Auroracoin Hits 3rd Place in Mineable Market Cap –

Auroracoin, hit 3rd place in terms of market capitalization today. It’s up over 300% in the last 24 hours, a phenomenal leap even for the famously volatile cryptosphere. With a price of $15 per coin, its market cap of nearly $160 million gives it a total value of just under half that of Litecoin and over twice that of its nearest rival Peercoin Auroracoin will have a total issuance of 21 million coins, half of which will be evenly distributed to every Icelandic citizen on the 25th of March. As Iceland’s population is around 320k people, each Icelander will get 31.8 AUR. At the current rate of exchange, that would be around $477 freely given to each citizen! Needless to say, such a generous giveaway would make headlines, not just in Iceland but around the world. Although price has fallen back to just under $13 since I began this article, that would still make for a pleasant $413 gift. It remains to be seen what the final value will be at the time of the “airdrop” when the coins are distributed. But if the Auroracoin price remains high, the giveaway should certainly create a lot of excitement and positive publicity. As Bitcoin tends to have high penetration in Scandinavian countries, probably due to near-ubiquitous internet access and relatively familiarity with information technology, I expect the Auroracoin adoption rate to be significant. Needless to say, such a generous giveaway would make headlines, not just in Iceland but around the world. Although price has fallen back to just under $13 since I began this article, that would still make for a pleasant $413 gift. It remains to be seen what the final value will be at the time of the “airdrop” when the coins are distributed. But if the Auroracoin price remains high, the giveaway should certainly create a lot of excitement and positive publicity. What makes this possible is that, for better or worse (in this case certainly the former), Iceland has an extensive identity database, of which certain information is public. This allows the Auroracoin team to allocate the 31.8 AUR to each citizen. Although some may ignore the gift, many are likely being curious enough to embark on a journey of cryptocurrency discovery – they’ll need to if they intend to convert their prize into fiat for “everyday” spending. If all goes well, the coin’s creator, “Baldur Friggjar Odinsson,” will deserve congratulations for promoting cryptocurrency via his innovative distribution plan. Auroracoin with the ticker AUR can be bought at the crypto exchange "crypto rush"

Still Report #190 Calif Assembly Passes Cryptos Unanimously

Full Bitcoin ATMs will arrive in U.S. cities this month, says Robocoin

The maker of a Bitcoin ATM machine says the devices will arrive in Seattle and Austin in February. But earlier such predictions have yet to materialize, possibly due to regulatory or business constraints. Las Vegas-based Robocoin, which installed the first permanent bitcoin ATM in Canada last year, claims that residents of Seattle and Austin will have access to machines of their own by the end of February. According to Reuters, Robocoin says that the machines, which allow users to swap dollars for bitcoins and vice versa, will come equipped with scanners that can identify users by their driver’s licenses or passports.

Adult Industry Giant Brazzers Turns On Bitcoin

adult industry behemoth Brazzers has started integrating bitcoin into its massive network of adult websites. The first of the company’s network sites to begin testing bitcoin integration is I Know That Girl. bitcoin is now an available payment option at checkout. Brazzers is owned by MindGeek an international information technology firm, specializing in highly trafficked websites. NewsBTC had reported in January that the company was considering accepting Bitcoin on its lucrative network of sites.

Lamassu machine placed in Room 77 Berlin

a new alternative way to transfer money from Berlin to your friends/family some where else in the world. since Feb 7 you can go to: Graefestr. 77 10967 Berlin Kreuzberg you put money into this only ATM in the city currently. you download a bitcoin wallet app for iphone or android you get bitcoins to your digital wallet and you can send them to anyone in seconds with virtually zero commission. *this machine works one way it will not convert your bitcoins back into money buying or selling bitcoins without the machine is more complex because you need to sign up with a bitcoin exchange and give details such as bank account, address, passport, etc.

Maybe the best Bitcoin Miner In The World KnCMiner Neptune Mining Rig

Sweden-based KnCMiner is offering the Neptune mining rig for $12,995 (£8,000), and while that may sound like a lot for a computer with barely any components, bitcoin miners understand the machine's potential. Spokesman Ian Chaffee told IBTimes UK: "By KnCMiner's own estimate, the Neptune can mine up to 2.1 bitcoins per day. This is about a 3.5x improvement on the old mining rig] Jupiter, which could mine up to 0.6 bitcoins."

Cloud Hassing is one of the best way to mine Bitcoins

some links to companies offering cloud hashing today: https://cloudhashing.com/ https://products.butterflylabs.com/1-gh-cloud-hosted-bitcoin-hashing-power.html cloudhashing works with KnCMiner and Buttrflylabs work with their own mining hardware. here is also link to Hashing calculator, to see how much profit you actually cut: http://www.alloscomp.com/bitcoin/calculator

thoughts about the crypto experiment so far

it's seems the bitcoin experiment has reached the stage where everybody heard about it. and also the price has hit incredibly high price. but now that everybody knows about it, jumping into an exchange like mt gox and buying some bitcoin just to hold and hope price will rise doesn't make sense anymore. has to be aid also Japanese customer service is not something to fun to deal with and alternative big exchange should come. what needs to be done now is adoption of bitcoin people offering jobs and willing to accept bitcoin a real voluntary economy. one that will push the regulators and the big companies such as google facebook ebay amazon to give acceptance as the idea of a crypto coin is finishing the presentation stage.

The fall of MtGox: MtGox down for hours may herald the end of an era

Reports are flooding in that MtGox has been down for several hours. This comes on the heels of an announcement by the Bitcoin exchange that bitcoin transfers out of the exchange had been frozen. As this news hit the market, BTC market price began to plummet, falling from $810 and down to $684. People unable to move BTC off MtGox and unable to easily turn it into local currency means that the service itself is non-functional. Now it looks as it MtGox has gone dark. On a normal day MtGox represents 30% to 40% of exchange volume across the market, with BTC-e and Bitstamp taking up much of the slack Bter is also and up and coming comfortable player in the market. Changes are good if MtGox becomes non-operational the market will shift to them.

Pipeline Winter 2013

it's not all about Bitcoin only this guy from Hawaii, Haleiwa made a really awesome video with go pro cam and quadcopter

Pipeline Winter 2013 from Eric Sterman on Vimeo.

Apple removes Blockchain, last Bitcoin wallet app, from iOS App Store

Apple on Wednesday removed Blockchain, the last remaining application in its mobile store for transmitting bitcoins, signaling the continuing uncertainty around the virtual currency. U.K.-based Blockchain wrote Thursday on its website that Apple told it the application, which is a “wallet” that can be used to store and send bitcoins, was removed due to an “unresolved issue.” Blockchain said it received no prior warning of a problem. Apple, which could not be immediately reached for comment, has also removed other Bitcoin-related applications, including Coinbase and Gliph, Blockchain said. “These actions by Apple once again demonstrate the anti-competitive and capricious nature of the App Store policies,” Blockchain wrote. A growing number of retailers have adopted bitcoin as a payment option, but it faces scrutiny around the world as countries debate how it fits into existing legal and regulatory schemes. A handful of other bitcoin-related mobile applications for iOS, such as market share tickers, are still available in the App Store, but none that can transfer bitcoins. Blockchain’s desktop application for OS X could still be downloaded on Thursday afternoon from Apple’s Australian App Store, but it was not clear if that would also be removed soon. Blockchain said its application was in Apple’s App Store for two years and was downloaded 120,000 times. The company launched an online petition to convince Apple to allow bitcoin wallets. In contrast, Google does not restrict developers from creating bitcoin wallets for its Android mobile platform, which could drive bitcoin users away from Apple.

Tiger Direct Processes $500,000 in Bitcoin Payments

On Thursday, January 23, 2014, Tiger Direct announced they would start accepting bitcoin as an alternative payment method. The Tiger Direct website offers over 200,000 products and is a popular shopping destination for PC users. According to Steven Leeds, the marketing chief at Tiger Direct, “With individuals building their own high-powered PCs with parts offered on our site to mine Bitcoins, it’s a logical fit.” Tiger Direct has already started utilizing this acceptance as an opportunity to market their Bitcoin mining catalog. Tiger Direct has also partnered with AMD in order to offer a variety of mining-friendly graphic cards. Since their Thursday announcement, Tiger Direct has processed more than $500,000 in Bitcoin payments. These total was spent on over 2500 separate orders. According to Tiger Direct, $250,000 of that was processed in the first 17 hours following their announcement. Overall, the company processes approximately $2 billion in purchases each year. While they won’t be able to examine the full impact of accepting bitcoins for another three months when their quarterly numbers are posted, the initial reaction is certainly positive. The announcement itself also provided huge boost in web traffic from both their social media networks and the number of blogs that shared the announcement. Overstock.com was the first major online retailer to start accepting bitcoin as an alternative payment option. There were rumors that electronics website, Newegg, maybe the next to follow suit, but they have yet to make any announcements. Other online companies accepting bitcoin as a payment method include Reddit and OKCupid. Many global financial leaders have voiced their disapproval of the new cryptocurrency, but their warnings appear to be falling on deaf ears as the popularity of bitcoin continues to grow. It will be interesting to see what the future holds. There is little doubt more online retailers will start accepting bitcoins in order to maintain their competitive edge.

The End Of The (Silk) Road For Bitcoin Millionaire

The End Of The (Silk) Road For Bitcoin Millionaire You think Charlie Shrem would know that. Shrem is the CEO/founder of BitInstant and a self-proclaimed millionaire at the age of 24. BitInstant is a Bitcoin exchange which heated up over the past two years. The company attracted considerable attention, including from Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, who invested $1.5 million into the company. But today, the company looks very different. As does the website. The website went dark (or, um, light) after Shrem was arrested earlier this week on charges of money laundering, operating an unlicensed money transmitting business and willful failure to file a suspicious activity report. Shrem has been charged alongside Robert M. Faiella, an underground Bitcoin exchanger. According to the complaint, Faiella would receive orders for Bitcoin to fill through his exchange. He would then sell them to consumers on the now-defunct Silk Road for a profit. Silk Road is an online black market shut down by the FBI in the fall of 2013. The government has been closing in on a number of those involved in Silk Road which was known, among other things, to be a virtual pharmacy for illegal drugs of all kinds – paid for in Bitcoin, the only currency accepted on the web site. Ross William Ulbricht, the administrator of the site known as “Dread Pirate Roberts” was previously arrested on charges including money laundering and drug trafficking. The feds allege that Shrem knew exactly what Faiella was doing when he used the Bitcoin exchange. In fact, the feds claim Shrem knew all about Silk Road since he used the site to buy drugs such as cocaine for his own use. Despite what he knew about Faiella and the site, Shrem did not file a suspicious activity report, as is required. Instead, he encouraged Faiella to continue his business because it was profitable for BitInstant – and for his own pockets. Together, Shrem and Faiella are said to have laundered over $1 million for illegal purposes.

Introducing Ethereum

Bitcoin Billboards Appearing Around Los Angeles

os Angeles residents driving near the area of Robertson and Cadillac might notice a new unusual advert on the billboard at 2363 S Robertson Blvd. The text reads in less than professional font: Let’s Make This An International News Story Help Make The Bitcoin Grow There is then a QR code and a plea for viewers to send “The Bitcoins” to this address represented by the QR code. In fact, the billboard on Robertson isn’t the only Bitcoin Billboard to go up in the last two days. Two days ago, redditor /u/btchappy snapped these photos of the exact same billboard going up in Eagle Rock, off of Colorado Blvd. This billboard is near metro public transportation as well as a major highway artery so it definitely gets a lot of views. This might explain the currently 0.3072 Bitcoins sent to the address thus far. Money has been sent to the address listed on the billboards. In fact, if you go to Bitcoinbillboards.org the owners of these signs claim to have put up 30 signs. They claim that they are not seeking to get rich, and once they re-coop the costs, they will donate excess funds generated to Sean’s Outpost in Pensacola, FL.