Bitcoin

Vancouver businesses jump on the Bitcoin bandwagon

"A new and innovative payment system has a number of Vancouver business owners intrigued. A slew of local businesses, from coffee shops to moving companies, are adopting Bitcoin – a new currency that many believe will revolutionize the way we think about money. Bitcoin is a digital currency, meaning it has no paper trace and lives entirely online. 'Bitcoin was really born out of banking bailouts,' says Michael Bliss with Vancouver Bitcoin Co-op. 'It is the future of money, no doubt.' The Bitcoin Co-op that Bliss co-founded is a local network for people interested in Bitcoins — traders, investors and merchants." Continue reading →

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Crypto-currency for NSA leaker: Snowden fund accepts Bitcoin

"US fugitive Edward Snowden’s defense fund, launched recently by WikiLeaks to raise money for the legal protection of the NSA leaker, has announced it now accepts donations in virtual currency Bitcoin. The Journalistic Source Protection Defence Fund (JSPD) was set up on August 9 with the goal to provide legal as well as campaign aid to journalistic sources. Snowden, who is behind the biggest intelligence leak in the history of the US National Security Agency (NSA), has been selected the first such source." Continue reading →

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Bees Brothers keep thriving and already mined their first Bitcoin

"Being homeschooled, the Huntzinger brothers had a lot of freedom to experiment within their new passion (creating their own recipes, for instance), until they discovered Bitcoin and the business got even more interesting. 'One of the reasons we chose to homeschool was to have the freedom to learn what the kids want and have fun doing it. Neither of us knows anything about cryptography, so we are having to learn it too, but hopefully soon they can teach themselves without us. This journey of learning about bees, starting a business, and now the world of cryptocurrency has been a great learning adventure for the whole family', explained the parents." Continue reading →

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Bitmessage: Choice Of A Rightly Paranoid Generation

"Bitmessage is an open-source communications protocol for keeping your email private. Unlike PGP and similar programs that hide just the content of messages, Bitmessage also hides metadata like the sender and receiver of messages. And unlike PGP, Bitmessage doesn't require that users manage public or private keys to use the system; Bitmessage uses strong authentication so that the sender of a message cannot be spoofed. Bitmessage is also decentralized and trustless, which means that you don't need to trust root certificate authorities or any third parties who, under legal duress from a government, might give up your data." Continue reading →

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Bitcoin: Tax haven of the future

"Tomorrow’s tax havens could be fueled by new technology like Bitcoin and Litecoin — online currencies that can be used to purchase everything from coffee to illegal drugs. The problem for government coffers: There’s no mechanism to ensure that people who make money through such digital currency report the income to the IRS. In its fight against tax evasion, the U.S. is largely focused on shining a light into bank accounts held by Americans in other countries. But experts say the rise of Bitcoin, which doesn’t require a bank account, could force the U.S. to rethink its approach." Continue reading →

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New York Banking Regulator Subpoenas Two Dozen Bitcoin Companies

"New York's top banking regulator has issued subpoenas to roughly two dozen companies associated with bitcoin as part of a wide-ranging inquiry into the business practices of the fledgling virtual-currency industry. The department also plans on Monday to issue a memo expressing concern that virtual-currency companies aren't complying with the state's money-transmission laws. As a result, the state is considering setting new guidelines that are specifically aimed at virtual currencies. Companies that received subpoenas include some of the best-known names in the nascent industry, including Coinbase Inc., BitInstant and Coinsetter." Continue reading →

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Android Security Vulnerability Threatens Existing Bitcoin Wallets

"We recently learned that a component of Android responsible for generating secure random numbers contains critical weaknesses, that render all Android wallets generated to date vulnerable to theft. Because the problem lies with Android itself, this problem will affect you if you have a wallet generated by any Android app. An incomplete list would be Bitcoin Wallet, blockchain.info wallet, BitcoinSpinner and Mycelium Wallet. Apps where you don't control the private keys at all are not affected. For example, exchange frontends like the Coinbase or Mt Gox apps are not impacted by this issue because the private keys are not generated on your Android phone." Continue reading →

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Bitcoin Ticker Available On Bloomberg Terminal For Employees

"Bitcoin is now officially mainstream. According to BTC Geek, Bloomberg terminal users can now look up Bitcoin’s pricing history. Data comes from ubiquitous Bitcoin exchange service Mt. Gox as well as Tradehill. For now, only Bloomberg employees can access the ticker. But the feature should make its way to regular Bloomberg terminal customers under the label XBT. The ticker probably shows what a bitcoin is worth in U.S. dollars over time. With the Bloomberg terminal, traders could easily compare Bitcoins with other currencies in order to short them." Continue reading →

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Am Law Lawyers Help Bring Bitcoin to the Masses

"It may be awhile before Kathleen Moriarty lets clients pay her in bitcoin, but the Katten Muchin Rosenman partner is doing her part to help legitimize the digital currency derided as speculative and risky by some prominent economists. In July, Moriarty filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission what appears to be the first-ever proposal to create a bitcoin-based, exchange-traded fund on behalf of two high-profile clients: Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the twin brothers famous for battling Mark Zuckerberg over Facebook’s origins. The twins turned to Moriarty because of her extensive experience with ETFs." Continue reading →

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