Aventus Releases Alpha ahead of ICO next Wednesday
Aventus, a blockchain-based event ticketing protocol that eliminates black market activity and unsold inventory has today released an alpha version of their product. This comes ahead of a big announcement this coming Monday about their first trial later this year, in which they will use a more developed version of the product released today.
Functionality includes creating events and tickets, buying and selling tickets on both primary and secondary markets, and finally facilitating secondary market activity in a scaled-back version of their proprietary probabilistic matching process. To learn more, visit their Slack, their website, or join the conversation on the Cryptocompare forums.
Goldman Sachs Granted 'SETLcoin' Cryptocurrency Patent
Investment bank Goldman Sachs has been awarded a patent for its proposed "SETLcoin" cryptocurrency settlement system. Dubbed "Cryptographic currency for securities settlement", the concept envisions a system for settling securities trades using a built-in cryptocurrency. When filed in December of 2015, the application notably outlined methods for exchanging SETLcoins for digitized stocks for firms like Google and Microsoft, as well as cryptocurrencies, naming bitcoin and litecoin in particular. Here's how Goldman describes the system:
"[A] SETLcoin wallet can house a single security or multiple denominations of the same security (e.g., 1 IBM-S SETLcoin valued at 100 IBM shares). SETLcoin wallets may also house multiple securities (e.g., 1 IBM-S SETLcoin and 2 GOOG-S SETLcoins). For example, a single IBM-S SETLcoin may be exchangeable for one or more "GOOG" SETLcoins (i.e., Google shares), for 13,000 USD SETLcoins, 100 litecoins, and/or for 5 bitcoins."
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'Bitcoin Sign Guy' Nets Almost $15,000 After Fed Chair Appearance Goes Viral
The bitcoin community was abuzz when, during an appearance before a Congressional committee by Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen, an attendee held aloft a "buy bitcoin" sign, an image that quickly went viral. Soon after his appearance, a friend posted a picture of the person – to be known as the "Bitcoin Sign Guy" – who, in addition to holding up the now-famous sign, shared a bitcoin address as well.
As of press time, that address has garnered 6.32570673 BTC, an amount worth just under $15,000. While most of the transactions involved, numbering 556 according to Blockchain.info, were small in scale, one notable contribution was for 1 BTC.
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Indian Government Considers Tax on Bitcoin Purchases
Indian officials have been meeting for months to develop a legal framework for digital currencies, forming a special task force in April to study the issue and develop possible options. Now, according to a local publication, new details on that process are emerging, including the possibility of taxes. Notably, according to one official's account, the topic of banning cryptocurrencies was indeed broached during a recent meeting – but in the end, the proposal received little support. The official told the publication:
"Banning will give a clear message that all related activities are illegal and will disincentivize those interested in taking speculative risks, but it was pointed out it will impede tax collection on gains made in such activities and that regulating the currency instead would signal a boost to blockchain technology, encourage the development of a supervision ecosystem (that tracks legal activities and may also assist in tracking illegal activities) and promote a formal tax base."
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