What is bitcoin, how does it work and what affects its price?

But bitcoin appears here to stay, at least for the time being. Although the price has fallen since the start of the year to around $7,500 (£5,800), well below its peak of $20,000, it is still above its price a year ago and interest in it continues. There have been spikes along the way, possibly caused by mass computer trading or short sellers jumping ship and encouraging buyers to flood back in.

JPMorgan Creates and Fills New Position of Head of Crypto Assets Strategy

Leading US banking group and financial services firm JPMorgan Chase has recently created and filled the new position of head of crypto-assets strategy, Business Insider reported today, May 17. London-based Oliver Harris, 29, will take the new role, reporting to the head of blockchaindevelopment, Umar Farooq. Harris will also lead JPMorgan’s internal blockchain project Quorum, which began testing by JP Morgan Chase and the National Bank of Canada last month. According to Business Insider, Harris will be identifying and leading new crypto projects for the bank, rather than actively trading in cryptocurrencies. He will reportedly investigate crypto custody services and how blockchain could work in JPMorgan’s payments business. For the last two years, Harris has been leading JPMorgan’s In Residence program, which identifies and partners with fintech startups that the bank finds promising. Daniel Pinto, co-president of JPMorgan, has recently taken a positive stance on cryptocurrencies in an interview with CNBC, claiming that the “tokenization” of the financial system is “real”, with “many central banks looking into” it. However, Pinto stressed that crypto adoption is not possible in its “current form”. In general, the investment banking giant has been skeptical of cryptocurrencies. JPMorgan banned its customers from crypto purchases with credit cards back in February, in addition to including cryptocurrencies to the “Risk Factor” section of its 2017 annual report to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Last year, JPMorgan’s Chairman & CEO Jamie Dimon called Bitcoin (BTC) a “fraud” and claimed that he would fire any employee trading BTC on the company's accounts. Dimon soon reversedhis position in January, admitting that he regretted his earlier statements and adopting a lukewarm stance toward crypto. Dimon said he is, not interested that much in [crypto] at all.

Protonmail’s Beta Version Enables Automated Bitcoin Payments

A year ago the popular encrypted email provider, Protonmail, launched its desktop, Android, and iOS platforms that feature end-to-end encryption. The company offers a free service for users but also provides premium features for those wanting to pay for better privacy and more storage. Now Protonmail has revealed that automated bitcoin payments are coming soon and users can test the feature through the startup’s beta version. These days privacy is a very hot subject and many bitcoin users believe privacy is of utmost importance. A service that offers a privacy centric email platform called Protonmail uses client-side encryption and the startup’s servers are positioned outside of the U.S. and EU jurisdictions. The email provider provides a free service that gives users the ability to send end-to-end encrypted emails and hold 500MB of storage. However, the company also offers premium services, which provide up to 20GB of storage, and VPN access. This week Protonmail announced automated bitcoin payments for premium users would be coming in the near future. “Automated bitcoin payments are coming soon! You can test it out already at beta.protonmail.com,” explains the privacy centric email provider. Protonmail details that if individuals want to keep their payment history out of sight from their banks, then bitcoin is the best choice. Those who want to pay for a premium Protonmail account with bitcoin can use their existing free account or sign up for a new account and head to the “upgrade” section within the dashboard. After selecting a premium account users can then choose “bitcoin” as a payment method, and a BTC address and QR code will appear so the payment can be processed. In an interview last year, Protonmail co-founder Andy Yen said his company and bitcoin have always had a good relationship. “Protonmail and bitcoin actually have a long history together — Back in 2014 when PayPal instituted a payment block against us, we relied on BTC donations to keep the service running.” As of January 2017, Protonmail has seen exponential growth and is known for being one of the hottest startups in Switzerland. The company started as an invitation-only encrypted email provider and now has over 2 million users worldwide. As of right now paying with bitcoin for an initial premium sign up is not available and current options are SMS or credit card payments. The feature can be tested using the beta version and is currently only available for the desktop Protonmail platform. **Update, August 16: Since this post was published Protonmail has announced full bitcoin support for software version 3.11.** What do you think about Protonmail offering automated bitcoin payments in the near future? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Bitcoin Price Technical Analysis: Bull Run Nearing Exhaustion

The difference between Blockchain and Bitcoin It is easy to understand why the terms ‘Blockchain’ and ‘Bitcoin’ often get confused – Blockchain does indeed serve as a platform for all cryptocurrencies; without Blockchain there would be no Bitcoin. However, it must be emphasised that the scope and potential of Blockchain extends far beyond the world of cryptocurrencies. Although initially created for Bitcoin, Blockchain provides a more secure and transparent way of processing all kinds of data and therefore, the various applications and uses of this technology are endless. This ingenious technology has created a new form of online platform, and comparably, just like the internet gave us the ability to send e-mails, shop online and so much more, Blockchain can be applied to voting procedures, record keeping, financial instruments and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Modern society is currently experiencing a ‘cryptocurrency boom’ and Bitcoin is just one of the many cryptocurrencies out there.

Stratis Launches Alpha Version of Privacy-Focused Wallet Breeze

This past week the Stratis team launched an alpha version of the Breeze wallet, a platform that aims to leverage the privacy-focused Tumblebit technology. Back in March Bitcoin.com reported on the announcement of Breeze wallet as the Stratis team detailed it would be the first production ready wallet with Tumblebit implementation. Tumblebit is a proof-of-concept that was announced back in August of 2016 that aims to provide a trustless anonymous payment hub for bitcoin payments. The blockchain company Stratis has been working with the bitcoin protocol in a C# codebase environment alongside the Microsoft .NET Framework.

Bitcoin.com Continues to Soar Gathering 1 Million Unique Pageviews a Week

the past year, our bitcoin-centric website has gathered a vast amount of enthusiasts every day, and we’re proud to announce Bitcoin.com now sees a million unique pageviews every week. Since we started revamping our website we’ve added a vast array of products, services, and features that cover every aspect of the Bitcoin universe and we’re still not done.

Russian Bankers Push to Legalize Cryptocurrency

Russian bankers released a statement May 26, saying that cryptocurrency should be legalized for circulation. This message comes from German Gref, who is head of the Russian Sberbank. Gref said there needs to be an honest and intelligible conversation about cryptocurrencies, because attempts to ban it have only caused problems in the past. A Russian news article mentioned Greff’s commentary: “Gref stressed that they now engage in a constructive dialogue about cryptocurrency, the Central Bank are trying to understand – what is it and what to do next.

Bitwage Officially Launches UK Bitcoin Payroll Services

After expanding services in Europe earlier this year, bitcoin payroll and wage payment service provider Bitwage announced its official launch in the UK on Monday. Bitwage offers solutions for remote workers to receive wages in a variety of currencies including bitcoin. Using the service, workers can get paid in bitcoin without having to ask each employer to pay in the cryptocurrency or sign up with Bitwage.

Bank of Thailand Ordered to Relax Strict Rules and Study Bitcoin (1)

The Bank of Thailand has been ordered by Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister to look closer at bitcoin and relax its strict rules which hinder fintech innovation. The Thai Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak recently ordered the Bank of Thailand (BOT) to study if bitcoin is suitable as a legal method of payment in the country, according to several local newspapers. At the fintech event organized by the Matichon Group last month, he said the Ministry of Finance and the BOT must collaborate to support fintech, adding that (loosely translated)