Blisscoin

Korea Could Be the Firs t Cryptocurrency Korea has many of the pieces  the puzzle to become the first “Crypto-Powered Nation,” one that runs on blockchains and supports a crypto economy. Here’s what I learned during an intense two and a half days there in March 2018. Some country out there is going to be the first “Crypto-Powered Nation.” That would be one that has widespread adoption of cryptocurrencies, serves as a global hotbed for crypto-innovation, runs enterprise-grade scalable blockchain infrastructure and has a balanced relationship with government. South Korea could be one and it is one place that may be worth watching over the next few years. Here’s why I think so. Cryptocurrency Awareness and Adoption Are Already Widespread   Some estimates  put cryptocurrency ownership in the country as high as 33 percent of the adult population. The concept of digital asset ownership is mainstream. Granted, it was speculation, jealousy and competiti...

The cryptocurrency ecosystem has continued to take some  major hits lately, causing many investors and holders to rethink the way they trade their  crypto assets. Several high profile cryptocurrency hacks  have made the news in the past few years. In one of the most recent hacks, the Japanese cryptocurrency exchange, Coincheck  lost more than $500 million dollars worth of digital coins, adding to a growing perception that cryptocurrencies are particularly vulnerable to hackers. Yet, as the total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies continues to increase   ( now above $4 billion ), the most recent Coincheck hack may finally be a wake up call for crypto investors and holders. As the vulnerability of centralized cryptocurrency exchanges is becoming more and more apparent to the cryptocurrency community, some are looking to alternatives in the form of decentralized exchanges. Unlike a centralized exchange system that handles the trading of c...

On Friday, February 9, 2018, Italian cryptocurrency exchange BitGrail  announced  that “ internal checks revealed unauthorized transactions which led to a 17 million Nano [XRB] shortfall, an amount forming part of the wallet managed by BitGrail.” The shortfall when reported was allegedly worth $170 million and has presumably rendered BitGrail  insolvent , despite the fact that the other wallets and currencies that the exchange has were purportedly untouched. The 9:30 p.m. UTC announcement by the Florence-based exchange gives some cause for circumspection. The founder of the exchange, Francesco “The Bomber” Firano,  fired off  salvos on Twitter in defense of the loss. His defense rang hollow for BitGrail customers, however, as Firano had noted the problem a day prior but withheld disclosure to authorities, users and the public while trying to work through the issue with the Nano team. The “Hack”? When news of the lost coins  broke , BitGrai...

Identity verification is paramount to global freedom and citizen access to public services. We see many examples of this today in terms of how barriers to documentation adversely impact issues like democratic voting processes, especially among homeless communities and refugee settlements. Today’s developments in blockchain technology are now enabling solutions to these and many other verification issues. The use of distributed technology shows promise as a more robust, cost-effective mechanism for advancing identity trust and governance. Civic , a provider of blockchain identity-verification technology, recently  announced  a partnership with technology platform  Votem to launch the first Know-Your-Customer (KYC) system powered by its CVC token. This, according to leaders at both companies, signals a major leap forward in ensuring the security and transparency of the KYC and accreditation processes. Votem’s platform provides citizens, organizations and go...