Thursday, February 27, 2014

Singapore Firm Tembusu Launches Customizable Bitcoin ATM

| Published on February 27, 2014 at 21:40 GMT | Asia, Bitcoin ATM, News, Regulation, Technology
There is a new player in the world of bitcoin ATMs, Singapore-based Tembusu Terminals. The company has just installed Singapore’s first permanent bitcoin ATM at a bar in the Boat Quay district.
Tembusu says it is talking to other merchants who would like to install the company’s ATMs, too.
Earlier this month, Bitcoiniac announced it would install Robocoin ATMs in London and Singapore by mid-March. It appears that Tembusu has beaten the Vancouver-based outfit to the punch.

Flexible design

The Tembusu ATM was designed and built in Singapore. It features several security and anti-theft measures, including biometric security features like thumbprint scanning and elaborate know-your-customer (KYC) features.
It can scan user ID cards and it also has integrated anti-money laundering (AML) features, that can be fine-tuned to meet legal requirements in different jurisdictions.
“It has been an exciting, and some would even say trying, past few weeks for bitcoin users worldwide,” said Andras Kristof, Chief Technical Officer, Tembusu Terminals.
“Through this entire rollercoaster ride, I can’t help but think back to the main guiding principle behind designing the Tembusu: flexibility is key.”
Tembusu says its ATM differs from competing solutions, thanks to its customisability and an intuitive full-touch screen interface.
The ATM can be outfitted with a “myriad of options”, the company says, and the fact that its anti-money laundering features can be adapted to meet different requirements might also be attractive to buyers.
Incidentally, the device can also be used to dispense fiat cash.

Regulation likely

There are a few more down-to-earth reasons for the Tembusu ATM’s flexibility. Since it has plenty of KYC and AML features, it can be customized to meet regulatory requirements in different markets.
Earlier this year, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said that it does not regulate bitcoins, and it has been advising the public to be cautious with virtual currencies.
Last week, Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said bitcoin does not fall under the regulatory purview of either his ministry or the MAS.
The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) issued an advisory on bitcoin taxation earlier this year.

Uncertain future

The regulatory climate is not currently very positive and it is relatively vague, so the ability to customize the Tembusu ATM simply had to be built in.
When it comes to bitcoin ATMs, it is vital to have future-proof hardware
The same is true of Robocoin ATMs, which also feature plenty of superfluous features that may be required by regulators in different jurisdictions or at different times.
When it comes to bitcoin ATMs, it is vital to have future-proof hardware – not for fear of going obsolete, but due to regulatory issues that may arise in the future.
Interestingly, the company says it is willing to deploy Tembusu ATMs with no down payment. Tembusu says the same flexibility extends to pricing and financing options.
CoinDesk was not given pricing details, however – the company encourages those who are interested in a quote to get in touch directly.
Boat Quay district image via Shutterstock

You Can Now Send Bitcoins Over Email With Tip Bot


(@southtopia) | Published on February 26, 2014 at 18:01 GMT | Companies, News, Wallets
Good news, perhaps, for bitcoin owners frustrated by Apple’s recent removal of Blockchain’s wallet app from its stores.
A service just launched promises to let people make bitcoin transactions via email, promoting itself as a solution that “works natively on the iPhone, and can’t be banned by Apple”.
The fully automated ‘Email Tip Bot’ is the product of developer Christian Genco, who also moonlights as a stage actor and speaker at TEDx events in Texas.
The Tip Bot functions as a standalone system, meaning that once bitcoins are there, they can be transferred around without the need for any wallet software.
Anyone who has experienced the process of giving or receiving bitcoin tips on reddit will be familiar with the way the Tip Bot works, as the transaction process is similar.

How it works

To send some bitcoin, you first need to register your email address by sending an empty message to bitcoin@emailtipbot.com. An auto-generated reply sends you a link to confirm your email address, and provides you with a new bitcoin address. To save time, you can also pre-register email addresses on the site.
Now comes the slightly nerve-wracking part: you then send bitcoin from your own wallet to the address you have been sent. Any amount can be transferred – as much as needed for a purchase, say, or a token amount to test the system.
The system charges 0.0002 BTC (approximately 11 US cents at today’s rate) per transfer (0.0001 for the miners, 0.0001 to the bot), so make sure you allow for that in the amount sent.
Once the transaction details been emailed, send a new email to the person or address you wish to pay – putting the bitcoin@emailtipbot.com address in the ‘CC’ field and the amount (in bitcoin or dollars) in the ‘subject’ field. The email body can contain any message you like.
Tip Bot website
When their initial email has arrived, the receiver will need to click a link to confirm their email address is correct – a security measure to prevent email address spoofing.
The system will wait until it has the required amount of block chain transactions before the transaction. Then a new bitcoin address will be generated for the receiver, and their funds transferred.
It is also possible to send funds directly to a bitcoin address, by sending the email to [bitcoin address]@emailtipbot.com (while remembering, of course, to add bitcoin@emailtipbot.com to the ‘CC’ field).
For example, to donate to Wikileaks, the email address would look like this: 1HB5XMLmzFVj8ALj6mfBsbifRoD4miY36v@emailtipbot.com.
If all you have is a QR code, merely scan the code and paste the key into the address.

Similar solutions

Blockchain has a similar system, which also allows you to send bitcoins via email, SMS or even Facebook.
With this method, a private key is also sent to the user, which they can then use to withdraw to a wallet immediately and without an extra transaction fee. A Blockchain account is necessary to send, but not to receive.
Coinbase also allows users to send to an email address, the only catch being that you have to send from a Coinbase account.
Email Tip Bot’s website provides an HTML button that will auto-generate the required email, if you wanted to place it on your own site. This would make it very simple for people to send you funds.

Testing, testing

CoinDesk tried the Email Tip Bot system and can report that it works, although the first time the sending email received an ‘insufficient funds’ message thanks to our not factoring in the 0.0002 BTC transaction fee.
Confirming both email addresses and waiting for block chain confirmations before sending funds is obviously not as elegant as sending directly from a wallet – at least not the first time.
Furthermore, although wallet software is not required to move the bitcoins around once the email account is set up, the sender must have one from which to transfer the initial funds.
The receiver could leave their funds in their Email Tip Bot account, but a dedicated wallet would be advisable as a more secure means of storing their coins.
However, for those times when wallet software is not readily available (hello again, iOS users), it would be handy to have a small stash of coins available to send via email.

Careful with those coins

Naturally, sending bitcoins to an address generated and emailed to you by some nameless Internet bot requires a degree of trust in the system, so it’s worth doing a test run with a small amount of BTC to start with.
Genco himself recommends people do not use the service to store any significant amount of bitcoins.
“Ultimately,” he says, “your primary store of bitcoins shouldn’t be trusted with any third-party provider. They should be stored in an offline, encrypted wallet in your control.”
“You really don’t want to be trusting even the big names in bitcoin with large amounts of your money, Most ‘bitcoin heist’ stories are possible because of improper security implementations on the bitcoin service side, and could be avoided by keeping the majority of your coins yourself.”
The email-based system means users can send coins without needing to log into web-based wallet software, and Genco acknowledges the risk that comes with that.
“This convenience means, of course, that anyone with access to your email can send coins with Email Tip Bot,” he says. “So it’s ultimately only as secure as access to your email account is.”
“Though I have secured Email Tip Bot to the best of my ability, it should be your bitcoin checking account, not your savings account.”
“I would encourage your readers to test it out with a small amount, say, $1 to $10,” he explained, “and try sending money to friends who aren’t on the bitcoin network yet, or making a small purchase from a phone.”
For nervous bitcoin users who are still hesitant to try the system out, Genco says he will be adding dogecoin support “very soon”, and plans to load up every Email Tip Bot account with a couple of hundred doge, just to play with.
The process for transacting in doge or any other digital currencies will be identical to bitcoin method described above.
Disclaimer: This article should not be viewed as an endorsement of Email Tip Bot. Please do your own research before considering spending any funds via this service.
Email image via Shutterstock

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Bitcoin Foundation Announces Bitcoin 2014 Event in Amsterdam


(@pete_rizzo_) | Published on February 25, 2014 at 11:00 GMT | Bitcoin Foundation, News
The Bitcoin Foundation has officially announced “Bitcoin 2014: Building the Digital Economy”, an international exhibition centred on digital currencies.
The event will be held at the Passenger Terminal venue in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, from 15th-17th May. Registration is now open at bitcoin2014.com.
Bitcoin 2014 follows last year’s inaugural event in San Jose, California, which drew more than 1,000 attendees over the course of its three-day run, and covered the future of payments as its overarching topic.
Speakers for this year’s event have not yet been announced, however, attendees in 2013 included principals of Winklevoss Capital Management Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss; Bitcoin Foundation chief scientist Gavin Andresen; and BitPay co-founder and CEO Tony Gallippi, among others.
Jon Matonis, executive director at the Bitcoin Foundation, said this year’s event will be a “must attend” for not only bitcoin industry professionals, but those from the broader financial technology industry as well:
“It’s where we facilitate  the cross-pollination of traditional executives with industry experts and where we collectively envision and practically develop a roadmap to the future.”

The venue

Amsterdam mapIf the choice of venue is any indication, the Bitcoin Foundation anticipates a higher turnout for this year’s proceedings, as Passenger Terminal can accommodate up to 3,000 event visitors.
The official city port for cruise ships, Passenger Terminal is located just outside of the centre of Amsterdam and boasts impressive views of the nearby canals.
The venue is located just 19 minutes from Schiphol Amsterdam Airport by car, and is also accessible by public transportation.
For more information on accessing Passenger Terminal by car and public transport, visit Amsterdam Cruise Port’s guide here.

The itinerary

The official release disclosed only a rough outline of the event’s content, noting that feature presenters will “cast vision for the long-term potential of bitcoin”, while panel discussions will address “immediate challenges”.
Notably, day one will be partly devoted to helping the Bitcoin Foundation further its international partnerships, with related proceedings taking place in the morning and ending at lunch time.
The organisation added its first two international affiliate chapters in December.

Last year’s event

Though the release provides a broad outline for the event, what remains to be seen is how sharply Bitcoin 2014 will differ from its predecessor, which gave representation to recently labeled “fringe elements” of the community, such as libertarians and medical marijuana activists.
This could be a sensitive subject, since January’s bitcoin hearings in New York saw major investors distance themselves from such groups.
Less controversial will likely be the inclusion of corporate booths meant to inform attendees about more basic elements of bitcoin.
While not confirmed, the presence of vendors – such as last year’s lineup of Coinbase, OpenCoin and CoinLab – as well as other major corporate names in bitcoin, can likely be expected.
Passenger Terminal image via Shutterstock

Saturday, February 22, 2014

New Banking Task Force to Study Digital Currencies


(@southtopia) | Published on February 22, 2014 at 10:40 GMT | News, Regulation, US & Canada
The Chairman of the US Senate’s Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC) which investigated digital currencies in November has responded positively to the creation of a new state bankers’ task force to perform its own study into what sort of regulation is necessary.
The new “Emerging Payments Task Force” comes from the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS), a national meeting group of regulators from all states “dedicated to advancing the state banking system” in the US at a federal level. It aims to study the impacts and potential consumer protection issues arising from new payment method technologies, including bitcoin, among several others.
HSGAC Chairman Senator Tom Carper (D-Del) issued a press statement earlier approving the move, saying he wanted to ensure governments “are adequately protecting consumers and addressing lawbreakers without hindering innovation”.
“That’s why I am encouraged that the Conference of State Bank Supervisors is paying attention to this evolving technology and looking for ways to better coordinate oversight to protect consumers and local communities.
While there is still more work to be done, this is an important step. I encourage federal and state agencies and local entities, including banks, to further their collaboration so consumers and businesses can understand the rules of the road and be well served by them.”

Digital currency stakeholders

The Task Force will speak to a “broad range of stakeholders” in the virtual currency and payments sphere, including state and federal regulators, people in the industry, and other experts. It too believes there must be enough regulation to protect participants but not at the expense of progress.
“State regulators welcome a robust and focused dialogue about the benefits and risks of innovations to payment systems,” said CSBS Chairman and Kentucky Department of Financial Institutions Commissioner Charles A. Vice. “We seek an environment where technological innovation can be developed, but also regulated in a clear manner.”
The Task Force will include state regulators from nine states, including Superintendent of New York State Department of Financial Services Benjamin Lawsky, who oversaw that Department’s recent hearings into digital currencies and who also promotes special ‘BitLicence’ money transmitter regulations specific to such systems.
On its website, the Conference of State Bank Supervisors introduces itself thus:
“Our regulator membership sets us apart from other Washington organizations. Our strength lies in bringing all state banking departments together to present a unified voice in Washington. Through CSBS, state bank regulatory agencies continue to champion a system that offers competitive chartering options and efficient and effective – and local – supervision.”
US Law image via Shutterstock

Friday, February 21, 2014

PayPal Likes Digital Currencies? Yawn


(@twobitidiot) | Published on February 20, 2014 at 13:40 GMT | Analysis, Merchants, News, Wallets
It’s hard to not get frustrated when everyone starts jumping for joy after a televised interview in which eBay CEO John Donahue told Bloomberg that PayPal is building a digital wallet for multiple cryptocurrencies. Because, of course, it is. The e-payments giant would be silly not to.
Paypal, which is owned by eBay, is the pioneer in digital payments and they already accept over 25 foreign currencies – basically, all of the ones that matter, with the exception of the Chinese RMB.
New digital currencies like bitcoin will likely interact with PayPal’s systems in the same manner as existing fiat currencies – when they are big enough. That’s because, like Coinbase and BitPay, you would expect PayPal to lock-in fiat prices for merchants accepting bitcoin.
They would also be likely to batch transactions ‘off-block chain’ in order to cover transaction risks during the 10-minute confirmation window.

What they said

In the interview, Bloomberg’s Matt Miller told Donahue that he thinks digital payments like bitcoin will rule in the internet commerce of the future and have the potential to make PayPal defunct unless the company starts preparing now.
However, it is absurd to infer that PayPal is useless in the long-term, and neglects the fact that PayPal owns some serious e-commerce real-estate. This is like saying that Amazon, after utterly dominating the book industry, would never be able to move into electronics (or any other category that they have since dominated).
Miller speaks with an irritating certainty about bitcoin. It’s safe to call me a fanatic, but Miller is already in outer space on his way to the moon.
Finally, the idea of the “head start” PayPal would get for spinning off now makes some sense until you consider what he is really saying. This is, that PayPal should essentially spin-off to the highest bidder before it dies an inevitable death. Is Miller suggesting a perverse corporate pump and dump?
Donahue’s no fool. He coolly pointed out there’s nothing that’s holding PayPal back from integrating digital payments today as part of eBay, in fact:
“PayPal is pursuing digital payments and is the leading digital payments alternative in many different environments. So it’s not a matter of eBay holding PayPal back.”
What Donahue is really saying of course is: we will do with bitcoin what we want, when we want to, because we are really, really good at payments.
He doesn’t need to utter the word ‘bitcoin’, because that particular currency would be lower volume for PayPal today than the Russian ruble. Miller is like a dog with a bone though: “Until everyone starts using bitcoin, and then there will be no reason to use PayPal.”
Then Donahue responded with the bombshell:
“[That is just what] PayPal is doing in building a wallet that can hold multiple types of digital currency.”
So, we can assume that, as soon as cryptocurrencies are actually worth PayPal’s time and regulatory uncertainties over the commercial use of cryptocurrencies are removed, the company will integrate them into their system. And will very likely be a force from day one.
It’s really not a matter of if PayPal enters the bitcoin industry, but when and, more importantly, how.

Build or Buy?

E-commerce
PayPal has enormous resources at its disposal in terms of financial and human capital, but the company seems to have a much better option than building their own bitcoin products from the ground up – on the merchant side, at least.
If PayPal could acquire BitPay, it would be a great deal for both parties.
Not just because BitPay is the leading bitcoin payment processing company and that PayPal would gain all their expertise, while dotting the global map with locations that accept the virtual currency overnight.
Or because their joint DBA (‘doing business as’ title) is already flawless – what’s not to like about BitPayPal?
But because BitPay’s business model would compliment, not cannibalize, existing PayPal sales.
A lot of people have the misconception that bitcoin will crush PayPal’s margins. That’s not likely.
PayPal could drop their prices for bitcoin transactions overnight by a full percentage point and make the same gross margins, because the company wouldn’t be exposed to the same interchange or credit card fees.
In addition, PayPal could become an instant bitcoin market maker.

Contrasting cultures

BitPay is really two businesses: a SaaS (software as a service) company that offers merchant services and a ‘long’ hedge fund that benefits from jumps in the price of bitcoin.
Multiple sources have told me the company sits on over 40,000 bitcoins. That’s a lot of exposure to price swings, but it is also a valuable asset.
Ownership of BitPay would allow a company like PayPal to kill two birds with one stone via an acquisition: acquire the talent and IP and seamlessly acquire the necessary underlying currency.
Will this acquisition actually happen, though? Probably not. But the move would make a lot of sense for Paypal.
Ryan Galt is a blogger, entrepreneur and freelance opinion writer for CoinDesk. His opinions do not necessarily reflect those of CoinDesk. You may email him at 2bitidiot@gmail.com, or follow him on twitter @twobitidiot.
Disclaimer: CoinDesk founder Shakil Khan is an investor in BitPay.
E-commerce image via Shutterstock

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Bitcoin ATM Gets Surprise Launch in Biggest Boston Train Station


(@pete_rizzo_) | Published on February 19, 2014 at 23:32 GMT | Bitcoin ATM, Investors, News
Though they missed becoming the first operational bitcoin ATM in the US by less than 24 hours, the entrepreneurs behind Liberty Teller caused quite a stir when they revealed that they would boot up their new Lamassu machine in Boston’s busy South Station on 19th February.
The largest train station in the Boston metropolitan area, South Station holds 13 tracks and seven platforms as part of the city’s public subway system, and is the last stop for New England commuters who take the public commuter rail. These additional lines provide extended service to nearby metros Providence and Worcester.
Speaking to CoinDesk, Liberty Teller founder Chris Yim said he couldn’t have asked for a better location:
“South Station gets 25 million travellers a year, and there’s really nothing else like that. None of the other bitcoin ATM locations in the world come close to that.”
The United States was previously rumored to have its first bitcoin ATMs by the end of the month, but high-tech hubs Seattle and Austin were pegged as the frontrunners to take the technology to the public for the first time.

Timing the launch

A look at the group’s Twitter account shows Liberty Teller founders Yim and Kyle Powers wasted no time after receiving their Lamassu brand ATM on 18th February. The former Wharton School classmates and long-time bitcoin enthusiasts posted pictures of their unwrapping of the unit, and just the next day, had tweeted pictures of their fully operational machine at South Station.

Addressing the timing of the launch, Powers said that Liberty Teller was just “in the right place, at the right time” to be one of the first to market, and that the machine is really just part of their larger goal to help bitcoin buying become faster and more secure through the effective use of kiosks
When asked about the New Mexico ATM installed the day prior, Yim was quick to note that Liberty Teller had made an industry first with its installation.
“It wasn’t public,” he added.

Customer response

boston, atmWhile Yim and Powers did not provide exact figures for the number of visitors, they were enthusiastic about the attention the launch had received so far.
By lunch time, the ATM had attracted a sizable crowd of interested onlookers, with most asking Yim and Powers introductory questions about bitcoin and the machine.
Liberty Teller chose to give out a small amount of bitcoin to every person who stopped by. The bitcoin was handed out via a paper giveaway wallet that explained how the recipent could receive the bitcoin online. Yim and Powers are self-funding the ATMs, but are also calling for interested community members to donate to the machine as a way to spur adoption.
One enterprising user who made a purchase was Davis Foster, an app developer from Wellesely, Massachusetts, who was on his way to work when he noticed the machine.
A long-time bitcoin supporter, Foster said he was unaware of the ATM, and simply made a purchase to show his support.

What’s next for Liberty Teller?

IMG_2672For now, Yim and Powers say their ATM will make its home in South Station. Liberty Teller is renting a corridor near one of the station’s rear entrances, and is currently sharing its space with an apparell vending machine.
Liberty Teller hopes to build a broad network of ATMs that includes other retail spots, though its founders acknowledged they were likely to face competition.
Yim noted that the bitcoin-accepting merchants he spoke with see the appeal in hosting a machine that allows consumers to spend more bitcoin in store.
“We’re going to bring in a ton of traffic, and that’s going to be attractive to businesses that want to present a high-tech focus, as well as one that’s consumer friendly,” Yim said.
Images and video by Pete Rizzo

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

The First US Bitcoin ATM Arrives in New Mexico


(@danielcawrey) | Published on February 19, 2014 at 01:14 GMT | Bitcoin ATM, News
After months of rumors and speculation, the first bitcoin ATM in the United States is now in operation.
The machine, manufactured by Lammasu, is located in a cigar bar called Imbibe in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and is being operated by Enchanted Bitcoin, run by Eric Stromberg.
Lamassu and Enchanted Bitcoin worked together to make the US bitcoin ATM a reality.
Zach Harvey, CEO of Lamassu, told CoinDesk that Stromberg was able to obtain proper regulatory permissions quickly, and that as a result, the launch occurred upon receipt of the ATM.
“He’s been very good at concentrating on what had to be done to be fully compliant. Yet he kept things simple enough to manage a launch only weeks after receiving his machine.”

Compliance

New Mexico happens to be one of only two US states that do not require a money transmitter business (MSB) license to operate. The other is South Carolina.
Stromberg’s briskness has allowed his ATM to reach the US market in a short time. The absence of procedural money transmitter requirement in New Mexico may have helped, too.
Harvey told CoinDesk that Lamassu’s ATMs have verification features built-in:
“We’ve always had compliance in mind. Our machine was designed to scan IDs barcodes and OCR for use with third party verification services.”
Compliance means that Lamassu has to remain vigilant on the latest money transmitter policies.
“It’s an ongoing project. It’s been a challenge to find a way to take the regulatory requirements and make them quick and painless for the end-consumer,” he said.
Physical and not just digital security is important as well, said Harvey.
“Our machines were designed to resist any standard smash-and-grab attacks. Anything more than that would render any ATM vulnerable.”

Demand

The current turnaround time for a Lamassu ATM is 10-14 weeks. Harvey told CoinDesk this is because the devices have become rather popular.
“This is only due to the recent rise in demand, we are making them and shipping them as fast as possible.”
Lamassu is building its ATMs as fast as it can, but it has competitors. Robocoin is planning to launch ATMs in Seattle and Austin, Texas, soon. Further, LocalBitcoins.com recently announced it is building a 2,732 BTC ATM of its own.
Because of this, Lamassu needs to deliver ATMs to customers as fast as possible to compete with a growing number of rivals.
A close-up rendering of what the Lamassu bitcoin ATM looks like. Source: Lamassu
A close-up rendering of what the Lamassu bitcoin ATM looks like. Source: Lamassu
“We are currently ramping up production from 40 machines a month to 60 machines a month, and then to 80 machines a month. Our goal is to build up inventory and reduce lead times to zero,” Harvey said.
Harvey wants to be able to serve its customer base as quickly as possible.
“If people want our machine, we want to be able to give it to them now,” he said.
Lamassu ATMs are available to order. The price is $5,000 for one unit, $4,500 for 5-9 units and $4,000 for 10 units or more.
The company does accept fiat in the form of bank wires, but it prefers payment in bitcoin, according to its website.

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

First US Bitcoin ATMs Coming to Seattle and Austin


| Published on February 18, 2014 at 12:40 GMT | Companies, News, US & Canada
Seattle and Austin will soon become the first US cities with bitcoin ATMs, provided everything goes according to plan.
The machines are coming from ATM manufacturer Robocoin and the company claims they will be installed by the end of the month, Reuters reports.
Robocoin ATMs are more elaborate than their Lamassu counterparts. They are cash-only machines and they have a few additional security features, such as biometric and optical scanners.
In theory, this should allow much higher levels of security than regular ATMs. The barcode scanner can be used to scan QR codes and transfer bitcoins to your mobile. The ATMs can also scan government issued IDs, including driver’s licences.

First in the US

Robocoin ATMs have been deployed in several markets, including Canada. However, in other parts of the world deployment has proved problematic. Robocoin was supposed to install ATMs in Taiwan and Hong Kong, but Taiwanese authorities quickly moved to block the deployment of machines to the island nation.
This should not be the case in Austin or Seattle, but there is still a lot of regulatory ambiguity. It all boils down to how the authorities choose to classify the Robocoin contraptions; they can view them as kiosks, ATMs or even vending machines that dispense a commodity in the form of bitcoins.

Singapore and London

In related news, Bitcoiniacs are planning to install Robocoin ATMs in both London and Singapore by mid-March. London is currently witnessing three different bitcoin startups racing to install the city’s first bitcoin ATM.
Singapore was chosen by Bitcoiniacs due to its relatively clear rules on bitcoin taxation, and of course the city’s trend setting image in much of Asia. As a major regional financial hub, Singapore remains the logical choice for good PR.
Seattle Image via Shutterstock

CoinTerra to Release GSX I Water-Cooled PCIe Bitcoin Mining Card


(@danielcawrey) | Published on February 18, 2014 at 01:21 GMT | Cointerra, Mining, News
Austin, Texas-based CoinTerra has announced its second product.
Called the GSX I, the card form factor bitcoin miner uses water for cooling, and notably, has a radiator serving as a heat exchange for the water, piping it over the board. The GSX I is a 400 GH/s unit that has a 28nm chip.
Jim O’Connor, vice president of engineering for CoinTerra, spoke to CoinDesk about the upcoming launch, and said he believes using water is the best method of cooling for a card.
Said O’Connor:
“With the PCIe form factor and space constraints of a PC case, there simply is no other solution that is able to dissipate heat effectively enough.
Mounting any form of air cooling head on the ASIC would make it impossible to fit the card in any standard motherboard and not take up more than two PCIe slots”

Product testing

O’Conner believes that the card will allow for increased mining flexibility.
“The GSX I is designed to facilitate daisy chaining via USB using a PC host, but we will ultimately leave it up to the community to experiment with their own flavors of controller,” he said.
CoinTerra stated that, through testing, it has found that a single BeagleBoard host could control at least 20 cards.
“Our simulations show that a single BeagleBone Black should be able to provide work to a large number of GSX I cards,” said O’Connor.
A BeagleBone Black is a $45 device powered by a 1 GHz ARM Cortex-A8.
Side view rendering of the GSX I. Source: CoinTerra
Side view rendering of the GSX I. Source: CoinTerra

Increased competition

CoinTerra isn’t the only mining company developing water-cooled PCI cards.
Kansas City-based Butterfly Labs also has a similar product on the way. Called the Monarch, that unit is a 600 GH/s 350 watt card for $2,196. By comparison, the GSX I consumes 400 watts of power and costs $1,599.
The Monarch is expected to start shipping this month. It will be available in air or water-cooled configurations.
Josh Zerlan, VP of product for Butterfly Labs, recently told CoinDesk that radiator mounting is one challenge for water board cooling.
O’Conner says that CoinTerra’s GSX I will fit within a standardized specification.
“The radiator is designed for easy mounting using standard 120mm fan mounts available in most standard PC cases,” he said.

Launch criticisms

CoinTerra plans to ship the GSX I by June. The company has received some criticism for not shipping its first product, the $5,999 2 TH/s TerraMiner, on time.
In a statement to CoinDesk last week, CoinTerra addressed the situation. The company wrote that units are being delivered, and that it is trying to ramp up operation.
“In addition to our initial production facility, we have brought a second, larger production facility online to increase volume substantially, allowing us to quickly catch up to our communicated delivery dates and meet future batch expectations.”
Preorders for the GSX I are open now. The scheduled date for shipments is June 2014.

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Bitcoin Wins Best Technology Achievement at TechCrunch Awards


| Published on February 11, 2014 at 13:08 GMT | Companies, Events, News, Technology
Bitcoin has won the TechCrunch Best Technology Achievement award at the 2013 Crunchies.
The 7th annual award ceremony was held last night in San Francisco and it was put together by TechCrunch, Gigaom and VentureBeat.
The fact that TechCrunch readers voted for bitcoin probably caused a problem or two for the organisers. Satoshi Nakamoto was a no-show, so Peter Vessenes, Chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation, accepted the prize in his place.
The award was presented by Gigaom’s Tom Krazit and Khosla Venture’s Keith Rabois. Here’s how TechCrunch explained the conundrum:
“Since no one person made bitcoin (or did they?) the award goes to the idea and the hard-working men and women around the world who are maintaining, mining, and improving the BTC protocol. It’s also an exciting time for economists who have suddenly become useful again as they try to explain the vagaries of currency pricing.”
TechCrunch went on to conclude that bitcoin is “almost mainstream” and that it seems like it is here to stay.
Although winning a Crunchie is no small feat, the last few weeks have been marred by bad news for cryptocurrencies. First there was Charlie Shrem, then a few regulatory problems and bans, and then came the Mt. Gox freeze.
However, there were some positive developments that can’t be overlooked. Microsoft’s Bing search engine added a bitcoin converter just the other day.
Several big merchants have gotten on board over the past few weeks and the New York bitcoin hearings ended on a high note, although they were overshadowed by the Shrem affair.

Increased coverage

The sheer amount of coverage has increased, too. Bitcoin is no longer reserved for specialised publications and tech sites, as mainstream media sites show increasing interest in the fledgling currency.
Financial institutions are looking into bitcoin too, and some have already issued relatively positive reports on the currency and the future of digital currencies in general.
Bitcoin still has its ups and downs, but it is easy to argue the biggest positive development on the public relations front does not have anything to do actual news.
The fact that the media focus is no longer on price and speculation means that interest is now shifting to more serious issues like real world applications of digital currencies and regulatory issues.
In other words, attention seems to be shifting toward the areas that are integral to the growth of the bitcoin economy as a whole.
Image Credit: TechCrunch

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Fiverr becomes another notch on Bitcoin's belt



The online marketplace has started accepting the digital currency, joining the likes of Fancy.com, OKCupid and Overstock.



Fiverr
Tel Aviv-based Fiverr has begun accepting Bitcoin. Photo:

Fiverr, a global online marketplace for people who offer low-cost services, has begun accepting payment in the digital currency known as Bitcoin.
The company, which is based in Tel Aviv but has its marketing and sales headquarters in New York, announced Tuesday that it has partnered with Bitcoin payments company Coinbase, which will handle the purely digital transactions.
Services for sale on Fiverr range from article-writing to voiceovers and logo designs, with each one starting at $5. The move by the company—which joins Fancy.com, OKCupid and Overstock among online businesses that accept Bitcoin—marks one more advance for the still obscure, stateless currency whose advocates claim it represents the future of money.
Practical advantages of using Bitcoin include no transaction fees if the seller keeps the payment in Bitcoin. There is a 1% charge to convert to local currency, but the fee is waived on the first $1 million in merchant processing, a Fiverr spokeswoman said.
Though Fiverr might not see much Bitcoin traffic for a while, the company said that adding it as an option was easy and cheap, and that some users will find it more convenient than conventional payment methods such as credit cards and PayPal.
"We serve customers from 196 countries," said Fiverr co-founder and CEO Micha Kaufman in an interview. "Bitcoin is a global currency, and that's not the case with other kinds of payment."
Bitcoins consist of blocks of code that are held in a digital wallet on a computer or mobile device. The coins are "mined" by computer programs that can decipher complex mathematical puzzles, and traded on exchanges.
The currency may be global, but it is also highly controversial—and volatile. Technical troubles at a Japanese Bitcoin exchange last week drove down the price of a single coin to less than $600 from more than $800, before it recovered to a value north of $650 Monday evening.

Monday, February 10, 2014

Get free bitcoins simply partecipating at Bitbillions

How to get free bitcoins ?

 Well , there are a lot of websites nowadays that are claiming are giving away free bitcoins ,
unfortunately many of them are just scams or ponzi schemes .

Sites that says:  join now , do nothing ! and i will pay you bitcoins ! even sites are 
claiming that you will be paid in bitcoins just to login !

Of course che earning chain starts from an action , for that action you will be paid 
according to the revenue generated from the website trough your action .

If the action required is , as example , watching a website for 20 seconds , well 
for sure the company is getting bitcoins from the advertisers , and is very willing 
to give you a piece of the pie for your click .

In the particular case of Bitbillions , you can get free bitcoins in many ways ,
watching websites , watching videos , and more , trough the earning 
satellite websites inside the bitbillion platform .

In addition , bitbillions will reward you if you recruit some new members 
that will upgrade to co-founder in the main website , or premium , in the satellite
earning websites : mybitcoinrewards.com , iwantacar.com , bitfeud.com .

Bitbillions reached already a very high alexa ranking , under 20 thousand at the
time of writing this article , so , we can be sure that will be a big player in the 
bitcoin world in the coming years.



Leading UK Computer Retailer ‘Scan’ Accepts Bitcoin

| Published on February 7, 2014 at 11:22 GMT | BitPay, Companies, Merchants, News
Scan Computers has started accepting bitcoin payments, making it the first major PC retailer to accept the cryptocurrency in the UK.
Scan is a bit more than your average PC retailer. It is a big player in the channel, it is one of the biggest sellers of high-end computers in the UK and it builds a range of pre-overlocked rigs for enthusiasts.

A crypto love affair

Since it caters to a geeky user base, Scan quickly recognized that digital currency was an interesting trend to cash in on.
As a result, the retailer decided to start selling mining rigs under its own 3XS brand. So far, the effort has been limited to litecoin miners (the rigs are essentially PCs configured to mine litecoins).
Scan’s James Gorbold told PCR Online that the company is also evaluating other digital currencies like litecoin, but for the time being it is only accepting bitcoins. He added:
“Our customers want to spend bitcoins, we want to embrace that and allow our customers to pay how they want to. It’s the next logical step forward, from cash to cheque and payment cards.”

Plenty of potential

Gorbold said Scan likes to think of itself as an innovator, and that he believes it is the first company in the sector to embrace bitcoin. He added that Scan is excited about the potential of bitcoin and doesn’t want to follow the crowd – it wants to try out new ideas.
Like many other retailers, Scan uses BitPay to handle payments.

scan
Scan’s website displaying the announcement.
Users simply need to choose bitcoin as their payment method, complete the order with bitcoin and BitPay will take care of the rest. It will convert the value of the order and the buyer can then either scan the QR code or manually transfer the amount to the displayed wallet address.
The transaction requires six confirmations, it is also possible to cancel orders and receive refunds using the exchange rate at the time of refund.
British merchants are doing quite well in cross-border sales. Britain is not in the Eurozone and since 2008 the GBP/EUR exchange rate has worked in the nation’s favour.
In many cases it is cheaper to buy and ship a computer or high-end graphics card from Britain than it is to buy one in many Eurozone members. Digital currencies have the potential to make British e-tailers even more competitive.
Disclaimer: CoinDesk founder Shakil Khan is an investor in BitPay.
Computer Image via Shutterstock

Friday, February 7, 2014

SecondMarket Takes First Step to Becoming a US Bitcoin Exchange


(@pete_rizzo_) | Published on February 7, 2014 at 17:52 GMT | Companies, Exchanges, Investors, News
SecondMarket has taken its first step to becoming a US-based bitcoin exchange, the company’s founder and CEO Barry Silbert has suggested.
Silbert took to Twitter today to announce that his alternative investment company is now buying bitcoins from interested sellers, then told CoinDesk this could mark a move into the US exchange market. He said:
“There is a clear need for a US-based, regulated, compliant and trustworthy bitcoin exchange. This could be the first step in that direction.”
The announcement follows Mt. Gox’s decision to halt all bitcoin withdrawals from its service one day earlier. The surprise move sent bitcoin markets into decline in the hours that followed, and caused uncertainty to spread throughout the bitcoin community.
Silbert’s took to Twitter to announce his company’s new move, but did not mention the big-picture implications of the service.

Expanding activities

Screen Shot 2014-02-07 at 11.48.35 AMFounded in 2004, SecondMarket offers a number services in addition to its most high-profile offering, the Bitcoin Investment Trust launched last September. To date, the private trust has raised approximately 80,000 BTC  in holdings for its target investors, which primarily include high-earning Wall Street professionals and tech entrepreneurs.
“Expanding these activities is a pilot intended to determine what buyer and seller demand exists beyond our current activities in support of the Bitcoin Investment Trust,” Silbert said.
If Silbert’s own estimates are accurate, the company is growing fast. Speaking at the Disruptive Technologies Speaker Series earlier this week, Silbert indicated that the Bitcoin Investment Trust had raised 70,000 BTC.
As for the transaction minimum of 25 BTC (roughly $18,000 at press time), Silbert said that the decision was a practical matter.
“Our market making, in its current form [and] structure, is high touch, and facilitating a large number of small transactions would not be feasible,” he noted.

Timing the decision

While Silbert did suggest that the news from Mt. Gox provided additional value to his company’s newest offering, the move to begin openly working with sellers did not happen overnight. Silbert noted that his team has been sourcing bitcoin on and off exchanges since last year, but that additional services like this might be needed to meet demand.
Silbert, who spoke on day one of last week’s NYDFS hearings and recently made Forbes’ 40 Under Forty class of 2013, has been vocal about his belief that “2014 will be the year of bitcoin on Wall Street”.
The investor says that this new pilot service is meant to help SecondMarket grow as it furthers its base of Wall Street and institutional investors, who he expects will soon be moving into the asset class with more frequency.

How SecondMarket selling works

To begin selling bitcoins to SecondMarket, sellers will need to first fill out a New Account Profile (NAP) form. This NAP form asks basic questions such as the name and address of the individual, and source of the funds.
Screen Shot 2014-02-07 at 11.28.49 AM
Those representing entities will need to complete a separate, lengthier NAP form. From there, the transaction takes an additional five steps to complete.
  1. SecondMarket notifies the seller of the trade approval
  2. The seller engages in an offline, privately held negotiation to determine the sale price
  3. The seller sends the bitcoins to SecondMarket
  4. After six confirmations via the block chain, funds are sent to the seller
  5. The seller is provided a FED reference number for tracking.
To learn more about SecondMarket’s latest offering, read the full announcement here.
Image credit: Buying and selling dice via Shutterstock

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Inc 5000 Entrepreneur Buys BitcoinWallet.com Domain for $250k

(@pete_rizzo_) | Published on February 6, 2014 at 02:52 GMT | News
The domain name BitcoinWallet.com has been purchased by Austin, Texas, entrepreneur Alex Charfen for $250,000.
Niko Younts, a media consultant, bitcoin investor and the domain’s previous owner, broke the news via Twitter on 5th February.
Younts, who confirmed the sale to CoinDesk but declined to comment, also noted in the post that he is close to selling the domain BitcoinWallets.com for a similar asking price. The domain asset was a part of the NeverLoseVision.com investment portfolio, a seven-figure incubator portfolio with startup projects and investment domain assets.
A search of the WHOIS domain record-keeping database revealed that Younts is the current owner of BitcoinWallets.com, and that Charfen is the current owner of BitcoinWallet.com.

Who is Alex Charfen?

Founder of the Charfen Institute with his wife Cadey Charfen, Alex Charfen is an established entrepreneur and published author having written books as well as opinion articles for high-profile publications.
Also an accomplished motivational speaker, Charfen has built his career on his personal comeback story. In the 1990s, Charfen worked as at a multinational conglomerate, but lost everything when his investments in real estate were wiped out by the recession and subsequent financial collapse.
Undeterred, Charfen filed for bankruptcy and soon decided he could help the real estate industry learn from the mistakes it made. Charfen launched the Distressed Property Institute as a way to offer REALTORS additional education, and soon started the Charfen Institute, which provides training and educational products.
The company now earns 10.8m annually and placed among the Inc. 5000 in 2013.

Plans for BitcoinWallet.com?

A screenshot of BitcoinWallet.com
A screenshot of BitcoinWallet.com
At press time, Charfen had not responded to requests for comment about his plans for the website. However, should the entrepreneur decide to launch a bitcoin wallet service, he is likely to find competition from the available desktop, mobile and web wallets.
Existing bitcoin wallet providers such as Blockchain, which recently passed 1 million users, and Coinbase, which raised $25m in its last round of funding, have already established themselves as dominant names in the space.
However, as the bitcoin market continues to grow, it’s not out of the question that the need for more user-friendly wallets, or even specialty types of wallets will emerge, meaning the investment could pay dividends.
What do you think of the purchase? Weigh in with your thoughts below.

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Over 350% Increase in GBBG Point Value Planned



We are sure most members of bitbillions.com are anxiously awaiting this blog post. Our last post revealed some hints about the upcoming major product GBBG is building. However, we failed to mention the fact that revenue is growing at an increasing pace. Membership is growing at an increasing pace. The number of members grabbing Co-Founder upgrades is increasing rapidly. In addition, more and more people are upgrading to Premier status on each of the Earnings Sources. Everything is moving ahead better and better and at an increasing pace. Therefore, we are fully confident we will enter development of the software necessary for the Matrix Stage well ahead of plan.
After the release of The Long Overdue Post last week, many members have been talking among themselves and emailing our customer service regarding the upcoming revolutionary product we are building. We are so confident in the potential of this product we feel it may be the first globally useful, globally distributed, globally game-changing Bitcoin product introduced. This product is going to revolutionize payment processing, global remittances, and banking in ways never before imagined. And you are going to be right in the middle of it, participating in the revenues and profits generated.
We are so excited to get our membership active in the promotion and public awareness campaign for this new product that we can hardly contain our composure! We believe our brilliant engineering combined with the global marketing power of 60,000 Bitcoin enthusiasts can only produce major success. We also believe thousands of competitors will be left far behind, coughing in our dust.
However, before we can get into the details of this amazing, revolutionary new Bitcoin product, there is a very important topic we must discuss. Our VIP Club and our internal management have developed a plan that will IMMEDIATELY increase the value of your GBBG Points by over 350%. In addition, they are implementing a method to exponentially grow the revenue being poured into pools to be shared with our members. So, GBBG Points are about to be worth WAY MORE than they currently are, and there is going to be WAY MORE revenue to share with our members!

So, what is this ingenious plan?

  • Limit the amount of points that can be earned at each Earnings Source each month
  • Roll the new points limits back to the start so all points balances are as if these limits were always in place
  • Implement direct sales of premium advertising on bitbillions.com
  • Implement direct sales of premium advertising on all the Earnings Source sites

POINT LIMITATIONS AND BALANCE ROLL-BACK

We know what you are thinking: “What! You are going to take away all my points? I have worked very hard for them and now you are just going to take them away!” Before you get to far down that thinking path, give us a chance to explain. We have been analyzing the data and have determined our present system negatively affects over 98% of our members.
There are two situations our current system does not address.
First, most people have limited time to devote every day to earning points honestly. They have jobs, families, lives to live, etc. They simply cannot click ads or watch videos or anything else for more than a few hours per day. As a matter of fact, less than 8% of our entire membership have more than 1,000 points earned from all Earnings Sources combined over the past 3 months.
Second, no matter how hard we try to prevent it, there will always be cheaters who work to manipulate the system. We will catch them and delete them over time, but there will always be some manipulation and cheating in the system. This is a plain, simple truth we must be prepared for. As with all businesses, we simply must expect a percentage of theft each month and calculate it into our costs. This is highly evident with promotions for bitbillions cheaters growing throughout the Internet, such as this scam: http://bitbin.it/rE50Nuk9
During the month of February, we will instate limits on all Earnings Source points. We will also roll back all points for all prior months so that every account will have a points balance equal to what it would have been if these limits had always been in place.
  • Free Members –allowed to earn up to 50 points per day, per Earnings Source, for a maximum of 1,000 points per month, per Source.
  • Premier Members – allowed to earn up to 1,000 points per day, per Earnings Source, for a maximum of 5,000 points per month, per Source.
  • Additional limitations to be considered in the future to prevent and reduce the effects of cheating.
We understand there are some members among us who have worked very hard over the past 3 months and have amassed a large amount of points honestly. We respect this work and do intend to reward it. When we roll back point limits for all accounts, we will set aside the additional points earned by each account. Then, we will calculate a Bonus Point balance for each member who had excessive points in a manner that will guarantee all members are rewarded for their hard work thus far. Our preliminary calculations show that 98.7% of all members will actually earn more than they would have earned under the current system that is in place.

PREMIUM ADVERTISING ON BITBILLIONS.COM

Today, bitbillions.com generates over 1.2 Million page views per month and growing. Over 150,000 unique individuals visit our site each month and 55% of these are repeat visitors. This is a very strong indicator that we should be generating growing advertising revenue from the pages of our site. Therefore, in February 2014 we will implement a direct advertising sales program.
Premium outside advertisers, along with existing members, can now place banner ads and text ads on bitbillions.com, purchasing them directly from the company. We are developing tools to sell ads through 7 different positions throughout our site. Each position will have a limited number of rotation slots available. Advertisers can expect to receive consistent, growing impressions and clicks.
Best of all, 50% of the revenue generated through these direct sale ads will be poured directly into the Matrix Pools. We expect this will immediately impact the value of each GBBG Point earned each month and produce a long-term, growing revenue stream for our members.

PREMIUM ADVERTISING ON EARNINGS SOURCES

Today, the average Earnings Source site in the GBBG network generates over 3.0 Million page views per month. Over 80% of the visitors on each of these sites are consistent, repeat visitors. Therefore, we have a very active, growing audience that will be highly valuable to online advertisers.
In February 2014 we will implement a direct advertising sales program on each Earnings Source site. Premium outside advertisers, along with existing members, can now place banner ads and text ads on any or all of the sites, purchasing them directly from the company. We are developing tools to sell ads through multiple positions on each site. Each position will have a limited number of rotation slots available. Advertisers can expect to receive consistent, growing impressions and clicks.
Best of all, 50% of the revenue generated through these direct sale ads will be poured directly into the Matrix Pools. We expect this will immediately impact the value of each GBBG Point earned each month and produce a long-term, growing revenue stream for our members.

PASSIVE INCOME PRODUCTS

In addition to the changes mentioned above, we are exploring options to provide passive income products for members who wish to earn only passive income, or members who simply do not have time or ability to earn by actively getting points.
Several members have multiple Founder and Co-Founder accounts and are realizing the only way for each account to earn (and therefore have value for re-sale) is to generate points. This could mean a great deal of effort for these members. Additionally, many professional online marketers have contacted our company stating they would love to bring additional membership participation but do not have the time or desire to conduct activities necessary to generate points.
In light of these facts, we are exploring various methods to allow people to generate passive income from our site. It is our intent that these methods will generate additional revenue for the Matrix and add value to GBBG Points. Ideas are being discussed within our internal management and with the VIP Club.

FORWARD MOMENTUM AND FORWARD OUTLOOK

Our site is growing. As a matter of fact, our growth is accelerating. Membership is not only increasing, but participation on all levels are escalating. Co-Founder positions are being claimed in larger and larger amounts. Members are more actively participating as Premier earners in each of the Earnings Sources. Revenue is growing, pool balances are rising, and our systems are running better and better each day. Overall, confidence within our internal ranks is at an all-time high.
Due to these factors, we are confident to increase the number of developers working full-time for our organization. As a matter of fact, in February, we will more than double the number of engineers we employ. We have already added a full-time customer service department and allowed our existing admin department to transition into a technical support role exclusively. We are now exploring blueprints to move into Matrix Stage development ahead of schedule.
This does NOT mean we will implement the Matrix before we have 6,715 Co-Founder members. But it does mean we should be ready to roll smoothly into a Matrix-ready backbone well before the time such a system is necessary. In addition, we plan to begin development of more robust software, databases, and servers for the entire GBBG network ahead of schedule.

UPCOMING REVOLUTIONARY BITCOIN PRODUCT

Along with all the changes and enhancements discussed in this post, GBBG plans to bring a ground-shaking, market-breaking bitcoin product to market in 2014. This product will have a few major advantages over most bitcoin products released before. First, we have a built in base of over 60,000 people (and growing) to use and promote it. Second, it is simply going to work better, solve more problems, and be more secure than anything introduced before.
This new product is primarily designed to solve a few major problems in the bitcoin economy.
First, it will make it easier for anyone on earth to get their hands on bitcoins than ever before. As a matter of fact, it will even be possible for anyone on earth to acquire bitcoins and several other e-currencies without a computer, a phone, a tablet device, or even a bank account.
Second, our new product will be so secure that we are planning to guarantee every customer their e-currency balances can never be stolen. We are exploring the possibility to ensure this to a point that any customer who does happen to lose e-currency to theft or hacking will simply have their full balance restored.
There are many other problems our new product is designed to solve for the bitcoin and e-currency industry. We have been working on this for years. The code to deliver this product is highly advanced. The market delivery concept is impeccably well planned. And best of all, you are involved to help us get the word out on massive scale when the time is right.
We still need to cross several development, legal, regulatory and marketing milestones before our product will be ready to go to market. To get through these stages, we intend to raise necessary capital and acquire necessary leadership, management, and industry/government relationships. These will all require a great deal of effort and support.
We intend to reach out to organizations throughout the bitcoin world, such as the Bitcoin Foundation, and invite their leaders to audit, oversee, and authenticate our words and actions. We intend to deploy various crowd funding measures that will grant amazing opportunities for each participant. We also intend to employ crowd-sourcing stages, proof-of-concept transparency measures, and other transparency and authentication measures at various stages to ensure trust throughout the general marketplace.
We will discuss our upcoming product opportunity in much more detail over the next few months. As we get closer to the release of this product, we will fully inform GBBG members so you will be completely prepared to help us launch for success. As we have stated before, we are not going to rush or move too fast. We are dotting our i’s and crossing our t’s. We intend to release a great product, in a great way, to a great market potential. We will not sacrifice this for sake of speed, greed, or individual need.
GBBG is a community of bitcoin believers. We are in this for the long-haul. You are a partner with us and we fully respect and entirely appreciate you. We are not pipe-dream sellers or magic-box profiteers. We expect our members to adhere to this belief. We will continue to let you know what we are able, as we are able. Keep building your team, and keep getting those points! They are more valuable than ever now.

Monday, February 3, 2014

100 Bitcoin ATMs to Land in Australia Soon

(@southtopia) | Published on February 3, 2014 at 11:30 GMT | Companies, News, Technology
100 bitcoin ATMs are about to hit the streets of Australia, according to a local radio report.
This weekend, state broadcaster ABC ran a short report on bitcoin during its current affairs program The World Today. It included the news that a company called Australian Bitcoin ATMs would be distributing ATM machines all over the country.
The report didn’t give away many specifics about the project or the company, and the brand of the ATMs wasn’t mentioned. CEO Chris Guzowski said:
“You can type in how many bitcoins you want to sell, then our ATM goes onto an overseas bitcoin exchange and executes that transaction for you and will spit out the cash for which you sold the bitcoin for. And the opposite also applies, so you can put cash in and purchase bitcoin.”
This information suggests that the ATMs will be two-way, and the image on the company’s website shows they’re likely to be Robocoin machines.
The interview also quoted David Glance from the University of Western Australia’s Centre for Software Practice as saying it will take more than ATMs to facilitate mass adoption:
“I think that until you see the National Australia Bank or the Commonwealth or one of the major banks getting behind the currency, providing simplified access to it, I think it’s always going to be a niche,” he said.

Banks and regulators

In fact, National Australia Bank (NAB) has done just that already. After the Commonwealth Bank shut down business and personal accounts belonging to Melbourne-based payment processor CoinJar and its founder, NAB approached the company with an offer to help it manage its bitcoin affairs.
NAB also published a mostly-positive internal research paper on bitcoin for FX traders, saying that while bitcoin did not meet the legal definition of a ‘currency’, it is everything a currency is supposed to be: durable, portable, fungible and divisible.
Australian regulators have not issued any formal guidelines on bitcoin just yet. But the governor of its central bank did pass on a casual warning about “speculative excesses” in a newspaper interview last December.
CoinDesk has contacted Australian Bitcoin ATMs and the Australian Bitcoin Association for comment on this story, and will update.
Australia Image via Shutterstock