“Matt Tuzzolo, who used to split restaurant bills by sending money via PayPal, now wields his iPhone to pay his fellow diners — in Bitcoins,” Olga Kharif reports for Bloomberg News.
“‘It’s more convenient than PayPal,’ said Tuzzolo, a software developer in Portland, Oregon, who uses the Gliph mobile application to transfer digital money on the go. ‘It’s as easy as sending a text,'” Kharif reports. “Gliph Inc., which has more than 25,000 users, has raised more than $350,000 from venture capitalists including Tim Draper, who has backed such companies as Skype and Tesla Motors Inc. It’s one of hundreds of Bitcoin-related programs available from Google Inc. and Apple Inc. app stores.”
“The mini-boom in Bitcoin software for smartphones is making it easier for consumers to use the virtual currency in place of cash for quick transactions, such as paying for food or splitting a bill. The widening appeal of the digital money is also fueling a rally that has lifted Bitcoins to record levels, surpassing $1,000 apiece last week,” Kharif reports. “Since Bitcoins exist as software, apps on wireless devices are an efficient way to transfer money. While physical coins representing Bitcoins are in circulation, they either store software or are used as a proxy for a digital transaction… Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said yesterday that Bitcoin prices were unsustainably high. ‘It’s a bubble,’ Greenspan said in a Bloomberg Television interview. ‘You have to really stretch your imagination to infer what the intrinsic value of Bitcoin is.'”
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