Daily Archives: December 16, 2014

MY FIRST BITCOIN
Made 4 TV Gecko aka Mr.iPad Chain tells how he was able to get his very first "BITCOIN"! "BITCOIN" "BITCOINS" "BIT COIN" "BIT COINS"

By: Famos Amos

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MY FIRST BITCOIN - Video

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(CNN) -- On Thursday December 18, we'll be hosting a Twitter live chat @CNNTech debating the future of Bitcoin with a panel of experts. Join us at 5pm GMT/12pm ET by tuning into the hashtag, #bitcoinfuture. We look forward to seeing you there!

Here's a look at our panel:

Jeffrey Robinson

Jeffrey is the author of "Bitcon: The Naked Truth about Bitcoin," and has been described as the world's 'leading financial crime author' by the British Bankers' Association.

In addition to books on dirty money, he has written a number of investigative non-fiction books, major biographies and half a dozen novels.

Daniel Mark Harrison

As editor of CoinSpeaker, Daniel reports on the latest developments in the world of cryptocurrencies.

He is a regular public speaker, and writes regularly on the issues and innovations affecting companies and markets around the world.

Adam Levitin

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The future of Bitcoin: live Twitter chat

A Bitcoin sign in a Toronto shop window in May, in better times. Photograph: Mark Blinch/Reuters

After skyrocketing to more than a thousand dollars in price late last year and attracting global attention, bitcoin, the leading digital currency, has stalled.

Figures obtained by Reuters show that while wallets cyberspeak for accounts are being created at a steady clip, many of them are empty.

Analysts also provided Reuters with data that shows liquidity in the cryptocurrency remains limited.

Bitcoin, a virtual currency created through a mining process where a computers resources are used to perform millions of calculations, has been hailed as revolutionary because of its lack of ties to a central bank and its potential as an alternative to credit cards for paying for goods and services.

However, the currencys volatility has slowed broader acceptance. The price of bitcoin has plummeted roughly 50% so far this year. It most recently traded at $356.26, down from a peak of $1,163 in December 2013.

Two of its primary appeals the lower transaction fees compared to credit cards and its use in cross-border transactions have not been enough to offset its ups and downs.

Until a unique application emerges that separates it from credit cards, online payments or other currencies, the expansion may remain slow, many market insiders said.

There has to be some motivation that would help this whole bitcoin system explode, like really good applications for consumers, said Jonathan Levin, a London-based digital currency consultant and co-founder of the Oxford Virtual Currency Group. At the moment, there isnt.

Last weeks second auction of bitcoins by the US marshals service, which showed a drastic drop in bidders from the first sale in June, demonstrated just how far bitcoin has fallen off the radar. The first auction attracted 45 unique bidders, with 63 bids, while the December sale showed just 11 buyers and 27 bids.

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Bitcoin stalls after hitting record prices in 2013

Part of complete coverage on

(CNN) -- On Thursday December 18, we'll be hosting a Twitter live chat @CNNTech debating the future of Bitcoin with a panel of experts. Join us at 5pm GMT/12pm ET by tuning into the hashtag, #bitcoinfuture. We look forward to seeing you there!

Here's a look at our panel:

Jeffrey Robinson

Jeffrey is the author of "Bitcon: The Naked Truth about Bitcoin," and has been described as the world's 'leading financial crime author' by the British Bankers' Association.

In addition to books on dirty money, he has written a number of investigative non-fiction books, major biographies and half a dozen novels.

Daniel Mark Harrison

As editor of CoinSpeaker, Daniel reports on the latest developments in the world of cryptocurrencies.

He is a regular public speaker, and writes regularly on the issues and innovations affecting companies and markets around the world.

Adam Levitin

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Is Bitcoin over? Join our chat

Ford Motor Company has released a its Looking Further with Ford publication for 2015 [PDF link] that includes studies commissioned about the future of many different technologies as well as expected trends. Bitcoin made a debut with four mentions across the publication.

The publication is compiled by Sheryl Connelly from Global Consumer Trends and Futuring at Ford and the first mention of Bitcoin comes in comparison to digital currency apps such as Apple Pay and Google Wallet:

Out with the purse and the messenger bagtoday, people dont want to carry stuff, and increasingly, they dont need to. Bitcoin, Apple Pay and Google Wallet are displacing the need for physical wallets and money clips. The rise of subscription-based shopping services means we can avoid the store. Wearable gadgets and smartphone apps have dismantled the need for physical keys. With these technologies, consumers are able to pare necessities down to their essenceless baggage, more nimbleness. Across the globe, the advent of these technologies brings a transformation in the mechanics of how we pay, how and where we are marketed to, and who we trust with our most valuable information. Convenience is at a premium, and consumers are opting in for itbut at what price?

The second mention applies to a Philippines-based mobile wallet named coins.ph. The mobile wallet is cited as part of an emerging market seeking an audience of mobile users who do not have secure baking and need to send money to family and friends.

The unbanked as an audience for Bitcoin has been a long-time argument for the killer app and efficacy of Bitcoin. It has been mentioned that sectors that lack stable central baking and a proliferation of mobile devices may be excellent breeding grounds for Bitcoin services. As far back as 2012 this has been a long-term view of analysts looking at market trendsfor example, Africa still has a strong user base for this and since 2013 businesses have been courting that audience.

Digital wallet services such as Apple Pay and Google Wallet enable the wireless flow of digital currency and give consumers and merchants a chance to eschew hand-over-counter transactions for using mobile software. Bitcoin fits into this paradigm similarly because bitcoins can only be transferred digitally (although there are solutions that allow for paper wallets to transfer value) and as a result, Bitcoin-related wallets and apps dovetail nicely with mobile payment paradigms.

Connellys paragraph addressing Apple Pay, Google Wallet, and Bitcoin presents a reasonable expectation about what mobile users want from a digital currency experience, but ends with a question that suggests potential friction or problems.

The takeaway of the report from Ford isnt so much that report has nice things to say about Bitcoin, but that Bitcoin itself is being seen by a major corporation as a strong future trend that competes with established companies such as Apple and Google in a venue that both are attempting to carve out market share.

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Bitcoin cited in Fords 2015 Global Consumer Trends and Futuring report