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Global fintechs and web3 giants unite to increase blockchain-based cash assistance for humanitarian crises

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Humanitarian Council members include the Algorand Foundation, Circle, Worldpay, Mercy Corps Ventures, HesabPay, the United Nations Development Programme, and others

BARCELONA, Spain, June 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Today, in a move led by the Algorand Foundation, a coalition of fintech, web3, and humanitarian organizations announced the formation of a council seeking to increase access to blockchain-based cash assistance during humanitarian crises. The council’s objective – among other activities – is to advise UN agencies and NGOs on using blockchain technology for aid payments, and to develop a roadmap for the successful piloting of blockchain-based cash programs in distressed areas.

Over the past decade, the United Nations and NGOs have begun to offer more cash-based assistance (vs. in-kind or service assistance). According to the CALP Network, a thought leader in humanitarian cash and voucher assistance, this form of assistance now comprises 21% of all international humanitarian aid, reaching $10 billion in 2022, and there is potential for that proportion to be much higher (source). Humanitarian organizations are working to deliver this kind of aid as rapidly and economically as possible whilst navigating ever more complex financial regulations. Given this, the projects under the purview of this council will explore the potential benefits and opportunities of blockchain-based payment solutions in addressing these particular constraints.

The aim in using blockchain is to first offset the lack of financial and technological infrastructure in aid locations such as Afghanistan and others. In these regions, applying blockchain technology could bring more efficiency and ease to the delivery of cash-based aid, making it possible to respond on an even larger scale.

Scaling cash-based aid also requires transparency. Cash aid programs need to be traceable and auditable without infringing on the rights of its beneficiaries. By using blockchain, organizations can maintain an immutable, unchangeable record of how cash was distributed, without disclosing how it is used by the recipient. This model protects the privacy of those in crisis while maintaining the traceability and verification that aid programs, donors, and governments need.

Built on Algorand, global payment app HesabPay is already proving the effectiveness of merging blockchain and aid delivery. It facilitates the world’s largest humanitarian project ever to be run on a public blockchain, bringing support to more than 14,000 families in Afghanistan in collaboration with United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and supported by the WFP Innovation Accelerator.

Bernhard Kowatsch, head of the WFP Innovation Accelerator, added, “The success of HesabPay in Afghanistan highlights the significant impact and scalability of this technology. We are eager to extend these innovations globally to revolutionize aid delivery.”

“Direct cash-based humanitarian assistance has been growing rapidly and is the future thanks to the extraordinary benefits cash provides for recipients. To be effective, humanitarian payments must meet several requirements: instant settlement, easily scalable to thousands if not millions of recipients,  and transparent and traceable,” said Matt Keller, director of impact at the Algorand Foundation. “Blockchain checks all of these boxes, and one reason we invested in HesabPay, which delivers humanitarian aid payments in Afghanistan without sacrificing time or accountability.”

“At Circle Impact, our mission since 2021 has been to empower underserved communities and reach people who have traditionally been excluded from financial systems. We are excited to be part of the Humanitarian Council, where we can cultivate a new generation of financial inclusion aimed at powering humanitarian aid and disaster relief,” said Mercina Tillemann-Perez, Vice President of Circle Impact.

“Launching 16 crypto pilots in 10+ countries over the past 4 years, Mercy Corps Ventures has been actively deploying first-of-a-kind real world use cases in the humanitarian and development context leveraging blockchain technology. We’re now building out a Humanitarian Venture Lab with a pipeline of humanitarian pilots, use cases, and insights that show where the challenges Algorand Foundation is addressing are playing out – and getting solved – in real time,” said Sandra Uwantege Hart, Humanitarian Venture Lab lead at Mercy Corps Ventures.

“Humanitarian crises demand faster, more transparent aid solutions. Blockchain technology has the potential to revolutionize aid delivery through unparalleled traceability. If this initiative can match the speed and efficiency of the 40 billion+ transactions Worldpay processes annually, there is an opportunity to provide life-saving support to the millions facing humanitarian crises, ensuring funds reach those in need without delay,” said Ahmed Zifzaf, head of crypto/web3 partnerships for Worldpay.

“In UNDP, we are exploring with Algorand how digital payments can bring transparency while making payments with more speed and trust to support the lives in countries without a strong banking ecosystem. Special attention is being paid to supporting the work of civil society organizations, such as through our Tadamon network of 4000 CSOs,” said Robert Pasicko, Innovation Team Leader a.i. at UNDP.

Serving council members currently include:

Sandra Uwantege Hart, Humanitarian Venture Lab Lead at Mercy Corps VenturesMercina Tillemann Perez, Vice President, Circle Impact at CirclePaula Gil Baizan, PoliSync Centre for International Policy EngagementAhmed Zifzaf, Head of Crypto/Web3 Partnerships at WorldpayHasan Fallaha, Livelihoods and Economic Recovery programme Analyst at UNDP SyriaAli Theyab Al-Zuhairi, Economic Reform (FFER-FED) Project Coordinator at the UNDP Iraq Country OfficeRobert Pasicko, Innovation Team Leader a.i., United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)Henri de Jong, Chief Business Development Officer at QuantozRory Crew, Technical Advisor on Data & Digitalization at the CALP NetworkNigel Pont, Senior Advisor at HesabPaySuzana Moreno, Blockchain Technology Strategy and Portfolio Project Manager at WFP Innovation AcceleratorKelly Stablein, Independent Humanitarian Consultant

About Algorand Foundation
Algorand’s mission is to power a world where information has integrity and innovative ideas can scale. The Algorand Foundation supports Algorand’s rapidly growing ecosystem by providing a best-in-class developer environment, supporting key infrastructure and setting technical standards, offering comprehensive support to builders and entrepreneurs, and providing the infrastructure for decentralized governance.

Founded by Turing Award-winning cryptographer Silvio Micali in 2019, Algorand has grown into a vibrant ecosystem of developers, entrepreneurs, and enterprise partners that benefit from institutional-grade certainty and resilience, while features like low fees, instant finality, and a minimal carbon footprint also appeal to the protocol’s millions of retail users. Builders of all kinds can use common programming languages like Python to develop advanced apps and protocols that solve important problems at a global scale: instant payments in war and disaster zones, self-sovereign identity for the disenfranchised, supply-chain traceability for global commerce, permissionless protocols addressing financial inclusion, and the creation of entirely new markets through tokenization, to name a few. To learn more and start your journey on Algorand, visit algorand.foundation.

About Circle
Circle is a global financial technology firm that enables businesses of all sizes to harness the power of digital currencies and public blockchains for payments, commerce and financial applications worldwide. Circle is the issuer of USDC and EURC – highly liquid, interoperable, and trusted money protocols on the internet. Circle’s open and programmable platform and APIs make it easy for organizations to run their internet-scale business, whether it is making international payments, building globally-accessible Web3 apps, or managing their internal treasury. Learn more at https://circle.com.

About HesabPay
HesabPay is a global payment app at the forefront of global financial inclusion, targeting the 2 billion unbanked individuals worldwide. With exponential growth, HesabPay now boasts over half a million users, facilitating $35 million in peer-to-peer (P2P) transfers monthly. The platform serves 250,000 households in managing their bill payments and supports over two dozen donors in distributing humanitarian cash assistance. HesabPay’s impact is evident in its expansive reach and the vital financial lifeline it provides. Discover the full extent of HesabPay’s services at hesab.com.  

About Mercy Corps Ventures
Mercy Corps Ventures invests in and catalyzes venture-led solutions to increase the resilience of underserved individuals and communities. Founded in 2015 as the impact investing arm of global development agency, Mercy Corps, we’ve supported 50 early-stage ventures to scale and raise over $465 million in follow-on capital. 44% of our portfolio has at least 1 female co-founder and centers around climate adaptation and resilience-building solutions in adaptive agriculture and food systems, inclusive fintech, and climate-smart technologies, so that those living in frontier markets can withstand disruption and plan for the future. Through capital and support, piloting new approaches, action-oriented insights, and rigorously managing impact, we catalyze the ecosystem toward smarter, more impactful investments. Learn more at www.mercycorpsventures.vc.

About Worldpay
Worldpay is a leading payments technology and solutions company with unique capabilities to power omni-commerce across the globe. Our processing solutions allow businesses of all sizes to take, make and manage payments in-person and online from anywhere in the world. Annually, we process over 40 billion transactions across 146 countries and 135 currencies. We help our customers become more efficient, more secure and more successful.

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SOURCE Algorand Foundation

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Softbank and NewPhotonics Announce Collaboration on Advanced Photonics Technology for LPO, CPO and All-Optics Switch Fabric Targeting AI-RAN

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Collaboration Agreement Targets Next Generation Data Centers vRAN to Fronthaul with All-Optical Transmission and Switching  

FRANKFURT, Germany, Sept. 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — SoftBank Corp. (‘SoftBank’) and NewPhotonics LTD (‘NewPhotonics’), a leader in advanced integrated photonics, today announced a joint research and development collaboration to advance photonics technologies for LPO (Linear-drive Pluggable Optics), CPO (Co-packaged Optics), and All-Optics Switch Fabric. This photonics-electronics convergence technology with high-speed optical communication and Optical Switching Technology enables low latency and low power consumption in AI data center and mobile fronthaul infrastructure. The technologies support SoftBank in AI data center and mobile fronthaul infrastructure with NewPhotonics patented technologies coupled with its photonics integrated chip (PIC) for reliable all-optics communication and optical fabric switching.

Targeting improved performance of GPU/CPU/switch fabric with PIC and low latency optical connectivity, the technology will also address power consumption and capacity bottlenecks in AI cluster workloads based on high-speed optical communication and optical switching technology. The patented NewPhotonics optical SerDes (serializer/deserializer) will enable higher density and low latency data transfer in mobile fronthaul and data center. 

Co-packaged advanced optical technologies deliver improved speed and energy efficiency crucial in data center re-designs underway for high performance compute and vector processing applications. In addition, the LPO technology realized by incorporating the NewPhotonics PIC into the optical transceiver enables long-distance transmission greater than existing LPO technology. Applying NewPhotonics LPO technology to mobile fronthaul is expected to reduce processing delays, reduce power consumption, and extend distances of data transport equipment.  

Ryuji Wakikawa, Head of SoftBank Research Institute of Advanced Technology, said:  

“We believe this partnership with NewPhotonics is necessary for next generation infrastructure. By collaborating, we envision a transformation in AI data center and mobile fronthaul infrastructure with optical-electronics convergence technologies that enhances speed, distance limit, capacity, and, most importantly, leads to sustainability gains giving SoftBank a significant advantage and market leadership.”  

Yaniv Ben Haim, CEO of NewPhotonics added, “Our new collaboration agreement with Softbank marks a significant milestone for our company and the industry to advance optical interconnect technology in CPO and pluggable that address the needs of modern compute and AI infrastructure. We remain committed to breaking the limits of optical communication with lowered latency and power at scalable distances. This partnership exemplifies our confidence in the impact of all-optical connectivity on the future of AI and 6G with our patented photonics innovations.” 

About Softbank 

Guided by the SoftBank Group’s corporate philosophy, “Information Revolution – Happiness for everyone,” SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) operates telecommunications and IT businesses in Japan and globally. Building on its strong business foundation, SoftBank Corp. is expanding into non-telecom fields in line with its “Beyond Carrier” growth strategy while further growing its telecom business by harnessing the power of 5G/6G, IoT, Digital Twin and Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) solutions, including High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS)-based stratospheric telecommunications. While constructing AI data centers and developing homegrown LLMs specialized for the Japanese language with one trillion parameters, SoftBank is applying AI to enhance radio access network performance (AI-RAN) with the aim of becoming a provider of next-generation social infrastructure. To learn more, please visit https://www.softbank.jp/en/ 

About NewPhotonics 

NewPhotonics is a fabless semiconductor company based in Tel Aviv Israel is designing, developing, and manufacturing photonic integrated circuits (PIC) that break the limits of optical connectivity and processing for a new all-optics paradigm in networking and compute data transmission. Founded in 2020, NewPhotonics is privately held and funded. For more information visit www.newphotonics.com

Press Contact:
Corporate Communications
press.relations@newphotonics.com
+972 3 614-3147

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2292552/4918136/NewPhotonics_Logo.jpg

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Webull’s Group President visited Asia-Pacific, where its assets under management has grown by more than 100%

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SINGAPORE, Sept. 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — The Group President of Webull Corporation, a leading digital investment platform, Anthony Denier, recently concluded a visit to the Asia-Pacific, or APAC, region. This trip underscores Webull’s growth in the APAC region and its ongoing commitment to expanding its footprint in the region. Building on Webull’s success in the U.S. market, Webull entered Hong Kong SAR in 2020, followed by expansions into Singapore and Australia in 2022. In 2023, Webull entered Japan and Indonesia and most recently in 2024, Malaysia and Thailand. As of 31st July 2024, Webull has achieved a remarkable year-over-year (YoY) growth rate of 100% in its assets under management (AUM) within the APAC region.

“We are incredibly proud of Webull’s rapid expansion in the APAC region. Since we entered APAC in 2020, we have seen a steady increase in our user base, with investors leveraging Webull’s trading tools to develop comprehensive and diversified investment portfolios across the U.S. and APAC markets. In the next two years, Webull aims to be a top broker-dealer in every region, and we remain committed to developing innovative solutions that will allow us to grow significantly while ensuring trading remains accessible and affordable for all retail investors,” said Mr. Denier.

Strong American genes, deeply rooted in the global market

Launched in the U.S. in 2018, Webull has since expanded its reach to the APAC region, Europe, Africa, and Latin America, achieving over 40 million downloads globally and surpassing 20 million registered users. In 2023, Webull saw a YoY increase of 38% in customer assets, reaching a value of US$8.2 billion. For the full year of 2023, the equity notional volumes of U.S. stock trades, reflecting platform user trading activity, reached US$371 billion, and the number of options contracts traded reached 430 million. In the fourth quarter of 2023, Webull achieved a user retention rate of 98%. These performances are a result of the positive trading experience for users and the trust they have in Webull.

Already one of the leading digital brokerages in the U.S., Webull continues to strengthen its presence across 13 global markets. Its strong foundation in the U.S. allows Webull to serve as a key gateway for local investors in APAC to access the U.S. market.  In addition, Webull is committed to providing both the tools and knowledge needed to empower investors to better navigate the investing world, making Webull a trusted brokerage amongst local investors.

Stable growth of Webull Singapore, catering to needs of local investors

Since the launch of Webull Singapore in 2022, the firm has experienced a surge in user signups, a testament to its growing popularity among investors. As the firm continues to establish its presence in Singapore, Webull has also rolled out various new features and services, such as the recent release of overnight U.S. stock trading for local investors, allowing investors to trade various US stocks and ETFs regardless of time zones.

Recognising that retail investors today are keen to build a more diversified portfolio due to greater market volatility and geopolitical tensions, in January of this year, Webull Singapore launched SGX-listed products and securities offerings on its trading platform, providing local investors with access to more than 1,000 SGX-listed stocks, REITs, DLCs, and ETFs. For investors that are more risk adverse, Webull Singapore also offers local investors access to 430 mutual funds from various fund houses, as well as wealth management tools like Moneybull, a cash management product, and Regular Savings Plan to help investors effectively manage and grow their wealth.

To remain at the forefront of the digital brokerage landscape in Singapore, Webull continues to offer investors low commission fees with no platform fees[1] for investors trading US stocks and ETFs, Hong Kong stocks and ETFs, and A-shares stocks and ETFs. For investors trading Singapore stocks and ETFs, Webull offers low commission and platform fees (0.025% x Total Trade Amount, Min SGD 0.80), with an ongoing campaign that offers 3-year commission-free[2] for Singapore stock trading. Aligned with Webull’s promise to educate investors and promote financial literacy amongst retail investors, investors using the Webull platform also gain access to a number of trading tools as well as level 2 advanced US market data to help them make informed decisions.

As Webull expands its presence in Singapore, Webull remains focused on fostering innovation and enhancing user experience as it strives to be the preferred brokerage for investors looking to invest in the U.S. as well as local markets.

“Since we entered the Singapore market in 2022, we have witnessed a strong uptrend in our user base within a short two-year span. Investors in Singapore continue to seek attractive yields for their investments and Webull Singapore will strive to develop better, more innovative products and tools that will cater to the evolving needs of Singapore investors,” added Jonathan Man, Chief Executive Officer of Webull Singapore.  

To learn more about Webull’s products and services, please visit the website: https://www.webull.com.sg/

[1]The rate of 0 is subject to change at Webull’s discretion and is valid until updated

[2]Terms and conditions apply. For details, please refer to Webull’s website at https://www.webull.com.sg/, the Webull App or the campaign’s terms and conditions.

About Webull

Webull is a leading digital investment platform built on next generation global infrastructure. The Webull Group is headquartered in St. Petersburg, Florida and backed by private equity investors located in the United States, Europe and Asia. With over 40 million downloads globally, the company is operational in 15 regions and provides retail investors with 24/7 access to global financial markets. Users can put investment strategies to work by trading global stocks, ETFs, options and fractional shares, through Webull’s trading platform. With low-cost trading on a wide range of assets, Webull is revolutionizing the way individuals approach investing. Learn more at https://www.webullcorp.com/.

All investments involve risks and are not suitable for every investor. This advertisement has not been reviewed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

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SOURCE Webull Securities (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.

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REPT BATTERO WENDING 564Ah Energy Storage Cell and Powtrix energy storage system officially launched at RE+2024

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IRVINE, Calif, Sept. 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — In an eventful week, REPT BATTERO officially opened its first North American subsidiary office on September 9 in Irvine, CA before showcasing new products and solutions at the nearby RE+ 2024 Exposition. At RE+, the company formally launched its WENDING 564Ah battery cell and the Powtrix energy storage system to deliver safer and more efficient solutions fo the global green energy transformation.

WENDING 564Ah: Over Four-Hour Duration and Upgraded Functions

The 564Ah battery cell adopts REPT BATTERO’s groundbreaking “WENDING” 2.0 technology, which delivers high energy efficiency, high consistency, zero attenuation, and an extended lifespan by applying Double-High Electrode technology.

The 564Ah battery cell applies WENDING structural design that improves JR tab bending and length. With this optimized structure, we have improved the internal space utilization rate by 5%, reduced the DCIR by 16%, therefore the cell energy efficiency can reach 96.4%. In addition, the WENDING 564Ah battery adopts double-high electrode technology, which improves the ion migration rate by 30%. Through the development of a new process, REPT breaks through the mass production problems of pre-lithiation technology which mitigates the attenuation significantly, reduces the loss of lithium ion at the very first charging and increase the efficiency and energy density of batteries.

The WENDING 564Ah batteries are also specially developed to meet the requirement for long-term energy storage of more than 4 hours, a 10,000+ cycle life and 25-30 years of durability. Moreover, WENDING 564Ah batteries have solved the problems of thermal runaway and over-charging that are generally prone to occur in large-capacity batteries, providing users with a safe, high-efficiency, and reliable product use experience.

Powtrix:Multiple Guarantees for BESS Security

The Powtrix energy storage system further enhances the 20-foot container battery system. Based on WENDING 564Ah batteries, the Powtrix system can meet the global growing demand for long-term energy storage  application requirements. Powtrix systems can have an installed capacity of more than 6MWh on the DC side, and the container level efficiency can be more than 95% , its service life can be more than 25 years and it has the ability of continuous safety monitoring.

The Powtrix battery system has delivers outstanding performance on durability. The system reaches IP55 + C5 anti-corrosion level, which is able to effectively resist dust, water spraw, hot and humid environments, as well as wind, sand, and salt spray. The internal components of the system are all tested according to 60°C long-term high-temperature aging, showing good durability and outstanding performance even under extreme weather conditions. At the same time, the system is equipped with active ballancing technology. Compared with passive balancing, active balancing capacity is increased by 20 times, energy saving is 150 times, and a single cluster can reduce operation and maintenance costs by 80%.

In terms of power safety, the REPT BATTERO’s Powtrix energy storage system supports thermoelectric separation, short-circuit arc protection, external short circuit detection and battery valve action detection. In terms of thermal safety, the Powtrix energy storage system has excellent passive safety performance in the comprehensive UL 9540A test evaluation, and applies both module and system firefighting strategies to suppress fire at the earliest stage, minimizing the thermal diffusion and fire risk of the battery system.

The REPT BATTERO Powtrix energy storage system offers a 20% increase in energy density, a 16.6% reduction in footprint, and a 15.7% savings in investment compared to a traditional 5MWh energy storage system. REPT BATTERO Powtrix energy storage system meets a number of U.S. regulations and standards for safety, including NEC, NPFA68/69/70, NFPA855, IEEE693, and performed well on large-scale fire assessment tests with the forced fire range able to be controlled in the expected range.

Excellence in system integration compatibility 

Powtrix combines the technical characteristics of mainstream PCS equipment and unique station layouts. The output interface design supports two optional forms of bottom outlet and endside outlet. At the same time, Powtrix products also support different wiring juction forms of single-channel bus output and multi-channel independent output, which can take into account the wiring methods of PCS of different brands and architectures, fully meeting the system matching requirements of global customers, and making them grid-friendly, system-friendly and battery-friendly.

In addition to the Powtrix product family, REPT will also launch its flagship version. Based on the current 300Ah+ series of cells supplied in mass production, REPT BATTERO have applied the same chemical system design with only minor dimensional adjustments. And REPT BATTERO were able to attain a full compartment capacity of 6.25MWh. The product hands down from the full set of approximate design schemes of 300Ah+ series from cell to assembly, which has many advantages including stable chemical systems, mature process routes, reliable system integration and quick mass production. It will be the pioneer and flagship version of 6MWh family products to serve clients.

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SOURCE REPT BATTERO NA OFFICE

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