Jack Dorsey Speaks at University of Michigan
On Thursday, September 13, 2012 Jack Dorsey, founder of Twitter and Square gave an insightful talk to 150 University of Michigan Engineering students. Here is my best attempt to capture what the Twitter and Square founder said in his one hour discussion, and Q&A session. Enjoy.

2012-09-13

http://www.thedigitalbus.com/jack-dorsey-speaks-at-university-of-michigan/

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What do you think the role of currency innovation will play in the future of Square. BitCoin?

A. Bitcoin is an amazing movement. that needs to stabilize, and Square will accept any currency that comes over the counter. If it becomes huge and accepted in the world, Square will accept it. We don’t just focus on currency.

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Use Bitcoin to Pay for my VPN Service Provider

2012-09-14

http://mrvpn.com/use-bitcoin-to-pay-for-my-vpn-service-provider


What Bitcoin is and how it works is a bit of a new concept for me, and I’ve yet to get my head completely around it.  What I do know however, is that it’s more anonymous than any other form of payment, so it’s no wonder that VPN services that allow payments with Bitcoin are in demand because of the privacy and anonymity of Bitcoin.  Still, Bitcoin is not well known, and certainly not very popular, so few VPN services allow it.
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Whatever your position is, paying with Bitcoin can increase your anonymity online, meaning that your personal data, including money accounts won’t be associated with your VPN account.
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Mr. VPN is all about VPN reviews, VPN news, and tips on how to get the best VPN out there for what you need.  

Virtual Currencies, Real Theft

Al Pascual
2012-09-13


https://www.javelinstrategy.com/blog/2012/09/13/virtual-currencies-real-theft/

Last week’s announcement of the theft of nearly $250,000 in Bitcoins from the virtual currency exchange Bitfloor served as a reminder of just how ripe virtual currency is for use as a criminal tool or target.  Recognizing this, the interest of regulators and law enforcement has been piqued – a reality that is likely to irritate active users of these currencies in the short term, with potentially positive long term effects on the virtual currency market.
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BitInstant’s recent announcement of a network branded payment card will only serve to accelerate government intervention as the card would allow for the withdrawal of fiat currency at any ATM (in exchange for Bitcoins transferred to the card.)  This will only make Bitcoins even more attractive to criminals, as it would increase the ease of access and anonymity of the currency.
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More Wrestling with Bitcoin

Julia Dixon
2012-09-14

http://www.dgcmagazine.com/more-wrestling-with-bitcoin/

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After reading this piece by Hayek, I have to think that he would have been a Bitcoin fan
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Bitcoin may be the first one to really catch on, but it is not the only cryptocurrency out there. LiteCoin and SolidCoin are just a few of the other options.
In fact LiteCoin sells itself as “silver to Bitcoin’s gold”. Should cryptocurrency use continue to grow no doubt many more options would spring up to compete with and be used alongside Bitcoin.

Whoa, WTF?

Paul ‏@hugepedlar
Hahaha I have my first bitcoin!

Paul ‏@hugepedlar
@Tarale Thank you. It cost me twelve dollars. I wonder what I should buy with it.

Derek @posty
@hugepedlar I bet you $12 AUD that you can't find a legitimate adelaide vendor that can take them in a month.

Watching the future unfold at pedestrian pace in Silicon Valley

Danny O'Brien
2012-09-13

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2012/0913/1224323956950.html


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The trick is to spot the advances that have a chance of spreading to the rest of the world.
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In this column, I’ve written about companies and technologies that triumphed, such as BitTorrent and Firefox, Wikipedia and Flickr, Facebook and the iPhone; and some that stumbled, such as the One Laptop per Child initiative and the social network Diaspora. There are some technologies whose success is still unclear, with names such as Bitcoin and mesh networks.
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I went ahead and made English subtitles for the video. They are a bit rushed, but I suppose they are okay.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vYH1JH73pw

Key Disclosure Laws Can Be Used To Confiscate Bitcoin Assets

Jon Matonis
2012-09-12

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jonmatonis/2012/09/12/key-disclosure-laws-can-be-used-to-confiscate-bitcoin-assets/

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Key disclosure laws may become the most important government tool in asset seizures and the war on money laundering.
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To say the cryptocurrency bitcoin is disruptive would be an understatement. Bitcoin not only disrupts payments and monetary sovereignty, it also disrupts the legal enforcement of anti-money laundering laws, asset seizure, and capital controls. It is very likely that a key disclosure case will make it to the U.S. Supreme Court where it is far from certain that the Fifth Amendment privilege, as it relates to a refusal to decrypt bitcoin assets, will be universally upheld.
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Interest in BitCoin, Fledgling Electronic Currency, Grows

Jeremy Kirk
2012-09-11

http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/262196/interest_in_bitcoin_fledgling_electronic_currency_grows.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter#tk.rss_news

Anthony Gallippi, CEO of BitPay, has started paying his gardener -- in BitCoins.
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BitPay, a Florida-based company, is seeing rising interest in BitCoin, the fledgling digital currency that is a small, yet interesting wild card challenger to traditional payment systems.
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Still, there are a lot of questions around the future of BitCoin, and its exchange rate has seen wild fluctuations from a high of around $30 to as low as $2. Gallippi admits the situation "is like the wild west right now," and it remains to be seen how governments will craft policy around BitCoin or how financial institutions will deal with a rising competitor.
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BitPay is also in early discussions with three of the top 25 websites ranked by Alexa, which are testing BitPay's systems, he said.

QR code is largest on record, Minecraftian feat spans 7 acres of corn

Rick Burgess
2012-09-11

http://www.techspot.com/news/50115-qr-code-is-largest-on-record-minecraftian-feat-spans-7-acres-of-corn.html

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QR codes have been gaining traction in recent years amongst advertisers and perhaps more interestingly, malware authors. Just recently, BitInstant announced an upcoming, BitCoin-funded credit card which will also include a QR code for identification purposes.
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Sex and Taxes: What the Romney Returns and the Edwards Precedent Say About Political Slush Funds

Bill Allison/sunlight foundation
2012-09-11

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/the-sunlight-foundation/sex-and-taxes_b_1874296.html

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The group further claims that they secured years of Romney's returns, and has offered to sell them to whomever can come up with $1 million in an Internet currency known as bitcoin.
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Though Romney's campaign certainly has enough money to pay the ransom, it's not clear that blackmail is a legitimate campaign expense, and in any case having a million-dollar expenditure in bitcoin currency show up on a campaign finance report could be an even more damaging story than having the returns released. The same disclosure would be required if the Republican National Committee or a Super PAC like Restore Our Future paid the ransom. But suppose a wealthy donor -- an Edward Conard (who tried to use an LLC to anonymously donate $1 million to Restore Our Future) or a Sheldon Adelson (who has devoted a small fortune to supporting Republican candidates) or the Koch Brothers -- decided to pay the ransom. For the sake of argument, let's also assume that they do so without telling the Romney campaign in advance, informing them only after their bitcoin transaction that the matter is taken care of.
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The Sunlight Foundation harnesses the Internet and social Web to shine more light on Congress.

Founded in January 2006, the Sunlight Foundation, a 501 (c)(3) educational organization, supports, develops and deploys new Internet technologies to make information about Congress and the federal government more accessible to the American people. Through its projects and grant-making, Sunlight serves as a catalyst to create greater political transparency and to foster more openness and accountability in government.

Romney Tax Return Theft Likely a Hoax

Teresa Ambord
2012-09-11

http://www.accountingweb.com/article/romney-tax-return-theft-likely-hoax/219825


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And the ransom sought is not $1 million in unmarked bills - the thieves want $1 million in Bitcoins, a hard-to-trace Internet currency.

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Bitcoins?

Bitcoins are a virtual commodity, a form of online currency.

The currency can be traded with other users, used to purchase goods and services where they are accepted, or used to purchase fiat currencies like the US dollar.

The technology involved in Bitcoins allows for instant, irreversible payments that bypass the safeguards of the centralized banking system.

There is no formal dispute resolution service available. Instead, users are expected to verify for themselves the trustworthiness of those they deal with.

The Bitcoin network, which came into existence in early 2009, is not backed by any government-issued currency.

BitPay Exceeds 1,000 Merchants Accepting Bitcoin

2012-09-11

http://pymnts.com/news/businesswire-feed/2012/september/11/bitpay-exceeds-1000-merchants-accepting-bitcoin-20120911005855/


BitPay, Inc., the world leader in bitcoin business solutions, announces it has over 1,000 businesses using its service to accept bitcoin digital currency for purchases.
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As a result of the secretary of the Central Bank of Finland publicizing that bitcoin is legal to use in Finland, many businesses have seized the opportunity to accept bitcoin. Some of the rather unique merchants in Finland include a dentist office, a veggieburger restaurant chain, and a funeral service.
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Bitcoin is ideal for internet payments, because it solves the risk of card-not-present credit card fraud.
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BitPay Signs 1,000 Merchants to Accept Bitcoin Payments
It may be getting easier to buy with Bitcoin.

Brian Browdie
2012-09-11


http://www.americanbanker.com/issues/177_176/bitpay-signs-1000-merchants-to-accept-bitcoin-payments-1052538-1.html

BitPay, an Orlando-based company that helps online merchants accept the digitized currency as payment, said Tuesday more than 1,000 merchants have signed up for its service in the past year.
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BitInstant, a New York-based start-up, told American Banker recently the company plans to introduce a reloadable, pre-paid debit card that will enable users to convert bitcoins to dollars for use wherever MasterCard is accepted.