
Google reportedly testing Apple Pay competitor compatible with bitcoin

Bitcoin price rises by 7%
Bitcoin has reached the point of $239 at 16.00 GMT on Friday, 13th February, according to the Coindesk BPI. The price has grown by 7% since trading opened today.

Australian regulator prohibits Bitcoin company from spreading information about IPO through Chinese Chat
The Australian Securities and Investment Commission has prohibited Bitcoin Group Limited from publishing any statements about a potential IPO on the Australian Security Exchange (ASX) after the company used WeChat to spread the news.

Celebrating Valentine’s Day with bitcoin
Happy couples can use bitcoin to book flights, hotels, spa weekends, buy jewellery, flowers, or virtual gifts. And if there is no one special in your life just yet, bitcoin can help, too.

Ex-Secretary of Treasury Larry Summers discusses bitcoin in a Wall Street speech
Former US Secretary of Treasury Lawrence Summers has praised bitcoin technology in a speech given at the American Museum of Finance on Wall Street in New York. He spelled name of the founder of Bitcoin as “Nakatomi”, but few people noticed, focusing instead on the message of the speech, which attracted the attention of the New York Times Dealbook.

Bit Drop festival in Dominica cancelled for “logistical” reasons
The bitcoin event scheduled for March 14th on the island of Dominica has been cancelled due to the lack of “logistical support”, organizers explained.

MyCoin losses exaggerated in the media, Hong Kong police reveals
MyCoin customers allegedly lost about $8 million and not over $300 million as previously reported by the media. The amended estimate was issued after 43 MyCoin customers had filed reports to the local police on February 11th.

Proposed bill would let New Yorkers pay city fines in bitcoin
A member of the New York City Council is introducing a bill that would allow city residents to pay fees and fines in bitcoins.

Google Play suspends Mycelium for breaking store rules
Mycelium, a bitcoin wallet previously available on the Google Play store, has been blocked. Developers are trying to work out why this happened. Company representatives are asking potential customers in a Reddit thread to download the app directly from the Mycelium website.

Reports indicate bitcoin’s role in the Ukrainian conflict
According to an article in the International Business Times, weapons, ammunition, and information for the civil war in Eastern Ukraine are bought with bitcoin on the dark web.

Airline payment network integrates bitcoin through Bitnet
Universal Air Travel Plan, Inc. (UATP) has agreed a partnership with Bitnet that would allow more than 260 international airlines to accept bitcoin payments.

Hong Kong authorities urge the public to avoid cryptocurrencies after MyCoin crash
The Hong Kong monetary and banking government authority has issued a statement commenting on the disappearance of MyCoin clients’ funds and warning people against using bitcoin.

Coinbase shuts down tipping service to avoid competition with ChangeTip
Coinbase, a bitcoin exchange and wallet, have announced that they will stop supporting their “tipping button”, although, as they claim, it was a popular service. They explained this move by their desire to show support and encouragement to ChangeTip, a competing provider of tipping functionality.

Coinapult believes bitcoin can help Venezuelans
The Panama-based bitcoin company thinks it can help people from countries with poorly performing national currencies.

British market is more problematic than African ones, says BitPesa CEO
BitPesa, a Kenya-based bitcoin remittance service, has raised $1.1 million to develop its services and expand in Africa.

BtStamp is an iPhone app that saves files in the blockchain
Chaoji Li, an independent Chinese developer, has created an iOS app that allows users to save “digests” of important documents in the blockchain. This is not the first attempt to use the public ledger as a kind of cloud storage service – in 2014, BlockSign introduced a similar option.