JUL 29 DIGEST: Lawsky Denies Working in Bitcoin Space; CoinTape Lets Users Find Optimal Transaction Fee

BitLicense creator Benjamin Lawsky claimed he is not working in the digital currency space; a new CoinTape service lets Bitcoin users find optimum transaction fees, and more top stories for July 29.

Benjamin Lawsky Claims Not to Work in the Digital Currency Space

When Lawsky announced in May that he was stepping down as superintendent of the New York Department of Financial Services, he revealed that he would be launching his own legal consultancy. But in contradiction to reports by the New York Post, the creator of the much maligned BitLicense now specified that he is not working in the digital currency space. 

Lawsky: 

“I’m doing no work in the digital currency space. […] The rules are clear, I can’t work in the Bitcoin space on anything related to my work at NYDFS or BitLicense.” 

Ethereum Announces Official Release Date 

Ethereum has announced the official release date of the first ‘Frontier’ version, and provided a guide for setting up mining clients, clarifying some confusion about the release process. Staying true to the decentralization ethos, the Ethereum team has elaborated on their “launch” plan, which will be more of a grass roots emergence of the network rather than a release from a central point.

Ethereum's Stephan Tual explained:

“In the interest of decentralization and transparency, Ethereum will not provide the Genesis block as a download, but instead have created an open source script that anyone can use to generate the file.” 

CoinTape Lets Bitcoin Users Find Optimum Transaction Fee 

A new service is helping bitcoin users find the optimum transaction fee to have their transaction processes by Bitcoin miners. Utilizing network data, CoinTape lets users compare the current waiting times associated with various fee tiers, calculated in satoshis per byte. With Bitcoin blocks filling up, this could help a fee market establish on the Bitcoin network. The service claims to predict delays with 90% confidence.

Blythe Masters: Blockchain Technology Can Transform Banking

In the opening keynote at American Banker's Digital Currencies + the Blockchain conference, former JPMorgan Chase executive Blythe Masters said that Blockchain technology can be used to help financial-services institutions accomplish “their most important goal” — improving customer service. Masters also said the first application of blockchain tech will be post-trade processing, rather than payments, securities or derivatives solutions. 

Masters:

“I believe that [blockchain] technology has the potential to truly change the way the financial world operates, to reduce costs, reduce efficiency, reduce risks and ultimately provide better customer service, which ultimately is what financially services needs to be all about.” 

Bitcoin Friendly Payment Processor Stripe Partners with Visa 

Bitcoin friendly payments processor Stripe has announced a collaboration with Visa following a US$5 billion dollar valuation. The move, which will see Stripe work with the credit card giant to improve digital transactions, comes as Stripe secures major investment from Visa, American Express and Sequoia Capital.

Patrick Collison, co-founder and CEO of Stripe, said: 

“As Stripe thinks about the best ways to move the overall payments ecosystem forward, the biggest determinants on the financial side are the credit card networks […] We hope to continue working closely with them.”

Russian Watchdog Threatens News Site over Bitcoin Article

Russia's media watchdog has told Russian tech news site Zuckerberg Pozvonit that it must delete or edit a Bitcoin-related article it published two years ago. Roskomnadzor – the Kremlin's executive body responsible for controlling and supervising media and mass communications – issued a notice today stating that if the news source did not act within three days, access to the website would be blocked. 

Zuckerberg Pozvonit publisher Vyacheslav Tsyplukhin, however, stated:

“We haven't discussed the issue collectively yet, but I maintain the position that we don't have to delete anything. Let them close the website, and then let them explain to our 1.8 million readers, and to the industry, what is going on.”

Spells of Genesis Token Sale Launches with Shapeshift 

Spells of Genesis is a highly anticipated trading card game, produced by the well-known EverdreamSoft team. It is being developed to have Bitcoin and the Blockchain technology as an integral part of the game's economy and its storyline. Now, the Spells of Genesis team has announced a partnership with altcoin exchange Shapeshift.io, which will sell the game's in-game token.

BitPlutos CEO Damian Cišek: Binary Options Bring Immense Opportunity for Bitcoin Users 

Trading of binary options is essentially predicting whether an asset price will go up or down over a period of time. Cointelegraph spoke with Damian Cišek, the CEO of BitPlutos, the first binary options platform for Bitcoin, about what binary options can bring to Bitcoin, how it compares to forex trading and whether they can help the industry grow in the digital world.

Cišek: 

“The opportunities binary options bring are immense. [...] Last year, while I was visiting Amsterdam Expo, I decided to make contact with Spot Option, the leading binary options technology provider. What you see is the fruit of our labor.”