Dear eDEV holders,

OpenLedger ApS and VPLedger, the world's first DLT framework for financial operations, encourages eDEV holders to exchange eDEV coins to OBITS and then to Vimples.

To make better use of eDEV, OpenLedger ApS suggests to exchange eDEV to OBITS tokens (https://openledger.io/market/EDEV_OBITS), which can be spent 1:1 on Vimples on the new VPLedger Software-as-a-Service platform. Vimples are the default means of payment for all products and services on VPLedger, and will be worth the equivalent of EUR 1 each on mainnet. This is a smart way to convert cryptocurrency into utility using an ‘enterprise first’ permissioned blockchain designed specifically for business integration and with mandatory KYC as a condition of use.
In October 2019, 14,490 unique verified entities, including both businesses and individuals, will gain Early Access to VPLedger: the world’s first DLT framework for financial operations. VPLedger will be a private blockchain network, designed from the ground up for business integration and with mandatory KYC as a condition of use. Once verified, however, users will have absolute freedom to enjoy all the benefits of blockchain technology – including real-time transactions, smart contracts, stablecoins and decentralised currency exchange.

The global launch of VPLedger will take place in January 2020, to coincide with the new year: the traditional time for new beginnings and positive change.


After swapping their OBITS for Vimples on the VPLedger testnet, users can purchase Lifetime Membership from their VPLedger account for 1,000 Vimples. The 1,000 Vimples will be credited back to their account on mainnet when it launches in 2020, making this a free gift from the VPLedger team!
Any amount of OBITS can be swapped for Vimples, though only one Lifetime Membership can be purchased per user. However, there is nothing to stop users from sending OBITS to a friend or colleague’s account, enabling them to purchase Lifetime Membership too!

All users’ Membership status, as well as any Vimples in their balance, will automatically be carried across to the VPLedger mainnet next year. Vimples can therefore be stored safely on the VPLedger testnet, as well as sent to other users at this stage to test out the platform’s basic functionality.
Together, a maximum of 14,490 Lifetime Memberships have been allocated to OBITS holders. The OpenLedger DEX has an option to withdraw tokens to VPLedger, and all members of the BitShares community who own OBITS are encouraged to use this to swap their OBITS for Vimples on VPLedger’s testnet.
Lifetime Members will receive a referral code and can start using it to sign up new members to the VPLedger testnet straight away. Just like their Vimple balances, their referrals history will be carried over to mainnet in January 2020 and they can start earning fees from every transaction their referrals make on the platform.


•   Free Lifetime Membership for VPLedger: only available during testnet phase
•   1,000 Vimple cost is refunded to the user on mainnet launch
•   Receive affiliate code and start referring new users
•   Establish passive income from referrals’ transaction fees and rebates of 60% on own transaction fees
•   Vimple balance and membership status automatically carried across to mainnet in 2020
•   1:1 OBITS swap for Vimples, no matter what the market price of OBITS


OBITS is a well-established token on the BitShares network, with a large number of holders. OBITS can be purchased on the OpenLedger DEX for BTC, CNY, EOS, ETH and BTS.
Additionally, an ERC20 version of OBITS will shortly be launched. This will be backed 100% with BitShares OBITS, and is designed to make the token more widely available by using Ethereum’s network and infrastructure.
After mainnet launches, it will be possible to deposit funds either via fiat (wire transfer, card or AppStore vouchers), or via OBITS. All OBITS swapped for Vimples (BitShares and ERC20) will be burned, reducing the overall supply.

From the start of the Global Launch in January 2020, any OBITS used to buy Vimples from this time forward will be burned. (Given the decentralised nature of OpenLedger, users can keep their OBITS on the platform if they wish.) OpenLedger will continue to conduct burns of OBITS received for Vimples every three months from April 2020, for as long as it is deemed necessary.
Check the VPLedger website for further details of what this software subscription package contains.

links:

https://openledger.io/market/OBITS_OPEN.BTC
https://openledger.info
https://vimple.openledger.io/
https://vpledger.com
https://link.medium.com/luyNgAGJS0
https://link.medium.com/qPJDdIWJS0

Public and private blockchains differ more in how they’re used than how they’re built. The underlying similarity is that they’re blockchains: distributed, encrypted ledgers, monitored and verified by their users. In other words, they’re both networks that share an immutable record of transactions.

The real difference on a technical level is who has access to them.

Private blockchains
Private blockchains can be accessed only by those who have permission, and the network administrators can edit transaction records. Hyperledger and Ripple are private blockchains.

The confidentiality problem
Blockchains come with an inbuilt confidentiality problem. The audit log of transactions is available to all users. Solutions to this problem that make blockchain suitable for businesses (which don’t want uninvited users to have access to all their business data) include hybrid, private and consortium blockchains as well as various methods of building decentralized applications with inbuilt permissioning on public chains.

Public blockchains are the default choice. They deliver two key benefits over private blockchains:

1. Autonomy
A public blockchain exists separately from the entities that use it and participate in its governance. This means that, for instance, there’s no-one who can change the rules of the blockchain, alter or reverse transactions, or otherwise interfere.

Thus, a public blockchain can be truly ‘trustless’: users don’t have to trust other participants, because they interact in a manner mediated by the rules of the blockchain; and they don’t have to trust the blockchain’s administrators, because in a traditional sense, there are none.

2. Accessibility
Public blockchains are accessible to anyone with a computer and an internet connection. Some general purpose blockchains allow the implementation of smart contracts on the pre-existing blockchain, meaning users can achieve business goals on an extant network. And the newest generation of blockchains for general computing are deliberately designed to permit the construction of smart contracts and ‘Decentralized applications’ or Dapps directly on the blockchain.



Private blockchains are usually built to order for business or organizational use. For their users, they deliver:

1. Control
Private blockchains are controlled by a consortium of privileged users who can issue or deny permissions, alter rules, revert transactions and modify balances.

Obviously, this is totally opposite to what a public blockchain gives its users. But it allows a centralized organization to replicate its organizational structure on the blockchain, which is vital in cases where the organization will be held responsible for the validity of that information. For instance, a government land registry could benefit from the security and auditability of a blockchain, but it can’t relinquish its ultimate authority over the records.

2. Trusted known validators
In some public blockchain structures, the validators aren’t known, and in PoW blockchains dependent on mining, 51% attacks are a constant danger.

51% attacks occur when over half of a blockchain’s validators collude, outside the blockchain, to sign blocks they know contain false information. They represent the main known security threat to PoW blockchains, because miners could theoretically collude in this way.

While there has never been a 51% attack on the BitCoin blockchain, there have been 51% attacks on other PoW blockchains. In one, hackers made off with $18 million after an attack on the BitCoin Gold blockchain, in which they altered the blockchain’s own records so that they could spend the same money twice, known as a ‘double spend.’

In a private blockchain the validators are known. As long as they’re accountable using structures outside the blockchain, this makes the blockchain more secure against these types of attacks.

3. Lower operational costs
Transactions are cheaper in terms of computing and electrical power. They only need to be validated by a few nodes, which can be configured to do this efficiently. By comparison public blockchains have many more nodes, requiring far greater computational redundancy: every node is basically doing the same work, which is the key to blockchain’s security but also the reason why blockchains can be expensive to run.

Public blockchains tend to express their relatively higher operational costs as relatively high transaction fees for their users. BitCoin’s hit an average $52 per transaction at their highest, and while that’s an outlier, average transaction fees for public blockchains can be a problem: Ethereum’s transaction fees have actually been higher than BitCoin’s in the past.

But these transaction fees reflect the higher costs of operating these high-redundancy, high-node-count blockchains. Even if what you’re sending is a file, a message or an action that triggers a smart contract, rather than currency, you’ll find operational costs are higher on a standard PoW public blockchain.

On a private blockchain transaction fees and electrical costs can be kept to a minimum, though it should be noted that some public blockchains built on other consensus algorithms can also be considerably cheaper to run.

4. Predictable technical performance
Nodes are the entities in a blockchain that take part in creating a new block. On a private blockchain, nodes can be very well-connected and it’s possible to ensure all of them are running as intended, something that can’t be done on a public blockchain.

Partly this is because private blockchains typically operate nodes on dedicated hardware, whereas a public blockchain involves many consumer-level laptops and desktop computers. This is another advantage of private blockchains: hardware requirements can be known in advance because user numbers are pre-determined, so high performance can be baked in.

If anything goes wrong, it’s also possible to step in via an administrator account and fix a private blockchain manually.

5. Privacy
Private blockchains that limit user access, and manage user privileges centrally, offer better privacy. This should be of limited concern to most users, since blockchain already offers massively improved security and privacy.

However, a private blockchain eliminates identity privacy concerns. On a public blockchain, usernames are visible to other users. On a private blockchain, the same is true but users are permissioned, meaning user names can be real names and reflect organizational roles without any privacy issues.

Blockchain solutions have been gaining popularity among businesses over the last few years as a way of expanding their revenues and optimizing their processes, but is it really worth it? When should businesses use blockchain, and when should they stray away from it?

For the past decade, blockchain has been implemented in many industries worldwide. A lot of companies now use blockchain technology to track and trace their products and funds. Just earlier in December, the Irish Red Cross teamed up with AID:Tech, a Dublin crypto startup, to create a peer-to-peer donation platform called “Trace Donate.” The app allows the Irish Red Cross and their monetary contributors to see the donations and follow where their monetary donation is going.

The Italian government is also actively implementing blockchain technology. In December, the country even announced 30 blockchain experts to join the government as consultants on the use of blockchain on a state level.

A lot of corporations worldwide have also turned to blockchain. For instance, Walmart, the largest retailer in the world, is using blockchain for their food safety, tracking the produce through IBM’s blockchain platform all the way from suppliers to consumers.

However, just because blockchain is effective, it doesn’t mean it’s for every business and organization, and there are times when blockchain isn’t necessary. Let’s take a look at some of these examples.


Scalability Trilemma And Business Priorities
When it comes to blockchain, there are three main issues, better known as scalability trilemma: security, speed, and decentralization.

Blockchain needs security because otherwise it will be susceptible to hacker attacks just like any other conventional technologies. Decentralization is also important because it makes the system stronger and immune to censorship, by not allowing it to become controlled by any single owner.

Without decentralization, transactions can be made without the funds being there to back it up, and transactions can be canceled or blocked without justification, which would bring us right back to the issues most merchants are currently facing — chargebacks.

Most blockchain technologies favor security and decentralization but thus sacrifice speed. According to AngelList co-founder, Naval Ravikant, blockchain can be “incredibly inefficient.”


Costs. In 2019, Blockchain Is Still Expensive
Speaking of costs, blockchain is not a technology you can implement or run on a budget in 2019. If a small business was to use blockchain, the running of blockchain and the associated fees could cost more than the profit generated from it. Some of these costs can include:

*Development of a custom solution (most enterprise blockchains have to be developed from scratch)

*Customization to tailor the software, if it’s not a 100% custom-made solution

*Expert consultants’ fees during development or customization of any enterprise-grade blockchain

At the time of writing this article, ready-made or BAAS (blockchain-as-a-service) solution which could be affordable and accessible for small business are extremely rare, so we’re cutting this option out of our equation.

Plus, don’t forget about energy consumption! In order to run a successful enterprise blockchain, the company has to have enough servers with the right configuration required for the current tasks, additionally to their support and maintenance. All of this makes bills, including electricity ones, skyrocket, and energy usage could be an issue even for large-scale companies which use enterprise blockchains.

Most people learned about blockchain in relation to the decentralized digital currency that it underpins, but quickly use cases emerged in dozens of different industries leading to an explosion of blockchain-based startups.

Whether it be in supply chain, healthcare, the Internet of Things, finance, security, or even AI, blockchain development startups are some of the most buzzworthy ones of 2018.

For our blockchain startups list, we chose the most successful and innovative companies to help you understand just how versatile the new technology is. Their cutting-edge ideas will transform how businesses operate in the coming decades.


Aiming to capitalize on the influencer marketplace, PATRON hopes to disrupt the stranglehold that Silicon Valley and firms like Facebook and Google have over powerful media influencers. The Japanese startup is working on creating a network where companies and influencers can come together and transact.

The firm raised almost $30 million between public and private ICOs, and has been actively developing a platform to connect influencers directly with companies, cutting out the agencies in-between that often charge a premium for making such connections. With the global influencer marketing to reach $10-billion worth by 2020, PATRON is poised for success if they can deliver on their goals.


One of the hottest blockchain startups is focused on making blockchain integration easier for companies looking to implement the technology. There is often a fog surrounding just how to put together a blockchain-based solution, and Buddy is working to automate the application development and deployment process.

Already boasting high-profile partnerships with the likes of Github, Google Cloud Services, Microsoft Azure and Amazon Marketplace, Buddy claims to have 200+ companies using their app development system. Their ICO is currently at the private sale stage, and a solid team and roadmap make this Polish firm one to watch.


Healthcare is a data-intensive industry where both privacy and access of information are equally important, so it’s no surprise some of the biggest blockchain startups are in this space. BurstIQ is trying to consolidate users’ health data into a secure ‘data wallet’ that they can have better control over.

Identity management is one of the key strengths of the blockchain architecture, and BurstIQ recently announced a partnership with Shyft, a blockchain-based identity verification company. The goal is to allow governments, healthcare institutions, and patients to securely manage, share and access healthcare information while maintaining full HIPAA compliance.

The idea of cryptocurrency is enough to scare any government around the globe. Unlike fiat currency, cryptocurrency has no backing, it is decentralized, and the overall technology behind it requires a significant amount of research in order to understand completely. Not to mention many banks see it as a threat to the traditional financial industry.

In Bangladesh, bitcoin users can face up to 12 years of jail time, China has not only banned the use of cryptocurrencies, but even news organizations reporting on cryptocurrencies have now been targeted. However, despite a few countries’ disdain for virtual currencies and crypto markets, many others have begun embracing them.

Cryptocurrencies don’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. Countries like Malta and Belarus have realized this, and instead of prohibiting the use of cryprocurrency, have identified the importance of it for future economies.


Malta is the place to be when using cryptocurrencies. The country has embraced cryptocurrencies along with the blockchain, the technology behind them. Facing heavy regulations in Hong Kong, Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange, moved its offices to Malta, where the country tries to work with cryptocurrency institutions rather than implement harsh regulations to snuff them out.

Unlike banks abroad, the Maltese banking industry intends to work with cryptocurrencies rather than against them. Malta banks realize that cryptocurrencies are here to stay. The adoption of a Utility Settlement Coin (USC), a cryptocurrency being developed by major banks worldwide, would further enhance Malta’s image as a friendly hub for cryptocurrency users, however, the adoption of a USC in the region remains unclear.


The U.S. has embraced the use of cryptocurrencies but has identified the need for regulation. Is it illegal to buy bitcoin in the U.S.? No, and it never has been. Is cryptocurrency legal? Yes. Moreover, it is now even being accepted in various states throughout the U.S. on a governmental level, such as in Ohio, which has become the first state to allow taxes to be paid in bitcoin.

Nonetheless, the amount of fraud, theft, and scams that have occurred in the cryptocurrency community within the past few years has led financial watchdogs, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), to implement various regulations. Two bipartisan bills have recently been put forward in the U.S., which will protect cryptocurrency investors while stimulating cryptocurrency market growth.

Blockchain is a relatively new technology, yet already its uses continue to pile up, introducing more and more world-changing solutions. Additionally to many other real-life use cases, blockchain has been particularly valuable in supply chain management.

Below are ten blockchain supply chain use cases that are increasing revenue and cutting costs for businesses around the globe.



United Arab Emirate’s state-owned oil company, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) in collaboration with IBM successfully launched a blockchain supply chain system pilot program. The idea is to track oil from well to customers, while simultaneously automating transactions along the way.

While still in its early stages, ADNOC hopes to eventually expand the chain to include customers and investors, making its business more transparent in the process. ADNOC produces about 3 million barrels of oil a day, and by fully implementing blockchain technology, they will be able to keep track of all oil produced, reducing the time and costs associated with shipping.




Blood diamonds, or conflict diamonds, are those that have been mined under violent circumstances or in unsuitable conditions. They are heavily produced in Africa, and their sales are often used to fund various conflicts in the region. The world’s largest diamond producer, De Beers, has taken the steps to end the sale of blood diamonds by announcing its first successful blockchain supply chain program.

Through its program, Tracr, De Beers was able to track 100 diamonds from mine to cutter and polisher, then finally to jeweler. Photos of a diamond’s progress can be uploaded to the blockchain, as well as information concerning its color, quality, and location. Tracr not only gives customers peace of mind, but if applied to all diamonds, could stop the production of blood diamonds altogether.



It seems like there is a new E.coli outbreak every year. As it takes time to locate the origin of an outbreak, many retailers are often forced to throw out their entire inventories of produce. These four entities hope to increase food transparency and shipment efficiency with blockchain technology. The efforts are divided into two sections: Walmart and JD.com handle production and shipment of produce, while IBM and Tsinghua University handle the research and maintaining the blockchain. Unilever, Kroger, Nestle, and Tyson Foods all plan to collaborate as the project advances, with more food corporations to join along the way.

In the fast-moving world of cryptocurrency, savvier investors come prepared with a strategy tailored to their specific goals to take advantage of market volatility.

Factors to consider before diving headlong into the crypto pool include identifying:

* which currencies fit one’s trading profile
* how investments will be funded, and
*how much groundwork will be put to better anticipate market swings

Long-term trading, for instance, deals in speculation that a cryptocurrency will grow in value over a longer period of time. It’s ideal for a lay trader or those wishing to take a more passive role in their long-term investment, banking on currencies which appear most promising.

For those with shorter trajectories, riskier speculation could pay dividends as investors play on the violent ebbs and flows of the market to earn big on more immediate returns—or just as quickly lose.

Whichever strategy hopeful investors employ, it’s essential to understand what role cryptocurrencies will command in one’s portfolio. Study up on market indicators to inform predictions, but foremost, be prepared to make amendments to the plan midstream to minimize losses and capitalize on opportunities. Check out our tips on how to become a crypto trading guru, and also how to choose which cryptocurrency to invest in!

As if cryptocurrencies weren’t complicated enough for new investors, now Ethereum has a hard fork coming up on January 16.

A fork is essentially an update or change to a cryptocurrency blockchain protocol. There are two main types: a soft fork and a hard fork. Soft forks are backward-compatible, meaning that nodes on a network can still recognize newly coded blocks implemented by the soft fork.

A hard fork, on the other hand, isn’t backward-compatible. Newly created blocks cannot be recognized by the network’s nodes, which means that at times a new network needs to be created to cater to new blocks using an updated protocol. A prime example of a hard fork is the creation of Bitcoin Cash in the wake of the bitcoin hard fork in 2017.


The Constantinople hard fork differs from bitcoin’s in that it is non-contentious, meaning it is being embraced by a majority of the Ethereum community. Bitcoin’s hard fork in 2017 was contentious, meaning there were major disagreements in the cryptocurrency’s community. For instance, many believed bitcoin’s network was no longer sustainable, and therefore a new network was needed, causing the development of Bitcoin Cash.

The Constantinople hard fork is expected to take place on January 16 at a block height of 7,080,000, and most in the community seem prepared for the change. Major exchanges and trading platforms have expressed their support for the fork, and have prepared all the technical requirements needed to adapt to the update. The main goal of Constantinople is to ease the future transition of Ethereum from the Proof-of-Work (PoW) mechanism to Proof-of-Stake (PoS), while cutting costs and increasing efficiency of the network.


The arrival of Constantinople has had a positive effect on Ethereum (ETH) value. In mid-December, ETH was trading around $80, an all-time low for the cryptocurrency. With Constantinople’s approach, that value nearly doubled in less than a month, reaching $160 on January 4 and reclaiming the number two spot in value rankings, as shown by CoinMarketCap.

As of this writing, however, its value has dropped to about $118, returning to the third rank in value, as Ripple has reclaimed the number two spot again. The drop isn’t associated with Constantinople but with the drop of the cryptocurrency market as a whole. Ethereum isn’t far behind and will most likely reclaim the number two spot as we get closer to Constantinople.