Ethereum and Enterprises

Etika dan perusahaan

Jaringan kripto kunci terbuka dan rintangan perusahaan swasta sering kali dibicarakan seolah-olah mereka adalah dua industri yang berbeda, namun Amber Baldet dari JPMorgan, yang membantu membangun platform kuorum bank dengan forking ethereum, melihat bukti bahwa kedua sektor saling terkonvergensi.

"Kemungkinan besar kita akan berakhir dengan semacam jaringan jaringan hibrida yang mudah-mudahan bisa saling berbicara," katanya.

Selanjutnya mendukung tema konvergensi, sebuah catatan terstruktur (sejenis keamanan dengan turunan yang disematkan di dalamnya) dikeluarkan pada hari Jumat dari London, menggunakan blokade ethereum publik untuk penyelesaiannya.

Catatan itu didenominisasi dengan pound Inggris, bukan eter, pikiran Anda, dan sebagai semacam kontrol ilmiah, instrumen yang identik juga dikeluarkan dengan Clearstream, sebuah rumah kliring tradisional, penanganan penyelesaian. Jadi penerbit akan memiliki perbandingan biaya transaksi dari apel ke apel, dengan mengetes gagasan bahwa hambatan adalah infrastruktur yang lebih murah daripada institusi warisan.

Anda mungkin bertanya-tanya, "ethereum tidak memiliki masalah penskalaan yang perlu diselesaikan sebelum kita dapat membicarakan hal ini?" Tapi minggu ini membawa pembukaan solusi yang mungkin: dappchains, semacam mini blockchain yang dibuat khusus untuk aplikasi sehingga mereka tidak menyumbat jaringan utama seperti CryptoKitties.

Meskipun demikian, pertanyaan tata kelola yang lebih luas terus menyebabkan keterlibatan tangan dan perselisihan politik di komunitas pengembang ethereum, yang mencerminkan keharusan adaptif dan pengawasan teknis yang bersaing.

Mengendarai petir

Berbicara mengenai solusi penskalaan, Lightning Labs merilis versi beta dari perangkat lunak LND-nya, sehingga menyediakan versi teknologi pengujian lapisan kedua yang benar-benar teruji untuk bitcoin.

Ini adalah langkah signifikan untuk membuat bitcoin sekali lagi sesuai untuk micropayments, pembelian kopi dan transaksi kecil lainnya yang menjadi sangat mahal karena kriptocurrency memperoleh popularitas.

Auguring dengan baik untuk proyek ini, Lightning Labs juga mengumpulkan $2,5 juta dari sekelompok investor, yang paling menonjol di antara mereka pendiri Twitter dan Square Jack Dorsey.

Dan jika itu tidak cukup untuk mendapatkan bitcoiners dibebankan: Selama di Jepang, utilitas listrik terbesar ketiga, Chubu Electric Power Co, sedang mengeksplorasi penggunaan pembayaran bitcoin Lightning Network melalui proof-of-concept dengan startup lokal Nayuta.

Sumber : Coindesk.

Crypto's Biggest ICOs Stay Silent on SEC Subpoenas

Author : Brady Dale

The Silence is Deafening.

After rumors began to fly late last week that the SEC has been sending out subpoenas to initial coin offerings (ICOs), some of the biggest projects to yet utilize the funding mechanism have remained tight-lipped, refraining from public commentary.

CoinDesk has so far reached out to the 14 best-known issuers that have raised $50 million or more through their token sales, asking whether they had received a subpoena or request for information letter. The majority left multiple requests for comment without a reply.

Few attorneys or industry stakeholders are willing to talk on the record about the investigations as well. Although many have said they believe the agency is undertaking a sweep of the industry, one that could be focused on a particular type of token sale.

Only one person has admitted to receiving a subpoena, TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington, who raised $100 million to start crypto hedge fund, Arrington XRP Capital.

That said, over the course of a week, CoinDesk has repeatedly asked each project if they have received subpoenas. Statements, and even the absence of statements, from these issuers can be somewhat illuminating.

Direct Answers

Of the 14 projects CoinDesk reached out to, only one directly answered questions regarding SEC subpoenas: Quoine.

A spokesperson for the issuer, which raised $108 million through the sale of its Qash token, said it had not been subject to a subpoena or a request for information.

While Bancor, which raised $153 million selling its BNT tokens, a spokesperson indicated it had "nothing to report" to CoinDesk, suggesting it had not received a subpoena.

And Overstock.com subsidiary tZero, which is still in the midst of its token raise targeting $250 million, confirmed that it is under investigation by the SEC, but did not receive a subpoena.

Instead, tZero said, it was "willingly working" with the SEC.

Kind of comments

Other than that, several issuers responded to CoinDesk with the infamous "no comment" comment.

TenX, which raised $80 million during its token sale, declined to comment via a spokesperson and so did Kik, which raised $98 million in its Kin token sale.

BITCOIN ON LIGHTNING TOO RISKY? MAYBE ICE CREAM WILL TEMP YOU

Author : Rachel Rose O'Leary

Mar 6, 2018 at 09:00 UTC  |  Updated  Mar 7, 2018 at 01:14 UTC

I scream. You scream. Crypto screams for ice cream?

At least that's what three college students are hoping for in starting an ice-cream delivery service in San Francisco, one that will run solely on bitcoin's in-development Lightning Network at launch.

Dubbed Block and Jerry's, a play on the popular U.S. brand Ben and Jerry's, the service was created to give real consumers a reason to push forward the bleeding-edge payments technology - one that, after years of ideation, is just now beginning to see real testing and use.

"We think that this is a motivating factor to jump into bitcoin and start playing around with the Lightning Network and getting to understand it," Block and Jerry's co-founder Rob Durst told CoinDesk.

With the news, Block and Jerry's also joins a small, but growing number of businesses (both existing and experimental) that have set up shops connected to Lightning's growing network. Now nearly 1,000 nodes strong, this momentum shows a growing interest in the scaling technology, positioned as a way to move transactions off of the blockchain in an effort to allow bitcoin to handle greater adoption.

As such, an interest in getting a whole new host of people involved in cryptocurrency is at the core of the Block & Jerry's project.

"Basically we're just a household of guys who are interested in cryptocurrency and creating web applications for people," developer Jeff Tang explained.

Not only did the team develop the application, but they also devised a step-by-step guide for setting up Lightning and transacting on the network

Durst explained :

"We really are in the process of creating a very straightforward experience. 'I want to buy ice cream, I'm not the most experienced bitcoin user or even computer user, 'How can I jump in?'"

And with ice cream at the forefront, Durst said expects Block & Jerry's to be able to get a spate of new users excited about the technology.

"I think it's cool, I will buy a sticker, but my mum doesn't care about that," he said.

A sweet treat

Still, it's best to think of Block and Jerry's as an experiment, a vision for how merchants might use Lightning to accept bitcoin in the future.

For example, the founder aren't exactly after money - they're not accepting any other cryptocurrencies (or even credit cards) - and in using their website's chat service, they're cagey on delivery times.

Ice cream names such as "Doge Food," "Vitalik Garcia" and "Segwit2x" further show that the website is catering to a niche crowd.

But it's worth noting that the idea behind Block and Jerry's is still somewhat controversial given that sending real bitcoin payments on Lightning remains risky.

Elizabeth Stark, the CEO of Lightning Labs, which is developing a Lighting implementation, is one of the notable members of the technology's movement that is worried users could lose money transaction on the network, and that such issues could hold back development.

She's noted, in particular, that future Lightning releases may not be compatible with the current mainnet, meaning payment channels started today may get shut down with a new release.

In response to the launch of Blockstream's sticker store, one of the first to demo a Lightning-based merchant experience, Stark tweeted, "It's one thing to have people changing code on their own. It's another for a company to be promoting software that is going to lose users money."

As such, Stark and others will be unlikely to give Block & Jerry's the stamp of approval.  

Brain freeze

That said, the co-founders of the project believe transacting over the testnet just doesn't feel "as significant."

And, in part, the effort can be seen as one that's aiming to drive a more immediate consumer experience via Lightning. The Block & Jerry's team believes the more people interact with the early technology, the more they might be inspired to contribute to its development.

So far, Lightning has been mostly the territory of experienced crypto developers, since it lacks a polished user interface and requires users to be somewhat familiar with command line code.

Yet, the team believes it's created a guide that'll make interacting with the network much easier, not just for crypto users but also developers that don't have blockchain specific programming skills.

"We're just doing what we can with the skills that we have," Tang said.

And Durst echoed that, saying, "I think this is a cool demonstration of what is possible for the more average developer."

Yet, what's perhaps most notable is that disguised within the project is an excitement and urgency about getting bitcoin ready for mainstream adoption.

Durst concluded:

"If you're not making much money, and each dollar counts, I think end of the day you need a platform that offers cheaper, faster confirmations. And I think the Lightning Network can do this."

Source : Coindesk.