Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne announced this week that the company expects bitcoin sales to add $.04 per share to earnings for 2014. How significant is that? Unfortunately, not as significant as one might think. Background If you aren’t familiar with the company, Overstock is an online retailer of non-branded and excess merchandise at discount prices. …
Update 12/19/2014: This article describes costs associated with BitLicense as originally proposed. Since then, some requirements have been scaled back or eliminated in response to public comment. Among the most significant problems with New York’s proposed BitLicense requirements cited by opponents is cost. This survey lists the major requirements for licensing and ongoing compliance under…
Virtual currencies have a new advocate in Washington, D.C.: the Chamber of Digital Commerce. Founded and led by Perianne Boring, a former legislative analyst and author of the “Boring Bitcoin Report,” the organization is currently raising money to fund its operations into next year and hire a permanent full-time staff. The Chamber is business oriented…
Two weeks ago, I wrote a post entitled “Bitcoin Debit Cards May Not Be As Exciting As They Seem,” that explored some of the ways that bank-style payment cards backed by bitcoin combine the worst of both worlds. Now, it looks like bitcoiners have a high profile disappointment in Xapo to drive home the point….
CoinDesk carried a piece yesterday by John Matonis, the executive director of the Bitcoin Foundation and a self-described cryptoeconomist, in which he suggested that “government tainted” bitcoins traded on licensed exchanges will trade at a discount, creating arbitrage gain opportunities for savvy traders. Matonis’ argument goes like this: consumers value privacy, which is why they…
It recently came to my attention that a certain bitcoin accounting startup located in Utah is currently the subject of an administrative inquiry by that state. Among the alleged violations of Utah law is this company’s use of the term “CPA” in its name without having received a license from the state to operate as…
Cryptocurrencies hold great promise for the poor and unbanked, especially in impoverished and developing regions of the world. Whereas many affluent westerners have adopted bitcoin as a political statement, a cost saving measure or a technical curiosity, a small portion of its users have done so as a result of the exigencies of their own…
Circle gave the community an inside look at its payment platform this week and it looks like it may have been worth the wait. If you’ve somehow made it without having heard of them yet, Circle could best be described as a bitcoin bank that charges no fees. The company announced itself last fall and…
The Bitcoin Economy gets a little larger each week than the week before. Even though the price seems to be stuck in a funk lately, exciting things are happening out there. This week, just a short time after announcing that the service was under development, Coinbase launched a new service aimed at large account holders…
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