MultiChain, the private blockchain platform launched by Coin Sciences Ltd, has entered beta phase with the release of MultiChain 1.0 for Linux and Windows. The platform has also revealed that 15 new industry partners are joining its Platform Partner Program – a consultancy group originally backed by financial services giant Accenture.
Notably, the new members of the program include three multinationals – Boston Consulting Group, PwC, and Worldline – as well as 11 smaller companies. The MultiChain platform was set up with the aim of helping organizations more easily build applications using blockchains and distributed ledgers.
The platform said it plans to release a final version of the software this summer. In related news, Seal Software, a contract discovery and analytics platform, has said it will integrate MultiChain into its platform. The marriage will enable a machine-learning framework based on what the company called "intelligent contracts" to be used in conjunction with MultiChain's blockchain functionality.
French cyber-defense and aerospace firm Thales has launched a new integration with blockchain startup Chain aimed to boost blockchain security. The partnership will see Chain bridging its enterprise-focused blockchain software capabilities with the nShield hardware security module (HSM) developed by Thales. The move comes shortly after Thales unveiled a blockchain offering in conjunction with professional services firm Accenture.
Thales' HSM is a hardware solution for securely storing private keys – the all-important strings of data that, for example, protect a user's bitcoin or other blockchain-tied tokens. As these pieces of information are critical in the context of digital asset management, the hardware offering has been positioned as one that would alleviate security concerns among enterprises and other organizations.
"Blockchain is a game-changer in the financial services industry, with the potential to enhance security, speed and operational efficiency. Our integration with Chain provides a strong root of trust and ensures the integrity of the underlying blockchain operations that enables organizations to build, deploy, and operate blockchain-based transaction networks with confidence."
Regulators are also likely to cheer the advance of security measures in the blockchain space. In February, the European Securities and Markets Authority proclaimed that distributed ledger technology regulations would be premature, given the state of the tech and a lack of market-wide cybersecurity standards.
Starting to gain traction in the mainstream, this technology has a lot of far-reaching potentials. Blockchain is an intriguing concept to explore. It is a digital ledger that entails transactions, working with data arranged through a series of records called blocks. This uses a secure system and is essential for managing financial data as well as the development of the Bitcoin. With all the hype that it's received over the past year with Santander and others announcing that they are setting up their own internal Blockchain systems, it begs the question as to why blockchain is all of a sudden so appealing.
Blockchain technology is very secure and effective. You can get all transactions validated when adding blocks. This is thanks to how the blockchain system reads more data and is very transparent. The data gathered can be read by multiple databases. Encryption is not included in the blockchain system. You can still add that if desired. Digital signatures may also be added to confirm one's identity when using it. Such signatures can also regulate read/write access rights.
The identities of people who work with the system can also be secured if needed. Proper certificates can be used to allow people to log onto a setup and use it. This allows the certificate to be used in lieu of an actual person's name. This may work with a setup that keeps individuals from being identified. In some cases, the business running it may be listed but the individual responsible for triggering a transaction will not be listed.
● You can create limits as to what specific parties can do with a blockchain setup.
● The central owner of a block of data can be determined. You can adjust the identity of the owner to make whoever is in charge of a certain part more accountable.
● Limits can be created with regards to what people can or cannot do with a blockchain. This is especially for when you are trying to keep certain people from accessing specific spots.
Transactions are easy to handle within the system. A universal system is used with the same kind of interface. This does not require any outside standards from separate providers. Confirmation times can vary on the system. It often takes less than half an hour of a transaction to be managed. It can take a few hours in some instances but such cases are rare.
A great part of blockchain is that it uses no third parties for managing transactions. As a result, funds will be easy to move without spending too much money on each one. It often costs less than $10 USD to get a single transaction managed. The cost varies but it is typically around that total.
You may be able to get energy credits depending on where you are located. Blockchains may be generated for acquiring renewable energy credits. This helps you to get a business or other entity to work with solar or wind power or with other renewable energy options. This is useful if you are planning on generating renewable energy. This includes energy used for private purposes. This is useful but you must watch for the total credits you will earn versus what you might spend on energy. This includes looking at how much money it costs to generate energy used to produce a new blockchain.
The last improvement that blockchain uses comes from digital signatures. A digital signature is a setup that encrypts data with a digital code. This should entail a setup that is difficult to read without a proper encryption key. This helps to make it easier for you to get the most out of your security. You should look at how blockchain can be of benefit to you. This makes it easier for transactions to be made while also being fully transparency. The simplicity that comes with the setup is especially important. Be sure to consider it for your general use in the future.
CEO of CellPoint Mobile, which develops payment solutions & technologies that help airlines & travel companies. I am among those enthusiasts who believe that blockchain technology can be a valuable corporate finance tool outside of the banking sector. Airline industry CFOs and finance executives throughout the travel sector belong on the growing list of beneficiaries as well. As the backbone of digital currency, blockchain is already revealing its value in areas such as transparency, data security, logistics and process simplification, and even regulatory compliance. Recently, Walmart and IBM announced a pilot project to apply blockchain technology to Walmart's global supply chain management system.
Of course, not every company is a candidate for blockchain applications: A recent Wharton analysis concluded that a company must determine whether blockchain is suitable based on multiple factors. The rationale for embracing blockchain technology will make the most sense — and take on a degree of urgency — if the business structure involves any number of parties that need trust and inter-party data access and management. As a provider of mobile commerce and payment solutions for travel companies, this makes the travel sector an ideal candidate in my book.
As the Walmart pilot suggests, there is growing evidence of blockchain's value on an operational level. But its potential benefits, including security features, extend to "soft" yet vital airline success factors, such as customer satisfaction and retention. For example, with blockchain processes serving as the underlying authentication layer for biometric-equipped mobile and wearable devices, a passenger's experience becomes easier, faster and more satisfying. They can verify their identities, purchase travel products, and ancillary services before, during and after their trips. They can communicate with airlines in a variety of new and engaging mobile formats without pulling out IDs and expose personal financial information every single time.
To extend the vision from a passenger's perspective, imagine going from home to the airport for a flight, then from the destination airport to your hotel and straight to your room without standing in a single line or sharing your personal data. Managing frequent flyer and loyalty programs and tracking baggage can also be a piece of cake, using blockchain technology as the information "connector." The beauty of this vision is that it serves as a genuine win-win for both the airline and its customers. And by contributing to customer satisfaction, an airline is much more likely to retain and grow that source of revenue, not to mention the range of ancillary purchases that become easier with blockchain technology.
Airlines and governmental bodies are already investing in the idea of a universally accepted blockchain ID, to both simplify travel and make it safer. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security are important players, yet airlines and other travel companies must wrestle with the fact that innovation is being driven outside of their industries by companies such as IBM, Google, and Apple. Venture capital continues to pour into the bitcoin and blockchain world, with an estimated $1 billion in VC funding since 2014.
As the blockchain universe evolves within the travel sector, it holds the potential to integrate new products and services without excessive investment costs or overly complicated implementation efforts. Granted, this will not happen overnight. It will likely take another three-to-five years before blockchain technology matures to the point of widespread adoption, and perhaps even longer before many airlines and travel-related businesses understand out how to embrace and monetize blockchain. Only then can they affect change throughout the enterprise.
Arizona's legislature has cleared a bill that would recognize blockchain signatures and smart contracts under state law, sending it to the governor's desk for final approval.The measure, as previously reported by CoinDesk, would make data tied to a blockchain "considered to be in an electronic format and to be an electronic record" in Arizona. It also notably featured language specifically related to smart contracts, signifying an effort to capture new kinds of delivering information – in this case, via blockchain – under existing rules.
"'Smart contract' means an event-driven program, with state, that runs on a distributed, decentralized, shared and replicated ledger and that can take custody over and instruct transfer of assets on that ledger."
Public records show that the bill was sent to sent to Gov. Doug Ducey's office on 27th March after clearing the Senate by a 28-1 vote on the 23rd. While it's not immediately clear if or when the governor will sign the bill, the broad support the bill saw in the legislature – members of the legislature's lower chamber approved it unanimously late last month – suggests the measure could ultimately get the green light. The bill is akin to legislation passed and signed into law last year in Vermont. Lawmakers in the state proposed allowing data embedded on a blockchain to be used in a court of law.
A group of companies including IBM has spearheaded the development of a new blockchain-based crude oil trade finance platform.Along with IBM, commodities trading group Trafigura and corporate investment bank Natixis took part in the creation of the platform, built using code from the Linux Foundation-led Hyperledger project. IBM's BlueMix cloud hosting service is also being utilized.
Within the system, parties can view transaction data as it is published on the blockchain. The platform also hosts documentation and updates on shipments, deliveries, and payments. Natixis, a member of the R3 distributed ledger consortium, is no stranger to trade finance applications of blockchain, having joined with the "Digital Trade Chain" project last year. According to Arnaud Stevens, Natixis' head of global energy and commodities in New York, the bank sees the tech as potentially bringing down costs while also boosting procedural transparency.
"We want to use blockchain to optimize the antiquated arena of commodity trade finance. The current process is paper and labor intensive, we have multiple friction points with high processing costs and limited automation. Distributed ledger technology brings some much-needed innovation into our industry."
The platform's introduction marks the latest bridging of the blockchain and trade finance worlds. It's an application that has attracted significant interest from a range of companies and governments worldwide, including Dubai. Many of the world's banks also continue to push ahead with related projects focused on the commodities trade.
One of the most overlooked parts of a B2B marketing campaign is social media.
Everyone likes to talk about it because it's fun, and because it looks simple and easy. Because of that, social media doesn't look like something where a business in a B2B industry would focus their energies.After all, when was the last time the CxO of a Fortune 500 company signed a five-figure contract through a Twitter conversation? Yeah, that never happens.
But just because social media isn't the main driver of sales doesn't mean it doesn't matter. On the contrary, 45 percent of companies that use social media marketing have found it helps them reduce their marketing costs while 24 percent of businesses who use it specifically for lead generation have seen an increase in revenue.
If social media matters, then how do you use it in your lead generation marketing?
To get leads, you first need to attract people to your website (or even better, to one of your landing pages). Once they are there, you need to convince them you have something they need to solve a problem or meet a need. This conversion is what generates leads.
The question then is, Where does social media fit this picture?
Social media is all about attracting people into your funnel and engaging with them. By engaging with your visitors, you attract them into what you have to offer, and you can even help them convince and convert. However, this last part is usually done by the landing page or by other content material. Your main focus should be attracting and engaging people.
Everything starts with the ABC of lead generation: developing an ideal buyer (or buyer persona). You can't expect to attract people when you don't know who these are. If you have any experience doing marketing for B2B, you probably have already defined an ideal buyer for your company. If that's so, then you can move on to the next step. But if you haven't, then it's time to get started. In the simplest terms, a persona is a representation of your ideal customer. If you sell hiring software for small companies, then your persona should be a hiring manager who works in a 50-person company with an overall budget of $1 million whose goal is to improve the quality of the people they hire.
If that sounds too specific, it should. Remember, you need to communicate only to one person (even if you have more than one ideal buyer).To develop a persona, you need to get as much information as you can both from your current customers and the ones you are trying to attract. Analyzing the data from your analytics provider, doing surveys, phone and personal interviews, and research will help you find this information.
What is the position of your ideal buyer?
What are their goals, both business and personal?
What is their budget for your specific solution?
What other tools are they already using? What are they trying to accomplish with their current tools?
What problems and limitations do they currently have? This can apply for their tools or their position.
How many people work in their company?
If they manage people, how large are their teams? And who do they manage?
What channels do your buyers use for research?
With the information extracted from these answers, you will be able to develop your ideal buyers. Remember, the more specific, the better.
As you know, there are at least half a dozen different social media channels you can use for your company. But you can't chose one based on popularity or its cool factor. What you need is a relevant channel on which you can find, attract and engage your audience.
If your resources are limited, it may make sense to own one social media channel then move on to others once you have found success.
Relevant to your audience. This will help you get known and respected in your industry. If you are known for your expertise, every time you publish something people will listen to what you have to say. This will make it easy for you to engage and attract relevant traffic to your lead generation campaigns.
monitor your social media channels.
If people end up talking about you, you want to be there when that happens. You can use a tool like Mention or BuzzSumo to do this.
In other words, monitor your company's name, your main industry's keywords, and keywords that relate to what you do. For example, if you sell accounting software, monitor "accounting solution" and "best accounting tool". Finally, create a conversation. Your company isn't just made up of logos and fonts, it's also made of people. Your followers (which also include possible leads) want to talk to you. Create content specific to your social media channel of choice, like an image, a question, a survey, a video, an insight or a tip. It's almost the same as you did with the influencer just this time the tables have been turned.