After a mild sell-off, the cryptocurrency market bounced back yesterday, with Bitcoin (BTC) trading at $19,516.43, reflecting a gain of 6.1% in the last 24 hours. Ether (ETH) has gained 3.4% to trade at $606.71. XRP has rallied 3.8% to trade at $0.6573.
Major altcoins which have gained ground in the past 24 hours include USD Coin (USDC-$1, 0.2%), Tether (USDT-$0.9965, 0.1%), ChainLink (LINK-$14.15, 1.3%), Dash (DASH-$112, 2.7%), Tezos (XTZ-$2.47, 2.8%), Bitcoin Cash (BCH-$316.66, 9%), Binance Coin (BNB-$31.22, 2.8%), Polkadot (DOT-$5.30, 0.7%), Bitcoin SV (BSV-$182.98, 6.4%), EOS (EOS-$3.31, 7.4%), and Tron (TRX-$0.0326, 1.8%).
Major altcoins which have lost ground in the past 24 hours include Stellar (XLM-$0.1991, -1.2%), Cosmos (ATOM, $5.50, -0.9%), Cardano (ADA-$0.1705, -0.30) and Monero (XMR-$128.90, -3.5%).
Government level initiatives
Web series about Crypto rolled out in Ukraine
In an effort to keep its citizens informed about the latest technological advancements, the Ukrainian Ministry of Digital Transformation rolled out a web series about cryptos, Bitcoin (BTC), and blockchain. The web series was created in partnership with Binance, Hacken, and Crystal Blockchain as one of the steps under the Ukrainian government’s “Diia.Digital Education” program.
The web series consists of eight episodes of 6-12 minutes, each detailing cryptos and blockchain’s underlying theory. Andriy Onistrat, an entrepreneur and ex-banker, hosts the show. In each of those episodes, Onistrat talks with professionals in the blockchain sector.
The initial episode, offered on YouTube, explains cryptos as a permissionless, unalterable transaction ledger. The program gives importance to supply audibility, with Onistrat pointing out that the National Bank of Ukraine could considerably increase the supply of hryvnia, Ukraine’s national currency.
Binance marketing manager in Ukraine, Ivan Paskar, elaborates how immutable Bitcoin’s auditable supply is maintained. Onistrat and Paskar discussed complex thoughts as well, referencing smart contracts and decentralized exchanges. As mentioned above, the program attempts the Ukrainian government to improve digital literacy in the country.
Private sector initiatives
IOTA Foundation to become a member of Australia’s CDL
The IOTA Foundation, the non-profit institution backing IOTA, Miota, and IOTA Tangle, stated that they would become a member of Austria’s Christian Doppler Laboratory (CDL), having its office at the Vienna University of Technology. The laboratory is also referred to as the CDL Blockchain Technologies for the Internet of Things (CDL-BOT).
Austrian Federal Minister for Digital & Economic Affairs, Margarethe Schrambock, opened the laboratory, concentrating on research and development in public/private collaboration between organizations and enterprises looking to widen distributed ledger technologies (DLT) in the day-to-day use environment.
IOTA, along with its latest research associate Pantos, has become a member of CDL-BOT. Pantos claims itself to be “the first multi-blockchain token system.” Notably, pantos are a subsidiary of BitPanda, a Vienna-based entity offering a trading platform for cryptos and other investment vehicles such as gold.
Prof. Stefan Schulte, department head of the new lab, said: “With the rising number of potential application areas for DLT-based payments and data exchange in the Internet of Things, new DLTs have to be integrated, and interoperability between different DLTs becomes necessary. I am looking forward to doing joint research with the IOTA Foundation and Pantos in order to find novel solutions to this highly topical topic.”
Rolled out as Jinn in 2014, IOTA’s objective is to establish its platform as the veritable standard for DLT and Internet of Things (IoT) gadgets, which is currently going through exponential growth. Using IOTA as an applicable standard, every IoT gadget will disburse data and payment details to another device linked to the IOTA mainnet.
IOTA overhauled its protocol to pave the way for compatibility between gadgets and systems utilizing IOTA-based software. Back in October, the IOTA Foundation stated that it would be partnering with the government of Japan on a venture aiming to bring about a change in the country’s industrial framework utilizing its systems. In theory, following the Chrysalis upgrade, the IOTA network can process up to 1,000 transactions per second.
IOTA intends to transform into a complete decentralized network by the first-quarter of 2021.
DLA Piper establishing a token platform dubbed TOKO
Law firm DLA Piper is rolling out a security token platform named TOKO. The distributed ledger technology-based platform was built by Aldergate DLS (digital ledger solutions), a wholly-owned subsidiary of DLA Piper, founded in December 2019.
Scott Theil, the Technology partner of DLA Piper, said: “Aldersgate DLS and DLA Piper have spent an immense amount of time studying the asset tokenization challenge, the legal issues surrounding security token creation and fundraising, and the platforms needed to deliver such offerings at scale.”
Thiel pointed out that the software is in a PoC stage, and it utilized the platform to tokenize a work of art purchased by multiple law firm’s associates. DLA Piper highlighted the significant advantages of digital assets and tokenization, including divided ownership, asset liquidity, and access to a broad range of investors.
In the case of TOKO, the platform functions on Hyperledger Fabric, an approved blockchain. Additionally, it provides the trust and transparency benefits of a public network by utilizing the Hedera Consensus Service, which offers consensus and time stamping facilities. Along with Nomura and Deutsche Telekom, DLA Piper was a part of the first group of institutions, which joined the Hedera Hashgraph governing council two years back.
Miscellaneous
Olsztyn city offering a blockchain platform offering emergency services
Olsztyn city of Poland has employed the Ethereum blockchain-based platform to offer emergency facilities, demonstrating another concrete real-world use case of distributed ledger technology. It is the first city in the world to use the Ethereum blockchain for offering emergency services.
The city has successfully piloting SmartKey, a bridging technology that links blockchain with tangible assets to assist in fire, police, and ambulance facilities.
SmartKey will supposedly facilitate emergency service squad to carry out their jobs efficiently by linking a smart contract with Teltonika smart gadgets that are utilized by domestic rescue teams. The link enables rescue teams to visit any of the buildings in the city without a need to trace a keyholder or wait for consent from the building owner.
Gustaw Marek Brzezin, marshall of the Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodeship, explained as follows: “The need for our rescue services to perform their duties without obstruction is a delicate one. The use of blockchain and SmartKey technology seems to be like the perfect solution, giving reassurance to building owners and inhabitants, but also freedom for our emergency services.”
SmartKey trusts blockchain technology can form the base for creating smart cities, which capitalizes on the latest technologies and sensors to obtain data, which can then be utilized to administer assets, services, and resources in an efficient manner.
Disclaimer: Any financial trading analysis offered here is our opinion and is not intended as advice or direction for investors. We cannot guarantee the success of any trades made as a consequence of this article, and we encourage traders to incorporate a strong money management strategy to limit losses when they enter the markets. Please use this article as part of your own research before formulating strategies prior to trading.
