Coin News

This is how Bitcoin is changing the way we think of money.

A committee of the House of Lords struck a curious but at times critical note when discussing blockchain and its impact on finance and government.

Geneva-based Silent Circle, an encrypted communications company specializing in privacy-focused services and software has raised $50 million in a round of funding.

The post Mobile Encryption Firm Silent Circle Raises $50 Million appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

EtherIndex LLC, a Wilmington, Del.-based corporation, has registered a trust called the EtherIndex Ether Trust with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), marking the first ether-based trading fund. The trust’s purpose is to give shareholders exposure to the daily change in the U.S. dollar price of ether, minus expenses and liabilities, according to its prospectus. Ether […]

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After the halving, experts have elaborated on the various factors that could push bitcoin prices higher in the coming weeks and months.

Bitcoin price has pulled lower into its consolidation zone. Although today has potentially bearish bias due to a full moon, there are indications and parameters that could see the advance pick up its pace. This analysis is provided by xbt.social with a 3-hour delay. Read the full analysis here. Not a member? Join now. Bitcoin […]

The post Bitcoin Price Consolidation Pushes And Pulls appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

An official from Russia’s Ministry of Finance has indicated the agency now supports changes to a forthcoming law that would ban domestic bitcoin use.

It's easy to think of it as a young person's problem, but its ripple effects are prodigious, affecting the entire national economy

Press Release: Since 2013, a dedicated team from Lebanon, started working on this bitcoin trading platform, and finished the development after a successful hardcore testing on hundreds of users simultaneously and thousands of active users. The platform was launched with real trading in July 2015 and offered the flexibility for members to trade bitcoins by […]

The post COINLINK.NET Trading Platform for Sale or Looking for an Investor appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

With a new bipartisan bill by the House of Representatives, a call has been issued to the US Government to adopt a national policy to promote citizens’ access to new financial innovation including blockchain and digital currencies. A new Congressional resolution is calling on the United States government to support the development and ease of […]

The post Support Digital Currencies, Blockchain & Fintech, US Congress Tells Govt appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

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Despite some initial transition hiccups, Citigroup is already seeing strong gains and benefits from its recent acquisition of the US Costco store card portfolio, according to comments made in the company’s Q2 2016 earnings call.

The firm acquired the 11 million-cardholder portfolio from American Express in June, and since then, has already seen positive results:

• Portfolio sales are strong. In the first three-and-a-half-weeks, there were $5.7 billion in purchases made on Citi Costco cards, with 66% of these sales occurring outside of Costco stores. For context, Costco's Amex cards accounted for $80 billion in 2015, which equates to roughly $5.4 billion spent in three-and-a-half weeks on average. Citigroup's ability to beat that total despite challenges with distributing cards is a good sign for the new product. 
• The new card product is driving customer acquisitions. Citi has added 337,000 new accounts since acquiring the portfolio, beating expectations. It’s worth noting that operating expenses increased 5% in the quarter partly because of Costco. 
• And that’s leading to overall gains for Citigroup. The firm’s North American “credit cards” segment grew 13% in Q2 2016, largely driven by the Costco portfolio.

As Citi manages the transition, Costco will give the bank an increasingly significant source of volume. In the week following the transition, the company fielded multiple complaints from consumers who hadn’t received new cards or were struggling to activate them and couldn’t get the necessary support.

As of late June, Citigroup had re-issued roughly 95% of the Costco portfolio, though it's possible that not all of those cards were received or activated. Citi's updated rewards scheme combined with ongoing customer signups could give them a steady source of additional volume through the Costco portfolio moving forward. And that growth could help Citi further establish separation as the third largest US card issuer in 2016.

Costco's split from American Express and partnership with Citigroup is just one piece of the continually changing payments industry.

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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After more than a month of raging debate, Ethereum’s community has reached a conclusive decision. Ethereum will Hardfork. Some tense hours yesterday raised the prospect of a protracted fight, but, Ethpool cleared any doubt by announcing they are to support the hardfork: “[A]ccording to our voting policy stated in the announcement, we will support the […]

The post Almost 60% of Ethereum Miners Have Upgraded to Support the Hardfork appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Felix Weis, a Berlin programmer, visited 27 countries and 50 cities in the past 18 months only spending bitcoin. He related his 18-month story in Forbes to a reporter, Laura Shin. Weis wanted to prove that bitcoin was not dead, as many people were claiming at the end of 2014. He also believed that if bitcoin […]

The post A Bitcoin Globetrotter Covers 27 Countries: How He Did It, What He Learned appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Bitmain has acquired a bitcoin data and analytics startup Blocktrail for an undisclosed amount.

Santander has given its fintech-focused venture capital firm InnoVentures another $100 million ($131 million) to invest after impressing with its initial investments.

Santander InnoVentures has spent just over 50% of the $100 million initially allocated to the fund, which started out in 2014. The rest of that first tranche of investment capital will be reserved for follow-on funding rounds for companies already invested in.

InnoVentures, based in London but with a global remit, has backed startups such as US online lender Kabbage, US blockchain payments company Ripple, Swedish mobile card reader maker iZettle, and London-based blockchain analysis startup Elliptic.

Business Insider caught up with Belinky to discuss what InnoVentures is looking to spend its new $100 million on, his take on the Brexit, and the trends he is seeing in the fintech market.

Geographically, the focus of the second fund will be Latin America, where Spanish bank Santander has a big presence.

As for areas of investment, the first fund featured, Belinky says "a lot of bets on the obvious. Kabbage in lending, a couple of things around payments like Ripple and MyCheck. We took out a lot of the big themes."

But the next $100 million will be targeting "a couple of new themes that we only started exploring recently — A.I., committed computing, and more of the little details around digital banking. And then I think there's going to be a lot of things that are really specific to Latin America like financial inclusion."

Belinky says the companies Santander InnoVentures have already invested in are "doing really well."

"I don't think anyone has had any impact from Brexit or what they call the bubble," he added.

"I don't buy this whole 'everyone's moving to Berlin or Frankfurt' thing"

Santander InnoVentures remains committed to the UK even after the Brexit vote. The bank's executive chair Ana Botin says in an emailed statement announcing the new funding:

"The fund’s base in the UK has allowed it to benefit from London’s position as a fintech hub, while talent-spotting our investments on a global basis. Santander remains committed to the UK and excited about its Fintech enterprises."

Belinky says Brexit "doesn't really change anything for us. Things that are hyperlocal like lending probably won't see much change. People who try to use passporting for business models might come into question but in the end we are on both sides — we are here and we are in Europe.

He thinks this will be true for most VCs: "People will add now one more question to their initial due diligence post-Brexit.

"We've had a couple of conversations over the past few weeks where in a CEO interview we ask, what is your Brexit plan? What happens if we really go separate ways? If they don't have a good answer then they will probably have a tough time raising money but that's just the same as any other question. It's one more way to check that you're dealing with a good company."

There have been some concerns that London could lose its place as the financial capital of Europe, which would no doubt hit the capital's flourishing fintech scene.

But Belinky says: "I don't buy this whole 'everyone's moving to Berlin or Frankfurt' thing. People are not going to pick up and leave. Maybe if there's continued uncertainty new companies will choose to start something on the other side but I've talked to companies and no one is saying we're moving."

We have hit a peak in valuations

He adds: "I think it will open up interesting opportunities on both sides if there is a divergence [between the UK and Europe post-Brexit]."

Belinky agrees that valuations could take a hit from the Brexit vote, but says it's "too early to tell."

"People are just waiting to see what the government comes up with. This is a weird couple of weeks. If there is any pressure on valuations I think we'll see it in September when people are back from vacation and there's a clearer view of what the government will try to negotiate."

More generally, Belinky believes "we have hit a peak in valuations."

"That was driven by the irrational exuberance we saw late last year and earlier this year, but that's unrelated to Brexit. It's become much more binary. Late last year, everyone was getting money. Now if you've got a good plan you'll get a good valuation but if you don't then you'll have a tough time attracting money."

He is not the only one to think we're past "peak valuations." As early as November last year Index Venture's Jan Hammer was telling BI that we had past the top.

'Chatbots are the blockchain of 2016'

I interviewed Belinky last November when he told me he had seen 820 pitches in the last year — he knows what is going on in the market.

So what is hot right now? "Chatbots are the blockchain of 2016 I think," he says.

Chatbots are a bit like an evolution of automated customer service on phones — the annoying robot voices that ask you what service you want. Chatbots are artificial intelligence-powered computer programmes that can automatically answer your questions over services like Facebook's Messenger or WhatsApp. At least that is the idea.

Belinky says: "Everyone's got a chatbot or building a chatbot. Everyone is getting on Alexa or Messenger or something else. It will probably become a commodity very quickly but now everyone is getting excited about it and throwing money at it."

He is not as hyped about chatbots as some, saying: "Probably 10 years ago all major companies switched to automated phone customer service. Everyone thought it would be the end of call centres and it didn't really do that. Chatbots — it's good and it can probably attack the low-value questions like forgetting your PIN or how do I check my balance. But it's not there yet in terms of this is really going to be able to answer users questions in an intuitive way.

Still, he adds: "The volume of low value questions is really high."

Join the conversation about this story »

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The Ministry of Finance in Russia, or the Russian FinMin, is not quite beating its drum to ban bitcoin anymore, going by recent remarks of deputy finance minister Alexey Moiseev. Instead, a new amendment to the infamous bitcoin ban bill will allow for the purchase of the cryptocurrency in the country, which can then be […]

The post Bitcoin Ban & Criminalization Bill Relaxed in Russia appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

This story was delivered to BI Intelligence "Fintech Briefing" subscribers. To learn more and subscribe, please click here.

Equity crowdfunding refers to when investors, including the general public, invest in an unlisted company in exchange for shares.

It's usually facilitated through a digital platform. Recently, we've seen a number of fintechs leverage equity crowdfunding platforms for funding rounds — and investor interest is growing. UK fintechs GoHenry, Mondo, and Tandem all raised over £1 million ($1.3 million) using equity crowdfunding earlier this year. Revolut received £13 million ($17 million) in pledges this week before its round even opened, while Crowdcube attracted an astounding £39 million ($52 million) on its preregistration site.

So far, it's mostly UK fintechs that have used equity crowdfunding, but recent changes in US law mean it could be about to take off there as well. Here's why fintechs are turning to equity crowdfunding:

• Brand awareness and customer acquisition. Fintechs' crowdfunding rounds have attracted significant attention in the media, raising awareness of their products. Most have also required potential investors to sign up for their products in order to invest — a practice that could result in a significant increase in active customers. 
• Differentiation. For many fintechs, it's becoming difficult to stand out in an increasingly crowded market — this is particularly true of UK digital-only banks. By allowing customers to become shareholders, like Mondo and Tandem did, firms could drive customer engagement and loyalty to their products. 
• More control. Equity crowdfunding can result in startups getting higher valuations than they would with more traditional fundraising methods. That's because direct investors seem willing to accept lower equity stakes for the same investment than VCs or Angels, according to research by Beauhurst. This means that these startups can retain more shares, and therefore more control. 
• Diversity of investment sources. Crowdfunding offers an alternative to traditional sources of funding, which could be particularly important if economic turbulence negatively affects VCs' willingness to invest. Post-Brexit, we may see even more UK fintechs turning to crowdfunding. 
• Increased accessibility. Investing via equity crowdfunding in the US had been restricted to accredited investors until May. But restrictions have now been lifted thanks to Title III of the JOBS Act. This vastly increases the number of investors that fintechs raising via equity crowdfunding can target. As a result, we may see more US fintechs start to leverage equity crowdfunding. 

So far only a small portion of fintechs have turned to crowdfunding to raise money, and most have done so as part of a wider round that also included VC investment. In the UK, this is because firms are restricted to raising €5 million ($5.5 million) or less via crowdfunding unless they issue a full prospectus. But growing investor interest in these rounds could mean more fintechs decide to do just that.

If so, equity crowdfunding could replace the likes of VCs and Angel investors, especially in early stage rounds. As a point of context, the median US venture-funded seed round is around $1 million, while the median Series A round is $5 million — both well within scope of crowdfunding rounds. 

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 »

Good morning! Here's what you need to know in markets on Tuesday.

US stock markets closed at record highs overnight. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and benchmark S&P 500 clinched new closing highs on Monday, even though the indexes were little changed during much of the trading session. Asian markets are mixed, with Japan's Nikkei up 1.26% at the time of writing (6.45 a.m. BST/1.45 a.m. ET), China's benchmark Shanghai Composite down 0.51%, and the Hong Kong Hang Seng down 0.54%.

The International Monetary fund will slash its forecasts for UK growth this week as the impact of the Brexit vote triggers a wave of downgrades across Europe. The Telegraph reports that Christine Lagarde, the IMF’s managing director, warned that the Fund was also likely to cut its projections for world growth for the third time this year as global risks mount.

Yahoo wrote down $482 million (£364.5 million) in impairment costs from Tumblr, the social media site it bought for $1.1 billion (£830 million) in 2013. That's the second time Yahoo has written off Tumblr's value this year. In February, it disclosed its first non-cash impairment charge that cost $230 million (£173.9 million). Yahoo announced the impairment cost alongside in-line second quarter earnings.

Netflix missed huge on domestic and international subscriber additions in its Q2 earnings. "We are growing, but not as fast as we would like or have been," Netflix said in a letter to shareholders. The stock plunged over 15% immediately following the news.

Wells Fargo has struck a £300 million deal to buy a new European headquarters in the heart of London’s financial district in a much-needed boost for the city after the UK’s vote for Brexit. The Financial Times reports that the world’s biggest bank by capitalisation has agreed to buy an 11-storey building known as 33 Central in one of the largest London property deals to be sealed since the June 23 referendum.

UK inflation data is coming. Consumer Price Index figures for June are due at 9.30 a.m. BST (4.30 a.m. ET). Price growth is expected to slow, with growth of just 0.1% compared to the prior month forecast and an expected 0.4% increase compared to the same month a year earlier.

Morgan Stanley has merged three businesses within its prized equity sales and trading business — and it's emblematic of a bigger trend on Wall Street. The firm has combined the cash equity sales desks looking after voice, program trading, and electronic trading under the name of One Delta One.

Goldman Sachs's Jason Gottlieb, a partner in the bank's asset management division, is leaving the firm. Gottlieb, one of four portfolio managers on the Goldman Sachs Multi-Manager Alternatives Fund, will leave the bank in August, according to an internal memo sent last week and seen by Reuters.

Libya's sovereign wealth fund is seeking information on alleged "code words" used by Societe Generale staff to mask bribery and corruption, in a $2 billion (£1.5 billion) lawsuit. The Libyan Investment Authority asked a London court to require the lender to reveal the meaning of words such as "cooking," "pizza" and the "Men in Black," which feature in documents disclosed by SocGen.

We've rounded up the 16 hottest Nordic fintech startups. They cover everything from payments, to bitcoin, to budgeting, and peer-to-peer lending. 

Join the conversation about this story »

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Was bitcoin’s price spike yesterday in response to the attempted Turkish military coup? Current events continue to make the case for bitcoin as an investment, according to Orange Peel Investments, an investment firm that describes itself as “long” on bitcoin. The company contributed an opinion about bitcoin’s role as an investment in Seeking Alpha.   Turkish […]

The post Turkish Coup: Further Cause to Consider Investing in Bitcoin? appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.