Major cryptocurrencies have been trading lower since Monday, unable to capitalize on last week’s reversal from multimonth lows. Bitcoin (BTC), the world’s largest cryptocurrency, fell as much as 8% to near last week’s multimonth low of around $3,500. At the time of writing this article, Bitcoin has recovered slightly to trade at around $3,900 levels but is still below the crucial psychological level of $4,000. All other significant altcoins such as Ripple (XRP), Ethereum (ETH), IOTA, TRON, EOS, and Litecoin have lost between 5% and 8% in the past 24 hours.
Government level initiatives
Sberband and Interros Group
Sberbank and Interros Group have concluded an over-the-counter OTC Forex repurchase agreement (repo) by deploying smart blockchain contracts on a blockchain. The Interros Group is a Moscow-based private equity firm founded in 1990 by Russian oligarch Vladimir Potanin. The firm has stakes in Norilsk Nickel, the pharmaceutical company Petrovax Pharm and the Rosa Khutor ski resort development firm.
Andrei Shemetov, head of the global markets department and vice president at Sberbank, said that the deal is authentic, legally binding, and has been “concluded in electronic format using a smart contract and digital signatures through the IT platform of Sberbank.”
Shemetov “did not disclose the scope of the transaction,” but “indicated that the amount corresponded to the average volume of the interdealer repo transaction.”
COMET Centres
The COMET Centers, which is managed by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG), have endorsed the Austrian Blockchain Center (ABC) in Vienna. ABC includes 21 scientific institutions, 54 companies, 17 connected participants, and 16 global institutions and companies. The research center will be multidisciplinary and concentrate on the Internet of Things (IoT), energy, finance, logistics, and applications in public administration.
Alfred Taudes, head of the Research Institute for Cryptoeconomics at WU Vienna University of Economics and Business, and academic director and coordinator of the center said that a multidisciplinary strategy is “necessary for comprehensive research.”
The Austrian Blockchain Center Centers will perform research and development in five diverse fields; cryptography innovation and security; crypto-economic modeling and blockchain applications for industries; budding industries and manufacturing blockchains; data science strategies for blockchain analytics and forecasts; and legal and political implications.
The latest research center will supposedly operate in a coordinated manner with other COMET Centers and global blockchain initiatives. The centers are financed by the Austrian Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology, and the Federal Ministry for Digital and Economic Affairs. ABC will also get assistance from Vorarlberg and Lower Austria provinces.
Private sector initiatives
Calastone
Calastone, a London-based international finance network, is changing its complete fund clearing framework to blockchain this May. For over 1,700 financial companies, including JPMorgan Asset Management, Schroders, and Invesco, Calastone is handling mutual fund trades.
This transition will result in the use of a shared ledger to mechanize the nine million messages exchanged between counterparties every month, which are supposedly worth over £170 billion ($ 217 billion).
The present technique requires three distinct messages to be forwarded digitally between firms whenever they invest in a fund: the first to input an order, the second as an acknowledgment, and the final one to confirm the price. Andrew Tomlinson, chief marketing officer at Calastone, said: “The more you can automate, the more you de-risk, you more you streamline, the more you speed up.”
Intel
According to a filing by the US Patent and Mark Office (USPTO), the US technology giant Intel has submitted a new patent for “energy-efficient high-performance Bitcoin mining.”
The Intel patent is devoted to a “hardware accelerator that implements SHA-256 hash using optimized data paths” and intends to decrease energy for Bitcoin (BTC) mining by up to 15%. Documents point out that “SHA engine clusters can consume a lot of power (e.g., at a rate of greater than 200 W),” adding “Embodiments of the present disclosure include energy-efficient ASIC-based SHA engines that consume less power for Bitcoin mining operations.”
LayerX teams with Microsoft
The Japanese subsidiary of computer giant Microsoft has collaborated with the promising blockchain startup LayerX to “accelerate” the technology advancement. LayerX, which was established in August as a joint venture between the news curation app Gunosy and the consulting service AnyPay, supervises the integration of blockchain for companies, in addition to offering general consulting and services related to smart contracts.
Using the Azure Blockchain-as-a-Service (BaaS) solution from Microsoft, companies will seek to further promote technology in the domestic economy.
The press release states “We will support the introduction process in its entirety, even down to technical support of finished implementations. Both companies will work toward the realization of the transformation of people’s lives and working practices by promoting the implementation of blockchain technology in various industries.”
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