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Copyright: © Richard Jacobs
Shortly after Overstock began accepting Bitcoin in January of 2014, the potential applications of blockchain technology became apparent. In response, Overstock established Medici Ventures, a division that's designated to advance companies that promote the development and implementation of blockchain technology. Jonathan Johnson, who is on the Overstock Board of Directors and serves as president of Medici Ventures, discusses a few of the new and exciting technologies he's helping to advance. T-0 is a company that's developing a security token platform on which secure tokens can be digitally traded with no time lapse between paying for a security and receiving it. Although the volume of equities and securities on the platform is still low, Johnson forecasts a growing need for a security token platform, especially after last year's ICO boom and related statements made by the SEC. Having just launched a demo of the new build-out of the system, T-0 is prepared for an influx of securities. Medici Ventures is also supporting the implementation of Voatz, a blockchain-based platform for digital and remote voting. The platform will allow people to vote securely and privately on their mobile devices, receive confirmation that their vote has been cast, and get results in real time. In addition, it will greatly reduce absentee voting by reaching members of the military who are serving in remote areas. This technology was recently and successfully used at the Michigan State Democratic Convention, and is being tested in two counties in West Virginia. If successful, West Virginia will roll out the technology to the entire state for the general election in November. Tune in to hear more about the companies in the Medici Ventures portfolio, and visit mediciventures.com to learn more.
With the advent and increasing use of fertilizer in industrialized agriculture, symbioses between crops and their nitrogen-fixing microbes (which have been evolving for billions of years) are losing their strength. The fertilizer that's being used provides nitrogen for crops, but it does so in abundance, which has not only resulted in the crops' microbes losing the ability to capture nitrogen, but has also led to financial problems for farmers and concerns about the effect of excess nitrogen in the environment. The team at Pivot Bio is working on a solution: a probiotic for crops that forms a symbiotic relationship with them as soon as roots develop, allowing for the crops to obtain nitrogen in a self-sufficient way. There are plans for three generations of the product, the first of which will provide 20 percent of the nitrogen crops need. Karsten Temme, the founder and CEO of Pivot Bio, forecasts that the second generation product will provide about 50 percent of the nitrogen needed, and the third will provide 100 percent of it. This could have a significant impact on the environment, considering that 80 percent of the fertilizer used turns into pollution, either in the form of nitrate in the water or nitrous oxide in the atmosphere, a greenhouse gas that's 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide. The team at Pivot Bio has reached the last step before launch, with early adopters already testing the product on cereal crops, which provide over half the world's dietary energy. To learn more, visit pivotbio.com.
Dr. Kenneth Stanley is a professor at the University of Central Florida and the founder of Geometric Intelligence, a machine learning company that was renamed Uber AI Labs after being acquired by Uber in later 2016. "Uber recognized that AI and machine learning are ultimately fundamental to their business," says Dr. Stanley. The technology not only holds the promise of developing autonomous control capabilities, but also improving business operations through the optimization of dispatch mechanisms, which would result in faster pick up times. From the beginning, the philosophy of the company has been to maintain a diverse set of interests in the AI space by exploring several subcategories of AI, such as neuroevolution and neural network research. Through the combination of neural networking principles and evolutionary computation, neuroevolutionary tools give way to "reinforcement learning," the development of which could allow for the enhancement of automated decision-making processes. As a senior research scientist on the cutting-edge of this technology, Dr. Stanley is a wealth of information. Tune in to hear him touch on a variety of topics, including the recent jump from being able to create just a few thousand network connections to being able to create millions. To learn more, visit uber.ai.
Kirill Bensonoff is a successful entrepreneur with multiple exits, blockchain investor, product manager at Kaseya and partner at Caviar, pioneering a dual-purpose token and crowdfunding platform built on the Ethereum blockchain. He bought his first Bitcoin in 2013 and has participated in dozens of token generating events. As a graduate from the Entrepreneurial Masters program at MIT, he has served as both an advisor and angel investor in over 20 different companies. Kirill is a member of the Young Entrepreneur's Council and co-hosts the Boston Crypto Meetup series. Today, Kirill discusses the trillion dollar opportunity in the tokenizing of traditional asset classes, such as real estate, art and intellectual property.
Since we last met with R3 nearly a year ago, a lot has changed, according to a representative from the company's general counsel, Isabelle Corbett. The enterprise software company is now 200 partners strong, all of who have worked together within the consortium to develop Corda, their distributed ledger platform designed specifically for financial services. Launched in September 2015, Corda allows participants to transact without central authorities, resulting in frictionless commerce, but it also has capabilities well beyond just that. What sets them apart, is that the enterprises can interact in the space much faster with the added benefit of a blockchain inspired system. With that comes added security, reduced friction and lower costs, all while complying with regulations by not sharing data with companies that shouldn't have it. R3's open shared network is still private, secured and permissioned. These are reasons why it is attracting other industries from insurance to healthcare, travel, even governments. It will be interesting to see where they go next. In the meantime, tune in for exciting updates for 2018. For more information, visit: https://www.r3.com/
There is a clever, new, video sharing platform that is set to disrupt the space in 2018. The developers of Verasity are aiming to launch a system using blockchain technology that will help creators of content to monetize and manage what they are sharing by rewarding the entire community with VERA, their cryptocurrency which can be converted into the other traditional cryptocurrencies. It is often difficult to put a true value on online content due to mistaken or "fake views" and potential for fraudulent activities as well. Data is then often quite inaccurate. Veracity Industrial Networks, a leading cybersecurity, and software company has given birth to Verasity and developers are looking to solve this issue with its various tools. They have developed a patent pending "Proof of View" using blockchain technology. The PoVTM gives each view value by gauging audience participation and using legitimate views, certifying the worth of the content. The creators then earn VERA coins from those who want to purchase pay-per-view videos, subscriptions, etc. The coins are bought and earned as a reward for watching and sharing the content. On the viewer side, participants are getting quality content and are also earning the coins for watching. For more information, visit: https://verasity.io/
With the recent success of token sales, every day we see more and more popping up; some solid, some downright dangerous. Before you jump on the token sale bandwagon, there are some serious things to consider and pitfalls that can be avoided. In this interview, Matthew Nolan, CEO, and Founder of Menlo One explains how they are providing people who are investing in ICOs with a new level of insight into the projects by assessing uncensored feedback from your peers, as well experts. They are also making the process of participating in the process as easy as pushing a button. Menlo One is a system for sophisticated token sales. They make software communication systems, databases, and marketplaces that make sales easy and secure through their products, including the Townhall infrastructure. Within the space, comments (including negative comments about ICOs) can't be deleted. Additionally, it allows people to pool their money to pay experts to do their due diligence while investigating and assessing the ICOs. It's a place to have a real honest conversation and help guide even the most novice participants in the direction they may want to take. Menlo is building a strong community of feedback that is decentralized and censorship-resistant, providing real advice and feedback on token sale experiences. For more information, please visit: https://menlo.one/
The internet…has been broken…we've ended up with the same media construct that we had before the internet existed, which is audience aggregation and data aggregation…" says James Tabor, CEO of MEDIA Protocol. Tabor's vision is one in which people can create, promote and share digital content in a decentralized environment, allowing for greater transparency in the flow of value between creators, publishers, and users while rewarding those users for reading, liking and promoting content; MEDIA Protocol is an open-source platform that aims to do just this. By harnessing the power of blockchain technology to track the flow of data between devices and tokenize activity on the web, MEDIA Protocol is helping to eliminate third-party media owners who profit from centralized means of content transmission. MEDIA Protocol has finalized its smart contract and is close to launching a publishing portal that will allow brands, publishers, agencies- or really anyone who owns a URL- to create their own smart contract and wallet that will allow them to distribute value. To learn more and stay up-to-date with the latest news on MEDIA Protocol, visit mediaprotocol.org.
In 2012, amidst the expansion from traditional information security focused on desktop and laptop servers to the ever-increasing realm of the internet of things (IOT), Paul Roberts started Security Ledger, an independent information security news website. The website has maintained a focus on security in the IOT space and is gaining both relevance and popularity as greater numbers of companies migrate toward cloud computing. According to Roberts, however, the transition from technology and compute power to the cloud is one that companies must handle with care. "Companies are moving rapidly toward the cloud, but they do not have great systems for doing so securely, or at least haven't developed the discipline and the understanding of the risks that the cloud brings with it…and it remains to be seen what security issues blockchain and distributed ledgers can solve," says Roberts. Tune in to hear Roberts touch on a variety of topics, including several challenges to the securement of data in the cloud, the difficulty in preventing cybercrime, to begin with rather than stopping it once it occurs, and the role of cyber security in AI and machine learning. Learn more by visiting securityledger.com and securityofthings.com.
"When new technology comes along, it makes previously impossible things possible," according to serial entrepreneur and Founder of Crowdventure, LLC, Matthew Sullivan. In this interview he introduces us to the unique approach of QuantmRE, which is disrupting the real estate market through blockchain technology. Sullivan explains how the real estate network enables home owners to access the equity in their homes while leaving the banks (and their fees and paperwork), behind. QuantmRE buys a small part of the member's home equity and turns it into a token that is backed by assets in real estate. Not only does this give the homeowner access to money they need without causing a mortgage payment to go up, it also gives everyday folks an entry cryptocurrency game. When it comes time to sell, that's when QuantmRE gets paid back; taking into account any value that may have been accrued as well. Essentially, they are taking the assets they buy and tokenizing them; or in other words taking something that is not liquid and turning it into liquid and something that is tradeable. For more information, visit: http://quantm.one/
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