The latest addition to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) may give an indication of things to come for bitcoin investment later this year. Starting today, Australia-based bitcoin services provider DigitalBTC has become the first cryptocurrency company to be traded on a major world exchange. Although DigitalBTC’s business model is based primarily on bitcoin mining, rather…
Earlier this year, the People’s Bank of China did almost everything within its power to discourage large-scale trading in bitcoin. When threats and warnings didn’t work, it forbade bitcoin companies from using the country’s payment system. Exchanges soon found ways around this, working with third-party processors to obscure payments. When bitcoin prices and trading again…
According to a report on CoinDesk, New York City’s The King’s College announced today that it will begin accepting bitcoin for tuition and other expenses. The small, private Christian liberal arts school has partnered with payment processor Coin.co to handle the transactions. Only a handful of colleges across the world currently accept bitcoin payments. The…
The U.S. Marshal service announced today that it will be auctioning off nearly 30,000 BTC seized from Silk Road accounts last year. Worth more than $17.5 million, the bitcoin will likely sell for a considerable discount from the market value. Interested parties must commit a refundable deposit of $200,000 from a U.S. bank by June…
Yesterday, mining pool giant GHash.io controlled fully half of the hashing power of the entire bitcoin network. For a distributed network that relies on trustless consensus, having the majority of the “voting” power controlled by a single mining pool is more than a little problematic. Most notably, it opens up the bitcoin network to the…
Earlier this week, self-governing British Crown Dependency Isle of Man announced plans to introduce friendly regulation for the island’s growing bitcoin industry. Yesterday, a group of six companies announced a plan to actively support the island’s growing cryptocurrency industry, offering free and steeply discounted services for bitcoin and digitial currency related startups. According to a…
In an essay published this week by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), CEO Fayez Choudhury suggests that bitcoin and other virtual currencies could completely reshape their entire industry. The article, “It’s Not Really about Bitcoin, It’s about Change,” examines the almost-certain impact of blockchain-based technology on a field that is already at the front…
Another high-profile client has joined with Coinbase to accept bitcoin: Wilmington, NC,-based jewelry retailer REEDS Jewelers. The company isn’t on the same level as other high-profile national merchants like Overstock, Expedia or Dish Network, but with an estimated $109 million in annual revenue, it’s also not exactly small mom-and-pop store. REEDS will offer bitcoin buying…
When mainstream traders begin to request that bitcoin price data be added to services like Yahoo! Finance and Google Finance, it’s hard to make the case that digital currencies are purely a fringe investment. As of today, bitcoin prices are now listed right alongside the major world currencies like the Euro and the Yen. Simply…
Located mere miles of the coast of Scotland, the self-governing British Crown Dependency Isle of Man has long served as a haven for those wanting to escape regulatory forces of the U.K. With virtually no taxes, the country has also attracted several companies who make their profit in various forms of arbitrage, including a healthy…