Hello everyone! This is Maura, the Last Black Unicorn from Coin Info News! Today, I will explore CoVEX, the next generation all in one digital trading platform.
CoVEX is a cryptocurrency platform that allows trading of cryptocurrencies. CoVEX will provide a platform for traders to exchange cryptocurrency, share their ideas and knowledge, enhance their copy trading skills and compete with others’ trades within their trade/investment groups.
Once CoVEX has been fully developed, it will be a one-stop platform where people can utilize exchange facilities, payment facilities and build up their own ICO project all in one place.
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Caduceus Partners with Lord Botham to Launch Cricket into the Metaverse
Cutting-edge Metaverse blockchain tech company Caduceus has partnered with British sporting legend Lord Botham to launch an exclusive new NFT collection on the Light Cycle platform.
This bold move from the cricketing Hall of Famer introduces the world of cricket to the metaverse for the first time and showcases the endless possibilities of web3 technology.
Lord Botham was reputedly known as one of English cricket’s greatest ever all-rounders and well respected as a sports commentator and charity fundraiser. His skills, determination and unique character transcended the game and made him not only an on-field star, but a leading sports personality. Now the undisputed sporting great leads from the front once again as he shows his desire to be the first to take cricket into the metaverse by launching his NFT on Light Cycle, the first 3D Metaverse platform to provide a multiuser 3D experience that allows customers to engage with their favourite brands and celebrities through online immersion.
Ian “Beefy” Botham wants to give back to his loyal fans by allowing them access to his legacy by offering an unprecedented utility. Having spent months of research into this new marketplace, he has partnered up with Caduceus, the very first Metaverse-ready blockchain. He will be kicking things off with an NFT collection that will allow access into Beefy’s world like never before. If you are new to this space, fear not as he will be offering some vital tutorials to ensure everyone can be involved.
Lord Botham says, “Like most people, I’ve been hearing a lot about the Metaverse and NFT’s, I’ve done my research and am delighted to be launching my ‘Beefy Botham’ NFTs on Light Cycle which is powered by the caduceus Blockchain. I have made some tutorials to help my existing fans and will be able to offer them unique user experiences as well as education, very excited to be taking Cricket to the Metaverse.”
Tim Bullman Caduceus CEO says, “We couldn’t be more thrilled that Lord Botham and the team at Light Cycle chose us to partner with, to take cricket to the Metaverse. The Caduceus Blockchain has many USPs. The NFT collection will be listed on the Light Cycle platform, which we will power. We can not wait to take you all with us. Watch this space, there’s a lot more to come!’
The benefits of this partnership are two-way and go far beyond just selling and collecting NFTs. It will provide a benchmark for what can be done in the web3 space when combined with a global sport. It is sure to attract a whole new generation of young cricketers to the metaverse, and introduce cricket to those already invested in the metaverse. There will be educational benefits and deeper levels of audience interaction as well as new levels of gamification as part of this exciting journey.
Sara Ezen of Light Cycle says, “It was a no-brainer to partner with Caduceus and launch this collection on our platform as they are simply the best in class to offer a truly 3D Metaverse experience. Lord Botham’s team have worked with a world-renowned studio to create the ‘Beefy Botham’ NFTs to list and trade on our platform, we look forward to announcing further plans.”
Caduceus is the world’s first metaverse protocol with the ability to make 100,000 super low-cost transactions per second with decentralised edge rendering. It has been designed to provide the infrastructure layer for metaverse development and is a developer-friendly, easy-to-use underlying public chain platform that comes with its own complete set of development tools that enable the building, financing, and cross-chain portability of 3D worlds and digital assets from metaverse to metaverse.
Caduceus’s ecosystem native token CMP will be adopted in this grand project which is set to launch cricket into the metaverse in ways never seen before.
As well as news of these two partnerships, Caduceus have been very busy following a popular appearance at the Metaverse Summit in Paris and announcing their new token CMP. Bybit, the world’s top digital asset trading platform, is to formally launch the new Caduceus token CMP on July 25th, 2022. Several worldwide digital asset trading platforms including Bitget will also be listing the token.
About Caduceus
Caduceus is the Metaverse protocol for decentralised edge rendering, and an infrastructure-level open blockchain platform specifically built for the metaverse and the decentralised digital world. It’s manufactured with next-level processing power and rendering capabilities and has been formed and developed by prominent investors and blockchain specialists.
About Light Cycle
Light Cycle is a 3D Metaverse platform tailored for fashion, entertainment, gaming, filming, music, sports, real estate, retail and NFT. Powered by Caduceus’ unique decentralised edge rendering power, allows Light Cycle to build this amazing platform.
As part of the Light Cycle road map, it includes a content management system that enables uploading virtual content and assets, building diverse venue models and land purchasing. This will allow businesses to engage with their own community and also enables global users to interact with their favourite brands and celebrities in a 3D environment.
About Lord Botham
Ian Botham was not merely the top English cricketer of the 1980s but the leading sports personality. He commanded endless newspaper headlines as his career surged improbably and within a year of being elevated from Somerset to his England debut in 1977, he was undisputed as the country’s leading allrounder. Within three years he was captain and led England to a historic Ashes win with both batting and bowling performances that have gone down in history.
MLB All-Star and NY Yankee Pitcher Nestor Cortes Releasing Personal NFT Collection On The ReserveBlock RBX Network
MLB All-Star and NY Yankee Pitcher Nestor Cortes, aka “Nasty” Nestor, announced today that he will be releasing his exclusive NFT collection on the ReserveBlock Foundations RBX Network (reserveblock.io) protocol with a portion of his personal proceeds to benefit Sloan Kettering Memorial Hospital and Miami Children’s Hospital on Sunday evening July 17th. RBX is the first open-source decentralized NFT Centric Blockchain that enables true peer-to-peer operability for the minting and trading of NFTs with or without the need for a centralized authority.
With an ecosystem that provides a full suite of on-chain tools, RBX reduces common frictions and burdens by providing an environment for anyone and everyone to participate with transparent trustless features all through a core wallet or web wallet by either validating on the network and/or writing a smart contract without the need-to-know code whatsoever. RBX will be moving from a successful public test net on Sunday, July 17th to mainnet beta launch.
“In honor of my selection to my first MLB All-Star Game, I wanted to create a series of unique NFTs that allowed me to help tell my story and connect directly with fans,” said Nestor Cortes. “I had been very interested in NFTs for the past couple of years but was looking for a network that I could easily use as well as allow my fans to easily interact with me directly. When I discovered RBX through a friend and started to test it myself, I knew I finally found exactly what I needed to accomplish to create my personal NFT collection. This is a super cool moment for me.”
Cortes has also stated that he is releasing six very special One of One digital collectible cards that each come with a signed game-worn item, original photography, and some with special home-game experiences exclusively in each NFT. Each NFT collectible has Nestor’s personal designs and was created in collaboration with Mike Fogg a digital artist of Astro Kongs, Space Hoops, Cyber Souls, and Astro League collections, as well as digital creator and friend Juan Garcia. Upon release on Sunday evening July 17th, fans will be able to simply visit a direct link provided by Nestor to his personal wallet auction for all fans who wish to participate with bidding or “buy now” mechanism and even purchase by simply using a credit card.
“Each one of my NFTs is my own personal designs as well as my own game-worn items signed by me for everyone and even enjoy a game experience at the stadium for some of the people who own them.” Said Cortes. “I am also really looking forward to donating to two special places to me personally that help so many people at Sloan and Miami Children’s. Both hit home on a personal level for me and the fact that I am able to help contribute to these important places is even more gratifying.”
Nestor also stated that additional details and previews regarding his personal auction will be forthcoming via his social media channels in the coming days leading up to the launch on the 17th.
About ReserveBlock Foundation
The RBX network has been created and developed as the result of a collective of founding sponsors, each with vast expertise in media, entertainment, technology, sports, hospitality, banking, and finance. Led by The Reserve Label, Texoware, and The Young Astronauts technology group as the initial founding and development sponsors, the foundation has been completely self-funded and devoid of any centralized control whatsoever ensuring the most ideal decentralized NFT Layer 1 ecosystem. Governed by a Masternode infrastructure, the RBX network has been designed to provide true NFT utility through a singular core wallet for Masternodes, Smart Contracts, NFTs, and Decentralized Sales Tools (DSTs) providing open participation for everyone.
Vleppo and Tokel make NFT rights legally enforceable in the real world leveraging Komodo technology
A long-standing problem confronting the blockchain world and NFT owners is the distinct lack of contractual clarity and legal rights in the enforcement of digital asset transactions. Today, Vleppo and Tokel have successfully conducted a breakthrough digital procedure that will pave the way for the blockchain industry and NFT owners to establish and enable their legal rights embodied in the NFTs and digital transactions to be made legally enforceable in the courts of law around the world.
In June 2022, Vleppo developed a Blockchain Contract Management System (“CMS”) that enables NFT owners to create a digital contract by embedding their NFT’s on-chain ID directly into the Blockchain record of the same digital contract.
This seemingly simple digital procedure however has massive ground-breaking significance for the digital world.
Through this process, the NFT can now act as an immutable evidentiary anchor for the digital contract, forever linking the two together. This link is readily observable because Vleppo’s Blockchain system, called Alysides, which is a customized fork of the Komodo Protocol, is both public and permissionless.
This Vleppo Solution has for the first time finally addressed the longstanding concern of the blockchain industry and NFT owners about the lack of clarity on the legal enforceability of smart contracts as related to NFTs.
That Vleppo has developed a solution is most welcoming as well as providing a great sense of relief to holders of valuable NFTs.
For a contract to be legally enforceable it needs to fully satisfy the elements of (1) offer (2) acceptance (3) consideration (4) capacity of the parties to contract and (5) an intention between parties to create and be bound to legal relations.
The first three elements are satisfied by any smart contract. Legal issues arise, however, when attempting to demonstrate that both parties intended to create legal relations and/or have the capacity to contract.
This is because current smart contracts in isolation are incapable of definitively confirming that these qualitative elements of a legally enforceable contract have been met. Therefore, it is common practice for smart contracts to be accompanied by a separate natural contract.
By comparison, a digital contract or smart contract executed in the Vleppo CMS, where the ID of the NFT is embedded into the Blockchain record of the contract, ensures that the link between the NFT and underlying contract cannot be broken.
The Vleppo Solution is Blockchain agnostic as this unique solution delivers legal enforceability enhancement to NFT owners, regardless of whether the NFT is on Ethereum, Polygon, Solana, or any other Blockchain.
Furthermore, because of the Komodo Protocol’s superior design and lack of reliance on ‘gas-style’ transaction fees, Vleppo’s CMS can accommodate even the highly complex contractual arrangements in an affordable and efficient way in comparison to other popular protocols, such as Ethereum.
Being Blockchain-enabled, Vleppo can provide further additional value-added services to users such as payments, escrow, and Blockchain-governed dispute resolution – essentially everything needed to execute and settle contracts.
Chris Sloan, Chair of the Emerging Companies Team at US legal firm Baker Donelson said: ‘The concept of, for example, embedding an NFT of a song into a Ricardian contract that defines a user’s rights with respect to that song is a nice marriage of the benefits of an NFT in terms of being able to track the distribution of a digital asset like that with traditional contract law’ during a panel discussion held on Thursday 7th July following the Vleppo and Tokel demonstration.
During the same panel discussion, Jesper Løffler Nielsen, Associate Partner at Focus Advokater, highlighted the disconnect between the desire and positivity in the EU to embrace Blockchain solutions for IP and action, referencing the 2019 “Blockchain Now and Tomorrow” European Commission Report stating ‘… but we (the EU) are moving slowly because that was in 2019 and now we are 2022 and as far as I know there hasn’t been any major leaps forward when it comes to recognizing some of these applications (of Blockchain and IP).’
Through the Vleppo CMS, a solution is now available to effectively manage the gap between the digital asset world and current legislation.
Peter Coco, Vleppo’s CEO remarked “It has been a long slog. But it is a big delight for the Vleppo Team to be able to savor the sweet smell of success. At long last, the problem that has posed a challenge to the blockchain world and NFT owners, concerning the distinct lack of legal clarity and legal rights in smart contracts, is finally resolved. We would welcome the opportunity to help all blockchain companies and NFT owners to enhance their existing digital and smart contracts as well as their NFTs to be recognized as legally binding contracts in courts of law.”
Peter will be at DMCC Free Trade Zone in Dubai to meet with partners and investors in mid-late July to discuss the potential universe of applications of Vleppo’s technology and the next steps in helping owners of NFTs and other digital assets to unlock and monetize their value.
About Vleppo
Founded in 2018, Vleppo is a Web3 blockchain solution provider. Its applications have been focused on developing a Blockchain-integrated suite of business tools for freelancers, SMEs, and enterprises. For more information visit www.vleppo.com.
Peter Coco can be reached directly via Telegram (@petercoco) and email (peter@vleppo.com).
About Tokel
Tokel is a platform that uses unique nSPV technology to deliver a simple, fast, and easy-to-use Blockchain NFT and token creation system. For more information visit www.tokel.io.
About Komodo
Komodo is a community-oriented project, consisting of a customized version of the Bitcoin protocol (known as the Komodo Protocol) as well as a blockchain running on the Komodo Protocol.
Zebu Live Announces Steven Bartlett As Headline Speaker And Reveals Details Of Web3 Week
Zebu Live, the UK’s most highly anticipated crypto, blockchain, and web3 conference, is today announcing Steven Bartlett as their headline speaker. Steven Bartlett is an Entrepreneur, Speaker, Investor, Author, BBC Dragon, and the host of one of Europe’s biggest podcasts, ‘The Diary of a CEO’.
Commenting on the announcement Zebu Digital CEO, and Founder of Zebu Live, Harry Horsfall stated: “we couldn’t be more excited to announce Steven Bartlett as the headline speaker of our event; Steven’s impact and contribution to the realm of business, finance, and entrepreneurship cannot be overstated; he has disrupted the web2 fundamentally, and his sale of Social Chain demonstrated his prodigious entrepreneurship. His move into web3 is a natural progression and extremely exciting for the industry as a whole. It’s an honour to have him with us at Zebu Live!”.
In addition to Bartlett, Zebu Live is also announcing more additions to their lineup of top-tier speakers and innovators who will be contributing to the event. These include:
- Stani Kulechov – Founder and CEO, Aave
- Sarah Buxton – COO, Gala Games / Gala Music
- Matt Hancock – Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom
- Rita Martins – Head of FinTech Partnerships, HSBC
- Nicolas Cary – Co-Founder and President, Blockchain.com
- Justin Edwards – CEO Of Verse Digital And Ex-Coo Of Decentraland
- Oyinkansola Adebayo – Founder of Niyo & H.E.R. DAO Governor
- Michela Silvestri – Business Development, Huobi Global
- Andrea Bonaceto – Co-Founder, Eterna Capital / Aorist
- Samia Bayou – Vice President, Global Head Of Private Clients, Blockfi
Zebu Live is a two-day event that will be hosted in London from September 22-23 and streamed globally. In addition, Zebu Live is today also announcing its partnership with James Bowater, Editor of CityAM’s CryptoAM; the prominent crypto news outlet has recently celebrated its 4th birthday, and will be the lead media partner for London Web3 week.
Web3 Week is a 5-day long event running from September 19-23 which features CityAM as the spotlight media partner, along with some of the top web3 brands such as Luno, NEAR, Algorand, Avalanche, Swissborg, Metis, Pluto Digital, Cudos and many other exciting established and up and coming projects. The week will conclude with an afterparty at the newly refurbished KOKO nightclub, which has recently entered into a sponsorship deal with crypto exchange Luno.
The week-long event will include exciting community meetups, networking events, and after parties, as well as showcasing the London-based meetup groups such as Crypto Mondays, TuesDAO, ThursDAO, Web3 Gen, Nickel Factory, and grassroots communities which work tirelessly every day to connect the people of web3 and contribute to making London and the UK a hub for web3 innovation and talent.
The Most Anticipated Metaverse Summit, is Coming in Hot this Summer in Paris
With the world slowly adapting to new advancements in technology and the web as we know it, the Metaverse Summit is bringing together all things metaverse into one space this summer in Paris, hosting an array of entrepreneurs, speakers and exhibitors.
Celebrating Technology and creativity surrounding all things metaverse, the Metaverse Summit will be held over a period of two days in Paris, France on July 16-17th, 2022. The Metaverse Summit will host an array of experiences for metaverse enthusiasts including talks from industry leaders, events, as well as networking and investor spaces, giving the metaverse community an opportunity to open up their doors and grow like never before. Exclusive NFT drops, as well as investment opportunities, will of course be something to look out for during the duration of the event.
During the two-day convention, the Metaverse Summit is expecting over 2000+ attendees, 100+ speakers, 40+ exhibitors, and 10,000+ community members, which is proving the industry to be booming. Some speakers include Sebastian Borget (Co-Founder of The Sandbox), Liko Subakti (CEO of Project Seed), Sandy Carter (SVP of Unstoppable Domains), Kevin Oranje (CEO of Interverse), Diego Di Tommaso (COO of Over the Reality), Jonathan Brun (CEO of Lighthouse), Ryan Gill (Open Meta DAO), Alan Smithson (Co-Founder of MetaVRse) and many more. The summit will cover a number of pillars within the world of the metaverse, including social and digital identity, Web3 and decentralization, gaming and interactivity, and mixed reality of the virtual world.
“The Metaverse Summit aims to bring together industry leaders and enthusiasts alike in order to cultivate an environment of learning, networking, and growth. We are truly grateful to have the opportunity to host some of the industry’s most talented and experienced leaders, giving them a platform to showcase their knowledge and inspire others to take charge of the industry.” said Yingzi Yuan, Founder of Metaverse Summit. As a veteran of the gaming and blockchain industry, Yingzi has been advocating for technology and innovation in content and creation. By initiating Metaverse Summit, she aims to facilitate the growth of different stakeholders in the industry, to help brands, startups, corporates find their place and strategy regarding metaverse.
In addition to the wide variety of activities hosted within the conference and exhibition, the Metaverse Summit will also include a premium investor lounge and start-up pitch area, where investors will have an opportunity to meet winning projects of the Metaverse Startup Competition, opening up the door for Metaverse related to start-ups and talents to be discovered. The perks of the summit don’t end there. VIP ticket holders will have access to an exclusive party where they can continue to grow their network from the top with the top leaders in the industry.
The list of sponsors for this summit includes a number of industry leaders including the likes of The Sandbox, Project Seed, OVR (Over The Reality), Unstoppable Domains, Interverse, Lighthouse, Blockchain Game Alliance, Synchrony Labs, and many more.
In addition to big names from the industry, media giants including Forbes, Bloomberg, and The Economist, BFM Business, Steel Media, Le Parisien are included in this impressive mix of partners, which is sure to attract an array of stakeholders to the event.
About Metaverse Summit
Metaverse Summit gathers entrepreneurs, builders, investors, and experts to explore and build the future of Metaverse together. The Metaverse Summit is the highlight of the year surrounding all things metaverse, providing attendees, exhibitors, and community members the opportunity to share, learn and build a positive future for the Metaverse. With the exceptional list of speakers, exhibitors, partners, and sponsors – there is no doubt that The Metaverse Summit will be at the forefront of mass adoption of the industry.
Leading Gaming Studio “The Game Storm” To Enter Web3 World With Ready Games Partnership
Ready Games, an established entity in the gaming industry, and The Game Storm Studio, one of the top game development companies globally, intend to explore Web3 opportunities by launching two new games. Both US Police Dog Mall Chase and Pet Cat Sims will bring furry companions to the virtual world and showcase the potential of blockchain gaming.
With over 1,000 games published, and a cumulative 1 billion downloads, Game Storm is the largest studio in Pakistan, with over 300 employees and offices in the US, India, and Dubai, the time has come for the company to broaden its attention scope to include Web3 opportunities.
Ready Games takes the next step in its journey to becoming a global gaming household name. Since launching its division dedicated to bringing mobile blockchain gaming to Apple and Google app stores, the team has worked hard to push the boundaries. The launch of two new upcoming games will further illustrate the potential of Web3 technology.
Having the support of The Game Storm Studio will prove crucial in this process. The Game Storm Studio has made a name for itself in the last 10 years by focusing on Android and iPhone development and publishing, helping game builders access the necessary resources to deliver quality mobile applications.
The Game Storm Studio COO Jawad Amjad states: “We are partnering with the Ready Games because they have a complete and efficient tech stack and rapid execution strategy to enable us the opportunity to enter into game development in web3.0, to allow us to innovate new game mechanics and player experiences, all within under a month, allowing us that first movers advantage.”
Two new game titles have been announced to consummate this joint push into Web3 and blockchain gaming:
- US Police Dog Mall Chase: An action game where players become a police dog to chase down criminals across various gameplay levels and scenarios. The game currently has 150,000 daily active players, and 10 million downloads.
- Pet Cat Sims: Control a human avatar to explore 3D environments and take care of your virtual cat companions, either through feeding, playing, or otherwise. Players unlock more NFT cats as they progress. The game currently has 100,000 daily active players and 5 million downloads.
Ready Games CTO Martin Cormier adds: “We offer a very efficient and easily adaptable set of gaming infrastructure tools that assists game developers to build or transition their games on the blockchain with the least amount of friction as possible, under 30 day integration, no need to hire additional web3 ressources, Apple and Google compliant and access to over 40K Betatesters. Developers finally feel they have the tools to enter into web3.”
Ready Games saw over 40,000 testers register for their Beta Tester Campaign in June associated with its Web3 push. That is excellent news for developers, as they can tap into that growing community to collect feedback on prototypes, ideas, and games. Registered Beta Testers gain additional perks during Ready Games’s first NFT drop in the Summer of 2022.
About Ready Games
Founded in 2016, Ready Games has focused on building creator communities, and democratizing access to game creation for amateurs and professionals. Now Ready takes its creator philosophy to web3 by solving hard problems in the transition from web2 gaming to web3: live game operations that synchronize on-chain, accessible through a turnkey API and SDK; modular smart contract systems; on-chain player profiles, with game achievements serving as a store of “reputational capital” for the players; along with distributed token economics to align the interests of game developers, creators, and players.
About The Game Storm Studio
The Game Storm Studios specializes in mobile game development on multi-platforms using several technologies. With over 10 years of experience developing and publishing games and apps, Game Storm Studios have acquired the skills to successfully publish games and reach the top of the charts. Our team of developers are focused on optimization and monetization, deep funnel strategies, and ROIs. With over 1000 games published and over 1B downloads, we are the top game development agency in Pakistan.
EXIT partners with NFT-TiX to release first NFT festival tickets in the world
EXIT Festival, the two-time winner of Best Major European Festival, will be the first major music event in the world to use blockchain technology to sell NFT tickets for a festival of this size. NFT VIP Gold and NFT VIP Infinite Experience tickets will go on sale June 30th 2022 at midnight CEST via NFT-TiX. Along with tickets, last week EXIT has dropped NFT collections done in collaboration with superstars Maceo Plex and Christina Carmela. With this EXIT has positioned itself as one of the pioneers in the fast expanding music festival metaverse, always following its motto that digital technology is here to amplify the real-life experience while blending the best of both worlds.
NFT-TiX a is a ticketing platform and marketplace built on Ethereum blockchain. It is run and governed by smart contracts, empowering ticket sellers to connect with ticket buyers one-on-one. This is a piece of revolutionary technology that helps the ticketing industry step away from middlemen once and for all. NFT-TiX prioritizes fair prices, profit for sellers on the secondary market, and exclusive perks for ticket holders from event organizers. In addition, NFT-TiX offers additional perks via decentralized unlockable content to their NFT Ticket holders.
NFT VIP Gold and NFT VIP Infinite Experience tickets offer customers unparalleled convenience and premium VIP festive treatment at Petrovaradin Fortress in Novi Sad, Serbia, from July 7th to 10th this year. EXIT’s VIP Infinite Experience Ticket will offer a once-in-a-lifetime live experience, with access to EXIT Music Festival’s exclusive, secret and VIP areas, access to the legendary mts Dance Arena stage, meet and greet with global music stars, private parties, and merchandise boxes, exclusive video and audio unlockable content and airdrops!
Earlier this week, EXIT Festival went further into Metaverse, releasing two NFT collections in collaboration with global music stars and celebrities. The SHADES collection was created by one of the biggest stars in electronic music, MACEO PLEX, while the WINGS collection was created in collaboration with model, pilot and human rights activist CHRISTINA CARMELA.
EXIT has been named the Best European Festival by several publications and organizations, including the EU Festival Awards and the UK Festival Awards. It takes place at the Petrovaradin Fortress in Novi Sad, featuring over 1000 artists at over 40 stages and festival zones. The festival is well known for its forward-thinking spirit and social and environmental engagement. This year’s edition will take place from 7th to 10th July 2022, with an impressive list of acts including some of the biggest global superstars, such as Calvin Harris, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, rap icon Iggy Azalea, hitmakers and trendsetters James Arthur, Masked Wolf, Disciples, Ofenbach, and Acraze. They will be accompanied by leading acts in today’s electronic music, such as Maceo Plex, Boris Brejcha, ARTBAT, Honey Dijon, Afrojack, Alok, Zhu, Reinier Zonneveld, Anfisa Letyago, Denis Sulta, Monolink, and Satori alongside influential bands such as the fierce Napalm Death, Sepultura, Blind Channel, legendary Marky Ramone and The Exploited, the sought-after act in the Balkans, Konstrakta, and many others.
6 Signs That the Future of Work Is Here Today
This article is originally posted on Gigster.com“A great overview by Gigster CEO Chris Keene on how the gig economy is transforming work in the enterprise by making it more customer-centric and high performance. Don’t miss the stories of companies actually doing this.” Dion Hintchcliffe, Vice President and Principal Analyst, Constellation Research
As software continues to eat the world, companies must find ways to build more innovative teams. For these companies, The Future of Work is here today. How companies reshape the way they engage digital talent will have a huge impact on their ability to innovate. Here are six ways digital leaders are creating The Future of Work now.
- Remote workers and work from home teams are the new normal
The best talent is not always located where you are. Even within a company, silos can prevent the right people from working on the most critical innovation projects. Making it possible for team members to work remotely is the only way to liberate talent across the company. This is also the only way to source critical skill gaps that are not available inside the company, like AI/ML engineers. Supporting distributed teams calls for adopting a common set of processes and collaboration tools, including Slack, Github and Jira.
- Hybrid teams beat monoculture teams
Innovation requires a diverse mix of talent. The most innovative teams blend in-house employees who have industry context with expert global talent who have advanced technical skills. This is the opposite of the traditional systems integration model that outsources innovation. Hybrid teams also have the value of helping companies build in-house skills by working side by side with expert freelance talent.
- Elastic Staffing beats fixed staffing
Many companies adopt agile team processes but staff teams inefficiently — they follow a fixed staffing model that allocates each role as a full-time position for the duration of a project. This is only half agile. Because it makes experimentation too expensive to try, and reduces employee mobility and satisfaction. Compare this to Elastic Staffing, which allocates resources based on the workload for each project phase. For example, developers can join a project after the detailed design is complete, and technical architects may only be needed part time. Elastic Staffing can reduce the total hours to deliver innovative products by over 50%.
- Employees want to be treated more like freelancers
Top employees want the freedom and flexibility to choose how they work and what they work on. This doesn’t have to require radical organizational changes. For example, applying the Google 20% rule, where workers can choose their own projects 20% of the time, can boost morale and build skills. This lets more senior employees peer review deliverables from other projects to reduce risk. It also helps more junior employees grow by being exposed to new business and technology challenges.
- Freelancers want to be treated more like employees
Top freelancers want stability and work benefits without sacrificing their flexibility. Companies that learn how to work effectively with freelancers will have their pick of the best global talent. This includes setting up projects for success with distributed teams, incorporating advanced technologies, and providing predictability for freelancers that helps them plan effectively. In California, laws like AB5 are beginning to mandate providing more benefits for freelance workers, and putting them more on par with the benefits that full-time employees receive.
- Automated team and talent assessments are here
Technology will ultimately reshape jobs, but today, technology is reshaping talent ratings. Every collaborative tool – from Slack, to Jira, to Github – has open APIs that can automatically collect data about the productivity and quality of work being produced by people and teams. Tools like Pinpoint can collect this data. Applying analytics to this data enables the creation of “karma scores” by person and by team, to provide objective and trusted evaluation of skills.
Examples of The Future of Work today
A global telco created hybrid teams that mix in-house staff with top global experts to accelerate their machine learning and predictive analytics initiatives. They manage these distributed teams following Silicon Valley best practices and have been able to deliver new applications that leverage AI up to twice as fast as traditional in-house development teams.
One of the world’s largest digital agencies created an entirely new digital transformation business unit using hybrid teams that blend employees and global freelance talent. This approach enabled them to onboard over 100 engineers in less than six months, with minimal recruiting costs.
Summary
The Future of Work describes a cultural shift that companies must adopt to grow their innovation capacity. The pace of those changes is accelerating as more companies adopt new work from home rules that support remote workers. Companies that embrace a Silicon Valley-style culture of innovation can become more customer-centered, more able to tap new talent pools, and to dramatically reduce risk.
Author Bio:
Chris KeeneAs CEO, Chris drives Gigster’s vision to de-risk digital innovation. Chris was previously VP Cloud for VMware, where he led the $400 million Pivotal spinout. Chris also founded and took public Persistence Software (NASDAQ: PRSW)
HP on Cybersecurity Cherry Pick Campaign
Cybercriminals have become sophisticated these days. They employ malware, botnets, ransomware, phishing attacks, denial of service, and website “drive-by campaigns” to infiltrate computer networks and steal sensitive personal information. The internet of things (IoT) has also opened avenues for cybercriminals to harm unsuspecting users. As a result, giant hardware companies like HP have embarked on a cherry-pick campaign to work together with cybersecurity companies such as ExpressVPN. This is a great way to enhance the safety and privacy of users while browsing the internet.
HP and ExpressVPN Strategic Partnership
ExpressVPN recently partnered with the giant tech company, HP. Through the partnership, HP’s new Spectre x360 13 will come preinstalled with ExpressVPN for Windows. There’s no need for new users to download their own VPN. The laptop offers impressive features, including an extended battery life of 22 hours, GPU/CPU upgrades, and robust privacy features.
The Spectre x360 13 comes with an on/off switch that electronically switches off the webcam when not in use. It also features a mute button for the integrated microphone and an LED indicator, fingerprint scanner, and face recognition scanner. Users get the added advantage of securing their online security and privacy from day 1. The inbuilt ExpressVPN protection ensures privacy and security when browsing the internet from unsecured public Wi-Fi networks.
HP will give users a 30-day ExpressVPN trial period, allowing you to test the software before opting for a monthly or yearly subscription. You can enjoy the fun of browsing US IPTV streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu, and PS Vue wherever you are in the world. According to ExpressVPN, the partnership is a win-win situation since HP has been seeking ways to keep its users secure online.
About ExpressVPN
ExpressVPN is one of the most trusted VPN providers in the world. The software effectively protects you when browsing the internet from unsecured public Wi-Fi networks in airports, restaurants, coffee shops, etc. Users currently enjoy a 30-day free trial period after which they can choose various subscriptions. ExpressVPN plans to launch more partnerships with other tech companies other than HP to enhance user privacy across various industries.
ExpressVPN’s TrustedServer Technology
Unlike traditional server technologies, ExpressVPN is backed by TrsutedServer Technology, the industry’s most cutting-edge server technology. Instead of writing user data to hard drives, the VPN runs on RAM to ensure that the server erases all data on every reboot. Whenever the server is rebooted, the entire software stack is reinstalled afresh. ExpressVPN is able to tell precisely what data is running on each server without generating inconsistencies.
About HP
Since its inauguration in 1939, HP has grown into a popular IT company that deals in a broad range of software, hardware, and similar IT products and services. The company produces industry-leading servers, PCs, printers, storage gadgets, scanners, plotters, networking devices, and other imaging gadgets.
In 2014, HP separated its PC and printers business from the enterprise sector to form HP, Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Enterprise respectively.
What the Partnership Means for the Future
The strategic partnership between ExpressVPN and HP means more than just two organizations teaming up to improve user security and privacy. It’s a clear indication that tech companies are beginning to take cybersecurity seriously. For many years, cybersecurity has not been the primary focus of giant hardware manufacturers. Consequently, we’ve witnessed some costly data breaches, leaks, and theft of personal data.
HP has recognized that most of its customers are exposed to security and privacy vulnerabilities when browsing the internet from public networks. To serve their users better, the company has taken measures to ensure that users get all the critical ExpressVPN protection features from day 1.
Moving into the future, more tech companies are likely to partner with cybersecurity firms to enhance user safety and privacy. ExpressVPN is among the top VPN service providers in the world today, thanks to its robust speed, privacy, and ability to circumvent geo-restricted content. Following the partnership, several HP users will access the ExpressVPN service without worrying about purchasing the service separately.
About the author:
Jack is an accomplished cybersecurity expert with years of experience under his belt at TechWarn, a trusted digital agency to world-class cybersecurity companies. A passionate digital safety advocate himself, Jack frequently contributes to tech blogs and digital media sharing expert insights on cybersecurity and privacy tools.
Is it True That Germany’s Bank Started Selling Crypto-currency?
Is it True That Germany’s Bank Started Selling Crypto-currency?
Crypto-currency, despite the popularity that it has achieved in the recent times is banned for sale by banks in most countries. Germany too considered having a ban on the sale of crypto-currency but kept from it. The banks in Germany are selling crypto-currency such as Bit coin.
Ripple current price, and bit coin prices are hence hot topics in Germany. The popularity of crypto-currency has made the people curious about the new medium of transactions. It is mandatory that you are aware about ripple cryptocurrency price and more before you start investing in it.
You should sort out a consultant who van be your guiding light for your dealings with Cryptocurrency.
Why should you invest in ripple?
Digital investment was one of the most productive businesses in 2017 to use your ideal money to earn some profits. The proof is that Ethereum earned a return of 2000%, Bit coin gained a return of 744,233%, and Litecoin got a return of 750%.
But still, there is a big disadvantage for beginners now. Most of the currencies that are mentioned above have already attained their investors. They won't stop getting profit from it but the disadvantage for you is that you can't buy any of them under $1.
So for that reason, those who are searching for investment under $1, ripple can be the best option. Ripple can't be compared with conventional digital currency.
In today's market ripple has brought a revolution in world finance setup. It has totally changed the way how money is transferred and received. It has set up new trends in the global business atmosphere.
What ripple is all about?
The Ripple Transaction Protocol is one of the easiest and latest investment trends in today's market. It is considered as an instant payment system. In this system, money can be transferred from individual to individual despite any geographical thresholds or banks.
The digital possession that runs ripple is XRP. So when you buy ripple you are already buying XRP. It means that basically XRP is a fuel that runs ripple.
Reasons why to invest in Ripple?
We often face problems in sending money to someone outside our bank. And it becomes more problematic when you have to transfer capital overseas. Almost everyone faces a problem there. To eliminate all such problems ripple is introduced in the system.
XRP uses the Ripple transaction protocol not only for transferring digital currency but also you can transfer money and data to any part of this globe through it. The idea of this system is very old. In the earlier period, people used an envoy to carry money orders or a piece of information to send it in faraway places. In today's era too the system remains the same only the agent has been transformed. The work of the carrier is replaced by the internet today.
Relation with the banks
It is really not wise to think that the role of banks is reduced due to digital currency. We in our everyday life usually believe in cash only. Many people do not even know the use of digital currency so it's not possible to change things overnight. But the good news is that many banks have already adopted the ripple for e.g., MUFG, BBVA, SEB, Akbank, Axis Bank, Yes Bank, SBI Remit, etc. Thus ripple is the first digital currency adopted by any prominent financial organization.
Most of the digital currency fails to be established in today's financial market due to the lack of skills in staff and improper planning of the company. But in a very short period of time ripple has achieved high success. The only reason for this success is dedicated work for customers. You can easily believe in the system and try it out.
About the Author: Evan is a professional writer who loves to write about crypto-currency, ripple coin, current news on ripple and latest updates. He is an expert and loves to share his experience with the world.
Chest Thumping Supremacy Between Programmed Bots And Creative Humans
Verolian Opiyo
From self-driving vehicles joining the growing city taxi force to digital support booking restaurants reservations, Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology is stamping its authority continuous in our daily lives.
Therefore, it’s perhaps no surprise to you that these incredibly powerful bots are now being primarily used as auto trading robots in the cryptocurrency market.
Scores of people are lured to the markets by hopes of earning easy tokens through trading robots. Trading bot or robot is an automated trading program that runs on your computer and trades on your behalf in your account. They operate using various signals and indicators, such as moving indices and averages.
Selling bots online has become a massive business, but before you dive into the idea, there are things to factor in:
The concept is simple: to assist customers in generating tokens/ money in the markets, while not consuming most of their time. The underlying notion is that computers are much better at trading as opposed to human because trading is all about complex calculations of probability and mathematics.
While this may either be true or false, it’s hectic to find real performance reviews of trading softwares. Besides, anecdotal evidence intends to suggest that several traders either don’t outperform the markets or lose money. This is actually true in the crypto-space, where there are no easily accessible strategies to outwit the market, making price booms is the only feasible option.
Investing in cryptos isn’t for the faint-hearted, because there’s often the shortcoming of losing cash, especially when you lack in-depth knowledge of the market. Sometimes, even seasoned and professional traders lose their hard-earned cash on some trade since it’s really hectic to gain money every time. For instance, Wall Street Hall of Famer Warren Buffet lost approximately $23 billion during the 2008’s financial crisis.
In short, humans aren’t flawless when it comes to trading. It’s becoming notorious nowadays for individuals to invest cash into trading robots, but how effective is this method?
First, let’s dive into some of the features that fuels hostility between the two rivals.
24/7 Economy
While ordinary stock markets are only actively operational during the daytime, the crypto market operates 24/7, every day. This indicates that with a robot, you can maintain impressive trading into your working or sleeping hours.
Whereas changes in price for outdated markets can be down to fractions of a cent, fluctuations in price in crypto space can be significantly more dramatic-24 hours a day. For traders, the best cryptocurrency trading bot provides a platform to stamp authority on the market around the clock. It also secures their assets if they’re away from their place or are asleep.
While it’s true that bots can help you make good cash, it’s also true that it can make you lose money based on the trading strategies you incorporate.
Unpredictable Emotional Issues
Crypto trading can cause mixed reactions of emotions that might sometimes interrupt your progress.
For instance, fear catalysed by negative news may trigger one to emotionally trade at a loss instead of holding onto it for a lengthy period until the markets stabilize. Alternatively, making a rushed decision fueled with greed and fear of missing out may influence an individual to invest in just a single token or coin heavily.
It’s public knowledge and always advisable not to put all your eggs in a single basket regardless of how flashy the basket appears. So you perhaps shouldn’t place all your cash on Bitcoin, or whatever attractive altcoin is booming right now.
Speaking of unpredictable emotional issues, there’s no doubt that bots shut doors for absolute psychological or emotional pressure of trading. Although, individuals using bots still need to understand when to intervene and when to relax, which is always a mental skill or strength.
Time Conservation
Trading becomes monotonous with all it’s price verification and button clicking or pressing.
A trading bot can handle all those tasks with countable clicks. You can issue your bot some instructions before you take a nap and find that a few positive trades have been conducted when you wake up.
Bots react faster than human beings. When a trade signal appears (to enter or exit), there is no delay on the side of the bots. Humans, on the other hand, may question or freeze the trade. The lightning-fast period of the bots is advantageous in a fast-moving market environment.
Automated robots can access far broader markets than a human can. At any moment, a human can only effectively access a few markets, but bots can access hundreds. Once released, bots can seek opportunities in all the markets it’s designed to access; hence, taking more chances than a human can.
Paradox of Choice
There’re hundreds of cryptocurrency bots out there and finding the perfect one may be confusing. In other words, it requires the same amount of mental and emotional labour as you would when purchasing you’re next laptop or phone. Furthermore, as with everything crypto, there’s a chance that the bot you’re evaluating may be a scam.
Bots differ widely in terms of user fees or costs. Some of these bots are free, while others charge substantial subscriptions every month based on the number of features a client requires. Some such as Gimmer and Gekko are free to use, but might not provide the standard of convenience you need for your investment strategy. Others such as Cryptotrader would be more advanced but command a fee to use.
What makes a piece of software unique is the number of exchanges on which trades can be made, its usability, and the standard of analysis it provides to traders.
When done correctly, bots can be software that assists crypto traders to remain on top of the curve when it comes to market trends. They can either conduct transactions focused on the parameters of traders or developers themselves. Some bots also offer the opportunity to imitate/ emulate more established analysts and traders- and monitor their track record in full.
Heavy Maintenance
The trades are focused on analysis as opposed to emotions, and this can be advantageous for traders to influence to the odd bout of panic purchasing. All these require heavy maintenance to function correctly.
Off-the-shelf bots often operate based on set algorithms which are usually configured by developers. As a result, their performance often depends upon the designers understanding of how the crypto globe works.
The devices can sometimes be confusing for advanced traders who have their own understanding of the market, as individual pieces of software have a limited stretch for personalisation. Bots can’t purchase from a guess or suspicion as humans can. They purchase after evaluation with the technical indicators. If your selected indicators portray a purchase opportunity, it will accompany them blindly if designed to do so. Unless you connect your bot to a different professional trader, which is possible, you have no option but to learn how to conduct technical analysis yourself.
When it comes to trading, the sales of the coins can be ignited when the profit margin is attained, or a “stop-loss”-where cryptos are automatically traded. However, those tokens must elapse a stipulated value or a pre-defined figure of percentage points.
Besides, they also utilise other features such as “trailing stop-loss,” which monitor the price of a position upwards. If after a particular level of profit, the token starts to decrease, the bot will automatically sell it in profit.
The advantage of a bot is that it can maintain both a tight and rational appearance at all the present investment. At the same time, it can hunt for the latest opportunities using professional indicators. However,
greed usually hinders a trader from selling on time, a situation which a bot can avoid easily.
The bot’s potential to successfully generates profits has, however, been restricted by the notion that market movements usually depends on developments in the news. Or a single tweets from cryptocurrency influencers.
Given how bots are relying on historical performance and raw data, expecting these softwares to act upon trending events can be the stuff of a tall order.
Strategy limitation
Crypto bots can’t factor in crucial insider knowledge, breaking news, fundamental analysis, and a multitude of other factors that drive markets movement. In other words, techniques on offer could be somewhat simplistic. For instance, the bot could just be conducting arbitrage.
Arbitrage is concurrently purchasing various tokens of different exchanges to take advantage of distinct prices for the equal asset. So the bot may buy for you some ether at an affordable rate and sell it back at a higher cost at a different exchange automatically. However, the standard profit margin for this appears to be slightly lower than 1%.
While arbitrage is beneficial, one may question whether this is actually the perfect technique to maximise profits. For instance, would you be contented if you can make only a 2% return on $1000, but you have to control the investments yourself? Instead of only gaining less than $10 daily, you could be earning $20.
Will Trading Bot Outsmart Humans One Day?
There is no doubt that machine learning and AI assist trading bots in developing and evolving continuously. But there’s still an uphill task to outsmart human instinct.
It’s doubtful if a bot will ever be able to predict a catastrophic danger to the crypto space or weigh the implication of emerging technologies. Furthermore, if everybody were to utilise the same measures set up by a trading bot, no one would have all vital edge which leads to profitable scenarios.
In fact, some custom-developed bots are being built with the potential of searching social media for news utilising keywords. Although this could assist flag up a significant development to an investor, it would be risky for the bot to function on its own. The situation can worsen when the mentioned post turns out to be “fake news”- or even over-optimistic contention from an emerging startup.
As a result, specific bots are attempting to attain the best of both platforms. Services such as Cryptohopper allow investors to trade automatically utilising professional indicators, the primary type of technical analysis.
This bot also offers access to third-party technical analysts, who spread out alerts concerning promising investments that the bot can operate upon automatically on behalf of the users. This opens more room for the human touch that’s needed for critical analysis. It could be debated that such a hybrid can offer a much-required edge in terms of speedy transactions.
The Bottom Line
Because of all that can be gained by either using trading bots or humans, the cryptocurrency trading market has continued to thrive and grow. However, doing your homework and due diligence can be a crucial indicator of whether particular trade will fail or succeed.
Therefore, it’s crucial recalling that past performance isn’t often a precise indication of what will occur in the future. It’s always essential to have an open mind concerning the cryptos you invest in and monitor the latest activities in the market.
Lastly, it’s imperative to follow the trend on the performance reports of analysts before you take the initiative to trade a particular token.
Genuine traders will often issue well-researched details of their previous results, including how they’re performing currently. Some individual websites are highlighting their strategies and features regarding the technology that underpins their trading assessments.
Verolian Opiyo is a former teacher of English turned content strategist. He specialises in writing about FinTech and Next-generation technology.
New crypto releases and the changing crypto environment
Terence Zimwara
The frenetic release of new cryptos over the past few years has long beena real worry for those fighting to see a more widespread adoption of cryptocurrencies. The deluge of new cryptocurrencies—which all claim to be better than first generation cryptos—has not really helped the adoption cause.
It would seem the targeted users are never given enough time to understand and process, particularly given a background of earlier projects, which turned out to be scams or failed to live up to expectations.
Countries like Venezuela and Zimbabwe—which are often touted as the perfect cases for digital currencies—have seen more than a fair share of cryptocurrencies purporting to bring solutions to their respective countries’ currency troubles. In fact, more are coming!
Why competition
Granted, competition brings the best out of us and this has always been the way we get better products anyway. At the same time, it is the accepted norm that those working in any new niche must be allowed to make mistakes. After all, the Wright brothers would never have given us the airplane if they had to contend with a meddlesome air traffic control body.Thomas Edison would never have succeeded in giving us the incandescent light bulb if he was not allowed to try more than ‘5000’different ways of creating this invention.
Today, General Electric stands tall because the world was patient with Edison and we travel faster between continents using commercial airlines because the Wright brothers were allowed to conduct deadly trials before their innovation was adopted. There are numerous examples of products that initially looked like they would fail but ultimately prevailed because they were given a chance.
Therefore, it stands to reason that financial innovations like cryptocurrencies,must be given the same chance if the ever elusive goal of bringing financial services to the world’s poor and unbanked is to be realized.
Lost initiative
Unfortunately, for now it seemsthis space has and continues to be dominated by failed projects and outright scamson one hand and increasingly hostile governments on the other.
Genuine projects are constantly being overshadowed by these well orchestrated ponzi or pyramid schemes, which seem to take advantage ofthe so-called fear of missing out or FOMO.
Indeed the blockchain technology is often touted as the next big thing after the internet, and for punters who missed out on the dotcom boom, the technology offers redemption.
Already the success of bitcoin is used as a lure. Prospective investors are constantly reminded of howearly adopters of bitcoin are now millionaires! Perhaps it may have been this FOMO that played a key role in the frenziedinitial coin offerings and the crypto price boom seen in 2017.
Pushback against cryptos
However, the crypto market would later crash beginning that same year andby late 2018 many tokens suddenly lookedlike they had been overhyped. This outcome has inevitably given fodder to those long opposed to cryptos. As far as crypto opponents are concerned, all cryptocurrencies area very risky investment at best and pyramid schemes at worst.
This grim assessment is also shared by some in the mainstream media and given their level of influence, it is safe to assume that their audiences will similarly share the same view.
It is from this point view thatfor now there has to be a change of approach when issuing or promoting a new crypto. Startups must consider tweaking or deviating from the foundational ethos that hitherto guides players in this space.
Indeed for now it seems this space faces extraordinary challenges, which require equally extraordinary approaches.
To begin with, privately issued cryptocurrencies face an unusual opposition from governments and there are a lot of theories as to why this is case. Telegram is the latest to technology firm to be on the receiving end of this hostility.
Whatever the real reasons for this opposition, the reality is that such pushback by governments has worked in stunting the growth of this space.
Secondly, as highlighted earlier, some in mainstream media not only share a grim outlook for cryptos but arelargely ignorant of the real benefits of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Ethereum. One then cannot expect the same media personnel to have a different stance or view to upcoming projects like Facebook’ Libra because not enough is being done to educate them or to raise awareness.
Besides the upcoming Libra token, there are probably thousands more in the works and as long as promoters of such projects are not seen to be doing things differently, the mainstream media will not change their stance. An unfriendly media makes the task of spreading the word much difficult.
Thirdly, it seems this nascent space has been overrun by sophisticated scammers. Scammers are able to package their ‘innovations’ as genuine crypto projects only for them to disappear after fleecing unsuspecting investors. When dubious projects seemmore dominant it makes the job of distinguishing these from genuine ones more difficult. This is another extraordinary challenge facing the crypto space.
A new blueprint
This last point is really a key one because opponents of cryptos have used this as their ammunition while consumer protection bodies have similarly taken a hard-line against cryptos as a consequence.
To counter this, promoters of new projects need to take a new approach even if this might be construed as a violation of the utopian ideals espoused by pioneering cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin. For example, Facebook and its partners want the Libra token to adhere to KYC and AML and they have expressed a willingness to engage with skeptical politicians on some of the controversial aspects of the crypto. In a nutshell, Facebook’s Libra will not be as decentralized as Bitcoin something that may unnerve fervent privacy advocates.
However, by going the extra mile in trying to assuage its critics, Facebook is also indirectly messaging potential users that this project if far from a scam because it will abide by the usual regulations something most pioneering projects were/are unwilling to do. This is a point the Libra whitepaper repeatedly makes.
In addition, the Libra whitepaper makes regular reference to the token’s many potential use cases as opposed to highlighting the investment opportunities something common with upcoming tokens.
Judging by some of the initial reaction following the Libra whitepaper release, there is a good chance that this token might actually be well received if it launches.
Transparency vital
Facebook has used its massive network to prepare the minds of potential users for this token’s roll out. Unfortunately not all genuine projects will be backed by large and well resourced corporations like Facebook. Again, in this situation doing things differently will be vital if the right message is to be received by potential users.
For instance, there are far too many startups claiming to offer gold backed tokens, some seem genuine but others look like scams. Therefore,simply telling potential users that a token is backed by gold no longer suffices. A startup may have to go to extra lengths in attempts to assuage skeptical users who have somewhat become accustomed to similar tokens that have ultimately turned out to be scams.
The environment is already toxic so to speak and a responsible startup will have address or explain itself to potential users in a way that is assuring before launch.
For example, a UK startup Aurus recently launched its gold-backed token, AurusGOLD (AWG). However, in its attempt to set itself apart from others before it, and to gain confidence of the public, the startup went to the extent of engaging the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), a UK based financial watchdog. Presently there is no crypto-asset related legislation in the UK but the FCA has published guidelines and parameters for startups that wish to operate in that country.
Engaging a watchdog whose recommendations will likely form part of the envisioned legal framework governing crypto-assets in the UK may well ingratiate this startup with potential buyers of this token.
Furthermore, before proceeding with the token release, Aurus also enlisted the services of UK law firm, Capital Law to provide it with a legal synopsis which determined the legal standing of the two tokens (AWG, AWX) it launched. The FCA concluded that the two tokens do not fall under their current scope of regulations. This FCA’s statement was overseen by Capital law who approved this thus enabling Aurus to confidently launch within the confines of the law.
In addition, Aurus says it will only engage with LBMA accredited gold mints and vaults while adhering to established KYC and AML norms. The general plan is that of a more transparent and verifiable gold-backed token.
There is no doubt that taking these steps will set Aurus apart from other providers of gold-backed tokens, who have had to constantly bat away allegations of falsely claiming that their tokens are backed by the precious commodity.
A similar approach can also be used by startups or even states which plan to back their respective tokens with commodities other than gold. The Venezuela government has reportedly had problems in getting its token the petro—which is backed by gold/oil— accepted by citizens of that country.
Apparently Venezuelans are not convinced by the state claims hence the failure of the token thus far. Caracas needs to be more transparent if it wants the token to have widespread acceptability.
Engaging with regulators
In the meantime, the business as usual approach no longer works especially now when regulators are taking firmer stance against crypto businesses.
For example, Telegram thought it had it covered all the bases when it launched its TRON offering but this was stopped midway after the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued an injunction against the tech firm. Telegram believes at had followed the rules but the SEC wants more it would seem.
Of course, while this case and that of Libra will continue to unravel, a precedent has been set, regulators and politicians are now pushing back harder against new crypto releases.
Startups working on new projects may well have to consider creative ways of dealing with the regulatory threat without diminishing the appeal of the proposed token.
Engaging with regulators will help both parties to find common ground and avoid the nasty public fights we now regularly see.
Final analysis
Crypto adoption advocates know that when players in the space become more transparent and when a truce with regulators is established, the job of educating will be more fulfilling.
At the momentit seems they spend more time defending than taking the initiative. Indeed the number of new crypto tokens getting released might be high, yet if all adhere to the original ideals while working to mollify regulators, then the job of advocacy will be more exciting.
The world truly needs this innovation than any time before.
Terence Zimwara is a crypto-currency enthusiast, author, analyst and an advocate for alternative money based in Zimbabwe. The limitations and failure of fiat currencies in his country, Zimbabwe and in many poor African countries has made the case for crypto-currencies and Terence writes articles to highlight this to the rest of the world. He has contributed articles in local and global media well as via his blog temra-temra.blogspot. You can contact him via email tem2ra@gmail.com, Whatsapp 263 771 799 901, @tem2ra , Linkedin and Facebook.