Digital Bytes by Team Blockchain Radio; Powered By Cyber.FM

Custody of digital assets: an inflection year in 2023? - imagine a counterbalance with four weights: north, south, east and west. On the north and south scales, you have financial institutions (Tradfi & DeFi) balanced with the regulator, and on the east and west scales, you have security balanced with speed. With this in mind, you will begin to understand the elements driving custody in the world of digital assets. Full Article Here

Fractional ownership of real estate - fractional ownership of real estate traces its roots back to the 1960s in the form of REITs and timeshares. Whilst the size of tokenised real estate is relatively small at $200billion - given that the global real estate market is over $326trillion - there is huge scope for growth of tokenised real estate. Since residential property sector accounts for 80% of the real estate market, tokenisation of peoples’ home offers a massive, broadly untapped opportunity. Full Article Here Crypto charity tokens: what exactly are they? - the majority of the burgeoning interest in Bitcoin and other digital currencies is motivated by personal financial gain and financial innovation. Simultaneously, there is an intriguing trend toward using cryptocurrency for charitable causes. Not only do hundreds of organisations accept Bitcoin and other digital currency donations, but new institutions that use digital tokens - together with their underlying cryptography-based technology known as the blockchain - are developing in innovative ways. These daring projects have the potential to alter the charitable industry. Full Article Here Pros and cons of hardware wallets - hardware wallets store cryptocurrency offline, which means they are not connected to the internet; this is called “cold storage”. They are physical devices that look like USB sticks and work like simple, single-purpose computers. With a hardware wallet, your private key is used to digitally sign crypto transactions inside the device, which are then safely sent to the blockchain through a crypto bridge. Full Article Here Custody of digital assets: an inflection year in 2023? - imagine a counterbalance with four weights: north, south, east and west. On the north and south scales, you have financial institutions (Tradfi & DeFi) balanced with the regulator, and on the east and west scales, you have security balanced with speed. With this in mind, you will begin to understand the elements driving custody in the world of digital assets. Full Article Here

Much has been written and discussed about the ‘crypto winter’ that has hit the cryptocurrency industry, so how can players set about speeding up the arrival of spring? It is vital to rebuild trust through governance, education and protection - including partnering with banks to explore ways of innovating and further protecting customers. Crypto-bank partnerships could be key to strengthening customer confidence and moving out of winter. Full Article Here

Welcome to this week’s Digital Bytes. This week we have analysis on the following topics: The scalability of DLTs and blockchains One of the reasons for not using DLTs and blockchain-powered platforms was that they were considered to be unscalable. However, there are now a number of examples where DLTs/blockchains have been deployed  - indeed, handling huge amounts of data quickly and in a very secure manner. The ability to process and automate transactions using smart contracts has led to the creation of new ways to handle trades in the form of automatic market makers - which could have implications for the way that different securities are traded. Full Article Here Blockchain interoperability - there are more than 100 blockchains that have varied specifications and serve different use cases, and interoperability refers to the capacity to transfer value between those networks that use the technology freely. Interoperable blockchains enable applications to employ smart contracts on multiple blockchains, and digital assets can be traded between these blockchains. Interoperability is a goal of many projects as it ensures that more users are able to use the blockchain. Full Article Here dApps: helping to power new decentralised products and services - decentralised apps (dApps) are the backbone for many blockchain innovations, such as DeFi. They have more use cases than financial systems and they are used across different industries worldwide. Questions worth answering are, what application of dApps will drive DeFi’s future, and whether dApps will be widely adopted in the financial sector? Full Article Here Building trust to move out of the crypto winter - much has been written and discussed about the ‘crypto winter’ that has hit the cryptocurrency industry, so how can players set about speeding up the arrival of spring? It is vital to rebuild trust through governance, education and protection - including partnering with banks to explore ways of innovating and further protecting customers. Crypto-bank partnerships could be key to strengthening customer confidence and moving out of winter. Full Article Here

Sean Kiernan, Founder of Greengage, talks about the company's motivation to produce a comprehensive and continuously updated Crypto Glossary to help parliamentarians, regulators, market practitioners and the public at large to become more comfortable with ‘the lingo’ and be better informed about new cryptos, digital assets and technologies.

Welcome to this week’s Digital Bytes. This week we have analysis on the following topics: DeFi and DAOs - the impact of DeFi and DAOs is gradually being felt across the world as they collectively challenge the world’s financial markets so making them more transparent, inclusive and secure - controlled by everyone and no one. Full Article Here Can Bitcoin’s price be based on stones? - rai stone has been used for centuries in the Pacific by the Yapese people as the foundation of a relatively sophisticated decentralised monetary system based on the value of labour and scarcity and without the need for intermediaries. What can we learn from these Pacific islanders to determine if now is a good time to buy Bitcoin? Full Article Here Digital assets likely to further increase the need for bots and algorithmic trading - the buying and selling of shares, bonds and other assets is already dominated by bots and algorithmics. As we see more assets being made available in a digital form, the % of trades on many of the existing traditional markets and new digital exchanges are likely to rely on bots and algorithmic trading to an even greater extent. Digital assets offer the ability to trade 24/7, so even the most active of fund managers will have to rely on computers to trade in the future. Full Article Here Crypto glossary - Sean Kiernan, founder and CEO of finance specialists, bankers and digital natives, Greengage, talks about the company's motivation to produce a comprehensive and continuously updated Crypto Glossary to help parliamentarians, regulators, market practitioners and the public at large to become more comfortable with ‘the lingo’ and be better informed about new cryptos, digital assets and technologies. Full Article Here Postscript - OpenAI’s ‘ChatGPT’ grabs the world’s attention and has reached 1,000,000 users in just 5 days. It took Instagram 75 days and Spotify 150 days to do the same. Have you tried it yet?

This week, on a very special "Blossom..." No, wait, this is Digital Bytes and we have James Ramsden who is the King's Counsel for the Developers Defendents in the Tulip Trading Lawsuit. The law, uncertainty and some painful choices potentially facing crypto developers and, indeed, others who write software code. The Court of Appeal indicated that if De-Fi is a “myth” it could more easily see how the fiduciary duties and duties of care alleged by Tulip could be established. The corollary of that must be that if De-Fi is not a “myth” then those duties are highly unlikely to exist. This is therefore a critical moment for De-Fi and its regulation. If the UK government and courts don’t deliver certainty, and fast, will other jurisdictions step in and become safer havens for software developers to reside?

Welcome to this week’s Digital Bytes. This week we have analysis on the following topics: Loyalty programs ‘go digital’ - loyalty programs date back to 1896 with the creation of Green Shield stamps, but the days of collecting and licking stamps into books to then be redeemed in dedicated stores has long gone. Loyalty programs are a huge industry and widely acknowledged as a core part of a firm’s marketing mix. Increasingly, these programs are ‘going digital’ and being embraced by organisations worldwide and now these same organisations are even beginning to encompass Web3 and NFTs. Full Article Here Standards used for digital assets - digital assets are being created using a wide variety of standards. Some say token standards are a way of differentiating token types, whether they be fungible or non-fungible. Standards for tokens are guidelines which users follow to ensure their projects are compatible with the rest of a blockchain. This article will answer questions around different token standards and their functions and the pros and cons of popular token standards. Full Article Here Cryptocurrencies, digital assets and ESG - the ESG credentials of many assets and organisations are becoming increasingly more important for shareholders, staff and even governments. Although there is the perception that cryptocurrencies are bad for the environment (given that at least some of them require vast amounts of computing power) a number of cryptos have undertaken initiatives to lessen their carbon footprint. Meanwhile, the social and governance attributes of some cryptocurrencies and digital assets are actually the key reasons why such assets are being embraced across many industries and jurisdictions. Full Article Here Tulip Trading and its potentially atrophying effect on Crypto networks - James Ramsden Kings Counsel for the Developer Defendants looks at the Good, the Bad & the Ugly - The law, uncertainty and some painful choices potentially facing crypto developers and, indeed, others who write software code. The Court of Appeal indicated that if De-Fi is a “myth” it could more easily see how the fiduciary duties and duties of care alleged by Tulip could be established. The corollary of that must be that if De-Fi is not a “myth” then those duties are highly unlikely to exist. This is therefore a critical moment for De-Fi and its regulation. If the UK government and courts don’t deliver certainty, and fast, will other jurisdictions step in and become safer havens for software developers to reside? Full Article Here

Internet of Things (IoT) are increasingly being used in many devices. The key benefit brought to IoT by blockchain technology is the removal of IoT’s greatest vulnerability: its centralisation. There is a growing demand for provenance and for devices to ‘talk to each other’ e.g., vehicles, IoT devices and blockchains offer some novel solutions to both these challenges.

Welcome to this week’s Digital Bytes. This week we have analysis on the following topics: Artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain - the use of AI in our daily lives is increasing, an example being ChatGPT which has caught the headlines recently. It is the first time many have been able to interact with AI in a very easy manner, allowing simple tasks to be performed such as writing/prompting messages, adverts and even business plans. Could Microsoft’s recent investment in ChatGPT’s creator of Windows finally enable Microsoft to challenge Google’s dominance of internet search engines? Full Article Here Will we finally see digital ID take place? - the concept of digital IDs has been around for years as people look to replace paper passports, driving licences and ID cards. The dangers of centralised databases for digital IDs are a fear often lauded, and hence the interest in blockchain technology as data is held in a decentralised manner and cryptographically secure. Full Article Here Decentralised assets - gold, silver, Bitcoin: has their time come? - assets that cannot be issued by central banks and which are created out of thin air have long been heralded as a potential way to avoid the ravages of inflation. The results are mixed but, given record purchases of gold and rising geopolitical uncertainty, if investors begin to buy such assets then surely they will then do so digitally? After all, decentralised assets can be traded 24/7 and transported securely on a USB stick. Full Article Here Blockchain: IoT’s best friend? - Internet of Things (IoT) are increasingly being used in many devices. The key benefit brought to IoT by blockchain technology is the removal of IoT’s greatest vulnerability: its centralisation. There is a growing demand for provenance and for devices to ‘talk to each other’ e.g., vehicles, IoT devices and blockchains offer some novel solutions to both these challenges. Full Article Here

M&A trends in the digital assets space - digital assets have attracted significant interest in recent years and are moving ever more into the mainstream financial system. This, in turn, has stimulated M&A activity as strategic acquirers and financial sponsors alike seek to capitalise on the commercial opportunities digital assets present. This article explores some of the key themes and trends driving M&A deals in the digital assets space.

Welcome to this week’s Digital Bytes. This week we have analysis on the following topics: Are NFTs going to wither, or are they set to flourish? - there is no denying that non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which were once the forte of individuals seeking a fast way to riches, have taken a hit in recent times. Market conditions plummeted, scams and hacks became frequent and low-quality projects increased in number, thus raising questions about the value of NFTs and their actual place in Web3. However, are we going to see NFTs more as a ‘digital certificate’ - that is, holding unique data about our homes, cars, medical data, etc? And will NFTs transform from being acquired for speculation purposes to having a utility, whereby making our day to day lives more efficient and easier? Full Article Here Blockchain technology’s adoption slowly gathering speed - blockchains are more than just a facilitator for crypto and NFTs; they are being used in many industries in various countries around the world. While some blockchain projects have been stopped, many more are helping to bring greater transparency and efficiency to systems and processes globally. The value of the blockchain market is set to expand to over $1.4trillion by 2030, which will certainly require considerable capital and expertise if this is to be achieved. Full Article Here Web 3.0 business models - future developments in Web 3.0 will have implications well beyond the realm of virtual currency. Web 3.0 will use fast machine-learning algorithms to connect data from people, organisations and machines in a secure way, leading to the creation of entirely new markets and business models made possible by the increased depth and breadth of interactions. Web 3.0 will have an undeniable influence in the future yet, still, the issue remains: which business models can solve the puzzle and give long-term, sustainable value in the current economic climate? Full Article Here M&A trends in the digital assets space - digital assets have attracted significant interest in recent years and are moving ever more into the mainstream financial system. This, in turn, has stimulated M&A activity as strategic acquirers and financial sponsors alike seek to capitalise on the commercial opportunities digital assets present. This article explores some of the key themes and trends driving M&A deals in the digital assets space. Full Article Here

The New Model (Digital Asset) Economy with Inflation Resistant Money… Coming to a City Near You!- The precursors for our current high inflation, debt based, economy and highlights the upcoming deployment of new DeFi based platforms and infrastructure for the creation and use of ‘inflation resistant’ money. The new open and permissionless platforms have no custodial functions and have been designed to enable the global marketplace access to highly liquid, small, enumerated, legal titles of real estate (property) inside of distributed regulated exchanges and global payment systems. The ‘New Model Economy’ design and thinking is a bold and globally significant step towards an asset-based economy that is designed to create a low debt / low inflation economic system with trusted and stable, intrinsic value, ‘real’ money. The design offers many potential advantages to both the global retail consumers to protect their wealth, to property owners seeking liquidity, and to central banks and governments seeking to safely manage their national economies in a high inflation / high debt economic cycle. The New Model Economy design and thinking, that has been carefully assembled over many years, offers some very tantalising global solutions to all of us. Full Article Here

Welcome to this week’s Digital Bytes. This week we have analysis on the following topics: How blockchains are being used by asset managers - undoubtedly, the fund industry has seen massive growth in terms of the number of funds and total assets under management in the last decade. Despite this, fund houses still rely on long, complex chains of distribution which make building investor relationships and controlling distribution costs difficult. However, asset managers are beginning to understand the transformative potential of both distributive ledger technology (DLT) and blockchain technology which enable digitisation/tokenisation of funds, shares, debt instruments, etc, whereby reducing inefficiencies in fund distribution and offering greater transparency for regulators. Full Article Here Cryptos: how to obtain exposure - in the last few weeks, the price of many crypto currencies has risen considerably and we have had a number of readers asking whether now is the time to increase their own exposure. There are a multitude of ways to gain exposure to this asset class apart from simply buying Bitcoin or another cryptocurrency. For example, there are equities, mutual funds, VC funds, ETFs and hedge funds and, with the ever-growing choice, this is enabling a cross section of investors to obtain access to this asset class. Full Article Here The future of NFTs - There is no way anyone missed out on the hype around NFTs in the last three years. Two years down the line, hype in the sector has collapsed, causing critics of the space to deride and question the longevity of NFTs. The real questions are whether NFTs have a future, and if yes, where does the future of NFTs lie, purely for speculative purposes or something more? Full Article Here The New Model (Digital Asset) Economy with Inflation Resistant Money… Coming to a City Near You!- The precursors for our current high inflation, debt based, economy and highlights the upcoming deployment of new DeFi based platforms and infrastructure for the creation and use of ‘inflation resistant’ money. The new open and permissionless platforms have no custodial functions and have been designed to enable the global marketplace access to highly liquid, small, enumerated, legal titles of real estate (property) inside of distributed regulated exchanges and global payment systems.The ‘New Model Economy’ design and thinking is a bold and globally significant step towards an asset-based economy that is designed to create a low debt / low inflation economic system with trusted and stable, intrinsic value, ‘real’ money. The design offers many potential advantages to both the global retail consumers to protect their wealth, to property owners seeking liquidity, and to central banks and governments seeking to safely manage their national economies in a high inflation / high debt economic cycle.The New Model Economy design and thinking, that has been carefully assembled over many years, offers some very tantalising global solutions to all of us. Full Article Here

The failure of FTX has served to highlight the fragility of risk controls and strong governance in the cryptocurrencies sector. Increasingly, institutional investors are likely to question the reliability, oversight, risk controls, cybersecurity precautions to mitigate hacks, etc, of service providers’ back-offices. The use of technology will increase as digital assets trade 24/7 and make many of the manual process and procedures that are currently relied upon questionable - not to mention the challenges around having to deal with a multitude of jurisdictions and custody providers. Full Article Here

Welcome to this week’s Digital Bytes. This week we have analysis on the following topics: Blockchains are being used more than you may realise - the implementation of blockchain technology as a resource has enabled several businesses to improve operational processes. Recent developments have shown that blockchains can be used for more than just payments and finance-related functions. Companies are finding new ways to transform their businesses in designing new products and services whilst driving through greater efficiencies and cost savings. Using blockchain technology it is like using a supercomputer where many parties can interact at the same time and use an immutable, cryptographically secure yet transparent database. Full Article Here Institutions successfully use blockchains to create and process digital assets - with over $20 trillion of bonds being issued a year and $100trillion in funds, not to mention the $trillions a day the FX markets handle, it ought to be of no surprise that financial institutions have been testing and are now issuing digital assets backed by real assets. The promise of greater transparency and improved efficiency at a lower cost by using DLTs or blockchain technology is increasingly grabbing the attention of many established financial services companies. Full Article Here CBDCs’ recent developments, including the pros and cons - many jurisdictions have been working on CBDC projects for a while and some are transitioning into launch mode. Some clear advantages have been identified, especially in the wholesale markets and for cross border transactions so helping to make FX faster and cheaper. Despite the advantages and ongoing decline of people using physical cash, concerns about CBDCs persist especially around privacy. Full Article Here Technology and the role of the hedge fund custodian post-FTX - the failure of FTX has served to highlight the fragility of risk controls and strong governance in the cryptocurrencies sector. Increasingly, institutional investors are likely to question the reliability, oversight, risk controls, cybersecurity precautions to mitigate hacks, etc, of service providers’ back-offices. The use of technology will increase as digital assets trade 24/7 and make many of the manual process and procedures that are currently relied upon questionable - not to mention the challenges around having to deal with a multitude of jurisdictions and custody providers. Full Article Here

‘Permacrisis’ - the Collins Dictionary word of the year 2022 ·      inflation is not going to retreat quickly ·      will some ICOs, 4 to 5 years later, finally deliver? ·      legal clarity for digital assets ·      the rise of CBDCs and stablecoins ·      private companies become easier to invest in ·      self-custody ·      increase in digital funds ·      metaverse to gain traction ·      smart contracts ·      ‘Loads of money’ being replaced by greater inclusion? ·      will NFTs become the next ICO-type scandal? ·      greater DLT/blockchain adoption ·      digital nomads: their numbers are set to grow ·      SWIFT - a platform to expand digital assets Plus: Articles that attracted most interest / downloads / views each month in 2022

Dr Jane Thomason, a globe-trotting futurist, is passionate about how technology can help us have a more sustainable economy and here shares her thoughts on Web3, NFTs, Defi, Metaverse and a lot more of what is to come in 2023. Jane brings a unique perspective and observations since she interacts with a wide diverse community of people across the world in the commercial as well as the not-for-profit sectors.

Welcome to this week’s Digital Bytes. This week we have analysis on the following topics: Blockchains are changing the way you buy your home - blockchain technology has already been successfully used for a number of years in Australia by a company called PEXA, which has recorded over 11 million property transactions. The same firm has recently set its sights on the UK to revolutionise the way in which mortgages are handled and processed. Digital currencies now offer those involved in buying or selling a property an increasing range of options to pay for real estate and avoid many of current costs - potentially much to the chagrin of existing lenders and intermediaries in the property sector. Full Article Here Takeaways from the FTX’s fiasco - FTX has stolen the spotlight in the crypto world since Terra Luna crashed in May. The fall of the FTX crypto exchange does raise questions regarding the cause, competitors, Sam Bankman-Fried himself and effects of its demise. What lessons can we learn, apart from there needing to be greater corporate governance in order to avert what happened to FTX occurring again? Full Article Here Asset management firms increasingly turning to blockchain solutions - aside from automating many of the tasks associated with inventory management such as data entry and asset tracking, Blockchain increases trust, security, transparency and traceability of data shared across business networks. It is therefore not surprising that asset management firms are increasingly turning to Blockchain solutions. Full Article Here Blockchain, Web 3.0, the “7 c’s” and the future - Dr Jane Thomason, a globe-trotting futurist, is passionate about how technology can help us have a more sustainable economy and here shares her thoughts on Web3, NFTs, Defi, Metaverse and a lot more of what is to come in 2023. Jane brings a unique perspective and observations since she interacts with a wide diverse community of people across the world in the commercial as well as the not-for-profit sectors. Full Article Here

A combination of a light regulatory touch, a lack of governance and risk controls would have appeared to have led to FTX’s downfall - as opposed to some systemic problem with cryptocurrencies per say. The combination of DeFi and regulation is an outstanding value proposition for institutions. Long term, the crypto industry has an opportunity to build a better system with DeFi and self-custodial wallets that do not rely on trusting third parties. Full Article Here