As regulators heighten their scrutiny of Bitcoin businesses, several digital currency supporters are looking for business models that do not subject them to the cumbersome requirements they would face as money services businesses or money transmitters.

The Apple Pay effect on m-commerce should result in more attention for mobile-heavy Bitcoin transactions, but virtual currencies are still being held back by unclear regulations, according to payment executives.

Bitcoin payments enabler Bitnet Technologies has secured $14.5 million in funding that it will use to fund a push into Asia and continental Europe.

New York regulator Benjamin Lawsky may use the cybersecurity rules he's proposed for virtual-currency companies as a model for traditional banks. That would subject the financial institutions his agency supervises to the most stringent data-security rules anywhere.

Bitcoin adopters in Ohio have been some of the most vocal about how state laws need to evolve to encourage the use of digital currency, but the Ohio government seems to want that change to come from the courts rather than the legislature.

Blockchain Ltd., which runs the world’s most popular wallet for storing bitcoins, raised more than $30 million in its first outside round of funding.

The cryptocurrency software provider KnCMiner has created a new Bitcoin wallet for iPhone users.

PayStand, an e-commerce gateway for alternative and traditional forms of payment, is opening up its application programming interface (API) to support payments with credit cards, e-checks and Bitcoin.

Coinapult, a Bitcoin wallet startup based in Panama, has raised $775,000 in venture capital with backing from FirstMark and plans to use the funds to reach new markets.

Circle Internet Financial, a Bitcoin startup, has launched its Web-based consumer wallet product out of beta for general availability globally.

PayPal is going slow when it comes to Bitcoin, limiting its current focus to emerging channels and relying on partnerships with virtual-currency processors in North America.

The payments industry has turned its attention inward, focusing on securing its own technology from fraudsters without driving off their customers.

Ripple Labs Inc., a venture capital-backed challenger to Western Union and Bitcoin, is for the first time gaining access to the U.S. banking system, and security hawks are raising eyebrows.

PayPal's making moves to respond to the maturation of virtual currencies, entering into agreements with Bitcoin payment processors BitPay, Coinbase and GoGoin.

The payments industry has changed dramatically over the past year, and so has the mindset of those in the industry. The focus is shifting from mobile payments and Bitcoin to fraud mitigation and security.

As the Bitcoin industry matures, narrowly-focused companies are working to take market share from the companies that came first to the digital currency ecosystem.

Braintree, a payment technology business owned by eBay and PayPal, has opened up Bitcoin acceptance to its merchant clients, including airbnb, GitHub, Uber and LivingSocial.

Beer and wine are often used to lower inhibitions about anything new. Why should payment technology be any different? Many companies that manufacture or sell alcohol are at the forefront of payments innovation.

Bitcoin wallet and merchant services provider Coinbase has insured the bitcoins it holds against theft and loss.

Josh Rossi is best known for starting the first Satoshi Square, a gathering of Bitcoin enthusiasts who trade the virtual currency for cash in New York City's Union Square, in 2013. He has since brought his ideas to new companies and new parts of the world.