The Blockchain Industrial Park in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou has announced subsidies for startups worth millions of dollars, in an announcement Thursday, May 24. As shown by the new policy, the industrial park is aiming to attract blockchain space talent by offering individuals and startups generous incentives. Highly-qualified blockchain specialists, for example, are being offered resettlement allowances of up to $490,000 and MA and PhD maintenance grants. Startups will also be able to avail themselves of maintenance grants alongside project-specific funding. These include $230,000 in rent assistance and $1 mln for research and development for early stage blockchain …

Update: Thursday, April 19, Savedroid’s CEO posted a video to YouTube claiming that the apparent exit scam was actually a PR stunt the company pulled off to advocate for “high quality ICO standards.” The founder of German-based startup Savedroid has allegedly disappeared after raising a reported $50 mln through both an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) and private funding, according to local news outlet WirtschaftsWoche, today April 18. CEO and founder Yassin Hankir apparently left the intention behind his disappearance fairly clear with the following tweet, posted earlier today, apparently in Egypt: Thanks guys! Over and out ... #savedroidICO pic.twitter.com/PMRtjlbEdD — …

The Blockchain initiative B3i, run by several international insurance companies, has announced the formation of the startup B3i Service AG in Zurich, Cointelegraph auf Deutsch reported on Monday, March 26. The consortium aims to create a blockchain trading platform for a value-added chain of the entire insurance industry. The B3i initiative and the newly founded B3i service AG are both backed by the major reinsurers Munich Re and Swiss Re as well as other major insurance companies, such as Zurick, Allianz and Aegon. While the research initiative initially focused on a pilot project to explore the potential use cases of …

Porsche has announced it will host its first ever Blockchain competition for startups in the form of the Porsche Innovation Contest. The event, which the company says is specifically geared to “founders focusing on blockchain technology,” is open for applications until May 15. A release about the contest states the following about the German car giant’s initial foray into the Blockchain startup world: “Porsche aims to obtain external input on the disruptive potential of the blockchain transaction system by collaborating with the start-up scene. The central question is to what extent the application of this technology in the value creation …

Every innovation is indistinguishable from magic. Blockchain is a clear proof of that, just take a look at what it has already proved to do. Certainly, there is the whole lot of yet undiscovered applications but we at Cointelegraph are curious enough to keep scratching the surface unveiling the potential of technology in revolutionizing various industries. That is why Cointelegraph and Humaniq are excited to announce The Blockchain Oscar Startup Competition 2017 sponsored by Humaniq, a unique project which represents an innovative model of banking for people not connected to the global financial system. The first round of the competition …

Based on the mega-successful initial coin offerings (ICO) from companies including Iconomy, Singular DTV, First Blood and Decent, it is fairly evident that the cryptocurrency community supports the crowdsale of tokens from private Blockchain-based startups. However, the entire mechanism of cryptocurrency presale has received criticisms from experts, who present convincing arguments against the legitimacy of ICOs. Any Blockchain startup can engage in an ICO, even with several snippets of code or superficial descriptions of their service. The simplistic idea behind crowdfunding a non-existent software or system has become a trend in the cryptocurrency industry, with private companies raising millions of …

Wirex is a 1.5-year old company that has weathered many challenges to get to where we are today: a hybrid personal finance platform combining cryptocurrency and fiat currencies with hundreds of thousands of users. Navigating yourself in uncharted territories is not easy. This is true for many things - from the literal, geographical sense, to the world of Bitcoin and blockchain startups. Some of our challenges are predictable, experienced by every other startup out there. Others are wholly unique to this industry. In this piece, we would like to talk about the problems and challenges we face as a Bitcoin …

Cointelegraph once again reached out to a handful of crypto entrepreneurs regarding their experiences of starting a business in the cryptocurrency industry. In a follow-up to our previous article on “5 Don’ts for Bitcoin Startups,” here are the next six caveats that will help startups get off the ground in this volatile landscape. 1. Don’t Ignore Demand The most fundamental thing to consider when starting a business is to know whether your product or service is actually needed or whether it will be in demand sometime in the near future. This includes analyzing the market, knowing your target audience, and …

Call Levels, a Singaporean startup providing real-time financial monitoring and notification service on the mobile cloud, has added bitcoin prices from itBit following "overwhelming request from users." "We’ve had numerous requests from people who are still holding on to bitcoins," Cynthia Siantar, co-founder of Call Levels, said. "The moment they saw Call Levels' offering for its existing users who typically trade stocks, forex or futures, they wanted the same for bitcoin." Call Levels, which refers to an industry term that means "call me when the price hits a certain price," currently covers more than 5,000 assets, including US equities, Forex …

Cointelegraph tapped into the experience of several startup founders to get an idea of things aspiring entrepreneurs should avoid when starting their own business in the cryptocurrency industry, which for many is still uncharted territory. Before big banks began taking a serious look at Bitcoin, some visionaries realized the potential of this new technology early in the game. Many have since started their own companies, such as CoinBase or BitPay, while others’ ventures fizzled out or fell victim to “wild west” conditions of this volatile space. So what are the most common mistakes that Bitcoin entrepreneurs make? In a follow-up …

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 …

Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers launches investment fund to boost emerging technologies startups; Augur releases alpha version; bitcoin exchange MonetaGo launches in 40 Countries and more top stories for June 17. KPCB Launches $4M Investment Fund to Boost 'Emerging Tech' Startups Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers has launched Edge Fund, a seed stage initiative focusing on emerging areas of technology, most particularly virtual reality, drones, blockchain applications, computer vision, digital health, and mobile marketplaces. The company said in a blog announcement: "KPCB Edge is a team of builders, investing in seed stage founders working on emerging areas of technology. We …