From a Linux OS at 12 to founding CitizenX, Cuende's journey reflects deep trust in decentralized governance.  Luis Cuende is not an unfamiliar name for those who follow the development of the crypto world, especially when talking about DAOs or decentralized governance. However, what is interesting is not only his role as co-founder of Aragon, but also his life journey which seems to be filled with big decisions at an age that is not even the legal drinking age in his country.  It all started when Luis was only 12 years old and instead of being busy playing football like other children his age, he created his own Linux-based operating system called Asturix. It may be a bit hard to imagine, but this teenager from Spain was once called the best teenage programmer in Europe by HackFwd.  Even at the age of 17, he was already sitting at the meeting table as an advisor to the Digital Agenda for the European Commission. Just imagine, when most teenagers were busy thinking about math exams, Luis was already busy thinking about the direction of digital technology in Europe.  Luis Cuende: From Digital Stamps to Governance Revolution  Before falling in love with DAOs, Luis had pioneered a startup called Stampery in 2014. The idea was simple but interesting: to provide digital certification that could not be manipulated, utilizing the power of blockchain. But, like any relationship that gets too comfortable too quickly, he moved on to something much bigger—Aragon.  Aragon wasn't just another blockchain project. For Luis, it was his answer to his unease with traditional bureaucracy and centralized governance. With Aragon, he wanted to make it easy for anyone to create a decentralized organization without needing anyone's permission. Imagine starting a company on the internet, but without having to wait in line at the notary's office.  In 2017, Aragon managed to raise 275,000 ETH in just 26 minutes. At the time, that was worth around $25 million. Crazy? Maybe. But it was also proof that the world had faith in his vision.  However, a project as big as Aragon hasn't always been smooth sailing. In 2023, Luis proposed a $30 million ANT token buyback. His goal? To resolve a heated internal conflict and push for Aragon's $200 million treasury fund to be returned to the community via a DAO.  It wasn't an easy decision, especially when that much money was at stake. But Luis seems more afraid of the loss of “decentralization” than the value of the dollar itself.  Keeping Moving Forward with the Idea of ​​Digital Citizenship  After Aragon, Luis did not immediately take a break to Hawaii or retire early. In 2023, he instead founded CitizenX, a new initiative that explores the concept of digital citizenship. Again, this is not just a whim. With his position as president, he wants to bring the idea that “being a citizen” does not have to be based on physical residence, but can be based on participation and contribution in the digital ecosystem.  On the other hand, Luis is also known to be active on social media. On his X account, he does not hesitate to voice his opinions about individual freedom, centralized power, and the future of governance.  There is a strong impression that he is not only building a project, but also driving a movement. Many people may see him as idealistic, but others call him realistic in this digital age.  Furthermore, the steps taken by Luis throughout his career have never been too far from his belief: that technology can give more control to individuals than traditional systems. In a world that is increasingly dependent on large institutions, he is challenging that concept from the root.  What can we learn from Luis Cuende's story? Perhaps simply: believe in an idea, even when the world doesn't fully understand it. And if you fail, at least fail with the conviction that the path you've chosen is worth fighting for.  Source: https://www.crypto-news-flash.com/how-luis-cuende-built-aragon-and-reshaped-governance/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-luis-cuende-built-aragon-and-reshaped-governance

How Luis Cuende Built Aragon And Reshaped Governance

Utilization of Secure Public Blockchains Like Bitcoin and Ethereum Instead of Permissioned Ledgers
For many years, since 2014, various blockchain consortia and multi-billion dollar conglomerates have focused on the development of flexible permissioned ledgers to utilize blockchain technology as a database with cryptographic proof and unalterable ledger Most recently, Pfizer and Genentech, two pharmaceutical giants with a combined market cap of $300 billion, announced the release of the MediLedger project that utilizes JPMorgan’s Ethereum Go-inspired permissioned blockchain network Quorum to run the supply chains within the global pharmaceutical industry. Last month, Genentech senior vice president of Managed Care and Operations, Marc Watrous, stated:
“Ensuring the safety of people receiving our medicines is of utmost importance to us. We look forward to exploring the potential benefits that this pilot could provide in protecting our medicines across the entire supply chain.”
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But, if the purpose of the MediLedger project is to prevent counterfeit medicine and pills from entering the large supply chains of pharmaceutical companies, it is possible to use some of the most secure and robust decentralized infrastructures in Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, and Ethereum Classic to achieve the same result. Some startups and blockchain platforms like Stampery allow anyone in the network to peg data to the four abovementioned blockchain networks simultaneously. Stampery recently integrated Litecoin, to secure data of its users and clients through a variety of public blockchain networks that are unalterable and immutable. “Since 2011, Litecoin has proved to be one of the most viable public blockchain projects and to have a community that embraces innovation like no other. Effective today, all data certified via Stampery will be anchored simultaneously to four public blockchains without additional cost: Bitcoin, LItecoin, Ethereum, and Ethereum Classic,” said the Stampery team. Possibility of Pegging Chunks of Data Simultaneously to Major Public Blockchain Networks
For large-scale companies and projects, it will be more practical and secure to process information through platforms like Stampery that rely on the security of the largest blockchain networks in the world in terms of hash power and market value, rather than allocating resources on the development of permissioned ledgers that are still yet to be proven and commercialized in real-world applications. Because permissioned ledgers are centralized to a certain extent in that several participants or actors within the network have more power than others, there would be minimal difference in integrating advanced encryption methods and cryptographic systems into existing database technologies from implementing permissioned blockchain networks. If companies are seeking to prioritize security, it is vital to utilize public blockchains like Bitcoin that have been proven to be immutable and resilient to attacks. Most importantly, public blockchain networks are being run by decentralized ecosystems of developers, miners, users, and businesses, as their own unique economies. As the Bank of Finland research paper read:
“Bitcoin is a monopoly run by a protocol, not by a managing organization. Familiar monopolies are run by managing organizations with discretion to determine and then change prices, offerings and rules. Monopolies are often regulated to prevent or at least mitigate their abuse of power. Bitcoin is not regulated. It cannot be regulated. There is no need to regulate it because as a system it is committed to the protocol as is and the transaction fees it charges the users are determined by the users independently of the miners’ efforts.”
At the current stage, it would not be possible for public blockchain networks to process massive amounts of data at the level of centralized platforms such as Visa and PayPal. However, it is also impractical to peg each piece of data to a blockchain network and transactions. Companies could possibly look into pegging chunks of data into the bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, and Ethereum Classic blockchains through startups like Stampery. Featured image from Shutterstock.

Stampery Demonstrates Timestamping on Public Blockchains like Bitcoin and Litecoin

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Reuters/Bobby  Yip
In part  one  we discussed the basics of  Bitcoin and Blockchain. Now we will look at some  interesting places Blockchain may revolutionize the future and a  couple of places it is making a difference today. Digital currencies, like Bitcoin, are interesting for the future. However, I am more excited about what Blockchain can and will do  in the future. I will look at 8 potential uses for the technology  and how I think it will change how many things are done  today. 1. Smart Contracts in the Legal Profession
There is a digital revolution going on in the legal industry and  blockchain is the technology leading this transformation. The law  is being digitized. If you have ever had to close a mortgage or  been part of any legal dispute you know that lawyers are good at  creating tons of paperwork. I am convinced they are paid by the  word sometimes. If we can digitize the process of keeping track of the paper  trail then it will reduce the cost and potential for human error. It could be a game changer. Firms like Stampery are focused on  recording everything on a shared ledger that becomes irrefutable  digital proof that this legal event happened between two parties. This could be anything from a marriage to a divorce proceeding; a  house sale to a land reclamation; and anything else that involves  digital proof. Cutting costs out of the legal system from  administration to time would be a game changer for the legal  profession. 2. Clearing and Settlement
Now this is probably one of the most interesting potential uses  for Blockchain when it comes to finance. Clearing and settlement  costs the financial industry billions of dollars yearly. Global  banking giant Santander believes Blockchain technology could save  the industry $20 billion a year which would be a huge benefit to  consumers in lower fees for transacting things like wire  transfers, money grams, and clearing fees on investment trades. Let’s look at a simple example. Currently if you sell a stock the  transaction takes 3 days (T+3) to complete and settle and the  money to show up in your account. If we see a universal adoption  of blockchain technology in the financial market that transaction  settlement and clearing could go from a 3-day process to an  almost immediate process. With ISO 200222 standards for real time payments being a goal for  the financial industry I believe we will see Blockchain become  the backbone of how all financial transactions occur at some time  in the not too distant future. It will require a major technology  upgrade for the entire industry, but I believe the long-term  benefits and savings of time and money will be too good to  ignore. 3. Payments
Swift, the interbank payments  platform,  has been testing a  system  for a few years that they believe  will be how all cross-border payments are processed in the  future. It does not currently include blockchain technology  mainly because Blockchain in its current state is not ready for  this. However, they are building their new system to be able to adapt  and include blockchain in the future if it becomes more viable. The biggest hindrance to the interbank payment system using  Blockchain today is the sheer volume of transactions that are  done. It will require more testing but I think it will get there  eventually. In the interim Blockchain is revolutionizing peer to  peer direct payments and doing it in real time transactions with  no bank delay. 4. Smart Assets
Think of all those components being bought and sold in the supply  chains of the world, and then think about all those components  being recorded in near real-time on a shared ledger. They have  been talking about having real time transactions around bills of  lading and letters of credit but the challenge has been recording  of the bill and then documenting the movement of the assets. If we digitize the bills and letters of credit and you have a  more real-time view of the world and supply chain. It is a  smarter system because you can record more than just a product’s  serial number and value like the current systems allow. You can record virtually any other information you want like  destination, who is shipping it, who is shipping it when it  reaches port, tax, and government clearance. That is why it’s a  smarter tracking system. The banks that invests and adopts this  sort of system will have a competitive advantage in the future. 5. Digital Identity
If Digital Identities are recorded on blockchain protocol, then  my things can have authorization to transact on my behalf. In  other words, I would have an identity recorded on a shared  ledger, and then can add devices to my identity. Over time, I could add smart objects too, from my shoes to my  fridge to my car to my heating to anything. This will allow for a  more secure way to verify someone’s identity and allow for a  reduction in fraud. 6. Voting
Think about it for a minute. A secure voting record that requires  authentication of a voter’s identity and has a trusted tally. What would the news media and candidates do without the ability  to blame their loss on voter fraud or hacking (Sort of kidding). Blockchains can serve as the medium for casting, tracking, and  counting votes so that there is never a question of voter-fraud,  lost records, or fowl-play. By casting votes as transactions  within the blockchain, voters can agree on the final count  because they can count the votes themselves, and because of the  blockchain audit trail, they can verify that no votes were  changed or removed, and no illegitimate votes were added. If  Blockchain voting were in place today all of the nonsense that  surrounded the 2016 Presidential election would have been a moot  point. 7. Healthcare
Healthcare institutions suffer from an inability to securely  share data across platforms. Better data collaboration between  providers means higher probability of accurate diagnoses, higher  likelihood of effective treatments, and the increased ability of  healthcare systems to deliver cost-effective care. Blockchain can allow hospitals, payers, and other parties in the  healthcare value-chain to share access to their networks without  compromising data security and integrity. To give you a simple  example a hospital has up to 20 different ways to enter a  patient’s date of birth and no ways to standardize it. Blockchain  would allow the hospital to tie a patient to their data rather  than tie them to their identity. 8. Insurance Contracts
Smart contracts could provide transparency and an irrefutable  record for managing claims if it was put on a blockchain and  verified by the network. This would mean that identical claims  would not be paid thus reducing the potential for fraud and  duplicate claims being paid. Blockchain would allow for a more  streamlined claims process that would be beneficial to the  customer experience as well as save money for the insurance  company. This is just a small sample of the potential uses for Blockchain. As the Internet of Things continues to evolve the uses and  potential uses for Blockchain will expand as well. Get the latest Bitcoin price here. Read the original article on Thorium Wealth Management . Copyright 2017. Follow Thorium Wealth Management on Twitter . More from Thorium Wealth Management:

The technology behind bitcoin could revolutionize these 8 industries in the next few years

Rodolfo de Juana 19 abril, 2017 Deja un comentario
Si el bitcoin no parece de momento haber conseguido el gran triunfo que prometía, blockchain , la tecnología que sustenta la criptomoneda, se ha convertido en cambio en una de las sensaciones del momento. Su capacidad para garantizar al 1oo% la autenticidad de un bien digital no sólo la ha convertido en todo un “must” en el mundo fintech, sino que empresas tecnológicas como Microsoft están empezando a aplicar su tecnología a algunos de sus productos más populares. Es el caso de Microsoft Office, cuyos responsables acaban de anunciar la integración de Stampery en los principales productos de esta suite ofimática. ¿Y qué es Stampery? Básicamente una aplicación que se presenta como líder del mercado en el mundo de la certificación digital basada en blockchain. Dicho de otra forma, los documentos “firmados” con Stampery, gracias a blockchain, pueden demostrar su autenticidad y que no han sido modificados desde la fecha que han sido firmados. En caso de que se intente modificar el contenido desde que el documento haya sido firmado, la cadena blockchain muestra que se ha producido un cambio y advierte a su propietario que su documento ha “experimentado cambios” dejando un rastro en la propia cadena. La introducción de Stampery en Office es una de las primeras desde que la startup ha abierto su API, de modo que casi cualquier empresa pueda certificar la autenticidad de sus documentos con suma facilidad.

Microsoft Office incorpora tecnología Blockchain para verificar la autenticidad de los documentos

Companies offering technology-driven solutions that serve the supply chain & logistics space (e.g. shipping, inventory mgmt, last mile, trucking). 

Supply Chain & Logistics Tech

Companies in this collection build, apply, and analyze blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies for business or consumer use cases. Categories include blockchain infrastructure and development, crypto & DeFi, Web3, NFTs, gaming, supply chain, enterprise blockchain, and more.

Blockchain

These companies protect organizations from digital threats.

Cybersecurity

Companies and startups in this collection provide technology to streamline, improve, and transform financial services, products, and operations for individuals and businesses.

Fintech

Digital Assets

Unattributed

Seed

Stampery provides blockchain-based data certification services within the technology sector. The company offers services that verify the existence, integrity, and attribution of communications, processes, and data for organizations, using blockchain technology to provide proof of ownership and integrity. These services aim to improve security and accountability for businesses across various sectors. It was founded in 2014 and is based in San Francisco, California.

Date	Round	Amount	Investors	Valuation Valuations are submitted by companies, mined from state filings or news, provided by VentureSource, or based on a comparables valuation model.	Revenue	Sources
2/18/2016	Seed	$0.11M	Boost VC	$XXM	0 FY undefined	1
10/16/2015	Unattributed	$XXM	Subscribe to see more	$XXM	0 FY undefined	10

Date	2/18/2016	10/16/2015
Round	Seed	Unattributed
Amount	$0.11M	$XXM
Investors	Boost VC	Subscribe to see more
Valuation	$XXM	$XXM
Revenue	0 FY undefined	0 FY undefined
Sources	1	10

First funding	Last Funding	Investor	Rounds	Type	Location
10/16/2015	2/18/2016	Boost VC	2 Unattributed, Seed (2016)	Venture Capital	California
00/00/0000	00/00/0000	Draper Associates	Subscribe to see more	Venture Capital	California
00/00/0000	00/00/0000	Blockchain Capital	Subscribe to see more	Venture Capital	California
00/00/0000	00/00/0000	Di-Ann Eisnor	Subscribe to see more	Angel Investor (Individual)

First funding	10/16/2015	00/00/0000	00/00/0000	00/00/0000
Last Funding	2/18/2016	00/00/0000	00/00/0000	00/00/0000
Investor	Boost VC	Draper Associates	Blockchain Capital	Di-Ann Eisnor
Rounds	2 Unattributed, Seed (2016)	Subscribe to see more	Subscribe to see more	Subscribe to see more
Board Seats
Type	Venture Capital	Venture Capital	Venture Capital	Angel Investor (Individual)
Location	California	California	California

How VCs Use CB Insights

Professional Services

Platform Overview

Stampery

Total Raised

Investors Count

Funding, Valuation & Revenue

Stampery Investors