Will the Centralized Blockchain Model Proposed by the PBoC Be Applicable Outside of China?

Friends, to no one’s surprise the Peoples Bank of China (PBoC) has strongly advocated a highly centralized approach to BlockChain implementation. The PBoC digital currency research institute leader Yao Qian believes that is impossible to exercise decentralized, informal Blockchain governance on a scale befitting the world’s 2^nd largest economy and the world’s most populous nation. His solution is for the Blockchain to have a central governor. Yao seeks the benefits of distributed ledger technology (DLT) while maintaining a centralized governance structure. In addition, Wang Pengjie, from the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), suggests that the PBOC and the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) should create a Blockchain and digital asset management “approval system,” as well as raised the possibility of establishing a digital asset trading platform at a national level. Bottom line: Given the vast advantages Blockchain offers will a heavily centralized and controlled ecosystem for this technology thwart or facilitate its growth and benefits for the PRC? A secondary question concerns whether such a model is viable outside the PRC’s centrally planned economy and financial system. Send us your comments today. Lawrence, CryptocurrencyAcademy (https://cryptocurrencyacademy.blogspot.com)

Can the Aramco Coin Concept be applied to Other Global Commodities?

Friends, the Aramco coin has its origins from the idea of having a strong currency that has a backing on raw materials … namely crude oil. Aramco has dual headquarters in Saudi Arabia and the UK. The ARM digital coin ICO will begin with 3 phases 1) Phase I - Pre-sale on April 24th, 2018. The pre-sale will run until May 8th, 2018. The incentive for investors during this time is a 15% bonus on all purchases. 2) Phase II - -1 sale on May 9th 2018. The Stage-1 sale will run until May 23th 2018. The incentive for investors during this time is a 10% bonus on all purchases, and 3) Phase 3 -2 sale on May 24th 2018. The Stage-2 sale will run until June 7th 2018. The central question is whether other ARM-like Cryptocurrencies backed by specific commodities or raw materials such as natural gas, copper or platinum are viable – even as niche markets and applications – in the global economy? Let us know your comments. Lawrence, CryptocurrencyAcademy (https://cryptocurrencyacademy.blogspot.com)

Is the Basic Attention Token the solution for Blockchain Digital Advertising?

Friends, digital advertising is one of the next frontiers for Blockchain technology adoption and transformation as we look beyond the Cryptocurrency arena. The Basic Attention Token (BAT) employs the Ethereum Blockchain to issue and distribute its tokens. Some interesting changes will be coming to Basic Attention Token including improved anti-fraud measures and dashboard analytics are coming to publishers and users shortly along with scaling real ad revenue. The BAT team wants to integrate Basic Attention Token into even more applications based on open-source projects with ad buying leverage. Publishers are penalized by who Google and Facebook take 73% of all ad dollars and 99% of all growth. And upwards of 50% of the average user’s mobile data is for ads and trackers carrying a hidden cost of north of $20 USD per month. Bottom line: While there may be no solver bullet solution, can BAT materially help reduce costs and make digital advertising more cost-efficient and relevant for publishers and users alike? Send us know your comments. Lawrence, Cryptocurrency Academy

How Will the Use of Sidechains Benefit Blockchain Implementation?

Friends, sidechains are separate Blockchains which are attached to its parent Blockchain using a two-way peg. The two-way peg enables interchangeability of assets at a predetermined rate between the parent Blockchain and the sidechain. The parent Blockchain is commonly referred to as the ‘main chain’ and all additional Blockchains are referred to as ‘sidechains’. Any transactions occurring on a sidechain can be picked up by nodes on the main chain to record it. Every sidechain will trust the main chain for cross-chain transactions of any kind. Mounting transaction fees and growing confirmation delays have been problems for quite some time now. The developers of Ethereum Classic wish to avoid these issues with the help of a sidechain protocol, rather than an on-chain block size increase a la Bitcoin Cash. Bottom line: Will the continued use of sidechains benefit Blockchain integrity and adoption?  Our belief is yes they will until such time as a new mechanism is developed to test new functionality without putting the parent Blockchain at risk. Let us know your comments. Lawrence, Cryptocurrency Academy (https://cryptocurrencyacademy.blogspot.com)

Energy Consumption and Carbon Emissions Remain the Achilles Heel of Mass Cryptocurrency Adoption.

Friends, although total Bitcoin (or Cryptocurrency) energy consumption is unlikely to usurp global energy availability anytime in the foreseeable future, technologists and entrepreneurs alike who are staking their futures on second and third gen Cryptocurrencies must address this issue if the crypto sector is to grow and flourish. What is the root cause? Many experts point to trust-minimizing consensus has been enabled by the proof-of-work algorithm. Users in a network send each other digital tokens. The decentralized ledger gathers all the transactions into blocks. However, care should be taken to confirm the transactions and arrange blocks. While one could write a dissertation on the PoW algorithm, the preeminent challenge is to either reconstruct or replace the current algorithm with a mechanism which both mitigates trust minimizing censuses building and greatly reduces the computing energy requirements for performing a viable PoW alternative algorithm. And yes, a future Nobel Prize in Economics or Physics likely awaits the savant who solves this dilemma. How close are we to resolving this matter? Our estimate is 6-10+ years. Let us know your comments! Lawrence, Cryptocurrency Academy (https://cryptocurrencyacademy.blogspot.com)

Can Basis Provide the Price Stability with a Viable Peg and an Algorithmic Central Bank Needed to Succeed?

Friends, lack of price stability, a legitimate peg and an algorithmic central bank with fixed currency supply have been major shortcoming of first gen cryptocurrency leaders Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin. Enter Basis … a second generation cryptocurrency purpose-built to overcome these limitations and offer greater accountability to the economies of developing nations. Basis addresses currency expansion and contraction via a three-token system including Base Shares, Basecoin and Base Bonds. Initially Basis will be pegged to the US dollar using simple supply and demand to manage the price of its currency. When too many people want Basis, the protocol increases the supply of the currency. It does the opposite when demand is weak. Basis is backed by an impressive list of investors and advisors such as Lightspeed Venture Partners, former Federal Reserve governor Kevin Warsh, hedge fund manager Stan Druckenmiller, Bain Capital Ventures and respected VC Andreessen Horowitz. Only time will tell if Basis will succeed. Our key takeaway is that Basis does represent a highly credible move beyond the “wild west” of first gen cryptocurrencies and deserves a serious look as a viable payment method. Let us know your comments! Lawrence, Cryptocurrency Academy (https://cryptocurrencyacademy.blogspot.com)

Taking a Fresh Look at Cryptocurrency Wallets

Friends, many newcomers to Cryptocurrency trading ask the fundamental question of which Wallet is best for me? There are a myriad of Wallets on the market today including Jaxx, TLDR, Trezor, KeepKey, Nano Ledger S, MyEtherWallet, Coinbase, and Electrum to name a few. Whether software, hardware or paper Wallets the central issue is what are your needs and goals for a Crypto Wallet? And yes, as second and third generation Cryptocurrencies come to market we are likely to see new Wallet genres emerge. Key factors here include are your trading one (or more Cryptocurrencies), how many transactions do you plan to make over the next month, year or beyond, and what are your security requirements. Your answers to these questions will generally guide you to the Wallet category and even brand that will fulfill your needs. TechWorm offers up three guidelines that will help you make the best choice: First, Hot Wallets – Web Wallets and Self-Hosted Wallets – are connected to the Internet and are considered less secure. Second, always create a seed phrase or private key back-up (electronic, paper, etc.) And third, use Cold Storage Wallets which are not Internet-connected for storing large numbers of keys … and in turn larger values of Cryptocurrencies. Hope this helps. Let us know your comments! Lawrence, Cryptocurrency Academy (https://cryptocurrencyacademy.blogspot.com)