Cryptocurrency Of Telegram Enters Private Beta Phase

It has been reported that Telegram’s Open Network is now live in private beta with some programmers and beta testers having access to the much awaited cryptocurrency.

The local news outlet in Russia cited two companies that has been given access to the beta network as sources and did not provide details on how the testing looks like.

Telegram Open Network (TON) has been under development for the past several months and has yet to deliver a working product since its massive ICO which saw it raising around $1.7 billion in 2018.

The company plans to leverage its millions of users to provide a decentralized blockchain platform that is powered by its own token, Gram.

If the project could maintain its ICO market capitalization or close to it, Gram could become one of the more valuable cryptocurrencies in existence.

Harvard University Investing Into Cryptocurrencies

One of the world’s most respected higher learning institutes, Harvard University has recently ventured into blockchain and cryptocurrencies even more with a recent investment in a decentralized computing startup that has its own token.

It was reported that Harvard Management and two other investors have purchased 95.8 million Blockstack Tokens worth $11.5 million.

It has been revealed that the upstart is looking to secure approval from the SEC through the regulations A+ framework program which is probably the reason why Harvard heavily invested in the blockchain startup.

While the investment is infinitesimal compared to its endowment of $39 billion USD the investment confirms that institutional investors are seriously looking into cryptocurrencies and related technologies.

Pundits have speculated the return of institutions in the space and the growth in crypto networks will push BTC previous all time highs within the next two years.

Department of Energy In The U.S. Using DLT

It has been reported that the United States Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory is launching the Phase 2 of its blockchain-based electric grid security project.

The project was made possible with the agency’s partnership with Taekion, a distributed ledger technology (DLT) and cybersecurity platform.

One of the objectives of the initiative is to leverage the decentralization and immutability properties of blockchain technology to ensure there is no single point of failure in the electricity grid.

Project also aims to develop solutions that would facilitate secure energy transactions while also making the energy grid more reliable and decentralized.

This goes to show that despite the nascent nature of blockchain technology forward-thinking industries across the globe continue to adopt and experiment with use cases of distributed ledger technologies.

IMF Study Points Cryptocurrency Payments Going Mainstream In 2024

In an online poll conducted by the International Monetary Fund more than half of the respondents say that they will use cryptocurrency to pay for lunch in 5 years time.

The poll attracted 26,000 respondents with 56% chose cryptocurrency and 29% selected mobile phone payments.

Cash and bank card payments have a combined total of only 15% percent of the poll which comprises the least of the options given in the online post.

This follows the growing trend of merchants willing to accept cryptocurrencies as an alternative way of accepting payments.

While this was a positive development for the cryptocurrency space there are also issues that could emerge in the wake of this trend such as tax implications and people’s willingness to spend bitcoin that is widely considered a valuable investment.

Ex-Paypal And Google Veteran Hired By Bakkt As Product Chief

Bakkt has recently revealed that it has hired PayPal and Google veteran Mike Blandina as its new chief product officer (CPO).

According to Kelly Loeffler, CEO at Bakkt, the new CPO will lead the company’s efforts to converge a trusted ecosystem for digital assets with payments use cases.

Loeffler believes that these two key elements of Bakkt will help bring real world applications to Bicoin and other digital assets.

The new hire comes at a time when the fate of Bakkt is still uncertain as it has not yet gained regulatory approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

While there is no official word on what is causing the delay many believes that the proposal of having their Bitcoin warehoused by themselves might be a factor in this delay.

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