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Category: Blockchain

RegTech is Here!

20 September 20221 October 2022
Raul Zambrano
Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Economics, Governance
Modern FinTech saw the light of day with the launching of ATM machines in the late 60s. A few years later, NASDAQ was born, credit cards exploded and banks started to deploy mainframes and minicomputer computers to support their operations. Read more

More Light on Financial Inclusion

20 August 202226 September 2022
Raul Zambrano
Blockchain, Economics, Human Development, ICTD, Innovation
In a couple of recent posts, I briefly traced the history of financial inclusion and its links to the emergence and diffusion of digital technologies. A recently published book by Nick Bernards tackles the same issue more comprehensively while taking Read more

Financial Inclusion and Democratizing Finance – III

20 June 20224 July 2022
Raul Zambrano
Blockchain, Economics, Human Development, ICTD
Show me the money The impact of initiatives such as Grameen Bank (Village phone included) and M-Pesa is still under discussion. From a poverty reduction perspective, the effect has been much more limited. Many countries in the Global South have Read more

Financial Inclusion and Democratizing Finance – II

10 June 202219 June 2022
Raul Zambrano
Blockchain, Economics, Human Development, ICTD, Innovation
Where are the banks? It seems paradoxical that the mainstream history of micro-finance/financial inclusion does not consider banks.  After all, banks are supposed to “bank the unbanked.”  So banks are not only missing from such a narrative.  They are also Read more

Financial Inclusion and Democratizing Finance – I

30 May 202219 July 2022
Raul Zambrano
Blockchain, Economics, Human Development, ICTD, Social Innovation
From Noise to Signal A couple of weeks ago, El Salvador’s CryptoPopulist President shared on social media news about an international “Bitcoin” meeting his country was hosting starting May 16.  He also listed the names of the 44 entities participating Read more

More Bitcoin Inequality

15 March 20225 April 2022
Raul Zambrano
Blockchain, Inequality, Innovation
While still prone to seemingly unpredictable dynamics, Bitcoin’s price seems to have found a new center of gravity in the last year. Since February 2021, the Cryptocurrency has oscillated around 4ok per unit, give or take. It peaked at 67.5k Read more

Blockchain Adoption in the Public Sector – II

30 January 20222 February 2022
Raul Zambrano
Blockchain, Governance, ICTD, Innovation
Regulatory frameworks are usually perceived as counter-productive and even nefarious by innovators, pundits and followers. Together they will go out of their way to stop them, arguing that their impact on innovation is lethal, as discussed in a previous post. Read more

Blockchain Adoption in the Public Sector – I

15 January 202231 January 2022
Raul Zambrano
Blockchain, e-governance, Governance, Innovation
Over ten years after its creation, the hype on Blockchain Technology (BCT) continues to dominate the scene compared to actual implementation. However, that does not necessarily imply it has remained immune to change. At the very onset, Cryptocurrencies, led by Read more

Waiting for yet another Industrial Revolution

5 July 202126 July 2021
Raul Zambrano
Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, e-governance, Economics, Human Development, ICTD, Innovation
The PC revolution. The Internet revolution. The mobile revolution. The social media revolution. The blockchain revolution. And the AI re-revolution. We seem to be living in times of Permanent Revolution. Also reminds me of the Age of Revolution that thrived Read more

Better “AI for Good”

12 January 202115 January 2021
Raul Zambrano
Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Human Development, ICTD
While the dystopian camp perceives digital technologies as a formidable, perhaps even unsurmountable threat to society, those on the other, much more optimistic side do not seem to get tired of repeating its almost countless benefits. The latter camp apparently Read more

Blockchains and Food Safety

10 September 201915 February 2021
Raul Zambrano
Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Climate Change, Human Development, Innovation
Trade is one of the main trademarks of the globalization process. Nowadays, most countries exchange products and services regularly and use local comparative advantages to specialize in specific trade sectors and/or commodities. Food and agricultural products are important components of Read more

Blockchains and Digital ID, II

10 July 201915 February 2021
Raul Zambrano
Blockchain, e-governance, Governance, Innovation
The Evolution of Digital identity The emergence of digital technologies provided the ground to shift from traditional systems based on physical identity. In the past, both foundational and functional identity mechanisms were centralized, with individuals getting a physical document containing Read more

Blockchains and Digital ID, I

20 June 201915 February 2021
Raul Zambrano
Blockchain, e-governance, Governance, ICTD, Innovation
Overview Like previous technologies, such as the Internet, blockchains have been driven by a high degree of techno-optimism not yet backed up by on the ground impact or reliable evidence. Undoubtedly, the technology, which is still rapidly evolving, has enormous Read more

On Blockchains Research

21 April 201915 February 2021
Raul Zambrano
Blockchain, ICTD
Blockchain technology development has been accompanied by a substantial increase in related research. The latter usually trails new technology innovations, but it does tend to catch up in the short-term. Ten years after the emergence of blockchains, there is plenty Read more

Algorithms and Algocracy – II

10 December 201814 December 2022
Raul Zambrano
Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Governance
In the previous post, I provided a simple definition of an algorithm to then explore its use in the digital world. While algorithms live from the inputs they are feed, digital programs such as mobile apps and web platforms are Read more

Smart contracts are not that smart

15 November 201816 February 2021
Raul Zambrano
Blockchain, Governance, Innovation
Smart contracts are perhaps one of the most touted features of blockchain technology. While the idea itself dates from the end of the last century,  blockchains provided the platform for actual implementation in the Internet era. Undoubtedly, Ethereum was the Read more

Waste no time waiting for e-Waste data

31 October 20185 January 2019
Raul Zambrano
Blockchain, Climate Change, Human Development, Social Innovation
The town where I currently reside is planning to change its e-Waste collection policy starting next year. As it is today, town people can go downtown once a month and drop their old computers, laptops, monitors and the rest. This Read more

ICOs: Endangered Species

12 October 201816 February 2021
Raul Zambrano
Blockchain, Economics, Innovation
As expected, ICOs are finally cooling down. There are several reasons for this. First, ICO oversight by regulators in many countries has substantially increased. Regulators are poking not so much into new ICOs. Instead, they are doing deep dives into Read more

The Scale of the Blockchain Scalability Constraints

30 July 201815 February 2021
Raul Zambrano
Blockchain, Economics
According to the latest estimates, global Internet penetration was close to 54 percent by the end of 2017. That is roughly 4 billion people. Figures for the number of unique cell phone users show that 5 billion people have access Read more

Have You Ever Seen a Blockchain?

15 July 201815 February 2021
Raul Zambrano
Blockchain, Human Development, Innovation
A silent but intense competition seems to be taking place when it comes to defining blockchain technology. A Google search for the question “What is blockchain” yields over 120 million possible results. This number includes thousands of guides, videos, FAQs Read more

Bitcoin Inequality

23 June 201811 February 2021
Raul Zambrano
Blockchain, Economics, Inequality
In the short and medium-term, technology and inequality seemed to be positively correlated. In the long term, however, things are not as clear-cut. With the right policies and democratic institutions in place, technology could become a catalyst to reduce income Read more

Blockchain Mining Costs and Revenues

15 June 201815 February 2021
Raul Zambrano
Blockchain, Economics, Innovation
In a previous post, I pushed the idea that mining is part of the blockchain economy’s real sector. Unlike financial speculation, mining requires investment in hardware, electricity, space, human resources, etc. This also applies to small miners who will undoubtedly Read more

Checking ICOs, Again

6 June 201819 June 2018
Raul Zambrano
Blockchain, Economics, Innovation
It has already been three months since I last checked the ICO scene. At the time, I suggested ICOs were probably slowing down. New data seems to confirm this but all points to other trends not detected before. Figure 1 Read more

The Real Sector of the Blockchain Economy

31 May 201815 February 2021
Raul Zambrano
Blockchain, Economics
Most cryptocurrencies are now over 60% down from their December 2017 peak. While prices are still quite volatile, the trend for the last five months is decidedly downwards. While some still expect a recovery to the glorious days of last Read more

Blockchain Mining Revisited

21 May 201815 February 2021
Raul Zambrano
Blockchain, Economics, Inequality
Blockchain mining cannot catch a break when it comes to environmental sustainability. This is especially true for Bitcoin mining that seemingly has an insatiable appetite for electricity. A recent paper suggests that by 2020 Bitcoin mining will consume as much Read more

Case Study: WFP Building Blocks Jordan Refugee Pilot

30 April 201819 July 2022
Raul Zambrano
Blockchain, Governance, Human Development, ICTD
[I wrote this edited draft case study for a larger blockchain research project led by The GovLab.  The final project report included a shorter version of my draft.] 1. Overview Launched in January 2017, the World Food Program Building Blocks Read more

Blockchain Technology is not a Monolith

8 April 201815 February 2021
Raul Zambrano
Blockchain, Innovation
Many observers seem to assume blockchain technology is an immovable monolith. While such assumption does help when trying to explain how the technology works to the general public, this is not the case when describing the actual status of the Read more

Blockchains: The Patents Are Coming!

30 March 201815 February 2021
Raul Zambrano
Blockchain, Governance, Human Development
Open source is one of the core traits of blockchain technology propelling its rapid adoption and growth. The source code from the most popular platforms such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Hyperledger Fabric is freely available for download by anyone who Read more

ICO Update: A Slowdown in Sight?

7 March 20189 March 2018
Raul Zambrano
Blockchain, Economics, Innovation
ICO data for last February is now available and shown in Figure 1 below. We can immediately see that both the number of ICOs and the total investment volume has decreased. The latter, which amounted to 1.2 billion USD for Read more

Blockchain Technology and Human Development revisited

22 February 201815 February 2021
Raul Zambrano
Blockchain, Human Development, ICTD, Innovation
I was invited to Canada to discuss my blockchain technology paper. Here are my opening remarks at the panel organized by Government Affairs and IDRC. Speaking about a seemingly complex subject such as blockchains poses a challenge not only for Read more

Chasing ICOs (away?)

7 February 201816 February 2021
Raul Zambrano
Blockchain, Economics, ICTD, Social Innovation
Recent events seem to suggest the cryptocurrency bubble is finally starting to deflate. Bitcoin, Ethereum and most of their crypto cousins are significantly down while regulators in several countries are finally beginning to take action on the ground. Nobel laureate economists Read more

An Overview of Blockchain Technology and Digital Identity

29 January 201815 February 2021
Raul Zambrano
Blockchain, Human Development, ICTD, Innovation
Like previous digital technologies, such as the Internet, blockchain technology (BCT) has been driven by a high degree of techno-optimism not yet backed by on the ground impact or reliable evidence. Undoubtedly, the technology, which is still in its infancy, Read more

Cryptocurrencies and Development

14 January 201816 February 2021
Raul Zambrano
Blockchain, Economics, Human Development, ICTD
While not the only cryptocurrency around, Bitcoin was the first to solve the well-known double-spending problem that characterizes digital currencies. Tackling the issue demanded the creation of blockchain technology (BCT) combined with a brute force algorithm known as proof of Read more

Identifying the Displaced

30 November 201711 December 2017
Raul Zambrano
Blockchain, Human Development, ICTD
After remittances and land titles, refugees are perhaps one of the primary targets of blockchain technology (BCT) initiatives promoting development or social impact. Bitnation, Aid:Tech and the UN World Food Programme, among many others, are good examples. Last month, at Read more

Identifying the Unidentified

15 November 201727 November 2017
Raul Zambrano
Blockchain, e-governance, Human Development
Identity access and management (IAM) is perhaps one of the areas where Blockchain Technology (BCT) could make a real difference. Research I am currently undertaken indicates that over one hundred BCT startups around the globe are focusing on this area. Read more

Blockchain Technology and Human Development

2 October 201715 February 2021
Raul Zambrano
Blockchain, Human Development, ICTD
The blockchain tsunami has reached the shores of all seven continents in the world.  It would be fair to say most Capitals have been flooded, slowly coming to terms with the new technology’s potential impact. Cryptography, hashing, Merkle trees, peer-to-peer Read more

Blockchain ICOs Revisited

20 August 2017
Raul Zambrano
Blockchain, Economics, Inequality
A couple of weeks ago, Coindesk launched an ICO tracker which seems quite comprehensive and includes data starting in 2014. It has information on 164 ICOs1 I downloaded the data on 18 August but was unable to replicate some of Read more

ICOs: Crowding-in Blockchains?

27 June 201716 February 2021
Raul Zambrano
Blockchain, Crowdsourcing, Innovation
Nowadays, ICOs (or Initial Coin Offerings) are all the rage. Unlike traditional IPOs, ICOs allow startups to streamline the capital-raising process while at the same time enhancing the number of potential investors.  While venture capital is still part of the Read more

Cryptocurrencies and WannaCry

20 May 201716 February 2021
Raul Zambrano
Blockchain
I have been doing extensive research on Blockchain Technology (BCT), focusing on its potential impact in developing and emerging economies. I am particularly exploring BCT’s role in tackling the most vexing socio-economic gaps in these countries. One of my early Read more

Blockchain Mining: Competition and (de)Centralization

24 April 201716 February 2021
Raul Zambrano
Blockchain, Innovation
“One-CPU-one-vote.” 1 CPU stands for Central Processing Unit, nowadays also known as a microprocessor. From a governance perspective, this is perhaps one of the most interesting phrases included in the original Bitcoin paper penned by a still anonymous author. Could Read more

Blockchain and the Future of Society

24 October 201615 February 2021
Raul Zambrano
Blockchain, Book review, ICTD, Innovation
Alongside artificial intelligence and robotics, Blockchain technology is enjoying widespread popularity around the globe. The surrounding hype seems to increase by the minute. Pundits and supporters see a plethora of applications for the technology not limited just to the financial Read more

A “social” history of Bitcoin?

27 January 201616 February 2021
Raul Zambrano
Blockchain, ICTD, Innovation
A recent article by one of its lead developers argues that Bitcoin, defined as an experiment, has utterly failed. While the initial concept was to develop a form of digital money that was completely decentralized and autonomous from any bank Read more
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