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Bitcoin surpassed $750 on 1st December, rising past this key psychological level but failing to reach $755.

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WikiLeaks’ public donation address recently received its 4000th bitcoin. The nonprofit whistle blower site, which to a large extent relies...

The post WikiLeaks’ Public Donation Address Receives 4000th Bitcoin appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

Uber and Airbnb, the hugely popular marketplaces for taxi-like car rides and hotel-like short-term rentals, are usually considered to be...

The post Move Over Uber: Blockchain Technology Can Enable Real, Sustainable Sharing Economy appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

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Tech giant IBM has been working on making itself a global leader in developing blockchain use cases for financial services, and on Wednesday, it announced yet another project.

IBM will develop a blockchain-based supply chain finance solution with Mahindra Group, one of India's largest conglomerates, according to Bezinga.

The new platform will use a permissioned blockchain and be designed to optimize processes involved in supply chain finance, with particular emphasis on invoice discounting.

Supply chain financing is typically laborious. Many transactions between suppliers, buyers, and any financing parties involve paper invoices that have to be mailed and require the manual inputting of documents into each participant's respective system. This greatly increases processing times and the risk of human error.

Blockchain technology is well placed to help mitigate both issues as it can be used to create a shared, immutable ledger that each participant can update instantly, while also limiting each party's access to the parts of the contract related to them. This can reduce human error and operating costs, as well as ensure transparency and the protection of sensitive data. 

IBM has long been upping its blockchain offerings. It's been particularly focused on producing real-world applications for the technology — including in the areas of financial services and trade finance. IBM has made open-source contributions to the Hyperledger Fabric, and in April, it made blockchain services available to its IBM Bluemix cloud users so they could build and test blockchain-based solutions.

We think it likely that its real-world approach will give IBM an edge over groups or consortiums working on blockchain technology. In addition, its structure is less fractious, which may make it easier for the firm to specialize and focus on particular use cases.

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
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 blockchain technology.

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First Round Capital asks founders about diversity, BitCoin, equity grants, and other hot topics.

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The post Bitcoin Miner HaoBTC Launches a Hashrate Exchange appeared first on CryptoCoinsNews.

The world’s leading gravitational wave detector is back online and better than ever. After a series of upgrades, the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (Advanced LIGO) switched on yesterday. Physicists are already stoked about the cosmic collisions they’re going to measure during its next…

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The post Bitcoin Legal by Default in Russia, Confirms New Federal Tax Document appeared first on CryptoCoinsNews.

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The post Ether and Bitcoin in Winnings for Blockchain Startup Contest Winners appeared first on CryptoCoinsNews.

Last year, startups were filled with fear that Silicon Valley was in a bubble about to burst. Now that it's approaching the end of 2016, startups aren't quite as concerned as they used to be — and 9 out of 10 founders think the time is better than ever to a start a new company.

Given all of the fear and loathing startups were feeling in 2015, top venture capital firm, First Round, did another poll of its network of more than 700 founders and CEOs to see what it's like to have a startup in 2016. Times have certainly changed, and we've published with First Round's permission their entire results of the 2016 state of startups.

Here's how startups are feeling about everything from overhyped industries (still bitcoin), to which company startups hope to be acquired by, to whether they've had to layoff people in the last year (nearly 20% of companies):

SEE ALSO: The top 9 most popular restaurants in New York City, according to Uber

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The post Court Grants IRS Summons Seeking Bitcoin Users’ Data from Coinbase appeared first on CryptoCoinsNews.

Multibillion-dollar investment company Huiyin Group has launched a $20m bitcoin-focused investment fund.

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On Wednesday, a federal judge authorized a summons requiring Coinbase, America’s largest Bitcoin service, to provide the IRS with the records of every user who traded on the site between 2014 and 2015. Covering the identities and transaction histories of millions of costumers, the request is believed to be the largest…

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With a John Doe Summons, the IRS has been handed a big victory in its hunt for users of Bitcoin and other virtual currencies. Remember, the IRS broke Swiss banking with the same device.