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.

Online electronics retailer Newegg is now accepting bitcoin payments from Canadian customers.

Lamassu Bitcoin Ventures is sending its Bitcoin ATMs to areas that may not be completely welcoming to digital currency, with its newest machine touching down today in the West Village of New York City, the birthplace of the "BitLicense" regulatory concept.

Jesse Powell knew Mt. Gox was not long for this world more than two years before the once-dominant bitcoin exchange went bankrupt in February. Powell founded a competitor, Kraken, which is now in talks to offer services in Japan

Braintree a payment technology business owned by eBay, is reportedly looking at accepting the popular and controversial digital currency, Bitcoin, as a form of payment.

Pockio, a U.K.-based company that re-sells gift cards for cryptocurrency, has expanded the number of brands it offers from 30 to 160 in only a couple of months.

Social media sites, including Twitter and Facebook, have been enticing but sometimes hostile environments for payments innovation. Some startups are pushing past the platform providers to appeal directly to their users.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a warning to consumers about the danger of digital currencies, sparking questions about whether the agency could soon seek to write new rules in that area.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau weighed into the debate about the future of digital currencies like Bitcoin, issuing a warning Aug. 11 that they pose significant risks to consumers.

BitPay's recent decision to eliminate its fees for small merchants sacrifices some of the company's revenue to boost the larger Bitcoin economy.

Global Payments Inc., a global processor servicing more than one million merchants, will enable its clients to accept digital currency in a move that may attract more international shoppers to brick-and-mortar merchants.

In politics, every penny counts to secure a candidate's position in office. Bitcoin's low cost of acceptance, accompanied by increasing clarity from regulators over its role in campaigns, is making it a more appealing choice for accepting donations.

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.