Sunday, May 31, 2015
How Trustless Off-Blockchain Transactions Could Solve the Block Size Problem (Op-Ed)
The Future of Bitcoin Is Bright; Jesus Would Know
Weekend Roundup: OKCoin Faces Severe Image Crisis, Ross Ulbricht Gets Life in Prison
UN Report: Freedom of Expression Depends on the Use of Encryption
Fintech Fusion: ‘Reinforcing the Position of Switzerland as a Worldwide Hub’ for Innovation
Saturday, May 30, 2015
Ulbricht, Who Wanted to Empower Others to Be Free, Will Spend His Own Life in Prison
BitSpark Wins Innotribe 2015 Singapore Semi-Finals and Announces New Offline Service
Bitcoin remittance startup BitSpark, alongside four other fintech startups, won the Innotribe 2015 Singapore Semi-Finals held Thursday at the Red Dot Design Museum. The event was organized through a partnership with NextBank Asia and sponsored by international bank Wells Fargo and European startup accelerator Level39.
BitSpark will now progress to the finals, which will be held in October at Singapore Sibos, where it will have the opportunity to win $50,000 and as well as support from the international payment network SWIFT.
Other winners of the Singaporean competition were social consumer credit rating startup Trustingsocial, automated risk management platform provider Jewel Paymentech, online payment processor Codapay, and mobile payments solution provider goSwift. Each of the 15 startups that participated in the event had to pitch the company to a panel of judges, which was composed of financial technology experts and entrepreneurs from the Asia-Pacific region.
BitSpark will be competing against 20 other fintech startups in the finals. Besides the Asian competition winners, finalists from Innotribe competitions held in North America, Africa and Europe will also be competing. The North American showcase has yet to held, and so far only one other digital currency startup progressed to finals. Elliptic, a secure storage service for a variety of assets using the blockchain, won the European showcase in April.
Connecting offline remittances
BitSpark secured a spot in the finals with a new service they announced during the competition. BitSpark CEO George Harrap told Bitcoin Magazine the new service is a way for offline remittance agents to offer online remittances through the startup’s Bitcoin international technology.
“With Bitspark, traditionally offline small business remittance shops (who can service the unbanked) are brought online, and online remittance services (who cannot access the unbanked/unconnected) are now able to connect with unbanked customers,” said Harrap.
The new service aims to solve of one of Bitcoin remittances’ biggest hurdles: digital. The vast majority of senders and receivers are still offline, cash-loving and might not have the best access to the Internet.
Online is still tiny part of global remittances, around 10 to 15 percent, though that is changing. BitSpark will continue to follow the company’s philosophy of “bitcoin in the background,” or cash-in and cash-out, so consumers don’t need to bother handling the digital currency.
BitSpark already operates its online Bitcoin remittance service in a several parts of Asia, including mainland China, Indonesia, the Philippines and Hong Kong. The startup uses only Bitcoin as payment rails, and users send and receive fiat. It has previously explored ways to cater to offline remitters with pre-paid cards in the Philippines and a physical point-of-presence in Hong Kong.
Developing an agent network
BitSpark will try to entice remittance agents to join the startup’s service by offering a subscription-fee model instead of the commission model offered by Western Union, MoneyGram and others. Attracting agents and building a large agent network is crucial for the success of the service.
Instead of giving a cut of each transaction to BitSpark, agents within their network will pay a yet-to-be-defined monthly fee to be part of the service. According to Harrap, the pricing model will put much more cash in the pockets of agents compared to existing remittance companies.
The Bitcoin startup said it already has a number of operators signed up, but whether the different fee model will be compelling enough to incentivize the number of agents it needs to join is a big if. Established offline remittance services offer a trusted brand and large customer base, both of which are huge for getting volume and subsequent agent earnings. Though it varies from country to country, in many places agents make between 30 percent to 45 percent.
That percentage might seem small, but even with a large cut going to remittance companies such as Western Union, agents are likely making a good living from the large volume provided by such brands.
BitSpark did not elaborate in detail about the new service but said more information would be available closer its launch in July.
Deep Web Documentary Shines Light on the Rise and Fall of the Silk Road
On February 4, 2015, a young man named Ross Ulbricht was convicted of seven charges laid in a U.S. Federal Court in Manhattan. On May 29, 2015, he was sentenced to life in prison for his crimes.
He was accused of being the owner and operator of the Silk Road website, the most popular online drug marketplace.
The indictment charged Ulbricht in seven counts, including narcotics trafficking, narcotics trafficking by means of the Internet, conspiring to commit narcotics trafficking, engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, conspiring to commit or aid and abet computer hacking, conspiring to traffic in fraudulent identification documents, and conspiring to commit money laundering.
Filmmaker Alex Winter has written, directed, and produced a film outlining the story of the rise and fall of Silk Road called Deep Web. It premieres on May 31st at 8PM on Epix.
The documentary tells the story of the rise and fall of Silk Road, bringing the viewer into the world of U.S. law enforcement agencies during their early monitoring and seizure of the website, follows Ulbricht’s court case, and documents the present work of one group of people trying to rebuild a decentralized version of the Silk Road.
It includes testimonials from government officials, law enforcement, crypto-anarchists, ex-Silk Road vendors, and people who knew Ulbricht personally.
The filmmakers provide an impartial recounting of this shocking story while bringing to light important topics of discussion.
“I really tried to shine a light on aspects of the story that I wasn’t seeing,” says Winter. “It’s a complex thing to tell a story about for that reason. It’s very easy to paint a story black and white, So a lot of painstaking effort was made to dig into the roots of what these movements are about and examine the grays of what’s seen as a black and white story.”
The documentary’s footage of Ulbricht reveals an idealistic, fun-loving, and liberty-minded young American man whose life is paradoxically juxtaposed with that of a drug kingpin. His character straddles the line of between hero and villain throughout the story.
Creating such a comprehensive look at this whole story wasn’t without its challenges for the filmmakers.
“Creating this film required a fairly comprehensive understanding of the tech,” says Winter. “You also have to have an understanding of the people in the tech communities and get at what their motives are and what they’re trying to accomplish; look at hard truths that may not be palatable to people, and just try to paint a human face of the individual convicted of this crime since the counter narrative is so strong; trying to swim against that current is also challenging.”
Bitcoin Magazine spoke to Lyn Ulbricht, Ross Ulbricht’s mother at the SXSW premiere of Deep Web.
“He was pretty upset,” said Lynn Ulbricht. “It was very tough on him. The trial was emotionally draining; very hard on all of us. Since then, he really tries to be positive. He’s strong and resilient. He tells me that when he was feeling restless he started working out. He’s coping but it’s tough. He’s very cut off. I’m proud of him. “
“This case is very important,” concluded Lynn Ulbricht. “There’s evidence pointing to the fact that the Silk Road server was accessed illegally. It sets precedent going into the digital age that will affect all of us. It’s not just about Ross.”
News that two federal agents used their government position for the robbery and extortion of large sums of money from the Silk Road has recently surfaced.
Ulbricht’s attorneys filed a motion for a new trial on March 6 on the grounds that the government’s failure to provide this exculpatory material in a timely manner denied Ross his fifth amendment right to due process and fair trial.
Not denying that the criminal case against these former agents alleges corruption, judge Katherine Forrest has denied a retrial for Ulbricht. According to her ruling, “This motion for a new trial…does not address how any additional evidence, investigation, or time would have raised even a remote probability that the outcome of the trial would be any different.”
Winter is hoping to bring this story to everyday people and make them think about things that they would’ve otherwise given thought to.
“I hope that this project challenges people enough to dig deeper. I hope that people have enough humanity to question things. I hope that it provides impetus for more nuanced discourse about the internet and the movements around the internet that I think are very important.”
Overall, this gripping documentary demands the viewer’s’ attention and contains the staunch realization that we are entering the “future”. Along with that comes problems like cyber crime and unknown hacking methods used by both citizens and governments. Some questions to be asked are: Is it safer for drug deals to go on online? What are the US citizen’s relationship to their government? Is this altering?
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Top Global Banks Are Deeply Involved in FIFA Bribes Scandal
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