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Bitcoin Awareness at 25% of US Population, Research Shows
Mobile research firm On Device Research recently conducted a survey about the awareness of Bitcoin. As reported by TechCrunch, more than 22,000 U.S. consumers were surveyed in May 2013 to test Bitcoin awareness and trust in the alternative currency.
In the US, 25% of respondents said they were familiar with Bitcoin. Awareness was higher in Argentina (38%) and the UK (32%).
There were also questions probing where respondents used Bitcoins, detailed in the table below. In Argentina, 40% of respondents said they buy electronics with Bitcoin, which was substantially higher than other countries. 11% of all respondents reported spending Bitcoins in a gambling context.
Read more at TechCrunch.
Mt.Gox Now Offering International Wire Transfer to all US Banks
Bitcoin Exchange Mt.Gox Embraces US Banks with ABA Routing
Earlier this week, Bitcoin exchange Mt.Gox announced the support of ABA routing number based transfers designed to simplify withdrawals to US based accounts.
Mt.Gox users wishing to withdraw their funds to their US based bank account will now see along side the IBAN, SWIFT/BIC, a new ABA field where they will now be able to put their unique nine digit bank code identifying their branch.
Learn more at Mt.Gox.
Startup Profile: Coingig Launches the eBay Marketplace for Bitcoin
Coingig is part eBay, part Amazon, all Bitcoin
As adoption of Bitcoin rapidly increases, the alternative currency is gaining ground as a payment method for online marketplaces, but primarily only accepted for digital goods. Coingig is a relatively new marketplace that is taking the revolutionary step of only accepting Bitcoin for physical goods.
Coingig is part eBay, part Amazon, all Bitcoin. Individual sellers or small businesses can list physical items for sale, from clothing to electronics and beyond. Sellers price their goods in USD and Coingig automatically updates the price in Bitcoin every 10 seconds. Coingig charges a flat 2.5% fee to sellers, and holds payment in escrow to ensure transactions are successful.
We connected with Kenneth Metral, CEO of Coingig to interview him about his company.
On Bitcoin: When did you create Coingig and what services does it offer?
Kenneth Metral: Coingig.com was launched 2 months ago with the intention of providing an easy and fast platform to allow users to buy and sell products using the new virtual currency bitcoin. Since the day that we opened we have already brought in 1000 products from sellers across the world that are looking to create a bitcoin business fast and easy. Many people compare us to the eBay and Amazon of Bitcoin but with the difference that our fees are pennies compared to what they charge and we allow users to buy and sell products from any part in the world, which is not possible with eBay nor Amazon.
On Bitcoin: What products sell best on your marketplace?
Kenneth Metral: The products in our inventory range from toys to electronics to even outdoor gear. Currently our best selling products are bitcoin t-shirts, stickers, electronics and paintball gear and even toy magnets. Everyday we receive tons of new products added to our inventory so orders come in for practically anything.
On Bitcoin: How has the volatility of Bitcoin impacted your sales?
Kenneth Metral: The volatility of bitcoin was a factor that was thought of when we built our system, when a seller lists a product they set the price they want to sell their item for to the current price of the local currency they choose when they sign up, our system will then automatically update their bitcoin price every 10 secs to the current exchange rate price for that currency. For example, if someone is selling a shirt for $10 USD, they set the price at $10 and it will show the equivalent bitcoin price right next to it, once the seller saves the item it will lock in that price and automatically load its BTC price on the fly without ever touching the price again.
On Bitcoin: What can you tell us about the future for Coingig?
Kenneth Metral: Coingig is still in it’s beta stage but we are growing very fast, with new buyers and sellers joining everyday our marketplace will soon grow to 5,000-10,000 items and housing all the possible products to be able to provide a one stop shop to purchasing goods and services with bitcoin. Our system was built from scratch so we can add any features that our users suggest and by being hosting with Rackspace we provide the fastest possible service to our users with zero downtime. We believe that by providing the best technology, design, and customer service we can become the new Amazon of this generation.
Learn more at Coingig.com
Bitcoin Exchange Mt. Gox Reaches Across the Table at G8 Summit
“Come and Join Us!” says Mt. Gox
As the 2013 G8 summit kicked off last week, global leaders were discussing broad economic issues.
The Mt. Gox team bought a full page ad for Bitcoin in the middle of the G8 Research Group’s official magazine with a link to a special landing page.
The full publication is available here (Mt. Gox is on page 8).
Mt. Gox commented on their goals of placing this ad:
We want to convey a bold message as global opinion on Bitcoin is very diverse. Especially for G8 members it’s important to highlight what’s really important for Bitcoin to change the world. Bitcoin has the potential to bring together global citizens by enabling worldwide commerce with low costs and ease of entry for all social strata. Rather than dilute, Bitcoin enhances. Mt. Gox is looking forward to a positive outcome from the G8, and to being a part of the dialogue going forward.
States Targeting Bitcoin Companies for Money Laundering (Video)
According to a Wall Street Journal report, state regulators have issued warnings to a handful of Bitcoin-related companies, alerting them that they may be running afoul of money-transmission laws.
As the video below explains, because you can be largely anonymous in these transactions, there is concern that virtual currency can be used for money laundering or other illegal activities.
One of the companies identified as having received a warning is BitInstant. We also reported last week that the State of California issued a cease and desist letter to the Bitcoin Foundation.
We’ll be following this story closely.
CC image by by zcopley
