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TwoGap, a blockchain-based asset management platform, says it expects the blockchain economy to reach USD1 trillion by 2017.

The blockchain economy currently exceeds USD100 billion on the market, which is an enormous inflation in a single year. It isn’t surprising that another huge increase is expected in the next few years.
 
According to a company executive with TwoGap, “Blockchain-based asset management will go to USD1 trillion in 2020.” USD100 billion is a small number compared to what can be expected in upcoming years, but this startling increase won’t occur without a few factors to support it.
 
“Large industries like banks and healthcare must participate. The problem with these industries is that they need to prove identity. It’s simply a requirement when dealing with insurance, home loans, hospitals, etc. Photos of a government ID are usually needed to process these types of transactions or services.

Government regulatory requirements must be met before services can be provided and cryptocurrency is inherently anonymous. TwoGap utilises blockchain technology to provide the safety and privacy needed to eventually open up these industries to the option of cryptocurrency.
 
Blockchains need to be easier to understand. They consist of complex processes that clients don’t need to fully grasp; they just need to know that they are using a trustworthy company that can securely handle those details. Companies that have the ability to mask those complexities and also do faster, cheaper, transactions, like TwoGap, will see success in the future.
 
“ICOs need to settle a bit more for people to trust them. ICOs, or initial coin offerings, are an unregulated way to raise money for a cryptocurrency venture. They have the potential for massive ROI and are all the rage at the moment. Popularity, however, makes ICOs a huge temptation for scam artists. There must be several stable companies with valid ICO successes in the next little while for the blockchain economy to expand further.
 
“Many clients are challenged by asset management companies that charge high fees, have vulnerable security and privacy, and long waits for trade settlements. TwoGap utilises blockchain technology to provide solutions to these problems and sets users up with tools to view data and analytics, create content, and choose from a wide selection of distributed digital assets.

An investor base can be created by sharing content with the community. Security and privacy are a non-issue with TwoGap's platform. Transactions will be verified and sellers will be proven trustworthy, which will make the search for sellers much simpler.”

Continue reading: 
http://www.institutionalassetmanager.co.uk/2017/09/25/256392/twogap-expects-blockchain-economy-reach...

Lots of deals are made every day, from products and services to freelancing and real estate. And these deals don’t come easy, but with loads of bureaucracy forcing one to spend time, resources and money to wade through it.

The deal-making process may involve hiring a third party, for a hefty charge just to see things through. And by chance things go south, again one must hire someone to resolve the disputes.

Confideal aims to change all these by upgrading the way things have been done so far.

The blockchain based platform makes it possible to execute deals faster, safer and in a much more profitable fashion.  

Confideal is a unique smart contract managing service for individuals and businesses, that allows one to make safe, fast and anonymous deals powered by blockchain technology.Based on Ethereum Blockchain, the platform allows individuals with no programming skills to create and deploy smart contracts in a fast and easy fashion, without the involvement of third parties.

It also includes a native dispute-resolution mechanism with qualified and experienced user-vetted arbitrators. All smart-contracts are encrypted and backed up on Ethereum Blockchain to ensure their autonomy and safety. Confideal (CDL) token is the internal currency that enables the use of Confideal platform’s services.Some example use cases of Confideal revolves around:




The platform offers a full stack of tools necessary to create, maintain and fulfill contracts, as well as resolve disputes, comprehensive all-in-one environment.

Confideal has launched the Alpha testing phase to demonstrate what one can already do with the platform. Users can create and deploy a smart contract and share their thoughts on social media. To do this, one has to make sure that they have Chrome browser with MetaMask extension installed, as it’s needed to connect to Ethereum Blockchain.

There are other ways to do this also, but this is the fastest one.The Confideal ICO is set to start on November 2, 2017, and go on till the 22nd of the same month. During the crowdsale, the platform is offering a total of 100 million CDL tokens at a price of 1000 CDL/1 ETH.

The crowdsale also has a bonus structure in place where the bonus offered is dependent on the percentage of tokens sold. Those purchasing the first 5% of CDL tokens will receive a 25% bonus, which will drop to 12% as the percentage of token sales crosses 5% and until it reaches 26%.

Further, 8% bonus for 27% to 42% tokens, 5% for 43% till 56% token sales and finally 3% bonus when total sales volume falls within 57% and 69%.With such a bonus structure in place, those purchasing the tokens early on during the crowdsale stand to receive a much bigger bonus than the ones who join in later.

More information will be available on http://confideal.ioDisclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article do not
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Power Ledger, an Australian startup that’s seeking to use blockchain technology to create a peer-to-peer renewable energy network, is in the midst of raising tens of millions of dollars in what may be the first “cryptocurrency” fundraising effort in the energy space. 

On Sunday, the Perth-based startup launched its first sale, or "initial coin offering" (ICO), of Power Ledger POWR tokens -- units of ownership of the company traded on the Ethereum cryptocurrency network. Within 72 hours, the company sold out of the 100 million POWRs offered in a public presale, in which the price per token was set, for a total of about $17 million. 

Power Ledger will be offering another 150 million POWRs on Friday, Sept. 8 in an uncapped public offer, meaning that the tokens’ final price will be determined by the market.

It’s “not unreasonable to expect” that this could bring the startup’s virtual funding to between $20 million and $30 million, co-founder and managing director David Martin told Smart Company. That's not as much as the $100 million the company had been predicting last month, but still a significant crowdfunding event. 

These POWRs, in turn, are tradable on the Ethereum blockchain, and can also be converted to Sparkz, the currency that Power Ledger has set up for its users to trade electricity.

According to Power Ledger’s white paper (PDF), these trades can be set up in different ways, depending on the needs of those employing them -- in the case of its current projects, trading units of self-generated solar power or self-stored battery energy.

In this sense, Power Ledger’s new raise has seeded the market for its solar trading concept, just now being rolled out in pilot projects in Australia and New Zealand. 

Unlike most of the companies seeking to enable energy trading via blockchain, Power Ledger has the support of some real-world energy retailers. It started with a 15-home trial in Western Australia in fall 2016, and moved to a 500-site project with New Zealand utility Vector in late 2016.

This summer, it started its first commercial deployment in a residential development in Fremantle, where it became the first company in Australia to “facilitate electricity trading across the meter and manage settlements without going through an electricity retailer.” Since then, Power Ledger has signed a technology integration agreement with Indra Australia, and has launched plans to extend its platform to electric-vehicle charging with Western Australian energy provider Synergy.

As for its new cryptocurrency funding, “Token sales will be used to rapidly accelerate the company’s expansion, including entry into India and other emerging markets.” 

“I personally think Power Ledger has one of the better business models in the energy space since they are actively working with utilities and trying to figure out how they can play in the space under current regulations,” said Colleen Metelitsa, GTM Research analyst.

While we’ve seen some accusations of fraud from the world of cryptocurrencies -- China just banned ICOs, and is rumored to be considering a ban on cryptocurrencies more broadly -- Power Ledger has its projects to prove out its concept. As for the ICO, “I think of it as an unregulated way of raising capital,” she wrote.

“You can think of these coins/tokens sort of like stocks, but again without all the SEC rules and with a much lower barrier to entry for the layperson, in that you can easily create an account and buy from your computer.” Greentech Media CEO Scott Clavenna agreed that this move is more “a novel form of crowdfunding,” and “doesn’t reflect the same level of company maturity that an IPO implies.

"This is still very much a startup entering a highly regulated landscape where very few understand the technology or the operational constraints around working in the energy space," he said. Clavenna also noted the difference between blockchains like Power Ledger’s and the broader world of Bitcoin, “which is really meant to be a global currency replacement.

Most ICO coins are meant to be for internal company trades,” with POWR tokens tied to company valuation and Sparkz tied to the U.S. dollar to link to the price of energy. 

Blockchain -- essentially a peer-to-peer network for trading units of value in which every participant has a record of every transaction between all parties -- has grown from an obscure concept to a technology attracting real-world money over the past two years.  

Last month, Tokyo Electric Power Company invested €3 million ($3.5 million) into German peer-to-peer energy trading platform developer Conjoule, as part of a €4.5 million ($5.3 million) Series A funding round alongside German energy company Innogy SE. Other startups in the space include...continue reading: https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/power-ledger-blockchain-energy-trading-startup-raises-1...

NECKER ISLAND, British Virgin Islands, July 28, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The World Identity Network (WIN) has been launched today during the Blockchain Summit organized on Sir Richard Branson's Necker Island.

The key objective of this global initiative is to catalyze progress towards universal ID and robust, secure, digital identification systems using 21st century technology solutions, such as the distributed ledger technology (DLT).

The initiative will be led by Mariana Dahan, former World Bank official and a prominent figure in the digital identity ecosystem. Dahan was the driving force behind the Identification for Development (ID4D) agenda – a global program she initiated that is now broadly embraced by the international donor community.

The United Nations Executive Director / Under-Secretary General, UNOPS Grete Faremo, commended WIN:

"The international community has yet to fully explore blockchain technology. Quite simply the potential is immense – more transparency and greater efficiency could deliver real benefits to billions of people.

So at UNOPS we are proud to support global initiatives like WIN aiming to bring these benefits to countries across the world, to improve the lives of individuals, families and communities."    

"In this fast-paced environment, WIN has a critical contribution to make to promote cutting-edge knowledge on identity management and leverage the potential of new technologies, such as the blockchain," said Carlos Santiso, Head of the Innovation for Citizen Services Division of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

A number of developing nations in Latin America region, and elsewhere, have already expressed interest in accessing WIN's advisory services and technical assistance. 

Technology-agnostic and a neutral knowledge broker, WIN is working across the DLT spectrum, partnering with technology companies that do not only operate on the Bitcoin Blockchain but also use Ethereum and other open-source platforms, helping decision-makers to choose a solution that fits best their needs.

To this end, the company is set to collaborate with the BitFury Group, ConsenSys uPort, IOTA, the Sovrin Foundation and the Secure Identity Alliance members.

“Blockchain creates a breakthrough opportunity for digital identity,” said David Treat, a managing director in Accenture’s blockchain business. “It has the unique ability to give individuals control over their personal information.

Organizations like WIN play an important part in enabling the public and private sectors to work together to create high impact solutions with new technologies. We are very pleased to support and contribute to these efforts.”

"The Secure Identity Alliance welcomes this new initiative and is looking forward to collaboration to explore the potential of the distributed ledger technology for inclusive development," stated Jean-Claude Perrin, Vice-President of Strategy at Gemalto.

"We too share WIN's mission to bring the world a secure universal digital identity solution and are excited to partner towards building the expertise needed to make blockchain identity a reality for everyone," said Rouven Heck, Co-Founder and Project Lead at ConsenSys uPort."

By coupling the experience of international programmes on rolling out electronic identity - like eIDAS in the EU countries - with innovative technologies like blockchain, WIN has the potential to be a game changer in the area," said Andrea Servida, leading the eGovernment & Trust Unit in DG CONNECT at the European Commission.

"The Blockchain Summit on Necker Island is a very special venue for innovative projects to emerge. The BitFury Group is supportive of WIN mission and strongly believes in the power of the blockchain technology to change the world," said Valery Vavilov, CEO of BitFury Group and co-host of the Blockchain Summit.

About the Blockchain Summit 
https://www.virgin.com/richard-branson/necker-blockchain-summit

About World Identity Network
For more information, please visit www.win.systems

Media contact:
Mariana Dahan
World Identity Network Co-founder & CEO
[email protected]

Continue reading: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/world-identity-network-launched-on-sir-richard-bransons-neck...

Over the last 18 months, blockchain has evolved from an obscure concept in cryptocurrency circles into a mainstream corporate tool for "disrupting” entire industries.

If you don’t have a blockchain strategy, you are not innovating hard enough. People love throwing around the term. But wait, what is it again? And why is it relevant to energy?

In this week's episode, we'll get some context from GTM CEO Scott Clavenna. We explore how it’s already being applied to utility operations and energy markets, and where the long-term potential lies.

The conversation was recorded at GTM's Grid Edge World Forum. 

Listen to the Podcast Here: https://soundcloud.com/theinterchangepodcast

About the conferenceBlockchain financial instruments, experience of creation of the first decentralized autonomous organizations and rates of digital currencies, all these and other topics were discussed at the our previous crypto conference in Moscow.

The April and November Blockchain & Bitcoin Conference has demonstrated that there is a demand for blockchain technology and exchange of experience in this sphere in Russia.That's wht Smile-Expo is happy to invite you to attend Blockchain & Bitcoin Conference Russia on 19 April, 2017 The blockchain is not only for IT pros. It is also for businesspersons and end users.

The blockchain application is not limited to crypto payments; smart contracts, auctions, tools for management of state property, law and logistics are build on its basis. Moreover, this list is not complete!

This year, we are going to be split up into two halls: for financiers and entrepreneurs.The stream for financiers will discuss the implementation of blockchain in banking, preparation of the bill on cryptocurrency regulation and creation of the Russian blockchain consortium.

The stream for entrepreneurs will discuss blockchain in telecommunications, insurance, notary, the Internet of things and asset management.

Who will speak?
Developers of financial and technical services-
Financiers-
Entrepreneurs-
Lawyers-
Investors -
Experts who have something to say about the blockchain development

Who will listen? 
Anyone who is interested in Blockchain and Bitcoin:development, future and prospects in the Russian Federation...

Learn more and get tickets:
https://moscow.blockchainconf.world/en?utm_source=PR&utm_campaign=Zcash&utm_medium=ZcashNewsBTC&utm_referrer=NewsBTC © Moscow Blockchain Conference