#bitcointech

[virtualcurrencyspace]

American Express Introduces Blockchain Based Payments

American Express has introduced instant blockchain-based payments using Ripple, a fintech startup, for U.S. corporate customers sending funds to U.K.-based businesses that bank with Santander U.K., the companies said on Thursday.

American Express said its FX International Payments (FXIP) business had partnered with Ripple to provide real-time, trackable non-card payments from the United States to Britain. Customers are already using the service, the companies said, and it would be extended in the future.

This marks one of the first major uses of blockchain, a shared database of transactions maintained by a network of computers on the Internet that is best known as the system underpinning bitcoin.

Financial firms hope the nascent technology can reduce the cost and complexity of burdensome processes such as securities settlement and international payments, but many say widespread use of the technology is still several years away.

http://fortune.com/2017/11/16/amex-payments-ripple-blockchain/

[virtualcurrencyspace]

Bitcoin: An Enhancement of Digital Trust.

"Bitcoin is a volatile instrument and so investors need to appreciate the high volatility when looking at an investment in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. However, we do not believe Bitcoin is a fraud nor is it a Ponzi scheme. Rather, blockchain represents an enhancement of digital trust. Perhaps the recent security breaches of Equifax highlight the importance of personal digital cryptography and merits of blockchain."https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/17/wall-streets-week-ahead-the-fed-trump-at-the-u-n-and-bitcoin.html

[btcwonderblr-blog]

Where to use your bitcoins?

[virtualcurrencyspace]

Putin: International Regulation for Bitcoin.

Although Putin’s comment on the development of digital technologies and the necessity of regulatory frameworks to facilitate the growth of the technology sector was quite general, his call for international regulations over the rapidly growing technology sector could be relevant to Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency market.

Over the past two years, Bitcoin has been regulated and legalized in a number of countries including Japan, South Korea, the US, Australia, the Philippines and Europe. India is set to fully legalize Bitcoin and offer regulatory frameworks for both businesses and users in the near future.

At the G20 summit, Putin requested for the international regulation of technologies such as Bitcoin, which also means unified international regulations on digital technologies. The vast majority of countries participating in the G20 summit including China, Japan, the UK and the US have regulated Bitcoin, while Russia and India are yet to provide regulatory clarity on Bitcoin, cryptocurrency trading and operations. https://cointelegraph.com/news/putin-praises-digital-tech-at-g20-summit-role-for-bitcoin-in-view

[virtualcurrencyspace]

Coinbase Trading Fees

Dr. Campbell Harvey, professor of international business at Duke University, says the small trading fees on Coinbase and other popular digital wallet platforms are not as intrusive as some might suggest. “At minimum, [bitcoin] makes the middle people more efficient,” he told WhoWhatWhy. “So, for example, I have no problem dealing with Coinbase and dealing with their small ‘middle-person’ fee because it is very small compared to what a bank would charge me. So, they’re [still] disrupting banking.” According to Harvey, it’s possible that banking companies might borrow techniques from Bitcoin to create their own competing digital currencies. “Every major central bank in the world is investigating this technology because they realize that the future for them is in digital cryptocurrency,” he explains. “To go digital, they need to use blockchain technology. They know that this is the future, so they are not hesitant at all.” While financial institutions race to grab a share in the digital currency market, smaller bitcoin startups continue to prove that they are a viable option, for casual customers at least. Although Azteco currently has a limited reach (its vendors are mostly confined to the London area) other bitcoin entrepreneurs are implementing similar methodologies in new territories. https://whowhatwhy.org/2017/06/28/bitcoin-power-peril-cryptocurrency/

[virtualcurrencyspace]

World Standard Alternative Currency

"We are more convinced each day of the growth and value of digital currencies, and our company is uniquely positioned to be a leading provider of processing power to relevant blockchains,” McAfee said in a statement. McAfee is among the minority who predicts that cryptocurrencies will rise. In early June, billionaire Marc Cuban called bitcoin’s recent price surge a bubble. In addition, Panos Mourdoukoutas, Professor and Chair of the Department of Economics at LIU Post in New York, also foresaw that the “bitcoin bubble will burst.” On the contrary, McAfee stated earlier: No matter how much government and regulators may scream and complain, there will be a world standard alternative currency. Bitcoin appears to be the one… It cannot possibly be a bubble. https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/john-mcafees-investment-company-to-start-mining-ethereum/

[virtualcurrencyspace]

Favourable Regulations Help China become the FinTech Leader.

After thorough collaborative research, researchers, analysts and financial consultants at EY and DBS concluded that China has outpaced London, New York, Silicon Valley, Singapore, Hong Kong and other leading global fintech hubs by a significant margin. Neal Cross, DBS chief innovation officer stated that the rapid growth rate of the Chinese fintech industry can be attributed to favorable regulations and policies imposed by the local government on fintech startups and networks. Cross also noted that another major factor behind the growth of the Chinese fintech market is the increasing support from tech giants like Alibaba, TenCent and Baidu. “It’s gotten this far because China’s landscape has operated in a sandbox-like environment conducive for FinTech to thrive — a strong domestic market, coupled with a constant push for innovation and experimentation driven by leading giants, unhindered by international influence,” said Cross. https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/china-outpaces-new-york-silicon-valley-fintech-future-bitcoin/

[virtualcurrencyspace]

Scaling: Miners Support Segregated Witness.

Depending on miner signaling, Segregated Witness may, at the very soonest, be “live” on the Bitcoin network halfway through December. This somewhat unlikely best-case scenario leaves about six weeks for Bitcoin wallets to update their software. The wallet providers that Bitcoin Magazine reached out to generally expected this should be sufficient time. Several of them are even ready to go already, or are in the final stages of development. GreenAddress, the wallet provider that was recently acquired by infrastructure development company Blockstream, was among the first wallets to have completed Segregated Witness support, as early as February this year. Speaking to Bitcoin Magazine, developer Lawrence Nahum said that GreenAddress users will be able to receive and send SegWit transactions as soon as the soft fork is deployed on the Bitcoin network. After that, he plans to improve the wallet, further utilizing the possibilities offered by Segregated Witness, such as MAST, Schnorr signatures, and the Lightning Network. “I am very eager to make use of all good things in SegWit,” Nahum said. “I see it as a great stepping stone towards better fungibility and privacy, which I think are as important as — if not more important than — capacity increases.” Regarding SegWit readiness itself, Nahum added: “Integration was quite easy. Desktop, iOS, and Android: All our wallets’ GitHub master branches support SegWit already, and recently we finalised some integration testing with hardware wallets such as Ledger to make sure it all works.” https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/bitcoin-wallet-developers-prepare-for-segregated-witness-1477937548