JPMorgan Chase (JPM) thinks the Bitcoin (BTC) industry has changed considerably since 2017, citing an increase in institutional interest, Bloomberg reported on June 15. The publication quoted a report led by managing director of global market strategy of the United States’ largest bank, Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou, in which researchers examined recent phenomena surrounding cryptocurrency exchanges. As Cointelegraph reported, an investigation by asset manager Bitwise in March — and again last month — revealed that a significant amount of trade volume reported by exchanges was likely fake. Citing JPM, Bloomberg notes that if only 5% of May’s $725 billion number is accurate, …

A senior executive at cryptocurrency payments processor BitPay told Bloomberg on May 29 that bitcoin (BTC) will only expand higher from its current price. Speaking in an interview with Bloomberg TV, the company’s chief commercial officer, Sonny Singh, said it was business interest and endorsement of cryptocurrency that was fuelling the current market-wide bull run. “You’re starting to see that these currencies have real use cases around the world, and it’s making people really excited now because they can see the light at the end of the tunnel for these use cases,” he told the network. Singh was referring to …

The co-founder at Hong Kong-based blockchain investment firm Kenetic has predicted that bitcoin (BTC) will rally as high as $30,000 by the end of 2019. Kenetic Capital’s Jehan Chu provided his stance on major issues around bitcoin in an interview with “Bloomberg Markets: Asia” published on May 28. According to Chu, bitcoin will continue its bullish direction along with the rest of crypto market in 2019 due to three main factors, including the drive of mass adoption by global giants such as Facebook, JPMorgan, Rakuten and Fidelity, who have recently turned their interest towards crypto. Chu added that his bullish …

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) — the United States’ largest bank — is reportedly poised to release an open-source extension that enhances the privacy of payment mechanisms on Ethereum-based blockchains. The development was reported by crypto media outlet Coindesk on May 28. The new tool has reportedly been designed as an extension to the Zether protocol. As reported, Zether is a privacy-focused payment mechanism that is compatible with Ethereum and other smart contract platforms. The protocol uses zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) technology and was developed by researchers from Stanford University and Visa Research earlier this year. JPM reportedly plans to release its extension …

Strategists from United States banking giant JPMorgan Chase (JPM) have argued that bitcoin (BTC)’s recent rally has ostensibly soared past what they calculate to be its intrinsic value. Their analysis was reported by Bloomberg on May 20. The strategists — who reportedly include JPMorgan global market strategist Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou — judge that the top coin has recently been trading in a way that mirrors its late 2017 rally, which preceded a protracted price slump. To ascertain the coin’s intrinsic value, the strategists reportedly analyzed bitcoin as a commodity and calculated its cost of production based on parameters such as estimated …

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) — the United States’ largest bank with over $2.62 trillion in assets — has reportedly rehauled the infrastructure of its blockchain platform Quorum with the help of Microsoft. The development was reported by crypto media outlet Coindesk on May 9. As reported, Quorum is JPM’s private blockchain platform built on the Ethereum protocol. According to JPM head of Quorum and crypto-assets strategy Oli Harris, developers have been working to innovate Quorum’s privacy architecture by replacing its former Haskell-based privacy engine Constellation with the Java-based “Tessera” privacy transaction manager. Harris is cited as outlining that the innovation is …

Microsoft announced its fully managed Azure Blockchain Service in a press release on May 2. The new blockchain-as-a-service (BaaS) platform will purportedly allow users to build blockchain applications on preconfigured network. According to Microsoft’s head of corporate communications, Frank Shaw, this service “simplifies the formation, management, and governance of consortium blockchain networks.” Shaw further noted that Azure Blockchain Service can create a new consortium network “in a few simple clicks,” or let the user perform basic operations like adding new members to the network. Quorum, an open source blockchain platform backed by JPMorgan Chase, is the first platform that can …

The central banks of Singapore and Canada have successfully used their blockchain networks to send each other digital currency, a joint press release confirmed on May 2. As part of the distributed ledger technology (DLT) projects being pursued by both banks, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (BAS) sent funds to the Bank of Canada (BoC) without a third party. The process was made possible by linking up two DLT networks: MAS’ nascent Project Ubin platform and BoC’s Project Jasper. JPMorgan and accounting giant Accenture, which assisted in the development of the platforms, also partnered with the banks to make the …

This article has been updated to include comments from Truffle CEO and founder Tim Coulter. Truffle is integrating with AxCore, a proprietary blockchain jointly created by Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan-supported Axoni, Truffle CEO and founder Tim Coulter told Cointelegraph in an email. The ConsenSys spinoff, which makes tools that are widely used by Ethereum developers, has raised $3 million as it aims to expand into enterprise-grade solutions. According to Coulter, Truffle is going to use the investment to complete a suite of blockchain development tools that are designed to appeal to enterprise clients. An estimated 60% of Truffle’s revenue currently …

Blockchain-powered precious metals platform Tradewind has appointed an ex-JPMorgan Chase executive as its new CEO, the company confirmed in a press release on April 30. Michael Albanese, who previously worked as the bank’s Global Head of Agency Collateral Management and Global Head of Securities Clearance, will take over Tradewind’s operations immediately. Those currently include the management of the company’s flagship metals market, which employs blockchain to streamline custody, trade and security of precious metals. “Michael is a leader with significant experience working with corporations, creating capital-efficient products, operating at scale, and delivering value to shareholders,” Blake Darcy, Executive Chairman of …

Samsung is another big-name company to consider issuing its own cryptocurrency. Similar stories have already emanated from the likes of Facebook and JPMorgan Chase, with analysts speculating on various use cases for these cryptocurrency tokens. While not yet confirmed officially, a “Samsung Coin” could find application as a payment means on the company’s app store and traded on cryptocurrency exchanges. The company has revealed that its flagship Galaxy S10 smartphone will have a built-in cryptocurrency wallet. With these mega-corporations delving into the blockchain scene, it is perhaps important to see how their virtual currency implementation compares with each other and …

On April 21, it was revealed that JPMorgan Chase (JPM), the United States’ largest bank with over $2.62 trillion in assets, is planning to widen the use of its blockchain system. Specifically, JPM is adding new features to its Interbank Information Network (IIN), which is now used by more than 220 banks across the globe. With the JPM Coin launched earlier this year, it seems that the U.S. financial institution is increasingly betting on blockchain, pushing crypto closer to mainstream adoption. Brief intro to JPM and crypto: the “Blockchain before Bitcoin” approach JPM has been maintaining an overall mixed stance …