california

Talking Digital Future: Smart Cities

My journey into smart cities and their future development was a really big surprise, as the way I arrived there was not something that I had planned. I was working as the chief information officer for a company in Northern California called O'Reilly Media when I got a call from a headhunter who asked if I would consider being the chief information office for the City of Palo Alto. I can vividly remember — it was only about eight years ago — my feeling when she asked the question. The

South African National Blockchain Alliance Holds Online Launch

The South African National Blockchain Alliance carried out an online livestream launch while the country is in the midst of a 21-day lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. The organization was due to be launched at the beginning of April in Johannesburg but had to be taken online as South Africa and the world tackles a global health crisis.The launch happened during a livestream on YouTube on April 3, which included a panel of speakers elaborating on how SANBA will help nurture blockchain-focused startups and companies that

AT&T Starts Appeal to Dismiss Crypto Investor’s SIM Swapping Case 

AT&T has moved to have a long-standing negligence case against it dismissed. Earlier this week, the company filed a motion to dismiss claims that it was complicit in a SIM swapping case that resulted in millions in crypto stolen from its customers. The case itself originated back in 2018, when crypto investor Michael Terpin sued the telecoms giant of negligence and accused it of being complicit in two separate SIM swapping operations. A Timeline of Terpin’s CaseAt the time, Terpin claimed to have lost almost $24 million, but was suing the firm

Amended Ripple Class-Action Covers Possibility XRP Is Not a Security

An amendment to the class-action lawsuit against Ripple, filed March 25, included additional claims of false advertising and unfair competition, “under the alternative theory that XRP is not a security.”The disgruntled investors’ sixth and seventh claims for relief would appear to be a direct hedge in the event that the judge rules against the original suit suggesting that XRP was illegally sold as an unregistered security.Hedging their betsThe filing included two additional claims for relief, in relation to alleged false advertising and unfair competition, both in violation of the California

Berkeley Blockchain Xcelerator Director on What DLT Startups Need to Succeed

The Berkeley Blockchain Xcelerator — an incubator for early stage distributed ledger technology startups at the University of California, Berkeley — recently launched its spring cohort, which includes startups seeking to fight COVID-19, launch a cannabis-themed massively multiplayer online game and create a reverse auction platform for loans.Cointelegraph spoke to Jocelyn Weber, the director of the Xcelerator, to find out more about the resources the program offers to startups, success stories from previous cohorts and advice for startups looking to launch in the crypto space.Cointelegraph: Could you give an overview