WiCoin is a stablecoin launched by WiPay, a financial technology company with offices in Africa, the Caribbean, Columbia, and the US. It was launched to address the challenges of cross-border remittance and financial exclusion in its operational regions. It was built on the Hedera network utilizing the Hedera Token Service (HTS) and Hedera Smart Contract Service (HSCS) and is pegged to the US dollar.
It forms the backbone of the WiCoin Settlement Network, designed to create a unified system for transactions across numerous Caribbean islands, each with its own currency. It also extends into African markets and currencies.
The primary goal of WiCoin is to "bank the bankless" by providing an accessible and efficient means for cross-border payments and settlements by leveraging Hedera's fast transaction speeds, low and predictable fees, and robust security through its asynchronous byzantine fault tolerance (ABFT).
WiPay is supported by the Hedera HBAR foundation and seeks to enhance financial inclusion and streamline economic activity in underserved regions by providing a locally-accessible bridge between traditional banking services and low-cost, speedy digital transactions.
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The IBM Blockchain Platform was a short-term funding and technology project involving the Hedera blockchain network. While this specific project has evolved into an ongoing enterprise blockchain strategy, IBM remains intrinsically involved with the Hedera network as a member of the Hedera Governing Council.
This position provides IBM with a direct voice and vote in the governance of the Hedera public network, influencing its technical roadmap, policies, and overall strategic direction. As a council member, IBM also contributes to the network's operational integrity by running a consensus node.
This engagement with Hedera allows IBM to participate, offer insights and contribute to advancements which align with its broader interests in advancing enterprise-grade distributed ledger solutions (DLT). This involvement complements IBM's extensive work with permissioned blockchains and strengthens the partnership between Hedera and the broader technology industry while providing a holistic perspective on the evolving blockchain landscape for IBM’s global enterprise clients.
Starling Lab for Data Integrity is an academic research center that operates at the intersection of cryptography, decentralized web protocols, and the humanities. A joint initiative between the USC Shoah Foundation and Stanford University's Department of Electrical Engineering, the lab's mission is to develop and prototype tools and principles to establish trust in digital records. In an era of rampant misinformation and AI-generated content, Starling Lab is pioneering new methods to securely capture, store, and verify digital media.
The core of their work is the Starling Framework for Data Integrity, a comprehensive, open-source methodology for authenticating digital content. This framework is built on three pillars: Capture, which involves creating a chain of custody from the moment a photo or video is taken, Store, which uses decentralized networks like IPFS and Filecoin to securely distribute and preserve content, and Verify, which leverages immutable ledgers to register and audit the provenance of digital assets. This end-to-end approach has been applied in various real-world scenarios, from documenting the 78 days of the 2020 U.S. presidential transition with Reuters to preserving the USC Shoah Foundation's archive of 55,000 holocaust testimonies.
Buidler Labs is a software development and consulting company that specializes in building solutions on the Hedera network. It creates tools and infrastructure for developers to build and deploy decentralized applications (dApps) on Hedera, with a focus on enhancing the user experience and driving adoption of the ecosystem.
The firm's products include open-source libraries, hashgraph-react-wallets, and lightweight library that simplifies the process of connecting dApps to various Hedera-supported wallets such as Hashpack and Kabila. It also offers the Hedera Strato JS SDK, which provides a comprehensive toolkit for JavaScript developers. In addition to these developer-focused tools, Buidler Labs provides consulting services to help businesses design, build, and launch their own Hedera-based applications.
Buidler Labs’ work is aimed at lowering the barrier to entry for building on Hedera, particularly for developers who may be more familiar with Ethereum-based tools. Buidler Labs is a key player in expanding the developer base and the overall capabilities of the Hedera network.
Abra is a global digital asset financial services firm that provides a suite of products for individuals and institutions to invest in and manage cryptocurrencies. Abra operates several distinct business lines to cater to a diverse clientele, from retail investors to high-net-worth individuals and large financial institutions.
For individual investors, the Abra app offers a user-friendly mobile platform to buy, sell, trade, and earn yield on a wide variety of digital assets. For more sophisticated clients, Abra Private delivers a concierge-style wealth management service, providing tailored strategies for managing large digital asset portfolios. For institutions, Abra Prime offers prime brokerage services, including secure trading, borrowing, and lending solutions.
A key aspect of Abra’s identity within the Web3 ecosystem is its role as a founding member of the Hedera Governing Council. In this capacity, Abra helps oversee the governance and strategic direction of the Hedera network, contributing to its stability and long-term vision.