IOU price vs trust – a look at Tether
Fiat-denominated IOUs have a long history in the crypto space. Ripple launched in 2012 with its host of fiat gateways. BitUSD and TetherUS began circulating in 2014. PayCoin launched and died in 2015. It seems that recently Tether has gotten itself into some banking problems and its price started to reflect that.
Segwit adoption increasing, coming to Litecoin soon
Litecoin creator and Director of Engineering at Coinbase, Charlie Lee, recently held a meeting with several of the largest exchanges and mining pools that use Litecoin in China.
Blockchain as a resourcebase
We all know what a database is: an organized collection of data. By analogy, then, we can think of a blockchain as an organized collection of resources, latter being defined as something that exists only in limited quantities. So, blockchain is really a resourcebase.
17 blockchain platforms — a brief introduction
Blockchain technology was announced through the paper titled “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System” by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008. Interestingly, this paper does not specifically use the word “blockchain.”
Competitors SegWit and Extension Blocks make quick work of common threat ASICBoost
Bitcoin’s long-running block size debate has seen numerous challenges to the Bitcoin Core reference software, including Bitcoin Classic, Bitcoin XT, and Bitcoin Unlimited. Recently, a fourth contender has entered the ring, a browser-based Bitcoin node client from Purse, called bcoin.
Gamecredits leveraging Ethereum smart contracts with MobileGo
Gamerscoin was a cryptocurrency launched in 2013, only to be abandoned by the developer six months later. The cryptocurrency was quickly revived by a small but enthusiastic community that hired new developers and changed the name to Gamecredits (GAME).
Covert attack on Bitcoin drives block size debate stagnation
On Wednesday afternoon, Bitcoin Core developer Greg Maxwell submitted a Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP), inhibiting a “covert attack on the Bitcoin POW function.” Maxwell discovered patent pending technology being used in an ASIC Bitcoin mining chip, which gives certain Bitcoin miners 20 to 30 percent more mining power.
Cancoin is building a LocalBitcoins alternative for professional OTC bitcoin traders
Cancoin is a new peer-to-peer (P2P) bitcoin exchange based in Canada, aimed at professional over-the-counter (OTC) traders. “The OTC market for Bitcoin is bigger than the exchange market,” Civic CEO and Gyft co-founder Vinny Lingham wrote in the summer of 2016. “Exchanges set the price but large trades don't happen there.”
MultiChain enters beta with 15 new partners
We’re delighted to announce the first beta release of MultiChain 1.0 for Linux and Windows, after more than two years of intensive development. As we’ve said before, our definition is very specific: "beta" means that there are no known bugs or major shortcomings. So the purpose of the beta period is to ensure than any unknown issues are discovered through our own testing, as well as that of our growing user base.
Ethbits.com developing ‘Alternative Exchange’ for cryptocurrencies
Ethbits.com is raising funds to develop a platform designed to take LocalBitcoins style trading to the next level. The UK registered company has already developed a platform called Ethbits Local, which facilitates peer to peer online trades as well as face to face trades for a range of Cryptocurrencies.
Ethereum style smart contracts are coming to Bitcoin in June
Ethereum has gained a lot of attention over the past year or two as it became the second most valuable cryptocurrency by market cap. The platform enables the execution of smart contracts, a feature coming to Bitcoin in the form of RSK.
Three pre-blockchain planetary networks: Visa, DNS, and Sabre/Amadeus
“Blockchain technology could change the world!” But how? If an industry gets a single shared source of truth, what happens? If you’re in the blockchain space, you may be working hard to paint a possible picture to answer that. You may be using logic and extrapolation, but wishing that you had something more tangible.
Acinq releases Eclair, a Lightning Network client with graphical explorer
The second development team to release a working version of a Lightning Network, Acinq, recently announced their lightning alpha client, Eclair 0.2-alpha1. Named after the french word for Lightning, the release includes a Graphical User Interface (GUI).
Accenture and Thales combine blockchain technology and hardware security modules
Global professional services firm Accenture PLC and Thales e-security recently announced the launch of a patent-pending security system for enterprise use that, “creates a simple path to large-scale commercial use of blockchain technology,” according to Accenture.
No app is an island
Smartphones have quickly become an integral part of everyday life, for communication to remotely managing our finances and consuming online media. Statista estimates that more than two billion people, a quarter of the world’s population, are smartphone users, and predicts that number will rise to 2.8b by 2020.
Look Out Fintech: Bumpy but fruitful road ahead
Are investors running out of patience to see tangible results from fintech? 2017 could be a year of reckoning for fintech companies if they do not begin turning over profits. The much-hyped cycle of fintech may get a dose of commercial reality, as financial services business leaders shift their immediate focus toward tangible business solutions while keeping innovation and automation on their long-term agenda.