Photo by Darius Bashar on Unsplash

November 13, 2019

Let’s jump right into this week‘s edition with the announcement that Tunisia is to become the first country to start moving its national currency to a blockchain platform. In more headlines, we learned that JPMorgan and Temasek completing the development of a blockchain-based cross border payments system. Also this week Volvo Cars stated that they’ll be using blockchain technology to trace the origin of cobalt, while UPS focuses on traceability completing blockchain-verified beef shipment from a U.S. farm to Japan. CoinShares and team released a highly recommend134 page report on the latest [2019] Crypto Trends.

In the DApps landscape, we’re talking staking & nominating on Polkadot & Kusama. Mythical Games announces the integration of Microsoft Azure Blockchain Tokens with their dGoods (digital goods). We even found room to cram in plenty of research (Q3 2019 Blockchain Landscape) & books (on Digital Assets & Enterprise Blockchain) along with insights on venture capital (new funds!!), infrastructure, DApps, Bitcoin, Economics, Exchanges, and Stablecoins. For MORE and to keep you up to speed, here’s a snapshot of the top stories this week around the industry.

Russian ICO startup Universa will help Tunisia to become the first country to start moving its national currency to a blockchain platform. The Central Bank of Tunisia has announced that the digitization of the Tunisian dinar has begun and that the paper-backed CBDC will be issued on the Universa Blockchain…read more

Singapore government-owned investment firm Temasek and JPMorgan completed the development of a blockchain-based cross border payments system that can support a range of currencies in partnership with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). MAS said the payments prototype “will provide interfaces for other blockchain networks to connect and integrate seamlessly.”…read more

Volvo Cars will be using blockchain technology to trace the origin of cobalt used in its batteries to avoid supplies produced by children and under unethical conditions. Martina Buchhauser, Head of Procurement at Volvo stated in a statement that company has always been committed to an ethical supply chain for the raw materials and with the help of blockchain technology company can take the next step towards ensuring full traceability of our supply chain and minimizing any related risks, in close collaboration with our suppliers. Volvo has joined a Ford Motor Co.-backed initiative with RCS Global and International Business Machines Corp. to monitor LG Chem’s cobalt supply…read more

UPS is announcing a collaboration with Agri-Tech solutions provider HerdX of the successful delivery of a blockchain-verified beef shipment from a U.S. farm to Japan. UPS heralded this to be a significant step forward in quality assurance and traceability in the beef industry, which incidentally was also the first time HerdX shipped beef on the back of a blockchain network…read more

According to Shanghai headquarters of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) and the city’s commerce commission — The use of blockchain technology solves the issue of information asymmetry in trade finance and the core problem of providing proof of trade authenticity…read more

Singapore-based blockchain application platform VeChain has announced that it will collaborate with ASI Group and DNV GL on an initiative to enable food tracking on the blockchain. Called FoodGates, it is powered by the VeChain Thor public blockchain and is the first such solution of its kind…read more

According to the technology investment pioneer Glenn Hutchins, Blockchain-based payments could transform finance in the same way that internet companies changed information and communications beginning in the 1990s. He also stated Blockchain companies that facilitate payments could be prescient bets…read more

👉 Register now to receive the Q3 2019 Blockchain for Infrastructure Landscape edition

China’s spending on blockchain technology will exceed $2 billion in 2023, official state-run publication Xinhua reported on Nov. 10. The report claims that blockchain development in China will see a compound annual growth rate of 65.7% from 2018 to 2023. Citing a study by American market intelligence firm IDC published on Nov. 7, the report says that the bulk of China’s blockchain spending was geared to the banking sector in 2019. Other high-spending industries reportedly included manufacturing, retail, professional services, and process manufacturing.…read more

Ford, Volkswagon, LG, and Volvo plan to take a pilot project tracking cobalt during its refining process live in production next year. The Responsible Sourcing Blockchain Network (RSBN), an international consortium built on Hyperledger Fabric, announced Wednesday it had successfully completed a pilot project to protect against exploitative mining practices. The companies sent 1.5 tons of Congolese cobalt across three different continents over five months of refinement, clearing the way for the project to become operational in spring 2020.…read more

Research To Read This Week:

More For Your Week:

📖 Raising the Bar: Announcing Bakkt Institutional Custody by Adam White

📖 100 Times The Hashpower = 100 Times The Security by David A. Johnston

📖 Alibaba Partners with Lolli to Allow US Shoppers Earn ‘Free Bitcoin’

📖 A Digital Collectible Card Game is Coming Soon to Tezos by William McKenzie

📖 Blockchain to Become the DNA of AI by Lance Ng

📖 Land verification system using Blockchain Technology in Bangladesh by Md Shariful Islam

💰 Data Tokens 1: Data Custody by Trent McConaghy & Ocean Protocol Team

💰 Hong Kong and Thailand plan to release their digital currency project report by Q1 2020

📖 5 of the Best Bitcoin Documentaries by Ari Chernoff & ShapeShift

📖 Current Market Overview of Digital Assets by David Nage