Hillary Clinton has not followed in Rand Paul's footsteps to accept bitcoin donations; BTCGAW.com is accused of fraud and intimidation; Filipino start-up Satoshi Citadel moves to consolidate its domestic position in the BTC market and more top news stories for April 13.
Hilary Clinton won't be accepting bitcoin for her US$2.5 billion American election bid
In contrast to her Republican rival Rand Paul, election hopeful Hillary Clinton will not be accepting bitcoin donations to her election war chest. With estimates to the cost of campaigning being placed as high as US$2.5 billion, accepting funds in any form may appear desirable, but for now the newly announced Clinton campaign has not opened their fund to digital currency donations.
Hillary Clinton is not following Rand Paul's lead and accepting bitcoin for campaign contributions. Point, Paul (for bitcoiners at least)
— Barry Silbert (@barrysilbert) April 12, 2015
BTCGAW.com gets reported to the FBI over bitcoin purchasing scam and intimidation tactics
After offering users a chance to sell their bitcoins at a rate 11% above the consensus blockchain price, BTCGAW.com has been reported to the FBI for suspected fraud, and subsequent intimidation tactics against its accusers. Following accusations of threatening whistleblowers with DDOS attacks, planting stolen credit card numbers, and child pornography, the charges against the company now look to be much more serious than the initial wire fraud.
“I hopped on live chat, where the 'operator' threatened to DDoS me for ‘100 days’ and ‘make orders to get you arrested’ if I expose their scam on reddit/bitcointalk. He actually did DDoS my IP, but I just reset my router and hopped on a VPN in a few minutes.”
Filipino start-up Satoshi Citadel acquires domestic exchange BuyBitcoin.ph
Adding to a roster that already includes an order-book style exchange, and a remittance service, Satoshi Citadel has acquired the “over the counter” Philippine exchange BuyBitcoin.ph. The team describes the move in terms of rounding-out the company's offering to the BTC community in the Philippines. John Bailon, CEO of SCI:
“This acquisition brings us closer to our goal of completing the Bitcoin ecosystem in the Philippines. BuyBitcoin.ph is a great first-touch product for consumers, and even more valuable is the addition of great minds in Sam, James, and Lasse.”
Veritas seeks to abstract intellectual property and embed in on the blockchain
Announcing its presale, Veritas is seeking to become a marketplace for intellectual property, goods, shares, and services, all traded through their own Veritas coins. Calling it a “commodity of capability” the start-up is offering some of its 21 million coin cap at a discounted price to early investors who can then later invest these coins in commercial offerings on the platform.
“Veritas are pure bitcoin-based tokens powering the Next Generation Veritaseum Value Trading System. These tokens will be offered via a "pre sale" for loyal followers of Veritaseum (formerly known as Reggie Middleton's UltraCoin) and represent pre-paid advisory/consultancy services for the use of the Veritaseum Value Trading System.”
Wall Street Journal says charities increasingly seeking bitcoin donations
Fundraising is one of the core tasks any charity must undertake, often taking priority over their actual field work and influence, and now an increasing number are turning to bitcoin to widen their intake. Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, a group of major charities have been outlining a desire to remain current and to tap a whole new pool of possible donors. Ettore Rossetti, director, social media and digital marketing at Save the Children, says:
“Among the charities soliciting donations from bitcoin users are Save the Children, an aid agency that receives hundreds of millions of dollars in donations every year, American Red Cross and Greenpeace. “There is a sense that this is growing in acceptance in the nonprofit sector.”
Bicoin themed virtual slot machine planned to debut at Prague Bitcoin Conference
Czech Republic based software house Endorphina has announced it will be releasing a Bitcoin themed virtual slot-machine game. Keeping further details under-wraps, the team is planning to release the new game at the Prague Bitcoin Conference where casino owners will be able to buy the slot game for their online casinos. Jan Urbanec, business development manager of Endorphina, said:
“We are working on an innovative product with better features, graphics and sound. Our entire team is very excited about the new game to be released. Whereas bitcoin casino is no news to the industry, our new bitcoin themed slot is something no one has ever done before.”
SFX.IO takes aim at becoming the bitcoin friendly alternative to Bandcamp
Accepting bitcoin subscriptions from fans, the SFX.IO service aims to become a revenue stream for emerging musicians by creating a regular payments model to keep them financially afloat. Free-to-use from a listener perspective, the music sharing platform's users can then subscribe or tip artists they are enjoying to encourage more musical output.
“The website aims at creating more full-time musicians and inspiring people to quit their boring jobs for the sake of composing. From the late 2014, tipping through bitcoin tip jar became available, which the sfx.io team called — ‘evolving into a bitcoin-based bandcamp’ on Twitter this year.”
Jon Matonis to join bitcoin market trading platform First Global Credit
Joining the board as a non-executive director, Jon Mantonis who used to sit as Executive Director of the Bitcoin Foundation, is joining the First Global Credit team. The company seeks to expand the use of bitcoin by offering users the chance to use their BTC as collateral for trading positions on international markets. Matonis:
"The Bitcoin market is at a pivotal stage in its development. Having been adopted as a transaction currency by many, the next necessary step in Bitcoin's evolution is to prove itself as a true investment vehicle, an instrument with a fully functioning Capital Market.”
Xapo partners with Cevo and Leet to form bitcoin powered competitive gaming platform
The popular bitcoin debit card provider Xapo has teamed up with competitive gaming system Cevo and smaller bitcoin gaming platform Leet to create a large BTC powered gaming ecosystem. Users will be able to earn the digital currency through winning contests and battles, blurring the line between casual and competitive gaming.
“CEVO & Xapo have partnered to bring exclusive programs and events to the CEVO Community. Together, we're giving away $21,000 in bitcoins to our loyal fans”
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