Monday 29 October 2018

Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Litigation

hoganinjury.com

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are gaining more attention as days pass. Aside from the advantages that cryptocurrencieshave like anonymity and easy international transactions, people are enticed by the fact that it can become a good investment. Apart from trading bitcoins for cash, you can also use bitcoins to buy gift cards, book flights, and hotels, buy furniture, or even buy real estate properties. Bitcoin purchases are not taxed at the moment since there is no way for third parties to identify, track, or intercept transactions that use bitcoins. Transaction fees are considerably lower as well compared to credit card transactions or services like Paypal.
Although there are many advantages in using bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies, just like any other investments, you should always be careful with your transactions. Since cryptocurrency is not regulated, many unscrupulous people have taken advantage of this and incidents of fraudulent cryptocurrencies, and other types of scam related to cryptocurrency have happened. One example of this is Prodeum, a cryptocurrency start-up that scammed its investors in just one weekend.
Because of these scams, law firms have now been involved in helping the victims. Cryptocurrency litigation has now become something that some lawyers specialize in. There are a lot of factors to consider when a cryptocurrency dispute arises. Aside from fraudulent Initial Coin Offering (ICO), lawyers could get involved if the cryptocurrency was used to launder money or hide assets; they could also get involved when there is an issue with the company, commercial, or intellectual property laws being violated in relation to cryptocurrency.
Here are some things that you can do as a cryptocurrency user to avoid being scammed:
1. Research. – Just like with any other investments that you will make, research is essential. When investing in an ICO, make sure to read and dissect their white papers to ensure that you’re working with reliable people. Take time to research the people behind the ICO, their whole team, board members, and other investors. It’s vital for you to learn as much as you can about the company before investing so that there will be no unpleasant surprises.
2. Be vigilant. – Cryptocurrency is still primarily bought and sold at exchanges. Because cryptocurrency is something new and the fuss around it is its value, many people get scammed by the promise of unrealistic prices. If an exchange promises incredible discounts or offers that seem too good to be true, it probably is. Another thing that you can do to avoid bitcoin exchange scams is to check the exchange’s URL. If a website’s address starts with HTTPS instead of just HTTP, that means that the traffic is encrypted and therefore has more protection.
3. Only use trusted sources. – Hardware wallet is a physical device that stores your private keys. Hardware wallets offer more protection from hacking since there is no way for hackers to access them when you’re not online. However, hackers have now found a way around that. Some hackers sell hardware wallets that have a backdoor for them to access all your cryptocurrency and the best way to avoid this is only to accept hardware wallets from trusted sources.

Wednesday 24 October 2018

EF HUTTON TO RATE CRYPTOS AS A SERVICE FOR CLIENTS

mintdice.com
Resultado de imagen para EF HUTTON TO RATE CRYPTOS AS A SERVICE FOR CLIENTS
Famed stock brokerage firm and HUTN Inc. subsidiary, EF Hutton, has announced that it will offer a cryptocurrency market research service to clients. According to the firm, this research will be aimed at providing users with rates and insights as a way to aid “rapid development.”
Hut 8 Mining and Hive Blockchain Technologies will be the first blockchain firms to be covered during the market research. The subscription-based service is the firm’s first attempt to join the virtual currency market and will provide subscribers with the following:
  • A daily cryptocurrency market report showing price movements and other important economic factors.
  • Instrument reports, including coin ratings and recommendations.
  • Equity research coverage for digital assets and blockchain-related companies alongside its cryptocurrency market research.
As the digital asset market continues to grow, more investors are entering the space. However, the percentage of people who own cryptocurrency is still relatively small. Without an increase in this number, mainstream adoption will remain slow.
As EF Hutton has seen, one factor that contributes to slow adoption is the lack of proper research on the various assets and firms in the industry. The market is extremely volatile and the entire scene is saturated with as much fraud and theft as there is a legitimate trade. This puts a lot of fear and pressure on new investors who wish to enter the space.
statement by EF Hutton CEO, Christopher Daniels reads:
“A great many investors are confused by the rapid developments in this new asset class… They know they can trust EF Hutton to guide them and to inform them about developments in this asset class. This is the first of many initiatives we are taking that adds value to our clients and customers.”
According to the press statement by EF Hutton, it is currently the only nationally-branded financial firm to offer this much-needed type of advanced research in the cryptocurrency industry. The firm has analyzed the problem thoroughly and will offer its solution with different payment plans on its website. Using its new rating and scaling system, it hopes to provide better insight that will help all market stakeholders make more informed decisions.

WHAT IS THE RATING SCALE AND SYSTEM?

EF Hutton researchers plan to review cryptocurrencies based on a scale of one to five, with five being the highest rating and one being the lowest. Each asset will be awarded a number of stars that corresponds to its rating. This will make it easier for users to view each cryptocurrency by a general rating instead of trying to organize complex data to form their own conclusions.
The firm will start with the largest cryptocurrencies by market cap, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, EOS, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash and Cardano. All research will be based on the short, medium and long-term factors that affect the prices of these assets. Ratings, on the other hand, will be based on performance over the next year. This way, the company can see how each asset measures up against others and even overlaps them.

WHAT IS EF HUTTON?

EF Hutton is an old and highly respected name on the Wall Street brokerage scene, with more than 19,000 employees during its peak in the 1980s.  It was founded by Edward Francis Hutton and his brother, Franklyn Laws Hutton in 1904 and served as one of the largest and most respected brokerage firms in the US before a series of setbacks. EF Hutton was also known for its famous advertising campaign: “When E.F. Hutton talks, people listen,” which became one of Wall Street’s most popular chants.
In 1987, the firm was caught committing check fraud by writing new checks to serve as repayment for old ones. This type of fraud is known as Kiting and guarantees that a firm can get interest-free loans. The scandal, in addition to the stock market crash of 1987, led to the firm’s decision to sell.
It was acquired by Lehman Brothers for an estimated $1 billion that same year and the company name faded away. The firm was quickly assimilated into Citigroup and the Smith Barney brokerage, which eventually became a part of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. In 2008, Citigroup sold its ownership of the brand and in 2012, a small group of EF Hutton former executives tried to relaunch the brand as a boutique investment advisory firm.
The group, led by Frank Campanale, hoped to revive the EF Hutton name, while banking on past glory to attract brokers and customers. Unfortunately, the plan fell through and the project was abandoned in favor of a Lebenthal & Co. revival. According to InvestmentNews, he is no longer involved with EF Hutton in any way.
EF Hutton has managed to come back into the financial services industry by providing online investment services and advice to customers. It’s slowly remaking a name for itself with a stronghold in blockchain research. The firm also announced that it has created its own utility asset known as Meggacoin with the aim of raising millions of dollars.
The Meggacoin announcement was the firm's third concerning cryptocurrency within the same month. Its plans for its token show that not only is EF Hutton willing to act as a major researcher, it is also looking to get in on the industry action.

WHAT IS MEGGACOIN?

Meggacoin will function as EF Hutton’s main utility asset and will leverage the 114-year-old brokerage’s name to raise a reported $60 million for HUTN Inc., its parent company. Users will receive tokens as compensation for the time spent using various Megga Life social media apps, including Meggabuzz, Meggamigo, and Meggaview. The firm claims that the purpose of the social media apps is to generate advertising revenue.
Setting up an EF Hutton account to acquire these coins will cost users a one-time payment of $5. According to the firm, users who accumulate up to 20 million Meggacoins can redeem them for cash which is held by MeggaTrust, an independent trust run by intermediary trustees.
There have been recent suspicions concerning what giant social media companies do with user data. The situation is so serious that Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, had to testify before Congress in April 2018 to clear up some of these suspicions. He admitted that although Facebook does not sell user data, the company profits off it.
EF Hutton claims that it will use Meggacoins as a way for users to profit off their own social media activity, instead of leaving profits to only the social media firms. To this effect, the firm plans to issue $60 million worth of cryptocurrency tokens in January 2019. The proceeds generated will be allocated to marketing, technology, debt redemption, and other corporate expenses.

FINAL THOUGHTS

In just one month, EF Hutton announced plans for three different cryptocurrency-related services, aimed at fostering adoption within the field. While this is a completely different scene than what the company was known for in the past, it may offer the boost it needs to launch itself back into the spotlight.
There is a lot of skepticism around virtual currencies, with several prominent personalities predicting a market crash. This is partly due to the erratic behavior of investors who pass through cycles of intense optimism and fear. The lack of research means that these investors, especially new ones, follow the herd without having adequate knowledge of how the market truly works. An advanced research service may contribute to alleviating that problem. This is why EF Hutton has decided to talk, but will anyone listen?

What Is the Waves Platform? | The Ultimate Guide

coincentral.com
Resultado de imagen para What Is the Waves Platform? | The Ultimate Guide


What Is the Waves Platform?

Waves is a blockchain platform you can use to create your own custom token. Whether you want to crowdfund a project, build out a loyalty rewards program, or create an in-app currency, the Waves platform may be worth looking into.

Waves (WAVES) 
1,97 USD (-0,08%)
RANK 

44
MARKET CAP 

$196,79 M
VOLUME (24H) 

$7,19 M
According to their website, you can create your own token in as little as one minute (but you may want to take some time and have a good plan on how you’re going to use it first). Waves also includes a decentralized exchange (DEX) in which you can trade your newly created coin in a trading pair with any other Waves token.
In this Waves platform guide, we’ll talk about:

How Does the Waves Platform Work?

To put it simply, new tokens that you create and transfer using the Waves platform are done so as attachments on blockchain transactions. There’s an inherent problem with this strategy, though. Using the typical blockchain protocol, as seen in Bitcoin, the network client software needs to update with each new transaction type. This update is more commonly known as a hard fork. As we’ve seen through blockchain history, hard forks come with a significant number of risks and a large amount of work.
To prevent this, Waves implements new transaction types through plug-ins as an extension on top of the core software. That way, even if a client is missing the plug-in, it can still relay the custom transaction through the network. They can effectively still participate in the network without updating their software.
There are a handful of features included in the core Waves software:
  • Custom Application Tokens (CATs)
  • Decentralized exchange (DEX)
  • Smart Contracts
Resultado de imagen para What Is the Waves Platform? | The Ultimate Guide

Custom Application Tokens (CATs)

The primary focus of the Waves platform is in the creation and transfer of custom tokens. You can create a token directly through the lite client which is available on the web as well as both Android and iOS.
The tokens that you create can be bought, sold, traded, and transacted all without a middleman. Because you can customize the coin, they can represent whatever you want. Although you may not get as much token functionality as you would on another platform, like Ethereum, using Waves is infinitely easier and requires zero coding knowledge. This ease-of-use makes the Waves platform ideal for crowdfunding, simple ICOs, and loyalty programs.
It costs 1 WAVE to create a custom token – about $2.00 at the time of this writing.
Use of the platform has grown substantially since launching. Since December 2017, the number of custom tokens issued using the Waves platform has grown from 7,000 to almost 20,000 CATs.

Decentralized Exchange (DEX)

Decentralized exchanges reduce many of the risks associated with using a typical, centralized exchange.
Because your funds are stored directly in your wallet, there’s almost no chance of the DEX being hacked. Additionally, decentralization means that there’s no administrator to freeze your funds or limit your trades and withdrawals. You have complete control of your account.
The Waves DEX uses an automated matcher to pair buy/sell orders and exchange the tokens when orders are fulfilled.
Resultado de imagen para What Is the Waves Platform? | The Ultimate Guide
As you can see, the Waves DEX excels with low fees (<$0.01 per trade order) and numerous gateways. Other than the standard ETH, BTC, and WAVES gateways, the DEX provides on/off ramps for ZEC, XMR, and other cryptocurrencies as well as some fiat options like USD and EUR.
You can check out CoinMarketCap for a complete list of the trading pairs available.
Although you need to provide KYC/AML information to use the fiat gateways, all crypto-to-crypto orders on the DEX are completely anonymous. To help with usability, the Waves team performed a complete update to the DEX’s interface in July 2017.

Smart Contracts

In September 2018, the Waves team implemented the first set of smart contract functionality on the platform. The new features include “multi-sig addresses, token freezing, atomic swaps, voting, and Oracles.” The smart contracts utilize a new programming language, RIDE, specifically made for the project.
Unlike Ethereum smart contracts, ones on Waves do not require Gas to execute. Instead, the network charges a minimal, flat fee.

Waves Token & Architecture

Waves differs slightly from the traditional architectural structure that other blockchain companies are using. To prevent scaling issues, the platform uses a two-tier architecture with both lightweight and full nodes maintaining the network. This is different than the strictly full node approach that Bitcoin purists favor.

Two-Tier Architecture

Waves lightweight nodes never download the blockchain. Instead, they depend on the full nodes for transaction confirmations and the interactions on the network.
The strategy is taken from the SuperNET lite client which has been successfully validated by the NXT project.
To facilitate the trust between lightweight and full nodes, Waves uses the Scorex platform. Instead of downloading the complete history of transactions, lightweight nodes use the current network state. They then use that state to establish simplified payment verification processes.

Leased Proof-of-Stake (LPoS)

There are 100,000,000 Waves tokens, WAVES, in circulation.
The platform uses a variation of the traditional Proof-of-Stake consensus algorithm to maintain network integrity. In a Leased Proof-of-Stake (LPoS) system, you can stake your tokens by “leasing” them to the full nodes that are running the network. Leasing costs 0.002 WAVES.
You need 1,000 WAVES to run a full staking node. This number has changed and is much lower than the initial 10,000 WAVES requirement. If you don’t have that many coins, you can still participate in staking by leasing your WAVES to a public mining pool. Check out the full list of Waves nodes to find the one best suited for you.

Miner Reward Token (MRT)

As a full staking node, you earn Miner Reward Tokens (MRTs) alongside your WAVES rewards. You receive 60 MRT for the first 70 blocks you create in a day and earn 30 MRT per block after that. MRT is a Waves platform token, so you can trade it freely on the DEX for any other supported cryptocurrency.

Waves Platform History

Multiple members of the founding Waves team previously worked on the NXT project together. A poor initial coin distribution, rotating development teams, and controversial development decisions were all factors in them leaving to start their own project – Waves.
Instead of forking from NXT, the team decided to start completely from scratch. A major difference between the two platforms is Waves’s emphasis on inherent fiat integration.
The company has partnered with Deloitte to provide clients with ICO services and is also working with the Russian National Settlement Depository (Moscow Stock Exchange) to potentially develop a blockchain platform to distribute digital assets.
In October 2018, the Waves platform set the record for processing the most transactions of any blockchain project in a single day. The network completed 6.1 million transactions, surpassing the previous record-holder, EOS, which had 5.4 million.
Resultado de imagen para What Is the Waves Platform? | The Ultimate Guide

Competition

There’s no shortage of competition in the smart contract space. Ethereum is currently the big name when it comes to ICOs and dapps but there’s enough room for other projects as well. NEOEOSLisk, and Stratisare also competing for smart contract clients.
Waves appears to be carving a niche by focusing on mass adoption through simplicity. The tokens you can create with Waves are missing some of the functionality seen on other platforms, but they’re ridiculously easy to make. As the team continues to add smart contract functionality, though, the feature gap will further close.
Waves also faces significant competition on the DEX front. IDEX is one of the top competitors, and protocols like 0x and the Kyber Network make it relatively easy to spin up a new DEX. The Waves team is focusing on usability and transaction speed to separate the exchange from the pack. 

WAVES Trading

Waves completed their ICO in June 2016 raising over $16 million. Almost immediately after the ICO, the price of WAVES plummeted 80% and stabilized around $0.20 (0.0003 BTC).
The price remained relatively flat before rising up in July 2017. This run-up was most likely caused by the release of their roadmap as well as a partnership announcement with ICO Hub for a pre-ICO challenge.
For the rest of 2017, the price slowly fell before jumping to hit a new all-time high (in USD) this December of $17.06 (~0.000899 BTC). Among other factors, this bull-run was most likely caused by the team’s claim that Waves would soon be the fastest blockchain in the worldWith Bitcoin’s scaling issues, speed is increasingly becoming a greater and greater factor when evaluating the value of a cryptocurrency.
Besides spikes in price during February and April 2018, WAVES has fallen with the rest of the market during these bearful times. it’s unclear what caused the February run-up, but we can assume that the April rise was due to the smart contract feature implementation.
The coin has been trading steadily around $2.00 for the last couple of months. Further use of the token issuance functionality, the DEX, or the new smart contract innovations should have a positive effect on the price.

Where to Buy WAVES

You have two options available to buy WAVES:
  • Exchanges
  • DEX

Exchanges

Numerous exchanges like Binance and Bittrex have WAVES available for trading. To exchange for WAVES on these platforms, you first need to purchase Bitcoin or Ethereum. Once purchased, transfer your funds to one of the previously mentioned exchanges and trade them for WAVES.
You can also use a service like Changelly or Shapeshift to get WAVES.

DEX

You can also use the DEX to exchange for WAVES. The token is available to trade with BTC, USD, and EUR although trades with Bitcoin have significantly more volume than the other two. Usually, the higher the volume, the easier it is to trade.

Where to Store WAVES

The best place to store your WAVES is in the lite wallet client provided by the company. Keeping your funds on an exchange exposes them to hackers and leaves them under the control of a third-party.
Resultado de imagen para What Is the Waves Platform? | The Ultimate Guide
As mentioned earlier, the lite client is available on the web, on Android, on iOS, or as a Chrome plug-in.
Make sure to lease out your tokens when storing them so you can support the network and get those nice staking rewards.

Conclusion

Waves provides an easy way to create your own token and take advantage of simple blockchain functionality. The platform is good for people looking to run a crowdfund or create a simple loyalty coin for their business. With the additional smart contract functionality, the platform is also becoming more competitive with the likes of more popular dapp platforms (e.g. Ethereum).
The value of Waves is within its simplicity. Anyone can create a customized token with a few clicks and little knowledge of the underlying technology. Beyond straightforward token creation, Waves also operates a decentralized exchange.
If the team continues to make vast improvements on the network’s speed and usability, it’s feasible to see the platform gain significantly more popularity.
This article by STEVEN BUCHKO was originally published at "CoinCentral.com: https://coincentral.com/waves-platform-beginner-guide/

Monday 22 October 2018

Internet Statistics & Facts in 2018 [INFOGRAPHIC]

top10-websitehosting.co.uk

The internet holds a wealth of information, has literally billions of users worldwide but also contains some really interesting internet statistics and facts. For example, half of the U.K.’s population would be willing to receive their online shopping via drone. This information may seem strange, quirky even, however, it’s relevant in one form or another.
Whether you’re an internet user, website owner, or run a business online, it’s important to know what’s ‘going on’ around the internet, what’s trending, and what’s not. In order to help you succeed in 2018, we’ve put together a helpful and interesting selection of internet facts and statistics for you to gawp at, and share with others!

Facts and Statistics

The Internet – 2018

  • As of 1st January 2018, the total internet users across the world was 4,156,932,140 (that’s over 4 billion users)
  • 2 billion of the world’s internet users are located in Asia, where their population is just over equal to the total internet users across the world
  • In January 2018, data reveals that 3.2 billion internet users were also social media users
  • As of January 2018, the world’s population was estimated to be around 7,634,758,428. Over half of the world’s population is using the internet
  • On 10th April 2018, there were over 1.8 billion websites recorded on the internet
  • In 2018, China has the most active internet users in the world, at 772 million users. In the year 2000, this figure was around 22.5 million
  • Some of 2018’s top Google searches included iPhone 8, iPhone X, How to buy Bitcoin, and Ed Sheeran

Social Media – 2018

  • As of January 2018, Facebook alone had 2.2 billion monthly active users. Facebook was the first social media website to reach over 1 billion accounts
  • YouTube users in 2018 have surpassed the 1.5 billion mark, making YouTube the most popular website for viewing and uploading videos in the world
  • There are now over 3.1 billion social media users worldwide in 2018, which is an increase of around 13% compared to 2017
  • Comparing January 2018 to January 2017 figures, Saudi Arabia is the country with the largest social media usage increase at an estimated 32%
  • Instagram is most popular in the USA and Spain accounting for around 15% of total social media usage in these countries in 2018
  • In France, Snapchat is the second most popular social media user account in 2018, with around 18% of users countrywide
  • Facebook continues to be the fastest growing social media network, with around 527 million increase in users over the last 2 years, followed closely by WhatsApp and Instagram at 400 million
  • In 2018, 90% of businesses are using social media actively
  • 91% of social media users are using their mobile phones, tablets, and smart devices to access social media channels
  • Nearly 40% of users would prefer to spend more money on companies and businesses who are engaging on social media

Websites and Web Hosting – 2018

  • As of 2018, WordPress powers 28% of the world wide web with over 15.5 billion page views each month
  • Apache hosting servers are used by 46.9% of all available websites, followed closely by Nginx at 37.8%
  • 2018 sees 52.2% of website traffic accessed and generated via mobile phones
  • In the last 5 years, since 2013, website traffic accessed by mobile phones has increased by 36%
  • As of January 2018, Japan’s share of website traffic mainly comes from laptops and desktop computers at a measured 69%, compared to 27% on mobile phones
  • With over a billion voice search queries per month, voice is estimated to be a high trending digital marketing strategy in 2018
  • Google is the most popular search engine and visited website recorded in 2018, with over 3.5 billion searches each day
  • Website loading times are now considered a ranking factor in Google. You can find our best web hosting companies here.

eCommerce – 2018

  • In the U.K. for 2018, ZenCart has the biggest market share with over 17% of .uk web address extensions using the software provider
  • In the U.S. as of February 2018, over 133 million mobile users used the Amazon app, compared to 72 million users accessing the Walmart app
  • Nearly 80% of online shopping results in abandoned carts, but we have some handy tips to ensure you can recover your marketing strategy
  • 2018 sees a 13% increase in eCommerce sales since 2016, with the majority of sales being recorded in the U.S. and China
  • 80% of U.K buyers use online commerce research before purchasing a product online or offline
  • Under 33% of U.K. consumers want to pay more for faster delivery, but 50% said they would be willing to accept delivery via drone
  • An estimated 600,000 commercial drones will be in use by the end of 2018 in the U.K. alone

Domain Names – 2018

  • As of April 2018, there are just over 132 million registered .com domain names
  • In the month of January 2018 alone, there were 9 million registered .uk domains
  • 68 million copyright infringing URLs were requested to be removed by Google in January 2018, with 4shared.com being the highest targeted website
  • 46.5% of websites use .com as their top-level domains
  • Approximately 75% of websites registered are not active but have parked domains
  • From 1993 to 2018, the number of hosts in the domain name system (DNS) has more than doubled, reaching over 1 billion

Monday 15 October 2018

LENOVO USA TO CREATE CUTTING-EDGE SOFTWARE WITH BLOCKCHAIN

mintdice.com
Image result for LENOVO US TO CREATE CUTTING-EDGE SOFTWARE WITH BLOCKCHAIN
Credits, a blockchain startup which specializes in the provision of services for launching decentralized applications (DApps), is set to join the Lenovo USA New Vision Technology project.
According to the press release which was published on the 4th of September via Medium.com, both companies will combine efforts to develop an Internet of Things (IoT) and AR/VR hybrid software. The aim of the project is to provide industry solutions that solve problems with platform development, infrastructure, hardware support, service assurance and system integration using artificial intelligence and augmented reality. After development, the software will be implemented in various industries, including logistics and fintech.
Credits claims that it will provide blockchain knowledge and expertise to aid Lenovo with the project. The company was chosen due to its track record of developing technical blockchain payment solutions.
In the press release, the firm cites its unique consensus algorithm which has distinctive features such as a delegated-proof-of-stake (dPoS) protocol and a Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT), as why it is highly suited for the task. This blockchain solution will be used to streamline the development process, including management procedures and internal operations. It also offers the following benefits:
  • The Credits platform can process up to one million transactions each second at a processing speed of 0.01 seconds.
  • It also charges relatively low commision rates. These rates can go as low as $0.001.
  • Smart contracts on the platform make it possible to create schedules and setup repetitive cycles.
As stated in the press release by Credits’ CEO & Founder Igor Chugunov, “The Internet of Things and augmented reality are already changing the way we interact with the world. We are excited to partner with AR titan Lenovo New Vision. I see the combination of AI/AR and IoT revolutionizing the business environment."

WHO IS LENOVO?

As one of the leading personal technology companies in the world, Lenovo has always been on the innovative end of the spectrum. Founded in 1984, the company has accumulated a diverse portfolio of technological development, including innovative personal computers and mobile internet devices.
Currently the third largest smartphone company in the world, as well as the world’s largest PC vendor, they are considered one of the giants of the industry. Over the years, Lenovo has grown to a valuation of $47 billion with more than 57,000 employees spanning across 60 countries and a wide customer-base in more than 160 countries.
Whether or not any other company matches Lenovo’s track record for innovation in the PC industry is debatable. However, it is undeniable that their market has grown over the past ten years due to their exceptional engineering and thirst for further innovation.
The company believes in partnerships, acquisitions, research and any form of industry collaboration that helps them to remain leaders in the market and provide their customers with services intended to make their lives easier.  To this effect, Lenovo acquired Motorola Mobility in July 2014 to continue its fast growth into new personal technologies. With this acquisition, the PC giant became the third largest smartphone company in the world. Its addition of Motorola staff, who are industry leaders, also further strengthens the company.

WHAT IS THE CREDITS PLATFORM?

The Credits platform is a fast, scalable and decentralized peer-to-peer financial system where users can interact via smart contracts. The platform also serves as a launchpad for decentralized applications (DApps) and eliminates the need for third parties while offering users the freedom to create apps and carry out their financial transactions in a cheap, fast and efficient way.  
Credits focuses on the banking industry and institutions that offer lending, payments and transfer services. Its main aim is to deliver a host of financial services including crediting, currency and value exchanges, money transfers and funding among others. All this is made possible by the firm’s blockchain, self-executing smart contracts and cryptocurrency, known as CREDITS.
The platform consists of three main parts:
  • A common node (CN) which conducts transaction verification with a minimum trust factor.
  • A trusted node (TN) which conducts transaction verification on the network with a maximum trust factor
  • A main node (MN) which conducts verification on the network as well as the addition of transactions to the transaction ledger block.
Together, these nodes play their parts to secure the network under the DPOS consensus protocol.
Credits recently partnered with Nuggets, a UK-based fintech startup, to offer their payments platform to a wider base of users. Nuggets specializes in e-commerce and already has active partnerships with Alipay and WeChat. This may serve as a boost for the Credits platform in the future.
Apart from Lenovo and Nuggets, the company also has partnerships with Quillhash and The TITA Project. This shows the flexibility of the platform, which can work well in various  commercial niches.

WHAT WILL IOT AND AR/VR SOFTWARE ACHIEVE?

Credits and Lenovo New Vision Technology are pushing the development of the Internet of Things (IoT) forward, along with a host of other companies. According to IT Pro, an estimated 3.6 billion internet devices are used for daily tasks. This means that the total number of IoT devices is larger than this figure and is only bound to increase in the coming years.
The market is also projected to hit a value of $1.7 trillion by 2019, and corporations are preparing to capitalize on that market. They are developing ways to put the technology to better use without congesting internet traffic and data channels.
IoT could change the way technology is perceived and used for everyday tasks. However, to do this, it may have to bypass the way the traditional payment systems work. It would seem that blockchain is a great way to ease this change since the technology is mostly implemented in payment systems.
Combined, both technologies may be able to circumvent the current system in place and allow device micropayments. IOTA, a cryptocurrency platform that uses a distributed ledger technology similar to blockchain, recently tested a micropayment service where a Tesla was able to make payments to a charging hub without its owner.
The possibilities of technology like this are endless. Grocery shopping could become as easy as leaving a list on a device which then translates to another device at the store before making payments by itself. Many more innovative applications for the technology can be developed, with blockchain aiding that development. Although blockchain is not nearly as popular or accepted as IoT technology, it may not be long before it reaches that level.  

FINAL THOUGHTS

Lenovo New Vision Technology is entering the IoT space and combining it with blockchain, Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) to create breakthrough solutions. Companies like Lenovo are working with blockchain firms like Credits to figure out the best way to create systems that will fully support these internet devices instead of hindering them.
The role of Credit in the equation cannot be understated because blockchain technology has proven to be a great solution, especially for payment systems. Its transparency, security and immutability make it suitable for transfering money, a service which Lenovo plans to roll out.
Between 2003 and 2014, there were over 22,000 IoT patents recorded. Throughout 2018, there have been several projects and even patents concerning IoT devices and emerging technologies like blockchain technology and AR/VR.
Companies are making plans to lead the industry as these technologies grow in adoption rates. From interaction such as micro-payments between IoT devices to various control mechanisms, there are large windows for innovation.