Bitcoin used to buy $500,000 Kansas home
they knew it was pretty cool,” he said. “This seemed like a good test of
how far the currency has come.”
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| When Josh Zerlan went looking for a new home, he originally didn’t think about using a bitcoin to buy it. |
banks take their cut. They take a fee, you end up paying quite a bit of
money. With bitcoin, you don’t have to pay any of those fees, and it is
an instant transfer,” he said.
with his knowledge of it, so we took the plunge,” Tim Hoelting said.
bitcoins, although more than 30,000 businesses currently take them
online.
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Federal reserve advisory council sheds positive light on Bitcoin
In February, much of the community rejoiced when Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen insisted that the regulatory entity had no authority to when it came to the digital currency.
A recently obtained document from a Federal Reserve Advisory Committee meeting early this month has shed some light on this very topic, in return, revealing exactly how the Fed plans on reacting to the relatively new and emerging technology.
The Federal Advisory Council and Board of Governor’s record of meeting devoted a special section of the outline to bitcoin specifically. Among the key topics of concerns listed in respect to the digital currency were whether or not bitcoin has the potential to cause the “disruption of traditional channels of commerce with high potential for illicit use.” In respect to banking, the document also questions the possible “disintermediation of traditional payment networks, promoting shadow transacting.”
In the eyes of the Fed, indications point that the outlook is unanimous in that rather than posing as threat, bitcoin, with increased regulation, may hold promise:
Bitcoin does not present a threat to economic activity by disrupting traditional channels of commerce; rather, it could serve as a boon … Its global transmissibility opens new markets to merchants and service providers … Driving capital flows from the developed to the developing world should increase consumption.
The Federal Advisory Council (FAC) is comprised of twelve elite representatives of the banking industry. The committee meets four times a year, as required, to consult with and advise the Board on all matters within the Board’s jurisdiction. The overall rhetoric among the committee is that the board echoes the voice of Silbert in that the current financial institutions will play a key role in bitcoin’s future. The FAC ‘s conclusion was that, “should [bitcoin] adoption accelerate, banking could participate increasingly in bitcoin fund flows, especially as multicurrency accounts proliferate and reputational concerns subside.”
The FAC’s stance on bitcoin supports a reversal in the plethora of bad news encompassing the digital currency. Following easing tensions in China, the wildly successful Bitcoin2014 conference in Amsterdam, which delivered a surplus of positive news along with several major announcements, bitcoin has surged in value over that past several hours. Prices on Bitstamp rose from an opening of $448.34, while spiking as high as $500.00 mid-day as optimism surrounding the digital currency continues to influence bitcoin’s value.
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Winklevoss twins betting Bitcoin will be bigger than Facebook
(NewsBTC) The duo — who infamously won a multimillion dollar settlement from
Facebook following claims Mark Zuckerberg had ripped off their idea —
says that bitcoin could very well become bigger than Facebook, says The Guardian.
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| The Winklevoss twins are betting big on bitcoin. |
Facebook, of course, is the world’s largest social network — with a user base exceeding one billion.
The two came to learn about bitcoin whilst on holiday in Ibiza, saying they were “fascinated from day one.”
And while bitcoin’s $5.67 billion market cap doesn’t come close to
touching Facebook’s $150 billion cap, the Winklevosses put their faith
in the digital currency for the reason that it has more potential to be
more impactful than a social network.
“Bitcoin potentially could be more impactful because being able to
donate 50 cents to someone across the world has more impact than
potentially sharing a picture,” said Tyler Winklevoss.
“But they’re very different. Facebook is like the internet – a large
company and an application. Bitcoin is a protocol for decentralisation,
so you could build a decentralised company on top of it, a stock market.
It’s an internet of ownership, so it’s not quite a direct comparison.”
For critics who point to bitcoin’s volatility as a reason it can
never be widely successful, the twins say that’s basically a
non-statement.
“Unregulated assets with unclear regulatory landscapes are always
going to be volatile. That’s what unregulated assets do,” said Tyler,
who points to the early days of the Internet as an example of a
technology that can go from an enthusiast’s interest to a worldwide
phenomenon.
The twins, who are working on the own bitcoin ETF (and also recently launched a price index) predict that this is the year Wall Street becomes heavily involved in the bitcoin-o-sphere.
Already, we’re seeing incredibly amounts of investor interest,
especially in the wake of two major price spikes that eventually brought
the price of bitcoin above $1,000 late last year.
The Winklevosses are estimated to own one percent of bitcoins presently in circulation.
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Top 5 businesses that accept Litecoin payments
(CoinReport) Litecoin is the second most valued digital currency on the market, only being bested by bitcoin. However, litecoin is not just a knock-off to the world’s first digital coin. It was intended by its developers to improve on the structure set forth by bitcoin.
The main two differences that separates litecoin from bitcoin:
1) Litecoin processes a block every two and a half minutes, while bitcoin processes a block every 10 minutes.
2) Litecoin will total 84 million coins, unlike bitcoin’s cap of 21 million.
The digital currency continues to catch individuals and business owners by storm, as more businesses are accepting it as a form of payment. CoinReport has compiled a list of the Top 5 businesses that have begun implementing Litecoin into their finances.
Top 5 businesses that welcome Litecoin payments
5. Ellenet
“Crypto currencies are the future, it’s plainly obvious and people need to understand that Bitcoin and other coins are not going away. Without sounding terse, you can’t stop progress.”
digital payments, it hopes to grow even larger. In addition, Ellenet works with digital mining company Petabit Pty. Ltd,
who works on mining both litecoins and bitcoins. The partnership with Petabit will allow Ellenet to get into more digital currency-based ventures.
4. Sean’s Outpost
3. eGifter
2. KnCMiner
“You will find the Litecoin payment method option when you complete an order through the checkout on our website.”
1. Benz and Beamer
“GoCoin makes it extremely easy for us to accommodate new customers looking to
pay with bitcoin and other emerging digital currencies like litecoin.
Their platform secures the coin exchange for cash within minutes,
creating a real win/win for my dealership and my customers.”
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Give $250,000 in Bitcoin, get second citizenship
with a Las Vegas escort.
Bitcoin these days.
that sets clients up with citizenship to balmy Caribbean island-nation St.
Kitts and Nevis, payable in cryptocurrency. St. Kitts and Nevis has offered a
‘citizenship by investment’ program since 1984 that accepts investment into the
local economy in exchange for a spanking-new passport.
isn’t cheap. Wannabe citizens must either buy local real estate worth $400,000
or more, or donate at least $250,000 to the Sugar Industry Diversification
Foundation (SIDF) – on top of a nonrefundable application fee of about $60,000
per applicant plus an additional $30,000 for each one of his or her dependents.
holding a St. Kitts passport offers a number of benefits. Aside from the
stunning seas, sands, and climate offered by the Caribbean country, St. Kitts doesn’t
take any income, wealth, or inheritance taxes; citizens get visa-free travel to
140 countries and a 10-year multiple-entry visa to the United States.
countries or ones with invasive policies on individual privacy, the citizenship
process offers more abstract benefits: freedom and privacy.
stories from around the globe about upheaval, increased taxes, and governments
exerting more and more control over citizens’ freedoms and privacy,” the
Passports for Bitcoin website says. “Having a second citizenship and passport
in a stable country is now a must in order to hedge against governmental
intrusion and excessive taxation.”
home countries aren’t notified that their citizens have applied for or received
a second citizenship.
Kitts passport with Bitcoin isn’t clear. The website of the project’s parent company,
International Investments & Consulting, Ltd., says it has processed over
100 applications, though it does not specify how they were paid for.
popular amongst the rich and famous. Roger Ver, an American Bitcoin
entrepreneur and ‘angel investor’ in Bitcoin startups, has bought himself a
passport to St. Kitts, as has as the so-called “Most
Interesting Man on Instagram” millionaire/poker player/playboy Dan
Bilzerian.
ago as a hedge against possible world political turmoil which could negatively
affect the United States,” Bilzerian wrote in a testimonial
on the Passports for Bitcoin website. “I value freedom more than almost
anything else and a second or third passport provides me insurance just in case
the U.S. government decides to value security over freedom.”
St. Kitts citizenship last month after fleeing the country under pressure from
the government over data protection and privacy.
passport in Bitcoin.
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George Soros sells out of J.P. Morgan, Bank of America, Citigroup …. time for Bitcoin?
to several news sources billionaire George Soros recently sold nearly
all of his bank stocks, including shares of JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup,
and Goldman Sachs. Between the three banks, Soros sold more than a
million shares. Billionaire John Paulson dumped 14 million shares of
JPMorgan Chase (appr. 750 million dollars). Other billionaires are pulling out of US stocks too.
surely there is a growing discomfort about the all time high levels of
stock market prices. Some are expecting a massive correction. Even if
there is no good reason for it, fear could make such predictions a
reality.At BitcoinOwl we of course speculate that the growing success of
crypto currencies and their promise to revolutionize the financial and
other systems could be a factor as well. Just like email threatened the
business model of the postal services and file sharing scared the music
labels, crypto currencies without a doubt cause some anxiety to
financial institutions who see Bitcoin as a competitor instead of an
opportunity to reinvent themselves.
It may take years before Bitcoin makes any noticeable dent in
Citigroup’s profits, but Bitcoin’s existence alone raises some
uncertainty about the future of such financial institutions and their
profit margins. Some players like Western Union have already been forced
to drop their fees drastically in response to Bitcoin’s extremely low
transaction fees.
The question is where does all that money pulled out of the stock
market will go? Many investors like Kevin O’Leary publicly said that
they’ve put a few percents of their money into Bitcoin already. His
Bitcoins were without a doubt his best performing asset in 2013. It’s
likely that most billionaires pulling out of the stock market will put a
small part of their wealth into crypto currencies as it’s highly
independent from other assets which is important for healthy
diversification.
Let’s just see how much money are we talking about. Let’s assume only
a fraction of those stock dollars will be funnelled into cryptos. Half
percent of NYSE’s total market cap is 83 billion dollars.
If 70% of that 0.5% would flow into Bitcoin it would increase BTC’s
market capital 7 fold raising the price of Bitcoin to over $5,000. If
10% of it went to Litecoin it would increase LTC’s market capital by 13
times raising the price to $325. And we’re talking about just 0.5% of
one stock exchange in the world.
Potentially it is also possible that the crash of stock market prices
will scare crypto currency investors too. Although, it’s hard for me to
find a plausible reason why this would happen.
It will be interesting to see how the predicted decline in the stock
market will influence the valuation of the popular crypto currencies.
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Third CoinSummit to be held in London
The Third CoinsSummit is to be held in London this July. San Francisco was the acting ground of the previous CoinSummit convention that was held in March; as the second convention presented, this next summit will feature a series of panel discussions and speeches from bitcoin enthusiasts, hedge fund professionals, VC and angel investors, and experienced cryptocurrency entrepreneurs.
The information posted on the CoinSummit official site:
“CoinSummit London is a two-day event connecting virtual currency entrepreneurs, angel and VC investors, hedge fund professionals and others who are looking to learn and network in the virtual currency industry. CoinSummit will take place on July 10-11 2014 at the East Wintergarden London.”
Some notable speakers include Silk Road Equity co-founder Matthew Roszak, new Bitcoin Foundation board of director Brock Pierce, angel investor Roger Ver, and Maidsafe CEO David Irvine. Some of the others participants include Megabigpower founder David Carlson, Lamassu CEO Zach Harvey, eToro CEO Yoni Assia, and many others.
This 3rd CoinSummit, organizers are presenting a new set. Besides the usual structure, a special platform is being organized for a few startup companies. Coinsummit has informed at their site, that ten startups will be given the chance to present in front of the entire CoinSummit audience and will be chosen on the basis of the size and charm of the opportunity they are designing, the strength of the team, and their traction / metrics / achievements.
The summit is organized by Pamir Gelenbe, a strongly firmed crypto currencies entrepreneur and partner at Hummingbird Ventures. After the last summit in March, Gelenbe has stated:
“We hope to bring together entrepreneurs, VC investors and folks from hedge funds who want to learn about bitcoins as an asset class…we really want to focus on the business side of Bitcoin as we don’t think there has been an event like this before.”
CoinSummit has been the leading hand on taking Bitcoin discussion to higher grounds by cementing the bonds between the Bitcoin communities around the world and relaying trustworthy information to the media and business investors.
CoinSummit London 2014, will be held at the East Wintergarden and take place on July 10-11. Entrance to the conference is invite-only. Digital currency enthusiasts and entrepreneurs who wish to attend the event can request an invitation on the summit’s official site; applying for the presentation is free and the deadline to register is June 20.
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Bitcoin 2014: Building the Digital Economy
(CoinReport) Heads up folks! Bitcoin 2014: Building the Digital Economy conference is being held in Amsterdam from May 15 to 17.
Bitcoin 2014
It will be a meeting place for investors, technologists, regulators,
executives, entrepreneurs, developers, and policymakers to gather and
discuss the future of digital currency around the world.
was held in Silicon Valley in San Jose California. The conference had a
spectacular turnout of over 1,200 attendees, speakers, and exhibitors.
It featured bitcoin investors Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss as keynote
speakers.One of the topmost fintech hubs in Europe, Amsterdam serves as a great place for this year’s momentous event to take place.
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Why Bitcoin miners are moving to tiny towns in Washington state
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Bobby Lee, Brock Pierce Join Bitcoin Foundation’s Board of Directors
(CoinDesk) Bobby Lee and Brock Pierce have joined the Bitcoin Foundation’s board
of directors, after coming top in a second round of votes cast by the
organisation’s industry members.
The run-off election featured three candidates, including BTC China CEO Bobby Lee, venture capitalist Brock Pierce and CEO of mobile gift card provider Gyft, Vinny Lingham.
The results were particularly close, with Lee receiving 79% approval
and Pierce scoring 65% – just 2% above Lingham, who received 63%.
With the announcement, Lee and Pierce join a board that includes executive director Jon Matonis, bitcoin chief scientist Gavin Andresen, Bitcoin Magazine’s Elizabeth Ploshay and Ribbit Capital’s Micky Malka, alongside founder and chairman Peter Vessenes.
This news follows the 1st May results of an initial round of voting, which ended with none of the original 15 candidates reaching the necessary vote threshold to win a seat.
These industry seats have been vacant since the resignation of two founding members – former BitInstant CEO Charlie Shrem and Mt. Gox CEO Mark Karpeles – earlier this year.
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