Even though many people see Apple Pay as a direct competitor to Bitcoin and blockchain technology, the reality could turn out to be quite different in the not-so-distant future. Obtaining partnerships with banks and other financial institutions has been a challenge for the technology giant, and alternative payment technologies could be a powerful ally. Apple Pay combined with blockchain technology, or even Bitcoin payments, is not an unlikely scenario. http://themerkle.com/news/bitcoin-blockchain-technology-can-beneficial-apple-pay/ |
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In the FinTech sector, there is no clear industry leader just yet, as the playing field is wide open for participants from all over the world. Certain areas are destined to do better than others, such as London, Silicon Valley, and the entire country of India. One city most people tend to overlook is Dublin, Ireland, where the FinTech sector is booming despite its challenges. http://digitalmoneytimes.com/dublin-fintech-scene-focuses-on-blockchain-and-bitcoin/ |
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The discussion regarding the Bitcoin block size might be coming to an end very soon. The proposal made by Gregory Maxwell earlier this month is getting a lot of support from Bitcoin contributors, and now that the roadmap has been released, things make a lot more sense. Some interesting features are on the roadmap, which will be beneficial to the Bitcoin ecosystem as a whole. http://themerkle.com/news/bitcoin-block-size-debate-segregated-witness-roadmap/ |
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By the look of things, trouble is brewing in parts of Africa, as the Central bank of Nigeria has issued an order to ban the usage of credit and debit cards abroad. According to one of the affected commercial banks in Nigeria, this is just a temporary measure, although the real reason behind the decision is still pretty vague at the moment. Will this create another opportunity for Bitcoin? http://bitcoinist.net/bitcoin-to-benefit-from-central-bank-of-nigerias-international-card-ban/ |
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The concept of Uber has been a reason for both excitement and controversy over the past few years. However, there is an interesting trend taking place, as local government officials are looking to create their own version of Uber. In the state of California, Flywheel is an application that will make taxis work like Uber and effectively replaces the whole cab riding experience. http://themerkle.com/news/will-flywheel-be-the-first-e-hailing-app-to-accept-bitcoin-payments/ |
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Throughout the years, consumers have all heard the stories about how financial information has been stolen when using physical payment terminals. Despite best efforts by card issuers to step up the security game, the payment terminals themselves are inherently insecure. Or to be more precise, the modulated payment protocols powering these terminals are the root of all evil, as there are major security flaws waiting to be exploited. http://bitcoinist.net/bitcoin-is-destined-to-replace-insecure-payment-protocols/ |
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There are quite a few parallels to be drawn between the worlds of FinTech and Bitcoin, as both sectors struggle with similar issues. Especially where marketing is concerned, there is still a lot of work to be done over the coming years. But how does one go about marketing a FinTech or Bitcoin startup, other than relying on traditional solutions? https://news.bitcoin.com/fintech-bitcoin-startups-struggle-marketing-efforts/ |
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The year 2016 is around the corner and a ton of people are preparing their New Year’s resolutions. One of the topics on everybody’s list will be how they can improve their current financial situation and how they will go about doing so. There are a few simple things anyone can do without too much effort although some necessary research will be required. http://digitalmoneytimes.com/creating-financial-resolutions-for-2016/ |
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The Bitcoin block size debate is still far from over, as a new capacity increases page with initial signatures has been posted on GitHub very recently. Quite a few prominent names in the Bitcoin industry have all signed the roadmap, including Charlie Lee, Cory Fields, Gregory Maxwell, and, surprisingly enough, Theymos. Whether or not a consensus can be reached regarding this proposal, remains to be seen, though. http://bitcoinist.net/31-bitcoin-contributors-sign-block-size-proposal-by-gregory-maxwell/ |
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One of the most convenient ways to convert Bitcoin into something consumers can use in real life comes in the form of Gyft.com. This website is specialized in selling popular brand gift cards – such as eBay, Amazon, Target, and others – in exchange for Bitcoin. It has taken some time, but Walmart cards are now once again available for purchase on the platform. http://bitcoinist.net/walmart-gift-cards-available-for-bitcoin-on-gyft-com-once-again/ |
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Spending Bitcoin is a critical part of making the digital currency a mainstream form of payment over the next few years. Up until this point, consumers had very little options to spend Bitcoin in physical locations, unless they own a Bitcoin debit card. That situation has come to change, now that mobile app Plutus lets people tap & pay with Bitcoin wherever NFC payments are accepted. https://news.bitcoin.com/bitcoin-payments-now-open-32-million-nfc-enabled-merchants/ |
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Bitcoin mining is often criticized for consuming far too much electricity, especially considering how high current prices are in most parts of the world. For many people, the electricity costs far outweigh any possible earnings from Bitcoin mining, unless they have access to cheaper electricity. The time has come for Bitcoin miners to take a closer look at renewable energy sources, as this seems to be the way forward as far as generating electricity is concerned. http://themerkle.com/news/is-renewable-energy-the-future-of-bitcoin-mining/ |
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This time of year, Bitcoin users are looking to spend some of their digital wealth on gifts and presents for themselves, as well as for friends and loved ones. Unfortunately, this also attracts a lot of different types of sites, making promises on how Bitcoin users can double their coins by investing in HYIP schemes. A few months ago, these schemes became a major plague, and it looks like they are making a return during the holiday season. http://bitcoinist.net/doublecloud-pw-is-another-bitcoin-hyip-ponzi-scheme/ |
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Bitcoin mining is an expensive task these days, as mounting electricity costs – combined with a fluctuating Bitcoin price – are making it hard to achieve a return on investment for miners. But that isn’t keeping people from giving it a try anyway, as there is some good money to be made. One of the lingering questions is why so very few people use P2Pool mining, rather than centralized mining pools. http://themerkle.com/news/p2pool-bitcoin-mining-is-far-less-popular-compared-to-traditional-mining/ |
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Christmas shopping is reaching a frenzied state right now, and consumers are more eager to share their financial details with websites and applications to buy some last-minute gifts. It should come as no surprise t find this time of year is when most financial details are stolen. Consumers need to be on their toes at all times and tread carefully through the traps in front of them. http://bitcoinist.net/bitcoin-can-prevent-online-christmas-shopping-fraud/ |
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The biggest Bitcoin AMA in history is still going on to this very day, and the list of participants has been growing nicely. Over the course of recent weeks, some of the most prominent members of the Bitcoin community have been part of this AMA session and answered your questions. The time has come to recap what Paul Snow, Dan Morehead, and Thomas Voegtlin had to say regarding Bitcoin, their projects, and the future of digital currency. https://news.bitcoin.com/bitcoin-ama-recap-factom-electrum-pantera-capital/ |
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An interesting post has surfaced on Reddit, detailing how one former Coinbase user helped the company fix a major financial exploit. While that might not be something out of the ordinary, Coinbase ended up closing the user’s account after his help. Even though he was paid a small bug bounty for his findings – and never used Coinbase for buying or selling BTC – the company effectively banned the user for an unknown reason. http://themerkle.com/news/coinbase-bans-user-who-reported-bitcoin-vault-exploit/ |
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