Category Archives: News
Bitcoin Week: GlassPay, China, Grilled Cheese, BitDazzle, Baidu
Bitcoin News
Here is a roundup of the top Bitcoin news from October 14 to 20.
The price of Bitcoin jumped late in the week thanks to activity in China. Baidu, the “Google of China”, started accepting Bitcoin for services.
Other merchants who became new adopters of Bitcoin included a grilled cheese sandwich food truck in Seattle and a new marketplace called BitDazzle.
Finally, a New York company announced GlassPay, a way to checkout at retail using Google Glass and Bitcoin.
Monday, October 14
Wednesday, October 16
Thursday, October 17
Friday, October 18
Saturday, October 19
Sunday, October 20
Top 10 Countdown: Most Popular Bitcoin Stories in September 2013
Here are the top 10 most popular stories On Bitcoin brought you in September 2013.
10. TradeRush Expands Exclusive Bitcoin Trading on Options Platform
Based in London, TradeRush is the net’s fastest growing binary options platform, launched in 2011 and with expanded Bitcoin trading capabilities.
9. CoinDesk Launches Bitcoin Price Index to Consolidate Exchange Spread
The CoinDesk index represents an average of leading global Bitcoin exchanges.
8. RoboCoin Bitcoin ATM Kiosks Coming to Canadian Retail Store Bitcoiniacs
Last month, RoboCoin ATM Kiosks officially went on sale for $20,000 per unit. Now, a retail store in Canada plans to deploy them across Canada.
7. Bitcoin Mining, An Infographic
This infographic describes Bitcoin mining, what it takes, and the impact it has on the Bitcoin economy and beyond.
6. Bitcoin Experts Winklevoss Twins and Naval Ravikant at TechCrunch Disrupt
A panel of Bitcoin experts, the Winklevoss twins, Naval Ravikant, and Balaji Srinivasan, shared incredible ideas about the future of Bitcoin.
5. Croatian-Based BitKonan Launches Bitcoin Trading Platform
With incumbents like Mt.Gox, Tradehill, and TradeRush, is there room for another Bitcoin trading platform? Croatian-based BitKonan thinks there is.
4. SecondMarket Launches Bitcoin Investment Trust
SecondMarket announced the launch a new investment vehicle called the Bitcoin Investment Trust (BIT).
3. The House Doesn’t Always Win in Bitcoin Gambling
One Bitcoin gambler had a rollercoaster ride of a gambling session and ended up on top of the casino.
2. German Artist Creates Bitcoin Art Inspired by Andy Warhol
The Dollar was painted many times, including a famous work by Andy Warhol. Now a German artist has created a Bitcoin work called 200 Bitcoins.
1. Black Arrow Offers Pre-Orders for New Bitcoin Mining Hardware
Black Arrow has launched and is taking pre-orders for its Prospero Bitcoin Mining Machines and its Bitcoin ASIC codenamed “the Minion”.
Thanks for reading in September!
Bitcoin Price Starts Soaring Again Thanks to Chinese Activity
Today, the price of Bitcoin is around $165 per BTC, up from $125 per BTC a week ago. What’s causing this dramatic price increase? There are a number of factors at work which we highlight in this article.
The dust settles on Silk Road
Just a few weeks ago, the major news running through the Bitcoin community was the seizure by federal authorities of Bitcoin drug marketplace Silk Road. Silk Road’s operator, Ross William Ulbricht, was arrested for drug trafficking, attempted murder, and other felonies.
Read our full coverage of the Silk Road seizure and Ulbricht’s arrest
Immediately after this news broke the price of Bitcoin dropped nearly 15%, but recovered quickly as people realized that the largest bad actor int he Bitcoin ecosystem was taken out of play.
Baidu, the “Google of China” starts accepting Bitcoin
This week, Baidu, the #1 website in China, started accepting Bitcoin for some of its services. This is a great move in broader acceptance of the digital currency Bitcoin, especially considering China’s previous stances on virtual currencies.
Increased volume on BTCChina
Trading activity dramatically increased on BTCChina, China’s first Bitcoin exchange. See the chart below for evidence of that.
All in all, these factors, especially the activity in China, have made Bitcoin feel like a more secure and intriguing investment, therefore increasing the price in the short term.
Checkout Using Bitcoin and Google Glass with GlassPay
What’s Hypier Than Bitcoin and Google Glass?
Mainstream tech media is having trouble splitting its time between the amazing Bitcoin stories and the emerging excitement behind Google Glass. So why not combine the two into one?
GlassPay is a mobile app that enables both shoppers and merchants to enjoy frictionless and economical sales transactions. Created by New York consulting firm RedBottle Design, the glassware lets users scan items at retail, assemble a shopping cart, and pay using Bitcoin.
RedBottle Design is located in Rochester, NY and was founded in 2007. “We provide software development, web development, and graphic design services, and specialize in mobile app and Google Glass development,” said the firm.
GlassPay Benefits
For customers, GlassPay is taking self-checkout to a whole new level. Like with self-checkout, Google Glass users can avoid waiting in lines for a store clerk to scan their items. But moreover, by integrating Bitcoin payments, customers can pay without ever pulling out their wallet or credit card.
For retailers, the key economic benefits come from Bitcoin, low fees and higher margins. But also, GlassPay offers merchants both large and small an opportunity to build an interactive shopping experience via Google Glass that could be a differentiator for the tech crowd.
“The full platform, including GlassPay for Android and Google Glass, is expected to be in the Play marketplace and Glass Boutique respectively, in the second quarter of 2014,” said RedBottle Design.
Retailers who are interested in using the GlassPay platform should contact RedBottle Design to discuss installation and integration options and pricing.
BitDazzle Launches “Etsy for Bitcoin” Small Business Marketplace
BitDazzle is the latest Bitcoin marketplace to come online, targeting small business owners
Already with 1,000 merchants on board, BitDazzle using Bitcoin as a draw to compete with other online marketplaces like Etsy and eBay. When users pay with credit cards, transaction fees can be 3% to 5% of the sale. But with Bitcoin, fees are low or non-existent, and there are no risks of chargebacks.
BitDazzle plans to take a flat 1% on Bitcoin purchases, but also supports PayPal and credit cards.
BitDazzle was created by venture-backed startup Cashie Commerce and has partnered with Coinbase as its Bitcoin payment processor, using the Coinbase API. Cashie Commerce CEO Hieu Bui said he expects Coinbase to promote the new marketplace to its 300,000 users. Coinbase expressed their excitement in a blog post.
Overall, BitDazzle hopes to grow the Bitcoin transaction economy and raise further awareness for the currency. “We’re trying to make Bitcoin more mainstream, and one of the ways to do that is to have more products and merchants who are mainstream,” Bui said in an interview with Xconomy.
Related: Startup Profile: Coingig Launches the eBay Marketplace for Bitcoin
