Category: Bitcoin

By JOHN P. KELLEHER

Bitcoin (BTCUSD) is often referred to as digital currency and as an alternative to central bank-controlled fiat money. However, the latter is valuable because it is issued by a monetary authority and is widely used in an economy. Bitcoin’s network is decentralized, and the cryptocurrency is not used much in retail transactions.

One can argue that Bitcoin’s value is similar to that of precious metals. Both are limited in quantity and have select use cases. Precious metals like gold are used in industrial applications, while Bitcoin’s underlying technology, the blockchain, has some applications across the financial services industries. Bitcoin’s digital provenance means that it might even serve as a medium for retail transactions one day.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Currencies have value because they can function as a store of value and a unit of exchange. They also demonstrate six key attributes to enable their use in an economy.
• The definition of value in a currency has changed over centuries from physical attributes to the velocity of its use in an economy.
• Bitcoin demonstrates some attributes for a currency, but its main source of value lies in its restricted supply and increasing demand.
• If the price of one bitcoin were to reach $514,000, Bitcoin’s market capitalization would reach approximately 15% of the global currency market.

Continue reading… “Why Do Bitcoins Have Value?”

Using a credit card to pay for purchases has negative implications for businesses and consumers. Bitcoin provides a better, alternative payment method.

• By EMMANUEL AWOSIKA

Contrary to some predictions, Bitcoin is quickly becoming an accepted means of conducting transactions. Major companies like online retailer Overstock.com and mobile provider AT&T already allow customers to pay in bitcoin. And the list of businesses accepting bitcoin keeps growing every day. 

On a basic level, this trend proves that bitcoin isn’t a useless virtual currency as critics love to claim, but it also represents something more fundamental: Bitcoin’s potential to replace legacy payment processing systems like Visa and MasterCard. 

Perhaps this may sound far-fetched, but there are plenty of advantages that Bitcoin offers both consumers and merchants. And if you know anything about the creative destruction inherent in capitalist societies, Bitcoin replacing credit cards is only a matter of time. 

Let’s look at the anatomy of credit cards and Bitcoin payments before highlighting the differences between both of them.

Continue reading… “FIVE REASONS BITCOIN WILL REPLACE CREDIT CARDS”

Walmart plans to eventually install 8,000 Bitcoin ATMs in the U.S. and has installed 200 in a pilot program. 

Walmart has partnered with coin-cashing machine company Coinstar and crypto-cash exchange Coinme to install 200 Bitcoin (BTC) ATMs in its stores across the United States. 

Although the pilot includes only 200 kiosks, the broader launch plans to eventually see the installation of 8,000 Bitcoin ATMs across the country, according to Bloomberg. There have been no further details on timelines as of yet. 

According to Coin ATM Radar, there are currently over 25,000 Bitcoin ATMs at select grocery stores and service stations in the United States. Coinstar operates 4,400 kiosks enabled for Bitcoin purchases across 33 states. 

Continue reading… “200 BITCOIN ATMS INSTALLED AT WALMART… WITH PLANS FOR 8,000 IN TOTAL”

It all starts with a 5-pound chromatic sphere called ‘The Orb’

By Lucas Matney@lucasmtny

As investors race to capitalize on surging interest in cryptocurrencies, startups are getting creative in how they onboard a generation of crypto users to their first wallets.

Worldcoin is perhaps one of the most audacious efforts to bribe the world to embrace their currency. The startup, founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Alex Blania, wants to put a crypto wallet (and some of their currency) onto every human’s smartphone, but in order to do so they have to build a way to determine whether someone is a unique human. Worldcoin is aiming to make their proof-of-personhood network in the least dystopian way possible. That being said, it still requires scanning a billion people’s eyeballs with a five-pound chromatic sphere called “The Orb”.

Continue reading… “Sam Altman’s Worldcoin wants to scan eyeballs in exchange for crypto”

The U.S. has launched the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team, an initiative of the Department of Justice (DOJ), to tackle and prosecute “criminal misuses of cryptocurrency, particularly crimes committed by virtual currency exchanges, mixing and tumbling services, and money laundering.” U.S. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said, “The point is to protect consumers.”

Continue reading… “US Launches National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team to Prosecute ‘Criminal Misuses of Cryptocurrency’”

Speaking during a conference call about the firm’s Q2 results, United Wholesale Mortgage CEO Mat Ishbia outlined plans to accept crypto payments this year.

By BRIAN QUARMBY 

United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM), the second-largest United States-based mortgage lender, is planning to accept cryptocurrency payments this year starting with Bitcoin (BTC).

UWM CEO Mat Ishbia revealed the crypto plans on Monday in a conference call regarding the firm’s Q2 results — with the firm posting $138.7 million in net profits for the quarter. 

Continue reading… “Second largest US mortgage lender will accept crypto payments this year”