On Tuesday, bitcoin-accepting online marketplace Overstock.com quietly updated its website to include an open-source wiki page entitled “How to issue a cryptosecurity.” Not surprisingly, rumors began to spread that the Utah-based retailer might be considering issuing a digital security of its own, something that CEO Patrick Byrne has hinted at before. Through such a system, […]
The tiny island nation of Jersey is set to launch a new bitcoin-backed fund tomorrow. The Channel Islands’ Financial Services Commission approved the Global Advisors Bitcoin Investment Fund (GABI) earlier this month, opening the door for the fund. Unlike traditional bitcoin purchases, GABI will be available to institutional investors, such as pension funds, insurance companies […]
In the startup world, Stripe is already a Silicon Valley success story. Founded in 2010, the online payment processor has hit most of the high points in the tech company fairy tale: Y Combinator acceptance; over $110 million in investment by venture capital firms like Sequoia Capital, and Andreessen Horowitz; and a massive valuation bubble […]
Atlanta-based bitcoin payment processor BitPay has taken a major step towards wooing new merchants, updating their service to eliminate credit-card interchange fees for basic merchant accounts. BitPay’s previous pricing system allowed entry-level merchants to process up to $10,000 per day in bitcoin payments for a flat $30 fee. Enterprise-level accounts will still receive substantial discounts, […]
In a report published today by the Wall Street Journal‘s MoneyBeat blog, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department said it was launching a formal investigation into the loss of nearly 850,000 bitcoins from the long-shuttered Mt.Gox exchange. Given the size of the heist, and the extraordinary level of coverage the collapse of Mt.Gox has seen both […]
San Francisco-based global payment network ZipZap has secured $1.1 million in a new round of seed funding, bringing the startup’s funding record to $2.7 million. The latest funding round ended in June, and was led by an AngelList syndicate created by Bitcoin Foundation board member Brock Pierce, with additional funds contributed by 500 Startups and […]
For many bitcoiners, Gyft provides a hugely important link between their BTC holdings and the brick-and-mortar world. By allowing gift cards to some of the world’s largest retailers to be purchased with bitcoin, often at a significant discount, Gyft is also one of the first companies to embrace the power of cryptocurrency in a real-world […]
In March, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales accidentally set the bitcoin rumor mill churning when he posted to Twitter that he was “playing with BTC.” Hoping to convince Wales, and by extension the Wikimedia Foundation, of bitcoin’s appeal, users began sending Wales donations of small amounts of BTC. Those donations and tips quickly added up, resulting […]
In an increasingly software-driven economy, finding security holes is rapidly becoming big business. While large companies are able to hire dedicated security teams to double-check their code, smaller programming startups and app makers don’t always have the money needed to give their programs a thorough stress-test before launch. This can lead to disaster, particularly when […]
Panama City, Panama,-based bitcoin wallet provider Coinapult has announced a new product claiming to peg the price of a bitcoin deposit to a currency or commodity. The service, dubbed LOCKS, would serve as a hedge against bitcoin’s volatility, widely considered one of the major barriers to mainstream adoption. LOCKS would allow a customer to deposit […]