Monthly Archives: November 2013

Familiar Price Gains, Updated Infrastructure: A Look at the Bitcoin Economy

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“Given the dramatic increase in uses for bitcoin and associated volume through payment processors, it shouldn’t be surprising to hear that the number of daily bitcoin transactions has grown dramatically as well. The number of daily bitcoin transactions is on an exponential trajectory. At an average of approximately 55,000 per day, that figure is roughly double the rate in April and five times the rate at the beginning of the year. While much of this is surely due to exchange accounts being funded and withdrawn for speculative purposes, the quantitative data above indicates a significant portion is likely also due to bitcoin’s increasing use as a transactional currency.”

http://thegenesisblock.com/familiar-price-gains-updated-infrastructure-look-bitcoin-economy-part-2/

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Federal Agency Responses Reveal US Government Attitudes to Bitcoin

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“The US Senate committee due to begin hearings into ‘virtual currencies’ on 18 November has released the responses it received to its August 2013 requests for information on the topic from a number of federal agencies.  Until the actual hearings begin, the letters provide one of the most detailed insights so far into how various US government authorities view bitcoin and its contemporaries.  The crime-heavy spotlight of the responses might be an indication of the US government’s overall approach to digital currencies such as bitcoin, with only the Federal Reserve and Treasury Department commenting that such payment systems could provide benefit and increase efficiency.”

http://www.coindesk.com/federal-agency-responses-us-government-attitudes-bitcoin/

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Anti-Theft Bitcoin Tracking Proposals Divide Bitcoin Community

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“All bitcoin transactions are equal, but, to misquote Orwell, should some bitcoin transactions be more equal than others?  A proposal emerged this week that could please regulators and law enforcers alike, by ‘marking’ bitcoin transactions or addresses to make illicit activities easier to track.  And another proposal from a New York-based startup would increase regulator confidence by tying identities more closely to bitcoin addresses.  The danger with either of them is that while they may be opt-in and voluntary at the start, we can’t predict what might happen later.”

http://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-tracking-proposal-divides-bitcoin-community/

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How Jeremy Hammond Exposed State’s Plan to Criminalize Dissent

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“Christopher Hedges, on the sentencing of Jeremy Hammond, says there will be no free press without figures like Hammond and Manning.”

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Max Keiser Interviews Cody Wilson of Defense Distributed

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“Max interviews Cody Wilson about living in a trifecta of disruptive technologies as a citizen of the future in which bitcoin means a thousand silk roads and fanfare for the common man.”

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US has Already Ceded Dominance in Bitcoin Trading

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“Currently, the top four bitcoin exchanges by volume are located outside of the US, with the world’s leading exchange based in China.  Less than 2% of worldwide bitcoin trading and real-time market making occurs within the US jurisdiction.  All four of the world’s leading exchanges have demonstrated a capacity for serious, engaged banking relationships that would have been unobtainable in the United States.  We have arrived at the point where the US jurisdiction must strategically evaluate a path going forward. Either they enable a climate that appeals to bitcoin exchanges and businesses or they maintain barriers that silently drive innovation in the space overseas.”

http://www.coindesk.com/us-already-ceded-dominance-bitcoin-trading/

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Jeff Berwick on Bloomberg TV: Galt’s Gulch Chile and Bitcoin

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“Jeff Berwick is interviewed on Bloomberg TV about Galt’s Gulch Chile and Bitcoin. Many businesses such as Subway and Shopify are accepting bitcoin and Jeff is very optimistic about it’s future.”

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ZenoRadio, a Poor Man’s Pandora, Is Booming

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“A loophole in the Telecommunications Act of 1996, originally intended to help compensate rural carriers, allows the company to receive a few cents for every five minutes or so that a customer listens to the station. The exact amount depends on the carrier, but for the most part, it’s only a few cents. But multiply that by close to a million customers—listening for hours a day—and revenue starts pouring in. The loophole works when calls are routed through rural phone companies. Experts say changes in telecommunications technology have allowed rural carriers to turn this into a profit center by partnering with providers of services like free conference calling and radio.”

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100746807

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Swansea police pay $750 “ransom” after computer virus strikes

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“A computer virus that encrypts files and then demands that victims pay a “ransom” to decrypt those files recently hit the Swansea Police Department.  The department had to pay $750 for two Bitcoins in order to decrypt several images and word documents in its computer system, said Swansea Police Lt. Gregory Ryan.  ‘It was an education for us that had to deal with it,’ Ryan said, adding that the virus did not affect the software program that the police department uses for police reports and booking photos.  Ryan also said that no outside third parties gained access to any personal information, and that the police department did not lose any files. ‘We were never compromised,’ Ryan said.”

http://www.tauntongazette.com/news/x2132756948/Swansea-police-pay-750-ransom-after-computer-virus-strikes

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Bitcoin Startups Get Their Own Silicon Valley Accelerator

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“Bitcoin may be more popular — and pricey — than ever before, but its entrepreneurial ecosystem is still a work in progress. Now Plug and Play Tech Center, which has three locations in Silicon Valley and which was a seed investor in PayPal, has announced the opening of an accelerator program exclusively for Bitcoin-related startups.  The accelerator will be located in Sunnyvale, Calif.  Each participating startup will receive a $25,000 seed investment in exchange for a 5 percent equity stake, Saeed Amidi, the founder and chief executive of Plug and Play Tech Center, tells Entrepreneur.com. ‘In special cases, we can go up to $100,000,’ he says.”

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/229960

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