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Tatiana Moroz, singer/songwriter and creater of TatianaCoin, discusses how crypto-tokens can be used to provide support to artists and engagement with fans, and her business Crypto Media Hub. Tatiana Moroz, in conjunction with Token FM, is the creator of the first artist's crypto-token, called TatianaCoin. This crypto-token allows fans to not only purchase merchandise, but also allows them to access exclusive content and features on her website. This has been such as success, that her most recent album was funded entirely through crypto. She believes that her use-case can define a new way for artists to support themselves and connect with their fans, creating the ultimate autonomy for artists. Because of her interest in cryptocurrency and bitcoin, and her unique perspective on the music industry, she founded Crypto Media Hub to help businesses and individuals expand into the world of cryptocurrency and blockchain. For more information or to get involved, visit www.tatianamoroz.com and www.cryptomediahub.com.
Recent changes in cryptocurrency regulations in the US have been mainly in regards to 4 different aspects–cryptocurrencies as actual currency, securities, commodities, and taxation–based on the coins' different attributes. The SEC has recently stated that if tokens represent equity in a company, they are securities, and need to follow all laws regarding marketing and sales. This joins an ever-increasing patchwork of state laws and federal regulations on cryptocurrencies, including a 2014 opinion by the IRS that tokens need to be treated as property (though a bill currently being considered in Congress would exempt transactions under $600). Overall, as state and federal regulations become clearer about how to treat cryptocurrencies, and confidence and certainty in these tokens grows, it should usher in a period of increased innovation.
"These banks are losing their profits … it's not like it used to be… So they're looking at other products and services, and that's where we come in. That's why the industry is looking at providing these services… the demand is there," says William Santiago, offering his unique insight on the burgeoning trend of some Caribbean financial institutions toward blockchain technology and cryptocurrency. As one of the founders of WKS Information Technologies (WKSIT), Santiago helps to provide a variety of services to investors and companies looking for new opportunities within what he calls the "21st century ecommerce payment system." Among others, these services include cloud computing, IT architecture design, cyber security and crypto asset guidance. It's "basically the 101 in crypto," says Santiago. But he and the rest of the team at WKSIT have the knowledge and experience to extend far beyond the basics. Santiago also discusses: What he believes to be the three pillars for embracing E-Commerce The nature of the difficulties faced by companies looking to make the change toward cryptocurrency, the reasons behind making the change and the ways in which WKSIT can assist His opinion on the role of Bitcoin going forward
Recently, the ways that governments are regulating ICOs and cryptocurrency tokens have been popular in the news, from being regulated as securities by the FTC in the US, to banning them completely in China. As Manie Eagar explains, governments will always seek compliance and impose regulatory regimes on companies, in order to protect consumers and prevent fraud. His stance is to invite governments to create some regulations, to prevent bad actors from taking advantage of others, but ultimately to allow the full potential of these technologies to evolve. To this end, he sees three possible scenarios–regulating tokens as securities, crowdfunding utility tokens, and digitizing assets. He believes that institutional players will wait to enter the market until they have a better idea of what regulations they will be expected to comply with. Once this happens, this will hopefully create more stability in the markets.
Crypto Insider got its start when its three co-founders became tired of other news outlets reporting on cryptocurrency and blockcahin news. Many pieces were speculative in nature, or were essentially paid advertising for companies. Their desire to provide actual news led them to use some of their money to create a news outlet that focuses not only on high-quality content, but also provides space for rational discussion. Some of the big news in the crypto world include new regulations on ICOs around the world, a use-case for an e-residency program in Estonia, and the possibility that governments around the world will try to develop their own tokens. Bhai also gives us his thoughts on the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto, and the interplay between the somewhat adversarial nature of Bitcoin's core developers and Bitcoin itself. In the future, Crypto Insider looks to focus on bringing this news to a wider audience.
Previously, lack of blockchain privacy meant that transactions were not as anonymous as users would wish, and a small number of participants meant that coin shufflers were not very effective. Forking from the Zcash network and making use of their ZK-SNARKS privacy technology allows Komodo to provide anonymous transactions. Combined with their jumbler, which sends blocks of transactions through the system together, and integration with TOR, which allows individuals to obfscate their IP addresses, provides security that can work on any non-anonymous blockchain. Ultimately, these technologies give users cross-chain exchange benefits without having to trust a 3rd party. In the future, they hope to include a crypto-fiat exchange system, which would allow for more stability within the system.
Parker McCurley and business partner Adam Gall began creating active communities, with the goal of connecting people who were interested in and wanted to learn more about cryptocurrency and blockchain technologies. In the space of a few short months, they have managed to work with local businesses to create and sponsor regular meet-ups of interested people. These meet-ups have forked into two groups, one focused on the technical aspects and the other focused on the social aspects. They are also planning a 1-day Bitcoin and blockchain workshop, which is designed to educate non-tech individuals about these technologies. Parker also talks about what he would like to see in the future, in regard to blockchain technology. He is especially interested in tying the identity of physical goods to the blockchain, which would allow people to verify the origins of items back to their original manufacturer or producer. This has implications for goods ranging from fresh produce with UDSA Organic labels, to vehicles providing details of past ownership on the public ledger, to combating fraud in the fine art world. For more information, visit www.decentcrypto.com. To register for the workshop, visit http://bit.ly/2iulf2P.
Currently, quantum computing is not yet at the stage that would allow for a real impact on cryptocurrencies or blockchains. It is possible that this could change within the next 3-5 years, as quantum computing breakthroughs create machines with greater processing capabilities. There are some quantum-proof algorithms, but they are not widely in use, as they are inefficient and are hard to send over long distances. Current security algorithms are based on problems that will be easily solved by quantum computers. As a result, security for a number of industries, including phones, bank accounts, browsers, crypto tokens, and more will have to change.
For the first time ever, smart phone technology has been merged with blockchain technology, allowing anyone to enjoy an unrivaled, military-grade level of privacy and security on their cell phone- the BitVault. By verifying its user by a combination of three identifiers- an iris scan, a fingerprint scan, and an NFC card with a unique code- the BitVault technology creates a private key. "The most unique feature of this phone," says Peter Marais, Co-founder of BitVault, "…is that your private keys are never stored on the device…we call it dynamic key creation: these keys are dynamically created every time you use the product, so nobody else can use the device." Among many other features, the BitVault allows for secure blockchain calling: for each new encrypted call that is created, an entirely new blockchain is created, and at the end of that encrypted call, the blockchain is deleted in its entirety. Marais eagerly discusses all aspects of this revolutionary new device, so hit play to hear more. Marais also discusses: * The many services of BitVault, including secure blockchain document transfer, secure blockchain messaging and secure blockchain banking * BitVault's native apps, including Bitcoin Wallet, Ethereum Wallet and EOT (Encryption of Things), and the development of BitVault's own application store * The reason behind using cryptocurrency transactions, and the ways in which BitVault is working toward minimizing the cost (to almost zero) per transaction * The measures that are taken in order to maintain an entirely closed environment and eliminate BitVault's vulnerability to outside malware
Trust underpins commerce. We've all bought an item off Craigslist, or a related site, and wondered how we were going to meet the seller, and whether it was safe to bring cash. IQID promises to change all that. IQID creates a digital business card, by linking to your social media and PayPal accounts, and creates a Trust Score that can be shared with other potential buyers and sellers to help create trust in your transactions. IQID also allows for payments to be made directly through PayPal, so that you don't have to bring cash with you. In the future, they are looking to allow users to exchange money with other types of digital wallets. They also plan to allow individuals and businesses to broadcast items they are looking to buy and sell within a defined geographical area through geo-tagged contextual keyword matching, which has huge implications for traditional brick and mortar retailers.
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