IN THIS UPDATE

• How the UN World Food Programme used Blockchain to reduce payment costs for 4 million refugees; Find out more with Houman Haddad on the Applied Blockchain Podcast
• Join us at the European Blockchain Convention (EBC) in Barcelona
• Web3 for Sustainability at BT Sustainability Festival
• Learn about Swaps Contracts
• In case you missed it...

#9 - Reducing Cost at the UN World Food Programme with Houman Haddad

In the latest episode of the Applied Blockchain Podcast, Adi Ben-Ari is joined by Houman Haddad, Head of Emerging Technologies at the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP).

Applied Blockchain started working with the United Nations in 2017, initially with World Food Programme (WFP) and subsequently UNICEF. Projects include “Building Blocks” the world’s largest humanitarian application of blockchain technology used by millions of refugees. As of June 2023:

• +4M refugees used the platform;
• US$ 325M in assistance provided;
• 529M transactions processed to date;
• US$ 3M saved in bank fees to date.

Houman explores the application of blockchain technology in humanitarian assistance and highlights the shift from in-kind aid to cash-based transfers, discussing the benefits and challenges involved.

Discover how blockchain can bring efficiencies to the humanitarian aid landscape in this insightful conversation.

This is a conversation you do not want to miss.

European Blockchain Convention (EBC) Barcelona

Applied Blockchain will be at the European Blockchain Convention in Barcelona on 24th to the 26th of October.

We will deliver a keynote presentation about the work and research on ZK rollups and data privacy.

Visit us at booth (201).

If you are planning to attend, please connect to Adi Ben-Ari, Andy Campbell and Anna Zambon from our team on LinkedIn or click below to schedule an in-person meeting:

BT Sustainability Festival

Applied Blockchain will be presenting at the BT Sustainability Festival in London. Join us at Adastral Park on the 13th September where Adi Ben-Ari will be hosting a panel entitled “Web3 for Sustainability: What Role do Web3 and Blockchain Play in a Sustainable Future?” along with Eric Wragge from the Algorand Foundation, Alex Matsuo from Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Umberto Cucchi from Circularise.

Hosted by BT, this event will feature experts and innovators from organisations spanning multiple sectors. If you plan to attend the event, please feel free to connect with Adi Ben-Ari on LinkedIn.

Learn About Swaps Contracts

We often cite DeFi as the killer use-case for blockchains. One of the basic building blocks of DeFi is the swaps contract (aka liquidity pool, automated market maker), and the leader in this space has almost always been Uniswap (and its many forks).

Here’s a great update by protocol developers Alice Henshaw & Sara Reynolds presented at EthCC in Paris.

Alice and Sara talk through the evolution of the protocol, and describe the thinking behind some of their decisions. “Hooks” look like a great addition to v4, enabling specific checks to be added before certain activities such as investing in a pool, for example.

We often hear that while AMM's like Uniswap are incredibly simple, popular, and fully automated, they are not yet as capital-efficient as the central-limit order book (CLOB) used by offchain exchanges. This is due to the pooled funds that need to be available in a swaps contract in preparation for any upcoming orders, whereas traditional order books match buy and sell orders before funds are fully committed. As smart-contract platforms begin to scale, we're seeing more experimentation with on-chain order books. An interesting example is Mangrove, also presented at the same EthCC event, where a bespoke smart contracts can be attached to an order enforcing a specific workflow.

In Case You Missed It...

What on earth is Worldcoin?

Our CEO, Adi Ben-Ari, discussed World with Tech Monitor. Co-founded in 2019 by Sam Altman, Alex Blania, and Max Novendstern, World is an open-source protocol that aims to increase economic participation while focusing on privacy and decentralisation.

World consists of a privacy-preserving digital identity network (World ID) built on proof of personhood and a digital currency (WLD) that incentivises users globally to install the wallet, and then find an Orb local to them to have their iris scanned and receive a token reward. The token was launched on Optimism (L2), although there are plans for a custom L2, and an identity framework on Ethereum.

“Proof of personhood” is one of the core ideas behind Worldcoin, and refers to establishing an individual is both human and unique. Once established, it gives the individual the ability to assert they are a real person and different from another real person, without having to reveal their real-world identity.

After signing up more than 2 million users in the beta testing stage, the company claims that 16 million users have registered with Worldcoin. It is currently rolling out scanning operations in dozens of cities in 20 countries worldwide.

Adi Ben-Ari on LinkedIn: Worldcoin | 43 comments

We've seen numerous blockchain identity projects over time, but Worldcoin, launched yesterday seems quite different, perhaps because it was founded by Sam… | 43 comments on LinkedIn

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Other Events

• Porto Tech Hub | 📅 27th OCT | 📍 Porto, Portugal
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