EB72 Sin Jones: Cryptocurrency Regulation Update: Uk, Isle Of Man, California, Bitlicense – Video


EB72 Sin Jones: Cryptocurrency Regulation Update: Uk, Isle Of Man, California, Bitlicense
Support the show, consider donating: 3HqLKkYSjzx6zmPN6jFt2R9XYw5BpooPjX (http://bit.ly/1bxn7fA) When one is busy driving a technological and societal revolution forward, complying with ...

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EB72 Sin Jones: Cryptocurrency Regulation Update: Uk, Isle Of Man, California, Bitlicense - Video

Ripple, a Cryptocurrency Company, Wants to Rewire Bank Authentication

A digital-currency company thinks it can protect the personal information used to perform identity checks in the financial industry.

Companies built around Bitcoin and other digital currencies mostly focus on storing and transferring money. But at least one company is trying to prove that some of the underlying technology can have a much wider impact on the financial industry.

That startup, Ripple, has already had some success persuading banks to use its cryptocash to speed up money transfers made in any currency, especially across borders (see 50 Smartest Companies 2014: Ripple Labs). Now it is building a system that uses some similar cryptographic tricks to improve the way financial companies check the identity of their customers. The system could also provide a more secure way to log in to other online services.

Verifying identity is a constant, expensive headache for financial institutions, which are bound by strict regulations designed to curtail money laundering and support for blacklisted organizations such as terrorist groups. Most banks turn to one of a handful of large data brokers, such as Experian or Acxiom, to power their ID checks. When you open a new account, a bank gathers key personal information and sends it to its broker to verify your identity, and to confirm that you arent on any block list.

Under Ripples system, the same basic process would take place. However, your personal information would be used to generate a unique cryptographic token. A bank could send the token to a data broker that has its own token, made using your personal information at an earlier time. The math underpinning Ripples system would allow the broker to confirm that the data you had given the bank was correct, without either the bank or the broker ever revealing the data itself.

Apples mobile payment technology uses similar technology to protect credit card numbers (see 10 Breakthrough Technologies 2015: Apple Pay). When you use Apple Pay, only a cryptographic token representing your credit card number is transferred to the merchant. That token can be used to charge your card, but it wont reveal anything to anyone who manages to steal it, and it cannot be reused.

Stefan Thomas, chief technology officer of Ripple, says its ID verification system should reduce the risk that personal data will be stolen or accidentally leaked and should also be faster than the systems used today, which have developed gradually over decades and still use outdated technology. He says Ripple decided to develop the technology after it became clear that the financial system needed more than just new ways to transfer money.

Thomas adds that by cutting costs and security risks, Ripples system might allow cheaper data brokers to emerge. It could also make it easier for banks to operate in poorer parts of the world, where verification systems can be particularly expensive to operate, even for U.S. banks, he says. And Ripples engineers are also working on ways their protocol can be used to log in to online services.

Sarah Jane Hughes, a law professor at Indiana University who specializes in payment systems, says Ripple has identified a legitimate opportunity. Companies spend a lot on complying with identity verification rules, and mistakes are expensive, she says. For example, PayPal agreed to pay $7.7 million to the U.S. Treasury last week for failing to block just under 500 transactions involving people subject to U.S. sanctions. If you could do verification more rapidly and with a greater degree of certainty, it would be hugely valuable, says Hughes.

However, Hughes says, switching to a new system would not be easy for most financial institutions. They would probably have to retain the old system for some time for compatibility reasons. That means Ripples idea would have to deliver significant benefits to gain traction.

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Ripple, a Cryptocurrency Company, Wants to Rewire Bank Authentication

Bitcoin Trading Weekly Forecast: Dump City #bitcoin $btcusd Mar 24 – Video


Bitcoin Trading Weekly Forecast: Dump City #bitcoin $btcusd Mar 24
I think the bitcoin is going down. From there, who knows. I think we could rally from 230, or we could just die. But I dunno, there #39;s an unusual amount of pump ponzi news out these days something...

By: Baller Trader

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Bitcoin Trading Weekly Forecast: Dump City #bitcoin $btcusd Mar 24 - Video

SoulConfiscator 005 Bitcoin Money Innovation Privacy Law Business Liberty Freedom Erik Voorhees – Video


SoulConfiscator 005 Bitcoin Money Innovation Privacy Law Business Liberty Freedom Erik Voorhees
http://www.twitter.com/VanosEnigmA http://www.facebook.com/VanosEnigma http://www.twitter.com/CryptoEEV Thank you mucho meow for your donation: Bitcoin Address: 1FJ9ZZcnKqhiiYWNhbpBaqy9QQHTBSmsP8 ...

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SoulConfiscator 005 Bitcoin Money Innovation Privacy Law Business Liberty Freedom Erik Voorhees - Video

DevCore Boston 2015 l Open Discussion on R&D Goals & Challenges l Bitcoin Foundation – Video


DevCore Boston 2015 l Open Discussion on R D Goals Challenges l Bitcoin Foundation
DevCore is a series of workshops set to host around the world for all developers interested in deepening their technical expertise to support the future development of Bitcoin Core. DevCore...

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DevCore Boston 2015 l Open Discussion on R&D Goals & Challenges l Bitcoin Foundation - Video

Silk Road investigators charged with stealing bitcoin during probe

This week, another scandal marked the saga of Silk Road, the dark web marketplace thatpromised its buyers and sellers anonymity by way of encryption and bitcoins before it was shut down in 2013.

The US Department of Justice announced charges on Monday against two former federal agents accused of stealing large amounts of bitcoin during their investigation of Silk Road.Carl Force, a former Drug Enforcement Administration agent, and Shaun Bridges, a special agent with theSecret Service, belonged to a Baltimore-based federal task force investigating thesite. Mr. Force was the lead undercover agent who communicated with Ross Ulbricht, the man pegged as Silk Road's founder and convicted in February on charges of money laundering, drug trafficking, and more for his role in overseeing Silk Road.

Now prosecutors say that Mr. Force used the aliases created during the investigation to extort $250,000 from Ulbricht. The also say he stole $90,000 in bitcoins that Ulbricht paid to an officially sanctioned alias used for the undercover investigation.

Mr. Bridges, meanwhile, diverted over $800,000 worth of bitcoin to his account during the operation, authorities say.

If there is one thing the rise and fall of Silk Road has revealed, it is just how easy it is to get caught using bitcoin. Thepeer-to-peer electronic payment system that bypasses banks, is not anonymous. In fact, despite numerous assertions to the contrary, it never was.

Created as recently as 2009, bitcoin gained notoriety in large part due to the mystique surrounding the Silk Road website, which was only accessible through an anonymous browsing network. Bitcoin was the only form of currency accepted on the site, so individuals trading in illicit goods and services made millions of dollars worth of bitcoin transactions each year.

But after Ulbright was tracked down through bitcoin transactions traced between the sites IP address and the wallets stored on his laptop, the jig was up. The myth that using bitcoin would allow criminals to avoid getting caught was officially dispelled. Instead of abandoning the digital currency however, bitcoin enthusiasts are leaning in and calling for greater regulation.

Its sad to see the public perception being affected by negative headlines," says Alex Waters, the founder of Coin.co, a private company that enables online merchants to accept bitcoin for their goods and services, in a phone interview. "It is a fascinating technology that can help humanity on a very large scale. Its a shame for people not to take it seriously because of the emphasis on its illicit use."

As more and more businesses begin to accept the bitcoin, advocates say, it is important that adequate regulatory laws be put in place.

The[Silk Road] case just brought attention to the fact that bitcoin is not anonymous. But there are more uses for it now. People are using it for different things, says Jesse Powell, co-founder and CEO of Kraken, a digital asset exchange with support for bitcoin.

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Silk Road investigators charged with stealing bitcoin during probe

2 federal agents charged with stealing Bitcoin

Two federal agents who helped lead one of several investigations in the case allegedly decided they wanted some of the money for themselves, according to a new federal court documents.

The two now-former agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Secret Service are charged with wire fraud, money laundering and other offenses for allegedly stealing Bitcoin during the federal investigation of Silk Road, an underground illicit black market federal prosecutors shut down in 2013.

READ: 1 shot dead at Fort Meade

The charges in a criminal complaint filed in San Francisco federal court paints a picture of corrupt federal agents trying to enrich themselves as they tried to bring down one of the Internet's top cybercriminals.

The charges against the agents could end up causing complications for the government's case against Ross Ulbricht, also known as "Dread Pirate Roberts", the Silk Road founder. Ulbricht was found guilty last year of aiding drug trafficking with his site. He is awaiting sentencing. As a result of the case against Ulbricht and others, the federal government seized bitcoin that it said at the time was valued at more than $33 million.

The agents now facing charges led a Baltimore-based murder-for-hire case against Ulbricht, separate from the drugs-related charges on which he was found guilty. The murder-for-hire case remains pending. Prosecutors identified the agents as Carl Force, 46 years old, of Baltimore, a special agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration, and Shaun Bridges, 32, of Laurel, Maryland, a special agent with the U.S. Secret Service.

Force was a lead agent in the case and was the main investigator communicating with Ulbricht. Force is charged with wire fraud, theft of government property, money laundering and conflict of interest.

Bridges was the computer forensics expert on the case. He is charged with wire fraud and money laundering.

Force allegedly set up fake online personas and tried to extort money from Ulbricht, including once trying to get $250,000 from him in exchange for not providing information to federal investigators, the criminal complaint says.

Using the online persona "French Maid," Force did succeed in getting $100,000 in Bitcoin from Ulbricht, which Force deposited in his personal accounts, the federal complaint says. He later used a series of Bitcoin and personal U.S. dollar transactions, including a $235,000 wire transfer to an account in Panama, to launder the stolen money, prosecutors allege in the complaint.

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2 federal agents charged with stealing Bitcoin

Silk Road investigators charged with stealing bitcoin

This week, another scandal marked the saga of Silk Road, the dark web marketplace thatpromised its buyers and sellers anonymity by way of encryption and bitcoins before it was shut down in 2013.

The US Department of Justice announced charges on Monday against two former federal agents accused of stealing large amounts of bitcoin during their investigation of Silk Road.Carl Force, a former Drug Enforcement Administration agent, and Shaun Bridges, a special agent with theSecret Service, belonged to a Baltimore-based federal task force investigating thesite. Mr. Force was the lead undercover agent who communicated with Ross Ulbricht, the man pegged as Silk Road's founder and convicted in February on charges of money laundering, drug trafficking, and more for his role in overseeing Silk Road.

Now prosecutors say that Mr. Force used the aliases created during the investigation to extort $250,000 from Ulbricht. The also say he stole $90,000 in bitcoins that Ulbricht paid to an officially sanctioned alias used for the undercover investigation.

Mr. Bridges, meanwhile, diverted over $800,000 worth of bitcoin to his account during the operation, authorities say.

If there is one thing the rise and fall of Silk Road has revealed, it is just how easy it is to get caught using bitcoin. Thepeer-to-peer electronic payment system that bypasses banks, is not anonymous. In fact, despite numerous assertions to the contrary, it never was.

Created as recently as 2009, bitcoin gained notoriety in large part due to the mystique surrounding the Silk Road website, which was only accessible through an anonymous browsing network. Bitcoin was the only form of currency accepted on the site, so individuals trading in illicit goods and services made millions of dollars worth of bitcoin transactions each year.

But after Ulbright was tracked down through bitcoin transactions traced between the sites IP address and the wallets stored on his laptop, the jig was up. The myth that using bitcoin would allow criminals to avoid getting caught was officially dispelled. Instead of abandoning the digital currency however, bitcoin enthusiasts are leaning in and calling for greater regulation.

Its sad to see the public perception being affected by negative headlines," says Alex Waters, the founder of Coin.co, a private company that enables online merchants to accept bitcoin for their goods and services, in a phone interview. "It is a fascinating technology that can help humanity on a very large scale. Its a shame for people not to take it seriously because of the emphasis on its illicit use."

As more and more businesses begin to accept the bitcoin, advocates say, it is important that adequate regulatory laws be put in place.

The[Silk Road] case just brought attention to the fact that bitcoin is not anonymous. But there are more uses for it now. People are using it for different things, says Jesse Powell, co-founder and CEO of Kraken, a digital asset exchange with support for bitcoin.

Read the original post:

Silk Road investigators charged with stealing bitcoin

The Upload: Your tech news briefing for Tuesday, March 31

Silk Road investigators charged with stealing bitcoin

Virtual evidence is no less tempting to a corrupt agent than cash or drugs found in a raid: Two former US federal agents face charges related to stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of bitcoin in the course of investigating the Silk Road marketplace. A former DEA special agent, who worked undercover to cultivate a relationship with recently convicted Ross Ulbricht, allegedly used online personas to engage in complex bitcoin transactions to steal both from the government and the targets of the investigation. And a former Secret Service agent who served as a computer forensics expert allegedly took more than $800,000 in digital currency that he gained control of during the Silk Road investigationand put it in his account at now-defunct bitcoin exchange Mt Gox.

Intel wants to quadruple SSD storage capacity

Everyone wants more storage capacity on their mobile devices without making them any larger, and Intel is working on it: one effort underway is to stuff more bits in a single cell, which could quadruple solid-state drive capacity. The technique that Intel calls QLC (quad-level cell) could put 10TB of storage on standard 2.5-inch drives. Intel said QLC is still at the research stage, and didnt provide a timeline for the release of flash chips based on the technology.

Smartwatch segment to grow 500% in 2015, says IDC

The buzz around the Apple Watch will help fuel 500 percent growth in smartwatch shipments this year, says IDC. The market researcher expects Apple to take 62 percent of the market, even as it lowered its forecast from 22 million to 15.9 million units shipped thanks to a later on-sale date than was expected. IDC sees 25.7 million smart wearables shipping this year, quite a bit less than the 40 million rival researcher Gartner is forecasting.

Samsung, LG call a truce

Silicon Valley executives may believe in unicorns but they probably dont believe theres a land where two bitter rivals decide to end legal action against each other because the petty dispute is wasting everyones time and money. But there is such a place, and its called South Korea: Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics have made up over an incident where an executive from LG was charged with deliberately damaging Samsungs new washing machines ahead of a trade show. The companies said in a joint statement they had decided to bury their differences and focus on improving their services and products. And for good measure, the two companies have also ended a dispute over the alleged theft of OLED technology.

IBM putting $3 billion into new IoT unit

IBM wants to claim a bigger piece of the emerging Internet of things market, and to do that it will invest US$3 billion over four years to establish a new business unit. Chris OConnor will run the group, which is going after customers in travel, logistics, insurance, public utilities, transportation and retail.

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The Upload: Your tech news briefing for Tuesday, March 31

Comets Reassign Blain to Kalamazoo

March 31, 2015 - American Hockey League (AHL) Utica Comets Utica Comets Director of Hockey Operations Pat Conacher announced today that the Vancouver Canucks have reassigned defenseman Jeremie Blain to the Kalamazoo Wings of the ECHL.

Blain, 22, has appeared in 14 games this season with the Comets and recorded four assists and two penalty minutes. He recorded six penalty minutes in six games with Utica during the 2013-14 campaign.

In Kalamazoo this season, the Blain has collected four goals and 20 assists in 38 games. Blain spent the majority of last season with the Kalamazoo Wings and recorded 15 points (three goals, 12 assists) in 25 games.

The 6'2", 192-pound defenseman was originally selected by the Edmonton Oilers in the fourth round (#91 overall) in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.

For a complete schedule of Utica Comets games, as well as ticketing information, visit http://www.uticacomets.com.

Discuss this story on the American Hockey League message board... Digg this story Add to Del.icio.us

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Comets Reassign Blain to Kalamazoo

The world's biggest travel spender

The idea behind the acquisition strategy is that each deal adds some new capability to Priceline. OpenTable adds restaurants and some technology that may be useful in expanding BookingSuite, while Kayak adds a broader audience, a base in advertising revenue and expertise in metasearch. At the same time, rival Expedia has been making deals to broaden its hold on its core businesstravel-agency services for hotels and airlines, mostly in the U.S.by buying Travelocity ($280 million) and Orbitz ($1.3 billion), as well as acquiring Asia-Pacific online travel company Wotif, for more than $600 million in 2014.

"Acquisitions like that take years to play out," said Mahaney, who rates Priceline "outperform" and predicts its shares will hit $1,450. "They have been very patient in the deals they've done, and they never overpay.''

In the short term, Huston's success or failure won't really be determined by the deals he's made. As usual for Priceline, it will boil down to the company's mastery of details and the macroeconomic path of economies in Asia and especially Europe. Mahaney has even backed off his guess that Priceline might make a new acquisition in the vacation-rental businessspeculation has centered around HomeAway as a counterpoint to sharing-economy leader Airbnb. With Priceline boosting its vacation-rental business organically, Mahaney said Priceline doesn't need a deal.

The more assured path to gains for Priceline is for a recovering European economy to meet up with the company's consistent execution and the winding down of the post-merger reinvestment in Kayak and OpenTable, Mahaney said. Priceline's growth slowed in late 2014 as Europe stumbled, but revenue still rose 19 percent in the fourth quarter and 24 percent for the year. With shares below 21 times this year's consensus profit estimate of $57.32 a share, that gives Priceline room to zoom as both margins and top-line growth re-accelerate, the RBC analyst said. Mahaney said fast growth in the company's Asian business will also boost profits.

"Europeans will give up cars and coffee before their vacations,'' Mahaney said. "We're talking about an acceleration outlook, which usually works well for stocks, especially those like Priceline that began the year with trough multiples.''

Read MoreJack Bogle's success principles to live by

Only over time will it become clear whether Huston's deal-making and re-engineering is taking Priceline to a new place. But Wolf is betting that it will.

"He's like Boyd in keeping his hands off division managers and keeping their organization lean,'' Wolf said. "And he understands that his job is to build new shoes.''

See the article here:

The world's biggest travel spender

Where the world's biggest travel spender is headed

The idea behind the acquisition strategy is that each deal adds some new capability to Priceline. OpenTable adds restaurants and some technology that may be useful in expanding BookingSuite, while Kayak adds a broader audience, a base in advertising revenue and expertise in metasearch. At the same time, rival Expedia has been making deals to broaden its hold on its core businesstravel-agency services for hotels and airlines, mostly in the U.S.by buying Travelocity ($280 million) and Orbitz ($1.3 billion), as well as acquiring Asia-Pacific online travel company Wotif, for more than $600 million in 2014.

"Acquisitions like that take years to play out," said Mahaney, who rates Priceline "outperform" and predicts its shares will hit $1,450. "They have been very patient in the deals they've done, and they never overpay.''

In the short term, Huston's success or failure won't really be determined by the deals he's made. As usual for Priceline, it will boil down to the company's mastery of details and the macroeconomic path of economies in Asia and especially Europe. Mahaney has even backed off his guess that Priceline might make a new acquisition in the vacation-rental businessspeculation has centered around HomeAway as a counterpoint to sharing-economy leader Airbnb. With Priceline boosting its vacation-rental business organically, Mahaney said Priceline doesn't need a deal.

The more assured path to gains for Priceline is for a recovering European economy to meet up with the company's consistent execution and the winding down of the post-merger reinvestment in Kayak and OpenTable, Mahaney said. Priceline's growth slowed in late 2014 as Europe stumbled, but revenue still rose 19 percent in the fourth quarter and 24 percent for the year. With shares below 21 times this year's consensus profit estimate of $57.32 a share, that gives Priceline room to zoom as both margins and top-line growth re-accelerate, the RBC analyst said. Mahaney said fast growth in the company's Asian business will also boost profits.

"Europeans will give up cars and coffee before their vacations,'' Mahaney said. "We're talking about an acceleration outlook, which usually works well for stocks, especially those like Priceline that began the year with trough multiples.''

Read MoreJack Bogle's success principles to live by

Only over time will it become clear whether Huston's deal-making and re-engineering is taking Priceline to a new place. But Wolf is betting that it will.

"He's like Boyd in keeping his hands off division managers and keeping their organization lean,'' Wolf said. "And he understands that his job is to build new shoes.''

Continued here:

Where the world's biggest travel spender is headed

Christchurch Outlet Winner at National Travel Awards

Christchurch Outlet Winner at National Travel Awards By Fleur Revell 01 April 2015

Christchurch travellers continued interest in more ambitious and exotic destinations around the world has seen a local travel agency make a clean sweep of four awards at a national ceremony.

The annual House of Travel Awards, hosted by comedian Jeremy Corbett, were held in Wellington with House of Travel Northlands receiving numerous accolades.

The Northlands outlet picked up the prize of Overall Best Performing House of Travel Outlet, and was also named Top Performing Large-Sized Outlet, Best Performing Outlet for HOT Product Land South Island, and Top House of Travel Air Outlet South Island.

Owner operator Stacey Mullinger says she is thrilled with the four awards won by her team and excited that their ongoing commitment to excellence has been recognised.

We are all so proud to have won these awards, but we want to acknowledge our customers whose repeat business and loyalty has allowed us to achieve this success, she says.

My team and I love what we do and are fortunate to work in an industry where we make our clients dreams become reality.

The strong Kiwi dollar meant that trips to European countries and Australia continued to prove popular, along with more adventurous trips to locations such as India, South America and Alaska, adds Mullinger.

The awards evening also saw House of Travel recognise the sales success of the Orbit Corporate Travel outlets. Orbit Corporate Travel in Wellington was recognised for the second year in a row as the Best Performing Orbit Outlet, as well as taking out the Group of the Year - Large Group and Events award, Orbit Account Manager of the Year (Sarah Hill Bennett), and Orbit Rookie of the Year (Kate Wenden).

Paul Rennie, who owns Orbit Corporate Travel Wellington with his wife Adrienne, says they are proud of their teams achievement and continued success.

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Christchurch Outlet Winner at National Travel Awards