Coin News

In a recent article published on the popular online publication Quartz, a rather interesting headline involving Bitcoin made waves on social networks. With no shortage of negative press in recent years surrounding Bitcoin and its alleged use by money launderers, terrorists and evil-doers, Quartz decided to peg movie pirating to the list of illicit uses […]

The post Quartz Bashes Bitcoin in Inaccurate Headline appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Volumes in the bitcoin markets declined amid price stability that some traders indicate is scaring away business.

CEVRO, a Czech institute based in Prague focusing on political studies including Law, economics, politics and security will now begin accepting bitcoin as payment for tuition fees for three of its Masters’ programs. The CEVRO institute in the Czech Republic has begun accepting bitcoin as a tuition fee for its Masters’ programmes in Philosophy, Politics […]

The post Czech Institute Enables Bitcoin as Payment for Tuition Fees appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Since its introduction in 2009, Bitcoin has grown exponentially. Now, however, it seems as though its rise in popularity is due to continue...

The post Beyond Digital Study: A Fifth of UK Businesses to Trade in Digital Currencies by 2020 appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

The Promise: Pain relief without medication. The Quell is an FDA-approved wearable device that Velcros around the upper calf and uses electrical stimulation to purportedly offer pain relief without the innate dangers or risks of addiction that come with drugs. The science of the device is fairly complex, but the basic theory is that stimulating specific nerves can activate a natural pain-relief process. "At a molecular level, the pain centers within the brain release endogenous opioids, called enkephalins, that bind to receptors in the spinal cord leading to a reduction of pain signal transmission and therefore pain relief," says Shai Gozani, CEO of NeuroMetrix. The device uses Bluetooth to sync with a companion mobile app that allows users to dial its intensity up and down, depending on their current pain relief needs. A Quell starter kit costs $250, and includes a one-month supply of electrodes. Replacement electrodes are $90 for a three-month supply. The Test: As somebody who lives a blessedly pain-free life, I realized I was the wrong person to test this product. Instead, I sought out a friend, we’ll call her Pearl, who has suffered from chronic muscular pain since 2006. “I’ve tried a lot of things," Pearl told me. "Physical therapy, acupuncture, dental appliances, heat, cold, massage, Pilates, yoga, weeks of mindfulness meditation therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, Feldenkrais and similar techniques, changing to a backpack, foam rolling and self massage, regular cardio, stretching, rolfing, a standing desk, switching to a different mouse, hot baths, memory foam pillows, and Advil.” She says she's seen 10 specialists over the past 10 years, who told her the problem was likely caused by repetitive strain from excessive computer use and sitting at work (in other words: something a lot of us can relate to). Some more background: Her specific diagnosis is “myofascial pain syndrome with some neuralgia and joint remodeling”. She does not have rheumatoid arthritis or fibromyalgia (which could be involved in similar cases), and has declined pain medication and muscle relaxers as a treatment. Pearl’s problem isn’t so much that the pain itself is unbearable (she rates it at a three to six on a 10 scale), but that its pervasive nature serves as a constant distraction from work and makes it very difficult for her to sleep. It also impacts her life in little ways, such as the process of deciding what bag she can carry with minimal strain, or picking times to ride the subway to have a better chance of grabbing a seat. As she puts it: “It’s a background irritant, but it’s always there.” To test the Quell, I gave it to Pearl with instructions to use it as she felt fit to help with her pain and related sleep problems. The plan was then to check in with her periodically, and get her full review and test notes after a month. During that time, she ended up using it almost every day, typically at night while sleeping, for an average of four or five 60-minute sessions per 24 hours.

Bitcoin price remains in a consolidation range. The converging support and resistance levels are closing in on the area of price action and the market has only a few weeks before the triangle apex forces a trend direction. This analysis is provided by xbt.social with a 3-hour delay. Read the full analysis here. Not a […]

The post Bitcoin Price Range Narrowing appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

"Bitcoin Bank" Circle announced that people in the U.K. can now experience social payments over the open Internet in their native currency,...

The post Bitcoin Payments Company Circle Scores Partnership With Barclays and E-Money License for UK Expansion appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

Süddeutsche Zeitung, in collaboration with The Consortium For Investigative Journalists, revealed 11.5 million leaked confidential documents from a Panama-based law firm, Mossack Fonseca. The documents reveal a shadowy network of politicians, celebrities and other powerful people concealing their wealth. While Bitcoin is not directly mentioned in the documents, there are connections between the Papers and the […]

The post The Panama Papers-Bitcoin Connection appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Are public blockchains really a viable option for guaranteeing settlement finality for financial instruments? Tim Swanson, director of market research at R3, claims public blockchains by design cannot definitively guarantee settlement finality. For this reason, he says they are not presently a reliable option for clearing and settling financial instruments. Swanson aired his views on […]

The post R3’s Tim Swanson: A Public Blockchain Has Settlement Risks appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Timothy Geithner, the Former Treasury Secretary, was asked by Fusion’s Jorge Ramos about bitcoin, and if he would invest in the nascent digital currency: “No, I wouldn’t,” he said, when Ramos asked him to acquire bitcoins. Ramos asked Geithner if bitcoin had value. “It depends what your objective is,” he added. “As a way to […]

The post Timothy Geithner Is The Man Bitcoin Needs appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Bitcoin Press Releases: Los Angeles, CA — Revolutionary blockchain-related technology created by Raistone Inc. is set to launch a finalized proof-of-concept this summer, the success of which could change the way digital trading and transactional systems are designed and deployed. Financial technology startup Raistone is preparing to bring to market a fully-functional blockchain-based digital asset […]

The post Raistone Reinventing Escrow appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Welcome to The Fintech Briefing, a morning email providing the latest news, data, and insight into disruptive fintech in Europe and around the world, produced by BI Intelligence.

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MONEY20/20 EUROPE: BI Intelligence attended Money20/20 Europe in Copenhagen this week. Here's a roundup of the top themes and announcements from the event that we haven't already covered:

• Collaboration is key. The CEOs of BBVA and ING, and the COO of HSBC all believe that collaboration between incumbents and fintechs is the future of financial services. Banks provide the customers and data, while fintechs provide the technology platform and user experience. Together they give consumers the products they want — that's the key to survival.
• Alipay confirms European launch. The Chinese mobile payments app will launch a "Local Services Platform" in May, which will provide users with local offers and merchant reviews in Europe, starting in the UK, France and Germany, according to Finextra. Users will also be able to pay in store using the app. The service is aimed at travelers from China who already use the service, but it's near certain that they'll start targeting Europeans as wallet users as well.
• Amazon expanding payments play. Amazon announced the launch of its Amazon Payments Partner Program, a new global initiative to make it easier for developers and merchants to integrate Amazon Payments services into their online shops. Amazon Payments allows consumers to pay for goods and services on third-party sites using their Amazon account.
• Dutch startup, Adyen, takes aim at failed transactions. The firm is launching a platform called RevenueAccelerate that aims to help e-commerce merchants lower false declines on credit card transactions and thereby increase revenue. Merchants lose 5% of revenue on average globally due to flaws in payments systems according to the company.
• Managing Analyst John Heggestuen hosted a fireside chat with MoneyGram CEO Alex Holmes (pictured below). Among other things, Holmes noted that while remittances are moving towards digital, having an omnichannel strategy is critical because in many corridors customers still need a brick-and-mortar option to deposit and receive funds.

BITCOIN TRANSFER APP GETS UK LICENCE TO OPERATE: US-based Circle, which operates a Bitcoin mobile money transfer network, has become the first digital currency company to receive a licence from the UK financial regulator (FCA). Circle works by converting currency (currently USD and GBP, with EUR coming soon) into bitcoins for transfer — once the transfer is completed it converts the amount back into fiat currency. Since settlement of Bitcoin transactions relies on the distributed computing power of the network's users, as opposed to a central authority like a clearinghouse, the transactions are virtually free to process for users on both sides of the transaction. That makes Circle's service less expensive than similar services.

The UK government is going all in on digital currencies. Last year it said it was working hard to create a regulatory regime that would accommodate digital currency-related businesses. And this week it called the Circle's licensing "a major milestone" on the way to getting digital currency firms to relocate to the UK.

Digital currency firms may have more trouble getting licensed than other fintechs. Governments around the world have been particularly cautious on the topic of digital currencies since it's often difficult to figure out who is on either end of the transaction. That anonymity creates opportunities for money laundering and other criminal activity. Circle does a few things to address these concerns:

• A progressive approach based on risk level. For small transactions, for example, users need only provide their name, email address, and device verification. For larger transactions users need to provide additional information such as current address or a government-issued ID.
• Sophisticated software dedicated to evaluating risk. Circle developed it's own risk decisioning engine which uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to process thousands of data points to identify ID fraud or criminal activity. The machine learning element means it gets better at assessing risk over time.
• Working closely with regulators. The UK has no specific digital currency regulation, so Circle worked with FCA to confirm it complied with existing laws. Circle is also the only firm to have a BitLicense issued by New York State. When New York was in the process of creating the BitLicense last year, Circle was active in responding to drafts of that regulation, helping shape the end result — and making it easier for the firm to comply.

All of this likely explains why Circle has been successful in getting regulated in both the UK and New York before any other digital currency firm.

AUSSIE BANKS COULD LOSE £5 BILLION (AU$10 BILLION) IN REVENUE TO FINTECHS: Fintech could also contribute £1.6 billion ($3 billion) of completely new revenue to the financial services sector by 2020, according to Frost and Sullivan. This is small compared to the £20 billion ($38 billion) the UK is already generating, but growth will likely accelerate as the Australian government moves towards creating a supportive regulatory environment for fintech — modelled on the UK. The two countries' regulators recently announced a partnership to help fintechs scale across borders.

UK APP-ONLY BANK GOES LIVE: Atom Bank is the first digital-only bank to launch in the UK with a full banking licence, allowing it to offer services like current and savings accounts, overdrafts, and loans. Other digital-only banks launching this year include Starling and Tandem, as well as Mondo, which has a live product, but can't offer full banking functionality until it gets its own licence. Atom Bank is available to people who pre-registered and have an iOS device. Consumers now have access to savings accounts, and businesses have access to loans, with other functionality due to follow this year.

Digital-only banks will find it hard to differentiate. In order to attract consumers away from major banks and their digital competitors, these new banks will have to offer a significantly better banking experience. This could include a better user experience, customer service, or new functionality. But as more digital-only banks launch, this will become increasingly difficult. An alternative strategy for these startups is to partner with a large bank in order to gain access to their customers. Atom Bank recently received an investment from Spanish bank BBVA, for example.

GERMAN STARTUP LAUNCHES PAN-EUROPEAN SAVINGS PLATFORM: Germany-based Raisin has a platform that allows users to compare rates on savings accounts, and then open and manage accounts in other countries. This week it announced its expansion to 30 more European countries from its current base in Germany and Austria. To use the platform, consumers need to open a "Transaction Account" with Raisin's partner bank and provide an ID. Once this account is opened, the partner bank vouches for the consumer's identity and they don't need to provide any further details to open new savings accounts through the platform. Platforms like Raisin comes between banks and consumers and accelerate the commoditization of banking services — banks must increasingly compete on savings rates and fees.

Around the world...

R3 BUILDS DISTRIBUTED LEDGER: Blockchain innovation and development consortium R3 CEV announced in a company blog post that it is actively working on a blockchain-inspired distributed ledger platform for financial services firms. The platform, called Corda, is modelled on blockchain and is designed to safely and securely “record, manage, and synchronize” financial agreements between financial institutions. Banks want to use distributed ledger technology because of its potential to increase efficiency. At the same time they don't want to use a blockchain network that is open to the public like Bitcoin. Corda solves this problem by limiting access to mutually agreed upon parties.

JPX ANNOUNCES BLOCKCHAIN PARTNERSHIP: Japanese stock exchange JPX and Nomura Research Institute are partnering on a proof-of-concept blockchain test, according to Finextra. The test, which follows a similar partnership between JPX and IBM, will evaluate the potential for blockchain technology in smaller markets with low transaction data volume. Nasdaq already uses blockchain technology for NASDAQ Private Market, a platform for trading shares of private businesses.

DEUTSCHE BANK OPENS SILICON VALLEY INNOVATION LAB: The German banking giant already has labs in London and Berlin, and this week launched in Silicon Valley. The bank has had an innovation team in California since 2014 which until now was working out of a local accelerator. Funding for the labs accounts for part of €1 billion the bank has set aside for digital initiatives through 2020. Deutsche Bank is hoping that being physically present at the centres of global innovation will give it an edge.

EX-GOLDMAN TEAM'S ROBO-ADVISOR RAISE: Scalable Capital is a digital wealth management platform, also known as a robo-advisor, headquartered between London and Munich. Its team includes 4 ex-Goldman Sachs employees and the former VP of Barclays Capital. This week it announced it had raised £5.6 million ($8 million), bringing total capital raised to £8 million ($11 million). Robo-advisors are already making waves in the US, where market leader Betterment raised £71 million ($100 million) last month. Scalable Capital joins other robo-advisors Nutmeg and MoneyFarm in London.

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NOW WATCH: A green comet is appearing this week that’s 100 times brighter than astronomers predicted — here’s how to see it

Seven Wall Street firms including four global banks have announced the successful testing of blockchain technology used for credit default swaps’ trading process in post-trade lifecycle events, a market wherein outstanding contracts amount to in the trillions of dollars. In a new initiative that further underlines the financial industry’s determined foray into embracing blockchain technology, […]

The post Wall Street Firms Complete Successful Blockchain Test appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Bitcoin company itBit has ceased operation in Texas, once thought of as one of the most bitcoin friendly states in the United States.

The recent purchase of a Tesla 3 with bitcoin is the catalyst for this story about how far bitcoin has come since the days of pizzas and Alpaca socks.

This story was delivered to BI Intelligence "Payments Industry Insider" subscribers. To learn more and subscribe, please click here.

Blockchain innovation and development consortium R3 CEV announced in a company blog post that it is actively working on a blockchain-inspired distributed ledger platform for financial services firms.

The platform, called Corda, is designed to safely and securely “record, manage, and synchronize” financial agreements between financial institutions. R3's partner institutions will begin testing applications on Corda in the coming weeks, according to Bloomberg. 

R3 emphasized that Corda tweaks some privacy aspects of the blockchain to alleviate banks' security concerns. 

• Banks are flocking to blockchain because of its potential to increase efficiency. The technology, which was developed to power cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, relies on a distributed ledger that allows all involved parties to use an algorithm to verify transactions. That process could increase efficiency, eliminate middlemen, and cut costs in the financial industry by up to $20 billion annually by 2022. But by nature, blockchain-based transactions are available for viewing and authorizing by everyone in the network, which could pose problems to banks concerned about security and privacy of transactions.
• R3’s Corda attempts to solve that. R3 recognized privacy concerns among its over 40 partner institutions, and opted to build a system that tries to address that. Although there are many unique complexities to Corda, a big difference is that it can grant specific parties private access to verify transactions. 

This could help reshape the way that financial institutions are innovating in the blockchain space. Though nearly all major financial services firms are either working with blockchain collaborative groups or innovating independently, many have expressed concerns that the technology is still unproven. Corda could be the first step towards developing a verification process that preserves the efficiency and security aspects of the blockchain while continuing to protect the data privacy needs of financial institutions. That could ease the concerns of non-participants, which could push banks and financial institutions deeper into the space.

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.

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