844-248-8378
Bitvestinc.com

August 11, 2015- In This Issue:

  
18 Months After Adopting Bitcoin, TigerDirect Reports Fantastic Experience And Continued Growth
TigerDirect, an online retailer of computers and consumer electronics has been accepting bitcoin for 18 months through BitPay, beginning in January of 2014.
 
Bitcoin Magazine sat down with Steven Leeds, head of marketing at TigerDirect to learn more about the company's experience as one of the earliest major merchants to embrace Bitcoin. While recent reports from Expedia suggest that it has seen a decrease in bitcoin payments, TigerDirect shared a different story.
 
According to Leeds, TigerDirect has been thrilled with its decision to accept bitcoin. Leeds noted that Bitcoin has drawn new users to TigerDirect, with 46 percent of customers purchasing with bitcoin being new users. The company also told Bitcoin Magazine that the average order placed with bitcoin is 30 percent larger than the average order.

Read More...
Beyond Bitcoin: How The Blockchain Could Disrupt Our Financial System
If you haven't been paying attention to Bitcoin because you don't understand how a digital currency might be relevant to your business, you might want to reconsider.
 
It's unlikely that Bitcoin will replace the dollar, pound, Euro, or yen anytime soon (or ever). However, you're still going to be hearing a lot more about it. That's not because people are willing to consider it money. What's most interesting about Bitcoin actually has very little to do with money - and everything to do with its underlying technology, known as the blockchain, which could challenge our assumptions about what makes commerce secure and trustworthy.
 
In a blog post last year, Nobel-winning economist Paul Krugman dismissed Bitcoin as a fever dream for anti-government partisans. Still, he agreed that "[I]t does indeed solve an interesting information problem - although it's not at all clear whether solving that problem has any economic value."
 
However, leading names in finance say the blockchain is the economic value. They say that blockchain technology could very well transform the world in the next decade. What's more, they make the provocative claim that anyone who fails to pay attention today risks being caught as flat-footed as those who failed to see the potential of the Internet.

Read More...
Deutsche Bank: Blockchain Can Help Banks Defend Business Models
Banks should seek to leverage blockchain technologies as part of a bid to defend their business models from disruption, Deutsche Bank Research suggested in a recent post online.
 
Entitled "Blockchain - attack is probably the best form of defence", the post discusses bitcoin and blockchain and its implications for major banks broadly, calling the technology "one of the first truly disruptive ideas from the FinTech sector".
 
Author Thomas Dapp goes on to discuss his view that the true power behind bitcoin and the blockchain lies in its application of peer-to-peer (P2P) technology to the financial sector, calling this a potential "paradigm shift" that could render business divisions of major banks redundant.
Dapp writes:
 
"Financial services and products that can be offered virtually in real time around the globe in future while at the same time reducing costs could catapult the traditional banks back to top spot in the race to devise financial innovations."
 
Dapp indicates that financial entities including stock exchanges, credit card firms and clearing houses are all trying to leverage blockchain technology to assess whether it is a threat or potential benefit to their operations.

Read More...
Bandago Now Accepts Bitcoin Citing 'Very Attractive' Transfer Costs
A national van rental company Bandago has begun accepting bitcoin payments for rentals and customizations of vans for events, traveling and entertainment.
 
Bandago offers vans with TV, DVD, video games, Wi-FI and large storage, for touring bands and musicians, celebrities, family vacations, churches, sports teams, mobile marketing events and film production teams.
 
Bandago started accepting bitcoin just a few days ago, and the company has already processed a few bitcoin payments for van rentals.
 
Sharky Laguana of Bandago told CoinTelegraph:
 
"We have been on the leading edge of technology since we got started over a decade ago. We were the first van-rental company to include wi-fi, video games and power outlets with our van rentals, so it was natural for us to offer bitcoin as well. And frankly speaking the prospect of low transfer cost is very attractive."
 
In most supported states, renting a fully customized van with WIFI, in-van entertainment systems and power outlets from Bandago would cost customers around US$450 - US$600. Keeping n mind that most of their vans are rented out by bands and production teams for as little as few days to weeks, a single rental could go anywhere from US$500 to US$5,000.
 
However, using online mobile payment platforms like PayPal could cost Bandago around 10% in transaction fees, which could add from US$50 to US$500 for a single rental.
 
"Ultimately we benefit if we can accept payment in whatever form the customer wants to pay us. Bitcoin is particularly attractive because of the low transfer cost. But we also like the idea of Bitcoin and are excited about supporting it," Laguana added.
 
Bandago is the first van rental company to accept bitcoin, and the only company since 2014 to take bitcoin payments in the car rental industry.

Read More...