Fidor Bank AG, of Munich, has agreed to help Bitcoin Deutschland GmbH, an exchange operator, to speed trading of bitcoins and comply with regulatory requirements.

With the government cracking down on digital currency players such as Liberty Reserve and Mt. Gox, many ask whether it's a move to squash the development of virtual currencies and what action the government will take next.

Because Bitcoin transactions are virtually instant, free and near-anonymous, charitable organizations are collecting and distributing donations in bitcoin.

A turn towards small local Bitcoin exchanges could keep the digital currency out of trouble while preserving the self-sufficient ethos of the Bitcoin community.

Many merchants are still wary about accepting bitcoins, but new vendor partnerships and a maturation of the companies that handle bitcoin exchanges address some of the virtual currency's riskier aspects.

While many still see Bitcoin as an unrealistic payment method, venture capitalists say there are clear use cases for the decentralized cryptocurrency in micropayments, international remittance and charity.

Crypto Street, a startup that’s building a platform for trading digital currencies like Bitcoin, is making a point of forging relationships with multiple banks after similar businesses suddenly lost their bank accounts and folded or scaled back.

BitPay, which processes payments for merchants in the virtual currency Bitcoin, has attracted some investors with a pedigree in pioneering alternative ways to send and receive money.

Through a partnership with Bitcoin payment processor BitPay Inc., Gyft now accepts bitcoins for its mobile gift card product. This extends the virtual currency's reach to more than 50,000 retail locations.

Tradehill is relaunching its virtual currency trading system after it shut down an earlier version of its offering last year amid regulatory disputes and a legal fight with online payment company Dwolla.

People — and payment companies — are starting to take Bitcoin seriously.The decentralized virtual currency is overcoming its stigma as a fringe currency for illegal transactions and is stirring up consumer scrutiny of the practices of large payment providers. The payments industry is changing rapidly, but today the movement isn't about payments — it's about data.