Cryptocurrency industry experts weigh on August 1st Bitcoin fork

On 01 August 2017, the bitcoin blockchain was successfully forked into two versions, thereby creating a new cryptocurrency ‘Bitcoin Cash’ (BCH). According to Business Insider, Bitcoin Cash has all the history of the old platform, but bitcoin cash blocks will be 8MB as compared to bitcoin’s 1MB blocksize at present. The first Bitcoin Cash block, mined by ViaBTC, had a block size of 1.915 MB and contained 6,985 transactions, CoinDesk reported. The new digital currency is now trading on a number of exchanges including Kraken, TheRockTrading, and OKCoin.

Indian securities watchdog SEBI sets up committee to study blockchain and emerging technologies

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has set up a new committee to explore and deliberate on emerging technologies such as blockchain, and their effect on financial markets. Chaired by T.V. Mohandas Pai, Chairman, Manipal Global Education, the “Committee on Financial and Regulatory Technologies (CFRT)” would study the recent trends in fintech developments in global securities markets, and identify the opportunities and challenges from new fintech solutions and its impact on domestic securities market.

Research studies:

Nearly 60 pct of large corporations consider deploying blockchain technology – Juniper Research

Events/Conferences/Hackathons:

Blockchain startups to launch pre-ICOs at ICO-Hypethon 2017

Oxford University’s Saïd Business School announces new fintech programme with focus on blockchain and AI

Innovate UK seeks blockchain projects for £8M startup competition for healthcare sector

Investments/Acquisitions:

Acana Capital inks letter of intent to acquire Blockchain Technology Group

Blockchain startup Tierion raises $25M in token sale

Consortium News, Partnerships and More:

Blockchain firm Everex partners with MicroMoney

Nasdaq signs blockchain agreement with SIX Swiss Exchange

Alex Tapscott launches new digital asset investment company ‘NextBlock Global’

Digital Currency and Blockchain Initiatives:

Grass Roots Farmers’ Cooperative tests blockchain to track chicken packages

Gibraltar Stock Exchange to tap blockchain technology for operational processes

Bitfinex announces ‘Ethfinex’ – new exchange for Ethereum-based tokens

Tech Bureau announces cryptocurrency fundraising platform ‘COMSA’

CBOE plans to launch bitcoin futures, enters bitcoin market data licensing deal with Gemini

Node40 rolls out bitcoin support on digital currency tax software ‘Node40 Balance’

Russia’s NSD partners with blockchain startup Waves to develop digital asset platform

ING, Calypso, R3 successfully test blockchain-based trade matching application

HKEX to launch blockchain-based private market for early stage companies in 2018

Coinplug, SBI to launch new blockchain remittance service

CITIC Bank develops blockchain-powered credit settlement system

Fujitsu develops technology to accelerate transaction processing on blockchain

German chemical giant BASF pilots blockchain for supply chain

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