Hello and welcome! This is the 9th edition of our weekly overview of various cryptonetworks, contributing to the future of modern technologies. Today, the central theme of the update are IoT Cryptocurrencies. As we know, blockchain is a distributed, decentralized, and immutable digital ledger that records transactions across a global network of computers where the information is highly secure. Since its merger with other domains has solved numerous relevant problems, it has the potential to resolve the issues of privacy and security in the domain of the Internet of Things. IoT is reshaping the world into smart cities, smart farming, smart grids, smart transport, smart home, and smart healthcare systems. Blockchain can help alleviate the security and scalability concerns associated with IoT in the following ways. Firstly, the distributed ledger in a blockchain system is tamper-proof and this removes the need for trust among the involved parties. No single organization has control over the vast amount of data generated by IoT devices. Secondly, using blockchain to store IoT data would add another layer of security that hackers would need to bypass in order to get access to the network. Thirdly, blockchain provides a much more robust level of encryption that makes it virtually impossible to overwrite existing data records. Moreover, blockchain provides transparency, by allowing anyone who is authorized to access the network to track the transactions that happened in the past. This can provide a reliable way to identify a specific source of any data leakages and take quick remedial action. Apart from that, blockchain can enable fast processing of transactions and coordination among billions of connected devices. As the number of interconnected devices grows, the distributed ledger technology provides a viable solution to support the processing of a large number of transactions.
This edition is super extensive as we cover 8 projects at once! So let’s get acquainted with the cryptocurrencies in the spotlight:
— Ambrosus is a company, building a blockchain and IoT platform originally created on the Ethereum blockchain. Specifically designed for enterprise IT systems, Ambrosus is first and foremost a next-generation supply chain solution. While largely applicable to virtually any supply chain, Ambrosus has specifically focused on the food, pharmaceutical, commodity, and electronics industries. Through the use of smart devices and IoT, Ambrosus allows for any person, company, or government to connect secure hardware devices to a decentralized public blockchain to track, trace, monitor, or store various kinds of data.
— GridPlus creates products that enable mainstream use of digital assets and cryptocurrencies. It is a hardware, software, and cryptocurrency experts building the foundation for a more efficient and inclusive financial future. GridPlus Lattice1 and SafeCards use uncompromising security to enable the most secure cryptocurrency storage ever created. GridPlus Energy works to save residential electricity consumers money with unique capabilities through smart software, hardware, and blockchain technologies.
— Helium. Launched in July 2019, Helium is a decentralized wireless network that allows low power smart devices to send and receive data to the internet. Miners earn HNT for providing network coverage and relaying data to the internet using hardware called a Hotspot. The network uses two units of exchange: Helium, a new cryptocurrency, and Data Credits. There is no pre-mine of Helium, and every month approximately 5,000,000 new Helium are minted.
— IOTA is a distributed ledger for the Internet of Things that uses a directed acyclic graph (DAG) instead of a conventional blockchain. Its quantum-proof protocol, Tangle, reportedly brings benefits like ‘zero fees, infinite scalability, fast transactions, and secure data transfer’. The IOTA Tangle is a Directed Acyclic Graph that has no fees on transactions and no fixed limit on how many transactions can be confirmed per second in the network; instead, the throughput grows in conjunction with activity in the network; i.e., the more activity, the faster the network.
— IoTeX. Founded as an open-source platform in 2017, IoTeX is building the Internet of Trusted Things, where all humans, machines, and businesses can interact with full trust and privacy. IoTeX combines innovations in blockchain, confidential computing, and secure hardware to empower the future machine economy.
— OriginTrail is an ecosystem dedicated to making supply chains work — through championing standards supporting a universal data exchange (interoperability), connecting rather than replacing legacy IT systems (interconnectivity) and ensuring data immutability by utilizing the blockchain technology (integrity). Its ecosystem is built on Neutrality, Inclusiveness, and Usability — a protocol, an alliance, and a core development company working together to find the common ground for growing businesses.
— Power Ledger being based in Australia, encourages us to imagine a world in which electricity is dependable, affordable, and clean for everyone. Powered by contracts on the Ethereum network, the peer-to-peer energy exchange platform, their most mature platform, aims to democratize the trading of energy with transparent systems that allow individuals and communities to select the source of their power. In their dual token model, POWR is the utility token that users would escrow in order to use the platform. It is widely used to create part of an economy in which households that generate electricity can trade with their neighbors for a fair return.
— VeChain is an enterprise-focused blockchain ecosystem that aims to enhance supply chain management by connecting blockchain technology with the real world through ‘a comprehensive governance structure, a robust economic model, and advanced IoT integration’. VeChain enables manufacturers to assign products with unique identifiers on the platform, thereby allowing participants to track the movement and provenance of products in a supply chain. Started in June 2015, VeChain describes itself as ‘a pioneer of real-world applications using public blockchain technology, with international operations in Singapore, Luxembourg, Tokyo, Shanghai, Paris, Hong Kong, and San Francisco’.
Market Data
Ambrosus
To learn more about $AMB, visit an official website.
- Ambrosus team unveiled the completely overhauled AMB Stats 2.0 — with full insights into Amb IoT infrastructure. To guide yourself with new stats interface, You can watch a new walk-through by CTO Igor, who explains how to navigate AMB blockchain seamlessly.
- Ambrosus CTO Igor has made a video manual for using Stats Dapp to explore the masternode and token functionality.
- Fresh cooperation with the top-notch manning & crewing leader — Navis Crew Management. Navis is a 9-Year old agency with an impeccable reputation in the marine market, supplying crew for 157+ vessels and barges, maintaining more than 500+ officers onboard diversified OSV & T&I Construction fleet. The pilot project to be launched in collaboration with Navis Crew Management shall entail launching of the Hermes Masternode of Ambrosus to turn the following data into AMB-Net assets:
- Digital Identification of the Seafarer. Navis Crew Management shall upload and store the seafarers’ personal data in a safe and seamless manner on the AMB-Net, including health certificates, travel documents to facilitate sophisticated crew embarkation at various destinations;
- Storage and management of IMO-compliant crew lists (FAL Forms);
- Storage of the organizational HSE Training & Competency Matrix to keep continually updated with the latest Charterers requirements and limitations;
- Subcontractors Credibility Files: long-term and short-term storage of the data of approved contractors;
- STCW Certification & Training: launching a blockchain-based STCW Certification & Training data-centre on AMB-NET to maintain full adherence to implementation of IMO STCW Code 2010 backed by the AMB-NET;
- Creation of Seafarer’s personal cabinet for seamless navigation of personal assets stored on AMB-NET. Provision of the verified offshore certificates supported by the AMB-Net asset ID number to prospective employers shall allow the seafarer to stand out as the qualified hiring candidate.
Seafarer’s health and qualification certificates shall be stored on AMB-NET as an asset until the expiration date of the certificate, whereas the ID details and contract data of the seafarers shall be stored indefinitely.
GridPlus
To learn more about $GRID, visit an official page.
- GRID has been listed on Bancor. Now it’s even easier to acquire GRID to redeem for access to wholesale electricity pricing and Lattice1 discounts.
[Recent Twitter Highlights]
Helium
To learn more about $HNT, visit an official page.
- Launching the Decentralized Wireless Alliance — A global not-for-profit dedicated to the proliferation of a secure, cost-effective Internet of Things.
The Decentralized Wireless Alliance was created to serve one singular purpose: connect the world’s devices. The members of the Decentralized Wireless Alliance will work tirelessly to build a future in which there is permissionless, ubiquitous, cost-effective wireless connectivity for all humans and machines.
- Helium was mentioned in Forbes’ recent article The Top 20 IoT Startups To Watch In 2020.
- A thread of Helium recent community updates featured by Kyle Samani
- Helium recently shipped out a batch of about 1,100 hotspots. This is in addition to the ~3,300 that are already live around the US. And there are more that are ordered but not yet shipped. By the end of the year, there are likely to be > 10K hotspots live
- The passion of community members in figuring out how to optimize antennas and placement and general support
..and a lot more!
Mark Phillips, VP of Business Development at Helium, explains how easy it is to deploy IoT devices and build complete applications on the largest, public LoRaWAN network in the US. With compatible off-the-shelf hardware, Mark walks through how anyone can help solve problems in a world where ubiquitous, LoRaWAN connectivity isn’t a blocker. This video also includes highlights from a project from one of Helium’s community members who is actively building and distributing a Helium-powered retrofit kit for automating access to Chicken Coops.
- To help mitigate the risks associated with COVID-19, Helium has partnered with SmartMimic, who developed a workplace contact tracing solution to assist businesses with safety and health plans. Join their webinar on June 11th at 11am PT to learn more.
[Recent Twitter Highlights]
IOTA
To learn more about $MIOTA, visit an official page.
- A new series called Open-Sourced to visualize & share upcoming releases and technical progress. In the 1st episode, IOTA researcher Angelo Capossele walks through his work on IOTA new consensus algorithm FPC. Watch the first episode via the link.
- The Hornet v0.4.0 release is now live! Read all about the new node software that kicks off the Chrysalis (IOTA 1.5) protocol upgrades here.
It reached over 1200 TPS w/ a max stable confirmed transactions per second rate of 620 (CTPS).
Among the major improvements in performance, the new Hornet (v0.4.0) will consume 10x less memory under normal operation and 6X less during synchronization than IRI.
- IOTA team has also been working hard to improve the UX of the node software with Hornet v0.4.0. Four major improvements you can expect: a one-line APT install, a new node health monitoring API w/ new Tangle visualizer & autopeering for fast node setup. See details.
With the Coordicide specifications nearing completion, the research department has been communicating the specifics of the new protocol to the engineering department, external researchers, and the community. This communication requires simple and standard terminology for the new components. However, until recently, researchers have mainly used potentially confusing “in house” and ad hoc names.
- IOTA introduced a newly redesigned website to showcase the technology & reflect their maturity as a Foundation. Get acquainted with it via the link.
- Fast Probabilistic Consensus & Mana are key elements of Coordicide. They’ve just published a new paper on how mana is implemented in FPC & how it improves the performance of IOTA 2.0. The work will be presented at FTC2020 SAI Conference in Vancouver.
- Industry 4.0 Car Parking Marketplace (IOTA+iBeacon+ML) — A PoC for Industry 4.0 Car parking market place where machines negotiate and consumes service without human interaction.
- New FutureProof Series
FutureProof is a webinar series that shows hot IoT and DLT enable new ways of doing business today. They are experts when it comes to using new technologies, dealing with digital data, and understanding the internet of things. To help solve current and future challenges in business, they want to share this knowledge with you. For free, from your home office.
Rafael Presa is joining IOTA as Market Developer Brazil of the market adoption team. In this role Rafael will focus on bringing strategic partnerships and allocating IF developers alongside local third-party resources to ensure successful project delivery.
[Recent Twitter Highlights]
IoTeX
To learn more about $IOTX, visit an official page.
With MainnetGA, they have established independence from ethereum and are now a fully native blockchain. For more info, check IoTeX Mainnet GA — FAQs.
For those that have stake/voted via IOTX-E (ERC20) and MetaMask in the past, you will now use native IOTX and ioPay, the official IoTeX wallet for both Desktop and Mobile (iOS, Android).
In this blog, they share details about the purpose and benefits of staking on the IoTeX Network, as well as how to stake/vote using ioPay.
IoTeX was invited to join the IEEE as a technical contributor and Advanced Corporate Member alongside the world’s premier institutions to contribute to the development of technical standards related to blockchain, IoT, and privacy. The primary efforts will be focused on IEEE P2418: Standard for the Framework of Blockchain Use in Internet of Things (IoT). Earlier this year, IoTeX also participated in the IEEE Global Blockchain Summit alongside leaders in government, academia, and industry.
- LunarCrush shared some stats on IoTeX social activity. It rose to all-time highs over the last 48 hours:
- 1,358 social contributors (5/28)
- 2,188 social posts (5/27)
- 2,064,546 social engagements (5/27)
- 1.76% social dominance (5/27)
- 5 Main Pillars of the Mainnet GA launch
- Feature in Coin Desk, Ledger & coingecko support
- Binance AMA for Russian & Ukrainian community — the summary can be found here
- IoTeX was invited to present at the IEEE World Forum on IoT, the premier event for IEEE IoT initiatives! “Decentralized IoT Data Authorization with Pebble Tracker” by Dr. Xinxin Fan of IoTeX
- MXC Exchange added support to $IOTX/USDT trading pair.
[Recent Twitter Highlights]
OriginTrail
To learn more about $TRAC, visit an official page.
- Introducing Monthly Office Hours. Your chance to discuss the most important developments within the Origin Trail ecosystem with Ziga Drev, Tomaz Levak & Brana Rakic directly. 1st edition coming June 9th.
- British Standards Institution Releases White Paper on Use of OriginTrail Decentralised Network
In early 2019, the business standards company BSI partnered up exclusively with Trace Labs, the core developers of OriginTrail, to deliver blockchain-enabled solutions. With such solutions, the British Standards Institution (BSI) seeks to enhance its global assurance, certification, and supply chain services by ensuring the integrity of digital records. In collaboration with Trace Labs, BSI is now launching a series of blockchain-based solutions catering to both organizations and individuals aiming to build resilience in their supply chains, a need becoming even more apparent in light of the COVID-19 virus outbreak. Solutions described in the recently released BSI white paper — titled “Instruments of Trust: BSI’s Blockchain-Based Solutions” — enable a secure and trusted way of verifying the authenticity of claimed personal credentials as well as company and product certifications. BSI has also introduced the SCAN Trusted Factory Blockchain Program designed for US importers to ensure the authenticity of a factory’s certification and factory credentials.
- OriginTrail node client v4.1.3 released on testnet: improved speed of dataset processing on nodes, enhanced security of graph databases on the network and better tools for node holders. Read the release notes here.
[Recent Twitter Highlights]
Power Ledger
To learn more about $POWR, visit an official page.
- Power Ledger has been featured on CNN’s Great Big Story channel, which features important and world-leading innovations from across the world. Watch it via the link.
- Australia is becoming a global leader in Virtual Power Plants. Power Ledger is developing a VPP in South Australia. For more info visit this link.
- Thailand Turns to Blockchain to Boost Renewable Energy Push
Thai Digital Energy Development (TDED) — a public-private joint venture — has inked a deal with blockchain energy startup Power Ledger to develop a blockchain-based digital energy business. The deal, also in collaboration with energy suppliers in Thailand, seeks to develop solutions for peer-to-peer energy trading and environmental commodity trading, Australia-based Power Ledger said in a press release. Ultimately, the partners aim to assist Thailand’s drive to hit a 25% renewable energy target by 2037 as the nation transitions away from fossil fuels.
- One great idea can change the world. Dr Jemma Green shares her Power Ledger journey to inspire the next generation. Watch a video right here.
[Recent Twitter Highlights]
VeChain
To learn more about $VET, visit an official page.
- Paradigm Biweekly Update on VeChain: Partnerships with Producers Market and Walmart China, Csecure — VeChain ToolChain-powered Clinical Trial Traceability Platform, 5th Episode of VeChain BootCamp
According to VeChain CEO and co-founder Sunny Lu, “VeChain aims to provide a standardized tool for the enterprises to build and integrate blockchain technology into their business easily. Whether targeted to large organizations or small companies, or even individual business owners, VeChain ToolChain™ helps you realize your exact vision and scale your business with a reasonable cost.”
Vechain is focusing on winning partnerships and building utility.
The recent collaboration with Producers Market is aimed at fighting back and supporting vulnerable farmers in emerging markets with exporting their premium outputs. It targets Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) agricultural farmers. A powerful transparency application StoryBird powered by VeChain ToolChain™ , the one-stop BaaS Data Platform, make it possible to bridge the gap between the manufacturers and consumers by integrating blockchain technology into the value chain. The app can collect and uploads authentic product information.
Additionally, there’s another significant project, scheduled to launch in September of this year. It’s a D2C (Direct-to-consumer) digital platform in the meat and seafood industry that will be traced by VeChain ToolChain™ from the various product origins around the Americas to consumer’s homes in the United States.
Following a press release made by VeChain, it was revealed that Sam’s Club China, a membership-only premium shopping chain owned by Walmart China has rolled out their variant of the traceability platform, Sam’s Club Blockchain Traceability Platform. Using VeChain ToolChain all stakeholders in the supply chain process will be able to upload key logistics and manufacturing data onto the immutable VeChainThor public blockchain.
Another significant partnership has been formed with one of the leading companies in the global pharmaceutical industry, Bayer China. Bayer’s G4A program and VeChain co-developed CSecure, a blockchain powered Clinical Trial Traceability Platform for drugs.It can monitor user and product data entered into the platform to ensure it is consistent throughout the trial, leading to improved safety and precision.
As a final point, the 5th episode of VeChain BootCamp was held on June 2. Read on to find the link to the video to learn more about the partnership between VeChain and Producers Market.
With the importance and awareness of food safety on the rise, consumers are demanding producers and sellers to be more forthcoming and transparent with their food safety practices, especially in the major cities in China. On June 2nd, 2020, Shenzhen Yuhongtai Foods Co. Ltd. announced the adoption of VeChain ToolChain™ technology to power their Food Traceability Platform, starting from the premium pork products by their wholly-owned subsidiary Meijiada Fresh Foods.
