Consensus 2019 — Announcements so far
The cryptocurrency space is having the biggest conference week of this year featuring long term staples like Consensus, Ethereal and new comer Magic Crypto Conference. As every conferences has major announcements, this article will summarize what has been announced so far and how it may impact the future of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies
eBay to Accept Cryptocurrencies
Advertising space from around the Consensus venue is show that eBay bring cryptocurrencies to 179 Million active buyers. As advertising spaces are strictly controlled, this is not a joke and can be regarded as an announced surprise. We are waiting to hear the official confirmation details about how and which cryptocurrencies will be used on eBay. Adoption on the eBay front would mean major benefit for sellers who have to pay up to 4.4% + a fixed fee when accepting with PayPal.
Whole Foods and Other Major Retailers Now Accept Bitcoin
Consumer merchants accepting crypto is finally here!
Big name retailers — Whole Foods (owned by Amazon), Nordstrom and Gamestop now accept Bitcoin and three other types of digital money. This integration is done via the Flexa Network with the help from Gemini.
BAKKT sets July date for Bitcoin Futures Contracts
BAKKT futures contracts for Bitcoin is expected to launch in July. New updates from BAKKT describes the user testing phase for Bitcoin futures which involve their own custody solutions. BAKKT has been heavily anticipated since it was announced by ICE (Intercontinental Exchange), and as seen as one of the major methods for institutional investors acquire cryptocurrencies.
Microsoft is using Bitcoin for Identity
Microsoft is launching the first decentralized identity Tool directly on the bitcoin blockchain. This tool, currently called Ion, allows different companies to accept universal logins without compromising user data. This marks Microsoft’s first major development in this space (previous developments primarily focused on promoting Microsoft’s cloud service Azure).
There are systems that we have at Microsoft that give you permissions in an enterprise context, a product called Active Directory, that we think need to be able to recognize these DIDs as well.
Rhodes, Digitial Identity Foundation
