Blockchain
NASCO Partners with Several Healthcare Companies to Form a Consortium Focused on Delivering Breakthrough Technologies for the Healthcare Industry
NASCO, a leading provider of healthcare technology solutions, announced today that it has partnered with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM), Horizon Healthcare Services, Inc. and Express Scripts to form a consortium focused on delivering breakthrough technologies for the healthcare industry. The consortium, named Coalesce Health AllianceSM (Coalesce), is initially focused on evaluating the application of blockchain to improve the efficiency and accuracy of member healthcare data exchanges across entities within the Blues’ ecosystem.
Owned by and exclusively serving Blue Cross and Blue Shield (BCBS) health plans across the nation, NASCO fosters collaboration among BCBS plans to promote innovation, deliver shared solutions and create a competitive cost advantage. Coalesce views blockchain not only as a technology disruptor, but also as an enabler of business networks and collaborative information exchange. NASCO began working with its BCBS plan partners in 2018 to examine how blockchain could help transform its already strong collective business network into an efficient, real-time, secure, trustworthy ecosystem that would benefit all parties.
Coalesce has successfully executed an Alpha Pilot project to demonstrate a basic healthcare distributed accumulators blockchain solution in a cloud environment. The Alpha Pilot project addresses the challenges health plans experience in managing member accumulations — such as not being able to accurately identify members across entities, working with stale or incomplete data and running into inconsistent integration formats — to ultimately increase operational efficiencies and improve the member experience.
“As both a co-owner and customer of NASCO, we recognize the value of interoperability as a key pillar of our strategy,” said Bill Fandrich, Senior Vice President and CIO for BCBSM. “Our recent success leveraging blockchain, in partnership with several other Blue plans in the Coalesce Health Alliance, is one step in that journey.”
Interest in Coalesce has increased since the introduction of the Alpha Pilot project, as several other BCBS health plans, including HealthNow New York, Inc., are now participating in the consortium’s advisory groups to evaluate the potential business value for their health plans.
“We’re only at the beginning of our journey of testing traditional notions and transforming healthcare through innovative solutions,” said David Weeks, CTO for NASCO. “But we’re excited about the possibilities, and we’re grateful to be part of a consortium of partners who are imagining the future of healthcare with us.”
SOURCE NASCO
Blockchain
Supply Chain Finance Market Forecast to Reach $9.4 Billion by 2029: Increasing Emphasis on Sustainable Sourcing
Global Supply Chain Finance Market
Blockchain
Web3 Startups Raise Nearly $1.9B in Q1 2024 Despite Overall Downtrend in Crypto VC Interest
Venture capital funding for cryptocurrency and blockchain projects has seen a notable resurgence in the first quarter of 2024, marking its first quarterly rise since 2021. Crunchbase data released today indicates that Web3 startups secured nearly $1.9 billion in funding across 346 deals during this period. This represents a substantial 58% increase from the previous quarter, offering a glimmer of hope amidst the ongoing downward trend in overall crypto VC interest.
The recent surge in funding can be attributed to investors adopting a more long-term perspective on Web3, as opposed to the hype-driven “tourist investors” predominant in recent years. Chris Metinko, the author of the report, notes that investors are shifting their focus to the AI sector, indicating a change in investment strategy. There is a growing interest in supporting the foundational infrastructure of the decentralized internet, rather than solely concentrating on crypto wallets and lending platforms, which attracted significant investments during the peak period of 2021 to 2022.
While large funding rounds were relatively uncommon in Q1, several notable investments stood out. Exohood Labs, a company integrating AI, quantum computing, and blockchain, secured a remarkable $112 million seed round at a valuation of $1.4 billion. EigenLabs, an Ether token “restaking” platform, raised $100 million in a Series B round led by a16z crypto. Additionally, Freechat, a decentralized social network leveraging blockchain technology, secured $80 million in a Series A round. These investments, among others, contributed to the increase in valuations and the emergence of four new Web3 unicorns in Q1.
Despite the recent progress, the future trajectory of Web3 remains uncertain. Metinko suggests that the next few quarters will be pivotal in determining the industry’s direction. While investors anticipate a rebound in investment as the decentralized internet evolves, it may take another year for venture capital activity to stabilize after the exuberance of 2021. Factors such as the approval of U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds and the upcoming Bitcoin halving could also influence the market, given the rising prices of Bitcoin and Ether.
A noteworthy example of significant funding in the Web3 space is Monad Labs’ recent successful funding round, which secured $225 million led by Paradigm. Monad Labs is a layer-1 blockchain compatible with Ethereum, offering faster transaction processing. This funding round harkens back to the golden era of crypto funding in 2021-2022, when L1 solutions attracted substantial investments.
Earlier this year, Balance, a digital asset custodian based in Canada, announced that it had once again reached $2 billion in assets under custody (AUC) amidst the recent market recovery. Similarly, Korea Digital Asset (KODA), the largest institutional crypto custody service in South Korea, has experienced remarkable growth in crypto assets under its custody, expanding by nearly 248% in the second half of 2023.
Analysts at Bernstein Research project that crypto funds could reach an impressive $500 billion to $650 billion within the next five years, representing a significant leap from the current valuation of approximately $50 billion. This forecast underscores the growing optimism and potential for substantial growth within the crypto industry in the coming years.
Source: cryptonews.com
The post Web3 Startups Raise Nearly $1.9B in Q1 2024 Despite Overall Downtrend in Crypto VC Interest appeared first on HIPTHER Alerts.
Blockchain
ASIC cracks down on blockchain mining firms
Three blockchain mining companies – NGS Crypto, NGS Digital, and NGS Group – along with their directors, Brett Mendham, Ryan Brown, and Mark Ten Caten, are facing legal action from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) for allegedly operating without a license, in violation of Australia’s Corporations Act. ASIC initiated legal proceedings against these entities on April 9, citing concerns about their non-compliance with financial regulations and their solicitation of Australian investors.
According to ASIC, the NGS companies promoted blockchain mining packages with fixed-rate returns to Australian investors, encouraging the transfer of funds from regulated superannuation funds to self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs) for conversion into cryptocurrency. Approximately 450 Australians invested a total of around USD 41 million in these packages, raising concerns about potential financial losses.
The legal action filed by ASIC alleges that the companies violated section 911A of the Corporations Act, which prohibits companies from providing financial services without a valid Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL). ASIC is seeking interim and final court orders to prohibit the NGS companies from offering financial services in Australia without an AFSL.
ASIC Chair Joe Longo emphasized the importance of investors carefully considering the risks before investing in crypto-related products through their SMSFs. Longo stated that ASIC’s actions send a message to the crypto industry about the regulator’s commitment to ensuring compliance with regulations and protecting consumers.
In a separate development, the Federal Court appointed receivers for the digital currency assets associated with the NGS companies and their directors to safeguard these assets amid concerns about the risk of dissipation. Mendham was also issued a travel restriction order, preventing him from leaving Australia.
While a court date for the proceedings has not been set, ASIC’s investigation is ongoing, with the regulator continuing to gather evidence and build its case. It is worth noting that the investigated companies share a similar name with NGS Super, a legitimate Australian pensions provider, leading to potential confusion among investors. NGS Super clarified that it is not involved in selling cryptocurrency or related products and has taken legal action to protect its trademark and members’ interests.
Source: iclg.com
The post ASIC cracks down on blockchain mining firms appeared first on HIPTHER Alerts.
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