"This is a demonstration of the alpha version of my Bitcoin Hardware Wallet, code-named the Bitcoin Titan. All of the necessary features are implemented and working correctly. The software is undergoing final polish and testing. The first board spin is underway. Obviously, excuse the crude graphics and wonky font; those will be cleaned up during the polishing." Continue reading →
"When it was launched four years ago, few people took it seriously, but now the use of Bitcoin, the virtual payment system, is gaining ground. A growing number of businesses are accepting the digital currency as an alternative to cash. Al Jazeera's Nick Spicer reports from Berlin." Continue reading →
"Bitcoin's growing popularity and a recent surge in value has caught the eye of entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, including some who are convinced that Bitcoin could be the biggest thing on the Internet since, well, the Internet itself changed our lives two decades ago. This weekend, about 1,000 representatives of the growing Bitcoin economy will gather to discuss how far the currency has come, and what needs to happen next to fulfill what they see as its revolutionary promise. So far, Bitcoin has been used to buy games and virtual products from Internet merchants. Online exchanges have also sprouted up to trade the currency." Continue reading →
"Warwick Business School’s professor Jon Rushman, a former BlackRock managing director, says: 'It is a little bit of a hysterical reaction from the US authorities. There are concerns of Bitcoin being used in illegal ways, but unless there is more substantial evidence of this I don’t think there is any reason to shut down the main Bitcoin exchange. US dollars, Russian rubles and euros have all been used by criminals, but nobody is suggesting their central banks should be closed down and their governors imprisoned.' Rushman calls for more 'intelligent debate about Bitcoin and its future'." Continue reading →
"Last week, bitcoin payment processor BitPay announced a deal with Gyft, a seven-month-old Google Ventures-backed software app that lets users buy and upload retail gift cards to Android-based smartphones. The partnership will allow customers to use bitcoins to buy gift cards for stores such as Gap, Lowe's, Sephora, GameStop, Burger King and over 200 other retailers. While those stores won't handle the bitcoin transactions themselves -- that's done by Gyft and BitPay -- it brings the number of locations where customers can effectively pay with bitcoins from around 8,000 nationwide to over 50,000, according to BitPay co-founder and CEO Tony Gallippi." Continue reading →
"Chief scientist at the Bitcoin Foundation, Gavin Andresen is today's guest." Continue reading →
"A concise explanation of what Bitcoin is, in terms of everyday items like rocks and real estate. I am Mike Caldwell, the creator of Casascius Coins, the most widely known functional physical Bitcoin collectible in the hands of Bitcoin enthusiasts. Today, my coins are appearing in the press regularly. Casascius Coins were created as an educational pursuit to bring Bitcoins from minds like mine into minds like yours. This is a short video I recorded as a response to Ron Paul's saying he is uncomfortable with Bitcoin since he can't put it in his pocket. As the person responsible for more Bitcoins put in more pockets than anybody else, I think a reply from me is warranted." Continue reading →
"Apart from ex-PayPal boss Peter Thiel, the fund’s advisers include Napster founder and Facebook adviser Sean Parker along with ex-Google and SpaceX staff. The company was started in May 2011 by two graduates from Georgia Tech. Their aim is to make taking bitcoin payments as easy as credit card transactions for businesses. It takes a set fee of 0.99 per cent on automated transactions. BitPay claimed 1,900 new merchants signed up in April and it continues to sign up over 100 new customers every day. It is currently processing around $5m of Bitcoin transactions per month." Continue reading →
"The scrutiny comes after the Treasury Department ruled in March that firms issuing or exchanging online cash, including currencies not backed by a central bank, would be subject to the same money-laundering rules as traditional providers like Western Union Co. A number of firms have registered as money-transmission businesses since the agency issued the guidance, but Mt. Gox hasn't done so, according to a FinCen list. The agency doesn't have authority to take on Mt. Gox directly because it is based in Tokyo, but has fired a shot across the exchange's bow by going after its U.S. subsidiary." Continue reading →
"It’s important to note here that Homeland Security is not cracking down on Bitcoin itself, just on how it’s being exchanged by Mt. Gox. This is actually good news for Mt. Gox’s US-based competitors, such as Seattle-based CoinLab and San Francisco-based Coinbase, Bitcoin exchanges that have registered with the Treasury Department as money transmitters and thus are in the legal clear to conduct Bitcoin $ exchanges. Mt. Gox’s legal troubles don’t seem to be affecting the value of Bitcoin, which has been hovering in the $115 range for the last week." Continue reading →