DLT

US Congressional Watchdog Quietly Reveals DLT Prototype Development

The United States Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) Innovation Lab posted ads for job positions to develop “use case prototypes” for blockchain technologies in late-March.GAO is the supreme audit institution of the U.S. government and provides evaluation and investigative services for Congress.GAO to explore prototype applications for DLTThe two positions seek an ‘Interdisciplinary Computer Engineer/Computer Scientist’ and an ‘Interdisciplinary Assistant Director, Computer Scientist/Engineer’ to explore “emerging technologies” including blockchain.Both roles will be overseen by GAO’s Science, Technology Assessment, and Analytics (STAA) Team’s Innovation Lab.The listings show that the lab is creating

38% of Enterprises Plan to Adopt Blockchain Solutions in 2020

With blockchain solutions growing in popularity, the number of enterprises planning to adopt the technology in 2020 is set to increase. Data gathered by InsideBitcoins.com indicates that 38% of entities will integrate blockchain solutions into their operations this year.From the data, 15% of the enterprise will heavily adopt blockchain solutions while 23% will have moderate adoption to manage different operations. Organizations are also planning to adopt technologies like the Public cloud. About 79% of enterprises are planning to have heavy or moderate adoption of technology.Elsewhere, Artificial intelligence (AI)/and machine learning

Ripple Funds Blockchain’s Disruption of the Legal Industry

A new blockchain course offered by the Australian National University (ANU)’s law school commenced this year with support from Ripple’s University Blockchain Research Initiative (UBRI).Cointelegraph spoke to Lauren Weymouth, the senior manager of the UBRI’s University Partnerships Program, and Scott Chamberlain, the academic running the curriculum, to find out more about how blockchain can disrupt the legal industry and the partnership between the ANU and UBRI.Chamberlain will be working alongside the developer behind the Toast XRPL Wallet, Richard Holland, to develop and deliver the course.ANU law school launches blockchain courseChamberlain

Africa Using Blockchain to Drive Change, Part Two: Southern Solutions

With pundits like Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey predicting that Africa “will define” the future of Bitcoin (BTC), cryptocurrency and blockchain technology continue to attract interest from both public and private establishments across the continent. Many of these adoption cases have been moving beyond finance, developing solutions targeted at issues like unemployment, identity management, health care and supply chain, among others.Amid the growing enthusiasm for crypto and blockchain technology in Africa, industry stakeholders interviewed by Cointelegraph identify a lack of education as one of the major hurdles standing in the way of more

Crypto Community Largely Approves of Binance Acquiring CoinMarketCap

Despite markets all over the world facing ever-worsening economic troubles amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, it seems as though the crypto industry has been able to weather the storm, at least thus far. In this regard, Binance — the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange — has recently reached an agreement to acquire CoinMarketCap, one of the most prominent crypto data websites.The official announcement was made by both companies on April 2, with Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao telling Cointelegraph that CMC and Binance have from the very start been working to make

150-Year-Old Chinese Gas Company Ramps Up Blockchain Adoption

Chinese energy company, Shanghai Gas, announced an expansion of its blockchain efforts following a successful trial partnership with supply chain management blockchain firm, VeChain (VET), on March 31.Shanghai Gas, founded in 1865, is owned by utility services company, Shenergy Group — which claims to occupy more than 90% of Shanghai’s gas market. The firm has an annual supply of over 8 billion cubic meters.Shanghai Gas expands blockchain adoptionShanghai Gas’ trial used distributed ledger technology, or DLT, provided by VeChain to comprehensively monitor its supply chain and identify opportunities for efficiency

Blockchain Head at European Commission Explains Usefulness of DLT

The head of the digital innovation and blockchain unit at the European Commission (EC), Pēteris Zilgalvis, explained the concise benefits of distributed ledger technology (DLT) in an interview to The Banker, a subsidiary of the Financial Times. In the interview, published on April 3, Zilgalvis talked about the benefits and challenges of the technology.According to him, blockchain provides a powerful framework for data sharing, something that can't be done by normal databases:“We think that it presents an excellent technology for situations where different stakeholders need to collaborate but, due to

Brazilian Regulators Create DLT Platform for Screening Politicians

Four of Brazil’s financial regulatory institutions are collaborating to build a streamlined blockchain-based data-sharing platform to perform background checks on political representatives and corporations.The platform, dubbed PIER, was developed by Brazil’s central bank Banco Central do Brasil (BCB). The platform saw initial participation from the BCB, the Brazilian private insurance superintendent, and the local securities regulator to inform its database. Brazil’s social security supervisor is set to soon participate in the program too. The Brazilian government is also contemplating incorporating data collected by the country’s judiciary, trade boards, and international financial

Investment in Blockchain in Energy Markets Will Top $35 Billion by 2025

According to a new report released by Premium Market Insights (PMI), global investment in blockchain technology in energy markets is set to reach $34.7 billion by 2025. Valued at just $156.5 million in 2016, the sector is forecast to grow at a rate of 82% a year. Although $35 billion seems high, it’s dwarfed by the net worth of $1.85 trillion for the energy market as a whole. Key players using blockchain and DLT in the field include Accenture, AWS, Bigchaindb, Deloitte, IBM, Infosys, Microsoft, Nodalblock, Oracle, SAP, Enosi, and Electron. Blockchain

Berkeley Blockchain Xcelerator Director on What DLT Startups Need to Succeed

The Berkeley Blockchain Xcelerator — an incubator for early stage distributed ledger technology startups at the University of California, Berkeley — recently launched its spring cohort, which includes startups seeking to fight COVID-19, launch a cannabis-themed massively multiplayer online game and create a reverse auction platform for loans.Cointelegraph spoke to Jocelyn Weber, the director of the Xcelerator, to find out more about the resources the program offers to startups, success stories from previous cohorts and advice for startups looking to launch in the crypto space.Cointelegraph: Could you give an overview