Coin News

The price of bitcoin on the CoinDesk USD Bitcoin Price Index rose to a high today of $247.57, its highest total since 18th August.

The Uniform Law Commission is set to discuss a draft version of a model law for regulating virtual currencies such as bitcoin this week.

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A new Bitcoin platform is coming (Gemini Blog)

The Winklevoss twins, known for their efforts in helping found Facebook, will launch their digital Bitcoin platform, Gemini, on Thursday, October 8. According to their Gemini Blog, the twins have spent the past two and a half years educating themselves, and others, about Bitcoin. First the twins constructed a Bitcoin ETF, but soon realized a much bigger opportunity existed in creating a digital platform as investors were scared to invest in Bitcoin through overseas intermediaries. "Your US dollars on Gemini will be as safe and secure as they are in your bank account today," Gemini says.

The US trade deficit ballooned (Business Insider)

Department of Commerce data showed the US trade deficit ballooned 15.6% to a seasonally adjusted $48.3 billion in August. The deficit grew as total imports rose 1.2% and total exports fell 2%. Notable was the 3% increase in imports from China, which caused the US' deficit with its largest trading partner to swell $4.2 billion to $32.9 billion.

Broker-dealers posted a strong first half of 2015 (Reuters)

During the first half of 2015, Wall Street broker-dealers saw profits rise 29% year-over-year to $11.3 billion, according to New York state's financial watchdog. While the first half of the year was strong, New York state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli warns the second half might be more challenging. "We can't predict how the year will end but it would appear that in the short run profits will be dampened, which certainly could have an impact on what we had anticipated would be continued job growth," DiNapoli said. According to Reuters, the comptroller's report suggests one in nine jobs in New York City are linked to the financial services industry.

Bain Capital is liquidating a macro fund (Bloomberg)

Bain Capital sent a letter to investors announcing it's liquidating its $2.2 billion ARC Macro hedge fund due to challenging market conditions. The letter suggested the difficult conditions and "lack of certainty over when a recovery will take hold, led us to conclude that the time was right to return capital to you." According to Bloomberg, the fund has lost approximately 8% annually over the past three years.

Why advisors should be working in teams (PriceMetrix)

A research report from PriceMetrix suggests financial advisors are better off working in teams than going solo. PriceMetrix's research found the average team controls $130 million in assets and takes in $950,000 in revenue, beating out the $110 million AUM and $830,000 of annual revenue of the average advisor. The report says teams create deeper and more meaningful relationships with clients than do individual advisors, leading to a higher returns on assets and causing clients to maintain their relationship longer.

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A new survey suggests that many finance professionals see a bright future for the blockchain – just not one involving bitcoin.

Bitcoin price has been wasting everybody's time while the market conceded to jittery [high volume] trade in the CNY exchanges. China may be the world's second largest economy, but it is not the first. US traders and their European prodigenators can establish dominance in the chart, if they think themselves big. This analysis is provided by xbt.social with a 3 hour delay. Read the full analysis here. Not a member? Join now and receive a $29 discount using the code CCN29. Bitcoin Price Analysis Time of analysis: 16h10 UTC OKCoin 3Mth 1-Hour Caart From the analysis pages of xbt.social, earlier […]

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BitPay has partnered with payments giant Ingenico to allow brick and mortar stores to take bitcoin payments via a traditional point-of-sale terminal.

US companies have made a habit in the last several years of locating data centers in Ireland in order to serve European customers. These companies include Google, Microsoft, and, most importantly for this article, Facebook.

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21 Inc, the best-funded company in bitcoin, has pledged to support the network's declining number of nodes.

The market is in a rates hike purgatory and forced into inaction until the critical decision becomes fathomable. Renowned trader, Paul Tudor Jones, comments on the Fed's position vis-a-vis interest rates and the global market status quo, once again, favors stocks. This post is powered by the Bitcoin Trading Network xbt.social - CCN29 and get 29USD off! Economic Indicators World Indexes and Forex Rates   Commodities In the Calendar This Week Mon 5 October UK Services PMI (actual:53.3 expected:56.4 previous:55.6) US ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI (actual:56.9 expected:58.0 previous:59.0) Tue 6 October Australia Trade Balance (actual:-3.10B expected:-2.48B previous:-2.79B) Canada Trade Balance (expected:-1.1B […]

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The feds are holding their final auction of bitcoins confiscated from Silk Road.

The Isle of Man government has welcomed GreenCoinX, an identifiable cryptocurrency which is 80 percent owned by Toronto, Canada-based GreenBank Capital Inc. “We welcome the decision by GreenCoinX to establish its operations in the Isle of Man which reinforces our position as leading the way in the digital currency sector,” said Isle of Man Chief Minister Allan Bell MHK. GreenCoinX has opened its European marketing and international treasury office in Douglas, Isle of Man, and has engaged the services of Alan Molloy as CEO of its Isle of Man operations. Molloy previously served as managing director of international services for […]

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Ripple has received an additional $4m in funding from Santander InnoVentures, bringing the total amount raised during its Series A round to $32m.

Santander has made its first investment foray into the hot field of blockchain, the technology that underpins bitcoin.

Santander InnoVentures, the bank's $100 million tech investment fund, has invested an estimated $4 million in Ripple, a Silicon Valley company adapting the blockchain for mainstream finance.

The bank is also working on a "proof of concept" using Ripple's technology for international payments and the technology could be rolled-out to customers to allow "international payments in real time, more efficiently, at a lower cost."

Business Insider first reported that Santander was considering an investment in a blockchain startup back in June.

While not a huge investment, it represents a strategic stake for Santander that will allow the bank to keep up with developments in the blockchain space. Blockchain, or distributed ledger, technology is one of the most hotly anticipated technology developments in finance in a generation. 

The blockchain is a distributed ledger technology that underpins bitcoin. An open network that anyone can access and inspect, it records and powers transfers of bitcoin.

The software cuts out the need for a "trusted middleman" to sit in between parties in a transaction as it acts as that middleman — the software generates code that itself acts as the trusted party. This makes transactions quicker, cheaper, and easier when compared to the current systems banks use. 

The blockchain works with bitcoin because it is a digital-only currency represented by lines of code. But Ripple is looking at adapting the technology so that it can be used to transfer real-world currency balances safely and securely.

Ripple is seen as one of the most exciting startups in the blockchain space. The company has developed a protocol that allows banks to use blockchain for transfers. Ripple was founded by Chris Larson, the co-founder and former CEO of leading US peer-to-peer loans marketplace Prosper.

Ripple is already working with New York startup up R3, which is heading an alliance of 22 of the world's leading banks exploring the potential of blockchain technology.

Mariano Belinky, managing partner of Santander InnoVentures, said in an emailed statement to Business Insider:

We believe that distributed ledger technology is one that will significantly disrupt a number of processes within banking. While we’ve identified a dozen and a half or so applicable use cases for the technology, we decided to focus on the considerable applications across the international payments space primarily, as this was where we saw it delivering most value to Santander customers in the near-term. From a regulatory and maturity perspective, we saw Ripple as the best partner to move ahead with in this.

 The wider Santander bank is currently launching proof of concepts using Ripple technology — if this goes smoothly we anticipate that, further down the line, Santander clients will see more transparent, efficient and speedy payment products globally, as well as enabling international payments in real time, more efficiently, at a lower cost.

The investment takes the total raised by Ripple to $32 million. Other investors include the venture capital arm of US futures and options exchange CME Group and data storage firm Seagate Technology.

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NOW WATCH: The rich and powerful are going crazy over these luxury SUVs with bathrooms and cable TV

Santander has made its first investment foray into the hot field of blockchain, the technology that underpins bitcoin.

Santander InnoVentures, the bank's $100 million tech investment fund, has invested an estimated $4 million in Ripple, a Silicon Valley company adapting the blockchain for mainstream finance.

The bank is also working on a "proof of concept" using Ripple's technology for international payments and the technology could be rolled-out to customers to allow "international payments in real time, more efficiently, at a lower cost."

Business Insider first reported that Santander was considering an investment in a blockchain startup back in June.

While not a huge investment, it represents a strategic stake for Santander that will allow the bank to keep up with developments in the blockchain space. Blockchain, or distributed ledger, technology is one of the most hotly anticipated technology developments in finance in a generation. 

The blockchain is a distributed ledger technology that underpins bitcoin. An open network that anyone can access and inspect, it records and powers transfers of bitcoin.

The software cuts out the need for a "trusted middleman" to sit in between parties in a transaction as it acts as that middleman — the software generates code that itself acts as the trusted party. This makes transactions quicker, cheaper, and easier when compared to the current systems banks use. 

The blockchain works with bitcoin because it is a digital-only currency represented by lines of code. But Ripple is looking at adapting the technology so that it can be used to transfer real-world currency balances safely and securely.

Ripple is seen as one of the most exciting startups in the blockchain space. The company has developed a protocol that allows banks to use blockchain for transfers. Ripple was founded by Chris Larson, the co-founder and former CEO of leading US peer-to-peer loans marketplace Prosper.

Ripple is already working with New York startup up R3, which is heading an alliance of 22 of the world's leading banks exploring the potential of blockchain technology.

Mariano Belinky, managing partner of Santander InnoVentures, said in an emailed statement to Business Insider:

We believe that distributed ledger technology is one that will significantly disrupt a number of processes within banking. While we’ve identified a dozen and a half or so applicable use cases for the technology, we decided to focus on the considerable applications across the international payments space primarily, as this was where we saw it delivering most value to Santander customers in the near-term. From a regulatory and maturity perspective, we saw Ripple as the best partner to move ahead with in this.

 The wider Santander bank is currently launching proof of concepts using Ripple technology — if this goes smoothly we anticipate that, further down the line, Santander clients will see more transparent, efficient and speedy payment products globally, as well as enabling international payments in real time, more efficiently, at a lower cost.

The investment takes the total raised by Ripple to $32 million. Other investors include the venture capital arm of US futures and options exchange CME Group and data storage firm Seagate Technology.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: The rich and powerful are going crazy over these luxury SUVs with bathrooms and cable TV

Here's your last chance to grab a chunk of those bitcoins authorities seized when they arrested Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht. On November 5th, the US Marshals will be auctioning off 44,341 bitcoins -- around $10.7 million worth -- from 8AM to 2P...

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Greece is on track to meet its economic reform goals. The chairman of euro zone finance ministers, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, said he believed Athens was serious about implementing the changes necessary before European creditors can pump in more money to recapitalize Greek banks

New clashes erupted in Israel. Fighting broke out in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, while Israel's military shot dead a 13-year-old Palestinian after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged a crackdown following attacks that killed four Israelis.

Twelve Pacific rim countries sealed a deal to create a huge free trade area. The deal on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, covering 40 percent of the global economy, aims to set the rules for 21st century trade and investment, a US official said.

Swiss inflation figures are coming at 7.15 a.m. UK time. The Consumer Price Index, issued by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office, measures the average price change for household goods and services. The consensus is for a rate of -1.4%

Energy giant BP will pay a record $20.8 billion (£13.7 billion) over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico spill. The pay out will settle civil claims for damages stemming from the deadly oil spill, U.S. Attorney General General Loretta Lynch said. The settlement is significantly higher than a previously-announced deal in which BP was set to pay $18.7 billion to resolve claims from US government entities.

A senior Russian military delegation is visiting Israel today. The discussions focus on how the countries can avoid accidentally clashing while operating in Syria, an Israeli military officer said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed on Sept. 21 to set up teams as Moscow steps up military support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who has been losing ground to an Islamist-led insurgency.

Google has taken a stake in Bloomberg-rival Symphony Communication Services. The fundraising round values the messaging startup at $650 million (£429 million), the Wall Street Journal reported. The service is backed by Goldman Sachs Group Inc and other big Wall Street banks.

Asian stocks and oil are rising. The prospect of a delay in the U.S. Federal Reserve's plan to raise interest rates boosted Asian shares and commodities. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.7 percent to two-week high while global crude benchmark Brent rose 2.3 percent to $49.22 per barrel.

Airbus faces a test of confidence in the A380 superjumbo.  Singapore Airlines is pondering whether to renew its first lease in the coming months. The Southeast Asian airline was the first to fly the world's largest airliner in 2007 and a 10-year lease for its first aircraft expires in 2017.

The U.S. government will auction 44,341 bitcoins. The U.S. Marshals Service said it would hold an online auction on Nov. 5 of bitcoins seized during the prosecution of the creator of Silk Road, an online black market where illegal drugs and other goods could be purchased with the digital currency.

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NOW WATCH: 50 Cent testifies his lifestyle is an illusion

CCN took some time to compile a list of the original appearances of Bitcoin on mainstream media television. There is this PC World report, which features a video, and got a response from Satoshi Nakamoto: It would have been nice to get this attention in any other context. WikiLeaks has kicked the hornet's nest, and the swarm is headed towards us. —Satoshi Nakamoto, 12/11/2010 Enjoy: May 6, 2011 - Horizont ČT24 I only understood Bitcoin and Satoshi Nakamoto June 2011 - ABC “Lsd, cocaine and ecstasy,” starts this segment. Sound like fun? During the time this segment aired, business was booming […]

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