Bitcoin service provider Xapo has launched a new feature that enables users to purchase bitcoins directly from the company. The company announced the new service, Xapo Deposit, via its blog earlier this week. According to Xapo, users can now send euro and US dollar payments via wire transfer and receive bitcoin in return.

Xapo’s blog post pointed to its bitcoin debit card, wallet and insured vault storage as evidence that it has “come full circle” in offering customers the ability to secure, transact and now acquire bitcoins. Now that Xapo users can reload their accounts without much hassle, it is evident that the company is positioning itself as a one-stop service for bitcoin.

From start to finish, Xapo’s buying process takes just three steps. Firstly, a user must log in to their Xapo account and click the ‘deposit’ button on their wallet homepage. Next, a page will open with all the relevant details for the wire transfer, including a personalised ‘Xapo reference code’. Once the wire transfer has been completed, the user will receive a confirmation email. Xapo claims the funds will arrive in their bitcoin account between two and five days later.

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Fidor Bank has partnered with Xapo to enable the wire transfers, though Xapo representatives have not been contacted to confirm this. Fidor is known for its cryptocurrency-friendly approach, recently becoming the first bank to integrate Ripple’s payment protocol.

Xapo will charge a fee of 1% for this conversion and adds that banks may charge additional fees to wire these funds. With regards to the conversion rate the service uses, Xapo’s website states: “Deposits will be converted using market rates applicable at the time of the conversion (including any third-party fees we are required to pay, which will not exceed 0.3%). Xapo does not guarantee a particular conversion rate.”

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A new study suggests that many consumers remain cautious about the prospect of purchasing or using digital currency. The report was written by the Massachusetts Division of Banks (MDB) in conjunction with the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS), who canvassed more than 1,000 consumers with an online survey that focused on digital currency.

The CSBS, which is a national organization of bank regulators, previously held a hearing on the topic of digital currency in May. The survey data shows that while a slim majority of respondents (51%) have heard of digital currency, 65% stated that they are “unlikely” to ever buy or use a technology like bitcoin.

Eighteen percent of participants indicated that they were “likely” or “very likely” to use a digital currency, and only 3% of those who had heard of bitcoin said they had actually bought some. According to the CSBS, the Emerging Payments Task Force – the organization’s working group that focuses, in part, on bitcoin – will use the data as it continues to develop its policies for digital currency.

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In a statement, the chairman of the task force and Massachusetts Commissioner of Banks David Cotney said that the study fits into the broader research phase currently taking place. He explained: “State regulators welcome innovations that lead to greater choice and lower costs, but we also want to understand any consumer and marketplace risks as we evaluate the overall benefits of virtual currencies.”

Fears regarding security and regulation, as well as concerns regarding the lack of consumer protections afforded in the traditional financial system, were highlighted in the study. Sixty-one percent said that the overall security of their bitcoins would factor significantly into whether or not they used or purchased some, while 43% of study participants stated that bitcoin’s tax status would be a major factor. Forty-eight percent reported that concerns of insurance might stop them from buying bitcoin.

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All 70,000 residents living on the Caribbean nation of Dominica will be eligible to receive bitcoin as part of The Bit Drop project, an upcoming collaboration between bitcoin businesses, interest groups and local government officials. Scheduled to take place on 14th March, 2015, The Bit Drop will feature an island-wide party boasting ‘celebrities, musicians and supporters of bitcoin’, as well as education booths and free giveaways. The event will also coincide with Pi Day, an annual celebration of the mathematical constant π (pi).

Speaking to CoinDesk, project manager Sarah Blincoe suggested the ambitious project started with a simple question – How do you get bitcoin into the hands of as many people as possible? From there, she explained, a plan was launched to distribute an undisclosed amount of bitcoin to island residents via text messaging.

While the event has serious goals, Blincoe said the group decided to adopt a lighthearted tone for the project, adding:”Who doesn’t like a party? No one in the Caribbean, that is for sure.” Project partners include bitcoin wallet and merchant processing provider Coinapult, international non-profit College Cryptocurrency Network, women’s industry group Bitcoin Beauties and bitcoin-friendly insurance provider Aspen Assurance.

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Dominica, with its relatively small population and gross domestic product (GDP), proved an ideal location for the event, according to Blincoe.

The country’s high mobile penetration rates, however, may have been the most compelling factor. Blincoe believes Dominica’s smartphone users will be able to solve real-world problems using bitcoin, adding:”The island has opportunities for remittance due to many islanders moving for work to islands as well as the local medical university with students from around the globe. Dominica citizens also face currency exchange issues when traveling to others nearby islands.”

Data from Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority (ECTEL), a regulatory body overseeing telecommunications in Dominica, bolsters this claim, suggesting there were roughly 100,000 mobile subscriptions active in the country in 2012.

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KnCMiner has become the latest bitcoin company to join the ecosystem’s ongoing debate over how bitcoin prices should be displayed. The Sweden-based bitcoin mining company announced on Twitter today that it will now allow users the option to view bitcoin prices in bits on its KnC Wallet app.

The news plays into a growing debate on how bitcoin’s value should be expressed in order to best appeal to mainstream consumers. The price of bitcoin has increased tremendously since bitcoin was introduced five years ago, and as such, early adopters of the digital currency have had to express its values in much smaller units – millibits, microbits or satoshis, for example. 1 BTC is the equivalent of 1,000,000 bits.

As bitcoin has become more and more prominent in the mainstream, some of its users and advocates believe that having a simpler, more comprehensible and more established representation of value could lower the adoption barrier and help put bitcoin skeptics’ fears of price volatility at ease.

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In early May, Georgia-based payments processor BitPay announced its plan to introduce prices expressed in bits on both its website and for its merchant customers.

Bitcoin developer Jeff Garzik indicated on the BitPay blog that the transition would make displaying prices more intuitive for consumers and users new to bitcoin, saying:”At a higher level, people are more familiar with prices expressed in numbers extending no more than two decimal places […] This assumption is built into cash registers, spreadsheets, amount input dialogs and basic, person-person real-world transactions.”

Coinbase made the same move the following month, announcing its decision in a June blog post. The San Francisco-based bitcoin financial services startup cited its desire to ensure its platform remains user-friendly as a key reason for the move.

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Reaching the millions of unbanked consumers worldwide has long been a goal of the wider bitcoin industry, but to date, it has struggled to gain users outside of more developed countries. Crossing this awareness gap is the driving force behind Piiko, a prepaid mobile phone top-up service that currently serves consumers with select phone plans in more than 100 countries worldwide, including major markets such as the US, China, Brazil and India.

Launched in April as the first product from Dubai-based bitcoin startup Umbrellab, Piiko is part of the company’s larger plans to court consumers by allowing them to harness the power of bitcoin for everyday utility purchases.

Umbrellab co-founders Tarik Kaddoumi and Sergey Yusupov said, “We started with mobile recharge as there was already a necessity, and the market was ripe in terms of the bitcoin community spending on various services and products worldwide. The plan is to extend into other services such as TV, Internet providers and other types of utility and bill payments that can be paid online, but are currently not accepting bitcoin.”

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Despite its founders’ ambitions, Piiko has faced its share of difficulties, which saw the mobile top-up service relaunch just a few weeks ago after a lengthy blackout period.

Kaddoumi and Yusupov indicated that a third party had previously acted on its behalf, serving as the formal legal partner to the cellphone service providers it works with. In June, however, Umbrellab decided it was time to forge these relationships directly in a bid to cut costs.

With this objective complete, Kaddoumi is optimistic that the service will be able to continue to cater to its already dedicated user base.

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The BitGive Foundation announced today that it has become the first nonprofit bitcoin organization to achieve 501(c)(3) status, meaning the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) officially recognizes it as a charitable organisation in the US. This means that any gains made by the foundation will not be taxed, thus directing more money to its supported causes.

BitGive executive director Connie Gallippi told that it is about more than just money, however, “It does give us legitimacy with the US government, which has been a huge struggle for bitcoin as far as businesses are concerned.”

BitGive is dedicated to improving the public health and environment worldwide by giving funds that it raises to various philanthropic organizations and projects. It accepts corporate and individual donations, and counts BitPay, Xapo, LibraTax and Roger Ver among its founding donors.

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Today the foundation also launches two new initiatives: the Founding Donors Campaign and a membership program for individuals. Each is open to donors worldwide.

The new campaign is aimed at one-shot donations from larger groups or companies to help get the foundation’s activity rolling, whereas the membership program is being offered to individuals on an annual basis to support the underlying operations of the organization. Furthermore, in the following year, the foundation plans to offer an annual component to corporations and larger donors.

Gallippi said that the organization’s long-term functionality is to have the equivalent of a multi-million-dollar investment trust, in bitcoin, from which it can give to causes and projects.

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