Like this? Share it.

Last month, we reported that Bitcoiniacs, a Canadian retail store, had ordered RoboCoin Bitcoin ATM kiosks and will be deploying them across Canada. This week, in a Bitcoin milestone, the first ever commercial Bitcoin ATM went online in Vancouver.

RoboCoin allows buying and selling Bitcoins from a freestanding kiosk that integrates software, bank grade hardware and security.

“We are incredibly passionate about the product we’ve put together,” said RoboCoin on the occasion. “Robocoin will be the easiest, quickest, most convenient way to both buy and sell bitcoin ever.  Say goodbye to pesky bank wires, archaic verification processes, and weeks of waiting time to get money converted. Using only the best bank grade hardware, Robocoin is capable of instantly handling transactions in the thousands of dollars.  Not only does this provide incredible convenience for Bitcoin owners, but this also has the potential to change the entire remittance industry.”

The ATM is different from your typical bank machine. The machine accepts cash and delivers Bitcoin, or accepts Bitcoin and provides cash.

This is important because it is difficult for many to get liquidity on their Bitcoin. Signing up for an exchange like Mt.Gox is a lengthy process, involving scanning and submitting your government-issued ID. Other Bitcoin wallets, like Coinbase, make the process easier but there is a limit to liquidity.

Related: Read our comparison of cloud Bitcoin wallets

This is the first step in what will be a large movement by the Bitcoin ecosystem to bring the digital currency to retail.

Like this? Share it.

Like this? Share it.

Bitcoiniacs Wants to Make it Easier to Buy Bitcoin

Last month we reported that RoboCoin ATM Kiosks officially went on sale for $20,000 per unit.

Now, a retail store in Canada has announced that it has ordered the kiosks and will be deploying them across Canada.

“Basically, it just make it easier for people to buy and sell Bitcoins and hopefully will drive the adoption of Bitcoin, and make it more accessible for people,” Mitchell Demeter, the 27-year-old owner of Bitcoiniacs, told Metro.ca in an interview.

Demeter says that he is planning to roll out the ATMs across major Canadian cities such as Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Calgary and Ottawa.

Related Stories:

• Canadian Startup CoinTap Sells Bitcoin Gift Cards to Help Adoption
• Bitcoin Exchanges in Canada Won’t Be Regulated

Like this? Share it.

Like this? Share it.

CoinTap Looks to Make Buying Bitcoins Easy

Buying Bitcoins is complicated, and there are a number of companies are looking to change that. The latest entrant on this scene is Canadian Startup CoinTap.

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.”

A $50 gift card is redeemable for 50 dollars in credit, which can then be used to purchase Bitcoins at a competitive rate through the company’s website. (As of writing, the current value of 1 Bitcoin is $121 US on Mt.Gox.com exchange or $97 CDN on CaVirtex.ca.)

“The Bitcoin is the best-performing currency in the world,” says Fulks. “Whereas governments and banks set the values of fiat currencies based on how they want their economies to perform, the Bitcoin is decentralized and runs on a peer-to-peer network, so its value can’t be regulated by a small group of people.”

“With Bitcoins, there’s no inflation. It’s all math. There will only ever be 21,000,000 in circulation,” explains Fulks. “Since the Bitcoins value is determined purely by the market, it shows a different picture of what other currencies are worth.”

Currently, governments and financial institutions worldwide have varying definitions of what Bitcoins are.

While the Government of Canada views Bitcoins as a tradable commodity, but not a currency, Germany recently ruled that the Bitcoin is “private money” and therefore taxable, just like regular money.

So if Bitcoins are so cutting edge, what can you do with them?

“They can be saved as an investment; traded for other valuable currencies such as Euros, Rubles, US dollars, Yen, Litecoins, Feathercoins – which are just two of the many new virtual currencies cropping up,” says Fulks. “You can also use Bitcoins to purchase any type of good or service from any vendor willing to accept Bitcoins.”

There’s already a huge community online for shopping with Bitcoin, including bitcoinstore.com – an Amazon-style store that only deals in Bitcoin. Several smart-phone apps, like blockchain.info, offer portable wallets and easy point-of-sale systems for vendors to make transactions easy, Fulks explains.

Fulks says some early-adopters are now living exclusively off of Bitcoins.

“They buy their groceries and even pay their rent with the help of online companies like billpayforcoins.com, who will pay your bills in fiat currency in exchange for Bitcoins,” says Fulks.

Bitcoin Ventures Inc. is actively securing global partnerships, “to help bring Bitcoins to the world,” says Fulks.

“The Bitcoin community is very supportive of emerging technologies and has contacted us with open arms. I know a lot of people want to make it easy to get Bitcoins and CoinTap is here to help.”

About Bitcoin Ventures

Based in Calgary, Alberta, Bitcoin Ventures Inc. was founded in 2013 by a forward-thinking group of business-savvy computer-techs.

For more information visit www.cointap.ca

Like this? Share it.

Like this? Share it.

Canada Bitcoin Regulation Will Allow Exchanges to Operate

With all of the excitement about Bitcoin, there is also a concern that governments will try to regulate the flow and restrict anonymity. Well, the team at Pokerati has an extensive article suggesting that Bitcoin exchanges won’t be regulated in Canada. Here is a summary:

Canada’s federal anti-money laundering agency, FinTRAC, has publicly indicated that it will not regulate certain bitcoin businesses because they don’t view bitcoins as “funds” within the meaning of applicable Canadian law. Specifically, transactions on a bitcoin exchange in Canada between parties exchanging bitcoins for Canadian dollars and vice versa will not, according to FinTRAC, engage the Money Services Business rules in the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act and Regulations. This could present interesting opportunities for those exploring new business models in the bitcoin space, but readers are cautioned that the federal Department of Finance might move to change the applicable regulations in future. This might be yet another instance of the law failing to keep pace with technology.

Read the full article “Canada Becomes Bitcoin Friendly.”

Like this? Share it.

Like this? Share it.

Bitcoin Exchange VirtEx

VirtEx is a Bitcoin exchange based in Calgary, Canada, formed by Joseph David with over $13.2 million traded. From their website:

VirtEx stands for Virtual Exchange. We are Canada’s first Bitcoin (BTC) trading market that allows you to buy and sell Bitcoins with Canadian Dollars. We are continuously researching new fund transfer options for faster, easier deposits, and withdrawals with minimal fees. We hold and verifying funds before orders are allowed to be placed. If you see an order to buy or sell Bitcoins on our site, you can be assured that the funds have been verified and you can accept to buy or sell at the price and quantities specified.

As the National Post reports, VirtEx has run into a snag.

Earlier this month Royal Bank of Canada quietly informed Mr. David that it would no longer do business with his company.

“They shut down our account without any reason,” said Mr. David, an ebullient entrepreneur with a background in technology companies. “They just said we have the right to refuse service to whomever we wish.”

For whatever reason, many in Canada’s small but fast growing Bitcoin community are suddenly dealing with the same problem: The banks have decided they don’t like the cryptocurrency and they’re shutting down some of the accounts of businesses that deal in it.

Read the full article at the National Post.

Like this? Share it.