1. Bitcoin Black Friday Is This Week

Carlo Caraluzzo has been all over Bitcoin Black Friday, having previewed it on Tuesday and reviewed it over the weekend.

“Bitcoin Black Friday has been growing more popular each year, and it promises to double its popularity this hear. Last year, the number of participating merchants reached 600 and Bitcoin sales climbed to US$6 million. That number is expected to increase to 1,200 merchants this year. With the addition of such merchants as Overstock.com, receipts might indeed be impressive.”

Be sure to also check out the comprehensive Bitcoin Black Friday guide for some left over deals.

2. eBay CEO ‘Very Open’ to Bitcoin

On Monday, William Suberg reported that eBay CEO Devin Wenig suggested his company might follow the path of PayPal by adopting Bitcoin payments at some point.

“Both eBay and PayPal are open to [Bitcoin] — PayPal is experimenting with it — and through our relationship we’re likely to do the same. I am very open to it.”

3. If You Bought From Silk Road, Coinalytics May Have You Mapped

On Monday, Amanda B. Johnson reported that Coinanalytics’ transaction mapping may have scooped up Silk Road buyers and possibly jeopardized their anonymity.

“For Bitcoin-paying shoppers who don’t want profiles about themselves built, how to protect privacy then becomes the goal. It creates an even stronger call for tools like the DarkWallet, which is now in alpha version 7. It also calls for good old-fashioned coin mixing (offered by DarkWallet, Blockchain.info wallets and Bitcoin Fog), and never using the same address twice.”

4. Amsterdam Aims to Become Bitcoin Capital of the World

Carlo Caraluzzo reported this week that Dutch startup BitStraat is working with payments company BitPay to turn Amsterdam into a global Bitcoin hub.

"It only makes sense to establish Amsterdam as the global bitcoin capital. The Dutch capital has a history and a name for being technologically ambitious, as well as open minded and forward thinking, in general. A currency for the people [that is] free from centralized control would be a natural fit.”

Cointelegraph also welcomes any and all tulip jokes because, you know, those haven’t grown old.

5. Ferguson Library Stays Open Amid Riots, Now Accepting Bitcoin

The library in Ferguson, Missouri, has begun to accept Bitcoin donations in the wake of rioting following the decision not to indict officer Darren Wilson, who shot dead a local teenager earlier this year, William Suberg reported Wednesday.

Elsewhere

Market activity

The Thanksgiving week in the United States does not appear to have influenced global Bitcoin markets too heavily.

Since the mid-November price spike above US$420, the bitcoin price has hovered pretty much in the US$360–380 range. Last Sunday, the price had a quick jump up from US$363 to US$384, and that turned out to be the high-water mark for the week, though prices did break through US$380 this weekend.

The number of on-blockchain transactions peaked Thursday right at 90,000, and trade volume peaked Wednesday at US$7.8 million.

For now, let’s keep an eye on Cyber Monday deals to see whether that day’s spending puts any pressure, upward or downward, on prices.

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