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Like Physical Coins? Get Bitcoin as Collectible Coins with Titan Mint
Titan Mint make the digital currency Bitcoin physical
One of the critiques by new Bitcoin adopters is that the currency is not physical. Titan Mint wants to help collectors and Bitcoiners alike literally get their hands on Bitcoin.
“The Bitcoin as an investment represents one of the largest bull markets in history and is poised to continue growing,” says Tim Fillmore, CEO of the Titan Mint, the company producing the coins. “We’re looking to attract the everyday consumer to this new currency with our Titan Bitcoins.”
Unlike digital Bitcoins, Titan Bitcoins are actual, physical, limited edition collectible coins. This means that anyone can get in on the growing Bitcoin movement without having to install any software, learn about another technology or pick up any new skills. Titan Bitcoins provide a uniquely attractive and highly secure form of Bitcoin ownership and make for a fascinating conversation piece. The designs are hand sculpted by expert coin designers and minted with quality in mind so that the coins truly look and feel like currency.
Bitcoins represent a digital currency revolution as people are beginning to see the value of a system of money that is independent from the existing financial industry. “Buying Titan Bitcoins is as easy as buying any other collectible coin and it’s a seamless way for anyone to join the bitcoin boom,” says Fillmore.
Titan Bitcoins have a digital value in Bitcoins attached to them, like a gift card. Each Titan Bitcoin has its own webpage which displays its authenticity and current value in both bitcoins and dollars.
We caught up with Tim Fillmore, CEO of Titan Mint for an exclusive interview
On Bitcoin: How did Titan Mint get started? What was the inspiration for this business?
Tim Fillmore: As an ardent supporter of bitcoins, I was frustrated by how difficult it was to communicate the value of this new digital currency to those who hadn’t heard of it before. On one occasion though, I happened to hand a physical bitcoin to the person I was talking to as a conversation piece. Right then I realized, almost by accident, that holding a physical bitcoin brought clarity and understanding to the otherwise abstract and difficult to grasp concepts that make bitcoins so revolutionary. By giving them form as a beautiful and desirable coin, we’re wordlessly communicating the elegance of bitcoins as currency. People are hungry to know more when they have a Titan Bitcoin in their hand.
On Bitcoin: Can you explain more how your 2-factor authentication works? How does one
actually redeem digital currency from a Titan Coin?
Tim Fillmore: Our 2-factor authentication is basically a registration system for each coin. The goal is to provide an additional layer of security. When a coin goes to its new owner, they simply enter in an email address and password that their coin will be registered to. The coin’s email address and password are required in order to redeem it, effectively ensuring that no one but the current owner has access to the coin’s digital value. Redemption of a coin is as simple as filling in the form on the “redeem” page of our website, and then clicking a confirmation link in your email.
We also offer coins with a 30-digit private key included (similar to other physical bitcoins) for those that choose not to take advantage of our 2-factor authentication service. The value of these coins can be redeemed with any bitcoin client that allows you to import private keys.
On Bitcoin: Where are the digital coins held? Do you have an offline vault or are you using another wallet service?
Tim Fillmore: For coins that we are holding for our customers in cold storage, we have permanently offline computers that are dedicated to the task of securely storing bitcoins. Those bitcoins are literally impossible for internet criminals to steal. Our cold storage wallets have redundant backups, both paper and digital, in multiple locations offsite. We also maintain a handful of online wallets that we use for day-to-day operations.
On Bitcoin: Where are you manufacturing the physical coins?
Tim Fillmore: Our coins are designed, minted and manufactured in the U.S. For coins that are made from precious metals, we make sure that we source our bullion from socially conscious providers.
On Bitcoin: What insights are your customers providing about why they are buying Titan Coins?
Tim Fillmore: Titan Bitcoins provide a tangible way to invest in the digital currency revolution. We’re providing an avenue for people to get in on the growing bitcoin boom without having to learn about a new technology or install any software. We’re finding that most buyers are attracted to our coins’ designs, first and foremost. We’re very happy to hear that people appreciate the work that we put into making these coins look and feel like real currency. Because Titan Bitcoins are produced in limited editions, they add an element of scarcity to bitcoin ownership which also makes them very attractive to collectors. From a collectible standpoint this scarcity is a significant added value, and it’s a value that just can’t be had when buying purely digital currency.
Learn more at www.titanbtc.com.
Coin Validation Causes Controversy Among the Bitcoin Community
Tracking System Proposes New Regulatory Power over Bitcoin
As the digital currency Bitcoin has grown in popularity and price, the increased attention has also brought about threats of regulation and control that could stifle the growth and the original purpose of a semi-anonymous, decentralized protocol.
This week, that threat is in the form of a new company called Coin Validation, at least in the eyes of the avid Bitcoin community.
Coin Validation is a private company founded in 2013 which interfaces with United States government and regulatory bodies in order to facilitate the legal, regulated, and compliant operation of Bitcoin-based money service businesses in the US. Coin Validation aims to provide Bitcoin businesses with a service and guide for operating and remaining compliant in US regulated markets.
More specifically, Coin Validation aims to build a database of real identities connected to Bitcoin wallet addresses, with the goal of finding and weeding out nefarious or illegal activity. The company believes that they can help grease the skids of regulation by offering a solution for business owners to opt in to the tracking program which the government can monitor.
Coin Validation was founded by three individuals: Matt Mellon, former chairman of the New York Republican Party Finance Committee, Alex Waters, former CTO of Winklevoss-backed BitInstant, and Yifu Guo, a young entrepreneur and owner of Avalon who has made a fortune selling Bitcoin mining equipment.
Photo by Forbes. Read more about Coin Validation at Forbes.com
Fear and Controversy Among Bitcoiners
The news of this proposal comes at an interesting time. Bitcoin has soared to its highest price ever, over $400, and mainstream media is all over it. The anonymous drug marketplace Silk Road was seized by federal authorities, and yet a Silk Road 2.0 popped up less than a month later. And the government is holding hearings next week to discuss the key risks and opportunities with Bitcoin business leaders in Washington.
Bitcoin was born in 2009 as a counter-culture vehicle. It was created by a person, or group, that no one has ever met and only goes by the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. The system was designed to allow for commerce and trade without trust or government control. Anarchists and libertarians immediately fell in love with the crypto-currency and its perfect design.
But as the Bitcoin economy has grown, now over $5 billion, the currency has moved from the archives of Reddit into the pages of the Wall Street Journal, and more sophisticated players have entered the market to try to sustain growth. One of these is the Bitcoin Foundation, a non-profit organization that “standardizes, protects and promotes the use of Bitcoin cryptographic money for the benefit of users worldwide.” Another is the for-profit startup Circle Internet Financial, founded by veteran Jeremy Allaire.
Read: Circle, A High Profile Bitcoin Startup, Raises $9M with Seasoned Team
Some of the early adopters of Bitcoin, however, seem to resent these new organizations like a child resents his or her parents at a certain age.
“What uniqueness about Bitcoin will be left if it remains no more an open source currency? It will turn useless and won’t serve the actual purpose that Satoshi made it to” wrote one user on a Bitcoin forum.
Another user wrote, “BOYCOTT anything that places control of bitcoin to any authority (Verisign, US FinCEN, Bitcoin Foundation or Anything) – instead of being a very decentralized payment network and digital currency.”
Other users have provided more of an academic criticism of the Coin Validation scheme. In addition to tracking, there is a proposal to “taint” Bitcoins that have been used by bad actors, creating what is called a redlist. Think of this like confiscating money used in a drug deal. Here is an explanation of redlisting by Mike Hearn, an integral member of the Bitcoin Foundation.
Consider an output that is involved with some kind of crime, like a theft or extortion. A “redlist” is an automatically maintained list of outputs derived from that output, along with some description of why the coins are being tracked. When you receive funds that inherit the redlisting, your wallet client would highlight this in the user interface. Some basic information about why the coins are on the redlist would be presented. You can still spend or use these coins as normal, the highlight is only informational. To clear it, you can contact the operator of the list and say, hello, here I am, I am innocent and if anyone wants to follow up and talk to me, here’s how. Then the outputs are unmarked from that point onwards. For instance, this process could be automated and also built into the wallet.
The problem with using a redlist lies in the way bitcoins are fungible by design. Tainting bitcoins should simply take them out of the economy, but instead sophisticated criminals could use Bitcoin laundering services to exchange tainted bitcoins with clean units, and the tainted currency could end up in the wallet of an unsuspecting consumer who would end up holding the bag.
Overall, it creates an additional layer of complexity possibly tied to a central authority on what is an elegant, decentralized protocol.
Who Would Benefit from Coin Validation?
The biggest benefit from a Coin Validation concept at scale would come to Bitcoin exchanges, like Coinsetter, Mt.Gox, and Bitstamp. Each of these exchanges require users to jump through hoops to validate their identity, and run the risk of aiding criminal activity if their exchanges are used for laundering or illegal trade. A Coin Validation scheme would pass the buck from the exchanges to a centralized system of trust.
Another group that might benefit is small businesses that want to accept Bitcoin for payment. Currently, any merchant who starts accepting Bitcoin has similar risks to those facing exchanges. Would a service that certifies Bitcoins and Bitcoin wallets make this easier? Surely. But would it make payment processing more expensive? Undoubtedly.
Coin Validation’s proposal is not too dissimilar from some of the early services to come to the Internet, like SiteAdvisor or TRUSTe. The goal of those services was to help consumers know whether a website was trustworthy or not. Coin Validation wants to do the opposite, help businesses and governments know if customers are trustworthy.
What’s Next?
It’s unclear how much momentum Coin Validation has, and it’s also unclear whether the U.S. Government cares about the concerns of the most vocal Bitcoin purists.
One thing is clear though: any attempt to centralize authority on Bitcoin will be met with fierce resistance from early adopters. And it’s important to remember that early adopters happen to be the same people who control Bitcoin mining, the critical step in providing liquidity and sustainability to the currency.
Bitcoin Startup Circle Names Veteran Raj Date to Board of Directors
Raj Date Brings Circle Decades of Consumer Finance Experience
High-profile Bitcoin startup Circle Internet Financial, founded by Jeremy Allaire, is beefing up its board with former regulator and banking executive Raj Date. Date, the Managing Partner of Fenway Summer LLC and the former Deputy Director of the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), will help advance Circle’s commitment to maintaining the highest standards of consumer protection, privacy and regulatory compliance.
Mr. Date served as Special Advisor to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, was founding architect and Deputy Director of the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and held senior exec positions at Capital One and Deutsche Bank.
“As an executive who has worked in both industry and government leadership positions within consumer finance, Raj brings Circle incredible perspective and vision,” said Jeremy Allaire, Circle founder, chairman and chief executive officer. “His addition to Circle’s board of directors will bring tremendous depth of knowledge to our business and product strategy, as well as to our engagement with key regulatory agencies.”
Date joins Jim Breyer, a well-known investor in Facebook, on Circle’s board of directors along with the Circle’s founding CEO Jeremy Allaire.
Read: Circle, A High Profile Bitcoin Startup, Raises $9M with Seasoned Team
Circle, which last month announced its debut with $9 million in Series A financing, is developing products that make it easy to exchange, store, send and receive digital currency. For businesses and charities, Circle is providing merchant services for accepting digital currency payments. By building financial products and services on top of Bitcoin, Circle is able to offer faster transactions, lower costs, greater privacy safeguards and increased protection against fraud and identity theft.
“Products that use digital currency have the potential to remove significant friction from our financial lives, and to expand financial inclusion for the underbanked around the world” said Date. “Circle is well positioned to lead innovation in the space and to champion mainstream adoption of promising new technologies, like Bitcoin. I’m thrilled to join the board and look forward to working with the team on an exciting new generation of consumer financial products and services.”
Pictured above, Raj Date meeting with Senator Dick Durbin [source]
Date has enjoyed a long career in consumer finance as well as in shaping federal consumer protection standards and policies. He was the first-ever Deputy Director of the United States Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) where he helped guide the agency’s strategy, operations, and policy agenda. Prior to being appointed Deputy Director, Date acted as the interim leader and architect of the new agency, serving as the Special Advisor to Secretary of the Treasury Timothy F. Geithner.
Before his time in public service, Date was a Managing Director in the Financial Institutions Group at Deutsche Bank Securities, where he led the firm’s investment banking coverage of U.S.-based banks and thrifts, and he also served as Senior Vice President for Corporate Strategy and Development at Capital One Financial, an industry pioneer in consumer financial products. He began his business career in the financial institutions practice at McKinsey & Company.
Circle continues to set a tone of cooperation with federal authorities. Bringing Date on board is a clear signal that it plans to take the high road with respect to digital currency regulation. Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire will testify next week at the Senate Committee on Homeland Security about Bitcoin. The hearing is “Beyond Silk Road: Potential Risks, Threats, and Promises of Virtual Currencies.”
Read: Silk Road 2.0 Launches, Government Authorities and Users React
Goodbye Second Life, Hello Bitcoin New Economy Seventh Continent
Seventh Continent Launches a Platform for Online Bitcoin Businesses, in Game Format
We are always on the lookout for innovate business platforms using Bitcoin, and this one grabbed our attention.
Seventh Continent calls itself a business platform, a market for trading digital products produced by virtual companies. Registered in the UK and founded by author Gregory Harmati, Ph.D., Seventh Continent employs a technical team in Budapest, Hungary and has been involved in the group Bitcoin Budapest.
The company has created a 24/7, online business exchange where privately owned virtual businesses trade digital commodities with each other. Modeled after popular game mechanics, the CEO is quick to assure users that Seventh Continent is not a gambling platform nor a ponzi scheme. He sees his company’s mission is to give online businesses more agility and liquidity in their trade.
“We hope to provide a brand new both lucrative and entertaining solution for Bitcoin owners with the intention to build a small economy,” said Gregory Harmati, CEO of Seventh Continent Ltd.
Seventh Continent is reminiscent of Second Life, a virtual world that was launched in 2001 and grew to a $500 million economy by 2009, enabling its “residents” to earn money by selling online wares. Can Seventh Continent achieve similar scale? Time will tell.
Interview with Seventh Continent CEO
We sat down with CEO Gregory Harmati for an exclusive interview to learn more about Seventh Continent.
On Bitcoin: Where did you get the inspiration for Seventh Continent?
Gregory Harmati: This is an idea I had many years ago. I wanted to create something new and different hence the idea of building a new continent; something that doesn’t exist yet. It was creation ex nihilo compared to developments that are ex materia today – the matter on what they build their platforms is of course Bitcoin. The year Bitcoin protocol was written we were already putting together our platform. Since my team is little and didn’t get proper funding it took us more time, couldn’t even finish the 3D world (80% ready) that comes with it.
On Bitcoin: What kind of businesses can be built on Seventh Continent? What services are you seeing sold for Bitcoin?
Gregory Harmati: We currently have 45 businesses users can choose from when registering a virtual company on Seventh Continent and will be growing along the way. These businesses produce goods and sell them to other virtual businesses they need these goods to be able to produce themselves their products and/or services. This creates an inherent economy in Bitcoin. A circle of production. From the oil refinery, restaurant, law firm, pharmaceutical factory, winery, private detective, car rental etc. to the mob we have many segments reflecting real life. These goods are digital products hence stored, delivered and used in electronic format having value in Bitcoin within this economy only. Users willing to make profit invest Bitcoin, start producing digital goods and are selling them to other users’ companies; this is how these digital products acquire a value expressed in Bitcoin the investment currency.
Pictured above, a screenshot of Seventh Continent.
These digital products are not electronic goods downloadable like an e-book, a software, or music. But since almost all of these digital products and services can be real why not making them real? Once users get used to trade these digital products on Seventh Continent Market why not offering the ability to them to sell real products also instead of selling only digital once? Let me give you an example. When you own a food company for instance on Seventh Continent you produce hamburgers, energy drinks etc. With the participation of brands (Red Bull, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, etc) you will be selling branded products for extra profit. Of course you have the choice to do it or not, choose from a list of advertisers or even introduce your own brand. This would be the first step to make these digital goods real. The next step is evident: you will sell services and products for Bitcoin and deliver it in reality at your brick and mortar store or send it from your virtual store. Just imagine Avis renting cars, Gucci selling designer shoes, a law firm providing services you would pay on the Market of Seventh Continent directly in Bitcoin! Imagine yourself being a start-up or a little shop branding and selling your products and services for basically no direct costs, advertisement costs expressed in pennies! I believe in this next step but I also know this is for later.
For the time being opting for a particular business on the Seventh Continent Market is more a choice of opportunity rather than taste. You have to make a deliberate choice – and it is almost irrelevant which activity you chose since you have equal chances to succeed. Demand will justify your choice for a particular business. It is probably to your advantage to invest in a segment where goods are scarce. Therefore diversifying business portfolio is a wise choice. Invested capital can also be decisive hence each business require different funding – hints are provided by the Products and Services Chart on the Market. Nevertheless with a larger funding you can enter any business segments even a crowded one, upgrade your company (levels) and produce 10% more when stepping to next level for the same amount of resources used on previous one. Best way to swallow margins to increased sales.
Thanks to Gregory Harmati for his interview. Learn more at Seventh Continent.
Coinsetter Launches US-Based Bitcoin Forex Trading Platform
Coinsetter Targets Active, High Volume Traders with New Capabilities
In the race among Bitcoin exchanges, there is a new player: New York City-based Coinsetter. The company introduced its forex trading platform for Bitcoin to the public today.
“With this release,traders from around the world will have access to an institutional class platform that enables customers to execute bitcoin trades on a millisecond level with more reliability than any other option in the market,” said Coinsetter in a statement. “On top of its proprietary millisecond matching engine, Coinsetter platform will soon aggregate the order books of other bitcoin exchanges to provide more liquidity than any single exchange can alone.”
The company is marketing its platform to active traders, those familiar with existing trading paradigms. It provides a maker-taker pricing model for high volume traders, and institutional margin and financing for business customers.
For the month of November, Coinsetter is offering free trading and free SEPA deposits and withdrawals to celebrate the launch.
The company raised a venture capital round earlier this year of approximately $500K from the Bitcoin Opportunity Fund and Tribeca Venture Partners.
Embracing Regulatory Requirements
Coinsetter was founded by 28-year-old Jaron Lukasiewicz, who has worked in the financial services industry since graduating from Rice University in 2008. Mr. Lukasiewicz is using this experience to understand and embrace the regulatory requirements for operating a trading platform in the U.S.
Coinsetter CEO Jaron Lukasiewicz pictured second from right.
Several Bitcoin exchanges have run into troubles with regulation. For example, earlier this year, Tradehill suspended trading and Mt.Gox halted USD withdrawals. Later in the year, 22 Bitcoin companies were subpoenaed by the New York Department of Financial Services to answer critical questions about the digital currency.
In a statement, Coinsetter reported that it has secured a compliance-approved bank account with a U.S. banking institution, which will soon support ACH transfers for U.S. customers. For its international customers, Coinsetter has secured a compliance-approved bank account from Sparkasse Bank Malta plc, a subsidiary of Erste Group, one of Europe’s largest financial services providers.
“Coinsetter believes these relationships translate into a tangible value proposition for its customers, giving users confidence in timely bank deposits and withdrawals to and from Coinsetter,” said the company.
Excerpt from related story: Finding Business Model Opportunities in Bitcoin – Coinsetter CEO
Today, he proposes, Bitcoin is the dominant virtual currency. Not simply in terms of transactions and value, but based on awareness – including awareness outside current users of the market. The first mover advantage is significant and Mr. Lukasiewicz asks us to spend time thinking about how it has the potential to become an “IP address for money.”
Learn more or start trading at www.coinsetter.com.
