Yearly Archives: 2013

Tablet cash machines: The ATM of the future?

"As payment methods move digital, so cash machines will need to develop from the terminals that we have all become used to, experts say. The main challenge comes from the smartphone. Mobile banking allows customers to check balances, organise transfers, make swift payments between friends in restaurants or pay the local tradesman. The answer from the industry, it appears, is to make the cash machine more like a smartphone. That can have benefits for consumers too. Live link video screens will give them the opportunity to talk to customer services staff at any time of day, instead of just normal opening hours." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTablet cash machines: The ATM of the future?

Tablet cash machines: The ATM of the future?

"As payment methods move digital, so cash machines will need to develop from the terminals that we have all become used to, experts say. The main challenge comes from the smartphone. Mobile banking allows customers to check balances, organise transfers, make swift payments between friends in restaurants or pay the local tradesman. The answer from the industry, it appears, is to make the cash machine more like a smartphone. That can have benefits for consumers too. Live link video screens will give them the opportunity to talk to customer services staff at any time of day, instead of just normal opening hours." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTablet cash machines: The ATM of the future?

Bitcoin has arrived in Iran with a new website and a forum

"CoinAva is the name of the new platform that is bringing cryptocurrency to Iran! Besides trying to spread the word about Bitcoin in the country, this platform allows users to buy and sell virtual currency, via a counter party in Australia. From now on, people in Iran can buy and sell Bitcoins, as well as learn more about the cryptocurrency with the help of CoinAva’s team. And, besides the platform, there’s more news: Iran also has a new forum dedicated to cryptocurrency called Persian Bitcoin Talk, which you can visit here. Looks like Bitcoin is really building its way into the country!" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBitcoin has arrived in Iran with a new website and a forum

Bitcoin has arrived in Iran with a new website and a forum

"CoinAva is the name of the new platform that is bringing cryptocurrency to Iran! Besides trying to spread the word about Bitcoin in the country, this platform allows users to buy and sell virtual currency, via a counter party in Australia. From now on, people in Iran can buy and sell Bitcoins, as well as learn more about the cryptocurrency with the help of CoinAva’s team. And, besides the platform, there’s more news: Iran also has a new forum dedicated to cryptocurrency called Persian Bitcoin Talk, which you can visit here. Looks like Bitcoin is really building its way into the country!" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBitcoin has arrived in Iran with a new website and a forum

The Original Value of Bitcoins

"Two centuries ago, oil was less than worthless. It was a blight that people would pay to have removed from their land. However, suppose one day a mysterious stranger appeared claiming to be a time-traveler. He told everyone that one day oil would be the world’s most valuable fuel. It would called 'black gold'. Wars would be fought over it and enormous machines would be built to collect every last drop. Though no one knew if the purported time traveler was telling the truth or how to develop the technologies that would one day make oil valuable, some entrepreneurs believed him and began to collect oil to prepare for the day that it became black gold." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Original Value of Bitcoins

The Original Value of Bitcoins

"Two centuries ago, oil was less than worthless. It was a blight that people would pay to have removed from their land. However, suppose one day a mysterious stranger appeared claiming to be a time-traveler. He told everyone that one day oil would be the world’s most valuable fuel. It would called 'black gold'. Wars would be fought over it and enormous machines would be built to collect every last drop. Though no one knew if the purported time traveler was telling the truth or how to develop the technologies that would one day make oil valuable, some entrepreneurs believed him and began to collect oil to prepare for the day that it became black gold." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Original Value of Bitcoins

Banks Get One Last Mulligan in Payments

"In true startup fashion, the bank-owned card brands of Visa and MasterCard eventually had successful IPOs. The inspiration is clearly there. But where are the visionaries in banking now? With the breakthrough development of cryptographic money, banks appear paralyzed about understanding and harnessing its transformative power. This does not bode well for the future of banks. Just as they block and freeze the accounts of competitive money transmitters in the U.S., banks routinely freeze the bank accounts of innocent bitcoin exchanges, hiding behind the rationale that they are being watchful of and adhering to regulator guidelines." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBanks Get One Last Mulligan in Payments

Banks Get One Last Mulligan in Payments

"In true startup fashion, the bank-owned card brands of Visa and MasterCard eventually had successful IPOs. The inspiration is clearly there. But where are the visionaries in banking now? With the breakthrough development of cryptographic money, banks appear paralyzed about understanding and harnessing its transformative power. This does not bode well for the future of banks. Just as they block and freeze the accounts of competitive money transmitters in the U.S., banks routinely freeze the bank accounts of innocent bitcoin exchanges, hiding behind the rationale that they are being watchful of and adhering to regulator guidelines." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBanks Get One Last Mulligan in Payments

Over 1,000 flee homes in south Mexico over violence

"Some 1,000 people have fled their homes in southwestern Mexico after gunfights erupted in their villages and criminal groups threatened them, officials said Thursday. Residents of three villages in the state of Guerrero abandoned their homes Wednesday after an unspecified number of people were wounded and houses were set ablaze, said Bolivar Ochoa, secretary general of the San Miguel Totolapa municipality that oversees the communities. The gang violence has led several communities in another region of Guerrero, the mountainous and rural Costa Chica area, to form vigilante groups in order to conduct their own policing." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOver 1,000 flee homes in south Mexico over violence

Mexico could legalize marijuana in five years: former president Vicente Fox

"Mexico could legalize marijuana within the next five years, stripping brutal drug cartels of a major source of income, former President Vicente Fox said on Friday. Fox, who battled the powerful cartels while president between 2000 and 2006, has since become a staunch advocate of reforming Mexico’s drug laws, arguing that prohibition has helped create the criminal market that sustains the gangs. Under his successor, Felipe Calderon, Mexico launched a military offensive to crush the cartels, but the violence spiraled instead, and more than 70,000 people have been killed in drug-related bloodletting since the start of 2007." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMexico could legalize marijuana in five years: former president Vicente Fox