Western Union CIO: Bitcoin No Solution for Today's Market
For Western Union chief information officer John "David" Thompson, bitcoin represents an innovative technology that, if successful, could significantly impact the way people transact and exchange information. Yet the path he sees to that future is fogged by regulatory and cultural challenges that are yet to be resolved. In conversation with CoinDesk, Thompson detailed how he invested in bitcoin mining in order to learn more about nuts and bolts of the technology - a process that he continues to this day. "I have some [KnCMiner] Neptunes - about two terahashes in bitcoin mining," he said.....
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Western Union Chief Information Officer John "David" Thompson was interviewed by Coindesk this week and made some very revealing comments about Bitcoin, and its future in global monetary transfer. Many know Western Union as the world's largest personal monetary transfer corporation, founded way back in 1851. Operating in 220 countries worldwide, it generated almost $800M last year in net income, which is down over 20% from 2012. I wonder why it is down over $200M all of the sudden? Also read: Digital Currency Advocate: What Western Union CEO Is Missing. Western Union CIO: Bitcoin doesn't....
In the world of cash-transfers, few other companies come to mind as instantaneously as Western Union. If you’ve walked in a convenience store anywhere between the west and east coast of the United States, you’ve probably seen a banner for Western Union. The remittance provider is currently facing a preliminary antitrust inquiry as the EU examines allegations of Western Union intentionally driving rivals out of business. Allegedly, Western Union is giving their retail outlet partners contracts with exclusivity contracts in them which don’t allow other cash-transfer services to operate....
Mobile payment solutions are the new hype right now, as consumers from all over the world are looking for more convenient ways to pay for goods and services. No one would have expected Viber to become a major player in the financial world anytime soon, but their recent partnership with Western Union shakes things up quite a bit. While Bitcoin remains a cheaper remittance solution, this partnership has a lot of potential. Mobile Remittance With Viber. In this day and age, there are so many different social messaging applications that it becomes hard to keep track of them all. Viber is one....
If you've been scanning the Bitcoin subreddit today, you'll notice Western Union - the world-famous money remittance company - is taking a fair bit of flak from digital currency enthusiasts for an event that took place on Facebook not terribly long ago. In short, a user of the social network, Dave Aiello, mocked a Western Union advertisement in attempts to highlight the benefits of bitcoin. In a thread created Monday on Reddit, Aiello says he was met with a copyright claim from the company for the following: Needless to say, Aiello's post on Reddit was met with disappointment and anger.....
As new U.S. government measures that impose restrictions on remittances to Cuba becomes effective after November 22, Western Union, which has been operating in the island nation since 1999, will close shop. The new rule, which was published on October 27, gave Western Union 30 days to implement new restrictions. The new rule is likely to increase the appeal of crypto assets as Cubans are now expected to find a suitable alternative in a very short space of time. Targeted Sanctions At the time of the initial U.S. government announcement, the global remittances giant had promised to find a....