Decentralized

“China is in the driver’s seat” of blockchain development as blockchain adopters look for solutions to connect different chains, Fudan University professor Michael Sung said at the TechNode Emerge 2020 conference held on Thursday.

Cross-chain integration, called “interoperability” in the blockchain world, is a key challenge for the emerging technology. Blockchain promises a decentralized, largely tamper-proof way to store and share data. But as different users adopt different chains, there is a rising need for good ways to exchange data between them.

Interoperability is “going to be driven by China, because China can mandate that everyone do the same thing,” said Sung, the co-director of the Fudan Fanhai Fintech Research Center and chairman of Carbon Blue Innovations.

China’s blockchain developers are riding a wave of state support since the technology was “anointed” by top leaders, following the pattern of artificial intelligence and 5G, Matthew Graham, CEO of blockchain-focused investment fund Sino Global Capital, said during the panel discussion. This support means “huge investment, probably overinvestment,” he said. “But out of that, innovative things will emerge.”

Crypto investors are also misallocating funds in exchanges, Graham said. He cited the decentralized file storage token Filecoin as an example of frothy funding from retail investors. 

“The last time there was a digital technology that was this transformational,” said Graham, “it was probably the internet. With blockchain, we’re not even at AOL—it’s 1993.”

China’s blockchain ecosystem has weaknesses, the panelists said, naming public blockchain and token-based business models as examples. The country restricts much cryptocurrency activity, and
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Aleph.im, a “decentralized” network that aims to offer secure storage and computing power to decentralized applications (dApps), will be running an Automated Price Reserve for the ALEPH token on Kyber Network, a protocol that facilitates automated, “decentralized,” instant, and low-cost exchanges of Ethereum-based digital assets.

As mentioned in the announcement, the ALEPH token will be available via KyberSwap and other dApps and platforms that run on Kyber’s on-chain liquidity protocol. There are reportedly more than 80 ERC-20 compliant tokens that are supported by the Kyber Network.

The ALEPH token was listed on Kyber Network on October 29, 2020 at 9 PM (GMT+8).

As explained by the Kyber team:

“Aleph.im Network [aims to serve as] a safe, decentralized network providing decentralized storage and computing for internet-scale applications and decentralized finance, on all blockchains. Current decentralized applications are generally unreliable and slow or tied to single blockchain architecture. Decentralized applications need to not only overcome these issues, but they also need to be able to communicate with other projects.” 

Kyber Network developers further note that most of the existing blockchain or distributed ledger tech (DLT)-based platforms are unable to effectively scale to meet the requirements of enterprise apps such as social networks, web-based software, Internet of Things (IoT) providers.

Aleph aims to offer a solution to these problems by providing “fast, single cross-technologies and cross-chain solutions on a decentralized and
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While the crypto community decides whether Bitcoin (BTC) was born — or merely conceived — 12 years ago, the fact is that Oct. 31, 2008, remains one of the most notable dates in humanity’s modern history. Exactly 12 years ago, Satoshi Nakamoto published what some have described as “a new bible” — Bitcoin’s white paper. Designed as a brand new “purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash,” many see the creation of Bitcoin as a response to a global financial crisis.

Related: Happy birthday dear Bitcoin: Crypto’s first white paper turns 12

Cointelegraph’s video team talked to Adam Back, co-founder and CEO of Blockstream, about the birth of Bitcoin. Check out the video here:

Although Bitcoin has recently become more appealing than both Jesus and sex, at least among Reddit users, let’s not forget that it’s only Bitcoin’s 12th anniversary and that many great achievements and challenges still lie ahead, though for this real-world saga, we can only hope to know how this story will end and who will emerge as the victor.

Cointelegraph has reached out to Bitcoin’s friends and supporters, asking them to send their birthday wishes to the Big BTC.

Alex Wilson, co-founder of The Giving Block:

“For Bitcoin’s birthday, I hope it brings financial freedom to billions of people around the world.”

Muneeb Ali, CEO and co-founder at Blockstack PBC:

“My
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Los Angeles, CA, Oct. 30, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — (via Blockchain Wire)  If you’ve been looking into the Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, and Decentralized Finance (DeFI) movement for more than five minutes, you’ve probably run into the name Damon Nam. Damon is a 20 year IT professional, Microsoft alumnus, entrepreneur, and currently the Founder and CEO of Coin; an emerging financial services and technology company.

During his 17-year tenure at Microsoft, he assumed a number of different roles within the Microsoft Services organization. In his last role at Microsoft as a US Services Program Director, he was responsible for driving and managing Microsoft’s entire partner program for the US subsidiary; a program with approximately seventy-five partner organizations and a total book of business of over $90 million in revenue. With a great deal of business and information technology services experience under his belt, Damon, who has had years of interest in blockchain technology, decided it was time to put his particular talents to the task of tackling the problems in the traditional financial services industry. To that end, he founded Coin, a US-based FinTech startup.

Today’s financial solutions, centralized banking entities, and devaluing dollars from continuous money printing by governments across the world, have sparked a renewed interest in sovereign wealth management for consumers. This has resulted in a large demand for an open financial system driven by blockchain technology and
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Researchers from the Department of Computer Science at the University of York have presented the first ever analysis of gambling transactions taking place in cryptocurrency casinos on the Ethereum blockchain.

In uncovering extreme behaviours, the study could assist in identifying the potential for financial harm via unsustainable spending among players, ultimately leading to better consumer protection tools.

The study unlocks blockchain transaction data to provide a detailed summary of spending behaviours, revealing how people are affected by this new form of online gambling.

Decentralised gambling applications differ from traditional online casinos in that players use cryptocurrency as a stake. The codes running the casino games are also stored on public ledgers, known as blockchains and cryptocurrency platforms such as Bitcoin and Ethereum use the technology to process payments and calculate game outcomes.

When players place wagers, their transactions are recorded on a blockchain in an anonymised form. Whilst this data has always been publically available, the technologically advanced nature of the applications has presented barriers to research and regulation.

As part of the study, researchers developed an algorithm to extract and decode transaction data from the Ethereum blockchain. The work examined more than 2.2m transactions from 24,000 unique addresses on three applications operating on the Ethereum cryptocurrency network (dice2.win, etheroll.com and fck.com).
Focussing on simple casino type games of chance, like dice rolls and coin flips, researchers found that the average decentralised gambling application player spends less than in other online casinos overall, but
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Billionaire rap mogul-turned U.S. presidential hopeful Kanye West has made waves with his controversial bid for the White House.

West, who announced he was planning to run for office back in 2015, has built his Birthday Party campaign around his relationship with God and religion—advocating conservative Christian values.

Now, appearing on Joe Rogan’s popular podcast, West has said he thinks “geniuses” in the bitcoin and cryptocurrency community “have a perspective” on the “true liberation of America and humanity.”

MORE FROM FORBESCoronavirus Is Again Tanking The Dow And Markets Around The World-Except OneBy Billy Bambrough

“These guys really have a
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Not content with being labelled “the most advanced blockchain application platform in the world,” Skycoin is launching a VPN app to deliver privacy, security and anonymity to users. The app has launched in beta mode as part of a broader upgrade to the Skywire network,

Skycoin operates as a virtually free currency, while also serving as a blockchain application platform. When an individual holds Skycoin, they generate Coin Hours, which can be used to purchase Skywire services or exchanged for more Skycoin.

Skywire, meanwhile, aims to provide the next stage in the internet’s development by leaving ISPs behind. It is a community-driven mesh network running on user-owned nodes. It promises reliability without tracking, storing or selling browser data.

Upgraded features

One of the key features of the Skywire network is the anonymity it promises users. The new update builds upon this by providing users with an option to connect to a VPN and proxy server based on their location.

“The Skywire dev team is excited to release the Skywire VPN client in beta,” the Skycoin blog read. “This greatly anticipated feature will simplify the ability to make use of the privacy, security, and end-to-end encryption of Skywire. Users will connect to Skyminer operators and select from VPN servers all over the globe. Skyminer operators can decide to advertise their own VPN server to other participants in the network to make the VPN service even stronger.”

Other upgrades that are coming to the Skywire network include the
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Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, is funding a major decentralized audio streaming service through its investment and incubation arm.

According to an Oct. 23 announcement, Binance Labs led a $1.25 million extension round for Audius, a blockchain-enabled streaming service that connects music fans with artists.

The latest investment round follows a $3.1 million round co-led by Multicoin Capital and Blockchange Ventures in July 2020. Major industry players like Pantera Capital and Coinbase Ventures also participated in the round, as previously announced.

According to Audius Co-founder and CEO Roneil Rumburg, the latest rounds brings the platform’s total investment up to $9.8 million. Rumburg told Cointelegraph that it will use the funds to help artists grow and expand their listener base within the system. 

Launched in 2018, Audius is a decentralized music-sharing and streaming protocol designed to facilitate direct transactions between listeners and artists. Some prominent creators signed up for Audius include Portland-based Portuguese-American musician RAC, Canadian electronic music producer deadmau5, and American DJ Justin David Blau, better known as 3LAU.

According to the protocol’s white paper, the Audius content ledger is the “amalgamation” of smart contracts on the Ethereum network, while different parts of the protocol are set to be running on different blockchain-based platforms.

On Oct. 8, the startup launched the platform’s native Audius token (AUDIO). The token’s functionality includes security, feature access and governance. AUDIO can be earned by users to impact
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