New York Trading Platform Drops Equities for Cryptocurrencies

In a move that may well be the first among many, the New York based trading platform investFeed has dropped its equities platform and replaced it with cryptocurrencies.

Started in 2014, the company has grown in its connections, with links to TD Ameritrade, E-Trade and Fidelity. The basic model is to combine pre-built APIs with elements of StockTwits, Steemit and TokenMarket, to create an incentivized social network exclusively for cryptocurrency.

While the move is the first of its kind, there have been rumblings among hedge funds and other investment vehicles about moving toward cryptocurrencies in large bulk. The explosive rise in values of the cryptocurrencies has lead to widespread interest, especially as a potential replacement for gold as a store of value.

While the move is certainly no shock to cryptocurrency fans, the investment market may find these changes somewhat disturbing. However, CEO of investFeed Ron Chernesky said, “Our strong belief in the future of cryptocurrencies prompted our decision to pivot from equities to decentralized digital assets. We feel that investFeed’s future should fully embrace the greatest technological breakthrough since the Internet.”

With the recent plunge in values, this may or may not be the best time to make the switch. If cryptocurrencies have found a temporary bottom, however, it may be a safe bet after all.

Daimler's €100 Million Ethereum Bond Is Bigger Than Mercedes-Benz

http://www.coindesk.com/daimlers-e100-million-ethereum-bond-bigger-mercedes-benz/

When the manufacturing company behind Mercedes-Benz issued its first blockchain bond last month, it did something that impacts much more than just a single automobile brand.

As revealed to CoinDesk, the €100m bond, issued on a private version of the ethereum blockchain signals the first step in a much larger plan by Daimler AG to explore the technology. But it's the type of bond – called a Schuldschein – that gives the project a truly global scale.

Since the financial crisis of 2008, this German version of a private placement has seen an explosion of use around the world, now totaling more than €20bn annually.

But while Daimler itself says large-scale use of an ethereum-based Schuldschein isn't likely anytime in the near future, its success is already encouraging the German firm to test even more use cases.

According to Daimler AG's senior manager of treasury process management, Eva-Marie Scholz, multiple business departments in the firm are now exploring use cases as a result.


Beyond bonds

With the World Bank also getting into the issuance of bonds on a blockchain earlier this year, the asset class is ripe for disruption. But Daimler's work doesn't stop there.

Currently, there are several business departments looking at use cases, including in sales, engineering, securities trade, the cross-border shipment of goods and – perhaps most promising – the payment of transactions.

While the actual blockchain solutions that might eventually be employed have yet to be settled – several of Hyperledger's open-source solutions are still on the table – the next step forward is a bit more certain.

Scholz concluded:

"For the payments streams, those are use cases we are currently looking at to go ahead with."

Mastercard, Cisco, And Others Join The Enterprise Ethereum Alliance

The Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA) has added 35 new members to its ranks, including Mastercard, Cisco, and Scotiabank.

On July 18, 2017, the EEA announced its latest additions. Over the last two months, 35 organizations, among them credit card giant Mastercard and technology conglomerate Cisco Systems, have become new members in the EEA. A complete list is available below.

Initially, some redditors expressed confusion since Mastercard was not listed in the official EEA press release. However, according to Andrew Keys, head of global business development at ConsenSys, “Mastercard is indeed a new member of EEA. They asked not to be in the press release document but approved being on the EEA official website.”

Julio Faura, chairman of the EEA and head of R& at Banco Santander, expressed his joy at the organization’s swift expansion. “EEA’s rapid growth in membership mirrors the accelerating acceptance and deployment of Ethereum blockchain solutions in the global marketplace,” he said. “The technological breadth, depth and variety of organizations coming together under the auspices of EEA to create and drive enterprise Ethereum standards bodes well for the future development of the next-generation Ethereum ecosystem.”

Formed in early 2017, the EEA aims to adapt Ethereum into enterprise-grade technology. Research into scalability, privacy, and security are key to the organization’s goals. The EEA is exploring “hybrid architectures,” which transcend public and private chains, in addition to “industry-specific application layer working groups.”

By establishing industry standards and facilitating collaboration, the EEA believes its open source framework will allow for mass adoption through the backbone of the Ethereum blockchain.

Among the EEA’s existing members, some of the most prominent names include: J.P. Morgan, Deloitte, Accenture, and Intel.

In addition to Mastercard, the other newest EEA members include:

2Advise; Amalto Technologies; Antibiotic Research UK (ANTRUK); Aquilon Energy Services, Inc.; ASSETH; Blocko Inc.; Bloq; Cisco Systems; Cybersoft Digital Services Corp.; Enter Corporation Co., Ltd.; Equities.com, Inc.; Finclusion Labs, Inc. (WeTrust.io); Government of Andhra Pradesh; HashCash Consultants; HEAL Alliance; iEx.ec; Lazarski University; Loyyal Corporation; MadHive; Mattr; NetObjex Inc.; OTP Bank Plc.; QIWI Blockchain Technologies LLC.; Revelry; RISKebiz; Scotiabank; Streami Inc.; Talkcrypto.org; Technical University of Munich; Texcent Asia Pte Ltd; TIS R& Center, Inc.; TokenCard / Monolith; Ventured and Ypse IT Solutions.


Full List At:
https://entethalliance.org/members/

July 20, 2017

To players in the virtual currency space,

INVITATION TO MEETING ON VIRTUAL CURRENCIES AS EMERGING MEDIUM OF EXCHANGE IN NIGERIA

The Central Bank of Nigeria has commissioned a study on “Virtual Currency as an Emerging Medium of Exchange”. Towards meeting the objectives of the study, there is need to hold a meeting to brainstorm and exchange ideas with key stakeholders in the space with a view to gathering facts on the nature, scope and dynamics of virtual currency operations in Nigeria.
As a key player in the virtual currency landscape in Nigeria, we wish to invite you to a meeting as follows:
Date: Thursday, July 27, 2017

Time: 9.00 am

Venue: Conference Room, 14th Floor E-building, Central Bank of Nigeria Tinubu Square, Lagos

We also request that you assist in extending our invitation to your colleagues and clients in the following areas of virtual currency operations:
Exchange
Wallets providers
Miners
Software developers
Individual Investors
Kindly confirm your attendance by calling or sending a text with your name(s) to Odima-Ojoh Micheal on 0806 620 4220 to facilitate your entrance into our premises for the meeting.

Please accept the renewed assurances of my highest regards.



Director, Governor's Department

CBN is ready to look into Cryptocurrency and Blockchain.

Those sitting on the fence, should keep on.

Let me come and be going.

amjustme2:
July 20, 2017

To players in the virtual currency space,

INVITATION TO MEETING ON VIRTUAL CURRENCIES AS EMERGING MEDIUM OF EXCHANGE IN NIGERIA

The Central Bank of Nigeria has commissioned a study on “Virtual Currency as an Emerging Medium of Exchange”. Towards meeting the objectives of the study, there is need to hold a meeting to brainstorm and exchange ideas with key stakeholders in the space with a view to gathering facts on the nature, scope and dynamics of virtual currency operations in Nigeria.
As a key player in the virtual currency landscape in Nigeria, we wish to invite you to a meeting as follows:
Date: Thursday, July 27, 2017

Time: 9.00 am

Venue: Conference Room, 14th Floor E-building, Central Bank of Nigeria Tinubu Square, Lagos

We also request that you assist in extending our invitation to your colleagues and clients in the following areas of virtual currency operations:
Exchange
Wallets providers
Miners
Software developers
Individual Investors
Kindly confirm your attendance by calling or sending a text with your name(s) to Odima-Ojoh Micheal on 0806 620 4220 to facilitate your entrance into our premises for the meeting.

Please accept the renewed assurances of my highest regards.



Director, Governor's Department

Wanna Go to College with Bitcoin?

The burgeoning popularity of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies has lead to a widespread awareness of the power of the Blockchain for doing business, managing security and protecting assets. As the popularity of Blockchain has grown, the call for experts in the field has become greater than ever. Even the UN is on board, seeking to utilize Blockchain for international aid.

All the pressure has lead to colleges looking to add Blockchain technology as a part of their curriculum. The forerunner is the University of Nicosia, the first to accept Bitcoin payments and where students can take a full Blockchain graduate degree.

Now other colleges and universities are getting on the bandwagon, both in offering courses and allowing students to pay for tuition with Bitcoin.

The latest to join the fray is the European School of Management and Technology (ESMT) where they have begun to offer a digital currencies workshop, and allow students to pay tuition via Bitcoin. The school’s CFO Georg Garlichs says:

“The driving force behind our decision was the necessity, the problems experienced by students from far away countries. It’s simply hard to send money from there over here for various reasons, be it high fees, technical problems or simply capital control, when they [governments] don’t want them [students] to send capital out of the country.”

As the popularity and acceptance of cryptocurrencies increases, more and more experts will be needed and schools must meet the demand

LedgerX gets U.S. approval for derivatives on digital currencies

The U.S. Commodity Futures Commission said on Monday it has granted New York-based LedgerX, a bitcoin options exchange, the first license to clear and settle derivative contracts for digital currencies.

The license authorizes LedgerX to provide clearing services for fully collateralized digital currency swaps. LedgerX, which was also granted a license to operate as a swap execution facility early this month, initially plans to clear bitcoin options, the CFTC said in a statement

The CFTC, however, also clarified in its statement that the approval of LedgerX's license "does not constitute or imply a commission endorsement of the use of digital currency generally, or bitcoin specifically."

With the settlement and clearing license, participants in the LedgerX trading platform will be able to hedge bitcoin and other digital currencies using exchange-traded and centrally cleared option contracts. Initially, LedgerX expects to list one- to six-month options contracts for bitcoin. Other digital currency contracts such as ethereum (ETH) options are expected to follow.

Ethereum is another online public ledger much like bitcoin, but with self-executing transactions.

"Having a regulated clearing house will open the market to a lot of other investors such as the large institutions," said Paul Chou, chief executive officer of LedgerX, in an interview.

"A proper regulatory framework will open up the market and make them comfortable."

The license took more than two years to win approval partly because of a long education process, said Chou, who also sits on the CFTC's Technology Advisory Committee.

To get the clearing license, LedgerX secured $11.4 million in funding in May led by Miami International Holdings Inc and China's Huiyin Blockchain Venture Investments.

"We are seeing strong demand from institutions that previously could not participate in the bitcoin market due to compliance restrictions against unregulated venues," said Chou.

He said fund managers want to hold financial instruments that are not correlated with the broader equity market, and digital currencies meet that need.

Founded in 2013, LedgerX first received a temporary approval to operate as a swap execution facility in 2015.

The new revolution in cryptocurrency, https://www.plexcoin.com/?ref=TnsTpYVS4s

How Bitcoin is infiltrating the $60bn global art market

By Matthew Wall
Technology of Business editor
25 July 2017

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-40703182

Why is the art world getting excited about digital currency Bitcoin and its underlying technology blockchain?
Eleesa Dadiani owns and runs an art gallery in London's famous Cork Street. She was born in Georgia in the Caucasus and was "breastfed by gypsies".
But she is also a passionate believer in the power of Bitcoin and other digital currencies.
When we meet she is busy preparing for an exhibition of sculptures made from the exhausts of former Formula 1 racing cars.
One of these strange rib-cage-like creations made from the super-strong alloy inconel has been gold-plated and will sell for about £35,000.
"These are pieces of history," she tells me.
In a first for the tradition-bound art world of Cork Street, her international clientele will have the opportunity to pay using Bitcoin, the digital cryptocurrency underpinned by blockchain technology.
The gallery will also accept other cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, Dash, Litecoin, and soon, Monero, she says.

This is not a demand-driven decision at all, it's intuitive based on the way things are going," she says.
She believes paying by cryptocurrency will become as normal as paying by cash or credit card. She also hopes it will attract a new, non-traditional type of art investor.
Blockchain, the underlying technology, is a digital ledger or record of transactions that is distributed across, and verified by, thousands of computers in a network.
Once the network has reached a consensus that a transaction has happened, the ledger is updated and cannot be tampered with.
"Blockchain is a borderless, open source, decentralised peer-to-peer network that governments cannot shut down," she says. "For me, the blockchain is going to be the biggest thing since the internet."

Read full story

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-40703182

Oh

Cryptocurrency and Bitcoin is going mainstream.

Those who start today will be easier than those still sitting and peeping from window.

A big announcement coming up.

All within Lagos and it's environs should attend.

7 Cryptocurrency Predictions From the Experts

Fortune convened some top cryptocurrency entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, bankers, and others to chat about the future of digital money at Fortune’s Brainstorm Tech conference in Aspen, Colo. last week. A select group met at the Aspen Institute for a breakfast roundtable discussion on Wednesday morning.

Headliners on the panel included Balaji Srinivasan, CEO and cofounder of 21.co, a cryptocurrency startup that has raised more in traditional VC funding than almost other one. Another was Peter Smith, CEO and cofounder of Blockchain, a U.K.-based cryptocurrency wallet company that recently raised $40 million from GV, the venture capital arm of Alphabet, parent company of Google (GOOG, -0.39%). And Kathleen Breitman, CEO and cofounder of Tezos, a blockchain startup that this year raised more than $200 million in an initial coin offering, or ICO, and which counts celeb investor Tim Draper among its backers.

The crew of experts weighed in on everything from the longevity of Bitcoin, the original cryptocurrency and blockchain, or cryptographically secured public ledger, to the latest trend of hosting so-called token sales to fund projects, especially on Ethereum, a rival blockchain to Bitcoin’s, to the future of a decentralized web. Here are some of the predictions we heard.

1. Bitcoin and Ethereum are here to stay.
Most people who are enthusiastic about cryptocurrency appear to agree that Bitcoin and its newer rival Ethereum have staying power, though they may be more bullish on one versus the other. "In terms of 5 to 10 years, Bitcoin and Ether will be around I bet," Balaji Srinivasan told the room of more than 70 people.

Bitcoin "has some purpose but its application for commercial transaction is limited right now," Cagney said. "The blockchain and Ethereum, on the other hand, have absolutely fascinating infrastructure applications,” he continued, mentioning the possibility to overhaul title insurance, which involves policies related to real estate, as one example.

2. As yet unknown coins will hit the big time.
Bitcoin and Ethereum may have stolen the show at this point, but the innovation won’t end there. Expect more winners on the horizon.


3. Sure, people will get burned.
For the time being, token sales might seem like a fantastic way to raise a lot of money quickly and with few questions asked. Will this lead to riches for some? Undoubtedly—indeed, it already has. And rip-offs for others? Almost certainly.

4. ICOs will (eventually) give Silicon Valley and Wall Street a run for their money.
The days of making a pilgrimage to the homes of the holders of purse strings are coming to an end. In a world where anyone can participate as an investor online, physical location matters much less.

5. Regulations will stick.
Elena Kvochko, chief information officer of the security division at Barclays, said that her bank has had talks with regulators about Bitcoin, blockchains, and their ilk. The rule-sticklers appear to be open to the idea as long as “know your customer” laws are obeyed, although its still early days.

6. Speculation will subside as “killer apps” take hold.
As cryptocurrency prices fluctuate wildly, speculators have been having a field day. However, there’s reason to believe the markets will become more stable, as Bitcoin gradually has over the past couple of years (despite its still big price swings), Smith said.

7. Cryptocurrencies will pressure incumbents to improve.
Whenever a consumer swipes or dips a credit card, payment processors charge a fee.
Nicko van Someren, chief technology officer of the Linux Foundation, pointed out that the fee companies like Visa or Mastercard charge exceeds the cost to clear or settle transactions. These businesses can potentially process transactions quicker and cheaper, he contended.

One potential outcome of the adoption of alternate systems, like Bitcoin, is to provide companies with the impetus to improve their services. “Bitcoin is good because it will make banks move toward the real cost of handling these transactions,” van Someren said. (By extension, in Ethereum's case, one could imagine upstart companies built on it forcing giants like Amazon, Facebook, or Dropbox to reconsider or improve their respective offerings.)
http://fortune.com/2017/07/25/bitcoin-ethereum-cryptocurrency-predictions/

*********
Its time serious minded people wake up and start thing of hedging funds with cryptocurrency.

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IT Giant Fujitsu Is Planning to Deploy Multiple Blockchain Business Models

Enterprise blockchain platforms continue to move toward commercialization – and the latest to emerge as a potential leader of that drive is Japanese conglomerate Fujitsu.

One of the core architects of Hyperledger Fabric, Fujitsu is now embarking on a multi-pronged plan to sell blockchain services aimed at increasing operating efficiency in both internal and client-facing processes.

On its own the news might not stand out, if not for a similar announcement by Hewlett Packard Enterprise earlier this week.

An important difference, though, is that both Fujitsu and competitor IBM are building on the same blockchain code. Will the spirit of open-source collaboration extend to the commercial world? We shall see

https://www.coindesk.com/fujitsu-planning-deploy-multiple-blockchain-business-models/

Join us

Sony and IBM Team to Secure Education Data with Blockchain

Sony has developed a new educational platform in partnership with IBM that uses blockchain to secure and share student records, the two firms announced today.

Through its subsidiary Sony Global Education, the Japanese electronics conglomerate plans to launch the service sometime next year. Underlying the platform is the IBM Blockchain offering, which was officially launched in March.

The platform will allow educators to exchange information on student progress and achievements. Sony, according to the announcement, is eyeing both primary and higher educational institutions as users of the new product.

Looking ahead, Sony said that it wants to develop additional educational services, with the blockchain platform functioning as the data-sharing layer beneath it all.

Masaaki Isozu, president of Sony Global Education, said in a statement:

"Blockchain technology has the potential to impact systems in a wide variety of industries, and the educational sphere is no exception when educational data is securely stored on the blockchain and shared among permissioned users."

Sony further hinted it is looking at applications for blockchain in the areas of supply chain and logistics, indicating that it would continue exploring the tech for future use cases.

"Sony Group is also considering innovative ways to make use of blockchain technology. It will continue evaluating this system going forward as it works towards the creation of appealing products and services in a host of different fields," the company said.

https://www.coindesk.com/sony-and-ibm-team-to-secure-education-data-with-blockchain/

Cryptocurrency Can Leapfrog Africa Into Future

Africa and its banking sector have always had its issues. Infrastructure for brick and mortar banks struggle due to the remote nature of the continent, but mass adoption of cryptocurrency could see many marginalized people empowered through digital currency.

Cryptocurrency is being hailed in the developed world as the next step in money, but it is locked in a fight with a well established and powerful financial sector. In the developing world, however, that sector is broken and ripe for mutiny.

Leapfrogging the obsolete
Traditional banking sectors have been implemented across the African continent in the same mould as in the developed European banks due to colonization. However, Africa’s infrastructure and inner workings do not make this system efficient in any way.

Thus, banks have been forced upon Africans as a necessity; however, they are difficult to use and unsuited to the continent.

This leapfrogging of technology has happened before in Africa as many citizens of the continent simply skipped the part of owning a landline as they were cumbersome, expensive and difficult to set up in rural areas. Mobile phones suited Africa much more, as would cryptocurrencies.

The signs are there
Africa’s Bitcoin and cryptocurrency market in general is slowly taking root. South Africa’s finance minister has said the country will take a balanced approach to the currency as many use it as a store of wealth.

Additionally, Nigeria is breaking boundaries with its volume of Bitcoin traded while many think that the Ethereum Blockchain can help different sectors of the country's economy.

The benefit of African exchanges and cryptocurrency businesses are being noted, especially when it comes to cross border trade and payment. Additionally, since the uptick in mobile phones, the Internet and telecommunication infrastructure is very advanced across the continents - far more advanced and accessible than banking.

"The problem describing bitcoin is twofold.


First, you have to throw out what you think you know about money.

Second, you have to become moderately fluent in a few technologies.

The beauty of bitcoin is that as the price of bitcoin rises, more people are incentivized to tackle the learning curve out of self-interest.

When the price was $3 - when Keiser Report first covered bitcoin - you could afford to ignore it.

But as price heads to $5,000 and higher, you can't afford to ignore the technology and accept the fact that your preconceptions about money are probably wrong,"

+++++
If you are still sitting on the fence, that's a choice you have made.

August 23, 2017
To
All stakeholders in Jos, Kaduna & Portharcout


Dear Sir/ma,

INVITATION TO A MEETING ON VIRTUAL CURRENCIES AS EMERGING MEDIUM OF EXCHANGE IN NIGERIA

The Central Bank of Nigeria has commissioned a study on “Virtual Currency as an Emerging Medium of Exchange”. Towards meeting the objectives of the study, there is need to hold a meeting to brainstorm and exchange ideas with key stakeholders in the space with a view to gathering facts on the nature, scope and dynamics of virtual currency operations in Nigeria.
As a key player in the virtual currency landscape in Nigeria, we wish to invite you to a meeting as follows:
Date: Monday, August 28, 2017

Time: 9.30 am

Venue: CBN BRANCHES JOS, KADUNA AND PORT HARCOURT

We also request that you assist in extending our invitation to your colleagues and clients in the following areas of virtual currency operations: Exchange, Wallets providers, Miners, Software developers and Individual Investors

Attendance can be confirmed by calling or sending a text or email with of name(s) on or before 8.00 pm Sunday August 27, 2017 to the following contacts;
For Jos meeting: Dr. Polycarp I.M on 08060681016 or impolycarp@cbn.gov.ng
For Kaduna Meeting: Mr. Ezoke Voda on 08068174104@cbn.gov.ng
For Port Harcourt meeting: Mr. Michael Odima-Ojoh on 0806 620 4220 or moodima-ojoh@cbn.gov.ng

Please accept the renewed assurances of my highest regards.

Director, Governor's Department

Dalecoin listed on coinmarketcap,cryptopia and etherdelta...


More coming!

Price keep increasing after the listing,congrats to those that bought when it was 0.3$

INVITATION TO A MEETING ON VIRTUAL CURRENCIES AS EMERGING MEDIUM OF EXCHANGE IN NIGERIA

The Central Bank of Nigeria has commissioned a study on “Virtual Currency as an Emerging Medium of Exchange”. Towards meeting the objectives of the study, there is need to hold a meeting to brainstorm and exchange ideas with key stakeholders in the space with a view to gathering facts on the nature, scope and dynamics of virtual currency operations in Nigeria.
As a key player in the virtual currency landscape in Nigeria, we wish to invite you to a meeting as follows:

Date: Monday, August 28, 2017
Time: 9.30 am

Venue: CBN BRANCHES JOS, KADUNA AND PORT HARCOURT

We also request that you assist in extending our invitation to your colleagues and clients in the following areas of virtual currency operations: Exchange, Wallets providers, Miners, Software developers and Individual Investors
Attendance can be confirmed by calling or sending a text or email with of name(s) on or before 8.00 pm Sunday August 27, 2017 to the following contacts;

For Jos meeting: Dr. Polycarp I.M on 08060681016 or impolycarp@cbn.gov.ng
For Kaduna Meeting: Mr. Ezoke Voda on 08068174104@cbn.gov.ng
For Port Harcourt meeting: Mr. Michael Odima-Ojoh on 0806 620 4220 or moodima-ojoh@cbn.gov.ng

gabriel4edeh@gmail.com

Did you read these posts before replying?

I don't understand what your email is for since you did not provide any description

elmas:
gabriel4edeh@gmail.com

https://financefeeds.com/saxo-bank-responds-increased-interest-bitcoin/

Saxo Bank responds to increased interest in Bitcoin

Saxo Markets, the institutional division of Denmark-based multi-asset trading and investment expert Saxo Bank, has informed the company introducing brokers that their clients can now get exposure to Bitcoin.

Saxo Bank notes that the interest in cryptocurrencies has risen significantly in 2017 thanks in large part to the increased supply and demand in China and Japan. As a result, traders have increasingly yearned for a product which enables them to speculate on the price of Bitcoin, the most well-known cryptocurrency.

In response to this growing interest, Saxo has added two new Exchange Traded Notes (ETNs) to its offering. Saxo clients can now get exposure to Bitcoin through these two new ETNs designed to track the movement of Bitcoin against the US Dollar (BTC/USD).

Bankers’ mistrust of bitcoin is still the greatest argument for it

Earlier on Tuesday, at different conferences around New York, JPMorgan Chase chief executive Jamie Dimon took aim at bitcoin, calling the cryptocurrency “a fraud” and “worse than tulip bulbs.”

This skepticism by one of Wall Street’s titans, and its reflection in many offices and hallways in top financial services companies, is perhaps one of the strongest cases for bitcoin’s lasting importance.

Let’s be clear, Dimon’s firm is one of the chief architects of the global financial crisis that led to the interest in a somewhat arcane cryptocurrency in the first place. There would be no bitcoin without Jamie Dimon — and in some ways he’s right to fear its rise.

As a Vanity Fair piece revealed last week, JPMorgan Chase paid out $13 billion (with a “b”) to the U.S. government because of its role in the financial crisis and the mortgage security fiasco that almost destroyed the U.S. economy.

The story quotes an unfiled complaint that was sealed as part of the settlement with the Department of Justice.

“By this action,” the draft complaint begins, “the United States seeks to recover civil penalties” against JPMorgan Chase and its investment banking arm “for a fraudulent and deceptive scheme to package and sell residential mortgage-backed securities” that the bank “knew contained a material amount of materially defective loans.” As the unfiled complaint continued, “JPMorgan knowingly securitized and sold billions of dollars of mortgage loans that were originated in material violation of underwriting guidelines and law.” (When reached for comments and responses to the various allegations in Wagner’s unfiled brief, a spokesperson for JPMorgan Chase told me, “These allegations have been addressed, resolved, or refuted years ago.”)

Whatever irrational exuberance may be attributed to bitcoin’s current froth, it’s hardly a fraud. What it does is get rid of the need for potentially unscrupulous middlemen who thrive and profit on asymmetric information.

Bitcoin does away with this by presenting an immutable ledger. The value of things are recorded, agreed upon, and irrefutable. Which means that shenanigans of the kind that brought down the housing bubble are less likely to occur.

Perhaps bitcoin itself is overvalued, but it’s not the house of cards that Dimon’s employees blew over in 2008.

While the near sacramental disputes in the cryptocurrency community over bitcoin and bitcoin cash or ethereum vs. ethereum classic do the entire industry no favors, they’re the arguments of individuals who want to untether financial services from the chicanery of misanthropic sociopaths who thrive on their ability to cheat systems.

The favorite refrain of Wall St. may be “it’s only illegal if I get caught”… and while cryptocurrencies are unregulated, they are — for the most part — transparent.

Again, the Vanity Fair report is illustrative.

At Dimon’s “insistence,” the unfiled complaint asserts, “JPMorgan formulated an exit strategy to divest itself” of the riskiest pieces of mortgage-backed securities that had been accumulating on its balance sheet. But, Wagner writes in the draft complaint, “despite knowledge at the highest levels that underwriting had deteriorated across the industry and early payment defaults were spiking, JPMorgan continued to purchase and securitize subprime loans without addressing the known breakdown of its due diligence practices and without disclosing its knowledge to investors.” This is pretty much the exact same thing that Goldman Sachs did leading up to the financial crisis, a practice for which the bank was roundly criticized.

Dimon may say that he’s not advising anyone to ‘go short’ on bitcoin, but if Wall Street keeps up its criticism, my advice may be to go long.
https://techcrunch.com/2017/09/12/bankers-mistrust-of-bitcoin-is-still-the-greatest-argument-for-it/

Meet The Millennials Saving For Retirement Using Bitcoin

From billionaire investor Mike Novogratz to celebrities like Ashton Kutcher and Paris Hilton, bitcoin is increasingly becoming part of a mainstream investor’s wallet. It made bonafide millionaires out of those who took a bite early, and while discussions about the concept of an unregulated digital payment system rage on, there are a group of millennials who are thinking about a cashless future — and putting their money where their thumbs are.

They’re part of a different 1%, the small number of Americans who’ve not only heard of bitcoin, but are buying, selling, and trading it on their smart phones and laptops. What’s more, some millennials are using bitcoin as the basis for their long-term savings. And experts say that could shake the foundation that this country’s financial institutions have built their empires on.

Roshaan Khan, a 20-year-old senior at Virginia Commonwealth University, is one of those millennials. Khan recently invested in bitcoin and ethereum — another form of cryptocurrency — and is encouraging his friends to do the same.


“All of my net worth is in cryptocurrencies, because I see them as the best way to escalate my ability to be financially secure and pay off my student loans,” Khan said. “I like the idea of decentralization, the fact that there’s a lot less corruption and political ties. That idea appeals to me … Not having to go through banks. Having financial control over our lives again.”

Andreas M. Antonopoulos, the author of Mastering Bitcoin and The Internet of Money, is familiar with this mistrust. He says that the concept of money on the internet isn’t only obvious and appealing to millennials — it’s the one system, he argues, that hasn’t betrayed them.

When you talk to millennials who have been thoroughly disappointed by every single social institution -- the government, the church, the politics, the parties -- they can’t trust anyone anymore,” Antonopoulos said. “They remember 2008, because it was the first big crash they’ve had, and many millennials have been unable to find work. They watched no bankers go to jail.”

Now that it’s time for them to start pushing around coins, millennials are choosing to do it digitally -- and on their own terms.

“It feels better to run my own savings plan by investing and reinvesting in new technology,” said Emil Thorsplass, a 24-year-old musician from Norway. “I still have my regular pension fund and my bills still have to be paid through a bank account, but cryptocurrency investments have become a central part of saving for me.”

Full Forbes Report at
https://www.forbes.com/sites/dianacrandall/2017/09/13/meet-the-millennials-saving-for-retirement-using-bitcoin/

Nebraska Lawyers Accept Bitcoin Following Ethics Board Approval

The lawyer who asked a Nebraska state legal ethics board about accepting bitcoin as payment says his practice will soon begin taking the cryptocurrency.

As CoinDesk previously reported, the Nebraska Lawyers' Advisory Committee was asked if lawyers could accept bitcoin from either a client directly or through a third party. That request also queried whether lawyers can hold cryptocurrencies in escrow or in a trust on behalf of a client.

The eight-member body, appointed by the state's Supreme Court, largely gave its approval, saying that any cryptocurrencies accepted must be immediately converted into US dollars. Among the notable elements of that ruling – a first – was the call for the use of multi-signature wallets when holding funds in escrow.

Now, Matt McKeever, the attorney who submitted the request, said that his firm Copple, Rockey, McKeever & Schlecht is putting together an official policy for accepting cryptocurrencies as payment. At this time, it's not clear when the practice will officially begin taking cryptocurrencies

https://www.coindesk.com/nebraska-lawyers-begin-accepting-bitcoin-following-state-panel-approval/

CFTC Chair Giancarlo: Embracing Blockchain Is in the 'National Interest'

Blockchain is in America's "national interest."

That's according to J. Christopher Giancarlo, chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), who issued the bold proclamation in remarks at a gathering of government technology executives in Washington, D.C. Wednesday morning.

But while the blockchain industry has been encouraging regulators and government agencies to embrace the technology for years, this acknowledgment might have more oomph behind it. For one, unique to this statement was the size and caliber of the audience receiving it – in attendance was a group of roughly 270 leaders from over 40 U.S. government agencies.

"Distributed ledger and blockchain technologies ... are going to challenge orthodoxies that are foundational to our financial infrastructure," Giancarlo said.

Giancarlo continued:

"Everything we do has been digitized. The one thing that has not yet been digitized is regulation. We're still very much an analog regulator of digital markets."

And most importantly, Giancarlo stressed that it is imperative that U.S. regulatory structures catch up with the fast-moving digital economy.


More on the report : https://www.coindesk.com/cftc-chair-embracing-blockchain-national-interest/