Three of the biggest Western mining pools – representing a total of some 19% of hashing power on the Bitcoin network – stand divided on raising the block size limit. An inquiry by Cointelegraph has shown that both KnCMiner and Slush Pool are in favor of Gavin Andresen's proposal(s) to raise this limit. But the biggest of the three, BitFury, is more conservative. As such, a network-wide switch to Bitcoin XT to allow for bigger blocks seems even more unlikely, for now. Block Size Limit Lacking consensus among Core developers on how and when to raise the block size limit, …

Announcing the launch of a financial product called “Bitcoin Tracker One”, XBT Provider has created the world's first regulated Bitcoin exchange-traded note. Working with Stockholm based brokerage and investment bank Mangold Fondkommission, XBT Provider has received the approval of the Swedish financial supervisory body Finansinspektionen. This authorization means that the financial note “Bitcoin Tracker One” is allowed to be traded on the Stockholm Nasdaq Nordic. Speaking about the news, Alexander Marsh, CEO of XBT Provider explained how he hoped the move would allow more investors to feel they can safely speculate on Bitcoin. "We are proud to offer the world`s …

Art by: Jing Jin The cloud mining prices wars are heating up and KnCMiner is throwing its hat into the ring with the lowest price in the industry: US $0.62 GH/s. There are some caveats to that price, but it is extremely competitive regardless of which way you cut it. KnC is known primarily for their ASIC mining hardware. Like many companies who realized that mining at home is simply not feasible or cost effective for many users who are interested in mining, they have recently got into cloud mining, and this new deal, announced late last week, has them …