Bitcoin, the virtual currency anonymously exchanged through an online peer-to-peer network, has hit the mainstream radar as ironically, a technical glitch caused a “flash crash” this week, sending Bitcoin on a 23 percent tumble and into financial headlines.

Created by Satoshi Nakamoto, “Bitcoin is not controlled by any government or central bank,” explains Business Insider. “And two, it’s private. In the world of conventional finance, governments can see every time you use your credit card, withdraw cash at an ATM, or make a wire transfer. Yet with Bitcoin, they don’t have this ability. And this is a key reason why Bitcoin has become so popular, especially in places like Argentina where people are getting squashed by their government.”Continue reading...

While McDonald’s is still the overwhelming powerhouse in fast-food burger chain, it appears that Burger King will soon be dethroned and it will come at the hands of a young pigtailed redhead.

The Orange County Register reports that Wendy’s is expected to surpass BK in the U.S., perhaps as early as this year, according to a report by Janney Capital Markets that was released Tuesday.

"We expect Wendy's to overtake privately-held Burger King for the number-two market-share position within the limited-service hamburger sector, perhaps as soon as this year," wrote analyst Mark Kalinowski in the report, according to the Register.Continue reading...

You may not be able to walk on water, but Carmelo Anthony can.

Last Thursday (Oct. 20) marked the date of a spectacular launch event for his new M8 Jordan Brand sneaker. Inviting guests to NYC's Pier 54 to the Hudson River, an 85-foot 3D projector was used to project a truly one-of-a-kind light show on the water.

It began with a helicopter dropping someone dressed in white into the water — before a giant vision of the New York Knick was visible, running up and down the water dribbling a basketball. Nike's Jordan Brand marketers also used the entire front of a building for another projector which showed Carmelo running across it to shoot a basket.Continue reading...

The excitement levels of Pfizer execs likely went way up (and remained there for some time) after a federal judge upheld a U.S. patent for the company’s anti-impotence pill, Viagra, on Friday.

The company, the world’s largest drug maker, gets to remain the exclusive manufacturer of the drug into 2019, reports the Wall Street Journal. U.S. Judge Rebecca Beach Smith in Federal court in Norfolk, Virginia (Virginia is for lovers, you know) ruled that Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. could not produce a generic version of the drug, the Journal reports.Continue reading...

Airbnb just joined the billion dollar valuation club, $1.3 billion to be precise, according to the Wall Street Journal. The San Francisco-based apartment-sharing website just closed a $112 million round of financing led by Andreessen-Horowitz, with participation from Yuri Milner’s DST Global and General Catalyst. 

The startup, launched in August 2008 by cofounders Nathan Blecharczyk, Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia, today boasts some impressive stats: more than 2 million nights booked (double that of four months ago), a website attracting 30 million-plus monthly views, and 54 million ‘social connections’ since the May launch of its social hub. 

As competition in its category heats up, Airbnb will reportedly use the latest cash infusion to continue expansion from its current 186 countries and “stay in front of the folks trying to emulate the service around the world.”Continue reading...

YouGov BrandIndex’s Buzz score is out with its rankings of brands for the first half of the year.

The survey asked consumers to rate brands within categories, posting the question: "If you've heard anything about the brand in the last two weeks, through advertising, news or word of mouth, was it positive or negative?"

In addition to ratings brands that scored the biggest buzz from January to June 2011, YouGov listed the brands that made the biggest improvements in the period vs. their standing in the January-June period of 2010.Continue reading...

When Mashable founder Pete Cashmore says in an interview that your mobile app is the one to watch at South by Southwest, then — congrats! You're officially the darling (or at least the It App) of SXSW.

GroupMe certainly made a splash at this year's SXSW Interactive, hosting a free grill and generally creating buzz for its messaging/texting app, which works on any phone that can text.

It's competing in a cluttered and noisy space, one that includes GroupedIn, Kik, TextPlus, Brightkite, Fast Society and Mogwee – as mobile apps strive to improve on social, location-based apps.Continue reading...

Mark Pincus, the CEO of social game creator Zynga, is now a billionaire. What pushed him into Forbes' 2011 list of the world's richest — the virtual (and addictive) tilling and fertilizing that is FarmVille.

While Mafia Wars has been a hit for Zynga, too, it's FarmVille that has hooked Facebookers, venture capitalists and brands (such as Stouffers, above) to work on Markie's Farm.