Author: smogbar

Here’s what’s in store for you this week: The FATF will be issuing clarifications on AML/CFT guidelines to support innovation, while institutional investors and industry continue to show growing interest in cryptocurrencies. We’ve got thoughts from the Blockchain Review on decentralised cryptocurrency exchanges, as well as insights on UX issues, governance models and use-cases in blockchain and much more. Check it out below!

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

Blockchain Could Track the Globes Gold Bullion by 2019
Ethical sourcing is becoming critical in such a high-value sector as precious metals. It will become even more important as reserves of metals such as gold diminish and scarcity develops. Here’s more on providing tracking and transparency to a trillion dollar industry.
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Regulation of Virtual Assets
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which drives the global anti-money laundering agenda, will be issuing clarifications on managing the ML and TF risks of virtual assets, providing guidance to jurisdictions to create a sound AML/CFT regulatory environment in which companies are free to innovate.
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$50 Million Bitcoin Mining Farm Opens in Armenia
Armenia is aiming to create its own Silicon Valley by establishing a free economic zone that will host a state-of-the-art technology center, officials have said. The new mining facility, the country’s first, comes at a time when a number of countries are implementing and expanding blockchain technologies.
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Crypto M&A is on a Tear as Deal-makers See Opportunity in Bitcoin’s Price Slump
Merger and acquisition activity for cryptocurrency companies has more than doubled in the past year amid a 54% slump in bitcoin prices. The industry is in a “land grab” for innovative technology, access to new markets, intellectual property, and talented employees through M&A. Here’s more on the industry’s activity.
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Goldman Sachs and Galaxy Digital’s Mike Novogratz Invest $15 Million in Crypto Custody Firm
In total, BitGo’s series B fund rounding has brought in $58.5 million. Goldman Sachs and Novogratz together contributed, as their clients show growing interest in cryptocurrencies. Goldman Sachs has also reportedly considered creating its own crypto custody. Here’s more on the story.
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The latest insights, thoughts, and analysis from the Intrepid Team

How Decentralised Cryptocurrency Exchanges are Bringing Trust Back to the Cryptosphere
If there is a currency in the world, there has to be somewhere to trade it. Trading can be done on two types of exchanges – centralised and decentralised. This article takes a closer look at the problems with centralised exchanges and explains why decentralised crypto exchanges are needed.
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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

Current User Experience (UX) Issues of the Blockchain Technology
The issue of a blockchain adoption is in the user experience. Overall, the current state of blockchain user experience creates high entry barriers for newcomers, lowers adoption rate and raises more questions than solves actual needs. Here are some distinctive features of any blockchain-based technology that impacts UX and what we can do to improve user-experience and drive blockchain adoption.
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How Blockchain will Allow for Fewer Counterfeit Goods and Faster Product Recalls
There are some promising use cases for how blockchain could help solve some of the problems plaguing retail, and even a few initiatives that are already well underway. It’s worth familiarizing yourself with the areas of retail that could eventually be improved by blockchain. Here are six that technologists, investors, and analysts are excited about now.
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The New Federalism: Blockchain will Decentralise Big Tech’s Power on the Internet
In an era of the rise of decentralised organisations, blockchain governance is becoming a topic of increasing relevance. Platforms similar to the big Internet companies are beginning to emerge, only decentralised and controlled by users, e.g. Steemit (Reddit, decentralised). With no owner/monarch to make unilateral decisions (software updates, pricing policy, revenue distribution), users have to make decisions together. Here are some approaches to governance.
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What China’s Cashless Revolution Can Teach the West About Crypto
The real benefits of China’s cashless revolution lie in how this new, software-based system of value exchange has become a platform on which new business models can be built. So, does China prove that you don’t need a blockchain to build a new Internet of Value, powered by device-to-device exchanges in an Internet of Things economy?
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Updates on what we’re up to and our upcoming events

Get to Know the Metabase Network Advisory Team
We’ve built a blockbuster team of advisors that features leading industry experts from around the world. Get to know them and the other exciting developments we have lined up for building Metabase Network.
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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: A hacker live-streamed a 51% attack on the Bitcoin Private network and succeeded, and the governments of Australia and Seoul are working on serious blockchain projects. We’ve got thoughts from the Blockchain Review on Bitcoin and Ethereum guides made simple, as well as insights on the myth of the current infrastructure phase in blockchain, security token offerings (STOs), and much more. Check it out below!

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

Hacker Livestreams 51% Attack on Bitcoin Private
On Oct. 13, ethical hacker “Geocold” followed through on his promise to 51 percent attack an altcoin. He eventually settled on Bitcoin Private (BTCP), and quickly gained majority hashrate control, but the spectacle was fraught with setbacks, including censorship from two streaming services that pulled the plug. Here’s the process he went through to launch the attack.
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Australia’s NDIS the Next Target for Blockchain
The National Disability Insurance Scheme is going to be the first case study for the Making Money Smart trial, a project to create “smart money” — or programmable money — on a blockchain-based platform. According to Data61, the NDIS “involves highly personalised payment conditions”, which makes it suitable to be the first case study for a proof of concept. Read on for more on the project!
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Censorship-Resistant Social Media Is Here
Over the past few months, Bitcoin Cash developers have been creating applications that are similar to social media and forum platforms like Reddit, Facebook, and Twitter. Anyone in the world can use these Bitcoin Cash-powered applications such as Memo, Blockpress, Keyport, and Matter which offer censorship-resistant versions of these social media giants.
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Seoul Government Plans $100 Million Investment into Blockchain to Build a Smart City
During his nine-day-long visit to Europe, Park Won-soon, mayor of Seoul, revealed that the South Korean capital is planning to implement blockchain technology across a number of key areas in the city’s government over the next five years. The Blockchain Urban Plan will see the technology added to 14 public services in the city. Services that will see blockchain introduction include voting, labor welfare certification issuance, and more.
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The latest insights, thoughts, and analysis from the Intrepid Team

Bitcoin White Paper Made Simple
If you have a general idea about Bitcoin but just can’t seem to make sense of it all, this guide is for you. We cover topics from Proof-of-Work (PoW) and privacy, to payment verification and more.
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Ethereum White Paper Made Simple
This easy to follow guide is designed to help people without an advanced degree in computer geekery understand the Ethereum white paper. We discuss how Ethereum works to what it can be used for.
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Articles, white papers, ebooks, and more

The Myth of The Infrastructure Phase
A common narrative in the Web 3.0 community is that we are in an infrastructure phase and the right thing to be working on right now is building out that infrastructure: better base chains, better interchain interoperability, better clients, wallets and browsers. This article presents an insightful alternative argument – we are not in an infrastructure phase, but rather in another turn of the apps-infrastructure cycle.
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What is a Security Token Offering (STO) and is it Right for Your Business?STO is emerging as a powerful and valuable alternative to private equity and venture capital financing for companies globally. Here are why it is compelling for business owners and what you have to look out for to assess its suitability for your business.
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Interoperability: The Next Frontier Of Blockchain Development
In the barest sense, interoperability refers to networks and systems capable of communicating with each other. Blockchain companies, then, aren’t simply collaborating; they’re trying to create products that are compatible. Here’s why interoperability is important for the cryptospace.
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Is Your Identity Ever Safe Online?
We have all the reasons to feel scared when the biggest social networking site in the world with over 2 billion active monthly users says that its users’ identities got compromised. If Facebook can fall prey to hacking attempts, so can any other online platform in the world. This reaffirms one thing — identity theft is real, and unless necessary actions are taken, you can be its next victim. Here’s how blockchain can put an end to identity theft.
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Updates on what we’re up to and our upcoming events

Bernard Kwan Joins Metabase Network as Advisor
We are extremely excited to announce that Bernard Kwan has joined the Metabase project as an advisor. Bernard is CFO and Partner at Arocrest Capital Management which provides investment and management expertise to Arocrest. He has more than a decade of experience in finance and portfolio management across a diverse range of industries within Asian markets, and more.
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Metabase Network Main Sale 1 Ends in

Here’s what’s in store for you this week: New research argues that EOS isn’t a blockchain, and Hong Kong issues new regulations for virtual assets. We’ve got thoughts from the Blockchain Review on Blockchain & Crypto Hype Cycle: Where We’re at and What’s Coming Next, as well as insights on the evolution of trust, the future of financial infrastructure, and much more. Check it out below!

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

New Regulation in Hong Kong for Crypto Fund Managers, Fund Distributors and Trading Platforms
The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) published a statement setting out its new regulatory framework for virtual assets (also known as cryptocurrencies, crypto-assets and digital tokens). Here’s a closer look into what this new regulatory framework looks like and its key components.
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Researcher Argues EOS isn’t a Blockchain — Just a Distributed Database
Blockchain testing and research company Whiteblock Inc. has released a damning verdict on EOS, describing it as a “distributed homogeneous database” masquerading as a blockchain. In a report titled “EOS: An Architectural, Performance and Economic Analysis,” the company dissects several aspects of the EOS protocol and comes to the conclusion that it suffers from a serious security deficiency as well as network performance that is significantly lower than what was claimed. Here’s more on the research.
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Binance Signs Up 40,000 Crypto Traders in Its First Week in Uganda
Despite global market doldrums, demand for cryptocurrency appears to be booming across Uganda, a country where nearly three out of four people don’t have bank accounts. Binance Uganda signed up 40,000 users in the first week since the world’s largest crypto exchange launched its local subsidiary in October. To address issues faced in the region, the service in Uganda differs from Binance’s flagship global trading platform in at least two other notable ways.
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Cryptocurrency Scams Are Now Among the SEC’s Top Enforcement Priorities
An annual report by the Securities and Exchange Commission reveals how digital currency scams, which did not merit a mention two years ago, are among the agency’s top enforcement priorities. The agency also notes that, while many of its investigations have turned on fraud, it is also pursuing cases to “ensure compliance with the registration requirements of the federal securities laws.” Read on for more of the annual report.
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‘Blockchain’ is Now More Popular Than ‘Cryptocurrency,’ According to Google Data
Google search data reveals people are finally starting to show more interest in blockchain than cryptocurrency. The sentiment that blockchain (the technology) will outlast cryptocurrencies (like Bitcoin) is slowly materializing into a popular mainstream narrative.
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The latest insights, thoughts, and analysis from the Intrepid Team

Blockchain & Crypto Hype Cycle: Where We’re at and What’s Coming Next
A closer look at the last decade reveals blockchain has thus far had a typical journey for an emerging technology on the road to maturity and adoption. A journey that’s evident in the rise of many other innovative and game-changing technologies. We follow the journey of blockchain since Satoshi’s Bitcoin Whitepaper a decade ago, to the increasing adoption among enterprises, financial institutions, regulators, academia and more!
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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.
Read More

Articles, white papers, ebooks, and more

The Evolution of Trust
Why, even in peacetime, do friends become enemies? And why, even in wartime, do enemies become friends? Game theory can help explain our epidemic of distrust – and how we can fix it! To understand game theory and how trust evolves in our world, check out this interactive game.
Play Now

The Future of Financial Infrastructure: An Ambitious Look at How Blockchain Can Reshape Financial Services
The transformation of the financial services industry is top-of-mind for everyone in the field and blockchain might be the hottest topic in the rapidly changing world of Fintech. But how can this technology really help financial firms? This report from World Economic Forum takes a pragmatic approach to answering this question.
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Blockchain 3.0 – Potential Use-cases and Future Adoption
Despite its infancy, ‘Blockchain’ as a concept continues to evolve at a rapid rate, with new iterations of the technology coming out faster than many can keep up with. But what’s next? More importantly, what lies in store for the future of Blockchain, specifically in regards to its practical use-case applications and future adoption?
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Trade Tech – A New Age for Trade and Supply Chain Finance
Trade technologies could narrow the current trade finance gap of $1.5 trillion, representing roughly 10% of global merchandise trade volumes. Individual firms and governments are starting to digitalize and automate their trade and supply chain processes by deploying relatively new technologies, including distributed ledger technology. The United Nations and the World Trade Organization have also been encouraging investment in new technologies to help promote economic development.
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10 Years of the Blockchain: What Is Bitcoin, Really?
The Bitcoin white paper was released into the world 10 years ago on 31 October. Here are thoughts from some influential people in the space—including the guy who spent 10,000 bitcoins on pizza in 2010— on what Bitcoin is and where it’s going.
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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 looking for back-end developers with knowledge and experiences in Go, C++ and LLVM. 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.