Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson claimed that emerging markets are where cryptocurrencies matter, and that Facebook’s announced virtual currency Libra is not going to find success in this area, according to a report by Finance Magnates on June 26. According to Hoskinson, emerging markets are the future. He says: “Emerging markets are where cryptocurrencies matter [...] When I look at the developed world, I don’t care. It’s highly regulated and, in many cases, a rigged system. If I decide to compete with a tech company they can just push me out via regulation. [...] Then I sit down with the prime …

Canadian tech firm Graph Blockchain Inc. has partnered with the Ministry of Transportation in Seoul, South Korea, to run a pilot program for blockchain-based traffic data storage, according to a news release on June 24. Graph Blockchain reportedly signed a contract for around $55,000 CAD, or approximately $41,695 at press time, to run this pilot program as part of the “Smart City initiative.” According to the CEO of Graph Blockchain, Jeff Stevens, the company intends to use its blockchain solution to “streamline and protect” traffic data. Graph Blockchain purportedly uses the open source Hyperledger Fabric framework to develop its blockchain …

Medici Ventures, the blockchain-based subsidiary of Overstock.com, has led a $7 million funding round for a blockchain-based voting platform, according to a press release on June 6. The blockchain-based voting platform, Voatz, is reportedly designed to allow citizens to participate in official elections and similar events via mobile devices, such as smartphones or tablet computers. The platform is reportedly based on blockchain tech, encryption, and biometrics, and purports to provide better convenience, security, and auditability for voters and vote collectors. Voatz says that the proceeds of their $7 million Series A funding round will go toward improving accessibility and usability …

Swiss blockchain identity network Concordium has hired former Danish prime minister and NATO secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen as a strategic advisor, the company confirmed in a press release on March 20. The Concordium Foundation, the controlling entity behind the Concordium Network that launched a proof of concept in January, aims to tackle blockchain deployment in certain fields with Rasmussen’s expertise. The former politician currently heads Rasmussen Global, a consultancy firm active in diverse fields including democracy, transatlantic relations and security policy. “Given the enormous scope and far-reaching potential of the Concordium Network, it is essential for the Concordium Foundation …

On March 7, news broke that Denver is slated to become the second United States jurisdiction to pilot a blockchain-powered mobile voting platform in its upcoming municipal election. Absentee voting will start on March 23 and will run until the Election Day, May 7. The announcement came almost exactly one year after the first initiative of this kind — deployment of mobile voting solution in West Virginia primaries and then midterm elections — was made public in March 2018. Once again, it was the Tusk Philanthropy foundation that spearheaded the effort, while Boston-based technology company Voatz took care of the …

The ruling party of the Russian Federation, United Russia, has launched a blockchain-based platform for electronic voting, local news agency TASS reported on March 6. United Russia has reportedly launched an updated website for its primaries with the added function of e-voting. The party’s head of IT projects Vyacheslav Sateyev said that the vote counting process will be implemented using blockchain technology. He also stated: "Candidates will be able to fill in their personal pages on this site, including posting news, videos, photos, distributing their pages. The personal account is now integrated with all social networks. We have also made …

The capital and most populous city in the United States state of Colorado, Denver, will use a smartphone app based on blockchain technology for casting municipal election this May, PR Newswire reports Thursday, March 7. According to the announcement, the City and County of Denver will implement a mobile voting platform backed with blockchain tech targeting the “active-duty military, their eligible dependents and overseas voters,” who will be able to use their smartphones to participate in the Denver municipal elections. As the article states: “Eligible voters will be able to participate in the upcoming election by opting in to vote …

The city council of Moscow, Russia’s capital city, has submitted a bill to use blockchain technology for an electronic voting system, major Russian news agency Tass reported on Tuesday, Feb. 26. The Moscow City Duma, a local parliament of the Russian capital city, plans to protect the process and results of electronic voting in the upcoming elections through the use of blockchain technology. The news was announced by one of the authors of the relevant bill, the deputy of ruling party United Russia Dmitry Vyatkin. Vyatkin underlined that the technology would allow for the separate storage of the personal data …

The Seoul Metropolitan Government has launched the Seoul Blockchain Governance Team to explore the benefits of blockchain in administrative services, Yonhap News reports Jan. 31. According to the report, the members of the team are researching the potential of blockchain applications in various government services, including online voting system. Specifically, the working group intends to address systems of integrated management, digital document verification and automatic sub-contract payment. The team consists of 100 employees between the ages of 21 and 77, including developers, association executives, project makers, corporate representatives as well as students, Yonhap reports. Earlier today, Cointelegraph reported that South …

The National Electronics and Computer Technology Center (NECTEC) of Thailand has developed blockchain technology for e-voting, the Bangkok Post reports on Jan. 2. NECTEC is a statutory government organization that operates under the purview of the National Science and Technology Development Agency and the Ministry of Science and Technology. The organization chiefly promotes the development of computing, electronics, IT and telecommunications. The technology reportedly can be deployed in tandem with traditional voting as Thais become more technologically literate. According to NECTEC, once 5G is eventually adopted, all votes will be connected with the new technology. Chalee Vorakulpipat, the head of …

Saratov Oblast, a region in Southern Russia, has conducted a reportedly successful blockchain election with 40,000 participants, according to a press release shared with Cointelegraph Dec. 18. On Dec. 12, participants voted to elect members of the local Youth Parliament via the blockchain-driven electronic polling system Polys, developed by Kaspersky Lab in 2017. According to the press release, the decentralized network was deployed at 110 polling stations and the election lasted seven hours. Blockchain-driven voting mechanisms are being actively tested on both the regional and national levels in many countries. Switzerland implemented blockchain-based voting this summer, while the United States …

The South Korean government is considering using blockchain technology for an electronic voting system, business technology news website ZDNet reports Nov. 28. The Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Election Commission (NEC) plan to jointly test the implementation of blockchain technology within the online voting system. The trial period has been scheduled for next month, and will be conducted by the Korea Internet and Security Agency (KISA) together with Seoul National University's Blockchain Society. The article notes that blockchain tech will be implemented in “voter authentication and result saving,” specifying: “Voting will be conducted via mobile and personal …