Crypto Tamanga

By Japhet Kapambwe Mesa I am going to attempt to describe what a blockchain using a book analogy. Before we get to it let us take a look at some definitions. "A blockchain is a digitized, decentralized, public ledger of all cryptocurrency transactions. Constantly growing as completed blocks (the most recent transactions) are recorded and added to it in chronological order, it allows market participants to keep track of digital currency transactions without central record keeping." - investopedia.com  "The blockchain is an incorruptible digital ledger of economic transactions that can be programmed to record not just financial transactions but virtually everything of value." - Don & Alex Tapscott, authors of Blockchain Revolution (2016). Let us throw in one last definition shall we?  "Blockchain is a consensus based secure decentralized database which stores information immutably over a peer-to-peer (P2P) network" - Toshendra Sharma

The recent 2 weeks has seen the price of Bitcoin surge a whooping 55.9% from US$6,010 to US$9,325 per Bitcoin (at time of writing). In similar fashion, all the other crypto currencies have followed suit. We expect that the talk about crypto currencies in general will shift from the proverbial "Bitcoin is dead", to "I do not want to miss out!". Suddenly, the general populace will awaken to the opportunities that are presented by crypto and will want to take part. The good thing is that it is never too late to join in. However, here a few tips before you can jump in: 1. Only invest/spend as much as you can comfortably lose without catastrophic consequences. 2. Do not be too much in a haste to make money. Do not rush into businesses that promise you astronomical returns within a very short period of time. 3. Take time to do your own research. 4. Do adequate due diligence. 5. Think more of medium to long term rather than short term. If you are in Zambia and

We came across this article on ictworks.org which talks about Eight Practicall Blockchain Use Cases in International Development. We decided to look at four of the use cases. To read more of this article please go here .   Government Services In principle, blockchain technologies could be used for providing government services that involve the overall handling and management of public documents which, at least in many developing countries, people have a hard time obtaining. More generally, blockchains could be used to support the overall provision of most public goods to citizens and stakeholders, especially those that demand personal interaction and require individual identification. An implicit link between blockchain technology and e-government does exist, and it is now being explored by a selected group of blockchain startups. Procivis , a Swiss startup, will be soon launching a blockchain-based app store delivering selected government services to the public. It will a