Coin News

The rising wallet service’s major new hires show that the business of Bitcoin is big enough to attract top tech talent

Barry Silbert talks to CoinDesk about how his initiatives will help reshape the US bitcoin market this year.

In support of the continued growth of Bitcoin, BitPay has expanded its operations and opened offices in San Francisco and New York. The expansion means that the company will now have four locations throughout the world. Headquartered in Atlanta, the Bitcoin payment processor specializes in providing solutions to businesses looking to accept the virtual currency. The offices in San Francisco and New York will give BitPay the opportunity to spread knowledge of Bitcoin, and will supplement the company’s headquarters to handle implementation, operational support and sales for BitPay’s merchants. The San Francisco office will be located near Silicon Valley, the nation’s technology hub. Paige Freeman, BitPay VP of Sales stated in a recent press release, “BitPay has many merchants accepting […]

The post BitPay Opens New York and San Francisco Offices appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

In July of last year gambling site SatoshiDice.com was sold by its creator for 126,315 BTC (Bitcoins) which was roughly $11.5 million at the time. The deal, which was executed on the Romania-based Bitcoin exchange MPEx, has drawn the interest of the...

Yesterday, KnCMiner announced their entrance into the altcoin mining arena with their 100 MH/s Scrypt ASIC.  The name they “coined” for their new device was this: The Titan.  Despite the lack of power consumption figures for KnCMiner’s Titan, hundreds of buyers have already spent over $2 million USD on KnCMiner preorders, according to TechCrunch’s John […]

The post Alpha Technology Matches KnCMiner In Price/Hash… And Actually Has Power Consumption Numbers appeared first on CryptoCoinsNews.

A Mt. Gox bankruptcy judge has revealed the exchange uncovered a lost wallet with 200,000 BTC.

CoinDesk speaks to Saxo Bank CEO and co-founder Lars Seier Christensen about his support for bitcoin.

The bad news is that three Bitcoin thefts made headlines this week.

The slightly better news is they tell us two important things about the state of Bitcoin. 

The hook of the first heist was how mind-bogglingly simple the scheme was: A guy called tech support pretending to be James Grant, the head of Canadian Bitcoins, and was subsequently able to gain access to a wallet containing $100,000 worth of Bitcoin. 

The fault clearly lay with with the tech support firm, which is in fact owned by Canadian telecom giant Rogers Communications, and in itself should not undermine confidence in the viability of the digital currency.

The other two thefts were more straightforward: A digital currency exchange based in Palau called CoinEX was hacked and robbed of all its Bitcoin. And Polish exchange BitCurex lost between 10% and 20% of its Bitcoins. 

But there was some decently heartening news for users of the sites: all three burglarized firms promised to reimburse any affected users out of their own pocket. This now seems to be industry practice — something that was not the case in earlier years. "I believe it is the responsibility of any business that deals in the Bitcoin space to have sufficient security and policies in place that should something happen, they can cover the loss without any affect to the customers," (the real) James Grant told BI by email. He added, "Because we have sufficient cold storage, and distributed storage in place for our bitcoins, only a a small portion are ever at risk from a single attack vector." The wallet industry leader, Coinbase, only keeps amounts it is able to fully reimburse customers for in "hot" or online vaults.

At the same time, it seems clear that Bitcoins remain tremendously attractive to thieves. Not because the Bitcoin code itself can be hacked, but because the cryptocurrency is so young — and entirely digital. That makes it a ripe piece of meat for anyone with the requisite skills and an acquisitive bent. The Guardian's Alex Hern recently went down the list of every Bitcoin hack in history, counting at least a dozen since June 2011, or one every 2.5 months. That is not exactly a standard rate for other currencies or commodities. And (with the exception of Gox) the market no longer responds very much to new robberies, each one adds an incremental level of doubt in the mainstream about 

Those fully committed to Bitcoin as a business — not just as a token of a libertarian movement —  are now embracing increased regulation in a further attempt steer the currency away from those kinds of headlines.  

Given that the robbery rate appears to show no sign of slowing, however, mainstream investors interested in the currency will have to decide whether the word of the firms they use — strong as it is — is still enough. 

SEE ALSO: The Winklevoss Twins Are On The Verge Of Getting Beat At Their Own Bitcoin Game

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In the 1970s and 1980s, E. F. Hutton was one of the best known brokerage houses in the United States. A Madison Avenue ad-maker came up with the tagline, “When E. F. Hutton talks, people listen.” The same could be said about successful people in general. When a successful man makes a decision, it’s a good idea to listen, if you want to be successful also. Hairdressers, sandwich shops, spas and even escort services have all jumped on the bandwagon to accept bitcoins. Lawyers have been slow to embrace the digital currency that is sweeping through the marketplace. As Bitcoin has grown in popularity, attorneys from Wall Street to Main Street are starting to take a look at this new […]

The post Controversial New York Lawyer to Accept Bitcoins appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

Philippines e-tailers MetroDeal and CashCashPinoy will soon accept bitcoin payments via the startup.

In 2012, student Max Albrecht converted a vending machine to dispense bitcoin, making it possibly the first bitcoin ATM.

Online gambling website SatoshiDice.com is undergoing an investigation to determine if the company broke any U.S. laws by having a Bitcoin-denominated stock sale. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) believes this may be in fact illegal. Not like ordinary money The Securities and Exchange Commission contacted MPEx, an online exchange for Bitcoin-based trading, asking them […]

The post SatoshiDice inquiried for Bitcoin-denominated stock appeared first on CryptoCoinsNews.

Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss were supposed to launch the first-ever publicly traded Bitcoin ETF. 

They are now likely to be lapped by Barry Silbert's SecondMarket.

The firm, whose Bitcoin Investment Trust (BIT) is already the largest regulated private Bitcoin investment fund in the world, has begun taking steps to open their own publicly traded, over-the-counter Bitcoin ETF, with a projected launch date of Q4 2014.

Because the BIT already complies with FINRA statutes, it will be able to file to open the exchange on a much more accelerated timeline than the Winklevosses, Silbert told BI Thursday.

"The plan all along was to move the [Bitcoin Investment Trust] into the public market in a similar way to the Winklevosses," he said. "But we've learned the route they're taking takes many years to get approved, and there's a high level of uncertainty when it will get done. [SecondMarket's process] does not require SEC approval."

The Winklevosses did not respond to a request for comment.

Once online, anyone with a mainstream trading platform, like e-Trade or TD Ameritrade, will be able to buy shares in the fund, which is billed as a safe, regulated means for getting exposure to Bitcoin. Existing BIT customers who've had an account for at least 12 months will also automatically qualify. 

The long-term goal, Silbert says, is to get the fund on NASDAQ, though he says that will likely not come for awhile.

Silbert is one of the most successful Bitcoin evangelist, and admits he's playing a long game. He does not expect an immediate rush into the shares, given Bitcoin's ongoing dramatic price fluctuations. But he says ETFs are key to tamping down those swings.

"I think we're going to see volatility for the foreseeable future, given the fragmented nature of exchange markets and the low levels of liquidity," he said. "Large purchaser sale orders can still move the market. I do think vehicles like this will help to reduce it, it will be bringing in larger sums of money, which will ultimately reduce supply of Bitcoin subject to volatility. [SecondMarket's] vehicle will not in itself help, but it will help as more vehicles do hit the market."

Bitcoin prices were at $592 this morning according to Coindesk.

SEE ALSO: Here's How Many People Actually Own Bitcoin

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The ATM Industry Association has published a report on bitcoin and what it means for the world of ATMs.

The coins.ph bitcoin exchange has partnered with MetroDeal and CashCashPinoy which are two companies based in the Philippines. This effects an area where 95 million people do not have access to a credit card to purchase goods online. The addition of MetroDeal and CashCashPinoy will allow these people to shop with thousands of brick and […]

The post Coins.ph partners with MetroDeal and CashCashPinoy appeared first on CryptoCoinsNews.

Live streaming company Streamin' Garage has announced the launch of a bitcoin-only game show, dubbed "Take my Bitcoins".

Are you looking for a way to buy and sell Bitcoin? Many in the Bitcoin community have their routine of where they go to trade Bitcoin. Whether that is through an exchange, local sources, or selling goods and services, we want each source to be trusted. What if there was a place you could go that would search your friends and see who wants to buy or sell Bitcoin? A new platform called CoinTouch does just that. CoinTouch is a service that connects with your Facebook friends list and searches for active Bitcoiners within your own trusted group of acquaintances. Created by Chris Beach, CoinTouch allows users to bypass a third party and deal directly with the people you trust […]

The post CoinTouch – Do Your Friends Buy and Sell Bitcoin? appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

Dutch energy supplier BAS Nederland allows it customers to pay using Bitcoins. BAS Nederland will be the first energy company around the world to offer this possibility. Founder Arash Aazami says that Bitcoin connects with the company’s filosofy to reduce our dependence of old, limiting systems. Connects perfectly with Bitcoin BAS stands for ‘Beneficial to […]

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In the face of impending competition, SecondMarket plans to open up its private bitcoin fund to ordinary investors.

The Netherlands will see their first Bitcoin ATM opening up on Thursday in the city of The Hague, coinciding with the official launch of Bitcoin Boulevard. The cryptocurrency has been omnipresent in the whole country after the news about the boulevard was made public. Last-minute Bitcoin ATM The Bitcoin ATM will be posted at Restaurant […]

The post Bitcoin community helps Boulevard get BTC ATM appeared first on CryptoCoinsNews.

Authorities should create regulations for a bitcoin exchange platform that utilises multi-signature wallets, cryptographic proof of liquidity and reserves, and complete transparency as a business model, bitcoin marketers Neo & Bee – LMB Subsidiaries Limited said on Wednesday. The written statement came in response to warnings about the use of digital currencies issued by Cyprus […]

The post Neo & Bee responds to Cyprus authorities’ warnings appeared first on CryptoCoinsNews.

The Bitcoin Foundation is trying to make bitcoin more inclusive. That's a tall order.

Bitcoin isn't just for 'cyber snobs' anymore. Tech-happy stars are riding the trendy Bitcoin wave, too

A web hosting firm may be responsible for allowing a thief to steal $100k in Canadian Bitcoins' customer funds.

Fortress Investment Group LLC and Pantera Capital have announced that they are teaming up to form an investment fund focused on virtual currencies. According to the Wall Street Journal, the joint venture Pantera Bitcoin Partners LLC, is controlled by Pantera and allows minority equity partners Fortress, Benchmark Capital and Ribbit Capital to manage future and […]

The post Fortress and Pantera Investment Fund Focus On ‘Virtual Currencies’ appeared first on CryptoCoinsNews.

Ryan McGeehan has recently announced on Facebook, fittingly, that he is leaving his role at Facebook as its Director of Security Incident Response, and taking up a security-related role at Coinbase. His job, according to his posting, will be to "build [Coinbase's] security program." Read More