The #Internet of #Things is notoriously insecure — unsecured, or poorly secured IoT devices have contributed to a number of cyberattacks, and these are on the rise as the number of devices increases. There are more than 8 billion connected devices today, with over 20 billion estimated for 2020. Even more worrying is the number …Read More
Bank Innovation
#Stephane #Wyper, who runs Mastercard’s #partnerships related to the #Internet of #Things, as well as new commerce, has joined the Bank Innovation #2018 speaker faculty. He will present on the challenge of creating a global #fintech operation, whether you&8217;re a startup or an established corporation. Mastercard is experienced at these sorts of deals — witness […]
Bank Innovation
BlockCypher’s Josh Cincinnati critiques a recent NYTimes article that suggested #bitcoin‘s immutable ledger of transactions is its weakness.
CoinDesk
Let’s get serious about this hyped #technology: the momentum is now
The buzz surrounding #Blockchain is comparable to that surrounding the #internet in the early 1990s
Do you remember the nineties? Everyone was talking about the internet and its potential, about life changing moments, about disruption, but no one could imagine what is possible? And today: our lives changed fundamentally. Everyone is communicating everywhere, new business models emerged – just to name the platform model, perfectly turned into revenue streams by AGFA &8211; Apple, Google, Facebook and Amazon. The company AGFA overslept this life changing moment: the Internet.
Some go even further to suggest that the Blockhain has the potential to reinvent key institutions. Ten years from now we will wonder how societies could have been survived without the Internet of #Value. But let’s step one step back: What’s Blockchain?
Blockchain is the technology behind the digital currency #Bitcoin, but Blockchain is unequal Bitcoin! The Blockchain is a kind of super sophisticated distributed ledger that keeps track of things on thousands or even millions of disparate computers, all coordinating with one another. Most simply, the Blockchain protocol is a cryptographically secure system of messaging and recording in a shared database.
Working in tandem, these systems enable a secure recording, verification and confirmation of transactions without the need of any single entity in charge. To write it in pictures: Today the Internet is an army with generals, we call them AGFA and the future?
The Blockchain is like the European idea &8211; each encoded and work for the good of the whole: for a common decentral network.
Using cryptography to maintain a peer-to-peer distributed, time-stamped and immutable consensus ledger of all past transactions. Each transaction is similar to a ledger item, which is aggregated with other blocks into a block of transactions, each connected to the last and needs to be agreed by consensus before adding to the chain. Transaction records cannot be forged, censored or reversed once a block is added. Transacting without trust and a third party becomes reality &8211; with three main disruptive advantages:
&8211; Trust: Less reliance on trusted third parties. Reducing or eliminating third party risk as trust is distributed over a decentral network
&8211; Immutable Record: All participants share and consensually update the record. This permanent record imparts confidence in the provenance of value being transacted and enhances fraud detection
&8211; Smart Contracts: Self-executing commitments. Obligations codified by smart contracts are easily replicable with the benefit of security, translucency and immutability of the Blockchain
As blockchain develops, instead of having an internet that puts information and content online, we will get a system that essentially automates trust and verification. Information we now rely on accountants, #banks, lawyers and governments to do. We will be able to know that anything on a Blockchain &8211; land rights, money, a deed &8211; is authentic and everyone around the world agrees on its value.
We saw over $ 1.4b in investments over the past three years &8211; just in the first quarter of 2016 VC firms invested globally $ 160m into Blockchain startups, up from $ 26 million compared to the previous quarter regarding CB Insights and KPMG. Three significant funding rounds on Blockchain Startups &8211; Circle with $ 60m (Series D), Digital Asset Holdings with $ 60m (Series A) and Blockstream with $ 55m (Series A) we have seen so far in 2016.
More than 2500+ Blockchain patents were globally filed over the last 3 years. 90+ central banks are engaged in Blockchain discussions worldwide as well as 90+ corporations have joined Blockchain consorts. Today, the pool of strategics investors in the Blockchain space has expanded from banks and VCs into insurance companies, payments and telcos.
Today use-cases are about Banking, or challenging the platform model, like Uber and AirBnB just to name a few. The Blockchain has the potential to eliminate intermediaries. Some other fascinating business concepts are about ownership and land rights or redefining the value chain of fair trade coffee. Software enabled contracts, called Smart Contracts, can verify if a job is made, and make the payment without a middleman.
Some InsurTech companies are even working to leverage Blockchain Technology as a mechanism for providing automatic payouts, particularly in the peer-to-peer insurance space where smart contracts could ensure payouts are made accurately and efficient. A song on the Blockchain could ask you to pay of it before it plays, cutting out Spotify and sending the money directly to the artist &8211; fair trade music! Disruption. Furthermore Digital Identity will be a critical enabler to broaden applications to new verticals for instance a digital system for storing and transferring identity.
Graphic: Blockchain Use-Cases (extract), by @jan_wich
Currently VCs are betting its money especially on Blockchain Startups that are focusing on middleware and services, payments/remittance and capital market solutions.
The global discussions worldwide are growing significantly, but significant hurdles remain to large-scale implementation. An uncertain and unharmonized regulatory environment, nascent collective standardization efforts as well as an absence of formal legal frameworks draw the current situation.
The technology has the potential to drive simplicity and efficiency through the establishment of new infrastructure and processes across financial services and data driven businesses. Blockchain is not a panacea, but has the potential to redefine current processes and call into question today’s business models.
Honestly to catch the real impact of the Blockchain Technology is difficult. But &8211; did we all know about TCP/IP and HTML once the internet had the breakthrough? No! Don’t struggle to understand the technology, search for the use-cases. Trial and Error. The Blockchain is more than a technology. It is a strategy.
Sources: Own research and ideas, WEF and CS
This article is first appeared on LinkedIn | Featured Image: Fotolia
The post BLOCKCHAIN &8211; The Internet of Value appeared first on Fintech Schweiz Digital Finance News – FintechNewsCH.
#Blockchain #technology will cause major disruption in the enterprise stack, sparking a dramatic shift to distributed computing environments with the “value web” becoming a massive peer-to-peer network, according to UBS’s former Group CIO and Group Managing Director, Oliver Bussmann.
Qualified as &8220;the #biggest #disruptor to industries #since the introduction of the #Internet,&8221; blockchain will trigger a new wave of disruption in the software business. This will push enterprises to change their approach to IT while opening up new opportunities for technology companies, new entrants and blockchain experts in delivering the right products and services to meet specific needs, according to Bussmann.
&8220;The fact that so many established players see such potential for disruption up and down the stack just confirms me in my belief that broad-based transformation is coming,&8221; he wrote in a recent blog post.
UBS, a member of the world&8217;s largest blockchain consortium of over 40 #banks and financial institutions, has been at the forefront of exploring blockchain technology, launching in 2015 a blockchain research lab in London.
In June, the Swiss bank unveiled it has applied for a US patent for an innovation that allows participants in a blockchain-powered market to remain anonymous, according to a report by the Financial News.
The technology is among the numerous prototypes that are being developed at the bank&8217;s London innovation lab.
In January, UBS released a whitepaper that echoed the main theme of this year&8217;s World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland. Titled ‘Extreme automation and connectivity: The global, regional, and investment implications of the Fourth Industrial Revolution,&8217; the report addresses the technologies that will likely reshape the global economy and the consequences of extreme automation and connectivity on nations, businesses and individuals.
Defined as &8220;the ultimate product of extreme connectivity,&8221; blockchain technology &8220;could benefit firms that use them to automate processes securely, to cut out costly intermediaries, and to protect intellectual property,&8221; the report says.
In the banking industry, blockchain technology could prove &8220;a double edged sword&8221; that has the potential to boost profitability by allowing for desintermediation and help banks save up to US$ 20 billion annually on infrastructure costs.
&8220;Since blockchain transactions can be processed in as little as 15 seconds, extreme connectivity shortens this process, freeing up capital for trading, investment, and other purposes,&8221; the report says. &8220;While near real-time settlement would be good for bank clients, it could possibly reduce intra-day liquidity for banks since end-of-day settlement gives them access to capital for longer.&8221;
In the insurance business, blockchain technology could allow policies to instantly pay claims based on preset information from trusted third party. Lloyd&8217;s of London has been exploring blockchain technology to reduce friction in the insurance industry. In March, SafeShare partnered with Vrumi to launch the world&8217;s first blockchain insurance solution for the sharing economy. Vrumi connects people seeking affordable workspace to householders. The new insurance product utilizes a blockchain created by Z/Yen Group to confirm counterparty obligations.
Beyond financial services, blockchain can revolutionize supply chain transparency. Physical assets can be registered in a blockchain. This would typically involve virtual tokens representing underlying assets. In this scenario, the ledger can be used to track the movement of goods, providing a highly secure supply chain management system that is resistant to fraud. London-based Everledger uses blockchain technology for diamond certification and related transaction history, providing insurance companies, owners, claimants and law enforcement with a permanent ledger.
The post UBS Exec: Blockchain &8216;The Biggest Disruptor Since The Internet&8217; appeared first on Fintech Schweiz Digital Finance News – FintechNewsCH.
The #Internet #Watch #Foundation has announced a partnership with a #blockchain industry startup aimed at fighting online child sex abuse.
CoinDesk
Jaxx plans to do for #blockchain what the #internet did for communications. Toronto-based #Bitcoin consultancy and software development company Decentral announced last week that it has integrated Jaxx, its unified platform for blockchain wallet services, with #cryptocurrency exchange platform ShapeShift. “You were able to buy and sell cryptocurrency, and alsoRead More
Bank Innovation
Jaxx plans to do for #blockchain what the #internet did for communications. Toronto-based #Bitcoin consultancy and software development company Decentral announced last week that it has integrated Jaxx, its unified platform for blockchain wallet services, with #cryptocurrency exchange platform ShapeShift. “You were able to buy and sell cryptocurrency, and alsoRead More
Bank Innovation
Content (in all its forms) is increasingly both the commodity and currency of the digital era, but the speed and ease of near-instantaneous global communication and a capacity for infinite reproduction has served to make it easier to sever the #work from its creator. Brooklyn-based #Mediachain is hoping to change that. Read More
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