Coin News

Bitcoin prices surged nearly 20% during the week ending 3rd June, rising to its highest point in 20 months. But what was the cause of the increase?

 In keeping up with its recent bullish run, bitcoin price soared to break beyond $570, scaling a near two-year high. The Bitstamp Price Index (BPI) shoved through the $570 mark today to ring in a high of $574.85. The number represents a price high of nearly two years. On August 11, 2014, bitcoin traded at […]

The post Newsflash: Bitcoin Price Scales Beyond $570 appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Coin Gaming, which operates Bitcasino.io, a top bitcoin casino, has introduced a bitcoin-only sportsbook in anticipation of the Euro 2016 soccer tournament. Sportsbet.io will provide thousands of betting opportunities. The sportsbook provides users the option of betting on an event that is expected to draw at least 1.5 million BTC in bets. Sportsbet.io will allow players […]

The post Coin Gaming Launches Bitcoin-Only Sportsbook Ahead Of Euro 2016 appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

The price of bitcoin is up more than 6% today, according to the CoinDesk Bitcoin USD Price Index (BPI), reaching a level not seen in nearly two years.

European Parliament members (MEPs) voted to take a hands-off approach to regulating blockchain technology, Ars Technica reports. Following...

The post EU Parliament Votes for Light-Handed Regulation of Blockchain Technology appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

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PayPal is not, and likely would never become, a bank in the U.S.

But if it did, its customer account balance totals would actually make it the 21st-largest bank in the nation, according to research from S&P Global Market Intelligence cited by the Wall Street Journal.

When compared to the deposit accounts of major U.S. banks, the high volume of money in PayPal's systems suggests that nonbank financial services providers will keep providing strong competition to legacy banks.

Nonbank entities such as PayPal offer similar services to traditional financial institutions but consumers typically use them differently. PayPal users can store money in their accounts and then use the service to transfer money and buy products either in-store or online. And PayPal also provides loans and credit cards through partner banks.

But customers don't use PayPal like a bank. The average balance in PayPal accounts is $70, while legacy banks typically hold much larger sums, according to the Wall Street Journal.

As players such as PayPal continue to strive to become integral in customers' everyday lives, they could become more of a threat to banks. PayPal recently debuted an ad campaign and new slogan that focuses on how their technology could make money more accessible 24 hours a day. All of this is an effort to improve brand awareness and convince customers to test new services.

PayPal also updated its app to highlight specific features, such as mobile order-ahead and peer-to-peer payments, in an effort to get users to try these services. The growing variety of PayPal features could threaten legacy institutions or at least cause them to adjust their approaches if customers begin using PayPal and similar services to manage more of their money.

The rise of PayPal and other disruptive services have been changing the face of the world of payments, and that disruption is likely only going to grow in the next several years.

Evan Bakker and John Heggestuen, analysts at BI Intelligence, have compiled a detailed report on the payments ecosystem that drills 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.

To get your copy of this invaluable guide, 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 payments ecosystem.

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Bitcoin price surges higher but remains within the area of the recent correction. Technical analysis looks at levels and confirmation of advance. This analysis is provided by xbt.social with a 3-hour delay. Read the full analysis here. Not a member? Join now and receive a $29 discount using the code CCN29. Bitcoin Price Analysis Time […]

The post Bitcoin Price Surges But Remains Cautious appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Microsoft has announced that it is collaborating with Blockstack Labs, ConsenSys and developers across the globe on an open source,...

The post Microsoft Building Open Blockchain-Based Identity System With Blockstack, ConsenSys appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

Uphold’s recent decision to enable Ether trading on its platform marks another sign of recognition by both the financial and the open source developer communities’ of Ethereum’s unique potential. CCN on Wednesday reported that Uphold users can now buy or convert fiat currencies (USD, EUR, and GBP) or other digital currencies, including bitcoin, to Ether, […]

The post Why Uphold Added Ethereum and Teamed with Bitwage appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Former group chief executive of Barclays, Antony Jenkins, sees innovation such as blockchain and artificial intelligence to challenge and change core banking principles in the near future. Former CEO of Barclays, the UK’s second biggest bank in assets has, in a recent speech, opined that banks will have to face “extraordinary changes” in the upcoming […]

The post Barclays’ Ex-CEO Sees Blockchain Uprooting Critical Core of Banking appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Good morning!

Things are pretty quiet in FX ahead of the US jobs report.

Nonfarm payrolls are expected to have increased by 160,000 in May, the unemployment rate is forecast to have slipped to 4.9%, and average hourly earnings are expected to have grown by 2.5% year-over-year, according to the Bloomberg consensus.

The US dollar index is little changed ahead of the report, hovering around 95.59.

Here's the scoreboard as of 7:44 a.m. ET.:

• The euro is little changed at 1.1145 against the dollar after eurozone PMI came in at 53.1 in May, an incremental improvement from April's 53.0. French services were a standout, hitting a seven-month high of 51.6, while Italian services dropped sharply to 49.8.
• The British pound is little changed at 1.4421 against the dollar after services PMI came in better than expected at 53.3, above expectations of 52.5. Separately, Reuters reports the Fed may be forced to delay a rate hike at its June meeting "because of mounting concern over the economic fallout from Britain's vote on whether to leave the European Union."
• And for what it's worth, Bitcoin is surging by 2.5%, up to 538.80 against the dollar. The crypto-currency is up around 170% from its January lows.

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NOW WATCH: Japan has built a massive ice wall around Fukushima

Dave Kleiman made a name for himself as a computer forensics expert before being claimed as co-inventor of Bitcoin by Craig Wright, the Australian recently verified by Gavin Andresen and Jon Matonis as Satoshi Nakamoto.   The veteran Kleiman, if he were co-inventor of bitcoin, never used the fortune that would be his. His home […]

The post This Might Be Satoshi Nakamoto on Mainstream Media appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) ordered Bitfinex, a Hong Kong-based bitcoin exchange, to pay $75,000 for offering illegal, off-exchange, financed retail commodity transactions in cryptocurrencies, and for failing to register as a futures commission merchant (FCM) as required by law, according to a CFTC press release.   The order requires the exchange to […]

The post CFTC Fines Bitcoin Exchange Bitfinex $75,000 For Offering “Illegal” Transactions appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.