New Hampshire House reverses stance on cryptocurrency money transmitter status
New Hampshire is home to the largest community of freedom advocates in the US, and possibly the largest Bitcoin-using community as well. The New Hampshire State House of Representatives recently passed an important bill for local Bitcoin businesses. The legislation unwinds a bill created two years prior, an ominous-sounding Bill, HB 666, which defined bitcoin and cryptocurrency-using businesses as money transmitter services.
15 blockchain whitepapers awarded winners of US Department of Health and Human Services Challenge
A challenge held by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to encourage Blockchain use in the Health Information Technology field resulted in 15 winning whitepapers. The Department’s Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) first announced the “Use of Blockchain in Health IT and Health-Related Research” challenge in July.
America’s regulatory issue is too many cooks
I’ve had a few meetings with folks at the White House over the past eighteen months, which has been an honour and not something I felt I should blog about. The National Economic Council woke up to the FinTech world early last year and have been consulting with many in the FinTech ecosystem. The latest meeting was a FinTech Summit for a select few at the White House last Friday. I was lucky enough to be one of the select few and thought I’d blog about the four key panel discussions that took place this week.
Bitfinex pays $75,000 to settle with CFTC for offering illegal bitcoin transactions and failing to register
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has ordered Bitfinex to pay $75,000 for offering illegal off-exchange financed retail commodity transactions, and failing to register as a futures commission merchant. Formed under the laws of the British Virgin Islands, with their official headquarters in Hong Kong, Bitfinex operates one of Bitcoin’s most popular platforms for exchanging and trading bitcoins, litecoins, and ether.
BitPay extends payment services with VISA debit card
Founded in 2011, while Bitcoin was still in its infancy, BitPay was created with the intention of making it easy for businesses to accept bitcoin payments. NewEgg, Valve, and Microsoft, to name a few, use the service to extend the payment options displayed on their sites. BitPay accepts bitcoin on a retailer's behalf, and pays them the equivalent in fiat currency, typically U.S dollars. The company is currently the largest bitcoin payment processor in the world, serving more than 60,000 merchants on six continents.
Delaware to ‘embrace the emerging blockchain and smart contract technology industry,’ with distributed ledger shares
The state of Delaware is perhaps the most friendly jurisdictions for Bitcoin and blockchain technology in the U.S. Delaware Governor, Jack Markell, recently announced the details of a new initiative to “embrace the emerging blockchain and smart contract technology industry.” The Governor unveiled the plan during a keynote address at Consensus 2016, a technology conference in New York focused on blockchain innovation. The sell out event was attended by a variety of leaders from across the blockchain industry, as well as Delaware's Deputy Secretary of State, Rick Geisenberger, and Corporation Law Section Chair of the Delaware State Bar Association (DSBA), Matt O’Toole.
Encryption debate ignores decentralised messaging platforms
A draft of the Compliance with Court Orders Act of 2016 was officially released last week, confirming that the WikiLeaks release was accurate. Written by Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr and Vice Chairman Dianne Feinstein, the bill ensures that “everyone must comply with court orders to protect America from criminals and terrorists.”
Los Angeles medical center pays 40 bitcoins to ransomware extortionists
Around the fifth of February an "internal emergency" was declared at the Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles, due to a system-wide ransomware infection.
Bitcoin could provide a solution for the unbanked in the marijuana industry
Marijuana in America is predicted to be a US$30b industry by 2019. However, many businesses are operating in a cash only environment, as banks are hesitant of differing legal requirements.
