Coin News

IBM has announced a cloud service for organizations requiring a secure environment for blockchain networks. According to the company, the...

The post IBM Launches Blockchain Cloud Services on High Security Server, LinuxONE appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

The first six months of 2016 have shown that DDoS attacks are only escalating in their frequency as well as their scale, according to the latest global report by DDoS mitigation firm Arbor Networks.

The post In 2016, 1Gbps DDoS Attacks Are the New Norm appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Ethereum hard forked today. As per what seemed to be the popular demand, the protocol rules have been updated incompatibly with the existing...

The post Rejecting Today’s Hard Fork, the Ethereum Classic Project Continues on the Original Chain: Here's Why appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

A local utility in Washington State is raising power rates months after a dispute began between it and bitcoin miners seeking cheap electricity.

Bitcoin price is caught in a market-wide down-draft and has fallen through the boards of a once promising channel of advance. It looks like we’re heading back to the consolidation support floor and, then, back to the trade planning drawing board. This analysis is provided by xbt.social with a 3-hour delay. Read the full analysis […]

The post Bitcoin Price Caught In Commodities Down-Draft appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

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Santander Innoventures, the London-based fintech VC fund, has secured another $100 million in funding from its parent bank.

This is on top of the $100 million Santander originally allocated to Santander Innoventures when it launched in 2014. Business Insider sat down with Mariano Belinky, managing partner at the fund, to discuss the new funding and his take on the hottest trends in fintech. Here are some highlights:

• Further funding for existing partners. Santander Innoventures has invested around half of its original $100 million in a portfolio of eight firms including US financial settlement fintech Ripple, US alt lender Kabbage, Swedish payments firm iZettle, and UK blockchain security fintech Elliptic. It plans to reserve the other half of that funding for additional investments in its original portfolio. This suggests that Santander's initial partnerships have been successful, and it sees further potential in these relationships. 
• Latin American expansion. Belinky said the geographic focus of its second round will be on Latin America. That's because the bank has a significant presence in the region. Companies working on products and services aimed at financial inclusion are likely targets — only 51% of adults in Latin America have a bank account, compared to 94% in the US. And while smartphone penetration is only 40%, that's still 253 million people. Santander could also be looking to get ahead by investing in Latin American versions of fintech solutions that have been successful in developed markets.
• Chatbots are the hottest area of fintech right now. Belinky believes that chatbots "are the blockchain of 2016," and can provide the most value to banks by handling low-value queries like retrieving a forgotten PIN. This function is beneficial to banks because directing these issues away from call centres allows the staff to focus on more complex, high-value tasks — like selling products. 
• Not worried about Brexit. It doesn't really change anything for Santander Innoventures, according to Belinky. That's because firms that offer "hyperlocal" services like lending won't see much change and fintechs with a sound business plan will still attract investment. It's worth noting that Innoventures is based in London, while Santander's headquarters are in Spain.

Santander's decision to boost its VC fund adds further weight to the argument that the fintech funding trend hasn't burnt out. While VC investment in fintechs dipped at the end of last year, we have since seen an acceleration in global VC-backed fintech investment.

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 »

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

Santander Innoventures, the London-based fintech VC fund, has secured another $100 million in funding from its parent bank.

This is on top of the $100 million Santander originally allocated to Santander Innoventures when it launched in 2014. Business Insider sat down with Mariano Belinky, managing partner at the fund, to discuss the new funding and his take on the hottest trends in fintech. Here are some highlights:

• Further funding for existing partners. Santander Innoventures has invested around half of its original $100 million in a portfolio of eight firms including US financial settlement fintech Ripple, US alt lender Kabbage, Swedish payments firm iZettle, and UK blockchain security fintech Elliptic. It plans to reserve the other half of that funding for additional investments in its original portfolio. This suggests that Santander's initial partnerships have been successful, and it sees further potential in these relationships. 
• Latin American expansion. Belinky said the geographic focus of its second round will be on Latin America. That's because the bank has a significant presence in the region. Companies working on products and services aimed at financial inclusion are likely targets — only 51% of adults in Latin America have a bank account, compared to 94% in the US. And while smartphone penetration is only 40%, that's still 253 million people. Santander could also be looking to get ahead by investing in Latin American versions of fintech solutions that have been successful in developed markets.
• Chatbots are the hottest area of fintech right now. Belinky believes that chatbots "are the blockchain of 2016," and can provide the most value to banks by handling low-value queries like retrieving a forgotten PIN. This function is beneficial to banks because directing these issues away from call centres allows the staff to focus on more complex, high-value tasks — like selling products. 
• Not worried about Brexit. It doesn't really change anything for Santander Innoventures, according to Belinky. That's because firms that offer "hyperlocal" services like lending won't see much change and fintechs with a sound business plan will still attract investment. It's worth noting that Innoventures is based in London, while Santander's headquarters are in Spain.

Santander's decision to boost its VC fund adds further weight to the argument that the fintech funding trend hasn't burnt out. While VC investment in fintechs dipped at the end of last year, we have since seen an acceleration in global VC-backed fintech investment.

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 »

There are methods large and small for entrepreneurs to step into the world of crypto-currencies and blockchain technology

Ethereum has achieved what some said was impossible. A controversial hardfork has just successfully completed. At block 1,920,000 a split occurred which lasted barely seconds: Ethereum’s price jumped yesterday when the fork became fairly certain. It continued to rally today with price enjoying an astonishing increase once the fork was successfully completed: After a month […]

The post Ethereum Successfully Hardforks appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

IBM is set to open the first Centre for Blockchain Innovation in Singapore in a bid to attract more technical talent from the country. Working with the Economic Development Board and Monetary Authority, the Centre aims to bring various technology pilots within the trade and finance industries over the next three years. IBM will also […]

The post IBM to Open Blockchain Innovation Center in Singapore appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Mizuho Financial Group announced this week it will pilot Ripple's distributed ledger technology for use in cross-currency settlement.

Panamanian crypto-teller machine TigoCTM has added Dash to its roster of cryptocurrencies for sale and purchase over its network in Latin America. With a new partnership, Dash will see its partner TigoCTM, a crypto teller machine company, add the cryptocurrency to its network of ATMs that already provides bitcoin and other digital currencies to adopters […]

The post Bitcoin Crypto Teller Network Adds Dash in Latin America appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Bitcoin advocate and entrepreneur Charlie Shrem, the founder of bitcoin exchange BitInstant who was arrested in arrested and convicted in 2014 and held in a high-security federal prison camp since March 2015 has now been released from imprisonment. Bitcoin entrepreneur Charlie Shrem, the former vice chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation and founder and CEO of bitcoin […]

The post Bitcoin Evangelist Charlie Shrem Released from Prison appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Lily Allen, English singer and songwriter, recently tweeted to more than 5.8 million Twitter followers about Bitcoin. She is one of the biggest celebrities in the world to mention the crypto-currency. Bitcoin now more stable than the pound. Lolz — lily (@lilyallen) July 11, 2016 In January 2014, Allen admitted her regret at denying “hundreds […]

The post “Bitcoin Now More Stable Than Pound”, Says Lily Allen to 5.8 Million Twitter Followers appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

By Olivia Oran

(Reuters) - Even after a good quarter, optimism is hard to find on Wall Street's bond trading floors.

Revenue from fixed income, currency and commodities trading was up 24 percent at the five biggest U.S. banks in the second quarter from a year ago, to $11.8 billion, according to a Reuters calculation based on the banks' reported results.

Results were helped by Britain's surprise vote to leave the European Union, which rippled across global markets – including record currency volumes for some big banks.

But executives say that bump in activity was short-lived. Although markets have not ground to a halt, activity so far in the third quarter has not been robust. Some upcoming monetary policy decisions may spur more action, but Wall Street's hopes are not high that this will be a turnaround year for bond trading.

"We aren't buying into it just yet," said Brian Kleinhanzl, a bank analyst with Keefe, Bruyette & Woods. "The environment is fragile because if there is just one negative event, investors will move to the sidelines."

Apart from an odd quarter here and there, top bankers have watched bond trading revenue grind lower for about seven years. That is partly because investors have been parked on those sidelines, and new regulations on proprietary trading, derivatives and capital have restricted what banks can do in bond markets, making the business less lucrative.

From 2009 to 2015, JPMorgan Chase & Co , Citigroup Inc , Goldman Sachs Group Inc , Bank of America Corp and Morgan Stanley saw annual revenue from bond trading drop by $34 billion, or 44 percent.

Those banks have reported earnings through the second quarter, showing bond trading essentially flat for the first half of this year. Morgan Stanley reports results on Wednesday.

"There's been lots of adjustment in the fixed-income industry over the past several years," Mizuho's head of fixed income sales and trading Thomas Hartnett said in an interview. "Fortunately, this gives us a clearer picture of the 'new normal.'"

Trading volumes could get a lift this summer from a much-anticipated Bank of England meeting, or from Japan's central bank taking action to spur its economy. But on conference calls to discuss second-quarter results, senior bank executives largely shied away from making predictions about fixed income markets being resilient in the second half of the year.

In fact, even though the Brexit vote provided a momentary boon for trading, it's exactly the type of event that spooks investors in the first place, said Goldman Chief Financial Officer Harvey Schwartz.

"The violence of the first quarter ... and the concerns about Brexit in the second quarter – I think it's fair for us to say we feel like these are the types of factors that contribute to reduced client sentiment. They reduced confidence, and as a result they reduce activity," he said.

Goldman cut bond trading staff in the first half of the year as part of a broader initiative to reduce annual expenses by $700 million.

Analysts are being cautious in their forecasts for bond-trading revenue, arguing that the business remains challenged and will almost certainly never return to its glory days.

"This quarter was comparatively better but it wasn't resounding," said Justin Fuller, a senior director at Fitch Ratings who focuses on bank stocks. "Trading is still largely episodic."

(Reporting by Olivia Oran in New York; Additional repoting by Dan Freed in New York and Anjuli Davies in London; Editing by Lauren Tara LaCapra and Nick Zieminski)

Join the conversation about this story »