US Air Force files trademark application for ‘SpaceVerse’ initiative

April 19, 2022 Coin Telegraph

air force

SpaceVerse was defined as “a secure digital metaverse that converges terrestrial and space physical and digital realities" as well as provides a simulated environment for training.

The United States Air Force has filed a trademark application hinting at the military branch potentially expanding into the metaverse.

According to a Thursday application submitted to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the Department of the Air Force trademarked the word "SpaceVerse," defined as “a secure digital metaverse that converges terrestrial and space physical and digital realities and provides synthetic and simulated extended-reality (XR) training, testing and operations environments.” It’s unclear if the initiative is connected to the U.S. Space Force, which according to its website is “organized under” the Air Force, but operates as a “separate and distinct branch of the armed services.”

The United States Air Force has filed a trademark application for SPACEVERSE for a metaverse that
1⃣ converges terrestrial and space physical and digital realities
2⃣provides extended-reality training, testing, and operations environments#Metaverse #Web3 #USAF #Space pic.twitter.com/OVkcnKvX6M
— Mike Kondoudis (@KondoudisLaw) April 19, 2022

The trademark application connected to activities in the metaverse followed several from a variety of firms including credit card companies Mastercard and American Express, footwear and apparel manufacturer Nike and the New York Stock Exchange. The various applications included trademarks on the use of logos and branding in a virtual environment as well as authenticating certain files with nonfungible tokens, or NFTs.

Some major brand names have launched virtual stores or other environments for users following Facebook’s announcement in October 2021 that the social media giant would be rebranding to Meta. In February, U.S. bank JPMorgan entered the metaverse by launching a virtual lounge in the blockchain-based online world Decentraland. Samsung also launched a virtual store modeled after a real-world shop in New York City.

Of the six branches of the U.S. military — Marines, Coast Guard, Army, Navy, Air Force and Space Force — the latter half have previously announced major initiatives aimed at incorporating blockchain technology or otherwise adopting digital assets. In June 2021, Space Force said it would be releasing NFT versions of patches and coins designed for the launch of one of its vehicles. The U.S. Navy also inked a $1.5-million deal with Consensus Networks to develop a blockchain-enabled logistics system named HealthNet.

With inflation going through the roof, Sudan’s central bank cautions citizens against using crypto

March 29, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Africa

Sudanese financial regulator considers cryptocurrencies to be the source of “high risks" as the demand grows.

The Central Bank of Sudan (CBOS) cautioned the country’s citizens against dealing with “all types of cryptocurrencies” due to “the high risks” that they pose. This announcement came as a reaction to the increasing interest in digital assets among the country’s population, which has been facing three-digit inflation rates since the 2021 military coup.

On March 27, the Sudan News Agency (SUNA) published a short announcement from the CBOS declaring that due to high risks, which include “financial crimes, electronic piracy and the risk of losing their value,” citizens are not advised to use cryptocurrencies of any sort.

The CBOS also cited legal risks, as cryptocurrencies are not classified as money “or even private money and property” under Sudanese law. The Central Bank admitted that it has been noticing an uptick in crypto promotions on social media recently.

As Alex Gladstein, chief strategy officer at the Human Rights Foundation, noted in a tweet, a formal ban on crypto might already be in the works. According to the analysis of law firm Freeman Law, Sudan’s current electronic payments legislation, enacted in 2007, does not cover cryptocurrencies.

The rising interest in crypto, which unnerves Sudanese authorities, can be explained by the ongoing economic crisis. According to the country’s Central Bureau of Statistics, Sudan’s inflation rate averaged 359.09% in 2021, up from 163.26% in 2020. In February 2022, it slowed down to 258.40%.

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Myanmar’s military government considers launching digital currency: Report

February 4, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

Major General Zaw Min Tun said rolling out a digital currency would "help improve financial activities in Myanmar."

The armed forces of Myanmar, which have been in control of the government since forcibly detaining many elected leaders in 2021, is reportedly planning to release a digital currency to help the local economy.

According to a Thursday report from Bloomberg, Major General Zaw Min Tun said rolling out a digital currency would “help improve financial activities in Myanmar,” but military officials were undecided on whether to work with local companies or release the token on their own. Tun, the chief of the military government’s "True News Information Team," acts as a spokesperson for the Myanmar army.

The digital currency is aimed at supporting payments within Myanmar as well as improving the economy. According to a Jan. 25 report, the World Bank estimated that the country’s economy will grow by only 1% through September 2022 due to the effects of the pandemic and the overthrow of the civilian government. Reportedly, the growth of the economy was “around 30 percent smaller than it might have been in the absence of COVID-19 and the February 2021 coup.”

It’s unclear whether introducing a digital currency — the report does not suggest any involvement with the Central Bank of Myanmar — would positively improve the economy or encourage residents to make purchases. The central bank has previously announced that anyone in Myanmar found to have traded digital assets could be imprisoned or fined, but this was before the military seized control.

“At this point, we are still learning about digital currencies and having discussions,” said Win Myint, director-general of the Central Bank of Myanmar’s currency-management department. “We need to consider both pros and cons.”

The country’s shadow government, led by the supporters of detained state counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, announced in December that it would recognize Tether (USDT) as an official currency. The group continues to raise funds to topple the military government as reports of war crimes circulate.

Myanmar’s military junta set fire nearly 100 houses in Thantlang on the one year anniversary of the coup. This needs to be stopped. The junta must be held accountable for their actions at ICJ/ICC. #WarCrimes #CrimesAgainstHumanity

Photo credit - Chin World pic.twitter.com/a8CmubuvsS
— Zin Mar Aung (@ZinMarAungNUG) February 3, 2022

If later issued by its central bank, Myanmar’s digital currency would be one of the few to roll out across the world. China is currently allowing foreign athletes visiting for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics to send and receive its digital yuan. The Bahamas was the first nation to launch a central bank digital currency in October 2020.

US Navy to pilot blockchain-based project to improve medical supply lines

November 22, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Blockchain

Consensus Networks uses the IoTeX blockchain to monitor the health of 700,000 U.S. Navy sailors and marines in real time.

The United States military continues to explore blockchain technology to improve its processes. The U.S. Navy has signed a $1.5 million contract with Consensus Networks to develop a blockchain-enabled logistics system named HealthNet back in May. The project, built on IoT-focused blockchain IoTeX, is halfway complete, counting the days for its pilot scheduled for early 2022.

According to the information shared with Cointelegraph, Consensus Networks aims to provide real-time monitoring and logistics for nearly 700,000 sailors and marines via the HealthNet platform. The developer picked the IoTex blockchain to meet the security and scalability requirements of the Navy.

Nathan Miller, the CEO and founder of Consensus Networks, said that the project is 50% complete, and the U.S. Navy is pleased with the progress so far. He added that the Navy would “participate along with other partners who are interested in the blockchain-powered HealthNet.”

Pilot programs to improve the outdated and inefficient systems include medical logistics, the demand for pharmaceuticals, prediction of blood product demand, and supply of prostheses and medical equipment.

Miller predicted that the medical industry is poised to renew its systems with blockchain-based solutions, adding:

"It is hard to believe that today automobile manufacturers, such as Ford, have a better network for ensuring the health of their vehicles in the shop or on the road than the medical sector has to monitor and safeguard the health of people."

HealthNet is not a Navy-exclusive project, Miller underscored. It would help medical operators utilize an integrated data environment and an interface to track medical suppliers from manufacturer to patient in order to reduce delivery time and waste.

“For example, it will be great for elderly homes by helping them with better care without driving or being driven to a healthcare facility,” Miller explained. “The system will help track their health and predict their needs and get them sorted, so they do not have to visit clinics.”

The U.S. military has previously experimented with blockchain technology. The. Air Force was one of the first branches to make a contract with a blockchain startup. The U.S. Navy then granted Simba Chain $10 million to develop a secure messaging platform. Simba received another $1.5 million in 2021 to create a blockchain-based solution to enable demand sensing for critical military weaponry parts.

US defense contractor Simba Chain raises $25 million to boost NFT efforts

September 2, 2021 Coin Telegraph

US defense contractor Simba Chain raises million to boost NFT efforts

Blockchain

The $25 million funding round, led by Valley Capital Partners, would enable Simba Chain to dedicate resources to new trends in the blockchain space.

The United States-based blockchain startup Simba Chain, which provides technology for several U.S. defense organizations, raised fresh funds to scale the business and tap new opportunities like nonfungible tokens (NFTs).

The $25 million Series A funding round was led by Valley Capital Partners with the participation of Notre Dame Pit Road Fund, Elevate Ventures and Stanford Law School Venture Fund, according to an official announcement.

Simba Chain would use the new funding to scale several departments within the company and to dedicate resources to emerging trends like NFTs. The company aims to be the tech provider for business enterprises, academic institutions and others who want to monetize digital and physical assets.

As a startup incubated at the University of Notre Dame, Simba Chain offers a cloud-based smart contract platform with enterprise-level security for organizations that wants to deploy blockchain technology.

The company says that its technology is currently used by the U.S. Air Force, Army, Navy and Marines as well as Boeing. Simba has grown its revenue by 360% over the last 18 months and surpassed 6,000 users.

“Users across multiple spectrums have embraced and validated the SIMBA Chain model, which simplifies the development of smart contracts,” said Simba Chain CEO and co-founder Joel Neidig. “The market has also responded positively to our support of multiple blockchains, including Ethereum, Avalanche, RSK, Stellar, and many others, making SIMBA Chain-based applications simple, highly portable and sustainable.”

Simba Chain first drew attention when the startup was picked by the U.S. Air Force in 2019 to provide a blockchain-based supply chain for the organization. Six months later, a California-based research group of the U.S. Navy paid Simba Chain $9.5 million to develop a secure messaging platform on the blockchain for the Department of Defense (DoD).

The company scored another contract from the U.S. DoD, this time to develop a proof-of-concept for a blockchain-based data management system. Last year, Simba Chain won the Advanced Manufacturing Olympics, organized by DoD, with its use of blockchain to provide a secure network for a virtual wargame.

Earlier this year, Simba Chain received a $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Office of Navy Research to revamp the supply chain of the United States military with a blockchain-based solution to enable demand sensing for critical military weaponry parts.

US Air Force prioritizes blockchain security with new Constellation Network contract

August 26, 2021 Coin Telegraph

air force

"This contract opens the door to bigger, more critical uses of blockchain for data protection in a global digital infrastructure, bringing forth the true promises of the core technology," said Benjamin Diggles.

A blockchain-based initiative from the United States Air Force will employ Constellation's Hypergraph Network to provide data security with the Department of Defense’s commercial partners.

In a Thursday announcement, Constellation said it had been working with Kinnami Software Corporation to develop an end-to-end data security solution using blockchain encryption and distributed data management for the United States Transportation Command, Air Mobility Command’s 618th Air Operations Center, and a Civil Reserve Air Fleet partner. According to the platform, its goal is to securely exchange data with commercial partners on missions involving the operations of aircraft and ships under contract to the Department of Defense, or DoD.

The United States Transportation Command, or USTRANSCOM, allows authorities — including those in the 618th — to coordinate missions using available resources from both the military and private sector. Constellation Network’s solution may have the potential to improve the existing cybersecurity and general effectiveness.

“In the last few years, blockchain technology has become very attractive to enterprise organizations with its promise to deliver more efficiency and security for numerous use cases, including supply chain management,” said Constellation co-founder and chief strategy officer Benjamin Diggles. ”This contract opens the door to bigger, more critical uses of blockchain for data protection in a global digital infrastructure, bringing forth the true promises of the core technology.”

The Civil Reserve Air Fleet partner as well as DoD agencies have stakeholders in Constellation’s native token DAG, which will be used to secure bandwidth on its network. Rather than the Hypertext Transfer Protocol, or HTTP, in place as a security solution for many companies and government agencies, Constellation will provide its Hypergraph Transfer Protocol, or HGTP.

One of the U.S. Air Force’s first contracts with Constellation in 2019 seemed to be more focused on data management. The military branch said at the time the partnership was an attempt to “speed up the experience, broaden the pool of potential applicants and decrease bureaucratic overhead.”

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