Weekly Review: Spotlight on Australia, More Price Weakness

The Reserve Bank of Australia said that the regulation of digital currencies should be an international collaborative effort, administered through bodies such as the Bank of International Settlements (BIS). However, it would not pay off for the country to formulate its own regulation, as the costs would outweigh the benefits.

Ripple, which runs a decentralized protocol for financial transactions, is opening up a subsidiary office in Australia in an effort to capitalize upon the sizeable cross-border Payments Payments One of the bases of mediums of exchange in the modern world, a payment constitutes the transfer of a legal currency or equivalent from one party in exchange for goods or services to another entity. The payments industry has become a fixture of modern commerce, though the players involved and means of exchange have dramatically shifted over time.In particular, a party making a payment is referred to as a payer, with the payee reflecting the individual or entity receiving the payment. Most commonl One of the bases of mediums of exchange in the modern world, a payment constitutes the transfer of a legal currency or equivalent from one party in exchange for goods or services to another entity. The payments industry has become a fixture of modern commerce, though the players involved and means of exchange have dramatically shifted over time.In particular, a party making a payment is referred to as a payer, with the payee reflecting the individual or entity receiving the payment. Most commonl Read this Term market in the Asia-Pacific region.

Ripple's break-off and rival Stellar has released its white paper and a new codebase with features that it says preserve the benefits of Bitcoin but add layers of safety.

Venture capital activity was slower than in previous weeks, the only major deal going to wallet and API provider Gem, which secured $1.3 million for feature development.

Canadian Bitcoin exchange CAVirtex, which had earlier this year announced plans to shut down, was revived by US-based bitcoin exchange Coinsetter.

A bitcoin mobile wallet startup, OneBit, unveiled plans to work with MasterCard PayPass, which may one day pave the way for contactless bitcoin payments even at stores not accepting bitcoin. The innovation may yet add another competitor to Apple Pay in what is becoming an increasingly competitive space.

Bank of New York Mellon was the next institution to reveal its interest in using Blockchain Blockchain Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned). In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data, making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tamp Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned). In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data, making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tamp Read this Term technology to improve operations, around the same time as a similar announcement by UBS and advances by startup Align Commerce in the area.

Bitcoin prices did not have much reason to push higher, and kept up their recent trend of gradual decline in the absence of market moving developments. They have come within striking distance of 6-week lows on BTC-e, falling below $240.