"Goldman’s effort involves both its currency-trading division and the bank’s strategic investment group, the people said. That suggests the firm believes bitcoin’s future is more as a payment method rather than a store of value, like gold," the [Suspicious link removed]j.com/articles/goldman-sachs-explores-a-new-world-trading-bitcoin-1506959128]Wall Street Journal[/url] reported.

Bitcoin has a mystery genius at its heart: its story begins with Satoshi Nakamoto, a secretive figure who no one’s ever met and who might not even be real. It’s also subversive. Part of the story of bitcoin is the idea that it lets people own currency without government involvement or endorsement. The currency isn’t under the control of a national bank, and governments have little influence over it. The banking infrastructure has been built entirely from the ground up.

The global blockchain benchmarking study, a joint project by EY, the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance and Visa, is the first of its kind. It presents a comprehensive view of how the financial services industry, as well as the public and private sectors in general, are currently using DLT, how they envision using it in the future, and the challenges to mainstream adoption.

Are there any regular meet ups in London more friendly for beginners to learn more about developing or tutorial organisations?

As the Bitcoin price starts to regain its strength following the short dip it experienced in the past week, the latest Knight Frank's Luxury Investment Index, which has risen in value by 5% over the past year, shows that certain luxe collectables have been plummeting in value.

While this may not directly point at Bitcoin as the next and the most appropriate option to be embraced (it was not mentioned in the Index), the ranking which is based on third-party data that tracks the performance of a representative basket of high-end collectibles, rules out safe haven options such as residential property and gold as the best options for investment in recent times.

A dedicated Bitcoin exchange for Africa has launched after a four-month development phase from Nigeria-based programmers.

Announced Sunday by lead developer Timi Ajiboye, the unusually-named Bitkoin.Africa seeks to provide legitimate trading opportunities for local cryptocurrency holders.

“We're launching today Oct. 1, 2017. With complete support for Nigeria and partial (buying only) support for all other countries,” Ajiboye confirmed on Twitter.

The fund markets are seen by SEB and Nasdaq as ripe ground for a blockchain trial, because, in contrast to the equities market, which relies on a Central Securities Depository (CSD), the Swedish fund market lacks a central, primary point for registering holdings.

European Central Bank ‘Does Not Have Authority’ to Regulate Bitcoin: ECB President

European Central Bank (ECB) president Mario Draghi stated that the agency does not have the authority to regulate bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
ECB Does Not Have Authority to Regulate Bitcoin

Draghi made these comments in a meeting of the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs. Although Draghi’s formal statement did not address cryptocurrency, a committee member asked him to reveal what approach the ECB intends to take toward cryptocurrencies, in light of China’s recent ban on initial coin offerings (ICOs), as well as more conciliatory stances from Japan and Mexico, among others.

Draghi replied that the European Central Bank has not yet discussed the implications of cryptocurrency. However, he said that if it later decided to analyze the risks of digital currency, the bank would take the same approach as with all financial innovations: examine the technology’s scale, usage, and impact on the European economy.

He added that it is not within the ECB’s powers to prohibit or regulate bitcoin.

Source: https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/european-central-bank-not-authority-regulate-bitcoin-ecb-president/

Juniper Research has released the results of a survey indicating that International Business Machines (IBM) is the top provider of Blockchain among all other companies, with 43% of the vote. Instead of “International Business Machines,” IBM could very well stand for “International Blockchain Model” in the near future.

On the same survey entitled, “Blockchain Enterprise Survey,” Microsoft came in second with 20% of the vote, followed by Accenture. Several factors were noted on the rise of IBM to the number one spot; however, most of them were credited to the use of Hyperledger and other research development efforts.