Weekly news roundup: Monday March 4
Here’s a selection of interesting recent news from the crypto-space.
UC San Francisco researchers have created a proof-of-concept method for ensuring the integrity of clinical trials data with blockchain. The system creates an immutable audit trail that makes it easy to spot any tampering with results — such as making the treatment look more effective or diminishing side effects. ProfessorAtul Butte said:
“Everyone is talking about how blockchain is going to revolutionize many of the data challenges in medicine, and here is one use that finally might make sense. We think it could someday be useful for pharma companies running clinical trials.”
In a note to clients, MoffettNathanson analyst Lisa Ellis notes that cryptocurrencies aren’t disrupting the payment industry yet, but they might soon, Bloomberg reports. Ellis says:
“Cryptocurrency systems (e.g., Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple) are potentially disruptive to private payment systems. Their core design characteristics — which are aimed at enabling ‘freedom of money’ — are in direct contrast to the characteristics of most traditional, private payment systems.”
According to Ellis, unless major payment networks like Visa, Mastercard, and PayPal “fully embrace these technologies themselves,” they could face important risks.
London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) has invested in a start-up that lets companies issue debt on blockchain, signalling growing interest from mainstream finance in the technology behind cryptocurrencies, Reuters reports.
LSEG led a $20 million investment round in London-based Nivaura, paying an undisclosed sum for a minority stake. The Nivaura platform enables financial instruments to be settled on existing clearing infrastructure, or as digital tokens that are recorded on public blockchain.
The Beaker project is creating a decentralized peer-to-peer web browser that, if successful, could return the web to its users, Linux Journal reports.
The Beaker browser uses a peer-to-peer network protocol called Dat to create a decentralized web platform. Websites spread from people seeding them, BitTorrent-style. The Beaker team doesn’t use trustless blockchain technology, but wants to build “communities of trust” among peers.
Facebook, Telegram, and Signal are planning to roll out new cryptocurrencies over the next year that are meant to allow users to send money to contacts on their messaging systems, New York Times reports.
“The most anticipated but secretive project is underway at Facebook. The company is working on a coin that users of WhatsApp, which Facebook owns, could send to friends and family instantly, said five people briefed on the effort who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of confidentiality agreements.”
If Bloomberg and the New York Times are to be believed, “later this year Facebook will introduce a cryptocurrency which will allow WhatsApp users to send money instantly,” adds TechCrunch, noting that (if true) this “could be meaningfully important on a very personal and day-to-day level for many millions of people worldwide.”
Picture from pxhere.
