The cryptocurrency market has turned bullish, with Bitcoin (BTC) breaking the $40,000 barrier firmly. While writing this article, Bitcoin was trading at $45,985, up 6% in the past 24 hours. Ether (ETH) has gained 6.5% to trade at $3,131. XRP has rallied 4.7% to change hands at $0.8126.
Major altcoins, which have gained ground in the past 24 hours, are Dash (DASH-$177.26, 12%), Binance Coin (BNB-$352, 4.70%), Cosmos (ATOM, $13.92, 8.30%), Tezos (XTZ-3.29, 4.70%), Tron (TRX-$0.0740, 4.70%), EOS (EOS-$4.49, 6.0%), ChainLink (LINK-$24.11, 7.20%), Cardano (ADA-$1.47, 4.2%), Polkadot (DOT-$20.41, 6.3%), Bitcoin Cash (BCH-$586.95, 7.2%), Stellar (XLM-$0.3005, 5.7%), and Bitcoin SV (BSV-$152.45, 5.6%).
Government level initiatives
BoE confirms CBDCs won’t be substituted for cash
While confirming news reports that the BoE is studying CBDC (central bank digital currency, the UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak, has clarified that it will not act as a substitute for cash. In his Linkedin post, Sunak wrote, “Any potential UK CBDC would exist as a complement to cash and bank deposits, and not a replacement. We know that cash remains vital for millions of people and are fully committed to ensuring people across the UK can continue to access it.”
Certain features of cash, Sunak argues, are advantageous. For instance, there is no need for any specialized infrastructure while dealing in cash. Furthermore, cash can be retained anonymously, implying additional privacy in payments.
The introduction of new payment systems is anticipated to affect the count of ATMs, which is already in decline in the country. As per a survey by Link, the number of ATMs in the country has declined to 54,574 in 2020, from 60,662 in 2019, reflecting a drop of 10% in a year.
Private sector initiatives
SecQuAL is established to minimize food wastage
To minimize food wastage and enhance traceability in the UK, 11 major industry players have established a consortium named SecQuAL. The association is headed by Lloyd’s Register. Other prominent members include IBM Food Trust, Cranswick, and the country’s Food Standards Agency.
To begin with, the publicly financed consortium will work towards implementing smart labels in pork processing. The consortium intends to achieve the objective by tagging a digital ID with every food product and use blockchain to monitor the supply chain. With such a system in place, it would be easy to call back food products, if necessary.
Furthermore, it offers greater transparency to regulators. The blockchain platform will also assist in ensuring that the food product is stored at relevant temperatures while forecasting its shelf life. Consumers will have a clear idea of the food’s origin and offer feedback for improvement.
The consortium intends to effectively gather and share crucial data while maintaining data compliance and security.
Cathay Pacific completes CommonPass trial
Hong Kong’s flagship airline Cathay Pacific has turned out to be the foremost Asia-based airline to successfully finish piloting the CommonPass, a digital health pass, utilizing COVID-19 testing and vaccination documents.
Health certification is crucial to speed up the secure reopening of global travel in a sector that is estimated to have suffered losses to the tune of $370 billion in 2020, as per the International Civil Aviation Organization.
Till now, certain digital health apps have concentrated on trial results instead of vaccination documents. In this case, passengers carry proof of their vaccination and travel eligibility in a verifiable and accessible format, and several international flight routes can be reopened.
Cathay’s General Manager of Customer Experience, Vivian Lo, said, “These trials will pave the way for the reopening of our international flight routes, while the collaboration with our trial partners has enabled us to demonstrate to our industry peers and the border authorities the functionality of digital health passes using testing and vaccination records authorized by the authorities.”
CommonPass functions by offering a digital certificate, which is readily downloadable on a mobile phone. This avoids the need for clients to carry several paper-based documents and minimizes the threat of documents getting lost or damaged.
Louis Vuitton releases gaming app, Louis: The Game
Luxury brand Louis Vuitton has unveiled a gaming app named “Louis: The Game” to commemorate the 200th birthday of the firm’s founder Louis Vuitton. The gaming app will offer 30 non-fungible tokens (NFT) to be awarded to players. Notably, 10 of the NFTs were conceived by Beeple, the popular digital artist.
Louis Vuitton, who started his career as an apprentice at a trunk manufacturer, walked from his hometown to Paris at the age of 14. He later established the renowned premium French fashion house and luxury goods firm Louis Vuitton. His travels, portrayed in the gaming app, is a big step forward that underlines the difficulties and memoirs of Vuitton in launching the brand.
Even though the 64-year old Michael Burke, CEO of Louis Vuitton, is a professed gaming buff, the game’s essence is focused on youngsters. Notably, Louis Vuitton mainly serves wealthy women in the age group of between 35 and 54 years. On the contrary, the game has been designed to lure youngsters and tech-savvy people.
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