In the last quarter of 2019, Hyperledger’s Fabric open source blockchain software saw more developer activity than R3’s Corda platform. Blockchain service firm Chainstack recently published a report about developer activity on six major enterprise blockchains, showing that Fabric has overtaken Corda in regard to dev activity on its repository. A chart included in the report shows that Fabric developer activity exceeded Corda’s in Q4 2019. Total GitHub activity per-protocol. Source: Chainstack Fabric’s growth after the switch to GitHub The surge in Fabric developer activity closely followed the project’s transition…
Month: January 2020
Sports Live-Streamer Will Reward Viewers With Its Own Crypto
Sports live-streaming provider SportsCastr is launching its own cryptocurrency to reward viewers and encourage interactions. The company – which is backed by the NFL Players Association – announced Wednesday that it has teamed up with the FanWide platform for the effort. The new FanChain (FANZ) token will be made available on FanWide, which helps people locate local game watch parties, and given out to people checking in to listed events. SportsCastr says the tokens can be earned at the “thousands of sports bars” on FanWide’s U.S. network and will be…
Hyperledger to Explore How Blockchain Can Help World Meet Climate Goals
Hyperledger has announced a new working group at Davos that will explore how blockchain can help the world meet climate goals set out in the Paris Agreement. The enterprise blockchain consortium launched the Hyperledger Climate Action and Accounting Special Interest Group (SIG) during the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting. Said to be the first of its kind, the Climate SIG will enable participants to share ideas and findings on how distributed ledgers can help governments and companies coordinate on reducing global emissions. “DLTs are central to the creation of…
Blockchain-Based Shopify Plugin Ensures Consumers Receive Authentic Products
A San Francisco-based startup called “Real Items Foundation” is beta testing a Shopify plugin to ensure that authentic items are being sold to online shoppers. The plugin –- powered by a combination of blockchain technology and a cloud-based application called “TAM” –- enables brands to generate non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that are pegged to physical assets. Consumers who purchase a product containing an NFT can scan that item to verify its authenticity. CEO and founder of Real Items Foundation, David Menard, told Cointelegraph that a number of skincare, cosmetic, wellness and…
Blockchain Association Sides With Telegram Against SEC, Says Grams Are Not Securities
The Blockchain Association, a U.S. advocacy group uniting the industry’s leading startups like Coinbase, Circle, 0x, Ripple and others, has filed an amicus curiae brief in the ongoing SEC vs. Telegram case. It’s the second industry’s motion in as many days to support Telegram’s fight against the SEC allegation it broke the U.S. securities law by selling future tokens (called grams) for its TON blockchain to accredited investors in the U.S. On Tuesday, the Chamber of Digital Commerce filed its own amicus brief, supporting Telegram’s argument that “digital assets may…
How Can Blockchain Improve Data Storage?
Cloud servers are able to keep a full record of our lives, storing literally everything from personal photos and videos from our smartphones to work documents. At first glance, this solution makes our lives easier, but some unexpected threats can be found under a shell of comfort and extensive customer care. Although centralized data storage has its own benefits — higher speed and availability, quick throughput and low latency — it all comes at a cost. Big cloud storage companies such as Google and Amazon that dominate the industry are…
SEC Charges $600,000 ICO Project Opporty for Fraudulent Security Offering
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged Sergii Grybniak, the founder of the initial coin offering (ICO) project Opporty, according to a Jan. 21 press release. Despite raising approximately $600,000, the commission targeted Grybniak for falsely declaring the project as “100% SEC compliant.” Opporty launched its ICO between September and October 2018. The project purported to provide a “blockchain-based ecosystem for small businesses and their customers,” primarily in the United States. The platform was meant to be a place where small businesses could list their services and enter into…
SEC Charges Blockchain Marketplace Opporty Over ‘Fraudulent’ $600,000 ICO
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is taking action against yet another ICO issuer: blockchain-based B2B marketplace Opporty. In a complaint filed on Tuesday, the SEC alleges that, from September 2017 to October 2018, Opporty International, Inc. and its founder and sole owner Sergii Grybniak conducted a “fraudulent” sale of digital assets called OPP Tokens, raising around $600,000 from roughly 200 investors in the U.S. and elsewhere. However, the defendants did not register the tokens with the regulator, which alleges that the ICO constituted a securities offering. Further, the…
SEC Charges Blockchain Marketplace Opporty Over ‘Fraudulent’ $600,000 ICO
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is taking action against yet another ICO issuer: blockchain-based B2B marketplace Opporty. In a complaint filed on Tuesday, the SEC alleges that, from September 2017 to October 2018, Opporty International, Inc. and its founder and sole owner Sergii Grybniak conducted a “fraudulent” sale of digital assets called OPP Tokens, raising around $600,000 from roughly 200 investors in the U.S. and elsewhere. However, the defendants did not register the tokens with the regulator, which alleges that the ICO constituted a securities offering. Further, the…
Blockchain Best Placed to Meet the Needs of the Unbanked
Major cryptocurrency exchange OKEx is at the 50th World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos this week, promoting blockchain technology as a new motor for the global financial system. Two presentations — delivered by the OKEx Financial Markets Director Lennix Lai on Jan. 22 at the Russia House 2020 and EmTech Investment Meeting 2020 — focused minds on the challenge of extending financial services to the over two billion people worldwide who remain unbanked. “A free, open, permissionless financial system” In his presentation Lai argued that a digital, decentralized financial…