*By Tanaya Macheel and Jacqueline Corba*
Two years ago it was largely unthinkable that a large financial institution would touch anything related to public blockchains like those of the Bitcoin and Ethereum networks. Instead, most opted to explore "private" blockchains, which allow a select group of individuals to monitor and transact.
But blockchains are most effective if there is a network effect, and to do "anything real in the world" those firms need to connect their private blockchains to the larger public network, Jed McCaleb, Stellar CTO and co-founder of Stellar Development Foundation, told Cheddar Thursday at the Crypto Finance Conference.
"The smaller your group of people is, the more likely you should just use a database," he said.
It's similar to how companies operate on private networks that are also able to connect to the public Internet ー some files sit behind a wall, and sometimes they are sent out to an external party or organization.
"That's what Stellar gives you — a way to have your permissioned group but still interact with everyone else in the world," McCaleb said.
The corporate aversion to public blockchains is starting to turn though. Last week, IBM [announced](https://www.coindesk.com/ibm-debuts-stellar-powered-blockchain-world-wire-payments-system/) a new product for cross-wire payments powered by Stellar that will help the network get in front of IBM's larger corporate partners ー many of whom probably have ongoing private blockchain experiments running. Two years ago, all enterprise blockchain experiments focused on private networks, but it's safe to say today a quarter, or perhaps even half, of that experimentation has turned to public networks like Stellar or Ethereum (but not Bitcoin), Adam Ludwin, CEO of Chain, said anecdotally in a fireside chat with McCaleb on Thursday.
"We've obviously been focused on cross border payments for a while, but it's hard for us to engage with larger institutions that IBM has lots of relationships with. So it's a very good partnership," McCaleb said.
Chain ー which provides blockchain tech for the transfer of financial assets that has been employed by Capital One, Citigroup, Fidelity, Nasdaq, State Street, and Visa ー is [rumored](http://fortune.com/2018/06/20/stellar-acquires-chain/) to be in talks with Stellar for a $500 million acquisition of the private blockchain start-up. Neither side of the potential deal has publicly addressed the rumors.
Stellar and Chain have taken different approaches to the same vision: improving cross-border payments for large financial institutions. McCaleb and Ludwin agree the dichotomy between public and private blockchains is a false one and that in the future there will be less of a divide.
"What the internet did for information, we are now doing for payments," McCaleb said.
"The benefit of blockchain is you have this public record that everyone can see, but no one can change arbitrarily, and that allows people that don't have a formal relationship with each other to transact."
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/how-stellar-is-looking-to-transform-digital-payments).
Nvidia reported a 56% increase in second-quarter revenue and a 59% rise in net income compared to a year ago.
The Rev. Al Sharpton is set to lead a protest march on Wall Street to urge corporate America to resist the Trump administration’s campaign to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The New York civil rights leader will join clergy, labor and community leaders Thursday in a demonstration through Manhattan’s Financial District that’s timed with the anniversary of the Civil Rights-era March on Washington in 1963. Sharpton called DEI the “civil rights fight of our generation." He and other Black leaders have called for boycotting American retailers that scaled backed policies and programs aimed at bolstering diversity and reducing discrimination in their ranks.
President Donald Trump's administration last month awarded a $1.2 billion contract to build and operate what's expected to become the nation’s largest immigration detention complex to a tiny Virginia firm with no experience running correction facilities.
Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos claims audiences don't want to watch Netflix movies in theaters, but that seems not to be the case recently.
Chipmaker Nvidia is poised to release a quarterly report that could provide a better sense of whether the stock market has been riding an overhyped artificial intelligence bubble or is being propelled by a technological boom that’s still gathering momentum.
Cracker Barrel said late Tuesday it’s returning to its old logo after critics — including President Donald Trump — protested the company’s plan to modernize.
Low-value imports are losing their duty-free status in the U.S. this week as part of President Donald Trump's agenda for making the nation less dependent on foreign goods. A widely used customs exemption for international shipments worth $800 or less is set to end starting on Friday. Trump already ended the “de minimis” rule for inexpensive items sent from China and Hong Kong, but having to pay import taxes on small parcels from everywhere else likely will be a big change for some small businesses and online shoppers. Purchases that previously entered the U.S. without needing to clear customs will be subject to the origin country’s tariff rate, which can range from 10% to 50%.
Southwest Airlines will soon require plus-size travelers to pay for an extra seat in advance if they can't fit within the armrests of one seat. This change is part of several updates the airline is making. The new rule starts on Jan. 27, the same day Southwest begins assigning seats. Currently, plus-size passengers can pay for an extra seat in advance and later get a refund, or request a free extra seat at the airport. Under the new policy, refunds are still possible but not guaranteed. Southwest said in a statement it is updating policies to prepare for assigned seating next year.
Cracker Barrel is sticking with its new logo. For now. But the chain is also apologizing to fans who were angered when the change was announced last week.
Elon Musk on Monday targeted Apple and OpenAI in an antitrust lawsuit alleging that the iPhone maker and the ChatGPT maker are teaming up to thwart competition in artificial intelligence.
