Bill Ninja: Pay Bills in the Phillipiines with Bitcoin!

Bill Ninja: Pay Bills in the Phillipiines with Bitcoin!

It seemed with the ability to earn Bitcoin through selfies, buy bitcoin through a well designed exchange, and the ability to remit to the Philippines using bitcoin, Miguel had it pretty good over at Satoshi Citadel Industries, or SCI. Today I talked to them about Bills.Ninja, a service that allows people to pay for bills in the Philippines using Bitcoin. All bills are promised to be paid with in 24 hours, and only a PhP 30  fee per bill is required.

1. Can you tell us a little bit about what BillNinja is?

Bills Ninja is a bills payment service that we have established in the Philippines for people who want to pay their bills with bitcoin without having to leave the comfort of their own homes. Another great application of bills.ninja is that people can now also pay their bills from anywhere in the world, without having to worry about transferring money and paying hefty fees.

2.  I understand keeping it simple and clean for people new to Bitcoin so the y could use it easily was a big concern. How did you come about that?

By creating this sort of cartoon character (his name is Bitoy, a common Filipino nickname), we wanted the service to have a kind of mass appeal and seem accessible to everybody. The “Ninja” aspect stems from the idea that Bitoy pays bills so fast, without anyone seeing him, and very efficiently. Like a ninja, basically

3. Now you have quite a wide portfolio when it comes to Bitcoin services. What’s next?

Bills Ninja seemed like a natural addition to the services we provide, since we believe that the best way to drive bitcoin adoption is to find ways for people to use it conveniently. http://Bills.ninja actually really falls under our payment processing service Bitmarket.ph since it provides a similar service for payments but this time, for basic bills payments. What’s next is further development and expansion of all our ventures, and making sure we keep hitting our targets and pushing our out more applications for Bitcoin in the Philippines.

4. How is BillsNinja currently?

Bills.ninja is doing great. We’re seeing more people trying it out everyday. Personally I use it now for all my bills. It works great and provides added convenience plus it saves time too.

5. What are some future plans for BillsNinja?

Future plans are still focused on refining the experience and expanding the services that it can pay for. We want it to become the go-to bills payment service for locals and Filipinos who are abroad as well.

Source : bitcoinist.net

Google Analyst: Bitcoin Could Be ‘The Internet of Money’

Bitcoin holds potential to act as “the Internet of money” if regulated correctly, according to a new report from Google policy advisor Andy Lee.

In an article for Internet Policy Review, Yee, who works as an analyst for Google’s Asia-Pacific division, argues that certain sectors of the bitcoin economy should be targeted with regulation modelled on existing digital frameworks.

Breaking the bitcoin ecosystem down into layers, Yee concluded that businesses that connect investors and consumers with digital currency should subject to regulation.

In contrast, users and developers are a poor target, he added, because of the broader nature of the Internet.

Yee wrote:

“The logical and user layers are populated by private actors from the bitcoin community and real economy respectively. These actors are small and can easily escape from regulation and enforcement. At the information layer, intermediaries of various kinds have emerged to bridge the two networks. Their position in the Internet architecture enables them to capture information flows and identify wrongdoers. In addition, they are larger and more established actors, making them more amenable to state regulation.”

The paper goes on to advocate for a regulatory approach that allows innovation to take place while addressing the concerns of consumer safety advocates, financial regulators and law enforcement agencies.

Restrictions not needed

A concern often voiced by politicians and policy makers is that bitcoin, as a technology, is too opaque to allow for relaxed legal boundaries. This is why Yee and others suggest that any proposed rules should target services that actually handle people’s money rather than those creating cryptocurrency software.

Yee added that the block chain actually provides regulators with a trove of useful information.

As bitcoin is a pseudonymous transaction network – and research has shown that network identity has the potential to be deduced through pattern analysis – regulation shouldn’t be crafted with the mindset that digital currencies are too far in the digital shadow, he said.

Yee concluded that many of the same rules that apply to financial companies could be used to regulate bitcoin, but only after finding a happy medium that allows companies to thrive, saying:

“These laws and regulations of general applicability can in theory be applied to the emerging non-financial, information-based companies in the bitcoin economy. But a balance needs to be struck between eliminating instances of gatekeeper-aided wrongdoings and avoiding excessive burdens on gatekeepers.”

Illicit use a non-issue

Yee addressed bitcoin’s use in global narcotics markets, as well as other illegal activities, saying that regulators are right to target drug dealers but need to refrain from harming law abiding members of the nascent industry unnecessarily.

The debate shouldn’t be contentious, he adds, because criminals using bitcoin are likely to redeem it for fiat currency. At this point, those persons must interact with service-level companies that would fall under any proposed bitcoin regulation.

Yee stated:

“Criminals need to go through intermediaries in this layer to exchange between the bitcoin and real economies. As a result, these exchange mediums collect and retain significant amounts of information, which can be utilised by law enforcement to detect money laundering and the underlying criminal activity.”

He concluded by saying that any legal framework targeting digital currency need to be founded on an “adaptive” approach. By doing so, financial regulators can “ensure that illicit activities can be deterred while ensuring that society can fully benefit from the innovation and creativity on the bitcoin network.”

Google’s bitcoin exploration

Notably, Yee is not the first Google official to go on the record and speak about the possible applications of both bitcoin and block chain technology.

For example, the company’s director of ideas, Jared Cohen, termed digital currencies “inevitable” at this year’s SXSW conference.

Bitcoin has been on Google’s radar as far back as 2011, when embattled Wikileaks founder Julian Assange advocated for the technology in a wide-ranging conversation with Cohen and Google chairman and then-CEO Eric Schmidt.

Source : http://www.coindesk.com

Inside Bitcoins Conference & Expo Returns to Las Vegas in October

Here’s a little something to post up on your calendar if you’re the type to frequent bitcoin conferences.

On Wednesday, MecklerMedia announced that the Inside Bitcoins Conference and Expo will be coming back to Las Vegas, taking place between October 5th-7th at the Flamingo Hotel.

The event explores the way that cryptocurrency has been affecting the payments industry, and will cover a wide range of topics including mainstream adoption, compliance, bitcoin startups, investing, mining, altcoins, equipment, and more

As one would come to expect, the event will feature no shortage of cryptocurrency-related elements, and MecklerMedia says that the first 300 paid attendees will receive $50 worth of bitcoin (fair warning, you’ll be paying hundreds of dollars).

At the event, there will be a half-day of classroom-style workshops that aims to teach attendees about a number of different topics in the bitcoin ecosystem — and taught by bitcoin veterans.

According to the dedicated page for the event, featured speakers include Gil Luria of Wedbush Securities, Will O’Brien of BitGo, and Bobby Lee of BTC China.

Inside Bitcoins conferences have become commonplace in the bitcoin industry, with an event taking place in London on September 15-16, Tel Aviv on October 19.20, and in Paris from November 20-21.

Source : http://newsbtc.com

Indonesian Project Makes Bitcoin Available at 10,000 Stores

Residents of Indonesia can now buy and receive bitcoin over the counter at over 10,000 ‘Indomaret’ convenience stores around the country.

The project was developed on the initiative of Bitcoin Indonesia and will run through its exchange Bitcoin.co.id in partnership with payment processor iPaymu.

bitcoin.co.id’s promotional poster

According to Bitcoin Indonesia founder Oscar Darmawan, this now puts bitcoin within easier reach of the country’s large unbanked population, estimated at over 200 million.

According to the World Bank’s Financial Inclusion Data from 2011, only 20% of Indonesians aged 15 years or over have an account with a formal financial institution. Given that Indonesia is the world’s fourth most populous country with a population of 250 million, that is a huge number of people in need of a better payments network.

A system for the unbanked

Users of the service will first need to create an account with Bitcoin.co.id, then select ‘Top-up via Indomaret’. They are then provided with a code to take to their nearest Indomaret convenience store, along with some cash, before returning to their online account where they will find their bitcoin waiting.

To those living in a world of electronic bank transfers, this payment method may seem a little time consuming. However, it is not a lot different than a trip to a bitcoin ATM and, if the only method of making payments available to you is the cash in your hand, it may be the easiest onramp to bitcoin’s international network.

The only ‘catch’ with the system is that to use the convenience store option, customers currently must have Internet access to use the exchange. Darmawan indicated that another product is in the pipeline to enable those without even web resources to source the digital currency.

Bitcoin’s rise in Indonesia

Bitcoin.co.id has grown markedly since it began operations last December. At that time, bitcoin was little-known in Indonesia and the exchange traded only about 5 BTC per day.

By the time it launched a full open-order exchange in May, it was processing about 30 BTC in trades daily, indicating bitcoin’s growth in popularity.

Bitcoin’s public prominence in Indonesia is thanks to the advocacy efforts of local enthusiasts like Darmawan, meeting with regulators and signing up merchants.

Bitcoin Indonesia has also played a key role in the Bali-based BitIslands project, a campaign to promote bitcoin use and acceptance in the popular tourist destination.

That project has also been successful so far: its latest addition is the BitTour travel services agency, which allows tourists to pay for flights, trains, tours and hotel accommodation.

Source : http://www.coindesk.com

Bitcoin Price Seems To Be In An Established Uptrend

For the third day running the Bitcoin price has been skimming along the top of the descending trendline that has now entered the upper $460 price level. With a confluence target defined at $460, both time and indicator capacity are running out.

Bird’s Eye View

 

It’s a golden rule of the market that analysts should keep to the straight-and-narrow of objectivity and refrain from speculating about what market action may occur in days and weeks to come. Uncovering the technical indications hidden in a chart cannot be said to be a scientific endeavor because analysis necessarily relies on the analyst’s experience and ability to choose the most appropriate tools for the right moment in the market. Even then, the process involves interpretation and the “eye” of the analyst – what feature jumps out at them from the chart? These personal biases are unavoidable, yet they are obstacles to the ideal of objectivity, and analysts seek to overcome these hurdles by always learning more, by refining techniques and by trying to look at charts with “fresh eyes”.

Today I’d like to briefly step away from the immediate price action (analysis is posted below this section) and take a high-level view at the Bitcoin chart for the broader insight such a longer term perspective provides.

Phases of Bitcoin Decline

The recent decline from $600 had been strong – as strong and as steep as any sell-off we’ve witnessed this year. The fact is, that unlike previous similar declines, the downside action from $590 to $440 failed to establish a new low. It is also evident that the decline has, since, lost momentum. One can argue that the current sideways action is merely a consolidation before plunging lower, and we have defined targets all the way down to $160 if decline wants them.

However, the prospect of continued decline warrants the question: “Decline to what level?” Taken to its natural conclusion decline can be seen to change its character as it moves through three pragmatic phases:

1. Profit Taking
2. Panic Selling
3. Bargain Buying

The Bitcoin market decline since November last year has, arguably, witnessed all three phases more than once. Of course, during the unfoldment of the smaller waves (that form the components of the largest waves of decline) the same three phases play out again. The same is true for the component waves of advance into a new rally, and this is the basis of the view that market waves manifest the group psychology of all market participants.

At the largest degree, the market seems already to be in an established uptrend – since April – check for yourself on the chart above.

Shorter term, the market is currently in a smaller degree downtrend and in the process of making a local low. In the coming days it’s likely to dip lower – to $460 or $412, yet, neither of these levels will qualify as a major decline low. Achieving these lows will most likely be the result of market short selling by opportunistic traders taking advantage of the current wave down. It cannot be the result of Profit Taking since the appropriate time for that was above $600. Nor can it be Panic Selling – the market had already sold off to the $440 level where the majority of participants had bought into the market in mid-May. What remains is Bargain Buying and, hence, the opportunism of the last two weeks’ trade – underpinned by calculated technical actions in the chart.

Higher Lows

We’ve also witnessed, during the past two months, that neither positive nor negative news announcements have had any expected effect on price. Instead, the Bitcoin price has adhered strictly to long-term trendlines, moving averages and chart indicator signals as they regain composure after the titanic correction that unfolded from November 2013 to April this year.

Across all exchanges, the Bitcoin chart can be seen to be regaining equilibrium. Looking at the BTC-China daily chart above, we can see that, despite Bitcoin holders’ persistent fear of continued decline, price has been making higher lows for almost five months. If the present decline reverses meaningfully from a higher low above $400 then we can declare the decline over. However, uncertainty only loosens its grip on the hearts of the majority well into the third wave of a rally and, therefore, additional sell-offs will happen as the advance slowly makes its way back above $600.

 

 Mind of the Bitcoin Predator

Given that uncertainty persists – and that it will pull the advance back on several more occasions – now is not a moment for over-exuberance. Instead, be patient like a lion. Waiting for the right opportunity. Build your long position gradually over the coming months by buying at the lows – and take care to always preserve some capital for additional purchases when sell-offs unexpectedly dip lower into bargain levels below $500.

Chart Analysis

Nothing material has changed since yesterday’s analysis. Price action only confirms the market’s attachment to the lower decline channel trendline, shown here on the Bitstamp hourly chart.

At the time of writing, just prior to the European market session opening, the Bitcoin price is trading back toward the lower trendline, currently cutting through $467 straight down.
Updates to this article will be made during the European and US session should any significant changes come to light.

Ongoing discussion in the CCN Traders group. View our Bitcoin Price Chart here.

Source : http://www.cryptocoinsnews.com

Armory to Match 10 BTC in Donations to Hal Finney Bitcoin Fund

Armory Technologies has extended its ongoing donation drive in honor of late bitcoin developer Hal Finney.

Finney, a pioneer in the field of cryptography and the first person to receive a bitcoin transaction, passed away last Tuesday at the age of 58 after a long battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

The open-source bitcoin wallet management platform announced today that it would match up to 10 BTC in donations made to the Hal Finney Bitcoin Fund for ALS Research through its ‘simulfunding’ (simultaneous funding) platform.

Originally scheduled to end 1st September, the donation drive is also aimed to highlight the bitcoin contract capabilities of its version 0.92 Armory client.

Armory lauded Finney and his contributions to the wider bitcoin ecosystem in its blog post announcing the expansion of its funding drive, saying:

“[Finney] was a true crypto pioneer whose ideals were completely in line with Armory’s and we’re happy to do anything we can to support ALS research.”

Launched on 30th August, the fund is accepting donations through to Thanksgiving (27th November) in the US with the goal of contributing the final total to the ALS Association, a US-based non-profit that raises money for research and patient services.

At press time, 7.5 BTC (or roughly $3,352) has been raised through contributions made to Armory’s bitcoin donation matching initiative, meaning 15 BTC in total has been collected for its original recipient projects.

Simulfunding in action

The donation drive provides Armory with its latest opportunity to showcase its simulfunding interface, a feature of its latest client that allows users to create a simple bitcoin contract for use in crowdfunding, donation drives and personal agreements.

Armory’s platform allows users to create or claim promissory notes and add them to their wallet management system. The promissory note, in turn, provides the conditions under which both parties will make a certain transaction – in this case, a contribution to a funding effort.

When the specified amount of funds is raised, the contract executes and all funds are transferred as described in the contract. However, contracts with terms that are not met are not executed.

The news also follows the formal unveiling of the Hal Finney Bitcoin Fund for ALS Research last weekend. The fund was created through a joint effort by Coinapult co-founder Erik Voorhees, Sean’s Outpost founder Jason King, venture capitalist Roger Ver, BitPay, and the Bitcoin Foundation

Armory’s drive continues

Launched on 29th July, Armory’s simulfunding demo aimed to highlight one of the platform’s newest capabilities. Armory also recently released Lockbox, a multi-signature interface for bitcoin, in the same update.

At the outset, the initiative offered up to 20 BTC to a list of charities selected for promoting “open-source and digital freedoms”, including the Free Software Foundation; Electronic Frontier Foundation; College Cryptocurrency Network; OpenSSL; the Chamber of Digital Commerce; and the Bitcoin Foundation.

There, users can find a list of the available promissory notes being offered by Amory users, along with those that have been matched by the community.

To access simulfunding, users need to install Armory version 0.92. More detailed instructions on signing up for the service or updating an existing Armory wallet can be found on Armory’s donation matching page.

Source : http://www.coindesk.com

KnCMiner Launches Cloud Mining Service at Arctic Bitcoin Mine

KnCMiner has unveiled a new cloud-mining service, offering six-month contracts out of its Arctic bitcoin mine.

KnC Cloud, launched on 2nd September, leverages the company’s existing data center space in northern Sweden. The so-called Clear Sky mine boasts more than 7 petahashes per second in estimated mining power.

KnCMiner said the program will benefit from the cheap cooling and local renewable energy sources afforded by the Arctic Circle. These geographical advantages have led many companies in the bitcoin mining space to look to the Arctic, potentially establishing the region as a key battleground in the race to generate bitcoins.

KnCMiner director of marketing and public relations Nanok Bie told CoinDesk that the launch reflects a demographic shift taking place among the bitcoin community, with more miners opting to outsource their hashing power rather than operate home mining rigs.

He noted:

“We’re launching cloud services because of shifts in the market and demand from would-be customers. Home mining is becoming more and more difficult because of energy costs etc. Having your mining in the cloud has obvious advantages  – we can source green electricity cheaper for instance, and have other bulk advantages.”

Next-generation services

The KnC Cloud service consists of three different packages between 1 and 3 TH/s, with the cost averaging between $1.99 per GH/s to $1.79 per GH/s, respectively. According to the company, the hosting costs account for any mining-related fees and reflect the actual price of the service.

Bie explained that the service is indicative of how next-generation mining services may evolve in the months and years ahead, with offerings including more sophisticated resources and value-added services driven by demand.

He told CoinDesk:

“We think our offerings will stand out over the long run, as customers don’t have to stand in line in an auction, don’t have to worry about the Chinese renminbi currency exchange versus USD or BTC to calculate costs going forward and we’re also not offering strange products where the users don’t know where they are mining, if they are mining at all etc. Our fees can not rise over time as there are no fees.”

Like other cloud hosting solutions in the mining space, KnC Cloud offers a proprietary user interface that provides tools for miner configuration and balance management, as well as data for performance analysis.

Product expansion continues

The launch of its new cloud hosting follows a string of announcements from the Sweden-based mining company.

Earlier this month, the company said that its Titan line of scrypt miners had entered the final stages of production and that it was moving to the testing phase at its facilities. At the time, KnCMiner clarified the unit’s final projected hashing power as well as its expected power requirements.

KnCMiner’s software offerings also received an update this week. Joining a growing list of companies that opt to use the denomination, KnCMiner announced on 27th August that its mobile wallet app would use ‘bits’ instead of BTC.

The summer hasn’t been entirely rosy for the company, however.

In June, KnCMiner took to social media to defend itself against a rising customer backlash regarding its policies. Customers accused the company of reneging on earlier promises related to its then-delayed Neptune line of bitcoin miners.

Source : http://www.coindesk.com

Why Bitcoin’s Gambling Boom is Only Just Getting Started

Gambling is big business, and online gambling represents a significant and growing proportion of that business – about 8% currently.

Research company H2 Gambling Capital, which values the online gambling market in terms of gross winnings, put the global market value at €21.73bn ($28.54bn) in 2012. Furthermore, the firm expects a 9.13% compound annual growth rate through 2015.

Right now bitcoin gambling only accounts for a tiny percentage of the total of online gambling revenues. However, it is clear that the opportunity exists to make significant income within the industry and, with bitcoin’s advantages in terms of low-cost, speedy payments, cryptocurrency-based gambling firms are doing their best to do just that.

CoinDesk spoke to some of the bitcoin gambling community’s experts to see what challenges they’re encountering along the way.

Wide-open market

The bitcoin world loves to gamble, in one form or another. In his book, The Anatomy of a Money-like Informational Commodity, Tim Swanson points out that half the transactions on the bitcoin network were being used to transmit bets to SatoshiDice, one of the earliest bitcoin betting sites, created by Eric Voorhees.

Further, an analysis in August 2013 showed that roughly 5% of the value of all bitcoin transactions in June that year were flowing through SatoshiDice. That means lots of very small transactions, which is, after all, one thing that cryptocurrencies are very good at.

Ivan Montik, CEO at SoftSwiss, provides online casino software for entrepreneurs, and its solutions support fiat and bitcoin gambling. “We’ve got about 400 requests for the launch of a bitcoin casino in the last six months,” he said. “We constantly have three to five casinos in the set-up phase, and could have had more if we had more resources.”

Not all bitcoin bets are low in value. Montik said that there are some high rollers in crypto-land:

“On one client website, launched just about a year ago, there are single wagers reaching 200–400 BTC. The total amount of bitcoins wagered on all of the sites operating with the SoftSwiss platform is equal to $10m per month.”

The regulation challenge

Cryptocurrency’s success in this market depends on several factors. One of the most important is regulation and, notably, SatoshiDice doesn’t operate in the US market, because of the strict gambling laws encountered there.

In 2006, the US Justice Department introduced the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act (UIGEA), designed to quell the rising tide of Internet gambling sites. It made it illegal for US players to process payments using US banks.

In April 2011, the US government raided the three most popular online poker sites operating there, in an event known as ‘Black Friday’. This had a chilling effect on online poker sites in the country.

Bitcoin, however, has emboldened some entrepreneurs, who are openly allowing US players to gamble using the cryptocurrency. One of these is Seals with Clubs, managed by seasoned poker player Bryan Micon.

“It would be trivial to circumvent some ban. Seals is open to the world. There’s no banking at all done on the site. It’s a pure bitcoin poker site, so this is a totally brand new thing,” said Micon. ”It’s only been a few years for the legal world and there’s nothing at all that says anything about this protocol.”

There are also signs that individual states are softening their approaches to online gambling, in any case. Delaware has allowed online gambling, as have New Jersey and Nevada. The latter state has also passed a law enabling it to form partnerships with other states to let their residents gamble in its online casinos.

Slowly, then, things seem to be opening up in the US, which is creating a more positive environment for cryptocurrency gambling sites that are already operating there, anyway.

The importance of innovation

Another thing working in cryptocurrency’s favour is the innovative nature of its community. The cryptocurrency concept is itself entirely new, built on the cryptography–based decentralised autonomous networking principles introduced by Satoshi. In such an innovative environment, is not surprising that new technologies and gaming models have sprung up.

Adrian Scholz, founder of SatoshiBet.com, argued that the ‘dice’ gaming model on which sites like SatoshiDice were built is an example of such an innovation.

He said

“This game did not exist in online casinos before bitcoin, yet it turns out to be more popular then games like roulette and blackjack.”

There are other breakthroughs that came from the crypto gambling community. “Take Provably Fair, which created a trustless shuffling system,” he said. “Take HTML5. Most of the classic online casinos run games still require Flash or Java plugins.”

“Take investing! Just-dice introduced the concept of allowing players to be part of the bank, which turned out to be pretty much the ultimate marketing vehicle,” he concluded.

There are other areas of innovation, too. In particular, mobile gaming is becoming increasingly important.

Cloudbet, formed in 2013, is a sportsbook and casino environment where players can deposit instantly, bet, and withdraw again as soon as bets are graded. The firm recently launched a mobile casino, and is preparing a mobile sportsbook.

“We’re now seeing that a lot of gaming industry experts are coming in with a wealth of gaming industry knowledge and experience,” said Cloudbet spokesperson Leandro Rossi, in an indication that the industry is maturing.

Challenges to overcome

There are still challenges for those wishing to start bitcoin casinos, however, and different experts see different threats.

Scholz singled out legislation as the biggest issue. “We saw major operators that were willing to introduce bitcoin (for example Vera&John held out because of the unclear state bitcoin is in,” he said. Although now, that casino has taken the taken the plunge.

Mitonik pointed to marketing as another significant problem. Effectively, as the space begins to fill out, it could become difficult for new entrants to make themselves heard above the noise.

He said:

“If you’ve never dealt with marketing before, you’d better prepare the budget and let professionals work on it.”

Mike Hadjuk, founder of Infiniti Poker, argued that security is the biggest problem. “Nobody is impermeable. Even the Pentagon can get hacked. To me that’s our number one concern,” he said.

Hadjuk is another example of an innovator in the cryptocurrency gambling space, having created a service that would allow players to view each other using live web cams.

The soft launch of his service was compromised by players creating multiple accounts and using them in combination to steal no-deposit credits. He is now preparing for a Q4 full launch.

Micon also highlighted security as an issue:

“It’s about keeping the bitcoin safe. That’s not just about securing cold storage – it goes beyond that. It’s about looking after issues such as automated cash-outs, to help sites scale without allowing criminals to take advantage of poorly configured scripts.

Seals with Clubs was hacked last December, and lost 42,000 passwords in the process. Micon explained that the team behind the site learned a lot from a security perspective. “No one lost their coins. We were able to drastically improve up to and beyond industry standards for our password table,” he said.

Educating users

Perhaps the biggest challenge for cryptocurrency gambling sites, though, is the uptake of bitcoin itself.

Cloudbet’s Rossi said:

“There is still a high educational barrier to entry. People can transact with Visa and MasterCard without understanding how the payment network works, but to transact with bitcoin there is still a requirement of technical knowledge.”

The company has launched mainstream campaigns to educate potential players about bitcoin, but this is something that the bitcoin community has to broach collectively, he indicated.

The good news for bitcoin gambling sites is that they are still early in the process, meaning that there is lots of room for disruption, said Micon:

“Some kid is going to come up with some bitcoin gambling game. They will be 12 years old and they’ll make $480,000. That’s just what’s possible.”

Possible, for sure. But with a few challenges along the way.

Source : http://www.coindesk.com

Bitcoin Could Make ATM Skimmers a Thing of the Past

Societies innovate and create almost naturally on a daily basis. As people, we’re always trying to find ways to make our lifestyle better and, in most cases, overcome any sort of obstacles in our path. Unfortunately, with innovation comes a “wild-west” period where many people are taken advantage of and stolen from because they cannot combat the malicious technology developed by those with the intent to steal.

The ATM is one of these positive innovations that are now targeted heavily by malicious technology. There are people using things called “skimmers,” and they’ve become incredibly efficient at stealing banking information over the past decade. If Bitcoin catches a mainstream wave, it could be the answer to this problem.

Back of a simple skimmer found at a Tesco

Skimmers are devices placed on ATM card-scanners that read the information exactly like the ATM, but steal that information outright. Instead of having your transaction go through to the machine, it goes to the skimmer.

Of course, in order to use any of that information the skimmer would also need a PIN number. Unfortunately, that’s also easily obtained as well with either a hidden camera or a highly sophisticated keylogger placed directly over the original keypad.

Ten years ago, this wasn’t a problem. The malicious technology wasn’t advanced enough to invade people’s privacy yet, so there wasn’t much success from the scammers. Now though, the technology is rapidly evolving and becoming more efficient, as is the nature of technology. Society is, yet again, faced with the task of overcoming an obstacle by innovating further.

Banks have tried putting in anti-skimming devices, but scammers are crafty. They crack a lot of the hardware and manipulate it easily. Now, skimmers are moving toward more susceptible areas of business: point-of-sale devices and even gas station pumps.

Bitcoin’s Role in Eliminating ATM Skimmers

Ken Lo, CEO of Hong Kong Bitcoin Exchange ANX was able to put the matter of ATM skimmers and Bitcoin’s role in preventing them into perspective. When CCN asked about the skimming technology, Lo had this to say:

“The magnetic stripe cards were created in the 1970s and while they have been crucial in enabling the payment methods used today, we are finding they are lacking in security features needed in today’s complex payment industry. Bitcoin has been designed from the ground up to include the latest security features from digital signing to the latest encryption methods. This along with a transparent public ledger help mitigate and reduce a lot of the frauds in the payment industry.”  

Bitcoin is by no means a perfect answer to the world’s financial problems. Bitcoin users are still in the “wild-west” phase of innovation, and scammers are everywhere trying to get their hands on a piece of someone else’s coin. Despite the current risk and volatility, Bitcoin can be the answer to existing financial struggles, especially when it comes to ATM skimmers.

Erik Anderson of Bloomberg recently attended the Bitcoin Education Day conference in Washington, D.C hosted by the Chamber of Digital Commerce. He was quoted by the Chamber speaking to this very notion.

The Bitcoin family of technologies is very valuable. These technologies can be used to address many issues that the financial services sector is facing.

Bitcoin’s Advantages

 

The obvious advantages of Bitcoin are that it’s cardless and that it’s a “push” transaction not a “pull” transaction. Simply scan the QR code with your phone, and the money is sent near-instantly. Suddenly the skimmers are sent back to an era of nonexistence. It goes deeper than that though.

With the Mycelium Bitcoin phone wallet, scanning a QR code is the simplest way to send funds. Anyone using this app can also enable a six-digit PIN as well, making it a bit of a two-factor-authentication tactic. No matter where a skimmer’s hidden camera may hide, it would surely be a difficult act of angling and timing to be able to catch that PIN on a cell phone screen.

Along with this, bitcoins can be sent from anywhere and aren’t tied to point-of-sale devices. If the receipt given to a dinner party has a QR code printed on the bottom, customers can simply send the funds from their table. Of course, this opens the question of whether or not skimmers will then create “hacked” receipt printers that print a faulty QR code to reinvent the skimming technique.

Undoubtedly, scammers will constantly do their best to innovate faster than current technology; however, skimmers will be in unfamiliar territory. Bitcoin is sure to face its fair share of problems in the future, but it can clearly aid the current struggles facing the financial world. Not for the banks, not for the ATM companies (Bitcoin has ATM companies too); but for the people who are victims. After all, it is a person-to-person technology.

Source : http://www.cryptocoinsnews.com

Bitcoin Breaking News: Singapore Now has a Bitcoin & Litecoin Exchange

Singapore’s latest exchange, CRXzone, has become the first platform to offer both litecoin and bitcoin trading in the country. Like others in the Asian region, the exchange aims to attract an international customer base by offering additional bitcoin services beyond trading.

One of CRXzone’s key strategies to attract a wide customer base is its range of account funding and withdrawal options. As well as the usual bank transfers, the exchange offers international payment processor options like OKPAY, Egopay, and PerfectMoney.

CRXzone CEO Pawan Kumar tends to refer to other payment networks as ‘digital currencies’ too, blurring the line somewhat between cryptocurrencies and widely-used international payment networks. This is probably due to his 25-year experience in the IT industry, experience with online businesses and involvement in digital payment networks “since the time of E-gold”.

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While all offer speed and cost advantages over traditional currencies, Kumar said that bitcoin’s decentralized nature made it an attractive option. “I personally feel [...] bitcoin will slowly takeover all other digital currencies and remain a useful tool for digital payments which are growing day by day.”

One of CRXzone’s selling points is its litecoin trading option, despite the popular altcoin’s image taking a battering following its recent price slump to $5 and lower. “We still believe that litecoin will survive the current downward trend. It is well known and widely used crypto after the bitcoin [sic]. Leverage trading seems to be a reason for the current price slump, as per my personal judgement.”

 Source : http://www.technews.org