“After several months of development, we’re launching the next release of our platform, called Alpha Persei”, Sapien Network co-founder and CEOAnkit Bhatia told Cointelegraph in an interview.
Ethereum-based social network Sapien has unveiled updates to its platform, as well as a partnership with the initial exchange offering project, Matic Network.
“This is a revamped platform across the board”, he said, highlighting new aspects such as Portis wallet integration and rewards engine reconstruction. Sapien also secured placement on KyberWidget, allowing trading between Sapien (SPN) tokens and Ether (ETH), according to a statement.
Sapien partnered with Matic Network for future developments
Sapien also announced a collaboration with Coinbase-backed Matic Network, a blockchain scalability platform that garnered over $5 million in capital during its April 2019 initial exchange offering.
“We want to use their technology to build a scalable decentralized Web 3 social network, and their technology will help us do that”, Bhatia said of Matic, adding:
“We’re using Matic sidechains — they’re a plasma-based proof-of-stake (PoS) chain — to basically power our charging and internal promotions on the platform. So, it will be used instead of the mainnet to send transactions, to send tips, to promote high quality posts and comments.”
“It will be the infrastructure that we want to build on that’s far more scalable than the mainnet”, he added referring to the platform’s current Ethereum-based network.
Sapien positions itself as a blockchain-based social media alternative
Sapien’s social media platform is comparable to a blockchain-based version of Reddit — with several added features, functionalities and capabilities, Bhatia explained. The platform is focused on user’s privacy, while involving aspects of incentivization. Bhatia added:
“In one sense, we’re a Web 3 social network. In another sense, we’re trying to sort of correct some of the wrongs of prior social networks by building a tokenized blockchain-based social network that’s far more transparent than the mainstream competitors.”
If big players such as Facebook continue to leak private data, people may begin to question the implications of their current social media usage. This in turn could increase the market share of blockchain-based alternatives.
Ex-UBS Head Wants His Crypto Bank to Tap $220B Cryptocurrency Market
Peter Wuffli, the former CEO of Switzerland’s largest bank UBS and director at Swiss crypto bank Sygnum, wants to tap the “$220 billion market of institutions and private individuals who already own cryptocurrencies.”
Local news outlet SwissInfo reported on Sept. 26 that Wuffli has shown excitement concerning the potential of crypto assets. In an interview, he told the outlet:
“The most immediate opportunity is the existing $220 billion market of institutions and private individuals who already own cryptocurrencies. Thousands of clients have contacted us for a one-stop-shop for asset custody, loans and trading cryptocurrencies seamlessly with fiat currencies.”
Asset tokenization is the next frontier
Wuffli noted that he believes the tokenization of assets such as company shares, real estate, art or commodities is the next frontier in the industry. However, he also admits that there are still many unanswered questions, and many of them are regulatory in nature.
Wuffli also praised the potential of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), pointing out the opportunity he sees in securitizing shares and building smart contract-based share registers. He foresees such a system providing a great deal of simplification:
“You can do away with spreadsheets and combining systems to pay dividends, do capital increases and trade on the secondary market. And trading could take place without long settlement times and counterparty risk.”
Yes to DLT, no to corporate currencies
Still, he claimed that — on a deeper, philosophical level — DLT is about market democratization. He said that he believes that “the longer-term potential is to create a more open, broader and easier cross-border access to assets.”
Still, he also voiced a skeptical stance towards Facebook’s Libra stablecoin. While Wuffli admitted that he does not know about Facebook’s plans in detail and that he cannot really comment on the project, he voiced concern over the idea of corporate currencies in general. He adds that nation-states will not allow such assets to threaten their monopoly on currencies, saying:
“However, I do believe that the regulation of financial services and control over currencies are essential tasks of the state and that currencies cannot be decoupled from sovereign states. As soon as someone tries to challenge the sovereign monopoly on currencies they will not allow it, and for good reason. Besides, I don’t think people will treat private currencies like that without the power of a country and a political system behind it.”
As Cointelegraph reported in August, Sygnum received a banking and securities dealer license alongside Swiss crypto-specialized entity SEBA. Wuffli noted:
“One thing missing from my CV is that I have never been involved in the creation of a new bank. I am a curious person and I love new things, it’s energizing.”
