China Expected to Become Global Blockchain Superpower by 2023
USA’s days as the recognized leading superpower of blockchain tech development may be numbered, a report by PwC suggest. Instead, it is China that is expected to close the gap and take the lead. The survey, which asked 600 executives across 14 nations, found that 29 percent of respondents saw the US as world leaders when it comes to development of the decentralized technology, followed by China at 18 percent.
Between 2021 and 2023 the tables are expected to turn, and respondents believe that these figures will switch. The research found that 30 percent of those surveyed believe that China will become the world leader in blockchain development. Just 18 percent believe that the US will still be leading the way in the next five years.
Do you expect China to become a global blockchain superpower by 2023?
New Study Highlights the Many Positives of Bitcoin Mining
The energy consumption of the Proof of Work [PoW] has frequently been questioned in mainstream media. However, there are many reasons why bitcoin mining can be regarded as having “positive externalities”. One of these is the fact that as hardware advances reach a point of diminishing returns, the only way for miners to remain profitable will be to seek cheaper energy sources.
Since the physical location of mining centers is not important to the Bitcoin network, miners will flock to areas generating surplus electricity for the lowest marginal costs. In the long-run, this has the potential to produce more efficient worldwide energy markets with Bitcoin miners performing an arbitrage of electricity between global centers.
In the long term, only renewable energy sources can realistically fulfill this demand, and thus it is logical to expect Bitcoin’s reliance on so-called ‘brown’ energy to diminish.
Not only are miners increasingly switching to green energy, but they’re driving innovations to reuse ‘wasted’ energy and excess production that would not otherwise have been utilized.
“It’s important as well to review the electricity usage against the closest comparable, global data centers, which today consume over 2% of worldwide electricity (a measure that is 133x larger than Bitcoin’s usage). Why is it claimed that Bitcoin’s electricity usage is wasteful yet these other uses are largely considered ‘fair’?”
?? Watch Alejandro de la Torre presentation at the Dublin Tech Summit : The Future of Bitcoin Mining is Green ?
Australia Reveals Creation of National Blockchain
Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) has just revealed the creation of the “Australian National Blockchain.” This venture will be governed by a data consortium involving CSIRO’s ”Data61” divisions, the UK-based law firm Herbert Smith Freehills, and the American IT behemoth IBM. The goal of the project is reportedly to construct a large-scale smart contract platform that businesses in Australia, across industries, will be able to use in order to cooperate and do business with.
Do you think Australia can become the next blockchain hub?
Reserve Bank of India Considering Central Bank Digital Currency
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is looking into creating a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). As such, an inter-departmental group has been assembled, “to study and provide guidance on the desirability and feasibility to introduce a central bank digital currency.”
The bank claims that, “Though cryptocurrency may not currently pose systemic risks, its increasing popularity leading to price bubbles raises serious concerns for consumer and investor protection, and market integrity […] Furthermore, being stored in digital/electronic media — electronic wallets — it is prone to hacking and operational risk, a few instances of which have already been observed globally.“
What do you think of a Central Bank Digital Currency?
North Korea Will Hold an International Crypto Conference
The ever-controversial North Korea, is planning to host an international conference focused on virtual currencies and distributed ledger technology. The event will be held in the capital city of Pyongyang over a two-day period, starting on the 1st of October.
Back in 2017, a former NSA digital security expert claimed that North Korea managed to obtain at least 11,000 BTC through mining and hacking throughout the year, which was worth over $200 million at the time. Many claim that the regime is likely to adopt digital currencies as a possible way to evade sanctions, which were recently increased by the US President Donald Trump as well as other global leaders.
Will you attend the crypto conference in Pyongyang?