startup debut

ChangeTip takes the geek out of Bitcoin

5 January 2015 by Steve Blum
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Bitcoin is back at CES, with 9 crypto-currency related companies pitching at the Startup Debut showcase last night. Bitpay, the big Atlanta-based payment gateway, was there, as a prelude to anchoring a growing Bitcoin pavilion on the show floor – I’ll be checking that out. BitAngels made a return appearance as well.

The most interesting of the newcomers was ChangeTip. It’s a San Francisco start-up that just raised $4.2 million in seed funding, or so spokeswoman Victoria van Eyk said.… More

Bitcoin hopefuls stepping off the fringe at CES


Dollars go in, Bitcoins come out.

Bitcoin’s global buzz notwithstanding, virtual currencies are a niche commodity. Compared to even a minor national currency, the volume of economic activity that flows through these peer-to-peer media of exchange is infinitesimal. To move from the fringe to the mainstream, Bitcoin and its brethren have to be useful to and useable by ordinary consumers, not just geeks and cranky libertarians.

So it was with great pleasure that I toured the first “Bitcoin Pavilion” at CES this evening.… More