"It’s summer time (well, at least in the northern hemisphere) and people want to travel, Bitcoiners included. So we decided to gather information about some hotels and hostels where your Bitcoin wallet will serve as a moneybag. After a long day’s journey, here’s a list places where you can relax for a few virtual coins." Continue reading →
"It’s summer time (well, at least in the northern hemisphere) and people want to travel, Bitcoiners included. So we decided to gather information about some hotels and hostels where your Bitcoin wallet will serve as a moneybag. After a long day’s journey, here’s a list places where you can relax for a few virtual coins." Continue reading →
"It’s summer time (well, at least in the northern hemisphere) and people want to travel, Bitcoiners included. So we decided to gather information about some hotels and hostels where your Bitcoin wallet will serve as a moneybag. After a long day’s journey, here’s a list places where you can relax for a few virtual coins." Continue reading →
"It’s summer time (well, at least in the northern hemisphere) and people want to travel, Bitcoiners included. So we decided to gather information about some hotels and hostels where your Bitcoin wallet will serve as a moneybag. After a long day’s journey, here’s a list places where you can relax for a few virtual coins." Continue reading →
"It hasn't gotten that much attention, as the world's Bitcoin fascination has faded since this spring. BUT: Worth pointing out that the actual price of Bitcoins has been on a major tear again lately, as it presses up near $150. This is despite increasing oversight and subpoenas from regulators, and all kinds of pronouncements about Bitcoin's death." Continue reading →
"About a hundred Swiss banks will avoid prosecution by divulging the names of US clients who have allegedly avoided tax by using secret accounts. The banks could face fines of up to 50 percent of the asset value if they provide full disclosure. Under the deal, each bank will set its own non-prosecution or deferred-prosecution agreement with the US authorities. The fines are set to reach up to 50 percent of the aggregate value of any undeclared accounts held by wealthy Americans, depending on the time the accounts were opened. Swiss banks will have to assess the cost of potential penalties versus the risk of US prosecution." Continue reading →
"It looks like the immovable law of the land may have finally met its match, up against Bitcoin, the encrypted, nationless, currency that disrupts every industry it touches. And now that Bitcoin casinos have had their first major acquisition, an $11.5 million deal, no industry better embodies the unstoppable nature of Bitcoin than gaming. 'The most interesting thing about Bitcoin is how it almost seems tailor made for Internet gaming,' said Stuart Hoegner, managing director of the Gaming Counsel, a law firm representing gaming interests in both the United States and Canada. Specifically he cited low transaction fees, quick deposit-to-play ability, and the lack of chargebacks." Continue reading →
"Ever since Safaricom, Kenya's largest mobile-network operator, launched the mobile-payment system M-Pesa in 2007, some two-thirds of Kenya's adult population have subscribed, and an astonishing 31% of the country's GDP is now spent through mobile phones. Kenya has been at the forefront of popular technological innovation for the past 5 years, and now there are indications that the country could usher in a new era of mobile banking. On 1 July, a company called Kipochi launched a new 'digital wallet' service that allows Kenyans to not only send and receive money domestically but, using the online peer-to-peer currency Bitcoins, transfer it internationally." Continue reading →
"I wrote Dead Aid to contribute to a useful debate on why, over many decades, multi billions of dollars of aid has consistently failed to deliver sustainable economic growth and meaningfully reduce poverty. I also sought to explicitly explain how decades of government to government aid actually undermined economic growth and contributed to worsening living conditions across Africa. More than this, I clearly detailed better ways for African leaders, and governments across the world, to finance economic development. I have been under the impression that Mr. Gates and I want the same thing – for the livelihood of Africans to be meaningfully improved in a sustainable way." Continue reading →
"In 2011, DARPA started the Warrior Web program in order to develop a soft, lightweight undersuit that would augment physical capabilities. This suit would relieve mental strains that obstruct a soldier’s ability to execute missions. Ninety percent of the U.S. Army could be wearing these high-tech suits one-three years from now. DARPA is not alone in their ambition to produce a human augmentation suit. NASA is working on their own suit with several partners, which could give us a good idea of what human augmentation suits will be like further out in the future. Their suit could give astronauts superhuman strength on major space missions to an asteroid or Mars." Continue reading →