On Oct. 3 and 4, Ripple hosted a gathering of 200 developers, researchers and graduate students at the University of California, Berkeley campus for its first annual University Blockchain Research Initiative (UBRI) conference. Known as UBRI Connect 2019, this is Ripple’s major academic conference focused on blockchain and digital assets from a multidisciplinary perspective, hosted in partnership with Berkeley. hbjhjhbbhb The event welcomed over 40 schools from 14 different countries to discuss blockchain and crypto across business, law and engineering. UBRI Connect also provided the opportunity for Ripple’s developer platform for payments, Xpring, and its global payments network, RippleNet, to …

If only everything were available for purchase in Bitcoin. Oh, wait, it is. Anything from plane tickets to houses, sex toys to groceries, can be purchased just by using CheapAir or BitPremier, Purse or Magic (respectively). But you can also just buy good ol'-fashioned gift cards. The companies Gyft, eGifter, and newly-rebranded Gift Off stand out in the crypto-for-gift card space: 1. Gyft Founded in 2012 with the aim to eliminate the use of physical gift cards, Gyft began accepting Bitcoin relatively early on. They offer cards for over 200 retailers, including: Amazon Whole Foods Home Depot Starbucks Target Best …