The rise of the digital currency

Once just two percent of servers run on blockchain technology, Bank of America research analyst Kash Rangan predicts the market for blockchain technology will be worth $7 billion.  Nine companies have been identified as likely to benefit significantly from the technology including Amazon and Microsoft.  As reported by  CNBC , Rangan didn’t put a time stamp on his predictions but also included technology giants Oracle, IBM, Salesforce, and VMware as others set to benefit. “Many blockchain use cases have been identified, but full products/services have not yet been built out and are not used in production,” said Rangan. The analyst says that Amazon Web Services (AWS) will benefit “from incremental cloud services demand from blockchain implementation, while improved supply chain tracking should make Amazon’s retail operations more efficient.”  Rangan also predicts that blockchain will improve software-as-a-service (SaaS) platforms and that blockchain-as-a-service (BaaS) will eme

Concerns about the lack of robust real-time and historical market surveillance capabilities A Malta-based cryptocurrency  exchange has been referred to the US department of financial services for potential violation of New York’s virtual currency regulations. The New York State Attorney General said Binance, Gate.io and Kraken had been referred to the US department for financial services after an investigation into whether those platforms accepted trade from within New York state. Binance, touted as the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, relocated to Malta earlier this year amid hype by the government. Malta’s embrace of blockchain technology led it to become a hub for cryptocurrency exchanges. Prime Minister Joseph Muscat had welcomed Binance to Malta in a Tweet. As part of a study into the cryptocurrency market, the New York Attorney General sought the voluntary participation of 13 cryptocurrency exchanges in a fact-finding inquiry into the policies and practices of vi

In ICO terms 2018 got off to a roaring start — but growing regulatory action internationally has seen a marked decline in capital raised during Q2 — moving many issuers and investors to the inevitable conclusion that compliant Security Tokens are the only viable way forward for the sector During 2017 and what might be considered the ICO ‘heyday’ it is fair to say that the legal status of many of these capital raising initiatives wasn’t a priority for founders — if it was considered at all. As the year wore on, however, the size of the raises began attracting attention beyond the crypto-world — ultimately capturing the interest of financial authorities like the SEC and its jurisdictional counterparts worldwide — many of which began issuing stern warnings about regulatory compliance and investor protection legislation. Alerted to the fact that their raises might be in breach of local securities laws, ICO startups began claiming they were actually issuing ‘utility’ tokens — oft

Today in the opening keynote at the SF Blockchain Week Epicenter, Oasis Labs announced a partnership with a16zcrypto, Accel, Binance Labs, Pantera Capital and Polychain Capital to launch a first-of-its kind program to accelerate privacy-first computing on blockchain. The Oasis Startup Hub will provide innovative developers with guidance from leading investors, hands-on technical support and early access to breakthrough technology to enable new applications which feature the security, privacy and scalability benefits of Oasis Labs’s decentralized protocol. “As high-profile privacy failures proliferate, the value of applications that put data protection at the heart of operations will only continue to soar,” said Jake Flomenberg, partner at Accel. “Oasis is taking an important step toward building a vibrant community committed to addressing serious issues in today’s computing landscape. Together, we’re helping unleash the power of data through innovative applications which responsi

PricewaterhouseCoopers, the top accounting firm better known as PwC, is backing a cryptocurrency—specifically, a so-called stablecoin backed by the U.S. dollar. The accounting firm is partnering with Cred, a decentralized lending startup that’s developing a new stablecoin pegged to the dollar, PwC announced Monday. PwC will offer its accounting expertise to ensure Cred’s dollar-backed coin “can provide 100% transparency and value substantiation,” the firm said in a statement. To hear PwC tell it, a lack of trust in stablecoins—and the existence of the dollar reserves backing them—has been keeping many potential investors out of cryptocurrency entirely. According to PwC, making the dollar reserves backing stablecoins fully auditable will “usher in the next 100 million users of crypto assets.” PwC is just the latest major firm to jump on the stablecoin bandwagon, joining  companies like IBM  and  venture capitalist Andreessen Horowitz,  who see the coins as a digital proxy for the

How are technological advances changing the landscape of the money transfer industry? That’s the focus of the upcoming  Global Money Transfer Summit , being held Oct 16 and 17 in London and hosted by  IAMTN . During two information-packed days, attendees will hear from a range of  speakers  that include CEOs of money transfer organizations, regulators, leaders in blockchain technology, compliance experts, global policy makers and more.  How do money transfer organizations need to evolve to adapt to new technologies while managing to stay ahead of new disruptive models and other challenges? A panel of leaders at global money transfer organizations will tackle those questions. On the insurance front, an executive from AXA Insurance in Paris, France will speak about his company’s innovative program to designed to provide insurance to migrant workers via partnership with remittance companies. Representatives of the Abu Dhabi Global Market will discuss cryptocurrency and the status of

CNBC  reports  that on Friday more than a dozen members from the US Congress called for greater clarity in cryptocurrency regulation from the SEC in a letter written to SEC Chairman Jay Clayton. The letter comes in the wake of a recent four-hour meeting in Washintgon between representitives from Wall Street and the crypto industry, which publicly pushed for similar action to be taken by the SEC. The Congressional Letter On Friday, more than a dozen members of the US House of Representatives sent a letter to Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Jay Clayton calling for greater regulatory clarity surrounding cryptocurrencies. “It is important that all policy makers work toward developing clearer guidelines between those digital tokens that are securities, and those that are not, through better articulation of SEC policy, and, ultimately, through formal guidance or legislation,” reads the letter. At present, the  SEC  has labeled the  majority of cryptocurrency assets  as

Naver, Kakao ready new digital coins for blockchain rollouts 이미지뷰 이미지뷰 Gone are the days of Kakao and Naver competition in mobile messenger apps - KakaoTalk versus Line. The second round is set to begin - with cryptocurrencies on the back of proprietary blockchain technologies. Ground X, a blockchain arm of Kakao, said earlier September it would launch a blockchain platform called Klaytn in the first quarter next year and distribute crypto coins called Klay to those who use the platform as a reward for using KakaoTalk and other apps connected to the messenger. The test version of the blockchain will be unveiled next month, and Kakao has yet to disclose exactly what features the coins will have. Industry observers say they will mainly work within the Kakao app ecosystem - usable for buying emoticons, mobile gifts and subscriptions to a music streaming service. Blockchain is a digital ledger system that uses cryptographic techniques to generate a transparent and unchangeable

Bankex  has launched  a crypto custody service targeted at individual investors. This service will allow coinholders to keep their crypto assets in a secure, bank-like storage system. The company is now accepting deposits of Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Ethereum, and ERC-20 tokens. Customers can also store money in the platform’s native BKX token, which will allow them to take advantage of reduced service fees. What Is Custody? When you handle cryptocurrency in its basic state, you are required to take care of your own security. This means you must  safely maintain  a set of private and public keys. As Bankex observes: “Using crypto, you relinquish all the physical monetary attributes you are accustomed to. There are no cards or banknotes…[and there is no] customer service line. Users with unresolved questions can find themselves on their own.” Bankex warns investors of three major causes of financial loss: “human factors, physical damage, and online attackers.” In oth

Sports betting platform Sportsbet.io recently launched its newest franchise to welcome the start of the new season. The soccer center will aid players to make better betting decisions that will help them in winning more and reduce their losses. A New Form of Sport Betting Data-driven one-stop shop for crypto-based betting, Sportsbet.io has revealed the launch of its new soccer center. The primary objective of the center is to provide players with real-time information that will aid them in making informed, analytical and seamless betting decisions. Coingaming group, which is the parent body of the firm signified that their top of the notch popularity during the FIFA world cup in Russia triggered their decision to float the sports center. The group was instrumental during the football tournament in Russia, as they helped lots if players to make informed betting decisions, which made them the darling of players during the Mundial. Since betting needs up to date information,

The profoundly reputed German firm, famed for dealing in rare crystalized metal Osmium is releasing a revenue share crypto token for its backers. A Rare Metal The rare and dense metal is initially created in Switzerland but shipped into Germany for effective distribution for global consumption by the German Osmium institute, a body responsible for all things relating to the metal. Osmium is not like any other metal, it is obtained from platinum metal, the metal is twice as dense as lead, and it’s effectively used in many alloys. The metal is used by lots of ‘end use’ industries. It can also be found in goods such as pen nibs, compass needles, electrical contacts, jewelry and lots of products that are generally prone to wear and tear. The chemical industry also makes use of the metal, and it is an efficient catalyst for chemical reactions. The rare metal is actually precious, as the annual production rarely exceeds 2 tonnes, while it is estimated that the total availability

Crowd Machine, a California-based cryptocurrency startup has fallen victim to a $14 Million hack. The Oklahoma police have arrested two men who reportedly stole millions of dollars from Crowd Machine, reported  CCN . Fletcher Robert Childers, 23, and Joseph Harris, 21, both of Missouri, were arrested by Police at a west side hotel on Monday. According to search warrants and Court documents, hackers used a SIM swapping technique to steal the victims’ passwords and identity. In a post on its  website , Crowd Machine stated that access to its crypto wallet was compromised and Crowd Machine Compute Tokens (CMCTs) were stolen. The company has also posted the thief’s wallet address 0x290d615eE921706ec8cCB2593F09B2D2e0F8B67c and asked customers not to deal with them. It further said that most exchanges have suspended trading in the currency. Crowd Machine Founder and CEO Craig Sproule told  local media , "The criminal investigation is ongoing so we’re not in a position to commen