In its latest report released on Dec. 7, the European Union Blockchain Observatory and Forum (EUBOF) made a case for a blockchain-based digital identity system and digital versions of national currencies. The report was prepared by blockchain software technology firm ConsenSys AG on behalf of the EUBOF, and focuses on the analysis of what blockchain properties could be beneficial and advantageous for governments. The EUBOF suggests that governments should develop “user-controlled, ‘self-sovereign’ identity capabilities” to create secure, private, unique and verifiable identities, that can provide sufficient proof of identity without revealing more data than it is necessary for a transaction. …

Major Ethereum (ETH) blockchain startup and incubator ConsenSys plans to streamline and toughen its business style amid an increasingly “crowded” competitive blockchain space. The shift in strategy was reported by online tech journal Breaker on Dec. 3. Breaker cites a letter to staff from ConsenSys CEO and Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin, reportedly sent late last Friday night, which outlines a new phase in the Brooklyn-headquartered company’s work. As per the letter, ConsenSys — which employed over 1,100 employees across 29 countries, as of February 2018 — is entering what Lubin calls “ConsenSys 2.0.” This, according to Breaker, represents a more …

South Korean technological holding SK Group has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with ConsenSys for blockchain business cooperation, according to a SK Group official press release published today, Dec. 4. SK Holdings C&C is the information technology solutions arm of the SK Group, one of the the largest conglomerates in South Korea. The entity has partnered with ConsenSys, an Ethereum (ETH) software technology company based in U.S., to create and develop an “enterprise blockchain development hub.” The MoU is aimed at building an enterprise blockchain business model by using smart contracts, the press release notes, adding: “The two companies …

The first blockchain association in Mexico has formed, its founding members including industry players like blockchain software firm ConsenSys, Forbes Mexico reported Nov. 28. The Blockchain Association of Mexico was established companies Bitso, Volabit, BIVA, GBM, Lvna Capital, ConsenSys and Exponent Capital. The organization’s objective is to educate citizens in the technology’s deployment and its potential applications. The association reportedly intends to develop standards and practices before the technology becomes mainstream. Felipe Vallejo, provisional president of the Blockchain Association said that "[blockchain] technology has the objective of creating more transparent, safe and efficient procedures." The association is purportedly open for …

A Swiss food manufacturer has become the “first” in Europe to use the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain to track fish products, a press release confirmed Nov. 28. Gustav Gerig AG, which has operated since 1923, partnered with global tuna marketing company Pacifical c.v. to allow clients to certify the origin of its tuna range using blockchain technology. Tins in the range will soon sport a QR code that consumers can scan in order to find out information such as the production date, type of tuna, and even the boat used to catch it. The blockchain implementation is being provided by Thailand-based …

Ethereum (ETH) co-founder and ConsenSys CEO Joe Lubin has said that with blockchain, society will move “from a scarcity to an abundance mindset,” in a New York Times (NYT) interview published Nov. 12. Lubin made his remarks at the NYT’s International Luxury Conference at the Intercontinental Hotel in Hong Kong, which runs Nov. 12-13 and brings together speakers that include the CEO of fashion brand Balenciaga, the president of Alibaba Group, and the CEO of luxury coat producer Moncler. During the conference, Lubin spoke about how the advancements heralded by blockchain tech could potentially give control back to society, allowing …

Coming every Sunday, the Hodler’s Digest will help you to track every single important news story that happened this week. The best (and worst) quotes, adoption and regulation highlights, leading coins, predictions, and much more — a week on Cointelegraph in one link. Top Stories This Week Elon Musk Impersonators Flood Twitter With Fake Crypto Giveaways Although impersonators on Twitter pretending to be famous celebrities offering crypto giveaways are many, this week saw an influx of these crypto pretenders posing as Tesla CEO Elon Musk. After compromising verified accounts with the blue check mark, scammers would change the name and …

Blockchain will “probably take a little longer” to develop than the internet, because it is “much more complicated,” ConsenSys creator Joseph Lubin told German media outlet t3n in an interview, Cointelegraph auf Deutsch reported Nov. 9. Lubin, who is also the co-founder of Ethereum (ETH), told reporters that blockchain technology is developing in a similar way to the web, citing its exponential growth with “hundreds of projects that are already practical for humans” to date. Based on blockchain’s use case for decentralized cryptocurrencies, the digital entrepreneur also suggested that distributed ledger technology (DLT) will be able to “permeate society more …

ConsenSys’ blockchain startup Kaleido and Amazon Web Services (AWS) have launched a full-stack platform that helps enterprises implement blockchain solutions, according to a press release published Nov. 8. The platform, dubbed Kaleido Marketplace, reportedly “eliminates 80 percent of the custom code” needed to build a given blockchain project by providing an array of full-stack tools and protocols that are “plug-and-play,” spanning needs from back-end development to front-end app user interfaces. According to the press release, Marketplace clients can access native integrations with AWS cloud, as well as swiftly implement solutions such as “HD wallets for privacy and ID registries for …

Japan’s Shinsei Bank has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with blockchain startup ConsenSys to widen its exploration of the technology’s applications for finance, Cointelegraph Japan reports Nov. 8. According to an English-language press release published the same date, the MoU entails a business alliance between Shinsei Bank, Hong Kong-based restricted license bank Nippon Wealth, Singaporean private equity fund Tribay Capital, and ConsenSys. The latter was founded in 2014 by Ethereum (ETH) co-founder Joseph Lubin, and is currently headquartered in New York. The alliance between the four entities will focus on exploring the use of ConsenSys’ decentralized applications (DApps) to …

A cybersecurity subsidiary of Japan’s Nomura Research Institute (NRI) unveiled a new blockchain security alert tool in a press release Nov. 8, also confirming a partnership with U.S. blockchain software company ConsenSys. With the tool, dubbed the “Blockchain Security Monitoring Service,” NRI SecureTechnologies (NRI ST) said it aimed to increase security in blockchain implementations, informing operators about “vulnerabilities.” The solution’s first outing will target smart contract weaknesses, the release says, while at the same time NRI ST will work with ConsenSys’ Diligence team on expanding its security offering. Last week, a group of researchers from two American universities found that …

The mobile app version of the currently most-downloaded Ethereum Chrome browser extension MetaMask was revealed during Ethereum’s annual Devcon conference Oct. 31, according a tweet from the CEO of ConsenSys Joseph Lubin. Lubin, whose New York-based Ethereum blockchain software firm and incubator ConsenSys has been working on MetaMask since 2016, stated in the tweet: “Everyone's favorite Ethereum browser extension is coming to your phone. The team is focusing on not being ‘just a wallet,’ but a portal to the world of all things blockchain.” MetaMask, an extension available for Chrome, Firefox and Brave with more than one million downloads in …