Category: Blockchain

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Australia Blockchain Industries

Ralph Kalsi Becomes Algorand Brand Ambassador

Ralph Kalsi — digital marketing hotshot and founder of leading Australian companies Ralph Kalsi Blockchain Consultancy and Blockchain Autonomous solutions — has become one of the brand ambassadors of The Algorand Foundation. 

Quicker Transactions, Quicker Proof

The Algorand Foundation is a non-profit organization that believes in open, public, and permissionless blockchain, which runs on a Pure Proof-of-stake (PPOs) consensus protocol.

The Algorand blockchain — and it’s cryptocurrency, named Algo —  ensures decentralization by using a Byzantine Agreement Protocol.

Byzantine fault-tolerant protocols are algorithms that are immune to arbitrary types of failures in distributed algorithms. Due to the omnipresence of the Internet, there has been a need to develop decentralized algorithms that are immune to malfunctions.

 With high-speed block finalization, Algo provides immediate blockchain transaction assurance. This quality alone makes Algorand highly useful to any business that was  — up until now — heavily dependent on the chain of intermediaries that support and secure transactions to a wide array of customers and employees.

 Algo’s ultra-rapid transaction delivery makes it scalable to billions of users and thus, useful to many industries — especially to the financial sector. No matter how many Algo users there will be, the transaction speed will never fall below 4.5 seconds.

The Algorand blockchain is also immune to forking. In blockchain terminology, forking is a problem that can occur when a blockchain splits into more than 1 chain — which can lead to doubts regarding the success of the transaction.

The Algorand blockchain has been built in such a way that forks are avoided, leading to a level of trust beyond most other blockchains.

A well-known innovator and champion of promising projects within the Australian fintech scene, Ralph Kalsi has decided to be one of the many faces of Algorand —  a project run by like-minded entrepreneurs and tech enthusiasts.

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Blockchain Cryptocurrencies Cryptocurrency Law

Traditional Banks May Be Forced To Change Their Views On Crypto

Last month, Kraken became the first cryptocurrency exchange to officially become a bank. 

The Wyoming Banking Board voted to approve the San Francisco-based crypto exchange’s application for a special purpose depository institution (SPDI) charter. 

Less than 3 years ago, Lloyd Blankfein — the CEO of Goldman Sachs — called cryptocurrency a fraud. The bank has since changed its mind and is currently investing in cryptocurrencies themselves. 

A New Generation Of Banks On The Horizon

Goldman Sachs isn’t the only financial authority to change its tune. The central banks of multiple countries are looking into national cryptocurrencies.

Countries such as Sweden, Canada, and China are all actively investigating the potential benefits of a central bank-issued digital currency. However, the RBA isn’t as interested in the use cases of blockchain technology.

The RBA isn’t fully disinterested, however: Although the Reserve Bank of Australia currently believes a “digital Australian Dollar” would be risky, it is still looking into Ethereum-based solutions for wholesale purposes.

In a payments paper issued on Thursday, the RAB expressed doubts regarding the future of stablecoins, along with cryptocurrencies such as Facebook’s Libra project.

The RBA has stated that it remains to be seen whether or not Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency will gain regulatory approval and be allowed to operate in Australia.

Private companies may still have the upper hand, however. Kraken, for instance, is already forming a partnership with Silvergate bank — which may bring SWIFT and FedWire crypto funding choices for the USA market.

 Well-known crypto exchanges Coinbase and Gemini are also now customers of JPMorgan, even though JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon routinely denounced the worth of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies just some little years ago.

The days when cryptocurrencies were regarded as a tool for cybercriminals to make anonymous transactions are long gone. Of course, privacy coins still exist — but they are used only by niche traders. 

Given the popularity of cryptocurrencies since the 2017 boom, we may soon see demand for cryptocurrency exchanges at our ATMs — and banks would be hard-pressed to not offer the service. 

Whether the cryptocurrency offered by banks would be the national digital version or the already popular cryptocurrencies, however, remains to be seen.

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Australia Blockchain Industries

Two More Working Groups Join The National Blockchain Roadmap Steering Committee

The National Blockchain Roadmap of Australia was established back in February of 2020.

Since then, more and more working groups have been formed, aiming to transform Australia into a country improved by revolutionary technology.

Following an onboarding and application process in July 2020, the government has formed working groups to research different applications of blockchain, and their potential use in the public sector – given their popularity in the private sector.

The first two working groups were established a month later.

August saw the foundation of the Supply Chain Working group, headed by Katie Ford and Dr. Mark Staples. The group is investigating the potential for blockchain technology to support trusted supply chains, with an initial focus on the agriculture sector.

The second working group established in August is headed by Dr. Chris Berg and Prof Jason Potts. It focuses on the use of blockchain to ensure credentials in the education sector – as well as the integrity of academic papers written and used in Australia and abroad.

A Renewed Focus On Cybersecurity And Compliance

On the 9th of October, the next two working groups were formed.

The Cybersecurity Working Group will be focused on improving cybersecurity solutions in the era of asymmetrical warfare with blockchain technology.

Headed by Adriana Belotti and Steve Vallas, the top-notch team formed yesterday will be cooperating with CSIROs’ Data61 researchers, among others.

Last but not least, the second working group formed yesterday will focus on Regtech and Compliance. The aim of this group is to clear up bureaucracy and confusing laws in order to help businesses meet their regulatory obligations in a highly secure environment.

Among others, the CEO of Fintech Australia – Rebecca Schot-Guppy – is on the Regtech and Compliance team.

With the National Blockchain Roadmap rapidly meeting its goals, more announcements should be in the wings.

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Australia Blockchain Industries

SBEnrc Identifies Opportunities For Blockchain In Australian Transport

In the world today, humanity is more connected than ever before. We are all dependent on transportation networks, as well as logistical services and their vast network of supply routes. In 2020, we’ve seen a lot of unprecedented stress being put on logistical routes that worked fine up until now.

 Without long queues at the border, health checks, and quarantined areas, there was no need to change.

Blockchain Can Improve Transit Times

Artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain technology will be key to enhancing Australia’s transport sector, according to a new report published by the Sustainable Built Environment National Research Centre (SBEnrc).

Based at Curtin University, SBEnrc produced its report in conjunction with the university’s Big Data and Smart Analytics Lab.

It identifies a range of benefits from adopting blockchain and AI, including road cost, time savings, improved operations, improved user experience, and improved freight and logistics.

According to Dr. Charlie Hargroves of the Curtin University Sustainability Policy Institute, it’s not just Australia’s food industry that stands to gain from hopping on the blockchain train.

“The report shows that the International Data Corporation anticipates that spending on Artificial Intelligence will reach US$57bn by 2021 and according to the World Economic Forum by 2027 some 10 percent of global GDP will be Blockchain-based. It will be important for industry and government to understand the unique opportunities that these technologies present”.

Although tracking numbers have certainly been around for a while, blockchain can guarantee the accuracy of all information pertaining to a package. Did it travel through a restricted area, like much of Italy was during the spring of 2020? Has the weight of a package been reduced during transit, pointing to a theft? Were the bay doors opened?

 All of these and more can be tracked via blockchain without the possibility of tampering, ensuring the integrity of a package.

In the case of public transport, blockchain could ensure a vehicle’s safety record is kept up to date.

In the case of a manufacturer looking to sign a contract with a carrier, the driving records of the carrier’s employees could have an influence on the outcome.

Although records are already kept, the number of companies involved can cause delays when all data must be compared and verified. Blockchain could easily remove the red tape.

As the Australian government continues to invest in Blockchain technologies, it’s not a stretch to imagine that the improvements imagined by SBEnrc will be put into practice in the near future.

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Australia Blockchain Trading

ASX Pushed By RBA And ASIC to release DLT Trading Platform As Soon As Possible

The Reserve Bank of Australia and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) have requested that the Australian Stock Exchange hurry up with their new Distributed Ledger Trading platform, claiming in an official report that it was putting quite a dent in the market and hampering the finances of the Australian market.

Looking To Recoup Delays Caused By COVID-19

Back in March, a spike in trading volumes caused processing delays – underlining the need for the distributed ledger technology to be completed. Due to the possibility of far-reaching consequences by a system not thoroughly checked for issues – and also the COVID-19 pandemic – the release was initially delayed until April 2022.

Dominic Stevens, the CEO of ASX, explained that the delay was due to the expansion of the scope of the project – now looking to support up to three times as large a volume as originally planned.

“Some, including an important back-office systems provider for a substantial part of the market, expressed a preference for an extra six to nine months, which we are including in our deliberations. With the volume explosion we saw in March, we’re now looking at plans to ultimately double or triple that original volume target, which will increase go-live system capacity.”

The two regulators also touched on potential competition issues, stating that their Regulatory Expectations seek to ensure that ASX remains in touch with the needs and requests of investors.

The access to its monopoly cash equity CS services on a transparent and non-discriminatory basis with fair Terms and Conditions was also considered a priority.

Hoping to bolster the confidence of investors in what is one of the world’s leading markets already, the ASX replied that they welcome the input of ASX and ASIC, and will attempt to make the replacement for CHESS go live as soon as possible.

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Blockchain Cardano Payments

Australian Developer Working To Bring Cardano To Shopify Stores

Shopify stores may soon allow users to pay using Cardano  (ADA) tokens with a new app that removes the need for any third parties in order to pay with cryptocurrency.

Jeronimo Backes – an Australian developer who has invested a fair sum in ADA and is a fan of this cryptocurrency – is working on this app voluntarily.

Removing The Third Party

Although Shopify stores can already accept payments in cryptocurrency, intermediaries – who also take their cut – are needed in order to carry out the transaction.

Backes sees Cardano as the cryptocurrency most likely to make the transition to large-scale enterprises due to its scalability.

“Unlike others, this one is the one I think is being built to last. It’s not like Ethereum, EOS, Tron, and others who are still in a proof-of-concept phase in relation to large-scale business use-cases.”

The code – available on GitHub for anyone who wants to help – will remain open-source, in a bid to help online stores integrate the new app into their systems.

Any store owners that would like to integrate the app into their ecosystem will only need to select it from the range of payment applications made available to them by the Shopify interface, Backes stated.

 Once integrated, users will be sending funds directly to the store’s private wallets – invisible to anyone except the customer and the online store.

As of 2020, Shopify provides an online store interface to over 1 million businesses operating in over 175 countries, with total gross merchandise volume exceeding US$41.1 billion during the calendar year 2018.

The new Cardano wallet will eventually support plugins, adding extra functionalities such as automatic tax calculations.

Having recently hit a snag in development that forced Backes to build a new wallet from scratch, the Cardano and Shopify integration will be delayed – but should be released before the beginning of 2021.

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Australia Blockchain Crypto News Monash University

CSIRO And Monash Develop A Quantum-Proof Blockchain Protocol – The Most Efficient To Date

Researchers from CSIRO’s Data61 – the data and digital specialist arm of Australia’s national science agency, and the Monash Blockchain Technology Centre have developed the most efficient blockchain protocol worldwide.

Not only is it secure against quantum computers, but it also guarantees the privacy of its users and their transactions.

Use In Multiple Fields On The Horizon

Although the blockchain protocol seems to have originally been developed for cryptocurrencies – indeed, it has been licensed to an Aussie cryptocurrency developer known as Hcash – the new protocol can be used in a number of fields, including, but not limited to digital health, banking, finance, government services, and KYC (Know Your Customer) identity verification procedures. 

The protocol has been named MatRiCT and was developed by a team of researchers from both CSIRO and the Monash Blockchain Technology Centre. The team was led by Dr Muhammed Esgin, who took action once he saw that current blockchain technology may not be able to take flak from quantum computers.

“Quantum computing can compromise the signatures or keys used to authenticate transactions, as well as the integrity of blockchains themselves. Once this occurs, the underlying cryptocurrency could be altered, leading to theft, double-spend, or forgery, and users’ privacy may be jeopardized. Existing cryptocurrencies tend to either be quantum-safe or privacy-preserving, but for the first time our new protocol achieves both in a practical and deployable way.”

The new protocol is based on hard lattice problems –  which are quantum secure. They also introduce new particular features – one of which is the shortest quantum-secure ring signature scheme made so far, which authenticates activity and transactions using nothing but the signature itself.

Another innovation present in the MatRiCT blockchain is a zero-knowledge proof method, which masks all sensitive information pertaining to a financial transaction. MatRiCT also includes the ability to conduct audits, which the team hopes could prevent the illegal use of cryptocurrencies.

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Australia Blockchain Industries

Australia Has A New AUD 800 Million Business Plan, Including Blockchain

Following the creation of blockchain work groups for various industry sectors across Australia a few weeks ago, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has unveiled an AUD 800 million Digital Business Plan for the government to follow.

The plan includes several non-blockchain initiatives – however, many of these are for Distributed Ledger Technology systems, a technology closely associated to blockchain.

These plans include an AUD 256 million investment for a system that will provide Digital Identification, and  an AUD 420 million Business Register that will greatly simplify the current methods used.

Compliance Costs Will Be Reduced Through Blockchain

Nearly 9.7 million AUD will be set aside for two new blockchain projects targeting business compliance costs – and the unnecessary amount of funding spent to check it.

According to PM Scott Morrisson, the business plan should help small businesses by cutting costs – and by removing unnecessary regulatory barriers.

“The Plan supports Australia’s economic recovery by removing out-dated regulatory barriers, boosting the capability of small businesses and backs the uptake of technology across the economy.”

A good deal of  other fintech initiatives were outlined in the new business plan, some of which could also have ties to blockchain – although this has not yet been confirmed.

Just a few weeks ago, the Select Committee on Financial Technology (FinTech) and Regulatory Technology (RegTech) published an interim report that was positive about blockchain. A fintech lawyer told the committee that the majority if FinTech and RegTech solutions are likely to use Distributed Ledger Technology within the next ten years.

At the time, Power Ledger’s co-founder and Executive Chairman Dr. Jemma Green also highlighted that although over $26 billion had been raised through ICOs, Australia gained less than 1 percent of the profit.

By properly regulating blockchain technology and ICOs even further, Dr. Green believes that tens of thousands of new jobs will be created, which will in turn bring in even more revenue to be invested in further development.

Indeed, in the report it is speculated that the potential gain due to using blockchain technology is “estimated at $175 billion annually within five years and $3 trillion by 2030”.

With Hedera technology also being recently unveiled as a blockchain-based partner for Australian industries, the adoption of blockchain in every corner of the Australian market is advancing at a steady pace.

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Australia Blockchain Cryptocurrencies

From Coins To Cryptocurrency – A Bestselling Book On The Australian Economy

On the 7th of September, a new game-changing book was released on the Amazon bookstore – namely: PAYMENTS AND BANKING IN AUSTRALIA – From Coins To Cryptocurrency, How It Started, How It Works And How It May Be Disrupted.

In this book, Nikesh Lalchandani tells the story of Australia’s economy, it’s ups and downs, and how it is permanently changing due to cryptocurrencies and other blockchain technologies.

Bestseller Status Reached

Three weeks after the day it came out, Nikesh’s book has hit the number 1 spot in the Business category of books sold on Amazon Australia.

Born in Australia from Indian heritage, Nikesh has studied engineering, computer science, finance, and IT at the University of New South Wales and Deakin. After a history of involvement with various start-up firms and successful business ventures, Nikesh worked for the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, where he headed departments focused on research and emerging technology that can be applied to the world of finance.

For the first time, Aussie readers have access to a comprehensive guide of the financial world, of payments and banking centered on the Australian continent.

 The book explores the history of Australian payments and banking, while also bringing ideas that could be used to improve current systems and modus operandi to streamline banking procedures. In his book, Nikesh explains how he believes blockchain technology could end up being as much of a game-changer as other projects originally started by enthusiasts – such as PayPal.

“We are on the verge of a revolution: this book provides a direction of what the future could look like and empowers the reader to make that vision a reality.”

The 508-page book is a thorough exploration of the financial mechanisms and regulation in banking and payment systems from cheques to cards and cryptocurrency.

In addition to a view at the techie side of things, the book also examines the culture and framework that have traditionally caused problems in the Australian financial sector and takes a broad look at alternatives currently available to investors.

Categories
Australia Binance Blockchain

Binance Australia Joins Forces With Blockchain Australia

This Friday, Binance Australia became a full member of Blockchain Australia, an industry body for Australian fintech businesses and professionals who advocate for blockchain technology.

Their main goal is to advance the adoption of blockchain technology in Australia, and their recent partnership with the cryptocurrency exchange market heavy hitter is a massive leap in the right direction.

Awareness Is The Name Of The Game

As part of the partnership, Binance Australia will join Blockchain Australia in their efforts – alongside other local industry experts – to increase the speed with which blockchain is adopted in every industry.

Mr. Steve Vallas – the CEO of Blockchain Australia – stated that this vital partnership with an industry leader will go a long way to build awareness and expand the revolutionary technology to markets that previously had no interest in it.

“That’s why we’re extremely excited to welcome Binance Australia on board as our newest member, bringing additional cryptocurrency expertise and international connections to our membership base.

Binance Australia shares Blockchain Australia’s vision to see an Australia that leads the world in the adoption of blockchain technology that transforms the economy and society to achieve significantly greater competitiveness, efficiency, service quality, social engagement, and employment.”

Asked for comment, Jeff Yew – the CEO of Binance Australia – stated that this partnership is the culmination of heavy efforts to partner with leading associations and companies across Australia and is expecting a long and fruitful collaboration.

Indeed, blockchain technology is predicted to generate a yearly business value of over AUD $239 billion by 2025 and – according to Senator Andrew Bragg – will generate revenue for Australia in excess of AUD $3 trillion by 2030.