Coin News

Barry Silbert doesn't appear to be a big fan of 'down time.'

He sold SecondMarket, the startup he founded that morped into an online stock exchange for hot, private startups' shares, to Nasdaq last week.

Now he is setting up bitcoin-related startup Digital Currency Group with the backing of some big names in finance.

The list of backers includes: Bain Capital Ventures, CIBC, CME Ventures, MasterCard, New York Life and Transamerica Ventures

DCG was formed after Genesis Global Trading and Grayscale Investments - two companies built under the SecondMarket parent company - were unified to support an early-stage investing portfolio targeting digital currency operations. Grayscale Investments manages the publicly traded Bitcoin Investment Trust. 

"Some of the earliest investments I made via Bitcoin Opportunity Corp. included BitPay, Circle, Coinbase, itBit, Ripple and Xapo – which at the time were long shots for many investors," Silbert said in a statement. "Since then, we’ve invested into 57 companies across 18 countries, and continue to grow at a rapid pace."

Existing investments span from Africa to Asia, Europe to South America and, of course, the US. Simi Wurtzel will serve as comptroller and vice president of finance; Ryan Selkis will be director of investments at DCG.

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Barry Silbert doesn't appear to be a big fan of 'down time.'

He sold SecondMarket, the startup he founded that morped into an online stock exchange for hot, private startups' shares, to Nasdaq last week.

Now he is setting up bitcoin-related startup Digital Currency Group with the backing of some big names in finance.

The list of backers includes: Bain Capital Ventures, CIBC, CME Ventures, MasterCard, New York Life and Transamerica Ventures

DCG was formed after Genesis Global Trading and Grayscale Investments - two companies built under the SecondMarket parent company - were unified to support an early-stage investing portfolio targeting digital currency operations. Grayscale Investments manages the publicly traded Bitcoin Investment Trust. 

"Some of the earliest investments I made via Bitcoin Opportunity Corp. included BitPay, Circle, Coinbase, itBit, Ripple and Xapo – which at the time were long shots for many investors," Silbert said in a statement. "Since then, we’ve invested into 57 companies across 18 countries, and continue to grow at a rapid pace."

Existing investments span from Africa to Asia, Europe to South America and, of course, the US. Simi Wurtzel will serve as comptroller and vice president of finance; Ryan Selkis will be director of investments at DCG.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Fed's Bullard explains the problem with keeping rates at zero forever

Visa and DocuSign have unveiled a new proof-of-concept that uses the bitcoin blockchain for recordkeeping.

Yesterday's final analysis post identified a set-up for another wave of advance. Bitcoin price action, since, has confirmed the potential move - and it is, apparently, now underway. 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: 14h54 UTC BTC-China 4-Hour Chart From the analysis pages of xbt.social, earlier today: The chart, above, is a 4hr BTC-China chart, but the price pattern is consistent across eight of the most popular exchange charts, and the […]

The post Bitcoin Price Up On Rates Hike Fear appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

A chocolate image called "Sweet life. Bitcoin will be in chocolate" took first place in the first Bitcoin Photo Contest, which recently ended. The winning entry by a user named Nadin crafted bitcoin cookies to win the grand prize of €1000 in BTC which will be sent via bit4coin vouchers. Nadin and the other winners will be able to immediately redeem their vouchers for BTC at the current exchange rate. Nadin won the contest, which drew 600 entries, by convincing four of the contest's six jury members. The contest, sponsored by bit4coin, launched Sept. 8, collected 7,029 likes and 0.75 BTC […]

The post 7 Artist Take Home Winnings In First Bitcoin Photo Contest appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Linq, which uses the technology behind Bitcoin, could offer a secure, transparent and more efficient way to manage shares in private companies.

In August Bitcoin Magazine reported that CardCash, an American online company that buys and sells discounted gift cards from thousands of national retailers, had started to accept bitcoin payments, joining companies such as Gyft and Fold in providing ways to purchase gift cards from major retailers with bitcoin.

Founded in 2008, CardCash has been included in the Forbes’ list of America’s Most Promising Companies for the last three years, as well as in the Inc. 500 list of the fastest growing private companies in America for the past four years. In November 2013, the company raised $6 million in Series A funding from Guggenheim Partners.

Bitcoin Magazine reached out to Eric Berger, director of growth strategy at CardCash, to find out more about the company’s bitcoin-related strategy.

Could you explain in a few words the main benefit that CardCash brings to consumers?

CardCash has been the industry leader in security, speed and innovation for nearly a decade. The benefits our consumers enjoy are as follows:

1. CardCash offers gift card liquidity by allowing consumers to exchange their unwanted gift cards quickly and securely for cash.
2. CardCash offers consumers the opportunity to purchase second-hand gift cards to their favorite retailers at significant discounts. These savings can amount to hundreds or thousands of dollars each year for our regular customers.
3. Lastly, CardCash fully guarantees each purchase for 45 days. That means that customers have over six worry-free weeks to use their cards.

Furthermore, with CardCash’s acceptance of bitcoin, we have now bridged the gap between bitcoin users and over 1,000 retailers that do not yet accept the innovative digital currency.

How do consumers use your mobile app? How is the rollout plan proceeding?

Our mobile app is set to launch at the end of October. Customers will be able to purchase gift cards using their same account information, just as they would online, with our omni-channel account access. The app also has full wallet functionality, allowing customers to store their gift cards and even purchase goods at retailers’ physical stores straight through the app. The next iteration of the app will also include Apple Pay and Android Pay along with improved location-based technology that will allow us to custom-tailor promotions to suit each customer better.

Do you have plans to expand beyond the U.S. to international markets, and, if so, what's your expected timeline for that?

We believe that the current domestic opportunity is still in its infancy. With this enormous potential, our primary focus for the foreseeable future is on the U.S. market. We do look forward for the opportunity to share our valuable service with new markets and consumers when the time is right.

You mention strict AML/KYC compliance policies. Isn't that likely to become a barrier to CardCash adoption from bitcoin users?

CardCash has always been the industry leader concerning customer security and AML/KYC compliance, and we will continue to meet these standards for our new bitcoin users. We have seen no barriers to CardCash's bitcoin adoption and are excited for the tremendous potential impact in the bitcoin community. Policies such as purchase limits, fraud detection and account monitoring will be no different for our bitcoin users. These not only satisfy compliance requirements, they also help detect and deter fraudulent activity that ends up costing everyone more.

How do the bitcoin-only discounts work, and are you already able to offer bitcoin-only discounts?

Bitcoin discounts will be an automatically credited discount at checkout, passing back our savings on transactions fees back to the consumer. We will also have bitcoin-only coupons from time to time to market, specifically, to the bitcoin community. We plan on implementing these discounts in the very near future.

The post CardCash to Start Rolling out Mobile App for Gift Cards, Offer Bitcoin-Only Discounts appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

Often a topic of contention in the bitcoin community, CoinDesk has rounded up some of the most high profile patent submissions filed to date.

Bitcoin's biggest miner, BitFury, says it is launching the world's largest two-phase immersion cooling project.

 Although details are currently scarce, a quick statement posted on blockchain-servicing engine Tierion’s twitter account confirms that it now counts Phillips as a customer with the latter looking to explore the potential of blockchain technology with its successful healthcare arm. Philips Healthcare is now among the growing list of companies around the world looking to tap into the applications of block chain technology. Although the Dutch electronics maker is primarily known for its household products, Philips’ largest business is its health-care division. It competes with the likes of General Electric and Siemens AG in the lucrative hospital scanner market and […]

The post Philips Looks to Bring Blockchain Technology to Healthcare appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

The Bitstamp Price Index struck $290 early this morning, adding another milestone in Bitcoin’s steady climb over the last couple of months. The bitcoin price rang in the milestone at 05:52 UTC and reached a high of $291.78. The price at the time of publishing is $290.010. The growth is likely to be a result of increased trading in Chinese Bitcoin exchanges, after China's central bank recently slashed its rates in an attempt to kickstart the slowing economy. For a live Bitcoin Price chart, click here.

The post Newsflash: Bitcoin Price Hits $290 appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Bitcoin Press Release: An all-star AMA session on forum.bitcoin.com with many top names in the Bitcoin industry will begin November 2nd, and continue throughout the month. Participants include Patrick Byrne CEO of Overstock, Andreas M. Antonopoulos, Gavin Andresen and many more. Anyone will be able to ask questions directly to the biggest names in Bitcoin. The sessions will start on the 2nd of November 2015 in the “ask me anything” section on the forum. An amazing list of participants have already agreed to take part. Professionals from every part of the bitcoin industry, including CEO`s, core developers, co-founders and innovative […]

The post Roger Ver Hosting Largest Bitcoin AMA Ever at bitcoin.com appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.