Financial Regulators Should Listen to Bill Gates on Mobile Money

From American Banker

“People around the world are holding an instrument for economic empowerment in the palm of their hands-but some of those who could benefit most from mobile money are facing a lock screen.

Mobile payments have emerged as a key tool in the fight against global poverty. People in poor and rural areas of countries like Kenya and India are already using cell phones to send and receive funds and pay bills. Microsoft founder Bill Gates highlighted a broad range of possibilities at the Sibos banking conference in Boston early this month, describing how mobile payment applications can help people in developing countries receive vital aid, set aside money to buy fertilizer for next year's crops, save for tuition fees and build credit scores that give them to access to affordable loans.”

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Banking Elite Meet in Washington to Discuss Bitcoin Threat

From Cryptocoin News

“The Institute of International Finance held its annual membership meeting in Washington this past weekend, and banking elite from all over the world convened to discuss many topics. The newest topic of discussion at this year’s meeting, one that had eluded them in previous years, was a threat to traditional banking embodied by Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies. What should banking “do” about a Bitcoin threat? What can they do about it?”

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The role and future of cryptocurrency

From Bob’s Guide

‘The financial sector can no longer escape the impact of digital currency. Since the introduction of Bitcoin in 2009, other cryptocurrencies have emerged from the internet and have increased regional independence. Kingdoms and independent ethnicities have gained a sense of identity from using digital currencies, as seen in cases such as MazaCoin which has been adopted by the Lakota people, and Scotcoin which further demonstrations Scotland’s desire to be independent from Great Britain.

According to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osbourne, cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, are now being studied by officials to become officially traded in the UK. Osbourne announced the government’s plans during the launch of Innovate Finance (a new industry body established to promote the interests of the UK’s rapidly growing financial technology sector) at the beginning of August and highlighted a number of initiatives that he hopes will help fintech companies prosper. “It’s only by harnessing innovations in finance, alongside our existing world class knowledge and skills in financial services, that we’ll ensure Britain’s financial sector continues to meet the diverse needs of businesses and consumers, here and around the globe, and create the jobs and growth we all want to see in the future,” Osborne said.’

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Does Bitcoin Have a Place in Banking?

From Bank Innovation

“How do bankers really feel about bitcoin? It seems financial institutions are viewing the world’s most famous cryptocurrency as a potential threat, and a potential opportunity.

As bitcoin gets more popular, banks are becoming compelled to pay attention — not just to bitcoin, but to other digital currencies as well, including liteCoin, dogecoin, and the new ethereum.

The head of Wells Fargo’s global financial crimes intelligence, Lester Joseph, noted at yesterday’s Digital Currencies 2014 conference that Wells Fargo does not have a separate division studying digital currencies, but the bank has been discussing the topic. “There’s a tremendous business opportunity to bank virtual currency companies and loan money to these companies… they are a potential competitor so we need to understand it.”

Of course, banks aren’t banking bitcoin companies yet. Joseph explained, saying “The reason we aren’t banking bitcoin businesses [is the] very tough regulatory climate, and a lot of pressure to reduce risk, and we’re just not fully comfortable in the space.” Stories of cryptocurrency-friendly businesses having their bank accounts shut down are an everyday occurrence.’

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Afraid of Bitcoin Hackers? Use a Paper Wallet

From Cointelegraph

“Whether it’s from hackers, thieves, or simple carelessness, one of the biggest threats to Bitcoin safety is wallet security. An Austrian research and development startup, however, is trying to bypass some of the greatest digital currency dangers by moving Bitcoin wallets off electronic gadgets completely and onto the old-school stuff: paper.

A bit of technology (in the form of a USB device and a printer) is still obviously required, though the development team at Megion Research and Development say the process is simple.

“Paper wallets are created in 3 simple steps,” read the instructions for the USB device, called Mycelium Entropy. “1. Insert [the device] into a printer that allows you to print pictures from a USB flash drive. 2. Select the print option on the printer. 3. There is no step 3.”

When the USB is plugged in, it creates a random number with 256 bits of entropy (a tidbit from information theory that basically means the number is really, really random. No, REALLY).

Mycelium Entropy turns that random number into a Bitcoin address and private key, which are then printed off (in number/letter form and as QR codes) onto a piece of paper.”

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Bitcoin continues to grow but university researchers suggest some changes

From Diamondback

“In the world of digital finance, online payment system Bitcoin has been growing quickly since its software debuted in 2009, with millions of dollars’ worth of bitcoins being exchanged on a daily basis. But researchers at this university said the computational resources the system requires could be better used with some changes.

Forbes reported in December that bitcoin mining, the power- and hardware-heavy process used to add bitcoins to the market, uses $15 million worth of electricity per day. In response, researchers at the university’s computer science department, in collaboration with Cornell Tech and Microsoft Research, developed and recently debuted Permacoin as an alternative that repurposes energy consumed by bitcoin mining to archive and preserve data.”

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