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2014-08-30 00:25:46+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [37, 309, 1002]}

{"Bitcoin": [11]}

Exclusive: Bitcoin promoter to plead guilty to unlicensed money transmission

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/exclusive-bitcoin-promoter-plead-guilty-002546482.html

Reuters

http://www.reuters.com/

By Nate Raymond NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bitcoin entrepreneur Charlie Shrem has reached a plea deal to resolve U.S. charges that he engaged in a scheme to sell over $1 million of the digital currency to users of illicit online marketplace Silk Road, his lawyer said Friday. Shrem, the former vice chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation, will plead guilty next Thursday in New York federal court to unlicensed money transmission, Marc Agnifilo, his lawyer told Reuters in an email. Prosecutors had previously charged Shrem with operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, money laundering conspiracy and failing to file suspicious activity reports with government banking authorities. Federal authorities shut down Silk Road last year, though a new Internet marketplace under the same name was launched in November. Prosecutors contend Silk Road enabled users to buy and sell illegal drugs and other illicit goods and services. Soon after his arrest in January, Shrem stepped down from his role at the Bitcoin Foundation, a well-known trade group. He was previously CEO of BitInstant, a bitcoin exchange company. A notice of a plea hearing in the case of Shrem and his co-defendant, Robert Faiella, was included in a calendar distributed by court officials earlier Friday. It was not immediately clear if Faiella, a Florida man who faced similar charges as Shrem, will plead guilty or move ahead with trial Sept. 22. He has previously pleaded not guilty. But Faiella, 54, is expected to fly to New York for the hearing, according to a court order filed Friday. A lawyer for Faiella did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesman for Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara declined comment. Prosecutors are pursuing a separate case against Ross William Ulbricht, the man accused of creating and operating Silk Road under the name "Dread Pirate Roberts." He is set to face trial Nov. 3. The case is U.S. v. Faiella, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 14-cr-00243. View comments

2014-08-30 00:25:46+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [37, 309, 1002]}

{"Bitcoin": [11]}

Exclusive: Bitcoin promoter to plead guilty to unlicensed money transmission

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/exclusive-bitcoin-promoter-plead-guilty-unlicensed-money-transmission-002546118.html

Reuters

https://www.reuters.com/

By Nate Raymond NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bitcoin entrepreneur Charlie Shrem has reached a plea deal to resolve U.S. charges that he engaged in a scheme to sell over $1 million of the digital currency to users of illicit online marketplace Silk Road, his lawyer said Friday. Shrem, the former vice chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation, will plead guilty next Thursday in New York federal court to unlicensed money transmission, Marc Agnifilo, his lawyer told Reuters in an email. Prosecutors had previously charged Shrem with operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, money laundering conspiracy and failing to file suspicious activity reports with government banking authorities. Federal authorities shut down Silk Road last year, though a new Internet marketplace under the same name was launched in November. Prosecutors contend Silk Road enabled users to buy and sell illegal drugs and other illicit goods and services. Soon after his arrest in January, Shrem stepped down from his role at the Bitcoin Foundation, a well-known trade group. He was previously CEO of BitInstant, a bitcoin exchange company. A notice of a plea hearing in the case of Shrem and his co-defendant, Robert Faiella, was included in a calendar distributed by court officials earlier Friday. It was not immediately clear if Faiella, a Florida man who faced similar charges as Shrem, will plead guilty or move ahead with trial Sept. 22. He has previously pleaded not guilty. But Faiella, 54, is expected to fly to New York for the hearing, according to a court order filed Friday. A lawyer for Faiella did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesman for Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara declined comment. Prosecutors are pursuing a separate case against Ross William Ulbricht, the man accused of creating and operating Silk Road under the name "Dread Pirate Roberts." He is set to face trial Nov. 3. The case is U.S. v. Faiella, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 14-cr-00243.

2014-08-31 13:05:18+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [2024]}

{}

Study: This Retailer Dominates Online Home Furnishing

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/study-retailer-dominates-online-home-130518176.html

Benzinga

http://www.benzinga.com/

Online shopping is huge, but (for now) it is a relatively small part of the $220 billion home furnishing market--just 10 percent. With Millennials famous for shopping online and the online home furnishing market growing in double digits each year, smart retailers are setting up for future market share gains. A recent study by Wells Fargo Securities and Fluid, “Home (.com) Is Where the Heart Is,” profiled the online home furnishing shopping experience across several dimensions: inspiration, content, product information, searchability, payment/fulfillment/customer service, post purchase, and mobile experience. While the results vary depending on the slice focused on, the list below shows which home furnishing retailers provide the best overall user experience and service. Reviewing the list and the reasons given for each ranking reveals one retailer dominates the rest: Williams-Sonoma (NYSE: WSM ) Related Link: Former Staples CEO Thomas Stemberg Weighs In On Today's Big Retailers The Top 10 1. West Elm . Shoppers prefer West Elm for its planning tools and registry app with product scanner. 2 Pottery Barn . Search-ability, product information, content, originality, interactive room planner, and seamless return policy have this retailer #2. 3. Williams-Sonoma . Inspiration and content rank at #3. 4. World Market – subsidiary of Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY ). Shoppers like its ship-to-store, store inventory lookup, in-store pickup, and free shipping on orders of $150 or more. 5. Crate & Barrel . This ranking is based on the Crate & Barrel's ship-to-store, store inventory lookup, mobile-optimized site and app. 6. Bed Bath & Beyond . Website functionality, and multichannel features push the store up the rankings, but it is losing share to Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN ) due to high overlap in branded categories like kitchen electronics and pricing. 7. Overstock . (NASDAQ: OSTK ). Shoppers appreciate its features, functionality, wide selection of videos, live chat, alternative payment options like Bitcoin and PayPal, free shipping on orders of $50 or more. Story continues 8. Room & Board . The site inspires, but has no free shipping, next-day shipping, live chat, or delivery estimates. 9. Amazon . Despite the site's searchability, payment/fulfillment/customer service strengths, it has poor "inspiration" and lacks content in the home category. 10. Heyneedle . Shoppers like the gift messaging, payment options, free shipping for orders $50 or more, and post-purchase email coupon for $10 off future purchases. Williams-Sonoma Dominates Shoppers familiar with Williams-Sonoma realize it dominated this study. Others might dismiss the domination claim, pointing out that the store ranked #3. The answer is simple: Williams-Sonoma owns West Elm (#1) and Pottery Barn (#2), so Williams-Sonoma claimed all top three ranks. Based on this study, it appears Williams-Sonoma has the best shot at capturing future market share in the largely untapped online home furnishing market. See more from Benzinga Who's Going To Shop At Sears? Whole Foods Market Rejects Checks © 2014 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

2014-09-01 11:32:00+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [338]}

{}

'Find My iPhone' exploit may be to blame for celebrity photo hacks (update)

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/2014-09-01-find-my-iphone-exploit.html

Engadget

https://www.engadget.com/

​We don't need to rake over the gory details here, but in the last 12 hours, the internet has lost its "you know what" over some leaked celebrity photos. Initial reports suggested that hackers targeted the iCloud accounts of the high-profile victims, and held eager would-be-viewers to ransom on notorious bulletin-board 4chan, demanding Bitcoin in exchange for a peek of the images ( reportedly earning a princely $95 for their troubles). As yet though, no one has been able to confirm how the images actually leaked, but some keen programmers think they may have spotted at least one (now fixed) route into accounts. The potential exploit relates to a project on the code hosting site Github called, imaginatively, ibrute. Just a day before the images leaked, the developers of ibrute announced a bug in the Find My iPhone service means it doesn't employ bruteforce protection (i.e. an attack can continue using different passwords until the right one if found). The implication is that this could give access to AppleIDs, and from there any number of avenues to compromise accounts become significantly more viable. It's certainly not the first intrusion issue with the service we've seen . If this was the flaw used, the hackers would have needed email addresses of celebrities. But, it's possible that only one address is needed, allowing to search inboxes for those of others in a domino effect. #hackapp @DefconRussia AppleID bruteforce tool via FindMyIphone bug. Doesn't lock AppleID. https://000.co/9dG3EjtrLS - HackApp (@hackappcom) August 30, 2014 Apple iCloud brute-forcer: https://000.co/KPMflz80W4 - apparently FindMyPhone doesn't have brute force protection... related to celeb hacks? - Ross (@Hypn) September 1, 2014 The good (and either timely, or coincidental) news is, that the same developers have confirmed this exploit has just been patched. For now, however, the code lives on, only now marked as a "proof of concept." We've reached out to Apple for comment, but until there's any official word either way, this is one feasible possibility. There are of course a number of other potential routes into user accounts (not least the good old fashioned abuse of trust of a close colleague or friend, or romantic interest). What's unusual here, is the apparent scale of the issue, with numerous celebrities suffering leaks all at the same time. Story continues The end of fun, Apple have just patched FindMyIphone bug. So ibrute is not applicable any more. - HackApp (@hackappcom) September 1, 2014 At the time of writing, Reddit was clamping down on people naming the alleged leakers, and picture hosting site Imgur is pulling any uploads of the images as best it can, 4chan also displayed rare twitchiness, and pulled the original thread. Likewise, with Twitter reportedly suspending accounts that share the images, you might want to think twice before you RT -- it's fair to say, the internet is officially in a spin. Update: The Next Web has contacted the author of ibrute, asking if it could have been used to obtain the leaked images. The response: "I've not seen any evidence yet, but I admit that someone could use this tool." Update 2 : Overnight, Apple has confirmed that it is conducting internal investigations. While it still isn't clear where the hacks originated from, Apple is advocating any one concerned about security to activate two-stage authentication. Details of which can be found here . Matt Brian contributed to this report.

2014-09-01 14:20:16+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [332]}

{}

Apple Just Patched A Security Flaw In iCloud That Could've Been Used To Hack Celebrity Accounts

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/apple-just-patched-security-flaw-142016033.html

Business Insider

http://www.businessinsider.com/

eddie cue iCloud Getty Images/Kevork Djansezian Apple executive Eddy Cue introduces iCloud Engadget reports that Apple has fixed a major bug in its Find My iPhone software that allowed hackers to gain access to iCloud accounts. The fix comes just hours after a hacker leaked hundreds of nude celebrity photos on 4chan in return for Bitcoin donations. Apple's Find My iPhone login page was discovered to have been vulnerable to so-called "brute force" hacks. Hackers are usually locked out of sites if they try to gain access using multiple passwords, but it was discovered that the Find My iPhone API allows users to repeatedly try different passwords. Security researcher Alexey Troshichev revealed that it's possible to combine this exploit with a list of common passwords in order to make a tool that can gain access to iCloud accounts. Just two days after the security flaw was detailed on GitHub , Apple moved to fix the exploit. The "iBrute" vulnerability was patched after the news of the leaked celebrity photos emerged, although some Apple services in Europe remained open to brute force attacks . So was Apple's Find My iPhone vulnerability to blame for the iCloud hack? The speech that outlined the vulnerability took place at the Def Con conference in Russia on Aug. 30, leaving potential hackers only a small period of time to exploit the vulnerability, unless they were already aware of the brute force exploit. Evidence suggests that the leaked celebrity photos were gathered over a period of weeks , or even years, instead of a quick one-day attack, meaning that there may be a completely different vulnerability in iCloud that has yet to be discovered. More From Business Insider Apple Spies On The Media 'Using Anonymized Social Media Accounts' All The Different Ways That 'iCloud' Naked Celebrity Photo Leak Might Have Happened In Two Sentences, Here's Why Apple Is Finally Ready To Get Into Mobile Payments THE BEACONS FAQ: It's Time To Set The Story Straight About Beacons And Apple's iBeacon System REPORT: The iWatch Might Cost $400

2014-09-01 17:00:00+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [381]}

{}

iCloud password hack published, blocked as celebrity photo theft confirmed [Updated: Apple comment]

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/2014-09-01-icloud-password-hacking-tool-published-blocked-amidst-celebrity.html

Engadget

https://www.engadget.com/

ibrute github listing If you've been enjoying the US holiday weekend away from sources of news, well done. If not, you may well have seen reports of a large cache of explicit photos of celebrities being published to 4chan's image boards, including Academy Award winner Jennifer Lawrence, supermodel Kate Upton and other female and male actors. The publisher apparently was seeking Bitcoin contributions in exchange for the images. While several of the people pictured in the image cache have called the images fakes, others have acknowledged that the photos of them were unaltered . Update 9/2: Apple has released a statement confirming that the company's investigation found no evidence that any of its services were compromised; the accounts affected were attacked using conventional (security question/username) password reset methods. Update 2:35 pm ET: Over at The Guardian, tech reporter Charles Arthur summarizes the current thinking about the image release from security researchers. Some are surmising that these images were gathered over months or years (the earliest timestamps are from 2011, the most recent from last month) and then the repository itself was hacked or stolen. iCloud is still under scrutiny as a vector for gaining access to private images. Update 6:50 pm ET: Re/code has a statement from Apple on the story; spokesperson Natalie Kerris says the company takes user privacy very seriously and is actively investigating. Early reports noted the alleged hacker's assertion that an iCloud exploit was used to gain access to the target accounts and harvest the images. That has not been confirmed in any way (security researchers are eyeing several other services including Dropbox as potential attack vectors), but both The Next Web and our own former contributor Richard Gaywood took note of the release this weekend of an iCloud password crack tool that could , theoretically, have been used to attack specific iCloud accounts. Our sister site Engadget has a good overview of how the attack would have worked. Story continues The "ibrute" tool leveraged a security oversight -- a lack of brute-force protection -- within Apple's Find My iPhone tool. After the code was in the wild for a couple of days, Apple apparently patched the flaw, so the code is now only a proof of concept demonstration. The core functionality was pretty simple: given a target iCloud account ID, ibrute would simply run through a list of the 500 most commonly used passwords that complied with Apple's password rules (sourced from the infamous RockYou hack that revealed millions of real-world passwords) and try to nail down the password for the account. Since the Find My iPhone API did not throttle or lock out after a certain number of guesses in a given time period, it was possible to "brute force" passwords without tripping any security alarms. This lockout is where Apple has now changed things; trying random passwords via the Find My iPhone API will now lock your account after five attempts. One Next Web commenter pointed out that just having the iCloud password doesn't necessarily mean you have instant access to iCloud's Photo Stream; you would still need to log in via an iOS device, via iPhoto on a Mac or the iCloud control panel on a Windows PC. In theory, that should trigger a notification email to the account owner that a new device is connected -- but of course, if the hacker has the victim's account password, they've also got access to the iCloud email and could quickly delete the inbound email alert. [Update 9/2: Thinking that iCloud would send an email was over-optimistic; see here .] Apple's two-factor authentication setting for iCloud does require entering a security code for certain kinds of account actions, but it's not clear that "accessing Photo Stream photos from a new PC" is one of the triggers. (I'm testing this now.) [Test and documentation show it's not one of the triggers .] As our friend Christina Warren noted in her solid summary of iCloud security over at Mashable, we don't know at this stage whether or not iCloud is implicated as a vector for this most public hack; that said, there are steps you can take today (complex, longer passwords; avoiding password reuse; 2-factor auth; turning off iCloud backup for photos if they are sensitive or compromising) which will provide you better security and more peace of mind regardless.

2014-09-02 03:22:00+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [71, 338]}

{"Bitcoin": [27]}

Sound Wallet can keep your Bitcoins secure with vinyl-based encryption

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/2014-09-01-sound-wallet-bitcoin-vinyl.html

Engadget

https://www.engadget.com/

If you're anything like us, you've already made millions of dollars on Bitcoin. But how to keep it safe from loved ones, co-workers and other people we don't trust? Sound Wallet promises to keep your private access keys secure as encrypted audio, either on CDs or 7-inch vinyl, presumably just because it can. The system isn't limited to Bitcoin - other less popular brands of cryptocurrency can also benefit from the nostalgia-tinged protection. Your encrypted login key is converted into a sound file less than a minute long, and while it'll sound like white noise to anyone listening, a spectroscope app (yeah, you're going to need your smartphone), will be able to pluck the appropriate information out of the track. Sound Wallet's Theodore Goodman said that vinyl was the "ultimate archive medium." which is going to make some people here very happy . He said that records can outlast memory cards, paper wallets or CDs, all of which degrade with time. Naturally, vinyl doesn't look like it would house the key to your cryptocurrency fortune, either, so there's that security boon too. Its crowdfunding target may not have been met, but according to CoinDesk , the company is already selling CD-based (0.02 bitcoins) and vinyl wallets (0.09 bit coins).

2014-09-02 12:00:00+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [1415]}

{}

Payza Announces "Withdraw Funds to Credit Card" Feature

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/payza-announces-withdraw-funds-credit-120000361.html

Marketwired

http://www.marketwired.com/

MONTREAL, QC and NEW YORK, NY and LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM--(Marketwired - Sep 2, 2014) - Payza, one of the world's largest and fastest-growing payment platforms providing services for ecommerce, corporate disbursements and remittances , now offers an option for members to withdraw funds from their Payza balances directly to their Visa credit and Visa debit cards. "Withdraw Funds by Credit Card" is available for Payza members in most countries no matter the account type. Members can check the availability of the program by going to Payza's Local Payment Options page . Members who currently don't have a credit card connected to their Payza account can easily add one by clicking on the "Credit Card" button within their wallet. Once the credit card information has been entered, withdrawals can be made immediately by selecting "credit card" under the "withdraw funds" tab. Once the Transaction PIN has been confirmed the transaction is complete. "This is a service that our members have been requesting as a way to move funds from their Payza account to their credit or debit card, swiftly and easily," commented Ali Nizameddine, Executive Vice President of Product and Technology. "It's just one of the many new features we have added this year to make the member experience with Payza as simple and enjoyable as possible." In addition to "Withdrawal Funds to Credit Cards" feature, Payza has also announced Bitcoin Withdrawal, Mobile-Friendly Design, In-Page Checkout, One-Step Sign Up and Balance Top Up this quarter. About Payza Payza is a leading online payments technology platform used by licensed entities around the world. Payza's highly secure platform provides businesses and consumers with convenient and flexible solutions for sending and receiving payments worldwide. The company offers access to payment services in both traditional and emerging markets, as well as a host of tools and services including: fraud screening, dispute resolution, currency exchange, global payouts and disbursement services. With millions of members, Payza offers its services around the world in 21 currencies, and is proud to provide its merchants around the globe with a complete solution for accepting payments and managing their businesses. More information is available about Payza on its website, www.payza.com , Facebook , Twitter and the company's blog .

2014-09-03 08:10:00+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [8402, 8558, 8737]}

{}

'OriginalGuy': The Full Story Of The iCloud Hacker Who Leaked Those Naked Celebrity Photos

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/originalguy-full-story-icloud-hacker-081044692.html

Business Insider

http://www.businessinsider.com/

kate upton AP Kate Upton was one of the celebrities targeted by hackers. After private photographs of some of the most famous women in the world were posted online, journalists, PR representatives, and curious internet users scrambled to figure out how a nameless hacker had gained access to the cellphones of the rich and famous. When shocked internet users on underground forums tracked down the person believed to be behind the leak, his explanation was startlingly simple: iCloud. After hundreds of private photographs were posted online, many commenters struggled to believe that someone had gained access to Apple's online service. The tech giant's online storage and backup service is praised by the company for its simplicity, that it "just works." And the hack could not have come at a worse time for Apple, which on Tuesday will stage its biggest event of the year: the launch of iPhone 6, a smartwatch, and a new operating system for its Macs, all of which are likely to have new features linked to iCloud. As leaked photographs continued to be posted online, theories emerged regarding their source . Some suggested that a "brute force" hack recently unveiled by Russian security researchers was to blame, while some internet commenters wondered whether venue Wi-Fi at the Emmy Awards had been compromised. But the truth is far more disturbing: The leaked celebrity photos don't originate from a single hack but instead from a collector who gradually added to his haul over months before suddenly deciding to post it online. This is the story of that collector, who goes by the screen name "OriginalGuy." AnonIB: The Offshoot Hacker Community The anonymous online forum AnonIB launched in May 2006 as an offshoot of the notorious image board 4chan. By mid-2006, 4chan's infamous /b/ forum had become a hostile mess of child pornography, Anonymous hackers, and online trolls. On Aug. 23, 4chan came under a DDoS attack launched by its own users, and many frequent posters left the site to seek alternative message boards. A group of longtime 4chan posters arrived at AnonIB, which offered a near-identical service. As AnonIB grew in popularity, the site's administrators relaxed the rules. Child pornography and other illegal content were frequently posted on AnonIB, which eventually led to a series of FBI raids on the forum's servers and administrators. After years of upheaval, the site reappeared earlier this year, and the users returned to posting. iCloud Hacking Ring As well as hosting vast amounts of pornography, AnonIB also plays host to a ring of skilled hackers who have learned how to obtain naked photographs of women by breaking into iCloud accounts. Story continues The /stol/ board on AnonIB (short for "Stolen" or "Obtained Photos") serves as a global meeting hub for iCloud hackers. Using specialist password-cracking tools and guessing targets' security questions through Apple's iForgot password reset form, AnonIB hackers are consistently able to gain access to iCloud accounts with only an email address. anonIB iCloud hacker screenshot anonIB Once inside, the hackers get to work to extract photographs as quickly as possible, using file-retrieval software to download photo backups. Data retrieval tool for iCloud anonIB A data retrieval tool used by iCloud hackers. 'OriginalGuy' The Porn Collector The leaked celebrity photos weren't the result of a single hack but were instead hoarded over a period of months by one well-connected figure in underworld porn forums. As the Daily Mail reports, AnonIB user "OriginalGuy" has been identified as the source of the leaks , and posts seen by Business Insider on both AnonIB and 4Chan indicate that he has regularly contributed to celebrity porn threads on both sites. But despite knowing the user who leaked the trove of images, we still don't know the identities behind the hackers. In a post on AnonIB shortly after the main leak of celebrity photos, OriginalGuy explained to other users how he had built up a collection of photos so explosive that image boards were struggling to keep up with page views. AnonIB screenshot AnonIB The post above makes it clear that the naked celebrity photographs were assembled over a period of months by a team of collectors who specialized in valuable celebrity pornography. On Tuesday, Apple released a statement that appears to confirm that the exploit favored by users of AnonIB was used to hack into celebrity iCloud accounts. Within the statement, Apple blames "a very targeted attack on user names, passwords, and security questions, a practice that has become all too common on the Internet." AnonIB hackers use email addresses, password-cracking software, and weak security questions to hack accounts, making it quite likely that the tactics of the hackers at AnonIB were used to gain access to the celebrity photos. The Nuclear Option One of the most puzzling parts of the celebrity photo leak is why OriginalGuy decided to share his collection at all. With a haul built up over months, the collector claimed to have spent his own money on images of big-name celebrities. Why, then, were photos posted online on a quiet Sunday afternoon before Labor Day? Pornography hoarders often do not possess skills or talents that they can use online, like an ability to hack. Instead, hoarders are defined by the content they keep. One of the internet's most legendary digital hoarders was "Freezer," a poster on invite-only torrent networks who repeatedly taunted other users with details about the rare music he owned. After his death, it was discovered that Freezer had taken his collection to the grave, asking his family in his will to destroy all the tapes. Whether pornography or music, the knowledge that you possess content nobody else does can be a powerful intoxicant. So if porn collections are so valuable, why did OriginalGuy post his? It seems that OriginalGuy had a sudden realization that his collection wasn't so valuable after all. anonIB screenshot AnonIB Rumors of "major win" had circulated online for weeks before the leak. "Win" is a term used to refer to naked or sexual images of women found through hacking their online accounts. It's possible that part of OriginalGuy's collection had, against his knowledge, been sold to somebody else. OriginalGuy admitted to paying "a lot via bitcoin" for a portion of the images when they were being traded between celebrity porn collectors on Friday and Saturday. As Deadspin reports, photographs had been shared online for weeks before OriginalGuy purchased them, potentially rendering his collection of little value. Hours before the photos emerged, posters on AnonIB caught wind of a coming leak of celebrity images. While you might expect pornography fans to react with excitement over such news, many were terrified of what would happen next. anonIB screenshot AnonIB OriginalGuy knew that leaking his collection would have dire consequences for the iCloud hackers at /stol/ and the celebrity porn fans at 4chan. Whether he was angry over discovering that his collection was already online, or disappointed to learn that about 30% of his images were fake, OriginalGuy took to AnonIB on the afternoon before Labor Day to begin sharing his collection. The Leak The first site that OriginalGuy visited was AnonIB, his online "home." Censored versions of the leaked photographs were posted first to persuade users to donate bitcoin to see the full versions. AnonIB AnonIB OriginalGuy seemed aware that his actions were going to bring down the iCloud hackers and celebrity photo-trading ring, remarking that the "bubble" was "going to burst soon." His posts became increasingly frantic as he either expressed frustration over a lack of bitcoin donations, or thanked users for sending him the digital currency. After posting photos of Jennifer Lawrence on AnonIB, it seems that OriginalGuy has trouble connecting to the site. Commenting after the hack, OriginalGuy gave insight into what happened as he was leaking the images: I didn't take the money and run. Shit got weird once I started posting samples. AnonIB must have IP blocked me. I was spending all of my time trying to find proxies, and then when I could get on the site, was being hammered by everyone and I couldn't even post. I got some private requests through email, but none ever came through. People wanted shit for free. Sure, I got $120 with my Bitcoin address, but when you consider how much time was spent acquiring this stuff (I'm not the hacker, just a collector), and the money (I paid a lot via Bitcoin as well to get certain sets when this stuff was being privately traded on Friday/Saturday) I really didn't get close to what I was hoping for. Mainly because of the extra Bitcoin spammers spamming their own address ... I proved I had shit, but people wanted more and more for free ... When I posted samples, someone was tracking me, trying to find me. My ISP kept cutting out. Weird emails were coming in. It kinda freaked me out and I had to leave for a couple of hours. It's unclear whether OriginalGuy then visited 4chan to continue posting his images, or whether someone else with access to the collection, sensing that OriginalGuy had decided to cash in, began posting instead. Either way, once the images appeared on the more popular message board, the leak quickly attracted thousands of internet users. A Reddit live thread was created to catalogue and archive the images as they appeared, although it later buckled under the traffic it received. The Aftermath After OriginalGuy "dumped" his collection, many experienced iCloud hackers and celebrity photo traders declared the industry over. Following the hack, posters on AnonIB discussed the repercussions for their industry. AnonIB screenshot AnonIB While iCloud hackers might believe that their exploit will be closed, Apple has yet to make changes to the iForgot password reset system. OriginalGuy never returned to leak more of his collection, perhaps realizing that his postings on underground web forums were attracting widespread attention. And as for AnonIB, the site remains live, and iCloud hackers are continuing to advertise their skills to users looking to steal naked photographs of women on the internet. NOW WATCH: Facebook And Google 'Degrade Our Humanity,' Says 4chan Founder More From Business Insider We Still Don't Have Assurance From Apple That iCloud Is Safe How To Switch Off iCloud So Hackers Can't Find Your Naked Photos Inside The iCloud-Hacking Ring That Leaked Those Naked Celebrity Photos Apple Just Patched A Security Flaw In iCloud That Could've Been Used To Hack Celebrity Accounts All The Different Ways That 'iCloud' Naked Celebrity Photo Leak Might Have Happened View comments

2014-09-03 12:00:00+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [1649]}

{}

MicroCap Review Magazine Summer/Fall 2014 Issue Now Available

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/microcap-review-magazine-summer-fall-120000637.html

Marketwired

http://www.marketwired.com/

LOS ANGELES, CA--(Marketwired - Sep 3, 2014) - SNN Incorporated, a global multimedia financial news and publishing company focusing on the MicroCap stock market, and parent company of MicroCap Review magazine, is pleased to announce the publishing of the MicroCap Review magazine Summer/Fall 2014 issue online and in print. This issue of MicroCap Review, includes a newly designed logo, magazine header, and our first Rule 506(c) general solicitation ads, and includes several featured articles on public and private microcap emerging growth companies, including: BioLargo, Inc. ( OTCQB : BLGO ) Blue Sun Energy Inc. - Rule 506(c) Cutting Edge Superconductors Inc. (Private Company) Dynamics Capital - Rule 506(c) Endexx Corp. ( OTC : EDXC ) Gespeg Copper Resources, Inc. ( TSX VENTURE : GCR ) Highpower International, Inc. ( NASDAQ : HPJ ) IEG Holdings Corp. ( OTC : IEGH ) Millennium HealthCare, Inc. ( OTCQB : MHCC ) Pressure BioSciences, Inc. ( OTCQB : PBIO ) "This issue provides MicroCap Review subscribers and readers with expanded coverage of public and private emerging growth companies, current topics of interest and information on new investment opportunities," stated Shelly Kraft, Chairman and CEO of SNN, Inc. Click here to read: MicroCap Review Summer/Fall 2014 MicroCap Review Summer/Fall 2014 also features articles from leading thinkers and experts in the MicroCap Stock Market, including: Rick Rule on Natural Resources, "We've Been Through the Pain...Will we see a Gain?" Holmes Osborne, "Fallen Angels" Elizabeth Kopple, "Activist Investing" Accounting Corner: Post Reverse Merger Pitfalls by S. Jeffrey Jones Andrei Serpik on Bitcoin Leslie Richardson, "Interest for Hong Kong Listing Remains Active - Outlook Strong for 2 nd Half" Jeffrey Kraws on the Importance of Independent Research Joy Schoffler discussing PR strategies Brett Goetschius, "Seizing Opportunity, Embracing Change at the Growth Capital Expo" Legal Corner: A Look Back at General Solicitation and Advertising under Rule 506 (c) by Lance Jon Kimmel Alon Goren, "Decoding Online Alternative Marketplaces" Dr. Frank Grossman, "Paradigm Shift in the Treatment of Gastric Cancer Steven M. Shelton, "How are MicroCaps Affected by What Happens with the Small, Mid and Large Cap Stocks?" Compliance Corner: Capital Raise Red Flags - The Top Four Financing Scams on Securities Issuers by Russell C. Weigel, III Brent Cook, "Exploration Insights: Turning Rocks into Money" Seth Yakatan, "Biotech: Year in Review 2013/2014 and Mid-Year Outlook" John Dmohowski discusses PortTech David Alsup, "Semi-Annual Adds & Subtracts of FINRA Members" Lawrence G. Nusbaum, "A Primer on Public Company Disclosure Through Social Media Websites" Commodity Corner: Waking Up to the Coffee Market by Mark Shore David Morgan, "Silver in 2014" Ombudsman by Jack Leslie Story continues The MicroCap Review Magazine is available free to subscribers on www.MicroCapReview.com , where you can fill out a " SUBSCRIBE " form to receive a printed copy. You can also pick up your copy at over fifty global financial conferences annually. For more information or where the MicroCap Review Magazine will be available for pick up, go to StockNewsNow.com under "Events." "On behalf of SNN, I would like to thank all of our subscribers, advertisers, contributing writers, and profiled companies for your continued support, encouragement and dedication. It is our privilege to provide the highest quality news and information in the MicroCap Stock Market. Enjoy this issue and we encourage each of you to send us your questions, suggestions or comments so that we can better serve our growing subscriber base," continued, Shelly Kraft. To receive the next issue of the MicroCap Review Magazine, please follow the link here: SUBSCRIBE Follow us on Twitter: @MicroCapReview Like us on Facebook: MicroCap Review Magazine Would you like to advertise in the MicroCap Review? Send us an email: [email protected] . View comments

2014-09-04 13:54:44+00:00

{"BTC": [889]}

{}

Portfolio Analysis: A Hyper-Aggressive $182,000 Retirement Plan

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/portfolio-analysis-hyper-aggressive-182-000-retirement-plan-135444355.html

U.S.News & World Report

http://money.usnews.com/

If your investment portfolio were a movie, what genre would it be? Drama? Comedy? Adventure? Mystery? Horror? In reality, all investment portfolios are comparable to a movie, where each person elects their own personal genre and classification. My latest portfolio report card is for A.C., a married 44-year-old financial analyst from San Diego, California. A.C. says her main goal is to have enough money to retire. She says a little market risk doesn't worry her because she has a longer-term view. She self-manages her 401(k) plan and she considers herself an aggressive growth investor. A.C. owns a total of nine mutual funds in her $182,357 retirement plan. What kind of grade will she get for her portfolio report card? Before I assign her a final grade, let's analyze how she's doing. A.C.'s $182,000 Retirement Plan Allocation Investment Current Balance ($) Shares or Units 29.89% BTC LIFEPATH 2035 G $64,325.86 4,583.965 19.10% TGP LG CAP CORE GRTH $41,098.58 2,910.756 15.46% DODGE & COX INTL STK $33,266.42 712.038 13.53% SPTN 500 IDX ADV IS $29,122.50 409.772 8.01% GENEVA SM CAP GROWTH $17,230.69 1,582.248 7.78% FID EQUITY INCOME k $16,746.74 297.093 2.42% VANG TOT INTL STK IS $5,217.64 45.108 2.30% SPTN EXT MKT IDX ADV $4,957.30 89.176 1.49% VANG TOT BD MKT INST $3,215.85 296.392 Diversification. Truly diversified portfolios are never concentrated in one stock or mutual fund , but rather have adequate exposure to all of the core or major asset classes. How does A.C. do? A.C.'s 401(k) account holds U.S. large-cap stocks via the Fidelity Spartan S&P 500 Fund, small cap stocks via the Geneva Small-Cap Growth Fund, international stocks via the Dodge & Cox International Fund and bonds via the Vanguard Total Bond Market Fund. Unfortunately, her portfolio owns too much of the same thing in a few places: large-cap and international stocks. For example, her largest holding (30 percent of her account) is a target-date fund called the Blackrock LifePath 2035 Fund, which already has broad exposure to domestic and international stocks along with bonds. Story continues Yet, A.C. duplicates some of her exposure to the same asset classes held within BlackRock LifePath 2035. In the large-cap area, for instance, she owns three funds that offer exposure to these types of stocks: Fairholme Fund, Fidelity Equity-Income K Fund and the T. Rowe Price Large Cap Core Growth Fund. Simply put, it's overkill. Lastly, A.C.'s portfolio misses exposure to major asset classes like commodities, international real estate, and Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities. Risk. A.C. described herself to me as an "aggressive growth" investor. If that's true, then her portfolio should match that description. Her current asset mix has 98.5 percent exposure to stocks and the rest to the U.S. bonds. She's in her mid-40s which gives her a relatively long investment time horizon of 15 to 20 years before retiring. It also means (theoretically) she should be able to tolerate significant declines of 25 percent or more without panicking. This is easier said than done. I'm also not sure 98.5 percent exposure to a global stock market that declines 50 percent would sit too well with her. There are degrees of aggressiveness and I would classify A.C.'s current asset mix as hyper-aggressive rather than simply aggressive growth. Has her current portfolio's asset mix overstated her true risk capacity? Cost. As mentioned earlier, A.C.'s largest holding is the BlackRock fund, which charges annual expenses of 0.11 percent. Her other four largest holdings charge annual expenses between 0.02 percent up to 0.64 percent. It seems like she's made a deliberate effort to contain cost by keeping her money in the lower cost mutual fund choices within her 401(k) plan. This strategy will help her to keep more of her performance returns where they belong: in her pocket. Tax-efficiency. A.C. has no outstanding 401(k) loans that could pose a tax liability to her retirement plan if she leaves her job without paying back the loan in full. Performance. It's always a red flag whenever I grade investment portfolios that are unable to match or exceed the performance of a blended mix of passive index funds or exchange-traded funds. From July 2013 to July 2014, A.C.'s investment portfolio grew from $157,785 to $182,357 for a 15.5 percent gain. Meanwhile, a portfolio of passive index ETFs that reflect an aggressive investor (matching her profile) gained 19.2 percent with annual fees under 0.20 percent. Summary. A.C.'s final Portfolio Report Card is a "C." This means her investment plan has major structural flaws. Although she did OK on keeping the costs of her retirement plan down, her 98.5 percent exposure to stocks is well-beyond aggressive -- it's hyper-aggressive. Also, she has an overdiversified portfolio that's cluttered with too many funds that own the same types of assets. Finally, her lackluster 1-year performance of almost 4 percent less than a portfolio of market index funds is unacceptable. On a positive note, A.C. still has a long time horizon before retiring. That means the sooner she makes improvements to her portfolio, the sooner she can start seeing positive results. The compounding effect of doing things right over a few decades is tremendous. Ron DeLegge is the founder and chief portfolio strategist at ETFguide.com . He invented the Portfolio Report Card to help people understand the strengths and weaknesses of their investment portfolios so they can make better choices. Ron is also a radio host of the Index Investing Show and author of "Gents With No Cents: A Closer Look at Wall Street, its Customers, Financial Regulators and the Media."

2014-09-04 22:24:42+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [1679]}

{"Bitcoin": [0]}

Bitcoin promoter pleads guilty to unlicensed use of currency

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bitcoin-promoter-pleads-guilty-unlicensed-money-transmitting-211316614--sector.html

Reuters

https://www.reuters.com/

By Joseph Ax NEW YORK (Reuters) - A man who helped to promote bitcoin wants to remain in the business despite pleading guilty Thursday to indirectly helping send more than $1 million in the digital currency to users of the illicit online marketplace Silk Road, his lawyer said. Charlie Shrem, 24, pleaded guilty at a hearing in New York federal court to one count of aiding and abetting an unlicensed money transmitting business. A co-conspirator, Robert Faiella, 54, separately pleaded guilty to operating such a business. Both men face up to five years in prison when they appear again in court in January. "I knew that much of the business on Silk Road involved the buying and selling of narcotics," Shrem said in court. "I knew that what I was doing was wrong." His lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, said that what Shrem did was an aberration and that Shrem plans to continue working in the bitcoin world if possible. Agnifilo emphasized that his client was not involved in directly supplying bitcoin to Silk Road users. "We believe he is at least one step more removed from the heartland of illegal conduct, which is really Silk Road," the lawyer said. The two pleaded guilty as part of a deal struck with prosecutors from the office of Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara. They had been scheduled to go on trial Sept. 22. U.S. authorities shut down Silk Road last year, though a new version bearing the same name was launched soon thereafter. The man accused of creating and operating Silk Road using the alias "Dread Pirate Roberts," Ross William Ulbricht, is facing separate charges and is scheduled for trial in November. Shrem stepped down from his post as vice chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation, a trade group, soon after his arrest in January. He was previously the chief executive of BitInstant, a bitcoin exchange company. Prosecutors said Faiella, 54, operated an underground bitcoin exchange on Silk Road under the name "BTCKing," providing currency for users engaged in illicit drug trafficking. Shrem processed transactions for Faiella through BitInstant despite knowing the bitcoin would eventually find their way to Silk Road, where the funds would be used for drugs, he said in court. Both men agreed to forfeit $950,000 to the government as part of their plea deals. "Robert Faiella and Charlie Shrem opted to travel down a crooked path - running an illegal money transmitting business that catered to criminals bent on trafficking narcotics on the dark web drug site, Silk Road," Bharara said in a statement. (Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by David Ingram, Lisa Shumaker and Andrew Hay)

2014-09-05 00:08:41+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [3908]}

{}

MakerBot CEO Bre Pettis steps down, will lead new ‘Innovation Workshop’ at Stratasys

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/makerbot-ceo-bre-pettis-steps-000841226.html

Gigaom

http://gigaom.com/

Bre Pettis, CEO of the popular consumer 3D printer company MakerBot , is stepping down and taken on a leading role at a new “Innovation Workshop” at MakerBot’s parent company Stratasys , 3DPrint.com first reported . MakerBot president Jenny Lawton will take over as CEO. Stratasys CEO David Reis issued the following statement: Stratasys and MakerBot are excited to announce some management changes at MakerBot that will take effect in the 3rd and 4th quarter of 2014 and into January 2015. Most notably, Bre Pettis will be transitioning from the day-to-day activities of management to a position with Stratasys where he will be able to influence and direct the vision of MakerBot and Stratasys; he will also be a member of the MakerBot Board of Directors. Jenny Lawton, president of MakerBot, will be promoted to the role of CEO of MakerBot; Frank Alfano is being moved from chief revenue officer to president. Aric Jennings, chief operations officer for MakerBot, will also transition into the international role of vice president of global manufacturing for Stratasys. We are excited about these promotions and pleased to continue the positive momentum that Stratasys and MakerBot have experienced and achieved. Pettis followed a winding path to MakerBot. He previously worked as an assistant on films and as an art teacher, plus a video podcaster for Make Magazine. He co-founded the NYC Resistor hackerspace , where he produced the first MakerBot prototypes with his co-founders. As CEO, he saw the company through its transition from a producer of small batches of open-source, maker-oriented 3D printers to one of the most popular consumer printer producers in the U.S. Stratasys, which is one of the largest 3D printer companies in the world, purchased MakerBot last year but kept its operations separate. MakerBot is based in New York while Stratasys’ headquarters are split between Minnesota and Israel. It has not yet been announced where Pettis will be based or what form the Innovation Workshop will take. Story continues MakerBot CEO Jenny Lawton. Photo courtesy of MakerBot. Before serving as MakerBot president, Lawton was senior vice president at solar energy company Mercury Solar Systems. She has also been a cafe and bookstore owner and COO of a blood collection instrument company. She holds an applied mathematics degree from Union College. Lawton’s MakerBot biography reads: Jennifer Lawton has been with MakerBot since 2011 and has been responsible for the overall strategy and growth of the company, including strategic partnerships, product development, and retail. In addition to her work with MakerBot, she is a respected company builder, technologist, and advocate for fostering entrepreneurship. In 1991, Lawton co-founded Net Daemons Associates (NDA), an information technology consulting firm. With Lawton as CEO, NDA was recognized on the 1998 Inc. 500 list of the fastest growing privately held U.S. companies, and on the Deloitte and Touche Fast 50 and Fast 500 lists for 1997 and 1998. In 1999, Net Daemons was acquired by Interliant Inc. (formerly Sage Networks), where Lawton served as a senior vice president. She later worked as an entrepreneur-in-residence with Softbank and Mobius Venture Capital. In 2001, Lawton left the corporate world to become the owner of the independent bookstores Just Books and Just Books, Too, as well as Arcadia Café in Old Greenwich, Conn. After ten years running successful retail ventures, Jenny re-entered the business scene, serving as COO for Rockin’ Water and RAM Scientific, and SVP Operations for Mercury Solar Systems. She is currently a board member of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership. Image copyright Signe Brewster . Related research and analysis from Gigaom Research: Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial . A market analysis of emerging technology interfaces The legal challenges and opportunities for 3D printing Bitcoin: why digital currency is the future financial system More From paidContent.org MakerBot CEO Bre Pettis steps down, will lead new ‘Innovation Workshop’ at Stratasys

2014-09-05 02:41:48+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [1679]}

{"Bitcoin": [0]}

Bitcoin promoter pleads guilty to unlicensed use of currency

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bitcoin-promoter-pleads-guilty-unlicensed-024148267.html

Reuters

https://www.reuters.com/

By Joseph Ax NEW YORK (Reuters) - A man who helped to promote bitcoin wants to remain in the business despite pleading guilty Thursday to indirectly helping send more than $1 million in the digital currency to users of the illicit online marketplace Silk Road, his lawyer said. Charlie Shrem, 24, pleaded guilty at a hearing in New York federal court to one count of aiding and abetting an unlicensed money transmitting business. A co-conspirator, Robert Faiella, 54, separately pleaded guilty to operating such a business. Both men face up to five years in prison when they appear again in court in January. "I knew that much of the business on Silk Road involved the buying and selling of narcotics," Shrem said in court. "I knew that what I was doing was wrong." His lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, said that what Shrem did was an aberration and that Shrem plans to continue working in the bitcoin world if possible. Agnifilo emphasized that his client was not involved in directly supplying bitcoin to Silk Road users. "We believe he is at least one step more removed from the heartland of illegal conduct, which is really Silk Road," the lawyer said. The two pleaded guilty as part of a deal struck with prosecutors from the office of Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara. They had been scheduled to go on trial Sept. 22. U.S. authorities shut down Silk Road last year, though a new version bearing the same name was launched soon thereafter. The man accused of creating and operating Silk Road using the alias "Dread Pirate Roberts," Ross William Ulbricht, is facing separate charges and is scheduled for trial in November. Shrem stepped down from his post as vice chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation, a trade group, soon after his arrest in January. He was previously the chief executive of BitInstant, a bitcoin exchange company. Prosecutors said Faiella, 54, operated an underground bitcoin exchange on Silk Road under the name "BTCKing," providing currency for users engaged in illicit drug trafficking. Story continues Shrem processed transactions for Faiella through BitInstant despite knowing the bitcoin would eventually find their way to Silk Road, where the funds would be used for drugs, he said in court. Both men agreed to forfeit $950,000 to the government as part of their plea deals. "Robert Faiella and Charlie Shrem opted to travel down a crooked path - running an illegal money transmitting business that catered to criminals bent on trafficking narcotics on the dark web drug site, Silk Road," Bharara said in a statement.

2014-09-05 18:45:50+00:00

{"BTC": [2502]}

{}

New fines may prompt BP to cut back in Russia, elsewhere

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bp-absorb-oil-spill-fine-101219791.html

Reuters

http://www.reuters.com/

By Dmitry Zhdannikov and Ron Bousso LONDON (Reuters) - The prospect of up to $18 billion in new fines for the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill could pressure BP to sell assets from the Americas to Asia and Russia, where its interests risk being dragged into a political standoff between Moscow and the West. Shares in the British oil group plunged on Thursday after a U.S. judge ruled the company was "grossly negligent" for the rig blast and spill that killed 11 workers in the worst offshore environmental disaster in U.S. history. On Friday, while cautioning that the level of fines may not be determined for years and will be appealed, some analysts said the bad news could prompt BP to look at reducing its exposure. "I wouldn't be surprised due to the ongoing crisis in Ukraine and Russia if BP would like to reduce its huge 19.75 percent stake in the BP-Rosneft joint venture to cut their risks there, even though it is profit making," said Natixis analyst Abhishek Deshpande. BP's assets in Russia generate up to a quarter of its global production and the company has said it remains firmly committed to them despite the crisis in Ukraine, where separatists are being supported by Moscow. The West has imposed economic sanctions on Russia and Moscow has countered with its own restrictions. BP declined to comment on Friday about assets sales. Citi analysts called BP's Russian exposure an "overhang" and said that and the increasing costs of spill cleanup explained why BP's shares are valued less than its peers. Deshpande said a reduction of BP's Russian exposure would not be easy and buyers were limited. They could include China, if cleared by the Kremlin, or Rosneft itself, he said, though the state-owned company is struggling because of sanctions. BP has already divested around $50 billion of assets in recent years, slimming down to focus its growth on the Gulf of Mexico, Russia, Angola and the Caspian Sea. Investors have demanded oil majors cut high costs and, after the ruling, BP may "look to extend the divestment program to cover an increase in fines," wrote Bernstein Research analysts. Story continues SALES TARGETS Potential sales targets include BP's 17 percent interest in the North West Shelf LNG project in Australia valued at $7.8 billion; its stakes in the Valhall and Skarv oilfields in Norway at a combined valuation of $4 billion and the Itaipu offshore project in Brazil for $1.3 billion, according to Bernstein. Bernstein also valued BP's stakes in the Azerbaijan BTC pipeline at $2.3 billion; the In Salah field of Algeria at $1.3 billion, and its Rumaila Iran asset at less than $1 billion. In the United States, BP's U.S. shale unit has so far failed to deliver and the Mad Dog 2 platform in the Gulf of Mexico was put on standby in 2013 because of cost concerns. In Alaska, BP is a partner in a natural gas project that could cost $45 to 65 billion. BP has set aside $42 billion for cleanup, compensation and damages arising from the April 20, 2010 disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, including $3.5 billion for fines under the Clean Water Act. Thursday's ruling could make BP liable for up to $17.6 billion in fines if an appeal fails, potentially leaving it with a significant shortfall. The maximum fine under a simple "negligence" ruling would have been $4.5 billion. "This decision represents another step in the process, but there is a long way to go in resolving this issue," BP chief executive Bob Dudley wrote to employees in an internal memo, seen by Reuters. BP's stock was up around 2.4 percent on Friday, as analysts played down the immediate impact on the company. "A lengthy appeals process reduces the net present value of the fine. We note that Exxon took almost 20 years to settle the 1989 Valdez spill," said analysts from Investec. Penalties based on how many million barrels spilled will be assigned after the next phase of a civil trial over the accident, scheduled for January 2015. Citi said it was raising its rating on BP shares to "buy" from "neutral" following Thursday's drop, and S&P also said it was maintaining its "buy" recommendation. The stock is down 30 percent since before the 2010 spill. The ruling is unlikely to have much impact on BP's dividend payments in the near term, as it had $27.5 billion in cash and equivalents at the end of the second quarter. "We believe the financial implications of this ruling will remain significantly below the maximum – the Citi estimate is $8.2 billion – a sum that should not impact on BP's ability to fund future growth ambitions nor shareholder dividends," Citi said in a note. But the $690 million annual divided BP received from Rosneft in July is less certain going forward, Gimme Credit analyst Philip Adams said, as Rosneft has asked the Russian government for $42 billion in help to weather sanctions. After the spill, the U.S. government barred BP from new work in the Gulf of Mexico and new contracts to supply fuel to the military. The ban was lifted in March. It is not clear if the court's ruling could change that. "I'm not buying BP here. The ruling opens up the door in the United States to more fines for BP," said Beaufort Securities sales trader Basil Petrides. (Reporting by Ron Bousso, Dima Zhdannikov and Sudip Kar-Gupta in London and Anna Driver in Houston; Editing by Mark Potter and Grant McCool)

2014-09-06 18:00:36+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [1247]}

{}

The four best cities to launch a startup in Latin America

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/four-best-cities-launch-startup-180036635.html

Gigaom

http://gigaom.com/

Winter is on the way and perhaps you’re thinking about moving south. Whether you’re looking to Latin America for new markets, hoping for cheaper rent or running from shoveling, the southern half of the Americas have a few promising hubs full of new accelerators, incubators, and increasingly, success stories. Although it’s highly segmented on national and economic lines, the Latin market represents the second-most spoken language in the world (Spanish), and opportunities there are increasing as technology reaches the masses. Here’s a flyover of the most promising startup hubs south of the Rio Grande. These four urban hubs represent some of the most promising regions in Latin America — with growing talent pools, universities, government support and growing appreciation for innovative business models. Buenos Aires, Argentina Arguably the most cosmopolitan city in South America, Buenos Aires may also be the region’s largest startup hub. While the economic stories out of Argentina are all about the national credit default , some of South America’s largest successes — like MercadoLibre , one of the only Latin American startups now traded on NASDAQ — have come out of Argentina. Bitpagos just announced $600,000 in seed funding to make Bitcoin more usable in South America. On the other hand, Wisconsin entrepreneur-turned-investor Nathan Lustig warns that the investors in the “Paris of South America” also face red tape and economic instability. “If you’re trying to start a business, Argentina, along with Venezuela, would be the last place I would start,” Lustig said. “From an entrepreneur’s side, I wouldn’t touch Argentina … because of all of the headaches, even though it’s an amazing market with highly educated people, a cosmopolitan city.” Drawbacks: Challenge of navigating a parallel economy ; nearly impossible to exchange large dollar amounts. Comparable startup community size: Boulder, Colorado . Buenos Aires has fewer investors than Boulder, but a similar number ( 330 ) of startups, according to Angel.co. And both cities offer some nice scenery. Expect a more business-friendly business culture in the Rockies than east of the Andes, however. Story continues São Paulo, Brazil You can’t tour Latin America without giving credit to the biggest kid on the block. Brazil’s largest city, São Paulo, has a GDP larger than the GDPs of neighboring Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Bolivia and Paraguay combined, according to fnbox . The 22 incubators in the city have already pumped out 182 companies . Successes include Boo Box for online advertising and Peixe Urbano for shopping. Lustig pointed out that Brazil’s language, culture and size call for recognition as its own market in Latin America. “It’s probably worth thinking about Brazil as almost a separate thing,” he said. Drawbacks: Programs like Start-Up Brasil offer more red tape than comparable initiatives in neighboring countries. Markets differ widely in the poorer north of Brazil compared to the more developed south. How’s your Portuguese? Comparable startup community size: Cambridge, MA . I’m not comparing cultures here, but São Paolo and Cambridge have matching average valuations and number of startups. Santiago, Chile Chile’s government brought new attention to the Andean nation when it started handing out $40,000 each to up to 300 startup teams in 2010 through an accelerator program dubbed Start-Up Chile . The program was among the first of its kind worldwide. In the midst of Latin America’s undeniable machismo, the capital of female entrepreneurs is here in Santiago, where 20 percent of startup employees are women . Chile has its share of successes like Cumplo , for peer-to-peer lending, or Compara Online , a unique site for comparing financial services, which has raised over $16 million to expand out of Chile. Drawbacks: Start-Up Chile isn’t for everyone , and the program is the main reason you should be thinking of working on a global startup in Santiago of all places. Comparable startup community size: Houston, Texas . The sun rises on El Poblado, an upscale neighborhood on the mountainside surrounding Medellín, Colombia. Photo by Jamie Stark. Medellín, Colombia I know, Pablo Escobar . But Colombia is starting to change. Colombia’s second largest city was named 2013’s Innovative City of the Year by the Wall Street Journal magazine and Citibank. New startup infrastructure like the Ruta N incubator has attracted founders and potential employees from across the globe – like Dutchman Alexander Tegelaars, who was in Medellín working as a bartender and interviewing at the numerous startups popping up. He had an obvious affinity for the entrepreneurial spirit reviving Medellín. “It’s a cultural factor, the paisas ,” Tegelaars said, using the Spanish word for countrymen used to describe those from Medellín. Colombia’s famous startup sons, like Alexander Torrenegra and Andres Barreto , are pushing Colombia onto the world stage. The government is supportive of the tech community with initiatives like Colombia.co . Ruta N has fostered the growth of such companies as Ideatech , which makes nanosatellites that can reportedly be launched into space for a few thousand dollars. Drawbacks: I was robbed at knifepoint steps from Ruta N incubator. Although the crime rate has fallen here , the city remains in the top 30 most dangerous cities in the world. Medellín, like any city grappling with intense wealth inequality and past violence, has some work to do. Comparable startup community size: Milwaukee, Wisconsin . These and similar urban hubs in Latin America need both time and progress to rival first tier startup communities in the U.S. or Europe. Talent here must adjust to the idea of equity rather than an immediate corporate paycheck; more money beyond seed funding is needed to carry worthy businesses higher, and innovation must be promoted more than mere copycatting (“The Uber of Colombia”) to earn the moniker “innovative” for these LatAm hubs. Jamie Stark is a freelance journalist covering startup culture and social entrepreneurship in sunny Latin America. Follow him on Twitter @ JamieStark . Image copyright Fuse/Thinkstock . Related research and analysis from Gigaom Research: Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial . Applying lean startup theory in large enterprises The new building blocks for IT: OpenStack, continuous delivery, and devops Flash analysis: the Fisker debacle and its implications on investing, innovation, and government incentives More From paidContent.org The four best cities to launch a startup in Latin America

2014-09-06 18:00:36+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [1247]}

{}

The five best cities to launch a startup in Latin America

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/five-best-cities-launch-startup-180036688.html

Gigaom

http://gigaom.com/

Winter is on the way and perhaps you’re thinking about moving south. Whether you’re looking to Latin America for new markets, hoping for cheaper rent or running from shoveling, the southern half of the Americas have a few promising hubs full of new accelerators, incubators, and increasingly, success stories. Although it’s highly segmented on national and economic lines, the Latin market represents the second-most spoken language in the world (Spanish), and opportunities there are increasing as technology reaches the masses. Here’s a flyover of the most promising startup hubs south of the Rio Grande. These four urban hubs represent some of the most promising regions in Latin America — with growing talent pools, universities, government support and growing appreciation for innovative business models. Buenos Aires, Argentina Arguably the most cosmopolitan city in South America, Buenos Aires may also be the region’s largest startup hub. While the economic stories out of Argentina are all about the national credit default , some of South America’s largest successes — like MercadoLibre , one of the only Latin American startups now traded on NASDAQ — have come out of Argentina. Bitpagos just announced $600,000 in seed funding to make Bitcoin more usable in South America. On the other hand, Wisconsin entrepreneur-turned-investor Nathan Lustig warns that the investors in the “Paris of South America” also face red tape and economic instability. “If you’re trying to start a business, Argentina, along with Venezuela, would be the last place I would start,” Lustig said. “From an entrepreneur’s side, I wouldn’t touch Argentina … because of all of the headaches, even though it’s an amazing market with highly educated people, a cosmopolitan city.” Drawbacks: Challenge of navigating a parallel economy ; nearly impossible to exchange large dollar amounts. Comparable startup community size: Boulder, Colorado . Buenos Aires has fewer investors than Boulder, but a similar number ( 330 ) of startups, according to Angel.co. And both cities offer some nice scenery. Expect a more business-friendly business culture in the Rockies than east of the Andes, however. Story continues São Paulo, Brazil You can’t tour Latin America without giving credit to the biggest kid on the block. Brazil’s largest city, São Paulo, has a GDP larger than the GDPs of neighboring Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Bolivia and Paraguay combined, according to fnbox . The 22 incubators in the city have already pumped out 182 companies . Successes include Boo Box for online advertising and Peixe Urbano for shopping. Lustig pointed out that Brazil’s language, culture and size call for recognition as its own market in Latin America. “It’s probably worth thinking about Brazil as almost a separate thing,” he said. Drawbacks: Programs like Start-Up Brasil offer more red tape than comparable initiatives in neighboring countries. Markets differ widely in the poorer north of Brazil compared to the more developed south. How’s your Portuguese? Comparable startup community size: Cambridge, MA . I’m not comparing cultures here, but São Paolo and Cambridge have matching average valuations and number of startups. Santiago, Chile Chile’s government brought new attention to the Andean nation when it started handing out $40,000 each to up to 300 startup teams in 2010 through an accelerator program dubbed Start-Up Chile . The program was among the first of its kind worldwide. In the midst of Latin America’s undeniable machismo, the capital of female entrepreneurs is here in Santiago, where 20 percent of startup employees are women . Chile has its share of successes like Cumplo , for peer-to-peer lending, or Compara Online , a unique site for comparing financial services, which has raised over $16 million to expand out of Chile. Drawbacks: Start-Up Chile isn’t for everyone , and the program is the main reason you should be thinking of working on a global startup in Santiago of all places. Comparable startup community size: Houston, Texas . The sun rises on El Poblado, an upscale neighborhood on the mountainside surrounding Medellín, Colombia. Photo by Jamie Stark. Medellín, Colombia I know, Pablo Escobar . But Colombia is starting to change. Colombia’s second largest city was named 2013’s Innovative City of the Year by the Wall Street Journal magazine and Citibank. New startup infrastructure like the Ruta N incubator has attracted founders and potential employees from across the globe – like Dutchman Alexander Tegelaars, who was in Medellín working as a bartender and interviewing at the numerous startups popping up. He had an obvious affinity for the entrepreneurial spirit reviving Medellín. “It’s a cultural factor, the paisas ,” Tegelaars said, using the Spanish word for countrymen used to describe those from Medellín. Colombia’s famous startup sons, like Alexander Torrenegra and Andres Barreto , are pushing Colombia onto the world stage. The government is supportive of the tech community with initiatives like Colombia.co . Ruta N has fostered the growth of such companies as Ideatech , which makes nanosatellites that can reportedly be launched into space for a few thousand dollars. Drawbacks: I was robbed at knifepoint steps from Ruta N incubator. Although the crime rate has fallen here , the city remains in the top 30 most dangerous cities in the world. Medellín, like any city grappling with intense wealth inequality and past violence, has some work to do. Comparable startup community size: Milwaukee, Wisconsin . These and similar urban hubs in Latin America need both time and progress to rival first tier startup communities in the U.S. or Europe. Talent here must adjust to the idea of equity rather than an immediate corporate paycheck; more money beyond seed funding is needed to carry worthy businesses higher, and innovation must be promoted more than mere copycatting (“The Uber of Colombia”) to earn the moniker “innovative” for these LatAm hubs. Jamie Stark is a freelance journalist covering startup culture and social entrepreneurship in sunny Latin America. Follow him on Twitter @ JamieStark . Image copyright Fuse/Thinkstock . Related research and analysis from Gigaom Research: Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial . Applying lean startup theory in large enterprises The new building blocks for IT: OpenStack, continuous delivery, and devops Flash analysis: the Fisker debacle and its implications on investing, innovation, and government incentives More From paidContent.org The five best cities to launch a startup in Latin America

2014-09-08 13:00:00+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [1092]}

{"Bitcoin": [37]}

Wagepoint and Buttercoin Offer First Bitcoin Payroll Solution for Small Businesses in the United States

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/wagepoint-buttercoin-offer-first-bitcoin-130000036.html

Marketwired

http://www.marketwired.com/

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - Sep 8, 2014) - Wagepoint, an HR tech company specializing in online payroll software for small businesses, has launched the first bitcoin payroll solution to be offered in all 50 states and U.S. territories for small- and medium-sized businesses. In partnership with Buttercoin, a bitcoin trading platform backed by Google Ventures, Wagepoint enables businesses to link employees' bitcoin wallets as a second or third priority deposit. Employees can allocate the dollar amount or percentage of net pay they want converted into bitcoin. "Wagepoint is constantly looking to innovate and push the envelope when it comes to payroll software so we can give our customers and their employees the best online payroll experience," said Shrad Rao, CEO of Wagepoint. "Adding a bitcoin feature was a natural next step -- it's an exciting currency that is rapidly growing. It will undoubtedly change the way consumers make payments, and we are right at the forefront to help employers get this currency in employees' hands." "By partnering with Wagepoint, we're helping make Bitcoin payroll easy," said Cedric Dahl, CEO of Buttercoin. Wagepoint's bitcoin announcement comes on the heels of its launch in the United States, making it the first payroll startup to offer services across North America. Serving more than 500 customers, Wagepoint's software is available in all 50 states and territories. Other Wagepoint features include: Quick onboarding with a 'Switch It' service to move customers enrolled in other payroll systems Employee access to paystubs and employment forms Multiple paygroups for payroll on different frequencies Auto-approve with set-it-and-forget-it features Support service within the app The bitcoin feature is included in Wagepoint's Pro plan and requires no extra charge for employers. To start a free 30-day trial, visit www.wagepoint.com . About Wagepoint Wagepoint is an HR tech company with a simple, fast and friendly online payroll app for small businesses across North America. It is an easy-to-use payroll solution that can handle direct deposits, government remittances / reporting and all year-end reporting for both salaried and hourly employees.

2014-09-08 23:17:07+00:00

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{"Bitcoin": [58]}

Gem Launches at TechCrunch Disrupt With Simple Yet Secure Bitcoin Platform for Developers

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/gem-launches-techcrunch-disrupt-simple-231707732.html

Marketwired

http://www.marketwired.com/

SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - Sep 8, 2014) - Gem, a Venice-based Bitcoin startup, today launched a Bitcoin platform for developers at TechCrunch Disrupt SF's Startup Battlefield. Selected as one of 30 companies competing for a chance to win $50,000 and the coveted Disrupt Cup, Gem's full-stack API now provides developers with a complete solution that eliminates the pain of building Bitcoin security infrastructure into their apps. Founded by Bitcoin thought leader, open-source contributor, and community organizer Micah Winkelspecht, Gem offers a simple, yet powerful platform for securing Bitcoin and other digital currencies. The importance of protecting Bitcoin balances and transactions is now mandatory in the wake of several recent industry security challenges resulting in the loss or theft of over half a billion dollars' worth of Bitcoin. Gem's solution, which can be deployed by developers in minutes, utilizes a three-key multi-signature system and several other integrated bank-grade security features to ensure Bitcoin wallets and funds are always secure and accessible. The combination of multi-signature technology with best-in-class authentication and monitoring systems in one comprehensive platform makes the Gem solution a first for the digital currency world. "The major issue plaguing the digital currency community is security, and our goal is to dismantle fear surrounding digital currency and educate mainstream consumers on how they can maintain their currencies and other electronic assets with better security and ease-of-use," said Winkelspecht, CEO and Founder of Gem. "TechCrunch Disrupt was the ideal forum to introduce our powerful infrastructure and key-management capabilities to technology's key players and enthusiasts." The Gem API suite for developers is the only one of its kind to provide a digital currency infrastructure that doesn't require developers to be experts in security or cryptography. Instead, Gem's platform makes it easy to integrate a full-stack solution, so developers can focus on building their product. Some key components include: Story continues Two-of-three multi-signature key technology Multi-factor device authentication Real-time bank level fraud and identification monitoring Cold Storage offline key backup Redundant architecture with military-grade encryption The role of Gem is to make developers' lives easier by enabling them to integrate secure Bitcoin infrastructure into their apps in just minutes. Built using technology that eliminates any single point of failure, Gem's use of multi-signature technology means that the end customers (not Gem) are in control of their funds, unlike typical demand accounts with financial institutions, where the security of their funds lay completely in the hands of the institution. "Traditional banking and payment technologies performed a valuable function in society, but they are outdated and cannot keep up with present day threats. The latest credit card hacks against Home Depot and Target are painful reminders of that," said Ken Miller, COO at Gem and former VP of Risk Management at PayPal, referring to a string of recent data breaches that have resulted in thousands of credit card numbers purportedly stolen from the major retailers. And while Bitcoin appears to hold a tremendous amount of promise for replacing these systems, the uptick in mainstream user adoption has not yet matched the fervor of the core Bitcoin community. Gem believes this is due to a lack of high quality apps that deliver both a great user experience and an assurance of security to the mainstream consumer. "Right now if you want to build an app that uses Bitcoin, you not only have to build an amazing product, but you also have to be an expert in cryptography, security and the underlying Bitcoin protocols. With Gem, developers can build their entire stack on our platform with less than ten lines of code so they can focus on building product, not infrastructure," said Winkelspecht. "We built our platform for developers who share our mission of empowering individuals to take control of their own assets, and we believe people shouldn't have to sacrifice convenience for security." For more information about Gem, please visit: http://www.gem.co Twitter: @GemHQ Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/gemhq LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gem-hq Instagram: @GemHQ About Gem Gem, formerly BitVault, is a simple and secure platform for storing Bitcoin and other digital currencies. Founded by Micah Winkelspecht in 2014, Gem allows developers to build feature-rich applications in minutes using only a few lines of code. Gem's product has revolutionized Bitcoin technology by providing full stack, bank level security for any developer to integrate into their Bitcoin applications. Gem is based in Venice, CA. About TechCrunch Disrupt SF TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2014 is TechCrunch's sixth annual conference in San Francisco. The format combines top thought-leader discussions with new product and company launches. Morning executive discussions debate technology-driven disruptions in many industries, while the afternoons are reserved for the Startup Battlefield, where some 30 new companies will launch for the first time onstage, selected to present from numerous applications received from around the world. The winning company will receive a $50,000 grand prize and the Disrupt Cup at the conclusion of the conference. The conference is September 8-10, 2014 at the Pier 48, San Francisco, CA 94158 .

2014-09-09 08:04:30+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [1481, 2382, 2581], "BTC": [170]}

{"Bitcoin": [0]}

Bitcoin gets green light from eBay's PayPal unit

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bitcoin-gets-green-light-ebays-080430654.html

CNBC

http://www.cnbc.com/

The mobile payment processing arm of eBay ( EBAY ) -owned company PayPal announced on Monday that it will be allowing its merchants to use the digital currency bitcoin (:BTC=) . The subsidiary, called Braintree, currently has clients like Uber, Stubhub and Airbnb and the move will allow these startups to start offering the virtual currency as a payment option on any mobile device. Officially launched at the TechCrunch Disrupt event in San Francisco, Braintree CEO Bill Ready wrote on the company website Monday that he was focused on giving merchants flexibility and freedom of choice. Read More Ebay in talks to take bitcoins at payments unit: WSJ "We'll enable our customers to easily accept bitcoin in the coming months," he said. "(We'll) provide an elegant, adaptive user interface for consumers to pay in bitcoin." The company is teaming up with bitcoin payment processor Coinbase to provide the service. Braintree merchants will need to open a merchant account with Coinbase which can be then linked to their Braintree account. Speculation regarding the tie-up began in mid-August when the Wall Street Journal reported that PayPal was in talks with Coinbase and other bitcoin transaction providers to integrate the virtual currency with Braintree. Tongues were set wagging again on Monday when a new video was uploaded to Paypal's official account which mentions the digital currency. Ready's comments later in the day then effectively confirmed these rumors. Read More Bitcoin key to future of online payments: EBay CEO Even back in January there were reports that parent company eBay was looking at the new technology. Sources inside the company told CNBC at the time that it was waiting for the regulatory framework to become clearer before it made a final decision. Monday's announcement will surely add to speculation that bitcoin integration will soon be rolled out for PayPal's desktop site and eBay itself. EBay chief John Donahoe told CNBC in June that he saw bitcoin and other digital currencies playing an "important role" for PayPal and stated that it would have to integrate digital currencies into its wallet software. The company originally bought Braintree for $800 million in cash last September and was seen as an addition to its PayPal business, although the two had been rivals before the deal. Read More EBay considering accepting bitcoin as payment Bitcoin currently has a daily transaction volume of $44 million, according to coinometrics.com, a digital currency research firm. This compares to $397 million for PayPal and $16.5 billion for Visa. Bitcoin is a "virtual" currency that allows users to exchange online credits for goods and services. While there is no central bank that issues them, bitcoins can be created online by using a computer to complete difficult tasks, a process known as mining. The digital currency has sparked interest among venture capitalists on both sides of the Atlantic but has also run into regulatory issues in many countries.

2014-09-09 14:32:00+00:00

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{}

Here's How You Can Watch Apple's iPhone 6 Event Today

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/heres-watch-apples-iphone-6-143205061.html

Entrepreneur

http://www.entrepreneur.com/

Happy Apple Day! The Cupertino, Calif.-based tech giant is getting ready for what should be its biggest launch event since the iPad in 2010. Apple, of course, is notorious for hyper-controlling the marketing and news leading up to its big product launch events. It's frustrating for the press but it gets Apple fanboys salivating, waiting for the day to arrive. Today is the day. Apple CEO Tim Cook is undoubtedly busy channeling some Steve Jobs magic. Related: The Apple Event: What's Probably Coming While specific details are sparse and speculated, here's the gist of what we're expecting today: Here comes the iPhone 6. Even though the company has long shunned phones with larger screens, one version of the iPhone 6 is expected to have a 5.5-inch display. Another will be 4.7 inches. Something with mobile payments. This would be tied to the iPhone, perhaps a chip installed that works with near-field communication. Some type of wearable device. It could be the rumored iWatch. While it might not be an industry-changer like the iPad, it could be the first notable new product from Apple since then. The event is scheduled to kick off at 1 p.m. ET. You can watch the livestream of the event right here . Note: Apple requires us to watch the glorious event using Safari 5.1.10 or later on OS X v10.6.8 or later; Safari on iOS 6.0 or later. We'll have reports throught the day on Entrepreneur.com to keep you posted. Related: After Reportedly Blowing Up iPhones, Apple Plans to Make a Bigger iPad More From Entrepreneur Finally: Bitcoin Is Coming to Merchants Who Use Paypal's Braintree Unit Going Organic: General Mills Scoops Up Annie's for $820 Million The Apple Event: What's Probably Coming

2014-09-09 14:57:56+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [1074]}

{}

Topeka: eBay Inc's PayPal Is At Risk From Apple Inc. iPhone Payment System

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/topeka-ebay-incs-paypal-risk-145756327.html

Benzinga

http://www.benzinga.com/

eBay Inc's (NASDAQ: EBAY ) dominance of online payments faces a major threat starting with the launch of iPhone 6, an analyst said Tuesday. Topeka's Victor Anthony said PayPal's heyday as the big guy on the payments block could be nearing its end with Apple Inc.'s (NASDAQ: AAPL ) plan to bundle payment technology in its long-awaited smartphones. Anthony reiterated a Hold and $54 target on eBay. Apple has reportedly signed deals with major credit card providers Visa Inc , Mastercard Inc and American Express Company , and the new phones are expected to come equipped with near-field communications chips that can connect with specialized credit card terminals. PayPal, which generated $27 billion in transactions in 2013, generated controversy earlier this year when activist investor Carl Icahn pushed for its sale. Icahn backed off after obtaining representation on eBay's board, but reports surfaced last month that the company is mulling the unit's sale. In an effort to steal some of Apple's glory Tuesday, PayPal said Monday its service would soon begin accepting Bitcoin payments. eBay traded recently at $54.57, up 0.6 percent. Latest Ratings for EBAY Jul 2014 Canaccord Genuity Maintains Buy Jul 2014 Citigroup Maintains Buy Jul 2014 Deutsche Bank Maintains Hold View More Analyst Ratings for EBAY View the Latest Analyst Ratings See more from Benzinga Apple Electronic Payments Entry Called A 'Game Changer' SunTrust's Robert Peck Sees 0 Million Gross Profit In Amazon's Local Register Amazon's July Comp Growth Accelerates; Others See Slow Down © 2014 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

2014-09-09 17:34:00+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [1329]}

{}

Salesforce Warns of Potential Malware Attack

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/salesforce-warns-potential-malware-attack-173400707.html

Entrepreneur

http://www.entrepreneur.com/

Cloud-based business software company Salesforce said Tuesday that a particular type of malware that usually goes after information at large financial companies could be taking aim at its users. The destructive software, called Dyre malware or Dyreza, steals user log-in data, according to the statement released by Salesforce today . Salesforce said it has no evidence right now that any of its customers have been harmed. If the company discovers that customers have been impacted, it will contact them with information about how to proceed. Related: Salesforce Launches $100 Million Fund to Invest in Entrepreneurs Building Apps On Its Platform Bank of America, Natwest, Citibank, RBS, Ulsterbank have all been targets of the Dyre malware previously, according to a statement from Danish security company CSIS released earlier this summer . The malware shows up in a users email account as spam and asks a customer to download a file with information regarding a financial account, CSIS says. Salesforce says that customers should contact their technology team and ensure that anti-malware procedures in place are able to flag the Dyre malware. Related: Be Sure to Look Around the Office When Searching for Gaps in Your Data Security More From Entrepreneur 'Fire' Sale: Amazon Slashes Phone Price Amid Sluggish Sales Finally: Bitcoin Is Coming to Merchants Who Use Paypal's Braintree The 7 Critical Elements Your Ecommerce Site Needs to Be Considered Trustworthy

2014-09-10 13:00:00+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [46, 2168, 2188, 2838, 3049]}

{"Bitcoin": [0]}

Bitcoin Shop Management Elects to Waive Salaries

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bitcoin-shop-management-elects-waive-130000764.html

Marketwired

http://www.marketwired.com/

ARLINGTON, VA--(Marketwired - Sep 10, 2014) - Bitcoin Shop, Inc. ( OTCQB : BTCS ) (the "Company"), operator of the virtual currency ecommerce marketplace www.bitcoinshop.us , is pleased to announce that members of its management team have agreed to waive their salaries for the next six months, beginning in September 2014. As a result, costs associated with salaries will be reduced from $609,000 per annum to $33,750 for the next six months. Charles Allen, Chief Executive Officer of the Company, commented, "In lieu of issuing new equity as compensation which would have the effect of diluting our current shareholders at what management believes is a deeply depressed valuation compared to private companies in our sector, management agreed to simply waive a portion of their salaries. Actions like this illustrate the dedication of our team to build and launch our new platform without further shareholder dilution. This is a first step in an effort to reduce our fixed costs while we continue the development of our new website which we plan to launch at www.btcs.com . I encourage those interested in signing up for beta to do so at http://beta.btcs.com ." Further all officers voluntarily elected to cancel their employment contracts (although certain provisions such as confidentiality survived termination). The Board of Directors and our officers fully agreed that senior management should be measured by their accomplishments and should not be entitled to their current position through a contract. As the Company grows its business, each management team member will be expected to lead by example and make sure that any new talent attracted to the team embraces the same work ethic. In order to compensate those members of management that are forgoing their salaries in their entirety for the next six months, the Company has agreed to waive the lockup agreements of certain team members. Those members anticipate entering into 10b5-1 selling plans beginning next year covering equity already held by them for an amount of shares valued at the waived salary amount. The Company will disclose the details of this plan when finalized. Story continues About Bitcoin Shop, Inc.: Bitcoin Shop, Inc. operates an ecommerce website ( www.bitcoinshop.us ) where consumers can purchase products using virtual currency such as bitcoin, litecoin and dogecoin, by searching through a selection of over 400 categories and over 140,000 items. All orders are originated by the customers through our website and are fulfilled by third party vendors. We also plan to evaluate other strategic Virtual Currency opportunities as well as technologies that are complementary to our business strategy. This will include evaluating opportunities that cross market our ecommerce site, diversify our revenue streams and provide on-ramps for new users. Bitcoin, litecoin and dogecoin are virtual currencies that use peer-to-peer networks to facilitate instant payments. They are all categorized as cryptocurrencies, as they use cryptography as a security measure. Bitcoin, litecoin and dogecoin issuances and transactions are carried out collectively by the network, with no central authority, and allow users to make verified transfers. Forward Looking Statements: Certain statements in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Words such as "may," "might," "will," "should," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "continue," "predict," "forecast," "project," "plan," "intend" or similar expressions, or statements regarding intent, belief, or current expectations, are forward-looking statements. While the Company believes these forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on any such forward-looking statements, which are based on information available to us on the date of this release. These forward looking statements are based upon current estimates and assumptions and are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including without limitation those set forth in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, not limited to Risk Factors relating to its virtual currency business contained therein. Thus, actual results could be materially different. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation to update or alter statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

2014-09-10 13:25:00+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [249, 476]}

{}

Russian Hackers Publish Passwords To Nearly 5 Million Email Accounts

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/russian-hackers-publish-passwords-nearly-132555917.html

Business Insider

http://www.businessinsider.com/

A user of a Russian cryptocurrency forum has published a list of nearly 5 million email accounts and their passwords. The Daily Dot reports that a forum poster , known as "tvskit," posted a list of 4,930,000 email addresses and passwords on Russian Bitcoin forum BTCsec. It was claimed that around 60% of the passwords were valid, although forum administrators quickly removed the file and redacted the passwords. Screenshot of Gmail addresses and passwords posted on Russian Bitcoin forum BTCsec BTCsec A screenshot of the email hoard. Some forum users who viewed the unredacted list claimed that the passwords shown were about 10 years out of date. Other accounts shown have been suspended or deactivated for years. Along with Gmail accounts, the list also included email addresses for Yandex, the Russian search engine. The affected Gmail accounts are reported to come from English, Russian, and Spanish-speaking nations. Representatives from Google and Yandex explained to CNews that the list of email addresses was created by combining lists of compromised email addresses from previous years, and that no new accounts had been compromised. NOW WATCH: How To Make Sure You Never Forget Your Passwords Again More From Business Insider Hackers Have Gained Control Of Satoshi Nakamoto's Email Account And Are Threatening To Reveal His Identity Today, Tim Cook Will Make The Most Important Speech Of His Entire Life REPORT: Reddit Is Raising Funding At A $500 Million Valuation Hours Before Apple's Big Event, Video Of The New iPhone 6 Emerges Apple's Grand Mobile Payments Plan Sounds Like It Will Be Very Secure

2014-09-10 16:16:32+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [357, 464, 986, 2915, 4050, 4598, 5171, 5359]}

{}

Is Apple Pay a bitcoin killer?

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/apple-pay-bitcoin-killer-152054977.html

CNBC

http://www.cnbc.com/

With Apple Pay, the tech juggernaut has begun its assault on antiquated payment networks. The launch could not have come at a better time, as consumers have been inundated with security breaches and are likely ready to make a change. The concept of a "tokenization" or a one-time card number that does not transmit personal data is a similar concept to the Bitcoin blockchain. Certainly technology purists will argue that the blockchain technology at the heart of Bitcoin is superior, but to the consumer, the difference is indistinguishable. Read More Apple's new iPhones, payments and watch Even if the consumer demands a superior technology, Apple ( AAPL ) 's ability to partner with Visa (NYSE: V ) , MasterCard ( MA ) and American Express ( AXP ) in addition to retailers like McDonalds ( MCD ) , Whole Foods ( WFM ) and Disney ( DIS ) provides a formidable barrier to entry. Moreover, Apple can crowdsource the next "killer app" with its development ecosystem. But does this mean Bitcoin is dead? No. The Apple ecosystem is a closed system that does a tremendous job at retaining customers but leaves it vulnerable to the innovation of open source projects. This is a flaw that Google ( GOOGL ) 's Android has exploited brilliantly and profitably. In addition, Apple's plan to layer another fee on top of an already expensive payment network is an opportunity for digital currencies. Offering a product that is open source and virtually free is how Android became the top mobile operating system in the world. Digital currencies should borrow from Google's playbook in order to compete with Apple. The open-source nature of digital currencies gives them a major competitive edge as the best technology can be immediately integrated without the need to navigate a corporate culture. This gives digital currencies a first mover advantage as consumers begin to embrace a digital payment network. Android was able to gain market share by offering apps that Apple had yet to approve and therefore opened itself to the early adoption of game changing tech. Story continues Read More Apple shares flat, stock downgraded Probably Apple's biggest competitive advantage is its proven ability to change consumer behavior. Before iTunes, consumers where quite content buying an entire album, while sharing single songs was in the realm of a few technology enthusiasts using a thing called Napster. As one of the first successful peer-to-peer technologies, Napster had the potential to change the world of music but it lacked the resources to engage the industry in battle. Apple recognized the revolutionary potential of Napster and designed a system that was easy for the non-tech savvy user. Moreover, it was able to use its considerable resources to convince the music industry to embrace the inevitable change. The technology giant appears to employing a similar strategy with Apple Pay. The explosion of interest in Bitcoin has shown that consumers are open to changing behavior as related to payment systems. The idea of a peer-to-peer network that provides a secure method to exchange value has been enthusiastically embraced by the tech community and a few financial pseudo-nerds like me. The promise of Apple Pay for the digital currency community is that Apple has designed a user friendly way to pay for items digitally. Apple Pay has the potential to change the decade old habit of reaching for a plastic card encased in a leather wallet in order to digitally transmit financial information. This behavior change should be embraced by the digital-currency community. Once consumers break the need for a tactile payment method, it will be easier to accept new methods of exchange. When consumers realize how easy it is to pay digitally they will begin to ask for a cheaper way to do so. Apple Pay introduces the consumer to the idea of tokenization and once comfortable, the consumer will likely demand more, more, more. This is the opportunity that digital currencies must embrace. Napster led to iTunes which changed the way we all buy music; Bitcoin has led to Apple Pay which will change the way we all buy "things." Read More 3 reasons Wall Street can't stay away from bitcoin The announcement of a mobile-payment system by Apple was an evolutionary step. The infrastructure it runs on is old technology linked to a centralized financial system. Tokenization is a time-tested encryption method of "one-time use-card numbers" that has been used prior to Apple Pay. However, Apple's ability to put a user-friendly face on existing technology should not be underestimated. The decentralized Bitcoin network is more efficient, cheaper and secure than Apple Pay and eventually should be embraced by the consumer. However, just like digital music needed the evolutionary step from Napster to iTunes, so, too, do digital currencies need this move by Apple. Brian Kelly is founder and managing member of Brian Kelly Capital LLC, a global macro investment firm catering to high net worth individuals, family offices and institutions. He is also the creator of the BKCM Indexes, benchmarks for multi-asset money managers. He's also the author of the upcoming book, " The Bitcoin Big Bang: How Alternative Currencies Are About to Change the World ." Kelly, a CNBC contributor, often appears on "Fast Money." Follow him on Twitter @BrianKellyBK . Watch CNBC's 'Bitcoin Uprising'

2014-09-10 17:40:02+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [1776, 1853, 2021]}

{}

eBay (EBAY) Plunges as Apple Announces Payment Service

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ebay-ebay-plunges-apple-announces-174002695.html

Zacks

http://www.zacks.com/

E-Commerce service provider eBay Inc. ’s ( EBAY ) shares tumbled 2.8% to settle at $52.73 after technology giant, Apple ( AAPL ), unveiled a new payment service ‘Apple Pay’ at a conference in Cupertino. Apple Pay is a mobile payment system which is compatible with iPhones. The company has collaborated with major payment networks, banks and retailers such as American Express, Visa and MasterCard to facilitate the use of its new mobile payment service on its iPhone 6. Additionally, Apple Pay will work with services including Uber Technologies Inc., OpenTable and Groupon Inc. Historically, Apple’s new products and digital gadgets have electrified the world and captivated both technology geeks as well as average consumers. Given its reputation for flawless execution, investors expect it to do better where others may have failed or been less successful. This is a matter of concern for eBay investors as they see Apple Pay as a direct competitor to PayPal, which lead to the share price drop. In fact, Apple Pay announcement has not only dealt a blow to eBay, but other payment system companies as well. While Alliance Data Systems dropped 4.2% to close at $245.64, Amazon ( AMZN ) fell 3.7% and eventually closed at $329.75. Even Google ( GOOGL ), who has been trying to get into the mobile payment market and is also a direct competitor of Apple, plunged 1.6% to $591.97. Also, share prices of other competing companies like Fossil Group, Garmin, Movado Group, and GT Advanced Technologies took a hit after the iPhone 6 and Apple Watch announcements. Though the competition is intensifying in the mobile payment space, PayPal is taking all the necessary measures to enhance its mobile payment business. The company recently announced that PayPal will start accepting Bitcoin payments in the coming months. This could be a big move by PayPal as Bitcoin enjoys wide acceptance and enormous popularity. With more users resorting to PayPal for various transactions, growth prospects here appears bright. As PayPal’s Bitcoin payment system takes off, it is expected to give it a competitive advantage over other companies, like Square, that have established their presence in this space. Currently, eBay’s shares carry a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Read the Full Research Report on AMZN Read the Full Research Report on AAPL Read the Full Research Report on EBAY Read the Full Research Report on GOOGL Zacks Investment Research

2014-09-10 20:15:03+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [1069]}

{}

Will Apple Pay Become the New Standard in Mobile Payments?

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/apple-pay-become-standard-mobile-201503411.html

Zacks

http://www.zacks.com/

Yesterday on September 9 th , Apple Inc. ( AAPL ) officially unveiled their iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, Apple smartwatch, and a payment system called Apple Pay that will allow consumers in stores and online to use their phone like a credit or debit card. Banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co. ( JPM ), Bank of America Corp ( BAC ), and Citigroup Inc. ( C ) agreed to integrate their cards into the system. Under deals reached with banks individually, Apple and other related tech companies will have a share of more than $40 billion that banks generate annually from so-called swipe fees. Processors and card companies expect to benefit as consumers should be spending more with the convenience and portability of using their phones and other digital devices. Mobile Payment Movement Mobile payment technology has become prominent in the past years with different technology companies trying to figure out the most efficient use for consumers. From companies such as Tim Hortons ( THI ) launching In-App Mobile Payments to Google ( GOOG ) Glass letting you nod to pay with Bitcoins, companies are striving to not be left behind in the mobile payment wave. The most prominent companies that will be able to capitalize on mobile payments will be firms such as Amazon, eBay, a variety of banks, phone companies and much more. For example, Amazon recently directed an undercut strategy at Square Inc. and PayPal by announcing their “Amazon Local Register”. Amazon is offering a flat charge of 1.75 % per payment until the start of 2016, a full percent lower than the 2.75 and 2.7 percent asked by the other two. From a small business perspective, this could save a big chunk in terms of overall costs, though there is still heavy competition from the likes of Square (2.75% fees) and eBay (2.7%). Apple Entering the Race Apple is looking to enter this “race” by additionally partnering with other cards such as Wells Fargo ( WFC ), Capital One Financial Corp ( COF ). Merchants such as Macy’s ( M ), McDonald’s Corp ( MCD ), Walt Disney Co. ( DIS ), Starbucks Corp ( SBUX ), and Target ( TGT ) will accept the contactless payments from Apple Pay. The new payments system will be available in the U.S. in October. Visa ( V ), MasterCard ( MA ) and AmEx gained last week amid news of their partnerships with Apple. Apple Pay could potentially funnel more spending to the networks and card-issuing banks as transactions shift from cash and plastic cards to mobile phones and other digital devices. Merchants and stores could also see a boost if the payment system generates more revenue. Apple Pay will use fingerprint scanners to verify users and NFC (near-field communication), a radio-based technology that exchanges data between devices that are held or swiped within a few inches of each other. With cards “we’re totally reliant on the exposed numbers and the outdated and vulnerable magnetic stripe,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said Tuesday. “It’s so easy to lose your card, or have it compromised, it’s no wonder that people have dreamed of replacing these for years.” Investors also have to keep in mind that Apple has about a 42% market share of smartphone subscribers while Android has about 51% while Microsoft, Blackberry, and others own the rest. Challenges with Security Recent hacker attacks of Target and Home Depot, among other retailers, have exposed the data of millions of consumers. And even Apple has had problems with the security of its iCloud storage system; celebrities whose individual accounts were hacked recently saw their private photos spread across the Internet. Either way, Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook seems undeterred by these issues as he said today, “It’s so easy to lose your card, or have it compromised, it’s no wonder that people have dreamed of replacing these for years.” One of the biggest questions with mobile payments is that of security. Consumers are still not fully trustworthy of payments coming from their phone that is somehow linked to their card and bank account. On top of that, there will be additional security by using a dynamic security code, replacing the static data on the magnetic strip of a typical card. The one-time codes eliminate the need for merchants to receive sensitive customer account information. That makes the system less susceptible to fraud and hacker attacks. Visa, MasterCard and AmEx previously introduced industry standards for implementing the technology. Bottom Line The Mobile Payment system is a very exciting and lucrative method and companies are intensively competing in to win over consumers. While this new method may win over consumers, this approach is a two way street where merchants also have to participate. We will have to wait and see if merchants and retailers decide to adopt mobile payments by overturning brick and mortar sales and retailers pushing mobile payments in stores. The dollar value of the mobile payment sector for Apple is not clear today, but mobile wallet providers could make it more attractive for merchants and customers in the future. Apple is hoping to be a main driver in this “sector” in a state where consumers are still searching how to even use the payment method. We currently have Apple as a Zacks Rank #3 (hold), but investors should definitely keep an eye out for this stock as the holidays are right around the corner, and Apple could be in focus soon once more. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days . Click to get this free report >> Read the analyst report on AAPL Read the analyst report on EBAY Read the analyst report on AXP Read the analyst report on V Read the analyst report on MA Zacks Investment Research View comments

2014-09-11 13:23:43+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [37, 247, 687, 884, 1093, 1496, 1796, 1951, 2091, 2197, 2391]}

{"Bitcoin": [21]}

Bank of England sees Bitcoin fraud risk, deflation danger

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bank-england-sees-bitcoin-fraud-132343890.html

Reuters

http://www.reuters.com/

By David Milliken LONDON (Reuters) - Bitcoin and similar digital currencies may be at increasing risk of fraud and could damage Britain's economy if they find widespread use, the Bank of England said on Thursday. The BoE said the finite supply of Bitcoins - which are traded between users outside the banking system, and used to buy goods ranging from pizzas to PCs - meant that an economy where they formed the main currency would be at risk of deflation. The supply of currencies such as sterling or the U.S. dollar is partly controlled by central banks, which aim to keep the amount of currency in circulation in line with the value of goods and services produced in the economy. But Bitcoin, which was introduced in 2009 and has more than 1 million users world wide, is designed to have an upper limit of 21 million coins, and more than 13 million are already in circulation. One Bitcoin is worth about $474, but its value has ranged from $363.12 to $919.24 so far this year. Unpredictable exchange rates and the prospect of rising transaction costs might limit the widespread adoption of Bitcoin and similar currencies, but a more fundamental problem was the fixed supply, the BoE said. "The inability of the money supply to vary in response to demand would likely cause greater volatility in prices and real activity," the BoE said. Demand for conventional currencies varies for a number of reasons, ranging from Christmas holidays to recessions to technological change. Some supporters of Bitcoin view the fixed supply as an advantage, because it stops governments or central banks from altering the currency supply to achieve political or economic goals. The BoE created 375 billion pounds ($610 billion) of currency between 2009 and 2012 to buy government bonds and support the economy. Bitcoin can also offer far more anonymity than standard banking systems, making it a popular choice for making illicit deals on the Internet. The BoE said Bitcoin did not pose a threat to British financial stability at present. It estimated no more than 20,000 people in Britain had significant Bitcoin holdings, with fewer than 300 transactions a day nationwide. Story continues Around 60 percent of Bitcoin trading is against the Chinese yuan, 32 percent is against the dollar and 3 percent against the euro, the BoE said. The central bank did see promise in some of the technology underlying Bitcoin's decentralized payments system, which could be more robust than electronic systems that rely on a handful of banks verifying transactions. However, this hinged on digital currencies finding a way to retain enough users, known as "miners", to independently verify transactions while keeping transaction costs low enough to compete with banks. "A significant risk to digital currencies' sustained use (is) that they will not be able to compete on cost without degenerating ... to a monopoly miner, thereby ... exposing them to risk of system-wide fraud," the BoE said. ($1 = 0.6150 British Pounds) (Editing by Larry King)

2014-09-11 14:14:04+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [1991, 3001], "BTC": [49]}

{"Bitcoin": [17]}

Bank of England: Bitcoin could transform stock markets

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bank-england-bitcoin-could-transform-115247814.html

CNBC

http://www.cnbc.com/

The technology behind digital currency bitcoin (:BTC=) could have far-reaching implications and the potential to reshape the financial industry, according to a new report by the Bank of England (BoE). The reason for the BoE's excitement? Virtual currencies - most notably bitcoin - have at their heart a publicly distributed ledger system called the "block chain" that makes sure all transactions are verified in a transparent, decentralized and secure fashion without imposing hefty transaction fees. This system is a "genuine technological innovation", according to a new report by the U.K.'s central bank, which details the negative and positive aspects of cryptocurrencies. "The key innovation of digital currencies is the 'distributed ledger' technology that allows a payment system to operate in an entirely decentralized way, with no intermediaries such as banks," the BoE's quarterly report, released on Thursday afternoon, said. Read More How bitcoin really changed the world The BoE went on to say that the ledger system is a fundamental change in how payment systems can be made to work, demonstrates that digital records can be held securely without any central authority and has the potential to develop further. A ledger for stocks? The BoE says that, since the majority of financial assets such as shares or bonds already exist only as digital records, distributed ledgers could possibly transform the financial system. "It may be possible in the future - in theory, at least - for the existing infrastructure of the financial system to be gradually replaced by a variety of distributed systems," the BoE said, although it made no predictions that this would happen. Read More What is bitcoin? "This development could allow any type of financial asset, for example shares in a company, to be recorded on a distributed ledger. Distributed ledger technology could also be applied to physical assets where no centralized register exists, such as gold or silver." Regulation eyed Bitcoin is the most popular of the "virtual" currencies which allow users to exchange online credits for goods and services. While there is no central bank that issues them, bitcoins can be created online by using a computer to complete difficult tasks, a process known as mining. Some 13 million bitcoins are believed to be in circulation, with a cap of 21 million - meaning no more bitcoins can be created after that point. Read More London aims to become a bitcoin hub In New York, regulators are currently weighing up a raft of new rules to regulate bitcoin and other virtual currencies. In China, the central bank has been busy warning people of the risks associated with holding bitcoin and online exchanges have been hit with a number of regulatory issues. Story continues Meanwhile, in the U.K., the government has shown encouraging signs that it is willing to embrace the industry and the Bank of England's report on Thursday marks a major new piece of research into the world of digital currencies. 'Bitcoinized' The BoE concludes that digital currencies do not currently pose a material risk to monetary or financial stability in the UK., given the small size of such schemes, but poses a series of hypothetical risks that it could have in the future. Among these risks, it says that the price of digital currencies can be very volatile and that a price crash is not inconceivable. If marked increases in prices do occur, it said that it would be possible that a crash might have implications for U.K. financial stability, it said, especially with unhedged exposures by important financial institutions and if investors became leveraged via derivative contracts. It also warned on the possibility of system-wide fraud with the potential for a single miner, or coalition of miners, to come under control of which payments were permitted. Additionally, it believes that if digital payments become more popular within a small group of the population then it could lead to economic fragmentation and affect the Bank's ability to influence demand with monetary policy. Read More Is Apple Pay a bitcoin killer? It also notes a situation it dubs "bitcoinized", where every member of the population conducting the totality of their day-to-day transactions entirely within the alternative currency, meaning the central bank's ability to influence price-setting and real activity would be "severely impaired." "Such an outcome is extremely unlikely given the current impediments to the widespread adoption of current digital currency schemes imposed by their designs," it said, adding that it believes transaction fees for bitcoin would eventually need to rise significantly, as usage increases. "It is much more likely that, if further adopted, digital currencies will be used in a limited fashion alongside traditional currencies," it concluded. View comments

2014-09-11 14:56:09+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [167, 449, 849, 1911, 2861]}

{"Bitcoin": [40]}

The Bank Of England Just Said It Thinks Bitcoin Could Be Huge

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bank-england-just-said-thinks-145609892.html

Business Insider

http://www.businessinsider.com/

Bank of England Jim Edwards The Bank of England in London. The Bank of England has devoted two papers to the rise of digital currencies. It's another demonstration of Bitcoin's transformation from niche cyber-libertarian intrigue to a subject of mainstream interest. More significantly, the Bank suggests that the key innovation is not the digital currency itself — which is subject to wild fluctuations — but the "distributed ledger," which tracks Bitcoin transactions. That ledger has the potential to revolutionize the financial system, the bank argues. Although there has been a great deal of innovation and new technology in payment systems, the Bank says " the basic structure of centralised payment systems has remained unchanged." At the core of the system is a central ledger (usually a central bank) that records and settles transactions. Bitcoin, and other digital currencies, works on a completely different decentralized model. Instead of a central ledger digital (crypto)currencies operate with a publicly visible ledger, with copies shared between all participants. The advantage of this system is that it avoids the problem of people spending the same money multiple times without having to have centralized monitoring of the process. Or as the Bank puts it: Since anybody can check any proposed transaction against the ledger, this approach removes the need for a central authority and thus for participants to have confidence in the integrity of any single entity . This removes two key risks of a centralized system — credit risk and liquidity risk. Credit risk arises where one of the banks in a system goes bust, leaving unpaid debts to other institutions in the system. Liquidity risk comes about when a firm is fundamentally sound (it has the necessary assets to pay off its debts) but at a particular time it is unable to convert those assets to cash in order to meet its debt payments. Bitcoin Bank of England With a distributed system payments pass directly between users. The decentralized system should be resilient to these problems as at any given time there should be as many "redundant backups" (non-active contributors) as there are current contributors to the network. As such there should be far fewer choke points that lead to a system-wide problem. But the exciting part of this is that this technology could have implications far beyond payment systems alone. The Bank provides some fascinating hints for just how wide the applications of this could be (emphasis mine): The majority of financial assets — such as loans, bonds, stocks and derivatives — now exist only in electronic form, meaning that the financial system itself is already simply a set of digital records ... This development could allow any type of financial asset, for example shares in a company, to be recorded on a distributed ledger . Story continues Bitcoin may only be temporary phenomenon but the technology that underpins it may soon become ubiquitous. According to the Bank, it could mark "a first attempt at an 'internet of finance.'" More From Business Insider The 10 Most Important Things In The World Right Now BOEING: China Will Need $870 Billion Worth Of Planes Through 2034 Homeless-Man-Turned-Billionaire Shares The Secret To The American Dream Here's A Look At The Finger-Vein Scanner Barclays Is Going To Use On Its Customers The 10 Most Important Things In The World Right Now View comments

2014-09-11 17:20:02+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [123, 265, 467, 762, 1367, 1529, 1714]}

{"Bitcoin": [42]}

eBay Expands Mobile Payment Business with Bitcoin Payment

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ebay-expands-mobile-payment-business-172002702.html

Zacks

http://www.zacks.com/

E-Commerce service provider eBay Inc. ( EBAY ) recently announced that its digital payment arm PayPal will start accepting Bitcoin payments in the coming months. Reportedly, Braintree, a mobile payment processing company has partnered with Coinbase — a third-party Bitcoin payment processor — to integrate the virtual currency within its cash to help businesses set up online payments through merchant accounts, mobile apps, credit card storage and payment gateways. Bitcoin is a digital currency platform with no central regulating authority involved in the transactions which are carried out directly between the involved parties. It is also called crypto currency because it utilizes military-grade cryptography to protect users against fraud. Payments using Bitcoin can be made via different smartphone apps or their online versions. This is generally used for transferring funds electronically and does not require a credit card or PIN. Last year, eBay acquired Braintree for $800 million in cash in a bid to enhance PayPal's mobile payments capabilities. Braintree helps businesses set up online payments through merchant accounts, mobile apps, credit card storage and payment gateways. Its payment platform is used by many online and mobile startups, including Uber, Airbnb, Rovio, TaskRabbit, LivingSocial and OpenTable. This could be a big move by PayPal as Bitcoin enjoys wide acceptance and enormous popularity. According to a website tracking the digital money’s use, CoinDesk, approximately 63,000 businesses handle Bitcoins and have set up more than 5 million digital wallets to keep their holdings. Recently, Expedia ( EXPE ) announced that it will allow users to pay for hotel accommodations using Bitcoins. PayPal is taking all the necessary measures to enhance the mobile payment business. It is pushing beyond its online payments service and expanding the offline, mobile and online offerings to stores, restaurants and other businesses. Though eBay’s payment business shows great promise, competition remains a major headwind. However, the latest move could position PayPal better against rival mobile payment systems such as Amazon.com Inc.’s ( AMZN ) recently launched Amazon Payments, Intuit Inc.'s ( INTU ) GoPayment and Starbucks-backed Square Inc. and others. Currently, eBay’s shares carry a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Read the Full Research Report on EXPE Read the Full Research Report on AMZN Read the Full Research Report on EBAY Read the Full Research Report on INTU Zacks Investment Research

2014-09-12 03:06:16+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [1601]}

{}

What VC legend Peter Thiel thinks of Edward Snowden, net neutrality and bitcoin

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/vc-legend-peter-thiel-thinks-030616618.html

Gigaom

http://gigaom.com/

Even in a technology landscape that features Mark Zuckerberg and the founders of Google, venture capitalist Peter Thiel stands out — not just because he was the first investor in Facebook and made close to $1 billion from that investment alone, but because he is also an avowed libertarian who advocates building autonomous countries that float on the ocean , among other things. The Founders Fund partner did one of Reddit’s trademark “Ask Me Anything” interviews on Thursday and in his usual fashion didn’t hold back from sharing his opinions: On Edward Snowden and his revelations about the NSA: “I think Snowden revealed something that looks more like the Keystone Kops and very little like James Bond… more generally: the NSA has been hovering up all the data in the world, because it has no clue what it is doing. ‘Big data’ really means ‘dumb data.'” On whether he considers Snowden a traitor, as fellow VC Marc Andreessen does : “I think Andreessen is half-right: Snowden is both a hero and a traitor. It is really unfortunate that there were no internal checks in our system, and so it took something like Snowden breaking all the rules for us to have a serious discussion about the NSA.” On net neutrality: “We’ve had these debates about net neutrality for over 15 years. It hasn’t been necessary so far, and I’m not sure anything has changed to make it necessary right now. And I don’t like government regulation: We need the US government to regulate the internet about as much as we need the EU to regulate Google — I suspect the cons greatly outweigh the pros.” On bitcoin’s potential: “Bitcoin seems to have created a new currency (at least on the level of speculation), but the payment system is badly lacking. I will become more bullish on bitcoin when I see the payment volume of bitcoin really increase.” On whether the movie The Social Network was realistic: “The zero-sum world it portrayed has nothing in common with the Silicon Valley I know, but I suspect it’s a pretty accurate portrayal of the dysfunctional relationships that dominate Hollywood.” Story continues On his Thiel Fellowships , which pay young students to drop out of college and start companies: “The 83 fellows have collectively raised $63 million, and a number of their companies are tracking towards solid Series B venture rounds. Almost all of them did and learned far more than they would have in college.” On what he sees as his biggest mistake ever: “Biggest mistake ever was not to do the Series B round at Facebook. General lesson: Whenever a tech startup has a strong up round led by a top tier investor… it is generally still undervalued. The steeper the up round, the greater the undervaluation.” Post and thumbnail images courtesy of Founders Fund Image copyright Founders Fund . More From paidContent.org How Silicon Valley spends its money on Capitol Hill

2014-09-12 12:00:00+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [550, 641]}

{}

Michael Miller From Que Publishing and Mike Todd From Ergotron to Be Featured on Let's Talk Computers (R)

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/michael-miller-que-publishing-mike-120000292.html

Marketwired

http://www.marketwired.com/

NASHVILLE, TN--(Marketwired - Sep 12, 2014) - Guests from Que Publishing and Ergotron will appear on radio talk show Let's Talk Computers. Que Publishing, world's largest education publisher, is a Pearson ( NYSE : PSO ) company. Ergotron, a global manufacturer of leading digital display mounting, furniture, and mobility products for computer monitors, notebooks, tablets, flat panel displays and TVs. Michael Miller, Let's Talk Computers Industry Analyst and Author of "The Absolute Beginners Guide to Computers Basics," and "The Ultimate Guide to Bitcoins," coming out this fall, continues our series on everything you want to know about Bitcoins and other Cryptocurrencies. Mike Todd, Sr. Territory Manager with Ergotron and owner of Systems Plus talks about how a good quality sit-stand environment can keep you healthier, as well as provide better comfort while using a computer system. To find out more about How a Sit-Stand Computer Environment can be a Healthier Environment for all and to read a complete transcript of this interview go to: http://www.lets-talk-computers.com/guests/ergotron/healthy_benefits_sit-stand_environment_a/transcript_healthy_benefits_sit-stand_environment_a.htm Listen to the interviews at: Que Publishing http://www.lets-talk-computers.com/guests/que/bitcoins_cryptocurrencies_b Ergotron http://www.lets-talk-computers.com/guests/ergotron/healthy_benefits_sit-stand_environment_a ABOUT LET'S TALK COMPUTERS Let's Talk Computers, http://www.lets-talk-computers.com , ranks as one of the longest-running computer radio talk shows on the air since 1989. Produced in Nashville, Tennessee, and is broadcast via radio and to colleges and universities everywhere and on the Internet where any interviews can be heard anytime. New shows are uploaded in NetShow formats by Friday, 12:00 PM Central -- radio broadcasts begin airing the following day. Past interview segments are also available on the website. To assist in evaluating both hardware and software under genuine working conditions, Let's Talk Computers utilizes the expertise and facilities of Total Solutions Intl. http://www.total-solutions.net Support our Sponsors: Nexus Group Inc. -- http://www.nxs.net -- The largest independent ISP in Tennessee, serving 87 counties, 3,000 businesses, 900,000 Public School Students, 65,000 Public School Teachers. Let's Talk Computers is a trademark of the Let's Talk Computers Tennessee partnership. Any use of this trademark without written authorization is strictly forbidden and a violation of state and federal law.

2014-09-12 14:58:36+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [293, 387, 626, 1566, 1600, 1913, 2086, 2146, 2402, 2698, 3169, 3915, 3932]}

{"Bitcoin": [39]}

BitAngels and CoinAgenda to Hold First Bitcoin Investor Conference in Las Vegas, Oct. 7-9

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bitangels-coinagenda-hold-first-bitcoin-145836731.html

Marketwired

http://www.marketwired.com/

LAS VEGAS, NV--(Marketwired - Sep 12, 2014) - CoinAgenda ( www.coinagenda.com ) will debut the first conference dedicated exclusively to bitcoin and cryptocurrency investors. The upscale event will be held at the Palms Casino and Resort, Las Vegas, Oct. 7-9. With two other nationally focused Bitcoin events taking place in Las Vegas that week, the second week of October will truly be "Bitcoin Week Las Vegas." CoinAgenda will comprise two events in one: a high-end conference for accredited and sophisticated investors seeking the latest knowledge and trends in bitcoin investing (taught by some of the biggest names in the Bitcoin industry), and a concurrent event sponsored by BitAngels ( www.bitangels.co ), the world's largest angel network for investing in bitcoin companies, which will be focused on investment in bitcoin and cryptocurrency companies, as well as serve as the first global conference for the 500-person angel group. Twenty bitcoin startups will be selected on merit to attend the BitAngels conference and present at no cost to both CoinAgenda attendees and BitAngels members in joint sessions, and another 10 ramp-up companies may purchase presentation sponsorships to demo their products at a sharp discount over the standard sponsorships. Startups should submit their presentations to [email protected] by September 29. The winning companies, who will also receive two free tickets to the BitAngels conference, will be announced October 1. Speakers include economic futurist and author George Gilder ( Wealth and Poverty , Telecosm , Bitcoin and Gold ); Brock Pierce, Bitcoin Foundation board member and one of the most active investors in the bitcoin space; Matt Roszak, managing director of Chicago-based fund, Tally Partners, which invests in both the currency and in companies; Steven Waterhouse, managing partner at Pantera Capital, one of the leading investment firms in the Bitcoin sector; Jesse Powell, founder/CEO of leading global bitcoin exchange, Kraken; William Quigley, managing director, Clearstone Venture Partners; Charles Allen, CEO of BitcoinShop, the only publicly traded US company focused on Bitcoin; and Harry Yeh, managing partner of cryptocurrency trading firm, Binary Financial. Story continues Other speakers include Jordan Kelley, CEO of Las Vegas-based bitcoin ATM pioneer, Robocoin; Nick Sullivan, founder of Changetip and a partner in the Bitcoin Syndicate; Ryan Singer, co-founder of early bitcoin exchange, Tradehill; Brian Santos, founder/CEO of bitcoin financial services firm, eSpend; David Johnston, managing director, Decentralized Applications Fund; Jeremy Kandah, founder of Team Blockchain; and David Smith, market maven for Bitcoin Bulls. About 40 speakers will present across the two and a half days of the conference. BitAngels will hold a concurrent event ( www.coinagenda.com/bitangels ) focusing on startups and early-stage investments, as well as social events for the 500-person global network. CoinAgenda attendees will have full access to all BitAngels sessions and events. CoinAgenda was created by Michael Terpin, chairman/co-founder of BitAngels. Terpin is also a popular speaker on Bitcoins at conferences globally and an established thought leader in the bitcoin investing sector. CoinAgenda begins with a joint BitAngels/CoinAgenda party on Tuesday night, October 7, at 7 pm in the famed two-story suite originally designed for Hugh Hefner with an indoor/outdoor swimming pool overlooking the Las Vegas Strip high atop the Palms Fantasy Tower. Attendance is limited to 400 people, and is included with participation in either the BitAngels or CoinAgenda conferences. The main CoinAgenda conference features two days of keynotes and specialized sessions across two tracks (cryptocurrency investment, including bitcoins, altcoins and mining; and company investment, including presentations by 20 companies, as well as tracks on Bitcoin ATMs and Bitcoin 2.0). The conference will include meals and cocktail parties throughout the event, including a special dinner on Wednesday night at the former Mike Tyson mansion made famous in the movie, The Hangover . CoinAgenda tickets are now available for $1,500 and include all of the elements above, including the Mike Tyson dinner and all meals and drinks for two and a half days (on-site price is $2,195). BitAngels conference tickets are $297.50 (on-site price is $425), which includes admission to the company investing tracks and startup presentations and does not include the hospitality package, other than admission to the opening party. For more information on speaking, sponsoring or attending either conference, please contact [email protected] .

2014-09-12 20:35:00+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [46, 84, 705, 1082, 1102, 1752, 1963]}

{"Bitcoin": [0]}

Bitcoin Shop Appoints Current CEO, Charles Allen, as Executive Chairman of the Board

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bitcoin-shop-appoints-current-ceo-203500990.html

Marketwired

http://www.marketwired.com/

ARLINGTON, VA--(Marketwired - Sep 12, 2014) - Bitcoin Shop, Inc. ( OTCQB : BTCS ) ("Bitcoin Shop" or the "Company"), operator of the digital currency ecommerce marketplace www.bitcoinshop.us , today announced the appointment of current Chief Executive Officer, Charles Allen, as Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors, effective September 11, 2014. Charles Allen commented, "The Board of Directors believes that at the current stage of the Company's progression, operations will be streamlined in a more efficient manner if the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer roles are combined. This is a very exciting time for the digital currency industry as a whole and more specifically the opportunities Bitcoin Shop is being presented with to contribute to this burgeoning industry." In order to have more time to focus on software development, Timothy Sidie is stepping down from the Board of Directors and as an officer. Timothy and the Board of Directors were in mutual agreement that his time is best suited focused on leading the technology development of the Company. About Bitcoin Shop, Inc.: Bitcoin Shop, Inc. operates an ecommerce website ( www.bitcoinshop.us ) where consumers can purchase products using digital currency such as bitcoin, litecoin and dogecoin, by searching through a selection of over 400 categories and over 140,000 items. All orders are originated by the customers through our website and are fulfilled by third party vendors. We also plan to evaluate other strategic Digital Currency opportunities as well as technologies that are complementary to our business strategy. This will include evaluating opportunities that cross market our ecommerce site, diversify our revenue streams and provide on-ramps for new users. Bitcoin, litecoin and dogecoin are digital currencies that use peer-to-peer networks to facilitate instant payments. They are all categorized as cryptocurrencies, as they use cryptography as a security measure. Bitcoin, litecoin and dogecoin issuances and transactions are carried out collectively by the network, with no central authority, and allow users to make verified transfers. Forward Looking Statements: Certain statements in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Words such as "may," "might," "will," "should," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "continue," "predict," "forecast," "project," "plan," "intend" or similar expressions, or statements regarding intent, belief, or current expectations, are forward-looking statements. While the Company believes these forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on any such forward-looking statements, which are based on information available to us on the date of this release. These forward looking statements are based upon current estimates and assumptions and are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including without limitation those set forth in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, not limited to Risk Factors relating to its digital currency business contained therein. Thus, actual results could be materially different. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation to update or alter statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

2014-09-15 17:10:02+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [1198, 1275, 1438]}

{}

eBay Sees Temporary Gain on Rumored Stake Buy by Google

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ebay-sees-temporary-gain-rumored-171002956.html

Zacks

http://www.zacks.com/

E-Commerce service provider eBay Inc. ’s ( EBAY ) shares rose 2.98% to settle at $52.75 following rumors that Google ( GOOGL ) might buy stake in the company. However, eBay soon stated that no such conversation had taken place with the technology giant, making the shares lose much of its Friday gains. The news came on the heels of the announcement made by Apple ( AAPL ) about its new mobile payment service ‘Apple Pay’. This announcement led to a drop in eBay’s share price as many investors are considering Apple Pay to be a direct competitor to PayPal. PayPal, acquired in 2002 for $1.5 billion, remains one of eBay’s most lucrative divisions. Since its acquisition, PayPal has become the giant marketplace’s growth engine and the primary reason behind investors holding eBay shares. Increased preference among customers for online shopping has led to a proportionate rise in, the use of this online payment service. Thus, PayPal accounts for a large percentage of eBay’s total revenue. Though the competition is intensifying in the mobile payment space, eBay is leaving no stone unturned to enhance its mobile payment business. The company recently announced that PayPal will start accepting Bitcoin payments in the coming months. This could be a big move by PayPal as Bitcoin enjoys wide acceptance and enormous popularity. With more users resorting to PayPal for various transactions, growth prospects appears bright. As PayPal’s Bitcoin payment system takes off, it is expected to give it a competitive advantage over other companies, like Square, that have established their presence in this space. eBay has a market capitalization valued at $69.45 billion and generates annual revenue of about $17.05 billion. The company is expected to generate higher revenues backed by its solid business plan, going ahead. Currently, eBay carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Another stock that has been performing well is Mercadolibre, Inc. ( MELI ), sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). Read the Full Research Report on AAPL Read the Full Research Report on EBAY Read the Full Research Report on MELI Read the Full Research Report on GOOGL Zacks Investment Research

2014-09-16 11:00:00+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [46, 599, 619, 782, 1780]}

{"Bitcoin": [0]}

Bitcoin Brands to Expand ATM Roll Out to New Hampshire

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bitcoin-brands-expand-atm-roll-110000418.html

Marketwired

http://www.marketwired.com/

ANN ARBOR, MI--(Marketwired - Sep 16, 2014) - Bitcoin Brands Inc ( PINKSHEETS : CEHC ) today announced that it expects to offer bitcoin sales via ATMs in the State of New Hampshire. The company received a favorable "No Action" request from the State of New Hampshire Banking Department. A copy of the letter is available on the company's blog located at www.cephasbtc.tumblr.com . "We are pleased to have the opportunity to bring bitcoin ATMs to New Hampshire. It is a win for our company, the bitcoin community and most importantly for the people of New Hampshire," added Peter Klamka President of Bitcoin Brands Inc. Bitcoin Brands presently has bitcoin ATMs in Michigan and Montreal. The company is completing placements in additional Michigan locations as well as in Las Vegas. Bitcoin Brands is targeting Nashua and Manchester for the initial ATM locations. The company's plan is to become the leading publicly traded operator of automated bitcoin vending solutions. Forward Looking Statements This news release includes forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. While these statements are made to convey Company progress, business opportunities and growth prospects, readers are cautioned that such forward-looking statements represent management's opinion. Whereas management believes such representations to be true and accurate based on information and data available to the Company at this time, actual results may differ materially and are subject to risk and uncertainties. Factors that may cause actual results to differ include without limitation: dependence on key personnel and suppliers; changing regulations, ability to fund growth of equipment; material and component costs; Bitcoin prices, ability to find suitable locations for ATMs, competition; economic conditions; and consumer demand. Additional considerations and risk factors are set forth in reports filed with the SEC and other filings. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon these forward-looking statements; historical information is not an indicator of future performance. The Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements

2014-09-17 11:55:00+00:00

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Gem Raises $2M to Empower the Next Wave of Developers With Simple Yet Secure Bitcoin Platform

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/gem-raises-2m-empower-next-115500173.html

Marketwired

http://www.marketwired.com/

VENICE, CA--(Marketwired - Sep 17, 2014) - Gem ( https://gem.co/ ), a Venice-based Bitcoin startup, today announced the completion of a $2 million seed round of funding to accelerate the growth of its recently launched full-stack API that provides developers with a complete solution, eliminating the pain of building Bitcoin security infrastructure into their apps. The seed funding round was led by First Round Capital and Tekton Ventures. Other investors are comprised of a strategically wide range of connected global contributors, from early stage investors and Bitcoin companies to traditional venture funds. They include: RRE Ventures, MESA+, Amplify.LA, Birchmere Labs, Idealab, ECEG, Partners, Baroda Ventures, Wavemaker Labs, Bitcoin Shop, Inc. ( OTCQB : BTCS ), Crypto Currency Partners, QED Associates, and Angel investor James Joaquin. "Gem's approach to the Bitcoin world, building a previously non-existent security platform for developers and others to integrate into any solution, was game-changing to us for the industry. We really feel they are positioned to become a leader as Bitcoin disrupts banking and payments," said Howard Morgan, Partner at First Round Capital, who co-led the round for Gem. "The secure solution Gem has built is the sort of disruptive innovation that has been lacking in the payments industry for a long time now," added Jim Robinson, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at RRE Ventures. "And now we've added Ken to the team, a guy who was one of the original pioneers for making our credit cards safe to use online. This is a team with strong security chops building key Bitcoin infrastructure." Recently launched in private beta at TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2014, Gem offers a simple, yet powerful platform for securing Bitcoin and other digital currencies. "We're excited to get significant early-stage funding to expand and become the all-in-one platform to develop Bitcoin apps, as we've received tremendous feedback from Bitcoin developers since our launch, from just emerging companies and developers building on their ideas to the industry's more successful services," said Micah Winkelspecht, CEO and Founder of Gem. "There are currently over 16,500 Bitcoin apps in development on GitHub. Our goal is to help every developer focus on their overall product vision and user experience, without the need for expertise in cryptography, security and the underlying Bitcoin protocol." Story continues Winkelspecht added: "Each investor has contributed not just their capital and vast network access, but also deep strategic advice. With this funding, our team is well-positioned to continue building the world's most highly scalable and security-focused API, and continue to add key talent to the team." "The potential for an all-in-one Bitcoin development platform and the rise of new and exciting Bitcoin apps opens the door to new, innovative ways of managing not only Bitcoin funds securely, but eventually any digital asset, and that was a technical and financial services revolution I wanted to help drive," said Ken Miller, newly-appointed COO of Gem. For Gem's first live demo at TechCrunch Disrupt, the team developed a robust, market-ready Android wallet through their own API in just a few weeks' time. "The future success of the Bitcoin ecosystem absolutely depends on developers," added Miller. "Gem's platform will allow them to drive mainstream user adoption of Bitcoin with the next generation of great apps, using a highly secure solution from us that requires literally less than ten lines of code. It's going to change the game." Jai Choi, Founder and Managing Director at Tekton Ventures was an early supporter of Gem and a co-lead of the recently closed round. "We saw in Gem the elusive combination of an industry ripe for disruption, a tremendous vision, and a truly special team. We're thrilled to be involved and watch their success." For more information about Gem, please visit: http://www.gem.co Twitter: @GemHQ Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/gemhq LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gem-hq Instagram: @GemHQ About Gem Gem, formerly BitVault, is a simple and secure platform for storing Bitcoin and other digital currencies. Founded by Micah Winkelspecht in 2014, Gem allows developers to build feature-rich applications in minutes using only a few lines of code. Gem's product has revolutionized Bitcoin technology by providing full stack, bank level security for any developer to integrate into their Bitcoin applications. Gem is based in Venice, CA.

2014-09-17 13:25:00+00:00

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Bitcoin Shop Announces Previous Strategic Investment in Cloud Wallet Storage Service, Gem

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bitcoin-shop-announces-previous-strategic-132500274.html

Marketwired

http://www.marketwired.com/

ARLINGTON, VA--(Marketwired - Sep 17, 2014) - Bitcoin Shop, Inc. ( OTCQB : BTCS ) ("Bitcoin Shop" or the "Company"), operator of the digital currency ecommerce marketplace www.bitcoinshop.us , today announced that BitVault, Inc., which operates the Gem platform had completed the Techcrunch disrupt competition and thereupon consented to announcement by the Company of its prior strategic investment on May 9, 2014 of $50,000. The $2 million seed financing round was led by venture capital firms, including: First Round Capital, Tekton Ventures, RRE Ventures, MESA+, Amplify.LA, Birchmere Labs, Idealab, ECEG Partners, Baroda Ventures, Wavemaker Labs, Crypto Currency Partners, QED Associates, and James Joaquin. Bitcoin Shop was the only strategic investor that participated in the transaction. Charles Allen, Chief Executive Officer, stated, "Our investment in Gem is core to our strategic initiative to align ourselves with synergistic elements within the digital currency industry. Gem offers a white-label wallet, accessible through the cloud. By integrating Gem into our platform, we will be able to offer our customers a user experience with enhanced protection. This investment supports our strategy to become a universal gateway for users to access the digital currency ecosystem and its growing set of products and services. We look forward to working with Gem's CEO, Micah Winkelspecht, and his team going forward." Gem ( https://gem.co ) is a cloud-based wallet utilizing the latest features found in t advanced Bitcoin wallets, including deterministic addresses and multi-signature transactions. The organized wallets are fully structured with accounts and payees, just like a regular bank account, but with more flexibility. With the wallet stored in the cloud, funds are available anytime, anywhere in the world. The wallets are secured with high-level encryption and protection to prevent unauthorized spending. Further, Winkelspecht recently participated in TechCrunch's Disrupt 2014 conference, and more information can be found here: http://techcrunch.com/2014/09/08/gem-is-a-bitcoin-api-to-seamlessly-build-bitcoin-services-with-bank-grade-security/ Story continues Winkelspecht commented, "I want to thank Bitcoin Shop for its investment and belief in our vision for Gem and the entire digital currency industry. We look forward to integrating our technology into the Bitcoin Shop platform." About Bitcoin Shop, Inc.: Bitcoin Shop, Inc. operates an ecommerce website ( www.bitcoinshop.us ) where consumers can purchase products using digital currency such as bitcoin, litecoin and dogecoin, by searching through a selection of over 400 categories and over 140,000 items. All orders are originated by the customers through our website and are fulfilled by third party vendors. We also plan to evaluate other strategic Digital Currency opportunities as well as technologies that are complementary to our business strategy. This will include evaluating opportunities that cross market our ecommerce site, diversify our revenue streams and provide on-ramps for new users. Bitcoin, litecoin and dogecoin are digital currencies that use peer-to-peer networks to facilitate instant payments. They are all categorized as cryptocurrencies, as they use cryptography as a security measure. Bitcoin, litecoin and dogecoin issuances and transactions are carried out collectively by the network, with no central authority, and allow users to make verified transfers. Forward-Looking Statements: Certain statements in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Words such as "may," "might," "will," "should," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "continue," "predict," "forecast," "project," "plan," "intend" or similar expressions, or statements regarding intent, belief, or current expectations, are forward-looking statements. While the Company believes these forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on any such forward-looking statements, which are based on information available to us on the date of this release. These forward looking statements are based upon current estimates and assumptions and are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including without limitation those set forth in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, not limited to Risk Factors relating to its digital currency business contained therein. Thus, actual results could be materially different. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation to update or alter statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

2014-09-17 18:00:55+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [3532]}

{}

BitTorrent opens up Bleep alpha, releases Android and Mac apps for private text and voice chat

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bittorrent-opens-bleep-alpha-releases-180055394.html

Gigaom

http://gigaom.com/

BitTorrent took the next step towards turning its secure messaging client Bleep into a real product: The company opened up the alpha test of Bleep on Wednesday , and released it as an app for OS X and Android. BitTorrent also updated the existing Windows client with a bunch of new features, getting closer to a point where Bleep could one day replace traditional instant messaging services and possibly even phone calls. Bleep is BitTorrent ’s attempt to offer a secure messaging service that not only offers end-to-end encryption, but also makes it a lot harder to find out which users are communicating with each other. It’s in part a response to the Snowden revelations about the NSA’s snooping, which involved large-scale metadata analysis to track the phone calls of millions of Americans and many more around the world. Here is how Bleep wants to avoid this kind of surveillance: BitTorrent doesn’t actually require users to sign up for Bleep. Instead, you can just launch a Bleep app and generate a private and public key combination, used to encrypt all of your communication. Users can then exchange their public keys directly, without BitTorrent ever having any record of them using the service. However, while this may be great if you are very security-conscious, or just plain paranoid, it doesn’t make for a great user experience. The advantages of a centrally managed instant messaging service, or even the traditional phone system, is that it provides some way to look up new users. To facilitate this, Bleep offers users an option to register with either their phone number or an email address, which can then be used by others for discovery. But BitTorrent’s servers only facilitate this first contact. Finding and connecting to known contacts on the network is done through a distributed hash table, DHT for short, which is the same technology that is also being used by BitTorrent’s file sharing client to find other users who are sharing the same file. In fact, the company has been tweaking the DHT it uses for its BitTorrent and uTorrent clients to eventually also connect to Bleep. Here’s BitTorrent’s Senior Director of Product Development Farid Fadaie explaining the rationale behind this move: It is important to mention that the number of nodes that are participating in the DHT directly affects users’ privacy. As you can imagine, if only few nodes are participating in the network, it’s easy to inject more nodes into that network and collect some information that might lead to the leakage of metadata. Bleep will eventually use the same DHT network as uTorrent, which has millions of active nodes already. In other words, using an already established network allows us to offer Bleep as a private messaging app to even our first few users, eliminating that chicken-and-egg problem. Story continues Bleep is still very much an alpha product, and some of the shortcomings include the fact that you won’t be able to send anyone a message if they’re not online at the same time. Messages are also not persistent across devices, and there seems to be some issue with regards to data usage, which is why BitTorrent suggests to only use the Bleep Android app on Wi-Fi for the time being. Still, the addition of mobile and OS X apps shows that BiTorrent has big plans for Bleep, and the open alpha test should help to get the service ready for what’s next. Image copyright Kostenko Maxim / Shutterstock.com . Related research and analysis from Gigaom Research: Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial . Bitcoin: why digital currency is the future financial system Sector RoadMap: Content personalization in 2013 Consumer products will drive enterprise breakthroughs More From paidContent.org BitTorrent opens up Bleep alpha, releases Android and Mac apps for private text and voice chat View comments

2014-09-18 09:16:00+00:00

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{"Bitcoin": [0]}

BitcoinDark’s Collaborative Network SuperNET Bringing Together Cryptocurrencies Worldwide

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bitcoindark-collaborative-network-supernet-bringing-091600138.html

ACCESSWIRE

https://www.accesswire.com/

BitcoinDark prepares to share their cutting-edge technology with other dev teams when launching collaborative network SuperNET. Over 3500 Bitcoin has been raised for the SuperNet ICO so far NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / September 18th, 2014 / Proof of Stake cryptocurrency BitcoinDark enters the Bitcoin arena with unique technical advancements such as the teleportation system with the ability to turn any alt coin completely anonymous, InstantDEX decentralized cryptocurrency exchange, tradebots for an optimal trading experience and the infrastructure to turn any alt coin in to Bitcoin: enabling trading everywhere BTC is accepted. BitcoinDark is now preparing to share their cutting-edge technology with other dev teams when launching collaborative network SuperNET, also called UNITY, an exclusive network designed to unite the most unique cryptocurrencies worldwide. Over 3500 BTC has been raised for the SuperNet ICO so far. BTCD strives to unite the ever expanding cryptocurrency community bringing back decentralization, openness and anonymity. BitcoinDark completely anonymous Proof-of-Stake digital currency will generate 5% annual staking revenue for holders for more than 60 years, as well as allowing off-blockchain transactions. BTCD stake holders will also profit from BTCD´s various revenues. BitcoinDark is so far the only cryptocurrency that gives the stakeholders the option to earn rewards in Bitcoin. BTCD is already available on cryptocurrency exchanges Bittrex, Atomic Trade, Cryptsy and Poloniex. The BTCD team has worked tirelessly to build up the infrastructure to support SuperNET; a new initiative designed to gather unique technology in one place, foster collaboration between cryptocurrencies, reward innovation and encourage active coin communities. SuperNET is not meant to replace other cryptocurrencies or become one alt coin but to strengthen the coins by giving them influence and purchasing power. BTCD is looking for alt coins which are enriching the cryptocurrency ecosystem by offering avant-garde solutions and innovative technology hence alt coins that replicate existing currencies will be discarded. The CORE currencies will be able to share each other’s’ features through a combined wallet, similar to the NXT wallet, the information is exclusively for members and will be handled with discretion. Story continues SuperNET is not only a collaborative cryptocurrency hub enabling the cryptocurrency community to reach new heights in technological achievements but also a network bringing prosperity to its members. Several additional projects generating revenue will be used to reward SuperNET holders; from targeted advertising and transaction fees from anonymity protocols to betting revenues and trading gains. The CORE shareholders will profit from any revenues raised in order to strengthen CORE coin communities by investing in development, and make improvements to other key areas of the cryptocurrency ecosystem. With the announced call for action among cryptocurrency developers and altcoin communities worldwide, BitcoinDark might very well be a game changer in the cryptocurrency arena. A gathering on this scale of professionals and entrepreneurs worldwide is so far unprecedented in the history of the cryptocurrency economical movement. The willingness to share their own unique technology like decentralised cryptocurrency exchange InstantDEX, tradebots and new teleportation system allowing truly trust-less transactions shows that BitcoinDark strives to create a Network bringing both prosperity and unity to the cryptocurrency space. To learn more about SuperNET: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=762346.0 BitcoinDark official bitcointalk thread: bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=684090.0/ To trade Bitcoin for BitcoinDark please go to: Bittrex.com/Market/Index?MarketName=BTC-BTCD * This press release is for informational purposes only. The information does not constitute investment advice or an offer to invest. Please conduct your own due diligence. Visit http://bitcoindark.pw for more information. Contact Info Name: BitcoinDark Development Organization: BitcoinDark Email: [email protected] SOURCE: BitcoinDark

2014-09-18 12:00:00+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [3787]}

{}

WPCS Provides Shareholders With a Year in Review and Why a "YES" Vote to Increase Authorized Shares Is Crucial

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/wpcs-provides-shareholders-review-why-120000719.html

Marketwired

http://www.marketwired.com/

SUISUN CITY, CA--(Marketwired - Sep 18, 2014) - WPCS International Incorporated ( NASDAQ : WPCS ) (the "Company"), which specializes in contracting services for communications infrastructure and the development of a digital currency trading platform, today is providing a letter to shareholders with a year in review and why a "YES" vote to increase the authorized shares is crucial. Dear Shareholders, As we reflect upon the 2014 fiscal year that recently concluded, it was clearly a period of transition, restructuring, planning and preparing for the future. I am writing this letter to you today because your management team and Board of Directors ("Board") wish to remain transparent throughout this process so that you may understand the critical juncture we are at today and how your vote at the upcoming annual shareholder meeting will help pave the way for our future success. We want you to know that we are entering the final stages of our current restructuring. The Board believes that once our proposal to increase the number of common shares authorized by the Certificate of Incorporation and other proposals are approved, it will enable WPCS to seek key strategic initiatives to enhance our balance sheet through debt reduction, which we believe will ultimately improve our shareholders' equity and cash position. With these changes, we believe that the Company will also have the ability to pursue strategic opportunities to create new value for shareholders. While the very important decisions WPCS shareholders face today are driving this letter, it is my intention to continually and consistently ensure that management and the Board maintain direct communication activities with you. Since commencing the restructuring of WPCS in August 2013, our entire team has been totally committed to the vision of moving towards creating opportunities to develop growth businesses. We are, and will continue, to be steadfast in our goal of building shareholder value. Story continues Restructuring Accomplishments: a) Overcame approximately $2.0 million in projected cash flow shortages by closing Trenton operations, implementing cost reductions and renegotiating vendor payment terms; b) Financial results that include increased revenue and an improved balance sheet: a. For the 2014 fiscal fourth quarter, revenue increased 25.7% from the same period in fiscal 2013. Taking into account the strategic reduction of WPCS' Trenton operations, revenue for the quarter and full year ended April 30, 2014 increased 47.2% and 34.4%, respectively, compared to the same periods in 2013; b. Cash and cash equivalents increased from $1.4 million as of April 30, 2013 to $2.2 million as of April 30, 2014; and c. Shareholders' equity increased by approximately $6.9 million from a deficit of $900,000 at April 30, 2013 to equity of $6.0 million at April 30, 2014; c) Annualized savings of over $1.1 million achieved through administrative and operating cost reductions; d) Completed the sale of Australia Operations; e) Negotiated $1 million severance reduction with Chief Financial Officer; and f) Negotiated the removal of certain onerous default provisions contained within outstanding secured convertible notes. Other News: a) Suisun City, for the period January 1, 2014 through May 31, 2014, announced approximately $5.5 million in new contracts as compared to $2.3 million for the same period year-over-year, an increase of 139%; b) Since acquiring the BTX Trader software platform in December 2013, the online platform has grown to 5,000 users and over 1,500 unique visitors per month; and c) BTX Trader has launched Celery ( www.gocelery.com ), a new product providing consumers with a simple and fast way to buy digital currency using direct bank transfers, initially focused on Bitcoin and Dogecoin. These positive strides to-date have helped curtail losses, reduce cash flow deficiencies and have set the stage for future growth potential. Going forward, we are continuing these restructuring efforts by moving towards the divestiture of our Seattle operations, which we expect to occur at the end of this month, and looking to find a buyer for our China Joint Venture interest. The successful closing of these transactions could generate approximately $3.5 million for the Company. The upcoming proxy statement proposal to increase the authorized shares of the Company, which shareholders did not approve when last presented, is required for us to meet the existing equity conversion and warrant obligations under our secured convertible notes, convertible preferred stock and warrants. We are required to continue to seek this approval, which will result in additional cost and expenses to WPCS, until our obligation is met. We believe that an increase in authorized common stock could lead to the reduction or elimination of our outstanding secured debt, which has been highly restrictive on the Company and our ability to create value for all shareholders going forward. Additionally, the increase in authorized shares would better position the Company to attract talent through a new stock option plan, provide the Company with flexibility for potential growth capital and enhance our ability to leverage our position as a publicly-traded company to pursue selected strategic acquisitions that we believe could enhance our business. When developing the restructuring plan last year, I envisioned that at this time, the Company would be debt-free, with several million dollars of working capital, and the equity available to focus entirely on revenue growth and profitability. The steps management and the Board have taken has prepared us to accomplish just that. But, we need your support . The way to accomplish these objectives is to once again seek your approval to increase the number of authorized shares of the Company. If any such proposal is not approved, I feel that WPCS will remain constrained by its debt, find it difficult to attract talent, be unable to secure necessary financing, and limit its ability to close any substantive value-enhancing acquisitions. I am pleased with the progress we have made. I am also very encouraged by the opportunities being presented to WPCS and highly optimistic about the future prospects of this Company. There may be no better time to help us finish the task at hand and finally change the direction of WPCS for the better. Right now is your chance as a shareholder to be an important part of the next significant decision facing your company. We have filed a new proxy statement and are asking you to please vote "yes" with management and the Board on the proposal to increase the number of shares of common stock authorized by the Certificate of Incorporation of the Company. We wish to thank our shareholders, customers, partners and employees for their continued trust, confidence, and support as we hope to move into the next exciting phase of WPCS' history. Sincerely, Sebastian Giordano Interim CEO About WPCS International Incorporated WPCS operates in two business segments: (1) providing communications infrastructure contracting services to the public services, healthcare, energy and corporate enterprise markets worldwide; and (2) developing a digital currency trading platform. For more information, please visit www.wpcs.com , www.btxtrader.com and www.gocelery.com . Statements about the Company's future expectations, including future revenue and earnings and all other statements in this press release, other than historical facts, are "forward looking" statements and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and are subject to change at any time. The Company's actual results could differ materially from expected results. In reflecting subsequent events or circumstances, the Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements.

2014-09-18 13:00:00+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [3330]}

{}

CloudFlare Keeps Organizations in Control of Their SSL Keys, Removes Need for On-Premise Network Infrastructure

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/cloudflare-keeps-organizations-control-ssl-130000091.html

Marketwired

http://www.marketwired.com/

SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - Sep 18, 2014) - CloudFlare , the leading Internet performance and security company, today launched Keyless SSL, a new technology that allows organizations to keep Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) keys private -- out of reach from external parties -- while offering all the benefits of a cloud-based infrastructure. For the first time, organizations can rid themselves of expensive, rigid, on-premise network hardware while harnessing essential technologies like DDoS mitigation, CDN, web application firewalls (WAF), and load-balancing in the cloud . Before Keyless SSL, organizations could not get the benefits of a cloud-based WAF, CDN, or other security and performance enhancement services without turning over cryptographic keys to a third-party cloud provider. Because of legitimate security concerns over revealing private SSL keys to a third party, most banks and Fortune 500 companies chose to maintain expensive on-premise equipment that would often fail under load. These organizations could not leverage the massive benefits of a cloud-based infrastructure: low cost, low maintenance, and virtually infinite scalability. "Organizations shouldn't be shackled to a box just because they need to protect their private keys. For the first time, enterprises can benefit from the functionality of on-premise hardware, but deployed as-a-service with infinite scalability and elasticity," said Matthew Prince, co-founder and CEO of CloudFlare. "CloudFlare's Keyless SSL removes the last reason that has held organizations back from ripping out legacy hardware and moving to the power of the cloud." Keyless SSL in the Security Community World-renowned security experts Jon Callas and Phil Zimmermann support CloudFlare's latest announcement sharing, "One of the core principles of computer security is to limit access to cryptographic keys to as few parties as possible, ideally only the endpoints. Applications such as PGP, Silent Circle, and now Keyless SSL implement this principle and are correspondingly more secure." Story continues NCC Group companies iSEC Partners and Matasano are leaders in application security and cryptographic review and worked with CloudFlare to review Keyless SSL prior to launch. A spokesperson from NCC Group's Cryptography Services practice commented: "We've seen how private keys can be stolen, and investing in techniques to limit their exposure makes the Internet a safer place. Our review of Keyless SSL indicates the keys themselves do not leave your infrastructure, and a secure channel with CloudFlare both protects the communication and reduces the attack surface for your key." Keyless SSL for the Enterprise Senior director of Trust at EMC Corporation, Davi Ottenheimer believes Keyless SSL is a fundamental innovation in security. "The trade-offs between control and cloud services are being solved by innovation in key management. Keyless solutions, where customers retain control of keys, clearly improve security while maintaining the best service offerings. Keeping control of your own private key, yet enabling a cloud provider to serve your customers with the same level of trust, is a real breakthrough in content delivery security." Keyless SSL for Financial Organizations "At Coinbase, we take security very seriously. To be successful in the Bitcoin ecosystem we prioritize security highly," said Ryan McGeehan, director of security at Coinbase. "Technology that improves the security of our critical infrastructure, like our SSL keys, is always welcomed." Keyless SSL, while created with large financial organizations in mind, is also valuable for startups that work with such groups. "As a private-cloud file-sync and share startup working with many financial organizations worldwide, we are always looking for the best security technologies that help keep important data safe, secure, and behind the firewall while maintaining the scale benefits of the cloud," said Yuri Sagalov, co-founder and CEO of AeroFS. "Keyless SSL lets companies get the best of both worlds: Companies get to keep their private keys behind the corporate firewall where they belong, while still providing edge-level encryption for their customers accessing their services." Keyless SSL for CloudFlare Partners "Recent incidents like the APT exploit of Heartbleed to breach Community Health Systems and the Mask operation show that attacks on keys and certificates that establish trust are on the rise. If security teams don't protect their keys and certificates they undermine their critical threat protection and existing security controls," said Kevin Boeck, vice president of security strategy & threat intelligence at Venafi. "With our partner CloudFlare, Venafi supports the development of Keyless SSL technology to help further protect our Venafi Trust Protection Platform customers and secure their use of cloud services." Keyless SSL is currently available to CloudFlare Enterprise customers. Additional Resources Keyless SSL Data Sheet (Blog post) Announcing Keyless SSL: All the benefits of CloudFlare without having to turn over your private SSL keys About CloudFlare CloudFlare, Inc. ( www.cloudflare.com / @cloudflare) makes sites lightning fast, protects them from attacks, ensures they are always online, and makes it simple to add web apps with a single click. Regardless of size or platform, CloudFlare supercharges websites with no need to add hardware, install software, or change a line of code. The CloudFlare community gets stronger as it grows: every new site makes the network smarter. More than 5 percent of global Web requests flow through CloudFlare's network daily, and, thanks to our awesome sauce technology, every month more than 1.6 billion people experience a faster, safer, better Internet. CloudFlare was recognized by the World Economic Forum as a Technology Pioneer, named the Most Innovative Network & Internet Technology Company for two years running by the Wall Street Journal , and ranked among the world's 50 most innovative companies by Fast Company . CloudFlare has offices in San Francisco, California, USA and London, UK. Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=2680315

2014-09-19 16:13:50+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [685, 786, 2002, 2072, 2265]}

{"Bitcoin": [0]}

Bitcoin tanks, is Alibaba to blame?

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bitcoin-tanks-alibaba-blame-152132863.html

CNBC

http://www.cnbc.com/

The price of bitcoin has plummeted in the past few days, and some are blaming the Alibaba IPO for the virtual currency's fall. Touching as low as $381.17 earlier Friday, bitcoin is trading at a far cry from its position around $513 less than a month ago or nearly $650 in July. And while the cryptocurrency has been languishing for several weeks, it's seen an increasing slide from Monday's open around $470. Members of the bitcoin community are pointing fingers at the e-commerce giant's IPO, suggesting that tech-minded China-centric money is being pulled out of the currency in order to get into Alibaba's first day of trading. CryptoCoinsNews tweet. Gamingfloor tweet. Writing for Bitcoin Magazine , Sembro Development President Ian Worrall said his firm believes "that the Chinese Bitcoin holders began dumping their holdings earlier this week to free up capital to invest in Alibaba when it goes public." Worrall told CNBC this assessment is based on his software firm's finding that much of the bitcoin trade volume is coming from China during this selloff. In fact, Worrall said, the Chinese exchanges are seeing 52 percent more volume compared to their American counterparts over the last month. Alibaba seemed the most likely explanation of the price decrease, Worrall said, as there have not been any major recent announcements related to the cryptocurrency, and "normally when there's a change this large it's because of some government regulation." Euro Pacific Capital's Peter Schiff disputed this theory, telling CNBC "that's just grasping at straws." Read More Apple Pay won't bite into bitcoin: Winklevoss "They're just trying to find some excuse [for bitcoin's slide]," Schiff said. "I just can't think there are that many bitcoin guys that are going to jump into Alibaba." Raffael Danielli, quantitative analysis blogger behind Matlab Trading , said an Alibaba-influenced selloff could have been possible, but the current timetable does not make sense. Story continues "Selling your Bitcoins yesterday (and during the night) will only put USD into your Bitcoin exchange account. From there you have to still transfer it to your stock broker which usually takes a couple of days," he wrote in an email to CNBC. "In other words: if (!) people sold Bitcoins yesterday to buy into Alibaba then they are a bit late to the party." Danielli suggested instead that the bitcoin downtrend may be because of several factors, including merchants' increasing adoption of the currency. When someone uses bitcoin to pay for a product, the merchant typically converts it immediately back into U.S. dollars, which means that the market is increasingly flooded with sellers. Read More 3 reasons Wall Street can't stay away from bitcoin For his part, Schiff pointed to a weak technical profile for the cryptocurrency that has seen an overall downtrend since its peak in December. And while bitcoin proponents often point to the volatility as a natural part of the currency's marketplace-there were similar fits and starts when it was worth less than $100-Schiff said that this time around is different. "They remember all that volatility in the beginning, and they think this is the same thing: That was the bubble inflating, this is the bubble bursting," he said. -By CNBC's Everett Rosenfeld

2014-09-19 17:01:44+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [70]}

{}

U.S. judge awards $40.7 million in SEC case over bitcoin Ponzi scheme

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/u-judge-awards-40-7-million-sec-case-170144457--sector.html

Reuters

https://www.reuters.com/

By Jonathan Stempel (Reuters) - A U.S. federal judge in Texas ordered Bitcoin Savings and Trust and its owner to pay a combined $40.7 million after the Securities and Exchange Commission established that the company, which sold investments using the virtual currency, was a Ponzi scheme. In a decision dated Thursday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Amos Mazzant said Trendon Shavers "knowingly and intentionally" operated his company "as a sham and a Ponzi scheme," misleading investors about the use of their bitcoin, how he would generate promised returns and the safety of their investments. Shavers, of McKinney, Texas, did not immediately respond on Friday to a request for comment. His ability to pay the judgment is unclear. Shavers' lawyer withdrew from the civil case this week, court records show. The SEC said Shavers used the online moniker "pirateat40" to raise more than 732,000 bitcoin from February 2011 to August 2012, promising investors up to 7 percent in weekly interest to be paid based on his ability to trade the currency. But according to the decision, Shavers used new bitcoin to repay earlier investors, diverted some to personal accounts at the now-bankrupt Mt. Gox exchange and elsewhere, and spent some investor funds on rent, food, shopping and casino visits. "The collective loss to BTCST investors who suffered net losses (there were also net winners) was 265,678 bitcoins, or more than $149 million at current exchange rates," wrote Mazzant, who sits in Sherman, Texas. Mazzant held Shavers and his company liable to give up $38.6 million of illegal profits plus $1.8 million in interest. Each defendant was also fined $150,000. The SEC announced the case on July 23, 2013, the same day it warned investors to be on alert for potential scams involving bitcoin and other "cutting-edge" investments. The case is SEC v. Shavers et al, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas, No. 13-00416. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York, editing by G Crosse)

2014-09-19 17:01:44+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [70]}

{}

U.S. judge awards $40.7 million in SEC case over bitcoin Ponzi scheme

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/u-judge-awards-40-7-170144696.html

Reuters

http://www.reuters.com/

By Jonathan Stempel (Reuters) - A U.S. federal judge in Texas ordered Bitcoin Savings and Trust and its owner to pay a combined $40.7 million after the Securities and Exchange Commission established that the company, which sold investments using the virtual currency, was a Ponzi scheme. In a decision dated Thursday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Amos Mazzant said Trendon Shavers "knowingly and intentionally" operated his company "as a sham and a Ponzi scheme," misleading investors about the use of their bitcoin, how he would generate promised returns and the safety of their investments. Shavers, of McKinney, Texas, did not immediately respond on Friday to a request for comment. His ability to pay the judgment is unclear. Shavers' lawyer withdrew from the civil case this week, court records show. The SEC said Shavers used the online moniker "pirateat40" to raise more than 732,000 bitcoin from February 2011 to August 2012, promising investors up to 7 percent in weekly interest to be paid based on his ability to trade the currency. But according to the decision, Shavers used new bitcoin to repay earlier investors, diverted some to personal accounts at the now-bankrupt Mt. Gox exchange and elsewhere, and spent some investor funds on rent, food, shopping and casino visits. "The collective loss to BTCST investors who suffered net losses (there were also net winners) was 265,678 bitcoins, or more than $149 million at current exchange rates," wrote Mazzant, who sits in Sherman, Texas. Mazzant held Shavers and his company liable to give up $38.6 million of illegal profits plus $1.8 million in interest. Each defendant was also fined $150,000. The SEC announced the case on July 23, 2013, the same day it warned investors to be on alert for potential scams involving bitcoin and other "cutting-edge" investments. The case is SEC v. Shavers et al, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas, No. 13-00416. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York, editing by G Crosse)

2014-09-19 21:15:00+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [2370]}

{}

Apple iPhone 6 Generates Plus-Sized Global Buzz

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/apple-iphone-6-generates-plus-211400033.html

The Fiscal Times

http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/

And you thought Alibaba was the big news in the tech world today. (In fact, it was, with an IPO that jumped 37 percent in its first day of trading.) While the Chinese e-commerce giant was the talk of the New York Stock Exchange trading floor and CNBC types, shoppers in 10 countries around the world — including Australia, Singapore, Japan, Germany, the U.K. and U.S. — were buzzing with excitement over the release of Apple’s new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. Under CEO Tim Cook, Apple finally bumped up the screen size of its smartphones this year, putting out models with 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch screens years after competitors like Samsung aggressively began pushing larger and larger displays on high-end phones and “phablets” sized between a phone and tablet. The iPhone 6 Plus, priced at $749 without a cellular service contract, is Apple’s most expensive phone ever. SLIDESHOW: iPhone 6 Frenzy Has Apple Faithful Lining Up Around the World Based on reports that said the lines for the new iPhones were longer than in previous years, going big looks likely to pay off big. The lines, though, clearly weren’t just diehard Apple fans looking to land the latest device for their own use. As The Wall Street Journal reported Friday, many of those buying up the new phones were doing so with the intention of reselling them, often at wildly inflated prices, in a “growing gray market” in China, Russia and other countries. Apple said earlier this week that it had gotten a record number of preorders for the new phone models within 24 hours after they were announced. More than 4 million of the devices were ordered, exceeding Apple’s initial pre-order supply and surpassing the 2 million units pre-ordered in 2012 when the iPhone 5 was introduced. Related: What the Apple Watch Will Do for Apple The apparent strong demand suggests the iPhone 6 could provide a boost to Apple’s sales growth — and may be able to restore some of the cachet Apple has lost in consumers’ eyes. In a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted Sept. 8-13, some 16 percent of respondents said that the company had become less cool over the last two years (48 percent said it had gotten cooler). By comparison, about 11 percent of respondents said Android-based phones had lost some of their luster, while 50 percent said phones powered by the Google software had gotten cooler. Top Reads from The Fiscal Times: Why Bitcoin Could Get a Boost from 'Apple Pay' Alibaba IPO: Everything You Need to Know 13 Gadgets the 1 Percent Should Take to College

2014-09-22 10:35:00+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [0, 3269]}

{}

Ultracoin Attending Largest Cryptocurrency Mining Conference ‘Hashers United’ in Las Vegas

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ultracoin-attending-largest-cryptocurrency-mining-103500588.html

ACCESSWIRE

https://www.accesswire.com/

Bitcoin alternative Ultracoin is attending the world's largest cryptocurrency mining conference Hashers United in Las Vegas October 10th and 11th. Ultracoin has rapidly increased in popularity climbing fast on Coinmarketcap.com LAS VEGAS, NV / ACCESSWIRE / September 22nd, 2014 / Superfast cryptocurrency Ultracoin has been invited to the world’s largest cryptocurrency miners conference Hashers United in Las Vegas, NV, to give a speech on their Scrypt-ChaCha implementation and Ultracoin as a whole. The convention will take place October 10th and 11th at the Tuscany Hotel and Casino. Ultrafast and ASIC Resistant Ultracoin pushes the limits of fast transactions to 6 seconds with only 30-40 second confirmation times and has much to share when it comes to state-of-the-art cryptocurrency technology. Ultracoin has been climbing the rankings very quickly on Coinmarketcap.com. Hashers United is hosted by Final Hash, a company that leases mining equipment and hash power and is also a developer of Scrypt ASIC’s. The conference lineup includes keynote speakers; such as Tim Draper of Draper Fisher Jurveston whose firm has provided equity for services such as Hotmail, Skype and Baidu. Charlie Lee, the creator of Litecoin, and the founder of Ethereum, Vitalki Buterin will also be speaking at the conference. Other big cryptocurrencies that will be representedHashers United are Vertcoin and Mastercoin. The Ultracoin team is honoured and delighted to be a part of the conference; Travis Tolle, a member of Hack Miami, will deliver an in-depth presentation on Scrypt-ChaCha and Ultracoin as an Ultracoin team member. Ultracoin’s PR & Marketing Director Steven "Rapture333" Nekhaila will be managing the exhibition table and updating Ultracoin’s social media with live updates of the conference as well as video updates; a sneak peek into the world’s largest networking opportunity for miners in the history of the cryptocrrency movement. Conference: Hashers United Where: Tuscany Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, NV When: October 10th and 11th For more info about the conference please go to: http://hashersunited.com/ Ultracoin is a hybrid proof-of-work / proof-of-stake coin, whereby active nodes are involved in the mining of blocks if they hold Ultracoin. Ultracoin enables the user to send and receive currency worldwide to friends, family or business partners with an transaction speed of 6 seconds and 30-40 seconds for confirmations. Ultracoin was launched by a small, passionate team of professional developers in February, due to the rapid growth Ultracoin´s management responsibilities has been transferred to an experienced management team with the vision of creating a real world applicable currency with a serious impact on the way commerce is performed. Ultracoin is already accepted on Coinpayments and some of the most popular cryptocurrency exchanges on the web such as Cryptsy and Mintpal. Story continues Ultracoin can be traded on the exchanges or be used to preform commerce and buy goods online. Miners are generously awarded with 15 new Ultracoins per block, an amount which gets halved roughly every 990.000 blocks. Thus the Ultracoin network is scheduled to produce 100 million Ultracoins, which are almost 4.5 times as many currency units as Bitcoin. Ultracoin can be mined with both CPU’s and GPU’s thanks to the ASIC resistant Scrypt-ChaCha implementation ensuring that PC’s won’t be overpowered by new hardware and mining technology. The world’s largest miners conference ‘Hashers United’, taking place in Las Vegas early Octobers, is featuring some of the most interesting names in modern mining sharing their views and visions for crypto technology and mining; not the least Ultracoin’s PR & Marketing Director Nekhaila going into details about the alt coin and the ASIC resistant Scrypt-ChaCha algorithm. Spectators can look forward to an exciting event for professionals and enthusiasts worldwide – people that do not have the opportunity to cross the Nevada desert can follow the excitement on Ultracoin’s Facebook page. To learn more about Hashers united please go to: http://hashersunited.com/ Official forum: http://Ultracointalk.org Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ultracoinnet Ultracoin´s technical specifications: Total coins: 100,000,000 Block time target: 30 seconds Block reward: 15, halving every 990,000 blocks Difficulty retarget:max 200% per 30mins Mined block confirmation: 50 Transaction confirmation: 5 NFactor Integration * This press release is for informational purposes only. The information does not constitute investment advice or an offer to invest. Please conduct your own due diligence. Visit http://ultracoin.net for more information. Contact Info Name: Steven "Rapture333" Nekhaila Organization: Ultracoin Email: [email protected] SOURCE: Ultracoin View comments

2014-09-22 12:27:00+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [0, 486, 697, 834, 928, 1803, 2175, 2186, 2576, 2939, 3222, 3317, 3491, 3693, 3790, 3939, 4000, 4151, 4399, 4605, 5171, 5545, 5598, 5699, 5799, 6170, 6257, 6334, 6732]}

{"Bitcoin": [26]}

Should You Steer Clear of Bitcoin?

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/steer-clear-bitcoin-122700087.html

U.S.News & World Report

http://money.usnews.com/

Bitcoin, the trendy digital currency, garnered some negative press in August when the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau warned about its potential pitfalls, including unpredictable exchange rates, hackers and scams. Despite these concerns, a CFPB consumer advisory was quick to add that virtual currencies like bitcoin "offer the potential for innovation" -- something that has captured the attention of casual consumers and big hedge funds alike. Before dipping your toes into Bitcoin's often choppy waters, you should know that this particular form of digital money represents a double-edged sword. While some financial experts question its viability and safety, others are adamant that Bitcoin is here to stay. Here's a look at how this technology works and what you risk losing -- or stand to gain -- by using it. What is Bitcoin? While the system and software used to create and support the digital money is called Bitcoin, a unit of the currency is a bitcoin. If you've heard of bitcoins but haven't actually seen any, it's because the currency exists exclusively online. Some enterprises and individuals "mine" bitcoins using sophisticated computers to wring them out of a digital file called the blockchain. The process is complex and expensive, and there are easier ways to obtain the scrip. The system used to create bitcoins also caps the number that can exist at just under 21 million, easing inflation concerns among users and investors. You can stash bitcoins away in a digital wallet before transferring a sum directly to another user or to a merchant that accepts them. Due to the lack of a middleman like a bank, transaction fees are typically much lower, which is among the online scrip's most attractive features. People interested in converting cash to bitcoins can do so on Bitcoin exchanges, where they can buy the virtual currency. Despite being relatively new, the number of exchanges is growing rapidly. Entire websites have made it their mission to direct users to the safest and most reliable online exchanges. As straightforward and user-friendly as this currency might sound, it has several notable drawbacks. [Read: Should You Invest In Bitcoin? ] Bitcoin's Unpredictability "The value of a bitcoin can fluctuate extraordinarily due to high volatility," says Evan Hutchinson, a business consultant in Ames, Iowa. "Also, due to the large number of exchanges in the world with relatively little oversight, bitcoins are at risk of being lost or stolen." Volatility depicts how much the value of an asset changes over time. When looking at a Bitcoin price chart, you might think you're looking at a seismogram from a strong earthquake. This virtual currency has been known to lose as much as 80 percent of its value in a matter of days, only to spring back quickly. For people who make purchases with the digital money, checkout time can be a shocking experience. Story continues "Those who choose to use Bitcoin with little understanding of how the currency actually works can be in for a big surprise when they try and exchange the money back into local currency or use it to buy a product," Hutchinson says. A 2014 Federal Reserve Bank of Boston study cites the "extreme volatility of Bitcoin's price," which creates significant exchange-rate risk. While the fluctuating value of Bitcoin has scared many people away, optimistic investors cling to the idea that the digital money will ultimately find its footing. Their hope is that the technology behind Bitcoin will be fortified, making it safer to own and use, ultimately broadening its user base and improving its stability and long-term viability. "While reasons differ, I find many early adopters use Bitcoin because they believe in the revolutionary nature of the underlying technology that makes Bitcoin possible," says Scott Nichols, founder of Paybits, a Las Vegas-based company that helps people convert a portion of their income directly to Bitcoin. The ease of making transactions is another draw for Bitcoin believers. "What other currency can you send money so quickly and cheaply over the Internet and across borders?" asks Michael Flaxman, an avid Bitcoin user and co-founder of CoinSafe, a Seattle-based online service that helps merchants buy and sell bitcoins. Indeed, while you might have to pay upwards of $45 every time you send money overseas using a traditional bank's wire service, many Bitcoin exchanges offer similar transfers at a much lower cost, and direct transactions can be virtually free. Flaxman isn't alone in his enthusiasm: It's estimated that over 5 million people currently use Bitcoin, up from about 765,000 only a year ago, according to Reuters. [Read: 5 Cost Factors to Consider When Transferring Money Around the World .] Drawing the Wrong Crowd Unfortunately, a fraction of those users engage in criminal transactions, and some may be intent on stealing bitcoins. Just last year, the world's then-largest exchange for the virtual currency, Tokyo-based Mt. Gox, collapsed after hundreds of thousands of bitcoins went missing, sticking customers with millions in losses. Despite the relentless hype surrounding the "revolutionary nature" of Bitcoin's technology, it is still a very vulnerable system. Because you can exchange bitcoins relatively anonymously, the digital currency has attracted hackers who prey on exchanges that store large bitcoin reserves. It has been popular among those engaged in illicit commerce, too -- transactions on the shuttered online black market Silk Road took place exclusively with Bitcoin. Although records of every transaction using Bitcoin are permanently stored on a shared public transaction register, it's difficult to track down Bitcoin thieves. The lack of government support certainly doesn't help. A Lack of Oversight Because Bitcoin isn't backed by the U.S. government or any of the world's central banks, it's lightly regulated, if at all. What's more, any bitcoins you store in a digital wallet are uninsured, meaning you'll probably eat any losses, regardless of how they occur. Interestingly enough, the risks and lack of government backing haven't scared off everyone. According to Nichols, Bitcoin's independence may be one its biggest draws. "The exact warning from CFPB that Bitcoin is not backed by a central government is exactly the reason many use Bitcoin today," Nichols says, referring to the U.S. consumer agency. While the lack of official oversight attracts users eager to make transactions outside of the regulatory eye, many are reluctant to embrace this new technology. The bottom line: As with any decision involving your hard-earned dollars, you should think long and hard about the risks that come with an erratic online currency like Bitcoin. In the end, any gains may be vastly outweighed by the pain of losses. [Search: U.S. News Financial Advisor Finder .] Tony Armstrong is a staff writer at NerdWallet , a website devoted to helping consumers make smart financial decisions. More From US News & World Report 7 Ways to Pay Less for Your Investments 10 Things Everyone Should Know About Money 7 Myths About Dividend-Paying Stocks View comments

2014-09-23 15:58:41+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [1560, 2610]}

{}

Feds halt bitcoin mining scam that sold machines like a “room heater”

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/feds-halt-bitcoin-mining-scam-155841570.html

Gigaom

http://gigaom.com/

Another day, another bitcoin scam. This time the culprit is an outfit called Butterfly Labs that charged would-be bitcoin miners $149 to $29,899 for mining rigs — specialized computer equipment set up to harvest bitcoin — but then delivered worthless machines late or not at all. The details of the caper are set out in an announcement from the Federal Trade Commission in which the agency says it obtained a court order to shut down the Butterfly gang, who apparently fleeced nearly 20,000 customers, and spent much of their money on guns and saunas. As the FTC explains, Butterly Labs promised to deliver special “Bitforce” computers for mining bitcoins. Unfortunately for the customers, “the passage of time rendered some of their machines as effective as a ‘room heater’” (perhaps giving new meaning to the term “ boiler room “). If you’re unfamiliar with the digital currency known as bitcoin , the “coins” are created by solving math problems that get progressively harder. While it was once possible to “mine” the coins with a desktop computer, it is now all but necessary to use specialized chips and lots of processing power to obtain a bitcoin. As the FTC’s complaint explains, demand for special mining machines coincided with bitcoin’s rapid increase in value last year (it briefly topped $1,200 ), which led many people to place orders with Butterfly Labs. In some cases, Butterfly Labs did not deliver the machines at all and, on many occasions, “Defendants eventually delivered a BitForce that was either defective, obsolete, or mining far less Bitcoins.” Now, Butterfly Labs has been shut down as a result of the FTC’s court order , which was issued by a federal judge in Missouri. The order also requires the company to comply with all FTC requests, including demands for financial information as the agency seeks to obtain restitution for fleeced customers. As for Butterfly Labs, its Twitter account suggests it believed nothing was amiss. Recent tweets tout stories that suggest bitcoins for Native Indians and as an alternative currency for Scotland. Story continues Update : Butterfly Labs has issued a statement, accusing the government of overreach. It reads in part: “Butterfly Labs is disappointed in the heavy-handed actions of the Federal Trade Commission. In a rush to judgment, the FTC has acted as judge, jury and executioner, contrary to our intended system of governmental checks and balances.” Featured image courtesy of Pond5/arinahabich . Image copyright Pond5/arinahabich . Related research and analysis from Gigaom Research: Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial . Bitcoin: why digital currency is the future financial system Is The Antitrust Trap Getting Ready to Close Around Google? More From paidContent.org Feds halt bitcoin mining scam that sold machines like a “room heater”

2014-09-23 17:15:00+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [24, 195, 379, 456, 818, 915, 1181, 1409, 1548, 1600, 2016, 2252, 2441, 2684, 2756, 2927]}

{"Bitcoin": [16]}

PayPal Embraces Bitcoin Payments, Partners With BitPay, Coinbase and GoCoin

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/paypal-embraces-bitcoin-payments-partners-171500863.html

Entrepreneur

http://www.entrepreneur.com/

PayPal is warming up to Bitcoin in a big way. Finally. The 152 million registered user ecommerce powerhouse announced in a blog post this afternoon that it is joining forces with today’s leading Bitcoin processors -- BitPay , Coinbase and GoCoin -- to at last enable its digital goods merchants to accept the cryptocurrency. This means PayPal sellers will be able to get paid in Bitcoin for digital wares like games, music and ringtones. Related: Finally: Bitcoin Is Coming to Merchants Who Use PayPal's Braintree “PayPal is excited about all the innovations taking place in payments these days,” Scott Ellison, PayPal’s senior director of corporate strategy said in the announcement. “More choices in how people create value, share it, buy, sell and trade it – that’s exactly what PayPal is all about. And we believe Bitcoin offers unique opportunities as more people and businesses experiment with it.” To start, Bitcoin payments integration will be available via PayPal’s Payments Hub to PayPal online merchants in North America, that is, with the exception of pre-sellers -- merchants who ask for payment in advance for a product or service it will later provide. Related: How Bitcoin Is Fueling a New Payments Battlefield The San Jose, Calif.-based company, founded by tech moguls Peter Thiel , Reid Hoffman and Elon Musk , along with other members of the original “ PayPal Mafia ,” did not say how soon Bitcoin payments integration would be complete. However, it did carefully point out that “today’s news does not mean that PayPal has added Bitcoin as a currency in our digital wallet or that Bitcoin payments will be processed on our secure payments platform.” PayPal, owned by eBay , also noted that it will proceed gradually and cautiously in embracing bitcoin, “until we see how things develop.” Earlier this month, PayPal announced that businesses working with Braintree , the mobile payment processing unit it acquired for $800 million in cash last September, will soon be able to integrate “One Touch” Bitcoin payments via Braintree’s “v.zero” software development kit (SDK) and its alliance partnership with Coinbase . The day the news broke, Wired called PayPal’s growing support of the cryptocash “ the best thing that could happen to Bitcoin ,” with the potential to seriously polish its Silk Road-tarnished image in the public eye. Story continues Related: BitPay Raises Record $30 Million in Series A Funding, Biggest in Bitcoin Industry Yet “When the internet’s most mainstream brand for moving money embraces a technology,” Wired reporter Marcus Wohlsen wrote, “it’s hard to see that system as a fringe operation.” Meanwhile, today at 1:56 p.m. ET, the price of Bitcoin inched up on the news to $405.81, according to the CoinDesk USD Bitcoin Price Index . The world’s first digital currency has been in the midst of an erratic price decline since July. Related: 5 Reasons Merchants Should Start Accepting Bitcoin Now More From Entrepreneur 3 Easy Tricks to Keep Websites Up-to-Date AT&T, Chernin Group Buy Majority Stake in Leading YouTube Network How Alibaba's Jack Ma Became the Richest Man in China

2014-09-23 19:35:00+00:00

{"BTC": [230, 308, 729, 1393, 1567, 1669, 2515, 2583, 2914, 3049, 3243, 3737]}

{"BTC": [58]}

Microelectronics Enters Phase Two Build Out of 1 Petahash BTC Mining Facility

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/microelectronics-enters-phase-two-build-193500586.html

ACCESSWIRE

https://www.accesswire.com/

MONARCH BAY, CA / ACCESSWIRE / September 23, 2014 / Microelectronics Technology Corporation, (the "Company"), (OTC Pink: MELY) ( MELY ), is pleased to announce that it will begin the build out of the second phase of the Company's BTC Mining Plan. PHASE TWO BUILD OUT The Company has been testing several new BTC Servers over the past several weeks in its efforts to determine the best technology available for purchase at this time. The Company has selected the model of server to be used for the Phase Two build out and is in the process of ordering one thousand units for the Company's existing facility. The hash rate of each individual unit will be +/-1TH/s, which the thousand units will provide for a minimum 1 PH/s of new BTC mining hash rate. This will provide the Company with a combine hash rate of 1.1 PH/s. The Company anticipates that the initial delivery of the first servers will be on or before October 17, 2014 with the expectation that the complete server order will be received by the second week of November, 2014. The servers will be deployed as soon as they are received and will be added to the Company's mining pool upon completion of testing. BTCPOOLPARTY MINING POOL The Company also reports that the BTCPOOLPARTY will be re-launched on or before October 10, 2014. This re-launch will coincide with the delivery dates for the first servers which will be added to the BTC POOLPARTY mining pool as they are deployed. The Company has determined that after mining on the BTCPOOLPARTY from the date of August 25, 2014 and finding one block of 25 BTC that the pool requires significantly more hash rate to become a stable and consistently producing BTC mining pool. The Company is making security changes and various other modifications which will allow the Company to open the mining pool to outside individual miners with additional hash rate to contribute. Upon the completion of the build out of Phase Two the Company believes that the BTCPOOLPARTY will be significantly more attractive to outside miners when the Company has its 1.1PH/s working under the BTCPOOLPARTY mining pool. Story continues https://www.btcpoolparty.com/ Upon the successful integration of the Company's servers to the BTCPOOLPARTY mining pool and some reporting modifications are implemented, the Company plans to open the mining pool to the general public as the first fully transparent and fully Audited Public Mining Pool. More developments and timelines for the public launch will be provided in the near future. BTC PRODUCTION TO DATE The Company is pleased to report that 117.06 BTC have been produced to date. 15 MILLION FINANCING The Company reports that the financing negotiations have been delayed due to several factors. The build out and establishment of Phase Two has become a milestone for the success of the additional financing. Additionally the softness in the overall pricing and the volatility of BTC has provided a challenge to the success of closing the 15 million financing at this time however upon stabilization of the current BTC price, the opportunity for financing will be revisited. The Company expects that upon the completion of the Second Phase of development, the Company will be producing enough revenue through BTC production that internal organic growth could be achieved without further financing which would add shareholder value without further dilution. The Company does recognize the dilutive nature of previous financings and has determined that upon the completion of the Phase Two build out, the Company will address its share structure issues to date. WASHINGTON FACILITY The Company's facility has been built to allow for a minimum 500 servers with further expansion capability to operate 1800 BTC Servers at maximum capacity. Addition photos and video can be viewed at the Company's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MELYPK For further Information: Microelectronics Technology Co. President: Mr. Brett Everett 702-221-1914 [email protected] www.melypk.com www.dynamoservers.com Forward-Looking Statements This news release includes forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. While these statements are made to convey Company progress, business opportunities and growth prospects, readers are cautioned that such forward-looking statements represent management's opinion. Whereas management believes such representations to be true and accurate based on information and data available to the Company at this time, actual results may differ materially and are subject to risk and uncertainties. Factors that may cause actual results to differ include without limitation: dependence on key personnel and suppliers; MELY's ability to commercialize its technology; ability to defend intellectual property; material and component costs; competition; economic conditions; consumer demand and product acceptance, and availability of growth capital. Additional considerations and risk factors are set forth in reports filed on Form 8-K and 10-K with the SEC and other filings. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon these forward-looking statements; historical information is not an indicator of future performance. The Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements CONTACT: Microelectronics Technology Co. President: Mr. Brett Everett 702-221-1914 [email protected] www.melypk.com www.dynamoservers.com SOURCE: Microelectronics Technology Corporation

2014-09-23 19:41:21+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [1460]}

{}

U.S. court halts bitcoin mining operation Butterfly Labs: FTC

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/u-court-halts-bitcoin-mining-operation-butterfly-labs-144328141--sector.html

Reuters

https://www.reuters.com/

By Ros Krasny WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. court has temporarily shut down Butterfly Labs, a Missouri company the Federal Trade Commission alleges deceptively marketed computers designed to produce bitcoins, the "virtual currency" payment system. The FTC's complaint against Butterfly and its corporate officers alleges that the company charged consumers thousands of dollars for its bitcoin computers, called BitForce, but then failed to ship the computers until they were almost obsolete, or in many cases did not provide the computers at all. In an emailed statement on Tuesday, Butterfly Labs said the commission had overreached with "heavy-handed actions." “In a rush to judgment, the FTC has acted as judge, jury and executioner, contrary to our intended system of governmental checks and balances," the company said. "It appears the FTC has decided to go to war on bitcoin overall, and is starting with Butterfly Labs." Unlike traditional currency, bitcoins are not distributed by a central bank or backed by physical assets like gold, but are “mined” by users who use computers to calculate increasingly complex algorithmic formulas. When a user solves a formula, the bitcoin system awards that user a set number of bitcoins. As time passes and more bitcoins are mined, mining becomes more difficult. The codes become more complex and require more powerful computers to solve them. “We often see that when a new and little-understood opportunity like Bitcoin presents itself, scammers will find ways to capitalize on the public’s excitement and interest,” Jessica Rich, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said on Tuesday. Butterfly sold its computers from $149 to $29,899 based on the machines' purported computing power. The FTC said that more than 20,000 consumers had not received the computers they purchased as of September 2013. A more powerful computer, the Monarch, was launched in August 2013 for sale between $2,499 and $4,680, but few of the machines had been delivered, the FTC said. "Butterfly Labs was literally in the midst of shipping out completed products to fulfill the remaining millions of dollars of orders on our books and issuing requested refunds," the company said. The defendants in the case are BF Labs, Inc, doing business as Butterfly Labs, and company officers Darla Drake, Nasser Ghoseiri and Sonny Vlesides, the FTC said. The court's preliminary ban on Butterfly Labs will be considered at a hearing scheduled for Monday. The case is 4:14-cv-00815-BCW in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri. (Reporting by Ros Krasny; Editing by Peter Cooney)

2014-09-23 20:00:00+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [3426, 3479, 3573]}

{}

STOCKS FALL, DOW LOSES 113: Here's What You Need To Know

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/stocks-fall-dow-loses-110-200017760.html

Business Insider

http://www.businessinsider.com/

Trader REUTERS/Brendan McDermid A trader works inside a post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Stocks fell for the third straight day on Tuesday, with the blue chip Dow Jones Industrial Average falling more than 100 points and also logging the largest percentage loss. First, the scoreboard: Dow: 17,058.82, -113.9, (-0.66%) S&P 500: 1,982.86, -11.4, (-0.6%) Nasdaq: 4,508.69, -19, (-0.4%) And now, the top stories on Tuesday: 1. The FHFA's July home price index showed prices rose 0.1%, less than the 0.5% expected by economists and the 0.4% that prices rose last month. Following the report, Michael Gapen at Barclays said, "The index now stands up 4.4% y/y, down from 5.1% in June and 7.8% through end-2013. The slowdown in the rate of home price appreciation in the FHFA House Price Index in 2014 has mirrored that in other national home price indices and is broadly in line with our outlook for smaller gains in home prices this year." 2. Markit's flash manufacturing PMI report for September came in at 57.9, unchanged from August and basically in-line with the 58.0 that was expected by economists. Following the report, Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit, said, "The flash PMI signaled another month of impressive growth of the US manufacturing economy. The third quarter as a whole has seen the strongest expansion since the sector began to recover from the financial crisis." Jesse Hurwitz at Barclays also said this report is in-line with continued a expansion in manufacturing activity during the third quarter. 3. The Richmond Federal Reserve's latest manufacturing index jumped to 14 in September from 12 in August. The report showed that shipments and volume of new orders picked up this month, and said, "Manufacturers remained optimistic about future business conditions. Survey participants expected faster growth in shipments and in the volume of new orders in the six months ahead. Producers looked for increased capacity utilization and anticipated rising backlogs. Expectations were for longer vendor lead times." 4. After crashing 10% into the close on Monday, shares of multi-level marketer regained nearly all of their losses on Tuesday. Despite the rebound in shares of Herbalife on Tuesday, Business Insider's Julia LaRoche reported that Bill Stiritz, chairman and CEO of Post Holdings, has suffered some ugly paper losses on his nearly 7.5 million share stake in Herbalife. Stiritz's stake, which is made through his personal investing vehicle, is equal to about 8% of Herbalife and has fallen $145 million this year. 5. On Monday, the Russell 2000 index completed a "Death Cross," or a technical indicator that occurs when a security or index's 50-day moving average falls below its 200-day moving average. In his morning note on Tuesday, however, UBS' Art Cashin said, "Doing this for 50 years tells me the death cross is more important to the media than to the markets." Story continues 6. The CEO of Ultrasonic, the Chinese shoe company that last week said their CEO and COO had disappeared and taken the company's money with them, kind of reappeared over the weekend . In a press release on Monday, Ultrasonic that, according to its CFO Clifford Chan, CEO Qingyong Wu called Chan over the weekend and said the money would be returned and that he would return to the company. The only problem: Ultrasonic's board has been unable to independently contact Wu. 7. The price of Bitcoin spiked higher on Tuesday following news that Bitcoin startup BitPay has announced a partnership with payments company PayPal. The price of Bitcoin spiked 12% on Tuesday to about $430. 8. Shares of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba fell again, dropping more than 3% on Tuesday, marking the second-straight full trading day of losses for the stock, which made its debut last Friday. Don't Miss: Most Americans Believe We're Still In A Recession » More From Business Insider DOW HITS RECORD HIGH AS ALIBABA DEBUTS: Here's What You Need To Know DOW, S&P 500 HIT NEW ALL-TIME HIGHS: Here's What You Need To Know DOLLAR RALLIES AFTER THE FED: Here's What You Need To Know View comments

2014-09-24 11:25:58+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [1049, 1480, 2260], "BTC": [1724, 1822, 2200]}

{"Bitcoin": [0]}

Bitcoin: History repeating as chart suggests a breakout is coming

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bitcoin-technicals-suggest-it-may-be-ready-to-break-out--josh-brown-112600252.html

Yahoo Finance

http://finance.yahoo.com/

EDITOR'S NOTE: The following was written by Yahoo Finance contributor Josh Brown and originally appeared on his Tumblr page and his Reformed Broker blog. When you value a stock, you have many levers you can pull to come up with an answer for “fair value” – whether it’s price-to-book-value or a PE ratio or some sort of discounting of future cash flows. When you value a commodity, you have actual real-world supply-vs-demand dynamics on your side – Will we consume more or less natural gas this year? Are there enough acres of corn planted to meet expectations from food producers? With something like gold and silver, it’s harder. Because outside of jewelry demand there isn’t much actual use for these metals (we don’t do gold teeth or use silver in photography anymore). These precious metals trade more on an emotional desire to own them given a sentiment consensus about the future among individuals and world governments. Lately, thanks to the ETF financialization of the PMs, there’s an investment component that wags this dog as well. With Bitcoin, none of these things apply. There’s no need for them nor is there any established supply / demand pattern given the novelty and newness of the thing. As such, there are only technicals – the charted manifestation of who wants in and who wants out. I don’t have transaction volume data to complement the below price study I’ve done, but it’s still interesting on its own. The $400 level seems to have some relevance to the Bitcoin marketplace, probably beyond coincidence. I think it’s because the $400 level is where the parabolic rise began around Thanksgiving last year. If you recall, this rise was driven by the huge surge in headlines about retailers accepting BTC for ecommerce transactions during the holiday season. As the holiday shopping season crested, BTC’s price blew up and then blew off. It’s sucked pretty much every month since – but now we’re headed back into that time of year again. Story continues If I were inclined to trade shit like this, I’d be a buyer here and I’d grow emboldened should it smack $400 again and bounce off as it seems to have done this week. I’d be looking to sell by December as the enthusiasm for BTC purchasing comes and goes. The question for longer-term Bitcoin bulls is whether or not Apple Pay makes it so easy to buy stuff electronically that the idea of mining / storing digital coins and breaking them up for transactions becomes totally ridiculous, other than for narco-traffickers or international arms dealers. Too soon to have a strong opinion, but this looks like a good risk/reward set-up for the bold: More from Yahoo Finance: Organic food: good for your body, bad for your portfolio? Jordan Belfort: Will the real Wolf of Wall Street pay back his victims? Treasury’s new rules won't kill tax inversions: Josh Brown

2014-09-24 11:35:55+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [4174]}

{}

Here's what Coke and Pepsi didn't tell you when they announced their plan to cut calories

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/coke-and-pepsi-promise-to-sell-you-less-soda--but-you-re-already-buying-less-anyway-113556720.html

Yahoo Finance

http://finance.yahoo.com/

For the most part our best interests are at least loosely aligned with the corporate powers that be and marketing just fades into the background noise. For example, Apple does a great job packaging its iPhones but the truth is it’s just a cool device. If you have the means, your life is probably a tiny bit more enjoyable if you have a kick-ass smartphone. The fact that the media slavishly picks up on the story of the people camping out to buy their iPhones helps build the frenzy, and Apple certainly encourages such coverage, but the demand is organic. There’s no need to work on convincing people Apple makes a good phone. They just do. End of conversation. Would that our world was made up entirely of iPhones. It’s not. For the most part what we see, read, eat and drink is a bunch of garbage we lap up out of habit, as much as anything else. At some point there comes a time where science catches up to habit and we realize just how horrible a beloved product really is for us. An early Marlboro Man ad The moment of grim reality happened in tobacco in 1952 when Reader’s Digest of all magazines published a piece called “Cancer by the Carton." From then on the tobacco industry banded together to make some of the most magnificent ads ever seen . The Marlboro Man was little more than a sunset-hued reminder that real men didn’t get told what they could and couldn’t inhale. Joe Camel, Virginia Slims hosting a tennis tournament. It was all genius. Doomed, of course. Cigarette consumption on a per capita basis peaked in 1963. History’s greatest works of art are borne of romantic futility and, dammit, the tobacco industry may have done a lot of horrible things but we should at least acknowledge the way the industry advanced the art of marketing in the wake of the Cancer by the Carton scandal. Soda takes control Yesterday the soda industry faced up to the daunting trends facing its business in a way that had their deceased cigarette marketing predecessors wheezing with delight. Speaking from the Clinton Global Initiative representatives from Pepsi ( PEP ), Coca-Cola ( KO ) and Dr. Pepper ( DPS ) pledged to reduce the number of calories consumed in the form of sugary sodas by 20% in the next 11 years. Story continues “We’ll use the most critical levers we have at our disposal, and the focus really will be on transforming the beverage landscape in the U.S. over the next 10 years,” said Susan Neely, chief executive of the American Beverage Association, the industry trade group. Ms. Neely called the commitment a “stretch goal” and said it had been hotly debated in executive suites at the three companies. Neely says the industry will push low and no calorie drinks by levering its promotional muscle and tie ins with literally every place that sells soda on earth. Ladies and gentlemen we are in the presence of genius. Susan Neely of the American Beverage Association, we’ve never met but allow me to commend you on your spectacular, breathtaking cynicism and pro-activity. This transcends anything we’ve seen from the tobacco industry. The soda industry selling a 20% reduction in caloric intake over the next 11 years is right up there with “You can’t fire me, I quit” in the annals of professional spin and crisis framing. Here’s what Ms. Neely and the rest of the industry aren’t telling you: the market for sugary drinks is fading despite the industry spending more than a billion a year pushing the stuff. Per capita soda consumption in the U.S. peaked in 1998 and was at the lowest levels since 1986 last year. Calories from soda contracted 23% from 2000 to 2013. At the time the industry considered this drop off something of a crisis. Beyond just changing marketing strategies Coke went on a buying binge, snapping up Vitamin Water for $4.2 billion in 2007 and paying more than $2 billion for a partial stake in Monster energy drinks earlier this year. As good fortune would have it, Vitamin Water along with Gatorade, Coke Zero and whatever low-calorie fizzy product the companies can possibly conceive of will fit quite nicely in the empty cooler space created by the soda industry’s selfless reduction goals. More from Yahoo Finance: Bitcoin: History repeating as chart suggests a breakout is coming Organic food: good for your body, bad for your portfolio? Jordan Belfort: Will the real Wolf of Wall Street pay back his victims?

2014-09-24 14:24:41+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [3001]}

{}

Dollar power is a problem for stocks: Josh Brown

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/dollar-power-is-a-problem-for-stocks--josh-brown-142218205.html

Yahoo Finance

http://finance.yahoo.com/

Don't look now but stocks are peeling back a bit after a nice run-up in the beginning of September. Just like so many times earlier this year (in addition to the past five years), strategists are wondering if this is just the market taking another breather. If you’ve bought dips in the past this year, you’ve probably enjoyed some nice returns. The bears have been seeing future capitulation in every dip, and they’ve been burned each time they’ve bet against the larger market. Josh Brown, CEO of Ritholtz Management and co-author of the book Clash of the Financial Pundits says timing the market is a fool’s errand. “I regard market-timing and forecasting as absurd,” Brown howls in the attached video. However, if one is so inclined, Brown points out some historical trends. “Seasonally the back half of September, first week of October, has always been tricky for markets. Nobody knows why, there’s now logical reason, one theory is that going back one hundred years when we were an agrarian society this is when the banks would have to pony up their cash in order for farmers to hire enough hands to bring in the harvest, the banks wouldn’t be as flush, and as a result investment markets wouldn’t get that benefit.” Seasonality and history of agrarian-focused markets aside, Brown sees one reason why certain sectors are getting hit in the market – the strong dollar. “The dollar has been on a tear, to me that is the number one story for the investment markets of the late summer, early fall… at the end of the day the effect that it has on the equity markets is really interesting.” Dollar sensitivity is in particular hurting some sector more than others. “For example, the three sectors that have the highest percentage of stocks below their 200-day moving average, they are the three sectors that are most susceptible to a stronger dollar.” Those sectors are industrials, materials, and energy. Brown believes without the participation of these three sectors, it is hard to envision a scenario where the S&P 500 ( ^GSPC ) makes new highs. Story continues What this comes down to is perhaps taking a look at your portfolio to see if a rebalancing is necessary. “A lot of people missed the rally last year where they didn’t capture all of it and what we’ve seen is people taking more aggressive bets in order to make up for that this year,” he notes. “If you have a one or two percent correction in the S&P which is hilariously small, and you feel uncomfortable or you’re looking at the balance of your account and its down more than you thought it would be on a minor tremor, what’s actionable is you look at that and you say, ‘well why am I betting so heavily on U.S. equities, why are U.S. stocks 90% of my portfolio… maybe I’m not doing enough in fixed income?’” Essentially, in Brown’s eyes it's time to take a litmus test of your portfolio and see if anything’s out of whack. More from Investing: Here what Coke and Pepsi didn't tell you when they announced their plan to cut calories Bitcoin: History repeating as chart suggests a breakout is coming Organic food: good for your body, bad for your portfolio?

2014-09-24 16:07:39+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [1613]}

{}

Blackberry pops on phone release, Bed Bath and Beyond surges on earnings

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/blackberry-pops-on-phone-release--bed-bath-and-beyond-surges-on-earnings-160741225.html

Yahoo Finance

http://finance.yahoo.com/

Time for your hump day dose of Trending Tickers, the stocks that you're tracking as measured by Yahoo Finance ticker searches: Bed Bath & Beyond ( BBBY ) - Shares are higher by more than 6%. The "towels 'n stuff" retail chain still trying to recover from an uncharacteristic miss last Christmas. Sales growth is still a problem but earnings are getting a boost from decent margins and a monster buyback. Bed Bath... shares still down about 17% for 2014. KB Homes ( KBH ) -  The stock is getting torched by 5%. The home builder missed estimates on both the top and bottom line by a country mile. Management says demand trends are strong but delays in construction and mortgage closings pushed some deliveries into the next quarter. Keep an eye on those mortgages, folks. The Fed can keep rates at zero forever but if human beings can't get loans all you're going to get for it is a bunch of stock buybacks. That's no problem for the broader market but it's little solace for KB Holders today. Blackberry ( BBRY ) -  Shares are higher because they released a phone. This officially marks the end of me caring about smartphones for another year. Seriously. I'm done. Former Blackberry exec Alicia Keys was the center of a provocative piece in last weekend's New York Times . She's moved on with her life perhaps we should as well. Those are your Trending Tickers today. Tell us what stocks you're watching on Twitter using the hashtag #TrendingTickers More from Yahoo Finance: Dollar power is a problem for stocks: Josh Brown Here's what Coke and Pepsi didn't tell you when they announced their plan to cut calories Bitcoin: History repeating as chart suggests a breakout is coming View comments

2014-09-24 17:10:02+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [127, 305, 459, 700, 982, 1509, 1694]}

{}

eBay???BitCoin Service Providers Unite to Ease Transactions

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ebay-bitcoin-providers-unite-ease-171002005.html

Zacks

http://www.zacks.com/

E-Commerce service provider eBay Inc. ( EBAY ) recently announced that its digital payment arm PayPal has partnered with three Bitcoin payment providers — BitPay, Coinbase and GoCoin — to facilitate payment on its website using the online currency. This partnership will enable PayPal merchants to accept Bitcoins from buyers for the purchase of music, movies and other digital content. All merchants using the PayPal Payments Hub will now be able to offer a Bitcoin payment option to customers at the online checkout system along with other options like PayPal, debit or credit cards, prepaid cards or a digital wallet. However, initially, this will be available only to merchants in North America. Bitcoin is a digital currency platform with no central regulating authority involved in the transactions which take place between the involved parties only. It is also called crypto currency because it uses military-grade cryptography to protect users against fraud. Payments using Bitcoin can be made via different smartphone apps or their desktop versions. This is generally used for transferring funds electronically and does not require a credit card or PIN. The wide acceptance of the electronic currency platform will enable online enthusiasts to indulge in impulsive buying. The strict security measures adopted by the platform to ensure safety will be an added advantage for uninitiated buyers. According to a website tracking the digital money’s use, CoinDesk, approximately 63,000 businesses handle Bitcoins and have set up more than 5 million digital wallets to keep their holdings. Recently, Expedia ( EXPE ) announced that it will allow users to pay for hotel accommodations using Bitcoins. PayPal is taking all the necessary measures to boost its competitive position in the mobile payment segment. It is pushing beyond its online payment services and expanding the offline, mobile and online offerings to stores, restaurants and other businesses. The popular electronic payment facility will help the company facilitate an easier payment process for its digital content. Story continues Though eBay’s payment business shows great promise, competition remains a major headwind. However, the latest move would position PayPal better against rival mobile payment systems such as Amazon.com Inc.’s ( AMZN ) recently launched Amazon Payments, Intuit Inc.'s ( INTU ) GoPayment and Starbucks-backed Square Inc. and others. Currently, eBay’s shares carry a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Read the Full Research Report on EXPE Read the Full Research Report on AMZN Read the Full Research Report on EBAY Read the Full Research Report on INTU Zacks Investment Research

2014-09-24 17:33:53+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [2644]}

{}

Ebola outbreak won't happen here: World Bank President

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ebola-outbreak-won-t-happen-here--world-bank-president-145609232.html

Yahoo Finance

http://finance.yahoo.com/

The Centers for Disease Control this week said that if the Ebola virus continues to spread at its current rate, as many 1.4 million people could be infected with the virus by late January. The present count is just over 5,800 cases in West Africa with more than 2,800 deaths, but the number could be much higher since many cases are not reported, according to healthcare officials. “The doubling rate is every three weeks,” says Dr. Jim Yong Kim, an infectious disease specialist who now heads the World Bank. He told Yahoo Finance in an exclusive interview that a continued slow response to Ebola could be catastrophic. “We just cannot let that happen.” Related: Ebola: Why there isn't a vaccine, treatment, or cure What is needed immediately, says Kim, is a “response on the ground” including the delivery of hospital beds in cities and IV fluids and electrolytes in rural areas. “If we do that, we’ll get this under control.” The World Bank last month pledged $230 million in emergency aid to fight the spread of Ebola as well as funds to strengthen health care systems long term. T he United Nations says it will require nearly $1 billion to bring the Ebola disease outbreak in West Africa under control. Countries around the world are now sending medical workers, supplies and funds to help in that effort. The U.S. has pledged to send 3,000 troops as well as medical kits and other supplies. It's also helping in the construction of new clinics and hospitals. An experimental vaccine is now being tested in the U.K., and will be fast-tracked to send into West Africa. Related: Ebola cure: 3 companies could hold the key These responses have Kim less worried about the spread of Ebola beyond Africa, though he stresses more needs to be done in West Africa. As for the U.S., Kim is not worried that Ebola will spread here because, “Ebola has never actually met directly a modern health care system… In every major emergency room in the United States, we assume that everyone has Ebola unless proven otherwise. That’s why we glove all the time; if someone has an open wound or fluids are flying we put facemasks on. We take precautions." He adds, if such precautions were standard operating procedure in Africa, the death rate there would be much lower. That’s why, in addition to responding to the immediate problem of Ebola in West Africa, Western countries need “to build those [health care] systems so that they can manage these kinds of outbreaks in the future," says Kim. More from Yahoo Finance Dollar power is a problem for stocks: Josh Brown Here's what Coke and Pepsi didn't tell you when they announced their plan to cut calories Bitcoin: History repeating as chart suggests a breakout is coming View comments

2014-09-24 19:41:57+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [3899]}

{}

Will the Fed's exit be fast and furious?

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/feds-exit-fast-furious-194157278.html

CNBC

http://www.cnbc.com/

In the markets, you never get hit by the bus you can see. There is always a miscalculation or unintended consequence that challenges the status quo. So as the Federal Reserve contemplates its exit from economic stimulus, investors should ask: What is the bus that the Fed cannot see? Your answer to this question will impact how you invest - virtually all bull markets have ended as a result of Fed actions. If the economy improves faster than the Fed expects, then a fast and furious rate-hiking cycle may be in the cards, which would likely result in a stock-market selloff. Read More Don't worry about the first rate hike: Insana Alternatively, if the economy sputters then the Fed will likely go low and slow - but the market may be spooked by the low-growth environment. The best-case scenario is the one we find ourselves in currently: low growth, low inflation and low interest rates. If the gas pedal is broken, why assume the brakes work? One of the curious and confounding aspects of this recovery is the Federal Reserve's inability to achieve escape velocity despite fully depressing the monetary policy gas pedal. One way to measure the impact the Fed's gas pedal is having on the economic engine is to look at the money multiplier. This indicator is the ratio of the monetary base to M1 and is typically only viewed by econ-nerds. Investors need to know that when this ratio is below 1 it means that for every dollar the Fed pumps into the economy less than $1 is created - this is the situation we find ourselves in since the financial crisis. The takeaway is that even as the Fed has pressed harder on the gas pedal, the economy has not accelerated. For a myriad of reasons, the financial crisis has rendered the Fed's gas pedal less effective. So what does all this wonky talk have to do with buses that the Fed can't see? Well, I am glad you asked. The economic basis for quantitative easing was that for every dollar the Fed pumped into the economy MORE than $1 would be created - this has clearly been rendered false. Now the Fed is approaching the exit plan and at some point in the next year it is expected to start applying the brakes. Given the fact that the Federal Reserve could not predict its gas pedal was broken, what gives it confidence that the brakes will work? Story continues Read More Is that trader flashing a sell sign? Janet Yellen has a yeoman's task ahead of her: If she decides to tap the brakes too soon, the economy may go through the windshield. Alternatively, if she waits too long, she may find out that that the economic brakes don't work. Goldilocks rules Of course, all these concerns have been voiced since the commencement of unusual monetary policy - and nothing has come of it. A broken gas pedal has created a Goldilocks environment that has fueled triple-digit gains in the U.S. stock market. Given the Federal Reserve's faith in its inflation-fighting ability and Janet Yellen's assertion that she still sees slack in the economy, it is unlikely that the Fed will act too soon. The implication of not acting too soon is that the Fed has chosen the path of a late liftoff with a more aggressive slope to the interest-rate increases. In other words, the Fed has faith in the brakes and plans to press on them like a pilot making a landing when the time is right. Read More Stop panicking about the 'death cross': Polcari After observing and participating in the financial markets for the last 20 years, it is difficult to comprehend a market which has been lulled asleep by low volatility will respond well to a fast and furious Fed. Brian Kelly is founder and managing member of Brian Kelly Capital LLC, a global macro investment firm catering to high net worth individuals, family offices and institutions. He is also the creator of the BKCM Indexes, benchmarks for multi-asset money managers. He's also the author of the upcoming book, " The Bitcoin Big Bang: How Alternative Currencies Are About to Change the World ." Kelly, a CNBC contributor, often appears on "Fast Money." Follow him on Twitter @BrianKellyBK .

2014-09-25 11:46:32+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [1865]}

{}

Tesla’s big surge is still coming: Fahmy

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/tesla-s-big-surge-is-still-coming--fahmy-114633581.html

Yahoo Finance

http://finance.yahoo.com/

Tesla ( TSLA ) builds whisper-quiet cars but its shareholders are accustomed to bumpy rides. Shares have gone up by 37% over the last year but the downdrafts have been withering. Twice in the last twelve months Tesla shares have dropped by more than 30% only to claw their way back to record highs. Back in August Zor Capital’s Joe Fahmy made Tesla his top pick to possibly double over the next year. At the time TSLA was trading at $243. Since then the shares have been predictably unpredictable, rising 20% then giving back most of those gains. In the attached clip Fahmy says he’s sticking with his pick, even if there are only scant profits left to take on the trade. “Nothing has changed since last time I was here” Fahmy says rather coolly in the attached clip. Pointing at that it’s common for stocks to pullback to previous resistance points after breaking out on the chart Fahmy says some consolidation makes sense here. For Tesla the $240 to $250 area is important as far as chartists are concerned. Not only is that where the shares topped out last spring but it’s also Fahmy’s breakout area. Should support fail here a rather nasty head and shoulders formation could be in place. Bears would love nothing better than to take a shot at the short side on Tesla. Fahmy is counting on them getting it wrong again. Despite the big drop the number of shares sold short outstanding was still in the low 20 million area as of the most recent data . In the past that number has been closer to 30 million before enough bearish charge was in place for Tesla to move appreciably higher. Until then Fahmy says keep picking away on the long side if you choose, it all depends on your personal risk tolerance. More from Investing: Dollar power is a problem for stocks: Josh Brown Here what Coke and Pepsi didn't tell you when they announced their plan to cut calories Bitcoin: History repeating as chart suggests a breakout is coming

2014-09-25 12:00:10+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [1984]}

{}

FiveStars raises $26M to build up its digital loyalty program

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/fivestars-raises-26m-build-digital-120010916.html

Gigaom

http://gigaom.com/

Retail rewards program startup FiveStars just landed the biggest reward of them all: $26 million in funding. The San Francisco company, which launched out of Y-Combinator in 2013, just closed a Series B led by new investor Menlo Ventures with participation from its previous backers DCM, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Rogers Communications. Retail loyalty programs tend to be tied to specific merchants (sign up for Starbucks Rewards and earn a free coffee) but a growing number of startups have created generic loyalty apps with the aim of bringing thousands of small local businesses into rewards programs – offering something a bit more sophisticated than a buy-nine-get-the-tenth-free punch card. Chicago’s Belly has been one of the front-runners in the space, attracting the interest not just of local pizzerias and mom-and-pop grocery stories, but also of big national chains like 7-Eleven . FiveStars, however, has quietly been building up its own base of 5,300 merchants in the U.S. and Canada by offering businesses a loyalty system that requires no special hardware or investment. While Belly requires merchants to set up iPads on their sales counters so customers can scan QR codes from their apps into their systems. FiveStars is making use of the point-of-sale systems merchants already have, whether they’re touchscreen computers or keypad terminals. The basic credential is a mobile phone number, which FiveStars uses to keep track of check-ins, points and eligible rewards. Though its merchant base is still relatively small, it’s managed to lure in 4 million consumers to the program and they have collectively redeemed 2.6 million rewards, according to FiveStars. With the new funds, FiveStars said it plans to start hiring not just engineers to design its product, but also sales people to help build its merchant base. Image copyright FiveStars . Related research and analysis from Gigaom Research: Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial . Story continues Bitcoin: why digital currency is the future financial system How the truly smart home could finally become a reality Why retailers should forget showrooming and turn to in-store Wi-Fi More From paidContent.org One secret to the success of Quartz, BuzzFeed and Gawker: They look at news as a service

2014-09-26 14:15:00+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [2757, 2818, 2833]}

{}

Alternet Systems Obtains Shareholder Approval for Proposals Set Forth During Special Meeting

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/alternet-systems-obtains-shareholder-approval-141500534.html

Marketwired

http://www.marketwired.com/

MIAMI, FL--(Marketwired - Sep 26, 2014) - Alternet Systems, Inc. ( OTCQB : ALYI ), a business to business facilitator for digital currency and mobile commerce services in the digital asset and virtual currency ecosystem, today announced that on September 25, 2014, the Company held a special meeting of stockholders at which a majority of the Company's shareholders overwhelmingly approved the proposals set forth. Henryk Dabrowski, Chief Executive Officer of Alternet Systems, commented, "On behalf of the Board of Directors and the entire management team, we want to thank our shareholders for their support and confidence in the opportunity within the digital currency industry we are embarking on. The approved proposals will allow us to continue to sign strategic partnerships, provides us with working capital to fulfill our business plan and assist us in accelerating our growth." Alternet Systems Overview and Accomplishments: Alternet Systems is an accelerator of disruptive technologies within the digital currency industry through four major segments: financial services, currency exchange, payment processing and security. The Company has established strategic relationships, expertise and accomplishments within each of these segments. Financial Services: Alternet Financial Services ("AFS") was created in an effort to provide global business to business currency transaction flexibility through digital currency. For example, there are regulations and restrictions on large global corporations from exchanging currency between certain countries throughout the world such as Venezuela and Argentina. By using digital currency as a mediator in conjunction with the AFS platform, the flow of money can be facilitated. Currency Exchange: In order to effectuate global transactions through digital currency, Alternet Systems must become an exchange. Through OneMarket, the Company is in the process of obtaining a State of New York license to carry out this endeavor. Ven, the only digital currency to be priced from a basket of currencies, commodities and carbon futures, making it green, grounded and stable, is the first of several digital currencies to be exchanged on this platform. By being recognized as a Ven Authority, an entity who manages the liquidity of Ven, this is possible. Story continues Payment Processing: Wholly-owned subsidiary, Alternet Payment Solutions ("APS"), has launched its worldwide payment processing business through a strategic channel partner agreement with BitPay, the world leader in business solutions for the bitcoin digital currency. APS has entered into a non-exclusive agent agreement to sell and support the BitPay platform into Alternet's customer base. APS will focus on providing business to business Bitcoin payment methods such as converting local currency to Bitcoin and/or Bitcoin to USD in the Americas, Caribbean and Asia-Pacific. Security: Through a strategic joint venture with BIOMETRY for "BioME," Alternet will securitize global transactions by replacing passwords and PINs with dynamic facial and voice recognition in a unique ID system. BIOMETRY's innovative and patented secure payment applications will be incorporated into Alternet's digital currency offering, including OneMarket's Digital Asset Exchange and the Alternet Financial Services, Digital Bank initiatives. Alternet will expand BIOMETRY's market reach, through its network of clients, including financial institutions and mobile network operators. Special Meeting Details: A total of 71,457,994 votes were cast, representing 72.76% of the outstanding shares as of the record date of July 31, 2014. The shareholders approved the following proposals: 1. To approve an amendment to the Company's Articles of Incorporation to increase the Company's authorized shares of common stock from 100,000,000 to 500,000,000. 63,081,873 shares (64.23% of outstanding shares and 88.27% of the votes cast) were voted in favor of the proposal. 2. To approve an amendment to the Company's Articles of Incorporation to authorize the issuance of up to 10,000,000 shares of blank preferred stock. 51,336,601 shares (52.30% of outstanding shares and 87.87% of the votes cast) were voted in favor of the proposal. 3. To approve the Alternet Systems, Inc. 2014 Equity Incentive Plan. 52,256,051 shares (53.21% of outstanding shares and 89.39% of the votes cast) voted in favor of the proposal. About Alternet Systems Inc.: Alternet Systems Inc . ( OTCQB : ALYI ), headquartered in Miami, Florida, is an enterprise accelerator company focused on the complimentary, high-growth markets of Digital Currency, Mobile and Internet Commerce and Cyber-Security products and services. Through its subsidiaries, Alternet captures and converts extraordinary growth opportunities surrounding the explosion of newly adapted Internet technologies and platforms. More information about Alternet and its subsidiaries can be found at www.alternetsystems.com and by following the company on Twitter www.twitter.com/alternetsystems . Safe Harbor Statement: Certain statements in this news release may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of Rule 175 under the Securities Act of 1933 and Rule 3b-6 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and are subject to the safe harbor created by those rules. All statements, other than statements of fact, included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding potential future plans and objectives of the Company, are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.

2014-09-26 15:13:35+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [4100]}

{}

Can ordinary people get fired up over internet governance? Web We Want festival says yes

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ordinary-people-fired-over-internet-151335665.html

Gigaom

http://gigaom.com/

This weekend will see the start of the Web We Want festival at London’s Southbank Centre. Its organizers hope it will spark a movement that’s in some ways comparable to environmentalism. That may be a tall order, but — as I reported back in March – the Web We Want campaign, timed to run 25 years after the web was invented, is the brainchild of the World Wide Web Foundation itself. Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor, is at the helm. And, refreshingly, the campaign is trying to avoid the grayness and (in my opinion) hot air of more formal efforts such as the Internet Governance Forum and Netmundial. “The first step is that we take these topics out of the usual internet governance sphere and into the general public,” Renata Avila, the global campaign lead for Web We Want, told me. “Our main objective [is] to make it popular, engaging and interesting for the common person and not only for internet geeks, to show everyone that they should care.” Diverse approach The aim of the wider campaign is to crowdsource a “Magna Carta” for the web, based on principles such as privacy, net neutrality, free expression, affordable access and open and diverse infrastructure. The festival taking place on the bank of the Thames River this weekend, and on two other weekends in November and May, is only part of this picture – albeit the most high-profile part. Activities will also take place in 20 locations around the world, from Bosnia to Mexico. “We are managing to engage people beyond the usual European-U.S. circles,” Avila said. The Southbank festival was designed alongside Jude Kelly, the center’s artistic director. Apart from a multitude of talks and seminars covering topics from surveillance to gaming to art — the program was largely crowdsourced — the show also includes a “glass box” where, since earlier this week, people have been developing a new website for the Southbank Centre. Members of the public can come and see this process, which incorporates “the principles of an open, transparent and accessible web,” and make suggestions about the site’s design. Story continues The organizers are also setting up a mesh network on the site, to show people how they can create their own community Wi-Fi network. As Avila explained, education is central to the campaign’s aims: We are basically building a movement around a common group which is the internet, following a similar approach that the environmental movement followed. We’re encouraging people about the various actions they can take to improve this common resource. That’s not easy and it cannot happen without education and awareness. Engagement cannot happen […] if we keep discussion at such a high technical level that the average person is not aware they can change things by their consumer choices. It’s a political issue as well. Beyond reaction Work began on the Web We Want campaign before Edward Snowden’s mass surveillance revelations in mid-2013, though this topic has of course become a central strand. According to Avila, the program she is helping to direct has taken as inspiration the successful SOPA and PIPA protests of 2012, as well as the suicide of prominent open-web activist Aaron Swartz. “Scholars and activists realized that reaction, reaction, reaction was not enough,” Avila told me, explaining that the internet activism sphere has “very limited impact to stop” things like – to take a very current example – the Australian government legitimizing mass surveillance this week . This sphere needs to expand to include larger community and family groups, she said – people who have not traditionally been internet activists, but whose interests are affected by the things that engage activists. The end goal, Avila suggested, was to have ordinary people set the web agenda for companies and politicians, rather than things only working the other way round. Whether or not this campaign has a major impact in itself, that’s as worthy a goal as you’re likely to find. Image copyright Thinkstock/Pay404 . Related research and analysis from Gigaom Research: Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial . Bitcoin: why digital currency is the future financial system For OTT Providers, the Real Net Neutrality Fight is Just Beginning Is Google’s China Problem a Groundswell of the Closed Internet? More From paidContent.org Big banks invest $13.5M in machine learning startup Context Relevant

2014-09-26 16:25:00+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [2589]}

{}

FBI to Apple, Google: Your New Privacy Policies Are Making People Less Safe

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/fbi-apple-google-privacy-policies-162533622.html

Entrepreneur

http://www.entrepreneur.com/

The FBI has not taken kindly to new smartphone security measures enacted by Apple and Google, which will encrypt data deeply beyond the reach of law enforcement officials -- even those in possession of a legal search warrant. In tapping the vast pool of emails, messages, call logs, photos and more that reside on most smartphones, police are able to resolve life-threatening crimes -- including murder, child pornography and potential terrorist attacks -- that would likely otherwise go unresolved, said FBI director James Comey in a briefing with reporters yesterday. Nevertheless, Apple’s new version of iOS 8 and Google’s latest mobile operating system, Android L, will prevent anyone other than a device’s owner from accessing this potentially fertile trove. Related: Texting and Driving? Not So Fast -- General Motors is Watching You “Apple will become the phone of choice for the pedophile,” John Escalante, chief of detectives for Chicago’s police department, told The Washington Post . “The average pedophile at this point is probably thinking, I’ve got to get an Apple phone.” "What concerns me about this is companies marketing something expressly to allow people to place themselves beyond the law," Comey added . Though Apple says its new encryption policies aim to protect victims of iPhone theft and not thwart investigations, the FBI has reached out to both companies to make its concerns known, according to the Post . Related: John McAfee: You Should Care That Your Privacy Is Disappearing The new operating systems call into question the evolving notion of privacy in a digital age. Amid widespread repudiation of mass NSA surveillance and outrage over incessant data breaches and hack attacks , some say that the new smartphone encryption measures are shortsighted. “The outrage is directed at warrantless mass surveillance, and this is a very different context,” Orin Kerr, a former Justice Department computer crimes lawyer told the Post . “It’s searching a device with a warrant.” Story continues Despite being barred from smartphones themselves, the FBI will still have access to certain data, notes the Post . Officials can still obtain call and text records from cellphone carriers, listen in on live conversations and determine suspect location based on cell towers. They can also access an array of information through the cloud, where smartphone users frequently back up the data from their devices. Related: OkCupid Founder: 'If You Use the Internet, You're the Subject of Hundreds of Experiments' More From Entrepreneur Billionaire Entrepreneur Mark Cuban: 'Bitcoin Has No Shot as a Long-Term Digital Currency' This Ridesharing Service You've Never Heard of Has 10 Million Members and Counting 5 Powerful SEO Metrics and Data Points You Need to Watch

2014-09-26 16:34:12+00:00

{}

{"Bitcoin": [24]}

Reggie Middleton On Why Bitcoin Is Valuable

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/reggie-middleton-why-bitcoin-valuable-163412381.html

Benzinga

http://www.benzinga.com/

Reggie Middleton is bullish on bitcoin. Middleton is the founder and editor of the BoomBustBlog , and he recently joined Benzinga’s #PreMarket Prep to talk about what he called the true value of bitcoin. “What bitcoin is now is what the Internet was in 1993,” Middleton said. Middleton said he owns very little actual bitcoin. The value of bitcoin is in the technology that allows you to program money, Middleton said, just like a computer code. Related Link: 'Day Trading For Dummies' Author Talks RadioShack Corporation, American Apparel Inc “So you can take bitcoin and you can program it to do anything you can conceptualize basically, and the currency obeys the programming,” he said. Middleton said programming the currency would allow people to create unbreakable contracts and create monetary policy that emulates Google's processes. That is very rarely, if ever, talked about in the media, Middleton said. “The media focuses on the price, the volatility of the price or somebody who broke the law using bitcoin,” he said. Middleton even has a bitcoin startup called Veritaseum, which offers a product called UltraCoin. He said that UltraCoin mimics the business functions of investment banks, brokerages and exchanges with bitcoin. "On a peer to peer basis, that means you download the software and you can trade over 75,000 tickers in any major asset class: stocks, bonds, metals, commodities, currencies -- you name it," he said. "You can trade it peer to peer, which means other trades from my desktop or cell phone directly to you bypass all exchanges, bypass all banks, all exchanges." He also talked about Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL ). Check out his full interview here: See more from Benzinga Presidium Capital's Greg Harmon Shares His Analysis on Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, Yahoo! Inc. © 2014 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

2014-09-26 18:59:38+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [3410]}

{}

3 Problems With General Motors Company Moving Cadillac To New York

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/3-problems-general-motors-company-185938206.html

Benzinga

http://www.benzinga.com/

Earlier this week, General Motors Company (NYSE: GM ) announced that Cadillac , its luxury car brand, is breaking off into a separate business unit and moving its headquarters to New York. It’s part of Cadillac President Johan de Nysschen’s plan to rebrand the company. He hopes that the move will help bring the brand to a more international level and appeal to younger buyers, according to The Detroit News . “Cadillac has been very much in the doldrums in terms of sales,” AutoTrader.com analyst Michelle Krebs told Benzinga. “He’s shaking things up.” See Also: What Decreased Italian Wine Production Means For The Global Wine Industry It remains to be seen if moving the headquarters will truly help bolster the carmaker’s brand and auto sales. Benzinga reached out to some auto experts, who pointed out some immediate issues with moving the brand away from its home. Location Doesn’t Affect Other Luxury Giants While moving the headquarters to New York might provide Cadillac access to a talent pool of people in terms of advertising and marketing, Edmunds.com Senior Editor Ed Hellwig doesn’t think the location of a carmaker’s headquarters makes that big of a difference. “If you look at the competitors they are trying to go against -- BMW, Audi -- They’re all based in medium-sized industrial towns in Germany,” Hellwig told Benzinga. “They’re not based in London or Paris or hip places like that, and they do just fine.” BMW and Audi are located in the German cities of Stuttgart and Ingolstadt, respectively, both of which Krebs called “gritty factory towns.” “I don’t think the customer gives a darn where the headquarters is,” she said. “It’s just that BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi have built these images of being the brands that people want.” It Hasn’t Worked In The Past Back in 1998, Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F ) moved the headquarters of its Lincoln-Mercury division to Southern California. The automaker was hoping to gain more of the luxury market share in California, The New York Times reported, and better understand the trend-setting West Coast market. Story continues Only four years later, Ford announced it would move its luxury brand’s headquarters back to Michigan. Lincoln’s sales had fallen 5 percent after the move, according to the Los Angeles Times, and Mercury’s dropped roughly 28 percent. “It didn’t take long [for the brand to move back to Michigan],” Hellwig said. “There’s a lot of speculation as to why it didn’t work.” Logistical Issues GM said in its press release that the new headquarters won’t affect technical product development teams, manufacturing or assembly operations. The Detroit News also reported that most of Cadillac’s operations are still with GM at Detroit headquarters, and that many of those operations will remain at the company’s tech center in Warren, Michigan. This means that the company will be split between New York and Detroit. “Headquartering Cadillac away from the General Motors headquarters in Detroit might present some logistical issues,” Kelley Blue Book Executive Market Analyst Jack Nerad said. Hellwig agreed. He said the move will create problems that weren’t there before. “Even as simple as communication between departments,” Hellwig said, “whereas before, they could just drive across town.” Follow Brianna Valleskey on Twitter for the latest news and updates: @bri_valleskey. See more from Benzinga Reggie Middleton On Why Bitcoin Is Valuable 'Day Trading For Dummies' Author Talks RadioShack Corporation, American Apparel Inc Fari Hamzei Correctly Predicts S&P 500 Reversal After Alibaba Group Holding Ltd IPO © 2014 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

2014-09-26 19:13:00+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [313, 361, 546, 688, 827, 1000, 1175, 1482, 1594, 1902, 2067]}

{"Bitcoin": [38]}

Billionaire Entrepreneur Mark Cuban: 'Bitcoin Has No Shot as a Long-Term Digital Currency'

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/billionaire-entrepreneur-mark-cuban-bitcoin-191326116.html

Entrepreneur

http://www.entrepreneur.com/

Mark Cuban invests in a motley mix of businesses, from the big (Magnolia Pictures, the Dallas Mavericks and Dropbox) to the small (a candied pretzel startup, a Snapchat-like texting app and a sippy cup maker). And the list goes on and all over the board. But the veteran tech mogul isn’t putting his money behind Bitcoin . Not yet. “Nope, I haven’t invested in Bitcoin yet,” Cuban told Entrepreneur.com on the set of Shark Tank . “I go up and down on it.” He seemed pretty down on it back in March, when he told USA Today at SXSW that he think’s Bitcoin is “great as an encryption technology,” but not as a cryptocurrency. Not for the long haul. The future, he predicts, isn’t bright for Bitcoin as a cryptocash. Related: Billionaire Entrepreneur Mark Cuban: 'Failure is Part of the Success Equation' Like many, Cuban compares Bitcoin to gold and says central banks will never let it truly succeed. He also noted that “no one” that he knows in traditional sales who accepts it as payment keeps it as Bitcoin: “They all translate it to dollars.” And, if they convert the digital money to traditional fiat money, in his mind, it’s not a currency. Gold Could Collapse Just Like Bitcoin Did http://t.co/612372yB98 — Mark Cuban (@mcuban) April 28, 2013 “As a transport mechanism, an accounting digital transport mechanism, it’s unique and has a great opportunity in the future,” Cuban told USA Today . “I think it’s got no shot as a long term digital currency.” Related: PayPal Embraces Bitcoin Payments, Partners With BitPay, Coinbase and GoCoin If the Dallas Mavericks owner ever does jump on the Bitcoin bandwagon , he says it would be purely for entertainment value. “I’d look at [buying] it, but more as fun. It’s almost like buying and selling baseball cards, but there’s definitely risk involved if you’re looking at it to be a long-term currency.” Story continues Will Cuban ever break down and add Bitcoin to his ever-exploding portfolio? “The jury’s still out,” he told us. We’ll have to wait and see. To see Cuban size up some promising startups outside of the Bitcoin realm, tune in tonight to the Season Six premiere of Shark Tank from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET/PT on your local ABC station. Related: Shark Tank's 'Mr. Wonderful' on Teaching Kids About Money: 'Put Their Noses In It, Like You're Training a Puppy' More From Entrepreneur Launching a Website? Don't Miss Our Live Hangout. FBI to Apple, Google: Your New Privacy Policies Are Making People Less Safe New Details Emerge About Facebook's 'Buy' Button

2014-09-27 04:32:00+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [102, 551, 654, 684, 824, 1042, 1479, 1635, 2595]}

{"Bitcoin": [44]}

HitBTC Partners With World’s First Licensed Bitcoin Derivatives Platform TeraExchange

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/hitbtc-partners-world-first-licensed-043200968.html

ACCESSWIRE

https://www.accesswire.com/

Innovative cryptocurrency exchange HitBTC and TeraExchange - the world's first regulated platform for Bitcoin derivatives - recently signed an agreement to use HitBTC in TeraExchange's financial instruments price index. Summit, New Jersey - September 2th, 2014 -- HitBTC, the cryptocurrency exchange known for its technological innovations , and TeraExchange, a swap execution facility registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission , signed an agreement to provide an accurate and timed reference point for the first regulated platform for Bitcoin derivatives. According to the agreement, HitBTC’s trading data is included in the TeraExchange Bitcoin Price Index. The Tera Bitcoin Price Index employs a dynamic algorithm that compiles and filters data on a real-time basis from a number of widely utilized global Bitcoin exchanges. HitBTC executes and maintains the information sharing agreement with TeraExchange in order to be included in the index, as required by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. “The structure of the Bitcoin swap marketplace reflects extensive client input, providing participants the benefits of transparent price discovery and efficient risk transfer.” Says Leonard T. Nuara, President and co-founder of TeraExchange. As a measure to ensure effective functioning of trading marketplaces HitBTC and TeraExchange agreed to jointly develop measures to counteract potential market manipulation and disruptive trading practices. “Regulated Bitcoin swap trading provides institutional clients with a more efficient and confident way to hedge and trade. A robust price index also helps the growing Bitcoin trading community to accurately mark-to-market positions while establishing trust and stability in this growing global marketplace.” Christian Martin, CEO and co-founder of TeraExchange Presently, both companies plan to extend cooperation and seek new opportunities to provide the best and most technologically advanced solutions for the benefit of their customers. Story continues Company Info: HitBTC, LLC is a leading and rapidly developing cryptocurrency exchange that provides trading services to institutionals, merchants and individual traders. The HitBTC trading platform is known for its state-of-the-art matching engine, multi-currency support (EUR, USD, and GBP) as well as for its friendly customer service. TeraExchange, LLC is a Swap Execution Facility that is registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and provides market participants with access to interest rate swaps, credit default swaps, non-deliverable forwards and Bitcoin swaps. To learn more about TeraExchange please go to: http://www.teraexchange.com/ © 2014 Hit Technologies, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. Hit Technologies shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein. Visit http://hitbtc.com/ for more information. Contact Info Name: David Dahan Organization: HitBTC Public Relations Email: [email protected]

2014-09-29 13:30:00+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [1100, 1616, 2232]}

{}

WPCS Announces 34% User Growth for Its Digital Currency Offerings

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/wpcs-announces-34-user-growth-133000509.html

Marketwired

http://www.marketwired.com/

SUISUN CITY, CA--(Marketwired - Sep 29, 2014) - WPCS International Incorporated ( NASDAQ : WPCS ) (the "Company"), which specializes in contracting services for communications infrastructure and the development of a digital currency trading platform, today is providing shareholders with an update on the user growth of its BTX Trader and Celery digital currency platforms. Cumulative user count as of September 16, 2014 totaled 7,121, as compared to 5,239 as of June 16, 2014, an increase of approximately 34%. In addition, the Company has added a transparency page to its Celery wallet that can be found on www.gocelery.com/#transparency to assure its users that digital currency stored with Celery is safe and quickly accessible. "We are extremely pleased with the growth of our BTX Trader and Celery user base," stated BTX Trader Chief Operating Officer, Ilya Subkhankulov. "The user growth of our platforms is directly attributable to the growth the digital currency industry continues to experience. Consumers are becoming more educated and therefore more comfortable with owning and utilizing Bitcoin as an alternative method of payment. We continue to refine our software and intend to develop and introduce new, creative ideas to bring to market. We look forward to seeing continued user growth and translation into positive revenue growth in the future." Divya Thakur, BTX Chief Technology Officer, added, "BTX is taking a leadership position in the digital currency industry by providing the type of transparency that users need to make informed decisions by giving them insight into customer holdings of Bitcoin, Litecoin and Dogecoin, as well as order completion times and withdrawal speeds. Our goal is to make BTX the most trusted provider in the industry." As the second company to launch a US wallet with direct bank transfers, Celery is one of the most convenient ways to purchase digital currency for US residents. Celery has driven BTX Trader's user growth in the past three months with approximately 28% of the total user base attributed to the consumer wallet and buying service. Moreover, the total amount of digital currency sold since Celery's launch is $78,000, with 71%, 24% and 5% of sales consisting of Bitcoin, Dogecoin and Litecoin, respectively. BTX Trader collects a fee of 1% in dollars for all Celery transactions as its primary revenue source. BTX Trader counts users as those signed up with an email address with either BTX Trader, the trading platform, or Celery, the online wallet and buying service, as both products share the same infrastructure. Story continues About WPCS International Incorporated: WPCS operates in two business segments including: (1) providing communications infrastructure contracting services to the public services, healthcare, energy and corporate enterprise markets worldwide; and (2) developing a digital trading platform. For more information, please visit www.wpcs.com , www.btxtrader.com and www.gocelery.com . Statements about the Company's future expectations, including future revenue and earnings and all other statements in this press release, other than historical facts, are "forward looking" statements and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and are subject to change at any time. The Company's actual results could differ materially from expected results. In reflecting subsequent events or circumstances, the Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements. View comments

2014-09-29 20:56:24+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [946]}

{}

Richard Branson And The Unlimited Vacation Push

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/richard-branson-unlimited-vacation-push-205624778.html

Benzinga

http://www.benzinga.com/

On September 23, Richard Branson announced on his blog that the 170 employees of Virgin Management, the company that manages his family’s investments, are able to take vacations for any length of time, whenever they want. The move is a test to gauge the efficacy of an unlimited vacation time policy. As he wrote at the end of the blog post, “Assuming it goes as well as expected, we will encourage all our subsidiaries to follow suit.” As Branson described in that post, the decision was inspired by the approach that Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX ) takes to vacation time. To be clear, there is a somewhat substantial difference between the two companies. Netflix does not actually have an unlimited vacation time policy. Rather, it has a culture of “Freedom and Responsibility,” meaning it does not track employee hours and expects each team member to work on his or her own schedule. Related Link: Richard Branson Has Virgin Galactic Accepting Bitcoins Branson acknowledged this difference in his blog post, referring to the Netflix take on vacation time as a “policy-that-isn’t.” Though his company is establishing an actual policy, the move is coming from the same place: Employees now have a significant portion of their responsibilities controlled by technology -- including out-of-office business emails and remote work -- which blurs the line between work and non-work. As Branson asked, “If Netflix was no longer able to accurately track employees’ total time on the job, why should it apply a different and outmoded standard to their time away from it?” Other Models Though most companies do not offer such policies, there are a few notable examples of those that do. ZocDoc, the New York-based startup that offers 2.5 million unique visitors per month an easy way to book doctor appointments online, gives employees unlimited vacation time. As Karsten Vagner, the company’s so-called “director of people,” told VentureBeat about his 10-day vacation to Fiji, “I worked a lot to make sure everything was covered... There’s a clear expectation that you do your job and do it well. We believe taking time off doesn’t have to interfere with that.” Story continues Another is Groupon . On Glassdoor , a website that allows employees to review and critique their jobs and companies, most reviews mention the policy, as well as the ability to work from home. Other companies with similar vacation policies included Ask.com, Eventbrite, Evernote, VMWare and Zynga . A Final Point Still, less than 1 percent of companies offer such vacation leniency, and that could be a good thing. As Venessa Wong of BusinessWeek pointed out last week, “The glow of trust and togetherness that such policies provide could actually make employees less likely to take time off. Already, some 40 percent of American workers don’t use all their paid vacation days.” See more from Benzinga U.S. Sanctions Against Russia Causing Concern With Big Oil The Success of India's Mars Mission Could Drive U.S. Space Program To Lower-Cost Solutions Bank Of America Raises Price Target on Intel Corporation © 2014 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

2014-09-30 12:00:00+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [46, 84, 517, 962, 1579, 1673, 2600, 2797, 2817]}

{"Bitcoin": [0]}

Bitcoin Shop Enters Digital Currency Mining Through Partnership With Hashmaster

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bitcoin-shop-enters-digital-currency-120000916.html

Marketwired

http://www.marketwired.com/

ARLINGTON, VA--(Marketwired - Sep 30, 2014) - Bitcoin Shop, Inc. ( OTCQB : BTCS ) ("Bitcoin Shop" or the "Company"), an operator of the digital currency ecommerce marketplace www.bitcoinshop.us which is undertaking the build-out of a universal digital currency ecosystem that leverages its ecommerce platform as an on-ramp, announced today it is entering the digital currency mining arena through its new agreement with Hashmaster Tech, LLC ("Hashmaster"). As opposed to printing money, bitcoins are digitally mined. Bitcoin mining is the process of creating bitcoins through solving complex mathematical equations on sophisticated computer hardware. There are only 21 million bitcoins available for mining. Hashmaster operates a digital currency data mining center located in Burlington, North Carolina, which specializes in mining bitcoins. Hashmaster will be responsible for acquiring and operating digital currency mining equipment on behalf of the Company. Bitcoin Shop purchased 103.2 bitcoins worth of Bitmain Antminer S4 -B1s to mine bitcoins which Hashmaster will operate at its facility on behalf of the Company. The Company plans to continue to invest in mining equipment upon positive execution of the business plan. Under the agreement, Hashmaster will act as an independent contractor in the purchasing and operating of mining equipment which the Company will own. The agreement contemplates lower operating fees in a tiered manner until Hashmaster is operating $1 million of the Company's mining equipment. Hashmaster has also agreed to an exclusivity clause with Bitcoin Shop such that the Company will be the only public company for whom Hashmaster mines. Bitcoin Shop CEO Charles Allen commented, "It is increasingly hard for small mining operators to stay relevant, however, we believe there is great potential for larger-scale data center operators to mine digital currency and generate strong returns. Hashmaster offers both a state-of-the-art facility with low cost power and the experience necessary to acquire and manage mining equipment on our behalf. As we broaden our footprint in the digital currency ecosystem, we feel Hashmaster offers the right opportunity for us to enter this area of digital currency. Not only do we expect bitcoin mining to be highly profitable, it should also provide bitcoins for other efforts currently under way." Story continues Hashmaster CEO Gerald Wilkie stated, "We have long been searching for a partner who has expertise in the digital currency industry and working capital capable of scaling our mining facility. We found synergies with Bitcoin Shop and their team, which brings qualities to the table that I believe, will make this a great success. We look forward to building a long lasting and profitable business together." About Bitcoin Shop, Inc.: Bitcoin Shop, Inc. plans to build a universal digital currency platform with the goal of enabling users to engage in the digital currency ecosystem through one point of access. We currently operate an ecommerce website ( www.bitcoinshop.us ) where consumers can purchase products using digital currency such as bitcoin, litecoin and dogecoin, by searching through a selection of over 400 categories and over 140,000 items. All ecommerce customer orders are fulfilled by third party vendors. We plan to use our ecommerce platform as a customer on-ramp for a broader digital currency platform. We have been actively partnering with strategic digital currency companies who have technologies, services or products that are complementary to our business strategy by making investments in them and integrating with them. Digital currencies use peer-to-peer networks to facilitate instant payments. They are categorized as cryptocurrencies, as they use cryptography as a security measure. Digital currency issuances and transactions are carried out collectively by the network, with no central authority, and allow users to make verified transfers. About Hashmaster Tech, LLC: Hashmaster Tech, LLC runs a digital currency data mining center located in Burlington NC which specializes in mining bitcoins. Hashmaster's facility has both low cost electricity and industrial cooling equipment which are both needed for profitable digital currency mining. Forward Looking Statements: Certain statements in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Words such as "may," "might," "will," "should," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "continue," "predict," "forecast," "project," "plan," "intend" or similar expressions, or statements regarding intent, belief, or current expectations, are forward-looking statements. While the Company believes these forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on any such forward-looking statements, which are based on information available to us on the date of this release. These forward looking statements are based upon current estimates and assumptions and are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including without limitation those set forth in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, not limited to Risk Factors relating to its digital currency business contained therein. Thus, actual results could be materially different. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation to update or alter statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

2014-10-01 19:25:00+00:00

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{}

What Do Snoop Dogg, Marc Andreessen and Peter Thiel Have in Common? Reddit, Y'all.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/snoop-dogg-marc-andreessen-peter-192511962.html

Entrepreneur

http://www.entrepreneur.com/

Snoop Dogg. Snoop Doggy Dogg. Snoop Lion. DJ Snoopadelic. Snoopzilla. Whatever you call Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr., you can now also call the pot-puffing convicted felon and former pimp co-owner of Reddit. The 42-year-old rap icon recently threw some serious paper at the viral news hub as part of a $50 million injection of venture capital. The exact amount Snoop pitched in isn’t public, but it probably wasn’t chump change. Fundraising for reddit http://t.co/gQxG0R5qt6 — reddit (@reddit) September 30, 2014 Related: 50 Cent Betting Heart-Monitoring Headphones Will Be a Hit Reddit, a user-generated social platform, which loftily bills itself as “the front page of the internet,” spilled the big money news on its blog yesterday. The Doggfather’s name appears (as plain, old Snoop Dogg, not as his latest reggae persona Snoop Lion) second to last in the announcement’s extended namedrop of investors, which includes some of Silicon Valley’s most famous and deepest pocketed tech elite. Among them are lead funder Sam Altman, president of the seed-stage venture capital firm Y Combinator (which provided Reddit its initial funding nine years ago), Peter Thiel, co-founder and former CEO of PayPal, Marc Andreessen, outspoken venture capitalist and Internet pioneer, Mariam Naficy , serial entrepreneur and co-founder of Minted.com, Ron Conway, veteran “ super angel ” investor and Paul Buchheit, Xoogler and Gmail creator. Reddit CEO Yishan Wong, formerly of PayPal and Facebook, also kicked in on the massive round, as did Academy Award-winning TV/film/rock god and budding tech investor Jared Leto . This isn’t the first time Snoop and Leto staked claims in the same digital venture. A week ago, the millionaire "celebpreneurs" both invested in a new Google Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz backed zero-commission stock trading app called Robinhood . Story continues Related: 3 Celebs Jumping on the Bitcoin Bandwagoin (and One Who Say She's an 'Idiot' for Missing It) Of course there’s a bleeding edge Bitcoin angle to Reddit’s star-studded payday. The popular San Francisco-based startup, known for its juicy, celebrity tell-all “Ask Me Anything” (AMA) threads, partnered with crypto-payment processor Coinbase last year to accept Bitcoin for “Reddit Gold” purchases . Now, per Wong’s somewhat vague comment on the company’s blog yesterday, Reddit is “thinking about creating a cryptocurrency and making it exchangeable (backed) by those shares of reddit, and then distributing the currency to the community.” According to CoinDesk , Reddit would allot 10 percent of the total raised in the round to build a digital currency to “give back” to its thriving redditor community, once home to a Bitcoin tip-funded virtual strip club subreddit called r/GirlsGoneBitcoin . Related: Reddit Founder on Startup Success: Identify a Genuine Need and Fill It Don’t get too excited for a possible Redditcoin or a SnoopDogecoin (or whatever) yet. A bold, all-caps caveat at the top of Wong’s comment reads: “KEEP IN MIND THAT THIS PLAN COULD TOTALLY FAIL.” By proxy, Reddit’s early stage plan boosts Snoop’s barely budding crypto cred. The hip hop superstar whipped up a stir in the Bitcoin community last December when he tweeted that his next record would be “available in Bitcoin and delivered by drone.” Coinbase chomped at the tweet, offering to hook him up. Snoop tweeted back, expressing that he’d like to “make it happen.” It hasn’t yet. Coinbase told Entrepreneur.com today that there is no deal in place at the moment. Entrepreneur -rapper Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson beat Snoop to it last June with an assist from BitPay, allowing his fans to buy his latest album with the cryptocash. @coinbase dm your info. I want to make it happen. — Snoop Dogg (@SnoopDogg) December 9, 2013 Related: Holy Cow: Bill Gates Plays Secret Santa in Reddit Christmas Miracle More From Entrepreneur Kickstarter Co-Founder's Next Chapter: A Nonprofit Discovery Platform This Man's 3-Year Plan: To Meet Up With Each of His 1,000-Plus Facebook Friends Tile, the Mini Tracking Device for Your Personal Items, Raises $13M

2014-10-02 14:25:00+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [474, 1636, 1849, 2388, 4737]}

{}

A Year After Death of Silk Road, Darknet Markets Are Booming

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/death-silk-road-darknet-markets-142500702.html

The Atlantic

http://www.theatlantic.com/

It's been one year since the FBI shut down Silk Road, the granddaddy of darknet marketplaces, and arrested main Silk Road admin Ross William Ulbricht (or, as he was known online, Dread Pirate Roberts). Silk Road users who navigated to the darknet site on October 2, 2013, found this instead: For those who relied on the site to anonymously buy everything from pot to AK-47s, it was a bit like trying to log on to Amazon and finding it had shut down overnight. Panic ensued, Bitcoins disappeared into the ether, and users were suddenly forced to find a new place to anonymously shop online for blow or body armor. There's no denying that Silk Road was an unseemly place. But it was also a centralized one. And in the year since the site's shuttering, the darknet market has fragmented as various new players have attempted to take Silk Road's place, making an already sketchy scene all the more shady. According to a directory of darknet markets on Reddit , more than a dozen are currently operating. And unsurprisingly for markets in which anonymity is vital and nearly every purchase is very much illegal, scams and outright theft have plagued many of the upstarts. In fact, the list of darknet markets not to be trusted is longer than the list of which ones Redditors have deemed reliable. One early example of how quickly things could turn sour in post-Silk Road era was Sheep Marketplace, which began operating quietly in March of 2013. After Silk Road was shut down, users flocked to the site. For a while, it seemed poised to be the new Silk Road—until a vendor allegedly exploited a vulnerability and made off with $6 million in Bitcoins. The marketplace abruptly shuttered soon after, taking with it all funds stored on the site. Many suspected the site operator to actually be behind the theft. Online sleuths attempted to track the stolen Bitcoins (reportedly worth anywhere from $100 million to $220 million at the time) as the thief attempted to hide his or her tracks. Story continues Or consider the case of Silk Road 2.0, launched on November 6, just over one month after the original Silk Road was shut down. Silk Road 2.0, run by former admins of the original Silk Road, was supposed to be a fresh start. Its fall from grace happened within months—in February of this year the site claimed to have been hacked by one its vendors, who made off with $2.7 million in users' Bitcoins. While the site's administrators have promised to repay everyone who lost funds, many claim they have yet to be repaid. The list of darknet markets that have suffered from various hacks, thefts, and outright deceit is long and varied . Most have either shut down or are effectively dead due to what appears to be either a lack of competence or an overabundance of greed (or, in some cases, a mixture of the two). All of this, of course, is in addition to the various scams and ripoffs faced by actual users and vendors on the site, from sellers demanding money up front (normally the money is held in escrow until the items are delivered) to buyers refusing to pay vendors. And while online drug shopping may seem safer to both the buyer and seller than scoring drugs on the street, there's still significant amounts of risk. In May, Jeremy Donagal, who went by the moniker "Xanax King," was arrested along with eight others , charged with selling hundreds of thousands of bars of the powerful anti-anxiety drug through darknet markets. (It should be no surprise that within days of his arrest, users were already posting lists of the "new Xanax Kings.") Indeed, despite scams and worries about law enforcement cracking down, darknet markets continue to hum along. Agora Marketplace, perhaps the most trusted of the modern darknet markets, seems from every indication to be doing brisk business. (Most darknet markets take a commission of every sale made via its services.) Within minutes of downloading the Tor brower and finding a referral code, I was able to quickly skim through hundreds of listings of everything from shotguns to barbiturates. For instance, for just $85, I could purchase a half-gram of black tar heroin. One user reports: "Dope wasn't super strong but transaction was smooth." For $2,570, I could by a Škorpion vz. 61, a Czech-made submachine gun. This same gun could be bought in the U.S. for about $950—most darknet gun sales are aimed at European users who face significantly stricter gun control laws. The most fascinating section of many darknet markets, however, is the "Information" section. While the Internet effectively offers nearly every bit of information you could dream of for free, there appears to be a thriving black market for certain types of knowledge. For instance, for 99 cents (or about .0087 Bitcoins at current valuation prices), I could purchase a book on building secret hiding places. Or, that staple of every teenager's online life in the dial-up days of the '90s, The Anarchist's Cookbook, can be had for $1.58. At DeepDotWeb , an anonymous editor chronicles everything darknet related, from the latest in cryptocurrencies to the rise of fall of new darknet markets. In an email interview, the editor (who asked to remain anonymous) predicts that the crazy explosion of smaller markets may be on the wane. "The market was pretty stable for the last few month unlike first six months of 2014," he writes. "I believe that it will stay pretty much the same with some markets popping up and some shutting down from this reason or another until we will see some new technology—probably one that will offer decentralization of the markets." And despite theft, scams, and news of arrests, he says more and more people are using darknet markets. "There are no reliable numbers about [the number of users] unless a large market owner will share them, but this I can tell you for sure: The number have grown by a huge amount of users ... The amount of media exposure the darknet markets had this year is unbelievable and the amount of traffic I see as a clearnet site that is looking for those markets is huge. It's almost mainstream nowadays." In other words, while the feds may have successfully shuttered Silk Road and put Ross William Ulbricht behind bars while he awaits trial, business for online black markets is better than ever. Read A Year After Death of Silk Road, Darknet Markets Are Booming on theatlantic.com More From The Atlantic Why the JP Morgan Data Breach Is Like No Other Wasted Waterfronts: Why Cities Struggle to Build Along Rivers 2014: The Best Year for Job Creation This Century

2014-10-02 17:00:00+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [45, 83, 478, 1736, 2002, 2145, 2342, 2772, 3117, 3137]}

{"Bitcoin": [0]}

Bitcoin Shop Makes Strategic Investment in Coin Outlet

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bitcoin-shop-makes-strategic-investment-170000678.html

Marketwired

http://www.marketwired.com/

ARLINGTON, VA--(Marketwired - Oct 2, 2014) - Bitcoin Shop, Inc. ( OTCQB : BTCS ) ("Bitcoin Shop" or the "Company"), an operator of the digital currency ecommerce marketplace www.bitcoinshop.us which is undertaking the build-out of a universal digital currency ecosystem that leverages its ecommerce platform as an on-ramp, today announced a strategic investment in Coin Outlet, Inc. ("Coin Outlet"), which plans to establish and operate a worldwide bitcoin 'ATM' kiosk network. Bitcoin Shop CEO Charles Allen commented, "The bitcoin ecosystem is comprised of a few key areas, mining, wallets, exchanges, payment processors and ATMs/financial services. Over this past year we have made several investments and partnerships throughout these key segments of the industry in an effort to lay the foundation for our universal digital currency ecosystem. Today we are pleased to announce our investment in, and partnership with Coin Outlet. Their ATMs should allow consumers to exchange fiat currency for bitcoins through one fundamental and easy-to-use transaction. Additionally, with the help of Coin Outlet we plan to leverage their ATM network as another on-ramp to our planned universal digital currency ecosystem." Coin Outlet recently partnered with Locant Services ("Locant"), who holds the exclusive rights to locate equipment such as bitcoin ATMs at over 100,000 high traffic locations across the United States. Initially, Coin Outlet kiosks are planned to be located in Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Boston, San Diego, and Berkeley, before expanding nationwide. The first 30 kiosks are anticipated to be installed in the U.S. by the end of this year. Eric Grill, Chief Executive Officer of Coin Outlet, commented, "I want to thank Bitcoin Shop for its investment, advice, guidance and support in consummating this partnership. Together we are focused on driving bitcoin and digital currency adoption through a systematic roll out of ATMs across key cities from coast to coast. The investment from Bitcoin Shop and partnership with Locant encompasses the perfect collaboration of resources, technology, and prime locations." Story continues Bitcoin Shop has made an initial investment of $50,000 with the option to invest $100,000 on or before January 15, 2015 through the exercise of a warrant received in the transaction. Additionally, Bitcoin Shop received the option to exchange 3.5 million shares of its newly issued equity for 75,448 shares from Eric Grill, Coin Outlet's founder. If both the Option and the Warrant were to be exercised in full today the Company would own (inclusive of its common equity ownership) 9.8% of Coin Outlet's outstanding equity. About Coin Outlet, Inc.: Coin Outlet is a rapidly growing startup that manufactures AML / KYC compliant Bitcoin Kiosks (similar to an ATM) with two-way transaction via a recycler and secure fulfillment services with bank grade security. It plans to provide a convenient means for the general public to safely buy and sell bitcoins with cash. More information about Coin Outlet can be found at the company's website here: www.coinoutletatm.com About Bitcoin Shop, Inc.: Bitcoin Shop, Inc. plans to build a universal digital currency platform with the goal of enabling users to engage in the digital currency ecosystem through one point of access. We currently operate an ecommerce website ( www.bitcoinshop.us ) where consumers can purchase products using digital currency such as bitcoin, litecoin and dogecoin, by searching through a selection of over 400 categories and over 140,000 items. All ecommerce customer orders are fulfilled by third party vendors. We plan to use our ecommerce platform as a customer on-ramp for a broader digital currency platform. We have been actively partnering with strategic digital currency companies who have technologies, services or products that are complementary to our business strategy by making investments in them and integrating with them. Digital currencies use peer-to-peer networks to facilitate instant payments. They are categorized as cryptocurrencies, as they use cryptography as a security measure. Digital currency issuances and transactions are carried out collectively by the network, with no central authority, and allow users to make verified transfers. Forward Looking Statements: Certain statements in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Words such as "may," "might," "will," "should," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "continue," "predict," "forecast," "project," "plan," "intend" or similar expressions, or statements regarding intent, belief, or current expectations, are forward-looking statements. While the Company believes these forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on any such forward-looking statements, which are based on information available to us on the date of this release. These forward looking statements are based upon current estimates and assumptions and are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including without limitation those set forth in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, not limited to Risk Factors relating to its digital currency business contained therein. Thus, actual results could be materially different. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation to update or alter statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

2014-10-03 12:18:00+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [1195]}

{}

Hackers Have Found A Flaw In Macs And Are Using It To Control 17,000 Apple Computers ... Via Reddit

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/hackers-found-flaw-macs-using-121808264.html

Business Insider

http://www.businessinsider.com/

Man typing Macbook Flckr/Rex Roof Criminals have discovered a flaw in OS X, the Mac operating system, and are using it to control thousands of Apple computers around the world. The Russian security company Dr. Web first discovered the software, known as "Mac.BackDoor.iWorm." We don't yet know how the software spreads, but Dr. Web has released information on the clever way it connects to the criminals who control the program. When a Mac is infected with Mac.BackDoor.iWorm, the program tries to make a connection to a command server. The iWorm reportedly uses Reddit's search function to find comments left by the criminals in a Minecraft discussion section of the site. (Minecraft is the block-building video game published by independent publisher Mojang, which Microsoft purchased for $2.5 billion in September.) Here's a screenshot showing the Reddit posts the criminals used to control their hacked computers: iWorm_request Dr. Web After iWorm finds the Reddit comments, it attempts to connect to the server addresses listed in the Minecraft subreddit. Once connected, criminals can send commands to their "botnet" of infected computers. Botnets are often used to send spam emails, mine Bitcoin, or flood websites with traffic that eventually crashes them. It doesn't seem like the infected computers are currently being used for any attack, so the criminals behind iWorm are probably only growing the network for now. Dr. Web has published the number of computers that it believes have been affected by iWorm. As of last Friday, 17,658 infected Mac computers have been discovered, with 4,610 of them in the US. iWorm statistics Dr. Web More From Business Insider A Newly Discovered Dinner Party Guest List Proves Steve Jobs Met Margaret Thatcher In 1984 Apple Caves: 'Camera Roll' Is Coming Back To Your iPhone The Hackers Behind The Naked Celebrity iCloud Photo Leak Have Regrouped, And They Are Unhappy

2014-10-03 13:00:00+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [45, 83, 401, 507, 907, 927]}

{"Bitcoin": [0, 50]}

Bitcoin Shop CEO Charles Allen to Speak at Inside Bitcoins and CoinAgenda Conferences

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bitcoin-shop-ceo-charles-allen-130000817.html

Marketwired

http://www.marketwired.com/

ARLINGTON, VA--(Marketwired - Oct 3, 2014) - Bitcoin Shop, Inc. ( OTCQB : BTCS ) ("Bitcoin Shop" or the "Company"), an operator of the digital currency ecommerce marketplace www.bitcoinshop.us which is undertaking the build-out of a universal digital currency ecosystem that leverages its ecommerce platform as an on-ramp, today announced that CEO Charles Allen will speak at both the upcoming Inside Bitcoins and CoinAgenda conferences in Las Vegas, NV on October 6 th and 9 th , 2014 respectively. Inside Bitcoins Conference Details: When: Monday, October 5 - Wednesday, October 7th Where: Flamingo Hotel and Casino 3555 S. Las Vegas Blvd. Las Vegas, NV 89109 Website: http://insidebitcoins.com/las-vegas/2014 Coin Agenda Conference Details: When: Wednesday, October 7 th - Friday, October 9th Where: Palms Casino and Resort 4321 W. Flamingo Blvd Las Vegas, NV 89109 Website: http://coinagenda.com/ About Bitcoin Shop, Inc.: Bitcoin Shop, Inc. plans to build a universal digital currency platform with the goal of enabling users to engage in the digital currency ecosystem through one point of access. We currently operate an ecommerce website ( www.bitcoinshop.us ) where consumers can purchase products using digital currency such as bitcoin, litecoin and dogecoin, by searching through a selection of over 400 categories and over 140,000 items. All ecommerce customer orders are fulfilled by third party vendors. We plan to use our ecommerce platform as a customer on-ramp for a broader digital currency platform. We have been actively partnering with strategic digital currency companies who have technologies, services or products that are complementary to our business strategy by making investments in them and integrating with them. Digital currencies use peer-to-peer networks to facilitate instant payments. They are categorized as cryptocurrencies, as they use cryptography as a security measure. Digital currency issuances and transactions are carried out collectively by the network, with no central authority, and allow users to make verified transfers. Forward Looking Statements: Certain statements in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Words such as "may," "might," "will," "should," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "continue," "predict," "forecast," "project," "plan," "intend" or similar expressions, or statements regarding intent, belief, or current expectations, are forward-looking statements. While the Company believes these forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on any such forward-looking statements, which are based on information available to us on the date of this release. These forward looking statements are based upon current estimates and assumptions and are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including without limitation those set forth in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, not limited to Risk Factors relating to its digital currency business contained therein. Thus, actual results could be materially different. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation to update or alter statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

2014-10-03 19:37:00+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [35, 329, 489, 635, 1175, 1367, 1495, 1866, 1940, 1975, 2233, 2506, 2742, 2906, 3319]}

{"Bitcoin": [12]}

Bill Gates: Bitcoin Is 'Better Than Currency'

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bill-gates-bitcoin-better-currency-193722497.html

Entrepreneur

http://www.entrepreneur.com/

After long remaining mostly mum on Bitcoin, Microsoft’s legendary co-founder Bill Gates has spoken. At the Sibos 2014 financial-services industry conference in Boston, America's richest man just threw his weight behind the controversial cryptocash. Well, at least as a low-cost payments solution . At the event, when asked about Bitcoin’s potential to ease the cost of payment transactions for moving money from one place to another Gates waxed mostly positively about the virtual money. “Bitcoin is exciting because it shows how cheap it can be,” he told Erik Schatzker during a Bloomberg TV’s Smart Street show interview yesterday. “Bitcoin is better than currency in that you don’t have to be physically in the same place and, of course, for large transactions, currency can get pretty inconvenient.” Related: The 7 Most Fascinating Things Bill Gates Said in His Reddit Chat Gates again reiterated his stance on cryptocurrencies when he delivered the event’s closing keynote address, in which he stated that, in the future, financial transactions will eventually “be digital, universal and almost free.” While he seems relatively bullish on how inexpensive transacting in Bitcoin can be, Gates isn’t singing the praises of its anonymity. The billionaire alluded in an oblique, somewhat rambling fashion to some of the more nefarious anonymous uses associated with Bitcoin. “The customers we’re talking about aren’t trying to be anonymous,” he told Schatzker. “They’re willing to be known, so Bitcoin technology is key and you can add to it or you could build a similar technology where there’s enough attribution where people feel comfortable that this is nothing to do with terrorism or any type of money laundering.” Related: Three Lessons a Serial Tech Entrepreneur Learned from Bill Gates To see the portion of the interview in which Gates directly addresses Bitcoin, watch the video below: The last time Gates publicly commented on Bitcoin was last February, the day Bitcoin currency conversions debuted on Microsoft’s Bing search engine, when he skirted questions about Microsoft’s stance on the cryptocurrency and subsequent others during a lively Reddit Ask Me Anything (AMA) session. Story continues Instead of answering Bitcoin-related queries head on, Gates shifted the focus to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation-backed Vodaphone M-pesa , a mobile phone-based money transfer and microfinancing service in Kenya . Gates said that his organization is “involved in digital money, but unlike Bitcoin it would not be anonymous digital money.” He went on to predict that “digital money will catch on in India and parts of Africa and help the poorest a lot” over the next five years. Related: Billionaire Entrepreneur Mark Cuban: 'Bitcoin Has 'No Shot as a Long-Term Digital Currency' Now that Gates is officially Microsoft’s technical advisor, perhaps he’ll make a push for Microsoft to accept Bitcoin (or another virtual money) as a form of payment and/or weave cryptocurrency into the company’s nascent “Zero-Effort” mobile payments initiative . Only time will tell. Kenya’s M-Pesa proves that when people are empowered, they will use digital tech to innovate on their own behalf: http://t.co/0gnBGW2H — Bill Gates (@BillGates) January 3, 2013 Hmmm. We wonder what fellow billionaire Mark Cuban thinks of Bitcoin now. Related: What Do Snoop Dogg, Marc Andreessen and Peter Thiel Have in Common? Reddit, Y'all. More From Entrepreneur 11 Things Android Phones Can Do That The iPhone Still Can't This Awesomely Bad Jingle About Entrepreneurs Is Worth a Listen A Genealogy of Your Smartphone (Infographic)

2014-10-06 06:16:56+00:00

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Bitcoin tumbles-are investors losing faith?

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bitcoin-tumbles-investors-losing-faith-061656336.html

CNBC

http://www.cnbc.com/

Bitcoin lost nearly a fifth of its value over the weekend, raising concerns that investors are losing faith in the cryptocurrency. Prices fell to a year-to-date low of $290.83 on Sunday, down over 18 percent from early Saturday, according to bitcoin news blog CoinDesk. Analysts are citing a number of factors for the decline: bearish chart signals; ongoing regulatory concerns; large sell orders by some early adopters; and a shift in the supply/demand balance. "The rumors are that for some time now there's been a lot of success in 'off ramp' - but the onboarding process hasn't caught up as quickly," Hugh Madden, co-founder of Hong Kong-based bitcoin exchange ANX, told CNBC, referring to the ability of holders to spend bitcoins. Read More Bitcoin: CNBC Explains Recently, a number of high profile online merchants started accepting bitcoin payments including Dell, Overstock ( OSTK ) andExpedia ( EXPE ) . Online payment processing giant PayPal plans to allow bitcoin payments through integration with bitcoin payment processing companies Bitpay, Coinbase and GoCoin, three of the largest bitcoin payment processing companies. "It's actually a lot harder to get bitcoins than it is to spend them and there have been some suggestions that that's caused a supply/demand imbalance... PayPal integration would also improve that onboarding process," Madden said. Early adopters Some of the heavier declines may have been triggered by larger sell orders by a small number of bitcoin investors, Madden said. "The view is that some early adopters are making moves at the moment - and you can see that in all of the publicly available exchange trade data," he added. Bitcoin was the center of a media frenzy last year after it rose 8,000 percent from January to early December. Prices halved soon after amid regulatory concerns. The cryptocurrency has since fallen out of the spotlight, save for a brief flash crash in August, when prices fell 12 percent during one day, due to concerns about state-specific regulation in in New York. Prices are down 73 percent their all-time high of $1,147 hit on December 4, 2013. Read More Bitcoin company Coinbase to launch eurozone consumer service Interest to remain Price declines over the weekend are unlikely to deter investors, said David Moskowitz, director at Singapore-based bitcoin trading firm Coin Republic. "I think the price is really irrelevant to the technology. Obviously it hurts investors when the price goes down but most people who are buyers are in it as long term investors and can withstand the short term gyrations," he said. Story continues "Adoption has continued to increase there has been a tremendous amount of good news over the past year especially with more well-known merchants taking it on," he said. Read More Panic or real risk: Could bitcoin cause a crash? Sharp price swings could be positive for bitcoin ANX's Madden said: "It creates headlines and as a result people start to read about it and [attracting] a lot of interest." Last month venture capitalist Tim Draper forecast that bitcoin prices would rise to $10,000 over the next three years. Draper has a vested interest; he owns 0.25 percent of the market after winning a giant government bitcoin auction in July. Bitcoin was trading at $306.43 in Asian market hours on Monday, according to CoinDesk. View comments

2014-10-06 11:22:00+00:00

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Apple And Reddit Have Shut Down The iWorm Virus That Took Control Of People's Macs

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/apple-reddit-shut-down-iworm-112250422.html

Business Insider

http://www.businessinsider.com/

Worm Flickr/Christian Guthier Apple has added the dangerous iWorm bug to its malware detector after 17,000 Mac users were found to have been infected with the virus. Business Insider reported on Friday that a Russian security firm discovered a piece of malicious software known as "Mac.BackDoor.iWorm." that was being found on Mac computers around the world. The bug gave hackers control of the computer and could have been used to send spam emails, crash websites, or mine Bitcoin. However, there's no evidence that hackers even got the chance to use their botnet before it was discovered. Mac Rumors reported on Saturday that Apple updated its Xprotect software to protect against the iWorm program. Xprotect is the anti-virus program that comes installed with every Apple computer, so Mac users are theoretically safe from iWorm if their operating system is up to date. Here's the updated Xprotext code that shows Apple has added iWorm to the list of blocked programs: Xprotect iWorm fix Mac Rumors The iWorm virus was controlled in an inventive way. The virus searched Reddit for a fake discussion forum for the video game Minecraft that contained links to command servers operated by hackers. After the security firm Dr. Web announced the discovery of the bug , the Reddit account the hackers used to share links to their commands servers was closed. Over the weekend, Reddit banned the fake Minecraft subreddit, meaning the iWorm bug had no way to receive orders from the hackers controlling it. Minecraft discussion subreddit shut down over iWorm link Reddit Additionally, an anonymous tipster told The Safe Mac how iWorm spread. It's reported that the virus spread to Mac computers using pirated software downloads hosted on The Pirate Bay. Anybody who downloaded fake versions of Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Microsoft Office, and Parallels from a Pirate Bay user named "aceprog" were asked for administrator access to install the pirated software. After a user approved the access, iWorm was able to install itself on the user's computer. More From Business Insider FBI Director: China Has Hacked Every Big US Company Romanian Hackers Allegedly Used The Shellshock Bug To Hack Yahoo's Servers Hackers Have Found A Flaw In Macs And Are Using It To Control 17,000 Apple Computers ... Via Reddit

2014-10-06 18:25:00+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [3714]}

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Every Hour, $87,000 Is Raised Through Crowdfunding

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/every-hour-87-000-raised-182500104.html

Entrepreneur

http://www.entrepreneur.com/

Across the world, crowdfunding raises $2 million per day. That’s the equivalent of $87,000 per hour, or $1,400 every minute. Currently 90 percent of the world’s online population has access to crowdfunding, according to the second-quarter global report on crowdfunding by The Crowdfunding Centre , a London-based industry data analysis firm. Crowdfunding now reaches more than 160 countries, according to the report, which was released today. The idea of raising money by soliciting small sums of money from a large group of people is not new, but as the world has moved online and payment technology has become increasingly seamless, crowdfunding has experienced a historic coming-of-age growth spurt. “The Internet is enabling a new type of democracy in funding,” said Joe Cox, economist at the University of Portsmouth Business School where crowdfunding is studied closely, in a statement by The Crowdfunding Centre. Related: Indiegogo Pilots New Program Allowing Crowdfunding Campaigns to Stay Open Indefinitely The map, embedded below, illustrates the number of successful crowdfunding campaigns by country. To be counted in this visualization, a campaign had to be a minimum of 100-percent funded. Click to Enlarge+ Every Hour, $87,000 Is Raised Through Crowdfunding “Seed funding is now self-seeding across the globe. It's gone viral," said Barry James, founder and CEO of The Crowdfunding Centre, in a statement. Throughout the world, there were an estimated 50,000 pledges to a crowdfunding campaign every day in the second quarter, according to the report. That’s 5 million pledges in April, May and June. Related: Everything You Need for a Winning Crowdfunding Campaign (Infographic) The United States, home to both Kickstarter and Indiegogo, saw more crowdfunding activity than any other country. European nations such as the U.K., Germany and France also scored among the highest for crowdfunding activity. The top 10 most popular countries for crowdfunding, ranked by number of successful campaigns, are as follows: Story continues 1. United States 2. United Kingdom 3. Canada 4. Germany 5. France 6. Australia 7. Italy 8. Netherlands 9. Spain 10. Japan Despite the meteoric rise of crowdfunding, which only rose to popularity in the last few years, The Crowdfunding Centre says that the best is yet to come for the industry. In particular, equity crowdfunding, where individuals give away bits of ownership of their company in exchange for cash, has an enormous untapped potential. In the U.S., equity crowdfunding is currently legal for accredited investors -- those deemed sufficiently wealthy to make risky investments and withstand loss -- but not for unaccredited investors, or unprofessional investors. In April, 2012 , President Obama signed a law that made equity crowdfunding legal for unaccredited investors, and regulators began working on its implementation. The rule-writing process is now into its third year, as regulators and innovators debate how best to bring this new finance tool into use. “Equity crowdfunding has, in some ways, the greatest potential -- certainly in terms of ability to support growth companies with larger amounts of finance that would register strongly on the economic needles as the world economy continues to be starved of such capital,” the report reads. “But it's increasingly evident that the old wine-skins of outdated regulatory and legislative approaches are needlessly constraining progress because they fail to take account of the very different dynamics and characteristics of transparent, democratized finance.” Related: 7 Secrets From the Man Who Turned a Kickstarter Flop Into the Most Successful Campaign Ever More From Entrepreneur Accepting Bitcoin Payments Increasingly Looks Like Smart Business Put Yourself in Potential Investors' Shoes With These 4 Tips Have Funding? Great. Now Stop Burning Through Your Cash.

2014-10-07 14:53:51+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [693, 702]}

{"Bitcoin": [51]}

Bill Gates Talks Microsoft Corporation's New Boss, Bitcoin, Apple Pay, Ebola And More

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bill-gates-talks-microsoft-corporations-145351808.html

Benzinga

http://www.benzinga.com/

Bill Gates, founder and former CEO of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT ), spoke with Bloomberg Television's Erik Schatzker at the Sibos conference in Boston. The billionaire philanthropist, who leads the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, discussed various hot topics. The video in its entirety can be seen here. Below are some notable quotes from the interview: Gates On Satya Nadella “I'm very happy with what he's doing. I see a new sense of energy. There's a lot of opportunity there, some things the company isn't the leader on, and he sees that he needs to change that.” Related Link: Apple Inc. To Hold iPad Event October 16: Details Sparse, Tech Blogs Offering Mixed Predictions On Bitcoin "Bitcoin is better than currency in that you don't have to be physically in the same place. And of course for large transactions currency can get pretty inconvenient." "The customers we're talking about aren't trying to be anonymous. They're willing to be known. So bitcoin technology is key, and you could add to it or you could build a similar technology where there's enough attribution that people feel comfortable this has nothing to do with terrorism or any type of money laundering." On Apple Inc.'s (NASDAQ: AAPL ) Apple Pay: "Apple Pay's a great example of how a cell phone that identifies its user in a pretty strong way lets you make a transaction that should be very, very inexpensive." "So the fact that in any application I can buy something, that's fantastic. The fact I don't need a physical card anymore, I just do that transaction and you're going to be quite sure about who it is on the other end, that is a real contribution. And all the platforms, whether it's Apple's or Google's or Microsoft, you'll see this payment capability get built in.” On The Ebola Outbreak: "Now the richer a country is, if you have a good primary healthcare system, you should be able to handle that. So the fact that this Dallas patient was identified, the contacts are being traced, I feel confident the CDC is very much on top of that. I wish every country had a health system like that.” Story continues See more from Benzinga Markets Little Changed Ahead Of Friday's Jobs Report © 2014 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

2014-10-07 16:15:00+00:00

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{"Bitcoin": [66]}

Blockchain Raises $30 Million in Biggest-Ever Funding Round for a Bitcoin Company

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/blockchain-raises-30-million-biggest-161500809.html

Entrepreneur

http://www.entrepreneur.com/

Blockchain just went from bootstrapped to big-time. The popular Britain-based global Bitcoin wallet and block explorer service announced today that it has locked in $30.5 million in Series A funding. The record round, which marks the company’s first-ever outside investment, was led by heavy-hitter Silicon Valley venture capital vehicles Wicklow Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners. Other participants in the round, which The Wall Street Journal hailed as “the biggest single funding round yet for a digital-currency firm,” include Mosaic Ventures, Prudence Holdings, Amit Jhawar of Braintree and billionaire Richard Branson . Related: Blockchain.info CEO: This Is Why You Shouldn't Fear Bitcoin Launched in 2011, Blockchain -- now 2.3 million consumer wallets and $26 billion in transaction volume strong -- said it plans to use the massive growth capital infusion to beef up its product and engineering teams, to add “innovative new features” to its products and to expand to new international markets. Proud to announce our record Series A: http://t.co/yg7ZthKsVR — Blockchain (@blockchain) October 7, 2014 “Blockchain is honored and excited to announce this historic round,” Blockchain CEO Nic Cary told Entrepreneur.com. “It represents the single largest capital commitment in a bitcoin company to date. As a bootstrapped company, we were able to accomplish a lot with a little. Now we’re more ambitious than ever.” Related: Accepting Bitcoin Payments Increasingly Looks Like Smart Business As part of the groundbreaking capital injection, Lightspeed partner Jeremy Liew will join Blockchain’s board of directors. “Bitcoin is a long game and the wallet is the crucial strategic high ground in the Bitcoin ecosystem,” Liew said in Blockchain’s announcement. “We wanted to back the biggest player in the most important segment of the Bitcoin value chain, and that is Blockchain.” Meanwhile, the price of a single Bitcoin, as of 12 p.m. ET today was trading slightly lower at $327, according to CoinDesk . It plummeted last weekend to $286, its most dismal value this year. Last year, it rose to a high of about $1,150. Related: Bitcoin in 10 Years: 4 Predictions From SecondMarket's Barry Silbert More From Entrepreneur Ahead of Apple Event, Blogger Leaks iPad Air 2 Details U.S. Job Openings Hit Highest Level Since 2001 Accepting Bitcoin Payments Increasingly Looks Like Smart Business View comments

2014-10-07 17:13:00+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [1856]}

{}

Ahead of Apple Event, Blogger Leaks iPad Air 2 Details

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ahead-apple-event-blogger-leaks-171300241.html

Entrepreneur

http://www.entrepreneur.com/

Just as talks of bending iPhones are beginning to die down, chatter is growing around another Apple product: the iPad Air 2. Next week, the Cupertino, Calif.-based tech giant will reportedly hold an event on Oct. 16 to unveil a few new products including the iPad Air 2, the next generation of the iPad mini, the latest iterations of the iMacs and the much-anticipated mobile-payment service Apple Pay. There just may not be too much to say about the iPad Air 2, thanks to tech writer Michael Andrew. Related: Apple Partner Files for Bankruptcy Apparently two researchers working for Andrew have gotten their hands on the iPad Air 2 specs and Andrew is telling the world about it on his blog The Michael Report . Andrew says he also has photos and illustrations of the product, though the images were not released on his blog. So what can Apple aficionados look forward to from the latest tech according to the Michael Report team? The iPad will be 0.5mm thinner and come with a "fully-laminated" display. The tablet will be offered in new color gold, along with the original black and silver Related: 11 Products You Used to Love That Apple Has Quietly Killed The mute/vibration button is no more on the thinner version, the volume buttons are "more recessed," and microphones have shifted from the top of the tablet to be nearer to the cameras. The new cameras will be 8 megapixels, up from 5. The speakers now are on one row grill instead of two. Andrew wrote that it seems that Apple is also dropping the 16GB storage for the iPad Air in favor of 32, 64 and 128GB options. The tablet is also rumored to have a Touch ID function on the home button. More From Entrepreneur Apple's New iPhone Hit By 'Hairgate,' the Latest Social-Media Storm U.S. Job Openings Hit Highest Level Since 2001 Blockchain Raises $30 Million in Biggest-Ever Funding Round for a Bitcoin Company

2014-10-07 20:25:00+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [85]}

{}

Flow chart: Should you use credit, debit, Or cash?

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/flow-chart-credit-debit-cash-202357727.html

Business Insider

http://www.businessinsider.com/

Most of us have a few options to pay for the things we need (and we're not including Bitcoin). At any given store or retailer, we can generally choose between credit cards, debit cards, and cash. Credit borrows money from the bank, with the promise we'll pay it back at the end of the month or pay a fee in the form of interest. Debit pulls electronic cash straight from our checking account. Cash starts and ends the transaction in plain sight at the register, when we hand over paper and coins. (For our purposes, we're not talking about bank transfers.) Which should you use? It depends on your situation. Check out the flow chart below to figure out which method is best for your situation, then see a few notes about our thought process. infographic credit debit (Skye Gould / Business Insider) Why online shoppers should use credit In the flow chart above, you might notice that the only recommended option for online shoppers is credit. That's because, aside from the fact that you can't exactly hand a website a stack of $20 bills, credit cards provide more purchase and fraud protection than debit cards. Knowing that most of our online information may be subject to hackers , a little protection is a good thing. Why patrons of small businesses should use debit Using debit when making a small purchase at a small business may seem arbitrary, but it actually costs small business owners more to process a credit transaction than a debit card or cash. (More on why you'd choose debit over cash below.) Aside from being a conscientious patron, also be aware that if shoppers continue to use credit, said small business may increase its prices to compensate. Why you shouldn't max out your credit card Just because a credit card allows you to spend a certain amount of money doesn't mean you should use every cent. It's always a good idea to leave a little space on your card in case there's some sort of urgent, unexpected need, but primarily, spending every cent is bad for your credit score. Story continues The credit utilization ratio — how much of your available credit you use — is a major component of your credit score, and the less you spend, the better. Ideally, you'll be spending under 10% of your total limit, and a good way to keep your total utilization down is to keep from maxing out any of your individual cards. Why so few people should use cash You'll also notice that there's only a very specific set of circumstances in which it's recommended to use cash. Specifically, when you have no other viable options. While some people love cash because it's emotionally harder to part with than it is to hand over a card, in the grand scheme of things, credit and debit are usually better options. That's because both methods keep an electronic record of your purchases, allowing you to more easily track your spending, see where your money goes, and even stick to a budget. You can hook both cards up to an app like LearnVest or Mint and have all of your transactions categorized, sorted, and plugged into your budget. Of course, a little situation-based common sense is needed in addition to the graphic above: If you're in a store planning to use a card and see a "cash only" sign or one with a $10 credit card minimum for your $5 purchase, your decision is made for you. NOW WATCH: 14 things you didn't know your iPhone headphones could do More From Business Insider Guys, this is the one thing you need to keep your dress shirts clean Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen forgot a key measure of the job market during testimony to Congress 20 must-have tech accessories under $20

2014-10-07 20:52:20+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [4473]}

{}

Dow Suffers Largest Daily Decline Since July, S&P 500 At 8-Week Lows On Global Growth Concerns

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/dow-suffers-largest-daily-decline-205220916.html

Benzinga

http://www.benzinga.com/

U.S. stocks tumbled with the three major indices each shedding more than 1.5 percent as global economic growth concerns surfaced. The IMF lowered its global growth forecast for 2014 to 3.3 percent from a previous 3.4 percent. The agency also lowered its 2015 global growth projections to 3.8 percent from a previous 4.0 percent. Economic data out of Europe is also troubling some investors, as Germany's industrial output fell 4 percent in August after expanding 1.6 percent in July. In fact, Germany's industrial output has fallen the most since 2009. The Fed's Narayana Kocherlakota spoke at a form in South Dakota on Tuesday. “It would be inappropriate for the FOMC to reduce its level of accommodation if its outlook is that inflation will be below 2 percent over the following two years,” Kocherlakota said. “After all, if the FOMC were to tighten policy in such a situation, it would be deliberately delaying the progress of inflation toward the 2 percent objective. Such an action would weaken the credibility of the FOMC's stated two-year horizon.” Also speaking Tuesday was the Fed's Bill Dudley, who said that it is “premature” to raise interest rates, at least right now. In a speech in New York, Dudley said that the “labor market still has too much slack and the inflation rate is too low.” Nevertheless, Dudley anticipates a mid-2015 rate hike as a possibility. Recommended: Durand Capital CEO Jim Tassoni's Advice For New Short-Term Traders The Dow lost 1.60 percent, closing at 16,719.39. The S&P 500 lost 1.51 percent, closing at 1,935.10. The Nasdaq lost 1.56 percent, closing at 4,385.20. Gold gained 0.27 percent, trading at $1,210.60 an ounce. Oil lost 1.85 percent, trading at $88.67 a barrel. Silver lost 0.17 percent, trading at $17.19 an ounce. News Of Note ICSC Retail Store Sales rose 3.9 percent year over year after rising 3.6 percent last week. Redbook Chain Store Sales rose 5.4 percent year over year after rising 4.3 percent last week. Story continues August Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary rose to 4.835 million (versus expectations of 4.71 million) from 4.673 million in July. According to the National Retail Forecast, holiday sales are expected to rise by 4.1 percent this year. The Bank of Japan made no changes to its monetary stimulus and maintain its promise to increase its monetary base by 60 to 70 trillion yen ($547 billion to $638 billion) through the purchase of government bonds and risky assets. Analyst Upgrades And Downgrades Of Note Analysts at Bank of America reinstated coverage of Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL ) with a Buy rating and $120 price target. Also, analysts at Susquehanna maintained a Positive rating on Apple with a price target raised to $120 from a previous $115. Shares lost 0.88 percent, closing at $98.74. Analysts at Imperial Capital initiated coverage of BlackBerry (NASDAQ: BBRY ) with an In-Line rating and $10 price target. Shares lost 3.15 percent, closing at $9.23. Analysts at Citigroup initiated coverage of CBOE Holdings (NASDAQ: CBOE ) with a Neutral rating and $55 price target. Shares lost 1.05 percent, closing at $53.85. Analysts at Citigroup maintained a Neutral rating on CME Group (NYSE: CME ) with a price target raised to $82 from a previous $73. Shares lost 1.97 percent, closing at $79.75. Analysts at Oppenheimer maintained an Outperform rating on Citigroup (NYSE: C ) with a price target lowered to $67 from a previous $68. Shares lost 1.93 percent, closing at $51.27. Analysts at Jefferies maintained a Hold rating on Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ: COST ) with a price target raised to $116 from a previous $115. Shares lost 0.74 percent, closing at $125.27. Analysts at Bank of America downgraded Deere & Company (NYSE: DE ) to Underperform from Neutral with a price target lowered to $82 from a previous $90. Shares lost 3.42 percent, closing at $80.01. Analysts at Jefferies downgraded Dunkin' Brands Group (NASDAQ: DNKN ) to Hold from Buy with a price target lowered to $47 from a previous $50. Shares lost 2.62 percent, closing at $43.78. Analysts at Bank of America maintained a Neutral rating on F5 Networks (NASDAQ: FFIV ) with a price target raised to $138 from a previous $120. Shares lost 3.48 percent, closing at $117.91. Analysts at Morgan Stanley maintained an Underweight on General Motors (NYSE: GM ) with a price target lowered to $27 from a previous $29. Shares lost 5.87 percent, closing at $31.77. Recommended: Bill Gates Talks Microsoft Corporation's New Boss, Bitcoin, Apple Pay, Ebola And More Analysts at Brean Capital maintained a Buy rating on Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ ) with a price target raised to $45 from a previous $40. Shares lost 4.48 percent, closing at $35.22. View more earnings on AAPL Analysts at Citigroup maintained a Buy rating on Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE ) with a price target raised to $226 from a previous $205. Shares lost 1.38 percent, closing at $196.36. Analysts at Goldman Sachs initiated coverage of Keurig Green Mountain (NASDAQ: GMCR ) with a Buy rating and $166 price target. Shares hit new 52-week highs of $140.50 before closing the day at $139.75, up 4.88 percent. Analysts at Deutsche Bank downgraded Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS ) to Hold from Buy with a price target lowered to $65 from a previous $74. Shares lost 2.94 percent, closing at $61.07. Analysts at Deutsche Bank upgraded MGM Resorts (NYSE: MGM ) to Buy from Hold with a price target raised to $30 from a previous $29. Shares lost 1.71 percent, closing at $21.80. Analysts at JPMorgan maintained an Overweight rating on PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP ) with a price target raised to $102 from a previous $95. Shares lost 0.29 percent, closing at $93.10. Analysts at Piper Jaffray initiated coverage of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH ) with an Overweight rating and $121 price target. Shares lost 1.06 percent, closing at $84.19. Equities-Specific News Of Note According to Reuters, Allergan (NYSE: AGN ) would consider a bid of more than $200 per share to be acquired by Actavis (NYSE: ACT ). Shares of Allergan hit new 52-week highs of $189.41 before closing the day at $186.20, up 1.68 percent. Shares of Actavis lost 0.23 percent, closing the day at $243.39. McDonald's (NYSE: MCD ) said that its Japanese operations could see a loss of $157 million this year due to soft demand and rising expenses. Shares lost 1.10 percent, closing at $92.81. Coty (NYSE: COTY ) said that it offered to acquire the Bourjois cosmetics brand from Chanel for $239 million. Chanel confirmed that it has entered exclusive negotiations with Coty. Shares gained 2.26 percent, closing at $16.30. Glencore stated that it currently has no desire to pursue any sort of combination with Rio Tinto (NYSE: RIO ). Shares of Rio lost 4.06 percent, closing at $49.38. Copperfield Research tweeted that GoPro (NASDAQ: GPRO ) is "not what it seems. Great product, great chart... But accounting has yet to be fleshed out well. Still working through details." Nevertheless, shares of GoPro hit new 52-week highs of $98.47 before closing the day at $93.85, up 0.06 percent. Recommended: GoPro Inc Shares Could Be On Verge Of Another Breakout Nokia (NYSE: NOK ) intends to suspend a production plant in India as a longstanding tax dispute with the country continues. Shares lost 4.0 percent, closing at $8.17. Boeing (NYSE: BA ) expects its air freight traffic will more than double over the next 20 years. The company estimates carriers will purchase $240 billion worth of new freighters over the next two decades. Shares lost 2.33 percent, closing at $123.32. Globalstar (NYSE: GSAT ) said that it will host a conference call on Thursday at 4:30 PM ET to address Kerrisdale Capital's recent presentation. The conference call will include prepared remarks in addition to a question and answer session. Shares hit new 52-week lows of $2.10 before slightly rebounding and closing the day at $2.34, up 3.32 percent. According to Re/code, Tesla Motors (NASDAQ: TSLA ) may introduce an all-wheel drive Model S. Shares lost 0.40 percent, closing at $259.57. According to Fox Business News, Herbalife (NYSE: HLF ) told investors that the FTC will not shut down the company following an investigation into pyramid scheme allegations, but a fine and/or sanctions are possible. Shares lost 3.42 percent, closing at $45.68. Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT ) announced it will no longer offer health benefits for part-time employees who work fewer than 30 hours per week due to rising costs. Shares lost 0.06 percent, closing at $77.30. Winners Of Note Analysts at Susquehanna stated that Apple is in a position to take possession of GT Advanced Technologies' (NASDAQ: GTAT ) equipment given the fact that Apple's prepayments to GT Advanced were structured as debt. Separately, the Wall Street Journal reported that Apple declined to utilize sapphire supplied by GT Advanced in its iPhone as the material proved to be “brittle, cracking when phones were dropped from various heights and angles.” Shares of GT Advanced gained 51.25 percent, closing at $1.21. Related: GT Advanced Technologies Inc: The Technical Aftermath The FDA approved the use of Chimerix's (NASDAQ: CMRX ) experimental drug (Brincidofovir) to treat a patient hospitalized in Dallas with Ebola. Shares hit new 52-week highs of $35.16 before closing the day at $33.23, up 5.59 percent. Decliners Of Note SodaStream (NASDAQ: SODA ) issued a third quarter warning and expects to earn $8.5 million in operating income during the quarter, below the consensus estimate of $17 million. The company expects its revenue to be $125 million, falling short of the consensus estimate of $153 million. The company's CEO Daniel Birnbaum said that he is “very disappointed in our recent performance.” Shares hit new 52-week lows of $21.39 before closing the day at $21.52, down 21.94 percent. The Street Sweeper released a negative report on Glu Mobile (NASDAQ: GLUU ) saying that the company's Kardashian app is experiencing declining interest and popularity. Shares lost 7.31 percent, closing at $4.75. AGCO (NYSE: AGCO ) issued a third quarter and full-year warning, and expects its earnings per share to be in a range of $0.60 to $0.65, below the consensus estimate of $0.81. The company expects its full year earnings per share to be in a range of $4.10 to $4.30, also falling short of the consensus estimate of $4.82. Shares hit new 52-week lows of $41.56 before closing the day at $42.13, down 10.55 percent. Earnings Of Note After the market closed, Yum Brands (NYSE: YUM ) reported its third quarter results. The company announced an EPS of $0.87, missing the consensus estimate of $0.89. Revenue of $3.35 billion missed the consensus estimate of $3.47 billion. Shares were trading flat at $69.73 following the earnings release. Quote Of The Day “We expect Europe's huge excess savings combined with aggressive ECB easing to lead to some of the largest capital outflows in the history of financial markets. At around 400 billion dollars each year, Europe's current account surplus is bigger than China's in the 2000s. If sustained, it would be the largest surplus ever generated in the history of global financial markets. This matters.” – Deutsche Bank's George Saravelos arguing that the euro will fall to $0.95 by 2017. See more from Benzinga Apple Inc. To Hold iPad Event October 16: Details Sparse, Tech Blogs Offering Mixed Predictions Unleash The Bulls: Surge In September Hiring Data Jolts Markets Higher © 2014 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

2014-10-08 11:10:44+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [1147, 1370, 1845, 2377]}

{}

Venezuelans turn to bitcoins to bypass socialist currency controls

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/venezuelans-turn-bitcoins-bypass-socialist-111044842.html

Reuters

http://www.reuters.com/

By Girish Gupta CARACAS (Reuters) - Tech-savvy Venezuelans looking to bypass dysfunctional economic controls are turning to the bitcoin virtual currency to obtain dollars, make Internet purchases -- and launch a little subversion. Two New York-based Venezuelan brothers hope this week to start trading on the first bitcoin exchange in the socialist-run country, which already has at least several hundred bitcoin enthusiasts. Due to currency controls introduced by late president Hugo Chavez a decade ago, acquiring hard currency now means either requesting it from the state, which struggles to satisfy demand, or tapping a shadowy black market. Even small dollar transactions are out of the question for most Venezuelans. While President Nicolas Maduro makes frequent tirades against black market traders, whom he sees as part of the "economic war" on his government and the reason for inflation and shortages, he has never said anything about bitcoin. The government declined to comment on bitcoin policy. That has created a gray market for bitcoins, a digital currency which is not governed by a central bank or controlled by a single source. Bitcoin values have soared and fallen in the last year as a popular exchange, Mt. Gox, collapsed and some developed countries began to mull bitcoin regulation. In Venezuela, using bitcoins can carry a scent of subversion. "Bitcoin is a way of rebelling against the system," said one bitcoin trader, Caracas-based software developer John Villar, 32, who discovered the usefulness of bitcoin when he wanted to buy a $10 cellphone battery on Amazon. Unable to pay for it in dollars, he bought bitcoin off a friend using local currency. He then used the bitcoin to purchase an Amazon gift certificate, with which he bought the battery. Gerardo Mogollon, a business professor who styles himself as 'Dr. Bitcoin Venezuela,' speaks at conferences and appears in online videos to urge Venezuelans to adopt the currency. "I'm teaching people to use bitcoin to bypass the exchange controls," said Mogollon, a 42-year-old professor at the University of Tachira's graduate business school. Story continues Currently, bitcoin trading in Venezuela is between enthusiasts who use internet forums and social media to make ad hoc deals. Venezuela-born brothers Kevin and Victor Charles, now based in New York, are this week hoping to open the "SurBitcoin" exchange, which will match bitcoin buyers and sellers online. HIGH VOLATILITY The price of a bitcoin price has dropped 70 percent to under $350 from a peak last November, illustrating one risk of the digital currency. But Venezuela's own bolivar currency has dropped nearly 60 percent versus the dollar on the black market here in the last year. And a black market dollar costs 16 times more bolivars than the strongest Venezuelan government rate. "Even though bitcoin is volatile, it's still safer than the national currency," said Kevin Charles, 22, who has just completed an economics degree in neighboring Colombia. Many convert the bitcoin immediately into dollars, in any case. One of the difficulties of the new exchange will be finding a supply of bitcoins. One hope is that expatriates will use the exchange to send money home, selling bitcoins for bolivars. Another answer is for Venezuelans to make their own bitcoins. There are currently more than 13 million bitcoins in existence worldwide, worth nearly $4.5 billion, according to the popular Coinbase trading platform. New bitcoins are generated by a process known as "mining", in which computers solve complex problems. Running high-end computer systems takes a lot of electricity, which is a competitive advantage for Venezuelans. Bills that could run to hundreds or thousands of dollars a month in the United States would amount to dollars for the same amount of power in Venezuela, thanks to government subsidies. In a heavily air-conditioned Caracas home, one miner surrounds himself with specialized equipment which cost thousands of dollars. He asked not to be identified for fear of theft. "In Venezuela, we have a gold fever: a bitcoin fever!" he said. (Editing by Brian Ellsworth, Andrew Cawthorne and Peter Henderson)

2014-10-08 13:00:00+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [45, 83, 558, 944, 1106, 1713, 1805, 1825]}

{"Bitcoin": [0]}

Bitcoin Shop Becomes Provider of Digital Currency Information for ivee, the Voice-Activated Assistant for the Smart Home

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bitcoin-shop-becomes-provider-digital-130000053.html

Marketwired

http://www.marketwired.com/

ARLINGTON, VA--(Marketwired - Oct 8, 2014) - Bitcoin Shop, Inc. ( OTCQB : BTCS ) ("Bitcoin Shop" or the "Company"), an operator of the digital currency ecommerce marketplace www.bitcoinshop.us which is undertaking the build-out of a universal digital currency ecosystem that leverages its ecommerce platform as an on-ramp, today announced that it has become the default provider of digital currency information for ivee, the voice-activated assistant for the smart home. Additionally, ivee is now available for purchase with bitcoin, litecoin or dogecoin on Bitcoin Shop's ecommerce platform . ivee is the first voice-activated home assistant that answers questions, obeys commands and controls other Internet-connected devices. ivee can tell you the weather in any city, control your smart thermostat, provide stock quotes, bitcoin prices and more, all while allowing you to set your alarm or listen to music without touching a single button. Bitcoin Shop will be ivee's default provider of information for digital currencies like bitcoin, litecoin and dogecoin. Charles Allen, Chief Executive Officer of Bitcoin Shop, commented, "We are thrilled to be partnering with ivee as we believe connecting the Internet of Things to digital currency is a great way to generate awareness and adoption of digital currencies. ivee allows digital currency adopters to have instant, voice-enabled access to bitcoin, litecoin, and dogecoin pricing and other relevant information." "As a forerunner in the connected home space, it's only natural that ivee's areas of expertise grow to encompass other new and innovative technologies such as digital currencies," said Jonathon Nostrant, CEO of ivee. "We're pleased to work with Bitcoin Shop and to offer ivee users instant access to digital currency information." About Bitcoin Shop, Inc.: Bitcoin Shop, Inc. plans to build a universal digital currency platform with the goal of enabling users to engage in the digital currency ecosystem through one point of access. We currently operate an ecommerce website ( www.bitcoinshop.us ) where consumers can purchase products using digital currency such as bitcoin, litecoin and dogecoin, by searching through a selection of over 400 categories and over 140,000 items. All ecommerce customer orders are fulfilled by third party vendors. We plan to use our ecommerce platform as a customer on-ramp for a broader digital currency platform. We have been actively partnering with strategic digital currency companies who have technologies, services or products that are complementary to our business strategy by making investments in them and integrating with them. Story continues Digital currencies use peer-to-peer networks to facilitate instant payments. They are categorized as cryptocurrencies, as they use cryptography as a security measure. Digital currency issuances and transactions are carried out collectively by the network, with no central authority, and allow users to make verified transfers. About ivee: Interactive Voice Inc. ("ivee") was founded in 2011 as a consumer-focused, voice-control electronics company. ivee works at the intersection of artificial intelligence, speech recognition, natural language understanding, and the Internet of Things. Since 2011, ivee has made voice-activated devices, which can be found at stores like Best Buy, Staples, Office Depot, and Brookstone. For more information about ivee, please visit the company's Web site at helloivee.com. Forward Looking Statements: Certain statements in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Words such as "may," "might," "will," "should," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "continue," "predict," "forecast," "project," "plan," "intend" or similar expressions, or statements regarding intent, belief, or current expectations, are forward-looking statements. While the Company believes these forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on any such forward-looking statements, which are based on information available to us on the date of this release. These forward looking statements are based upon current estimates and assumptions and are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including without limitation those set forth in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, not limited to Risk Factors relating to its digital currency business contained therein. Thus, actual results could be materially different. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation to update or alter statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

2014-10-08 15:10:00+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [6662, 7708, 10479]}

{}

Inside The Internet's Secret Marketplace For Hacked Photos Of Naked Celebrities

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/inside-internets-secret-marketplace-hacked-151059958.html

Business Insider

http://www.businessinsider.com/

Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton, and Abigail Spencer Reuters/Lucas Jackson, AP, David Buchanan/Getty Images Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton, and Abigail Spencer. All are targets of iCloud hackers and photo dealers. Some dealers say the celebrity-photo-trading industry died on the afternoon of Labor Day 2014. An anonymous pornography collector, "OriginalGuy ," did the unthinkable and set about uploading his entire collection of stolen photographs to the notorious porn forum AnonIB — hundreds of images of 101 different actresses and singers. When users discovered what was happening, they swarmed the site. Eventually he was unable to load the forum to post any more images, so he took to 4chan, the anarchic discussion forum read by thousands. That's when people really started to notice what was going on. Hours after OriginalGuy shared hundreds of stolen photographs of female celebrities, the media began to realize what had happened. At first, they weren't sure how to report on the incident. Gossip blogger Perez Hilton re-uploaded stolen naked photographs to his site, and he was forced to issue an apology hours later due to widespread outrage. TMZ, the celebrity news site famed for breaking stories of hacking and sex scandals, took hours to publish anything on the leaked images. It looked like this was a world-first: Hackers had infiltrated Apple's iCloud service and made away with a seemingly endless trove of stolen photographs. But for those in the know, this wasn't new. Rather, it signaled the death of a thriving underground industry that had existed online for years. This is the story of that death, and the way it led within days to a reconstitution of the marketplace in a new home, where it thrives today. /stol/, Short For "Stolen" The pornography forum AnonIB was started in May 2006, formed as an offshoot site of the notorious anonymous message board 4chan. The site was controversial from its very inception. AnonIB has struggled to prevent its users from posting child porn on the site, which includes the subforums "Teens (18+)" and "Drunk/Passed Out." One board proved particularly popular: /stol/, short for "Stolen" and "Obtained Pictures." For years, /stol/ served as a kind of advertising system, almost like a Craigslist for hackers. Story continues Here's the kind of ad users see on AnonIB. This French hacker advertises his services as a "ripper" who can steal naked photographs from iCloud accounts: anonIB iCloud hack advert anonIB But after OriginalGuy posted his trove of photos online, AnonIB was immediately taken down. For two weeks, the site said it was undergoing "scheduled maintenance." The truth was that the site's anonymous operator was scrubbing the site of any incriminating evidence that linked the porn forum to the iCloud hacks. Maintenance message on AnonIB AnonIB When AnonIB came back online, every post in the /stol/ forum had been deleted. Thousands of stolen photographs and hundreds of ads for iCloud hackers had been removed. The internet's celebrity-photo-trading ring gradually realized that its central hub had been compromised. Nonetheless, some dedicated users returned, asking for help in stealing photographs of women. They were cautioned from posting on the site, warned that journalists were monitoring AnonIB for information about how iCloud accounts were illegally accessed. AnonIB screenshot warning that James Cook is monitoring forum AnonIB The mass leak of celebrity photos (dubbed "The Fappening" by fans amazed at the scale of the collection) forced would-be photo leakers to take to private forums and chatrooms. They communicate using a network of monikers, encrypted emailed addresses, and Google-hosted Blogger pages. Google's Servers Host A Thriving Market In Hacked Pictures One of the new hubs for stolen photographs of celebrities is a blog known as "Abi Wins." It's public and available for anyone to view. Abi Wins is also hosted on Google's Blogspot servers, which is unfortunate for the company that so keenly defended itself against an accusing letter from top Hollywood lawyer Marty Singer . In his note to Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, as well as chairman Eric Schmidt, Singer accused Google of failing to remove photographs from its Blogger service. Google responded to the letter, defending its moderation procedures, remarking: We've removed tens of thousands of pictures — within hours of the requests being made — and we have closed hundreds of accounts. The Internet is used for many good things. Stealing people’s private photos is not one of them. The Abi Wins blog is used to index stolen photographs of celebrities obtained by accessing iCloud accounts. Users then discuss the latest leaked images using Chatango, a chatroom tool created by programmers from MIT, Caltech, and Berkeley. Business Insider contacted Chatango to inform them of the chatroom, and it was deleted. We also reached out to Google about Blogspot and will update this post when we hear back. But the Abi Wins blog is just the public gateway to the internet's celebrity-photo-trading ring, which lives on despite the increased press attention that occurred following the Labor Day leak. The New Home For Stolen Pictures The celebrity-photo fans who used to gather on AnonIB have a new home on the internet: Volafile. The German site offers real-time file sharing for large groups of people, along with a chat facility to discuss the files posted. The site allows the creation of anonymous accounts, and it offers fast upload speeds. For iCloud hackers with collections of celebrity photos to offload, Volafile is a dream come true. New celebrity photo leaks are now emerging almost exclusively through Volafile. When a photo collector is about to leak new stolen photographs, that person posts excited messages, creating hype for whatever is about to appear online. The left of this screenshot shows the chatroom discussion of leaked images, and the list on the right shows files uploaded to the room. A user named "realpsamathe" is excitedly announcing a new celebrity leak, posting "HERE WE GO." in the chat: Volafile screenshot Volafile "realpsamathe" uploaded a large video file named "THE ONE YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR." The file was a video sent by actress Abigail Spencer, known for her roles in "Cowboys & Aliens" and the TV show "Suits," to her boyfriend, actor Josh Pence, who starred in "The Dark Knight" and "The Social Network." Chatroom users rushed to thank realpsamathe for posting the stolen video. Volafile screenshot Volafile As users downloaded and viewed the stolen video, which had just been shared online for the first time, they offered to send Bitcoin donations to realpsamathe. He declined, saying, "I don't want donations." He instructed users to "go donate somewhere meaningful" and shared a link to a Unicef donation page to help fight Ebola in Africa. The Trade In Photos Of Under-Age Celebrities Users constantly request photographs of the 18-year-old Olympic gymnast McKayla Maroney and actress Bella Thorne, who is just 17. Naked photographs of both women are said to have leaked online as part of the iCloud leak, with the photographs taken while both were underage. That hasn't stopped celebrity-photo fans requesting that others post the child pornography online. Every request results in a debate over the ethics of child pornography. Volafile photo leak screenshot Volafile New photographs and videos of female celebrities are still being posted online on a daily basis. "OriginalGuy," the person who first leaked the images, seems to have gone silent, but other established photo traders have realized that the industry is all but dead and are offloading their collection for Bitcoin (and the adoration of their peers) using chatrooms like Volafile. When Business Insider contacted Volafile founder N. Kuhnhenn, the chatrooms were deleted, along with the content hosted on Volafile and the backup chatrooms reserved for "emergency use." Kuhnhenn told Business Insider that he deletes rooms that breach the site's terms of use as he finds them. Yet Another Massive Cache Of Celebrity Photos Is Poised To Leak But there's an even more secretive side to the online photo-trading industry. Private dealers still operate, using encrypted email accounts and fake names to avoid detection. After observing the conversations in the main Volafile chatroom, Business Insider learned that a dealer named "Sets Ahoy" had a substantial collection of unreleased images, potentially equal in size to the "OriginalGuy" collection that was posted online on Labor Day. (A "set" is a collection of images, usually about a dozen.) Using cached versions of deleted messages on the anonymous note site Pastebin, Business Insider was able to contact Sets Ahoy through his encrypted email address. Posing as a potential buyer, Business Insider messaged the photo dealer. We didn't specify what we were looking to buy, just that we had heard he was reliable. Sets Ahoy replied within hours, telling us, "You came to the right guy." He sent over his catalogue of stolen celebrity photographs and videos without any prompting. Here it is in full: Sets Ahoy Celebrity photo catalogue Sets Ahoy Continuing to pose as an interested buyer, we expressed interest in the photographs of the British model Daisy Lowe. No stolen photographs of Lowe have leaked online. If Sets Ahoy were to possess them, it would help to prove there may be thousands of stolen photographs yet to be released. Minutes after we expressed our interest in the Daisy Lowe photographs, Sets Ahoy replied with a price. Sets Ahoy email screenshot Sets Ahoy For about $350 (roughly one bitcoin), Sets Ahoy was selling a collection of stolen naked celebrity photographs. To prove that he was in possession of the photographs, Sets Ahoy sent a Dropbox link to a sample photograph from the Daisy Lowe set. The photograph apparently shows Lowe in a hotel bathroom with an unnamed male. Their genitals are obscured by black bars, and Sets Ahoy's email address is watermarked over the image. Sample photographs are intentionally censored by traders to reduce their value and prevent other dealers from selling the same collections. Minutes after Sets Ahoy uploaded the sample to Dropbox, he deleted it to avoid detection from Dropbox's illegal content filters. Business Insider contacted Dropbox for comment on this story, and we will update this post when we hear back from them. Sets Ahoy sent Business Insider a Bitcoin payment address, which could be used to send him the one bitcoin he requested in payment for the stolen photographs. The address was newly created, showing no previous transactions. It's likely that it would have been deleted immediately after payment was processed, which makes sure that Sets Ahoy remains anonymous. Business Insider did not purchase any photographs, and the sample image was deleted as soon as it was received. We contacted Daisy Lowe's representatives prior to publication to inform them that their client was a target of iCloud hackers, and that stolen photographs of her were circulating online. Hundreds Or Thousands Of Photos Have Been Stolen The collection of photographs that OriginalGuy posted online on Labor Day is by no means the full extent of the stolen material that photo traders possess. Dealers like Sets Ahoy have hundreds, possibly thousands, of photographs and videos of female actresses that they are seeking to offload. Some traders realized that OriginalGuy's leak changed the underground industry forever, and so they have taken to leaking the images online for free, as realpsamathe has been doing on Volafile. It's difficult for Hollywood lawyers like Marty Singer to clamp down on the spread of stolen photographs online. For every blog shut down, and every chatroom deleted, the community of people hungry for more content moves on to another site. It's difficult to see where the community will move next, although the trend is to adopt more private networks. There has been talk of a "deepweb" marketplace for stolen celebrity photographs, accessible only through the Tor web browser. Tor is constructed so that no search engine would be able to index that auction site, and nobody would be able to discover it without knowing the unique series of letters and numbers that form the URL. Until the dealers flock to the deepweb, however, the signs of the internet's underground photo-trading ring remain: Cached pages, notes, emails, and forums linger online for lawyers, journalists, curious internet users, and potential buyers to discover. NOW WATCH: Here's The Trick To Not Feeling So Stressed On Sundays More From Business Insider 'Doctor Who' Star Matt Smith Is The Latest Victim Of The Celebrity iCloud Hackers Apple And Reddit Have Shut Down The iWorm Virus That Took Control Of People's Macs FBI Director: China Has Hacked Every Big US Company

2014-10-09 12:15:00+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [109, 176, 337, 1005, 1108, 1185, 2298, 2421, 2715, 2772, 3149, 3353]}

{"Bitcoin": [1]}

1Bitcoin Sets Date For Launching its 1bitcoinnetwork.com

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/1bitcoin-sets-date-launching-1bitcoinnetwork-121500121.html

ACCESSWIRE

https://www.accesswire.com/

HENDERSON, NV / ACCESSWIRE / October 9, 2014 / Get Real USA, Inc. trading symbol (OTC Pink: GTRL) ( GTRL ), 1Bitcoinnetwork.com announces today the launch of its international Bitcoin classified ad platform. Jim Clayton, President/ CEO, stated today "These are exciting times here as we move forward developing the first and only Global Bitcoin Marketplace Directory. Our platform is similar to Angie's List or Craigslist but with a big edge. Our directory is global, providing merchants worldwide with a directory to advertise and promote goods and services, in turn accommodating both domestic and international consumers with a one of a kind e-commerce experience. This extraordinary environment eliminates the challenges of world bankcard acceptance, the high cost of credit card merchants and consumer fees, chargebacks and eliminates cross border currency exchange costs. Up to now these factors have greatly hindered the global ecommerce experience. Millions throughout the world have embraced the Bitcoin economy. Until now the challenge for merchants has been; how do I acquire customers that spend Bitcoin? And for consumers, how do I find merchants that accept and trade in Bitcoin? We are that solution at http://www.1bitcoinnetwork.com/ . We will offer our international team of independent sales representatives a robust and viral money making opportunity that facilitates and stimulates the building of extensive sales organizations throughout the world. An enterprising representative is able to build a global sales organization and earn a substantial override from that organizatio's sales and merchant portfolio. Our representatives' platform provides real time sales and organization data as well as the distribution of commissions throughout a sales organization. The business opportunity for the representative is $300 per year and the cost to the business merchant for his listing is $350 per year. The response to this enterprise has been exhilarating. Based on our unique platform and marketing plan we anticipate to enroll approximately 50,000 representatives in the first full year worldwide; who we refer to as Business Builders and Affiliates, in addition to well over 150,000 merchants participating in the directory. We are about the advancement in the opportunities Bitcoin creates for investors and the purchasing power it provides for citizens of countries large and small. We recognize Bitcoin as the future of worldwide commerce and are dedicated to deliver the best that the community has to offer. Pre-register at http://www.1bitcoinnetwork.com/ and please feel free to contact me at [email protected] ." Story continues About Get Real USA: Based in Henderson, Nevada, 1 Bitcoin ( http://www.1bitcoincorp.com/ ) is assembling a Bitcoin community of domestic and international merchants using a direct sales strategy. When completed, the company anticipates it will be uniquely positioned in providing the world's largest direct bitcoin directory community. Additionally through the directory1bitcoin is developing a global savings, loyalty and rebate shopping platform exclusively for the crypto-currency Bitcoin. The end result would be a Direct Sales platform which will provide a networking and shopping experience both online and offline, with a global rewards and member loyalty program dedicated to the Bitcoin business landscape. Forward Looking Statements: This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act") (which Sections were adopted as part of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995). Statements preceded by, followed by or that otherwise include the words "believe," "anticipate," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "plan," "project," "prospects," "outlook," and similar words or expressions, or future or conditional verbs such as "will," "should," "would," "may," and "could" are generally forward-looking in nature and not historical facts. These forward looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any anticipated results, performance or achievements. We disclaim any intention to, and undertake no obligation to, revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, a future event, or otherwise. CONTACT: Jeff Aaronson [email protected] 702-492-1214 http://www.1bitcoincorp.com/ SOURCE: Get Real USA, Inc. View comments

2014-10-10 10:58:00+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [503], "BTC": [2262]}

{"Bitcoin": [12]}

Going Where Bitcoin Can’t – Disruptive Online Gaming Currency HYPER

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/going-where-bitcoin-t-disruptive-105800834.html

ACCESSWIRE

https://www.accesswire.com/

Gaming cryptocurrency HYPER is launching a number of Team Fortress 2 and Just Cause 2 game servers , as well as currently running HYPER Counter Strike servers, space MMO game servers, and more. Gamers and investors also receive 5% monthly interest on their HYPER Los Angeles, California / ACCESSWIRE / October 10th, 2014 / The HYPER decentralized currency project is pleased to announce a number of promising developments . HYPER is a peer-to-peer digital currency with settlement times 20x faster than Bitcoin. HYPER rewards users who "stake" their wallets by issuing compound interest. The currency’s multi-stage economic model incentivizes users to keep their wallet clients running on regular desktops and laptops, which is what enables this currency to be so decentralized. Transactions are processed and verified by true peers, not by wealthy mining interests. HYPER is designed to accomplish two things: to bring the world stable monetary growth outside of traditional banking and to be an open source currency catered specifically to the needs of game environments. Meaningless "High Scores" will soon be a thing of the past. Now gamers’ scores can have a direct, fungible monetary value: gaming is about to get a whole lot more competitive. Games currently on HYPER servers: - HyperZanda.com (a classic space MMO with a cult following) - Counter-Strike - Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (both CS servers have a monthly blitz where the top player wins 2,000 HYPER) - Pokemon Minecraft - @HyperTipBot on Twitter allows you to tip any Twitter user instantly in HYPER Upcoming servers / games: - World of Warcraft Arena monthly tournament coming very soon - Team Fortress 2 server coming very soon - Just Cause 2 server coming very soon - HYPER space MMO is a long term project With team members in North America, Europe, and Asia - HYPER is a truly decentralized currency project anyone anywhere can participate in. In the weeks ahead, a number of convenient fiat and credit card payment gateways will become available, making it easy for gamers to buy HYPER with USD using any major credit card and PayPal. For the time being, U.S. exchange Bittrex.com is the most popular market for buying or selling HYPER ( https://bittrex.com/Market/Index?MarketName=BTC-HYPER ). Soon, U.S. exchanges CoinMKT and AltMarket will also offer HYPER trading on their platforms. The development team welcomes proposals and inclusion requests from game developers, and has funding available in the form of HYPER bounties. The bounty program allows game developers to ride the upside as HYPER acceptance grows, while also exposing their game to a fanatical user base of affluent gamers. Follow the HYPER Federation on twitter: http://twitter.com/hyperfed Story continues Visit http://hyper.cash for more information. Contact Info Name: David Seaman Organization: HYPER U.S. Media Enquiries Phone: 310-668-1836 Email: [email protected] SOURCE: HYPER U.S. Media Enquiries View comments

2014-10-10 21:36:27+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [1809, 2321, 2535, 3961, 4046, 4124, 4174, 4729], "BTC": [639, 2052, 4229]}

{}

This week in bitcoin: Investment in bitcoin is up as the price goes down

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/week-bitcoin-investment-bitcoin-price-213627677.html

Gigaom

http://gigaom.com/

This week’s bitcoin review looks back at a week that saw not only the lowest price for bitcoin yet in 2014, but also the biggest funding round in bitcoin history. It’s boom and bust for bitcoin If you look at the market charts alone, bitcoin has had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad couple of months — and this week was the worst of it. The price of bitcoin fell to its lowest point in 2014 on Sunday, hitting $290.83. For comparison, its highest point this year was $950, meaning a bitcoin is only worth 30 percent of what it was valued in January. The price drop on Sunday was allegedly caused by an early adopter who sold 24,580 BTC on the BitStamp exchange, raking in about $7,374,000, according to a report from Pantera Capital. The order book was to sell 30,000 coins at $300 (below where the price was in the mid-300s that day), which spooked investors, so down the market came. The unknown person who did this is now referred to as “ BearWhale ” in the bitcoin community, for their bear-ish attempt to bring the price down with a super-sized quantity of coins. Since the initial panic, bitcoin enthusiasts started buying up the cheap bitcoin and pushed the price up another $100 to reach a high of $390 this week, before falling once again. But, this is bitcoin, which means it’s more than just a currency and a store of value. Investors are taking note. This week, software and wallet company Blockchain raised the largest funding round in bitcoin history, taking in $30.5 million in its Series A round. BitFury, a bitcoin mining company, also announced its $20 million round Thursday — capping off a big week for bitcoin investments. Although the price dropped 39.6 percent between Q2 and Q3, venture capital investment is up 41 percent between the quarters, according to CoinDesk’s State of Bitcoin report released this week. Including the BitFury and Blockchain numbers (which are from the beginning of Q4), total VC investment in cryptocurrency startups stands at $317 million. Let’s just hope they didn’t take those investments in BTC over USD. Story continues The market this week The market dipped to the lowest price of 2014 this week, hitting $290 before rebounding back up to $380 by the end of the week. The price has since fallen a bit again where it currently stands at $356 as of 2:30pm PT. Bitcoin enthusiasts may appreciate the rise in price, but to those outside of bitcoin, this week was just a reminder of how volatile this nascent cryptocurrency can be. For background on why we’re using Coindesk’s Bitcoin Price Index, see the note at the bottom of the post. Here are some of the best reads from around the web this week: In Time , Walter Isaacson asked an important question (at least in my view) about bitcoin: could it be the thing to save journalism and the arts ? He suggested that tipping services like ChangeTip could be applied to journalistic or musical works. There are some technical hurdles (and ethical ones for journalists — please don’t tip me), but it could be a monetized way of “liking” an artist, song or article. As bitcoin grows, shouldn’t the transaction volume on the blockchain grow too? While the number has actually remained stagnant, as Quartz pointed out , the market is becoming more reminiscent of Wall Street as more transactions are happening “off the chain.” There’s always been potential for bitcoin in Argentina, but Venezuela may be taking up the mantle first . Reuters reported that Venezuelans are turning to bitcoin for their online transactions. Why do bitcoin fans not believe in bad news? Time cited “confirmation bias” as the reason why the crowds at Reddit’s bitcoin subreddit were cheering amid the price crash. Famed economist Paul Krugman wrote in the New York Times about “The Long Cryptocon” of bitcoin. It was an article the bitcoin community did not take kindly too, with the comment number almost matching the article length and other news sources taking Krugman to task. Bitcoin in 2014 The history of bitcoin’s price A note on our data: We use CoinDesk’s Bitcoin Price Index to obtain both a historical and current reflection of the Bitcoin market. The BPI is an average of the four Bitcoin exchanges which meet their criteria: Bitstamp, BTC-e, LakeBTC and Bitfinex. To see the criteria for inclusion or for price updates by the minute, visit CoinDesk . Since the market never closes, the “closing price” as noted in the graphics is based on end of day Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) or British Summer Time (BST). Disclosure: I currently own a very small amount of bitcoin for product testing purposes. Image copyright Lightboxx/Shutterstock . Related research and analysis from Gigaom Research: Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial . Bitcoin: why digital currency is the future financial system More From paidContent.org Sapphire supplier files for bankruptcy, points to “oppressive and burdensome” conditions imposed by Apple

2014-10-12 15:32:00+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [85]}

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Flow Chart: Should You Use Credit, Debit, Or Cash?

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/flow-chart-credit-debit-cash-153200705.html

Business Insider

http://www.businessinsider.com/

Most of us have a few options to pay for the things we need (and we're not including Bitcoin). At any given store or retailer, we can generally choose between credit cards, debit cards, and cash. Credit borrows money from the bank, with the promise we'll pay it back at the end of the month or pay a fee in the form of interest. Debit pulls electronic cash straight from our checking account. Cash starts and ends the transaction in plain sight at the register, when we hand over paper and coins. (For our purposes, we're not talking about bank transfers.) Which should you use? It depends on your situation. Check out the flow chart below to figure out which method is best for your situation, then see a few notes about our thought process. infographic credit debit Skye Gould / Business Insider Why online shoppers should use credit In the flow chart above, you might notice that the only recommended option for online shoppers is credit. That's because, aside from the fact that you can't exactly hand a website a stack of $20 bills, credit cards provide more purchase and fraud protection than debit cards. Knowing that most of our online information may be subject to hackers , a little protection is a good thing. Why patrons of small businesses should use debit Using debit when making a small purchase at a small business may seem arbitrary, but it actually costs small business owners more to process a credit transaction than a debit card or cash. (More on why you'd choose debit over cash below.) Aside from being a conscientious patron, also be aware that if shoppers continue to use credit, said small business may increase its prices to compensate. Why you shouldn't max out your credit card Just because a credit card allows you to spend a certain amount of money doesn't mean you should use every cent. It's always a good idea to leave a little space on your card in case there's some sort of urgent, unexpected need, but primarily, spending every cent is bad for your credit score. Story continues The credit utilization ratio — how much of your available credit you use — is a major component of your credit score, and the less you spend, the better. Ideally, you'll be spending under 10% of your total limit, and a good way to keep your total utilization down is to keep from maxing out any of your individual cards. Why so few people should use cash You'll also notice that there's only a very specific set of circumstances in which it's recommended to use cash. Specifically, when you have no other viable options. While some people love cash because it's emotionally harder to part with than it is to hand over a card, in the grand scheme of things, credit and debit are usually better options. That's because both methods keep an electronic record of your purchases, allowing you to more easily track your spending, see where your money goes, and even stick to a budget. You can hook both cards up to an app like LearnVest or Mint and have all of your transactions categorized, sorted, and plugged into your budget. Of course, a little situation-based common sense is needed in addition to the graphic above: If you're in a store planning to use a card and see a "cash only" sign or one with a $10 credit card minimum for your $5 purchase, your decision is made for you. More From Business Insider 10 Phrases Navy SEALs Don't Say Google's Former CEO Explains How Arrogance Cost Potential Google Employees Half A Billion Dollars Flow Chart: Should You Use Credit, Debit, Or Cash?

2014-10-14 03:28:00+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [14, 146, 1064]}

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Dorian Nakamoto is raising money to sue Newsweek

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/2014-10-13-dorian-nakamoto-is-raising-money-to-sue-newsweek-bitcoin.html

Engadget

https://www.engadget.com/

Production Of Bitcoins By Mike Caldwell of Casascius March was a busy month for Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto -- Newsweek named him as the "face behind Bitcoin," a cryptocurrency the California resident claims to have only heard about a few weeks before the article's publication. Nakamoto hired a lawyer and issued a unconditional denial of allegations. Now it seems like that lawyer is about to go to work: Nakamoto has launched a legal defense fund to help pay for an impending lawsuit against Newsweek. The fund's URL and official Twitter account are bluntly named, and to the point: "NewsweekLied." The Legal Defense Fund's webpage is pretty simple: just three pages containing background information on the article, a slight rewording of the statement Nakamoto provided back in March and a picture of Nakamoto himself, holding a sign that reads "Newsweek's article hurt my family." Even if Nakamoto really isn't the cryptocurrency's founder, it's being used to provide the man aid -- the fund requests that donations of $1,000 or more be contributed directly to a Bitcoin wallet , and the community has donated over $23,000 for his personal use. The site says that all funds will be used towards the Newsweek case, explaining that anything left over will be given directly to the unemployed engineer to help him cover his expenses. Dorian Nakamoto is launching a Legal Defense Fund, which is really more of an Attack Fund. He wants to sue Newsweek: http://t.co/xdI1lFbduM - Felix Salmon (@felixsalmon) October 13, 2014 Please donate at http://t.co/K0DCwSu9gO . pic.twitter.com/tSTE9BH9qF - Nakamoto Defense (@newsweeklied) October 13, 2014 [Image credit: George Frey/Bloomberg via Getty Images]

2014-10-14 03:39:27+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [1303]}

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Your Dropbox Account May Have Been Hacked (UPDATE: Dropbox Says No)

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/your-dropbox-account-may-have-been-hacked-update-99966786959.html

Yahoo Tech

https://www.yahoo.com/tech/

Dropbox logo Update: Dropbox has posted the following: Dropbox wasn’t hacked. Recent news articles claiming that Dropbox was hacked aren’t true. Your stuff is safe. The usernames and passwords referenced in these articles were stolen from unrelated services, not Dropbox. Attackers then used these stolen credentials to try to log in to sites across the internet, including Dropbox. We have measures in place to detect suspicious login activity and we automatically reset passwords when it happens. Attacks like these are one of the reasons why we strongly encourage users not to reuse passwords across services. For an added layer of security, we always recommend enabling 2 step verification on your account. A subsequent list of usernames and passwords has been posted online. We’ve checked and these are not associated with Dropbox accounts. Our original story follows … Hundreds of Dropbox passwords may have been leaked online. The Next Web discovered a Reddit comment thread Monday evening that linked to a site where hundreds of usernames and passwords for the storage site were revealed in plain text. (The Reddit thread is easy to find, but since it links to lists of the hacked passwords, we are not linking to it here.) According to the thread, those responsible for the hack are asking for Bitcoin donations (for some reason), but haven’t had much luck. As of this writing, they have raised 0.0001 bitcoin, or about 4 cents. Though the cloud storage company has not yet posted anything about the hack, it did disable the listed passwords and is forcing users of those accounts to create new passwords when they next use Dropbox, according to The Next Web. The perpetrators of the hack claim they have 7 million compromised passwords. If you are a Dropbox user, now is as good a time as ever to change your password and enable two-step verification on the site . Among the many passwords exposed in the hack, one of the worst was 123abc. For advice on how to create and use far stronger passwords, check out our comprehensive guide to fixing your passwords . Also helpful: a guide to protecting your home network from hackers. Feel free to send the link to Dropbox, too. We’ll keep you updated on this story once we hear back from Dropbox. Follow Alyssa Bereznak on Twitter or email her .

2014-10-14 08:44:44+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [1250]}

{}

10 Things In Tech You Need To Know This Morning

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/10-things-tech-know-morning-084444729.html

Business Insider

http://www.businessinsider.com/

tim cook apple REUTERS/Robert Galbraith Apple CEO Tim Cook Good morning! It's set to be a rainy day in New York. Here's the big tech news from yesterday. 1. The Irish government is reportedly planning on closing the tax loophole that makes the country so attractive to Apple and Google. The move would dramatically increase tax bills for tech companies in Ireland. 2. 7 million Dropbox passwords have been posted online. The company denies it was hacked, instead placing the blame on other sites. 3. There won't be any new Retina MacBook Airs shown at the Apple event on Thursday. Instead, we'll likely see new iPads, a new iMac, and OS X Yosemite. 4. French telecom company Iliad is no longer trying to buy T-Mobile. Deutsche Telekom wants to sell its majority stake in the company. 5. Microsoft says 1 million people are testing the preview version of Windows 10. They've received 200,000 items of user feedback. 6. A website has admitted that hackers used it to leak 100,000 Snapchat photos online. Snapsaved owned up to the hack on Facebook. 7. Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi has hit back at Jony Ive's accusation that they have stolen his designs. They've offered him one of their phones. 8. The man Newsweek reported was the creator of Bitcoin is raising money to sue the publication. He insists that the magazine is lying. 9. Google has announced the subscription plan for its experimental same-day delivery service: Google Express. It's going to cost $95 per year. 10. Flight attendants want the ban on smartphone and tablet use during flights reinstated. They claim that gadget use is causing passengers to ignore their instructions. More From Business Insider 10 Things In Tech You Need To Know This Morning 10 Things In Tech You Need To Know This Morning 10 Things In Tech You Need To Know This Morning

2014-10-14 12:03:33+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [2775, 2826, 3249, 3405]}

{}

Hackers Have A Really Simple Way Of Getting Your Passwords To Sites Like Dropbox And Snapchat

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/hackers-really-simple-way-getting-120333191.html

Business Insider

http://www.businessinsider.com/

Broken Lock Nick Carter/Flickr Last night an anonymous hacker claimed to be in possession of 7 million passwords to Dropbox accounts. While that claim was probably false, it demonstrates the increasingly common way that hackers are using to gain access to your passwords. The hacker posted around 400 usernames and passwords on anonymous note site Pastebin in a series of "teasers" for the main list. Some Reddit users were able to successfully log into Dropbox using the information posted before the company deactivated all of the leaked passwords. But Dropbox was quick to cast doubt on the claims , denying that it had been hacked and claiming that many of the usernames and passwords were not even related to Dropbox accounts. So where do the passwords come from? After all, they worked, for a time. The most likely source of the information is a third-party site that had poor security. Hackers know that most internet users re-use their passwords, so they often target smaller apps made by amateur developers. These easy targets have poor security — so usernames, passwords or files may be stored in a way that's easy for hackers to steal them. The recent Snapchat hack , which saw nearly 100,000 private photos and videos posted online, happened because an amateur developer hadn't securely set up his website. In a post on the Snapsaved Facebook page , the site's anonymous founder explains that a mis-configured Apache server left the files vulnerable to hackers. Hackers don't need to try and target the tech giants anymore. Why bother trying to hack into Google, Apple or Facebook's servers when you can simply take advantage of a poorly built website to get the same information? We're now seeing hackers use a new approach. Instead of spending months finding vulnerabilities in large sites, they re-use login information stolen from amateur third-party apps. Chances are that the information works for several sites, so compiling these caches of data together can quickly create a list of millions of passwords. Story continues In September, Russian hackers published a list of 5 million passwords to a variety of different email providers, including Gmail. It wasn't a new leak, but a collection of older password leaks compiled together to seem new. Sure, many of the email accounts had closed, but the information could still be downloaded and used by hackers to break into other accounts. So why are hackers re-using old information? There's rarely evidence that they actually use the passwords to log into sites. Instead, it seems like they just post the information online. Or at least, they post some of the information online. As we mentioned before, hackers leak partial collection of passwords as "teasers." This is often accompanied by a request for Bitcoin donations. We can use the public nature of Bitcoin addresses to see just how much hackers gain for posting passwords online. It's often less than they expect to receive. The hacker who shared the collection of Dropbox passwords received just 8 cents . Similarly, OriginalGuy, the anonymous forum poster behind the first wave of hacked iCloud celebrity photos, expressed dismay at the small trickle of donations that came his way, remarking: Sure, I got $120 with my Bitcoin address, but when you consider how much time was spent acquiring this stuff (I'm not the hacker, just a collector), and the money (I paid a lot via Bitcoin as well to get certain sets when this stuff was being privately traded on Friday/Saturday) I really didn't get close to what I was hoping for. We're seeing more and more passwords leak online. Amateur developers aren't stepping up password security, and existing leaks continue to resurface. While the information made public is often several years out of date (many of the emails posted along with the Dropbox passwords were deactivated in 2012), it's still valuable to hackers compiling large lists of email addresses and passwords to be used in attacks against other sites. And, just in case it isn't clear, this is your fault, too: If you're using the same passwords over and over with different apps then hackers don't need to get into Apple or Facebook's servers to find them. They simply identify the smaller apps with the weakest password security. More From Business Insider Here's How To Protect Yourself From The Hacks On US Banks 'Doctor Who' Star Matt Smith Is The Latest Victim Of The Celebrity iCloud Hackers Inside The Internet's Secret Marketplace For Hacked Photos Of Naked Celebrities

2014-10-14 13:00:00+00:00

{"Bitcoin": [46, 84, 770, 829, 1303, 1323]}

{"Bitcoin": [0]}

Bitcoin Shop Enters Into Lockup Agreements With Certain Officers, Directors and Large Shareholders

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bitcoin-shop-enters-lockup-agreements-130000980.html

Marketwired

http://www.marketwired.com/

ARLINGTON, VA--(Marketwired - Oct 14, 2014) - Bitcoin Shop, Inc. ( OTCQB : BTCS ) ("Bitcoin Shop" or the "Company"), an operator of the digital currency ecommerce marketplace www.bitcoinshop.us , which is undertaking the build-out of a universal digital currency ecosystem, today announced that it has entered into lockup agreements with certain officers, directors and large shareholders pursuant to which the parties agreed to refrain from selling or transferring an aggregate of 71,254,575 shares of the Company's common stock they own until February 5, 2017. The lockup may be terminated by the mutual agreement of the Company and the respective party, and if not sooner terminated, will terminate upon the expiration date. Charles Allen, Chief Executive Officer of Bitcoin Shop, commented, "We are pleased with the progress Bitcoin Shop has made in a short amount of time. Moreover the digital currency industry is rapidly growing and we are very enthusiastic about the long term prospects of both our Company and the industry. As a demonstration of our belief and optimism in the future of our Company, certain insiders and I have voluntarily agreed to lock up certain of our equity until February 2017. We remain committed to our shareholder base and the strategic plan we have set forth." About Bitcoin Shop, Inc.: Bitcoin Shop, Inc. plans to build a universal digital currency platform with the goal of enabling users to engage in the digital currency ecosystem through one point of access. We currently operate an ecommerce website ( www.bitcoinshop.us ) where consumers can purchase products using digital currency such as bitcoin, litecoin and dogecoin, by searching through a selection of over 400 categories and over 140,000 items. All ecommerce customer orders are fulfilled by third party vendors. We plan to use our ecommerce platform as a customer on-ramp for a broader digital currency platform. We have been actively partnering with strategic digital currency companies who have technologies, services or products that are complementary to our business strategy by making investments in them and integrating with them. Digital currencies use peer-to-peer networks to facilitate instant payments. They are categorized as cryptocurrencies, as they use cryptography as a security measure. Digital currency issuances and transactions are carried out collectively by the network, with no central authority, and allow users to make verified transfers. Forward Looking Statements: Certain statements in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Words such as "may," "might," "will," "should," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "continue," "predict," "forecast," "project," "plan," "intend" or similar expressions, or statements regarding intent, belief, or current expectations, are forward-looking statements. While the Company believes these forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on any such forward-looking statements, which are based on information available to us on the date of this release. These forward looking statements are based upon current estimates and assumptions and are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including without limitation those set forth in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, not limited to Risk Factors relating to its digital currency business contained therein. Thus, actual results could be materially different. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation to update or alter statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.