bitcoin – News Stories About bitcoin - Page 7

Reporter Unmasks
the 'Father of Bitcoin'

Mar 6, 2014 11:46 AM CST

Reporter Unmasks the 'Father of Bitcoin'

Leah McGrath Goodman: Satoshi Nakamoto is ... 64-year-old Satoshi Nakamoto

(Newser) - Satoshi Nakamoto: It's the name of the "father of Bitcoin," and it's been rumored to be everything from a pseudonym to a cipher. According to investigative journalist Leah McGrath Goodman, Satoshi Nakamoto is ... Satoshi Nakamoto, a 64-year-old Japanese-American man with an estimated $400 million Bitcoin fortune...

Bitcoin Firm CEO Dead
in Suspected Suicide

Mar 6, 2014 6:33 AM CST

Bitcoin Firm CEO Dead in Suspected Suicide

American Autumn Radtke found dead in Singapore

(Newser) - Police in Singapore are probing what they call the "unnatural death" of an American woman who ran a firm dealing in bitcoins and other virtual currencies. Autumn Radtke, 28, was found dead in her apartment in what local media say was a suicide, reports the New York Post. Officials...

Winklevoss Twins Going
to Space, Via Bitcoins

Mar 5, 2014 4:05 PM CST

Winklevoss Twins Going to Space, Via Bitcoins

They use their go-to currency to book on Virgin Galactic

(Newser) - Virgin Galactic has signed up two more high-profile passengers to space: the Winklevoss twins of Facebook fame. In a blog post , Tyler wrote that he and Cameron had paid for their tickets using their favorite currency—bitcoins.

Tyler's take: "It is in this vein that Cameron and

...

Mt. Gox Goes Bankrupt

Feb 28, 2014 7:29 AM CST

Mt. Gox Goes Bankrupt

Company says it lost 750K of customers' bitcoins

(Newser) - Mt. Gox is filing for bankruptcy protection, CEO Mark Karpeles announced at a press conference today, saying the bank may have lost 750,000 of its customers' bitcoins ("essentially all of them," reports the New York Times ), along more than 100,000 of its own. At current...

Bitcoin Is Doomed;
Long Live Bitcoin

OPINION

Feb 26, 2014 1:08 PM CST

Bitcoin Is Doomed; Long Live Bitcoin

Most think the currency will survive this body blow

(Newser) - Will Bitcoin survive? USA Today talks to a slew of experts and finds a general consensus that, yes, the currency will bounce back after the collapse of its largest exchange . "The Internet didn't die when the dot.com bubble popped," says one expert who works with Bitcoin...

Report: Feds
Subpoena Mt. Gox

Feb 26, 2014 7:42 AM CST

Report: Feds Subpoena Mt. Gox

Japan also promises to investigate

(Newser) - Federal prosecutors in New York have sent a subpoena to Mt. Gox, the once-mighty bitcoin exchange that vanished yesterday , the Wall Street Journal reports. Prosecutors demanded that the site preserve certain documents, a source said. Mt. Gox is based out of Tokyo, but if its employees sent emails or financial...

Key Bitcoin Exchange Implodes, Basically Vanishes

Key Bitcoin Exchange
Basically Vanishes

Feb 25, 2014 7:56 AM CST

Key Bitcoin Exchange Basically Vanishes

Document suggests Mt. Gox, now offline, experienced major theft

(Newser) - Things have gone from bad to abysmal at Mt. Gox, long the largest and most popular Bitcoin exchange: Its CEO on Sunday resigned from the board of the Bitcoin Foundation; a day later the exchange deleted all of its tweets and went offline, displaying only a blank page, as an...

US Gets First Bitcoin ATM

Feb 20, 2014 3:45 PM CST

US Gets First Bitcoin ATM

Machine in Austin will exchange the currency for cash

(Newser) - In Austin today, organizers were set to launch the country's first Bitcoin ATM. Similar machines in Boston and Albuquerque allow cash to be exchanged for Bitcoins—but this one also allows the digital currency to be exchanged for cash (although withdrawing cash can take as long as 10 minutes,...

Bitcoin World Rattled
by Exchange Glitch

Feb 11, 2014 9:49 AM CST

Bitcoin World Rattled by Exchange Glitch

Mt. Gox has suspended withdrawals since Friday

(Newser) - Bitcoin's value was reeling yesterday amid suspension of withdrawals at a key exchange called Mt. Gox. That marketplace reported "unusual activity," suggesting the problem could be due to "a bug in the Bitcoin software." Mt. Gox said yesterday it would continue to prevent withdrawals, a...

CEO of Bitcoin
Exchange Arrested

Jan 27, 2014 12:29 PM CST

CEO of Bitcoin Exchange Arrested

Charlie Shrem charged with money laundering in connection with Silk Road

(Newser) - A high-profile arrest in the world of Bitcoin: BitInstant CEO Charlie Shrem, 24, has been arrested and charged with money laundering; the same goes for alleged co-conspirator and "underground Bitcoin exchanger" Robert Faiella (aka BTCKing). Authorities say the two schemed to sell more than $1 million of Bitcoin to...

Is the Dread Pirate Roberts
Really Ross Ulbricht?

Jan 20, 2014 11:21 AM CST

Is the Dread Pirate Roberts Really Ross Ulbricht?

David Segal delves into the case of the alleged Silk Road mastermind

(Newser) - Oct. 1, 2013, brought the news that the FBI had taken down Silk Road, and with it the online drug marketplace's alleged mastermind, "Dread Pirate Roberts"—a man the FBI claims is actually Ross Ulbricht, an "ordinary nerd" who allegedly ordered hits to protect his operation....

Big Online
Shopping First:
Overstock.com
to Take Bitcoin

Jan 10, 2014 12:13 AM CST

Big Online Shopping First: Overstock.com to Take Bitcoin

Overstock.com gives digital currency a boost

(Newser) - Overstock.com has become the first major online retailer to accept Bitcoin, meaning users of the digital currency can now use it for one-stop shopping for everything from lawn chairs to laptops. Chief exec Patrick Byrne says he "believes in limited government, and the controversial currency "attracts me...

Krugman:
Bitcoin Is
Barbaric

OPINION

Dec 23, 2013 12:48 PM CST

Krugman: Bitcoin Is Barbaric

We're 'digging our way back to the 17th century'

(Newser) - Economist John Maynard Keynes called gold the "barbarous relic"—and it has a lot in common with Bitcoin, writes Paul Krugman in the New York Times . Right now, both are being collected at high cost. In Papua New Guinea, the Porgera open-pit gold mine is a leading producer...

The FBI Has More Bitcoins Than the Winklevoss Twins

Dec 19, 2013 12:07 PM CST

The FBI Has More Bitcoins Than the Winklevoss Twins

The US government's wallet is the biggest in the world

(Newser) - The biggest Bitcoin wallet in the world appears to belong to … the FBI? Yes, thanks to its takedown of Silk Road , the Bureau now holds a wallet with 144,000 Bitcoins, Wired reports, which as of this writing is worth somewhere around $100 million. While the Bitcoin market is...

Bitcoin Plummets
in China Amid Ban

Dec 18, 2013 10:37 AM CST

Bitcoin Plummets in China Amid Ban

Central bank: It's not a real currency

(Newser) - On Monday, China's central bank told top Chinese payment-processing firms they could no longer deal in digital currencies; two days later, the country's top Bitcoin exchange, BTC China, has now had to stop taking deposits in China's currency, the renminbi. Now, the value of bitcoin in the...

Vegas Mansion
Could Go for
$8M—in Bitcoin

Dec 14, 2013 4:15 PM CST

Vegas Mansion Could Go for $8M—in Bitcoin

Plan adds 'some notoriety' to offer: developer

(Newser) - A casino owner-turned-commercial developer is asking $7.85 million to sell a Las Vegas home, and he's willing to accept the online currency bitcoin for the deal. Jack Sommer says he got the idea to seek bitcoin for his 25,000-square-foot mansion from two of his sons, who've...

Tesla Model S Sells
—for 91.4 Bitcoins

Dec 6, 2013 10:07 AM CST

Tesla Model S Sells —for 91.4 Bitcoins

Plus a police chief is now getting paid in the virtual currency

(Newser) - Bitcoin continues to inch toward the mainstream: First a university offered students the option of paying tuition in the digital currency ; now a Newport Beach Lamborghini dealer has opened its doors to Bitcoin business. This week it sold a pre-owned Tesla Model S for 91.4 Bitcoins, delivered via Bitpay...

Bitcoin Scammer May Have Stolen $100M

Dec 4, 2013 12:24 PM CST

Bitcoin Scammer May Have Stolen $100M

Users of underground bazaar are trying to track their money

(Newser) - At this point, it's one of the largest thefts in history—and one of the most convoluted. Some person, or group, apparently made off with 96,000 Bitcoins worth a staggering $100 million, reports the Verge . The Bitcoins came from users of the underground bazaar called Sheep Marketplace, one...

$7.5M Bitcoin Fortune
Buried in Landfill

$7.5M Bitcoin Fortune Buried in Landfill

James Howells accidentally tossed a crucial hard drive over the summer

(Newser) - Sitting beneath about four feet of garbage in an area of a Welsh landfill the size of a football field sits a fortune—in the form of a computer hard drive that James Howells threw out this summer while cleaning up his workspace. On it: the cryptographic "private key"...

Bitcoins Soar to
Major Milestone

Nov 27, 2013 12:50 PM CST

Bitcoins Soar to Major Milestone

Digital currency crosses $1K-mark

(Newser) - Bitcoins reached a major milestone today, with a single coin now worth more than $1,000—which is pretty impressive, given that they started the month just a bit north of $200, the Washington Post points out. Bitcoin has soared to these heights in part thanks to praise from the...