The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. As society starts to move away from cash, central banks’ potential to reap profits off issuing that cash could be threatened. Many governments are worried about the mass adoption of cryptocurrencies and hence are considering the merits of creating a central bank digital currency (CBDC). Central banks have woken up to the risks cryptocurrencies can pose to policy makers’ bread-and-butter business: the economy. Hence the debate about the pros and cons of government digital currency closed private blockchains versus …

Canada’s central bank, Toronto Stock Exchange operator TMX Group, and non-profit organization Payments Canada, completed tests showing blockchain can be used for instantaneous securities settlements, Reuters reports today, May 11. The three companies concluded that blockchain, the technology originally developed for cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC), is usable for automating securities settlements in real time. Both cash and assets can effectively be “tokenized” for instant exchange. Gerry Gaetz, president and CEO of Payments Canada, told Reuters: “This shows that it is possible to deliver payments in a way that has never been done before – by directly swapping cash from …

Cointelegraph speaks to Canadian Bitcoiner Kyle Kemper about The Social Wallet, a nonprofit that hopes to digitize every aspect of a physical wallet, money, services, and identity. This is the first part in a series of three articles on the Social Wallet. Social Wallet is a tremendous undertaking by its creator, Kyle Kemper, to bring Bitcoin to the masses and create a revolution in both the developing and developed worlds in terms of finance, identity, and information. The project launched on the 4th April and is seeking $21,000,000 in donations to complete the project. The project is only 10 weeks …

BitAccess, the popular Bitcoin ATM manufacturer, has enabled customers to buy Bitcoin via debit card or cash in Canada by implementing Bitcoin purchases at over 6,000 locations in Canada. BitAccess’ well-established competitor, LibertyX, has 19,000 retail locations south of the border, in the US. Flexepin technology BitAccess’ new retail locations will use Flexepin technology, which involves buying a receipt-like gift voucher with a debit card or cash, and then entering the code printed on it into your BitAccess account, which will then credit the BTC amount to your wallet. This service is crucial to those privacy-orientated customers who do not …

Cointelegraph spoke with the CEO of Coinsetter and CAVirtex, Jaron Lukasiewicz, about their new margin trading program, their plans following the purchase of Canada’s largest crypto exchange, and which global city is the real Bitcoin capital. “[Greece showed] there is overwhelmingly important value in financial systems that are not controlled by governments.” - Jaron Lukasiewicz Cointelegraph: Since we last spoke, you said that “New York is the place to be for Bitcoin.” Many would argue that London has now become the new hotspot for Bitcoin and fintech. Has it replaced NYC? Jaron Lukasiewicz: Coinsetter is currently applying for the BitLicense …

Bitcoin ATMs are spreading around the world at an incredible speed. Manufacturers like Robocoin and Lamassu have already sold hundreds of their machines to international companies fond of cryptocurrencies. Brand new locations to place BTMs are being discovered on a daily basis, and believe it or not, local businesses are often more willing than notable corporations to go crypto. CoinOutlet Cracks the BTM Market with Two-Way, Affordable Models Recently launched this past August, CoinOutlet is hoping to crack the BTM market with its affordable machines. Eric Grill, CEO for CoinOutlet talked in an interview about his company and about his …

FINTRAC (Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada) is working on a regulation plan for Money Services Businesses (MSBs) dealing in virtual currencies, a series of rules that will most likely come to force in 2015. The Canadian financial regulator said that changes to the Proceeds of Crime and Terrorism Financing Act, a list of rules that facilitate combatting the laundering of proceeds of crime and combating the financing of terrorist activities, "will aim to cover entities such as virtual currency exchanges, not individuals or businesses that use virtual currencies for buying and selling goods and services," according to …

Robocoin CEO Jordan Kelley shared with his attitude to new ATM launching: “It’s been a crazy day. I can’t even tell you how incredible it is. There’s a line in front of the machine right now.” During the first day kiosk saw 81 bitcoin transactions, which is about $10000. Over one third of customers were newcomers. ATM is one of the fastest money transfers today. In an interview Kelley said “Our customers can walk up to a machine and buy and sell bitcoins for cash. You can literally walk up to the machine, scan your hand, and get started with …

A Vancouver-based company has bought five Bitcoin ATMs and plans to have them up and running around Canada by December. Bitcoiniacs, which operates a physical Bitcoin exchange in Vancouver, purchased the RoboCoin machines for $18,500 each and has the first already running in Vancouver, at Waves coffee shop on Howe Street. Four more are scheduled for Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Calgary. Bitcoiniacs founder Michell Demeter is a serial entrepreneur who has run sign shops and a moving company. He first began toying with Bitcoin exchanges on LocalBitcoins.com. Dememter is eyeing a commission of about 3% from the machines after his …