Private Equity Moris Beracha Wuani

By Ledger Insights Yesterday the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank) and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) announced that they’ve enabled the secondary trades of the World Bank’s bond-i bond to be recorded on a blockchain. Nine months ago CBA arranged the Blockchain Offered New Debt Instrument (bond-i) issuance of A$110 million (US $76m). It’s part of the World Bank’s annual $50-$60 billion bond issuance. “Enabling secondary trading [to be] recorded on the blockchain is a tremendous step forward towards enabling capital markets to leverage distributed ledger technologies for faster, more efficient, and more secure transactions,” said World Bank VP and Treasurer Jingdong Hua. “It speaks to the innovation and commitment of all our partners, including investors, that we were able to achieve this together.” The bond-i platform is a permissioned network with nodes in Sydney and Washington. It features automated bond auct...

By Daniel Palmer A Brazilian investment bank is planning to raise millions of dollars through the offering of a security token. In an announcement Thursday, Banco BTG Pactual said it will back its blockchain-based token with distressed Brazilian real estate assets, with the expectation of raising up to $15 million. It will also establish a secondary market following the sale in order to provide liquidity to the tokens. The offering will allow investors to invest in the Brazilian real estate market and, based on the performance of the tied assets, receive periodic profits. International investors will be able to purchase the token, called ReitBZ (RBZ), through a “low-cost, tax-efficient structure,” said the bank. BTG Pactual CEO, Roberto Sallouti, said: “The technology associated with this offering allows us to be a pioneer in providing access to asset classes that have historically been difficult for global retail...

J.P. Morgan’s new virtual coin appears to be reigniting investors’ faith in the market Roslan Rahman/AFP/Getty Images Bitcoin is on course to breaking a six-month stretch of continual losses, as analysts predict a cryptocurrency bull run on the horizon. Since July, bitcoin prices have tumbled from a peak value of $8,160 (£6,310) to $3,480 (£2,690) at the end of January 2019, according to ranking site CoinMarketCap .  The digital coin has been gaining momentum over the past few weeks, however, with prices sitting at around $3,920 (£3,030) as of Tuesday morning.   If values remain at or above their current levels until the end of February, bitcoin will score its first positive month since values began plummeting last summer. Mati Greenspan, senior online market analyst at trading platform eToro, told  The Independent  that bitcoin’s recent gains “may well suggest that the long-awaited bull market is not far away”. But...

IT COSTS more money to make bitcoin than the cryptocurrency is worth. Producing a single bitcoin now costs $4060 on average, but it is valued at less than $3500, according to an analysis by JPMorgan Chase. Bitcoin relies on volunteers to process transactions. Their computers race to solve a mathematical puzzle once every 10 minutes. Finding a solution processes a batch of transactions and whoever gets there first is rewarded with some bitcoin. Purchasing and running these computers is expensive. As more people joined the race, the puzzles have become harder to solve, requiring more computer power. It is estimated that the bitcoin network uses as much energy as Ireland. Bitcoin’s price has tumbled in recent months from a high of nearly $20,000 in 2017. The result is that processing transactions is no longer profitable. However, this will probably cause people to drop out of the race, making it easier and economically viable again. Published in: https://...

By Helen Partz JP Morgan -backed digital services firm Smartrac has partnered with SUKU Ecosystem, a blockchain startup owned by former Deloitte exec Eric Piscini, according to a tweet on Tuesday, Jan. 22. SUKU, which is parented by another Piscini-owned blockchain firm Citizen Reserve, will provide its platform to integrate with Smartrac’s supply chain . Smartrac is a radio-frequency identification (RFID) inlay manufacturer. Based on the public Ethereum ( ETH ) blockchain, Citizens Reserve’s platform is operating its own cryptocurrency , ZERV, which was developed on an ERC20 token . Piscini, CEO at both SUKU and Citizen, said that the new partnership aims to resolve major problems related to supply chain digitization. Per Piscini the new blockchain integration will improve tracking, security, and transparency across the supply chain. Dinesh Dhamija, CTO of Citizens Reserve, said : “The combination of Smartrac’s digital enablement capabilities along wi...