Processing credit cards can eat up a good chunk of businesses' profits. Fees add up quickly, which is one of the reasons why some places still impose minimum purchase amounts for credit card transactions. With this in mind, PayPal has announced that it is offering free mobile card processing through… … Read More
As BitCoins Roll In, The Pirate Bay Adds Support For LiteCoin Donations
For many years it was relatively easy to fund file-sharing sites. There were a number of options available, from advertising and affiliate schemes, to straightforward PayPal-type donations.
While all of these mechanisms still exist today, there has been a tightening of restrictions.
Pressure is being applied to advertisers like never before and outfits such as PayPal are clamping down on payment processing for file-sharing sites. Unless they successfully pass through PayPal’s pre-approval system, facilities can be withdrawn in an instant.
File-hosting sites have suffered a great deal from this new regime too, and the signs are that private torrent sites – who rely heavily on donations – are also feeling the pain. Both are generally unwelcome to do business with PayPal and the signs are that companies such as Mastercard and Visa are also hardening their stances too.
However, as these forces come into play, sites are looking to augment their income by other means and as we’ve seen recently the crypto-currency BitCoin is appearing more regularly on file-sharing sites and services.
More and more VPN and seedbox companies are accepting BitCoin payments and last week The Pirate Bay added their BitCoin link to the site’s main page.
The site has never accepted donations from its users but the decision to add this anonymous chip-in option has turned out well. In just seven days the site has received a total of 174 Bitcoin donation transactions with a value today of around $2,000, a decent amount that could stretch out to more than $100,000 over the next 12 months.
While BitCoin (BTC) is definitely the number one player in the crypto-currency market, there are other options, some of which claim technical improvements over BTC making them more usable on a day to day basis. The Pirate Bay has just added donation support for one such currency – LiteCoin.
LiteCoin is a peer-to-peer currency based on the BitCoin protocol and is the number two player in the market. One LTC is currently worth just over $3.70, a far cry from a single BTC’s value of around $140 at the time of writing.
Nevertheless, according to its creators LiteCoin (LTC) boasts a couple of advantages. Unlike BitCoin, LiteCoin can still be mined on consumer hardware, and where BitCoin transaction times can sit between ten minutes and an hour, LTC takes a couple of minutes.
At the time of writing The Pirate Bay had received 50.6 LTC so getting rich by this mechanism will take a considerable time yet. Still, it’s money they would’ve never had and when added to the BitCoins already coming in it helps to pay the bills.
The question now is that considering the building pressure from authorities and payment processing companies, how long will it take for currencies such as BitCoin and LiteCoin to become a viable means of keeping file-sharing sites alive. Adaption and evolution in response to aggressive market forces isn’t only something that entertainment industry companies have to think about.
Know a torrent or file-sharing related site that accepts BitCoin, LiteCoin or similar currency? Please let us know.
Source: As BitCoins Roll In, The Pirate Bay Adds Support For LiteCoin Donations
Mini PC market heats up with the launch of BeagleBone Black
We’ve seen no shortage of low-powered, low-cost mini PCs hit the market since Raspberry Pi made waves a year ago. The latest entrant is the new BeagleBone Black, a single board computer that packs even more processing power than the system that jumpstarted the entire market. … Read More
US to upgrade nuke arsenal while cutting nonproliferation efforts – report
The planned changes in funding are to be revealed Wednesday when the White House proposes its 2014 federal budget, according to Foreign Policy magazine.Under the proposal, the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) nuclear weapons-related programs would see a roughly 7 percent boost of around $500 million, Foreign Policy quoted anonymous officials as saying. The current budget for these programs stands at more than $7 billion.At the same time, the DOE’s nonproliferation programs would be cut by around 20 percent, or some $460 million, the report said; these programs currently receive $2.45 billion a year.The new spending would reportedly be for an upgrade of older nuclear warheads, and to help fund construction of a uranium processing plant in Tennessee. The modernization program is part of Obama’s deal with Congress as part of the New Start (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) pact with Russia. Lawmakers agreed to back the reduction of the number of nuclear warheads in US arsenals if those remaining in service are upgraded.Much of the reduction in nonproliferation spending would bet cut from a half-complete plant designed to process excess plutonium from decommissioned warheads into fuel for civilian reactors. Other programs aiming at securing loose fissile materials overseas and preventing the illegal trade of WMD technology would also be trimmed.The only category of the DOE’s nonproliferation activities that would see an increase in spending is research and development, in order to finance the development of a satellite-based nuclear detonation sensor, Foreign Policy reported.The proposed changes are due to overall cuts across the federal budget. On top of that, the DOE’s programs reportedly suffered from mismanagement and overspending. The department turned to the Pentagon to cover the cost overruns on its W76 warhead upgrade programs, but received only $3 billion of the $7 billion requested, Foreign Policy said.The 2014 budget proposal is likely to be billions of dollars higher than the spending caps mandated by the 2011 Budget Control Act. It is expected to see strong opposition from lawmakers. The White House and Congress have battled for two years over budgetary issues, and so far have failed to reach common ground.Meanwhile, the Pentagon is struggling to cope with austerity measures by cutting spending not related to active duty troops. The Navy announced Tuesday that it is grounding its renowned Blue Angels precision flying team for the remainder of 2013 show season. The cancellation of 33 shows would save an estimated $28 million. A similar move by the Air Force grounded its Thunderbirds exhibition flying team as of April 1. … Read More
‘Challenging the dollar’: Bitcoin total value top $1 billion
By not being tied to any particular financial institution and independent from world governments, Bitcoin will become a safe haven for anyone trying to save their money from the crippled international banking system, claimed Max Keiser, the host of RT’s Keiser Report.“It is inevitable that Bitcoin will become a multi-trillion dollar enterprise because every other currency in the world is tied to dying central banks that are encumbered with impossible-to-pay debts and bankrupt counter-party risks,” Keiser said.Crypto-currencyBitcoin emerged in 2009 amid the global financial meltdown. The digital currency was created by someone who identified himself as Satoshi Nakamoto. It is based on open-source software, and uses peer-to-peer connections for monetary transactions to avoid centralized authorities.Bitcoin aims to provide safe and secure exchange by verifying transactions with encryption that is used in military and government applications. And unlike bank services, the Bitcoin network is free, except for a voluntary to speed up transaction processing. Bitcoins can be bought for other currencies, virtual or real, and are accepted as payment for goods or services. They can also be won through gambling, received as gifts or donations, or simply ‘mining’ – the process by which new bitcoins are introduced into the system. Bitcoins (BTC) are bought and sold for other currencies at online exchanges. The Japan-based Mt. Gox is the largest of its kind, where BTC have recently traded at an average exchange rate of $90 per bitcoin. Issuance of the currency is completely automated, with 25 new bitcoins generated every 10 minutes; inflation is set to be halved every four years, until a total of 21 million bitcoins is reached. In theory, the currency would not lose its purchasing power unless individuals and businesses refused to use bitcoins.With numerous financial companies already exchanging bitcoins into any of the world’s currencies, the founder of the Swedish Pirate Party, Rick Falkvinge, estimated that Bitcoin could capture between 1 and 10 percent of the global foreign exchange market. This implies that the price of each and every bitcoin would rise to between $100,000 and $1 million, Max Keiser explained.“I have stated that myself,” Keiser said. “I think bitcoin’s price will reach $200,000 per bitcoin before Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway’s stock.”Ten years ago, few predicted that Facebook would have more than 1 billion users worldwide/ By the same token, few today imagine bitcoin could take on the G20 nations, but Keiser believes this may soon take place: “Bitcoin’s valuation, already bigger than many sovereign currencies, will challenge the most-traded currencies today, including the US dollar, the euro, the yen and the renminbi.”Regulatory hand reaches outBecause the virtual currency bypasses authorities and cannot be taxed unless the person deliberately reveals his transactions, the US government and the Treasury Department are seeking to enact stricter regulations and new money-laundering rules. Bitcoins are vulnerable to being stolen by hackers, thieves and fraudsters, though the Bitcoin community has made efforts to curb such crimes. The largest Bitcoin scam reportedly ran in 2012, and was structured like a classic Ponzi scheme. Investors lost at least 200,000 BTC worth $2.2 million at the time, according to the Bitcoin Forums. The high estimate puts the number at 500,000 BTC, or 5 percent of the total number of bitcoins in circulation at the time. The largest Bitcoin hacking heist, in March 2012, robbed the victims of 46,653 BTC ($230,468). The perpetrators exploited a vulnerability in the customer service of Bitcoinica exchange to get access to users’ wallets. Satoshi Nakamoto, who created Bitcoin in 2009, left the system to develop on its own in 2011; his true identity was never revealed. One popular theory among Russian bloggers speculates that Nakamoto is Grigory Perelman, a reclusive Russian mathematician famous for solving the Poincaré conjecture and receiving the Fields Medal – the ‘Nobel prize of math,’ – for the achievement. It is difficult to predict this new policy would play out: Patrick Murck, a legal counsel for the Bitcoin Foundation, a trade group promoting industry standards, said the framework “would be infeasible for many, if not most, members of the Bitcoin community to comply with.”Keiser believes that Bitcoin users and the currency itself have little to worry about, unlike most of Internet startups feeling themselves suddenly vulnerable to government oversight. Bitcoins are not issued by a central body, and rely on a network of verification nodes to regulate transactions; in the future, Bitcoin users may achieve enough political clout to defend itself in traditional arenas.“As Bitcoin’s price increases, the new Bitcoin millionaires and billionaires will use their economic clout to rewrite laws in favor of Bitcoin, the same way banks like JP Morgan or Goldman Sachs lobby government to write laws that favor them,” he explained.Web 3.0?Bitcoin could also offer relief to debt-stricken countries such as Cyprus. “Cyprus was Bitcoin’s ‘come to Jesus’ moment and it’s fitting it happened around the Easter Holiday,” Keiser said.“For millions of people around the world who have been victimized by banksters and their corrupt politician friends, the light bulb went off and they suddenly realized they could save their wealth by parking it in Bitcoin and no government or bankster could stop them.”After the initial rush of interest in the Internet in the mid-1990s, and the follow-up boom of Web 2.0 and the growth of social networking, Bitcoin is the third and “perhaps the most disruptive wave of all,” Keiser said.“This is Web 3.0,” he said. “For me it’s extremely exciting since I pioneered the idea of virtual currencies back in the mid 1990s and have four US patents in my name covering virtual trading and virtual currencies. Most people I talked to back then about these ideas and the possibility that something like Bitcoin could exist didn’t think it was possible. They were wrong.” … Read More
A libertarian nightmare: Bitcoin meets Big Government
What’s not to like about Bitcoin, every libertarian’s favorite crypto-currency?For starters, Bitcoins are as cyberpunk as William Gibson’s wildest dream: a form of monetary exchange invented in 2009 by a mysterious character who called himself “Satoshi Nakamoto” but then disappeared from view after unleashing his virtual currency upon the world. Bitcoins are undeniably cool: marvelously “mined” from the ore of computer processing power and electricity; more ready for prime time than any previous experiment in purely digital money. And Bitcoins, increasingly, are a success. At a Thursday afternoon all-time-high valuation of $72 per Bitcoin, there were around $700 million worth of Bitcoins in circulation. People are using Bitcoins to buy real goods and services, to hedge against European financial calamity, and to score drugs. That’s money.Continue Reading… … Read More
US fund increases investment to Russia
By the end of January 2012 $302 million or 9.9% of the fund’s$300bln assets under management was in the Russian market. Nearlythe same amount $307 million of the fund’s assets were in Mexico.Brazil with $303 million is among the top three. Last January the figures have climbed, taking Russia to firstplace with a total of 16% or $1.1 billion of the fund invested inRussia. Brazil comes next with $1 billion or 15.8% and Mexicoencloses the top three with $786 million or 11.5%. Over the past year TCW Emerging Markets Income Fund sold itsstake in Russian diamond company Alrosa, one of the largest ironore and HBI producers and suppliers Metalloinvest and VimpelComtelecommunications company, and invested in, Gazprom, Gazprom Neft,Gazprombank, Home Credit bank, Nomos-Bank, Russky Standart Bank andSibur gas processing and petrochemicals company. TCW Emerging Markets Income Fund says it invests over 80% ofits net assets in debt securities, issued or guaranteed bycompanies, financial institutions and government agencies inemerging markets. “Investors are confident in the Russian rouble against thegrowing oil prices,” Mikhail Belyavsky, a bond trader at UBSRussia says commenting on the foreign funds’ interest in Russia,Vedomosti daily reports. “The yield of securities, denominatedin roubles, are now higher than in us dollars or euro,” headded. “The rouble is stable now and it pays to keep money inRussia. Many do just that,” Andrey Gritsenko, general directorof Kapital Asset Management agrees as quoted byVedomosti. The US fund is not the first to actively invest in Russianbonds. The Government Pension Fund of Norway has $2.97 billion inRussian government debt securities. The figure has grown 16 foldsince the end of 2011, the Fund’s annual report stated. … Read More
