Month: September 2017

Regulation The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has told leading gold fund management firm VanEck that it will not review the firm’s registration statement for a Bitcoin ETF. The “VanEck Vectors Bitcoin Strategy ETF” seeks to invest in U.S. exchange-traded bitcoin derivative products, which are currently unavailable. In response to the SEC’s request, the firm withdrew its application. Also read: Russian Regulators Disagree on Crypto Regulation, Postpone to Next Year SEC’s Policy Leading gold fund management firm VanEck filed with the Read more …

Not a week goes by without conflicting reports regarding Russia’s stance on cryptocurrency. The most recent statement by deputy finance minister Alexey Moiseev has the community riled up again. More specifically, he claims cryptocurrency payments will be prohibited in the country soon. That seems a bit strange, considering the country is warming up to Bitcoin. Moreover, some of the nation’s largest payment processors accept Bitcoin already. Russia has proven to be an interesting region when it comes to cryptocurrency. More Read more …

Music producer DJ Khaled has become the latest in a line of celebrities promoting blockchain token sales, or initial coin offerings (ICOs), on social media. An Instagram post uploaded yesterday, features the DJ holding a new cryptocurrency debit card called Centra, while brandishing a bottle of vodka. A caption describes the Centra card and wallet as the “ultimate winner” in debit cards powered by tokens. The company in question, Centra, recently completed a launch of its own token called CTR to Read more …

Professional services provider Accenture has secured a patent related to its work on ‘editable Blockchain’ technology as of late September 2017. The permissioned Blockchain would enable parties to edit data in cases of errors or fraud. According to Accenture’s Blockchain practice managing director David Treat, the editable Blockchain concept was intended to resolve the issue of how to ‘fix things when they go wrong,’ and as a way to help move the technology toward ‘maturity.’ “This invention adds to that Read more …

Bitt, the bitcoin payments startup backed by Overstock’s Medici Ventures, has announced the hiring of a new chief executive officer. The new CEO, Rawdon Adams, takes the helm of the Barbados-based startup just months after it unveiled an ambitious plan to develop a pan-Caribbean settlement network built with blockchain tech. The plan, Bitt said in May, is to create a way to better connect a region with more than a dozen governments, each with their own currency systems. The startup Read more …

The finance enterprise sector is slowly becoming familiar with the game-changing technology of Blockchain. The advent of this technology has changed the game from speculation to near certainty in a matter of months. As benefits of the Blockchain revolution have become more obvious, the C-suite within organisations is beginning to take notice.  In fact, financial leaders and experts are now betting on this technology and are in near-unanimous agreement that Blockchain is the mode of the future. Great investment for Read more …

Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) has issued operating licenses to 11 bitcoin exchanges, the regulator announced today. This follows an amendment to the payment services law, which stated that all cryptocurrency exchanges should register with authorities by the end of September. Passed in April, the new law established bitcoin as a legal payment method, and extrapolated security guidelines for cryptocurrency exchanges. The licensing enforces certain operational requirements for the exchanges, including high standards for cybersecurity, the segregation of customer accounts Read more …

This is a paid press release, which contains forward looking statements, and should be treated as advertising or promotional material. Bitcoin.com does not endorse nor support this product/service. Bitcoin.com is not responsible for or liable for any content, accuracy or quality within the press release. Gintaras Tamosiunas – an expert of blockchain and a former member of the Lithuanian Parliament teamed up with well known entrepreneurs to create TokenDesk. A week ago the pre-sale token reservation program has started, attracting more Read more …

The Kik Interactive token distribution event (TDE) has just concluded amid much fanfare, and with substantial success, in spite of growing regulatory concerns. The company raised nearly $100 mln from more than 10,000 participants in 117 countries, which, interestingly, makes the token, Kin, one of the most widely held cryptocurrencies in the world. Kik Interactive has already created a substantial amount of market force through its interactive chat program. The company hopes that integrating the Kin token into the platform will Read more …

Featured North Korea, a nation that has previously been accused of mining bitcoin in order to flout sanctions, is suspected to have hacked a number of bitcoin exchanges in South Korea. The country allegedly stole “100 million won ($88,100) in bitcoin from 2013 to 2015 as part of its efforts to increase the country’s hard currency,” according to reports. Also read: Bahrain May Adopt Bitcoin and Issue Bonds in Digital Currency A Silicon Angle article quoted the police Read more …

The acting comptroller of the currency for the U.S. Treasury Department has said he is open to the idea that banks might one day conduct business in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Speaking at an event hosted by the U.S. Federal Reserve yesterday, Keith Noreika, the newly named director of the agency tasked with supervising all national banks, went so far as to state publicly that he foresees a future in which such companies might be granted “fintech charters” – proposed licenses Read more …

Self-professed Bitcoin “creator” Craig Wright has agreed with a New York banker that there is “no really good reason” to ‘hodl’ Bitcoin. Wright, who has divided the cryptocurrency community with his often provocative statements, was responding to comments by Federal Reserve Bank of New York assistant vice president Asani Sarkar during a presentation on Bitcoin. “He is correct,” Wright wrote on Twitter after Sarkar rubbished holding Bitcoin “in and of itself.” “Bitcoin is valuable as money, cash. As a pure Read more …