Blockchain Daily News
Deals, Investments & M&As
Jonathan Shieber - Tech Crunch
R3 represents the largest consortium of global financial institutions working on developing commercial applications for the distributed ledger technology that’s at the heart of blockchain technology.
In addition to the big names that committed the most capital, R3 pulled in additional commitments from ING, Banco Bradesco, Itaü Unibanco, Natixis, Barclays, UBS and Wells Fargo.
R3, which opened the first tranches of the company’s planned $200 million financing exclusively to members of the consortium, is one standard-bearer for the mainstreaming of blockchain technology.
Indeed, the company already counts among its customers the government of Singapore, the Bank of Canada and other national financial institutions.
Leading investors included SBI Group, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, HSBC, Intel and Temasek.
Read the press release here.
FAO: The third and final tranche will be accessible to R3 members and non-R3 institutional investors
Cryptocurrencies
NEM Gains 500% in May as the Fifth Largest Cryptocurrency
Joseph Young - cryptocoinsnews
A major factor that has allowed NEM to transform into one of the most popular altcoins in Japan is its development team and company composed of Japanese founders and talents. NEM was initially developed and introduced in Japan by Makoto Takemiya, the co-founder and CEO of Soramitsu, the company that has also introduced the Iroha blockchain project to the Linux foundation’s Hyperledger Project.
Exchanges & Trading Venues
Bitstamp Will Enable ETH & LTC Trading This June
Live Bitcoin News
Bitstamp will provide fiat currency and Bitcoin trading pairs for both currencies.
BitPeople
One Of The World’s Largest Financial Services Firms Is Mining Bitcoins
Joon Ian Wong - Quartz
Abby Loves Bitcoin: Fidelity Chief Touts Digital Currency In First Major Speech
Beth Healy - Boston Globe
Abigail Johnson, in her first major speaking engagement since becoming chairman of Fidelity Investments, spoke in New York at Consensus 2017 — not on mutual funds or retirement plans, but about bitcoin and blockchain technology.
FAO: Among other speakers at Consensus 2017: Vanessa Colella - City’s Head of Innovation & Chief Innovation Officer, Naval Ravikant - Angelist’s CEO, Brian Armstrong - CEO, Coinbase.
Latest Developments & Agreements
CoinDesk Previews New 'State of Blockchain' at Consensus 2017
Alex Sunnarborg - CoinDesk
Regulation
EU, India Governments See Path to Global Blockchain Adoption
Amy Castor - CoinDesk
Collaboration was a major theme during one of the Consensus 2017 panels, with participants discussing the approaches taken by governments and regulatory changes – and how they need to come around to the idea that they cannot act alone.
FAO: meanwhile in Japan...
Bitcoin Going Mainstream As Japanese Business Signs On
Nikkei Asian Review
Some 300,000 stores seen taking the virtual currency this year.
Analysis
The $80 billion Question: Why Are Bitcoin & Ethereum Growing So Fast?
Stan Schroeder - Mashable
A little over two months ago, Bitcoin achieved a symbolic milestone: After an intensive period of growth, the price of one Bitcoin surpassed the price of an ounce of gold.
That seems like ancient history. The price of Bitcoin has nearly doubled since then and the cryptocurrency is currently trading at about $2,200. Bitcoin's cousin Ethereum is trading at about $180, its price increasing by a cool 1400% in the last three months.
Read more by Soren K.Group
