Blockchain News for 24 Sep 2017
Why Apps Can Pave the Way for Mainstream Adoption of Blockchain
Mobile utility and gaming applications may be the most likely driver of mainstream adoption of the blockchain and cryptocurrency.
Recent developments in blockchain and cryptocurrency usage by conventional big business suggests that the mainstream adoption of such technology is imminent. Shipping and logistics giant Maersk has employed IBM to test blockchain technology to optimize the global tracking of its fleet of shipping containers. Mercedes-Benz parent company, Daimler, borrowed $114 million using blockchain technology from German bank LBBW. But, while innovations like these by well-known industry giants show promise of widespread acceptance of blockchain and cryptocurrency, they remain outliers. The world of blockchain tech is for the catalyst that will accelerate widespread use some experts think they’ve found it via mobile apps.
Enterprise and business-to-business software naturally tend to mirror consumer trends, so it’s unlikely that the tipping point will come from that arena – there will have to be a huge shift toward blockchain and cryptocurrency based on consumer use and needs first. Mobile utility and gaming apps may arguably be the perfect environment to foster that shift.
If any sector is incentivized to tap into the blockchain it’s app developers: There is a strong overlapping demographic profile between many app users and cryptocurrency holders, the liquid digital value of cryptocurrency is well over $100 billion, and as of yet no one has figured out how to tap into that market for in-app purchases.
Full story at http://bit.ly/2ylTFER
Source: https://tech.co
Blockchain: Coming to a Smart Building Near You?
One of the hottest emerging technologies is blockchain. It’s the underlying technology that makes Bitcoin work, but the potential applications are far larger than cryptocurrency.
Blockchain is a distributed ledger. Instead of a single database or organization holding transaction records (or other data), the records are available to millions of computers anonymously. Through massive distribution of these records, a nearly tamperproof data record is created. (Harvard Business Reviewrecently published a good overview of the technology.)
Currently, the primary applications for blockchain are in the financial industry, where it has the clearest value proposition.
Don Tapscott, author of Blockchain Revolution, delivered a TED talk and summarized why transactions backed by large financial institutions are problematic. First, the holders of the data are centralized and can be hacked. Second, these institutions are not accessible to everyone. Third, transactions are slow, taking hours or days for money to change hands. Additionally, the institutions charge a fee and take personal data (which may be detrimental to vendors and customers in the future).
Full story at http://bit.ly/2ylPrNf
Source: Greentech Media
Blockchain Tops $4.5 Billion In Private Funding This Year, But Deal Growth Stalls
Billions of funding dollars have poured into blockchain companies this year, and token sales in 2017 alone have amassed about $2 billion, already crushing last year’s token-sale total of $256 million.
But amid the seemingly undying hype of initial coin offerings, private investments into blockchain companies have risen to a new high as well -- topping $4.5 billion so far this year, according to a research note released Friday morning by PitchBook.
The latest tally includes an anomalous boost of $3.6 billion from the second-quarter acquisition of DH Corporation, a Canadian fintech company that integrated blockchain technology into its global payments services in 2016. Austin-based Vista Equity Partners closed the lofty transaction in June and merged one of its existing subsidiaries with D+H to create Finastra, now one of the largest fintech firms in the world.
This monster transaction aside, PitchBook’s report reveals that equity-backed blockchain deals are actually less frequent this year despite modest gains in total funding dollars. The remaining 152 blockchain transactions in 2017 have totaled about $965 million. To compare, the same period in 2016 saw 203 transactions that raised $624 million.
Full story at http://bit.ly/2ymqHEv
Source: Forbes
Blockchain Laying Foundations for Real Estate Market: Experts
Blockchain, including digital tokens, are revolutionizing many aspects of the real estate market.
It was only a matter of time before two industries that have seen similar booms in many regions, would come together. Although the real estate industry is traditionally slow to adopt emerging technologies, it seems that even this sector can’t resist the hypnotic pull from Blockchain and the wider cryptocurrency market.
Dmitry Faller, CEO of Primalbase, a shared office space Blockchain platform, tends to agree:
“Real Estate is a conservative and a traditional industry, and thus it is ready for disruption, and Blockchain needs real use-cases that are not just based on speculation.”
Full story at http://bit.ly/2ym6saf
Source: CoinTelegraph
Five Trends Impacted By Blockchain Technology
Since the mining of the first bitcoin, cryptocurrencies have represented the opportunity for a significant leap forward in our understanding of economics. Though bitcoin was created, with no centralized authority, as a digital alternative to traditional currencies, the underlying computer protocol that makes cryptocurrencies possible has since been discovered to have a wide variety of use cases outside of powering electronic money. From immutability of distributed ledgers to the security offered by the cryptographic encryption, many features of blockchain have made appealing solutions to problems across various industries. Here are the five industries seeing the most significant disruption from the introduction of blockchain.
Full story at http://bit.ly/2ymqTDJ
Source: Forbes
Blockchain Powered AI Doctors to Revolutionize Medicine
Doc.ai is hoping to revolutionize the medical industry by bringing AI doctors to all through their smartphones. Using Blockchain technology, the platform will be able to collect masses of medicaldata globally and generate insights from that information.
Furthermore, through machine learning, the data collected will be analyzed and processed in order to provide personalized feedback to users about their own medical issues.
Doc.ai’s platform aims to provide users with the ability to essentially call on a doctor in their pocket. However, because medical practitioners are in short supply, difficult to access and expensive, this company is looking at powerful technologies rather than humans.
The intermingling of the burgeoning technology of Artificial Intelligence and equally revolutionary Blockchain has seen Doc.ai’s team propose their platform can answer personal medical questions - from masses of data collected - at a touch of a button.
Full story at http://bit.ly/2ymGqne
Source: CoinTelegraph
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STOPI was told not to trust the apps for blockchain can you recommend one.
This has super information in the articles @sydesjokes progress is happening pretty fast and gaining momentum.
Upvoted & Resteemed!
I can definitely see a day soon when you use a crypto wallet to buy small items. A wallet similar to the debit cards you load with small amounts of cash to buy newspapers and sweets. Something like a clickbit wallet that you scan a price and send payment there and then
So interesting. We see where all of this takes us. Wonder if it will be good or bad if the mainstream adopts this.
Will be very good.
I do hope so. Sometimes, when something becomes mainstream - it changes a lot and the originators are left out.
I agree, apps and cryptos go hand in hand, the easier to use and to adopt, will exponentially grow crypto use. Bitcoin may not be the one that turns out to be the best, but one will become dominant
Upvote & resteem .. follow @lurehound
Amazon may accept bitcoin soon if rumors are true.
Great Post! So many details are there and it has made my concepts clear , a lot. Keep Steeming @sydesjokes