Blockchain Launches Bitcoin.com

Blockchain Launches Bitcoin.com Android App

Bitcoin Wallet and Block explorer provider Blockchain has officially launched its Bitcoin.com website today, giving visitors a learning portal to the basics of the digital currency. Previously, the site was used by fellow consumer wallet provider Coinbase as a customer onboarding tool. However, Blockchain announced its 5-year deal to manage the domain name earlier this year.

At the time, the company expressed its hope "to help drive consumer adoption and education" using the web portal, standing; "We are excited to create new learning experiences and introduce millions of new users to bitcoin as a result of this exclusive deal."

The site is available in at least 70 languages, including Czech, Persian and Zulu, among others.

Blockchain for Android

The announcement coincided with the news that Blockchain will launch a more consumer-friendly wallet app update on Android devices next month, as reported by Business Insider. Blockchain executives told the media outlet that the app will emphasize security as well, and provided screenshots highlighting the app's improved interface.

The company has also announced that it will further resubmit its app to the iOS store following Apple's most recent policy update, which may now allow for bitcoin apps with money transfer capabilities to be listed via the platform.

Site Overview

At Bitcoin.com, users are greeted by an introductory "What is bitcoin?" video, with the current bitcoin price displayed in the top corner. Just below, the site answers the question of how to use bitcoin, briefly explaining how bitcoin wallets work and directing users to Blockchain.info.

Bitcoin.com directs bitcoin beginners to the main players in the ecosystem-Coinbase, Bitpay, Overstock, among others - to answer other questions about how to become informed and involved with the digital currency.

Source: coindesk.com

Blockchain Reaches Milestone

Milestone Passes 1.6 million User Mark!

The blockchain.info CEO Nicolas Cary, the most popular online bitcoin wallet website, shared his excitement in twitter that Blockchain had almost passed 1.6 million users. Since his posting, the blockchain website has reached and surpassed the 1.6 million mark and is continuing new records.

Blockchain Passes the 1.6 Million User Mark

The reason for blockchain's wide success stems from how the website is run and what it has to offer its users. Blockchain allows people to store Bitcoins in an online Bitcoin wallet known as a 'my wallet' which allows users to make transactions around the world for free. The key factor about Blockchain is that users are the ones who have the full authority of their bitcoins. What this means is that Blockchain is unable to see transactions, user balance, or make payments.

Blockchain also boasts of a secure standard AES encryption to protect users' wallets. The great thing about the encryption is that any communication between clients and Blockchain servers are encrypted. This signifies that Blockchain actually does not have access to users' accounts.

The online Bitcoin wallet website also offers a variety of features that may appeal to a wide audience: 

Free, No Fees
Two Factor Authentication
Secure Client Side Encryption
Live Updating Interface
Ability to make your own backups.
Import / Export Private keys.
SMS & Email Payment notifications

Bitcoin users flock to Blockchain because it is known as one of the most secure forms of online wallets. Therefore, it is understandable that the amount of users are only going to increase.

Source: coinreport.net

Blockchain Outage

Database Glitch Causes Blockchain.info Outage

The bitcoin wallet and block explorer service Blockchain.info has been down since late last night (17th March) and it seems the issue is bigger than originally anticipated. A problem first came to light when a reddit user started a thread about a failed ‘shared coin’ transaction. Blockchain.info responded to his post and quickly moved to disable shared coin functionality.

“We have temporarily suspended shared coin transactions while investigating some transactions that are ‘stuck’. The particular transaction in question is https://blockchain.info/tx-index/115315411/10. Rebroadcasting this transaction in bitcoind results in Error code -22.”

Shared coin transactions were re-enabled four hours later, but further issues came to light and blockchain.info was taken down soon after.

Source: coindesk.com