A lawyer for Bitcoin Foundation founder Charlie Shrem has denied claims by Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss that he “stole” 5000 bitcoins (now $31.7 million) from them in 2012, the New York Times (NYT) reported Nov. 2. In lawsuit unsealed Thursday, Nov. 1, the Winklevoss twins, with whom Shrem worked on a previous project before serving one year in jail for alleged facilitation of drug purchasing using Bitcoin (BTC), said the issue goes back to 2012. “Either Shrem has been incredibly lucky and successful since leaving prison, or — more likely — he ‘acquired’ his six properties, two Maseratis, two powerboats …

This interview has been edited and condensed. Recently at BlockShow Europe 2018, Cointelegraph got the chance to speak to Bobby Lee — co-founder of Chinese crypto exchange BTCC and a board member at the Bitcoin Foundation — about what he’s been up to in the crypto space since BTCC shut down last fall. Molly Jane: In the past few months, Chinese crypto regulations have steadily been increasing, from the ICO ban in the fall of last year, the January ban of “exchange-like services,” and the February ban of foreign exchanges. With your experience working in China in mind, do you …

Bruce Fenton is a well-known Bitcoin activist in the crypto community. The Managing Director and founder of Atlantic Financial Inc. and Boston Gulf Advisors Group, more recently Bruce has been voted into the Bitcoin Foundation as executive director. He has big plans to revamp the foundation and bring some fiscal change. Cointelegraph previously briefly discussed with Bruce the realities of issues such as Ben Lawsky and the BitLicense scheme, but this time around we had a chance to have a more in-depth look at how Bruce aims to solidify the Bitcoin Foundation itself. Cointelegraph: Can you give our readers a …

The Bitcoin Foundation Board has elected Bruce Fenton to the position of Executive Director; Kaspersky releases a decryption tool in the battle against ransomware and more top stories for April 14. Bitcoin Foundation Appoints Bruce Fenton as New Executive Director In a vote consisting of five ayes and one abstention, the Bitcoin Foundation Board has elected lifetime member Bruce Fenton to the position of Executive Director, replacing Patrick Murck. In an interview with Bitcoin Magazine, Fenton stated: “The first order of business will be both getting the most accurate picture of where we are [financially] and communicating with members and …

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) could become an important pillar for Bitcoin in the near future, as director of the MIT Media Lab Joi Ito has proposed hosting a Bitcoin standards body at the institution. Ito, who some may know from his analytical comparison between Bitcoin and the Internet, told high-tech economy news site Xconomy that he is close to unveiling plans for MIT to establish an independent and neutral home for the development of Bitcoin standards. Although the exact details have not yet been discussed publicly, Ito mentioned two prominent MIT names who may help work the plan …

PayPal Confirms Bitcoin Acceptance Option at SEC Ahead of EBay Split In a filing at the US Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC), PayPal details its future as a separate entity from eBay, a split which is due to occur by the end of 2015. In discussing its innovations, specifically Braintree, PayPal definitively mentions "digital currencies such as Bitcoin” as an official tool for merchants to use. The filing reads: "A merchant can typically open a standard PayPal account and begin accepting payments through PayPal within a few minutes. [...] Our Payments Platform supports growth with a variety of value-added services …

March 8 is synonymous around the world as International Women’s Day, and as of 2015 cryptocurrency now has its own version, Bitcoin Women’s Day, with sponsorship from major players including BitPay and the Bitcoin Foundation. The event, set to be held annually from this year, seeks to champion the role of women in the digital currency community, after a recent poll by 99bitcoins suggested only 8% of users were female. Speaking to CryptoCoinsNews, organizer Sarah Boone Martin said she had nonetheless been taken aback by the strength of response after launching the campaign. “We never anticipated Bitcoin Women’s Day would …

The Bitcoin Embassy in Amsterdam opened its doors just last month on December 12, 2014, and it is already hosting regular events for such companies as OpenBazaar and BitPay, as well as organizing social get-togethers several times a week. The Amsterdam Bitcoin Embassy Inspired by the Tel Aviv Bitcoin emBassy, the Amsterdam embassy strives to become the place to go for everything Bitcoin, not only for locals, but also as for enthusiasts, entrepreneurs and just about everyone interested in cryptocurrency who passes through one of Europe’s major transit hubs from America, Asia and elsewhere. I sat down with the embassy’s …

1. SEC Investigates Crowdsales, FinCEN Takes Aim at Exchanges On Tuesday, Cointelegraph reported on a couple of the US government’s activities in the cryptocoins space. Most controversial, at this point, seems to be the report that the SEC has sent out letters — with gag orders — to organizations that have held crowdsales, asking them to divulge documents related to those sales. Many from the crypto 2.0 community such as representatives from Mastercoin and Counterparty are on record as dismissing the reports, but Coin Fire — which broke the story — stands by its reporting. Cointelegraph has found no reason …

FINTRAC (Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada) is working on a regulation plan for Money Services Businesses (MSBs) dealing in virtual currencies, a series of rules that will most likely come to force in 2015. The Canadian financial regulator said that changes to the Proceeds of Crime and Terrorism Financing Act, a list of rules that facilitate combatting the laundering of proceeds of crime and combating the financing of terrorist activities, "will aim to cover entities such as virtual currency exchanges, not individuals or businesses that use virtual currencies for buying and selling goods and services," according to …

RippleLabs, along with host organization Bitcoin Foundation, is holding a contest for digital currency entrepreneurs, and the price is the BTC equivalent of $10,000. This will all be part of the larger Bitcoin Conference 2014 in Amsterdam, taking place from May 15–17. The contest itself, the Bitcoin 2014 Startup Challenge, will be held from 15.00–17.00 on May 17 at Passenger Terminal Amsterdam. Here are the details of the contest: Entrants need to register their startups by 18.00 GMT on May 6th. Registration is here. Finalists will be announced May 9. Finalists will then have a chance to present their ideas …

After rough criticism and declarations of war from the Two-Bit Idiot, P.J. Delaney without hiding the identity tried to compartmentalize the responsibilities, faces and perspectives of the Bitcoin Foundation. As the first warrior promised to reveal something that might revolutionize the online environment, Delaney has done his best to observe the situation from various angles being outside the system. Transformation of the Bitcoin Foundation On the 11th of March the foundation decided to appoint Jim Harper as Global Policy Counsel and Amy Weiss as Media Consultant. The news was populated on the blog of the organization and as a sterling …