Daily Archives: May 15, 2014

Bitcoin payment processor BitPay has raised $30 million to fund its international expansion.

The Atlanta-based company helps businesses accept payments in bitcoin with its range of plugins for 22 e-commerce system. BitPay takes the bitcoin exchange rate risk, paying its customers in bitcoin or a variety of currencies including US dollars, euros and pounds sterling.

Over 30,000 organizations already use its services, according to the companys website, including blogging platform WordPress and the space tourism company Virgin Galactic owned by Virgin Group Chairman Richard Branson.

Branson and Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang are part of the group that will invest $30 million in BitPay, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. The investment follows an earlier $2.7 million investment round and is the biggest venture capital investment in the digital currency industry, valuing the company at about $160 million, according to the report.

The deal, expected to be announced on Tuesday, will help BitPay to expand its business outside the U.S., BitPay CEO Tony Gallippi told the newspaper.

The startup has offices in Amsterdam, Buenos Aires and San Francisco, but will now focus on emerging markets such as India and other countries where a large part of the population doesnt have bank accounts, Gallippi said.

Regulators and governments around the world are struggling with accepting bitcoin as a currency. The EU, Denmark and New Zealand for instance all issued warnings against the technology, questioning its viability. The currency is also very volatile, leading at least one expert to conclude that it could become harder for Bitcoin startups to land investments.

However, despite the volatility of the digital currency and setbacks like the recent demise of the Mt. Gox Bitcoin exchange and hack attacks targeting Bitcoins transaction network, Gallippi is confident Bitcoin is here to stay, he told the newspaper. His investors also arent worried about the fluctuating bitcoin prices. They are betting that the digital currency will emerge as the Internet payment method of choice, according to the report.

BitPay is not the only Bitcoin startup landing a big investment. By the end of last year venture capitalists invested at least $50 million into the industry. Half of that amount went to Coinbase, a bitcoin bank, in December.

Loek Essers focuses on online privacy, intellectual property, open-source and online payment issues. More by Loek Essers

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Bitcoin payments startup BitPay looks to expand after raising $30 million

The cryptocurrency has proven a useful marketing tool for many companies hoping to boost their brand. Billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson announced that his commercial spaceflight venture would accept bitcoin as payment. Meanwhile a university in Cyprus, a sustainable grocer, a travel website, a delicatessen and a guitar repair shop are just some of the smaller businesses that have received attention online thanks to their decisions to accept the cryptocurrency.

CeX state that their decision means they are the first national U.K. retailer adopting bitcoin. They currently have 250 stores in the country and have outlets now in five U.S. states. Despite indicating that the adoption would be a trial, there are currently no details on whether the adoption would be rolled out to its other main street stores.

Read MoreBitcoin having trouble shedding its dark side

The reaction to the news was overwhelmingly positive on the social networking service Reddit. Some users described it as "huge news" and potentially "game changing" highlighting the company's decisions to pay out in bitcoin rather than just accepting the currency.

Fans of the videogame exchange were a little more skeptical on its Facebook page highlighting the lack of merits that the digital currency offered and the relatively small uptake.

Read MoreWatch 'Bitcoin Uprising'

"Bitcoin, like gold, is now too heavily mined and hoarded to be accessible to everyday folk who might shop at CeX...I admire and welcome the initiative though," said one user on the social media site.

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Bitcoin for videogames as UK store goes digital

Novogratz's Fortress Macro Fund oversees about $4 billion in assets and was named Institutional Investor's 2013 "Macro-Focused Hedge Fund of the Year."

On CNBC's "Fast Money," Novogratz said that the market was difficult to read at the moment.

"Markets are easy for macro when they're trending and difficult when they're not trending," he said. "The idea is to have less chips on the table, to bet less and wait until the game shifts, and it will. It always does."

Novogratz said that he did not see a bubble in credit markets, especially as banks have de-levered.

"They typical credit crisis happens from banks, and we're not going to see it there," he said.

"Most of the credit has been shifted into the mutual fund industry, and mom and dad are not usually panic sellers because they're not leveraged. We do think there's not a lot of value in credit, and so it's kind of a boring environment for our credit business. But I don't see a bubble at any time short being popped," Novogratz added.

As for the bond market, Novogratz said that he saw a sign of something happening.

"I think we're squeezing the last people out of the shorts, and you'll see some reversal," he said.

For areas of continued returns, the mergers and acquisitions space appeared interesting, Novogratz said, adding that he was setting up an event-driven strategy fund in London.

"If you look at the M&A calendar for the first four months of this year, it's up 60, 70 percent vs. last year," he said.

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A compelling reason to believe in bitcoin?