Bitcoin Cash had steadily increased the previous week, and out of the blue, Coinbase launched trading of Bitcoin Cash. This was a big deal since CoinBase is the.

By Stringent Know Your Customer ( KYC ) norms and tedious opening account procedures have made opening a bank account in the US more difficult than buying a gun. Could Bitcoin fill the void for a universally accessible bank account? Strong gun lobby The reason why it is so easy to buy guns (including assault rifles) in the US is historical – the right to bear arms is part of the US constitution. The strong lobbying of the National Rifles Association (NRA) prevents any curtailing of this right. With a sizable population of middle class Americans backing the NRA, the Government is loath in taking action to restrict gun ownership. Are bank accounts more dangerous?

New customers have to jump through hoops before they can open a bank account – provide proof of identity, proof of residence, source of funds, etc. Banks may decide to perform additional checks if the customers are deemed to be of high risk.

This begs the question – does the government view bank accounts as more dangerous than firearms? Controlling financial crime is important, but the imposition of numerous checks results in additional hassles for the common man. Moreover, bank customers face the risk that their confidential data may be leaked if the security system of their bank is breached (as in the case of J.P.

Morgan ) Larry Summers, former US Treasury Secretary, writes in the Washington Post: “The right to be secure in holding one’s money seems as fundamental as the right to carry an assault rifle I cannot explain our society’s choices here. Just as the Salem witch trials are inexplicable to us, our support for assault rifles will be inexplicable to our descendants.” Bitcoin – The Universal Bank Account If Bitcoin acceptance becomes widespread, it could take the place of your bank account.

By Tax evaders stunned by the Panama Papers leak are likely to see bitcoin as a tax haven, according to a California law professor reported. Bitcoin wallets have no physical presence, and they do not require expensive assistance to create and maintain. Bitcoin is especially attractive to workers in the gig economy who exchange skills for money. So far there is no effective enforcement method for tracking bitcoin. ‘Super Tax Havens’ Omri Marian, a law professor at the University of California Irvine, tnotes that even as governments have started to cooperate on nabbing tax cheats, bitcoin wallets could become “super tax havens.” Bitcoin offers disenfranchised workers an easy alternative to traditional income reporting required for independent contractors and employees, Marian says.

People who engage in secretive activities like completing homework assignments for students or selling drugs illegally are asking for payment in bitcoin. Such individuals use encrypted email networks like Tutanota. No ‘Paper Trail’ A computer programmer who does computer science homework for college students says getting paid in bitcoin is an easy way to optimize one’s wealth.

His customers tell him what they need, he delivers the service, and there is no paper trail created. The programmer says he could quit his regular job and do the homework full time. Bitcoin could also enable wealthy speculators to conduct complex commercial transactions like gold swapping and tax-exempt stock trades involving buying agents serving as “straw men” by using local currencies to facilitate the exchanges.

Trace Mayer, a cryptocurrency advocate, estimated that if only 1% of funds sitting in offshore accounts transferred to bitcoin, its value would increase substantially. Since the number of bitcoins is capped currently at 21 million, if billions of offshore dollars converted to bitcoin, the value of a single bitcoin could jump from $580 to close to $3 million. Underreporting []. By A collection of technology and financial firms in China and the USA haVE made a $60 million investment to create a Chinese unit of Circle, a U.S.-based Bitcoin Blockchain-payments startup. “We are still in the early days of this global transformation in value exchange, but the barriers and boundaries are slowly dropping away, replaced with open protocols (e.g., Blockchain), and improved user experiences (e.g., messaging and social payments).

The coming years will be exciting, transformative and no doubt challenging. We’re taking the long view and trying to build something that can help integrate the global economy and global consumers in the same way that the the internet of information and communications has brought the world together,” stated Circle Co-Founders Jeremy Allaire and Sean Neville on their blog. The list of the investors includes Baidu, the Chinese search giant; CICC Alpha, a growth-investing unit of the China International Capital Corp.; the private-equity arm of China EverBright Investment Management Ltd.; CreditEase, an online lender owned by Yirendai, a Chinese financial services firm traded in the U.S., and IDG Capital Partners leading the round. “Circle’s powerful take on Blockchain-powered social payments has attracted leading financial institutions and consumer Internet companies in China who are throwing their support behind the company’s global vision for an open Internet of value exchange,” said Jim Breyer, Founder & CEO, Breyer Capital.

“We are very happy to be part of the team and to support Circle in this next phase of growth and expansion.” “Jim (Breyer) has been a long-time business partner and a great personal friend of IDG Capital,” said Hugo Shong, founding general partner of IDG Capital. “Working together with Breyer Capital, IDG is very bold on Circle’s vision of Blockchain and social payment. Just like the success of Alipay and WeChat pay here in []. By Bitcoin enthusiasts will have noticed how the price continues to go downward for some unknown reason. Many people assumed the Bitfinex downtime was to blame, but the platform has been online again for nearly two days now. Unfortunately, the Bitcoin price is not showing any significant sign of recovery just yet. The Downward Bitcoin Price Trend The world of Bitcoin is always filled with surprises, and every day presents new challenges.

Just a few days ago, the Bitcoin price seemed to be surging towards US$800 for the time in years. But that upward trend took a turn for the worse a few days ago after the Bitfinex exchange suffered from unexpected downtime. That was only the beginning of this downward trend, though.

Over the past few days, the Bitcoin price continued its downward momentum. This is not due to a lack of trading volume, mind you, as China remains very bullish and bearish on trading the popular cryptocurrency. Over the past 24 hours, there has been nearly 2 million Bitcoin in trading volume to hit the CNY market alone. As is always the case when dealing with Chinese Bitcoin exchanges, there is a possibility some of the volume is being faked. Huobi and OKCoin combine for 92.6% of all Bitcoin volume in China, This is quite significant, to say the least, but also causes some centralization concerns in the Bitcoin exchange world.

Competition among Bitcoin exchanges dealing with the US Doll ar is heating up once again, though. That is, assuming once you look past the dominant position Bitfinex continues to hold. All of the other exchanges are seeing similar amounts of volume, although OKCoin is slightly ahead of the likes of Bitstamp and Coinbase. For the time being, it is anybody’s guess as to why the Bitcoin price continues to go []. By Nothing seems to be offering up much support in the bitcoin price at the moment, and each time we come to set up against the market with a fresh morning analysis, we end up looking at early morning lows. Whether this will continue as we head into the weekend remains to be seen, but it’s a distinct possibility.

There was some speculation that a British exit from the UK would trigger risk off sentiment in wider asset markets, and in turn, this would drive a shift towards safe havens. Further, that bitcoin is one such haven, and that we would likely see a price gain on the back of the fundamental action.

As things have turned out, the opposite is looking true right now, but this might all change once news starts o trickle in out of the UK this evening. Regardless, if we set up against both sides of the market we should be ok to draw a profit on movement either way. So, with this in mind, let’s take a look at some of the levels in focus for this morning’s session. Take a quick look at the chart below to get an idea of our primary target zones.

As the chart shows, we are looking at in term support to the downside at 540 flat, while out upside level comes in at 600 dead on. It’s a far wider range than we’d normally go at in these sorts of intraday analyses, but given the recent volatility, it’s reasonable. SO, long on a close above 600 flat will give us an upside target somewhere in the region of 620. A stop loss on the trade at around 505 keeps things tight to the downside from a risk management perspective.

Looking short, a close below support will signal a downside entry towards []. By Circle, the blockchain based payments company, is now eyeing China. The US company, which had recently partnered with the United Kingdom-based banking major Barclays, today announced that it has raised over $60 million in funding as part of the strategic investment to create ‘Circle China’, its new regional identity. The investment round was led by Breyer Capital, with additional support from regional search engine giant Baidu, IDG Capital Partners, China International Capital Corporation Alpha – part of the Chinese Investment Bank, Fenbushi Capital, Everbright Investments, and Creditease Fintech Investment Fund. Jim Breyer, the founder and CEO of Breyer Capital, said: “Circle’s powerful take on blockchain-powered social payments has attracted leading financial institutions and consumer internet companies in China who are throwing their support behind the company’s global vision for an open internet of value exchange.” Despite promising to be an ideal market to experiment with Bitcoin and Blockchain technologies, Circle might still face some issues on the legal front. The company needs to overcome the existing capital controls imposed by Public Bank of China in tackling its cross border transaction needs.

Also, it is likely to face face stiff competition from social payment companies like Alipay and Tencent, who are well established in the market. The CEO and co-founder of Circle, Jeremy Allaire was quoted while explaining the company’s strategy in China. “The key is that Circle China is a separate company — a Chinese company with Chinese investors, and we want that to grow independently and have a relationship with Circle Global for the benefits we bring from technology or from connecting to consumers in the U.S.

And Europe It’s really got to be its own thing. If we were just opening a branch office in China, that would be really different.” According to []. By Bitcoin reached a low of $550 last night, down by more than one hundred dollars from $680 for the third day in a row. The unexpected crash coincides with the end of the first Australian Bitcoin Auction which closed around the same time as bitcoin’s price movement.

24,500 bitcoins, valued at $19 million prior to the crash, were sold in a 48 hours sealed-bid auction in 11 lots of 2,000 bitcoins and one lot of 2,518 bitcoins. The auction ended at 12.01 am on the 22nd of June 2016, just as price moved sharply. It is not currently known who participated or how many individuals/companies took part and the winning bid is unlikely to be disclosed unless the winner comes forward.

We are awaiting a response from the auctioneer to provide further details. Reasons for the sharp fall in Bitcoin’s price Last night’s price movement is similar to previous bitcoin auctions which have followed a general pattern of price increase followed by a sharp downwards price decrease once the auction ends. One obvious reason for this general pattern may be that demand is taken out of the market in one huge sale with another potential reason being arbitrage as bidders may try to buy low and sell high. Some, however, suggest that there may be other reasons for the sharp fall in bitcoin’s price. Charles Hayter, CEO of CryptoCompare, states: “The downtrend can be put down to profit taking, mild panic on the Chinese markets and potentially an element reassurance in the Brexit polls as remain looks likely to win.” Bitcoin has fallen more than $200 from a high of $780 to a low of $550 before slightly recovering to $600 in sharp and unexpected movements, bringing back volatility as the halving approaches. A market freeze at bitfinex three days ago [].

By Coinetize, a micropayment service that pays in bitcoin, allows any website to accept payments for content. A key goal of the project, which is currently in private beta, is to free website content providers from having to compromise content quality with unattractive advertising that is often needed to monetize the content. Website visitors can purchase “Coinetize Credits” using either a credit card or bitcoin. Coinetize charges users a 1.8% fee. A website can allocate some of its pages to Coinetize to filter. Coinetize will only allow visitors access to those pages if the visitors have paid the correct fee. The ‘Coinetized’ Guardian The Coinetize website shows a “Coinetized” version of The Guardian newspaper.

When a reader clicks on an article in The Guardian, a window pops up asking for 30 credits. The window also has a button for the reader to sign up for a Coinetize account. The website promises 24-hour customer email support. Once a Coinetize session begins, visitors pay as they go, making micropayments as they click links. Payments are pegged to the dollar. The company recommends visitors use three bitcoin exchanges: Circle, CoinHako and Xapo. ‘Coinetize Credits’ Available Visitors who don’t own bitcoin can purchase “Coinetize Credits” using a credit card.

They spend their credits as they click on the “Coinetized” links. Coinetize allows websites to sell any type of content, such as news, videos, pictures, lists, schematics, tickets, creative works, etc.The setup process allows a website to be monetized in a few minutes with four possible linking methods: DNS, reverse proxy, page redirects and secret folders. Linking requires no credit or ID checks or setup fee. Linked websites can start receiving revenue immediately.Coinetize, according to its website, is an online paywall and resource license management system owned by Virtual Blue Ltd. In Hong Kong. More Projects []. By Photo: Finance Magnates Another day, another ride on the Bitcoin rollercoaster.

From a level of around $670 yesterday the price of Bitcoin dropped almost as low as $540 today before returning to a level around $590 now. The total market capitalization of all bitcoins in circulation has dropped from a high of over $11 billion ten days ago to just over $9 billion today – a loss of $2 billion dollar in value in a very short time period.

Yesterday the majority of the estimations for the cause of the crash involved service outages at Bitfinex and residual fallout from the DAO attack hurting the credibility of cryptocurrencies. Today however, with the monumental Brexit vote taking place in the UK, it is likely that traders are simply reacting to the latest news from the country. The remain camp seems to be winning at the polls which takes the winds out of the worry that the GBP will crash and the need for a hedge with Bitcoin. Another major factor to take notice of today is the massive trading volumes over the last twenty four hours – $288.5 million in total – about four to five times the normal volume.

This may indicate that more than just speculators are in the market today, investors might be pulling serious cash out of Bitcoin to place on a GBP bounce. Charles Hayter, the CEO of CryptoCompare.com, commented on the situation traders are facing: “Bitcoin markets are paring back gains despite positive moves in various quarters – its a mixed bag of news with brexit and circle’s raise. Markets are in a quandary and the result is volatility. Volumes are huge with the USD/BTC pairs seeing a near record breaking highs of 280k BTC – USD 170 million – a 12% market share of trading with [].

By Ripple signs up seven new banks as distributed-ledger tech gains traction. The San Francisco-based financial technology company Ripple has signed up seven more banks to potentially use its blockchain for cross-border payments. Santander [fortune-tech symbol=”san”], UniCredit [fortune-tech symbol=”uncff”], UBS [fortune-tech symbol=”ubs”], Reisebank, CIBC, ATB Financial and the National Bank of Abu Dhabi said Wednesday that they were working with Ripple’s technology, which uses a distributed ledger of the sort that also underpins bitcoin. These automatically-generated ledgers have no central operator and, as they are filled, the entries become irreversible and resistant to tampering. Ripple’s ledgers hold order books with bid and ask offers, and it claims its “path-finding algorithm” finds the lowest foreign exchange rates. Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

Canada’s ATB Financial and Germany’s ReiseBank used the system to make a demonstration fund transfer last week. “Using blockchain technology, ATB Financial became the first financial institution in Canada to complete an overseas payment in a matter of seconds. Without blockchain, that transaction would have taken two to six business days,” ATB chief strategy and operations officer Curtis Stange said in a statement. Ripple said its network now includes 12 of the world’s top 50 banks, and it has 10 banks in “commercial deal phases.”If you want to see how its ledger-filling system works, here you go: Meanwhile, also in the world of blockchain technology, social payments firm Circle has raised $60 million from Chinese investors, led by IDG Capital partners.Circle, which already enjoys the backing of Goldman Sachs [fortune-tech symbol=”gs”] and others, lets individuals send money to one another across borders, with bitcoin’s blockchain as the underlying platform. It is currently partnering with banks such as the U.K.’s Barclays [fortune-tech symbol=”bcs”]. For more on blockchains, watch our video. In a Wednesday statement, Circle said it was developing [].

By Dragon’s Tale is the most original online Casino in the whole Bitcoin gambling Industry. It is an exotic Bitcoin-based Casino that has developed the most exquisite gambling site ever. Dragon’s Tale has developed a unique game genre that is the first in the gambling industry. By designing a totally different way to gamble, Dragon’s Tale introduced a massive multiplayer casino role play game where players can enroll a character and earn Bitcoins by choosing between hundreds of exclusive casino-based mini games or even by completing quests which will help them increase their character level and abilities, thus enabling players to access bigger and bigger rewards. In the virtual world of Dragon’s Tale, players will find a wonderful environment where they can interact and gamble with practically everything in the game. Besides being able to meet other players, users can also create their own tournaments and participate in several events which will allow them to increase their returns. In this Casino, Players are allowed to roam around an immense virtual world filled with islands where they will find many luck and skill-based casino mini games with lots and lots of players who can give you some hints.

These mini-games are also pretty exclusive, and even though they are completely different from what you are used to finding, the gambling genesis is pretty much the same as in any other online casino. Players can even group with other gamblers and cooperate to earn high rewards. Dragon’s Tale is surely a Casino like no other; anyone can sign up for free and start easily earning Bitcoins. If you haven’t visited Dragon’s Tale before, you don’t know what you are missing. Join Dragon’s Tale now, sign up for a free account and start earning bitcoins. The opinions expressed in this article do not represent the views []. By Exciting times are afoot in the Bitcoin world on a nearly daily basis.

Coinbase, also known as GDAX these days, has added support for PayPal and credit cards to their platform. Buying and selling Bitcoin has never been easier or more convenient than it is right now. Before people get too excited about the option to buy Bitcoin with Paypal shortly, that option will not be enabled just yet. Coinbase makes it clear they will let users buy cryptocurrency with a debit card, though.

The PayPal option will only be usable to sell cryptocurrency, Coinbase Expands Payment Options The addition of Paypal to the Coinbase platform was only a matter of time, though. For all of its flaws, PayPal remains one of the most commonly used online payment services around the world. Having the option to convert Bitcoin to this more generally accepted payment method is a positive addition. Then again, actual Bitcoin aficionados will argue this does not benefit the adoption of Bitcoin payments by merchants. Moreover, the PayPal cash out function will be limited to US customers only for the time being. Depending on how often this solution is used, and whether or not PayPal will flag user accounts for suspicious transactions, Coinbase may expand this functionality to other countries in the future.

Moreover, the company has indicated their support for letting users buy Bitcoin with the online payment method in the future as well. No specific dates regarding expanding this functionality were announced at the time of writing, though.

Adding credit card support to buy Bitcoin is a significant move by Coinbase. The company had added debit card support several months ago, which has been quite a success so far. Convenience is a driving factor for consumers to buy Bitcoin, and the addition of credit card support []. By It’s not only Chinese retail investors who’ve gone bullish on new digital payment systems and currencies such as bitcoin. Large firms there are also making sizable investments in the blockchain, the technology underlying bitcoin, which hit a two-year high Monday on demand in China, then plunged 10% Tuesday. A consortium of technology and financial firms in China has made a $60 million investment in the Chinese unit of Circle, a U.S.-based blockchain-payments startup.

The firms include Baidu ( BIDU ), the Chinese search giant; CICC Alpha, a growth-investing unit of the China International Capital Corp.; the private-equity arm of China EverBright Investment Management Ltd.; CreditEase, an online lender owned by Yirendai ( YRD ), a Chinese financial services firm traded in the U.S., and IDG Capital Partners which led the round, according to a draft copy of an upcoming blog post from Circle that I’ve seen. Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire, who also founded video-advertising startup BrightCove ( BCOV ), which went public in the U.S. Last year, and had a previous software company acquired for $360 million, confirmed the investment in a phone interview.

The Circle funding round was led by IDG Capital Partners, one of the first U.S. Venture capital firms to invest in China, and also included existing Circle investors Breyer Capital and General Catalyst Partners. The funding round, Allaire says, like the huge bitcoin trading volumes in China that have come amid stock-market volatility there, shows how the world’s most populous country is well ahead of the U.S. In adopting digital payment systems. 'If you look at the trends, China very well could be the driver of the adoption of block chain consumer services,' says Allaire, whose self-named company was acquired by Macromedia in 2001.Digital payment services, such as Alipay (a former unit of Alibaba that’s still used on the giant’s e-commerce sites) [].

By U.S.-based payments app Circle has raised $60 million from Chinese investors and launched a company in China, as it seeks to expand in the world’s second-largest economy. The latest funding comes from existing investor and Beijing-based tech investment fund IDG Capital Partners, as well as Chinese firms including Baidu, CICC Alpha and Everbright Investments, Circle’s co-founder Jeremy Allaire said. 'We’re not aiming to compete with the domestic market as that would be a suicide mission given the strength of local players like Alipay and WeChat, but we can connect Chinese consumers with the euro zone and dollar markets,' Allaire told Reuters by phone. Circle’s China unit operates as a separate locally incorporated company and has not yet launched a product, pending a deal with a local banking partner and a legal license to operate, Allaire said. Circle allows the sending of payments to countries where it hasn’t yet launched, with the payment transferred into bitcoin, then settled within minutes via the blockchain network that validates bitcoin transactions.

At the other end, the bitcoin is transferred back into the currency of that particular country. Circle’s aim in China is to connect consumers there with this new global means of making small or ‘social’ payments to peers in other countries.

China has in the past shown wariness towards to the bitcoin virtual currency whose usage underpins some of Circle’s transfer of payments, blocking banks from trading the currency in December 2013 on concerns it was being used for money laundering. In January this year, the People’s Bank of China said it wanted to launch its own digital currencies to cut the costs of circulating traditional paper money and boost policymakers’ control of money supply.Circle, which launched in the United States at the end of last year and counts Barclays and Goldman Sachs among its backers, allows cross-currency transfers []. By Bitcoin Price Key Highlights Bitcoin price is still in correction mode, moving on to the lowest Fib on it daily time frame. Price appears to be finding support at the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement as a long spike formed.

If bulls get back in the game, bitcoin price could resume its climb to the swing high at $775. Bitcoin price is still pulling back from its recent strong rallies, moving closer to the rising trend line on the daily chart. Technical Indicators Signals The 100 SMA is still above the 200 SMA for now, confirming that the uptrend is likely to carry on.

However, RSI and stochastic are both on the move down so bitcoin price could keep heading south as bears stay in control. A larger selloff could last until the rising trend line connecting the lows on the daily time frame.

This lines up with the 100 SMA, which might hold as a dynamic support level. It also coincides with a former resistance level that could now hold as support around $450-500. For now, profit-taking appears to be in play while risk appetite has shown a return in other financial markets.

Traders might be booking their gains on their recent risk-off positions now that the EU referendum is set to start. Market Events The much-anticipated EU referendum is set to start in a few hours and the recent price action seems to suggest that traders might stay out of the markets due to unprecedented volatility.

The official results won’t be out until the Asian session on Friday but private exit polls could give an idea of how the vote might turn out.Bitcoin price could resume its climb if the UK votes to exit the EU since this would bring a lot of financial and economic uncertainty even for the []. By BTCUSD has been trending higher since July last year, moving above an ascending trend line on the daily time frame. Price has made a strong surge this month, topping at $775 and making a similarly large correction lately.

Using the Fib tool on the swing high and low shows that BTCUSD is already testing the 61.8% retracement level, which might be the line in the sand for any correction. However, price could still draw support from the trend line around the area of interest at $500. As you can see from the chart above, the $400-500 area served as support back in 2014 and resistance in the latter half of 2015 until early this year. This might hold as support moving forward, as it coincides with the 100 SMA. Speaking of moving averages, the 100 SMA is above the 200 SMA so the long-term uptrend could carry on. RSI is pointing down and heading south so sellers might still be in control of price action for now.

Similarly stochastic is heading lower so BTCUSD price might follow suit. Of course, whether a bounce or break takes place depends on the EU referendum. A vote for the UK to stay in the EU could revive risk appetite and trading in other financial markets such as equities and currencies, driving investors away from bitcoin. This virtual currency has acted as a safe-haven of sorts in the past few weeks, as traders preferred to put funds in an asset that is not so much influenced by governments or central bank policies. On the other hand, a vote for the UK to exit the EU could bring more uncertainty to the mix, thereby driving up demand for bitcoin once more.

However, the official poll results aren’t scheduled to be announced until early Friday so speculative positioning might []. By Tel Aviv-based blockchain startup Colu has raised $9.6m, a fundraising that comes amid a shift in its business model that finds it focusing on local currency issuance.

The Series A round, backed by Aleph, Spark Capital, Digital Currency Group and former Thomson Reuters CEO Tom Glocer, follows a $2.5m seed round in early 2015 that came at a time when the startup was focused on building out its underlying technology. While Colu was formerly focused on developing colored coins technology, a top-level protocol on the bitcoin network that allows bitcoins to be augmented to represent other assets, CEO Amos Meiri said the company has now honed in on a specific use case that was the most in-demand among its users. Meiri told CoinDesk: 'There are a lot of other use cases for colored coins, in music, in the Internet of Things, but what we saw after a while was that more than 60% of the use cases were for local currencies. This is where our market is.' In particular, Meiri cited bitcoin startup Bitt’s use of Colu’s technology to launch a version of the Barbadian dollar on the bitcoin blockchain as a turning point in the project.

As a result of the success of this effort, Colu is now launching two similar projects in neighborhoods in Tel Aviv. There, Colu has created local currencies on its platform that it contends are gaining traction with users and merchants, and Meiri indicated that Colu is building services for these efforts that will make its technology easier to use. 'We have the wallet and we have a control panel where the manager of the local economy can issue a distributed currency, gain access to data about the economy and manage it from one place,' he said. The company said it will look to launch local currencies in other []. By How do you compete with China’s homegrown social payments giants?

Veteran entrepreneur Jeremy Allaire, co-founder of US based social payments app Circle, reckons you don’t; not like for like in the domestic Chinese market. Which is really the sensible view, given that WeChat Pay was already seeing some $50 billion in monthly transaction volume back in March. Meanwhile the older Alipay service was doing some $520 billion annually as far back as 2013. The opportunity to crack into this market as small fry seems sizzled to a non-existent crisp. It’s the Chinese startups who are the pioneers here, not vice versa. Despite that, Circle is now stepping into China — revealing today it’s set up a separate company, called Circle China, with the aim of serving Chinese consumers.

Also today it’s announcing a $60 million Series D, including from a syndicate of Chinese strategic investors, to fuel growth of its global business as a whole. The round is led by existing investor and Beijing based VC IDG Capital Partners, along with Breyer Capital, General Catalyst Partners and what it dubs “a powerful syndicate of major strategic partners” in China, including Baidu, CICC Alpha, EverBright Investments, Wanxiang and CreditEase. Also investing in a personal capacity: Sam Palmisano, former chairman and CEO of IBM, and Glenn Hutchins, co-founder of SilverLake and also a private equity investor.

Circle China has been funded by a separate seed round, of a few million dollars raised some six months ago, albeit with that funding also coming from many of the same investors backing Circle’s global business. So what’s going on? How is Circle planning to circumvent huge local rivals in China’s personal and social payments space and square a very competitive circle? East to West The link is its starting point as a US and now European player, which []. By Plutus is one of the most anticipated projects in the history of Bitcoin to date. The developers of this concept will let users spend Bitcoin wherever NFC payments are enabled. Instead of using a debit card to convert funds, payments will be completed through their native app.

Moreover, the exchange from Bitcoin to the local currency will take place in real-time, through PlutusDEX. Plutus Crowdsale Is Live Creating such a huge project as the Plutus platform takes a lot of time. The developers have also initiated their Plutons crowdsale a few days ago, to raise additional funding for this platform. These Plutons tokens are native to the Plutus ecosystem, and these tokens are limited to a total supply of 20 million. Interestingly enough, the majority of these tokens will not be made available for purchase during this crowdsale.

Instead, they will be kept in reserve for the rebate system smart contract pool. Do keep in mind this does not mean these Plutons are owned by the Plutus team either. Holding this crowdsale has the potential to raise a lot of funds.

When everything’s said and done, the funds will not be automatically transferred to the developers. Instead, it will be released in tier stages, whenever the developers reach specific milestones.

Until this happens, all funds are governed by Ethereum and Bitcoin multisig accounts, courtesy of BitGo. Users who want to partake in the Plutus crowdsale will need to send Bitcoin funds to the crowdsale multisig address.

Transactions will be credited when there is one network confirmation, and the Plutons will be sent to a valid Ethereum address. It is advised not to use an exchange wallet, as deposits of these tokens will not be properly credited. A similar process is put in place for Ethereum transactions.

When sending ETH funds, it is []. By The price of bitcoin fell $100 during a five-hour span today, dropping 15% to reach a low of $551 on the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index (BPI). The move represents a continuation of the recent price correction that began when bitcoin hit a high of $774 on 18th June, a move market observers suggested indicated the digital currency was “overbought” after reaching two-year highs.

Such a sentiment continued to be voiced by market observers today following the day’s sharp price drop, with blockchain advisor and consultant George Samman indicating the currency’s value increased 'too fast' this month, and that as a result, price support is now weakening. Still, sources suggested that the decline is a response to the increasing likelihood that the UK will likely vote to stay in the European Union (‘Bremain’), an outcome that could be made official as soon as late Thursday night in US, Friday morning UK time, reports suggest. The comments echo the widely held belief that bitcoin is a 'safe haven' asset that benefits from times of macroeconomic uncertainty in which its strengths as an investment vehicle whose value is derived solely from a global market are best on display. For example, traders have cited the ‘Brexit’ vote, as well as economic uncertainty in China as factors that propelled the price to its highest level in 28 months this June. In statements, Tim Enneking, chairman of Crypto Currency Fund; investor and entrepreneur Vinny Lingham; and Arthur Hayes, co-founder and CEO of bitcoin leverage trading platform BitMEX, all cited the coming ‘Brexit’ vote as the defining influence on the decline.

Hayes told CoinDesk: 'The drop below $600 indicates that many traders believe that ‘Bremain’ will prevail. The vote is still too close to call with various polls indicating ‘Brexit’ and ‘Bremain’ in a dead heat.' Hayes predicted the []. By (Photo: Rick Bowmer, AP) It’s not only Chinese retail investors who’ve gone bullish on new digital payment systems and currencies such as bitcoin. Large firms there are also making sizable investments in the blockchain, the technology underlying bitcoin, which hit a two-year high Monday on demand in China, then plunged 10% Tuesday. A consortium of technology and financial firms in China has made a $60 million investment in the Chinese unit of Circle, a U.S.-based blockchain-payments startup.

The firms include Baidu ( BIDU ), the Chinese search giant; CICC Alpha, a growth-investing unit of the China International Capital Corp.; the private-equity arm of China EverBright Investment Management Ltd.; CreditEase, an online lender owned by Yirendai ( YRD ), a Chinese financial services firm traded in the U.S., and IDG Capital Partners which led the round, according to a draft copy of an upcoming blog post from Circle that I’ve seen. Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire, who also founded video-advertising startup BrightCove ( BCOV ), which went public in the U.S. Last year, and had a previous software company acquired for $360 million, confirmed the investment in a phone interview. The Circle funding round was led by IDG Capital Partners, one of the first U.S. Venture capital firms to invest in China, and also included existing Circle investors Breyer Capital and General Catalyst Partners. The funding round, Allaire says, like the huge bitcoin trading volumes in China that have come amid stock-market volatility there, shows how the world’s most populous country is well ahead of the U.S.

In adopting digital payment systems. 'If you look at the trends, China very well could be the driver of the adoption of block chain consumer services,' says Allaire, whose self-named company was acquired by Macromedia in 2001.Digital payment services, such as Alipay (a former unit of Alibaba that’s still used on []. By Bryan Feinberg, CEO of Zephyrnet in NYC and Partner-at-Large of Blockchain News recently interviewed South African Internet entrepreneur CEO Vinny Lingham on his latest startup Civic.com. Lingham was the co-founder & CEO of Gyft – a mobile gift card company, backed by Google Ventures before leaving to launch Civic. Civic has already received $2.75m in funding from Social Leverage, along with a number of VC firms active in the bitcoin and Blockchain space including Pantera Capital, Blockchain Capital and Digital Currency Group. Feinberg: Can you give us an overview of how Civic is changing the world?

Lingham: Civic aims to give every consumer the ability to control the use of their personal information by connecting them to a network of responsible companies that will send notifications and permission requests to them, in real-time, whenever someone attempts to access or use their personal information. Feinberg: When did you have the infamous “Ah Ha” moment regarding Blockchain? You are launching in an area of Blockchain where there are not too many companies nailing it? How is your approach different? Lingham: The Ah-ha moment was when I was sitting on Necker Island, at a Blockchain conference hosted by Richard Branson.

We spent more than 50 percent of the trip discussing how the Blockchain could be used for identity, and, more importantly, the later possibilities of using Blockchain to provide seamless and error-free voting applications. I recognized that this space was wide open and that there was indeed an opportunity to build an important company here. Feinberg: There has been so much noise in the industry lately about vertical commercial breakthroughs? When you anticipate your first profitable quarter? Lingham: Profitability is not a metric that important companies need to focus on while in the startup phase. If Facebook or Google focused []. By The Mexican Bitcoin exchange Bitso has announced a collaboration with Bitwage to help Mexican workers attain their wages in Bitcoin.

Founded in 2014 Bitso is one of Mexico’s first Bitcoin exchanges within the region and offers service for those exchanging with the Mexican Peso. Adoption in Mexico has increased quite a bit over the past year and is showing signs of steady growth within the Mexican borders. Now Mexican freelancers can receive their pay using Bitso tethered to the Bitwage platform. The Bitwage firm was co-founded by John Lindsay and Jonathan Chester and the company states it enables “workers receive their wages in flexible distributions including digital and local currencies.” Bitwage aims to reduce cost in regards to payroll, transfer speed and make the payroll process trackable and immutable.

The company states that the partnership with Bitso allows payroll processing more efficient for businesses internationally. Bitso’s blog announcement explains the integration: “If you live in Mexico and receive your list of companies from the US and Europe, this service is for you. This integration allows your customer to make a payment for your services via bank transfer in your country while you receive payment in Mexican pesos to your account.

The integration takes advantage of the efficiency and security offered by Bitcoins to transport your payroll around the world within minutes. Bitwage has tools to track your payment through its platform, making safe and transparent process.” Bitso has received $1.8 million in venture capital investment on May 16, 2016, from investors such as the Digital Currency Group, FundersClub, and Hard Yaka. With the new integration Bitso says the Bitwage tools will help users track payments through its platform allowing lower commission, and faster payment processing because of Bitcoin’s superior protocol. Mexican remittance is in the billions every []. By Mexico is a fascinating country when it comes to the remittance market. There is a lot of money flowing from the US to Mexico on a monthly basis. This has caught the attention of Bitcoin company Bitwage, as they expand their service to Mexico.

If it is up to Donald Trump, he will ensure no remittance will be possible between the US and Mexico shortly. While those plans may be vastly overstated, Bitcoin companies are actively working on bringing alternative money transfer solutions to the Latin American country. Bitwage, a popular firm in Europe and the US, is one of those startups. Bitso and Bitwage Join Forces Thanks to a partnership with Bitso, a company offering Bitcoin payroll services to Mexicans, a new service will be created. The primary objective is to facilitate the exchange between Bitcoin and Mexican peso. Bitwage will play a prominent role in this regard as they have plenty of experience in the payroll business. One group of individuals who will reap the rewards from this approach are freelancers.

Up until now, most Mexican freelancers were limited to finding jobs in the domestic market. But with the involvement of Bitcoin, they can look well beyond their national borders. Moreover, these freelancers will earn a higher wage, thanks to small Bitcoin transaction fees. Bitso launched their payroll service earlier this week, specifically tailored towards making remittance in Mexico a lot easier. Receiving payroll wages from international clients through traditional means can be expensive and time-consuming.

Bitso focuses on completing these international transfers much faster, while offering a better exchange rate as well. Bitwage has been making a name for itself through its payroll services.

Recipients can choose the currency they want to be paid in, whether that is a local currency or Bitcoin. This removes []. By The bitcoin price held above $660 (Bitstamp) today, as the market stays in flux.

Another declining wave seems due, but it is unsure whether this will unfold sooner rather than later. This analysis is provided by xbt.social with a 3-hour delay. Read the full analysis here. Not a member? Join now and receive a $29 discount using the code CCN29. Bitcoin Price Analysis Time of analysis: 14h00 UTC Bitstamp 4-Hour Candle Chart From the analysis pages of xbt.social, earlier today: Price has held at the $660 level overnight and the market may attempt to hold this level.

However, looking at the blue annotations on the left of the chart we can see that an eventual return to the 4hr 200MA (red) is inevitable. Whether the market continues selling off now, or first puts in an upward correction, remains to be seen. A resumption of the sell-off should see price target the $600 level near the 200MA (red arrow). If the market first corrects upward, we may see price approach the previous high in the coming weeks, followed by a second sell-off if nerves become shot up there.

Either way, we should see price resume its gradual advance into another large rally. The larger perspective of the 4hr chart shows the fractal nature of the price pattern: successive waves of advance are punctuated by sharp sell-offs that return price to the mean average of the 200-period moving average. As pointed out in yesterday’s post, there is sufficient reason for us to believe that the most recent wave is only a foothill of a much larger long-term price climb. Summary The price chart is exhaling after a good-sized rallying price wave. During 2015 the chart had wound down from its larger speculative peaks over a couple of months. With the reward halving []. By in September 2015, SearchTrade has already sold 1321 keywords as part of its search mining concept.

Launched SearchTrade works like any other search engine, but takes its revenue from the advertisers, and uses Bitcoin to distribute it back to users. In this way, people become active participants with technological resources being distributed evenly. Search engine monopoly Unlike the monopolies created by some large companies, this new search engine offers its users the opportunity to share their Bitcoin revenue accruing from advertisers. The company hopes its revenue sharing model will be adopted by other companies in the future.

Vishal Gupta, CEO of SearchTrade, says: “This will give a lot of people their first taste of Bitcoin, at no risk to themselves or their savings. And it demonstrates exactly how technology companies should be working – to enrich all users, not just their own management and shareholders.” What is search mining? SearchTrade puts all users in two categories. Regular searchers use the search engine and receive 100 Satoshi for every search performed. Other users buy a search term at 0.4 BTC each, based on the expectation that it would be popular in the near future and receive profit every time someone uses this term to search something. This is a shift of the Internet from its current corporate model to a cooperative one on the basis that wealth generated by businesses is distributed to the users who play a vital part in generating that wealth. It is essential considering that the unprecedented scope of the spread of mobile devices and the demand for all kinds of Internet-based services have resulted in several large companies seizing market control to create an oligopoly.

Bitcoin is ideally suited to the role of a major instrument to build the new economic model as []. By Bitcoin has always been a thorn in the side of financial regulators and policymakers. The Financial Stability Oversight Council voiced their concerns over using cryptocurrencies earlier today. While Bitcoin is becoming more popular, financial instability is looming. By the look of things, this will lead to even stricter Bitcoin regulation in the US.

It is no surprise to find out US regulators are still not sold on Bitcoin by any means. A group of regulators, which include the Treasury Department, the Fed, and the SEC, have voiced their concern over the usage of cryptocurrency. Or to be more precise, they seem worried about the growing popularity of Bitcoin as a payment method, since it operates beyond their control. US Regulators Still Dislike Bitcoin Over the past few years, the Bitcoin ecosystem has grown tremendously. More merchants are accepting cryptocurrency payments, both online and in-store. Since there is no centralized authority overseeing Bitcoin, anyone in the world can join this permissionless ecosystem at any given time.

“Like most new technologies, distributed ledger systems also pose certain risks and uncertainties which market participant and financial regulators will need to monitor.Market participants have limited experience working with distributed ledger systems, and it is possible that operational vulnerabilities associated with such systems may not become apparent until they are deployed at scale.” Now that Bitcoin continues its road to success; US regulators seem inclined to impose more strict regulatory requirements. Albeit there is an argument to be made as to how regulation makes Bitcoin appeal more legitimate, it usually ends up hindering growth and innovation in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. It is important to note the Financial Stability Oversight Council admitted there is no guarantee Bitcoin will cause financial instability. However, they want to be prepared for potential trouble further down the line. By The National Bank of Kazakhstan recently expressed its inclinations towards releasing a number of cryptocurrencies projects. The announcement was made by the country’s head financial regulator Daniyar Akishev in a press conference held in Almaty.

He, however, shied away from going into the details of these future projects. Left to speculation, the projects are now widely speculated to be associated with that of blockchain, Bitcoin’s underlying public ledger. It has been speculated that the Kazakhstan’s national bank might want to utilize the blockchain technology to improve inter-transactions between its branches, a project that sounds similar to the famous R3 global banking consortium. Another possible use case revolves around the use of distributed ledger technology for the implementation and tracking of Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customers (KYC) regulations among the banks. Blockchain Adaption is Inevitable The potential applications of blockchain technology in the banking sector are limitless. Kazakhstan has entered the race on a later stage, as none of the country’s banks are currently part of the global consortium.

Daniyar, while speaking at the press conference also mentioned the growing tendency of cryptocurrency based companies providing alternative financial services without the involvement of mainstream banking and financial institutions. He mentions that the blockchain technology based services have become the natural progression of financial services and it is hard to ignore its speedy developments in recent months. The National Bank of Kazakhstan, therefore, is keeping a close eye on the activities of the banking consortium; it is accordingly making adjustments to its own development plans. The implementation of blockchain technology into the stock market is one of the possibilities being actively looked into by the central bank. The digital currency road map for Kazakhstan was initiated by the former head of National Bank of Kazakhstan Grigory Marchenko by creating a working group. By Yesterday, the sharp collapse in the bitcoin price marked the turnaround point in the wider market, and much of the gains registered throughout last week’s session (and this weekend just gone) were given back to the market.

Those that sold on a speculative position anywhere between 730-750 made a smart move, and it now looks as though the gains were temporary, as opposed to a long term shift. Fundamentally, it looks as though the downtime at Bitfinex caused the slide, which is both good and bad. Good, because the downtime is not permanent, and is now resolved, so its impact should only weigh on sentiment for a short time. Bad, because it demonstrates the immaturity of the bitcoin space from an asset valuation perspective – if downtime in a single entity related to the space can cause a double digit percentage slip in the valuation of an asset at the core or an industry, there’s still plenty of room for maturation. Anyway, let’s not dwell too much on that. We’ve got an evening session ahead of us, so what are we looking to trade in the bitcoin price, and where can we set up our range given the recent action?

As ever, take a quick look at the chart below to get an idea of what’s on. As the chart shows, the levels we are focusing on for this evening are in term support to the downside at 641 and in term resistance to the upside at 679. It’s plenty wide enough for intrarange, so long at support and short on a resistance correction. Looking at breakout, if price closes above resistance we will look to enter long towards an initial upside target of 690.

A close below support signals a short entry towards an immediate downside target of 630. Charts used []. By The Hyperledger Project, an open-source cross-industry endeavor focused on blockchain technology and led by the Linux Foundation will see seven new members. In an announcement today, the Hyperledger Project revealed seven new members join the ranks to help enable the development and rollout of enterprise grade, open-source blockchain solutions.

In a statement, newly appointed executive director Brian Behlendorf who is leading the project underlined the potential for blockchain solutions in enterprise. He stated: The enterprise application of blockchain technology is set to change the way we conduct business and will have a profound impact across all sectors of business. The new members announced today are: Belink Technologies – a Chinese technology firm.

BitSE – a blockchain startup from Shanghai, China. INVeSHARE – a consultancy firm.

MonetaGo – formerly a bitcoin exchange, now a blockchain firm. Moscow Exchange – Russia’s largest exchange group. Norbloc – a Swedish blockchain firm. Onchain – A blockchain wallet API provider. The new members join a growing number of bitcoin- and blockchain-related firms including the likes of bitcoin exchange itBit, Bitcoin core developer Jeff Garzik-led blockchain solutions firm Bloq. Prominent global news service Thomson Reuters is also among the many members with the project adding plenty by the numbers every month.“To be able to welcome this many new members each month is not only a testament to what we are doing, but is paramount to our success in developing distributed ledger technology for the world,” Behlendorf stated.The Hyperledger Project is arguably the foremost blockchain project of its kind, wherein leading industry players are collaborating in a Linux Foundation-led effort to develop open-source blockchain solutions.

Early reports revealed technology giant IBM to be among the proponents for the endeavor that also counts several prominent banks such as JP Morgan and Wells Fargo.Earlier this year in February, the []. By ICICI Bank, India’s largest private bank, will focus on Blockchain technology to make its services more secure and create a more robust experience for its customers. ICICI Bank, India’s largest private bank, will use Blockchain technology to make its services more secure. According to the Indian newspaper Mint, ICICI Bank, headquartered in Mumbai, India, will create a new position with the title Chief Technology and Digital Officer (CTDO) for this purpose.

The CTDO will report directly to Chanda Kochhar, Managing Director and CEO of ICICI Bank. The CTDO will be in charge of the bank’s newly formed Technology and Digital Group. The creation of this new Technology and Digital Group will enable the bank to expand its digital reach and technological offerings. Adopting Blockchain Banks have the need for complex clearing and settlement systems and this is where Blockchain can prove to be useful. ICICI Bank will specifically focus on Blockchain systems to create a more robust experience for its customers.

ICICI hopes to reduce duplication of access to data. The bank is also hoping that the Blockchain-based system will be more scalable and reduce costs. The Bank’s CEO Chanda Kochhar says, “For example, it is not just limited to the banking part.

If we look at trade or exports and imports – can we start linking right from the point where exports are made and the export certificates are received and then against that the banks give a confirmation and another set of banks give funding? The ports give the confirmation of the physical goods having moved. Having that whole thing sit on an open ledger helps make things that much more transparent and therefore reduces fraud; it reduces mistakes of data entry and two banks giving different information.” ICICI looks at fintech opps ICICI Bank has decided that it []. By A major financial oversight body within the US government created in the wake of the financial crisis has identified bitcoin and distributed ledger systems in general as a potential systemic risk.

The Financial Stability Oversight Committee (FSOC) said in the new report released yesterday that the technology represented an innovation that “appear[s] poised for substantial near-term growth” and that it is reflective of a shifting landscape that merits attention from regulators. As a broad recommendation, the committee said that regulators should prepare to adjust accordingly if the technology sees broader adoption or outright supplants certain market intermediaries. The issues identified focus on the lack of experience with these systems among participants in financial markets, exposing them to operational and fraud risks.

Beyond that, the FSOC said that the global nature of the technology – and the fact that it transcends legal jurisdictions and national boundaries – will potentially require regulatory cooperation on a similar scale. The report notes: 'Furthermore, since the set of market participants which makes use of a distributed ledger system may well span regulatory jurisdictions or national boundaries, a considerable degree of coordination among regulators may be required to effectively identify and address risks associated with distributed ledger systems.' The FSOC was created with the passage of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which was drafted in response to the 2008-09 financial crisis. Signed into law in 2010, the bill was a controversial one, and to this day draws arguments that it either regulates the financial system too much or not enough. The committee itself was given a broad mandate to investigate possible systemic risks, and according to the law, is empowered to designate market issues and take action against activities or market participants it deems an immediate risk to the US financial system. The FSOC is currently chaired [].

By Blockchain-based company Tech Bureau and software-based firm Infoteria has recorded the experiment of private blockchain technology for microfinance purposes. According to the press release, this attempt marks the first blockchain experiment in the micro-finance sector. Both companies successfully transferred loan and deposit account data from BC Finance, Myanmar’s largest microfinance institution, to the Mijin private blockchain. The blockchain was hosted on Microsoft Azure for this test. By using ASTERIA WARP and Mijin adapters, the field trial was declared a complete success. “Microsoft Japan Co., Ltd. Welcomes the success of the demonstration experiments using private-block chain in microfinance,” Akira Sakakibara, Microsoft Japan CTO said (according to loosely translated version of the press release).

“This(experiment) is to spread the width of the additional scope of application of the blockchain technology. It means that you can deliver to more customers worth of Microsoft Azure as the foundation execution and operation of the block chain at the same time.' The trial experiment by both the companies took place between May 28 and June 5 of 2016, themerkle.com reported. The experiment was assessed by three engineers, two from Infoteria and one from BC finance. “Microfinance social significance is high in developing countries, and the possibility is that you can contribute blockchain in the social infrastructure from the grassroots of the developing countries.

We believe that it is a big step,” Yoichiro Hiran, President of Infoteria said. In addition, the companies are also focused on the spread and penetration of the blockchain technology in foreign countries.The results thus obtained will be an advantage in taking the expansion towards other developing countries. Japan-based Infoteria founded in 1998 as an innovative software product company, went public in 2007.

Its main product, ASTERIA, is used to link data from various computer systems, without the need for writing any code []. By Bitcoin enthusiasts are well aware of how Perianne Boring has been part of a controversial Bitcoin podcast not too long ago. Bitcoin Uncensored invited Ms. Boring to be a guest and answer some questions regarding Bitcoin and blockchain.

But things did not work out as planned, and she is considering to use the podcast and its hosts. Perianne Boring on Bitcoin Uncensored Being part of any podcast will always require some preparation, even when it is about a topic one is very comfortable with. The most recent Bitcoin Uncensored podcast was a very entertaining one, albeit Perianne Boring may think otherwise. While there are no real “wrong” opinions on Bitcoin and blockchain, the lines seemed to blur during this particular episode.

It has to be said the setup of this particular episode could be seen as a way to trick Perianne Boring into saying some unusual things. Then again, anyone who is actively lobbying for Bitcoin and blockchain can expect some difficult questions now and then. A lot of Bitcoin community answers were not too happy with the answers Ms.

Boring gave during the Bitcoin Uncensored episode. Saying the interview did not go as she had planned, would be the understatement of the year. The Bitcoin Uncensored hosts seem convinced Perianne knowledge on Bitcoin, the blockchain, and regulation is rather disappointing. Then again, people have given horrible interviews in the past, especially when they feel like others are trying to poke holes in their knowledge.

What caught people’s attention is how the Bitcoin Uncensored team could run into legal trouble for this podcast. While there is a right to freedom of speech, it would not be the first time an episode had to be pulled offline. By the look of things, Perianne Boring has decided to take legal action if []. By Ethereum went live on June 30, 2015, arguably having become the largest news in crypto since the advent of Bitcoin.

But when its idea was born and who are its founding fathers? The birth of the idea When was the idea of Ethereum born? Some say it happened in 2009, with the appearance of Bitcoin as the first ever practical solution of decentralization.

There is no doubt that seeing Blockchain succeed in the form of a payment protocol has had a great influence on Vitalik Buterin, the creator of Ethereum. However, a more particular date would be 2012. That year, Buterin left the University of Waterloo to travel the world and take part in different cryptocurrency projects for six months. It was during this trip that the Russian-born Canadian Vitalik Buterin conceived the idea of Ethereum, a cryptoeconomically -secured platform for development of any kinds of decentralized applications. Vitalik’s main fields of academic interest are information theory, cryptography, sociology, politics and economics.

Ethereum was born at the intersection of those disciplines as an instrument for building more secure, trustworthy and wasteless systems than ever before. Buterin’s Whitepaper Soon after, Vitalik began drafting the Ethereum Whitepaper. The document provided a justification for the development of a new technology, outlined its fundamental principles and possible applications. It was the crucial step in the development of a new protocol to sort out the idea’s primordial soup. The Whitepaper was published in late 2013, and about a month later, on January 23, 2014, Vitalik announced the start of Ethereum project on the Bitcointalk forum. In his post, Buterin revealed that he was cooperating with Dr. Gavin Wood and Jeffrey Wilcke as principal core developers.

Wood, a self-styled free-trust technologist, took the major part in Ethereum’s development after Buterin himself. He published his “Yellow Paper”, the formal []. By The last century of financial regulation within the world’s largest economy, in the United States, has bred a literal treasure chest of regulatory bodies that look more like an alphabet soup than any cohesive form of governance. It is difficult to tell if one made-up group of regulators are just created to boost national employment numbers, protect the proletariat, or to check another set of fact-checkers who guard a larger, established thiefdom. Speaking of thiefdoms, private companies like The Federal Reserve, in association with federal organizations like the SEC and the Treasury Department have crafted a new annual report under a group name called the Financial Stability Oversight Council, or FSOC.

This report focuses on the safety and overall health of the U.S. Economic system and has done so for the past five years.

Negative fodder This year, Bitcoin and its blockchain technology are featured under the inclusive section labeled “Potential Emerging Threats and Vulnerabilities.” To sample the report in its 161-page entirely, click here. In this small ebook of impending economic doom-and-gloom, this is what the cabal had to say about the new technology known in the report as “distributed ledgers,' or blockchains: “.Although distributed ledger systems are designed to prevent reporting errors or fraud by a single party, some systems may be vulnerable to fraud executed through collusion among a significant fraction of participants in the system.” When it comes to Bitcoin and what it brings to the table, the FSOC regulators found negative fodder to focus on, referring to the extended blockchain transaction confirmation times. “For example, in recent months, Bitcoin trade confirmation delays have increased dramatically and some trade failures have occurred as the speed with which new Bitcoin transactions are submitted has exceeded the speed with which they can be added to the blockchain.” [].

By Blockchain technology is making the rounds in many different sectors all over the world. The world’s first experiment of private blockchain technology has been recorded, thanks to Tech Bureau and Infoteria. Recording account data on this blockchain for microfinance purposes has been successful, which is a positive sign for both companies.

The Private Blockchain In Microfinance When it comes to merging finance with Bitcoin technology, there is a growing need for private blockchain solutions. Tech Bureau acknowledges this need, and their Mijin blockchain solution has been received well by banks and other financial institutions. Infoteria has taken notice of this technological advancement and decided to conduct a trial in the microfinance sector. As it turns out, both companies successfully transfer loan and deposit account data from BC Finance to the Mijin private blockchain.

It is worth nothing the blockchain was hosted on Microsoft Azure for this test. By using ASTERIA WARP and mijin adapters, the field trial was deemed a complete success. This goes to show the private blockchain by Tech Bureau is capable of being used for data recording and microfinance. BC Finance CEO Jeremy Kloiser-Jones told the media: “We are very excited about this first project with Infoteria, testing ASTERIA private Blockchain in our core banking system. However this is just the start.

While we expect it to bring significant savings, leveraging the technology to the next level—replacing analog processes and freeing up employee and customer time, will likely produce more significant savings. On these topics, please expect more announcements from BCF and Infoteria.’ The trial by Tech Bureau and Infoteria was conducted between May 28 and June 5 of 2016. Four different mijin nodes were set up on Microsoft Azure, which were deployed in quick succession.

Three engineers oversaw the whole experiment, as two Infoteria and []. By The mysterious braggadocio, and ultimately debunked, ‘Bitcoin creator’ Craig Wright may not be Satoshi Nakamoto, but he is ambitious enough to be a Blockchain technology king. It appears that Wright has been working on building a patent-based Bitcoin Blockchain empire. With the banking industry becoming so enamored with Blockchain technology of late, Wright may have found a backdoor to the ego-stroking success he seeks. Will it pay off for Wright? According to information obtained by Reuters, since February Wright has filed more than 50 patent applications in Britain through Antigua-registered EITC Holdings Ltd.

This has been confirmed with unnamed sources who are said to be close to Wright, who has stopped doing interviews and media stunts since his bid to be seen as ‘Bitcoin’s creator’ failed to come to fruition. 'It looks like he is trying to patent the fundamental building blocks of any Blockchain, cryptocurrency, or distributed ledger system,' said Antony Lewis, a Bitcoin consultant used by Reuters to review the filing documentation. The time-consuming process of obtaining a patent can take several years, but could pay off for Wright in the long run, given the banking industry’s appetite for all things Blockchain-related. What are those 400 patents Wright is filing?

Over $1 billion is being spent this year on Blockchain capital investment. There are many efficiencies not currently present within the current banking system that this new technology could provide, and it is obvious that Wright is looking to capitalize on them, if not actually invent them. Through EITC Holdings, Wright is rumored to be in the process of filing as many as four hundred patents related to Blockchain technology. Andrew O’Hagan, who seems to have bought-in on chronicling Wright as ‘Satoshi Nakamoto,’ says that Wright may make more patent filings than that, and may be in line []. By The Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), a group of U.S. Regulators, warned that bitcoin and blockchain are threats to financial stability and noted they need to adapt to the changing market structure if cryptocurrency reduces the importance of traditional centralized intermediaries.

The FSOC includes the Federal Reserve, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Treasury Department. The Council is charged with identifying risks to the financial stability of the United States, promoting market discipline, and responding to emerging risks to the stability of the financial system.

In its annual report [PDF] on the financial stability of the U.S. Financial system, the group highlighted, for the first time, its concerns about digital currencies. Bitcoin has gained favor as an alternative to currencies that central banks manage on behalf of governments since its functions as a decentralized database for transactions without governing institutions. Report Addresses Distributed Ledger In its annual report Tuesday, the FSOC said the distributed ledger systems, like most new technologies, pose uncertainties and risks that market participants and regulators must monitor. The report reviewed the benefits of distributed ledger systems. It noted such systems can allow market participants to manage many types of transactions without the direct participation of trusted third parties. Proponents of distributed ledger technology say it can help to significantly improve efficiency by replacing manually intensive reconciliation processes and limit risks associated with trading, settlement, clearing, and custody services.

Such systems can mitigate risk and improve resilience in financial networks. Since distributed ledgers can be designed to be broadly accessible and verifiable, they can provide a valuable mechanism to enhance market transparency, the report noted.

By removing the need for some transactions to flow through trusted third parties, the ledgers can limit concentrated risk exposures to those firms and infrastructures.In addition, by improving the accuracy and speed of settlement []. By New York based institutional Bitcoin exchange and blockchain technology company, itBit, has been selected by Euroclear group to explore opportunities for creating a next generation settlement service for the London gold market. If you are not familiar with it, the importance of the group testing blockhain settlements stems from the fact that just last year Euroclear settled the equivalent of €675 trillion in securities transactions and held €27.5 trillion in assets for its clients.

The settlement of unallocated gold is a very capital-intensive process. Euroclear and itBit explain that they are working with other relevant market participants to develop a service to significantly minimize risk leading to a reduced capital charge, offer true delivery versus payment and reduce balance sheet constraints. ItBit says Euroclear has partnered with it because of its proprietary blockchain infrastructure technology and new product, Bankchain. The Bankchain service is a private network of trusted participants that clears, tracks and settles trades in close to real-time. Angus Scott, Director, Product Strategy and Innovation at Euroclear, commented: “Euroclear is pleased to be working with itBit on this initiative.

As an open and resilient infrastructure, our strategy has been to work with relevant industry stakeholders. We have also created an advisory group, which recently convened to discuss the building of the new service with the ambition to make the London bullion market more efficient.” Chad Cascarilla, CEO of itBit, added: “We are excited to be partnering with Euroclear to develop a trusted digital infrastructure for gold.

Precious metals are the first use case for Bankchain, and London bullion is a market in which a distributed ledger can have an immediate benefit.” This move goes along with Euroclear’s wider intention to use blockchain technology in the business world. The group also joined a French collaboration which coalesced to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to [].

By Bitcoin Price Key Highlights Bitcoin price is still selling off, moving towards the 38.2% Fib or the $650 area as predicted in the previous article. Price appears to have found a bit of support at this area, forming a long spike after the test and still deciding whether to resume the climb or to make a larger pullback.

Technical indicators appear to be suggesting that the correction is still far from over. Bitcoin price is finding support at the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement level but a larger pullback might be due. Technical Indicators Signals The 100 SMA is above the 200 SMA so the longer-term uptrend is likely to carry on. The gap between the moving averages is still narrow but appears to be growing so bullish pressure might be strengthening.

In addition, the 100 SMA coincides with the rising trend line on the daily time frame, which might hold as dynamic support. However, RSI is still pointing down, which means that sellers are in control for now.

Stochastic is just making its way out of the overbought region, indicating a buildup in bearish momentum. In that case, bitcoin price could move on to the next area of interest closer to the 61.8% Fib or $550. A bounce off this level could allow the climb to resume to the latest highs at $776. Market Events The EU referendum is set to take place tomorrow and with polls suggesting a widening margin in favor of the remain camp, investors are starting to book profits off this “uncertainty trade” on bitcoin. Recall that traders were forced out of equities and currencies in anticipation of additional uncertainty if the UK were to leave the EU, but opinion polls seem to be hinting that this scenario can be avoided.Once this event risk has []. By BTCCNY is still on the decline as traders have been booking profits off their recent long positions.

Price might have its sights set on the next visible area of interest around 3800.00 which might hold as near-term support. The 100 SMA is above the 200 SMA for now but a downward crossover looks imminent. This could bring more bearish pressure to the mix, allowing the selloff to carry on. On the other hand, RSI is on the move up to show that buyers are trying to regain control. Similarly, stochastic is heading north so BTCCNY might follow. If so, a quick pullback to the 4500-4600 levels could ensue.

If buying pressure is strong enough, price might even climb back to the latest highs at 5130.00. For now, it looks like the nearing EU referendum is convincing majority of market players to lock in their gains on their BTCCNY trades over the month, as the outcome of the vote could lead to unprecedented volatility. This means that price could spike around, possibly triggering stops and margin calls in the process. Brexit polls are suggesting a narrow victory for the remain camp but it might still be too close to call since a large number of folks are undecided. A vote to leave the EU could bring a lot of uncertainty, not just for the UK, but for the rest of the global economy.

This could spur speculations of a recession, leading to a flight to safety. On the other hand, a vote to stay in the EU could bring risk appetite back, drawing traders to equities and currencies once more. Still, Chinese investors are wary about yuan weakness and possible capital controls so they might leave some funds in bitcoin and keep prices propped up. By Circle co-founders Jeremy Allaire and Sean Neville are the latest high-profile blockchain entrepreneurs to weigh in on the ongoing crisis with The DAO, the ethereum-based distributed autonomous organization that saw millions in customer funds compromised last week. In interview, Allaire and Neville called the ongoing event, which has found the development community taking action to protect remaining funds from losses, 'fascinating', citing it as an example of how all blockchain technologies remain in the earlier stages of development.

Notably, Neville said that the situation provided an example of why he believes that blockchain tech, despite its strong emphasis on automating transactions and exchange, will still need to rely on the actions and abilities of people to succeed. Neville told CoinDesk: 'Cryptography and software could replace the gatekeepers, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have trust in human beings at all.

We have to trust how changes to the software and the apps are rolled out.' Both co-founders said they have been watching the situation closely and that they are excited about ethereum ’s capabilities, though they cautioned the event proves the platform is in 'production beta'. Allaire also commented on how ethereum smart contracts could come to force a larger transition in the legal world, one that he suggested would actually be advanced should investors in The DAO seek legal recourse for any losses. “Is a smart contract a contract and will a court uphold it? If the court says the terms and conditions in the code are a contract, the code becomes the law,' Allaire said. 'That’s really significant and we’re going to see court cases that test those ideas.' One of the oldest and best-funded startups in the industry, Circle is a social payments app running on the bitcoin blockchain that has raised $76m to date, with funding from Goldman Sachs and Accel.

By Law enforcement officials are cracking down on anybody who sells or buys goods on the deep web these days. Fredthebaker, a notorious deep web seller, has been arrested in The Netherlands. As it turns out, this username is linked to a collective of sellers, and four people have been detained. Fredthebaker Behind Bars Many people associate the deep web with buying selling illegal goods and services. The Fredthebaker collective was no different in this regard, as law enforcement agents confiscated a lot of items being sold online.

Among these elements were amphetamine base, cocaine, heroin, marijuana, stolen credit cards, weapons, and cash. According to Dutch sources, the Fredthebaker collective has been in operation since 2013, focusing their attention mainly on drug trafficking.

Law enforcement officials suspect this group has sold more than 1,25m EUR worth of illegal goods. Moreover, police officials identified shipments being made to 62 different countries around the world. What is worth noting is how this deep web seller collective decided to move goods across the border to Germany. Once they found a nearby post office, the goods would be shipped from there.

In doing so, they eliminated all traces related to their home country of The Netherlands. All of the materials used to create amphetamines, as well as their other supplies, came from the deep web. All four suspects have been under surveillance for quite some time now. The ZKI, who are the lead investigators on this case, have been monitoring the Fredthebaker collective for quite some time now. After a thorough search, they managed to identify the location of these sellers, which ultimately lead to their arrest.

It is not the first time law enforcement agencies operate to identify vendors on the deep web. Up until this point, it remains to be seen how they obtained []. By Over a year after being voted in as the executive director of the Bitcoin Foundation, Bruce Fenton is closing his term, with a relatively unknown South African venture capitalist, Llew Claasen, primed to take over.

As a bitcoin advocacy group and trade organization, the Bitcoin Foundation will see a new executive director in Llew Claasen, a Cape Town-based venture capitalist. The South African is a managing partner at Newton Partners, a venture capital firm and investor with a focus on internet and mobile technology. Claasen will commence duties as executive director on July 1, after being elected in by the board of directors at the Bitcoin Foundation on June 14. While details of the new director are scarce, foundation board member and Lyft co-founder recused himself from the vote, having had a business relationship with Classen in the past.

Classen’s appointment was voted for unanimously by the remainder of the board. In statements, Classen said: I’m looking forward to leading the Bitcoin Foundation going forward. There is an amazing opportunity for the organization to help the Bitcoin ecosystem. In the coming weeks, I’ll be working closely with the board, membership, transition team and various stakeholders to create the best plan for success possible.

Success would bring welcome respite for the advocacy body that has run into significant monetary issues, to the point where its very existence was at stake. In a board meeting in December 2015, outgoing executive director Bruce Fenton revealed that additional funding was required to retain employees at the foundation. As of November 30, 2015 the foundation’s total assets stood at $12, 553.06. In 2014, the foundation had blown through 5800 bitcoins, resulting in $4.6 million loss the same year. In a post on Reddit, Fenton underlines his tenure as director as a success, stating that the []. By Attention startup hopefuls, it’s time to stop procrastinating and apply for the Startup Battlefield at Disrupt SF.

Startups from across the US and around the world have until 12pm PT on July 5th to get your application in front of the selection team. For those who aren’t yet familiar, the Startup Battlefield is a world-renowned startup competition. It’s like the gymnastics portion of the Summer Olympics. It’s like March Madness for tech geeks. It’s quite literally the inspiration for HBO’s Silicon Valley.

Look, we get it, you’re super busy. Maybe you’ve been working extra hard to push out new features to your users, find the perfect hire or scout office space. Maybe you just forgot when the actual deadline was. Whatever the reason, TechCrunch is giving you another chance to submit your application. So, why should you compete in the Startup Battlefield?

For starters, you’ll get to present your company to the best and brightest entrepreneurs and investors in the world who will give you incredible feedback on how to make your product or service even better. Startup Battlefield participants also receive free demo space in Startup Alley, tickets to VIP events, a Battlefield-only reception and, of course, TechCrunch swag.

Prior to the event, startups work with TechCrunch editors to hone and polish their pitches. If that isn’t enough awesome stuff to encourage you to apply, the winner of the Startup Battlefield receives $50,000 and the coveted Disrupt Cup. Since 2007, the 610 Battlefield companies have raised more than $6.1 billion after appearing on the TechCrunch stage, and 76 have exited. Our alumni include household names like Fitbit, Venmo, Postmates and many others. And the best part?

There are absolutely no fees, equity or otherwise, to participate in the Startup Battlefield. Sounds pretty good, huh? Go ahead, we’ll wait.

By Gemini Trust just opened trading in Canada Gemini Trust, the U.S.-based bitcoin exchange founded by investors Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, on Tuesday opened trading in the U.K., the second leg of an international expansion program. In an interview last Thursday, Gemini Chief Executive Officer Tyler Winklevoss said that for now, U.K. Citizens would only be able to trade online currencies bitcoin and ether on the exchange.

Ether is a token or digital asset of the Ethereum platform, a public blockchain. Trading bitcoin and ether against fiat currencies such as the dollar and sterling will start in a few weeks, Winklevoss said, adding that no regulatory approval was needed to operate in the UK for the services the company provides. Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s daily technology newsletter. FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) has made it clear that they’re not regulating digital assets at the moment,” said Winklevoss. By Clearing and settlement services firm Euroclear has announced its first partnership with a blockchain industry business. Belgium-based Euroclear revealed today it would partner with bitcoin exchange and blockchain services provider itBit to develop a system for settling gold trades.

The project is aimed at reducing risk and increasing asset mobility and liquidity in the London gold market, and will find the two firms working in tandem to develop a 'next-generation settlement service' that could be launched as soon as next year. As part of the deal, Euroclear will act as the regulated entity for the planned product, while itBit will serve as a technology provider. In interview, Euroclear product strategy and innovation lead Angus Scott described the effort as one of the first to seek to settle real assets using blockchain tech.

However, he said that the project was attractive to Euroclear due to the fact it is in line with the company’s broader goal of pursuing efficiency. Scott told CoinDesk: “It’s a very genuine product. It’s one we’d be looking at irrespective of blockchain. Essentially we’ll take a lot of transactional friction out, create a common data set. The hypothesis we’re testing is that this is generally more efficient.” Scott went on to discuss the wider emphasis that UK regulators have put on supporting improvements to the country’s financial infrastructure, which he said had a positive impact on Euroclear’s decision to move forward on the proposal.

He further pointed to the steps the company has taken to research and investigate the opportunities blockchain could bring, a process he said ended with the conclusion that the technology could be 'potentially fundamental' to Euroclear’s business. Scott acknowledged that the project is an ambitious one, but said that Euroclear felt itBit was the best partner given what he called the company’s competency and experience in capital markets. By In a speech prepared for the Lord Mayor’s Banquet for Bankers and Merchants of the City of London at the Mansion House, Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England (BoE), revealed that the BoE is launching a fintech accelerator. “I am announcing tonight that the Bank is launching a fintech accelerator to work in partnership with fintech firms on challenges that we, as a central bank, uniquely face,” Carney says in his prepared remarks.

“The accelerator will work with new technology firms to help us harness fintech innovations for central banking. In return, it will offer firms the chance to demonstrate their solutions for real issues facing us as policymakers, together with the valuable ‘first client’ reference that comes with it.

With time, the accelerator will build a network of firms working in this space for the benefit of us and them alike.” Distributed ledger technology is an important aspect of emerging fintech. “[If] distributed ledger technology could provide a more efficient way for private sector firms to deliver payments and settle securities, why not apply it to the core of the payments system itself?” Carney says. “The great promise of distributed ledgers for central banks is their potential to enhance resilience. Distributing the ledger means multiple copies of the system.

It can continue to operate if parts get knocked out. That removes the single point of failure risk inherent in a centralized system.” However, the BoE is not prepared to risk the stability of the financial system by introducing still unproven emerging technologies too early in the payment system. Rather, the BoE intends to thoroughly study the opportunities offered by distributed ledger technologies (DL) as well as the challenges that need to be met before it could be used in central banking.

“To help distinguish DL’s potential from its hype, []. By Cameron (left) and Tyler Winklevoss claim Bitcoins is ‘gold 2.0’ Gemini, the cryptocurrency exchange founded and run by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, has expanded to the UK, starting off with trading in Bitcoin and ether, the native coin of the Ethereum network. The Winklevoss twins have taken a gold-plated approach to regulation from the start with a view to attracting the main men of finance to Bitcoin. They said the same approach would be duplicated in the UK and Canada (where they expanded two weeks ago), and are looking to add the ability to trade fiat currency with Bitcoin/ether within the coming weeks.

In terms of regulations, Gemini said the decision to start with BTC/ETH was more of a technical road map than about meeting any specific regulations. Tyler Winklevoss told IBTimes: 'We wanted to come out with something first, and sooner rather than later, and then we will continue to expand the suit of services in coming weeks.' Bringing big blue chip clients to the Gemini exchange has been a big success, said Tyler.

'We have market participants on exchange that simply would never be on another exchange. We have built an exchange that the larger financial institutional players can now finally do business in Bitcoin. 'We have been pro-regulation from day one, and we believe that building on-ramps to the main men of finance is important and we are seeing that play out, evidenced by the institutions that have signed up. They just would not do business with anyone else other than Gemini.' Crypto regulation in the State of New York is not for the fainthearted.

So it a less onerous proposition in the EU or UK? Tyler said: 'We went for a trust company in New York, and it took us about a year and a half to achieve that licence. By Bitso has begun offering Bitcoin payroll services to Mexican workers. Thanks to a partnership with payroll service Bitwage, the cryptocurrency exchange now allows workers to be paid in Bitcoin and receive pesos.

Bitcoin helps Mexico’s workforce become global According to Bitso CEO Pablo Gonzalez, expanding payroll to Bitcoin expands opportunities for Mexican workers, especially freelancers, to find work internationally, as well as cut down on logistics and transaction feeds of being paid in their own currency. He says: “In Bitso, we are all about empowering Mexicans with real Bitcoin solutions that make a difference in their lives. Our partnership with Bitwage just does that. It opens up the doors for freelancers in Mexico to seek international opportunities using the most efficient payment rail with the lowest transfer fees.

We have an incredible pool of talent down here -it’s time for the world to witness!” Increased global interconnectedness thanks to Bitcoin The rise of cryptocurrency has further hastened the global trend towards interconnectedness, adding a financial aspect of a borderless world as the internet has already made headway with the informational aspect. For Marco Montes Neri, CEO of Saldo.mx, which allows workers in the United States to remotely pay bills of friends and relatives in Mexico, as well as cross-border injury and life microinsurance, Bitcoin helps transcend financial borders in ways not previously possible.

Marco Montes Neri says: “The world is becoming one big market, specially corridors such as Mexico-US are gonna see a dramatic increase in the volume of value transfers in the coming years. Banks mechanisms are incapable to serve these emerging needs and Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are gonna become an important part of the settlement process due to its irreversibility and independence.

Nobody owns this technology.” Robert Genito, CEO of peer-to-peer Bitcoin exchange Wall of Coins, []. By The Bitcoin price has been one of the hottest topics in the entire investment world this month, whether within mainstream circles or within the Bitcoin ecosystem. Bitcoin started the month trading at under $530 USD, and within two weeks surged to as much as $780 USD, before leveling out at their current levels, about $200 USD ahead of May’s price. The heat in the Bitcoin market As we head to the halfway point of probably the most important year in the digital currency’s history, BitPay CCO Sonny Singh discussed the main reasons for the heat in the Bitcoin market before the days of summer. Regardless of one’s previous investment portfolio, anything that grows over 40% in a couple of weeks is going to draw even a mainstream crowd. Bitcoin is entering its halving event in less than three weeks, so now is the time to expect great volatility.

Singh has submitted the following analysis in regards to the global Bitcoin markets as of late. Not surprisingly, it all starts in Bitcoin’s largest mining and exchange market. “China,” says Singh to Bloomberg West. He continues: “There’s been a lot of activity having China’s (Yuan) price run up about a month ago, and the Yuan was starting to be devalued, and capital controls were starting to go into effect. The people were using (Bitcoin) as a way to get some money into a currency that is not being depreciated.” Brexit, gold, silver and Bitcoin halving Singh also made sure to note that Bitcoin was up over 35% in 2015. In comparison, the U.S. Dollar rose less than 10% last year.

Next up is the Brexit vote this week. As seen last summer during the “Grexit” fiasco, Singh suggests Bitcoin could be seen as an international investment ‘safe haven’ in this time of national []. By A maintenance delay in the leading Bitcoin trading platform and the auctioning off about $19 mln worth of Silk-Road-related Bitcoins in Australia could have been responsible for the drop in the price of Bitcoin on Monday and Tuesday.

From a range of as high as $760 over the weekend, the currency dropped to $698 on Monday. Several Bitcoin traders lost some of their investments as they couldn’t close their deals, while others question the need to sell what they have at this point in time. Bitfinex maintenance delay Despite the fact that Bitfinex just had a scheduled maintenance which lasted for approximately one hour on June 17, trading on the website was paused on Monday June 20 at about 21:35 UTC. Update – Working on recovering from an internal network issue. Jun 20, 22:19 UTC Identified – Trading has been paused while we investigate an infrastructure issue impacting the trading engine. The issue does not involve funds or system security.

We will resume normal operations as soon as possible. Jun 20, 21:35 UTC Investigating – We are experiencing platform issues. We are investigating and will resume normal operations as soon as possible. Jun 20, 21:11 UTC According to coinmarketcap.com which compiles Crypto-Currency Market Capitalizations, Bitfinex is the largest Bitcoin trading platform with a grip on 20% of the market while the remainder 80% of the market is controlled by 85 other platforms. Poloniex is the closest to Bitfinex with 9.17%. Seventy others have less than 1% market share each.

Bitfinex’ high volume has a stabilising effect on the market.So when a pause button is pushed on a platform like Bitfinex, the market is bound to feel its impact. The impact is still likely to extend into Tuesday June 21 considering that after resumption earlier in the day, the company has had []. By SPONSORED ARTICLE: Tech Analysis articles are sponsored by SimpleFx – “Keep it simple!”, SimpleFX is a robust online trading provider, offering trading with Forex CFDs on Bitcoins, Litecoins, indices, precious metals and energy.

Offers and trading conditions simple and transparent. If all we seem to be doing at the moment is offering up cautionary tales, it’s because that’s exactly what we are doing. It’s so easy to get overexcited when price gains double digit percentage points in the space of a few hours – something we’ve seen on a number of occasions across the last week or so – but this excitement must temper at some point. Because when all is said and done, bitcoin is not like other traditional financial assets. Not right now, at least.

Well, a large portion of the fiat currency that gets bought and sold every day is operational – i.e. Used for transactions. The same can be said for bitcoin, but not to the same extent. Much of the volume derives from speculative activity, and this can only mean one thing – short term reversals. As price rises, people who took speculative positions at lower prices will start to close out their positions, which of course, means selling bitcoin.

This selling drives down price (as a feature of any open market) and initiates a reversal. Once this reversal gets to a certain level, it picks up pace, and that’s where we look to be now. Price reversed yesterday, but throughout today’s session, we’ve seen a solid a sustained decline to fresh weekly lows. So where do we go from here? Well, take a look at the chart.

As the chart shows, we are focusing on a relatively wide range going into this evening’s session, defined by support to the []. By In a speech prepared for the Lord Mayor’s Banquet for Bankers and Merchants of the City of London at the Mansion House, Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England (BoE), revealed that the BoE is launching a fintech accelerator.

“I am announcing tonight that the Bank is launching a fintech accelerator to work in partnership with fintech firms on challenges that we, as a central bank, uniquely face,” Carney says in his prepared remarks. “The accelerator will work with new technology firms to help us harness fintech innovations for central banking.

In return, it will offer firms the chance to demonstrate their solutions for real issues facing us as policymakers, together with the valuable ‘first client’ reference that comes with it. With time, the accelerator will build a network of firms working in this space for the benefit of us and them alike.” Distributed ledger technology is an important aspect of emerging fintech. “[If] distributed ledger technology could provide a more efficient way for private sector firms to deliver payments and settle securities, why not apply it to the core of the payments system itself?” Carney says. “The great promise of distributed ledgers for central banks is their potential to enhance resilience. Distributing the ledger means multiple copies of the system. It can continue to operate if parts get knocked out. That removes the single point of failure risk inherent in a centralized system.” However, the BoE is not prepared to risk the stability of the financial system by introducing still unproven emerging technologies too early in the payment system.

Rather, the BoE intends to thoroughly study the opportunities offered by distributed ledger technologies (DL) as well as the challenges that need to be met before it could be used in central banking. “To help distinguish DL’s potential from its hype, []. By Blockchain is already a huge phenomenon. But it has issues. Can blockchain fulfill its promise?

Can it have a big impact on financial services, healthcare and perhaps other industries? Blockchain is big First it was BitCoin. Now it’s blockchain, which is what people call the “underlying technology” of BitCoin. Although that’s about as accurate as calling the combustion engine the underlying technology of the car, only leaving out the gas tank — it won’t work! In any case, expectations among investors are riding high.

Here’s a snapshot of investor interest: Obstacles to blockchain’s success Probably the biggest problem with blockchain is that it’s just a kind of database with a peculiar set of characteristics. Just having a database doesn’t make everyone involved in a problem suddenly decide to digitize everything in the same format, make the same calls to the same API’s and respond to everything appropriately. So the problem is often one which blockchain simply doesn’t solve. There’s also a deep obstacle.

It’s one that is obvious to any technical person and makes common sense, but for reasons that elude me, is rarely discussed among blockchain investors and enthusiasts. The problem is the community validation protocol that assures the integrity of the ledger.

As part of BitCoin, the problem is cleverly solved by miners, who are incented to provide this service by being paid in BitCoin. When you take BitCoin out of “blockchain” and apply blockchain to other applications, you take away the payment mechanism for miners to do their job. This fact alone has a long string of ramifications, among which is the integrity and security of the “distributed ledger.” History of other advanced technologies The obstacles to success for blockchain are serious. I wonder what we could learn from looking at history? By Recording messages on the blockchain allows information to be stored forever.

Eternity Wall is one of the projects focusing on this type of service, and they are celebrating their first birthday. There are many benefits to recording brief messages on the blockchain; as it is an immutable timestamped proof.

The concept of Eternity Wall is simple, yet very powerful at the same time. By directly hooking into the Bitcoin blockchain, anyone in the world can record information in an immutable manner. Most people know the blockchain as the technology powering the Bitcoin protocol. This distributed ledger holds all information about every address and transaction in the history of Bitcoin and continues to expand every day. Eternity Wall Is A Valuable Service Eternity Wall saw a golden opportunity to showcase the positive aspects of this technology.

In most cases, seeing is believing, and it is rather difficult to explain blockchain technology to novice users. Without getting into too much technical jargon, showing people how they can record information without worrying about censorship or alterations is the best way to go. Consumers and cryptocurrency enthusiasts have taken a liking to the Eternity Wall concept so far.

Whether one wants to record love messages, use the service for creating a memory, or just for fun, Eternity Wall can handle it all. Multiple messages are recorded on the Bitcoin blockchain every day. The first message recorded through this service took place on June 21, 2015. But there is another aspect to Eternity Wall that people should take note of. Notarization of documents if another part of the service, which can be quite valuable over time. This creates a time-stamped immutable proof of existence of said document in a cheap and convenient way. In fact, 1,150 documents have been notarized through this service over the [].

By It has been almost 8 years since Bitcoin was introduced to the world by Satoshi Nakamoto. Since then the businesses involved in the digital currency industry are well set at the moment, with a few like Gemini planning to spread its wings further to ensure more Bitcoin adoption.

The US based Bitcoin exchange, owned by the infamous Winklevoss Twins, will soon expand its services to the United Kingdom. According to recent reports, the twin brothers who set up their first bitcoin exchange in the New York have announced the opening of their London branch. With the new branch, the bitcoin exchange now has its presence in two of the major financial capitals of the world. Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss have been actively involved in the digital currency sector since 2012 when they were first introduced to Bitcoin. They launched their first bitcoin exchange Gemini in New York in the month of October last year after receiving the required clearance from the New York State Department of Financial Services in accordance with the BitLicense requirements.

The company also received the department’s approval for the inclusion of Ethereum on to the Gemini platform recently. Until now, people in the United States could only trade Bitcoin against USD and Ethereum on Gemini. But starting today, it is open for customers from both USA and UK, with pounds as an additional trading currency. While speaking about the launch of Gemini in London, one of the Winklevoss Twins, Tyler was quoted saying – “We know there’s been a lot of demand for our services in the UK, we know there’s a strong desire, New York, and London are financial capitals of the world and speak the same language It’s like a better version of gold, Bitcoin is basically money working the way your email works: imagine []. By The appointment of South Africa’s Llew Claasen as the new Executive Director of the Bitcoin Foundation has been announced at the Blockchain Training Conference / DEVCORE in Canada. Claasen is a venture capitalist and Managing Partner at Newtown Partners in Cape Town, and takes over from Bruce Fenton effective July 1. Llew Claasen is a technology startup go-to-market strategist with expertise in designing, building, merchandising and marketing online and mobile software products and services (B2B, B2C, B2B2C).

Fenton says: “After an extensive search, I’m happy to say that the Bitcoin Foundation has appointed a serious and qualified person as the new Executive Director, venture capitalist Llew Claasen.” Fenton leaving the foundation According to Fenton, he came in to the foundation to turn it around, and he thinks he has accomplished that as well as anyone could under the circumstances. As an unpaid, volunteer position the role was never intended to be permanent, he notes.

Fenton says: “I’m proud of what the Bitcoin Foundation accomplished during my leadership. When I came aboard the organization had been through some very tough times with its very future in doubt. It was perhaps it’s darkest hour. Today as I leave, the foundation is the best it’s been in years, possibly ever.” Fenton said they think Claasen’s skill set is exactly what is needed now to move the Foundation forward with a promise to support it in any way he can. Claasen says about the appointment: “I’m looking forward to leading the Bitcoin Foundation. There is an amazing opportunity for the organization to help the Bitcoin ecosystem. In the coming weeks I’ll be working closely with the board, membership, transition team and various stakeholders to create the best possible plan for success.” Moving Bitcoin into adulthood The Bitcoin Foundation is a 501c6 organization and the oldest and [].

By One of the core concepts behind our approach to the recent volatility in the bitcoin price markets across the last week or so has been caution. The gains seen (primarily early to mid last week, but also over the weekend to some degree) have come around on the back of speculative volume, and as always, speculative volume must – at some point – fold into profit taking. The tough thing is knowing when a correction is just a correction, and when it’s the beginning of a wider market turnaround. Action overnight looks to have offered up some signs of just this type of turnaround, and much of the gains picked up across last week’s session are now back on the table.

SO, with this said, and as we head into a fresh day’s trading in the bitcoin price on Tuesday morning out of Europe, what are we looking to trade, and where are we looking to get in and out of the markets if we see any intraday volatility? As ever, take a quick look at the chart to get an idea of what’s on. It’s a fifteen-minute candlestick chart that illustrates the latest decline/turnaround, and has today’s range overlaid on action.

As the chart shows, the range we are focusing on this morning is defined by in term support to the downside at 678, and resistance to the upside at 714. These are the most recent swing low and high respectively, so they should hold up fine near term. If price logs a close below in term support, we will look to enter short towards an initial downside target of 670 flat. A stop loss on the trade somewhere in the region of 882 defines risk. Looking long, if we see a close above resistance we will get in long towards []. By Craig Wright, the Australian who claimed to be the inventor of Bitcoin, but failed to come through with final proof that he was Satoshi Nakamoto, is attempting to build a large patent portfolio around the digital currency and technology underpinning it, according to associates of his and documents reviewed by Reuters.

He’s now being called a ‘Patent Troll’ by some for filing over a billion dollars worth of Blockchain patents. The Bitcoin community is up in arms.

Since February, Wright has filed more than 50 patent applications in Britain through Antigua-registered EITC Holdings Ltd, which a source close to the company confirmed was connected to Wright, government records show. Interviews with sources close to EITC Holdings Ltd, which has two of Wright’s associates as directors, confirmed it was still working on filing patent applications and Britain’s Intellectual Property Office has published another 11 patent applications filed by the company in the past week. “None of this has stopped,” one person close to the company said. The person declined to be identified because they were not authorized to speak to the media. Wright did not respond to requests seeking comment. A patent schedule, one of a number of documents relating to the applications shown to Reuters by a person close to the EITC Holdings, outlines plans to apply for about 400 in total. In May 2016, a skeptical bitcoin community gave Wright certain tasks to prove that he was in fact Satoshi Nakamoto, but he bailed out and never came through with his promise to provide further proof.

Over the weekend, a long article on Craig Wright written by by novelist and journalist Andrew O’Haga at the London Review of Books (LRB) also said that they were working on filing several hundred patents. Wright had been working on new applications of the []. By The Bitcoin price has taken a significant hit across the exchanges overnight. The biggest culprit for this price drop was the Bitfinex exchange, as they suffered from an unscheduled downtime. Keeping in mind how this is the largest Bitcoin exchange in USD trading volume, there was a lot of panic when things were halted. But it looks like the price is, once again, starting to recover. A Brief Bitcoin Price Flash Crash The Bitcoin price is dictated by the Chinese markets, a trend that has been visible for many years now.

But is interesting to note how an issue at a US Bitcoin exchange can affect that market as well, even though Bitfinex does not support CNY trading. In the end, the Bitcoin price took a sharp nosedive when the exchange went dark for a brief period.

Luckily for all Bitcoin traders and enthusiasts around the world, the issue was resolved rather quickly. It is never positive to the Bitcoin price go down all of a sudden in such spectacular fashion, and it goes to show how reliant traders are on centralized exchange platforms. The Bitfinex outage hurt the OTC and futures market as well. It comes as no surprise to see a significant dip in USD trading volume for Bitcoin market, albeit that trend started a few days ago.

Ever since June 17, there has been less trading going on in this particular segment, for no apparent reason. The volume for today is looking healthy, though, and we may get above the 100,000 BTC mark once again if this trend keeps up. Despite the outage Bitfinex faced overnight, they remain the clear market leader in USD trading volume. With over 38% of the market flowing through this single exchange, there is very little competition to speak of. Moreover, the USD []. By There are many cryptocurrency-based efforts which seem to fly under the radar most of the time.

FoldingCoin is one of those examples, as this Counterparty project is a cause well worth looking into. As the name suggests, this project will help battle diseases by contributing computational power to the Folding@Home network. FoldingCoin Is A Good Cause Research into curing diseases such as Alzheimer and cancer is very underrated. Most people think this can only be done in a scientific environment, but there is a way everybody in the world can contribute. By dedicating some computer resources to the Folding@Home project, cures and solutions can be found that much faster. What is even more impressive – although only secondary in order of importance – is how users will be rewarded for these efforts.

Not just because they can feel good about themselves, but they will be rewarded in the form of FoldingCoin. This is a token rewarding volunteers for contributing to the Folding@Home initiative. FoldingCoin rewards are distributed on a monthly basis, and will depend on the individual contributions. This token can be transferred from person to person using the Bitcoin blockchain and the Counterparty protocol. One FLDC is worth US$0.000208 at the time of writing, as this should not be seen as a way to get rich quick. “Volunteers will now be paid in FLDC for their work to help further the mission of FoldingCoin.

Of the 1 billion FLDC in existence, 100 million of those are assigned to be distributed to those that assist the FoldingCoin team with tasks such as Social Media, Forum Administration, ext. For jobs we are currently looking to fill please visit or send an email to rross@foldingcoin.net with your interest in helping the team. Even if you wish to contribute something else not []. By SPONSORED ARTICLE: Tech Analysis articles are sponsored by SimpleFx – “Keep it simple!”, SimpleFX is a robust online trading provider, offering trading with Forex CFDs on Bitcoins, Litecoins, indices, precious metals and energy. Offers and trading conditions simple and transparent. Bitcoin Price Key Highlights Bitcoin appears to have hit a ceiling at the $775 mark, making a break below a short-term consolidation pattern and moving towards the nearby support.

Price is now trading below the $700 mark and could head further south until $650, which is close to the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement level and a former resistance. A bounce off this correction area could allow bitcoin price to resume its climb to the recent highs and beyond. Bitcoin price gave in to overbought conditions and is in the middle of a large correction to an area of interest. Technical Indicators Signals On the daily time frame, the 100 SMA is above the longer-term 200 SMA so the path of least resistance is to the upside. However, the gap between these moving averages is narrowing so bullish pressure might be weakening. Stochastic is turning down from the overbought zone, which means that buyers are taking a break and allowing sellers to take over from here.

RSI is also heading south so bitcoin price might follow suit. A larger correction could last until the 50-61.8% Fib levels, which are close to another area of interest at $600. A break below these Fibs could spur a drop all the way down to the $450 area, highlighted in the lower blue box below. This is also near the moving averages, which might hold as dynamic support.

Market Events The clock is ticking closer to the EU referendum, which means traders might be booking profits off their recent long bitcoin positions. After all, []. By BTCCNY appears to be pausing from its climb, hinting that buyers may be taking a break and letting sellers take over from here. Profit-taking could be in play as the EU referendum is nearing. RSI is indicating overbought conditions and is turning lower, suggesting that bearish pressure could push for a correction to the Fib levels. The 61.8% Fib lines up with an area of interest and might be in the line in the sand for any pullback from the uptrend. Stochastic is also in the overbought area but hasn’t crossed down yet.

The 100 SMA is above the 200 SMA to indicate that the uptrend is likely to carry on. However, the gap between the moving averages is shrinking so a downward crossover could be possible.

In that case, more sellers could take control of price action and push for a large correction. The EU referendum is set to take place this week and traders might be booking profits off their long positions earlier in the month. After all, a vote to stay in the EU could bring some calm back in the financial markets and restore demand for equities and currencies. So far, uncertainty over the upcoming vote and fears of instability on a vote to exit the EU are driving traders away from stock markets and currencies, particularly in Europe. This has shored up demand for alternative assets such as bitcoin.

In addition, Chinese investors anticipating further weakness in their equity market and local currency are also flocking to bitcoin. But with several market indicators showing overbought conditions and with the event risk about to pass, buying pressure could be exhausted at this point. An unwinding of this “uncertainty” trade could lead to a massive selloff, but buyers could still be waiting with their long orders at key levels. By Many Bitcoin enthusiasts are using one – or multiple – of the available debit cards in circulation today. But there are some drawbacks to this system and a price to pay for convenience. Moving funds out of these third-party wallets, for example, can be rather tricky. The Downsides of Bitcoin Debit Cards At their core, Bitcoin debit cards are not that different from dealing with the average centralized exchange.

Users deposit funds to a wallet that is not in their control and use a third-party service to spend said funds. On exchanges, that service comes in the form of an order book, whereas Bitcoin debit cards are, well, cards. But this is where the problem lies: users do not control their funds any longer. When money is sent to a third-party Bitcoin address, the financial control ends right then and there.

Moving that funds back out of the Bitcoin wallet in question is a lot harder than it may seem in most cases as there are no automated withdrawals to speak of. Similar to how exchange wallet work, Bitcoin debit card users may need to wait a few hours – or days – to get their funds out again. Platform operators move the funds out of cold storage, which can take some time. Or in the case of SnapCard, one user reported how he had to contact customer support to make a withdrawal. Granted, the Snapcard team has apologized for this backward way of conducting business. For some reason, their service was freezing accounts after users made a purchase, and customer support has to unlock the wallets manually. This is rather inconvenient, and a sign of growing pains when it comes to Bitcoin debit cards in general.

Albeit a Bitcoin debit card is not a “pure” way of spending cryptocurrency by []. By Bitcoin and the banking sector do not go well together – it is a known fact. But as the importance of bitcoin in the current global economy increases, it is becoming hard for the banks to ignore the digital currency completely. Last week WB21, a digital bank announced that it will soon start accepting Bitcoin deposits. By doing so, WB21 became the first banking institution in the world to make such an announcement.

This move by WB21 has not caught anyone by surprise for its own reasons. For starters, WB21 is the only ‘digital bank’ that allows anyone from a long list of nations to open an account online with them. The bank has been operational since last year and it handles almost all the leading fiat currencies in the world. Now for such an institution, it is impossible to ignore a universal currency like bitcoin. Importance of Bitcoin in International Setting Bitcoin, since its inception, has become the most favored currency for overseas fund transfer and remittances. This is mainly due to the negligible transmission fee associated with bitcoin transfers as against conventional fund transfer methods.

Also, the bitcoin transfers are usually executed in less than an hour, no matter which part of the world it is sent to. But with fiat currency, a regular international fund transfer may take anywhere between a couple of days to a couple of weeks, depending upon its location. Now especially with an increase in the value of Bitcoin and the people in countries like China looking at the digital currency as an alternative investment option has put bitcoin in the position of an important financial instrument. With the inclusion of bitcoin deposits, Digital Bank WB21 has now increased the reach of bitcoin to over 650,000 of its existing customers. WB21 May Have Become []. By Lately trading with a leverage of not only BTCUSD or LTCUSD is getting popular but also usual Forex stocks and commodities.

Today we will take a look at one of the most well-known and advanced sites in this the Forex trading Industry offering the biggest leverage option on the market. Simplefx is one of the best trading platforms for crypto users. It features a total of 60 currency pairs, alongside instruments from indices, commodities, and precious metals market. Among the said currency pairs, there are 15 base currencies, which also features Bitcoin, as well its closest counterpart Litecoin. SimpleFX offers various cool options for traders by letting them use their digital currencies to trade. This forex broker offers a professional trading environment from a software-based to web-based platform service, while relying on award-winning third-party platforms like MetaTrader 4 and WebTrader to present a professional and intuitive trading experience to all its customers. In addition to desktop and web platforms, the site also offers mobile support for the various Android and iOS devices, ensuring an on-the-go trading experience.

SimpleFX is perhaps one of the first CFD brokerage companies to have understood the need for anonymity, that’s why they allow their customers to enjoy the pleasure of being able to trade in the world markets in a completely anonymous way. The Broker has used the talents of Bitcoin to sketch out an anonymous CFD trading platform where traders are allowed to circumvent identity verification processes when they need to deposit or withdraw their funds. The site offers everything — from an award-winning trading platform experience to zero commission fees to instant payouts — all in one place. Simplefx offers the best options in the Forex Industry for cryptocurrency users: More than 60 Pairs (BTC/USD, currencies and commodities, CFDs and much more) Indices, Oil []. By On the 23 rd of June the United Kingdom will hold a referendum to decide whether it should remain in the European Union or whether it should leave.

A potential leaving of the European Union by the UK has been dubbed ‘Brexit’ and the polls are currently suggesting that it can go either way. This uncertainty has weighed heavily on the British pound since the beginning of the year and is poised to spark strong volatility in Britain’s currency in the wake of the referendum, regardless of the outcome. This in turn creates the opportunity to generate strong trading profits in the currency market. In this post you will be introduced to the main currencies to watch as a forex trader, once the referendum results have been announced. The Swiss Franc Since the beginning of the year investors and currency traders have moved their pounds into safer currencies, such as the Swiss franc, as suggested by British bank HSBC, in anticipation of a possible steep decline in value of the pound, should the British public vote ‘no’ to remaining in the EU. HSBC’s currency market analysts make the argument that the Swiss franc will strengthen should the UK public vote ‘yes’ to the UK leaving the EU, as more funds from the UK will flow into the safe haven currency.

However, should British voters decide to stay in the EU, the Swiss franc will not be negatively affected by that outcome. Hence, a suggested hedge against a potential steep decline in the British pound would be to buy Swiss francs. Having said that, as a forex trader you could also put this trade on as a risk trade, with a beneficial risk-return ratio, as the downside risk is rather limited and the upside potential could be very lucrative.

By The recent rise in the price of bitcoin shows 'people are coming around' to the digital currency, according to investor Tim Draper. Long one of the ecosystem’s most active investors, Draper is perhaps best known for buying roughly 30,000 BTC as part of the first government auction of the digital currency held in 2014. In keeping with this view, Draper said has continued to buy bitcoin and that he now owns ether, the native cryptocurrency powering the ethereum blockchain. Draper told CoinDesk: 'Bitcoin will continue to lead because it has become the standard, but ethereum and others will also have an effect on various verticals like smart contracts or bank transfers.' Two years later, Draper believes the recent increase in the price of bitcoin is due to the fact that more people are now believers in the system like him.

Of note is that with the price hovering above $700, the last few weeks have marked the first time that Draper’s bitcoin holdings would be worth more than he paid, should he have paid at or above market value for the purchase. (The exact buying price is still unknown). As to how his thesis on the industry has changed during this time, Draper said that he believes bitcoin 'will prevail' but that other blockchain systems will become widely used. Despite a recent slowdown in the number of investments at his VC fund Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Draper said he is eager to invest in more companies, but that the quality of recent applicants has perhaps been lacking. However, Draper indicated he believes this could soon change, concluding: 'A lot of the early companies were breakthroughs. We should have a new wave of them here soon.'

Image via Draper University. By Among the many advantages of the digital currency, the transparency associated with transactional data stored over the blockchain is the most attractive one. The very property comes in handy when it comes to maintaining transparency and preventing corruption in sectors where blockchain-based applications are used. The digital currency technology is already being considered by few government representatives, institutions and other social organizations in their fight against corruption. The blockchain technology was originally developed as the backbone technology for Bitcoin Network. The blockchain maintains a record of all the transactions ever happening over the Bitcoin network in a decentralized ledger. These transaction records, stored forever on the database is used for cross-referencing latest transactions against it to ensure its validity.

Recently, the New America think tank, based out of Washington DC proposed the use of blockchain technology based applications to kill corruption. The idea was voiced by Tomicah Tillemann, director of the Bretton Woods II initiative. The idea has now taken form into something more substantial with the announcement of a new initiative called the Blockchain Trust Accelerator Initiative. The Blockchain Trust Accelerator Initiative is a collaborative effort between the New America think tank, BitFury – the blockchain company and the National Democratic Institute – a non-governmental organization. With the Blockchain Trust Accelerator Initiative, the partnering entities intend to encourage collaboration with the government, private institutions, technologists, investors and more for rapid development and implementation of blockchain technology-based applications for social good and governance. Blockchain Against Corruption in England The Blockchain Trust Accelerator Initiative is not the first time somebody has thought of using blockchain technology to weed out corruption.

There have been multiple discussions about it among the English politicians and bureaucrats regarding the use of digital currency technology for same purposes. Quite recently, the Minster for the Cabinet Office and []. By A nation state is defined by UNESCO as one where the great majority are conscious of a common identity and share the same culture. Currencies and nations The socio-cultural parts of a nation state form its backbone. Indeed, it is possibly for one nation to have multiple currencies or for many nations to share one. However, with the advent of the Internet, things have been rapidly changing.

Traditional borders which were stiff and inflexible have melted away in the sense that today people can work internationally without having to leave the comfort of their own home countries. Sources of tension Globalisation is a phenomenon that has come to define the age that we live in. Today market forces are considerably stronger than they have been at any point in history. We have come through eras of sail, steam, telegraph and telephone to near instantaneous communication with each other. In this way the world has become more connected but when it actually comes to the physical transport of goods and even people, the world remains as rigid and inflexible as it once was. International migration, refugees and trade and tariff issues are the source of considerable tension in many parts of the globe.

Cryptocurrencies dent capital controls Monetary and fiscal policies are something that nation-states have had in their grip for ages now. The stability of a nation’s currency is, to a large extent, the function of the government of the country. How much money can be taken out of a country is decided by the capital controls that the government decides to impose. Ever since the first ever Bitcoin transaction took place in 2009, cryptocurrencies have dented the power of the governments to some extent. Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin are deflationary instead of inflationary and therefore are fundamentally free [].

By Dragon’s Tale is the hottest Bitcoin casino around. It presents a whole new way to online gambling entertainment. By mixing up a role play style with gambling, Dragon’s Tale has become the most original Casino in the whole Bitcoin gambling industry. The Casino is filled with exotic games, tournaments and other events where players can actually get some real profits.

One of these exotic games is the Fireworks Game. In fact, at Dragon’s Tale players will find a whole lot of different Fireworks games, each one with its own specificity. Basically, this game is just an exotic slots game with several variants for players with different levels.

Players will be able to launch a brilliant pyrotechnic display from the hill around town. Five shells illuminate the Islands of Dragon’s Tale. When a Player launches the fireworks, five shells will appear, if at least three of them have the same matching color the player wins.

Each variant of the Fireworks game has its own special shells. To play, players can bet anywhere from 10 kSAT to 1 or 10 Bitcoins (depending on the location), which launches 5 fireworks. To win, you must get a certain combination of ingredients, which will be different in each variety of the game. For instance if you play the Tea Fireworks you will launch 5 fireworks representing different teas, while if you play the Dynasty Fireworks you will launch 5 fireworks that represent the different Chinese Dynasties. The betting levels and payouts for the Fireworks game will also change from island to island. The Fireworks game is strictly a luck game however players can use different strategies to get the most chances of earning from the game.

If you are looking for the best place to start gambling with your Bitcoins, Dragon’s Tale is definitely the one Casino you []. By A new report has shed details on the story of Craig Wright, the Australian academic and businessman who earlier this year sought to prove he was Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of bitcoin.

The mammoth 35,000-word piece by journalist and novelist Andrew O’Hagan captures the behind-the-scenes effort of Wright’s controversial reveal earlier this year, when he sat for interviews with The Economist, GQ and the BBC as part of an effort to bolster his claim. That move came months after tech publications Gizmodo and Wired published reports in December connecting Wright to the Satoshi identity. The story contains a number of interesting facts and anecdotes, including the claim that Wright lost funds in the collapse of Costa Rican digital currency firm Liberty Reserve and once had a face-to-face meeting with Ross Ulbricht, the convicted operator of the Silk Road online dark market.

It also offers new details on Dave Kleiman, who was reportedly an early force in the project before passing away in mid-2013. One running theme of the story is Wright’s effort to patent aspects of the technology underlying bitcoin as part of a reported deal with a company called nTrust, which offers a money exchange app and, according to the LBR report, had struck the foundations of a deal that would see the filing of a number of patents related to the blockchain and digital currency under the auspices of a new firm, nCrypt. The patent development process appears to have been driven by a desire to sell big – and soon. According to the LBR, 'the hurry for the patents was to help with the giant sale to Google or whomever'. Work, the story outlines, had already begun at a new research center based in London, and movements toward meetings with Google and Uber had begun, nTrust executives []. By U.K.-based Bitcoin startup Caricoin recently announced the launch of a Bitcoin wallet for the Caribbean. The wallet has been developed in partnership with Palo Alto-based blockchain security company BitGo.

According to a press release by the company, the wallet will provide a mobile money solution to users in the Caribbean where access to traditional banking is limited. The wallet combines elements of social messaging platforms with remittance via Bitcoin. It allows senders and receivers to chat with each other and also comes with the ability to top-up mobile phones with prepaid minutes anywhere within the Caribbean. Speaking to Bitcoin Magazine, Karsten Becker, CEO of Caricoin, said wallet was developed as an alternative to the traditional banking services for the Caribbean where, according to World Bank 2015 Global Findex Report, nearly 50 percent of the population is unbanked. “Access to banking services in the Caribbean is difficult at best” Becker said.

“The KYC [know-your-customer] process is extremely difficult and antiquated, and out of reach of most people, and the process for small businesses to open a account can take up to 90 days.” Becker said that unlike traditional banking services where opening an account can take days due to the KYC regulations, the wallet allows anyone to instantly open an account and make digital payments. “In comparison to banks and the mobile money platforms which are struggling to take off due to over-regulation, we make it extremely easy for anyone to open a account ‒ all you really need is a mobile phone with an internet connection,” Becker said. He also added that the wallet will help users in the rural areas of the Caribbean where people currently have to travel to pay their utility bills by allowing them to pay bills from within the wallet.

“In some areas of rural Jamaica it can cost []. By The bitcoin price chart took a bearish turn earlier today and analysis looks at the most likely support levels where the bulls might be entrenched. This analysis is provided by xbt.social with a 3-hour delay. Read the full analysis here. Not a member? Join now and receive a $29 discount using the code CCN29.

Bitcoin Price Analysis Time of analysis: 15h00 UTC Bitstamp 1-Hour Candle Chart From the analysis pages of xbt.social, earlier today: A down-draft during the UTC evening, and an apparently mild sell-off is approaching the 1-hour 200-period moving average. As can be seen in the 1-hour candle Bitstamp chart, above, a few large sellers had pulled down a couple of long candle wicks earlier in the day. The 1hr 200MA (red, red arrow) should offer minor support, but it is more likely that the market gives more credence to the $700 psych level at the top of the orange rectangle. If price dips below $700 then $680 can come back into play, or perhaps even the lower edge of the rectangle where the rising 800MA (purple) is currently offering support at $650.

It will be a surprise to see the present sell-off turn into full-blown decline. Any which way, this is not a time for trading, but for observing the market to see where price finds support. Subsequent price action should offer trading opportunities. The most important rule of trading is to play good defense, not great offense. Every day I assume every position I have is wrong. I know where my stop risk points are going to be. I do that so I can define my maximum possible draw down.

– Paul Tudor Jones Summary Yesterday’s sense that the larger advancing wave is destined to surpass $800 is not yet dashed on the rocks. Today’s decline []. By Australian businessman Craig Wright, the man who previously claimed to be the inventor of bitcoin, is looking to amass a massive number of patents that is predictably centered around blockchain technology.

Bitcoin is garnering plenty of attention in recent times due to its tremendous surge in value. Headlines are being written with investor gurus among others proclaiming it to be digital gold. Many proponents go a step further, seeing the cryptocurrency as a better store of value than the traditional precious metal. The last time Bitcoin amassed such coverage, an Australian named Craig Wright stepped up and summoned a select handful of publications. He then claimed to be Satoshi Nakamoto, bitcoin’s mysterious and pseudonymous inventor. His announcement made mainstream headlines around the world.

Excitement soon made way to cynicism and within days, Craig Wright had retreated, apologetically. He’s back in the headlines now. In an intriguing new account of Wright, novelist Andrew O’Hagan, a journalist who spent six months with Craig Wright shares a wide-ranging account of the entire affair. O’Hagan was right by Wright from the initial Wired- and Gizmodo-led outing to his own subsequent self-proclaimed reveal as Satoshi Nakamoto. Owning a Patent Empire as Satoshi Nakamoto While the entire account of O’Hagan is entirely worth your time, a quick takeaway is just how significant it was and is to buy into the notion that Craig Wright is Satoshi Nakamoto. Associates and financial backers of Craig Wright are outlining plans to apply for “hundreds” of patents, patents devised with Wright front and center as Satoshi Nakamoto.

An excerpt from O’Hagan’s account reads: Wright and his people were preparing dozens of patents, and each invention, in a specific way, looked to rework financial, social, legal or medical services, expanding on the basic idea of the ‘distributed public ledger’ that constitutes []. By It appears as if Ledger one of the most popular Bitcoin hardware wallet manufacturers, have released a new model. The Ledger Nano S is a next generation hardware wallet, with open source software and support for multiple currencies. Pre-orders are open to residents all over the world, and shipping will start near the end of July 2016. The Ledger Nano S Is Here Ledger is one of those Bitcoin companies constantly coming up with improved products and services. This approach has gotten the enterprise a solid reputation in the world of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency so far. By announcing the new Ledger Nano S, it looks as if the company is ready to take things to the next level.

Similar to their previous Bitcoin hardware wallet models, the Nano S uses a USB-connection to link to other devices. There is also a small OLED display to double check all information related to the Bitcoin transaction in question. Confirmation of these transfers will occur through tapping the side buttons of the device. By using chip technology, all cryptographic secrets on the Ledger Nano S are secured and kept safe from prying eyes. Moreover, this hardware wallet has support for multiple cryptocurrencies – both Bitcoin and Ethereum – which can be spent from the same device. Third-party applications can be used in conjunction with this device as well. Users can pick from existing offerings – GPG, SSH, and others – or build their own.

ZClassic ZCL Mining Bandwidth. The Ledger engineers have been working hard on creating Chrome plugins for their hardware wallets over the years. The new Ledger Nano S will be compatible with both the Bitcoin and Ethereum Chrome app developed by the Ledger Wallet team. Moreover, all of the device’s accounts are backed up on a paper wallet, making it easy to recover data []. By Bitcoin is becoming as safe a haven as gold, one investment analyst told CNBC. The price of the cryptocurrency has been rapidly rising in recent weeks. It traded above $730 per bitcoin at the end of last week, levels not since February 2014. According to Chris Burniske, a blockchain analyst and products lead at investment manager ARK Invest, the cryptocurrency could be referred to as digital gold, as it shares many of the characteristics that makes the precious metal a great store of value.

'Bitcoin shares those same characteristics,' Burniske told CNBC in a phone interview. '[Both have an] extremely limited supply and a relatively inert state. Bitcoin and gold can both be used: for example, gold is used in electronic circuits and bitcoin is used as payment. While gold has performed well in recent months, rising 20 percent year to date, Burniske suggested investors should also consider diversifying into bitcoin. 'When you look at the global markets, there’s lots of fear, uncertainty and doubts. You’ve got people worrying about the equity markets [and] you’ve got people fleeing into bonds,' he said. 'While gold has had a bit of a run in 2016, over the last five year period it’s been a terrible performing asset.'

'So you’ve got people starting to wonder where there are safe havens to store their assets. I think you have lot of people saying ‘Hey we want to diversify a little bit’ making allocations to bitcoin’.' Some disagree that bitcoin should be considered a safe-haven asset. Vijay Michalik, research analyst at consultancy Frost & Sullivan, pointed out that bitcoin is still very volatile.' Bitcoin is still such a new innovation that the economics of its value aren’t fully understood, and the price looks likely to remain moderately volatile in the medium term,' he told CNBC in an email.' Volatility and the long-term unknowns [].

By U.K.-based Bitcoin startup Caricoin recently announced the launch of a Bitcoin wallet for the Caribbean. The wallet has been developed in partnership with Palo Alto-based blockchain security company BitGo. According to a press release by the company, the wallet will provide a mobile money solution to users in the Caribbean where access to traditional banking is limited. The wallet combines elements of social messaging platforms with remittance via Bitcoin. It allows senders and receivers to chat with each other and also comes with the ability to top-up mobile phones with prepaid minutes anywhere within the Caribbean. Speaking to Bitcoin Magazine, Karsten Becker, CEO of Caricoin, said wallet was developed as an alternative to the traditional banking services for the Caribbean where, according to World Bank 2015 Global Findex Report, nearly 50 percent of the population is unbanked. “Access to banking services in the Caribbean is difficult at best” Becker said.

“The KYC [know-your-customer] process is extremely difficult and antiquated, and out of reach of most people, and the process for small businesses to open a account can take up to 90 days.” Becker said that unlike traditional banking services where opening an account can take days due to the KYC regulations, the wallet allows anyone to instantly open an account and make digital payments. “In comparison to banks and the mobile money platforms which are struggling to take off due to over-regulation, we make it extremely easy for anyone to open a account ‒ all you really need is a mobile phone with an internet connection,” Becker said. He also added that the wallet will help users in the rural areas of the Caribbean where people currently have to travel to pay their utility bills by allowing them to pay bills from within the wallet. “In some areas of rural Jamaica it can cost []. By Signatories are being asked to sign a new petition from Change.org to get Walmart to accept Bitcoin payments directly as consumers struggle to spend their bitcoins on everyday purchases. For many digital currency enthusiasts acquiring bitcoins is the easy part; however, for many it’s not always so easy spending it, particularly when it comes to everyday expenses such as grocery shopping.

This is why the Change.org petition has been created with the objective of getting Walmart to start accepting the digital currency. If Walmart were to accept Bitcoin it would come at a fitting moment for the company as it drops Visa as a payment method due to the high fees associated with it. Not only that but in recent weeks the value of Bitcoin has been rising making it almost impossible to ignore the digital currency as an alternative payment method. Easy Availability Since Bitcoin came on the scene in 2009, it has grown exponentially with its market cap now larger than the total valuation of Western Union or Twitter. Its growth has meant that it is now possible for people to purchase bitcoins in storefronts across the country, making it readily available to people who want to use the digital currency as a convenient form of payment.

Canadian decentralized technologies hub, Decentral, announced at the beginning of the year that Canadians will be able to readily purchase the cryptocurrency, enabling those who aren’t tech-savvy to have an easier way of paying for everyday purchases at stores such as Walmart. Bitcoin ATM manufacturer, BitAccess, is another company that is also stepping up to the challenge by revealing that bitcoin can be purchased at 6,000 retail storefronts in Canada, via a Flexepin voucher that works similar to a store card.

Accepting Bitcoin Of course, what remains to be seen now is []. By , Photo: Craig Wright Claims to be Satoshi Nakamoto on the BBC The discredited self-proclaimed inventor of Bitcoin, Australian business man Craig Wright, is back to mess with the cryptocurrencies world. A firm controlled by Wright is filling a huge number of patents for various applications of blockchain technology estimated to be worth over a billion dollar, according to the Reuters news agency.

The fact that the real inventor of Bitcoin left his breakthrough invention in the public domain allowed for rapid development of new derivative projects, first in new cryptocurrencies and these days especially around blockchain solutions for banks and other financial institutions. If Wright will be allowed to gain legal control of the technology all that might change. While trying to keep the connection to Wright hidden, his firm (Antigua-registered EITC Holdings Ltd) has reportedly already filled applications for over fifty patents in the UK since February, with up to four-hundredths planned.

Remember Wright? In May Wright made an announcement that he is the creator of Bitcoin with much fanfare, appearing simultaneously on Forbes and the Economist as well as an interview on the BBC.

Giving validity to the claim were Bitcoin experts and leading community members, Gavin Andresen and Jon Matonis, who seemed to confirm at the time that the Australian businessman is indeed Satoshi Nakamoto. However, many refused to accept Wright as the creator of Bitcoin and challenged him to provide proof by making a transfer from Satoshi’s wallet or just sign a verified a message using the private key from block #1. Wright very quickly decided to disappear, he deleted his blog and claimed he will not talk to the public ever again. The last meaningful message from him was that he is sorry for hurting reputation of Andresen and Matonis. By Wright has been keeping a low profile after claiming to be the mysterious “Satoshi Nakamoto” Craig Wright, the Australian who claimed to be the inventor of bitcoin, is attempting to build a large patent portfolio around the digital currency and technology underpinning it, according to associates of his and documents reviewed by Reuters. Since February, Wright has filed more than 50 patent applications in Britain through Antigua-registered EITC Holdings, which a source close to the company confirmed was connected to Wright, government records show.

Interviews with sources close to EITC Holdings, which has two of Wright’s associates as directors, confirmed it was still working on filing patent applications and Britain’s Intellectual Property Office has published another 11 patent applications filed by the company in the past week. “None of this has stopped,” one person close to the company said. The person declined to be identified because they were not authorized to speak to the media. Wright did not respond to requests seeking comment. Get Data Sheet, Fortune ’s technology newsletter. The granting of even some of the patents would be significant for banking and other industries that are trying to exploit bitcoin technologies, as well as dozens of start-ups scurrying to build business models based around it.Financial institutions are expected to spend more than $1 billion this year and next on projects linked to the “blockchain” at the heart of bitcoin, according to a survey by boutique investment bank Magister Advisors.The blockchain is a public database that by-passes money-based payments by recording all transactions digitally.

It forms the core of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies by maintaining a decentralized record of all transactions.Proponents say it has the potential to disrupt financial services by making payments and the settling of securities transactions, in particular, far cheaper.Patents that Wright has applied for range from []. By The recent DAO debacle has put an interesting spotlight on the validity of smart contract technology. Peter Todd, one of the Bitcoin developers, took the time to outline how smart contracts come to life. As it turns out, there are many building blocks to take into account. Brief Technical Stuff Creating a smart contract means the code used has to run on different machines will providing identical results. Bitcoin’s scripting system, as well as the Dex project, allow expressions to be precisely specified by hash digest. Moreover, the code can be executed against an environment with deterministic results.

Transactions executed by using smart contracts are one of the primary use cases for this technology right now. Every transaction output has a condition attached to it, and can be associated with values such as a number of coins. Once a set of proofs has been acquired, these transactions are deemed valid. One thing to keep in mind is how genesis transactions have to be unique, and contains secure hash functions. Bitcoin used to fail at this step as a protocol, up until BIP 34 was introduced. Using Smart Contracts In Real Life The bigger question regarding smart contracts is how they should be implemented.

Transaction blockchains present a good use case, as it would make contracts resistant to miner censorship as long as the seal’s identifier is not public. Additionally, the protocol – Bitcoin or Ethereum – needs to allow for proof transaction committing to the sealed contents with unspendable outputs. Very few people are aware of how smart contracts can play a major role in decentralized and centralized distributed ledgers. Ethereum and Bitcoin have been exploring options in the decentralized blockchain world so far. Unfortunately, what happened to The DAO goes to show there is still a lot []. By It is not the first time somebody tries to patent the “Bitcoin” term, but no one expected Craig Wright to be among them. Not too long ago, this person claimed he was the creator of Bitcoin, yet failed to provide any credible evidence.

As it turns out, he wants to build a patent portfolio around this cryptocurrency, as well as the technology underpinning the protocol. Craig Wrigh t is perhaps one of the most despised people in the Bitcoin world right now.

After falsely claiming he was Satoshi Nakamoto, his credibility took a serious nosedive. Now that he is trying to build a patent empire around Bitcoin and blockchain technology, his reputation will take another significant hit. Craig Wright Wants To Destroy Bitcoin For those who still had any lingering doubt as to whether or not Wright is Satoshi Nakamoto, his actions speak louder than words. Bitcoin is designed to be a tool for all people of this world, and patents have nothing to do with this concept. Anyone who tries to patent things regarding Bitcoin and the blockchain does not have the best interests of cryptocurrency at heart, let alone be the creator of this ecosystem. According to Reuters, Wright has filed over 50 patent applications through EITC Holdings Ltd. All of these filings took place between February 2016 and today.

It is interesting to note he was working on his patent empire while making the Satoshi Nakamoto claims, indicating there was something much larger at play than most people anticipated. 400 Patent Applications On The Agenda This past week, EITC Holdings Ltd – which is run by two of Wright’s associates – filed another 11 patent applications. Even if some of these claims were granted, it would be a significant turn of events []. By SPONSORED ARTICLE: Tech Analysis articles are sponsored by SimpleFx – “Keep it simple!”, SimpleFX is a robust online trading provider, offering trading with Forex CFDs on Bitcoins, Litecoins, indices, precious metals and energy. Offers and trading conditions simple and transparent. So the day has drawn to a close out of Europe, and it’s time to put out the second of our twice daily bitcoin price watch analysis pieces. In this morning’s analysis we noted that action over the weekend (while initially promising) was pretty flat, and that this may continue into the early week trading session today.

This is especially true when compared to the action see across last week’s latter half. So, let’s take a look at what happened today, and try to figure out how we can use this to influence our strategy heading forward into the US afternoon and, beyond that, into the Asian session this evening. As ever, take a quick look at the chart before we get going, It’s a fifteen minute candlestick chart showing the last few days worth of action, and it’s got a fresh range overlaid to show this evening’s key levels. So, was the chart shows, the levels we are focusing on for this evenings session are in term support to the downside at 740, and in term resistance to the upside at 763. It’s a pretty wide range, so we can go at the market with an intrarange strategy while maintaining a pretty decent risk to reward profile.

Specifically, long on a bounce from support and short on a correction from resistance. Stop loss just the other side of the entry to define risk. From a breakout perspective, a close above resistance will signal a long entry towards an initial upside target of 770 flat. A stop loss on []. By The Barcelona Bitcoin Community has come up with a fun way to mark the forthcoming Bitcoin block reward halving slated for July 10 – a party. The point is to celebrate an informal meetup to meet other bitcoiners, have lots of discussions, eat BBQ food, the cryptocurrency interest group states on its Meetup.com page. “My opinion: Let’s celebrate what happens for sure: halving.

Have a good time together!” says one of the event’s organizers, Manfred Karrer, the creator of Bitsquare, one of the first decentralized exchanges for Bitcoin. “What happens with price is out of our reach and should not be that important. Price moves up and down, but Bitcoin stays.” The Bitcoin community which has over a thousand members, has been organising meetups in the past, including on university campuses.

The party is free to attend. A recap of the first halving The first halving of the block reward took place on 28th of November 2012. The reward was reduced by half, from 50 bitcoins per block to 25 Bitcoins.

This reduced the supply of new bitcoins being created daily to 3600 Bitcoins. Block reward is about to reduce from 25 to 12.5 Bitcoins per block and daily supply to 1800 Bitcoins in about twenty days from now. A common consensus among Bitcoin enthusiasts is that the halving will make the price of Bitcoin go up based on a principle of supply and demand – that if the demand for Bitcoin stays the same as it is today (3,600 per day at the rate of about $760) but the supply is cut in half, the price of Bitcoin would effectively double to ensure equilibrium with supply and demand – stability. Demand for Bitcoin remains high before the halving After the first halving, the 7200 Bitcoins being created daily reduced to [].

By Analytics provided by BBA While bitcoin treads water in the mid-$750’s following another bullish week, Ether has been getting some less flattering attention. Early Friday morning the cryptocurrency based project known as the DAO (“Decentralized Autonomous Organization”) was exploited for about 3.5 million Ethers, equivalent to around $50 million USD via a quirk in the code related to child DAO’s. The public perception surrounding the event was certainly not good for Ethereum, the DAO, and other smart contract-focused endeavors. This is just the first big hurdle for this very new technology. There is no doubt that this will negatively affect price and market confidence over the next few months, although it could end up being a good thing over the long term. Extended correction Let’s look at the charts to see if they corroborate the theses above.

ETH/BTC price chart If we look at the 3-day chart, we can see that the prospects for a bull market continuation now look rather grim, at least over the short to medium term, due to the fact that we have a legitimate breakdown from the symmetrical triangle combined with what is now a confirmed double top. Also notice the large spike in sell volume on the breakdown candle, along with the move below the A/D (Accumulation/Distribution) uptrend line for the first time in history. Both of these indications point to a more extended correction and consolidation. Additionally, when we look at momentum we see that Willy has broken lower but still has plenty of room to run to the downside, RSI is now well below the centerline, and MACD is just starting to pick up some steam to the downside. Price is testing pivot Finally, volume profile remains almost nonexistent down to the ~0.007btc level which leaves a lot of price discovery left to be done.

Conversely, []. By German-based insurance giant Allianz has announced it has been successfully testing Blockchain technology and smart contracts for the processing of default swaps and bonds.

The company is feeling positive about the potential of technology to increase the competition among financial institutions. Allianz Risk Transfer, founded in 1997, has been operating as the center of competence for alternative risk transfer business within the Allianz Group offering tailor-made insurance, reinsurance and other non-traditional risk management solutions to industrial and financial clients worldwide. Applying the Blockchain in insurance services Allianz is not the first company to test Blockchain technology and research the application opportunities to improve services. Earlier PwC announced that it will largely support the research of the application of Blockchain technologies in the area of insurance.

Insurance provider John Hancock, in collaboration with ConsenSys Enterprise, began working on proof of concept using Blockchain and BlockApps. Carrying the nontraditional approach to risk management Allianz Risk Transfer and Nephila Capital Limited announced that they have successfully piloted the application of Blockchain smart contract technology for transacting a natural catastrophe swap.

Company’s pilot is one of several tests applications of Allianz’s Disruptive Technologies division. It has demonstrated that Blockchain-based contracts could significantly accelerate and simplify transactional processing and settlement between insurers and investors, and increase tradability of cat bonds. It undoubtedly sets the direction for exploration of more opportunities to apply this technology to other insurance transactions.

What are the ‘cat’ swaps? Catastrophe or ‘cat’ swaps and bonds are financial instruments which transfer a specific set of risks (e.g. Natural disaster risks) from an insurer to investors or other insurers utilizing triggers with defined parameters. Generally, ‘cat’ bonds follow an approach similar to financial ‘cat’ swaps, meaning that if the event occurs and meets the predefined trigger criteria, the third-party is responsible for the pre-agreed financial []. By Dragon’s Tale is the most exquisite Bitcoin Casino around. It gathers role playing and Casino gambling to present a unique Casino experience where players can enjoy dozens of luck and skill based games.Dragon’s Tale takes the gambling experience to whole new level by presenting players with a magnificent virtual world where they can enroll a character, meet other players and gamble. After creating an account, you will be able to roam around the world of Dragon’s Tale.

In this virtual world, you will find social places like the Bar where players meet and have some “virtual drinks”. Here you will find a lot of games which you can play with other players. One of these fun mini games is the Shots, which is a multi-player drinking contest and a luck based game. In this game, all the players have to drink a lot of shots. The last man standing wins it all. The cost of a round of drinks depends on the specific drink and the number of players participating in the round. Drinks come in different levels: Lovely, Quenching, Natural, Sparkling, Fresh, Perfect, and Emperor’s.

Each is a factor of 10 bigger than the other. A drink that is 2 kSAT at Lovely is 20 kSAT at Quenching, 2 BTM at Natural, 20 BTM at Sparking, and so forth up to 20 BTC an Emperor’s level. The best part of this game is that, if you’re feeling generous, you can buy drinks for your friends and they’ll have a chance of winning big too! Regular drinks can also be found throughout the game at the various bars. They are always available for purchase. Commemorative drinks are also available at some of the bars throughout the game.

A commemorative drink recognizes a specific event in the life of Dragon’s Tale, or a []. By More than $19m worth of bitcoin is now being sold at auction in a public sale overseen by professional services firm Ernst & Young.

Announced on 30th May, the auction finds E&Y auctioning 25,518 BTC (worth roughly $19m at press time ) over a 48-hour period that began at 12:01am AEST today. As previously reported, the bitcoins were confiscated by law enforcement officials from an Australian native in late 2014 in connection with a narcotics investigation.

But with bitcoin trading at two-year highs, just who is interested in the auction and whether it draws the same number of high-profile participants as major US auctions, remains to be seen. So far, CoinDesk has only been able to identify one auction participant who has come forward to indicate they will be entering bids as part of the event, Silicon Valley-based bitcoin buying service Binary Financial. US auction participants including itBit and Pantera Capital said they will not be entering bids, while New York-based trading firms Genesis Mining and Cumberland Mining had not responded to requests for additional information at press time. (E&Y declined to provide insight into the number of participating bidders). While the high price of bitcoin at auction may seem a likely deterrent, Binary managing partner Harry Yeh indicated that the auction blocks could prove enticing to over-the-counter bitcoin trading firms like his own, who he said have been struggling to source demand stemming from bitcoin’s recent gains. Yeh told CoinDesk: “We want to help our clients accumulate more bitcoin. Right now, getting any access where you can buy bitcoin without a huge premium is an advantage.” Sources suggested OTC buyers are now paying as much as 2% above market prices, meaning at $748, bitcoins sold off exchanges would be trading at above $760.

The price of bitcoin has seen rapid appreciation in recent weeks []. By A Bitcoin (virtual currency) paper wallet with QR codes and a coin are seen in an illustration picture taken at La Maison du Bitcoin in Paris, France, May 27, 2015. Craig Wright, the Australian who claimed to be the inventor of bitcoin, is attempting to build a large patent portfolio around the digital currency and technology underpinning it, according to associates of his and documents reviewed by Reuters. Since February, Wright has filed more than 50 patent applications in Britain through Antigua-registered EITC Holdings Ltd, which a source close to the company confirmed was connected to Wright, government records show. Interviews with sources close to EITC Holdings Ltd, which has two of Wright’s associates as directors, confirmed it was still working on filing patent applications and Britain’s Intellectual Property Office has published another 11 patent applications filed by the company in the past week. 'None of this has stopped,' one person close to the company said.

The person declined to be identified because they were not authorized to speak to the media. Wright did not respond to requests seeking comment. The granting of even some of the patents would be significant for banking and other industries that are trying to exploit bitcoin technologies, as well as dozens of start-ups scurrying to build business models based around it. Financial institutions are expected to spend more than $1 billion this year and next on projects linked to the 'blockchain' at the heart of bitcoin, according to a survey by boutique investment bank Magister Advisors. The blockchain is a public database that by-passes money-based payments by recording all transactions digitally. It forms the core of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies by maintaining a decentralized record of all transactions.Proponents say it has the potential to disrupt financial services by making payments and the settling of securities transactions, in particular, far cheaper.Patents [].

By Bitcoin companies are seeing significant interest from investors all over the world. Quoine, a Singapore Bitcoin exchange, has recently raised US$20m in VC funding. This is quite a step up from the company’s previous investment round, which was worth ‘only” US$2m. It is interesting to note. Bitcoin exchange Quoine is based in Tokyo, despite being a Singapore platform. However, this new investment round will help the company move its headquarters from Tokyo to Singapore in the coming months. There is also a Singapore office, which will continue operating as a subsidiary.

Quoine Focuses On Asian Market The primary focus for the Quoine Bitcoin exchange has always been on the Asian market. This new investment round will not change that situation, as it will strengthen the company’s position in the region. Since most of the Bitcoin exchange volume is originating from China and other Asian countries, that seems to be a smart business decision. By the look of things, investors are continuing the trend that started in 2015.

A lot of VC funding has flowed to Bitcoin companies last year, and it looks like corporates are flocking to cryptocurrency companies as well. This is all very positive news for the Bitcoin ecosystem as a whole, as more money allows existing companies to expand their presence. Although a lot of financial players have discounted the potential success of Bitcoin for several years now, things are changing. The European Union deemed Bitcoin to be exempt from VAT for the time being, legitimizing cryptocurrency.

Japan is set to vote on whether or not Bitcoin becomes a legal currency in the country as well. Countries such as Malaysia and Singapore are exploring opportunities in the Fintech sector, and Bitcoin is an integral part of the evolution of finance. The recent Bitcoin price trend is spurring renewed []. By Have you ever heard of Bitcoin? It is a digital currency and online payment system that users can use to make purchases and perform other financial transactions online. The software that creates Bitcoins is completely open source and available for everyone to use.

Bitcoins can be exchanged for actual money and vice-versa at sites called Bitcoin exchanges. But, if you don’t want to spend your own money, you can still use Bitcoins. How is this possible? Through a process called mining, although it can be time-consuming, the mining process isn’t too difficult – it involves using your computer to figure out certain calculations. In this way, you could fund your online gaming (on online casinos) and other financial transactions without using any of your own money. There are many benefits to using this virtual currency on online casinos, besides the “free” money.

For instance, when Bitcoin is used for financial transactions, there are little to no transaction fees, especially when compared to payment systems like PayPal or credit and debit cards. Furthermore, Bitcoins can be sent directly from a tablet, computer, smartphone, because all transactions are completely secure, ensuring the safety of all funds involved. As you can see, Bitcoin is easy to use, secure, and perfect for financial transactions on your favorite sites, like Red Flush online casino. Unfortunately, even though the operators of this particular website are very keen to see where the future of Bitcoin treads, as of right now, this type of payment system is not available on their site. Don’t be discouraged however, one day it might be possible to use this promising virtual currency to play redflushcasino.com video poker games on their exclusive site. Known for their fair gaming practices, innovative security measures, and a wide selection of high-quality games, Red Flush casino is, without a [].

By Bitcoin price has been in the spotlight of the financial media lately with its soaring value and is understandably getting plenty of attention. In a televised interview on Bloomberg, an executive at BitPay – the largest payment processor in the industry, outlines his reasons for the price swell. Sonny Singh, chief commercial officer at BitPay appeared in a televised interview on Bloomberg where he was asked about bitcoin’s recent rally. The rapid price surge began over the past few weeks to break the $750 ceiling late last week, hitting a 28-month high for the cryptocurrency. Inevitably, the primary factor he cites is the demand from new Chinese investors who are looking at the cryptocurrency as a store of value. Chinese Stuttering Economy, the Demand for Bitcoin The first opening session of 2016 when Chinese stock markets opened on a Monday saw shares dip to their worst ever start to a year, plunging 7%. China’s new “circuit breaker” measures were enforced to prevent further losses and volatility in the stock market.

Some of the factors for a slowdown of the Chinese economy is diminishing activity in an otherwise factory-intensive manufacturing Chinese industry that has a telling effect on the wider economy. While manufacturing numbers are down, increasing food prices are among the primary factors for inflation. To improve the stagnating economy, China’s central bank has notably lowered its lending and deposit rates’ benchmarks and has notably lowered the minimum ceiling of mandatory cash reserves mandated for banks. These factors and more have led to Chinese Yuan depreciating in value with the offshore Yuan following along the same path. As a result, Chinese investors are flocking to the cryptocurrency. “China has a very big and active bitcoin trading population,” Singh stated pointing to the reason behind significant price swings of the cryptocurrency. By Different kinds of altcoin trends can be a reason for a flat forming on the USD market.

The dollar’s trend has reached its minimal long-term targets. The choice of a new long-term direction is underway as a result. Will the growth continue? Ethereum’s upward trend has ended with a powerful drop. Disrupting the structure of its trend at the level of $19, Ethereum’s price was not able to hold there, for a continued upward movement. The $19 mark was responsible for the structure of the entire upward trend which started at $14. That’s why a turn to decline at that point was able to provoke such a fall.

The probability of the upward movement continuing from that mark was 50/50, but after the turn has formed, the downward movement became more probable. Litecoin is still forming an upward trend. Several price rebounds from an important resistance of $4.6 indicate that the bulls are holding the advantage. That’s why the odds are on the side of an upward trend.

DASHBTC is forming a deeper long-term downward correction. The reason for that downward movement is a cancellation of a medium-term flat and, naturally, the continuation of the upward Bitcoin trend. The dollar situation is really vague. World currencies have not been forming any kind of a clear trend since the beginning of the week. That means that the dollar is in a flat. The reason for that flat is that the movement has reached its minimal long-term correction targets. The movement which started at the beginning of this year by most world currencies is a rebound toward the dollar’s long-term upward trend.

Consequently, if that dollar trend continues, the prices of world currencies are going to drop, relative to the dollar. This will also have an effect on altcoins which are []. By Cryptocurrency enthusiasts would like nothing more than seeing major retailers accept Bitcoin payments directly. Albeit there is no additional hardware cost for brands to do so, they will need to train staff members to complete transactions. A new petition has surfaced on Change.org to have Walmart accept Bitcoin payments moving forward.

Walmart and Bitcoin Is An Interesting Combination One of the most often heard complaints about Bitcoin is how consumers struggle to spend cryptocurrency on everyday purchases. Grocery shopping, for example, is next to impossible with Bitcoin these days. Although there are intermediate services available, such as Gyft or a Bitcoin debit card, the experience is not the same. Several people have come together and created a petition. The primary objective of this Change.org petition is to get Walmart to accept Bitcoin payments directly. This initiative comes at an opportune time, though, as the store chain is dropping Visa as a payment method due to the high fees associated with this payment method. While there may be an argument to be made as to how Bitcoin is cheaper and equally is convenient, it is doubtful Walmart would accept cryptocurrency payments.

Unlike Visa, Bitcoin has little traction, as there is no real reason for consumers to get involved in cryptocurrency. At the same time, if a brand like Walmart were to accept Bitcoin, it could boost the adoption rate of cryptocurrency in the US and Canada. Moreover, the Bitcoin market cap has been increasing over the past few weeks.

In fact, Bitcoin’s market cap is larger than the total valuation of Western Union or Twitter, making it impossible to ignore this alternative form of payment. Plus, Walmart has nothing to lose by accepting Bitcoin payments, even if very few people would use it to pay. So far, the petition has 39 signatures out []. By BTCCNY made a rally leading up to the weekend once more, as more traders moved funds out of traditional assets with this week’s event risks. The EU referendum is set to take place on Thursday and, depending on the outcome of the vote, BTCCNY could make another strong breakout. A vote to stay in the EU could mean a return of risk appetite in the financial markets, leading investors back to equities and dumping bitcoin in the process. On the other hand, a Brexit could lead investors to put more money in bitcoin, anticipating further uncertainty in the global economy.

This scenario could bring more volatility to the currency markets and more losses for stocks. In terms of technicals, the moving averages are hinting that the rallies could resume since the 100 SMA is above the 200 SMA. Also, the gap between these SMAs is widening so this means that bearish pressure is getting stronger. However, stochastic and RSI are both on the move down and BTCCNY might follow suit. This means that sellers are still in control of price action until the oscillators start indicating oversold conditions. A breakdown from the triangle pattern could set off a drop to the area of interest around 4500.00, which might act as near-term support. A move below this area could lead to a test of the next floor around 38.00.

Meanwhile, an upside breakout from the consolidation pattern could spur gains until 6000.00 or onto 7000.00 if buying momentum is strong enough. Either way, price could spike around during the actual referendum before establishing a clear direction so it might be best to wait for the official results to be published first. No other event risks are lined up for the week but the threat of currency intervention among Japanese government officials could also discourage traders from []. By ETHXBT formed a double top pattern on its daily time frame, indicating that price is tired from the climb.

Price is currently testing support at the neckline and a break lower would be enough to confirm that more losses are in the cards. The 100 SMA is above the 200 SMA for now so the path of least resistance is to the upside and further gains might be seen. If support holds, ETHXBT could climb back to the tops at 0.03500. The neckline of the double top also lines up with the dynamic support at the 200 SMA, which seems to be the line in the sand for the uptrend. A break below 0.01500 could push ETHXBT to the lows at 0.00500 or much lower. Stochastic is on the move down, which means that sellers are in play, while RSI is starting to turn up from the oversold area to suggest a return in buying pressure. Bitcoin has drawn strong support from the uncertainty in the financial markets, owing to the slowdown in China and the upcoming EU referendum.

A Brexit could bring more economic and financial uncertainty, which might then lead more investors to put their money into alternative assets like bitcoin and ethereum rather than equities and currencies. In terms of virtual currencies, bitcoin appears to be winning out against ethereum due to its faster pace of mainstream acceptance. A number of major retailers such as Walmart are warming up to the idea of using bitcoin for transactions while the blockchain project among large financial institutions is also gaining traction. With that, bitcoin could be the cryptocurrency of choice in this “uncertainty trade” leading up to the EU referendum, although a vote to stay in the EU might inspire massive profit-taking and a sharp bounce for ETHXBT. By Bitcoin Price Key Highlights Bitcoin price made a strong weekend rally as expected and is back in consolidation once more.

A symmetrical triangle formation can be seen on the 1-hour time frame, indicating hesitation among both bulls and bears. Signs of rally exhaustion were seen in the past week, which suggests that profit-taking activity could happen. Bitcoin price could be in for a sharp drop if traders decide to book profits off their recent long positions. Technical Indicators Signals The 100 SMA is above the 200 SMA, which means that the path of least resistance is to the upside and that further gains are possible. In addition, this short-term moving average lines up with the symmetrical triangle support and is holding as a dynamic inflection point. The gap between the moving averages is widening so bullish pressure could be building up.

However, stochastic is pointing down, hinting that sellers could take control of bitcoin price and push for a downside break. If so, price could head towards the next floor around the $675-700 area, which is around an area of interest and is also close to the 200 SMA. A break below this area could bring bitcoin price to the next long-term support at $575. RSI appears to be turning higher even without reaching the oversold region.

If buyers stay on top of their game, bitcoin price could make yet another upside breakout, depending on the outcome of this week’s market events. Market Events Bitcoin price has been strongly supported by the uncertainty in the financial markets throughout the month, leading traders to put money in alternative assets like cryptocurrencies versus traditional ones like stocks and currencies. The upcoming EU referendum could have a strongly volatile impact on these markets, with some analysts predicting that central banks could scramble to [].

By While the hopes are strong among the Bitcoin community about the emergence of bitcoin as a mainstream payment instrument in the coming days, the English merchants have a different take on it. According to a survey conducted by the Smith and Williamson, businesses in and around the United Kingdom have found bitcoin and other digital currencies to be too insignificant to drive any large scale changes in the past 5 years.

The views expressed by business owners is quite contrary to the actual turn of events in the digital currency sector from the past 5 years. We can see that bitcoin, other digital currencies, and digital currency based technologies started to gain prominence about 4-5 years ago. The evolution of Bitcoin technology also led to the emergence of various bitcoin exchanges and wallet services during the period. The respondents to the survey make a very small sample set and it is quite possible that they may not be so well informed about bitcoin as expected. It is hard to ignore the recent developments with the underlying blockchain technology, which is now being implemented by various international banking institutions including few prominent ones in the United Kingdom.

Also, bitcoin is building a good track record off-late, with the price reduction in price volatility. However, in the past few weeks, there has been a huge demand for the digital currency, which has driven up the price from around $450 to $750. Interpreting the participant responses in the survey report, the investment management partner at Smith and Williamson, Fergus Caheny is quoted by a publication saying – “Once heralded as the currency of the future, bitcoin has taken severe hits to its reputation and popularity over recent years Whilst still having its place, as an international currency and within certain sectors, our respondents thought it []. By Speaking of alternative currency and technology associated with it, the bank of Canada is looking into the use of blockchain technology seriously. The new came out recently after the Senior Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada, Carolyn Wilkins mentioned that the central bank will be making use of the distributed ledger technology to test interbank payments.

During the same session, Wilkins also made it clear that the country will not be getting a digitized version of Canadian Dollar anytime soon. The central bank is also not planning to conduct tests involving public money.

The interbank payments system will be along the lines of the technology being developed by the international banking consortium for blockchain technology, in association with New York-based R3CEV. While it is stated that the central bank’s goal is only to get a better understanding of the technology, there are reports about the Bank of Canada creating a concept digital dollar, which few publications have called CAD-Coin.

One of the publications has quoted Ms. Wilkins saying – “One of the bank’s many Fintech research projects is to build a proof-of-concept wholesale interbank payment system using a distributed ledger, in conjunction with Payments Canada, R3 and Canadian banks. The central bank’s goal in these projects is solely to better understand the technology firsthand.

Other frameworks need to be investigated, and there are many hurdles that need to be cleared before such a system would ever be ready for prime time. None of our experiments are to develop central bank-issued eMoney‎ for use by the general public. These are still conceptual research questions that are being investigated by many central banks.” Walmart Canada to Introduce Walmart Pay Soon While the central bank works on the blockchain technology, there are few new developments in the payments sector. The conflict []. By As there is a growing interest in Bitcoin, novice users are starting to look for more peer-to-peer trading alternatives. While the options are relatively limited in this regard, LocalBitcoins sees an increase in popularity.

Traditional exchanges are a hassle to deal with for most consumers, whereas meeting in person seems to be a preferable option. LocalBitcoins Is Buzzing For the longest time, Bitcoin enthusiasts were not too keen on using LocalBitcoins as a trading platform.

That may seem quite strange, considering there is a reputation system involved. Moreover, buyers and sellers can determine how they want to pay, and even if they want to meet in person to complete a transaction. No personal identification is needed per se, and there is far less hassle than dealing with traditional exchanges. LocalBitcoins has seen an uptake in Bitcoin volume over the past 18 months. What is most interesting is how the entire world seems to be appreciating the value platforms like these bring to the table. Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency, yet when it comes to buying and selling BTC, we often forget about the p2p part. The way LocalBitcoins works is as follows: users can sign up for an account and look to buy or sell Bitcoin.

Sellers can set their accepted payment methods although PayPal or Skrill should be avoided at all costs due to chargebacks and fraud. Buyers can look for vendors in their region, see if anyone accepts their preferred payment method, and contact them directly. This is very different from traditional exchanges. On most Bitcoin trading platforms, buyers and sellers put in individual orders after going through a verification process. Until these orders are matched, no trades are concluded. There is nothing peer-to-peer about this system, as buyers and sellers do not interact directly.

Granted, not everyone []. By Bitcoin is often seen as a perfect solution to solve the unbanked problems in the world.

But over in Germany, the government is taking matters into their own hands. As of June 19, every citizen in Germany should have access to a bank account and at a reasonable price. All of the banks in the country have to offer this service to unbanked citizens from now on.

Removing The Unbanked Problem There is an argument to be made as to why some people would prefer to remain unbanked. Relying on the banking system means giving up financial privacy, whereas cash payments do not require personal information.

But at the same time, more and more countries want to get rid of cash altogether, forcing consumers into the waiting arms of financial institutions. Things are quite different in Germany, though. As of today, every bank in the country must offer a fairly-priced bank account to potential customers. A law was passed by the government recently, which enforced this rule. The discussion about providing this service to unbanked citizens dates back to 2012 and is an initiative by the banks themselves. Moreover, there is an EU guideline which forces financial institutions to offer a bank account to unbanked people from now on. Up until this point, very few organizations willingly provided services to homeless and other less fortunate individuals.

But the new guidelines forces all banks to provide these people an account, as long as the individual is a legal citizen within the EU. As part of this new directive, new customers will receive access to a bank account, and a credit card.

However, they are limited as to what they can do with these tools, and going in the red is not an option. Moreover, banks will need to make their fee []. By The bitcoin price chart has been whip-sawing as buyers eagerly anticipate the next advance, while profit-takers capitulate on each approach of $780 (Bitstamp). Technical analysis finds a repeating pattern and its potential outcome. This analysis is provided by xbt.social with a 3-hour delay.

Read the full analysis here. Not a member? Join now and receive a $29 discount using the code CCN29. Bitcoin Price Analysis Time of analysis: 15h00 UTC Bitfinex BTC/USD 1-Hour Candle Chart From the analysis pages of xbt.social, earlier today: The 1hr candle Bitfinex chart illustrates the dynamic of price consolidation and MACD compression. MACD compression is evident from its Bollinger Bands.

As annotated in the chart, the Bollinger Bands contract around MACD as price consolidates into a narrowing range. Although MACD tends towards its zero line during price consolidation (decreasing volatility), we can see that during a rally, MACD may fail to reach zero and tend toward its lower Bollinger Band instead. Once sufficient pressure has built up, price will then launch into a wave of advance. During the past two days, we see that price meets resistance at $780 while MACD consolidates to its lower Bollinger Band. If the pattern highlighted in the chart continues, then we can expect ongoing consolidation and an eventual upside breakout to the targets at $820 and, potentially, $850 for the next wave of advance.

A classic xbt.social buy signal should confirm the start of the move. We remain open to the possibility of a test of support lower in the chart and, therefore, trade only when a specific sequence of buy signals confirm the price move. Experienced traders control risk, inexperienced traders chase gains. – Jim Rohn Summary Yesterday’s sense that bitcoin price is preparing for a large advancing move remains. Although price had been rearing to go this [].

By Nobody knows right now if there are likely to be lawsuits coming out of the $50m-plus attack on Ethereum’s The DAO (decentralised autonomous organisation), but Ethereum’s decentralised governance model will be tested to its absolute limit. The numbers involved are high: The DAO, which is a non-hierarchical, for-profit vehicle, raised over $150m of crowdfunding in last few weeks; the night before the attack, the value of Ethereum’s native currency, ether, reached $21 giving the fund of DAO tokens a value of over $230m; over the course of a few hours on Friday over 3.5 million ETH, about a third of the fund, was drained by an attacker exploiting a weakness in the DAO code. There’s plenty of opinion out there right now, but some of the most insightful analysis came from Andreas M. Antonopoulos hosting a special Let’s Talk Bitcoin show, where the DAO was examined by legal experts. There was also a technical discussion of the attack and the proposed stages of forking to remedy it, and the precedents this creates for Ethereum and the execution of smart contracts more generally. We should remember that Ethereum is censorship-resistant and the terms of and conditions of The DAO state that the code constitutes contract law.

So where does this leave the 25,000 DAO token holders? Antonopoulos was joined by attorney and cryptocurrency expert Pamela Morgan who began by stating that default laws can be applied in certain situations, and that in a case like this common law, facilitated by a judge, would arrive at some sort of 'equitable remedy'. She went on to say the DAO could likely be interpreted as a 'general partnership' and as such those within this profit-orientated organisation have a duty to behave fairly with their partners and not in his or her 'adverse interest'. But this only []. By The recent Bitcoin network congestion has been a topic of substantial debate on Reddit. But could it affect something as obscure as the dark markets?

Despite the block reward halving, they should have no imminent need of switching to different forms of payments. It would be shortsighted to deny the success Bitcoin has on the deep web. Underground marketplaces requiring specific software to access are a haven for Bitcoin usage.

While some people may argue this is usually done to buy and sell illegal goods, there are other reasons why people would use Bitcoin in dark markets. The Success of Bitcoin Across Dark Markets Using cryptocurrency remains a mystery to most people, as they see no need to use anything other than cash or payment cards. Moreover, the number of places where Bitcoin can be utilized is still rather limited, albeit there are plenty of online platforms to do so. But in the real world, it is harder to spend cryptocurrency in its original form. Various debit card solutions are an intermediary tool, but no perfect solution either. Individuals who are privacy-centric have taken a liking to dark markets. These platforms offer near anonymity and allow anyone in the world to buy and sell any item in exchange for Bitcoin.

Albeit cryptocurrency is often referred to as an anonymous form of payment, Bitcoin is pseudonymous, rather than anonymous. That being said, there are no personal details transmitted when making a payment. One thing that could cause a major shakeup in this deep web economy is the mounting Bitcoin transaction fee.

A few days ago, several thousand Bitcoin transactions were stuck as they waited for network confirmations. Users could bypass this situation by increasing the Bitcoin transaction fee, but that is far from an ideal scenario. If these issues were []. By Gabrielle Patrick is a UK and US lawyer specializing in cryptofinance and distributed ledger technology. She is the co-founder and general counsel of Epiphyte, a startup enabling instant settlement of trades and transactions using distributed ledgers. In this feature, Patrick discusses the balancing act regulators face in such a fast-changing technological environment, and describes the issues raised at a European Central Bank (ECB) meeting on the subject this week.

Today, regulators face the challenge of delicately balancing innovation enablement and avoiding premature and overly burdensome regulation. On the one hand, they are expected to ensure market stability and ensure public trust and confidence, yet on the other they are being asked to spur innovation. This all comes at a time when technology is advancing much faster than laws can adapt and when the bitcoin blockchain network offers a fundamental shift in how we transact value instantaneously and how money supply management can be improved. The opportunity for regulators seems clear: an ability to regulate with enhanced transparency, with access to the best data in real time with regulatory features built into the infrastructure itself (eg: monitoring transaction flow end to end in real time with built-in settlement and compliance functionality). So why aren’t regulators jumping at this opportunity? Regulators’ questions Epiphyte was invited to address 25 central banks at the ECB this week to discuss the FinTech impact on payment and settlement systems, and the regulation of digital innovations. The discussion was dominated by the impact of the bitcoin blockchain network.

Some of the topics raised were: the pros and cons of closed loop vs permissioned and open distributed ledgers cross-border flows and how to avoid systemic risk if adoption of bitcoin significantly increases global blockchain standards and ensuring that all proprietary systems are built with interoperability the scalability of the []. By It’s been over seven years since the birth of Bitcoin and as its growth continues in 2016 as a new asset class for the 21st century. As the Brexit vote approaches, China’s woes are heavily weighing down markets, and socialist regimes failing daily investors worldwide are discovering the cryptocurrency’s value. Very well known economists and researchers are discovering Bitcoin’s potential to be a top asset for the future up there with gold, bonds, fine art, and real-estate. Just recently economist and author Ed Yardeni has written an investment report for the newspaper Barron’s. The news outlet is a weekly publication that covers financial information, market developments, and relevant statistics and is owned by Dow Jones & Company.

Yardeni says in his editorial the winning portfolio to have in 2016 is “gold, treasuries and Bitcoin.” The economist explains that “Recent developments in the financial markets have done little to bolster confidence in government-sponsored ‘fiat’ currencies.” However, Yardeni details Bitcoin and gold two assets that live outside the stranglehold of government intervention are seeing significant gains. The Barron’s researcher states in the recent report: “Research papers are declaring bitcoin a new asset class, while Wall Street and other financial institutions are looking at how they can harness blockchain to cut costs and bolster security. Perhaps most dramatically, people in Africa are digitizing their currency and storing it on their cell phones without ever opening a bank account. We’ve maintained that while Bitcoin attracted much attention, it’s really the technology behind the currency, blocktrade, that has the potential to have a more wide-ranging impact on the financial markets. Banks and brokers have begun looking at how blocktrade could be harnessed to track trades and lower trading costs.” Barron’s isn’t the only financial publication writing about Bitcoin’s potential. According to the trading []. By On June 17th, the Bank of England (BOE) announced a new initiative with a financial technology accelerator that will partner with fintech firms to help ‘harness innovations for central banking.’ This was underlined in the recent speech by BOE Governor Mark Carney the very same day.

Alongside BOE’s new accelerator program they have also partnered up with PricewaterhouseCoopers to research blockchain innovation. The Bank of England is starting to believe in the financial technology revolution taking place around the globe.

The recent announcement of a new fintech accelerator program confirms all the rumors of the central bank investing its time into this space. BOE Governor Mark Carney seems to be very interested in the innovative phenomena happening worldwide as central bankers everywhere are hearing about the vast opportunities of blockchain solutions and melding tech together with finance. BOE Governor Mark Carney states in his recent address: “Our Fintech Accelerator has already carried out initial work in the areas of data anonymisation, cyber security, and distributed ledger technology. Other areas of potential future interest for the accelerator include, finding new ways to structure and analyse large datasets, machine learning, particularly in relation to anomaly detection and pattern recognition and the protection of the Bank’s sensitive data” The very same day as BOE’s fintech program announcement, the multinational finance firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) told the world PwC’s Northern Ireland technologies team with collaboration from BOE will work together on a “major project” concerning distributed ledger technology. PwC states it’s “decision to focus on blockchain technology in its Northern Ireland headquarters represents a major step in the firm’s move towards developing and exploiting fintech.” Rob Elsey, Chief Information Officer for the Bank of England, believes the “proof-of-concept” will greatly enhance the central bank’s research of emerging blockchain technology. Elsey states in the announcement: [].

By With the Bitcoin price continuing its upward trend, the question becomes how profitable it is to start mining again. With the Bitcoin halving nearly upon us, that question may have multiple answers, and comprise of both positive and negative aspects. Cloud mining could be well worth getting involved in, depending on how the mining landscape evolves in the next few months. Bitcoin Cloud Mining Has A Decent ROI For Now It is important to note the Bitcoin mining profitability is affected by many different factors. The Bitcoin price is just one of the aspects, as there is also the mining difficulty to take into account. Moreover, miners are always competing against other people and companies for the same block reward. All of these factors have to be considered before purchasing equipment or cloud mining at any given time.

Looking at the available cloud mining contracts listed on CryptoCompare, it appears Bitcoin mining has a decent ROI right now. That is partially thanks to the higher Bitcoin price, which is offering miners increased rewards from their efforts. Cloud mining contracts, on the other hand, remain at virtually the same price.

It still heavily depends on which Bitcoin cloud mining operator one decides to choose, though. MyCoinCloud is still at an ROI of over 800 days, according to CryptoCompare.

A 1TH/s contract will set miners back US$526.25, and bring in US$1.94 of revenue per day [minus any fees the company may charge). If there were no fees, that would result in an ROI of 271.26 days. However, the company charges electricity fees as well, resulting in a much slower ROI. Companies such as Genesis Mining, on the other hand, seem to be more favorable under the current circumstances.

Their Platinum Mining Contract offers 2 TH/s of mining power, at the price of []. By Whenever there is an issue regarding fiat currency, bitcoin is sure to have the last laugh. Bitcoin has been around for about 8 years as an alternative digital currency, which is perfectly capable of operating of ensuring transfer of value without the intervention of an organization or a government as the trusted third party.

The decentralized, open source, peer to peer transaction protocol allows people who are part of the network to act as a third party to facilitate transactions. When it comes to fiat currency, the story is completely different. Every organization, starting from the government appointed Central Bank to the local bank branch or the payment gateway service provider wants to act as the gatekeeper for their customers’ funds and charge a hefty sum for doing so.

Customers end up unnecessarily paying for these services which may not even be beneficial for them. Dissatisfaction among customers is a common occurrence in the fiat industry.

Recently, Walmart in Canada made its displeasure towards the payment processing giant VISA by announcing that it will not be accepting VISA powered cards anymore from its customers. While the ban is expected to come into effect from July 18, Walmart Canada is not the only store that is pissed off with the credit card provider.

According to reports, many medium and small businesses are also facing the same issues where VISA is charging an unacceptably high processing fee for transactions on its cards. Walmart Canada’s move will translate to an effective ban on the cards at over 400 locations across Canada. For the first time, Walmart’s move has received widespread support from small businesses which otherwise do not see eye to eye with the retail giant. Few of these small businesses have even decided to follow Walmart Canada’s suit and stop accepting VISA from []. By Key Points Bitcoin price continued to move higher and settled above the $700 mark against the US dollar. Many traders are in disbelief that the price surged this high in a short span of time.

I think BTC/USD is due for a correction now looking at the weekly chart (data feed from Bitstamp). Bitcoin price surge was amazing, but BTC/USD is reaching a point where the bulls need to be very careful moving ahead. Bitcoin Price Resistance Bitcoin price this past week traded above the $750 mark against the US Dollar, and was simply unstoppable. The last 4 weekly candles on the weekly chart of BTC/USD (data feed from Bitstamp) tells the complete story. However, at the same time if we look at the history, there were no such back to back candles. So, BTC may find it very hard to continue trading higher. The price is currently testing the 61.8% Fib retracement level of the last drop from the $1153 high to $145 low, which is acting as a resistance for more gains.

No doubt, it is a technical level and if it continues to act as a resistance, the price might move down. In my view, the price is due for a major correction, and the current rally should end sooner or later. I would suggest buyers not to get more aggressive, and do not risk a lot buying BTC/USD at these levels as it may turn down any time in the near term. Looking at the technical indicators: Weekly MACD – The MACD is in the bullish slope but along with a divergence, suggesting the strength of the recent move. Weekly RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI is well around the extreme overbought levels, which is a warning sign for the BTC buyers. By In an incredibly surprising turn of events, it looks as if Greece is getting ready to lift capital controls but the end of the year.After facing an economic disaster not too long ago, the country has tried to recover.

For some unknown reason, things seem to be going a lot better than most people expected. Many people have been following the news about Greece and feared the situation in the country would only become worse over time.

Capital controls are annoying to deal with, but there seemed to be no other viable option for the government to do otherwise. As a result, consumers and businesses were very restricted in sending, spending, and receiving funds. But it appears as if everything has stabilized again. Lifting Capital Controls Keeping in mind how over 50 billion euros left banks between November 2014 and July 2015, it seemed unrealistic to expect any improvement in Greece.

Moreover, there were valid concerns Greece would drop the Euro and resort to emergency borrowing. However, Louka Katseli, chair of the National Bank of Greece, feels the biggest part of these restrictions will be lifted later this year.

There are particular conditions the country must adhere to before this becomes a reality, though. Greece successfully concluded a review of its bailout reforms for this month. Doing so should help restore investor confidence in Greece, albeit it is hard to predict whether or not this will be the case. Assuming there is any truth to these rather optimistic claims, the next step will come in the form of the ECB giving Greek banks access to cheap funding. The ECB would do so by accepting Greek banks as collateral. To most people, this will sound like another disaster waiting to happen.

Moreover, there is no reason for the ECB to []. By The banks were never charmed about Bitcoin for multiple reasons. For starters, when the digital currency was first introduced following the collapse of the US banking system, it was hailed as the killer of the traditional banking sector. As time passed, the digital currency gained enough traction to actually threaten the traditional banking industry with its easy and fast transactions at literally no transaction costs. The fierce competition offered by the bitcoin to conventional banking institutions did not help the cause either. As the rivalry between the digital currency and banking sector grew, the banking institutions have come to realize the importance of the technology behind digital currency. They are so convinced about the potential advantages of the digital ledger technology that many of them have already invested heavily into its research and development for banking applications, Some of the leading banking institutions in the world to invest in the blockchain technology includes the likes of Goldman Sachs, BNY Mellon, Mitsubishi UFJ, Deutsche Bank and more.

There is also a consortium of international banks created alongside a New York based blockchain solutions company for collective development and deployment of the blockchain solution for the banking sector. The consortium has already made some progress with a custom distributed financial blockchain called Corda for the purpose.

Regarding the banking sectors feelings about the implementation of blockchain technology into their operations, one of the tech publication quotes BNY Mellon’s Chief Information Officer, Suresh Kumar saying – “This kind of feels like when the Internet started. There is an expectation that, okay, this is something new and different, so there is some value to leveraging it, and the question is: Okay, what are the implications of that for the traditional services, and what kind of services can be enabled that were not practical []. By The bitcoin price holds sideways in pattern suggesting advance. Another rewarding week in the market and it does not look like the advance is giving up. Technical analysis finds price targets and risk levels. This analysis is provided by xbt.social with a 3-hour delay.

Read the full analysis here. Not a member? Join now and receive a $29 discount using the code CCN29. Bitcoin Price Analysis Time of analysis: 13h00 UTC OKCoin BTC/USD 1-Hour Candle Chart From the analysis pages of xbt.social, earlier today: During the past 24 hours we’ve seen price hold above the low established by yesterday’s profit-taking sell-off. The 1hr candle OKCoin BTC/USD chart, above, shows price at the bottom of a rising channel with MACD (just above price) also at the bottom of the range defined by its Bollinger Bands. The implication is that price is now free to advance again. The top of the rising channel, near $820, is an evident target but bitcoin price has shown on many occasions that it can use a narrowing channel as a cannon to blow it into a parabolic price path.

Stupendous advance becomes a reasonable expectation during a bitcoin price rally. Yet, as traders we should always keep healthy account of risk scenarios in the chart. In this case, we see that a break below the lower rising trendline will open decline to the often-mentioned $680 level.

This level should offer strong support since it held during several penetration tests around 14 June, and the level is also being bolstered by the 1hr 200-period moving average (200MA, red line circled in red). Xbt.social traders are currently waiting for a specific combination of indicator signals at several timeframes before starting to build their positions for the next wave of advance. The signals occur before every advancing wave in []. By Bitcoin Classic, a fork of Bitcoin with a doubled two-megabyte block size limit, appears to have failed.

Now, many in the Bitcoin community have voiced fears that, with a continued one-megabyte limit, transaction confirmation times and fees will increase to the point where Bitcoin itself is untenable, potentially dooming the cryptocurrency. However, Steven Zeiler, Software Architect at Zen Software and former software architect for Ripple, holds a different view.

He feels that the block size limit is at present a non-issue, and that the Bitcoin economy continues to work relatively seamlessly, with no major threats on the horizon from the one-megabyte limit. CoinTelegraph spoke to Zeiler about why the state of Bitcoin is strong despite block size limit challenges. Block size limit issue CoinTelegraph: Do you view a 1MB block size limit to be an issue?

Steven Zeiler: I spend Bitcoin nearly every day for regular purchases, using a variety of wallets, services and exchanges, and in my experience the payment network is functioning exceptionally well. Yes, a cap on the block size will eventually raise the fees per, but I’m confident transaction verification won’t be too poorly affected, since most merchants don’t ever wait for a confirmation anyway. The merchants I’m setting up all use BitPay, which seems to have algorithms for confirming transaction validity instantly with a high degree of certainty. The agorists and smaller businesses I deal with who use regular wallets also aren’t usually aware of the 'block confirmation' timescale and simply count the bill as paid when they see the transaction has been broadcast. I did have one issue last year because my wallet didn’t have adjustable fees and a payment to a Coinbase merchant online was stalled, and I had to deal with customer service, but since then most wallets I use have corrected the []. By Barron’s report highlights a trio among the “winning” portfolio of 2016: gold, treasuries and bitcoin. Ed Yardeni, a highly respected economics and investments researcher, recently observed that the technology behind bitcoin has shown the potential to have a wide-ranging impact on financial markets, Dieterich wrote.

Ed Yardeni Recent developments in the financial markets have not bolstered confidence in government-sponsored currencies, Yardeni observed. Bitcoin and gold, which attract people who are wary of traditional financial institutions, have rallied. Bitcoin A New Asset Class Yardeni noted research papers have cited bitcoin as a new asset class. In addition, financial institutions are exploring ways to use blockchain technology to reduce costs and improve security.

Yardeni’s most dramatic observation about the cryptocurrency is the way it has been used to digitize currency in Africa, allowing people to store it on their cellphones without having to open a bank account. Blockchain To Aid Financial Markets Referring to blockchain technology as “blocktrade,” Yardeni said the technology has the potential to have a more wide-ranging impact on financial markets. He noted that banks and brokers have started to explore how “blocktrade” helps to track trades and cut trading costs. A niche ETF company, Ark Invest, last year bought units of the Grayscale Bitcoin Investment Trust ( GBTC ) and made one of its ETFs the first to own some form of bitcoin, Yardeni noted.

Admitting that he was skeptical at the time, Yardeni said he hedged his skepticism by saying to treat bitcoin as a lottery ticket. However, this past week’s bitcoin surge brought the GBTC price up 34%, leaving the ARK Invest ETF with about 3.5% of its weight in the BIT. Yardeni noted that ARK Invest published a report this month with Coinbase that calls bitcoin a new asset class. The GBTC has almost doubled over [].

By Mattew Spoke is the co-founder and CEO of blockchain startup Nuco, and is a former project lead for Deloitte Canada where he worked on blockchain and distributed ledger initiatives. In this op-ed, Spoke argues that this week’s exploit of the Ethereum-based organization The DAO is, in the long-term, a good thing for the Ethereum project. Yesterday was a whirlwind for anybody working or invested in the ethereum world. Understandably, the day’s attack on The DAO has led to criticism, skepticism and concern about the future of Ethereum. But is there really a cause for concern?

Of course, with millions of dollars worth of the cryptocurrency ether invested in The DAO (as of the writing of this), it’s no surprise that the attack is making headlines, and mostly negative ones at that. That said, I think it’s important to view today’s events as an important case study in the anti-fragility of new digital technologies, that will only lead to more security and diligence as ethereum evolves. As popularized by the renowned author Nassim Taleb, the concept of anti-fragility can be summarized by a simple quote from his book, 'Antifragile': 'The resilient resists shocks and stays the same; the anti-fragile gets better'. This is the only way to properly characterize ethereum, and any other technologies evolving in the blockchain world, including bitcoin. Basically, a negative event, like the one occurring as we speak, will ultimately lead to a stronger ecosystem and more secure technology. Some comparison has been made today to whether The DAO will become the 'Mt Gox of ethereum'. I don’t reject the implication.

If we learned anything from the disaster of Mt Gox, it’s that subsequent exchanges were built with more care, more diligence and significantly more scrutiny – all good things. Although I don’t expect that my prediction carries much weight, []. By With the Ethereum community and DAO Hub investors, all shook up things are starting to look worse for them in regards to retrieving the loss back. It seems the “attacker” has written an open letter to both camps concerning his/her rightful ownership of the 3,641,694 Ether he has taken calling it a “reward.” In an email which is PGP signed and titled “An Open Letter To the DAO and the Ethereum community” the attacker believes he examined the code and believes the Ether drained is now legitimately in his/her possession.

The attacker writes that people characterizing the event as “theft” are completely unjustified and it the smart contract itself has allowed this to happen. The attacker writes: “I have made use of this feature and have rightfully claimed 3,641,694 ether, and would like to thank the DAO for this reward. It is my understanding that the DAO code contains this feature to promote decentralization and encourage the creation of “child DAOs”.

I am disappointed by those who are characterizing the use of this intentional feature as “theft”. I am making use of this explicitly coded feature as per the smart contract terms and my law firm has advised me that my action is fully compliant with United States criminal and tort law.” It is interesting that the person referenced the United States within the letter and could mean he/she is from the U.S.

The attacker also cites the written words of the binding smart contract which says, “The terms of The DAO Creation are set forth in the smart contract code existing on the Ethereum blockchain. Nothing in this explanation of terms or in any other document or communication may modify or add any additional obligations or guarantees beyond those set forth in The DAO’s code.” The author claims that []. By It is always good to see continued development on existing wallet solutions for cryptocurrency users.

Jaxx is quickly becoming a popular solution, due to their support for various currencies across different platforms. Their latest update includes an adjustable Bitcoin fee for whenever the network is congested. Mine Control is A Scalable Bitcoin Fee Features like these always deserve to get a custom name, and Decentral decided to go with Mine Control. The way this adjustable Bitcoin fee works is by letting users set a higher or lower transaction fee whenever sending funds. Most other wallet solutions support this already, but it is good to see a similar feature in the Jaxx offering. Congestion is a significant threat.