[kictanet] Overview of Blockchain

Mon Jul 18 16:53:17 EAT 2016

Thanks Elizabeth for the report!

Smart Contracts and Robo-advisory are already a reality.

The future is indeed amazing!

Gamefication!

https://vimeo.com/174821377

(In the video, large crowds of people are chasing after the spawning of a
rare Pokémon.)

Pokémon Go
<http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2016/07/a_comprehensive_guide_to_pokemon_go.html>
is roughly a week old, and it's already the no.1 free downloaded app on iOS
and Android. The game itself is built by Niantic (an internal startup at
Google and partially owned by Nintendo), and it is a geocaching
<http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-12/long-before-pokemon-go-there-was-geocaching>
game with augmented reality. Virtual players meet in real places to capture
Pokémon together. So far, Pokémon Go is available in some countries around
the world, and with the following video attached above, this is just the
beginning of this Pokémon Go craze. Despite the fact that most video games
have relatively small window of profitability, Pokémon Go will shatter
everything you know about mobile gaming and the amount of data (gmail
contacts, your location, time spent gaming, and etc) collected via
Pokémon Go will quickly become the largest asset of Nintendo and Google.
This type of geocaching game wasn't the first of its own kind, as Niantic
previously built Ingress that is based on similar gaming philosophy -
acquire items, join teams, and capture the flag.

*"The future of mobile gaming will involve individuals going outside their
homes and playing together."*

Inside the game, you can use such Pokémon Go item called the incense that
will attract Pokemons spawning in the designated area. Many restaurants,
hotels, and places to visit have been attracting new customers with the use
of Pokémon Go Incense. (Article
<http://www.inc.com/walter-chen/pok-mon-go-is-driving-insane-amounts-of-sales-at-small-local-businesses-here-s-h.html>
from Inc. explaining how Pokemon Go drives businesses).

For those of you who dismiss Pokémon Go(PG) as a fad, I would not make such
judgement this soon, because Nintendo has been planning this release for
quite some time, and as genius game designers, they have envisioned a
reality that will change ours. As more players of all age engage in the
playing of Pokémon Go, a new psychology will emerge out of this - "Life is
a Game." This can be either dangerous or advantageous to society as a
whole, but we shall observe how much influence this mentality will have as
more & more geocaching mobile games become available.

*Long-Term Investments: Augmented Reality(GOOGL & APPL), Drones (IFLY
<http://www.morningstar.com/etfs/ARCX/IFLY/quote.html> ETF), and Games
(GAMR
<http://blogs.barrons.com/focusonfunds/2016/07/11/yes-the-new-video-game-etf-has-exposure-to-pokemon/>
ETF). *

The current catalog of Pokémons on PG is 151, and each monster have
different geographies and probabilities of appearance
<http://www.decluttr.com/blog/2016/07/14/the-pokemon-each-us-state-is-desperately-searching-for-on-pokemongo/>
in all 50 states. This means people will actually go out there and travel
tirelessly to capture these virtual monsters. As for physically out of
reach Pokemons, you can buy Pokédrone:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSxEHb16boI#action=share
<http://mit.onlinecampus.getsmarter.ac/pluginfile.php/10279/mod_forum/post/20428/Poke%CC%81drone%20allows%20Poke%CC%81mon%20Go%20users%20to%20catch%20out-of-reach%20species.mp4>

To sum up, 1) do not underestimate Pokémon Go and its potential impact
because you can very likely benefit from the Pokemon Go phenomenon,  and 2)
go out there try it for yourself. Pokémon Go is the game of 2016. It will
unite numerous fanatics worldwide, and create collaborative communities
worldwide.
Eric

On Mon, Jul 18, 2016 at 2:09 PM, Elizabeth Rossiello via kictanet <
kictanet at gw.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:

> Yes - there are many many use cases for a blockchain / decentralized
> ledger.
>
> The financial sector is usually the first to take in a technology because
> margins are high and there is room for disruption -- plus the market sizes
> are usually larger...but here are two of the many other use cases (run by
> female founders!):
>
> Everledger <http://www.everledger.io/> is a South-African/UK company with
> deep experience in gem certification that uses hi-tech photography to
> record unique identities of diamonds, search databases for their
> authenticity, then use the bitcoin blockchain to store a "smart contract"
> forever...so that no two people can "own" the same diamond.  This also will
> unlock these diamonds for insurance and asset-financing.
>
> Stem <https://stem.is/> is a US team that were Music Producers and
> Managers and is creating a way to put copywritten information on the
> bitcoin blockchain to unlock revenue streams
>
>
>
>
> On Mon, Jul 18, 2016 at 3:59 PM, Tony White <tony.mzungu at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Thanks, Elizabeth.  That's a very interesting report - especially the
>> (rather small) section on non-financial uses of blockchain technology.
>> My take on this is that the technology would prove useful wherever
>> transactions need to be securely recorded to the satisfaction of
>> multiple parties.
>>
>> The scope of opportunity here is immense. Time to dig out the K&R book...
>> ;)
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Tony
>>
>> On 18/07/2016, Elizabeth Rossiello via kictanet
>> <kictanet at gw.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
>> > Hello All
>> >
>> > Here is a great overview of the different parts of the Global Financial
>> > Sector and how they are investing, experimenting, rejecting or obsessing
>> > over all things "blockchain."
>> >
>> > Good neutral view with pros, cons, costs and hurdles.
>> >
>> > Keep warm!
>> > Elizabeth
>> >
>> > --
>> > Elizabeth Rossiello
>> > CEO and Co-Founder
>> > *BitPESA*
>> > Nigeria: +234 909 345 4135
>> > Kenya: +254 710 891 851
>> > Skype: erossiello
>> >
>>
>>
>> --
>> Tony White
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Elizabeth Rossiello
> CEO and Co-Founder
> *BitPESA*
> Nigeria: +234 909 345 4135
> Kenya: +254 710 891 851
> Skype: erossiello
>
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