Bitcoin News Roundup – 18 Apr. 2015
Posted by: DeepDotWeb
April 18, 2015
Recapping the week’s biggest Bitcoins stories from around the web.
British authorities are in favor of the digital currency in view of upgrading the current financial system. As Sarah Jenn of NewsBtc writes, in spite of the UK government’s intention to regulate the bitcoin, there are bitcoin devotees, who would love to see London becoming a bitcoin hub. In this context, suggested regulations should be formulated with an aim to avert the use of the digital currency in fraudulent activities.
Child pornography becomes the focus of the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF). As Maria Santos of 99bitcoins writes, numerous child sexual abuse websites accept the digital currency as a legal form of payment. IWF seeks to work closely with major bitcoin exchanges around the globe in order to implement strategies against sexual child abuse and prevent the use of the bitcoin for the circulation of sexual child abusematerial online.
Major U.S. charities are accepting contributions in bitcoins due to lower transaction costs. As Elliot Maras of CryptoCoins News writes, American Red Cross, Greenpeace and Save the Children, all allow bitcoin contributions via partnerships with BitPay or other payment processing platforms. This is expected to spread the use of the bitcoin further.
Regulation
SecondMarket re-launches as Genesis Trading. Jason Smith of CoinBuzz reports that Genesis Trading is Barry Silbert’s Digital Currency Group’s (DCG) subsidiary and seeks to operate as the first regulated broker-dealer with a specialization in digital currencies. Given that the company has an established presence in the cryptocurrency space as “the largest over-the-counter (OTC) market maker there is an opportunity to market ourselves to the world”, Brendan O’Connor, Genesis CEO states.
Bitcoin Foundation Director seeks for fiscal reform. As Pete Rizzo of CoinDesk reports, Bruce Fenton is looking to serve as a facilitator between the Foundation’s individual and institutional members. Part of Fenton’s focus is to change the Foundation policies in order to educate the public about the bitcoin. “The Bitcoin Foundation can and will have a valuable role in that process in terms of being an important part of our industry,” he states.
Payments
Tether enters a partnership with cryptocurrency payment processor GoCoin. Jp Buntinx of Bitcoinist reports that the partnership is expected to facilitate the transactions of GoCoin merchants in digital currencies as the settlement will be swiftly made through the Tether platform without the need of a financial intermediary. Tether also serves as a protection towards the bitcoin volatility as it exchanges bitcoin for fiat currency on a 1:1 ratio.
Samsung is interested in the cryptocurrency technology. Olga Kharif of Bloomberg reports that Samsung Research America is working with IBM to explore ways on how to effectively use the bitcoin technology for new applications. According to Samsung’s Director of Strategy, Steven Rahman,
“Currency, it’s just the first use case. You could imagine that anything, like prescriptions, could be managed with the blockchain technology.”
Dorchester Collection is accepting bitcoins for its web store.According to Hotel Industry Magazine, the digital shopping platform of the London-based world renowned hotel is a pioneer move in the luxury hospitality industry. Customers are able to navigate in the web store and select items of their preference. In checkout, they can pay in bitcoins.
QuadrigaCX, the leading Canadian-based bitcoin exchange seeks to install bitcoin ATMs across Canada. Nikhil Gupta of NewsBtc reports that the ATM machines will be gradually installed in batches of five, starting early June from Vancouver. Their operation will be made via the QuadrigaCX platform allowing users to deposit and withdraw funds from their QuadrigaCX balances. The move will possibly lead to a massive expansion of the bitcoin use in the country.
More:
Presidential candidate Rand Paul set for Bitcoin Private meet
After Senator Rand Paul announced his presidential race open door policy to bitcoin donations, he is now set to appear at a New York digital currency private event.
“Senator Paul will run the most tech-innovative campaign in 2016,” His spokesperson, Sergio Gor said, “From Snapchat to Bitcoin, we’ll engage in various forums before anyone else.”
Coindesk reports Union League Club will play host on the 19th of April, supported by some notable Bitcoin start ups as sponsors.
Neteller cancels bitcoin withdrawals via Prepaid Mastercard
On its blog, Neteller announced its bitcoin payment options would not work for Net + Prepaid Mastercards. Already,customers can top up e-wallets for free with bitcoin and choose one of multiple options to pay out. Now, any funds deposited using cryptocurrency cannot be paid out via a mastercard prepaid card.
Jennifer wrote “Funds deposited using Bitcoin are available immediately for transfers to merchants or other members. However, funds deposited using Bitcoin are not available for purchases or withdrawals using your Net+ Prepaid MasterCard“
Only recently did it start accepting bitcoin deposits.
The second series V2 of DevCore kicks off
DevCore London took place on Wednesday, this week, at Dexter House, Royal Mint building in London; the second in an expected series after last month’s event held in Boston. It is framed as a workshop roundtable for discussions by developers interested in bitcoin core developments. Blockchain blog reported,
“Blockchain hosted a VIP event at our London Headquarters and presented Gavin with the Blockchain Achievement Award for his enduring contributions to the development of Bitcoin Core.”
Bitcoin Price continues its bear trend
Bitcoin fell to new low prices after a month of a refreshing uptrend. This week, prices went down to $216 as per Bitfinex, after consecutive support were broken. $245, $233 and currently, $220 is under pressure. Bitcoin price analysts are expecting lower prices as there is no significant bullish news to lift the market out of a 15 month bear channel.
Read more on our Bitcoin weekly price analysis for market history and forecast.
Barclays closed down student’s account after his dealings in Bitcoin
According to the Telegraph, 17 year Charles Bartlett had his account frozen over claims of fraudulent bitcoin payments into his account. A computer science student, he began trading digital currency on online exchanges early in February, around the time flags on his account were raised.
“The only change in how I was using my current account was when I was buying and selling Bitcoin online to try and make some money – but then was unable to access my account online.”
Banks and credit card companies set up walls to bitcoin related activities and this case is a lot similar to other claims of closed bank accounts.
GAW Miners caught up in Charity Fraud
John Garza, has supposedly come clean on charity fraud claims and misleading donors. The CEO of GAW miner had pledged a 100% of sales to a specific charity – 9/11 Memorial fund. A story ran by Coinbuzz, purports only 25% of funds actually went towards this charity, as per recent email leaks. In fact, the rest of the funds were misdirected to charities not on the list.
One of his ex-colleague, Jonah Dorman, Former Interim CEO, was quoted as saying
“As a Foreign war veteran of the US army, the thought of having worked with anyone capable of defrauding the 911 memorial fund makes me sick.”
OKCoin futures experiences technical glitch
On reddit, this Chinese Bitcoin exchange responded to its users’ worries over its website going down, right after futures settled at an odd $284. At this price, over $60 above current prices, traders with short positions were instantly margin called.
Support staff responded to chatter on reddit and social media, assuring traders they were on top of it
“We are aware of the current settlement price issue on our futures platform. We are currently in the process of fixing this issue. No funds have been lost and no funds are at risk. We will communicate any further developments regarding this issue. Thank you for your understanding.”
The site later went back up, rolling back trades that occurred at 4pm before this event.
London stakes its claim as global bitcoin hub
Reuters reports the UK is increasingly associated with favorable conditions that foster Bitcoin start ups. For example, it is home to Coin Scrum, one of the largest Bitcoin meet ups in the world. British authorities support financial innovation, going as far as dedicating $10 million research grant into digital currencies. London, New York and San Francisco are seemingly competing to position themselves as FinTech hosts . It remains to be seen what sort of impact regulation from London will look like once completed.
Updated: 2015-04-18