After a few months of wondering, we may have a better idea of what 21 Inc. intends and it seems to be fairly ambitious: according to a report the plan is to add ASIC mining chips to common Internet of Things products. This could including toasters that would mine bitcoins when idle. Of course, 21 Inc. also intends to give these products away for free.

Nasdaq intends to use the Bitcoin network and the blockchain to enhance its securities tracking services.

itBit Trust Company LLC announced a $25 million Series A funding round. itBit has already operating as a bitcoin exchange worldwide, except in the U.S., until recently when the company became a regulated trust in compliance with federal and New York banking law.

The White House has appointed Bitcoin-friendly security researcher Professor Ed Felten from Princeton University to advise on science and technology.

21 Inc. may be offering free bitcoin mining toasters as IoT strategy

We may finally know what the mysterious 21 Inc. startup is up to with regards to the Internet of Things and bitcoin mining: according to a report 21 Inc. intends to meld ASIC bitcoin mining chips with common IoT products.

“Under the company’s new business plan, 21 Inc.,” reads the details of the report, “will insert ASIC chips for bitcoin mining into such daily devices as routers, gaming consoles, USB battery chargers, toasters, set-top boxes, and chipsets.”

This revelation jives with an apparent partnership between 21 Inc. and Qualcomm, a worldwide leader in the manufacture of chipsets for mobile and low powered devices, which led to a lot of speculation about 21 Inc. and IoT solutions.

Further in the report, these bitcoin mining melded devices will be offered by 21 Inc. for free to consumers. In addition to the free toaster, set-top box, or toaster, consumers who use them will also receive a revenue share for bitcoin mining from each device up to 25 percent.

No doubt this will make the problem of “vampire power” even worse–a situation where devices which are off still draw power for standby functionality–although that vampire power would be doing something.

There’s also the possible problem that at the current market value of BTC the electricity consumed for mining at low hashpower may cost more than the revenue share returned from 21 Inc.

Nasdaq announces enterprise product that uses the Bitcoin blockchain

Nasdaq, the American stock exchange, announced this week the release of a securities tracking service that utilizes the Bitcoin blockchain. The service will use the Open Assets Protocol that allows the Bitcoin blockchain to be used to issue, track, and transfer securities using “colored coins.”

A very important takeaway of this news is that Nasdaq is using the Bitcoin network to power this service and not rolling their own blockchain. The press release and statements speak to the Bitcoin blockchain because this is an alternative use of Bitcoin as a ledger to track securities rather than exchange bitcoins for value.

The value and exchangeability of bitcoins provides the incentive for miners to maintain the integrity of the Bitcoin network and this Nasdaq service is leveraging that integrity to provide enterprise users a novel product.

This is also the first time a major business has used the Bitcoin blockchain for this purpose. The Open Assets Protocol and colored coins will certainly do what Nasdaq wants, but this is also a good space for Bitcoin pegged sidechains and Blockstream to ease into the market.

itBit raises $25m in Series A, receives regulatory approval in New York

Last week, itBit Trust Company LLC announced a $25 million round of Series A investment funding as well as a the history-making revelation that itBit has received a license from the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) as a chartered trust company.

Bitcoin exchange itBit has become the first and only bitcoin exchange to become the first U.S.-chartered and supervised exchange in full compliance with New York and federal law.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJiRhcFHl3c

Previously, itBit operated in 67 countries, but with this change the company can now accept U.S. customers.

CEO Chad Cascarilla says that the intent of becoming a U.S. trust is to allow the exchange to become the first regulated exchange in the United States and provide a reliable way to institutionally exchange bitcoin “in a way that [is] trustworthy.” He hopes that by providing a regulated, institutional, and familiar process for investors.

Bitcoin-friendly Professor Ed Felten named White House advisor on Science and Technology

Professor Ed Felten, a computer science and public affairs researcher from Princeton University, has been appointed to the White House Office of Science and Technology. In this position he will advise President Barak Obama on policy decisions related to technology and innovation.

Felten is known for having done a variety of computer security research such as work on proof-carrying authentication and the security of the Java programming language.

He is known to the Bitcoin community for speaking during the February 2014 New York BitLicense hearings where he provided a moderate counterpoint to criticisms of the technology. He also appeared on C-SPAN to explain the Bitcoin protocol.

photo credit: nromagna via photopin cc; photo of Ed Felten via Princeton University