The cryptocurrency market has turned slightly bullish as Bitcoin (BTC) inches towards its all-time high of about $58,000. At the time of writing this article, Bitcoin was trading at $53,483, reflecting a gain of 3.7% in the last 24 hours. Ether (ETH) has gained 6.6% to trade at $1,853. XRP has gained 1.9% to trade at $0.4803.
Other altcoins, which have gained ground in the last 24 hours includes Binance Coin (BNB-$241.34, 0.8%), Tron (TRX-$0.0532, 2.4%), Dash (DASH-$219.94, 0.9%), Stellar (XLM-$0.4192, 0.3%), Polkadot (DOT-$36.08, 2.4%), Tezos (XTZ-4.53, 8.1%), ChainLink (LINK-$31.86, 10.2%), Monero (XMR-$222.92, 6%), and Bitcoin Cash (BCH-$534.93, 1.9%).
Major altcoins, which have lost ground in the past 24 hours include IOTA (IOTA-$1.31, -0.6%), Cosmos (ATOM, $19.37, -1.5%), Bitcoin SV (BSV-$186.93 -0.3%), EOS (EOS-$3.88, -0.9%), USD Coin (USDC-$0.9999, -0.2%) and Cardano (ADA-$1.13, -2.8%).
Government level initiatives
New York commences with blockchain-powered health certificate app
In partnership with IBM, the US State of New York has commenced a trial of a blockchain-powered health certificate app that will enable users to prove COVID-19 vaccination or negative test results. Last October, IBM unveiled the Digital Health Pass app to validate the health status of employees.
Considering the demand for credible COVID-19 solutions, ID2020 started the Good Health Pass Collaborative earlier this year. The intention was to pave the way for interoperability between health apps.
Prominent members of the association include the Airports Council International and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).
The COVID-19 app, named Excelsior Pass, provides data about vaccination and testing confidentially. The app offers users a QR code, which can be scanned at various venues to check health conditions.
The app was initially trialed at a Brooklyn Nets basketball game conducted at Barclays Center in New York. That was followed by another trial at New York Rangers ice hockey game in Madison Square Garden.
The trial outcome will be used to improve the app before making it available on Apple and Google app stores.
Regarding the app, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said:” The Excelsior Pass will play a critical role in getting information to venues and sites in a secure and streamlined way, allowing us to fast-track the reopening of these businesses and bringing us one step closer to reaching a new normal.”
Private sector initiatives
Sony joins Theta Network’s program
Sony’s European subsidiary has joined the Theta Network’s validator program, a blockchain-powered video covenant.
Specifically, the Center Europe Brussels Laboratory, the Europe-based research, and development group of Sony, has become a member of Theta’s enterprise validator and governance council program.
Sony intends to run an enterprise validator node situated in Europe to handle network transactions on Theta’s PoS (proof-of-stake) consensus covenant.
Sony Europe will also function as a member of the governing council to participate in strategic technology planning and guarantee the network’s security and stability.
Top tech enterprises such as Samsung and Google are also taking part in the validator program, and crypto sector-focused firms such as Binance, Gumi, and Blockchain.com.
Theta Labs CEO Mitch Liu issued the following explanation about Theta Network: “Theta Network is quickly moving towards full decentralization with 14 enterprise validators, of which Theta Labs run seven and with Sony Europe being our seventh external validator marks an important milestone for the project.”
Liu further stated that Theta anticipates in-depth strategic partnership in distributed ledger technology development with Sony in domains such as non-fungible tokens and decentralized finance.
AON reveals its intent to trial blockchain insurance with Nayms
Insurer AON revealed its intention to trial blockchain platform-based insurance in partnership with startup firm Nayms, which utilizes a public version of Ethereum blockchain. Contrary to the rest of the DeFi (decentralized finance) firms (for example, Nexus Mutual), the platform offered by Nayms is not entirely decentralized.
Nayms intends to provide a regulated insurance platform. Therefore it has decided to run its platform within the Bermuda sandbox until May. Rather than depending on retail capital for funds, Nayms intends to underwrite the risks through traditional insurance firms.
In this regard, the world’s second-largest broker AON can bring clients and also price the risks. In simple terms, Nayms offers a marketplace for insurers to raise funds from capital markets.
The initial objective is to cover the digital assets domain, which remains hugely underinsured.
Tata tests a p2p solar energy trading platform
India’s industrial giant Tata Group’s subsidiary Tata Power-DDL and Australia-based blockchain-focused firm Power Ledger will trial a p2p (peer-to-peer) solar energy trading platform Delhi where Tata Power serves nearly seven million customers. The first of its kind trial is in partnership with India Smart Grid (ISGF).
India is quickly moving towards renewable energy, with 100GW power to be generated from solar energy.
Nearly 40% of the estimated solar power is expected to be generated via rooftop panels. So, there is a need to establish a system that resolves issues related to an imbalance in supply and demand in households and commercial buildings.
P2P platforms assist in the trading of renewable energy between producers and consumers. In this trial, producers are Tata Power-DDL’s customers who have installed rooftop solar panels.
For storing excess energy, Battery Energy Storage Systems will be deployed and linked to the grid and electric vehicle (EV) charging systems.
The project involves 150 venues with surplus energy to be sold to other needy households and businesses via Power Ledger’s platform. Multiple power trading strategies and algos will be utilized to trial the platform until June 2021.
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.
