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Winklevoss twins get closer to launching their bitcoin exchange
You may still think of the Winklevoss twins as those guys who claimed to have invented Facebook, but they've just taken a big step toward making their names in the digital currency business. The two have filed a New York trust application necessary for them to launch their Gemini bitcoin exchange. The move won't put Gemini on the same level as a bank if it's approved, but it will let the exchange accept deposits, issue loans and serve as an agent for government institutions.
Bitcoin miners create invalid currency after a botched upgrade
Digital currencies are only as reliable as their software, and some Bitcoin users are learning this the hard way. Thanks to a "problem" with an upgrade that applies a new rule, some Bitcoin mining pools (namely, those that don't usually wait to validate their money) have been generating invalid data blocks. If you're using certain client apps, that could lead to making transactions that aren't really valid -- and mining operations that ran afoul of the change are losing income.
Silk Road investigator pleads guilty to stealing bitcoins
Disgraced DEA agent Carl Force has pleaded guilty to charges of extortion, money laundering and obstruction of justice. The official committed the crimes while himself investigating the online black market Silk Road, as well as the activities of its founder, Russ "Dread Pirate Roberts" Ulbricht. In a statement from the Department of Justice, Force used "Nob," a DEA-sanctioned online persona to conduct some after hours business with Ulbricht, amongst other things.
Two Asian bank websites held ransom for bitcoin
One of the problems with virtual currency is that when it's robbed from a bank, it's going to take an awful lot of work to make it look exciting in a movie. So I feel for future filmmakers who have to dramatize something like the recent Chinese cyber heists where the culprits demanded bitcoins from the Bank of China and Bank of East Asia in exchange for not launching attacks on their websites. Regional publication The Standard reports that the each of the financial institutions' websites were hacked last Saturday, with emails sent stating that to avoid another distributed denial of service attack, bitcoin payments would be necessary. Authorities say that the intrusions came from multiple countries and that no bank or customer data had been affected. Eat your heart out, Michael Mann. Oh, wait.
The super-secure 'Case' will fit bitcoins in your pocket this summer
There's no such thing as being too crazy about security, especially when it comes to hoarding mountains and mountains of invisible, digital, volatile money. If that description hits a little too close to home, you might just have a new friend in the $199 Case, a physical bitcoin wallet the size of a credit card that secures your nebulous funds and lets you sign off on transactions with just a touch of a finger. There's a good chance you've heard the name before -- the team behind it, led by Melanie Shapiro -- has been plugging away on the thing for over a year a now, but it's finally going to ship to bitcoin magnates this summer.
Wave goodbye to the Bitcoin Bowl
Bitcoin's journey on the road to legitimacy has just taken a step backwards with the news that the Bitcoin Bowl is no more. The event was a tie-up between Bitcoin payment processor BitPay and ESPN to re-brand NCAA post-season game the St. Petersburg Bowl as the Bitcoin Bowl. According to CoinDesk, the three-year agreement between the pair was torn up by mutual consent, and no-one's saying anything beyond that. Earlier this year, CoinDesk reported that the reaction to the Bitcoin Bowl by participating retailers was lukewarm, which might have been one of the reasons behind the move. Fortune, meanwhile, believes that the dwindling value of the currency is hurting BitPay and it may not be long for this world.
Dell now accepts bitcoin in Canada and the UK
In what seems like a relatively short stretch, bitcoin has gone from shady cryptocurrency to legal tender, at least in some parts of the world. Support from a couple of big brands has certainly helped its credibility, and after Dell introduced the option to pay with bitcoin in the US last July, the company has now made it available to customers in Canada and the UK, too. According to Dell, everything from software and peripherals to business computers and even a $50,000 server system have been purchased in the US using bitcoin. Thus, it was only sensible to expand its agreement with Coinbase, the well-known exchange that actually processes the transactions, and make the checkout option available further afield. So, the next time you need a new laptop and have a couple of bitcoins lying around in your virtual wallet, you know where to spend them.
Reddit shelves its pseudo-currency plans for now
Bad news if you were hoping to swap Reddit Notes with friends: the internet community just put its don't-call-it-a-currency project on ice. As Reddit's Alexis Ohanian argues, the company doesn't want to dive into cryptocurrency (even when it doesn't have conventional monetary worth) until both the legal and technical aspects are "further along." He wants to make sure that users get the "full value" of their equity, and that's reportedly not possible right now. It's not clear that this is the only motivation, mind you. Notes was started under Reddit's previous CEO, so it may be as much about a change in leadership philosophy as anything else. Whatever the cause, you'll have to make do with handing out Reddit Gold if you want to reward your fellow redditors without relying on third-party services.
Bitcoin's first licensed US exchange opens with approval from 25 states
Virtual currency bitcoin is starting to get its act together. A startup funded with $106 million from the New York Stock Exchange as well as banks and venture capital firms, is set to launch the first licensed US bitcoin exchange. Coinbase reckons it'll add increased security to traders as well as monitor real-time pricing of the world's foremost cryptocurrency. If you've forgotten, unlike normal currencies, bitcoin is traded virtually and isn't backed by a central government: reasons why the currency often fluctuates severely. The collapse of Mt. Gox last year stung investors, both professional and otherwise, for a total sum of around half a billion dollars. As the WSJ notes, the value of a bitcoin is currently around $240: it was stood at $1,200 per 'coin.
Winklevoss twins want to make bitcoin legit with US-based exchange
One of the biggest draws of using bitcoin as a method of exchange is the lack of any form of regulation. Unfortunately, that's left the cryptocurrency with a reputation problem, which is why countries like India, China and Russia are trying to shut it down. The Winklevoss twins, however, feel that embracing the warm hand of government regulations may be enough to take bitcoin into the mainstream. That's why the pair are about to launch Gemini, a US-based bitcoin exchange that, crucially, has the backing of both a New York-based bank and is likely to get the blessing of governmental types, too.
A brief attempt at explaining the madness of cryptocurrency
Cryptocurrency may as well be called "cryptic currency," because it's nowhere near as easy to figure out as typical money. For one, while most of them (and yes, there's more than one) have names that end with "-coin," they don't usually come in physical form. Yes, they do represent money in digital form, but using them is a bit more complicated than digital payment services like, say, PayPal or Google Wallet. Also, unlike banks and online services, they're decentralized, with no single governing body overseeing and verifying transactions -- there's a reason why bitcoin was (is?) the currency of choice for black market regulars.
Bitcoin exec to spend two years behind bars for Silk Road transactions
Charlie Shrem, former Bitcoin Foundation board member and CEO of the now-defunct exchange BitInstant, has been sentenced to two years in prison for helping Silk Road users anonymously swap cash for digital currency. Silk Road, as you know, was the online marketplace infamous for hosting anonymous drug and gun sales that was busted by the FBI back in 2013. A version 2.0 went up shortly after that, but it suffered the same fate as its predecessor this November. Based on evidence gathered during the crackdown, Shrem agreed to partner with Robert M. Faiella to trade over $1 million in cash from buyers. Faiella was the one with direct contact to buyers, hiding behind the name BTCKing to post ads promoting his dollar-to-Bitcoin business on the marketplace.
Reddit Notes: Don't call it a currency
Back when Reddit -- bastion of the internet's weirdest conversations -- raised another $50 million in venture funding, the investors involved agreed to give a combined 10 percent of their shares back to the site's users. For almost three months, none of us knew exactly how that would happen, but now Reddit's talking specifics... sort of. Next year, the company will distribute via lottery some 950,000 Reddit Notes, a kinda-sorta digital currency that'll let users "tip, donate, or trade" with peers who also bacon at midnight.
US Marshals will auction 50,000 Bitcoins seized from Silk Road
Want a virtual piece of law enforcement history? You're about to get your chance. The US Marshal's Service is holding an auction on December 4th that will sell off 50,000 Bitcoins from Ross Ulbricht (aka Dread Pirate Roberts), the alleged founder of the black market website Silk Road. You'll need plenty of real-world cash to get your hands on this digital currency, though. The feds are selling the digital currency in batches of 2,000 to 3,000 coins, and you'll need to place a minimum $100,000 deposit by December 1st to claim one of them. Not exactly an impulse purchase, then. At least this isn't the last auction you'll see -- police seized a total of 144,000 Bitcoins in the Silk Road bust last year, and roughly half of them have yet to go on sale. [Image credit: AP Photo/Rick Bowmer]
CeX begins trading in Bitcoin at stores across the UK
Technology swap shop CeX has today become the first UK retailer with a far-flung high street presence to widely support Bitcoin. Earlier in the year, CeX briefly experimented with the cryptocurrency at one of its Glasgow locations, which also became home to Scotland's first Bitcoin ATM, shortly before it started supporting the virtual tender on its website. And from today, 32 CeX stores across the country will now happily accept payment in Bitcoin, as well as credit you in the cryptocurrency for anything you'd like to trade in. All being well, CeX plans to roll out support to more branches in due course, as well as install additional in-store Bitcoin ATMs at select locations -- because petty thieves can't live on Bitcoin alone now, can they?
Dorian Nakamoto is raising money to sue Newsweek
March was a busy month for Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto -- Newsweek named him as the "face behind Bitcoin," a cryptocurrency the California resident claims to have only heard about a few weeks before the article's publication. Nakamoto hired a lawyer and issued a unconditional denial of allegations. Now it seems like that lawyer is about to go to work: Nakamoto has launched a legal defense fund to help pay for an impending lawsuit against Newsweek. The fund's URL and official Twitter account are bluntly named, and to the point: "NewsweekLied."
PayPal's new deals let you pay with Bitcoin at more online stores
PayPal has been coy about embracing virtual currencies so far, but it just took a big step toward welcoming them with open arms. As of today, the company's deals with processing firms BitPay, Coinbase and GoCoin let you pay with Bitcoin at North American online stores that both use PayPal's Payments Hub and accept digital cash. This doesn't mean your PayPal wallet can suddenly hold Bitcoin; the service says it's only moving "gradually" toward full support, and wants to see how things shake out. However, it should now be easier for many outlets (primarily smaller ones) to accept Bitcoin. Don't be shocked if some of your favorite internet shops flick the switch and give you an alternative to paying with old-school money.
Sound Wallet can keep your Bitcoins secure with vinyl-based encryption
If you're anything like us, you've already made millions of dollars on Bitcoin. But how to keep it safe from loved ones, co-workers and other people we don't trust? Sound Wallet promises to keep your private access keys secure as encrypted audio, either on CDs or 7-inch vinyl, presumably just because it can. The system isn't limited to Bitcoin - other less popular brands of cryptocurrency can also benefit from the nostalgia-tinged protection. Your encrypted login key is converted into a sound file less than a minute long, and while it'll sound like white noise to anyone listening, a spectroscope app (yeah, you're going to need your smartphone), will be able to pluck the appropriate information out of the track.
World's first government-backed digital currency to launch in December
It doesn't yet have a name, but Ecuador's new government-backed virtual currency is coming. That's the thrust of a new report from the Associated Press, anyway -- the country's Central Bank is said to be gearing up for a launch sometime in December, though the juicy technical details and the mechanics of how citizens can get their metaphorical hands on these things are still shrouded in mystery. What does seem clear at this point is that Ecuador's current cash (in the form of US dollars) isn't going anywhere, and that people will be able to conduct transactions with each other from their mobile phones without big fees eating into them. If everything goes according to plan, this'd be the first time a national government has launched its own official digital currency, though that's not to say some cryptocurrency nuts haven't aimed to affect change on a national scale. Enthusiasts in the Czech Republic launched the CzechCrownCoin a few days ago in a bid to bolster online business in the country, and the Auroracoin folks made the virtual equivalent of $380 available to all the fine folks of Iceland... only to see its value tank over time.
New York wants Bitcoin exchanges to be heavily regulated
Popularity just isn't easy. That's something cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin, are starting to grasp. Yes, they're now being accepted as a formal method of payment by more and more places, but some government entities still can't figure out how to treat them properly, particularly in the US. Case in point: the state of New York, which is proposing that companies exchanging virtual currency with consumers go through a regulatory process. BitLicense, a plan that's been in the works for nearly a year, would require these cryptocurrency banks to verify the identity of customers and, in some cases, ask for more information from "high-risk customers, high-volume accounts, or accounts on which a suspicious activity report has been filed." But that's not necessarily a bad thing, not for everyone anyway. "These regulations include provisions to help safeguard customer assets, protect against cyber hacking, and prevent the abuse of virtual currencies for illegal activity, such as money laundering." Benjamin M. Lawsky, superintendent of New York's Department of Financial Services, stated in a press release about to the proposal.
