JUN 26 DIGEST: Blythe Masters Acquires Hyperledger and Bits of Proof; Seals With Clubs Operator Agrees to Plea Deal

Blythe Masters' Digital Asset Holdings acquires San Francisco-based Hyperledger and Budapest-based Bits of Proof; Seals with Clubs operator Bryan Micon reaches plea deal to avoid jail time and more top stories for June 26.

Blythe Masters’ Blockchain Startup Makes Two Acquisitions

Digital Asset Holdings, the startup run by former JP Morgan Chase executive Blythe Masters, announced the acquisition of San Francisco-based Hyperledger and Budapest-based Bits of Proof. The two blockchain startups will help Digital Asset Holdings overhaul how Wall Street settles trades.

In a statement, Masters said:

“Hyperledger and Bits of Proof add valuable new dimensions to our product offering and great talent to our team.”

-- The artwork from Cointelegraph Germany

Seals With Clubs Operator Bryan Micon Agrees to Plea Deal

Bryan Micon, who ran the bitcoin-fueled poker site Seals With Clubs, has agreed to plead guilty to avoid jail time.

Should Micon complete a still-undetermined probation on a felony count of operating an unlicensed interactive gaming system and pay a US$25,000 fine, the charge will be reduced to a gross misdemeanor. Micon also agreed to give up computers, US$900 in cash and 3.0996 Bitcoins that gaming authorities seized from his home.

Andreas Antonopoulos and Pamela Morgan Join C4’s Board of Directors

The CryptoCurrency Certification Consortium (C4) has added two high-profile names to its Board of Directors: Andreas M. Antonopoulos and Pamela Morgan.

Antonopoulos’ role will be to assist in both the Certified Bitcoin Expert and the CryptoCurrency Security Standard projects. Pamela Morgan, legal expert and co-founder with Antonopoulos at Third Key Solutions, has joined C4 as its director of education.

New Bitreserve CEO Anthony Watson: 957 People Own 50% of Bitcoin Value

MSN Money spoke with Bitreserve's new CEO, Anthony Watson — formerly of such companies as Nike, Barclays, Wells Fargo, Citi, and Microsoft — to talk about the business model of the Bitcoin startup he now heads, and the challenges and long-term goals of both his company and Bitcoin. One of the biggest challenges Bitcoin faces, according to Watson, is the unequal distribution of wealth in the system.

Watson:

“[Bitcoin's] biggest problem if it’s going to become a ubiquitous world currency, is the fact that it’s probably the most inequitable, unequal form of value the world has ever known. Bitcoin currently, [at] the US dollar equivalent value aggregated, is about US$3.5–5.5 billion, depending on who you speak to. Nine hundred and fifty-seven people in the world own 50% of that value. Until those challenges are overcome, it’s going to be very difficult for Bitcoin to grow as a global, ubiquitous form of value.”

BitFury Adds Dr. James Newsome and Hernando de Soto to Advisory Board

Bitcoin mining company BitFury has added Dr. James Newsome and Hernando de Soto to the company’s advisory board.

Newsome is the ex-Chairmen of the Commodity Future Trading Comission and former CEO of NYMEX, and as such worked closely with the President of the United States and policy makers. Hernando de Soto is head of the Institute for Liberty and Democracy. He has been involved in designing and implementing legal reform movements to empower the poor of various countries and granting them access to property and business rights that will allow them to thrive.

BitMoby's Bitcoin Top-Up Service Wins IT Award

Mobile payments company mHITs has scored two Australian state-level awards for its bitcoin top-up service, BitMoby. The platform won in both the financial and consumer industry divisions at the Australian Capital Territory's (ACT) iAwards, which honor the achievements of local ICT companies. BitMoby will now compete at the national awards, to be held in Melbourne from August 25 to 27.

1 in 3 Australians Would Ditch Bank for Bitcoin & Fintech

A “Future of Money” survey conducted among three thousand Australians by Fair Go Finance of Australia has uncovered that at least 1 in 3 citizens would ditch their bank for digital currency such as Bitcoin and other innovative financial services technologies.

To be precise, 36% said they would move from their current bank to use digital currency systems elsewhere; 35% said they would not move; and 29% said they were unsure.

Goldman Sachs Survey: Most US Millennials Won't Use Bitcoin

Another survey, published by Goldman Sachs, has suggested that just over half of US millennials believe they will never use bitcoin.

Fifty-one percent of the 752 survey respondents said that they had never used bitcoin nor do they have any plans to do so. Twenty-two percent said they currently use it or have used it in the past, and intend to use it again. An additional 22% said that they have never used bitcoin before but plan on using the digital currency. Just 5% of respondents said they have used bitcoin but do not intend to use it again.