The Mobility Open Blockchain Initiative (MOBI) is aiming to make electric vehicle charging more efficient with a new global standard. 

One of the problems with renewable energy, like wind or solar, is storing excess energy until it is needed, but with increasing numbers of electric vehicles in use, their batteries could provide a storage solution – and decentralised, blockchain-based energy grids could make the concept practical. 

MOBI’s Electric Vehicle Grid Integration (EVGI) Working Group, which was formed in May and is chaired by Honda and General Motors (GM), has now launched a global standard, to provide a foundation for such decentralised charging networks, including systems for “vehicle-to-grid-integration”, “tokenized carbon credits”, and “peer-to-peer applications.”

Discussing the developments Senior Project Engineer at Honda R&D Europe, Christian Köbel, said:

“Today’s energy markets are undergoing a massive transition from centralized power generation in big power plants, towards more distributed and volatile power generation.

“Decentralization and the concept of direct P2P interaction is set to become a key factor in leveraging this new market and building meaningful tools for energy-conscious end customers. The goal is to enable scalable, user-centric energy communities. The EVGI Standard represents one of the first essential building blocks for founding such an ecosystem.”

It is hoped that, by providing a secure, standardised format which enables electric vehicles, chargers, and electricity producers to automatically communicate and record transactions, including charging, generation, and exchange, on a distributed ledger, the whole process can become much more efficient than the current centralised system. 

AYO.NEWS says:

Though electric vehicles can be more environmentally friendly than internal combustion engined vehicles, their advantage can be largely, if not entirely, negated due to energy intensive production, short life cycle batteries that are very environmentally damaging to recycle or dispose of, and an inefficient energy distribution and storage system. While blockchain technology might not be able to do much with the first two problems, a decentralised, ‘smart’ energy storage and charging network can definitely make a big difference.

Staying with blockchain technology and cars, yesterday we reported that BMW, which is also a member of MOBI, is rolling out a new blockchain-based loyalty program for customers in South Korea. 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

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German luxury car manufacturer BMW is trialing a new blockchain-based loyalty program in South Korea. 

According to the Korea Herald, BMW Korea is the first division of the group to roll out the new loyalty scheme, called BMW Vantage. If it proves successful, the company plans to launch the program worldwide. 

The system uses blockchain technology to securely award and track points for members of the program, which can then be used to get discounts on maintenance and other services and products. High-tier members of the scheme will also receive invitations to exclusive cultural events organised by BMW. 

Buyers of BMW vehicles will be awarded points based on the value of the vehicle, with buyers of new cars eligible for between 300,000 and 900,000 points, while buyers of used vehicles will also be eligible for points based on the current value. An app also allows users to earn points through game and social features.

Like several other major car manufacturers, BMW has been investing in blockchain technology for some time now, and is a co-founder of the Mobility Open Blockchain Initiative (MOBI) – which is also supported by Ford, General Motors, Honda, Renault, Bosch, Hyperledger, IBM, and IOTA. In March, the company also announced it would be launching PartChain, it’s blockchain-based supply chain solution, with 10 suppliers this year.  

AYO.NEWS says:

Blockchain platforms are ideally suited for rewards and tracking schemes, and one of the best use cases is clearly the automotive industry, where establishing the veracity of a vehicle’s purchase, servicing, and usage history has such a significant impact on resale prices. 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

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Draper Goren Holm has announced the launch and principal close of its $25M USD blockchain fund.

Fund 1 was launched at the seventh annual LA Blockchain Summit, which is produced by the Los Angeles-based venture studio, and is the first traditional venture fund of $25M where Seed and Series A investments will take precedent in promising fintech and blockchain startups.

Although the fund is international in scope, Draper Goren Holm say they will now be more focused on Europe, and will be opening a new office in Vienna, Austria, in December 2020. Explaining the decision to focus on Europe, Founding Partner Josef Holm noted the continent was becoming a FinTech hub and centre for blockchain innovation, thanks in large part to pro-crypto and blockchain friendly governments.

Discussing the news Founding Partner of Draper Goren Holm, Alon Goren, said:

“This first close was a sort of ‘friends and family’ round. Alongside Tim Draper and other individual friends investing in us again, other blockchain funds like Blockchain Founders Fund and the Keiretsu Capital Blockchain Fund of Funds participated.”

While Special Limited Partner of Draper Goren Holm, Tim Draper, added:

“I’m thrilled to participate in Draper Goren Holm’s Fund 1 as the team continues to maintain their dominance in Los Angeles, and soon, internationally.

“Our premier blockchain conference and accelerator has proven to funnel some of the industry’s top talent and entrepreneurs, and this new fund will allow us to double and even triple-down on our favorite projects.”

In addition to producing the world’s largest blockchain conference, Draper Goren Holm’s blockchain venture studio, which actively accelerates and incubates early-stage startups, now has 18 companies in its portfolio; Giftz, Degens, CasperLabs, Owners, Totle, Vertalo, Rivet, Element Zero, Coinsquad, DeFi Money Market, Innovesta, LA Blockchain Summit, Return, Lunar Crush, and Security Token Summit. 

The venture studio is also a member of the Draper Venture Network – a global network of venture capital funds which provides portfolio companies with distribution and a dedicated support staff in Silicon Valley. 

AYO.NEWS says:

There’s a lot of exciting innovation going on in the blockchain and fintech space right now, especially in the emerging hubs of Europe, so it’s great to see there’s still a healthy flow of venture capital available for the right startups, despite the world’s wide economic woes. It will be interesting to see which startups are added to the already impressive Draper Goren Holm portfolio. 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has confirmed it will be banning retail crypto derivative products from 6 January 2021. 

After a year-long of consultations and contemplation, the FCA has decided crypto retail derivative products, like futures and ETNs, are too risky for British retail investors, because it feels there is no reliable way to value the crypto assets that such products are based on. 

The FCA also said that crypto derivatives were subject to widespread market abuse and financial crime, and that retail investors lacked a proper understanding of, or a“legitimate investment need” for such products. 

Commenting on the decision interim Executive Director of Strategy & Competition at the FCA, Sheldon Mills, said:

“This ban reflects how seriously we view the potential harm to retail consumers in these products. Consumer protection is paramount here.

‘Significant price volatility, combined with the inherent difficulties of valuing cryptoassets reliably, places retail consumers at a high risk of suffering losses from trading crypto-derivatives. We have evidence of this happening on a significant scale. The ban provides an appropriate level of protection.”

According to the FCA, the ban will save British retail investors “around £53M” in losses… though quite how they worked that out, given the volatility of the market that they themselves alluded to, is anyone’s guess. 

Most respondents during the FCA’s consultation process were opposed to the ban, and companies like CoinShares, which offers ETNs and other derivative products, had mounted a strong campaign against it. 

AYO.NEWS says:

Nanny State UK strikes again. While it is arguable the nascent crypto derivatives market needs better regulation, the biggest problem is simply lack of education. But, it seems the UK’s solution for everything these days is to impose bans, rather than try to educate people so they can make more informed decisions. 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

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Reality Gaming Group has teamed up with Herotainment to create unique digital collectibles based on Smighties. 

The new blockchain-based experience, Smighties Universe, will allow fans to collect and trade digital versions of their favourite characters, build their own Smighty Hotel with themed rooms, and customise their characters with limited edition accessories. 

Each Smighty character will be tokenised into a Non-Fungible Token (NFT), secured and protected on the Ethereum blockchain, providing documented ownership indefinitely. 

At launch there will be 136 distinct Smighties to collect, with different attributes including superpowers, strengths, weaknesses, favourite foods and birthdays. They will be categorised by their rarity and the elements of earth, water, light, air, and magic. 

Limited edition Pods, each containing a surprise digital Smighty Hero, will be available to buy from www.smighties-universe.com in November 2020. 

UK-based Reality Gaming Group specialised in creating games featuring NFT based collectibles. In August the company helped the BBC make its first entry into the blockchain gaming space, with Doctor Who: Worlds Apart, and in July it secured an exclusive global license from JoyPixels to develop and publish blockchain-based tradable emoji icons and a companion game.

New York-based Herotainment is a transmedia and entertainment company on a mission to create multi-platform content and games with relatable characters and story lines. 

AYO.NEWS says:

Though cryptocurrencies have definitely stolen the blockchain limelight over the past few years, the potential of NFTs for the gaming and collectibles world is limitless, and perhaps even more exciting. From prehistoric times when people collected and traded sea shells and beads, to today’s NFT-based digital figures, it all taps into the same fundamental human urges. 

On the other end of the collectible scale, NFTs are also being used in the high-end art world. As we previously reported, tomorrow Christie’s, New York, will host an auction for part of the largest work of art in the history of blockchain technology. 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020

Eccentric crypto advocate, gun toting libertarian and tax exile, John McAfee, has been arrested in Spain, and is awaiting extradition to the United States. 

Yesterday, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed charges against McAfee for promoting initial coin offerings (ICOs) without disclosing that the issuers were paying him. 

Reports now confirm that 75-year old McAfee, who was already wanted in the US for tax evasion, has been arrested by Spanish police and is awaiting extradition to the United States to stand trial. Apparently McAfee was detained on Saturday while boarding a flight from Barcelona to Istanbul- he was travelling on a British passport. 

According the  SEC complaint:

“From at least November 2017 through February 2018, McAfee leveraged his fame to make more than $23.1 million U.S. Dollars (‘USD’) in undisclosed compensation by recommending at least seven “initial coin offerings” or ICOs to his Twitter followers.”

Seven unidentified ICOs are referred to by the SEC, and it is alleged McAfee received compensation in the various tokens being issued, along with Bitcoin (BTC). The SEC even referred to some of McAfee’s famous Bitcoin price predictions (which he subsequently backtracked on, claiming he was joking). Apparently, McAfee has not filed tax returns from 2014 – 2018, despite receiving “considerable income.”

Despite being wanted for alleged tax evasion in the United States for years, McAfee has still been able to travel around the world without hindrance, attending many industry events and conferences. In June McAfee also launched his own distributed crypto exchange called ‘Ghost’ – which promised users true anonymity and included a Proof-of-Stake privacy coin.

If convicted on all charges, McAfee could be facing up to 30 years in prison.

Staying with dubious ICO promotions, the SEC has already prosecuted high profile individuals like Floyd Mayweather and DJ Khaled, for promoting ICOs while not declaring they were being paid. 

AYO.NEWS says:

McAfee is used to being held by police, having being arrested Belize on in connection with a murder investigation (though no charges were ever made), in the Dominican Republic for having a boat full of military grade weapons, and being detained by police in Norway for wearing ladies’ panties instead of a mask, but something tells us this could be the end of the road.

We guess that’s McAfee’s presidential campaign over then.

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020