New York Sticks With Crypto, Opening Blockchain Center Amid Rout
11 Enero 2019 - 04:24AM
ADVFN Crypto NewsWire
-
Economic Development
Corporation sets up Silicon Alley venture
-
Site to partner on software
development classes, events
New York isn’t giving up on the digital-ledger technology that
makes Bitcoin and other tokens work even after last year’s collapse
of the cryptocurrency market.
The New York City Economic Development Corporation said its
Blockchain Center in Manhattan will open Thursday a part of a
partnership with affiliates of venture-capital fund FuturePerfect
Ventures and the Global Blockchain Business Council, a trade
organization. The city may also start testing the use of blockchain
technology in the fall.
The center is
opening at a difficult time for the industry. After digital coin
prices tumbled last year by as much 90 percent, many startups
working on the technology have been forced to
lay
off staff or even shut down as funding dried up. Some companies
have also stalled trials and deployment of the technology, which
makes it easier for multiple parties to share data in a trusted
way. The technology is already in use at companies such as
Walmart
Inc.
“We are playing the long game,” Ana Arino, chief strategy officer
at the EDC, said in a phone interview. “It’s a nascent technology,
so there’s bound to be uncertainty around this evolution from year
to year. While we don’t know what the future holds, we want to make
sure we have a seat at the table shaping it.
The 4,000-square-foot center, located at 54 W. 21st St. in the
Flatiron District in the center of the city’s Silicon Alley, will
offer everything from coding classes to lunch lectures for software
developers to the general public. Tenants of the 12-story building
include data aggregator Quovo Inc., startup investor Palm Drive
Capital LLC and beauty services outfit Glamsquad Inc.
While the city is providing the one-time initial investment of
$100,000, the operators will seek to raise money through membership
dues and through corporate partners, which already include
Microsoft Corp. and International Business Machines Corp.,
according to Jalak Jobanputra, managing partner at FuturePerfect
Ventures.
“This is a neutral spot, there’s no one platform or company that
has undue influence over programming,” Jobanputra said in a phone
interview. “What we want entrepreneurs to have is a choice.” Plans
to establish the center were announced in May.
QuickTake: Why Blockchain’s
Salad Days Aren’t Here Quite Yet
Last year, New York’s blockchain startups received more than
$500 million in venture capital funding, up 500 percent from 2017,
according to the EDC. Several of the largest blockchain employers
in the world -– including IBM, R3 and Coinbase Inc. -– are rapidly
growing in the city. Last year, New Yorkers had seen more than
2,200 blockchain-related job postings, up 80 percent from the year
earlier, the agency said.
The center is not the first blockchain-related community space
in the city. Bitcoin Center NYC, which is self funded, has been
around since 2013, is open every day and hosts events monthly,
according to founder Nick Spanos.
Source: Bloomberg
By Olga Kharif
Ripple (COIN:XRPUSD)
Gráfica de Acción Histórica
De Feb 2024 a Mar 2024
Ripple (COIN:XRPUSD)
Gráfica de Acción Histórica
De Mar 2023 a Mar 2024