How Long Before Twitter Starts Offering TwitCoin?

BBFTA News Editor | March 29, 2019 | PERMALINK

Sometimes when you look beyond a headline you discover some interesting relationships that may not be obvious initially.

Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter, also co-founded Square who offer payment services for small businesses and mobile payments solutions. Square Payments in 2017 invested $25m into Eventbrite, which itself did an IPO last year. Square are now hiring crypto engineers. Jack Dorsey’s co-founder at Square is Jim McKelevy, who is, incidentally, an independent director of the St Louis Federal reserve.

Meanwhile,Jack Dorsey is increasingly vocal about his support and interest in Digital Assets, admitting to buying $10,000 of Bitcoin a week, and believes that we are not far from seeing mass adoption of Cryptocurrencies by the public.
So it is...

Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter, also co-founded Square who offer payment services for small businesses and mobile payments solutions. Square Payments in 2017 invested $25m into Eventbrite, which itself did an IPO last year. Square are now hiring crypto engineers. Jack Dorsey’s co-founder at Square is Jim McKelevy, who is, incidentally, an independent director of the St Louis Federal reserve.

Meanwhile,Jack Dorsey is increasingly vocal about his support and interest in Digital Assets, admitting to buying $10,000 of Bitcoin a week, and believes that we are not far from seeing mass adoption of Cryptocurrencies by the public.
So it is not too big a leap to see Twitter and possibly Eventbrite in the not too distant future both licensing, using, being involved in Square’s Crypto payment offering - and follow Facebooks foray into Digital Assets?

More evidence of West Coast US firms looking to target the lucrative banking and financial services world that east coast American companies have dominated for decades?

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Bitcoin

Financial Services

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Smart Contracts Target the $2.3Trillion Letter of Credit (LC) International Market

BBFTA News Editor | March 29, 2019 | PERMALINK

Singapore based Incomland, set up in 2016,  have created a company called LC LITE using Blockchain technology to tackle the inefficiencies prevalent in the LC market.

It is claimed that up to 80% of LC documents have discrepancies and the administration of documentation can cost up to twenty percent of the actual cost of shipping goods. LC LITE are looking to use Smart Contracts so that importers and exporters will be able to agree on terms up front and so replace the current LC agreements manual processes. It is hoped that this will simplify and quicken the inefficient processing of documentation while reducing the number of intermediaries, this improves cash flow for importers and exporters while improving security and reducing fraud.

One of the challenges of...

It is claimed that up to 80% of LC documents have discrepancies and the administration of documentation can cost up to twenty percent of the actual cost of shipping goods. LC LITE are looking to use Smart Contracts so that importers and exporters will be able to agree on terms up front and so replace the current LC agreements manual processes. It is hoped that this will simplify and quicken the inefficient processing of documentation while reducing the number of intermediaries, this improves cash flow for importers and exporters while improving security and reducing fraud.

One of the challenges of using Smart Contracts is that many lawyers believe that they are neither Smart nor are they Contracts, all they are in effect a software program and therefore not backed by law.

However, different jurisdictions are reviewing Smart Contracts, this so this stance may change. Luxemburg has recently passed a law to enable the use of Blockchain technology in financial services which is claimed to mean that transactions created digitally using a Blockchain will have the same legal status and protection as those done through traditional means.

This new law in Luxemburg could encourage Blockchain savvy businesses to move to Luxemburg and help it strengthen its position as one of Europe’s largest administrator for the European asset management sector.

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https://zycrypto.com/blockchain-companies-will-...uxembourg/

UK’s Sixth Largest Energy Company Acquires Stake in Blockchain Powered Electron

BBFTA News Editor | March 28, 2019 | PERMALINK

Ovo energy Ltd has just invested in Electron, a company that uses Blockchain technology in its distributed gas and electricity platform as the UK moves to a more intelligent power grid.

There is no centralised register of all the electricity and gas meters in the UK. Because of this, it can take two to three weeks for a customer to switch their utility services from one utility to another. Electron aims to reduce this time from days to “mere minutes”.

There is increasing demand from households to use electricity from renewable energy sources and corporates too, as they try to reduce their carbon footprint. Therefore, there is a need to be able to track the provenance of the power supply and generation, which is an ideal use for Blockchain technology, offering transparency...

There is no centralised register of all the electricity and gas meters in the UK. Because of this, it can take two to three weeks for a customer to switch their utility services from one utility to another. Electron aims to reduce this time from days to “mere minutes”.

There is increasing demand from households to use electricity from renewable energy sources and corporates too, as they try to reduce their carbon footprint. Therefore, there is a need to be able to track the provenance of the power supply and generation, which is an ideal use for Blockchain technology, offering transparency and traceability.
According to recent research from Infoholic Research LLP, the use of Blockchain globally in the energy market is expected to expand significantly. The market was calculated to be $210million in 2018, and is expected to grow to be worth  $3.4billion by 2024.

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Energy

https://www.rttnews.com/2986080/uk-s-ovo-energy...?refresh=1

Russia Clamps Down on Cryptos While Other Governments Embrace Them

BBFTA News Editor | March 28, 2019 | PERMALINK

The Russian government has said , without notice, they intend to restrict Crypto exchanges and websites that focus on giving information on these assets.

This reversal of Russia's stance on Cryptos is surprising. It was less than a month ago that Russia announced they were looking at launching their own OIL back Digital Currency.

Meanwhile, the Republic of San Marino, have drawn up formal guidance on how they wish to regulate Digital Assets and have categorised tokens as either utility or investment tokens. Companies that want to issue tokens will need to publish a white paper as well as an executive summary in a non-technical language ensuring any advertising and information about the token is accurate and not misleading.

San Marino recognises that Initial Coin...

This reversal of Russia's stance on Cryptos is surprising. It was less than a month ago that Russia announced they were looking at launching their own OIL back Digital Currency.

Meanwhile, the Republic of San Marino, have drawn up formal guidance on how they wish to regulate Digital Assets and have categorised tokens as either utility or investment tokens. Companies that want to issue tokens will need to publish a white paper as well as an executive summary in a non-technical language ensuring any advertising and information about the token is accurate and not misleading.

San Marino recognises that Initial Coin Offerings can help SMEs raise capital, and have proposed certain restrictions. For Non-Public offers they may only have a maximum of 150 investors, raise up to €8 million (same as existing European Crowdfunding regs) and the minimum investment per person is €100,000. Such a high minimum investment will restrict such offerings to only the very wealthy.

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https://blockchainflashnews.com/blockchain-decr...an-marino/

The Challenges of Opening a Bank Account if You Deal in Crypto

BBFTA News Editor | March 27, 2019 | PERMALINK

A judge in Israel has ruled that Union bank, the sixth largest in Israel, that closed the bank account of a crypto mining company was unreasonable.

“I believe that the sweeping policy, which does not distinguish between different types of activity, scope of activity and different types of customers — in the field of digital currencies — is unreasonable.” – Judge Bibi said.

This highlights the challenge for business that are involved with Cryptocurrencies obtaining a bank account, yet governments, including Israel’s, are talking and in some cases actually offering Digital Currencies, so will using these state-backed Digital currencies also trigger banks to close customers’ accounts?

There is still a perception that while dealing in Cryptos is not illegal as it is largely unregulated it attracts...

“I believe that the sweeping policy, which does not distinguish between different types of activity, scope of activity and different types of customers — in the field of digital currencies — is unreasonable.” – Judge Bibi said.

This highlights the challenge for business that are involved with Cryptocurrencies obtaining a bank account, yet governments, including Israel’s, are talking and in some cases actually offering Digital Currencies, so will using these state-backed Digital currencies also trigger banks to close customers’ accounts?

There is still a perception that while dealing in Cryptos is not illegal as it is largely unregulated it attracts the criminal fraternity. However, is there a deeper reason for this reluctance to be involved with Cryptos in that Banks are genuinely worried about the potential threat posed by Cryptos. Does this explain why Bitpay which processed over $3Billion of transactions in 2018, and Kraken, one of the largest exchanges in the world, both had their bank accounts closed last year?
It is not all gloom and doom Signature Bank in the U.S., Bank Frick in Europe and Clearbank in the UK all offer Crypto banking facilities. There are also FCA regulated companies in the UK, like Baanx and Global Block who will accept Crypto exchange them into Fiat and then transfer the Fiat proceeds to firms.

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https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-03...ccounts

Sharon Henley

7 Years Ago |

If you are in London next week be sure to check out this meetup: In conjunction with GeekGirlMeetup and Pillar - "A Deep Dive Into Crypto - STOs, ETOs - What is it all about?". Come along Thursday 4th April - and meet some British Blockchain & Frontier Technologies Association members https://lnkd.in/db_5t4Z 

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ICOs and STOs are Illegal in China, if You Promote Them You Will Be Punished

BBFTA News Editor | March 27, 2019 | PERMALINK

This was the message reported from China this week as they confirmed that they are cracking down on organisations raising capital via Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) and Security Token Offerings (STOs).

It was only in December 2018 that Beijing’s Municipal Bureau of Finance said “The ICO (initial coin offering) model is getting left behind for a new concept called STO. I want to issue a warning to anyone considering running an STO in Beijing,” Xuewen said. “Don’t do it in Beijing – it is illegal. You can only engage in such activities with the approval from the government.” Government approval, what does this mean?

This is at odds with recent promotion of a book on Crypto assets on a Chinese state-run TV last month that reportedly has an audience of one billion....

It was only in December 2018 that Beijing’s Municipal Bureau of Finance said “The ICO (initial coin offering) model is getting left behind for a new concept called STO. I want to issue a warning to anyone considering running an STO in Beijing,” Xuewen said. “Don’t do it in Beijing – it is illegal. You can only engage in such activities with the approval from the government.” Government approval, what does this mean?

This is at odds with recent promotion of a book on Crypto assets on a Chinese state-run TV last month that reportedly has an audience of one billion. The presenters telling viewers that Crypto assets could be one of the best investments they could ever make.

It was only in December 2018 that there were rumours that the People’s Bank of China was looking at ways to create its own cryptocurrency. It apparently thought this type of digital asset could replace Bitcoin and perhaps even the U.S. Dollar.
Given these conflicting messages, we spoke to GlenBit in Edinburgh that owns a Digital Asset platform powered by Japanese technology, as they have close contacts in China. GlenBit looked at various Chinese government websites and national publications and could find no mention of this ICO/STO ban. They did find an article on a well known Chinese website that follows Crypto news, called ‘Bi Hu’, which using Google translated this article https://bihu.com/article/1601678341 which said “After the ICO foam was broken, many countries began to ban ICO… Thus, a new form of new currency, STO, was born that will become the main mode to raise money for Chinese blockchain project”

Time will tell the actual stance the Chinese are taking…

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ICO

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https://www.investinblockchain.com/china-says-i...ctivities/

Banks Feeling the Heat from Cryptos, Meanwhile More Retailers Accept them as a Form of Payment

BBFTA News Editor | March 26, 2019 | PERMALINK

The Basel Committee, who act as a global watchdog for banks, has issued a statement about the potential disruptive effect that Crypto currencies could have on banks.

Interestingly, JP Morgan said that "cryptos could be more of a partner than a threat to banks". It is difficult to see how Stablecoins, like the JPM Coin will make money for JP Morgan, although potentially the bank’s new Quorum platform could be licensed to third parties as an alternative to other blockchains. This is because Quorum does not have transaction fees, and third parties i.e. miners do not have access to trades prior to them being publicly available which is a major problem for public Blockchains like Ethereum, Wave, Stellar etc.

Meanwhile, we are seeing more retailers in different...

Interestingly, JP Morgan said that "cryptos could be more of a partner than a threat to banks". It is difficult to see how Stablecoins, like the JPM Coin will make money for JP Morgan, although potentially the bank’s new Quorum platform could be licensed to third parties as an alternative to other blockchains. This is because Quorum does not have transaction fees, and third parties i.e. miners do not have access to trades prior to them being publicly available which is a major problem for public Blockchains like Ethereum, Wave, Stellar etc.

Meanwhile, we are seeing more retailers in different countries accepting Cryptos as a way to purchase goods and services. In Switzerland, the online retailers Digitec and Galaxu are now allowing customers to use Bitcoin for purchases and  Birks Group, Canada’s largest and oldest jewellery stores, announced that it had begun accepting Bitcoin at eight of its 30 stores. In Japan Rakuten, Japan’s largest e-commerce website has intimated it will begin accepting Cryptos soon.

Starbucks however could prove to be an inflection point once they start to accept Cryptos which is rumoured to be in Q3 in 2019. In Australia, Binanace has established a venture with 1,300 newsagents to enable one to buy Bitcoin and closer to home in France you have for a while been able buy Bitcoin via a chain of tobacco shops.

A recent report from Finer, see below, found that 8% of Americans own Cryptocurrencies but discovered there multiple reasons why the other 92% do not own a Crypto.

The whole user experience on engaging and using Digital Assets needs to be made much easier and simpler to ensure more people start using them on a day today basis.

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https://www.watson.ch/digital/schweiz/801431165...rev=search

Jonny Fry

7 Years Ago |

UPS to use Blockchain technology for its new B2B e-commerce platform - UPS the global delivery company, established in 1907, had revenues of over $64 Billion in 2017, has been looking at Blockchain for a while. In Q3 2018 it joined The Blockchain in Trucking Alliance as it looked to improvetransparency and efficiency among consumers, merchants and other parties in supply chains it services. UPS had  filed for a patent in August 2018, that involved, storing information about goods they ship, from where they have been dispatched to their destination, creating a shipment plan including payments using Blockchain  technology. Although UPS’s...

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BlockFi - 6.25% p.a. if You Deposit Ether or Bitcoin, Gathers $35M in Two Weeks

BBFTA News Editor | March 26, 2019 | PERMALINK

It was only at the beginning of March we bought your attention to a New York-based company called BlockFi who are offering 6.25% a year if you deposit your Bitcoins or Ether with them.

Before you ask who actually has control of the Cryptos, well it is Gemini Trust, founded by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss who act as custodians, thus BlockFi does not have access.

While 6.25% looks attractive, you may want to read these thoughts on Twitter who point out the potential concerns and risks you could be exposing yourself to...

There is an old expression - all that glitters is not gold. Innovation in the sector is welcomed, but Caveat Emptor – Buyer beware.

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Bitcoin

Cryptocurrency

Digital Assets

https://www.cryptonewsz.com/blockfi-booms-as-in...eks/12075/

Barry James

7 Years Ago |

This week's City AM column is out as: The #Crypto Fog around #Blockchain Starts to Clear!

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6516255652778774529

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Barry James

7 Years Ago |

Join me at #Bradford University Thursday to explore the #Blockchain #Opportunity

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6516211114559315968

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Millennials are More Digitally Engaged, Want to Use Blockchain to Make a Difference Not Just Make Money

BBFTA News Editor | March 25, 2019 | PERMALINK

The Blockchain Education Network (BEN) now has over three thousand students, in sixty countries - established to slake the thirst for more information about Blockchain.

Students, and for that matter governments, are increasingly looking beyond the hype of ICOs of using Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies to make money, and are looking at how the technology can impact society in a positive manner.

BEN is a non-profit organisation for students, whose aim is to help build a world that is more open by encouraging better technical skills and understanding around Blockchain technology. Students who’ve been involved in BEN have already gone on to help build successful Digital business likeAugur, one of the first decentralised apps using the Ethereum Blockchain, currently worth $1Billion.

Global firms are also using Blockchain...

Students, and for that matter governments, are increasingly looking beyond the hype of ICOs of using Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies to make money, and are looking at how the technology can impact society in a positive manner.

BEN is a non-profit organisation for students, whose aim is to help build a world that is more open by encouraging better technical skills and understanding around Blockchain technology. Students who’ve been involved in BEN have already gone on to help build successful Digital business likeAugur, one of the first decentralised apps using the Ethereum Blockchain, currently worth $1Billion.

Global firms are also using Blockchain for education reasons. PWC has developed Smart Credentials using Blockchain to record educational qualifications that can be stored and verified, so reducing the time it takes for them to check and screen candidates. Recording such personal data needs to be done with care, especially in the light of GDPR regulations. Which is why it is public Blockchains are unlikely to be used rather than permissioned ones.

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ICO

Information Services

Information Technology

Nonprofit Organization Management

https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisonmccauley/201...7c4bb76f04

Insurance Giant AXA to Provide Insurance for Crowdfunding and STO Investments

BBFTA News Editor | March 25, 2019 | PERMALINK

AXA XL, Europe’s second-largest insurance company, who made $2.6 billion profit in 2018, has announced that it is partnering with New York-based Assurely, an Insurtech startup, to offer insurance cover for firms that are involved with Crowdfunding and or Security Token Offerings (STOs).

The new product is called CrowdProtector and provides issuers protection against investor complaints and lawsuits so investors may get their principal investment returned should the issuer misuse the funds, purposefully misrepresent information in their offering documents, or steal the money.

This is significant as institutions, as part of their due diligence process, look for issuers to have insurance arrangements in place prior to investing. Historically investing in small businesses and start-ups had largely been the preserve for wealthy investors and specialist funds. However, with the advent of Crowdfunding and now STOs smaller investors are able to get access to what are...

The new product is called CrowdProtector and provides issuers protection against investor complaints and lawsuits so investors may get their principal investment returned should the issuer misuse the funds, purposefully misrepresent information in their offering documents, or steal the money.

This is significant as institutions, as part of their due diligence process, look for issuers to have insurance arrangements in place prior to investing. Historically investing in small businesses and start-ups had largely been the preserve for wealthy investors and specialist funds. However, with the advent of Crowdfunding and now STOs smaller investors are able to get access to what are often start up companies, so this insurance cover is welcome to potentially offer protection to these often less sophisticated investors.

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Investment

STO

https://www.crowdfundinsider.com/2019/03/145396...wdfunding/