The cryptocurrency market remains almost unmoved this week. Bitcoin (BTC) continues to hover around $6,500 levels, while the altcoins trade between +3% and -3%. One of the issues often mentioned by crypto skeptics is the incompatibility between one blockchain and another, which means interoperability and cross-chain transactions are impossible.
This forces crypto investors to use other means, for example, stable coins or fiat currency to churn their portfolio. As a first step to resolve this issue, developers have created a new protocol that will permit users to execute cross-chain transactions. This means users can transfer value between Bitcoin and Ethereum blockchain. The open-source technology, known as the Open Federated Gateway Protocol, or OFGP for short, has been developed by iBitcome and DEx.top.
Government level initiatives
The venture capital division of the official tabloid of the Communist Party of China (CCP), People’s Daily Online, has entered into an agreement with Shenzhen-based technology company, Xunlei Limited, for establishing a blockchain laboratory.
According to the terms of the agreement, the two firms will build a laboratory for “technology innovation” at the People Capital’s Blockchain Research Institute. Other than exploring the deployment of blockchain in a variety of cases, the partners will also create a “high-level industrial service platform” to run competitions, seminars, workshops, and advertise and recognize startups in the blockchain industry.
The People’s Daily Online is the web version of the People’s Daily, which was established in 1948. The chief authority of the CCP controls the People’s Daily.
Vertex Ventures, a subsidiary of Singapore-based government-owned investment company Temasek Holdings, is investing in Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, to facilitate the latter’s Singapore expansion plans.
Vertex Ventures, which manages $223 billion in assets, was established in 2015 as a global network of investors, who administer portfolios in the US, Israel, India, China, and Southeast Asia. The company currently manages a $2.50 billion worth investment and is focused on early-stage investments.
The co-ordinated investment effort between Vertex Ventures China and Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India aims to push forward Binance’s plan to establish a cryptocurrency-fiat exchange in Singapore, in addition to other crypto-fiat services all over South Asia.
Private sector initiatives
HTC has introduced the world’s first blockchain-based mobile phone named Exodus 1, priced in Bitcoins (BTC). The company is now accepting pre-orders, with shipping to begin this December. The mobile phone is priced at BTC 0.15 or ETH 4.78. Notably, it can be bought only with cryptocurrency, making HTC the first major smartphone manufacturer to accept cryptocurrencies as payments.
Back in May 2018, HTC disclosed its intention to manufacture a blockchain-based mobile phone. At that time, HTC stated that it would include a digital crypto-wallet for storing and trading cryptocurrencies. HTC stated that this would be introduced as an alternative to the hardware wallets, which investors use to store their cryptocurrencies.
The National Bank of Canada (NBC), Canada’s major commercial bank, intends to use blockchain to ease the process of negotiating bank instruments such as guarantees and standby letters of credit. In this regard, NBC has entered into a partnership with IT and business consulting services firm CGI and blockchain startup Skuchain. The project involves replacing the present email-based process with smart contracts.
The solution uses a combination of CGI’s Trade360 trade finance platform and Skuchain’s smart contract creation software, built using the latter’s blockchain platform Brackets. The blockchain solution is expected to “improve processing times, reduce risks and help strengthen the bank’s customer relationships.” Notably, NBC began testing JPMorgan’s Quorum blockchain platform, focusing on issuing financial instruments, in April.
Medici Ventures, a subsidiary of Overstock’s venture capital, has invested in social network Minds, Inc., a decentralized social networking platform that offers cryptocurrencies as rewards to users for their online activity. Minds recently launched its own cryptocurrency token named $MINDS on the Ethereum (ETH) mainnet. The firm has received an undisclosed sum as Series A investment from Medici Ventures. The investment entitles Patrick Byrne, CEO of Overstock.com, to become a member of Mind’s board of directors.
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