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FastCoin Crypto News
Bitstamp surpasses MtGox in trading volume.
Probably you worked the wrong numbers and didn't realize that mtgox counts a lot of trades double because they have a multi currency trading engine. That means, the currencies on mtgox have one shared order book and some EUR orders are automatically matched to USD orders. Therefore in the statistics a lot of trade volume is counted twice if the trade was across two different currencies.


BitCoin Spikes past $140 on large volume!
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FastCoin Miner pool update, top three FastCoin pool sites posted

Dear FastCoin community,

Please NOTE:  This post was a continuation from the Bitcointalk.org forum response.  Please click on this or the title line to read the original post.

Please continue to keep us posted of any other strange behavior that you may notice on any other mining pools.  We would like to be able to create a list and qualify some of FastCoin pools out there, and perhaps provide recommendations to the community.  To date we have not had a lot of time since the release of FastCoin to verify the integrity of some of these mining pool operations.  Please understand that it is very difficult for us to monitor and police the mining pools as they do offer voluntarily service and we do understand that they need to cover some of there operational costs.  

Having said that, it is understood that pool operators have the option to exercise basic fees or request donations from its members through a variety of methods.  Typically a 1 - 3% Fee is not outrageous and would seem reasonable.  But yes if you feel a considerable amount may be siphoning off then that is not an ideal site, and again in fairness to the pool operator it may be that there site is or was "Broken" or not operating properly at the time of your mining experience.  

Currently the best thing we can offer you is to check the posted FastCoin mining pool list from here...

http://www.fastcoin.ca/mining-pools.html

From our experience we have found the following three FastCoin Pool sites to be the best in terms of up time and consistency of payouts...

http://fst.ltcoin.net
http://fst.zabmail.ru
https://www.miningpool.co/

If you are a FastCoin Pool owner/operator and would like us to include you in one of our recommended FastCoin pools list, please send an email to info@fastcoin.ca and we will do our best to assist you.

Again you need to check and verify which site works best for you, internet proximity may play a role in choosing the best pool as well.  IE if you are in Asia perhaps a pool in that geographical location may suite your purposes better then one found in North America.  Again this is not 100% as some sites in Asia have preformed well during North America site outages and vis-versa, you will just have to check and perhaps move from site to site till you find one that works best for you.

We will do our best to continue to check and modify this list should new information becomes available.


American anti-virus mogul McAfee warns Canadians about government spying and future of  Bitcoin
McAfee also says the growth of electronic currencies like Bitcoin is unstoppable, despite efforts by governments to curb their use. 

"Things like Bitcoin are completely outside the control and the knowledge of anyone."

To his mind, anyone who does not seriously consider electronic currency as a mode of currency exchange is "doing themselves a misservice," given its encrypted and algorithmic protection from thievery.

"It will be everywhere and the world will have to readjust. World governments will have to readjust."


Do Bitcoins belong in your retirement portfolio?
For years, investment firms and professionals have advocated the need to include a small percentage of high risk and potentially high reward assets into your retirement portfolio. The thinking is that including a small percentage of your overall asset allocation (from 5% - 10%) into these assets can provide high potential returns with only a small impact on your portfolio if the risk becomes too great.

As Brad Zimmerman writes on the Nasdaq.com website, " the general rule of thumb with alternative investing, according to Investopedia, is no more than 10 percent of your portfolio should go towards these investments ."

Robert Powell wrote on this site recently of how defined benefit plan managers often go beyond stocks and bonds to achieve high returns by pursuing more "nontraditional strategies".


Just cancelled my PayPal account. My feedback was: “I just use bitcoin now”.
Tidying up my online bank account, I noticed there was a direct debit to PayPal hanging around. So I logged into my old PayPal account – in the account details screen there is a ‘Close account’ button. Click click clickety click. It was quite satisfying to type in the field ‘Why do you want to close your PayPal account ?”:

Answer: “I just use bitcoin now”.



U.S. Web Attacks Skyrocket Ahead of Mid East Action: 81% Above Normal
Outgoing Department of Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano ominously warned of a coming “cyber event” in an open letter to her successor this week, claiming that such an attack on the domestic internet “will have a serious effect on our lives, our economy, and the everyday functioning of our society.”

With tensions at a breaking point in the middle east, and all military options on the table, there can be no doubt that we (meaning all sides involved) are now engaged in cyber warfare ahead of traditional military activities.



Why Bitcoin's Future Is Bright
The digital currency Bitcoin is one of the hottest things to hit the tech world since the invention of the mobile app. This year, major investors have poured cash into Bitcoin startups, and the mainstream media finally began paying attention.

But its future is uncertain. Governments around the world are beginning to grapple with the implications of a decentralized currency. New regulations are being handed down that will change how some Bitcoin companies do business. And yet the total value of the Bitcoin market is still trending upward. There will never be more than 21 million bitcoins in existence, which means that demand alone will determine the currency's value.


Days of reckoning fast approaching for banks
First, the distribution monopoly of the Postal Services was hit hard by the Net as people discovered they didn’t need to buy stamps. Then, the copyright industry’s distribution monopoly was flatly and unceremoniously run over. As a third and fairly recent victim, we find the old centralized journalism with its tightly controlled news distribution. As fourth and coming victim, there’s an information distribution few people have thought of in terms of information: the money in our society.

We’re certainly using cash freely and casually as we go about our day, but most of our money-moving happens in other ways than by bill and coin. On a moment’s reflection, it is a miracle that there’s actually an industry able to charge 50 to 60 euros a year just to maintain a number — our account balance — in a perfectly ordinary database for us, and the ability to send some dozen messages a month with amounts attached. How is it remotely possible that we still need to pay for such a ridiculously simple information service?


Download "Coin Ticker" Great iPhone App to Track FastCoin and other Alt Coin market Values for users on the GO!
This app monitors and displays the bitcoin and altcoins market prices and bitcoin stock exchange prices. It brings you the latest bitcoin market information directly on your iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.

You can get the latest market prices of bitcoin and other crypto currencies, the crypto currencies will displayed in bitcoin price and your local currency(Support 50+ currencies). You can also check the price difference between different exchange. Market rates are updated every minute automatically.

You can also use this app to manage your portfolio of all your cryptocoins and stocks.

If you are investing using bitcoin, this is the app you don't wanna miss.


Bitcoin lobbyists host meet-and-greet with Homeland Security and other agencies today
Members of the Bitcoin Foundation, the trade organization that represents the virtual currency that approximates cash on the internet, are having a series of "educational meetings" today with politicians, regulators, law enforcement officials, and federal agencies including the Department of Homeland Security, Treasury Department, and Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The overall message that the Foundation is trying to send is that Bitcoin has proven itself to be a useful and enduring tool, and that the US will suffer competitively if the currency becomes illegal or too onerous to use under American law. In March, a division of the Treasury Department announced that certain Bitcoin businesses must register with the federal government, a requirement the Foundation says would be crippling for many startups.



Federal Regulators Aren't Ready To Crack Down On Bitcoin Because They Still Don't Really Know What It Is
Bitcoin is safe from federal regulators for now — mostly because they're still not quite sure what it is. Yesterday, law enforcement officials led by the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement network met with representatives from the Bitcoin Foundation, a California-based group that serves as the unofficial custodian of the digital currency, to discuss how Bitcoin works.


RoboCoin’s Bitcoin ATM lets you buy Bitcoin with cash, makes virtual currency ‘grandma friendly’
Does your grandma buy and sell Bitcoin?  Probably not, but in the future, she may, with the new RoboCoin ATM machine, launching today, that allows anyone to buy the virtual currency BitCoin with actual dollar bills, right on the street corner.  At least, that’s RoboCoin CEO Jordan Kelley’s vision.

“Robocoin is a Bitcoin ATM machine,” he told me today. “We make Bitcoin grandma friendly, so anyone can go and buy and sell Bitcoin.”


Bitcoin Isn't the Criminal Safe Haven People Think It Is
What we knew would someday happen has started happening—the cyberpunk cryptocurrency of the internet Wild West is under the federal government's microscope. And since the Feds are all but convinced that the anonymous nature of Bitcoin makes for a perfect den of cybercrime, they're eager to slap regulations on the virtual currency.  But the government and law enforcement might want to pause and rewind for a second. As experts have pointed out before, and as a new study explores in detail, bitcoin isn't completely anonymous. More accurately, it's pseudonymous.

Researchers from the University of California and George Mason University set out to study how easy it is to trace the flow of bitcoins through the market, using sophisticated tracking tools they developed to monitor the network. They point out that while you can own (or more to the point, steal) bitcoins without revealing your identity, once you start moving money around the network, you're leaving a trail of digital breadcrumbs. Each transaction is recorded in a public ledger, called a block chain, which works as a check to make sure people aren't committing fraud—say, using the same coins twice. For criminals, it's like leaving behind a smoking gun.



Bloombert:  Bitcoin’s Bid for Legitimacy
Aug. 27 (Bloomberg) –- Bitcoin Foundation Member Jim Harper and Convergex Chief Market Strategist Nock Colas discuss yesterday’s meeting between the Bitcoin Foundation and members of the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, regulators and law-enforcement officials to discuss the digital currency. They speak with Trish Regan and Adam Johnson on Bloomberg Television's "Street Smart." (Source: Bloomberg)


Bitcoin Bull Closing in on Key Resistance at 136
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all4btc’s Amazon Chrome Extension puts BTC Inside Amazon
Our favorite BTC shopping service has created a Chrome Extension that puts BTC right inside Amazon.  The extension diverts your browser from Amazon to all4btc, where the information of the item you wish to purchase is pre-populated. The extension is supported on Amazon in the US, UK and Germany.


Mt.Gox BTC Price Hits $130 after $1 million Transaction
The Mt.Gox BTC price hit $130 yesterday, rocketing from $121 in the space of a few hours, after a massive $1 million purchase of BTC took place on the system within one minute. Bitstamp’s price also rose to around $120 on the heels of the Mt.ox hike. The current price of exchange is $128 on Mt.Gox and $117 on Bitstamp.

Some have speculated over the intentions and origin of the large deal, with potential causes ranging from a successful meeting with US Regulators yesterday – perhaps someone in the meeting was encouraged to buy BTC, to price manipulation.


Bitcoin goes to Washington
Banking regulators and U.S. law enforcement officials on Monday will hear from a trade group representing Bitcoin, a sign that Washington is trying harder to understand how to regulate virtual currencies.  Patrick Murck, general counsel for the Bitcoin Foundation, told the Wall Street Journal he would make a presentation and answer questions from officials of the Federal Reserve, Treasury Department, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., IRS, FBI and other agencies.  Authorities have so far focused their dealings with Bitcoin on trying to ensure that Bitcoin exchanges don’t break money-transmission laws and that the currency isn’t used for things like money laundering or buying drugs.


Tune in Sunday, Sept 1st, for chat with media Host Marc Saltzman & FastCoin's "Bit Ed" discussion on Bitcoin and more!
Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the ever-changing world of technology? You’re not alone.
Tech Talk can make some sense of it all – and you won’t need a degree in computer engineering to listen in.  By breaking down “geek speak into street speak,” technology columnist and author Marc Saltzman will chat about consumer technology each week, interview guests and open the lines to address your concerns.


The value of one Fidor Bank AG share has risen 30% since the announcement of the bitcoin.de cooperation
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BITCOIN BUBBLE JUST WON’T POP — SHOULD YOU ‘INVEST’?
Bitcoin — the digital currency that captivated a bored financial media to start the year — is back in full swing. Bitcoins are back up to a value of about $125 per unit, up from a low of $70 that was set this spring after a big crash-and-burn, then retested again as recently as July.  So should you invest in bitcoin?  Well … maybe. But with any fad investment, bitcoin traders better be prepared for a wild ride and volatility that swings both ways.

It’s undeniable that some people have struck it rich betting on bitcoins. The digital currency made waves this spring as it ran up from $13 in value to start the year to almost $270 in April — and someone made a whole lot of money. The digital currency crashed back to about $70 in short order, but the fact that it’s back around $125 per bitcoin proves that early “investors” still are sitting on a profit.


Golden answers to your bitcoin questions
Bitcoining it, 1980s style:  You may have heard of the Osborne effect.  Named after early personal computer entrepreneur Adam Osborne, it describes what happens when a company kills its cash flow – and itself – by announcing a new product so far ahead of production that the drop in sales of the old product is fatal. There was a very successful Osborne 1 PC launched in 1981; the superior Osborne Executive was announced in 1982 but not delivered in numbers quickly enough to replace lost sales.

Bear that in mind when reading about Butterfly Labs’ latest announcement – the Monarch – which, while it has splendid specifications, has no firm delivery date beyond ‘towards the end of the year’ ’ (at the time of the announcement – new orders placed are now stated to be delivered in February 2014 – Ed). Factor in Butterfly’s much-noted problems in delivering on its current product line, and ask yourself “Do they feel lucky, punk?”.


Firm says online gambling accounts for almost half of all Bitcoin transactions
Firm says online gambling accounts for almost half of all Bitcoin transactions Although it's not quite legal in the US, online gambling is big business in BTC.  Even though I'm "not allowed" to visit this site, lots of people are gambling with Bitcoin online. It's no secret that online gambling has been lucrative for a few pioneering companies. Even though it's been illegal in the US since 2006, companies have made relatively large sums serving customers who are either placing bets outside the US, through a VPN, or by simply sending a Bitcoin amount to a fixed address corresponding to a “game” which will return a player's money with various probabilities.

One of the biggest Bitcoin gambling sites, SatoshiDice, stays on the up-and-up with US regulators by blocking IP addresses coming to its site from the US, but in January 2013 it reported ฿33,310 in profits in 2012, which at the time reflected $596,231 (although today it would reflect much more). SatoshiDice also reported that it made an average actual profit of ฿135.96 per day (about $2,416 in 2012 rates) from May through December 2012.  Although SatoshiDice was sold to an unknown buyer in July, it is still probably one of the largest online Bitcoin gambling sites out there. And according to a blog post written by Jeremy Liew, a partner at a venture capital firm called Lightspeed Venture partners, transactions from SatoshiDice accounted for somewhere between 25 percent and over 50 percent of all Bitcoin transactions in the month of June 2013.


Germany Acceptance of Bitcoin Sets Standard for Other Countries
The story of the German Finance Ministry stating essentially Bitcoin is “legal tender” has been making the rounds all over the virtual currency and technology world. The German government recognizes the digital currency as a “unit of account” that can be used in Germany. This makes them a kind of “private money”, which can be used in multilateral clearing circles. The German Ministry of Finance has issued an official statement recognizing Bitcoin as “Rechnungseinheiten,” a legal designation that translates to “units of account”. This type of money is also referred to as “artificial currency” or “side payments.”  “We should have competition in the production of money. I have long been a proponent of Friedrich August von Hayek scheme to denationalize money. Bitcoins are a first step in this direction,” said Frank Schaeffler, a member of the German parliament’s Finance Committee, who has pushed for legal classification of bitcoins.


Bitcoin is legal, let it evolve into its role, researchers urge
As the tech industry grapples with the potential benefits and risks of the digital currency Bitcoin, policymakers should take care not to impose heavy-handed restrictions on an innovative platform that could transform global commerce, a pair of researchers at George Mason University's Mercatus Center argue in a new policy paper.  As a starting point, the researchers suggest that the proper way to evaluate Bitcoin is "not necessarily as a replacement for traditional currencies, but rather as a new payments system," and acknowledge that it "exists in something of a legal gray area."   "This is largely the case because Bitcoin does not exactly fit existing statutory definitions of currency or other financial instruments or institutions, making it difficult to know which laws apply and how," write Mercatus Center researchers Jerry Brito and Andrea Castillo.


The Federal Government's Reaction To Bitcoin Is An Acknowledgement Of The Dollar's Vulnerability
The Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee has private alternative currencies in its crosshairs.  The Chairman, Senator Tom Carper (D-DE) and Ranking Member, Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK), sent a joint letter to seven federal agencies last week asking for feedback and policy proposals for regulation of virtual currencies, like Bitcoin.

Bitcoin has surged in value and popularity recently as it has come to be embraced by more users across the planet.  In a world of government fiat currencies, Bitcoin is an admirable innovation.  But in a sense it extends the current currency framework, as opposed to revolutionizing it.  It was created out of less than thin air when cybergeeks who saw it as a natural progression of the modern web specified the creation and distribution of the new cybercurrency in a paper posted on the Internet in 2008.  The virtual currency was then launched into operation in 2009.


The wealth transfer effect of Bitcoins
What really caused the value of bitcoin to skyrocket back in April, when the price per BTC shot up to a record high of $266? Was it really because of Cypriot banking controls, where a number of uninsured accounts were lost? Or was it simply the idea that the banking industry could wield so much control over the finances of people that caused bitcoin to go up? Could it be that a wealth transfer effect, where people move from a fiat currency into bitcoin was happening, and continues to do so?


Growing Bitcoin buzz: In-person Bitcoin exchanges make a splash in Berlin
Supporters of Bitcoin spent Saturday engaging in personal exchanges in Berlin, taking place in a mobile art space which supports the cryptocurrency. Its official recognition by the German state earlier this month is only aiding its expansion.  Bitcoin first burst onto the global scene in 2008 and has since been gaining rapid momentum. Germany is fast becoming a hotbed of exchanges, with August 16 marking its official recognition by the country under the term “Rechnungseinheiten,” which roughly translates to “units of account.”

“It’s a real step towards it becoming a universally, accepted, legitimate other option to state-issued currencies,”
said RT’s Peter Oliver in Berlin. In some places in the German capital, people even use the parallel currency to pay for simple commodities such as food and drink. Numerous small online merchants also accept it


That moment when you appreciate how useful Bitcoin really is..
Yesterday I went to the bank to make a international wire transfer to Bitstamp. My account is with Bank of America.  So I get there, have to wait 30 minutes to see a banker. Okay thats cool.

I sit down, and tell him I have to do a international wire transfer. He tells me its going to be a $45 dollar fee (damn right, thats alot just to transfer money). I said okay and he started asking the information where the money is going. I tell him its going to Bitstamp Limited, and he asks which country the company is in and I tell him the UK. Then He asks for the bank info where the wire is going to and I tell him the info that Bitstamp gives you. The dude started tripping because they are banking in a different country and starts telling me this is really fishy to be banking in a different country blah blah. And I know Bitstamp is reputable and they aren't a scam but after I tell the guy "Well as long as my wire goes through I don't really care" he goes ahead and does it.

It's like in banking you really have no privacy, some random stranger gets to see my whole account balance, and I feel like I have no control over my money. It's at that moment I realized how useful Bitcoin really is because with Bitcoin noone sees my account balance if they don't know my address, and I have control over my own money without having to deal with bankers and wait 45 minutes just to finish signing papers, giving my id, and talking to some random guy who is just a scrub working for a bank.

$45 to send money, gotta wait like an hour just to send the money, gotta sign papers, show id, have some random guy look at your account. With Bitcoin its close to $0 fee, instant transaction, control over your own account, no paperwork, just so simple.

God, I love Bitcoin.


The First Automated Bitcoin Trading Robot

CoinTap cards promise to make buying Bitcoins easy
Now there's a simple, easy way to buy Bitcoins -- the hot, new cyber currency that's fast changing how people shop, trade and even pay their bills.  CoinTap is the creation of Bitcoin Ventures, Inc., a local virtual currency software development company that offers smart solutions for Bitcoin e-commerce.  The product is a gift card which streamlines an otherwise tricky and time-consuming process of trading your money on a market for Bitcoins, says the company's representative and Bitcoin consultant Ashley Fulks.

"Buying Bitcoins are now as uncomplicated as buying a loaf of bread," says Fulks.

"Simply go to the store and buy a CoinTap card. Then go online, redeem your card on our website and, presto, you've got Bitcoins."


Rich-Get-Richer Effect Observed in BitCoin Digital Currency Network
In January 2009, a small group of Internet enthusiasts began an unusual economic experiment when they began to trade a new type of digital cash known as BitCoin. After a shaky start, the idea caught on and grew rapidly after 2011.  Today, bitcoins can buy a wider range of goods and services. In total, the BitCoin marketplace has hosted over 17 million transactions and the value of all the bitcoins in circulation is over $1 billion.  One interesting aspect of this marketplace is that the complete list of all transactions is publicly available. And this gave Daniel Kondor and buddies at Eotvos Lorand University in Hungary an idea.


In Berlin, bitcoins readily replace the euro
Graefekiez, Berlin, August 2013. As it does every Tuesday, the canal echoes with the tell-tale sounds of the Turkish market. Berliners ambling between the stalls succumb to irresistible last-minute offers. Mikaela buys a kilo of fish – "€3" announces a placard – and pays in cash, from hand to hand. No receipt, no cash register. The transaction leaves no visible trace, other than the bag full of glistening fish that Mikaela takes with her.

Two hundred metres further south, in the same district, Brand treats himself to a latte macchiato at Floor’s Café. When it comes time to pay, he pulls out his smartphone, takes a picture of the quick response code (QR code) that appears on the screen, types in a code, clicks "OK", and leaves. He has left no trace of payment – or not much. A software application has transferred money from his on-line account to the café's and the transaction appears in the blockchain – a ledger which records the transactions in chronological order. Brand, 32, did not need a credit card or a bank account. The transaction data is kept secure by the blockchain, protected by rigorous encryption codes that bar anyone from accessing or modifying the amount, the provenance or the destination.


A Whale at Mt. Gox Shakes Up Bitcoin Market as Transaction Volume Sets New Record
The price of bitcoin at other, large exchanges has continued to follow the high volume move at Mt. Gox Monday. The bid/ask for bitcoin at Coinbase has risen to $110.64/$111.72.

Additionally, Coinbase provides some metrics on the Bitcoin network, which show that Monday’s big move also coincided with a record amount of bitcoin transactions.

A bitcointalk forum member, Klao, posted an excellent analysis of the recent move at Mt. Gox, which has been the source of much excitement this week.

Grouping the orders together into round chunks, Klao suspects that a single whale, or large order trader, was behind most or all of 17,500 bitcoin purchased over a few hours, which made up most of the volume and accounted for most of the increase in price.


FOX 29 Explores Bitcoin, A New Trending Form Of Currency
There's been plenty of buzz lately about Bitcoin, a new digital currency.  Proponents are using it as a new alternative currency that can pay for goods and services, just like conventional currencies. But there are also some disadvantages to this new crypto-currency.

Check out the headlines:

'LIVING ON BITCOIN FOR A WEEK… AND I SURVIVED IT…"

'BITCOIN CLAMPDOWN'… 'JUDGE SAYS IT'S CURRENCY'

"NEWLYWEDS WILL LIVE ON BITCOIN FOR THREE MONTHS…"

These newlyweds are even chronicling their 90 days on you tube.

Bitcoins are all the rage in the techie community and gaining popularity fast. But what is Bitcoin?


Bitcoin takes off in Berlin
BERLIN – If you visit a bar, cafe or restaurant off the beaten tourist path in Germany’s capital city, it’s usually best not to count on your credit card.

Business owners in Berlin offer various explanations as to why they accept cash only: Some cite fees as the problem, others worry about fraud, and a few surprisingly honest souls admit they would simply rather not be taxed.

But if you visit Room 77 in the district of Kreuzberg for a meal and some live music, you don’t need cash or a credit card. In fact, you don’t even need euros — if you own Bitcoin, that is.

“I believe in honest money — gold, silver and Bitcoin,” reads a sign behind Joerg Platzer’s bar. Here you can pay your tab with the virtual currency, created in 2009 as a decentralized alternative to dollars, euros and other government-backed tender. All you have to do is enter your total into a Bitcoin wallet on your smartphone and scan a code on the bar’s machine.


Baffled by the world of Bitcoin? This beginner’s guide will tell you everything you need to know
Bitcoin is the virtual currency that everyone seems to be talking about. It’s compelling and growing in popularity, but also highly controversial; Bitcoin has been ruled illegal in Thailand and the US government plans to launch a formal investigation into the cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin is also overwhelming though. How does it work? What are the advantages? Is it dangerous? These are all common questions and it seems that hardly anyone can offer a concise or simple answer.

CoinDesk has stepped in with its beginner’s guide to Bitcoin. It covers pretty much everything, from Bitcoin mining to its founder, Satoshi Nakamoto. Well worth a read if you’ve been left scratching your head recently.


Why the Chinese Love Bitcoins
The Chinese have found a new investment that sidesteps the scrutiny of the country's authorities. And for now, it's paying off big.  Bitcoins, a virtual currency invented in 2009, is attracting investment-hungry Chinese who often struggle to find good assets that generate high returns.  The investments have paid off for people like Sun Minjie, a 28-year-old Internet worker who lives in Beijing. He paid about 28 Bitcoins, worth roughly $3,000 at the time, for more than 400 shares in virtual stock exchange 796 Xchange. He's seen a 46 percent return on his investment since its Aug. 1 debut. Compare that with the 2 percent gain on the Shanghai Composite Index for the same period.


Satoshi Square – Where Online Meets Offline
Looking to buy or sell bitcoins, but don’t want to deal with online exchanges, the answer is Satoshi Square. Initially begun in May in New York as a gathering of bitcoin enthusiasts wanted to create a live, auction format for bitcoins, that resembled old-style exchanges, has become a global event with meet ups around the world. The initial New York gathering came together under the name Buttonwood, which refers to the place of origin of the original agreement in 1792 of what became the New York Stock Exchange. The brainchild of Josh Rossi, the Buttonwood Project aimed to follow the steps of the NYSE and how it went from becoming an informal place of market exchange, to a formal marketplace. The New York gathering was held and continues to take place in Union Square, which was quickly dubbed ‘Satoshi Square’. Fast forward to the present. In a short few months, the blueprints of New York’s Buttonwood have spawned copy-cat events around the world. While the venues change, they all incorporate a live auction style market for buying and selling bitcoins, with an organizer taking bids and offers and matching trades. When trades get matched, physical cash is transferred and bitcoins are digitally transferred, usually by phone to phone exchanges.


Bitcoin: Understated benefits and overstated risks
As the world’s first decentralized digital currency, Bitcoin worries policymakers. Voicing concerns over this digital currency—or cryptocurrency—officials cite its potential for facilitating money-laundering, making illicit purchases, evading taxes, and financing terrorism. Less often discussed, but equally important, are the potential benefits that Bitcoin may provide.

In fact, a new study released by the Mercatus Center, “Bitcoin: A Primer for Policymakers,” details some of the innovative applications in the Bitcoin economy that the public debate may not fully appreciate. Before regulators rush to mitigate anticipated harm, they should first understand how this technology works and how it can improve lives.



Five surprising facts about Bitcoin
This has been a big year for Bitcoin. At the start of the year, interest in the virtual currency was largely limited to technology buffs. Then the price rose more than 10-fold, prompting regulators, investors and the general public to take a closer look.

To help policymakers get up to speed, the Mercatus Center, a libertarian think tank, has published a new primer on the technical, economic and legal issues raised by the currency. Here are five of the most interesting observations that the authors, Jerry Brito and Andrea Castillo, make about Bitcoin:


World Wide Web of Underground Virtual Currencies: Implications for Gaming
An effect of the challenging economic conditions of the past five years is fluctuation in the value of worldwide currencies. For those of us living near the U.S.-Canada border, there is still some level of mild shock that the Canadian and U.S. dollars have nearly the same value, with the Canadian dollar even exceeding the value of the U.S. dollar. More recently, the euro has experienced a sharp decline in value vis-à-vis the U.S. dollar.

With the Internet growing exponentially as a medium of commerce, it was simply a matter of time before the introduction of virtual currencies. The use of virtual currencies has exploded in recent years. Retailers, like Amazon, have introduced captive virtual currencies that can be used to directly purchase goods from their websites. Similarly, widely used virtual currencies have also developed. Notably, “Bitcoin,” which was developed by the elusive Satoshi Nakamoto, has been at the forefront of virtual currencies.


Gas Station Fillup with Bitcoin - #LifeonBitcoin

Tweets by @fast_coin

YC-Backed Buttercoin Uses Bitcoin To Attack The $500B-A-Year Remittances Economy
With Bitcoin’s promise of frictionless transactions, particularly across international borders, it’s inevitable that a team would use the math-based currency to attack the global remittances market.  The World Bank estimates that migrants will send about $515 billion to relatives in developing countries by 2015, which is about 10 times the size of the U.S.’s budget for foreign aid.  The old stand-bys like Western Union can charge around 10 percent for transactions in the market, an amount that Buttercoin co-founders Cedric Dahl and Bennett Hoffman find obscene.


Bitcoin Spawns China Virtual IPOs as U.S. Scrutiny Grows
Sun Minjie is a 28-year-old Internet worker who lives in Beijing. Eager to profit from growing demand for the digital currency, Sun has invested more than $3,000 in a company called 796 Xchange Ltd., an online exchange for trading stocks and other financial instruments related to Bitcoin, where initial public offerings are also being held.  A twenty-five bitcoin, right, and one bitcoin are arranged for a photograph in Tokyo, Japan.  He’s part of a small but growing group of investors in China who have put the country into contention with the U.S. as the biggest downloader of the virtual money that’s being used to buy a growing range of goods and services online. While intensified scrutiny by U.S. regulators casts doubt on the currency’s future there, China’s Bitcoin industry is expanding.

“What’s worrisome is that a lot of people could be just treating it as a speculative investment,” said Peter Pak, head of trading of BOCI Securities Ltd. in Hong Kong. “In China, the stock market, property and bond market are all not so good, so people get really excited when they hear of a new investment that generates high returns.”

Bitcoin Regulation Leaps Forward In Germany
The German parliament stopped short of granting bitcoin full currency status on August 19, but recognized bitcoins as "units of account" when it formally issued regulations for the popular virtual currency.  The ruling means bitcoin will be legal for use in private transactions, PC World reported. German commercial entities that want to conduct business with bitcoin will first need to obtain permission from the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority.  The announcement comes at a time when global governments are looking for direction on how best to regulate bitcoin, and commentators told PYMNTS.com that the development can be seen as a win for both bitcoin users and business owners and investors.  Likewise, the ruling is likely to have reverberations in the international community, where it could serve as a template for lawmakers in countries where the regulatory environment for bitcoin remains unclear.



FastCoin Crypto News Archive 2
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