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The Hex-Fury 11HG/s USB stick uses BitFury chips. Source: ASICRunner
As the mining industry evolves, there are always new products and services hitting the market for enterprising cryptocurrency entrepreneurs. The competition between hardware manufacturers continues, with CoinTerra shipping its 5,000th unit and KnCMiner offering new incentives.Before ASICs came along, issues of power and cooling were not as much of a priority. Now, even the new Radeon, the most powerful graphics card to date, is not the least bit exciting to those interested in mining.But with data centers full of mining racks and malicious actors dropping cryptocurrency mining libraries into mobile malware, new and unexpected technological developments still crop up to make things interesting.With that captivating information out of the way, here is what has been going on in mining since the last roundup.KnCMiner updates A rendering of the Mini Titan. Source: KNCMinerA rendering of the 150MH/s Titan Mini. Source: KNCMinerStockholm, Sweden-based KnCMiner has recently announced a number of updates. The company’s Titan scrypt miner is getting closer to launch, with the 28nm chip getting 300MH/s out of 800W of power. The Titan costs $9,995 and is expected to begin shipping Q2.The company has also made public plans to sell a Titan Mini model with at least 150MH/s of performance for $5,495. The company has not yet specified the power consumption of the Titan Mini.KnCMiner is also selling upgrade units for its November model of the Neptune bitcoin miner, which appears to be an additional ASIC card for $350. Also, the company plans to sell a third generation model of the Neptune in a month at 3TH/s for $5,995.HashPlex Opens First HashCenter Past 60 days of total bitcoin hashing power. Source: Blockchain.infoPast 60 days of total bitcoin hashing power shows continued upward growth. Source: Blockchain.infoSeattle-base HashPlex, founded by veterans of Google, Microsoft and Facebook, have announced that it has opened its own data center called the HashCenter. Calling on people to join them “in the continuing fight to keep the hashing power of the bitcoin network distributed,” HashPlex has a number of different options available.They allow customers to utilize HashPlex’s own mining gear, cloud-style. Or, mining gear can be sent to the directly company’s data center in the Seattle area – either mining units a customer already has or ones currently on order with mining manufacturers.HashPlex’s hosted pricing is based on kilowatts per month, and it has a listing at the bottom of its website of what typical mining equipment costs to be hosted in the HashCenter.GHash.io Multipool Litecoin versus dogecoin network hashing power. Source: BitInfoChartsLitecoin versus dogecoin network hashing power. Source: BitInfoChartsBitFury ASIC mining pool Ghash.io has announced that is now offers Multi Pool Pro, a scrypt multipool functionality for miners that are members of the pool. That means Ghash.io’s software is now configured to mine the best possible scrypt coin for users, whether that be litecoin, feathercoin, auroracoin or any other scrypt-based coin.Multipools are controversial, and have the ability to weaken a coin by moving computing power on a whim. Recently, litecoin creator Charlie Lee proposed merged mining with dogecoin to create a stronger defense for the two coins against the threat of a 51% attack.Multipools might be good for miners, but bad for the future of scrypt coins as ASICs arrive because it could make them unstable. One solution: make sure that retargeting is happening, often, as in the case of dogecoin where it is now set to retarget at every block generation.Hex-Fury USB miner The Hex-Fury 11HG/s USB stick uses BitFury chips. Source: ASICRunnerThe Hex-Fury 11GH/s USB upside down sitting on its heatsink. Source: ASICRunnerThink that USB miners are worthless? What if you put 6 BitFury chips on one USB dongle? The Hex-Fury USB miner can actually pump out 11GH/s per stick at ~0.86W – which means that if you are able to cobble together enough of them they may be a good low-power mining solution when paired with a Raspberry Pi host.It may not be as efficient as using something more data center-friendly, such as a blade miner. But the small form factor Hex-Fury, at $282 per unit, may allow for some unique configurations that could involve more unconventional mining setups.If space is an issue, USB miners may still provide a way to custom build an ASIC rig. Each Hex-Fury stick does have a heatsink on one side, but cooling will be an issue to contend with as well.Amazon bitcoin minersaws_logoHackers don’t seem to care that regular computing power is practically worthless for bitcoin mining. If they can find a way into a system, they might as well try anyway. The case of one developer getting a $5,300 bill from Amazon because of a compromised account trying to mine BTC proves that to the unscrupulous, it doesn’t seem to matter.Although the developer in this instance got a refund because his story was made public, Amazon ”been seeing more and more of this”, they said.It’s important, however, to remember that it still costs more to mine dogecoin on Amazon EC2 and that the value of coins produced will be worth current prices – so these types of activities may not be worth it.Transaction fees vs electricity cost Since the bitcoin price increase last year, mining revenue has been going down. Source: Blockchain.infoSince the bitcoin price increase last year, mining revenue has been going down. Source: Blockchain.infoElectricity is becoming the single most important variable when considering the costs associated with a bitcoin mining operation. When BTC prices are high, miners obviously make a better profit.But a lower price has meant that power consumption is cutting into costs. Understanding these speculative aspects of the bitcoin price is important, because the prospects of long-term viability for mining may rest on whether BTC can become a currency that is popular for transactions.Mining’s future may end up being all about transaction fees versus electricity costs. If miners aren’t able to reap transaction fees that disrupt the $1 trillion-plus in annual revenue that the global financial industry brings in, then it’s all just a game of power usage versus speculative price.Got a cryptocurrency mining tip for future round-ups? Contact us.Disclaimer: This article should not be viewed as an endorsement of any of the companies mentioned. Please do your own extensive research before considering investing any funds in these products.Amazon EC2Cointerradogecoin merged miningEC2 miningGhash.ioHashCenterHashPlexHex-Furykncminerlitecoin merged miningmultipoolNeptunepower consumptionRadeonscryptTitanTitan MiniUSB miner
Original author: Daniel Cawrey

purchase mobile payment
As bitcoin continues to grow in popularity, small businesses around the world have begun accepting the digital currency as a method of payment.Many of these businesses have seen only a very small portion of their customers pay with bitcoin, but that doesn’t necessarily make the venture into cryptocurrencies a failure.Dr J Anthony Allen, CEO of the Minneapolis-based music production school Slam Academy, said bitcoin payments at his business have been “very successful,” yet Slam Academy has seen just one customer pay with the digital currency since Allen began accepting it in November of 2013.With only one total sale it may be hard to see why Allen considers his foray into bitcoin a success, but the answer doesn’t actually lie in the money. Allen said:“So only one sale, but the more important thing is the press we’ve received from [accepting bitcoin]. I hate to say that we started accepting it just to get press, but it’s turned out to be a great side effect of accepting bitcoin.”Allen first began accepting the digital currency when he made a post on reddit in hopes of finding new ways to promote his business. A user suggested he accept bitcoin and another joked that he should accept McDonalds gift cards as well.“It really got me thinking,” Allen said. “I thought, ‘They are both right, actually. I would totally accept McDonalds gift cards if I could pay my rent with them. I would accept just about anything if I can pay my rent with it. Who am I to turn a customer away no matter what they want to pay with?’ So I looked into bitcoin, and when I realized it wouldn’t be very hard at all to actually pay my rent with it, we implemented it into the site.”Other business owners have had experiences similar to Allen’s. Robert Hohne, owner of New Orleans general store Homestead, mentioned that accepting bitcoin has brought in customers who otherwise might not have shopped at his store.“We’ve been fortunate to have met some great customers who only found us because we accept bitcoin, and have also sparked the interest of customers who come in and ask us what this bitcoin phenomenon is all about,” Hohne said.Other than simply being a tool to bring in publicity, bitcoin provides other advantages for both businesses and their customers.Nick Pappas is the owner of Flamestone American Grill in Oldsmar, Fla. Pappas began following bitcoin when it was valued at about $30, and as he watched the value rise over time he began to see how it could be incorporated into his restaurant. Pappas said:“After doing some more research, I realized bitcoin was another option I could give my customers to be able to purchase gift cards from our website using it.”“From a business standpoint, it cuts out the middle man and eliminates any transaction or credit card fees. Also, by accepting bitcoin we are the ones accepting the volatility and the risk, not my customers. That was important to me.”Like Allen, both Pappas and Hohne have only had a handful of customers pay with bitcoin, but each mentioned that they think bitcoin payments will become more popular and widespread in the future as the general public becomes more educated about cryptocurrencies and their benefits.“I think once people understand bitcoin better they will embrace it more,” Pappas said. “Let’s face it, this is something that has never been done before and it is difficult to comprehend how it works. Once people do start understanding, I think the popularity of it will boom.”Mobile payment image via Shutterstockmerchants
Original author: Austin Reynolds

planner clock end of week
Welcome to the CoinDesk Weekly Review 20th April 2014 – a regular look at the hottest, most thought-provoking and most controversial events in the world of digital currency through the eyes of scepticism and wonder.John Law takes his leave, but not before compressing the entire week’s news.After practically a year perched somewhat unsteadily at CoinDesk’s in-house bar – they like to keep it exclusive, but the absinthe cocktails are to die for – it’s time for John Law to move on. This is the last of these weekly columns.So, let’s get the week’s news out of the way. What did we learn over the past seven days?It’s good news if you want to turn your old mobile phone into a pile of top-quality skunk weed, a trick that until now was known only to the pick-pockets of the Holloway Road. Now you can do it yourself, and legally too: send your redundant device to the tech resellers at CeX, they’ll put it online, and when someone buys it they’ll pass you the proceeds in bitcoin. Then, take a plane to Colorado and give your bitcoin to ZaZZZ’s automatic dispenser of the chronic. Job done, entirely by computer. Truly, the future is here.Alternatively, if you have a lot of old mobile phones and no particular fondness for exotic cheroots, then you can repeat the CeX trick until you have around $11 million and then buy a luxury yacht with it. To be honest, that’s the sort of daft trick only Silicon Valley billionaires or over-coked rock stars go for: nobody can say the luxury yacht business doesn’t know its customers.What else? American finance officials warm to bitcoin while China continues to disapprove; there are new exchanges in the works; Mt. Gox is filing for liquidation; Nick Szabo has been unveiled as Satoshi Nakamoto – again, unless he isn’t – because he uses phrases like “trusted third parties” when writing about cryptography.Amazon doesn’t want your bitcoin and Wikipedia’s still not sure; ATMs and ASIC miners are cool (figuratively, in the case of ASIC miners); online fraud is not; and while you still can’t buy sex with bitcoin one canny app developer cashed in when the price was over $1000 and wrote an iOS dating app – which is close enough, if you fancy Apple users. John Law has always found Android fans more open, more flexible and cheaper dates, and they come in an exotic variety of sizes, which keeps a chap interested. Although – of course – the risks of catching something nasty are somewhat higher. The price of freedom.That’s pretty much it for the week, and the most surprising thing? There are no surprises. If you’ve been following along at home, you’ll have noticed that shock and awe is no longer the name of the game. There may be – will be – more stories about clever criminals doing bad things, but Silk Road’s demise has lanced the boil of OMG ANARCHY! that was still pustulating away in 2011. China has loved and lost, but bitcoin’s still here and more than twice the price it was a year ago. The starry-eyed are still gathering in San Francisco to urge each other on to ever greater feats of optimism.future walk businessmanBusiness, in short, is as usual. There is a usual now.So: what next?With your permission, distant reader, John Law would like to share what he’s going to be watching most closely for real surprises as bitcoin leaves its terrible twos and settles down as a more placid child of the 21st century.1. Bitcoin will stop being virtualYou can’t miss the Internet of Things, where all our gizmos talk to each other – and to Big Data-driven companies and governments – to automate our physical environment. It won’t be long before our gadgets are making buying decisions on our behalf, and how will they swap value between themselves? Has to be bitcoin-like technologies.And now there are ways for bitcoin to attach itself to anything digital through coloured coins, and anything physical can have a digital side built into it. Physical things will be able to carry their own guarantees of authenticity and ownership. No trusted third party required. Everything, in short, will stop being nickable and start to be tradeable with no paperwork. That’ll be a shock to the system.2. Bitcoin will change the law more than the law will change bitcoincourt gavel cashIf you’ve got a few minutes, go and look up the idea of polycentric law. Not exactly a new idea – and one that describes how law has worked many times in history. It simply says that you don’t need a monopoly of law. You can have many overlapping systems at once, and people can agree to use different law systems for different tasks.They have to be largely compatible; they don’t have to be the same. So it’s possible, and John Law thinks likely, that people who use bitcoin will agree to behave to a different set of norms than they do with cash. The chances are high that this will be an international affair.Rather more fancifully, it may yet foreshadow a greater move away from state-defined legislation towards a more devolved social contract; the Internet and ever-growing travel habits are mixing parts of society, mostly the young, across borders far more than ever before. In twenty years, they’ll be making decisions for us.Things will change, and bitcoin will lead the way. The law will follow, not least because it’ll learn that bitcoin’s astonishing transparency will reveal ever-increasingly interesting things about what we’re all up to.3. Bitcoin will die. Long live bitcoin!We need a World Wide Web for the bitcoin idea, something that will do for it what the first Web servers and browsers did for the Internet. Before the Web, you could do almost the same stuff you can now – you could search, you could download, you could publish, you could email – but you had to be a right geek and none of the tools worked well together. They worked well enough to show what the Internet’s underlying technology could do, but you had to really want to use them.world wide webThen came the Web and ker-pow! Convenience amplifies. Bitcoin may well evolve into something that feels natural and universal, but it doesn’t now and there may be a much better way of doing the same thing much, much better. Watch the altcoins.John Law, being quite the geek himself, will also be following the development of the underlying technology: things need to be fixed in mining, in block chain management, in security and in distribution of resources. They will be fixed, but the details will be delicious.He’ll also carry on learning how money works, which is a fascination he feels far more keenly now than when he started writing about that darn cryptocurrency thing. He warmly recommends you do, too, even if it’s just to be able to wow impressionable young things at parties when they ask “So, what is this bitcoin stuff anyway?”. And you thought fiat was a small Italian car.Adieu, readers. Thanks for all the kind messages – and the nasty ones, which were most amusing. A year in bitcoin is like seven in any other Internet technology, and given that a year in Internet technology is like seven in the real world, that makes a year writing about bitcoin roughly equivalent to 49 on the calendar. That’s practically a career’s worth. Hard work. No wonder John Law feels quite so thirsty.Oh, OK then. One for the road.Cheers!John Law is an 18th Century Scottish entrepreneur, financial engineer and gambler. Having reformed the French economy, invented paper currency, state banks, the Mississippi Bubble and other ideas essential to modern economics, he took 300 years off in a small cottage outside Bude. He has returned to write for CoinDesk on the foibles of digital currency.Planner, walk for the future, court gavel and Internet concept images via Shutterstockweekly review
Original author: John Law

Nick Chowdrey is a business and technology writer and proud digital native. Currently based in Brighton, UK, he is a technical writer at Crunch Accounting and co-founder of Brighton-based bitcoin community Bitcoin Brighton. Here, he explores how bitcoin can play a part in the business of online content.online payments e-commerceMaking money from online content is hard work. A variety of different models and tactics have been tried down the years, but a solid solution is yet to be found. Could bitcoin be the answer everyone is looking for?Before the internet age it cost a lot of money and resources to publish content. Newspaper publishers, for example, have to pay for the paper, the printing press and the distribution. In contrast, the web provides publishers with a relatively inexpensive – if not free – platform, with very low production costs.The result is lots and lots of free content, which is great for consumers but bad news for content professionals because it makes it difficult to make any money.Monetising online contentAdvertising is one of the ways that digital publishers have tried to make money from their product, but it requires the site to get a viral amount of hits before the option becomes a viable one. Not only does this stifle competition, it clutters up sites with unwanted and often intrusive commercials.Another option is the content wall. This allows users to access free content for a limited amount of time before requiring a paid subscription. Sites that do this currently are the Daily Telegraph, the New York Times and the Sun – each with varying success. The Sun lost 62% of its traffic after adopting its paywall. On the other hand, the New York Times reports that its own rakes in $150 million a year.The paywall model is increasingly popular, but there are still serious limitations. It clearly doesn’t work for every audience, which limits the amount of content publishers that can use it. The main issue with this model is that web users consume content in a very disjointed way – more likely to flit between all kinds of sites than loyally stick to just one or two. To many web users, a blanket subscription to a whole site may seem like a waste of money, especially when so much content is available for free elsewhere.Bitcoin vs fiat paywallsThis is where bitcoin comes in. Micropayments offer an option much better suited to the way content is consumed in the online world, giving users the option to pay a very small amount for individual items, rather than a large amount for a whole box of content.Micropayments have previously not been an option for online publishers for many reasons. Paying by debit or credit card requires the user to enter all their payment information to verify their identity, creating a barrier to entry that easily dissuades the fickle internet user. Payment networks dealing in traditional currency also charge substantial transaction fees, making multiple, small payments an impractical option.Conversely, bitcoin allows users to make instant, virtually fee-less, international micropayments with a single click of the mouse. Some companies are already coming up with solutions for online publishers. Using BitWall, for example, you can implement a bitcoin paywall on your site with just a few simple lines of code. This option was recently trialled by the Chicago Sun-Times, proving that big media companies are already showing interest, if not thinking about it.Tipping and the bitcoin communityThe question is: will users change their behaviour to engage with this idea? If you think of the process more like tipping, there’s no reason why not. People are happy to tip in person using actual cash, so why would they not do the same online using bitcoin, which is comparable to digital cash – especially when the process is as easy as clicking a ‘like’ button?Indeed, there’s already evidence of the cryptocurrency community being very generous with micropayments and donations. The culture of tipping on the bitcoin subreddit has led to startup ChangeTip‘s developing platform for bitcoin tipping on Twitter, Github and soon, even Facebook – lest we forget the infamous Jamaican bobsleigh team fundraiser by the dogecoin community.If publishers can find a source of revenue better than advertising, there could be a shift away from producing content solely for hits and shares, and back towards a focus on quality. It would perhaps reduce the amount of intrusive banner ads as well.Whether or not the idea catches on relies on a number of factors, including how much more widely adopted bitcoin becomes, how bitcoin paywalls affect site traffic and how much investment goes into startups like BitWall. The foundations, at least, are laid – and as an online content professional myself, I’m certainly counting on a shakeup.Payments image via ShutterstockBitWallmicropaymentspaymentspaywalltipping
Original author: Nick Chowdrey

mobile payment
The smartphone revolution kicked off a decade ago, but it really heated up over the past three to five years.Smartphones are perhaps the most “personal” computer used by the average person and, in terms of usefulness, they are the gadget equivalent of the Swiss Army knife. It’s little wonder, then, that more than a billion people bought a new smartphone in 2013.Engineers, developers and designers from Cupertino to Seoul and Taipei clearly did an excellent job. Sadly, the same cannot be said of marketers, merchants and economists. Few of them imagined that a phone could have the potential to turn the tech industry on its head and change business practices forever. For example, an estimated 355 million smartphones feature near field communication (NFC), but who actually uses it to make a payment? The same goes for Apple’s Touch ID.The geeky smartphone ecosystem sounds like a technologist’s wet dream and worst nightmare rolled into one – all that glorious tech is out there and most of it is going to waste. That sounds a bit like bitcoin, doesn’t it?Where is the mobile payments revolution?While most people are quite happy to buy a new smartphone, very few of them use it for mobile payments. Bringing one-tap payments to every consumer is an elusive goal and there are a number of reasons for that.The retail industry was not too keen to embrace new technology. It’s not easy to deploy and there’s not much demand. In terms of online purchases, consumers still prefer the good old desktop, as the tablet and smartphone user interface is still not as convenient. Then there’s security – many people still worry that if they lose their phone they might also lose vital credit card info and other personal data. Most of these problems can be addressed and they are being addressed as we speak.So, the mobile payments revolution hasn’t materialised yet, but there are some positive developments. Bitcoin is a great medium for mobile payments on more than one level. There is no credit card info in bitcoin wallets, every smartphone can scan QR codes, hassle free bitcoin transactions are cheap and quick – but bitcoin is just too small to make much of a difference.Wearable craze coming to a theatre near youWearable technology is starting to look like the next mobile craze. Analysts are bullish and technology is maturing fast. However, once again many people are scratching their heads and trying to come up with practical applications for wearables, other than fitness trackers.So how about using wearables to make payments? That is starting to look like an increasingly promising concept. Wearable gear is harder to lose than a smartphone or wallet. There’s no need to go rummaging through your bag or pockets when you need to make a transaction and authentication is not a problem either.Bionym's Nymi wristbandThe Nymi smart wristband is a good example of truly practical wearable tech. The Nymi features an electrocardiogram (ECG) sensor and, since every person’s ECG is unique, the wristband offers ‘always on’ authentication – as long as it’s on your arm and your heart keeps pumping blood. Therefore, you can make a payment simply by tapping it. The wristband also features a bitcoin wallet, and the company claims it is one of most secure wallets out there.However, the Nymi is a niche product designed for a specific use and it will stay that way. Making wearable payments more than a gimmick requires mass market devices with mainstream appeal. We are finally starting to see such wearables, gear that an average non-geek would like to wear.Here’s a quick test: would you rather wear Google Glass or the upcoming Moto 360?google-glass-moto360We thought so – looks are no longer the problem, but the fact that there are currently very few practical uses for wearables remains a concern.More integration, more possibilitiesThe Mobile World Congress in Barcelona is always a good place to check the state of the industry. This year the event was marked by heaps of smartwatches and other wearables. The focus is there and Google left the best for last: a couple of weeks after the event, the search giant announced Android Wear, a streamlined version of its Android mobile OS designed solely for wearables.Android Wear brings more standardisation, more useful APIs for developers, more incentive to develop cross-platform apps and so on. Android Wear will be open to everyone and since Google isn’t as hostile towards bitcoin as some fruit-loving gadget makers, bitcoin developers will be free to devise new ways of bringing seamless payments to emerging platforms.That’s not all. Google recently introduced a few changes to Google Wallet, lessening its reliance on NFC and smartphones. Google is now using cloud-based host card emulation to store sensitive data and Google Wallet is now a core service in Android 4.4 KitKat.As the system is cloud-based, Google Wallet can now be accessed from anywhere. It is not limited to NFC-enabled phones, users do not have to re-enter their credentials every time they use it, more credit cards can be added and so on. Bitcoin developers can learn from this approach.“There are plenty of bitcoin developers willing to put a lot of effort into creating the ‘killer app’ for wearables, but it will be a while before we see the new services in action.”Google says it is focusing on improving user experience, making wallet payments seamless. Making money comes later, Google has to broaden the user base first.Many bitcoin developers face a similar problem. Like Google Wallet, bitcoin is not a mainstream form of payment and much of their effort goes into making the services good rather than turning them into cash cows. Google’s approach offers a lot of possibilities for bitcoin developers, who can emulate it or use off-the-shelf Google technology to speed up and standardise development.Biometric authentication on wearables and smartphones, smartwatches that display QR codes, cold storage on wearable gear – all this is relevant to bitcoin developers and users, too. In fact, bitcoiners could even out-innovate established players in the field of wearable payments. The industry was not quick to seize the opportunities offered by smartphones, big players just don’t tend to move as fast as small, lean bitcoin outfits.Wearable payments will not be a ‘killer app’ for bitcoin, and they won’t boost adoption overnight. However, wearables could give bitcoiners the opportunity to devise services that will offer something truly new, rather than simply emulate the credit card industry. The only downside is that much of this work will have to be done by enthusiasts, as there is still no money to be made in this particular field.Still, we are sure there are plenty of bitcoin developers willing to put a lot of effort into creating the ‘killer app’ for wearables, but it will be a while before we see the new services in action.Mobile payment image via ShutterstockGoogle Walletwearable technology
Original author: Nermin Hajdarbegovic

capitol hill washington
Regulatory attitudes towards cryptocurrencies around the world are shifting. Hardly a day goes by without a central bank issuing a warning on the digital currency. However, it’s not all bad news – as some authorities are taking a much more positive approach. In CoinDesk’s regulation roundup, Certified Public Accountant and ACFE Certified Fraud Examiner Jason Tyra examines the most significant digital currency news from the world’s regulators and law courts over the past two weeks.Chinese banks stop handling bitcoin related businessThe rumors are true: bitcoin related businesses with Chinese deposit accounts reported receiving verbal notices from their banks last week that transfers to exchanges would no longer be honored, causing bitcoin prices on exchanges worldwide to plunge to their lowest levels in more than six months.  Though the move was obviously centrally directed, the People’s Bank of China has yet to make an official announcement, over a week later.Curiously, the People’s Bank of China announced on 11th April that it would not seek a ban on bitcoin.China’s government and central bank have been ambivalent about bitcoin from the beginning, resulting in periodic rumors of an impending ban.  The spread of crypto-currency among Chinese users has often been cited as the driving force behind bitcoin’s dramatic rise during the latter half of 2013.  The Chinese government, on the other hand, is believed to see bitcoin as a threat to capital controls, while claiming that restrictions are necessary to protect Chinese banks from the risk posed by bitcoin.Bitcoin’s price rebounded above $500 in the week following announcement of the Chinese restrictions.  Nevertheless, at least two Chinese exchanges suggested that they might consider moving to other countries if regulatory action made their businesses unsustainable.Brazil to tax bitcoin investors, not usersFollowing the lead of the US Internal Revenue Service, the Brazilian tax authority has declared that bitcoin sales are subject to capital gains taxes, but set a 35,000 real (approximately $16,000) per transaction exemption.  As a result, the proverbial cup of coffee purchased with bitcoins in that country will not be considered a taxable event.Brazil’s announcement makes the country one of the most bitcoin friendly in the world. Brazilian bitcoiners mostly welcomed the announcement, which makes bitcoin a realistic alternative to the dollar for Brazilians who prefer not to transact in the real.The country’s currency has fluctuated in the wake of the 2008-2009 financial crisis, in response to monetary policies meant to stimulate demand, that have been implemented and then rolled back by the United States and other nations.  As recently as last summer, the mere suggestion that the US Federal Reserve would taper its bond buying campaign in the near future touched off a punishing round of inflation for Brazilian consumers as foreign investors.US Congressman seeks currency treatment for bitcoinTexas Congressman Steve Stockman announced that he will introduce legislation designating bitcoin as legal tender and directing the IRS to treat it as currency, rather than property.  In the United States, the term “legal tender” applies to any payment method which can be used and must be accepted to extinguish a debt.Several US states have considered or enacted legislation in recent years identifying gold or other commodities as legal tender. However, these have mostly been symbolic gestures intended to protest inflationary policies at the federal level.  Congressman Stockman’s proposal is believed to mark the first time that a nation state has considered a law to officially recognize bitcoin.Due to rules governing Congressional lawmaking the likelihood that Stockman’s legislation will make it to the floor for a vote is considered exceptionally low.Mt Gox to liquidateA Japanese bankruptcy judge denied Mt Gox’s petition for reorganization, leaving the company no choice but to enter liquidation.  Citing the plan, the judge described it as “unlikely to be successful.” The court also pointed out that Mt Gox’s management team, led by CEO Mark Karpeles, lacks the confidence of customers and other creditors.Karpeles’ troubles seem to be multiplying in the United States as well.  The bankruptcy judge handling Mt Gox’s US bankruptcy case suggested that the company may be denied certain key protections if its CEO failed to appear for hearings.  FinCEN has also subpoenaed Karpeles, who asked for more time to obtain an attorney before responding.Though Karpeles has not been charged with anything or arrested, either in Japan or the United States, this week’s indictment of Charlie Shrem is unlikely to be a source of comfort as to the likelihood of being taken into custody if he enters the US.Canadian Senate continues bitcoin studyA Canadian Senate panel heard from a selection of bitcoin stakeholders, including the Bank of Canada, the Department of Finance, and others, as it kicked off an 18-month study of whether and how to regulate cryptocurrencies.  Testimony on 9th April included a demonstration of a bitcoin ATM and a bitcoin denominated purchase – of cupcakes – to help lawmakers understand how bitcoins are used in transactions.US Capitol image via ShutterstockBrazilChinaMt. Goxregulationtax
Original author: Jason Tyra

BitcoinJobFair
A Silicon Valley-based startup accelerator will host a bitcoin job exposition for those seeking employment in the cryptocurrency industry.The Bitcoin Job Fair will take place on 3rd May at the Plug and Play Technology Center in Sunnyvale, CA from 13:00-17:00 (PST).Notable employers include Circle Internet Financial, BitPay and Blockchain.info, among others.Scott Robinson, who leads bitcoin efforts at Plug and Play, told CoinDesk:“The entire message is to show, effectively, that bitcoin is hiring right now.”Engineering talentRobinson says that he expects over 250 job seekers to come talk with the major employers mentioned above as well as smaller bitcoin startups that operate in Silicon Valley:“We’ve also paired with both the accelerator programs at Boost and 500 Startups, so a couple of their companies will be present.”The employers at the fair will look for talent that can bring engineering and development expertise.Important skills, according to Robinson, include an understanding of the bitcoin protocol, the bitcoin client and of the measures needed to secure BTC.Bitcoin companies want to become next-generation mainstream technology businesses embracing the new financial paradigm. People already working at established technology companies will be attractive to employers at the job fair.Said Robinson:“I think we’ve moved from a fringe market where people from Google and Apple are looking to jump on bitcoin.”About Plug and PlayThe Plug and Play Technology Center has been involved in the bitcoin space for some time now. It hosts the Silicon Valley Bitcoin Meetup every Tuesday night at 18:00 and is now accelerating bitcoin startups in its business incubator program. Plug and Play's offices in Sunnyvale. Source: Bitcoin Job FairPlug and Play’s offices in Sunnyvale. Source: Bitcoin Job FairBlockchain.info’s head of security Andreas Antonopoulos is also expected to briefly speak to attendees of the fair around 15:00.Robinson believes that the event could be one of the largest gatherings of global job talent in the cryptocurrency currency industry to date. He said:“The type of people that are coming to Silicon Valley for bitcoin are being drawn from all parts of the world.”Startup accelerators, software development expertise and venture capital investment is making Silicon Valley one of the epicenters for bitcoin companies. This job fair is validation of that, Robinson said:“There’s definitely a [bitcoin] technology hub that is forming here. Not just because of the capital available, but because of the level of talent.”Registration for the Bitcoin Job Fair is open and available for free for those interested in attending.Bitcoin Job FairBitPayBlockchain.infoCirclePlug and Play Technology Center
Original author: Daniel Cawrey

dogecoinlitecoin
Things in the alternative digital currency ecosystem got a little more interesting this week. Let’s take a look at some of the noteworthy news items from the last seven days in the altcoin world.Dogecoin enters the limelightFollow the Coin announced that it is partnering with dogecoin founder Jackson Palmer on Dogecon SF in San Francisco on 25th April.This convention brings an interesting array of speakers and attendees, including litecoin creator Charlie Lee and Dogetipbot co-founder David Dvorak. The event aims to highlight the charitable aspects of the community, and there will be food, fun, costume contests and, of course, shibes as far as the eye can see.In other dogecoin-related news, US-based digital currency exchange CoinMKT launched a DOGE/USD trading pair.Blackcoin breaks outBlackcoin had a banner weekend, experiencing a dramatic price increase and subsequent fall that still represents a significant increase in the altcoin’s value compared to a week ago.After spending several days in the 0.00009 BTC range, the price of a single blackcoin began to rise quickly on 12th April.The price peaked on 14th April, reaching 0.00094505 BTC on the MintPal digital currency exchange. Within hours, prices declined to roughly 0.00019000 BTC. MintPal’s 24-hour volume approached 10,000 BTC, causing the need for emergency server upgrades at the time.At press time, the price of a single blackcoin was fluctuating between 0.00035 and 0.00039 BTC.Limecoin community lends a handIPO-structured scams have become increasingly prevalent in the past few months on the Bitcoin Talk forum and other public forums for digital currencies. A recent scandal involving Edgecoin – which involved an IPO for early investors prior to launch – resulted in some unexpected charity from another alt-community.On 17th April, the Limecoin development team announced on Bitcoin Talk that it would donate 500 LIM to anyone who could verify themselves as an investor in Edgecoin:“We understand this is a small amount of currency compared to what many of you invested in edgecoin, and we apologize that we do not have the funds to do more. We are trying to help in any way we can. We encourage other coins to please do the same.”Strange alt of the weekThis week’s “Strange Alt of the Week” is actually shared between two candidates which are set for a twin launch on Easter Sunday.GirlCoin (sign: GIRL) and BoyCoin (sign: BOY) are being pitched as two coins of the same side. Each scrypt variant sports a 10 billion coin maximum supply limit and will have their own independent wallets.The community response seems to be one of mostly amusement, although it will be interesting to see how mining hashrates divide between the two coins.altcoinDigital Currencydogecoinlitecoinripple
Original author: Stan Higgins
  1. LocalBitcoins Releases Investigation Report on Site Wallet Issues
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  4. What Will Become of Your Bitcoins When You Die?

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