ZrCoin, a crowdfunding investment campaign, has achieved success with the collection of $3.7 million over the course of two weeks, from 11-25 May.

The Russian Central Bank intends to prepare a package of tax regulatory documents for cryptocurrency transactions. A draft normative package will be presented in a month.

On May 19, the Czech capital hosted the largest conference on digital currencies and blockchain – Blockchain & Bitcoin Conference Prague.

The State registry of real property titles of Ukraine will be moved on distributed ledgers basis in the future, as well as the System of electronic auctions of distrained properties.

One of the leading Russian banks VEB (Vneshekonombank) plans to invest 10 billion rubles in supporting large-scale projects involving innovative technologies such as blockchain.

The document was signed by 56 companies from 21 countries, representing 83.28% of hashing power.

Barry Silbert, prominent investor and Digital Currency Group CEO, gets into a secret agreement with mining pools to activate a hard fork on 21 September 2017.

Peach Aviation, a Japanese low-cost carrier, will become the first airline in the country to accept Bitcoin as a payment method for booking airline tickets.

Authorizer.io was officially launched on May 18. This is an open non-commercial project intended to increase the security of user accounts, mitigate the risks of password interception and demonstrate the advantages of open blockchain technologies.

Authorizer.io was created through the efforts of three teams: HashCoins, Aspanta and Emercoin.

The main goal of the project is to draw the attention of users to password-free authorization technologies and to the advantages of blockchain certificates for daily use.

Authorizer.io enables website owners to integrate the authorization system quickly and easily through Emerсoin SSL certificates.

Authorizer.io is based on the oauth2 open authorization protocol and Emercoin blockchain technology. Blockchain is used to store the encrypted information on user EmerSSL certificates and virtual cards.

The advantages of Authorizer.io:

1. Security. No password, and thus no risk of it being captured.
2. Comfort. It is not necessary to fill out any forms, as authorization is made with one click.
3. Anonymity. Only you own your data, which means that it is impossible to steal or falsify it.
4. Freedom. The service is absolutely free for website users and owners.
5. Usability. Daily use of certificates significantly saves you time.
6.    Flexibility. You have the possibility to use SSL certificates in any browser and on any device, including on smartphones and tablets.
7.    The human factor. Authorizer is intended only for people. Bots cannot use it, and spam is completely excluded.
8.    Innovation. There is no place for passwords in the 21st century.

Anyone who wants to may create a certificate: https://getssl.authorizer.io/en

Official project website: authorizer.io

More about the developers:

HashСoins is a team of ambitious developers of crypto-equipment and the creators of different services based on blockchain technologies.

Aspanta is an expert in the field of development of high-load web and mobile full-cycle applications, the reliable cloud resources of Microsoft Azure, and decentralized systems based on Emercoin.

Emercoin is one of the world's leading crypto-platforms with a large number of blockchain applications. It enables users to exchange money and valuable data at any time anywhere in the world.

Official websites of the developers:

Hashcoins – www.hashcoins.com

Aspanta – www.aspanta.com

Emercoin – www.emercoin.com

FutureTech Congress is one of the most important business summits in Central and Eastern Europe addressing top trends in the fintech, insurtech and big data industries.

The first edition of the congress will be held on 24th and 25th of May in Warsaw. During two days of debates experts from all over the world will discuss how digitalization, technology and business innovations are changing the financial services, insurance and data industry, in effect impacting the overall business landscape in Poland and the region. The event will gather a line-up of international thought leaders, industry experts and practitioners such as Stephen Brobst - Chief Technology Officer, Teradata Corporation; Chris Skinner - Writer, Fintech Commentator, Chair of the Financial Services Club; Lars Christensen - Founder and owner of Markets and Money Advisory; Giovanni Butarelli - Supervisor of the European Data Protection Board.

FutureTech Congress is designed to foster growth and development of the Polish and regional business landscape and fuel its innovativeness. The idea of the congress is based on previous experience of MMC Poland, long time organizer of BIG DATA: Think Big CEE Congress and FinTech Digital Congress business conferences. The key goal of the event is to create a dedicated platform for meetings and thought-sharing between mature companies, startups, entrepreneurs, investors and public sector decision makers.

During the FutureTech Congress our goal is to illustrate how our society and the broadly defined business sector is impacted by the on-going digital transformation. Technology is transforming the way how enterprises are addressing customer needs, building efficiencies and delivering both market and shareholder value. When shaping the agenda we are making it interdisciplinary and forward looking, so that it best provides an accurate perspective on the direction in which the business world is heading in response to both fintech, insurtech and big-data trends, said Marcin Petrykowski, Regional Head and Managing Director at S&P Global and a member of the Advisory Board for the FutureTech Congress.

FutureTech Congress is divided into three streams: FinTech Digital Congress (financial technologies), InsurTech Digital Congress (insurance technologies) and BIG DATA: Think Big CEE Congress (management of large data).

• FinTech Digital Congress is dedicated to the impact that new technologies in finance create both for banks, financial institutions and all other market participants. FinTech will encompass discussions on the rapid digitalization of finance, e-commerce payments, digital identity, development of cryptocurrencies and partnerships between new and traditional players. 

• InsurTech Digital Congress is dedicated to modern trends in the insurance sector. During the discussions Speakers will present such sector revolutionary solutions as block-chain, telematics or biometry. Experts will also review new customer needs, the changing industry landscape, disruptive business solutions and practical examples of new technology deployment.

• BIG DATA: Think Big CEE Congress will focus on modern applications of large data. The four program blocks of BIG DATA are dedicated to A.I. in business, customer relations in the retail sector, challenges of the new EU data protection law and implementations of innovative big data solutions.

Among the Speakers of FutureTech Congress the organizer supported by the Advisory Board have gathered the most influential experts from the insurtech, fintech and big data industries, such as:

• Zbigniew Jagiełło, CEO, PKO BP
• Cezary Stypułkowski, CEO, mBank
• Chris Skinner, Writer, Fintech Commentator, Chair of the Financial Services Club
• Guillaume de Colonges, CEO and General Director, Carrefour Poland
• Hesus Inoma, Founder & CEO WeSavvy  
• James Felton Keith, Chairman, International Personal Data Trade Association  
• Delber Lage, CEO, SalaryFits
• Evita Lune, Global Partner, Country Manager for Latvia and Head of Digital Economy,   Pedersen & Partners  
• Lars Christensen, Founder and owner of Markets and Money Advisory  
• Fabienne   Ostermeyer, International Development Director at Visiomed Group  

The full agenda of the event is available at: www.ftcongress.com

 During the FutureTech Congress a special evening event will be held – the FutureTech Night. In a less formal environment, this event will gather representatives of financial sector, startups, disruptor companies that challenge the standard business models, private equity investors, capital market, and technology enthusiasts from key sectors of the Polish economy. The evening event will feature announcement of the FutureTech Awards.

The congress is a project of MMC Poland, a long-standing organizer of relevant and impactful conferences, workshops and business trainings in Poland dedicated to specialists, managers and top management.

 All current information on FutureTech can be found on the official website: www.ftcongress.com and dedicated profiles on:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• LinkedIn

On June 22, Saint Petersburg will host Blockchain & Bitcoin Conference. One of the main topics there will be blockchain in the banking sector and legislative regulation of digital currencies.

The event is a part of Blockchain & Bitcoin Conference network – the first and largest network of crypto conferences in Europe. The organizer, Smile-Expo, holds similar events in five countries: Russia, Ukraine, Estonia, the Czech Republic and Sweden.

Among speakers will be representatives of innovation banks, entrepreneurs, authors of blockchain startups, and experts in the field of regulation.

Apart from the main stream, the program will include two separate blocks – a banking session and discussion panel for juridical issues.

Which banking processes were successfully shifted to blockchain? Which services can be expected to emerge in the next few years? When will the notion of “cryptocurrency” and “blockchain” be introduced in the Russian legislation? How will it influence the development of crypto industry? Experts will answer these and other questions.

Alongside the conference, there will be an exhibition. It will feature hardware and software for mining, bitcoin wallets, trading platforms, and assisting services for crowdfunding.

You can read the news about preparations for the event on the website of Blockchain & Bitcoin Conference St. Petersburg. The registration is already open.

Fred Wilson, a well-known venture capitalist who has invested in Twitter, Facebook, Amazon and Uber, believes that the Ethereum capitalisation will overtake Bitcoin's till the end of 2017.