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(Image credit: TechNode/Xuewen Song)

Blockchain was mentioned in China’s Five-Year Plan for the first time in history, while photo-editing app Meitu invested in cryptocurrencies. The digital yuan got its first domestic blockchain application, and cryptocurrency exchange Huobi nabbed an asset management license in Hong Kong.

Blockchain headlines

The world of blockchain moves fast, and nowhere does it move faster than China. Here’s what you need to know about China’s block-world in the week of March 2-9.

Blockchain name check

Blockchain and the digital yuan were directly mentioned in a draft of the 14th Five-Year Plan for the first time in history, signaling a turning point in the government’s support for the technologies. The draft plan is unlikely to change substantially, analysts said. (TechNode)

Meitu purchase

Meitu, the company behind one of China’s most popular photo editing apps, bought $22.1 million worth of Ether and $17.9 million of Bitcoin. The company is China’s first major non-cryptocurrency firm to invest in virtual money. Meitu shares rose 14% immediately after the announcement. (Meitu filing)

Digital yuan

A Beijing government-backed hardware and software enterprise blockchain, Chang’an Chain, will integrate the digital RMB. It is the first known domestic application of blockchain on the digital yuan. (TechNode)

The head of the People’s Bank of China in Guangzhou, Bai Hexiang, called for cross-border payments using China’s central bank-backed digital currency in the Greater Bay Area in order to accelerate the region’s financial development. China’s Greater Bay Area includes Guangdong province, Hong Kong, and Macau. (Mobile Payment Network, in Chinese)

The exchanges

Huobi secured a coveted license to manage digital asset portfolios from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, giving hope to other Chinese cryptocurrency companies which have applied for similar license in Hong Kong. (TechNode)

In 2020, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong surpassed Zhao Changpeng, CEO and founder of Binance, as the world’s richest blockchain entrepreneur. (Hurun List)

China blockchain paranoia

The founder and president of Chamber of Digital Commerce, Perianne Boring, told Fox Business that China is “years ahead” of the US in blockchain technology and that it will be used to monitor US citizens. “I cannot stress enough how much is at stake for the US right now,” Boring said. (Fox Business)

Eliza is TechNode’s blockchain and fintech reporter. When she isn’t obsessing over the rise of distributed ledger technology in China, she helps with editing. More by Eliza Gkritsi

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Dubai, United Arab Emirates Mar 8, 2021 (Issuewire.com)  – Press Release

The Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority: Great strides by the UAE’s telecommunications sector during 2020

The UAE ranks first in the Gulf, Arab Region, and Western Asia, and seventh globally in the Telecommunication Infrastructure Index.

The UAE achieves the No.1 position in mobile subscription index and mobile broadband Internet subscription index.

The UAE maintains its leadership in 5G, the fifth generation of mobile commercial service in the country.

Dubai – 2020

According to The Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority‘s report, the year 2020 witnessed a noticeable increase in the demand for telecommunications and Internet services. This growth is also a reflection of the sector’s readiness and the Authority’s resolve to move towards the future, by deploying all modern technologies in the best way possible to realize greater achievements at local, regional, and even global levels.

According to the UN E-Government Survey 2020, the UAE’s telecommunications infrastructure ranks first in the Gulf, Arab Region, and Western Asia, and seventh globally in the Telecommunications Infrastructure Index. In the Smart Services Index, the UAE ranks first in the Gulf, the Arab Region, and West Asia, and the eighth in the world.

The survey confirmed the UAE’s determination to provide services that meet the people’s needs and aspirations by employing emerging and advanced technologies and implementing digital transformation programs like Smart Dubai, Blockchain, and Artificial Intelligence Strategy; that was in line with the wise leadership’s directives to engage the various segments by providing easy and interactive services that enhance society’s happiness.

During 2020, the UAE maintained its first place globally in the mobile phone subscriptions index and advanced from second place to first in the world in mobile broadband Internet subscriptions index. The UAE also ranked first in the Arab world and at the regional level in the Information & communication technologies Index, the Internet Access Index, and the Internet Use Index.

In terms of the overall percentage of Internet users, the UAE made progress by reaching the fifth position globally and a qualitative leap from 68th place in the world to the 29th position in the fixed broadband subscriptions index. It is worth noting that the UAE ranked first in the Arab Region in the index of local Internet domain names, which uses the symbol (ae). These indicators measure the percentage of domain registration in other countries and indicate movement volume and technological interaction.

When it came to the launch and use of 5G – the fifth-generation network, the UAE ranked first in the Arab Region and fourth globally, according to the Global Connectivity Index issued by Carphone Warehouse, which specialized in technology benchmarking.

An added achievement, the UAE came first in the Middle East for transformation to Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6), according to statistics issued by Ripe NCC, Akamai Technologies, and Google. The transition to IPv6 helped Internet service providers deliver better services and significantly impacted implementing 5G technologies for mobile phone networks and digital transformation. The IPv6 was critical due to the shortage of Internet protocols and the inability of IPv4 to meet the growing demand in light of the internet’s rapid growth.

In the ODIN report issued by the Open Data Watch, which included 187 countries, the UAE ranked 16th globally, leaping 51 places at once, compared to 2018. In this indicator, the UAE outperformed countries such as the USA, Korea, Switzerland, France, Spain, Japan, and the United Kingdom. According to the report, two main factors – openness and comprehensive coverage, classified the countries for open data sites.

His Excellency Hamad Obaid Al Mansoori, Director-General of the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority, said, “The year 2020 was exceptional at all levels and full of unexpected development and never-before challenges. There was an increased need for internet services from lockdown in most countries and the almost total suspension of transport movement to reliance on the internet to accomplish business, education, communication, and government services. This increased demand added pressure on networks, which required the most modern infrastructure and technologies to deal with this sudden development. The UAE affirmed its leadership in all sectors, especially in communication technology as the The Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority confirmed its ability to achieve distinguished results. Indeed it is a proud moment of strategic thinking and continuous development under the guidance of our wise leadership.”

He added: “We were able to meet the nation’s growing needs during the last year and exceed expectations with the readiness of the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority in its pursuit of excellence, which helped to achieve impressive results at local, regional, and global levels. We consider these achievements a catalyst for achieving more positive results and will help us continue efforts to reaffirm the United Arab Emirates position in the world”.

“The United Arab Emirates is one of the leading countries in the region in the field of digital transformation. It is supported by qualified national human resources who are open to international best practices. The UAE’s teams have always been keen to develop their skills and enhance their online presence; they develop their strategies to keep pace with the developments and prepare for the future. It is for these reasons, that the UAE achieves distinguished results every year,” said Richard Kerby, President, Richard Kerby LLC, and an expert advisor of international repute on the digital transformation of governments.

– END –

About The Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority:

The Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was established according to the UAE Federal Law by Decree No. 3 of 2003 – Telecom Law. The Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority is responsible for managing every aspect of the telecommunications and information technology industries in the UAE. Despite its relatively short life-span, The Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority has exceeded expectations by achieving its projected goals in a record time.

The Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority derives the objectives from the Telecom Law, its executive order, and the national telecom policy. These goals ensure secure communications services throughout the state and deliver improved services, including quality and diversity. It also provides the quality of services in conformity with the licensor’s license and promotes telecommunications services and information technology in the state.

The Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority is responsible for establishing training institutions relevant to the sector and finding solutions to disputes that may arise between the licensed operators. It also implements a framework for policies and regulations. Apart from promoting modern technology, The Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority contributes to the development of human resources in the state and encourages research and development, to guarantee the United Arab Emirates a regional role of an advanced leadership in telecommunications and information technology.

Website: www.tra.gov.ae

Media Contact

ZEINA KHOURY

zeinak.zk@gmail.com +971509531151 dubai http://www.amcuae.com

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SINGAPORE, Mar 9, 2021 – (ACN Newswire) – Moonstake is pleased to announce that our staking volume for CENNZ has reached $5.5 million, making Moonstake Wallet the largest CENNZ staking pool in the world. This number is achieved within just 10 days since the launch of CENNZ staking on February 25.

Moonstake entered into a strategic partnership with Centrality last August, bringing Centrality CEO Aaron McDonald on board as an advisor. In October, we held a joint webinar to help spread the latest information about Centrality, and in December, Moonstake became the first wallet in the world to support CENNZ and CPAY in their migration to the mainnet. In December, the Moonstake wallet became the first wallet in the world to support CENNZ and CPAY, which moved to the mainnet, and became the world’s first CENNZ staking provider on February 25 this year.

Moonstake started the staking business last year with the aim to create the largest staking network in Asia. Since then, we have developed the most user-friendly Web Wallet and Mobile Wallet (iOS/Android) with support for over 2000 cryptocurrencies. After a full-scale operation launched in August 2020, Moonstake’s total staking assets has grown rapidly to reach $800 Million in just 6 months, allowing Moonstake to become one of the top 10 staking providers globally. After Cosmos, IRISnet, Ontology, Harmony, Tezos, Cardano, Qtum, Polkadot, and Quras, Centrality became the 10th available coin for staking on Moonstake Wallet.

About Moonstake

Moonstake was recently established to develop a staking pool protocol to satisfy increasing demands in regional and global blockchain markets. Moonstake develops a staking pool protocol and provides business services through partners and companies.

Moonstake aims to be the largest staking pool network in Asia by providing an active environment for crypto asset holders. Establishing a clear partnership roadmap with Moonstake represents another significant milestone for continuing to strengthen ties with leading platforms across Asia’s burgeoning Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ecosystem. Partnership has been announced with Emurgo, Ontology and NEO to boost staking adoption, Binarystar, Japan’s biggest blockchain hub, OIO Holdings Limited (SGX: OIO), a Singapore Listed company. Industry’s reputed advisors, such as Lisk and Lawrence Lim of RAMP DEFI support Moonstake’s innovative journey.

With a full-scale operation launched in August 2020, Moonstake expanded its business and as of now, Moonstake’s total staking assets exceeded over USD 800 Million. https://ift.tt/3gMgp6u

Topic: Press release summary Sectors: FX & Digital Currencies

https://ift.tt/1fx7Yvd From the Asia Corporate News Network

Copyright © 2021 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. A division of Asia Corporate News Network.

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Updated / Saturday, 6 Mar 2021 21:58

Jack Dorsey listed his first tweet for auction yesterday

Twitter boss Jack Dorsey is selling his first ever tweet at auction, with bidding today reaching $2 million in a sign of the appetite for virtual objects authenticated through blockchain technology.

“just setting up my twttr,” Mr Dorsey tweeted on 21 March, 2006.

Yesterday, he posted a link to “Valuables @Cent,” an online marketplace for tweets where, the site says, investors or collectors can “buy and sell tweets autographed by their creators”.

The top bid today for Dorsey’s tweet – $2m – came from Justin Sun, the founder of TRON, a platform for blockchain, the technology underlying cryptocurrencies. He also heads the BitTorrent streaming platform.

“The creator of a tweet decides if they would like to mint it on the blockchain, creating a 1-of-1 autographed version,” Valuables explained.

Buying a tweet means purchasing “a digital certificate of the tweet, unique because it has been signed and verified by the creator,” according to Valuables.

In Mr Dorsey’s case, the tweet itself remains visible to all, so long as he and Twitter leave it online.

The approach is much like the online sales of dramatic digital “moments” from National Basketball Association games; the short video sequences remain visible for free on the internet but a blockchain-backed “Non-Fungible Token” (NFT) is generated to guarantee the identity, authenticity and traceability of the video, confirming its value.

Thus, a 10-second clip showing a spectacular sequence by basketball superstar LeBron James fetched $208,000 on the NBA Top Shot site late last month.

Top Shot has generated more than $200m in transactions this year, according to Dapper Labs, which partnered with the NBA to create Top Shot.

In 2019, Justin Sun paid $4.6m in a winning bid to lunch with iconic billionaire Warren Buffett. Mr Sun reportedly tried but failed to convince the elderly investor of the value of bitcoins.

NFTs have soared in popularity, to the point that prestigious auction house Christie’s last month sold an entirely digital artwork.

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Updated / Saturday, 6 Mar 2021 21:58

Jack Dorsey listed his first tweet for auction yesterday

Twitter boss Jack Dorsey is selling his first ever tweet at auction, with bidding today reaching $2 million in a sign of the appetite for virtual objects authenticated through blockchain technology.

“just setting up my twttr,” Mr Dorsey tweeted on 21 March, 2006.

Yesterday, he posted a link to “Valuables @Cent,” an online marketplace for tweets where, the site says, investors or collectors can “buy and sell tweets autographed by their creators”.

The top bid today for Dorsey’s tweet – $2m – came from Justin Sun, the founder of TRON, a platform for blockchain, the technology underlying cryptocurrencies. He also heads the BitTorrent streaming platform.

“The creator of a tweet decides if they would like to mint it on the blockchain, creating a 1-of-1 autographed version,” Valuables explained.

Buying a tweet means purchasing “a digital certificate of the tweet, unique because it has been signed and verified by the creator,” according to Valuables.

In Mr Dorsey’s case, the tweet itself remains visible to all, so long as he and Twitter leave it online.

The approach is much like the online sales of dramatic digital “moments” from National Basketball Association games; the short video sequences remain visible for free on the internet but a blockchain-backed “Non-Fungible Token” (NFT) is generated to guarantee the identity, authenticity and traceability of the video, confirming its value.

Thus, a 10-second clip showing a spectacular sequence by basketball superstar LeBron James fetched $208,000 on the NBA Top Shot site late last month.

Top Shot has generated more than $200m in transactions this year, according to Dapper Labs, which partnered with the NBA to create Top Shot.

In 2019, Justin Sun paid $4.6m in a winning bid to lunch with iconic billionaire Warren Buffett. Mr Sun reportedly tried but failed to convince the elderly investor of the value of bitcoins.

NFTs have soared in popularity, to the point that prestigious auction house Christie’s last month sold an entirely digital artwork.

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Left-field artist Clarian seems to have beaten Kings Of Leon to the punch.

Clarian’s new album is out now, and it has announced that they are the first to sell an album through NFT.

NFTs – or non-fungible tokens – are a kind of new digital asset, with the blockchain then becoming a unique item in itself.

An attempt to decentralise artistry, Kings Of Leon had been believed to be the first to blend this with an album roll out.

Well, no one told Clarian. His new album ‘Whale Shark’ is being released through peer-to-peer marketplace OpenSea, aiming to break the control that streaming giants have imposed.

Online now, the auction ends on March 20th – get involved HERE.

Kings Of Leon were not available for comment.

Join us on the ad-free creative social network Vero, as we get under the skin of global cultural happenings. Follow Clash Magazine as we skip merrily between clubs, concerts, interviews and photo shoots. Get backstage sneak peeks, exclusive content and access to Clash Live events and a true view into our world as the fun and games unfold.

 

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SINGAPORE, Mar 5, 2021 – (ACN Newswire) – Today, Moonstake announces its partnership with Escaroo, a keyless blockchain-based peer-to-peer escrow service that offers an advanced smart contract solution for high profile individual and commercial clients within the real-estate, aviation and marine space.

Through this strategic collaboration, Moonstake will help enable staking functionality for Escaroo escrow platform, providing its users a new way to control and earn with their cryptocurrencies. As a leading staking pool platform with a strong lineup of supported digital assets and hundreds of millions assets staked, Moonstake is thrilled to support yet another esteemed institution in the industry, accelerating the connection of staking to decentralized finance. Escaroo users will soon be able to earn passive income from staking within the Cardano and Tezos ecosystems.

With the goal to help people safely create and manage crypto transactions, Escaroo utilizes its proprietary, US-patented smart contracts to facilitate transactions where funds are only released when all parties are in agreement. This allows Escaroo users to maintain funds securely within a unique individually created smart contract that is irreversible once posted to the blockchain and can only be accessed by the parties involved. Transactions are hosted on a public blockchain so one, not even Escaroo, has the ability to access funds outside of the terms set by the parties involved, putting the control of funds back into the users hands.

Lawrence Lin, CEO of Moonstake comments on the partnership: “Investors, especially in the crypto space, are always looking for security and profitability without compromising their own convenience. We are happy to help Escaroo enable staking on their esteemed escrow platform so that Escaroo users not only can enjoy secure transactions but also earn from their idle funds on the DeFi platform of their choice. With a wide selection of PoS coins and attractive yield rates from our high-quality staking pools, we are confident that users will be pleased with their staking experience on Escaroo powered by Moonstake. By partnering with an esteemed institution, Moonstake is going strong on our journey to accelerate the growth of staking.”

“Adding staking to our platform is a natural progression for Escaroo, as it empowers our clients to put their money to work for them. They can now earn a percentage on everything they stake, thus creating a passive income stream on their investments. Being able to partner with Moonstake to bring this vision to fruition was a no brainer. With over $800 Million in assets currently being staked, it is clear Moonstake understands what’s needed to succeed in this extremely competitive world of Decentralized Finance. We are excited to be at the forefront of this brave new world of finance with them,” said Frank Pira, Founder and CEO of Escaroo.

About Moonstake

Moonstake was recently established to develop a staking pool protocol to satisfy increasing demands in regional and global blockchain markets. Moonstake develops a staking pool protocol and provides business services through partners and companies.

Moonstake aims to be the largest staking pool network in Asia by providing an active environment for crypto asset holders. Establishing a clear partnership roadmap with Moonstake represents another significant milestone for continuing to strengthen ties with leading platforms across Asia’s burgeoning Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ecosystem. Partnership has been announced with Emurgo, Ontology and NEO to boost staking adoption, Binarystar, Japan’s biggest blockchain hub, OIO Holdings Limited (SGX: OIO), a Singapore Listed company. Industry’s reputed advisors, such as Lisk and Centrality support Moonstake’s innovative journey.

With a full-scale operation launched in August 2020, we expanded our business and as of now, our total staking assets exceeded over USD 800 Million. https://ift.tt/3gMgp6u

About Escaroo

Escaroo is the safest Bitcoin and cryptocurrency escrow payment service in the world. Buy or sell anything with confidence knowing your funds are secure when using our decentralized peer-to-peer platform for personal, small business, commercial or letter-of-credit transactions. https://escaroo.com/

Topic: Press release summary Sectors: FX & Digital Currencies

https://ift.tt/1fx7Yvd From the Asia Corporate News Network

Copyright © 2021 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. A division of Asia Corporate News Network.

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by Craig Snow , posted 1 day ago / 4,033 Views

The following is a sponsored article.

Cryptocurrency has received a sharp increase in interest in recent months. Its position in wider culture tended to be meme’d, left to the enthusiasts to construct and work their bubble of knowledge. However, more and more businesses have begun to take it more seriously, with even PayPal allowing users to manage bitcoins in their e-wallet. The GameStop saga which inspired the Dogecoin rush added to cryptocurrency’s buoyancy, an effect that was magnified when Elon Musk began Tweeting about it.

Soon after that Tesla announced it had invested $1.5 billion in bitcoin, with the company citing its need to diversify holdings. Cryptocurrencies’ – especially Bitcoin’s – prominence continues to grow as its value hits new heights almost weekly. Its representation in culture is changing, as is its use. And now games are cropping up inspired by cryptocurrency, notably a new release called Crypto: Against All Odds.

Crypto: Against All Odds

It never usually takes too long before new technology is used in a gaming context. There are those that are no-brainers – the likes of VR, for instance, which is being used in specialised headsets and for next-gen consoles. Cryptocurrency, aside from being used in the context of payment methods, has fewer clear applications for the gaming world.

Crypto: Against All Odds both confronts and avoids that question. It’s a tower defence game stylised and inspired by cryptocurrency. It doesn’t incorporate the blockchain technology which underpins cryptocurrency, nor cryptocurrency itself, but rather takes inspiration from it. The premise is that the player is a blockchain security specialist, who uses crypto defenders (in the form of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin among others) to ward off the threats of hackers, bugs, ransomware, and 51% attacks. There is a wider conspiracy narrative in the game, which the player must uncover by completing levels, exploring clues on forums, and talking with non-player characters. Upgrades are available too, so the player is capable of more as the game progresses.

Cryptocurrency and Gaming

This isn’t the first time cryptocurrency and gaming have crossed paths. Many online casinos have been accepting the major options (Bitcoin and Ethereum, for example) as valid payment methods for a while now. Gamers have been able to head to online casinos directly and check or use sites like Newcasinos.com which aggregate and compare online casinos under different categories, with “Bitcoin casinos” being one.

Cryptocurrency’s use here offers flexibility (as Bitcoins can be broken down into 100,000,000 satoshis, much more than standard currencies allow), speed (as cryptocurrency transactions are validated faster than traditional methods), and security (as cryptocurrency’s blockchain technology offers pseudonymity and robust security measures).

There are even casinos that are Bitcoin exclusive. All of this goes to show that online casinos have found valid and important use for cryptocurrency.

Crypto-based Games

Crypto: Against All Odds isn’t the first game to have cryptocurrency form a fundamental component of the gameplay itself. Prior releases with a cryptocurrency theme have often revolved around trading, either cards (e.g. Skyweaver, which a member of the Crypto: Against All Odds team worked on) or land (e.g. Crypto Crusades). Cryptocurrency lends itself to this kind of gameplay as it holds no intrinsic value, and is therefore only as expensive or cheap as the interest in it is. Its price at the moment, in real life, is soaring because everyone is talking about and investing in it, but at its core it’s volatile; its value can bottom-out in no time at all as soon as people lose confidence. It’s a bubble.

However, there is high-reward. A gaming world’s currency has the chance to rise significantly should it become more and more popular. And those who have invested in virtual land or specific cards, like in Skyweaver or Crypto Crusades, could see a high return. There are examples of virtual real estate being bought up within game worlds and already going for hundreds of thousands of dollars in anticipation.

As cryptocurrency becomes more commonplace, and as the wider public begins to understand and potentially use it, it’s likely that these and other similar niche games will become more popular. In-game value through digital purchases is a standard concept for many mainstream games already. So is this really such a radical departure?

More Articles

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ITWC, Canada’s premier source for technology news and content creation, is thrilled to announce the inaugural Top Women in FinTech & Blockchain recognition program.

“There are many Canadian women making significant contributions to the advancement of these industries,” says Fawn Annan, CEO of ITWC and co-chair of the new program.

“We look forward to showcasing the achievements of these trailblazers at a June 1, 2021 event that will connect and empower women in the rapidly growing FinTech/Blockchain sectors.”

The appetite for the awards program is clearly demonstrated by the number of organizations that have agreed to support the initiative in its inaugural year, says Karsten Arend, blockchain pioneer and founder of Just In-Genius Inc., and event co-chair.

Our supporting organizations include the Canadian Blockchain Association for Women, the FinTech Growth Syndicate, the Canadian Prepaid Providers Organization, the WIT Network, and the Canadian Blockchain Consortium.

Organizers will be reaching out into Canada’s dynamic digital community to nominate women innovators and influencers with more than two years of experience in the Canadian FinTech/Blockchain ecosystem. Annan says it’s no coincidence that nominations open March 8 – International Women’s Day!

NOMINATE NOW

“Celebrating the successes of women in this field may inspire other women to consider careers in FinTech and Blockchain,” says Annan. “Help us open doors for future generations by nominating either yourself or a colleague for this special recognition.”

Nominations are open to qualifying women across all sectors, especially in financial services, law, education, and advisory services, as well as to entrepreneurs.

The deadline for nominations is April 16, 2021.

Honourees will be acknowledged during an interactive celebration featuring a video showcase of the top women’s accomplishments, a panel discussion exploring fintech and blockchain challenges, and sponsored breakout rooms.

What better way to connect with colleagues, maximize networking opportunities, and honour women who are making things happen in FinTech and Blockchain, says Arend.

Co-chairs for the Top Women in FinTech & Blockchain program are Fawn Annan and Karsten Arend, Founder of Just In-Genius Inc.

Committed judges, panelists, and presenters include:

Ariane Arend, VP  Business Development, Berkeley Payments

Michelle Beyo, CEO, Finavator

Karen Budahazy, Chair, Canadian Prepaid Providers Organization 

Michael Eubanks, SVP & CIO, Goeasy.com

Stephen Ibaraki, Chairman and General Partner, REDDS Capital.

Koleya Karrington, CEO, Absolute Combustion International

Dawood Khan, Managing Partner, Red Mobile Co

Jaimie Leverton, CEO, Hut 8 Mining Co

Trish Nixon, Managing Director, Commercial Impact Banking, Vancity

Alexis Pappas, CEO, ID Network

Sarah Paquet, CEO, Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada

Laura Payne, Consulting Lead, iSecurity

Emma Todd, CEO, MMH Blockchain Group

Iliana Oris Valiente, Managing Director, Innovation and Blockchain Lead, Accenture

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A view of Beijing’s skyline. (Image credit: Wikimedia Commons)

Blockchain and fintech are to be mentioned by name in a draft of China’s 14th Five-Year Plan, marking increased focus on these technologies.

Why it matters: The Five-Year Plan is China’s most senior economic planning document. This is the first time for either technology to earn a mention by name.

But the draft plan also calls for more regulatory scrutiny of fintech.

READ MORE: INSIGHTS | Tech in the Five-Year plan

Details: China’s National Legislature opened its annual meeting in Beijing today. It is expected to approve the draft plan during the week-long session.

“Drafts are often tweaked during the Lianghui (Two Sessions), but are rarely substantively changed,” Kendra Schaefer, head of tech policy research at Beijing-based strategic advisory firm Trivium told TechNode.

All aboard the China chain: The plan declares blockchain a key technology, along with cloud computing, the Internet of Things, big data, AI, and virtual reality.

Specifically, the draft plan calls for work on smart contracts, multiple consensus algorithms, asymmetric encryption, and distributed fault tolerance mechanisms.

Distributed ledger technology is to be applied in fintech, supply chain management, and e-governance, the draft plan said.

Blockchain emerged as a priority in late 2019, when President Xi Jinping publicly endorsed the technology.

Just yesterday, a Beijing-based hardware and software solution announced that it will integrate the digital RMB, China’s central bank-backed digital currency. This is the first known domestic application of blockchain to the digital yuan project.

READ MORE: Enterprise blockchain to integrate China’s digital yuan

Fintech: The phrase “fintech” (jinrong keji) got three direct mentions; under blockchain development, in a section on regulating tech, and financial reforms. This is the first time a reference by name to fintech has made it in the plan.

The 13th Five-Year plan made one reference to “internet finance,” and several to fintech-related themes such as “microfinance” and “inclusive finance,” as well as, once, as “internet finance.” Similar language is present in the new draft plan.

The plan also called for continued R&D in the digital RMB and China’s participation in the creation of global standards for digital currencies.

READ MORE: DCEP class is in session, with Zhou Xiaochuan

More rules: The draft plan calls for enhanced antitrust rules and licensing regimes for tech platforms, and the establishment of new regulatory frameworks for fintech, telemedicine, autonomous driving, and smart logistics.

The plan also called for increased oversight of financial holding companies, a type of corporate structure that is likely (in Chinese) to come to dominate the fintech industry. After months of negotiations with authorities, Ant Group will reportedly reorganize itself as a financial holding company.

It also calls for strengthening the use of regtech and risk assessments on financial innovation products, including potentially suspending some products.

Today, China’s legislators also called on commercial banks to increase lending to individuals and small and medium enterprises by 30% in the rest of the year. This will potentially substitute for fintech companies. Facilitating small loans is Ant’s single largest revenue stream.

Eliza is TechNode’s blockchain and fintech reporter. When she isn’t obsessing over the rise of distributed ledger technology in China, she helps with editing. More by Eliza Gkritsi

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(Image credit: TechNode/Shi Jiayi)

Chang’an Chain, an enterprise blockchain developed by a state-backed Beijing consortium, will integrate China’s digital yuan, as the capital city readies the e-CNY for testing during the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Why it matters: This is the first known domestic application of blockchain technology using the digital yuan, China’s state-backed digital currency. It creates a path for enterprise applications of the e-CNY, which have so far taken a backseat in the development of the digital currency.

READ MORE: CHINA VOICES | DCEP class is in session, with Zhou Xiaochuan

Details: The Beijing Academy of Blockchain and Edge Computing (BABEC)—the research institute behind Chang’an Chain—and the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) Digital Currency Research Institute signed a strategic partnership on Monday, state-owned newspaper Beijing Daily reported on Thursday.

The digital RMB could be the first central bank-backed digital currency to be issued by a major economy. Trials have been ongoing since April, but have so far been focused on retail transactions.

China, Hong Kong, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates are experimenting with blockchain to enable cross-border transactions using state-backed digital currencies, the group announced last week.

The China Chain: Chang’An Chain, known as Chain Maker, is a hardware and blockchain project with major government support. BABEC, backed by the municipal governments of Beijing and the city’s Haidian district, aims to help China achieve blockchain independence, according to its founder, Dong Jin.

BABEC released Chang’an Chain on Jan. 27, and launched the Chang’an Chain Ecosystem Alliance.

The Alliance is a 27 member-strong consortium that will integrate Chang’an Chain across government departments. It includes the State Power Grid operator, China Construction Bank, the PBOC’s Digital Currency Research Institute, Tencent, and Tsinghua University, as well as semiconductor companies.

The Alliance is supervised by the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the PBOC’s Digital Currency Research Institute, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the State Administration of Taxation, the State Administration of Market Supervision, and the State Council’s Asset Supervision Commission.

Chang’an Chain debuted in late January and is meant to unify Beijing’s disparate information systems across ministries and enterprises. The city aims to build a “digital economy” based on the chain, Beijing News reported.

Context: The project and its linkage to the digital RMB show that the Chinese government increasingly sees blockchain as a key technology, and is willing to invest accordingly.

The city of Beijing has been a frontrunner among municipalities, with a plan to integrate blockchain in several areas of governance.

After the integration of the digital RMB into Chang’an Chain, the city will speed up its preparations for the Beijing Winter Olympics trial.

Eliza is TechNode’s blockchain and fintech reporter. When she isn’t obsessing over the rise of distributed ledger technology in China, she helps with editing. More by Eliza Gkritsi

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PARIS, FRANCE, Mar 4, 2021 – (ACN Newswire) – Engineering has been an important profession, helping to tackle major issues such as poverty reduction, climate resilience, public health and sustainable development. “The foremost problem facing the world today is sustaining human development and preserving the planet. Whenever there is a problem, there is a need for engineering solutions,” says Gong Ke, President of the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO).

On 4th March 2021, the annual World Engineering Day (WED) will convene under the auspices of UNESCO. As the UNESCO Director-General, Ms. Audrey Azoulay explains, WED will “celebrate the achievements of engineers and their contributions to sustainability and a better quality of life for all.” This year, WED welcomes the high patronage of Emmanuel Macron, President of France and coincides with the launch of the second UNESCO engineering report, “Engineering for Sustainable Development” with UNESCO’s partners, the WFEO, the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), Tsinghua University, and the International Centre of Engineering Education (ICEE), among many others. Representatives from over 10 different countries, genders and age groups from youths to adults, will speak at WED 2021. In addition, many more diverse engineering communities will join in over 50 WED events held concurrently in every continent around the world.

The WFEO is represented by over 100 national engineering institutions and 30 million engineers globally, leading the WED initiative to increase worldwide recognition of the important role of engineering in accelerating the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Engineering education and capacity building are keys to enabling the SDGs. Politicians can foster them; institutional investors can fund them; but only engineers can build them.

“World Engineering Day is an opportunity to recognize the important work that engineers need to do, in addressing climate change and developing technologies for a carbon free economy. It is engineering innovations that will achieve this goal. Engineers will ensure that cities are cleaner, more sustainable, smarter and livable. And importantly, engineers will ensure that everyone has safe clean accessible water, sanitation systems and affordable and reliable energy”, says Marlene Kanga, Past National President of Engineers Australia and the Immediate Past President of WFEO.

Calling for more global action from multiple stakeholder groups, “We hope that this new UNESCO engineering report will help stakeholders from government, industry and academia articulate the value of engineering, inspire ideas to improve and innovate engineering, and help achieve the full potential of engineering to benefit the sustainable development of humankind and planet Earth,” says Zhou Ji, Honorary Chairman of the Governing Board of the CAE and Co-chair of the Advisory Board of ICEE.

The advent of the Fourth Industrial Revolution has brought technological advances in artificial intelligence, big data, Internet of Things and blockchain, transforming the ways people live and interact with their physical, biological and digital space. “These transformations can be seen in every field of engineering, profoundly affecting industrial systems, production and governance,” says Audrey Azoulay.

Engineering innovations are developing rapidly and these global efforts are critical for solving current challenges and building a better future for humankind. In the past year, engineers have been in the spotlight for their creative solutions to address the COVID-19 pandemic. Marlene Kanga notes that in the year following the coronavirus pandemic, the theme of the WED celebrations in 2021, Engineering for a healthy planet, “acknowledges the work of engineers and engineering in the search for a new vaccine, using artificial intelligence and data analysis in the process. Advanced manufacturing technologies such as 3D printing has been used in the manufacture of personal protective equipment. Refrigeration technologies and transportation and logistics innovations are being used to transport vaccines to every corner of the earth. This is truly a year where the world could not exist without engineering.”

“The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the call for urgent action, while affirming the relevance of engineering to sustainable development,” observes Gong Ke. He also encouraged more affirmative action in the engineering community, saying that “engineering should play a more proactive role in the fight against COVID-19 and in the pursuit of a truly transformative recovery to build back better.”

Audrey Azoulay raised a pressing concern on the strain that the pandemic has placed on engineering education. “To train our best engineers to tackle these global challenges, we need young people to study mathematics and science from an early age; however, the global pandemic has led to the closure of educational institutions for 1.5 billion learners worldwide – more than 90% of the world’s school population – with dire consequences for their education.”

Thus, it is imperative for engineers to innovate on engineering education, curricula, new teaching methods and education delivery. “Training engineers for the implementation of the SDGs requires not only new competencies, including creative learning and thinking, complex problem-solving, interdisciplinary and international cooperation, and a code of ethics, it also demands a change in engineering education itself,” says Jose Vieira, President-Elect of WFEO.

Marlene Kanga also emphasized the importance of encouraging all young people, boys and girls, to consider engineering as a career and to encourage them in this choice. She says, “if you want to change the world, become an engineer.”

“At present, however, resources for engineering science and technology and engineering education are not equitably distributed. Developing countries and regions, in particular, are lacking in qualified engineers and engineering resources. We therefore urge the global engineering community to work to establish a more equitable, inclusive, developmental and mutually beneficial world for all, by working closely with government, industry and academia; by empowering engineering capacity-building in disadvantaged regions; and by tackling global challenges through joint efforts,” says Zhou Ji, calling attention to the gaps in resources distribution and making sure that no one is left behind.

One important global resource is water. “Water, as a prerequisite for life, assumes a special focus in terms of sustainable development. The close relationship between human health and the well-being of communities with access to clean water is a determining factor for the economic and social development of society,” says Jose Vieira. Significant progress in water and environmental engineering have led to greener technologies and more sustainable development of our planet.

“Engineering itself needs a transformation to be more innovative, inclusive, cooperative and responsible,” says Gong Ke, “The engineering report to be released is a new report published 10 years after the first landmark engineering report of UNESCO, aiming to increase the public awareness of the crucial role of engineers and engineering in achieving every one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals; to call for global collaboration among governments, industries and civil society; to promote engineering innovations, and to transform the engineering profession with a stronger capacity to respond to the pressing challenges faced by humankind and the planet; and to shape a peaceful, prosperous, inclusive and sustainable world for all people with no one left behind, encouraging more collaboration and sharing of engineering resources at a global level.”

Ultimately, WED aims to promote engineering awareness, diversity, collaboration, education and resources sharing, with a common global goal to achieve the SDGs by 2030.

Christine Tan, PhD CEng FIET is a Royal Chartered Engineer, Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology UK, and Professor of Science and Technology Education at Fujian Normal University China. She is an active science writer and STEM outreach volunteer.

Media contact World Federation of Engineering Organizations Maison de l’Unesco, 1 rue Miollis, 75015 Paris, France Contact Person: Wang Guanyi Tele: +33 1 45 68 48 47 Website: http://www.wfeo.org/

Topic: Press release summary Sectors: Environment, Engineering, Construct, Engineering, Artificial Intel [AI], Automation [IoT] https://ift.tt/1fx7Yvd From the Asia Corporate News Network

Copyright © 2021 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. A division of Asia Corporate News Network.

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Canada:

Blockchain Or Cryptocurrency Fraudulent Investment Schemes

03 March 2021

Rotfleisch & Samulovitch P.C.

To print this article, all you need is to be registered or login on Mondaq.com.

Blockchain or Cryptocurrency Fraud – Cryptocurrency Fraudulent Investment Schemes

The advent of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies has resulted in sudden fortunes for more than a few individuals. At the same time, the technology and economics of the cryptocurrency space are confusing and not well understood by the general public. This creates an opportunity for scammers to exploit the public with a path to riches whose credibility is difficult to evaluate.

Apart from outright scams, our clients have also informed us of companies operating in the cryptocurrency space which have incorrectly requested funds on the basis of Canadian income tax or anti-money laundering compliance requirements. In addition to scams, investors in cryptocurrency need to be aware that the companies that they deal with may not understand Canadian tax or anti-money laundering compliance requirements.

Clients of our firm have received a request of this nature from Continental Marketing Czech Republic s.r.o., a company holding itself out as offering cryptocurrency investment services and operating under the name Nittrex. The clients had an account with Nittrex which was used for an investment strategy which involved buying and selling cryptocurrency based on Nittrex’s advice. The investment strategy was explained as being cryptocurrency arbitrage transactions. According to the client’s statements from Nittrex, this investment strategy was extremely profitable. When the clients attempted to make their first significant withdrawal of funds from the account, Nittrex informed them that they needed to make a substantial payment into an escrow wallet set up by Nittrex on account of the taxes that would be owing to the Canada Revenue Agency for Canadian income tax. Nittrex stated that this was required by anti-money laundering regulations and Canadian tax law. Our clients were also told that paying CRA themselves was not an option.

The claims made by Nittrex are false. As described below, this is not how Canadian tax or anti-money laundering law operates. There is almost never a requirement to make a payment on account of Canadian income tax to a private company or individual. Demands of this nature are a sign of fraud and you should exercise extreme caution in dealing with the company or person making this type of demand. We do not know whether in particular Nittrex merely does not understand Canadian tax and anti-money laundering compliance but information given to our clients was wrong.

Fraud in the Cryptocurrency Context – Cryptocurrency Fraudulent Investment Schemes

One classic scam, called a Ponzi scheme, is to solicit funds from investors, send regular false reports of outsized profits to solicit additional funds, and then disappear with the funds received before too many investors try to withdraw their money. In the blockchain or cryptocurrency context, scammers can ask you to transfer Bitcoin to you so they can use your capital for a highly profitable cryptocurrency trading strategy. This type of approach has many advantages for scammers.

One problem is that in most cases transfers of Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies are effectively irreversible. Once you have transferred Bitcoin to scammers, there is no mechanism available to reverse the transaction. In the ordinary financial system it is sometimes possible to reverse fraudulent or unintended transactions after the fact (e.g. credit card charge backs). Similarly, Governments are not able to intervene directly to reverse transactions on blockchain ledgers.

Another advantage is that since the general public knows that some individuals have genuinely become wealthy almost overnight with cryptocurrency investments. This makes it easier for a member of the public to believe the reports of outsized profits sent to them by the scammers are correct. Once you have provided funds to a scammer purporting to be running a cryptocurrency investment strategy, you will likely have no way to directly verify the performance of the alleged investments.

Canadian Tax Payment & Withholding – Cryptocurrency Fraudulent Investment Schemes

Our firm has been retained by clients who as investors are being told that they need to pay Canadian income tax to their purported cryptocurrency investment managers in order to withdraw cryptocurrency from their accounts. This is a red flag because it involves neither paying taxes to CRA directly nor witholding by the investment manager. If you pay a private entity on account of your Canadian income taxes you will not get credit for that amount from the Canada Revenue Agency and you may not be able to retrieve the amount from the private entity. On reciept of such a request you should consult with an expert Canadian tax lawyer before sending any funds.

Canadians normally pay income tax through one of two different methods. First is by paying CRA directly. The second is through witholding by the entity paying out the income (e.g. an employer witholding income tax from an employee’s salary). The first method is the default and used in essentially all cases except when the second method applies.

The witholding method is used only in a relatively small number of types of situations. When the witholding method applies, the withholder will provide a statement of some kind to the recipient of the income showing the amount withheld. The withholder will then remit the amount withheld to the CRA. The taxpayer who had the amount withheld will be credited with having paid a corresponding amount. In the event that the total amount withheld from a taxpayer exceeds the taxpayer’s amount owing, the CRA will send the taxpayer a refund. This witholding only applies to a relatively small number types of situations in the Canadian tax system, most prominently:

Employers witholding from payment of salary, wages or employment benefits to their employees;

Financial institutions witholding from RRSPs withdrawals;

Payors witholding from payments of rent, interest, dividends or certain other types of passive income to non-residents;

Witholding from fees or commissions charged by a non-resident rendering services in Canada; and

Witholding from proceeds of sale paid to a non-resident selling Canadian real estate, Canadian resource properties, or timber resource properties.

In most legitimate cryptocurrency investment scenarios, none of the above witholding mechanisms will be involved. There are some exceptions however, such as investing in securities designed to give investors cryptocurrency exposure through an RRSP. If you are in doubt regarding your situation, consult an expert Toronto tax lawyer.

Canadian Anti-Money Laundering Law – Cryptocurrency Fraudulent Investment Schemes

Our firm has been retained by clients who have received requests for funds incorrectly justified on the basis of anti-money laundering law and regulations. Demands for additional money on the grounds of Canadian anti-money laundering law are a fraud red flag as these demands are not contrary to how Canadian anti-money laundering law operates. If you have received such a demand, you should seek out legal advice from an experienced Canadian tax lawyer. You may not be able to recover funds transferred in response to such a demand.

The primary statute implementing Canadian anti-money laundering law is the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (PCMLTFA). This statute is administered by the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC).

The primary approach taken by Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act to combat money laundering is to impose record keeping and reporting requirements on financial service providers and other persons or entities that engage in businesses, professions or activities that are susceptible to being used for money laundering. Regulated entities are required to run a compliance program, implement “know your client” protocols, keep records, and report certain types of transactions.

FINTRAC monitors entities regulated by the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act to ensure compliance. It also receives and analyses the reports sent by those entities. When appropriate the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada interfaces with law enforcement and other government agencies which may then take further action in suspicious circumstances.

None of these activities would require additional payment on behalf of a cryptocurrency investor to someone purportedly running a cryptocurrency investment service.

Entities which operate money services businesses are also required to register with FINTRAC, and this registry is searchable by the public on the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada’s website. A money services business is a business that offers at least one of the following services to the Canadian public:

foreign exchange dealing,

remitting or transferring funds,

issuing or redeeming money order or similar negotiable instruments, or

dealing in virtual currency.

This means if you are a Canadian using some form of intermediary to purchase cryptocurrency, that intermediary should be registered. If that intermediary is not registered, it is cause for extreme caution. Nittrex is not registered with FINTRAC as of the publication of this article despite allegedly operating a platform which allows for Canadians to buy and sell virtual currencies.

Pro Tax Tips – Cryptocurrency Fraudulent Investment Schemes

Beware of investment opportunities with the following red flags of fraud:

promises of high returns with low risk,

the investment is only available for purchase for a short period of time,

the investment promoter uses high pressure sales tactics,

the investment is described as normally only being offered to an exclusive group (e.g. normally only to the very wealthy),

the investment promoter is not registered to sell investments.

The website of the Canadian Securities Administrators offers a national registration search that is helpful for verifying whether a promoter is registered.

If you are ever requested to make a payment to someone other than the Canada Revenue Agency on account of Canadian income taxes, you should consult an experienced Canadian tax lawyer to verify that the request is genuine. It is almost certainly not a valid request.

If you suffer losses due to a cryptocurrency related fraudulent investment scheme, you may be able to claim a loss for Canadian income tax purposes that will help offset your other Canadian income tax liability. Canadians who have been defrauded should also report the fraud to the government through the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre and through the RCMP.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

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Screenshot: WallStreetBets

As praises from celebrity investors and movie deals rained on the subreddit/memestock trading floor WallStreetBets, its two contingents of its moderators went to war, each accusing the other of profiteering off the community’s newfound fame. Now, those beaten in the squabble intend to start a competing community which will act like a “decentralized hedge fund.”

The bitter he said-he said started last month when a group of primarily-newer moderators (most visible among them, zjz, who joined last year) accused the veteran mods (who include only1parkjisung, who joined as a moderator around 2014) of coming back from dormancy to “cash in” on WallStreetBets’ sudden newsworthiness. Zjz wrote on February 5th that wsb had been “taken hostage” by the old mods who referred to themselves as the “board of directors”:

We’ve been taken hostage by the top mods. They left for years and came back when they smelled money. They’ve been busy creating private email addresses to funnel all the press correspondence away for their own gain, talking shit about all of the active mods, and scrambling to get paid from some movie deal.

Zjz and fellow detractors were stripped of moderator status (the reasons itself are a source of dispute). Soon the ouster was reversed by Reddit’s admins, who restored the new mods—including zjz—and sent the old guard packing.

“We had not left the group at all,” one former WallStreetBets moderator, positionsorban, told Gizmodo via Reddit chat. Positionsorban said that while the now-ousted group “did let zjz and his bots take over more and more of the day to day moderating,” they still “discussed wsb related issues daily,” posted, and awarded flair. Some, they said, “did things behind the scenes like organize AMAs with people like Benn Eifert and Mark Cuban.”

G/O Media may get a commission

Modwars aside, the defectors’ project “WallStreetBets 2.0,” is being pitched—with memes, naturally—as a blockchain-based DAO (decentralized autonomous organization), to allow WSB 2.0 users to pool tokens and split the profits of a collective bet. They write:

It’s time to build a new version of WSB. A decentralized version powered by smart contracts, where no one – not the mods, not Reddit – owns the platform. A place where you are financially incentivized to share your ideas and your memes. A place where you don’t need to trust anyone because you can view the public, audited, and immutable code. A place where millions of individuals can pool their money together to have more power and influence in the market than the largest hedge funds […] it’s time to stop betting against the house and become the new house

“Smart contracts” refer to self-executing contracts that are permanently traceable, with terms written in code and distributed across a blockchain network. They don’t say what the specifics of this contract might be, but we’re imaging users would vote on stock with DAO-issued tokens and decide when to exit their position, rather than relying on, for example, rocket ship emojis to sustain investor perseverance. Only1parkjisung told Gizmodo that they’re still working out details like potential fundraising, but say that at least half a dozen people, mostly “og mods,” are involved.

The idea isn’t new; in 2016, the original DAO raised over $160 million, but just days later, a hacker stole $50 million of DAO tokens (ether). As Stephan Tual, the COO of Slock.it which created the DAO pointed out to Wired at the time, it’s almost impossible to sell purloined DAO tokens on the cryptocurrency market, since all contracts are permanently recorded. But cryptocurrency exchanges delisted the DAO token nonetheless. To this day there are only a handful of companies in the space, and it seems clear there are more than few kinks to iron out.

The WSB 2.0 site refers to a tweet from former Coinbase CTO Balaji Srinivasan explaining how the concept would safeguard people from “bag holding” and further point to the ramblings of Mark Cuban, embedded in a YouTube video:

Just imagine if Wall Street Bets…instead of being just a forum was a blockchain-based forum where everybody put up one Ethereum, and everybody…took a half of it, you over-collateralized, and everybody contributed, and you looked to see how many participants you had on WallStreetBets blockchain. And then everybody voted on what stock to invest in. Everybody got a token to pick which one they invest in. And then…everyone agreed how often they would review that investment. Is it by the minute? Is it by the hour? By the day? And then you can put a council together where people can assign their voting because some people don’t want to deal with it every minute of every day. Now all of the sudden, that WallStreetBets forum is organized with blockchain-based governance, decentralized governance where the users get to vote? Oof.

“Without knowing the details, which they clearly haven’t filled in for us yet, it’s hard to tell whether their plan is likely to turn out well or not,” Andrew Miller, an associate director of the Initiative for CryptoCurrencies and Contracts (IC3), told Gizmodo via email. “But, could it be feasible? Sure!”

The premise isn’t actually that complicated, he claims. “The basic mechanism of a smart-contract based DAO is straightforward – the smart contract will define rules for how to vote on buy/sell decisions, how to collect funding contributions from participants, how to divide up control and voting rights among the founders and early adopters.’ But Miller added that a new team would be more likely to stumble over regulatory risks and buggy software—and that there’s no direct way to link smart contracts to the stock market yet.

WSB 2.0 would also need to overcome the hurdle of migrating the 9 million or so subreddit users from Reddit (a massive, popular, largely functional website) to their new, untested one—something several grievance-based projects have attempted with varying levels of success.

It might not help their case that the exiled mods have devoted part of their launch page to relitigating drama with their rivals (i.e. that another mod was monetizing WSB through t-shirt sales.) That said, they do provide evidence to support their claim that zjz misrepresented their intentions for what to do with any Hollywood money: the site includes both the cropped version of a Discord chat apparently used by zjz, as well as a more complete version indicating the money was earmarked for charity from the get-go. The charity assertion is also backed by text message screenshots obtained New York Times journalist Nathaniel Popper.

“Unfortunately, we have no comment at this time,” current WallStreetBets mods wrote to Gizmodo via DM. “We have a duty to the readers of r/wallstreetbets to to keep the subreddit clean and stable, and that means moving past the grievances of our countless detractors.”

We’ll leave the screenwriters to figure out the protagonists, I suppose.

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SINGAPORE, Feb 26, 2021 – (ACN Newswire) – Today, staking of Centrality’s native token, CENNZ, is officially available on Moonstake’s Web Wallet. CENNZ is the native token of Centrality, our strategic partner. Moonstake became the first staking provider in the world to launch staking services for CENNZ.

Now Moonstake’s wallet users can hold, send and receive CENNZ and are able to stake through the Moonstake wallet and receive CPAY as staking rewards with one simple click with the best user experience. After Cosmos, IRISnet, Ontology, Harmony, Tezos, Cardano, Qtum, Polkadot, Quras and Centrality became the 10th available staking coin on Moonstake Wallet.

Moonstake wallet provides 3 CENNZ staking validator options for users with an average commission fee of 5%. To celebrate our milestone as the world’s first wallet to support staking of CENNZ, one of the 3 validators will offer zero-staking fee for the first 3 months from today until 31st of May so that CENNZ holders can enjoy free staking on Moonstake wallet.

Moonstake started in the staking business last year with the aim to create the largest staking network in Asia. Since then, Moonstake has developed the most user-friendly wallets for both Web Wallet and Mobile Wallet (iOS/Android) that are compatible with over 2000 cryptocurrencies. After a full-scale operation launched in August 2020, Moonstake’s total staking assets have grown rapidly to reach USD 600 Million in staked assets in 6 months.

Moonstake and Centrality entered into a strategic partnership in August last year. Aaron McDonald, CEO of Centrality has joined Moonstake as an advisor and both parties are actively developing for the implementation of CENNZ (Centrality’s token) through Moonstake staking platform. During a joint webinar last year, both parties shared details about the progress of the partnership and product development, including an announcement regarding the launch of CENNZ staking on Moonstake. Based on joint marketing and technical collaboration, Moonstake Wallet achieved another milestone as a world’s first wallet to support CENNZ and CPAY enabling users to send, receive, and hold ERC-20 based CENNZ and CPAY tokens and the world’s first wallet to support staking for CENNZ.

How to stake CENNZ on MS Wallet

Here’s a simple 4-step process to stake CENNZ with Moonstake Wallet:

1. Register your Moonstake Web wallet (https://ift.tt/2MMdBNB) 2. Deposit 10,000 CENNZ and an appropriate amount of CPAY to your Moonstake wallet. (10,000 CENNZ is the minimum amount required to stake) 3. From the wallet screen, select CENNZ and click the “Stake Now” button. *If CENNZ and CPAY are not displayed, click on the + button on the right to add them. 4. Confirm the staking information, then click the “Staking” button and enter your wallet password. *Once the staking operation is completed, the amount of CENNZ will be displayed in the column Staking.

How CENNZ Staking Works

A minimum threshold amount of 10,000 CENNZ needs to be locked in and stake for both nominators or validators. To stake CENNZ with Moonstake wallet, you need to be a “Nominator” and select a “Validator”. Up to 16 or more validators can be selected. If the chosen Validator is elected and performs their duties correctly, Nominators receive a portion of their resulting CPAY reward.

*Nominators are CENNZ token holders who stake a portion of their CENNZ behind a Validator. *Validators are node operators who each store a copy of the blockchain and must perform certain functions to keep the system secure.

How to get Rewards of CENNZ staking

The APY (Staking Reward Rate) BASE rate for CENNZ will initially start at a minimum of 8-10% APY in CPAY. This can increase based on network activity. You will receive a staking reward approximately every 24 hours.

For example, if you stake 10,000 CENNZ, you will receive 800 – 1,000 CENNZ worth of CPAY per year, which will be divided and distributed as a reward.

How CENNZ unstaking works

There is an unbonding period when you unstake CENNZ, which serves as a cooldown. This period will take 28 days on CENNZnet and your CENNZ will be locked. After 28 days, you can redeem your CENNZ and start to use or transfer them. During the unbonding period, you will not receive any staking rewards.

Mitsuru Tezuka, Founder at Moonstake says: “Moonstake is pleased to be the world’s first wallet to support staking of CENNZ and the first validator for CENNZnet. We completed API connection for CENNZ staking to provide extensive support for the CENNZ community. With this collaboration, Moonstake and Centrality will continue to accelerate the strong growth of the staking ecosystem while providing the best staking service for CENNZ.”

Aaron McDonald, CEO at Centrality says: “Centrality is on a mission to bring decentralised technology to consumer mass markets and Moonstake will help us do just that. E-wallet is the most convenient and friendly solution for modern day money management, in both the real world and the crypto world. Making the crypto usage experience seamless while still fully secure to mass consumers is what Moonstake excels at and we’re happy to bring about CENNZ staking on this leading staking platform.”

The global staking market capitalization has grown exponentially over the last year from $10 billion to $133 billion. During this period, Moonstake has also become part of the top 10 staking providers in the world in terms of total staking value and is continuing to expand non-stop. Through CENNZ’s staking, we are committed to providing more people in the world with valuable staking opportunities at their convenience and contributing to the development of the blockchain industry.

About Moonstake

Moonstake was recently established to develop a staking pool protocol to satisfy increasing demands in regional and global blockchain markets. Moonstake develops a staking pool protocol and provides business services through partners and companies.

Moonstake aims to be the largest staking pool network in Asia by providing an active environment for crypto asset holders. Establishing a clear partnership roadmap with Moonstake represents another significant milestone for continuing to strengthen ties with leading platforms across Asia’s burgeoning Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ecosystem. Partnership has been announced with Emurgo, Ontology and NEO to boost staking adoption, Binarystar, Japan’s biggest blockchain hub, OIO Holdings Limited (SGX: OIO), a Singapore Catalist-Listed company. Industry’s reputed advisors, such as Lisk and Lawrence Lim of RAMP DEFI support Moonstake’s innovative journey.

With a full-scale operation launched in August 2020, we expanded our business and as of now, our total staking assets exceeded over USD 600 Million. https://ift.tt/3gMgp6u

About Centrality

Centrality is the world’s leading fintech venture platform based in New Zealand. They have received a research grant from the New Zealand government and are working with the New Zealand government to build a decentralized system through the public-private integrated organization “Digital Identity NZ” together with NZ Tech and Singlesource. https://centrality.ai/

Topic: Press release summary Sectors: FX & Digital Currencies

https://ift.tt/1fx7Yvd From the Asia Corporate News Network

Copyright © 2021 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. A division of Asia Corporate News Network.

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Washington, D.C., Feb 26, 2021 – (ACN Newswire) – Over the past year, blockchain development communities have turned their attention towards winning government contracts.

There is a huge opportunity presented by increased government spending on blockchain projects. According to Bloomberg Government BGOV200 Report, federal government spending reached $597 Billion in 2019. However, since new businesses face barriers gaining direct access to government contracts, many have joined the Government Blockchain Association (GBA) to introduce their cutting-edge blockchain platforms to the public sector.

Traditionally government program managers choose to work with the same few legacy companies. For example, there are currently over 4.1 million US Federal government contractors but of the $597 billion in prime contracts awarded in FY19, the top 10 government contractors received $173.4 billion according to Bloomberg Government. However, the COVID-19 Global Pandemic was a catalyst that necessitated governments from around the world look at bold and innovative new ways to solve problems from a more diverse community.

In March of 2020 the US Department of Health and Human Services hosted a virtual Pandemic Response Hackathon. This hackathon idea completely changed the former process of government acquisitions. The slow pattern of the past was rewritten to adopt to the chaos, uncertainty, and urgency of COVID. Government contracts went from a centralized channel to open and decentralized solutions coming in from completely new sources. A new way of doing business was introduced to the world stage, and in November 2020 the Indian Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), National Informatics Centre (NIC) held their own up a GovTech Hackathon. Throughout 2020, countless examples of crowdsourcing solutions contested the traditional procurement processes.

Along with new paradigms in acquisitions, 2020 brought explosive growth of decentralized development communities and platforms. Decentralized communities operate on independently run servers, rather than on a centralized server owned by a business. Initially, most blockchain solutions were private-permissioned blockchains dominated by a single vendor. One of the most popular government blockchain solutions is Hyperledger Fabric. Though it is technically an open-source project, almost 80% of software changes to Hyperledger Fabric came from IBM, demonstrating an ongoing dependence on IBM to maintain the code.

Lately, next gen blockchain solution providers have been self-organizing into working groups and communities to compete in the contracts space. The largest and most engaged of these decentralized communities is the Government Blockchain Association, with members in over 500 Government Offices, thousands of public and private sector members in 120 Chapters, and more than 50 Working Groups, and 25 Communities of Interests. They also host regular online and in-person events to introduce blockchain solution providers to government officials, promoting this new diverse community.

Some of these next gen blockchain leaders include: – DragonChain – DragonChain is an enterprise and start-up-ready platform to build flexible and scalable blockchain applications. It has business-ready applications and developer-friendly integrations that support many applications including learning management systems, decentralized identity, and anti-fraud and compliance solutions. – NEM – A community that has developed two blockchains. They are NEM NIS1 and Symbol. NEM NIS1 is the original blockchain offering from NEM, created by the community, and optimized to be a developer’s sandbox. With zero downtime or major outages since 2015, NIS1 is the blockchain you can trust for all your project needs. Symbol is the next-generation enterprise-grade blockchain solution from NEM, purpose-built to help businesses cut costs, reduce complexities, and streamline innovation. With major upgrades in flexibility, security, speed and ease of use, the Symbol platform is the best-in-class blockchain enterprise solution. – Simba Chain – SIMBA Chain is a cloud-based, blockchain-as-a-service (BaaS) platform, enabling users across a variety of skill sets to implement decentralized applications (dapps). These apps allow secure, direct connections between users and providers, eliminating third parties. The easy-to-use platform is tailored for users, developers, government, and enterprises to quickly deploy blockchain dapps for iOS, Android, and the web. – TON Labs – TON Labs is the core developer of Free TON, comprised of a decentralized team focused on developing the infrastructure and free software for TON OS. TON OS is a full-fledged, vertically integrated technology stack that helps developers work easily with the blockchain and makes it simple and intuitive for users.

Decentralized blockchain projects include the Government Business Blockchain Platform (GBBP). This multi-blockchain platform allows solutions built on any blockchain to connect and become available to governments around the world. Sub-set eco-systems include Emergency Management, Healthcare Delivery, and Citizen Services. Blockchain applications can interconnect on the GBBP, providing identity management, logistics, asset management, payments, and many other blockchain services.

These examples demonstrate how blockchain providers are working together, self-organizing into decentralized entities to build public-facing blockchain solutions. GBA groups regularly host online meetings to discuss their projects. Anyone interested in joining the discussion can find out more on the GBA Events Calendar or Events List. Later this year the GBA will be bringing World-Class Leaders to Washington, DC for Government Blockchain Week on Sept 27 to Oct 1, 2021.

For more information to attend a free online event called NextGen Blockchain Platforms (https://ift.tt/3kAvWtS) on March 17, 2021 or send an email to [email protected].

Topic: Press release summary Sectors: FinTech & Blockchain, Government

https://ift.tt/1fx7Yvd From the Asia Corporate News Network

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