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June 19, 2015- In This Issue:

  
Banks Who Choose the Block Chain Can Save $20 Billion Per Year
One of the less-discussed features of digital currencies are how they can help existing financial institutions.

In the crypto world, we like to talk more about how Bitcoin and others enable us to have no need of the banks. More recently, there has been a lot of buzz around how the real winner of the cryptocurrency movement has been the revolution of block chain technology, the decentralized ledger which underpins Bitcoin and others and is integral to its function. Without the block chain, there is nothing special about Bitcoin, and without bitcoins, say many, there is no incentive to utilize the block chain.

 

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Good Bitcoin, Bad Bitcoin: Blockchain Analytics and Fungibility

Elliptic, a Bitcoin analytics and security firm based out of London, announced 'The Bitcoin Big Bang' on Thursday. The software is a Bitcoin 'transaction monitoring and compliance' visualization that could identify in real time which Bitcoins are legal in a given jurisdiction.

 

CoinTelegraph interviewed privacy researcher and security expert Kristov Atlas and market analyst Tone Vays to discuss their perspectives on privacy, price and compliance in relation to Elliptic's Bitcoin blockchain analytics.

 

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Advice on Starting a Bitcoin-Based Business

 

Six years ago no one knew what Bitcoin was, perhaps except for the mystery person (or persons) who invented it. Today, the amount of venture capital pouring into the bustling industry that sprang up around the world's first digital cash is on pace to eclipse the $1 billion mark. Entrepreneurs and investors can't seem to get enough.

 

Still, there's no shortage of haters who dismiss the controversial cryptocurrency as "speculative foolery." Meanwhile others, including Silicon Valley's top startup investor Reid Hoffman, aren't scared off. They're betting big on Bitcoin anyway.

We caught up with three of today's leading executives in the flourishing space at the recent Inside Bitcoins conference in New York City. We asked them why they took the leap into the Bitcoin business and why they think you should, too.

To find out what Jonathan Chester of Bitwage, Connie Gallippi of the BitGive Foundation and Barry Silbert of the Digital Currency Group had to say, check out the brief video above.  

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Bitcoin could shift balance of power in Greece
As Greece stumbles toward capital controls, bitcoin is once again proving its disruptive power within the global financial system.

Over the past week, both the price and volume of bitcoin has been increasing (it's up 11 percent so far in June) - this is similar to the activity that occurred when Cyprus introduced capital controls in 2013. During the Cyprus crisis, citizens were not only locked out of their bank accounts but many found that some of their money was confiscated when the banks re-opened. This confiscation went by the "friendly" moniker "bail-in." In the Cyprus bail-in, any deposit above 100,000 euros were converted into Bank of Cyprus shares. Given this precedent, it is no surprise that Greeks are seeking a safe haven for their savings.

If Greece does choose to leave the euro zone, it is unclear what currency the government will choose - it could choose a new drachma or it could choose an existing currency like the Russian ruble. Regardless of the fiat currency the Greek government chooses, the likelihood that Greek citizens holding paper currency will lose money in a Grexit is very high. Its only natural for citizens to seek an easy and secure alternative.

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