Open The New York Times’s rolling survey of coronavirus cases on United States college campuses and the picture looks bleak: as of Nov. 5, over 252,00 cases had been confirmed across 1,600 colleges nationwide. The spread of infection, combined with an at best incompetent, and at worst, cynical and exploitative policy towards college students and staff has resulted in university communities facing stringent quarantines in unsafe accommodation or being summarily sent home. All the while, students are expected to foot the bill for the full cost of their tuition fees. With…
Tag: BlockchainBased
New MIT Paper Rejects Blockchain-Based Voting Systems
As media outlets waited to announce a winner until the Saturday following the election day, calls for how blockchains would have made this process easier emerged, most prominently perhaps by Changpeng Zhao, CEO of Binance, as well as Vitalik Buterin, who added that, though there are technical challenges, the call for a blockchain-based, mobile voting app “is directionally 100% correct.” A new report from MIT, however, strongly argues against the idea of blockchain-based e-voting, largely on the basis that it will increase cybersecurity vulnerabilities that already exist, it fails meet…
MIT cybersecurity experts do not trust blockchain-based voting systems
While certain parties in the United States continue to challenge the integrity of the election process, a group of researchers is advocating against using Internet-based and blockchain-based voting systems in the future. According to a Nov. 16 report from researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, relying on blockchain voting technology is not a reliable means of promoting greater turnout and may increase the risk of hackers tampering with elections. The cybersecurity team of Sunoo Park, Michael Specter, Neha Narula and Ronald L. Rivest…
Etherisc to offer blockchain-based crop insurance to Kenyan farmers
Today the Chainlink Community Grant program announced funding for a low-cost insurance collaboration between Etherisc, a decentralized insurance protocol, and ACRE Africa, a microinsurance issuer focused on the second-most populous continent on the planet. According to an announcement from Chainlink, the project aims to build a blockchain-based insurance platform that delivers affordable coverage for the nearly 250,000 smallholder farmers in Kenya, many of whom are expected to be disproportionately affected by climate change over the next three years. The planned platform will also provide insurance policies with payment installments valued…
A New York airport test pilots blockchain-based coronavirus cleanliness app
With an eye towards the rapidly spreading coronavirus pandemic, Albany Airport has begun experimenting with the “Wellness Trace App” to track the cleanliness of surfaces and objects inside the airport. The app, developed by General Electric Co. (GE) in partnership with TE-FOOD and Eurofins, aims to provide a safe travel experience during and after the coronavirus pandemic. It is built using the Microsoft Azure enterprise blockchain. The app aims to provide travelers with information about the cleanliness of surfaces prior to travelers touching them in real-time. Travelers will be able…
Blockchain-based EV charging trial gets $1M from Canadian government
A three-year pilot scheme for an innovative blockchain-based electric vehicle, or EV, charging platform has received $1 million in funding from Natural Resources Canada, a department of the country’s government. The scheme promises to reduce the cost of EV charging transactions and enhance power grid efficiency, according to an article on the independent Electric Autonomy Canada platform. The pilot will take place at two multi-tenanted office buildings in downtown Toronto, and is run by EV charging platform SWTCH Energy and intelligent energy software developer Opus One Solutions. The innovation comes…
Exclusive | FUSANG CEO: CCB’s $3 Billion in Blockchain-Based Debt Bonds is Rise of Crypto 2.0
FUSANG exchange CEO Henry Chong believes that China Construction Bank’s historic blockchain-based bond listing, which represents the first tranche of $3 billion in debt, marks the beginning of a transition into what he calls “Crypto 2.0”— or the institutionalization of digital asset products ranging from securities like shares and bonds to other assets like commodities and real estate. China Construction Bank (CCB) in partnership with FUSANG digital security exchange listed the first blockchain-based digital bond accessible to global investors yesterday—issuing the first portion of a planned $3 billion worth of tokenized…
FUSANG Exchange Lists First Publicly Available Blockchain-Based Digital Bond Backed by CCB
Asia’s first digital security exchange FUSANG is partnering with the world’s second largest bank, China Construction Bank (CCB) to offer the first ever digital, tokenized, blockchain-based bond. FUSANG’s First Digital Security IPO Revealed CCB and FUSANG Exchange, Asia’s first digital securities exchange, take the lead to bring to market the first blockchain-based digital bond accessible to global investors The bond, Longbond SR Notes USD (LBFEB21), is to be provided by CCB Labuan Branch at a discount and will be listed on the FUSANG Exchange on the Ethereum blockchain, supporting trading…
Bayern Munich taps the trend for blockchain-based fantasy soccer
German soccer club FC Bayern Munich, which plays in the country’s Bundesliga, is entering the world of blockchain-based fantasy soccer. The Ethereum blockchain-based fantasy soccer game Sorare, which Bayern joined this week, already counts over 100 participant clubs, including high-profile names such as Paris Saint-German, Juventus, PSG, and Atletico Madrid. FC Bayern Munich is itself no stranger to collaborations with blockchain projects, having partnered last fall with Stryking Entertainment to produce digital collectibles of its players. These cards are both collectible and playable as part of a fantasy-league style challenge. In announcing its…
Blockchain-based agri-commodity trading to tap world’s largest wheat market
Following two years of pilot testing, a blockchain trade and financing platform for global agricultural trading has seen its commercial rollout from Swiss developer Cerealia SA. The launch follows extensive prelaunch trial implementation with firms from Algeria, Brazil, Dubai, Japan and Ukraine. In November 2018, Cointelegraph reported on the platform’s early use to conduct a pilot transaction of Black Sea wheat from the Russian port city of Novorossiysk. Cerealia told reporters that it has sought to address the need for a fast trading platform in the global Russian wheat market and…