Blockchain technology and ways to use it in combating corruption activities

 Blockchain technology can play a unique role in combating corruption of all kinds.

Blockchain technology can offer a unique combination of permanent record keeping, real-time transaction transparency and auditing, and smart contract functionality.

To be sure, blockchain technology alone cannot completely prevent crime or thwart fraudulent operations, while it can complement and reinforce existing legal frameworks and social structures.

Below we will review the main use cases of blockchain technology and how the technology can be deployed to address weaknesses in current systems:

 1. Public Procurement:

Public procurement is the single largest market for government spending and the largest source of official corruption worldwide.

There are various factors that make corruption pervasive in government circles and precisely at the point of public procurement, including the complex and ambiguous vendor selection processes that involve a high degree of human judgment.

Not only do these weaknesses result in significant financial waste, but they distort market prices, reduce healthy competition, and often lead to substandard goods and ineffective services.

Blockchain technology can help by directly dealing with corruption risk factors related to procurement by facilitating third-party oversight of transactions, preventing tampering and enabling greater objectivity through smart contracts, thus enhancing transparency and accountability in transactions.

 2. Land ownership records:

Many governments have begun experimenting with blockchain-based land ownership records.

Some initiatives, such as those in Sweden, are driven by the desire to increase efficiency in this transaction-intensive industry.

Others, such as Honduras and India, intend to inculcate and expand property rights and enhance transparency in a process vulnerable to corrupt practices.

Blockchain technology can help by providing blockchain-based land records a secure and decentralized registration system that is publicly verifiable and immutable in which individuals can definitively prove their rights to the land.

These attributes reduce the chance of land manipulation and increase the overall resilience of land ownership.

3. Electronic voting:

Growing concern about election security, integrity of voter registration, accessibility to poll results, and voter turnout has led governments to consider blockchain-based voting platforms as a way to increase transparency.

Blockchain technology can aid the voting process by reducing electoral tampering and increasing access to poll results without the ability to tamper with it.

 4. Corporate ownership records:

Recent corruption scandals have raised concerns around the world over the ownership of shadowy or undisclosed companies.

Covertly run companies can easily be used to launder money, pay bribes, or influence government investment with self-interest.

Several countries have begun to develop decentralized registries for recording company ownership in order to better track conflicts of interest and criminal activity.

Blockchain-based registries can provide a mechanism to prevent tampering and promote much-needed transparency.

5. Payments:

Many governments spend millions of dollars annually to support education, humanitarian aid, and social assistance, among other reasons.

This process is often complicated, opaque and ineffective, causing lost funds for bank fees and middlemen and opening the possibility of corrupt remittances.

Blockchain technology can help build public confidence in such systems, as the ability to not mediate and reduce the number of actors involved in granting, disbursement, and administration can simplify the process, reduce costs, and reduce opportunities for illicit financial exploitation.

Balancing benefits and challenges:

In addition to the potential special applications of blockchain technology, systemic technical barriers may hinder effective blockchain-based governance.

These barriers can range from implementation cost and scalability, to unknown negative externalities and policymakers unaware of the technology's capabilities.

The World Economic Forum recently released a report to further assess the ability of blockchain to effectively curb public corruption.

The Exploring Blockchain Technology for Government Transparency Report focuses on the blockchain-based public procurement system on an ongoing forum project with the Inter-American Development Bank and the Office of the Inspector General of Colombia, which investigated the case of blockchain use.

Finally:

More cases of blockchain technology being used to address bad appearances will continue to emerge.

Blockchain technology provides many services, particularly in relation to clear, permanent databases and record keeping, which can enhance transparency, accountability, and citizen participation in areas affecting democratic governance and sustainable development around the world.

Practical examples of how blockchain technology has been used in insurance, banking, and travel

 Blockchain technology promises to revolutionize many aspects of our lives and how we conduct business, and inevitably you have come across many topics and articles that say that blockchain technology will bring about a digital revolution that is no less than what the internet has brought about before.

But despite the great promises that blockchain technology holds, it is still a bit weak on the ground, and this makes it difficult for companies to envision how to implement the technology in the future.

In this article, we'll look at three industries that are realizing tangible benefits from blockchain technology, and which have the potential to lead other industries.

Before that, we know blockchain technology, which is basically a method of storing data.

Putting it and defining it in more technical terms, it can be said that blockchain is a form of open, distributed ledger (like a database), in which data is distributed (duplicated) across many computers.

The ledger may be decentralized (i.e. without a single central administrator), and information can be authenticated via a peer-to-peer system.

Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are perhaps the most famous example of blockchain technology in the real world.

But almost anything can be stored on a blockchain, from financial transactions and contracts to supply chain information and medical data.

In theory, any process of recording, moderating, and verifying information can be enhanced by blockchain technology.

Practical applications of blockchain technology:

It might seem like there has been a lot of hype around blockchain for several years without the technology really taking off.

But this is somewhat unfair.

It is important to remember that this technology is still in its infancy, like the early days of the internet, and we do not yet know the true size of the transformation that blockchain technology may bring.

However, many industries are investing heavily in blockchain technology and are showing how blockchain can be used very practically across a wide range of sectors, most notably:

Blockchain and insurance:

We already know from Bitcoin that blockchain is great at facilitating transactions, but it can also be used to formalize business relationships through smart contracts.

This promises to revolutionize the insurance industry by helping to automate processes, streamline claims simplification, and reduce insurance fraud.

For example, “Insurwave” is a blockchain-based marine insurance platform, the platform as a result of cooperation between companies such as “A.P. Moller-Maersk Group, ACORD and Microsoft, the platform was expected to facilitate 500,000 automated transactions and deal with risks for more than 1,000 merchant ships in the first 12 months.

Insurwave provides vital, real-time information to insurers and the insured, including vessel location, condition, and safety risks.

So if the ship enters a high risk area, the system detects this and puts it into insurance accounts.

In another example, insurance company Nationwide is experimenting with a proof-of-insurance blockchain solution called "RiskBlock" that will allow law enforcement and other insurers to verify insurance coverage in real time.

Blockchain and Banking:

With blockchain’s reputation for making secure transactions easy, it stands to reason that the banking industry is exploring many practical uses of blockchain.

In particular, blockchain is being introduced as a method for identity verification and fraud detection, in line with Know Your Customer (KYC) rules.

Blockchain-based startup "Bluzelle" has worked with KMPG and a group of Singapore banks, including HSBC, to develop the KYC platform.

The project demonstrated that not only can blockchain reduce the risk of identity fraud, but it can also reduce costs by 25 to 50 percent, by reducing duplication and providing a clear audit trail.

Elsewhere, Barclays Bank has launched a number of blockchain initiatives to track financial transactions, compliance and reduce fraud, as the bank is so convinced of the benefits of blockchain and has previously described blockchain technology as a new operating system for the planet.

Blockchain and travel:

The travel industry is one of the perfect companions for insurance and banking.

But, if you think about it, blockchain technology could facilitate peer-to-peer transactions that would greatly change the travel industry.

Airbnb's popularity illustrates how consumers are so happy to cut out the middleman and go straight to the hosts for housing.

With blockchain technology, you don't even need an intermediary platform like “Airbnb” to facilitate the transaction, as the blockchain will handle everything.

Perhaps this is why hotel aggregator “GOeureka” is using blockchain to increase transparency and lower costs, by giving users access to 400,000 hotel rooms without broker commission costs.

TUI Group is also investing in blockchain technology, with the ultimate focus on eliminating the need for middlemen like Expedia.

Elsewhere, blockchain is being used to reduce some of the most common problems with travel, such as waiting in line when monitoring passports and customs.

The consulting firm Accenture has teamed up with the World Economic Forum to develop a popular traveler digital identity system.

The blockchain-based system collects and stores personally identifiable information from frequent travelers, helping to improve the data flow between travelers and customs officials, while reducing queue sizes at the airport.

In conclusion, although it may take years for blockchain technology to become popular, these examples demonstrate how blockchain can be used to automate business on the ground, provide better value to customers, and improve data security ...

For Entrepreneurs: Do Startups Really Need Blockchain Technology?

 

Among the questions on the minds of many entrepreneurs is the question: Should I adopt blockchain technology or not?

Especially since blockchain technology is being used in many different areas from supply chain monitoring to managing cross-border stocks and payments, meaning that blockchain is making its way into many areas.

Startups, to achieve their growth goals, jump into the blockchain bandwagon to create a buzz, persuade investors and raise new rounds of financing.

As the adoption of blockchain technology by emerging institutions is not just a technical decision but a commercial one as well, given that they are the leaders in decision-making, it is important that the founders not fall into this hype, but they must analyze whether the adoption of blockchain technology is appropriate from a business perspective. And it's not just to show off.

While the unique characteristics of blockchain technology forced startup founders to think of it as a fundamental and transformative technology, the utility of business remains firmly anchored as a vital consideration in this decision.

In this article, we will cover blockchain technology from a technology and business perspective that founders need to consider while evaluating blockchain technology.

Decision Tree: Assessing the suitability of blockchain technology for startups

Although many research papers present what are known as decision trees to assess the feasibility of using blockchain technology in the project, we wanted to simplify matters further and suggest a table of use cases, shown below:

Use case Do we need to store data? (User data and / or metadata) Do multiple users participate / update stored cases? Does any trusted third part share? Can a third party be eliminated? Resolution Notes

Social media app that includes user engagement and interaction Yes Yes Yes Yes This cannot be developed as a traditional centrally managed app.

However, one can consider blockchain in the event of a desire to migrate to a decentralized network

Food retailers receive supplies from producers, so ensuring food quality is a major challenge Yes Yes No No Yes

Organizations that keep employee attendance records Yes Yes Yes Yes No As long as there is mutual trust between the organization and employees, there is no need for blockchain. If any trusted third party was involved and the blockchain came to the picture, it would be just technical overkill.

Cost-benefit analysis: assessing business suitability

Every startup founder should plan to invest in blockchain technology, and assess the return on investment that will come from adopting it.

Blockchain technology may be adopted as a necessity or differentiating factor for your product, but evaluation should always be done from a revenue generation perspective.

You may have to come up with a cost-benefit analysis according to your business, but I will help you with an example to better understand the approach.

Let's look at the aforementioned case of the food vendors, where we compare the costs with the returns that are possible.

Development cost:

If the development effort to build a MVP pilot product with a traditional centralized system approach takes a certain amount of time, the efforts will be 30-40% higher if a blockchain-based approach is pursued.

A blockchain developer usually costs at least 1.5 times more than developers working on widely used technologies.

This would make the cost of blockchain development two times higher than the cost of developing traditional applications.

Infrastructure cost:

To assess the infrastructure cost, let's assume transaction volume of a few hundred transactions per second (TPS). If the infrastructure cost of a traditional solution were around X per year, then it would be the same for the blockchain-based approach. This is according to the assumption that approximately 8-10 nodes are part of the consortium.

It boils down to one conclusion, which is that instead of one party managing all of the infrastructure nodes, each consortium member must own the node.

As the volume of transactions increases, the traditional approach can expand horizontally; But blockchain-based solutions face the Scalability Trilemma.

This is a popular term coined by "Vitalin Buterin" which, from the perspective of the average person, is similar to the phrase "You cannot have everything."

Firms must clearly understand which of the three aspects will be focused and improved upon the most:

Decentralization, security or scalability.

Other costs

Some of the other business efforts required if blockchain-based solutions are adopted include creating a consortium, persuading accepted members about the benefits of joining the union, and expanding it to a level that can be claimed as secure.

Speaking of benefits, a blockchain-based approach can certainly enable business process automation using smart contracts.

This approach not only improves the overall process efficiency but also reduces the companies' operating costs.

Where blockchain technology can reduce the waste of resources, which could result in saving approximately 450,000 euros per year, depending on the source.

This value far exceeds the initial investment and operational cost that goes into a blockchain-based solution.

The bottom line is that blockchain technology may not have gained the importance it deserves. We strongly recommend evaluating the feasibility of the blockchain for founders of startups, and realistically looking at the technology and whether it can be truly drawn from it away from the media momentum and empty hype.

Telecom giant Huawei has partnered with the Chinese government to work on a new blockchain platform

 

Huawei, one of the telecom and mobile phone giants, has partnered with the Chinese government to create a new public blockchain platform, according to a report issued by Jintai News.

The Chinese tech giant Huawei has stirred up controversy in the West, as it faces allegations that its products can facilitate Chinese espionage around the world.

The charge of cyber espionage, data protection and privacy made the US government ban Huawei products in late 2018, but this did not prevent the technology company from pursuing new opportunities in China, including the first domestic attempts to implement blockchain in data management.

According to the report issued by the aforementioned source, the new blockchain platform underway is designed to be aimed at people in general and to be beneficial to city residents.

In other words, the blockchain platform will effectively and transparently target various areas of daily life in the city.

Among the expected solutions are improvements to the city's healthcare infrastructure, whose problems have been exposed by the outbreak of the Coronavirus.

The report suggested that a solution powered by the new blockchain platform technology can predict epidemic trends in advance, using data from every hospital in the city to coordinate medical responses.

The new blockchain-powered platform will also address other parts of Beijing's capital infrastructure.

Areas of focus include handling complaints and appeals to city government decisions, parking issues and road use, and a means of verifying risks related to water, gas and electricity use in homes.

Meaning and it seems that most issues and annoying problems will be dealt with more quickly and steadily

A Swiss watchmaker relies on the Ethereum blockchain to issue certificates of authenticity

 

Certificates of authenticity and proof of quality have always been a problem between the buyer and the seller, which in many cases is subject to forgery and misrepresentation to make the product price more than it really is.

However, depending on the blockchain technology, things are different.

According to the source, "Breitling", a Swiss luxury watch manufacturer founded 136 years ago, has begun issuing digital certificates on the Ethereum blockchain.

The watchmaking company has teamed up with the non-profit organization "Arianee" to issue these digital certificates of authenticity which will allow users to verify the authenticity of the company's watches.

These certificates of authenticity will be issued for all watches made as of October 13th.

Emmanuel Collett, co-founder and CEO of Arianee, said:

The protocol used for certification is based on the Ethereum ERC-721 standard, which is commonly used to issue non-fungible digital currencies (NFT).

As for how the certificate of authenticity works, it provides a verification mechanism for watch owners who can scan their electronic warranty card with their smartphone camera to download information related to the watch and all its details.

It should be noted that these digital certificates are transferable and contain information such as the watch's serial number and digital warranty.

Thailand uses blockchain technology to store court records in the country

 

Thailand is pushing ahead with its plans to use blockchain technology to store all court records in the country.

According to the Thai Justice Office, which oversees more than 90% of the country's courts, it expects the transition to blockchain to be completed in 2021.

The office says it has been working on blockchain technology for some time.

Thailand is looking to be at the forefront of countries using blockchain technology:

There are insufficient details about the movement of judicial courts in Thailand towards blockchain technology, as the Thai Office of Justice has not specified which blockchain will be used.

However, the move is expected, as Thailand is making great efforts to increase its technical footprint.

The country plans to become the digital hub of Southeast Asia within the next ten years.

The country also plans to implement the so-called "Thailand 4.0", by focusing on digital improvements that will improve the quality of life for its citizens while enhancing efficiency and productivity.

To this end, the Thai government has identified pillars on which this new digital economy depends. These pillars are:

Digital Infrastructure, Promotion and Innovation, Service Infrastructure, Society and Knowledge.

Increased use of blockchain technology:

Many countries in Asia are turning to blockchain technology to meet different needs.

One of the areas in which blockchain technology is used most is the protection of personal data as well as the fight against fraud.

Coronavirus helped spur this development as many individuals want to limit physical contact and complete remote services, and many schools and universities use blockchain technology to issue graduation certificates.

Three practical uses of blockchain technology in the real estate market

 

Blockchain technology offers a number of unique characteristics, perhaps the most prominent of which is its ability to encode assets and its flexibility in various uses.

The real estate sector and market can benefit greatly from blockchain technology through several uses, including the following:

Fractional ownership:

Real estate is among the best investment opportunities available, but most small investors are still banned from entering this lucrative market.

Where building or purchasing real estate involves large initial costs, and the property is highly illiquid.

So, landlords simply cannot liquidate their assets quickly, at least not without incurring significant losses.

These losses include having to find a buyer and middlemen necessary in the transfer of assets and other legal costs.

A possibility to mitigate this problem would be to divide assets into smaller shares held collectively by shareholders.

In the traditional way, these investment opportunities are called real estate investment funds (REITs), but very often, REITs are not listed on the stock exchange, which does not help much in terms of liquidity.

But to face this problem, there are some projects that have paid attention to this point and are trying to find solutions to it, such as the "Meridio" project, which provides the possibility of coding real estate assets and issuing special digital currencies to investors.

For investors, Meridio quotes minimum investment, lower transaction costs and improved liquidity as benefits, while property owners and developers can unlock additional capital by moving into a largely untapped market.

In order to comply with all regulations, Meridio uses a solution to whitelist its coded assets, ensuring that only those investors, are legally able to do so.

Likewise, "Slice" facilitates the trading of fractional assets and, accordingly, investments in real estate by international investors, without the typical five-year ownership period imposed by traditional real estate investment funds.

Transfer of ownership and leases:

Another practical use of blockchain technology in the real estate field is to speed up procedures and speed up the unloading of the property to receive another owner.

Thanks to smart contracts, the legal transfer of property assets can be greatly facilitated, even for full property rights.

Among the projects active in this corner is the "Propy" project, which is based entirely on listing real estate for sale immediately at the international level, allowing their smart contracts to transfer assets and of course transfer the purchase amount without the need for any third party.

Likewise, it is also possible to use smart contracts for lease agreements. For example, the “ManageGo” project uses a blockchain-backed solution for a one-stop solution for all things rental related.

ManageGo tracks contracts, front desk services, rental payments and maintenance tickets, making it easy to rent private property to others.

Real estate coding and release platforms:

Instead of creating a specific real estate solution on the blockchain, token issuance platforms focus on the infrastructure needed to encode and trade assets flexibly.

Recently, “HashCash Consultants” announced the development of a crypto exchange dedicated to real estate.

It allows the exchange of real estate symbols and currencies and the ability to convert currencies for the original properties associated with them.

Another project that falls into this category and usage is the "Realio" project, which is a token issuance platform specializing in security digital currencies.

Although the project is neutral to the types of assets that can be coded, they explicitly state real estate as the best use case.

For this purpose, the Realio project works alongside several blockchain networks that take advantage of embedded blockchain features or build their own transactional controls to comply with international securities regulations.

There is also "RealioX" which is a project for a decentralized real estate currency trading platform, whereby any investor wishing to purchase assets on RealioX must be whitelisted, and thus, token assets can be traded decentralized, while continuing to fully comply, thanks to the controls. Their transactions.

These were the three most prominent practical applications of blockchain technology in the real estate market.

The blockchain platform verifies the health records of 17 million Chinese tourists in one month

 

Blockchain technology and its powerful capabilities can be used to speed up verifications without compromising the accuracy, security and integrity of data.

Recently, the Chinese government adopted a blockchain-based platform that checks health records with the aim of resuming cross-border tourism to the tourist city of Macau.

The blockchain-based platform makes it easy and fast for tourists from mainland China to verify their health status upon entering the city of "Macau", where in just 3 seconds, a tourist's health record can be verified.

Although the platform is only in use for one month, it has processed the health data of 17 million people.

The platform serves as an electronic corridor for residents to access public places.

After a few months, Macau expanded the use of the platform to add an inter-identification mechanism with the health system and platform in Guangdong Province, China.

The health code for the platform is based on the open source “FISCO BCOS” blockchain in China.

In a press release, the non-profit organization revealed the platform's impact, including the revival of tourism between mainland China and Macau.

The city of "Macau" had suspended the tourist visa application in January this year in light of the spread of the Corona virus in China.

According to the source, the digital platform was used by more than 17 million people who moved between the Chinese mainland and "Macau".

According to the authority supervising the platform, which revealed to the same source:

The average time to receive, convert and generate health code for the first time is only 100 seconds.

It takes less than 3 seconds to complete the procedure when the traveler crosses customs again.

The blockchain platform has solved one of the challenges facing privacy protection regulations in China and Macau.

While health officials need to verify the health information of those who cross borders, they should not share the data directly with each other, which is what the blockchain allows authorities to provide by securely encrypting and recording personal health data.

Once the user shares this data at the border, the health officer can verify the integrity of the data by comparing it with the corresponding digital credentials on the blockchain.

The organization overseeing the blockchain platform stated:

The mutual recognition mechanism enables seamless transfer of health codes for users without the need to repeatedly fill in personal information on various platforms, providing great convenience and ease of use for cross-border travelers.

China has continued to adopt blockchain aggressively in recent years, at the national level.

The city of "Shenzhen" recently provided $ 1.5 million in digital yuan to boost its adoption.

CBDC (digital yuan) digital currency is now used in more than 3 million transactions, with 1.1 billion yuan ($ 160 million) in circulation.

Is Bitcoin Mining Still Profitable in 2020?

 

Bitcoin's price performance in 2020 was dramatically volatile, as it fell to its lowest levels in March to quickly climb back to a new record it had not set in a full year.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin's hash rate has increased by more than 25% since March, recently reaching its highest value ever.

In May 2020, Bitcoin also completed the third split event in the bitcoin mining reward, which caused the amount of bitcoin mined each day to be halved.

With all of these factors coinciding with each other, the question can arise:

Is Bitcoin Mining Still Profitable in 2020?

We will deal with the answer as follows:

Mining difficulty increases with time:

One of the main things miners should keep in mind when mining bitcoins is the difficulty of the process.

In short, Bitcoin's difficulty determines the amount of work the mineral will need to solve the complex mathematical problem that will allow miners to add a new block of transactions to the blockchain.

This difficulty increases or decreases after every 2016 blocks, or approximately every 14 days, depending on how quickly you found the previous 2016 blocks.

If the previous 2016 block took less than 14 days to discover it, the difficulty would increase, while it would decrease if it took more than 14 days to discover it, all with the goal of returning the average discovery time to 10 minutes.

Since the hash rate tends to increase over time, so does the difficulty of detecting the mass which in turn makes it difficult for miners with old hardware to keep up as their percentage of the total hash rate decreases over time.

However, as the bitcoin price tends to rise after the hash rate increases, increasing difficulty does not always mean lower profitability.

There are also a few steps miners can take to accelerate their return on investment (ROI) and increase profits.

The profitability of Bitcoin mining depends on several factors:

The best way to stay on top of the difficulty curve and increase the profitability potential is to have the latest and most efficient mining equipment at an affordable price.

Those looking to make a profit by investing in new mining machinery will need to consider the price, shipping cost (and any potential delays), import taxes, and the electricity costs involved in getting their new machines up and running.

The perfect bitcoin miner is energy efficient, less fussing and has an ideal hash rate.

According to CryptoCompare's mining profitability calculator, 1 TH / s of hash rate would generate roughly 0.00000742 BTC, which is roughly $ 0.08639 per day in earnings with the current value of Bitcoin ($ 11,763).

For this reason, the Antminer S17 providing processing at 73 TH / s will fetch around $ 6.30 per day, while the S30 M offering processing at 112TH / s will fetch around $ 9.68 per day.

And not just this calculator. Miners need to deduct electricity and maintenance costs, which can vary greatly depending on the country and the energy costs they have access to.

Bitcoin mining has become more difficult than ever

 

Bitcoin block mining difficulty increased by 3.6% on Monday, marking an all-time high.

But the new change puts additional pressure on miners.

Although not the most significant jump in the history of Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Adjustment, the 3.6% rally raised the total bitcoin network segmentation difficulty to a record high of 17.56 trillion.

The last time network difficulty approached this figure was in July.

Bitcoin mining difficulty adjusts approximately every two weeks.

When blocks are mined too quickly or too slowly, the difficulty is adjusted to re-check the speed.

The upward revision in bitcoin mining difficulty is usually associated with a similar increase in network segmentation strength (the amount of computing power on the network).

On August 15th, Bitcoin's hash rate reached a record high of 136 hours per second (EH / s).

After a short recession the following week, the retail rate recovered to around 120 EH / s, apparently thanks to the rainy season in China, as China is a major region for bitcoin mining due to cheap hydropower.

Bad news for miners?

According to Mr. Thomas Heller, chief operating officer of bitcoin mining company HASHR8, the combined increase in both hash rate and difficulty could cause problems for less sophisticated miners - those with outdated mining equipment.

Heller explained:

If the difficulty and hash rate continue to rise, the old machines will struggle to continue mining, the S9 is the most common mining machine used, still profitable at $ 0.03 / kWh of power available in China now. However, after October, when the rainy season is over, and electricity prices are at $ 0.05 / kWh or more, the S9S is likely not profitable at that price.

According to data from BTC.com, the next difficulty adjustment, projected on September 7, is expected to lead to another increase in the difficulty rate, this time by 3.5%, which means pushing the difficulty of the Bitcoin network to another all-time high towards the level of 18 trillion. .

Kazakhstan intends to collect $ 700 million to mine Bitcoin and digital currencies

 

According to reports from Kazakhstan's Ministry of Digital Development, the country is already in talks to attract significant investment of more than $ 700 million to expand the digital currency mining sector in the Central Asian country.

Kazakhstan aims to invest $ 700 million in cryptocurrency mining:

Plans were initially revealed to attract 300 billion tenge (roughly $ 715 million) in investments in cryptocurrency mining.

Oskar Chumagaliev, former minister for digital development and innovation, explained that the Kazakh government concluded that mining cryptocurrencies is part of everyday life in Kazakhstan, after studying what other countries like the United States and South Korea do, at that time, Kazakhstan already had 14 A cryptocurrency mining farm, which attracted about $ 200 million in investment in a few years.

Hence, the country is seeking to double its digital mining endeavors.

Earlier in the day, Reuters reported that the new minister, Bagdat Mossin, was already in talks to increase the massive investment to more than $ 700 million.

The new minister stated:

Today we have initial agreements to attract investments worth 300 billion tenge, and he revealed that the country is currently building four additional mining farms.

In an effort to further boost the profits of cryptocurrency mining within the nation's borders, the Asian country has also introduced plans to impose a flat 15% tax on the sector.

Will Kazakhstan enter the top 3 miners of digital currencies:

Data provided by the University of Cambridge's bitcoin mining tracker, Bitcoin Mining Map, indicates that Kazakhstan is already responsible for a large portion of the global hash rate of bitcoin.

Source: Cambridge University

The country currently ranks fourth on the list with more than 6% of the retail rate, behind all of China (65%), the United States (7.2%), and Russia (6.9%).

If the planned investment of $ 700 million in cryptocurrency mining succeeds over the next three years, Kazakhstan may indeed go uphill to crack one of the top three.

In addition, another report released earlier this year claimed that rising electricity bills in China are driving miners to seek other destinations, regardless of the United States. Kazakhstan, which has borders in the West with China, has benefited from the exodus of Chinese miners towards it.

Kazakhstan has cheap electricity, which contributed to the increase in the bitcoin hash rate from within Kazakhstan by 334% in one year.

After mining 88 percent of all Bitcoins ... find out how much is left

 There is not much Bitcoin left to be mined by the miners, as according to the data provided by "Block Bot", 88% of all Bitcoins were mined, leaving only 2520000 Bitcoins.

When all bitcoins are mined, Bitcoin miners will no longer be able to collect the block rewards because there are no more bitcoins to be generated, which means that Bitcoin miners will only earn transaction fees that will be charged from each verified transaction.

Bitcoin mining is very important to continue protecting the blockchain, and the rewards of the mining process will be offset by fees for transactions made over the network.

Miners play a major role in the Bitcoin ecosystem.

Since the last Bitcoin split in May 2020, the bonus has halved from 12.5 to 6.25 BTC, which means that Bitcoin miners are now getting around $ 63,750 ($ 10,200 x $ 6.25) per block.

As a reminder, mining is the process of adding confirmed transactions to a Bitcoin blockchain.

For the resources required for mining, the blockchain network rewards Bitcoins with transaction fees and subsidies.

The subsidies are paid per block at the current rate of 6.25 Bitcoin, and fees are paid per transaction.

This confirmation process involves solving complex mathematical problems and a lot of computing power.

The Bitcoin miner who successfully mined is rewarded for its contribution to the blockchain based on the PoW mechanism.

Despite the recent sell-off in the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin has performed fairly well, with Bitcoin increasing by more than 30% since the beginning of 2020 and maintaining its position above $ 10,000 after testing this price level several times.

Bitcoin has not yet fallen below $ 10,000, and the currency is still struggling to stay above this level and psychological barrier.

It should be noted that bullish sentiment continues, as evidenced by the many data provided and many analysts believe that the Bitcoin price will continue to support the price and stay above $ 8,000.

A simple guide on Bitcoin mining and how it works?

 

Bitcoin mining, by simple definition, is the process by which blocks of transactions are added to the blockchain network and verified.

It is also the process by which new Bitcoin is generated, and Bitcoin mining is a mechanism that secures the integrity of the blockchain and stimulates participation in the network.

In other words, the mining process is about verifying the transactions that take place on the Bitcoin blockchain, and when the verification process is complete, it is automatically added to the blocks that make up the blockchain.

Miners compete to add new blocks to the blockchain.

The mining process requires a great commitment on the part of miners, as the process is an expensive and time-consuming task, and it is a necessary task for Bitcoin to work and people can trust its legitimacy.

Bitcoin was created more than a decade ago by the so-called “Satoshi Nakamoto” and since then people have heard about the mining process and what does it mean?

In this article we will try to explain and simplify the mining process and how it works.

What is Bitcoin mining?

Bitcoin mining is not like mining gold or coal deep underground.

Rather, the process is done by computers in a clean environment, as the term mining in the cryptocurrency market refers to verifying transactions made using Bitcoin.

Miners or miners are the individuals or companies that support the auditing of the Bitcoin blockchain network.

These miners do this by validating transactions that are grouped into blocks and then added to the blockchain.

These miners are rewarded with Bitcoin for their verifications.

It is worth noting that the Bitcoin mining process is not as cheap as it used to be, but this does not prevent investors from taking part in this activity.

To motivate and keep participants to do the mining process, they are incentivized with Bitcoin bonuses.

Since the mining process is carried out by different people across different parts of the world, Bitcoin remains decentralized, which means that the mining process does not depend on any central authority such as the government or the bank for its credibility.

Why does Bitcoin need two miners?

Mining is the process of auditing and verifying Bitcoin transactions to prevent the problem of "double spending".

Double spending means when someone with a cryptocurrency tries to spend the same currency twice.

In traditional currencies, there is no such problem as it is not possible to buy a cup of coffee for $ 5 and then go to another store and buy a grocery for the same $ 5.

But with bitcoin it is possible, as there is a risk that someone with bitcoin will make a copy of the bitcoin and send it to the merchant instead of the real currency.

In the real world, a store cashier looks at the $ 100 bill to make sure it is not counterfeit and this is what bitcoin miners try to do with cryptocurrency as well as they check to make sure not to make a transaction twice.

How does Bitcoin mining work:

The Bitcoin mining process works as follows:

The miner's computer, called the node, collects and fills individual Bitcoin transactions from the last ten minutes into a block.

This node competes with other nodes in the network to solve a complex cryptographic problem and is the first to validate the new block configured to enter the blockchain.

First Metal broadcasts problem solving and success to the entire network.

Other nodes check if their solution is correct, and if so, the new block is added to the blockchain and the entire process begins again.

The first miner to solve the problem is the one to be rewarded with bitcoin.

Mining machines run a "hash cipher" function on the head of the block.

What this means is that each mineral creates a "mass filter" with uncertain coefficients.

This block includes a block header that summarizes the data within the block, along with a reference to an existing block in the blockchain (this reference is called nonce), which is a one-time only number.

In Bitcoin, the nonce is an integer number that lies between 0 and 4,294,967,296.

This nonce block head is then placed through the "SHA256" hash function. If the resulting number is higher than the current target's hash, the metal adjusts the nonce and tries again.

The mineral does this several thousand times a second.

This means the degree of difficulty, which is adjusted every 2016 blocks (approximately every two weeks), to ensure that the block is mined on average once every 10 minutes.

Bitcoin virtual currency price rises to a high of $ 1,400

The price of Bitcoin currencies rose to its highest level, reaching 1,400 US dollars on Tuesday, after it increased more than three times over the past year, as the recent rise is due to the strong demand for this currency in Japan, after the digital process was considered a legal means of payment.

According to what was published by the British telegraph website, "Cryptocompare", which is a data 

site that analyzes the trading of Bitcoin currencies across dozens of exchanges around the world, said that about 50% of the trading volume in the last 24 hours was on the Bitcoin / Japanese Yen exchange rate.

"Japan has recently strengthened its approach to Bitcoin by treating it legally as a form of payment, approving it and introducing it into the regulatory folds," said Charles Hayter, founder of the site, adding that China's campaign on exchanges could also be considered a positive step for the industry as well.

Chinese authorities have increased controls over exchanges this year, forcing them to start charging fees on trading after becoming concerned about Bitcoin speculation and the possibility of using it to launder money.

The price of Bitcoin rose 3% on Tuesday on the Bitstamp Stock Exchange in Europe, where it was traded in dollars, to reach $ 1,437, the highest since its launch in 2008, and this represents an increase of more than 200% over its price in early May of the year. the past.

How is the "Bitcoin" virtual currency produced?

During the past few months, many news about the virtual "Bitcoin" currency have spread, and this is after the significant increase in its market value and price, as it reached 17 thousand US dollars earlier this month, but there are many questions that still baffle some, The most prominent of which is how Bitcoin is produced.

 

Bitcoin production method

Bitcoin can be produced from anywhere in the world through a process called "mining".

This process requires a long time, a strong computer, and a program dedicated to mining, which is downloaded for free from the Internet.

- The program processes complex algorithms and after that the coin is issued.

The difficulty of the operation depends on the speed and power of the device.

The currency is exchanged between one person and another through a cryptographic key.

 

It is worth noting that the value of Bitcoin now reaches one billion and 200 million dollars, and there are more than 1000 sites on the Internet that accept payment, such as stores, companies and many restaurants.

Bitcoin trading experience the price of the currency rises by $ 3,000 in one day

For the first time since its emergence, the virtual currency Bitcoin became one of the currencies traded on the Chicago Stock Exchange, after its price exceeded the value of $ 15,000 and $ 460.

Bitcoin for those who do not know it is a virtual digital currency that appeared recently and its price began to rise over time until it reached this figure. This currency, which first appeared in 2009, is based on electronic systems, as it does not have a central bank, and it is bought and sold electronically via digital exchanges.

With the rise in the price of the currency and the start of its circulation on the Chicago Stock Exchange, we tried to conduct a trading experiment as something that many may resort to in the coming period, and with a desire to learn more about this currency and try to provide advice to those who wish to trade, we did this experiment.

Searching for "Bitcoin" in Arabic on the Google search engine is enough to help you start trading. As soon as you type the word, you will find a number of websites in Arabic and English and an explanation of how to trade it.

Trading on these sites is not completely safe. According to the research we conducted on the risks of trading, pirates steal information on different accounts.

Among the sites that allow trading in Arabic, we found a site that confirms that it belongs to the Central Bank, which is something we have not confirmed until writing these words. Do central banks grant legitimacy to this type of site, and what are the central banks that cooperate with it and how.

Bitcoin falls below $ 13,000 ... and is heading for the worst week since 2013

Bitcoin fell below $ 13,000 today, Friday, after losing about a third of its value in just five days, as the digital currency headed to record the worst week since 2013 after a strong rise to a peak level close to $ 20,000 on Sunday.

 

 

The largest and most famous digital currency has increased by 20 times since the beginning of the year, jumping from less than a thousand dollars to 16 thousand and 666 dollars on the Bitstamp Stock Exchange in Luxembourg on Sunday and exceeded 20 thousand dollars in other exchanges.

 

 

But Bitcoin has fallen on a daily basis since then, and the loss accelerated on Friday. The currency fell to 12,560 dollars in Bitstamp, recording a decline of about 20 percent during the day.

 

 

By 0850 GMT, the currency was trading down 15 percent at 13,320 dollars, heading to its worst week in more than three months.

How is Bitcoin mined?

Curiosity about the origin and method of mining Bitcoin reached its peak during 2017, thanks to the significant increase in its value, and despite recent fluctuations in its price, there is still a great demand for using this virtual currency.

There is one question that comes to everyone's mind when talking about Bitcoin, which is what is the "mining" process that produces these virtual currencies, so we offer the following to answer all your questions:

Bitcoin is created by a mathematical formula, or algorithm, and it is basically a set of computer codes that are digitally signed every time Bitcoin is sent from one owner to another.

New batches of bitcoin are produced every 10 minutes, and supplies are limited, as it started with 50 coins in January 2009, and over time, new batches are produced every 10 minutes.

- The process of producing and launching new money is called "mining", and the number of Bitcoin is limited to 21 million coins only, a number that is expected to be reached by the year 2140, and so far, only about 16.7 million Bitcoins have been produced.

- These coins can be mined by anyone willing to devote their computer power to the production of virtual currencies, and this means that Bitcoin is produced by users by relinquishing the capabilities of computers to verify other users' transactions.

Coins can also be bought and sold on stock exchanges in US dollars and other currencies.

Bitcoin producers use open source software to accomplish tasks, as all transactions can be anonymous.

- All Bitcoin transactions are confirmed. At first, Bitcoin producers confirm the validity of new Bitcoin transactions awaiting to be recorded in a public registry, and after that, a unique ID number, which was generated by the Bitcoin format, must be decoded and the confirmed records added to the known logbook. As "blockchain".

The blockchain preserves the history of every Bitcoin transaction to the public, as the blockchain constitutes the permanent history of every Bitcoin transaction that has ever been made, and in this way it prevents the blockchain from spending the same bitcoin twice.

Ethereum what is

For years, electronic currencies have developed strongly and spread to impose themselves on the world of finance and business in a way that made experts expect that electronic currencies will be the currencies of the near future. Although Bitcoin is the first, most widespread, and highest-valued currency in the cryptocurrencies market, it is not the only currency nowadays, but there are many other options available as a good number of new electronic currencies have emerged that They operate on the same principle, with differences in details and the size of the popularity these coins have.

Ethereum, which is the second digital currency in the world in terms of popularity, size and value, follows Bitcoin in market value so far, and the Ethereum coin has grown very well in the recent period, making its market value exceed the $ 18 billion. Here we write to you about the most important facts related to the currency of Ethereum and what you need to have knowledge of in a way that will benefit you whenever you decide to enter the digital currency market.

Economists at Arab Financial are advising all Arab investors in the Ethereum currency on the best sites with legitimate Islamic accounts by clicking on the link!

The origins of Ethereum

Ethereum was launched for the first time in August 2015 to be added to the basket of digital currencies (Cryptocurrencies), which is competing for Bitcoin, which is topping the scene so far, and since its launch, it has grown and developed very quickly, making its market price rise from $ 2.8 when it was launched to reach 200 dollars in the recent period, at a time when many other digital currencies have not succeeded in achieving the same popularity and spread, despite their launch at about the same time.

How Ethereum works

Whether it is Ethereum, Bitcoin, or other digital currencies, the digital currency system is based on a single database called the blockchain, regardless of the currency difference. With regard to the Ethereum currency, it is defined as a decentralized digital information system that is done through electronic computers linked to each other and spread all over the world, these computers use applications through which many orders related to smart contracts are executed in a very, very complex way, and it requires a lot of Information protocols are similar to the conclusion of common financial contracts, but they are implemented after subjecting to many requirements and requirements in a way that is difficult to simulate or fraud. All of these digital protocols are not subject to any authority or government at all, and no party is able to control the mining or exchange of Ethereum like other currencies.

Ether and the decentralized Ethereum system

It is true that everyone calls Ethereum the word electronic currency, but the truth is that the electronic currency associated with this decentralized system is Ether, which is a programmatic process launched by the huge decentralized system known as Ethereum.

Comparison between Ethereum and Bitcoin

We cannot consider Ethereum as a currency like Bitcoin, even if Ethereum produces its Ether currency, Ethereum in its basic content works to serve the users of the platform by providing an Ethereum wallet that people use for the applications they are developing. As for Bitcoin, it is a clear digital currency that is being prepared to replace traditional currencies.

The supply of Ethereum is unlimited: The availability of Ethereum is limitless and is not affected by the use of individuals, while the supply of Bitcoin is limited and affected by the coin makers themselves, and it is assumed that the manufacture of Bitcoin will end by the year 2140.

Ethereum trades more quickly: Bitcoin exchanges take up to 10 minutes to complete the trade process, while Ethereum is processed in just 15 seconds.

Ownership of Ethereum: While Bitcoin is the property of the individuals who manufacture it, especially the first of them, the Ethereum currency is financed by collective parties, which is considered a matter that serves Ethereum financiers and makers in the near term (expected within 5 years).

Ether recognition indicators

The huge decentralized system known as Ethereum is available to everyone through highly complex protocols and algorithms, through which Ether is exchanged and new currencies are produced from it. As for the ether currency itself, it rises and falls on the Internet according to the increase in demand for it or the decline in 

demand. In the past year and the current year, the urgency has increased on the need to recognize these electronic currencies as a kind of official currency, and it has already happened and many authorities have recognized them as official currencies such as Microsoft, Intel and some international banks, in addition to many other institutions that are increasing in number every day. day.

Factors affecting the value of the Ether coin or the Ethereum system

Certainly, Ethereum is the primary decentralized system through which the coin is produced (Ether)), but a very large sector of people tend to use Ethereum as a name for the currency when talking about currency to the extent that many sites specialized in currency trading use the name Ethereum, not ether, perhaps for the convenience of traders.

But regardless of the naming of the currency, what is meant remains one thing whose value is affected by many factors that drive the market value of the currency to rise or fall. Here are the most important of these factors:

The market value of Ether increases as the number of agencies that recognize and approve it as a type of parameter increases.

Also, the more applications that rely on this currency, the greater its market value.

The strength of the decentralized system, which guarantees safety and the inability of any party to drive