A new platform is going to allow anyone to establish their own eCommerce content store and receive payments from anywhere in the world – reducing costs for their consumers and opening the door to fast-growing emerging markets. The platform would allow service providers and other entreprises to build up applications or services on it’s blockchain. Bezant claims that many small businesses and individuals are missing out on opportunities to thrive because they cannot accept alternative payment methods. Credit cards and bank transfers are the most commonly used and accepted means of payment worldwide, but unbanked consumers without access to these …

In 2017, app stores saw record revenues and downloads. Across both iOS and Android platforms, downloads grew by 15 percent year-over-year to reach nearly 50 billion worldwide, taking total revenue to $15 billion. Google Play and the Apple App Store are the most widely used mobile marketplaces across the globe. It’s because of this duopoly that they are able to impose a 30% cut on all purchases, app downloads and in-app items alike. AppCoin wants to change this by utilising Blockchain technology, disrupting the traditional app economy. This economy is worth nearly $77 bln today and may double by 2020. …

Uproov, a new and upcoming app for smartphones, is going to be the first to bring “heavyweight” real time global timestamping to the world, allowing anybody the ability to prove virtually anything without the need of “trusted” authorities. Timestamping is a process where certain information is wrapped in a block of the blockchain, thus engraving it “forever”. The concept is nothing new after the advent of Bitcoin, of course, and several online timestamping services have spawned in the past years: Tangible.io, Proof of Existence, OriginStamp, BitSig and BitProof. Timestamping Replacing Notary Functions What can you do with a timestamping system? …

Google Introduces Android Pay, A Replacement For Its Wallet App on Mobile Google is taking another shot at mobile payments. At this year’s I/O developer conference, the tech giant stated that Google Wallet will now be replaced with Android Pay on smartphones. The Verge reported: “Android Pay will power in-app and tap-to-pay purchases on mobile devices. Google Wallet will stick around, but it will power Play Store purchases outside Android, say on the web, and facilitate peer-to-peer payments you can make through the app and on services like Gmail.” Commonwealth Bank of Australia to Integrate Ripple for Instant Settlements Commonwealth …

Benjamin Lawsky is leaving New York’s Department of Financial Service, five banks to pay US$5.6 billion fine for rigging markets, and more top stories for May 21. Benjamin Lawsky exits NYDFS, plans to launch consultancy firm New York Department of Financial Services Superintendent Benjamin Lawsky is in the middle of a career switch. He is leaving his role at the NY Department of Financial Services to set up his own consulting firm, which will advise financial institutions on technology, cyber security and virtual currency, as well as help them overcome some of the legal obstacles he helped put in place. …

A group of researchers in miTLS team have found a new vulnerability in the SSL/TLS protocol. This vulnerability is called FREAK, and it concerns Apple and Android users. The remedy has not been found yet, but decentralized networks on the blockchain model could prevent similar cyber security attacks in the future. Many cyberattacks are due to single point of failures. Users easily trust and use different services in digital world without being aware of threats and vulnerabilities of these services. One of the most useful and common protocols in internet in which most of the banks and services rely on, …

On Monday, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire announced the launch of the company’s new native apps for both iOS and Android. The apps join an elite class, previously dominated only by Coinbase, of smartphone tools that allow U.S. users to buy or sell Bitcoin on their mobile devices. From the first interaction, you can tell clean design was a priority. Minimalism is emphasized and the features are well laid out; there’s no confusion finding what you are looking for. Along with facilitating the purchase and sale of Bitcoin, the app lets you send and request money using your phone’s email contacts …