Vault Logic is a all-in-one kiosk containing a traditional ATM and multi Cryptocurrency BTM, while also featuring Cash as a Service (CaaS). Some of the features include:

This is not just a "ATM" only dispensing Cryptocurrency (of which it offers many beyond Bitcoin). It can handle buying cell phone minutes and will eventually allow users to pay bills through the kiosk.

There is also a feature where the machine will pay users a premium by offering higher than spot market prices to help clear the machine of cash.

There are also display ads on the machine which has a revenue share built in with the venue hosting the machines.

Here are the technical specifications of the machine:

We covered topics including how to pick a company to work with in the Blockchain space, what's the scene like and of course all about the Vault Logic Kiosk itself.

We also covered some bio-hacking and practices Cassi engages in to stay balanced in her busy work world.

The Reserve Protocol

This story about a stablecoin project called the Reserve Protocol is far different from most stablecoin projects you've heard of. Reserve's approach is to solve one of humanity's greatest challenges by creating an ethical and stable currency without government control. Combatting corruption of governments or central banks while protecting against hyperinflation are just a few of the driving forces behind this project.

I really enjoyed speaking with Nevin Freeman, Cofounder and CEO of the Reserve Protocol. Specifically, what really drew me to this project were the positive things that I noticed about the brand. I don't remember the last time I saw a blockchain or crypto company with a whole webpage dedicate to ethics. Nevin and I get to connect over the inspiration and motivation to take on a project of this magnitude. We take a bit of a deep dive into his background growing up and his desire to solve problems for humans across the globe.

 Reserve Ethics

Today there is a severe lack of transparency and trust in many of the world’s monetary systems. Hundreds of millions of people live in countries without stable currencies, resulting in dramatic losses of wealth. This inability to effectively protect savings prevents people from planning for the future and bettering themselves. The world needs a stable, global, digital currency that gives people autonomy and control of their money.

This is not your typical cryptocurrency company or ICO. This team has a huge vision and the resume to back it up. They have more investors listed on their website than they have employees. This is not a measure of future success, but what it shows is people love solving problems and money is one of them. I hope a stablecoin solution emerges soon. Enjoy the show.

Some of the things you'll learn in this episode:

When will the Reserve Protocol launch?

Who is their target market and audience?

What the is plan to penetrate these markets?

Would the Reserve Protocol been able to help with issues like the "US Government Shutdown"?

How does Quantitative Easing devalue your savings?

Can the use of a stablecoin protocol like Reserve really incentivize better ethical engagements?

Further Reading and Resources

LinkedIn - Nevin Freeman

Twitter - Nevin Freeman

Facebook - Nevin Freeman

Website - Reserve.org

Telegram - Reserve Protocol

Twitter - Reserve Protocol

Facebook - Reserve Protocol

I had the pleasure of meeting Geovane and his colleague in a obscure little corner of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in the Eureka Park section. I was excited to find a really cool little yet powerful computer that is an alternative to Raspberry Pi (as well as befriend two awesomely Brazilian technologists). This unit is proudly made in Brazil and rivals their English counter part (the Pi).

On this episode of LAB Radio we caught up with Geovane Fedrecheski a computer science engineer, Ph.D candidate and team member of a Raspberry Pi alternative called Labrador. 

Geovane Fedrecheski

"In my career, I have helped LG Electronics to deliver great mobile phones for all Latin America and collaborated in the creation of a free MOOC that teaches IoT for non-technical people. I have taught programming for both children and adults, co-founded and dropped out of a startup, and did theater classes for two years to enhance my communication skills. I currently do Research and Software Engineering at University of São Paulo, where I also happen to be a PhD student. I think computers shall help and empower people. Thus, as a scientist, my goal is to use technology to enhance peoples' lives."

Geovane is a Ph.D. student where he does research and development of a Internet of Thing (IoT) framework called the SwarmOS. This entails investigating how to best manage security authorizations in swarms of IoT devices. Geovane developed an access control and Blockchain solution as well as a network discovery algorithm. His work was published in various scientific journals and conferences.

The Labrador (Raspberry Pi alternative) is a fairly robust and powerful computer. One of the benefits Geovane mentioned when we were talking at CES was the potential for outdoor applications (like weather elements). Believe it or not, the Raspberry Pi is not ideal for outdoor locations which makes it a pretty poor choice for outdoor IoT applications (which are greatly needed for smart cities as an example).

As stated in their collateral:

"The Caninos Loucos Labrador board is a Brazilian Single Board Computer, with open Hardware and Software, that can be used to create Internet of Things applications.It is composed by two boards: the Labrador Core Board, which has all features of a modern computer, and the Labrador Base Board, which expands its communication options by providing a large variety of connectors.The modularity of the Caninos Loucos Labrador board allows for greater flexibility in hardware interface prototyping. Other Base Board models can be used, with specific functionalities required by custom applications.This board set features ESD (electrostatic discharge) protection, is compact, resistant, and can be used in a range of applications, from personal projects to commercial applications."

Here are more on the specifications of the board:

After listening to this episode you will learn:

• About Geovane's background and how he got into computer science
• What LSI TEC is 
• What type of research and work he does in Internet of Things (IoT)
• What the Caninos Loucos single board computer is (Raspberry Pi alternative)
• Why and how did this project come about 
• What its specs are and what can be done with it
• A few Blockchain use cases for the board
• Geovane's thoughts on CES 2019 and technology that got him excited
• What excites him the most about the state of technology (and the Blockchain)

I recently ran into Tatiana Moroz, of Crypto Media Hub while we were in Las Vegas together for the Unconfiscatable conference. Tatiana is one of the coolest people in the Bitcoin ecosystem. She throws great dinner parties with awesome guests. If she's not the one throwing the party, she always knows where the best one is. Oh, did I mention she can sing and play guitar. On top of all this, she's a great person and a pleasure to speak with too.

On this occasion, we got to chat about maximalism and why she decided to attend the Unconfiscatable conference. She stresses the importance of knowing and "hodling" your friends close during crypto winter. We dive into the intersection her career in music and blockchain technology. Tatiana tells her thoughts about the current state of cryptocurrency adoption. Shout out to Marshall Hayner from Metalpay. Tatiana tells us what she's been up to and what she's got cooking for 2019.

About Tatiana Moroz

Tatiana Moroz is the founder and CEO of Crypto Media Hub, a PR, advertising, and marketing agency for the Blockchain industry. She is the advisor on several crypto projects.

Tatiana is a pioneer female singer-songwriter in the Bitcoin and activist community and is the creator of Tatiana Coin, the world’s first ever artist cryptocurrency. Her music brings a fresh take on that folk style of the revolutionary 60’s and 70’s, and is an original blend of alt country, pop, rock, and blues.

As a graduate of Berklee College of Music, Tatiana has had an extensive music career managing and promoting top New York recording studios and touring the globe singing and speaking alongside Ron Paul, Gary Johnson, Jill Stein, and Judge Napolitano at dozens of events including Inside Bitcoins, SXSW, Bitcoin South, NASDAQ, many blockchain events worldwide, aand several Libertarian National Conventions. With three independently produced and released LPs, EPs and several singles, Tatiana’s third EP "Keep the Faith" released in 2017 having been completely funded with cryptocurrency.

As a prominent figure in the Bitcoin community, Tatiana has appeared on NASDAQ, Market Watch, Yahoo Finance, Fox’s Stossel, Reason Magazine, the NY Times, Billboard, RT America, Infowars, International Business Times, Bitcoin Magazine and many more.

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Of all the people to run into during the Unconfiscatable conference in Las Vegas, it was awesome to see Scott Bambacigno. Alphapoint Scott, as he's known, is one of the first people I remember being involved in a crypto company as early as 2014. Not only is he a rockstar amongst his peers, he is a founding member of Alphapoint. Alphapoint is one of those companies that you probably don't know exists. It's a software company with one of its main focuses on helping its clients build crypto exchanges.

Scott and I grabbed a quiet corner and some loungey black leather chairs, then settled in to catch up. I asked him why he chose to attend Tone Vays' Unconfiscatable conference and whether or not he is a maximalist. Scott dives into how he got started with Bitcoin and his career in Silicon Valley. He talks about what the industry was like in 2013. We get into topics like, "What is a Blockchain?" and how some archaic systems are poised for collapse. He shares his bright outlook on how the industry may mature and grow.

About Scott Bambacigno

Senior sales leader with over 15 years of experience driving revenue for startups and well-established businesses. With a consistent and successful record of revenue attainment as an individual contributor, entrepreneur, and sales leader, my focus is on making my company, team members, and - most importantly - my clients successful.

As a company leader responsible for the sales and marketing teams I play a lead role in defining strategy and tactical execution to win on product, marketing, and business development. As head of sales, I recruit and hire sales and marketing talent, define value proposition, sales strategy, presentation, pricing, and competitive positioning.

Intellectually curious and creative, as a continuous learner I dedicate time for reflection and self-improvement. Strong focus on taking care of teammates. Adaptive and introspective, willing to learn, teach, lead and follow.

As one of the faces of the company, I am active in the ecosystem attending events, presenting at conferences and acquiring strategic business accounts on a global scale. Track record of success with world-class enterprises and top brands (some cannot be named at this time) including Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Scotiabank, Credit Suisse, IBM, American Express, Wolters Kluwer, Campbell’s Soup Company, Priceline.com, and Bluefly.com.

 

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Ep 53 - Unconfiscatable with Gabe Higgins - BlockSpaces

Here we are at the Unconfiscatable conference in Las Vegas. I've been pleasantly surprised with the venue, quality of content and the the number of familiar faces. One of those faces belonged to Gabe Higgins. Gabe and I have been crossing paths since 2013 on twitter and 2015 at events and through the Edge Slack channel as Ambassadors.

Gabe is such a great guy. He has the type of values and big picture vision that make him someone you want to work and hangout with. Gabe also runs an incubator/coworking/events space called BlockSpaces, which offers a collaborative environment for the crypto and blockchain communities and also hosts educational events.

Gabe and I set up shop in the media lounge and started to chatting. Gabe talks with us about how he got started in Bitcoin back in 2013. We cover why he came to the conference and the difficulties of having to pivot your business' focus. I ask Gabe what it's like to be in a relationship with your cofounder. We talk about if the children they're both raising have any idea about what Mom and Dad are doing and if they understand how this stuff works. We find out about his stance on maximalism. Finally, Gabe shares his views on what may happen with Bitcoin in the next 1 to 2 years.

About Gabe Higgins

Highly interested in emerging technology, specifically with distributed p2p networks, bitcoin (cryptocurrencies), blockchain tech, smart contracts, IoT, decentralized autonomous organizations, InfoSec, EdgeSec, and anything that promotes autonomy.

I've been advising VC funded blockchain companies with branding, PR, social media marketing, and strategic partnerships. Been active in the bitcoin space since early 2013. Lead organizer for bitcoin & blockchain meetup groups together having over 1500 members and sponsored by Edge and Bitcoin.com. Collaborated with leading bitcoin payment processor BitPay for the St. Petersburg Bitcoin Bowl in Dec 2014. Had over 200 local merchants begin accepting bitcoin at the time and the area remains one of the largest bitcoin hotspots in the world.

Now starting to merge my Meetup group with the connections in the industry to create a blockchain technology community & development center where we help educate the public, train developers, and incubate blockchain related startups from our center.

Further Reading and Resources

Twitter - @Crypto_Edge

LinkedIn - Gabe Higgins

Website - BlockSpaces 

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On this episode of LAB Radio we talked global remittances, markets, market making and how to use the Blockchain to help the cash-in and cash-out businesses.

We brought on George Harrap, CEO and co-founder of Bitspark, a bank-less money transfer ecosystem. Bitspark enables businesses and people to cash in and cash out of cryptocurrencies and fiat across developing nations (and is enabling liquidity for 150+ foreign currencies)

George Harrap, CEO and co-founder of Bitspark

"A Cryptocurrency and Blockchain pioneer, one of the early users of Bitcoin since 2011, I co-founded Bitspark (Hong Kong) in 2014 with the mission of bringing low cost fast cryptocurrency based settlement to cross border transactions. Often an international speaker around the world, I am focused on empowering individuals and businesses with blockchain based payments to further financial inclusion and bring greater cost efficiencies leading to better world without the need for the legacy banking system."

Here's a timeline of their company and activity to date:

Their business began as a cash in cash out remittance service and still has roots in it:

Now they have added DEX functionality which allows traders, investors and other users to add liquidity and capture market opportunities.

All while helping provide fuel to the underlying ecosystem Bitspark provides.

Learn more as we dive in with George Harrap on this episode of LAB Radio.

After listening to this episode you will learn:

• George's background and how he ended up in Hong Kong as an Aussie
• The regulatory landscape and differences between places like Singapore and Hong Kong's rules and approach to Crypto businesses
• Why and how they chose their current Headquarters location
• How George got status in Hong Kong as an Australian citizen
• The original intent of Bitspark and why they are Crypto Agnostic
• The nature of the cash remittance business and the problems and opportunity George saw to be solved
• How as little as 5-20% of people have bank accounts in many developing nations
• How the cash in, cash out shop process works and the value proposition they provide
• Why George didn't want to change human behavior but rather improve the process of what people were already doing
• How Bitspark benefits users, shop owners and traders behind the scenes
• An arbitrage opportunity for traders to help create liquidity for shop owners and cash remittance customers
• About Bitshares being the first stable coin that has been working since 2014
• How MakerDAO is a fork of Bitshares built on Ethereum
• Why the promise of not having to trust a companies reserves for a stable coin is a big deal (Hint: Crypto-based parallel FX market)
• How Bitshares experienced a black swan event and what Global Settlement is (and how to avoid that in the future)
• The process for Bitshares to incentivize traders to create Foreign Currency derivatives on their platform to help add liquidity to their
• How market making works through a can of coke analogy