Google is reportedly working on “blockchain-related” cloud technology

Blockchain Kodak, blockchain taxis , blockchain pizza ! What’s next? Why Google, of course.

According to a report by Bloomberg, Google is working on “blockchain-related” technology for its cloud business. It would theoretically help make customers feel their data is more secure. It could also differentiate Google from some of its competition in the cloud space. Athough at the rate things are being blockchain-ified, I’m not sure how long that would last.

Perhaps more interestingly, Bloomberg’s source also says Google will provide a version of the technology for other companies to run on their own servers.

The news isn’t totally surprising. Google started testing blockchain in its cloud at least as far back as 2016, and it’s organized lectures on cryptocurrencies and related technologies just a few weeks ago. Google’s parent company, Alphabet, has also invested in Ripple , one of the leading startups using blockchain for transactions. According to Bloomberg, it’s also acquired or invested in several small startups with digital ledger experience.

The report is light on other details, but I imagine it won’t be too longer before we hear more from Google itself.

President of UN affiliate pleads ‘not guilty’ to selling fake cryptocurrency

The president of the UN-headquartered World Sports Alliance has pleaded “not guilty” to a wire fraud charge related to the selling of an allegedly fake cryptocurrency, Law360 reports.

Asa Saint Clair, a resident of New York, is now reportedly under house arrest in Arizona, having been released from US federal custody on a $500,000 bond.

Prosecutors sought strict conditions for his release, as he’d bought a one-way ticket to Madagascar in the wake of investigator interviews. Authorities arrested Saint Clair at the airport.

According to Law360, prosecutors allege Saint Clair defrauded at least three investors out of thousands of dollars with claims that World Sports Alliance was in a position to help developing countries with access to water, food, and sports facilities.

IGOBIT, the cryptocurrency for developing countries that never existed

Saint Clair’s indictment claims he’d promised investors guaranteed returns if they bought World Sports Alliance’s purported blockchain-powered digital token “IGOBIT.” Prosectors have previously noted that IGOBIT never existed, despite Saint Clair having allegedly raised money for its launch.

Instead, Saint Clair is said to have taken investor money and spent it on dinners at Manhattan restaurants, plane tickets, and other personal expenses, as well as those of other World Sports Alliance employees.

The US government has referred to Worlds Sports Alliance as a “sham affiliate of the United Nations.”

“Saint Claire allegedly touted his company as promoting the values of sports and peace for a better world, yet defrauded all those who invested in his sham company,” said US special agent-in-charge Peter Fitzhugh. “As alleged, Saint Claire used the money he earned through deceit to fund a lavish lifestyle for him and his family.”

Saint Clair has however denied allegations he’d been scamming investors since 2017. His legal team reportedly argued that he’d only served as World Sports Alliance president for six months, and that he “travels the world” for his job, which supposedly explains the Madagascar incident.

They even claimed it’s not uncommon for businessmen in Saint Clair’s position to buy one-way tickets to African countries because such governments are not “schedule oriented.”

The case is scheduled to continue in mid-March, as prosecutors must reportedly investigate six terabytes of data seized from Saint Clair’s New York City apartment.

5 key factors to consider before starting a cryptocurrency startup

The cryptocurrency world is working extremely well right now, to the point where Bitcoin, for example, manages to achieve some amazing results. Not only that but Ethereum is extremely popular, and there are tons of other cryptocurrencies which became very important on the market as well. So, it’s clear that you can find a demand for these types of products and services. The issue is, can this sustain a business for the long term? What should you focus on when you want to create a cryptocurrency startup?

Know what you want to achieve with your startup

Creating a proper business plan for your cryptocurrency startup and knowing what you want to achieve with it is very important. You need to see if the idea is feasible and if people will work on it or invest in it. You need to make sure that implementing this type of idea will be worth it. Studying the market and seeing if there is any demand for something like this is a good start. Having a positive attitude and analyzing the competition is very helpful in this regard. You just need to have the right amount of commitment and focus and the results can be more than satisfactory in the end. But if you do things the right way, the outcome can indeed be astonishing and your cryptocurrency startup can grow beyond belief.

Focus on ideas, not money

Basically, you need to identify a problem in the industry and use the startup as the means to solve it. You will not be able to get a good startup going as long as you don’t have the right direction. Many startup CEOs in this industry focus only on the money they can make and you want to avoid this sort of thing. Snagging an idea and executing it the right way is very important.

You need to understand what your business is all about and be creative about the entire process. Sometimes this will be extremely hard and challenging to do, but the overall rewards can be more than interesting in the end. The focus right now has to be on success and prevalence. It’s important for the cryptocurrency startup to have a mission and to identify what makes it special. According to Cvetko Kovac, CEO of Cloud Mining Report :

Not having any direction is just screaming for trouble and you want to avoid things like that the best you can. It’s not going to be a walk in the park but you have to innovate if you want to stay ahead of the curve.

You need to focus on funding from sources that can help you grow

Opting for the right type of cryptocurrency startup is very important. You have to study the market, especially when it comes to cloud mining  and you also need to work very hard in finding investors for your business. In the cryptocurrency world, you can see a lot of VC funding and angel investors are chiming in too. Then you also have bootstrapping, which is a very popular funding option at this time too. There are some things to adapt here and there, but the entire process is seamless right now and it works extremely well.

However, companies in the US need more funding to overcome legal hassle . Bootstrapping can be great for decentralized or offshore companies and this can be extremely handy.

Hiring key people right away will help you with later hassle

Creating a good crypto-currency startup is all about finding the right team . Finding people that will embark on this type of journey with you may seem tricky at first but there are lots of persons who believe in the success of crypto-currencies. Searching for the right team members will be very time-consuming but it will certainly be worth it in the end, and that’s the type of thing that matters the most here.

What you should focus on is finding the core of your team, those few people that truly believe in your ideas with all their hearts. Those people will bring the commitment and focus that you need from this type of experience. It’s certainly a tough challenge but there are tons of well-prepared people ready to help you achieve greatness.

Unclear regulations worldwide confuse an already unstable market

The US is striving to create laws that pertain to the cryptocurrency world but the reality is that most countries out there don’t even seem to acknowledge the existence of cryptocurrencies based on their laws. As you can imagine, something like this does tend to lead to rather problematic situations. Formal cryptocurrency companies are constrained by some of the guidelines too. The US, for example, have some rather strict laws when it comes to creating this type of startup.

Then you have some other types of businesses that are opting for a more liberal climate. What is interesting is that they do end up losing a large market but by abandoning the regulatory jurisdiction, they get to remain free and stick to their beliefs.

And you also have the type of cryptocurrency startup that just lives in the cloud. This is great because such companies exist on the idea of freedom, equality, a lack of censorship and prowess

Basically, the focus has to be on investing the right amount of money into your ideas and making sure that you have a huge demand for your products or services. The cryptocurrency world is always evolving too so you need to be very creative and identify any means to optimize the tech as you see fit. But it can be done; you just have to use the ideas above to create the best cryptocurrency startup you can!