After winning the Constantinus Award 2014 and 2015 in the categories "Information Technology" and „Communication & Networks” respectively, in 2016 RISE succeeded in the new category "International Projects". The awarded project "Bitcoins accepted here" - (the first (lawful) global exchange office for independent crypto currencies) - implemented an (online-) payment service which globally allows retailers to accept Bitcoins and other crypto currencies from their customers. The retailer receives the payment in the required local currency. The mechanism for determining the actual Bitcoin value (real-time online-inquiry across all bitcoin trading exchange markets worldwide) and its sale are extremely complex, yet conceptually thrilling. The structure and mechanisms of settlement in banking and severe compliance rules, the underlying practical side-effects and time constraints of block chain trust, and very specific software design implementation needs do merge in dense fusion. Therefore, this form of online mechanism has not yet been available to global payment services today in a certified accepted form. The product created in this project has been inspected by the FinMA (Financial authority in Switzerland) and complies with the strict regulation requirements. Bitcoins as a means of payment are not a finally regulated worldwide ecosystem. From an economic point of view, e.g., exchange rates and non-payment risk need to be re-evaluated, since also here a classic money exchange takes place. On a technical level, the main challenge is the absence of stable standards. The community grows and moves fast, making it necessary to react to changes within cycles of three months. Remarkably, new features e.g. the effective/practical handling of the 30 minutes it takes for a globally confirmed and verified bitcoin, were developed. The "Bitcoins accepted here"-button has a determining influence on the global standard. An intelligent architecture as well as an extremely high security level against fraud are the basis of the product. Solutions for meeting the regulatory aims, e.g., from the area of anti-money laundery connected with Bitcoins or automatic identification of potential relationships between customers via Bitcoin mechanisms, complete the solution.

See more at constantinus.net