Thursday, April 30, 2015
Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak Joins Next Gen Payment Startup Planet Capital
Seals With Clubs Operator Charged, Launches Defense Fund
Chamber of Digital Commerce Hosts AML Compliance Boot Camp in New York Today
The Chamber of Digital Commerce will hold a two-day anti-money laundering (AML) compliance boot camp for bankers, regulators and digital currency companies. The event will be in New York City from April 30 to May 1, with an optional workshop on May 2.
The topic of compliance and regulations is a tough one for Bitcoin companies. AML Know-Your-Customer and OFAC regulations are difficult for large and established companies, as seen recently when PayPal was fined $7 million by the U.S. Treasury Department for processing illegal transactions from blacklisted persons.
According to the president of the Chamber of Digital Commerce, Perianne Boring, AML can be one of the most complex and difficult laws to be compliant with. And for a startup with little capital, a small staff, and little knowledge of the regulations it can be extremely difficult. When you add the nascent state of digital currency regulations on top of that, it can seem overwhelming.
The United States has been particularly difficult when it comes to regulations. The infamous New York BitLicense proposal, which is a proposed special license for digital currency companies in New York State, is set to be finalized “soon,” but an exact date has not been given. Analysts anticipate that the regulation could set a standard for Bitcoin regulations across the United States and possibly in other countries.
Connecting Digital Currency Companies, Bankers and Regulators
The boot camp is one of the few opportunities to learn about proper AML compliance for Bitcoin companies. It also is an opportunity for Bitcoin companies to meet with bankers and regulators, groups usually outside of the networks of most most companies in the Bitcoin community.
According to Carol Van Cleef, a partner at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips and the creator of the boot camp, the event is designed to bring together the various groups.
“A truly effective AML program cannot be developed in a bubble,” Van Cleef said. “And we know that one the biggest benefit for companies attending these programs is meeting the regulators, bankers and law enforcement also attending.”
“There aren’t many opportunities for these parties to get together and meet each other in a collaborative environment. Connecting in small working groups at boot camp helps both sides gain a better understanding of what the other has on their plate.”
Van Cleef knows what she is talking about when it comes to regulatory boot camps. She started the first AML compliance boot camp in 2005 to help the traditional banking industry comply with the Bank Secrecy Act and additional regulatory requirements emerging from the USA Patriot Act passed after 9/11.
According to Van Cleef, many banks and financial institutions were struggling at the time to understand what these laws and regulations required them to do. Banks were increasingly concerned as they watched more and more enforcement actions and civil money penalties being imposed for lax compliance. Van Cleef sees a very similar phenomenon happening within the digital currency industry which is why she thinks this boot camp is critically important for the young industry.
“New regulatory requirements can seem overwhelming and even somewhat distant, leaving many companies in the affected industries not interested in compliance. The bootcamp is not just a way to learn how to be compliant but also meet the people who work with the regulations every day.”
Regulatory Crash Course
The event is ideal not only for bitcoin startups just starting to build their AML programs but also for companies with established programs to both benchmark their efforts against others and fine tune their process. During the two day course, Van Cleef and the other course instructor, Maureen Sanders Piccillo, who is a former US Internal Revenue Service’s National AML Program Manager (the unit that examines digital currency companies for compliance with the BSA), will work with exercises that teach participants the necessities of an AML program.
There will also be an optional third day, which will be an AML program drafting workshop. According to Van Cleef, participants learn so much in the first days that they are unsure where to start, but the workshop gives attendees a clear game plan to follow.
Participants in the class will also be able to receive educational credits for attending. The credits will be issued by two of the sponsors for the event, the Digital Currency Council and Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists.
Other sponsors of the event include Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, Tally Capital, MelonDrexel, compliance solution provider IdentityMind Global, the Anti-money Laundering Training Institute and Comptegrity.
The New York City boot camp is just one of the several educational initiatives the Chamber of Digital Commerce produces. Most recently, the organization sponsored the boot camp at the North American Bitcoin Conference, a large annual event for bitcoin enthusiasts and professionals. The boot camps are part of the industry group’s larger goal to educate government officials, financial professionals and bitcoin startups alike.
XBT Provider Announces Bitcoin Tracker One, the First Bitcoin-based Security Traded on Nasdaq Stockholm
XBT Provider AB announced today the authorization of Bitcoin Tracker One, the first bitcoin-based security available on a regulated exchange, Bloomberg reports.
Bitcoin Tracker One is an “Exchange Traded Note” (ETN) designed to provide investors with convenient access to the returns of the underlying asset, U.S. dollar (USD) per bitcoin, less investor fees. Bitcoin Tracker One is authorized by Sweden’s financial supervisory authority, and will be admitted to trading on Nasdaq Stockholm. The average dollar exchange rate of bitcoin from the most liquid exchanges provides the underlying reference price. The first day of trading is expected to be May 18th, 2015.
“We are proud to offer the world’s first “Bitcoin tracker” to be traded on a regulated exchange,” said Alexander Marsh, Chief Executive Officer of XBT Provider. “By enabling this easy and secure way to invest in Bitcoin we hope to have eliminated the boundaries that earlier prevented individuals and companies from being able to actively invest in what we believe to be the future of money.”
“These are exciting times for the Bitcoin ecosystem,” said Board member Staffan Helgesson. “Bitcoin Tracker One will be the world’s first financial instrument that provides consumers and institutions the possibility to invest in bitcoins without holding coins themselves.”
The Bitcoin Tracker One Prospectus, which has been approved by the Swedish FSA, currently is available only in Swedish. XTB Provider AB will hedge all sales of the bitcoin-traded note by buying an equal value in the bitcoin market. A spokesperson for Nasdaq confirmed to CoinDesk that XBT Provider had been approved as a certificate issuer and that its product was the first bitcoin-based item to be listed on the Swedish exchange.
Market maker Mangold Fondkommission, a Stockholm-based brokerage and investment bank, will assist XBT Provider with clearing services and acts as a liquidity provider for Bitcoin Tracker One.
The XBT Provider website states that the company is aiming to attract additional liquidity providers to the order book going forward to complement the natural flow of orders. The goal is offering a liquid market with a small spread, making the instrument attractive for all type of investors.
Bitcoin Tracker One is the latest addition to the growing number of bitcoin investment vehicles that aim to expand bitcoin investments beyond the volatile spot exchanges and attract traditional investors who prefer not to trade bitcoin as currency because they are scared by bitcoin’s wild price swings. Bitcoin Tracker One could become an interesting option for those traditional investors who are persuaded that the dollar exchange rate of bitcoin will rise in the mid- and long term, but prefer not to hold bitcoin directly.
Other similar bitcoin investment vehicles are Barry Silbert’s Bitcoin Investment Trust (BIT), which received formal approval for listing on the OTC Markets Group’s OTCQX exchange with the symbol GBTC, and the upcoming Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust ETF (Exchange Traded Fund), which will be available to investors on NASDAQ with the ticker COIN.
XBT Provider AB (publ) is a public limited liability company formed in Sweden and incorporated under Swedish law, with statutory seat in Stockholm. The XBT Provider website states that the company is backed and guaranteed by KnCGroup, a bitcoin mining hardware manufacturer and service provider that has been targeted by a recent class action lawsuit.
Photo by TS Eriksson / CC BY 3.0
MonetaGo Launches with Goal to Provide Liquidity to Global Bitcoin Exchanges
Named after an ancient Roman Goddess, MonetaGo is looking to provide liquidity to Bitcoin exchanges in 35 countries around the world, with the goal to expand to 50 by the end of the year.
“We want to be the umbrella to the other exchanges,” Margaux Avedisian, co-founder and business development officer, told Bitcoin Magazine at Inside Bitcoins New York.
Whereas other exchanges launch in one country and look to sign up consumer traders, MonetaGo aims to connect all of these exchanges together to increase liquidity for them all. Further, MonetaGo allows trades to be settled in multiple currencies. This is possible because the company is built using the AlphaPoint trading platform, a company that Avedisian launched in 2013.
Jesse Chenard, CEO and co-founder, offered the following example: “If someone wanted to buy $100 worth of bitcoin on a U.S. exchange, but there was only $50 in available bitcoin, the trade couldn’t occur. MonetaGo would connect that trade to another exchange that also had $50 in available bitcoin, allowing the trade to go through.”
Chenard has experience taking small ideas and making them large. He is the founder of Tremor Video, which had its initial public offering in 2013. The rest of the founding team is composed of the former Creative Director at NASDAQ, one of the co-founders of igot, the president of the Bitcoin Association of Hong Kong, and Avedisian.
The company is in beta and is privately funded. While based in New York City, the company isn’t expanding into the United States yet.
“The regulation is still too uncertain in the United States,” Chenard explained.
The Coming Consolidation of Exchanges
The launch of another exchange begs the question: Does the ecosystem actually need another one?
Chenard doesn’t see it being a problem for MonetaGo because they view their company as more business-to-business, targeting the other exchanges. But he does agree that there will be consolidation in the industry over the next year and a half.
“If you look at some of these countries, they might have four or five different exchanges that are operational. You have one that is by and far the leader, you might have another that has some volume, but the remaining two or three really have no volume,” Chenard explained. “While they might have really great products, they just can’t get the volume to compete. These will either be acquired because of their products or they will be able to work through our exchange to gain that volume.”
Where’s Wall Street?
Liquidity is one of the reasons Wall Street has had to stay out of the sector. The amount of money Wall Street is looking to move is significantly greater than what is available on the exchanges.
According to Chenard, though, it’s a lack of understanding that has kept Wall Street from getting into bitcoin. “They’ve likely heard of bitcoin, but you ask them too much about it and they just don’t really understand,” he said.
On top of that, there is fear of bitcoin going away. “So many businesses have shut down over the years, taking their consumers’ bitcoin with them, that there is fear for a lot of Wall Street,” he said.
Fundamentally, until Wall Street understands the state of the asset and are certain their money won’t disappear, the large money firms are going to hang out on the side. Bitcoin just isn’t worth it for traders looking to move $50 million a day, Chenard said.
Bitcoin-friendly Fidor Bank Expands to the United Kingdom
Fidor Bank, the innovative German bank that is bringing Bitcoin and digital fintech to mainstream banking, is now operating in Great Britain.
Fidor Bank, one of the world’s most innovative banks disrupting the traditional banking sector, has been recognized by the World Economic Forum as a “Global Growth Company.”
Founded in Germany in 2009, Fidor Bank offers a new approach to financial services.
“Traditional banks do not reflect their customers’ needs in the digital age,” notes the Fidor Bank UK website. “Customer requirements are not being met by traditional banks because of lack of innovation, increasing the distance between banks and their customers.”
A key feature of Fidor Bank is its community site, where users and representatives of the bank discuss the financial services provided by the bank in an open forum. The Fidor Bank community has become one of the most active financial communities in Germany, where more than 250,000 users, bank employees and board members engage in discussions around the clock. Of course, Fidor Bank UK has also a Facebook page.
The Fidor Bank Community Product Reviews section offers a free overview of the advantages and disadvantages of a wide range of financial products. Product reviews are completely independent and consist solely of the views of community members, with feedback from the bank.
Fidor Bank Community members develop reputation and “karma” points, and can join interest groups. The most popular interest group is dedicated to cryptocurrencies. This is not surprising, because Fidor Bank is popular among Bitcoin users and considered as the most Bitcoin-friendly mainstream bank. In October, Fidor Bank partnered with bitcoin exchange Kraken to create the world’s first cryptocurrency bank.
In February, the bank announced a “Bitcoin Express” option for German customers to buy and sell bitcoin instantly on the bitcoin.de partner exchange. Holders of a “Fidor Smart Giro Account” can purchase bitcoin directly from their bank accounts and receive bitcoin immediately after the purchase. They can also sell bitcoin to another Smart Giro Account holder and have the money instantly credited to their accounts. The Smart Giro Account is a full bank account with all the standard features, including interest on credit balances and a low-cost credit card. The latter is, in practice, equivalent to a card that can be recharged with bitcoin.
Similar services might soon be made available to customers in the U.K. as well.
Commenting on the recent launch of Coinbase in the U.K., The Financial Times noted that Great Britain is on its way to becoming a global hub for bitcoin and digital currencies, with both the government and Bank of England having made recent moves designed to stimulate the development of digital fintech.
A recent U.K. Treasury document titled “Digital Currencies: Response to the Call for Information” shows that the government is interested in supporting and understanding blockchain-based digital fintech, and understands the potential benefits it could bring to society.
Only U.K. residents can open a Fidor Bank U.K. account. Some Reddit users have already done so, and reported their first experiences.
Bitcoin’s Secret Function: Dollar Cost Averaging (Op-Ed)
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Wednesday, April 29, 2015
The Rise And Rise Of CoinTelegraph: An Interview with Business Development Director Victoria Vaughan
Maxim Group Bids $1.7M for GBTC Shares
Investors are increasing the pressure to acquire shares of the Bitcoin Investment Trust (GBTC) with a bid for 5,000 at $35 per share by the Maxim Group. Self-described as a full-service investment bank and wealth management firm, Maxim has taken the most aggressive approach as of yet to get investors in GBTC to sell their shares.
In the beginning of April, trading began for shares of the Bitcoin Investment Trust, one of the products rolled out by Barry Silbert’s new Grayscale Investments. Despite the fact that trading was possible, none have been executed.
The rules put forth by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) stated that only those who have held shares in BIT for longer than a year will have the option to sell their shares on the OTCQX exchange.
There has been concern that few investors would be willing to liquidate their positions because it would be at a significant loss. Considering the rule of one year, if an investor were to have bought shares on April 1, 2014, he or she would have bought with the value of a bitcoin at $481.20. Each share of GBTC is equal to roughly 0.1 bitcoin; therefore, a bid of $35 per share is only equal to $350 per bitcoin.
This is significant premium over the current price of bitcoin, but it still at least $130 per bitcoin less than what an investor who is allowed to liquidate would have paid. However, BIT launched in September 2013, when the price of bitcoin was $130 per coin, so there could be investors looking to sell.
At present, the other firms that have made bids to acquire shares of GBTC are Puma Capital, bidding for 100 shares at $38 per share, Canaccord Genuity, bidding for 100 shares at $37.50 per share, Citadel Securities, bidding for 100 shares at $36 per share, and KCG Americas, bidding for 100 shares at $35.55 a share.
Bitcoin Magazine has reached out to Maxim Group for comment.
Photo by Rafael Matsunaga / CC BY 2.0
Coinbase Expands its Services to United Kingdom
Coinbase announced the expansion of Coinbase services to the United Kingdom, including the ability to trade bitcoin on the Coinbase Exchange and to buy/sell bitcoin with British pounds (GBP) using the Coinbase Wallet, and the addition of BTC/GBP and BTC/EUR currency pairs on Coinbase Exchange for U.K. users.
Besides the United Kingdom, Coinbase services are also available to other European Union residents.
The move brings Coinbase into the competitive British market, which co-founder Fred Ehrsam argues is buoyed by the forward-looking attitude of U.K. regulators toward Bitcoin, as well as other financial technology innovations, The Guardian reports.
“The payments regulators and the Treasury are taking a very balanced view of bitcoin,” said Ehrsam. “They’re really taking their time to understand the core technology prior to regulating.”
“I’d definitely say that regulation is more favorable in the U.K. right now,” CEO Brian Armstrong told TechCrunch. “I have to give a lot of credit to U.K. regulators. They’ve actually been very forward-thinking about bitcoin.”
Armstrong hinted that the exchange might be the most revenue-rich part of the business in Great Britain for a while to come. Coinbase is divided into three pillars between a consumer wallet, a platform with APIs for developers and an exchange where investors can trade bitcoin against the major currencies.
The Guardian notes that Coinbase is one of a small group of companies attempting to “sanitize” bitcoin, ridding it of many of the negative connotations. In January, investors, including three of the world’s most respected financial institutions – The New York Stock Exchange, a subsidiary of USAA, and BBVA (NYSE:BBVA) Ventures – invested $75 million in Coinbase, bringing its total capital to $106 million.
“With this investment, we are tapping into a new asset class by teaming up with a leading platform that is bringing transparency, security and confidence to an important growth market,” said NYSE President Tom Farley. “We look forward to supporting Coinbase’s growth utilizing our global distribution capabilities and market expertise.”
The Coinbase exchange launched in January in the United States, and according to Ehrsam, “quickly rose to be the most liquid Bitcoin exchange in the U.S.”
The Financial Times notes that the Coinbase launch in Great Britain is a boost to plans to transform the U.K. into a global hub for bitcoin and digital currencies, with both the government and Bank of England having made recent moves designed to stimulate the development of digital fintech in the United Kingdom.
For European users, it’s good to have a solid alternative to Bistamp – not because Bistamp’s service is not satisfying, but because having more options to choose from is always good. A test revealed that opening and using a new Coinbase account is quick and easy for European Union residents in Great Britain.
After completing email verification, identity verification and phone verification (for two-factor authentication), new customers can start using their Coinbase wallet for bitcoin and euro, and buy or sell bitcoin using the integrated Coinbase exchange.
The Coinbase wallet can be funded with bitcoin deposits, or with euro deposits sent via Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) transfer from any E.U. bank. According to Coinbase customer service, European users can withdraw funds from their Coinbase euro wallet to their SEPA bank account, with a delay of one or two business days.
At a first glance, the Coinbase European service seems solid and professional, with a simple and intuitive web interface, a community forum for common questions and answers, and responsive customer service. Coinbase also offers a secure vault for long-term bitcoin storage offline, and is fully insured against hacking, theft or loss of customer funds.
Bitcoin Shop (BTCS) to Merge with Spondoolies-Tech to Create a Publicly Traded Bitcoin Mining Company
Bitcoin Shop, one of the first Bitcoin companies quoted on the U.S. stock market, announced that it has signed a Letter of Intent to merge with Israeli Bitcoin mining hardware manufacturer Spondoolies-Tech. The Letter of Intent follows last week’s announcement that Bitcoin Shop raised $2.3 million in a venture capital funding round.
Bitcoin Shop, quoted on the OTC Market with the ticker BTCS, is based in Arlington, Virginia. Besides operating an e-commerce store which accepts a variety of digital currencies and offering a multi-signature wallet with bank-grade security, the company is the lead investor in Bitcoin ATM manufacturer Coin Outlet, and runs bitcoin mining operations in a new 83,000-square-foot facility.
The new mining facility is expected to handle more than 10 megawatts of power and up to 40,000 TH/s (terrahash per second) of mining hardware for “transaction verification” operations. (That means bitcoin mining, but with a crisp business-like aura.)
Bitcoin Shop wants to expand and consolidate its position as one of the leading players in the Bitcoin space. “We believe the sustained decline in the price of bitcoin has created tremendous opportunities for us to further expand our business and seize opportunities created from the market downturn,” said CEO Charles Allen, commenting on the latest funding round. “With the completion of this financing we believe we are well positioned to be a leading Bitcoin- and blockchain-focused company.”
The funding announcement noted that the company plans to leverage its transaction verification services business while it builds a universal digital currency platform with the goal of enabling users to engage in the digital currency ecosystem through one point of access.
The merger with Spondoolies-Tech is subject to a number of conditions, including satisfactory completion of diligence and execution of definitive agreements, and it will, therefore, probably take some time to work out the details. It’s expected that the merger will build a fully integrated transaction verification services business using Spondoolies-Tech mining technology.
Both companies believe the anticipated combination of Bitcoin Shop and Spondoolies-Tech will create the world’s first publicly traded company to produce Bitcoin transaction verification equipment.
“Our key goal in 2014 was to create the partnerships needed to build an ecosystem and start laying the foundation to put our vision into place,” said Allen. “Once completed, our merger with Spondoolies would be a significant leap forward in making this ecosystem a reality. [O]ur next objective will be to complete the development and production of a next-generation chip to drive our transaction verification services business and to generate revenue from the combination.”
Spondoolies-Tech is a digital currency hardware manufacturer. Founded in 2013 by a group of Israeli high-tech veterans, the company raised $10 million in capital from leading Israeli venture capital firms with the goal of building Bitcoin transaction-verifying servers from the bottom up, creating the infrastructure on which digital currencies will flourish.
Spondoolies-Tech produces a line of bitcoin mining hardware rigs, considered among the best in the industry. Besides, it offers cloud mining services in cooperation with Genesis Mining.
“Over the last several months, we’ve worked closely with Charles Allen and the BTCS team to establish the nature of our potential partnership,” said Spondoolies-Tech CEO Guy Corem. “The synergy between the teams is amazing. I have the utmost of confidence that together we will build a very successful and prosperous company by growing and expanding our business beyond bitcoin mining equipment.”
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Tuesday, April 28, 2015
Overstock Files Crypto Stock Exchange Prospectus with the SEC
The Salt Lake City-based online retailer Overstock is working on a revolutionary new development: a new independent stock exchange powered by Bitcoin technology. The new stock exchange could sidestep traditional stock exchanges such as NYSE and NASDAQ and issue corporate stock directly over the Internet.
Overstock, one of the first and largest online retailers to accept bitcoin payments, first announced the project in October 2014.
“There is an opportunity to recreate the financial world as we know it in the parallel universe that is the blockchain,” Overstock’s CEO Patrick Byrne told Wired. “We are writing rules for this whole new universe. “ In a recent Coin Telegraph interview, Byrne said that Overstock is building the platform that will let companies issue a crypto-equity, which is a new frontier with many legal obstacles.
On Friday, Overstock got one step closer to implementation. In a prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Overstock indicated that it may issue up to $500 million in stock or other securities using the blockchain technology that powers Bitcoin.
“We may decide to offer securities as digital securities, meaning the securities will be uncertificated securities, the ownership and transfer of which are recorded on a cryptographically-secured distributed ledger system using technology similar to (or the same as) the distributed ledger technology used for trading digital currencies,” reads the prospectus. “Digital securities are designed to enable trades to settle immediately or nearly immediately, unlike traditional securities, [and] enable the securities holder to hold its securities directly or through its broker-dealer, outside the system for traditional securities.”
“The prospect of using a blockchain-like public ledger to hold securities or other assets is quite exciting and one that should be explored,” Georgetown University professor of finance James Angel told Wired.
The hypothetical language used in the filing shows that it is but the first official interaction with the SEC, which may take some time to digest and give a green light to this novel and potentially disruptive approach to securities.
The filing is a “shelf registration” meant to introduce future offerings to regulators and investors gradually, with more detailed information expected to come later. However, Overstock’s CEO Patrick Byrne is confident: “I wouldn’t have taken all the time and trouble and expense to do this if I didn’t plan on using it someday soon,” he told Wired.
Angel thinks the SEC will approve the filing eventually, but investors will be initially cautious.
The Overstock digital securities would not be listed for trading on existing stock exchanges, but traded exclusively on a specific trading system to be registered with the SEC as an Alternative Trading System (ATS). The prospectus emphasizes that the ATS will operate with the speed and irrevocability appropriate to the immediate or nearly immediate settlement of digital securities, but warns that “the payment mechanics of the ATS are novel and untested.”
The distributed ledger used to record transfers of ownership of digital securities, represented by ledger balances and secured by cryptographic key pairs, will be available to the public and store the complete trading histories.
The ATS won’t use a Bitcoin wallet approach where the cryptographic keys are controlled by the user – at least not initially – but a centralized key management scheme similar to that used by “Bitcoin banks” such as Circle. Initially, either the ATS itself or each broker-dealer participating on that ATS would hold the private keys on behalf of securities holders.
This centralized or semi-centralized model, which may appear as a step back from the decentralized blockchain, is justified because it will enable securities holders to manage their digital securities account with a simple login and password, similar to traditional online brokerage accounts.
The use of the word “initially,” however, indicates that Overstock may implement a more decentralized model in a second phase. Customer protection against dishonest brokers will be provided by multisig: “There can be multiple private keys, any number of which may be required in order to authorize a transfer of ownership of the digital securities,” notes the filing.
Make an Impact: Donate Bitcoin to Projects on the Ground in Nepal
This is a guest post by Elizabeth Ploshay, Connie Gallippi, Victoria van Eyk, and Sarah Martin.
Last week, Nepal was hit with a magnitude 7.8 earthquake – the worst in 80 years. More than 4,000 people died, and hundreds more are without food, water or shelter.
Natural disasters shake not just the core of our communities, but also the core of our humanity. Many of us feel a deep-seated need to reach out and help during major catastrophes. But it can sometimes seem overwhelming when the scale is so large, and hard to know how to make a real difference.
Three leaders in the Bitcoin ecosystem – the BitGive Foundation, ChangeTip, and BitPay – have solutions to help:
The BitGive Foundation is running a campaign to raise donations for Medic Mobile, a nonprofit organization that uses mobile technology to improve health-service delivery. Here’s a message from the Medic Mobile Team:
“The Medic Mobile team is actively exploring how we can help with local, coordinated relief efforts after the earthquake that devastated Kathmandu on Saturday, April 25th. Our third-largest office is based there and very thankfully all of our teammates are safe. The Bitcoin community has already been so supportive of our efforts in the past and we’d be grateful for that support again. Every donation will go directly to our Nepal office and help as we deploy the right technology. Thank you from our whole team.”
Click here for more information about the campaign and how you can contribute.
ChangeTip is encouraging the Bitcoin community to contribute to the Red Cross via Twitter tips. More than 400 ChangeTip community members contributed to the Red Cross from Sunday to Monday as part of an ongoing, weeklong campaign. The campaign currently exceeds more than $3,200 in micropayments.
BitPay also processes donations for Save the Children, an international relief organization mobilizing humanitarian assistance in Nepal. Save the Children began accepting bitcoin donations last fall after a successful 2013 campaign with the BitGive Foundation to raise funds for the Philippines Typhoon Haiyan relief effort. To donate in bitcoin to Save the Children, click here.
How can you help support the people, families, and communities in Nepal? Reach out to more charitable organizations and encourage them to accept bitcoin donations. BitPay charges no (zero percent) transaction fees, and nonprofits receive all (100 percent) of their contributions in their local, fiat currency.
As we all know, Bitcoin is not just a fast and easy way to send money. It’s an incredibly powerful tool to help those most in need. Let’s join together and show the world how Bitcoin can make a meaningful difference in real people’s lives.
Elizabeth Ploshay is an account manager at BitPay and board director at The Bitcoin Foundation; Connie Gallippi is the founder and executive director of the BitGive Foundation; Victoria van Eyk is the vice president of community development at ChangeTip; and Sarah Martin is the head of special projects at the Digital Currency Council (DCC).
Photo via Krish Dulal / CC-BY SA 4.0
Three Easy Ways to Enhance Your Online Privacy (Op-Ed)
Leaked Chainalysis Roadmap Angers Bitcoin Community
Chainalysis offers a service that provides financial institutions with the means to obtain regulatory compliance through real-time analysis of the blockchain. Based in Switzerland and headed by ex-Kraken COO Michael Grønager and former Mycelium engineer Jan Møller, the company provides an API for sophisticated in-depth real-time blockchain transaction analysis.
Chainalysis customers – including regulatory entities, law enforcement and financial service providers – are empowered with unique insight on all transactions recorded in the Bitcoin blockchain and tools to determine the origin of the bitcoin held by any address.
Bitcoin transactions are not anonymous. Every transaction and the full transaction history of any Bitcoin address are permanently recorded in the tamper-proof public blockchain and open to analysis. The illusion of anonymity stems from the pseudonymous nature of Bitcoin addresses, which are not explicitly associated to their owners.
But blockchain analysis can often de-anonymize bitcoin users. For example, if a pseudonymous Bitcoin address often sends funds to another address that can be associated to a person (for example a Circle user), it is highly probable that the two persons are one and the same, or closely related.
Recommended privacy practices, from simple measures such as using fresh Bitcoin addresses for new transactions to strong privacy measures such as dark wallets and mixing services, reduce the risk of being de-anonymized. But the fact that all bitcoin transactions are recorded in the blockchain implies that even one mistake can de-anonymize a user, and especially so when sophisticated blockchain analysis tools are available. In particular, the end-point where bitcoin is exchanged for cash, goods or services is vulnerable.
A few weeks ago, Chainalysis was forced to defend itself after allegations it had disrupted services with a “Sybil attack” that created more than 250 “false” Bitcoin nodes to harvest information on the whereabouts of transactions, which provoked strong and often angered reactions by the Bitcoin community. Grønager told CoinDesk that Chainalysis permits monitoring compliance with applicable money transfer regulations, and therefore helps Bitcoin companies to obtain bank accounts and do business with mainstream financial institutions.
It is evident that Bitcoin is moving toward mainstreaming and regulations, and therefore services such Chainalysis are here to stay, but such services likely will continue to meet opposition from an important part of the Bitcoin community. A leaked Chainalysis roadmap, now trending on Reddit, has been received with anger and hostile comments.
The leaked roadmap sheds light on the current and forthcoming features of the Chainalysis API. For example, Chainalysis customers will soon be able to “search by transaction hash, cluster name, category etc. [which] will allow for faster investigations via known clusters of interest but also for the API to answer specific questions about transactions or entities of interest.” Soon after that, the API will support unconfirmed transactions as well as “Shared multi client repositories for known bad actor reporting,” and an “Advanced Profiling API” is in the works. The roadmap also details Chainalysis pricing plans – for example, Institutional clients will pay $500 per month for a set of features including unlimited investigations, shared fraud databases and full API access.
Many participants in the Reddit discussion are expressing support for strong privacy tools, such as Dark Wallet and the Lightning Network, which may offer better protection against Chainalysis snooping.
itBit Files for Banking License in New York
Bitcoin exchange itBit has filed for a banking license in New York, Reuters reports. Approval for the license may come in the next couple of weeks, people familiar with the matter told Reuters. That could make itBit the first Bitcoin company to be regulated as a bank in the United States.
Founded in 2012, itBit has offices in two key financial markets, New York and Singapore. The company moved its headquarters from Singapore to New York in 2014.
“Bitcoin has become mainstream, the volume of bitcoin trading has grown exponentially, and the majority of bitcoin trading now takes place in the U.S.,” said CEO Charles Cascarilla. “Regulators are getting clearer about their policies, and we’re hopeful that we will be able to serve U.S. investors soon.”
The first Bitcoin company application for a U.S. banking license is part of the general industry trend toward mainstreaming, regulation and full compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) requirements.
“Some highly publicized failures and potentially illegal activity have focused attention on virtual currencies and have highlighted the need for a sound regulatory framework for virtual currencies,” said Cascarilla.
According to the company’s website, itBit is institutional-grade and 100 percent compliant within every jurisdiction it operates, and its strict compliance program ensures the highest level of customer security and protection. Recently, itBit hired Erik Wilgenhof Plante from eBay Inc as chief compliance officer.
Besides Cascarilla and his business partner Emil Woods, the banking license application for itBit Trust Company LLC lists high profile “organizers,” including former Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Chairman Sheila Bair, former Financial Accounting Standards Board director Robert Herz and former New Jersey Sen. Bill Bradley.
The company is backed by venture capitalists, including Canaan Partners, RRE Ventures and Liberty City Ventures. So far, itBit has received $3.3 million in funding. The application for a banking license is part of itBit’s plan to expand its business into different financial services.
“ItBit is building next-gen digital currency products and services by combining Silicon Valley innovation with Wall Street expertise,” says the company’s website.
The proposed “Bitlicense” regulations for Bitcoin businesses operating in the state of New York won’t be a problem because the final Bitlicense requirements are likely to be, if anything, lighter than those of a standard banking license.
Some Bitcoin financial service companies, such as Circle and Bitreserve, operate with many service features of banks, including audits and insured deposits, and their customers tend to consider them “Bitcoin banks.” Still, they don’t offer the full range of banking services, and therefore they don’t need a banking license and can’t be considered banks.
“Bitreserve is not a bank,” states the Bitreserve website. “Banks make money by loaning out your deposits for interest. This system is called fractional reserve banking. The obligations a bank has to its depositors do not match the assets the bank holds, since most of those assets are in the form of loans made to generate revenue for the bank.”
The requirements for commercial banks in the State of New York are outlined on the New York Department of Financial Services website. In particular, the initial level of capital should be sufficient to support the proposed business plan and the bank’s risk profile. Initial capital should cover operating losses before the bank attains sustained profitable operations, as well as provide a cushion against unexpected losses.
Singaporean Bitcoin Exchange CoinHako Insures Holdings Through BitGo Partnership
Singaporean-based Bitcoin exchange, CoinHako, has integrated the BitGo digital currency security platform and insurance offering and will now be run with multi-signature wallets and a state-of-the-art platform, and their holdings will be insured against theft and hacks.
The insurance offering is through an undisclosed A-rated insurer from XL Group, which covers up to $250,000 of losses for all BitGo customers. Clients can choose to increase the amount with a 1 percent flat fee. The security firm also provides transparency, improved management controls and internal checks for better monitoring of the exchange’s security.
“We’re excited to have CoinHako’s Bitcoin exchange secured on our platform”, said BitGo CEO Mike Belshe. “The team at CoinHako has been a great development partner, and we fully support their focus on security as one of the core tenets of their business. I’m confident that they will be a great contributor to the Singaporean Bitcoin ecosystem.”
CoinHako
The integration comes just after Pramodh Rai, a former graduate analyst at Barclays Bank joins the young startup as lead developer. In addition, the move is to better secure their platform and holdings as they hope to soon expand throughout Asia.
“Security is of utmost importance, particularly in the wake of recent hacks at Mt. Gox and other exchanges,” said CoinHako CEO and co-founder, Yusho Liu. “We have instituted various measures of security within CoinHako to protect our funds and users. This latest integration with BitGo means our funds are insured against theft and hackers. Moreover, this integration has also enabled us to shift to multi-signature wallets, which is the best industry practice currently.”
Bitgo Entering Asia
CoinHako is the most recent Asian partnership for the security firm. Hong Kong-based Bitspark and South Korea-based Coinone, partnered with Bitgo earlier this month, becoming the firm’s first Asian customers.
BitGo’s insurance and security offering is the only one of its kind, and, according to Belshe, it is in high demand and slowly becoming what is expected out of exchanges.
“The first thing users should do is make sure they are using an exchange that’s backed by the best technology – and using multi-signature wallets like those BitGo offers is one of the key tenets of putting this into practice,” he said.
“Beyond that, insurance will certainly play a growing role in securing crypto financial assets on exchanges and elsewhere,” Belshe added. “BitGo insurance-backed offering remains unique in the market, but demand is ramping sharply and we expect that such programs will soon become a baseline expectation for savvy investors and traders.”
On The Road with the Bitcoin Bus: The Bit Mom’s Journal (Part 5)
Bitcoin Price Analysis: Range Bound Within Continuous Downtrend (Week of APR 26)
APRIL 28 DIGEST: Silk Road Judge Denies Retrial and Richard Branson Will Host Bitcoin Summit on Private Island
CoinTelegraph Launches BTC Relief Fund for Nepal Earthquake Victims
Native Startup Offers Crypto Remittance Service to Nigerians
Wall Street Left Out in Overstock's US$500M Stocks Issue
Monday, April 27, 2015
Seven Cities Leading Bitcoin Adoption in 2015
Canada Takes a Careful, Community-driven Approach to Bitcoin Regulation
Like many other countries, Canada has been wrestling with the issue of whether to regulate digital currencies and, if so, how and to what extent.
In it’s February 2014 budget, the Canadian government introduced and passed amendments to the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act of 2000, aimed at digital currencies.
But after more than a year, the amendments have yet to be published and “proclaimed” before they become law, a necessary last step.
And a public consultation paper on the new financial regulations, promised for last summer, has yet to be released, causing some angst, but mostly relief in the Bitcoin community.
“The Canadian government has taken a cautious approach to regulating digital currencies,” said digital currency regulations expert and Outlier CEO Amber Scott. “Instead of rushing in, they are looking at all the options and considering feedback from the Senate and the industry.”
While there does not seem to be an appetite for new regulation, it’s important to have a good fit with existing regulation if that’s the direction that being taken, Scott said.
Senate Committee Hearings on Digital Currencies
The Canadian government asked the Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce to investigate, hear witnesses and report back on “the use of digital currencies and the potential risks, threats and advantages of these electronic forms of exchange”.
One of the most exhaustive studies of bitcoin and other digital currencies will likely come when the committee releases its report in late May or early June.
Upcoming election, falling price of oil, terrorism on government’s mind
At the moment, the Canadian government has a lot on its plate as it goes into election campaign mode ahead of an election expected in early fall.
Also weighing on its mind is the falling price of oil, (which has made previous economic forecasts outdated), and the ongoing war against terrorism.
Behind the scenes, however, the Department of Finance has been preparing digital currencies regulations.
“The regulations are in development and the timeline for prepublication in the Canada Gazette is unknown at this time,” department official Stephanie Rubec told Bitcoin Magazine.
It has been more than one year since the regulations were announced, and the government may be in an election campaign before anything concrete is put up for consideration.
Bitcoin community testified at Senate hearings
The Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce heard from a wide range of witnesses, including digital finance experts, legal experts, academics and Bitcoin companies and advocacy groups.
Bitcoin Guru Andreas Antonopoulos was a witness, as were many of the representatives from the Bitcoin advocacy groups which included Michael Perklin and Stuart Hoegner from the Bitcoin Alliance, Jill Friedman from the Bitcoin Foundation and Guillaume Babin-Tremblay and Francis Pouliot from the Bitcoin Embassy. Other witnesses included the Bitcoin Alliance, Bitcoin Strategy Group, CAVirtex, BitAccess, and Rodger Voorhies from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Representing the Bitcoin Foundation Canada, lawyers Jillian Friedman and Joseph Neudorfer told the senators that regulating Bitcoin was already happening with the current laws that govern fraud, money laundering and illegal purchases.
The two lawyers told the senators that existing criminal law and financial services law is sufficient to deal with fraud. And Bitcoin businesses already are subject to private contract law and consumer protection laws that deal with the sale of a good.
Francis Pouliot explained how money-laundering fears are overstated because Bitcoin is mistakenly seen as completely anonymous, when, in actuality, every transaction is recorded in a public ledger called the blockchain.
Michael Perklin of the Bitcoin Alliance summarized what other advocates were saying: “We advocate an approach that does not stifle innovation, does not discriminate against cryptocurrencies and takes careful notice of crypto’s benefits to Canadian consumers and merchants alike.”
Most witnesses made the point that the federal government has an obligation to balance any new regulations with their effect on innovation and capital flight. The government has a mandate to promote new technologies and homegrown startups, not tie them up with red tape, they said.
These Laws Currently Apply to Digital Currencies in Canada
The Bitcoin Foundation’s testimony included a list of current laws and regulations that apply to digital currencies:
- Contracts under private law: Using Bitcoin does not render parties exempt from the application of the rule of law
- Consumer protection: All of the legal obligations resulting from the sale of a good to a consumer apply to transactions with Bitcoin
- Fraud: The investing public is protected by existing criminal legislation against fraudulent Bitcoin schemes.
- Financial services law: The activities of digital currency businesses that are similar to money services businesses will soon have to play by the same rules as their fiat counterparts.
Message to Senators
One message that came through very clearly: Regulations will send promising job-creating Bitcoin businesses off to friendlier jurisdictions such as the United Kingdom, as is already happening in Australia and New York.
Canada can benefit most from encouraging digital currency innovation without tying the hands of innovators who are in new territory that doesn’t necessarily resemble past tech systems, they said.
“I highly encourage digital currency players to respond to draft regulation when it is published through the official channels,” Amber Scott said. “While there have been some cynical comments from industry players about comment periods being ‘window dressing,’ everyone that I have spoken to at the Department of Finance seems genuinely interested in getting it right and taking industry feedback seriously.”
Canada Can Be a World Leader
There was a strong argument made by witnesses that Canada is well placed with tech expertise, cheaper energy rates and a knowledge infrastructure to be the No. 1 Bitcoin country in the world.
Canada already has more ATMs and mining nodes per population than any other country. The Bitcoin Embassy’s Babin-Tremblay said that if the Canadian government provides only a “light and neutral” fiscal and regulatory framework, the economy could benefit from Bitcoin business job creation.
Read Susan’s first article in this series from Oct 19, 2014.
Coin Center Issues a Flexible Template for Bitcoin Regulation
Last week, lead Bitcoin developer Gavin Andresen and other Bitcoin Core developers joined the recently established MIT Digital Currency Initiative. This was widely interpreted as an MIT takeover of the roles of leadership, funding and co-ordination of Bitcoin technical development, previously claimed by the Bitcoin Foundation. In parallel, Bitcoin policy think tank Coin Center is claiming the role of interface to policy makers and regulators, with the publication of a framework for state digital currency regulation.
The report, titled “State Digital Currency Principles and Framework,” is a model for digital-currency-specific regulations and laws. The report provides a template with structure, definitions and language for the essential components of any digital currency law: who must be licensed, how start-ups are encouraged, how solvency is guaranteed and other necessary elements.
Recently, Bitcoin-friendly bills have been proposed in Utah, New Hampshire and New York City. Texas, Kansas, California, Pennsylvania and North Carolina also have expressed interest in Bitcoin regulations, and New York has proposed the controversial “Bitlicense” scheme, which many observers consider far too strict.
Coin Center hopes that states will use the report as a template for their own bills and regulations.
“The state that reaps the benefits of new technologies, new jobs and enhanced financial inclusion will be the state that first discovers a path worth following,” says Executive Director Jerry Brito. “We hope this report will help in that endeavor.”
Brito adds that, to be a leader in the future of financial technology, a state must carefully forge a path toward consumer protection and avoid the pitfalls of inartful and unnecessarily costly regulation.
Of course, striking an optimal balance between necessary crime prevention and consumer protection on the one hand and equally necessary innovation and technology leadership on the other is challenging. The recent initiative of the Isle of Man government to create a balanced regulatory environment that offers “freedom to flourish” to innovative fintech companies, while keeping crime and fraud out, is an important development in that respect.
The Coin Center report emphasizes that only operators with unilateral control of customer funds should be subject to a license requirement, and that anti-money laundering (AML) requirements, if absolutely necessary at all, should match, but not exceed, federal standards.
“Intermediaries who do not assume a position of trust, nonfinancial uses and individual access are digital currency innovations that should be encouraged,” the report says. “These intermediaries can benefit both consumers and businesses through improved financial privacy, financial inclusion, and vibrant technology-based economies. These uses should not be burdened by compliance costs that lack concomitant consumer protection benefits.”
Brito, who is also a professor of Law at George Mason University, co-authored the report “Bitcoin: A Primer for Policymakers.” Coin Center is a not-for-profit research and advocacy center focused on public policy issues facing cryptocurrency technologies such as Bitcoin.
“Our mission is to build a better understanding of these technologies and to promote a regulatory climate that preserves the freedom to innovate using blockchain technologies,” says the Coin Center website. “We do this by producing and publishing policy research from respected academics and experts, educating policymakers and the media about blockchain technology, and by engaging in advocacy for sound public policy.”
It’s probably too early to speculate on which organizations will co-ordinate the technical and policy-related aspects of Bitcoin development, but it seems clear that MIT and Coin Center are establishing strong leadership positions.
Lawnmower Invests Users’ Spare Change to Purchase Bitcoin
the Boost VC-backed Bitcoin startup Lawnmower tracks purchases on a user’s account, rounds them up to the nearest dollar to create spare change, and uses the change to purchase bitcoin on behalf of the user. The bitcoin purchased by Lawnmower will be deposited to a Bitcoin wallet of a user’s choice.
The minimum threshold for bitcoin deposit currently stands at $4, meaning that the accumulated spare change of the transactions must be at least $4 before bitcoins can be purchased by Lawnmower. For example, if a user buys a cup of coffee and a bagel at a local coffee shop worth $7.10, then 90 cents will be categorized as spare change and will be used to purchase bitcoin after the accumulated spare change passes the $4 threshold.
Lawnmower CEO Pieter Gorsira explained that the metaphorical definition of Lawnmower as “working backwards.
“It’s like we’re running the lawnmower over the grass and we’re clipping off a little bit of change,” he said. “So, as you go along, we slice all these little blades of grass and collect change from these transactions.”
Lawnmower uses Plaid’s API to integrate bank infrastructure and to access banking data for Wells Fargo, Bank of America, US Bank, Citibank and Chase Bank. The integration of Plaid also allows users to check bank accounts, savings accounts, credit cards and debit cards from the aforementioned banks. If the users do not want their balances from these bank accounts to be rounded off to purchase bitcoin, users can simply turn off the investment function on the app.
Lawnmower’s future revenue model
“We’re live on both platforms now and chose to launch without charging a transaction fee (on each spare change-to-bitcoin purchase, which user’s already pay through Coinbase), a monthly “management” fee, or anything along those lines,” Lawnmower told Bitcoin Magazine via email.
In the future, Lawnmower could generate money through referrals, additional customizability features for users’ spending/investing habits, and other premium features as part of a larger automated money management program, Lawnmower said.
“But we’re really focused on rapid growth now, and don’t want to bog our users down with any additional fees,” the email said.
“We have a lot longer plans once we acquire a user base,” added Gorsira.
Launch
The beta version was launched on iPhone on March 25, and several users were allowed to sign up and test the application.
“We need to see what people like or don’t like so we can start adding features,” Gorsira said at that time. “The point is to have users use it, break it and tell us if they like it. [It goes] beyond three people who live in the same room every day. We get kind of hive-minded”
Weeks later, Lawnmower was launched on Android (a few days ago) to satisfy both sets of users.
Augur Answers Tough Questions with its Blockchain-based Prediction Markets
Let’s ask a tough question: Will Hillary Clinton become president of the United States in 2016?
If you had people “bet” on the topic, and monetarily rewarded the ones who guessed correctly, you can actually get a good idea whether Hillary Clinton will become the head of state. A better idea, in fact, than virtually any alleged “expert” could give you.
It would work as follows: A market would be opened in which possible answers to the question (yes or no) are “stocks” that cost anywhere from 1 cent to $1. Automatically, the market price of the “yes” and “no” would reflect the possibility of Clinton’s election. So if a share of “yes, Clinton will be elected” costs 63 cents, then the likelihood of her being elected can be understood as 63 percent.
The option worth more (yes or no) is probably the right answer.
Since humans care about their money, this market data can provide accurate aggregated information for a myriad of purposes.
This is called a prediction market, a market where investors can buy and sell predictions about the outcome of an event.
Robin Hanson, Ph.D., professor at George Mason University, was one of the first people to start writing about prediction markets in 1988 and has been working on related projects ever since.
“Prediction markets became more popular around the dot-com boom,” says Hanson. “Presently, there’s been more activity in it.”
There’s been more enthusiasm for prediction markets in academia than in industry.
“Academics have been more willing to test the market’s claims, while businesses are less eager to adopt them – regardless of the fact that repeated trials tend to find that they are more accurate than status quo mechanisms,“ says Hanson.
“For example,” he said, “some of the most dramatic and successful prediction markets have been about deadlines. The question has been stated as: Will this project make its deadline? There are number of dramatic cases where management and officials forecast ‘yes’ and the prediction market data reveals that the answer is in fact ‘no.’ It’s not necessarily information organizations want to make publicized. This is the main barrier to widespread adoption of prediction markets: demand. Not enough people in these organizations want the product that prediction markets claim to produce.
“Prediction markets,” continues Hanson, “claim to produce uniquely accurate estimates and provide more accurate data than can be acquired from anywhere else. They’re a relatively cheap, robust manipulation; they’re timely, precise; they give you the tools necessary if you needed information and you wanted to make it known to people in an organization.”
Past implementations of prediction markets on the Internet did not succeed in the long-term. The most popular was Intrade.com.
Intrade.com, based in Ireland, was a web-based “trading exchange” where users “traded” contracts on the probabilities of various events occurring. They even allowed users to speculate on gold and oil.
In 2012, however, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission [USCFTC] filed a complaint in federal court claiming that Intrade solicited American customers to trade investment contracts that technically are options. Options can be traded only on approved, regulated exchanges.
Since Intrade was not a licensed exchange, they were forced to exclude U.S. users in 2012, and on March 10, 2013, Intrade ceased all trading.
“Intrade was a place where users got a chance to prove themselves and bet,” says Hanson. “That product, however, was limited by anti-gambling laws.”
In 2015, like many other industries, businesses and software models, prediction markets are now being implemented on blockchain technology. There is a dedicated team of individuals building what will be the world’s first decentralized prediction market platform that goes by the name Augur.
Augur plans to allow users to create their own peer-to-peer prediction markets.
“The important thing here,” says Jack Peterson, core developer at Augur, “is that it is a decentralized system. There’s no single point of failure.”
The Augur team is fully aware of past struggles of centralized prediction markets. “We’re making software,” says Peterson. “We expect the user to follow their respective jurisdiction’s laws. Our whole team has a stipulation in their employment agreement to not create, or participate in, markets on the platform.”
Regarding the upcoming software token sale, Peterson stated: “Augur’s tokens (called Reputation) occupy a unique niche. They are not used in its prediction markets; these are cash markets. Rather, the tokens are used only to report on the outcomes of events, after the events occur. Since this reporting is done after the event happens, no skill at making predictions is required. All that is required is honesty: Augur is designed so that those who report honestly will automatically gain more tokens – at the expense of lazy or dishonest reporters.”
Augur has maintained day-to-day contact with attorneys from Wilson & Sosini and Pillsbury Winthrop throughout the development of their platform. Additionally, they’ll be having a token sale in June. The team is currently finishing up the first version of their software.
“We want to launch Augur as soon as Ethereum is ready to make sure that everything is in sync with the live network,” Peterson said.
Prediction markets have a clean argument for their use and consistently pass tests of accuracy and user satisfaction. Nevertheless, most organizations are not interested in using them.
When Bitcoin Magazine asked Hanson why he thought this occurred, he replied, “It seems to be that the information that they provide is threatening and problematic, politically.”
These prediction markets can provide information that is detrimental to the status quo, and, in simpler terms, tell people/organizations things that they don’t want to hear.
“Do we really want the capability to do that?” Hanson asked. “A lot of people think they do. We’ll just have to wait and see if it’s true.”
Winner of ‘Brand me Crypto’ Campaign Announced
PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA & CALGARY, ALBERTA – APRIL 27, 2015 – Cryptocurrency risk management and payment processing specialist Vogogo Inc. announced the winner of Brand Me Crypto, an initiative, conceptualized and sponsored by the company, its aim, to have global members of the crypto and creative community create an iconic brand to represent Cryptocurrency.
“Cryptocurrency is arguably one of the most compelling new technologies of our time and is quickly making its way into the mainstream.” said Chantel Meeley, Head of Marketing and Creative at Vogogo. “Cryptocurrency however isn’t just represented by Bitcoin. While Bitcoin has gained the greatest traction to date, there are numerous Crypto Coins in existence. Creative teams involved in the entire industry which try to visually articulate Cryptocurrency as a whole have, up to now, been presented with a very unique challenge as it has no overarching brand.”
The initiative to Brand Crypto saw entries come from designers from 90+ different countries spanning five continents. From the complete list of entries, six brands were shortlisted by a panel of crypto industry experts and these choices were then resubmitted to the global crypto and design community for input and participation in finalizing the selected brand identity.
Brand Me Crypto winner, Teresa Ledford said of her winning design, “I wanted to create a symbol that was fairly simple and would translate well to handwriting. After looking at all the existing symbols used around the world, my goal was to come up with something that was unique and descriptive, yet still had some consistency with other currency marks.”
The design, chosen by the people and endorsed by the community, has now been given creative, open brand licensing rights and made available to all at BrandMeCrypto.com.
“With the brand identity selected and brand formats becoming available for download at brandmecrypto.com we would like to encourage members in the crypto and creative community to utilize this brand when representing the overarching crypto market for global awareness, acceptance and industry-wide adoption.” said Chantel.
A small and simple ‘Supporting Brand Crypto’ icon – which links to the brand’s downloadable file – has been created for those in the industry to add to their websites and show their support. This, together with the community already beginning to adopt the chosen design to represent the wider industry, is set to fulfill the promise of a problem solved.
Bitcoin Conference Prague Planned for May 2015
Bitcoin Conference is going to make a mash on Europe. Meet the conference dedicated to the currency of the future in Prague!
Everyone has heard about a mysterious currency Bitcoin, but maybe not everyone knows where and what you can spend it on.
The world we live in does not tolerate inertness; it is in a constant process of movement and change. One of the tools changing the image of modernity is digital currencies, in particular Bitcoin.
What is Bitcoin Conference?
A thematic conference devoted to “the currency of the future”, Bitcoin Conference, which was held in 2014 in such cities as Moscow, St. Petersburg and Kiev raises awareness of what is Bitcoin and how to earn on it.
Bitcoin Conference has become the first thematic event in the CIS countries, aimed at the acquaintance of participants with the Bitcoin ecosystem and business prospects.
Bitcoin meetings held in three cities and two countries were able to bring together prominent representatives of the industry, well-known experts and gurus of the crypto currency market, lawyers, foreign experts who shared their experiences and represented the best practices for working with Bitcoin.
In 2015, Smile Expo, an organizer of the conference, is going to push the boundaries and enter the European market, conducting a thematic event in Prague.
Why Prague?
Smile Expo has deicide to expand the geography of its activities due to several important factors. In particular, one of the catalysts have been changes in the structure of the cryptocurrency market in Russia after the ban and blocking of thematic sites by the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology, and Mass Media. After that, many Russian companies operating in the cryptocurrency industry have moved to Europe, where there are no restrictions for Bitcoin business.
In addition, the conference organizer is in an attempt to develop and promote digital currency; and central-eastern regions of Europe are an ideal place for the realization of this ambition.
Bitcoin Conference Prague wants to serve as a unique platform for the exchange of experience between Russian companies, which have something to say and to show Europe, and their foreign counterparts.
That is why, in the heart of Europe, in the historic city of Prague, the organizers will bring together not only the Czech Bitcoin community, but also participants from Russia, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Germany, and in general all Bitcoin enthusiasts of Central and Eastern Europe.
Bitcoin Conference. Prague: what to expect?
- Conference covering the latest and hottest topics of the year: forecasts, analysis, best deals for work with cryptocurrencies;
- Exhibition area – an opportunity to get acquainted with the market leaders, innovative products and to obtain first-hand information. Everything that can help your business become more successful will be presented there;
- Alley of start-ups will provide you with new ideas and new offers. The most unexpected and interesting solutions that will touch your feelings;
- Buffet table – new acquaintances and experience + party in the style of the best traditions of Czech beer events.
The Bitcoin Conference Prague team invites speakers, exhibitors, sponsors and partners to participate. Become a part of the main European Bitcoin event in the spring of 2015!
Join us, as Bitcoin Conference Prague is simply impossible to miss!
To get detailed information about Bitcoin Conference Prague, please go to official event website bitcoinconf.eu.
Ukraine Central Bank Review: PayPal, Bitcoin should appear on market, says Analyst
Caribbean’s First Bitcoin Exchange CEO: ‘Our Biggest Difficulty Is an Uninformed Government’
APR 27 DIGEST: Record VC Investment in Bitcoin's Q1, Cryptsy Accused of GAW Involvement
On The Road with the Bitcoin Bus: The Bit Mom’s Journal (Part 4)
Mimetic Markets Releases Source Code of Bitcoin Exchange Platform
Sunday, April 26, 2015
Satoshi Broke Software Barriers, ‘Now Everyone Is Doing It’
Bitcoin: A Target Without an Army to Defend It (Op-Ed)
Bitcoin ‘May Not Rely on Trust, but Our Members Must Foster Trust to Be Successful’
Dash Proposes Decentralized, Anonymous and Sustainable Funding Structure
On the Road with the Bitcoin Bus: The Bit Mom’s Journal (Part 3)
Weekend Roundup: MIT Takes Over Bitcoin Core Dev Funding, Blocktech Announces P2P, Decentralized Library
Saturday, April 25, 2015
Bitcoin Is Not A Sprint, It's A Marathon (Op-Ed)
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