Blockchain startup Chronicled launches open registry for Internet of Things, and R3 filed for its first patent. Here are the cryptocurrency highlights of week 34:
- Blockchain startup Chronicled, known embedding NFC and BLE chips limited edition sneakers to prevent prevent counterfeiting, has launched the first of its kind “open registry for Internet of Things” on the Ethereum blockchain, enabled via NFC and BLE microchips, in an attempt to make private IoT database registries interoperable. Chronicled CEO Ryan Orr stressed the importance of this development, stating that “What’s missing is interoperability for all those chips so that when a consumer is out in the world, they can interact with their world in a ubiquitous, seamless way. Right now it’s completely broken.” With the “Open Registry Explorer” any developer can now use the platform to tag devices themselves.
- Blockchain startup R3 CEV has filed its first patent for Banking Blockchain Technology, specifically for its distributed ledger software, Corda, underlying the Concord project. Concord can be compared to Ethereum in the sense that it will allows developers to build applications and smart contracts, but it is designed specifically for financial institution and its doesn’t feature its own currency. The software also runs within a closed environment, keeping the general public from being able to see all the details. R3 co-founder Todd McDonald is eager to make Concord “real to business users in 2017” and aims to launch an “alpha” version in the coming months.
- Swiss bank UBS has its own plans for changing the world with Blockchain technology, and has developed a “Utility Settlement Coin” (USC) to allow for financial payments to be settled quickly. USC is nothing like Bitcoin, as it would be nothing more than the digital cash equivalent of each of the major currencies. According to UBS “spending a USC would be the same as spending the real currency it is paired with”, as the USC “would be convertible at parity with a bank deposit in the corresponding currency”. The new technology could save the financial industry up to $65-$80 billion a year in settlement costs.
- The price of Bitcoin headed down this week, decreasing by almost two percent to about $570 per BTC. Ethereum was stable this week with the price flat at $11.20 per ETH. The same couldn’t be said for Ethereum Classic, which lost nearly one fifth of its value and is now trading at $1.42 per ETC.
