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KuCoin Cryptocurrency Exchange Platform Successfully Listed Merculet’s Native Currency MVP

KuCoin exchange announces today that they have listed the primary and transaction currency of the internet focused decentralized platform, Merculet MV.

Deposit is now available using KuCoin’s app on any iOS or Android devices or to their official website www.kucoin.com. Buying commences at 19:30 UTC+8 and Selling/Withdrawal at 20:00 UTC+8 with trading pairs MVP/BTC and MVP/ETH.

About Merculet MVP

Merculet derived from Mercury and Blocklet, the Roman God of Commercial and the cornerstone of the blockchain, use blockchain technology to improve the relations between consumers, producers, and investors. It allows users to monetize their application. As an addition, it also assists businesses to increase their businesses by producing a good review ecosystem and the re-distribution of the trillion-dollar value-driven economy.

It has also generated an Attention Value Network (token: MVP). It connects the supply and market sides of attention with an open contract suite to promote good circulation of the Internet of Value.

Attention Value Network

Mobile Internet is mostly about traffic. The Internet of Value derived from the mobile Internet is essentially an attention economy.

Merculet presents a holistic solution to help companies and users embrace the attention economy and build a distributed, valuefocused network. It connects and performs the match and value exchange between the supply and demand side of attention.

It consists of three central components: The UAV (User Attention Value) evaluation system, User Attention Token(UAT) as the foundation of attention incentive system and Open Content Platform to solve the problem of attention source.

The MVP Token

MVP is short for Merculet Value Protocol and a standard ERC20 public chain asset.

Enterprises can immediately access other application circulation scenarios by anchoring their own UAT and MVP, or interact with the ecology of another public chain world; MVP also supports ecologically beneficial behaviors and introduces strategic priorities. Incentive resources to assure the healthy and orderly evolution of the entire growth ecology.

MVP is the cornerstone of Merculet Attention Value System and anchored by UAT. MVP could connect various enterprises by certain rates and promote the value distribution between them.

Meanwhile, MVP also implement better support for enterprises from various aspects.

The difference between UAT and MVP

UAT is distributed within the technical support of Merculet. It establishes the contractual relationship between each company and its users. It is mainly used to circulate as the operation tools within the company. The initial operation is in the Internet Asset Layer which maintained by Merculet and the entrepreneurs. It also could mapping their asset to the public chain according to the requirements of the enterprise;

In short, entrepreneurs could assign their UATs and offer to users according to the user’s UAV which based on their own operating rules. MVP comes from the Merculet Token Pool and softmining in different ways. Different UATs will run in specific APP/enterprise, while MVP will circulate over different apps/enterprises within the Merculet Ecology.

Locktrip LOC Token Is Now Available At KuCoin Exchange Platform

For the past years, online booking concerns on hotels and other accommodations have been a common issue among individuals. Extra charges have been imposed that becomes economically unwise especially to budgeted travelers. Locktrip, the first and one of its kind, is a blockchain based decentralized project that aims to solve this problem.

Today, as part of their marketing extension, they are proudly announcing that they have listed their native currency LOC to one of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, KuCoin.

LOC token is now available for deposit utilizing KuCoin’s Android and iOS apps, or to their official website, www.kucoin.com.

Other transactions such as buying start at 19:30 UTC+8 and selling/withdrawal at 20:00 UTC+8.

About Locktrip

LockTrip is a marketplace intended for travelers who want to obtain cheaper rates through the absence of expensive intermediaries. Like most centralized websites, property owners often contract costly fees that are passed down to the consumer when booking hotels and other accommodations. LockTrip aims to significantly lower these rates.

How Locktrip Works

Modern travel websites that aid booking accommodations, such as Expedia or Airbnb, are centralized and thus demand some charges towards both property owners and customers, and additionally require middlemen to transact payments. LockTrip will evade the need for these expenses by setting the marketplace on the Ethereum blockchain, which will decentralize the process and offer full transaction transparency.

Property owners will be provided the opportunity to add and update their listings on the easy to access LOC Ledger interface. With the offer of simplicity and one-click solutions, proprietors will find LockTrip not only saves them money but executes the transfer of listings from current platforms especially easy.

Customers also experience savings and usability with the help of LockTrip. With access to both a desktop and mobile marketplace, LockTrip will offer easy to use explications for travelers searching for rental accommodations, and a lack of commission fees will support them continue to save money.

The LOC Token

The whole LockTrip system is established on the LOC token, which will be presented available during a token sale. Hotel and property owners who want to be listed on the LockTrip marketplace are compelled to hold LOC tokens; however, renters do not significantly need them, as any currency they use to book will be automatically shifted to LOC. However, the utility of fiat or non-native currency will result in marketplace charges that can be circumvented with the use of LOC.

LockTrip is the first step in the decentralization of hotel and short-term rental property booking, and with the presentation of money-saving choices for both owners and renters and an easy to use marketplace, it may transform the concept of booking effectively.

The Ledger Blue Hardware Wallet Review: Securing Your Crypto Portfolio in 2018

Is the Ledger Blue a premier hardware wallet we’ve all been waiting for?

Starting to amass a decent-sized crypto portfolio? If you haven’t already, you should be taking steps to build your own digital Fort Knox, to stop the online highwaymen from pilfering all your well-researched buys. The Ledger Blue cryptocurrency wallet is one such security device that’s vying for your attention.

Launched at the backend of 2016, the Ledger Blue is a hardware wallet—a dedicated device in which to store your private keys—and has an number of top security features to try and make your crypto nest egg as safe as possible.

A premium hardware wallet with an advanced user experience thanks to a large touchscreen interface

As this wallet stores your private keys offline, it prevents nefarious hackers from being able to get their grubby hands on them. It can be locked using a pin code up to 8 digits in length, and backed up using a 24-word recovery phrase. It features a WYSIWYS paradigm—’What You See Is What You Get’—to ensure the integrity of all transactions, while protecting against viruses, malware and man-in-the-middle attacks.

https://www.ledger.com/products/ledger-blue

Price at over at £249 just over $250, it’s certainly not cheap, but it can be argued that the peace of mind it brings is worth it. With a 3.5 inch touchscreen, the Ledger Blue is a handheld device that’s compatible with computers and smartphones running most major operating systems—connecting via USB or Bluetooth—and is also able to operate independently of them.

It’s firmware is designed to run a number of apps over the top of it, supporting a wide range of currencies for storage, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple and Neo. It’s also compatible with a number of software wallets such as Copay, Electrum, Mycelium, MyEtherWallet and BitGo.

As is the case with other hardware wallets, the Ledger Blue doesn’t physically hold any of your cryptocurrency portfolio on the device, instead storing the private keys needed to access each currency, and tracking your holdings on the blockchain.

Setting up the Ledger Blue

Upon setting up the device for first use, you’re able to install and configure any compatible companion wallet apps in order to manage the various coins in your portfolio. The Ledger Blue’s software guides you through this process from the beginning, while also prompting you to choose your pin code and backup recovery phrase, so you can be thoroughly secured before you start to send or receive payments.

Once you’re ready to transfer some funds in or out of your wallets, the Ledger Blue prompts you to connect to your computer or smartphone via USB. Using your secure pin code, you can then access your coin’s relevant app on the Blue, confirm the transaction amount, verify and send it securely using the Ledger’s touchscreen.

What currencies does the Ledger Blue support?

Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
Bitcoin Gold (BTG)
Bitcoin (BTC)
Dash (DASH)
Digibyte (DGB)
Dogecoin (DOGE)
Ethereum (ETH)
Ethereum Classic (ETC)
Expanse (EXP)
Hcash (HSR)
Komodo (KMD)
Litecoin (LTC)
Neo (NEO)
PivX (PIVX)
Qtum (QTUM)
Ripple (XRP)
Stealthcoin (XST)
Stratis (STRAT)
Ubiq (UBQ)
Vertcoin (VTC)
Viacoin (VIA)
Zcash (ZEC)
Ledger Blue alternatives

There are cheaper alternatives to the Ledger Blue on the market such as the Ledger Nano S which we reviewed, although most don’t contain the myriad of features or snazzy interface that the Blue boasts and can be extremely buggy when using the Chrome app or Ledger Live manager . Do your own research to determine which would suit you best—but remember—the security of your coins should be your most important priority. Get your Fort Knox built as soon as possible, and thwart hackers before they have the chance to do a number on you.

Other popular alternatives can be found by other different firms like the Trezor £84 or Trezor T priced at £175. The KeepKey Hardware wallet is also another well liked device with a plethora of features at £129.

Pro’s

Snazzy colour touchscreen making it super easy to control
Device feels robust and secure
Excellent support for assets and cryptocurrencies
Secure chip to keep private keys safe

Con’s

Can be buggy when using Ledger Live to manage the device
Expensive at £249 when compared to other devices
The device is bigger and not as easy to conceal when travelling

Ledger Blue review conclusion

The Ledger Blue comes with a number of quirks, but like most things in life time is the best healer and its nothing you can’t simply get used to and we’re sure Ledger will bring fixes to iron things out very soon like it has done in the past.

When compared with the other hardware wallets and the earlier model Ledger Nano S, the Blue wins hands-down despite only having a few exclusive features that are new to the device, the colour touch screen being one which makes a whole world of difference providing a sense of control when using it and everything feels easier.

You can get other hardware wallets at a much cheaper price but this is marketed for more premium and corporate users, that doesn’t mean crypto enthusiasts shouldn’t use it though as security is always paramount and this device does not lack in that area, with its secure robust chip thats designed to keep your private keeps super safe and isolated in the device thwarting man in the middle attacks.

I suppose the big elephant in the room is whether one should spend £249.99 on this expensive device, the Ledger Blue is so good we think you should!

How to buy the Ledger Blue?

You should only purchase the device from a verified seller or the official Ledger website to ensure your device is not tampered with by third parties, failure to do so could mean your assets are at risk of being stolen.

CLICK HERE: https://www.ledger.com/products/ledger-blue £249.99

Stick Sports mobile games company looks to make it big on the blockchain

Wildly popular mobile games company Stick Sports Ltd, creators of the fiendishly addictive Stick Cricket, Tennis and Football games, are climbing aboard the blockchain train and shaking things up in the free-to-play mobile games arena.

How exactly do they plan to initiate this shake up? It all centres around in-games assets and the player’s ownership of them. Currently, any assets a someone gets their hands on during a game are not technically owned by the player, instead being merely licenced out by the publisher—kinda like having your hand in the cookie jar but not being able to take it out to eat the aforementioned cookie. This is where Stick Sports plan to buck the trend, with the help of the blockchain.

The upcoming reboot of their Stick Cricket game will utilise blockchain tech to allow players to officially own any assets they buy, win, earn or create while playing, so they can take that cookie, and do whatever their heart desires with it, whether it’s keeping it, flogging it or digitally eating it. In addition, these players can record their own history on assets to make them truly one of kind items, in turn customising key components of the game. And gone are the days where assets will only hold any value when they’re inside the game. Utilising the blockchain means they will have real-world value outside of the gaming landscape. This essentially gives players a new dimension to work with, where they are not only gamers, but stakeholders holding an investment with a true incentive for the game they’re playing to be successful.

Games transitioning to the blockchain so far have still met some problems they need to overcome. For starters, it’s a sizeable entry barrier to entice someone with zero interest in crypto to head over to the blockchain world. However, the benefits are easy to see, and with current none-blockchain based games often lacking certain gameplay incentives, the number of people who do get into crypto could skyrocket once they start to see how it would enhance their experiences.

This is why Stick Sports are actively targeting gamers in their new venture, rather than traditional crypto-enthusiasts, creating a whole host of tantalising technologies to pique the interest of avid players, and remove the obstacles that often feel too complicated to the average consumer when they hear the word ‘blockchain’. Stick Sports Founder and CEO, Paul Collins, certainly believes that his company will be able to achieve this, saying “after this shift, there will be no going back for the industry. As a leading adopter of mobile games and free-to-play formats, we strive to be at the forefront of change within the games industry. We’re incredibly excited about the radical evolution this new initiative will bring.”

Paul Collins Stick Sports LTD — CEO Paul Collins

The new blockchain-based Stick Cricket game will first launch in India, such is their love of the sport there. Plus, with India being the largest market for Google Play downloads, and with a huge projected growth for new smartphones, there is certainly scope for reaching an massive untapped market.

With a staggering number of downloads across Android and iOS, currently over 70 million and counting, Stick Sports have certainly shown their ability to create successful games people love to play, now let’s see if they can mimic this success over on the blockchain landscape.

Source: Pressat

You can now send Crypto via SMS

Blockchain startup Crypterium headed by former VISA UK CEO is making crypto that little bit easier so even your Grandma could use it.

Crypterium, a Blockchain based startup has introduced a new feature that enables anyone to send cryptocurrency using just the recipient’s phone number. The transfer happens almost instantly and the technology is able to process a million transactions per second due to its off-chain technology. This simplifies usage and opens up usability to anyone who can send a text message.

The recipient does not need a wallet in place to receive the cryptocurrency, instructions are sent via a text message on how to access and use the funds, making it extremely easy to send Bitcoin to your grandma, friend or someone you owe money to anywhere in the world.

Crypterium takes direct aim and addresses the elephant in the room when it comes to cryptocurrencies. Crypto currently sucks at being user friendly for the many non-tech savvy users. They partly aim to solve this by removing the need for complicated wallet addresses and with speeding up transaction times, which at the moment for popular cryptocurrencies could take anywhere from minutes to days if the network is congested.

Former Visa UK CEO Marc O’Brien currently sits as the CEO at Crypterium and has set a goal of bringing the crypto industry mainstream and making it more user friendly.

“We’re on our way to the 21st century’s “Netscape moment”, the day when a California startup’s eye-popping market debut illuminated the World Wide Web for millions of people, otherwise only vaguely familiar with its potential and promise,” – he explains, mentioning that his own startup, Crypterium, “makes buying, selling and spending of cryptocurrency in everyday life as easy as possible, and that’s what will bring the next billions of people to using crypto.”

“We have analyzed the most popular crypto wallets in the market, and none of them offer anything like it, though it sounds so exciting,” O’Brien says.

We spoke to Crypterium CEO, Marc O’Brien about the future in banking:

1. What benefits does handling the transactions off-chain provide? Does this defeat the purpose of the Blockchain? How does Crypterium prevent double spend issues?

We are aiming to create a universal solution for implementing cryptocurrency into the existing payment infrastructure, and it’s currently impossible to achieve our goal without running operations off-chain. You just can’t implement decentralized systems into existing protocols and payment systems. Using off-chain allows us to merge those two completely different worlds.

We don’t think it is defeating the purpose of the blockchain, but it definitely helps to make blockchain mainstream.

To prevent double spending, we are implementing a technology based on a smart contract that needs approvals both from our user and from us to run the transaction.

2. Can you explain how consumers will make the shift from lets say using there VISA card with their high street bank to paying for a pint of milk at the corner shop with Crypterium?

It’s just the matter of habit. Once people try paying with crypto and see the advantages, they wouldn’t want to go back to fiat.

As CEO of Visa UK, one of my favorite projects was to work across the industry and build contactless for Europe. The vision that we had was to actually make contactless an everyday experience for consumers to be able to buy low value items like newspapers or coffee quickly and conveniently with a contactless card. It seemed very unusual at the beginning, but today, can you imagine your life without contactless payments?

3. Traditional banks offer many security features such as fraud prevention, refunds etc. This often drives consumer trust and authority. With crypto this is a major concern, particularly because it is all still new technology and the fact that it is sometimes associated with a sketchy darknet past. How will consumers trust your cryptobank?

Our app meets all the security requirements for traditional mobile banks. We use the most advanced security features, and our app was reportedly audited in accordance with the highest banking standards.

We are Safety Leaders Award Winner 2017, we have PCI DSS compliance certificates, and we have decades of experience in payments industry to help us build a secure product.

We also offer refunds on the purchases. Right now, you can top up your phone with crypto, and if there’s any problem, we have a well-functioning refund system to

Moreover, we are looking for an insurance partner to provide something like FDIC insurance.

4. How does Crypterium work with current financial legislation? How does it operate within those frameworks? Do these frameworks stifle adoption or cause any complications?

The situation differs from country to country, and we’re working on building relation with regulators worldwide as Crypterium is a global project. We already have three licenses, and we have applied for more. We can definitely see interest in most of the countries, and a shift from attempts to ban crypto to attempts to learn and understand this new industry.

5. Many crypto firms who offered debit cards such as XAPO have slowly been cut off from the merchant networks for reasons that have never been clear. Crypterium integrates with these card terminals currently present in shops but how do you plan to secure this partnership moving forward? As with these other services could the traditional banks simply shut out Crypterium. Are you seen as competition?

I don’t want to comment on our competitors, but some of them have made some obvious mistakes violating financial regulation. Our lawyers make sure that we comply with legislation in every region we’re entering, we are 100% transparent to regulators and governments. It takes time, it takes effort, but it secures our future and allows us to build a product that will last.

I also want to indicate that we don’t integrate with card terminals. We partner with banks to issue virtual cards that our users will use to pay at any NFC terminal, or via QR codes, etc. We are also working on unique solutions for e-commerce platforms and site builders to let the merchants receive crypto payments.

Last but not least, we always have plan B, if something goes wrong with one of our partnerships. And then plan C, D and E.

Crypterium allows you to “pay with crypto anywhere in the world” and works just like a traditional bank but without a 3rd party. Assets are held securely in your cryptobank and can be used to purchase goods in real-time via the standard contactless card readers present in many shops, this is done via a virtual card attached to your Crypterium app.

Bitcoin Price Eyes $7.6K – The Resistance is Strong

Bitcoin appeared to lose vital $7k support earlier this week dropping to $6.9K on the 5th of August, but a small rally may soon be on the horizon from technical analysis of the charts.

What we might be seeing at the moment is a bearish decline from taking into consideration the 50-day moving average (MA) where selling pressure failed to push the price lower than $6.9k due to the strong resistance.

At the time of writing the price reached $7,287.91 on Huobi with Bithumb not far behind at $7,255.52 per Bitcoin, but western exchanges are much slow on the corrective rally with the price at $7,188.46.

At the time of writing the the price of one Bitcoin on the largest exchange by 24 hour volume, BitForex is $7,098.84

This strong buying support behind the 50-day moving average could be an early indicator of a bullish August with a rally towards $7,500 – $7,600 expected.

This change of market is based on strong rumours circulating that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) may finally give the green light to a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) at the end of this week when the SEC meet on the 10th of August.

In other news major Swiss-based banks, CoinBase and Goldman Sachs are enhancing custody services for their big institutional clients which will see a secure cryptocurrency service for storing large amounts of crypto.

What do you think will happen to the Bitcoin price this week?

Nexo signs partnership with UTRUST known as the ‘Paypal of Crypto’

Leading crypto-backed loans provider Nexo has signed a partnership with UTRUST

Nexo, the world’s first instant crypto-backed loans platform, has announced that they have signed a partnership with the crypto payment platform UTRUST (known as the Paypal of Crypto) for the integration of Nexo’s instant loan solution on the UTRUST platform.

“PayPal Credit” for the Crypto Industry

As a result of the agreement, UTRUST will integrate Nexo’s instant crypto-backed lending capabilities on UTRUST’s platform in order to provide crypto holders with the option to make delayed payment purchases, quite similar to PayPal Credit.

“We are thrilled by the possibilities our partnership with Nexo opens up for the crypto world,” said Nuno Correia, CEO of UTRUST. “We are joining forces to further build on our mission to provide consumers and merchants with a reliable payment infrastructure, allowing them to tap into the full potential of cryptographic technologies.”

The partnership expands the two companies’ existing infrastructures, allowing buyers to make secure purchases while HODL-ing their crypto assets.

“One of the main barriers to cryptocurrencies’ mainstream adoption has been an inadequate payment infrastructure and merchant network, limiting consumers’ buying choices and, ultimately, disturbing their purchasing experience,” said Georgi Shulev, Nexo’s Managing Partner. “The partnership between Nexo and UTRUST is intended to correct this deficiency and empower buyers and merchants alike to tap into the unlimited capabilities of blockchain and cryptocurrencies.”

Nexo helps crypto investors unlock the value of their wealth by providing them with instant loans in USD, EUR and USDT (Tether) against their crypto-holdings. By securing their assets in the Nexo Platform, rather than selling them, clients obtain immediate access to cash and keep the upside of future value appreciation of their cryptocurrencies and tokens. The concept has quickly gained an enormous following amongst crypto miners, hedge funds, ICO companies and many more. Investors of all sizes and nationalities have found various reasons why Nexo is their first association with crypto-backed loans.

While blockchain payments have undoubtedly disrupted financial transactions with their speed and low fees, UTRUST adds a much-needed consumer protection layer.

Benefits for Consumer and Merchants

UTRUST’s platform enables consumers to enjoy the comfort of paying with cryptocurrencies in a secure way. It acts as a third-party mediator, holding funds on each payment until the seller delivers the product or service. In addition, it protects buyers and sellers from market volatility, by converting cryptocurrencies to fiat immediately after payment.

The company allows for friendly dispute resolutions between buyers and sellers. In case the parties fail to reach an agreement, UTRUST steps in and refunds the buyer, upholding standards like those of Paypal.

Integrating Nexo’s crypto-backed lending capabilities within the UTRUST payment platform benefits all parties in a number of ways:

Consumers can make purchases with cryptocurrencies while keeping their crypto assets and enjoying any value appreciation;
Merchants can increase their revenues by offering more flexible payment options, seamlessly adding a revolving line of credit to their stores without no extra cost or effort;
In broader terms, the service will further enhance cryptocurrencies’ real-world applications and pave the way for mass adoption.

Nestlé taps blockchain to track milk from farm to mouth

Food giant Nestlé Nestlé envisions real-time trackable products on the blockchain tracking baby food from source to mouth

Nestlé, the largest food company in the world is tracking baby food products on the blockchain as part of a food industry exercise with nine other major food companies.

UPDATE: Nestlé has confirmed that Phase 3 of the Blockchain trial will testing products outside of the US which will be Mangoes from Columbia. The Phase 1 test last year on Libby’s product with single ingredient: pumpkin

The Blockchain implementation will be used to track the ingredients of its baby food product Gerber, with the goal of reducing food recalls and increasing consumer trust. Customers will be able to trace the origins of all ingredients and see where they have come from on a public ledger.

Speaking to CIO Journal’s Kim S. Nash, “People want to know, quite rightly, where ingredients they give to their baby have come from,” he said.

“Nestlé tracks ingredients across Blockchain from suppliers to Babies mouths”

The Swiss headquartered company is working in conjunction with nine other major food companies including Walmart Inc, International Business Machines Corp and rival Unilever PLC to develop a system called Food Trust which leverages blockchain technology to create a single record shared among the firms to speed up investigations of bad food or products that are recalled.

The Nestlé blockchain experiment is making progress but is still in its early stages as the whole supply chain infrastructure requires redevelopment.This includes shipping, processing, trucking and many software stages currently used.

The supply chain industry is one of the hottest areas where Blockchain can be implemented. Just earlier this year a food scare saw twelve million boxes of baby milk being recalled in a salmonella scandal by French dairy giant Lactalis. With Blockchain technology implemented into the supply chain process food recalls, ingredients, shipping, tracking and other areas become transparent and subsequently prevent and quickly resolve such issues.

Earlier this year the UK’s Food Standards Agency trialed blockchain technology to ensure compliance in cattle slaughterhouses, one of the many governments and large companies around the world who are also looking into the benefits of the blockchain.

Crypto Trading Platform Radar Relay secures $10M Series A funding from Top Investment Firms

Radar Relay secures investment from Blockchain Capital, Tusk Ventures, Collaborative Fund, Distributed Global, and Reciprocal Ventures and others support in series A funding of $10 million dollars.

Radar Relay, the wallet-to-wallet decentralized trading platform, has announced the successful completion of its Series A funding round of $10 million USD. Led by Blockchain Capital with contributions from leading investment firms Tusk Ventures, Distributed Global, Reciprocal Ventures, and Collaborative Fund, among others, the raise will support the development of new product research, strategic hiring, and global expansion of the Radar Relay platform.

Radar Relay CEO Alan Curtis said: “The support from these leading venture capital and investment firms — many of whom also participated in our seed funding round last year — validates our progress towards onboarding the world to the token economy. Executing on our mission may take time, but with their support and industry knowledge, we can build an enduring, multigenerational company.”

Founded in 2013, San Francisco-based Blockchain Capital is one of the most established and active venture investors in the blockchain space. In March 2018, Blockchain Capital raised $150 million USD for its fourth fund, bringing its total value of assets under management to $250 million USD. Since its inception, Blockchain Capital has helped finance leading blockchain companies, protocols, and tokens such as Circle, Coinbase, ShapeShift, and Kraken.

Blockchain Capital Partner Spencer Bogart said: “The Radar Relay team has consistently demonstrated a superior ability to execute, ship, and deliver product that exceeds expectations and pushes the industry to higher standards. While Radar’s delivery to date has been exceptional, the most compelling aspect is Radar’s upcoming product roadmap and the opportunity ahead. Ultimately, this is a proven team executing against a high-conviction opportunity and I am thrilled to lead the Series A and join the Board.”

Tusk Ventures is a New York-based venture capital and political strategy firm dedicated to helping emerging technology businesses navigate complex regulatory landscapes. Founder and CEO Bradley Tusk notably served as Campaign Manager for former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg during his successful third-term campaign in 2009. Tusk and his venture capital firm have since provided political, investment, and operational guidance to more than a dozen successful startup companies including Uber, Circle, FanDuel, and Bird.

Tusk Ventures Managing Partner and Head of Investments Jordan Nof said: “Decentralized exchanges represent the next wave of innovation in cryptocurrency trading. We were highly impressed by Radar Relay’s focus on building an intuitive product for mainstream adoption and their commitment to proactively working with regulators to ensure a proper framework is established. We are excited to partner with Radar Relay and support the team’s regulatory strategy as they continue to grow their business and become the industry standard peer-to-peer trading platform.”

Other participants in Radar Relay’s Series A funding round include Distributed Global, Reciprocal Ventures, Collaborative Fund, Elefund, Slow Ventures, SV Angel, Kindred Ventures, Breyer Capital, Digital Currency Group, V1.VC, Kokopelli, Village Global, and Chapter One.

Since launching in October 2017, Radar Relay has welcomed thousands of users from 150 countries to its platform, onboarded 170 tokens, traded more than $150 million USD in volume, and grown its team to almost 30 employees.

For more information visit the Radar Relay blog post or radarrelay.com.

Pundi X technology to debut in the Gulf and Middle East following partnership with ebooc

Pundi X partnership targets rollout of NexGen POS devices to customers across the Middle East for payment of bills, school fees, utilities and more

Pundi X, the leading developer of a blockchain-based point of sales (“POS) allowing consumers to pay for real goods in multiple cryptocurrencies, will make its debut in the Gulf and Middle East following a partnership with the country’s first regional fintech company: ebooc.

Ebooc and Pundi X will work closely on developing digital payment gateway services for governments, financial institutions and major corporates in the Gulf and Middle East as well as broader business lines such as blockchain-based customer loyalty programs and NFC contactless payment options.

The collaboration will bring consumers in Dubai, UAE and the broader Middle East and Gulf region the ability to conduct real time commerce through digital payments using their mobile wallets, eliminating the need for traditional payment methods.

This technology also has the potential to transform value-added tax (VAT) collection for governments in the Gulf and Middle East as blockchain technology allows for instant computation and collection of a recently-introduced VAT in the region. Ebooc forecasts the introduction of instant VAT computation as holding major benefits for merchants and governments alike and bringing substantial efficiencies in reduced manpower devoted to audits, assessments and implementation.

Signing MOU between Pundi X CEO and co-founder Zac Cheah (sitting left) and the CEO of Digital Force and co-founder of ebooc Abdalla Al Shamsi (sitting right) in Jakarta

Standing (L-R) Michael Lawal Business Development Manager at Pundi X, Rudy Danandjaj CEO of Infinite Mobile & President Commissioner of E2Pay, Pundi X President, Constantin Papadimitriou, MD Bchain, and ebooc co-founder Sunil Malhotra

Ebooc and Pundi X will provide several other uses for consumers such as making retail payments; paying for government services, fees and fines; utilities and bills; telecommunication bills and school fees on POS devices running a stable, digital equivalent of traditional fiat currencies in the region.

The two companies will rollout secure and seamless payments to clients and customers via a single NexGen payment portal, offering increase functionality at substantially lower running costs to market leading solutions.

The move brings Pundi X’s world-leading, blockchain-based POS technology, XPASS card and e-wallet to the Gulf, Middle East and North Africa region for the first time with ebooc as the official partner under the terms of the strategic partnership agreement as executed.

Following meetings in Dubai and Jakarta, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Pundi X CEO and co-founder Zac Cheah and the CEO of Digital Force and co-founder of ebooc Abdulla Al Shamsi, to commit to the deployment of a soon-to-be-announced number of Pundi X devices across the Middle East.

Abdalla Al Shamsi said: “We envisage consumers in the UAE being granted the ability to make retail payments for school fees, utilities and other necessities from a world-leading blockchain-based POS device provided by Pundi X”.

Cheah said: “We are delighted by this partnership in a nation-state that has long been considered a by-word for modernity and innovation.

“This latest project confirms that Dubai is yet again a source of global leadership, this time in the emerging field of blockchain-based payments technology, with the potential to forever change the way consumers make secure, digital payments.”

Sunil Malhotra, the Managing Director Bchain and co-founder of ebooc said: “An ebooc – Pundi X partnership will deliver a differentiated customer experience through innovative features, seamless integration, loyalty solutions, enhanced security and greater convenience to Governments, businesses and consumers in Dubai, UAE and the region to make financial transactions on the NexGen platform in a smart way, bringing together various service providers under one platform.

“There is no better way to announce Pundi X’s arrival in the Middle East and North Africa than with a partnership with ebooc in Dubai – the region’s technology hub”.

ebooc, from the Arabic word for e-wallet, is the first Emirati fintech company to establish a presence across the broader region. It aims to provide a secure and seamless payment experience to clients and customers which runs on NexGen technology as a decentralized, distributed ledger which creates trust, improving efficiency levels. Its solution for retail outlets can be channeled to the governmental organizations, creating a high level of trust and transparency.

Pundi X (Currency: NPXS), a multi-cryptocurrency point-of-sale (“POS”) solution provider, empowers blockchain developers, exchange platforms, crypto traders and token holders to buy, sell, and spend cryptocurrency at any physical store in the world. The company’s solution also enables the retail store owners who are seeking to accept digital currencies so that they can do ‘cryptocurrency to fiat’ or ‘crypto to crypto’ transactions for the mainstream consumers.

The company is aiming to roll out more than 100,000 blockchain-based POS devices worldwide in a major challenge to the status quo of the US$ 2.2-trillion global retail payments market.

Headquartered in Jakarta, Pundi X has offices in London, São Paulo, Shenzhen, Singapore, Seoul, and Tokyo.