While the banks are open to safely start buying European bonds, as the European Central Bank has become the 4th major institution to indulge in quantitative easing, KPMG revealed in a report that the disruptive potential of Bitcoin for retail banking was a serious matter.
At the same time, Coinbase secured a solid $75 million dollar investment, while bitcoin prices hovered around $240 over the weekend, marking a second week running of higher prices.
Coinbase Secures Record $75 Million Investment Led by DFJ
Coinbase has reportedly secured a $75 million investment, led by venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ).
Other notable investors include the New York Stock Exchange, USAA Bank, BBVA Ventures and Japanese telecom giant DoCoMo. Former Citigroup CEO, Vikram Pandit also personally invested.
The mix of investors is impressive considering their prominence and the fact that for several, it is their first Bitcoin-related investment ever.
It is the largest investment ever in a Bitcoin company, which in the case of Coinbase, also supports the highest number of merchants and consumer wallets in the industry. In total, $106 million has been poured into Coinbase to date, also a record for the industry.
Read the full story here.
KPMG Report Upbeat on Bitcoin’s Potential to Disrupt Retail Banking
An 18-page report by KPMG’s UK banking division explores how the retail banking world is ripe for gradual disruption and how some emerging systems can make this happen.
The review is well-summarized in a section discussing “the three pronged attack on retail banking.” The three major services provided by banks–deposits, Payments and lending–are each being challenged by new approaches.
Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are categorized as challenging the payments world. PayPal is considered to be a challenger for payments and deposits, while peer-to-peer schemes and “digital banks” are making inroads into the lending space.
Read the full story here.
CHF Carnage Offers Timely Lesson for Brokers, Traders and... Bitcoin Exchanges
Suppose on one quiet morning eighteen months from now, a previously unknown bug paralyzes the Bitcoin protocol. Most transactions on the network fail, and worse yet, sophisticated attackers exploit the bug and go on a hacking spree, draining wallets of their balances en masse.
The community is taken by surprise, particularly because core developers have just completed a string of enhancements. It turns out that the latest version of wallet software inadvertently introduced a flaw not previously present.
Read the full story here.
BTC Media Acquires Bitcoin Magazine from Coin Publishing
BTC Media LLC, the parent company of the “yBitcoin” magazine, has acquired Bitcoin Magazine from Coin Publishing LLC.
Bitcoin Magazine was launched by Mihai Alisie and Ethereum co-founder, Vitalik Buterin. It published its first issue in May 2012 and thereafter joined forces with Coin Publishing LLC to produce 22 more. It is mailed to subscribers worldwide, sold at Barnes & Noble bookstores and published online at www.bitcoinmagazine.com.
Read the full story here.
Alleged Silk Road 2.0 Administrator Arrested
The FBI has announced the arrest of another key player from the Silk Road 2.0 marketplace. Richard Farrell, operating under the name of “DoctorClu” on the website, was arrested in Seattle. He was charged with conspiracy to distribute heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine.
Farrell was allegedly one of the several administrators for the site, approving new staff and vendors and organizing a denial of service attack on a competitor.
Silk Road 2.0 launched in November 2013 to replace the original Silk Road, which was shut down weeks earlier and its alleged mastermind arrested. The 2.0 version sought to revive the anonymous sale of illegal goods with bitcoin.
Read the full story here.
