Welcome back to our weekly series where we cover the most important news that happened in the blockchain world. This article goes from October 30th all the way to November 7th, so a couple of days longer than usual. A lot of important events happened this past week, so let’s get right to the point.
October 30th
Reuters celebrates Bitcoin’s 10th birthday
One decade after publishing the whitepaper, Satoshi Nakamoto (whoever s/he might be) is most likely the happiest person in the world. What parent wouldn’t be satisfied with their child drastically changing the world? Reuters is celebrating the release of the whitepaper by providing us with a short list of the most important Bitcoin milestones.
Other news:
IBM launches blockchain platform in UAE
Microsoft to cooperate with NASDAQ to improve interoperability
October 31st
Bank of America registers a patent for private key safeguarding
In the onslaught of the patent race, BoA is making sure that they are in the lead, by claiming a stake in the technological advances with every step they make. First issued on September 16th, 2016, and made public on the 30th of October, this latest discovered patent showcases the bank’s interest in safeguarding private keys and enabling remote authentication.
This strongly suggests that the bank is moving in the direction that is betting on a mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies and will most likely be a part of the cornerstone services they would offer to future customers. Private keys are notoriously difficult to keep safe, as they are required to make transactions, so having a service like this one, can provide the bank’s crypto customers to access and transact freely, without a worry in their mind.
Other news:
New blockchain system transforms banking in Hong Kong
China – E-commerce giant JD launches blockchain research lab
November 1st
CryptoKitties raises an additional $15 million in investments
According to technology publisher Inverse, CryptoKitties the most popular blockchain-based collectible game has attracted a couple of different big players in the startup world. Indeed, Venrock, Samsung Next, and GV together invested $15 million in the company, showcasing a strong belief in the future of blockchain and gaming.
Other news:
Malta is developing an AI strategy
November 2nd
ConsenSys purchases asteroid mining company
According to Space.com, Planetary Resources Inc. got acquired by ConsenSys in an asset-backed transaction. The full details of the transactions are not available to the public. The whole idea of a blockchain company acquiring a space mining enterprise is very interesting and could be a source of information in regards to the future plans of ConsenSys. Pretty soon we will have real cryptonauts.
Other news:
Google searches for “blockchain” surpass “crypto”
OKex Crypto Exchange of the Year – Malta
Millionaire announces a smart city in Nevada
November 3rd
Medici Venture to collaborate with Rwanda on blockchain property ownership records
According to CCN, Overstock’s venture capital arm, Medici Venture has signed a second agreement with the government of Rwanda. This agreement moves forward their collaboration to transfer the country’s land registers on a blockchain. While western countries are taking it slow with blockchain adoption, African governments are spearheading forward with leveraging the latest technologies of the 21st century.
Other news:
Morpheus Labs joins VeChain in technical collaboration to create blockchain service stack
November 4th
IBM patents blockchain system to protect AR users from arriving at undesirable locations
According to CoinTelegraph, after analyzing the company’s patent registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, IBM is working on a solution that would protect users of Augmented Reality applications from arriving at unwanted, and possibly dangerous locations. Furthermore, their solution will enable a trustworthy AR world to coexist with reality. According to TheNextWeb, the system is flawed and dangerous.
Other news:
ConsenSys-created Ethereum tools hit new milestones
Dubai Customs receive blockchain education
November 5th
Reliance Industries performs a “live” trade with Tricon Energy
According to CoinDesk, through the help of banking giants HSBC India and ING Brussels, Reliance Industries performed the first finance trade deal using the enterprise blockchain platform Corda. Incorporated in the arrangement was the usual letter of credit associated with trade deals such as this one, except this time it was recorded on a blockchain lowering the time requirements from 7 days down to just one day.
Other News:
Deloitte works on government level identity system
Bitcoin loses ranking on the Global Public Blockchain Technology Assessment Index in China
November 6th
Blockchain.com holds $125M XLM airdrop
Starting November 6th, according to TechCrunch, Blockchain.com will holdthe largest consumer-level airdrop of a total of $125M worth of XLM. The company is doing this airdrop to promote cryptocurrency adoption and to get people personally acquainted with the ecosystem. To take advantage, you will need a blockchain.com wallet, and inside the wallet’s “Stellar” section you can register for the airdrop.
November 7th
Salesforce to track email spam using blockchain
The software giant Salesforce has won a patent race for claiming this solution. According to CoinDesk, the solution promises to provide a better experience for users when compared to existing technologies. The blockchain solution will track the email using hash sequences across its entire path, and track any changes made along the way, identifying malicious email servers that could in theory abuse the communication.
Whether this system becomes mainstream, time will show, but for now, we have to do with what we got. Checking your spam folder for important emails is a nuisance that we would all love to leave behind.
This wraps up our list of news surfacing in week 44. As always, share your opinions about the most interesting ones or link those stories we might have missed in our collections, which you found interesting and noteworthy over the week. You can also send us suggestions of stories to include in the next list if you find something interesting over the next days.