Lifeboat Foundation

by J.M.P. — The Economist

A GROUP of self-described anarchists, libertarians and Ron Paul supporters fleeing the crumbling world economic system have founded Galt’s Gulch, a community in Chile inspired by Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged”—and with an economy based entirely on Bitcoin. Or that’s the goal, anyway.

“Our farm workers and suppliers still want to get paid in pesos,” Ken Johnson, the project’s founder and managing partner, explains. “But Bitcoin as the John Galt coin? Why shouldn’t it be?”

Continue reading “Bitcoin paradise” »

BANGALORE: Tarun Thadani, the proprietor of a vintage-themed pizza outlet in the posh Worli area of Mumbai, thinks he is making history. On Saturday, his restaurant Kolonial announced that its patrons can pay in bitcoins instead of rupees, thus laying claim to the title of being India’s first eatery to accept the new-age currency. “Right now, people are a bit sceptical about bitcoins, but it’s going to become big. I am testing the waters,” said Thadani, 30, who is a bitcoin owner and a host to several bitcoin meetups at Kolonial.

Continue reading “From eatery to meetup, entrepreneurs increasingly accepting 'bitcoins' in India” »

By Lance Dixon [email protected]

Terence Lee for Tech in Asia

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the country’s central bank, has decided not to intervene on whether businesses can accept Bitcoin as a means of transacting goods and services.

“Whether or not businesses accept bitcoins in exchange for their goods and services is a commercial decision in which MAS does not intervene,” it told Singapore-based Bitcoin trading platform Coin Republic in an email.

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By Mohana Ravindranath — The Washington Post

In May, brothers Guiseppe and Mario Lanzone started a Peruvian food business in Washington, hoping to cash in on the District’s enchantment with food trucks.

Today, the two are betting on another trend: a virtual currency called Bitcoin. The Lanzones decided a few weeks ago they would be accepting Bitcoin, announcing the change in a tweet to their 800 followers.

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By Julie Bort — Business Insider

Here’s an interesting idea: Maybe your company could be raising extra money by using its data center to mine for bitcoins at night.

The thought was half seriously suggested by Jason Langone, director of Federal Sales at a hot Valley startup called Nutanix. He wrote a blog post that explains how it could be done.

When Newport Beach City Council candidate Michael Glenn thinks of freedom, that includes the freedom to choose how to donate — be it with dollar, peso or bitcoin.

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Rob Wile

Online retail outlet Overstock.com will start accepting Bitcoins as early as the end of Q2 2014, according to CEO Patrick Byrne.

They will be the first major online retailer to do so. The news was first reported on newsBTC.

Byrne told us by phone this afternoon that he considers himself a believer in the Austrian economics school, which says fiat currency, like the U.S. dollar, is fundamentally flawed since it is prone to inflation and manipulation. Bitcoin, like gold, is immune to this, since there is a fixed supply.

“Philosophically, we support Bitcion,” he said.

by John Biggs

While the rest of us are messing around with our PayPals and Amazon Payments, some folks in Argentina have created the first crowdfunding platform in America to take Bitcoin.

The platform, called Idea.me focuses primarily on artistic, musical, and retail projects although, as evidenced by the project photos, many campaigns have a philanthropic bent. The platform was “born in Argentina” wrote Pia Giudice and is now in seven countries in Latin America. It is the area’s only regional crowdfunding platform. The platform has seen $750,000 in funding and should be raising $2.4 million in March 2014 in a Series A.

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