June 21, 2021, 2:10 p.m.

#19: Apply to the 2nd open call • Would a digital currency still be private? • The Bitcoinification of El Salvador • How Amazon tracks us • DTravel, new competitor to Airbnb • TradeLens wins new partners in China

Five Minute Blockchain

TruBlo Newsletter

A weekly update on the topics of trust, content and blockchain.

Website: Trublo.eu


Apply to the TruBlo Open Call 2 until September 10, 2021

The second of our three open calls has started. The budget this time is a total of 1.45 million Euro. From all applications, a total of 15 participants will be selected. Apply before September 10, 2021

TruBlo: Kick-off with first 10 projects this week.

This week, on Thursday and Friday, we are conducting two kick-off days with selected projects from open call #1. Step by step, we will publish profiles of the selected projects on the TruBlo webpage.


Updates this week:

TRUST

UK: How would a digital currency affect the economy?

The Bank of England has published an open discussion paper called “New forms of digital money”.

There is no indication yet regarding any specific plans to initiate a stablecoin or a central bank digital currency (CDBC). Instead, the paper is the start of a discussion.

The step has led to articles being published in UK newspapers such as The Guardian.

Key questions are:

  • How would such a digital currency affect the banking sector?
  • What about privacy - would the state know about every account? While this would reduce tax evasion, the question is: Would people try to move their money elsewhere?

The Guardian: The UK economy could be transformed by a central bank digital currency

In other news: European Central Bank representative says “digital Euro would protect privacy” (via Coindesk)


Project: Connected Home over IP (CHIP) aims to secure Internet of Things devices

A new connected home standard aims to enable better security of smart home devices, even from different manufacturers.

“Trust among devices can enable scenarios like an autonomous security robot checking the security clearances of drones flying overhead, or a self-checkout register at a grocery store that flags recalled meat when someone tries to buy it”.

Fintech News


Debate over technology use of resources such as energy, water

In the US, communities in regions facing drought are reconsidering the presence of large data centers.


How Amazon tracks you (and how to stop it)

Amazon, like the other tech companies, conducts extensive tracking of users. For many, this might not be that much of a problem, because they happy customers and are ordering frequently from Amazon. But it is worth looking into how much, where and how the company tracks users - and to know how to limit this practice.

Wired UK


CONTENT


Former executives from Airbnb, Expedia launch Dtravel

The company, founded in Australia, is “a decentralized platform for the home-sharing economy facilitating short and long-term stays payable with cryptocurrency and traditional payment methods”. The company has received $5M in seed capital.

DTravel: Announcement


Report from Buenos Aires: “Rise and fall of the house of Bitcoin”

A story about a “haven” for crypto developers in Argentina - which first prospered, then disappeared.

“Cryptocurrency offered a means of circumventing the volatility of the local economy, and the members of Voltaire House were early adopters. They believed that Bitcoin would enable them to build a future that didn’t depend on decaying institutions.”

Rest of World


The Bitcoinification of El Salvador

Bloomberg has a (free to access) story about El Zonte, a small beach town in El Salvador. “An anonymous donor turned a tiny Pacific coast town without a bank into the world’s biggest Bitcoin experiment.”

Bloomberg


Fox TV wants to be part of the the NFT market, with a $100m project budget

The company plans to launch a new show, called “Krapopolis”, from “Rick and Morty creator Dan Harmon. There is a $100 million project budget. The hope is that material from this show can help to make money from NFTs (non-fungible tokens).

“Fox said Tuesday that “Krapopolis” will feature blockchain-related content “from character development right up through premiere night in 2022.” A spokesperson told CoinDesk the project will be based on Ethereum.

Coindesk


The NFT market as an example of use cases for content, creative work

An article on Cointelegraph summarizes NFT (non-fungible tokens) and what happened so far. The article lists up examples of successful sales and discusses how this use of blockchain technology could potentially benefit creative work.

Cointelegraph


Decentraland, launched in 2020, reports record sum of money paid for digital land

“A set of land in virtual world Decentraland has sold for a record-breaking $913,808 worth of MANA, the game’s Ethereum-based cryptocurrency.”

The Block Crypto


BLOCKCHAIN


”Big short” investor Michael Burry warns about a crypto crash

Quote:

“Burry is best known for being the first investor to foresee and profit from the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis that occurred between 2007 and 2010. He is profiled in “The Big Short,” a book by Michael Lewis about the mortgage crisis, which was made into a movie starring Christian Bale.”

What he said on Twitter:

“All hype/speculation is doing is drawing in retail before the mother of all crashes. #FOMO Parabolas don’t resolve sideways; When crypto falls from trillions, or meme stocks fall from tens of billions, Main Street losses will approach the size of countries. History ain’t changed.”

Bitcoin.com


TradeLens extends network with ten members from China

Container shipping could be one economic sector where blockchain could reduce paperwork and costs. This is why the progress of the TradeLens project is considered as an indicator of market acceptance.

“TradeLens, a joint initiative between IBM and Maersk that aims to digitize the paperwork in the container shipping industry through blockchain, announced that more than ten members have joined the network in China following its launch in the region on May 10. TradeLens started activities in China just two months after Hong Kong-based competitor GSBN received regulatory approval to operate in Asia. Using IBM technologies, the joint initiative with Maersk promotes a platform for participants in global trade to safely share information and collaborate digitally. Besides tracking and sharing information stored on the blockchain with permissioned parties, TradeLens also digitizes key trade documents such as Bills of Lading.”

Ledger Insights


Yieldly launches cross-blockchain bridge from Algorand platform to Ethereum

“Interoperability is one of the most constraining issues facing the crypto industry today. Countless blockchains remain siloed, existing separately from one another, unable to communicate or share value. Today, we launch Yieldly Bridges, the world’s first cross-blockchain bridge designed to unlock liquidity across the Algorand (ASA) platform and other major chains, including Ethereum, Polygon, and Binance.”

Yieldly


Thank You for reading.

Did we miss something you think would have been relevant? Let us know: info@trublo.eu

Do you work for or know a European company doing innovative work with blockchain? Sent us a link.

Do you have other feedback or suggestions? Contact us


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