Blockchain, the public ledger underpinning of digital currencies like Bitcoin, is poised to transform the way we do business.
Cryptocurrency, once an obscure tool embraced primarily by those interested in anonymous, even shady transactions, is becoming increasingly mainstream, as individuals and businesses embrace it for a wide variety of reasons. If you aren’t using digital currencies in your business right now, you almost certainly will be in the days to come. Here are four ways to use blockchain right now, and help your company gain a competitive edge.
Accepting Payments For Goods and Services One of the simplest and most effective ways to leverage blockchain in your business is to accept payments from your customers. Accepting blockchain payments, in the form of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, can offer your company several advantages. First, it is yet another option for customers to pay for goods and services; the more payment options you offer customers, the better chance you have of getting paid. Additionally, using blockchain can help you effectively eliminate the middleman on many transactions, especially on real property items, and help save both you as well as your clients substantially on brokerage or legal fees. Finally, since cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are universally recognized, using them helps facilitate international business transactions as well.
Facilitate High Volume Transactions
For businesses that process a high volume of transactions – large numbers of sales or other forms of interactions with clients – conventional financial systems may slow down the speed at which your company operates, and cut into your bottom line. Blockchain operates significantly differently than other financial transactions. It is a decentralized system and lacks the middleman that most banks and brokerages rely on. Therefore, most blockchain systems are tailor made for processing uninterrupted, lightning-fast transactions. Blockchain’s encryption also means that you will not sacrifice security for speed in your transactions, ether. Raise Capital If you are looking to raise significant capital -either to start your business or significantly expand it – then you should consider how blockchain can help facilitate this. Much like accepting customer payments, accepting blockchain for fundraising provides investors yet another way to securely fund your business. It allows your fundraising to go from local to global, as universal digital currencies make it easier for people around the world to instantly provide funding. Moreover, the digital, unique nature of each blockchain payment allows you to set conditions for the funds raised; you can define the terms for things like company control and ownership, interest required, and the like for all of the funds raised in this manner, and all without the service fees typically required from brokers who traditionally handle these issues. Build Perfect Contracts Blockchain can help your company build near-perfect, easily enforceable contracts with your customers. For instance, if providing a good or service at a specific time is a critical factor in your business, you can use blockchain to stipulate payments based on that, and employ a sliding payment scale that requires your customer to pay less the further past the deadline you go. These types of smart blockchain contracts can be extremely useful for automated and Internet-based businesses, which rely heavily on AI and other tools to speed massive volumes of conditions-based transactions. In fact, blockchain may be able to help you automate contracting activities that you currently have to dedicate costly human resources against, and help improve your bottom line. Finally, the use of these types of smart contracts will, like in other blockchain transactions, help your company eliminate the costly fees associated with brokering and other middleman activities as well. Article by Due.com Sharing by Corwin Group
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Lots of people are excited about the technology behind Bitcoin. Here's why.
Silicon Valley investor Marc Andreessen describes blockchain, the system that underpins the digital currency Bitcoin, as ‘one of the most fundamental inventions in the history of computer science’, and he’s right. 2017 is going to be the year it is tested, trialled, iterated and adapted to suit different industry sectors and business requirements. This new tech on the block is capable of disrupting many industries and bringing new innovations into industries such as property, automotive, music, banking and healthcare, to name a few. So how does it work? One way of understanding it is to think about how a Google Doc enables people to access and make updates in real time. No need to save over and send new files to all etc. as the next time someone opens the doc it will be the most up to date. The file automatically keeps a record of who made which changes and when, as that digital address is native to the cloud, not the local hard drive. Google Docs is to Microsoft Word what blockchain is to a traditional ledger system. Organisations of all sizes are working with innovation teams and design consultancies to figure out how this ‘shared ledger’ concept can benefit their businesses. Blockchain can be implemented in different industry sectors to speed up processes, guarantee security, trust and transparency and keep accurate records that can be accessed by stakeholders, no matter where they are in the world. Here are five industries it is set to transform:
Property
Buying a home is one of the biggest transactions in a person’s life, yet very little technological development has taken place to enhance or simplify the purchasing process. Blockchain could help homeowners, developers, estate agents and mortgage lenders keep a record of information relating to a property, which would be centrally located for anyone in the house buying and selling process to access. This would reduce hours of paper pushing and phone calls and create transparent information on the status and maintenance of the house before putting in an offer. It can help with the whole purchase process, reduce fraud risks, and offer in depth transparency, making the mortgage process and transfer of ownership seamless and quicker. We’ve seen examples of Bank of China and HSBC launching mortgage services using blockchain, as providing a decentralised network to verify information, offers heightened security, accuracy and reliability and guarantees that the documents are incorruptible.
Automotive
In a similar way to housing, tracking the value of second hand vehicles through blockchain would make purchases a lot easier for buyers and traders. Information on the car’s mileage, services, driving history etc would be accurate, and if the car was ever written off the information could be accessed digitally to salvage the new gearbox that was installed only two months ago. Visa and DocuSign unveiled a blockchain prototype for car leasing making it easy to click, sign and drive away a leased car. The straightforward process lets the customer choose the car they want to lease and the transaction is entered on the public ledger. The driver then signs the insurance documents and lease agreement, all updated within the blockchain. It’s easy to see how this type of system could be applied to car sales and registration.
Music
There has already been massive disruption in the music industry with services already being developed to allow listeners to purchase or download music using blockchain to pay the artist directly with no intermediary. Ujo Music is the start up that worked with Imogen Heap in 2015 on her track ‘Tiny Human’ via blockchain-based distribution. Fans could download, sample and remix the song with payments going directly to Heap and her collaborators on the track. In the age of streaming services, blockchain could show musicians, creators, fans, marketers and labels the data and dialogue involved in listening to their songs and albums. It can reduce piracy, remove intermediaries, and support licensing and rights management. Artists would be much closer to their fans and over time they could influence and reward them. A truly democratic and commercially viable way of promoting music. Projects such as these are crucial in helping the music industry understand how blockchain could change its future and we expect to see more entering the marketplace.
Banking
Most big banks like to talk about how they are working with blockchain - especially within security. Indeed, a report out in February 2017 reveals that nearly half of all financial institutions are planning to or are already investing in blockchain, with over 80 percent of bankers stating they expect to see the commercialisation of the technology by 2020. Blockchain promotes security and trust and allows all parties to work with one single reference point, which can cut manpower and middlemen costs. Examples of this in practice include Swissbank UBS and Barclays, who are both experimenting with it as a way to expedite back office function and settlement, while Chinese banks are hiring blockchain experts as the government pushes the use of the technology to combat fraud in the financial sector.
As with any new technology, there are stumbling blocks. Commercial banks may not want all that information to be managed by developers so private blockchains may need to be created. It’s important to take a collaborative approach so banking organisations can pool their resources, identify and share hurdles and resolutions.
Healthcare
Many healthcare institutions are unable to securely and accurately share information across platforms but better data sharing and collection systems could bring huge benefits to care services. Within healthcare, blockchain promises to address security and data integrity issues relating to patient information within healthcare providers, hospitals, insurance companies and clinical trials. IBM Watson teamed up with the US FDA to trial a data sharing initiative to keep track of patients involved in a particular trial and they are going on to explore how a blockchain framework could potentially provide benefits to public health. In addition, startup consortium Hashed Health has raised an impressive $1.8 million to advance its work and drive blockchain innovation within the sector. These are all promising developments for global healthcare and as organisations and investors begin to understand the benefits it can bring, we expect to see an increase in investment into funding, developing and testing blockchain services within this important sector. Article by Gideon Hyde Sharing by Corwin Group Think RM1 rides are good? Been there, done that. Now you can enjoy short Grab rides around town for ZERO fares! Starting 14 Feb 2017, book a Grab ride and if it costs RM7 or lower, then your fare is ZERO! Even during standstill traffic - the promo works! Pay with cash or credit/debit card. Download Grab - Car, Taxi, Bike Booking App here:
Australia has forced the sale of more than Aus$100 million (US$76 million) worth of residential property bought illegally by foreigners since it introduced a robust investment regime, the government said Monday.
Canberra established new rules in December 2015 to fine and even jail foreign nationals who flout laws that only allow them to purchase new dwellings, not pre-owned residential property.
Real estate prices have soared in recent years, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne, with housing affordability becoming a key political issue.
There are concerns that cashed-up foreigners, particularly from China, have helped inflate prices, forcing new potential homeowners out of the market. Treasurer Scott Morrison said there had so far been 61 forced sales with a combined value of Aus$107 million, with another 36 people opting to sell while being investigated.
"The government is committed to enforcing our rules so that foreign nationals illegally holding Australian property are identified and their illegal holdings relinquished," he said.
Chinese nationals dominated the list with 25 forced sales. Others came from countries including Britain, Malaysia and Indonesia. Under the regime, foreigners who illegally buy Australian real estate face up to three years in jail or fines of Aus$135,500 for individuals and Aus$675,000 for companies. Capital gains are also forfeited on forced sales. Australia has also intensified its scrutiny of overseas ownership of agricultural production amid concerns of valuable assets passing into foreign hands. The government has blocked a handful of planned purchases in recent years as being against the national interest. by AFP News Sharing by Corwin Group Many of the technologies we now take for granted were quiet revolutions in their time. Just think about how much smartphones have changed the way we live and work. It used to be that when people were out of the office, they were gone, because a telephone was tied to a place, not to a person. Now we have global nomads building new businesses straight from their phones. And to think: Smartphones have been around for merely a decade. We’re now in the midst of another quiet revolution: blockchain, a distributed database that maintains a continuously growing list of ordered records, called “blocks.” Consider what’s happened in just the past 10 years:
It seeks $300m valuation on junior market. According to Bloomberg, Liquidia Technologies, a biotechnology firm backed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is planning a Singapore initial public offering this year, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The U.S. company aims to list on Singapore’s junior Catalist market at a valuation of about S$300 million ($211 million), the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. Liquidia is in early talks with investors including Malaysian sovereign fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd. about selling a stake before the proposed offering, according to the people.Liquidia was founded in 2004 and is led by Chief Executive Officer Neal Fowler, the former president of Johnson & Johnson’s Centocor unit. The company’s current investors include GlaxoSmithKline Plc, the largest U.K. drugmaker, as well as venture capital firms Canaan Partners, New Enterprise Associates Inc. and Morningside Group, according to its website. A listing would be a boon to Singapore Exchange Ltd.’s attempts to attract foreign listings as the city-state builds its reputation as a regional hub for biotech companies. Fundraising from Singapore IPOs surged more than fourfold last year to $1.7 billion, data compiled by Bloomberg show. “Liquidia continues to evaluate its capital needs, but does not comment on these matters publicly,” said Michael Parks, a spokesman for the North Carolina-based company. “The company’s current focus is on delivering for its partners and advancing its internal product pipeline.” A representative for Khazanah declined to comment.
Liquidia’s technology allows it to develop highly precise particle-based vaccines and therapeutics, according to its website. News by Bloomberg and Singapore Business Reviews Share by Corwin Group |
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