Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

4 ways in which blockchain can benefit the education sector

Blockchain has impacted several sectors and the eld of education is no exception. During times of the pandemic, the education sector was quick to adapt to digitization. This is where blockchain can prove to be a game-changer.　　To begin with, blockchain can hugely change the way students and teachers interact and also the manner in which academic documentation is handled. The transparency and accountability of blockchains distributed ledger technology can immensely benet the education sector. Lets take a look at how blockchain can impact education.　　#1 Managing student records　　Currently, manual verication of students records takes a lot of time and effort.　　Transferring records of students who are on exchange programs or those who change institutions in the middle of the academic year can be managed easily using blockchain.　　It will easily allow direct access to records of various institutions and in exchanging content across institutions.　　Once information is stored on the blockchain, document conrmation can be easily done in a few clicks.　　#2 Issuance of certicates and diplomas　　Blockchain helps in issuing digital certicates and diplomas to students instead of the conventional paper documents.　　Digital certicates have an advantage over paper counterparts in the following ways:　　They consume less resources and are less prone to damage.　　Digital certicates can be

2022-01-14Deep Dive

Visa Survey: Nearly One-Quarter Global Businesses Open to Digital Currency Payment in 2022

Nearly one-quarter of small businesses from nine countries said they have plans to accept digital currencies as payment in 2022, according to a survey from Visa.　　On the other hand, roughly three-quarters of businesses surveyed by Visadescribed accepting new forms of payments as “fundamental” to growth. Meanwhile, 13% of consumers from those countries said that they expect more retail outlets to accept crypto this year.　　Visa surveyed 2,250 small business owners across nine countries including the United States, Brazil, Singapore, Canada, Germany, Ireland, and Russia. The survey consisted of 1,000 adults in the United States, in addition to 500 adults from each of the nine countries. “I think more people are feeling more confident with crypto,” said Visas global head of merchant sales and acquiring Jeni Mundy.　　Visa find crypto payments most popular among smaller economies　　According to the results of the survey, it would seem that small businesses outside North America seem to be keener on accepting digital currencies as payment. In the United States, 19% of small businesses expect to offer crypto as a payment option this year, while in Canada that number shrinks to just 8%.　　However, Visa found that figure jumped to over 30% in the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong,

2022-01-14Deep Dive

Russia’s National Finance Association Calls for Legalization of Crypto Investments

The main finance industry association of Russia has urged authorities to reconsider a position against crypto investments in the nations financial market strategy. The organization insists that the crypto investments of Russians should be brought out of the “gray zone” instead of being banned.　　Finance Industry Body Urges Government to Regulate Operations With Crypto Assets　　The Russian National Financial Association (NFA) has issued a call to amend the country‘s Strategy for Development of the Financial Market of the Russian Federation Until 2030 in the part concerning investments in cryptocurrencies, RIA Novosti and Prime reported, quoting the proposal. The NFA unites over 200 entities active in Russia’s financial market.　　The strategy now states that the Russian government and Bank of Russia will continue to oppose the use of “monetary surrogates,” a term often employed to describe decentralized digital currencies such as bitcoin. They carry high risks for citizens, according to the document, and may hinder the implementation of macroeconomic policies aimed at creating favorable economic conditions.　　Operations with crypto assets remain “in the gray zone” despite the fact that investments of Russians in cryptocurrencies are significant, the self-regulatory body of the Russian finance sector noted. Foreign companies and unregistered intermediaries receive revenues from such transactions,

2022-01-14Deep Dive

Swiss National Bank, Citigroup, and Goldman Tested a Joint CBDC Project: Report

The Swiss National Bank (SNB), together with five other banking giants, have reportedly tested whether they can process central bank digital currencies within the nations financial network. The institutions revealed they were able to integrate CBDCs into their existing core banking systems.　　The Latest CBDC Trial in Switzerland　　A January 13 coverage by Bloomberg disclosed that Switzerlands central bank and five commercial banks successfully employed CBDCs to settle transactions. These large institution included Citigroup Inc, UBS Group AG, Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Credit Suisse Group AG, and Hypothekarbank Lenzburg AG.　　The banks conducted the trial as part of an experiment known as “Project Helvetica,” which aims to identify the details around issuing wholesale central bank digital currencies.　　The SNB pointed out that none of the existing cryptocurrency platforms are “systemic” to support CBDC settlements as of the moment. As such, the goal of the test was to determine whether those exchanges can integrate such functions. Andrea Maechler – Governing Board Member of the Swiss National Bank – said:　　“It allowed the SNB to deepen its understanding of how the safety of central-bank money could be extended to tokenized asset markets.”　　It remains unclear when the team will launch the next phase of “Project Helvetica.” Despite being

2022-01-14Deep Dive

Consortium of U.S. banks looking to launch bank-issued stablecoin

A consortium of U.S. banks or “an association of FDIC-insured financial institutions” including New York Community Bank (NYCB), NBH Bank, FirstBank, Sterling National Bank, and Synovus Bank is set to launch a “bank-minted” stablecoin with the ticker USDF.　　According to a press release published on Wednesday 12th of January, the coalition of banks is aiming to “build a network of banks to further the adoption and interoperability of a bank-minted stablecoin, which will facilitate the compliant transfer of value on the blockchain, removing friction in the financial system and unlocking the financial opportunities that blockchain and digital transactions can provide to a greater network of users.”　　Minted exclusively by U.S. banks　　A bank-minted alternative to non-bank-issued stablecoins, USDF will be minted exclusively by U.S. banks and will be redeemable on a 1:1 basis for cash from a member bank. As per the press release, USDF “addresses the consumer protection and regulatory concerns of non-bank issued stablecoins and offers a more secure option for transacting on blockchain.”　　The USDF stablecoin will operate on the public Provenance Blockchain, developed by Figure Technologies, Inc. who join the ranks of founding members. The Provenance Blockchain is a Proof-of-Stake-based application-specific blockchain built on the Cosmos SDK and “designed and

2022-01-14Deep Dive

Cross-chain bridge Allbridge raises $2 million from early Solana and FTX investors

Allbridge, a cross-chain bridge between EVM and non-EVM compatible blockchains, announced today that it has raised $2 million in a round led by Race Capital.Betting big on Solanas largest cross-chain bridge　　One of the most ambitious cross-chain bridges on the market has just closed a $2 million funding round, and it plans on using it to integrate even more networks into its offering.　　In a press release shared with CryptoSlate, Allbridge said that the funding round was led by Race Capital, a $100 million VC fund started by Edith Yeung, one of the first investors in Solana. The $250,000 investment in Solana Yeung made in 208 is now worth over $1 billion—and the VC newcomer is now betting big on Allbridge.　　Chris McCann, a partner at Race Capital, believes that the future will be interoperable and that Allbridge has the potential to position itself at the center of the multi-chain world and connect all of the blockchain ecosystems together.　　Just seven months after its launch, Allbridge has bridged over $4.8 billion in assets across Ethereum, Solana, Fantom, Avalanche, Terra, Polygon, Binance Smart Chain, AURORA, Celo, and Huobi ECO Chain. More than $1.8 billion of that was bridged to Solana, making it Solanas largest cross-chain

2022-01-14Deep Dive

“Pay us in crypto,” one in four small businesses say

A recent survey by Visa Inc has revealed the willingness of small businesses across nine countries to accept digital assets like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and others as a means of payment for their goods and services.One in four small businesses is open to accepting crypto　　The survey, which had over 2000 business owners in countries like the United States, Singapore, Brazil, and others, showed that crypto payments options would rise massively this year.　　Reuters revealed that a closer look at the numbers would show that businesses in Hong Kong, Singapore, Brazil, and UAE, were willing to introduce crypto payment options.　　Per Reuters, at least 30% of small businesses in all countries mentioned above expressed their willingness to accept crypto. This is despite the varying level of government regulation being imposed on the industry in these countries.　　For the United States and Canada, businesses are more reluctant to open their doors for crypto. In the US, for example, 19% of small businesses want to receive crypto payments, while less than 10% of small businesses in Canada are willing to accept digital assets.Why small businesses might be reluctant to accept crypto　　While crypto undeniably went mainstream in 2021, businesses are still unwilling to adopt it as a payment

2022-01-14Deep Dive

ENS hit half a million milestone for registered .eth domain names

ENS, Ethereum Name Service, is a service mapping Ethereum addresses to human readable domain names ending with .eth, such as vitalik.eth instead of 0xd8da6bf26964af9d7eed9e03e53415d37aa96045.　　The ENS service is becoming increasingly popular among Ethereum users and others; it has become a trend to display ENS names in peoples Twitter profiles, including those for celebrities like Paris Hilton.　　However, ENS names have much more practical use cases than “flexing” them in Twitter profiles, the address-to-name mapping being just one. Other functionalities include reverse mapping, user profile data like Twitter handles and email addresses, and integration with the global DNS (Domain Name System) domain names. ENS .eth names are NFTs.Half a million registered .eth names　　Since the introduction of the ENS token on the 9th of November, domain name registrations have accelerated and have now reached 500,000 registered .eth names. The number of registrations more than doubled in November reaching almost 90,000 registrations. December saw over 109,000 registrations.　　On top of that, over 632,000 total names have been registered, including subdomains, and DNS names imported into ENS. The latter number is what the ENS team is predominantly looking at, according to team member and ENS director of operations Brantly Millegan.　　“We look at total number of names on

2022-01-14Deep Dive

Sweeping Crypto Regulation Is On Its Way That Could Either Provide Clarity Or Stifle Innovation

Analysts are expecting a wave of crypto legislation in the coming months for the US.　　Underneath the hype is the concern that the new legislation could stifle the growth of cryptocurrencies.　　Cryptocurrency legislation in the US has received backlash for not providing enough clarity for operators.　　Participants in the Bitcoin and general cryptocurrency markets are bracing themselves for incoming legislation that could swing either way. Congressman Tom Emmer, Fed Chair Jerome Powell, and SEC Chair Gary Gensler have hinted at a possible move.　　Brace For Impacts　　US Congressman Tom Emmer representing Minnesotas 6th Congressional District has fanned the embers of interest after he hinted that a wave of cryptocurrency regulations was around the corner.　　“New digital currency legislation coming soon,” he wrote on Twitter. Analysts are unsure of whether or not to expect sweeping crypto legislation or a modification of infrastructure law that widened the scope of the definition of the term ‘broker’.　　Emmer was highly critical of the definition of the term as it included market participants like digital wallet manufacturers and software developers that may not be able to comply with the tax requirements. To that end, Emmer joined other pro-crypto Congressmen to introduce a Bill to modify the “offending” parts of the law.　　On the

2022-01-13Deep Dive

OpenSea’s up for competition, vampire LooksRare sucking trading volume

NFT marketplace OpenSea totally dominates the NFT trading market with a market share of over 90 percent in trading volume. However, just two days after its launch, LooksRare, a “vampire attack” or decentralized clone of OpenSea, is looking to give the dominant player a fight.　　A vampire attack is a clone of an existing service with some minor changes to the code to distinguish the clone from the original. Typically, a vampire attack aims to sap trading volume from an incumbent protocol via superior incentives.Open source code is easy to fork　　Perhaps the most famous vampire attack in crypto till this day is Sushiswap, today a renowned decentralized exchange that started out as a vampire attack on Uniswap. Vampire attacks make it very difficult for established open source services to relax, regardless of their current success and dominant position, because the code is easy to fork.　　In the past couple of days, as it seems, this is what is happening to OpenSea, the dominant NFT marketplace. The first two days of operation of the vampire attack LooksRare prints astonishingly high trading volumes, actually higher volumes than OpenSea itself.　　On its first day, the 10th of January, LooksRare saw trading volumes reach about 1465 ETH

2022-01-13Deep Dive

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