Gsbt

PayPal has entered the cryptocurrency market, announcing that its customers will be able to buy and sell Bitcoin and other virtual currencies using their PayPal accounts. Those virtual coins could then be used to buy things from the 26 million sellers which accept PayPal, it said. PayPal plans to roll out buying options in the US over the next few weeks, with the full rollout due early next year. Bitcoin prices rose alongside the news, breaking the $12,000 (£9,170) mark. The other cryptocurrencies to be added first will be Ethereum, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash (a spin-off from Bitcoin). All could be stored "directly within the PayPal digital wallet", the company said. 'Penny stocks' Cryptocurrencies have remained a niche payment method, partly down to the rapid change in prices they can experience compared with traditional state-backed currencies. That has made them popular among some types of investors. PayPal said it was aiming "to increase consumer understandin...

Prominent venture capitalist and prolific tech and bitcoin industry investor Tim Draper is making a return to the Indian market for early stage investing in startups in one of the world’s fastest growing economies. The investment into India’s blossoming technology sector, despite common consensus of it being overvalued to the point of being a ‘ tech bubble’ , will occur through Mumbai-based Blume Ventures, an early-stage venture firm that now joins Draper’s DVN (Draper Venture Network) as a member, according to  TechCrunch . Having existed since the early Silicon Valley boom era during the 90s, the DVN has backed over 600 startups over two decades, cashing out on a third of its portfolio that sees companies of the likes of Skype, Baidu and Twitch. The Draper Venture Network, formerly known as DFJ Innovation, has invested in bitcoin startups around the world and previously had a presence in India after setting up shop in 2007. However, the local branch was shut d...

Electronic voting is by no means new. In one way or another, non-paper-ballot voting has been going on for decades. It should surprise no one that there have been instances of severe security breaches in more than one jurisdiction. The HBO documentary “Hacking Democracy” covers this in detail. Cryptocurrency enthusiasts know there is a good solution to the problem of compromised electronic voting. The ledger that underpins Bitcoin, the blockchain, is perhaps the most secure design ever seen. Pete Martin, founder and CEO of  Votem , a veteran of SAP consulting, went to a business conference a few years ago in which the speaker challenged his audience to come up with an idea that would positively impact 1 billion people. “I sold my consulting business and was seriously thinking about getting into state politics,” he stated in interview to CCN. “A lot of people around me said, you know, at the end of the day, Pete, you’re an entrepreneur, you’re not a politician. So, you know, if th...