Blockchain Gets Major Endorsement

by Michael Keane

Last week, JP Morgan announced that it has created its own cryptocoin, the JPM Coin. Given what has been said before by the company, this was a major shift and endorsement not only for cryptocurrencies, but also a big endorsement of the blockchain technology behind it.

While Blockchain technology is absolutely still in its infancy, the announcement can be looked on as a game changer when it comes what the true perception of the technology by the big players. It harkens back to the infancy of the housing crisis, when at first the banks laughed at people like Dr. Michael Burry and Mark Baum, but then joined them in a big way while using deception announcements to keep the public at bay. Last week's announcement by JP Morgan would not have come without some testing of the technology's utility to the bank's mission and profit model. Jamie Dimon calling cryptocurrencies a "fraud" 18 months ago now looks like a delay tactic.

This announcement is also a very good indicator that average consumer uses are now ready to had in the marketplace. 

The following outlets have caught the sea change in JP Morgan. Enjoy!

Cnbc article-Hugh Son

CNN Article- Matt Egen

Forbes Article - Michael del Castillo 


  ** This blog is used for opinions and ideas and should not be used as a direction to act without doing your due diligence.**

This week in Bitcoin, 3D Printing, Wearable Tech, and Crowdfunding (Mt. Gox, Kickstarter, more)

Bitcoin

Coinbase's Brian Armstrong discusses the Mt. Gox situation in a Tech Crunch article (link here). It is important for the survival of the Bitcoin industry to be out in front on this issue. Everyone in the industry will need to work as one and be extremely transparent with their dealings in the near future.

One problem with the Mt. Gox collapse is the continued use of the word "disappearance" of the bitcoins. The bitcoins did not disappear and are in the control of someone else. It would help the industry a great deal to be able to catch the hackers and at the very least expose their actions.

Wearable Tech

- @wearablenewscom is a reliable handle in the wearable tech sector. Continue to use #wearabletech to see all things wearable being tweeted.

- Passing this GIGAOM article about having success in the wearable tech industry. The link is here.


3D Printing

- There is a monster governmental project to speed up the 3D printing process. The Forbes article link is here. Cincinnati Incorporated is partnering with Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the project.

 

Crowdfunding

- Kickstarter is close to reaching $1 billion of project funding. With contracts worth 3-5%, the founders are somewhere around 30-50 million dollars richer before expenses.