Coin News

The Australian government has proposed several ways to address issues related to the application of goods-and-services tax to digital currencies.

The Gemini exchange, founded and operated by Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss has gained the approval from the State of New York via the Department of Financial Services to offer trading of Ether, the crypto-asset and token of the Ethereum network. In an announcement today, the New York State Department of Financial Services has given its […]

The post Winklevoss Bitcoin Exchange Gemini Will Now Include Ethereum appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

New York bitcoin exchange Gemini has officially added its second digital currency, ether, the token that powers the Ethereum network.

CoinDesk interviews Abra CEO Bill Barhydt on why he believes his startup is poised to be the "WhatsApp for payments".

When bitcoin exchange Coinbase launched two and a half years ago, Heroku, a simple hosting platform, provided the right solution, said Brian Armstrong, Coinbase co-founder, writing in Medium. Heroku provided a more battle-tested solution than anything the founders could create on their own. But the founders realized that they had to build the next version of […]

The post How Coinbase Built a Secure Cloud Infrastructure to Store Bitcoin appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Craig Steven Wright, who over the past days claimed to be the inventor of Bitcoin, has been unable to publicly prove control over any of the...

The post Satoshi Saga Continues: Tulip Trust Trustee Expected to Appear by September 19, Says Joseph VaughnPerling appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

On Monday, Australian Craig Wright told journalists from the BBC, Economist and GQ that he created Bitcoin. He asserted that he was the figure behind the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto and presented Nakamoto's own cryptographic keys as proof. He was supp...

'I do not have the courage. I cannot,' Wright wrote in a blog post

Bitcoin price bounces from lower high to lower high as the buyers rejoice in their buying opportunity prior to a rally to the moon. The chart has been keeling into decline and the social mood is negative. But buying, at all costs, it seems, is still the norm. This analysis is provided by xbt.social with […]

The post Bitcoin Price Tipping Point appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

For the vast majority of Bitcoin Core contributors, the Lightning Network is viewed as the best option for scaling Bitcoin to many millions...

The post Exploring the Centralization Risks of Bitcoin’s Lightning Network appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

UK Only Article:  standard article Issue:  Trump’s triumph Fly Title:  Bitcoin’s creator Rubric:  The quest to find Satoshi Nakamoto continues ANOTHER Satoshi has bitten the dust. On May 2nd Craig Wright, an Australian entrepreneur, published on his blog what he claimed was proof that he is Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious creator of bitcoin, a cryptocurrency. Within 90 minutes the post had been debunked on Reddit, an online forum. He then said that he would present “extraordinary proof” that he is indeed Mr Nakamoto by moving some bitcoin from accounts thought to be under control of the currency’s creator. But on May 5th he wrote on his blog that he did not have the strength to continue trying to prove his identity, prompting most to add his name to the long list of false leads in the hunt for Mr Nakamoto. In October 2008 somebody who went by that name posted an academic “white paper” online, outlining the design of a cryptocurrency the author dubbed bitcoin. The following January the same person switched on a system like the one outlined in the paper. But nobody, ...

 Satoshi Nakamoto, 2016 edition, might not be Craig Wright after all. Just a couple of days after claiming that he was the creator of bitcoin, the Australian entrepreneur updated his website with a note that says that he won’t share the proof that he’s Satoshi Nakamoto. Read More

Craig Wright said he would provide proof he was Satoshi Nakamoto. He has backed down from that promise, leaving many wondering whether it really was a huge scam.

The blockchain-centric Post-Trade Distributed Ledger (PTDL) Group has announced new members joining its initiative which now sees 37 financial institutions and market infrastructure companies involved in the collective. The PTLD Group, a consortium launched last year that consists of clearing and settlement houses, exchanges and banks among financial institutions coming together is an initiative with […]

The post Financial Blockchain Group PTDL Sees New Members appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

As suddenly as Craig Wright declared himself the creator of Bitcoin, he now says that he won't attempt to prove it. In a strange blog post, the man who claimed to be Satoshi Nakamoto says that "I believed that I could put the years of anonymity and h...

In a stunning reversal, Craig Wright says he will not provide any more proof that he is the creator of bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto.

There is a serious problem brewing on the internet. Everyone expects content to be free, content providers accept this, trying to make their way with a mix of selling advertising and profiling their customers. Many users turn to tools like Adblock to shut out unwanted interruptions, they use Do Not Track in an attempt to thwart profiling, and the truly focused will run tools like Script Safe, which permit them fine grained control over which sites they'll permit to send dynamic content.

The week began with the dramatic, much-publicized claim by Craig Wright who proclaimed that he was Satoshi Nakamoto, bitcoin’s mysterious and pseudonymous inventor. Four days later, Craig Wright’s final act under the spotlight sees a muted exit. In a twist to proceedings, Australian entrepreneur Craig Wright has reneged on his recent promise to ‘move’ bitcoin […]

The post Craig Wright Says Sorry and Goodbye appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

The saga of Bitcoin’s mysterious founder took another bizarre turn today, when Dr. Craig Wright, an Australian businessman who claims to be the inventor of the cryptocurrency, reneged on his promise to move early bitcoins. Moving the bitcoins was widely perceived by experts as the primary method for Wright to prove his identity.

Read more...

Craig Wright, the Australian man who explosively — and dubiously — claimed to have invented bitcoin says that he will not be providing any further proof of his claims.

In a statement posted to his website, Wright said that as he prepared to provide "proof" of his access to the earliest bitcoin that would verify his identity, he broke down. "I do not have the courage. I cannot," he wrote. "I know now that I am not strong enough to this."

The identity of the inventor (or inventors) of bitcoin is one of the enduring mysteries of the tech sphere. There have been multiple attempts to track down its mysterious creator, known only by the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, but none have been conclusive; indeed, some have been positively disastrous.

Craig Wright entered the running last year when allegedly leaked documents supplied to Wired and Gizmodo suggested he might have hand in the the creation of the digital currency, although doubts remained.

Wright didn't comment at the time, but in the last week finally came forward to claim to have invented bitcoin.

His claim was initially bolstered by the support of Gavin Andresen, a leading developer in the bitcoin community who worked closely with Nakomoto during the cryptocurrency's earliest days to develop its software. Andresen had met with Wright, and became convinced he was telling the truth: "After spending time with him I am convinced beyond a reasonable doubt: Craig Wright is Satoshi."

But very significant doubts have since been poured on Wrights claims — namely the lack of any clear independently verifiable proof. It'd be technically simple for him to prove his claims (or at least, prove ownership of bitcoin that once belonged to Satoshi Nakomoto) by signing a message with the encryption key associated with the "genesis block," the first block of bitcoin ever mined. But Wright failed to do so.

He had promised to provide more evidence for his claims, writing that "over the coming days, I will be hosting a series of pieces that will lay the foundations for this extraordinary claim." But this is no longer the case.

"I'm sorry," the message on Wright's website reads. "I believed that I could do this. I believed that I could put the years of anonymity and hiding behind me. But, as the events of this week unfolded and I prepared to publish the proof of access to the earliest keys, I broke. I do not have the courage. I cannot."

This about-face is certain to be taken by doubters as proof that Wright is lying — that he was called on his bluff, could not provide the evidence people are demanding, and is trying to save face. (It's also possible that Wright's website has been hacked, but there has so far been no evidence of this.)

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NOW WATCH: Twitter’s huge deal to live-stream NFL games could be a game changer

Craig Wright, the entrepreneur who has claimed to be the inventor of Bitcoin, reneges on a promise to provide "extraordinary proof".

PopIsle, an advertising network connecting advertisers with online publishers, has announced in a press release that it has expanded its payment options by paying publishers with bitcoin. As a result, the company claims it has received an increase in interest from publishers. Ad networks usually use checks, PayPal and other means to transfer currencies. In […]

The post PopIsle Ad Network Expands Payment Options To Include Bitcoin appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Coinsource has added nine bitcoin ATMs in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, making it the largest ATM network on the West Coast. The installations mark the company’s largest single rollout. The expansion into Los Angeles will benefit bitcoin enthusiasts in Southern California, according to Sheffield Clark, company CEO and co-founder. He called the rollout of […]

The post Coinsource Adds 9 Bitcoin ATMs In Los Angeles And Las Vegas appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

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

Digital Currency Group (DCG), a Bitcoin and blockchain investment and collaboration hub, recently added members to its board and staff alongside the close of a major funding round.

Most notably, the firm added former US Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers as a senior adviser.

The addition of an adviser with policy expertise could indicate that DCG is preparing for regulatory changes. 

As blockchain simulation and pilots are becoming more popular, regulation is becoming a key concern, particularly because blockchain firms fear that inconsistent global guidelines could make interoperability and mainstream adoption challenging.

Summers could help DCG work with the 70 companies in its portfolio to navigate the regulatory changes that seem to be on the horizon. A US Fed Governor recently spoke about blockchain, noting that the Fed is continuing to engage stakeholders and colleagues on issues facing blockchain development and working to allow innovation without risk to consumers or overall stability. And four of the world’s leading blockchain trade groups formed a unified body, called the Global Blockchain Forum, to build common best practices and consistent policy.

This integration of legacy and startup financial institutions shows 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.

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The way we pay is changing dramatically. For example, people are beginning to use their smartphones for every kind of formal and informal transaction — to shop at stores, buy songs online, and even split their rent.

At the heart of these changes in how we pay are thousands of companies competing and collaborating to facilitate transactions.

To understand why the payments industry has faced so much disruption in such a short time, there's just one key thing to understand: Payments is about transferring information from one party to another, and nearly every stakeholder in the industry benefits when that process runs on digital rails.

But payments is also an extremely complex industry that few fully understand.

In BI Intelligence's 2016 Payments Ecosystem report, we make it simple, explaining how it works, who the key players are, and where it's headed.

In this latest edition of the report, BI Intelligence drills even further into the industry to explain how a broad range of transactions are processed, including prepaid and store cards, as well as revealing which types of companies are in the best and worst position to capitalize on the latest industry trends.

Here are some key takeaways from the report:

• 2016 will be a watershed year for the payments industry. Payments companies are improving security, expanding their mobile offerings, and building commerce capabilities that will give consumers a more compelling reason to make purchases using digital devices.
• Payments is an extremely complex industry. To understand the next big digital opportunity lies, it's critical to understand how the traditional credit- and debit-processing chain works and what roles acquirers, processors, issuing banks, card networks, independent sales organizations, gateways, and software and hardware providers play.
• Alternative technologies could disrupt the processing ecosystem. Devices ranging from refrigerators to smartwatches now feature payment capabilities, which will spur changes in consumer payment behaviors. Likewise, blockchain technology, the protocol that underlies Bitcoin, could one day change how consumer card payments are verified.

In full, the report:

• Uncovers the key themes and trends affecting the payments industry in 2016 and beyond.
• Gives a detailed description of the stakeholders involved in a payment transaction, along with hardware and software providers.
• Offers diagrams and infographics explaining how card transactions are processed and which players are involved in each step.
• Provides charts on our latest forecasts, key company growth, survey results, and more.
• Analyzes the alternative technologies, including blockchain, which could further disrupt the ecosystem.

Interested in getting the full report? Here are two ways to access it:

1. Subscribe to an All-Access pass to BI Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report and over 100 other expertly researched reports. As an added bonus, you'll also gain access to all future reports and daily newsletters to ensure you stay ahead of the curve and benefit personally and professionally. >> Learn More Now
2. Purchase & download the full report from our research store. >> Purchase & Download Now

PS. Did you know...

Our BI Intelligence INSIDER Newsletters are currently read by thousands of business professionals first thing every morning. Fortune 1000 companies, startups, digital agencies, investment firms, and media conglomerates rely on these newsletters to keep atop the key trends shaping their digital landscape — whether it is mobile, digital media, e-commerce, payments, or the Internet of Things.

Our subscribers consider the INSIDER Newsletters a "daily must-read industry snapshot" and "the edge needed to succeed personally and professionally" — just to pick a few highlights from our recent customer survey.

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By Henning Gloystein

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices jumped by more than one percent in early trading on Thursday as a huge wildfire in Canada disrupted its oil sands production, while escalating fighting in Libya threatened the North African nation's output.

International benchmark Brent crude futures were trading at $45.31 per barrel at 0031 GMT (2031 EDT), up 69 cents or 1.6 percent from their last close.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 75 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $44.53.

Traders said that WTI prices were driven up by an uncontrolled wildfire in Canada that disrupted oil production in the province of Alberta.

A massive wildfire has forced the evacuation of all 88,000 people in the western Canadian oil city of Fort McMurray and burned down 1,600 structures, and has the potential to destroy much of the town, authorities said on Wednesday.

With evacuees being told to head north towards Alberta's oil sands fields, production at several facilities has been disrupted, although the decline in output was unclear.

Brent was pushed higher by escalating fighting in Libya.

Libya's already crippled oil production is at risk of further decline from a stand-off between rival eastern and western political factions, which prevented a cargo belonging to trading giant Glencore from loading.

A Tripoli-based oil official warned the country's oil output could fall by 120,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) if the Benghazi-based National Oil Corporation (NOC), set up by the rival eastern government, continues to block tankers loading for Tripoli from the eastern Marsa el-Hariga port.

Investment firm ETF Securities said that unplanned outages within the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), of which Libya is a member, stood above 2 million bpd, the highest in at least five years.

Beyond these disruptions, ETF Securities said market fundamentals were also turning bullish.

"Investor optimism for oil has markedly improved. We believe the gains in price are sustainable and not just driven by speculative gains. We are likely to be in a global oil supply deficit by Q3 2016," said Nitesh Shah, director of commodity strategy at ETF Securities.

(Reporting by Henning Gloystein; Editing by Richard Pullin)

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