1 October 2017 | SUBSCRIBE
//THE WAR FOR BLOCKCHAIN TALENT BEGINS
Gibraltar’s presence at the World Blockchain Forum this week was - in all but words - a trade mission designed to attract blockchain’s brightest to its shores, and represents the beginning of the global geopolitical battle for talent.
Countries and governments have long competed to be the jurisdiction of choice for business, but with this new wave of innovation led by an increasingly mobile generation - who are often newly wealthy and stereotypically believers in a decentralised world - the stakes are set to increase. As China shuts down the ICO market, founders simply flock to Hong Kong or Singapore to continue their operations. And talent will continue to move where - for the most part - regulation supports, not hinders their progress.
Whilst the SEC and others may come down hard, there will be a race to become the destination of choice for blockchain experts, and companies fundraising via ICOs. Much like Gibraltar became a destination for gambling/gaming companies, the trade mission this week is clearly part of a strategy to become a European leader for blockchain.
With the backdrop of Brexit, and the UK’s relatively advanced regulatory environment for crowdfunding, I am relatively optimistic that Britain's desire to remain competitive and retain and attract talent, could well see it lead this space too.
Otherwise - watch out for a design change to The Reserve next week, and now on with the weekly round-up:
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//MUST READS
- Vitalik’s approach for bringing principles of market value to ICOs.
- There was never a tulip fever.
- Christine Lagarde of the IMF speaks of the virtues of virtual currencies.
- A brief overview of dozens of implications of blockchains.
- Blockchain’s impact on supply chain (video).
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//PRICING SUMMARY
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//DISASTER OF THE WEEK
EtherDelta - the go-to site for most coin and token’s first exchange listing - was compromised by a simple javascript code-injection hack. Whilst only small sums were lost, it shows the potential damage basic mistakes in engineering can have. You can see attempts to trace the hacker, too.
Meanwhile, last week’s winner, China, sees a billion dollars returned to ICO investors after their crackdown.
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//TRACTION
RBC is using blockchain for improving payments between its banks in the US and Canada.
Japanese Banks set to launch their own cryptocurrency, J-Coin, whilst 260,000 japanese merchants will accept bitcoin as a method of payment by the end of this year.
Sirin Labs has announced the intention of developing the first blockchain smartphone.
Illinois is experimenting with blockchains to replace physical birth certificates.
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//ROAD TO REGULATION
SEC charges ICO with fraud.
Korea bans ICOs.
Macau clamps down on token/coin financial services.
Singapore cryptocurrency firms have faced banks accounts closures without explanation.
Mexico takes step to regulate cryptocurrencies in a country where over 50% remain unbanked.
The Australian Securities & investments Commission releases very positive guidance for organisations running/considering ICOs.
The Security & Exchange Board of India is working on regulating cryptocurrencies.
Japan continues its march towards being Asia’s most crypto-friendly jurisdiction, as the government approves 11 cryptocurrency exchanges.
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//ICOS
Last week's highlights:
KIN raised $98m for a decentralized ecosystem of digital services.
Berith raised $2.6m for their global membership marketing platform.
KICK raised $25m for their crowdfunding platform.
Upcoming:Mingo - Live - gamified cryptocurrency education platform.
Skrilla - October 6th - fully regulated, global esports wagering brand.
Dovu- October 3rd - blockchain powered mobility.
Verif-y - October 5th - blockchain based digital identity.
Enjin Coin - October 3rd - virtual goods platform for gaming.
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//EVENTS
Blockchain Solutions Forum - Barcelona, SP - October 2-3, 2017
Crypto economics security conference - Berkeley, U.S.A - October 2-3, 2017
The Rise of ICO - Linz, AT - October 2-3, 2017
Blockchain For Finance conference - Dublin, IR - October 3-4, 2017
Blockchain Summit London - London, UK - October 5, 2017
Cryptofriends Netup - Barcelona, SP - October 6, 2017
The Blockchain academy - Munich, DE - October 9-10, 2017
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