Cryptocurrency Plus

BI Intelligence See Also Fintech could be bigger than ATMs, PayPal, and Bitcoin combined THE FINTECH PROFITABILITY REPORT: Why fintechs are struggling to turn a profit, and the hurdles they must overcome to see success THE US FINTECH REGULATION REPORT: How the US regulatory environment is holding back the fintech industry This story was delivered to BI Intelligence "Fintech Briefing" subscribers. To learn more and subscribe, please click here. US-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has raised $100 million in a Series D funding round, bringing the company's valuation to $1.6 billion, and making it a fintech unicorn. The round — which was led by Institutional Investment Partners, with participation from Battery Ventures, Draper Associates, Spark Capital, and others — brings the company's total raised to date to $217 million. The latest raise means Coinbase now accounts for 10% of all venture capital invested in blockchain technology startups, according to CoinD...

What's This? Image: pixabay By Team CommerceMashable Shopping2017-08-14 14:44:31 -0400 Want to get rich enough to fill bathtubs with dollar bills just for kicks? Could Bitcoin make that happen? Let's dive in. When Bitcoin debuted in 2009, its early adopters bought up large amounts of the digital currency for pennies. Since then, Bitcoin’s value has increased dramatically, turning several of those initial investors into millionaires. But the economics surrounding Bitcoin and other forms of digital currency like Ethereum, Ripple, Litecoin, and most recently, Bitcoin Cash, all dubbed “cryptocurrency,” can be unpredictable and complicated. One huge benefit to using cryptocurrency is that it can't be stolen or counterfeit. When digital currencies are exchanged, they're converted into illegible code that not only makes them secure but also makes the sender and receiver appear anonymous. Unlike normal currency, digital currencies are not government regulated. No hi...

Jackson: That brings to mind the recent investor letter which Oaktree's Howard Marks sent out in which he said that Bitcoin and other digital assets aren't real. What do you say to that? Sacks: Marks isn't wrong to raise an alarm bell about speculation, but he's wrong in saying it's not "real." That's like saying software isn't real. Of course it's real. Did the U.S. dollar become less real when it stopped being backed by gold? Cryptocurrency is the next step in that same evolution — to make currency more virtual. In its purest form, currency is confidence. It's a network effect around an agreed-upon medium of exchange that has some promise of scarcity. Bitcoin enforces its scarcity through a combination of cryptography and economic incentives ("cryptoeconomics"). A lot of people find that more comforting than relying on the good faith of a government. In math we trust. People in the U.S. — and especially longtime partici...