Bitcoin Retreats Below $440 as Price Support Weakens

Bitcoin prices dropped below $450 late yesterday and then continued to fall below $440 as of press time, breaking two key psychological levels in the span of hours.
Bitcoin dipped below $450 at 21:00 UTC on 27th April, reaching $449.89, CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index (BPI) figures show. The digital currency quickly mounted a recovery, passing $450 at 22:00 UTC and rising to $450.80.
But, bitcoin failed to stay above $450 for long, falling to $449.89 at 22:30 UTC and dropping past $440 to reach $435.28 at 1:30 UTC. At the time of report, the digital currency was trading at $442.71.
Still, the currency’s plunge below $450 and $440 on 27th April and 28th April, respectively, contrasted sharply with the steady climb it enjoyed earlier this week, when bitcoin prices surpassed several key levels amid the latest progress toward overcoming the blockchain’s inherent capacity challenges.
Market observers suggested that $475 may be the next psychological barrier for traders, and that weak volume ahead of this level may have inhibited the price from continuing its upward momentum.
The retreat from $475 is notable given that bitcoin prices were on the cusp of reaching highs not seen since before 2015. According to BPI data, the price of bitcoin last hit $490 on 19th December, 2015, the only time it touched that figure for the year.
The price of bitcoin last exceeded $500 on 31st August, 2014.
Charles L. Bovaird II is a financial writer and consultant with strong knowledge of securities markets and investing concepts.
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Stock Transfer Firm, Blockchain Startup Partner to Build Securities Registry

Australian stock transfer company Computershare is working with a UK-based blockchain startup to create a securities registry using the technology.

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The plan is to use Setl’s tech foundation to facilitate the exchange of title from securities buyer to seller, with Computershare aiming to attract clients and users to the platform as it takes shape.
The two companies announced the deal at an investor event in Sydney, according to a report by the Sydney Morning Herald. From the outset, Computershare and Setl will focused on applications in the Australian securities market, which is notable given past moves by the country’s major stock exchange to explore distributed ledger solutions.
Stuart Irving, chief executive of Computershare, told investors during the event that the technology – which some proponents have said could augment or outright replace elements of the securities trade sector – makes sense for the company.
He reportedly told investors:

"We believe the commentary that blockchain is automatically 'bad for Computershare' is ill-informed and reflects incomplete analysis or competing vested interests. The focus should be on payments and trade settlement, not registry. The view that 'distributed ledger' technology means everyone will get a copy of a share register is naive.”

Under the deal, Setl will provide software solutions for the planned registries, while Computershare will lobby industry stakeholders to participate.
Setl made headlines late last year when the startup named a former Bank of England executive director as its chairman. Sir David Walker, appointed in mid-December, had previously served in leadership capacities for Barclays and Morgan Stanley.
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How MIT is Using Ripple to Push Blockchain Research Beyond Theory

MIT has moved its blockchain research from the blackboard to the real world through a partnership with distributed ledger tech startup Ripple.

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While MIT has long been involved in supporting the bitcoin and blockchain industries through research, the aim of this project is to develop blockchain, financial services and other enterprise data projects, the university said.
Project director David Shrier, of MIT Connection Science, said he expects this most recent step to attract a wide range of researchers, more than doubling in size its first six months of operation.
Shrier told CoinDesk:

"It’s one thing to develop a four node test blockchain. It's quite another thing to hook up to a large scale global network of nodes."

As part of the research, which is currently being conducted by seven students and professors, MIT is running a validator for the Ripple Consensus Ledger, its permissioned distributed ledger system. The validator is a server that confirms transactions on the network on which the XRP digital asset sits.
Going back to early 2015, MIT has been involved in blockchain tech most directly through support of bitcoin development through its Digital Currency Initiative (DCI). Last month, the MIT DCI helped raise $900,000 to support bitcoin developers, with donors to the fund including venture capitalist Fred Wilson and LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman
MIT's decision to use Ripple over alternatives was in part due to what Shrier called the startup being "very well positioned" in finance. He added that the university is also interested in exploring "other different flavors" of blockchain.

Laying the foundation

However, MIT's embrace of blockchain has roots in its longstanding support of open-source projects in general.
Since 2007, MIT's Internet Trust Consortium, which includes UBS and NTT Japan, has been developing open-source projects dedicated to helping people more efficiently manage their data. Last year, the consortium was moved under Shrier's MIT Connection Science and began publishing blockchain-specific research.
Members of the consortium published the results of their "Enigma" research in June, which focused on how developers could build a decentralized cloud platform using blockchain. Co-led by Pentland, the project uses an external blockchain to manage who can access data and the identities of those users. The project is currently in beta.
This January, Pentland and fellow Ripple project leader Thomas Hardjono published an early draft of their work on ChainAnchor. While the final draft of the paper is not yet available online, the early version describes ChainAnchor as a means of "retaining user anonymity within a permissioned blockchain".
Both a paper showing their results and a website are expected soon.
The Ripple project, in turn, is led by MIT professor Alex Pentland; managing director David Shrier; and chief technical officer Thomas Hardjono. "Dozens" of researchers are expected to join over the next six months, according to Shrier.

Future Research

In total, Shrier says MIT now has about three dozen projects related to blockchain being run by between 50 researchers and 70 researchers.
"And I only expect that number to grow," he said.
As part of his work in blockchain, Shrier will teach a class on Future Commerce in an online setting for the first time this June. Previously the class was held in a traditional teaching environment, with 50 students creating 19 projects, five of which Shrier says are on their way to launching as startups.
So far, 500 students have signed up for the $2,300 12-week class, though Shrier expects the number to hit 1,000 students by the time class begins.
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Bitstamp Close to Securing European License for Bitcoin Exchange

One of the world’s largest bitcoin exchanges is reportedly close to announcing a new deal with the Luxembourg government that would enable it to launch regulated and licensed services across Europe.

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According to sources, Bitstamp may have secured a payment institution (PI) or electronic money institution (EMI) license from Luxembourg regulators, a move that the company has reportedly said would allow it to become "the first regulated and licensed bitcoin exchange for all 28 countries in the EU".
Founded in 2013 and originally based in Slovenia, Bitstamp has long been one of Europe’s largest bitcoin startups, offering bitcoin trading and gold buying services to investors. The company is registered in the UK, the US and Luxembourg, where its Bitstamp Europe SA entity is based.
Such a move would come nearly two years after Luxembourg first opened dialogue with the industry, and weeks after blockchain-based payment app provider Circle received an e-money license in the UK.
Bitstamp is currently the fourth largest exchange by total US dollar trading volume, according to data from Bitcoin Charts, behind Bitfinex, BTC-e and Coinbase. The exchange saw just shy of 4,000 BTC traded in the last 24 hours, representing $1.6m in trades. Notably, it does not yet offer EUR trading.
A representative of the Luxembourg Trade & Investment Office declined to comment but said an announcement on the government’s work with the industry could be forthcoming.
Bitstamp executives offered no comment when reached.
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Coinkite Drops Consumer Wallet for Enterprise Bitcoin Hardware Pivot

Bitcoin technology startup Coinkite has announced it is winding down its web wallet in an effort to focus on enterprise hardware products.

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The phasing out of the product, Coinkite said in a blog post, will take place over the course of 30 days, after which users logging into the site will automatically have their balances withdrawn. The company indicated there would be an additional process for any unclaimed funds leftover from the transaction.
In interview, Coinkite CEO Rodolfo Novak said that the startup is keen to move away from software, as he indicated resources are being drained at the company by the “amount of bullshit” involved in offering the service.
Novak told CoinDesk:

"We want to write software, not deal with lawyers and DDoSing."

Novak also cited the high cost of offering reliable free software services as another pain point considered in the transition.
Founded in 2012, Coinkite has long offered prominent developer tools, including API and wallet products that the company once lauded as more decentralized and more privacy-friendly than alternatives.
"One of the main issues with SaaS is all the free users and need support and we want to provide good support. All these things have costs," Novak continued.
Coinkite encouraged wallet users to switch to products available from Bitcoin.org, Bitcoin Core, Electrum and Ledger.

Microsoft’s lunch

Novak said Coinkite now plans to focus on creating bitcoin transaction processing hardware, a product it positioned as one that would appeal to more lucrative enterprise users.
Notably, Novak positioned such a device as a more secure alternative to cloud-based services such as Microsoft Azure. The comments come at a time when Microsoft is ramping up its Blockchain-as-a-Service testbed with the goal of a more formal Spring launch.
"It’s not safe to use hosted services," Novak said. "It’s important to have servers that are meant to transact funds and that use bitcoin business logic."
Novak did not offer a timeline for the products, but suggested announcements on its latest offerings would be ready soon. Additional products Coinkite will now focus on include physical bitcoins and bitcoin payment terminals.
More details on the service shutdown can be found here.
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Industry Advocacy Groups Unite to Launch Global Blockchain Forum

A collection of interest groups focused on bitcoin, blockchain and digital asset-related issues has created a new business forum in a bid to shape how public policy relating to the technology is
formed.
Dubbed the Global Blockchain Forum, the group’s supporters include the US-based Chamber of Digital Commerce, the Australian Digital Currency & Commerce Association (ADCCA), the UK Digital Currency Association (UKDCA), and the Association of Crypto-Currency Enterprises and Start-ups (ACCESS), headquartered in Singapore.

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The group said that it aims to establish "international industry best practices" to encourage global innovation.
Perianne Boring, president of the Chamber of Digital Commerce, said that the effort grew out of organic communication between the various stakeholders that focused largely on public policy advocacy.
Boring told CoinDesk:

"We decided that the time was ripe to formalize our engagement to create a this platform and welcome other related organizations to coordinate efforts as well."

The group’s formation comes as governments worldwide continue to move toward establishing regulatory stances on the technology, with recent policy updates observed in Asia, Europe and the US.
According to Boring, the group will aim to promote communication between its stakeholders; push for “consistent” public policy approaches to digital currency and blockchain regulation; and conduct research to support the development of such policy.
"There is next no consistency among the various countries looking to regulate bitcoin and blockchain tech," Boring explained.
For example, she indicated that anti-money laundering (AML), know-your-customer (KYC) and Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) laws differ globally, forcing added costs on industry businesses.
Boring said that the group will also seek dialogue with applicable regulatory bodies as part of its goal of influencing public policy outcomes.
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Coinalytics Rebrands As Skry, Hires IBM Vet to Go ‘Blockchain’

Coinalytics today announced it has rebranded as Skry, unveiling a new logo and revealing two new hires as part of its move to expand beyond services for the bitcoin blockchain.
In an interview with CoinDesk, Skry co-founder and CEO Fabio Federici said the company is working to merge blockchain, big data and artificial intelligence in to a single product.
Federici said:

"The company itself wants to move beyond bitcoin, so sending out that clear message was important. But in order to do so, and to make it applicable to any blockchain, we needed that expertise to go from a bitcoin analytics application to a blockchain analytics platform."

Announced today, Dr Akash Singh, IBM’s former chief researcher who worked for 10 years on IBM's Watson computer, joined Skry as its chief technology officer. Singh will focus on helping make Coinalytics "enterprise-ready" by ensuring that big banks and law enforcement agencies interested in its services can leverage a blockchain-agnostic platform.
The move to service larger companies also includes a new "fusion layer" of the analytics product.
Singh, who was also the CTO of data science at Shenzhen, China-based Huawei, will work to build the service designed to let clients safely analyze in-house data like user accounts and geolocation information but without turning it over to any third-party.
Also announced today, Dr Masoud Nikravesh, was hired as Skry's new chief data scientist. Nikravesh is an artificial intelligence researcher and former computational science and engineering director at the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society for the State of California.
Over his 25-year career Nikravesh has specialized in risk analysis and prediction models for credit risk scoring, according to the statement. He also worked on anomaly detection for anti-fraud services.
Nikravesh said in a statement:

"Skry is at the forefront of applying Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence to turn the blockchain into actionable insights, which will have a crucial impact on the future of this technology, beyond bitcoin."

A new path forward

Founded in April 2014, Palo Alto-based Skry has raised a total of $1.3m from 500 Startups and The Hive to build its analytics platform for bitcoin.
But as the firm speaks with law-enforcement agencies and privacy-conscious banks, it has joined the ranks of companies like Elliptic, which last month raised $5m for its own set of blockchain surveillance tools.
In interview with CoinDesk, Federici said he wanted the newly rebranded company to help "bridge the gap" between the rapidly increasing sets of data available through machine-learning tools and the business use-cases that might only become apparent upon close examination.
In a hat-tip to the company’s name, which means to foretell the future using a crystal ball, Federici added:

"We believe in the real-time aspect of the service using machine learning and artificial intelligence to let the user get best possible look at the future."

Skry logo courtesy of Skry; Crystal ball via Shutterstock