Category Archives: Bitcoin

United Way Worldwide announced Monday that it will begin taking donations in Bitcoin, the digital currency.

Bitcoin users can now use the currency for donations to the United Way's Innovation Fund, a part of the United Way dedicated to updating the organization through "technology, relationships and efficiency." Coinbase, one of the leading Bitcoin payment platforms, is partnering with the charity to let those interested donate directly from their digital Bitcoin wallets to the fund. According to a page on the United Way's Web site, anyone from around the world can donate to the fund using Bitcoin.

Bitcoin is making steady progress in gaining more mainstream acceptance, with companies rangingfrom Home Depot and Target to local food trucks jumping on board.eBay's PayPal announcedlast week that it will soon be offering developers of its Braintree payment platform the option to accept Bitcoin as a method of payment, also through a partnership with Coinbase. But major charities such as the Red Cross, UNICEF and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have been slower to jump on the bandwagon, though many Bitcoin users have run their own campaigns to take donations for these organizations and convert them into more traditional currencies.

Brian A. Gallagher, president and CEO of United Way Worldwide, said in a statement that accepting Bitcoinsimply makes it easier to support the 127-year-oldorganization."Achieving United Ways vision for the world where all individuals and families achieve their human potential requires innovation powered by new technology and outreach methods," he said. "In that spirit, integrating Bitcoin donations with the United Way Worldwide Innovation Fund helps us achieve this crucial goal."

Hayley Tsukayama covers consumer technology for The Washington Post.

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United Way to begin accepting donations in Bitcoin

Mainstream perception of bitcoin, much like the crypto-currency itself, has been volatile. Starting last fall and gaining steam throughout the winter, bitcoin became one of themost buzzed about topics on the internet. It was a recurring subject on sites like Business Insider and TechCrunch. Mainstream media got in on the action as well Newsweek relaunched their entire publication in March with alarge, feature story on the search for bitcoins mysterious founder.

Then, as quickly as it had risen, the currency seemed to drop out of the public consciousness. During its time out of the spotlight, however, bitcoin has made significant progress towards mainstream acceptance, and may be poised for a second breakthrough.

You can see the rise and fall in public interest of Bitcoin below, as shown by Google search volume for the term over the last year:

Although search volume is higher year-over-year, its nowhere near the peak of November and December 2013, where it averaged over five million searches a month. This is likely due to a drop-off in general interest, and perhaps the loss of the novelty factor the crypto-currency once commanded.

Bitcoin transaction volume has followed a similar path. Heres the average volume over the past 12 months, according to Blockchain.info:

During November and December, transaction volume regularly surpassed 300,000 bitcoins, and spiked over the 900,000 mark in March. Since April however, volume has remained relatively flat, settling at around 100,000.

This drop in public awareness and transaction volume though, doesnt mean that Bitcoin is declining as a viable financial asset, or even alternative currency. In fact, Bitcoin is closer to achieving widespread acceptance than ever before.

One of the main barriers to entry with bitcoin has been the lack of acceptance among merchants. For interested consumers, theres not much point in purchasing an asset that no one recognizes. Thanks to the efforts of bitcoin-wallet companyCoinbase however, this is changing.

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Out of the Spotlight, Bitcoin Gains Legitimacy

Citing demand for an efficient hedging tool, TeraExchange has developed a Bitcoin swap product and a Bitcoin price index, to launch the first regulated Bitcoin derivatives platform.

While regulation has been lacking in the virtual currency world, TeraExchange, a registered SEF, said its launching the first regulated platform for Bitcoin derivatives along with a spot Bitcoin price index.

As a swap execution facility, registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, TeraExchange is structuring theBitcoin swap marketplace to be regulated under CFTC rules.

This is the first regulated exchange, that has a regulated product and a regulated index in Bitcoins history, said Christian Martin, CEO of TeraExchange, in an interview today.

In an announcement on Friday, TeraExchange said theBitcoin derivative and the Tera Bitcoin price index were created to meet the growing demand of global merchants, payment processors, miners, and hedge funds for an efficient hedging tool. Institutional market makers have already offered to provide continuous markets over a range of tenors going out one to two years, said Martin.

In March of 2014 TeraExchange announced that an affiliate of the firm had created the first unregulated USD/Bitcoin Swap, which sparked a considerable increase in demand for regulatedBitcoin derivatives trading and hedging, the company said on Friday.

The process of creating a Bitcoin derivativeTeraExchange began the process of working with the CFTC in February this year.

As an approved SEF, TeraExchange was able to self-certify the product and list it on its SEF. The CFTC approves that certification process. To be clear, the CFTC does not approve the product, explains Martin. We spent 8 or 9 months making sure the CFTC was comfortable with our product.

At the end of the day, it was no different than listing an interest-rate swap contract. We were sensitive to the newness of Bitcoin, and with the newness comes diligence and time.

Bitcoin price index as global benchmarkIn addition, TeraExchange developed theBitcoin price index, which is part of its commercial offering. The index was an important tool for us to develop because the index takes into account global data points, global underlying exchange input, and smoothes it all out so that any one input isnt any more important than others, says Martin. In that regard, our index is not susceptible to manipulations, which is one of the gating factors of the CFTC.

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TeraExchange to Launch Bitcoin Swap Trading on Regulated SEF Platform

Bitcoin prides itself as a decentralized digital currency, meaning that no single entity controls it. Instead, a community of developers, miners and enthusiasts work in tandemto ensure everything runs smoothly.

But now,a Bitcoin-loving husband and wife aim to take this collaborative community to a whole new level bysettingup a workplace that houses Bitcoin companies. Co-founded by Pamir Gelenbe and wife Gulnar Hasnain, T15B is located near Londons techhub, the Silicon roundabout. Its situated at the corner of Bold Rockets office, a registered trademark of the Capital Markets Company (UK) Ltd, a company that helps technology companies make a difference in todays world.

T15B currently houses companies such as Bitcoin trading platform btc.sx, gold to Bitcoin exchange market Bullion Bitcoin Limited, point-of-sale Bitcoin processing solutions XBTerminal and four other Bitcoin companies.

Though T15B aims to house more Bitcoin companies, its also very strict and does not allow just anybody to join the community.

We dont want to compromise on quality. We have a selection committee and review applications on a rolling basis. We are looking for serious entrepreneurs and individuals who have demonstrated their commitment to the virtual currency space, Gelenbe explains.

So far, those who have been fortunate enough to pass the screening are quite pleased with what T15B offers, as working with like-minded people in the same industryis both inspiring and motivating.

Being surrounded by people working to disrupt the world of finance, through bitcoin, is incredibly motivating, Joe Lee, founder and CEO of BTC.sx, said.

This initiative by Gelenbe and his wife are seen as a step to further put London in the prime spot for cryptocurrency innovation.

We have several of the best bitcoin startups based here now, the Bank of England and government seem to be changing policies to support the growth. We are in a very strong position to succeed, Aleks Nowak, co-founder of XBTerminal, added.

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Bitcoin community gets further support with London office

Paypal unit to #39;embrace #39; Bitcoin crypto currency
Paypal subsidiary Braintree has started working on ways to process payments using the Bitcoin virtual currency. The work is due to be completed within "the c...

By: Web Box Tech

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Paypal unit to 'embrace' Bitcoin crypto currency - Video

What To Do If You Don #39;t Wnat Internet Like Bitcoin - Free Talk Live 2014-09-07
Liberty Bits from Free Talk Live. For the best in liberty talk catch Free Talk Live every night of the week at 7pm - 10pm Eastern at http://lrn.fm.

By: Liberty Bits

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What To Do If You Don't Wnat Internet Like Bitcoin - Free Talk Live 2014-09-07 - Video

One To Rule Them All - Beyond Bitcoin Episode 13
http://letstalkbitcoin.com/blog/post/beyond-bitcoin-13-one-to-rule-them-all.

By: Let #39;s Talk Bitcoin!

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One To Rule Them All - Beyond Bitcoin Episode 13 - Video

Testing BitCoin and MasterCoin with Spock
Testing BitCoin and MasterCoin with Spock presented by Sean Gilligan at GR8Conf US 2014.

By: GR8Conf US

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Testing BitCoin and MasterCoin with Spock - Video

Naughty Bits - Sexy Bitcoin News EP.1 SEPT-13-2014
Hello everyone! Here #39;s my new show, Naughty Bits, which is a bitcoin "news" show where I talk about things that I think are sexy in the world of bitcoin, while stripping! 🙂 Unfortunately...

By: Saffron Bacchus

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Naughty Bits - Sexy Bitcoin News EP.1 SEPT-13-2014 - Video

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Bitcoin Forum - Index