MIT cites major flaws in the NY BitLicense, Euro Banking Association issues a report on 'Cryptotechnologies,' Denmark will discontinue the printing of new fiat money in 2016, former MasterCard general manager joins BitPay, and more top stories on May 13.
MIT Cites 'Critical Flaws' in BitLicense Proposal
MIT Digital Currency Initiative director, Brian Forde, has published a blog post where he cites the four "critical flaws" in New York's BitLicense.
According to Forde:
"If changes to the proposed BitLicense are not made, only a handful of the most well-funded companies will survive — not because they are providing the best product or service, but because they have access to the most money."
Euro Banking Association Issues Paper on 'Cryptotechnologies'
The Euro Banking Association (EBA), a conglomerate of over 200 financial institutions from the European Union, has issued a paper about "Cryptotechnologies," in which the organization explores relevant systems for transaction banking and payments professionals.
The report reads:
"Over the past five years, cryptotechnologies have surfaced as major IT innovation with the potential to improve the architecture of systems and processes in a number of digital transaction-based industries. At the core of this invention is the concept of ‘distributed consensus ledgers.’ These ledgers make it posible to jointly create, evolve and keep track of one repository of transactions or other successive events over ashared network (documenting, for instance, the ownership of value) without maintenance or administration by a central authority."
Chip Chap Users Can Now Purchase Bitcoins in 5,000 Mexican Stores
"E-money converter" Chip Chap announced it has extended its services to Mexico, allowing users to buy bitcoins in 5,000 vendors across the country.
"A full list of Mexican vendors, which range from La Mission to 7-Eleven, can be found on the Paynet website. [...] So far, the app supports payment systems that work in Spain, France, England, and Mexico. Chip Chap can be used at a total of 400,000 stores worldwide—stores that accept any of the payment systems."
Denmark to Discontinue the Printing of New Fiat in 2016
The Denmark Central Bank has announced it will outsource the printing of new money to private businesses starting 2016, reported RT.
Economist Konstantin Gurdgiev told the media outlet:
"It is a global trend. It’s a global trend in the sense the Central Banks around the world, especially in Europe, not just in Denmark, but also in Ireland, for example, Austria, Belgium have been trying for a number of years to shift the economies or convert the economies away from using physical cash in transactions and using paper in transactions to electronic payments."
Dogecoin Price Rockets
The price of dogecoin has increased by almost a third since May 11, sparking speculation of a pump and dump among the crypto community, reported the International Business Times.
Reddit user Solunaus, said on the dogecoin sub-reddit:
"It's quite simple. The test pump happens. We have been through the phase of accumulation and suppression (37-38 sat).
As it seems we are in for the shakedown (from 50sat). Price may go very low, before the actual pump to over 100 sat comes in. (Typical pump/dump market behaviour)."
Former MasterCard General Manager Joins BitPay
Former MasterCard general manager Marcel Roelants has joined BitPay to lead the operations in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, reported the IBTimes.
Tony Gallippi, executive chairman at BitPay, said:
"Marcel's long track record of growing mobile payment products qualifies him to build upon our recent success in Europe. He's been on our board of advisers for just over a year, and in that time he has already been able to provide important strategic insight, making him the perfect candidate for this role."
Chinese HaoBTC Launches 'Enterprise Vault'
Beijin-based HaoBTC has announced a new partnership with online bitcoin dice game site, OKDice. According to the agreement, OKDice will use HaoBTC's Enterprise Vault as its main wallet.
HaoBTC CEO Wu Gang said in a release that he was looking to set new industry standards:
"There are many benefits, and one of the biggest is letting users have up to 10 co-signers for a single wallet address. It effectively mitigates counterparty risk. Our aim is to make Enterprise Vault an industry standard. As awareness grows, companies will see how beneficial it is."
Leading Online Wellness Marketplace MindBody Looking to Integrate 'Emerging Payment Methods'
According to a SEC filing, leading global wellness e-commerce MindBody, said it is looking to integrate "emerging payment methods," citing ApplePay and Bitcoin.
The filing reads:
"The continued growth and development of our payment processing activities will depend on our ability to anticipate and adapt to changes in consumer behavior. [...] Any failure to timely integrate emerging payment methods (e.g. ApplePay or Bitcoin) into our software, anticipate consumer behavior changes, or contract with processing partners that support such emerging payment technologies could cause us to lose traction among our subscribers, resulting in a corresponding loss of revenue, in the event such methods become popular among their consumers."
Tank Stream Ventures Looking to Invest in Fintech, Blockchain Startups
Sydney-based venture capital firm Tank Stream Ventures (TSV), announced it has closed a AU$20 million funding round. The firm is now looking to invest into early stage tech startups, notably from the fintech and blockchain industries.
"With one of its investors based in Mainland China, TSV is seeking investment opportunities in the Aussie startup scene, and they are particularly interested in, but not limited to, fintech and blockchain startups."
Ripple Labs Set Sight on Asian Market
Dilip Rao, Managing Director of Ripple Labs Sydney, has announced that his company was looking to expand to the Asia-Pacific region, noting that the area was experiencing a rapid increase in cross-border traders.
Rao said:
"There is also a strategic shift happening to trade in RMB rather than USD for business with China. This is creating new opportunities for financial institutions for trading partners like Australia. [...] Some think ASEAN could overtake the EU in total economic output in the next 10-15 years."
