oliver Tackles Cryptocurrency on Last Week Tonight – Bitcoin News

Crypto heads will have learned nothing from Sunday’s edition of Last Week Tonight, though the show’s four million viewers should have gleaned a few insights amidst all the jokes. There have certainly been worse attempts at summarizing the world of cryptocurrency, even if Oliver’s efforts are unlikely to trigger a renewed bitcoin frenzy. The episode felt as if Oliver had just learned of cryptocurrency 10 minutes before going on air, and felt obliged to bring his audience up to speed on its history and technology post-haste.

Source: John Oliver Tackles Cryptocurrency on Last Week Tonight – Bitcoin News, Kai Sedgwick, March 13, 2018

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Someone Figured Out How to Put Tomatoes on a Blockchain – Bloomberg

“It’s a tool, and you have to apply it to the right set of problems,” he said. “What it tends to be very good for is knowing who owns what and when,” Cascarilla added. “It’s not a magic bullet.”

“There’s a lot of fraud in food origins, especially now that it’s hot,” Myran said. “People say ‘this is local,’ or ‘this is organic,’ or ‘this is grown using certain practices.’ With this system, you can prove it.”

Source: Someone Figured Out How to Put Tomatoes on a Blockchain – Bloomberg, Annie Massa
November 9, 2017

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Deloitte Report: Over 26,000 Blockchain Projects Began in 2016 | CoinDesk

“The stark reality of open-source projects is that most are abandoned or do not achieve meaningful scale. Unfortunately, blockchain is not immune to this reality. Our analysis found that only 8 percent of projects are active, which we define as being updated at least once in the last six months.”

The authors add that organizations are a “positive differentiator” in the data, saying “while 7 percent of projects developed by users are active, 15 percent of projects developed by organizations are active.”

Source: Deloitte Report: Over 26,000 Blockchain Projects Began in 2016 – CoinDesk, Stan Higgins, November 8, 2017 at 13:30 UTC

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IBM wants Canada to blockchainify its weed industry | TNW

“Blockchain is rapidly becoming a world leading technology enabling the assured exchange of value in both digital and tangible assets, while protecting privacy and eliminating fraud,” the proposal reads. “Its relevance to regulating cannabis is similar to its many chain of custody applications in areas such as pharmaceutical distribution and food chains.”

Source: IBM wants Canada to blockchainify its weed industry, Mix, November 6, 2017

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Blockchain will disrupt the world of in-house counsel | Canadian Lawyer Mag

“I think this is the biggest innovation in computer science in a generation. For the first time in history, people everywhere can trust each other and transact peer-to-peer,” he said. “And trust is not achieved by counterparties and middlemen — trust is achieved by cryptography, by collaboration and by some very clever code.”

“Talk to your CTO, CFO and CIO and see if they are working on this”

Source: Blockchain will disrupt the world of in-house counsel | Canadian Lawyer Mag, Jennifer Brown, October 17, 2017

Thanks, Anna!

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A Letter to Jamie Dimon – Chain

(And anyone else still struggling to understand cryptocurrencies)

Don’t bet against crypto assets in the long-run: as we approach the 10 year anniversary of the Bitcoin paper it is clear that they aren’t going anywhere and that decentralized applications may very well find an important place alongside all the other forms of organization we have come to take for granted.

Source: A Letter to Jamie Dimon – Chain, Adam Ludwin, Chain, October 16, 2017

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The New Financial Revolution – A blog by Vinny Lingham

Crypto-tokens are supercharging network effects by aligning incentives like never seen before. These “DApp” tokens are going to enable the next wave of business models, where micro-incentives and rewards will share the value that a business generates with their users. A business model where early token holders are rewarded for being early adopters, spreading the word, and spending the coin, where companies can change consumer behaviour through incentives. These features are opening business up to customers who were previously excluded, such as the underbanked.

Lastly, in a world of chaos, let’s not forget about “Hope”. Many of us are hoping for a better world. We’re willing to take risks and bet the farm in the face of all likelihood of failure. We do this because we know that it’s on us to make the world a better place for the next generation. With the same breath, we are finding that there are others out there with the same dream that have never been given the chance to participate in the changing world because of the previous boundaries of the financial system. That world is gone. This is the New Financial Revolution. It’s going to be a rough ride — it may look like it won’t work at some point. Some will give up. Those who persevere will be rewarded. We’re going to have to change everything — starting from regulations to the public utilities to government systems and even democracy. In the end it will be worth it. I “Hope”.

Source: The New Financial Revolution – A blog by Vinny Lingham, October 13, 2017

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Regulatory Frameworks & Smart Contracts?

How to Promote Innovation, Transparency, and Trust

Much has been and will be written and talked about centralized regulatory authorities wanting to regulate decentralized technologies and the organizations created by them. As funny as that may seem, there is some logic behind it and hopefully, a middle ground for everyone to claim a win.

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Gibraltar: Does Statement on Initial Coin Offerings Include New Regulatory Framework? | Crowdfund Insider

While there may be broad agreement that a good argument may exist regarding suitability and appropriateness in respect of certain investments, some may not agree that a person who has accumulated a significant degree of wealth will always be in a better position to assess an investment into certain blockchain-based businesses or startups. It may be that only those with substantial technical expertise will be in a position to really understand the business (and ultimately the code) that they are investing in.

Source: Gibraltar: Does Statement on Initial Coin Offerings Include New Regulatory Framework? | Crowdfund Insider, October 15, 2017 @ 4:17 pm By Joey Garcia and Joshua Ashley Klayman

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Obvious Bubble? SEC Committee Lashes Out at Bitcoin and ICOs – CoinDesk

“As somebody who’s been around financial bubbles a [long time], my ‘alarmo-meter’ is at DEFCON 5,” said Silvers. “My sense is that most of the conversation that goes on around this is essentially designed to obscure. [It] uses big ideas and technical jargon to evade fundamental questions that should be asked in this institution about any investment product.”

“These investments are seen as cutting-edge opportunities for individual investors, but these investments may not be suitable for all investors because they carry such significant risk,” said SEC Commissioner Kara Stein.

Stein continued, putting forth her opinion that blockchain technology has the potential to “revolutionize” securities trading and fundraising, but cautioned that clear regulatory oversight was needed to combat growing incidences of fraud.

Source: Obvious Bubble? SEC Committee Lashes Out at Bitcoin and ICOs – CoinDesk Aaron Stanley, October 16, 2017

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