The first Bitcoin block in support of Bitcoin XT has been mined by Slush Pool; the bitcoin price has plunged over 13% and more top stories for August 19.
First Bitcoin Block in Support of Bitcoin XT Mined
The first Bitcoin block in support of Bitcoin XT has been mined by Slush Pool. As indicted by its version number, the Bitcoin block effectively constitutes a vote for a network wide switch to Bitcoin XT in order to allow for bigger blocks. Once 750 of the newest 1000 blocks on the Bitcoin blockchain are mined with a similar message, Bitcoin XT will switch to allow 8 MB blocks, a number that should double every other year. At press time, this block remains the only block mined in favor of Bitcoin XT.
Bitcoin Price Plunges over 13% to 2-Month Low
The bitcoin price has plunged by more than 13% to US$221, its lowest price since June 5 and within striking distance of 4-month lows. The drop was the steepest for bitcoin since February. The bulk of the losses took place during a “flash crash” lasting less than an hour. At least partially to blame was a larger flash crash on Bitfinex, where prices plummeted to US$162, a loss of 35%, during the period.
Greece to Receive 1,000 Bitcoin ATMs as Trust in Banks ‘Long Gone’
Bitcoin service provider and exchange Cubits has partnered with Greek bitcoin exchange BTCGreece to install 1,000 bitcoin ATMs and help small and medium sized businesses move money.
BTCGreece founder Thanos Marinos told Cointelegraph:
“We are creating the ecosystem of bitcoin and blockchain solutions in the Greek market […] That will include the rollout of 1,000 ATMs and solutions for the e-commerce and tourism industry. Partnering with best of breed companies in the bitcoin space will enable us to provide the Greeks with solutions that will ease the difficulties of the capital controls.”
Bitnet & PAY.ON Partner to Enable Simplified Bitcoin Acceptance for Payment Providers
Bitcoin payments processor Bitnet and PAY.ON, a global provider of payment gateway solutions, have announced a partnership that will enable payment service providers to offer bitcoin as a payment method via PAY.ON’s RESTful API-based payment platform.
Markus Rinderer, PAY.ON CEO and founder, said:
“Enabling cross-border e-commerce has always been a core part of PAY.ON’s offering, so we are delighted to be partnering with Bitnet to further strengthen the global payment options available through our platform.”
Point-of-Sale Company Revel Raises US$13.5m for Asian and European Expansion
Point-of-Sale company Revel Systems has raised US$13.5 million in funding from ROTH Capital Partners. Revel’s platform allows merchants to complete sales – including bitcoin payments - with less investment in infrastructure, and is best known for their iPad Point-of-Sale platform.
ROTH Capital Partners managing director Gordon Fallone said:
“It is unusual to find a company with huge technology leadership and no effective competitors, and Revel’s growth potential and marketing position are amazing.”
CoinWallet Says Bitcoin Stress Test in September Will Create 30-day Backlog
UK-based mining service CoinWallet is gearing up to conduct a stress test of the Bitcoin network in early September. CoinWallet said the test will likely render most standard wallet software worthless and create a nearly 30-day backlog.
A CoinWallet representative said:
“These 20 servers push approximately one transaction per second. The plan is to fill them up to 50-100 Bitcoin in total. In theory, if all things go as planned, we will create a nearly 30-day backlog.”
This will not be the first stress test on the Bitcoin system, but could be the biggest to date.
Chip Chap Releases App that Supports Bitcoin Purchases with Credit Card
Chip Chap, the “e-money converter” app, released a new version that supports worldwide bitcoin purchases via credit card. The beta app for Android allows users to buy bitcoin using the 3-D Secure protocol for Visa and MasterCard credit card transactions. So far, the team has tested transactions in Europe, Russia, and the United States, but users should be able to purchase bitcoin around the world, according to Chip Chap CIO and co-founder Vicent Nos Ripolles.
SEC Sues Brother of GAW Miners CEO amid Investigation
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed suit against a former employee and brother of the CEO of the now-defunct cryptocurrency mining company GAW Miners. Carlos Garza has allegedly refused to comply with a SEC subpoena in connection with its long-running investigation into the mining company and its CEO, Josh Garza. The law enforcement agency is investigating whether GAW violated securities law through the sales of its Hashlet mining products as well as the sales of the cryptocurrency paycoin.