Most Bitcoin news are coming from BitPay and they don’t stop to surprise us. They announced their new API which allows employers to pay their employees with Bitcoins on a recurring basis. It worth to mention that only the net salary is paid in Bitcoins. It is amazing how far the Bitcoin has come in the last few months and this is just the beginning, it is going to be very huge soon. This also solves the problem of how and where to buy Bitcoins, you get them as a salary or a part of it. BitPay is the leading payment processor for Bitcoin and other digital currencies. They are now adding around 1000 new merchants per week. I dream of the day that it will be possible to buy almost anything with Bitcoins, use it in everyday life and not have to convert it to fiat.
Private Jet Service accepts Bitcoin
I was minutes ago since I wrote the last blog post about Bitcoin acceptance and I stumbled upon a new article about Bitcoin which is very interesting. A private jet service announced that they are accepting Bitcoin as payment for their service. PrivateFly.com is not for everyone since their target is big pockets and this move shows that everyone is endorsing Bitcoin. It was requested by their customers which means that people want to spend their Bitcoins to buy stuff and services and not just hold them as an investment. You choose your flight and when you are prompted to pay choose Bitcoin as the preferable payment option. This is another collaboration with BitPay which shows that it is the most active Bitcoin payment processor.
Adult companies are accepting Bitcoin
There are many news about adult companies that started accepting Bitcoin so instead of creating one post per each I decided to write only one post. There is movement in Bitcoin community and they try hard to make Bitcoin wide accepted and so far 2014 looks very promising. Porn.com, one of the biggest adult websites accepts Bitcoin as payment. It is not the first website with adult content that accepts Bitcoin but it is the largest one and it is very good news for both Bitcoin and its users. Instead of giving your Paypal account or credit card number you can pay with an anonymous Bitcoin wallet.
University of Nicosia is accepting Bitcoin Payments
Before Zynga and Overstock a university announced that it will accept Bitcoin payments, University of Nicosia in Cyprus. Now you can spend Bitcoins in university, you can send your children to study and pay with Bitcoins. They are accepting Bitcoin for tuition and also other fees. They do the same for all the University of Nicosia system including a college (Intercollege), Erasmus programs and professional training division. Early and middle adopters will love this and for me this is very big news.
Overstock started accepting Bitcoins
Few days ago we released the news that overstock.com will accept Bitcoin, the digital currency that will change the world. They were estimating to accept it later this year but they couldn’t wait that long and they already accepting it. After Zynga that is testing Bitcoin as an alternative payment now Ovestock is, the price is going to skyrocket soon so buy now that it is still cheap and you will be able to buy more stuff with the same amount of Bitcoins. The price for each Bitcoin is now around $900 buy few weeks ago it was $1200 and it will probably go to that level soon and in few months even higher (personal estimation).
Zynga to accept Bitcoins
Zynga is testing its Bitcoin payment method using BitPay in order to accept Bitcoins as payment in their games. I am sure you know at least one of Zynga’s games such as FarmVille 2 and CityVille. It is the first major gaming company that accepts Bitcoin and this shows the acceptance of Bitcoin by companies non related to Bitcoin. BitPay want to become the PayPal of Bitcoin and so far they are doing well. Based on such news, like Overstock and Zynga, and the rest that will follow, 2014 will be a very good year for Bitcoin and we will see its value reach new high.
Overstock.com plans to accept Bitcoin in 2014
Overstock.com is a very big retailer and CEO told to The Financial Times that they plan to accept Bitcoin as a payment in 2014. After the announcement, the shares of the company jumped 7.77% in one day. They plan to be the first major online retailer that will accept Bitcoin but this will not happen until the second half of 2014. When this will happen the Bitcoin prices will jump to a new high and it will be more popular than it is now. Charities and several websites accept Bitcoin for donations and it looks like the digital currency gains more popularity every day.
Extract RSA keys using only computer sound
Israeli security researches at Tel Aviv University have published a paper called “RSA Key Extraction via Low-Bandwidth Acoustic Cryptanalysis”. They claim that they can extract keys used in 4096-RSA, one of the most secure encryption algorithms, by capturing the sound generated by CPU during decryption. The microphone can be a mobile phone placed very close to the PC or a sensitive microphone placed 4 meters away. One of the researchers is Adi Shamir who is the S in RSA and he co-invented the RSA encryption algorithm.
Best coin ever spent
There are times when you spend money on something and you say it was money well spent. When I watched this video I was happily surprised, that is really the best coin ever spent. There is a street musician and when a little girl puts a coin in his hat then the magic begins and everyone around is watching and listening this amazing show. I don’t want to ruin it with more words, just watch the video and enjoy the show.
Bitcoin Talk has been hacked
One of the most famous forums about Bitcoin has been hacked and defaced by a group of hackers called “The Hole Seekers” to make profit. They say that they have the database which contains information for around 150000 users. The passwords were encrypted with SHA256 which is the same hash algorithm Bitcoin uses. Hackers are selling the database for 25 Bitcoins which is currently about $3000. Site owner on the other hand gives 50 Bitcoins (~$6000) to the first that will find the security hole. Attackers can get that instead or get greedy and receive both rewards. If you had account on Bicoin Talk and you used the same password in an exchange site it is strongly advised to change it or be prepared to loose your money. Bitcoin Talk source code is publicly available so if you can find the security hole you can make a quick profit.