This episode, broadcast on July 15, 2014, covered significant developments in the adoption, security, and investment landscape of Bitcoin.
Main Topics Discussed:
* Corporate Adoption: The prediction that Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten would accept Bitcoin soon, signaling a shift toward mainstream payment acceptance.
* Security Incident: A major hack involving Mint Pal (Vericoin), which necessitated a hard fork of the blockchain to recover over 8 million stolen coins, raising questions about precedent.
* Investor Validation: Highlighting the personal investment of a prominent figure—a co-founder of LinkedIn and early Facebook investor—into Bitcoin.
* Political Adoption: The coverage of Matthias Sundin, a Swedish political candidate who was exclusively accepting campaign donations in Bitcoin.
* Industry News: The acquisition/funding of ExpressCoin by Bitcoin Shop.
Key Quotes:
* "Rakuten will accept Bitcoins sooner or later. It's not a matter of if. It is a matter of when."
* "All online retailers, Amazon, Walmart, Target, Best Buy had better take notice. If you haven't started adding Bitcoin to your website, you're in danger of becoming the next pets.com."
* "An early investor in Facebook and a co-founder of LinkedIn is excited about Bitcoin and has bought some personally."
People Mentioned:
* Hiroroshi Mikitani (CEO of Rakuten)
* LinkedIn co-founder (early Facebook investor)
* Matthias Sundin (Swedish political candidate)
Bitcoin Price:
* $6.20 (last price reported)