OODA Founders Matt Devost & Bob Gourley provide their eccentric take on emerging technology trends for 2019.

A Brussels-based think tank has delivered a report to EU ministers calling for the adoption of common rules on cryptocurrencies, rules that would provide regulation on Initial Coin Offerings, as well as crypto mining and trading in general. EU authorities have already called for responses to money laundering and fraud

The World Bank is arranging the financial industry’s first ‘blockchain bond,’ which will become available later this month and is slated to raise about $70 million. The bank is using it for its potential to streamline processes that are otherwise split between many different actors. The bank announced that the

West Virginia is testing a blockchain-based voting system for overseas residents, a move driven to a large extent by difficulties and failures in existing absentee ballots and systems.   Source: Blockchain at the Ballot Box? Maybe Someday – WSJ

Tehran has announced plans to launch its own crypto-currency as the U.S. continues to prepare a harsh sanctions regimen for the country that would see further restrictions for U.S.-Iran trade, but also U.S. restrictions on others who trade with Iran. “We are trying to prepare the grounds to use a

Bitcoin ledgers are protected by puzzles that are currently too complex for modern computers to solve without access to the private key of each one. A revolution in quantum computing, however, could make it possible for quantum computers to solve these puzzles and steal bitcoin. In order to secure bitcoin

The US Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has stated that brokerages must declare their all activities “related to digital assets such as crypto-currencies, virtual coins and tokens” so that the authority can monitor “developments in the digital asset marketplace” and undertake “efforts to ascertain the extent of involvement related to digital

“Hackers are increasingly hijacking computers to secretly mine crypto assets. Such exploits surged last year, according a survey by IBM Managed Security Services. One recently discovered malware program is hiding itself on Amazon’s cloud to steal processing power from a fleet of ordinary computers.” Source: New Crypto-Mining Malware Uses Amazon’s Cloud to Hijack

During the Cold War, the Soviet Union engaged in a detailed clandestine urban mapping project designed to develop detailed cartographic material for major United States cities. These efforts are detailed in the book “The Red Atlas: How the Soviet Union Secretly Mapped the World”. As we’ve clearly entered into Cold