Mobile wallets and mobile point of sale systems have tried many tactics to win over merchants by cutting costs. Some vendors have been extremely inventive in how they push cheaper payment options.

More companies are accepting "altcoins" such as Litecoin and Dogecoin in addition to the more common Bitcoin, showing that even silly currencies based on Internet memes can open merchants to new markets of consumers.

BitGo, a San Francisco-based a digital currency payments processor, has launched a new suite of services for financial institutions that engage in Bitcoin-based commercial transactions.

Gyft, a provider of virtual gift cards, plans to launch Gyft Cloud, a marketplace for merchants to sell their own digital gift cards with Clover Station, a tablet-based point of sale system developed by First Data Corp.

BloomNation, a marketplace for connecting customers with local florists, finds Bitcoin users spend on average 50% more per transaction than credit card users.

Last year, IdentityMind Global's banking partners began asking the anti-fraud and risk management provider to build an anti-money laundering system for the Bitcoin startups among the bank's clients. IdentityMind Global has now completed development on this AML technology.

EBay Inc. now allows marketplace users in the U.S. to sell virtual currency, such as the popular decentralized cryptocurrency, Bitcoin.

The Royal Canadian Mint is halting development of its MintChip digital currency project, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

Bitcoin ATM providers and virtual currency exchanges may be subject to Texas licensing requirements, according to regulatory guidelines issued by the Texas Banking Commissioner on April 3.

BTC China and OKCoin, two of China's largest Bitcoin exchanges, suspended some money transfer services after it was reported that the central bank tightened controls on the digital currency.

Bitcoin startups are much more outspoken about security than traditional payments companies are, and the new Ciphrex wallet is no exception, claiming to be the first to use multi-signature transaction management.

PayStand has launched an online payments platform that allows a variety of payments modes, including Bitcoin, electronic checks and cards.

Charlie Shrem, a prominent evangelist for Bitcoin who is charged by the U.S. with conspiring to launder more than $1 million in the virtual currency tied to the illicit online bazaar Silk Road, is in plea talks, prosecutors said.

Payments processor Stripe will enable its clients to accept bitcoins as a payment option.

The recent IRS ruling on how Bitcoin and other virtual currencies are taxed brings the U.S. in line with regulations in Canada, Australia, Finland, Norway and Sweden.

Bitcoin companies are getting more recognition as serious contenders, and as they grow they are filling their ranks with people who established their careers in the mainstream payments industry.

Circle Internet Financial, a startup aiming to make the digital currency Bitcoin more user-friendly for merchants and consumers, has raised another $17 million, bringing its total funding to $26 million.

The U.S. government will treat Bitcoin as property for tax purposes, applying rules it uses to govern stocks and barter transactions, the Internal Revenue Service said in its first substantive ruling on the issue.

Tera Group Inc. created a legal framework for Bitcoin swaps, which would let investors trade payments based on how the virtual currency performs against a real one.

Innovation can come from unlikely places. Five years ago, few would have guessed that the most widely available mobile wallets would be developed by companies like Starbucks and Google, which built their names in completely different fields. Several more disruptors are joining the scene, with even weirder origins.