The blockchain hype has now been going on for several months, and numerous advancements have been noticed. According to recent reports, Goldman Sachs has just submitted a patent application that focuses on the idea that blockchain technology can be used to cut out the middle man, and change the current financial processes.

The patent, known by the name of “Systems and Methods for Updating a Distributed Ledger-Based on Partial Validations of Transactions” was initially published on the 8th of September, and filed back in March 2015. This means that it is the financial giant’s first blockchain-based patent so far.

Amidst growing fear of Bitcoin and other digital currencies being used for illegal purposes, such as money laundering, the Europol has recently set up a group meant to combat the process with the help of bitcoin.

According to recent reports, the launch of the Bitcoin money laundering division by the Europol, as a result of their partnership with the INTERPOL and the Basel Institute of Governance, may actually prove beneficial for the industry.

In a recent article, we talked about the main advantages and disadvantages of investing in bitcoin. While the currency continues to evolve, its underlying technology, the blockchain is seeing an even quicker growth.

With this in mind, blockchain technology can be regarded as one of the hottest trends in the financial market at this moment in time, as it has the potential of completely transforming traditional business models in numerous sectors. Numerous banks, governments and financial institutions have openly discussed about their plans to adopt blockchain technology, which is why more and more people are actively looking for ways to invest in the blockchain boom.

According to a recent research paper published by the Santander Bank, the rise of bitcoin, and its underlying technology, the blockchain, can end up having a strong impact on the card market, by hurting both acquirers and issuer banks, but benefitting credit and debit card emitters such as MasterCard and Visa.

The paper, which is mostly focused on the Brazilian market, warns that the region’s largest debit and credit card operator, Cielo, will be negatively affected if bitcoin adoption grows. In fact, researchers at the Santander Bank believe that the entire business models of both Cielo and other similar firms will be challenged, due to numerous merchant discount rates and the POS revenues.

Chances are that you are aware of the fact that Bitcoin isn’t truly anonymous. While it does offer some privacy protection, the transparency of the blockchain allows anyone to see what transactions you’ve carried out.

Unfortunately, monitoring the public ledger, analysis of KYC (know your customer) policies and anti-money-laundering laws can reveal quite a lot about certain bitcoin users, especially if they’re not careful in hiding their identities. While there are a couple of possible solutions, none have been implemented into the bitcoin code, and most bitcoinists don’t have the patience needed to intricately hide their marks.

During the last couple of months, there have been numerous attempts by governments to come up with new ways or taxing and regulating bitcoin and other digital currencies. According to recent reports, as Italy is currency dealing with a banking crisis, it seems like its government is looking for ways to tax bitcoin and implement clear regulation.

To put things better into perspective, it is important to note that the legal status of bitcoin tends to vary substantially from country to country, while also being undefined or in the process of changing in several regions. Most countries have allowed regulated, free trade, while others completely banned the currency, thus showing the disagreement in opinion between the world’s countries.

Regardless of the fact that China doesn’t have an open attitude towards bitcoin and alternative digital currencies, recent reports indicate that the Chinese government will soon start using blockchain technology to process social security payments.

As the National Council for Social Security handles around $300 billion, and is continuously increasing its budget, this could call for the biggest implementation of blockchain technology yet. Blockchain technology will allow Chinese authorities to rule out the need of a middle man, thus increasing efficiency, decreasing costs and making record keeping an easier task. So far, it seems like blockchain technology will be used to handle unemployment benefits alongside with the pensions of tens of millions of people throughout the country.

The hacking community present in the bitcoin market is quite active, with numerous breaches happening on a daily basis. While the media doesn’t report on this, hundreds of bitcoin wallets are hacked and stolen every day, due to low security measures. However, in the long run, hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of bitcoin have been stolen from exchanges and other bitcoin-based companies.

To put things better into perspective, over 130,000 BTC, which are worth around $74 million have been stolen during this year alone. Whenever a heist takes place, investors face severe losses, whereas potential customers are driven away from the bitcoin market. Because of this, it is essential for the community to find a fix that can be implemented into the system, to help protect bitcoin exchanges, other companies dealing with the digital currency and individual users.

During the last couple of months, banks from all around the world have shown a growing interest in Bitcoin, and its underlying technology, the blockchain. However, it seems like the R3, a blockchain startup in charge of leading the banking blockchain consortium, has reportedly just filed for a patent to launch their very own distributed technology.

Contrary to popular belief, it seems like California is not going to become the second state after New York City to implement a BitLicense regulatory framework in the foreseeable future.

According to recent reports, it seems like the lawmaker who introduced the AB 1326 digital currency law to the California Assembly, Matt Dababneh, has decided shelve the law following several conversations with digital currency experts and companies. With this in mind, the law will not be voted on this year, as more time is reportedly needed in order to study the measure, its possible outcomes and long-term effects.