BITCOIN
1 Bitcoin = $705
Wall Street
We’re three to six months away from Wall Street dollars moving into Bitcoin in a big way. In the near term the price volatility is only going to get worse. We haven’t seen anything yet.
Once Wall Street starts putting money into Bitcoin — we’re talking about hundreds of millions, billions of dollars moving in — it’s going to have a pretty dramatic effect on the price – Barry Silbert
Proof of Existence
http://www.proofofexistence.com is an amazing example of the interesting ways people will use the Bitcoin blockchain for more than just money – Roger Ver
ALT-COINS
How does one differentiate between the 40 odd coins out there?
Easy: ignore 39 of them. Pay attention to the one with $10bn monetary base. Transaction volume for almost all the alt-coins is zero. Only one being used in commerce – Andreas Antonopoulos
Bankcoin / Govcoin
The idea that a bank-alt-coin could displace bitcoin is laughable. It fundamentally misunderstands scale, innovation & de-centralization. Let banks and govts make alt-coins. “Innovation at the edge” in a de-centralized network will always win. ATM/SONNET vs. TCP/IP – Andreas Antonopoulos
COMPANIES & SERVICES
Coinbase’s Record $25 mill VC Funding
Coinbase’s user base has grown fast. It hit 300,000 users in mid-October and now has 600,000 accounts. The goal of the new $25 million round of funding is to help Coinbase scale more quickly to keep up with that user growth.
“This funding solidifies our position as the largest and fastest growing Bitcoin service in the U.S,” the company wrote in a blog post on Thursday. “We plan to use the funds to expand our team, continue to educate the market, and promote the mainstream adoption of Bitcoin.” – Seth Fiegerman
How Snapchat Plans to Make Money
Advertising. The average active Snapchat user, of which there are likely already 10s of millions, receives an estimated 20-50 “snaps” per day. Snapchat has already experimented with mixing in one video or photo advertisement in every 20-30 snaps. Advertisers are jazzed about this, because Snapchat allows them to reach a coveted demographic (teenagers) that they have trouble reaching anywhere else, including via Facebook. What’s more, Snapchat’s users don’t care about seeing the occasional ad, especially if it’s from a brand they like or think is cool. So the Snapchat advertising opportunity seems real.
Virtual goods. New app-based messaging companies like Japan-based Line are already coining money by allowing users to pay modest amounts for the right to send things like emoticons or copyrighted characters to each other, as well as to send each other “virtual gifts.” Users might pay 50 cents or $1 for these, or buy a pack of them for $5. Given the size of Snapchat’s current user base, not to mention its future growth opportunity, successful virtual sales like these could get big in a hurry.
PRIVACY
Bitcoin Wallets
DarkWallet, Electrum and Hive are seeking to work together in creating a unified offering – Jonathan Waller
PLACES
Cyprus
We’ve made a proposal to the Cyprus government to convert Cyprus into a worldwide hub for Bitcoin. As a country we don’t really export anything. But now we have a once in a lifetime opportunity with Bitcoin to convert the Cypriot economy into in a hub for worldwide trading, payment systems, and banking (based on Bitcoin) – Dr. Christos Vlachos, CFO of the University of Nicosia
Wenzhou
Early this month, Chinese media began reporting that investors from Wenzhou, the east coastal city known for its entrepreneurial and speculative zeal, were piling into bitcoin.
Wenzhou’s famously tight-knit, business-savvy global diaspora has given rise to the adage “Wherever there’s a market, there are Wenzhou people” and offers Wenzhou investors ready access to foreign currency – Gabriel Wildau
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