Barry Silbert Releases Results of Bidding Syndicate For US Marshals Bitcoin Auction

SecondMarket and Bitcoin Investment Trust CEO Barry Silbert has released some decently interesting information this Saturday afternoon relating to Friday’s bitcoin auction held by the United States Marshals Service. To be clear, the results were not that of the auction itself, but the syndicate that Silbert formed shortly after the USMS announced the auction a couple of weeks ago.

According to Silbert, there were 42 bidders involved in the syndicate, with 186 bids received and a bitcoin quantity bid of 48,013.

Results of our US Marshals bitcoin syndicate: Bidders – 42 Bids received – 186 BTC quantity bid – 48,013 Winners notifed by USMS on Mon

— Barry Silbert (@barrysilbert) June 28, 2014

The syndicate was designed to allow smaller-scale investors get involved with the auction sans having to commit as if they had gone into the auction alone. Those requirements demand bidders submit a deposit of $200,000 from a United States bank account, in addition to meeting other registration standards.

As such, the collection of all bids received by the syndicate would then go toward the USMS auction, which ran for twelve hours from 6 am to 6 pm Friday. The minimum amount to have participated in the syndicate was $25,000.

Ten percent of auction fees collected from the syndicate will go directly to the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Certainly, Monday will be interesting, but it’s unclear as to whether or not the Marshals Service will publicly announce the auction winners. There’s a good possibility that it will be kept undisclosed (to the best of the USMS’s ability). That is until the inevitable moment where someone involved provides more information.

We can likely expect Silbert to make additional comments on this matter come Monday. Stay tuned.

California Gov. Jerry Brown Signs Bill Legalizing Alternative Currencies Like Bitcoin Into Law

We’ve been discussing a bill that’s been making its rounds through the legal system in California, and as of this weekend, it’s been signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown just days after the news that lawmakers in the Golden State had passed it.

That bill [also referred to as AB-129]– as we’ve discussed previously — effectively makes it simpler for state residents to use alternative currencies by nullifying an old bill that deemed anything but the use of the United States dollar as legal.

These alternative currencies include but are not limited to Starbucks Stars, Amazon Coins, and yes, even bitcoin and other cryptographic currencies.

“In an era of evolving payment methods, from Amazon Coins to Starbucks Stars, it is impractical to ignore the growing use of cash alternatives,” said State Assemblyman Roger Dickinson in a recent statement, as pointed out by the Los Angeles Times.

And while the news is good for users of this emerging digital currency, it doesn’t quite change a whole lot in terms practical use of bitcoin, for example. The aforementioned law that prohibited the use of anything but the dollar was one of many unenforced laws in the State of California.

Former Director of US Mint to Keynote at Bitcoin Conference in N. Carolina

We’ve written a few times about Edmund C. Moy, the former Director of the United States Mint who has seemingly taken a liking to bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in general.

Last month, Moy notable said via social media that, “It’s Time Banks Got Competition. Time for Cryptocurrencies,” further pushing him into a noble status in the cryptocurrency community.

And now he’s even doing public speaking at a Bitcoin expo. As first pointed out by bitcoin website CoinTelegraph, Moy will be serving as the keynote speaker at the ‘Cryptolina‘ conference that’s taking place from August 15-16th in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Event organizer Faruk Okcetin had the following to say in a press announcement:

“This is a game-changer. Ed Moy is widely respected among the finance and exchange industry, and is among the highest level officials yet to recognize both the future and inevitability of cryptocurrency. The Carolinas are thrilled to be hosting Mr. Moy’s first appearance at a Bitcoin conference.”

Other speakers at the event include Elizabeth Ploshay of BitPay and the Bitcoin Foundation, and angel investor Mark Easley.

As one would come to expect at a bitcoin conference, Cryptolina takes a look at today’s issues in the cryptocurrency community on several fronts along with the future.

Edmund C. Moy was nominated by President George W. Bush as the Director of the United States mint in 2006, and was sworn in the same year. The role lasted until 2011.

For more information on Cryptolina, visit www.cryptolina.com.

Cryptocurrency Mining Conference Slated to Take Place in October

Cryptocurrency Mining Conference Slated to Take Place in October

There’s apparently a new kind of cryptocurrency conference taking place later this year. Dubbed Hashers United, it’s said the be the first global conference dedicated to cryptocurrency mining, and it’s taking place from October 10th-11th at the Tuscany Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The conference will bring together professionals, hobbyists and vendors from within mining and throughout the wider cryptocurrency sector. Attendees can expect over 35 workshops and sessions, and more than 25 speakers.

On the list of speakers is Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin and Litecoin creator Charlie Lee, who have been “specially selected for their expertise and commitment to mining and cryptocurrencies.”

The conference will feature key figures from tax, legal and regulatory bodies from the United States to provide important updates. In addition, speakers will cover topics including protocol scrutiny, algorithm analysis for better strategic planning and operations; more effective rig building; live mining demonstrations; and workshops covering profitability, investment, cryptocurrency management and more.

Behind the conference is Final Hash, LLC, a mining contract company with rig facilities in Houston, Texas.

“We’re in contact with miners every day and their needs just aren’t being met via current conferences or even online,” said the company’s Executive Technical Director, Marshall Long. “It’s time for a ‘real world’ forum where everyone, no matter their experience, can have an open and frank discussion about the key issues they are facing and how as a community we can help each other to overcome them.”

For more information on the event, head over to HashersUnited.com.

Edward Snowden Defense Fund Has So Far Raised 150 Bitcoins

We’ve seen all sorts of bitcoin fundraisers going on in the community recently, but did you know there existed a fundraiser to help with the legal defense of Edward Snowden?

There apparently is, and the amount of money its raised so far is nothing to scoff at. As of this writing, the address [Blockchain.info link] has collected just about 150 bitcoins, or $87,195 at the present exchange rate.

Snowden defense fund has raised $90,341.66 in #Bitcoin https://t.co/cKda45taX1 donate: http://t.co/GEHJ0hK5YS info: https://t.co/SdNf8MpTa1

— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) June 24, 2014

The news comes from Wikileaks, a media outlet that has taken to publishing secret information and classified media from unidentified sources. Wikileaks has longs supported Edward Snowden, who has been on the run from authorities in the United States since 2013 after releasing a slew of classified documents from his work as a National Security Agency contractor.

Donation efforts are designed to help Snowden through his current legal predicament, in which the United States seeks to bring him back to face trial.

Wikileaks turning to bitcoin, to many in the community, was an inevitable thing. With pressure from world governments, traditional processors like VISA, MasterCard, PayPal, and others imposed a banking blockade on the funding of their operation.

With no central authority to say what can and cannot be transmitted, it highlights just one of many benefits of bitcoin — with nobody on the other end to say “no

QuickBooks Online Adds Support for ‘PayByCoin’ For Bitcoin Payments

Intuit’s QuickBooks Online has become the first cloud accounting system to allow small businesses to accept bitcoin payments, we’re learning via a blog post sent to us by a company spokesperson earlier today

The California-based company’s new PayByCoin service has been made possible through an integration between QuickBooks Online and Coinbase — a bitcoin merchant services provider and broker.

For the small businesses using QuickBooks Online to generate their electronic invoices, PayByCoin comes as a free add-on, which is certainly convenient.

Here’s how the whole thing works, as explained by Intuit:

1. The small business owner/operator must first register with Coinbase and link their wallets to their existing QuickBooks Online account.

2. Customers who receive and invoice have the option to pay by traditional means (credit card, etc.), but also have the option to pay in bitcoin.

3. Intuit isn’t charging any fee for the service (although Coinbase does charge a 1 percent fee after the first $1 million in sales).

The company explains:

Intuit is providing the connectivity and software services to direct customers to the small business operators CoinBase wallet, and to record the transactions in QuickBooks Online. Intuit will not receive or hold any funds related to the PayByCoin transactions, either in USD or Bitcoins.

It’s an interesting development in the world of bitcoin e-commerce, especially seeing such a large company getting involved with the digital currency in this manner.

As a business owner, how inclined would you be to use this service?

Project Skyhook Announces Shipment of 150th Bitcoin ATM

Bitcoin ATMs: they’ve become so very popular. A point proven today by Project Skyhook, who announced via their blog that they have shipped their 150th unit.

Demand for the Skyhook units have been quite high primarily given their low-cost pricing. Compared to competitors’ pricing, the Skyhook only runs at $999, and Project Skyhook says that demand “is very strong, and growing every day.”

In the past month, the team says they’ve sold 70 ATMs, and they’re apparently projecting even greater demand in the next month.

“Our goal this year is to sell 1,000 units, and thanks to our great customers (seriously, we love you, thank you), we’re strongly on track to meet that goal,” they write.

The team also notes that customer issues with the machines have been minimal, adding they’ve “gotten a lot of great testimonials and very creative use stories.”

They write:

Our goal with Skyhook has been to make it possible for everyone to become a Bitcoin exchange, so that the buying of Bitcoin is easy, accessible, and not restricted to a single central source. We’re happy that people are using Skyhook ATMs to make it easy for everyone to buy Bitcoins, and we’re proud of our role in improving the Bitcoin ecosystem by reducing our dependence on centralized exchanges.

Skyhook ATMs are designed to be easy to manufacture, and even feature a pre-installed tablet to act as the touch screen interface.

Most recently, Canadian start-up Quadriga CX announced plans to install 30 of the devices throughout Vancouver

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Meet Australia’s Newest Bitcoin Exchange: CoinTree

The evolution of bitcoin exchanges over the past year and a half have been interesting. We’ve seen many exchanges come and go, and our Australian friends may be pleased to know their country now has another option for trading digital currency.

It’s called CoinTree, and it’s based in Melbourne and run by two software engineers (who thankfully also happen to be members of the bitcoin community) who have a combined twenty years of experience in building global software (they also frequently attend the Melbourne bitcoin meetup if you want to meet them).

From what I’ve observed, the website appears to be fairly well designed. And they have this great instant demo that allows you to try out the system without having an account.

Also interesting: when a user makes a deposit into their secure wallet on CoinTree, they can actually verify the balance using a block chain explorer so they know exactly where their money is.

Fees are important, and according to the exchange’s announcement today on Reddit, there aren’t any buy or sell fees on the platform. There also aren’t any fees to withdraw bitcoin from the exchange. If you are, however, looking to withdraw in cash, a 2 percent fee will apply.

Of course, they’re only getting started here, so it will be a while before we know if this platform will take off. But hey, at least there’s another option available.

For additional details, visit cointree.com.au.

BTC-e Establishes New PAMM Service

Popular cryptocurrency exchange BTC-e announced via their website this week that they are now offering traders their new PAMM service, a first in the sector.

PAMM — or Percent Allocation Management Module — will allow BTC-e investors to follow the trading strategies (using a slave account) of both professional and experienced traders (a master account).

Over the past several years PAMM technology has been extensively used by traders in the currency exchange markets. It is a proven and effective instrument for money management, investments and strategy copying. BTC-e is the first crypto-currency exchange to make PAMM accounts available for bitcoin traders.

Explained by BTC-e:

Traders can select a suitable strategy with the help of PAMM account rating and graphs that display the Master’s trading results in the past. The Master uses his own capital for trading and trades via the Meta Trader 4 terminal. And his trading strategy is replicated on an unlimited number of ‘Slave’ accounts. As a remuneration the Master receives part of the profit from each ‘Slave account’, that follows his strategy. Profits and remuneration are calculated automatically within the PAMM technology and are paid strictly on time.

The idea is to allow anyone — new or experienced — to get in the game and start generating profits. And the addition of the feature is reflective of BTC-e’s desire to remain one of the top crypto exchanges today.

It will certainly need some time to get off the ground, but it will be interesting to see where this goes in the weeks ahead. If you’re looking for additional information on this, you can visit pamm.btc-e.com

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U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Seeks to Give Bitcoin More Attention

A new report from Bloomberg suggests that bitcoin is about to get a whole lot more attention from the United States Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

The investigative arm of the United States Congress, The Government Accountability Office had written in what has been described as a confidential report that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau needed to be more active in the field of creating digital currency policies.

The Bureau responded to the Government Accountability Office in agreement:

“We’re looking forward to increasing our involvement in formal working groups as they engage on specific issues relating to consumer protection,” wrote William Wade-Gery, the acting assistant director for card and payment markets in early May.

The Government Accountability Office hasn’t outlined how they want the Bureau to be more active in the digital currencies policies space, but it’s likely to be related to regulation and preventing financial crimes.

“GAO’s report underscores the importance that all sectors — law enforcement, industry, relevant regulators, and consumer protection agencies — must come to the table and engage in meaningful dialogue to provide clear rules of the road for entrepreneurs, investors, and consumers alike,” said Senator Tom Carper in a statement emailed to Bloomberg.

Tom Carper led Senate hearings on bitcoin last year, and has become one of the first lawmakers to take a serious look at digital currency usage in today’s economy.

ZipZap Brings Digital Currency Buying Back to 20,000 Retail Locations

ZipZap Brings Digital Currency Buying Back to 20,000 Retail Locations

Some better news for residents in the United Kingdom who might be looking to buy bitcoin. ZipZap announced on Tuesday that they’re bringing their global cash transaction network back to 20,000 retail locations in the UK.

The announcement come following a news item at the end of March in which we learned that the company would be halting the processing of digital currency transactions. The halt directly related to ZipZap’s payment processor, PayPoint, and its desire to put the processing on hold until the legalities surrounding there digital currency transactions became clearer.

Now, ZipZap is working with a company called Payzone, one of the leaders in consumer payments in the country.

So what does this mean for you (assuming you live in the UK)? You’ll be able to purchase digital currency like bitcoin, litecoin, and yes, even dogecoin through ZipZap’s exchange partners, which include ANX, Bittylicious, and Buybitcoin.sg.

“Many UK consumers prefer dealing with cash without having to disclose their banking information,” said Simon Nahnybida, ZipZap’s Senior Vice President of Business Development. “Our partnership with Payzone allows customers to easily buy digital currencies online and pay at convenient locations within a walking distance from their home or work.”

Here’s what Mark Mellor, Director of Sales and Marketing at Payzone, had to say:

“We are very excited to partner with ZipZap and participate in the digital currency economy [...] We strive to provide the best products and services with the utmost convenience and ZipZap’s practices fall in line with our belief of providing quick and cost-effective payment services to consumers whilst offering an extra service for our merchants to add to their Payzone basket of services.”

Blockchain.info Web Wallet Users Have Transacted $19.6 Billion in Bitcoin

The short article comes as somewhat of a correction and follow-up to a news report we published at the start of the month. Therein, we had reported that Blockchain.info web wallet users had transacted just over three billion dollars worth of bitcoin.

We didn’t just pull the information from thin air, though. It came from the site’s own counter at blockchain.info/wallet (which we recognize is probably not an exact reflection of true figures but supplies an accurate projection).

You’ll probably be surprised to learn that the actual amount that’s been transacted via the Blockchain.info web wallet is on the order of $19.6 billion at the time of this writing (as indicated by the counter).

Was there a magical jump from the beginning of this month to now? The answer is simply no.

I caught up with Blockchain CEO Nicolas Cary Monday evening in attempt to get find clarity on the matter.

“The current number is accurate,” he said, referring to the above-mentioned transaction counter. And there wasn’t a ‘magical’ jump. Rather, a technical issue in May was the cause of the discrepancy.

“After our outage in May some auxiliary services needed to be reset before we could restore historical data,” Cary added. “The $3 billion was accurate for the past few months. Which is pretty impressive.”

Impressive, indeed.

Blockchain.info serves as the most popular bitcoin hub on the internet, starting off first as a block chain explorer. The company’s web wallet service now has over 1.7 million users, too.

Growing rapidly, the company continues their attempts to provide the most useful resources to new and seasoned users of this revolutionary digital currency.

بیت کوین وارد سامانه Yahoo! Finance شد

بیت بیت کوین وارد سامانه Yahoo! Finance شد

دسترسی به قیمت لحظه ای بیت کوین اقدامی است که کمپانی یاهو در چند روز اخیر انجام داد.مقامی در یاهو میگوید٬این خواست کاربران سایت و کمپانی بوده و ما نیز این قابلیت را در اختیار آنان قرار دادیم.در این سیستم همچنین رنج بالا و پایین قیمت و سایر اطلاعات مربوط به بورس جهانی بیت کوین نیز در اختیار کاربر قرار خواهد گرفت.سیستم Finance شرکت یاهو قریب به ۴۰ میلیون بازدید کننده در هر ماه را داراست و این یک حباب مناسب  تبلیغاتی را نیز دیگر بار برای بیت کوین در نظر جهانیان در پی خواهد داشت.

بازتاب سیستم و کارایی آن توسط کاربران نیز مثبت ارزیابی شده و در reddit و سایر شبکه های اجتماعی در مقابل این عمل یاهو استقبال شده است.بنابراین کاربران iOS و OS X نیز در اپلیکیشن مربوط به قیمت های بورس ‘Stocks’ و همچنین قسمت ناتیفیکیشن از این پس میتوانند علاوه بر دنبال کردن قیمت سایر بورس های جهانی قیمت بیت کوین را نیز دنبال نمایند.این موضوع بیان کننده رفتار انعطافی سایر کمپانی ها و کاربران نسبت به این سیستم مالی نوین میباشد و رفته رفته جایگاه خود را در این میان روز به روز با ثبات تر میکند.

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