How Will Enhancements to Smart Contracts Bolster Blockchain Adoption?

Friends, Blockchain, promises the ability to improve the business processes that occur between companies and lowering the “cost of trust.” This technology may offer significantly higher returns for each investment dollar spent than most traditional internal investments. Credit Suisse has published a nice primer on this topic - download here and take a look. A Smart Contract   is simply a piece of code which is stored in the Blockchain network (on each participant database). It defines the conditions to which all parties using contract agrees. So if required conditions are met certain actions are executed. As the smart contract is stored on every computer in the network, they all must execute it and get to the same result. This way users can be sure, that outcome is correct. These smart contracts are extremely valuable across a wide variety of industries. They eliminate the need for (and fees of) intermediaries and allow transactions to run extremely smoothly. As the regulations and security behind these smart contracts grow stronger in 2018, their adoption will increase. Smart Contracts essentially remove the need for expensive third party involvement to process a transaction. Speed, security and especially OPEX reduction lie at the very core of Blockchain’s value proposition. What is your assessment of Smart Contracts? Send us your thoughts. Lawrence, Cryptocurrency Academy (https://cryptocurrencyacademy.blogspot.com)

When Will Amazon Begin Accepting Crytocurrency Payments?

Friends, with Amazon's market leadership and voracious appetite for innovation begs the question regarding when the behemoth will begin accepting cryptocurrencies as payment for goods and services? Likely beginning with Bitcoin and subsequently expanding into more robust second and third generation cryptocurrencies, Amazon is poised to rise a payments tsunami and reap the incremental sales and revenue benefits. But not so fast you say, a Global 100 transaction-based B2C firm will undoubtedly conduct multiple customer trials to both hone their payment processing model ans well as determine the sweet spot when it comes the number and selection of one or more cryptocurrencies it accepts. Transaction speed, security, scalability and integrity are all "red flag" issues which must be addressed bore this type of payments paradigm shift will occur on a high-volume and global scale. Let us know your predictions here at the Cryptocurrency Academy (https://coinmarketcap.com/all/views/all/), Lawrence

Can Hashgraph Accelerate the Global Adoption of Blockchain?

Friends, as Blockchain begins to move beyond the cryptocurrency arena and transition from its early adopter phase into the mid-market for mass adoption it surely will face many barriers. Enter Hashgraph. Unlike Blockchains in use today, Hashgraph employs the Gossip Protocol, which is a computer-to-computer communication based upon the similar method used by social networks to disseminate information. Every event in a Hashgraph-based Blockchain occurs immediately and is communicated to all other computers in the network. Thus ensuring secure, fair and faster transactions. Bitcoin’s seven transaction per second is exceeded by a quantum leap with Hashgraph which processes hundreds of thousands of transactions per second. Let us know your assessment of Hashgraph’s potential impact on Blockchain adoption within and beyond cryptocurrency transactions. Lawrence, Cryptocurrency Academy (https://cryptocurrencyacademy.blogspot.com)

How Effective Can Blockchain Token Credits be in the Battle against Climate Change?

Friends, we all know that the potential applications of Blockchain go far beyond the realm of cryptocurrencies. Despite the US’ departure from the Paris Accord can Blockchain be used to successfully manage tokenized credits for carbon emissions between the private sector and government regulatory bodies worldwide? Commercial entities – especially in the manufacturing sector – likely will manage excess carbon emissions throughout their supply chains to create carbon neutrality while firms such as privately held Zerofootprint Software and CarbonX Personal Carbon Trading can enable and individuals to manage their carbon emissions. Undoubtedly other vendors and exchanges will rapidly enter this niche. Send us your predictions today! Lawrence, Cryptocurrency Academy (https://cryptocurrencyacademy.blogspot.com)

Which Third Generation Blockchain Platform(s) Will Succeed in 2018?

Which Third Generation Blockchain Platform(s) Will Succeed in 2018? Friends, like any new technology such as smartphones, A.I., machine learning, Blockchain will surely undergo multiple generations before a sustainable market leader or leaders are established.  Blockchain expansion and adoption will reach escape velocity once four critical barriers are addressed: Security, Governance, Scalability and Interoperability. Among the contending third gen platforms vying for the role of market leadership include ICON, Cosmos, Polkadot and Aion. A central element to consider is that unlike their forerunners these emerging platforms are “purpose-built” from the ground up and allow dissimilar systems to communicate. Share your picks with us today! Lawrence, Cryptocurrency Academy (https://cryptocurrencyacademy.blogspot.com)

Will Next Generation Cryptocurrencies Facilitate Trans-Border Trade and Monetary Transactions?

Friends, cryptocurrencies have the potential to increase transaction speed and reduce the cost of trans-border trade and financial transactions. Ripple purports to conduct 1,500 transactions per second, than six times faster than PayPal. What's more, Ripple's transactions comes in at just a fraction of a cent, which could prove significantly more attractive than PayPal, depending on the sender and receiver of funds. Ripple's transactions comes in at just a fraction of a cent, which could prove significantly more attractive than PayPal, depending on the sender and receiver of funds. Transaction speeds vary widely among cryptocurrencies. While currently limited to cross-border payments involving British pounds and Fijian dollars, the early-stage platform is nonetheless designed to scale to handle seven fiat currencies in the South Pacific - including the Australian dollar, the New Zealand dollar and the Tonga pa'anga. Perhaps the platform's most distinguishing characteristic, however, is that the project showcases how private and public Blockchain technologies are increasingly being used in tandem. While IBM's Blockchain solutions are designed to complete much of the workflow around transaction clearing, the actual settlement will be conducted using Stellar's Blockchain. What is your assessment? Lawrence, Cryptocurrency Academy (https://cryptocurrencyacademy.blogspot.com)

Reuters Prepares to Release a new Bitcoin Sentiment Tracker

Friends, it is quite easy to feel overwhelmed by the vast volume of news, ICOs, vendor announcements, etc. concerning the Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency and Blockchain arena. To help us separate real news from the chatter Reuters and its partner MarketPsych Data will scan over 400 portals to select the most relevant market-moving developments and convert them into a tradeable index as part of a new version of its MarketPsych Indices service. Bottom line: Less is more and quality is far more important than quantity of information for traders, investors, VCs, bankers and researchers alike. The goal here is on intelligent “tradeable” information. Send us your thoughts. Lawrence, Cryptocurrency Academy (https://cryptocurrencyacademy.blogspot.com)