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Bitcoin API startup Blockcypher today expanded its suite of bitcoin app developer tools to include services for Ethereum developers.

The China-based company behind the first bitcoin mining ASIC has been acquired.

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Digital-only bank Number26 suddenly closed several hundred accounts last week, and it's blaming ATMs for doing so.

The company, which is live in Germany and Austria, closed a few hundred of its 160,000 accounts and subsequently released a statement that highlights several reasons for the closures.

Number26 used much of the real estate in the release to explain that some customers made 15 to 30 ATM withdrawals per month, and each transaction cost the company a network fee in the range of $1.70 to $2.30. This frequent activity drove up costs and was not sustainable.

The company also indicated that it may have closed some accounts because of suspicions of money laundering and account misuse.

This is a significant challenge for digital-only banks that do not have their own ATM networks. In many countries, this prevents customers from withdrawing cash without paying a fee. Most digital-only banks cover the withdrawal cost to attract customers.

Many propose that digital-only banks can funnel savings into other features such as free ATM withdrawals because they do not have costs from operating a physical branch network. But many of these startups have yet to become profitable and have only just started to generate revenue.

It's unclear why Number26 shuttered these accounts instead of just implementing a limit on ATM withdrawals, a technique other startups have adopted. Ally, a U.S.-based digital bank that used to offer unlimited free ATM withdrawals, limited ATM fee reimbursement to $10 per billing cycle in August 2015. U.K.-based transfer app Revolut, meanwhile, has always had a limit on the cash volume users can withdraw with its companion card.

The existence and growth of these companies indicates 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 »

Bitcoin Press Release: XMLGold is the place for Bitcoin and electronic currency users to exchange money. They can even choose to convert their digital currency into plastic money in no time with the XMLGold debit card. June 8, 2016, Belize City, Belize – XMLGold, the leading electronic currency platform allows people to trade almost all […]

The post XMLGold’s Debit Cards Can Be Charged with Perfect Money, Bitcoin and BTC-E Codes appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Gatecoin, the regulated bitcoin and digital currency exchange, recently distributed an email to its customers, disclosing news regarding the company’s attempt to secure funding to cover the losses it suffered after a cyber attack on its hot wallets. The Hong-Kong based company issued the statement at 12:00 p.m. HKT detailing its efforts to reimburse its […]

The post Bitcoin Exchange Gatecoin Delays Relaunch, Affirms Refunds to Customers appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

The MIT Media Lab's Learning Initiative and Learning Machine have released the first version of an open-source project that builds an...

The post MIT Media Lab Releases Code for Digital Certificates on the Blockchain appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

Bitcoin right now is not really anonymous. While Bitcoin addresses aren't necessarily linked to real-world identities, they can be....

The post BIP 151: The End-To-End Encryption Bitcoin Never Had – but Soon Will appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

Bitcoin price has pulled out of its downward correction but is now in a twilight zone between the advance high and a potential trend breakdown. How now? Let the market show the way. This analysis is provided by xbt.social with a 3-hour delay. Read the full analysis here. Not a member? Join now and receive […]

The post Bitcoin Price Reattempting $600? appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

The majority of financial service executives believe blockchain technology will be hugely important to their industry over the next 10 years, according to a survey sponsored by Synechron, a global and technology consultancy based in New York, N.Y. The TABB Group conducted the survey on behalf of Synechron, and it included 92 banking and capital […]

The post Financial Service Executives See Blockchain & AI as ‘Hugely Important’ appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

What’s really going on in financial technology?   

Financial technology, or “fintech” for short, is threatening to turn traditional financial fields like banking, lending, asset management and insurance upside down.   

New firms are using new mobile, social and digital technology to find new customers and offer them new financial products that meet their needs in a fast-changing world.   

All this “new” is exciting…but disruptive and disorienting, too.   Surprising new opportunities are coming fast and furious.   So are crushing disappointments.    

For instance, these positive fintech developments were announced in the last few weeks:

• Fintech funding is accelerating—it surpassed expectations by growing 96% YOY
• Ping An, China’s second largest insurer, has become the first Chinese firm to join the blockchain consortium R3 and partners like Goldman Sachs and Barclays
• In just 3 months, mobile app newcomer Revolut has processed over $300 million in foreign exchange transfers
• Sallie Krawcheck, former CFO of Citigroup, launched Ellevest, an automated investment platform aimed at women

But in the same time span, we’ve seen surprising negative fintech news:   

• Alternative funding giant Lending Club is being investigated by the US Department of Justice, the stock cratered and the CEO resigned
• The UK financial regulator (FCA) has been asked by a group of MPs to provide more detail on the risks and opportunities presented by peer-to-peer (P2P) lending and "related markets."  This inquiry could lead to further and more significant regulation that could potentially stymie the growth of the industry in the short-term.
• Number26, a German digital-only bank, closed hundreds of accounts last week because customers were reportedly making too many ATM withdrawals, resulting in rising costs for the bank.
• UK marketplace lenders may only originate $0.7 billion in 2025, down from $4 billion in 2015.   This forecast from Deloitte is a worst-case scenario, but highlights two key factors of marketplace lending:  marketplace lenders need to give investors a better return than other investments to incentivize them to buy loans and banks can easily replicate marketplace lenders' models.

The truth is, 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.  

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, Business Insider Intelligence has put together the definitive briefing on fintech.   

It 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 these sectors, it’s important for you to understand how the fintech revolution will affect your business and 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.       

Evan Bakker of BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has written a new report entitled The Fintech Ecosystem Report: Measuring the effects of technology on the entire financial services industry. The big picture insights you’ll get from this new report include:

• 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.
• 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.
• Startups have challenges of their own—they 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 remake 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 to stay on top of the breaking developments in fintech—positive and negative—the ALL-ACCESS Membership is your best choice.  It gives you a wealth of digital information, including the daily Fintech Briefing, which gives you all the latest news and analysis on the world of fintech.   

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 »

CoinDesk breaks down the numbers to analyze bitcoin's price performance for the month of May, a period in which bitcoin appreciated nearly 20%.

Members of the MIT Media Lab have related in a Medium post what they have learned from designing a system for issuing academic certificates using bitcoin blockchain technology. The team released version 1 of its code under its open source license to allow others to experiment with similar ideas. The lab wants to share its ideas behind the […]

The post MIT Media Lab Uses the Bitcoin Blockchain to Issue Academic Certificates appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

In an article published today, a writer for the South China Morning Post — Hong Kong’s newspaper of record and the leading English-language newspaper in the country — explores why bitcoin is finding favor among investors in China. There is a heightened buying of bitcoin in China as the cryptocurrency becomes the “new darling” of […]

The post Major Hong Kong Daily Pins Bitcoin as China’s “New Darling” appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.