Organic growth? Bitcoin SV activity up 761% ahead of BSV conference

Bitcoin SV users appear to have got very excited ahead of the conference.

Crypto Finance Conference to host industry experts in-person in January 2021

Physical crypto events come back, but with a set of strict COVID-19 measures. As the world is battling to recover from the damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic, a major cryptocurrency event in Switzerland prepares to take return to a physical format. Crypto Finance Conference (CfC), an international crypto event held in St.

FinCEN director warns banks about cryptocurrency risk exposure

FinCEN has warned US banks that it is closely watching how they respond to crypto risk exposure with their AML programs. The US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) director Kenneth Blanco has warned banks to think seriously about their cryptocurrency risk exposure. During the virtual 2020 ACAMS anti-money laundering Conference in Las Vegas this week, Blanco discussed the obligations of banks in implementing effective anti-money laundering (AML) policies. Current FinCEN regulations (FIN-2019-A003) state that it is the responsibility of all financial institutions to identify and report suspicious activity concerning how criminals and other bad actors exploit card verification checks for money laundering, sanctions evasion, and other illicit financing purposes.

The World’s Largest Virtual Blockchain Conference is Now Free

LA Blockchain Summit kicks off October 6-7th online alongside the blockchain industry’s most innovative thought leaders, movers, and shakers to determine the next decade for cryptocurrencies and blo The post The World’s Largest Virtual Blockchain Conference is Now Free appeared first on AMBCrypto.

BlockDown Announces Third Edition Coming this Halloween

BlockDown returns October 22-23 for a Halloween event that promises to be the best virtual conference yet.

The World’s Largest Virtual Blockchain Conference is Now Free

Disclaimer: The text below is a press release that was not written by Cryptonews.com. LA Blockchain Summit kicks off October 6-7th online alongside the blockchain industry’s most innovative thought leaders, movers, and shakers to determine the next decade for cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. Los Angeles, CA — September 23, 2020 — The largest gathering of blockchain enthusiasts

BlockDown Announces Third Edition Coming this Halloween

Disclaimer: The text below is a press release that was not written by Cryptonews.com. BlockDown returns October 22-23 for a Halloween event that promises to be the best virtual conference yet.

Bitcoin bull Tim Draper reveals the secrets of his altcoin portfolio

Tech billionaire, Tim Draper, has revealed he owns a myriad of altcoins in addition to his 30,000 BTC. Tim Draper, the prominent venture capitalist and tech billionaire who purchased nearly 30,000 Bitcoins (BTC) that were seized from the Silk Road, has revealed his digital currency holdings span at least half a dozen different crypto assets.   Speaking at a recent investment conference, Draper revealed that his holdings include Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ripple (XRP), Tezos (XTZ), and Aragon (ANT), adding: “I’m a believer.

A Chinese Gold Refinery Is Making ‘Blockchain Gold Bars’ on BSN

Gold is being traded on a blockchain network in China in an effort to legitimize the industry for domestic and overseas regulators – and a senior executive at one of the country’s biggest banks said that commodities like gold could soon be “digitized” and “circulated.” Per Sichuan Online, the city of Chengdu hosted the Gold Technology Innovation Conference on

European central bank execs explain why CBDCs don’t need blockchain

Before trying to apply blockchain to anything, think why. Global central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs, do not require the use of blockchain technology, according to executives at major European central banks. Thomas Moser, an alternate member of the governing board at Swiss central bank, and Deutsche Bundesbank’s Martin Diehl discussed the state of CBDCs at the European Blockchain Convention Virtual 2020 conference on Sept.

Bitcoin conference to use VR to keep remote attendees engaged

Magical Crypto Conference uses virtual reality to engage attendees during a pandemic-disrupted all-digital event. The decidedly precarious situation for live events in 2020 has seen a great many Bitcoin and blockchain meets and conferences go purely digital. While this has saved a small fortune in collective travel expenses, it has been somewhat at the expense of engagement, with most events opting to simply stream Zoom calls or pre-recorded interviews. So when the Magical Crypto Friends — a collaboration between Litecoin’s Charlie Lee, Blockstream’s Samson Mow, former Monero lead Riccardo Spagni and trader WhalePanda — decided to take their Magical Crypto Conference online, they planned to do something a bit different, by creating the whole conference in virtual reality. Mow is also the CEO of Pixelmatic, the games studio developing Infinite Fleet, so a bit of virtual world-building shouldn’t be beyond him. The Pixelmatic team has forked and re-purposed Mozilla Hubs technology to allow it to host a large scale Bitcoin conference in VR.

World Economic Forum Leader to Headline Ripple’s Annual Crypto Conference

Sheila Warren, head of blockchain and data policy at the World Economic Forum, is set to keynote Ripple Swell Global 2020.

49 US States Unveil Unified Regulation for Cryptocurrency Firms

The Conference of State Bank Supervisors, representing regulators from all US states and territories, has launched a new regulatory framework for payments and cryptocurrency companies.

ECB President On Payments In A Digital World

Speech by Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank (ECB), at the Deutsche Bundesbank online conference on banking and payments in the digital world.

Denmark proposes use of blockchain in fight against corruption

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark has released a report analyzing the use of blockchain in the fight against corruption. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark published a report explaining the use of IT technologies and services including blockchain, e-governance, big data, and crowdsourcing to fight administrative, or day-to-day, corruption as well as political corruption. Presented during the International Anti-Corruption Conference, or IACC, the report emphasizes the use of blockchain as a technology that will build a more transparent governance and transaction system, further adding that it will also give individuals greater rights over their own data. According to the report, blockchain can be used as a potential anti-corruption tool as it has the ability to store records immutably and transparently.

Bank of England governor dismissed Bitcoin as a means of payment

Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin don't quite convince Bailey, but he sees a lot of potential for stablecoins. During a virtual conference hosted by the Brookings Institute, Andrew Bailey, Bank of England’s (BoE) governor, stressed that crypto assets are just “unsuited to the world of payments.”  In prepared remarks on the future of cryptocurrencies and stablecoins, Bailey qualified Bitcoin (BTC) as an asset that has “no connection at all to money.”  Also, he showed reluctant himself to believe crypto assets are a proper investment opportunity, because “their value can fluctuate quite, widely, unsurprisingly.” Bailey provided such comments while talking about the picking up in the pace of innovation in payments.

Virtual Futurism Forum Will Take Place On October 6-8, Apply Today

Disclaimer: The text below is a press release that was not written by Cryptonews.com. Futurism Forum is happy to announce its international online invite-only conference on AI, Cyber Security, and Blockchain on October 6-8! We are a team of industry experts with a huge R&D center bringing together the world’s leading minds to build tech communities of the future. We

Cryptocurrency news from Japan: Aug. 23 - Aug. 28 in review

Another action-packed week for crypto in Japan has passed. This week’s headlines from Japan included one of country's leaders describing Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto's dream as meaningful, LayerX Labs collaborating with a Japanese university for blockchain research, the FINSUM blockchain conference hosts notable discussion on security tokens offerings, and the head of Monex Group saying Japan is falling behind the US on STOs.  Check out some of this week’s crypto and blockchain headlines, originally reported by Cointelegraph Japan. Japanese Financial Services Agency head describes Bitcoin as impactful At the end of Tokyo's 2020 Blockchain Global Governance Conference, or BG2C, also called FINSUM, Ryozo Himino, the secretary of Japan's Financial Services Agency, said Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto's dream has aged well.  "I think Satoshi's dream is more meaningful today," Himino said on Aug.

Developers Plan to Compete in Bitcoin Cash-Fueled Hackathon ‘BCH Devcon III’

On September 4-6, Bitcoin Cash engineers will be holding the third annual developers’ conference dubbed “BCH Devcon III.” More than 30+ bitcoin cash ($8,300) will be available in prizes for winning teams who participate in the 72-hour hackathon.

Weaker US Dollar Pushes Bitcoin Towards $12K; A Weekly Outlook

In a week that will see the world central bankers convening a virtual conference on the future of the economy, Bitcoin is rising.

Japan’s Finance Minister: Blockchain Can Help in Fight Against COVID

Taro Aso, Japan’s finance minister, said blockchain could provide one possible solution to COVID contact tracing, emphasizing privacy. Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso suggested blockchain would be key in the world’s battle against the coronavirus pandemic as the technology can be used for contact tracing while ensuring privacy. Aso gave the opening remarks for the Blockchain Global Governance Conference, also known as the FIN/SUM Blockchain & Business, on Aug. 24

Donald Trump: ‘I’ll Start Looking at’ Pardoning Edward Snowden

The US President said during a press conference that he would consider allowing Edward Snowden to return from his 7-year ‘exile’ in Russia. Edward Snowden may be able to return to the United States if Donald Trump chooses to grant the whistleblower a presidential pardon. According to an Aug.

BLOCKCHANCE EUROPE 2021:Germany's leading B2B conference and trade fair on blockchain technology!

The international BLOCKCHANCE EUROPE 2021 is Germany's leading B2B conference and trade fair on blockchain technology and also one of the biggest in Europe.

Trump’s Proposed Capital Gains Tax Cut Could Boost Crypto Profits

A proposed capital gains tax cut could be good news for crypto traders in the US A proposed tax cut by US President Donald Trump could be a big win — or a relatively insignificant win — for the crypto industry if it is passed. In a news conference at the White House earlier this week, President Trump said that his administration was “very seriously” considering a capital gains tax cut. “We’re looking at also considering a capital gains tax cut, which would create a lot more jobs.” There is a debate over the extent of President Trump’s ability to deliver tax cuts.

Researchers Find Bugs that Could Expose Crypto Wallets on Exchanges

Security experts said they have unveiled a number of vulnerabilities in the open-source libraries used by numerous crypto exchanges and financial institutions – which could be exploited by hackers looking for a way into users’ wallets. At a recent Black Hat cybersecurity conference, experts said that some of the issues that affected exchanges have now been fixed –

Researchers Claim Crypto Exchange Hacks Happen in Three Ways

Hacks into crypto exchanges target open-source libraries and take advantage of inside jobs researchers said. Researchers at the Black Hat security conference revealed that crypto exchanges might be vulnerable to hackers.

Chinese Schools Can’t Keep Up With Demand for Blockchain

The Chinese academic sector is “seriously lagging” in terms of keeping up with demand for blockchain specialists. As the blockchain industry keeps expanding across China, there are concerns that the academic sector is failing to keep up with demand for comprehensive, undergraduate, blockchain-related educational programs. The head of the Digital Economy Development Research Center at the Beijing-based Communication University of China, Sun Daojun, said the first batch of “blockchain graduates” will start courses later this year and complete their studies in 2024. In the context of the latest Baidu’s Superchain whitepaper press conference, Sun told Mars Finance he believes that the Chinese blockchain industry is developing fast, but the educational sector “is seriously lagging” behind the demand of new professionals. The Chengdu University of Information Technology announced the official launch of the "Blockchain Engineering" undergrad course in March.

'Ethereal Sessions' focuses on Ethereum-based gaming

Speakers from Immutable, SuperRare and Blockade Games will discuss the role that non-fungible tokens play in digital gaming at Thursday's virtual conference.

The Three Phases of Global Digital Currency Adoption

The following is a transcript of a presentation by Jeremy Allaire, co-founder and CEO of Circle, who spoke last week at the Hangzhou Blockchain Conference 2020 hosted by Hangzhou Future Sci-Tech City Management Committee and 8btc.

Canadian Government Paid Justin Trudeau Family Member to Talk at Blockchain Event

Canadian politicians are seeking answers after the half-brother of the prime minister was paid by the federal government to speak at a blockchain conference.

Cardano Warns of Youtube Scams Promoting Fake ADA Giveaways

Cardano founder warns against Youtube scams promoting a fake ADA giveaway. Cardano is warning the public against scams promoting a fake Cardano (ADA) giveaway.  In a tweet, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson said a Youtube account has been using a keynote address he made to promote a fake giveaway.  “It has come to my attention that a scam has been floating around using my conference keynote to promote a giveaway https://youtu.be/MqeEhezvI1s this is a scam.

Analyst Rounds Up 2020 DeFi Trends and How Crypto’s Hot Experiment Is Eating the World

The following is a transcript of a presentation by Ryan Selkis, cofounder and chief executive officer of crypto research firm Messari, who spoke last week at the Hangzhou Blockchain Conference 2020 hosted by Hangzhou Future Sci-Tech City Management Committee and 8btc.

Unitize Roundup: Top 10 Quotes From the Virtual Blockchain Conference

Vitalik Buterin, Heath Tarbert, Brock Pierce and many more — here are 10 memorable quotes to take away from five days of the Unitize virtual blockchain conference. The five-day Unitize virtual blockchain conference organized by BlockShow and San Francisco Blockchain Week ended with the final session on Friday.

Here's what happened at China's first, post-lockdown, in-person blockchain conference

The 'aunties' didn't show up at Hangzhou Blockchain Week, but the 'official army' did.

Unitize Conference Covers Ground, Mulls Blockchain Adoption and DeFi

Day three and four of the Unitize virtual conference saw speakers focusing on the challenges of, and opportunities for, greater blockchain adoption. Retail and enterprise blockchain adoption trends dominated the discussions on days three and four of the ongoing virtual conference Unitize, organized by BlockShow and San Francisco Blockchain Week and sponsored by crypto derivatives exchange ByBit.  The key topic that dominated discussion was blockchain adoption, which continues to spread across the globe, with governments and corporate establishments developing solutions based on distributed ledger technology.  Exploring the blockchain development landscape Speaking during one of Wednesday’s panels at the conference.

Key Short-Term Scalability Feature Still Needs Research, Says Vitalik Buterin

Stateless clients research promises to make blockchain nodes lighter without sacrificing validation, but there are stumbling blocks in their cryptography. Research into stateless clients for Ethereum is seen as instrumental for the long-term health of the network, but despite all the progress, some fundamental limitations prevent them from being applied in practice for now. At the Unitize conference, Vitalik Buterin, a co-founder of Ethereum, provided an up-to-date picture on the latest progress and problems for the stateless client transition. Stateless clients, in short, are a way to allow nodes to fully participate in validation without having to hold the entire earlier history of the blockchain.

Switching Bitcoin to 100% ASIC Mining Could Increase Security 2000X

ASIC miners are the best option for Bitcoin network security well into the future, new research has found. The wholesale embrace of Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASIC) mining for Bitcoin (BTC) could increase the cost of a 51% attack by a factor of up to 2,000. Rod Garratt University of California Santa Barbara presented the research he co-authored with Maarten van Oordt from the Bank of Canada at the Unitize conference on July 10. It examined the varying costs of a 51% attack on the Bitcoin network based on the type of equipment used to secure the network.

DLT Voting Would Likely Benefit Democrats: UNSW Professor

Professor Richard Holden thinks exploring distributed ledger technology for voting in US elections could put voter fraud lawsuits to bed. Richard Holden, an economics professor at the University of New South Wales Business School, says using distributed ledger technology could allay Republican concerns over mail-in voter fraud — but would likely benefit the Democratic Party.  Holden spoke at the Unitize conference on July 9 on The Law and Economics of Blockchain.

Smart Contracts ‘Have Limited Potential’ Without IoT Sensors

Smart contracts in the trade sector will need to rely on IoT sensors to live up to their full potential new research suggests. Smart contracts have limited efficiency in certain industries if not implemented in conjunction with IoT sensors according to experts in blockchain and business from NYU.  Stern School of Business Associate Professors Hanna Halaburda and Yannis Bakos presented their research at the Unitize conference July 10 on the interaction between smart contracts and Internet of Things (IoT) sensors in improving business efficiencies. Smart contracts make business more democratic The study looked at how “smart contracts will make the business landscape more democratic” — that is, beneficial for all parties involved — however it found shortcomings in the current implementation of the technology when used alone. Halaburda explained that IoT is critical for maximising the benefits of smart contracts within the trade sector: “It turns out they solve a problem, but only partially,” she said, “but what doesn’t happen, if we just add smart contracts, is the higher quality of delivery [of goods].” Citing a contract between a fruit shipping company and the retailer, she explained that the smart contract solves the problem of automated execution, but does not incentivize the shipping company to ensure the quality of the fruit. However, when adding IoT sensors into the process, a smart contract can have increased detail  or adjusted payments based on the quality of the fruit delivered, such as the temperature of storage.

‘Libra Will Never See The Light Of Day’: Monetary Historian

Economic historian Barry Eichengreen believes that stablecoins are either too fragile, or too expensive, to emerge as a dominant monetary form. UC Berkeley professor Barry Eichengreen argues that Facebook’s planned Libra stablecoin faces too many “insoluble” problems, and too much resistance from governments, to ever launch. “Libra is an interesting idea that will never see the light of day,” he told the Unitize conference on July 10. Eichengreen asserts that the stablecoin sector is largely ignorant of monetary economics and history.

Court in China Implementing Blockchain for Court Reform

Chinese courts are implementing blockchain storage technology to record court hearings. Shanghai courts are using Blockchain technology to record hearings as part of a court reform pilot, according to China’s local news on July 8.  Participants at a recent court reform conference held by the Shanghai high court observed that the Minhang District People’s Court used blockchain technology to record an equity transfer contract dispute.

Cointelegraph Exclusive: CFTC Moves Annual Fintech Conference Online

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the CFTC is changing up the format for its annual Fintech Forward conference. On July 9, LabCFTC, the fintech office of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, announced that it will replace its annual one-day Fintech Forward conference with three separate online sessions under the series title Empower Innovation 2020.  The new conferences will take place on Sept.

Malaysian Regulator's Shariah Advisory Council Allows Digital Asset Trading

The Malaysian authority that oversees compliance with Islamic law in finance has permitted digital asset trading. In a landmark announcement, Securities Commission Malaysia’s Shariah Advisory Council declared that digital assets trading was permissible. The Malaysian Shariah Advisory Council is the authority that oversees the implementation of Islamic laws in the operation of Islamic Financial Institutions. Securities Commission chairman Datuk Syed Zaid Albar made the announcement during an online conference Invest Malaysia 2020 on July 7, stating: “The SC Shariah Advisory Council has resolved that in principle, it is permissible to invest and trade in digital currencies and tokens on registered digital asset exchanges.” A way forward for the Malaysian crypto space Kelvyn Chuah, the founder of SINEGY, the first Malaysian digital asset exchange approved by Malaysia’s securities watchdog, told Cointelegraph that the announcement bears extreme significance as more than 60% of Malaysian are Muslims. Chuah added, “At the same time, Malaysia is aiming to be the hub of Islamic Finance and fintech.

Security Is the Biggest Challenge for DeFi’s Continued Growth, Says Exe

The founder of blockchain security company Quantstamp, Richard Ma, said security is the biggest challenge for DeFi’s growth. Richard Ma, the CEO and co-founder of the blockchain security startup Quantstamp, explained that decentralized finance has the potential to change our financial ecosystem but security remains a huge challenge. “We think security is very crucial for DeFi’s growth,” he said at the Unitize digital conference today.

WEF’s Sheila Warren: Mass Adoption Depends on Bridging Digital Divide

The Head of Blockchain at the World Economic Forum says people excluded from traditional financial systems will help drive mass adoption. The World Economic Forum’s head of blockchain and data policy, Sheila Warren, says that people who have turned away, or been excluded, from traditional financial systems are the ones most likely to drive mass adoption.  Warren spoke at the Unitize conference on July 8 on the path to mass adoption with moderator Shira Frank.

CBDCs and COVID-19 Top Agenda in First Two Days of Unitize Conference

An overview of the first two days of the Unitize virtual blockchain conference where top crypto and blockchain experts offered their views on topical issues in the industry. The first two days of Unitize, the virtual conference organized by BlockShow and San Francisco Blockchain Week, have come and gone with speakers from various sectors of the emerging crypto and blockchain space.

Polkadot Wants to Enable You to Launch Custom Blockchains in One Hour

During yesterday’s Unitize blockchain conference, developer Bruno Škvorc illustrated how a Polkadot-based blockchain can be launched within one hour. During yesterday’s Unitize blockchain conference, developer Bruno Škvorc illustrated how a Polkadot-based blockchain can be launched within one hour. When speaking at event on July 7, Škvorc explained in detail how to create a blockchain based on Polkadot’s modular “Substrate” architecture.

Institutions Will Drive Mass Adoption of Blockchain in Finance, Says Expert

Blockchain experts discuss how institutions will play a major role in the mass adoption of blockchain-based financial infrastructure. Benjamin Soh, founder of blockchain development firm STACS, said that institutional players, not business-to-consumer companies, will drive the mass adoption of financial infrastructure built on blockchain technology.  During the Unitize virtual conference, Soh said that if they could bring bank institutions to use the blockchain, millions of bank customers will automatically be a part of the blockchain finance infrastructure without them even knowing. Providing bank customers with a blockchain-based wallet while still using the traditional payment gateways will be the necessary first step towards bringing the efficiencies of distributed ledger technology to the financial system, Soh added. Asia is leading in blockchain finance Speaking about the development of blockchain-based finance in Singapore, Soh noted that except for Switzerland, there are hardly any other European countries that are as supportive of blockchain finance as Singapore.  According to Soh, Singapore is the closest to fully replacing the current financial infrastructure with one based on distributed ledger technology. He also highlighted that the governments of other Asian countries like Malaysia, Thailand, China, Japan, and South Korea were taking strong initiatives to bring distributed ledger technology into finance.  Reflecting on a similar point, Vinay Mohan, one of the early members of ConsenSys Singapore, said that the more SMEs and retail users gain access to democratized finance, the more mature Asia’s financial infrastructure will become.  Mohan stated that due to the complex nature of current banking infrastructure, 70% of South-East Asian SMEs struggle with proper digital financial services and the advent of blockchain and central bank digital currencies may pave the way to deliver banking services to those Asian businesses and

South Carolina Blockchain to Present Emerging Tech Leaders at Resilience SC 2020 Virtual Blockchain Conference on July 15th

Charleston SC - FedEx strategist Dale Chrystie will be headlining the Resilience SC 2020 Virtual Blockchain Conference next month. Despite the postponement of the 1st annual South Carolina Blockcha The post South Carolina Blockchain to Present Emerging Tech Leaders at Resilience SC 2020 Virtual Blockchain Conference on July 15th appeared first on AMBCrypto.

DeFi Conference 2020 Delivers an All-Star Speaker Lineup

The DeFi Conference 2020 hosted by Bitcoin Events, is a feature-packed free event for anyone to attend and learn about the opportunities that decentralized finance offers to individuals and organizati The post DeFi Conference 2020 Delivers an All-Star Speaker Lineup appeared first on AMBCrypto.

Brock Pierce Running for President to Bring Blockchain Technology to the Forefront

Speaking at the Unitize conference on July 7, Brock Pierce discussed his motivations for his sudden entrance into the presidential election.

Brock Pierce Reveals Motivation Behind Surprise Presidential Bid

Crypto venture capitalist Brock Pierce said his presidential campaign would reach out to younger voters and technological innovators. Crypto venture capitalist Brock Pierce has revealed his campaign to become the next US president will focus on creating a country where technological innovation is allowed to flourish. Pierce spoke at a Unitize conference fireside chat on July 7.

Future Bleak for Private Stablecoins, SFB Economist Says

SFB Technologies' chief economist sees a future for central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs, but not for privately issued stablecoins. Speaking on a Unitize digital conference panel, Peter Dittus, chief economist for SFB Technologies, said he does see a place for privately-issued stablecoins.  "I don't see a great future," Dittus said of stablecoins on the June 7 panel, live streamed by Cointelegraph.  Two stablecoin classifications exist Stablecoins exist in two categories — privately issued and CBDCs, according to Dittus.

Global Compatibility Is A Key Factor In The CBDC Race, Says Expert

CBDCs will have to be internationally interoperable to become globally adopted, says a Hong Kong University expert. International interoperability will become the cornerstone of the CBDC race as it goes forward, according to Douglas Arner, director at Asian Institute of International Financial Law at the University of Hong Kong.  Speaking at the Unitize blockchain conference earlier today, Arner argued that the interconnections between different global economic systems will become “one of the biggest challenges — and one of the biggest opportunities” as more countries are becoming involved in CBDC projects across the globe. In Arner’s view, the Chinese financial system already has some predispositions for the cross-border adoption of the upcoming digital yuan project, like the renminbi swap lines which China has established with dozens of countries worldwide over the past few years: “If we think of the Chinese [CBDC] proposal at the moment, it is largely limited to operating within the context of the physical and electronic borders.

Neo Founder Says Next-Gen Internet Will Break Up Tech Giants’ Data Silos

The founder of blockchain platform Neo, Hongfei Da, discussed the importance of next-generation internet at Unitize. Most of today’s internet landscape is controlled by a countable few tech oligarchs such as Facebook, Tencent and Alibaba, according to Hongfei Da, the founder of blockchain platform Neo. During the Unitize blockchain conference, Hongfei said that these companies have divided the internet into several fragments by creating their own data silos. He raised concerns about how such companies intentionally use these data silos to impede competition while also abusing user privacy for both commercial and political purposes. According to Hongfei, laying a new foundation for internet infrastructure that is more user-centric and decentralized is the best way forward for curbing these issues. Five attributes of the next-gen internet Explaining the important characteristics of the new internet infrastructure, Hongfei said that it should be modular so that “everyone can build a part of it and then every part can be integrated together to create a bigger application.” In addition, he said it should be opt-in and promote interoperability.

Gavin Wood: ‘Governance is Critical’ for Crypto Ecosystem

Ethereum co-founder Gavin Wood spoke at the Unitize conference on July 6 regarding blockchain governance in the Polkadot project. Gavin Wood, the co-founder of Ethereum and Parity Technologies, says crypto-economic systems act like “nation-states” of the internet, running on governance as a type of parliamentary democracy.  Wood joined the Unitize conference on July 6 to talk about how blockchain governance essentially acts as laws for these nation-states that need to be able to adapt to stay relevant.  “We haven’t really thought about how blockchain can be used as a means of actually evolving the rules of the blockchain,” the Ethereum co-founder said.

IPOs Are ‘Really Not Worth It’ Says Tim Draper

Serial blockchain investor Tim Draper welcomes diversity in terms of funding blockchain and crypto startups. Tim Draper, a famous American venture capitalist and serial cryptocurrency investor, believes that initial public offerings, or IPOs, are not the best source of funding for industry firms. The billionaire investor joined the Unitize conference on July 6 to talk about investing in early stage blockchain startups. Draper’s thoughts on IPOs During the Unitize panel, Draper highlighted that existing regulations make it difficult for blockchain companies to go public.