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Bitcoin Press Release: For years, ExeBTC has been a leader in the finance world, building a reputation as a knowledgeable and reliable alternative for those looking for risk management and advisory services. However, the quickly-growing company is currently expanding its services to a new online web platform, ExeBTC.com, which will bring their wide range of […]

The post A New Way to Invest in Bitcoin appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

IBM Vice President for Blockchain Technologies Jerry Cuomo recently testified before the Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity on...

The post IBM: Government and Blockchain Sector Should Work Together to Enhance National Security appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

In a bid to provide the online gaming industry with a transparent and provably fair wagering platform, ex-military nuclear bunker and data...

The post BunkerChain Labs Takes on Fraud in Online Gaming Using the Blockchain appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

The UK arm of Spanish banking group Santander has developed a new payments app in partnership with distributed ledger startup Ripple.

The European Parliament has voted in a non-binding resolution today which approved a proposal for a taskforce looking into virtual currencies like bitcoin and blockchain technology. A proposal from late February, which sought to form a bitcoin- and blockchain-centric taskforce overseen by the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, was approved by […]

The post Bitcoin Due to Get a Watchdog, via the European Union appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Bitcoin price continues trending higher and the bulls are in control. The proposition remains that it’s a speculative certainty that price will, eventually, strike out for $500 – can the market do it this time? This analysis is provided by xbt.social with a 3-hour delay. Read the full analysis here. Not a member? Join now […]

The post Bitcoin Price Analysis: Yuan Exchanges At Resistance appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Bitcoin’s best-funded startup, 21 Inc, unveiled a new proof-of-concept that envisions how its developer tools could fuel a weather marketplace.

Bitcoin and digital asset exchange Kraken has ceased Namecoin trading form the exchange after determining that the currency did not warrant the effort to continue support due to low trading volumes. Kraken has revealed that it will not continue to keep or support Namecoin, following an assessment of supported coins in its exchange prior to […]

The post Kraken Delists Namecoin after Meager Trading Volume appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Bitcoin and digital asset exchange Kraken has ceased Namecoin trading form the exchange after determining that the currency did not warrant the effort to continue support due to low trading volumes. Kraken has revealed that it will not continue to keep or support Namecoin, following an assessment of supported coins in its exchange prior to […]

The post Kraken Delists Namecoin after Meager Trading Volume appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

A new report from Goldman Sach’s Investment Research projects arm has praised the bitcoin blockchain – the most prominent and largest blockchain around – for its public, open nature. A newly released report by investment banking firm Goldman Sachs makes an effort to dissect through the hype surrounding blockchain by explaining and itemizing the innovation […]

The post Goldman Sachs: Bitcoin Blockchain’s Public Ledger Is A “Novel” Feature appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

By Rania El Gamal and Alex Lawler

DUBAI/LONDON (Reuters) - For those seeking guidance on Saudi Arabia's thinking regarding the future of OPEC, the last few weeks' agenda of the new Saudi energy minister, Khalid al-Falih, might offer a few clues.

Since his appointment on May 7 as head of a new mega-ministry - overseeing energy, industry, mining, atomic power and renewables - Falih has toured six state firms, met the South Korean premier, the Canadian foreign minister and Gulf industry ministers, and opened a gas turbine plant.

To fellow members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, that speaks volumes. Unlike his predecessor Ali al-Naimi, Falih may not have much time for OPEC. The group meets on June 2, its first talks with the new minister in attendance.

For oil-price hawks such as Iran, Algeria and Venezuela, fears are growing that the 56-year-old OPEC is losing its role as an output-setting cartel and turning into a talking shop.

"Saudi Arabia killed OPEC and buried it," a senior OPEC source from a non-Gulf producer said.

"In OPEC, they go for (including) Indonesia and Gabon to convert OPEC to a forum," the source said, referring to OPEC's decision, supported by Riyadh, to include minor producers.

As a historic reminder, OPEC last decided to change output in December 2008, when it cut supply amid slowing demand due to a global financial crisis. Between 1998 and 2008, OPEC made 27 changes to output.

For decades, Saudi Arabia, Vienna-based OPEC's largest producer and de facto leader, had a preferred range for oil prices and, if unhappy, would try to orchestrate a group-wide production cut or increase.

But a technology-driven spike in non-OPEC output such as that of U.S. shale and growing fuel efficiency led Riyadh to conclude that the era of fast oil growth might be ending.

Hence, in the past two years Riyadh has stuck to a strategy of fighting for market share, thinking that pumping more oil now at low prices is better than producing less in the future.

Many OPEC members - apart from Riyadh's allies in the Gulf, such as Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates - were unprepared for that shift, with their finances crippled by heavy debts and stagnant production.

Venezuela and Nigeria pressed Saudi Arabia to agree to price-boosting output cuts, and even Riyadh's arch-rival Iran is signaling it will be ready for renewed dialogue on freezing production once it reaches pre-sanctions levels.

"Of course, the issue of the role of OPEC can be raised. Some members want OPEC to play a more significant role in managing the market," said an OPEC delegate from one of the main producing countries in the Middle East.

Earlier this year, Iran refused to join an initiative to freeze output but signaled it would be part of a future effort once its production had recovered sufficiently.

An OPEC watcher said: "Other producers are going to want to come and revive the freeze agreement. Iran is now at pre-sanctions levels. And though the worst has been avoided, the reality is that many of these producers remain under real stress."

MULTI-TASKING

Saudi and Iranian OPEC delegates clashed earlier this month over long-term strategy, with Riyadh saying OPEC should not manage the market and Tehran arguing that the group had been created to perform precisely that task.

The tensions come amid a backdrop of worsening relations between Riyadh and Tehran, which are fighting proxy wars in the Middle East, including in Yemen and Syria.

To be sure, OPEC has weathered internal strife and conflict before - such as in the 1980s, when Iran and Iraq were at war. It has been through periods that saw it fail to influence prices such as the 1990s - only to return and control the market.

But it is hard to see OPEC regaining its grip, unless the Saudi position - driven by Falih's ultimate boss, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman - changes dramatically.

Falih's tasks - his ministry is to oversee half of the economy, not to mention plans for a share listing in state oil giant Saudi Aramco - are likely to divert more of his time away from OPEC.

"That is going to keep Falih busy and I imagine his priorities will be economic reforms and integrating new portfolios," said Richard Mallinson, geopolitical risk analyst at the think-tank Energy Aspects.

OPEC has no supply target. At its last meeting in December the group scrapped its output ceiling of 30 million barrels per day, which it had been exceeding for months.

OPEC sources and analysts say they expect the group's meeting next Thursday simply to roll over output policy, which OPEC lacks anyway as its members pump at will.

"I don't think there will be a change in position. There will be no agreement on an output freeze," said another OPEC delegate from a key Middle East oil producer.

For a busy man such as Falih, long discussions among fellow ministers with no guaranteed serious outcome might seem pointless.

So could he simply stand up and say Saudi Arabia sees no need to remain part of OPEC?

"Leaving international groups isn't something most countries do lightly. I don't believe the Saudis think OPEC will never be relevant again. Plus, it is hard to see what they would stand to gain from it," Mallinson said.

(Writing by Dmitry Zhdannikov; Editing by Dale Hudson)

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Rich Ricci, the former CEO of Barclays Capital, says the rise of financial technology startups over the past few years is not just a flash in the pan but represents "a fundamental shift" in financial services to meet the needs of millennials.

In an op-ed in free London newspaper CityAM on Thursday Ricci writes:

From where I’m sitting, it is clear that the nature of financial services is undergoing a fundamental shift to meet the needs of younger, technology-savvy generations in a much broader pantheon of activities.

Millennials, who have grown up using technology, simply won’t adopt old models if it isn’t in their interests to do so.

The big banks think the same, setting up their own innovation arms to explore opportunities presented not only by P2P but also by mobile and micro-payments, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, and distributed ledgers such as blockchain.

Ricci draws comparisons between fintech startups and the likes of Airbnb and Uber, saying "it is now possible for financial transactions to take place on a platform without having a bank or indeed any entity as an intermediary."

"Technology used to be centralised, with businesses being run on large databases and transaction engines. Today, it is massively distributed – there’s more power on a couple of smartphones than on the International Space Station," he writes.

Ricci is best known as a one-time lieutenant of ex-Barclays CEO Bob Diamond, who was dubbed the "unacceptable face of banking" by Lord Peter Mandelson in 2010. Ricci and Diamond rose to prominence in Barclay's investment banking arm, BarCap, which Ricci ran between 2009 and 2013.

Ricci, Diamond, and two other executives were dubbed the "four musketeers" within Barclays, and blamed for bringing "casino banking" to the British lender in the run up to the 2008 financial crisis.

The Independent called Ricci the "poster child for the excesses of the investment banking industry" in 2013 after he sold £18 million-worth of Barclays shares on the day of an austerity budget. That same year, trilby-wearing Ricci entered a race horse named "Fatcatinthehat" into the Cheltenham Festival.

Since leaving Barclays Ricci has kept his head down in the world of finance, instead focusing on his beloved horse racing. However, more recently he has dipped his toe in the water, investing in several fintech startups.

Ricci is an investor peer-to-peer currency exchange freemarketFX and has also joined the board. He reveals in his CityAM op-ed that his has also backed two other fintech startups: betting exchange BetBright and subscription-based equities trading platform Aquis Exchange.

Ricci isn't the only former Barclays exec getting involved with fintech. Former CEO Antony Jenkins, who came after Ricci's tenure at the bank, last year predicted an "Uber moment" for banks and is reportedly close to launching or joining a fintech venture.

You can read the full Ricci op-ed here.

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NOW WATCH: Don't walk into an interview at Goldman Sachs without doing this first

No more fumbling with a passport, travel IT company SITA  thinks that blockchain may allow us all to streamline travel. Traveling has definitely become a chore. Long lines, tight spaces, overcrowded travel hubs. A measure of patience and a little bit of luck go a long way. The travel tech company SITA has a proposal that […]

The post Streamlining Travel with Blockchain Identity Verification appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

The R3CEV banking consortium could be partnering with Ripple Labs, according to a tweet from Ripple Labs CEO Chris Larsen. “The future of fintech is bringing together like-minded companies, like @R3CEV and @Ripple. More details to come soon…,” Larsen tweeted. The future of fintech is bringing together like-minded companies, like @R3CEV and @Ripple. More details […]

The post Ripple Labs CEO: Partnership With Banking Blockchain Consortium R3 In The Offing appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

The R3CEV banking consortium could be partnering with Ripple Labs, according to a tweet from Ripple Labs CEO Chris Larsen. “The future of fintech is bringing together like-minded companies, like @R3CEV and @Ripple. More details to come soon…,” Larsen tweeted. The future of fintech is bringing together like-minded companies, like @R3CEV and @Ripple. More details […]

The post Ripple Labs CEO: Partnership With Banking Blockchain Consortium R3 In The Offing appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

 Earlier today, we speculated that billionaire Peter Thiel may have secretly financed a lawsuit to put Gawker Media out of business owing to a series of antagonistic stories about him written by Gawker’s now defunct Valleywag site nearly a decade ago. Thiel has since talked with New York Times columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin and confirmed that not only has he provided Hulk Hogan (legally… Read More

 The Bay Area fosters a culture of forward thinkers and new ways to solve problems in our world, including in our food system. Ripple Foods is one such startup in Silicon Valley hoping to disrupt the dairy industry with pea protein. The company joins a growing list of game-changing food startups that have launched out of the lab and into the consumer market in just the last few years.… Read More