Press Releases

Revisiting the Blockchain Africa Conference 2019 in Johannesburg And Announcing ‘Crypto Fest’

Published

6 years ago

April 7, 2019

The Blockchain Africa Conference 2019 in Johannesburg saw a gathering of thought leaders and influencers in the blockchain industry exploring blockchain use-cases, such as Self-Sovereign Identity, enterprise blockchain in finance, the future of banking, interoperability and scalability, regulations regarding ICOs, STOs, blockchain technology, and cryptocurrencies.

The conference was a resounding success, as amplified by conference MC, Farzam Ehsani, co-founder and CEO at VALR, “It was inspiring and thought-provoking,” and by Michael Glaros, Principal Program Manager, Azure Blockchain at Microsoft, and Diamond Sponsor to the 2019 Conference who said: “I am just so thrilled to be at the Blockchain Africa Conference with Farzam Ehsani, Brian Behlendorf, Phillip Windley and all the other greats here, so that we can come together and hash [pun] things out for a better crypto and Blockchain future, and together we can be moving Africa forward.”

Blockchain Africa Conference in Johannesburg Day 1

Watch the Day 1 highlights video of the conference in Johannesburg.

Lorien Gamaroff kicked off proceedings with a presentation about the global state of the blockchain technology, what some of the issues are as well as his views on how this technology allows transactions to be verified. He remarked: “There is no real value in crypto or cash to be anonymous. The value lies in the privacy, not the anonymity, and blockchain could change this in the future.”

Lorien’s address was followed by the keynote speaker, Brian Behlendorf, Executive Director of Hyperledger Project who engaged the audience with his topic The Post-Lambo Era: Blockchain Technology Gets Real. Blockchain technology is allowing individuals to apply for products and/or services to organisations without the organisations getting access to individuals’ private data and information. Brian reinforced that: “Today there are over a hundred deployed distributed ledger networks using blockchain technology to address supply chain traceability, trade finance and global payments, logistics, know-your-customer credit history systems, and many more.”

In a podcast interview by Think WTF with Brian, he shares some of the projects that they are working on to give us a practical example of how Hyperledger is solving real problems.

Carel de Jager talked about the idea of stablecoins to help with the price volatility experienced by cryptocurrencies. Stablecoins have their value pegged to something that we regard as stable such as gold or the US dollar. Carel cleverly remarked: “Why do we need stablecoins? Well, because someday central banks will run out of zeroes!”

In a recent interview on Winslyn, Carel speaks about blockchain technology, local applications, and explains how blockchain could potentially help prevent something like the Eskom crisis we are currently facing.

Michael Glaros discussed how Microsoft is working alongside Technobrain to unleash innovation across Southern Africa by employing joint efforts toward scaling blockchain networks with development and operations practices and habits.

While Philip Windley explored the topic of a global public network for self-sovereign identity. The public network will be decentralised, have no single authority and will provide multiple identity sources. Conference proceedings continued with Peter Munnings who informed the audience about Project Khokha, the successful collaboration between the South African Reserve Bank and the major banks in South Africa. The scope of the project was to create a distributed ledger between participating banks, for a wholesale payment system. The project was a huge success and proved that distributed ledger technology could be used for interbank settlements. Project Khokha received the inaugural ‘Best Distributed Ledger Initiative’ award from the Central Banking Publications at a gala dinner in Singapore.

Blockchain Africa Conference

Panels with blockchain and economic expert Farzam Ehsani and Centbee’s Lorien Gamaroff sparked quite the debate as the two panels discussed The Issues and Proposed Solutions for Blockchain Scalability and Enterprise Blockchain in Finance, respectively. The rest of the speaker line-up for the first day included Anushka Soma-Patel who unpacked the practical use of identity wallets and verified claims within ecosystems as we know them today. Ashlin Perumal spoke about self-sovereign identity against the legal backdrop of digital identity. While Nick Sapanaro made the bold statement: “The glass bottle looks great but it is impossible to get ketchup out. With crypto apps, we’re not even at the glass bottle stage. It’s like we’re just smashing tomatoes with our bare hands,” during his talk on Eliminating the Friction Tax on The Path to Mass Adoption.

Blockchain Africa Conference in Johannesburg Day 2

Watch the Day 2 highlights video of the conference in Johannesburg.

Day 2 of the conference kicked off with Ray Youssef who discussed the unique situation of how African people have adapted to a new financial landscape that has given them the opportunity to take control of how they send, store and spend money through peer-to-peer technology. Nicole Anderson took to the stage after Ray on crypto is an emerging institutional asset class with family offices, hedge funds and broader multi-asset fund managers are entering the game addressing the institutional challenge and opportunity in crypto assets.

Matthew Arnett explained to us what a real Security Token Offering (STO) will look like and why the Bahamas standard is one to follow, as they have created smart contracts that standardize the creation of an STO. The Bahamas government has been active in drafting legislation for Security Tokens and is working hard to make it easy to launch Security Token Offerings in the country.

Dr. Nthuthuko Bhengu introduced us to blockchain in healthcare. Dr Bhengu highlighted relevant use cases with a particular focus on electronic medical records and how blockchain can facilitate patient-centred care by enhancing interoperability, confidentiality and generally improved doctor-patient engagements. Dr. Bhengu facetiously remarked: “Blockchain was made solely for healthcare patient record-keeping, medicinal supply chain management and healthcare practitioners’ management.“

Anrich Daseman from the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) addressed the topic of regulatory advancements on crypto assets. Anrich reiterated: “The Reserve Bank’s perspective is that blockchain is a paradigm shift and regulators need to adapt. SARB does not want to stifle innovation but recognises that regulation is necessary to protect investors and those that are not educated about the technology.“ In response to the concern of regulation on crypto, SARB formed a crypto asset regulatory working group to tackle the regulatory challenge.

The conference continued with Jean Paul Fabri who marvelled the audience on Malta’s perspective on the regulation of ICOs and cryptocurrencies by the Maltese government, who is paving the way to establish Malta as a ‘Blockchain Island’. Jean Paul shared on where Malta succeeded in establishing regulations for emerging technology was in its political will and went on to conclude, “The regulation is there as a filter to make sure that the investment opportunity presented by the issuer is real.”

Blockchain Africa Conference

The conference concluded with Loretta Joseph, Charlene Chen and Prof. Angela Itzikowitz who took part in a panel, with other crypto thought leaders the likes of Anrich Daseman, Jean Paul Fabri, Ashlin Perumall, who had tongues wagging on one of crypto’s current hot topics, Finding the Balance Between Regulation and Innovation. The panel concluded with: “The big question should not be to regulate or not to regulate. The fact is to regulate but the regulation in itself needs an adaptation and innovation, in order to support, underpin and develop emerging technology both on a country and global level.”

Charlene Chen, BitPesa’s COO, talks us through the challenge between innovation and regulation, and how you balance the conflicting energies and the management of different stakeholders, in a podcast interview with Think WTF.

The conference proved that people are still passionate about blockchain technology despite the current cryptocurrency bear market. There was a real sense that the hard work was still carrying on and effort was being made to innovate and solve the problems that will propel Africa forward into the future.

Videos of the conference can be viewed on Bitcoin Events’ YouTube channel.

Thank you to our sponsors, partners, and exhibitors for helping make the conference a success.

Blockchain Africa Conference in Johannesburg

Crypto Conference 2019

We are planning our next event! The Crypto Fest is a one-day gathering on 5 September 2019 in Johannesburg, South Africa, where we will explore the economics, investment, trends, culture, technology, trading, cryptocurrency exchanges and the future of cryptocurrencies.

For more information on this and future events, please email the team at info@blockchainafrica.co. Subscribe to the Blockchain Africa newsletter to stay informed about next events and news of the global blockchain and cryptocurrency industry.

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Press Releases

ND Labs Launches Crypto Exchange Software Development

Published

2 years ago

January 20, 2023

Guest Contributor

ND Labs, an international blockchain consulting and development company with offices in Poland and the United States, has recently announced the launch of crypto exchange development services.

ND Labs understands that cryptocurrencies are gaining even more popularity and predict their mass adoption in the future. Thus, the company offers full-cycle development services to IT businesses and non-IT enterprises from various industries, including retail, construction, oil & gas, etc.

Dmitry Khanevich, co-founder and CEO of ND Labs, commented on the news:

“Launching a crypto exchange is a good business idea. First, there is a growing demand for such platforms as digital currencies are becoming more widely used. Second, they can generate constant profit by charging fees for each transaction. Third, they are relatively easy to set up and maintain. Finally, they offer lots of flexibility, which makes them ideal for businesses of all sizes. If you lack the necessary skills or knowledge to build a crypto exchange, that’s where our blockchain expertise will be helpful.”

What is a crypto exchange?

A crypto exchange is a trading platform that allows users to buy and sell digital assets in a peer-to-peer manner, which means there is no third party involved. For instance, users can buy cryptocurrencies for fiat money and then trade them.

How to develop a crypto exchange platform?

- Choose the platform type. It can be a crypto trading app as well as a centralized, decentralized, or hybrid cryptocurrency exchange.
- Build key features. They include user authorization and verification, a trading engine, a crypto wallet, an intuitive user interface, and market and liquidity provider integration.
- Add nice-to-have and advanced features. They are manageable user profiles, portfolio tracking, push notifications, loyalty programs, a knowledge base, data analytics, NFT trading abilities, automated strategies, etc.
- Meet regulatory compliance. Depending on the jurisdiction you are going to work in, you will have to comply with GDPR, KYC, KYT, AML, and other requirements.

Develop a crypto exchange platform.

About ND Labs

ND Labs is an international company that offers blockchain consulting and development services. They build blockchain-powered solutions for businesses of all sizes from various industries, such as logistics, real estate, insurance, etc. The company’s team consists of experienced blockchain professionals who focus on strategic outcomes and help clients generate long-term profits.

Contact

For more details and updates, visit:

Website: www.ndlabs.dev
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ndlabs.dev
Instagram: www.instagram.com/ndlabs.dev/
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/ndlabs-dev/
Twitter: twitter.com/ndlabsdev

Disclaimer: This is a press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to any company, product, or service mentioned in this article. BitcoinAfrica.io is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any loss or damage caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, product, or service mentioned in this post.

Press Releases

Get Lucky Tickets for World Cup Bets on 1xBit

Published

2 years ago

November 25, 2022

Guest Contributor

The long-awaited World Cup 2022 is here, bringing many opportunities to win big. Are you excited about seeing your favorite players on the pitch? Then the World Cup is an opportunity not just to do that but also to win big from your passion.

Participating in 1xBit’s Ticket Rush is all you need to have a fun World Cup experience. This tournament offers you the avenue to stay on top of the game, enjoying fascinating matches and securing impressive prizes.

1xBit 1xBit has created Ticket Rush with numerous fanciful prizes that could change your entire gambling experience. With multiple prize draws designed to select many winners, you have a chance at winning big. The prize pool is 3 BTC, with numerous winners per category.

To participate in the offer, you must log in or register on 1xBit. Proceed to the offer page, click “Take part,” and bet on World Cup 2022!

Participants collect tickets for bets on World Cup 2022 matches. There are three ticket categories:

Individual match tickets – for bets on any World Cup matches
Supporter tickets – for bets on the picked 8 countries during the group stage
Play-off tickets – for bets on play-off matches

For the Individual match tickets prizes, the 1st place winner will emerge with 500 mBTC. The first-place winner in the Supporters’ tickets prize draw goes home with 10 mBTC, while the first-place winner in the Play-off tickets prize draw will win 250 mBTC.

1xBit: Your Best Bet

Ticket Rush is one of the many tournaments designed by 1xBit to help players profit from their passion while enjoying the World Cup. With 1xBit, you can rest assured about sumptuous prizes that make your gambling experience worthwhile.

As the fastest and leading crypto sportsbook, 1xBit is passionate about rewarding players’ efforts in an exciting fashion. The platform provides its users with numerous benefits to maximize the crypto gambling space.

You can make bets on 1xBit using over 40 supported cryptocurrencies. This crypto adoption eliminates the need for fiat currency. It removes the stress of first converting your cryptocurrency to fiat before depositing it in a sportsbook to bet on your favorite games.

Instead, you can utilize these currencies directly, allowing you to maximize their value without losing any of it to conversion fees. Even more, 1xBit is constantly looking for relevant partnerships and new coins to add.

You also enjoy instant payouts with zero fees. This allows you to enjoy your winnings without adversely affecting the platform’s fee structure. 1xBit also provides educational blogs on crypto gambling to help you get started with the necessary tips to navigate the field. Whether a beginner or a veteran, 1xBit covers all you require.

Additionally, 1xBit offers users a Welcome Bonus of up to 7 BTC following their first 4 deposits – it gives you the required jumpstart to experience the platform and play your favorite games.

Final Thoughts

All roads lead to Qatar for the 2022 World Cup, and you don’t want to miss out on any match. With the Ticket Rush tournament, you can spice up your experience and win crypto!

Disclaimer: This is a press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to any company, product, or service mentioned in this article. BitcoinAfrica.io is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any loss or damage caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, product, or service mentioned in this post.

Press Releases

Crypto Lists Announce Bitcoin Maximalist as Head of Content

Published

2 years ago

October 27, 2022

Guest Contributor

CryptoLists.com is delighted to announce the arrival of the new Head of Content, Tom White.

Tom is now a key member of the speedily growing crypto info site, with ambitions to take the content up a level and define and refine the tone of voice. A keen follower of crypto and Bitcoin, in particular on a personal level, he’s well acquainted with blockchain and DeFi technology and has been investing in digital assets for some time.

In other news, Crypto Lists are also pleased to announce an updated mission statement and a new slogan: Crypto Done Smarter.

As a native English speaker, Tom is well-positioned to take over the tone of voice and editorial oversight of the website, which was founded by two Scandinavians. Alongside this, Tom’s main focus will be to ensure that fresh and informative news articles are released even more frequently, and reviews of new coins and brokers are published swiftly.

Tom White – A Bitcoin Maximalist?

While open to the potential of various altcoins, as somewhat of a Bitcoin Maximalist, Tom sees Bitcoin as digital gold of the new economy. A keen chart-watcher, he’s excited about the next halving event in 2024 and seeing how high BTC can go during the next bull run. A bull run where he believes incredible new ATHs will be reached. A full review of Bitcoin with breaking news, FAQ, historical background, and the most recent updates can be found at https://www.cryptolists.com/coins/btc/.

Things Tom will oversee

During his first week at the company, Tom has covered subjects surrounding changes within the traditional banking sector in regard to crypto, as well as a multitude of other topics. Being such a big advocate of Bitcoin and its potentially revolutionary capabilities, a topic he found especially interesting is how to survive on Bitcoin. He recently published a piece about Arnhem, a Dutch town that some call the world’s only Bitcoin city. Alongside such specific topics, he will be making sure that the Crypto Lists brand voice is consistent across both the website and all externally facing written comms.

Upcoming events in Africa

Tom will also write articles and releases about recent and upcoming Bitcoin and crypto events. In the near term, one such event is the Ghana DeFi Summit 2022.

Crypto Lists – Crypto Done Smarter

cryptolists Tom also brought his creative mind to the forefront when brainstorming the new brand mission alongside the wider team. Crypto Lists had been searching for a new slogan, that is both accurate, descriptive, as well as evergreen – taking into consideration the future developments and growth of the company. Along with the senior leadership, a general consensus was reached: Crypto Done Smarter.

Why smarter? Well, Crypto Lists is there to help people make more informed decisions. The entire ecosystem of the site revolves around educating people on the crypto space, and the coins, platforms, brokers, exchanges and at the same time doing reviews of blockchains that compose it. In a nutshell, Crypto Lists is a site where you learn to make smarter decisions in the crypto space.