Digital Currency and Blockchain Weekly Round-Up – October 12th, 2018

China seeks to release three blockchain standards in 2018
An organization backed by the Chinese government is planning to release three blockchain standards on smart contracts, privacy and deposits, China Money Network reported. Li Ming, a director of blockchain research lab of the China Electronics Standardization Institute (CESI) told DeepTech that the three blockchain standards would be released this year which will better guide the development of the blockchain industry in China.

China launches first blockchain pilot zone in Hainan Province
A blockchain pilot zone has been launched in south China's Hainan Province, Xinhua Net reported. The blockchain pilot zone, the first in China, includes a blockchain research institute which has been jointly established by Hainan Resort Software Community (RSC) and University College Oxford Blockchain Research Centre at Oxford University.

South Korea likely to revisit ICO legality decision in November
The government of South Korea is going to decide on the fate of initial coin offerings (ICOs) in the country once again in November, CoinDesk reported. Hong Nam-ki, head of the office for government policy coordination, said, “We are going to form the position of the government in November based on the results of the investigation at the end of October.”

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is testing blockchain as a proof of concept, says official
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is currently testing blockchain technology as a proof of concept (PoC), a CBP official said recently. Vincent Annunziato, director of CBP’s Automated Commercial Environment Business Office, said that they are exploring blockchain potential in the area of supply chain management.

UK telecom regulator to trial blockchain for management of telephone numbers
The Office of Communications (Ofcom), a UK government-approved telecom regulatory and competition authority, has announced that it has received £700k from the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to look into the potential of blockchain technology.

CSIRO’s Data61, CBA build app to explore blockchain potential in creating ’smart money’
CSIRO’s Data61, in collaboration with Commonwealth Bank (CBA), is testing blockchain potential in creating smart money. The project partners have selected the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) as the first case study for the proof of concept (POC).

Indian government think tank NITI Aayog seeks to make students industry-ready in blockchain and AI
Indian government think tank NITI Aayog, in collaboration with IBM India, has announced an internship program to make students industry ready in areas such as artificial intelligence, Internet-of-Things, cybersecurity, cloud computing and blockchain.

Chilean parliamentarians seek to bring blockchain technology to public sector
Chilean lawmakers are seeking to bring blockchain technology to the country’s public sector, ZyCrypto reported. Two parliamentarians, Miguel Angel Calisto and Giorgio Jackson, have proposed blockchain implementation in the public sector and have submitted a proposal on these lines to the parliament.

Research Studies

Crypto assets currently do not pose threat to financial stability, says FSB
New report casts doubts on bitcoin’s long-term prospects

Investment/Fundraising/Acquisition

UK-based blockchain startup Clearmatics secures $12M in Series A funding
South Korean crypto exchange Bithumb sold for $350M to Singaporean blockchain consortium
Blockchain startup Circle announces acquisition of SeedInvest

Partnerships/Consortiums

Evernym joins Mobility Open Blockchain Initiative to bring self-sovereign identity to automotive and IoT
Universal Protocol Alliance announces new stablecoin ‘Universal Dollar’
IBM launches blockchain-based food supply chain network; Carrefour and others join in
Binance Labs, a16zcrypto and others partner with Oasis Labs to launch startup hub

Digital Currency and Blockchain Initiatives

Singapore-based iFashion Group partners with blockchain AR platform Scanetchain to enhance retail experience
Forbes enters blockchain universe via Civil partnership
PwC teams up with Cred to bring its expertise to stablecoins and digital assets
Korean food giant Nongshim’s subsidiary taps blockchain for end-to-end traceability of beef
Propy completes first property transfer in EU using blockchain technology
Colliers International seeks to tokenize real estate industry using Stellar blockchain
Kakao’s subsidiary Ground X introduces blockchain platform ‘Klaytn’