Monthly Archives: August 2015

LOT Polish Airlines Now Accepts Bitcoin

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“LOT Polish Airlines is now accepting bitcoin payments, meaning the digital currency can be used to pay for flights to more than 60 global destinations.  Tickets can be purchased on LOT‘s desktop and mobile websites.  LOT now accepts bitcoin alongside payment methods including American Express, PayPal, MasterCard and Visa.  With the decision, LOT becomes the latest eastern European air carrier to accept bitcoin, following airBaltic in July 2014 and Air Lituanica in August of last year. Mexico’s TAR later became the first air carrier in Latin America to accept bitcoin in June.”

http://www.coindesk.com/lot-polish-airlines-accept-bitcoin/

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ShapeShift Raises $525k, Reveals Erik Voorhees as Creator

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“The Swiss-based platform, which lets users swap between 25 digital currencies and tokens, differs from traditional exchanges in that it operates without user accounts and requires no form of registration.  As part of the funding announcement, entrepreneur Erik Voorhees has come forward as ShapeShift’s creator and CEO, having operated under the alias Beorn Gonthier – a reference to J R R Tolkein’s own shapeshifter – since its launch in 2013.  According to Voorhees, the $525,000 will go towards improvements to the exchange engine, as well as marketing and legal work in Switzerland, the company’s base. The ShapeShift team now includes eight full-time staffers, including four developers.”

http://www.coindesk.com/shapeshift-raises-525k-reveals-erik-voorhees-as-creator/

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Overstock Unveils Blockchain Trading Platform at Nasdaq Event

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“Patrick Byrne, CEO of US online retailer Overstock.com, unveiled tØ today at the headquarters of the major US stock market Nasdaq in New York today.  The announcement marked the formal debut of tØ (pronounced tee-zero), Overstock‘s long awaited blockchain-based private and public equities trading platform first announced in 2014.  Byrne also unveiled a ‘big surprise’ in the form of the platform’s Preborrow Assured Token, which Byrne suggested would democratize securities lending. The product, he said, is already being used in an enterprise pilot program, and is the subject of interest by major banks.”

http://www.coindesk.com/overstock-unveils-blockchain-trading-platform-to/

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Xapo Moves to Switzerland Citing Customer Privacy Concerns

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“The bitcoin services and security firm said the transition was put in motion three months ago at the request of customers, and that now, Xapo‘s operations in Palo Alto are in the process of being reduced. As part of the transition, Xapo will hire new finance and legal staff in the central European nation while still keeping a small US presence.  Xapo moved its deep cold storage vault servers to an unspecified location in the European nation in January, but continued to face pressure from customers for more privacy guarantees, Casares said.  ‘We decided to do what they had been asking us to do for a while, move our main company to Switzerland and benefit from the safeguards,’ Casares explained.”

http://www.coindesk.com/xapo-switzerland-privacy-concerns/

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State Regulators Force Vermont’s Only Bitcoin ATM Offline

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“Vermont’s first digital currency ATM has been ordered closed by state regulators who say the company operating the cash machine is violating state law.   The move by the Department of Financial Regulation has disappointed the tech enthusiasts who used the new currency service.  PYC CEO Emilio Pagan-Yourno admits the company doesn’t have any Vermont-specific licenses. But he says his company is licensed federally through the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).  The letters from the department warn Blu-Bin and PYC that they may be in violation of the law. But they also seem to show a lack of clarity about what, exactly, the two companies are even doing.”

http://digital.vpr.net/post/state-regulators-force-vermonts-only-bitcoin-atm-offline

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Vermont Considering Blockchain Tech for State Records, Smart Contracts

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“Vermont has recently taken some legislative steps that could see the state using Bitcoin’s technology for state records, smart contracts and other applications in a drive to become ‘a leader in the field.’  Neither the bill nor the amendment reference ‘Bitcoin’ but rather the distributed immutable worldwide ledger database that Bitcoin runs on – the blockchain.  Legislation such as that from Vermont seems to follow this same path of burying Bitcoin and at the same time embracing it. This also has to do with the recent Bitcoin 2.0 awakening that the Bitcoin blockchain public ledger is not merely a rail to move virtual currency, but a powerful means to transmit information.”

http://cointelegraph.com/news/115064/vermont-considering-blockchain-tech-for-state-records-smart-contracts

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Citibank Is Working On Its Own Digital Currency, Citicoin

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“In a move that should be of no surprise to anyone familiar with the space, Citibank has admitted to running a test platform for digital currencies and is pondering its own solution, CitiCoin.  According to the International Business Times, Citigroup has built its own digital currency based on bitcoin and the blockchain. Kenneth Moore, head of Citigroup Innovations Lab, saw this as a way to move money from country to country and foresaw an internal ‘mining’ network that allowed endpoints to generate the work necessary to maintain the ledger.  While it’s noble for banks to attempt these systems – and they will be attempted again and again – it’s important to note that banks want control.”

http://techcrunch.com/2015/07/07/citibank-is-working-on-its-own-digital-currency-citicoin/

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Australian inquiry says digital currencies are real money

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“An Australian government inquiry will recommend treating digital currencies as money, simplifying tax for people who trade with them while forcing bitcoin exchanges to monitor customers for potential money laundering and terrorism financing activities.  The Senate committee recommendations underscore governments’ growing acceptance of the role of so-called ‘cryptocurrencies’ around the world.  If implemented, the changes would align Australia with the United Kingdom and Spain by having people pay sales tax just once if they buy something with bitcoin, while leaving other nations like Sweden to fret over its true legal status. The changes would also match Australia with Canada and Singapore.”

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/05/us-australia-bitcoin-idUSKCN0QA0TS20150805

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Police Confiscate 11,000 Bitcoin Wallets; Shut Down Dark Web Site

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“As the final legal chapters close on Ross Ulbricht’s Silk Road website held within the ‘Dark Web’, the proliferation of many, many more dark markets is making international news. Authorities have closed down one of these Dark Web havens, and have confiscated thousands of bitcoin wallets in association with its use.  Under code name ‘Operation Babylon’, Italian officials have shut down the site that hosted over 14,000 members, performing over 170,000 transactions using Tor’s web browser.  Over 200 drug dealers are claimed to have used the site for trafficking purposes, but this may be only one site of its kind out many. The website is said to have been masterminded by an Italian near Naples.”

http://cointelegraph.com/news/115043/police-confiscate-11000-bitcoin-wallets-shut-down-dark-web-site

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NYPD to Launch Future Crime Unit

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“New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton, never a privacy zealot, now just denies the whole concept. ‘There are no secrets,’ he says. We will remember that next time one of his officers kills an unarmed citizen. If he’s serious, the investigation will have no secrets. NYPD is launching a two-year test of ‘predictive policing’ software called Hunchlab. The goal: Analyze criminal activity patterns and deploy resources more efficiently. That would be fine if NYPD and its commissioner knew how to respect privacy. The evidence, and his words, say they do not.”

http://www.thedailybell.com/news-analysis/36454/NYPD-to-Launch-Future-Crime-Unit/

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