The WIRED Guide to the Blockchain
Depending on who you ask, blockchains are either the most important technological innovation since the internet or a solution looking for a problem.
The original blockchain is the decentralized ledger behind the digital currency bitcoin. The ledger consists of linked batches of transactions known as blocks (hence the term blockchain), and an identical copy is stored on each of the roughly 200,000 computers that make up the bitcoin network. Each change to the ledger is cryptographically signed to prove that the person transferring virtual coins is the actual owner of those coins. But no one can spend their coins twice, because once a transaction is recorded in the ledger, every node in the network will know about it.
The idea is to both keep track of how each unit of the virtual currency is spent and prevent unauthorized changes to the ledger. The upshot: No bitcoin user has to trust anyone else, because no one can cheat the system.
Other digital currencies have imitated this basic idea, often trying to solve perceived problems with bitcoin by building new cryptocurrencies on new blockchains. But advocates have seized on the idea of a decentralized, cryptographically secure database for uses beyond currency. Its biggest boosters believe blockchains can not only replace central banks but usher in a new era of online services outside the control of internet giants like Facebook and Google. These new-age apps would be impossible to censor, advocates say, and would be more answerable to users.
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Source: https://www.wired.com
Why Blockchain Is Booming In Liechtenstein, The Sixth Smallest Country In The World
It may be smaller than Brooklyn, but Liechtenstein is working on something pretty big.
With a population of 40,000 and only a single hospital, Liechtenstein is smaller than small, but a low tax rate over the years has made it a hub for financial services – part of the reason it’s now home to more registered businesses than citizens.
Now nestled between the Swiss Alps and Austria, Liechtenstein’s Crown Prince Alois has been sending signals to the cryptocurrency community that his family’s principality of Liechtenstein is the place to bring their businesses.
And it's working.
Full story at http://bit.ly/2FAqjcN
Source: Forbes
Banks complete 25 million euros securities transaction on blockchain platform
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Credit Suisse Group AG (CSGN.S) and ING Groep NV (INGA.AS) have completed a 25 million euros ($30.48 million) securities lending transaction using blockchain-based software, the companies said on Thursday, as more projects involving the nascent technology behind cryptocurrencies get closer to yielding results.
The transaction involved the banks swapping baskets of securities through an application from financial technology company HQLAx built with a type of blockchain created by bank consortium R3, the companies said.
The trade was one of the first examples of a real-life capital markets transaction of its kind taking place on a system that uses blockchain, a distributed ledger that is maintained by a network of computers on the internet, the companies involved said.
“This was far more than a proof of concept in a fenced lab,” Charley Cooper, a managing director at R3, said in an interview. “These are regulated institutions in a real market and it is a unique demonstration that blockchain solutions are being deployed in commercial settings.”
Full story at http://reut.rs/2FBKQOo
Source: Reuters
Cryptocurrency, ICO and Blockchain Officially Added to the Dictionary
Besides helping language learners, students and everyone else find the exact definitions of words, dictionaries also sometimes serve as time capsules that reveal what new ideas become important part of human society at what times. With roots in the anarchist and cyberpunk sub-cultures, many bitcoin advocates may feel the scene doesn’t need anyone’s seal of approval but it’s still nice to get such recognition and validation.
Merriam-Webster, the prestigious American dictionary founded in 1831 and today owned by the even more prestigious Encyclopædia Britannica, now officially contains the words “Cryptocurrency”, “ICO”, and “Blockchain”. The publication has announced it expanded its coverage of the emerging crypto ecosystem when it added a total of 850 terms from different fields that have recently become staples of modern English such as “mansplain”, “life hack” and “kombucha”.
The Merriam-Webster announcement explained that: “The sometimes perplexing domain of digital financial exchanges opens a window into a subject that requires explanation for many of us, hence the detailed definition of cryptocurrency as well as an entry for initial coin offering, which refers to the first sale of Bitcoin-like digital currency. Keeping records of financial transactions in a digital database as part of a publicly accessible network uses blockchain technology.”
Full story at http://bit.ly/2FAq55r
Source: Bitcoin News
If Think You've Missed The Blockchain Boat, Think Again Says This Serial Entrepreneur
If you jumped into the world of online business for the first time in 1999, could you have spotted the shifts that were happening across the landscape that led to the dot com bubble bursting just one year later? It’s possible, but not likely.
Chris Snook, the managing partner at Launch Haus and the chairman and founder of the World Tokenomic Forum, wasn’t prepared when the revolution came. In his words, he was “too broke and in the middle of recovery” after his online business failed to capitalize when the Internet 2.0 window opened in the early 2000s.
Had he started out earlier, Snook might have developed the pattern recognition needed to prepare for the coming of Internet 2.0. Now, with 19 years of experience under his belt, Snook advises young entrepreneurs in the online space to look at the landscape like it’s 1995 – change is coming, but there’s time to adapt.
“Right now is one of the most exciting times to be alive,” Snook said. “I feel fortunate to be alive and to be in business. I think the next decade will be one of the most exciting we’ve ever seen, but I’m also not romantic about it. I understand that winter is coming, and I know what that looks like. I also know what’s on the other side of it.”
Full story at http://bit.ly/2FBAXjJ
Source: Forbes
Top 100 Blockchain Influencers Worldwide
I have risen 7 places to #74 on the 'Top 100 Blockchain Influencers Worldwide' this week
Full story at http://bit.ly/2FAqdBX
Source: Steemit
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