How Blockchain Technology Will Disrupt Financial Services Firms

Creating Value through Platforms, People and Technology,”

authors Barry Libert, Megan Beck and Jerry (Yoram) Wind look at how blockchain technology will prove to be a major disruptor to the public and private sectors, starting with the financial services industry. Libert is CEO of OpenMatters and Beck is the chief insights officer. Wind is a Wharton marketing professor and director of Wharton’s SEI Center for Advanced Studies in Management. They also wrote a book called The Network Imperative: How to Survive and Grow in the Age of Digital Business Models. The authors would like to thank LiquidHub for sponsoring the research for this series.

“There are hundreds of startups with a lot of brains and money working on various alternatives to traditional banking.” — Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase

The basic rules of the game for creating and capturing economic value were once fixed in place. For years, or even decades, companies pursued the same old business models (usually selling goods or services, building and renting assets and land, and offering people’s time as services) and tried to execute better than their competitors did. But now, business model disruption is changing the very nature of economic returns and industry definitions. All industries are seeing rapid displacement, disruption, and, in extreme cases, outright destruction. The financial services industry, with its large commercial and investment banks and money managers, is no exception.

“Silicon Valley is coming,” JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon warned in his annual letter to shareholders. He said startups are coming for Wall Street, innovating and creating efficiency in areas that are important to companies such as JPMorgan, particularly in the lending and payments space. The payments startup Stripe has a multibillion-dollar valuation and a partnership with Apple Pay. Bitcoin companies and exchanges such as 21 and Coinbase are attracting tens of millions of dollars from venture capitalists. Peer-to-peer lending is booming in the small loan market with many players, including Upstart, Prosper, Funding Circle, and more. And the financial-planning startup LearnVest just got acquired for more than $250 million.

Many of these organizations are in the lending business, but are using big data and cloud technologies rather than tellers and branches to speed lending and customer acquisition. Others are leveraging network business models, such as peer-to-peer lending, to bring together would-be lenders and borrowers. According to Dimon, “We are going to work hard to make our services as seamless and competitive as theirs.” His underlying thought is this: If his company doesn’t keep pace with today’s well-capitalized upstarts, they will begin to lose relevance in a platform-centric world.

“In lots of areas, it looks like the blockchain will replace the current centralized business model of the financial services industry.”

There are many innovative, network business models that are coming after traditional financial services and banking organizations, and big banks are beginning to realize they must evolve in response if they want to remain viable in a digitally centric world — whether it comes by acquiring, partnering or developing leading-edge technologies. But what’s less clear is why, exactly, these new entrants are so disruptive and powerful. What enables them to skirt perceived constraints of these once ‘too large to fail’ incumbents and exploit unseen possibilities? In short, it is network-centered thinking with platform-based business models.

Control Shifting Away from Central Banks

In London’s Canary Wharf, a team of technologists and executives are trying to understand how to use blockchain technology to change the future of banking globally. Their leader is Blythe Masters, an ex-Wall Street commodities trader turned digital entrepreneur focused on turning the mental model and business model of the massive financial services industry and all its related parties (consumers, lawyers, accountants) on its head.

Bank executives worldwide are trying to figure out what this evolution in technology will mean for their firms. “We could go the way that file transfer technology changed music, allowing new businesses like iTunes to emerge. That is why there is such feverish activity at the moment,” said Michael Harte, chief operations and technology officer at Barclays, according to a recent article in The Financial Times. For the massive financial services sector, blockchain technology (the software behind the digital currency, Bitcoin) offers an opportunity to overhaul its existing business model, including its banking infrastructure, approach to settlements and customer interactions. But acting on this opportunity, and making the most of the blockchain, is no easy task given the core beliefs and reinforcing systems that are embedded in the industry.

Networks Are Taking Over

What is the blockchain? It is a distributed database of computers that maintains records and manages transactions. Rather than having a central authority (such as a bank), blockchain uses the network to approve “blocks,” or transactions, which are then added to the “chain” of computer code. Cryptography is used to keep transactions secure, and the distributed nature of transaction approval makes the system harder to tamper with.

“It is only a matter of time before the broader financial services and banking industries shift to blockchain and network-based approaches.”

Blockchain technology has been hailed by its VC supporters as having revolutionary promise for all involved. “You should be taking this technology as seriously as you should have been taking the development of the Internet in the early 1990’s. It’s analogous to email for money,” said Masters, according to The Financial Times. And blockchain enthusiasts believe that the application possibilities are endless — improving the way we hold and transfer secure goods from money to deeds to music to intellectual property. In fact, blockchain, as a pure platform technology, may be able to cut out the middlemen (or middle companies) everywhere, even disrupting other disruptors like Airbnb or Uber.

In the present financial services business model, a central ledger most often acts as the custodian of that information (such as the Federal Reserve and its member banks). But in a blockchain world, the information regarding each transaction is transparently held in a digitally shared database in the cloud, without a single central body acting as the middleman. This lack of central authority is the very feature that is turning the current mental and business models of traditional financial institutions on their heads.

In a lot of areas, it looks like the blockchain will replace the current centralized business model of the financial services industry and it is easy to see how it could revolutionize all of Wall Street. The ability of the technology to provide an unforgeable record of identity, including the history of an individual’s transactions, is one area being eagerly explored. David Grace, head of global finance at PwC, said that “if you have a secure distributed ledger, it could be used to store validated ‘know your customer’ data on individuals or companies. … It’s a potentially global application that could provide more security over identity data and where that data are stored.”

“It seems that the code can perform better than a real middleman in most cases.”

Clearly, we are entering a period of rapid evolution, as the financial services industry determines blockchain and what it means for their business models. Or, another scenario: A slew of startups identifies the possibilities and pulls the rug out from under big institutions. Traditional perceptions about the roles of financial players are already under attack — as it seems that the code can perform better than a real middleman in most cases. Old business models will soon fall prey to the quickly evolving technology and mental models. The network is about to do its magic: Grow and evolve without central control.

Network Business Models Will Dominate

Blockchain is already seeing use outside of the financial services sector, where it got its start. Technology and services giant IBM is adapting the blockchain methodology to develop a currency-less system that could be used for any purpose — for example, executing contracts upon delivery.

Arvind Krishna, senior vice president of IBM Research, believes that in the long run, this technology could facilitate transactions between banks or international businesses. “I want to extend banking to the 3.2 billion people who are going to come into the middle class over the next 15 years,” he said. “So I need a much lower cost of keeping a ledger. Blockchain offers some intriguing possibilities there.” A firm-centered or centrally controlled banking system clearly will not get him there, and the blockchain will allow him to leverage a digitally-enabled network as the way forward.

Join the Network Revolution

With companies such as IBM and JPMorgan Chase, as well as preeminent venture capitalist firm Andreessen Horowitz, backing this new way of facilitating financial transactions, it is only a matter of time before the broader financial services and banking industries shift to blockchain and network-based approaches Twitter to complement, or replace, the current centralized approach. The question is not whether network business models supported by blockchain technology will disrupt these organizations, but when. So if you are a member of the current financial services industry elite — or a local bank or credit union — it’s time to become part of the digital revolution and join the network and platform-emerging world.

Chuck Reynolds

Marketing Dept
Contributor
Please click either Link to Learn more about -Bitcoin.

David https://markethive.com/david-ogden

What is Siacoin and is it a Good Investment?

What is Siacoin and is it a
Good Investment?

Sia is a platform for decentralized cloud storage.

By allowing the formation of storage contracts with peers, Sia permits its users to store data across a wide network of participants in a secure, private, reliable and fault-tolerant manner. Contracts define the conditions under which a storage provider keeps user data, and require the provider to periodically submit proof of storage to reassure the client that their data is in safe hands. These contracts are stored on the blockchain such that they are publicly auditable. Sia is considered a Bitcoin derivative that includes specialized contract support. Sia’s settlement currency is aptly named Siacoin, and in the future a two-way peg will be implemented in order to financially connect the Bitcoin and Siacoin blockchains.

Sia’s Objective

Sia aims to break into the cloud storage market. The team believe this multi-billion dollar endeavour can be facilitated through blockchain technology. Offering a cheap, reliable and highly redundant cloud storage solution may prove itself worthy of competing with extortionate storage providers at both the individual and enterprise level. Sia’s primary objective is to introduce storage into the sharing economy. As the old adage goes, ‘unused memory is wasted memory;’ the team believes it is possible to liberate the unused storage of the world and unite it into a free market. Under this configuration, data is distributed across a vast network in a highly redundant manner.

This new paradigm for the cloud, where a decentralized network of ad-hoc data centers comprise a global storage solution, is extremely promising. Data remains secure through strong cryptography, storage is far more affordable, and any single point of failure is eliminated through a network of redundant nodes, ensuring the highest possible uptimes. Sia’s affordability and innovation engages competition with even the most venerable service providers.

The Mechanics

Transactions

Sia transactions are somewhat a simplification of Bitcoin’s. They strip away the pay to script mechanism, opting for the multisignature M-of-N scheme for all transactions, the motive being to reduce complexity and therefore attack surface. Some extensions are made to the transaction format to allow for the enforcement of storage contracts, as detailed in the Sia whitepaper. Fundamentally, the concepts are similar to Bitcoin’s; outputs comprise some volume of coins, and inputs are used to reference coin origins.

Proof of Storage

File storage with Sia involves dividing files down into segments of constant size, then hashing them into a Merkle tree. The Merkle tree, along with the size of the file, is used to verify storage proofs. Hosts prove that they have a file in their possession by reporting hashes from that file’s Merkle tree, along with a randomly selected segment of the file itself. The random number generator used to select which segment to send as proof is seeded by the hashed concatenation of the contract ID and the previous block header.

It is assumed that, if a host consistently produces valid proofs, they are storing the whole file. The mathematics here is simple — a ‘cheating’ node storing only 50 percent of a large file will fail to produce a storage proof in 50 percent of cases, meaning that it will take an average of 13 storage proofs until you can be 99.99 percent sure the node is dishonest. The more successful storage proofs, the more confident we are that the node is honest. Nodes are financially deterred from cheating the system because, as we will learn in the next section, if the contract terminates unsuccessfully the node loses its deposit.

Contracts

Contracts are formed between storage providers (otherwise referred to as hosts) and clients. This contract defines the conditions for the storage of data — specifically, the regularity with which the host is required to submit a proof of their continued storage of client data. These proofs must be continually submitted until the contract expires. Contracts are facilitated through a blockchain similar to Bitcoin, but with a few modifications. Hosts are compensated for submitting correct proofs and penalized for incorrect or missing proofs. These proofs are publicly verifiable and present on the blockchain, so network consensus can automatically enforce these contracts. This is significant, since it means that clients do not need to verify their own proofs; the network can do it for them.

Contracts are supplied with some initial funding from both the renter and the host. The money supplied from the renter is to subsidize the host for storing their files, whereas the money supplied from the host is a deposit, that the host will be forced to forfeit if the contract does not complete successfully.

As well as specifying the frequency of proof submission, file contracts define a duration, valid proof reward, invalid proof penalty, and a maximum number of proofs that can be missed. If this number is exceeded, the contract is terminated. The contracts create ‘challenge windows,’ in which hosts are obliged to submit their proofs of storage. These challenge windows work like this; if the host is able to supply a valid proof in the allotted time, an automatic payment is triggered to their ‘valid proof’ address. If they submit an invalid or late proof, the payment instead directs funds to a provably unspendable address, where the coins cannot be recovered. This mechanism is in place to prevent denial of service attacks on Sia nodes.

Feasibility of Attacking the Network

Two attack vectors in particular are mentioned in the Sia whitepaper. These are the so-called “block withholding attacks” and “closed window attacks.” The first of the two attacks, named “block withholding,” exploits the deterministic nature of random numbers on the blockchain. In short, since the execution of file contracts have to be deterministic, miners need to be able to reproduce random numbers with the same seed. Often, previous block header hashes are used as this seed. The idea with a block withholding attack is that an attacker could withhold blocks until they find one whose hash produces a favourable random number, allowing cheating nodes to produce valid proofs without having to store the entire file. This attack is unlikely, due to the fact that over 50 percent of the network needs to withhold blocks to manipulate 50 percent of the challenges.

Fundamentally, this kind of attack is financially unfavourable so they are uncommon in practice. Nevertheless, clients are able to avoid victimization in such a manner by specifying a high proof frequency in their storage contracts. The second, and perhaps more formidable, attack against the network is the “closed window attack.” Consider the scenario where miners decide to maliciously exclude valid storage proofs, resulting in the unnecessary burning of funds. Additionally, where malicious miners dominate the network, it would be possible for them to charge inordinate transaction fees for proofs to be included in blocks. These attacks are called “closed window attacks,” since the window in which clients are required to submit a proof of storage is artificially closed by malicious actors.

This attack is remedied by using a large window size, giving hosts a longer time to have their proofs acknowledged. Hosts can reasonably assume that the majority of the network acts in good faith, and therefore given enough time somebody will include their valid proof in a block. Not only this, but ultimately hosts are free to reject and deny storage contracts as they see fit — if they believe a contract opens them to closed window attacks, they are free to reject it.

Economics of Siacoin

Sia’s settlement currency is Siacoin. Siacoin is an inflationary currency, where supply will increase permanently. Sia uses, and will continue to use, a proof of work scheme. Like Bitcoin, newly minted Siacoins are awarded exclusively to miners as an incentive to keep the network secure. The target block time is approximately 10 minutes, congruent with Bitcoin. The genesis block reward was 300,000 Siacoin, and the network is configured such that this reward decrements until the reward reaches its absolute minimum of 30,000 coins per block.

A post regarding the coin supply from Sia's forum explains:

"By March of 2021, the inflation is about 3.4 percent. by March of 2026, the inflation will be about 2.9 percent. by March of 2036 it will be about 2.2 percent. In the long run, the inflation will be about 2 percent for long time. So in the long run, the inflation rate will probably be lower than the Sia network growth rate besides the lost coins.

In v1.2.x, Sia will implement a host Proof of Burn mechanism in which hosts have to burn certain siacoins to show that they are real and sincere for business to counter the sybil attack. When Sia network is getting mature, the estimate annual burned siacoins can be 0.1 to 0.5 percent of total available siacoins. The burned siacoins will offset the inflation in the long run. At some point, it could result in a deflation of siacoins."

The authors of the Siacoin whitepaper warn of its volatility, with particular reference to its early adoption phase. The volatility in the coin’s value might result in more expensive storage contracts being formed, where hosts hedge against potential losses by increasing their pricing in response to price fluctuations. It is expected that this unpredictability will be tamed once Siacoin and Bitcoin are connected via a two-way peg.

There are two avenues through which somebody can contribute to the Sia network and earn coins. The first, and perhaps the most obvious, is to mine them. Mining coins keeps the network secure by validating transactions. The second method is to become a host. By renting out spare storage, you will be subsidized in Siacoin in accordance to the contracts you agree to. Sia is developed by Nebulous Incorporated, a for-profit organization. The company have expressed their intent to make Sia their primary source of income, which concerns some members of the community. That said, the Sia platform is entirely open-source under the MIT license. The MIT license is renowned for being particularly lenient when it comes to forking and modifying the source code, so perhaps these concerns are unwarranted.

Siacoin and Siafunds

An important distinction between Siacoin and Siafunds needs to be made. Siacoin refers to the coin used, earned and mined by contributors to the Sia platform. On the other hand, Siafunds refers to a different premined coin. This coin represents a stake in the Sia platform as a business venture, rather than an internal currency used by the Sia network. Siafunds are how the Nebulous Corporation aim to generate revenue from Sia’s success as a platform.

Siafunds are used to generate profit proportional to the value of Sia as a platform. Specifically, this is done by imposing a contract creation fee of 4.9 percent. This fee is redistributed to Siafund holders. Siafunds are premined, where approximately 88 percent are held by Nebulous Corporation and the remaining 12 percent by early crowdfund backers of the project. Siafunds are a transferable asset, like Siacoin, but they cannot be used to finance storage contracts or miner fees. In a sense, Siafunds encapsulate a quantity of Siacoin. When Siafunds are transferred from one address to another, a transaction output is generated which contains the number of Siacoin generated from that particular Siafund since its previous movement. So, Siafunds can be thought of as an entitlement to some growing quantity of Siacoin.

The Outlook for SC-BTC

The ticker for Siacoin is SC, and with most of the traded volume coming from the Bisq, Bittrex, Cryptopia, HitBTC, Poloniex, and Yunbi exchanges. The weekly price action is displayed below for SC-BTC on the Poloniex exchange. At the time of writing, SC-BTC traded very close to an important fractal support at 0.00000253, around 0.00000321. The most recent fractal resistance lies at 0.00000838, and given a fractal support just recently formed, we expect SC-BTC begin to trend toward this level. Stronger bullish confirmation will be given if there is a weekly close higher than the base line (red), which lies around 0.00000433. Alternatively, a weekly close below the fractal support at 0.00000253 will point to a long-term bearish outlook for SC-BTC and we recommend to wait for a new floor to be established before committing to a long-term buy in this case.

Conclusion

Sia offers a scalable solution to cloud storage which introduces free memory into the sharing economy. By allowing its users to financially benefit from their spare computer memory, Sia offers unprecedented opportunities for the future of data storage. Blockchain technology has proven to be proliferating in industries where centralized solutions are withering under their deficiencies. Sia has genuine potential to democratize cloud storage, similar to how BitTorrent liberated file sharing. With its high redundancy, infrangible privacy and financial incentivisation, Sia presents an new model for the safekeeping of information where the customer has complete control of their data.

Chuck Reynolds

Marketing Dept
Contributor
Please click either Link to Learn more about -Bitcoin.

David https://markethive.com/david-ogden

Mastercard Eyes Cryptocurrency Refunds in New Patent Application

A new patent application from Mastercard suggests that the global credit card issuer is exploring ways to build refund services for cryptocurrency users.

The application, titled "Information Transaction Infrastructure", was published by the the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on August 3, having been submitted in late January. Vladimir Goloshchuk, who according to LinkedIn previously worked as a senior analyst at Mastercard, is listed as the sole inventor.

The application details an infrastructure through which users could verify their identities, which would then be linked to cryptocurrency addresses they elect to disclose.

The text of the application points to this being most relevant for situations in which users are submitting payments to merchants from accounts on exchanges, or other services, in which their funds may be held alongside those belonging to others.

In the event that a merchant has to send the money back for a refund, they would send it back to an address linked to that user's account – a situation in which the exchange or custody holder might then need to know where those funds are being sourced from and why.

To counter this, Mastercard proposes a way for users, through a shared service, to have two kinds of wallets.

"The basic principle of the arrangement … is that a user of the shared wallet service has two types of wallet. Firstly, they have a 'public' wallet for on-the-chain publicly visible and verified transactions. The user will make and receive cryptocurrency payments external to the shared wallet service using a public wallet," the application explains, adding:

"Using this approach, the refund problem can be addressed – a payment received from the public wallet can be refunded by an equal payment back to the public wallet."

The application is the latest from Mastercard, which has filed several patents in the past few years. The company has also developed projects focused on blockchain tech, releasing a set of dedicated APIs last fall.

David Ogden
Entrepreneur

Author: Stan Higgings

David https://markethive.com/david-ogden

The Blockchain: What It Is and Why It Matters

The Blockchain:
What It Is and Why It Matters

Chances are that you’ve heard of bitcoin, the digital currency

that many predict will revolutionize payments – or prove to be a massive fraud – depending on what you read. Bitcoin is an application that runs on the Blockchain, which is ultimately a more interesting and profound innovation. The Blockchain is a secure transaction ledger database that is shared by all parties participating in an established, distributed network of computers. It records and stores every transaction that occurs in the network, essentially eliminating the need for “trusted” third parties such as payment processors. Blockchain proponents often describe the innovation as a “transfer of trust in a trustless world,” referring to the fact that the entities participating in a transaction are not necessarily known to each other yet they exchange value with surety and no third-party validation. For this reason, the Blockchain is a potential game changer.

In 2008, Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous person or group of people credited with developing bitcoin, released a whitepaper describing the software protocol. Since then, the network has grown and bitcoin has become a recognized unit of value around the globe. Bitcoin is extremely important because it provides a mechanism for accessing the Blockchain – but it’s not the only application that can leverage the platform. Bitcoin has also been on the receiving end of some bad press, such as around the collapse of the Mt. Gox bitcoin exchange earlier last year. The Mt. Gox story is not necessarily an indictment of bitcoin. For the purposes of this post, simply remember this: bitcoin is just a mechanism for transacting on the Blockchain and the Blockchain is the key innovation.

The Blockchain: Trustworthy Transactions in a Trustless World

The Blockchain enables the anonymous exchange of digital assets, such as bitcoin, but it is not technically dependent on bitcoin. The elegance of the Blockchain is that it obviates the need for a central authority to verify trust and the transfer of value. It transfers power and control from large entities to the many, enabling safe, fast, cheaper transactions despite the fact that we may not know the entities we are dealing with.The mechanics of the Blockchain are novel and highly disruptive. As people transact in a Blockchain ecosystem, a public record of all transactions is automatically created. Computers verify each transaction with sophisticated algorithms to confirm the transfer of value and create a historical ledger of all activity. The computers that form the network that are processing the transactions are located throughout the world and importantly are not owned or controlled by any single entity. The process is real-time, and much more secure than relying on a central authority to verify a transaction.

There are many analogous concepts both ancient and modern. Technology has and will continue to transfer power and control from central authorities and distribute them to the masses. For example, time used to be determined and communicated by large clock towers that were expensive to build and maintain. Engineering innovations ultimately decentralized the quantification of time to the individual. Likewise, WhatsApp, a popular cross platform messaging app, cut the transaction cost of sending messages globally – and cut profits for the carriers. The central authority (phone carriers) lost to the application (WhatsApp) built on a decentralized network (i.e. the Internet).

Similarly, third parties that currently verify transactions (the central authority) stand to lose against the Blockchain (the decentralized network). As such, the Blockchain essentially disintermediates these third-party transaction verifiers: auditors, legal services, payment processors, brokerages and other similar organizations. While you may not be convinced that exchanging bitcoin is an invaluable service, there are many other examples of value transfer that are critical – and currently very slow and expensive. Consider the exchange of property: numerous intermediaries are currently involved in this process, such as a third-party escrow service that works for both parties to ensure a smooth transfer. The escrow service, like other services built solely on trust and verification, collect fees that would be mitigated by performing the transaction on the Blockchain – as would wire transfer fees, third party financial auditing, contract execution, etc.

The use case of the Blockchain enabling a decentralized currency exchange – such as bitcoin – is well defined and will likely be the dominant use case near term, however there are a multitude of innovative and disruptive use cases. Companies are already building their own Blockchains for various applications such as Gridcoin that leverages the Blockchain to crowdsource scientific computing projects. Gridcoin uses its own protocols that require much less computing power and electricity to manage than traditional bitcoin networks.

The Blockchain: and Why it Matters (Let’s Not Mess it Up)

The Blockchain is a foundational technology, like TCP/IP, which enables the Internet. And much like the Internet in the late 1990s, we don’t know exactly how the Blockchain will evolve, but evolve it will. Similar to the Internet, the Blockchain must also be allowed to grow unencumbered. This will require careful handling that recognizes the difference between the platform and the applications that run on it. TCP/IP empowers numerous financial applications that are regulated, but TCP/IP is not regulated as a financial instrument. The Blockchain should receive similar consideration. While the predominant use case for the Blockchain today is bitcoin currency exchange that may require regulation, this will change over time.

Had we over-regulated the Internet early on, we would have missed out on many innovations that we can’t imagine living without today. The same is true for the Blockchain. Disruptive technologies rarely fit neatly into existing regulatory considerations, but rigid regulatory frameworks have repeatedly stifled innovation. It’s likely that innovations in the Blockchain will outpace policy, let’s not slow it down.

Chuck Reynolds

Marketing Dept
Contributor
Please click either Link to Learn more about -Bitcoin.

David https://markethive.com/david-ogden

Top Cryptocurrencies Price Weekly Prediction â Next Days Will Be Rough For The Crypto Market

Top Cryptocurrencies Price Weekly Prediction – Next Days Will Be Rough For The Crypto Market

Not much has changed for most cryptocurrencies over the past few hours. Bitcoin is, together with Monero, the only currency in the top 10 noting a small loss, whereas most other coins have stabilized or regained some losses. Considering how the weekend is often a dreadful period for cryptocurrency trading this overall trend is rather positive. The total cryptocurrency market cap is heading toward US$90bn as well, which is a positive sign for the future.

CRYPTOCURRENCIES PREPARE FOR A STRONG WEEK

It seems evident most of the top 10 cryptocurrencies are in a good position for some notable gains over the next seven days. Even though we will see one Bitcoin hard fork materialize on August 1st, it is doubtful this will harm the price in a negative manner. Do not be mistaken in thinking Bitcoin Cash tokens come free of charge, though, as they may effectively subtract value from the actual Bitcoin price until the market stabilize.

That being said, we do see the Bitcoin price has dipped a whopping 0.19% over the past 24 hours. That in itself means very little as far as the world’s leading cryptocurrency is concerned. In fact, as long as Bitcoin doesn’t move by 5% or more over the course of 24 hours, there is absolutely nothing to be concerned about. A minuscule change such as this one means absolutely nothing.

lastest prices july

Despite the Bitcoin price “dip”, most altcoins are doing quite well. Ethereum is finally showing some life signs after weeks of declines. The 5.67% gain in the past 24 hours is quite substantial, as the price seems to be heading toward US$200 once again. It is still a far cry from US$400, though, and the currency is not out of the woods just yet. Future declines in value may still be a big part of Ethereum as there is still some funds in circulation which may be dumped across exchanges in the near future.

Other top currencies are showing small gains as well. Litecoin is up by 189%, whereas NEM, Dash, and IOTA all report gains below 1%. The big winners are XRP – up by 3.47% – as well as Stratis – up by 2.99% – and Ethereum Classic, which increased by 1.45%. The bigger question is when people will realize Ethereum Classic is the true, immutable Ethereum chain without SEC scrutiny, highly controversial ICOs, and a blockchain which can be rolled back when founders’ money is stake. Only time will tell if the ETH/ETC correlation will ever see proper momentum, as for now, all the hype and focus is still in Ethereum’s camp.

What is rather surprising is how Monero is the only top 10 currencies to note any losses, other than Bitcoin Monero lost6.41% of its value overnight, which is quite substantial. There is no real reason for this sudden downturn other than people speculating on the other currencies and trying to make a profit. Monero is still a very powerful cryptocurrency with honest developers who aim to provide anonymity to all users. Then again, a price of US$40.65 per XMR is still more than fair, all things considered.

Looking at the individual cryptocurrency market caps, it is pretty obvious Bitcoin remains the undisputed leader for some time to come. This also results in the Bitcoin Dominance Index going back above 50%, as it currently sits at 50.5%. Not too long ago, that percentage was heading toward 40% and lower, but it seems the market has finally come to its senses once again. There is no other currency capable of rivaling Bitcoin right now, that much is evident.

David Ogden
Entrepreneur

David Ogden Cryptocurrency Entrepreneur

Author: Oliver Wood

David https://markethive.com/david-ogden

Philippine Government Yet to Approve Cryptocurrency Exchange Applicants

Philippine Government Yet to Approve Cryprocurrwncy Exchange Applicants

Philippine Government Yet to Approve Cryptocurrency Exchange Applicants

Philippine business press, Businessmirror, has reported that the government has been yet to approve a single virtual currency exchange application. The Philippine central bank, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, introduced regulations for virtual currencies earlier this year – which focussed heavily on creating guidelines for the operations of cryptocurrency exchanges.

The Philippine Central Bank Has Received Less Than 10 Applications For Virtual Currency Exchange Registration

The Philippine Central Bank’s Supervision and Examination Sector told Businessmirror that it has not approved any applications for entities seeking to register and establish cryptocurrency exchanges. It has also been revealed that the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has so far received less than 10 applications.

BSP representative, Chuchi Fonacier stated that increased Filipino bitcoin adoption had prompted the development of cryptocurrency regulations. “We have observed acceleration in transaction volume based on our survey of top industry players last year, prompting us to institute a regulatory framework. We have no updated statistics to date, as these will come from the regular reports that registered entities will submit to the BSP.”

The Philipines’ bitcoin regulations focus upon articulating a juridical framework for the operation of cryptocurrency exchanges, in addition to providing an inclusive regulatory apparatus for cryptocurrency-based remittance services.“We want to maximize the benefits from this technological innovation, while adequately managing the risks that come with it. Virtual currencies can help accelerate the delivery of financial services [e.g., payments and remittance] and lower the cost of transactions, which is consistent with our broader financial-inclusion agenda,” Fonacier said.

In Practice, the Philippines’ Cryptocurrency Regulations Appear to Be Very Limited in Scope

Officials have consistently iterated the Philippines’ government’s intention to simultaneously foster growth and innovation in the cryptocurrency industries, whilst restricting the risk of bitcoin being used for money-laundering or terrorist financing activities. “We are particularly keen on addressing money-laundering risk, that is why part of the responsibilities of a virtual-currency exchange is to comply with established anti-money laundering rules, such as know-your-client procedures, as well as proper reporting to the AMLC [Anti-Money Laundering Council].”

Despite local press describing the Philippines’ stance toward bitcoin as “a first of its kind in Asia”, the regulatory apparatus developed by the BSP appears to be limited in its scope. The regulations focus heavily on providing guidelines for the operation of virtual currency exchanges, yet have largely neglected to develop regulatory or taxation frameworks for general cryptocurrency use or mining. There has also been little effort made to promote and educate Filipino citizens about cryptocurrency, which will be vital for greater Filipino bitcoin adoption as only one in three Filipino citizens is reported to have access to the internet. Furthermore, the BSP has designed regulations so as to monitor the Filipino bitcoin economy through mandatory reporting submitted by virtual currency-based businesses – of which the BSP is yet to approve a single application.

David Ogden
Entrepreneur

Author: Samuel Haig

David https://markethive.com/david-ogden

Malta Entrepreneur has Installed the Country’s First Cryptocurrency ATM

Malta Entrepreneur has Installed the Country's First Cryptocurrency ATM

Malta Entrepreneur has Installed the Country’s First Cryptocurrency ATM

A Malta entrepreneur has installed the country’s first cryptocurrency ATM. The installation has occurred just days after local media reported that a start-up had launched a crowdfunding campaign to finance the country’s first bitcoin ATM.

The Cryptocurrency ATM Has Been Installed Days After a Crowdfunding Campaign Was Launched to Fund a Rival Terminal

A local Malta entrepreneur, Gabriel Cretu Torica, has installed the country’s first cryptocurrency ATM. The terminal has been installed outside a store in Sliema and facilitates bitcoin purchases and balances checks via QR codes.

Mr. Torica discussed the advantages of bitcoin and the speed of cryptocurrency ATMs, telling local media that “online exchanges often ask for ID verification, and that can waste up to 24 hours”. Mr. Torica also believes that the bitcoin ATM will inspire greater adoption of bitcoin in Malta. “Many people are still suspicious of bitcoin… I’m sure this will change over time as people realize the benefits”, he said.

Ivaj, a start-up and bitcoin cryptocurrency advocacy group championing bitcoin adoption throughout Malta, had already started a crowdfunding campaign seeking to raise finances for the purchase and installation of the island’s first cryptocurrency ATM. The crowdfunding campaign hopes to raise $6,000, with plans to install a second bitcoin ATM if more money than requested is received. If the campaign falls short Ivaj co-founder, Leon Siegmund, has pledged to provide the remaining required funds. Mr. Torica has stated that his bitcoin ATM had already been purchased but not installed when he heard about the crowdfunding campaign – which prompted him to contact local press.

The crowdfunding campaign is still active and has so far raised 6% of its total goal, currently having raised $368 from only 6 backers. The campaign will finish approximately one month from today. “We believe in Bitcoin’s potential and decided to invest time and effort in bringing the first Bitcoin ATM to Malta in order to unleash these opportunities to individuals, and society as a whole,” Leon Siegmund previously told The Times of Malta. “We’ve already identified a few potential locations, but it’s too early to discuss them now. What I can say is that it will either be in Valletta or in Sliema.”

Malta’s Government Has Previously Focused on Attracting Cryptocurrency Investment From Businesses

Malta’s central government has recently expressed great interest in embracing bitcoin, with the cabinet of malta approving the first draft for a national strategy designed to promote cryptocurrency and blockchain technology across the nation during April. Despite the bold rhetoric, the island still lacks basic infrastructure that will allow increased user adoption, as evidenced by the crowdfunding campaign for the nation’s first bitcoin ATM.

Malta’s government has predominantly focussed upon attracting cryptocurrency based businesses to register on their shores. Several government agencies participated in a conference hosted by PKF Malta this week that sought to “[bring] together a think tank of professionals representing a cross section of the market ranging from start-up success stories to crowdfunding, blockchain, [and] bitcoin.” The conference featured keynote speakers from Silicon Valley, and an audience predominantly comprised of representatives from Malta’s business and academic sectors.

David Ogden
Entrepreneur

Author: Samuel Haig

David https://markethive.com/david-ogden

Now You Can Pay For Your University Degree With Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency has taken the online e-currency market by storm in recent years. The likes of Bitcoin have gone all out and it’s currently the fastest growing e-currency in the world by a considerable margin. As of July 2017, Bitcoin has made investors billions and it’s currently worth more than $2,200 apiece. It’s uncertain how much further the value of Bitcoin is expected to grow, but as its market cap alone was valued at more than $40 billion in May 2017, it’s certainly a cryptocurrency worth implementing online.

That’s why many merchants and businesses and e-commerce stores have sided with cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. It seems they are the go-to e-currencies right now, along with the standard PayPal and Skrill payments.

THE E-COMMERCE INDUSTRY HAS SEEN A RISE IN MERCHANTS IMPLEMENTING BITCOIN

Popular domain registrar, Name Cheap, has been accepting Bitcoin for a while now and it’s businesses like that that have seen a rise in consumers because of the popularity of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.

Many web developers now use Bitcoin as a standard payment method for their web development resources such as domain registration, web hosting, and even as their primary method for their own web development businesses.

ONLINE BOOKMAKERS HAVE BEEN USING BITCOIN FOR YEARS

While many official bookmakers haven’t quite got to grips with cryptocurrency yet, there are still several online bookmakers that have implemented it as a deposit and withdrawal payment method. It looks set to grow in popularity with bookmakers in 2017 because it offers a fast and easy deposit method, much like the process PayPal and Neteller offers.

UNIVERSITY OUTLETS HAVE SEEN A RISE IN CRYPTOCURRENCY IMPLEMENTATION

Those studying for an online healthcare MBA using a healthcare MBA online program now have it easy when it comes to paying for their online courses. With cryptocurrency now available as a payment method, many more students have opted to obtain their degree using online courses provided by multiple universities around the United States.

POPULAR ONLINE MARKETPLACES NOW USE BITCOIN

While the likes of Amazon have still yet to implement Bitcoin as a payment method, there are still other stores that use it. For those with Shopify stores, for example, Bitcoin is a payment available to both you and your customers.

Shopify is one of the few stores and e-commerce set ups that have provided Bitcoin as a payment option for more than three years. Shopify announced in November 2013 that the cryptocurrency was available for all merchants to implement into their own set ups. It’s unclear whether any of the other big marketplaces will implement it anytime soon, but it’s not a matter of if they are going to implement it, it’s a matter of when.

Although Bitcoin holds the number one spot as the most popular cryptocurrency available, there are still other fast-growing currencies that are providing much bigger competition. It is clear Bitcoin is loved by many and it’s almost certain to be a popular payment method with bigger e-commerce stores in the future.

David Ogden
Entrepreneur.

Author: Oliver Wood

David https://markethive.com/david-ogden

Ripple has risen by almost 3,000% this year

It’s not just Bitcoin and Ethereum posting astonishing gains. Ripple, a cryptocurrency based out of San Francisco, has risen in value by almost 3,000% this year.

One Ripple token, known as XRP, is currently valued at just below US20 cents. XRP started the year at the fractional value 0.0065, but experienced rapid growth in the June quarter as transaction volumes increased.

According to a report by CNBC, that growth was primarily driven by plans to set up a platform for the sale of XRP tokens.

XRP tokens differ from Bitcoin and Ethereum in that most of them are owned by the Ripple network itself and can’t be mined.

Ripple rose as high as US26 cents in June taking its annual gain to almost 4,000%, before falling back in July.

Ripple’s total value of $US7.6 billion makes it the third biggest cryptocurrency in the world by market capitalisation.

Bitcoin has a market cap of $US44.8 billion, while Ethereum is valued at around $US21 billion.

Ripple’s head of XRP markets, Miguel Vias, told CNBC that Ripple had a specific strategy focused on international payments and had already partnered with large global banks.

“With respect to XRP, we are incredibly focused on international payments, I think we are probably the only digital asset that has a clear use case with respect to what we are trying to do with the asset,” Vias said.

Ripple has partnered with around 30 digital asset exchanges, and is positioning itself in the market as a faster faciliation network for international transactions.

CNBC reported that the Ripple network processed over $US11 billion worth of transactions in the June quarter.

The company’s CEO, Brad Garlinhouse, said Ripple has a processing speed of around 70,000 transactions per second.

That compares to Bitcoin’s current volume capacity of around 7 transactions per second. The Bitcoin developer community is in the process of setting up a new platform which is expected to double transaction speeds.

Last year, Ripple announced the setup of its first interbank global payments group, which included Westpac, Bank of America Merril Lynch and the Royal Bank of Canada.

“With respect to growth and outreach, we will continue to partner with digital asset exchanges for listings and mostly importantly … it is really all about payments and in this quarter, you will see some very interesting developments with respect to our partnership in payments, with respect to XRP in particular,” Vias told CNBC.

Time will tell whether the value of the XRP tokens traded on the Ripple network will continue to maintain their recent rate of growth.

David Ogden
Entrpreneur

Author: Sam Jacobs

David https://markethive.com/david-ogden

The crypto-currency craze

In the late 1990s, as investors woke up to the promise of the internet, shares in any company with dot.com after its name soared to giddy heights.

Then the bubble burst.

Now there are warnings of another technology investment bubble – this time related to the fascination with crypto-currencies such as Bitcoin.

On the Tech Tent podcast this week, we examine the phenomenon of ICOs – Initial Coin Offerings – which have seen over $1bn raised so far this year from investors who get little more than a token and a vague promise of involvement in a new business.

The term ICO – designed to mirror the IPO that sees a firm issue shares and float on a stock exchange – seems to mean different things to different people. Early versions were simply ways of getting a new crypto-currency off the ground, but now many are promising to use the blockchain technology that underpins Bitcoin and similar currencies to create businesses.

Among the ICO projects listed by Smith + Crown, which researches the crypto-currency scene, is a business raising money to create the world's most lucrative lottery based on blockchain, and another that promises to rent out high-quality office space using digital tokens.

On Tech Tent, we talk to an entrepreneur who is boldly going into uncharted territory with this new investment technique. Pavlo Tanasyuk is the founder of Spacebit, which aims to create what he calls "a distributed space agency unshackled by state or national sponsorship".

Next month, he will invite investors to take a stake in this venture, which he describes as a crypto version of Elon Musk's Space X. He will only accept payment in Bitcoin, Ethereum or other crypto-currencies and in return backers will get tokens and a role in deciding how the business is run.

But the finance blogger Frances Coppola has compared ICOs to the tulip fever of the 16th Century and other investment bubbles.

"The enthusiasm for ICOs is coming off the back of the Bitcoin and Ethereum booms," she says.

She warns that such schemes are completely unregulated, and fears that many who invest in them simply won't understand what they're getting into.

"There will be scams in this – I'd be astonished if regulators aren't looking at this."

Even Pavlo Tanasyuk concedes there is plenty of risk attached to this kind of investment. "Ninety-five per cent won't deliver – but we will. It's important to set an example. We're doing something real and have a strong management team in place."

When the dot.com bubble burst, it became clear that many investors had not really understood what the firms they were backing actually did or the nature of the technological challenges they faced. Today, the world of crypto-currencies and the blockchain looks even more impenetrable.

Consider this description of one project, Neverdie, which has already raised more than $2m (£1.5m) in an ICO: "A virtual reality infrastructure platform that bridges virtual worlds with popular MMORPGs [massively multiplayer online role-playing games] on the Ethereum blockchain."

Doubtless those who have bought the coins that are meant to fund this vision have read the white paper describing the project, and the disclaimer at the end: "Neverdie Coins and Teleport Tokens do not represent ownership in any real-world companies. These tokens are designed to activate virtual utilities."

Real money is going into a virtual world and if it disappears in a puff of virtual smoke, no regulator will be there to cry foul. Let's hope those who back these kind of ventures are going into them with their eyes open.

David Ogden
Entrepreneur

Author: Rory Cellan-Jones

David https://markethive.com/david-ogden