LINE, a Japanese messaging giant is building a platform for developing central bank digital currencies (CBDC), as per the report by South Korean news agency the Chosun Ilbo. 

CBDC is the cryptocurrency issued directly by central banks to replace real fiat currency. It is generally different from cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. The private sector issues these cryptocurrencies and has increased market price volatility.

However, LINE is in discussions with Asian central banks about possibly working on digital currency projects. Executives of the line stated that they could not deliver the exact countries that considered the platform’s application.

The Bank of Korea, for instance, could trial its CBDC for micropayments. A recent report from the central bank mentioned that other countries like Uruguay, Cambodia, and the Bahamas are also developing CBDCs for micropayments to decrease money management costs.

Line officials said,

It is difficult to disclose the exact country where the discussion is taking place…It is a major Asian country focusing on the development of CBDC for micropayment.

Payments giant Mastercard launched a virtual and custom testing platform last month which will allow central banks to evaluate digital currency systems. On October 7, the South Korean central bank reported that it will start the distribution phase of its CBDC pilot scheme next year.

Breitling has, a well-known Swiss company has become the world’s first luxury watchmaker to leverage blockchain technology digital watch certificates.

Swiss firm partner with Arianee, an open-source protocol for creating digital identities for valuable items, to issue these watch certificates. Every watch sold by the firm will come with a blockchain-based digital passport. The passport is automatically linked to Breitling’s digital warranty program. 

Breitling said:

With this blockchain-based digital passport, collectors no longer need to retain paper documents. And instead can freely consult with Breitling more efficiently and anonymously thanks to an embedded chat feature.

The digital passport will allow clients to extend their warranties, track repairs, request services. And subscribe to insurance for protection against theft. Furthermore, users could guarantee authenticity if they want to trade or sell on the secondary market.

Aside from Breitling’s latest innovation, French entrepreneurs and Tradeewatches Co-founders Guillaume Kuntz and Marc Ambrus also initiated Watch Certificate in spite of the Covid-19 pandemic. This includes a physical steel card that bears a QR code linked to a digital certificate.

This service enables clients to put a purchased watch through a detailed authentication and checking process. Kuntz explains this as the increasing creation of a passport for a luxury watch, which can be viewed through a phone app.

Moreover, the world’s biggest luxury group LVMH, collaborated with Consensys and Microsoft last year in developing its own blockchain platform AURA. Through this network, customers can access the product history and proof of authenticity of luxury goods.

Chainlink has made its second acquisition with Cornell University’s privacy-preserving oracle solution DECO for an unrevealed amount. 

Deco Co-Founder Ari Juels will be joining Chainlink as a Chief Scientist. Since 2014, he has been teaching at Cornell University, one of the premier blockchain hubs in the world. He took leave to focus on Chainlink’s work.

The term “proof-of-work”, was coined by Jeuls and Markus Jakobsson, his research partner. DECO also claims to leverage how HTTPS/TLS data is transmitted for more secure web practices. 

As per DECO’S website reads, “DECO is also useful for users who want to monetize their own data (and therefore prove that they are indeed providing correct data) without giving away anything but the data that they are selling.”

As per Chainlink’s co-founder Sergey Nazarov, the integration of DECO will potentially create new use cases apart from an increase in the security of the project’s infrastructure.

Nazarov said,

“DECO-enabled Chainlink oracles will have big implications for smart contracts across the enterprise, consumer, and even DeFi applications. Basically, any smart contract that was previously limited by private data will soon be able to function on a public blockchain like Ethereum without revealing any confidential information to the blockchain.”

Nazarov mentioned DECO can be used as a basement for some crypto wish list items, such as decentralized identification or permissionless credit. For example, he said by pulling data from a DMV while hiding the individual’s birth date DECO can prove a person is over 18.

Nazarov said that DECO will one day allow a smart contract to check off-chain credit data such as banking records without overreaching into personal data. He also said that in the DeFi space, DECO can create endless possibilities.

On August 16, Standard Chartered Bank successfully leveraged blockchain technology to conduct Bangladesh’s first blockchain transaction by issuing a Letter of Credit (LC) for Viyellatex Ltd.

Standard Chartered Bank is the biggest international bank in Bangladesh, with a presence of over 115 years in the country. Viyellatex Ltd is a ready-made garment exporter that imports textile items from Viyellatex Spinning. 

LC was issued by Standard Chartered Bank for the trade between garment exporter Viyellatex Ltd and Viyellatex Spinning. The transaction was entirely paperless and completed digitally through Contour’s network.

Most of the raw materials of the ready-made garment industry are sourced locally through inland LC, which requires a lot of tedious paperwork. If the transactions are moved into a paperless blockchain, major efficiency can be achieved in local trade.

CEO of Contour Carl Wegner said,

“Global trade lacks a solution that drives out inefficiencies, improves data transparency and enables interoperability between all trade participants. The long-established elements of trade finance don’t have sufficient integration, ultimately causing friction and unnecessary administration.”

These may cause significant barriers to global trade growth, adding complexity, increasing cost, and delaying the process for both banks and corporate. These issues can be overcome by the Contour network.

Contour is a distributed trade network that gives enhanced collaboration over the main elements of trade with all participants utilizing the network to create and renew trade data in real-time.

Contour’s blockchain network was built on R3’s Corda blockchain. Likewise, in order to complete a 100,000 euro money market security transaction German banking and tech giants have utilized Corda’s platform.

The rise of many blockchain-based games that provide high-quality experience is seen to be the catalyst that will enable the exposure of 2.5 billion gamers worldwide to cryptocurrency.

The blockchain gaming development is still fairly organic in nature in spite of the advancement of innovation by industry leaders. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao has spoken about the developing blockchain and crypto industry in a press release.

Zhao said,

“The potential of blockchain and cryptocurrencies reaches far beyond the financial sector. Given the readiness of the gaming industry in its continuous evolution, especially in new technologies.”

Blockchain-based games are secure, transparent, and provide fair gameplay, which has also brought the development of non-fungible tokens (NFT) to gaming. NFTs will allow players to own their in-game items and can also trade these items with other players.

One example is The Sandbox, a blockchain gaming platform where the creators can adapt the experience of gaming. The most recent 3D blockchain-empowered cycle has just been making news with its pre-sales of LAND packages and sale of its native SAND token on the Binance Launchpad.

There are numerous other games like the Age of Rust, Neon District, Infinite fleet, and many more games which will bring the power of blockchain into the gaming scene. Many industries are prepared to expand gaming coverage to incorporate energizing developments from a gamers’ perspective.

Now-defunct Mt. Gox was one of the biggest Bitcoin exchanges in the world before it succumbed to a massive hack. Nevertheless, it began as a card-trading platform and got its name from “Magic: The Gathering Online”. This shows how far blockchain technology has grown in the gaming industry.