First Data and Bank of America End Their Payments Partnership

July 31, 2019

Bank of America’s payments service in collaboration with First Data had been launched for merchants who need to move money. Now, the bank wants greater control over that particular line of business.

Over the past half a decade or so, payments solutions have become one of the biggest businesses in the world of finance. Initially, innovative services were being provided by a range of inventive tech companies, but eventually, the big banks jumped in as well. After realizing the potential in the sector, many of the banks created their own departments to look after this business or collaborated with other companies to set up their payments business. American retail banking giant Bank of America got into the sector as well with its payments service aimed at merchants, who wish to move money quickly. However, in order to build the product, it had partnered with First Data.

It has now emerged that Bank of America has decided to end its partnership with First Data. The partnership is not going to be extended once it gets over in June next year. According to reports, Bank of America wants to have greater control over its product, and it is believed that the bank is going to manage its payments product on its own. The development could also be down to the fact that Finserv acquired First Data in a $22 billion deal on Monday. First Data had been one of the pioneers in the payments industry, having created products that allowed merchants everywhere to accept payment from either debit or credit cards with ease. Its partnership with Bank of America was definitely a significant deal, considering the sheer size of the bank’s customer base.

The payments industry is growing at a breakneck pace and the potential fees that a bank can earn from helping merchants moving money at a faster rate are considerable. Hence, it is not really a surprise that Bank of America had been contemplating getting more control over its payments business over the past few months. The head of enterprise payments at the bank, Mark Monaco, spoke about the bank’s plans about the future in a statement.

He said, “We look forward to investing in our merchant solution and delivering the capabilities our clients need to thrive in an ever-changing payments environment.”

An Overview of Blockchain Technology’s Importance, Advantages, and Disadvantages

Timmy Murphy

July 30, 2019

Blockchain Technology

In 2008, Blockchain Technology was first presented and was executed from 2009. The first execution was with cryptocurrency, Bitcoin. The achievement of Blockchain has moved the technology to an extensive range which eventually provided a considerable measure of comfort to large organizations.

Importance of Blockchain Technology

Accountability

The blockchain technology is a strategy that leads everybody to the highest level of accountability. With the assistance of this technology, exchanges cannot be missed, human or machine mistakes will be limited. Moreover, these days, real banks are testing this technology as they can utilize it for cash transfers, record keeping, and other backend functions.

Security

Blockchain technology is exceptionally secure due to the reason every person who goes into the Blockchain system is given a unique identity which is connected to the user’s account. This guarantees the owner that he is handling the account, working on the exchanges. The block encryption in the chain makes it harder for any hacker to upset the traditional arrangement of the chain.

Faster handling

Before the development of the Blockchain, the general financial procedure takes around three days to settle, yet after the presentation of Blockchain, the time decreased to about minutes or merely even seconds.

Advantages of Blockchain

Zero chance of Fraud

Since Blockchain is an open-source record, every single exchange will be made open, and thus there will be no possibility of fraud occurring. The virtue of the blockchain framework will always be observed by miners who watch out for a wide range of exchanges nonstop.

Zero Government Interference

Government or any financial institution has zero control on virtual monetary forms that depend on the blockchain technology. Thus there will be no intruding by the governments.

Immediate Transactions

The digital currencies or Virtual currencies that depend on Blockchain offer exchange times that are ten times quicker than the standard bank timings. Furthermore, blockchain exchanges will be generally completed in a couple of minutes.

Enhances Financial Efficiency

The blockchain technology gives people and organizations a chance to make exchanges straightforwardly to the end client without including any intermediaries. This increases the financial productivity in each country and lets individuals be less dependent on banks or financial institutions. Hence it will save a great deal of cash for individuals with regards to fees yet, besides, other related expenses using banks.

Integrity

Because of the security reasons, the blockchain program was made so that any block or even an exchange that adds to the chain cannot be altered, which gives a high scope of security.

Disadvantages of Blockchain

Usage of Power

The utilization of power in the Blockchain is relatively high as in a specific year, the power utilization of Bitcoin miners was more than the per capita power consumption of 159 individual nations. Keeping a real-time ledger is one of the reasons for this utilization because each time it creates another new node; it transmits with every single other node simultaneously.

Cost

According to research, the average price of a Bitcoin exchange is $75 to $160, and the more significant part of this cost is covered by power consumption. There are exceptionally fewer possibilities that the development of technology can resolve this issue. Another factor is the storage issues may be included, and power issues cannot be settled.

Highly Volatile

The virtual currencies that depend on blockchain technology are exceptionally exposed to high volatility. One good example is the fluctuating costs of Bitcoin that change every day. One reason behind the instability is that both the decentralized blockchain technology and the virtual currencies are very new to the market.

Unpredictability

The Blockchain is not as straightforward as it would appear; nontechnology or old age individuals will not be able to understand this technology quickly. Nodes, Cryptography, Mining these terms by one way or another understandable to a certain degree, yet it is beyond imagination to expect to have a trustworthy service without knowing it fully.

Blockchain Size

Bitcoin Blockchain is 170 GB yet consistently when new exchanges happen, information is recorded to Blockchain, so Blockchain expands each second. The second famous cryptocurrency Ethereum blockchain size is more than 1 TB that is the reason why substantial public executions of Blockchain are uncertain.

Wrap up

Some accept that Blockchain will help in making cryptocurrencies, which will end up being a potential rival to valuable metals while others agree that it might be a disillusion. In any case, blockchain technology is one of the incredibly imaginative creations that technology has ever observed.

Asia Pacific Stocks Get Boost in the Hopes of Resolutions of US-China Trade War

David Pender

July 24, 2019

The trade war between the United States and China has probably been the single most disruptive economic and trading event over the past half a decade or so. When the two biggest economies in the world are involved in a bruising trade war, then the ripples of such a prolonged confrontation are surely going to be felt in the global markets. The markets in the United States, Europe, China, and the Asia Pacific region went through immense turmoil throughout the past few months. Just when it seemed that there was no end in sign to this confrontation between these superpowers, reports have emerged that the situation could yet improve.

As a matter of fact, the reports also stated that a trade envoy from the United States could be in China shortly, in order to thrash out the details of a fresh trade deal. Due to the possibility of a thawing of tensions, the stocks in the Asia Pacific Region have also started rising. The stocks opened higher on Wednesday in the APAC, and the majority of the indices tracking the stocks in the region have been in the green. The Bloomberg news that stated that officials from the United States are going to have a meeting with their counterparts in China has buoyed markets everywhere. After the news broke yesterday, the indices on Wall Street hit record highs as optimism grew among investors that the trade war might be coming to an end after months of sparring between the two nations.

That being said, it is also important to note that the possibility of rate cuts by the European Central Bank this week and the United States Federal Reserve towards the end of the month, is also a major trigger. The muted global growth has forced many banks to consider the possibility of rate cuts in order to stimulate their economies, and that is what investors are expecting this week. Many reports have stated that the ECB is looking to cut rates by 10 basis points, while the Fed might cut rates by 25 basis points.

Does Initial Exchange Offering (IEO) Generate Subsequent Fundraising Boom?

Felicia Learned

July 24, 2019

When an organization has a project looking for raising funds, an IEO (Initial Exchange Offering) offers the guarantee of an immediate client base where they can view their product. Relying upon the size of the trade’s audience, it could imply that the venture can lessen their outside advertising channels for raising funds, enabling them to concentrate just on the development of the product. As the name suggests, Initial Exchange Offering is directed on the cryptocurrency exchange platform. In contrary to ICOs (Initial Coin Offerings), an IEO is controlled by a crypto trade in the interest of the startup that looks for raising funds with its recently issued tokens.

History of IEOs

Even though IEOs have been introduced recently, the initial two IEOs were launched in November 2018 on the Binance Launchpad, and are regularly viewed as GIFTO and Bread. This comes as no surprise that Binance has been the essential power behind its recommencement.

Initial Exchange Offering (IEO)

IEO, (Initial Exchange Offering) is a fundraising event that is regulated by a trade. As opposed to an ICO (Initial Coin Offering) where the project team conducts the fundraising, an Initial Exchange Offering implies that the fundraising will be held on exchanges well-known fundraising platform like Binance Launchpad, where clients can buy tokens with their funds legitimately from their trade wallet.

IEO Benefits

For a client, managing on-chain exchanges with various wallets on different blockchains is easy. Furthermore, a client needs an account in the trade and funds in their account where they can start participating through the website’s interface, which is trusted.
Moreover, the exchange is securing its position behind the ventures on its platform, offering a higher level of trust behind the project, which implies the projects hosted by exchanges are more legitimate.

Why choose IEO

Trust

IEO includes the intermediary and centralized authority in the trading platform. This reinstallation of centralization brought trust among the financial specialists who are willing to invest resources into crypto resources safely.

Listing the Tokens

In Initial Exchange Offering, it is the duty of the cryptocurrency exchange platform to list the token when the token deal is completed. Additionally, it is the real objective of each startup at that point of coin offering to list tokens on significant exchange platforms.

Convenience

Token issuing new companies can profit by way of launching Initial Exchange Offerings. Moreover, the issuers of the token can benefit from the exchange tremendous client base to get more contributions to their ventures.

Protected Legally

Trade platforms have an organized legitimate structure which protects new companies from any regulatory results. Furthermore, it will save cash for new companies to pay for legal resources.

Speed

Exchanges have been bringing the token deal to a close in a few minutes and a few cases, within a couple of seconds. Moreover, the speed of IEO trade platforms is better than some other platform or system used for crowdfunding.

ICO versus IEO

Some choose ICOs because it is available to the public. On paper, it has more odds of raising assets. Regardless, speculators have begun to doubt about ICOs. Anyone who can persuade investors with their white paper can raise fund through ICOs. As a general rule, the technology associated with the business is not known. Additionally, no third party screens the ICOs. This opportunity is used by scammers to collect funds, which have not been delivered.
The main advantage that works for IEOs is the exchange which launches it, screens the procedure as an organizer. Succinctly put, if an investor confides his trust in the trade, they can be guaranteed of the security of its IEO, which also implies that the reputation of the exchange is in question. If IEO goes down, it is probably going to bring down the exchange with it.

Does IEOs generate the next fundraising Boom

Initial coin offering made a fundraising boom in the year 2017-2018 where scammers executed a significant level of the crypto projects. Considering the ICO bans, we can say this cannot be a useful fundraising model for crypto startups.
Contrastingly, IEOs give an increased degree of trust among cryptocurrency ventures, because the trades facilitating the crowd sales effectively partake in the fundraising process, which improves the effectiveness of the crowdsale. Hence IEOs have the capability of becoming the standard model for fundraising in the crypto space, which may eventually lead to the next fundraising boom.

AI Startup Firm XAIN Secures New Investment from IOTA Founder Dominik Schiener

Marisol Contreras

July 24, 2019

XAIN, an AI startup and blockchain-based firm headquartered in Berlin, has secured new funding from a strategic investor Dominik Schiener, also the co-founder of IOTA.

XAIN firm is mostly known for collaborating with auto manufacturer Porsche, will be the first AI company to deploy blockchain technology in a vehicle. The AI startup firm has raised fund in cryptocurrency from IOTA Co-founder. Dominik Schiener’s investment is considered as one of the important cryptocurrency investment.

The fund was raised in a fresh funding round, and the contribution made by Schiener has not been revealed.

The Internet of things cryptocurrency IOTA was founded by 22-year young Dominik Schiener, and currently, IOTA is valued at $800 million. He is also the head of the IOTA Foundation that is developing the IOTA ecosystem and network.

The Full form of XAIN is ‘eXpandable AI Network’ and introduced in 2014 as an ‘Oxford University spin-off’ by Leif Nissen and prof. Michael Huth. In the previous year, XAIN had successfully raised around $7 million through seed funding round, headed by Earlybird a venture capital fund. Currently, the AI startup firm considers utilizing the new capital fund generated to enhance its functions, accelerates its operations, and increase bandwidth and also to recruit new candidates.

As system-system interactions grow, AI startup firm, XAIN objective is to be the kind of technology that strengthens such transactions by integrating decentralized access control, blockchain and machine learning technology and use them.

The XIAN provides blockchain-powered platforms and AI, and this allows users, devices, and system to manage data access within the IoT (Internet of Things) environment. The firm profits from working across the IOTA system.

Co-founder and CEO of XAIN, Leif Nissen mentioned,

“As Co-Founder of IOTA, which emphasizes security as much as XAIN does, Dominik is a major player in the industry. Having him on board with XAIN helps propel us forward in our quest to provide a trusted, more efficient artificial intelligence solution. XAIN’s FedML technology will ensure truly scalable and effective adoption of AI.”

IOTA co-founder, Schiener is an active investor in the blockchain technology from 2012 and shares his interest and briefs how XIAN firm suits best in his concept.

He stated,

“With this investment, I see a great opportunity to help push IOTA further towards product-readiness and bring greater privacy, security, and efficiency to both the DLT and AI sectors. The AI ecosystem is rapidly growing, and I see XAIN combined with IOTA uniquely positioned to create an open and permissionless ecosystem, which leverages the strength of both platforms.”

XAIN Working with Porsche

XAIN is also operating with Porsche on numerous projects so to deploy blockchain-based technology into a regular car model to scale up the designing of free driving by considering the local information, for instance, climate conditions.

As per the XAIN CEO, Leif-Nissen Lundbaek, the AI startup firm XAIN’s distributed technique for machine learning provides higher security, privacy, and progressive level in the way information is prepared.

The Central Bank of Nigeria Sold $4.4 Billion of Foreign Exchange to Dealers in April-May

Ray Buckler

July 24, 2019

The foreign exchange market has been one of the most vibrant markets in the world for the better part of 2019 and the reasons for that are manifold. The trade war between the United States and China, coupled with the general uncertainty over the United States Federal Reserve’s stance of rate cuts have been major factors in this regard. It forced plenty of investors to park their money in more secure assets and foreign exchange proved to be a particularly enticing one. Over the past few months, the United States Dollar has appreciated consistently and it has done so over the past few days as well. It has now emerged that one of the biggest sellers of foreign exchange to certified dealers during April and May was the Central Bank of Nigeria. During those two months, the CBN sold a total of $4.4 billion worth of forex to authorized dealers.

The news about the forex dealing of this magnitude was revealed in the bank’s report for May about foreign exchange market developments. The reports stated,

“The bank continued to intervene in the foreign exchange market to further sustain the improved liquidity and relative stability in the market. Thus, a cumulative sum of $2.04bn was sold by the bank to authorized dealers in May 2019, compared with $2.43bn supplied in April 2019.”

These are significant amounts of foreign exchange that have been sold by the bank over those two months and no concerns have been raised over such a colossal sale of forex to dealers. According to several reports, the value of the United States Dollar is expected to increase over the coming days against most currencies across the world. The United States Federal Reserve is going to have it meeting with regards to rate cuts on July 30 and 31, following that the rate cuts are going to be introduced. Earlier on, many investors had expected a higher rate cut, but recent reports state that they are going to be disappointed.

The US Dollar Edges Higher as Investors Look for Safe Bets Ahead of Central Bank Meets

Robert Hill

July 23, 2019

When there is a large degree of uncertainty among investors with regards to the decisions of policymakers, then it is usually noticed that they go for safe investments. It is generally a way to ensure that their capital remains intact while the uncertainty blows over and more often than not, the United States dollar is regarded as the safest haven in this regard. The dollar has gained consistently over the course of the year so far as uncertainties pertaining to the United States-China trade war and the rate cuts by central banks have managed to create a tough investment environment. On Monday, investors seemed to send a message through the foreign exchange markets that they are going to wait and see how the central banks are going to ease their policy.

The European Central Bank is going to meet on Monday and later on in the month, and the United States Federal Reserve is going to have its own set of meetings. Rising tensions in the Middle East, as well as uncertainties with regards to rate cuts, have led to considerable strengthening of the dollar, as the Euro traded at $1.12 against it today. Investors had been looking forward to a rate cut by 50 basis points by the Federal Reserve, and their expectations were heightened after the New York Fed chief John Williams recommended such a cut. However, a spokesperson at the Fed shot down the optimism by stating that those comments had nothing to with actual policies. Click here to know more about more forex market updates.

Stephen Gallo, who is a strategist at BMO Capital Markets, said that the moves by the central banks are going to have an effect on the currencies this time. He said, “FX markets don’t tend to get too excited about monetary policy when it’s all nuance and forward guidance, but when central banks are making actual rate moves and QE adjustments, monetary policy becomes the driving theme.” It remains to be seen how the foreign exchange markets behave over the next week or so as the US Federal Reserve readies for its meet in the last two days of the month.

The Differentiation between Initial Coin Offering (ICO) and Security Token Offering (STO) – Explained!

Timmy Murphy

July 23, 2019

The ICO (Initial Coin Offering) is the primary, most often used and quickest approach to funding a blockchain venture without intermediaries in the year 2017 to 2018. The STO (Security Token offering) can be differentiated with the IPO (Initial public offering), where the tokens are taken as real securities. As of now, there is an intense discussion taking place inside the crypto network. This discussion is revolved around the rise of another strategy for fund-raising for blockchain projects, and this technique is known as STO (Security Token Offering).

ICO

An ICO is almost identical to an IPO in the traditional investment world. Moreover, ICOs themselves are a technique for raising support for funds where an organization looking to initiate new service or a product will search for outside investment to help subsidize their venture. The organization running the ICO will do this through different types of marketing. The organizations will utilize an ICO to eliminate strict regulatory guidelines which are costly and tedious, associated with ordinary fundraising strategies.

Advantages of ICOs

Some of the advantages of an ICO are:

For purchasers and vendors, there is no entry block
It has a Positive Impact on the network
The tokens are shared in a basic automated manner
The groups can deal with their assets any way they like
An effective ICO frequently requires only a professional digital campaign
When a price of the coin rises, investors enjoy high profits and early adopter benefits
Few ICOs permits anonymous participation

Disadvantages of ICOs

Some of the disadvantages of an ICO are:

High instability and control over the crypto market
Low liquid assets
Not sure if the product will be done and delivered as expressed in the white paper
Pump and dump plans and Scams are regular issues with investors and project holders
Risk related to space.

STO

Firstly, most ICOs (Initial coin offering) is intended for fundraising in an environment which is unregulated. Most ICOs place their offerings as utility tokens to bypass regulations. Most organizers and ventures dispute that they distribute client’s tokens to get to their decentralized applications (DApps) or local platforms. The primary reason here is that the purpose behind their coin is utilization and not trading. This line of thinking makes ICO ventures to evade regulation and registration with SEC or strict controllers.

STOs are supported continuously by some tangible resource, which keeps speculators from falling prey to fake business policies. STOs are classified as securities, and they are additionally subject to securities guidelines for the nation they are launched and for their investor’s nation.

Advantages of STOs

Some of the advantages of an STO are:

Financial specialists get hidden resources that get their value from others
Ensure security of investors which gives 100% regulated offerings
Ventures that go for STOs are commonly more developed and dependable than the ones in the ICO circle.
STOs are undergoing significant development while ICOs shrinks its space.
It is a progressing pattern.
Security tokens are predicted to be traded using intermediary vendors who are directed by regulatory bodies.
Security tokens can be the next step in the traditional fund.

Disadvantages of STOs

Some of the disadvantages of an STO are:

To get approval from regulators, it takes a lot of time, money and effort
It can be restricted only to accredited investors
It will require vast amounts of cash.
Less market manipulation and speculation

ICOs vs. STOs

Initial Coin Offerings (ICO) is essentially crowd sales, the cryptocurrency sort of crowdfunding. They have given the most straightforward way by which DAPP developers can get the required financing for their project. Anyone can invest in a project they are keen on by buying the tokens of that specific DAPP and can become a small part of the project. Moreover, STOs are introduced in view of keeping regulatory guidelines in mind. They are enrolled with necessary government bodies which meet all the legitimate necessities and are hundred percent legal.

Wrap up

Security Token Offering has helped to provide a better reputation to the crypto world. Currently, ICOs have a reputation for being a breeding ground for fraudsters. Moreover, because of the more directed nature of STOs, they have made as token contributions are viewed as progressively credible to financial specialists.

Blockchain Startup Firm Diana for the first time in history to launch a Lunar Registry

David Pender

July 23, 2019

The world will be celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo Moon landing, and on that day one blockchain startup firm is taking a big leap.
Currently, a project is being developed to list the Moon on the Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT). The project is designed by a blockchain-based startup firm Diana and considered as an important development in history.
Diana is promoting the Lunar Registry on its website www.diano.io and is also introducing a decentralized application (dApp) service that can indicate the land on the Moon and it will start trading on 20th July.
The Diana registration system can be used by individuals to participate in the mass registration of the Moon. Around 3,874,204,892 cells are formed by breaking the Moon into unique areas; the cells are encrypted on a blockchain platform by a three-word address, around 2 billion cells on Moon’s front side can be viewed by the human eye and are now available.
Participants are allowed to provide addresses with their own specific meaning for the registration region selected. However, it can be exchanged to third-person directly; it can be an eternal gift for those whom you love.
Proof of stake in the ‘cadastral map’ is indicated by two tokens, namely dia, and mond.
A representative of Diana, Jason Goo, mentioned, “The Diana project will be a great opportunity for the Moon to be a daily interest.”
As per the UN Treaty, the Moon is now registered as a world heritage of humanity that no nation can acquire. Because of the huge resources of the Moon, ownership competition for the Moon between few nations and organizations is becoming more intense.
Dia is a token distributed on registration; the token can be exchanged with mond designed mostly for transactions. If more tokens are sold, then registration costs will grow that will improve the tokens value for market players and avoid forecast.
Around 50 percent of Dia tokens will be available to the public, and less than 2 percent of tokens will be maintained for the development team, and founders and rest will work as a reserve.
Tokens will be placed in ‘noun.verb. Noun addresses. They have even given some examples like ‘Diana.love.BTS, amstrong.land.Moon and i.am.yourfather.
The new project of Diana highlights UN Treaty’s Article II quotes that mentions,
“Outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means.”
The project head believes the next-generation space competition will surely raise the question of ‘who owns the moon.’
As a part of Diana’s project work-plan, the development team expects to create a Together Moon Foundation, recruit the oversea and space expert defense team and create a business Moon possession model.

Cannabis Organisation Pasha Brands Announces Its Listing on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange

Marisol Contreras

July 23, 2019

Over the past year or so, the cannabis industry has exploded in Canada after the powers that be in the country decided to legalize the product, and since then plenty of companies have come to the fore. Many of them are now listed on the world’s leading stock exchanges in the United States and have attracted active investor interest due to the sheer prospect of this sector. One of the Canadian companies which have become a veritable behemoth is Pasha Brands. The company is an umbrella organization that for some of the biggest growers, producers, and sellers of cannabis in the country.

Needless to say, it has also grown into the largest such company in the country, and yesterday, the company made a major new announcement. Pasha Brands announced that the company is now going to be listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, which is one of the biggest stock exchanges in Europe and the world. It is a highly important development for Pasha, the cannabis industry, and also for the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Investors in Europe will now be able to participate in the growth of a company that has managed to secure a dominant position in Canada’s cannabis industry, and the rewards could be handsome in the long run. As a matter of fact, some of the best-known brands in British Columbia are in the Pasha Brands stable, and that is, without a doubt, an attractive aspect.

The Executive Chairman of Pasha Brands, Patrick Brauckmann, spoke about the opportunity for investors. He said, “Our Frankfurt listing is an important step in the Company’s growth, enabling European investors and capital managers to participate in our success as we continue to expand Pasha globally. We are excited to now be trading on multiple liquid global exchanges, which offer access to the Company’s shares for institutional and retail investors all over the world.” The Frankfurt Stock Exchange could become Europe’s top exchange in the years to come if and when Brexit is completed. Once that happens, much of the capital flows from the London Stock Exchange could flow towards Frankfurt.

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