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It was this flaw in Ethereum NFTs that caused software engineer Casey Rodarmor to deem Ethereum NFTs incomplete and launch the Bitcoin ordinals protocol.

Those in favor of change believe Ordinal Inscriptions could cause an important shift in the bitcoin community and Boost the technology behind NFTs.

Yet many questions I’ve been receiving from clients boil down to, “is this good or bad for bitcoin?” and “will this disrupt the usability of it.”

A case against change?

Despite the potential benefits of Ordinal Inscriptions, there has been a lot of debate over whether they are a “good use” of block space.

The challenge has been that as more Ordinals are being inscribed, the cost of bitcoin transactions has risen. That’s because Ordinals introduce additional, non-financial data on the Bitcoin blockchain that bog down on-chain confirmation times. This includes images, audio clips, even games.

Those not in favor of Ordinals see this as an impediment to the ability of Bitcoin to scale and reach full global adoption.

Inscribing non-fungible characteristics to Satoshis, the individual increments of Bitcoin, may challenge Bitcoin’s use case as first and foremost money.

Ordinals challenge the fungibility of Satoshis in the bitcoin network. All Satoshis should be equal, or it begins to lose a significant trait of money.

But ordinals can alter the value of these units of money. Take rare collectible coins as an example: While a penny may have a face value of exactly one cent, its design and mint year could make it worth a dollar or more in the eyes of some beholders.

This debate over whether these individual units must be deemed equal is unfolding before our eyes, and I think it needs to be understood.

Bitcoin is money, and that’s the largest and most important use case, impacting the most people in the world. Which is why I believe that ordinals and other use cases both known today and yet to emerge will remain niche.

I view this as an exciting period – but one that, as many fads do, will fade. I don’t see Ordinals being the desire for many to use bitcoin’s block space.

Bitcoin is money. And in my opinion, any changes to the protocol should be slow and methodological.

Read more: “To Understand Bitcoin, We Need to Understand What Money Is”

Ultimately, the markets decide

One of the biggest yet baseless claims I often hear is how bitcoin doesn’t evolve or change.

Now, are there kernels of truth in that? Sure. You don’t “move fast and break things” when working to build the next global monetary system; we’ll leave that for VC start-up tech firms.

However, there have been some upgrades that demonstrate the need and merit of change. The Lightning Network, for example, could accelerate bitcoin commerce and everyday use.

Inscriptions are yet another example of attempts to change the blockchain. Inscriptions became eligible in bitcoin blocks with the most exact upgrade to the protocol called Taproot.

Read more: “Taproot, Bitcoin’s Long-Anticipated Upgrade, Has Activated”

Ultimately, the beautiful thing about Bitcoin is that it’s permissionless and the ultimate free market for uses. And this is what fosters change.

At the same time, free and open markets will dictate if Ordinals are demanded and are valuable. The permissionless nature of bitcoin allows for this competition to play out.

Ordinals may stick around if individuals want to see them become a mainstay in Bitcoin. Bitcoin is governed by consensus rule – which is why running a node is essential and why the Blocksize war was foundational for bitcoin.

Ordinals are not an attack on bitcoin but could begin conversations again with a hard or soft fork. I view a hard fork as Ordinals' most painful and trying outcome.

The advisor takeaway

As an advisor with clients with bitcoin and questions on ordinals, the most significant takeaways revolve around what makes bitcoin unique. Most, if not all, other cryptocurrencies are decentralized in name only – Bitcoin is not.

But due to the decentralized nature of Bitcoin, developers are free to modify Bitcoin’s current rule set. If demand is there and the modifications result in splits in bitcoin holders and the community, investors will have a choice over what to do with their money.

If we see a hard fork, any new tokens or projects would accrue to clients and they could then decide if they want to hold, sell or buy.

While it might seem scary, I doubt Ordinals will create that much friction and division within Bitcoin. Even if it did, one could be passive and simply let the market forces play out. Being an open, permissionless protocol allows for moments like this to occur, and that’s healthy long-term.

Regardless of opinions of “right” or “wrong,” seeing the conversations and debates happening about Ordinals is good. It allows bitcoin to test its resilience and robustness. We will continue having these conversations as Bitcoin proceeds on its path toward global adoption.

The European Commission (EC), the executive body of the European Union (EU), has started a regulatory sandbox to test use cases of blockchain technologies and provide legal clarity for the industry, according to a Tuesday press release.

See related article: EU looks to place limit on banks holding crypto

• Run by independent academic experts, the project is expected to run for the next three years and to support up to 20 private and public sector projects seeking to innovate and build blockchain infrastructure.

• While pilot programs conducted in the EU have shown the potential of blockchain, such as protecting against counterfeiting in supply chains and reducing the cost of trading securities, the EC points to legal uncertainty still in the space.

• One goal of the sandbox is to facilitate the cross-border dialogue between regulators and blockchain-related companies, helping the EC identify best industry practices.

• The sandbox will also work with other relevant sandboxing frameworks, particularly those related to digital finance and artificial intelligence.

• Projects will be selected through calls for expression of interest, with initial applications accepted until Apr. 14.

• Since last year, the European Union has worked to create a new legal framework for the crypto industry to strengthen standards and requirements for digital asset-related business.

See related article: ECB’s Christine Lagarde: Further crypto regulation ‘absolute necessity’ following FTX collapse

Summary: Giraffe AI Labs is an emerging digital platform company. Recently, the company was pleased to announce its participation in Blockchain Fest Singapore 2023.

Singapore City, Singapore--(Newsfile Corp. - February 18, 2023) - Singapore-based Giraffe AI Labs, a primary provider of AI-based financial platform services, made a significant announcement at the recently held Blockchain Fest Singapore 2023. The company unveiled a prototype of their latest offering, ROGer, a metaverse-based AI financial platform. The platform has been developed in collaboration with Tmax Metaverse, a leading metaverse platform and service provider.

The prototype which is currently not commercialized, generated a great deal of interest and curiosity among investors and companies in Singapore and other neighboring countries, where the economy and IT industry are rapidly growing.

According to Byungwook Cho, the COO of Giraffe AI Labs, the platform is designed to offer global hedge fund-level AI financial services to anyone. The company aims to popularize investment strategies at the level of global hedge funds easily and offer a secured and decentralized platform with cryptocurrency and NFTs.

Giraffes AI Labs

The company's unique quant algorithm strategy verification technology enables it to offer a one-of-a-kind, all-in-one financial platform for clients. ROGer allows clients to develop, validate, back-test and deploy their trading strategies with automated execution and real-time feedback. The company is targeting to commercialize ROGer in Southeast Asia between the second and third quarters of 2023 after releasing the beta version in the second quarter of this year.

The company also offers a wide range of financial services, including AI machine learning, platform development, building quantitative strategies and R&D for hedge funds. Its cutting-edge quant algorithm strategy verification technology enables clients to develop and deploy their trading strategies with automated execution and real-time feedback. Giraffe AI Labs strives to transform the financial industry by offering a new concept of a metaverse-based AI financial platform that goes beyond traditional assets with secured and decentralized cryptocurrency and NFTs.

Story continues

Giraffe AI Labs' prototype launch at the Blockchain Fest Singapore 2023 was highly anticipated and the event drew a considerable number of global investors in the blockchain space including exchanges, decentralized finance, NFT, and fintech industries in Southeast Asia.

About the Company - Giraffes AI Labs

Giraffe AI Labs is an established AI financial platform company headquartered in Singapore. The company specializes in providing a wide range of financial services including AI machine learning, platform development, building quantitative strategies and R&D for hedge funds. Giraffe AI Labs is dedicated to develop innovative financial solutions that leverage advanced technologies such as AI and blockchain.

Giraffes AI Labs

With a strong focus on research and development, the company is committed to providing its clients with high-quality financial products that are easy to use and offer consistent results. Giraffe AI Labs is known for its cutting-edge quant algorithm strategy verification technology, which enables clients to develop and deploy their trading strategies with automated execution and real-time feedback. The company is preparing to launch ROGer, its latest offering, a metaverse-based AI financial platform, which is set to revolutionize the financial industry.

For further updates, visit: https://www.giraffe-ai.com/

Media details:
Contact person name: JC Lee
Company Name: Giraffe AI Labs
Contact Email Address: info@giraffe-ai.com
Contact Phone Number: +65-6653-4204
Address: Marina Bay Financial Centre, 8 Marina Boulevard, Singapore 018981

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/155370

Europe’s largest industrial manufacturer Siemens rolled out a digital bond on a blockchain worth 60 million euros. With a maturity period of one year, Siemens said a blockchain-based digital bond would offer numerous advantages, such as enabling direct sales to investors without the need for an intermediary.

Blockchain-based Bonds Eliminate Need for Banks and Intermediaries, Says Siemens

Siemens issued a blockchain-powered digital bond worth 60 million euros on Tuesday, the company said in a press release. The bond, launched in compliance with Germany’s Electronics Securities Act, has a maturity of one year.

Siemens said issuing the bond on a blockchain offers several benefits, including eliminating the need for paper-based global certificates and central clearing. In addition, it allows the company to sell the bond directly to investors without an intermediary bank.

Siemens’ Chief Financial Officer, Ralf P. Thomas, stated that the company’s success in supporting its customers’ digital transformation made it only “logical that we test and utilize the latest digital solutions in finance.”

“We are proud to be one of the first German companies to have successfully issued a blockchain-based bond. This makes Siemens a pioneer in the ongoing development of digital solutions for the capital and securities markets.”

– Ralf P. Thomas, Siemens CFO said in the press release.

Siemens said the introduction of the Electronic Securities Act in June 2021 made it possible to issue digital bonds on blockchain in Germany and allowed the company to sell securities directly to investors without hiring established central securities depositories. Payments for the securities were carried out using conventional methods since the digital euro was not yet available at the transaction time. The entire transaction was completed within two days, Siemens added in the release.

“By moving away from paper and toward public blockchains for issuing securities, we can execute transactions significantly faster and more efficiently than when issuing bonds in the past. “

– said Peter Rathgeb, Corporate Treasurer at Siemens AG.

The Importance and Growth of Tokenization

Siemens’s foray into blockchain and tokenized bonds comes amid an essential period for real-world asset (RWA) tokenization. This process involves representing physical and traditional financial assets as digital tokens on a blockchain. RWA is turning out to be a promising growth area for the digital asset industry in 2023, as it allows for a more secure, inclusive, and efficient investment environment for investors.

This is because blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT) have many potential benefits beyond cryptocurrencies, one of them being tokenization. This concept has the potential to unlock several benefits, including increased liquidity and accessibility of assets, reduced transaction costs, and improved transparency and security.

By representing assets as digital tokens on a blockchain, investors can trade and exchange them more efficiently and at a lower cost than traditional methods. exact research by global consulting firm BC showed that the cumulative size of tokenized assets globally could reach a staggering $16 trillion by 2030.

This article originally appeared on The Tokenist

The Helium Network protocol has announced that it will migrate onto the Solana blockchain and deploy Oracles on March 27 to streamline scalability and reliability.

On February 17, Helium’s blog post announced that there would be a 24-hour transition period on March 27. During the migration, Proof-of-Coverage, and data transfer activities will remain unaffected. Additionally, a team of community volunteers has been assembled to oversee this migration process effectively. According to Helium’s team:

“This upgrade will encompass all wallets, Hotspots, and Helium Network state and will take place over a 24-hour transition period commencing at approximately 1500 UTC / 10:00 AM ET.” 

Helium Network team

After the chain halts, validators will cease to generate blocks, and transactions won’t be synced. To conclude this process, a final blockchain record will be created after all accounts and tokens have been transferred to Solana’s blockchain. Afterward, Hotspots shall be minted as non-fungible tokens (NFTs), according to the development team.

“Note that any rewards generated by Proof-of-Coverage activity in the prior 24 hours will be available to claim in your Helium Wallet after the transition period. Oracles will update claimable balances, and Hotspot Owners can use the new claim function.”

Helium Network team

Holders of the HNT and MOBILE tokens won’t have to do anything special to participate in the upgrade. The same goes for most Hotspot owners, though those who manage larger fleets may be able to test specific functionalities and create their own wallet solutions.

On September 22, the Solana community overwhelmingly approved HIP-70. However, developers celebrated this move as it will offer several benefits, such as increased native tokens for subDAO reward pools, improved mining efficiency, and reliable data transfer within the ecosystem. In the same month, Helium developers made another groundbreaking announcement: The network partnered with T-Mobile to develop a mobile service powered by crypto. Also, the partnership enabled users to earn rewards in cryptocurrency for sharing data about coverage quality and helping pinpoint areas where there is a poor signal from Helium.

Blockchain for Energy continues extending their industry solutions offering with the launch of their new Network & Platform

HOUSTON, February 07, 2023--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Energy industry consortium, Blockchain for Energy (B4E), has now launched its own network & platform. Using this platform, member companies can build, test, and access smart contract solutions all in one place. This launch marks B4E’s monumental next step in advancing to Web3 – a decentralized internet focusing on blockchain technologies, built for the industry, by the industry.

Revolutionary platform offers secure and collaborative opportunity for digital change

The B4E Network & Platform allows companies to build Web3 solutions on top of B4E’s decentralized and interoperable platform. In addition to the Network & Platform mainnet, B4E also provides companies with a private sandbox where members can run code and test use cases with their own data. This now enables energy industry companies to digitally interact with counterparties in a safe, transparent, trust induced venue.

"The B4E Network & Platform allows smart contract blockchain solutions to have a production infrastructure that is safe, secure, compliant, and future proofed for Web3." said Rebecca Hofmann, CEO and President of Blockchain for Energy. "The Web3 space is moving fast. And this provides unparalleled flexibility and choice among enterprise-proven capabilities. The B4E Network & Platform provides the ability to access the latest Web3 technology options as the space continues to evolve."

Embracing new solutions, evolving to meet industry needs

The development and launch of the B4E Network & Platform comes shortly after B4E’s latest smart contracts solutions release. In October, B4E and its members released standard industry grade smart contract templates to ease adoption and scaling for members and the industry at large.

"The next logical step in our quest to lead industry change was to create a platform for others to build and test smart contracts," said Raquel Clement, Chairperson of the Board and Product Line Manager at Chevron. "The B4E Platform & Network allows companies the opportunity to access templates, proven solutions, and develop programs to meet their needs. We are excited to push boundaries and deploy innovative, value-added solutions to modernize the way we do business."

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Access to proven solutions with opportunity to build and innovate

To drive progress, B4E is helping reinvent the energy industry’s workflow processes by providing a secure space for an enterprising community to collaborate. By using this new platform, members can access proven solutions and build applications that leverage Web3 constructs. This includes smart contracts, digital assets, NFTs, and tokenization.

A Chemical Delivery solution from the B4E Commodity Transport Program, a collaborative effort led by Pioneer Natural Resources, is the first production-grade solution released on the new platform. This solution utilizing IIOT and Blockchain technology will be offered to B4E members first and will be available to other energy companies later this year.

Powered by Web3 technology

The B4E Network & Platform is powered by Web3 infrastructure provider Kaleido. It leverages Hyperledger FireFly, the industry's first open source Supernode. FireFly’s next-generation platform simplifies development and provides the flexibility to connect across multiple public and private chains while running many use cases simultaneously.

About Blockchain for Energy

Utilizing the benefits of blockchain technology, the Blockchain for Energy (B4E) consortium provides its members with forward thinking learnings and solutions for the energy industry. It collaboratively drives digital transformation toward Web3 by providing members with opportunities to accelerate their digitalization journey. B4E seeks to resolve, reinvent, and transform the industry’s ways of working through collective synergies. Blockchain for Energy is a safe venue to create transformational change – for the energy industry – by the energy industry. Current B4E members include API, Chesapeake Energy, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Devon Energy, ExxonMobil, Katalyst Data Management, Pioneer Natural Resources, Repsol and Schlumberger.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230207005034/en/

Contacts

Martin Juniper
Blockchain for Energy
713.816.4173
social@blockchainforenergy.net

This is a guest post by Drew Mailen, an organizer of DeFi Philly.

What is blockchain’s role in shaping our world?

Over the weekend, I attended the fifth annual Penn Blockchain Conference hosted by the University of Pennsylvania. The event brought together private equity investors, regulators, students and hackers alongside some of the biggest crypto names to discuss blockchain technology’s current state and future.

Powered by Avalanche, Magna and Struck Capital, among many others, the conference offered a wealth of insights and thought-provoking discussions, along with six satellite events from around the city.

Penn Blockchain Conference 2023 by the numbers:

• 28 panels and 110 panelists
• 1,400 RSVPs
• 16 sponsors
• 200 hackers
• 120 students flown in from around the world
• 50 volunteers around the clock

Here are my eight key takeaways from the event:

1. Open DMs

First: The conference made it clear that people in the blockchain industry are open to connecting through direct messages, even those who may seem unreachable, from CoinFund to A16Z. This is especially true in a bear market, when individuals are more likely to be open to networking.

2. Building in crypto

Building applications in the crypto world is similar to building in the aerospace industry. Developers should approach their work with a mindset of building with the expectation failure, just as aerospace software engineers do — penetration testing in simulated environments that replicate the most sophisticated attacks. They should constantly test and refine their work to prevent any potential issues.

3. Interchain stablecoins

Currently, stablecoins are limited to operating within one environment, but the goal is for them to become more pervasive, just like money in a traditional financial system. For example, Venmo dollars should not be considered “Venmo dollars,” but just “dollars.”

4. Interoperability

While there are still no directly interoperable applications in the blockchain industry, significant progress has been made.

5. Blockchain and AI

Blockchain will play a significant role in the future of artificial intelligence to create trustless autonomy. Blockchain can make data intrinsically trustworthy through cryptography, removing the need for data custodians such as Google to be trusted with access to data.

At the fifth annual Penn Blockchain Conference. (Photo by Drew Mailen)

6. Public and regulator conversations

There should have been more conversations between the public sphere and regulators before the outcome of the SEC’s investigation of Kraken.

There is also a lack of education about Web3, and more needs to be done to address this issue. Everyone from retail consumers to DC politicians equate crypto to the grifters that have made headline news over the last year — Celsius, Terra Luna, FTX, etc. Regulators need to learn that in this emerging era of the web, trust is in the technology, not the individuals who make it.

7. Regulation of digital assets

Regulating digital assets is more complex than regulating orange groves.

In 1946, the US Supreme Court heard the case SEC v. WJ Howey Co., which involved an investment scheme that offered people the opportunity to invest in a citrus grove with the expectation of earning profits from the sale of oranges. The Court ruled that the investment contract in the Howey case was a security, as it met the criteria of the Howey test, which examines whether an investment involves an investment of money in a common enterprise with the expectation of profits primarily from the efforts of others.

The ruling established a legal precedent that has been used in subsequent cases to determine whether other types of investments, such as real estate partnerships, limited partnerships and franchises, are securities under US law. Crypto is fundamentally different from this case for several reasons, including nature of investment, investment contract and profit expectation.

8. Philly’s Web3 scene is still in its early stages, but growing steadily

Organizations like DeFi Philly, NFT Philly and Bitcoin Jawn make this possible, carrying the torch from events like Coinvention and meetups like Philadelphia Ethereum Meetup.

I also sat down with Richard Ou, a Penn student and one of the conference’s organizers, who told me about the importance of the conference.

“The potential of students is oftentimes underestimated,” Ou said. “The conference helps to bridge the gap between academia and industry to reinforce the educational infrastructures necessary for the continued growth of the sector. The importance of the conference to Penn students is in the opportunity to make industry-wide impact by leveraging their innate talents and passion for blockchain to create a platform that truly helps to inspire, educate and connect.”

© Provided by City AM

Blockchain platform Minima has announced a unique collaboration with digital content sharing platform WeTransfer.

The two companies are set to deploy non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the Minima network to empower creators all over the world with digital rights management for their intellectual property.

Users will have the ability to generate NFTs directly from their phones or any other device, giving them control over how and with whom they share their digital assets and collect revenue. 

This will be made possible by Minima’s globally distributed communications network, which is set to go live in 180 countries from next month.

Minima’s blockchain technology will play a crucial role in shaping the future of Web3 development, with data privacy and self-sovereignty at its core. 

© Provided by City AM Hugo Feiler

“WeTransfer is thrilled to work with Minima, whose vision is aligned strongly with ours to seamlessly connect people and facilitate innovation and creativity without sacrificing privacy,” said Damian Bradfield, Chief Creative Officer at WeTransfer.

Minima’s secure peer-to-peer network enables the transfer of value from person to person without third-party intermediaries. This allows users to create revenue directly from their own digital assets, and continue to receive revenue for the lifetime of its use. 

“We as a partnership look forward to supporting the development and acceleration of creativity in the digital age where individuals retain ownership and control of their work,” said Hugo Feiler, CEO of Minima.

“This partnership will explore the practical use of NFT technology, something which interests not only the crypto industry, but will be a test case to demonstrate the potential of wider adoption of this innovative digital tool.”

The post WeTransfer partners with blockchain platform Minima to supply more control to digital content creators appeared first on CityAM.