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Pile of currency via flickr/epsos
A new working paper from Canada’s central bank has found little evidence that arbitrage opportunities in cryptocurrency markets exist. The paper, Competition in the Cryptocurrency Market, analyses 10 months of publicly-available data from exchanges like BTC-e and Cryptsy, from May 2013 to February 2014. Examining how ‘network effects’ (the phenomenon of new users augmenting the value of a technology) affect competition in the cryptocurrency economy, the paper looks at competition between both cryptocurrencies and cryptocurrency exchanges. The authors write: “For exchanges, we find little if any evidence of arbitrage opportunities. With no arbitrage opportunities, it is possible for multiple exchanges to coexist in equilibrium.” The paper is written by Hanna Halaburda, a senior analyst in the bank’s currency department, and Neil Gandal, chair of the Eitan Berglas School of Economics at Tel Aviv University. Data and methodology For data, the authors have used ‘closing rates’ of bitcoin, litecoin and other digital currencies from exchanges BTC-e, Cryptsy, Bitstamp and Bitfinex for the period between 2nd May 2013 and 28th February this year. This data was obtained from Cryptocoinscharts.info and the closing rate is the given digital currency’s price at midnight GMT, according to the paper. In analysing competition between exchanges, the authors looked at ‘two-sided network effects’. This is a phenomenon that arises when buyers and sellers in a given market both compete for a larger number of counterparties: buyers of bitcoin prefer markets with more sellers, while the opposite is true of sellers. The aggregate effect of this phenomenon is the creation of “thicker, more liquid” markets. A large exchange possesses more liquidity, and over time, it will dominate the exchange market. In this scenario, network effects would give rise to a convergance in digital currency trading to a single exchange over time. But other network effects are also simultaneously at work. The ‘negative same-side effect’ suggests that sellers, while seeking markets with more buyers, also wish to avoid competition, or markets with large numbers of sellers. The opposite holds true for buyers. To determine the aggregate network effects at work between exchanges, the authors looked at prices for three currency pairs, BTC/USD, LTC/USD and LTC/BTC, on three exchanges: BTC-e, Bitstamp and Bitfinex. It ran two tests, correlation and regression analysis, on the data. Arbitrageurs dispute the findings The paper’s correlation analysis found that the BTC/USD currency pair prices were highly correlated between BTC-e and Bitstamp. It found the same for the LTC/BTC pair across BTC-e and Bitfinex. Regression analysis yielded similar results, with the paper concluding that arbitrage opportunities were unlikely to have existed across the exchanges in trading any of the currency pairs. However, two traders who were alerted to the paper dispute its conclusions and methodology. Arthur Hayes is a former equity derivatives trader at Citi and the chief executive of BitMEX, a bitcoin derivatives exchange. He makes money as an arbitrageur, trading between various exchanges. He observed: “I make a significant portion of my income from conducting arbitrage between different bitcoin exchanges. The [second half of 2013] was a very profitable time for arbitrage strategies.” In other words, Hayes is an arbitrageur who profits from a market phenomenon that the Bank of Canada‘s working paper denies. Hayes even offered a historic example of a profitable arbitrage strategy: “For almost a week, there was 20-40% arbitrage [opportunity] between European and Chinese exchanges trading at considerable premiums. The reverse, where China traded cheaper than Europe, was also witnessed [this spring] when [China's central bank] made announcements relating to banks dealing with bitcoin exchanges.” Proposed improvements In Hayes’ view, the authors couldn’t pick up on arbitrage opportunities for two reasons: comparing prices between too few exchanges and using regression analysis instead of a simple time series of price data. Hayes pointed out that paper only compared prices between European exchanges. For a better insight the authors should have compared prices across continents, he added. “The issue is that these guys looked at European exchanges versus each other and Chinese exchanges versus each other. They didn’t compare all exchanges versus each other.” Another trader, Joseph Lee, created arbitrage bots that managed his trading for a year, netting him hundreds of thousands of dollars. He has since retired the bots to focus on derivatives exchange BTC.sx. Lee also disagrees with the conclusions of Halaburda and Gandal’s working paper. “Without a doubt, arbitrage opportunities have existed in [the period of study] and will always exist in the market. They even exist in the current financial market which has trillions of dollars of liquidity,” he said. Lee points out a flaw in the paper’s methodology: the authors relied on ‘closing rates’ for price data, which Lee says would never show an opening for arbitrage. Closing rates are a snapshot of prices at a given time (in this case midnight GMT) and they are used to represent the currency’s price for a 24-hour period. However, because arbitrage opportunities are fleeting – they disappear in seconds as arbitrageurs see them and pile in – closing rates aren’t sensitive enough to reveal these moments. Lee added: “The study has to be done on actual traded prices if it’s looking historically. Arbitrage opportunities don’t last 24-hour periods. In bitcoin they last minutes, if not seconds.” Other findings and caveats The paper briefly acknowledges that its use of daily price data may have problems. It notes that arbitrage opportunities may be found if price differences between exchanges are compared at different times during a day. “We leave this more detailed analysis to further research,” the authors noted towards the end of their paper. Halaburda and Gandal also came to a number of other conclusions about network effects and cryptocurrencies. The pair found that bitcoin enjoyed positive network effects, but that other currencies, like litecoin, were gaining ground. Bitcoin may not be able to maintain its dominant position in the long run, it concluded. The Bank of Canada’s working papers are intended for publication in peer-reviewed academic journals, but are works in progress. They are published with the intention of soliciting feedback from a technical audience. In the case of Halaburda and Gandal’s paper, bitcoin’s arbitrageurs have made their opinions known. Featured image via epsos / Flickr arbitrageArthur HayesBank of CanadaBitMEXBTC.sxJoseph Lee
Original author: Joon Ian Wong

korea
South Korean bitcoin exchange and merchant software developer Coinplug has released three iOS mobile wallet apps, becoming the first company to release bitcoin mobile apps for iPhones in Korea. Three versions of its wallet are available in the App Store. The functionality of each is tailored to different levels of users’ exposure to and knowledge of bitcoin. Bitcoin Wallet Plus: Coinplug’s basic mobile app aimed at iPhone users who want to own, buy, sell and trade bitcoins at market price and limit price; Bitcoin Wallet: the basic, ‘lite’ version for users who only want to send, receive and hold bitcoins; and Bitcoin Balance Checker: for users who don’t want to hold bitcoins, but still need to monitor addresses. This app can still scan any QR code to check a wallet’s balance. Coinplug_iOS_app Bitcoin adoption in South Korea Coinplug‘s Richard Yun said the Korean media has been trying to educate people about bitcoin, especially Maeil, the country’s daily business newspaper. Yun added that Maeil holds Asia’s largest annual business forum that usually hosts some of the world’s top business speakers. After suggesting a bitcoin-focused event, local bitcoiners convinced Maeil to add a digital currency sub-section to this year’s conference, which will include Roger Ver, Jinyoung Lee of the Bitcoin Foundation and Korea University professor Peter Ho In. Coinplug_iOS_app Coinplug’s progress Since November 2013, Coinplug has raised $800,000 in VC funding, partly from Tim Draper’s personal investment firm DFJ. It also assisted in developing South Korea’s first and native bitcoin ATM, and launched three mobile apps for the Android platform in February. Coinplug announced in July it would process payments for Galaxia Communications, which handles online payments as well as gift certificates and voucher sales. Image via Sean Pavone / Shutterstock AsiaCoinplugmobilemobile bitcoin walletSouth Korea
Original author: Jon Southurst

shift card A debit card that combines cryptocurrency, loyalty points and fiat money could soon be a reality thanks to Californian startup Shift Payments. Shift’s card, currently only compatible with bitcoin and ripple, is in the process of being tested by 100 participants in San Francisco Bay and beyond, according to TechCrunch. Shift’s hybrid debit card The Y Combinator startup began working on a prototype debit card last year. By November 2013 the team had produced a card that could let users spend funds from their Ripple accounts. Since then Shift has also added bitcoin integration via Coinbase. Following its current cryptocurrency pilot, Shift hopes to add support for loyalty schemes and regular bank accounts. The card will still use the Ripple protocol for settlement and will be supported by a mobile app. Shift says the finished debit cards will be supported by a major international card network and an undisclosed payment processor. However, despite this success co-founder Meg Nakamura revealed that the startup, like many cryptocurrency companies, has struggled to get US banks on board. She told TechCrunch: “We learned very quickly that no bank here in the US is willing to take that leap and actually support something like this. They were just too nervous and no one was willing to take that reputational risk.” Nakamura added that it will take time for US banks to fully embrace digital currency businesses. While banks are excited about the technology and its potential, they are still tracking developments on the regulatory front before making a move, she added. Debit card issuers are not the only bitcoin businesses experiencing similar problems. At a Chicago conference in May, representatives from several bitcoin operators detailed how bank-related setbacks had affected their businesses. Startup with big plans Shift’s founders – Greg Kidd, Meg Nakamura and Eugene Otto – have a background in payments, telecommunications and regulation. Kidd was previously an analyst at the Federal Reserve and both Kidd and Nakamura have consulted a number of San Francisco companies, including Square and Twitter. Having worked on various messaging and payments projects, eventually the team decided that the mobile messaging market was over-saturated and decided to pursue payments instead. A number of bitcoin debit cards have been announced in recent months, from companies including Xapo, CoinJelly, Diamond Circle and ANX, however very few have started shipping. Read CoinDesk’s review of the Xapo bitcoin debit card in full here. bitcoin debit cardShift PaymentsXapoXapo Debit Card
Original author: Nermin Hajdarbegovic

cavirtex CAVIRTEX has launched its first six bitcoin-branded ATMs in the greater Toronto area. The machines mark the first phase of the exchange’s larger plan to bring 10 bitcoin ATMs to Canada through a partnership with Gateway Newstands, a retail chain with 500 locations in North America. Speaking to CoinDesk, CAVIRTEX’s marketing and business development director Kyle Kemper said the launch was a major milestone for the Calgary-based company and bitcoin itself. Although details about the ATMs were first revealed back in May, Kemper said that the company has taken time to execute its vision and maximise the impact of the launch. Kemper told CoinDesk: “We were looking for really high-traffic locations, because we want to bring CAVIRTEX and bitcoin to the general Canadian [...] public.” Pictures of the vibrant units first surfaced online earlier this month, with many Reddit users lauding the company’s novel design and expressing excitement for the formal launch. Notably, the bitcoin ATMs were provided to CAVIRTEX by BitAccess, the bitcoin ATM manufacturer that was recently accepted into Californian accelerator Y Combinator. High-traffic locations Kemper indicated that its decision to partner with Gateway lead the company to secure a number of high-value locations. Perhaps the most notable new entry to CAVIRTEX’s network lies at the famed tourist destination Niagara Falls. Kemper indicated that CAVIRTEX has installed an bitcoin ATM at the Casino Niagara, the first casino built in Niagara in 1996. One of a number of regional attractions near the natural wonder, the destination features 10,000 square meters of gambling space, on-site dining and free live music. Additional noteworthy locations for the ATMs include the Bayshore Mall in Ottawa, Scarborough Town Center in Toronto and the Yorkdale Shopping Centre in Toronto, among others. atm-virtexOne of CAVIRTEX’s ATMs on display at a shopping centre in Nepean, Ontario.CAVIRTEX will connect its two-way bitcoin ATMs directly to its online exchange, and customers can elect to send bitcoin to a paper or digital wallet. Gateway seeks innovation While CAVIRTEX hopes the launch will make a splash with mainstream consumers, suitable high-traffic locations for its bitcoin ATMs proved difficult to find. However, this all changed when the company was able to find a partner for the initiative in Gateway Newsstands. Kemper explained: “Gateway Newstands has 500 locations across Canada and the US, in very high-traffic locations, but they’re in the news and lottery business. Physical businesses have been taking hits the last few years, so they were looking to innovate and bitcoin presented that opportunity.” Terry Samuels, vice president of Gateway Newstands, confirmed that his company will seek to leverage the bitcoin ATMs to attract new customers, saying: “Our high-traffic Gateway Newstands locations provide us the opportunity to innovatively step up to the plate.” Kemper added that CAVIRTEX currently has a deal with Gateway to install 10 bitcoin ATMs at Gateway locations. BitAccess shifts to enterprise Speaking to CoinDesk, BitAccess co-founder Haseeb Awan said that the CAVIRTEX launch also represents a significant milestone for his company, which is increasingly turning its focus to fulfilling large-scale orders with its white-label ATM offering. “With this launch, we’ll have 27 machines in Canada alone, which means that we will be covering a majority of the market share in Canada,” Awan said. He further suggested that bitcoin consumers can expect more big announcements from BitAcess in the coming weeks and months. In particular, he noted rollouts comparable to the CAVIRTEX launch will be coming to the US and European markets. Awan also pointed to the unique exterior design of the CAVIRTEX machines as evidence of his team’s abilities. BitAccess bills itself as the only bitcoin ATM provider that builds its units from scratch, using proprietary technology, and as such, Awan explained that BitAccess offers as much for operators as consumers. Awan said: “We have a design team that modifies the ATM according to customer requirements, and that’s a huge plus as opposed to anyone else in the market. Basically, the customer orders and we craft it for them.” For more details on where you can find a BitAccess ATM or any other bitcoin ATM in your area, visit the CoinDesk Bitcoin ATM Map. Image via CAVIRTEX ATMsCanadaCAVIRTEX
Original author: Pete Rizzo

online security
BTCJam has suffered an apparent security breach that affected an unknown number of users. The peer-to-peer lender was quick to reassure its clients that no bitcoins had been lost from their accounts. A spokesperson said the incident was the result of a hack at its email provider, which allowed the attacker to access funds belonging to customers with low security settings. BTCJam started experiencing some issues over the weekend and was offline on Sunday. We are offline to resolve some technical issues with logging in. We would like to assure you that no Bitcions were lost in this process. — BTCJam (@btcjam) August 10, 2014 BTCJam reassures users The latest issue was reported by a BTCJam user on Reddit. The user said the site was down and support had not yet responded to requests for assistance. Chief product officer Gustavo Guida responded to the thread saying the company was working to get its services back up. “The majority of our coins are in our cold storage and no users will lose any bitcoins at all,” he added. Guida said BTCJam is investigating the issue. A few hours later it was up and running again; Guida apologised for the downtime. The company later posted on its public blog: “A recent hack at our email provider Mailjet allowed a hacker to gain access to some of the transactional emails of BTCJam for a period of two hours. Through this, he was able to initiate unauthorized transactions from a small amount of users who did not have Two Factor Authentication enabled. The problem is now solved and no users have lost any bitcoins as a result of this.” The article added that as a security measure, the lender would move the most critical transactional emails to its own server and strongly encouraged users to enable two-factor authentication. Investigating the situation Shortly after services were restored, Guida said the company managed to identify just “a few” invalid transactions. “We are finishing our investigations and will reinstate the affected accounts back to the previous state so no bitcoins will be lost at all,” he said. In the meantime other users reported downtime and suspicious transactions, but for the time being it appears this was a minor issue which did not cause any significant disruptions or losses. BTCJam is a startup based in San Francisco with the goal to bring peer-to-peer lending to a global audience. Using bitcoin allows BTCJam to approve loans and transfer the funds almost instantly regardless of location. The concept can also be used to provide quick loans to unbanked people in developing regions. Image via Shutterstock BTCJamloansP2P
Original author: Nermin Hajdarbegovic

Ripio BitPagos has launched Ripio, a new bitcoin brokerage service that allows consumers in Argentina to buy small amounts of bitcoin at more than 8,000 convenience stores. To achieve this goal, Ripio will integrate with TeleRecargas, a popular mobile phone service that allows consumers the ability to prepay for cell phone plans at a network of partner convenience stores across Argentina. Argentina and Palo Alto-based bitcoin merchant processor BitPagos raised $600,000 from prominent bitcoin angel investors earlier this year. The company’s CEO Sebastian Serrano told CoinDesk that Ripio aims to target underbanked consumers as well as existing bitcoin users who want an easy way to buy bitcoins at a physical location. He explained: “You can go to any location, give them your account in Ripio and the amount of pesos you want to get in bitcoins. Boom: you have some bitcoins. It’s going be extremely easy to use and to buy bitcoins easily, securely and near you, even if you don’t have a bank account. We think that this is going to push adoption.” For now, the service will only be available in Argentina, though Serrano sees the service as broadly appealing to consumers in other Latin American markets that could benefit from an easy bitcoin buying solution. In particular, Serrano said BitPagos is looking to expand Ripio to Venezuela, but that this program expansion will take time to achieve. How Ripio works While Ripio works primarily at physical locations, Serrano indicated that users must first complete an initial registration on the platform’s website. Users next print their Ripio ID and search the service’s map for available stores. Still, Serrano is confident that these elements of the service will be convenient for on-the-go users or those still learning the basics of bitcoin management. Serrano explained: “You can do the registration on your cell phone, you get your account number, you look at the map with places near you, you walk in and say you want to buy some bitcoins with Ripio and you say the amount in pesos you want to buy, that’s it.” A new consumer offering In the interview, Serrano sought to frame Ripio as a novel service that was different from the other offerings currently available in what has increasingly become a fertile area for bitcoin adoption due to lingering economic uncertainty. Serrano suggested that because of Argentina’s unique needs, his competitors in the ecosystem may face challenges modeling their services after existing platforms available internationally. “So far, most of the bitcoin services in Argentina have been trying to replicate models that work in other countries,” Serrano said. “Trying to build exchanges or do an exchange where you deposit bitcoins for doing trading. We think there is a need for this to expand the market.” Notably, Ripio will use Brazil-based bitcoin exchange Mercado Bitcoin to determine the price at which it sells bitcoin to consumers. Spreading awareness Of course, Serrano is also conscious of the fact that Ripio will need promotion in order to resonate with one of its key demographics, underbanked consumers. However, he suggested that Ripio’s launch will also coincide with the release of marketing materials that will increase general awareness of bitcoin. He noted that Ripio will send out marketing materials to TeleRecargas’ partner stores in conjunction with the launch, but that the service is also seeking to leverage Argentina’s passionate bitcoin user base. Serrano concluded: “We’re also going to focus on the bitcoin community to deliver us the existing bitcoin users. But, I think this is also going to get more awareness just by being in high traffic locations.” Ricardo Minicucci, president for TeleRecargas, echoed this sentiment in a statement, saying: “For us this represents the possibility of providing a link between the offline and online world efficiently, plus the customer intimacy that characterizes Telerecargas will enable a natural adoption to the bitcoin system” Image credit: jongjet303 / Shutterstock.com ArgentinaBitPagosSouth America
Original author: Pete Rizzo

p2p-lending
Peer-to-peer bitcoin lending company Bitbond has secured €200,000 in seed money during a round led by early-stage investment firm Point Nine Capital. The funding is meant to help Bitbond broaden its user base and accelerate loan origination. More immediately, the company wants to grow its programming team in order to improve the platform’s user experience. Bitbond is also planning new features for the program that include exchange rate linked loans, user communication tools and analytics resources for lenders, as well as an overall stronger mobile platform. In its pursuit to make investment and finance businesses accessible worldwide, the Berlin-based firm aims to become another essential building block in the bitcoin ecosystem. “Wallets, payment providers, brokers and exchanges are already on a fairly well-developed level,” said founder Radoslav Albrecht. “Financial services are just at the beginning and Bitbond wants to contribute to a bitcoin ecosystem where financial inclusion isn’t just limited to cashless, instant worldwide payments.” Nodding to the warming attitudes of British regulators toward bitcoin and the growth of mobile, Point Nine Capital cofounder and managing partner Pawel Chudzinski said that cross-border trade and services activity in the EU is expanding steadily and there are more international payments transpiring as a result. However, he added: “International payments are still very expensive if you’re using traditional banking services, especially when the transactions are small. To focus on Bitbond, I think lending smaller amounts of money internationally to private customers and small businesses is still rather unheard of.” A marketplace, not a bank Bitbond launched in July 2013. It has since funded more than 180 loans worth over €36,000 ($48,000) to date, and has a user base of approximately 4,100 people from at least 100 countries. Those that want to take out a loan or invest their savings can tap a global market to do so independent of family, friends or banking institutions – they only need a smart phone or computer with access to the Internet. And because of the platform’s peer-to-peer system, borrowers receive loans at affordable interest rates, and lenders gain higher interest rates compared to other fixed income asset classes. Albrecht emphasized that although the company might function as a bank, it doesn’t operate as one. Bitbond, he said, is a marketplace that connects borrowers and lenders on a global scale. He told CoinDesk: “We basically fulfill functions that the bank typically does. We provide credit and we provide investment opportunities, but there is one crucial difference: we don’t have the balance sheet. We only connect borrowing and lending […] A bank stands more in between the two, while we just connect them.” Describing user activity, he said that borrowers disclose personal and financial information during sign-up and are verified once they have been deemed creditworthy. If they’re denied, they can publish loan requests detailing how much bitcoin they need and why. The lenders that sign up, he continued, want to support bitcoin projects or come to the platform to earn interest on their bitcoin savings. They decide independently which projects they find interesting and choose to help finance. International influence Albrecht pointed to globalization, the recent credit crunch and the European regulatory environment as influential developments that guided his attention on the bitcoin economy for the business he would eventually build. He explained: “In many of these economies (e.g. Spain, Italy, Portugal) small businesses contribute a significant portion to the country’s GDP and employ the majority of the workforce. Bitbond does not only focus on emerging markets but also on European economies where banks don’t live up to their expectations to provide credit to the real economy.” Chudzinski said that the Bitbond team’s strong expertise in bitcoin, technology and finance played a crucial role in its investment decision. As well, their backgrounds in economics, financial services and banking perhaps further validate their leadership in international bitcoin lending. A former Deutsche Bank trader who became an industry consultant some time after leaving the German banking giant, Albrecht spent roughly six months in Subsaharan Africa working on a the post-merger integration of two Nigerian banks. There, he said, he was exposed to an economy where few people have bank accounts, but in which access to mobile payments are “already quite the norm”. He called the experience a “crucial” part of the beginnings of Bitbond, concluding: “I believe that had I not had that experience, had I not seen it over a longer time period … I’m not sure I would have believed in the potential that bitcoin has without those experiences.” Lending image via Shutterstock Bitbondpeer-to-peer lendingPoint Nine Capital
Original author: Tanaya Macheel

CH5
The first decentralized smart contracts protocol built on top of an altcoin block chain is now live. ClearingHouse, a descendent of Counterparty, was created by the team behind viacoin and has been in active development since the alt first launched last month. The team has attracted top talent in the bitcoin space, most notably Bitcoin Core developer and Coinkite advisor Peter Todd who has been hired to work on his Tree Chains concept. On 11th August, the viacoin development team announced new details regarding ClearingHouse’s internal currency, XCH, and information on how users can exchange viacoins for the new currency. Notably, a new Web-based client interface that implements the ClearingHouse protocol, Clearwallet, was also made public. CoinDesk spoke with viacoin developer BTCDrak, who said that because the ClearingHouse protocol is built on top of the viacoin block chain, certain structural and political complications that have previously plagued decentralized contract platforms are largely sidestepped. He explained: “Because ClearingHouse and viacoin are part of the same project, the viacoin block chain will always accommodate ClearingHouse’s needs.” He added that, in the past, the teams behind projects like Counterparty have faced pressure from bitcoin’s development community that ultimately impeded progress. Using viacoin as a basis, ClearingHouse-based projects can avoid these obstacles entirely. First look at smart contract protocol Clearwallet is the first implementation of ClearingHouse, giving users a decentralized environment for conducting various contracts. No keys are stored on the server and all transactions happen purely between the two parties. CH As shown in the image above, the simple user interface currently offers an asset marketplace, a betting terminal and section for decentralized games. Clearwallet also offers a live chat box, with early adopters already investigating the implementation. In its original announcement, the viacoin-ClearingHouse development team announced that the exchange rate between VIA and XCH would be 100 XCH per VIA. A 45-day sale period has already begun, with a diminishing exchange rate that will end at 85 XCH for each viacoin. CH2 According to BTCDrak, exchange volume is up and nearly 230,000 viacoins have been converted to XCH, or roughly 143 BTC at press time. Users have already executed several trades in Clearwallet’s VIA/XCH marketplace. CH4 Looking ahead, reputation and identity support will be implemented that add further layers of complexity to how the protocol can be leveraged. As the team noted in the blog post, this includes the creation of decentralized organizations, facilitation of online polls, the sale of goods and services and even the development of new cryptocurrencies. Decentralized platforms grow in number The ClearingHouse protocol represents the latest entry in a group of decentralized contract platforms, which also includes Counterparty and the off-block chain decentralized contract network BitHalo. Ripple Labs is also working on its own smart contracts platform, Codius. Beyond contracts, decentralized platforms are attracting attention for their intrinsic security and appeal to a broad segment of the bitcoin community. It’s this level of grassroots support that has made such projects largely possible. Among the projects taking shape in this space is BitcoinJ developer Mike Hearn’s decentralized crowdfunding platform Lighthouse. While no date has been given, the platform is expected to launch sometime in the next month. Commerce has also proved to be a major area for decentralized development. Peer-to-peer marketplace OpenBazaar, created by Brian Hoffman and based on the Toronto Bitcoin Expo Hackathon winner DarkMarket, seeks to bring the principals behind decentralized actions to consumer-to-merchant interaction.
Original author: Stan Higgins
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