Retail Giant Explores Blockchain-Powered Autonomous Delivery Systems

An American retail juggernaut, Walmart is currently exploring the idea of an autonomous delivery drones.

In a recent patent filing that was published on August 30, Walmart details a system by which “autonomous electronic devices” communicate with each other wireless and pass transported objects to each other after an identification process.

The drones will rely on a database of delivery information stored on a blockchain.

The transmission of signals between the two co-working drones will rely on several technologies which includes RFID codes, QR codes or ultrasound as indicated in the paten filing.

According to Walmart the very fact that consumers have to trust the delivery of their goods to flying machines raises challenges related to security and requires a reliable system of identification for the drones and blockchain is just the right technology to address this trust issue.

China Going All Out In Blockchain Technology Patents Filing

It has been widely understood that acceptance of blockchain technology implies the acceptance of cryptocurrency; China has taken a different approach.

While it has been praising the benefits of blockchain technology and how it could disrupt several industries it has taken on a negative stance for cryptocurrencies and banning most of the activities that is associated with it.

While innovators in the country has been intensely propelling the development of blockchain technologies, the government on the other hand has been hampering the adoption of cryptocurrencies at the same time.

Its affinity to blockchain is so much so that Chinese firms have clearly led the blockchain-related patent race.

Chinese firms like, Tencent and Baidu accounts for more than 56% of all world-wide patents.

In contrast U.S. only accounts for 22% of blockchain-centric patent filings.

Alibaba, the second largest company in China has also been open-minded when it comes to blockchain.

While it can be widely seen that China has taken a leading role in the Blockchain-revolution the government of China is still hesitant to accept cryptocurrencies.

Only time will tell if China will change their stance against cryptocurrencies.

India Sends Officials To Other Countries To Study Crypto And Related Activities

According to the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (SEBI) annual report in 2017-18, it has organized tours to other countries for its officials to study cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings (ICO).

They have already taken study tours to study cryptocurrencies and ICOs at Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA), the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINAMA).

These Study tours were part of their efforts to engage the international regulators and gain deeper understanding of the systems and mechanism of the said nascent industry.

This is not the first time Indian authorities have expressed interest on how other countries deals with cryptocurrencies.

The Reserve bank of India (RBI) for instance have in the past cited actions taken by authorities in Japan and Korea which is widely considered the hot bet of cryptocurrency activities in Asia.

RBI has also been considering the feasibility of issuing a rupee-backed central bank digital currency.

This comes at a time when RBI decided to ban on banks dealings with crypto-related businesses and persons.

SBI South Korea Savings Bank Partners With Blockchain and AI Firm

According to a local news outlet, the South Korea’s SBI Savings Bank is said to have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with DAYLI intelligence, a blockchain and AI firm, in an effort to improve its financial technology business.

The blockchain and AI firm offers blockchain solutions and AI-based technology infrastructure to for financial institutions and will assist SBI in implementing both blockchain and machine learning to maximize work efficiency and reduce costs across various financial products and services.

The blockchain solution DAULI is based in LoopChain, which is a protocol that is part of the ICON ecosystem.

ICON is widely considered as the Ethereum of South Korea and is an interoperable decentralized network connecting different blockchains.

DAYLI’s blockchain solutions comprises of distributed ledger, smart contract and management layers that can be implemented for use cases such as authentication systems, settlement, trading, and internet of things (IoT).

SBI Savings Bank representative reveals that this MoU is part of its effort to respond to rapidly changing financial environment.

Philippine SEC To Release Draft Of Crypto Exchange Regulations Next Week

According to Philippine SEC Commissioner Ephyro Luis Amatong, the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is exploring regulating cryptocurrency as trading platforms and looking at the current Australian and Swiss legislative apparatus as possible templates for the future regulatory framework of the Philippine SEC.

The first draft is expected to be released next week.

It is also expected that the final draft pertaining to Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) will be released next week.

According to the Commissioner, the Philippine SEC is developing a permissive legislative apparatus pertaining to ICOs, facilitating a safe means for small and medium-sized enterprises to raise capital with the crowdfunding method.

This is indeed exciting times for the Philippine cryptocurrency scene as new regulations will only bring more legitimacy to the nascent industry.

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