To close out Virtual Blockchain Week, best-selling technology author and co-founder of the Blockchain Research Institute (BRI), Don Tapscott, delivered a presentation articulating what he describes as the shift from the internet of information to the internet of value. In his presentation titled ‘Blockchain Revolution: The State of The Union,’ Tapscott argued that blockchain comprises the foundational technology that will underpin “the second era of the digital age.” Transition to the second digital era In writing the 25th anniversary edition of his 1994 best-selling book ‘Digital Economy,’ Tapscott noted that he “came to the conclusion that we’ve been through the …

The Switzerland-based Capital Markets and Technology Association (CMTA) has published a common industry standard for the custody and management of digital assets. Announced on April 30, CMTA’s “Digital Assets Custody Standard” aims to clarify the differences between storing cryptocurrencies versus traditional assets, as well as to set baseline security and operational requirements for industry actors. Crypto storage requires a new approach CMTA is a non-profit, independent association established in Geneva in 2018 with the aim of promoting the adoption of distributed ledger technologies, such as blockchain, and digital assets in the financial markets. The CMTA’s General Secretary Fedor Poskriakov, a …

Aergo and Blocko, two blockchain firms backed by both Samsung and Sequoia Capital, announced the launch of a regional consortium intended to bolster the adoption of innovative technologies across the Middle East, African, and South East Asian (MEASEA) regions on April 27. The organization, Execution Intelligence Group (E24P) seeks to promote ‘smart’ governance, tourism, supply chain, and finance solutions that leverage blockchain coupled with artificial intelligence (AI). Currently, E24P comprises Aergo, Blocko, remittance startup Topos, Abu Dhabi’s Al Nahyan family — one of the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) six ruling families, and “a leading UK and China-based research institute.” DLT …

The World Economic Forum published a report looking at how the deployment of blockchain-based solutions can address the supply chain inefficiencies and failures that have been exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Alongside the report, the WEF has released a blockchain deployment toolkit intended to assist government and businesses in adapting their supply chains to the current economic climate and to “accelerate an economic rebound post-COVID-19.” World Economic Forums advocates DLT to restart the economy The report, published April 28, asserts that the resilience of private and public supply chains have been tested amid the coronavirus outbreak — citing the supply …

The United Arab Emirates is approaching its 2021 deadline for migrating at least 50% of all government transactions onto distributed ledger technology-based platforms. Cointelegraph spoke to Leon Smith, the CEO of Dex — an Abu Dhabi-based crypto firm that has been issued with an in-principle approval ahead of the country’s forthcoming regulatory framework for crypto asset trading — to discuss how blockchain technology is becoming embedded in daily life in the UAE. UAE’s blockchain deadline looms In 2018, the UAE launched the Emirate Blockchain Strategy 2021, outlining a plan to migrate at least 50% of government-related transactions onto DLT platforms …

Federated Co-operatives Limited, or FCL, one of Canada’s 50-largest companies, has partnered with blockchain-based supply chain middleware platform, Morpheus.Network. FCL plans to integrate distributed ledger technology, or DLT, based tracking. This will be deployed across its diverse supply chain, encompassing 1,400 businesses across Western Canada and employs over 23,000 workers. Major Canadian co-operative embraces blockchain The firms have inked a three-year deal that will see Morpheus.Network provide optical character recognition, machine learning, and blockchain technologies to streamline FCL’s complex supply chain. FCL is a wholesaling, manufacturing, marketing, and administrative co-operative opened by more than 170 independent retail associations. The entity …

Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of the distributed Blockchain-computing platform, Ethereum, has had a lot to say in recent weeks. On April 25, Buterin appeared on The Shitcoin Dot Com Show to discuss the upcoming launch of Ethereum 2.0. During the interview, Vitalik was asked what people should do with their Ethereum miners once the network switches from its current consensus algorithm to a model where this specialized hardware is no longer required. Currently, Ethereum employs a custom version of Proof-of-Work, called Ethash. This system requires vast amounts of computing resources to validate new blocks on the Ethereum blockchain. An early milestone …

Dole Food Company, the world’s largest producer of fruit and vegetables, has revealed a five-year plan to expand its adoption of distributed ledger technology, or DLT, for supply chain tracking. Dole’s blockchain expansion was announced in its 2020 Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Report. Dole first began to explore DLT after joining IBM’s Food Trust as a founding member in 2017. Dole to launch DLT tracing in all divisions by 2025 The report announces that Dole will comprehensively overhaul its food tracing systems, including the goal of integrating blockchain-based product-tagging and advanced traceability solutions into all of its divisions by 2025. …

Coupons, typically thought of as pieces of paper used at grocery stores to redeem discounts, have gained traction throughout the years. It’s been noted that coupons were first used in the mid-1890s by Coca-Cola. Since then, the coupon industry has expanded into a multibillion-dollar enterprise. Digital coupons in particular are driving traction for the coupon industry. Statistics show that 126.8 million adults in the United States used online coupons in 2016. That figure is expected to reach 145.3 million users by 2021. As digital coupons continue to be leveraged, the Coupon Bureau — a nonprofit coupon data exchange platform that …

A blockchain association has partnered with the European Commission and University College London (UCL) to coordinate blockchain solution providers in addressing the coronavirus pandemic. The organization, called the International Association for Trusted Blockchain Applications (INATBA), was founded at the behest of the EU last year. Its current effort brings together various public and private entities in a “COVID Task Force,” the purpose of which is to activate blockchain solutions that could fix some of the indirect challenges of the pandemic. Specifically, the task force will identify enterprise blockchain solutions that could improve governmental, social and commercial challenges. As not all …

The Russian Ministry of Communications has added Waves Enterprise to the Unified Register of Russian Software for Computers and Databases. Documents published by the Russian Ministry of Communications on April 7 reveal that Waves Enterprise was added to the list and described as a “cloud-based distributed ledger service and service for virtualization and storage of data.” The list is meant to ensure high information security standards for authorities by suggesting information technology products for use in Russian government bodies. Waves Enterprise head of marketing Matvey Voytov told Cointelegraph that – in order to be added to the registry — Waves …

Interchain decentralized data hosting project Bluzelle (BLZ) announced the launch of its mainnet which aims to combine the advantages of edge computing with distributed ledger technology (DLT). According to an announcement shared with Cointelegraph on April 9, Bluezelle will host a network stress test dubbed “Swarm of Duty” which will be incentivized with $30,000 worth of tokens for developers, token holders and validators. The company says that this test is “the last step before Bluzelle’s mainnet launches” and is meant to ensure that the network can manage real-world usage. Bluzelle’s team claims that its technology enables decentralized applications (DApps) on …