Daily Archives: November 13, 2014

Bitcoin is used as a currency in some stores, even though it doesnt have the backing of a central bank or government.

Bitcoin has come a long way, from a mysterious and controversial crypto-currency to a widely known medium of exchange.

Although faced with occasional challenges (such as the MtGox bitcoin heist, Silk Road incident or Chinas regulatory stance), the bitcoin community remains unshaken, showing a surprising amount of resilience and trust in the digital currency.

As time passed, many new altcoin variants (alternatives to bitcoin) have sprung to life, the most notable of which are Litecoin and Peercoin. Litecoin is advertised as faster and more efficient, and Peercoin uses the concept of proof-of-stake, which means you gain Peercoins based on the amount of the currency you hold and not on your computers processing power, as is the case with bitcoin.

Bitcoin this year gained enough momentum to become a market-disrupting force. More than 60,000 businesses now accept the currency (Dish Network DISH, +1.33% joined in August), and the value of venture-capital investments made in bitcoin jumped 28% in the second quarter from the first quarter.

So what will be the trends, and challenges, in the years ahead?

Bitcoin may become a new Western Union: This is what one Reddit user said:

Bitcoin and Circle just solved my remittance problem. I live in Belarus, people. I receive my salary here, in a local bank account tied to a debit card in U.S. dollars. One of my big problems is transferring my salary back to my U.S. account with minimal fees so that I can make payments on student loans and such.

With Circle, I can now send any amount of money to my Coinbase account to be withdrawn to my local bank account with negligible transaction fees. This is a game changer, folks. I dont care if bitcoins value drops to $0.10; its now the only way Im going to be transferring money.

Alternative currencies are disrupting the way money transfer is handled worldwide. With services like Circle, money transfers are now becoming instant, secure and free as they should be.

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Your Digital Self: Why youll finally be using bitcoin soon

Kim Young-won

The Korea Herald

Publication Date : 13-11-2014

A leading Bitcoin organisation founder said Samsung Electronics, a chipmaking powerhouse, will likely benefit the most as the global market for the digital currency Bitcoin grows further down the road.

At least half a billion US dollars, up from $10 million two years ago, will be spent on purchasing Bitcoin mining systems (built using highly efficient chips) worldwide next year or in 18 months, said Peter Vessenes, chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation, a US organisation committed to promoting the use of the cybercurrency, at a news conference Tuesday.

The news conference was held on the sidelines of the Daejeon Global Innovation Forum, a global tech conference taking place in the city of Deajeon from Wednesday to Thursday.

Much of the money will go directly to foundries with the highest technology in the world, including Samsung, Intel and TSMC, he added.

Samsung is one of a few chipmakers capable of producing 10-nonometer-class chips.

Since obtaining Bitcoins requires an enormous amount of computing prowess, those who want to get their hands on the digital currency must be equipped with cutting-edge chip technology and computer systems.

See the original post here:
'Samsung to be biggest beneficiary of Bitcoin market'