What happened this week in crypto innovation? Here's all the news that's fit to print:
MONDAY
Hacker Michael Bumann coded a bot for Telegram and WhatsApp users, which tops up M-Pesa accounts with Bitcoin. The bot uses the BitPesa API to exchange bitcoins for Kenyan fiat currency. Michael posted the video below, where he successfully pays a cab driver's M-Pesa account using the bot. Watch for an interview with Michael this week on Cointelegraph.
The subreddit Millionaire Makers selected their 12th would-be millionaire in a random drawing. This subreddit posts a thread once per month, and anyone who comments within the first 24 hours is automatically entered to win. A bot then selects the winner using random data from Bitcoin's blockchain. October's winner was a high school student who's interested in mechanical engineering. He's been tipped over US$2,200 so far, nearly half of which has been in cryptocurrency (often from ChangeTip users).
TUESDAY
Trezor has released a beta web wallet, which allows users to label addresses, re-name accounts, and text-search their transaction histories. Additionally, the list of Trezor Connect partners (the websites which allow login via a Trezor instead of username and password) has also grown. Finally, with the utilization of the Encompass wallet, Trezor supports Litecoin, Mazacoin, and Dash as well as Bitcoin.
Meerkat “power user” Suzanne Nguyen was tipped her first Bitcoin in April 2015 during one of her regular Meerkat streams. Since then, Suzanne has become such a ChangeTip fan that she's scheduled a free online conference on December 5 called Micro Bitcoin. She invites all interested in discussing how Bitcoin can power web commerce to digitally attend. Pre-registration for Micro Bitcoin is available.
WEDNESDAY
Those interested in getting paid to run Dash masternodes have a new option in MasterNodeCloud, a new online service which sets up and maintains masternode accounts for US$4 per month (in Dash).
BitShares has a Referral Rewards program which pays users to introduce their friends to BitShares. To participate, one must join the Lifetime Membership program for US$100 in BitShares. The user then receives commissions for anyone who also becomes a Lifetime member via their referral, as well as receives 80 % cash back on all future transaction fees paid to the BitShares network.
THURSDAY
A cryptotoken called IOTA has been designed with the intent to power the Internet of Things (IoT). The token resides not on a blockchain, but on a blockchain-like “tangle” which founder David Sønstebø believes is better suited for payments between machines. Sønstebø says he envisions the IoT as more than just a world where refrigerators that buy their own milk, but rather a complete upheaval of how supply chains operate.
This t-shirt design was spotted on Blacklisted News:
FRIDAY
And what did the market bring us on Friday? Watch this episode to find out.
The Daily Decrypt is a Monday through Friday news show and podcast about cryptocurrency and P2P tech innovations. Daily episodes are easily found on the show's Twitter and Facebook pages.