Tag Archives: bitcoin exchange

FinTech Chapter 6: The Super 7: London Startups Dazzling Tech Scene

MarketsMuse is keeping its fingers on the pulse of the FinTech movement, and aside from the initiatives that we’ve spot-lighted taking place courtesy of Wall Street Wonks, its more than fair to say that London is fast becoming the hub of innovation and technology, and attempting to lay claim to the position as the fintech capital of the world, strengthening its place within the global financial market.

To put this into perspective, the UK is now the fastest growing region for fintech investment with deal volumes growing at 74% per year since 2008, topping $265 million in 2013 alone (Accenture).  That’s twice as fast as its American counterpart Silicon Valley.

Commonly referred to as Tech City, London’s fintech cluster is now thriving, nurturing entrepreneurs, new business models and technologies. Last year alone, over 15,000 (UHV Hacker Young) new businesses were set up in EC1V, more than any other area in the UK. These are being celebrated and promoted with the help of new London initiatives such as the Fintech 50 and the first official Fintech Week.

Here are 3 of the top 7 tech start-ups that have added some air to the latest “tech bubble.”

Osper 

Osper has come up with an innovative way to create a banking service than can be used by children, combining prepaid debit cards and smartphone apps controlled by both them and their parents. The approach could potentially reach a market underserved by most banks, but which may also be embraced by parents keen to educate their children early on about how to manage money.

Elliptic  

Elliptic, thinks it’s just made a huge breakthrough that could make banks way more interested in bitcoin. The company has created a sophisticated bit of software that it claims can identify where a bitcoin has come from. That’s a big deal for banks, who have a legal obligation to find out where the money they hold is coming from to ensure they’re not holding proceeds of crime.

coinfloor

Coinfloor is a new VC-backed Bitcoin exchange that prides itself on complying to strict anti-money laundering and “know your customer” procedures, despite the fact that Bitcoin isn’t classified as money by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority.

 

To read the original source, click here.

What’s Next For Wall Street’s FinTech Czars? Bitcoin Exchanges!

MarketsMuse.com FinTech update profiles Wall Street’s trading system technology push into the next frontier: Bitcoin Exchanges. Below is courtesy of March 24 column “Legacy Exchange Players Rush To Aid Bitcoin Exchanges.”

Following news that Nasdaq will offer trading technology to Noble Markets, legacy exchanges and executives are helping to make the trading of the virtual currency very real indeed.

Phil Albinus, TradersMagazine
Phil Albinus, TradersMagazine

Another day, another step forward to Bitcoin’s road to legitimacy. Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal reported that market maker Nasdaq will provide trading technology to Noble Markets, the start-up firm that aims to allow hedge funds to trade bitcoin and “related digital-currency assets.”

[Is the Buyside Ready to Trade Bitcoin?]

Earlier in the day, news broke that former NYSE CEO Duncan Neiderauer had joined Tera Group, a  bitcoin derivatives trading platform and virtual currency bourse. The former head of the Wall Street trading floor will serve as an advisory director for the newish bitcoin firm.

Wall Street is seeing real opportunities in the virtual currency. As the Wall Street Journal cites, “The New York Stock Exchange’s investment in bitcoin exchange Coinbase; regulatory approval of public trading in the Digital Currency Group’s Bitcoin Investment Fund; former J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. executive Blyth Masters’ appointment to a lead new digital-asset settlement service…” Continue reading

Nasdaq Agrees To Power New Bitcoin Marketplace

MarketMuse blog update profiles Nasdaq recent agreement to power a new marketplace from bitcoin trading. Bitcoins are the largest decentralized digital currency in the market and has been taking the investment world by storm since its introduction in 2009 by its founder,  Satoshi Nakamoto. MarketMuse blog update is courtesy of Nasdaq’s article, “Nasdaq to Provide Trading Technology for Bitcoin Marketplace — Update” with excerpts from the article below. 

Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. has agreed to provide New York-based startup Noble Markets with core technology to power a new marketplace aimed at allowing companies and institutional investors such as hedge funds to trade bitcoin and related digital-currency assets.

According to a joint statement provided to The Wall Street Journal, Noble’s platform will use Nasdaq’s X-stream trading system, a high-tech system for matching market participants’ orders that is used by more than 30 exchanges and marketplaces worldwide. Nasdaq will also provide marketing support.

The agreement follows other Wall Street initiatives that could pave the way for financial institutions to own and trade digital currencies, which fans say have the potential to make the global financial system more efficient but which have also been marred by price fluctuations, investment scams and cybersecurity concerns.

 

Recent developments include: the New York Stock Exchange’s investment in bitcoin exchange Coinbase; regulatory approval of public trading in the Digital Currency Group’sBitcoin Investment Fund; former J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. executive Blyth Masters’ appointment to a lead new digital-asset settlement service; and news earlier Monday that former NYSE Chief Executive Duncan Niederauer will work as an adviser to bitcoin derivatives platform TeraExchange.

To read the entire article from Nasdaq, click here

The 1st Regulated Bitcoin Bourse? Frmr Goldman Sachs Algo Trader Pitches LedgerX as a Regulated Exchange

MarketsMuse.com update courtesy of extracts from today’s edition of Traders Magazine.

Yet another coin is being tossed into the fountain of Bitcoin dreams and wishes. The latest aspirant and first to file a full-blown registration for a “Bitcoin Bourse”with the CFTC is “LedgerX”, a company led by former 6-pack broker-dealer and MIT Alumni Paul Chou, who was most recently a Goldman Sachs trader.

According to the filings, LedgerX hopes to become a fully-regulated derivatives exchange clearing house. While at Goldman, Chou was responsible for developing, trading and risk managing algorithmic equity trading strategies for U.S. and Japanese markets. Also, he developed a set of cross-asset strategies and devised a method to unify and optimize the trade flow across hundreds of trading algorithms. Prior to Goldman, Chou delivered trading and spread-risk tracking tools on projects for Citadel Investment Group and Morgan Stanley.

Chou, who serves as chief executive officer of LedgerX, is designing the exchange and currently has filed registration papers, bringing the bourse one step closer to reality. LedgerX’s registration, filed with the CFTC, is open for public comment until Friday, January 30th. On December 15th, the CTFC requested comments on the LedgerX submission.

If approved by the CFTC, LedgerX would be the first federally-regulated Bitcoin options platform and clearing house to list and clear fully-collateralized, physically-settled Bitcoin options for the institutional market. LedgerX has also applied for registration with the CFTC as a swap execution facility and as a derivatives clearing organization on September 29, 2014.

LedgerX is backed by several high profile investors such as Google Ventures and LightSpeed Ventures. Also, Jim Newsome, former chairman of the CFTC and former chief executive of NYMEX, and Tom Lewis, former CEO of both Ameritrade and Green Exchange, currently sit on the LedgerX board of directors.

Simultaneously, to build a Bitcoin derivatives market, he is bringing together corporations seeking to hedge their Bitcoin exposure and financial institutions searching for trading and investing opportunities in Bitcoin.

According to Chou, more than 80,000 entities accept Bitcoin, including brand names such as Dell, Expedia and PayPal.

 

Change is Coming: What to Expect With Bitcoin ETF

MarketMuse update courtesy of Inside Bitcoins’ Kyle Torpey. 

Much of the bitcoin community is excited at the prospect of a bitcoin ETF due to the assumption that it could bring many new speculators into the market. After all, if everyone with access to assets traded on the NASDAQ can just as easily trade bitcoin in the same account as their other investments, it’s possible that more traditional investors may take a shot at the digital currency.

While there’s been plenty of attention on the possible Winklevoss bitcoin ETF, there hasn’t been much discussion on the effect the ETF could have on current bitcoin exchanges. Once traders have access to a regulated bitcoin ETF on the NASDAQ, why would they spend time trading on one of the frequently-hacked bitcoin exchanges?


Trading fees and unique trading options

I reached out to BTC China Senior Business Development Manager Greg Wolfson to get his reaction to the possibility of a bitcoin ETF becoming a reality in the near future. When asked what a traditional bitcoin exchange can offer that won’t be found with a bitcoin ETF, Wolfson was quick to point to zero-fee trading. The trend of offering free trading has become a popular way for new bitcoin exchanges to make a name for themselves, and this is something that simply cannot be offered by a bitcoin ETF.

When trading an ETF, you’re always going to have to pay brokerage fees and the expense ratio, which is used to pay the costs of operating the ETF. For example, GLD — on which the Winkless ETF is based — has a 0.40% expense ratio. You can bet that a bitcoin exchange will not charge you money simply for holding onto your bitcoins throughout the year — although leaving your bitcoins on an exchange for long periods of time is also not recommended.

“On the other hand, the the ETF will be regulated by the SEC and therefore, open to many types of institutional investors that are otherwise prohibited from investing in bitcoin.”

Wolfson went on to explain certain trading options that are unique to bitcoin exchanges in his full response on the matter:

“An ETF may best fulfill the needs of individuals who want to simply hold bitcoin, but exchanges still offer a diversity of trading options that set them apart. Zero-fee trading, derivatives, cross-trading with altcoins, and direct access to BTC, to name a few. On the other hand, the the ETF will be regulated by the SEC and therefore, open to many types of institutional investors that are otherwise prohibited from investing in bitcoin.”

Access to actual bitcoins

Direct access to bitcoins was another feature of bitcoin exchanges mentioned by Greg Wolfson. While you’re purchasing actual bitcoins on a traditional bitcoin exchange, such as BTC China, you’re only purchasing shares of assets owned by someone else when you buy an ETF. You cannot trade your ETF shares for actual bitcoins. If you’re looking for ownership over physical bitcoins rather than exposure to the bitcoin price, then a traditional bitcoin exchange — or even an OTC trade — will be a better option.

What about insurance?

Although Wolfson did not mention insurance in his comments regarding the bitcoin ETF, it’s possible that this could be another opportunity for bitcoin exchanges. As mentioned in a previous article, there is no insurance to be found for shareholders of the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust (COIN).

As we’ve seen in the past — and as recently as a few weeks ago with the Bitstamp hack — thefts are a rather common occurrence in the bitcoin world. An exchange that decides to offer insurance for all deposits — outside of user error — could offer peace of mind to the paranoid trader who doesn’t want to worry about a possible MtGox fiasco. The only bitcoin companies that seem to be bragging about their insurance coverage publicly are Coinbase, Xapo, and Circle; none of which are useful for even moderately high frequency trading.

For the original article from Inside Bitcoins, click here

Europe’s First Bitcoin ETF Comes Courtesy of UK-Based Exchange “Coinfloor”

coindesklogo1    MarketsMuse salutes the news reporting below courtesy of industry news publication CoinDesk and reporter Daniel Palmer

Coinfloor has revealed plans to launch a bitcoin exchange traded fund (ETF) and accept additional fiat currencies as part of its efforts to expand internationally.

Starting immediately, the UK-based bitcoin exchange is allowing customers to make deposits in US dollars, euros and Polish zloty, in addition to the British pound.

The company framed the move as a way for it to transition from a UK-only exchange to a global player in the wider market for bitcoin exchanges.

Adam Knight, chairman and investor with the exchange, said:

“By expanding to dollars, euros and zloty, we are expanding from a UK-only focus to an international one, delivering more value to our UK customers and growing our user base internationally.”

Global plans Continue reading