Which cities have the most businesses accepting bitcoin? London, New York, San Francisco among the world’s 11 most bitcoin-friendly cities January 18, 2016 Where in the world can you do most with your bitcoins? London is one of the hotspots for the cryptocurrency, but other than that your best bet is to head to the US. Using data from Coin Map, Crypto Coin News has put together a ranking of the world’s most bitcoin-friendly cities, based on the [...]
It’s official: Bitcoin was the top performing currency of 2015 January 8, 2016 Bitcoin is notoriously volatile: so far in its short life, its value has largely been determined by a cycle of hype, followed by panic. But it turns out that despite its wild lurches, the cryptocurrency was the best-performing currency of 2015 – rising 35 per cent against the dollar during the year, according to analysis by The [...]
Piercing the bitcoin veil: Businesses should beware the risks of trading with a sanctioned entity February 3, 2016 In January the EU and the US lifted economic and financial sanctions against Iran in a ground-breaking deal that unfroze billions of pounds of assets and opened up new markets for the first time since 2010. Despite the fanfare surrounding the deal, in the small print a warning remains: some EU and US financial sanctions [...]
European Commission clamping down on anonymous bitcoin transactions to curb terrorism financing February 3, 2016 The EU wants to put an end to anonymous bitcoin transactions in a bid to track terrorism financing. The European Commission has published an action plan for tackling terror groups’ funding, admitting authorities are struggling to keep up as criminals quickly adapt to new methods of moving money with less risk of being detected. "New [...]
Bitcoin: Banks are worryingly complacent about the coming digital currency storm January 25, 2016 The financial services industry is dangerously complacent in its approach to digital money. Some of the major banks almost look like they fear technological change that promises greater transparency, efficiency and security at a lower cost. Too many industry players and regulators have spent more time shutting down innovations than driving them. Barclays, Chase, Westpac [...]
JP Morgan trials Bitcoin technology blockchain with former executive Blythe Masters January 31, 2016 JP Morgan has become the latest firm to invest in Bitcoin technology blockchain, through a collaboration with start-up Digital Asset Holdings (DAH). The bank has announced plans to trial the technology on its loan funds in an effort to improve liquidity for international clients, and will also seek out other applications within its investment banking business. [...]
PwC has launched a blockchain team to explore the bitcoin technology January 22, 2016 Professional services giant PwC is getting into blockchain, announcing a new team dedicated to exploring the hyped technology powering bitcoin, following soaring client demand. “There is growing interest and a real demand from our clients to help understand the implications of blockchain and how to respond to it. So, as the blockchain juggernaut continues to [...]
Cyber crime going underreported as businesses cough up ransoms – often in bitcoin – for hackers to keep their data safe March 3, 2016 Businesses are paying out hefty cash ransoms to cyber criminals as they scramble to prevent online bandits from releasing large caches of their customers’ stolen personal data. Experts believe that several big firms have shelled out to hackers, often in the form of bitcoin, in order to save face and stop the data leaks going [...]
Bitcoin technology could allow everyone to have an account at the Bank of England, but beware bank risks – Ben Broadbent March 2, 2016 The Bank of England could use the technology that underpins digital currencies such as bitcoin to offer everyone a bank account with the central bank, one of its top officials said today. Only commercial banks and a select few financial companies can currently hold accounts at the Bank of England. But Ben Broadbent, deputy governor [...]
Bitcoin gets a central bank rival as academics develop cryptocurrency RSCoin, but might pounds and pence need to watch their back as well? March 13, 2016 Currency as we know it might be about to be shaken up, as academics from University College London have published a paper on a cryptocurrency which could be used by central banks. Unlike bitcoin and its contemporaries to date, the framework for RSCoin can be centralised and maintain by a State's central bank. The paper by George Danezis and Sarah Meiklejohn [...]