Global financial services association BAFT has launched a new scheme to promote Bitcoin and blockchain technology. The association, which deals in creation and implementation of global finance policies, launched the initiative to drive “awareness of innovations in financial technology”. In its official statement, the international body emphasized how the pace of innovation has redefined the methods of cross-border payments and trade finance; and how it believes to address the regulatory issues for both banks and similar financial institutions through a thorough input. Tod Burwell, the president and CEO of BAFT, particularly highlighted how the emergence of Bitcoin and its associated technologies have improved the methods of supply chain and payments. He stated:…
The question of how to best increase the transaction processing capacity of the blockchain may be bitcoin’s current crisis, but that isn’t stopping researchers from working to solve more forward-looking issues. Held last weekend in Montreal, the inaugural Scaling Bitcoin marked the first major conference for developers, and as such, it featured a broad sampling of technical experts working on solutions to problems that may come to light as knowledge of blockchain technology advances. One of the more novel proposals to debut at the event was developed by Cornell post-doc student Ittay Eyal, PhD student Adem Efe Gencer, computer science professor Emin Gün Sirer and research scientist Robbert Van Renesse. Called Bitcoin-NG (the “NG” is short…
Bitcoin Foundation will hold a DevCore Workshop on October 16, 2015 from 9:00 am to 4:30 pm in Draper University, Menlo Park, California. The goal of the workshop is to build knowledge, widen understanding, and deepen technical expertise to support the future development of Bitcoin Core. Speakers include Jeff Garzik, Gavin Andresen, and Charlie Lee, among many others to be announced soon. The group is also adhering to an anti-harrasment policy that does not tolerate offensive verbal comments or harrasment of any form that could prompt organizers to sanction or expel participants from the event. Bitcoin Foundation Workshop One of the speakers in the event, Gavin Andresen, has co-created Bitcoin XT in hopes of providing the network with an alternative version of…
Bitcoin in the Headlines is a weekly analysis of bitcoin media coverage and its impact. The bitcoin and blockchain industry have a new major newsmaker: distributed ledger startup R3CEV. Leaving behind a week filled with impressive funding rounds, the coverage over the last few days has been largely dominated by the company’s partnership with nine well-known banks including JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs. Journalists from across the world jumped at the chance to cover the news – perhaps still a sign that mainstream media will deem industry events newsworthy if traditional finance is involved. In stark contrast, more negative news events received less attention, and were far more focused on the other half the blockchain – bitcoin, the digital token for which the…
The chairman of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) believes blockchain technology has the potential to fundamentally change the world’s existing financial system. Greg Medcraft, appointed chair of ASIC in 2011, made the comments during his speech at Australia’s Carnegie Mellon University earlier this week. According to Medcraft, distributed ledger technology could result in greater efficiency and speed, disintermediation, reduced transaction costs and improved market access. Following an explanation of the blockchains’s characteristics, Medcraft noted its potential rests on a series of factors: “Naturally, harnessing this potential will depend on the integrity, capacity and stability of blockchain technology…
One of the world’s leading technology companies has decided to utilize the blockchain technology for smart contracts. According to a report of the Wall Street Journal, International Business Machines Inc. (IBM) is planning to develop an open-source software that could — one day — be used to create digital contracts. For this, the tech giant has opted to create its own version of blockchain technology that would promote secure and accessible record-keeping on web. The IBM’s announcement is a latest addition to a long list of software and finance institutions that have previously opted to experiment with the Bitcoin’s underlying technology. They include: UBS, Citi, Barclays, Nasdaq, NYSE and others. However, IBM’s plans to open-source the project individuates it…