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In the world of cash-transfers, few other companies come to mind as instantaneously as Western Union. If you’ve walked in a convenience store anywhere between the west and east coast of the United States, you’ve probably seen a banner for Western Union. The remittance provider is currently facing a preliminary antitrust inquiry as the EU […]

The post Western Union Faces Legal Scrutiny In EU Over Business Practices appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Department of War Studies professors have published results of their deep dive into the Tor network.

Although smart contract projects on private blockchains such as Ethereum are gaining a lot of attention, smart contracts on the Bitcoin...

The post Rootstock Raises $1M to Enable Smart Contracts on the Bitcoin Blockchain appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

Bitcoin Press Releases: In a digital currency world that is built upon the concept of decentralization, the greater Bitcoin community can seem fractured and remote to even seasoned Bitcoin veterans. Bringing together like-minded Bitcoin users from around the world can be a matter of luck instead of by design, typified by the fact that even […]

The post BitConnect.co Creates Innovative Bitcoin Community, E-Commerce and New Bitcoin Lending Platform appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Bitcoin Press Releases: FortuneJack’s new and improved Bitcoin Casino affiliate program is now operational. The affiliate program includes a straightforward process for rewarding affiliates with a range of custom promotions, and highest in the industry commissions available for their affiliates.  FortuneJack Bitcoin Casino now has a powerful system allowing incredible rewards for affiliates and their referrals. […]

The post Lucrative Bitcoin Affiliate Program Launched by FortuneJack Casino appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Ethereum Canada and Decentral will present Blockchain World Expo, featuring more than 60 speakers and 50 exhibitors from Europe, Asia, North and South America, in Toronto on Sept. 19 to 21, 2016, according to Marketwired. The show, which bills itself as the largest of its kind in the world, will provide an opportunity for blockchain […]

The post Decentral And Ethereum Canada To Present Blockchain World Expo In Toronto appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Mine Labs, a New York-based blockchain startup has announced the development of Mediachain, a Bitcoin blockchain-based decentralized...

The post Mediachain: Protect Digital Content With a Bitcoin-Based Metadata Protocol appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

Bitcoin trading has been tracing a price path of higher lows and lower highs for the past 4 months. The narrowing price action will eventually approach an apex. This report provides a forward view. This analysis is provided by xbt.social with a 3-hour delay. Read the full analysis here. Not a member? Join now and […]

The post Bitcoin Trading Into A Wedge appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Deloitte's Center for Financial Services has released a report forecasting transformation of the banking industry over the coming decade due...

The post Deloitte Predicts Rise in Blockchain-Based Payments appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

RSK Labs has raised $1m in funding to support the development of a smart contracts platform that would be built on the bitcoin blockchain.

Stripe, a San Francisco, Calif.-based mobile payments startup that allows merchants to accept bitcoin, has announced that its Stripe Atlas service will be available to businesses in Cuba in conjunction with President Obama’s trip to Havana this week. Stripe users, including Atlas, can accept bitcoin along with credit cards, Android Pay, Alipay and 135 currencies. Stripe […]

The post Bitcoin Friendly Stripe To Allow Cuban Nationals To Incorporate U.S. Businesses & Open U.S. Bank Accounts appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

 UK fintech startup Elliptic has pulled in a $5 million Series A round to keep building out its blockchain forensics tool. Its transaction-tracing technology mines the public Bitcoin ledger to identify and flag up suspicious transaction patterns within the distributed digital currency — offering the promise of combating Bitcoin-powered money laundering and other criminal activity. Read More

If you talk to a Bitcoiner – or what’s hipper is a blockchainer – you will undoubtedly hear a highly optimistic opinion of the technology behind Bitcoin. And that’s fair enough, as some of the most influential companies in the world entered into a space that not yet a decade old. There are myriads of […]

The post Bitcoin Remains The Sole True Use Case For Blockchain Technology appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

London-based Bitcoin Blockchain surveillance and forensic compliance intelligence startup Elliptic has secured $5 million in a Series A funding round led by Paladin Capital Group. The round also gained support from Santander InnoVentures, KRW Schindler, Digital Currency Group and existing investor, Octopus Ventures. A press release by Elliptic has announced that the firm has raised […]

The post Bitcoin Blockchain Surveillance Firm Elliptic Raises $5M in Series A Funding appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

A startup that helps law enforcement agencies in the US and UK catch criminals that are using bitcoin has raised $5 million (£3.5 million) from Washington-based Paladin Capital and Santander InnoVentures.

Elliptic, which was founded in London but also has offices in New York, uses machine learning and graph analysis to analyse bitcoin's blockchain — the decentralized ledger of transactions that underpins the network.

The company's technology is used to identify suspicious transactions and trace holders of bitcoin.

Dr James Smith, CEO and co-founder of Elliptic, told Business Insider that the company currently had two main groups of customers. The first are "companies that transact a lot using bitcoin — the exchanges and payment processors of bitcoin.

"And then the other group of customers are law enforcement agencies. The most active ones are the large law enforcement agencies in the US, but also the UK and Europe."

Dr Smith did not name specific agencies that use Elliptic's products. But he said: "For the law enforcement agencies it's more of a forensic part product. They might have seized a laptop or a phone or gone and done some hand-to-hands in the street and they need to follow some bitcoins.

"For them, it's a product that helps them trace money through the networks and find their way to regulated entities from whom they can go and get personally identifiable information. For example, you want to trace some money and want to figure out which exchange it ended up on so you can go to that exchange and say, 'Hey, which customer bought this? I think we need to arrest him.'"

The most high-profile criminal case involving bitcoin to date was the arrest and sentencing of Ross William Ulbricht, the founder of illicit online marketplace Silk Road, which used bitcoin as its currency. Ulbricht was sentenced to life in prison.

Dr Smith added: "For the bitcoin exchanges and so on, what they need is to help them identify high-risk transactions — there might be money laundering or it might be connected to the silk road or something. For them we can monitor all their transactions and tell them which ones they need to investigate further.

Dr Smith says the $5 million will be spent on hiring and exploring new product areas. He says: "It applies very easily across other blockchains but we think this is potentially interesting across payments more generally. We think these are quite advanced techniques for identifying money laundering."

Washington-based Paladin Capital, a little-known VC firm over here in the UK, led the investment round in Elliptic. Dr Smith says the company was introduced to Paladin by a customer.

He adds: "They've got a great advisory board, they've got a lot of people who are ex-NSA or FBI or DEA or whatever, which is great as we come to understand that a bit more." Paladin's managing director is a retired Lieutenant General.

Santander InnoVentures, the fintech venture capital fund of the Spanish bank, also took part in the funding round. Dr Smith says: "Santander are great because they give us this view as to where we're going next with blockchain, how it affects wider financial markets, and how they view it. That's great for our longer-term strategy."

Existing investors Octopus Ventures also took part in Elliptic's Series A funding round, as did KRW Schindler and the Digital Currency Group.

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The Australian Government Treasury has, in a detailed policy statement pledging support for Fintech to boost the industry, revealed that digital currencies such as Bitcoin will be exempt from double taxation. The policy statement also details how the government plans on regulating companies in the Fintech arena, as well as those in the bitcoin and […]

The post Australian Government “Committed” to Removing Double Taxation of Bitcoin; Backs FinTech Growth appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

The Australian government announced its commitment today to seek a legislative solution to tax questions surrounding bitcoin.

Bitcoin surveillance startup Elliptic has raised $5m in Series A funding in a round that involved a private equity firm with US defense connections.