Log inRegister

Coin News

Helsinki Localbitcoins Kiosk
It’s a special edition of the bitcoin ATM roundup this week as Robocoin went to Washington, DC, a couple of new players entered the European market via Finland and Slovenia and Quebec City received two bitcoin ‘guichets automatique.’Washington, DC USASurrounded by reporters and camera crews from some of the world’s largest news organisations, more than 50 members of the US Congress lined up in Rayburn House on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC to test a Robocoin ATM.US_Capitol_RobocoinPresented by Robocoin’s management team at the invitation of Representative Jared Polis (D-CO), the Robocoin machine received an enthusiastic response from other members.Polis said:“The innovation of online currency will be an important economic driver for the future that allows people and companies to reduce transaction costs and facilitate international transactions.”He added that it is physical cash, not bitcoin, that presents the easiest opportunity to hide illicit activity.Charleston, SC, USAAnother US Robocoin appeared in Charleston, South Carolina, at the Dig South Interactive Technology Festival. This machine comes courtesy of company Southeast Bitcoin, “the South’s only Bitcoin ATM operator.”Helsinki, FinlandNewcomer Cointter has launched two very utilitarian bitcoin machines in Helsinki, Finland.Looking a little like a cross between a payphone and a hotel safe, the machines are northern Europe’s first two-way bitcoin ATMs, buying and selling bitcoins for cash.One is in Helsinki’s Delish store and the other in the Kynsilaukka restaurant. Both were developed in cooperation with LocalBitcoins.com.Helsinki LocalBitcoins KioskCointter promises future models with a more refined design, which it plans to ship to other European locations including France and the UK.Quebec City, CanadaTwo Genesis1 two-way ATMs opened in the historic heart of Quebec City this week.The machines exchange Canadian dollars for both bitcoin and litecoin, and are located in the Auberge Amerik Hotel and the nearby Baguette et Cie coffee shop.Genesis Coin CEO Evan Rose said:“Canada has proven itself to be a leader in bringing tangibility to the otherwise digital world of bitcoin … We want individuals to experience bitcoin in its most elegant form: swift, simple, secure.”SloveniaSlovenia, famous for giving the world it’s currently most popular bitcoin exchange Bitstamp, is now also home to one-way bitcoin kiosks of a previously unknown variety. The operator’s company website is short on detail, but it seems the machines are called ‘BTC-O-Matic’ and that there are at least two operating.slovenia bitcoin kioskATMsCanadaCongressFinlandSlovenia
Original author: Jon Southurst

bitcoin
The Chicago Sun-Times became the first major newspaper to accept bitcoin in early April and it appears this news has already translated into sales for the US publication.The paper told newsBTC that around 11.3% of new orders over the past week were paid for in bitcoin.The Chicago Sun-Times claims it usually receives a few dozen subscription orders per week. This week the paper got 55 orders: 23 were placed online using a credit card, 32 came from the paper’s call centre, while seven were paid for in bitcoin.Surprised by demandKeep in mind that these are figures for the first week of bitcoin sales. While 11% isn’t much, it’s not bad, either.Josh Metnick, the CTO of Chicago Sun-Times publisher Wrapports LLC, says he is “blown away” by the orders. I appears that the paper wasn’t expecting a double-digit share for bitcoin orders. He added:“The key metric will be measuring this over time – we got a really nice initial PR boost with this, now the question is how will this affect sales over the next 3, 6, 12 months?”Metnick also said the paper is looking at ways of repurposing and modifying marketing as bitcoin adoption grows and more consumers start to appreciate the advantages of bitcoin payments.The paper launched a voluntary paywall trial in February and it was a success – receiving small donations from more than 700 readers.Content for coinsThe Chicago Sun-Times bitcoin paywall is significant as it might pave the way for similar solutions from other content providers. A number of small publications are accepting bitcoin donations and some are experimenting with paywalls. However, few big publishers seem to be interested.The financial world is taking notice too, as digital microtransactions could redefine the way that paywalls operate. The Chicago Sun-Times is selling standard subscriptions for bitcoin. Hence, the paper is merely applying a new payments system to a traditional product, ie a standard subscription.However, bitcoin has the potential to offer custom subscriptions or even an ‘a la carte’ approach to paywalls. In other words, readers could simply buy a single story rather than a full subscription.This is not practical with traditional payments services, as the fees are too high – few people would be willing to “buy” a news piece or column for $0.50 and pay a $2-$3 fee on top of it.PriceWaterhouseCoopers published a report on the possible impact of digital currencies on the media industry in January and the takeaway was very positive indeed. PwC concluded that digital currencies could transform the way content is monetised, thus benefiting artists, authors and other content creators by enabling direct sales through economically viable microtransactions.Chicago Sun-TimespaywallUSA
Original author: Nermin Hajdarbegovic

In this week of closures, crashes and heartbleed, here are three of the biggest stories we covered on CoinDesk.

Bitcoin price falls below $400: The price of bitcoin hit a low of $344 this week following deposit freezes at Chinese bitcoin exchanges. The initial drop happened after an announcement from Chinese exchange BTCTrade.com, which was then corroborated by similar statements from Huobi and BTC100.org. This is the lowest the price has fallen since November 2013.

National Australia Bank turns back on bitcoin: NAB has decided to disassociate itself from bitcoin and will be closing the accounts of its bitcoin costumers starting next month. NAB was previously Australia’s most bitcoin-friendly bank and its representatives were actively seeking to build relationships with bitcoin businesses.

Bitcoin Core Version 0.9.1 fixes Heartbleed vulnerability: Bitcoin Core Version 0.9.1 addressed the massive internet security bug, Heartbleed, also known as CVE-2014-0160. The vulnerability was patched by major bitcoin exchanges in a matter of hours.

Not the greatest week for bitcoin, but hopefully, we’ll have some better news next week. Have a good weekend, y’all!

RoundupVideo

Original author: Roop Gill

The price of bitcoin recovered from a low of roughly $380 and rose past $420 at press time on 11th April, on the news that Zhou Xiaochuan, the governor of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), had issued new statements potentially clarifying the central bank’s position on bitcoin.According to reports, during Boao Forum, Xiaochuan offered his opinion on the nascent technology, saying that China would not seek to ban bitcoin and other digital currencies entirely.Said Xiaochuan:“It is out of the question of banning bitcoin as it is not started by central bank.”Xiaochuan continued his statements, offering a potential new potential classification for bitcoin, and suggesting that the PBOC may be actively considering how to treat bitcoin.Xiaochuan said:“Bitcoin is more a kind of tradable and collectible asset, such as stamps rather than a payment currency.”Boao Forum is a regional economic conference that seeks to address economic problems in Asia, and to promote collaboration on solutions.Price risesAt press time, the price of bitcoin on the CoinDesk USD Bitcoin Price Index (BPI) rose sharply on the news, climbing more than 18% to pass $420.china, pboc, banLikewise, the price of bitcoin on the CoinDesk CNY BPI was up 12.9% at press time to reach ¥2630.70, up from the day’s open of ¥2,329.99.Screen Shot 2014-04-11 at 9.07.14 AMUncertainty liftsNews of the statement first surfaced at roughly 7:00 GMT, with the publication of a report by China Securities Network, a news outlet that provides real-time financial reporting, and later resurfaced on a number of similar news channels.Though the remark may simply amount to an informal statement, it seemingly dispels fears percolating since March that China would potentially seek to ban bitcoin altogether.Though, the PBOC is still likely looking to step up enforcement of past rules aimed at separating domestic banks from the alleged risk posed by the nascent digital currency industry.In recent weeks, the price of bitcoin has dropped rapidly, from above $500 to below $400, on the news that China would seek to freeze the ability of major exchanges to conduct yuan deposits. Major exchanges have begun receiving notifications of account closures, and at present, Xiaochuan’s statements do not suggest a change in this policy.CoinDesk is continuing to monitor this developing story.ChinaPBOC
Original author: Pete Rizzo

ripple offices
It’s no coincidence that Ripple Labs was formed in 2012 to be a part of a payments revolution.In 2013, the price of bitcoin hit a high that many had not thought possible, creating a sentiment that new and distributed technologies could change the global financial order on a fundamental level.This enthusiasm is the driving force behind Ripple, and one of the reasons that it has already raised $6.5m in angel and seed funding from the likes of Andreessen Horowitz, Google Ventures and Lightspeed Venture Partners.The company says it has raised capital in its early stages because it aims to build the best global payment protocol, and it needs to hire talented people to do so.“You need a big team,” explained Ripple CEO Chris Larsen. “If this is really going to be a global protocol, it needs that [team].”He added:“In the bitcoin world I’d say a lot of that value is going into mining. Whereas we’re focusing that stream of monetization towards building that team.”ConsensusThe concept of bitcoin mining is what has made that network itself so powerful.At the time of writing, bitcoin’s global network power is around the 48PH/s mark. However, all of that mining power requires electricity (and money) in order to complete blocks and transactions. Network hashrate. Source: Blockchain.infoBitcoin network hashrate. Source: Blockchain.infoWith the Ripple protocol, that type of consensus is conducted without any monetary incentive and instead relies on gateways to move money along with something called validators, which establish trust within the network.The company’s CTO Stefan Thomas says that unlike Ripple, bitcoin mining could potentially result in serious issues down the road:“The nice thing about not having an incentive is you avoid a whole string of economic problems where people are trying to game the system just to get to the incentive.”People who have an interest in seeing Ripple succeed are better off with its protocol than a monetary incentive, at least from Ripple Labs’ perspective.Thomas makes a comparison with the concept of ISPs. They are ‘stakeholders’ in the internet, but do not directly own a piece of it. This, Ripple believes, is a prime example of how a truly global payment protocol should operate.Its open-source nature also means that Ripple could change this in the future, although it doesn’t plan to just yet, Thomas added:“If we need an incentive, we can add one. But its reasonable to start out without one and see how far you get.”Removing barriersEven with today’s technology, it remains unrelentingly difficult to move money around the globe. Ripple plans to change this by building the best currency-agnostic payment protocol for financial companies to use.According to the company, an international bank transfer today from the US to India might look something like this:moneymovementtodayRipple’s use of distributed gateways and market makers could make this process much easier.It would also benefit the community within a system that supports the Ripple protocol instead of banks just making fees from clearing, settlement and currency exchange:moneymovementrippleWhat appears different at face value is that one company essentially replaces the role of several banks.But the reality is that Ripple Labs’ plan is only to develop its payment protocol, and allow an ecosystem around it to take the place of the traditional banking system to create shorter transaction paths. Thomas added:“What Ripple looks for is the shortest connection between your account and the other person’s.”XRPA payment system of any kind needs a unit of account. Existing digital payment systems, such as PayPal, use fiat money like the US dollar.But here’s where PayPal runs into a problem: with so many  countries using different forms of government money, PayPal has to separate its businesses by each country that it does business in.This makes for a relatively inefficient global platform. For example, with PayPal, on person cannot send Chinese Yuan to another who wants to receive bitcoin.However, Ripple can do just that, and it uses its own method of account called XRP to help facilitate “pathways” to find a route of least resistance to move value around. One year prices of Ripple XRP. Source: Ripple ChartsOne year price history of Ripple XRP. Source: Ripple ChartsBecause there is no mining, XRP, also known as a Ripple, has already been allocated within the protocol.According to the company-owned Ripplecharts, there are approximately 100 billion XRP within the system. The idea is that as the protocol becomes popular, XRP will be needed as a unit of account for stakeholders to push value through the system. One year price history of bitcoin. Source: Bitcoin ChartsOne year price history of bitcoin. Source: Bitcoin ChartsXRP, in this way, is not designed to be an effective currency. “It’s designed for a very specific purpose, it doesn’t have to be very fancy,” said Thomas, the CTO.He added:“It [XRP] doesn’t have to be very good [as a currency] in order to fulfil that anti-spam measure purpose for which it’s designed.”Gateways and the protocolXRP’s use is to help build up Ripple as a protocol, but without Ripple gateways there wouldn’t be any way to move money in and out of the system.Gateways are similar to what exchanges do for the Bitcoin network in the way it allows people to trade currencies. The top five free floating virtual currencies by market cap. Source: CoinmarketcapThe top five free floating virtual currencies by market cap. Source: CoinmarketcapRight now, the most popular Ripple gateway is owned by Bitstamp, the exchange that has reportedly raised $10m from Pantera Capital, an all-bitcoin investment fund backed by Fortress Investments, Benchmark Partners and Ribbit Capital.Gateways are the key to regulatory hurdles that many new financial technologies such as Ripple face. Thomas added:“The idea is that rather than us worrying about some global compliance strategy we provide the language, the graph for the different relationships. And then the gateway operators, they know their local jurisdiction.”Identity and complianceWith compliance comes the question of identity verification. And that poses another potential problem Ripple is trying to tackle: leaving know your customer (KYC) to all of its gateways would prove rather problematic.Anyone who has done business with more than one bitcoin exchange has dealt with verifying identity documents over and over again. This is an issue that Ripple is working to solve.Greg Kidd, Ripple’s chief risk officer and a former director at Promontory Financial Group, said:“There’s sort of the balance between security, knowing everything about everybody. And then there’s privacy, knowing nothing about anyone.”The idea Ripple has is to use OpenID connect to be able to allow people to have a digital payments profile. This would give people ownership over their own financial history – and it could potentially be used globally, even for people in countries that don’t use credit scores.Said Kidd:“It means everybody in the world can have a payment identity. And they own it – that’s the cool thing, not the government, not the bank.”Moving moneySince Ripple wants to be a payment platform, it is courting developers and bitcoin enthusiasts to get involved.Some cryptocurrency investors have realized the potential to move cryptocoins and currencies from one place to another, said Thomas:“Our biggest constituency and the people who get the most value out of the system are bitcoiners trying to move money between different exchanges.”Andrew White, who won a Ripple contest at a developer event for his ‘One Million Gateways’ concept, believes his idea is an example of the potential that exists for the protocol to be used to move money much easier than every before:“I believe One Million Gateways will be used for prototyping services by enterprises looking to get into the space.”Services that could use the concept include remittances businesses, currency exchanges and payment processors. Source: LivemintSource: LivemintUsers don’t necessarily need to know that Ripple is being used as the “pipe” but companies could use Ripple to facilitate these types of transactions.Smart ContractsSeveral efforts already exist to implement smart contracts that don’t require a third party.Ideas like Ethereum and colored coins exist because block chain technology allows for a system of enforcing contracts to protect the average person like never before.The rise of legal technicalities like arbitration clauses have inadvertently taken away rights from consumers to fight contracts in court. However, smart contracts offer more logic and less legal minutiae. Many consumer industries use contract arbitration clauses to avoid the legal system. Source: PriceonmicsMany consumer industries use contract arbitration clauses to avoid the legal system. Source: PriceonomicsRipple is working on a smart contract enforcement system that will compliment its payment protocol.Said Thomas:“You have to come up with interfaces, between the sandbox where these contracts are running and the rest of the network functionalities.”If smart contracts are to be adopted, they have be trusted. This is something that Thomas has spent over two years thinking about, and the best system that he has found relies on x86 machine code that is very tight, meaning it has no flaws conceptually.Thomas says that Ripple will use Google’s Native Client, a solution that directly uses hardware-based machine code:“What Native Client does, the sandbox that it uses, it relies on this mathematical model which means that you can verify that it won’t break out of the sandbox.”Native Client could be the best way to enforce a digital contract with low-level control, by using a very small codebase as a “sandbox” to protect from any abnormalities that could happen at a higher, web-based level.Focus on protocolThere have been numerous detractors that have dismissed Ripple because it doesn’t operate like most other cryptocurrencies.But other than bitcoin, litecoin and perhaps dogecoin, most crytpocurrencies aren’t payment mechanisms anyhow. The Ripple Labs office space in San Francisco.The Ripple Labs office in San Francisco.Ripple’s focus on developing an open-source core payment protocol is different because there is no central figure directing the course of development. The company currently has eight core protocol developers, and is looking for more.There is also a startup accelerator. CrossCoin Ventures, an independent entity but up two floors from the Ripple HQ, is looking for talent that can leverage the protocol.LibraTax, a company that does virtual currency tax returns, is the first tenet there. The impact of having a protocol prepared for mass adoption is something that developers should not dismiss, according to Larson, the Ripple CEO:“The protocol can just exist. That kind of macro opportunity should not be wasted.”Relying on a community of developers, investors and financial companies is what Ripple is trying to foster. At the same time, focusing on the core technical aspects of its payment protocol  is the company’s real goal.Ripple is hoping that the rest will be taken care of by those who seek an opportunity to change the current system of financial payments and contract enforcement.“That’s the beauty of it,” said Asheesh Birla, the company’s head of product. There are a lot of options to be involved with Ripple: Gateway, market maker or app developer leveraging the Ripple API, he said:“You can either do all of it, or you can separate it out and leverage the existing ecosystem.” Featured Image by CoinDeskinvestmentRipple Labs
Original author: Daniel Cawrey

barry silbert
The Bitcoin Investment Trust (BIT) now holds more than 100,000 BTC, according to Barry Silbert, CEO of SecondMarket and founder of the trust.Silbert has big plans for the Bitcoin Investment Trust, which is expected to open for public investors sometime in the fourth quarter of 2014. For the time being, the trust is a private investment vehicle but once it opens to the general public, the fund is expected to attract a new breed of bitcoin investors.Silbert believes the 100,000 mark is a big milestone for BIT, and it’s hard to argue otherwise. After all, this grand total amounts to almost $40m at press time.Big milestone today for Bitcoin Investment Trust — now holds over 100,000 bitcoin http://t.co/nBzlaGupy4 cc @BitcoinTrust— Barry Silbert (@barrysilbert) April 10, 2014 Slow progressAs it stands, Silbert’s BIT and the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust are vying for the same market, both must overcome a number of hurdles. However, BIT appears to have an advantage: it is not an exchange-traded fund (ETF). Hence, Silbert does not need approval from the US Securities and Exchange Commission, but the Winklevoss twins do.Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss filed their bitcoin investment fund with the SEC back in July 2013. Last month the Winklevoss’ chief legal counsel Kathleen H Moriarty told CoinDesk that the ETF should be approved by the end of the year.White the BIT does not have to jump through SEC hoops, it does have to meet some unique requirements to remain exempt from the SEC approval process. Silbert explained the process and outlined his plans for BIT expansion in an interview with CoinDesk two weeks ago.Reshaping the bitcoin investment landscapeSilbert’s Bitcoin Investment Trust, the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust and the Pantera Bitcoin Partners fund could change the way people invest in bitcoin, but more importantly they could change the way investors feel about the currency.These organisations are not designed with speculators in mind, however. Bitcoin investment funds are going after traditional investors who do not have a habit of entering unregulated markets and investing in speculative investment vehicles.It is still too early to say whether these funds can broaden the investor base and make digital currencies more appealing in traditional circles. Regardless of how much traction they get, they are likely to improve public perception among many who are reluctant to enter the niche.Image credit: Hubert Burda Media / Picture Alliance via FlickrBarry SilbertBITBitcoin Investment TrustPanteraWinklevoss
Original author: Nermin Hajdarbegovic

We Deliver Local
More than 40 independent and local shops in the UK are now accepting bitcoin. Some of them don’t even know about it.As of April 1st, We Deliver Local, a UK-based e-commerce solution for local shops added bitcoin as an official payment method.We Deliver Local allows registered customers to buy products online from their nearby greengrocers, butchers, fishmongers and delicatessens. The company also provides a delivery service for a flat fee of £2 where drivers pick up all the orders from shops and bring to the customers’ address.Below is a short video produced by We Deliver Local on how their system works:

 

Supporting two communities at once

If a customer were to pay in bitcoin, We Deliver Local would take about a week to remit the shops in Pound Sterling.

“Some of the shops probably don’t even know they are accepting bitcoin,” said We Deliver Local’s director and developer, Lee Parkinson. “Many of them don’t even know what bitcoin is.”

However, according to Parkinson, the decision to accept bitcoin is good for both the local shops, and the bitcoin community. Bitcoiners looking to spend their digital currency now have another outlet, and the local stores just got themselves a new set of customers.

Parkinson said:

“The great thing with bitcoin is that the entire bitcoin community is so passionate. We put a press release out and it started trending on reddit. So that drove a lot of traffic to the site and people were keen just to use bitcoin and buy something in bitcoin. It’s almost like people are looking for an excuse to pay in bitcoin.”

In the last 11 days of bitcoin payment integration, We Deliver Local has received about four bitcoin payments.

A growing company

We Deliver Local was launched in April 2013 and it currently serves many of the major UK cities including: London, Manchester, Bristol and Sheffield. However, the entire network only has 40 stores as of now.

We Deliver Local bitcoin

Parkinson said that the company is regularly adding more shops to its network across the UK.

“We are a new company, but we are growing quite quickly,” added Parkinson.

e-commercefood and drinkUKWe Deliver Local

Original author: Roop Gill

bitinvest-coincard
Leading Brazil-based digital currency exchange BitInvest has launched the Coincard, a bitcoin-friendly prepaid MasterCard.The concept is simple. The card can be topped up with bitcoins, but you can use it pretty much like any other MasterCard.Similar concepts have been employed by Cryptex and BitPlastic.  However, BitPlastic has been around for a while, but it has attracted plenty of criticism over its pricing scheme, among other issues.Cryptex is new to the game. It announced its AML/KYC compliant Cryptex Card earlier this week, and it is useable in 80 countries.Coincard available globallySince it uses the huge MasterCard network, BitInvest is planning to make Coincard available globally.However it should be noted that when you send your bitcoins to the charging address, your balance will increase, but it will do so in Brazilian Reals (BRL). BitInvest points out that before the transaction you will know what exchange rate you are about to get and what sort of fees to expect.The cards can be ordered, registered and funded using the Coincard website. BitInvest will ship the card just about anywhere, though there is still no exact shipping date and do details about its fees have been released.The future for crypto cardsThe concept of a bitcoin card that can be accepted worldwide seems promising indeed, but like most enticing ideas, it also has a number of potential problems.Regulation might be an issue in some parts of the world, but fees and exchange rates are a bigger concern at this point.
BitInvest and Cryptex have not said much about fees, meaning it might be too early to evaluate either service, though the companies are expected to reveal more pricing info soon.Whether or not we will get to see more crypto cards will likely depend on how these early entrants to the market perform in the long run. If Cryptex and Coincard gain traction in parts of the bitcoin community, we might see similar cards appear in different markets.If on the other hand you fancy yourself as an early adopter, the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil sounds like a good place to burn some bitcoins and reals, as long as you don’t root for Messi’s Argentina, of course.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.bitcoin cardBitInvestBrazilCoincardCryptex Cardmastercard
Original author: Nermin Hajdarbegovic
  1. Deposit Freeze at Chinese Exchanges Drives Bitcoin Price Below $400
  2. Investor Group Offers to Buy Mt. Gox for One Bitcoin
  3. Startup Accelerator Boost VC Hosting Silicon Valley Bitcoin Hackathon
  4. Bitcoin Core Developers Weigh in on Side Chain Proposal

Page 1643 of 1655