Bitcoin Daily: Gibraltar to Test Blockchain to Deliver Public Services; Blockchain Analytics Platform Whalemap Nets $1.6M for Expansion

The government of the British Overseas Territory Gibraltar will be using blockchain to help with delivering public services, per a press release Tuesday (Dec. 7).

The program plans to use blockchain tech to work on the interconnectivity between departments, organizations and people. It will be set up by Bitso and IOVlabs, and the release praised the two firms for their important work in distributed ledger technology.

The proposal will boost Gibraltar’s existing eGov system through letting users share the government-issued and certified credentials, which could include things like driver’s licenses and passports.

Albert Isola, minister for digital and financial services of Gibraltar, said the blockchain idea would help improve the way people interacted with the government.

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Meanwhile, blockchain analytics platform Whalemap announced on Wednesday (Dec. 8) that it has closed a funding round for $1.6 million.

This funding will allow Whalemap to keep on working on its goals to make blockchain more user-friendly.

The company is trying to make it so that the data and insights that are typically only available to hedge funds are more widely available. It also wants to make sure things are “visually intuitive and simple.”

The round was led by Shima Capital and Momentum6. Others participating included Anthony Pompliano, Ghaf Capital, NFT Technologies, RR2 Capital and EIV Ventures, as well as angel investors from Coin98, Claystack, Solstarter and Rarestone.

According to Whalemap co-founder Artem Lazarev, the company’s future is ideally one “where blockchain analytics are an integral part of a mature crypto economy.”

“And in the age of information overload, it is important to make it practical, engaging, and mainstream compatible. So far, blockchains have allowed for the democratization of the finance world,” Lazarev said. “Now, with Whalemap’s help, it’s analytics’ turn.”

Whalemap co-founder Andy Bohutsky also said Whalemap democratizes data, making traders equal and giving crypto enthusiasts ways to analyze blockchain data.