Category Archives: Bitcoin

New Support for Blockchain.info, the Bitcoin Enthusiast’s Wallet

Blockchain.info does a few things very well. First, it offers some great charts, stats and other interesting information about Bitcoin transactions. But secondly Blockchain.info has begun to shine as a rapidly growing Bitcoin wallet provider.

Today, we’re pleased to announce initial Gliph support for Blockchain.info wallets. This means Blockchain.info wallet holders now get the same easy Bitcoin transfer as people who use Coinbase and BIPS.

Whether you trade Bitcoin with Blockchain.info, BIPS or Coinbase you don’t have to bother with Bitcoin wallet addresses or their representative QR codes. You just send them a connection request, and then attach Bitcoin like you would a picture message.

How to Connect your Blockchain.info Bitcoin Wallet to your Gliph account
You must first create a wallet on the Blockchain.info website.

Bitcoin, BIPS Coinbase, Blockchain.info logos iphone app p2p             Blockchain.info signin identifier password login page

  1. Tap the Bitcoin option in the Menu, and choose Use a Different Wallet.
  2. In the Choose Wallet Provider view, select the Blockchain.info logo.
  3. Enter your Blockchain.info identifier and your password into the sign-in page.

Continue reading →

Stronger International Support for Bitcoin with BIPS

BIPS International Bitcoin Wallets 12/01/13 Update: We’re sorry to say that we are no longer supporting wallet creation or attachment from BIPS and will be phasing support for the wallet from Gliph. All Gliph users will still be able to attach wallets from Coinbase and Blockchain.info.

We want Gliph to be the best way to connect and transact no matter where you live. That’s why today we’re announcing support for the Copenhagen-based BIPS Bitcoin Wallet.

BIPS is well-known for its free Bitcoin merchant solutions, but it also offers a solid Bitcoin web-wallet for individuals.

BIPS’ Bitcoin wallet supports a variety of international options for funding your wallet including direct deposits from banks in Canada and Denmark. When you need to sell Bitcoin, BIPS lets you convert Bitcoin into an impressive 45 different fiat currencies:

Countries Supported for Withdrawal on BIPS Bitcoin Wallet

Supported Fiat Currencies on BIPS

If you’re checking out Bitcoin for the first time, you can now use Gliph’s Instant Wallet Creation to get started with a wallet on BIPS. If you already have a Bitcoin wallet on BIPS, you can attach it to your Gliph account with a simple sign-in process.

No matter what Bitcoin Wallet provider you use on Gliph, you get the convenience of easily sending Bitcoin with other people using Gliph’s unique chat-based Bitcoin transfer system on iOS, Android and the Mobile Web.

We’ve had our eye on stronger international support in Gliph for some time, and are pleased extend Gliph’s Bitcoin support to BIPS’ userbase and its popularity in Europe. In July, we added a server in Ireland, so everyone in Europe should have a faster experience with Gliph overall too.

Our team has been planning to add multi-wallet since we first released Gliph with Bitcoin at the Bitcoin 2013 conference. We have some exciting ideas for deeper integration of Bitcoin into Gliph’s platform in the future and hope you start enjoying easier transactions with people across the globe today! 

In case you missed the links, you can learn about Bitcoin here, or try out Bitcoin via a BIPS wallet now on the Gliph for iPhone, Android or the Web. 

Update: Our cooperative press release with BIPS is now available here.

Instant Bitcoin Wallet Creation in Gliph for iPhone

Create a Bitcoin Wallet Instantly with Gliph for iPhoneToday we’re releasing version 1.5 of Gliph for iOS, which makes it easier than ever to get started and offers the world’s first instant Bitcoin wallet creation via Coinbase. Update: Gliph now also supports BIPS wallet.

In this new release we’ve made Gliph account creation and Bitcoin wallet creation an amazingly near-instantaneous experience.

Changes to Signup
We now streamline the Gliph signup process. The app automatically selects a gliph (username) for you, yet allows you to customize your gliph as an option if you want.

Previously, we forced every new person to immediately choose the Artifacts (symbols) for their gliph. While some folks picked up on the idea of building a gliph out of Artifacts, some found it confusing. Gliph has a lot of new ideas in it. This change represents a step toward streamlining the process of getting started using the Gliph identity platform.

Instant Bitcoin Wallet Creation
Another big change in 1.5 is the “instant” creation of Coinbase accounts. If you’ve never used Bitcoin before, you will be prepared to receive Bitcoin immediately after accepting Coinbase’s Terms of Service.

Gliph magically creates a Coinbase account using a free Gliph Cloaked Email address, offering you a strong level of privacy in your Bitcoin transactions.

We believe signing up for Gliph on iOS is now the fastest and easiest way to get started with a Bitcoin wallet on the planet earth.

We continue to believe that Bitcoin is a very important part of Gliph’s future and are making changes to pave the way for this now. The team is excited about the further integration of Bitcoin into Gliph’s core experience. Continue reading →

Bitcoin 2013 Conference Roundup

Gliph had a strong presence at the Bitcoin 2013 conference in San Jose, California in May and we’re just now sharing some of the media and story of the event.

Gliph Co-Founder Nicholas Asch and Gliph iOS Developer Joakim Fernstad in our freshly laid out booth at Bitcoin 2013. (It featured beanbag chairs and foliage)

The company first got involved when your blogger and co-founder (Rob Banagale) accepted a panelist spot on the Law Enforcement and Financial Privacy track at the conference. At this time our development team was working feverishly on the first release of the Bitcoin integration into Gliph.

Wanting to do something special for the earliest and most core Bitcoin adopters, we created custom Bitcoin branded merchandise for the event. This included hats and hooded sweatshirts embroidered with a great looking Bitcoin logo. We sold these for Bitcoin at our booth.

We did our release on Friday, May 17th, which included a feature article in PandoDaily. That article was written by Erin Griffith and included our news of joining the Boost VC startup accelerator. Continue reading →

Bitcoin Enhancements in Gliph for iPhone v1.48

Today, we’ve released a new version of Gliph for iOS that includes a variety of enhancements related to Bitcoin.

Bitcoin is still fairly new, if you aren’t familiar with it at all, you may want to watch this. If you haven’t heard about Gliph’s recent addition of Bitcoin, you can read about it here, and watch a video of the iPhone app here.

Here are the new Bitcoin-related updates in v1.48:

  • The Bitcoin option in the menu now shows to all new users. We had a bug that was causing this to not be displayed without restarting the app.
  • You can now view the current exchange rate in the Send Bitcoin popover. It is based on the 24-hour MtGox weighted average.
  • Bitcoin payments now have a small Bitcoin symbol next to them. You can also tap on a Bitcoin payment in a conversation view and see it listed in the wallet view.
  • You can now detach a Coinbase wallet from Gliph. If you want to remove your Coinbase Bitcoin wallet from Gliph, use the trash can button in title bar of wallet view. Please note: if you intend to completely remove the connection we recommend you also visit Coinbase and remove Gliph’s access to the Wallet.
  • Wallet view now shows Gliphs of users from prior transactions. Previously Gliph showed Bitcoin transaction IDs.

We made a few other non-Bitcoin enhancements as well: Continue reading →

Announcing Simple Bitcoin Payments with Gliph

Bitcoin P2P payments on GliphWe are proud to announce that Gliph now supports simple peer-to-peer (P2P) mobile payments using Bitcoin digital currency. You can now send Bitcoin with other Gliph users using updated versions of our iPhone, Android and web applications.

We have an iOS demo video up if you’re hungry to see how it works.  Also a step-by-step guide to setting it up for Android and for iOS. But this is more than just a new feature for us and we wanted to go into detail as to why we’re adding Bitcoin to the Gliph platform.

Over the past several months the Gliph team has been fascinated by Bitcoin. Bitcoin brings privacy to payments that is unavailable with traditional banking. The software behind Bitcoin is open source and has sustained great scrutiny. The currency itself is distributed, and transfers can take place with little or no fees at all. We love that no one company or government controls Bitcoin, and that even its creator(s) are shrouded in anonymity.

We believe Bitcoin and the ideas behind it have the power to change the world.

But when our team began using Bitcoin every day, we noticed some rough patches. Getting started can be confusing. If you were able to get a wallet set up, it was easy to get stuck asking “what next?” If you wanted to send Bitcoin to a friend, you had to awkwardly copy and paste long wallet addresses into tiny form fields. Existing solutions, even from biggest players, felt too technical and took the fun out of using this amazing new currency. Continue reading →

Using Bitcoin on Gliph’s Updated iOS App

Today, we’re turning some surprise Bitcoin functionality on for all Gliph iPhone users. The most recent version in the App Store, version 1.47 now allows you to send Bitcoin. This entry goes over how to use Bitcoin functionality in the app.

If you haven’t, you may also want to read about why we added Bitcoin or how to use Bitcoin with the updated Gliph Android app.

 

Continue reading →

Using Bitcoin on Gliph’s Updated Android App

Today we’ve released version 1.1 of the Gliph Android application to Google Play. Our Android users have been very patient in waiting for updates, and today marks solid progress. This entry covers both the updates and how to use the new Bitcoin functionality in the app. You may enjoy the demo video of how awesome Bitcoin can be on Gliph available here.

What’s New: Visual Updates
Gliph Android Bitcoin Update Screenshot appGliph for Android 1.1 catches up with the mobile web and iPhone application in a number of areas. First, we’ve updated the Activity View to show the actual tags of the connections you’re talking with instead of the Gliphs themselves. The conversation view has been touched up, also bringing connection tag, first name or pseudonym facets into view, rather than the Gliph.

While we love the Gliphs, and know some people use them as their central identifier for other people, we have also gotten feedback that it is hard to keep track of who is who when you have many contacts. So now there is more consistent styling across iOS, Android and the web.

What’s New: Image Viewing
While we weren’t able to get image attach into this update, you can at least now view image thumbnails sent by your web using and iOS using connections. We hope to get uploading into an upcoming update. Continue reading →

Gliph Joins Boost VC Startup Accelerator

Gliph joins Boost VC Startup AcceleratorWe are happy to announce that Gliph has joined the Boost VC startup accelerator. Gliph will join around a dozen other companies in a business incubation that includes mentorship, seed capital and a heavy focus on product development.

Beginning late June, Gliph’s founders (Rob and Nick) will relocate to Boost’s provided housing and office space in San Mateo, California. There we will join a group of startups specifically focused on the Bitcoin digital currency. The team will be working throughout the summer to refine the Gliph experience and further integrate Bitcoin into Gliph’s digital identity platform.

We chose Boost because founders Adam Draper and Brayton Williams have shown themselves to be early advocates for the Bitcoin currency. They’ve also put together a stellar program for startups that is a great fit for Gliph’s stage as a company. Continue reading →

Stuff you Can Buy Today with Bitcoin on Portland’s Craigslist

Things you can buy off craigslist with Bitcoin

Bitcoin burning a hole in your e-wallet? With a growing number of craigslist sellers stating they’ll trade in Bitcoin, we thought we’d share a fun snapshot of what you can buy on craigslist with Bitcoin in Portland, on Monday, April 8th, 2013. Prices calculated at current $184 / 1 BTC.

Item Name Price USD Price BTC Satoshi Location
Freshwater Crystal Red Shrimp $3 0.01639344 1,639,344 Battle Ground
Freshwater Blue Tiger Shrimp $8 0.04371585 4,371,585 Battle Ground
Montague Folding Mountain Bike $850 4.64480874 464,480,874 N Portland
AT&T Mobile Hotspot $100 0.54644809 54,644,809 Clackamas
Logitech 880 Harmony Remote Control $80 0.43715847 43,715,847 Oak Grove
Starbucks Verismo 585 Coffee Maker 250 1.36612022 136,612,022 Oak Grove
Schwinn S-15 Bike 169 0.92349727 92,349,727 Mcminneville
Sunlight Grow Light Controler $120 0.6557377 65,573,770 Hillsboro
Native Instruments Drum Machine $330 1.80327869 180,327,869 Beaverton
Yamaha APX500 Acoustic Electric Guitar $220 1.20218579 120,218,579 Beaverton
Kindle Keyboard $100 0.54644809 54,644,809 Portland
Nike Aero Thunder Fuse Baseball Bat $60 0.32786885 32,786,885 Corvallis

Many cities on Craigslist have stuff for sale in exchange for Bitcoin. At the time of our snapshot it appeared Los Angeles has the largest number of different sellers. Austin is distinguished in that it is the only city selling not one, but two different types of fertilized chicken eggs available in exchange for Bitcoin:

Update: Hello Digg and other folks. Gliph is a technology startup based in Portland, Oregon. If this is your first time hearing about Gliph, welcome!

Gliph is a digital identity platform that lets you send secure messages and complete transactions with people.  You can download our iPhone or Android app. We also have a great mobile web application.  You can follow the company on twitter @gli_ph.

Something awesome you can do right now with Gliph is protect your email address from spammers and scammers using Cloaked Email. Try it out!