Image of The Week, March, 25–29: Coinspeaker, Bitcoinist, News BTC and Others

Louis Vuitton Owner LVMH Is Launching a Blockchain to Track Luxury Goods (Coindesk)

The platform, codenamed AURA, will be used to verify the authenticity of premium products. LVMH invited a high-class team of experts who were secretly engaged in the development of AURA for more than a year in close cooperation with ConsenSys and Microsoft Azure. The platform was built using the development of JPMorgan, an exclusive version of Ethereum blockchain called Quorum, which is focused on data privacy. In addition to Louis Vuitton, another brand of the LVMH group of companies, the perfume manufacturer Christian Dior, will be connected to the authentication service. The consortium plans to offer its “white labeling” product to other brands, including the competitors. Quorum data protection tools should not allow any unauthorized data leaks between the brands.

Bitmain Will Restart IPO Listing Process (Bitcoinist)

After many difficulties and massive staff resigns at the end of last year, the mining giant Bitmain introduced a new CEO and announced its intentions to resume the IPO process, which had not been completed before. The company has also reported that in 2019, Bitmain will optimize its business process in order to focus on innovations in both the cryptocurrency market and the artificial intelligence market. For example, the company is now actively working with its partners in China, putting all efforts to become the leader of innovations in the development of neural processors.

Russia’s Richest Man Proposes to Develop a Palladium-backed Cryptocurrency (Coinspeaker)

While the country still maintains uncertainty with the regulation of cryptocurrency, Russian billionaire Vladimir Potanin proposed launching new tokens backed by the precious metal palladium. The concept of stablecoins supported by fiat currencies is becoming increasingly popular these days. So the owner of Norilsk Nickel had the idea to invest from 5 to 6 mln US dollars in the launch of a new digital platform. It is also known that Potanin is working with the Russian central bank and lawmakers to create a regulatory framework for digital assets. The next hearing in the Russian parliament is scheduled for April 2019. The billionaire believes that one of the main problems in the current edition of the bill is that only banks and stock exchanges will be able to manage digital platforms.

110,000 Investors in Ghana Lost $25.7 Mln in Crypto Scams and Hacks (News BTC)

These are the figures voiced at a recent discussion in the country's parliament, which was dedicated to the crypto regulation. The country still recovers from last year's Global Coin Community Scam, when fraudsters promised Ghanaian residents a 27 percent annual profit, and subsequently disappeared from the sight of local crypto investors and law enforcement officers. While the Ghana Securities Commission is still considering the possibility of introducing a cryptocurrency law, lawmakers and officials not only offer no help to victims of fraud but also actively warn citizens against using any digital currency. At the moment, all the operations with cryptocurrencies in Ghana remain illegal.