It is not often that Bitcoin and religion come together and join forces, but there are always exceptions to be found. The city of Manchester in New Hampshire has received a new General Bytes Bitcoin ATM, courtesy of the Shire Free Church. This announcement marks the second Bitcoin ATM to operate in the city, showing an increasing demand for the popular digital currency.

http://themerkle.com/news/new-bitcoin-atm-arrives-in-new-hampshire-courtesy-of-shire-free-church/

Technology is evolving at a very rapid pace these days, and newer trends are emerging even before the previous iteration could gain any mainstream traction. Wearables have not become all that popular just yet – simply because the excitement wears off quite fast – but that isn’t keeping companies from coming up with new ideas. Eye-controlled smartwatches open up interesting possibilities for payments and Bitcoin in the future.

http://bitcoinist.net/future-impact-eye-tracking-wearables-bitcoin-payments/

Now that the financial ecosystem is in a state of chaos, investors are looking to scoop up some cheaper assets and rebuild the value of their portfolios. Some people are looking to traditional solutions, such as oil or certain fiat currencies. Bitcoin, on the other hand, is looking quite appealing, as the price per BTC remains fairly low for the time being. Finding the right investment is not an easy task, but Bitcoin presents its case fairly well.

http://themerkle.com/news/investment-bitcoin-equals-looking-financial-stability/

Samsung Pay is one of the major players in the mobile payments industry these days. Even though there is a fierce competition going on in this market, it will eventually come down to which solution will gain the most support. CaixaBank is the first financial institution in Spain to roll out Samsung Pay to its customers. Whether or not this will be a threat to Bitcoin adoption, remains to be seen.


http://themerkle.com/news/samsung-pay-launch-in-spain-brings-competition-to-bitcoin/

There are a few countries around the world where cash payments are slowly on the way out. Some people are much in favor of this decision, whereas others are wary of giving central banks, even more, control over people’s money by going cashless. The largest bank in Norway wants to put an end to cash transactions sooner rather than later, simply because cash is dangerous and offers no advantages.

http://themerkle.com/news/going-cashless-in-norway-means-giving-banks-complete-control/

Some people still keep stating how there is nothing wrong with the financial ecosystem we live in today, and to an extent, they are probably right. However, simply because certain issues do not affect one directly, that does not mean everything is working as intended. People in Venezuela will gladly tell you how they are in dire need of financial change, as the country is facing over 700% of inflation throughout 2016.

http://themerkle.com/news/inflation-strikes-hard-in-venezuela-bitcoin-offers-a-way-out/

Leading Bitcoin payment processor BitPay has announced their Ingenico Terminal Plugin, allowing enabling thousands of more merchants to accept Bitcoin payments through its point of sale app. In addition, the company explained the growth of Bitcoin throughout 2015 in words anybody can understand.

https://news.bitcoin.com/bitpay-enables-27-million-ingenico-retailers-accept-bitcoin/

A new Bitcoin game will be coming to iOS users around the world in the very near future. Takara, as the mobile game is called, focuses on geocaching, allowing users to drop Bitcoin treasures all over the world. Other players will then have to venture outside to collect these treasures, similar to how Google’s Ingress game works. Plus, there is room for advertisers to spread a message to all players in a certain location.


http://themerkle.com/news/takara-mobile-bitcoin-game-released-on-ios/

The ongoing Bitcoin block size debate is causing a fair bit of controversy and concern within and outside of the Bitcoin community. Even though everybody wants to see an overwhelming consensus support for either Bitcoin Core or Bitcoin Classic, a lot of the “voting power” lies with the Chinese mining pools. Whereas a few people misinterpreted support for Bitcoin Classic by F2Pool and HaoBTC, it turns out the final verdict still far away.

http://www.newsbtc.com/2016/01/22/f2pool-welcomes-bitcoin-classic-hard-forking-solution-but-does-not-actively-support-it/

Traditional financial players are forced to keep a close eye on the evolution of blockchain technology. Failing to do so would result in these players being blindsided by the next big thing in the financial sector. MasterCard, one of the leading plastic card issuers in the world, is paying a lot of attention of the blockchain, simply because this technology holds so much promise for the future.

http://themerkle.com/news/mastercard-remains-keen-on-bitcoin-technology/

Various Bitcoin companies around the world are looking for investors to get their project moving along and deliver services to a broader audience. Digital Asset Holdings, a blockchain startup run by Blythe Masters, recently closed a new funding round, raising over US$50m from various global financial leaders. With this money, the company will eventually be able to bring blockchain technology use cases to people all over the world.

http://www.newsbtc.com/2016/01/22/blythe-masters-and-digital-asset-holdings-raise-over-us50m-in-funding/

The Netherlands is often seen as a region where regulators are doing their best to keep up with financial innovation. IN the Bitcoin world, this has lead to a healthy startup ecosystem in the country, with clearly defined taxation rules. But a new report from Holland FinTech touches upon several barriers that are preventing future growth in The Netherlands, which include regulation and collaboration with financial players.

http://bitcoinist.net/the-netherlands-wants-clear-regulatory-guidelines-for-fintech-and-bitcoin-startups/

By the look of things, the debate on which solution to take for solving the Bitcoin block size debate once and for all is still not over. Even though Bitcoin Classic has seen a huge amount of support so far, a new initiative by Bitcoin Core is looking for people to publicly show support for this course of development. Needless to say, the community is getting tired of this internal bickering, and the approach of “talk less, get more done” is coming to mind.

http://themerkle.com/news/new-bitcoin-core-petition-gets-lots-of-support/

Smartphone encryption has been a topic of heavy debate over the past few months, and the opinions are divided to say the least. Both users and manufacturers want to preserve encryption or even add additional layers to protect user data. But on the other hand, various government officials are proposing bills to have encryption on smartphones weakened by default.

http://bitcoinist.net/new-california-bill-aims-to-weaken-smartphone-encryption/

Bitcoin has often been touted as an untraceable and anonymous digital currency, even though it is neither at its core. Strangely enough, mainstream media has forgotten all about the headlines they wrote until a few weeks ago, as an untraceable Bitcoin alternative has launched. ZCash looks to bring anonymity to the digital currency ecosystem, making it perfect for those who wish to use it on underground online marketplaces.

http://www.newsbtc.com/2016/01/21/bitcoin-alternative-zcash-offers-anonymity-law-enforcement-surveillance-protection/

Whenever the International Monetary Fund decides to release a whitepaper on Bitcoin and other digital currencies, there is plenty of reason for excitement. As one would come to expect, the paper touches upon subjects such as how distributed ledgers work, and how taxation of digital currency should be handled. But the future of Bitcoin is also discussed, and VC’s are the center of focus for the IMF.

http://themerkle.com/coins/bitcoin/imf-publishes-paper-on-bitcoin-vc-investment-regulation/

For those investors who thought the Asian stock markets would start to recover, things are looking bleaker than ever before. Another shockwave of declining stocks is affecting other major trading markets all over the world, and there is no end in sight. All of the traditional financial sectors are losing ground at an accelerating pace while Bitcoin sees a healthy price increase as more money flows into the world’s true global currency.

http://bitcoinist.net/decade-long-financial-growth-wiped-out-in-one-month-while-bitcoin-grows-stronger/

Mainstream media has a tendency to discredit anything in the financial world that is not controlled by governments or central banks. Without employees who are knowledgeable about how the financial system works, and why Bitcoin provides a viable alternative, mainstream media coverage is nothing more than propaganda these days. If it weren’t, someone would have paid attention to the Ruble, which is crashing incredibly hard for nearly a year now.

http://themerkle.com/news/russian-ruble-is-dying-while-bitcoin-recovers/

There is a lot of excitement in the world of payments these days, especially now that so many companies are focusing their attention on the mobile space. With so many consumers owning a mobile device that has Internet connection capabilities, contactless payments are evolving to this new medium. Android Pay is Google’s answer to mobile payments, and users can now get a free Chromecast when using the option. Bitcoin, on the other hand, offers proper incentives and rewards that are not tangible.

http://www.newsbtc.com/2016/01/20/bitcoin-offers-better-rewards-than-a-chromecast-for-android-pay-users/

The topic of creating a cashless society has been kicked around a few times in recent years, but the major mind shift has not happened just yet. Some industry experts are even wondering whether or not a cashless ecosystem is realistic or not. With so many electronics payments – and digital currencies such as Bitcoin – at the consumer’s disposal, it seems to be a matter of time.

http://bitcoinist.net/bitcoin-helps-consumers-transition-to-cashless-payments/