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Bitcoin: Financial Rebellion or Future of Capital Markets?

Without a doubt, the financial markets drive the world economies to emerge, grow and sometimes collapse. One of the best examples of their negative influence on the world economy is 2008’s World Financial Crisis that was caused by the regional US subprime mortgage market crisis. One may ask: how could one small financial segment failure cause the entire world economy recession?

Everything is interconnected in our heavily globalized world nowadays: a small local market failure or inability to pay against liabilities may trigger a domino effect that will be able to overthrow entire financial systems. Maybe that vulnerability was the main emergence cause of a revolutionary, yet quite questionable financial tool of recent years: the crypto currency called Bitcoin.

World's first cryptocurrency that made it to the international markets
World’s first cryptocurrency that made it to the international markets

 

Bitcoin became a true phenomenon, despite being something that is underscrutinised and underestimated by many even today. A currency that started off as a scientific project and was worth nothing but the cost of electricity consumed to “mine the crypto-blocks” to get it out of the complex algorithm, now it is traded for more than a $1000 for one unit. How did that happen and why? Let’s look into the history of Bitcoin.

In November 2008, at the time when the world economy was shocked by a massive stagnation provoked by the US banking crisis, a paper was posted on the internet under the name Satoshi Nakamoto titled bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System. This paper detailed methods of using a peer-to-peer network to generate what was described as “a system for electronic transactions without relying on trust”.

In January 2009, the bitcoin network came into existence with the release of the first open source bitcoin client and the issuance of the first bitcoins, with Satoshi Nakamoto mining the first block of bitcoins ever (known as the “genesis block”), which had a reward of 50 bitcoins. The value of the first bitcoin transactions were negotiated by individuals on the bitcointalk forums and the user “laszlo” made the first real-world transaction by buying two pizzas in Jacksonville, Florida for 10,000 BTC.

Bitcoin currency is generated through a complex cryptographic algorithm known as "mining"
Bitcoin currency is generated through a complex cryptographic algorithm known as “mining”

 

Very soon the advantages of crypto currency were noticed by a number of Internet freedom and anti-establishment associations, and that gave the first impact to the popularization of the new currency. In June 2011 Wikileaks and other organizations began to accept bitcoins for donations. The Electronic Frontier Foundation began, and then temporarily suspended, bitcoin acceptance, citing concerns about a lack of legal precedent about new currency systems. The EFF’s decision was reversed on 17 May 2013 when they resumed accepting bitcoin.

In January 2012, bitcoin was featured as the main subject within a fictionalized trial on the CBS legal drama The Good Wife in the third season episode “Bitcoin for Dummies”. The host of CNBC’s Mad Money, Jim Cramer, played himself in a courtroom scene where he testifies that he doesn’t consider bitcoin a true currency, saying “There’s no central bank to regulate it; it’s digital and functions completely peer to peer”.

In October 2012, BitPay (the World’s first online Bitcoin payment operator) reported having over 1,000 merchants accepting bitcoin under its payment processing service.

In February 2013 another bitcoin-based payment processor Coinbase reported selling US$1 million worth of bitcoins in a single month at over $22 per bitcoin. The Internet Archive announced that it was ready to accept donations as bitcoins and that it intends to give employees the option to receive portions of their salaries in bitcoin currency.

Today the price of Bitcoin has breached the $1,000 mark, hitting a more than three-year high. It was trading at $1,021 at the time of publication, at level not seen since November 2013, with its market capitalization exceeding $16 billion.

During last 3 years Bitcoin price have grown exponentially
During last 3 years Bitcoin price have grown exponentially

 

Bitcoin has been on a steady march higher for the past few months, driven by a number of factors such as the devaluation of the yuan, geopolitical uncertainty and an increase in professional investors taking an interest in the asset class.

Among other factors which may have contributed to this rise were the European sovereign-debt crisis—particularly the 2012–2013 Cypriot financial crisis—statements by FinCEN improving the currency’s legal standing and rising media and Internet interest. The current all-time high was set on 17 November 2013 at US$1216.73

The success story of the world’s first crypto currency proves that the innovation penetrates all the spheres of human activity and even such a conservative and unchanged thing as a currency may be radically transformed and re-engineered in order to meet the requirements of the present day reality. Bitcoin appeared due to the instability of the financial markets and willingness to save the capital in the currency that will not be controlled by any central authority, but by the mathematical algorithm of extraction.

Once again that proves that the innovation is the driving force of technical progress. And this is something that we believe in in Falcon Technologies International. For more than a decade we never stopped to improve the technology of professional optical media production in order to be always on the top of the industry paramount.

How to Let Your Media Speak for Itself?

Even though we live in the era of flash-memory, hard disc drives and cloud storage solutions, optical disc still remains number one choice for the offline data distribution and long-term information storage and archiving.

Optical disc - still leading archival tool
Optical disc – still leading archival tool

 

Just like a good old book, an optical media disc also has a cover that contains the summary of what is recorded on it – otherwise it would be impossible to distinguish two absolutely identical glowing circular pieces of pressurized polycarbonate from each other. A disc printable layer (sometimes called simply “label”) is something that gives a disc personality, lets it speak for itself and identifies what is recorded on it. It is important for this label to be vibrant and colorful to replicate the design that was initially tailored by the publisher, so that the end consumer will be able to understand what type of content is on the disc from the very first glance.

Vibrant and colourful disc label - good way to boost the sales potential of the media
Vibrant and colourful disc label – good way to boost the sales potential of the media

 

There were plenty ways to create the labels for the media: the most common method was  to print the design on circular pieces of paper and glue it to the surface, but times have changed and not it is impossible to glue discs that spin at over 5000 RPM instead of 33 RPM back in the days of vinyl. Some manufacturers even tried to implement a technology of “in-drive label burning”, but the labels made with this technology were typically black and white and very faded.

Vibrant and colourful disc label - good way to boost the sales potential of the media
Vibrant and colourful disc label – good way to boost the sales potential of the media

 

For over a decade, Falcon Technologies International LLC prioritized its Research and Development efforts on printable surfaces and managed to implement high-tech solutions into its production process. FTI’s wide range of printable layers are designed to meet any professional media duplication industry requirements according to highest standards.

FTI is proud to introduce its brand new SMART GLOSSY printable layer – a surface that is able to illustrate your personalized graphics and labels brighter and shinier than ever before. FalconMEDIA Smart Glossy printable discs are perfect to create customized, long-lasting, ultra-vivid design disc labels. Our Research and Development team have invested significant resources to tailor this brand new technology to allows you to have superior image definition, color saturation and vivid quality of printed graphics.

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Key Features of the Product:

  • Superior ink absorption and faster ink drying printable surface (best in class)
  • Better glossiness surface delivering full color, glossy photo quality printing
  • Excellent color whiteness
  • Consistent printing across the full surface giving excellent uniformity
  • Long lasting print surface
  • Excellent water resisitant quality makes the printable surface free from scratches, smudging and smearing in wet conditions
  • High yield on inkjet printer (economic ink consumption)
  • Excellent Black/White Contrast with economical ink saturation setting
  • Wider compatibility on all standard professional inkjet printers
  • Good handling characteristics to ensure smooth operation with leading robotic duplication and publishing systems

To conclude it would be fair to note here that in media duplication and distribution business it is very important to select the right supplier, that is able to ensure high quality of the optical media and compatibility with a wide range of mass-printing equipment.

CEO of Falcon Technologies International LLC participated in the panel discussion during the Ras Al Khaimah Finance and Investment Forum

Michael Gutowski, CEO of Falcon Technologies International LLC participated in the panel discussion on the importance of innovation in business during the Ras Al Khaimah Finance and Investment Forum on December 13th and 14th.

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During the panel discussion Mr. Gutowski emphasized that currently FTI holds the status of the best professional optical media producer globally, which has been achieved for a number of reasons, one of them being the constant implementation of small innovations on a daily basis and continuous improvement of the production processes.

“People are as important as innovation,” – Mr. Gutowski stated during his speech, – “You can’t change everything in a single big shot, as creating an innovation culture is an every day process.”

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Mr. Gutowski also pointed out that an essential part of the FTI’s success is company’s ability and willingness to “listen to customers” and meeting their needs, based on the comments and suggestions that they receive. Within FTI listening to customer feedback became and remains the key trigger which promotes innovative product development practicies.

 

During the panel discussion it was also noted that early stage businesses should consider seeking partners in areas of expertise that they do not have in-house experience to ensure an increased chance of successfully translating their core strengths into a product offering with wider market appeal and less perceived business weaknesses.

Critical Role of Data Archiving for the Financial Institutions

Finance is an excessively regulated industry, with many moving parts and data that must be monitored and reported in order to stay protected and compliant with all regulations. One of the most important aspects of regulatory compliance for banks and financial organisations is record keeping and archiving electronic communication data. With the right tools and plans in place, archiving compliance does not have to be a daunting task.

Financial institutions generate a lot of data, which has to be archived by law.
Financial institutions generate a lot of data, which has to be archived by law.

 

Brokers, dealers, investment advisors, lending agents, futures and transfer agents, and businesses like mortgage companies, credit unions, banks, hedge funds, private equity firms, exchanges, commercial and retail banks, lenders and insurers, payday lenders, foreclosure relief services and debt collectors are all required to capture, monitor and archive business related communication data for review, audits, eDiscovery, litigation, and compliance.

But how do you become compliant? Let’s just jump right into the What, Why, and How of archiving compliance for banking and financial organisations.

Compliance with data archiving regulations is vital prevention of cyber crimes.
Compliance with data archiving regulations is vital prevention of cyber crimes.

 

In short, a financial institution of any kind should be archiving all business related electronic communication data.

Email has been around long enough that just about everyone realizes the need to have a complete and easily accessible email archive. But you should really be archiving every bit of electronic communication data created by your organization. This includes social media, instant messaging, and content created on mobile devices.

The most obvious reason to archive emails and other business communication data is that your business is regulated and thus, mandated to do so.

Another thing that has to be archived - corporate e-mails
Another thing that has to be archived – corporate e-mails

 

Another reason why you should archive, that isn’t obvious at first, is data leakage. If you have proprietary data, customer account, transactional or confidential information, you are obligated to make sure that it isn’t shared, either purposefully or accidentally. The use of email, social media, instant messaging, and mobile devices increases the ease at which your employees could share this type of data. Couple that with the fact that the line between personal and business communication is blurred on corporate mobile devices. In addition to data leakage, you need to guard against insider trading, inappropriate financial advice, and stating personal beliefs about a financial investment or trade as fact. Having an archiving solution provides you with protection against these threats by giving you oversight. This oversight on employee communication data, coupled with an effective communication policy, will not only discourage bad behavior, but will encourage proper behavior according to established policy. Your employees will know that, according to your policy, everything they communicate is being stored and can be accessed for review.

As you can see, almost every commercial entity produces and accumulates large amounts of various data on a daily basis, so the “archival question” is becoming more actual nowadays and will become even more critical in the future. Data storage and archival solutions in the age of “informational revolution” we live in are required to provide not only the big data storage and rendering capacities, but also ensure the integrity and accessibility of data for years, decades and centuries.

art4Falcon Technologies International LLC’s Research and Development team have created a solution that complies with the archival needs and requirements of the financial institutions and government entities. Our FalconMEDIA Century Archival CDs and DVDs with golden and platinum reflective layers showed outstanding results during the internal and third-party benchmarking tests: data stored on these professional archival discs stays accessible and integer for more than 500 years – timeframe that is enough to archive data for almost 7 future generations of the humanity.
Source: GWAVA