Earlier this week, the Australian blockchain startup IoT Group signed an agreement to reopen a coal-fired power plant in the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales. Local media outlet The Age reports that the IoT Group aims to use the plant as a “behind the grid” power source, securing inexpensive electricity for a new […]
Australia’s first publicly traded bitcoin mining and exchange company digitalBTC released a preliminary final yearly report today, revealing an estimated revenue of $4 million U.S. over three months of operations. The company’s normalized earnings were around $2.5 million for the same period, with a profit of about $600,000. Interestingly, digitalBTC actually reported a net loss […]
The first bitcoin exchange in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) opened today, bringing a fully licensed digital currency commercial brokerage to Dubai. The exchange is a branch office of Australia-based bitcoin exchange igot, and is the first stage of a planned expansion into the Middle East and Asia. Although there will be a small staff […]
Business.gov.au is the Australian government’s official portal for all forms of business in the country down under. It’s the definitive source for details on starting a new business in kangaroo country, providing guides and FAQs for nearly any business-related topic imaginable. This week, the website published its first guide to accepting bitcoin and other digital […]
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 […]
Bitcoin’s venture capital pool grew significantly this week with the launch of a US$30 million fund created by Australian financial technology investors Future Capital. The Future Capital Bitcoin Fund (FCBF) will make “equity investments, globally, into companies facilitating payments, exchanges, trading and smart property rights based around the Bitcoin and other digital currency ecosystem.” Although […]
ABA Technology recently announced plans to create a network of at least 100 machines across the country by 2015, and more than 500 across the globe by 2016. Founded by 29-year-old entrepreneur Chris Guzowski, the company launched its first bitcoin ATM two weeks ago on the outskirts of Sydney. Working with U.S.-based bitcoin ATM maker […]
Starting next month, the National Australia Bank (NAB) will be closing bitcoin-related accounts, citing an “unacceptable level of risk, both to our business and reputation.” NAB, one of Australia’s “big four” banks, has previously been considered one of the most bitcoin-friendly banks in the country. CoinDesk published the contents of a letter from NAB to […]
As international awareness of bitcoin grows, regulators across the globe are racing to create polices for handling the virtual currency. This week, several countries hinted at coming plans for regulation of bitcoin and related cryptocurrencies. Here are the highlights of this week’s regulation news. Mexico: Banco de México issued a warning about the risks of […]
In a report published earlier today on ZDNet, a representative from the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (Austrac) confirmed that the Australian government are tracking every visible conversion of Bitcoin into and out of Australian dollars (AUD). The anti-money laundering agency’s CEO, John Schmidt, made the statement while giving a statement before Australia’s Senate […]