Stellar and an ico

https://www.coindesk.com/why-a-39-million-ico-chose-stellar-over-ethereum/

Interesting concept and use case.  Makes sense as well as these fees are making the traditional blockchain leaders far too expensive for simple tasks. 

Ripple ripple xrp why

Do banks want Ripple ?

That was the question, is the question and will be the question for a long time.  Ripple actually has built a very good ledger and platform for cross border exchanges.  And the SWIFT network is the middleman of the middelman centralized fallacy of fallacies. 

However, Ripple has become another centralized version of a fallacy themselves.

Hide blockchain from their marketing hype and what makes you think WOW?   That's the biggest problem for Ripple because they aren't some new decentralized eliminate the middleman philosophy at all.  They are just a different version of SWIFT.  Time will tell. 

Distributed ledger

Cambodia soramitsu
planning  distributed ledger.

UAE Emirates Islamic Bank launches blockchain for checks

So "The launch of “Cheque Chain”, announced today, comes months after Emirates NBD tested the feature in conjunction with the central bank of the United Arab Emirates. The banking group began testing the tech in a bid to reduce fraud."

UAE Emirates Islamic Bank launches blockchain for checks

First Quantum-Secured Blockchain Technology Tested

First Quantum-Secured Blockchain Technology Tested in Moscow...

Quantum computing is fascinating, but it's really early stages, so we don't know what it or where this technology will shape the space.  Will it be real quantum computing or a marketing hyped space ?  We all know half the AI space isn't even complicated machine learning algorithms.

But the super quantum computers could make the blockchain cryptocurrency double spend philosophy null and void and irrelevant.  Brute force attacks are cost prohibitive with normal computers. But brute force with a quantum computer,  Still expensive , but possible.  And that's today. Just imagine.  

Good start here in testing different strategies to combat this possibilities.  

Owlting food chain supply on ethereum

Owlting will try and fix the food supply chain challenges.

Decentralized internet...

What exactly is a decentralized internet of the future?

     Decentralized. A decentralized world and internet.  Places or DAOs or a BitNation like "organization" are out in the wild wild decentralized global West now.

However do most people know what any of this means ?  Some might.  Many don't.  Fewer even know it's happening already.  They just see Bitcoin or Ethereum as a money making investment opportunity.  That's good and bad for various reasons.

     But is Ethereum really decentralized?
In one way it is. In another it is one very popular intelligent young 'founder' who seems to have the Steve Jobs and Elon Musk effect on Ethereum and the cryptocurrency space.

What he says seems to be the one version of the truth.  And ConsenSys also seems  to be the one version of a company that builds out the real platform.  A lot of very smart and great individuals. But they also arent exactly decentralized. 

Maybe it's a open source Redhat kind of play. It's still open source and great for the community, but they also arent exactly all that open in many many ways.  Unless it helps their own bottom line.  And we have seen that with Ethereum vs Ethereum Classic.  And the Ethereum Enterprise Consortium just sounds like business as usual.

Sorry, but Private blockchains aren't decentralized. And the hard vs soft forks and Segwit conversations are fascinating, but show the advantages and challenges in the space.

    I think bitcoin and Bitcoin and that version of the blockchain technology is far more decentralized vs say an Ethereum.   It's harder to do anything like a smart contract though. 

What about a Litecoin or the lightning network or swarm or hyperledger or Monero or the Golem network or Storj  or Ripple ? They all seem to be far from what the term decentralized actually means.  and Ripple is centralized at its core.  Plus most mining pools and exchanges are really just centralized systems.  Business as usual really. 

In one way or another ICOs are nothing more than raising capital for a few founders and companies. Decentralized be damned I guess. 

Time will tell how it all plays out.