During their introduction at this week's Distributed Ledger Challenge in New York, Santander InnoVentures managing partner Mariano Belinky and Banco Santander R&D chief Julio Faura spoke at length about the bank's interest in the blockchain and how it believes the technology can significantly reshape how it does business. http://www.coindesk.com/santander-blockchain-talk-action-2016/ |
|
|
|
We’ve had a number of positive fundamental developments in the bitcoin space over the last couple of weeks – specifically relating to financial institutions pitching a stake in blockchain technology. The bitcoin price has reflected this, with these developments translating to some considerable volatility. Of course, we like volatility whether it’s upside or downside – from a short term perspective at least. Longer term we’d prefer our holdings to appreciate in value, but if we get a bit of downside short to medium term, our intraday strategy is set up to allow us to draw a profit from the market. http://www.newsbtc.com/2016/01/28/bitcoin-price-lower-recovery-ahead/ |
|
|
|
The clouds of misconception and skepticism around bitcoin were so dark in the initial years that it hid the genius behind it. In trying to understand bitcoin, it brought into the spotlight the technology that underpins it - the blockchain. During the World Economic Forum at Davos, Christine Lagarde, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund spoke about virtual currencies and released a paper titled “Virtual Currencies and Beyond: Initial Considerations.” The paper examines virtual currencies as well as blockchain. It reads, “VC schemes and distributed ledger technologies can strengthen financial efficiency by facilitating peer-to-peer exchange while reducing transaction times and costs, especially across borders...Beyond payments systems, distributed ledger technologies have implications for a wide range of markets and financial market infrastructures as a fast, accurate and secure record keeping system, including for stock exchanges, central securities depositories, securities settlement systems or trade repositories.” http://www.nasdaq.com/article/how-the-blockchain-is-being-used-beyond-bitcoin-and-finance-cm571563 |
|
|
|
Blockchain technology can disrupt and radically change the legal and financial fields. This is the prediction of Alec Ross, former innovation adviser to Hillary Clinton when she was U.S. Secretary of State, in his new book "Industries of the Future". In an interview with Sue Troy published in SearchCIO, Ross said that blockchain technology has the potential to remove "enormous amount of friction" in legal and financial processes, as well as other transactions by removing third-party involvement from legal and financial transactions. Blockchains can potentially eliminate gatekeepers, middlemen and trust from transactions. This will speed up legal and financial transactions and will lower costs of these transactions. http://www.lawyerherald.com/articles/30287/20160128/blockchain-technology-radically-change-financial-legal-fields.htm |
|
|
|
The bill, HR552, introduced last year by New Hampshire State Representative Eric Schleien (R), was voted down this month by a vote of 264 to 74. The bill would have required the state’s treasurer to “develop an implementation plan for the state to accept bitcoin as payment for taxes and fees.” Bitcoin first appeared on the global currency scene in 2009. Bitcoin is a digital currency which means that you don’t rely on an exchange of paper for transactions and there is no centralized bank that records your transaction: instead, bitcoins are stored in a digital “wallet” which can be found on your computer. You spend bitcoins just as you would dollars on everything from shopping for a sofa on Overstock.com to booking a vacation on Expedia. http://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2016/01/28/legislature-says-no-to-bitcoin-tax-payments/ |
|
|
|
The federal government of the United Kingdom and the Government Chief Scientist Mark Walport will be investing in the blockchain technology to analyze the potential of its application in the conventional finance sector. The blockchain technology, also known as the distributed ledger technology enables anyone on the network to securely settle transactions and the transfer of assets with substantially low costs. Over the past few months however, an increasing number of firms and startups have begun to explore the potential of the blockchain technology as a distributed data sharing and storage platform. http://www.newsbtc.com/2016/01/19/uk-government-to-develop-a-centralized-blockchain-network/ |
|
|
|
It’s been a strange twenty-four hours in the bitcoin space. The fallout from the Mike Hearn debacle looks to have left the entire sector in a mode of uncertainty, and as bitcoiners wait to see how things play out, the bitcoin price is reflecting this uncertainty. Action over the last couple of days is reminiscent of the way other (more traditional) financial asset markets approach a macroeconomic event. Take a look at the action in the EURUSD over the last two ears for example, during the three or four days preceding a day on which markets expect the Federal Reserve in the US, or the ECB in Europe, to raise rates, or announce a pull back of quantitative easing programs. Similarly, and on a more condensed timeframe, check out the intraday action in the forex markets on any USD pair on the Thursday that precedes the first Friday of every month – non farm payroll day. Essentially we see a consolidation of bears and bulls, and a real tight range within which price is contained. Technical charting theory attributes this to a couple of things. First, that through the nature of uncertainty, there is a similar number of short and long positions in the market. Second, the rest of the market doesn’t want to take a position before a breakout that indicates a resolution of the deadlock. http://www.newsbtc.com/2016/01/19/bitcoin-price-tight-breakout-pending/ |
|
|
|
Bitcoin in last few years has welcomed thousands of developers and finance professionals to experiment with its technology. There is no doubt the invitation has been accepted with both hands, as we now can see many new ideas maturing digitally, ranging from remittance to blockchain applications. Bitcoin in last few years has welcomed thousands of developers and finance professionals to experiment with its technology. There is no doubt the invitation has been accepted with both hands, as we now can see many new ideas maturing digitally, ranging from remittance to blockchain applications. Despite all the new interpretations of Bitcoin code, there still has been one thing which most of the developers have ignored – to enable users to earn Bitcoin in a safe and secure environment. The launch of Bitalo, however, seemed to have fixed that void after all. http://www.newsbtc.com/2016/01/19/bitalo-simplifies-bitcoin-earning-launches-multi-service-platform/ |
|
|
|
Every financial regulatory body around the world seems to be trying to wrap their heads around Bitcoin and its underlying blockchain technology these days, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC ) in the United States is not immune to this trend. Simply defining bitcoin as an asset has proved to be a difficult task for many regulatory agencies around the world, as some claim it is a commodity while others view it as a currency . The CFTC ruled that bitcoin is a commodity in late 2015. https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/cftc-appoints-bitcoin-expert-first-meeting-will-have-blockchain-focus-1453228270 |
|
|
|
The world’s media went critical, thermo-nuclear critical, when Mike Hearn – a former core developer in the open-source project that is Bitcoin, deemed it a ‘failed experiment’ and revealed he was done with the cryptocurrency. Hearn’s declaration resulted in massive coverage that was predominantly negative and dismissive of bitcoin, using a former core developer’s words to aid the overall narrative. https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/mike-hearn-disputes-claims-of-a-banking-conspiracy-against-bitcoin/ |
|
|
|
Drama engulfed the Bitcoin industry over the weekend as longtime developer Mike Hearn announced his departure from the Bitcoin space. As Hearn announced he had divested from Bitcoin in December, Bitcoin Classic – a successor to Bitcoin-XT as a new client – appeared on the scene as a possible new implementation of the Bitcoin protocol. Many in the Bitcoin industry celebrated the new solution, despite the reality that the coding is not done, and the main developer on the project once noted that he was an average C++ programmer. This hasn’t stopped industry leaders like Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong from championing the technology. https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/bitcoiners-speak-out/ |
|
|
|
Adding to the fast developing ecosystem of businesses looking to leverage blockchain technology with remittances, BTL Group LTD. has announced that it will begin showcasing its new technology at the BC Tech Summit on January 18th and 19th in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. They’re launching Interbit, a remittance platform along with a live demo showing the ability to significantly lower the cost of remitting funds from Canada to Mexico and The Philippines. These markets seem to be friendly to blockchain related finance technology as companies such as Bitso and Rebit have also found success there respectively. https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/btl-unveils-blockchain-remittance-technology-interbit/ |
|
|
|
In a new major report submitted by the Chief Scientific Adviser of the UK today, the government’s Chief Scientist Sir Mark Walport explained the innovation has the potential to help governance to politicians and leaders of authority. The report, titled ‘Distributed Ledger Technology: Beyond Block chain’ sees Sir Mark Walport explain how distributed ledger technology or the blockchain can help governments collect taxes, issue passports, deliver benefits and “ensure the integrity of government records and services. https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/uk-chief-scientist-bitcoin-blockchain/ |
|
|
|
China GDP and Production data came in close to expectation at 02h00 UTC this morning. China GDP q/y (actual: 6.8% expected: 6.9% previous: 6.9%) China Industrial Production y/y (actual: 5.9% expected: 6.0% previous: 6.2%) Global markets were awaiting the data release with great anticipation, since negative figures from China would have provided the catalyst for selling in the current season of Financial Meltdown glut. But the data (most likely cooked) did not provide the market with an excuse to rout stocks, nor did it send the BTC/CNY exchanges into a buying frenzy, as we’d have expected. https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/bitcoin-price-direction-undecided/ |
|
|
|
Issued by developer Peter Todd, the statement does much to sum up the state of debate in the bitcoin community, the loose term for the sprawling network of users, miners, node operators, global investors, hobbyists and CEOs who have an interest in the future of bitcoin, an open-source software project responsible for managing $5.7bn in value. http://www.coindesk.com/making-sense-block-size-debate-bitcoin/ |
|
|
|
In November 2011, Wired magazine ran an article titled “The Rise and Fall of Bitcoin.” The article delivered a narrative account of the digital currency and its pseudonymous founder Satoshi Nakamoto. The story was written as if it encapsulated the full story of Bitcoin, from its 2008 rise to its probable 2011 demise. Four years later, the suggestion that Bitcoin had run its full course by 2011 sounds comical. Although Bitcoin supposedly fell four years ago, the media seems not to have noticed. Since its release, Bitcoin has “died” a total of 78 times, with major news outlets continuing to announce the death of Bitcoin all the way through 2013, 2014, and 2015. Bitcoin did not die in 2011, and it is not dead today. Nevertheless, the fledgling currency has failed to thrive to the degree that many had hoped it would. Most Americans remain unfamiliar with Bitcoin in 2015, and Bitcoin adoption rates remain slow among merchants and consumers. http://harvardpolitics.com/covers/covers-winter-2015/future-bitcoin-rocky-path-currency/ |
|
|
|
|
Show Posts
