Hydrogen, a NYC-based business that was recently named KPMG’s fintech startup of the year has signed a public blockchain licensing deal with TD Bank – the world’s 12th-biggest bank in terms of market capitalization. Hydrogen is a decentralized ecosystem for financial services that combines artificial intelligence, record keeping, authentication, payments and identity services. The initial phase of the collaboration will integrate Hydrogen’s APIs into TD’s WebBroker program, which will allow all TD clients to design their own financial plans and implement custom investment portfolios. Future developments will include several new…
Month: September 2018
South Korean Government to Exclude Sale, Brokerage of Digital Assets from Venture Business
South Korean cabinet ministers have agreed to exclude digital assets trading companies from venture business classification, Business Korea reported September 27. Back in August, the country’s Ministry of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and Startups (MSS) had already excluded cryptocurrency exchanges from legislation governing venture businesses, Cointelegraph reported. During the recent cabinet meeting held under the Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon presidency, the government revised the “Enforcement Decree of the Act on Special Measures for the Promotion of Venture Businesses” to exclude all sale and brokerage of digital assets based…
Bitcoin Price Could Crash to $100, Claims Forex Analyst
There’s something about a prolonged cryptocurrency market downturn that leaves bears jockeying to be the one to twist the final knife in bitcoin’s battle-scarred back. The latest jab comes from Marek Paciorkowski, a financial market analyst at Polish forex platform Aforti Exchange S.A. Speaking in an interview with Romanian financial publication Business Review, Paciorkowski speculated that the bitcoin price could plunge as far as $100, a threshold it hasn’t touched in more than five years and a mark that would place it 99.5 percent below the all-time high it set…
Chinese Search Giant Baidu Shares Details of Upcoming Blockchain
Chinese search giant Baidu has officially released a white paper through its new Blockchain Lab for its proposed XuperChain network. The company claims XuperChain will support more than 10,000 transactions per second through inter-chain parallel technology and a stereoscopic network, according to the white paper. The nodes of XuperChain use multi-core parallel calculations, maximizing the work of processors, and employ sidechains to speed up the network. While Baidu has more than 50 patents for XuperChain and maintains 100 percent ownership of the intellectual property, the white paper notes that the…
Bitcoin, Ether, XRP Weekly Market Update: September 27, 2018
BTC closed September 20, 2018, at $6,493 with substantial gains of approximately $100 and a third consecutive green candle on the daily chart. BTC-USD The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) stated on September 20 that it has begun a review process for the physically-backed bitcoin ETF proposed by VanEck and SolidX and will once again delay its decision in regards to these exchange-traded funds. The commission will be looking to review the bitcoin market further and seek additional comments on a listing request. Bitcoin made a significant upwards move…
Italy to Enter European Blockchain Partnership, Local MP Confirms
Italy is about to enter the European Blockchain Partnership, according to the country’s Member of Parliament (MP) Mirella Liuzzi, as cited by Cointelegraph Italy Thursday, September 27. According to Liuzzi, the partnership — a collaboration of 26 EU countries — will be signed by the Minister of Economic Development, Labour and Social Policies Luigi Di Maio on September 28 in Brussels. In an interview with Key4biz, Liuzzi added: “Joining the partnership will allow Italy […] to define its own line in the development of [blockchain] technology — a practice which…
Chinese State Bank Uses Blockchain to Issue Digital Mortgages Worth $1.3 Billion
The Chinese state-owned Bank of Communications (BoCom) has successfully issued $1.3 billion of residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) using blockchain technology, national securities outlet China Securities Times writes Wednesday, September 27. BoCom — the fifth largest bank in China according to S&P Global recent stats — used an independently developed platform called Juicai Chain to issue 9.3 billion yuan worth of RMBS, which is approximately $1.3 billion. By using blockchain, all parties participating in the loan are able to track assets, manage cash flow, and perform other business operations. As China…
Breakout Zone after 25% Spike from Bitmain IPO Filing
Bitcoin Cash on Thursday jumped more than 25 percent against the US Dollar owing to strong fundamentals. Bitmain, one of the world’s largest digital miners and also the most energetic backer of BCH tokens, yesterday applied for its long-planned IPO round. If accepted, the Beijing company will go public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX). The application, however, is in draft-state. It is unclear whether the Bitmain will receive approval or not. Nevertheless, the mere announcement of the company applying for an IPO has injected upside sentiments among the BCH speculators.…
Bitcoin (BTC): Massive Price Swing on the Cards Following Prolonged Volatility Contraction
Bitcoin looks set for a massive price swing either way based on the prolonged contraction its price volatility. However, it isn’t clear which way the top-ranked cryptocurrency would move once the price swing occurs. Narrowing Bitcoin Price Volatility Since plummeting to $6,000 in February 2018, Bitcoin has maintained a broadly consistent price range that has remained above $6,000 for most of the year so far. Barring any sudden price movements in the remainder of Q3 2018, the $8,400 reached in late July represents the highest price valuation for the last…
Marsh Confirms IBM Blockchain Insurance Partnership to Include Salesforce
Global insurance brokerage and risk management firm Marsh announced it would extend its partnership with IBM as part of its proof-of-insurance blockchain solution, a press release confirmed Wednesday, September 26. Marsh, which began working with IBM in April this year to develop the blockchain service, will now take advantage of IBM’s links with customer relationship management giant Salesforce. The release notes that “Marsh will work with IBM to extend its commercial proof of insurance blockchain solution to be directly accessible to Marsh clients through the Salesforce Platform.” In April of…