Day: July 24, 2018

Singapore Airlines Launches Blockchain-Based Loyalty Wallet, Co-Developed by Microsoft

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Singapore Airlines (SIA) has launched its own airline loyalty digital wallet that uses blockchain technology, it announced July 24. The software has been co-developed by Microsoft and KPMG Digital Village, according to the press release. The new wallet — dubbed ‘KrisPay’ after SIA’s ‘KrisFlyer’ loyalty programme — converts frequent flyer miles into digitized ‘KrisPay miles’ that can be used to pay for retail purchases via a mobile app. As minimum expenditure, users of the wallet can spend 15 KrisPay miles (equivalent to about  S$0.10, or US$0.73) to make or offset…

Gibraltar Stock Exchange’s Blockchain Platform Opens to Public Trading

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The UK Overseas Territory of Gibraltar launched its Gibraltar Blockchain Exchange (GBX) July 23, a press release confirmed, opening up cryptocurrency trading. The GBX was first announced by the Gibraltar Stock Exchange at BlockShow Asia conference in November 2017 GBX, which will ultimately function as a multifaceted ICO and trading ecosystem, currently offers three crypto-to-fiat pairs: Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and its own Rock (RKT) token to USD. CEO Nick Cowan commented in the release: “The launch comes at a time when the cryptocurrency and token markets are reaching a…

ConsenSys Signs MoU With China’s ‘Smart City’ of Xiongan for Blockchain Consulting

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China’s Xiongan New Area government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with ConsenSys to bring blockchain technology to the “smart city,” the South China Morning Post reported July 23. ConsenSys, a blockchain software technology company focusing on Ethereum (ETH) development, has confirmed they will advise the Xiongan government on blockchain and software solutions in order to establish it as a “next generation smart city [and] leading blockchain innovation hub,”according to the (MoU) signed in Beijing. In April 2017, Chinese president Xi Jinping announced plans to build Xiongan as a…

South Korean Mobile Telecom Giant Launches 2,500 Txns/s Commercial Blockchain

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KT Corp may only be the second-biggest mobile carrier in South Korea, but the telecommunications firm is reportedly the first in the world to launch a blockchain-based commercial network. According to The Korea Herald, KT Corp’s blockchain network will initially have the capacity to handle 2,500 transactions per second. Before the end of 2018, however, the capacity will have been quadrupled. By the end of next year, KT Corp intends to have increased the number of transactions per second to 100,000, according to the head of Blockchain Center at the…

TRON Acquires Major P2P Platform Operator BitTorrent

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TRON’s long-rumoured acquisition of BitTorrent Inc., the operator of popular torrent client uTorrent, has been confirmed by TRON founder Justin Sun in a community letter published July 24. The BitTorrent protocol launched in 2001 and relies on distributed “seeding’” by users who upload shareable content. In his letter, Sun celebrates the software as “the genesis of the decentralization movement,” a legacy protocol for the blockchain revolution, noting “Bittorrent is […] the first decentralized Internet protocol with large-scale global application, [which] even today [… ] retains its status as the world’s…

China Now Downplaying Blockchain Could Be Social Construct to Build It Up

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China has led the way in terms of harsh regulations to quash cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. They were the first country to institute blanket bans on ICOs and exchanges, and have never taken to the decentralized and liberal freedoms that comes from cryptocurrencies. However, that does not mean that China is opposed to the potential revolutionary technology that comes from cryptocurrencies and their underlying base — blockchain. In fact, China is building toward being a nation that separates the decentralized cryptocurrencies from the underlying blockchain. But, in the latest calls from…

Singapore Airlines Launches Blockchain Digital Wallet ‘KrisPay’ for Travelers

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Singapore Airlines, one of the world’s leading and best-rated airline operators, has launched KrisPay – a digital blockchain wallet that allows frequent fliers to convert airmiles into digital currency. Announced on Tuesday, the digital wallet app will be accessible for users of the airline’s ‘KrisFlyer’ frequent flyer program and will use blockchain technology to enable travelers to spend their air miles at retail establishments, hotels, petrol stations and other partner merchants in the island nation. As reported previously in February, SIA will use its own private blockchain developed with technology…

Indian Crypto Exchange Unocoin Suspends Fiat Deposits, Withdrawals in Wake of RBI Ban

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Unocoin, a major Indian crypto wallet provider and exchange, has suspended rupee (INR) deposits and withdrawals “as per orders” from the country’s central bank, according to Unocoin’s blog post July 23. Unocoin notified its customers that fiat deposits and withdrawals are “temporarily disabled” until “an alternative method of funding is identified and deployed.” Meanwhile, crypto asset deposits continue to be active on both Unocoin’s crypto-rupee trading platform and partner crypto-crypto exchange Unodax. Unocoin users can also continue to use their existing rupee balance to buy and sell Bitcoin (BTC) and…

Libertarian Party Gubernatorial Campaign to Accept BTC Despite Unclear Legal Framework

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The Libertarian Party candidate for Wisconsin governor will accept Bitcoin (BTC) donations despite the state’s Ethics Commission’s finding them a “serious challenge” to compliance with state law, local news agency the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported July 23. Earlier this spring, the Wisconsin Libertarian Party had asked the State Ethics Commission to clarify whether the use of cryptocurrency for political contributions is legal. In May, the Commision had passed the matter to the Wisconsin Legislature, noting that “allowing cryptocurrency donations presents a serious challenge to the commission’s ability to ensure compliance…

Indicator Suggests Bitcoin’s $8K Price Rally Could Be Overstretched

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Bitcoin (BTC) has had a bullish start to the week, but the momentum could wane in the next few days, technical studies indicate. The leading cryptocurrency rose to a two-month high of $8,130 on Bitfinex today, having witnessed an inverse head-and-shoulders breakout last week. The 40 percent rally from the seven-month low of $5,755 reached on June 24 has put the bulls back in a commanding position. Hence, further gains could be on the cards, albeit after a brief pause or a price pullback as a key technical indicator is…