December 12, 2014 - In This Issue:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bitcoin And Digital Money Challenge The Global Economic Order
Bitcoin and Digital Money are challenging today's Global Economic Order. Financial journalists Paul Vigna and Michael J. Casey have written in THE AGE OF CRYPTOCURRENCY: How Bitcoin and Digital Money are Challenging the Global Economic Order. THE AGE OF CRYPTOCURRENCY demystifies virtual currency.
Bitcoin is a digital currency and peer-to-peer (P2P) payment network based on open source. It was first brought to market in 2009. Satoshi Nakamoto was the developer of created Bitcoin. Nakamoto was the creator of Bitcoin's public-key cryptography. Its cryptographic security can process transactions efficiently and cost effectively. 

Organizations can access the Bitcoin network with little to no fees. This can be a more convenient option versus PayPal in which its fees can be later reversed. These type of chargeback frauds can penalize its customers and limit market reach for businesses. Bitcoin payments on the other hand are irreversible. They are also more secure in which fraudulent fees to not affect merchants. International payment transfers are also transferred faster.

More people are remitting money to the Philippines using Bitcoin. Here's why

Christmas has come early for Philippine Bitcoin remittance service Rebit.ph.

 

Rebit, one of the verticals under Bitcoin umbrella company Satoshi Citadel Industries (SCI), has booked an average 150 percent growth in value of transactions month-on-month since October.

 

That's a big jump from the usual 80 percent growth it registered during the first few months from its launch in July.

 

The reason for the spike is obvious: remittances from overseas Filipinos usually peak in the run-up to Christmas because of holiday spending, and Rebit has been able to capture a portion of that market.

 

Rebit, together with partner Bitspark, piloted a remittance corridor in Hong Kong, where there are over 130,000 working Filipinos who send back to the Philippines about half a billion US dollars in remittances based on the latest government data.

 

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One Hundred Businesses in St. Petersburg Now Accepting Bitcoin Ahead of Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl Game

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BitPay, the world's leading bitcoin payment processor and lead sponsor of the Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl, today announced that over one hundred businesses in the St. Petersburg, Florida area will begin accepting bitcoin payments by game day. The college football bowl game is being held at Tropicana Field on December 26th and has sparked the local St. Petersburg economy to take the new digital currency in stride.

"I've been accepting bitcoin for months, even before the bowl game sponsorship"

BitPay announced its sponsorship of the bowl game back in June and since then has been hard at work explaining the benefits of bitcoin to local businesses - e.g. the elimination of transaction fees and chargebacks. As a result, one hundred businesses including local favorites such as Green Bench Brewing, Craftsman House and Gallery, the St. Petersburg Museum of History, The Ale and the Witch, Acropolis Greek Taverna, Genaro Coffee Company, Hotel Zamora, and Ferg's Sports Bar will begin accepting bitcoin through BitPay.

 

By game week the businesses will all be listed on Coinmap and AirBitz, global directories of bitcoin accepting businesses. This service will help bitcoin users in the area locate the bitcoin accepting businesses.

 

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Former J.P. Morgan executive joins bitcoin startup

A former high-level manager at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. has joined bitcoin startup Circle Internet Financial, becoming one of the most senior Wall Street bankers to join a firm focused on the virtual currency.

 

Circle, a startup that provides digital-currency wallet and account management services to consumers, said it has hired Paul Camp as chief financial officer. Camp, 46 years old, was formerly a managing director and global head of J.P. Morgan's JPM, -1.18%  transaction-services business.

 

Camp is also one of the most senior bank executives to make a move toward a company focused on bitcoin. Boston-based Circle, led by technology entrepreneur Jeremy Allaire, has raised a total of $26 million from investors such as Breyer Capital, Accel Partners, General Capital Partners, Oak Investment Partners and the Bitcoin Opportunity Fund.

 

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Microsoft starts accepting Bitcoin payments

 

Opening up to new payment options, Microsoft has started accepting Bitcoin payments on its Windows, Windows Phone and Xbox stores.

Featured Resource

 

The cryptocurrency can be used to add money to a Microsoft account in order to buy apps, games and other digital content from its various online stores, Microsoft said on a help page detailing how to use Bitcoin.


Purchasing items directly using bitcoin isn't possible at the moment though. The virtual currency can only be used to add money to a Microsoft account in the U.S. from which a payment can be made.

 

Microsoft also warned that it may not be the smoothest paying experience. While most Bitcoin transactions should process immediately, users are advised to wait up to two hours if they don't. Also, money added to accounts with Bitcoin cannot be refunded.

 

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NEW YORK (InsideBitcoins) - BitPay has announced an 82% increase (as compared to last year) in the number of merchants who received bitcoin payments on Bitcoin Black Friday. The bitcoin payment processing company also noted the movement from bitcoin-related purchases to a broader range of products and services from a variety of different merchants. In other words, shoppers were able to get bitcoin discounts on more than just mining hardware.

 

Newegg joined the fun

In addition to an increase in the number of merchants participating in Bitcoin Black Friday, Newegg was also the first major online retailer to get in on the fun. They offered bitcoin-only discounts on a variety of electronics, including tablets, video game consoles, and external hard drives. The deals available on Newegg gave shoppers discounts that ranged from 6% to 25% off.

 

Numbers from Gyft, Newegg, and others

Gyft, the online retailer for electronic gift cards, saw a 62% increase in the number of transactions on Bitcoin Block Friday when compared to last year's participation, and the value of the purchases made on the Gyft platform with bitcoin increased by 139%.

 

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Bitcoin Brands Inc. Partners Midwest Bitcoin, LLC to Install BTC ATMs in the Country

Although computer geeks have known this for quite some time, the plethora of security issues involving the computers we use on a daily basis are now becoming more obvious to the mainstream. Many have become more security conscious in the aftermath of the Snowden revelations, but real solutions for enhanced security of passwords, communications, and data are still not available to the masses. This is where hardware devices come into play.

 

The types of hardware wallets that can be used to sign bitcoin transactions offline can also be used to securely log in to websites, store passwords, encrypt and decrypt messages, and take care of many other enhanced-security measures. These sorts of hardware devices already exist for multi-factor authentication, but bitcoin is basically bootstrapping more advanced versions of this hardware.

 

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