Stellar, a new protocol for transmitting money, is launching under the guidance of several payments industry experts.

First Data Corp. has agreed to buy Gyft Inc., which sells digital gift cards, in a move to advance the Atlanta-based processor's mobile payment offerings.

For most of the digital currency's existence, the price of a bitcoin has swung wildly. Coinapult is looking to remove this risk with the launch of Coinapult Locks, which pins the value of a user's bitcoin balance to a stable asset.

Apple Inc. has reinstated the Blockchain bitcoin wallet application to its App Store almost six months after booting the popular program.

Zuman, a cloud-based human resource outsourcer, has partnered with BitPay to allow its business clients to pay their employees in bitcoin.

Between the proposed virtual currency regulations in New York and those already established in Texas, the future of Bitcoin would be brighter if more states follow the Lone Star State's example, says Jacob Farber, senior counsel for Perkins Coie LLP.

Investors have never been shy about treating Bitcoin as an investment rather than a spendable currency, but the companies that operate in the digital currency space have had a harder time attracting capital.

Supporters of Bitcoin and other digital currencies have created a trade association called the Chamber of Digital Commerce to make their voices heard in Washington.

Dell Inc. will accept bitcoins for computers, seeking to expand its payment options, Chief Executive Officer Michael Dell said in a tweet.

The New York Department of Financial Services has released proposed framework for its much-anticipated BitLicense. Though the agency describes its proposal as a balanced approach that does not stifle innovation, its rules might be considered too strict for many companies.

As banks cut cross-border transfer services to emerging markets because of perceived risk, the market for remittance services opens up for digital payments startups.

Jim Harper, global policy counsel at the Bitcoin Foundation, wants the trade group's new lobbying firm, Thorsen French Advocacy to model their government relations work to his efforts in introducing Capitol Hill to PayPal in the early 2000s.

Alternative payments provider ZipZap has added new Central and South America nations to its cash-to-Bitcoin network.

Overstock.com plans to offer faster payouts to vendors and larger bonuses to employees to encourage bitcoin payments.

In the banking world, branches came first and ATMs came later to streamline the experience. But in the Bitcoin world, ATMs came first with limited features, and the ATM makers are working hard to add the sort of services that one might find in a mainstream bank branch.

Throughout Europe and Asia in particular, ATMs are being used to distribute an increasingly wide array of financial and non-financial products and services. This is in sharp contrast to the U.S., where most advanced ATMs offer the same set of banking-related features.

Newegg's recent acceptance of Bitcoin is just the latest of the online electronics retailer's many digital payment options. Its tech-savvy audience demands digital currency and digital wallets, and accommodating these needs is critical to Newegg's expansion into new markets.

Venture capitalist Tim Draper has been identified as the single winning bidder for a cache of bitcoins at a U.S. government auction, part of a larger pool of the virtual currency seized from the Silk Road website.

Online electronics retailer Newegg has begun accepting Bitcoin in response to demand from its customer base.

MasterCard Inc. is seeking a patent on a payment exchange that includes Bitcoin and other non-traditional modes of payment.