bitcoin startup Archives

VeChain Joins PwC’s blockchain Accelerator in Hong Kong

Posted on May 21, 2017 | by [email protected]

PwC and BitSE held a signing ceremony on Monday in Hong Kong with Raymund Chao, PwC Greater China Chairman, and DJ Qian, CEO of BitSE and VeChain, to make the agreement official. A second signing ceremony was held in Singapore on May 17 with Mr. Qian and Yeoh Oon Jin, PwC Singapore’s Executive Chairman.

“In the journey of a joint business relationship between PwC and BitSE, we are delighted to achieve this significant milestone together with PwC. VeChain S.E.A, a subsidiary of BitSE, will focus on accelerating VeChain business expansion in Southeast Asia,” said DJ Qian, a former IBM executive who left the multinational technology firm in 2013 to join the blockchain industry.

“Besides technology, industry know-how and market experiences are equally important to apply blockchain technology. We share the same vision with PwC to improve the efficiency and lower the cost of trust in supply chain management. I believe this in-depth cooperation will definitely accelerate the transformation of supply chain management.”

VeChain, which launched in November 2016, is an enterprise software designed to create, manage, maintain and update shared data about products in the supply chain. VeChain is a state-of-the-art collaboration platform, making the supply chain more transparent and solving important problems that exist in the modern supply chain. So far, this platform has already been adopted by several established companies as part of their production system in industries such as luxury, fashion, logistics, pharmaceuticals, automotive, food safety, and wine and spirits.

PwC’s incubator program will help VeChain accelerate its deployment in Hong Kong and South East Asia, as well as offer the blockchain startup strategic advice. PwC will also provide more resources, industry know-how and blockchain research to improve the design of VeChain and solve even more problems than the platform already does while expanding into more industries and onboarding more clients.

“Embracing advanced technology for growth becomes the top priority for many business sectors,” says Mr. Chao. “Innovative applications and solutions could improve the effectiveness of supply chain, brand reputation, and even customer experience. We are excited about the joint initiative between PwC and BitSE and the VeChain services we provide that could help our clients achieve greater success. I envisage our services will create an impact and deliver on our firm’s purpose of building trust in society and solve important problems.”

Mr. Oon Jin added:

“Disruption is here to stay in our current volatile business environment and it brings both opportunities and challenges. We firmly believe that it is through embracing disruptive change that allows innovation to flourish. This is an exciting milestone for us, and we are confident that together with VeChain we will bring more value to the marketplace through collaborative innovation.”

PwC’s global network features more than 223,000 professionals across industries. BitSE’s more than 70 employees worldwide and over 50 professional blockchain application developers make it one of the largest blockchain-focused startups. The two companies partnered one year ago to promote blockchain adoption in Asia and around the world.

About BitSE

BitSE (short for Bit Service Expert) provides blockchain-enabled, enterprise-grade software infrastructures tested and documented for enterprise. As a Blockchain-as-a-Service (BaaS) company, BitSE lowers the costs of doing business. The company was established in 2013. As one of the first blockchain technology research teams in China, BitSE has more than 70 employees worldwide, including more than 50 professional blockchain application developers working to implement digital asset and blockchain technology designed for enterprises. BitSE’s blockchain-enabled technology is transforming enterprise operations in the same way that the Internet changed content creation. BitSE’s open-source, collaborative software approach ensures the transparency, longevity, and interoperability that blockchain-enabled technologies need.

About PwC – Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and Singapore

PwC China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and Singapore work together on a collaborative basis, subject to local applicable laws. Collectively, we have around 800 partners and 20,000 people in total.

PwC provide organisations with the professional service they need, wherever they may be located. Our highly qualified, experienced professionals listen to different points of view to help organisations solve their business issues and identify and maximise the opportunities they seek. Our industry specialisation allows us to help co-create solutions with our clients for their sector of interest.

PwC offices are located in these cities: Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Shenyang, Dalian, Tianjin, Jinan, Qingdao, Nanjing, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Wuhan, Changsha, Xi’an, Chengdu, Chongqing, Xiamen, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Macau, Taipei, Chungli, Hsinchu, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung and Singapore.

A Synopsis of the Emerging Trend of Blockchain Gaming

Posted on November 8, 2016 | by [email protected]

Bitcoin is triggering the waves of a huge paradigm shift with massive changes across many industries. It is no longer news that Bitcoin is changing the payments market by offering a cheaper and faster means of paying for goods and services. Bitcoin also has huge potentials to change the global economic landscape. Now, Bitcoin is precipitating another wave on change in the world of gaming by introducing new gaming concepts. This article provides a synopsis into the emerging trends of blockchain gaming.

What is blockchain gaming?

Blockchain gaming is a genre of gaming that involves the creation and use of items that you can trade on public blockchain systems. Blockchain gaming often involve the use of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin in the gaming economy. The main distinctive feature that sets blockchain gaming apart from other type of gaming trends is that the blockchain technology makes it easy for gamers to own their gaming economies.

If you are an avid gamer, you’ll have had the regular misfortune of hitting a large jackpot in a game when you complete a level, break through some barriers, or when you employ some ingenious problem-solving skills. However, it is practically impossible to convert your jackpot or wins into tangible real-life items. Hence, you success in gaming is often stuck in the game and you’ll only have bragging rights if have people who understand the game around you. Blockchain gaming allows gamers to access their wins and jackpot by using cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin in the game economy or as a part of the game’s storyline.

Beyond The Void breaks out into blockchain gaming with Nexium

If you love playing real-time strategy RTS- Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) games, you could start gearing up for some serious fun as Beyond The Void prepares to debut the first RTS-MOBA backed by blockchain technology. The game which will be launched the “Money2020” event in Las Vegas this week will combine a blockchain-based Initial Coin Offering (ICO) with a blockchain-token economy.

However, the currency of the game won’t be the already popular Bitcoin but a brand new cryptocurrency called Nexium. Beyond The Void is reportedly working with OpenLedger to launch the game as part of OpenLedger’s mission to propel the most interesting blockchain startups into the limelight. The new blockchain game is designed to reward both the developers and the gamer in what is being touted as the “next-generation gaming culture”.

More interesting is the fact that Beyond The Void blockchain technology wants to mine Nexium with games in the same way that people mine Bitcoin by solving hashes. Nexium will be burned over time in the game and the value of the Nexium will increase comparatively. More so, the value of Nexium has the potential to grow as the number of players in the game grows.

The Nexium ICO

The Bitcoin Startup Sector is Coming Alive, Here’s How to Come on Board

Posted on October 26, 2016 | by [email protected]

Coins is a fledging Bitcoin startup with big dreams to power financial inclusion in Southeast Asia with Bitcoin. If you are deeply involved in the Bitcoin startup ecosystem, you might have heard about Coins – a Philippines-based Bitcoin startup that prides itself as “the easiest way to pay and get paid” in Bitcoin of course.

If you are not deeply involved in the Bitcoin startup scene you might never have heard about Coins unless you happen to be an avid Bitcoin user in southeast Asia. Now, Coin is moving out of the shadows to come into the limelight as it starts taking proactive measures to develop its Bitcoin mobile wallet. The more interesting fact is breaking news showing that Coins has raised $5 million in funding from a number of high-profile investors.

$5 million funding to reach the under-served with Bitcoin

Coins is on a mission – a commendable mission to provide the underserved people of Southeast Asian countries with financial solutions. Coins already boasts 500,000 app user signups since launching in 2014 and it has been working behind the scenes to promote financial inclusion. Coins’ CEO, Ron Hose says, “we’ve been quiet for a long time, but it’s not because we’re not running.”

Now, some global venture capitals have bought into Coin’s lofty ambitions and the startup raised $5 million in its Series A round. Accion Frontier Inclusion Fund led the Series A round – Accion is a fund with a targeted interest in supporting startups working on financial inclusion for underserved communities. Other funds that bought into Coins’ Series A round include Eric Schmidt’s Innovation Endeavors, Pantera Capital, Digital Currency Group, and BeeNext.

Coins is also getting technical support from two major incubation labs as part of efforts to ensure that its product doesn’t die on the altar of execution. IdeaSpace Foundation and Kickstart Ventures have both committed to providing Coins with technical support.

The best part is that incubation labs are backed by major telecom services providers in the Philippines; hence, Coins can easily leverage the relationship to create Bitcoin mobile wallets domiciled on the phones of subscribers on their networks.

The Bitcoin startup scene is heating up

In all honesty, entrepreneurs who are setting up shop in the Bitcoin startup sector deserve medals for courage because they are swimming against the tide. To start with, most people do not yet understand Bitcoin and traditional financial institutions are pushing the propaganda of fear in order to stifle the growth of Bitcoin. Secondly, the regulatory environment for Bitcoin is still somewhat grey and no one can tell if regulatory policies will favor or hurt Bitcoin.

Nonetheless, the Bitcoin startup scene is heating up, not just in Southeast Asia but globally all the way from Silicon Valley to Sydney. A simple search for Bitcoin startups on Angel.co reveals that there are 897 Bitcoin startups, 1,707 investors, and 126 jobs on the platform alone. You can then begin to imagine the number of players with a stake in the Bitcoin startup ecosystem globally.

If you want to get on board the Bitcoin startup train, you might want to consider setting up shop in remittance payments with Bitcoin. The remittance market is a $500B annual market and the fact that Bitcoin could emerge as a global currency makes it a strategic option for remittances. You might also want to consider setting up shop in the micro-transactions market. The fact that Bitcoin transactions attract almost zero-transaction costs makes Bitcoin a strategic alternative for Micro-transactions.