Tiny Israel is a Tech Giant, aims to revolutionise Cryptocurrency
Disruption is a buzzword today but even though the word is thrown around casually by the tech media, it is neither new or novel. However, what is exciting about disruptive technologies is that it changes the way people do things and live their daily lives. Today, we no longer need to write emails to our friends, family and colleagues as we can chat with them using instant messenger services which are ubiquitous, but way back in 1996, there were no such services until the Israeli company Mirabilis invented ICQ or ‘I Seek You’. That messenger revolutionised the way we communicate today. Technical innovation isn’t new for the tiny country on the Mediterranean Sea. In fact, Israel is a tech giant that has always had the knack of attracting startups. The 2018 Global Startup Ecosystem Report indicates that Tel Aviv has the largest amount of startups per capita in the world. The city also boasts the highest investment of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in R&D.
When we look at Israeli businesses, the one thing that becomes quite apparent is the deep impact they have on daily lives. Consider Waze, a crowdsourced platform now owned by Google but founded by the FreeMap Israel and developed by the programmer Ehud Shabtai who conceived it as a community-centric project. Waze works by collecting travel times, map information and traffic conditions from users and then using the collected information to give routing and traffic updates in real-time. Another Israeli company called Mobileye has come up with advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) which help in preventing collisions. Mobileye works with emerging technologies such as AI and deep learning while leveraging crowdsourcing to help meet the needs of over 25 OEM partners in the automotive segment.
In the timeline of technological progress, other Israeli companies too have left their indelible marks. Check Point, a company founded in 1993 in Ramat-Gan, Israel brought to life one of the first computer security products such as firewalls and Virtual Private Networks (VPNs). The origin of these products was necessitated due to the Israeli Army’s defence needs. Love video games? Then you may be surprised to know that it was Prime Sense, a company from Israel that was behind the development of the Kinect motion-sensing system of Microsoft’s Xbox360. Tel Aviv based Face.com was the developer of a cutting-edge facial recognition technology that helped scan billions of photos uploaded through web and mobile applications. The company’s work had a deep impact on social media, and they were eventually acquired by Facebook.
The march of technology does not stop, and the evolution continues. Today Israeli companies such as Oobit, are changing the way people deal with cryptocurrencies and they are helping unlock the cold liquidity that is hidden underneath. Talking to us about the importance of Israel in the tech world, Moshe Schlisser, Chairman at Oobit says, “Israel disrupted almost every industry in our lives and now it’s time for it do it for crypto in a big way.” Schlisser’s confidence is not misplaced as Oobit is making moves on nearly every facet of the cryptocurrency and blockchain ecosystem. They plan to provide ‘one portal’ that simplifies using cryptocurrency by nearly eliminating price discovery through Oobit Hunter, an algorithm that helps users locate the best suitable cryptocurrency exchange for their purposes. Their KYC solution Oobit Pass allows for one single Know Your Customer passport that will work across multiple exchanges and businesses making identification seamless. The merchant tool Oobit xMap can be used to generate and print scan ‘for payment’ codes, carry out transaction history tagging and make the acceptance of cryptocurrency for retail painless. Oobit P2P brings an element of safety and ease while importantly addressing regulatory concerns. This tool will facilitate conducting cryptocurrency transactions between individuals more attractive. With its roots in Israel Oobit may as well change the way we think of money. Maybe it might even be the company that brings about the end of the cash era.
All images provided herein are by Oobit.
