Author: Richard Atkins

Richard Atkins is a senior contributor at Tech Insider covering online media, online travel, and video games. Richard has been with Tech Insider covering companies in these industries since 2011 and has authored numerous industry reports, including "Internet Video: Field of Dreams or Nightmare on Elm Street," "The Next Leg of Online Travel," and "Pwned: How Casual Games Changed The Gaming Landscape." Atkins was recognized as the No. 2 stock picker and earnings estimator in the 2011 Financial Times / StarMine Internet & Catalog Retail category and was ranked in the 2010 Wall Street Journal "Best On The Street" for the Leisure Goods & Services category.
Finance, Internet

Bitcoin News: Bitcoin Payment Now Integrated with Social Networking

A new Japan-based wallet service called ‘Ninki’ aims to be a social network for payments, where users build trusted groups who may need to transact on a regular basis or for a common cause. Local charity events, crowdfunding campaigns, small- to medium-sized businesses and international freelancers are among the most likely kinds of user groups, said the company’s lead developer, Benjamin Smith. Users can form groups and share details as easily as they can on popular social networks.

Smith further said “The idea initially came from seeing how difficult it was for people to exchange and scan QR codes, copy and paste addresses, etc. Even for my tech friends. People get lazy and use the same address all the time.” What makes Ninki stand out from other bitcoin wallets is its Contacts list, where users can categorize their contacts depending on their transaction needs.

Ninki, which means ‘popular’ in Japanese, has undergone extensive alpha testing over the past few months and opened in beta to the public last week.

News on Bitcoins

Registering a new account with Ninki generates quite a few keys and codes, so get ready to take secure notes. The software generates a public user name and a 15-word public phrase. These are for others to identify you within the network and so you can perform a secure out-of-bound validation of the user.

At the user dashboard level Ninki’s interface is in plain language and straightforward, with all the encryption and security handled seamlessly in the background. You can search for other users by username and avatar, adding and approving them as desired. For one-off payments, you can also send to a standard bitcoin address.

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Richard Atkins
Finance, Mobile

Top Stock News: Google (NASDAQ GOOG) Buys Jetpac

Google Inc (NASDAQ GOOG) has apparently acquired photo analysis startup Jetpac for an undisclosed sum. Jetpac made the announcement on its site and said it will be removing its apps from Apple Inc (NASDAQ AAPL)’s App Store soon and ending support for them on Sept. 15. The photo analysis technology developed by Jetpac should make a good addition to Google’s offerings. Jetpac is known for … Continue reading Top Stock News: Google (NASDAQ GOOG) Buys Jetpac

Richard Atkins
Analysis, Finance, Internet

Facebook Stock Tests A New Tag: Active Stock FB

Facebook Inc (NASDAQ FB) is testing a new ‘Satire’ tag to help users clearly tell the difference between a genuine news headline and the fake or satirical news stories in their News Feed. Many satirical publications such as The Onion usually come up with almost believable headlines. The headline “Tips for Being an Unarmed Black Man” comes across as genuine to users who don’t apply … Continue reading Facebook Stock Tests A New Tag: Active Stock FB

Richard Atkins
Analysis, Software

US Patent Office Changes Businesses Should be Aware of

The US Patent Office and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an agency of the US Department of Commerce that exists to grant patents for the protection of inventions and to register trademarks. Given the importance of intellectual property protection for all businesses, but especially those in the technology sector, keeping abreast of these past and future changes to the US Patent Office guidelines and processes in … Continue reading US Patent Office Changes Businesses Should be Aware of

Richard Atkins
BioTech, Finance

Biotech Stocks Are A Bargain in Today’s Market

Bargain hunters should focus on biotechs since momentum is clearly on their side. On Wednesday, stocks closed higher, led by the small- and mid-cap sectors. The Nasdaq led all other indices, up 1%, while the S&P 500 rose 0.7% with 7 of 10 sectors advancing, and the Dow industrials gained 0.6%. Retail sales for July were flat, but rather than this being interpreted as a … Continue reading Biotech Stocks Are A Bargain in Today’s Market

Richard Atkins
Finance, Software

Europe Closes In On Taking a Decision Regarding Bitcoin VAT

A recent legal referral in the EU may be inching the region a little closer to more unity on one small element of bitcoin taxation, but it won’t do much to help global confusion on the matter. Cryptocurrencies are so new that few member states have worked out how to interpret the VAT rules for them.

In June, Sweden asked Europe’s highest court, the European Court of Justice (ECJ), whether cryptocurrency exchanges are liable for value-added tax on the fees that they charge for their services. The result could have far-reaching implications for tax in the region.

In Europe, there is a directive on VAT that explains how it should be levied. EU directives are powerful documents, designed as high-level guides that member states can interpret when making their own laws. Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Ireland and Italy haven’t decided whether to charge bitcoin exchanges VAT on the service that they provide. Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, Romania and Slovakia have no regulations on the matter either.

News on Bitcoins

Some states have firm rulings on the matter of VAT for Bitcoins. The UK was among the first, effectively making bitcoin trading exempt from VAT in a ruling published in March. While exchanges and miners are off the hook, though, the UK says that VAT should be charged when goods and services are sold for bitcoin. Denmark has also said that bitcoin trades will be free of VAT.

Several states have taken an opposing view. Estonia made its own decision about VAT on profits from bitcoin exchange services, levying a 20% tax on those trading bitcoins as a service. It is also charging a 10% tax on profits from selling bitcoins. Poland has imposed a 23% VAT on bitcoin mining profits, although its position on bitcoin exchanges isn’t clear.

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Richard Atkins