Altcoin

Bitcoin on the Rise in Indonesia

Laura — Tue, 02 Jun 2015 17:34:24 +0000

Bitcoin on the Rise in Indonesia

The Wall Street Journal reports that Bitcoin use is soaring in Indonesia. Because "in a country where many people don’t have bank accounts or credit cards, and money transfers often involve high transactions fees, more individuals are overlooking the criticisms and focusing on how to use the technology to their benefit." The article also goes through which companies are offering Bitcoin for purchase, loans, and exchange in Indonesia.

Map of Indonesia by FreeVectorMaps.com

Laura Tue, 06/02/2015 - 10:34

Bitcoin

Altcoin

Crypto Currency

Cryptocoin

Hoffman Explains Why the Blockchain Matters

Laura — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 19:49:35 +0000

Hoffman Explains Why the Blockchain Matters

Reid Hoffman has an excellent article over at Wired discussing the history of bitcoin, the current state of this new(ish) technology, and why the blockchain matters.

Bitcoin is still so new it seems bizarre to most people. Yet consider how far it has come since November 1, 2008, the day that someone using the name Satoshi Nakamoto posted a white paper to a cryptography mailing list describing a "peer-to-peer version of electronic cash [that] would allow online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution."

He continues with

And now, just six years later, more than 100,000 merchants accept Bitcoin. You can also use it in direct transactions with the currency's seven-million-plus users. Venture capitalists have invested more than $500 million (£340m) into Bitcoin-related startups.

The article is smart and breaks down a key difference between traditional currency and bitcoin. Specifically that the blockchain "adds new digital, cryptographic, distributed server functions to currencies. Because it functions simultaneously as a currency, an asset and a platform, Bitcoin is better described as a global cryptoCAP (currency, asset, platform)."

I especially like his conclusion that

Bitcoin makes money programmable. With Bitcoin, the world's smartest and most creative software developers have an open platform on which to build products and services that will allow individuals, organisations and even machines to do business with each other more flexibly, more efficiently, more frequently and more productively.

Definitely click through and read the entire article.

Laura Mon, 06/01/2015 - 12:49

Blockchain's Future in Our Daily Lives

Laura — Fri, 15 May 2015 19:33:45 +0000

Blockchain's Future in Our Daily Lives

Laura Fri, 05/15/2015 - 12:33

Bitcoin is Tax Free in Spain

Laura — Wed, 06 May 2015 18:26:26 +0000

Bitcoin is Tax Free in Spain

No taxes on bitcoin purchases in Spain! Law and Bitcoin, the European law group, has declared Spain can be added to Germany and the UK as countries that are VAT free for bitcoin transactions! What exciting news!

They on to conclude that France could be exempt but Estonia and Poland are not exempt. Sweden is undetermined. Click through to read their assertions with applicable laws.

Map of Spain by Free Vector Maps

Laura Wed, 05/06/2015 - 11:26

NYC Councilman Says Bitcoin Can Save Millions

Laura — Tue, 05 May 2015 09:54:44 +0000

NYC Councilman Says Bitcoin Can Save Millions

CoinDesk reports that New York City Councilman Mark Levine believes accepting bitcoin for fines and other city payments can save the city millions of dollars.

It started with realizing how much money the city of New York is losing on transaction fees on credit cards, ultimately it’s several million a year because of all sorts of fees and fines.

via Reddit

Photo of New York City by Luca Sartoni

Laura Tue, 05/05/2015 - 02:54

Lionsgate Announce Bitcoin Payments

Laura — Tue, 05 May 2015 00:45:09 +0000

Lionsgate Announce Bitcoin Payments

I love seeing large companies, those household names like Lionsgate Movies, embracing Bitcoin. Lionsgate will partner with GoCoin to accept bitcoin for online orders. News BTC reports:

Lionsgate Senior Vice President Peter Wilkes said, “We continue to explore innovative new technologies for connecting with next generation consumers, and we’re intrigued by the possibilities offered by Bitcoins in our media space.”

via News BTC

Laura Mon, 05/04/2015 - 17:45

Spend Doge Coins at Papa November in San Francisco

Laura — Fri, 24 Apr 2015 23:21:42 +0000

Spend Doge Coins at Papa November in San Francisco

Laura Fri, 04/24/2015 - 16:21

Casares Believes Bitcoin Can Decrease Banking Gap

Laura — Mon, 23 Mar 2015 17:16:05 +0000

Casares Believes Bitcoin Can Decrease Banking Gap

Entrepreneur interviews Wences Casares, CEO of Xapo, regarding Bitcoin and his personal journey from being a skeptic a few years ago to running a company providing secure Bitcoin wallets. "I truly believe bitcoin is the best hope for the 5 billion people who don’t have bank accounts to take part in the global economy.” is a powerful statement about the future.

Like us monkeys, Casares sees a bright future for Bitcoin because it's global, direct, and low cost.

An early bitcoin adopter and bitcoin miner himself, Casares told Entrepreneur he went into the bitcoin business because he thinks bitcoin “may be the best form of money we have ever seen in the history of civilization.” Its value lies in its ability to be transferred for free, in real-time and without an intermediary, he says.

According to Forbes in 2012, "One in four (28.3%) of all U.S. households conduct some or all of their financial transactions outside of the mainstream banking system." Wow! That's a lot of people depending on check cashing, money orders, and pay as you go credit cards. Bitcoin could change all that and replace expensive money services for a huge section of the US and global population. The Entrepreneur article goes on to say:

Those properties resonate with him particularly given his childhood roots. “It gave me hope for the 5 billion people in the world who have cell phones but don’t have a bank account or a credit card, who have to live mostly with cash and are terribly taken advantage of in the process, neglected people who would die without a bank account if they relied on the traditional banking system.”

Bitcoin crosses borders easier and faster than traditional fiat can, add that to it's mobility and lack of intermediary Bitcoin comes out ahead to me!

We can help you get ahead with Bitcoin. Contact us today!

Laura Mon, 03/23/2015 - 10:16

Bitcoin and Net Neutrality

Laura — Fri, 20 Mar 2015 23:09:55 +0000

Bitcoin and Net Neutrality

Peter Van Valkenburgh has a thought provoking opinion piece over at Wired that suggests Bitcoin technology may be the gateway to true neutrality on the internet. His idea is to have many more internet providers and a solution that will switch to the best provider at any time, even if that might be your neighbor's WIFI or the Starbucks across the road. The faster connection is more important than the provider – radical! Obviously this can't start tomorrow because most of us don't have multiple vendors in our area to choose from. I think we have two: Comcast and AT&T. We've tried both and neither are fast enough for our home office so the idea of a faster internet with better encryption is optimistic and exiting.

There are three steps to enable this last-mile infrastructure over unlicensed spectrum: First, encrypt the network traffic so that sharing your connection doesn’t mean seeing your neighbor’s activities. Second, charge those who would send traffic through your devices for the privilege using micropayments. Third, program these open routers to seek the fastest connection to the larger internet not only through their own wired hook-up, but through their nearby peers. Knitting all of these consumer devices together gives us a mesh network.

So where does Bitcoin come in? It comes in at the micropayment level.

The money you earn is your revenue for being a valuable part of the mesh. You are free to pocket some bitcoins, and use others to pay for the connection to the wider internet or to invest in an even faster connection and better routing hardware. Eventually, if you’re dealing with a wholesale provider or a particularly progressive telecom, payment for your uplink could also be metered and denominated in bitcoins, and traffic traveling through you from the mesh network could directly pay your provider through an intelligent, Bitcoin-accepting modem.

It's a brilliant thought and I'm fascinated by the possibility. I'm sure the big providers will balk at losing their direct 1:1 relationship with their customers, but if they could get on board, it could be lucrative for them as well as heavy "mesh" users will still need to upgrade gear and lines. In addition:

This means that an outside infrastructure provider need only bring a pipe to the town square, rather than everyone’s home.

Sounds like an interesting solution. Personally I would like to see free, secure internet for all, but I'm a dreamer. Until then, this looks like an excellent plan.

For bitcon solutions for your business, contact us today!

Laura Fri, 03/20/2015 - 16:09

NYSE Invests in First Company Ever and it's Coinbase!

Laura — Mon, 09 Mar 2015 18:08:30 +0000

NYSE Invests in First Company Ever and it's Coinbase!

Exciting news for Coinbase – the first US regulated Bitcoin exchange – as they get another first. The first company that the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) has ever invested in since they were founded in 1817. Yes you read that right. For the first time in almost 200 years the NYSE has invested in a company. They are part of a $75 million round of funding for Coinbase. The Wall Street Journal reports:

The round included investments from several banks and individuals in financial services: USAA Bank; BBVA Ventures, the San Francisco-based investment arm of Spain’s Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA ; and the NYSE. They all made investments of between $1 million and $10 million, Coinbase Chief Executive Brian Armstrong said. NTT DoCoMo , Japan’s biggest mobile-phone operator, is also an investor.

I'm thrilled to see traditional banking and stock exchange taking notice of Bitcoin and it's potential! I can't wait to see what Coinbase does next.

via Reddit and CrunchBase

Laura Mon, 03/09/2015 - 11:08