Can IP Rights Management be used to Secure Blockchain Distributed Ledgers?

Colleagues, once again the precipitous rise of Blockchain related technology far outpaces both third party and government standards. A prime example – among many – is the IP management for Blockchain concerning DistributedLedger Technology (DLT). Entities that or use or develop the technology will quickly need to become conversant with its IP implications, and to have a good understanding of the offensive and defensive strategies available to them. Failure to do so may be a risk to market share or proprietary business strategies. While there is little question that the Blockchain can store claims to authorship without a central authority to censor, take down or potentially tamper with original work it remains to be seen if it can prevent IP infringement is another question. Send us your comments. Lawrence, Cryptocurrency Academy (https://cryptocurrencyacademy.blogspot.com)

How Will Atomic Swaps Impact Cryptocurrency Adoption?

Friends, Atomic Swaps (aka Cross-Blockchain Messaging) are a cryptographically powered smart contracts which enable two entities to exchange different cryptocurrencies/tokens without the risk of a trade default within your wallet. This new development can take the promise of decentralization to a higher level, particularly when it comes to exchanging different cryptocurrencies or tokens for one another. Atomic Swaps are the way to aid P2P trades in a completely trustless manner. Komodo’s JL777 recently conducted a successful electrum atomic swap on their platform with Bitcoin and Komodo as the trading pair. In theory they would appear to be a major breakthrough.  However, in reality can they ensure the integrity, security and reliability? Send us your thoughts. Lawrence, Cryptocurrency Academy (https://cryptocurrencyacademy.blogspot.com)

How did China’s Bitmain Become a Cryptocurrency Mining and AI Powerhouse?

Friends, Bitmain – a 4 year old start-up in Beijing - sells Antminer bitcoin mining rigs that can cost several hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars each … apparently with healthy gross and operating margins. The firm also operates "mining pools" in which participants collaborate on bitcoin mining in order to cut costs. Bitmain has also introduced new AI products that are a customized tensor computing ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) optimized for training functions for deep learning networks. Later this year Bitmain is expected to will likely migrate some of its chips to TSMC’s 10nm and the most advanced 7nm. Can Bitmain sustain this meteoric growth … especially if Bitcoin prices stagnate? Let us know your views. Lawrence, Cryptocurrency Academy (https://cryptocurrencyacademy.blogspot.com)

Will Byzantine Fault Tolerance Enable Blockchain Adoption Beyond Cryptocurrencies?

Friends, Byzantine fault tolerance (BFT) is the resistance of a fault-tolerant computer system, especially distributed computing systems, towards electronic component failures where there is imperfect information on whether a component is failed. In a "Byzantine failure", a component such as a server can inconsistently appear both functioning and failed to failure-detection systems, presenting different expressions to different observers. Perhaps nowhere is BFT more essential than on a Blockchain. Most traditional distributed computing environments have central configuration databases or authorities that can help right wrongs in the event that Byzantine failures occur. Blockchain applications, starting with Bitcoin’s Proof-of-Work consensus method, are today proposing solutions to this challenge. Can BFT and/or dBFT help solve this dilemma? Send us your comments. Lawrence, Cryptocurrency Academy (https://cryptocurrencyacademy.blogspot.com)

World Economic Forum’s Predictions for Blockchain

Friends, earlier this month in Davos, Switzerland the World Economic Forum weighed-in on the future of blockchain and its impact the global economy. Here is a synopsis: Blockchain can transform certification and traceability for all manner of commodities. It does so by tracking products from producer to consumer, by creating binding contracts without the need for third party enforcement, and by eradicating the manipulation of data on origin, content, production, and health and safety. Dubbed a new operating system for society, Blockchain has been compared to the creation of the Internet for the extraordinary impact it could have on how we transfer things of value to each other. Only the vision and ingenuity of people and partnerships can realize the true potential of blockchain technology for our wellbeing, future prosperity and enterprise. Yes, this is a 30k foot view of a highly complete technology … nonetheless it offers a glimpse into the thinking of some strategic political, economic and technology thinks. So what is your take? Share your thoughts with us. Lawrence, Cryptocurrency Academy (https://cryptocurrencyacademy.blogspot.com)

How Effective is CCSS in Governing the Global Cryptocurrency Ecosystem?

Friends, like all emerging technologies government or third party standards tend to lag the pace of research and development by the private sector and academic studies. The obvious question for the cryptocurrency arena is whether the CryptoCurrency Security Standard (CCSS) can effectively govern this emerging technology with its hyperspeed innovation, growth and a diverse ecosystem of global currencies, exchanges and trading platforms while protecting the security and integrity of investors and traders alike? Currently CCSS addresses ten elements of cryptocurrencies: Key/seed generation, Key storage, Third party security audits/pentests, Data sanitation, Audit logs, Key compromise, Key usage, Keyholder grant/revoke, Key/seed generation and Wallet creation. While many ecosystem players can achieve Level I certification it remains to be seen how many entities will acquire Level II let alone Level III status. Please share your thoughts and predictions. Lawrence, Cryptocurrency Academy (https://cryptocurrencyacademy.blogspot.com)

How Will Blockchain Innovations Impact Industries & Business Process?

Friends, among the major Blockchain innovations are Taxation, Tokenized Assets, Data Mining, Public Trust and secure Identification. Most of us are aware that FinTech and Cryptocurrencies are just the tip of the iceberg for Blockchain. The technology is poised to transform other industries from healthcare to supply chain and far beyond. The key question is how the innovations (and challenges) identified above) will enable or impede Blockchain adoption as the technology moves from early adopter (financial assets) to0 mass market? Share your comments and predictions with us today. Lawrence, Cryptocurrency Academy (https://cryptocurrencyacademy.blogspot.com)