Blog post: The Rise of Bitcoin

Back in March 2013, Bitcoin reached an all-time trading high of more than £21. At that time, this was seen as a major development for the alternative currency which was launched in 2009, largely unnoticed outside the crypto-currency world. Since then, the situation has changed dramatically. What was seen as hype in March has now developed into a frenzy.

By the beginning of April, one Bitcoin was already worth £150. And since a US Senate committee hearing in November backed Bitcoin as a legitimate financial service, its value really took off: following a peak of £755 on 5 December, it is currently trading at around £550.

Why has Bitcoin some attractive so quickly? How exactly does Bitcoin work? And how do regulators see the currency? Here are some facts which describe what Bitcoin is - and what it’s not.

Published 13 December 2013 on entrepreneurcountry.com, read the full article here: http://www.entrepreneurcountry.com/united-kingdom/item/the-rise-of-bitcoin

Blog post: Perception is bitcoin’s biggest battle

Along with the general media attention bitcoin has attracted in recent months, there’s been much talk about whether bitcoin is merely a tool for financial speculation … or is a currency as real as any other, capable of being used to buy and sell goods, as well as for investment purposes.The media frenzy accompanying the bitcoin roller-coaster of late has resulted in a surge of demand. Transaction volumes are steadily increasing and more online outlets now accept bitcoin payments. Consequently, players in the bitcoin ecosystem have fared well: With $120 million (US) in trading volumes in March 2013 (as reported by Mt.Gox, the largest bitcoin exchange) and a trade commission of 0.6 percent, this equates to revenues of around $1 million per month.With low operating costs, that means substantial profits. This has led some to speculate that the bitcoin marketplace could create billion-dollar businesses. Even if this might be exaggerated, bitcoin – and bitcoin exchanges in particular – could in fact become attractive investments for venture capital firms at some point.


Published 8 May 2013 on coindesk.com, read the full article here: http://www.coindesk.com/how-investment-worthy-can-bitcoin-be/

Blog post: 7 things you thought you knew about Bitcoin (but that are wrong)

Bitcoin has made headlines again yesterday, reaching an all-time trading high of more than £21. This is a significant development for the fairly new alternative currency, which started at Zero in 2009. Bitcoins has slowly and quietly become a global phenomenon which is featured prominently in the media, and has started to attract the special attention of global regulators.

So how exactly does Bitcoin work? Here are seven myths which describe what Bitcoin is, and – more importantly – what it not is.

Published 01 March 2013 on whiteboardmag.com, read the full article here: http://www.whiteboardmag.com/7-things-you-thought-you-knew-about-bitcoin-but-that-are-wrong/

Blog post: Twitter & American Express introduce “pay with a tweet”: the future of e-commerce?

The announcement that Twitter now offers a fully integrated payments service on its platform via American Express doesn’t come as a real surprise. The logical extension of both companies’ existing collaboration just makes sense, and is in fact good news.

The US card mogul started integrating with major social networks a while ago, including Facebook and Twitter. Amex’ Twitter Sync already allows customers to be eligible for discount deals when they tweet special offer #hashtags. To enable that service, users have to connect their Twitter account to their Amex credit card account.

Published 12 February 2013, read the full article here: http://www.whiteboardmag.com/twitter-is-now-offering-pay-with-a-tweet-for-real-what-that-means/

Blog post: Amazon Coins proves that virtual currencies (real threat or not) are here to stay

Amazon’s announced today that it will launch Amazon Coins in May 2013. Clients will be able to purchase apps on Kindle Fire with Amazon’s proprietary virtual currency. Amazon Coins, which are planned to be launched in May, will be pegged to the US dollar and can be bought using existing Amazon accounts.It’s a move that breathes new life into virtual currencies. At last, as some may say who believe that an alternative money system will make commercial transactions easier and smoother.

Published 6 February 2013, read the full article here: http://www.whiteboardmag.com/amazon-coins-proves-that-virtual-currencies-real-threat-or-not-are-here-to-stay/

Mention: Top 10 influencers in European emerging payments

I am mentioned as one of the top 10 influencers in European emerging payments by Terrapinn.

Published 4 January 2013, read the full article here: (Archived)

http://blogs.terrapinn.com/total-payments/2013/01/04/top-10-influencers-european-emerging-payments/

Blog post: Digital Currencies: No Threat to Their Real Counterparts - Yet, PYMNTS.COM

There has been much speculation about the fate of the Euro over recent months. Maybe a bit too much as it is difficult to predict (and tiring to hear) what will or will not happen to a currency which is still in its youth, in historical terms. These recent developments in the currency arena however have prompted a renewed focus on alternative currencies, so let’s take a look at these – their future may be easier to predict too, after all.

Published 24 April 2012, read the full article here:

https://www.pymnts.com/news/2012/digital-currencies-no-threat-to-their-real-counterparts-yet/

Shake your moneymaker

Amidst much hand-wringing over the slump in sterling over recent months, perhaps it's worth taking a slightly broader view of currency. A good while ago, our ancestors were looking for a medium of exchange to trade goods, and experimented with various things such as furs, stones, iron bars and blocks of salt. All proved to be fairly unsuccessful until gold evolved to be the most practical medium. For many years, most currencies were backed by physical gold, and the price of gold determined the value of a currency.
In today's society, the basic act of commerce has not changed, but entrepreneurs try to find new alternative ways to facilitate transactions. With the help of their new own currency, local retailers in Brixton hope to boost spending in the area, and this is just a recent example of a long list of micro-money and local denominations. There are more than 2,500 different local currency systems worldwide. All for a reason, probably.
The Internet has also created a range of digital currencies to be able to sell and pay for goods online. The Wall Street Journal recently produced a video covering this new world of peer to peer finance which also features our partner Hub Culture’s Ven, the only digital currency that can be used both online and off.
Whether this is the future of currencies, and the future of money indeed, remains to be seen. Clearly, the way we're going to pay for goods in the future is tightly connected to the way we'll interact and communicate in the future. And as far as this can be assessed today, there is an irreversible trend towards an even more digital life as we know it.