Ask HN: What kind of startups can be built on top of bitcoin system?

7 points·anujkk··4 comments

What kind of startups can be built on top of bitcoin system using their API? Is it really worth considering for new startup ideas? Any examples of startup using bitcoin api?

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Not exactly white hat, but these are 'services' I currently know of that are generating income for their owners, perhaps it may inspire some ideas to create something legitimate:

* Running a bitcoin mining pool and accepting donations/small transaction fee

* Running an actual bitcoin bank

* Creating a meetup type app for bitcoin traders, would be very useful for Canadians and other non-US citizens where purchasing bitcoins is difficult

* ForEx software for bitcoins. The fluctuations in price seem to be as random as real currency anyway, ForEx software and training is a very profitable industry.

* Renting out or building bitcoin PC rigs with the latest GPU processing power

* Bitcoin analytics, providing latest stats on potential bitcoin mining profit margins given the cost of electricity, video card hardware costs, and current trading price.

Anything that makes it more user friendly (and secure by default) could get you a lot of customers. A lot of people are interested in it due to the recent media hype but don't get the technical stuff.

Apart from that, as the bitcoin economy is still in its very early stages, everything that looks more professional and trustworthy than a cobbled-together PHP script on a dirt-slow server could become a huge success.

AFAIK bitcoin does not have an API per se. As for the opportunuties, it will disrupt the online payments space pretty darstically. Anything that wasn't possible because of payment processor's charge, will now be viable. Micropayments done right using bitcoins can be huge.

None. Ok for experimentation but not a startup (no matter how loosely that is defined).

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