A US district judge has ordered a corrupt Drug Enforcement Agency agent to forfeit roughly 690 bitcoins to the federal government; the Swift Institute offers a €15,000 grant for research into the development of blockchain technology, and more top stories for July 14.
Judge Orders Corrupt DEA Agent to Forfeit Stolen Bitcoin
A district judge has signed a court order mandating Carl Force IV, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) agent arrested in connection with the investigation, to forfeit roughly 690 bitcoins to the federal government.
Force plead guilty to extortion, money laundering and obstruction of justice charges earlier this month, as he had been illegally handling bitcoins during the US government's investigation of the now-defunct dark market.
Swift Offers €15,000 Grant for Blockchain Research
The Swift Institute is offering a €15,000 grant for research into the development of using blockchain technology in securities markets.
The institute of the financial messaging body is particularly interested in blockchain's ability to provide fast, irrevocable and transparent clearing and settlement, but notes several concerns about the technology. The Swift Institute is asking researchers to apply for a grant to research aspects of the technology and formulate answers to a series of questions regarding its risks and opportunities.
Greece’s New 2-Way Bitcoin ATM Processed 20 Transactions on First Day
This weekend, Spanish bitcoin ATM, NFC and Card solutions provider and cryptocurrency counseling company Bitchain launched ’s first two-way Bitcoin ATM in coworking space The Cube Athens. The following morning, over €2,000 had already been exchanged through about 25 transactions.
Bitchain representative Adrian Verde told a gathering of a dozen bitcoin entrepreneurs who want to increase the cryptocurrency’s use in :
"The freedom bitcoin gives you is greater than the freedom euros give you right now. Everyone presumes that a bank won't fail them, but right now has demonstrated that banks can't be trusted because people can't get their own money."
Xapo Executives Lose Bid to Dismiss Breach of Contract Lawsuit
Five Xapo employees – including CEO Wences Casares and COO Federico Murrone – have lost their bid to dismiss a breach of contract lawsuit brought on by former employer LifeLock. LifeLock alleges that the defendants developed the foundation of Xapo's IP using LifeLock's computers and resources. Xapo has denied the allegations, stating that LifeLock was aware of the project and it relinquished its claim to any technology developed.
Danish Bitcoin Exchange CCEDK to Launch Bitcoin Debit Cards
The Danish bitcoin exchange CCEDK has announced to introduce its own bitcoin debit cards. The company said that the debit card will be called NanoCard, and should provide a high-end experience to users. CCEDK also announced to be partnering with software development company Cryptonomex to provide new security measures in order to protect funds.
AirTM Offers Remittance Service in 'Harsh Currency Regimes’ of Using Bitcoin
AirTM is a service that depends on the Bitreserve API to make transfers from the “new money” in the cloud to the “old money” of the cash system. Cointelegraph spoke to its two founders, the 24-year-old Ruben Galindo and 29-year-old Antonio Garcia from who want to solve what they found to be an unfair problem in today’s remittance system.
Garcia told Cointelegraph:
“We're focusing first on harsh currency regimes where there's a compelling use case for us — to help our brothers and sisters in and to protect their wealth from devaluing currency due to the country's fiscal mismanagement.”
Following DDOS Attacks, OKCoin Says it Will Compensate Users and Improve Defenses
The Chinese bitcoin exchange OKCoin's anti-hacking system was put the test recently when a distributed denial of service (DDOS) attack prevented some users from accessing the platform on July 10. The exchange has now created a fund to compensate users for losses caused by the attack, and pledged to increase its investment in countering DDOS and CC attacks.
OKCoin stated:
“While no internet service can 100% guarantee it is immune from the effects of DDOS and CC attacks, we can and must do better […] We will increase investment in countering DDOS and CC attacks and improve our network infrastructure.”
8 Ways Governments Could Use the Blockchain to Achieve ‘Radical Transparency’
While global banks and financial institutions search for ways to integrate blockchain technology into their existing systems, Cointelegraph's Joseph Young sums up eight ways governments could implement the technology to improve efficiency. The possibilities, as listed by Young, vary from accurate voting to reducing costs of record keeping, and from tracking property to increasing security of existing government ledgers.