Over 50 members, including officers from companies such as Ethereum Foundation, Blockchain Capital and Messari, have joined blockchain accelerator Startup Studio backed by Fidelity. In a blog post published today, July 18, IDEO CoLab Ventures — which stands behind the blockchain accelerator program — revealed that over 20 leading organizations joined Startup Studio, bringing more than 50 mentors to the project for 2019. Announcing the new program members, IDEO wrote: “last week you met our blockchain Startup Studio’s 20+ partner organizations [...], today we’re excited to share the humans behind them — and many more — who deeply care about …

Major global firms Fidelity, Deloitte and Amazon have begun supporting a new blockchain accelerator program called Startup Studio, according to a press release on July 11. The companies are backing the program along with 20 other firms, including Ethereum Foundation and ETH Global, Stellar Foundation, crypto analytics firm Messari, and Coinbase-backed NEAR Protocol, among the others. The new blockchain accelerator is an initiative of IDEO CoLab Ventures, the venture capital division of global design consultancy firm IDEO. Supported by Fidelity, Deloitte and Amazon, as well as major crypto industry players, Startup Studio is set up to provide workshops to blockchain …

Arizona State University is working with local community colleges on using blockchain to innovate data sharing for academic records. The development was reported by university news site Inside Higher Ed on July 9. Arizona State aims to use blockchain to establish whether students who transfer from community colleges have already earned enough credits to be awarded an associate’s degree — an intermediary qualification between a high school diploma and a full-fledged bachelor’s. Tracking credits during this process — known as a reverse transfer — becomes complex and time-consuming to navigate: in addition to mere data exchange, colleges are required to …

The Brazilian diplomatic academy, the Rio Branco Institute, will now require that candidates have knowledge of cryptocurrencies and blockchain, Cointelegraph Brazil reported on July 8. The Rio Branco Institute — established in 1945 and offering two advancement courses for diplomats — has published the 2019 edict for the selection of new diplomats in Brazil where it included the requirement that candidates know about blockchain and digital currencies. As the publication highlights, the subject is mandatory for the test that is initially delivered in two phases, wherein knowledge about blockchain and cryptocurrencies is mandatory in both phases. The notice states that …

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson claimed that emerging markets are where cryptocurrencies matter, and that Facebook’s announced virtual currency Libra is not going to find success in this area, according to a report by Finance Magnates on June 26. According to Hoskinson, emerging markets are the future. He says: “Emerging markets are where cryptocurrencies matter [...] When I look at the developed world, I don’t care. It’s highly regulated and, in many cases, a rigged system. If I decide to compete with a tech company they can just push me out via regulation. [...] Then I sit down with the prime …

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) of the Philippine government has signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with U.S.-based blockchain firm Monsoon Blockchain Storage, according to a report by GMA News Online on June 19. The MoA reportedly stipulates that Monsoon is to act as a blockchain consultant and advisor to DICT, offering services such as cost-benefit and socio-economic analyses regarding blockchain solutions in the Philippines. DICT Acting Secretary Eliseo Rio Jr. commented on how the MoA will benefit the Philippines, saying it will “directly benefit our continuous effort to address the country’s issues on ease of doing …

A Canadian tech institute will issue blockchain-based diplomas to its next graduating class, according to an official press release on June 13. The Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) has partnered with blockchain marketplace ODEM (On-Demand Education Marketplace) to provide blockchain-based copies of student diplomas for SAIT’s graduating class of 2019. SAIT’s class of 2019, which is made up of over 4,800 students, will reportedly be able to use blockchain technology to share their official diplomas as needed, circumventing the need for alumni to request official documents from SAIT to send to recruiters and employers. The students will receive the …

Major crypto platform Coinbase has added a course on MakerDao’s stablecoin dai in its educational portal Coinbase Earn, according to an official blog post by Coinbase on June 10. According to the post, dai is the first stablecoin covered by Coinbase Earn, which will offer videos and quizzes to help users learn about the token, and receive some Dai for their efforts. As summarized in the announcement, the Ethereum-based stablecoin Dai is backed by its sister token maker (MKR) and is balanced around retaining a stable value of $1 over time. Coinbase first announced that they were adding dai to …

Global tech giant IBM has entered a partnership a Russian metal producer to launch an educational program in blockchain, local news agency TASS reports June 6. Nornickel, a Moscow-based globally leading producer of nickel and palladium, has signed an agreement with IBM and the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) to set up a study and training center for specialists to develop digital technologies for the mining and metals industry. According to the report, the agreement was signed on June 6 at the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum by Nornickel’s VP Sergey Batehin, IBM’s general manager in Russia and …

Dublin City University has partnered with tech company network Technology Ireland ICT Skillnet to create the country’s first master’s program in blockchain technology. The new educational certification was announced by the Irish government’s Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation on May 29. The “Master’s in Blockchain: Distributed Ledger Technologies” degree is the culmination of ICT Skillnet’s efforts to identify the skills upcoming blockchain engineers need to learn, with the help of blockchain educational hub Blockchain Ireland. The course is reportedly conducted online as a two-year part-time course, which will begin with its first cohort of students in September 2019. The …

The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania has introduced an online program on financial technologies, including digital currencies, according to a press release published on May 30. The new online program dubbed “Fintech: Foundations and Applications of Financial Technologies” features lectures and case studies on topics such as payments, cryptocurrency, blockchain technology and crowdfunding, among others. Apart from the university lecturers, the course also features speakers from the leading industry companies, including payment processor Square, marketplace lender CommonBond, and investment advisory firm Vanguard. Anne Trumbore, senior director of Wharton Online, said that the program was launched as part of …

Despite the crypto volatility, the widely publicized regulatory concerns and a lack of liquidity in the cryptocurrency market, reports show that university endowments worldwide are dipping their toes into cryptocurrencies. Recently, a survey conducted by a trade publication in partnership with two other startups showed that up to 94% of the 150 endowments surveyed had an investment in crypto-related projects. More than 80% of those surveyed were United States-based institutions, with the rest of the respondents coming from the United Kingdom and Canada. What is most exciting about the survey is that a whopping 54% of respondents said that they …