Fintech, Finance, Technology, Banking Highlights – 5 December 2017
Moscow to pilot blockchain platform for e-voting
Moscow authorities have announced a pilot project to implement blockchain in its e-voting system Active Citizen. Active Citizen is a platform allowing citizens to influence city management decisions and its urban transformation (1.9 mln users and around 2800 polls since the launch in 2014).
During peak load users can cast around 1000 votes per minute in Active Citizen – Moscow Government will become the first city around the world to implement blockchain in e-voting on such a large scale. One of the key goals of the pilot is to challenge what are the limitations of the technology as a whole.
Blockchain-based election system will bring remarkable change into digital voting process in Moscow. Prior to implementation of blockchain the votes were listed on Active Citizen server and users could examine the results through the website announcements only. With blockchain introduction every Muscovite can become a part of blockchain in Active Citizen in a few steps: download installation manual and install the software. By doing so, every citizen will become a node of a peer-to-peer network and will be able to record and store the database of votes. Moreover, Muscovites will be able to count the votes up and verify the authencity of results in real time.
Through blockchain every vote in Active Citizen will become a smart contract which is publicly viewable and transparent. Once the vote is placed, it will be listed in a ledger consisting of all votes taken place across a peer-to-peer network. It will guarantee that the data will not be lost or altered by someone after the vote was casted so there is no chance for fraud or third-party interference.
Payza lets users buy altcoins
Payza, an award-winning payment processor, announces the launch of its latest cryptocurrency service: Buy Altcoins.
This new feature enables verified members to buy the most popular cryptocurrency alternatives to Bitcoin using funds in their Payza account, either fiat or Bitcoin.
The initiative follows the company’s June release of the Sell Altcoins feature that allows members to sell altcoins to Payza, such as Ethereum, Ripple, Litecoin, Dash, Monero and Zcash. Currently, Bitcoin and over 30 altcoins can now be bought or sold directly through Payza’s online platform.
The Buy Altcoins and Sell Altcoins services both feature simple interfaces and instructions to make the experience as comfortable as possible for cryptocurrency neophytes.
“We’re excited about the potential of this new technology and want to share our excitement with as many people in as many places as possible by providing a service that’s easy to use even for those just getting started with cryptocurrencies,” said Firoz Patel, Payza’s CEO. “That doesn’t mean our services are just for beginners, I think that dedicated cryptocurrency enthusiasts will also appreciate our range of services, unique model, and competitive pricing.”
Chase closes WePay acquisition
WePay announced it is officially a Chase company, after JPMorgan Chase completed the transaction announced in October.
WePay will continue to provide integrated payments to global software platforms like Freshbooks and Constant Contact, now with the backing of the nation’s largest financial institution. As part of the Chase family, it will provide instant merchant onboarding and give software developers and partners access to Chase’s network of four million small business clients.
“With this partnership, the small- and medium-sized businesses we work with will be able to get up and running instantly, with next-day settlement, competitive rates, and all of their payment processing tightly integrated within the software they’ve already chosen for managing their online stores.”
More than 1,000 software companies have adopted payments as a service from WePay, and expanding that business will be a priority for both organizations. WePay CEO Bill Clerico and his executive team will continue to lead the company, working alongside Chase Merchant Services CEO Matt Kane and his leadership team.
R3’s Corda arrives on AWS Marketplace
Enterprise software firm R3’s Corda has become one of the first distributed ledger technology (DLT) solutions available to users of Amazon Web Services (AWS), enabling AWS’s network of users to build and deploy applications for finance and commerce on R3’s Corda.
Now available on AWS Marketplace, R3’s Corda allows AWS users to develop CorDapps, or deploy example CorDapps from R3 directly from AWS Marketplace.
Corda is an enterprise-grade DLT solution that removes costly friction in business transactions by enabling institutions to transact directly using smart contracts, while ensuring high levels of privacy and security.
Corda can be built on by third party providers who can then operate and earn revenue from DLT applications using the platform’s common code and protocols to ensure interoperability. The network of companies working with R3 to develop CorDapps has grown to over 60 from a wide variety of industries and regions across the globe. These companies join R3’s wider ecosystem of over 100 banks, financial institutions, regulators, trade associations, professional services firms and technology companies.
