Juniper Research has published a new research report on the total value of Venture Capital investment into blockchain technologies and Bitcoin companies in the first 6 months of the year. Investments totalled $290 million, with more than 30 startups receiving funding in that time. More than a third of all investment was accounted for by 3 companies: Circle, Blockstream and Digital Asset Holdings.
Thomson Reuters announced the beta version of their own Ether wallet for microtransactions called BlockOne wallet during the Blockchain hackathon on September 9 in London, UK.
Xapo, a Switzerland-based Bitcoin wallet and debit card provider is now available in Venezuela. Citizens of Venezuela can now purchase Bitcoins, with a minimum order of $50, through the Xapo website. According to the report, Xapo has opened a bank account with Banesco, the leading privately-owned Bank in Venezuela, so users can send Fiat from any bank in the country to make Bitcoin deposits.
The town of Zug in Switzerland aims to become Switzerland's 'Crypto Valley' and a center for virtual currency firms, reports Reuters. In July it launched a pilot program allowing residents to make bitcoin payments for government services. Now Zug welcomes virtual currency firms to open their shops in nearby towns.
According to the court documents of 600 pages, filed in London on Thursday, MasterCard may have charged unlawfully high fees to stores for 16 years between 1992 and 2008 in the UK. Lawyers are to sue MasterCard for £14 billion pounds, or about $19 billion.
Hyperledger blockchain project to address the Blockchain DLT Working Group, the European branch of the International Securities Association for Institutional Trade Communication (ISITC), on Thursday, September 15.
The Electronic Transactions Association (ETA), the global trade association representing the payments technology industry, will unite Boston's tech and payments community at MIT's Media Lab for TRANSACT Tech Boston on September 13.
The Hyperledger Project, a collaborative cross-industry effort created to advance blockchain technology, has announced that FFan Technology under Wanda Group, the world's largest commercial properties corporation, has joined the project as a Premier member. Wanda Group will contribute to the development of the project's mission to create an enterprise-grade, open-source distributed ledger technology.
Agenzia della Entrate, Italy's top tax authority, calls for income tax to be applied to speculative uses of Bitcoin, or events in which money is made during a sale or purchase. It suggests the treatment of Bitcoin as a form of currency.