Win .33 Bitcoin ($150 or so, Depending on BTC value) – Meme game for May 1st – Take My Bitcoins – Video


Win .33 Bitcoin ($150 or so, Depending on BTC value) - Meme game for May 1st - Take My Bitcoins
Win free Bit Coin Simply make your own Meme out of the Ronald McDonald Picture and get the most retweets on Twitter and win .33 Bitcoin Join us each week LIVE 8pm (PT) http://www.takemybitcoins.tv.

By: Stupid For Money

View post:

Win .33 Bitcoin ($150 or so, Depending on BTC value) - Meme game for May 1st - Take My Bitcoins - Video

Bitcoin price slips on China regulation

BTC China's announcement adds to the growing uncertainty regarding regulation in China. Local media had reported that April 15 was a possible deadline set by the People's Bank of China (PBoC) for Chinese banks to freeze the accounts of bitcoin exchanges. Exchanges BTC Trade and Huobi.com both signaled earlier in the month that their banks had closed their accounts on, or close to, this deadline.

This speculation regarding regulation begun in early December 2013, after a price surge in bitcoin which many attributed to growing enthusiasm from Chinese investors. A statement released by the PBoC on December 5 warned of the risks associated with bitcoin, saying that Chinese financial institutions should not trade the digital currency.

Read MoreBitcoin stumbles on fears of China clampdown

Last month, a report by Chinese news site Caixin stated that the PBoC had introduced measures which would target 15 bitcoin-trading websites, adding that banks - who have these companies as clients - would be punished if they failed to close their accounts by the April deadline.

The PBoC moved quickly to deny these reports but these announcements by the exchanges would now appear to contradict that. What's more, BTC China's new announcement means that no exchange is immune to the clampdown with the company being the last exchange to be notified.

Lee iterated to CNBC that the only formal guideline on bitcoin by Chinese authorities was still the communication on December 5. "It has not shown any new guidance," he said, but added that he would take appropriate steps if it did issue an official statement but could not predict what the next step by the PBoC would be.

Visit link:

Bitcoin price slips on China regulation

Bitcoin price slips as China steps up regulation

BTC China's announcement adds to the growing uncertainty regarding regulation in China. Local media had reported that April 15 was a possible deadline set by the People's Bank of China (PBoC) for Chinese banks to freeze the accounts of bitcoin exchanges. Exchanges BTC Trade and Huobi.com both signaled earlier in the month that their banks had closed their accounts on, or close to, this deadline.

This speculation regarding regulation begun in early December 2013, after a price surge in bitcoin which many attributed to growing enthusiasm from Chinese investors. A statement released by the PBoC on December 5 warned of the risks associated with bitcoin, saying that Chinese financial institutions should not trade the digital currency.

Read MoreBitcoin stumbles on fears of China clampdown

Last month, a report by Chinese news site Caixin stated that the PBoC had introduced measures which would target 15 bitcoin-trading websites, adding that banks - who have these companies as clients - would be punished if they failed to close their accounts by the April deadline.

The PBoC moved quickly to deny these reports but these announcements by the exchanges would now appear to contradict that. What's more, BTC China's new announcement means that no exchange is immune to the clampdown with the company being the last exchange to be notified.

Lee iterated to CNBC that the only formal guideline on bitcoin by Chinese authorities was still the communication on December 5. "It has not shown any new guidance," he said, but added that he would take appropriate steps if it did issue an official statement but could not predict what the next step by the PBoC would be.

View post:

Bitcoin price slips as China steps up regulation

Market Extra: Bitcoin venture capital money hasnt kept up with buzz

By Saumya Vaishampayan, MarketWatch

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) Bitcoin is the hottest investing trend since the Internet, according to venture capitalists who have sung its praises. But the money hasnt exactly followed.

Venture capitalists invested $74.1 million in bitcoin startups across 39 deals in 2013, according to data provided by CB Insights. Thats less than a third of what Internet companies raised in first-round funding in 1995, when Internet leaders like Yahoo, Inc. /quotes/zigman/59898/delayed/quotes/nls/yhoo YHOO +0.61% and eBay Inc. /quotes/zigman/76117/delayed/quotes/nls/ebay EBAY -0.35% were just getting off the ground.

In fact, for all the predictions that bitcoin is on the cusp of blowing up the traditional financial system, investors have largely kept to the sidelines. The last round of funding raised by Oculus VR the maker of virtual-reality goggles Facebook Inc. /quotes/zigman/9962609/delayed/quotes/nls/fb FB -0.26% agreed to acquire last month was more than all of bitcoins VC haul in 2013.

From an aggregate standpoint, a hundred million bucks in venture is a pittance. Its a rounding error, said Matthew Roszak, co-founder of the venture-capital firm SilkRoad Equity. He has a portfolio of 10 bitcoin investments.

Some industries are likely attracting more funding because they are bigger. Software companies attracted $11 billion in VC funding last year, the most of the industries surveyed, according to the MoneyTree Report from PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association, which uses data from Thomson Reuters. The software industry also attracted the most deals, and when that number is taken into account, the average software investment isnt among the highest.

Interest in bitcoin has started to pick up this year. VC investments in bitcoin-related firms rose to $64.9 million across 14 deals in the first quarter, nearly 90% of the money raised last year, according to CB Insights. If funding kept up that pace, it would top $200 million this year.

But its coming from the far back of the pack. The average bitcoin investment was $1.9 million last year. The average investment in biotech, on the other hand, was $9.6 million.

These small-potatoes investments have flown in the face of expectations that the digital currency will bulldoze the way the world uses money, leaving old intermediaries like banks and credit card companies in their wake.

Were still in the very early innings of the bitcoin industry as a whole. If you compare it to the Internet industry, were probably back in 1995 or 1996 and right now its all about infrastructure, said Pamir Gelenbe, a venture partner at Hummingbird Ventures. His firm in late March led a $5 million funding round for the virtual-currency exchange Kraken.

Read the original:

Market Extra: Bitcoin venture capital money hasnt kept up with buzz

Australian Bitcoin traders hit by crash

'The money was essentially frozen": Karl Kloppenborg, 22, lost $47,000 in the Mt.Gox collapse. Photo: The Border Mail

Former Macquarie banker Joe Lee and Wall Street investment adviser George Samman suspected something was wrong with Bitcoin exchange Mt.Gox in the closing months of 2013.

The founders behind Singapore-based derivatives trader BTC.sx had begun withdrawing money as early as December, fearing the premium Mt.Gox users paid for Bitcoins was a sign of liquidity issues at the Tokyo-based exchange.

But it didn't stop Lee andSamman from sustaining a six-figure loss when Mt.Gox finally went under last month.

"We were one of Mt.Gox's biggest customers but we got no inside information from them at all," says Samman, chief operating officer at the trader. "They couldn't answer any questions so it was useless. We were lucky to get off what we needed to get off before the whole thing went down."

Advertisement

In Melbourne, 22-year-old Bitcoin trader Karl Kloppenborg was also burned by the fall of Mt.Gox.

An IT entrepreneur who is building his own Bitcoin exchange, Kloppenborg lost $47,000 in the collapse.

"I realised something was wrong much earlier on I threatened legal action, and said I'd call the banks," hesays. "It became a waiting game when I realised that the money was essentially frozen."

Series of Bitcoin problems

See more here:

Australian Bitcoin traders hit by crash

Bitcoin traders hit by Mt.Gox crash

'The money was essentially frozen": Karl Kloppenborg, 22, lost $47,000 in the Mt.Gox collapse. Photo: The Border Mail

Former Macquarie banker Joe Lee and Wall Street investment adviser George Samman suspected something was wrong with Bitcoin exchange Mt.Gox in the closing months of 2013.

The founders behind Singapore-based derivatives trader BTC.sx had begun withdrawing money as early as December, fearing the premium Mt.Gox users paid for Bitcoins was a sign of liquidity issues at the Tokyo-based exchange.

But it didn't stop Lee andSamman from sustaining a six-figure loss when Mt.Gox finally went under last month.

"We were one of Mt.Gox's biggest customers but we got no inside information from them at all," says Samman, chief operating officer at the trader. "They couldn't answer any questions so it was useless. We were lucky to get off what we needed to get off before the whole thing went down."

Advertisement

In Melbourne, 22-year-old Bitcoin trader Karl Kloppenborg was also burned by the fall of Mt.Gox.

An IT entrepreneur who is building his own Bitcoin exchange, Kloppenborg lost $47,000 in the collapse.

"I realised something was wrong much earlier on I threatened legal action, and said I'd call the banks," hesays. "It became a waiting game when I realised that the money was essentially frozen."

Series of Bitcoin problems

Read the original post:

Bitcoin traders hit by Mt.Gox crash

4/24/14 – Xapo Debit Card, Russia’s 1st Bitcoin Conference, Silk Road 2.0 – Video


4/24/14 - Xapo Debit Card, Russia #39;s 1st Bitcoin Conference, Silk Road 2.0
http://moneyandtech.com/apr24-news-update/ Here #39;s what #39;s happening today in Money Tech: Bitcoin wallet provider Xapo today announced the launch of what they describe as the first international...

By: Money Tech

Here is the original post:

4/24/14 - Xapo Debit Card, Russia's 1st Bitcoin Conference, Silk Road 2.0 - Video

China Bans Bitcoin Again — Bitcoin the Movie — Startup for Startups Raises 2,000 BTC – Video


China Bans Bitcoin Again -- Bitcoin the Movie -- Startup for Startups Raises 2,000 BTC
Join the MadBitcoins Patreon for behind the scenes content! Subscribe for as low as $5 a month! http://patreon.com/madbitcoins Vote MadBitcoins: https://blog.blockchain.com/2014/04/16/the-first-...

By: MadBitcoins

See more here:

China Bans Bitcoin Again -- Bitcoin the Movie -- Startup for Startups Raises 2,000 BTC - Video

Bitcoin runner-up Litecoin emerges as low-price challenger

Make way, bitcoin: A competing digital currency is angling for the spotlight.

Merchants and investors are taking notice of litecoin, pitched by its developers as cheaper to generate, more plentiful and easier to use for small transactions than bitcoin. While prices for both have slid since a surge late last year, litecoins remains about 490 percent higher than six months ago, compared with about 140 percent for bitcoin. Daily litecoin transactions also have climbed faster.

The total value of litecoins available for use ranks second only to bitcoins, according to CoinMarketCap, a website tracking more than 200 digital currencies. That status has helped make litecoin an obvious alternative for investors and enthusiasts seeking new opportunities to profit from virtual money.

Litecoin right now is where bitcoin was the same time last year, Michael Curry, co-founder of Canadian digital-currency exchange Vault of Satoshi, said in an interview. As people are becoming more familiar with bitcoin, they are starting to see there are other coins out there.

Bitcoins jumped from about $13 at the start of last year to more than $1,200 in December, then slid to about $490 late last week, according to CoinDesk, which tracks prices across key exchanges. Litecoins, which surpassed $48 in November, was trading for about $12 last week, according to data from exchange BTC-e.

The average number of daily transactions in litecoins this month is 155 percent greater than Octobers level, according to CoinDesk data. That compares with a 19 percent increase for bitcoins. Daily transactions in bitcoins this month still outnumber those in litecoins almost sevenfold, the data show.

Technology enthusiasts and venture capitalists are pitching digital currencies as fast and cheap alternatives to traditional financial systems, in which middlemen such as networks, merchant acquirers and banks take a cut. Backers also argue that instruments such as bitcoin may be of use to people and businesses in countries with unstable currencies.

Litecoins are drawing notice in part because they can be mined more cheaply than bitcoins. The process uses computers to solve software problems and unlock new digital coins. While bitcoin speculators compete with increasingly expensive machines, litecoins were designed to be efficiently mined with consumer-grade hardware, even if some miners prefer powerful processors.

Sam Cole, co-founder of KnCMiner, one of the biggest mining companies, said equipment used for mining litecoins and similarly designed alternative currencies now accounts for 60 percent of sales.

The maximum number of litecoins that can be mined is four times more than that for bitcoins, potentially making them more attractive to users and miners. Miners have more rewards to go around, while consumers may see litecoins as more affordable, even if bitcoins are typically spent in pieces.

Read the original here:

Bitcoin runner-up Litecoin emerges as low-price challenger