Two years ago, Zach Harvey and his brother, Josh, were saddled with a failing guitar shop selling vintage and handmade pieces in New Hampshire. On the verge of shutting down the company, the brothers started casting around for a new project to take their minds off the struggling business. Now, they decided to try and solve the problem of buying bitcoin. It was too complicated. … Continue reading Bitcoin News: A Look at Bitcoin’s Physical Interface

Users of iOS devices can now download a decentralized wallet app that connects directly to the bitcoin network, making it different from other server-based products on the market. Breadwallet is the first bitcoin wallet app of its kind on Apple’s platform. Its creator says users are not vulnerable to server downtime or the hacking attacks that sometimes strike centralized providers, and wallet management remains straightforward … Continue reading Bitcoin News: iOS Users Get A “Directly Connected” Bitcoin Wallet App

The number of locally developed, professional bitcoin services launching in Japan recently is a sign of growing acceptance in the country. The latest is a multi-service bitcoin platform called Coincheck, which offers a wallet, exchange and merchant payment system. A new feature aimed directly at the e-commerce industry, called ‘Coincheck for EC’ will launch on 14th September.

Takuro Mizobe, one of Coincheck’s lead engineers, told that the company was in negotiations with several online merchants who had contacted the company, looking for the marketing edge they would potentially gain by accepting bitcoin.

He said: “As you might know, the number of people who have bitcoin hasn’t been scaled in Japan, and they are lacking knowledge of cryptocurrencies. For this reason, [Coincheck’s] all-in-one service and brands are user-friendly and accessible […] Having all of bitcoin ecosystem services in house [is] quite advantageous against competition.”

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Mizobe said Japan’s massive content industry, that includes manga, anime and games, offered enormous opportunities for bitcoin – especially in terms of micropayments. According to a report by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), that industry was worth a whopping ¥12 trillion ($111.3bn) in 2012.

Coincheck’s e-commerce platform has a simple and easy-to-navigate design, and merchants will be able to integrate it directly into their site. Like similar merchant services, it will instantly convert bitcoin to Japanese yen to assuage concerns about volatility. As an introductory offer, Coincheck is waiving some of its usage fees.

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The Spanish government agency that oversees matters of finance and taxation has issued a new ruling stating that bitcoin should be treated as an electronic payment system, a decision that could have a far-ranging impact on Spain’s bitcoin economy.

El Ministerio de Hacienda y Administraciones Públicas issued the ruling in response to questions from Coinffeine, a Spain-based, open-source bitcoin exchange platform. Abanlex, the company’s law firm, had previously reached out to both El Ministerio de Hacienda and the country’s Congress seeking clarity on two issues in April.

With its response, El Ministerio de Hacienda found that bitcoin-based online gambling companies in Spain must now apply for licenses. Further, the ruling, coupled with new statements from Congress, suggests that bitcoin transactions involving a business may be subject to existing laws that impose a cap on cash transactions of €2,500 or more, even when gambling with bitcoin.

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Coinffeine sought clarity from el Ministerio de Hacienda on whether online bets conducted with bitcoin should be considered binding from a legal standpoint. Further, it aimed to solicit a response from Congress as to whether certain financial laws applied to bitcoin.

Coinffeine CTO and co-founder Ximo Guanter told CoinDesk that the rulings represent a significant development in terms of how bitcoin is being regulated globally. “The ‘big-theme’ news here is that Spain is starting to treat bitcoin more like a currency than as an asset, which is the inverse of what the US has done.”

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Sir Richard Branson has revealed further support for bitcoin as a functional, albeit volatile, currency. Asked in an interview with Bloomberg News whether the cryptocurrency will eventually work, the Virgin Group billionaire said that bitcoin is already working.

While Branson admitted that bitcoin remains volatile, he added that this is not necessarily a bad thing. “It is quite volatile, but in volatility people can make money,” he said. “I think it is working. There will be other currencies like it that may be even better, but in the meantime there’s a big industry around bitcoin. You know, people have made fortunes out of bitcoin, some people have lost money out of bitcoin.”

The entrepreneur also reflected on Virgin Galactic’s decision to start accepting bitcoin payments last November: “I am not foolish, if people have got lots of bitcoins and they want to go to space, I would much rather they spend that money on our spaceship […] a Virgin Galactic spaceship than on, you know […] Elon [Musk] will be sending people to space one day on Elon’s spaceships, so we’ll grab the money while it’s there.”

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Virgin Galactic has been testing much of its hardware in recent months, but Branson admits building the infrastructure for commercial spaceflights has been hard. He told Bloomberg that Virgin’s rockets are still undergoing flight tests, but the rest of the infrastructure is already ready.

“Early next year we will finally be up and away,” said Branson. Virgin’s goal is to fly tourists to space in suborbital flights, using its SpaceShipTwo craft. In addition to Virgin Galactic’s decision to accept bitcoin payments, Branson has also made his mark in the wider bitcoin industry by investing in BitPay.

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