The Blockchain for Social Impact Coalition (BSIC) will host a month-long virtual hackathon from September 7th, 2017 through October 7th, 2017.  During the hackathon, members of the BSIC will provide guidance and contextual support to participating teams, whose aim will be to build proof-of-concept solutions in the following four categories:

• Financial Inclusion
• Supply Chain
• Identity & Vulnerable Populations
• Energy & Environment
  
  

The event will give developers a unique opportunity to test their skills in blockchain, and to tap into BSIC members’ expert knowledge and contextual support so that participating teams can fully understand the real world problems they are working to solve. 

Participants will also gain access to a range of technical, humanitarian, and business mentors to help with all aspects of their projects. Localized events are planned, too, so that the teams can collaborate on projects with mentors and BSIC members in person.  

A post-hackathon conference will be held where teams will pitch their proof-of-concepts to partner organizations and potential investors in an effort to get funding that will enable them to further develop their solutions.

The BSIC is implementing this model in the hopes of shifting economic and social paradigms through blockchain technology... learn more: https://www.ethnews.com/events/blockchain-for-social-impact-coalition-to-hold-virtual-hackathon

On September 14, 2017, the Washington Post published some thoughts on cryptocurrency from Arthur Levitt, the longest-serving chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

In contrast with JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, Levitt believes that cryptocurrency is “here to stay.”“It’s quite speculative,” said Levitt, who is unsure whether he would invest in bitcoin itself. The ex-chairman was well-known for his focus on investor protection.

“[Cryptocurrency] fluctuates for reasons that are hard to understand.” Nonetheless, he suggested, “I would consider investing in companies that use bitcoin, or trade in bitcoin.”Investing in the institutional infrastructure certainly seems like a wise strategy.

Rather than worry about the day to day vagaries of price, one might want to bet on the continued existence of cryptocurrencies.

Although Chinese exchanges are under fire at the moment, there are plenty of countries where legal cryptocurrency businesses are thriving (e.g., the United States, The Philippines, South Korea).

Looking to the future, Levitt said, “I don’t know whether it will be bitcoin or Ethereum, to name just two. But it’s here to stay because of the disparity between countries where a monetary system is robust and countries where there is virtually no monetary system.

This comes up as an alternative currency. ”Over the last decade, millions of people around the world have seemingly lost faith in their governments. So, In light of geopolitical and economic shifts, it’s almost unsurprising that private cryptocurrencies, which function without government direction, arose as an alternative. 

ETHNewspreviously featured the potential for cryptocurrency in unstable economic and political situations.When citizens lose faith in the justice system, vigilantism may take root. In a sense, non-fiat cryptocurrency represents a parallel of financial vigilantism.

Levitt’s statements certainly align with this viewpoint, which emphasizes individual economic empowerment.In a previous interview with the Post, Levitt said of his SEC tenure,

“My overwhelming focus was on the importance of the individual investor over corporations, over market structure, over everything else.”

Private cryptocurrencies clearly grant power to people rather than governments. Only time will tell whether this economic experiment is sustainable in the long-run.

MATTHEW DE SILVA

Matthew is a writer with a passion for emerging technology. Prior to joining ETHNews, he interned for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as well as the OECD. He graduated cum laude from Georgetown University where he studied international economics. In his spare time, Matthew loves playing basketball and listening to podcasts. He currently lives in Los Angeles. Matthew is a full-time staff writer for ETHNews. 

Discover more news like this on Ethnews here: 
https://www.ethnews.com/former-sec-chair-arthur-levitt-cryptocurrency-is-here-to-stay

The CEO of JP Morgan just called one of the best-performing currencies of the past decade “a fraud” and said he’d fire employees for trading it.

Jamie Dimon, JP Morgan’s CEO and one of the most prominent bank chiefs on the planet, believes bitcoin is doomed. At a gathering of investors hosted by Barclays in New York, Dimon referred to bitcoin as a “fraud” and told a group of professional investors what would happen to JP Morgan traders taking bitcoin action: “I’d fire them in a second. 

For two reasons: it’s against our rules, and they’re stupid. And both are dangerous.”This statement is in stark contrast to a tsunami of interest by traditional financial institutions, such as Goldman Sachs, in the cryptospace this year. Even cybersecurity professionals like John McAfee, who is not a financial expert but knows a thing or two about computers and technology, are becoming true believers. 

Moreover, the blockchain that powers bitcoin is predictable and has been running since 2009. Known issues with the cryptocurrency were addressed in the SegWit fork which created two versions of the coin. This isn’t the sign of a dying currency. 

This is a sign that this ecosystem is self-regulating, solves its own problems, and is growing.    Reportedly, Dimon further told the conference of investors that bitcoin “won’t end well,” that it’s “worse than tulip bulbs,” and that “someone’s going to get killed.” This is rather strong language coming from a man whose company was integral in forming a cryptocurrency business consortium. 

So what do Dimon’s comments mean? Is he saying that it’s easier conduct illicit activity with cryptocurrency than cash? Is this just a case of a banker appeasing his buddies during a high powered lunch, or was Dimon actually trying to caution investors against cryptocurrencies?  Jamie Dimon doesn’t make money off of bitcoin. 

The majority of investors Dimon was addressing likely don’t either. They make their money off of fiat, so Dimon’s remarks could just be posturing in front of his contemporaries. Phrases like, “If you were in Venezuela or Ecuador or North Korea or a bunch of parts like that, or if you were a drug dealer, a murderer, stuff like that, you are better off doing it in bitcoin than U.S. dollars,” expose his naiveté. 

Places like Venezuela use cryptocurrencies not because they are criminals, but because their fiat currencies have failed them alongside their governments. So in turn, those people adopt crypto because it is stable and reliable. If sanctions are placed on your country, again, cryptocurrencies are a viable alternative and don’t care if you are good or evil. 

People care about politics and the differences between us. Crypto’s don’t.  Bloomberg reports that Dimon further differentiated between bitcoin and blockchain technology, saying that blockchain could be useful. This is comforting to hear from Dimon, considering his company has actually developed its own blockchain. 

In fact, JP Morgan’s blockchain lead had her own amusing reaction to the inflammatory statements:

Upon greater reflection, Dimon may realize that blockchain technology could not exist without cryptocurrencies like bitcoin or Ether. Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin are actually some of the best performing currencies ever.  

So why does Dimon despise them?Simple. Dimon told the gathering of investors “someone’s going to get killed and then the government’s going to come down. You just saw in China, governments like to control their money supply.

”Maybe what Jamie Dimon is hoping for is that the government will come down on cryptocurrencies and save him – just like they did in 2008 when his company took $12billion in US taxpayer bailout money.

If bitcoin fails, how much will we have to pay?
Discover more stories like this on Ethnews here: https://www.ethnews.com/jp-morgan-ceo-jamie-dimon-decries-bitcoin-to-banker-buddies

The Times Higher Education World University Rankings for 2018 uses 13 “carefully calibrated performance indicators to provide the most comprehensive and balanced comparisons, trusted by students, academics, university leaders, industry and governments.

” The findings for their 2018 international league table were independently audited for data accuracy by PwC, making this the “only global university rankings subjected to full, independent scrutiny of this nature.

” A quick glance at the list reveals many of the world’s top schools are also ones adding blockchaineducation to their courses and modules. This is an indication that jurisdictional competition between universities is going to now include blockchain technology offerings as institutions compete to attract the best academic talent.

Many industries have already turned to blockchain, and recognized it alongside machine learning and artificial intelligence as fundamental to the transforming global economy.

Organizations like Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, and IBM already have a presence in the space. It was only a matter of time before academia and government followed suit.

To better understand how universities are remaining relevant by incorporating blockchain technology into their curriculums, ETHNewsspoke with Dr. TAN Chuan Hoo of the National University of Singapore, one of Times Higher Education 2018 top performing universities. TAN told ETHNews:

“Blockchain is an emerging disruptive technology that has critical applications in the financial sector. It is important that our Information Systems students are equipped with a robust understanding of latest technologies and have updated skillsets to deploy them smartly in key industry sectors, such as the financial industry.

This year, we are launching the financial technology specialisation in our Bachelor of Computing (Information Systems) degree programme. In this specialisation, we have three core modules and three elective modules. The module on blockchain technology is one of the three core modules under the financial technology specialisation.”

Perhaps there is an equation that describes how technological adoption plays out at institutions of higher education. That might explain why forward thinking academics arrived at a consensus about blockchain’s importance after the power brokers of big business.

Regardless, it seems both industry and academia will be exploiting the benefits of blockchain technology long before many governments of the world. If such an equation that describes these relationships does exist, it may be found by one of the following world class academic institutions.

 While nearly every school on Times Higher Education’s 2018 list is likely to offer some form of blockchain related course, club, or society, ETHNews took time to identify a few of the pack leaders.

Times Higher Education’s 2018 #2 University of Cambridge, UK

The University of Cambridge has been maintaining academic excellence and has been a world class research institution for nearly 1000 years. Its Centre for Alternative Finance at the Judge Business School recently published a landmark study on cryptocurrencies. 

Times Higher Education’s 2018 #8 Imperial College London, UK

Imperial College London often plays second fiddle to the Oxbridges of the United Kingdom; however, their Centre for Cryptocurrency Research and Engineering is already world class.  

Times Higher Education’s 2018 #15 University of California, Los Angeles, USA 

UCLA’s Blockchain Lab beats out stiff competition in California. 

Times Higher Education’s 2018 #19 Cornell, USA

Cornell might be frozen over half of the year, but it’s one of the hottest blockchain universities on the planet. Cornell is where Citi sends their employees to learn from professors like Emin Gun Sirer.  

Times Higher Education’s 2018 #22 National University of Singapore

The National University of Singapore has blockchain partnerships with IBM as well as unique course offerings.It will be exciting to see what developments will come out of universities, now that they are catching up to the blockchain technology revolution. TAN continued:

“We see teaching blockchain technology as a very good fit in our Bachelor of Computing (Information Systems) degree programme. Our students are not only trained in programming, but also in enterprise platform design, development and deployment. Teaching blockchain technology as an advanced module is a natural, fitting choice.”

Discover more stories like this on Ethnews here: 
https://www.ethnews.com/times-higher-education-reveals-academia-is-adopting-blockchain-technology

On August 28, 2017, Ethereum blockchain-based professional social media network Indorseannounced it would airdrop 65,000 IND tokens to holders of TenX (PAY), Digix (DGD), CoinDash(CDT), and 0x (ZRX) tokens based on a snapshot of the blockchain taken on August 18, 2017.

Indorse will not disburse tokens to Ethereum addresses containing more than 3,000 or less than 0.01 Ether to avoid sending tokens to inactive and exchange accounts.

David Moskowitz, Indorse co-founder and CEO, said that giving the tokens to users will facilitate activity and capture a wider audience. "In choosing to airdrop our tokens to these communities, we ensure not only wide distribution, but also that our tokens will be placed in the hands and wallets of some of the most active and engaged token holders in the Ethereum network.

”The airdrop will take place automatically, so nothing needs to be done. But users interested in doubling their airdrop are directed to sign up on an official Indorse website by September 4, 2017. Indorse warns users not to give out private keys to any site.

The company said it will not ask for private keys, and so a site asking for a private key and claiming to be Indorse is a scam. Moskowitz said Indorse has a reward-centric approach, "by providing a platform on which users can use crowd-verified endorsements to further their reputations.

As such, our ecosystem flourishes as active and engaged participants, receive financial rewards from engaging on the network, in the form of IND tokens.”Indorse's collaborative efforts have caught the attention of others in the community and have been met with support from developers.

Co-founder of Digix Global Shaun Djie acknowledged Indorse's past efforts.  "The team at Indorse have been long time supporters of the Ethereum and Digix communities," he said. "We are very happy to support them in their efforts to expand the universe of IND holders.

"Adam Efrima, COO of CoinDash, spoke about his company's future support of IND tokens. "The IND token will be added to CoinDash ecosystem soon, following the airdrop our users will be able to manage one more asset in their CoinDash portfolio.

”TenX co-founder Dr. Julian Hosp expressed how the...continue reading: https://www.ethnews.com/indorse-announces-token-airdrop

Golem is a global, open sourced, decentralized supercomputer that anyone can access. It's made up of the combined power of user's machines, from personal laptops to entire datacenters.

Anyone will be able to use Golem to compute (almost) any program you can think of, from rendering to research to running websites, in a completely decentralized & inexpensive way.

The Golem Network is a decentralized sharing economy of computing power, where anyone can make money 'renting' out their computing power or developing & selling software....learn more about Golem an Ethereum Dapp: 
https://golem.network/

On August 16, 2017, SingularDTV announced the launch of an entertainment division that will finance, produce, and distribute its own original content, in addition to acquiring exclusive content.Co-founder of SingularDTV Kim Jackson will serve as President of Entertainment, providing leadership and direction for the studio's media goals.

She will be joined by film distribution executive Jason Tyrrell, who will be the team’s Vice President of Content. Tyrrell, who has a decade of experience, will lead the studio's plans for acquisition and distribution.In a short statement, Jackson recounted the development of SingularDTV and its possibilities: “SingularDTV grew out of the need for a profitable revenue model for independent artists.

With blockchain technology we are developing tools for a new entertainment economy, that will empower artists and provide a profitable new value exchange with audiences.”Tyrrell remarked on the tremendous capabilities of SingularDTV’s technology and the impact that the company will have on the entertainment industry:

"SingularDTV’s groundbreaking approach to production and distribution is radically altering the entertainment landscape, creating a new ecosystem in which creatives can operate with complete autonomy and an unprecedented degree of transparency.  I can’t wait to share our vision with filmmakers and consumers across the world."

SingularDTV has the distinction of crowdfunding $7.5 million worth of Ether in less than 20 minutes back in October of 2016. Since then, the value of Ether has skyrocketed from approximately $12 to a current estimate of around $300, ballooning the crowd-sourced funds to around $187 million (assuming the company kept its funds in Ether)....continue reading: 
https://www.ethnews.com/singulardtv-creates-entertainment-division