Author: smogbar

Still confused about Ethereum? This easy to follow guide is designed to help people without an advanced degree in computer geekery understand the Ethereum white paper and gain a clearer grasp of where Ethereum fits into the emerging blockchain story.

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This guide breaks down the Bitcoin white paper section by section so that people without an advanced degree in computer geekery can understand what Bitcoin is, how it works and the problems it solves.

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A comprehensive guide covering a broad set of considerations that founders will need to address when launching an ICO. Topics include regulatory compliance, trust, transparency, credibility, marketing, long-term development and much more!

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The crypto-anarchist narrative and vision behind blockchain technology hold that blockchains are powerful tools with which to decentralise many of society’s social, political, and economic infrastructure.

Blockchains – which can be thought of as general-purpose transaction ledgers – could be used to symbolically represent any asset. Bitcoin, for example, represents digital cash and aims to change the nature of money in society by challenging the state’s control of monetary policy and taxation.

However, the applications of blockchain technology extend beyond digital cash. Though corporations and governments provide the economic and political infrastructure for human exchange and interaction, technologists argue that blockchain applications could provide this same infrastructure without the intermediaries and gatekeepers, thus redressing existing power asymmetries.

Concretely, a blockchain is a distributed ledger that records all the transactions that take place within its network. Exchange on blockchains follow the rules prescribed by their protocols, leading them to be characterised as being decentralised, immutable, apolitical and trustless.

Their protocols, defined in code, are unambiguous, comprehensive and hard to change. Removing human agency also eliminates what makes the enforcement of rules arbitrary, corrupt or inconsistent; unlike in the social world, within a blockchain, the protocol is the law that defines and regulates how people interact.

I refer to this idea as ‘governance by the network’.

This is a notable achievement. In the social sciences, sociologists and political scientists have long been preoccupied with how to foster trust and overcome what is called problems of cooperation and coordination.

Game-theoretic models like the prisoner’s dilemma illustrate the sordid outcome of human interaction in the absence of institutional and organisational fall-backs.

The resulting challenge has been to find ways to impose limits on the power of these necessary institutions and organisations.

Blockchains are a game changer because they can replace these corruptible and fallible social constructs with an impartial technological tool that would resolve the problem of cooperation and coordination.

However, whilst governance by the network can indeed lead to novel ways of organizing social life, it does not circumvent the fact that the network must itself be created and governed. Blockchains are sophisticated and complex technological systems.

The protocol that defines a blockchain, the software in which it is instantiated and the hardware on which it ultimately runs are all inputs that are produced by diverse groups of people.

Moreover, these components are constantly changing to integrate better technology, render the network more efficient or patch vulnerabilities. This process of development is both a necessary part of a blockchain’s growth and a fundamentally social process.

How the actors come together to produce, maintain or change the inputs that make up a blockchain is a question of governance.

I call this the governance of the network.

For a while, it was assumed that this process was purely driven by technical standards and constraints. However, it is hard to maintain this assertion in the face of mounting evidence to the contrary. Bitcoin’s block size debate is perhaps the most prominent example of a blockchain community facing complex governance problem that goes beyond the technical.

What began as a disagreement about how best to scale the network evolved into a struggle over control of the protocol. The Ethereum community faced the DAO crisis where a significant hack led to the rollback of the Ethereum blockchain to neutralise the hack. Some in the Ethereum community disagreed with this, arguing that it violated the principle of immutability and went against the social contract of the project.

They split from the community and continued running and maintaining the version of the blockchain where the hack had happened. These conflicts have been divisive and costly, and they have undermined trust in the technology.

Most importantly, these governance problems are unlikely to stop. Blockchains, by regulating human exchange, have serious distributional, ethical and political consequences. In other words, the rules that a blockchain enforces will inevitably create winners and losers. Those that produce and maintain a blockchain have varying degrees of control over these outcomes.

Naturally, this results in conflict over what the rules will be; and, more importantly, over who gets to set those rules. The development of the blockchain becomes politicised as different interests try and assert control over the evolution of the protocol to shape it to suit them.

Understanding blockchain governance is critical for mitigating social conflict over a blockchain protocol and in ensuring it remains functional.

The promise of governance by the network – a techno-institutional solution to solving the problems of cooperation and coordination – can only work if the governance of the network is robust, fair and predictable.

There has been a tendency within the wider blockchain community to dismiss governance issues, sometimes even to deny that they exist. There are a number of reasons why this is mistaken.

Social scientists have long known that even in supposedly non-hierarchical social communities, power relations and politics emerge to structure human interaction. Studies of open-source software projects and Internet governance, both comparable to blockchains, have shown the existence of governance in this context, whether formal or informal.

The study of the governance of blockchains does not need to call for the formalisation and institutionalisation of current practices; instead, it should be seen as a necessary step to better understand the current ways in which blockchains are produced, how they change, and how conflicts over their protocols are resolved.

Odysseas is studying a PhD at the University of Oxford – Oxford Internet Institute and the Alan Turing Institute. His research looks at the governance of public blockchains, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. The purpose of his research is to better understand how different blockchain communities are able to reach collective action to resolve issues to do with the development, maintenance, and control of blockchain protocols.

This article also appears on Oxford Internet Institute.

A technologically accelerating and globalizing world means governments in both developed and developing countries must tackle increasingly complex issues from economic volatility and pandemics to mass migration, money laundering, and terrorism.

They must also find ways to bring prosperity in a rapidly changing global economy by attracting the businesses and industries that will succeed in the digital economy.

Blockchain technology can serve as the digital foundation for the smart cities of the future helping governments raise their attractiveness and amplify their competitiveness in the new digital economy where human capital and industry are vital to success. 

Current systems are failing – governments are running blind

In developing nations – An emerging middle-class demand for government services and high population growth have placed acute pressures on civil services. Outdated and disparate governance systems, widespread corruption and budgetary constraints have led governments to be unable to deliver essential services like healthcare and education to large swathes of the population. Inadequate record keeping systems have caused citizenry to lack official identification and property rights and resulted in vast informal economies and poverty.

In developed nations – Demographic stresses and aging populations are intensifying pressures on government budgets, forcing civil services to do more with less. Siloed record keeping systems that lack basic levels of interoperability and transparency have meant that there is a lack of actionable data available for economic, behavioral and infrastructure purposes.

With little meaningful data, governments remain unable to see the bigger picture and make informed decisions that can improve the lives of their citizens. Antiquated administrative systems at the national and regional levels are also eating away at the ability of governments to react effectively to crisis’ and fight against money laundering, corruption, organized crime, terrorist financing, and other destabilizing forces.

The root cause

Delivering efficient, sustainable and affordable government services to the world’s aging population and emerging middle class and attracting the businesses and industries that will succeed in the new digitally based economy will become increasingly difficult without substantive changes to current systems.

Although the challenges faced by governments are complex and widespread, the vast majority of problems trace back to a single, yet corrosive, root cause. Fragmented, siloed record keeping systems that lack interoperability have resulted in mismanagement, corruption, waste and a severe lack of advanced data available for economic, behavioral and infrastructure analysis.

To overcome the complex and diverse impediments to social and economic progress will necessitate governments rearm themselves with new capabilities.

Nations and cities that redesign their core systems based on blockchain and distributed ledger technologies will be rewarded with a resilient and antifragile digital infrastructure that enables the implementation of more potent government policies which meet the evolving demands of their citizens and deliver stability in a rapidly changing world.

A new foundation for competitiveness

Blockchain technology can create the resilient digital infrastructure necessary to enable the mass transformation of government administration to occur. This will allow governments to better assess the effectiveness of their services, deal with the changing demands of their citizens and tackle complex issues, making them more attractive to future industry and the intellectual elite.

The technology has key benefits in verifications, the movement of assets, ownership, and identity.

• The rapid verification of licenses, permits, transactions, and identities can be achieved with far greater accuracy, enabling the complete digitization of services and unprecedented efficiencies.
• Direct and automatic transfer of payments and other assets between government agencies and citizens for services rendered can eliminate excessive intermediary costs and redundancies. Entire government departments could be replaced by blockchain based registries saving billions of dollars of taxpayer funds.
• The technology’s decentralized, open & incorruptible nature makes it easier for governments to share data between government institutions and use sovereign data securely and eliminate government corruption/mismanagement which has long afflicted much of the developing world.
• Real-time analysis of pseudonymous data in transport, security, city planning, health and crime give civil service the ability to utilize resources in areas that will have the most profound impact on society.
• With a blockchain based identity registry, governments have the opportunity to issue e-identities to the population, making the frictionless digital use of a variety of national and municipal services a reality. Digital ID’s that act as a digital watermark to every transaction will help government agencies check identities in real-time, reducing the rate of fraud and other criminal activities and decreasing the costs associated with the provision of many public services.

By improving the capacity to analyze and manage trusted sovereign data, conduct instant digital asset transfers and ensure a high level of security, blockchain technology can deliver game-changing improvements for governments, their citizenry, and industry. Governments and cities with enhanced capabilities raise their attractiveness and amplify their competitiveness in the new digital economy where human capital and industry are vital to success.

“The truth about ‘Smart Cities’ is that there is only going to be one way that they can become truly ‘smart’: through data and analytics”.

Smart contracts

Smart contracts introduce major efficiencies in compliance and enforcement. Despite unprecedented regulations and enforcement efforts over the past decade, governments are struggling in their fight against a growing and evolving tide of illicit activities.

Money laundering and terrorist financing are having a corrosive and corrupting impact on society as a whole and now pose a significant threat to the economic stability and security of almost every country in the world.

According to the United Nations, Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Global money laundering transactions estimate at 2 to 5% of global GDP or roughly $1 to 2 trillion annually. Less than 1% of the global proceeds from these criminal activities are seized and frozen.

Regulators and industry have the opportunity to become far more potent by capitalizing on the technology’s ability to deliver greater accuracy and timeliness of monitoring activities. Rules set out by regulators could be hard-coded into a smart contract ensuring automatic compliance with specific AML & CFT regulations and triggering alerts for any predefined suspicious activity.

With hyper-efficiency brought about by smart contract automation in concert with greater accuracy and security, governments and smart cities gain the agility and robustness needed to overcome an array of serious threats and become world leaders.

A new  foundation for the  digital economy 

Despite significant leaps in technology, government management and administrative systems at the national and regional levels remain relatively untouched by technology and stand ill-equipped to serve the current and future needs of their target populations.

These outdated systems are eating away at the ability of governments to react to crisis’, fight against money laundering and terrorist financing and deliver cost-effective programs to their citizens. They are also preventing countries and cities from becoming the economic leaders of tomorrow.

The harsh reality is that the very systems designed to assist civil servants to do their job have now become the biggest impediment to their current and future success. 

The new digital economy requires nothing less than a new digital foundation. Economic competitiveness depends on a streamlined civil service with supercharged capabilities that deliver efficient services to citizens and enables industry to thrive. 

Governments that embrace blockchain to reform their systems will be rewarded with a robust and agile digital infrastructure built for the hyper-connected and digitally-based economy. A new foundation that enables the cultivation of productive ecosystems, better public services, lower costs, and improves sustainable outcomes for all.

The digital economy has arrived. What’s your next move?

Metabase Network – A Blockchain Toolbox for Smart Cities and Industry 4.0

If you’re interested in building the smart cities and industries of the future – check out Metabase.

Metabase is a high-performance blockchain business engine and developer toolbox designed to empower innovators and entrepreneurs, high growth startups and small businesses and kick ass designers, developers and engineers to create, build, and lead the industries of tomorrow.

It’s a multi-dimensional platform to facilitate the development of applications for the new economy. It provides a comprehensive foundation to build and monetise next-generation businesses and complex dapps for smart cities, IOT, energy distribution, supply chain, healthcare and more.

Head over to the Metabase blog. There’s lots of great content for you to dig your teeth into. Here are some must-reads:

How is Metabase Network Different from Ethereum and Blockchain 3.0 Projects Like EOS & Cardano?

The Metabase ICO: Everything you need to know in less than 3 minutes

Blockchain 3.0 Demystified

Intrepid Ventures: The Driving Force Behind Metabase Blockchain

For more detailed information, check out the in-depth docs where you’ll find the whitepaper, technical deep-dives and more.

Also published on Medium.

Much like the traditional stock market, the crypto asset market overflows with people who invest their own and others money in a state of mind-boggling ignorance.

In some cases driven by cynical greed and almost always by a sheep-like mentality and a sublime inability to question established concepts, investors, both newbies and even those considered “astute” with millions of followers and dollars under management, have been reduced to delusion on an industrial scale. 

Market cap or market capitalization is a calculation that emerged from traditional finance but one that has also seeped into the crypto world. It’s used everywhere as a justification for investment decisions and as a metric to measure the size and value of a cryptocurrency or token.

But there’s a big problem.

Market cap is meaningless, easily manipulated and creates a false sense of value. It’s actually even more than this. It’s downright dangerous because it misleads investors and plays a role in the crypto panics and wild swings that so often impact the space. The fact that its use continues to proliferate despite its clear uselessness speaks to a reality that investors are lazy. They require a simple way of finding an answer to what is a very complex subject – the value of a network. It also speaks to the greed of some investors who use it cynically and the media’s insatiable appetite for sensationalist headlines.

How is market cap calculated for cryptocurrencies and tokens?

Market cap or market capitalization is calculated by multiplying the circulating supply of a cryptocurrency or token by its last transaction price. 

It’s a simple calculation, which is perhaps why it’s so widely used. However, the real question is, what can it be used for? What does it mean? The Answer, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. Here’s why.

Market cap doesn’t = value

When making an investment, it’s essential to find out what the company or asset you are investing in is worth. If you understand what something is worth (its value) it’s possible to judge whether an investment is over or underpriced.

Herein lies the problem. Market cap is about price, not value. It does not reflect the value of the company or crypto asset you’re investing in. This is a fundamental distinction that is often overlooked. Price is only what you pay for a coin or token, it has nothing to do with what you actually get aka value. It’s an indication of what people are paying for something, and this is usually driven by irrational sentiment which has little connection to an assets real value. And so, assuming that whatever the market is willing to charge for an asset is equal to what it’s worth is a big mistake.

Think about the gains experienced by crypto assets in the last few years. Sometimes overnight, Bitcoin or Ethereum has added billions to its market cap. But what actually changed? Did they get more users, launch a new technology or achieve more mainstream adoption? What change/s occurred to the underlying fundamentals?

All that happened was more investors were willing to pay a higher price. In the vast majority of cases, no underlying value was added to these assets, just more sheep willing to pay higher prices which resulted in the market cap skyrocketing. As the market cap skyrockets, more sheep mistakenly believe the asset to have an increasing value, and the cycle continues.

The critical takeaway. Market cap is about price and price has NOTHING to do with value. It’s just a multiplication of the last transaction price by the circulating supply, and, therefore, has no use when trying to assess value.

Market cap only reflects the last transaction price

Like I said in the previous section, the market cap of a cryptocurrency or token is about price not value which misleads many investors. But it’s more than that. Market cap only reflects the last transaction price multiplied by the circulating supply. When you compute this, all you’re doing is multiplying the price that the last purchaser paid by the circulating supply which gives you an irrelevant number with no meaning. The price of the latest transaction ceases to exist as soon as it is completed, all previous transactions have a different price and those made right after will be priced differently as well.

In other words, the outcome of the market cap calculation applies to a specific moment of time. Yet it assumes that all sellers and buyers and even all holders, including those that aren’t selling or buying, are at the last transaction price. If you wanted to calculate market cap, a pointless task anyway, you’d have to calculate what everyone who has ever invested actually paid and total it all up. But even this would be inaccurate and misleading because of issues with circulating supply.

Circulating supply is over accounted for

Circulating supply has several issues that impact market cap. Coin-Market-Cap defines it as: “the best approximation of the number of coins that are circulating in the market and in the general public’s hands.”

This is an oversimplification and misleading for investors. The problem is that it’s hard to tell how much of a coin or token’s supply is available for trading at any given time. Sites like Coin-Market-Cap do not exclude lost coins from the circulating supply count because there is no way to know how many are lost.

Take Bitcoin for example. It’s estimated that there are approximately 3 to 4 million lost Bitcoins. If these get taken into account, the circulating supply of Bitcoin wouldn’t be the 17,425,512 BTC, at the time of this writing, but rather around 13.5 to 14 million which would reduce the market cap considerably. Whatsmore, circulating supply doesn’t take into account illiquid coins or tokens in long-term storage. Much of the current Bitcoin supply is made up of bitcoins that have been inactive for more than a year.

Market cap doesn’t represent real money invested

This may sound obvious to some, but it isn’t to most. Market Cap does not represent how much money has been pumped into a coin or token. In fact, this could not be further from the truth. If, for example, a coins market cap rises or falls by $100 million, it doesn’t mean $100 million has entered or exited from the asset.

Here’s an example that illustrates this and also shows how easily market cap can be manipulated. Let’s say I create a token with a 10 billion supply, I develop a simple ERC20 contract and deploy it on Ethereum, and on an exchange. I then convince my friend to buy one of these tokens for $1.

Boom there you have it. A token with a $10 billion market cap. Congratulations to me! I have now created a promising new project that has received lots of investment. As you can see, this is all absolute rubbish. It doesn’t mean $10 billion was invested in my token and it in no way helps in understanding its value. The reality is, it’s worth nothing. Market cap only serves to obscure and create a false sense of value when actually it’s just a multiplication of the last transaction price by the circulating supply.

But let’s go even further. Let’s say my friend turns around and sells the token I made for $2 to someone else. The market cap would go from 10 billion to 20 billion, even though only $2 has changed hands. So, if you see a token with a $1 billion market cap, it may have only $10 or $20 million invested in it. If it collapsed and went to zero, investors would lose only lose $10 or $20 million not $1 billion.

“Market cap created the perfect tool to attract newbies by artificially inflating the numbers. They mine 1 million coins they release a thousand in reality which they can buy for 10$ a piece. And suddenly that crapcoin has a 10 million market cap and noobs flock. And in one week time, most of them get fleeced.” – Unknown

The bottom line. Crypto assets with a low float and high total supply can game the system and make themselves look valuable. Market cap and changes in market cap are meaningless and deceiving.

Market cap is a useless comparison tool

Measuring one coin or tokens market cap with that of another is a meaningless excersize. All that’s achieved is a comparison of what the last person paid for each multiplied by the circulating supply of each. The number deduced from this calculation delivers no actionable or useful insight.

Furthermore, even if the market cap of a crypto equaled its value, comparing them would still be pointless because each coin or token is different and should be measured differently. Investors often say things like, “X coin has a market cap of $1 million while Bitcoin has a cap of $57 billion, so X coin is undervalued and a great investment opportunity.” Or X coin has a market cap of $1 million compared to Bitcoin or Ethereum, thus they are overpriced and due for a decline.” Or” X Coin could never have a market cap of $100 billion, Bitcoin’s is only $57 million.” This is all pointless and here’s a question that is rarely asked. Why has Bitcoin been assigned a god-like market cap that no other crypto can ever surpass? 

To sum up. Market cap is meaningless. But even if it weren’t, the market cap of one coin, be it Bitcoin, Ether, Ripple or some altcoin has nothing to with the market cap of any other whatsoever. Crypto assets are designed for different market segments, users and purposes and so comparing their market caps is stupid.

Market cap? More like market crap

To say that the value of a coin or token network is equal to its market cap is not only untrue, but it’s also ridiculous. The market cap equation is the last transaction price multiplied by the circulating supply which does not in any way tell you how much a crypto asset is actually worth.

It’s used as a leading valuation metric by the masses because most investors, including those considered smart, are lazy, unquestioning and have a sheep-like mentality which leads them to want quick and easy answers to complex topics. It’s also a handy metric for the media who need sensationalist inflated numbers to get clicks and in some cases cynically steer the herds of sheep.

No one has come up with a reliable way to establish what the value of a network is. NOBODY. Valuing a crypto network is difficult and dependent on many things that can even be specific to a particular network. Investors will undoubtedly continue deluding themselves trying to answer complex questions by fitting things into neat equations. They will come up with new ones too like NVT Ratio. Unfortunately, it’s all a pointless exercise, it’s just not possible.

Find out where we’re at in the blockchain & crypto hype cycle and what’s coming next.

Also published on Medium.

A few weeks back we had a look at how blockchain can redesign global supply chains. In this closely related post, global trade rewired – exploring blockchain trade finance platforms, we take a deep dive into the broken state of trade finance and investigate how blockchain can build the dynamic trade finance platforms of the future.

Trade finance is a centuries-old industry that has played a pivotal role in the creation of a competitive and productive global economy.

But legacy trade finance platforms built on old world technologies are rapidly proving ill-equipped to handle the globalized nature of the economy and increased speed of trade flows.

There is now an acute need to streamline trade finance to drive efficiencies, reduce costs and enable the proliferation of trade in emerging economies.

It’s a complex world out there.

As supply chains have grown more intricate, often spanning hundreds or even thousands of stages and dozens of geographical locations, the financing of trade has become more risky and cumbersome.

Beyond the challenges stemming from the geographically dispersed nature of supply chains, rising customer expectations for cheap and customized products delivered on demand require companies to be more time and cost-efficient in every way.

Securing quick access to trade finance is now one of many challenges businesses must overcome. But financing has been made more difficult by the continuing fallout from the 2008 financial crisis as banks de-risk.

According to an International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) survey of 357 respondents located in 109 countries, global trade had yet to recover from pre-financial crisis levels in 2008. 2016 was the fifth consecutive year of world trade falling below 3 percent. 61 percent cited a global shortage of trade finance as a major issue.[1]

The absence of trade financing is especially acute in developing nations where many entrepreneurs are unable to start businesses and established companies remain unable to grow.

“SMEs in developing economies – given their opacity, lack of collateral and audited financial statements, are considered as high risk by banks.” [2]

What’s driving this?

The shortage of trade finance is primarily due to risk and the complexity and high costs associated with regulatory compliance, which today can span across diverse regulatory jurisdictions in multiple regions.

Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) compliance has become a debilitating pressure on financial institutions, resulting in many organizations scaling back their operations due to risk. In some emerging markets, banks have withdrawn their services altogether due to regulations like Basel III.[3]

“Sanctions have now become a political weapon in foreign policy, leading to trade finance business coming under increased pressure from increasingly stringent compliance and regulatory requirements. Both financial institutions (FIs) and corporates must ensure they have the necessary solutions and processes to enforce embargoes, whether they are imposed on countries, FIs or goods. Sanctions are an integral part of foreign policy and as regulations tighten, countries are moving towards a zero-tolerance policy for FIs that contravene them.” [4]

According to the Asian Development Bank, there is a gap of as much as $425 billion in trade funding in Asia alone.[5] A massive market made up of millions of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises has yet to be tapped into by trade finance providers.

The failure to provide trade finance for SMEs is inhibiting economic growth in the developing economies of Asia and preventing global economic growth, as Asia increasingly becomes the world’s main growth engine.

Old world trade finance processes are full of inefficiencies

Inefficiencies are ingrained in every part of today’s opaque supply chains. This makes trade finance complicated, risky and cumbersome.

Here is a summary of the main pain points –

Multiple parties and legacy systems = an inefficient and costly process

As supply chains have become more complex and globalized, the number of parties involved has increased. From the importer, exporter, the importer’s bank, the exporter’s bank to shipping companies, receiving companies, insurers, and other service providers, mass amounts of paper documents must flow through a tangled web at each stage.

All this paperwork must be checked and confirmed by each party to ensure accuracy as well. Manual transaction processing of complex ownership and transfer related documents by multiple intermediaries through a range of communication points is time consuming, costly and often results in a delay in the shipment of goods.

“A dizzying number of manual checks must be carried out to verify the legitimacy of a client, its trading partners and the goods that change hands. Most checks require the physical presence of a person, and the administrative work conducted by bank middle offices is overwhelmingly paper-based. The high cost of this process restricts access to trade finance for smaller businesses and especially those in developing economies whose credit-worthiness is difficult to establish.”

[6]

Intermediaries are heavily relied on throughout the trade finance process as the trustless environment demands third parties to verify the delivery of funds to the appropriate entities.

Making things even more challenging is the utilization of disparate and siloed recordkeeping systems by each party. Miscommunications are common and significant version control challenges exist as changes get made to contracts and other documents.[7]

Minimal transparency and traceability increase the risks of fraud

A lack of transparency and traceability caused by fragmented and siloed record keeping infrastructures means trade financing can be used to hide the illegal movement of funds.

From the misrepresentation of prices, quality or quantity of goods to faking the existence of a product altogether, fraudulent activities are easy to disguise.[8]

“Because there is no common platform for banks to screen transactions financed by other banks due to confidentiality concerns, there is a possibility that customers may capitalize on this information-sharing gap to obtain financing from multiple banks using the same invoice.”

[9]

With separate and siloed infrastructures housing vital information like invoices, contracts, approvals and previous financing transactions, duplicate invoices are hard to detect, and any malicious activity is difficult to identify.[10]

Unable to gain a complete picture of internal processes in real-time, companies and the financial institutions have limited capabilities to investigate fraudulent activities efficiently.

Regulatory compliance and reporting is a constant drain on resources

Financial institutions that offer trade financing services must complete several compliance steps as a part of the onboarding process for new clients.

These steps which create significant time and cost delays include the collection, validation, and verification of key documents such as proof of identity, proof of address, proof of business registration and many others.[11] [12]

The introduction of stringent regulations like Basel III is forcing financial firms to dedicate more resources to compliance than ever before and placing enormous burdens on them.

New regulations also necessitate intensive reporting of counterparty exposures and transactions by companies and the maintaining of accurate records to be audited by the regulators. Due to disparate legacy systems, paper-based documentation processes and siloed record keeping, the aggregating and assessing the large volumes of data for reporting is difficult and a constant drain on resources.

“Until fairly recently, compliance in trade finance was limited to the examination of documents. Nowadays, added to this is extensive screening – against multiple country lists – of numerous data elements embedded in ancillary documents, regardless of their role in the letter of credit (LC) and international guarantee. The traditional view that the main risk within trade finance is one of fraud has been superseded by a modern three-part categorisation of risk – namely embargoes; terrorist financing (including fraud); and sanctions/proliferation financing.” [13]

Regulatory and compliance challenges have been exacerbated by the global nature of trade and the increase in both volume and speed of international trade flows.

Using blockchain trade finance platforms to transform the financing of trade

Efforts to improve centuries-old processes that sit at the heart of trade finance have failed to provide the necessary reforms.

“There still exists a fundamental divide between vital business information, like invoices and trade contracts, and the financial transactions that need to be executed by banks and other institutions to complete the transaction. At the end of these processes remains a herculean effort to reconcile the business logic and related documents with the financial transaction.” [14]

Unlike most ‘technology wrapper’ solutions, blockchain is no band-aid fix.

It’s the real deal.

The technology’s promise lies in its ability to remove the cause of almost all the pain points within trade finance.

By replacing rigid, siloed and insecure centralized trade finance systems with a unified IT and record keeping infrastructure, blockchain technology provides trade parties the ability to track and immutably record the movement of goods and information across entities on a shared ledger. [15]

The manually intensive and paper-based processes which have opened trade finance to human error, fraud and settlement delays are eliminated as all documents are digitized and stored on an unchangeable ledger.

By digitizing documentation like contracts and invoices and storing them on a unified ledger, it becomes safer and more efficient to move documents around between parties.

“We’re moving pieces of paper around, moving information between banks and other players in the supply chain, and that is where we will see lots of efficiencies created as a result of blockchain.”

[16]

Storing all ownership documentation and transaction records on a single and immutable ledger that is accessible and visible to all entities also stops the need to manually check document changes and share data other parties which have traditionally taken a considerable amount of time.

With a blockchain trade finance Platform, there is no need to store copies of the same document on numerous databases across various entities. Fixing needless errors, duplications and reconciling data sets across geographically dispersed parties is no longer necessary.

Beyond these game-changing benefits, companies, financial institutions, and government regulators can also gain granular traceability and auditability into the trade financing process as blockchain enables real-time, system-wide visibility into a single source of truth.

A quick note on privacy in blockchain trade finance platforms

Privacy and confidentiality are vital considerations when it comes to solutions for trade finance and other financial services as well.[17] It’s understandable that many trade finance professionals may be wondering how privacy is protected in a shared ledger system.

“The challenge of maintaining Chinese walls or data privacy among counterparties to trade transactions could be overcome by utilising tokenisation as a form of cryptography, whereby parties are only allowed to access permissioned information.”

[18]

Due to privacy-related considerations, permissioned blockchains are likely to see faster adoption as issues of this nature are more easily resolved within a consortium of known parties. Private or consortium blockchains, can restrict access to information and deliver members of the network greater control over privacy.

Trade finance is ripe for automation

Blockchain enabled smart contracts have the potential to make transformational improvements in trade finance.

When run on a blockchain, smart contracts become self-executing contracts where contractual enforcement, rights, and obligations, performance, and payment are automatically executed by an autonomous system that’s trusted by all signatories.[19]

Smart contracts can end the reliance on costly and inefficient intermediaries and eliminate many of the manual and paper-based processes involved in trade finance like letters of credit and structured commodity finance as well.[20]

“For example, various inputs can be collected on a blockchain platform to automatically execute the release of funds or transfer of digital assets (such as receivables) based on smart contracts.”

“This process allows for a qualitatively different approach to trade that has the potential to marry information, transactions, trade contracts and business logic to provide automated digital asset transfer alongside real-time settlement.This idea, taken to its logical extreme, could mean truly automated supply chain and financial operations between businesses (and even machines) with no-touch straight-through processing.”

[21]

With secure, tamper-proof digital trade documents available to all parties, fraud and other execution risks can be reduced or even eliminated as the immutable and programmable nature of a blockchain enabled smart contract prohibits manipulation and nonperformance.

Just imagine a blockchain trade finance platform that tracks goods and automatically releases payments as these goods move around the world? An automated trade finance platform.

Realizing a new inclusive digital era of trade finance

Blockchain trade finance platforms have the potential to solve debilitating inefficiencies in trade finance.

The technology is uniquely qualified to replace the outdated, siloed IT systems and paper-based processes which facilitate the exchange of data and serve as the backbone of trade finance workflows.[22]

By digitizing the entire trade finance process from order to settlement and bringing all the participants to a single platform, blockchain technology transforms trade finance into a more efficient, less complex and risky process.

“Blockchain technology continues to show the greatest potential to streamline trade finance and maximise the value it delivers to business and financial institutions alike.”

[23]

With many of the inefficiencies, risks, and complexities taken out of the trade finance process, financial institutions can begin to address the financing gap experienced by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Asian emerging economies and around the world.

A shortage of trade finance which has inhibited business growth and slowed financial inclusion can finally come to an end as the risks, complexities, and costs associated with the provision of finance are almost eradicated altogether.

“Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs, i.e. companies defined as employing 250 or fewer workers) constitute the vast majority of companies registered in both developed and developing countries. Their role in economic activity, generating growth and innovation cannot be overstated. According to the World Bank, SMEs contribute to over 60 percent of total employment in developed countries and 80 percent in developing ones, including the estimated informal sector.” [24]

New and dynamic blockchain trade finance platforms have the potential to provide millions of micro and small businesses access to trade financing as improved efficiencies and risk assessment abilities give financial providers the ability to offer more affordable financing terms.

Trade financiers gain access to previously inaccessible revenue streams, new trading relationships are initiated and unprecedented economic growth can be unlocked.

Progress has little to do with technology

When it comes down to it, realizing a new digital era of trade finance through the utilization of blockchain has little to do with technology.

Legal and structural challenges need to get resolved if blockchain trade finance platforms are to become a reality. This will require unprecedented inter-industry cooperation, industry-government partnerships, and the development of new paradigms of understanding.

This will not be easy.

Governments must begin to understand blockchain technology on a deeper level and start to build new regulatory frameworks.

Without updated regulations alongside the introduction of blockchain based trade finance platforms, the impact will be minimal.[25]

“The extent to which this new technology realizes its potential will depend in substantial part upon how well stakeholders steward its development. There remain important open governance questions regarding both the functioning of the technology and its current and potential applications.” [26]

Major players in the trade finance industry have already begun to build blockchain trade finance consortiums of mutual interest.

IBM has been chosen by a consortium of seven of Europe’s largest banks to construct and host a new trade finance platform. The platform is designed to simplify trade finance processes for small and medium enterprises in Europe by addressing the challenge of managing, tracking and securing domestic and international trade transactions.

“Consortiums make sense because the success of shared ledger and blockchain technologies requires significant levels of market participation, collaboration, and investment.  The consortium is less about a technology solution or a particular business model.  It’s more about how companies who haven’t been able to trust each other in the past can come together and collaborate and share information.” [27]

With enhanced and efficient trade finance processes come far-reaching benefits.

These go beyond the game-changing advantages delivered to the providers of trade finance. The effective use of blockchain based trade finance platforms will also lead to the realization of greater levels of financial inclusion for millions of people living in developing economies.

The flow-on impact for global economic growth will be unparalleled.

If you like this article on blockchain trade finance platforms, discover how blockchain technology can transform identity, global supply chains, insurance, compliance, civil services and national healthcare systems.

Anthony is the head of content and research at Intrepid Ventures. He has spent the past several years researching and analyzing technologies and working with a diverse mix of blockchain companies to help them gain insight and develop authoritative content.

Realizing the revolutionary nature of blockchain technology and the existence of a significant knowledge gap among entrepreneurs, industry, and government, Anthony now concentrates his time on creating educational content, researching potential use cases and analyzing the impact of the technology on global industries.

Also published on Medium.

With the rapid rise of blockchain technology, the demand for blockchain developers is off the charts. Even as the recent explosion of Initial Coin Offerings (ICO’s) subsides, demand for developers far outstrips the number of talented and experienced individuals available.

Add to this mix a significant need for what Vitalik Buterin calls Crypto Economists and PhD level academic researchers who are vetting the math and science at the protocol level and we have a massive hiring free for all.

If your company has been trying to get ahead of the innovation curve and build blockchain projects or capabilities, you probably believe that there just aren’t that many great blockchain developers out there. You’re wrong. You’re probably looking in the wrong places and or you don’t have a compelling enough value proposition to hire a great blockchain developer.

I’ll share a bit on what I have learned in what makes a great blockchain dev, where to find them and ultimately how to attract and hire a great blockchain developer.

Knowing what makes a great developer

Do you understand the differentiating factors between a good blockchain developer and a great blockchain developer?

The first step in hiring a developer with this very niche skill set is to know how to recognise a great blockchain dev vs. a developer who’s learned some blockchain coding skills. Both are valuable however most it’s critical that you have great blockchain devs as part of your core team.

Generally speaking, great blockchain developers tend to have the following characteristics:

Firstly, they are driven by strong ideological beliefs centered on decentralization. Some go as far to proudly self-identify as crypto-anarchists and many have strong ideological beliefs on decentralizing everything from corporations to governments and whole societies. This is super scary for any corporation.

Secondly, they have a deep fundamental understanding and mastery of game theory and economic principles. These understandings and expertise applied to any decentralized technology is the structural framework that accounts for most of the key blockchain breakthroughs.

They also have a true passion for the technology — it’s something they’ve sought to seek and learn about despite the seemingly embryonic nature of blockchains. Some of the underlying cryptography dates back decades. Many are self-taught and many are PhD level and above. Most are deeply entrenched in the world of cryptography.

They are naturally super curious personalities, they’re undeterred by the ambiguity of no known solutions. This actually excites them. When presented with obstacles they have deep seated self-beliefs that they can find multiple solutions for any set of problems. Being better than the next guy and being respected by their peers is of utmost importance.

You might think that sounds like a very rare kind of person — they are extremely rare in the traditional recruitment circles in which you’re accustomed. However, they do exist in large numbers and are likely 10 steps ahead of you and what you want to accomplish in your projects.

Where to find great blockchain developers

Once you know what you should be looking for, you need to know where to find great blockchain devs. Generally, your traditional modes of identifying, attracting and retaining talent won’t work. Your HR department will likely kill any chance you have in the rare case someone responds to an ad or posting and HR is the first point of contact. Unless of course, your HR department is staffed with blockchain experts. Job postings don’t work. Recruiters don’t know where to look.

Generally speaking, you won’t find the great candidates through LinkedIn and using Google. Be wary of the “experts” on LinkedIn.

You must engage with them in their own environments. Kind of like a Mutual of Omaha episode of going native.

You’ll find them sharing knowledge on public forums such as Gitter and Reddit. Or they can be discussing ideas at meetups and hackathons and other startup events, both on- and offline. Most times they are working on real-world projects through platforms like HackerRank or GitHub. Many participate in podcasts.

When you do come across the right type of developer for you, chances are that they will be undertaking several different projects at the same time. This is how they work, contributing across a variety of missions, trying to achieve several different goals. Quite a few are likely running their own startups. Therefore, they won’t want to drop all their ongoing projects to come work for your company, so you’ll need to engage them in a way that resonates with their core belief systems as well as the needs of your project.

Engaging and hiring talent

Great blockchain devs don’t want to join your big company.

With great developers seemingly being few and far in-between (or at least the ones you connect with), they are in extremely high demand. You’ll have massive competition from companies offering all sorts of work to them so you must ensure your company has the right work and culture to match the talent you’re seeking.

They want to work on and solve big problems — you’ve got to provide them a challenge that they can’t get elsewhere. To fully engage and motivate them, they need to believe your project is for a greater good, and it aligns with their own principles. Finally, compensation is always a major factor to be considered as these developers know what they are worth. They are expensive and well worth it. One great blockchain dev will outperform 5 good devs every day of the week.

Taking all this into account, your options may well be very limited. You’ll probably have to choose, do you hire full time, outsource to specialist blockchain startups/platforms, or train an internal team? Each, of course, has its own benefits and pitfalls — full time employees will be much more difficult to find and eventually hire, outsourcing leads to some loss of control on your part, and with very few training resources currently available hiring and paying suitable trainers before training your own devs would be extremely time consuming, costly and still potentially not producing the right quality talents.

Additionally, chances are the developers who are interested in your blockchain projects won’t be geographically located where you are. And they aren’t likely to want to uproot and come to you. This means you’ll have to have remote workers — which is just what these individuals tend to prefer.

Is “acqui-hiring” an option?

Well, as mentioned earlier, many developers will be at their own startups, working remotely or elsewhere working on their own blockchain ideas. As we know, these devs are principally driven, so simply buying them out will NOT make them want to work for your company. Only if there is a clear strategic link between your own blockchain projects and their motivations, and if they believe your company will allow them to take things further than they could alone, will you find devs open to being acquired. However, with most business goals not currently aligned to the developers’ individual goals, this again is a difficult path to tread.

Choosing a path forward

So what do you do? A lot of times you’re going to need to go down multiple paths that include hiring a firm to develop some of your technology for short-term fill the gap measures. Longer term you should be building a learning and training capability to move your high performing developers to become great blockchain devs. Workshops provided by Intrepid Ventures are a good place to start as external sources of learning and development.

Make no mistake about it, finding and hiring great blockchain developers is not simple but it can be done.

Firstly, become an expert yourself in the technology, understand appreciate the underlying belief systems and the cultures associated with decentralized technologists and you’ll be much farther along than your competitors.

Go to where the great blockchain devs hang out. Where they share, where they learn and contribute. Build a reputation for yourself in the ecosystem.

Engaging startups and developers in your specific ecosystem is critical. Join and contribute to local blockchain related meetups. We run Blockchain Startups across most major innovation ecosystems around the world. There are many others. Join and Contribute!

Create a culture on your team/company that will support hard-charging, highly intelligent, principled people, that want to change the world. Lastly, be open to creative solutions to engaging with some of the most in-demand talent on the planet.

Zach Piester is the Co-founder, and Partner of Intrepid Ventures. Intrepid Ventures invests in, designs, builds and scales blockchain powered companies.

Zach focuses on helping Fortune 500 companies leverage the innovation of startup disruptors in blockchain, fintech, distributed ledger, & emerging technologies. Bringing together strategic, creative, & technical skills to help industry leaders understand how innovation, digital capabilities, & organizational design can help transform and sustain their positions at the forefront of their industries.

Here’s what’s in store for you this week: Business spending on developing blockchain technologies has continued to grow, a documentary of a 21-day Bitcoin challenge provides an alternative perspective to crypto adoption in China. We’ve got thoughts from the Blockchain Review on Smart Cities and the new digital economy, as well as insights on human security in the fourth industrial revolution, and much more. Check it out below!

Key news highlights. What’s going on in the world of Blockchain?

Palestinians Are Using Bitcoin to Transact Across Borders Amid Conflict
The While Palestine is not the only politically and economically isolated part of the world where cryptocurrency is making inroads, it’s somewhat unique among these markets in terms of the drivers – and limitations – to adoption. For example, Palestinians do not face the kind of hyperinflation that drives Venezuelans, Iranians and Turks to hodl a digital currency with a limited supply. But another core property of public blockchain networks is particularly appealing in the Palestinian territories: censorship-resistance.
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Business Spending on Blockchain Development Reaches $1.7 Billion
Despite hurdles to use-cases, business spending on blockchain is rising as more enterprises to leverage the technology in automating and streamlining back-office processes. The increasing spending coincides with greater realization over the difficulties of using blockchain for many enterprises. Despite the challenges, At least two-thirds of the survey respondents expect blockchain to deliver “meaningful change” in one area of their business within two years with nearly all seeing change coming in five years.
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The 21-day Bitcoin Challenge
Here’s a documentary series currently airing on iQiyi, China’s Netflix equivalent, about a Chinese bitcoin enthusiast who attempts to survive 21 days by merely living on 0.21 bitcoin, or $1,300, without any help or donations. Given the sheer number of China’s crypto bans, readers who live outside of China may be led to think that there is a bleak outlook for the cryptocurrency environment on mainland China. But this Bitcoin challenge reveals a refreshing perspective on the crypto awareness of people living in these local cities as well as the power of WeChat.
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The latest insights, thoughts, and analysis from the Intrepid Team

Blockchain, Smart Cities, and the New Digital Economy
A technologically accelerating and globalizing world means governments in both developed and developing countries must tackle increasingly complex issues. From economic volatility to mass migration, money laundering, and terrorism, here’s how blockchain technology can be used to build smarter cities, attract human capital and cultivate Industry 4.0.
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How to Build a Model for Human Security in the Fourth Industrial Revolution
Cyber attacks and data fraud/theft are among the top 5 risks most likely to happen to us in the next 10 years. How can we confront the threats to human security posed by the dark side of the Fourth Industrial Revolution? The answer lies in the essence of a nexus between human security, economic security and sustainable development, and technological progress. Here’s how we can build trust and integrity in a hyper-connected society.
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Experts Weigh in on Stablecoins
Stablecoins are designed to maintain a consistent value, either because they are backed 1:1 with fiat currency, utilize collateral or employ an algorithm that adjusts supply accordingly based on activity. While the opportunities related to stablecoins are clear, many challenges still need to be addressed. Read on for views from both ends of the spectrum about this new group of cryptocurrencies.
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Bitcoin Drop Beneficial in Building Market Foundation
Last year, the cryptocurrency market saw unprecedented levels of speculation and interest, as national television networks and mainstream media outlets continued to fuel hype around the emerging asset class. While the bear market of cryptocurrencies in 2018 was devastating for every investor in the market, the correction was needed to ensure that developers and companies within the sector can build proper infrastructure to handle the next wave of interest and demand.
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Updates on what we’re up to and our upcoming events

Exclusive Bonus Coupon for Metabase Tokens
Main sale 1 offers a 15% token bonus and it is going on right now. Use this exclusive bonus coupon code MBT-4f7k and get extra bonus tokens for all purchases starting from as low as 5 USD! You can buy Metabase tokens with your Credit Card, Ethereum, Bitcoin and popular currencies like BitcoinCash, XRP, Litecoin, Bancor, and many more!
Buy Tokens

Invite Friends, Get Extra Tokens
Earn 5% Metabase tokens when your friends buy tokens using your invite link! Simply buy Metabase tokens (min. 5 USD) and send your invite link to friends to start earning. By using your invite link, you are also giving your friends additional bonuses of 1-5% on their first purchase.
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We’ll Be at Blockchain Fair Asia 2018
Collin Thompson, our Co-founder and CEO will take part in a panel “How to Survive in the Crypto Bear Market” with leading VC professionals to discuss the challenges faced by blockchain start-ups in South East Asia at the Blockchain Fair Asia (October 11-12, 2018 Manila). Come say hi if you are around!
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Metabase Network Blog
Many of you have been asking for more information on the Metabase Network project. Here are the updated articles, news, and technical deep dives on our project blog. We would love to hear suggestions and feedback from our community on what articles your would like to see next! Feel free to send us a message on Telegram or our live chat on the blog.
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Want to learn more about blockchain? Check out our new micro-site How Does the Blockchain Work, a clear and non-technical guide on how blockchain, Bitcoin, and Ethereum works, and more. Check it out.

Interested in learning from leading entrepreneurs in the blockchain world? Check out our Founders in Focus interview series on YouTube. A show where we uncover the personal stories and journeys of founders and innovators from the crypto sphere. 

Here’s what’s in store for you this week: There are now more than 2,000 cryptocurrencies on CoinMarketCap, while Singapore and Taiwan are making welcoming moves towards cryptocurrency. We’ve got thoughts from the Blockchain Review on blockchain trade finance platforms, as well as insights on the blockchain-GDPR paradox, designing for blockchain, fundamental rights, and much more. Check it out below!

Key news highlights. What’s going on in the world of Blockchain?

Number of Cryptocurrencies on CoinMarketCap Surpasses 2,000
Before 2009 there were zero cryptos, and when Bitcoin launched in January 2009 it was the only one of its kind, a situation which persisted for years. As of October 3, 2019, the number of cryptos on CoinMarketCap surpassed 2,000, which reveals that the crypto space is flourishing despite the market downturn during 2018. Check out some other interesting figures here.
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Temasek’s Vertex Invests in Cryptocurrency Exchange Binance to Expand in Singapore
Vertex Ventures, the venture capital arm of Temasek Holdings, said it made an investment in Binance to develop a fiat-to-cryptocurrency exchange in Singapore. For Vertex, the oldest venture-capital firm in South-east Asia, investing in the crypto-market is a nod to a relatively new industry that is starting to see institutional money slowly back projects.
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Taiwan Drafting National ICO Standards
The Taiwanese Financial Supervisory Commission is drafting a set of national standards for initial coin offerings. The regulator reportedly aims to make tokens as easy to invest and as liquid as stocks. The Commission emphasizes that it “has no intention of curbing the creativity and productivity associated with cryptocurrencies if they are not used as securities.”
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The latest insights, thoughts, and analysis from the Intrepid Team

Global Trade Rewired: Exploring Blockchain Trade Finance Platforms
Trade finance is a centuries-old industry that has played a pivotal role in the creation of a competitive and productive global economy. But legacy trade finance platforms built on old world technologies are rapidly proving ill-equipped to handle the globalized nature of the economy and increased speed of trade flows. Here’s how blockchain technology can build the global and dynamic trade finance platforms of the future.
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Want to be a Thought Leader in Blockchain?
Apply to be a contributor to The Blockchain Review. Reach thousands of entrepreneurs, investors and blockchain enthusiasts globally.
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Articles, white papers, ebooks, and more

Blockchain GDPR Paradox: Is it a Rising Conflict Between Law and Technology?
GDPR is a new law that protects data security and promotes more control over a person’s individual information and data on digital platforms. Since GDPR became law on 25th May 2018, there is a growing debate among tech experts how it will affect the Blockchain. In fact, the debate is more about how to find a way for blockchain around the GDPR, or how to make it GDPR compliant. Is there really a conflict between GDPR and blockchain technology?
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Designing for Blockchain: What’s Different and What’s at Stake
Blockchain technology is redefining the concept of trust and transforming how we think about the structures of everyday life, from identity to economics, and government. It pushes designers to think systemically and at larger scales — redefining our role and value on teams that are committed to building the decentralized future. Here are some pointers on how to design for trust around a “trustless” technology.
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Application of Blockchain Technology in the Manufacturing Industry
Do you know how blockchain can transform traditional industries? This paper shows both the high potential of blockchain for the manufacturing and machine tool industry in the future, as well as the challenges that occur with that technology. Several use cases of blockchain technology are discussed and conditions under which blockchain solutions might be most beneficial are also covered.
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Virtual Currencies and Fundamental Rights
Virtual currencies, like Bitcoin, raise new legal questions due to their innovative technological concepts. While academic research covers nearly all areas of the technological concepts of those currencies, legal studies have not discussed the relationship between AML regulation (regarding virtual currencies), crime prevention (in conjunction with virtual currencies), the prosecution of crimes involving virtual currencies and fundamental rights. This paper examines the above topics in detail.
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Updates on what we’re up to and our upcoming events

Metabase Network Main Sale 2 – Final Bonus
Main Sale 2 offers a 5% bonus, which will be the last round of bonus sales for the ICO. To allow more users to buy into the sale, the minimum contribution is 5 USD and the buying process has been simplified to 5 minutes.
Buy Now

We are Hiring! Build the Future With Us
We are hiring back-end (Golang, C++) and blockchain protocol engineers! If you are imaginative and can make abstract ideas practical, useful, but totally out of the ordinary, and have a passion for blockchain, apply to join us.
Apply Now

3 Simple Steps to Invite Friends and Get More Tokens
Earn 5% Metabase tokens when your friends buy tokens using your invite link! Simply buy Metabase tokens (min. 5 USD) and send your invite link to friends to start earning. By using your invite link, you are also giving your friends additional bonuses of 1-5% on their first purchase.
Invite Friends

Let’s Shake up the Tech Event Industry in Asia!
We want to know what you want when it comes to events in the digital, innovation and tech space. What’s lacking? What’s awesome? Let us know here!
Let Us Know

Want to learn more about blockchain? Check out our new micro-site How Does the Blockchain Work, a clear and non-technical guide on how blockchain, Bitcoin, and Ethereum works, and more. Check it out.

Interested in learning from leading entrepreneurs in the blockchain world? Check out our Founders in Focus interview series on YouTube. A show where we uncover the personal stories and journeys of founders and innovators from the crypto sphere. 

Here’s what’s in store for you this week: Google ends its ban on certain cryptocurrency ads, and Coinbase launches a crypto index fund for retail buyers. We’ve got thoughts from the Blockchain Review on blockchain technology’s role in supply chain and healthcare transformation, as well as insights on blockchain in healthcare, stablecoins, the PwC global blockchain survey, and much more. Check it out below!

Key news highlights. What’s going on in the world of Blockchain?

Google Ends Cryptocurrency Ad Ban — But Only for Certain Kinds of Ads
Starting this month, Google is reversing part of its sweeping ban on cryptocurrency-related advertising and plans to allow regulated crypto exchanges to buy ads in the United States and Japan. Facebook also started allowing some types of cryptocurrency-related advertising back on its platform in June.
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Blockchain could Improve Transparency in Africa’s Commodity Market
Corruption, mismanagement and opaque business practices have for decades defined Africa’s commodity markets. Governments such as Kenya’s have set up task forces to study the benefits and challenges. The decentralized, distributed ledger technology is also being used to disrupt everything from agriculture in Kenya and savings in Zimbabwe to trade in Nigeria and land fraud in Ghana.
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Coinbase Launches Poor Man’s Crypto Index Fund for Retail Buyers
Coinbase is launching “Coinbase Bundles,” a pre-packaged collection of five cryptocurrencies. The Bundle consists of Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), and Ethereum Classic (ETC). A bundle of five cryptocurrencies can be purchased for a meager sum of $25, and will be introduced to the U.S., E.U, and U.K markets in the coming weeks.
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The latest insights, thoughts, and analysis from the Intrepid Team

Using Blockchain for Supply Chain Transparency and Traceability
The supply chains of today have become difficult to manage and incapable of supporting the complex, on-demand and geographically dispersed production and supply cycles which characterize the globalized digital economy. There is a pressing need for companies to seek out innovative technological tools like blockchain to ensure competitiveness. This article covers the key problems that blockchain can address in the supply chain industry.
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Blockchain Applications in Healthcare: Unlocking a Future of Untapped Potential
Ever wondered about blockchain applications in healthcare? This post will give you a well-rounded introduction to the transformative potential of blockchain in healthcare as well as set out the complex interrelated issues that stand in the way of change.
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Articles, white papers, ebooks, and more

The ICO Market is Not Collapsing. It’s Maturing.
Despite a rash of claims to the contrary, the ICO market remains quite robust with $1.4 billion raised in August — an increase of 44% over the prior month. All signs point to a maturing ICO market: fundraising grows more competitive, more established companies wade in, and security tokens show their first signs of life. For the first time, Singapore hosted more ICOs than the U.S.
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How Blockchain Is Impacting Healthcare And Life Sciences Today
We are now seeing a rapid expansion of blockchain-based technology offerings, many of them in the Healthcare and Pharma/Biotech spaces. Though still in the early days and many of these value propositions remain little more than prototypes, the rate of evolution is surprisingly fast. Here’s a review of some of the emerging use-cases and where blockchain in healthcare will head in the imminent future.
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Here’s Everything You Need to Know about Stablecoins
A ‘stablecoin’ is a cryptocurrency that’s price is pegged to a real-world asset like gold or the dollar. With over 50 projects in development, here’s a guide to what they’re used for, how they work, and why people are excited about them. The guide also covers the challenges that stablecoins face to give you a balanced perspective before you jump in.
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Blockchain in Business – PwC Global Blockchain Survey
Everyone is talking about blockchain, and no one wants to be left behind. As a distributed, tamperproof ledger, a well-designed blockchain doesn’t just cut out intermediaries, reduce costs, and increase speed and reach. It also offers greater transparency and traceability for many business processes. Gartner forecasts that blockchain will generate an annual business value of more than US $3 trillion by 2030. Here are four strategies for blockchain business success, and more.
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Updates on what we’re up to and our upcoming events

Simon Phipps joins Metabase Network Advisory Board
We are excited to announce that Simon Phipps has joined as an advisor. Simon has over 25 years experience in the insurance industry. He currently leads global development and blockchain initiatives at The Digital Insurer, the worlds leading forum for digital innovation in insurance. Read on for more of Simon’s expertise and the reason he joined Metabase!
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Let’s Shake up the Tech Event Industry in Asia!
We want to know what you want when it comes to events in the digital, innovation and tech space. What’s lacking? What’s awesome? Let us know here!
Let Us Know

Exclusive Bonus Coupon for Metabase Tokens
Main sale 1 offers a 15% token bonus and it is going on right now. Use this exclusive bonus coupon code MBT-4f7k and get extra bonus tokens for all purchases starting from as low as 5 USD! You can buy Metabase tokens with your Credit Card, Ethereum, Bitcoin and popular currencies like BitcoinCash, XRP, Litecoin, Bancor, and many more!
Buy Tokens

3 Simple Steps to Invite Friends and Get More Tokens
Earn 5% Metabase tokens when your friends buy tokens using your invite link! Simply buy Metabase tokens (min. 5 USD) and send your invite link to friends to start earning. By using your invite link, you are also giving your friends additional bonuses of 1-5% on their first purchase.
Invite Friends

Webinar: Blockchain Digital Marketing & Sales Masterclass
If you’re one of the many out there assembling a company that is fueled by blockchain technology, you’ll find yourself not only having to stand out from the crowd but also having to establish trust in for your technology and organisation. Join us in this webinar on defining a successful content marketing strategy, thought leadership through content, building a community of followers, leveraging analytics and automation to make smarter and quicker decisions.
Sign Up

Want to learn more about blockchain? Check out our new micro-site How Does the Blockchain Work, a clear and non-technical guide on how blockchain, Bitcoin, and Ethereum works, and more. Check it out.

Interested in learning from leading entrepreneurs in the blockchain world? Check out our Founders in Focus interview series on YouTube. A show where we uncover the personal stories and journeys of founders and innovators from the crypto sphere. 

Here’s what’s in store for you this week: Prominent thought leaders and organisations in South Korea and the United States are advocating for changes in blockchain and crypto regulations, and Yale University invests in a crypto fund. We’ve got thoughts from the Blockchain Review on crypto assets – a new digital asset class, as well as insights on blockchain in clean tech innovation, how the blockchain could flip Google’s ad economy, and much more. Check it out below!

Key news highlights. What’s going on in the world of Blockchain?

Why A Bill To Define Blockchain Could Be ‘Dangerous’
After a bill aimed at establishing a definition for blockchain technology was introduced in Congress, a few in the crypto community raised concerns. Here’s why a definition of blockchain could impact technological innovation and development.
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South Korean Regulators Discuss Proposals for ICO Legislation
It has been about a year since ICOs were banned in South Korea, but the government has yet to introduce a set of guidelines for them. Korean lawmakers are increasingly pushing for the regulation of ICOs with multiple bills currently pending at the National Assembly. Meanwhile, the Korean Blockchain Association has also come up with its own set of self-regulatory guidelines for crypto exchanges and ICOs. Here’s more on future directions in South Korean regulations.
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Yale Invests in Crypto Fund That Raised $400 Million
Yale University, the Ivy League school that has invested in everything from Puerto Rican bonds to timber in New Hampshire, is getting into the market for cryptocurrencies. The university is said to be one of the investors that helped to raise $400 million for a major new cryptocurrency-focused fund, Paradigm. This fund reportedly plans to invest in “early-stage” crypto-focused projects, new blockchains and digital asset exchanges. Here’s why Yale’s decision matters.
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The SEC’s Approval Of a Bitcoin ETF and the Associated Consequences
Despite the dismal performance of crypto assets, this space continues to receive attention from prominent thought leaders in traditional capital markets, making it evident that this industry shows promise and is much more than a well-thought-out fad or trend. Read on for reasons on why crypto is here to stay.
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The latest insights, thoughts, and analysis from the Intrepid Team

Crypto Assets: Beyond Cryptocurrencies to a New Digital Asset Class
Cryptocurrencies have proliferated rapidly ever since the inception of Bitcoin and blockchain technology. Since then, a whole new digital asset class has developed which arguably represents the most significant investment opportunity since the Internet. Understanding this emerging crypto asset class is critical for the development of new businesses, smarter investment strategies and the diversification of traditional portfolios.
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Articles, white papers, ebooks, and more

Blockchain Is A Clean Tech Innovation Catalyst
The electricity grids that power our global economy are undergoing greater, more rapid transformation than any time in their history. With the rise of the Internet of Things (IoT), centralized, cloud-based supercomputing is no longer sufficient for running critical energy infrastructure for the future grid due to two crucial shortcomings. Firstly, centralized supercomputing is relatively and unacceptably insecure, with a single point of failure vulnerable to cyber or other attack. Secondly, the capacity of centralized computing is limited. Here’s why the cleantech industry should pay attention to blockchain.
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What if Ethereum Never Switches its Core Consensus Algorithm?
It’s an idea that may sound blasphemous to developers building the world’s second-largest blockchain, where plans have long been laid for a transition away from bitcoin’s proof-of-work model to a more egalitarian alternative – proof-of-stake (PoS). Yet, several mining companies have invested millions in building specialized mining chips (also called ASICs) for Ethereum, machinery that will only function as long as the network does not switch to PoS. Here’s more on why entrepreneurs continue to invest in building ASICs for Ethereum.
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The 310 BTC Challenge
This is a challenge in which 310 BTC is hidden in the picture shown on the webpage. Whoever finds the key to the coins may keep the Bitcoins. Have fun cracking the code!
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Introducing Cloudflare’s IPFS Gateway to Support Distributed Web Hosting and Serving
Currently, when a user tries to access a website from their browser, their computer tracks down and send a request to a server located somewhere around the world. The server will respond by sending back the content requested to the requester. But when the server is unavailable for some reason (e.g. natural disasters, the owner decides to take it down), the content becomes unavailable. That’s the downside of centralized hosting and the Internet as we know it. The InterPlanetary File System (IFS) that embraces the content decentralization idea aims at changing that by embracing a new decentralized version of the web. Here’s how it works!
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How the Blockchain could Flip Google’s Advertising Economy
Services such as Google and Facebook are free because users are willing to share information about themselves. You are the product, as the saying goes – platforms are incentivised to gain as many users and personal data as they can. Advertising has become the de facto economic driver of the internet, but adherence to a business model that collects personal data to be sold to third parties could change as we see models based on blockchain and tokens. Handled in the right way, tokens need not be extractive, but add value, not just to the platform but to all its users.
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Updates on what we’re up to and our upcoming events

How to Survive in the Crypto Bear Market – Blockchain Fair Asia Panel Discussion
Our Managing Director & Co-Founder, Collin Thompson, will be participating in a panel discussion with leading VC professionals at Blockchain Fair Asia 2018 (October 11-12, 2018 Manila). If you’re in Manila, don’t miss this opportunity to hear insights on challenges faced by blockchain start-ups in South East Asia and how to survive in the crypto bear market.
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Why Blockchain Technology Matters: Building Future-Proof Businesses
The drivers of business success have changed. If you’re an entrepreneur or business owner, you’ve probably noticed the business environment is a lot faster, more global, interconnected, digitized and much more competitive than in years past. Forget the hype and BS. Here’s why entrepreneurs must embrace blockchain technology.
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Blockchain Marketing Landscape Review
In our webinar series with Hubspot, Collin Thompson discusses what’s going on in the blockchain and ICO industry & how Metabase Network is developing a global community. If you are running a blockchain company, read on for insights on how to successfully market a blockchain company and build sustainable blockchain businesses.
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Metabase Network Main Sale 1 Ends Next Week!
Your 15% bonus ends when main sale 1 closes. Use this exclusive bonus coupon code MBT-4f7k and get extra bonus tokens of up to 5000 MBT tokens! You can buy any amount of tokens starting from as low as 5 USD! The token process is so simple it literally takes less than 5 minutes to complete your token order. Try it out now.
Buy Tokens

3 Simple Steps to Invite Friends and Get More Tokens
Earn 5% Metabase tokens when your friends buy tokens using your invite link! Simply buy Metabase tokens (min. 5 USD) and send your invite link to friends to start earning. By using your invite link, you are also giving your friends additional bonuses of 1-5% on their first purchase.
Invite Friends

Let’s Shake up the Tech Event Industry in Asia!
We want to know what you want when it comes to events in the digital, innovation and tech space. What’s lacking? What’s awesome? Let us know here!
Let Us Know

Want to learn more about blockchain? Check out our new micro-site How Does the Blockchain Work, a clear and non-technical guide on how blockchain, Bitcoin, and Ethereum works, and more. Check it out.

Interested in learning from leading entrepreneurs in the blockchain world? Check out our Founders in Focus interview series on YouTube. A show where we uncover the personal stories and journeys of founders and innovators from the crypto sphere.