Google Alert - Bitcoin

	Bitcoin Daily update ⋅ December 2, 2016
	NEWS
	WikiLeaks' Public Donation Address Receives 4000th Bitcoin Bitcoin Magazine WikiLeaks' public donation address recently received its 4000th bitcoin. The nonprofit whistle blower site, which to a large extent relies on donations, ... WikiLeaks' Public Donation Address Receives 4000th Bitcoin - Nasdaq Full Coverage Flag as irrelevant
	Winklevoss twins see bitcoin as 'better than gold' Financial Times "We see bitcoin as potentially the greatest social network of all," explains Tyler, adding that the missing piece of the digital economy has always been ... Flag as irrelevant
	Feds look for tax evaders who used bitcoin CNNMoney Federal investigators are looking for tax evaders who have used virtual currencies like bitcoin to dodge the IRS. The Justice Department says a federal ... Court orders Bitcoin investor information be turned over to IRS - UPI.com Bitcoin Users' Details Must be Turned Over to IRS, Federal Court Rules - Casino.Org News Court Grants IRS Summons Seeking Bitcoin Users' Data from Coinbase - CryptoCoinsNews Full Coverage Flag as irrelevant
	India's Unocoin Launches New Bitcoin All-in-one App, Capitalizes on Demonetization CoinTelegraph As Bitcoin finds new favour among Indians, India's Unocoin launches new Bitcoin application for both the iOS and Android platforms. Bitcoin has hit ... Unocoin launches Bitcoin Mobile app on iOS, Android - Business Standard (press release) (registration) (blog) Full Coverage Flag as irrelevant
	China's Huiyin Group Launches $20 Million Bitcoin Fund CoinDesk "We are seeking to invest into bitcoin-related companies to help enrich the industry, as we see a large opportunity for a return on our investment. Flag as irrelevant
	Bitcoin Price Keeps Breaching $750 CoinDesk The digital currency's price broke through this key psychological level today, representing the sixth time that bitcoin has surpassed $750 since ... Flag as irrelevant
	Bitcoin Price Key Highlights newsBTC Following the recent upside breakout from the symmetrical triangle pattern, bitcoin price continued to climb as predicted in the earlier post. Price has ... Flag as irrelevant
	Bitcoin Price Watch; Here's What's On This Morning newsBTC The penultimate day of the week, and bitcoin price has finally started to pick up momentum. At the start of the week, we noted that we could be looking ... Flag as irrelevant
	UK's Leading Digital Marketing Agency Now Accepts Bitcoin Payments CoinDesk Full-service digital marketing agency In Front Digital now accepts Bitcoin payments as a supported payment method due to high demand from ... Flag as irrelevant
	Number of Bitcoin Searches on Google Increases by 57% The Merkle There are plenty of reasons as to why people should take an interest in Bitcoin and cryptocurrency. Whether they look for financial freedom, or just ... Flag as irrelevant
	WEB
	Buy bitcoins using Cash deposit: ️Bank of America TEXT 570.543.2BTC INSTANT from ... LocalBitcoins.com Buy bitcoins using Cash deposit: ⚡️Bank of America⚡ ☎ TEXT ... LocalBitcoins.com user CryptoCapitalGroup wishes to sell bitcoins to you. Flag as irrelevant
	Buy bitcoins LocalBitcoins.com: Fastest and easiest way to buy and sell bitcoins Terms of trade with cinevadin92. _⚠ THIS TRADE WORKS ONLY WITH GIFTCARDS ⚠_. Because Skrill is a risky method for selling Bitcoins I can ... Flag as irrelevant
	Buy bitcoins LocalBitcoins.com: Fastest and easiest way to buy and sell bitcoins Trade your unused Starbucks gift cards for bitcoins not accepting e-gift codes. Opening hours. Sun: closed; Mon: 00:00 - 24:00; Tue: 00:00 - 24:00 ... Flag as irrelevant
	Sell bitcoins using RIA Money Transfer with US Dollar (USD) LocalBitcoins.com Sell bitcoins using RIA Money Transfer with US Dollar (USD). LocalBitcoins.com user freedarren wishes to buy bitcoins from you. Flag as irrelevant
	Buy bitcoins using Cash deposit: TD Bank with US Dollar (USD) LocalBitcoins.com Buy bitcoins using Cash deposit: TD Bank with US Dollar (USD). LocalBitcoins.com user Shnob wishes to sell bitcoins to you. Flag as irrelevant
	Sell bitcoins using private with US Dollar (USD) LocalBitcoins.com Sell bitcoins using private with US Dollar (USD). LocalBitcoins.com user bittrmntr wishes to buy bitcoins from you. Flag as irrelevant
	Sell bitcoins LocalBitcoins.com Sell bitcoins using Neteller with US Dollar (USD). LocalBitcoins.com user oscar159 wishes to buy bitcoins from you. Flag as irrelevant
	Bachaqueating Bitcoins Caracas Chronicles In Venezuela, everybody's looking for an angle. Techies have found theirs: mining bitcoins using the world's most crazy-cheap electricity. Flag as irrelevant
	BITCOIN TradingView BITCOIN — trading idea and price prediction for Bitcoin Index (INDEX:BIT) from trader EXCAVO (2016-12-01). TradingView — best trading ideas and ... Flag as irrelevant
	Bitcoin wallet service ordered to give IRS 3 years of user data Signs of the Times A California federal court judge has called on Coinbase Inc., a bitcoin wallet service, to give the IRS records of American user transactions from 2013 ... Flag as irrelevant
See more results | Edit this alert

You have received this email because you have subscribed to Google Alerts. Unsubscribe | View all your alerts

Receive this alert as RSS feed

Send Feedback

India’s Mahindra Group Develops Blockchain With IBM

IBM and the India-based multinational Mahindra Group have announced the development of a blockchain solution aimed at the supply chain. The project will be the first of its kind in India outside of the banking sector, with a mission to enhance security and transparency between supplier-to-manufacturer trade.

Also read: Central Bank of Germany Reveals Functional Securities Blockchain

IBM Teams up With Billion Dollar Mahindra Group to Enhance Supply Chain

The Mahindra Group is a large conglomerate holding company with operations in many markets including automotive, aerospace, construction equipment, agribusiness and more. The two companies’ proof-of-concept blockchain aims to enhance the supply chain through a distributed shared ledger. The protocol is a cloud-based application that creates a more efficient environment by improving trust, cutting costs and protecting data more securely.

“The Mahindra Group is pioneering the use of blockchain to disrupt its traditional businesses and drive future growth. We are actively looking at other applications across the Group in financial services, auto, mobility, and agritech,” said Anish Shah, Group President (Strategy), Mahindra Group.

This proof of concept represents a significant step forward in making blockchain, still a new technology, a more compelling and efficient supply chain solution for Mahindra Finance’s small and mid-sized enterprises loans business. Working with IBM, we will work to build, test, scale and refine this solution over time.

Blockchain Speeds up Supplier-to-Manufacturer Invoice Discount Processes    

IBM says blockchain architecture can help Mahindra process settlements in real-time, giving the company more time to further develop products. Another aspect the blockchain will focus on is transforming the invoice discounting system.

The process bundles and sells invoices at a discount, and the distributed ledger mechanism facilitates the process faster. Traditionally supplier-to-manufacturer invoice discounting can be extremely slow, suffer from counterparty risk, and require many different books. With a shared distributed ledger, all parties can witness operations and settlements and human error is removed.

Mahindra, a US$17.8 billion multinational group based in Mumbai, India, is focused on driving markets and a more efficient supply chain. The conglomerate is no stranger to emerging technological innovation as it received the Financial Times ‘Boldness in Business’ award in the ‘Emerging Markets’ category in 2013.

Blockchain Will ‘Fundamentally Transform the Way Businesses Interact’

IBM is focused on helping push these blockchain projects further and has been offering consulting and services to businesses worldwide. With its open source offerings to the Hyperledger Project and IBM’s Bluemix cloud, the firm is dedicated to creating blockchain standards. The Mahindra partnership is just one of the many distributed ledger projects the company is working on.         

“Blockchain is poised to revolutionize business like the Internet did, and IBM is at the forefront of the revolution. We offer a comprehensive enterprise-class blockchain solution that is secure, scalable and reliable,” explained Lula Mohanty, Managing Partner of IBM Global Business Services, IBM ISA.

The work with Mahindra has the potential to fundamentally transform the way businesses interact with one another and their customers and suppliers, and we’re confident that this engagement can be replicated not just in the finance industry but across other sectors as well.

What do you think about IBM and the Mahindra Group’s blockchain proof-of-concept? Let us know in the comments below.

---

Images courtesy of Shutterstock, and the Mahindra Group 

---

There are no bigger Bitcoin believers than the Bitcoin.com team. That’s why this site is a one-stop-shop for everything you need to get into bitcoin life. A Bitcoin store? Check. Earning bitcoin? Check. Forum discussions? Check. A casino? Yep, we have that too. Prices and statistics? Also here.  

The post India’s Mahindra Group Develops Blockchain With IBM appeared first on Bitcoin News.

from Bitcoin News http://ift.tt/2fLCzLF
via IFTTT

Industry Experts: BitLicense Isn’t the Regulatory Template for the UK

[…]

The post Industry Experts: BitLicense Isn’t the Regulatory Template for the UK appeared first on CryptoCoinsNews.

from News – CryptoCoinsNews http://ift.tt/2gReC1E
via IFTTT

WikiLeaks’ Public Donation Address Receives 4000th Bitcoin

WikiLeaks’public donation address recently received its 4000th bitcoin. The nonprofit whistle blower site, which to a large extent relies on donations, reached this milestone on November 12, with well over 25,000 incoming transactions over five years time. The total amount of bitcoins WikiLeaks received is even higher, as the media organization also lets usersgenerate custom Bitcoin addresses if they prefer not to donate to the public address.

Digital currency has proven vital for WikiLeaks’ survival over the past years. Shortly after the release of classified U.S. diplomatic cables in November 2010, all donations to WikiLeaks wereblocked by major payment providers, including Bank of America, VISA, MasterCard, PayPal and Western Union. This embargo is said to have initially destroyed 95 percent of the organization’s revenue — almost killing WikiLeaks in the process. By opening up to bitcoin and litecoin donations, over the years the media organizationreceived a majority of all funds in cryptocurrency.

The 4000 bitcoins sent to WikiLeaks’ public donation address add up to almost $3 million at today’s price, though the media organization received most donations throughout 2011 and 2012 — when the cryptocurrency was worth less than $10. A rough estimate of total donation value suggests WikiLeaks received a total of over $177,000 worth of bitcoin on the public address.

WikiLeaks held on to most of the bitcoins it received, speculating on a price increase that proved lucrative, Assange said in a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything):

“WikiLeaks’ strategic investments in the currency saw more than 8,000 percent return in three years, seeing us through the extralegal U.S. banking blockade.”

History

Interestingly, the idea to have WikiLeaks accept bitcoin donations was initially met with some resistance from the Bitcoin community. On a Bitcointalk thread that was started shortly after the banking blockade was initiated, several forum members — including Bitcoin inventor Satoshi Nakamoto — argued it was too early in Bitcoin’s life to be associated with an organization like WikiLeaks.

“No, don't ‘bring it on’,” Nakamotoposted in response to another forum member arguing in favor of donating to WikiLeaks. “The project needs to grow gradually so the software can be strengthened along the way.”

He added, “I make this appeal to WikiLeaks not to try to use Bitcoin. Bitcoin is a small beta community in its infancy. You would not stand to get more than pocket change, and the heat you would bring would likely destroy us at this stage.”

APC World article published soon after suggested the same idea, once again to thedismay of Bitcoin’s inventor:

“It would have been nice to get this attention in any other context,” he wrote. “WikiLeaks has kicked the hornet's nest, and the swarm is headed towards us.”

It was Nakamoto’s second-to-last message ever posted on the forum.

Assange

WikiLeaks Founder and Editor-in-Chief, Julian Assange, later acknowledged he had seen Nakamoto’s plea, and agreed that his organization shouldn’t jeopardize Bitcoin’s future. In his book When Google Met WikiLeaks, Assange explained, “WikiLeaks read and agreed with Satoshi’s analysis, and decided to put off the launch of a Bitcoin donation channel until the currency had become more established. WikiLeaks’ Bitcoin donation address was launched after the currency’s first major boom, on June 14, 2011.”

During the above mentioned AMA, and more recently speakingat an event, the WikiLeaks founder also argued for the importance of Bitcoin from a non-monetary perspective.

“Bitcoin is an extremely important innovation, but not in the way most people think,” he said. “Bitcoin's real innovation is a globally verifiable proof publishing at a certain time. The whole system is built on that concept and many other systems can also be built on it. The blockchain nails down history, breaking Orwell's dictum of “He who controls the present controls the past and he who controls the past controls the future.””

Hat tip toNewsBTC.

The post WikiLeaks’ Public Donation Address Receives 4000th Bitcoin appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

from Bitcoin Magazine http://ift.tt/2gRjML5
via IFTTT

Move Over Uber: Blockchain Technology Can Enable Real, Sustainable Sharing Economy

Uber and Airbnb, the hugely popular marketplaces for taxi-like car rides and hotel-like short-term rentals, are usually considered to be successful case stories for the emerging “sharing economy.” Another buzz phrase, “people as a services,” describes the business models of these two companies, both of which attracted funding that values them in the tens of billions of dollars and are likely to become the instant darling of investors after their expected and much awaited Initial Public Offerings (IPOs).

A new paper, however, titled “Blockchain as an Institutional Technology Spearheading an Equitable Exchange Economy,” written by economists at the Centre for Blockchain Technologies at University College London (UCL) and The Impact Institute, challenges Uber and Airbnb as sharing economy role models. In fact, according to the authors of the paper, the “platform revolution" represented by these two companies, as well as similar companies such as Etsy and Lending Club, works to enrich the platform owners while preying on the value creators.

At the same time, the authors, Paolo Tasca, a Director at the UCL Centre for Blockchain Technologies, and Mihaela Ulieru, President of The Impact Institute, propose that distributed ledger technology could enable real sharing economy marketplaces without intermediaries and central hubs, where all transactions between consumers and service providers are routed through decentralized, peer-to-peer (P2P) networks.

Uber and Airbnb present very appealing frontends to consumers, offering services that are often faster, cheaper and better than traditional alternatives, delivered via sophisticated yet easy to use apps. To the consumer, the possibility to buy services directly from individual providers gives the impression that Uber and Airbnb are decentralized, P2P networks.

In fact, these are both centralized systems because the transactions between individual consumers and providers are routed through infrastructure, hubs and software that belong to the companies that own the platform. Besides taking a fee, the platform owners are in complete control of the network. In particular, they can dictate their conditions to the value creators — drivers and rental owners — and perhaps eventually alienate them, which would result in alienating also the consumers in the long run.

“To the novice, Uber-like networks seem to be decentralized,” note Tasca and Ulieru. “Yet, while Uber runs on a ‘smart’ phone, it does so via a quite ‘dumb’ application (app) which links into a centralized platform, which is completely controlled by and supports the goals of the company. Centralized innovation means slow innovation. It also means innovation directed by the goals of a single company. Finally, it means single point of failure.”

Another shortcoming of the centralized sharing economy is its vulnerability to regulatory action The economists note that, as centralized sharing economy operators reach "too big to fail" proportions, there will continue to be regulatory and policy skirmishes on every possible front.

Envisioning an Authentic Sharing Economy

“[What] would a platform enabling an authentic sharing economy, with the value created being equitably returned back to reward the value creators, look like?” wonder Tasca and Ulieru. “Are there principles which can guide the design of such platforms?”

Among the options presented in the paper, the possibility to route user-to-user services through blockchain-based platforms on the top of open and decentralized networks seems especially relevant. Open decentralized networks, of which the early phases of the internet itself provide good examples, enable the creation of all sort of services at the edges.

The blockchain “offers one service: securely time-stamped scripted transactions,” note the economists. “Everything else is built on the edge-devices as an app. It allows any app to be developed independently, without permission, on the edge of the network. A developer can create a new app using the transactional service as a platform and deploy it on any device.”

Eventually, centralized sharing economy platforms controlled by single owners could be replaced by decentralized cooperatives that issue blockchain-based shares or crypto-equity tokens to give ownership or membership rights to workers and stakeholders. In other words, Uber without Uber, controlled by the commons, where all revenue after overhead costs goes to the members of the co-op, who also control the platform and make decisions.

asca and Ulieru are persuaded that, in a not-so-distant future, we will organize our economic life around P2P decentralized sharing economy platforms, with the potential to dramatically narrow the income divide, democratize the global economy and create a more ecologically sustainable society. “These possibilities will be multiplied by the combination of blockchain-based platforms with other emerging technology breakthroughs,” they conclude.

The post Move Over Uber: Blockchain Technology Can Enable Real, Sustainable Sharing Economy appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

from Bitcoin Magazine http://ift.tt/2fL9kss
via IFTTT

Local Chinese Government Helps Fund Blockchain Startup

Bitcoin Miner HaoBTC Launches a Hashrate Exchange

[…]

The post Bitcoin Miner HaoBTC Launches a Hashrate Exchange appeared first on CryptoCoinsNews.

from News – CryptoCoinsNews http://ift.tt/2gQrvJ2
via IFTTT

Bitcoin Legal by Default in Russia, Confirms New Federal Tax Document

[…]

The post Bitcoin Legal by Default in Russia, Confirms New Federal Tax Document appeared first on CryptoCoinsNews.

from News – CryptoCoinsNews http://ift.tt/2gqoPoM
via IFTTT

Corda Blasted as R3 Fail Funding Goals

Several multi-billion dollar banks including Goldman Sachs, Santander and Morgan Stanley have officially left the R3 blockchain consortium, an organization established by R3CEV to focus on the development of industry standard blockchain-based systems.

Also read: Italian Referendum Could Send Global Investors to Bitcoin

R3 CEV Shake Up Sees Member Banks Leave Consortium

A few days after Goldman Sachs’ bailout was announced, internal sources close to R3CEV revealed in a leak sent to Epiphyte CEO Edan Yago that JP Morgan, Macquarie Group, US Bancorp and National Australia have also opted out in the upcoming fundraising initiative of R3, solidifying their stance on R3 blockchain development.

As the founding members of the consortium, these 7 banks have made significant contributions in the development of R3 and its existing blockchain-based systems like Corda. In spite of the absence of Goldman Sachs and other major banks, R3 still secured US$ 56.5 million in its latest fundraising initiative to fund its operations throughout 2017.

Expert Criticism From Core Bitcoin Engineer

Respected cryptographers and bitcoin investors including Bitcoin Core developer Peter Todd and DCG CEO Barry Silbert heavily criticized the R3 consortium in the past week, primarily due to their inability to evaluate criticisms, impractical approach to open source technologies and failure to present successful cases of their systems.

Over the past two years, the R3 consortium received hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to finance its operations. Yet, the organization’s technologies including the R3 Corda are yet to be integrated into any one of its member bank’s financial platforms or networks, suggesting its limitation in applicability and flexibility.

More importantly, Peter Todd recently emphasized that R3 refused to open source Corda, completely contradicting its previous announcement on October 20. During a Reuters exclusive interview, executives from the R3 consortium stated that the organization intended to develop Corda as an open source blockchain platform.

R3’s chief engineer, James Carlyle further stated: “We want other banks and other parties to innovate with products that sit on top of the platform, but we don’t want everyone to create their own platform … because we’ll end up with lots of islands that can’t talk to each other.” In the same interview, R3 CEO David Rutter also noted that he wanted to prevent banks from “blindly investing millions of dollars in small, disparate technology projects.”

Furthermore, Peter Todd confirmed on November 25 that R3 vetoed one of its member banks from hiring him to carry out a thorough review process and evaluation of Corda. Todd went on to explain that R3 is allergic to criticisms, claiming that he received a cease and desist letter.

However, James Lambert, an associate at R3, announced on November 25 that the R3’s Corda platform will be open-sourced under the Apache 2 license on November 30.

“We will, of course, also be developing a commercial version of Corda for those who need specific enterprise features and support, but the open source codebase is the foundation of everything we do,” said Lambert.

After Corda was open sourced, developers like Todd looked closely into the code and formed a simple conclusion:

It’d be risky to deploy Corda in production right now, as there aren’t clear definitions of what the consensus parts of it actually do.

— Peter Todd (@petertoddbtc) November 30, 2016

Todd went on further to criticize the lack of transparency in the Corda network as well as its unnecessary complexity that has made the blockchain network more difficult to guarantee high security measures. Todd noted:

Not once do the Corda docs talk about who actually is supposed to have access to keys; whole point of crypto is to know who did what!

— Peter Todd (@petertoddbtc) November 30, 2016

Possibility of More Banks Leaving

According to Epiphyte CEO Edan Yago, there exists a strong possibility that more banks may leave the R3 consortium. He also stated that R3 was seeking $150 million but as mentioned above, the organization only secured nearly 33% of their initial investment plan.

“Sources inside of R3 have told me that they or others are considering leaving. Overall sense of pessimism. Others still optimistic,” Yago stated.

At this stage of development, the fundamental issue with the R3’s approach to blockchain implementation is their dismissive stance of open source and decentralized blockchain systems. The organization and its member banks are beginning to discover that neither decentralized or centralized blockchain networks can be adopted and implemented by banks in the traditional financial industry due to regulatory conflicts and security issues.

What do you think about the recent events surrounding the R3 CEV project? Let us know in the comments below.

---

 Image Sources: Shutterstock, New Yorker

---

There are no bigger Bitcoin believers than the Bitcoin.com team. That’s why this site is a one-stop-shop for everything you need to get into bitcoin life. A Bitcoin store? Check. Earning bitcoin? Check. Forum discussions? Check. A casino? Yep, we have that too. Prices and statistics? Also here.  

The post Corda Blasted as R3 Fail Funding Goals appeared first on Bitcoin News.

from Bitcoin News http://ift.tt/2fJK5Xt
via IFTTT

Ether and Bitcoin in Winnings for Blockchain Startup Contest Winners

[…]

The post Ether and Bitcoin in Winnings for Blockchain Startup Contest Winners appeared first on CryptoCoinsNews.

from News – CryptoCoinsNews http://ift.tt/2gPPDvA
via IFTTT

How PwC’s Vulcan Blockchain Seeks to Bring Banks into the New Digital Era

[…]

The post How PwC’s Vulcan Blockchain Seeks to Bring Banks into the New Digital Era appeared first on CryptoCoinsNews.

from News – CryptoCoinsNews http://ift.tt/2gpKlK9
via IFTTT

Court Grants IRS Summons Seeking Bitcoin Users’ Data from Coinbase

[…]

The post Court Grants IRS Summons Seeking Bitcoin Users’ Data from Coinbase appeared first on CryptoCoinsNews.

from News – CryptoCoinsNews http://ift.tt/2fIMlhx
via IFTTT

KPMG: FinTech Investment in Nigeria Records Over $200 Million in Two Years

[…]

The post KPMG: FinTech Investment in Nigeria Records Over $200 Million in Two Years appeared first on CryptoCoinsNews.

from News – CryptoCoinsNews http://ift.tt/2gLMVs1
via IFTTT

Italian Referendum Could Send Global Investors to Bitcoin

This year’s Brexit vote caused turbulent economic times for European residents, as many sovereign currencies and stocks plunged. During this period, the British exit from the EU caused Bitcoin’s value to spike as many turned to the decentralized currency as an economic safe haven. On December 4, the cryptocurrency’s price may rise again as the Italian constitutional referendum prepares to shake up Europe’s economy once more.

Also read: IRS Demands Coinbase Records In Surprise Tax Probe

Italian Referendum May Send Investors to Bitcoin

December 4 will be an eventful day for worldwide markets, as the globe may get an economic shock. Italian citizens will vote on amending the constitution by changing banking resolutions — alongside absolving powers given to the state, Parliament, and bureaucrats. During this time Italian government bonds and securities have been selling like hotcakes with many preparing for an economic crisis.

Furthermore, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has detailed he will quit if people vote against the Italian bank resolutions.

The European region is indeed preparing for a rude awakening as the Financial Times reported eight troubled banks could fall by the wayside if Renzi loses. If the Italian referendum goes sour, it could mean investors could turn to an uncorrelated asset such as bitcoin.

Italian residents have six cryptocurrency exchanges to choose from, including: Coinbase, CleverCoin, LocalBitcoins, The Rock Trading, BitBoat, and Bitstamp. Moreover, the country has eight bitcoin ATMs and a friendly environment for purchasing cryptocurrencies. Just recently, Italy’s largest cab service started accepting the virtual currency for fares. And a bitcoin price surge may not be only limited to Italy if the vote sparks global purchasing.

Brexit Caused Bitcoin Demand Prior to Vote

On June 23 the bitcoin price dipped to a low of $550, yet just before the Brexit vote came in the cryptocurrency spiked to $675. As soon as the  “Leave” decision was announced, global stock markets began to plunge. However, gold and bitcoin values went up significantly as investors turned to safer hedges. One week before the vote took place the San Francisco-based exchange Coinbase saw a 55% rise in British registrants and a 350% increase in UK sales.

The British bitcoin push is “a reminder that bitcoin has long been a hedge against turmoil in Greece, capital controls in China, and macroeconomic issues,” said a Coinbase spokesperson. Another European exchange, Kraken, also witnessed significant demand during the Brexit vote.  

“A lot of people are buying bitcoin for pounds and euros,” said Jesse Powell, CEO of San Francisco-based Kraken, the world’s largest bitcoin exchange in euro volume. “Our volume has doubled over the last 24 hours. We saw a huge spike in that market. People are looking for a safe place to keep their money, amidst all of this uncertainty.”

Italy Prepares for Market Chaos

Italy is one of the EU’s largest debtors, and the aftermath of its controversial referendum vote could be disastrous. The country’s borrowing has led to financial instability as many of the banks have been mismanaging lending practices. Financial Times reporter Rachel Sanderson stated, “Italy’s banks have €360bn of problem loans versus €225bn of equity on their books after successive regulators and governments failed to tackle a bloated financial system where profitability was weakened by a stagnant economy and exacerbated by fraudulent lending at several institutions.”

Many countries around the world are suffering from economic hardships. Bitcoin use is increasing within these regions such as Venezuela’s hyper-inflation to India’s recent demonetization. Italy’s referendum is sure to cause market chaos. The question is, will people again turn to Bitcoin again amidst the economic shakeup?

What do you think about the situation in Italy? Let us know in the comments below.

---

Images via Shutterstock, and Pixabay

---

Bitcoin.com is ramping up our tools section with a variety of useful Bitcoin-related applications. There’s a price converter, paper wallet generator, a faucet, and a verifier to validate messages using the Bitcoin blockchain. We’re pretty excited to introduce these new widgets and tools so our visitors have the best resources to navigate the Bitcoin landscape.

The post Italian Referendum Could Send Global Investors to Bitcoin appeared first on Bitcoin News.

from Bitcoin News http://ift.tt/2fOzmGe
via IFTTT

Asia’s Largest Stock Exchange Operator Forms Blockchain Consortium in Japan, Trials in 2017

[…]

The post Asia’s Largest Stock Exchange Operator Forms Blockchain Consortium in Japan, Trials in 2017 appeared first on CryptoCoinsNews.

from News – CryptoCoinsNews http://ift.tt/2gOafnK
via IFTTT

Indian Ministry to Launch Digital Currency Campaign to Increase Youth Awareness

[…]

The post Indian Ministry to Launch Digital Currency Campaign to Increase Youth Awareness appeared first on CryptoCoinsNews.

from News – CryptoCoinsNews http://ift.tt/2gauOel
via IFTTT