Coin News

Blockchain analytics startup Elliptic has integrated with LexisNexis, a move that provides the startup's clients with access to the vendor's global money laundering database. The hope, the companies say, is to provide financial services firms with data on bitcoins transactions so that they can avoid interacting with parties tied to money laundering or other perceived to illicit activities. "By […]

Swedish banking giant SEB Group and a Danish venture capital firm have invested $4m in Coinify, a digital currency payment processor.

Danish-based bitcoin company, Coinify, has attracted a new FinTech investor, helping to increase its blockchain payment services in Europe. After joining a $4 million Series A funding round, Swedish banking investor, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken, also known as SEB, now owns part of Coinify. According to a report, board members from SEB will also be joining […]

The post Swedish FinTech Stakeholder SEB Invests in Coinify appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Few details have emerged since yesterday's news that digital currency exchange Bitfinex was hacked.

Last month, the European Commission published a draft directive proposing to extend anti-money laundering (AML) regulation to both virtual...

The post E.U. Representatives Clarify the Proposed Anti-Money Laundering Directive appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

Bitcoin Press Release: Bitcoinofamerica.org is one of the fastest growing exchanges on the internet market today. You can purchase up to 500 BTC daily (more if you are a preferred customer) and receive the bitcoins all in the same day. Their Know Your Customer process is fairly quick and the support is the quickest I have […]

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Wholesale insurers deal with large or complex transactions, typically for big corporations.

These transactions usually involve large numbers of participants across geographies, and claims that can reach billions of dollars. This means that the impact of poor or manual processes may be even greater for wholesale insurers than their retail counterparts.

Blockchain technology can help wholesale insurers improve efficiency in three key areas, according to new research from PWC and Z/Yen. 

• Documentation. Contracts for wholesale insurance usually have a large volume of supporting documents that all stakeholders need. Making sure these copies are all accurate and consistent can take up considerable time. Blockchain technology is well suited to manage large complex files like these because it enables the creation of one tamperproof copy that is accessible to all. 
• Anti-Money Laundering/Know Your Customer (AML/KYC). Each participant in a wholesale insurance deal has to meet KYC/AML requirements. This means gathering significant data on a client, which is typically a heavily manual and time consuming process. PwC and Z/Yen have built a blockchain-based prototype designed to speed up this process. It stores customer documents and evidence of validation from an issuing authority while enabling the client to maintain control of the records. Clients can provide firms with access for a limited time, as required. 
• Claims management. Multiple underwriters are involved in wholesale insurance, and each needs to review and agree to claim documents. This usually results in multiple versions of these documents being created. PwC and Z/Yen suggest that blockchain technology could be used to create a single version of the documents to be reviewed and monitored by underwriters in real time, cutting down on time and lowering costs. 

PwC and Z/Yen's research focused on wholesale insurers, but retail insurers likely suffer from similar issues, and might also benefit from using blockchain technology. Implementation could help increase efficiency and lower costs across the insurance industry as a whole. 

Blockchain technology, which is best known for powering Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, is gaining steam among finance firms because of its potential to streamline processes and increase efficiency. The technology could cut costs by up to $20 billion annually by 2022, according to Santander.

That's because blockchain, which operates as a distributed ledger, has the ability to allow multiple parties to transfer and store sensitive information in a space that’s secure, permanent, anonymous, and easily accessible. That could simplify paper-heavy, expensive, or logistically complicated financial systems, like remittances and cross-border transfer, shareholder management and ownership exchange, and securities trading, to name a few. And outside of finance, governments and the music industry are investigating the technology’s potential to simplify record-keeping.

As a result, venture capital firms and financial institutions alike are pouring investment into finding, developing, and testing blockchain use cases. Over 50 major financial institutions are involved with collaborative blockchain startups, have begun researching the technology in-house, or have helped fund startups with products rooted in blockchain. 

Jaime Toplin, research associate for BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has compiled a detailed report on blockchain technology that explains how blockchain works, why it has the potential to provide a watershed moment for the financial industry, and the different ways it could be put into practice in the coming years.

Here are some key takeaways from the report:

• Spending on capital markets applications of blockchain is expected to grow at a 52% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) through 2019, according to Aite Group, to reach $400 million that year.
• Banks and major financial institutions are working both collaboratively and independently to develop blockchain tech. Over 50 major financial institutions are involved with collaborative blockchain startups, like R3 CEV or Chain. And many are investing in the technology on their own as well.
• Putting blockchain to use for real-world transactions is likely not that far off. If working groups' tests are successful, firms could be using it to transact real value as early as the end of this year and we could see widespread industry application within the next few years. 

In full, the report:

• Examines the funding increases that are pouring into blockchain
• Assesses why blockchain is becoming so popular and what factors are driving up increased research and development
• Explains in full how blockchain technology work and what assets make it valuable and vulnerable
• Identifies pain points in the financial industry and profiles how various firms are using blockchain to solve them
• Demonstrates the challenges to mainstream adoption and their potential solutions

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
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The choice is yours. But however you decide to acquire this report, you’ve given yourself a powerful advantage in your understanding of blockchain technology.

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 Ripple has acquired Hoodline, a deal that combines two different approaches to covering local news. Founded by former Viki CEO Razmig Hovaghimian, Ripple launched earlier this year and taps community contributors for its coverage. Hoodline, meanwhile, has an editorial team (led by TechCrunch’s former co-editor Eric Eldon) taking advantage of local data to cover neighborhood… Read More

Bitcoin price slammed through several layers of support to hit a previous long-term resistance level at $465. Although the market seems to have found a bottom, there is not yet any technical reason to believe the decline is complete. Now is the time to count your money and sit out of the market for a […]

The post Bitcoin Price Decline Bounces From $465 appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Bitcoin value fell after the BitFinex exchange in Hong Kong reported the massive theft.

The list of bitcoin thefts is far too long. Over the past, almost, eight years, we can roughly estimate $1 billion or more have been stolen. Each time, there is devastation for the individuals involved and the wider community as bitcoin’s security is brought to the forefront. This is followed by a backlash from the […]

The post How to Make Bitcoin Thefts Impossible appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

EU parliament

The post Trial Image appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

Likely disconcerting to anyone that trades in the popular cryptocurrency known as Bitcoin, a digital exchange was hit by hackers this week and approximately $65 million in Bitcoin was stolen.

A Hong Kong-based Bitcoin exchange has suspended all transactions after hackers stole a significant sum of the cryptocurrency. Bloomberg is reporting that 119,756 BTC, currently valued at $63.7 million, has been taken from Bitfinex. The news has help...

Hong Kong bitcoin exchange Bitfinex reported yesterday that hackers had stolen 119,756 bitcoin, which is worth as much as $72 million dollars. News of the hack sent bitcoin tumbling 23 percent, with its current value hovering around $556. Bitfinex confirmed that no other digital currency except bitcoin was targeted in the hack.

Read more...

The U.K. government has awarded the first G-Cloud blockchain platform-as-a-service (PaaS) agreement to Credits for the supply of secure Blockchain-as-a-Service (BaaS) to its public sector. The Crown Commercial Service (CCS) made the award for U.K. public sector organizations. It will enable central and local government and the devolved administrations, health, education, and emergency services, to use Credits’ PaaS. The platform […]

The post UK Government Awards First G-Cloud Blockchain PaaS Agreement appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

The Thai baht is tumbling after the Bank of Thailand kept rates unchanged.

The currency is down by 0.5% at 34.936 per dollar as of 7:44 a.m. ET.

Most economists polled expected the bank's to keep its policy rate unchanged at 1.50%, according to Bloomberg.

"With Thailand’s economy looking stronger than it has done for a while, there is no strong impetus for an immediate rate cut," wrote Capital Economics Asia Economist Krystal Tan in a note.

"That said, we see scope for the policy rate to be lowered back to its record low of 1.25% in the coming months," she added.

As for the rest of the world, here's the scoreboard as of 8:01 a.m. ET:

• The British pound is more or less unchanged at 1.3355 against the dollar, despite the fact PMI data released by Markit and the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply showed the service sector headline reading came in at 47.4 for July, down from 52.3 in June. This is the steepest month-on-month decline since PMIs began in 1996.
• The euro is down by 0.2% at 1.1199 against the dollar, after Markit's final composite PMI figure for July came in at 52.9, an incremental uptick from June's 52.7. 
• The US dollar index is up by 0.2% at 95.25 ahead of a busy data day. ADP Employment Change will cross the wires at 8:15 a.m. ET before Markit US Services PMI and ISM nonmanufacturing are released at 9:45 a.m. and 10 a.m. ET. US crude-oil inventories are due out at 10:30 a.m. ET.
• The Japanese yen is down by 0.2% at 101.12 per dollar.
• Meanwhile, in cryptocurrency news, there was a massive Bitcoin heist. More than $65 million worth of bitcoin was stolen from BitFinex, a digital currency exchange in Hong Kong. Bitcoin has traded down by as much as 20% on the news to $480.

SEE ALSO: What 25 major world leaders and dictators looked like when they were young

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United Pharmacies has joined the list of retailing outlets that accept bitcoin as a form of payment. United Pharmacies sells drugs whose order for personal use is legal in most countries including the U.S. and the U.K. It is offering a 10 percent discount on orders made with bitcoin as part of its celebration of the […]

The post United Pharmacies Launches Bitcoin Payment Method for Convenience and Anonymity appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Legal expert Andrew Hinkes looks at the potential impact of a Florida court's decision to rule that bitcoin isn't money.

Here is what you need to know.

China's services sector is slowing. The largest segment of China's economy is growing, albeit at a slower pace, according to the latest Caxin-Markit services purchasing managers’ index. July's reading of 51.7 was down from June's 52.7, and was the weakest since July 2014.

China's state planner says the PBOC should ease at the "appropriate time." Rare comments from the National Development and Reform Commission suggested Beijing should cut interest rates and ease bank requirements at the "appropriate time" in an effort to kick start the economy, Reuters reports. The People's Bank of China has not moved rates since October.

Britain's services sector got crushed by Brexit. PMI data released by Markit and the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply showed Britain's services sector posted its sharpest drop on record in the wake of the UK's decision for a Brexit. The July reading tumbled to 47.4 from June's 52.3. The British pound is unchanged at 1.3358.

But Europe is seeing little effect. The eurozone is seeing "little overall contagion" from the UK's decision to leave the European Union, according to the Markit's final composite PMI figure for July. The reading came in at 52.9, which marked a minor improvement from June's 52.7. The euro is down 0.2% at 1.1199.

There was a massive Bitcoin heist. More than $65 million worth of Bitcoin was stolen from BitFinex, a digital currency exchange in Hong Kong. "We are investigating the breach to determine what happened, but we know that some of our users have had their bitcoins stolen," the exchange said in a blog post. Bitcoin has traded down as much as 20% on the news to $480.

Sturm, Ruger & Co. says gun sales are surging. The gun maker earned an adjusted $1.22 per share on revenue of $167.9 million. The company says sales surged 26% during the quarter, coinciding with a spike in background checks.

AIG is buying back more stock. The commercial insurer earned $0.98 per share on revenue of $14.7 billion. AIG's board of directors authorized the buyback of up to an additional $3 billion worth of stock.

Stock markets around the world are mostly lower. France's CAC (-0.3%) trails in Europe after Japan's Nikkei (-1.9%) lagged in Asia. S&P 500 futures are lower by 3.50 points at 2,149.25.

Earnings reporting remains heavy. Office Depot and Time Warner are among the names reporting ahead of the opening bell while Herbalife, MetLife, and Tesla Motors highlight the names releasing their quarterly results after markets close.

US economic data flows. ADP Employment Change will cross the wires at 8:15 a.m. ET before Markit US Services PMI and ISM non-manufacturing are released at 9:45 a.m. and 10 a.m. ET. US crude oil inventories are due out at 10:30 a.m. ET. The US 10-year yield is down two basis points at 1.54%.

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NOW WATCH: Scientists just collected a mysterious 'purple orb' at the bottom of the ocean, but no one could anticipate what happened next

UNICEF is looking for a software developer/consultant in New York City for an 11.5-month assignment in its Office of Innovation. The developer will assist in the development of blockchain’s humanitarian uses, according to a posted notice. The developer will help create products to solve problems in developing nations. The agency uses polymer, react now, node and […]

The post UNICEF Seeks Developer for Innovation Projects including Blockchain’s Humanitarian Uses appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Bitcoin Press Release: TAO Network, the future-proof Bitcoin technology based smart contract DAO platform has announced the public crowdsale of its cryptocurrency tokens. August 1, 2016, Los Angeles, CA – TAO Network, the smart contract DAO platform for creating and operating decentralised applications is currently offering an opportunity for the cryptocurrency community to invest in the […]

The post TAO Network Announces the Crowdsale of its Cryptocurrency and the TAO of Music Project appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

The latest high-profile victim to see a social media account hacked by self-proclaimed white hat hacking group OurMine is John Hanke, CEO of Niantic, famously relevant as the developer of mobile gaming phenomenon Pokemon Go.

The post Hacked: Pokemon Go Developer CEO’s Twitter Account appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

The price of bitcoin has dropped dramatically after hackers managed to steal more than $65 million-worth of the digital currency from a Hong Kong exchange.

BitFinex, one of the largest bitcoin exchanges, halted all trading on Tuesday evening and alerted its users to a security breach.

"We are investigating the breach to determine what happened, but we know that some of our users have had their bitcoins stolen. We are undertaking a review to determine which users have been affected by the breach," the company said in a blog post. "The theft is being reported to—and we are co-operating with—law enforcement."

The company has confirmed that 119,756 bitcoin were stolen — $65 million at current prices.

It's not yet clear what the nature of the security breach is, or who is responsible for the attack.

The price of bitcoin dropped on the news by as much as 20% compared to its 24-hour high, CoinDesk reported — as low as $480, down from $607.

It's a huge hack — the second-largest ever successful confirmed attack on a bitcoin exchange. Back in 2014, MtGox, then the largest exchange, collapsed after $460 million in bitcoin was stolen by apparent hackers.

Ethereum — an alternative digital currency — has recently been rocked by an attack on the DAO, a decentralised organisation that ran on its blockchain. The attacker managed to obtain $50 million-worth of Ether, but the community effectively split the currency in a "hard fork" to prevent them from being able to use it.

The attack of BitFinex will worry bitcoin users because it's one of the biggest exchanges out there: It dominates bitcoin-USD trading, making up 50% of total volume. It also disrupts what has been a bullish year for the currency thus far. As recently as January 2016, bitcoin was trading at just over $200 — less than a third of its $740-odd June 2016 highs.

"With [BitFinex] users funds secured using multisignature technology in partnership with BitGo - a lot more is at stake for the backbone of the Bitcoin industry with its stalwarts and prided tech under fire," CryptoCompare CEO Charles Hayter said. "With uncertainty comes volatility - with the block reward halving out of the way there is no clear path for bitcoin especially with divisions reappearing on the scaling debate. This BitFinex hack muddies the waters again for Bitcoin and opens up raw wounds in echoes of Mt Gox. "

Bitcoin is trying to shed the reputation for danger and volatility that incidents like MtGox helped create — and BitFinex's hack could be a significant setback.

Here's the full blog post from Bitfinex:

Today we discovered a security breach that requires us to halt all trading on Bitfinex, as well as halt all digital token deposits to and withdrawals from Bitfinex.

We are investigating the breach to determine what happened, but we know that some of our users have had their bitcoins stolen. We are undertaking a review to determine which users have been affected by the breach. While we conduct this initial investigation and secure our environment, bitfinex.com will be taken down and the maintenance page will be left up.

The theft is being reported to—and we are co-operating with—law enforcement.

As we account for individualized customer losses, we may need to settle open margin positions, associated financing, and/or collateral affected by the breach. Any settlements will be at the current market prices as of 18:00 UTC. We are taking this necessary accounting step to normalize account balances with the objective of resuming operations. We will look at various options to address customer losses later in the investigation. While we are halting all operations at this time, we can confirm that the breach was limited to bitcoin wallets; the other digital tokens traded on Bitfinex are unaffected.

We will post updates as and when appropriate on our status page (Bitfinex.statuspage.io) and on the maintenance page. We are deeply concerned about this issue and we are committing every resource to try to resolve it. We ask for the community’s patience as we unravel the causes and consequences of this breach.

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The price of bitcoin falls more than 10% after the Hong Kong-based digital currency exchange Bitfinex says it suffered a major hack.

Bitcoin Press Release: The leading Bitcoin casino, BetKing.io offers a wide range of casino games from some of the leading game developers like Endorphina and Booming Games. August 1, 2016 London, UK – BetKing.io is a well-known gaming platform in the Bitcoin casino circle. The platform is hosting one of the best dice games on […]

The post BetKing.io Bitcoin Casino Offers the Best Slots from Booming-Games and Endorphina appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Bitcoin Press Release: P2P exchange platform Unichange.me offers tips on withdrawing and spending Bitcoin to digital currency users. August 2, 2016 Romania, Bucharest – Bitcoin is one of the most volatile cryptocurrencies at the moment. The value of Bitcoin has increased in the recent days, making it the ideal time to trade it against other […]

The post Unichange.me Shares Tips for Traders: How to Withdraw Bitcoin Earnings appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Bitcoin Press Release: LEOcoin, the bitcoin like cryptocurrency for entrepreneurs has shifted from the previously implemented Proof of Work (POW) to Proof of Stake (POS) consensus algorithm. LEOcoin has also added few exciting products into its portfolio. August 1, 2016 – LEOcoin, the cryptocurrency created by London-based LEOcoin Foundation has made an important change to […]

The post LEOcoin, an Entrepreneur’s Alternative for Bitcoin Moves to Proof of Stake appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

LexisNexis has joined forces with bitcoin blockchain surveillance firm Elliptic to restrict illicit transactions with the cryptocurrency, according to reports from Reuters. London-based blockchain startup Elliptic and LexisNexis are hoping that with their service they can include bank-grade Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations to the digital currency’s transactions. Who is LexisNexis? LexisNexis is a leading company […]

The post Bitcoin Firm Elliptic and LexisNexis Bring Money Laundering Solutions to Bitcoin appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

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

HSBC said Wednesday profit before tax plunged 29% in the first half of 2016 to $9.7 billion (£7.2 billion), after "exceptional volatility" during a turbulent six months ending in Britain's decision to leave the EU. Group chairman Douglas Flint said Brexit had "not been anticipated" but insisted that the bank had come through the period "securely."

China’s services sector, now the largest part of the economy, is slowing. The latest Caxin-Markit services purchasing managers’ index (PMI) fell by one point to 51.7 in July, indicating that growth in the sector slowed modestly compared to levels seen in June.

It's European PMI day. The latest Markit figures for growth or contraction in the service sector and wider economy in July are due from 8.15 a.m. GMT (3.15 a.m.) onwards. We'll get readings for Spain, Italy, France, Germany, the UK, and the Eurozone. The UK's service sector is expected to shrink at the same pace as in June, 47.4. (Any number above 50 signals growth while below means contraction.)

Societe Generale, France’s second-largest bank, said second-quarter profit rose 8% on lower provisions for bad loans and a gain on the sale of its stake in Visa Europe. Bloomberg reports that net income rose to €1.46 billion (£1.2 billion, $1.6 billion) from €1.35 billion in the same period a year earlier. That beat the €1.36 billion average estimate of six analysts compiled by Bloomberg. Societe Generale booked a €725 million gain from the sale of its stake in Visa Europe, more than offsetting a €200 million provision for legal risks.

Santander UK has submitted an offer to buy Williams & Glyn from Royal Bank of Scotland, in a move which could end RBS’s suffering as it tries to carve out the new lender. The Telegraph reports that RBS was ordered to set up the new bank by the European Commission under the terms of the 2008 bailout but the processed has proved expensive, difficult, and complicated.

Biogen, the $75 billion (£56.3 billion) US biotech giant, surged on Tuesday after a report that it had received takeover interest. The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday reported that Merck and Allergan have each informally expressed interest in doing a deal.

Japan's Cabinet officially approved an economic stimulus package worth over ¥28 trillion (£206.5 billion, $275 billion) on Tuesday. This is the latest move by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to kick-start Japan's economy.

Japanese stocks are under pressure as the yen strengthens on stimulus plans. The benchmark Nikkei stock index is down 1.66% at the time of writing (6.20 a.m. GMT/1.20 a.m. ET). The Hong Kong Hang Seng is down 1.67% and China's flagship Shanghai Composite is up 0.20%.

Bitcoin prices plunged 20% after one of the digital currency’s largest exchanges said it had been hacked and bitcoins had been stolen. The Financial Times reports that Hong Kong-based Bitfinex announced the security breach and froze all customer accounts late on Tuesday. Bitfinex is the largest dollar-based exchange and third-largest globally behind OKCoin and BTC China, both of which are based in renminbi.

Digital Asset Holdings, the buzzy blockchain startup run by former JPMorgan executive Blythe Masters, has assembled a dream team of new hires. The firm is building out its senior team with eight high-profile hires spread across New York, London, and Frankfurt.

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 Bitfinex, one of the most popular cryptocurrency exchanges online, has suffered a major hack. The company has posted a note on their website detailing the security breach, and while it doesn’t mention a total amount, one of their employees confirmed on Reddit that the total amount stolen was 119,756 bitcoins.   That amount converts to about $77,000,000 based on a price of $650 USD… Read More

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

Payments technology firm ACI Worldwide, which provides retail and wholesale banking products as well as retailer-focused software and hardware solutions, announced Q2 2016 results that were in-line with expectations during its earnings call last week.

But the firm’s software-as-a-service (SaaS) and other high growth offerings were highlights in the call, which indicates success in the firm’s ongoing plan to transform its business to embrace and stay ahead of the digital disruption of the payments industry.   

Gains in high-growth segments points to ACI’s clients’ shifting demand for digital solutions. SaaS-specific bookings, which now comprise 50% of the firm’s backlog, grew by 16%in Q2 and 23% year-to-date. For context, on-premise software bookings decreased by 26% in the quarter.

The strong market demand for SaaS offerings, especially compared to on-premise bookings, indicates that ACI’s customers are seeking the efficiency, convenience, and security of digital offerings. That’s in line with larger industry trends, where major payments firms are becoming increasingly focused on software and services in order to diversify revenue moving forward.

The firm’s ongoing emphasis on high-growth areas rather than legacy business seems to be paying off. In January, ACI sold off its community banking division to Fiserv as part of a move to increase its focus on its most strategic initiatives, like e-commerce and real-time payments. The performance of newer digital-focused segments relative to the firm’s traditional business points to the ways this shift is already helping ACI’s performance.

It’s likely that as the firm allocates more resources to these areas through new initiatives, like a comprehensive European data center nearly ready to launch and new digital acquisitions, it will begin to see these services overtaking legacy offerings and driving business.

ACI Worldwide is one player in a much larger payments ecosystem, which includes acquirers and processors, issuers, card networks, gateways, and more.

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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By Wayne Cole

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Asian shares bowed lower on Wednesday while the yen lorded over a weakened U.S dollar as talk the Bank of Japan may retreat from its massive bond-buying campaign twigged a shakeout in debt markets globally.

Worryingly for energy shares, the broad-based decline in the dollar was still not enough to spare U.S. crude oil from its first finish under $40 a barrel since April.

Adding to the jittery mood was a renewed selloff in bank stocks following stress-tests in Europe.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan <.MIAPJ0000PUS> slipped 0.4 percent, backing away from its recent one-year peak. Japan's Nikkei <.N225> lost 1.4 percent as the rising yen pressured exporter stocks while financials slid 2.7 percent.

The sharpest moves were in sovereign bond markets where a sudden spike in yields stirred speculation that a multi-year bull run in prices might finally be nearing its end.

Japanese bonds have suffered their worst sell-off in more than three years as investors feared the BoJ was out of easing ammunition and might leave it to fiscal policy to stimulate the economy.

Tokyo on Tuesday approved 13.5 trillion yen ($132 billion) in fiscal measures and the IMF urged Japan to better coordinate fiscal stimulus with central bank action.

Bond bulls were now worried the Bank of England might also under-deliver at its policy meeting on Thursday, putting the onus on debt-funded government spending to support growth.

"With Japan and the UK set to ease fiscal policy, it will be important to watch whether we are at the beginning of a global policy re-pivot away from monetary easing," wrote analysts at ANZ in a note.

The ripples spread all the way to U.S. Treasuries where 30-year yields hit their highest since July 21 even though domestic data were generally soft.

Disappointing auto sales slugged shares in Ford and General Motors , which both dropped more than 4 percent.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average <.DJI> fell 0.49 percent, while the S&P 500 <.SPX> lost 0.64 percent and the Nasdaq <.IXIC> 0.9 percent.

The recent spate of weaker U.S. data has further pushed back expectations for when the Federal Reserve might hike its rates -- the market is not fully priced for a move until 2018 -- and taken a heavy toll on the dollar.

The dollar touched a five-week trough against a basket of currencies <.DXY>, while the euro reached its highest since mid-July around $1.1230 .

Against the yen, the dollar fell to 101.16 yen having fled from 105.33 in just four sessions.

In commodity markets, oil prices were undermined by worries about a glut in both crude and refined product.

Brent crude was near four-month lows on Wednesday at $41.86 a barrel. NYMEX crude edged up 15 cents but at $39.66 was still under the psychological $40 level.

(Reporting by Wayne Cole; Editing by Sam Holmes)

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Bitcoin’s price crashed today as bitfinex dramatically announced a “security breach” that led to the theft of an unconfirmed number of bitcoins. The biggest USD  bitcoin exchange further announced a shutting down of its website and trading in ominous signs reminiscent of MT Gox. We are awaiting confirmation, but circulating rumors are suggesting that an […]

The post Bitcoin’s Price Plummets as 125k Bitcoins May Have Been Stolen from Bitfinex appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Bitcoin prices fell sharply on 2nd August, extending declines as markets responded to news that a major exchange had been hacked.

Prominent Hong Kong-based bitcoin exchange Bitfinex has announced that it has halted all trading on its platform while investigating a breach that has seen customers lose their funds due to theft. Bitcoin exchange Bitfinex has halted all trading on its platform, including all deposits and withdrawals. An announcement on its website has confirmed that Bitfinex […]

The post Bitfinex Confirms Stolen Bitcoin, Suspends Trading; Price Crashes appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.