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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From bots and AI to counterfeit reality and fake news, Gartner’s top predictions for 2018

3. Legitimized Cryptocurrencies

By the year 2020, the banking industry will derive $1B of business value from the use of blockchain-based cryptocurrencies — When compared to the estimated $7.6 trillion that is the industry gross output of the world’s banking industry, $1 billion may not seem like much. However, the value is more about the tacit endorsement of cryptocurrency as a legitimate option by the banking industry. With the legalities of cryptocurrencies also being worked on and more than 900 cryptocurrencies on the market, the banking endorsement could open doors to other industries.

Source: From bots and AI to counterfeit reality and fake news, Gartner’s top predictions for 2018, Daryl Plummer, Gartner, October 17, 2017

Thanks, Laurent!

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Star Jets International Now Accepts Bitcoin Payments – Bitcoin News

Furthermore, customers have access to over 5,000 jets domestically and roughly 15,000 across the globe. The company allowing bitcoin transactions may now open up a new realm of possibilities for the company along with a new customer base.

Along with accepting bitcoin, these steps seem geared toward increasing the profitability of the company and keeping it competitive in the digital age.

Source: Star Jets International Now Accepts Bitcoin Payments – Bitcoin News, October 20, 2017, Sterlin Lujan

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Japanese Airline Accepts Bitcoin As Cryptocurrency Fever Spreads Across the Region – Bitcoin News

The Japanese Peach Aviation will join other global airline services that accept bitcoin for flight tickets like the Latvian airline, Airbaltic, LOT Polish Airlines, and more. Alongside this, bitcoin businesses like Coincheck and Bitflyer aim to sign up thousands more Japanese merchants this summer. As bitcoin fever takes hold in the country, Japanese residents from the region and international travelers will be pleased to know they can fly to over 22 destinations across Asia utilizing bitcoin as a form of payment.

Source: Japanese Airline Accepts Bitcoin As Cryptocurrency Fever Spreads Across the Region – Bitcoin News, May 22, 2017 | Jamie Redman

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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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