Circle, a Bitcoin currency services provider, has launched a suite of consumer financial services that the company hopes will encourage average people to use the crypto-currency for everyday transactions. Circle was founded in 2013 by internet entrepreneurs Jeremy Allaire and Sean Neville. The company is backed by leading venture capital investors Jim Breyer, Accel Partners, General Catalyst Partners and Oak Investment Partners, who helped raise $26 million in series B financing for Circle. The goal behind the founding of the company was to address "the terrifying complexity and risk" many people associate with crypto-currency, as stated on their website. The …

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 …

Gibraltar-based startup Travelers Box took a shot at helping travelers convert their leftover coins into usable currencies by introducing their first kiosk in Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport. Machines like these have been tried before and still seem to find success on European ferry lines between ports where different currencies are used (UK to France, for example, or Stockholm to Helsinki). Travelers Box added a twist to their machines, though. Users could convert their change into online accounts with PayPal, Qiwi, or Bitcoin. Well, now the Bitcoin option is off the board because people found out about it and went nuts. Said …