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One of the largest financial investment firms in the world, Fidelity Investments, is reported to be quietly positioning itself to take advantage of the lucrative cryptocurrency industry by creating its own exchange platform. As noted by CCN, the company is in first stages of launching the platform as an internal job positing circular leaked online this week.

This MA based firm is rumored to be scouting for a DevOps System Engineer who will work for the company full time. His/her main role will be to come up with a digital asset exchange for both public and private cloud. Once the exchange is ready, the engineer will oversee the deployment process to ensure that it is done properly.

Another anonymous source that has been actively posting online about this company’s intention to start a cryptocurrency exchange platform has stated that the investment firm is valuated to be worth more than 2.4 trillion in assets that it manages. The source has also revealed that the firm has been debating on whether to launch the exchange platform for more than year now. The leaked recruitment circular is enough proof that the management board has finally agreed to set up the exchange.

Fidelity is also looking for professional staff who have the skills and experience required to help it provide stellar first class custodian services for various digital currencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. Experts who will be hired for this position will be deployed in the Fidelity Digital Asset Service department whose main role will be to directly deal and monitor the provision of all services related to cryptocurrencies.

At the time of writing this article, the investment firm clients can link their existing Coinbase accounts with the Fidelity accounts to view all their digital assets on the Fidelity beta platform. The assets are listed alongside all the other investments that a client has accrued in the company over the years. One of the benefits of this collaboration is that it gives Fidelity the ability to hold cryptocurrencies first-hand or directly.

It is also not clear if the exchange platform will be an independent entity but under the company’s umbrella or if will be hosted on the primary Fidelity platform. Only time will tell if the platform will be separate or part of the company.

It will be remembered that it is during the tenure of Abigail Johnson as the CEO that the firm started to take a positive attitude towards cryptocurrencies. In the just concluded cryptocurrency industry conference, Abigail openly stated that he is proud to be one of the experts from the renowned financial institutions who have not yet given up of cryptocurrencies.

Fidelity Investment Firm is also reported to have invested in several companies that are directly dealing with cryptocurrencies as well as set up a medium cryptocurrency mining facility. Johnson is on record stating that even though the primary objective of setting up the mining facility was to research, the facility is actually making profits for the firm.

Finally, ones the exchange platform is launched and fully functional, the company’s charity department will be able to get contributions from donors in form of bitcoin and other digital currencies.

You know a phenomenon has become truly embedded in our society when it makes an appearance in pop culture. The first comic book series dealing with cryptocurrency has now been launched, so fans of both manga comic books and cryptocurrency can rejoice. Shonen Crypto, which is the title of the comic book series, has just released its first issue, and aims to both entertain readers, as well as educate them about the wonders of cryptocurrency.

The first comic book to focus exclusively on cryptocurrency

In an interview with the editor-in-chief Taro says he has never heard or been told of another comic book series that deals exclusively with cryptocurrency. The comic is currently only available online in a digital format, but there are plans to expand the reach by a lot. Taro wants to publish physical copies of the comic, as well as produce music and accompanying videos to complement the comic book format.

Taro’s team has already grown from a modest group of ten employees to twice the size. The people working for him fill various roles. Naturally, there are artists and writers to create the actual comic series itself. But he has now also enlisted musicians to compose the music, and researchers to discover new cryptocurrency tokens they can work with.

Education and entertainment

One of the rationales behind the comic book series is to educate the masses about the world of cryptocurrency. Taro mentions the numerous scam artists in the cryptocurrency world as a reason for the educational aspect of the comic book series. He understands that many people are sceptical about investing their own time and money in cryptocurrency. The comic book series will try to clear up some of the misconceptions people might have about cryptocurrency.

Taro is of the opinion that whilst there are a lot of articles on cryptocurrency being written on a daily basis, a comic book series might reach a different audience. According to the creator, many people simply find the language being used to explain cryptocurrency too complex, and a comic book might be able to explain the concepts better than technical jargon.

What can you expect from Shonen Crypto?

The first volume in the Shonen Crypto series is divided into six separate parts. Part one, called “Crypto Heroes”, sees the main character of Bitcoin Senpai leading the others characters into a stand-off with the evil fiat money. The villains Bitcoin Senpai and his team has to fight off are the US Dollar, the Japanese Yen, and the European Euro.

The second part is a bit more educational than the first one, and introduces the reader to Crypto-kun. Crypto-kun explains what is currently going on i the world of Bitcoin, and educates the reader about various scam artists and technical glitches. The third part of the comic book goes into investment advice and explains how nodes work in relation to the blockchain.

Parts four, five and six further elaborate on the intricacies of the cryptocurrency universe, and does so in very captivating manner. Be sure to check it out online!

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has made some more interesting observations about the phenomenon that is cryptocurrency. Earlier this year, the Managing Director of IMF talked about how the introduction of cryptocurrency could very well be the catalyst for the complete overhaul of the world economy. Although we are yet quite far away from the abolition of government-issued fiat money, all the signs of a revolution within the financial space are there. Now the man behind IMF’s Strategy, Policy, and Review Department has written an article putting the emergency of digital currency into an evolutionary perspective.

Blockchain as a general-purpose technology

Martin Mühleisen from IMF writes that digital platforms, such as those underpinned by blockchain technology, are classified as a general-purpose technology. According to him, only three other kinds of technology in human history have the same capabilities, and these are the steam engine, the electricity generator, and the printing press. What makes general-purpose technology so important is that it continually transforms itself and affects all industry sectors — often creating completely new ones.

The only issue with these kind of transformative technologies is that human culture is often very slow to catch up. Mühleisen notes that it is not only important to adopt a new technology, but also for society to adapt to it. Without adapting to new technology, we cannot fully benefit from it. As an example, Mühleisen shows how James Watt invented a functional steam engine in 1774, but no actual steam locomotive ran until 1812. That is many years worth of wasted potential.

Cryptocurrency will change the financial industry

While Mühleisen notes the dangers associated with cryptocurrency, such as the ability for criminals to use them for money-laundering and drug trade, he also acknowledges the potential benefits of the blockchain technology. Among these are faster, cheaper, and more secure financial transactions. Mühleisen also mentions how government regulations are a bit behind the evolution of the technology, and are only now being put into motion. This is another example of adopting a new technology, but not necessarily adapting to it fast enough.

Mühleisen also mentions some of the new technologies on the horizon. Quantum computing will allow for calculations at a speed and on a scale that is unprecedented. As quantum computing becomes more mainstream, it will completely change industries relying on processing power. One of these industries will be cryptocurrency mining, and the blockchain space will undoubtedly see lots of changes as a result of the introduction of quantum computing.

Disruptions are on the horizon

While technological advancement is generally seen as a good thing for humanity in the long term, there are short term issues that need to be dealt with in the present. New technology like blockchain is very disruptive, and can create a lot of chaos and confusion. Mühleisen warns that jobs will disappear, and it is a good idea to start thinking about which new jobs will be created, and what qualifications will be needed. Therefore, he advises both public and private institutions alike to start considering which policies they will put in place to prepare for the digital revolution.

Payera Review

Whilst blockchain technology has a multitude of purposes (one only has to shoot a quick glance at the many diverse ICOs out there), the main one is still money and financial transactions. It is easy to understand why this is the case given the many intermediaries involved in financial transactions between companies. Every middleman adds to the financial costs associated with transactions, and cryptocurrencies are a great way to circumvent that problem. Payera is an an ICO that seeks to challenge the status quo by eliminating the need for any intermediaries, and thus reduce the costs associated with transactions.

What is Payera?

The team behind Payera brands the platform as the first cryptocurrency payment platform with a multifunction solution that is secure and easy to use. These multiple function come in three forms: Payera, Shopera, and Cardera. Payera itself is a payment platform, and comes complete with both buyer and seller protections. There will also be an in-built exchange that user can utilise, instead of having to use third party exchanges. The platform is also operate on a ratings system, which buyers and sellers can use to assess each other, similar to platforms like eBay. The assessment made by the buyer of the seller, however, has an important effect on the seller’s capabilities on the platform. If the seller has a good rating, they will be able to receive direct payments and have lower transactional fees associated with the sale. Both buyers and sellers will have a digital wallet assigned to them to use on the platform. This wallet will be protected either with a PIN code, a fingerprint, or face recognition, depending on the user’s smartphone capabilities. In addition to the platform being decentralised, Payera will not have access to any user accounts.

What is Shopera?

Shopera is the online store component of the Payera ecosystem. Here, retail and individual merchants alike can list their goods, whether it is new or used. Depending on how much an item costs, a merchant will pay between $0.05-$0.50. As with eBay, the Shopera platform is easy on the small fish: if you sell less than ten items every month, you do not pay the seller’s fee. Buyers can use the platform for free, regardless of how much they purchase.

What is Cardera?

Cardera is the cryptocurrency payment cards that will come with a Payera account. I can be used for online transactions, as well as in regular ATMs to withdraw funds. Payera will issue the Cardera payment card for a flat rate of $20.

Key features of Payera

The design of the Payera platform is very intuitive and easy to use, and comes complete with all the features you would expect from a cryptocurrency platform. As it makes used of Ethereum’s network, it is a completely decentralised platform that secures all use data. The transactions themselves are faster than current methods of transferring money, and the tokens can be used in external online stores partnering with Payera. As a buyer, Shopera is free to use, and as a seller, it is a lot cheaper than similar platforms.

Other Information:
– Payera TWITTER
– Payera TELEGRAM
– bitcointalk ANN
– bitcointalk BOUNTY
– bitcointalk Username: Ico Friends