Cryptocurrencies have brought a completely new approach to financial transactions that are performed in a totally new way, using different types of currencies and, above all, a new technology.

The blockchain technology on which the work of most cryptocurrencies is based is a revolutionary technology that’s constantly finding its application in various areas of human activity.

Although many tie blockchain exclusively to cryptocurrencies, the application of new technologies already has and will have far-reaching consequences in the future. Even though the blockchain was created primarily to support the work of Bitcoin, it’s likely that its creators, i.e. Satoshi Nakamoto, had no idea where all this would lead.

A New Dimension to the Traditional Way of Doing Business

Some predictions suggest that blockchain technology will affect several different business areas and completely reform them over the next decade. Many industries will change their ways of doing business and start functioning in a way that has no similarities with the way they used to operate.

It’s needless to say that there’s a bundle of crypto exchanges and trading platforms. Some are less popular and secure than others but you have plenty of options to buy, store, and trade Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies. These platforms have charts, such as Ripple XRP chart, and indexes for trading cryptocurrencies to FIAT currencies.

With the adoption of new technology, jobs that were performed in the traditional way, gain an utterly new dimension and are done in a different but, at the same time, more efficient way. Having in mind the legality of capital, any technology that brings rationalization of business and achieves savings, will be accepted.

Industries That Underwent Most Radical Changes

E-commerce

One of the areas that have undergone the most radical changes is e-commerce. Classic e-commerce implies the existence of a state that issues currency, a banking system, and money transfer channels. Cryptocurrencies have excluded states, banks, and money transfer channels controlled by countries and banks from the mentioned chain.

Completely new infrastructure has been established, independent of any state or financial market institution. Until recently, this was a completely unthinkable concept that, despite initial skepticism, proved its reliability and efficiency. The new way of trading is based on bilateral exchange, peer-to-peer, without the need for a third party to be an arbiter in financial transactions.

Game Industry

The computer game industry is in full swing and occupies a significant place on the world industrial scene. Not so long ago, the payment of licenses for playing increasingly popular games was done in FIAT currencies. Actually it had no alternative. Today, it’s common to pay a fee for playing games using cryptocurrencies.

In addition to the advantages reflected in the very efficiency of cryptocurrencies, their use also brings the aspect of relative anonymity, which suits the players who participate in games of chance.

Tourism

The tourism industry is also experiencing its transformation through the use of new technologies. This can be seen to the greatest extent with the appearance of the Airbnb system of booking and use of tourist resources. Airbnb doesn’t own a single tourist facility but operates millions of them.

Until recently, the idea of paying for rentals with cryptocurrencies was completely unthinkable. What’s especially interesting is that in the tourism industry, blockchain technology meets the Internet of things (IoT) technology (a network of Internet-connected objects able to collect and exchange data). It’s difficult to predict what novelties this meeting will bring, and what will result from the symbiosis of these two technologies. The result is believed to be spectacular.

Supply Chain

We can’t omit to mention the supply chain in this story because blockchain improved this industry beyond recognition. Blockchain enables much more transparent and accurate end-to-end tracking in the supply chain. Companies can digitize physical assets and create a decentralized inalterable record of all transactions. It results in the possibility to track assets from production to delivery or even to use by end-user.

We can conclude with certainty that new technologies that have supported cryptocurrencies will bring us interesting and exciting solutions that will lead the way to significant changes in our lives.

Source: https://www.bmmagazine.co.uk/business/which-industries-will-be-most-affected-by-blockchain-technology-over-the-next-decade/

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A public-private consortium has come together in South Korea to employ blockchain technology in boosting the country’s medical tourism. According to local reports, the consortium will be launching a blockchain-powered platform to make this possible.

The consortium is made up of seven institutions including Dong-A University Hospital, Pusan National University Hospital, Gosin University Gospel Hospital, Samyuk Busan Hospital, and payment brokerage company Knet Co. Ltd.

Busan is the second largest city in South Korea and this initiative is led by Busan Bank, which is located in the Busan Metropolitan City. Busan Bank announced on June 18 that they had signed a business agreement to build the platform.

Boosting medical tourism in South Korea

The agreement is focused on building a “cycle of mutual growth” with local businessmen while also boosting the medical tourism business. This will be done through the combination of the banking process of Busan Bank and the special medical tourism business in Busan.

Their goal is to build a blockchain-based smartphone app—called “Regional Mobile Medical Tourism Platform—that will directly connect foreign medical tourists with participating medical institutions. Busan Bank use the blockchain-powered app to channel all medical tourism-related transactions.

“The Busan Bank will actively cooperate to make Busan become the best medical tourism specialty district in Korea,” said Bin Dae-in, president of Busan Bank. “We will play a role in revitalizing the local medical tourism business,” he added.

Busan Bank was selected as a blockchain regulated free zone operator in Busan last July which will help promote the new medical tourism initiative.

Source: https://coingeek.com/blockchain-to-boost-medical-tourism-in-south-korea/

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Among many college students, blockchain has a branding problem. “I thought it was synonymous with Bitcoin,” says Andrea Christie, a graduate student at RMIT University (formerly known as Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and Melbourne Technical College). “Like many people, I thought that blockchain was electronic money, and it was a scary concept.”

After studying blockchain for the past year, however, Christie is seeing a much broader horizon for the technology. She’s now focused on studying the application of blockchain technology in the nonprofit sector. It could be used, for example, to track vouchers given to disaster victims to better understand what they’re purchasing, or to track charitable donations to ensure they comply with donor expectations.

While blockchain isn’t a mainstay yet in college curriculums, more universities are offering courses exploring the technology and business and industry use cases. It’s an area of intense focus at RMIT, which has set up a Blockchain Innovation Hub that draws students from the business and technology schools and offers courses in blockchain technology to both groups of students.

“Every new technology that arises goes into a popularity cycle,” says Dr. Arthur Adamopoulos, a lecturer at RMIT. “My goal is to ensure that students come out of my classes knowing how to cut through the hype and that they have realistic expectations of what types of problems blockchain technology can solve.”

Blockchain technology builds a list of unalterable records—called blocks—that link together through cryptography to form an open ledger that can record transactions securely and permanently. The technology allows organizations that might not fully trust each other, or even be aware of each other, to agree on a single, highly secure source of truth.

Adamopoulos uses Oracle Blockchain Platform in his curriculum. He started using it in the spring of 2019, after a colleague connected him with Callan Howell-Pavia, principal cloud solutions consultant for Oracle Australia, who helped Adamopoulos set up blockchain in his classroom and provided him with materials—even updating them for Adamopoulos’ specific needs.

“I wanted Oracle because I wanted a cloud blockchain,” says Adamopoulos. “Although cryptocurrencies run on their own networks, most companies are not really interested in running their own blockchain networks on their own platforms. I think a lot of industry blockchains will be in the cloud.” Students also have the benefit of learning about a blockchain service that offers flexible implementation options, including standalone cloud services and capabilities built into other types of applications, such as supply chain and HR.

According to Franco Ucci, Oracle’s innovation and strategy leader for Australia and New Zealand, blockchain has been a trending topic across industries, but most students still lack an in depth-knowledge of the technology. “A key part of this is collaborating with the industry partners and finding specific use cases,” says Ucci. “Everyone wants to be part of it but they need to be able to see the true potential.”

Key to RMIT’s focus on blockchain is a clear vision into the potential of the technology. Michael Fairbairn, associate director of Business Operations and Engagement at the Blockchain Innovation Hub, believes that blockchain is on a similar path to that of the internet, where it took years for people to understand its capabilities. “The Bitcoin conversation is a dual-edged sword. On the one hand, Bitcoin really proved the technology and viability of blockchain. On the other hand, it was used at times for nefarious activities, such as the dark web, and that put some people off,” says Fairbairn.

Blockchain’s complexity and processing requirements can make it an expensive way to collect and consolidate data. However, once people understand the broad value for blockchain across industries, Ucci says he expects that many organizations will find specific, high-value purposes for the technology. “It’s like a knife that’s very sharp,” he says. “You don’t need to use that very sharp knife all the time.” Organizations shouldn’t ask themselves, ‘What can I use blockchain for?’ Instead, they should identify the objective, then determine if they need blockchain’s ‘distributed’ control of data, or whether the centralized control offered by a database would solve the problem more economically. For example, Jyoti – Fair Works, a small German “fair fashion” label, tracks its materials from cotton field to textile maker to weaver so it can show buyers what went into their product.

Building the Chain

At RMIT, interest in Bitcoin is driving blockchain class registrations. But once students arrive in class they start to learn how blockchain can be a driver of overall business communications and trust. “Most of my students aren’t going to become blockchain developers,” says Adamopoulos. “A lot of them will become accountants or marketers and will land in companies that want to try blockchain for some key processes. My students will understand the technology and be able to make an immediate contribution.”

The industries and lines of business that students can move into is almost limitless. “Business and IT and logistics are the obvious areas,” says Fairbairn. “On the policy side, governments are going to need blockchain experts. Or you might work for a shipping transport company, a healthcare company, or an educational institute.” And those students are likely to find a welcoming job market. In 2019, the Australian Computer Society reported that there were 10 jobs for every blockchain-trained job seeker.

Blockchain may be in its infancy, but it’s poised to become the connective tissue in almost any kind of relationship that relies on a ‘trust but verify’ model. Christie believes that people who have these skills will be at a huge advantage when it comes to employment. “My advice for any student who’s even mildly curious about blockchain is to go for it—jump down that rabbit hole and never look back,” says Christie. “It’s the perfect time. Blockchain is in its very early stage, and no one really knows what impact it will have on the world.”

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/oracle/2020/05/27/blockchain-gets-university-credit/#595dc89f1806

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The Bank of Lithuania finished its research phase on the LBChain’s blockchain project that aims to provide a regulatory infrastructure.

As of May 27, the Bank of Lithuania, or BoL, has finished the research phase of its blockchain-related project, LBChain. In the next phase, the institution will create a sandbox that mixes technological and regulatory infrastructure for the technology.

The platforms used for the research phase include Hyperledger Fabric and Corda, which were developed by IBM Polska SP. Z.o.o and TietoEVRY.

Adapting blockchain technology into different business sectors

LBChain allowed market participants to test their business solutions in a controlled environment by assessing the critical needs of fintech and startups. They then provided them with the ability to carry out blockchain-oriented research and adapt blockchain-based services into their businesses.

Andrious Adamonis, LBChain Project Manager at the Bank of Lithuania, commented:

“LBChain has proved to have enormous potential. It is the cradle of future technologies, offering the opportunity of creating state-of-the-art solutions. Having been already tested by financial market participants, the platform may also be applied in such fields as energy or healthcare.”

LBChain is a first-of-its-kind platform developed by a financial market regulator. Its development took two years and was split into three stages.

Latest developments on the BoL’s interest towards blockchain

On May 26, the BoL unveiled its long-term plans to develop its blockchain platform for use beyond the financial services sector.

Among the projects mentioned, LBChain included a solution for blockchain-based regulatory reporting, a blockchain platform for green bond issuance, and a blockchain-based digital bank.

At the end of 2019, Cointelegraph also reported on the Bank of Lithuania’s plans to release a digital, blockchain-based collector coin dedicated to commemorating Lithuania’s Independence.

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Brave, the privacy-centric cryptocurrency-powered web browser has launched in-browser video calls featuring end-to-end encryption.

The encrypted video service, dubbed ‘Brave Together’ can be used to make unlimited encrypted video calls featuring two participants. All Brave users can access the feature, with no account sign-ups needed.

Brave revealed that video conferencing supporting more than two participants is currently being tested on Brave Nightly — the development version of the browser.

Brave Together is based on the open-source encrypted video software Jitsi — which was vouched for by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden in 2017.

Video conferencing software demand spikes

The move comes following an explosion in the use of video conferencing software amid the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown, with Zoom seeing an enormous spike of usage.

However, Zoom has received criticism concerning privacy and security, with ‘Zoom-bombings’ emerging as a rampant phenomenon during the lockdown. In April, an internal memo revealed that Elon Musk’s company SpaceX had banned its employees from using the video conferencing software due to “significant privacy and security concerns.”

Zoom will also introduce end-to-end encryption to protect its 300 million daily users this week.

Brave adoption grows

Co-founded by Javascript creator and former Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich, Brave pays its users Basic Attention Token (BAT) for viewing ads. It has made steady gains in adoption over recent months. The firm’s marketing head Des Martin tweeted that the platform surpassed one million new users during March alone.

Despite the strong uptake, Brave CEO Brendan Eich recently remarked that only a small percentage of its users take full advantage of the browser’s privacy features. As of this writing, more than 662,000 content creators have signed up to Brave’s publisher program. 53% of Brave publishers operate on Youtube.

Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/brave-browser-launches-encrypted-video-calls-before-zoom

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