The Leftover Bits 13/5/15: Bitcoin Comes To 5,000 Mexican Locations, Blocknet and Ethereum Meet, More Banking Institutions Looking at Crypto

Sorry for the lack of an update yesterday, but BTC news has been slow to come by these past few days. Nevertheless, the Leftover Bits is the web’s best resource for daily bitcoin news, when it actually is daily.

Chip Chap Brings Bitcoin To 5,000 Mexican Locations

Chip Chap is a mobile app that allows people to convert their cash to Bitcoin and vice versa and various ATMs and retailers in several (mostly European) countries. They recently announced that they have partnered with Paynet to bring those features to Mexico.

Users can either send bitcoins to the app and withdraw the cash at compatible ATMs or vendors (Cointelegraph claims 5,000 locations in Mexico alone) or deposit cash and have bitcoins sent to their account.

If merchants choose, they will be able to accept Bitcoin as a payment method as well.

While, as a writer living in the U.S. I cannot test this project myself, it is exactly these kind of innovations that could boost Bitcoin’s viability in the remittance market. In order for Bitcoin to compete with the likes of Western Union and MoneyGram, it needs to have simple services with ample locations. Chip Chap seems adept at forming partnerships that bring in locations by the thousands.

Blocknet Adds Ethereum

The team behind the Blocknet, the “internet of blockchains” founded by Xcurrency’s Dan Metclaf and one of the more promising technologies in the altcoin space, has announced that they will be adding Ethereum to its suite of currencies.

As I reported on CoinTelegraph yesterday, the two currencies aren’t working directly together (although Dan Metclaf is now leading Ethereum’s Boston meetup) but the Blocknet team has applied for a Ethereum DEVGrant. Ethereum is open source so “connecting” Blocknet and Ethereum requires no work on the Ethereum team’s side.

That said, Blocknet adding Ethereum will enable Blocknet to take advantage of Ethereum’s Virtual Machines while giving Ethereum access to Blocknet’s Dapps. The Blocknet team hopes to have their decentralized exchange ready by the time Ethereum’s native currency, Ether, launches.

EBA Says Blockchain Could Improve Banking

It seems like everyday a major financial institution is stating that blockchain technologies or Bitcoin itself could be used in some way to improve their business. Well, welcome to the party boys, because Bitcoin enthusiasts have been saying that for years.

The European Banking Association is the latest to say as much in a new report. While they aren’t exactly bullish on Bitcoin itself, they did admit that blockchain technologies could potentially be used to speed up transactions and lower costs. The report looks at several altcoins in addition to Bitcoin and discusses their potential uses.

Coindesk has a complete write up on the news and it is a good read. Meanwhile, we can take solace in the fact that more traditional financial institutions are jumping on the Blockchain bandwagon.