Joseph Young
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The digital asset review
The price of bitcoin surpassed US$750 last week as the Chinese central bank and local regulators proceeded to restrict the trading of wealth management products (WMPs). The crackdown coincided with a steady decline on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, which may have acted as the catalyst for the increasing demand for bitcoin.
Bitscan launches a new cryptographic token and loyalty eco-system called Incent
Bitscan has been providing merchants and consumers with tools that promote cryptocurrency since 2013. Co-Founder & CEO Rob Wilson holds a firm belief that commerce will be the primary driver of adoption, and the company is built on one core idea; The blockchain is a wholly commercial tool that allows us to record and transfer ownership of anything, instantly, on a global, open ledger.
Blocksafe wants to reduce gun violence with a hybrid IoT blockchain network
The Internet of Things is evolving into a world of interconnected smart devices that communicate all manner of information. Smart homes can be filled with appliances that can be controlled remotely, while the smart grid promises to dynamically react to power requirements.
ShapeShift volumes surge as demand for Ethereum explodes
Erik Voorhees launched [ShapeShift](https://shapeshift.io/) in March of 2015, and secured over [US$2 million in venture capital funding](https://shapeshift.io/site/blog/2015/12/31/shapeshift-year-review-looking-back-2015) from prominent digital currency firms and investors including Roger Ver, Digital Currency Group and leading bitcoin exchange BitFinex.
Leading Mining Firms Move from Bitcoin Classic to Core
Proposals to change or alter the Bitcoin network’s block reward, block size, mining difficulty and other major elements require a consensus from Bitcoin miners located all around the world.
Leading European airline, Wizz Air, promoting the world’s first bitcoin-only espresso bar
[Wizz Air](https://wizzair.com/) is one of the largest European ultra-low-cost airlines. Listed on the London Stock exchange last year, the company offers flights on over 400 routes from 22 operating bases.
Bitcoin Classic node count breaks 1000
The bitcoin network is made up of nodes that relay information across the network. Anyone can run a node, which creates the decentralised architecture that Bitcoin is known for. Bitcoin Core, previously known as QT, currently runs on the majority of nodes and has a blocksize cap of 1MB.
Ethereum surges, overtaking Ripples market cap for the second time
On February 11, 2016, the market cap of Ethereum (ETH) surpassed the US$356 million mark, recording a staggering 30.79% 24-hour price growth.
Privacy-focused bitcoin wallet, Samourai, integrates BIP 47, Reusable Payment Codes
Although the wallet is currently in alpha testing, Samourai already gives users fine grained control over privacy, with no address reuse, random change outputs, Tor and VPN support.
Factom dreams of a new generation of blockchain based voting systems
The transparent and decentralized nature of the blockchain network enables the development of a non-refutable and unbreakable record of data which opens up a diverse possibility of verification and authentication software and technologies.