Andrew Keys is the director of communications of ConsenSys and co-founding member of ConsenSys Enterprise, the consulting group within ConsenSys. Previously, Andrew worked for UBS in equities analysis. Here, he offers 16 predictions for the blockchain and decentralized technologies sector in 2016. http://www.coindesk.com/16-blockchain-tech-predictions-2016/
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Bitcoin mobile wallet Zebpay has raised around $1 million (around Rs 6.6 crore) in Series A funding from Claris Life Sciences CMD Arjun Handa, Jindal Worldwide MD Amit Jindal and other unnamed investors. The startup, run by Zeb Ventures Pte Ltd, will use the money raised to scale up block chain-based services, improve customer service and increase headcount, it said in a statement. .... Read more at: http://www.vccircle.com/news/technology/2016/01/06/bitcoin-wallet-startup-zebpay-raises-1m
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JAPAN, January 6 — SoftBank, the 62nd largest company in the world and Japan’s biggest internet and telecommunications corporation has co-launched a decentralized blockchain development contest for entrepreneurs and startups with Topcoder. The company is seeking for a basic prototype of an international fund-raising platform with a greater level of transparency. Contestants will have three months, from January 6 to March 31 to design a decentralized and blockchain-based unalterable record-keeping application which could be implemented in cross-industry platforms. http://www.newsbtc.com/2016/01/06/softbank-to-co-develop-a-decentralized-fund-raising-platform/
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Bitcoin gambling is more than an alternative to iGaming. Its popularity spreads across continents, earning itself the nod from a large population of online gamblers. A hit in the Asian markets, online gambling using bitcoins also finds success in other regions, especially in the US and in some parts of Europe. More operators realize the wonders of Bitcoin in this business, and this is evidenced by the increasing number of gambling sites welcoming Bitcoin payments on board. Despite the achievements Bitcoin gambling continues to reach, society still perceives Bitcoin negatively in general. Unfortunately, the lack of information leads the public to believe that Bitcoin is used for illegal purposes, and Bitcoin gambling as a venue to forward activities unauthorized by the law. http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/2794450
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With seemingly everyone talking about Netflix’s “Making a Murderer,” stars and convicted felons Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey are cashing in. The uncle/nephew combo found guilty in the killing of a local photographer have launched a fundraising website through their family, attempting to raise money to launch another defense attempt. The rudimentary website includes a Donate page through Paypal, the physical mailing addresses of the two prisoners, as well as that of their family’s auto salvage yard. It also offers an “Evidence Library,” timeline, and the Dassey Trial’s complete transcripts. The site has photos of and IDs the main players in the Netflix documentary. The AveryDassey Fund website will be set up to accept Bitcoin soon, it states. http://www.thewrap.com/making-a-murderer-steven-avery-brendan-dassey-fundraising/
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It has long been argued that bitcoin’s wobbly price would stabilize if the market evolves from one dominated by wild day traders to also include mainstream investors, banks and hedge funds. The question is if such a theory holds for an asset of unknown fundamental value and whose Bitcoin network faces many future unknowns. The advent of regulated bitcoin exchanges last year may shed some light. Two New York-based bitcoin exchanges- itBit and Gemini– became regulated as financial institutions by the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), which granted them trust charters. As such, they have permission to operate in all 50 states as fully regulated financial services entities. They are therefore absolved of the NYDFS BitLicense regulations enacted last year. http://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/interview/gemini-institutionalization-of-bitcoin-trading-is-definitely-happening/
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Bitcoin Wallet Developer Andreas Schildbach: I Will Not Invest My Time in Lightning Networks. Andreas Schildbach, one of the developers of the popular Bitcoin Wallet app for Android and maintainer of alternative Bitcoin implementation Bitcoinj , calls for a block-size increase to allow for more Bitcoin transactions. Rather than relying on additional layers built on top of the blockchain, Schildbach believes the network should be designed to scale “on-chain”, too. “I personally will not invest my time in lightning networks, at least not for solving the Bitcoin scalability issue,” Schildbach told Bitcoin Magazine . The block-size dispute – whic https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/bitcoinj-developer-andreas-schildbach-i-will-not-invest-my-time-in-lightning-networks-1452005206
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Chain.com, itself a blockchain developer, used Nasdaq's own Linq blockchain system to document a share issuance to a private investor, Nasdaq said. Best known for being the technology that underpins trading involving the digital currency bitcoin, blockchain is best described as a public ledger solution with storage capacity that is secured by cryptography and a system of algorithmic problem-solving. By using Linq, Chain.com was able to digitally represent the ownership record of the shares, while "significantly reducing settlement time and eliminating the need for paper stock certificates", Nasdaq said. It also allowed the issuer and investor to complete and execute share subscription documents online. http://www.out-law.com/en/articles/2016/january/nasdaq-claims-first-blockchain-based-securities-issuance/
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The bitcoin price chart is becoming ambiguous as it approaches its first large move for the new year. Traders have been actively accumulating bitcoin, yet, regardless a potential sell signal is developing at the larger 4-hour timeframe. Today’s 15min chart (not shown) had seen price fall below its 200-period moving average (200MA). If the 20MA were to also cross below the 200MA we’d have a potential sell signal in the 15min chart. https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/bitcoin-price-may-fall-through-the-line/
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A number of hearings in the Pennsylvania state legislature to look into virtual currencies such as Bitcoin and their feasibility to be included in the “money transmitters” section of state law, has been cancelled due to budgetary issues, state representative Adam Harris revealed. Republican and state representative Adam Harris has provided interesting insight into a section of Pennsylvania state law under “money transmitters.” https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/pennsylvania-state-laws-take-on-bitcoin-delayed/
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Bitcoin was going to change the world until it wasn’t. But now it is again. Oh sure, you’ve heard this before. Back in 2013, everyone was sure bitcoin was the next big thing. Then the world’s largest bitcoin exchange, Mt. Gox, imploded, and everyone was sure bitcoin was dead. Pundits tend to think that way: you’re It, or you’re not. The reality of it is a little different. Despite the travails of Mt. Gox—and the Silk Road, the online drug bazaar that relied so heavily on bitcoin—the digital currency never went away. Today, it’s thriving like never before. And some say this is the year it finally reaches the mainstream. http://www.wired.com/2016/01/thought-bitcoin-was-dead-2016-is-the-year-it-goes-big/
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The newest venture from Blythe Masters, until recently a star banker at JPMorgan Chase, appeared to be an overnight success story in the making. Her start-up, Digital Asset Holdings, is working in one of the hottest areas of growth on Wall Street today: the blockchain technology that underlies the virtual currency Bitcoin. And Ms. Masters has already received a promise from JPMorgan, her former employer, to be the lead investor on the new project, pitching in around $7.5 million. But Ms. Masters’s company has been struggling for months to close the deal with other investors. Most recently, large banks including Goldman Sachs and Citigroup have balked at putting money into Digital Asset Holdings after learning that JPMorgan was being given better terms than other investors, according to several people briefed on the deal. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/29/business/dealbook/cash-call-for-a-new-technology.html?_r=0
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Bitcoin companies may have already hit their peak. Venture fundraising in the bitcoin-related space has fallen sharply from the first quarter high, with big banks on Wall Street now looking to develop technology in-house rather than putting money to work in the space. “Unfortunately, many banks and institutions have focused on the creation of their own blockchains instead of innovating on the bitcoin blockchain,” Michael Sonnenshein, director of sales and business development at Grayscale Investments, told Business Insider. http://www.businessinsider.co.id/the-great-bitcoin-gold-rush-may-already-be-over-2015-12/?r=US&IR=T#.VoMokLZ97IU
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In the 1-hour BTCC chart, MACD and RSI have both settled in the middle of their range: MACD (second from top) is holding to its zero line while its Bollinger Bands begin contracting. RSI (immediately above price) has settled on 50 and has begun pushing higher at the time of writing. Average True Range (top) is declining as it does prior to price making a large move. https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/bitcoin-price-moving-2/
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