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It is rather interesting to see financial regulators show a keen interest in distributed ledgers, also referred to as “closed blockchains.” Kalukhov believes these closed blockchains have a lot of potential in the world of finance, as they allow for various options of building the network itself.

https://news.bitcoin.com/russian-central-bank-distributed-ledgers-not-blockchains/

What is rather surprising, however, is how a significant portion – 44% – of participants indicated they know what Bitcoin is, but have not used it yet. This is a promising sign for cryptocurrency adoption in the country over the coming years, as there seem to be educational efforts taking place to promote the benefits of Bitcoin in general. However, 29% indicated they heard of it but are uncertain as to what Bitcoin is or does.

http://bitcoinist.net/study-shows-44-of-consumers-in-germany-know-what-bitcoin-is/

It is rather interesting to see Genesis Coin focus their attention on two different types of models. The most obvious choice is the one-way Bitcoin ATM, where users can purchase cryptocurrency in exchange for cash. This is the most common type of ATM for Bitcoin users all over the world, but there is a growing demand for devices where users can sell their cryptocurrency as well.

http://themerkle.com/the-rise-and-rise-of-genesis-coin-bitcoin-atms/

Bitcoin for the Befuddled, as this book is called, was released back in November of 2014, and some of the information might be slightly outdated. However, this book is mostly focusing on the core principles of Bitcoin, the history of cryptocurrency, and includes details on the blockchain as well. It is good to see such a book as part of the Humble Book Bundle for sure. Keeping in mind how the regular ebook would cost US$19.95, paying the full price for this book bundle will still save interested users money, and they will get a lot of other good books as well.

http://bitcoinist.net/the-new-humble-book-bundle-includes-a-book-on-bitcoin/

BitFlyer seems to be anticipating a massive expansion of the Bitcoin market in the country over the coming months and years. A different cryptocurrency exchange, called Zaif, recently reported their record turnover earlier this month. Considering how bitFlyer processes JPY 9 billion in bitcoin every month, it does appear there is growing demand in the country.

https://news.bitcoin.com/bitflyer-store-bitcoin-use-case-japan/

E-governance is a revolutionary aspect that can solve one of the key issues when dealing with government officials these days. Citizens feel severely disconnected from their government, both regarding voting and getting a response for officials in general. Even dealing with a city council can be a major challenge, as making one’s voice be heard is not that easy these days. Whether or not e-governance will change all of this, remains to be seen, but the digitization of these services is an interesting trend for sure.

https://news.bitcoin.com/ecb-plans-blockchain-e-governance/

This gives all platform users around the world the opportunity to experiment with Bitcoin and use the popular cryptocurrency to pay for just about anything on the platform. The addition of Bitcoin to this gaming platform is of great importance to the world of cryptocurrency, as it validates Bitcoin as a global payment solution once again.

http://bitcoinist.net/global-steam-community-can-now-use-bitcoin-to-fund-their-account/

As one would come to expect from such a service, Ran$umBin will take a cut of the fee paid for every transaction. However, the commission percentage is based on who the original data belongs to, and higher value data will invoke a higher commission percentage. Rather than dealing with victims of their hacking activities directly, internet criminals can direct the original data owners to this dark web platform to make the payment. Bitcoin is an accepted form of payment, which should not surprise that many people.

http://bitcoinist.net/selling-stolen-data-for-bitcoin-via-new-dark-web-marketplace/

One thing investors in the Bitcoin Investment Trust have to keep in mind is how buying shares and hoping to sell them at a higher price will be quite risky. Although this is second nature in the stock trading world, a lot of people assume the US$60 price per GBTC share was the peak. As it turns out, there was – and maybe still is – a lot of profit to be made.

http://themerkle.com/bitcoin-investment-trust-surpasses-us100m-valuation/

Now that Shift has discovered the path to offer these Bitcoin debit cards to US citizens; it remains to be seen if other issuers will follow the company’s lead. Before this offering came around, US citizens were not able to get a physical Bitcoin debit card, due to regulatory issues. At the same time, no international users can get their hands on the Shift debit card either, creating an interesting ecosystem, to say the least.

http://themerkle.com/four-more-us-states-can-order-the-shift-bitcoin-debit-card/

Gatecoin is the platform listing both Slock.it and DigixDAO tokens as of today, which can be traded against various fiat currencies, as well as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Augur. All of these trading markets are available to verified Gatecoin users, and will bring a greater variety of services to the Hong Kong-based exchange platform.

http://bitcoinist.net/gatecoin-exchange-adds-digixdao-and-slock-it-trading-markets/

As is the case with most of these innovative business models, Flip was born out of a personal need for Vila as it allows anyone to buy leases from outgoing tenants or sell leases that are no longer desired. In a way, this cuts out the middleman in the lease market, which will not only save time but also a lot of hassle.

https://news.bitcoin.com/flip-p2p-lease-marketplace-uses-tierion-blockchain-solution/

With this new Bitcoin ATM installed at Amstar Gas Station in Aurora, IL, consumers will have access to a machine where they can buy cryptocurrency with cash at any given time. Do keep in mind this device has a daily limit of US$2,500 in transactions, although it should take a while to reach this threshold.

http://themerkle.com/newest-rockitcoin-bitcoin-atm-can-be-accessed-247/

There are some very prominent companies to be found on this list, including ConsenSys, BASE, Infoteria Corporation, and Tech Bureau, Corp. All of these companies have taken a vested interest in blockchain technology throughout the years, and some of them are actively working on new solutions to bring this technology to mainstream consumers in Japan.

http://bitcoinist.net/japanese-blockchain-collaborative-consortium-has-been-formed/

This comes as little to no surprise, though, although close to 94% is quite a significant margin. Some people might argue this is a form of centralized Bitcoin trading, yet the situation has never been different over the past two years. What is rather disconcerting is how the CNY Bitcoin trading is mostly originating from Huobi, a platform which seems to be continuing their hot streak of the past few months.

http://themerkle.com/close-to-94-of-24-hour-bitcoin-trading-volume-comes-from-china/

Although most people would assume an affiliate program and a referral program are the same, that is not the case. Bitit, the company, known for letting users conveniently purchase Bitcoin with credit cards and cash, wants to thoroughly distinguish between these two features.

http://themerkle.com/bitit-introduces-referral-and-affiliate-programs/

A recent blog post by Peter Todd shows how all of the wallets tested do not even warn users about a potential double-spend, but most of them also fail at warning WHEN a double-spend has happened. This is an unacceptable scenario for the Bitcoin ecosystem in its current stage, as users have little to no protection when it comes to using some of the most common wallets. With the recent addition of opt-in replace-by-fee, it seems wallet developers have not taken the potential repercussions into account.

http://bitcoinist.net/bitcoin-wallets-vulnerable-to-opt-in-replace-by-fee-double-spend-attacks/

Now that Kinguin merchants can reap the benefits from Bitcoin payouts, funds can be withdrawn in a smoother and more efficient manner. Adding such a feature is beneficial to the company as well, as they remove a lot of the friction associated with international payments by processing various payouts in one batch. Moreover, Bitcoin offers a faster way of sending out payments to merchants around the world.

https://news.bitcoin.com/kinguin-merchants-withdraw-bitcoin/

Considering how this service will be available to users all over the world, Steam is bringing a lot of additional appeal to their platform. Although not everyone would think of renting a movie through Steam, it is an exciting addition, to say the least. What is even more interesting is how Bitcoin can be used for these movie rentals.

http://themerkle.com/bitcoin-users-can-soon-rent-over-100-lionsgate-movies-through-steam/