Category Archives: News
Top Bitcoin News Last Week: Ponzi Scheme, Gambling, Payments, and More
Bitcoin News
A roundup of the top Bitcoin news from July 22 to July 28.
Tuesday, July 23
Wednesday, July 24
Saturday, July 27
Bitbetex Jumps on the Bitcoin Gambling Bandwagon After SatoshiDice Exit
Bitbetex Launches Bitcoin Betting Exchange
Last week, Bitcoin gambling site SatoshiDice exited for $11.5 million. Now there’s a perceived gold rush for the next phase in Bitcoin gambling.
Enter Bitbetex
Bitbetex is a bitcoin betting exchange where members can trade bets with one-another on almost anything with a definitive outcome.
Tony Hatchett, who built Bitbetex, told Coindesk about his choice to focus on Bitcoin, “Generally, fees of around 3% would need to be paid to a payment facilitator but Bitcoin allows us to remove that overhead completely. Secondly, Bitcoin is globally accessible, which allows us to match a bet from someone in the UK to a bet placed by someone in the US for example. No complicated currency conversions are needed.”
The site is currently in beta. Visit Bitbetex to sign up.
CC image by sincerelyhiten
Win a Free Ticket to Inside Bitcoins Conference in NYC on July 30!
On Bitcoin is Giving Away a Ticket to Inside Bitcoins Conference
Inside Bitcoins NYC is taking place next week, and is attracting leading experts from the Bitcoin space.
On Bitcoin is giving away a ticket to the conference!
How to Win a Ticket to the Conference
To win a free ticket to the conference, sign up for the On Bitcoin newsletter on the side panel of this site and send us an email at team@onbitcoin.com with subject “Inside Bitcoins” to confirm your entry. We will be selecting one winner at midnight PT on Sunday, July 28, and will notify you by email.
Follow us on Twitter and Facebook to keep a close watch on future giveaways.
About Inside Bitcoins Conference
You’ll hear from 20 Bitcoin experts on topics including The VC Take on Bitcoin, Bitcoin Boom: The Business Adoption of Bitcoin, Bitcoin and Freedom of Speech, Rethinking Content Monetization with Bitcoin, Legal and Regulatory Issues Facing Virtual Currency Businesses, and more. View the full program here.
The event will also feature AlphaPoint and CoinMKT as exhibitors, and the evening’s drinks reception provides the ideal forum to network with like-minded peers. Developers, entrepreneurs, investors, finance professionals, bankers, consultants, lawyers, security solution providers, data and payment processors, and online retailers will all be present.
Charlie Shrem, Vice Chairman, Bitcoinfoundation.org and Chief Executive Officer of BITINSTANT, will deliver the keynote presentation, while additional speakers include Tuur Demeester, Author of MacroTrends, Chris Larsen, CEO & Co-Founder of OpenCoin, Jared Kenna, Founder & CEO of Tradehill, and Manu Sporny, Founder & CEO of Digital Bazaar. View the full speaker list.
Meet the Bernie Madoff of Bitcoin: SEC Probes Bitcoin Ponzi Scheme
SEC Charges Texas Man in Bitcoin Ponzi Scheme
The SEC has alleged that Texas-based Trendon T. Shavers, who is the founder and operator of Bitcoin Savings and Trust (BTCST), offered and sold Bitcoin-denominated investments through the Internet using the monikers “Pirate” and “pirateat40.” Shavers raised at least 700,000 Bitcoin in BTCST investments, which amounted to more than $4.5 million based on the average price of Bitcoin in 2011 and 2012 when the investments were offered and sold. Today the value of 700,000 Bitcoin exceeds $60 million.
The SEC alleges that Shavers promised investors up to 7 percent weekly interest based on BTCST’s Bitcoin market arbitrage activity, which supposedly included selling to individuals who wished to buy Bitcoin “off the radar” in quick fashion or large quantities. In reality, BTCST was a sham and a Ponzi scheme in which Shavers used Bitcoin from new investors to make purported interest payments and cover investor withdrawals on outstanding BTCST investments. Shavers also diverted investors’ Bitcoin for day trading in his account on a Bitcoin currency exchange, and exchanged investors’ Bitcoin for U.S. dollars to pay his personal expenses.
“Fraudsters are not beyond the reach of the SEC just because they use Bitcoin or another virtual currency to mislead investors and violate the federal securities laws,” said Andrew M. Calamari, Director of the SEC’s New York Regional Office. “Shavers preyed on investors in an online forum by claiming his investments carried no risk and huge profits for them while his true intentions were rooted in nothing more than personal greed.”
According to the SEC’s complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Shavers sold BTCST investments over the Internet to investors in such states as Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. Shavers posted general solicitations on a website dedicated to Bitcoin discussions, and he misled investors with such false assurances about his investment opportunity as “It’s growing, it’s growing!” and “I have yet to come close to taking a loss on any deal,” and “risk is almost 0.” Contrary to the representations made to investors, BTCST was not in the business of buying and selling Bitcoin at all.
Below is the SEC complaint filing.
CC image by Abode of Chaos.
Executive Coaching Firm Strategic Development Lets Clients Pay in Bitcoin
North Carolina Executive Coaching Firm Starts Accepting Bitcoin
Strategic Development, Inc., is a leadership development firm based in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, and announced this week that it is the first such firm in North Carolina to offer clients the ability to pay in Bitcoin.
George Smart, Managing Partner at Strategic Development, said, “Our entrepreneurial clients are always looking for innovation and opportunities, including choice and flexibility in payment methods. As Bitcoin rises in prominence and use in the increasingly unstable global economy, so does the need to offer a universal digital currency payment option.”
Strategic Development is no stranger to payment innovation. In 1997, it was the first consulting firm in North Carolina to accept VISA, Mastercard, and American Express for professional services.
Bitcoin is increasingly being adopted as a global payment method because transactions are virtually instant, free, and nearly anonymous.
It is also gaining international popularity because it can accept payments from users in over 60 countries not served by PayPal, and in from countries where credit card use or acceptance are restricted because of political, fraud, and other reasons.
Strategic Development accepts Bitcoin using Mt. Gox, the world’s largest Bitcoin exchange based in Tokyo and Coinbase, a US-based exchange. Clients can use any conventional currency (dollars, euros, etc.) buy and sell Bitcoin through these exchanges for use with Strategic Development and any other businesses accepting Bitcoin.
About Strategic Development, Inc. and George Smart:
Over 400 organizations have trusted Strategic Development over the last 30 years for high-impact, relevant, practical leadership development simulations and executive coaching. Drawing from an MBA from Duke’s Fuqua School of Business plus training from the National Training Lab for Applied Behavioral Science, and the Center for Creative Leadership, Managing Partner George Smart conducts leadership development simulations to Fortune 500 companies and national associations on how to make the workplace less insane and more profitable. For more information, visit http://www.strategicdevelopment.com.
CC image by Dougtone
