Bitcoin

In the current era of Blockchain evolution a new concept has emerged: tokenization. Tokenization is an intrinsic part of the Blockchain technology that serves the purpose of platform identification and accessibility.

The power of tokens

Every Blockchain platform is powered by tokens, sometimes also referred to as “coins.” Bitcoin is a token, as is Litecoin, Dash, and other currencies that function over a Blockchain. While tokens can represent money, as in the case of the above, they can also represent other things.

The demand for a particular Blockchain product is usually the main determinant of the value and eventual market price of its token. This is why there is a variation in the prices of different altcoins in the Blockchain environment.

For example, Bitcoin is more readily accepted by merchants than Litecoin, and is consequently more valuable.

The force behind Ethereum

Ethereum, despite coming after many older altcoins, remains the third most valuable cryptocurrency in existence behind only Bitcoin and the its recent fork, Bitcoin Cash.Ethereum’s value is largely determined by the demand for its platform by distributed application (dApp) developers.

Many of these developers issue tokens to grant access to their services, essentially building their own Blockchains atop Ethereum’s platform. In many cases, developers pre-sale their tokens as part of an initial coin offering (ICO), and they usually accept Ethereum’s token “ether” as payment.

In essence, the organic value of a given token or cryptocurrency is determined not just by the functionality, but the demand for its Blockchain product.

Blockchains and their tokens

There are numerous Blockchain products in existence claiming to offer different solutions to various problems. Many more are still in the development. Below are some examples of Blockchain products and what they do:

Steemit

Steemit is a social network that rewards users who participate in various ways. The Steemit token is called STEEM. It is used to reward content creators and curators of the best content on the site.

Dash

Dash, which stands for “Digital Cash,” is a fork of Bitcoin that is fine-tuned for more privacy and instant transactions. The platform’s token is called DASH. Dash is also self-funded through its own Blockchain (a portion of mining rewards fund the currency’s development) and features a working governance model.

ZCash

The token for Zcash is called ZEC. ZCash is a cryptocurrency that grew out of the Zerocoin project which aims to improve anonymity for Bitcoin users.

 Zcash payments are published on a public Blockchain, but users are able to use an optional privacy features to conceal the sender, recipient, and amount being transacted....continue reading: https://cointelegraph.com/news/tokenization-the-force-behind-blockchain-technology

The Trump administration is reaffirming its commitment to blockchain as a technology with the potential to improve U.S. government operations.

Speaking at Data Transparency 2017, a conference exploring the role of open data in government this week, two senior White House officials emphasized that distributed ledger technology is increasingly being viewed as essential to U.S. policy and strategy considerations.

"With artificial intelligence and blockchain, the [White House] is exploring a whole range of forward-leaning capabilities that might be helpful to government," Margie Graves, acting federal chief information officer at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), said at the event.

The remarks are notable given that the OMB, which is headed by Congressional Blockchain Caucus co-founder Mick Mulvaney, is responsible for carrying out the president's vision for the executive branch of government – a core tenet of which is streamlining bureaucracy and improving responsiveness to citizens through technology.

In remarks, Graves – who said that she will be meeting with blockchain advocate Don Tapscott next month to discuss use cases the government might explore – stressed that she and Mulvaney view distributed ledger technology as a potentially powerful tool.

Specifically, Graves sees the possibility for its use in reducing instances of fraud and waste, cutting spending and beefing up cybersecurity defenses.She continued:

"These kinds of technologies are always something that we should explore. I don't want my customers to be the last to know, or to be the last to be able to take advantage of some of these."

Laying the foundation

Chris Liddell, assistant to the president and director of strategic initiatives at the White House, also stressed that the government must approach data management with an eye for the long term.

Perhaps most important, he said, is implementing foundational data standards now, so that the U.S. can be in position to harness the potential of blockchain and other technologies moving ahead.

"As we look to the future, we want to ensure that today's reforms do not hinder tomorrow's adoption of emerging technologies," he said, adding:

"Whether it is blockchain, artificial intelligence or perhaps a new technology that hasn't yet been envisaged, standardized data will help ensure the government stays current of technology's latest trends."

Liddell also serves in the White House Office of American Innovation (OAI), which was created by President Trump in March with a mandate to develop recommendations on how technology can be used to improve government operations.

The OIA is headed by Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law, and includes Gary Cohn – the president's top economic advisor – and other leaders from government and the private sector.

Liddell had previously served as chief financial officer at Microsoft and has held senior executive roles at other large public companies such as International Paper and General Motors.

Building momentum

Taken as a whole, the comments are the latest in a wave of bullish comments from U.S. officials on the potential for blockchain's use both inside and outside of government.As reported by CoinDesk, several U.S. government agencies – including...continue reading: https://www.coindesk.com/trump-white-house-doubles-us-commitment-blockchain/

By Chris Baraniuk


THERE’S a new way to prove you are who you say you are – inspired by the tech underpinning bitcoin. Usually, when you need to verify your identity, the process is archaic, insecure and time-consuming. You get a copy of your birth certificate in the post, put it in an envelope and hope it gets to whoever is asking for it. In the digital era, this should take seconds.

But putting something as sensitive as a birth certificate online risks identity theft in the era of hacks and leaks. Now, the US state of Illinois is experimenting with a secure way of putting control of that data into its citizens’ hands, with the help of distributed ledgers, similar to the blockchain used by bitcoin.

Just last month, Illinois announced a pilot project to create “secure ‘self-sovereign’ identity” for Illinois citizens wishing to access their birth certificate.

The idea is to use a blockchain-like distributed ledger that allows online access only to the people owning the ID, and any third parties granted their permission.

Illinois is working with software firm Evernym of Herriman, Utah, to create a record of who should be able to access data from the state’s birth register. Once this is done, no central authority should be required, just your say-so.


They’re not the only ones. According to a report by Garrick Hileman and Michael Rauchs at the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, UK, governments are increasingly experimenting with it, including the UK and Brazil.

Activists have long called for people to have greater control of their data. Hacks and leaks are making it too risky for authorities to be the central repository of citizens’ most vital information.

With distributed ledgers, all participants within a network can have their own identical copy of data like access permissions – so no one can view cryptographically sealed birth certificate data unless they’re meant to.

 Blockchains are a type of distributed ledger that gets the whole network to observe and verify transactions – such as when someone sends a bitcoin to their friend.Distributed ledgers could be a great way to store critical data. But “the devil is always in the details”, says Dave Birch at electronic transactions consultancy Consult Hyperion.

Done wrong, distributed ledgers could carve mistakes in stone. “If your midwife fat-fingers the weight of the child or the name then you’re going to have a typo in your name from birth forever,” he says. “Bullshit in, bullshit forever.”Nonetheless, some think these projects are a step towards a world where all data is managed by the individuals who own it.

It could backfire on governments, though. Citizens in Catalonia are gearing up for a referendum on independence from Spain, planned for 1 October. It has been termed “illegal” by authorities in Madrid.

But a start-up is studying the possibility of using blockchain technology to let citizens hold their own vote, with no government authority needed.This article appeared in print under the headline “Time to digitally prove who you are”

Discover even more stories like this on New Scientist here: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg23531454-500-blockchaininspired-project-means-you-are-who-you...

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has awarded a grant of nearly $1 million dollars to a blockchain startup.Virginia-based DigitalBazaar, according to a September 25 release from the DHS, received the $749,241 in funding through the Small Business Innovation Program (SBIR).

The grant, the department said, is intended to fuel the development of "fit-for-purpose blockchains" for a number of use cases.Specifically, the government said, the firm will work on a "flexible software ecosystem" to include "digital credentials and digital wallets to address a wide variety of identity management and online access use cases.

"The software is being developed for the department's Homeland Security Enterprise initiative.The news marks the third time DigitalBazaar has received funding through the SBIR. The startup was one of several recipients of funding in...continue reading: https://www.coindesk.com/us-government-awards-750k-new-blockchain-startup-grant/

Mike Novogratz is reinventing himself as the king of bitcoin.The swaggering macro manager who flamed out at Fortress Investment Group LLC is starting a $500 million hedge fund to invest in cryptocurrencies, initial coin offerings and related companies.

Novogratz will put up $150 million of his own money and plans to raise $350 million more by January, mainly from family offices, wealthy individuals and fellow hedge fund managers, said a person familiar with his plans.

At that size, the Galaxy Digital Assets Fund would be the biggest of its kind and signal a growing acceptance of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and ether as legitimate investments.

For Novogratz, 52, the fund marks a comeback to professional money management after humbling losses at Fortress and almost two years of self-imposed exile from Wall Street.

Novogratz, in an interview with Bloomberg Television, declined to confirm or deny that he’s raising a fund, citing regulatory constraints. He did talk at length about his recent experience with digital assets and why he’s eager to trade them.

“This is going to be the largest bubble of our lifetimes,” Novogratz said. “Prices are going to get way ahead of where they should be. You can make a whole lot of money on the way up, and we plan on it.”

‘Trading Junkie’

Just this month, bitcoin hit a record of almost $5,000 then plunged 30 percent in two weeks as buyers weighed the impact of a Chinese ban on initial coin offerings and domestic trading in virtual currencies.“I sold at $5,000 or $4,980,” he said.

“Then three weeks later I’m trying to buy it in the low $3,000s. If you’re good at that and you’re a trading junkie, it’s a lot of fun.”



The fortunes being made and lost are just one reason Novogratz likens the cryptocurrency market to the Wild West. Digital assets like bitcoin need more regulation, and in the meantime some initial coin offerings, or ICOs, will prove to be fraudulent “get-rich-quick schemes,” he said.

While the technology community has embraced the libertarian ideal of a decentralized, open-source payment system in which a fixed money supply is determined by computer code, financiers are taking a more cautious approach.

Only two other hedge funds have raised tens of millions of dollars to invest in digital assets, Polychain Capital and MetaStable Capital.

Read about cyberattacks and digital currencyNovogratz’s fund will have a broader mandate, including market-making, arbitrage, stakes in internet coin offerings and venture capital-style investments in digital-asset development, said the person familiar with his plans, who asked not to be named because they’re still private.

He also brought on as partners two traders with years of experience in hedge fund investing and compliance: Richard Tavoso, the former head of global arbitrage at RBC Capital Markets; and David Namdar, who worked at Millennium Partners, Marto Capital and UBS AG, the person said.

Bitcoin ‘Fraud’

Most large institutions have steered clear of the cryptocurrency market out of skepticism about its legitimacy or concerns that the mostly unregulated instruments are too volatile. JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon captured the prevailing view on Wall Street when earlier this month he called bitcoin a “fraud” and said he would fire anyone at his bank for trading it.

Where others see volatility and liability, Novogratz, a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. partner, smells opportunity.“In a lot of ways, this is a market like any other market,” Novogratz said. “You see the psychology of fear and greed in the charts the same way you’d see it in charts of the Indonesian rupiah or dollar-yen or Treasuries.

They’re exaggerated because of less liquidity and because you can’t get short.”Novogratz developed his taste for risk as a varsity wrestler at Princeton University and later as a National Guard helicopter pilot. He dabbled in bitcoin while still managing billions of dollars in a macro fund at Fortress, but didn’t score his first big win until after leaving the New York-based firm two years ago.


How Macro Trader Novogratz Became a Bitcoin ConvertWatch more: How macro trader Novogratz became a bitcoin convert

It started with a late-2015 visit to a friend’s startup in Brooklyn.“I expected to see Joe, a dog and one assistant. Instead I saw 30 dynamic young people crammed in a Bushwick warehouse, coding, talking on the phone, making plans for this revolution,” Novogratz said. “Macro guys are instinctive. My instinct was, ‘I want to buy a chunk of this company.”’

$250 Million Haul

He decided instead to invest in ether, the cryptocurrency token used on the Ethereum network. Novogratz bought about $500,000 at less than a dollar per ether and left on a vacation to India. By the time he returned a few weeks later, the price had risen more than fivefold. He bought more.

Over the course of 2016 and into 2017, as ether surged to almost $400 and bitcoin topped $2,500, Novogratz sold enough to make about $250 million, the biggest haul of any single trade in his career. He said he paid tax on the profits, bought a Gulfstream G550 jet and donated an equal amount to a philanthropic project for criminal justice reform.

Novogratz was hooked. Today, he hosts a weekly “crypto meet-up” for as many as 90 people over drinks at his office in Manhattan’s SoHo district and waxes effusive about his adopted industry.

“Remember, bubbles happen around things that fundamentally change the way we live,” he said. “The railroad bubble. Railroads really fundamentally changed the way we lived. The internet bubble changed the way we live. When I look forward five, 10 years, the possibilities really get your animal spirits going.

”Novogratz, known to his friends as “Novo,” estimates that he now has about 20 percent of his net worth in digital assets. In addition to cryptocurrencies, his family office has invested in bitcoin mining, trading platforms, initial coin offerings, pre-ICO sales and blockchain technology.

He said Gemini, the exchange run by Cameron and Tyler Winkelvoss, is “one of our go-to places” in part because it has a New York State license to trade bitcoin and ether.

With a $500 million hedge fund, Novogratz will be able to capture trading opportunities that require more scale, as well as wield influence with developers, entrepreneurs and regulators. Of course, he’ll also make money on other people’s money:

The person familiar with his fund, who has seen early versions of marketing documents, said it will charge investors a 2 percent management fee and 20 percent of profits, with a two-year lockup.Plus, he doesn’t like the idea of fading away.

“Everyone would love to leave Wall Street gracefully and very few do,” Novogratz said. “You get kicked in the knees or kicked in the midsection, you learn from your mistakes, you kind of rebuild and you start your new adventure.

”One thing hasn’t changed: Novo’s love of the risky bet.

Discover even more stories on Bloomberg here: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-26/mike-novogratz-is-set-for-comeback-with-crytocurr...