Three Bitcoin Core developers will move to MIT's new Digital Currency Initiative. Gavin Andresen, Wladimir van der Laan, and Cory Fields are joining the program as the Bitcoin Foundation runs out of m
Three Bitcoin Core developers will move to MIT's new Digital Currency Initiative. Gavin Andresen, Wladimir van der Laan, and Cory Fields are joining the program as the Bitcoin Foundation runs out of money.
The Foundation had provided the primary funding for Bitcoin Core development, but the organization hit severe financial trouble. Former board member Olivier Janssens told us that developer paychecks stopped coming. He stepped in with his own funding while the Bitcoin community looked for a long-term solution. MIT's initiative now fills that gap.
Andresen said the MIT program won't shape development decisions. He claims the Foundation never directed the project either. Still, Core developers continue to depend on a single funding source, which will unsettle many who see decentralized currency as freedom from institutional control.
Brian Forde heads the Digital Currency Initiative. He told CoinDesk he wants other universities to join the effort, including schools outside the US. "Our interest is not to make this a US-only effort. We've been reaching out to international universities to incorporate them." he said.
Mt. Gox customers who lost funds in last year's collapse can now file claims. The bankruptcy trustee and Kraken are accepting claims from former users. Anyone with a Gox account can log in and fill out the required forms, or complete the process through a Kraken account. Claimants must submit by May 29th.
The forms ask whether claimants want payouts in Bitcoin or traditional currency. The trustee hasn't decided whether settlements will include Bitcoin payouts, but is considering the option. If settlements go out in digital currency, it would be unprecedented in bankruptcy law.
Ripple froze over a million dollars of XRP belonging to Jed McCaleb, the company's former co-founder. The move highlights a central irony in cryptocurrency promotion: the supposed appeal of these systems is they remove gatekeepers and give users control of their own assets. Yet Ripple operates through a network of gateways and IOUs, and the Bitstamp gateway allowed the platform to lock McCaleb out of his holdings.
Ripple later unfroze the account, but Bitstamp now faces uncertainty about where the funds belong. The exchange has sued both Ripple and McCaleb, asking the courts to settle the dispute. The outcome could establish legal precedent for the industry.
McCaleb left Ripple to start his own cryptocurrency project, Stellar. He used some of his XRP holdings to fund Stellar's launch.
