Hello Steemians!

I collected a few recent news articles from various sites for you. I hope you enjoy it. Feel free to discuss any topic in the comments. I'm merely compiling Links for you and summarizing some of the content. This is not my own work!

Greetings, Leon :)

IBM Wants You to Know All the Ways Blockchain Can Go Wrong

"A group of cybersecurity experts within IBM, led by Adewale Omoniyi, a senior managing consultant, stresses the importance of blockchain-based cybersecurity assurance applications for use cases such as supply chain and digital identity.

Omoniyi worries that if security controls aren't built into these systems now and continuously monitored, a hack could stall the huge potential blockchain provides.

He pointed to the collaboration between IBM and a handful of food suppliers, including Walmart, to test a blockchain for more quickly pinpointing the source of a food-borne illness."

More info: Click here

Coinbase’s PayPal Like Plugin Integrates With Shopify

"Shopify, an e-commerce platform with 500,000 merchants handling $45 billion in yearly volume, has integrated with Coinbase Commerce, allowing for easy set-up of ethereum, bitcoin, bitcoin cash and/or litecoin payments.

For customers who have MetaMask installed therefore (around 1 Million) and have it funded with eth, the checkout experience can be as convenient as one click."

More info: Here

Salon Now Ask You to Crypto Mine on Your Computer if You Have Adblocker

"Indeed, your computer itself can help support our ability to pay our editors and journalists.”

Read more about the new trend of substituting ads for browser mining: Click here

Bitcoin Isn't the Only Crypto Adding Lightning Tech Now

"Entering 2018, litecoin, zcash, ethereum and ripple are just a few of the many cryptocurrencies planning to implement or test some form of the lightning network.

Jeremy Rubin calls the tech a necessity for any platform that would like to remain efficient for payments."

More info: Click here

The Hard Thing About Crypto Price Valuation

This article deals with the question of how to evaluate the value of cryptos, when you are lacking important data.

"Fundamentals are good, and there are surely some good strategies that use them. But many professional traders are looking beyond fundamentals to make trading decisions. So, the absence of traditional fundamentals from crypto shouldn't by itself be a deal-breaker.

Alternative ways of valuing crypto:

Network value-to-transaction ratio (NVT) – this measures the amount of traded volume as an indicator of how actively used it is

Daily active users (alternatively, daily active addresses, or DAA) – how many users use the crypto asset in transactions on a monthly basis?

Supply-demand economics applied to crypto assets via monetary theory

Qualitative analysis:

Looking at the core team behind the project and assessing their suitability to solving the particular problem

Looking at the white paper behind the token or crypto asset and assessing whether the proposed problem and solution make sense

Seeing how other blockchain enthusiasts speak about the project, including crypto experts."

CFTC to Establish Crypto and DLT Committees

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)'s Technology Advisory Committee hosted back-to-back panels on cryptocurrencies, blockchain and regulation during its meeting Wednesday.

The meeting brought together influential figures from both the public and private sectors and approved the creation of two subcommittees, with one devoted to cryptocurrencies and the other on broader application of distributed ledgers in the finance space.

Saudi Central Bank to Test Ripple Payments Tec

Distributed ledger startup Ripple has struck a deal with Saudi Arabia's central bank on a pilot program that will see banks in the country trial the company's tech. More info: Click here

South Africa's Central Bank Eyes JPMorgan Blockchain Tech

"The aim of this project is to gain a practical understanding of DLTs through the development of a proof of concept (PoC) in collaboration with the banking industry. The objective of the PoC is to replicate interbank clearing and settlement on a DLT which will allow the SARB and industry to jointly assess the potential benefits and risks of DLTs."

More info: Click here