Identity

Cardano Partners With South African Blockchain Alliance To Boost Adoption

The Cardano Foundation announced a partnership with the South African National Blockchain Alliance (SANBA) on April 7. The partnership endeavors to explore further ways to strengthen technology’s adoption throughout South Africa.According to the official announcement, Cardano will use blockchain technology to boost socio-economic growth in South Africa. The Foundation believes such a partnership will help them to achieve their goal of increasing blockchain adoption across the region.South Africa as the key market for African blockchain awarenessCardano cites the South Africa market as pivotal to building a network across the country

Blockchain Traceability Overtakes Payments Among Major Corporations

Multi-billion dollar companies are more likely to use blockchain for traceability and provenance than for payments and settlement, according to a new analysis of the Forbes Blockchain 50.The now annual Blockchain 50 list was published in late February and includes fifty of the biggest brands in the world who are using blockchain, each with annual revenue in excess of $1 billion in annual revenue. Research from Dutch firm Blockdata, which incorporated its own data in the analysis, found that fifteen have solutions that tackle traceability and provenance, while 13 are using

Crypto Payment Network Partners With ID Screening Service

Cryptocurrency network TemTum is partnering with identity verification service Shufti Pro to provide Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) screening services for its customers.As part of the partnership announced on April 7, Shufti Pro will verify TemTum clients'  KYC data including date of birth, addresses, names, document numbers, document issue dates and expiration dates.EU’s 5th Anti-Money Laundering Initiative ComplianceThe partnership follows the adoption of the European Union's Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Initiative (5AMLD), which introduces new and, in some cases, tightened KYC measures on financial platforms — including cryptocurrency

Blockchain App Used to Track COVID-19 Cases in Latin America

A Canada-based company is turning to blockchain technology in their efforts to fight the coronavirus pandemic in Latin America.Emerge, a blockchain startup based in Toronto, is launching a public safety system app called Civitas to assist local authorities in many nations. According to a company blog post, the app was designed “to improve safety and cut store wait times by reducing gatherings in tight spaces, reducing the probability of contagion.” The software program could associate locals’ government ID numbers with unique blockchain records, allowing authorities to determine if they qualify for

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

April Fools, Celebrity Scams, & Manipulated Markets: Bad Crypto News of the Week

Bitcoin seems to be settling happily above $6,000 and is currently just north of $6,500 again. Let’s hope we’ve seen the last of those $5,000 movements and we’re ready for a steady climb back to double figures before the halving in mid-May. It’s getting closer.In the meantime, the Federal Reserve now appears to have merged into the federal government. An opinion piece in Bloomberg has described how an alphabet soup of financial programs intended to help the economy through the current crisis is allowing the government to buy up securities

Talking Digital Future: Smart Cities

My journey into smart cities and their future development was a really big surprise, as the way I arrived there was not something that I had planned. I was working as the chief information officer for a company in Northern California called O'Reilly Media when I got a call from a headhunter who asked if I would consider being the chief information office for the City of Palo Alto. I can vividly remember — it was only about eight years ago — my feeling when she asked the question. The

South African National Blockchain Alliance Holds Online Launch

The South African National Blockchain Alliance carried out an online livestream launch while the country is in the midst of a 21-day lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. The organization was due to be launched at the beginning of April in Johannesburg but had to be taken online as South Africa and the world tackles a global health crisis.The launch happened during a livestream on YouTube on April 3, which included a panel of speakers elaborating on how SANBA will help nurture blockchain-focused startups and companies that

Spanish Tax Watchdog Puts 66,000 Crypto Traders on Notice

The Spanish tax authority has begun sending out warning notices to 66,000 cryptocurrency holders to remind them of their tax obligations.According to Europa Press, the Agencia Estatal de Administración Tributaria (AEAT) began the campaign on April 1, and will keep firing off letters until June 30 in the midst of the national COVID-19 crisis.The 66,000 notices represents a sharp increase from 2019, the first year of the campaign, when a reported 14,700 notices were sent out. The tax watchdog is also targeting those who earn income abroad and from real estate