Tag: insideblock

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A proposed bill in the Michigan state is seeking to penalize people or entities who alter a blockchain record. 

House Bill 6257, a measure amending certain portions of the Michigan Penal Code, wants to punish a person “makes, alters, forges or counterfeits a public record.” 

Filed by state representative Curt VanderWall, the legislation applies to any person “that accomplishes a violation of… altering a record made utilizing distributed ledger technology.” 

It refers to the technology as “any distributed ledger protocol and supporting infrastructure, including blockchain, that uses a distributed, decentralized, shared, and replicated ledger, whether use of the ledger is public or private, permissioned or permissionless, and that may include the use of electronic currencies or electronic tokens as a medium of exchange.” 

The bill, however, does not provide any explanation on how the bill will be enforced or the rationale for crafting this measure. 

Meanwhile, House Bill 6258 filed in the state proffers the same changes in the penal code for crimes involving credit cards. 

“’Financial transaction device’ means any of the following…Any instrument…or other means of access to a credit account or deposit account including through the use of cryptocurrency or distributed ledger technology,” it said. 

If passed, both measures will take effect 90 days after its enactment. 

Although Michigan has no specific rules governing cryptocurrencies, its Treasury department had stated purchases of digital currency are not subject to sales or use tax. 

“Virtual currency itself is not tangible personal property for purposes of the General Sales Tax Act or the Use Tax Act,” a newsletter from November 2015 explains. This provision refers to the  imposition of a 6 percent tax rate on the value of consideration given in exchange for tangible personal property.

Also, Michigan State Attorney General Bill Schuette earlier warned consumers that digital currency carries a significant amount of real-life risk.

“…before purchasing any virtual currency or otherwise jumping on the virtual currency bandwagon, educate yourself so you can make an informed decision about what you are getting into,” Schuette had said.

Certain things, according to the Michigan attorney general, should be considered before using cryptocurrency: virtual currency can be lost or stolen, its value’s volatility, tax implications, and no protections for the general public.

“Because it is not real currency, virtual currency should be treated like an investment.  As with any investment decision, you should thoroughly research virtual currency before investing your hard-earned money. Both the SEC [Securities and Exchange Commission] and FINRA [Financial Industry Regulatory Authority] have issued alerts with more information about the investment risks involved with virtual currency,” Schuette added.

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Vermont recently enacted a bill paving the way for the rise of blockchain-oriented limited liability companies in the state, public records show. 

LegiScan reveled Vermont governor Phil Scott signed an act relating to blockchain business development. 

The provision pertaining to taxation has been removed. But certain sections outline those about the limited liability firms and mandates for a Fintech Summit that should gather all stakeholders to tackle how the state can promote the wider use of blockchain. 

“A digital currency limited liability company shall remit to the State in the form of its digital currency a transaction tax equivalent to $0.01, at the then current exchange rate for the currency with the U.S. dollar, per transaction,” the law said. 

Applicants must “specify whether the decentralized consensus ledger or database utilized or enabled by the BBLLC will be fully decentralized or partially decentralized and whether such ledger or database will be fully or partially public or private, including the extent of participants’ access to information and read and write permissions with respect to protocols,” the newly minted law noted. 

A digital currency limited liability company should adopt mechanisms for innovations and changes in the overall system, use procedures for security breaches or other prohibited actions affecting the system, indicate the manner of participation in the system as well as the extent of involvement, disclose responsibilities of core developers, and adopt guidelines pertaining to hard fork. 

This also calls for a study into the technology’s utilization in insurance and banking which should be done not later than January 15 next year, as well as how state officials can clear the hurdles for creating blockchain entities. 

“The Department of Financial Regulation shall review the potential application of blockchain technology to the provision of insurance and banking and consider areas for potential adoption and any necessary regulatory changes in Vermont,” it added. 

“This bill proposes to implement strategies relating to blockchain, cryptocurrency, and financial technology in order to: promote regulatory efficiency; enable business organizational and governance structures that may expand opportunities in financial technology; and promote education and adoption of financial technology in the public and private sectors,” the text states. 

Earlier reports said Vermont legislators were weighing the promulgation of the measure that referred to virtual currency limited liability entities and that such companies would pay the corresponding taxes in cryptocurrency. 

Blockchain-oriented busineses are described as limited liability firms organized to operate a business that uses this technology for a portion of its business activities. 

The bill, introduced by Senator Alison Clarkson on January 3, pushes for the creation of a new regulatory framework for using the blockchain in businesses. 

The new legislation comes after Vermont backed a bill requiring a due diligence on how blockchain can affect the state’s job market and capability to gain profit. 

The bill, signed by Governor Scott last November, shall include findings and recommendations on the potential opportunities and perils when it comes to developing financial technologies. 

Blockchain can present more opportunities for the state, based on the text attached by the bill’s authors. 

“The existing Vermont legislation on blockchain technology and other aspects of e-finance have given Vermont the potential for leadership in this new era of innovation as well, with the possibility of expanded economic activity in the financial technology sector that would provide opportunities for employment, tax revenues, and other benefits,” they had said.

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Financial services company MasterCard obtained a patent for using the blockchain technology in verifying the authenticity of customer coupons. 

The payments giant envisions using this technology “specifically [for] the storage of coupon data in a blockchain to ensure redemption only by authorized individuals and immutability of coupon data,” based on its trademark application with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). 

This method entails saving details for a payment transaction including transaction amount, receiving an identification value and a block integrated in a blockchain, and executing a query on the received block to determine a certain transaction value, and carrying out a query on the memory to update the stored transaction data. 

Published on Thursday, Mastercard states blockchain can help lower the threat of data manipulation that comes with the utilization of some types of systems for collating coupon data such as those that “have been developed that directly associate a coupon with a transaction account, to ensure that only the specified transaction account is eligible to redeem the coupon.” 

“However, this requires the entity to store data regarding coupons that are associated with transaction accounts, which can be resource-intensive and subject to data manipulation. In addition, the entity must offer a suitable interface for the consumers to access the data storage to identify what coupons have been associated with their transaction account,” the firm explained. 

“Thus, there is a need for a technological solution whereby coupons can be issued to an individual for redemption only by the individual, and where the system relies on a publicly accessible data source to enable implementation without the use of additional resources for the issuing entity,” it added. 

Merchants, manufacturers, retailers, and other entities offer coupons and other related deals to expand their customer base. Coupons can be used to do more businesses with a customer or gain a new client. 

The redemption of coupons, which have been issued to the general public, often result in in a loss for the entity. A massive redemption of the coupon can lead to “significant, and sometimes catastrophic, loss that cannot be offset by any related increase in regular business,” Mastercard described. 

“As a result, some entities have begun to issue unique coupons that may only be redeemed once or a predetermined number of times, such that point of sale systems can recognize earlier redemptions of the coupon and prohibit future redemptions once the number has been reached. However, while this may limit the number of redemptions, there is no guarantee that the coupon will not be shared or transferred to unintended recipients, prohibiting the entity from reaching their desired market,” it added. 

In recent months, Mastercard has been furthering its blockchain-related development resources as part of its wider technology plan. 

“We’re driving projects that promote financial inclusion at home and abroad, and are working to provide consumers, businesses and governments with the most innovative, safe and secure ways to pay,” Sonya Geelon, Mastercard Ireland’s country manager, said in April. 

The financial institution previously announced it was hiring 175 new technology developers including blockchain specialists. 

Geelon said they would be developing their office in Leopardstown, the location of Mastercard Labs, its research and development unit. Specifically, they would work on designing more efficient payment systems. 

In 2016, Mastercard unveiled a series of experimental blockchain-based APIs to give developers the opportunity to work on emerging technologies which have not yet been commercialized by the company. These programs should be used to process business-to-business transactions, it said last October.  

Mastercard blockchain lead Justin Pinkham had stated the firm is continuing to pursue usage of the technology while promoting for collaborations which may be applicable to Mastercard’s entities. 

“We believe that there is a role of blockchain in the future of commerce. This future needs to be developed in partnership with banks, merchants and industry participants,” he continued.

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A blockchain-based charity auction has raised more than $15,000 for a children’s hospital located in Seattle, Washington, CryptoKitties said in its Medium post. 

Kitties for a Cause a charitable initiative launched by Bella’s Kitty Den (BKD), earned 21.6 ether tokens, or more than $15,000 at that time, in less than three weeks after the auction started on April 6. 

At present, 21.6 ether tokens would amount to nearly $13,000. 

Proceeds will go to Seattle Children’s Hospital, a children’s hospital in the Laurelhurst neighborhood of Seattle that has been ranked as one of best hospitals in the United States. 

Aside from the ethereum raised, another $180 were donated to the hospital directly through the campaign that was supposed to run for a month. 

Users were able to bid on 370 different CryptoKitties donated to Bella’s Kitty Den, according to Axiom Zen spokesperson Yasmine Nadery. 

Axiom Zen is the parent firm of CryptoKitties which specializes in new venture creation, building products and companies at the cutting edge of technology. It helped draw attention to the campaign until the bidding ended on April 15. 

Nadery said Bella, a 10-year-old fan of the blockchain-based platform, and her father started Bella’s Kitty Den as a business learning experience for the fourth grader and an opportunity to earn some money for her studies. 

The initiative originally started as a way “to do good” with the kitties owned by Bella.

“One day while playing, I said we should give away some of our Kitties since we have so many of them. Dad asked who we should give them to. I told him kids in the hospital who are hurting. So with help from my Dad and others from the CryptoKitties community, we have created the Kitties For A Cause (K4C) fund,” Bella said on CryptoKitties’ Medium post. 

“This event was created by a CryptoKitties community member, and we were in awe of the initiative this young girl took. When she and her father told us about it, we jumped at the opportunity to partner with them partner with them and our community creators to spread the word about Bella’s cause,” she added. 

Nadery said CryptoKitties hopes these donations would inspire charitable undertakings in the future. 

“Seeing something like this be inspired by our game is all the more reason for us to keep moving forward with our vision of bringing a billion people to the blockchain,” she said. 

Launched in 2017, CryptoKitties is a blockchain-based virtual game developed by Axiom Zen which allows users to purchase, collect, breed, and sell different types of virtual cats.

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A newly inaugurated blockchain industrial park in China is offering millions of dollars in subsidies to tap more highly-skilled people and startup companies.

The Hangzhou Blockchain Industrial Park unveiled a policy which aims to accelerate the development of the blockchain industry.

The latest policy was announced via Xiong’An Fund’s (“Grand Shores Fund”) official WeChat account, the main operator of the blockchain facility. Both were introduced in April.

Under the new policy, the enterprise zone is supporting talented more individuals and startups by providing a subsidy worth up to 3 million Chinese yuan, or about $490,000, as a resettlement allowance.

To attract them to establish their own offices at the Hangzhou complex, the new guidelines have introduced four primary types of subsidies to new firms.

Each early stage startups is being offered a maximum of $230,000 for housing and $1 million for research and development.

More mature blockchain entities may opt to reside in the industrial area with housing and R&D amounting to $480,000 and $780,000, respectively.

As of writing, China’s blockchain industrial park has not yet unveiled the criteria to apply for their subsidy package.

But a representative from the industrial park said they will reveal more precise definitions and eligibility requirements this summer.

Earlier, the creation of the $1-billion blockchain fund and the dedicated blockchain incubation made rounds because of the amount involved and the Hangzhou city government itself backed the endeavor with 30 percent of the total funding.

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Financial services provider Bank of America Corp. has clinched the patent for the blockchain security system, recently documents published by the US trademark agency showed.

Bank of America said the patent, which was awarded by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), provides a way for managing security and access to resource sub-components.

It gives “means for managing security and access to resources associated with blocks/sub-components of a distributed validating network, such as a blockchain network,” based on the promulgated decision.

Blockchain is a decentralized, distributed public ledger used to record cryptocurrency transactions which are recorded chronologically. This enables market participants to track their digital currency dealings without central recordkeeping.

The issued text explains how security tokens, basically electronic keys, different from blockchain-based assets which mirror physical securities, would be used to grant access to users to the information indicated in a specific block.

Under the system, tags are generated which can be assigned to blocks so a designated user can trace the block by presenting the corresponding keywords associated with that tag. A security token is produced that is either appointed or provided to the authorized person or entity which is then set up to give the access to the resources in the block.

It would be automated meaning the network itself would have the capacity to grant and track access.

“[W]ith the advent of distributed/decentralized blockchain networks … a need exists to develop systems … that manage control over blocks of resources,” the bank specified in its patent application.

Bank of America recognized the necessity to equip users the capacity to easily identify blocks to address users’ concerns.

“A need exists to provide designated entities/users the ability to readily identify blocks that are relevant to the designated users’ concern and, once blocks have been identified, security features that assure that the designated entities/user that are accessing the blocks are, in fact, authorized users,” the firm said.

Since the system is automated, the security tool would be given the ability to grant access to the blockchain for a specific period of time, depending on the reason for accessing the network.

“Moreover, a need exists to control the access given to the designated entities/users, such as, by way of example, control over the period of time during which a designated entity may be granted access and/or the amount of access granted to the designated entity/user,” the patent doc noted.

The bank noted the USPTO decision signifies another intellectual property development for them. It has lodged several applications related to blockchain in past years.

Filed on May 11, 2016, the innovation address the aforementioned needs and optimize its usage by having apparatus, systems, computer program products, or other methods in place to manage “the security and access to resources associated with blocks (i.e., sub-components) of a decentralized distributed blockchain network.”

Blockchain network can verify resources including the person or company that controls or are associated with these resources. They may also grant access to other person or firm.

“The system includes a distributed blockchain network comprising a plurality of decentralized nodes for storing and validating resources. Additionally, the system includes a computing platform including a memory and at least one processor in communication with the memory. The memory of the computing platform stores an access control module that is executable by the at least one processor,” Bank of America explained.

It is subject to modifications, omissions, and/or substitutions, the bank mentioned, given the evolution of existing technologies and the system itself is not restrictive in nature.

Located in North Carolina, Bank of America is multinational financial services company which has been ranked as one of the largest banks in the US (in terms of assets). The financial institution, founded in 1904, provides its products and services through 4,600 retail financial centers, approximately 15,900 automated teller machines,[3] call centers, and online and mobile banking platforms.

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A recipient of the 2013 Nobel prize in economics delved into bitcoin, the most popular digital currency worldwide, from the historical perspective.

“The cryptocurrencies are a statement of faith in a new community of entrepreneurial cosmopolitans who hold themselves above national governments, which are viewed as the drivers of a long train of inequality and war,” US economist Robert Shiller, an economics professor at Yale University, said in his article published on project-syndicate.org.

Citing the statement of virtual currency issuers, he said initial coin offerings, caused by bitcoin, ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies in the world, are exempted from securities regulation since it does not entail traditional money or confer ownership of profits.

His article, entitled “The Old Allure of New Money,” said that unless someone is working in the cryptocurrency industry, no one can explain how the market works.

Whether it is true or not the presumption that only computer scientists understand cryptocurrencies, it is definitely acceptable to say having a story won’t suffice. That is why those cashing in on bitcoin entrepreneurs continue working on many fascinating cases made possible by the technology.

Money, being the medium of exchange taking various forms and shapes, is full of mysteries.

“That mystery creates an aura of exclusivity, gives the new money glamour, and fills devotees with revolutionary zeal. None of this is new, and, as with past monetary innovations, a compelling story may not be enough,” Shiller noted.

“We tend to measure people’s value by it. It sums things up like nothing else. And yet it may consist of nothing more than pieces of paper that just go round and round in circles of spending. So its value depends on belief and trust in those pieces of paper,” he added.

Through the years, the economics professor explained the general public’s obsession with virtual currencies including bitcoin and ethereum has something is somewhat a mystery that he associated to the value of money itself.

“And, as in the past, the public’s fascination with cryptocurrencies is tied to a sort of mystery, like the mystery of the value of money itself, consisting in the new money’s connection to advanced science,” Shiller noted.

The best-selling author said every monetary innovation has a distinct underlying story, including the inception of bitcoin and the likes. “Each of these monetary innovations has been coupled with a unique technological story. But, more fundamentally, all are connected with a deep yearning for some kind of revolution in society.”

Shiller released an article this week to discuss the way the appeal of bitcoin fits earlier attempts to reinvent money by reviewing historical accounts. “One must bear in mind that attempts to reinvent money have a long history,” Shiller said in his article.

For the write-up, Shiller was attempting to answer the question of how virtual currency users manage to keep a high level of enthusiasm amidst repetitive warnings from governments, regulators, policymakers, and experts all over the globe.

The Nobel laureate opted to put the concept of bitcoin into time-based and electricity-backed experimental forms of alternative money, instead of comparing the virtual currency to previous technological solutions.

Placing bitcoin and political movements on the same level, he also compared bitcoin and attempts to overhaul governments and economies. He mentioned the Euro, the official currency of the European Union, remains where it is today while novel ideas by communist and technocratic thinkers have failed.

The emergence of digital currency, which started in 2009 following the inception of bitcoin, is said to be claiming to produce another type of money. Shiller said almost 2,000 virtual currencies are in circulation. Since then, it has stimulated the excitement of people on the virtual currency.

Shiller, who is the co-creator of the Case-Shiller Index of US house prices, is the author of Irrational Exuberance and Phishing for Phools: The Economics of Manipulation and Deception, co-authored with George Akerlof.

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A new report released yesterday by Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT) indicates that CIOs are struggling to implement visionary blockchain technology projects, due to difficulties in finding software engineers with the skills needed to work with the new cryptography-based security solution. 

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The government of Chile through the National Energy Commission (CNE) has announced that it will be using the ethereum blockchain for its first distributed ledger network. The ministry of Energy announced that it was going to commit data to the public ethereum ledger so as to increase the level of security in the country and also increase public confidence on data and information.

The first teasing process was done in February 2018 where the National Energy Commission said that it was going to integrate market prices, marginal costs and fuel prices with renewable energy got directly from blockchain.

The commission took this kind of approach of approach because databases were being tampered with and hijacked. Ethereum would help in distributing records among some of the large nodes that the system has.

Most plans have already been put in place as to what needs to be done or achieved though the commission has taken steps further and already committed portions of data to blockchain. Other important information to include: information on the installed electricity-generating capacity, marginal costs, compliance with the law and hydro carbon prices.

Due to the fact this is the first study commission by the National Energy Commission; it will study the results and also share their findings with other governmental bodies and companies that would be interested.

“We are interested in taking this technology from a conceptual level to a concrete case, understanding that it’s considered to be the most disruptive technology of the last decade by world-class experts, and that it could part of day-to-day life in the next few years,” said Chile’s energy minister Susana Jimenez.

The challenge the Chile government is facing

Despite the processing steps that the government of Chile is making towards blockchain, it is faced with a number of challenges which include a lack of transparency in their current system. But with the integration of the blockchain technology to its energy sector, the government is certain that it will be able to confirm and ascertain that all the information they provide on open data portal is not altered with.

The National Energy Commission of Chile executive secretary Mr. Andres Romero announced the following:

“The National Energy Commission has decided to join this innovative technology and we have decided to use blockchain as a digital notary, which will allow us to certify that the information we provide in the open data portal has not been altered or modified and left an unalterable record of its existence.”

How the project will work

The aim of the pilot project is to boost data security issues relating to the energy sector. The trial phase of the project that the National Energy Commission is working on is going to require its employees to take datasets from a platform called Energia Abierta.

The next step of the process is to verify the accuracy of the data and after that the data is hashed and recorded using ethereum’s blockchain. This makes it easier for members of the public to access data through the public GUIs.