Image of The Week, 10-14 of September: Forbes, CNBC, Irish TImes and Others
We're presenting “image of the week”. Bitnewstoday.com has chosen only the most important news about the digital economy and virtual currencies. Only the most valuable stories from only the trusted sources. Each and every event from this list will change the world of the digital economy either way. The most important stories in the most indicative quotes are below!
10 of September
WINKLEVOSS SHENANIGANS (CNBC)
Winklevoss firm rolls out new crypto dollar pegged to U.S. dollar
Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss aren't letting rejections from the SEC or the sharp downturn in the price of bitcoin this year stop them from launching a new cryptocurrency product.
Their digital exchange, Gemini Trust Company, on Monday unveiled the Gemini dollar, a regulated stablecoin that will allow people to send and receive U.S. dollars on the Ethereum cryptocurrency network. The Gemini dollar, which has received approval from the New York Department of Financial Services, aims to maintain a value one on one with the U.S. dollar.
TWENTY BILLION DOLLARS STEP (Forbes)
The Step That Would Save European Banks Twenty Billion Dollars
Every year, according to Europol, European banks spend $20 billion on anti-money laundering compliance. And every year financial investigation units intercepts just 1 percent of the almost $1 trillion laundered through the continent — i.e. $10 billion-worth, or half of the cost of prevention. It’s an inefficient process. So inefficient that, increasingly, anti-money laundering prevention is coming under fire from all sides.
Moreover, the manner in which it is done is being questioned: financial institutions charged with a process that looks and smells like an obligation of government. Does it have to be this way? In short, no.
11 of September
VILLAGE SIDE MINING (Geekwire)
Mining is transforming apple country, one megawatt at a time
Malachi Salcido, bitcoin miner and founder of large-scale contracting firm Salcido Enterprises, made that observation about the modern world during my visit to the hot and smoky Wenatchee Valley this summer. The construction engineer, who grew up alongside the array of hydropower plants that span the Columbia River in Central Washington’s Wenatchee Valley, knows first-hand that one of the most transformative industries in the history of the planet — information technology — requires plentiful, reliable, and inexpensive sources of electricity.
So instead of selling shovels to prospectors chasing a gold rush, he decided to start digging himself. His companies now operate a bitcoin mining network that he estimates controls around four percent of the world’s mining capacity, and he is devoting much of his attention to growing this part of his business.
TOO CRAZY TO WORK (City Lab)
A startup called Voatz wants to build an unhackable way to vote over the internet
Voting in the U.S. is an intentionally high-friction endeavor. Elections are held at in-person polling centers, open during hours when most people are working, on a day that hasn’t been made a national holiday. They’re governed by strict voter ID laws, designed to weed out imposters and in many cases succeeding mostly in disenfranchising people of color.
Efficiency, some have argued, is not the point of the voting process. Security is. But this election season, West Virginia is trying out a new blockchain-based voting system that officials hope can achieve both, simultaneously. And experts are calling it a “horrific idea.”
In April the state began asking some citizens serving in the overseas military to trade in mailed absentee ballots for digital ones, submitted through an app run by a Boston-based startup called Voatz. No one is forced to switch over to the new system, but two counties opted in for a May primary pilot, and overseas military from every county are eligible to use it for the November election.
12 of September
IN CRYPTO WE TRUST (Forbes)
70% of finance execs believe cryptocurrency is here to stay
The new survey found that the majority of the 141 institutional investment executives it had polled believed that a regulatory framework would develop around cryptocurrencies, leading to the growth and innovation, or that a few cryptocurrencies would survive and thrive, even if many others failed. This report, released today by the consulting firm Greenwich Associates says that over 70% of institutional finance executives surveyed believe that cryptocurrency will have a place in the future of the industry.
"They’re telling us that they don’t think it’s going away but it’s here to stay," says Richard Johnson, a vice president in Greenwich Associates' Market Structure and Technology group and the author of the report.
THE NEXT BIG THING (Seeking Alpha)
Vechain might be the next major blockchain success story
On September 23rd, U.S. audiences will get some of their first tastes of Vechain — a Shanghai-based blockchain company. This will come via CNBC's series "Advancements" with host Ted Danson, as he travels to Shanghai to profile the company and its work.
Vechain does have a working product. It's a product that the company has been developing since 2014: a blockchain-based ledger that helps record large-scale logistics for enterprises. With an original focus on anti-counterfeiting, Vechain has seen its blockchain idea expand to insurance, automobiles, luxury goods, and more.
13 of September
A HELPING HAND (CNBC)
Companies race to solve bitcoin’s security problem despite slumping prices
Start-ups are driving ahead with plans to solve the issue of custody, or having a place to securely store cryptocurrency. For institutional investors that are used to having money safely stored or FDIC insured, where they would put their high-paying clients’ cryptocurrency is said to be the biggest question mark.
"Institutional investors are very interested in finding a solution, but they haven't seen one that they think is perfect for various reasons," said Monica Summerville, the senior analyst at TABB Group specializing in financial technology. "They still self-custody, and manage all their own keys."
GIRLS ONLY (Irish TImes)
Irish blockchain body for women aims to build awareness of technology
A new Irish blockchain organization for women has been established to build awareness of the much-hyped technology locally. The organization aims to provide a platform to build awareness of the potential for blockchain as a career for women, as well as highlighting educational opportunities, and so on.
Among the founding members of Blockchain Women Ireland are representatives from the Department of Finance, BNY Mellon and the Science Foundation Ireland-funded Adapt research centre for the digital content technology.
14 of september
VIVA LA FRANCE! (TheNextWeb)
France introduces ICO regulations to protect investors
Despite calls for the EU to unify its regulation of cryptocurrencies and blockchain, France has taken the initiative and introduced its own regulations for initial coin offerings (ICOs). In a tweet yesterday, French Minster of Economy and Finance, Bruno Le Maire, announced the approval of a legislative framework which would require ICOs floated in France to provide safeguards and guarantees to investors
DO NO HARM (CNBC)
Cryptocurrency regulation requires government to “tread lightly”, US regulator says
When it comes to the oversight of cryptocurrencies, regulators need to avoid inhibiting innovation, yet be vigilant against manipulation, said U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo.
Speaking to CNBC at the annual Singapore Summit on Friday, he said that the internet flourished because the government did not step in too heavily, and applied a "do no harm" approach, same principle applies to the question of digital assets.