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Bitcoin News

A roundup of the top Bitcoin news from June 27 to July 4.

Thursday, June 27

• States Targeting Bitcoin Companies for Money Laundering (Video)
• Bitcoin Exchange Mt. Gox Reaches Across the Table at G8 Summit

Friday, June 28

• Startup Profile: Coingig Launches the eBay Marketplace for Bitcoin
• Mt.Gox Now Offering International Wire Transfer to all US Banks

Saturday, June 29

• Bitcoin Awareness at 25% of US Population, Research Shows
• CES and SXSW to Feature Bitcoin Showcase Hosted by Startup Debut

Monday, July 1

• Winklevoss Twins File IPO to Bring Bitcoin to the Public

Tuesday, July 2

• NYC’s Inside Bitcoins Conference Attracts Leading Experts

Thursday, July 4

• Turn Cash into Bitcoins in Seconds with the Lamassu Bitcoin ATM Machine
• Bitcoin Exchange Mt. Gox Resumes U.S. Dollar Withdrawals

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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

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