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FTX crypto exchange, which is headed by Samuel Bankman-Fried, is said to be one vote away from winning it’s bid to acquire the naming rights for the Miami Heat’s arena.

The deal is set to be worth $135million and is said to be approved by the Miami-Dade County Commission by March 26th.

The report states that the agreement includes yearly payments from FTX to Miami-Dade. Miami-Dade control the naming rights for the buildings.

Previously, the Miami Heat’s arena was named as the “American Airlines Arena” for the past twenty years but it is expected to change if FTX acquire the last remaining vote.

Additionally, the Miami-Dade is also expected to pay an annual sum of $2million to the Miami Heat due to “an option the county exercised in 2018 to find the arena’s next sponsor.”

Joe Pompliano added that, although there isn’t an amount that has been disclosed regarding net revenue for Miami-Dade to receive payments over time, it is expected that the city will look to gain $5million from the naming rights deal.

This move aligns with the Miami mayor’s vision for big companies and tech executives to embrace cryptocurrencies.

The deal between Miami-Dade and FTX will also represent another major milestone for FTX’s CEO, Bankman-Fried. The young billionaire was revealed to be the second biggest donor to Joe Biden’s election campaign.

AIBC UAE will take place on the 25th to 26th May, 2021, in the emirate of Dubai. The event will bring together key brands and individuals from the converging sectors of AI, blockchain, IoT, Quantum Tech to discuss and shape the future of emerging tech.

It is one of the leading events globally for blockchain, AI, crypto, and other emerging technologies, and gathers together an elite selection of delegates, policymakers and thought leaders from across the globe. Such international recognition has helped propel AIBC Summit become a favourite on the world circuit for emerging tech conferences and expos.

CoinCasso is leading the way with a fresh platform that combines features of both decentralized and centralized cryptocurrency exchange

CoinCasso is not only a cryptocurrency exchange but also a whole ecosystem of services. In the CoinCasso brand, you will also find Bitcoin ATM’s for buying and selling cryptocurrencies, our CCWallet cryptocurrency wallet, and soon a payment gateway for cryptocurrency payments.

In our Spotlight Asia series we’re celebrating some of the leading innovators and game-changers in the emerging tech sectors across Asian markets. It’s a guide to who-to-know and how they’ve shaped the industry for the future, an invaluable source focused on the up-and-coming and established minds in the emerging tech space.

As the rate of innovation increases exponentially through technologies such as blockchain, AI, and IoT, there’s a new breed of high-achievers entering the space. Others have further solidified their place in the sector with years of experience informing their ideas.

Jihan Wu co-founded one of the world’s leading manufacturers of Bitcoin mining devices

Jihan Wu graduated from Peking University in 2009 where he earned degrees in both economics and psychology, following which he went on to work as a financial analyst for a private equity firm.

After his discovery of bitcoin in 2011, and his consequent purchasing of 900 bitcoins with help from family and friends, he founded China’s first bitcoin community site “Babite”. He was also the first to translate Satoshi Nakamoto’s bitcoin white paper into Chinese.

In 2013, he co-founded Bitmain with microelectronics engineer Micree Zhan where they developed Antminer S1, the company’s first mining rig, and have now moved on to become one of the world’s leading manufacturers of Bitcoin mining devices.

Last year, Wu stepped down as co-CEO of Bitmain and founded Matrixport, a financial services company for cryptocurrencies based in Singapore. They are currently looking to raise $40 million and an increase in valuation up to $300 million.

Dr Sergei Shnizer created and developed a tool which increased the precision of embryo viability testing

Dr Sergei Shnizer plays a vital role for Carmel Diagnostics, who were the first company in the world to create a benchtop system that measures oxidative stress in body fluids at the point of care and within minutes.

Dr Sergei Shnizer is the inventor of TCL technology and the first to apply it to medicine. Specializing in Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, he developed an interest in the effect and mechanisms of free radicals in critically ill patients.

The Fertissimo TCL Analyzer measures oxidative stress, which is a powerful biomarker of embryo viability. This is a noninvasive analysis of the embryo’s reproductive potential and has seen a 20% average increase in embryos carrying on to conception.

Dr Shnizer was also a co-founder of SPM Ltd. (now OZ Recovery Technologies), which developed a device for treatment of diabetes wounds using ozone.

Prior to immigrating to Israel, he spent 15 years at Botkin Hospital in Moscow in the Department of Emergency Medicine and Hyperbaric Oxygen as Senior Physician. Dr Shnizer’s PhD thesis covered “Using Free Radical Activity Tests in Intensive Care Units.”

Tzali Cnaani also helped create and develop the tool which increased the precision of embryo viability testing

Tzali Cnaani is also intimately involved with Carmel Diagnostics and has a proven track record in all facets of leading R&D and businesses, from inception to fundraising, product strategy, operations and sales management.

Previously, Cnaani was CEO of Lumitest, a company which developed a unique medical device to measure oxidative stress in biological fluids, establishing the technology through cooperation with medical centers and academia. Prior to that, he was CEO of SAE Afikim (Afimilk), a world leader in computerised dairy management systems.

Cnaani was EVP and member of the board of directors of Gambit Computer Communication.

Brendan Blumer’s Block.one recently launched Voice.com, a blockchain-based social media platform

Brendan Blumer had an interest in the internet from a young age, having developed the website “GaMeCliff” to sell virtual assets in the existing multiplayer online gaming communities of games such as EverQuest and World of Warcraft.

After GaMeCliff got acquired, his next online venture involved launching another gaming-related website, The Accounts Network in 2007, and then Okay.com in 2010, a data-sharing platform for real estate brokers in Asia.

Blumer then went on to form Block.one with Daniel Larimer, which is an open-source software publishing company specializing in blockchain technologies with their first project being EOS.IO – a blockchain protocol powered by the native cryptocurrency EOS.

They’ve recently launched the Voice.com beta in the US, and it is set to roll-out to other English-speaking countries. Voice looks to reward users who engage on the platform with Voice tokens, and is built on giving control back to its users.

The Bounties Network successfully combines cryptocurrency and project management

The Bounties Network offers a platform to create projects, collaborate, and get paid in cryptocurrency for doing jobs in any domain.

It empowers people to incentivise and self-organise, from freelancing to grassroots social action, and anything in between.

What do you think of our list? Do you agree with our choices? Tell us who you think should be featured in November for the European edition – or create a list of your own and share it with us!

AIBC Summit is the emerging tech destination for leading brands in the sector, held in both Malta and Manila. The event brings together thought leaders in the blockchain and AI space. Join us at the first edition of Manila AIBC Summit, the future tech event of the year, set to take place on the 08-09 June 2020.

In-depth documentary goes behind the scenes at 2019’s Malta AIBC Summit

Miguel Francis-Santiago’s incredible “The Future is Now” documentary is a film about our sector-leading AIBC Summit in November last year. This episode, “The Rise of The New World”, is a must-watch for all the enthusiasts in the blockchain & emerging tech space, and a beautifully filmed documentary about innovation, disruption, and mass adoption.

This iteration of the roving crypto documentary #TheFutureisNowFilm marks the third time that blockchain filmmaker Miguel Francis-Santiago and his team visited Malta and AIBC Summit, getting under the skin of last November’s packed event. This year we will also host a new blockchain event hosted by us at Manilla.

This episode from Miguel’s “The Future is Now” series delves into the current state of affairs in the emerging tech sectors, interviewing some of the big name speakers and industry leaders at last year’s #AIBCSummit Winter Edition. The film features a musician turned crypto entrepreneur #Akon of the Akoin Foundation, the man who claims to be Satoshi Nakamoto, Dr. Craig Wright (the founder of Bitcoin Satoshi’s Vision), Bobby Lee from the Bitcoin Foundation, Irina Heaver of Emirex Exchange Middle East, Daniel Dabek of Safex E-Commerce App, Kieran Macleod of Longtail Financial, Serge Komaromi from B.O.S. Foundation, Gilberto Arredondo from Belega, Diego Mourad from S4FE Blockchain Foundation and Jonathan Shaw from SiGMA Group!

Innovation, disruption and mass adoption surrounding the predominant issues of the blockchain space are carefully interwoven by Miguel Francis-Santiago to keep you glued to your screen for an insightful 40 minutes! It is the only documentary series to successfully get behind the sector and reveal the truth about the current state of DLT and future of the industry.

Featuring: AKON, Craig Wright, Angelo Dalli, Bobby Lee, Irina Andrea, Daniel Dabek, Kieran Macleod, Serge Komaromi, Gilberto Arredondo, Diego Mourad, Jonathan Shaw.

About AIBC Summit:

AIBC Summit is the emerging tech destination for leading brands in the sector, held in both Malta and Manila. The event brings together thought leaders in the blockchain and AI space. Join us at the first edition of Manila AIBC Summit, the future tech event of the year, set to take place on the 08-09 June 2020.

Ahead of GateChain Mainnet Launch, Gate.io Unveils Crucial Features that will Redefine Blockchain Transaction Security

∙ GateChain Mainnet ecosystem promises 100% asset storage safety ∙ Gate.io to showcase GateChain’s disruptive features at
Malta AI & Blockchain Summit

Blockchain assets exchange platform, Gate.io will present GateChain Mainnet’s unique features at
Malta AI & Blockchain Summit. GateChain is a novel solution to the transaction safety issues in blockchain technology. GateChain is an innovative next-gen public blockchain, which solves security issues and guarantees asset safety even after losing private keys. GateChain’s on-chain asset safety and decentralised exchange sets itself apart from the other traditional blockchains, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. “It is exciting to witness this revolutionary journey with our users as we continue to receive feedback and suggestions from our users after the recent launch of the GateChain Testnet. We believe Gatechain will redefine blockchain security, leading to a brighter future for all blockchain enthusiasts. With a unique Vault Account technology and supporting transaction model design, GateChain has implemented a guaranteed safety mechanism, addressing challenges of asset theft and missing private keys,” said Marie Tatibouet, CMO at Gate.io.
What can Users Expect – Main Features of GateChain GateChain’s unique on-chain vault account protects onchain assets from thieves and its fund recovery mechanism can recover onchain assets from losing private keys. GateChain’s high speed blockchain comprises 1 second block and instant block finality. Users can enjoy Proof of Stake with low energy consumption, a low inflation rate, and other benefits for the holders. There is a real time order placing and matching decentralised exchange with cross-chain which brings easy blockchain token issuing and cross-chain transfer. The holistic ecosystem comprises personal wallets, enterprise multi-sign wallets, hardware wallets, and exchanges.

GateChain Ecosystem and Innovation in Technology The major innovation behind GateChain is its on-chain “Vault Account” with safety features that allow revocable transaction and damaged private key restoration, providing a unique blockchain safety solution to individuals, enterprises and banks. GateChain’s robust ecosystem comprises GateChain blockchain, GateChain DEX (decentralised exchange), GateChain Token (GT), and GateChain wallet characterised by enterprise-grade safety and efficiency for digital asset storage, issuance and trading. While GateChain has implemented a guaranteed safety mechanism, GateChain DEX has an ultra-high-performance matching engines and low participation costs. It supports cross-chain transfer for multiple currencies and uses privately owned encrypted wallets to safeguard users’ assets, solving the challenge around fund safety centralised exchanges face. GateChain Token (GT) is the native currency of the GateChain Mainnet used to pay the transfer fee on GateChain network and is a fundamental part of the GateChain ecosystem. GateChain offers both normal and vault accounts to meet the daily payment demand and storage assets safely and efficiently. While, the normal account allows instant payments where the transaction is irreversible, the onchain vault account allows revocable transactions and private key restoration, providing complete safety to the users. GateChain brings 100% asset storage safety at a very low cost, making it immune to brute-force attacks.
About Gate.io
Gate.io is a global blockchain asset exchange platform operated by Gate Technology. Established in 2013 and developed fully in-house, Gate.io enables blockchain enthusiasts to trade and store assets in over 200 of the leading crypto currencies. Recognising the importance of blockchain security, Gate.io sets itself apart by prioritising security and experience, providing users with quick and easy access to assets, at a time and place to suit them. GateChain is industry’s first innovative public blockchain that aims to revolutionise the paradigm of security in the blockchain space. GateChain is a novel solution to fund safety and its decentralised exchange guarantees asset safety even after the destruction of private keys, bringing 100 percent asset storage safety at a very low cost.

Online merchants wishing to accept cryptocurrency may now do that easily

Apcopay, a leading supplier of eCommerce payment and banking solutions for financial institutions, retailers and internet merchants and elegro, an Estonia-based licensed crypto exchange, today announced the launch of elegro’s crypto acceptance solution. Through this partnership, online merchants wishing to accept cryptocurrency may now do that easily, eliminating chargeback risk typically found within the credit card world, whilst also carrying no currency exchange exposure. Moreover, funds are sent directly to the merchant’s bank account without the need to create crypto-specific wallets. According to
cryptopolitan.com, statistics show that the adoption of mainstream cryptocurrencies
has increased by more than 70 times in the last six years, yet more than 80% of users preferred to use a credit card for online purchases, so this shows that crypto propulsion to the next level may largely be attributed to user acceptance.

Forming an integral part of the Apcopay payments offering, merchants who wish to avail themselves of elegro’s crypto acceptance solution to their users need only activate the new options through their checkout page without the need for any complex technical development. Timm Schneider, CEO of elegro said “I’m very excited about the partnership with Apcopay as it allows us to drastically speed up our rollout plan for this year and make our crypto merchant acceptance solution available to a large network of businesses immediately. We are a young company and such a reliable partner is vital to our success. Existing Apcopay merchants can now enjoy a frictionless onboarding and use their existing integration rails to activate our crypto acceptance. This is a major milestone to establish our crypto acceptance for merchants that did not even think about it so far.” Daniel Buttigieg, Head of Business Development for Apcopay said that ‘the amalgamation of elegro’s product suite within Apcopay’s unified integration stack will translate into higher conversion rates for our merchants in need of an additional chargeback-free payment method. We do believe that the partnership with elegro will bring about a simplified user and merchant experience to crypto acceptance in non-tech laden environments. We are proud to partner with elegro and roll out a myriad of solutions aimed to streamline the whole process and offer more value.”

About Apcopay

Apco Systems Ltd. is a trusted company providing payment services to the banking and eCommerce industry for over 25 years. Payment processing services are offered to more than 25 countries worldwide, 1200+ merchants, and over 40 acquiring partners. Having more than 240 alternative payment methods, Apcopay continues to expand the range of available payment solutions for a variety of industry verticals. Find out more at
apcopay.eu

About elegro

elegro is an Estonia-based licensed crypto exchange allowing merchants to accept Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies online and at POS. The merchants get settled in fiat without the need to open a crypto wallet or to get involved in the underlying blockchain technology. The brand elegro is established by the company Niko Technologies OÜ, a software house specialized in blockchain development. elegro also offers easy-to-use solutions for individuals interested in getting involved in crypto payments. For more information, please visit
elegro.io

HWG is the first Asia-based stable token

The digital payment solution is now possible in Malaysia as HWGG Capital PLC has officially launched its HwgPay Blockchain Ecosystem. HwgPay is a digital asset wallet that can be used to store, send, receive, and make payments using digital assets and cash tokens such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and HWG Cash. HWG is Asia’s first regulated cash token, pegged against the US dollar, making it the first Asia based stable token. The event took place in at Shangri-La, Kuala Lumpur, and was horned by the presence of Tan KokWai, Special Envoy of Malaysia to the People’s Republic of China as well as DanialMah Abdullah, director-general of Labuan Financial Services Authority (Labuan FSA).The HwgPayBlockchain Ecosystem aims to empower both consumers and merchants with solutions that not only enable and simplify digital asset spending, but also allow safer and faster everyday transactions. Commenting on this HWGG Capital chief executive officer Gavin Lim said: “The launch of HwgPayBlockchain Ecosystem is the culmination of the long journey undertaken by HWGG Capital to introduce regulated digital assets transactions for consumers and businesses,” He added: “Blockchain technology has the potential to not only change the way we conduct secure, online payment transactions but also innovate everyday services such as distribution, automation, and verification.”

In early 2019, the Malaysian Finance Ministry announced that the country is well on its way towards becoming a cashless society, with over 90% of Malaysians having access to online banking and local vendors at ease with digital wallet.This vision is shared by HWGG, who’s Labuan FSA licensed solutions already enable users to easily pay for products and services with digital assets. HWGG is working in line with the government’s efforts of turning the Federal Territory of Labuan into a fintech and blockchain hub. Commenting on this Tan said: “Since its adoption of blockchain technology, 25% of the world’s blockchain projects are currently underway in China. The country also holds the most number of patents on blockchain technology.” “With blockchain technology’s potential to level the playing field between developing and developed nations, Labuan has now taken its first major steps towards digital innovation following the launch of the HwgPayBlockchain Ecosystem.” The Malaysian government is also encouraging digitalisation in both private and public sectors as the country moves towards Industry 4.0. This is particularly poignant in light of the fact that the global economy is now digitally powered, and blockchain technology is rapidly driving innovation within the banking and manufacturing industries.
About AIBC: Malta AI & Blockchain Summit is a bi-annual expo covering topics relating to the global sectors for blockchain, AI, Big Data, IoT, and Quantum technologies. The event includes conferences hosted by globally renowned speakers, workshops for industry learning and discussion, an exhibition space accommodating more than 400 brands and a number of networking events.

Industry awards night sees bidding war during auction

The A.I. & Blockchain Awards went off without a hitch last night, rounding off a successful first day at the Summit. The star-studded evening recognised some of the most important projects to innovate the industry.

Guests, including the Archduke of Austria, Brock Pierce, Roger Ver, Vinay Gupta, and HE Khurram Shroff, were treated to networking drinks on the elegant Hilton terrace, taking in sweeping views of the Portomaso Marina, before moving inside for the start of the evening, where a stunning acrobatic display set the mood. Under a magnificent star-lit ceiling, guests tucked into a gourmet meal as host Rick Goddard, CCO at SiGMA, led the first round of awards. The winners are: Social Impact Group 2019 – Solarcoin; IoT of the year 2019 – Navigato; Blockchain & A.I. for Art Award 2019 – ArtSquare.io; Adoption Ambassador of the year 2019 G8C – Europechain. The second group of winners was presented by CC Forum. The winners are: Blockchain and A.I. Influencer of the year 2019 – Bitcoin.com; Media of the year 2019 – Crypto Briefing; Marketing Campaign of the year 2019 – G8C and Disrupter of the year 2019 – Holochain.

A rousing auction brought the evening to a close with a fierce bidding war. Highlights included Brock Pierce placing the winning bid on the submarine experience, with the activity going for €3,200. Andy Jones took home Mark Mallia’s painting,
A.I. dreams of a future time for €2,200, while HE Khurram Shroff is now the proud owner of
Blockchain Island M, by Nelly Baksht, which sold for a staggering €8000. The lovely painting, Shadows, by Natalia Leanca, went for the pleasing sum of €1000, while Drawing the Line by Derek Mason brought in €2,200 and was later gifted by the buyer to HE Khurram Shroff, who in turn gifted it to Evan Luthra. Last but not least,
Black Blue Man sold for €2,200, which followed the evening trend when it was then gifted to Don Jayamaha. The donated artworks raised a significant amount of money for several worthy charities, including the Malta Community Chest Fund and the Kilimanjaro Challenge.

Gerald Fenech examines how companies like Reserve are applying stablecoins to real-world problems

Cryptocurrency prices are settling at quite a substantial differential from their all-time highs registered last year. It seems that there is a significant movement towards the stablecoin field where investors are supposedly parking their assets in what is supposed to be a safe haven. But is that really the case? It’s really high-time that the industry starts talking about two dirty “best practices” in the stablecoin market – falsely inflating market caps, and the gaming of daily volume data via wash trading. The reality is that the market caps and daily volumes presented on CoinMarketCap and StableCoinIndex are constantly being gamed by stablecoin projects who employ the following tactics: Giving discounts to investors who agree to park their money in the stablecoin for a period of time to artificially inflate the market cap (which causes problems for the stablecoin once the lockup window ends). Providing over-the-counter (OTC) trading desks up to a 1% discount if traders agree to use these tokens in some fashion before redeeming them for USD, which has resulted in a wash-trading epidemic that creates false daily volume data.

Digital marketing increases performance

Most projects do this because, currently, market cap and volume are the standard to measure a stablecoin’s success by – and because current regulations do not prevent this activity. There does seem to be one stablecoin however that is ahead of the game in this respect and that is Reserve (a stablecoin backed by Coinbase, Peter Thiel, Sam Altman, and more). Rather than play this game and inflate their way to perceived success, Reserve aims to instead focus on applying their stablecoin to solve very specific, real-world problems – beginning in Venezuela and Angola (and then expanding to other high inflation markets). These are opportunities that – if executed well – can lead to far greater (and real) market cap and volume than current stablecoins’ inflated numbers. Speaking exclusively to AIBC Summit, Nevin Freeman, CEO and Co-Founder of Reserve explained that the industry is currently so desperate to prove real-world value after a painful series of speculative bubbles, it makes sense that the focus would land on less speculative assets like stablecoins.

Digital marketing influences success, however comes with a cost

But the usage statistics that are often cited to measure progress in real adoption are hackable, so it’s hard to tell what’s real and what’s just fake. “We shouldn’t be surprised that manipulation of these stats is happening behind the scenes in an industry like crypto. After all, the whole story of crypto speculation was originally born out of a manipulated pump and dump on bitcoin back in 2013 on MTGOX, the first bitcoin exchange”, Freeman added. But even the verified portion of volume and market cap of stablecoins today is not very meaningful; the only use-case so far is supporting the speculative trading of cryptoassets that have shown little real-world value to date. The real challenge for Reserve and other stablecoin projects is bringing stable crypto into the real world, where it can be used to transact goods and services globally and store the wealth of businesses and citizens that don’t have access to stable money without it. “We’re actively working on this now, and we look forward to the point in crypto’s history where real-world usage statistics are the main focus of progress. Those are the metrics by which we’ll be judging our own success.”,

Freeman explained. Miguel Morel, Co-Founder of Reserve explained that the crypto industry hasn’t yet figured out an accurate measuring system for tracking progress and adoption. Figuring out the truth about real world use of cryptocurrency requires the ability to differentiate between relevant signals and the rest of the noise in the market. “Back when it was just Bitcoin, it made sense to look at the the numbers on CoinMarketCap to measure Bitcoin’s growth and progress in the world. Now that we have more centralised and complex cryptocurrencies with hungry shareholders, the incentives reward gamification of higher market cap on exchanges instead.

A more reliable signal of real world adoption is whether people in other countries are talking about a particular token or company”, Morel said. Currently, people in digital marketing and countries in hyperinflation only really know about Bitcoin. They haven’t heard of stablecoins. This shows a serious lack of effort from stablecoin companies in bringing awareness of their product to these markets, which speaks to their focus on crypto traders. “It’s time for all of us in the industry to step up and do the work of getting real world customers who would find great use in our product. That’s the beauty of Reserve – we’re not protecting people’s day trading gains, we’re protecting people’s life savings.”, Morel concluded. Reserve aim to launch in Q2, and will be offering everyone in Venezuela and Angola the ability to:

Reserve believes that by being the stablecoin project committed to solving real-world problems, it can also become the (legitimately) largest and most used stablecoin globally.

Ian Gauci is the managing partner at GTG Advocates and Caledo.

He lectures on Legal Futures and Technology at the University of Malta. Here he writes on decentralisation. Decentralization is not a new concept. It has been used in strategy, management, and the government, for a long time. The word decentralization came into usage in the mid-1800s. Tocqueville would write that the French Revolution began with “a push towards decentralization” which ultimately resulted in “an extension of centralization.” According to him, both centralization and decentralization, share the same problem since they are defined by different people in different ways and not necessarily in an accurate way. It even finds place within European integration and the subsidiarity principle under Article5(3) of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and Protocol (No2) on the application of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality. In areas in which the European Union does not have exclusive competence, the principle of subsidiarity decentralizes the decision-making power to the Member States.

Since the 1980s, developing countries have increasingly adopted various decentralized forms of governance. Decentralization in this instance could entail transferring certain powers and functions to agencies or councils, (‘deconcentration’), lower levels of government (‘devolution’), or semi-autonomous authorities (‘delegation’). There is also no standard model of decentralization.
Notions and visions espousing technology-driven decentralization and the accompanying democratization of socio-economical structures circulated with increasing ubiquity, from the Californian counterculture of the 1960s, 1970s, particularly in the German-speaking countries, where, given the influence of Bertolt Brecht’s radio theory and Hans-Magnus Enzensberger’s “Constituents of a Theory of the Media”, they were linked to the then new media. The inception of videocassette system, where individuals could record, share and listen to media they choose, at that time where public broadcasting by the state dictated what media could be consumed, heralded the end of the classic mass media and the advent of novel options for the public “to participate directly in essential decisions”.
The promise of decentralization emerged again with the internet and digital technology. These were meant to lead us to a decentralized society along with the eradication of central roles and hopes for equality, transparency and redistribution of powers in a more democratized society. The creation of dominant players like Google, Amazon and Facebook, control and use of DNS as well as ICANN’s control on domain names amongst other things tainted this vision. The inception of cloud technology also heralded a new era of decentralization, albeit the decentralization happened on the hardware part but not on the core control functions.
The shift to the digital economy and blockchain technology have however infused new hopes of decentralization, promising to transform finance, money and even governments through distributed trustless consensus, which allows to determine the validity of transactions without the need of any intermediaries in a transparent and secure way. With Bitcoin and the advent of blockchain technology, this model has changed and now the technology exists, which allows anyone to start a decentralized system and having to operate it with no single point of failure or single trusted authority.
Copious articles and literature abound heralding a libertarian and totally decentralized form of governance, devoid of any form of centralized elements, functions, and the decentralization of corrupt socio-economic structures solely through technology. However, the current debate on centralization versus decentralization often overlooks the complexity of the socio-technical ecology we inhabit, and the fact that it is ultimately dominated by human behaviour. It also gives little consideration to the possibility of an expansion, conversion, consolidation and cooperation or layering of existing socio-economic structures, instead of their total displacement. Regrettably people most of the time also conflate and confuse the terms disintermediation, distribution and decentralization.
Let’s clarify the definitions first and start with disintermediation. The latter can be explained with the aid of an example. Imagine that you want to send money to a friend in another country. You go to a bank who, for a fee, will transfer your money to another bank in that country. With blockchain technology, it is possible to send this money directly to your friend without the need for a bank. This way, the intermediary function carried by bank, is no longer required, and the you have
disintermediation
.
This leads us to, decentralization and distribution. Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Governments and other enterprises like banks and other private institutions have conventionally been based on a centralized paradigm whereby database or application servers are under the control of a central authority, such as a system administrator. In a distributed system, data and computation are spread across multiple nodes in the network and data is replicated across multiple nodes that users view as a single, coherent system. This means that the system is still centralized in nature. I had an interesting discussion with Professor Gordon Pace, who is a professor at the Department of Computer Science at the University of Malta, on the latter, who also gave me invaluable hints in the build-up of this article. According to him, although there are no hard and fast definitions, the critical difference between a decentralized system and distributed system is that in a distributed system, although the data and applications may reside across different computers there may still exists a central authority that governs the entire system; whereas, in a decentralized system, no such authority should exist.
A decentralized system is a type of network where nodes are not dependent on a single master node; instead, control is distributed among many nodes. Decentralization however may take different forms and can arise at different layers. There is Political Decentralization which touches on the delegation of political power (e.g. who can participate in the network and in what manner), authority and resources towards the software and platform, representative of and accountable to all the community which in turn should also empower them. Administrative Decentralization, which involves the delegation and transfer, from the central function to other players with certain capacities in planning and managing concrete affairs without losing its fundamental accountability to the central governance. Fiscal Decentralization which redistributes resources from the central governance towards other players, like master nodes and miners and the architectural layer of the blockchain, where for example you have digital assets being minted, registered and stored without any intended centralized intervention.
How does Blockchain and its promise of decentralization fit with the above forms of decentralization? I will not delve into an analysis on the difference between permissioned, private and hybrid blockchains, but will base my brief discussion on Bitcoin and Ethereum which are open and permission less and use consensus. Bitcoin and Ethereum both originate through open source projects and have features of decentralization infused in their DNA. However, when we start looking into the different and intricate layers making up the Blockchain we see a different picture. Let’s start with the political and decision-making power. Similar to other open source projects, there is a discrepancy between those who can provide input to the project (the users at large), the miners who own the nodes and partake in the consensus, the beneficiaries who simply own the digital assets stored on the Blockchain mechanism and the selected number of developers who have the power to decide based on their title and role, on any changes in the code and if these would carry a fee. So even though there are features of decentralization in the architecture (made of decentralized nodes) and the user is to a certain extent sovereign, there is still centralization at a political level. Mining on bitcoin, having started as a pure peer-to-peer activity and totally decentralized has also morphed into selected sophisticated mining pools becoming a centralized activity, with its own economies of scale and scope and with high barriers to entry. While the original design of Bitcoin was aimed at a fully decentralized Bitcoin, the power of developers outside the consensus mechanism, use of SPV Nodes, negative externalities morphing mining into a cluster of sophisticated mining pools as well as events in Bitcoin community revealed the true limits of decentralization in this system and the dominant human element and new forms of centralization.
Ethereum also has similar traits. The Ethereum flash crash in 2017, which was triggered by a single multimillion dollar selling order and the events that followed, as well as the infamous DAO incident illustrates how the decentralized nature of the Ethereum blockchain did not prevent the emergence of centralization at a higher level.
A study conducted in March 2018 with the title Decentralization in Bitcoin and Ethereum Networks, Adem Efe Gencer, Soumya Basu , Ittay Eyal, Robbert van Renesse and Emin Gün Sirer also reached the conclusion that Ethereum and Bitcoin are not fully decentralized. The study finds that Bitcoin has a higher capacity network when compared to Ethereum, is geographically more clustered than Ethereum, with many nodes likely residing in datacentres. Both have fairly centralized mining processes, however in Ethereum, the block rewards have less variance than Bitcoin’s and Ethereum has a lower mining power utilization than Bitcoin.
Despite having potential, the Blockchains cited above are not fully decentralized nor will they achieve absolute decentralization in one click, automatically, nor within a short period of time. As an ecosystem grows around a blockchain based system, we encounter terms and novelties like Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAO), Decentralized Autonomous Corporations (DAC), Decentralized Autonomous Applications (DAPPs) as well as Decentralized Autonomous Societies (DASs) where an entire society can function on a blockchain with the help of multiple, complex smart contracts and a combination of DAOs and DAPPs running autonomously. This may develop with the advancement of society and imbued gradually, through complex processes, technological challenges and with the likelihood of new forms of centralization emerging along the way. One of these new forms of centralization will be autonomous code. Even though imbued with functionalities of decentralized nature like those available through Facebook or Google, and having the potential to change the fabric of our society, we need to ask, who will be in control and are we the victims of a delusional dream called decentralization?
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What can COVID-19 app download numbers tell us about potential new digital CBDC currency adoption? Words by Gavin Brown, Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in FinTech at The University of Liverpool.

Total global money is growing at an increasingly faster rate. If we look at ‘broad money’ (M3) then this includes cash, checking accounts, saving accounts and digital forms of money too. In aggregate we are now globally
nearing $100 trillion according to The CIA Factbook thanks to the dependence of our central banks on quantitative easing measures as a means to stave off crisis. In fact, the
IMF reported back in June that our dependence upon QE is deepening as it continues to swell central bank balance sheets with observable step changes during the two crisis of our generation – The Global Financial Crisis 07-09 and Covid-19 20-??
G10 Central Bank Assets 2006-2020 Source: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) (2020) ‘
Global Financial Stability Update, June 2020’
Watching from a respectful social distance we observe
cryptocurrencies now exceeding $350 billion market capitalisation, with Bitcoin and the majority of the stateless alt coins not subject to any such debasing Q.E. interference. Small by comparison to the value of total global money but not going away either… Enter CBDC’s, or central bank digital currencies. They are the response of nation states to harness the benefits of blockchain enabled monetary platforms but perhaps more so to mitigate the risk of any meaningful potential cryptocurrency migration by citizens. If a nation state was to lose control of its money then governing with fiscal policies alone would perhaps be unworkable – hence, the strong rebuttal to any whiff of a challenge to the monetary monopoly of countries, such as that of the French & German Finance Ministers who in June last year scolded Facebook’s plans to launch its new Libra currency, stating that, “
no private entity can claim monetary power, which is inherent to the sovereignty of nations.’ CBDC’s vary by design and complexity but tend to be centralised in nature to enable state control whilst waiving the rights to anonymity. Good news for; shrinking the shadow economy, closing the tax gap and enabling effective money laundering controls but less so for users of cash in our societies.
Coronavirus has accelerated our march toward cashlessness. Indeed, cash is the ultimate permissionless system requiring no oversight, authorisation or transparency as to who has what and when is it transferred. Simply by holding physical cash then the issuing central bank ‘promises to pay the bearer’, (banknotes rather than gold now of course), but nonetheless thereby instilling confidence and by extension value. Despite the technical, legal and sociological challenges of launching a CBDC, how likely are citizens across the world to accept a reduction in these personal liberties currently afforded by hard cash in return for the benefits, or indeed mandated requirement, to adopt a ‘digital version’ of their existing fiat currency? Well, we may be about to find out.
The ECB announced a public consultation on the potential of a ‘Digital Euro’ earlier this month and has even recently
applied to register the trademark, which perhaps gives you a steer as to the eventual direction of travel post consultation.
WATCH his interview with AIBC News:
Despite such bullish moves by nation states and trading blocks to gain control of the narrative for the future of money it is not inevitable that their citizens will acquiesce. Indeed, the snooping powers that a CBDC will afford incumbent power are not too dissimilar to the varying track and trace app technologies presently being promoted across the world in the fight against COVID-19. Although it is conceded that there are potentially more personal detrimental effects to a citizen to opt in to track and trace app compared with a CBDC, the parallel between these technologies is still apparent. Commonplace is that both tracking apps and CBDC’s are new technologies which offer ‘the state’ greater transparency and knowledge of the actions, movements and transactions of their citizens. Nothing less than an erosion of your civil liberties if you choose to evaluate it that way. The
track and trace app download numbers by country would appear to corroborate this hypothesis with approximately 25 per cent of national populations voluntarily downloading track and trace apps presently being championed by their respective Governments. Some notable downloads by country and (% population), include; The UK’s ‘NHS COVID-19’ app 16 million (24%), Germany’s ‘Corona-Warn-App’ app 18 million (22%), Japan’s ‘Shingata Koronauirusu Sesshoku Kakunin Apuri’ app 15 million (12%) and Italy’s ‘Immuni’ app just 7 million (11%). These arguably poor participation rates could be addressed by offering a value incentive to nudge individuals to download the apps according to writers in
The Harvard Business Review. In contrast, we have seen
China take a much bolder approach pushing mainstream use and empowering the app and its associated Big Data to take charge of many previous freedoms and decisions of the individual. Travel history, national identity numbers, passport details and phone numbers may all be harvested allowing the app to decide whether you are; fine (green), you have been near somebody who is sick (yellow) or that you should stay at home (red). Similarly, China continues to be increasingly proactive in their development of the digital yuan CBDC known as the ‘Digital Currency Electronic Payment’ (DC/EP) by The PBOC (China’s Central Bank) in partnership with Alipay & WeChat who have world leading technological competences and reach. This strategy is not knee jerk according to The Financial Times but rather is
the continuation of research which began back in 2014, before almost any other central bank. Pilots have been running throughout this year in selected Chinese cities, having now processed in excess of 3.3 million transactions to date. Local government have even been offering lottery prizes for citizens who download the digital Rmb app with the effect that some 15 percent of Shenzhen’s population alone took part in such a lottery to win one of 50,000 red packets containing digital yuan. Overall, our economies and societies appear fragile. Healthcare and financial systems in particular may be facing systemic, if not significant, threats from COVID-19 and decentralised / non-sovereign corporate issued currencies, respectively. The personal liberties we have historically enjoyed in many democracies around the world frustratingly do not fit well with these meta level technological solutions which although painful seem essential. We may have to trade away what we hold most dear, our personal freedoms, in return for coordinated technological responses to help fight the global macro challenges of our time.

The deal will be the first of its kind, further propelling bitcoin and cryptocurrencies into the mainstream