Coin News

Dallas-based precious metals dealer JM Bullion is now accepting bitcoin through bitcoin processor BitPay.

Bitcoin Press Releases: Genesis Mining, the world’s leading Bitcoin cloud mining provider, is pleased to announce the launch of the world’s first Bitcoin mining fund. The fund, which officially filed Form D with the SEC last week will be called Logos Fund and will cater exclusively to high net worth individuals, investment funds, and accredited […]

The post Genesis Mining Launches the World’s First Bitcoin Mining Fund appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Nathan Blecharczyk, one of the co-founders of the accommodations platform giant Airbnb, has revealed that the company could potentially look at blockchain applications to help establish user reputation and trust. Airbnb co-founder and chief technology officer Nathan Blecharczyk has, in an interview that discussed the company’s areas of focus in 2016 and a tech-enabled future, […]

The post Airbnb Co-Founder Sees Possible Integration of Blockchain Tech appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

The BI Intelligence Content Marketing Team covers news and research we think you will find valuable.

The modern smartphone is a remarkable device. A single device that fits in your pocket can do all the tasks that once required cameras, camcorders, GPS devices, watches, alarm clocks, calculators, and even TVs.    

But the next change might be the most radical of all—it could eliminate the need to carry cash and credit cards.  

The growing importance of the smartphone as the go-to computing device for every digital activity is having a profound effect everywhere you look, but it’s only the biggest story among many exciting developments in the world of payments:   

• Apple Pay was first out of the gate, but now mobile wallets are everywhere you look—Android Pay, Google Pay, Chase Pay and even Walmart Pay are making smartphones a real alternative to carrying credit cards. And the potential for mobile wallets to limit a merchant’s fraud liability could help them really take off in acceptance for small businesses.   
• As consumers move more purchasing online, gateway vendors that can act as a front-end processor for online businesses are seeing explosive growth.   PayPal-owned Braintree grew 111% YoY in the number of cards on file in Q4 2015, while Stripe and Klarma now have multi-billion dollar valuations.
• Mobile Point-Of-Sale (mPOS) startups like Square and ShopKeep have pioneered a whole new payments niche—accepting payments via tablets and smartphones.   Coupling their transactions capabilities with new apps can revolutionize a small business’ inventory management, marketing, loyalty and even payroll.   
• Mobile Peer-to-Peer payments in the U.S. are forecast to grow from $5.6 billion in 2014 to nearly $175 billion by 2019 as consumers increasingly skip the hassle of writing a check or going to an ATM.   But smartphone vendors like Apple could cripple the dominant player of 2016 (Venmo) if they make a serious push to own the space.   

If your job or your company is involved in payment processing in any way, you know how complex this industry is. And you know that you simply can’t understand where the next big digital opportunities are unless you know the key players and roles in each step of the payments “supply chain:”   

• Acquirers
• Processors
• Issuers
• Card Networks
• Independent sales organizations and merchant service providers
• Gateways
• Hardware and software providers

Fortunately, a new report from BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, breaks down everything you need to know—whether you’re a payments industry veteran or a newcomer who is still getting a basic knowledge of this complex world.

Among the big picture insights you’ll get from this new report, titled The Payments Ecosystem Report: Everything You Need to Know About The Next Era of Payment Processing:

• The 5 key events of 2015 that have set up 2016 as a watershed year for the entire payments ecosystem. 
• The basics of traditional card processing from the start of the process through to the very end.    
• Why new players and innovations like prepaid cards, store cards, and PIN debit transactions are gaining market share and creating new opportunities.   
• The effects—good and bad—of the transition to new mobile payment methods.   New players and old have surprising threats and opportunities in areas as varied as carrier billing, remittances, wearables, and more.   

This exclusive report takes you inside these big issues to explore:

• The critical steps in credit card transactions and how they are changing.
• The six major types of organizations involved in the payments ecosystem.
• The significant differences for industry players who operate closed-loop networks and offer prepaid cards.
• The challenges and opportunities facing hardware and software providers for the payments sector.   
• The 8 reasons why mobile wallets are growing so fast and how they will disrupt all aspects of the mobile ecosystem.    
• The exciting possibilities ahead in fast-growing payments subsectors like remittances, connected devices and mobile P2P payments.   
• And much more.

The Payments Ecosystem Report: Everything You Need to Know About The Next Era of Payment Processing is the only place you can get the full story on the rapidly-evolving world of payments.      

To get your copy of this invaluable guide, choose one of these options:

1. Purchase an ALL-ACCESS Membership that entitles you to immediate access to not only this report, but also dozens of other research reports, subscriptions to all 5 of the BI Intelligence daily newsletters, and much more. START A MEMBERSHIP >>
2. Purchase the report and download it immediately from our research store. BUY THE REPORT >>

The choice is yours. But however you decide to acquire this report, you’ve given yourself a powerful advantage in your understanding of the fast-moving world of payments.   

Join the conversation about this story »

Onename founders Ryan Shea and Muneeb Ali were recently interviewed on an episode of Epicenter Bitcoin, and the early portion of the...

The post Onename Founders Are Part of a Vision to Redecentralize the Internet appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

We’ve entered the most profound era of change for financial services companies since the 1970s brought us index mutual funds, discount brokers and ATMs.

No firm is immune from the coming disruption and every company must have a strategy to harness the powerful advantages of the new financial technology (“fintech”) revolution.

The battle already underway will create surprising winners and stunned losers among some of the most powerful names in the financial world. The most contentious conflicts (and partnerships) will be between startups that are completely reengineering decades-old practices, traditional power players who are furiously trying to adapt with their own innovations, and total disruption of established technology & processes:

• Traditional Retail Banks vs. Online-Only Banks: Traditional retail banks provide a valuable service, but online-only banks can offer many of the same services with higher rates and lower fees

• Traditional Lenders vs. Peer-to-Peer Marketplaces: P2P lending marketplaces are growing much faster than traditional lenders—only time will tell if the banks strategy of creating their own small loan networks will be successful

• Traditional Asset Managers vs. Robo-Advisors: Robo-advisors like Betterment offer lower fees, lower minimums and solid returns to investors, but the much larger traditional asset managers are creating their own robo-products while providing the kind of handholding that high net worth clients are willing to pay handsomely for.

As you can see, this very fluid environment is creating winners and losers before your eyes…and it’s also creating the potential for new cost savings or growth opportunities for both you and your company.

After months of researching and reporting this important trend, Evan Bakker, research analyst for BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has put together an essential briefing that explains the new landscape, identifies the ripest areas for disruption, and highlights the some of the most exciting new companies. These new players have the potential to become the next Visa, Paypal or Charles Schwab because they have the potential to transform important areas of the financial services industry like:

• Retail banking

• Lending and Financing

• Payments and Transfers
• 
Wealth and Asset Management

• Markets and Exchanges

• Insurance

• Blockchain Transactions


If you work in any of these sectors, it’s important for you to understand how the fintech revolution will change your business and possibly even your career. And if you’re employed in any part of the digital economy, you’ll want to know how you can exploit these new technologies to make your employer more efficient, flexible and profitable.       

Among the big picture insights you’ll get from this new report, titled The Fintech Ecosystem Report: Measuring the effects of technology on the entire financial services industry:

• Why financial technology is so disruptive to financial services—it will soon change the nature of almost every financial activity, from banking to payments to wealth management.
• The basic conflict will be between old firms and new—startups are re-imagining financial services processes from top to bottom, while incumbent financial services firms are trying to keep up with new products of their own.
• Both sides face serious obstacles—traditional banks and financial services firms are investing heavily in innovation, but leveraging their investments is difficult with so much invested in legacy systems and profit centers.
• Meanwhile, startups are struggling to navigate a rapidly-changing regulatory landscape and must scale up quickly with limited resources.
• The blockchain is a wild card that could completely overhaul financial services. Both major banks and startups around the world are exploring the technology behind the blockchain, which stores and records Bitcoin transactions. This technology could lower the cost of many financial activities to near-zero and could wipe away many traditional banking activities completely.

This exclusive report also:

• Explains the main growth drivers of the exploding fintech ecosystem.
• Frames the challenges and opportunities faced by incumbents and startups.
• Breaks down global and regional fintech investments, including which regions are the most significant and which are poised for the highest growth.
• Reveals which two financial services are garnering the most investment, and are therefore likely to be transformed first and fastest by fintech
• Explains why blockchain technology is critically important to banks and startups, and assesses which players stand to gain the most from it.
• Explores the financial sectors facing disruption and breaks them down in terms of investments, vulnerabilities and growth opportunities.

And much more.

The Fintech Ecosystem Report: Measuring the effects of technology on the entire financial services industry is how you get the full story on the fintech revolution.

To get your copy of this invaluable guide to the fintech revolution, choose one of these options:

1. Subscribe to an ALL-ACCESS Membership with BI Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report AND over 100 other expertly researched deep-dive reports, subscriptions to all of our daily newsletters, and much more. >> START A MEMBERSHIP
2. Purchase the report and download it immediately from our research store. >> BUY THE REPORT

The choice is yours. But however you decide to acquire this report, you’ve given yourself a powerful advantage in your understanding of the fast-moving world of financial technology.

Join the conversation about this story »

We’ve entered the most profound era of change for financial services companies since the 1970s brought us index mutual funds, discount brokers and ATMs.

No firm is immune from the coming disruption and every company must have a strategy to harness the powerful advantages of the new financial technology (“fintech”) revolution.

The battle already underway will create surprising winners and stunned losers among some of the most powerful names in the financial world. The most contentious conflicts (and partnerships) will be between startups that are completely reengineering decades-old practices, traditional power players who are furiously trying to adapt with their own innovations, and total disruption of established technology & processes:

• Traditional Retail Banks vs. Online-Only Banks: Traditional retail banks provide a valuable service, but online-only banks can offer many of the same services with higher rates and lower fees

• Traditional Lenders vs. Peer-to-Peer Marketplaces: P2P lending marketplaces are growing much faster than traditional lenders—only time will tell if the banks strategy of creating their own small loan networks will be successful

• Traditional Asset Managers vs. Robo-Advisors: Robo-advisors like Betterment offer lower fees, lower minimums and solid returns to investors, but the much larger traditional asset managers are creating their own robo-products while providing the kind of handholding that high net worth clients are willing to pay handsomely for.

As you can see, this very fluid environment is creating winners and losers before your eyes…and it’s also creating the potential for new cost savings or growth opportunities for both you and your company.

After months of researching and reporting this important trend, Evan Bakker, research analyst for BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has put together an essential briefing that explains the new landscape, identifies the ripest areas for disruption, and highlights the some of the most exciting new companies. These new players have the potential to become the next Visa, Paypal or Charles Schwab because they have the potential to transform important areas of the financial services industry like:

• Retail banking

• Lending and Financing

• Payments and Transfers
• 
Wealth and Asset Management

• Markets and Exchanges

• Insurance

• Blockchain Transactions


If you work in any of these sectors, it’s important for you to understand how the fintech revolution will change your business and possibly even your career. And if you’re employed in any part of the digital economy, you’ll want to know how you can exploit these new technologies to make your employer more efficient, flexible and profitable.       

Among the big picture insights you’ll get from this new report, titled The Fintech Ecosystem Report: Measuring the effects of technology on the entire financial services industry:

• Why financial technology is so disruptive to financial services—it will soon change the nature of almost every financial activity, from banking to payments to wealth management.
• The basic conflict will be between old firms and new—startups are re-imagining financial services processes from top to bottom, while incumbent financial services firms are trying to keep up with new products of their own.
• Both sides face serious obstacles—traditional banks and financial services firms are investing heavily in innovation, but leveraging their investments is difficult with so much invested in legacy systems and profit centers.
• Meanwhile, startups are struggling to navigate a rapidly-changing regulatory landscape and must scale up quickly with limited resources.
• The blockchain is a wild card that could completely overhaul financial services. Both major banks and startups around the world are exploring the technology behind the blockchain, which stores and records Bitcoin transactions. This technology could lower the cost of many financial activities to near-zero and could wipe away many traditional banking activities completely.

This exclusive report also:

• Explains the main growth drivers of the exploding fintech ecosystem.
• Frames the challenges and opportunities faced by incumbents and startups.
• Breaks down global and regional fintech investments, including which regions are the most significant and which are poised for the highest growth.
• Reveals which two financial services are garnering the most investment, and are therefore likely to be transformed first and fastest by fintech
• Explains why blockchain technology is critically important to banks and startups, and assesses which players stand to gain the most from it.
• Explores the financial sectors facing disruption and breaks them down in terms of investments, vulnerabilities and growth opportunities.

And much more.

The Fintech Ecosystem Report: Measuring the effects of technology on the entire financial services industry is how you get the full story on the fintech revolution.

To get your copy of this invaluable guide to the fintech revolution, choose one of these options:

1. Subscribe to an ALL-ACCESS Membership with BI Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report AND over 100 other expertly researched deep-dive reports, subscriptions to all of our daily newsletters, and much more. >> START A MEMBERSHIP
2. Purchase the report and download it immediately from our research store. >> BUY THE REPORT

The choice is yours. But however you decide to acquire this report, you’ve given yourself a powerful advantage in your understanding of the fast-moving world of financial technology.

Join the conversation about this story »

Mizuho has announced that it recently completed a test involving bitcoin that focused on cross-border securities settlement.

Bitcoin price continues trading across critical support just above $400. Maintaining this position is the key to additional advance. Losing it, will open a proverbial can of downside toward the lows of 2015. This analysis is provided by xbt.social with a 3-hour delay. Read the full analysis here. Not a member? Join now and receive […]

The post Bitcoin Price Holding $400 Support appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht (BaFin), is the financial regulatory authority for Germany. They too, like every other regulatory authority the world over, have begun to seriously consider the usages and ramifications of blockchain. Recently, BaFin published an article titled “Distributed Ledger: The technology behind virtual currencies: the example of blockchain.” Yes, the title is a little […]

The post German Financial Regulatory Authority Considers The Usages Of Blockchain, But Do They Get It? appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Genesis Mining, the world's largest Bitcoin cloud mining provider, has announced the launch of the world's first regulated Bitcoin mining...

The post Genesis Mining Files With SEC for Bitcoin Mining Fund appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

I left off in Part I with TEPCO metaphorically treading water at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. It continues to inject cooling water into the three damaged reactors and then deals with the contaminated drainage that mixes with incoming groundwater by partly cleansing it of most contaminants and storing it in huge steel tanks.

In an announcement today, Japan-based Mizuho Bank Ltd., and technology firm Fujitsu Labs Ltd., have revealed the successful operation trial of blockchain technology that saw tamper-proof results and same-day settlements of securities transactions. The two companies, following the announcement of a successful blockchain trail, revealed that they will develop an “exceptionally convenient financial system” that […]

The post Mizhou Bank Announces Blockchain Trial Success with Same-Day Settlements appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

The cybersecurity guru says that government needs to find a way to work with companies like Bitcoin

Much of the bitcoin industry no longer shares the same vision and are not likely to pragmatically compromise to avert a serious risk facing the industry. That was the impression of Peter Smith, CEO of Blokchain.info, at the recent Satoshi Roundtables, writing in Medium. Smith, in summarizing his thoughts about the state of the industry, […]

The post Blockchain.info CEO: Industry Standoff Poses Serious Risk to Future of Bitcoin appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

While Fintech has had most of the limelight when it comes to controlling the future revolutionary applications of blockchain technology, there are still several massive industries ripe for disruption that will potentially be able to use blockchain for their business models. In an effort to jump-start that process in the healthcare industry, Philips has launched a “blockchain […]

The post Philips Launches Blockchain Lab To Spur Innovation Within Healthcare Industry appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

2015 was a tough year to be at the helm of Glencore — but at least the CEO was well paid for his troubles.

Ivan Glasenberg took home a total of $1.51 million (£1.06 million) last year in pay and pension contributions, according to the commodities giant's annual report out on Tuesday. That's despite a hellish year for the company that saw its share price collapse 69% and profits do the same.Here's how Glasenberg's remuneration broke down:

The total take home is slightly below 2014's figure, which means you might expect 2015 to have been a steady year. It was anything but.

The commodities giant — which both owns mines and makes money trading raw materials — suffered from the global rout in metal and resources prices last year, with profits collapsing by 69%.

As if that wasn't enough, shares cratered 29% in a single day after Investec argued that the entire business could be obliterated by its huge debt pile. That became a protracted fall and Glencore had to fight hard to convince investors it was on sure footing and take evasive action to reduce its estimated $100 billion debt mountain.

This elicited some controversy with the CEO of South Africa's main power supplier, Eskom, claiming that Glencore threatened to cripple the country's power supply over the summer, unless it renegotiated its coal contracts to pay a higher price.

Since 2011 Glasenberg has waived any right to salary increase or bonuses and the remuneration report says it expects no change in his take home in 2016.

While his take home was broadly flat in 2015, Glasenberg did take a hit on his personal wealth. The CEO owns around 8.4% of the company and the September share price collapse knocked an estimated $500 million (£351 million) off his paper wealth.

Glencore shares are down over 4% on Tuesday morning.

Join the conversation about this story »

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