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Rick and Morty co-creator joins hands with Fox to roll out the first ever blockchain-based animated series

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Rick and Morty rose to impeccable fame throughout the last few years. While the fervor around this show hasn’t subsided, its co-creator is all set to roll out an all-new animated series, however, this one is reportedly going to be a blockchain-based one.

This isn’t all as the Fox Broadcasting Company would be spearheading this show with Dan Harmon, the co-creator of Rick and Morty. It was reported that the blockchain-based comedy series, Krapopolis would be the first of its kind. Similar to Rick and Morty, Harmon’s latest series will be based on a family, however, this would be in an ancient Greece setting. Elaborating on the show, The Hollywood Reporter wrote,

“[..] centered on a flawed family of humans, gods, and monsters that tries to run one of the world’s first cities without killing each other.”

Rick and Morty creator and Fox jump onto the crypto-bandwagon

This aside, Fox announced this partnership with another one. Fox is all set to dive into the NFT business with Blockchain Creative Labs. With this platform and its imminent show, Fox intends to elevate the role of advertisers in the blockchain-powered tokens or NFT platforms.

The CEO of Fox Entertainment, Charlie Collier spoke to the advertisers about the same and said,

“Not to go too far into it today, but as an advertiser-focused, artist-first and animation-obsessed company, [..] And Dan’s series, currently entitled Krapopolis, will be the first-ever curated entirely on the blockchain. And just as we’re doing this for our own animation, we will also help your brands connect directly with fans and enthusiasts through NFTs. With and for you, Fox will help art meet brands meet technology.”

Additionally, NFTs have been garnering a lot of traction across the globe. This new crypto trend has caught the eye of many as several celebrities have been getting on board with this. Fox’s latest move could further spruce up the trend.

IOHK To Formulate A New Mobile Network In Tanzania

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Blockchain technology is growing at an unstoppable pace. Ethiopia and Tanzania seemed to be making use of this technology with the help of IOHK.

The underlying technology that cryptocurrencies have been employing over the years has proved to be widely beneficial. Blockchain technology has found a place in several industries across the globe. Now, Input Output Hong Kong [IOHK] seemed to be taking this technology to an African country in order to renew its education system.

IOHK Partners With World Mobile

In the recent Cardano Africa 2021 event, it was revealed that IOHK would be taking 5G to Tanzania with the prominent platform World Mobile, which works on blockchain tech. This partnership would reportedly give rise to a mobile network that would offer stable internet to those living in the African region.

IOHK Intends To Transform Ethiopia’s Education System

It was recently revealed that IOHK would be using blockchain tech to formulate a system that would entail a national teacher as well as student ID. With this system, teachers would reportedly be able to verify grades as well as keep an eye on the performance of the students digitally. This system will reportedly be put in place to bolster the education and employment rate across the country.

IOHK’s African Operations unit is currently being spearheaded by its director, John O’Connor. He revealed that the platform has spent about five years on research and development. This further allowed them to notice that Cardano was “mature enough” to employ a blockchain solution that had the ability to render to an entire nation. He added,

“Ethiopia’s blockchain-based education transformation is a key milestone on IOHK’s mission to provide economic identities and employment, social and financial services for the digitally excluded.”

With IOHK’s Atala PRISM ID, officials would be able to roll out the academic performance of over five million students from 3,500 schools in the country. This system would reportedly be a “tamper-proof” one.

Additionally, the country’s Education Minister Getahun Mekuria pointed out that his expectations with regard to the IOHK’s blockchain tech were high as it would end “digital exclusion”. He added,

“Ethiopia’s Sheba Valley is already recognized as the leading AI hub in Africa, 70 percent of our university graduates are in STEM subjects and we are now leading the way in using blockchain to digitalize education. This forms a key plank of our National Digital Transformation Strategy and will underpin a uniquely transparent, data-driven education system based on a dynamic curriculum.”

Ethiopian Education System to Use Cardano Blockchain in Partnership with IOHK

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Cardano has seen tremendous adoption in recent months. In the latest development, IOHK, the blockchain research, and development arm of the Cardano blockchain announced a partnership with the government of Ethiopia.

This unique tie-up involves the implementation of a blockchain-based national student and faculty ID, as well as an educational background recording system. This essentially enables users to digitally and remotely verify their grades, monitor school performance, and further, the growth of education and employment across the country said the official press release.

Cardano Boosting Education Sector Of Ethiopia

In short, Cardano will essentially enable the students and the teachers to seamlessly track grades, behavior, attendance, and educational background, from kindergarten to primary and secondary education quite accurately.

From managing schedules and transfers, to report behaviors and dropouts, the latest project will subsequently continue to college. For instance, the bachelor’s degrees will be digitally certified on the Cardano blockchain. Employers of an educational institution, on the other hand, will be able to verify the authenticity of the applicant’s educational background information.

The project is one of the biggest blockchain deployments in Ethiopia. In line with this, IOHK African Operations Director, John O’Connor, stated that the blockchain-powered education transformation is an important milestone on the software company’s mission to offer economic identities and employment, social and financial services for the digitally deprived section.

Moving forward with its digital transformation strategy, Ethiopia also aims to use IOHK’s recently built Atala PRISM ID in the future As part of the wider adoption, this will allow authorities to develop a tamper-proof record of educational performance for five million students, 3,500 schools, and 750,000 teachers to track the locations among other things while simultaneously targeting educational resources constructively.

Following the development country’s education minister Getahun Mekuria, was quoted saying,

“We believe blockchain offers a key opportunity to end digital exclusion and widen access to higher education and employment.”

Tata Steel-HSBC Seal First Blockchain-Based Trade Finance Deal

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Blockchain has made many remarkable strides across various fields. In a first of its kind, Indian multinational steel-making company, Tata Steel, along with HSBC, conducted a blockchain-enabled paperless trade transaction.

First “integrated paperless letter of credit and eDocs transaction for a steel export” using Blockchain

The Indian metal giant executed the fist-ever blockchain-powered trade finance deal with a UAE-based business called Universal Tubes and Plastic Industries Ltd. The company reportedly imported its order of flat carbon steel to the UAE from Tata Steel’s base in India.

The complete paperless transaction was carried out over the Contour platform. Notably, HSBC is a founding shareholder of the blockchain platform. The multinational investment bank led the latest transaction between the two companies and went on to validate the operational feasibility of blockchain technology as an alternative to the traditional mode of exchanges that entail paper-based documentation.

While asserting that the Indian exporter using its in-house potential and external ecosystems via careful curation of collaborations to advance innovation, Peeyush Gupta, the vice-president [steel marketing and sales], Tata Steel, was quoted saying,

“Adoption of this platform is in line with our objective of agility and enabling a faceless yet trustworthy all-time interface to better customer experience. This unique initiative, exec­uted in collaboration with HSBC, demonstrates our continued efforts to lead technology-led disruptions by challenging the status quo.”

Sunil Veetil, who happens to be the Regional Head of Global Trade and Receivables Finance [GTRF] at HSBC acknowledged being confident that this example of blockchain technology use will set the for widespread adoption by other clients, counterparties, and industries.

Blockchain’s Impact On Trade Finance

The trade finance sector relies significantly on paper-based processes that are an easy target to security vulnerabilities. These archaic ways of legacy transactions are not efficient and can take as long as 90-120 days in order to process letters of credit, substantiate documents, and institute trust among stakeholders.

Blockchain technology, on the other hand, can digitize end-to-end trade finance affairs with much more security as well as efficiency. It allows more transparency in terms of governance, reduces processing times, reduces capital requirements as well as greatly minimizes and averts risks of fraud, human error, and overall counterparty risk.

China’s Digital Yuan Ranks Third in World; Second In Asia In CBDC Race: Report

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China has made significant progress in the development of central bank digital currency [CBDC], becoming the world’s first major economy to pilot a digital currency. Even so, as per a new report, the digital yuan is not the topmost CBDC in the world or in Asia.

According to the latest report by PricewaterhouseCoopers [PwC], China is third when it comes to project maturity, behind the Bahamas with the Sand Dollar and Cambodia, with project Bakong.

The report also mentioned that the digital version of the Bahamian Dollar as well as Cambodia’s DLT-based interbank payment system is either accessible to all the residents via the mobile application, physical payment card, or already is tied up with domestic commercial banks and payment processors. But China is still at the advanced level of trial.

China’s Digital Yuan Might Not Be Able to Tip Dollar’s Supremacy Just Yet

Despite popular notions about Digital Yuan, there are other CBDCs at the global level that require attention. Many market commentators have previously speculated China’s digital yuan to be a huge threat to the dollar. The digitization of China’s yuan has been a thing of global fascination especially in the backdrop of a flourishing cryptocurrency market. With regards to political implications and as well as the new economic levers that digital yuan might generate for the government domestically as well internationally, were also given adequate food for thought.

However, a senior Bank of Japan official recently downplayed the potential for China’s digital yuan to threaten the dollar’s position as the world’s main reserve currency. Kazushige Kamiyama, who happens to be head of the BOJ’s payment systems department and the individual who is tasked with looking into a virtual Japanese currency stated,

“The dollar’s status as the key global currency won’t change so easily. In fact, the dollar’s advantage may strengthen further if the U.S. goes with digitalization.”

Martin Chorzempa, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, also noted that despite China’s massively-hyped digital currency advances, the digitized yuan is yet to prove to be cheaper, more efficient, more private, or more convenient than the existing domestic and international payment systems. While addressing the “threat” to the USD, Chorzempa added,

“[It is] unlikely to represent any more a threat to the dollar’s international dominance than the current forms of RMB, at least over the short and medium-term”

Crypto M&A Forecast For 2021 Strong Despite Dull Price Action

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The crypto market dropped to a $1.12 trillion market cap, at the time of writing. Despite this, 2021 has been a watershed moment year for the whole industry even as the staggering bull rally has come to a halt.

Many anticipated a bullish turn of events for Bitcoin and the altcoins during the weekend. However, the prices continued to remain in a consolidation mode and were far below the record-breaking numbers.

As the crypto industry shrugged off the craziness of the bull run, several companies have flourished this season. According to reports, M&A activity figures soared like never before as pandemic grappled the space in 2020.

M&A Activity in Crypto Industry To Soar Higher In 2021

Bloomberg revealed that the total value of mergers and acquisitions in the digital asset world more than doubled last year to $1.1 billion from 2019. The average deal size surged to $52.7 million from $19.2 million. With respect to demographics, it was Europe and Asia that saw a greater percentage of activity taking place.

Fundraising in the industry, on the other hand, saw a massive rise of 33% in overall value from 2019. It also said that while merger and acquisition activity in the industry was at its peak last year, the figure is headed to continue again this year and is likely to climb higher.

On a similar note, Henri Arslanian, PwC global cryptocurrency leader, was reportedly quoted saying,

“[2021].. is already on track to significantly surpass it from every single metric”

The impetus for a surge in activity is greater awareness of the asset class as well as blockchain technology. This can be attributed to the fact that the cryptocurrency market has expanded considerably in the first quarter of 2021 alone when compared to last year. Bitcoin surged ninefold in the last year all thanks to the mainstream embrace and interest from large investors and endorsements. All this and more has catapulted the asset class’s growth.

Here’s Why SecuX Should Be Your Next Crypto Wallet

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The increase in the demand for cryptocurrencies has also elevated the number of platforms in
the industry. With an array of products available in the market, those interested in using them
are always left confused, as to which product to choose. However, choosing a hardware wallet
just got easier with SecuX’s latest range of wallets.

SecuX entered the crypto market in 2018 and has been delivering a wide range of wallets. With
a vision of keeping up and offering answers to the emerging blockchain technology, SecuX has
been giving its competitors like Ledger and Trezor a run for their money.

Getting started with SecuX wallets: Pros

SecuX currently offers three varieties of hardware wallets including V20, W20, and W10.

●Support for multiple assets

These wallets support over 1000 cryptocurrencies with the inclusion of ERC-20 tokens. Users
will be able to find support for prominent cryptocurrencies like BTC, ETH, XRP, BNB, XLM, and
several others.

●Vault-grade protection

SecuX W20 Hardware Wallet Portfolio

Security is the most important aspect with regard to crypto wallets. SecuX offers an Infineon
SLE solid Flash CC EAL5+ Secure Element chip [SE] that aids in securing the PIN as well as
the private key of the users from any potential cyber or physical attack.

●Connectivity

With the V20 and the W20 models, users will be able to connect the device to the
laptop/desktop with a help of a USB and a mobile phone with Bluetooth. Other devices like
Tablets and iPad are also supported by the aforementioned wallets.

●Touch Screen

SecuX W10 Hardware Wallet 1

While there are several wallet providers in the market, SecuX stands out with its large 2.8”
touchscreen. This makes it easier for users to operate on, specifically while making
transactions.

● Compatibility

The W20, as well as V20, are compatible with prominent operating systems like Windows,
Chrome OS, MAC OS, iOS, Android, and Linux. The W10 is, however, not compatible with

Andriod and iOS.

SecuX V20 Hardware Wallet CrossPlatform 1

●Account recoverability

Recovering accounts just got easier as SecuX’s wallets are complaint with BIP32, BIP39 as well
as BIP44.

●Battery Life

With a 600mAh battery, the wallets last up to 7 hours with every charge. While Ledger offers
only 100mAh on its Nano X. An offline balance check is also found in these wallets.

Cons

●Size

When compared to the wallets offered by Ledger, which are USB sized, the dimensions of
SecuX wallets are bigger and easier to use.

●Number of coins supported

1000 Crypto Coins Tokens Support

While Ledger offers support for over 1100 crypto assets, Trezor supports more than 1090 coins.
SecuX, however, supports only 1000+ coins.

Setting up your wallet

SecuX wallets can be found on Amazon as well as Webshop. The V20 Flagshop is priced at
$139, W20 Fantasy for $119, and W10 Lite at $69 on SecuX Webshop. The SecuX mobile
application can be found on the App Store and Google Play for Andriod users. ​
​
SecuX Hardware Wallet is available for purchase on their website. Those interested in buying
right away can get up to 15% discounts on the purchase.

SecuX V20 and W20 wallets – 15% off with coupon code “ tronweekly ”
SecuX W10 wallet – 10% off with coupon code “ tronweeklyw10 ”

Linkin Park’s Shinoda Raises $30K From NFT Just Hours After Unveiling

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With NFT becoming the new disruptor in the art market, Linkin Park rapper Mike Shinoda has become the latest one to have taken on this concept of blockchain art.

The American Musician has shared his first-ever digital collectible piece called the ‘One-Hundredth Stream’ which was dropped on Zora, which is a site for buying limited edition art and other goods.

Reportedly, the auction for the digital art piece has received an offer of $30,000. Shinoda confirmed on Twitter that the entire sum will be donated to a scholarship that he funded at ArtCenter College of Design to benefit students based on artistic merit and financial need.

In a follow up tweet, Shinoda revealed that there was more to come and also went on to explain that the non-fungible token [NFT] contains the music created by the rap-rock icon.

“And if the contained song becomes more popular, then arguably the NFT becomes more valuable.”

He added that listing an item this way would likely be more profitable than releasing a song across the globe through traditional methods. He wrote,

“Here’s the crazy thing. Even if I upload the full version of the contained song to DSPs worldwide (which I can still do), I would never get even close to $10k, after fees by DSPs, label, marketing, etc,”

NFT Hype

Shinoda is not the first one to dip his toes into the flourishing space of NFT technology. He joined other popular artists such as Lil Yachty who secured a whopping $16,050 for his first collectible, Carl Cox who also released music as a token, and Soulja Boy who minted his first piece.

It is without a doubt that NFT has emerged as a strong contender to steal the spotlight in the 2021 crypto world.

A quick primer: NFT is a special cryptographically-generated token that leverages the blockchain technology to link with a unique digital asset that cannot be replicated. They are tokenized versions of a non-fungible asset such as artwork, real estate, or collectibles and possess properties and individual characteristics that make them unique and valuable.

NFT are not similar to the traditional cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, which are fungible.

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With respect to market capitalization, the non-fungible token industry saw a massive growth of 17% in the year 2019 and was forecasted to proliferate 50% by the end of 2020. According to NFT data resource NonFungible.com, the sales activity has risen dramatically especially since last September.

After a minor phase of cool off in late last December, the volumes have picked up yet again.

Coinbase Acquires Another Company Ahead Of Its IPO

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Prominent cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase seems to be going all out in terms of acquiring platforms. The San Fransisco-based digital asset exchange recently caught the attention of many after its plans to go public were revealed. As the exchange was seen preparing for its initial public offering [IPO], Coinbase went on to acquire another blockchain platform in less than a month.

Coinbase Bags Bison Trails

The interest the cryptocurrency industry is garnering right now is almost unexplainable. With the value of almost all the assets skyrocketing, people are seen pouring into the industry. As crypto platforms are required to spruce up their games, Coinbase was seen prepping the right way. In a recent blog post, Coinbase revealed that it was teaming up with Bison Trails, a blockchain infrastructure platform.

Blockchain and crypto have moved past their nascent stage in terms of adoption. From being outrightly condemned by officials, to becoming a trillion-dollar industry, the crypto-verse has come a long way. Coinbase, with its latest acquisition, hopes to stimulate the adoption of blockchain technology through an easy to use infrastructure throughout the globe. The blog post further read,

“By joining forces, we aim to bring the advanced technology that the Bison Trails team has developed — and continues to develop — to more projects and more companies around the world. […] Bison Trails will serve as a foundational element within Coinbase’s ecosystem suite of products, powering all participants in the cryptoeconomy.”

Bison Trails spearheaded by Aaron Henshaw and Joe Lallouz entered the blockchain industry back in 2018. The prominent blockchain platform will reportedly function as a standalone product. In its recent post, Bison Trails revealed that the platform had worked with the exchange in the past.

Earlier this month, the crypto exchange announced the acquisition of Routefire to bolster its trading activities. While the capital involved in this acquisition was undisclosed, the exchange hadn’t revealed any financial data of its latest partnership either.

Australia To Employ Blockchain Tech To Carry Out Inter-Govt Document Exchange With Singapore

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Governments across the globe seem to be getting out of their comfort zone and moving towards digitalization. Australia seems to be taking the lead on this one. The government revealed that it had been probing the prospects of blockchain technology specifically for inter-government document exchange with Singapore. The Australian Border Force [ABF] has reportedly been spearheading the development of the same.

Australia Rolls Out Solutions To Aid Convenient Cross Border Trade

As reported by a news portal, the Australian Border Force [ABF] had reportedly rolled out a trial to test digital verification systems on blockchain tech. This was carried out by ABF in collaboration with Singapore Customs and Singapore Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA). The agency revealed that this first of its kind system was formulated at the United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT) by experts from Singapore and Australia.

Several platforms from Australia as well as Singapore are said to be a part of the trial. These platforms include the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Australian Industry Group, ANZ along with financial institutions in Singapore. This trial will reportedly test the digital verification platforms for electronic trade documents across ABF-developed Intergovernmental Ledger (IGL) and IMDA’s TradeTrust.

The Commissioner of ABF, Michael Outram spoke about its latest collaboration and said,

“The ABF welcomes the opportunity to collaborate further with Singapore to improve cross-border trade between our countries. In addition to our efforts internationally, this initiative will incorporate paperless trading and secure, digital exchange of trade information as part of the future architecture and design of an Australian Trade Single Window”.

The aforementioned platforms part of the trial will reportedly deliver their feedback on the system. Their experience in verifying the certificates of origin prioritizing administration costs reduction as well as a boost in trade efficiency would be noted. This would further be delivered to the Supply Chain Working Group’s Discovery Report under the National Blockchain Roadmap that has been carried out by the Department of Industry, Science, Energy, and Resources.

Australia has made it clear that the country has an inclination towards adopting blockchain technology. Australia has been making a lot of news with regard to the incorporation of blockchain tech. Back in September, the Australian government announced that it was allocating a whopping $6.9 million to explore the potentials of blockchain tech. This was further followed by a major Australian mango producer employing blockchain tech to track mangoes.