Swiss City Plans to Verify IDs Using Ethereum

The City of Zug has announced plans to launch a new Ethereum-based identity service in September 2017.

The Swiss city will offer digital identity services through a new app, connecting a person’s ID with a particular crypto-address. Thus, local citizens can register and are verified by city officials. On the technology side, the app will leverage the uPort identity platform created by Ethereum development community ConsenSys. Also involved on the development front is the Swiss startup ti&m and the Lucerne University of Economics.

Zug plans to hold a consultative vote on electronic ballot access, expected to take place in 2018. According to CoinDesk, the city has become a major hub for digital currency and blockchain startups, buoyed by a proactive government that has sought to attract more startups to Switzerland.

Source: The Paypers

Scaling Ethereum to Billions of Users

Fred Ehrsam published a great article today on the likelihood of scaling Ethereum out to billions of users (well, transactional computations) that is well worth a read.

It’s one of the challenges that I have been contemplating for a long time. I’m not sure that Fred has all of the answers but his theory is definitely on the right path. It’s a great article to read.

See the full article here.

Payza Crypto Exchane Accepts Ethereum, Ripple, Litecoin

Payza, a global payment platform, has expanded its Cryptocurrency Exchange to include several Bitcoin alternatives.

Clients will now be able to sell Ethereum, Ripple, Litecoin, Dash, Monero, Zcash and dozens of other cryptocurrencies on the platform and receive US dollars directly in their ewallets, which can then be loaded to their Payza Cards or withdrawn at an ATM.

In May 2017, Payza has added Bitcoin to its ewallet offering, allowing members to buy and sell the cryptocurrency and merchants to accept Bitcoin as a payment option. The company’s expansion of its Cryptocurrency Exchange allows users to deposit over 50 cryptocurrencies into their accounts.

The global payment platform plans to expand its altcoin exchange service to allow clients to buy altcoins from Payza. Furthermore, a new function that would allow cardholders to load their prepaid cards from Bitcoin or altcoin exchanges in just one action is also being developed.

Bitcoin price soars past $2000

Bitcoin was trading at around $1,700 per coin until it surpassed the high of $2,000 per coin this week.

Obviously, the surge has gained interest from various media outlets around, still unconvinced that Bitcoin is nothing more short of a fad currency.

However, reports indicate that the rival cryptocurrency, Ethereum, has been rising significantly as well, starting the year at $8.24 on 1 January 2017 to hitting a high of $203 throughout the year so far.