The coronavirus pandemic is transforming the education sector as much as it is transforming various important aspects of our lives. The majority of teaching and learning has been transferred to digital platforms as many cities remain in quarantine or begin to ease lockdown restrictions. But the education sector will never be the same again. What is peer-to-peer learning Education is going through several developments and changes. These changes were accelerated over the last few months by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the novel virus did not outrightly halt the delivery of education. It merely demanded new ways of delivering and receiving …

Famed currency speculator George Soros, who in 1992 broke the Bank of England to emerge a billionaire overnight by forcing the pound out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism, believes: “We will not go back to where we were when the pandemic started. That is pretty certain. But that is the only thing that is certain. Everything else is up for grabs.” Giles Coghlan, the chief currency analyst at HYCM, had the following to say: “The volatile market conditions that have come about as a result of COVID-19 has investors looking for safe haven assets to protect their capital. The …

If you’re familiar with medieval history, you’ll know that the plague epidemic eventually led to the liberalization of European politics and, ultimately, to the Renaissance. After the Black Death killed more than 20 million people — over a third of the European population at the time — labor became scarce and landlords were forced to pay higher wages while giving more power and rights to laborers. That set the stage for the political changes that recognized the value of an individual and his craft skills. This shift in social norms led to the Renaissance tradition of nobility sponsoring arts and …

Bittrex Global, one of the world’s most popular platforms for trading cryptocurrencies, is about to become the first crypto exchange to list a token by JPMorgan’s blockchain spin-off Kadena. Kadena token (KDA), is finally getting its first official listing on June 25. While token deposits on KDA wallets on Bittrex are available immediately, the trading is set to open on June 26 at 10:00 a.m. EST. At the initial launch, KDA will be trading against two cryptocurrencies — Bitcoin (BTC) and major USD stablecoin, Tether (USDT). Trading on Bittrex Global isn’t available in the U.S. and some sanctioned countries By …

Beyond rapidly changing how we create, store and transfer value, cryptocurrencies are accelerating financial inclusion in a way that traditional financial institutions have either been unwilling or unable to. Yet crypto’s possibilities go way beyond banking the unbanked. It allows developing nations and those without access to financial services to avoid the bank completely and transact and grow small businesses using just a mobile phone. Why financial inclusion is so important Even today, almost 2 billion people around the world have no access to financial services. That’s approximately one-fourth of the global population. Having nowhere to place savings and not …

There’s a revolution happening. We’re moving toward a world with a massive reduction in trust in centralized institutions and ways of doing things. There are several concurrent shifts happening right now, including a shift away from centralized governing bodies — encompassing a lack of trust in middlemen, governments and even the authority figures hired to keep us safe — as well as a loss of trust in social media platforms, which are now more aggressively censoring content. The second is a shift from the old financial world into a new, 24/7 digital economy, in which individuals are empowered to control …

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) expects the COVID-19 crisis’ impact on retail payments to have a knock-on effect on the development of central bank digital currencies (CBDC). The BIS is an organization based in Switzerland made up of 60 of the world’s central banks, and has previously released a number of major reports focused on both decentralized cryptocurrencies and CBDCs. As distinct from cryptocurrencies, CBDCs are digital currencies issued by a central bank, whose legal tender status depends on government regulation or law. COVID-19 and global payments BIS’ latest report, published on June 24, notes that the COVID-19 pandemic …

The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) has identified a sharp rise in investment scams during the coronavirus pandemic and has singled out crypto-related fraud as a particular concern. Between March and May 2020, investment scams of all types have reportedly risen by 20% as compared to the same period in 2019, according to ASIC’s announcement on June 24. Criminals appear to be attempting to take advantage of the economic insecurity that many citizens are facing during the crisis. ASIC’s executive director for assessment and intelligence, Warren Day, warned that scammers are “using age-old tactics in new and sophisticated ways …

A one-off online conference has released a list of the top speakers who are on the agenda — including prominent regulators, politicians and crypto entrepreneurs. Unitize is being organized by BlockShow and San Francisco Blockchain Week, and it is scheduled to take place from July 6 through July 10. The conference’s goal is to celebrate the industry’s progress so far in 2020 and to foster further collaboration and engagement. Live broadcasts, virtual exhibitions and fireside chats will be offered throughout the week, and topics discussed will include the potential benefits that blockchain can offer for enterprises, as well as how …

Some entrepreneurs have been trying to increase data privacy by combining encryption and blockchain technology. There are projects like Oasis Labs and Enigma that focus entirely on preserving users’ privacy. Meanwhile, others have been focusing on preventing data retention by companies. Thus, there is no way to guarantee that personal data is deleted in a company’s data system. Blockchain technology’s reliable consensus ensures that people’s data is used correctly. Protection against software and hardware attacks Companies like Oasis Labs, which designed the Ekiden system, run smart contracts outside the blockchain within a Trusted Execution Environment, or TEE, node to enable …

Blockchain tracking platform VeChain announced on Twitter on June 20 that its blockchain-based medical data management platform co-developed with digital healthcare solution firm I-Dante has gone live and will store COVID-19 testing results. The platform, dubbed E-NewHealthLife, was deployed in the Mediterranean Hospital in the Republic of Cyprus. Cyprus citizens who go to the hospital’s COVID-19 laboratory to undergo real-time diagnostic and antibodies testing, will have their medical and test records on the blockchain. The records will be encrypted, hashed and uploaded onto the VeChainThor Blockchain. The results will also be available on the E-HCert application. Adoption of E-HCert, the …

From a technical viewpoint, blockchain is a growing records list that is cryptographically tied to and managed by a peer-to-peer network. At the same time, they join a protocol of communication among nodes to validate new blocks. Essentially, a blockchain is a way of validating data transactions in a permanent and immutable manner to guarantee that the transaction: Has not been corrupted. Avoids double-spending. May transfer value. We can also say that blockchain technology is a decentralized network where all the records are engraved in a distributed way and shared in several devices spread throughout the world. The records are …