Day: May 15, 2018

Most big firms find blockchain compelling, but some of those same firms also find it overhyped, according to a new survey.

The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) is the largest network in the world enabling financial institutions to exchange formation about financial transactions. Cryptocurrencies are now taking over the business.

Bitbond Allows Small Businesses

German online bank Bitbond has announced it uses the Bitcoin’s blockchain to facilitate international transfer of fiat loans. Loans are transferred to the borrower using Bitcoin only to be converted back to fiat currency once the international movement is processed. This allows customers to avoid fluctuating exchange rates of fiat currencies.

Launched in 2013 and licensed as a financial institution in 2016, Bitbond helps small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) around the globe borrowing up to €50,000. According to the bank’s website, it has already lent over $10 million to 2,500 companies over the years, including lending and borrowing of loans in Bitcoin.

Employing 24 people from 12 countries, Bitbond manages loans for 100 clients amounting to around $1 million each month. The company’s motto is “see no bank, hear no bank, speak no bank” and Bitbond no longer sees any reason to use the legacy system, Radoslav Albrecht, Founder and CEO of Bitbond, told Reuters TV.

“Traditional money transfers are relatively costly due to currency exchange fees, and can take up to a few days. With Bitbond, payments work independently of where customers are. Via internet it is very, very quick and the fees are low.”

The Ripple Transaction Protocol was developed as a blockchain-based alternative to SWIFT, but many other cryptocurrencies may take its place over the long run. To transfer loans in fiat, Bitbond relies on Bitcoin, which is also costly at the moment. The Bitcoin Lightning Network could change that, however.

The same technology that will make international transfers cheaper and faster has the potential to evade capital controls, which is of use for countries sanctioned by the international community, such as North Korea and Venezuela. Iran is again being pressured by sanctions from the United States of America.

Bitcoin was used as a collateral for loans at Bitbond right from the start, but it wasn’t their original method of transferring credit in currency internationally.

Image from Shutterstock

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A breakout of bitcoin’s current narrow trading range could set the tone for the next big move, price chart analysis indicates.

South Korea’s largest exchange UPbit has told local media that an internal audit has cleared it of any fraud suspicions

Amid investigations into exchanges in South Korea, lawmakers are hoping to lift a ban on ICOs in the country

It will be interesting to see what the future will bring for all cryptocurrencies moving forward. While everything is in the green as of right now, it is evident things can always turn from bad to worse pretty quickly. As of right now, the Dash price is noting very strong momentum, resulting in a 12.41% increase. It is a positive trend for the Dash price in general, albeit $500 is still well out of reach.

Dash Price is Rising Slowly

It has become apparent most cryptocurrencies may see some positive overall momentum today. While that doesn’t mean the rest of the week will be equally positive, it is still a positive sign in an otherwise troublesome start during 2018. For the Dash price, 2018 hasn’t been all that great, as its value dropped from $1,500 to $288.95 in fairly quick succession.

Ever since that time, the remontada has been ongoing slowly but steadily. Although the current Dash price of $448 doesn’t look half bad it is evident there is still lots of work to be done before a positive trend becomes visible. Recovering $200 in four months is pretty significant, though, as the Dash price has almost doubled compared to that low point earlier in 2018 An interesting development most people tend to overlook in this day and age.

With this 12.41% increase over the past 24 hours, the Dash price is slowly pushing toward $450 again. If this trend remains in place, it could even go as high as $500 in the coming hours. There is no reason to expect major developments in quick succession, though, as the markets can turn bearish in a heartbeat. Dash also noted a 7.83% increase over Bitcoin, which is a pretty interesting trend worth keeping an eye on.

Thanks to its $170.5m in 24-hour trading volume, things look pretty solid for the Dash price. There is enough trading volume and positive momentum to keep this current trend going a while longer. Whether or not that will result in any major changes over the next few hours, remains to be determined. Small gains a day keep the doctor away in the cryptocurrency world, as things look pretty solid from a long-term perspective.

As of right now, most of the Dash trading volume comes from an exchange most people have never heard of. ZB.COM generates 23.9% of all Dash trades, followed by HitBTC’s BTC pair and YoBit’s BTC market. OKEx and Binance complete the top five, albeit there is no fiat currency pair in sight. Bitfinex’s USD pair is in sixth place, but only represents 3.61% of all trades in these past 24 hours. So far, that isn’t hindering the Dash price surge in the slightest.

Whether or not the Dash price can reach $450 later today, remains to be seen. It is certainly possible given the current momentum, albeit there is some resistance to contend with as well. As is usually the case, there is nothing to be really concerned about right now, and when keeping the long-term picture in mind, things look pretty solid all around.

BitGo has released a new suite of cryptocurrency custodial products aimed at Wall Street financial firms. It is claimed that 15% of Bitcoin transactions occur through BitGo’s wallet services, with BitGo software processing over USD 10 billion of cryptocurrency transactions per month. BitGo is seeking to attract USD 20 billion that it expects institutional investors to commit to cryptocurrency.

Institutional clients like hedge funds and stock brokerage firms require a custodian service that follows all of the laws and is properly regulated before they are willing to invest money. This is why BitGo acquired the Kingdom Trust Company as well as Kingdom Services earlier this year.

Kingdom Trust is a licensed qualified custodian regulated by the South Dakota Division of Banking which has over 100,000 clients with over USD 12 billion of assets. Using Kingdom Trust’s infrastructure, BitGo will offer legal and trustworthy custodianship of cryptocurrency assets, giving big investors and firms peace of mind when deciding to add cryptocurrency to their portfolio. The acquisition of Kingdom Trust still has to be approved by government regulators, but that hasn’t stopped BitGo from launching services managed by Kingdom Trust.

Having a trustworthy custodian makes cryptocurrency investment easier for investors, since they don’t have to deal with any of the technical details. They simply send their money to BitGo with an order for which cryptocurrencies they want, and BitGo takes care of buying the cryptocurrency on an exchange and securely storing it in a wallet.

Currently, BitGo supports 20 different cryptocurrencies and is looking to add even more so that it eventually provides custodial services for every cryptocurrency it deems worth investing in. BitGo offers three tiers of service: qualified custody where cryptocurrency is stored and secured with Kingdom Trust, institutional custody where clients manage BitGo wallets, and completely self-managed custody. This range of services provides solutions from consumer to institutional needs.

The value of all cryptocurrencies combined is worth just over USD 400 billion as of this writing, and has been growing by orders of magnitudes the past several years. BitGo’s custodial services open up cryptocurrency to big investors like never before and will provide a conduit for money to pour into the cryptocurrency market from Wall Street. Trillions of dollars are invested in the stock market, and BitGo’s services will facilitate some of that money to be diverted into cryptocurrency.

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First announced last year, Coinbase Custody is a cryptocurrency storage service directed specifically at large financial institutions.