Category: Blockchain

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Australia Blockchain Industries Real Estate

Power Ledger Blockchain-Powered Green Housing, Coming To A City Near You

Aussie blockchain firm Power Ledger and Perth-based real estate developer OP Properties have joined forces to build one of the first carbon-neutral apartment complexes in Australia.

Power Ledger – a firm that specializes in renewable energy and other environmental commodities – has already been a part of multiple green energy projects around the world. In Thailand, their partnership with Thai Digital Energy Development has led to the development of carbon-neutral infrastructure and better accounting for energy and environmental commodities.

In France, Power Ledger ekWateur and renewable energy supplier ekWateur teamed up to develop a blockchain-based energy trading platform. Power Ledger has also executed projects in the U.S.A., India, Japan, and are always open to new collaborations – such as this one on the home turf.

Blockchain, Reduced Maintenance, and Ecology

The five-story apartment building will be called Montreal Commons – and will consist of 39 apartments and a café. In order to be truly carbon-neutral, it will use rooftop solar panels and local battery storage provided by  OP Properties.

OP Director Luke Parker has stated that as the developer, they will handle the full cost of installing the solar system on the roof of the complex. The installation ownership will be transferred to the management company responsible for the property instead of splitting it up between tenants.

In case of electrical insufficiency, these can be topped up through green energy from electricity retailer Change Energy.

If, on the other hand, any excess solar electricity is generated, it can be stored in on-site batteries and sold by the tenants via Power Ledger’s blockchain-based energy trading platform. Power Ledger receiving a $2.5 million grant from the Australian Government and has won Sir Richard Branson’s Extreme Tech Challenge award.

Coupled with TYMLEZ’s recent project in New South Wales, we can expect to see more and more eco-friendly complexes pop up and ensure the protection of Australia’s beautiful wildlife.

Categories
Australia Blockchain Regulation

Australian Fintech Committee Report Reveals Bullish Government Position on Blockchain

A new interim report published by Australia’s Select Committee on Financial Technology (FinTech) and Regulatory Technology (RegTech) reveals new insights into the Australian Government’s position on the future of blockchain and fintech.

The report, published one year after the creation of the committee, focuses on the potential opportunities presented by blockchain technology, as well as the ways in which novel fintech and regtech solutions can help the financial sector overcome a range of different problems.

The Select Committee on Financial Technology and Regulatory Technology’s report acknowledges the economic impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting a number of ways through which the innovative application of various decentralized technology use cases can assist Australia in moving through the pandemic crisis.

Notably, the report presents a number of use cases of blockchain technology, such as virtual signing and witnessing of legal documents or the potential for decentralized regtech platforms focused on digital identity in government agencies.

Blockchain Industry Value Headed Toward $3 Trillion

Australia’s Select Committee on Financial Technology and Regulatory Technology has been presented with a broad spectrum of information with which to create regulatory guidance, leveraging the knowledge of established Australian blockchain and fintech innovators during hearings.  

Within specific committee hearings, Michael Bacina, Partner of both Fintech Group and Blockchain Group, provided the committee with estimates that the international blockchain technology industry could be worth over  $175 billion annually within five years and $3 trillion by 2030.

Other insights presented by the report include criticism of the current regulatory approach governing the fintech and blockchain startup ecosystem, noting that the current regulatory environment is “outdated” and in many cases contradictory. With Australian fintech and blockchain startups now capturing hundreds of millions in VC investment around the country, the Australian government is actively pursuing startup-friendly approaches within the scope of the Australian blockchain roadmap in order to promote innovation and development within the nascent Aussie blockchain ecosystem.

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Australia Blockchain Commodities

Australian Food & Wine Supply Chain Combats Fraud with Blockchain Tech

Australian Government and supply chain industry experts are pushing blockchain technology as a solution to widespread fraud in the food and wine industry, which currently costs Aussie businesses over $1.7 billion every year.

New collaborative efforts between the Australian Government, blockchain roadmap working groups, and supply chain industry experts has seen government officials advocate for the use of blockchain in eliminating fraud within one of Australia’s most profitable produce and export sectors. 

An online panel discussion on September 4, moderated by Blockchain Australia deputy chair Rob Allen, saw over 150 industry and government attendees meet to discuss potential use cases of blockchain technology in order to combat widespread fraud throughout multiple industries. 

Blockchain technology holds the potential to establish an immutable provenance chain by tokenizing and tracking every Australian-made product. Provenance fraud is widespread both within Australia and throughout export markets, with Australian agricultural businesses struggling to ensure that their products can be verified internationally. 

Blockchains Set to Lock Down Supply Chains

Speaking at the online forum, Department of Industry National Blockchain Lead Chloe White highlighted the importance of blockchain technology in minimizing the $1.7 billion annual cost of agricultural product provenance fraud. 

AgTech Capital AL Fullerton reinforced White’s perspective on blockchain implementation from a private sector position, noting that blockchain can be used in product authentication in order to prevent the spread of forged paper certificates. 

Investigative reports published by Food Innovation Australia indicates that food fraud costs the global food industry over $50 billion every year — the transparent, immutable nature of blockchain technology would allow Australian businesses to create unforgeable digital certificates in order to protect their products and brand. In addition to discussing the potential use cases of blockchain technology in Australian supply chain applications, the online panel also hosted the announcement of Australia’s first blockchain-based Cooperative Research Center, which has raised over $60 million in order to push blockchain adoption through Australian startups.

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Australia Blockchain Industries

Blockchain-based Green Energy Group Set To Revolutionize NSW Energy Market

Enterprise software and technology company TYMLEZ Group has just been chosen as a partner for a large-scale, multi-year project with ICT, the national Dutch telecommunications company. TYMLEZ is already planning future cooperations, with outlines for Australian projects in 2021.

Headquartered in the Netherlands and listed on the ASX since 2018, TYMLEZ offers a platform that enables businesses to expedite the design, development and deployment of highly scalable blockchain applications in multiple areas, especially green energy. Their contract with ICT aims to reduce carbon emissions and even provide green energy from the activities of ICT Group.

Ahead of European Legislation

In its June quarter report, TYMLEZ announced its expansion into the Australian market with a subsidiary named TYMLEZ Energy. TYMLEZ energy will be headed by Daniel O’Halloran in the role of managing director and Wayne Clay as chairman.

In a statement, TYMLEZ energy laid out the basics of their business plan.

“We aim to take advantage of legislative environments that enable us to trial and run our platform in a different geographical location and be ready for the two-way energy marketplace by end of 2021.

In order to capitalize on this momentum, TYMLEZ Energy will focus its efforts on the marketing and sales of the energy marketplace in Australia and Asia.” 

TYMLEZ plan of action is more than a year ahead of legislation regarding green energy that will be adopted in the European Union on the 1st of January 2023.

TYMLEZ is also planning on teaming up with private company Tyalgum Energy in New South Wales to install TYMLEZs proprietary decentralized green energy marketplace.

“There is real significance in this trial as not only is it the first in the Southern Hemisphere but, once proven successful, we will be scaling the technology into commercial and industrial applications to further impact the carbon neutral target for big energy consumers.”

If successful, the town of Tyalgum in New South Wales will be 100% powered by renewable energy. 

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Australia Blockchain Industries

Australian Government Will Certify Aussie Quality Via Blockchain

Consumer protection laws have come a long way since their introduction, ensuring clients get exactly what they paid for. Local farmers across Australia have proven the superiority of their products – and some have tried to cash in on their success without putting in the same amount of work. Once again, the solution comes from blending new technology with time-tested methods.

The quality of Australian livestock is recognized worldwide – and as with many other industries, the Australian government has invested into further equipping the industry with blockchain technology.

Blockchain provides an easily verifiable certificate of authenticity to any financial transaction, so it makes sense to apply this technology when it comes to agriculture – after all, you are what you eat.

In a statement, David Littleproud, Minister of Agriculture has extolled the virtues of blockchain and its future in Aussie industry and agriculture.

 “Open, transparent and trustworthy systems are important for long term sustainability and global competitiveness.

“Building on standards already used in transport and logistics, warehousing, distribution, retailing and eCommerce ensures Australian producers and processors can participate efficiently and effectively in global markets.”

 Ensuring Adoption At A Grassroots Level

 The initial phase of the project will raise awareness among dairy farmers with a short video and an informative paper. Once the benefits of adoption are well known to producers across Australia, the road to a dairy industry supported by cutting edge technology will have been prepared.

In the case of dairy farms, blockchain technology will assist farmers in storing all information that pertains to orders, quality control and pricing. Taking all of these into account, dairy farms can now sign smart contracts with buyers, elevating trust and removing any possible bad actors from the supply chain.

From a quaint farmhouse surrounded by nature to the fresh milk in your morning coffee, world-renowned quality accompanied by world-class innovation will be felt with every sunrise whose beauty you drink in.  

Categories
Australia Blockchain Economics

Australian Grants Make RMIT A Powerhouse Of Blockchain Research

RMIT launched its Blockchain research division (BIH) in 2017 and has since become the alleged “first research centre on the social science of blockchain”. The funding for research undertaken at BIH shows no signs of slowing down. The potential to turn Australia into one of the leading world researchers, if not the principal research institute for Blockchain related technology increases every day.

Since February of 2020 alone, 6 million dollars have been invested in blockchain-related research at RMIT.

Julie Cogin, Professor, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice President, College of Business at RMIT states:

“Our academics are at the forefront of shaping the blockchain industry internationally, as well as preparing our students with the digital skills of tomorrow.”

Creators of the National Blockchain Roadmap of Australia, BIH are continuing their research at full speed. A recent speech delivered by the Institutes’ director, Jason Potts, indicates that their research may play a part in preventing the economic crisis from hitting Australia full force.

“COVID-19 has rapidly accelerated the shift from an industrial to a digital era. The new digital economy is more decentralised, making it harder to manage and monitor.”

Blockchain Use Cases Expand Exponentially

Elaborating on the need for expanded infrastructure development, Potts highlighted the importance of introducing a more robust approach to integrating blockchain technology into more meaningful use cases:

“We need digital infrastructure to match this move, and this is where platform technologies like blockchain come more into play. Blockchain can be a key part of identity management systems as it offers high transparency and traceability.”

RMIT’s research efforts are focused on leveraging the potential of blockchain technology to help build secure, adaptable economic systems that are resistant to the economic fallout of events such as the COVID-19 pandemic. In the future, blockchain technology could help prevent the spread of a virus by ensuring better contact and location training, as seen in South Korea and in some areas of Japan.

It could also assist in identifying hotspots by tracing the path followed by delivery trucks from farms and factories all the way to the stacked shelves of your local shop.

With the 2020 fiscal year ending for most companies within the next two months, it remains to be seen what technologies will be implemented by companies around the world to recoup the losses incurred during FY2020 – and what role Australian research will play in rebuilding the global economy.

Categories
Australia Blockchain Travel

Blockchain Tech Could Be The Key To Possible Mandatory Aussie COVID Vaccine

As countries around the world announce that a COVID vaccine is just around the corner, Australian authorities are discussing the possibility of making the vaccine mandatory – as well as ways to gauge the progress of vaccination campaigns across Australia.

Blockchain is already being used as a tool for contact tracing while traveling in South Korea, Singapore and other countries. By establishing an unchangeable list of contacts and places visited by someone who becomes ill, the spread of coronavirus can be held in check with ease.

Vaccination against the coronavirus could also be tied to government payments, a move planned as an extra incentive for those on the fence about vaccination.

Greg Hunt, the Minister of Health has gone on record stating that once a vaccine is discovered, the Government would strongly consider applying measures like “no jab, no pay” .

“It won’t be mandatory, but it will be widely encouraged. We are one of the world’s great vaccination nations and I expect very widespread uptake.” 

The Australian government is gunning for a 95 per cent vaccination rate, a number that would exclude those unable to receive vaccinations due to medical issues. Once the vaccination campaign is underway, Blockchain would be a powerful technology to implement that would allow people to prove that they have been vaccinated and,as such, pose no risk while travelling or going about their errands.

By adding the medical details of vaccine recipients to a blockchain, government payments could continue in an automated fashion, avoiding the bureaucracy that is generally characteristic for medical databases.

Whether the current plan for vaccination will be put into practice is yet to be seen – however, Blockchain technology could become a vital part in the ongoing battle for a safe and healthy return to normal.

Categories
Australia Blockchain Cryptocurrency Law

Australia Emerges as International Leader in DeFi & Tokenization

DeFi, or decentralized finance, is currently exploding across international financial markets, promising to disrupt and potentially replace traditional centralized banking services with decentralized, peer-to-peer alternatives — and Australian startups are leading the charge.

The nascent DeFi revolution is the product of synergy between the blockchain-driven tokenization and new regulatory frameworks that have adapted to the international cryptocurrency market. 

Legislative action aimed at providing cryptocurrency and blockchain enterprises with the ability to operate within the boundaries of financial law has legitimized the use of distributed ledger technology in finance applications, opening the door to a new generation of fintech and defi enterprises.

Australian Shifts Towards DeFi-Friendly Regulatory Position

Suggestions made to the Senate Select Committee on Financial Technology and Regulatory Technology in January 2020 saw the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) suggest relaxed accommodations for digital wallets and payment services.

Proposed APRA solutions defined earlier suggestions brought forward by the Council of Financial Regulators (CFR) — a coordinating body of Australian regulatory bodies that includes APRA, ASIC, the Reserve bank of Australia, and the Treasury.

The fundamental goal of APRA and CFR discussions on DeFi and fintech regulation is clearly-clarified responsibilities and an update of the regulatory frameworks that govern stored-value facilities in order to better support Australian digital currency wallets and services, stablecoin ecosystems, and other DeFi applications.

Aussie DeFi Platforms Ahead of the Curve

APRA is expected to present a final report on the regulatory changes that will affect the developing Australian DeFi industry by October 2020 — but that hasn’t stopped enterprising Australian decentralized finance from launching highly successful platforms in the interim. 

Sydney-based Synthetix.io is a major success in the DeFi ecosystem, operating a decentralized synthetic asset platform that provides on-chain exposure to real-world stocks, commodities, currencies, and indices. More recently, the Sydney startup has unveiled a 2020 roadmap that will see the platform scale up to a decentralized Ethereum-based decentralized exchange to directly compete with BitMEX.

ThorChain, another successful Australian DeFi startup, aims to create a decentralized liquidity network that allows anybody to instantly swap any blockchain token, as well as facilitating decentralized lending and borrowing alongside stake assets in liquidity pools. 

Other Aussie DeFi projects such as Ren and mStable are rapidly establishing Australia as an international leader in the development and launch of decentralized finance. With friendly regulatory proposals in the works, Australia is positioned to become one of the most active contributors to the DeFi revolution. 

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Australia Blockchain Scams

Bitcoin Bust Leads Queensland Police to Serial Scammer Peter Foster

Serial scammer Peter Foster was arrested on Thursday by Queensland police officers in relation to a multi-million dollar international sports betting scam. Bitcoin transactions have been identified as key evidence used by international cybercrime investigation and asset recovery IFW Global to implicate Foster in the scheme. 

Foster, a convicted conman who has served multiple sentences for fraud worth millions of dollars in damages in Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Vanuatu, was identified using a currency whose trail cannot be erased no matter how hard one might try – Bitcoin.

Foster allegedly established a company named Sports Predictions, offering gambling services and receiving sporting bets — which, complaints state, were never placed. This company attracted plenty of high rolling bettors – including an as yet undisclosed Asian businessman who claims to have lost around two million dollars in bets that were never placed.

IFW Global’s investigation into Foster’s alleged betting scam indicates that Foster may have received over $2 million in payments for bets that were never executed, with funds diverted and laundered in NSW. Statements issued by the NSW police indicate that the state police force will apply for Foster’s extradition to NSW and expects to charge the sports betting platform operator with multiple fraud offenses. 

Serial Scammer Identified Through Blockchain Records

Transactions made through a blockchain are irreversible and visible to anyone, allowing investigators to trace the transaction in order to discover an attempt at laundering the money through New South Wales.

Information passed through Queensland Police by IFW global included an attempt made by Foster to purchase a luxury moto yacht for over $1 million AUD, along with Bitcoin transaction data provided by an unnamed IFW client to private investigator Ken Gamble, chairman of IFW Global.

The use of blockchain technology to identify and arrest criminals is a growing trend, with Australian federal police now able to access deeper and more detailed information regarding cryptocurrency transactions. 

New initiatives launched by the Australian Federal Police will see officers posted around the world in order to establish a global net aimed at eliminating international scammers. More recently, a 52-year old Sydney woman was arrested for laundering over $5 million in cryptocurrency — the Australian Government’s new $1.6 billion cybersecurity strategy aims to eliminate scammers and cryptocurrency fraud both from within Australian borders and abroad. 

Categories
Australia Blockchain Markets

Australian Companies Invest Heavily in Blockchain During COVID Pandemic

New Australian corporate investment data reveals that Australian companies are investing heavily in emerging technologies such as blockchain in order to re-evaluate strategic priorities in a post-COVID economy.

A new research report published in collaboration between KPMG International and HFS Research surveyed 900 tech executives and C-level personnel from major Australian companies, revealing that Australia’s largest corporate entities are tightly focused on integrating blockchain technology and other emerging tech solutions as they reconsider the economic impact of the COVID pandemic.

Data published within the report indicates that 59 percent of Australian tech executives are actively accelerating digital transformation initiatives that integrate blockchain technology and other future-proof solutions as a direct result of the ongoing economic fallout.

Aussie Businesses Pin Hopes on Blockchain for Economic Recovery

COVID has had a significant impact on Australian businesses both large and small. While Australia’s economic recovery from the initial outbreak is underway, the aftermath of severe business restrictions and lockdowns include rapidly rising unemployment, massive government debt, and the permanent closure of thousands of domestic businesses.

Blockchain technology is seen by many Australian businesses as a potential means to accelerate economic recovery. The unique use cases of blockchain — such as the ability to store verifiably accurate data — have been recognized by major organizations such as the new APAC Provenance Council pin their hopes on blockchain-led revival in exports, for example. 

In statements released to Australian IT news media, KPMG Digital Delta Partner Jon Stone highlighted the importance of cost reduction as an important motivator of new technology adoption in the Australian economy:

“Australian respondents are driven to emerging technology because it is seen as essential to business survival — they are driven by a desire to improve decision making and customer experience. Cost reduction was a secondary driver for investment for the Australian respondents”

Australian businesses aren’t the only investors pinning their hopes on a blockchain-boosted economy — recent data published by RMIT reveals Aussie crypto trading peaked during the tightest Australian lockdown periods.

While the COVID pandemic has not affected all Australian equally, many companies are choosing to manage the financial fallout by transitioning into new digital business models that leverage the fast-moving nature of the new blockchain and cryptocurrency-powered digital economy.