Thursday, July 16, 2015
Philippines’ Bitcoin Ecosystem Advances Beyond Remittances
Leaked Emails Suggest FBI Used Hacking Team Software to Identify Tor User
Bitcoin Capital Investment in 2015 Quickly Passes 2014 Totals
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
Investment Firm Wedbush Predicts $400 Bitcoin by 2016; Advises to Buy GBTC
Digital Asset Holdings CEO Blythe Masters Named Chairman of Santander Consumer USA
Blythe Masters, the CEO of Digital Asset Holdings, a blockchain company, succeeded Stephen Ferriss today as the non-executive Chairman of the Board of Directors of Santander Consumer USA Holdings Inc. Santander is a holding company that specializes in consumer finance, focused on vehicle finance and unsecured consumer-lending products.
“Blythe Masters’ deep understanding of the financial markets and emerging bank technologies, coupled with her regulatory expertise, make her the right choice to lead the SCUSA Board,” said Jason Kulas, CEO of SCUSA, in a prepared statement. “She has a long track record as an innovator, which fits SCUSA’s entrepreneurial culture and our focus on using data and scalable technology to originate and service attractive consumer assets.”
Santander has been one of the more vocal banks on the ability for banks to save considerable amounts of money utilizing the blockchain. In The Fintech 2.0 Paper: Rebooting financial services, the authors argued that distributed ledger technology could save banks $15 billion-$20 billion per year by 2022.
The other new directors on the board are Jose Garcia Cantera, Victor Hill, Monica Lopez-Monis Gallego, Javier Maldonado, Robert J. McCarthy and William Rainer.
Before Masters joined Digital Asset Holdings as its CEO, she was a senior executive at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. as the head of its global commodities business from 2007 to 2014. Before that, she was chief financial officer of J.P. Morgan’s investment bank from 2004 to 2007. She is one of the many executives who have left traditional Wall Street firms for young, blockchain companies.
Overstock Wants to Clean up Food Distribution – and Wall Street
Overstock.com is expanding its already popular online produce delivery service by teaming up with farmers in 35 states, Retailing Today reports. The partnership means that nearly half of Americans currently have access to this continuously expanding service.
Overstock’s newest fresh-food partner, Front Door Farms, whose products are now offered through Overstock’s Farmers Market, delivers to the customer’s door two or three days after harvest.
“We chose Front Door Farms because it works with local farmers to harvest fruits and vegetables that are fresh and nutritious,” said Overstock CEO Patrick M. Byrne. “Our goal is to deliver fresh produce the way farmers grow it, as opposed to the food-like substances delivered through this nation’s agribusiness supply chains. Products sold in Overstock’s Farmers Market are designed to inspire creativity, fun and imagination in kitchens using the best ingredients.”
That’s very good news for those consumers who prefer to bypass traditional mass-distribution channels and buy directly from food producers for a healthier and greener life. It’s also very good news for bitcoin users, because Overstock is the largest online retailer to accept bitcoin payments for all the products offered via its web store.
Those who are paid in bitcoin and wish to pay in bitcoin for most of the goods and services that they need – a small but fast-growing population – will find Overstock’s new initiative appealing. Buying food in bitcoin is also a useful strategy to escape the growing surveillance of bank transfers to and from bitcoin exchanges and “bitcoin banks,” which could become a bottleneck in the Bitcoin ecosystem.
If banks start rejecting transfers from Circle or Coinbase, consumers will have more options to use their bitcoin directly, without having to go through the banks.
In other Overstock news, the company wants to extend its promotion of fresh and clean ways to Wall Street.
“We have started building things that replace what Wall Street does,” said Byrne to TheStreet, referring to the announcement in June of the first crypto-securities to be offered on the blockchain. “It does them far cheaper, and with far more transparency, and without any of the opportunity for rigging.”
Byrne stated that he is interested in “cleaning up” Wall Street.
Overstock’s platform, known as t0.com, can augment other trading exchanges and power financial transactions. Overstock filed a registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission seeking permission to issue public crypto-stock, and purchased a stake in stock brokerage firm Pro Securities, whose technology will power the crypto-stock exchange. Byrne said to expect further announcements about the platform this summer, and that it presents an “extraordinary opportunity” for Overstock because it has the potential to be disruptive.
In fact, the crypto-stock exchange could sidestep traditional stock exchanges such as NYSE and NASDAQ and issue corporate stock directly over the Internet.
These two stories seem only related by their origin, but there is a common thread. In both cases, Overstock wants to move beyond legacy systems with too many intermediaries, wasteful inefficiencies and potential for fraud, toward a streamlined, cheaper and more sustainable way of life.
Italian Spyware Tracks Down Bitcoin Transactions and Private Keys
Italian spyware vendor Hacking Team’s internal data was hacked and released this week, leaking research and information on how its bitcoin spyware called “Money Module,” which was used to spy on protesters and political dissidents works.
The Italian spyware vendor has been selling the software that surveils computers or smartphones to a range of clients, including international law enforcement agencies. The software was launched in January 2014, and has been used to track down transactions of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, litecoin, feathercoin and namecoin.
The software targets one key file in a bitcoin wallet called wallet.dat, which contains a set of private keys needed to settle a transaction on the blockchain. Once the software gets hold of the keys, it acquires the entire transaction history.
“It is straightforward to grab the wallet.dat and related files and for malcode to get the password for this file when the user accesses their bitcoins,” Nicholas Weaver, a researcher at the International Computer Science Institute in Berkeley, California, told ArsTechnica. “Similarly, one can also search for Bitcoin-related keywords in e-mail messages and other content on their computer. And once you have a copy of the wallet.dat file, you have the entire transaction history (as Ross Ulbricht can attest to).”
According to the email leaks on Wikileaks, the software is able to collect a wide range of information apart from bitcoin and cryptcurrencies.
“The module is able to collect various information: list of contacts and local accounts, wallet (i.e., the money) and the history of transactions,” reads an email dated January 12, 2014, published by Wikileaks. “Currently it is intended only for Desktops (Windows, OS X, Linux), while introduction in Mobiles is still under evaluation.”
BitGive Foundation Unveils Video at Inside Bitcoins, Announces New Initiatives
“In 2013 we started to dream about how the Bitcoin community could change the world…” These words were the beginning of a powerful three-minute video, presented on Saturday at Inside Bitcoins in Chicago by Connie Gallippi, founder of the BitGive Foundation. The presentation, demonstrating the impact of the bitcoin charity’s efforts in Kenya, served to kick off fundraising for the next phase in BitGive’s philanthropic mission: Bitcoin Charity 2.0.
Produced as a joint effort between BitGive and The Water Project and sponsored by BitPesa and Libra, the video recounts the story of the project that brought a water well, fully funded by the Bitcoin community, to the Shisango Girls School. Located in a remote area in western Kenya, the well is a concrete representation of how bitcoin can dramatically change people’s lives. The Foundation also positioned it as a symbol for how Bitcoin and blockchain technology have the potential to transform global philanthropy.
“The first step was building a strong relationship with an impactful nonprofit that is enthusiastic about partnering with us to leverage the Bitcoin community,” said Gallippi. “We found that partnership with The Water Project. Now, we are ready to take it to the next level and facilitate new ways for Bitcoin and blockchain technology to revolutionize charitable giving.”
In her introduction to the video, Gallippi spoke about the past successes of the BitGive Foundation over its two-year history, including its work with Save The Children, The Water Project and Medic Mobile. She emphasized the role that BitGive has played not only in helping disadvantaged and disaster-stricken areas, but also in spreading the word about the power of Bitcoin and the blockchain.
With Bitcoin Charity 2.0, BitGive has aspirations to scale the organization in both technical applications and global implementation, including a plan to build a transparency model for donations on the blockchain in partnership with The Water Project.
“There has been a lot of talk about the impact of Bitcoin on the developing world, but the investment isn’t going there,” Gallippi pointed out to the crowd in attendance.
“We could start tomorrow on these exciting initiatives and have results right away,” she added. “We just don’t have the resources yet.”
Inside Bitcoins hosted a fundraising drive on behalf of the BitGive Foundation throughout the conference in Chicago. The foundation itself is also holding an online auction to celebrate its second anniversary. All funds raised in these campaigns will support BitGive’s newest Bitcoin Charity 2.0 initiative.
Bidding for the 2nd Anniversary Auction opened on July 8th and will run until the 22nd. People can bid on a wide selection of items, such as Casascius coins (donated by C4), jewelry (donated by Overstock and independent designers), crypto artwork, autographed Bitcoin books (donated by Zapchain and Purse) and music albums. Services such as fundraising consultation and design work, memberships to the Digital Chamber of Commerce, as well an exciting getaway in Maui, are also on offer.
A headline donor for the auction is Overstock.com.
“In addition to striving to improve the quality of life in developing nations, we at Overstock also strongly believe in the empowering nature of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin,” said Overstock CEO Patrick M. Byrne. “It’s satisfying to be supporting both at the same time by working with the BitGive Foundation.”
“What you see in this video are the results we are getting – it’s very real and it’s only the beginning,” said Gallippi. “This can be expanded in so many empowering and revolutionary ways. That’s Bitcoin Charity 2.0.”
“BitPesa was grateful that BitGive let us contribute to this awesome project at Shisango Girls in Western Kenya,” says Elizabeth Rossiello, CEO of BitPesa, which sponsored the video. “We are always looking for partners doing great things in East Africa. BitGive is doing important work connecting Bitcoin donors with worthy projects across the world.”
Established in 2013, the BitGive Foundation is the first 501(c)(3) Bitcoin nonprofit charitable foundation representing the Bitcoin community. Its mission is to leverage the power of the Bitcoin community to improve public health and the environment worldwide. BitGive focuses on charitable giving and demonstrating Bitcoin’s social impact on a global scale through supporting charitable organizations with fundraising campaigns, education, and partnerships.
To participate in the BitGive 2nd Anniversary Auction, visit the auction website at http://ift.tt/1Cpkadm or follow the campaign on Twitter at #BitGiveAuction and @BitGiveOrg.
Vladimir Putin Addresses Digital Currencies on Russian National TV
This week, Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed bitcoin and digital currencies for the first time on the nation’s domestic TV network, Russia 24.
Putin announced that the Bank of Russia has been exploring possible use cases of the blockchain technology and its applications. Although the technology can be used as a method to manage or record transactions, Putin explained that the whole currency [bitcoin] is problematic because it is not backed by anything.
In his exact words, Putin stated, “Bitcoins are backed by nothing, and this is the major problem.”
However, Putin also announced that Russia is not rejecting the technology and bitcoin itself, and does not plan to prohibit bitcoin anytime soon. However, he also explained that there are fundamental issues to be addressed before using and implementing bitcoin and its underlying blockchain technology.
“We do not reject anything, but there are serious, really fundamental issues related to its wider usage, at least, today,” he added.
While Putin went on about bitcoin and its potential use cases, he did not mention anything about bitcoin regulations, restrictions and legislation in Russia, which is a positive.
“While Mr. Putin didn’t say anything concrete about bitcoin legislation in Russia, it’s definitely a good sign that our government doesn’t want to prohibit something before getting a better insight in the field,” Indacoin CEO Stanislav Kosorukov announced.
Photo via the Kremlin
African Bitcoin Startup Wins Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Grant, Launches Blockchain Event Series in Nairobi
Bitcoin startup Bitsoko announced that it soon will begin sponsoring a Blockchain Event Series in Nairobi, Kenya. The events, held monthly at the iHub innovation hub, will focus on Blockchain education and networking, and offer opportunities for local startups to pitch.
The Bitsoko team, which is spread across Africa with a presence in Ghana, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Sierra Leone and Rwanda, uses Bitcoin to revolutionize money transfer and remittance services. The company offers digital currency services ranging from remittance and money transfer services to payment processing for merchants at a fraction of the current rates.
Last month Bitsoko won a Grand Challenges Explorations grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
“Daniel Bloch of Bitsoko in Kenya will develop their mobile money platform known as Bitsoko, which integrates Blockchain technology for low-cost transactions mediated by bitcoins,” states the Grand Challenges website. “They have built a mobile wallet and a point-of-sale service for merchants that allows money to be easily and securely transferred around the world using only a Bitsoko username, phone number or bitcoin wallet address. Bitsoko will also offer simplified options for paying household bills and payrolls. They will raise awareness of their platform to scale up the number of users and merchants, and continue to evaluate the security and capability of the platform.”
Titled “Enable Universal Acceptance of Mobile Money Payments,” the grant page notes that people living on under $2 per day need to transact with money just like everyone else, but most poor people, particularly those living in countries where poverty is widespread, have no access to formal financial products or services to help them manage these transactions and their money. That’s the reality that Bitsoko hopes to change.
The Impatient Optimist blog of the Gates Foundation states that the goal of this Grand Challenge is to increase the value of mobile for poor and low-income people by enabling universal acceptance of mobile money among small merchants and service providers.
“The modern financial system does not work for the poor,” notes the foundation. “But there is a different option – a digital financial ecosystem. Digital transactions are efficient and can be very low in cost, but we still have a long way to go until we see the wide-scale adoption of digital payments.”
As a winner, Bitsoko will receive $100,000 in funding, with an opportunity to receive an add-on grant of $1 million if the project is successful. Bitsoko will use the grant to expand its services to Ghana, Zimbabwe and Sierra Leone, further enabling simple low-cost payments.
“The financial structure in Kenya and throughout Africa has changed rapidly since the birth of mobile money by MPesa,” said Bitsoko co-founder and lead developer Allan Juma. “We believe that this will only continue to grow, and tools such as Bitsoko that leverage Blockchain technology to lower transaction costs will be at the forefront of this boom. ”
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Promotes Bitcoin in Kenya
Russia’s Putin: Bitcoin ‘Can Be Used in Some Account’
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