How Walmart Is Using Blockchain

How Walmart Is Using Blockchain

Walmart is the world’s largest company by revenue and now they are incorporating blockchain into their supply chain. The multinational retail corporation is specifically targeting leafy green suppliers and requiring that they use blockchain technology. All of this is in an effort to prevent the spread of E-coli. Earlier this year there were outbreaks from lettuce. So to briefly summarize how Walmart is using blockchain, they are enhancing their food traceability for the safety of the consumer.

Video: How Walmart Is Using Blockchain

The end-to-end traceability system is based on distributed ledger technology (DLT) developed by computing giant IBM. According to the report, Walmart will require suppliers to implement blockchain tech by September 2019.

The company’s Vice President of Food Safety, Frank Yiannas, stated that Walmart will require a similar traceability system “for other fresh fruit and vegetable providers within the next year.” Walmart told Bloomberg that over 100 companies will be required to implement IBM’s blockchain service.

Walmart claims that blockchain tech implementation will “dramatically [improve] efficiency.”

According to Reuters, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) consulted with Walmart to improve product traceability in order to help health officials track and manage the outbreaks of foodborne illnesses.

Earlier this year, five people died and dozens more were hospitalized in an outbreak of the E. Coli virus in the U.S. The CDC estimated that over 200 people were infected in total.

Recently, Walmart filed tech-related patents for several different blockchain applications, including the improvement of secure deliveries, methods for managing smart appliances, and a healthcare information system, among others. In June, Walmart and nine other companies partnered with IBM to release a blockchain-based system for tracking food through its supply chain globally.

Cointelegraph

 

Square Cash Has A Beautiful Landing Page But Fails To Provide Real Bitcoin Services

Square Cash Has A Beautiful Landing Page But Fails To Provide Real Bitcoin Services

Square Cash, also known as “Cash” or Square, Inc. has recently added Bitcoin investing to their list of services.  Square Cash allows users to transfer money using a phone app. The platform now boasts over 7 million users, as of 2018.

Why Square Cash Fails To Provide Real Bitcoin Services

With their new found interest in Bitcoin and blockchain technology, Square, Inc. is now allowing users to purchase and hold Bitcoin in their app. The catch is, they hold the blockchain asset, not you. We explored their new service offering and were completely let down. It turns out you can’t send or receive Bitcoin from the Square app. There are no bitcoin addresses to be seen. Bitcoin and blockchain are all about transparency and the Square Cash app gives users the opposite. They tell you that you now hold Bitcoin in the app but how do you know? You simply can’t verify the information. We doubt they are lying about any of the info displayed, but how would you know otherwise?

If Square Cash wants acceptance from Bitcoin investors, they will have to update their app and make it more transparent. There needs to be proof of purchase on the Bitcoin blockchain. Verifiability is paramount in the blockchain space.

What we liked was their beautiful landing page and informative information about Bitcoin and it’s anonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto.

Check out some screenshots from https://cash.me/bitcoin :

 

New US Congress Report Praises Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Technology

New US Congress Report Praises Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Technology

The report is generally positive on the matter of cryptocurrency, which is surprising. They want “policymakers” to be more educated about blockchain and its potential.

It seems the US government is warming up to crypto and accepting the fact that blockchains are not going away.

Excerpts From The Cryptocurrency Report:

Blockchain Looks Like the New Internet

“The buzz surrounding digital currencies resembles the internet excitement in the late 1990s when people recognized technology companies could change the world. Many internet companies launched and their valuations took off in short order. Many failed, but a few succeeded spectacularly and challenged the conventional ways of doing business.”

 

Cryptocurrencies Could Outshine Government Fiat

“Some critics of currencies controlled by government fiat welcome cryptocurrencies because their supply is preprogrammed and perceived as unchangeable. For example, only 21 million bitcoins will ever be issued and the last fraction of a bitcoin will be issued in approximately 2140. Additionally, the creator of Ethereum designed its mining reward to decline exponentially as more miners create blocks, and according to his calculations the supply will be just over 100 million ether.”

 

Blockchain Is Secure and Efficient

“Cryptocurrencies and ICOs create headlines, and the pace of financial innovation in the blockchain space amazes skeptics. Yet, with all the headlines focusing on the financial applications, people may miss the digital revolution now happening with other blockchain applications. Even worse, people could be frightened about new developments with the technology as they associate blockchains with the negative headlines. Blockchain technology offers a decentralized, secure, and efficient way to store almost any form of data across multiple platforms.”

 

The Conclusion

“Technology presents evolving challenges and generates new solutions. Blockchain technology essentially stores and transmits data securely, in large volume, and at high speeds. So far, the technology has proved largely resistant to hacking, and given this feature, developers first applied it to digital currencies. Yet blockchain has many more potential applications, such as portable medical records and securing the critical financial and energy infrastructure that the Report identified.”

Source

Need For Speed Blockchain Comparison – How Fast Is Steem?

Need For Speed Blockchain Comparison – How Fast Is Steem?

As demand rises and blockchains grow, they must be able to scale. When doing a blockchain comparison there are several aspects that should be looked at. The speed of blockchain transactions is one of the most important aspects when considering scalability and usability.

The first ever blockchain, Bitcoin is now over 8 years old. It still functions well as a store of value, but the rise of transactional and speculative demand of Bitcoin has severely slowed down the database.

A few weeks ago, community members of Steemit launched a Thunderclap comparing The blockchains STEEM, Ethereum, Bitcoin, and Litecoin.

The results are staggering. STEEM transaction speed is lighting fast compared to the other blockchains. The Thunderclap included the following GIF made by Steem user @kyriacos. Check it out:

If you think STEEM if fast, wait till EOS launches in June 2018! Many of the developers that built BitShares and STEEM are now working on EOS. We believe that everything they learned and perfected on the first two iterations will help EOS be the best blockchain yet.

Learn More About STEEM & EOS: