How Far Away Is The Blockchain dApp Environment From Fruition? - Forbes

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• How Far Away Is The Blockchain dApp Environment From Fruition? - Forbes
• E-Commerce Giant Alibaba to Integrate Blockchain Into Intellectual Property System - Cointelegraph
• Enterprise Ethereum Alliance outlines real estate blockchain use cases - Ledger Insights
• Horyou Media: Blockchain For Good, Alive and Kicking at the UNESCO Blockchain Practices and Perspectives Conference - Yahoo Finance

How Far Away Is The Blockchain dApp Environment From Fruition? - Forbes Posted: 23 May 2019 07:28 AM PDT ASSOCIATED PRESS It would be hard to argue against the fact that the best current use for blockchain technology, the use that is most prevalent and popular, is cryptocurrencies. It is because of the original blockchain, Bitcoin, being built as 'peer-to-peer digital cash.' ADVERTISEMENT However, a lot has happened in the last 10 or so years since Bitcoin began the blockchain journey, even so much as a second generation has been birthed in many respects, tearing open the entire ecosystem. Upon the invention of Ethereum use-cases suddenly grew in such magnitude that the technology was being labelled part of the fourth industrial revolution. Ethereum was the catalyst for this new era of functional blockchain where the technology could be aimed in a considerable amount of directions, disrupting as it goes. Part of this second generation blockchain advancement has been the building of a dApp ecosystem - the decentralised app. Because Ethereum's tagline is to be 'the World Computer' it acts as a platform for applications to be built upon it. Moreover, because this decentralised world computer is as broad and similarly advanced as traditional computation, with the added benefit of decentralisation, immutability and transparency, there is a considerable dApp ecosystem that has potential to expand and overtake much of the current app market. The current app market is vast. It has ingrained itself in the lives of almost every individual. However, it has also reached a stage where pain-points and problems are starting to show through the cracks. The importance of data protection, coupled with fiascos by the likes of Facebook and Cambridge Analytica, as well as concerns over centralised control has seen a few more eyes being turned towards dApps as alternatives to traditional apps. There is also the possibility of new applications, that are decentralised, to make our lives easier. ADVERTISEMENT A Brave new world Arguably one of the more popular and successful dApps, if it can even be classified as a traditional app, is the web browser, Brave. Brave is an open source and free browser from Brave Software Inc. that aims to keep data safe and provides users with the power to save or delete said information. It features a built-in ad tracker and blocker, and quite notably, Brave comes with an inbuilt BAT cryptocurrency wallet. This wallet enables users to support their favourite websites. Brave has its own native token called BAT which, after providing users with the ability to be in charge of their own data, is a huge blockchain-based benefit. This BAT ecosystem allows web users to earn for browsing Brave enabled sites with anonymous adverts from Brave. BAT currently has a market cap of $429 million with its digital token being valued at $0.33. It also allows advertisers, and publishers, clear and transparent ways in which to view and obtain their advertising revenue - a far cry from the outdated and centralised system currently employed for online advertising. ADVERTISEMENT Chief of Communications at Brave, Catherine Corre, explained what they believed was the secret to strong adoption and generally positive feedback on their product. "Brave is allying with our users to give them what they want in ad/tracking-blocked speed and privacy, without the intolerable compromises on user experience that arise from most other browsers' conflicts of business interest between what users want and what their tracking ad-tech businesses or partnerships require," Corre told Forbes. "Brave blocks trackers and invasive ads by default, which otherwise slow down page load; this enables Brave to load twice as fast on desktop, and up to eight times faster on mobile. This speed advantage, along with Brave's built-in privacy and security features, put the browser in a unique place to attract new users who are becoming increasingly aware of privacy scandals." "Privacy may have been a niche four years ago when we started, but privacy by default is now a huge draw. Brave puts users first in ownership and control of their data." "Additionally, Brave features Brave Ads and Brave Rewards. Brave Ads reward users for their online attention with Basic Attention Tokens. Brave Rewards enables users to in turn seamlessly support their favourite content providers by donating or tipping tokens. Users who choose Brave get excited about playing a role in fixing the Web and the currently broken ad ecosystem, which mainly now benefits intermediaries at the expense of creators and publishers." ADVERTISEMENT While Brave can't really fall under the traditional umbrella of what a dApp is, it is clear that what they are offering, with their ERC-20-backed token, and their attention to privacy and protection of data is precisely what many see blockchain being the eventual solution for. There is growing popularity for Brave, with places such as the LA Times coming aboard recently, because they can offer many of the benefits of decentralisation when it comes to web browsing in their case. High demand, slow supply With Brave as an example of the power of blockchain in an offering that people are interested in with regards to decentralisation and privacy, it is surprising that the dApp ecosystem has not made a bigger splash. However, the entire blockchain space looks to be lagging on what it can supply, compared to the current demand. In terms of the dApp ecosystem, it is undoubtedly growing. However, it is a tricky space to be in as there are two major forces at work - new developers in a nascent market, as well as the nascent blockchain technology itself. ADVERTISEMENT Mark Hardman, a certified Blockchain solutions architect Ethereum Developer, spoke with Forbes about the current state of the dApp ecosystem and where it is heading. "For me, dApp's are what the blockchain is all about. Organisations as a whole have only really scratched the surface in terms of what's possible, and unfortunately, many people I speak to confuse Blockchain with Bitcoin, and I think the negative perceptions which surround the latter are a red herring which is suppressing the demand for Dapps in the corporate sphere, Hardman expressed. "The continued evolution of the Dapp infrastructure is crucial, and occurring naturally already." Wei-Ning Huang, Co-founder and CTO of Dexon Foundation, also chimed in as they look to provide a platform for dApp developers to use. "Over the past year or two, we are very thrilled to see that the dApp market is booming. However, most of the popular dApps are still gaming applications with far fewer daily active users compared to those of well-known ones. There are still not many real-world use cases for dApps that can be applied across different industries and used on a mass scale." ADVERTISEMENT David Kuang, a financial professional and data scientist, who works at UBS Bank as a business analyst, adds just how broad the dApp environment can be "The idea behind dApp environment is quite remarkable from the innovation achievement perspective as for the first time in the history we now have a technology that allows anyone - including AI machines - the capability to build a 'corporation' or business model via coding smart contracts without having to domicile in a specific physical location but can operate as independent entity on the blockchain - or namely the Decentralised Autonomous Organisation - DAO." Slowing the potential Like a lot of things in the blockchain and cryptocurrency space, the potential is seemingly limitless, but its application has been slow and rocky. Since Ethereum came to the fore, people have been marvelling at smart contract blockchains and their potential uses, but for a few reasons, including poor blockchain performance and a slow dApp development, nothing substantial has been released yet. The development of Blockchain technology is on a bumpy road and very controversial," adds Kuang. "However, I believe it is a game changer as it would start to embed into our daily life from an infrastructural level." ADVERTISEMENT "Imagine all of the electric appliances at home is an IoT device and backbone is support by Blockchain technology to secure its data transmission. dApp is a critical application for Blockchain technology; it provides an angle of how this technology can reshape and change the world. dApp is a direction but not a necessary nor the only direction for technological development and progression." dApp developers are seemingly working hard to integrate solutions into our lives through their creations, but it could be that the base technology needs more time to mature, as Huang explains expanding on their own developer-focused platform: "One of the biggest blockers of the dApp development and mainstream adoption is the limitations of the blockchain technology. Current blockchain systems have long been hamstrung by technical bottlenecks include low TPS, low scalability, and weak security. "We are committed to addressing this challenge of blockchain technology, by using an ideal platform to build trusted, real-life blockchain solutions. From this, we are advancing by seeking partnerships with various enterprises in insurance, retail, supply chain, gaming, digital asset exchanges, to help entrench this space. ADVERTISEMENT For Hardman, he too identifies that the blockchain platform can be a real area of growth once it manages to move beyond this 'pilot' phase. "I think that the power of blockchain technology as an enabler of dApps could start to become the real growth area, once we move out of the pilot phase that many organisations are currently in," said Hardman. "This will then overtake crypto-currency as the topic of conversation, and we'll see a dramatic change in the ways some business processes are handled, with big cost and time savings, and a culture change, where organisations start to do business across the same infrastructure. I Think some supply chain projects are starting to give us a glimpse of that." "Organisations have an opportunity to escape from the constraints they have had for decades, of silo-based data and processes, and of bloated protectionism when it comes to sharing data across corporate boundaries, so the goal is worth the effort." Chicken and egg It would appear, according to those who are on the development side as well as the blockchain platform side, there are several issues that have hamstrung the advancement and uptick of dApps. ADVERTISEMENT The platform itself needs a lot of work as the first smart contract platform - Ethereum - has been under heavy scrutiny in the past for its performance to the point where it has begun its move to change its algorithm to address some of these concerns. However, the developers of dApps on these platforms also suffer from issues that are removed from just blockchain performance. The world of cryptocurrencies and blockchain is still quite niche, and a little controversial in terms of its adoption. So, although these dApps can offer a new era of applications that have the added benefits of decentralisation, transparency, immutability and digital tokens, most people are still more comfortable using traditional apps and their dangers of data misappropriation - for now, anyway.

E-Commerce Giant Alibaba to Integrate Blockchain Into Intellectual Property System - Cointelegraph Posted: 23 May 2019 02:15 PM PDT Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba will integrate blockchain technology into its intellectual property system of global enterprises and brands, local news outlet Sohu reported on May 23. Ali Xizhi, the company's director of intellectual property protection, reportedly said that Alibaba is in the process of upgrading the filing of intellectual property rights by utilizing blockchain. Alibaba is planning to fully implement the technology in September, after which it will be expanded to digital copyright protection, including visual content. The system will purportedly allow electronic deposits from international brands to directly link to the Internet Court through the blockchain-based Ali Intellectual Property Protection Platform ("IPP Platform"), providing a basis for litigation rights protection. China has reportedly set up three Internet courts in Hangzhou, Beijing and Guangzhou to manage internet-related cases and allow plaintiffs to file their complaints online. In March, Alibaba and Aerospace Information Co., a major software developer and provider, agreed to take advantage of their respective brand technologies "to actively integrate resources and carry out in-depth cooperation" in the fields of cloud computing services, finance and taxation, government affairs and blockchain technology, among others. Also in March, vice president of Alibaba Group Liu Song revealed the company's plans to implement blockchain technology for cross-border supply chains, with the possibility to link with local governments. Earlier this week, a report by Securities Daily News revealed that Alibaba had applied for 262 blockchain patents.

Enterprise Ethereum Alliance outlines real estate blockchain use cases - Ledger Insights Posted: 23 May 2019 08:48 AM PDT Today the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA) published a paper about Real Estate use cases for blockchain technology. Some might associate the EEA with private permissioned networks, but the term permissioned is mentioned just once as a short term alternative to using the public Ethereum blockchain. The paper outlines many of the potential blockchain applications in the property sector with an emphasis on tokenization, land registries and standardizing real estate data. Project financing is one example of tokenization. Instead of needing deep-pocketed investors for a property development project, it might be feasible to tokenize a development and sell fractions in it. The other advantage is that if the investor wants out before completion, the tokens can be sold before the construction finishes. That's provided there are willing buyers at an acceptable price. Another similar example is to create a syndicate of investors for a large development. Using tokens for mortgages is something that's already happening. The paper describes the potential for raising money from friends, relatives, or banks. Owners of larger properties with many apartments could use tokens to release a portion of their investment. That's an alternative to the current situation where the landlord would either have to subdivide the property title or take out a mortgage. Blockchain tokens and marketplaces go hand in hand, so perhaps the most obvious use case is to create a marketplace for real estate tokens. The document mentions the current REITs for investing in a property portfolio but contrasts it to the advantages of investing in tokens in specific properties. But we didn't see a mention of the likely enterprise scenario of securitizing a portfolio of assets or mortgages and selling tokens in the package of assets. That's an area currently being explored by Symbiont and others. Data standardization is a common issue with blockchains because all the different parties need to share data. The paper argues that currently, the real estate market has become dependent on a few centralized portals and intermediaries that translate data formats. Standardizing data will enable decentralization. Several land registries around the world are already exploring using blockchain. For jurisdictions which aren't yet digital, the benefits are enormous. Not mentioned in the paper, but addressing fraud is a significant advantage. Where land registries are slow to process data, it's possible for properties to be mortgaged multiple times. The paper points out that it's critical to ensure the title is correct before incorporating it on an immutable blockchain.

Horyou Media: Blockchain For Good, Alive and Kicking at the UNESCO Blockchain Practices and Perspectives Conference - Yahoo Finance Posted: 23 May 2019 11:38 AM PDT GENEVA, May 23, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- On May 17, 2019, the UNESCO hosted a high-level conference entitled Blockchain, Practices and Perspectives at its Headquarters in Paris, with the aim to "better highlight how Blockchain technology can be applied for social good". The conference staged interdisciplinary discussions among researchers and practitioners of computer science, humanities and social sciences, economics and law, giving voice to public and private Blockchain project developers in panels that were both stimulating and inspiring. The themes that were tackled by the invited panelists ranged from introductory to expert, and from theoretical to practical, as they explored various areas whereby Blockchain, as a revolutionary and disruptive technology, can serve social good and enforce the sustainable development goals as termed in the UN 2030 Agenda. Hence, while exploring education and open science, or asserting Blockchain as an efficient artistic copyright management tool, or again a tool for direct democracy, the conference provided a rather large array of situations, experiences and projects whereby Blockchain technologies, though still at an early stage, hold the promise of a fairer world for all. Interestingly though, while all the aforementioned panels and themes were aimed at highlighting the idea that just because Blockchain is often likened with Bitcoin and similar cryptocurrencies doesn't mean its use and efficiency stop at that particular area of concern, two panels – Blockchain and Social Innovation Financing, and Blockchain and Sustainable Territories – were to contribute to a better understanding, and thus a more positive view, of how such innovation could serve social good and the advancement of the SDGs. Concepts including initial coin offering, tokenization, crypto-lending for social, responsible and sustainable territorial innovation, were explained with practical examples of ways they were or would be implemented and used for the benefit of all. One such example was presented by Yonathan Parienti, Blockchain evangelist, founder and CEO of Horyou, the social network for social good, who has recently launched HoryouToken, a digital currency built around a whole ecosystem and based on the concept of Blockchain with a Purpose, with proof of impact, meant to promote, reward and financially support problem solving positive actions and innovative projects, wherever they may be. HoryouToken is the future of digital currency for social good. Interesting as it was, the conference would have missed its point if it weren't for the organizers good initiative in providing all participants with a "Glossary of fifty words that shape the Blockchain ecosystem." About Horyou Horyou.com is the social network for social good for positive and meaningful interactions among change makers, fostering the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Horyou has recently launched HoryouToken (HYT)*, the first digital currency for inclusion advancing the UN SDGs, and is the organizer of SIGEF, the Social Innovation and Global Ethics Forum, which 6th edition will be held in Tokyo, on 18-19 September, 2019 (www.sigef2019.com). *HoryouToken (HYT) is listed on LAToken and CoinTiger   View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/horyou-media-blockchain-for-good-alive-and-kicking-at-the-unesco-blockchain-practices-and-perspectives-conference-300856201.html

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