Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Paypal Seed Investor Now Turns to Bitcoin

Silicon Valley Firm Opens Program Exclusively for Bitcoin Start-ups Plug and Play Tech Center, which has three locations in Silicon Valley, was one of the seed investors that placed capital into Paypal back when it was just a fledgling start-up. Of course, Paypal is now a mature company which no longer needs venture capital. Now, however, after realizing the potential that Paypal had to change the financial world and the way payments are made, Plug and Play Tech Center has turned its attention to yet another start-up with an equal or greater potential the change the financial world: Bitcoin. Entrepreneur …continue reading

Banks Close Accounts of People and Companies Using Bitcoin

Big Banks Feel Threatened? Imagine this: You’re a small business owner, say, of a Subway Sandwich shop, and you accept Bitcoin as a form of payment. Your bank finds out you’re using Bitcoin, and they immediately close your bank account and place your social security number on a Black List so that you cannot get a bank account anywhere else. Sound far-fetched? Paranoid? Unrealistic? Un-American? Anti-free market? It’s none of the above, and it’s happening right now across the U.S. From Forbes, which broke the story: “In the first week of July, Jay Shore got bad news. U.S. Bank and …continue reading

Federal Election Commission Considers Allowing Bitcoin Donations to Candidates

Six Member Panel Appears Set to Sanction Bitcoin Donations The Federal Election Commission today debated whether to allow candidates to accept “in-kind contributions” of Bitcoin in the same manner that they can accept donations of computers, stocks, and other quasi-financial assets. Attendees of the meeting left with the feeling that the panel is likely to approve the measure. From the Washington Post story: “Digital currency called bitcoins can be used to pay for OKCupid subscriptions , WordPress blog features and even sandwiches at some Subway franchises. Could donations to federal political candidates be next? The Federal Election Commission debated a …continue reading

First Latin American Bitcoin Conference to Be Held in December

Buenos Aires, Argentina is the Chosen Location As any Bitcoin enthusiast will tell you, Bitcoin is a global currency and not under the control of any single nationality. Being a global currency, one would expect to see Bitcoin to supporters the world over. Sure enough, that expectation rings true as the Fundación Bitcoin Argentina is holding the first Latin American Bitcoin conference to be held from December 7-8, 2013. The conference will feature over 25 top notch speakers. Here is a segment from the announcement on Coindesk: “From December 7 through 8, Bitcoin enthusiasts and those interested in learning about …continue reading

Second Subway Sandwich Shop Accepting Bitcoins

Pennsylvania Shop is First in U.S. to Accept Bitcoin The Subway restaurant chain, with 40,735 restaurants in 102 countries, has not adopted nor is officially accepting Bitcoin as a payment form. However, being a franchise model, each restaurant is independently owned and operated, and one owner in Pennsylvania – the first owner in the U.S. and second globally – has decided to begin accepting Bitcoin as payment for its sandwiches. Coindesk is reporting: “The shop, in Allentown, Pennslyvania in the US, is the second bitcoin-accepting Subway to come to light after an outlet in Moscow was found to be offering …continue reading

New Global Bitcoin Exchange for Institutional Investors

Using Nasdaq Technology, Exchange Can Process Millions of Trades Per Second Techcrunch is reporting that Bitcoin exchange itBit has raised another $3.25 million to further enhance its Bitcoin trading exchange. By offering state of the art security, bank-like compliance, and Nasdaq exchange technology that can handle millions of trades per second, itBit is seeking to lure institutional investors in the rapidly growing virtual currency. From the Techcrunch story: “There are a number of Bitcoin exchanges out there today, but a new startup called itBit hopes to legitimize the market by providing bank-like security and compliance. This newest Bitcoin exchange has raised …continue reading

Shopify Adds Bitcoin As A Payment Option for Its 70,000 Merchants

The Number of Bitcoin Merchants Continues to Grow Exponentially Coindesk is reporting that Online powerhouse Shopify has just integrated Bitcoin as a payment option. Shopify’s 70,000+ merchants will now have the ability and infrastructure to accept Bitcoin as an available payment form. This is another very encouraging development for the Bitcoin community. From the Coindesk article: “Popular e-commerce platform Shopify announced earlier today it would add a bitcoin payment option for its sellers. With a base of over 70,000 online stores, the number of goods that can potentially be purchased with bitcoin has expanded once again. With current values putting …continue reading

Chinese Can Buy Property Using Bitcoin

Bitcoin Spreads to Real Estate in China One billion people in China have a new payment option when purchasing real estate: Bitcoin. KapronAsia is reporting that the giant Shanda Group, through its real estate development arm, is accepting Bitcoin as payment for apartments in its Zhangjiang Hi-Tech park project. From the article: “Bitcoin acceptance in China has now extended into real estate with a residential developer in Zhangjiang Hi-Tech park in Shanghai finding a new way to promote sales through the acceptance of Bitcoin virtual currency. Shanda Group, one of the large IT giants in China, through its real estate …continue reading

Stateless Currencies Are An Idea That’s Catching On

Bitcoin Is Making a Point The Telegraph – mainstream UK publication – is suggesting that Bitcoin is an idea whose time has come. Citing QE in the United States and the European Central Bank’s recent prelude to a “renewed round of money-printing,” the author states that, “several events happened last week that made me suspect that Bitcoin – and the idea of “stateless” currencies more generally – will soon catch the zeitgeist.” From the article: “ The European Central Bank has acted. Across the 17-nation eurozone, the benchmark refinancing rate was slashed on Thursday, from 0.5pc to a record low of …continue reading

Bitcoin Debit Cards Planning to Be Introduced

Coming Soon: Bitcoin Debit Cards The first Bitcoin ATM was introduced in Canada. Once again, Canadians are once again at the forefront of the Bitcoin growth story as two Canadian firms are planning to introduce Bitcoin debit cards to the world. Bitcoin continues to edge towards mainstream acceptance. From the Bitcoin Examiner: “Canada is definitely living a love story with Bitcoin. After Robocoin’s cryptocurrency ATM arrival to Vancouver, the country is now waiting for the next great thing: Bitcoin debit card services, which will be provided by the national companies Coinkite and Virtex. On one side, Coinkite plans to offer many services similar to …continue reading

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