Coin News

Although a large proportion of the Ethereum community believed the recent hard fork would result in one chain that the entire community...

The post Ethereum Experts Debate Merits of Two Ethereum Chains appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

A new paper from Deloitte re-imagines the sports stadium concept in light of a number of developing technologies. Notably, Deloitte gives the example of a fantasy sports-style interaction — a "game within the game" — where bets are placed using bitcoin "on in-game events, or use stadium-provided technology for other micro-transactions". The consultancy sees the sports stadium experience […]

Ross Ulbricht’s legal defense filed a reply to the government as part of his appeal this week. On behalf of Ulbricht, who was sentenced to...

The post Ross Ulbricht Defense Files Reply in Court Appeal, Disputes Fairness of Trial appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

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 financial technology (“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 briefing 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 this new report, titled 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 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.   

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 »

In a new partnership, LexisNexis Risk Solutions, a global big-data technology and analytics firm, has integrated its anti-money laundering...

The post LexisNexis and Elliptic Partner to Bring Financial Transparency to the Bitcoin Blockchain appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

Brainbot Technologies, a blockchain development, and consulting company, just released the first implementation of the Raiden Network, which, similar to the Lightning Network, is a layer two protocol on top of Ethereum’s blockchain, significantly increasing Ethereum’s transaction capacity from the current estimated 20 transactions per second to tens of thousands. The first proof of concept […]

The post Ethereum Races Ahead with Raiden’s Implementation of the Lightning Network 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.

In an attempt to head off an economic downturn following Brexit, the Bank of England lowered interest rates on Thursday from 0.5% to 0.25% — the lowest ever in the UK.

This could be a windfall for the UK alt lending market, as alt lenders claim that the economic downturn of 2008-2009 drove the growth of the industry. The fact that UK P2P lender Zopa's loan volumes increased 162% year-over-year (YoY) in 2009, compared to 36% in 2008 seems to support this argument. Here's how these lenders might benefit from the rate cut:  

• Increased demand. If banks don't increase lending in response to the interest rate cut, and instead tighten lending conditions to hold onto capital as they did in 2008, demand for loans would grow. This demand could be met by alt lenders, which are unlikely to tighten their own lending criteria because they have much lower capital requirements. 
• Increased supply. Historically, a lower interest rate means banks lower the savings rate they offer on deposits. And the UK is already trending in this direction. As a result, savers may start to look for other investment options. Alt lenders typically offer interest rates at least 1.5 percentage points higher than savings accounts, which could prove attractive to consumers. This would increase the supply of capital for alt lenders and enable them to meet increased demand. The Innovative Finance Individual Savings Account (IFISA) may also drive increased supply of capital, as it allows consumers to invest in alternative lenders and receive tax-free returns.

Some alternative lenders are confident that the interest rate cut is positive for them. Stuart Law, CEO of P2P lender Assetz Capital, said that he expects investors to continue to turn to the alt finance market in order to improve returns on capital. And James Sherwin-Smith, CEO of Growth Street, an alternative overdraft platform for small businesses, said that companies were likely to turn to alt lenders as a way to "borrow on better terms." 

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 »

The first bitcoin exchange in Colombia has been forced to close after receiving complaints from the Colombian authorities. After only eight days of operating, Colbitex announced on social media that it has stopped trading while the authorities review the relevant legalities. In the post the company said: Dear users, we are going through some processes […]

The post Colbitex Forced to Stop Bitcoin Trading in Colombia appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

CoinDesk explores the impact of the Bitfinex hack on perception of multi-sig wallet technology, a key security feature used by the Hong Kong exchange.

BitGo has declared that its systems were not breached, and its software functioned correctly during the Bitfinex hack. Co-founder and CEO at BitGo, Mike Belshe, wrote on the company’s blog saying: Our job is to protect your Bitcoin and continue to improve the security of the service. BitGo systems were not breached in this attack and our software […]

The post BitGo Claims Its Software Not at Fault during Bitfinex Hack appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

The Hong Kong-based exchange announced today that it is considering making all of its bitcoin traders pay the price after the theft of $68 million worth of bitcoin, earlier this week. In a Bitfinex blog post it said that the company was expecting to ‘socialize’ the loss among its bitcoin users even those who weren’t […]

The post Bitfinex Bitcoin Traders to Pay the Price, Loss Spread to All Users appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

The cryptocurrency and blockchain exchange announced today that it will be relaunching its trading platform after suspending trading earlier this year following a breach on its system. Hong Kong-based Gatecoin has unveiled in a blog post that trading will recommence on Wednesday, August 17 at 08:00 GMT. Clients will be able to trade and transfer […]

The post Gatecoin Announces Relaunch of its Trading Platform appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Australia Post Accelerator has joined firms from across the globe that are experimenting with the blockchain technology which powers bitcoin. It is exploring three potential areas in which it believes blockchain can be developed: identity, registries, and e-voting. Australia Post Accelerator partner Rick Wingfield confirmed the move at Australia’s largest ICT event for the public sector. […]

The post Australia Post Incubation Arm Explores Blockchain Technology for Identity appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Bitcoin Press Release: XMLGold offers the best deals in the market to its Bitcoin trading customers while offering the convenience of using multiple cryptocurrencies to carry out the trade. August 4, 2016 Belize City, Belize – XMLGold, part of the XML Corp is a leading cryptocurrency trading platform serving the community for over 10 years. While […]

The post Reputable Cryptocurrency Exchange XMLGold Offers Great Deals to its Bitcoin Customers appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Coinbase has become America’s largest bitcoin operator after announcing it has installed four new ATMs in the month of July, bringing the total number to 42 across seven states. The Texas-based company’s latest additions include new bitcoin ATMs in New York, Nevada, and Pennsylvania with one installed in Staten Island, one in Las Vegas, and […]

The post Four New Bitcoin ATMs Make Coinsource America’s Largest Operator appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.