The National Assembly of Ecuador has effectively banned bitcoin and decentralized digital currencies while establishing guidelines for the creation of a new, state-run currency.

With 91 votes in favor of the amendments to the country’s existing monetary and financial laws, the National Assembly approved a bill that now goes to President Rafael Correa for signature. The law gives the government permission to make payments in ‘electronic money’, but decentralized digital currencies like bitcoin will now be prohibited.

The proposed electronic money is to be backed by the assets of the Banco Central del Ecuador, the nation’s central bank. The National Assembly will oversee the new currency while the central bank will develop and integrate it into the broader financial system. The electronic money will operate in tandem with the US dollar, Ecuador’s official currency, although it is not certain what exchange rate will be established.

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Following the final tally, the National Assembly issued a statement declaring that the new electronic money would offer benefits to both the underbanked and the broader economy, saying : “Electronic money will stimulate the economy, it will be possible to attract more Ecuadorian citizens, especially those who do not have checking or savings accounts and credit cards alone. The electronic currency will be backed by the assets of the Central Bank of Ecuador.”

Prior to the debate on amendments that instituted the decentralized digital currency prohibition, members of the local bitcoin community sought to shape the final outcome. The amendments laid out the legal framework for those who violate the ban, which establishes the power to confiscate bitcoins or similar holdings. Those who operate businesses using prohibited digital currencies face the risk of prosecution as well.

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Following the dogecoin community’s sponsorship of NASCAR driver Josh Wise at Telledega, bitcoin may soon boast its own promotional racer in the iconic US series. Rookie driver Alex Bowman and his team, BK Racing, have announced their involvement in a crowdfunding campaign called ‘Bitcoin23’ that aims to bring a bitcoin-themed car to the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

The campaign kicks off today and runs until 20th August, with the aim to promote bitcoin while supporting the 21-year-old driver. With the support of the bitcoin community, the organisers hope to raise $100,000 for a full sponsorship.

If successful, the team and driver will run the bitcoin-branded car during the Labor Day weekend race at Atlanta Motor Speedway on 29th-31st August.

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“Bitcoin is changing the way people think about how they spend money and pay for things,” said Bowman.”I believe that a technology like bitcoin has a place in the sport. Introducing bitcoin to NASCAR will bring new fans to racing and help drive mainstream adoption.”

Alex Bowman, a native of Tucson, Arizona, started racing at just seven years of age. He made his debut at the national level of NASCAR in 2012, and has since twice won the Nationwide Series pole at Texas. BK Racing is a stock car racing team with a focus on introducing technological innovation to NASCAR. The team competes in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and fields the No. 23 Toyota Camry for Alex Bowman, the No. 26 Camry for Cole Whitt, and the No. 83 Camry for Ryan Truex.

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This week, Latvia’s national airline, airBaltic, confirmed that it is now accepting bitcoin, and that in doing so, it became the first airline that accepts bitcoin directly, rather than through a third party. By becoming the first airline to accept bitcoin, airBaltic has surely stolen a march on everybody else.

This is a positive move for those that want bitcoin to evolve into a mainstream currency that can be used for the purchase of everyday goods and utilities, and it could lead competitors to also offer a bitcoin payment option.

The immediate knock-on effect could be that Expedia will start accepting bitcoin for flight bookings, in addition to hotel bookings that you can already make with the cryptocurrency.

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The Airline airBatic has become the first Airline to allow Bitcoin as a mode of payment. However, airBatic is charging a transaction fee for any payment made through Bitcoin. A processing and handling fee typically is meant to cover costs from processing the payment. So, where in this case there is practically none, it is not clear why this expense still applies.

Surely, the handling of the booking itself would already be accounted for in its salaries and expenses, as this is the main purpose and reason for the business’s existence, so it would seem pretty odd not to have this factored into its costs already. There is no transaction fee when using an airBaltic card, for example, which demonstrates that the main purpose of these fees are deterrents, aimed to encourage customers to avoid other payment methods and to take advantage of the benefits of being an airBaltic cardholder.

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As the Winklevoss twins attempt to get regulatory approval for their bitcoin exchange-traded fund, we now have another fund that revolves around the crypto-currency. According to FINalternatives, Coin Capital Management has launched the new fund. Managing Partner Samuel Cahn said they see the digital currency as “an exciting payment technology.”

The new hedge fund which has been launched, can do buying and holding of bitcoins for clients. This is the first fund to hold the digital currency in “an institutional grade hedge fund using the same types of checks and balances that investors have come to expect,” according to Cahn. A family office is seeding the new hedge fund, which Cahn founded with his brothers Drew and Sigmund Sommer.

Cahn is an attorney who also has worked at the White Bay Group, serving in both an investment management advisory role and as counsel for the firm. He managed Combinations Capital Partners as well. Sigmund Sommer has been investing in, trading and mining bitcoin for years.

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Cahn described their strategy for buying and holding the crypto-currency. He said it’s based on supply and demand. Since there will only ever be a certain amount of bitcoins in existence, the price of the digital currency will rise along with demand.

According to Cahn, the market is “really on the cusp of consumer adoption.” He noted that online retailer Overstock.com decided to start accepting bitcoin as payment starting this year. Also the Federal Election Commission ruled that the digital currency is an acceptable type of currency in which to make contributions to political campaigns.

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Bitcoin wallet and block explorer provider Blockchain has unveiled its latest Android wallet update, announcing the news at The North American Bitcoin Conference (NABC), an ongoing two-day industry event taking place in downtown Chicago.

Bitcoin wallet provider Blockchain.info is releasing a major new version of its Android app, allowing you to store, receive and send bitcoins directly from your Android phone. The key thinking behind the update is to make bitcoin more accessible. It hides the complexity of the protocol in order to encourage mainstream user adoption.

The official launch follows the release of early previews provided by the company in June, a leak that coincided with Blockchain‘s debut of its new customer onboarding tool, Bitcoin.com.

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Blockchain CEO Nicolas Cary framed the announcement as part of a broader update to the company’s wallet service that will find it issuing more news through the summer. Combined, this initiative will help the company better meet the scale that it excepts as more consumers join the bitcoin ecosystem.

“Our Android app has to do with making bitcoin so easy to use that people don’t even have to think about addresses for example,” co-founder and CEO Nicolas Cary told me in a phone interview. “That stuff exists in bitcoin, but just like there are complicated things happening in email, they are hidden.”

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Germany-based digital currency bitcoin ATM and point-of-sale (POS) solution provider BitXatm has announced a new partnership that will find the company shipping 1,000 units to the US in a bid to build the country’s largest bitcoin ATM network.

For the initiative, BitXatm will partner with Los Angeles-based CryptVision, a startup that itself is seeking to build the largest network of bitcoin ATMs around the globe. As part of the deal, CryptVision will become the exclusive provider of BitXatms in the US and Canada.

The announcement follows BitXatm’s May upgrade to its Sumo Pro ATM product, and was issued at The North American Bitcoin Conference (TNABC), a two-day community event being held in downtown Chicago

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Sergey Yesayan, president of CryptVision, framed the move as one that will find the new company moving quickly to gain a foothold in the bitcoin market. “In terms of positioning our products all over the country, we’re planning to have most of them in place by the end of the year, and are looking for location partners in shopping malls, restaurants and night clubs”, he said in a statement.

Yesayan said that the bitcoin ATM units will be available for free to qualified operators, with the qualification process for operators beginning 25th July. CryptVision plans to treat the units as vending machines and manage the associated financial responsibilities and licensing.

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