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Why the EU uses blockchain to create Europe's citizen-centered Internet

Blockchain has been heralded as the decentralization platform since its early days. Others have hoped to use it to combat some of the more alarming evils associated with today's highly centralized and platform-dominated Webs – such as lack of privacy, false news, or the accumulation of data-wealth in the hands of a few. And we also seem to be waiting for a detailed explanation of how this might possibly happen. That can improve in Europe. Although rather under the radar, European policymakers have been engaged in building a vision of how blockchain could be applied to the European Digital Single Market. Many who support a more citizen-centric, privacy-conserving Internet approach should consider a decent amount to like in it. Those interested in a summary of what's going on may want to read the Conclusions and Reflections 2018-2020 study recently released by the EU Blockchain Observatory and Forum. Not only does the paper contain a compendium of the Observatory's first two years of research investigating the condition of blockchain in Europe. It also features interviews on the future of the European blockchain regulatory and policy environment with key EU blockchain policymakers – including MEP Eva Kaili, Director-General of DG CONNECT Roberto Viola, and Pēteris Zilgalvis, head of the EC 's blockchain unit. Read the full article

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First solar energy trading initiative based on blockchain works

First solar energy trading initiative based on blockchain works Blockchain technology has been largely limited to finance and cryptocurrencies. The importance of the distributed ledger system in other areas of business is gradually coming to light. According to the source, The first use of technology in the renewable energy sector has taken place in Australia. The RENeW Nexus project found that peer-to-peer solar energy trading is technically feasible after testing 48 households in Fremantle, Western Australia. The project is funded by the Australian government's Smart Cities initiative and is based on Power Ledger's blockchain technology. The curriculum is also part of Curtin University and Murdock University. Power Ledger is a software company that enables the exchange of energy and environmental goods using blockchain technology. For this project, the Power Ledger blockchain platform was used to allow consumers to trade in solar energy and set electricity prices on their own. It also set up a virtual power plant that functions as a cloud that stores excess solar units. The project also included a 670kWh battery microgrid set up for service homes in the eastern village of Fremantle. First Read the full article

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Singer Akon Starts a Cryptocurrency, Building crypto driven Senegal City

When during a trip from Dakar to Paris a few years ago, Grammy Award-nominated singer Akon tried to convert some of Senegal 's currency to euros, he was met with resistance. He was told by an employee at France's currency exchange counter, "Unfortunately we don't take those." Singer Akon Starts a Cryptocurrency, Building crypto driven Senegal City "I'm just like, 'What? "Akon recalled in a recent Bloomberg News phone interview. Before leaving for his tour, he had not had time to convert one currency to another, so he was left with a pocket of CFA francs — the currency used in many West African countries, like Senegal — with nowhere to spend them. "That just really opened my eyes," Akon, 47, said in the interview. "That really catapulted the energy to say 'We have our own currency to have. I don't mind what it takes — we'll fix this.'" The encounter served as a catalyst for one of its newest ventures, Akoin, a cryptocurrency that will also be Akon City's local currency, a 2,000-acre development in Senegal. Although some other coins have promised but failed to update the fiat currency system, the hope is that Akoin will be adopted across the continent and beyond, with a launch likely to occur in early July, according to Jon Karas, Akoin 's president, and co-founder. https://theblockchaincafe.com/reliance-receives-first-lc-payment-from-india-via-blockchain/ The Read the full article

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Blockchain will allow salmon to be tracked from sea to dinner plate

Blockchain will allow salmon to be tracked from sea to dinner plate With a new blockchain initiative from top exporter Norway, consumers around the world will soon be able to get to know the intricate life details of the salmon they eat. The Norwegian Seafood Association has collaborated with International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) and technology provider Atea ASA to collect data on how salmon are bred, processed, and delivered, which can ultimately be accessed by customers by scanning a QR code. This will help manufacturers in Norway distinguish their quality goods from other exporters, curb fraud in origin, and reduce waste. "Blockchain lets us share the journey of the fish from the ocean to the dinner table," Alf-Goran Knutsen   said Alf-Goran Knutsen, CEO of Kvaroy Arctic, a supplier that is part of the initiative. "This is more opportune now than ever." https://theblockchaincafe.com/what-is-proof-of-authority-poa-part-2/ As consumers increasingly want to know what's in their food and how it's produced, blockchain has helped retailers ensure that products from chicken to pasta don't get tainted or passed off as something else. But fish were harder to trace, making it particularly vulnerable to fraud. Oceana Advocacy Group estimated one in five samples of seafood is mislabeled. Blockchain Read the full article

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How Covid-19 focuses on supply chain failures?

How Covid-19 focuses on supply chain failures? While the Covid-19 pandemic begins to spread, multiple companies are confronting an unpredictable future. With numerous furlough programs in effect across the world that shield companies for the short term, there could be a window of opportunity to evaluate your business plan, examine emerging developments, and figure out the best direction to follow until the 'new standard' is formed. These sorts of issues often need a little move back, Alan Vey, the co-founder of the Artos blockchain development company, says to The Block. With no flying, an enormous amount of room has been set aside for families. Things have slowed down a bit to do some strategic planning and look ahead. It's a perfect opportunity to find possibly any crucial innovations that might make a change. Good protection is a successful attack, as the phrase goes, and with blockchain, problems that have already been found across the supply chain – whether food, personal protective equipment (PPE), or others – might contribute to a few post-COVID-19 converts. No less than the World Economic Forum (WEF) stated earlier this week that a 'thinking' deployment of blockchain technology was required. I think the supply chain technology will boom, says Annika Monari, co-founder of Artos. If Read the full article

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Reliance receives first LC payment from India via blockchain

HSBC Holdings Plc carried out a trade finance transaction in a first for India using blockchain for an export by Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) to Tricon Energy based in the US. The letter of credit (LC) transaction allowed by the blockchain significantly reduced the time taken for these transactions, RIL said in a press release. "The use of blockchain offers significant potential to reduce the timelines involved in exchanging export documentation from the existing 7-10 days to less than one day," said Srikanth Venkatachari, joint chief financial officer at RIL.

Reliance receives first LC payment from India via blockchain

The transaction allowed a digital transfer of the seller's title of goods to the buyer. ING Bank for Tricon Energy USA (importer) issued the letter of credit with HSBC India as the RIL advising and negotiating bank. HSBC 's Head of Global Banking and Markets, Hitendra Dave, said the use of blockchain has a huge effect on trade finance transactions and, in addition to making it easier and quicker, allows for greater transparency and improved protection. https://theblockchaincafe.com/vedanta-yes-bank-monetago-use-blockchain-to-digitally-issue-cp-in-asia/ Explaining the current system, Reliance said buyers and sellers are currently using paper-based credit letters to back up transactions and physical documents are sent to each party in the transaction by email, courier or fax. Although the current system offers a high degree of certainty, the time and costs involved in processing the documents are deterrent to exporters. Read the full article

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How Covid-19 focuses on supply chain failures?

How Covid-19 focuses on supply chain failures?

While the Covid-19 pandemic begins to spread, multiple companies are confronting an unpredictable future. With numerous furlough programs in effect across the world that shield companies for the short term, there could be a window of opportunity to evaluate your business plan, examine emerging developments, and figure out the best direction to follow until the 'new standard' is formed. These sorts of issues often need a little move back, Alan Vey, the co-founder of the Artos blockchain development company, says to The Block. With no flying, an enormous amount of room has been set aside for families. Things have slowed down a bit to do some strategic planning and look ahead. It's a perfect opportunity to find possibly any crucial innovations that might make a change. Good protection is a successful attack, as the phrase goes, and with blockchain, problems that have already been found across the supply chain – whether food, personal protective equipment (PPE), or others – might contribute to a few post-COVID-19 converts. No less than the World Economic Forum (WEF) stated earlier this week that a 'thinking' deployment of blockchain technology was required.

How Covid-19 focuses on supply chain failures? I think the supply chain technology will boom, says Annika Monari, co-founder of Artos. If you start talking about how the price of paracetamol has increased, not getting a toilet roll for a few weeks – the loss of exposure that relies on a world's governing system is distinct from ours is a very real business concern.

How Covid-19 focuses on supply chain failures?

These kinds of risks have not been so much appreciated so far, Monari adds. https://theblockchaincafe.com/why-blockchain-is-a-part-of-iot-technology/ Blockchain will provide a lot of value in having the consistency, traceability, and oversight when you have such supply chains, in order to be able to detect downstream problems even quicker. This is not the only area that those who support blockchain see advantages, however. I think it's really fascinating to see some of the initiatives out there that are looking at reconciling data on COVID – monitoring data, outbreak data – and use blockchain technology to seek to standardize the data structure and function as a common source of reality for that data, says Monari. https://theblockchaincafe.com/blockchain-supply-chain-initiative-envoy-teams-up-with-kyc-hub/ Monari and Vey created Artos in early 2018 after having previously introduced Aventus, an Ethereum-based network aimed at mitigating fraud in ticketing utilizing blockchain technology. Artos offers proprietary technology, built on Ethereum, including features such as a powerful transaction engine, asset lifecycle management, and cryptographic security, to guide businesses on their journey from ideation to implementation. As a result, the two soon realized that the possibilities of their business went beyond ticketing. Ultimately, what we did was see how relevant this technology was to some kind of supply chain or value chain – indeed any company, says Monari. Blockchain will have a huge effect on the way businesses operate with other corporations. We began expanding out more – our approach was relatively generic, so that's why we formed Artos so agreed to be the gateway to blockchain for business. This 'path to blockchain' is a significant aspect of Artos' messaging – yes, it is a licensed trademark – but the organization is strongly placed as a platform supplier rather than a consultancy or creation store. Nevertheless, training and raising the information gap plays a role in the early stages. Some of these innovations, such as AI or cloud, just before that ... before you launch, nobody even knows how to use it, Vey says. They realize it can be beneficial, but they don't realize when it is best done exactly how to implement it.   It's just teamwork with the initial customer, knowing the market, knowing the sector, combining our skills, how this technology might function, and then encouraging them to pursue additional implementations and solutions, he continues. In the first year or two of , we're potentially very consultative-heavy, however, we're heading more and more towards modular solutions. The push to develop Artos' technologies on Ethereum, or more broadly on public blockchains, is thus assertive. It is especially noteworthy considering that others in the sector do not yet see it as a business norm in terms of transactions per second, despite the fact that organizations such as StarkWare have made substantial strides in recent months. Monari explains the rationale behind long-term public blockchains. It's the same way you think of the intranet versus the Internet, she says. An intranet is very useful within an entity, within divisions, so as you start attempting to attach more users to it and using it as a layer of data sharing, a layer of knowledge sharing, it starts to lose influence as it is managed by one or a few parties. "The Internet is so strong – it's a centralized networking system regulated by no one," Monari continues. "It creates interoperability between data, people, and organizations – and we have the same view of blockchain technology. https://theblockchaincafe.com/kaspersky-announces-blockchain-voting-system/

How Covid-19 focuses on supply chain failures?

There's nothing wrong with approved blockchain – for now, it's the quickest way to get up and running so that's why people are implementing those – but eventually all of those authorization applications would need to be linked so interoperable. One of the aspects that makes blockchain so theoretically wide-ranging is its effect on the supply chain; utilizing the analog 'farm to fork' Going back to the example of ticketing, Artos sees it as a demand chain rather than a supply chain. "For ticketing, anyone from the location, to the organizer, to the ticketing service – they wouldn't find themselves a supply chain, it's a demand chain," Monari says. "By providing clarity or traceability to what happens in a value chain to an adjacent value chain, or regulator, is where this technology can be so strong." Vey adds that there is a misunderstanding on where precisely blockchain applies. "It's really challenging to provide a descriptive and correct response to that, as it's like wondering where a personal machine is heading," he says. "It's a computer that can be designed to manage a whole host of use scenarios. Blockchain is really similar – it's a general-purpose system that is programmable by smart contracts; it's scalable because multiple usage cases can be built to derive benefit from it. "As before, this understanding of the flexibility and effect of blockchain is becoming crucial to many in the ready-to-transform industries. With this in mind, Artos is bringing together a webinar collection, with a webinar on the metals and mining sector heading to live earlier this week. It's still really complicated at this moment – so one of these positives is that there's a little more flexibility to do certain stuff – and one of those items is thinking about emerging technologies,"   Monari says. "It's sort of why we began this show – we know that people have more time, so we hope that we will develop some awareness so help them make choices about their businesses based on potential patterns.     Read the full article

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Blockchain Supply Chain Initiative Envoy teams up with KYC Hub

The Envoy Organization will also be able to connect existing clients to the corporate financing network leveraging KYC Hub's Know Your Customer (KYC) technologies to exploit the anti-money laundering, market monitoring, operations management, and know-how. Envoy uses blockchain technologies to bring massive efficiency to the global supply chain and trade finance and raised more than USD 13 million from Alcedo Digital Ventures in February 2020. Lee Tarone, CEO of Envoy Group, said: Trade finance cannot be truly revolutionized without transparency, trust, and proper due diligence. We are excited to work with KYC Hub who have an arsenal of tools to help us close the $1.5 trillion trade finance gap whilst mitigating against risk and bad actors – the things ultimately holding up the industry today. Jay Rao, the co-founder of KYC Hub, said, We are proud to be working with a company who aim to provide a simple and effective solution to its clients, we are very happy to join them in this journey. In an industry where paperwork means possible fault, fraud and risk – we can automate compliance and manage operational risk for Envoy’s clients using real-time financial crime data. On top of that, we are connected to global data sources and can verify individuals and companies from 180 different countries.

Blockchain Supply Chain Initiative Envoy teams up with KYC Hub

KYC Hub is the latest integration after Envoys have successfully raised and launched $13 million. The firm also announced a partnership with PurpleTRAC, the Pole Star governance solution, earlier this month. Built on the Corda blockchain platform of R3 enterprise software firm, Envoy accelerates the $17 trillion annual global trade flow to the digital age by reducing inefficiencies and injecting vital and once-indebted liquidity. https://theblockchaincafe.com/spring-labs-aims-to-create-fraud-and-id-verification-solutions-using-blockchain-technology/ KYC Hub is a UK-based start-up with investment managed by Alcedo Technology Limited, which helps firms mitigate the risk of fraud and financial crime by using AI and data intelligence. KYC Hub's products include a global KYC and biometric verification solution, corporate verification, and monitoring and AML (Anti Money Laundering / Combating Terrorist Financing Compliance and Risk-Based Approach). The company provides advanced tools such as transaction monitoring, customer risk rating, payment screening, and pattern-based matching. Read the full article

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Cartesi Introduces Linux Platform For Building Blockchain DApps

Cartesi, who appears to be the first DApp platform to operate an operating system (OS) on top of blockchains, is releasing its software while they close their first round of funding simultaneously. The company's layer-2 approach is claimed to be the first of its type to cross the divide between the Linux runtime framework and the blockchain, offering developers the ability to build DApps utilizing a broad variety of traditional tech stacks. We are excited to be launching the first-ever Linux infrastructure that runs on top of a blockchain, while we complete our second round of funding, said Erick de Moura, CEO of Cartesi. Blockchains and decentralization will allow for a new exciting range of applications, but with the current state of DApps, the space is very limited, making it very difficult for mainstream adoption. So, we are striving to create serious change and increase the viability of DApp development on top of a blockchain. Today, it is feasible to grow directly on the blockchain, but the procedure is complicated, lengthy, and developers are left with rather restricted computing capabilities. As blockchain comes out of the darkness and into mass consciousness; programming and network creation will adjust to emerging technologies for certain non-crypto purposes. https://theblockchaincafe.com/kaspersky-announces-blockchain-voting-system/ Cartesi adds to the open network all the resources and features found in current operating systems. The company's approach offers a legal and completely fledged Linux OS that improves the functionality of decentralized systems without violating blockchain protection guarantees. Cartesi allows programmers to effortlessly develop autonomous software while retaining the charm of traditional web apps. In fact, Cartesi would reduce the obstacles to entry for traditional developers and veterans by removing the requirement to learn modern programming languages and domain-specific resources that also have drawbacks and a steep learning curve. Cartesi's architecture offers complete scalability for software developers, enabling them to code in their chosen language and yet maintain the same product performance that they are accustomed to: legal and completely fledged Linux OS The ability to write modular apps easily reduces the need to acquire unfamiliar programming languages and domain-specific resources. Creepts ' game logic was written using TypeScript, running off-chain in a completely reproducible Virtual Machine that guarantees fairness between teams. Cartesi functions off-chain and only moves the findings on-chain deterministically so that everyone can validate the accuracy of the calculation. Read the full article

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Supreme Court of India has imposed the trade prohibition on cryptocurrencies

In a major decision, on Wednesday the Supreme Court eliminated the curbs put on controlled institutions such as banks and NBFCs by the Reserve Bank of India from virtual currencies and from the provision of services for crypto companies. This Court held that the RBI circular, banning licensed institutions from giving banking services to traders or encouraging trading in VCs, could be set aside on the "ground of proportionality". When the consistent stand of RBI is that they have not banned VCs and when the Government of India is unable to take a call despite several committees coming up with several proposals including two draft bills, both of which advocated exactly opposite positions, it is not possible for us to hold that the impugned measure is proportionate The Court noted. A jury bench composed of Justices R F Nariman, Aniruddha Bose, and V Ramasubramanian, (The Web and the Wireless Association of India vs Reserve Bank of India) heard the case. In April 2018, RBI released a circular banning regulated financial entities from supplying crypto companies with services. The prohibition came into force three months later and banks immediately locked crypto-exchange accounts. The Circular released on 6 April 2018 instructed RBI-regulated agencies: Not to trade with virtual currencies or to provide services that would encourage the processing or settlement of virtual currencies by any person or entity; and Leave the partnership with those individuals or organizations if they have already been offering these services. The Internet and Mobile Association of India and a few other stakeholders questioned this in the Supreme Court. The Association consisted of a few companies that run online crypto assets trading sites, certain companies ' shareholders/founders and a few individual crypto asset traders. https://theblockchaincafe.com/the-united-states-philippines-and-venezuela-to-use-cryptocurrency-atm/ The Court noted three considerations when overruling the circular: RBI has not, in the past 5 years or more, found that the activities of Virtual Currency Exchanges have actually adversely affected the functioning of RBI-regulated entities The consistent position was taken by RBI, including in its answer dated 04-09-2019, is that RBI has not banned virtual currency in the country and Also, the Inter-Ministerial Committee formed on 02-11-2017, which originally recommended a special legal framework, including the introduction of a new law, namely the Crypto-token Regulation Bill 2018, were of the opinion that a ban could be an extreme tool and that regulatory measures can achieve the same objectives The Court noted: The position as on date is that VCs are not banned, but the trading in VCs and the functioning of VC exchanges are sent to comatose by the impugned Circular by disconnecting their lifeline namely, the interface with the regular banking sector. What is worse is that this has been done (i) despite RBI not finding anything wrong about the way in which these exchanges function and (ii) despite the fact that VCs are not banned Advocate Ashim Sood, appearing for IAMI, argued that Reserve Bank of India had no jurisdiction to prohibit transactions in cryptocurrencies. The general ban was based on a misconception that it was impossible to regulate cryptocurrencies, Sood argued. It was also claimed that cryptocurrencies were not "currency" in the strict sense, and could be referred to as a medium of exchange or a store of value. Senior Advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for RBI, disagreed and said that it was a mode of digital payment that RBI had the power to control. Divan argued that the contested decisions were necessary because, in the opinion of RBI, VC transactions could not be referred to as a payment system, but only peer-to-peer transactions that do not involve a system provider under the Payments and Settlement Systems Act. Despite this, VC transactions have the potential to develop as a parallel payment system. It was also submitted that VCs could be used for illegal activities because of their anonymity. Read the full article

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You should know about Xiaomi Blockchain

The Hong Kong-listed Chinese company has been studying blockchain since 2017, and the recent move demonstrates Xiaomi's determination to succeed against the ranks of Alibaba and Tencent in the intense blockchain battle. The new entity has its business activities in Chongquing, a town located in the south-west of the country, with software and services related to blockchain applications as well as an AI database, data processing, and storage facilities in conjunction with the Tianyancha search network (available only in China). It is known that the reported capital of "Industry and Finance Big Data" is 66 million yuan and that the legal representative and chairman is Cao Ziwei, Vice President of Xiaomi Financial Strategy. Xiaomi Digital Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter "Xiaomi") owns 49 percent of "Industrial and Financial Big Data" and is the largest shareholder. The remaining three owners are Chongqing International Logistics Hub Development Co., Ltd. and Chongqing Hanhua Fuhui Industrial Co., Ltd. Co., Ltd. and Chongqing Weixi Smart Things Technology Co., Ltd. Mars Finance previously reported that Xiaomi had set up a blockchain sector, set up a "big data industry finance" or another step for the company to facilitate the growth of blockchain-related businesses. In March 2018, Xiaomi introduced the first blockchain application called "Crypto Rabbit" (blockchain game) and later introduced the second blockchain application called "Xiaomi WiFi Chain" in the following month. https://theblockchaincafe.com/how-blockchain-technology-will-transform-future-with-big-data-iot-and-artificial-intelligence/ At that period, Tang Mu, Vice President of Xiaomi Ecological Network, said: "The' WiFi Chain' is a limited framework experiment focused on blockchain technology. It is a shared accounting device. This is an effort that the team has been fooling around for a long time." That same year, Xiaomi Fintech officially launched a financial partnership network system with technical features such as multimedia. This approach is focused on the characteristics of blockchain technology and can break down all parties involved in financial activities Data island issues. At the "POW'ER 2019 Global Developer Conference" held in August last year, Cui Baoqiu, Vice President of the Xiaomi Group and Chairman of the Technical Committee of the Company, said at the The future of blockchain is very grand, but compared to AI and IoT, the journey of blockchain is still very difficult. The dividends of the new generation of AI technology represented by deep learning and the dividends of big data are far from being finished. From this, it is believed that the market reach encompasses the "big data finance industry" for assets such as big data, AI and blockchain. https://theblockchaincafe.com/how-blockchain-id-management-solution-plays-important-role-in-telecommunication-industry/ Read the full article

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Kaspersky announces blockchain voting system

Kaspersky Cybersecurity firm has introduced a prototype of its revolutionary Polys blockchain voting system to open up the opportunity of a safer alternative to conventional voting systems. Verdict's tech website reports. Polys is a Kaspersky Innovation Hub project aimed at developing a safe online voting framework for enterprise universities and political parties. Kaspersky mentions that the first of its kind to incorporate blockchain technologies and work alongside the Polys online election system This uses a distributed ledger technology digital voting system that creates a verified link between a vote and the candidate who casts this. Online blockchain voting system offers a number of benefits, where voters can take part remotely, but also carries the risk of alienating electors who have no access to the computer and smartphone. According to the National Statistics Office, 5.3 million people in the United Kingdom were "non-users" to the Internet in 2018. Election Commission of India is working on Blockchain based Voting System Election Commission of India is working on Blockchain-based Voting As the recent Iowa Caucus showed, there was a coding error in the app developed to report results which meant that only limited results have been recorded. Sometimes using technology can obstruct the election process, rather than support it. Kaspersky's new system, therefore, provides participants with the option to vote on or using a polling station with the additional security of blockchain technology.

How the blockchain-based voting machine works

Kaspersky provides a validated voter with a unique QR code or token, which is then validated, enabling them to cast their votes with votes and then automatically encrypted and counted on a Polys voting machine. Voting individuals can then verify that their votes are stored anonymously via a web application on the blockchain voting system. The voting machines can also be linked to the Polys online voting system so that voters can vote on their mobile, but the option is removed twice. It could not only strengthen the protection of elections but also rising personnel and resource expenses. https://theblockchaincafe.com/10-things-to-know-if-you-are-a-crypto-beginner/ The use of the blockchain to counter electoral fraud has also been discussed in recent years. In 2018, Sierra Leone is the first country to vote blockchain by 70 percent of the votes cast at the country's general elections. Kaspersky's ventures include a blockchain voting initiative in Volgograd involving over 82,000 people. From speaking to our customers, we understand the issues and inconvenience they face when organising paper-based voting. As we see from our Polys platform, e-voting can solve some of these issues, allowing more possibilities for remote participation and even increasing turnout of younger people said Roman Aleshkin, product manager at Polys. However, if physical polling stations were to be closed completely, it would deprive and alienate certain groups of people from taking part in an election and making their voice heard. That is why we introduced our new voting machines. Working together with the online platform, they allow citizens to vote using the method they prefer, in a convenient and transparent way. Read the full article

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What Are Quorums and Quorum Slices?

What Are Quorums and Quorum Slices?

A quorum is a group of nodes. It is required for reaching an agreement. Nodes make communication with each other with the purpose to reach the agreement. If a specific threshold of nodes is met, then an update on the state is valid will be concurred.  Quorum slices are defined as the subsets of a quorum. They can convince a few nodes of the agreement. The dependency of a node can be on many quorum slices for information. The establishment of the trust is done within the configuration file of the node. Quorum slices and subsequent decentralization can be formed dynamically.  Node A can have no trust in banks after its research. It can now require another quorum slice on whom it can rely on for an agreement with banks. A quorum will be formed due to reaching an agreement. The requirement of traditional BA is that all nodes accept the same slices. Traditional BA doesn’t require that all the nodes discern sources of trusted information for themselves only. Distinguishing slices and quorums is difficult as there is no way to distinguish them. A closed and permissioned member is required to access a network. The dependency of the FBA model is on individual nodes for the selection of their own sets of quorum slices. The organic and more decentralized formation of quorums is enabled in an effective way.  The evaluation of quorum intersection and disjoint quorums is required regarding the discussion of safety and liveness in the FBA.

What Are Quorums and Quorum Slices?

If quorums share a node, then they will intersect. Nodes are shared by good quorums. Overlapping quorums are led by these good quorums. Nodes select quorum slices. Ensuring that the quorum slices do not violate quorum intersection is a responsibility of the nodes. The requirement is that nodes should select those slices which are not only conservative but also lead to large quorums. If quorums do not intersect, then they will be known as disjoint quorums. Disjoint quorums are not good quorums. They can lead to contradictory statements and a consensus can be undermined. Safety and liveness need to be balanced by nodes with the purpose of ensuring a proper slice selection process. If nodes externalize values which causes contradictions with other nodes, then the safety will be lost by the nodes. If nodes are blocked for an agreement, then the liveness will be lacked by them. A critical role is played by the Federated Voting model related to nodes who agree on a statement. Read the full article

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Types Of Forks In Blockchain Network: Hard Fork And Soft Fork

A fork is defined as a change in a blockchain network. If miners reach a unanimous consensus in the blockchain network, then the result of this mining will be a single blockchain with verified data. Blockchain technology is defined as a single chain of blocks. If the miners don't reach the unanimous consensus, then forks will be created. It means that the single chain of blocks is split into either two valid chains or more valid chains. Mentioned below are the details of Soft Fork, Hard Fork, and Temporary Fork:

Soft Fork

Definition: If the blockchain protocol is changed into a backward-compatible way, then the occurrence of a soft fork will take place. Description: Nodes use the software. A change can occur in the software. New blocks are mined in accordance with new rules in the blockchain protocol. The old version of the software considers this mining as valid. Therefore, the blockchain protocol is changed into a backward-compatible way.

Hard Fork

Definition: If the blockchain protocol is changed into a non-backward-compatible way, then the occurrence of a hard fork will take place. Description: Nodes use the software. A change can occur in the software. New blocks are mined in accordance with new rules in the blockchain protocol. The old version of the software considers this mining as invalid. Therefore, the blockchain protocol is changed into a non-backward-compatible way. A new cryptocurrency will be derived in the situation when the occurrence of a hard fork takes place. It will be a valid original currency. Examples: Original: Ethereum (ETH) New: Ethereum Classic (ETC) Original: Bitcoin (BTC) New: Bitcoin Cash (BCH) The new cryptocurrency will be distributed in a new chain. If a node upgrades the software, then the node will be able to join the new chain. If the node doesn't upgrade the software, then the node will continue to work in an original chain.

Temporary Fork

Definition: If two miners mine a new block simultaneously, then the occurrence of a temporary fork will take place. Description: Many miners can mine a new block simultaneously in a blockchain network. The full nodes in the blockchain network can't agree on the new block. While the new block can be accepted by some nodes in the network. A new chain of blocks will be formed on that point. Other available alternatives of blocks can be agreed upon by other nodes. If a long period of time is taken to propagate the information to the full nodes, then conflicted opinions related to the chronological order of events will exist. Either two blocks or more blocks will have the same block height. If a chain is lost, then a temporary fork will be resolved. This happens since a majority of the network turns towards another chain for adding new blocks

Reasons Behind Forks

Add new functionality, Fix security issues, Reverse transactions are the three reasons behind the occurrence of a fork in a blockchain network. Add new functionality: The code is often updated in a public blockchain. Developments or improvements are carried out by worldwide people. New versions will be released. Fix security issues: The blockchain is a new technology being researched to fix the issues regarding security. Updates will be released. Reverse transactions: If all the transactions of a specific period are breached, then these transactions will be void by them. Read the full article

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TCS roll-outs Quartz DevKit to help businesses build blockchain applications 40% faster

  India's most well known IT services organization Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) Ltd on Monday, declared the release of its Quartz DevKit to enable businesses to build blockchain applications 40% faster.   Quartz DevKit is "an intuitive, low code development kit for enterprises to quickly build and deploy blockchain applications on any popular blockchain platform…Its intuitive, web-based integrated development environment helps programmers seamlessly design, compile, package, and deploy business code on their preferred blockchain platform," TCS stated in a statement.   "Many of our customers, across industries, are leveraging blockchain technology to establish frictionless transactions across their extended ecosystem. We developed the Quartz DevKit to help their teams rapidly put together high-quality pilots using smart contracts on any platform with reduced coding effort. We have received very positive feedback from our pilot customers, and are pleased to make the DevKit available for use at scale," stated R Vivekanand, global head of Quartz, TCS. The comprehensive blockchain technology's current market size is predicted to grasp $57.6 billion by 2025, enrolling a CAGR of 69.4% from 2019 to 2025, as stated by Grand View Research.

TCS roll-outs Quartz DevKit to help businesses build blockchain applications 40% faster

Quartz, TCS's blockchain solution suite, consists of Smart Solutions, a set of 'designed for blockchain' business enterprise offerings for several industries; the Quartz DevKit, a smart contract development kit to help development of top quality code on diverse blockchain platforms; the Quartz Gateway for the incorporation of existing solutions with blockchain environments; and, the Quartz Command Center that may administrate and keep an eye on complete environments. Jointly, these types of solutions are targeted at assisting enterprises to build genuinely linked environments that operate on blockchain technology, providing real-time, effective transaction processing based upon just one way to the truth on the ledger. The solutions can coexist with existing systems, support multiple blockchain platforms, and facilitate seamless integration with ecosystem participants.

Quartz – The Smart Ledgers

Quartz solutions are focused on encouraging businesses throughout multiple domains, leverage blockchain significantly for businesses and organizations. The solutions are intended keeping at heart the guidelines of co-existence, integrating, and interoperability. They will help to ensure organizations agile, noticeably cut down transaction processing period and costs associated with data exchange with upstream and also downstream systems. With the data masking, privacy, and anonymity--the basic which the solutions are made--businesses can easily focus on boosting their core competitive strengths in the ecosystem of uttermost security. Quartz contains business solutions in the type of Quartz Smart Solutions and platform solutions, specifically the Quartz Gateway, the Quartz DevKit, and Quartz Command Center. Read the full article

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Blockchain News: World’s First Public Blockchain Bond On Ethereum At $73 Million

In the latest blockchain news -- the world's first public blockchain bond on Ethereum is ready to settle at $73 Million by next week. This two-year bond is engineered in order to improve the productivity of an automated financing process, by moving away from a decades-old manual bond-sales, that will be implemented for those countries who are facing the poverty. It will be settled on August 28, 2018, by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), reported by Reuters on Thursday. The Commonwealth Bank of Australia will be seen as a sole manager by this bond and the motive is to yield a 2.251 percent returns in price. The CBA said in the report that the bond was designed for the "kangaroo" deal at 23 basis points above Australia’s benchmark rates. This bond is issued in Australian dollars by the overseas market. It is cited that this dubbed "Bondi" is the first exploration by the World Bank into blockchain technology as the supporting system for automating the issuance process among multiple parties as per the latest blockchain news. The CBA has demanded that Bondi marks the first occasion wherein a legally valid bond issuance, in contrary to, other similar prototypes powered by Blockchain. This bond is totally issued and managed on a blockchain, assisting to raise capital from public investors. In the bond, the World Bank issues dollars between $50 billion-$60 billion on a yearly average for a feasible development in emerging nations. The Bondi is issued and managed on a private Ethereum blockchain. This will be operated by the World Bank in both places such as Washington and Sydney, reported by CCN in their latest blockchain news. In order to run the Bond stateside, the world bank will use the Microsoft's cloud computing platform. The World Bank has stated long back that the capabilities, security, and scale of the Ethereum have been validated by the Microsoft for the bond issuance. Read the full article

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What Is Proof-of-Work (PoW)?

What Is Proof-of-Work (PoW)?

Consensus protocols are used to verify and validate transactions. There are different kinds of consensus protocols and their different ways for the verification and validation of transactions. In Proof-of-work (PoW), a miner or a group of miners will solve a mathematical equation to add a new block of transactions. The first miner to solve the mathematical equation will add the block in the existing blockchain. He will be rewarded with validated tokens. An American computer scientist named Cynthia Dwork and an Israeli computer scientist named Moni Naor invented the concept of PoW. A computer security researcher, entrepreneur, and writer named Markus Jakobsson and another researcher named Ari Juels both coined and formalized PoW in a paper in 1999 for the first time. PoW is based upon SHA-256. The National Security Agency is a US-based intelligence agency who has designed Secure Hash Algorithms (SHA or SHA-0, SHA1, and SHA2). Secure Hash Algorithms are defined as a family of cryptographic hash functions. While the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is a physical sciences laboratory and a non-regulatory agency who has published SHA or SHA-0 in 1993, SHA-1 was published in 1995, and SHA-2 (SHA-256) in 2001. SHA-224, SHA-256, SHA-384, SHA-512, SHA-512/224, and SHA-512/256 belong to the SHA-2 family. SHA or SHA-0 is called as a predecessor of SHA1 while SHA-1 is called as a predecessor of SHA-2. SHA-3 is designed by Belgian cryptographers named Joan Daemen and Gilles Van Assche and other cryptographers named Guido Bertoni and Michaël Peeters. It was published in 2015 by NIST. SHA-2 is called as a predecessor of SHA-3. The main purpose of SHA-256 is to generate a fixed size 256-bit (32-byte) hash.

Cryptographic Hash Function

A hash function which is used in cryptography called as a cryptographic hash function. A cryptography hash function is defined as a mathematical equation or algorithm which converts data of arbitrary size into a bit string of a fixed size. Checksums, Hash, Hash Value, and Message Digest are the other names of the bit string. Cryptographic hash functions are widely known as a basic tool for modern cryptography. They have applications in a mathematical scheme called digital signature and a tag or a short piece of information called message authentication code (MAC). The properties of an ideal cryptographic hash function are: The same message will be the same hash Hashes for different types of messages will be computed instantly  A hash will not be computed for two different messages  If a message is slightly changed, then a new hash will be computed. The new hash will be different from the previous one. 

51% Attack

51% attack is defined as a hypothetical situation. An individual attacker or a group of attackers can gain 51% of the total computational power of a blockchain network to create a fraudulent block. They will be able to control the network completely. New transactions can be halted from confirmation. Payments can be stopped between various blockchain users. A completed transaction can be reversed. Double-spending of crypto coins can be allowed. Read the full article