Coin News

Bitcoin Core, the volunteer community that develops the open-source bitcoin software, has announced a new sponsorship program.

Funding Bitcoin development seems to have always been problematic. While the Bitcoin industry collectively has raised more than a billion...

The post Who Funds Bitcoin Core Development? How the Industry Supports Bitcoin's 'Reference Client' appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

The R3 consortium of financial institutions working on a blockchain-based solution to improve the financial services infrastructure has released an update on its initiative, which it calls “Corda.” Since the R3 consortium has continuously drawn more members among major institutions since it began six months ago, it has naturally attracted attention from the fintech and financial communities. The […]

The post R3 Consortium’s Blockchain Initiative: What Makes ‘Corda’ Different? appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

 Apple CEO Tim Cook is joining the board of directors of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, a nonprofit organization founded by the Kennedy family. Cook has been an outspoken CEO, personally defending equality and civil rights. In December 2015, Cook already received the Ripple of Hope Award from the nonprofit organization. But Apple’s CEO is taking its public involvement for human… Read More

"It isn't really sexy." That's how Leonard Jaramillo, VP product development at Earthport, describes the way his payment services firm is using distributed ledgers, contrasting its approach to the tech to more convoluted use cases involving QR codes or 'blockchain' technology. Jaramillo is discussing an integration of Earthport and Ripple technology that takes advantage of the […]

Overstock announced a strategic investment in Bitt, a Caribbean-based fintech company whose goal is to persuade Caribbean island nations to...

The post Overstock Invests in Bitt to Launch Official Digital Currencies in the Caribbean Islands appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

A campaign group calling for the end to physical cash has launched a "Manifesto for Cashlessness", setting out how countries can move towards an era of digital-only money.

CashlessWay, an Italian association of online payment providers, launched the manifesto at the Money2020 conference in Copenhagen this week. The manifesto outlines an argument as to why cash — notes and coins — should be abolished and replaced with digital payments like card or Apple Pay. The launch coincides with the 6th annual "No Cash Day" in Europe, which was on Tuesday and is organised by the group.

CashlessWay is obviously pretty biased — if we get rid of cash then who benefits? Guess what, it's the online payment guys who make up the organisation. But it does highlight some interesting arguments as to why digital trumps physical when it comes to money.

One is the idea that online money makes criminal activity harder. Here's an extract from the report (we added the link in for reference):

The European Commission has already said that it wants to investigate the connection between cash (specifically €500 notes) and terrorism. Cash, however, is desirable for all sorts of criminal purposes, not merely terrorism. Now, clearly, removing cash won’t end crime. The reason to make electronic money a firm policy goal is to raise the cost of criminal activity. Whether that crime is drug dealing or money laundering, bribing politicians or evading tax, cash makes it easy and cost-effective.

Physical money doesn't automatically leave a paper trail as digital money does, which is perfect if you're selling something illegal or funding ISIS. There's no link between you and the group.

With digital, there's almost always a register of who paid who what. That makes it easier to spot dodgy activity. (Bitcoin famously eschews this, aiming to make online money transfer anonymous much to the annoyance of regulators.)

As a consequence, CashlessWay is calling for governments in Europe to promise to: "remove €100, €200 and €500 notes from circulation within five years and €50 (and £50) notes from circulation in a decade."

Here are the manifesto's other stepping stones to a post-cash world that governments are being asked to sign up to:

• We will halve the total social cost of the payment system in the next decade, starting by allowing retailers to surcharge for all forms of payment including cash, except for “card present / cardholder present” debit.
• We will regulate for an on-demand electronic payment account capable of holding a maximum of €1,000 without further KYC other than unique recognition (e.g., a mobile phone number).
• We will create a privacy-enhancing infrastructure for transactions and for the sharing of transaction data, beginning with a law preventing payment cards from displaying the cardholder name either physically or electronically.

The last one might sound like it contradicts the group's claims on criminal activity, but the idea is to protect people's privacy so that data is automatically anonymised. If suspicious activity is identified, the regulator will be able to find out who's behind it but by default people will be hidden. That's the idea anyway.

Other arguments put forward by CashlessWay as to why we should ditch cash include more efficient money supply, boosting financial inclusion by offering better access to things like direct debit, and better regulation.

A world without cash might sound crazy but it's actually rapidly becoming a reality in some parts of the world: cashless payments overtook notes and coins for the first time in the UK in 2014; Sweden has made so much progress toward turning itself into a cashless society that it now has 27% less hard cash in circulation today than it did in 2011; Denmark wants to allow shops, including restaurants, gas stations, and clothing stores, to stop taking cash; and the Bank of Korea has said it's aiming for a cashless society by 2020.

You can kiss your hard earned notes goodbye.

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The quotes are certain to raise eyebrows among bankers, everywhere. The Vice President of Sberbank, Russia’s biggest bank by assets and the third largest bank in Europe (2014 figures) has opined that the advent and spread of blockchain technology will see banks disappear by 2026. Speaking at Metro Expo 2016, an industry conference, Sberbank’s vice […]

The post Blockchain Tech Will Make Banks Disappear in 10 Years, Says VP of Russia’s Biggest Bank appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Bitcoin price printed a mediocre move during this week’s first two days of trading by reaching above $420 (Bitstamp). The move now looks to be keeling over, and we should see a small sell-off to local support. This analysis is provided by xbt.social with a 3-hour delay. Read the full analysis here. Not a member? […]

The post Bitcoin Price Slow Boating appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Roughly two months ago, Lightning Network creators Joseph Poon and Tadge Dryja visited the Coinbase offices to explain how their design...

The post Bitcoin Lightning Network Creators: Fees Will Be Effectively Zero appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

Bitcoin wallet startup Circle has been granted an electronic money license from a top UK financial regulator.

This is a complimentary article from BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium subscription service for business professionals. Learn More >>

The British government has taken a big step toward making London a center of financial technology development.

The Financial Conduct Authority, the top financial regulator in Britain, has granted an electronic money license to Circle, a Boston-based company that allows for peer-to-peer transactions using the virtual currency Bitcoin.

The authority facilitated the process by placing Circle in the government's Innovation Hub, one of multiple initiatives Britain has started to encourage fintech innovation, according to the New York Times.

The license allows Circle to forge a banking relationship with British financial institution Barclays. This marks the first time that a major global bank has consented to a working partnership with a Bitcoin company; however, Circle has garnered investments from others in the past.

British economic secretary to the treasure Harriett Baldwin told the New York Times that the license and the Barclays partnership “prove our decision to introduce the most progressive, forward-looking regulatory regime is paying off and cements our status as the world’s fintech capital.”

Circle was founded in 2013 and has enabled P2P Bitcoin transactions in the U.S., a system that will now come to Britain. But Circle has also wanted to use Bitcoin in order to make it easier for money to flow between national currencies, and this new license could be a major step toward that goal.

Circle's entry into Britain is another sign that 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 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 report on the fintech ecosystem 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 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 »

Circle, a Bitcoin exchange and services startup is granted an electronic money license by the British government through its foremost financial regulator. The milestone marks the first time that Britain has bestowed a license upon a bitcoin company. The license was granted by Britain’s primary financial regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority. The move further Britain’s public and […]

The post Bitcoin Startup Circle Granted Electronic Money License in Britain, Partners Barclays appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Canada is showing the world the way forward on marijuana legalization. In Ontario, superior and appellate courts have ruled that Canada’s cannabis laws are null and void. Challenges to change federal law towards decriminalization, on the other hand, have failed. There’s a lesson to be learnt for blockchain regulators here. Nevertheless, Health Canada does regulate […]

The post Does Canada’s Weed Policy Show Way Forward On Blockchain Regulations? appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Red Hat, Inc,  one of the leading providers of open-source software to the enterprise community, has announced a new partnership initiative for blockchain software vendors. The initiative is called “Openshift Blockchain” and will aid fintech start-ups and independent software vendors (ISV’s) to build hosted blockchain solutions while Red Hat manages container application deployment. Red Hat […]

The post Open-Source Giant Red Hat Revs Up “Openshift Blockchain” appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Coinify, a Denmark-based blockchain currency payment provider, has partnered with iSignthis Ltd., a remote identification and payment authentication service provider, to offer a new service connecting blockchain payments, identity verification and credit cards. The companies claim that for the first time, user identity will link to transactions to meet anti-money laundering (AML) requirements. iSignthis supports […]

The post Coinify Teams with ISignthis to Provide KYC Compliance for Blockchain Payments appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Good morning! Here's what you need to know in markets on Wednesday.

The Panama Papers have claimed their first victim. Iceland's prime minister, Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, has resigned over revelations contained in the Panama Papers that he and his wife hid millions of dollars worth of investments in an offshore shell company.

The minutes of the latest US Federal Reserve FOMC meeting are released on Wednesday. The minutes of the central bank's March meeting are released at 7:00 p.m GMT (2:00 p.m. ET)

China's services sector grew more quickly in March. The great hope for China’s economic future — the nation’s vast services sector — showed renewed signs of life in March. The latest Caixin-Markit services purchasing manager’s index (PMI) rose to 52.2, up from 51.2 in March, indicating that activity levels accelerated at a faster pace last month.

Vladmir Putin can only win 2018's Russian elections if he distracts people from the country's struggling economy. According to Viktor Szabo, a senior investment manager at Aberdeen Asset Management, Putin will have to distract attention away from a shrinking economy to gain the support of citizens in the 2018 elections.

The man at the heart of efforts to save the UK's steel industry has set out his demands of the government.  Sanjeev Gupta, founder of commodities group Liberty House, told the Financial Times that for him to buy Tata Steel’s operations, Britain's government will have to remove pension and environmental liabilities on the Port Talbot plant, and provide lower power costs for plants.

A major pharmaceuticals merger is off the table. Pfizer has decided to terminate its £113 billion ($160 billion) merger with Allergan, according to Bloomberg. Bloomberg cites a person familiar with the matter. The deal's abandonment marks an end to the largest-ever health-care acquisition. The news was first reported by CNBC.

The boss of Air France-KLM is stepping down. CEO Alexandre de Juniac will step down from his post in July. The French airline CEO is set to become the new head of the International Air Transport Association — an airline industry trade group based in Montreal.

Goldman Sachs dominated the dealmaking market in Q1. Goldman worked on eight of the top 10 M&A deals announced in Q1, according to Dealogic, including ChemChina's $48 billion bid for Syngenta and Johnson Controls' $16.6 deal for Tyco International. That helped the bank rank number one for M&A volumes.

Barclays has become the first big UK bank to back a digital currency firm. Barclays has become the first big British bank to form a partnership with a digital currency firm, social payments app Circle, which runs partly on bitcoin's blockchain network and launched in the UK on Wednesday. 

The merger between Virgin American and Alaska Air could give Asian airlines a big boost. Reuters reports that Alaska Air Group's plan to buy Virgin America makes the company a more attractive partner to Asian airlines looking for extra revenue from connecting passengers to flights within the United States, industry executives and experts say.

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 It may have started as a Bitcoin wallet but veteran entrepreneur Jeremy Allaire’s fintech startup Circle has since shifted focus to social payments, launching an app in Q4 last year that lets users send U.S. dollars to settle IOUs between each other, with its pitch being it makes payments as easy as firing off an SMS. Read More