time_unix
int64 1.31B
1.75B
| date_time
stringdate 2011-06-22 10:56:00
2025-06-04 14:01:05
| text_matches
stringlengths 2
1.33k
| title_matches
stringlengths 2
37
| title
stringlengths 8
297
| url
stringlengths 50
197
| source
stringclasses 364
values | source_url
stringclasses 361
values | article_text
stringlengths 3
362k
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1,446,742,215 |
2015-11-05 16:50:15+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [62]}
|
{}
|
Jamie Dimon thinks bitcoin is doomed—but here’s what he does like about it
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/jamie-dimon-thinks-bitcoin-doomed-165015452.html
|
Quartz
|
http://www.qz.com
|
Jamie Dimon doesn't think highly of this whole bitcoin thing. Bitcoin might be the hottest topic in financial technology, but Jamie Dimon isn’t impressed. “It’s just not going to happen…there is no government that is going to put up with it for long,” the CEO of JPMorgan Chase said about virtual currency at the Fortune Global Forum yesterday (Nov. 4), adding: “It’s kind of cute now, a lot of senators and congressmen will say ‘I support Silicon Valley innovation,’ But there will be no currency that gets around government controls.” ExxonMobil faces a New York investigation into whether it hid the risks of climate change The “blockchain” technology that makes bitcoin possible, on the other hand, could be a potential game changer, Dimon admitted. JPMorgan and 22 other major banks have recently partnered with R3, a blockchain startup, to study blockchain technology and possibility of idea of a shared, private ledger. Blockchain is essentially a shared database where people can exchange information—as well as virtual currencies like bitcoin, stock certificates, contract agreements, and even securities. For something like sending money across borders, using blockchain technology can make the process much faster and cheaper. “If it is cheaper, effective, works, and secure, then we are going to use it,” said Dimon. The IRS and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) both consider bitcoin a commodity , instead of a currency—essentially a piece of property you pay taxes on. Yet, more recently, government agencies outside the US have been more receptive of bitcoin as a currency, and not taxable. Sign up for the Quartz Daily Brief , our free daily newsletter with the world’s most important and interesting news. More stories from Quartz: A nuclear war between India and Pakistan is a very real possibility Explore the complicated network of allies and enemies in Syria’s civil war
|
1,421,774,196 |
2015-01-20 17:16:36+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [8, 329, 491, 542, 645, 684, 846, 1108, 1196, 1586, 1734, 1791, 2414]}
|
{"Bitcoin": [57]}
|
Coinbase Closes $75 Million VC Round, Largest-Ever for a Bitcoin Company
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/coinbase-closes-75-million-vc-171636614.html
|
Entrepreneur
|
http://www.entrepreneur.com/
|
Despite Bitcoin’s recentprice crash,Coinbase’s future looks bright. The popular San Francisco bitcoin wallet startup has justannouncedthat it raised $75 million in Series C funding from a bevy of heavy-hitter investors -- even the New York Stock Exchange.
The investment is believed to be the largest funding round to date for a Bitcoin company, bringing Coinbase’s total capital raised to $106 million -- and giving the controversial cryptocurrency a much needed confidence boost. Who says Bitcoin isdead, headed for the “ash heap?”
Related:Bitcoin Continues Downward Spiral, Plunges Below $200“Investors still have a pretty high conviction on Bitcoin despite what the spot price of Bitcoin is doing,” Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam told theNew York Times. “This really is people putting their money where their mouth is in terms of betting on Bitcoin as a technology trend.”
The massive financing round was led by DFJ Growth, with participation from earlier investors Ribbit Capital, Union Square Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz. NTT DoCoMo, a Japanese telecom firm, also took part in the round.
Related:Bitcoin Named Worst-Performing Currency of 2014
“If we thought there was a huge risk of Bitcoin going away, we obviously wouldn’t have made this investment,” Barry Schuler, a managing director at DFJ Growth said, also in theNew York Times.
The NYSE wasn’t the only major financial institution to throw in. USAA and BBVA, a large global bank, also invested, along with former Thomson Reuters CEO Tom Glocer and Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit.
Related:Coinbase Goes Global, Launches Bitcoin Services in 13 European Countries
Coinbase says this is the first time traditional financial institutions have made a major investment in a Bitcoin company. “This participation further legitimizes Bitcoin within the established financial sector,” a Coinbase representative toldEntrepreneur. She also said Coinbase is “looking forward to a big year ahead,” one in which the company will use this latest investment to continue to steamroll ahead with its ambitiousglobal expansion. The startup’s services are now available in 18 countries in Europe.
Coinbase, which was reportedly valued at around$400 millionlast November, says it currently serves 1.9 million consumers and provides bitcoin payment tools for 38,000 merchants worldwide.
Related:NYC Wants Drivers to Pay for Parking Tickets Via Apple Pay, Mobile Apps and Bitcoin
|
1,421,774,402 |
2015-01-20 17:20:02+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [3878]}
|
{}
|
Former Chief White House Advisor Gene Sperling Joins Ripple Labs Board of Directors
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/former-chief-white-house-advisor-172002189.html
|
Marketwired
|
http://www.marketwired.com/
|
SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - Jan 20, 2015) -Ripple Labstoday announced that it has named Gene Sperling, the first person to serve as National Economic Council Director and National Economic Advisor for two presidents, to its Board of Directors.
"I am excited to join Ripple Labs and their mission to dramatically increase the speed and efficiency of cross-border payments through a common Internet protocol," said Sperling. "The currency-neutralRippleprotocol is a unique technology that can fundamentally transform correspondent banking and lead to real-time payment systems. Furthermore, by seeking to do for payments what HTTP did for information sharing, the Ripple protocol can help advance the movement toward universal access to financial markets and services."
Sperling served as NEC Director and National Economic Advisor under President Clinton from 1997 to 2001 and then under President Obama from 2011 to 2014. Prior, he was senior counselor to Treasury Secretary Geithner, advising on financial crisis and auto rescue issues as well as being lead advisor on fiscal and jobs issues. In 2008, he was a chief economic advisor to Hillary Clinton during her Presidential campaign.
He is currently President of Sperling Economic Strategies, which advises financial companies, start-ups, Fortune 500 companies and philanthropies, includingPIMCO. Sperling was named one of the 100 Most Powerful People in Global Finance byWorth Magazineand as one of the 50 Most Powerful People in Washington byGQ.
"I am thrilled to welcome Gene to the Ripple Labs team," said Ripple Labs CEO Chris Larsen. "As a respected leader on economic issues, his experience and insights will be critical in building on our recent momentum gaining traction with financial institutions and network operators."
Sperling joins Susan Athey, a Professor of Economics at Stanford Graduate School of Business and Senior Fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economics Policy Research, on the Ripple Labs Board of Directors. Together, the two economists provide a unique blend of academic, corporate and government expertise in support of Ripple Labs' work with banks, network operators and government regulators.
Sperling graduated from the University of Minnesota and Yale Law School, and attended Wharton Business School. His work extends beyond economics, having served as the founder and Director of the Center for Universal Education at the Council on Foreign Relations and Brookings Institute. He co-authored a book entitledWhat Works in Girls' Education: Evidence and Policies from the Developing World, and he was also Senior Fellow for Economic Policy at the Center for American Progress, where he authoredThe Pro-Growth Progressive: An Economic Strategy for Shared Prosperity(Simon and Schuster 2006).
Ripple Labs is the developer of Ripple, an Internet protocol that interconnects the world's disparate financial networks to securely transfer funds in any currency in real time. Banks, money transmitters and clearing houses can use Ripple as a settlement technology and alternative to correspondent banking to facilitate straight through processing with no reserve funding required.Earthport, the largest open network for global bank payments, and three banks in the United States and Germany recently announced deployments of Ripple.
Ripple was created to enable the world to move value as easily as information moves today. For more information about Ripple Labs, please visithttp://www.ripplelabs.com. For more information about Ripple, please visithttp://www.ripple.com.
About Ripple LabsRipple Labs developed the Ripple protocol, an Internet for money that enables the free and instant exchange of anything of value. The San Francisco-based startup is funded by Google Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, IDG Capital Partners, Core Innovation Capital, FF Angel, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Bitcoin Opportunity Corp. and Vast Ventures.
Named one of 2014's50 Smartest Companiesby MIT Technology Review, Ripple Labs' team of 80 is comprised of deeply experienced cryptographers, security experts, distributed network developers, Silicon Valley and Wall Street veterans. They contribute code to the open-source software, as well as develop tools for and recruit financial institutions and payment networks to use Ripple. The team shepherds a movement to evolve finance so that payment systems are open, secure, constructive and globally inclusive.
About RippleRipple is an Internet protocol that interconnects all the world's disparate financial systems to enable the secure transfer of funds in any currency in real time -- consider it an Internet for money. As settlement infrastructure, Ripple transforms and enhances today's financial systems. Ripple unlocks assets and provides access to payment systems for everyone, empowering the world to move value like information moves today. For more information about Ripple, please visithttp://www.ripple.com.
|
1,421,778,792 |
2015-01-20 18:33:12+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [1343]}
|
{}
|
Coinbase raises $75M in largest bitcoin funding round to date
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/coinbase-raises-75m-largest-bitcoin-183312325.html
|
Gigaom
|
http://gigaom.com/
|
Despite a price crash and security breach to start 2015, it appears investor interest in bitcoin hasn’t slowed down. Payments processor and wallet startup Coinbase announced today a $75 million Series C, the largest ever for a bitcoin startup in the industry’s history. It brings the company’s total funding to $106 million.Bloomberg estimatesthe company to be valued at $400 million.
The round was led by DFJ Growth and included, for the first time, an investment in a bitcoin startup from a financial institution. The New York Stock Exchange, USAA and BBVA all participated in the round alongside existing Coinbase investors Andreessen Horowitz, Union Square Ventures, and Ribbit Capital.
With this round of funding, it looks like Coinbase wants to continue to drive overseas adoption of bitcoin — a long-time area of interest for bitcoin usage, butwhere adoption and startups still lack. As part of the round, Coinbase has signed on NTT DoCoMo, Japan’s largest mobile telecommunications operator, as a strategic partner and CEO Brian Armstrong reiterated his plans to bring bitcoin to global underbanked inan interview with Coinbase.
Image copyrightAnthony Harvey/Getty Images for TechCrunch.
Related research and analysis from Gigaom Research:Subscriber content.Sign up for a free trial.
• 4 frameworks for understanding industry change
• Bitcoin: why digital currency is the future financial system
• Why speed matters when it comes to cloud-based storage
More From paidContent.org
• Coinbase raises $75M in largest bitcoin funding round to date
|
1,446,758,989 |
2015-11-05 21:29:49+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [0, 94, 246, 346, 524, 594, 669, 757, 807, 889, 1135, 1160, 1581, 1678, 1776, 1817, 1929, 2018]}
|
{"Bitcoin": [8]}
|
Trading Bitcoin Binary Options
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trading-bitcoin-binary-options-212949745.html
|
Benzinga
|
http://www.benzinga.com/
|
Bitcoin. This may be something you wish you knew more about. You may have heard about trading Bitcoin and wondered how you could do it. It may seem unreal since it does not involve anything tangible.
A visit to the web page informs the visitor, “Bitcoin is an innovative payment network and a new kind of money.” It further notifies the public, “Bitcoin uses peer-to-peer technology to operate with no central authority or banks; managing transactions and the issuing of bitcoins is carried out collectively by the network. Bitcoin is open-source; its design is public, nobody owns or controls Bitcoin and everyone can take part. Through many of its unique properties, Bitcoin allows exciting uses that could not be covered by any previous payment system.”
Bitcoin was invented in 2008. In early 2010, each Bitcoin was worth only $0.04. Just last week, on October 29, it was reported that Bitcoin was trading above $314, near the highest since December 2014. This rise in price was thought to be related to the Fed statement that had been released the day before, but also strongly tied to China easing which appears to go straight to Bitcoin.
Today, reported Bitcoin trading at more than $410, a price jump of more than 70 percent in one month. According to an article on , after the price jump, there was a massive sell off causing the digital currency to drop by nearly $50. This article attributes the volatility to the influx of new Chinese buyers who have caused this surge “in order to bypass China’s tightened capital controls.”
As you can see from the news reports above, Bitcoin can be insanely volatile. It can move 40 percent in one day. In checking current charts, Bitcoin has rebounded and is currently trading around $470.
In order to illustrate different ways Bitcoin can be traded, let’s look at how Bitcoin was trading on October 29. Look at the chart below.
To view a larger image, click HERE.
This is a Nadex Bitcoin daily chart, which can be accessed from their trading platform. You can see that Bitcoin has surged up through 314. There was some long-term resistance at 314. The market had tested that level in January, February, June and July before breaking through on October 29. When this happens, you can usually expect that it will meet a little more resistance and then pullback.
There are a couple of different ways you can play this. You could expect it to expire below the high of the day at 319. If so, you could check out available strikes that you could sell. When you check for a contract, sometimes there may not be many contracts left, because of the surge in the market. Nadex offers bitcoin binary options with 21 strike prices for the 3:00 PM ET daily expiration, except on Fridays, which lists 15 strike levels. The interval width between each strike level is 1.5.
The next image shows the different strike prices that were available at the time. When you look for the sell strike, you see that there is a 315.5 available for around $21. Choosing this trade would allow you to make a little bit of premium if you wanted to go short.
To view a larger image, click HERE.
If you believe the market will stay above 314, you can look at buying a contract. Again, checking the strike prices, there is one available at 314 for about 65, with the profit potential of $35.
For October 29, it appears that 314 is the magic number, the resistance level right now. By knowing this information, you can have a better understanding of the expectations of the market. Here is another image taken a short time after the other image, which showed strike prices. You may notice that both the buy and sell prices have increased as has the indicative index.
To view a larger image, click HERE.
However, for this example, with the strike 314 at 70.75, it is $0.76 above the strike. There is a high expectation of the market staying above 314.
Remember, the first chart was a daily chart. For a better analysis on either of these trades, it would be wise to look at a smaller time frame chart in order to see what you could actually do. When you look at a five-minute chart, it shows how the market popped up and then promptly turned around and went down. Here is a five-minute chart:
To view a larger image, click HERE.
Further analysis using the five-minute chart shows that if there was a shark in the waters and they wanted to push the market a little farther, it is possible they could have caused the big green bar that broke through the 314 resistance. The next green bars are other traders coming in thinking there is a big rally. Take note here, all of a sudden at the short red bar, they start getting rid of their trades. Next, they dump off the rest and everybody bails. This is how it usually goes in trading. This is how you learn to follow the sharks without getting eaten by them and staying out of their way. The sharks will go in, pump up the market and then sell it off. You get your one warning shot, the short red bar, and then BAM! It is over.
With any trade, but especially one with high volatility, make sure that you define your risk when you trade. Risk management is essential to being a profitable trader. To further your trading education, visit , a service of Darrell Martin.
See more from Benzinga
• An Evening For A Scheduled News Trade With The USD/CHF
• Reports Of The Aussies Employed And Unemployed Provide After Work Trade Opportunity For US
• Record Highs Reported By Nadex For Three Consecutive Quarters
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
|
1,421,782,576 |
2015-01-20 19:36:16+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [129, 384, 472, 1010, 1309, 1467, 1611, 1765, 2095, 2509, 3099, 3408, 3516, 3729]}
|
{"Bitcoin": [2]}
|
A Bitcoin Startup Just Set A Massive New Record For VC Funding in The Industry
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bitcoin-startup-just-set-massive-193616487.html
|
Business Insider
|
http://www.businessinsider.com/
|
Anthony Harvey/Getty Images Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong talks at the 2014 TechCrunch Disrupt conference in London. The price of Bitcoin has plummeted in recent weeks, dropping to low levels not seen since the end of 2013. But this hasn't put off investors.Virtual currency startup Coinbase has just closed a $75 million round of funding, Fortune is reporting— the largest ever for a Bitcoin company.
Coinbase offers customers digital wallets allowing them to store their Bitcoin, as well as providing an exchange platform.
Launched in 2012, the company has now raised $105 million in venture capital funding. Investors in this most recent round include the New York Stock Exchange, banks USAA and BBVA, and former Citibank CEO Vikram Pandit, as well as Andreesson Horowitz, Reddit Capital and Union Square Ventures (who had all previously invested).
The $75 million funding round is believed to value the company at $400 million, though this couldn't be confirmed.
Coinbase's platform isused by several major Bitcoin-accepting mainstream companies, Re/code reports, including Overstock and Expedia. The service also has almost 2 million customers.
Co-founder Fred Ehrsam told Fortune that Coinbase has grown extensively over 2014, despite the slump in price. “Price volatility isn’t good for certain uses of Bitcoin," he said. "But, in that same time period, we went from 600,000 users to 2.1 million users."
The company also aims to help develop apps on top of the Bitcoin platform, and make the virtual currency more straightforward to ordinary people.Speaking in London in 2014, CEO Brian Armstrong likened Bitcoin's current stateto "the early days of the Internet" prior to mass adoption.
Here's a tweet confirming the news:
It's much-needed good news for the Bitcoin community, which has been through a tumultuous few weeks. The virtual currency's value is currently hovering around the $210 mark — down $100 from just a month ago. The price drop hasforced cloud mining service CEX.io to halt operationsbecause they're no longer profitable. And hackers recentlymade off with $5 million in Bitcoin from exchange Bitstamp.
Interestingly, though the drop in price hasn't been accompanied by a decrease in trading. It's actually quite the opposite: amid mass speculation,the volume of trades surged to record levels last week.
Here's thefull statement from Coinbase's blog:
Today we are pleased to announce that Coinbase has raised $75 million in Series C financing, the largest funding round to date for a Bitcoin company. This brings our total capital raised to $106 million.
The round was led by DFJ Growth, with participation from our existing investors, including Andreessen Horowitz, Union Square Ventures, and Ribbit Capital.
Three of the world’s most respected financial institutions – The New York Stock Exchange, USAA, and BBVA (a largemultinational bank) – also invested in the round alongside personal investments from former Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit and former Thomson Reuters CEO Tom Glocer. This marks the first time that financial institutions have made a major investment in a Bitcoin company.
The round saw participation from a number of other strategic partners who will accelerate our international expansion, including NTT DoCoMo, Japan’s largest mobile telecommunications operator.
Today’s fundraise gives us solid growth capital to continue driving mainstream, global adoption of Bitcoin. We are honored to be joined by such a prestigious group of investors and remain focused on helping Bitcoin continue to grow in 2015 and beyond.
More From Business Insider
• Mt. Gox CEO Denies Involvement In The Silk Road Drugs Marketplace
• China Just Announced A Massive New $6.5 Billion Venture Capital Fund
• Bitcoin Is Getting Annihilated
|
1,421,783,017 |
2015-01-20 19:43:37+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [1060]}
|
{}
|
U.S. sharply reduces Silk Road's estimated sales volume
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/u-sharply-reduces-silk-roads-194337915.html
|
Reuters
|
http://www.reuters.com/
|
(Corrects identification of federal sentencing guidelines to money laundering from drug trafficking in paragraph 4. Corrects paragraph 6 to correct characterization of the criminal sentencing guidelines as relevant to the money laundering charge, not the drug trafficking charge. Corrects information about recommended terms to indicate they can vary in length according to criminal history.)
By Emily Flitter
NEW YORK, Jan 16 (Reuters) - When U.S. authorities announced the arrest of Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht in October 2013, they made a startling claim: the online black market had seen an estimated $1.2 billion in illicit sales since its inception.
This week, however, as Ulbricht's criminal trial began, prosecutors significantly scaled back that figure, saying Silk Road had actually seen an estimated $200 million in drug sales, which comprised 95 percent of all sales on the website.
The revision could be good news for Ulbricht, who has admitted creating the site, where users could buy drugs and other illegal goods using the digital currency Bitcoin, according to former federal prosecutor Jeffrey Alberts.
Since advisory federal sentencing guidelines for money laundering take into account the size of the scheme, the reduced sales figure would put Ulbricht's offenses into a different category under the guidelines, said Alberts, who is now a partner at law firm Pryor Cashman and is not involved in the case.
Ulbricht, 30, is facing a seven-count indictment for offenses including money laundering, computer hacking and conspiracy to commit drug trafficking. He could face life in prison if convicted on all counts.
But taken on its own, a conviction on the money laundering count would elicit a recommendation for prison time for an operation larger than $400 million, as prosecutors originally estimated, that would be longer than the recommendation for a scheme netting between $400 million and $200 million, or one just under $200 million. The specific number of months or years recommended would also depend on other factors such as criminal history.
Ulbricht's lawyer declined to comment.
The change in Silk Road's estimated sales volume is not, however, entirely due to fluctuations in the value of bitcoins, which have actually increased in price since prosecutors filed the criminal complaint against Ulbricht on Oct. 2, 2013. Back then, one bitcoin was worth $125 but they are trading at around $205 today.
While formulating the complaint against Ulbricht, prosecutors arrived at the $1.2 billion figure by looking at the total value of bitcoins obtained through sales on the site, according to the complaint.
But after combing through Silk Road's files, they recalculated the total by adding up the value of individual drug sales according to the price of bitcoins at the time of each transaction, arriving at $200 million, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Adjustments like this one are common, Alberts said. The more precisely prosecutors can calculate the size of an illegal operation, the less likely defense lawyers are to contest the estimate during a sentencing hearing.
Another advantage to the revision: it is a number that will not change even if bitcoin prices do.
The case is U.S. v. Ulbricht, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 13-06919.
(Reporting by Emily Flitter; editing by Noeleen Walder and G Crosse)
|
1,421,798,667 |
2015-01-21 00:04:27+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [785]}
|
{}
|
U.S. bitcoin exchanger who sold on Silk Road gets four years in prison
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/u-bitcoin-exchanger-sold-silk-000427410.html
|
Reuters
|
https://www.reuters.com/
|
By Nate Raymond NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Florida plumber who operated an underground bitcoin exchange selling the digital currency to users of the black market website Silk Road was sentenced to four years in prison on Tuesday. Robert Faiella, 55, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan after pleading guilty to operating an unlicensed money transmitting business. His sentence came a year after prosecutors unveiled charges against Faiella and his co-defendant, prominent bitcoin evangelist Charlie Shrem. His sentencing came as trial continued for Ross Ulbricht, the alleged operator of Silk Road, a website where drugs and other illicit goods could be bought secretly with bitcoin. Rakoff in December sentenced Shrem, the former vice chairman at the trade group Bitcoin Foundation, to two years in prison for aiding and abetting an unlicensed money transmitting business. But Rakoff said Faiella, who must with Shrem also forfeit $950,000, deserved a harsher sentence, citing in part a prior conviction for a tax offense. "He knew from his own criminal history the nature of the risk he was taking, and he knowingly assumed that risk," Rakoff said. Prosecutors say from December 2011 to October 2013, Faiella sold bitcoin for cash to users of Silk Road, a website that by the time authorities closed it had $200 million in drug sales. Operating under the name BTCKing, Faiella would fill user orders for bitcoins through Shrem's exchange, BitInstant, ultimately trading in over $1 million in cash, prosecutors said. Lawyers for Faiella, a licensed plumber, said his crimes were motivated by a desperate financial situation amid job and medical problems. "At the time of the offense, I saw no other way," Faiella said in court Tuesday. "That still doesn't change that I broke the law." Ulbricht, 30, faces seven counts including narcotics trafficking conspiracy. Joshua Dratel, his lawyer, has acknowledged he created the website but says his client became the "fall guy" for its true operators. Story continues He has also pointed to other people authorities investigated as being behind Silk Road, including Mark Karpeles, the former chief of the defunct bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox. Karpeles denies involvement with Silk Road. A federal judge on Tuesday struck some but not all of a U.S. Department of Homeland Security agent's testimony from Thursday about the Karpeles investigation. The agent, Jared Der-Yeghiayan, testified again Tuesday and will resume Wednesday. The case is U.S. v. Faiella, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 14-cr-00243. (Reporting by Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
|
1,391,470,200 |
2014-02-03 23:30:00+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [3701]}
|
{}
|
Was RadioShack’s Funny Super Bowl Ad Just a Giant Waste of Money?
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/radioshack-funny-super-bowl-ad-232900624.html
|
The Fiscal Times
|
http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/
|
While the broader market was plunging, shares of RadioShack (RSH) surged more than 3 percent in trading Monday, buoyed by optimism that the company’s Super Bowl advertisement signaled that better times lie ahead for the struggling retailer – a sentiment that some think is premature.
In its ad, Radio Shack used irony and humor to fess up to the long-held perception that it isn’t relevant to modern consumers.
The spot opens with a clerk answering a phone and then saying: “The 80’s called. They want their store back.” A slew of ‘80s stars such as wrestler Hulk Hogan, Cliff Clavin from “Cheers” (actor John Ratzenberger), rappers Kid ‘n Play and gymnast Mary Lou Retton appear in the store while Loverboy’s 1981 hit “Everybody’s Working for the Weekend” blares in the background.
The stars of yesteryear proceed to ransack the store and clear its shelves of VCRs, boom boxes and radios. Then they rip out the shelves too. The self-effacing ad ends with a look at a modern Radio Shack store with displays promoting more contemporary tech gear. (Watch the full version of the ad below.)
The commercial earned kudos from media outlets such asPeoplemagazine,Advertising AgeandEntertainment Weekly. CNN’s Jeff Pearlman called it“pure commercial genius.”Some observers of the company, though, are less impressed.
“It was kind of a waste of money,” said Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush, who rates the shares as a sell. “People are overly optimistic. Yes, it’s clever but people aren’t going to go out and buy anything” because of it.
The ad underscores CEO Joe Magnacca’s huge challenges in drawing in new customers, some of whom haven’t gone to a Radio Shack since the Reagan administration, to venture into one of its 4,400 U.S. stores. It won’t be easy.
Related: Super Bowl XLVIII: Can Celebrities Break Through the Ad Clutter?
For one thing, Radio Shack has loads more competitors, ranging from Walmart to Best Buy, that weren’t an issue during its heyday. Pachter expects the chain to shutter underperforming stores as it seeks to right its financial ship.
Magnacca, the company’s fourth CEO in about five years, has tried to revive the brand by changing the company’s colors, overhauling the design of its stores and changing its merchandising. Last year, the chain opened a new concept store in Manhattan’s Upper West Side as a showcase for new gadgets made by Apple and Samsung while at the same trying to reduce its dependence on smartphones. None of these efforts has gained much traction. A spokesperson for Radio Shack couldn’t be reached for comment.
Radio Shack shares have tumbled more than 23 percent over the past year, even as the market hit record highs. And despite Monday’s jump, they may have further to fall. The stock is currently trading above analysts’ average 52-week price target of $2.41.
Wall Street analysts who follow the company expect it to report an 11-cent per share loss in the December quarter and 30 cents a share during the March period. Revenue is forecast to drop 13.2 percent in the fourth quarter and 3.2 percent in the first. The company, which has suspended its dividend, got loans of about $835 million ahead of the critical holiday season.
The financing gives Radio Shack some breathing room but the company still isn’t out of the woods financially. Morningstar analyst Liang Fengnotedthat the stores are “burning cash at a fast pace.”
“They are on a short time line,” said Feng, who dropped coverage of the company last month, in an interview. “They need to need to convince consumers that they have changed.”
Unfortunately, one Super Bowl ad — as clever as it may be — can’t undo decades of consumer experiences.
Top Reads From The Fiscal Times:
• Bitcoin: The Future of Money or Flash in the Pan?
• Why the Global Economy Could Go Off the Rails in 2014
• Credit Card Hack Attacks Reach a Tipping Point
|
1,446,811,151 |
2015-11-06 11:59:11+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [2464]}
|
{}
|
Liberal Interpretation Of IPO Helps This ETF Enjoy Facebook's Surge
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/liberal-interpretation-ipo-helps-etf-115911706.html
|
Benzinga
|
http://www.benzinga.com/
|
There are a few certainties surroundingFacebook Inc(NASDAQ: FB)'s meteoric rise. It is irrefutable that the stock is up more than 17 percent over the past month. Likewise, it cannot be debated that now home to a market value north of $306 billion (as of Thursday's close), Facebook is worth more than all but a handful of S&P 500 companies.
What can be debated is whether or not Facebook is a “new” stock. Three and a half years removed from its initial public offering, Facebook might be new compared to some public companies, but in this case, it depends on what one's view of “new” actually is. In the eyes of theFirst Trust US IPO Index Fund(NYSE: FPX) and the IPOX®-100 U.S. Index, that ETF's underlying index, Facebook still qualifies as an IPO.
In fact, FPX currently possesses the largest weight to Facebook of any U.S.-listed ETF. With a Facebook allocation of 10.9 percent as of November 4, FPX's weight to Mark Zuckerberg's weight just nudges past the weights to that stock found in theFirst Trust Dow Jones Internet Index Fund(NYSE: FDN) and theGlobal X Social Media Index ETF(NASDAQ: SOCL).
Approximately 80 ETFs currently hold shares of Facebook.
Related Link: A New Sector ETF Defends Against Rising Rates On The Cheap
Indeed, FPX and its index are somewhat liberal when it comes to viewing how long a new stock is, well, new. For example,AbbVie Inc.(NYSE: ABBV) is coming up on its third anniversary as a public company whilePhillips 66(NYSE: PSX) is more than three and a half years removed from its debut as a public company. Yet those companies combine for 14.5 percent of FPX's weight.
FPX's primary rival, theRenaissance IPO ETF(NYSE: IPO), is more strict. It limits components' stays in the fund to two years, meaning Facebook no longer resides in IPO.
FPX's underlying index “is a rules based value-weighted index measuring the average performance of U.S. IPOs during the first 1000 trading days. Index constituents are selected based on quantitative initial screens,” .
The bit about 1,000 trading days is important because investors looking to use FPX as a proxy on further upside in shares of Facebook do not need to worry about the ETF suddenly dropping the stock. Based on FPX allowing stocks to stay for 1,000 trading days and how many trading days Facebook has currently been around for, it will be sometime in 2017 before FPX has to part ways with the stock.
See more from Benzinga
• Ferrari Races Into Its First ETF Home
• Buy Some Bitcoin With This ETF
• Tech ETFs Depend Heavily On Apple Earnings
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
|
1,470,837,600 |
2016-08-10 14:00:00+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [213, 799, 1177, 1765, 1926, 3199]}
|
{}
|
MJMI Moves Toward Blockchain Based Securities Offering System
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/mjmi-moves-toward-blockchain-based-140000498.html
|
ACCESSWIRE
|
https://www.accesswire.com/
|
HENDERSON, NV / ACCESSWIRE / August 10, 2016 / MarilynJean Media Interactive (MJMI) is excited to announce it has begun taking steps toward the use of a system recently approved by the SEC to issue shares via the Bitcoin Blockchain. The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently approved a plan by online retail giant Overstock.com to issue company stock via the internet. This signals a massive shift in the way financial securities will be distributed and traded in years to come. The SEC approved Overstock's Form S-3 heralding the beginning of the use of the Blockchain to distribute and track ownership of shares.
The Blockchain is an enormous distributed database that runs across a global network of independent computers that are not controlled by any government. With Bitcoin, this ledger tracks the exchange of digital currency. The Blockchain can also track and independently verify the transfer of other forms of equity, including stocks, bonds and other securities. This technology has the potential to completely change the way equity markets function. It can literally replace the function of a stock exchange.
MJMI intends to leverage its Bitcoin exchange expertise and use of the Blockchain to potentially conduct a securities offering via the Internet. If approved, the company could conceivably issue shares on behalf of third parties who had also obtained SEC approval.
Peter Janosi, MJMI's president said: "We are excited to further expand our operations into Blockchain technology and its myriad uses, specifically within the financial sector. This technology could do for capital markets what the Internet did for consumers."
About MJMI
MJMI is in the business of providing safe and accessible services for the users of Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies.
Crypto-currencies are a medium of exchange using cryptography to secure transactions and control the creation of new units. Bitcoin became the first decentralized crypto-currency in 2009. Crypto-currency is produced at a rate which is defined when the system is created and publicly known. By contrast, in centralized banking and economic systems, such as the Federal Reserve System, corporate boards or governments control the supply of currency by printing units or demanding additions to digital banking ledgers. However, neither companies nor governments can produce units of crypto-currency and as such the value of crypto-currencies are completely based on supply and demand, free from any governmental control. Many people believe crypto-currencies, and in particular bitcoin, hold the promise of being the most significant advancement in global finance in modern history. The advent of bitcoin creates a secure, easily accessible and transferable transnational currency that is completely liberated from political influence.
MJMI is currently exploring partnerships in several verticals within the crypto-currency space, including the multi-billion dollar remittance market. Management believes that several industries, including both international remittances, the trading of futures and options contracts as well as online gambling are on the verge of being revolutionized by the use of Bitcoin to effect transactions.
MarilynJean Media Interactive is among the first publicly traded companies focussed on bitcoin and the crypto-currency space. The company's trading symbol is MJMI.QB.
Website:www.marilynjean.com
Press Contact:investorcommunica@gmail.com
SOURCE:MarilynJean Media Interactive
|
1,421,817,303 |
2015-01-21 05:15:03+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [4607]}
|
{}
|
PRESS DIGEST- New York Times business news - Jan 21
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/press-digest-york-times-business-051503620.html
|
Reuters
|
http://www.reuters.com/
|
Jan 21 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories on the New York Times business pages. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
* President Obama claimed credit on Tuesday for an improving economy and defiantly told his Republican adversaries in Congress to "turn the page" by supporting an expensive domestic agenda aimed at improving the fortunes of the middle class. (http://nyti.ms/157n5qP)
* Google Inc, along with Fidelity, has invested $1 billion in Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), the private rocketry company founded by Elon Musk. The move could help Google achieve its aim of bringing satellite Internet to remote corners of the world while giving SpaceX more money for its founder to pursue dreams of going to Mars. (http://nyti.ms/1xUEaLo)
* Netflix Inc is hoping that it will define Internet TV in Swahili, Spanish, Vietnamese, Filipino and dozens more languages within just two years. (http://nyti.ms/1BCPgfJ)
* A week after the nation's top auto regulator warned automakers that he would be more vigilant on safety, his agency has taken the unusual move of revisiting the 2013 recall of Ford Motor Corp's biggest pickup trucks. (http://nyti.ms/1EpdN6i)
* In Wal-Mart Stores Inc's latest move to offer financial services, it will make customers' tax refunds available in cash at about 3,000 stores. Walmart, the world's largest retailer, will not charge a fee for the cash pickup, but does charge for cashing checks. It acknowledged that it could get a boost by helping to put cash in customers' wallets at a time of sluggish sales and customer traffic declines. (http://nyti.ms/1xw7Mjp)
* Work crews burrowed through thick ice and set up containment booms Tuesday in a struggle to vacuum up 50,000 gallons of oil that spilled into the Yellowstone River from a ruptured pipeline, contaminating drinking water. The 12-inch steel pipeline, which burst Saturday morning near Glendive, Montana, about 400 miles east of here, sent light crude oil flowing downstream as far as the confluence with the Missouri River, 60 miles away in North Dakota. (http://nyti.ms/1xUEZ77)
* Moving a potential market debut further along the line, the premium burger chain Shake Shack on Tuesday priced the range of its initial public offering at $14 to $16 a share. (http://nyti.ms/1zvyChc)
* The Verge, a technology website owned by the online media company Vox, said on Tuesday that it would be airing a Super Bowl advertisement, before revealing that it would in fact be spending just $700 on a regional spot in Helena, Montana. (http://nyti.ms/1ultDJ5)
* Standard & Poor's, the giant credit ratings agency, is closing in on a series of settlements with the government that will erode its profit and may damage its credibility as a major player on Wall Street. (http://nyti.ms/1J6hfVX)
* On Thursday, Family Dollar Stores Inc shareholders will finally vote on a proposed $8.5 billion acquisition by Dollar Tree Inc, which is offering about $76 a share. If they vote yes, as it appears they are leaning, it will be the death knell for a competing bid by Dollar General Corp that is about $4 a share higher. (http://nyti.ms/1CfDExO)
* BGC Partners Inc has increased its offer for the GFI Group Inc, the New York brokerage firm and clearinghouse, in an effort to wrest the company from the arms of its chosen suitor, the operator of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade. (http://nyti.ms/1xUFPkf)
* The prominent activist investment firm Starboard Value is still trying to push Staples into buying one of its best-known rivals in the office supplies world. The hedge fund plans to release a public letter urging the company to pursue a takeover of Office Depot Inc, people briefed on the matter said on Tuesday. If Staples does not make a move to do so, Starboard will threaten to seek a fight for representation on the board. (http://nyti.ms/1yHgtvx)
* Li Ka-shing, Asia's richest man, has added a major passenger train provider in Britain to his vast empire of corporate holdings, which includes ports, utilities and retail stores. (http://nyti.ms/1JbAjjK)
* The private equity firm Sycamore Partners has given up a monthslong effort to acquire Express Inc, the clothing retailer focused on young adults, after failing to secure financing. (http://nyti.ms/1J6jFE1)
* Twitter Inc said on Tuesday that it had acquired ZipDial, a nearly five-year-old Indian start-up that aims to help businesses connect with customers in emerging markets who may not have access to the Internet. (http://nyti.ms/1CNymbn)
* Coinbase, one of the most popular Bitcoin wallet providers, announced on Tuesday that it had closed a $75 million financing round, the biggest yet for a virtual currency start-up. (http://nyti.ms/1woqzM1) (Compiled by Rama Venkat Raman in Bengaluru)
|
1,391,522,400 |
2014-02-04 14:00:00+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [198, 318, 420, 502, 530, 779, 919, 1005, 1152, 1254, 1433, 1459, 1520, 1597, 1745, 1971, 2020]}
|
{"Bitcoin": [43]}
|
The Nymi Announces a Secure and Accessible Bitcoin Wallet
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/nymi-announces-secure-accessible-bitcoin-140000143.html
|
Marketwired
|
http://www.marketwired.com/
|
TORONTO, ON--(Marketwired - Feb 4, 2014) - Bionym's wearable tech device, the Nymi, takes the first steps towards becoming the modern version of the traditional wallet. The Nymi will release with a Bitcoin wallet as one of its initial applications. The Nymi will use its ECG-based multi-factor security system to make Bitcoin transactions not only more secure, but also more accessible.
As an emerging digital currency, Bitcoin functions on a peer-to-peer network of computing nodes. To participate in Bitcoin, a user must have a Bitcoin wallet, which contains a public and a private key. The public key allows anyone to deposit funds into the account. The private key allows the account owner to send funds out to different accounts.
The private key is a prize for hackers. For Bitcoin to truly become more accessible, a robust security system needs to be established in order to protect it. To function securely, the Bitcoin network relies on relatively complex software that requires configuration. If Bitcoin is to become a widely used currency, its network needs to become more accessible to the general public.
The Nymi is uniquely situated as a Bitcoin Wallet. A key advantage of the Nymi's technology is that it will be able to generate outgoing Bitcoin transactions without ever exposing the private key to the outside world. The Nymi also provides a simple, convenient and accessible way for Nymi owners to engage with the Bitcoin network. The Nymi Bitcoin Wallet will replace the complexities of setting up a Bitcoin account with a user-friendly, secure interface. A secure, accessible Bitcoin Wallet could change the future of the digital currency.
Yevgeniy Vahlis, Bionym's Chief Cryptographer, says, "People don't know where their Bitcoin funds are stored, and who can access them. The Nymi's wallet application makes the answer clear: the wallet is physically stored on the Nymi. The Nymi's multi-factor system, including its ECG biometric, ensures secure Bitcoin storage tied to the rightful owner."
The Bitcoin Wallet will be one of the first applications for the Nymi, and will be available with each device upon the Nymi's release. The Nymi can be preordered now atwww.GetNymi.com.
|
1,421,848,800 |
2015-01-21 14:00:00+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [46, 2172]}
|
{}
|
BTCS Announces Management-Lead Financings Totaling $498K and Follow-On Investment in Coin Outlet
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/btcs-announces-management-lead-financings-140000711.html
|
Marketwired
|
http://www.marketwired.com/
|
ARLINGTON, VA--(Marketwired - Jan 21, 2015) - Bitcoin Shop, Inc. (OTCQB:BTCS) ("BTCS" or the "Company"), the operator of the digital currency ecommerce marketplacewww.btcs.com, which is undertaking the build-out of a universal digital currency ecosystem, announced today that the Company closed on financings for aggregate proceeds of $498,000. The Company sold $433,000 of units consisting of common stock and warrants at a per unit price of $0.10. The units, inclusive of the warrants, convert into 15.155 million shares of common stock. The Company also sold non-convertible promissory notes (the "Notes") to BTCS' co-founders, Michal Handerhan and Tim Sidie, for aggregate proceeds of $65,000, which mature on December 31, 2015 and bear interest at an annual rate of 2%. Management and family of management accounted for 66% of the total funding. Additionally, the Company made a follow-on investment of $100,000 in its strategic partner Coin Outlet.
Charles Allen, CEO of BTCS, commented, "As we previously announced, on October 22, 2014 certain members of management voluntary agreed to have 12.75 million shares redeemed from them for an aggregate payment of $2,491. For investors that owned our stock prior to the redemption, the unit financing should result in minimal additional dilution, when net against the redemption. Management remains committed to building our business and taking the necessary actions to limit dilution to our public shareholders."
Through the strategic investment and partnership with Coin Outlet, BTCS plans to leverage Coin Outlet's ATM network as an on-ramp to its planned universal digital currency ecosystem, which includes ATM/financial services. Overstock recently placed a Coin Outlet ATM in its headquarters to encourage digital currency use.
"As the lead investor in Coin Outlet, we are pleased to see the installation of Coin Outlet's ATM at Overstock's headquarters. This is a great step to encourage the use of digital currencies among consumers who have yet to experience the easy exchange of US dollars to bitcoins," said Charles Allen.
Charles Allen additionally commented, "We believe the recent decline in the price of Bitcoin has created tremendous opportunities for us to further expand our business and seize opportunities created from the market downturn."
About BTCS:BTCS plans to build a universal digital currency platform with the goal of enabling users to engage in the digital currency ecosystem through one point of access. We currently operate our legacy ecommerce website (www.bitcoinshop.us) and are operating our public beta site (www.btcs.com) where consumers can purchase products using digital currency such as bitcoin, litecoin and dogecoin, by searching through a selection of over 250,000 items. We provide our customers competitive pricing options from 256 retailers through our "Intelligent Shopping Engine". All ecommerce customer orders are fulfilled by third party vendors. We plan to use our ecommerce platform as a customer on-ramp for a broader digital currency platform. We have been actively partnering with strategic digital currency companies who have technologies, services or products that are complementary to our business strategy by making investments in them and integrating with them.
Forward Looking Statements:Certain statements in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Words such as "may," "might," "will," "should," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "continue," "predict," "forecast," "project," "plan," "intend" or similar expressions, or statements regarding intent, belief, or current expectations, are forward-looking statements. While the Company believes these forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on any such forward-looking statements, which are based on information available to us on the date of this release. These forward looking statements are based upon current estimates and assumptions and are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including without limitation those set forth in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, not limited to Risk Factors relating to its digital currency business contained therein. Thus, actual results could be materially different. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation to update or alter statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
|
1,421,852,280 |
2015-01-21 14:58:00+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [1813]}
|
{}
|
Shazam Is Now A Billion-Dollar Company
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/shazam-now-billion-dollar-company-145800139.html
|
Business Insider
|
http://www.businessinsider.com/
|
Ryoichi Tanaka/Flickr (CC)
Shazam just joined the billion-dollar club.
The music discovery startup has closed a new round of funding for $30 million, the Wall Street Journal is reporting, with a valuation of around $1 billion. It's double what the company was valued at a year ago.
The investors now own 3% of the company — but their identities haven't been disclosed. We do know they haven't invested before, however.
Shazam is an app that identifies music for its users through their smartphone's microphone. Since the company's 2002 launch it's grown to have more than 100 million monthly users across the globe. But despite this, it hasn't turned a profit since 2006.
Shazam is "intentionally not profitable," investing whatever it makes,CEO Rich Riley told the Wall Street Journal. And the company is highly ambitious, looking to move beyond just music identification. "Our vision is to connect people to the world around them," Riley said. "It is still early days. People aren't yet used to 'Shazaming' print ads and soda cans and that kind of stuff, but we think that is where the world's going."
It's a strategy that could take it on a collision course with other tech companies. It's similar to Google's less-used Google Goggles optical recognition software, discovery apps are likely to grow in the coming years. But it's also necessary, as other products begin to encroach on Shazam's turf. Google now offers its own rival,Sound Search, which has been downloaded more than 10 million times.
Less than a year ago,a funding round for $20 million pegged the company's total valuation at $500 million, half what it is today. Previous investors haveincluded billionaire Carlos Slim, as well as Institutional Venture Partners, DN Capital, and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.
More From Business Insider
• A Bitcoin Startup Just Set A Massive New Record For VC Funding in The Industry
• Palantir, Already Valued At $15 Billion, Is Looking For More
• China Just Announced A Massive New $6.5 Billion Venture Capital Fund
|
1,421,852,400 |
2015-01-21 15:00:00+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [636, 8116, 9915, 9942, 9972], "BTC": [646, 2061, 2901, 4420, 5939, 7575, 8629, 8794]}
|
{}
|
A brief attempt at explaining the madness of cryptocurrency
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/2015-01-21-cryptocurrency-explainer.html
|
Engadget
|
https://www.engadget.com/
|
Cryptocurrency may as well be called "cryptic currency," because it's nowhere near as easy to figure out as typical money. For one, while most of them (and yes, there's more than one) have names that end with "-coin," they don't usually come in physical form. Yes, they do represent money in digital form, but using them is a bit more complicated than digital payment services like, say, PayPal or Google Wallet. Also, unlike banks and online services, they're decentralized, with no single governing body overseeing and verifying transactions -- there's a reason why bitcoin was (is?) the currency of choice for black market regulars.
Bitcoin ("BTC") isn't only recognized as the first cryptocurrency; it's also the basis for every other crypto-coin that's popped up since it was formally introduced in 2009. "Satoshi Nakamoto" (the pseudonym used by the personorthe group of people who created bitcoin) designed it as a peer-to-peer system that relies on users to keep working. Also, all transactions are recorded on a public ledger (called "block chain"), so even though no name or email address is associated with an account, the system's not entirely anonymous.
Similar alternative currencies follow that structure even now, though they add features of their own, as well. Litecoin, for instance, was designed for faster transactions (theaverage confirmation timefor each bitcoin transfer is 11 minutes as of January 2015, because it has to be verified by a miner -- more on this later), while Quarkcoin promises a more secure system. Others rely on their novelty more than anything, such as Dogecoin, which likely appeals most to fans ofthe (in)famous doge memeand Coinye West that wasseriously a thinguntil Kanye West wentonstageto court anddidn't let it finishhad it shut down.
Now, if you're wondering if you should invest in any kind of cryptocurrency, the answer isn't simple: It depends, as their values fluctuate quickly and widely. Take for example, bitcoin, whichreachedits current all-time high of $1,242 per coin in November 2013, whereas each BTC was worth only around $200 a few months before that. As of this writing, bitcoin's value is back to $210, and who knows if it'll ever be worth more than $1K apiece ever again. Point is, if you plan on investing your life savings on bitcoin or any other alternative, you'll have to study it closely and prepare for the consequences. Instead of getting your kids' college tuition or your retirement fund when you're ready to liquidate, you might end up with but a fraction of what you originally invested.
Still want some first-hand experience with these crypto-coins anyway? We put together some basic info you should know before getting started, using bitcoin as the reference currency.
These are some of the most common ways to get bitcoins or any of its alternatives:
• You can use one of the many exchange services that buy and sell BTC for US dollars/whatever your local currency is.This is obviously the easiest way to get started, as all you need to do is choose among one of the many options available. Some money changers are pretty strict and will ask for a copy of your ID and proof of address, but that's still easier than the other two ways below.
• You can sell goods and services through bitcoin marketplaces.A quick Google search will point you to online buy-and-sell websites that accept or specifically ask for bitcoins for transactions.
• Finally, you can "mine" for bitcoins.This one isn't something we'd recommend if you're new to cryptocurrency, as you'd need specialized hardware (ASIC miners, in particular, which are USB-powered devices that don't do anything else) to do it for you. "Mining" is the process of verifying transactions and adding them to the public ledger or the block chain, in bitcoin's case. In addition, it's the only way to introduce new bitcoins into the circulation, as miners are rewarded for every block of transactions they process.
As we mentioned earlier, cryptocurrencies aren't regulated by any institution, so there's no bank that would print more money when the need arises. Take note, though, that the system makes it harder to mine the more blocks of transactions are processed. The rewards were also designed to be cut in half every four years to prevent inflation and to keep the total number of bitcoins in circulation to 21 million at most. At the moment, the reward for each block mined is 25 BTC, and the process has become difficult to the point that you'll now have to join a mining pool if you actually want to earn anything. A mining pool combines the resources of a group of people to mine bitcoins and divides the loot amongst the members.
Sound complicated? Well, mining isn't exactly a simple concept. Watch the video above first, then let's try to visualize the idea: Imagine that you're an actual miner with a pickaxe in your hand, and there's a big boulder in front of you with golden coins hidden in its very center. To get to the gold coins, you'll have to chip away at the boulder: The better your equipment is, the faster you can go. Unfortunately, you're not the only one trying to get to the center of the boulder, and it's a race between you and other miners with better, more high-tech pickaxes. That's why the best way is to pal up with other people to get to the very center of the boulder and divide the loot. As time goes by, though, you'll notice that boulders become harder to break and the gold coins in the center become fewer in number.
That's but an oversimplification of the process, of course, but it should give you an idea of how it works. The boulder in this case represents a block or a big bunch of transactions miners have to verify and solve. Each piece of rock a miner chips away represents a verified transaction, and the gold coins represent the bitcoins a miner can earn and introduce into the circulation.
Before you exchange your hard-earned dollars or mine for some BTC, though, you'll first need a wallet to keep your virtual money in. Within these wallets, you'll find your secret codes or keys needed to be able to spend your coins, as well as an address (which functions similar to a PayPal email, except it's a long code of letters and numbers) that you need to give people sending you money. Some wallets can even generate several addresses so you can give a different one to every person you're transacting with as an extra precaution.
There are many types of bitcoin wallets, including desktop programs and mobile apps, which are ideal if you want to pay for purchases in brick-and-mortar stores. Some of them can be accessed online, but in case you end up with an inordinately large amount of bitcoins, you're likely better off keeping most of it offline in what's known as "cold storage." While bitcoins stored online are more easily accessible, everything stored offline is much safer. When exchange service Bitstampwas hackedin early January, the thieves got away with "only" $5 million, because most of the company's reserves were stored offline.
We kept saying earlier that bitcoins don't have a physical form -- well that's still true, but in addition to apps, programs and online services, another way to store the cryptocurrency is through "paper wallets." There are businesses that will print your address and private key as QR codes on a card. Want something fancier than a paper card? A website calledCasasciussells actual physical bitcoins (which you can see in the top image) with your address and private key hidden underneath a hologram. They used to come loaded with spendable BTC, but after being questioned by the feds, the owner has decided to sell them empty -- you'll have to find a way to load the coin on your own.
For those who think paper and flashy coin wallets are too risky, there are special hardware wallets that promise to keep your money secure while also being easier to access, such as thatprototype braceletby MEVU. Some physical wallets even take on an unusual form, like a CD or a vinylencodedwith private keys as audio files.
Since cryptocurrencies aren't governed by an institution -- there's a Bitcoin Foundation, but it merely promotes the currency's use and doesn't function like a bank -- they've become ideal for transactions that, well, aren't exactly legal. As we've mentioned earlier, bitcoin is the online black market's preferred method of payment, including drug and gun transactions, among other items. Prominent black market website and marketplace "The Silk Road" had $25 million worth of bitcoinsseizedby the US government during a raid back in 2013. The government ended up auctioning 50,000 BTC from what was confiscated. A bitcoin exchange executive and foundation member was evensentencedto two years behind bars for helping run an underground dollar-to-BTC operation for Silk Road regulars.
Also, because exchange services keep part of their reserve in online wallets, quite a few companies were hacked in the past year. One of the most high-profile bitcoin-related security breaches happened to Japan-based exchange company Mt. Gox, whichlost 850,000 BTCand ultimately had to shut down. According to thelatest infofrom authorities in Tokyo, it could have been an inside job. Mt. Gox CEO Mark Karpeles has recently been accused of being Silk Road's mastermind who hid behind the name Dread Pirate Roberts, something that he categoricallydenied.
Speaking of naming people as the face behind pseudonyms,Newsweekpublisheda piece in 2014, pinpointing Japanese-American and California-native Dorian Nakamoto astheSatoshi Nakamoto. Nakamoto also denied being bitcoin's creator and even raised a legal defense fundto suethe publication as the publicity has apparently caused a major inconvenience and hurt his family.
Want to know more? We have amore in-depth pieceabout bitcoin, if you'd like to dig deeper into currency and the technology behind it.
[Image credit: Getty Images, Bitcoinmining.com (What is Bitcoin mining), Bcoinmarket (Bitcoin Walllet Intro), AFP/Getty Images]
|
1,421,855,437 |
2015-01-21 15:50:37+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [1998, 2165]}
|
{"Bitcoin": [31]}
|
Why Investors Should Beware of Bitcoin
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-investors-beware-bitcoin-155037460.html
|
U.S.News & World Report
|
http://money.usnews.com/
|
If you timed it right -- and that's a big if -- you bought a single bitcoin for $13.30 on New Year's Day 2013 and sold that slice of digital currency for about $1,150, less than a year later, on Dec. 4. That's more than 86 times the original investment. Wow. If you timed it wrong, you invested that same day and saw the value plummet more than half by Dec. 22, only 18 days later. Ouch. Assuming you held that bitcoin longer, from October 2013 ($100) to mid-January 2015, you'd have doubled your money. But you'd also be biting your nails, as the currency has dropped more than 30 percent between Jan. 1 and Jan. 15, when the price hit $207. So is now a good time to buy bitcoins ? Or is it ever a good time to invest in them? Financial experts from all corners of the traditional investment field answer with a resounding "no," while digital entrepreneurs and their ilk say "yes," often to the point of bullishness. Throughout 2014, the Securities and Exchange Commission kept a close watch on bitcoin activity. In May, it issued a warning that "the rise of bitcoin and other virtual and digital currencies creates new concerns for investors. A new product, technology, or innovation -- such as bitcoin -- has the potential to give rise both to frauds and high-risk investment opportunities." "I'd never recommend anyone 'invest' in bitcoins," says Jeff Reeves, editor of InvestorPlace.com and author of "The Frugal Investor's Guide to Finding Great Stocks." "It's barely even a functional currency, let alone an investment vehicle, and the risks of volatility are enormous. It's a quirky little tech phenomenon, not an investment or asset class." "A bitcoin has no intrinsic value," adds Greg McBride, senior vice president and chief financial analyst at Bankrate.com. "There's no underlying asset from which a bitcoin's value is derived. Rather, the price is based on the 'greater fool' theory. In other words, that someone else in the future will pay more than you did today." Story continues Bitcoins are a decentralized digital currency that launched in 2009. No government or central bank backs it, nor is its creator known (his alias is Satoshi Nakamoto). Bitcoins have also made headlines not simply for their wild fluctuations , but also because they are nearly impossible to trace, making them a favorite of thieves and drug dealers. If they're stolen via computer hack, good luck, says Kim Caughey Forrest, vice president and senior analyst of portfolio management at Fort Pitt Capital Group in Pittsburgh. "There are rules about what happens if someone breaks into the bank and steals and how the account owners are compensated. That is missing from the bitcoin world." She also notes, "We would never tell a client to buy bitcoins as an investment. How can I ever tell if a bitcoin is over, under or fairly valued? I can't. Neither can anyone else. This is what makes an investment. Otherwise, it's a lottery ticket." That said, you may be able to buy lottery tickets with bitcoins in the future. Online retailers such as TigerDirect and Overstock.com, along with the Sacramento Kings, accept the currency. You can even make donations with them at nonprofits, such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation and higher-education institutions, including the University of Puget Sound. Meanwhile, the Digerati have embraced bitcoins as a sophisticated method of making financial transactions and currency investments . "I think the price is getting close to being extremely attractive," says Vadim Telyatnikov, CEO of AlphaPoint, a New York-based digital currency exchange platform that supports bitcoin. "But I wouldn't invest quite yet, as I believe the price may continue to decline in the short term." He adds, "It's possible to intelligently predict how bitcoin will perform long term" using a "simple moving average" calculated by adding closing prices of the previous 200 days, and then dividing by 200. "That result is plotted on a chart and updated every day, so that a trend upward or downward can be identified," Telyatnikov says. But what of the recent steep price drops ? It may sound hard to believe, but some see a silver (or bitcoin) lining. "With such extreme instability, we knew the results would be surprising, and we weren't disappointed," says Mike Kane, CEO and co-founder of Hedgeable, a digital wealth manager that can invest retail clients directly in bitcoin. "Most bitcoin insiders are still bullish despite the massive amount of negativity." Based on Hedgeable's survey of five groups, from media members to venture capitalists and angel investors, he forecasts bitcoins hitting all-time highs in three years, which would put it over the $1,150 mark. Although bitcoins are possibly in a "buy low" mode now, or headed there, daring investors may want to take the same approach as smart gamblers in Vegas : Don't bet more than you can afford to lose. Mark Williams, who teaches finance at the Boston University School of Management and is a former bank examiner for the Federal Reserve Bank, advises bitcoin buyers to beware. "If investors, after understanding the extreme price risk, still want to invest in bitcoin, they should only commit amounts that, if lost, won't impact their livelihood," Williams says. Even if you're in such a position, "don't invest in something you don't understand," says Sidney Bostian, an instructor at Virginia Commonwealth University's School of Business and a senior advisor at Cornerstone Valuation in Richmond. "If you aren't interested in the technology, or the general topic of cryptocurrencies, my recommendation is to stay away." More From US News & World Report Debunking 8 Common Investing Myths 15 Sectors to Watch in 2015 Beware of These 10 Scary Investments
|
1,391,543,361 |
2014-02-04 19:49:21+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [35, 355, 1182, 2043]}
|
{"Bitcoin": [20]}
|
Paranoid about Your Bitcoin? This Wristband Protects It with Your Heartbeat
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/paranoid-about-your-money-this-wristband-protects-your-75601270392.html
|
Yahoo Tech
|
https://www.yahoo.com/tech/
|
If the news anchor who flashed his Bitcoin gift certificate on air and had it promptly stolen taught us anything, it’s that you need to be careful where you store your budding digital currency . On Tuesday, Toronto biometrics startup Bionym announced a new — and somewhat paranoid — way to make sure no one else can access your precious stash: a wearable Bitcoin wallet that can be accessed only by taking your unique electrocardiography, or ECG. You may have heard about the Nymi before, as it’s been passed around the tech blogs. It’s a high-tech wristband meant to act as a protector of many things aside from your digital currency: your credit card information, online logins, customer loyalty cards, frequent flier miles — you name it. No matter what you’ve locked up behind the Nymi, no one can access it without your unique heartbeat. It works like this: You set it up in conjunction with a smartphone or a computer and then determine which applications, services and brands have access to your identity. Every time you sign up for a new service, the device generates a unique key. You have the option to remove a company’s access at any time. Bionym’s decision to integrate Bitcoin into its much-hyped device comes just a week after the very popular personal finance service Mint launched a feature that allows subscribers to watch the value of their bitcoins alongside their other investments. It’s a signal that many a tech startup is banking on the success of the still-shaky currency. As Bionym President Andrew D’Souza explains, requiring your cardiac rhythm for access to your currency is extra safe, as your ECG is much more difficult to replicate than your fingerprint, your retina or just a text-based password. “It’s the size, the shape of your heart, the orientation, how all the different muscles interact with each other,” D’Souza told Yahoo Tech. “It’s an electrical signal that’s based on your physiology, and it doesn’t change over time.” Story continues D’Souza hopes that this level of security can help to stabilize Bitcoin — which is currently a $10 billion market — and make people feel more comfortable investing in it. “We’re trying to make this currency accessible to the average consumer in a secure and convenient form factor,” D’Souza said. “We’re hoping that we can kind of be that enabling technology to help the currency take off.” So what do you think, average consumers? Ready to access some invisible currency with your heartbeat? You can pre-order a Nymi for $79 . It’s set to ship midyear. You can email the author here . Yahoo Tech is a brand new tech site from David Pogue and an all-star team of writers. Follow us on Facebook for all the latest.
|
1,391,549,184 |
2014-02-04 21:26:24+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [1996]}
|
{}
|
Google To Developers: Don't Build Porn Apps For Our Chromecast TV Device
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/google-developers-dont-build-porn-212624650.html
|
Business Insider
|
http://www.businessinsider.com/
|
Google
Google Chromecast
Yesterday, Google asked developers to write new apps for Chromecast, a dongle device that lets you stream Web content from a tablet, smartphone or PC to your TV.
Today, the sharp eyes ofHot Hardware's Paul Lilly noticed a very strong caveat:Google has banned porn apps, along with a long list of other morally dubious things, from Chromecast.
Or, to be more precise, Google wants the people who write apps for Chromecast to also obey the rules governing its app store, Google Play. AndGoogle Play clearly forbids porn. It says:
We don't allow content that contains nudity, graphic sex acts, or sexually explicit material.
Google Play also bans things like gambling, hate speech, depictions of violence and illegal activities, all of which applies to Chromecast apps, too.
If a developer ignores the rules and writes an app with forbidden content, Google reserves the right to cut off the developer's access to Google's tech needed to run the app.
We've seen this before. Googlebanned porn apps from Glass, too, and when the first porn app was released for it anyway last summer, Google said it would block the app from working on Glass.
None of this will stop human beings from doing what human beings like to do with technologies like Chromecast or Glass. As we previously reported, after Google banned facial recognition technology from Glass, a young developer, Stephen Balaban, started building an alternative operating system for Google Glass that Google couldn't control,he told Business Insider.
So, if Chromecast proves popular enough with consumers, we're sure some smart developer will figure out how to sidestep Google's restrictions for this device, too.
But, just so you know, Google isn't messing around and wants its first crop of Chromecast apps to be clean and family friendly.
More From Business Insider
• Look At All The Game-Changing Technology Facebook Has Invented In The Last Decade
• How A Horrific Killing Led This Guy To Run 3,000 Miles Raising Bitcoin For The Homeless
• How To Use Google To Search A Single Website
|
1,391,551,457 |
2014-02-04 22:04:17+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [1383]}
|
{}
|
I Quit Facebook Cold Turkey And My Life Is Totally Unchanged
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/quit-facebook-cold-turkey-life-220417986.html
|
Business Insider
|
http://www.businessinsider.com/
|
REUTERS/Robert Galbraith
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg
My dad created my Facebook account in 2004.
The fledgling social network was becoming the hot new thing on college campuses around the country. It presented itself as a site where you could gossip and plan parties and find out what you missed in class, all while updating everyone on the details of your daily life, compelling and shallow alike.
And it was closed to everyone except college students with a ".edu" email address — no embarrassing teachers or parents to hassle you online. Cool!
At that time, I was a newly accepted college entrant and had contemplated joining Facebook so that I might keep on top of my uproarious social life, b ut my technophile dad beat me to the punch, registering an account using my new college email address so he, the curious and unhip adult, could check out "what kids are doing online these days." After an uneventful 30 minutes of exploring, he came clean, reset the password, and gave me control of my Facebook account.
This odd origin story has colored my near-decade on the site, making me something of a Facebook agnostic. I recognize and appreciate its utility — you can look up a friend's address or birthday, for instance — but by and large I could do without it.
Generally speaking, you can throw the Internet at something and that thing gets better. Money plus Internet equals Bitcoin, for instance. Facebook strikes me as the Internet's take on the phone book. It's a de-facto service that provides a common foundation for people to find each other.
When Facebook first cemented itself in my mind as "a phone book plus stuff," it was awesome. The party invitation system? Tremendous. Reaching out to a stranger? Send him a Facebook message before moving to the standard email or text message. Iunderstoodit.
But something changed and the phone book got complicated. Now it wants to tell people what I listen to on Spotify. It pesters me for my phone number every time I log in, even though that's information I intend never to share online. If I attempt to remove myself permanently from the site, it throws up dozens of barriers to prevent this from happening. And it does this in an effort to keep me on the site longer, so that it can make more money by showing me hyper-marketed ads based on personal details as specific as my hometown or birth date.
I got tired of it and deactivated my account earlier this month.
Deactivating is distinctly different from cutting the big cord and deleting your account. Facebook still retains my data, friends can still tag me in pictures, but I no longer show up in searches and have for all appearances deleted my account. If and when I want it all back, I just need to log in. Deactivating would be my way, temporary or permanent, to reassess how I communicate with people online.
And you know what? A month later, my life without Facebook is largely the same as it was with, except I'm no longer devoting mental energy to reading about acquaintances from high school getting married or scrolling through lots of pictures of friends' vacation meals.
Only one speed bump of note comes to mind — I missed a work-related happy hour that had been coordinated through Facebook. But that was it. I was otherwise spending my time doing what I wanted to do with who I wanted to be with. Facebook wasn't even a calculation anymore.
My frustration with Facebook seems to stem from the way people use it. Because it's a platform that puts everyone in front of everyone else, it's subtlely turning communication into performance art. The temptation for one to act as his or her own publicist and post content to Facebook that "shapes the narrative," so to speak — he's a successful businessman, she's an incredible long-distance runner, etc. — is so strong that we've all done it at one point or another. Left unchecked, this feels disingenuous at best and dangerous at worst.
In severing ties from the blue-and-white social Goliath, I put myself in a position where the only online interaction I had was that which I made happen for myself. There was no Newsfeed to watch tick by, no social content for me to consume passively. I was now really big into one-on-one email. And when you're emailing one-on-one or in a small group, you'll find you're much more honest, direct, and drama-free than you would be otherwise, passive aggressively posting things to Facebook that you hope so-and-so sees.
It's the difference between putting up a billboard to sell a notion of yourself to others and writing a letter to a friend.
No one really gave me a hard time for jumping ship. There were mild "you'll be back, Love" tongue lashings administered over the site when I posted that I'd be quitting, but never once did this spill over into the physical world. I still felt connected to my social groups because any parties, outings, or other plans always ended up trickling down to me verbally. And I was still maintaining an active Twitter presence, so I could still get my digital mainline of news from friends and others.
I imagine that I'll return to Facebook eventually, but when I do, I will aggressively pare down my friends list so that it more accurately reflects my day-to-day community, the people who are actively in my life instead of the familiar strangers I used to know.
More From Business Insider
• This Was The First News Story Ever Written About 'TheFacebook.com,' From The Site's Birth 10 Years Ago
• Facebook Accused Of Banning Ads From Catholic Dating Site Prior To Valentine's Day
• The Super Bowl's Best Real-Time Marketing Moment Was Hillary Clinton's Tweet
• Facebook Has Released Info On How Many National Security Requests It Gets
• If History Is Any Lesson, Facebook's Newest App Is Doomed To Fail
|
1,446,981,270 |
2015-11-08 11:14:30+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [2294, 3574, 4391, 4438, 4518]}
|
{"Bitcoin": [0]}
|
Bitcoin is off to the races again
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bitcoin-off-races-again-could-111430813.html
|
Business Insider
|
http://www.businessinsider.com/
|
(REUTERS/Bogdan Cristel)Rotariu uses Romania's first bitcoin ATM in downtown Bucharest
The value of bitcoin has rocketed higher since late August, gaining more than 60% as investors around the worldclamor to buy into the cryptocurrency.
It recently hit new highs for the year.
Long-term bitcoin watchers have seen this happen before, and they know that bitcoin rallies can be huge.
The last time bitcoin's value began soaring the cryptocurrency went from below $200 in September 2013 to more than $1100 by early 2014.
Right now – after the recent gains – bitcoin is trading at around $380. That's right, after that peak last year, bitcoin crashed – badly damaging investor interest. It took more than a year for that interest to return.
So what's bringing people back? The digital currency is gaining traction both in the consumer marketplace, as a tradeable security, and with regulators. To illustrate - you can donate to theAmerican Red Crossin bitcoin, buy a new personal computer with it, or even book a holiday.
It isn't just digital-currency enthusiasts that are bullish. Equity research firm Wedbush expects it to rise to $600 because of the growing adoption. That target includes a "high discount rate to account for uncertainty," the firm says in a Nov. 4 research note. In other words, there is a lot of risk here, but even factoring that in, the potential exists for a big gain.
“We’re crossing the chasm from early enthusiasts to mainstream adoption," says Adam White, a vice president of business development with bitcoin exchange Coinbase.
(Wedbush Securities)Payments with bitcoin have been on the rise — as has the value of bitcoin, as an investment.
As more people use bitcoin, retailers have become increasingly welcoming of it.
Companies including Dish, Microsoft, Dell and Expedia are accepting cryptocurrency as payment.
Perhaps most crucial: payments startups and legacy players including Square, Stripe, and PayPal are integrating it into their offerings.
Regulators in the US and internationally are embracing bitcoin now, instead of fearing — or, worse still, thwarting — it.
"What there needs to be is greater regulatory clarity," said Jerry Brito, executive director at Washington-based advocacy group Coin Center. "It's a very different world than it was in 2013."
Bitcoin legislation is being readied in several US states, Brito said.
In October, a consortium of startupsannounced the establishmentof theBlockchain Alliance, a partnership between bitcoin companies and US and foreign agencies including the Department of Justice, FBI and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, among others.
Last month, theEuropean Court of Justice said bitcoin transactions will be exemptedfrom a consumer tax, which could lead to even greater use of the cryptocurrency.
Another big step, yet to come, would be the declaration of bitcoin by US regulators as a security.
Another factor lending greater legitimacy to bitcoin is the investment capital being poured into related startups.
Recently, the total dollar volume backing startups in the sectorcrossed the $1 billion threshold. But the investors behind the money have also increased bitcoin's visibility.
The roster of bitcoin startup backersincludes Wall Street investment banks; the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ; andleading credit and debit card companiesincluding Visa, MasterCard and Capital One.
"The global banks and wire-houses have meaningfully gotten involved in the space," said Michael Sonnenshein, director of business development and sales at Grayscale Investments,which manages the Bitcoin Investment Trust, a publicly listed vehicle that tracks bitcoin. "In 2013, they were beginning to dip their toe, but primarily behind closed doors and within internal working groups."
There are still lingering issues surrounding bitcoin's validity.
To be sure, it is volatile and – because its loosely regulated – a draw for frauds and criminals.
Some big names in the crytptocurrency community — perhaps most notably Blythe Masters, the CEO of Digital Asset Holdings — have been critical of bitcoin and say the underpinning blockchain technology is actually what's most sexy to Wall Street.
But right now, to many investors, bitcoin is hot. And it could stay that way.
NOW WATCH:Everyday phrases that even smart people say incorrectly
More From Business Insider
• The Money Of The Future Will Look More Like Bitcoin Than The Paper We Carry Around Today
• Bitcoin hit a new high for 2015
• The Winklevoss twins tell us why they believe Bitcoin will come to dominate global finance
|
1,391,608,800 |
2014-02-05 14:00:00+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [665]}
|
{}
|
Vending Design Works, Ltd. Announces It Is Readying the First ZaZZZ(TM) Automated Dispensary for Shipment to Tranzbyte
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/vending-design-works-ltd-announces-140000261.html
|
Marketwired
|
http://www.marketwired.com/
|
TEMPE, AZ and WINNIPEG, MB--(Marketwired - Feb 5, 2014) -Tranzbyte Corporation(OTC Pink: ERBB) (http://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/ERBB/quote) announced today that its automated dispensary manufacturing partner, Vending Design Works (http://www.vendingdesignworks.com) is getting ready to ship the first of its specially designed machines to Tranzbyte Corporation headquarters in Tempe, AZ. According to Vending Design Works General Manager, Don Rischuk, "We have built the vending machine of the 21stCentury for Tranzbyte that includes proprietary customer identification, live 2-way interactivity, acceptance of a myriad of payment options including the ZaZZZ Card, Bitcoin, and, of course, cash. We are very of proud of what we've produced, and look forward to rolling out machines to locations authorized for their use."
Adds Stephen Shearin, Tranzbyte's new Chief Operating Officer, "Navigating uncharted waters is never an easy thing. We count ourselves very lucky to have a manufacturer as knowledgeable as Vending Design Works to work with. If it were as simple as 'plug and play,' everyone would have something as special as what we've produced, but it's not. I'm confident our partners and customers will be as elated as we are when they interface with the ZaZZZ machine."
Mr. Shearin joins the company after eight months working closely as a consultant in all facets of Tranzbyte business. He brings over twenty years of experience in getting projects to market and is no stranger to working with a public entity. He was president and CEO of GetNet Inc., the first privately held Internet backbone in the US and guided that company in its IPO in May of 1996. "Everything I've done has dovetailed perfectly to provide me with the experience and tool set to build value into the Tranzbyte organization. I'm very excited to work with this team."
David Gwyther, Tranzbyte's president, adds, "With the addition of Mr. Shearin, we are able to add layers of experience and accountability to our team. I'm much honored that he has accepted the position of Chief Operating Officer."
Tranzbyte encourages all folks wishing to follow the progress of Tranzbyte, Altitude Organix, and its other subsidiaries and divisions to visit the Tranzbyte website atwww.tranzbyte.comand sign up to receive our 'Email Alerts'which are sparingly sent to interest-holders periodically. Just click on the orange 'contact' button after arriving at the company's website orclick hereto go there directly. Mobile users can also sign up by navigating to the company's website on their android smart phone or iPhone.
ABOUT TRANZBYTE
The Tranzbyte Corporation (www.tranzbyte.com) is a driving force behind Altitude Organix, OneBode, The YO! Debit Card, ZaZZZ, and BancoLibre. The company expects to continue its plan to acquire, hold, or spin out successful divisions in what has been described in previous news releases as "dividend farming." Companies that qualify and decide to become public on their own will agree to carve out shares for Tranzbyte and dividends for their ERBB shareholders.
Tranzbyte also houses the company's 10-year-old technology division which is actively engaged in the sale of its optical media enhancement products to potential customers in the US and Asia. Products in the Tranzbyte division include FLASHAlbum™ and FlixStix -- technologies that enable distributors of optical media (CDs, DVDs, etc.) to consolidate the best features of each medium onto a single content-protected USB flash drive.
ABOUT ONE BODEOne Bode was founded in 2006 by a group of health conscious professionals with backgrounds in sports, health, and nutrition that recognized the need for supplements to complement any lifestyle. Focusing on plant-based nutrients and enzymes, One Bode created an assortment of products that enable the everyday person interested in improving their health to access the kind of nutritional supplements previously enjoyed by professional athletes, entertainers, and those with the time to devote their entire lives to the pursuit of such diets.
The company is combining its successful product rep program with an aggressive online campaign focusing on a realistic plan to increase sales measurably within the next 90 days of operation and throughout the coming years. The versatility of the products combined with the various dietary deficiencies present in practically everyone enables individuals to tailor a custom program designed to fit their specific needs; as such the company sees a virtually unlimited market-space for expansion.
ABOUT ALTITUDE ORGANIXAltitude Organic Corporation became the first publicly traded medical marijuana dispensary brand in the world. Beginning in 2009, the company has developed retailing, branding, and commercial cultivating strategies in conjunction with its licensed medical marijuana retail dispensaries operating under the Altitude Organic Medicine brand name. While the Company is no longer associated with the Altitude Organic Medicine outlets in Colorado, it has spent the last year developing an "automated dispensary" that will offer the company's proprietary products to qualified adults in the US and around the world. The Company's newly acquired YO! Debit Card is currently being rebranded as "ZaZZZ" for use in its proprietary machines and will be accepted at participating dispensaries and other select locations who become members of the ZaZZZ Network.
ABOUTPROXIMA RFAND APPLIED RFIDFounded in 2006, Applied RFID and its operating subsidiaries (www.proximarf.com), have a versatile and leading-edge portfolio of RFID reader, sensor tag and data logging products based on the ISO 15693 standard of high frequency (13.56Mhz) RFID.
Once the acquisition agreement with Tranzbyte is finalized, the company has plans to increase its network of global distributors and value-added resellers. With its "Proxima RF" line of RFID readers, sensor tags, sensor probes and data logging products, the Company seeks out opportunities with partners who have a unique software offering within market verticals where the implementation of secure data collection and temperature sensing bring real and immediate ROI to users. These key markets include: food safety, cold chain logistics and healthcare/pharmaceutical as well as factory and field maintenance applications.
NOTES ABOUT FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTSExcept for any historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this press release contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including those described in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission reports and filings. Certain statements contained in this release that are not historical facts constitute forward-looking statements, within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and are intended to be covered by the safe harbors created by that Act. Reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements because they involve unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied. Forward-looking statements may be identified by words such as estimates, anticipates, projects, plans, expects, intends, believes, should and similar expressions and by the context in which they are used. Such statements are based upon current expectations of the Company and speak only as of the date made. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which they are made.
|
1,447,078,140 |
2015-11-09 14:09:00+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [381, 1125, 1181, 1286, 1646, 1683, 1749, 2148, 2309, 3529]}
|
{"Bitcoin": [47]}
|
MarilynJean Interactive (MJMI.QB) Welcomes Top Bitcoin Remittance and ATM Expert to Board of Advisors
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/marilynjean-interactive-mjmi-qb-welcomes-140900768.html
|
ACCESSWIRE
|
https://www.accesswire.com/
|
HENDERSON, NV / ACCESSWIRE / November 9, 2015 / MarilynJean Interactive ( MJMI ) today announced it has retained Christopher Concepcion to serve on its board of advisors. Mr. Concepcion has an MBA from Stanford University, over 30 years of international corporate expertise at the executive level, wide ranging business relationships in the Philippines and extensive experience in Bitcoin remittance and ATM operations. Mr. Concepcion was born and raised in the Philippines where he earned his undergraduate degree in business at The University of The Philippines in Manila. He then completed an MBA at Stanford University in California. While in the Philippines, Mr. Concepcion held executive positions in companies involved in supply chain management, real estate financing, insurance and communications. He has worked with Filipino remittances for the last 12 years. Mr. Concepcion was also a member of the Capital Markets Development Council that provided public / private business policy advice to the Philippine government. Mr. Concepcion and his family relocated to Canada in 2014. In late 2014, Mr. Concepcion formed Bitcoiniacs Holdings Inc., to acquire the world's first Bitcoin ATM operator. Mr. Concepcion then pivoted the business toward remittances, with a focus on using Bitcoins to allow foreign workers to quickly and inexpensively remit funds to the Philippines. Peter Janosi, MJMI's president said: "We couldn't be more excited to have Mr. Concepcion join our growing team. His expertise and the business direction of his firm match perfectly with 's plans in the remittance space. Mr. Concepcion's firm owns the world's first Bitcoin ATM and the first standalone Bitcoin remittance storefront, both in Vancouver Canada. With his Bitcoin expertise and top level Philippine contacts, we firmly believe Mr. Concepcion will provide invaluable advice and important introductions as we target the multi-billion dollar Philippine remittance market. We look forward to updating our shareholders as we grow this relationship." Story continues About MJMI MJMI is in the business of providing safe and accessible services for the users of Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies. Crypto-currencies are a medium of exchange using cryptography to secure transactions and control the creation of new units. Bitcoin became the first decentralized crypto-currency in 2009. Crypto-currency is produced at a rate which is defined when the system is created and publicly known. By contrast, in centralized banking and economic systems, such as the Federal Reserve System, corporate boards or governments control the supply of currency by printing units or demanding additions to digital banking ledgers. However, neither companies nor governments can produce units of crypto-currency and as such the value of crypto-currencies are completely based on supply and demand, free from any governmental control. Many people believe crypto-currencies, and in particular bitcoin, hold the promise of being the most significant advancement in global finance in modern history. The advent of bitcoin creates a secure, easily accessible and transferable transnational currency that is completely liberated from political influence. MJMI is currently exploring partnerships in several verticals within the crypto-currency space, including the multi-billion dollar remittance market. Management believes that several industries, including both international remittances and online gambling are on the verge of being revolutionized by the use of Bitcoin to effect transactions. MarilynJean Media Interactive is among the first publicly traded companies focused on bitcoin and the crypto-currency space. The company's trading symbol is MJMI.QB. Website: www.marilynjean.com Press Contact: bonnie@marilynjean.com SOURCE: MarilynJean Media Interactive
|
1,421,897,220 |
2015-01-22 03:27:00+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [658, 1081]}
|
{}
|
Real Scientific Breakthroughs Made By Prime Number Based Cryptocurrency Gapcoin Runner-Up To Popular Primecoin
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/real-scientific-breakthroughs-made-prime-032700029.html
|
ACCESSWIRE
|
https://www.accesswire.com/
|
Record breaking prime number based peer-to-peer cryptocurrency Gapcoin similar to popular Primecoin has already broken 544 Prime Gap records ACCESSWIRE / January 21, 2015 / Primecoin alternative and competitor Gapcoin (GAP) is a new prime number based peer-to-peer cryptocurrency. Gapcoin has already in it's first 4 month of existence broken 544 records of first known occurrences in prime gaps. If the Gapcoin mining difficulty reaches 35.4245, every block will be a new prime gap world record. Prime gap records found by Gapcoin can be seen at http://gapcoin.org/primegaps-length.php . Gapcoin strives to deliver a decentralized payment system similar to Bitcoin that is independent of banks and governments; while terminating the flaws in other science oriented alt coins. Gapcoin promotes anonymity and allows user to send money worldwide in no-time with minimal transaction fees while contributing to mathematical research. Gapcoin has had a steady growth since launch in October 2014 and was released without a premine. It can be argued that one of the main advantages over Bitcoin is that Gapcoins PoW system does not use energy while solving algorithms solely for the sake of controlling the difficulty, but also searching for large prime gaps; giving Gapcoin real-life scientific and mathematical value. A proof-of-work algorithms needs to be difficult to calculate, consistent and easy to verify. Gapcoin meets these requirements; while finding prime gaps that has the potential to help researchers solve the millennium problem, lead to breakthroughs in the bounded gap and verify the Twin Prime Conjecture and the Riemann hypothesis. Small prime gaps are more common than larger ones thus Gapcoins difficulty is set by the merit of the prime gap which is the ratio of the gap's size to the average gap size. Gapcoins PoW algorithm is the largest, decentralized prime gap search in the cyrptocurrency space. If the Gapcoin mining difficulty reaches 35.4245, every block will be a new prime gap world record. Prime gap records found by Gapcoin can be seen at http://gapcoin.org/primegaps-length.php . Story continues The main difference between Primecoin and Gapcoin is that Primecoins PoW algorithm searches for prime number chains called bi-twin chains and Cunningham chains while Gapcoins PoW network is based on the merit of the prime gap. Except the fact that Gapcoin was launched without any premine it was designed to avoid instamine and give a fair distribution meaning that, contrary to many other cryptocurrencies, the more people that adopt and mine Gapcoin the more coins per block will be produced. This system is in place so early adopters and the coin creators will not have an unfair advantage. Gapcoin wallets are compatible with Linux and Windows; GAP is already availible on cryptocurrency exchanges LazyCoins and Coin-Swap as well as the popular exchange Poloniex. Having already broken 544 Prime Gap records, Gapcoin is a valuable asset in an exciting series of technically advanced, science oriented cryptocurrencies that has the potential to solve famous mathematical problems while offering a fast and secure payment system; a truly valuable part of the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Technical specifications: PoW: custom, prime gaps Block target time 2.5 minutes Block reward proportional to the current difficulty Block reward halving every 420000 proximately every 2 years. Cap: about 10 - 30 million GAP Difficulty adjusts every block and increases logarithmically *This press release is for informational purposes only. The information does not constitute investment advice or an offer to invest For more information about us, please visit http://gapcoin.org/ Contact Info: Name: GAPcoin Media Email: info@gapcoin.org Organization: GAPcoin SOURCE: GAPcoin
|
1,391,632,009 |
2014-02-05 20:26:49+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [11, 285, 482, 949, 1761, 1972, 2091, 2527, 2719, 2781, 3036, 3501, 3638, 3716, 4225, 4247, 5302, 5506, 5666, 6079, 6369, 6406, 6901, 7106]}
|
{"Bitcoin": [0]}
|
Bitcoin Is Broken—Here's a Simple Plan to Fix It
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bitcoin-broken-heres-simple-plan-202649080.html
|
The Atlantic
|
http://www.theatlantic.com/
|
Nerds love Bitcoin, and they think you should too.
Actually, they think youwill. They think it's the payments system, if not the currency, of the future. Something that will end Paypal, not the Fed. A way to send anything to anyone online for little to no fees. But mostly, they think Bitcoin is a technical marvel—because it is.Though that doesn't make it an economic marvel. At least not yet.
Netscape founder and venture capitalistMarc Andreessenis one of those nerds. He thinks Bitcoin is a game-changing technology on the scale of the PC and the Internet. In his telling, all were discounted as techie playthings, and all went on—or will go—to so fundamentally change how we live that we can't imagine life without them. There's something to that, but it's not enough on it's own. As I put it before, every big idea starts out sounding crazy, but not every crazy-sounding idea ends up being big. Some of them end up being ...Segway. That said, Bitcoin does hold a lot of promise, and it could change how we pay for things. But it's not there yet.
Here's why it could be big, why it isn't, and how it could in seven steps.
1.It's called the double-spending problem. Say I send you money online. You can't tell whether I've sent the exact same money to somebody else too. It's just too easy for me to copy the money's digital information, and use it more than once. Maybe I'm honest. But maybe I'm not, and I'm "paying" you with a dollar that's already been spent.
2.That's where financial institutions come in. They sit in the middle of every online transaction, and confirm that, yes, this money hasn't been spent before. These intermediaries add trust to the system, but this trust doesn't come cheap: They typically charge 2.5 percent per transaction.
3.Bitcoin's genius is it confirms transactions with a decentralized network of peoplewho don't charge feesinstead of financial institutions that do. Who are these people doing something for nothing? Well, they're Bitcoin miners, and they're not actually working for free—they're getting paid with new bitcoins.
For the uninitiated, Bitcoin is a virtual currency with a strictly limited supply that only grows at a slow, preset rate. Basically digital gold. And like actual gold,the only way to get new bitcoins is to "mine" them—but by solving computationally-taxing math problems, not with a pick and pan. In this case, though, the invisible hand is plenty easy to see. Solving these math problems doesn't just win new bitcoins for individual miners. It verifies all Bitcoin transactions for the entire network.
4.So why do people bother mining for bitcoins? Well, the question answers itself: becauseit's profitable, and they expect it to be even more so if Bitcoin keeps going up in value. This last point is critical. Bitcoin mining has become incredibly competitive the last few years—just look at thesupercomputer fortresses in Icelandthat use geothermal power and Arctic air for cooling—and that competition drives down margins. That means miners are really counting on Bitcoin to continue its journey to infinity and beyond, to keep rising forever.
5.When the price of money goes up, the price of everything else goes down. It's called deflation, and it's death for an economy. People put off buying things when they'll cost less tomorrow than today. Companies put off investing when their customers put off buying. And people who borrowed money are stuck trying to pay debts that don't change with wages that do—and have fallen.
But Bitcoin's deflationary bias is a feature, not a bug. It's why miners want to mine, and why there are no transaction fees. In other words,Bitcoin can't work as a technology without deflation. The question is whether Bitcoin can work as a currency with it.
Probably not. At least not when there'sthismuch deflation. You can just how much there's been in the chart below fromPeter Coy. It shows how much prices would have had to fall in 2013 if they'd been set in bitcoins instead of dollars.
Now, to be fair, prices aren't set in bitcoins, and never will be. AsJoe Weisenthalpoints out, it doesn't matter how much prices fall in bitcoins as long as prices are set in dollars—it won't hurt the real economy. But what about the Bitcoin economy? Will Bitcoin deflation hurt it? Almost certainly.
6.It's called Gresham's Law, and it's a simple idea: Bad money drives out the good. It dates back to when rulers would literally debase their currencies by reducing the amount of precious metals in coins, but kept the face values the same. (That's how inflation used to work). The government, of course, would try to collect all the old coins to burn them down, and make new ones. But it couldn't always, and this would create a two-tiered money system. There were old coins with more silver and gold, and new coins with less. So people would hoard the old, more valuable coins, and spend the new, less valuable ones.
It's the same with bitcoins and dollars. Why spend a currency that might go up in value ten or a hundred times—or more!—when you can spend one that won't? People don't. The only time people do use bitcoins is when they can't use dollars (or euros or yuan)—when they want to do something illegal. Things like buying drugs, gambling online, and evading capital controls. Indeed,60 percentofall Bitcoin activityhappens on the gambling site Satoshi Dice.
Other than that, people just hold on to their bitcoins; 64 percent are in accounts that have never been used. Which makes sense, if you think of Bitcoin as adotcom stockinstead of as a currency. It's not like people would use Facebook stock to buy things if they could do that instead of using dollars.
7.Bitcoin would be a clear step forward as a payments systemifpeople actually used it to pay for things. But they don't. The people who have bitcoins don't use them, and the people who don't have them don't want them. Indeed, a new survey from The Street finds that79 percentof people have never used a cryptocurrency,and never want to.
But there's an easy fix. Just ask yourself why sellers are so happy to accept Bitcoin. It's not just that there are no fees. It's that merchants can instantly turn their bitcoins into dollars thanks to startups likeBitpay. Sure, that means paying a fee, but it's lower than what they'd have to pay the credit card companies—and it means they don't have to worry about Bitcoin's incredibly volatile value.
Bitcoin needs the same thing for buyers. It needs a company that can immediately turn a buyer's dollars into bitcoins and then immediately turn a seller's bitcoins back into dollars—all for a lower fee than traditional intermediaries charge. You wouldn't have to worry about buyers not being willing to spend their bitcoins, because it wouldn't betheirbitcoins. Nobody would even realize they were using bitcoins: buyers would pay with dollars and sellers would get dollars back.In other words, Bitcoin would stop trying to be a currency and start being a financial architecture. Of course, it would takea lotof bitcoins to make this work, but it would work if you had them.
Bitcon's killer app is a Bitcoin monopoly.
More From The Atlantic
• Obama Just Gave Legal Marijuana a Big Boost
• This Is Janet Yellen's Biggest Challenge
• Inside the Love Story That Brought Down DOMA
|
1,447,094,430 |
2015-11-09 18:40:30+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [13, 412, 1428, 1502, 1524]}
|
{}
|
A Nobel Prize winner just ripped into bitcoin, saying it 'is likely to go to zero'
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/nobel-prize-winner-just-ripped-184030619.html
|
Business Insider
|
http://www.businessinsider.com/
|
Eugene Fama.
Bitcoin has beenripping higher recently, and some market participants saythe digital currency is finally making a rebound with investorsafter a sustained fall.
The advice from one Nobel Prize winner:not so fast.
Professor Eugene Fama, who won the 2013 Nobel Prize for economics, thinks the value of bitcoin "is likely to go to zero," at some point,according to an interview posted on CoinTelegraph.
Bitcoin prices are hovering around the $400 mark right now, after making a big runup in late October and early November.
"People won’t use it because basically it’s very difficult to know how much you need to settle. It is quite variable, they won’t want to hold it as just a way of settling payments, they will try to get rid of it quickly, as they do; and that’s not good for the survival of that kind of a unit of account," he said in his interview.
"As if it doesn’t have a stable value it’s probably not going to survive as a unit of account. What that means is that its value is likely to go to zero at some point."
Fama goes on to say bitcoin does not represent a "store of value," as gold does for investors.
"I guess that for a drug dealer that has a lot more value," he said.
There's a SoundCloud embed below; head toCoinTelegraph to read a full version of what Fama had to say.
NOW WATCH:JAMES ALTUCHER: The American Dream is a lie
More From Business Insider
• The Money Of The Future Will Look More Like Bitcoin Than The Paper We Carry Around Today
• I'm Changing My Mind About Bitcoin
• The Rise Of Bitcoin: Is It A Solution Or Menace?
|
1,421,928,818 |
2015-01-22 12:13:38+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [1768]}
|
{}
|
Is Legal Marijuana Here To Stay?
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/legal-marijuana-stay-121338452.html
|
Benzinga
|
http://www.benzinga.com/
|
With several states opening medical marijuana dispensaries and both Colorado and Washington paving the way for the legal sale of recreational pot, many investors see the U.S. prohibition on marijuana being completely abandoned within the next 10 years.
Legal Pot Spreading
Oregon looks set to become the next state with recreational sales outlets; voters there approved the use of recreational marijuana in 2014 and growers are already starting to expand their operations by snapping up land and warehouse space in anticipation of a flood of new business.
In Ohio, licensed stores could pop up in a little over a year if a bill to legalize the drug is passed.
Related Link: 15 Marijuana Stocks To Watch In 2015
Some States Hold Off
The push to expand the marijuana market to all 50 states isn’t without opposition. Several states, like Michigan, are still pushing back against allowing medical dispensaries. Those opposed to widespread marijuana sales say they are worried about increased crime rates and stores selling to minors.
Colorado Leads The Pack
Colorado, however, stands as a shining example that legalizing marijuana could do more good than harm. One year after legalizing the sale of recreational marijuana, Colorado police officials have reported no uptick in criminal behavior and the growing industry has flooded the state with new job opportunities.
Colorado’s success is a good indication that legalizing marijuana is a trend that is likely to eventually spread and give rise to an entirely new industry. While current laws prohibit the transport of marijuana across state lines, many see those regulations also loosening to allow growers and retailers to expand into larger brands that reach across the entire United States.
See more from Benzinga
• Bitcoin Startups Prove The Currency Isn't Dead Yet
• ECB Easing Could Strengthen Headwinds For U.S. Firms
• Bigfoot To Enter The Market
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
|
1,470,932,221 |
2016-08-11 16:17:01+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [2755]}
|
{}
|
Exchanges Propose New Unified Trading Rules
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/exchanges-propose-unified-trading-rules-161701474.html
|
etf.com
|
https://www.etf.com/
|
The country’s three major exchanges announced today they have agreed to work together for new common trading procedures when reopening after a trading halt.
Bats Global Markets, owner of ETF.com, the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq said they will be filing a new set of exchange rules with the SEC that propose to unify how all three resume trading when a halt occurs with ETFs and stocks. This comes nearly a year after more than 1,000 ETFs and stocks were halted on Aug. 24, 2015, causing dozens ofETFs to be traded well below fair value.
Currently the exchanges do not have the same procedures to resume trading after such a halt, which fueled the market swings and price dislocation on that day.
Beyond the unified reopening procedures, the exchanges also propose to eliminate the time periods where securities could trade without the limit up/limit down (circuit breaker) bands in place, reduce the number of trading pauses, and remove the “Clearly Erroneous Execution” rules when the limit up/limit down bands are in place.
Getting Ahead Of Regulators
“Last year’s flash crash wasn’t necessarily ‘caused’by chaos between the exchanges, but it certainly was exacerbated by it,” said Dave Nadig, director of exchange-traded funds at FactSet and ETF trading expert. “It’s to the exchanges’ credit that in many ways they’re getting ahead of the regulators and trying to coordinate their disparate rule sets to minimize the chances of the same thing happening again. The work they’re doing about initial opening, limit up/limit down triggering and reopening is exactly what needs to happen.”
Nadig added that while the details are just coming out, the proactive nature of the exchanges in making these proposals is admirable.
“The devil can sometimes be in the details, so we’ll see the final suggestions in a few weeks, but overall, I’m enormously impressed at the way these competitors have pulled together to improve the system,” he added.
Industry Call To Action In March
In March, leaders of the ETF industry joined a group in writing a letter to the SEC (Why This ‘Open Letter’ To SEC Matters) petitioning for overhauls to the market microstructure to prevent further flash crashes in ETFs and stocks.
At the heart of the matter on Aug. 24, 2015 were the inconsistencies between how different exchanges handled big swings in securities (the limit up/limit down circuit breakers) and how securities were reopened after those breakers were hit.
The problem spoke to the fragmentation of exchanges and the difference in how each exchange resumed trading, resulting in price discovery problems. Today’s announcement aims to address those problems.
Drew Voros can be reached atdvoros@etf.com.
Recommended Stories
• Behind The Wait For The Winklevoss Bitcoin ETF
• The ETF As A Political Weapon
• Aug. 24, 2015 Flash Crash Part Of Wall St. History
• What The New Real Estate Sector Means For ETFs
• ETF Asset Growth In 2016 Par For The Course
Permalink| © Copyright 2016ETF.com.All rights reserved
|
1,421,929,860 |
2015-01-22 12:31:00+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [44, 345, 673, 3530, 3557, 3700, 4146, 4829]}
|
{"Bitcoin": [17]}
|
Canada's Largest Bitcoin Exchange CAVIRTEX Integrates with Vogogo
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/canadas-largest-bitcoin-exchange-cavirtex-123100188.html
|
ACCESSWIRE
|
https://www.accesswire.com/
|
Vogogo also integrates two further exchangesBitcoin Brains & Taurus Exchange.
CALGARY, ALBERTA & PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA /ACCESSWIRE /JANUARY 22nd, 2015- Payment processing compliance & fraud mitigation specialistVogogo Inc.(TSX VENTURE:VGO) today announced signed contracts with Canada's largest bitcoin exchange,CAVIRTEXand two further exchangesBitcoin Brains&Taurus Exchange.
CAVIRTEX is Canada's first and largest bitcoin exchange. In its three years of operation, it has facilitated over $100 Million in trading between individuals, merchants, and market makers. In addition to being an exchange, CAVIRTEX offers merchant solutions, debit cards and prepaid Mastercards.
Bitcoin Brains is an innovative Calgary-based exchange and the first of its kind with a bricks and mortar store.
Vancouver-based Taurus exchange is a sophisticated trading platform utilizing multi-signature wallet technology to secure customer funds. The exchange operates on the USD and CAD markets.
It is expected that each of the exchanges will be fully integrated with Vogogo's payment processing and risk management platform enabling them to offer users of their respective exchanges seamless transactions between bitcoin and fiat currencies in the US and Canada, with EU processing expected to come online during Q1 of 2015.
Through the latter half of 2014 Vogogo prepared its payment processing and risk management platform to effectively service the crypto industry. Vogogo is now actively boarding new crypto based clients onto the Vogogo platform with anticipation of reaching commercial processing volumes during Q1, 2015.
Vogogo CEO Geoff Gordon said of the announcement, "Being the chosen provider of payment processing and risk management services by well established crypto-exchanges as well as the new and emerging players in the industry, I believe, speaks to our capabilities and reputation. We look forward to working with these teams and helping them to unlock new and lucrative markets during 2015."
"Our focus is making it easy for Canadians to seamlessly transition between bitcoin and the Canadian Dollar." said Joseph Onorati, CEO of CAVIRTEX. "As Canada's largest and most trusted digital currency exchange, we are always looking for services that enhance our offering. By integrating Vogogo with our platform we are making bitcoin more accessible to Canadians."
--ENDS--
AboutVogogo
Vogogo is a TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV") publicly traded payment services company with integrated risk management and compliance. Founded in 2008, Vogogo designed, built andlaunched its web-based payment processing technology while growing its expertise in software development, payments, risk management, compliance and related financial services. Vogogo is now executing on its plan to serve global markets. The plan focuses on market opportunities where Vogogo believes it has a competitive advantage due to its positioning and technology.
For further company information please view theVogogo Media Kit
For information or interview please contact:
Geoff Gordon
Chief Executive Officer
403-648-9292
Rodney Thompson
Chief Relationship Officer
403-648-9292
AboutCAVIRTEX
CAVIRTEX is Canada's first and largest bitcoin exchange. In its three years of operation, CAVIRTEX has facilitated over $100 Million in trading between individuals, merchants, and market makers. In addition to being an exchange, CAVIRTEX offers merchant solutions, debit cards and prepaid Mastercards. For more information about CAVIRTEX, please go towww.cavirtex.com.
AboutBitcoin Brains
Since 2013, Bitcoin Brains has been pioneering what can be done with bitcoin in a brick and mortar establishment. As the first store of its kind anywhere, Bitcoin Brains offers brokerage services, bitcoin mining equipment sales, rentals, setup and consulting as well as point of sale solutions for merchants and charities.
AboutTaurus Exchange
Taurus is an upcoming Canadian bitcoin exchange that will operate on the CAD market. It is based in Vancouver, Canada and is run by Founder and CEO Yuri Yerofeyev who has experience in bitcoin trading, business and customer service and is a director of The Bitcoin Co-op. The client-focused exchange runs on a sophisticated trading platform and utilizes the multi-signature wallet technology to secure customer funds.
READER ADVISORY
Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.
None of the information contained on, or connected to, Vogogo's website is incorporated by reference herein.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this press release contain forward-looking information including, without limitation, timing for integration of the Vogogo platform with CAVIRTEX, Bitcoin Brains and Taurus Exchange, expansion plans of Vogogo and anticipated dates for commercial trading volumes. The words "will," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "intent," "may," "project," "should," and similar expressions are intended to be among the statements that identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements are founded on the basis of expectations and assumptions made by Vogogo. Readers are cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of such information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of Vogogo. Vogogo does not have any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements except as expressly required by applicable securities laws.
SOURCE:Vogogo Inc.
|
1,391,638,800 |
2014-02-05 22:20:00+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [35, 111, 268, 323, 440, 620, 811, 869, 990, 1213, 1510, 1589, 1880, 3176, 3289, 3371, 3494, 3718, 3880, 3961, 4032, 4243, 4460]}
|
{"Bitcoin": [27]}
|
PayPal Is Cracking Down on Bitcoin Sellers
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/paypal-cracking-down-bitcoin-sellers-222000869.html
|
Entrepreneur
|
http://www.entrepreneur.com/
|
PayPaldoes not want people selling Bitcoin on its platform. It appears that related goods and services, such asBitcoinmining rigs -- that is, specialized computers designed to mine the cryptocurrency by solving complex math problems -- may also be forbidden.
Users on Bitcointalk, a popular online discussion forum for the Bitcoin community, are indignant Wednesday following a report that PayPal is enforcing a draconian ban on all things Bitcoin. User newguy05 wrote that his account had been suspended after he sold some Casascius bitcoins -- collectible coins of brass and other metals. Each coin comes with its own Bitcoin address and a private key to access an amount of the digital money equal to the purported value of the physical coin. They are often seen in pictures illustrating media reports about Bitcoin.
"Paypal has largely ignored and allowed physical Bitcoin sales until beginning of this year when some kind of new policy triggered a massive account review on everything Bitcoin-related that's considered high value sales, including physical coins," newguy05 wrote.
In an earlier post dated Feb. 4, newguy05 said that "PayPal has started a massive banning campaign on accounts selling anything Bitcoin-related, whether it's mining equipment, ebooks, or the currency itself."
Not everyone will be shocked by this news. Some see the cryptocurrency as a natural enemy of PayPal, because the sort of transaction fees that PayPal charges as a matter of course are nonexistent in person-to-person Bitcoin transactions.
According to a PayPal representative, merchants who sell Bitcoin mining equipment are in the clear and can continue to offer PayPal as a payment option. The company expects all participating merchants to follow "the policies we've put in place to protect both buyers and sellers who use PayPal," the spokesperson said.
But PayPal's policies toward Bitcoin may have recently been altered, according to one employee. At time of writing, however, details on what these policies entail and when they were implemented were not available.
Related:Why Businesses Will Like PayPal's Updated Checkout Process
The effect of those policies is clear from PayPal's email to newguy05 notifying him that his seller account had been suspended. "We have reviewed your PayPal account and found that you are operating as an e-currency dealer/exchanger including the sale of electronic media of exchange (such as electronic money or digital currency)," the email reads. "Per our current Acceptable Use Policy for Money Service Businesses, PayPal may not be used to operate a currency exchange, bureau de change or check cashing business."
The email goes on to ask for a full listing of the seller's products and services, an explanation of his business model, a list of all websites that will be used for payments and more. In order to reinstate his account, PayPal also asks the seller to sign an affidavit stating that he will comply with the company's policies.
If newguy05 is to be believed, he is not alone in his plight. Last month, PandoDaily reported that an eBay merchant named TerraHasher was claiming to have had his assets frozen by PayPal for selling Bitcoin mining equipment. TerraHasher said heintended to sue PayPalif the matter was not resolved.
Some users on Bitcointalk said that PayPal stands to gain more than most companies by embracing Bitcoin. Indeed, as early as April 2013, eBay's chief executive, John Donahoe, was quotedsayinghis company was "looking at Bitcoin closely. There may be ways to enable it inside PayPal."
What's more, PayPal president David Marcus has more than once spoken favorably of the cryptocurrency. Marcus himselftweeted last monththat using PayPal to sell Bitcoin mining rigs is allowed.
But despite the potential for PayPal to benefit, some remain skeptical of whether the entrenched payments company and the upstart Bitcoin will become friends. "Right now [PayPal's] business does few things that Bitcoin couldn't do better and cheaper," user RodeoX said in a post on Bitcointalk. "If people start sending money around the world and shopping online for pennies per transaction, PayPal is going to have to do something different."
Related:At Regulatory Hearing, Prosecutors Admit Bitcoin Is a Technological Breakthrough
More From Entrepreneur
• In Crowdfunding, Who is Responsible for Preventing Fraud?
• Be Prepared: 4 Ways to Outthink Your Competitors
• At Regulatory Hearing, Prosecutors Admit Bitcoin Is a Technological Breakthrough
|
1,447,107,167 |
2015-11-09 22:12:47+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [1844]}
|
{}
|
New York exchange itBit says won 5 blocks of U.S. bitcoin auction
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/york-exchange-itbit-says-won-221247583.html
|
Reuters
|
http://www.reuters.com/
|
(Adds details, paragraph on Genesis Trading which did not win this auction, bitcoin price, byline)
By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss
NEW YORK, Nov 9 (Reuters) - New York-based bitcoin exchange itBit said on Monday it won five blocks of the digital currency at last week's auction conducted by the U.S. Marshals Service.
The bid by itBit was organized on behalf of a syndicate of the exchange's and over-the-counter trading clients, said Bobby Cho, director of trading at itBit, in an email to Reuters.
The five blocks of the virtual currency may have added up to at least 10,000 bitcoins. Cho declined to make further comments.
Last week's auction included 21 blocks of 2,000 bitcoins and one block of over 2,341.
The U.S. government on Thursday held its final auction of bitcoins seized during the prosecution of the creator of Silk Road, an online black market where the virtual currency could be used to buy illegal drugs and other goods.
It auctioned 44,341 bitcoins last week.
When contacted for comment, the U.S. Marshals Service said it was not anticipating further announcements on Monday.
itBit also won part of the U.S. government's auction in March, nabbing 3,000 of the 50,000 bitcoins auctioned.
In May, itBit became the first virtual currency company to receive a charter to operate as a trust company in the state of New York.
Meanwhile, Genesis Global Trading, a unit of Digital Currency Group founded by prominent bitcoin investor Barry Silbert, was informed by the U.S. Marshals Service that the company did not win any of the blocks up for auction, the company's chief executive officer, Brendan O'Connor, said in an email to Reuters on Monday.
In late trading on Monday, bitcoin was trading up 1.8 percent on the day at $379.27 on the BitStamp platform. That put the value of the 44,341 bitcoins auctioned at about $16.8 million.
Bitcoins are used as a vehicle for moving money around the world quickly and anonymously via the Web without the need for third-party verification.
Last Thursday's auction drew just 11 registered bidders and 30 bids, a decline from the March sale, which attracted 34 bids from 14 registered bidders.
(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Additional reporting by Nate Raymond; Editing by Diane Craft and Jonathan Oatis)
|
1,421,931,900 |
2015-01-22 13:05:00+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [2634]}
|
{}
|
Here Are The Top 5 Priorities For Apple, According To Top Apple Analyst Gene Munster
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/top-5-priorities-apple-according-130555611.html
|
Business Insider
|
http://www.businessinsider.com/
|
According to Apple analyst Gene Munster, these are the company's top-5 priorities in order of importance:
1. iPhone
2. iOS
3. Apple Watch
4. Mac
5. Emerging
What's missing? The iPad.
"We believe that at this point, the iPad is largely just an offshoot of iPhone in that the iPad does not have any significantly unique features that iPhone does not other than a larger screen," said Munster in a note for clients. "While this may seem a negative view on iPad, it is not meant as such and more of a commentary on the power of the iPhone and iOS that it extends to create a sub-segment that is ~13% of Apple’s core business."
So, why does he think those other categories are important?
• The iPhone, because, duh, Apple is the iPhone company. Apple's stock swings higher or lower depending on iPhone sales.
• iOS, because according to Munster, it is "the future of the company." iOS is the operating system that powers the iPhone, the iPad, the Apple TV, and the Apple Watch. It is at the core of Apple's biggest new products. It also is the base for future expansion into home automation and health. Moreso than hardware design, iOS is what's separates the iPhone from an Android phone.
• The Apple Watch is Apple's first new product category since the iPad, and it's Apple's first stab at wearable computing. Munster also thinks it could be massive down the road: " Today the Watch is an accessory for the iPhone, but we believe core features like calls, voice control, messaging, etc. could be controlled via a Watch, implant, light field technology or other evolving technology, leaving the smartphone as we know it irrelevant. Therefore we believe that Apple’s foray into wearables via the Apple Watch may be more important in them figuring out how wearables will change the smartphone market than it is as an individual business line in the next couple of years."
• The Mac is a bigger part of Apple's business than the iPad, and it's growing. Munster thinks Apple can be a little more creative with the Mac as opposed to the iPad. The iPad is just a bigger iPhone, whereas the Mac is its own product.
• Emerging products are things that haven't even been rumored yet.Munster, because he's Munster, thinks Apple will eventually do something in television. " Fundamentally, we believe that Apple looks for areas in which they can deliver great experiences by marrying hardware and software. We believe television is the most obvious and most significant remaining market opportunity." But, if not television, then it has to be something else. Apple is always looking for the next major opportunity.
More From Business Insider
• Why Bitcoin's Astonishing Price Collapse Doesn't Matter
• Why Apple Will Do A $200 Billion Cash-Return Program, According To Credit Suisse
• The CEO Of Sling TV Defends His Company's Radical Plan To Change TV Forever
|
1,447,118,143 |
2015-11-10 01:15:43+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [1738]}
|
{}
|
New York exchange itBit says won 5 blocks of U.S. bitcoin auction
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/york-exchange-itbit-says-won-011543827.html
|
Reuters
|
http://www.reuters.com/
|
By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss
NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York-based bitcoin exchange itBit said on Monday it won five blocks of the digital currency at last week's auction conducted by the U.S. Marshals Service.
The bid by itBit was organized on behalf of a syndicate of the exchange's and over-the-counter trading clients, said Bobby Cho, director of trading at itBit, in an email to Reuters.
The five blocks of the virtual currency may have added up to at least 10,000 bitcoins. Cho declined to make further comments.
Last week's auction included 21 blocks of 2,000 bitcoins and one block of over 2,341.
The U.S. government on Thursday held its final auction of bitcoins seized during the prosecution of the creator of Silk Road, an online black market where the virtual currency could be used to buy illegal drugs and other goods.
It auctioned 44,341 bitcoins last week.
When contacted for comment, the U.S. Marshals Service said it was not anticipating further announcements on Monday.
itBit also won part of the U.S. government's auction in March, nabbing 3,000 of the 50,000 bitcoins auctioned.
In May, itBit became the first virtual currency company to receive a charter to operate as a trust company in the state of New York.
Meanwhile, Genesis Global Trading, a unit of Digital Currency Group founded by prominent bitcoin investor Barry Silbert, was informed by the U.S. Marshals Service that the company did not win any of the blocks up for auction, the company's chief executive officer, Brendan O'Connor, said in an email to Reuters on Monday.
In late trading on Monday, bitcoin was trading up 1.8 percent on the day at $379.27 on the BitStamp platform. That put the value of the 44,341 bitcoins auctioned at about $16.8 million.
Bitcoins are used as a vehicle for moving money around the world quickly and anonymously via the Web without the need for third-party verification.
Last Thursday's auction drew just 11 registered bidders and 30 bids, a decline from the March sale, which attracted 34 bids from 14 registered bidders.
(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Additional reporting by Nate Raymond; Editing by Diane Craft and Jonathan Oatis)
|
1,421,933,852 |
2015-01-22 13:37:32+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [435, 648]}
|
{}
|
He bets on bitcoin, but also warns about it
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/linkedin-exec-dont-buy-bitcoin-124200989.html
|
CNBC
|
http://www.cnbc.com/
|
LinkedIn (LNKD) founder and chairman Reid Hoffman told CNBC he remains a believer in bitcoin, but he says the digital currency is only in the first inning and it is not for everybody. "The advice I give my friends is don't buy any bitcoin that you wouldn't be comfortable losing, rather like a seed investment in a technology company," he said Thursday during a "Squawk Box" interview from the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Read More Bitcoin finds a place among the world's elite Hoffman, who owns bitcoin and invests in two bitcoin companies, said the least interesting part of the digital currency is its trading price, which has been volatile. Bitcoin as a platform for machine-to-machine transactions is where the real value lies, he said. "As you think of your car becoming a software vehicle, it could automatically handle parking, bridge tolls, all the rest of it if it had a machine-to-machine currency," he said. Read More Russians move into bitcoin as ruble tanks The currency also holds the potential to bank the un-banked in markets where it is too expensive for the banking system to support digital transactions, he said.
|
1,391,663,100 |
2014-02-06 05:05:00+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [52, 169, 417, 563, 2896, 3143]}
|
{"Bitcoin": [20, 66]}
|
The Longest Running Bitcoin Alternative – Devcoin Now Trading For Bitcoin on Cryptsy.com
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/longest-running-bitcoin-alternative-devcoin-050500319.html
|
ACCESSWIRE
|
https://www.accesswire.com/
|
Ethical digital currency Devcoin is now trading for Bitcoin on Cryptsy.com.
February 6th, 2014 / Long lasting ethical digital currencyDevcoinis now trading directly for Bitcoin on Cryptsy.com, the largest digital currency trading platform in the world. Devcoin’s value peaked at 170 satoshis per DVC in mid December and has since settled down to a steady value ranging from 65 to 85 satoshis. With a currently stable Bitcoin price of around $800 each, this gives DVC a fiat value of around 16 DVC per cent, or 1600 DVC per dollar. Now that Devcoin is trading for Bitcoin on Cryptsy, its value is expected to enjoy another climb. Devcoin’s official website at devcoin.org has also recently been professionally redesigned.
In addition to its steady value, Devcoin is one of the longest running successful digital currencies. The Devcoin project began in mid 2011 — two and a half years ago. In a world where several new cryptocurrencies are released each week, Devcoin is proving itself once again to be a relatively safe investment for anyone looking to gain a position in cryptocoins.
The Devcoin team believes the world will truly be a better place when open source artists and developers can actually earn a living through their beneficial work. Devcoin’s unique form of generation, or mining, means that anyone who has reasonable engineering, composing, writing or programming skills can become involved in the Devcoin project. Devcoin’s mining algorithm is structured to give 90 percent of mining rewards to people who contribute to various Devcoin projects, including Devtome. Writers who publish their work on Devtome get paid with newly generated Devcoins. Programmers and other developers who contribute to various open source projects also receive Devcoins for their work.
People who are involved in various open source Devcoin projects are very close to being able to earn an actual living through their work. For example, someone earning twelve generation shares during round 30, converting their entire earnings into fiat for one week could have earned just under $460 for that week*, enough to pay a few bills. To earn those twelve generation shares, a new writer would have needed to publish eighteen thousand words in the previous month; more established writers whose work gets more traffic get paid more.
There are also a number of retailers who accept payment directly in Devcoins for their products. The number of merchants is ever growing due to Devcoin payment support on popular cryptocurrency payment gateway Coinpayments.net. Being able to spend Devcoins directly for products means avoiding trading fees and cash withdrawal fees. As the Devcoin project continues to grow, it is likely to put an end to the sad but true starving artist syndrome.
With its long successful track record, its stabilizing value, its unique method of generation, and its recent addition to the Bitcoin market on Cryptsy, Devcoin continues to go grow: making the world a better place and helping artists and developers worldwide earn a living wage for their open source work.
To learn more please go tohttp://devcoin.org
To trade Devcoin for Bitcoin at Cryptsy please go tohttp://cryptsy.com
*Past earnings do not guarantee future results when contributing to the Devcoin project. This Press Release is for informational purposes only and should not be taken as investment advice. Please consult with financial advisor before investing in DVC or any other digital currency.
Visithttp://devcoin.orgfor more information.
Contact InfoName: Devcoin MediaOrganization: DevcoinEmail: contact@devcoin.org
|
1,391,664,439 |
2014-02-06 05:27:19+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [1290, 1410]}
|
{}
|
PRESS DIGEST- New York Times business news - Feb 6
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/press-digest-york-times-business-052719625.html
|
Reuters
|
http://www.reuters.com/
|
Feb 6 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories on the New York Times business pages. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
* CVS Caremark Corp, United States' largest drugstore chain, announced on Wednesday that it planned to stop selling cigarettes and other tobacco products by October. ()
* Despite the diminished state of late-night television and technology that has altered viewing habits, the "Tonight" show remains one of the signature franchises of broadcasting and still carries unusual resonance with Jay Leno exiting the stage for the last time on Thursday, making way for Jimmy Fallon. ()
* The American International Group is continuing its quest to upend an $8.5 billion settlement between Bank of America and a group of mortgage securities investors. ()
* After years in philanthropy, many wonder how Bill Gates, a luminary of the tech world, will choose to position Microsoft Corp going forward. The last time Bill Gates played an active role at Microsoft, as chief software architect, he witnessed the company muffing its earliest efforts to become a major player in search, smartphones and tablet computers. ()
* Apple Inc has taken down one of the last remaining iPhone mobile applications that allowed users to buy and sell Bitcoin. The app, named BlockChain, had been downloaded 120,000 times, and was commonly used as a way to hold and spend Bitcoins. ()
* Google Inc has agreed to a settlement with European competition regulators that leaves the company with a few bruises, yet victorious over all, and would end half a decade of wrangles with antitrust authorities across the globe.
* Twitter has finally acknowledged what any newcomer could have told the company within five minutes of signing up: The messaging service is too hard to use. Discussing the company's fourth-quarter results in a call with analysts, Chief Executive Dick Costolo said that he was working on improving its web software and mobile apps to make it easier for new users to sign up and current ones to find the most relevant information on topics they care about. ()
* The makers of the blood-thinning drug Pradaxa were so worried that an internal research paper would damage drug sales that some employees not only pressured the author to revise it, but suggested it should be quashed altogether, according to newly unsealed legal documents. ()
* The Coca-Cola Co agreed on Wednesday to buy a 10 percent stake in Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, as it seeks to cement ties with the fast-growing coffee company. ()
* Anheuser-Busch InBev, United States' largest brewer, has agreed to buy the Blue Point Brewing Co in a move that could help it capitalize on the popularity of craft beer.
* Investigators say they believe they have identified the entry point through which hackers got into Target Corp's systems, zeroing in on the remote access granted through the retailer's computerized heating and cooling software, according to two people briefed on the inquiry. ()
* Lazard Ltd said on Wednesday that its profits rose 35 percent in the fourth quarter, as it benefited from improvements in its advisory and asset management businesses. ()
* Whether or not Mario Draghi and his European Central Bank colleagues plan to do anything about it at the monthly meeting Thursday, many economists are sounding the alarm. It is time, they say, to act defensively against the danger of deflation. ()
* Growth picked up in the service sector in January, with steady strength in private sector hiring, suggesting that the severe winter weather over the last several weeks had a limited effect on the economy. ()
* Investors' faith in Puerto Rico's debt appeared undaunted on Wednesday after Standard & Poor's cut the island's credit rating to junk a day earlier. ()
|
1,391,691,832 |
2014-02-06 13:03:52+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [50, 185, 353, 444, 814, 942, 1246, 1314, 1702, 1782, 1890, 1963]}
|
{"Bitcoin": [0]}
|
Bitcoin Price Tag Brings the Volatile Virtual Currency to Real-World Stores
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bitcoin-price-tag-brings-the-volatile-virtual-currency-75716468086.html
|
Yahoo Tech
|
https://www.yahoo.com/tech/
|
One of the most important obstacles to mainstream Bitcoin adoption is the virtual currencys perceived volatility. For any number of reasons, from hacking to varying changes in demand, Bitcoin has the nasty habit of fluctuating wildly over short periods of time. Along with general mistrust, such frequent price changes mean that its hard to translate Bitcoin into a real-world setting. And though many online storefronts have begun to accept Bitcoin , few physical ones have. Designer/hacker Samuel Coxs answer to the problem is a reimagination of the price tag: a BitTag. Since an old-fashioned analog (read: paper) price tag would require a lot of red pens to keep store pricing up to date, the technology artist is offering up an electronic version, which updates regularly according to the current price of Bitcoin. At its core, BitTag is a small box with a display screen that shows the pricing of an object in local currency and its Bitcoin equivalent. The latter is drawn from a nearby tablet, connected via Bluetooth, and updates the BitTag as fluctuations in the currencys price occur. Give the tag a shake, and a QR code will appear on the display, which you can scan with your smartphone in order to purchase the product with your Bitcoin. Of course, BitTag has a few issues of its own, which, like Bitcoin, will likely keep the technology from reaching any kind of mainstream acceptance. Namely, the tags, which are currently in prototype, will set shopkeepers back £40 (about $65) a pop; Cox told us that once BitTag exits prototype, it will cost considerably less. Plus you need a tablet with a WiFi connection to run all those BitTags. Oh, and enough customers who want to shop with Bitcoin to make it all worth it. Anyway, BitTag isnt alone in working to bring Bitcoin off the computer screen and into the real world. Overstock.com and Virgin Galactic will let you use Bitcoin to purchase actual goods and experiences. And a recent influx of Bitcoin ATMs let users exchange local currency for the digital variety. Yahoo Tech is a brand new tech site from David Pogue and an all-star team of writers. Follow us on Facebook for all the latest.
|
1,421,955,032 |
2015-01-22 19:30:32+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [1718]}
|
{}
|
Microsoft Proves It's Still An Innovator
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/microsoft-proves-still-innovator-193032574.html
|
Benzinga
|
http://www.benzinga.com/
|
Microsoft Corporation(NASDAQ:MSFT) fired back at naysayers who claim the company has fallen behind peers likeApple Inc.(NASDAQ:AAPL) andGoogle Inc(NASDAQ:GOOG)(NASDAQ:GOOGL) in the tech race by unveiling a new operating system and some very impressive hardware Wednesday.
Related Link:Windows 10 Offers Chance To Reload On Microsoft If You Didn't Get In Before
Windows 10
The company’s latest operating system, Windows 10, is expected to shift Microsoft’s business plan to make room for new devices and embrace the growing popularity of app purchases. The new system will be a free upgrade for many existing users, something that could cost the company as much as$500 million. However, Microsoft is looking to make up for the lost revenue as customers spend on apps and new hardware.
The Future Is Here
Speaking of hardware, the talk of the town on Wednesday was Microsoft’s latest gadget, a holographic visor. The visor is able to project lifelike 3D images of everything from the surface of Mars to a Skype call. Microsoft said the technology will be ready for mass markets in autumn when Windows 10 is released, but critics believe the company will need more time to prepare the device for the general public.
As with all wearables, it remains to be seen whether or not people will be willing to wear the visor, but it is expected to be a popular addition to video games like Minecraft. Virtual reality technology is expected to become a major part of computing in the coming years and it looks like Microsoft will be the first to step into the new arena.
See more from Benzinga
• For Investors, There Are Several Ways To Play The Personal Surveillance Trend
• 5 Companies To Watch As Music Streaming Explodes
• Is Bitcoin Poised For Success In 2015?
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
|
1,421,975,603 |
2015-01-23 01:13:23+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [2254, 2267, 4451]}
|
{}
|
Bill Gates wants to tackle mobile banking, but not with bitcoin
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bill-gates-wants-tackle-mobile-011323993.html
|
Gigaom
|
http://gigaom.com/
|
Bill and Melinda Gates’ to-do list will probably put yours to shame. This year, in theGates Foundation annual letter, the duo outlined their long-term, 15-year roadmap for the challenges that they want to solve. Their four main goals:
• Health: Reducing the number of children who die before the age of five and the number of women who die in childbirth while eradicating diseases like polio.
• Farming: Educating farmers and advancing farming techniques to curb malnutrition and reduce poverty levels.
• Finance: Bringing mobile banking to developing countries to help people secure and make spending and sharing money easy.
• Education: Using smartphones and tablets to bring online education to the poor while empowering women and teachers.
Ambitious is an understatement for the list, but it doesn’t mean it’s unachievable. Whether itsdrinking purified poop waterto draw attention to sanitation problems orhelping India eradicate polio, the Gateses have always had a way of putting the spotlight on a few of the world’s problem and bringing government, media and philanthropical attention to it.
This year, though, Bill and Melinda areshifting from backing micro-financeorganizations that empower small entrepreneurs to bringing banking to all — from the farmer who keeps his value in livestock to the family that keeps their money stuffed under a mattress. And it won’t be done by installing a Wells Fargo in every corner of Africa.
As they wrote:
“The key to this will be mobile phones. Already, in the developing countries with the right regulatory framework, people are storing money digitally on their phones and using their phones to make purchases, as if they were debit cards. By 2030, 2 billion people who don’t have a bank account today will be storing money and making payment with their phones. And by then, mobile money providers will be offering the full range of financial services, from interest-bearing savings accounts to credit to insurance.”
And while bitcoin believers have long been touting the power the digital currency could have in transforming remittances and payments in developing countries, that’s not the solution Bill Gates has in mind — although it is a starting place. “We need things that draw on the revolution of Bitcoin, but Bitcoin alone is not good enough,” Bill Gatestold Backchannel.
Specifically, he cited bitcoin’s inability to reverse or recall transactions — you can only send bitcoin back to someone if you complete another transaction — and the lack of attribution, which many proponents view as a plus. Gates also seemed wary of bitcoin’s price fluctuations, which 2015 has already shown canplunge bitcoin down 20 percentone day to only have it spike the next.
That brings Gates to mobile phones as the key for bringing banking to frontier markets across the globe. His foundationalready invested to expand M-Pesa, the Kenya-based mobile money success story, and bKash, a Bangladesh-based up-and-comer. But those two investments are just the tip of the iceberg for what needs to happen to bring banking, and most importantly, monetary security, to the rest of the world.
Here’s how Bill Gates summarizes his mobile banking goal:
That doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy to get everyone who owns a phone to be banking on it.
Gates acknowledged that regulators can pose a problem, and that his long-term view of bringing banking to developed countries relies on the ubiquity of the cell phone. And even if mobile phones spread, there’s still a challenge of getting one in the hands of everyone, regardless of gender. In Uganda, for instance, 73 percent of males own a phone compared to 52 percent of females in 2013, according toFinancial Inclusion Insights. (That also reflects who owns the bank accounts as well, where only 18 percent of Ugandan males have a bank account compared to 6.8 percent of females.)
And then there’s the whole problem of if it’s not bitcoin, then what is the solution? Gates didn’t pinpoint a company or a technology to take this forward — M-Pesa and bKash are just the start. But he has hinted at what he expects the future to look like before. Check out his speech at the SIBOS financial conference in October 2014 and at the 33-minute mark, Gates debuts a video example of how he sees mobile payments working a few years down the road:
Image copyrightKelvin Ma/Bloomberg.
Related research and analysis from Gigaom Research:Subscriber content.Sign up for a free trial.
• Bitcoin: why digital currency is the future financial system
• 4 frameworks for understanding industry change
• How to manage the customer experience through mobile apps
More From paidContent.org
• Winklevoss twins plan to launch new US-based bitcoin exchange
|
1,421,989,835 |
2015-01-23 05:10:35+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [103, 168, 692, 832]}
|
{"Bitcoin": [29]}
|
Winklevoss twins aim to take Bitcoin mainstream with a regulated exchange - NYT
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/winklevoss-twins-aim-bitcoin-mainstream-051035493.html
|
Reuters
|
https://www.reuters.com/
|
(Reuters) - Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss are trying to firm up support by creating the first regulated Bitcoin exchange in the United States, dubbing it the "Nasdaq of Bitcoin", the New York Times reported. The investor twins have hired engineers from top hedge funds, enlisted a bank and engaged regulators with the aim of opening their exchange named Gemini in the coming months, the newspaper reported. Representatives at Winklevoss Capital could not be reached for comments outside regular business hours. The Winklevoss twins, who famously accused Facebook Inc founder Mark Zuckerberg of stealing their idea, have been seeking regulatory approval for a bitcoin exchange-traded fund. Bitcoin is a digital currency that, unlike conventional money, is bought and sold on a peer-to-peer network independent of central control. Bitcoin is not backed by a government or central bank and its value fluctuates according to demand by users. Users can transfer bitcoins to each other over the Internet and store the currency in digital "wallets." Last March, New York's financial services regulator Benjamin Lawsky said he wanted companies that want to operate virtual currency exchanges in the state to submit formal applications, in a step toward eventual state regulation of bitcoin exchanges. The New York regulator held two days of hearings with industry participants last January, including the Winklevoss brothers, and said he planned to issue "BitLicenses" to virtual currency firms. (Reporting by Supriya Kurane in Bengaluru) View comments
|
1,421,992,293 |
2015-01-23 05:51:33+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [101, 166, 717, 857]}
|
{"Bitcoin": [29]}
|
Winklevoss twins aim to take Bitcoin mainstream with a regulated exchange - NYT
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/winklevoss-twins-aim-bitcoin-mainstream-055133011.html
|
Reuters
|
https://www.reuters.com/
|
REUTERS - Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss are trying to firm up support by creating the first regulated Bitcoin exchange in the United States, dubbing it the "Nasdaq of Bitcoin", the New York Times reported. The investor twins have hired engineers from top hedge funds, enlisted a bank and engaged regulators with the aim of opening their exchange named Gemini in the coming months, the newspaper reported. ( http://nyti.ms/1Jq2745 ) Representatives at Winklevoss Capital could not be reached for comments outside regular business hours. The Winklevoss twins, who famously accused Facebook Inc founder Mark Zuckerberg of stealing their idea, have been seeking regulatory approval for a bitcoin exchange-traded fund. Bitcoin is a digital currency that, unlike conventional money, is bought and sold on a peer-to-peer network independent of central control. Bitcoin is not backed by a government or central bank and its value fluctuates according to demand by users. Users can transfer bitcoins to each other over the Internet and store the currency in digital "wallets." Last March, New York's financial services regulator Benjamin Lawsky said he wanted companies that want to operate virtual currency exchanges in the state to submit formal applications, in a step toward eventual state regulation of bitcoin exchanges. The New York regulator held two days of hearings with industry participants last January, including the Winklevoss brothers, and said he planned to issue "BitLicenses" to virtual currency firms. (Reporting by Supriya Kurane in Bengaluru)
|
1,421,992,964 |
2015-01-23 06:02:44+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [335, 640, 718]}
|
{}
|
PRESS DIGEST- New York Times business news - Jan 23
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/press-digest-york-times-business-060244102.html
|
Reuters
|
http://www.reuters.com/
|
Jan 23 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories on the New York Times business pages. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. * Federal officials vowed to make more of an experimental drug that showed promise in treating Ebola, but that project has moved slowly. ( http://nyti.ms/1CX1XPw ) * Bitcoin, the virtual currency that was once the talk of the financial world, has been taking a beating over the last year with the price tumbling downward. Now two of the biggest boosters of the virtual currency, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, are trying to firm up support by creating the first regulated Bitcoin exchange for American customers - what they are calling the Nasdaq of Bitcoin. ( http://nyti.ms/1Ckuctg ) * President Barack Obama is proposing a radical change to the 529 college savings plans held by millions of families, which would require those who use them to rethink their approach to college savings. As part of his plan to simplify the tax code and help the middle class, one of the 529 plan's most attractive benefits would be eliminated: Money could no longer be withdrawn tax-free. ( http://nyti.ms/1GEZRKa ) * BMW and Volkswagen AG announced a plan on Thursday to install 100 high-speed charging stations on busy corridors this year on the East and West Coasts, like Interstate 95 between here and Boston. The stations will be part of a fast-growing network run by ChargePoint, the nation's largest, and will be compatible with nearly all electric vehicles on the road. ( http://nyti.ms/1xHlIah ) * DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc said on Thursday that it would reduce its movie output and lay off 500 employees, or roughly 19 percent of its staff, a retrenchment that follows a string of box-office misfires and two failed merger attempts. ( http://nyti.ms/1AWEk7c ) * The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said that more than 100 former Wells Fargo & Co loan officers and half a dozen from JPMorgan Chase & Co accepted kickbacks, as part of a scheme to steer business to a now defunct title insurance company. The banks agreed to pay about $36 million. ( http://nyti.ms/15DcVzo ) * Online Storage Provider Box Inc will be valued at $1.7 billion when it begins trading on Friday, but concerns have been raised within Silicon Valley about the high-flying valuations that some technology darlings have fetched recently. ( http://nyti.ms/1yPZO7I ) * Hutchison Whampoa Ltd, one of the flagship companies of the Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, said on Friday it has agreed to enter exclusive talks to buy O2, the British cellphone carrier owned by the Spanish telecom giant Telefonica SA, in a deal worth roughly $15 billion. ( http://nyti.ms/1GF2njF ) Story continues * Amazon.com Inc has agreed to buy Annapurna Labs, an Israeli chip developer, for about $350 million, a spokeswoman for Amazon said on Thursday. ( http://nyti.ms/1t4sf23 ) * Shareholders in Family Dollar Stores Inc voted on Thursday to approve the retailer's $8.5 billion merger with Dollar Tree Inc, leaving the company's unwanted suitor, Dollar General Corp, on the losing side. ( http://nyti.ms/1JfHvNI ) (Compiled by Rama Venkat Raman in Bengaluru) View comments
|
1,391,742,865 |
2014-02-07 03:14:25+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [4237]}
|
{}
|
Billionaire Larry Ellison Has A Brilliant Plan To Make Green Energy Affordable With His Hawaiian Island
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/billionaire-larry-ellison-brilliant-plan-031425051.html
|
Business Insider
|
http://www.businessinsider.com/
|
Flickr/WLCutler
Larry Ellison has huge, impressive plans for the Hawaiian island of Lanai,which he bought in 2012.
It will become "a laboratory for building the next generation two-way power grid, which will be a mix of photo-tech (solar), with a little bit of wind with a backup of liquefied natural gas," he told attendees at an event in Las Vegas Thursday evening.
The island is a "special case" that can be used "to demonstrate that green energy can be economical," he explained.
Ellison is CEO of Oracle and the event was held to talk about the company's HR cloud software. But in the Q&A session, he invited the audience to ask him "anything," and that was a part of the evening that he clearly relished.
An Oracle employee and Hawaiian native stood up and asked about his long-term plans for Lanai. Since buying the island, Ellison, though his company Lanai Resorts LLC, has also bought two Lanai airlines, refurbished the hotels and invested in everything from wind farms to local businesses.
"I was just looking at the Lanai five-year budget and wow, it's expensive," Ellison joked. He's one of the world's richest men, worth $41 billion,Forbes estimates.
But his true motive has less to do with running a profitable resort than saving the planet.
Ellison says that North America is not running out of fossil fuels, especially a "transitional energy called liquefied natural gas."
In the past five years, North America has found 100 years worth of natural gas, he says, and we're sure to find more. In order to compete, the green energy industry needs someone to show that it can be just as affordable as traditional energy.
He explained his plan in detail:
We think we can demonstrate that green energy can be economical. Right now green energy is considerably more expensive than conventional fossil fuels. The island of Lanai is small enough, it can serve.
One of the great things about Lanai is that the weather is always fabulous. Always 82 degrees and sunny. The problem is that, like California now, Lanai needs more water. It's in the rain shadow of Maui ...
We're going to use our solar power, our wind power grid to convert sea water to fresh water ... desalination. We think we can do that in a very effective way and use that fresh water to bring back commercial agriculture.
Lanai at one time grew 98% of the world's pineapples. But the world's pineapples are now grown in two places, Costa Rica and Panama, because no one wants to spend $45 for a pineapple from the United States.
We're using computers to distribute the water through drip irrigation. There's sensors in the drip irrigation heads so you know when to turn the head on and off. If part of the field is in shadow, you put less water on that part of the field. If part of the field has higher acidic content, you fertilize that part of the field differently. ...
We think this is what agriculture is going to look like 20-30 years from now. We're trying to model all of that and do it in a way where it can be very cost effective. ...
We're empowering the locals to start their own businesses, [whether that's] in agriculture or a juice bar in Lanai City. We're providing them with the appropriate mentoring and help.
If they are growing all these wonderful organic crops, we'll figure out how to get them to market.
We can fly the products from Lanai to Honolulu and then ship them to Japan. We have an airline that takes people around during the day and an airline that takes produce around in the evening. Fresh produce picked on Thursday can show up in a Japanese or Chinese restaurant on Friday.
We're also improving the schools and free public facilities for the people of Lanai. There are 3,200 people that live on the island. We've done a bunch of things in terms of building community pools, basketball courts and for the first time Lanai has a football field where the high school can have home games.
We think if we do a good job of taking care of the locals, the locals will do a good job of taking care of our visitors.
More From Business Insider
• Slovenia Is Still Frozen Solid: 'This Is Crazy, Really Crazy'
• The Government Is Paying IBM To Build A 'Vanishing' Network
• How A Horrific Killing Led This Guy To Run 3,000 Miles Raising Bitcoin For The Homeless
|
1,391,767,860 |
2014-02-07 10:11:00+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [16, 1210, 1243, 1258, 1305, 1392, 1458]}
|
{"Bitcoin": [0]}
|
Bitcoin Plunges As Major Exchange Mt. Gox Halts All Withdrawals
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bitcoin-plunges-major-exchange-mt-101116314.html
|
Business Insider
|
http://www.businessinsider.com/
|
Ugly morning in Bitcoin world.
Mt. Gox, the big Japan-based exchange, is temporarily halting all withdrawals as it faces technical issues.
Here's their note to clients:
Dear MtGox Customers,In our efforts to resolve the issue being encountered by various bitcoin withdrawals, it was determined that the increase in the flow of withdrawal requests has hindered our efforts on a technical level. To understand the issue thoroughly, the system needs to be in a static state.In order for our team to resolve the withdrawal issue it is necessary for a temporarily pause on all withdrawal requests to obtain a clear technical view of the current processes.We apologize for the sudden short notice. All bitcoin withdrawal requests will be on pause, and the withdrawals in the system will be returned to your MtGox wallet and can be reinitiated once the issue is resolved. The trading platform will perform as usual for the needs of our customers.Our team will resolve this problem as soon as possible and will provide an update on Monday, February 10, 2014 (JST).We deeply apologize for the inconvenience caused, and thank you for your kind support and considerations.Sincerely,The MtGox Team
Meanwhile, the price of Bitcoin tanked this morning.
FromBitcoinWisdom:
BitcoinWisdom
More From Business Insider
• Why Bitcoin Will Never Have A Problem With Deflation
• Dogecoin Just Solved A Problem That Bitcoin Is Going To Face
• Over 10,000 People Watched This Week's Bitcoin Hearings — Here's Where They All Come From
|
1,391,773,783 |
2014-02-07 11:49:43+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [970, 1227, 1764, 1784, 1830]}
|
{"Bitcoin": [0]}
|
Bitcoin plummets 20% after trading halt on Mt Gox
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/finance.yahoo.com/news/bitcoin-plummets-20-trading-halt-114943788.html
|
CNBC
|
http://www.cnbc.com/
|
Virtual currency bitcoinlost nearly twenty percent of its value on Thursday evening, after major exchange Mt Gox halted trading to try to resolve ongoing technical issues.
The digital currency - which is known for its wild price fluctuations - was trading at $680.52 on Friday morning, having traded around $850 for most of the week, according to CoinDesk, which tracks the price of bitcoin.
Mt Gox told customers that in a effort to resolve an issue with withdrawals, the system needed to be in a static state.
"In order for our team to resolve the withdrawal issue, it is necessary for a temporary pause on all withdrawal requests, to obtain a clear technical view of the current processes," Mt Gox said on its website on Friday morning.
"We apologize for the sudden short notice. All bitcoin withdrawal requests will be on pause, and the withdrawals in the system will be returned to your Mt Gox wallet, and can be reinitiated once the issue is resolved."
(Read More:Bitcoin back: Major exchange resumes yuan trading)
An update from the Japan-based company is due on February 10.
Mt Gox is the third-biggest bitcoin exchange in the world, representing around 14 percent of total bitcoin trade in the last week, according to Bitcoinity.org.
However, it has recently experienced lengthy delays when exchanging bitcoin into U.S. dollars(Exchange:USD=). It has also suffered a series of public relations disasters, including when the U.S. Department of Homeland Security seized its bank account in May 2013, saying it had never property registered as a money services company.
Customers took to social media this Thursday to express their dissatisfaction about the latest halt to trade, but reminisced about Mt Gox's pioneering service during the fledgling days of Bitcoin.
(Read more:Bitcoin crashes 20% on China clampdown fears)
Bitcoin is a "virtual" currency that allows users to exchange online credits for goods and services. While there is no central bank that issues them, bitcoins can be created online by using a computer to complete difficult tasks, a process known as mining. Some 12 million bitcoins are believed to be in circulation, with a cap of 21 million - meaning no more bitcoins can be created after that point.
-By CNBC.com's Matt Clinch; Follow him on Twitter@mattclinch81
|
1,391,773,783 |
2014-02-07 11:49:43+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [970, 1227, 1764, 1784, 1830]}
|
{"Bitcoin": [0]}
|
Bitcoin plummets 20% after trading halt on Mt Gox
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bitcoin-plummets-20-trading-halt-114943788.html
|
CNBC
|
http://www.cnbc.com/
|
Virtual currency bitcoinlost nearly twenty percent of its value on Thursday evening, after major exchange Mt Gox halted trading to try to resolve ongoing technical issues.
The digital currency - which is known for its wild price fluctuations - was trading at $680.52 on Friday morning, having traded around $850 for most of the week, according to CoinDesk, which tracks the price of bitcoin.
Mt Gox told customers that in a effort to resolve an issue with withdrawals, the system needed to be in a static state.
"In order for our team to resolve the withdrawal issue, it is necessary for a temporary pause on all withdrawal requests, to obtain a clear technical view of the current processes," Mt Gox said on its website on Friday morning.
"We apologize for the sudden short notice. All bitcoin withdrawal requests will be on pause, and the withdrawals in the system will be returned to your Mt Gox wallet, and can be reinitiated once the issue is resolved."
(Read More:Bitcoin back: Major exchange resumes yuan trading)
An update from the Japan-based company is due on February 10.
Mt Gox is the third-biggest bitcoin exchange in the world, representing around 14 percent of total bitcoin trade in the last week, according to Bitcoinity.org.
However, it has recently experienced lengthy delays when exchanging bitcoin into U.S. dollars(Exchange:USD=). It has also suffered a series of public relations disasters, including when the U.S. Department of Homeland Security seized its bank account in May 2013, saying it had never property registered as a money services company.
Customers took to social media this Thursday to express their dissatisfaction about the latest halt to trade, but reminisced about Mt Gox's pioneering service during the fledgling days of Bitcoin.
(Read more:Bitcoin crashes 20% on China clampdown fears)
Bitcoin is a "virtual" currency that allows users to exchange online credits for goods and services. While there is no central bank that issues them, bitcoins can be created online by using a computer to complete difficult tasks, a process known as mining. Some 12 million bitcoins are believed to be in circulation, with a cap of 21 million - meaning no more bitcoins can be created after that point.
-By CNBC.com's Matt Clinch; Follow him on Twitter@mattclinch81
|
1,391,789,700 |
2014-02-07 16:15:00+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [5606, 5845, 5921]}
|
{}
|
10 Surprising Taxes You May Have to Pay
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/10-suprising-taxes-may-pay-161700344.html
|
The Fiscal Times
|
http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/
|
Quick: Name all the products and services that charge you taxes.
Most likely, your answer misses the whole picture.
“The average American thinks he’s only taxed on what he gets a 1099, K-1 or a W-2 for,” says Mark Alaimo, a certified financial planner with atWealth Management Advisors LLCin Boston, Mass. “What’s taxable income for you goes far beyond that – and can get you into a lot of trouble if you don’t pay the taxes owed.”
Related: The 10 Worst States for Taxes in 2014
To be safe, assume any income you receive is taxable, unless the IRS specifically says otherwise. Here are 10 items that people are often astonished to discover are taxable. If you earned money from any of these sources last year, you’ll need to add it on your tax return:
1.Social Security.This one can be a shock for those who recently started drawing benefits. Why doesn’t the government just give less in the first place? The reason: You don’t automatically pay taxes on all your Social Security. How much you paydepends on your total income.
For your 2013 taxes, if half of your Social Security income plus all your other income totaled between $25,000 and $34,000 as a single filer, then you may pay tax on half of your Social Security benefit. If that amount is more than $34,000, you could owe taxes on as much as 85 percent of it. If you’re married and filing jointly, the income thresholds are between $32,000 and $44,000, and greater than $44,000. Depending on where you live, you could owestate taxes on Social Securityas well.
2.Unemployment benefits.Surprise. Although you were unemployed, your unemployment checks, both federal and state, are treated just like wages. So they’ll be taxed at graduated rates. It’s a good idea to withhold a percentage of your benefits to cover these taxes so you aren’t slapped with a huge bill at tax time.
Related: Slammed by New Taxes - Why You’re Poorer Than You Think
3.State Income Tax Refund.If your state withholding is $100, but you only owed $85, then you’ll pay taxes on the $15 check from the state (if you itemize your deductions).
4.Winnings.Any winnings – whether from church fairs, gambling, Super Bowl pools, or getting a car from Oprah – are taxed, though the money you put in or what you lost is not taxed. If you’re at a casino, whatever you lost for the year can offset your taxable winnings, as long as you can prove it.
If you purchase a $100 raffle ticket as part of a school fundraising event and then win the $10,000 prize, you owe taxes on $9,900. The rate you pay depends on the rest of your tax profile. If you’re a casino regular, you can request win-loss statement from the casino to offset your winnings.
Related: How Obamacare Could Affect Your Taxes This Year
5.Alimony.Payers of alimony get a deduction on what they paid, but recipients pay taxes on what they received at their marginal tax rate. Child support payments are not taxed.
6.Most Rental Income.Almost all rental income, whether it’s from Airbnb or from a vacation home, is taxed, although you can deduct the portion of expenses your renters don’t pay. If renters stay for 90 days, or 25 percent of the year, and don’t pay for the water bill or Internet or insurance or any other household expense, you can use 25 percent of those bills to offset your rental income. One exception to the rental income rule: If you rent a personal home for fewer than 15 days, you don’t have to pay income tax on that income.
7.Cancellation of Debt.Let’s say you took out a $100,000 loan to start a business that later failed. If the bank writes off your debt because you’re unable to repay the loan, the balance of the loan is considered income by the IRS, unless you declare bankruptcy, says Drew Porter, a certified public accountant at Bay-Area firmCommyns, Smith, McCleary, Deaver LLP.
8.Barter Income.In today’s sharing economy, this kind of transaction is becoming more popular. Maybe you’re an accountant in the market for a Louis Vuitton bag. If you spot someone offering one on a barter site likeTradeya.comand that person needs a room painted, you can initiate a barter in which you paint their house and receive the bag in exchange.
Related: Slammed by New Taxes – Why You’re Poorer Than You Think
Here’s where the taxes apply: If you trade a good or service that you would have made a profit on in the open market, you have to pay taxes on the estimated profit. So in the above example, if you would have normally charged $100 to paint a room, but the cost to you is $60, you owe taxes on the $40 profit.
9.Crowdfunding.This is still a gray area, since the IRS has not definitively stated how they’ll treat this type of income. “It’ll take either the IRS issuing specific regulations or a big enough case where the IRS investigates someone who may have been too aggressive,” Alaimo says.
What it boils down to is intent – and for that reason, there’s a conservative way to treat such funds on your tax return and an aggressive one. The conservative one would be to treat any crowd-funded earnings as taxable income. (If you raise $20,000 in credit card transactions, then like anyone else processing that amount of money via credit card, you’ll be issued a 1099-K that will definitely put you on the IRS’s radar.)
The aggressive approach, which some might take, especially if they pull in less than the $20,000, is to treat the money as a gift. If a crowd-funding campaign does not have the characteristics of a sale (i.e., if person raising money does not give anything back to the giver), then it could be treated as a non-taxable gift, much the way a friend might buy you a coffee.
10.Bitcoin.The rules around the virtual currency are still pretty murky, but at this point, it’s being treated as a capital asset, which means any gain or loss will be treated as capital gains or capital losses, Alaimo says.
If you engage in Bitcoin mining, however, in which you answer math questions in order to win Bitcoin, then that is taxed as ordinary income, like other winnings.
Top Reads from The Fiscal Times:
• 10 Easy Ways to Improve Your Work-Life Balance
• Taxes 2014: 10 Apps to Make Filing Easier
• Don’t make These Top 10 Tax Mistakes
|
1,391,789,700 |
2014-02-07 16:15:00+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [5606, 5845, 5921]}
|
{}
|
10 Surprising Taxes You May Have to Pay
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/finance.yahoo.com/news/10-suprising-taxes-may-pay-161700344.html
|
The Fiscal Times
|
http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/
|
Quick: Name all the products and services that charge you taxes.
Most likely, your answer misses the whole picture.
“The average American thinks he’s only taxed on what he gets a 1099, K-1 or a W-2 for,” says Mark Alaimo, a certified financial planner with atWealth Management Advisors LLCin Boston, Mass. “What’s taxable income for you goes far beyond that – and can get you into a lot of trouble if you don’t pay the taxes owed.”
Related: The 10 Worst States for Taxes in 2014
To be safe, assume any income you receive is taxable, unless the IRS specifically says otherwise. Here are 10 items that people are often astonished to discover are taxable. If you earned money from any of these sources last year, you’ll need to add it on your tax return:
1.Social Security.This one can be a shock for those who recently started drawing benefits. Why doesn’t the government just give less in the first place? The reason: You don’t automatically pay taxes on all your Social Security. How much you paydepends on your total income.
For your 2013 taxes, if half of your Social Security income plus all your other income totaled between $25,000 and $34,000 as a single filer, then you may pay tax on half of your Social Security benefit. If that amount is more than $34,000, you could owe taxes on as much as 85 percent of it. If you’re married and filing jointly, the income thresholds are between $32,000 and $44,000, and greater than $44,000. Depending on where you live, you could owestate taxes on Social Securityas well.
2.Unemployment benefits.Surprise. Although you were unemployed, your unemployment checks, both federal and state, are treated just like wages. So they’ll be taxed at graduated rates. It’s a good idea to withhold a percentage of your benefits to cover these taxes so you aren’t slapped with a huge bill at tax time.
Related: Slammed by New Taxes - Why You’re Poorer Than You Think
3.State Income Tax Refund.If your state withholding is $100, but you only owed $85, then you’ll pay taxes on the $15 check from the state (if you itemize your deductions).
4.Winnings.Any winnings – whether from church fairs, gambling, Super Bowl pools, or getting a car from Oprah – are taxed, though the money you put in or what you lost is not taxed. If you’re at a casino, whatever you lost for the year can offset your taxable winnings, as long as you can prove it.
If you purchase a $100 raffle ticket as part of a school fundraising event and then win the $10,000 prize, you owe taxes on $9,900. The rate you pay depends on the rest of your tax profile. If you’re a casino regular, you can request win-loss statement from the casino to offset your winnings.
Related: How Obamacare Could Affect Your Taxes This Year
5.Alimony.Payers of alimony get a deduction on what they paid, but recipients pay taxes on what they received at their marginal tax rate. Child support payments are not taxed.
6.Most Rental Income.Almost all rental income, whether it’s from Airbnb or from a vacation home, is taxed, although you can deduct the portion of expenses your renters don’t pay. If renters stay for 90 days, or 25 percent of the year, and don’t pay for the water bill or Internet or insurance or any other household expense, you can use 25 percent of those bills to offset your rental income. One exception to the rental income rule: If you rent a personal home for fewer than 15 days, you don’t have to pay income tax on that income.
7.Cancellation of Debt.Let’s say you took out a $100,000 loan to start a business that later failed. If the bank writes off your debt because you’re unable to repay the loan, the balance of the loan is considered income by the IRS, unless you declare bankruptcy, says Drew Porter, a certified public accountant at Bay-Area firmCommyns, Smith, McCleary, Deaver LLP.
8.Barter Income.In today’s sharing economy, this kind of transaction is becoming more popular. Maybe you’re an accountant in the market for a Louis Vuitton bag. If you spot someone offering one on a barter site likeTradeya.comand that person needs a room painted, you can initiate a barter in which you paint their house and receive the bag in exchange.
Related: Slammed by New Taxes – Why You’re Poorer Than You Think
Here’s where the taxes apply: If you trade a good or service that you would have made a profit on in the open market, you have to pay taxes on the estimated profit. So in the above example, if you would have normally charged $100 to paint a room, but the cost to you is $60, you owe taxes on the $40 profit.
9.Crowdfunding.This is still a gray area, since the IRS has not definitively stated how they’ll treat this type of income. “It’ll take either the IRS issuing specific regulations or a big enough case where the IRS investigates someone who may have been too aggressive,” Alaimo says.
What it boils down to is intent – and for that reason, there’s a conservative way to treat such funds on your tax return and an aggressive one. The conservative one would be to treat any crowd-funded earnings as taxable income. (If you raise $20,000 in credit card transactions, then like anyone else processing that amount of money via credit card, you’ll be issued a 1099-K that will definitely put you on the IRS’s radar.)
The aggressive approach, which some might take, especially if they pull in less than the $20,000, is to treat the money as a gift. If a crowd-funding campaign does not have the characteristics of a sale (i.e., if person raising money does not give anything back to the giver), then it could be treated as a non-taxable gift, much the way a friend might buy you a coffee.
10.Bitcoin.The rules around the virtual currency are still pretty murky, but at this point, it’s being treated as a capital asset, which means any gain or loss will be treated as capital gains or capital losses, Alaimo says.
If you engage in Bitcoin mining, however, in which you answer math questions in order to win Bitcoin, then that is taxed as ordinary income, like other winnings.
Top Reads from The Fiscal Times:
• 10 Easy Ways to Improve Your Work-Life Balance
• Taxes 2014: 10 Apps to Make Filing Easier
• Don’t make These Top 10 Tax Mistakes
|
1,391,790,060 |
2014-02-07 16:21:00+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [12, 97, 401, 792, 813, 868, 1129, 1329, 1940, 2028, 2065, 2124], "BTC": [485, 699, 1268]}
|
{"Bitcoin": [0]}
|
Bitcoin Plunges After Mt. Gox Blocks Withdrawals
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bitcoin-plunges-mt-gox-blocks-162100655.html
|
Entrepreneur
|
http://www.entrepreneur.com/
|
The price ofBitcoindropped sharply today after Mt. Gox announced that it was temporarily halting Bitcoin withdrawals on its trading platform.
For months now, some Mt. Gox users have found it difficult to withdraw funds from their accounts; the withdrawal freeze will help Mt. Gox's team get to the root of the problem, the exchange said.
Mt. Gox, which is based in Tokyo, is the world's third-largest Bitcoin exchange by recent trading volume. For years it was the No. 1 exchange, but BTC China took the top spot last fall, riding a huge wave of Asian interest in digital currencies. Since the Chinese governmentforbid banks and payment processors from handling bitcoinsthis past December, however, BTC China has fallen to fourth place.
Related:How the World's Richest Nations Are Regulating Bitcoin
The price of Bitcoin plummeted following the news. According to the Bitcoin Price Index, which provides an average of bitcoin prices across top exchanges around the world, the cryptocurrency has dropped about $61 since today's open of $784, losing nearly 8 percent of its exchange value relative to the U.S. dollar.
The value of Bitcoin often varies slightly from one exchange to another. At 10:47 a.m. EST, the price of a single bitcoin was $716 on BitStamp, $718 on BTC-e and $725 on Mt. Gox. These are currently the top three Bitcoin exchanges in the world.
An increased number of withdrawal requests "has hindered our efforts on a technical level," Mt. Gox said in astatement. "In order for our team to resolve the withdrawal issue it is necessary for a temporarily pause on all withdrawal requests to obtain a clear technical view of the current processes."
Withdrawals are being returned to user wallets "and can be reinitiated once the issue is resolved," the exchange added.
Mt. Gox said its team would be working on the problem through the weekend and would provide an update on Monday, Feb. 10.
Related:PayPal Is Cracking Down on Bitcoin Sellers
More From Entrepreneur
• How the World's Richest Nations Are Regulating Bitcoin
• PayPal Is Cracking Down on Bitcoin Sellers
• At Regulatory Hearing, Prosecutors Admit Bitcoin Is a Technological Breakthrough
|
1,422,031,181 |
2015-01-23 16:39:41+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [390, 1517]}
|
{}
|
Blockchain Spreads Its Wings
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/blockchain-spreads-wings-163941730.html
|
Benzinga
|
http://www.benzinga.com/
|
While the excitement seen at the beginning of 2014 over bitcoin has fizzled out, investors are becoming more and more interested in the technology behind thecryptocurrencyBlockchain.Blockchainis an infinite ledger that keeps track of all transactions for bitcoin, and enthusiasts say it won’t be long before the technology has become widely used throughout several sectors.
Related Link:Is Bitcoin Poised For Success in 2015?
Blockchain For Central Banks
On Monday, Vice President of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis David Andolfatto said he believes that Blockchain technology could help improve the Federal Reserve by making it more accountable to the public. In his view, a ledger that kept track of all movements within the bank would take away a lot of the uncertainty associated with centralized banking.
Social Media Jumps On Board
ChangeTip has addedFacebook Inc(NASDAQ:FB) to its list of usable platforms alongsideTwitter Inc(NYSE:TWTR) and Reddit, and now allows users to tip each other in bitcoin. Embedding bitcoin into the world’s most popular social media site, ChangeTip said, is an important step in spreading the technology to the masses.
Big Name Partners
International Business Machines Corp.(NYSE:IBM) andSamsungare also working on integrating Blockchain into their own partnership to create a fully functional decentralized "Internet of Things." The two are looking use Blockchain to create a ledger that would record billions of devices from the moment they are manufactured.
Related Link: Bitcoin Startups Prove The Currency Isn't Dead Yet
Blockchain Propels Cryptocurrencies Forward
While bitcoin itself appears to be struggling, many companies say the Blockchain technology will continue advancing regardless. Eventually, most expect some sort of cryptocurrency to become the norm for online transactions, and whether or not bitcoin succeeds, Blockchain will become the standard for carrying out online transactions without a third party.
Some enthusiasts say that with time, Blockchain will allow people to do more than just transfer money. The technology could make it possible to create usable contracts without lawyers and make share market trades without the need for a broker.
See more from Benzinga
• Bigfoot To Enter The Market
• The Facebook Hustle
• Activist Investors Picking Up Where They Left Off
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
|
1,422,038,413 |
2015-01-23 18:40:13+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [1634]}
|
{}
|
Apple And Instagram Are Stomping Out Marijuana...But Should They?
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/apple-instagram-stomping-marijuana-184013548.html
|
Benzinga
|
http://www.benzinga.com/
|
Apple Inc.(NASDAQ:AAPL) andFacebook Inc(NASDAQ:FB)'s Instagram are making life difficult for entrepreneurs with marijuana-related businesses.
BuzzFeedrecently detailed how Instagram deleted "dozens of cannabis-related accounts" over the past few months.
Meanwhile, Apple has been cracking down on apps that portray recreational use of the drug. These actions have frustrated men and women who use Instagram and the App Store to promote their marijuana-related products.
"Facebook is doing it because they don't know where the moral and legislative compass is," Kaiser Wahab, an attorney and partner atWahab & Medenica LLC, told Benzinga.
"They don't know if they're going to get into trouble. For example, if there's a bunch of kids smoking up, or a bunch of adults smoking up -- or a bunch of kids and adults smoking up -- and taking photos and something bad happens, Apple and Instagram are necessarily going to be part of the evidentiary chain."
Tech industry expert and analystJeff Kagan, meanwhile, thinks that Apple, Facebook and other tech giants and social media sites are "too big and too powerful to take a hands-off approach."
"It is their responsibility," Kagan told Benzinga.
"These are companies that provide these technologies that allow this kind of thing to happen. Whether they like it or not they play a role," he said.
"Whether it's a legal responsibility or whether it's a moral responsibility or just a PR responsibility, they're part of the mix and they have to be careful about their image. In certain markets it's not legal. And in certain markets it is."
Related Link: Which Is Worth Less: Marijuana Stocks, Bitcoin Or A Pile Of Dirt?
Problem Avoidance
Wahab gave a hypothetical scenario that explains why Apple, Instagram and other companies might ban those who promote marijuana use.
"There's a scenario: someone is smoking a lot of marijuana," said Wahab.
"They take photos of it. It turns out he's a dealer. Police are now regularly trolling and harvesting social accounts for all sorts of evidence: whereabouts, intent. [Suppose] the perpetrator said on Twitter that he wanted to hurt his girlfriend."
Police are also looking at the actual action. In Wahab's hypothetical example, the perpetrator had 15 bushels of pot in his apartment.
"He took a big picture with his cell phone and said, 'Hey, reach me here if you wanna get some,'" Wahab added. "Apple doesn't want to be in the middle of this and neither does Instagram. And they don't want to be in the middle of the [legal] debate either."
Disclosure:At the time of this writing, Louis Bedigian had no position in the equities mentioned in this report.
Image credit: Public Domain
See more from Benzinga
• Will Apple Rise On Record iPhone Sales Or Fall On Weak Apple Watch Guidance?
• The Secret To Apple's Ongoing Success
• Weekly Tech Highlights: Elon Musk's Risky Decision, Google's Snow Problem & Apple Watch Expectations
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
|
1,422,040,468 |
2015-01-23 19:14:28+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [469, 791, 955]}
|
{"Bitcoin": [0]}
|
Bitcoin Makes An Appearance At Davos
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bitcoin-makes-appearance-davos-191428918.html
|
Benzinga
|
http://www.benzinga.com/
|
Although talk of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin was previously reserved for tech enthusiasts and speculators, the currency has made its way on to perhaps its largest stage yet— the World Economic Forum in Davos.
In 2014, the currency was only briefly mentioned at the forum by policy makers and central bankers, often in a negative light. But this year the currency’s growing popularity made it impossible to ignore as a talking point at the conference.
Blockchain Puts Bitcoin On The Map
Despite the currency’s dip to near $200 in recent weeks, excitement around the technology it is based on, blockchain, has exploded. Startups have begun to emerge touting the ability in incorporate blockchain’s ledger into a variety of industries and promoting the use of bitcoin for the average person.
Bitcoin At Davos
Economists and central bankers have begun to take notice and made bitcoin and cryptocurrencies the topic of a Friday seminar titled “From Bucks To Bitcoins."
Related Link:Blockchain Spreads Its Wings
The talk is expected to review how far the currency has come and how it might affect financial services and consumer behavior. Enthusiasts of the currency say the talk at Davos is a big step towards integrating the digital currency into mainstream use.
Davos attendees also have the opportunity to understand how bitcoin is used first hand. The digital currency is being accepted as a valid form of payment at many retailers in the area while the conference takes place.
See more from Benzinga
• Comcast Sees A Rocky Road Ahead
• Blockchain Spreads Its Wings
• The Marijuana Market Is Expanding: Here Are A Couple Ways To Get Involved
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
|
1,391,812,543 |
2014-02-07 22:35:43+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [101, 314, 542, 949, 1306, 1720, 1788, 2011, 2168, 2214, 2469, 2873, 2903, 3011, 3102, 3194, 3429, 3489, 3590, 3648, 3931]}
|
{"Bitcoin": [50]}
|
Development Capital Group Discusses the Future of Bitcoin and Who Is Opposing It
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/development-capital-group-discusses-future-223543026.html
|
Marketwired
|
http://www.marketwired.com/
|
MIAMI, FL--(Marketwired - February 07, 2014) -WhenDevelopment Capital Groupwent to theNorth American Bitcoin Conferencewe met with many of the leading people in the industry on cryptocurrencies, and received a lot of opinions on the future of the market. Last week, Development Capital published an article called"Bitcoin Arrives"which went over cryptocurrency from a historical and ideological perspective by highlighting some key information in the industry.
It seems that people are moving past the idea that these cryptocurrencies, like "Bitcoin," will be used for illegal activity. Whether it was a payment processor, a merchant, a banker, or a government official, each had their individual opinions about how to properly handle it. One side is talking about how the United States government will come in and regulate the newly adopted payment processor, while some are arguing about how it's a temporary thing and going away.
In New York, theBitcoin community met with regulatorsto negotiate how to handle this new form or system of payment. The New York Department of Financial Services discussed about "BitLicense" as a potential requirement since the digital currency exchange platforms that are popping up are now deemed "transmitters of money." If the company is accepting a FIAT currency into Bitcoin, and exchanging it among users as well as different currencies, the company is being categorized as a transmitter of money, and this is a place where the government is required to regulate how these transactions are handled.
The New York State Attorney's Officecharged Charlie Shrem, CEO of BitInstant, for facilitating in a money laundering scheme, who oddly enough was suppose to be at the North America Bitcoin Conference. The focus in this case though is not the use of Bitcoin itself but the way he transacted with Silk Road users. The same process of money laundering can be done with cash, gold, or wire fraud. Government officials are looking at the lack of regulation that is surrounding Bitcoin.
Other than regulation, it's important to watch how companies are reacting to this lack of government oversight. Yesterday, we saw a big blow to the Bitcoin community when Apple removed the last Bitcoin wallet appBlockchainfrom their app store. Bitstamp dropped as low as $752 yesterday with the release of this information, which seems to be a reaction to the news. This still seems to be pretty stable compared to the 50% drop when China's biggest Bitcoin exchange, BTCChina, stopped accepting deposits in Chinese yuan in December. The market has seemed to be less volatile recently whenChina allowed the acceptance of the Chinese yuanagain this past week.
As more governments are opening up to digital currencies, we are seeing more support from big companies. Overstock's CEO Jonathan Johnson is active in the limelight on his personal investment in Bitcoin and started accepting Bitcoin at Overstock. Now Overstock is discussing about accepting the less talked about altcoins. Accepting Bitcoin for companies has brought in some pretty good press and sales.TigerDirect accepted Bitcoin,and did $250,000 in sales in 17 hours. Now we see more companies that are accepting Bitcoin like Tesla, Zynga, Domino's Pizza, Virgin Galactic, Wordpress, and many more.
There is much speculation about the market with numerous articles covering various movements. The Google support team discusses their integration of Bitcoin for Google Play, while Google Ventures has funded a Bitcoin startup calledRipple. Overstock.com's CEO claims it's a matter of time before Amazon accepts Bitcoin. Ebay has publicly backed the idea of integrating Bitcoin while Coinbase has recently received $25 million from Silicon Valleyventure capital firmAndreessen Horowitz.
What we are seeing is a pretty positive growth in the market, and a lot of attention from variousventure capital and investment companies. If we look at the price of Bitcoin we are seeing it continue to go up with some reversals, but ultimately in an upward trend. We see a lot of activity in this market and continue to monitor what is happening in the industry.
You can readDevelopment Capital Groups original article here.
|
1,471,194,780 |
2016-08-14 17:13:00+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [3965]}
|
{}
|
Fully understand the Fintech Ecosystem with this report
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/fully-understand-fintech-ecosystem-report-171300728.html
|
Business Insider
|
http://www.businessinsider.com/
|
(BI Intelligence)
We’ve entered the most profound era of change for financial services companies since the 1970s brought us index mutual funds, discount brokers and ATMs.
No firm is immune from the coming disruption and every company must have a strategy to harness the powerful advantages of the new financial technology (“fintech”) revolution.
The battle already underway will create surprising winners and stunned losers among some of the most powerful names in the financial world: The most contentious conflicts (and partnerships) will be between startups that are completely reengineering decades-old practices, traditional power players who are furiously trying to adapt with their own innovations, and total disruption of established technology & processes:
• Traditional Retail Banks vs. Online-Only Banks:Traditional retail banks provide a valuable service, but online-only banks can offer many of the same services with higher rates and lower fees .
• Traditional Lenders vs. Peer-to-Peer Marketplaces:P2P lending marketplaces are growing much faster than traditional lenders—only time will tell if the banks strategy of creating their own small loan networks will be successful .
• Traditional Asset Managers vs. Robo-Advisors:Robo-advisors like Betterment offer lower fees, lower minimums and solid returns to investors, but the much larger traditional asset managers are creating their own robo-products while providing the kind of handholding that high net worth clients are willing to pay handsomely for.
As you can see, this very fluid environment is creating winners and losers before your eyes…and it’s also creating the potential for new cost savings or growth opportunities for both you and your company.
After months of researching and reporting this important trend, Business Insider Intelligence has put together an essential briefing that explains the new landscape, identifies the ripest areas for disruption, and highlights the some of the most exciting new companies. These new players have the potential to become the next Visa, Paypal or Charles Schwab because they have the potential to transform important areas of the financial services industry like:
• Retail banking
• Lending and Financing
• Payments and Transfers
• Wealth and Asset Management
• Markets and Exchanges
• Insurance
• Blockchain Transactions
If you work in any of these sectors, it’s important for you to understand how the fintech revolution will change your business and possibly even your career. And if you’re employed in any part of the digital economy, you’ll want to know how you can exploit these new technologies to make your employer more efficient, flexible and profitable.
(BI Intelligence)
Evan Bakker ofBI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has written a new report entitledThe Fintech Ecosystem Report: Measuring the effects of technology on the entire financial services industry. The big picture insights you’ll get from this new report include:
• Why financial technology is so disruptive to financial services—it will soon change the nature of almost every financial activity, from banking to payments to wealth management.
• The basic conflict will be between old firms and new—startups are re-imagining financial services processes from top to bottom, while incumbent financial services firms are trying to keep up with new products of their own.
• Both sides face serious obstacles—traditional banks and financial services firms are investing heavily in innovation, but leveraging their investments is difficult with so much invested in legacy systems and profit centers.
• Meanwhile, startups are struggling to navigate a rapidly-changing regulatory landscape and must scale up quickly with limited resources.
• The blockchain is a wild card that could completely overhaul financial services. Both major banks and startups around the world are exploring the technology behind the blockchain, which stores and records Bitcoin transactions. This technology could lower the cost of many financial activities to near-zero and could wipe away many traditional banking activities completely.
This exclusive report also:
• Explains the main growth drivers of the exploding fintech ecosystem.
• Frames the challenges and opportunities faced by incumbents and startups.
• Breaks down global and regional fintech investments, including which regions are the most significant and which are poised for the highest growth.
• Reveals which two financial services are garnering the most investment, and are therefore likely to be transformed first and fastest by fintech
• Explains why blockchain technology is critically important to banks and startups, and assesses which players stand to gain the most from it.
• Explores the financial sectors facing disruption and breaks them down in terms of investments, vulnerabilities and growth opportunities.
• And much more.
The Fintech Ecosystem Report: Measuring the effects of technology on the entire financial services industryis how you get the full story on the fintech revolution.
To get your copy of this invaluable guide to the fintech revolution, choose one of these options:
1. BEST VALUE: Join our BI Intelligence INSIGHTS service level and gain immediate access to this report PLUS much more. >>START A MEMBERSHIP
2. Purchase the report and download it immediately from our research store. >>BUY THE REPORT
The choice is yours. But however you decide to acquire this report, you’ve given yourself a powerful advantage in your understanding of the fast-moving world of financial technology.
More From Business Insider
• Russian diver scores 0.0 on one of the worst dives in Olympic history
• 'I think it is a terrible mistake': Ex-Sears executive says Walmart just wasted $3 billion on Jet.com
• Donald Trump sidesteps Hillary Clinton, says he's running against 'the crooked media'
|
1,391,873,220 |
2014-02-08 15:27:00+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [57]}
|
{}
|
Dogecoiners Held A Party in The Financial District, And It Ended With Them Putting Their Logo On The Wall Street Bull
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/dogecoiners-held-party-financial-district-152755783.html
|
Business Insider
|
http://www.businessinsider.com/
|
The burgeoning digital currency Dogecoin — which is like Bitcoin except that the driving ethos is not libertarian but rather lolz — held a big party last night in NYC's Financial District. Well, to be more precise, the growing number of the currency's fans (who hang out on theR/Dogecoin page on Reddit) threw the party.
We only had a chance to stop by for a minute, these photos should give you an idea of what it was like.
There we people in costumes alongside the Shiba Inu puppies that are the coin's logo.
Joe Weisenthal
There was a DJ.
Joe Weisenthal
There were Dogecoin T-Shirts for sale, and apparently they were made in one day with the help of the Reddit community.
Joe Weisenthal
We had to leave early, so we probably missed some festivities (apparently there was a raffle).
But then later on in the night, the party made its way to Wall Street's famous bull.
These photos were sent in to us by Dogecoin enthusiast Justin Friedman.
Joe Weisenthal
Justin Friedman
So there you have it, a glimpse of the future in our doge-based financial system.
More From Business Insider
• BEACONS: What They Are, How They Work, And Why Apple's iBeacon Technology Is Ahead Of The Pack
• Here's Everything You Missed From The Olympic Opening Ceremony
• 25 Horrible Things That Happen If You Don't Get Enough Sleep
|
1,422,053,347 |
2015-01-23 22:49:07+00:00
|
{"BTC": [737]}
|
{}
|
Your first trade for Monday
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/first-trade-monday-january-26-224907425.html
|
CNBC
|
http://www.cnbc.com/
|
The " Fast Money " traders gave their final trades of the day. Tim Seymour was a buyer of UPS (UPS).Steve Grasso was a buyer ofLMT (LMT).Brian Kelly was a buyer of ATK. (ATK)Guy Adami was a buyer of COL. (COL) Trader disclosure: On January 23, 2015, the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC's "Fast Money" were owned by the "Fast Money" traders: Tim Seymour is long AAPL, BAC, C, DIS, F, GE, GM, GOOGL, INTC, BX, SUNE, Tim's firm is long BABA, BIDU, CCU, DSKY, KNDI, MCD, NKE, NOK, SINA, SBUX, TSL, VIP. Steve Grasso is long AAPL, BA, CLVS, EVGN, FB, GDX, GOOGL, IMMR, KBH, KDUS, MHY, MJNA, NVIV, PFE, POT, SO, T, TMUS, TWTR, YHOO, his kids are long EFG, EFA, EWJ, IJR, SPY. Brian Kelly is long BTC=, Gold, US Dollar, HYG puts, TWTR call spreads, he is short EWA, EWG, EWQ, EWZ, EWH, EWW, HGH5, Yen, Australian Dollar, British Pound, Canadian Dollar. Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS, INTC, Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck.
Raymond James' Analyst Aaron Kessler: His firm co-managed an initial public offering of the Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. shares within the past 12 months. It also makes a market in shares of the Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.
|
1,471,213,020 |
2016-08-14 22:17:00+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [2110]}
|
{}
|
THE PAYMENTS INDUSTRY EXPLAINED: The trends creating new winners and losers in the card-processing ecosystem
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/payments-industry-explained-trends-creating-221500872.html
|
Business Insider
|
http://www.businessinsider.com/
|
(BI Intelligence)
The way we pay is changing dramatically. For example, people are beginning to use their smartphones for every kind of formal and informal transaction — to shop at stores, buy songs online, and even split their rent.
At the heart of these changes in how we pay are thousands of companies competing and collaborating to facilitate transactions.
To understand why the payments industry has faced so much disruption in such a short time, there's just one key thing to understand: Payments is about transferring information from one party to another, and nearly every stakeholder in the industry benefits when that process runs on digital rails.
But payments is also an extremely complex industry that few fully understand.
In BI Intelligence's 2016 Payments Ecosystem report, we make it simple, explaining how it works, who the key players are, and where it's headed.
In this latest edition of the report, BI Intelligence drills even further into the industry to explain how a broad range of transactions are processed, including prepaid and store cards, as well as revealing which types of companies are in the best and worst position to capitalize on the latest industry trends.
Here are some key takeaways from the report:
• 2016 will be a watershed year for the payments industry. Payments companies are improving security, expanding their mobile offerings, and building commerce capabilities that will give consumers a more compelling reason to make purchases using digital devices.
• Payments is an extremely complex industry. To understand the next big digital opportunity lies, it's critical to understand how the traditional credit- and debit-processing chain works and what roles acquirers, processors, issuing banks, card networks, independent sales organizations, gateways, and software and hardware providers play.
• Alternative technologies could disrupt the processing ecosystem. Devices ranging from refrigerators to smartwatches now feature payment capabilities, which will spur changes in consumer payment behaviors. Likewise, blockchain technology, the protocol that underlies Bitcoin, could one day change how consumer card payments are verified.
In full, the report:
• Uncovers the key themes and trends affecting the payments industry in 2016 and beyond.
• Gives a detailed description of the stakeholders involved in a payment transaction, along with hardware and software providers.
• Offers diagrams and infographics explaining how card transactions are processed and which players are involved in each step.
• Provides charts on our latest forecasts, key company growth, survey results, and more.
• Analyzes the alternative technologies, including blockchain, which could further disrupt the ecosystem.
The Payments Ecosystem Report: Everything You Need to Know About The Next Era of Payment Processingis the only place you can get the full story on the rapidly-evolving world of payments.
To get your copy of this invaluable guide to the payments industry, choose one of these options:
1. BEST VALUE: Join our BI Intelligence INSIGHTS service level and gain immediate access to this report PLUS much more.>>START A MEMBERSHIP
2. Purchase the report and download it immediately from our research store. >>BUY THE REPORT
More From Business Insider
• This finance trend is so hot even Amazon wants in
• THE FINTECH REGULATION REPORT: How European regulators are creating fertile ground for fintech growth
• The fintech ecosystem explained
|
1,422,057,271 |
2015-01-23 23:54:31+00:00
|
{"BTC": [2007]}
|
{}
|
4 ways to play the currency wars
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/4-ways-play-currency-wars-235431144.html
|
CNBC
|
http://www.cnbc.com/
|
The euro continues to tumble against the dollar (Exchange:EUR=) after the European Central Bank's decision to expand its stimulus program in the euro zone. The euro's slide deepens in a year when the dollar has floated higher against numerous currencies. "The best case you can hope for is a much, much lower euro, but in the short term, you're not going to get that because we've gotten so oversold," said CNBC "Fast Money" trader Brian Kelly. Read More Currency war: Who will be the casualties? With sharp currency movements mounting, uncertainty weighs on markets. "Fast Money" traders looked at plays in exchange-traded funds that would yield gains with choppy currencies. The iShares MSCI Germany ETF (NYSE Arca: EWG) caught Kelly's eye. He sees a short play in the index, which is linked to German equities and ended slightly lower on Friday."I think that Europe still continues to go down the recessionary path," Kelly said. Trader Tim Seymour also chose to play negative sentiment in Europe. Last week, he said to short the euro-linked Guggenheim CurrencyShares Euro Trust (NYSE Arca: FXE), and he said now may be the time to cover the euro short. Read More Currency expert: Euro going 'well below parity' Traders Steve Grasso and Guy Adami saw opportunity in commodities-linked ETFs. Grasso looked at the ProShares UltraShort Oil and Gas (NYSE Arca: DUG)."I think the dollar goes higher, the euro goes lower. I think oil goes lower as well," Grasso said. Adami touted the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE Arca: GDX), as he believes miners will benefit as more investors turn to gold. Disclosures: Tim Seymour Tim Seymour is long AAPL, BAC, C, DIS, F, GE, GM, GOOGL, INTC, BX and SUNE. Tim's firm is long BABA, BIDU, CCU, DSKY, KNDI, MCD, NKE, NOK, SINA, SBUX, TSL and VIP.Steve Grasso Steve Grasso is long AAPL, BA, CLVS, EVGN, FB, GDX, GOOGL, IMMR, KBH, KDUS, MHY, MJNA, NVIV, PFE, POT, SO, T, TMUS, TWTR and YHOO. His kids are long EFG, EFA, EWJ, IJR and SPY. Brian Kelly Brian Kelly is long BTC=, Gold, US Dollar, HYG puts and TWTR call spreads. He is short EWA, EWG, EWQ, EWZ, EWH, EWW, HGH5, Yen, Australian Dollar, British Pound and Canadian Dollar.Guy AdamiGuy Adami is long CELG, EXAS and INTC. Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck.
|
1,391,937,885 |
2014-02-09 09:24:45+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [74, 353, 706, 1197]}
|
{"Bitcoin": [24]}
|
Russian authorities say Bitcoin illegal
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/russian-authorities-bitcoin-illegal-092445116--sector.html
|
Reuters
|
https://www.reuters.com/
|
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian authorities have issued warnings against using Bitcoin, saying the virtual currency could be used for money laundering or financing terrorism and that treating it as a parallel currency is illegal. "Systems for anonymous payments and cyber currencies that have gained considerable circulation - including the most well-known, Bitcoin - are money substitutes and cannot be used by individuals or legal entities," the Russian Prosecutor General's Office said on February6. It added that Russian law stipulates that the rouble is the sole official currency and that introducing any other monetary units or substitutes was illegal. Russia's central bank also said on January 27 that Bitcoin trade was highly speculative and that the unit carried a big risk of losing value. "Citizens and legal entities risk being drawn - even unintentionally - into illegal activity, including laundering of money obtained through crime, as well as financing terrorism," it warned. The Prosecutor's General Office said it was working with the central bank and other law enforcement agencies to tighten regulations and prevent legal offences committed with the use of pseudo-currencies. The Bitcoin community in the United States, far more developed than the one in Russia, has already come under intense scrutiny as authorities crack down on illegal activity carried out using the digital currency. (Writing by Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)
|
1,391,943,323 |
2014-02-09 10:55:23+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [74, 353, 706, 1197]}
|
{"Bitcoin": [24]}
|
Russian authorities say Bitcoin illegal
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/russian-authorities-bitcoin-illegal-105523191.html
|
Reuters
|
https://www.reuters.com/
|
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian authorities have issued warnings against using Bitcoin, saying the virtual currency could be used for money laundering or financing terrorism and that treating it as a parallel currency is illegal. "Systems for anonymous payments and cyber currencies that have gained considerable circulation - including the most well-known, Bitcoin - are money substitutes and cannot be used by individuals or legal entities," the Russian Prosecutor General's Office said on February6. It added that Russian law stipulates that the rouble is the sole official currency and that introducing any other monetary units or substitutes was illegal. Russia's central bank also said on January 27 that Bitcoin trade was highly speculative and that the unit carried a big risk of losing value. "Citizens and legal entities risk being drawn - even unintentionally - into illegal activity, including laundering of money obtained through crime, as well as financing terrorism," it warned. The Prosecutor's General Office said it was working with the central bank and other law enforcement agencies to tighten regulations and prevent legal offences committed with the use of pseudo-currencies. The Bitcoin community in the United States, far more developed than the one in Russia, has already come under intense scrutiny as authorities crack down on illegal activity carried out using the digital currency. (Writing by Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by Robin Pomeroy) View comments
|
1,391,963,160 |
2014-02-09 16:26:00+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [5767, 5922]}
|
{}
|
Tim Cook Admits Apple Has Stopped Growing In North America
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/finance.yahoo.com/news/tim-cook-admits-apple-stopped-162606280.html
|
Business Insider
|
http://www.businessinsider.com/
|
Getty Images, Justin Sullivan
Apple CEO Tim Cook.
On Friday, the Wall Street Journal publishedan excellent Q&A with Tim Cook, CEO of Apple. Cook was coming off his fiscal Q1 2014 earnings call, on which was savaged by investors. Thestock fell immediately by 8%after Wall Street analysts beganasking whether there was any growth left at Apple.
In the Journal's Q&A, there's a startling admission from Cook that — perhaps unsurprisingly — wasnothighlighted by the Apple fanboy tech blogs that generate so much interest around the company's products.
Cook was asked about the companies revenues in various countries. And then he began talking about America (emphasis added):
North America was a challenge. We had no growth basically as you could see from our results and that of course pulls down the top line because the weight is so large.
"We had no growth."
It's an honest and forthright answer. But it's also the kind of thing that CEOs tend not to say publicly, even if they are true. That is why it is so surprising, and why it's even more surprising that the statement has gotten so little coverage. (Can you imagine what the headlines would be if Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella had said the same thing? "Microsoft is dead in America!" would be the mild version.)
There is some context here, of course. Apple has still shown robust growth worldwide, as this chart of its total revenues shows:
Business Insider Intelligence
Cook put that growth in perspective. Basically, because Apple is so huge, it's hard to continue producing amazing percentage leaps in growth even when you're adding billions in sales every year:
Last year, we grew (revenue) by $14 billion to $15 billion. Yes, those percentages are smaller compared to a year earlier and two years earlier and so forth. But that doesn’t mean that you’re not a growth company. We were in hyper-growth, or whatever is above growth. We went from $65 billion to over $100 billion to $150 billion to $170 billion. These are historic, unprecedented numbers. I don’t know any companies adding growth at that level. So when you say $14 billion to $15 billion compared to those numbers, it’s clearly smaller and a smaller percentage, but, to put it in some context, that’s like adding three Fortune 500 companies in a year. I think that’s hard to say that’s not a growth company.
And yet, Apple's growth in the U.S. — the world's richest market — is threatened.Cook said on his earnings callthat the contraction in North American iPhone sales was due to wireless carriers not giving upgrade deals and a lack of iPhone 5S supply. That suggests, in part, that Apple is not making phones people want to buy at full price unless they are offered an incentive to do so.
Here's what declining growth at Apple looks like in the form of iPhone sales ...
BII
... and iPad sales:
BII
That is why Apple fans need to do some more serious thinking about the growth of Android. By some measures, Android's share of the smartphone market has reached 80%. It may be the case that the phones running the Android operating system as not as slick as iPhone, and it may be that the amount of cool apps available for Android is fewer than those for Apple's iOS system.
The market tends not to ignore 80% dominance for long. (You can debate just how dominant Android is in various countries.Here are some market share charts. But there is broad agreement that Android has more users in than Apple in huge stretches of the world.)
Cook, however, does not seem to be worried that Apple may get boxed in to a minority of high-end users, the way its Macs were in the 1980s and 1990s:
I look at the mobile phone market as having three kinds of phones: feature phones, smartphones that function as or are used as feature phones, and real smartphones. I care about the market share of the last one. I don’t care how many feature phones are sold. The more that are sold I look at as good because those are all potential future customers for real smartphones. The same thing goes for the second category. I’d like to convert as many of those as possible to real smartphones.
When Cook refers to "smartphones that function as or are used as feature phones" he appears to be referring to Android phones. We've noted repeatedly thatAndroid users use the functionality of their phones a lot less than iPhone usersdo, which is one reason why app developers prefer to create stuff for iPhone.
But Apple fans ought to worry that Cook has a mistaken view of how powerful Android is. Android phones — particularly the high-end ones — can do 95% of what iPhones can do, at a fraction of the cost. There is a good chance that many of those users are simply never going to convert to Apple, for the same reason that Ford drivers never convert to Rolls Royce. Sure, a Rolls is nicer than a Ford. But both get from A to B equally fast, and the Ford does it cheaper.
This goes to the core of Apple's growth problem. Growth has halted in North America, yet Apple does not see Android as a threat.
That's a very optimistic view to take, because the price of that view being wrong will be very high indeed.
Postscript: Cook also made it obvious that Apple was working on at least one brand new product category. In recent years, Apple has gotten all its growth from simply inventing new products that didn't exist before like the iPhone, the iPod and the iPad. So this entire debate may be moot — Apple may shrug at declining growth in mobile device sales the same way it shrugs at the dwindling desktop and laptop business, because in the future it will be generating its new sales from Apple TV or iWatch or some other amazing new gadget.
More From Business Insider
• HOUSE OF THE DAY: Live Next Door To Tim Cook In Palo Alto For Under $3 Million
• Apple Won't Let Bitcoin Apps In Its App Store, But This Guy Found A Way Around All That
• Firefox Wants To Make Your Phone Useful Again
• Why Apple Just Removed A Popular Bitcoin App From The App Store
• Apple Co-founder Steve Wozniak Says Apple Should Make An Android Phone
|
1,391,963,160 |
2014-02-09 16:26:00+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [5767, 5922]}
|
{}
|
Tim Cook Admits Apple Has Stopped Growing In North America
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/tim-cook-admits-apple-stopped-162606280.html
|
Business Insider
|
http://www.businessinsider.com/
|
Getty Images, Justin Sullivan
Apple CEO Tim Cook.
On Friday, the Wall Street Journal publishedan excellent Q&A with Tim Cook, CEO of Apple. Cook was coming off his fiscal Q1 2014 earnings call, on which was savaged by investors. Thestock fell immediately by 8%after Wall Street analysts beganasking whether there was any growth left at Apple.
In the Journal's Q&A, there's a startling admission from Cook that — perhaps unsurprisingly — wasnothighlighted by the Apple fanboy tech blogs that generate so much interest around the company's products.
Cook was asked about the companies revenues in various countries. And then he began talking about America (emphasis added):
North America was a challenge. We had no growth basically as you could see from our results and that of course pulls down the top line because the weight is so large.
"We had no growth."
It's an honest and forthright answer. But it's also the kind of thing that CEOs tend not to say publicly, even if they are true. That is why it is so surprising, and why it's even more surprising that the statement has gotten so little coverage. (Can you imagine what the headlines would be if Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella had said the same thing? "Microsoft is dead in America!" would be the mild version.)
There is some context here, of course. Apple has still shown robust growth worldwide, as this chart of its total revenues shows:
Business Insider Intelligence
Cook put that growth in perspective. Basically, because Apple is so huge, it's hard to continue producing amazing percentage leaps in growth even when you're adding billions in sales every year:
Last year, we grew (revenue) by $14 billion to $15 billion. Yes, those percentages are smaller compared to a year earlier and two years earlier and so forth. But that doesn’t mean that you’re not a growth company. We were in hyper-growth, or whatever is above growth. We went from $65 billion to over $100 billion to $150 billion to $170 billion. These are historic, unprecedented numbers. I don’t know any companies adding growth at that level. So when you say $14 billion to $15 billion compared to those numbers, it’s clearly smaller and a smaller percentage, but, to put it in some context, that’s like adding three Fortune 500 companies in a year. I think that’s hard to say that’s not a growth company.
And yet, Apple's growth in the U.S. — the world's richest market — is threatened.Cook said on his earnings callthat the contraction in North American iPhone sales was due to wireless carriers not giving upgrade deals and a lack of iPhone 5S supply. That suggests, in part, that Apple is not making phones people want to buy at full price unless they are offered an incentive to do so.
Here's what declining growth at Apple looks like in the form of iPhone sales ...
BII
... and iPad sales:
BII
That is why Apple fans need to do some more serious thinking about the growth of Android. By some measures, Android's share of the smartphone market has reached 80%. It may be the case that the phones running the Android operating system as not as slick as iPhone, and it may be that the amount of cool apps available for Android is fewer than those for Apple's iOS system.
The market tends not to ignore 80% dominance for long. (You can debate just how dominant Android is in various countries.Here are some market share charts. But there is broad agreement that Android has more users in than Apple in huge stretches of the world.)
Cook, however, does not seem to be worried that Apple may get boxed in to a minority of high-end users, the way its Macs were in the 1980s and 1990s:
I look at the mobile phone market as having three kinds of phones: feature phones, smartphones that function as or are used as feature phones, and real smartphones. I care about the market share of the last one. I don’t care how many feature phones are sold. The more that are sold I look at as good because those are all potential future customers for real smartphones. The same thing goes for the second category. I’d like to convert as many of those as possible to real smartphones.
When Cook refers to "smartphones that function as or are used as feature phones" he appears to be referring to Android phones. We've noted repeatedly thatAndroid users use the functionality of their phones a lot less than iPhone usersdo, which is one reason why app developers prefer to create stuff for iPhone.
But Apple fans ought to worry that Cook has a mistaken view of how powerful Android is. Android phones — particularly the high-end ones — can do 95% of what iPhones can do, at a fraction of the cost. There is a good chance that many of those users are simply never going to convert to Apple, for the same reason that Ford drivers never convert to Rolls Royce. Sure, a Rolls is nicer than a Ford. But both get from A to B equally fast, and the Ford does it cheaper.
This goes to the core of Apple's growth problem. Growth has halted in North America, yet Apple does not see Android as a threat.
That's a very optimistic view to take, because the price of that view being wrong will be very high indeed.
Postscript: Cook also made it obvious that Apple was working on at least one brand new product category. In recent years, Apple has gotten all its growth from simply inventing new products that didn't exist before like the iPhone, the iPod and the iPad. So this entire debate may be moot — Apple may shrug at declining growth in mobile device sales the same way it shrugs at the dwindling desktop and laptop business, because in the future it will be generating its new sales from Apple TV or iWatch or some other amazing new gadget.
More From Business Insider
• HOUSE OF THE DAY: Live Next Door To Tim Cook In Palo Alto For Under $3 Million
• Apple Won't Let Bitcoin Apps In Its App Store, But This Guy Found A Way Around All That
• Firefox Wants To Make Your Phone Useful Again
• Why Apple Just Removed A Popular Bitcoin App From The App Store
• Apple Co-founder Steve Wozniak Says Apple Should Make An Android Phone
|
1,471,239,781 |
2016-08-15 05:43:01+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [167, 4093]}
|
{"Bitcoin": [59]}
|
'Grumpy hold-outs' could sink Bitfinex recovery plan after Bitcoin theft
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/grumpy-hold-outs-could-sink-054301432.html
|
Reuters
|
https://www.reuters.com/
|
By Clare Baldwin HONG KONG (Reuters) - Crypto-currency exchange Bitfinex's plan to impose losses on all its trading clients for the theft by hackers of $72 million in Bitcoin rests on two flawed pillars, according to lawyers. The Hong Kong-based exchange said on August 2 that hackers had stolen 119,756 bitcoins from some clients' accounts, the second-biggest such hack in dollar terms, and later said it would spread the losses across all its customers, whether or not they had been hacked or even held bitcoin. It said customers would forfeit 36 percent of their holdings and be given "BFX tokens" instead that could be redeemed by the exchange or converted to shares in its parent company iFinex. Both elements of the plan are open to legal challenge, lawyers said. Imposing losses on customers who were not hacked appears to go against the company's terms of service, said Ryan Straus, a Fenwick & West lawyer who advises financial technology companies on regulation and co-authored the U.S. chapter of a book on bitcoin law. The terms state "bitcoins in your multi-signature wallets belong to and are owned by you", which Straus said implied a special banking relationship with clients that the Bitfinex plan would breach. "The depository ... is obligated to return, on demand, the same monetary objects deposited," he said, quoting a line from his book. The exchange's tokens could also be problematic, said Zach Zweihorn, a lawyer at DavisPolk who specialises in U.S. securities and trading laws. The way they are currently being described - redeemable by the exchange or convertible to shares in iFinex - places them somewhere between a bond and a security and makes it highly likely that issuing them and trading them would require licences in the U.S. that Bitfinex doesn't have. "If they are issuing an equity interest in their parent company, I don't really think the fact that it's evidenced through an electronic token ... really changes the analysis of whether it's a security," said Zweihorn. Story continues The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission did not return a request for comment. Bitfinex did not respond to requests for comment on either issue. "ROBBED" Bitfinex's website acknowledges there are "protocol level details" still to be worked out for the tokens, and that U.S. residents can sell but not buy them for the time being. "I feel like I was robbed," a 33 year-old investor who had a five-figure U.S. dollar amount on the platform told Reuters. He said he took a 36 percent "haircut" across all assets, including U.S. dollar reserves, and as a U.S. trader he couldn't properly deal in the IOU token. "Basically they took customers' funds in order to try to stay afloat. Nowhere in their terms of service did it mention that this was a possibility," said the user, who works in the financial services industry. Bitfinex is nevertheless hoping that traders will be patient and accept that they won't get a better deal if legal challenges force it into liquidation. "This is the closest approximation to what would happen in a liquidation context," it told traders in a blog post a week ago, while the tokens gave them some hope of ultimately recovering their losses. Traders will be aware of the fate of Tokyo-based crypto-currency exchange Mt Gox, which suffered the biggest bitcoin theft of all time in 2014, and consequently went bankrupt. Traders have not recovered any losses, and court proceedings are still ongoing. "People are afraid to see their assets completely frozen if they sue Bitfinex too early," said 28-year-old Nathan Bourgeois, who is based in France and moderates a 2,000-member traders' messaging group called Whaleclub under the username dr Helmut. He said he thought people would agree to the deal if there was a chance of getting some of their money back. But Patrick Murck, a fellow at Harvard University's Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, said the Bitfinex plan was unlikely to survive a legal challenge. "It might be a pyrrhic victory. You might still end up with less money," said Murck, who is also co-founder of the Bitcoin Foundation and its former general counsel, but the "odds are fairly low" that nobody will test it in court. "It takes one grumpy hold-out ... to blow the whole thing up, he said. (Reporting by Clare Baldwin; Additional reporting by Hera Poon and Tris Pan; Editing by Will Waterman)
|
1,471,239,781 |
2016-08-15 05:43:01+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [167, 4077]}
|
{"Bitcoin": [59]}
|
'Grumpy hold-outs' could sink Bitfinex recovery plan after Bitcoin theft
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/grumpy-hold-outs-could-sink-bitfinex-recovery-plan-054301780--sector.html
|
Reuters
|
https://www.reuters.com/
|
By Clare Baldwin HONG KONG (Reuters) - Crypto-currency exchange Bitfinex's plan to impose losses on all its trading clients for the theft by hackers of $72 million in Bitcoin rests on two flawed pillars, according to lawyers. The Hong Kong-based exchange said on August 2 that hackers had stolen 119,756 bitcoins from some clients' accounts, the second-biggest such hack in dollar terms, and later said it would spread the losses across all its customers, whether or not they had been hacked or even held bitcoin. It said customers would forfeit 36 percent of their holdings and be given "BFX tokens" instead that could be redeemed by the exchange or converted to shares in its parent company iFinex. Both elements of the plan are open to legal challenge, lawyers said. Imposing losses on customers who were not hacked appears to go against the company's terms of service, said Ryan Straus, a Fenwick & West lawyer who advises financial technology companies on regulation and co-authored the U.S. chapter of a book on bitcoin law. The terms state "bitcoins in your multi-signature wallets belong to and are owned by you", which Straus said implied a special banking relationship with clients that the Bitfinex plan would breach. "The depository ... is obligated to return, on demand, the same monetary objects deposited," he said, quoting a line from his book. The exchange's tokens could also be problematic, said Zach Zweihorn, a lawyer at DavisPolk who specialises in U.S. securities and trading laws. The way they are currently being described - redeemable by the exchange or convertible to shares in iFinex - places them somewhere between a bond and a security and makes it highly likely that issuing them and trading them would require licences in the U.S. that Bitfinex doesn't have. "If they are issuing an equity interest in their parent company, I don't really think the fact that it's evidenced through an electronic token ... really changes the analysis of whether it's a security," said Zweihorn. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission did not return a request for comment. Bitfinex did not respond to requests for comment on either issue. "ROBBED" Bitfinex's website acknowledges there are "protocol level details" still to be worked out for the tokens, and that U.S. residents can sell but not buy them for the time being. "I feel like I was robbed," a 33 year-old investor who had a five-figure U.S. dollar amount on the platform told Reuters. He said he took a 36 percent "haircut" across all assets, including U.S. dollar reserves, and as a U.S. trader he couldn't properly deal in the IOU token. "Basically they took customers' funds in order to try to stay afloat. Nowhere in their terms of service did it mention that this was a possibility," said the user, who works in the financial services industry. Bitfinex is nevertheless hoping that traders will be patient and accept that they won't get a better deal if legal challenges force it into liquidation. "This is the closest approximation to what would happen in a liquidation context," it told traders in a blog post a week ago, while the tokens gave them some hope of ultimately recovering their losses. Traders will be aware of the fate of Tokyo-based crypto-currency exchange Mt Gox, which suffered the biggest bitcoin theft of all time in 2014, and consequently went bankrupt. Traders have not recovered any losses, and court proceedings are still ongoing. "People are afraid to see their assets completely frozen if they sue Bitfinex too early," said 28-year-old Nathan Bourgeois, who is based in France and moderates a 2,000-member traders' messaging group called Whaleclub under the username dr Helmut. He said he thought people would agree to the deal if there was a chance of getting some of their money back. But Patrick Murck, a fellow at Harvard University's Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, said the Bitfinex plan was unlikely to survive a legal challenge. "It might be a pyrrhic victory. You might still end up with less money," said Murck, who is also co-founder of the Bitcoin Foundation and its former general counsel, but the "odds are fairly low" that nobody will test it in court. "It takes one grumpy hold-out ... to blow the whole thing up, he said. (Reporting by Clare Baldwin; Additional reporting by Hera Poon and Tris Pan; Editing by Will Waterman) View comments
|
1,471,248,000 |
2016-08-15 08:00:00+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [1444, 1778, 3656]}
|
{"Bitcoin": [6]}
|
First Bitcoin CapitalCorp. FINRA approved Name Change is effective as of today
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/first-bitcoin-capitalcorp-finra-approved-080000674.html
|
ACCESSWIRE
|
https://www.accesswire.com/
|
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / August 15, 2016 /FIRST BITCOIN CAPITAL CORP. (OTC markets: BITCF), announced today that FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) has approved its name change to FIRST BITCOIN CAPITAL CORP from Grand Pacaraima Gold Corp. The change will be reflected at the opening of the market today, August 15th, 2016. For shareholders, the name change has no effect on the stock that is held. The name will automatically change in shareholders' brokerage accounts and the amount of shares will remain unchanged.
All shareholders are asked to update their email addresses in order to receive Company electronic communications and further instructions. Kindly send an email to us via:info@bitcoincapitalcorp.com
The company is excited to announce that it has developed for its own account and third parties certain crypto currencies such as TeslaCoil Coin (trading symbol TESLA), President Clinton coin (trading symbol HILL), President Trump coin (trading symbol PRES) , President Johnson (trading symbol GARY). These last three digital crypto coins -we believe to be history's first commemorative election coins trading as crypto currencies and public interest in these commemorative coins may increase as the election process comes to a close with the winning candidate's coin showing the most interest. These currencies have been launched using the OMNI protocol, developed by OMNI FOUNDATION and ride on the rail of the Bitcoin blockchain.
We also believe that we are history's first publicly traded company to develop a blockchain for our shares to dually trade both in a traditional market (OTC Markets) and on crypto currency exchanges, such as company's own cryptocurrency exchange COINQX. Our crypto currency symbol is: BIT
About the company:
First Bitcoin Capital is engaged in developing digital currencies, proprietary Blockchain technologies, and the digital currency exchange-www.CoinQX.comWe see this step as a tremendous opportunity to create further shareholder value by leveraging management's experience in developing and managing complex Blockchain technologies, developing new type of digital assets. "Being first publicly-traded cryptocurrency and blockchain-centered company we want to provide our shareholders with diversified exposure to digital cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies." At this time Company owns and operates the following digital assets.
1. www.BITCoinCapitalcorp.comcompany website.
2. www.CoinQX.comCompany operated Cryptocurrency Exchange, registered with FINCEN.
3. www.iCoiNEWS.comreal time cryptocurrency and bitcoin news site
4. www.BITminer.cccompany provides mining pool management services.
5. www.2016coin.orgonline daily election coverage and home page for $PRES,$HILL and $GARY coins
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release may contain forward-looking statements. The words "believe," "expect," "should," "intend," "estimate," "projects," variations of such words and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements, but their absence does not mean that a statement is not a forward-looking statement. These forward-looking statements are based upon the Company's current expectations and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Among the important factors that could cause actual results to differ significantly from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements are risks that are detailed in the Company's filings, which are on file at www.OTCMarkets.com.
SOURCE:First Bitcoin Capital Corp.
|
1,471,248,989 |
2016-08-15 08:16:29+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [167, 4075]}
|
{"Bitcoin": [59]}
|
'Grumpy hold-outs' could sink Bitfinex recovery plan after Bitcoin theft
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/grumpy-hold-outs-could-sink-bitfinex-recovery-plan-081629865--sector.html
|
Reuters
|
https://www.reuters.com/
|
By Clare Baldwin HONG KONG (Reuters) - Crypto-currency exchange Bitfinex's plan to impose losses on all its trading clients for the theft by hackers of $72 million in Bitcoin rests on two flawed pillars, according to lawyers. The Hong Kong-based exchange said on Aug. 2 that hackers had stolen 119,756 bitcoins from some clients' accounts, the second-biggest such hack in dollar terms, and later said it would spread the losses across all its customers, whether or not they had been hacked or even held bitcoin. It said customers would forfeit 36 percent of their holdings and be given "BFX tokens" instead that could be redeemed by the exchange or converted to shares in its parent company iFinex. Both elements of the plan are open to legal challenge, lawyers said. Imposing losses on customers who were not hacked appears to go against the company's terms of service, said Ryan Straus, a Fenwick & West lawyer who advises financial technology companies on regulation and co-authored the U.S. chapter of a book on bitcoin law. The terms state "bitcoins in your multi-signature wallets belong to and are owned by you", which Straus said implied a special banking relationship with clients that the Bitfinex plan would breach. "The depository ... is obligated to return, on demand, the same monetary objects deposited," he said, quoting a line from his book. The exchange's tokens could also be problematic, said Zach Zweihorn, a lawyer at DavisPolk who specializes in U.S. securities and trading laws. The way they are currently being described - redeemable by the exchange or convertible to shares in iFinex - places them somewhere between a bond and a security and makes it highly likely that issuing them and trading them would require licenses in the U.S. that Bitfinex doesn't have. "If they are issuing an equity interest in their parent company, I don't really think the fact that it's evidenced through an electronic token ... really changes the analysis of whether it's a security," said Zweihorn. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission did not return a request for comment. Bitfinex did not respond to requests for comment on either issue. "ROBBED" Bitfinex's website acknowledges there are "protocol level details" still to be worked out for the tokens, and that U.S. residents can sell but not buy them for the time being. "I feel like I was robbed," a 33 year-old investor who had a five-figure U.S. dollar amount on the platform told Reuters. He said he took a 36 percent "haircut" across all assets, including U.S. dollar reserves, and as a U.S. trader he couldn't properly deal in the IOU token. "Basically they took customers' funds in order to try to stay afloat. Nowhere in their terms of service did it mention that this was a possibility," said the user, who works in the financial services industry. Bitfinex is nevertheless hoping that traders will be patient and accept that they won't get a better deal if legal challenges force it into liquidation. "This is the closest approximation to what would happen in a liquidation context," it told traders in a blog post a week ago, while the tokens gave them some hope of ultimately recovering their losses. Traders will be aware of the fate of Tokyo-based crypto-currency exchange Mt Gox, which suffered the biggest bitcoin theft of all time in 2014, and consequently went bankrupt. Traders have not recovered any losses, and court proceedings are still ongoing. "People are afraid to see their assets completely frozen if they sue Bitfinex too early," said 28-year-old Nathan Bourgeois, who is based in France and moderates a 2,000-member traders' messaging group called Whaleclub under the username dr Helmut. He said he thought people would agree to the deal if there was a chance of getting some of their money back. But Patrick Murck, a fellow at Harvard University's Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, said the Bitfinex plan was unlikely to survive a legal challenge. "It might be a pyrrhic victory. You might still end up with less money," said Murck, who is also co-founder of the Bitcoin Foundation and its former general counsel, but the "odds are fairly low" that nobody will test it in court. "It takes one grumpy hold-out ... to blow the whole thing up,” he said. (Reporting by Clare Baldwin; Additional reporting by Hera Poon and Tris Pan; Editing by Will Waterman)
|
1,471,248,989 |
2016-08-15 08:16:29+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [167, 4091]}
|
{"Bitcoin": [59]}
|
'Grumpy hold-outs' could sink Bitfinex recovery plan after Bitcoin theft
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/grumpy-hold-outs-could-sink-081629309.html
|
Reuters
|
https://www.reuters.com/
|
By Clare Baldwin HONG KONG (Reuters) - Crypto-currency exchange Bitfinex's plan to impose losses on all its trading clients for the theft by hackers of $72 million in Bitcoin rests on two flawed pillars, according to lawyers. The Hong Kong-based exchange said on Aug. 2 that hackers had stolen 119,756 bitcoins from some clients' accounts, the second-biggest such hack in dollar terms, and later said it would spread the losses across all its customers, whether or not they had been hacked or even held bitcoin. It said customers would forfeit 36 percent of their holdings and be given "BFX tokens" instead that could be redeemed by the exchange or converted to shares in its parent company iFinex. Both elements of the plan are open to legal challenge, lawyers said. Imposing losses on customers who were not hacked appears to go against the company's terms of service, said Ryan Straus, a Fenwick & West lawyer who advises financial technology companies on regulation and co-authored the U.S. chapter of a book on bitcoin law. The terms state "bitcoins in your multi-signature wallets belong to and are owned by you", which Straus said implied a special banking relationship with clients that the Bitfinex plan would breach. "The depository ... is obligated to return, on demand, the same monetary objects deposited," he said, quoting a line from his book. The exchange's tokens could also be problematic, said Zach Zweihorn, a lawyer at DavisPolk who specializes in U.S. securities and trading laws. The way they are currently being described - redeemable by the exchange or convertible to shares in iFinex - places them somewhere between a bond and a security and makes it highly likely that issuing them and trading them would require licenses in the U.S. that Bitfinex doesn't have. "If they are issuing an equity interest in their parent company, I don't really think the fact that it's evidenced through an electronic token ... really changes the analysis of whether it's a security," said Zweihorn. Story continues The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission did not return a request for comment. Bitfinex did not respond to requests for comment on either issue. "ROBBED" Bitfinex's website acknowledges there are "protocol level details" still to be worked out for the tokens, and that U.S. residents can sell but not buy them for the time being. "I feel like I was robbed," a 33 year-old investor who had a five-figure U.S. dollar amount on the platform told Reuters. He said he took a 36 percent "haircut" across all assets, including U.S. dollar reserves, and as a U.S. trader he couldn't properly deal in the IOU token. "Basically they took customers' funds in order to try to stay afloat. Nowhere in their terms of service did it mention that this was a possibility," said the user, who works in the financial services industry. Bitfinex is nevertheless hoping that traders will be patient and accept that they won't get a better deal if legal challenges force it into liquidation. "This is the closest approximation to what would happen in a liquidation context," it told traders in a blog post a week ago, while the tokens gave them some hope of ultimately recovering their losses. Traders will be aware of the fate of Tokyo-based crypto-currency exchange Mt Gox, which suffered the biggest bitcoin theft of all time in 2014, and consequently went bankrupt. Traders have not recovered any losses, and court proceedings are still ongoing. "People are afraid to see their assets completely frozen if they sue Bitfinex too early," said 28-year-old Nathan Bourgeois, who is based in France and moderates a 2,000-member traders' messaging group called Whaleclub under the username dr Helmut. He said he thought people would agree to the deal if there was a chance of getting some of their money back. But Patrick Murck, a fellow at Harvard University's Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, said the Bitfinex plan was unlikely to survive a legal challenge. "It might be a pyrrhic victory. You might still end up with less money," said Murck, who is also co-founder of the Bitcoin Foundation and its former general counsel, but the "odds are fairly low" that nobody will test it in court. "It takes one grumpy hold-out ... to blow the whole thing up, he said. (Reporting by Clare Baldwin; Additional reporting by Hera Poon and Tris Pan; Editing by Will Waterman)
|
1,422,199,603 |
2015-01-25 15:26:43+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [1552]}
|
{}
|
Obama Says Marijuana Legalization Will Be Left Up To State Governments
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/obama-says-marijuana-legalization-left-152643718.html
|
Benzinga
|
http://www.benzinga.com/
|
In an unprecedented interview conducted and broadcast via YouTube, U.S. President Barack Obama was pressed to give the public some insight into how his administration plans to move forward with the legalization of marijuana.
His remarks were music to anyone involved in the industry’s ears as the President seemed positive on the direction the market has taken.
Federal Government Steps Back
Obama said he expects to see more states follow suit on legalizing recreational marijuana sales as both Colorado and Washington state have done. He also remarked that the federal government plans to keep its distance from decisions made at the state level.
State governments who decide to legalize the recreational or medicinal sale or use of the drug will not face scrutiny from the federal government, which still has laws classifying marijuana as an illegal substance.
Shifting Point Of View
The President went on to say that he thinks the government’s view of marijuana needs to shift from a criminal problem to one of public health.
Related Link:Will RadioShack Be The First Retailer To Go Bust In 2015?
Obama compared marijuana use to that of tobacco or drunk driving, saying that the government should use its resources to treat the problem rather than criminalize it.
In an effort to do so, Obama said his administration was reviewing how non-violent drug offenders are treated and addressing concerns that drug laws have been detrimental to minority groups.
See more from Benzinga
• Long Awaited Eurozone QE Is Here, But Not Everyone Is Celebrating
• Bitcoin Makes An Appearance At Davos
• Comcast Sees A Rocky Road Ahead
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
|
1,471,248,989 |
2016-08-15 08:16:29+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [167, 4075]}
|
{"Bitcoin": [59]}
|
'Grumpy hold-outs' could sink Bitfinex recovery plan after Bitcoin theft
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/grumpy-hold-outs-could-sink-081629541.html
|
Reuters
|
http://www.reuters.com/
|
By Clare Baldwin
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Crypto-currency exchange Bitfinex's plan to impose losses on all its trading clients for the theft by hackers of $72 million in Bitcoin rests on two flawed pillars, according to lawyers.
The Hong Kong-based exchange said on Aug. 2 that hackers had stolen 119,756 bitcoins from some clients' accounts, the second-biggest such hack in dollar terms, and later said it would spread the losses across all its customers, whether or not they had been hacked or even held bitcoin.
It said customers would forfeit 36 percent of their holdings and be given "BFX tokens" instead that could be redeemed by the exchange or converted to shares in its parent company iFinex.
Both elements of the plan are open to legal challenge, lawyers said.
Imposing losses on customers who were not hacked appears to go against the company's terms of service, said Ryan Straus, a Fenwick & West lawyer who advises financial technology companies on regulation and co-authored the U.S. chapter of a book on bitcoin law.
The terms state "bitcoins in your multi-signature wallets belong to and are owned by you", which Straus said implied a special banking relationship with clients that the Bitfinex plan would breach.
"The depository ... is obligated to return, on demand, the same monetary objects deposited," he said, quoting a line from his book.
The exchange's tokens could also be problematic, said Zach Zweihorn, a lawyer at DavisPolk who specializes in U.S. securities and trading laws.
The way they are currently being described - redeemable by the exchange or convertible to shares in iFinex - places them somewhere between a bond and a security and makes it highly likely that issuing them and trading them would require licenses in the U.S. that Bitfinex doesn't have.
"If they are issuing an equity interest in their parent company, I don't really think the fact that it's evidenced through an electronic token ... really changes the analysis of whether it's a security," said Zweihorn.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission did not return a request for comment.
Bitfinex did not respond to requests for comment on either issue.
"ROBBED"
Bitfinex's website acknowledges there are "protocol level details" still to be worked out for the tokens, and that U.S. residents can sell but not buy them for the time being.
"I feel like I was robbed," a 33 year-old investor who had a five-figure U.S. dollar amount on the platform told Reuters.
He said he took a 36 percent "haircut" across all assets, including U.S. dollar reserves, and as a U.S. trader he couldn't properly deal in the IOU token.
"Basically they took customers' funds in order to try to stay afloat. Nowhere in their terms of service did it mention that this was a possibility," said the user, who works in the financial services industry.
Bitfinex is nevertheless hoping that traders will be patient and accept that they won't get a better deal if legal challenges force it into liquidation.
"This is the closest approximation to what would happen in a liquidation context," it told traders in a blog post a week ago, while the tokens gave them some hope of ultimately recovering their losses.
Traders will be aware of the fate of Tokyo-based crypto-currency exchange Mt Gox, which suffered the biggest bitcoin theft of all time in 2014, and consequently went bankrupt. Traders have not recovered any losses, and court proceedings are still ongoing.
"People are afraid to see their assets completely frozen if they sue Bitfinex too early," said 28-year-old Nathan Bourgeois, who is based in France and moderates a 2,000-member traders' messaging group called Whaleclub under the username dr Helmut.
He said he thought people would agree to the deal if there was a chance of getting some of their money back.
But Patrick Murck, a fellow at Harvard University's Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, said the Bitfinex plan was unlikely to survive a legal challenge.
"It might be a pyrrhic victory. You might still end up with less money," said Murck, who is also co-founder of the Bitcoin Foundation and its former general counsel, but the "odds are fairly low" that nobody will test it in court.
"It takes one grumpy hold-out ... to blow the whole thing up,” he said.
(Reporting by Clare Baldwin; Additional reporting by Hera Poon and Tris Pan; Editing by Will Waterman)
|
1,471,252,113 |
2016-08-15 09:08:33+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [189, 4113]}
|
{"Bitcoin": [59]}
|
'Grumpy hold-outs' could sink Bitfinex recovery plan after Bitcoin theft
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/grumpy-hold-outs-could-sink-090833709.html
|
Reuters
|
https://www.reuters.com/
|
By Clare Baldwin HONG KONG (Reuters) - Crypto-currency exchange Bitfinex's plan to impose losses on all its trading clients for the theft by hackers of $72 million (55.7 million pounds) in Bitcoin rests on two flawed pillars, according to lawyers. The Hong Kong-based exchange said on Aug. 2 that hackers had stolen 119,756 bitcoins from some clients' accounts, the second-biggest such hack in dollar terms, and later said it would spread the losses across all its customers, whether or not they had been hacked or even held bitcoin. It said customers would forfeit 36 percent of their holdings and be given "BFX tokens" instead that could be redeemed by the exchange or converted to shares in its parent company iFinex. Both elements of the plan are open to legal challenge, lawyers said. Imposing losses on customers who were not hacked appears to go against the company's terms of service, said Ryan Straus, a Fenwick & West lawyer who advises financial technology companies on regulation and co-authored the U.S. chapter of a book on bitcoin law. The terms state "bitcoins in your multi-signature wallets belong to and are owned by you", which Straus said implied a special banking relationship with clients that the Bitfinex plan would breach. "The depository ... is obligated to return, on demand, the same monetary objects deposited," he said, quoting a line from his book. The exchange's tokens could also be problematic, said Zach Zweihorn, a lawyer at DavisPolk who specialises in U.S. securities and trading laws. The way they are currently being described - redeemable by the exchange or convertible to shares in iFinex - places them somewhere between a bond and a security and makes it highly likely that issuing them and trading them would require licences in the U.S. that Bitfinex doesn't have. "If they are issuing an equity interest in their parent company, I don't really think the fact that it's evidenced through an electronic token ... really changes the analysis of whether it's a security," said Zweihorn. Story continues The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission did not return a request for comment. Bitfinex did not respond to requests for comment on either issue. "ROBBED" Bitfinex's website acknowledges there are "protocol level details" still to be worked out for the tokens, and that U.S. residents can sell but not buy them for the time being. "I feel like I was robbed," a 33 year-old investor who had a five-figure U.S. dollar amount on the platform told Reuters. He said he took a 36 percent "haircut" across all assets, including U.S. dollar reserves, and as a U.S. trader he couldn't properly deal in the IOU token. "Basically they took customers' funds in order to try to stay afloat. Nowhere in their terms of service did it mention that this was a possibility," said the user, who works in the financial services industry. Bitfinex is nevertheless hoping that traders will be patient and accept that they won't get a better deal if legal challenges force it into liquidation. "This is the closest approximation to what would happen in a liquidation context," it told traders in a blog post a week ago, while the tokens gave them some hope of ultimately recovering their losses. Traders will be aware of the fate of Tokyo-based crypto-currency exchange Mt Gox, which suffered the biggest bitcoin theft of all time in 2014, and consequently went bankrupt. Traders have not recovered any losses, and court proceedings are still ongoing. "People are afraid to see their assets completely frozen if they sue Bitfinex too early," said 28-year-old Nathan Bourgeois, who is based in France and moderates a 2,000-member traders' messaging group called Whaleclub under the username dr Helmut. He said he thought people would agree to the deal if there was a chance of getting some of their money back. But Patrick Murck, a fellow at Harvard University's Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, said the Bitfinex plan was unlikely to survive a legal challenge. "It might be a pyrrhic victory. You might still end up with less money," said Murck, who is also co-founder of the Bitcoin Foundation and its former general counsel, but the "odds are fairly low" that nobody will test it in court. "It takes one grumpy hold-out ... to blow the whole thing up, he said. (Reporting by Clare Baldwin; Additional reporting by Hera Poon and Tris Pan; Editing by Will Waterman)
|
1,392,029,820 |
2014-02-10 10:57:00+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [0, 14, 75, 823, 933, 1329, 1422, 1951, 2208, 2424, 2789, 3039, 3310, 3398, 3518, 3563, 5664, 5703, 6062, 6144, 6237, 6780, 6839, 6898, 6917, 6987, 7074]}
|
{"Bitcoin": [0]}
|
Bitcoin Just Completely Crashed As Major Exchange Says Withdrawals Remain Halted
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bitcoin-just-completely-crashed-major-105751675.html
|
Business Insider
|
http://www.businessinsider.com/
|
BitcoinWisdom
Bitcoin just completely fell out of bed. The chart above, viaBitcoinWisdom, shows the move.
The news comes as major trading exchange Mt. Goxsays in a new press releasethat bitcoin withdrawals remain halted. (On Friday, Mt. Gox issued a statement that amid the volume of withdrawals it was seeing, that it was suspending withdrawals until it could address a technical issue). Mt. Gox was at one point the foremost bitcoin market site, though its volume and share of bitcoin activity has declined considerably.
Withdrawals in actual currencyareworking, so traders can get cash out of the site, which is good news.
The bad news is that in addition to the direct matter of users not being able to withdraw bitcoins, they say the technical issue that they're dealing with is something that pertains to the broader Bitcoin community:
The problem we have identified is not limited to MtGox, and affects all transactions where Bitcoins are being sent to a third party. We believe that the changes required for addressing this issue will be positive over the long term for the whole community. As a result we took the necessary action of suspending bitcoin withdrawals until this technical issue has been resolved.
The letter is long, but here's the conclusion:
To put things in perspective, it's important to remember that Bitcoin is a very new technology and still very much in its early stages. What MtGox and the Bitcoin community have experienced in the past year has been an incredible and exciting challenge, and there is still much to do to further improve.
MtGox will resume bitcoin withdrawals to outside wallets once the issue outlined above has been properly addressed in a manner that will best serve our customers. More information on the status of this issue will be released as soon as possible. We thank you for taking the time to read this, and especially for your patience.
And here's the full letter:
Dear MtGox Customers and Bitcoiners,
As you are aware, the MtGox team has been working hard to address an issue with the way that bitcoin withdrawals are processed. By "bitcoin withdrawal" we are referring to transactions from a MtGox bitcoin wallet to an external bitcoin address. Bitcoin transactions to any MtGox bitcoin address, and currency withdrawals (Yen, Euro, etc) are not affected by this issue.
The problem we have identified is not limited to MtGox, and affects all transactions where Bitcoins are being sent to a third party. We believe that the changes required for addressing this issue will be positive over the long term for the whole community. As a result we took the necessary action of suspending bitcoin withdrawals until this technical issue has been resolved.
Addressing Transaction MalleabilityMtGox has detected unusual activity on its Bitcoin wallets and performed investigations during the past weeks. This confirmed the presence of transactions which need to be examined more closely.
Non-technical Explanation: A bug in the bitcoin software makes it possible for someone to use the Bitcoin network to alter transaction details to make it seem like a sending of bitcoins to a bitcoin wallet did not occur when in fact it did occur. Since the transaction appears as if it has not proceeded correctly, the bitcoins may be resent. MtGox is working with the Bitcoin core development team and others to mitigate this issue.
Technical Explanation: Bitcoin transactions are subject to a design issue that has been largely ignored, while known to at least a part of the Bitcoin core developers and mentioned on the BitcoinTalk forums. This defect, known as "transaction malleability" makes it possible for a third party to alter the hash of any freshly issued transaction without invalidating the signature, hence resulting in a similar transaction under a different hash. Of course only one of the two transactions can be validated. However, if the party who altered the transaction is fast enough, for example with a direct connection to different mining pools, or has even a small amount of mining power, it can easily cause the transaction hash alteration to be committed to the blockchain.
The bitcoin api "sendtoaddress" broadly used to send bitcoins to a given bitcoin address will return a transaction hash as a way to track the transaction's insertion in the blockchain.Most wallet and exchange services will keep a record of this said hash in order to be able to respond to users should they inquire about their transaction. It is likely that these services will assume the transaction was not sent if it doesn't appear in the blockchain with the original hash and have currently no means to recognize the alternative transactions as theirs in an efficient way.
This means that an individual could request bitcoins from an exchange or wallet service, alter the resulting transaction's hash before inclusion in the blockchain, then contact the issuing service while claiming the transaction did not proceed. If the alteration fails, the user can simply send the bitcoins back and try again until successful.
We believe this can be addressed by using a different hash for transaction tracking purposes. While the network will continue to use the current hash for the purpose of inclusion in each block's Merkle Tree, the new hash's purpose will be to track a given transaction and can be computed and indexed by hashing the exact signed string via SHA256 (in the same way transactions are currently hashed).
This new transaction hash will allow signing parties to keep track of any transaction they have signed and can easily be computed, even for past transactions.
We have discussed this solution with the Bitcoin core developers and will allow Bitcoin withdrawals again once it has been approved and standardized.
In the meantime, exchanges and wallet services - and any service sending coins directly to third parties - should be extremely careful with anyone claiming their transaction did not go through.
Note that this will also affect any other crypto-currency using the same transaction scheme as Bitcoin.
Conclusion:To put things in perspective, it's important to remember that Bitcoin is a very new technology and still very much in its early stages. What MtGox and the Bitcoin community have experienced in the past year has been an incredible and exciting challenge, and there is still much to do to further improve.
MtGox will resume bitcoin withdrawals to outside wallets once the issue outlined above has been properly addressed in a manner that will best serve our customers.
More information on the status of this issue will be released as soon as possible.
We thank you for taking the time to read this, and especially for your patience.
Best Regards,MtGox Team
More From Business Insider
• Another Major Bitcoin Exchange May Be Under Threat
• The World's Largest Bitcoin Fund Just Took A Preliminary Step To Creating A US Bitcoin Exchange
• Bitcoin Plunges As Major Exchange Mt. Gox Halts All Withdrawals
• Why Bitcoin Will Never Have A Problem With Deflation
• Dogecoin Just Solved A Problem That Bitcoin Is Going To Face
|
1,392,034,740 |
2014-02-10 12:19:00+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [1101]}
|
{}
|
10 Things You Need To Know This Morning
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/10-things-know-opening-bell-121917332.html
|
Business Insider
|
http://www.businessinsider.com/
|
REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco
Elementary school pupils use doormats as improvised protective headgears as they stay in a safe area during an earthquake drill in Paranaque city, metro Manila February 10, 2014.
Good morning! Here's what you need to know.
• European economies are still in big trouble.Italian industrial production fell 0.9% in December, and its service and retail sectors are said to be contracting. In France,industrial production fell 0.3%. Analystsincluding JPMorganbelieve the European Central Bank's monetary stance remains too hawkish.
• The lone standout in Europe appears to be the UK.According to a new report, there are now 23 buyers for every high-end home in London, compared with 14 a year ago. The average time on market for a home in the city's costliest neighborhoods is now just two weeks.
• Japan's current account surplus shrunk to the smallest level on record,about $32 billion, as the country's measure of trade with other nations showed the largest one-month deficit on record in December.The FT saysJapanese companies have refused to cut prices, which has hurt exports.
• Bitcoin pricesare down big this morningafter MtGox, a major exchange, said withdrawals remain suspended while it addresses a technical glitch. Some fear that when withdrawals are restarted there will be a mass exodus out of the Japan-based market, sending prices even lower. Gold, meanwhile,is at a two-week high.
• Stocks in Asia were up. U.S. futures were lower. European markets were slightly higher.
• Australia will soon be without a single automaker on its shores as Toyota has announced itwill shut down all its factories Down Under by the end of 2017, the result of a too-strong Aussie dollar and rising production costs. 40,000 people country-wide are expected to lose their jobs.
• The New York Times' Jessica Silver-Greenberg and Ben Protessreporton an email showing a top Chinese regulator personally asking JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon for a "favor" to hire a young family friend. The acquaintance works for the megabank today. Meanwhile Reuters' Fiona LaureportsUBS has suspended two Hong Kong employees in connection with the hiring of an employee related to a Chinese corporate client.
• China's Alipay, owned by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, says it has surpassed PayPal to become the world's largest online payment service, having processed $150 billion in transactions last year. Square and PayPal combined only did $50 billion last year, it said,according to Marketwatch's Lauren He.
• Michael Sam, a former Missouri defensive end entering the 2014 NFL draft, announced he is gay.BI's Tony Manfred has the league reaction covered.
• There is no major economic data today coming out today. Hasbro, Loews, and Urban Outfittersannounce earnings today.
More From Business Insider
• 10 Things You Need To Know This Morning
• 10 Things You Need To Know This Morning
• 10 Things You Need To Know This Morning
|
1,447,386,354 |
2015-11-13 03:45:54+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [443]}
|
{}
|
Banks expected to adopt new technologies rather than be overrun
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/banks-expected-adopt-technologies-rather-034554269.html
|
Reuters
|
http://www.reuters.com/
|
NEW YORK, Nov 12 (Reuters) - New technology firms are battering all kinds of companies, but banks will remain as financial intermediaries, due to the regulations and duties governments have put on them, says a proponent of the technology behind the bitcoin cryptocurrency.
"Regulation keeps them in place. Regulation requires them to perform certain functions," said Mark Smith, chief executive of Symbiont.io, a startup that has emerged from Bitcoin 2.0 and MathMoney f(x) Inc to build a securities trading platform using blockchain technology like that behind bitcoin.
Smith predicted that big banks, such as JPMorgan Chase & Co, would adopt new technologies to cut costs for back offices that process loans and match buyers and sellers of securities.
"A massive amount of infrastructure just goes away," said Smith, who was speaking on Thursday in a panel discussion held by Thomson Reuters on innovation and disruption in financial services.
New competitors are coming into banking from Silicon Valley, JPMorgan's chief executive, Jamie Dimon, warned bank shareholders this year. But he also said JPMorgan had much to learn from them and might enter partnerships with some.
JPMorgan worked with Apple Inc on last year's launch of the Apple Pay application for making credit and debit card payments with smartphones.
Last month the bank said it would also operate a rival digital wallet called Chase Pay.
Later, Smith said his firm expected to sell tools to big banks for securities trading by customers. "We are a disrupter and an enabler as well," he added.
Another panel member, Sam Shrauger, senior vice president of digital solutions at card and payments company Visa Inc, said that while cash and paper check transactions give way to electronic messages, "that's not going to change the overarching way that we move money." (Reporting by David Henry in New York; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
|
1,447,387,786 |
2015-11-13 04:09:46+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [435]}
|
{}
|
Banks expected to adopt new technologies rather than be overrun
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/banks-expected-adopt-technologies-rather-040946879.html
|
Reuters
|
http://www.reuters.com/
|
NEW YORK (Reuters) - New technology firms are battering all kinds of companies, but banks will remain as financial intermediaries, due to the regulations and duties governments have put on them, says a proponent of the technology behind the bitcoin cryptocurrency.
"Regulation keeps them in place. Regulation requires them to perform certain functions," said Mark Smith, chief executive of Symbiont.io, a startup that has emerged from Bitcoin 2.0 and MathMoney f(x) Inc to build a securities trading platform using blockchain technology like that behind bitcoin.
Smith predicted that big banks, such as JPMorgan Chase & Co, would adopt new technologies to cut costs for back offices that process loans and match buyers and sellers of securities.
"A massive amount of infrastructure just goes away," said Smith, who was speaking on Thursday in a panel discussion held by Thomson Reuters on innovation and disruption in financial services.
New competitors are coming into banking from Silicon Valley, JPMorgan's chief executive, Jamie Dimon, warned bank shareholders this year. But he also said JPMorgan had much to learn from them and might enter partnerships with some.
JPMorgan worked with Apple Inc on last year's launch of the Apple Pay application for making credit and debit card payments with smartphones.
Last month the bank said it would also operate a rival digital wallet called Chase Pay.
Later, Smith said his firm expected to sell tools to big banks for securities trading by customers. "We are a disrupter and an enabler as well," he added.
Another panel member, Sam Shrauger, senior vice president of digital solutions at card and payments company Visa Inc, said that while cash and paper check transactions give way to electronic messages, "that's not going to change the overarching way that we move money."
(Reporting by David Henry in New York; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
|
1,392,042,643 |
2014-02-10 14:30:43+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [230, 405, 539, 638, 749, 880]}
|
{"Bitcoin": [117]}
|
Security First International Holdings, Inc. Capitalizing on the Widespread Adoption of Crypto-Currency by Converting Bitcoin to USD Through Cryptsybids.com
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/security-first-international-holdings-inc-143043141.html
|
Marketwired
|
http://www.marketwired.com/
|
LAS VEGAS, NV--(Marketwired - February 10, 2014) -Security First International Holdings, Inc.(SCFR), a leading provider of mobile financial products and services for consumers, is pleased to provide a trouble-free means to convertBitcointo USD through,Cryptsybids.com.
Cryptsybids.com, the company's penny auction auction environment, allows players to purchase bids with eligible crypto-currency such as Bitcoin to participate in live auctions and win selected offers and get USD cash back rewards.
"With some of the challenges convertingBitcoininto USD through the traditional exchanges, I see this as a great alternative to converting Bitcoin into cash" said Brian Fowler, President.
In effort to recognize the issue being encountered by various Bitcoin exchanges, Security First International Holdings, Inc. intends to provide full user control and flexibility for converting Bitcoin to USD cash back rewards withCryptsybids.com, the first-of-its-kind penny auction environment.
VisitCryptsybids.comto learn more.
About Security First Holdings International Inc.(SCFR)Security First International Holdings is a company focused on providing innovative financial payment products and services to consumers globally. We provide new possibilities for the mobile commerce market through technology and platforms that will create a meaningful financial impact on all consumers. Through a mobile technology that works in combination with Android devices, direct carrier billing and prepaid reloadable cards; Security First International Holdings, Inc. is re-defining the conventional application of funding sources for prepaid reloadable cards. A technology company redefining mobile shopping, Security First International Holdings, Inc. is bringing together alternative consumer financing solutions designed to create a consumer mobile shopping lifestyle that is a more connected, powerful experience.Our mission is to be the leader in innovative consumer financial products.
More information about Security First International Holdings, Inc. is available at:www.scfrinc.comwww.cryptsybids.com
FORWARD-LOOKING DISCLAIMERThis press release may contain forward-looking statements, including statements about the business plan and prospective financial condition of Security First Holdings International, Inc. The forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, including that the parties may not complete the transaction or that when completed, the transaction might be different than presently contemplated. Readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements. Security First Holdings International, Inc. does not undertake any obligation to publicly revise these forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances. In addition, any forward-looking statements regarding expected industry patterns and other financial and business results that involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from results expressed or implied by this press release. Such risk factors include, among others: whether Security First Holdings International, Inc. can successfully execute its operating plan; its ability to integrate acquired companies and technology; its ability to retain key employees; its ability to successfully combine product offerings and customer acceptance of combined products; general market conditions; and whether Security First Holdings International, Inc. can successfully develop new products and the degree to which these gain market acceptance. Actual results may differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements in this press release.
©2012 Security First International Holdings, Inc. (SCFR). The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for SCFR products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. SCFR shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.
|
1,392,047,164 |
2014-02-10 15:46:04+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [1970]}
|
{}
|
Cramer: Can't shake faith in this fast food stock
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/cramer-cant-shake-faith-fast-154604409.html
|
CNBC
|
http://www.cnbc.com/
|
Despite a sharp decline in McDonald's (MCD) same-store sales in the U.S. and increasing concerns about the food chain, CNBC's Jim Cramer says it's hard to write off the global fast food company.
One good month of same-store sales in the United States could push the stock to $103 per share-up from its $94.65 in early trading Monday-Cramer said on "Squawk on the Street." While Cramer remains cautiously optimistic on McDonald's stock potential, he has made a habit of avoiding fast food, he said.
"That's because people have faith that [McDonald's CEO] Don Thompson is going to pull it out, and you know what?" Cramer said. "I do too. In the end this is a place for people who are not wealthy to enjoy a meal. I stopped taking my kids here years and years ago. I'm concerned about the food chain."
(Read more:Europe, China help McDonald's offset soft U.S. sales in January)
McDonald's on Monday reported better-than-expected growth abroad as sales in Europe and China helped overcome a marked decline in U.S. revenue. The company credited the domestic slowdown on frigid weather that kept consumers indoors. Cramer, however, linked the slowdown to a growing movement toward natural and organic foods.
Cramer said McDonald's has a "Buck Marshall" problem, referring to the antagonist from the coming original online series, "Farmed and Dangerous." The show pokes fun at industrial-scale farming and corporate influence over the food chain.
(Read more:Chipotle blurs lines with a satirical series about industrial farming)
Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) is producing the series and plans to release it through streaming-TV service Hulu on Feb. 17.
"This is unbranded," Cramer said. "This is a new kind of messaging, basically taking aim at the food chain. That is going to hurt McDonald's."
-By CNBC's Jeff Morganteen.Reuters contributed to this report.Follow him on Twitter at@jmorganteenand get the latest stories from "Squawk on the Street."
Disclaimer
More From CNBC
• Bitcoin drops another 20% as Mt Gox highlights bug
• World's most successful hedge fund manager is...
• Icahn: I won't squeeze Apple on buyback anymore
|
1,392,047,164 |
2014-02-10 15:46:04+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [1970]}
|
{}
|
Cramer: Can't shake faith in this fast food stock
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/finance.yahoo.com/news/cramer-cant-shake-faith-fast-154604409.html
|
CNBC
|
http://www.cnbc.com/
|
Despite a sharp decline in McDonald's (MCD) same-store sales in the U.S. and increasing concerns about the food chain, CNBC's Jim Cramer says it's hard to write off the global fast food company.
One good month of same-store sales in the United States could push the stock to $103 per share-up from its $94.65 in early trading Monday-Cramer said on "Squawk on the Street." While Cramer remains cautiously optimistic on McDonald's stock potential, he has made a habit of avoiding fast food, he said.
"That's because people have faith that [McDonald's CEO] Don Thompson is going to pull it out, and you know what?" Cramer said. "I do too. In the end this is a place for people who are not wealthy to enjoy a meal. I stopped taking my kids here years and years ago. I'm concerned about the food chain."
(Read more:Europe, China help McDonald's offset soft U.S. sales in January)
McDonald's on Monday reported better-than-expected growth abroad as sales in Europe and China helped overcome a marked decline in U.S. revenue. The company credited the domestic slowdown on frigid weather that kept consumers indoors. Cramer, however, linked the slowdown to a growing movement toward natural and organic foods.
Cramer said McDonald's has a "Buck Marshall" problem, referring to the antagonist from the coming original online series, "Farmed and Dangerous." The show pokes fun at industrial-scale farming and corporate influence over the food chain.
(Read more:Chipotle blurs lines with a satirical series about industrial farming)
Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) is producing the series and plans to release it through streaming-TV service Hulu on Feb. 17.
"This is unbranded," Cramer said. "This is a new kind of messaging, basically taking aim at the food chain. That is going to hurt McDonald's."
-By CNBC's Jeff Morganteen.Reuters contributed to this report.Follow him on Twitter at@jmorganteenand get the latest stories from "Squawk on the Street."
Disclaimer
More From CNBC
• Bitcoin drops another 20% as Mt Gox highlights bug
• World's most successful hedge fund manager is...
• Icahn: I won't squeeze Apple on buyback anymore
|
1,392,059,340 |
2014-02-10 19:09:00+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [298, 387, 856, 899]}
|
{}
|
Bill Gates Says Digital Currencies Could Be Huge
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/heres-bill-gates-thinks-bitcoin-190931890.html
|
Business Insider
|
http://www.businessinsider.com/
|
Twitter
Bill Gates ishosting an AMAon Reddit right now.
Redditors have asked questions about everything from his new role at Microsoft to what his most expensive guilty pleasure purchase was (for the record: his private plane). One user asked him what his thoughts were about cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. Here's howGates replied:
The foundation is involved in digital money but unlike Bitcoin it would not be anonymous digital money. In Kenya M-pesa is being used for almost half of all transactions. Digital money has low transaction costs which is great for the poor because they need to do financial transactions with small amounts of money. Over the next 5 years I think digital money will catch on in India and parts of Africa and help the poorest a lot.
More From Business Insider
• Reddit Users Are Going Nuts Because Apple Blocked Their Favorite Bitcoin App
• Apple Drops The Most-Popular Bitcoin Wallet From The App Store
• Here's Bill Gates' Vision For The Future Of Computing
|
1,392,065,760 |
2014-02-10 20:56:00+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [38, 201, 474]}
|
{"Bitcoin": [29]}
|
Bing now shows how much your Bitcoin is worth in other currencies
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/2014-02-10-bing-bitcoin-conversion-tool.html
|
Engadget
|
https://www.engadget.com/
|
Whilesome may be opposedto the idea ofBitcoin, others are doing all they can to adjust to the recent digital currency rush. Today, Bing, in partnership withCoinbase, announced it has added support for Bitcoin within its currency-conversion tools. Simply put, you can now use Microsoft's search engine to see what the value of yournew-age moneyis in, say, dollars, pesos, euros or any of the other 50-plus currencies Bing has indexed. And it's all done in real time, too. No Bitcoin? No problem -- there's nothing wrong with enteringsome random numbersfor fun's sake.
|
1,392,068,394 |
2014-02-10 21:39:54+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [20, 134, 191, 330, 419, 500, 525, 829, 1257, 1354, 1458, 1719], "BTC": [402, 1070]}
|
{"Bitcoin": [50]}
|
The Bing Search Engine Can Now Convert Dollars to Bitcoin
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/the-bing-search-engine-can-now-convert-dollars-to-76249725427.html
|
Yahoo Tech
|
https://www.yahoo.com/tech/
|
Microsoft has added Bitcoin conversion to Bings ever-growing arsenal of tricks, making Bing the first major search engine to support Bitcoin conversion and further solidifying the fledgling Bitcoin as a legitimate alternative currency. With Bings new trick, finding out how much, say, an off-contract iPhone 5s would run you in Bitcoin is as simple as heading over to Bing.com and typing in $649 to BTC. (Its 0.96 Bitcoin, by the way. Everything seems way more affordable when you convert it to Bitcoin.) Bing draws its Bitcoin valuations from Coinbase , a year-and-a-half-old startup based in San Francisco that converts the currency to dollars and offers an online wallet for storing the virtual money. In May of last year, the service noted that users were converting the equivalent of $15 million a month. ( For more on Bitcoin, read my colleague Rob Pegoraros beginners guide .) Microsofts move will likely be seen as adding yet more legitimacy to the virtual currency, which has suffered at the hands of some fairly wild fluctuations. At present, a single BTC unit is valued at around $677. Last month, the price of the currency fluctuated between $750 and $1,000, with prices ranging between $350 and $1,250 back in November. The reasons for Bitcoins wild pricing ride are just as wide ranging, from investor concern to hacker attacks on Bitcoin servers. For its part, Google has yet to throw any of its own currency conversion weight behind Bitcoin. Still, a number of mainstream outlets including Overstock.com, WordPress and the Sacramento Kings basketball team have begun to accept the currency as payment. Absent from that list? Microsoft. So if youre looking to buy an Xbox One with it (0.74 Bitcoin), youll have to find another method. (Disclosure: Bing provides search results for Yahoo. You can read more about the partnership here .) Yahoo Tech is a brand new tech site from David Pogue and an all-star team of writers. Follow us on Facebook for all the latest.
|
1,422,285,120 |
2015-01-26 15:12:00+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [682, 749, 1752, 2459, 2632, 2694]}
|
{"Bitcoin": [49]}
|
Coinbase Just Launched America's First Regulated Bitcoin Exchange
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/coinbase-just-launched-americas-first-151208109.html
|
Entrepreneur
|
http://www.entrepreneur.com/
|
In a massive mainstream stride for bitcoin, Coinbase, a thriving San Francisco-based bitcoin services startup, today launched the first-ever regulatedbitcoin exchangein the U.S.
The popular bitcoin wallet provider and payments processor -- fresh off arecord-breaking Series C roundwith investments from the New York Stock Exchange, VC firms and large banks -- broke the historic news in theTheWall Street Journallate yesterday. The firm then formally announced its eponymous exchange, simply called Coinbase Exchange, this morning ina blog post.
The price of bitcoin neared $300 on the news overnight. It has since mellowed and is now trading around $279, according to the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index.
Related:New York Regulators Lay Out Tweaks to Bitcoin Rules
Following an aggressive five-month campaign, Coinbase’s founders said that they successfully acquired “regulatory approval” from financial regulators in 24 U.S. states, including New York and California. Coinbase is working on winning approval in additional states as well.
“Our goal is to become the world’s largest exchange,” Coinbase co-founder and CEO Brian Armstrong told theJournal. In its blog post announcement, the company said it also aims to “bring stability and trust to the exchange space,” both of which aren’t in ample supply in the public following the fall of Mt. Gox and a rash of recent hacking incidents at several exchanges.
Coinbase’s global reach is already considerably expansive, having recently extending its bitcoin exchange services throughout 19 European countries. On the heels of its massive global expansion, the nearly three-year-old company hired former Senate adviser John G. Collins todrive public policyaround the controversial cryptocurrency.
Related:Bitcoin Named Worst-Performing Currency of 2014
“Coinbase will bring more stability to the bitcoin ecosystem and secure bitcoin trading for U.S.-based customers,” a Coinbase representative toldEntrepreneur. She also said SecondMarket, an online platform where private company stock can be traded, is already trading on the exchange and that Coinbase users in the 24 states that supportUSD walletscan begin trading immediately.
To stoke early adoption, Coinbase is offering customers two months of free trades. After March 30, exchanges will include a 0.25 percent commission fee.
Armstrong and Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam beat Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss in the race to create the first-ever regulated Bitcoin exchange for American customers. The twin brothers, famous for their falling out with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, only last weekrevealed their plansto build a Bitcoin exchange fittingly called Gemini.
Related:Operator of Bitcoin Stock Exchange Penalized By the SEC
|
1,471,281,470 |
2016-08-15 17:17:50+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [282, 1196]}
|
{}
|
Group claims to have hacked the NSA, wants $500 million to release files
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/group-claims-hacked-nsa-wants-500-million-release-171750063.html
|
BGR News
|
http://www.bgr.com/
|
A group of hackers going by the name "The Shadow Brokers" claims to have penetrated an NSA-backed hacking operation , and has leaked a bunch of hacking tools it claims is from the NSA. But that's not all: the Shadow Brokers claim to have much more data, and are currently hosting a Bitcoin auction to sell it off to the highest bidder. The hackers claim to have penetrated something called the "Equation Group," a hacking organization widely believe to be the NSA. A sampling of the stolen files already posted shows similarity between the files and information revealed about the NSA's hacking operations in the Snowden leaks. DON'T MISS: Apple just released iOS 10 beta 6 for the iPhone and iPad The files mostly appear to be hacking tools and scripts, although it's unclear how much the hackers made off with. Their announcement on Pastebin specifically keeps the details of the stolen files a secret, since "Equation Group not know what lost. We want Equation Group to bid so we keep secret." The big question is obviously whether the data is legit. The overt grab for money means this could just be a fake; post a bunch of promising-looking files and screenshots, and then hold an anonymous Bitcoin auction for the rest. The NSA makes sense as a target here, as there's minimal information known about the Equation Group already, and the NSA is unlikely to comment too publicly on the hack. If it proves to be true, this would be one of the highest-profile and most serious hacks in years. Otherwise, it's just a neat fake, and a very bold plan to make quick cash. Trending right now: iPhone 8 concept shows the major design overhaul everyone wanted on the iPhone 7 New photos and video show iPhone 7 Plus in the color weve all been waiting for: Space Black The ultimate Pokemon Go hack that lets you walk anywhere just got even better See the original version of this article on BGR.com
|
1,422,286,883 |
2015-01-26 15:41:23+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [0]}
|
{"Bitcoin": [19]}
|
It's A Big Day For Bitcoin
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/big-day-bitcoin-154123015.html
|
Benzinga
|
http://www.benzinga.com/
|
Bitcoin history was made on Monday after the digital currency opened for trading on the first licensed U.S. exchange.
The bitcoin service provider Coinbase previously acted as a brokerage service for bitcoin users. On Monday, it began providing an exchange where individuals and institutions can trade bitcoin in real-time in a more secure environment.
Coinbase is backed by a $106 million investment from the New York Stock Exchange and various other financial service institutions – creating a more trustworthy exchange environment. This contrasts Mt. Gox, a popular bitcoin exchange in which many individuals saw their money disappear.
The exchange has already gained approval in 24 jurisdictions, including California and New York but plans to expand across the U.S. and internationally.
The price of one bitcoin was seen trading higher by nearly 10 percent at $278.69 Monday morning.
Image credit:Public Domain
See more from Benzinga
• Pacific Crest Doesn't Expect EMC's Profit Recovery To Materialize Until 2016
• Why Shares Of Rockwell Medical Are Up Huge
• Wedbush Sees Amazon Reporting Share Gains In Q4 That Were Likely Offset By Record Spending
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
|
1,392,072,477 |
2014-02-10 22:47:57+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [2482, 3853]}
|
{"Bitcoin": [0]}
|
Bitcoin plunges after marketplace indefinitely halts withdrawals
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bitcoin-plunges-major-platform-indefinitely-halts-withdrawals-212503433--sector.html
|
Reuters
|
https://www.reuters.com/
|
By Sam Forgione NEW YORK (Reuters) - The price of the digital currency bitcoin slid to its lowest level in nearly two months on Monday after bitcoin digital marketplace Mt. Gox said a halt on withdrawals it announced on Friday would continue indefinitely after it detected "unusual activity." The bitcoin price varied dramatically from one exchange to another, with Tokyo-based Mt. Gox, the best known operator of a bitcoin digital marketplace, recording one of the biggest drops for the day. On the Mt. Gox platform the currency plunged to as low as $500 early on Monday, down more than 27 percent from Friday's final price of $692, according to the Mt. Gox website. It last traded at $595.74, off nearly 14 percent from Friday. "This technical issue is of a much larger intensity than we've seen in the past," said Sebastien Galy, currency strategist at Societe Generale in New York. "The market may be realizing that there are issues which are specific to these forms of currencies." The bitcoin in recent months started to gain wider acceptance, with Overstock.com and the Sacramento Kings basketball team both saying they would begin to accept the currency. More recently, the digital currency has drawn increased scrutiny. New York state's top bank regulator in late January revealed plans to regulate businesses handling transactions in bitcoin this year. TRANSACTIONS COULD BE ALTERED The bitcoin price started falling fast on Friday when Mt. Gox said it was temporarily halting withdrawals due to unexplained technical issues. In an updated statement on Monday, Mt. Gox said withdrawals were on hold indefinitely after it "has detected unusual activity on its bitcoin wallets and performed investigations during the past weeks. This confirmed the presence of transactions which need to be examined more closely." Mt. Gox said a "bug in the bitcoin software" could allow transaction details to be altered. In effect, someone on the network could alter transaction details to make it appear a transfer of bitcoins from one digital wallet to another had not occurred when in fact it had. This might cause the transfer to be repeated. A bitcoin wallet is an application that stores bitcoins for the currency's users. Mt. Gox said the issue was not limited to the exchange and "affects all transactions where bitcoins are being sent to a third party." It said the withdrawal suspension would be in effect until the issue has been resolved. CoinDesk, which launched the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index in September, removed Mt. Gox from its index Monday, citing its "persistent failure to meet the index's standards for inclusion." "These recent withdrawal restrictions are just the latest in a series of issues which have made Mt. Gox's inclusion in the BPI problematic," CoinDesk said. On CoinDesk's bitcoin index, the bitcoin price was lower but not by nearly as much as on the Mt. Gox platform. The CoinDesk index showed bitcoin at $667.79 on late Monday afternoon, down about 5 percent from Friday's close of $703.57. Its low for the day was around $540 versus $500 on Mt. Gox. On both platforms, the price was still around the lowest since late December. The price had topped $1,000 as recently as late January. "With the volatility in the currency being as much as it is, it's going to take some time before we get enough of a comfort level from investors and merchants to enable it to be used ubiquitously," said Darrin Peller, managing director at Barclays in New York. The arrest of a prominent bitcoin advocate just over two weeks ago threw a spotlight on the currency. Charlie Shrem, 24, operator of the Bitinstant bitcoin exchange company, was charged by U.S. prosecutors with conspiring to commit money laundering by helping to funnel cash to illicit online drugs bazaar Silk Road. The following day Shrem resigned as vice chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation, an advocacy group. (Reporting by Sam Forgione; Editing by Dan Burns and Leslie Adler)
|
1,392,072,477 |
2014-02-10 22:47:57+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [2482, 3853]}
|
{"Bitcoin": [0]}
|
Bitcoin plunges after marketplace indefinitely halts withdrawals
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/finance.yahoo.com/news/bitcoin-plunges-major-platform-indefinitely-halts-withdrawals-212503433--sector.html
|
Reuters
|
https://www.reuters.com/
|
By Sam Forgione NEW YORK (Reuters) - The price of the digital currency bitcoin slid to its lowest level in nearly two months on Monday after bitcoin digital marketplace Mt. Gox said a halt on withdrawals it announced on Friday would continue indefinitely after it detected "unusual activity." The bitcoin price varied dramatically from one exchange to another, with Tokyo-based Mt. Gox, the best known operator of a bitcoin digital marketplace, recording one of the biggest drops for the day. On the Mt. Gox platform the currency plunged to as low as $500 early on Monday, down more than 27 percent from Friday's final price of $692, according to the Mt. Gox website. It last traded at $595.74, off nearly 14 percent from Friday. "This technical issue is of a much larger intensity than we've seen in the past," said Sebastien Galy, currency strategist at Societe Generale in New York. "The market may be realizing that there are issues which are specific to these forms of currencies." The bitcoin in recent months started to gain wider acceptance, with Overstock.com and the Sacramento Kings basketball team both saying they would begin to accept the currency. More recently, the digital currency has drawn increased scrutiny. New York state's top bank regulator in late January revealed plans to regulate businesses handling transactions in bitcoin this year. TRANSACTIONS COULD BE ALTERED The bitcoin price started falling fast on Friday when Mt. Gox said it was temporarily halting withdrawals due to unexplained technical issues. In an updated statement on Monday, Mt. Gox said withdrawals were on hold indefinitely after it "has detected unusual activity on its bitcoin wallets and performed investigations during the past weeks. This confirmed the presence of transactions which need to be examined more closely." Mt. Gox said a "bug in the bitcoin software" could allow transaction details to be altered. In effect, someone on the network could alter transaction details to make it appear a transfer of bitcoins from one digital wallet to another had not occurred when in fact it had. This might cause the transfer to be repeated. A bitcoin wallet is an application that stores bitcoins for the currency's users. Mt. Gox said the issue was not limited to the exchange and "affects all transactions where bitcoins are being sent to a third party." It said the withdrawal suspension would be in effect until the issue has been resolved. CoinDesk, which launched the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index in September, removed Mt. Gox from its index Monday, citing its "persistent failure to meet the index's standards for inclusion." "These recent withdrawal restrictions are just the latest in a series of issues which have made Mt. Gox's inclusion in the BPI problematic," CoinDesk said. On CoinDesk's bitcoin index, the bitcoin price was lower but not by nearly as much as on the Mt. Gox platform. The CoinDesk index showed bitcoin at $667.79 on late Monday afternoon, down about 5 percent from Friday's close of $703.57. Its low for the day was around $540 versus $500 on Mt. Gox. On both platforms, the price was still around the lowest since late December. The price had topped $1,000 as recently as late January. "With the volatility in the currency being as much as it is, it's going to take some time before we get enough of a comfort level from investors and merchants to enable it to be used ubiquitously," said Darrin Peller, managing director at Barclays in New York. The arrest of a prominent bitcoin advocate just over two weeks ago threw a spotlight on the currency. Charlie Shrem, 24, operator of the Bitinstant bitcoin exchange company, was charged by U.S. prosecutors with conspiring to commit money laundering by helping to funnel cash to illicit online drugs bazaar Silk Road. The following day Shrem resigned as vice chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation, an advocacy group. (Reporting by Sam Forgione; Editing by Dan Burns and Leslie Adler)
|
1,392,072,477 |
2014-02-10 22:47:57+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [2482, 3853]}
|
{"Bitcoin": [0]}
|
Bitcoin plunges after marketplace indefinitely halts withdrawals
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bitcoin-plunges-major-platform-indefinitely-212503850.html
|
Reuters
|
http://www.reuters.com/
|
By Sam Forgione
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The price of the digital currency bitcoin slid to its lowest level in nearly two months on Monday after bitcoin digital marketplace Mt. Gox said a halt on withdrawals it announced on Friday would continue indefinitely after it detected "unusual activity."
The bitcoin price varied dramatically from one exchange to another, with Tokyo-based Mt. Gox, the best known operator of a bitcoin digital marketplace, recording one of the biggest drops for the day.
On the Mt. Gox platform the currency plunged to as low as $500 early on Monday, down more than 27 percent from Friday's final price of $692, according to the Mt. Gox website. It last traded at $595.74, off nearly 14 percent from Friday.
"This technical issue is of a much larger intensity than we've seen in the past," said Sebastien Galy, currency strategist at Societe Generale in New York. "The market may be realizing that there are issues which are specific to these forms of currencies."
The bitcoin in recent months started to gain wider acceptance, with Overstock.com and the Sacramento Kings basketball team both saying they would begin to accept the currency.
More recently, the digital currency has drawn increased scrutiny. New York state's top bank regulator in late January revealed plans to regulate businesses handling transactions in bitcoin this year.
TRANSACTIONS COULD BE ALTERED
The bitcoin price started falling fast on Friday when Mt. Gox said it was temporarily halting withdrawals due to unexplained technical issues.
In an updated statement on Monday, Mt. Gox said withdrawals were on hold indefinitely after it "has detected unusual activity on its bitcoin wallets and performed investigations during the past weeks. This confirmed the presence of transactions which need to be examined more closely."
Mt. Gox said a "bug in the bitcoin software" could allow transaction details to be altered.
In effect, someone on the network could alter transaction details to make it appear a transfer of bitcoins from one digital wallet to another had not occurred when in fact it had. This might cause the transfer to be repeated.
A bitcoin wallet is an application that stores bitcoins for the currency's users.
Mt. Gox said the issue was not limited to the exchange and "affects all transactions where bitcoins are being sent to a third party." It said the withdrawal suspension would be in effect until the issue has been resolved.
CoinDesk, which launched the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index in September, removed Mt. Gox from its index Monday, citing its "persistent failure to meet the index's standards for inclusion."
"These recent withdrawal restrictions are just the latest in a series of issues which have made Mt. Gox's inclusion in the BPI problematic," CoinDesk said.
On CoinDesk's bitcoin index, the bitcoin price was lower but not by nearly as much as on the Mt. Gox platform. The CoinDesk index showed bitcoin at $667.79 on late Monday afternoon, down about 5 percent from Friday's close of $703.57. Its low for the day was around $540 versus $500 on Mt. Gox.
On both platforms, the price was still around the lowest since late December. The price had topped $1,000 as recently as late January.
"With the volatility in the currency being as much as it is, it's going to take some time before we get enough of a comfort level from investors and merchants to enable it to be used ubiquitously," said Darrin Peller, managing director at Barclays in New York.
The arrest of a prominent bitcoin advocate just over two weeks ago threw a spotlight on the currency. Charlie Shrem, 24, operator of the Bitinstant bitcoin exchange company, was charged by U.S. prosecutors with conspiring to commit money laundering by helping to funnel cash to illicit online drugs bazaar Silk Road. The following day Shrem resigned as vice chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation, an advocacy group.
(Reporting by Sam Forgione; Editing by Dan Burns and Leslie Adler)
|
1,422,290,244 |
2015-01-26 16:37:24+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [1706]}
|
{}
|
Citigroup Downgrades Trinseo On Stronger Dollar, Chain Destocking
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/citigroup-downgrades-trinseo-stronger-dollar-163724739.html
|
Benzinga
|
http://www.benzinga.com/
|
P.J. Juvekar of Citigroup on Monday downgraded shares ofTrinseo S.A.(NYSE:TSE) to Neutral from Buy with a price target lowered to $17 from a previous $19 following commentary fromCelanese Corporation(NYSE:CE) that it expects lower earnings due to a strong dollar and destocking in the chain.
“While Celanese doesn't compete with Trinseo, Celanese's comments are intrusive in our view,” Juvekar wrote. “Trinseo may benefit from lower raw materials in the near-term, but its product pricing is likely to follow with a one to two quarter lag as customers reduce inventory levels.”
According to Juvekar, Trinseo derives 60 percent of its sales from Europe, which is the highest exposure to the continent within the analyst's universe, followed byAxalta Coating Systems(NYSE:AXTA) and Celanese.
Juvekar also notes that Celanese's management noted destocking activity was prevalent in Europe and Asia. The analyst sees Trinseo's pricing activity will likely be pressured due to the pass-through of lower raw material costs.
Juvekar notes that management provided guidance that its EBITDA is impacted by $1 million per year for every 1c change in the year. As such, the analyst is lowering his 2015 earnings per share estimate by 14 percent to $0.22 and EBITDA estimate by four percent to $13 million.
Latest Ratings for TSE
[{"Jan 2015": "Jan 2015", "Citigroup": "Citigroup", "Maintains": "Downgrades", "": "Buy", "Neutral": "Neutral"}, {"Jan 2015": "Jan 2015", "Citigroup": "Jefferies", "Maintains": "Maintains", "": "", "Neutral": "Buy"}]
View More Analyst Ratings for TSEView the Latest Analyst Ratings
See more from Benzinga
• CNBC's Jon Fortt Doubts IBM Is Laying Off 100,000 Employees
• It's A Big Day For Bitcoin
• Pacific Crest Doesn't Expect EMC's Profit Recovery To Materialize Until 2016
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
|
1,392,082,783 |
2014-02-11 01:39:43+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [2498, 3869]}
|
{"Bitcoin": [0]}
|
Bitcoin plunges after marketplace indefinitely halts withdrawals
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bitcoin-plunges-marketplace-indefinitely-halts-013943617.html
|
Reuters
|
https://www.reuters.com/
|
By Sam Forgione NEW YORK (Reuters) - The price of the digital currency bitcoin slid to its lowest level in nearly two months on Monday after bitcoin digital marketplace Mt. Gox said a halt on withdrawals it announced on Friday would continue indefinitely after it detected "unusual activity." The bitcoin price varied dramatically from one exchange to another, with Tokyo-based Mt. Gox, the best known operator of a bitcoin digital marketplace, recording one of the biggest drops for the day. On the Mt. Gox platform the currency plunged to as low as $500 early on Monday, down more than 27 percent from Friday's final price of $692, according to the Mt. Gox website. It last traded at $595.74, off nearly 14 percent from Friday. "This technical issue is of a much larger intensity than we've seen in the past," said Sebastien Galy, currency strategist at Societe Generale in New York. "The market may be realizing that there are issues which are specific to these forms of currencies." The bitcoin in recent months started to gain wider acceptance, with Overstock.com and the Sacramento Kings basketball team both saying they would begin to accept the currency. More recently, the digital currency has drawn increased scrutiny. New York state's top bank regulator in late January revealed plans to regulate businesses handling transactions in bitcoin this year. TRANSACTIONS COULD BE ALTERED The bitcoin price started falling fast on Friday when Mt. Gox said it was temporarily halting withdrawals due to unexplained technical issues. In an updated statement on Monday, Mt. Gox said withdrawals were on hold indefinitely after it "has detected unusual activity on its bitcoin wallets and performed investigations during the past weeks. This confirmed the presence of transactions which need to be examined more closely." Mt. Gox said a "bug in the bitcoin software" could allow transaction details to be altered. In effect, someone on the network could alter transaction details to make it appear a transfer of bitcoins from one digital wallet to another had not occurred when in fact it had. This might cause the transfer to be repeated. Story continues A bitcoin wallet is an application that stores bitcoins for the currency's users. Mt. Gox said the issue was not limited to the exchange and "affects all transactions where bitcoins are being sent to a third party." It said the withdrawal suspension would be in effect until the issue has been resolved. CoinDesk, which launched the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index in September, removed Mt. Gox from its index Monday, citing its "persistent failure to meet the index's standards for inclusion." "These recent withdrawal restrictions are just the latest in a series of issues which have made Mt. Gox's inclusion in the BPI problematic," CoinDesk said. On CoinDesk's bitcoin index, the bitcoin price was lower but not by nearly as much as on the Mt. Gox platform. The CoinDesk index showed bitcoin at $667.79 on late Monday afternoon, down about 5 percent from Friday's close of $703.57. Its low for the day was around $540 versus $500 on Mt. Gox. On both platforms, the price was still around the lowest since late December. The price had topped $1,000 as recently as late January. "With the volatility in the currency being as much as it is, it's going to take some time before we get enough of a comfort level from investors and merchants to enable it to be used ubiquitously," said Darrin Peller, managing director at Barclays in New York. The arrest of a prominent bitcoin advocate just over two weeks ago threw a spotlight on the currency. Charlie Shrem, 24, operator of the Bitinstant bitcoin exchange company, was charged by U.S. prosecutors with conspiring to commit money laundering by helping to funnel cash to illicit online drugs bazaar Silk Road. The following day Shrem resigned as vice chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation, an advocacy group. (Reporting by Sam Forgione; Editing by Dan Burns and Leslie Adler)
|
1,392,084,360 |
2014-02-11 02:06:00+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [5352]}
|
{}
|
Here's Why Tim Armstrong Knew About His Employees' 'Distressed Babies'
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/heres-why-tim-armstrong-knew-020600597.html
|
Business Insider
|
http://www.businessinsider.com/
|
REUTERS/Jim Urquhart
AOL CEO Tim Armstrong
Last week, AOL CEO Tim Armstrongchose to tell a company-wide conference callthat two AOL employees had "distressed babies" requiring health care expenditures of around $1 million each — which was one of the reasons he had to make 401(k) benefits less generous.
Here's one aspect of the AOL story we thought people might want a clearer explanation of: Why did Armstrong know so much about his employees' health care usage in the first place? Weren't those high costs a matter between AOL's employees and AOL's health insurer?
In fact, like most large companies, AOL is its own health insurer .
A source close to AOL senior management confirmed to Business Insider that the company self-insures for health coverage. Employees carry cards with the name of an outside insurer on them (Cigna, in AOL's case) but that company is just acting as an administrator; it sends a bill to AOL for whatever claims get paid out.
Since AOL is paying the bills, it needs to know something about what kind of medical care its employees are getting. This information informs the company's decisions about changes to the health plan in future years; depending on what functions it's contracting out, it may also need to make decisions about what claims to pay and appeal.
In general, reports about high-cost claimants that get up to the CEO level should have identifying employee information stripped out. " You're not going to know who the employees are," said Paul Fronstin of the Employee Benefits Research Institute.
That is, whatever report Armstrong saw that described the medical costs related to these two births, it likely wouldn't have named Huffington Post editor Peter Goodman as the employee making the claims. (Goodman's wife, Deanna Fei, wrotea piece for Slateover the weekend responding to Armstrong's singling out of her baby, who was born four months premature but has since recovered well.)
Except, in some cases, a high-cost employee's identity might be pretty easy to figure out. M anagers could deduce the employee's identity through workplace gossip or claims for related benefits, like short-term disability and family leave.
"E ven at large companies this kind of anecdotal evidence can get connected to claims reports – gossip travels fast," Kyle Healy, Vice President at benefits consulting firm Lenox Advisers, told Business Insider in an email. But, Healy added, legal protections exist to protect employees from being punished for incurring high costs.
While it may be uncomfortable to think about your employer knowing about the details of your medical needs, it's important to note AOL and other firms can't just react to an employee's high costs by cutting off payment. Benefits consultants contacted by Business Insider were consistent in saying that health benefits are contractual — each year, the company agrees to a set of health plan terms, and if claims meet plan criteria, the company has to pay them.
"There is really no wiggle room here at all," said Cheryl Swirnow, co-founder of Sherpaa, which advises firms on health benefits.
" They would not have discretion over claims as they are occurring or have the power to reach out to an administrator and have that administrator stop benefits or limit benefits on an individual basis with no medical justification," said Healy.
Firms like AOLcanuse these cost reports to inform changes to future years' health benefits, in an effort to prevent similarly high costs from arising again. But because the Affordable Care Act prohibits annual or lifetime benefit limits, employers are limited in their ability to cut off claimants for simply being too expensive. (And even before the ACA, it was "highly unusual" for large employers like AOL to impose such limits, said Fronstin.)
Firms might react by imposing other cost-control measures, such as excluding high-cost medical providers from their networks or raising out-of-pocket cost sharing, but the savings from such measures would come from reduced costs for claimants broadly, not just from those with extraordinarily high costs.
The necessity of continuing to pay for high-cost health events — as Fei pointed out in Slate, a key purpose of health insurance is to cover unpredictably high medical expenses like hers and her child's — may be why Armstrong thought it made sense to say AOL was cutting its 401(k) benefit because of the need to care for premature babies.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 prohibits employers from disclosing certain personally-identifying health information about their employees. " Since he didn't use the women's names, and presumably there were many pregnancies at AOL last year, it would be tough to say he violated HIPAA," said Swirnow.
Still, Swirnow adds that it was an ethical violation, even if it wasn't a legal one. Hopefully, the negative press Armstrong has drawn to AOL will remind self-insuring employers about the importance of safeguarding employees' private health information, given that they have it.
More From Business Insider
• The Life And Sudden Death Of 'Flappy Bird': How A Guy Making $50,000 Per Day Grew To 'Hate' His Own Game
• An Austrian Artist Has Completely Reinvented The Door
• Starbucks Hits Back At 'Dumb Starbucks'
• Ridiculously Photogenic Gold Medalist Cries During Her National Anthem
• Bitcoin Just Completely Crashed As Major Exchange Says Withdrawals Remain Halted
|
1,447,447,710 |
2015-11-13 20:48:30+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [831]}
|
{}
|
Hired-gun hacking played key role in JPMorgan, Fidelity breaches
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/hired-gun-hacking-played-key-role-jpmorgan-fidelity-204830090--sector.html
|
Reuters
|
https://www.reuters.com/
|
By Jim Finkle and Joseph Menn
NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - When U.S. prosecutors this week charged two Israelis and an American fugitive with raking in hundreds of millions of dollars in one of the largest and most complex cases of cyber fraud ever exposed, they also provided an unusual look into the burgeoning industry of criminal hackers for hire.
The trio, who are accused of orchestrating massive computer breaches at JPMorgan Chase & Co <JPM.N> and other financial firms, as well as a series of other major offences, did little if any hacking themselves, the federal indictments and a previous civil case brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission indicate.
Rather, they constructed a criminal conglomerate with activities ranging from pump-and-dump stock fraud to Internet casino break-ins and unlicensed Bitcoin trading. And just like many legitimate corporations, they outsourced much of their technology needs.
"They clearly had to recruit co-conspirators and have that type of hacker-for-hire," said Austin Berglas, former assistant special agent in charge of the FBI's New York cyber division, who worked the JPMorgan case before he left the agency in May. "This is the first case where it's that clear of a connection." Berglas, who now heads cyber investigations for private firm K2 Intelligence, said additional major cases of freelance hacking will come to light, especially as more people become familiar with online tools such as Tor that seek to conceal a user’s identity and location.
RENTED TIME
This week's indictments accused a hacker referred to as "co-conspirator 1" of installing malicious software on the servers of multiple victims at the direction of Gery Shalon, the alleged mastermind of the scheme now under arrest in Israel. A second indictment charges a man referred to as John Doe, believed to be in Russia, for an attack on online trading firm E*Trade <ETFC.O>.
Officials have not said if the co-conspirator and John Doe were the same person, or even if the FBI knows their true identities.
Law enforcement and computer security officials say that outsourced cyber-crime services - including rented time on networks of previously compromised personal computers and custom break-ins - are most readily found on underground Russian-language computer forums, where skilled attackers advertise their services.
The forums are tight-knit communities where newbies must be vouched for by multiple known members and pay membership fees that cost thousands of dollars, said Daniel Cohen, who oversees an undercover team at EMC Corp's <EMC.N> RSA Security that monitors the forums.
“You can find anything you want for an operation. Hackers, servers, software, code writing. They are all available," said Cohen. Individuals hide their identities even from each other, making infiltration and arrests rare.
In this case, the ringleaders are accused of hiring hackers to steal contact information and other data that they then used to help convince ordinary investors to buy little-regulated stocks. Prosecutors have not disclosed how the hackers were compensated.
Fees vary greatly in the cyber underground, depending on the complexity of the assignment and supply of talent available to do a particular job. Elite hackers who pull off the most technically challenging attacks might get a percentage of profits, while others might earn an hourly rate or get paid a few thousand dollars for winning access to a target’s network, researchers said.PUMP-AND-DUMP
All three of those accused this week - Shalon, Joshua Samuel Aaron, who is at large, and Ziv Orenstein, who is also in jail in Israel – began promoting penny stocks before the hacks took place, according to U.S. government claims.
They used websites including Pennystockdiscoveries.com and Stockcastle.com to send emails as part of a scheme in which they invested in penny stocks, spread false information to boost their prices, and then sold them to make windfall profits, according to an SEC suit filed in July.
Orenstein’s lawyer declined to comment, and Shalon’s lawyer did not return messages seeking comment.
In one case in early 2012, the SEC claims that they used the website Stockcastle.com to promote shares in Mustang Alliances Inc, reaping $2.2 million, the largest pump-and-dump cited in the regulator's lawsuit. In March of that year, the British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission issued an alert warning that two entities tied to Stockcastle were falsely claiming to be registered in the territory. That same year, the enterprise began a massive hacking spree to get contact information for investors who might be good targets, according to prosecutors. By the end of 2013 they had ordered up six hacks that provided data on tens of millions of customers, prosecutors said.
They hit the mother lode in 2014 when they attacked three other firms, and stole data on 83 million customers from JP Morgan alone, prosecutors said.
In addition to JP Morgan and E*Trade, the firms attacked included the mutual fund giant Fidelity Investments, Scottrade, TD Ameritrade Holding Corp <AMTD.N> and News Corp's <NWSA.O> Dow Jones unit, the publisher of the Wall Street Journal, according to court documents and people familiar with the cases.
"To do a 'pump-and-dump' operation, you no longer need 30 people behind phones in a strip mall," said Shane Shook, a security consultant specializing in investigating financial breaches. All you need is to find a hacker on a “Dark Web” forum to provide addresses from customers of financial services firms like Fidelity or JPMorgan, then hire a spam service to push out promotional emails, he said.
Shalon bragged about the stock manipulation scheme, telling the hacker known as co-conspirator 1 in a web chat message that it was "a small step towards a large empire," according to the indictment.
His plan, Shalon told the hacker, was to distribute "mailers" on stocks to those customers. The hacker asked if buying stocks was popular in America, the indictment said, prompting Shalon to reply: "It's like drinking freaking vodka in Russia."
Shalon ultimately made good on his promise to build an empire, according to the indictments. Profits from the pump-and-dump fed into a sprawling conglomerate including offshore Internet casinos and payment-processing services for other criminal operators, such as counterfeit pharmaceutical makers. Shalon also allegedly directed hackers to attack rival casinos, stealing customer data and temporarily bringing down their websites with denial-of-service attacks, which are easily commissioned online.BUTTERFLY AND HIDDEN LYNX
While this week's indictments opened the first major criminal case involving outsourced hacking, there have been other substantial break-ins that researchers believe were contract jobs.
Researchers at Symantec in July attributed a series of precision breaches at Apple, Facebook, Microsoft and Twitter in 2012 and 2013 to a sophisticated gang called Butterfly, which also attacked law firms and pharmaceutical companies.
Computer security firm Symantec concluded that the group likely works for hire, either for a client looking for financial gain in the stock market or for competitors. How Butterfly gets hired remains unclear. Tech criminologist Marc Goodman, author of the book “Future Crimes”, says another group, dubbed Hidden Lynx by Symantec, may consist of contractors moonlighting from jobs with the Chinese military. http://www.symantec.com/content/en/us/enterprise/media/security_response/whitepapers/hidden_lynx.pdf "It's crime as a service," "Goodman said. "They take all the pain out of it."
(Reporting by Joseph Menn in San Francisco and Jim Finkle and Nate Raymond in New York; Additional reporting from Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem; Editing by Jonathan Weber and Martin Howell.)
|
1,447,447,710 |
2015-11-13 20:48:30+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [831]}
|
{}
|
Hired-gun hacking played key role in JPMorgan, Fidelity breaches
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/hired-gun-hacking-played-key-204830968.html
|
Reuters
|
http://www.reuters.com/
|
By Jim Finkle and Joseph Menn
NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - When U.S. prosecutors this week charged two Israelis and an American fugitive with raking in hundreds of millions of dollars in one of the largest and most complex cases of cyber fraud ever exposed, they also provided an unusual look into the burgeoning industry of criminal hackers for hire.
The trio, who are accused of orchestrating massive computer breaches at JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) and other financial firms, as well as a series of other major offences, did little if any hacking themselves, the federal indictments and a previous civil case brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission indicate.
Rather, they constructed a criminal conglomerate with activities ranging from pump-and-dump stock fraud to Internet casino break-ins and unlicensed Bitcoin trading. And just like many legitimate corporations, they outsourced much of their technology needs.
"They clearly had to recruit co-conspirators and have that type of hacker-for-hire," said Austin Berglas, former assistant special agent in charge of the FBI's New York cyber division, who worked the JPMorgan case before he left the agency in May. "This is the first case where it's that clear of a connection." Berglas, who now heads cyber investigations for private firm K2 Intelligence, said additional major cases of freelance hacking will come to light, especially as more people become familiar with online tools such as Tor that seek to conceal a user’s identity and location.
RENTED TIME
This week's indictments accused a hacker referred to as "co-conspirator 1" of installing malicious software on the servers of multiple victims at the direction of Gery Shalon, the alleged mastermind of the scheme now under arrest in Israel. A second indictment charges a man referred to as John Doe, believed to be in Russia, for an attack on online trading firm E*Trade (ETFC.O).
Officials have not said if the co-conspirator and John Doe were the same person, or even if the FBI knows their true identities.
Law enforcement and computer security officials say that outsourced cyber-crime services - including rented time on networks of previously compromised personal computers and custom break-ins - are most readily found on underground Russian-language computer forums, where skilled attackers advertise their services.
The forums are tight-knit communities where newbies must be vouched for by multiple known members and pay membership fees that cost thousands of dollars, said Daniel Cohen, who oversees an undercover team at EMC Corp's (EMC.N) RSA Security that monitors the forums.
“You can find anything you want for an operation. Hackers, servers, software, code writing. They are all available," said Cohen. Individuals hide their identities even from each other, making infiltration and arrests rare.
In this case, the ringleaders are accused of hiring hackers to steal contact information and other data that they then used to help convince ordinary investors to buy little-regulated stocks. Prosecutors have not disclosed how the hackers were compensated.
Fees vary greatly in the cyber underground, depending on the complexity of the assignment and supply of talent available to do a particular job. Elite hackers who pull off the most technically challenging attacks might get a percentage of profits, while others might earn an hourly rate or get paid a few thousand dollars for winning access to a target’s network, researchers said.PUMP-AND-DUMP
All three of those accused this week - Shalon, Joshua Samuel Aaron, who is at large, and Ziv Orenstein, who is also in jail in Israel – began promoting penny stocks before the hacks took place, according to U.S. government claims.
They used websites including Pennystockdiscoveries.com and Stockcastle.com to send emails as part of a scheme in which they invested in penny stocks, spread false information to boost their prices, and then sold them to make windfall profits, according to an SEC suit filed in July.
Orenstein’s lawyer declined to comment, and Shalon’s lawyer did not return messages seeking comment.
In one case in early 2012, the SEC claims that they used the website Stockcastle.com to promote shares in Mustang Alliances Inc, reaping $2.2 million, the largest pump-and-dump cited in the regulator's lawsuit. In March of that year, the British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission issued an alert warning that two entities tied to Stockcastle were falsely claiming to be registered in the territory. That same year, the enterprise began a massive hacking spree to get contact information for investors who might be good targets, according to prosecutors. By the end of 2013 they had ordered up six hacks that provided data on tens of millions of customers, prosecutors said.
They hit the mother lode in 2014 when they attacked three other firms, and stole data on 83 million customers from JP Morgan alone, prosecutors said.
In addition to JP Morgan and E*Trade, the firms attacked included the mutual fund giant Fidelity Investments, Scottrade, TD Ameritrade Holding Corp (AMTD.N) and News Corp's (NWSA.O) Dow Jones unit, the publisher of the Wall Street Journal, according to court documents and people familiar with the cases.
"To do a 'pump-and-dump' operation, you no longer need 30 people behind phones in a strip mall," said Shane Shook, a security consultant specializing in investigating financial breaches. All you need is to find a hacker on a “Dark Web” forum to provide addresses from customers of financial services firms like Fidelity or JPMorgan, then hire a spam service to push out promotional emails, he said.
Shalon bragged about the stock manipulation scheme, telling the hacker known as co-conspirator 1 in a web chat message that it was "a small step towards a large empire," according to the indictment.
His plan, Shalon told the hacker, was to distribute "mailers" on stocks to those customers. The hacker asked if buying stocks was popular in America, the indictment said, prompting Shalon to reply: "It's like drinking freaking vodka in Russia."
Shalon ultimately made good on his promise to build an empire, according to the indictments. Profits from the pump-and-dump fed into a sprawling conglomerate including offshore Internet casinos and payment-processing services for other criminal operators, such as counterfeit pharmaceutical makers. Shalon also allegedly directed hackers to attack rival casinos, stealing customer data and temporarily bringing down their websites with denial-of-service attacks, which are easily commissioned online.BUTTERFLY AND HIDDEN LYNX
While this week's indictments opened the first major criminal case involving outsourced hacking, there have been other substantial break-ins that researchers believe were contract jobs.
Researchers at Symantec in July attributed a series of precision breaches at Apple, Facebook, Microsoft and Twitter in 2012 and 2013 to a sophisticated gang called Butterfly, which also attacked law firms and pharmaceutical companies.
Computer security firm Symantec concluded that the group likely works for hire, either for a client looking for financial gain in the stock market or for competitors. How Butterfly gets hired remains unclear.
Tech criminologist Marc Goodman, author of the book “Future Crimes”, says another group, dubbed Hidden Lynx by Symantec, may consist of contractors moonlighting from jobs with the Chinese military.http://www.symantec.com/content/en/us/enterprise/media/security_response/whitepapers/hidden_lynx.pdf"It's crime as a service," "Goodman said. "They take all the pain out of it."
(Reporting by Joseph Menn in San Francisco and Jim Finkle and Nate Raymond in New York; Additional reporting from Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem; Editing by Jonathan Weber and Martin Howell.)
|
1,392,099,074 |
2014-02-11 06:11:14+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [373, 698]}
|
{}
|
PRESS DIGEST- New York Times business news - Feb 11
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/press-digest-york-times-business-061114370.html
|
Reuters
|
http://www.reuters.com/
|
Feb 11 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories on the New York Times business pages. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
* Mary Barra, chief executive of General Motors Co, will earn as much as $14.4 million in compensation during her first year on the job, the company said on Monday. ()
* What was once the world's largest Bitcoin exchange, Mt. Gox, appeared near collapse on Monday, the latest symbol of the woes facing early players in the world of virtual currencies. A few days after cutting off withdrawals for customers, Mt. Gox said on Monday that its problems were a result of a more fundamental flaw in the computer program that underlies Bitcoin.
* Kohlberg Kravis Roberts is closing two mutual funds less than two years after it started them, a setback for the private equity giant as it looks to attract smaller investors. ()
* The court-appointed monitor in the Apple e-book price-fixing case can get back to work. A federal appellate court on Monday rejected Apple's request to stay the monitor, Michael Bromwich, a Washington lawyer, from doing any more work pending the outcome of its challenge to a judge's earlier order appointing the monitor in the first place. ()
* According to a lawsuit filed against the Justice Department on Monday, the crucial details of the $13 billion settlement deal with JPMorgan Chase were for the government's eyes only. The lawsuit filed by Better Markets, a nonprofit group critical of Wall Street, challenged the constitutionality of the deal, a landmark settlement stemming from accusations that JPMorgan overstated the quality of mortgage securities it sold before the financial crisis. ()
* Goldman Sachs Group on Monday named Ashok Varadhan as co-head of the securities division, a significant promotion that has in the past paved the way to the bank's upper echelons for other top-ranking executives. ()
* After six months of urging Apple Inc to pay out more money to shareholders, the billionaire Carl Icahn dropped his effort on Monday. His decision came after strong opposition from other big investors and an influential shareholder advisory firm. Still, Icahn may have prevailed in the end anyway, as Apple continued to emphasize returning money to investors. ()
* More people have gone to work during the past three months than at any time in decades. Those same three months have seen fewer jobs created than during any similar stretch in more than a year. ()
|
1,392,110,156 |
2014-02-11 09:15:56+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [2482, 3853]}
|
{"Bitcoin": [0]}
|
Bitcoin plunges after marketplace indefinitely halts withdrawals
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bitcoin-plunges-marketplace-indefinitely-halts-091556453.html
|
Reuters
|
http://www.reuters.com/
|
By Sam Forgione
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The price of the digital currency bitcoin slid to its lowest level in nearly two months on Monday after bitcoin digital marketplace Mt. Gox said a halt on withdrawals it announced on Friday would continue indefinitely after it detected "unusual activity."
The bitcoin price varied dramatically from one exchange to another, with Tokyo-based Mt. Gox, the best known operator of a bitcoin digital marketplace, recording one of the biggest drops for the day.
On the Mt. Gox platform the currency plunged to as low as $500 early on Monday, down more than 27 percent from Friday's final price of $692, according to the Mt. Gox website. It last traded at $595.74, off nearly 14 percent from Friday.
"This technical issue is of a much larger intensity than we've seen in the past," said Sebastien Galy, currency strategist at Societe Generale in New York. "The market may be realizing that there are issues which are specific to these forms of currencies."
The bitcoin in recent months started to gain wider acceptance, with Overstock.com and the Sacramento Kings basketball team both saying they would begin to accept the currency.
More recently, the digital currency has drawn increased scrutiny. New York state's top bank regulator in late January revealed plans to regulate businesses handling transactions in bitcoin this year.
TRANSACTIONS COULD BE ALTERED
The bitcoin price started falling fast on Friday when Mt. Gox said it was temporarily halting withdrawals due to unexplained technical issues.
In an updated statement on Monday, Mt. Gox said withdrawals were on hold indefinitely after it "has detected unusual activity on its bitcoin wallets and performed investigations during the past weeks. This confirmed the presence of transactions which need to be examined more closely."
Mt. Gox said a "bug in the bitcoin software" could allow transaction details to be altered.
In effect, someone on the network could alter transaction details to make it appear a transfer of bitcoins from one digital wallet to another had not occurred when in fact it had. This might cause the transfer to be repeated.
A bitcoin wallet is an application that stores bitcoins for the currency's users.
Mt. Gox said the issue was not limited to the exchange and "affects all transactions where bitcoins are being sent to a third party." It said the withdrawal suspension would be in effect until the issue has been resolved.
CoinDesk, which launched the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index in September, removed Mt. Gox from its index Monday, citing its "persistent failure to meet the index's standards for inclusion."
"These recent withdrawal restrictions are just the latest in a series of issues which have made Mt. Gox's inclusion in the BPI problematic," CoinDesk said.
On CoinDesk's bitcoin index, the bitcoin price was lower but not by nearly as much as on the Mt. Gox platform. The CoinDesk index showed bitcoin at $667.79 on late Monday afternoon, down about 5 percent from Friday's close of $703.57. Its low for the day was around $540 versus $500 on Mt. Gox.
On both platforms, the price was still around the lowest since late December. The price had topped $1,000 as recently as late January.
"With the volatility in the currency being as much as it is, it's going to take some time before we get enough of a comfort level from investors and merchants to enable it to be used ubiquitously," said Darrin Peller, managing director at Barclays in New York.
The arrest of a prominent bitcoin advocate just over two weeks ago threw a spotlight on the currency. Charlie Shrem, 24, operator of the Bitinstant bitcoin exchange company, was charged by U.S. prosecutors with conspiring to commit money laundering by helping to funnel cash to illicit online drugs bazaar Silk Road. The following day Shrem resigned as vice chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation, an advocacy group.
(Reporting by Sam Forgione; Editing by Dan Burns and Leslie Adler)
|
1,392,110,156 |
2014-02-11 09:15:56+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [2482, 3853]}
|
{"Bitcoin": [0]}
|
Bitcoin plunges after marketplace indefinitely halts withdrawals
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/finance.yahoo.com/news/bitcoin-plunges-marketplace-indefinitely-halts-091556453.html
|
Reuters
|
http://www.reuters.com/
|
By Sam Forgione
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The price of the digital currency bitcoin slid to its lowest level in nearly two months on Monday after bitcoin digital marketplace Mt. Gox said a halt on withdrawals it announced on Friday would continue indefinitely after it detected "unusual activity."
The bitcoin price varied dramatically from one exchange to another, with Tokyo-based Mt. Gox, the best known operator of a bitcoin digital marketplace, recording one of the biggest drops for the day.
On the Mt. Gox platform the currency plunged to as low as $500 early on Monday, down more than 27 percent from Friday's final price of $692, according to the Mt. Gox website. It last traded at $595.74, off nearly 14 percent from Friday.
"This technical issue is of a much larger intensity than we've seen in the past," said Sebastien Galy, currency strategist at Societe Generale in New York. "The market may be realizing that there are issues which are specific to these forms of currencies."
The bitcoin in recent months started to gain wider acceptance, with Overstock.com and the Sacramento Kings basketball team both saying they would begin to accept the currency.
More recently, the digital currency has drawn increased scrutiny. New York state's top bank regulator in late January revealed plans to regulate businesses handling transactions in bitcoin this year.
TRANSACTIONS COULD BE ALTERED
The bitcoin price started falling fast on Friday when Mt. Gox said it was temporarily halting withdrawals due to unexplained technical issues.
In an updated statement on Monday, Mt. Gox said withdrawals were on hold indefinitely after it "has detected unusual activity on its bitcoin wallets and performed investigations during the past weeks. This confirmed the presence of transactions which need to be examined more closely."
Mt. Gox said a "bug in the bitcoin software" could allow transaction details to be altered.
In effect, someone on the network could alter transaction details to make it appear a transfer of bitcoins from one digital wallet to another had not occurred when in fact it had. This might cause the transfer to be repeated.
A bitcoin wallet is an application that stores bitcoins for the currency's users.
Mt. Gox said the issue was not limited to the exchange and "affects all transactions where bitcoins are being sent to a third party." It said the withdrawal suspension would be in effect until the issue has been resolved.
CoinDesk, which launched the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index in September, removed Mt. Gox from its index Monday, citing its "persistent failure to meet the index's standards for inclusion."
"These recent withdrawal restrictions are just the latest in a series of issues which have made Mt. Gox's inclusion in the BPI problematic," CoinDesk said.
On CoinDesk's bitcoin index, the bitcoin price was lower but not by nearly as much as on the Mt. Gox platform. The CoinDesk index showed bitcoin at $667.79 on late Monday afternoon, down about 5 percent from Friday's close of $703.57. Its low for the day was around $540 versus $500 on Mt. Gox.
On both platforms, the price was still around the lowest since late December. The price had topped $1,000 as recently as late January.
"With the volatility in the currency being as much as it is, it's going to take some time before we get enough of a comfort level from investors and merchants to enable it to be used ubiquitously," said Darrin Peller, managing director at Barclays in New York.
The arrest of a prominent bitcoin advocate just over two weeks ago threw a spotlight on the currency. Charlie Shrem, 24, operator of the Bitinstant bitcoin exchange company, was charged by U.S. prosecutors with conspiring to commit money laundering by helping to funnel cash to illicit online drugs bazaar Silk Road. The following day Shrem resigned as vice chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation, an advocacy group.
(Reporting by Sam Forgione; Editing by Dan Burns and Leslie Adler)
|
1,392,119,480 |
2014-02-11 11:51:20+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [119, 242, 777, 831, 1245, 2484, 3324, 3461, 3977, 4620, 4963]}
|
{"Bitcoin": [28]}
|
Israeli startups dream of a Bitcoin world
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/israeli-startups-dream-bitcoin-world-115120549.html
|
Reuters
|
http://www.reuters.com/
|
By Ari Rabinovitch
TEL AVIV (Reuters) - "Welcome to the new economy," boasts a sign at the entrance of the self-styled Bitcoin Embassy in the heart of Tel Aviv.
The sparely furnished property opened a few months ago to support a community of Bitcoin fanatics, perhaps the most active in the world, who are out to build just that - a next-generation trading system based on the digital currency.
At least two dozen startups have popped up in Israel over the past year with a view to creating tools that will allow the currency to be used in almost any kind of transaction - from buying shoes to sending remittances or issuing company stock.
Israeli companies are pioneers in hi-tech fields like cryptography, fraud prevention, and semiconductors, all of which interact with the Bitcoin universe.
That makes the country as much of a Bitcoin hotspot as Singapore or California's Silicon Valley, says Eli Novershtern, principal of Israel's biggest venture capital firm Pitango, which manages assets worth over $1.6 billion.
"We see a lot of activity here and are certainly looking to invest (in such firms), even significant sums if we recognize an attractive opportunity," he said, without offering details of specific plans.
As a crypto-currency, Bitcoin is passed between two parties digitally and can be traded on exchanges for real-world currencies. Its value fluctuates according to user demand but it is not backed by any government or central bank.
New bitcoins come from a process called mining. Computer programmers around the world compete to crack an automatically generated code and the first to do so is rewarded with a small stash. This happens about every 10 minutes.
The maximum potential number of bitcoins in circulation is 21 million compared with around 12 million currently - meaning that, over time, the payoffs get smaller.
Enthusiasts hope the circulation limit and wider acceptance of the currency will mean its value goes up. One bitcoin is currently worth about $700, giving the currency a total potential market value of about $9 billion.
As recently as 2012 it was changing hands for $10.
Netanel Goldberg, 42, heads GetReal Platforms, a company he and two other graduates of Israel's military cyber intelligence unit founded last year.
He foresees a "bloodbath" as ever stronger computer networks compete to mine the most bitcoins - a market he expects to grab a sizable chunk of, thanks to a silicon-based chip that GetReal is developing.
SECONDARY MARKET
Bitcoin was spawned by a still unidentified developer known as Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009, when the global financial crisis meant distrust of banks and governments was high.
Initially there was a libertarian appeal, said Ron Finberg, who runs the website Digital Currency Magnates.
But in Israel, technology had always been the currency's driving force, he said. Now the "boundary-less system" was fostering ever more innovative applications.
Mathematician Meni Rosenfeld said his team is developing a product called "colored coins" that will allow bitcoins to carry a secondary value, such as equity in a company.
A company will be able to take small fractions of a bitcoin, give them a digital marker, or "color", and distribute them to shareholders.
"They represent stock in every way," said Rosenfeld, who is also chairman of the Israeli Bitcoin Association. The same could be done with bonds or car ownership, he said.
REGULATORY RESPONSE
There has been a mixed reaction to Bitcoin around the world.
Supporters are drawn to its decentralized platform and say it is here to stay. Detractors call it a bubble and expect it to be forgotten in a year or two.
But its growing popularity is undeniable, and governments and regulators have been searching for the best way to respond.
"The Bank of Israel is ...examining the need for some sort of regulation regarding electronic, virtual and other similar currencies," said Yoav Seffer, spokesman for the central bank.
Most retailers do not accept Bitcoin, making it hard for users to shop. One Tel Aviv startup, however, has shown that the convenience of using digital money can draw enormous interest.
AppCoin developed a program that easily generates virtual currencies and teamed up with an online community of mothers in a trial run. The moms were given a new tender, called "hearts", and agreed to use it to buy and sell items.
A year later the network swelled to 50,000 members with hundreds of transactions carried out each day.
The company plans to offer a service so anyone, anywhere can create their own currency, but for now it is focused on a beta-version it just released of a Bitcoin bazaar, called Satoshi Marketplace, accessible by phone to anyone in the world.
"Just as the internet revolutionized the way we exchange information, smartphones will redefine how people exchange value - by using digital currencies and virtual marketplaces," said Eyal Hertzog, product architect at AppCoin.
Last month, members of the Bitcoin community and officials from the private sector and government gathered at the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange to discuss the future of the digital currency.
The assembly was hosted by Eden Shochat, founder of venture capital firm Aleph, which manages about $150 million.
"The ability to transfer value in a frictionless way without transaction fees represents a tidal wave, and when that happens our role is to help, advise and fund these kinds of companies," he said.
(Graphic by Christian Inton; Editing by John Stonestreet)
|
1,422,303,127 |
2015-01-26 20:12:07+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [29]}
|
{}
|
U.S. bitcoin exchange makes debut
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/u-bitcoin-exchange-makes-debut-201207681.html
|
Reuters
|
http://www.reuters.com/
|
NEW YORK, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Bitcoin payments processor Coinbase on Monday opened a regulated exchange in the United States for trading the virtual currency, the company said.
Launched just days after Coinbase raised $75 million from blue-chip financial institutions such as the New York Stock Exchange, the Coinbase Exchange was meant to help stabilize the bitcoin network, which has no central regulator or overseer, the company said.
Coinbase users in 24 states and U.S. territories can immediately trade on the exchange, which will charge no fees through March 30, according to a blog post by the San Francisco-based company.
Details of the new exchange's volumes were not immediately available. The value of highly volatile bitcoin was up 5.2 percent on Monday afternoon at $265.49, according to Thomson Reuters data.
(Reporting By Michael Connor; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
|
1,422,303,368 |
2015-01-26 20:16:08+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [21]}
|
{}
|
U.S. bitcoin exchange makes debut
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/u-bitcoin-exchange-makes-debut-201608906.html
|
Reuters
|
https://www.reuters.com/
|
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bitcoin payments processor Coinbase on Monday opened a regulated exchange in the United States for trading the virtual currency, the company said. Launched just days after Coinbase raised $75 million from blue-chip financial institutions such as the New York Stock Exchange, the Coinbase Exchange was meant to help stabilize the bitcoin network, which has no central regulator or overseer, the company said. Coinbase users in 24 states and U.S. territories can immediately trade on the exchange, which will charge no fees through March 30, according to a blog post by the San Francisco-based company. Details of the new exchange's volumes were not immediately available. The value of highly volatile bitcoin was up 5.2 percent on Monday afternoon at $265.49, according to Thomson Reuters data. (Reporting By Michael Connor; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
|
1,471,303,796 |
2016-08-15 23:29:56+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [1852]}
|
{}
|
Hacking group claims to offer cyber-weapons in online auction
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/hacking-group-claims-offer-cyber-232956257.html
|
Reuters
|
http://www.reuters.com/
|
By Joseph Menn
Aug 15 (Reuters) - Hackers going by the name Shadow Brokers said on Monday they will auction stolen surveillance tools they say were used by a cyber group linked to the U.S. National Security Agency.
To arouse interest in the auction, the hackers released samples of programs they said could break into popular firewall software made by companies including Cisco Systems Inc, Juniper Networks Inc and Fortinet Inc.
The companies did not respond to request for comment, nor did the NSA.
Writing in imperfect English, the Shadow Brokers promised in postings on a Tumblr blog that the auctioned material would contain "cyber weapons" developed by the Equation Group, a hacking group that cyber security experts widely believe to be an arm of the NSA. [http://reut.rs/2aVA7LD]
The Shadow Brokers said the programs they will auction will be "better than Stuxnet," a malicious computer worm widely attributed to the United States and Israel that sabotaged Iran's nuclear program.
Reuters could not contact the Shadow Brokers or verify their assertions. Some experts who looked at the samples posted on Tumblr said they included programs that had previously been described and therefore were unlikely to cause major damage.
"The data [released so far] appears to be relatively old; some of the programs have already been known for years," said researcher Claudio Guarnieri, and are unlikely "to cause any significant operational damage."
Still, they appeared to be genuine tools that might work if flaws have not been addressed. After examining the code released Monday, Matt Suiche, founder of UAE-based security startup Comae Technologies, concluded they looked like "could be used."
Other security experts warned the posting could prove to be a hoax. The group said interested parties had to send funds in advance of winning the auction via Bitcoin currency and would not get their money back if they lost.
The auction will end at an unspecified time, Shadow Brokers said, encouraging bidders to "keep bidding until we announce winner."
(Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
|
1,471,304,001 |
2016-08-15 23:33:21+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [1875]}
|
{}
|
Hacking group claims to offer cyber-weapons in online auction
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/hacking-group-claims-offer-cyber-233321214.html
|
Reuters
|
https://www.reuters.com/
|
By Joseph Menn (Reuters) - Hackers going by the name Shadow Brokers said on Monday they will auction stolen surveillance tools they say were used by a cyber group linked to the U.S. National Security Agency. To arouse interest in the auction, the hackers released samples of programs they said could break into popular firewall software made by companies including Cisco Systems Inc (CSCO.O), Juniper Networks Inc (JNPR.N) and Fortinet Inc (FTNT.O). The companies did not respond to request for comment, nor did the NSA. Writing in imperfect English, the Shadow Brokers promised in postings on a Tumblr blog that the auctioned material would contain cyber weapons developed by the Equation Group, a hacking group that cyber security experts widely believe to be an arm of the NSA. [ http://reut.rs/2aVA7LD] The Shadow Brokers said the programs they will auction will be better than Stuxnet, a malicious computer worm widely attributed to the United States and Israel that sabotaged Irans nuclear programme. Reuters could not contact the Shadow Brokers or verify their assertions. Some experts who looked at the samples posted on Tumblr said they included programs that had previously been described and therefore were unlikely to cause major damage. The data [released so far] appears to be relatively old; some of the programs have already been known for years, said researcher Claudio Guarnieri, and are unlikely to cause any significant operational damage. Still, they appeared to be genuine tools that might work if flaws have not been addressed. After examining the code released Monday, Matt Suiche, founder of UAE-based security startup Comae Technologies, concluded they looked like "could be used." Other security experts warned the posting could prove to be a hoax. The group said interested parties had to send funds in advance of winning the auction via Bitcoin currency and would not get their money back if they lost. The auction will end at an unspecified time, Shadow Brokers said, encouraging bidders to "keep bidding until we announce winner." (Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
|
1,471,304,283 |
2016-08-15 23:38:03+00:00
|
{"Bitcoin": [1846]}
|
{}
|
Hacking group claims to offer cyber-weapons in online auction
|
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/hacking-group-claims-offer-cyber-233803226.html
|
Reuters
|
https://www.reuters.com/
|
By Joseph Menn (Reuters) - Hackers going by the name Shadow Brokers said on Monday they will auction stolen surveillance tools they say were used by a cyber group linked to the U.S. National Security Agency. To arouse interest in the auction, the hackers released samples of programs they said could break into popular firewall software made by companies including Cisco Systems Inc, Juniper Networks Inc and Fortinet Inc. The companies did not respond to request for comment, nor did the NSA. Writing in imperfect English, the Shadow Brokers promised in postings on a Tumblr blog that the auctioned material would contain cyber weapons developed by the Equation Group, a hacking group that cyber security experts widely believe to be an arm of the NSA. [ http://reut.rs/2aVA7LD] The Shadow Brokers said the programs they will auction will be better than Stuxnet, a malicious computer worm widely attributed to the United States and Israel that sabotaged Irans nuclear program. Reuters could not contact the Shadow Brokers or verify their assertions. Some experts who looked at the samples posted on Tumblr said they included programs that had previously been described and therefore were unlikely to cause major damage. The data [released so far] appears to be relatively old; some of the programs have already been known for years, said researcher Claudio Guarnieri, and are unlikely to cause any significant operational damage. Still, they appeared to be genuine tools that might work if flaws have not been addressed. After examining the code released Monday, Matt Suiche, founder of UAE-based security startup Comae Technologies, concluded they looked like "could be used." Other security experts warned the posting could prove to be a hoax. The group said interested parties had to send funds in advance of winning the auction via Bitcoin currency and would not get their money back if they lost. The auction will end at an unspecified time, Shadow Brokers said, encouraging bidders to "keep bidding until we announce winner." (Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
|
Subsets and Splits
Bitcoin News April 2021 Filter
Retrieves specific entries within a given datetime range, providing a snapshot of records over a particular period.
Bitcoin News 2021-20
Retrieves all entries from the dataset where the title contains "Bitcoin" within the years 2021 to 2025, providing a basic filter.
Bitcoin News 2021-20
Returns a limited number of entries related to Bitcoin within a specific date range, providing basic filtering without extensive analysis.