One of the biggest enemies of innovation is the instauration of a false dichotomy. Blockchains, and the field of distributed computing is general, has been suffering from this hidden malady for decades: as a general rule of thumb, a distributed…
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) published a Draft Guidance for a Risk-based Approach to Virtual Assets and VASPs on 19 March 2021. Some highlights are as follows: As we previously warned, many smart contracts will require identity as many…
Another round of countries increase the security of their identity documents, making them compatible with our blockchain: Kyrgyzstan launched their new e-Passport in May 2021Togo is tendering their biometric civil identity card. As Togo is part of Economic Community of…
In order to remotely onboard online, it’s necessary to read the chip of biometric identity documents and check the validity and authenticity of their certificates. Most online services only verify identity documents using image captures, but this is obviously easy…
The energy consumption of Bitcoin is at a historic high: 118 TWh, a power consumption comparable to Netherlands, or 114 TWh according to the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Index56 Megatons of CO2, a carbon footprint comparable to Peru11.78 kilotons of e-waste,…
Some more countries will start issuing biometric identifiers: Pakistan will start issuing biometric passports next JuneFinland will update their identity card on 2023, including children
In our latest paper (codenamed “Pravuil”), we introduce our latest innovation in consensus protocols for blockchains: a robust, secure, and scalable consensus protocol for a permissionless blockchain suitable for deployment in an adversarial environment such as the Internet. By introducing…
When more than 50% of the population owns a cryptographic identifier (National Identity Card such as the ones used in the European Union, or Biometric Passports), it’s legally and economically irrational not use then to bootstrap a blockchain, a medium…
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) held its FATF Week and Plenary on 22-25 February (outcomes have been published online) officially approving a new guidance on the risk-based approach to supervision that complements a previous guidance for a risk-based approach…