Coin News

Crypsty CEO Paul Vernon told CoinDesk that the exchange did not tell customers about a hack – or told them to stop depositing funds – to avoid panic.

European bitcoin exchange operator BTC-e has revealed that users in the Russian Federation won’t get access to its website following a ban imposed by a Russian regulator today. In what may be sign of things to come prior to the review of a draft bill that seeks a Bitcoin ban by the Russian legislature , […]

The post Bitcoin Exchange BTC-E Blocked by Russian Regulator appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Today in his Newsweek Op-Ed, Blockchain.info co-founder Nic Cary has come out with a few straightforward arguments why he believes Bitcoin is still alive and well.   What he argues is that many of the reasons Bitcoin core developer Mike Hearn says Bitcoin has failed are prematurely spurned indicators that Bitcoin is actually succeeding. Cary points to some […]

The post Blockchain.info’s Nic Cary Hits A Positive Note On Bitcoin in Newsweek Op-Ed appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

This is a guest post by Senthil Radhakrishnan, the Vice President and Head of Capital Market Solutions Group at Virtusa. Senthil has 16+ years’ experience focused in capital markets technology with investment banks such as UBS, JPMC, Barclays, and others.

As one of the hottest technological developments making the rounds in financial circles, the blockchain has a lot of people hooked. But there is not yet much clarity on how blockchain technology will impact private business, given that it is so unlike traditional IT architectures.

Private blockchain applications are amalgams of cryptography, immutable transaction log/ledgers, federated transaction approval mechanisms, distributed databases and peer-to-peer software. Since any proprietary business function using blockchain technology is by definition private, the network is only accessible to a limited audience. That’s why it is a good idea to consider the following elements when deciding to test processes on a blockchain model.

• Not all functions should be made on the blockchain. High volume non-transactional data attributes (like trading instrument data) are stored in platforms like reference data systems. Such systems can sit outside the blockchain. Avoid the redundancy of duplicating a large data island – like reference data – across many nodes.

• Blockchain systems will run along those in the non-blockchain world. To enable this, there has to be free flow of assets between the two ecosystems. Some issues to consider:

  • How does one control the quantity of assets to be issued?
  • Assets may have to enter and exit the blockchain system; how can this be tracked?
  • The life cycle of an asset.

• Protect against user mistakes. The nodes/wallets in a blockchain are referenced by public key hash. This makes the system susceptible to mistakes. On the Internet, domain name services make it easy to remember names instead of numeric IP addresses (e.g. 192.168.2.33). A similar paradigm is required here.

• Keep it lightweight. The blockchain ledger replicates itself on every node as new blocks get added.In a business model, there could be a need to store a lot of information, but items such as documents can make the blockchain heavy. Linking it to an external data storage system solves this problem. The downside of an external data source, however, is lessened reliability given that the data is not all in one specific place.

• Managing a private key can be unwieldy. In a large organization with processes and policies this can slow things down. Some critical questions to ask: What happens if the key file is lost or is corrupted? Who will have access to the key file? It needs to be both secure and available for extensive use.

• Blockchain as a database is still limiting. Private blockchain applications are being used like databases by some businesses who benefit from blockchain features such as replication and immutability. But limiting data storage to the blockchain for any large-scale application may not be practical. Most businesses also need typical database features, including querying, reporting, triggers and mapped relationships between entities. This could add to the complexity of building large-scale systems.

• Allow realistic timelines. A typical private blockchain use involves a set of organizations agreeing to use the same software. It’s common to see organizations communicating or interfacing with each other using a common protocol/data format. Getting an agreement on common protocol between organizations takes several iterations and time. Convincing organizations to use the same blockchain software stack is an even bigger challenge.

• Choose wisely between the Bitcoin blockchain and custom blockchain software. Extending the existing Bitcoin blockchain software to serve business purposes is a logical first thought. Bitcoin has evolved over time and is tested, robust and stabile. But Bitcoin’s blockchain has features like public read access which may not be suitable for certain business needs. Too much customization or redevelopment of the original blockchain introduces the risk of an untested complex technology platform. So give due consideration to the pros and cons of Bitcoin workarounds vs. untested custom blockchain software before selecting a model.

The greatest features of the blockchain – its openness, democratic nature and potential efficiencies – have endeared it to everyone. One can only hope that a future blockchain-driven world retains these principles. Focusing on closed-door startups will in effect transfer the centralist nature of existing business models (like government, banks, etc.) to private software entities. We’ve seen this already as banks pour money into blockchain startups whose software isn’t in the public domain. A more open and crowdsourced approach to address the business challenges in mass blockchain adoption is the better long-term option for leveraging the tremendous potential of blockchain technology.

The post Modeling the Blockchain for Business Use appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

Global services powerhouse PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has announced the assembling of a new global technology team studying Bitcoin’s blockchain. The world’s largest professional services firm has recruited 15 leading technology specialists to ‘exploit and commercialize’ Bitcoin’s blockchain, a press release stated. The now 15-member team is also expected to more than double over the course of 2016. […]

The post PricewaterhouseCoopers Puts Together Specialist Team for Bitcoin’s Blockchain appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

CoinDesk speaks to Blockstream CEO Austin Hill about the industry's ongoing debate on how best to scale the bitcoin blockchain.

After almost two years of being in a state of confusion on how to deal with the advent of digital currencies, it appears Russia is ready to lay down the law on Bitcoin – and it may be sooner rather than later.

According to Russian news blog Forklog the country shares a two-party system with the West when it comes to the legislation of such matters. The more liberal-minded are called techlibs, who are mostly economists who favor allowing Bitcoin into the Russian market. Conservative figures in law enforcement are known as secruocrats, who are not fans of Bitcoin and other digital currencies, labeling them “money surrogates,” and are working to ban them. Each side has drafted laws either for or against Bitcoin usage in Russia.

The rumor mill of Bitcoin regulation has been churning for the better part of the last 18 months. A pro-Bitcoin draft of law will be under review by the Duma, the Russian parliament, where it is due for an official “reading” as early as next month.

Meanwhile the anti-Bitcoin securocrats are readying their draft for submission soon, according to Russian Minister of Finance Anton Siluanov.

“We will continue protecting the consumers of financial services,” Siluanov said. “We’re developing penalties for distribution of money surrogates, including bitcoins, and for the establishment of Ponzi schemes. We will prepare the draft laws and submit them to the State Duma.”

Russia has a very different take on new currencies than the West does, considering the fact that they do not have a global reserve currency status behind them. In fact, the Russian economy is shaky at best, heavily reliant on oil exports, and, with oil prices tanking recently, the country does not need something new that may further devalue the Russian ruble.

Like Bitcoin in 2014, Russia’s native currency also lost close to 50 percent of its value due to economic sanctions from the West and changes in the price of oil. The ruble has dropped again to an all-time low due to the recent drop in the price of oil worldwide. So this may not be the best time to bring in a new currency that the government does not control.

“It would be better to suppress distribution of money surrogates at early stages of the market’s development,” Siluanov said in an interview with the Russian government publication Rossiyskaya Gazeta. “According to experts, the turnover amount of money surrogates in Russia has reached 1 percent of GDP. Once the parameter exceeds 10 percent, the tool will pose a real threat to the state’s financial stability. Uncontrolled expansion of money supply in the turnover at the expense of the surrogates will result in devaluation, and gradual supersedure of the ruble from the currency market. Eventually, the state could lose its money issuance monopoly and revenue from this kind of activity.”

Like many nations and corporations worldwide, Russia seems to be in greater solidarity when it comes to Bitcoin’s underlying blockchain technology. Its advantages over currency systems appear to have interested Russian government agencies, as well. The ministry’s press center stated as much in a release to Forklog, which included another shot at Bitcoin entering the established economy:

“We see the convenience and usefulness of the blockchain technology for e-commerce, so we think the technology shall have permission to develop,” said Siluanov. “However, bitcoins, as they are, and especially their inclusion in the real economy and real banking sector, may be extremely hazardous.”

A weak ruble may have Russia looking at Bitcoin somewhat differently than other major nations. This fact may make Bitcoin even more attractive to Russian citizens looking to protect their wealth by investing in an appreciating global asset.

Can Russia stop its citizens from sharing Bitcoin on their smartphones, or forming a black market for digital currencies in general? According to Local Bitcoins, Russians are transacting about 83 million rubles or just over $1 million USD per week using its peer-to-peer exchange. Bitcoin is a hotly contested topic in a region that seems interested in resolving this issue quickly.

Evander Smart is a bitcoin writer, enthusiast and business owner. He trains people about how Bitcoin works at BitcoinVideoUniversity.com.

The post Russia Makes 2016 an Election Year for Bitcoin appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

With one of the largest blizzards to in recent history expected to bring havoc along the East coast of the United States this weekend, airlines have began to preemptively cancel flights.

According to airline tracking service FlightAware, airlines have canceled more than 5,000 flight within, into or out of the US.

More than 2,500 flights were canceled on Friday, and roughly the same number have been canceled for Saturday. 

Thus far, the airports hardest hit by cancellations have been concentrated along the mid-Atlantic region, with Charlotte and the Washington, DC area airports bearing the brunt.

As the storm moves north, Philadelphia, New York and Boston are ramping up their cancellations in preparation for the winter storm Jonas' impact. 

Furthermore, the blizzard has created a backup that has rippled across the nation, with Atlanta and Chicago each reporting more than 100 flight cancellations on Friday. 

As a result, airlines such as Delta, United, Virgin America, JetBlue and American have offered passengers with tickets for travel to certain snow-affected airports the opportunity to change their flights schedules free of charge. 

For airlines, these cancellations are precautionary measures meant to ensure the safety of the passengers, crew and their multi-million dollar equipment.

According to the National Weather Service, parts of the Mid-Atlantic states could get as much as two feet of snow this weekend while the New York metro area could get as much as a foot of powder. 

Predicting the path and severity of the these types of winter megastorm is an inexact science. Last year, the New York area was expected to be clobbered by a massive blizzard that missed the city, unleashing its fury upon Boston instead. 

Check back here for updates on further flight delays and cancellations.

SEE ALSO: The jumbo jet is officially on life support — here's a look at its glory days

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NOW WATCH: 7 inventors who were killed by their own inventions

Consumers’ Research, independent educational organisation, has published a paper on blockchain technologies and the opportunities they present.

Bitcoin price declined today without printing a new low. It may only be the first wave of decline towards a Classic(TM) induced low but, ultimately, we know that Core development has a mid-year block-reward halving rally in store. This analysis is provided by xbt.social with a 3-hour delay. Read the full analysis here. Not a […]

The post Classic Bitcoin Price Not Happy About Classic(TM) appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

The World Economic Forum discussion on financial services at Davos in Switzerland this week centered around popular financial technology, including Bitcoin and the blockchain. While some of the Davos elite believed such intense focus on the emerging technology is premature, others believe the sector is swiftly growing and should be a consideration in the wake […]

The post Citi’s Chief Economist: Bitcoin a Complete Failure; Davos Elites Talk Bitcoin & Blockchain appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

With contributions from digital currency pioneer Nick Szabo, the wide-ranging report by Consumers' Research is the result of a 2015 gathering of Bitcoin notables in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire.

The wide-ranging report by Consumers' Research is the result of a 2015 gathering of Bitcoin notables in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire.

The Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) Limited has announced that it is building a blockchain as a replacement for its current platform for clearing and settlement of trades. In an announcement today by Australia’s biggest stock exchange, the ASX has confirmed that it is developing a private blockchain with US-based firm Digital Asset as a post-trade solution […]

The post Australian Stock Exchange Confirms Upcoming Blockchain For Settlements appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

SpectroCoin, the U.K.-based bitcoin exchange and wallet, has introduced bitcoin debit cards denominated in USD and GBP, complementing its existing EUR-denominated cards. These cards remove the fiat conversion fees needed with regular debit cards when using a specific denomination in a foreign country. Bitcoin debit cards make it easier for bitcoin holders to use bitcoin […]

The post SpectroCoin Intros USD- And GBP-Denominated Bitcoin Debit Cards appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Digital Asset Holdings, a startup trying to bring the technology behind bitcoin to mainstream finance, on Friday raised $50 million from a host of blue chip Wall Street and City names.

The company raised the sum from ABN AMRO, Accenture, ASX Limited, BNP Paribas, Broadridge Financial Solutions, Citi, CME Ventures, Deutsche Börse Group, ICAP, JPMorgan, Santander InnoVentures, The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) and The PNC Financial Services Group.

Executives from JPMorgan, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Börse Group, and DTCC will join Digital Asset Holdings' board as part of the deal.

Digital Asset Holdings also announced that it has signed a deal with one of its investors, ASX Limited, to develop a blockchain-based post-trade solution for Australia's stock exchange, which ASX runs.

The blockchain protocol was first developed to underpin and run digital currency bitcoin. It uses complex cryptography and a wide network of records — known as a "distributed ledger" — to eliminate the need for a central bank or middle man to regulate transactions.

Entrepreneurs and financiers alike hope the technology can be adapted to traditional finance to strip out huge amounts of cost for things like trading and payments.

Mariano Belinky, Managing Partner at Santander InnoVentures, told BI over email: "Distributed ledger is one of the most innovative technologies we’ve seen emerge in financial services, offering opportunities to create more efficient processes across back-office clearing and settlement of payments and securities."

Digital Asset Holdings says in the release announcing the ASX deal:

Distributed Ledger Technology provides the opportunity to radically simplify and speed-up post-trade processing. For ASX clients it could remove risk and reduce back-office administration and compliance costs, while investors could experience significantly faster settlement of equity transactions – potentially in near real-time.

When a trade on the stock exchange happens it is carried out by a clearing counterparty who makes sure either side pays up and carries the risk if either defaults. There is then the process of "settlement", where central authorities update all their registers to make note of who owns what.

Blockchain technology offers the promise of cutting all this out, allowing someone to send a digital token representing the share directly to whoever they're trading with. It essentially allows cash-style transactions online.

The big fundraise comes shortly after reports that the company, which is run by former JPMorgan executive Blythe Masters, was struggling to raise money.

Masters says in today's statement:

These investments represent a tremendous endorsement of Digital Asset from banks, exchanges, settlement and clearing firms, central securities depositories, and market infrastructure and professional services providers.

Our strategic investors have come together from across the financial services industry to help drive global adoption of transformative solutions which enhance the vital services that they provide.

Blythe Masters, who helped pioneered credit derivatives in the 1990s, joined the startup from JP Morgan last March. Digital Asset Holdings, launched last year, aims to adapt blockchain technology to mainstream finance.

Digital Asset Holdings says in its statement that its "products serve the entire financial ecosystem through the creation of tailored business logic applications using privately permission networks that employ a cryptographically secure and shared infrastructure."

The investment comes a week after Digital Asset Holdings announced it is opening an office in London and has poached a Goldman Sachs and ex-JPMorgan executive to join the business.

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A group of Wyoming legislators has introduced a bill that would ease a regulatory burden on money transmitters in the state that work with bitcoin.

At the first stop on bitcoin's annual event calendar, opinions were diverse and divisive on how the network can scale to accommodate new users.

London-based BSave has announced the launch of its Bitcoin savings account at the North American Bitcoin Conference in Miami today. Bitcoin service provider BSave has officially launched its savings account which credits an interest to the user’s account at the end of a 24 hour period, every day. The British company is opening its wallet […]

The post BSave Launches Bitcoin Savings Account appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Permissioned ledgers continue to be the trend in the blockchain industry. According to Bloomberg, blockchain startup Digital Asset Holdings, which is run by former JPMorgan Chase Executive Blythe Masters, has raised $52 million and has a deal with ASX to bring Australian stock settlement into the digital age. Participants in the investment round included JPMorgan, Citi, CME Group and ASX.

ASX, the company behind Australia’s stock market, is said to have put $10 million of their own cash into the funding round.

In an in-depth interview with Bloomberg, Masters described the plan going forward with their investors:

“[Our investors in this round] represent a balanced mix of the entire financial ecosystem, so balanced in terms of geographic representation and in terms of the nature of the services that they provide. That was a mixture that was very carefully designed for a reason, and that reason is to ensure the greatest chances of adoption, to ensure the ability of Digital Asset [Holdings] to work with its various investors, and for the work that we do to benefit multiple investors simultaneously.”

In other words, the investors in this fundraising round were chosen because they offer Digital Asset Holdings (DAH) the ability to build out many different use cases of their technology. During the interview with Bloomberg, Masters also noted additional investors could be added to this round in the next week or so.

When asked about Bitcoin’s ultimate promise of removing many of the middlemen found on Wall Street, Masters was quick to point out that her company is more interested in generalized blockchain technology than Bitcoin’s open, permissionless network.

She explained:

“There’s a distinction between the ultimate promise of Bitcoin as a opposed to the potential application of the technology that was invented for the creation of Bitcoin – hence the blockchain technology. If you think about blockchain technology in layman’s terms, which makes it a lot easier to understand, really you can think of it as a form of database technology because people know what a database is and know it’s used to store important information you need to refer back to, basically.”

The use of permissioned, distributed ledgers instead of Bitcoin has been a major theme in the industry over the past year, with startups, such as DAH and R3, attempting to bring better security and more efficient settlement to financial institutions around the world. Having said that, the likes of Digital Currency Group Founder Barry Silbert, Xapo CEO Wences Casares, and other Bitcoin icons still believe the banking industry will eventually abandon these permissioned blockchains and find their way back to the Bitcoin blockchain.

What Benefits Can DAH Offer Financial Institutions?

When it comes to the specific advantages of distributed ledgers for financial institutions, Masters mainly focused on three key areas: security, settlement, and data replication. She discussed the power of a shared, distributed ledger during her interview with Bloomberg:

“You can think of a blockchain or distributed ledger as a shared, replicated source of the same information that stays the same at all points in time and uses sophisticated technology to ensure that it’s not possible to hack into or falsify that record. More importantly, once information is submitted to that ledger or record, it can never be edited.”

One possible use case mentioned by Masters during the interview could affect the average person on the street. She said individuals who sell assets on an exchange will be able to have access to those funds from that sale on the same day if this technology is widely implemented.

Masters also mentioned cost avoidance, capital reduction, risk reduction and regulatory compliance as the main reasons DAH’s investors are interested in distributed ledger technology.

Australian Stock Exchange Embraces Blockchain Technology

It appears that Australia’s stock market may be the first major test for the use of blockchain technology by a traditional stock exchange. ASX’s infrastructure was scheduled for an update of its core technology, and DAH was able to win a deal as its provider of choice. Masters’ startup is said to have beat out some 400 other technology companies for the opportunity to re-engineer how the Australian market operates.

During her interview with Bloomberg, Masters pointed out two reasons why Australia makes sense as a test ground for this technology:

“The Australian market has some unique features to it. First of all, it’s a fully dematerialized market. What that means is that they moved away some time ago from the notion of stocks having to have physical certificates that have to reside somewhere, so it’s a market which inherently involves electronic or digital records of ownership of securities. Second of all, ASX operates a central securities record-keeping or ledger-keeping service and is responsible for the totality of the settlement and clearing process.”

ASX is one of the top 15 equity markets in the world. Although Bitcoin’s mainstream moment has yet to come, it’s clear that blockchain technology is about to take center stage.

Photo Cimexus / Flickr(CC)

The post Digital Asset Holdings Raises $52 Million, Will Bring Blockchain to Australian Stock Market appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

How the tech behind Bitcoin could change the world