Back to basics

Central banks of China, UK and South Africa see potential in the blockchain - Australian bank blockchain bond - Chinese bitcoin exchange volumes View this email in your browser January 26th, 2017 "I see no advantage in these new clocks. They run no faster than the ones made 100 years ago." – Henry Ford Got this from a friend? SUBSCRIBE HERE Day 2 of the Satoshi Roundtable gathering of bitcoin "elite" saw a shift in focus.   Perhaps frustrated by the previous day's stalemate over the scaling problem, attendees appeared to seek common ground by returning to bitcoin's roots.   In what seemed like an attempt to distill the value of the cryptocurrency, conversations coalesced around its core proposition, both as a technology and a concept.   It wasn't all peace and harmony, however. Earlier tensions resurfaced as the diverging priorities of businesses and developers became even more apparent.   But the prevailing hope seems to be that attendees walked away with a determination to continue to engage in dialogue, as well as a refreshed sense of purpose and commitment that will help the sector withstand pressures from outside influencers. (For our report on Day 1, see here.)   Read the whole story Tweet Share Come and join us NEXT WEEK at CONSTRUCT, our first developer conference. Who will be there?  21, Abra, ANX, Blockseer, Blockstack, Blockstream, Bloq, Chain, Ciphrex, Civic, Coinbase, Consensys, CME Group, Deloitte, Digital Asset, Digital Currency Group, DTCC, Ethereum Foundation, EY, Gem, Groupon, FDIC, Fidelity, IBM, IDEO, Intel, Intuit, IPFS, Lightning, Loyyal, MIT Media Lab, Netki, Overstock, R3, Ripple, Scotiabank, tØ, Vanguard, Zcash, and more. We kick off on January 30 in San Francisco, USA, for two days of panels, workshops, demos and networking. Don't miss it! 😎 REGISTER NOW 😎 Wait, there's more: Despite Drop in Volume, Traders Stick With China's Bitcoin Exchanges Trading volume is now more evenly distributed worldwide, but BTCC and OKCoin still hold lead positions. CoinDesk spoke to market participants who highlighted divergence of opinions as to whether the increased scrutiny by the People's Bank of China was good or bad news for the sector. Read more. China's Central Bank is Testing a Blockchain-Backed Digital Currency According to local press, last month the People's Bank of China (PBoC) – in conjunction with major commercial banks – demoed a DLT system for transactions and settlements using a virtual coin. The PBoC has also said that it will establish a digital currency research institute to support further investigation. Read more.   SARB Chief: Blockchain Could Bring Financial Access to Millions of People In remarks at Davos, the governor of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) spoke about the technology's potential not only for financial inclusion, but also for enhanced efficiency at the government level. Read more. Bank of England Chief: DLT Could 'Reshape' Banking Speaking at a G20 conference on finance and digitalization, the governor of the Bank of England remarked on the potential benefits and costs of DLT deployment, and highlighted the possible use case of settlement. Read more.   Commonwealth Bank Develops Blockchain for Government Bonds The "cryptobond" platform developed by the Australian bank was tested by the Queensland Treasury Corporation, a government financing authority. Read more.   EU Securities Watchdog: Too Early to Predict DLT Impact At a securities industry event in Oslo earlier this week, a senior risk officer for ESMA acknowledged that it was not yet possible to say which regulations might need to change due to growing adoption of distributed ledger technology, nor how broader legal issues will impact deployment. Read more.    Go to CoinDesk BTC: $913.12 +2.2%  ETH: $10.57 +0.6% @10:00 EST - More price details PRESS RELEASES   25, Jan - Press Release: Bitcoin Faucets become the new entry points for Bitcoin in developing countries 25, Jan - Press Release: Wall Street Blockchain Alliance Adds OTC Exchange Network as Corporate Member 23, Jan - Press Release: Deribit Options & Future Exchange Announces Quarterly Future And Rebate For Makers Hi there! Is there something you'd like to see in this email that you're not getting? Just hit "Reply" and let us know! We'd appreciate it. Share Tweet Copyright © 2017 CoinDesk, All rights reserved. You're receiving this email because you subscribed for updates on our website. Our mailing address is: CoinDesk 636 Avenue of the Americas New York City, NY 10011 Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list