Coin News

The owners of WoodWallets.io have announced that the business has suspended operations and is now for sale.

A new bill before the Tennessee Senate is seeking to clarify how bitcoin campaign donations will be honored in the southern US state.

Bitcoin poker platform Seals With Clubs has announced that it is shutting down after it suffered undisclosed security problems.

At first the documentary filmmaker thought the virtual currency was 'bananas.'

If you’ve ever used bitcoin currency, you know that it can be frustrating to try to send and receive money when QR codes aren’t cooperating. Solar reflection, phones with cracked screens, and poorly focusing cameras are among the issues that are hampering widespread use of QR codes and impeding Bitcoin adoption. Developers at Airbitz, a Bitcoin wallet and business directory, have found a solution. In October of 2014, Airbitz unveiled technology that allowed for iPhone users in close proximity to pay each other wirelessly via Bluetooth technology on their app– all without the need to pair iPhones. No more QR codes. This is made possible by Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). When compared to Classic Bluetooth, the newer BLE uses less […]

The post Airbitz Enables BLE-driven Wireless Payments for iPhone and Android appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Shipping executives and union leaders for dock workers at 29 U.S. West Coast ports may have reached a tentative deal late Thursday, the Journal of Commerce said in a tweet on Friday, citing sources.

U.S. Labor Secretary Tom Perez joined the talks in San Francisco on Tuesday at the behest of President Barack Obama, who has come under growing pressure to intervene in a dispute that has rippled through the trans-Pacific commercial supply chain and could cost the U.S. economy billions of dollars.

Calls to the U.S. Labor Department for comment were not immediately returned.

(Reporting by Ann Saphir; Editing by James Dalgleish)

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New York City is in the midst of a bitcoin crime wave, according to the Observer.

Well, wave may be a bit strong, but there have been at least two "stagecoach robbery" type of crimes.

The details are crazy: 

A New York City firefighter named Dwayne Richards was recently held up, stabbed and robbed by thieves who were after his bitcoin, the Observer has learned. From what we’ve discovered, Mr. Richards—who is a firefighter in lower Manhattan—was mugged and left bleeding after meeting the robbers under the pretense of exchanging bitcoin for cash in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. He’s alive, well, and refusing comment.

Additionally, a one-man bitcoin dealer named Dean Katz was held up "at gunpoint and forced him to transfer $8,500 worth of bitcoin. Then, the robber took $3,500 in cash and split."

The value of the digital currency has been extremely volatile, steadily falling over the last two years. The point, for the robbers, is that it still does have value.

SEE ALSO: Call me when Dell agrees to hold Bitcoin

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NOW WATCH: 5 Ways Supermarkets Trick You Into Spending More Money

An initial vote in the election to fill two seats on the Bitcoin Foundation has resulted in no clear winners.

Stripe, one of the most intriguing startups in the realm of online payments, now supports Bitcoins.

The post Bitcoin Comes To Influential Payments Startup Stripe appeared first on WIRED.

Bitcoin Trading has been pushing price higher in jittery trade today. Small buying spurts are interjected with frequent bouts of selling. It is as if the market is not sure about advance, or fears a return to decline. A look at a larger timeframe chart sheds some light on which way trend is pointing. This […]

The post Bitcoin Trading Pushing the Price Higher appeared first on CryptoCoinsNews.

Blockai is seeking to make the blockchain more discoverable and shareable with the launch of its beta browser.

Coinbase customers in 24 countries will now be able to use a cash-to-cash remittance service based on bitcoin's blockchain to send money to the Philippines. By employing Coinbase's API, Philippines-based Coins.ph is allowing the wallet and exchange platform's two million registered users to send pesos to recipients in the Southeast Asian country through a variety of delivery methods. To use the service, users […]

Morgan Spurlock, most famous for his documentary Super Size Me, spent a week last year living on nothing but Bitcoin (instead of McDonald’s food) for his show CNN show Inside Man. The episode aired last night and covered all the basics of Bitcoin with relative accuracy. Also read: CNNMoney’s Jose Pagliery Talks ‘Bitcoin: And the […]

The post CNN Show Inside Man: Morgan Spurlock Lived on Bitcoin for a Week appeared first on CryptoCoinsNews.

Derivatives-focused bitcoin trading platform Coinarch is making a push into the Chinese market, with the launch of dedicated local branding and support staff. The new operation, with the address Coinarch.cn, will be named 币琪 (pronounced 'bi-qi'). Coinarch is now in the process of registering a local subsidiary and aims to be perceived as a local company, in order to […]

When the first major bit-heist, Mt. Gox, happened, many in the crypto community might have been forgiven for thinking that it had been but a minor case of arrhythmia. However with the latest incident involving MyCoin, a bitcoin exchange in Hong Kong, it appears that we might soon have a full-scale coronary. There will have […]

The post MyCoin Bitcoin Scam – The Sequel to a Bitcoin Nightmare appeared first on CryptoCoinsNews.

Coinarch, a Singapore-based online trading platform, has recently expanded to China with support services for that market. CEO Jeremy Glaros said in an announcement that they have received interest from the Chinese market. “All the evidence globally points to the Chinese being leaders in the bitcoin trading space,” said Kimberley Silva, chief marketing officer. “This […]

The post Bitcoin Trading Platform Coinarch Expands To Growing Chinese Market appeared first on CryptoCoinsNews.

The truth, in 2015, will set you free. Of some Bitcoin. It’s a poorly kept secret that the U.S. Government has waged war against the whistleblowers President Obama once swore to protect. Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has been on the run for years. Heroic government whistleblower Edward Snowden has left the U.S. out of fears […]

The post DarkLeaks: Where the Hidden Truth can be Bought For Bitcoin appeared first on CryptoCoinsNews.

Good morning! Here are the most important stories you should hear about in markets today.

Another emergency eurogroup meeting is looming. The eurozone finance ministers meet in Brussels at 2 p.m. GMT (9 a.m. ET). Yesterday Greece put a proposal on the table that was widely seen as a climb-down, but Gemany's finance ministry rejected the advance. Other countries are likely to be more conciliatory. 

The port slowdown on the west coast of the US could shave 1% off GDP. The west coast port slowdown could reduce fourth quarter GDP by 1%, according to Deutsche Bank's Joe LaVorgna. Work has slowed down and ports have become congested amid a nine-month contract dispute between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, which represents 20,000 workers, and the Pacific Maritime Association. 

And the port slowdown caused Honda to cut output by 5,000 cars. Honda said on Friday it would continue to adjust production at two North American car factories due to a parts shortage caused by disruptions at US West Coast ports. Honda said it expected output loss at the factories - one in Indiana and another in Canada - during the week to be around 5,000 cars. 

Dell now accepts bitcoin internationally. Michael Dell tweeted out earlier today the announcement that, instead of accepting payment in Bitcoin in only the United States, Dell will take virtual currency payments from customers in the UK and in Canada, as well. 

UK retail sales are coming. The numbers for January are out at 9:30 a.m. GMT (4:30 a.m. ET) and will show both how the recovery is faring at the start of 2015, and how much lower petrol prices have boosted spending elsewhere.

Japan Display may build a $1.7 billion plant for Apple. Japan Display is considering building a new plant to supply smartphone screens for Apple, which may shoulder much of the 200 billion yen (£1.09 billion) investment, Japan's Nikkan Kogyo newspaper said on Friday. 

The west is rebuffing Egypt's president. President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi asked for a broad UN campaign against ISIS' new efforts to expand in Libya, but according to the WSJ, European and US diplomats are spurning the request.

February PMIs are coming. Between 8 and 9 a.m. GMT (3 and 4 a.m. ET) European PMI surveys are rolling out, which should give an idea of how the blocs's private sector is faring at the start of 2015, following a run of decent data.

BP lost a bid to cut its maximum Gulf of Mexico fine. A judge on Thursday rejected BP's attempt to reduce the maximum civil fine it could face over its role in the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The judge in New Orleans agreed with the federal government that the maximum civil penalty that BP could face under the federal Clean Water Act is $4,300 per barrel spilled, not the $3,000 sought by BP. 

Asian markets are up and the Nikkei hit another 15 year high. Hong Kong's Hang Seng and the Shanghai Composite Index are up 0.19% and 0.76% respectively just ahead of the close, while Japan's Nikkei climbed 0.37%, up to another 15 year high.

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NOW WATCH: This Video Of The Largest Breakage Of Ice From A Glacier Ever Filmed Is Absolutely Frightening

On February 18, 2015, CNN Money quietly announced via Twitter its new Bitcoin quote page, with the ticker XBT. Like all CNN Money quote pages for public stocks, the XBT page has a price chart, updated daily, and a compilation of recent Bitcoin news. CNN Money is no stranger to Bitcoin. It often publishes related news, and has a simple infographic page to explain Bitcoin. In September 2014, CNN Money’s Jose Pagliery published a book, Bitcoin: And the Future of Money, which is considered one of the best general reference books on the subject. Now that CNN Money readers know about Bitcoin, how can they trade XBT? So far, only one option is available: trade Bitcoin on a reputable exchange […]

The post CNN Money Adds Bitcoin Ticker (XBT) appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

By Nathan Layne

(Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc's wage hike will likely trigger a rethink on pay across the retail and fast-food sectors, with Target Corp one of the low-wage employers facing pressure to follow suit and pay workers more.

Wal-Mart announced on Thursday it would lift its minimum U.S. wage to $9 an hour this year and $10 in 2016, raising the ante in a tightening labor market where low-skilled workers easily move between retailers and fast-food chains.

Labor and shareholder activists will likely use the news to ratchet up pressure on companies which have so far faced less scrutiny than Wal-Mart, the largest private U.S. employer with a workforce of 1.3 million.

“This is the largest retailer out there so I think others are going to have to follow,” said Brian Yarbrough, analyst at Edward Jones, naming Target and Staples Inc among other national retailers that may look to revise their pay scales. "All the restaurants are going to be under pressure as well.”

When Gap Inc a year ago set its minimum wage at $9 an hour and pledged to go to $10 in 2015, many workers at Wal-Mart sought to switch and secure employment at the apparel retailer, according to Burt Flickinger, managing director of Strategic Resource Group, a retail industry consultancy.

Now, Wal-Mart's move should help it reduce turnover and will likely put the most direct pressure on Target, given that their pay scales for entry-level positions are generally close and there is broad overlap in product lines.

"It's absolutely Target," Flickinger said when asked what rival would likely need to take action to retain staff.

Target spokeswoman Molly Snyder said the company was "committed to offering market competitive wages that can help attract and retain great talent." She said Target pays above the federal minimum wage of $7.25 at all of its stores, but does not disclose its average rate.

Wal-Mart said the hikes would lift the average hourly wage this year for full-time employees to $13 from $12.85, while raising the average for part-time staff to $10 from $9.48. Those rates could go higher in 2016.

Data from employer review site Glassdoor based on at least 75 responses shows that Target, Wal-Mart and Staples are roughly paying the same hourly rate, with cashiers and sales associates making around $9 an hour. A cashier at McDonald's Corp, by comparison, was averaging $8.44, the data shows.

Staples and McDonald's did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

It's not just wages. Wal-Mart also said it planned to make the scheduling of hours more predictable, taking a step towards addressing an issue that has long been a source of worker frustration.

Labor groups and institutional investors have long targeted Wal-Mart on wages and now appear set to widen their scope.

David Schilling, senior program director for human rights at the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, said investors would use the Wal-Mart wage hike as leverage when negotiating changes at other firms.

"It's not just the retail sector. It could be fast food, restaurant workers," said Schilling. When it's "a big player like Wal-Mart the ripples go forward."

(Reporting by Nathan Layne, additional reporting by Nandita Bose; editing by Andrew Hay)

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