Today New York based ItBit exchange unveiled its new board and charter to operate as a financial services company from the New York Department of Financial Services. ItBit's announcement today confirms Qntra's April 16th report that former Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation chair Sheila Blair has joined ItBit's corporate board. Among those joining Blair is former New Jersey Senator Bill Bradley. ItBit insists its charter from New York allows it to legally operate in all 50 members of the United States in spite of Federalism. CoinBase earlier announced licensing to operate as an exchange in all 50 states, an assertion which was later found to be questionable. Continue reading
Category Archives: Fiat/BTC interfaces
Government Funded Exchange BitSpark Shifts To Remittances
Hong Kong based Bitcoin exchange BitSpark has announced (archive) its decision to "temporarily retire" its exchange, opting instead to shift attention to remittances across the Philippines, Indonesia, Australia, Hong Kong and China. As part of that change of direction, BitSpark intends to launch a remittance focused product later this month at the 2015 Innotribe semi finals in Singapore. Continue reading
American Green Deploys Two Bitcoin Capable Vending Machines
This week the American Green company reports that they will be deploying two marijuana vending machines to different California cannabis dispensaries. The two model ZaZZZ vending machines will each possess their own Bitcoin wallets, which American Green plans to open for Bitcoin purchases by the end of the week. Bitcoin will be available as an alternative to the other more traditional fiat payment methods the machines will accept. Like the extant Bitcoin ATMs these vending machines are configured to enforce extensive customer validation and regulatory enforcement. These first two machines are being placed in California dispensaries where marijuana is controlled under a "medical" regulatory regime.
BitGo Files MultiSig Patent Application Joining Other Bitcoin Patent Parasites
An application has been filed (local mirror) with the United States Patent and Trademark office by Bitgo Inc. of San Francisco which if accepted would assign patent rights over the process behind Bitcoin multiple signature addresses to BitGo. Titled "Virtual Currency Address Security" the application lists Michael A. Belshe and Joseph William Lee as inventors of the technology. A proof of concept implementation of multi signature addresses was incorporated into the BitcoinJS library in November of 2013. Continue reading
Tsinghua University Creates a "Digital Assets Research Initiative"
Following on the heels of the announcement that the Vessenes Foundation's developers have moved to MIT, a press release is circulating with claims that Tsinghua University in cooperation with Chinese fiat/Bitcoin interface Huobi are starting a "Digital Asset Research Initiative."
BitGo Bug Results In Loss Of User Funds By Way Of 85 BTC Fee
BitGo Software Engineer Benedict Chan has detailed a bug in the company's recovery script which earlier today caused the loss of 85 BTC to new /r/bitcoin user rstn. The bug caused the bulk of rstn's coins to be included as a fee. Chan writes (archive): Continue reading
MtGox Trustee has 200k Bitcoins, Creditors to Line Up as Bankruptcy Progresses
As of the third creditors meeting on April 22, 2015, the approximately 100,000 creditors from 130 countries who were swindled by Robert Marie Mark Karpeles and his Bitcoin-fiat exchange MtGox Co., Ltd. – despite the numerous and several warnings and warning signs,1 – can now file claims through bankruptcy trustee Nobuaki Kobayash of law firm Nagashima Ohno & Tsudematsu. Continue reading
Not the least of which was the consistent $10+ spread between Mt Gox and Bitstamp that persisted throughout 2013, with the premium going to Gox of course, indicating that the Japanese firm was delaying withdrawals, most probably on account of a fractional reserve deposit scheme ↩
Vessenes Foundation Draws Near Its End, Vessenes Out As Chairman
The decline of the Vessenes Bitcoin Foundation continues with their developers leaving for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab's Digital Currency Initiative. In what appears to be an attempt to revitalize their image by amping up their star power the Vessenes foundation has replaced Peter Vessenes as their chairman with First Kid co-star Brock Pierce.
Tennessee House Votes To Allow Bitcoin Campaign Contributions
The Chattanooga Times Free Press reports that the legislators of the Tennessee State House have voted 61 to 28 in favor of allowing Bitcoin to be accepted as a campaign "gift" in state elections. The bill passed the Tennessee Senate last month and awaits the Governor's signature which could render it law, though given that application of the Gubernatorial veto is rare in Tennessee as it takes the same simple majority from each house of the General assembly which initially passed the bill to override the veto. Continue reading
Seized Bitcoin ATM Returned
The Bitcoin ATM seized by Australian police from a Brisbane business back in October has finally been returned. According to local police superintendent Mick Niland the seizure happened under the mere suspicion the machine was being used for other than lawful purposes.