Top 5 Bitcoin Influenced Technology Devices

The creation of bitcoin has spurred a renaissance of sorts in the realm of hardware and technology. The concept of digital currency has compelled minds to go at work full force and simplify the way people can deal in bitcoins through new devices.

Such devices allow people to buy, sell and share bitcoins conveniently. Even more inspiring is that some technologies have never been seen before, or improve on modern versions of hardware that already exist.

CoinReport has come up with a list with our favorite technological advancements that have come to be, thanks to bitcoin.

Bitcoin Influenced Devices

5. Bitcoin Kinetics

Imagine being able to utilize everyday machines and paying for their services in bitcoin. With Bitcoin Kinetics, that concept is now a reality. The company engineers such devices so that users can pay in bitcoin, rather than dollar bills or loose change.

Machines like gaming cabinets, washers, dryers, vending machines and gas pumps have been designed to accept bitcoin payments through QR codes that can be scanned with smartphones. Transactions are conducted exactly the same way as a traditional version of the machine would, except it won’t spit out your dollar bills, on account that there are none involved.

With Bitcoin Kinetics’ innovative use of bitcoin, the digital currency has made itself useful in the physical world, rather than being predominantly online-based.

4. Nymi

A lot of concern over security is floating around the bitcoin industry after devastating attacks against the community, rendering thousands of bitcoins to be stolen. Bionym’s Nymi wristband hopes to put an end to such thefts and concerns.

The Nymi is a device-unlocking wirstband, used to store bitcoin wallets. What makes it even more unique is that the device remains locked if it can not sense the owners heart beating. If the device is stolen, its of no use, as each Nymi works by sensing its owners distinct heart rate.  This is a great way to secure bitcoins from hackers and definitely futuristic enough to make it on our Top 5 list.

The hope with the Nymi according to Bionym’s president Andrew D’Souza, is that its security functionality will lessen the fear over the risks in dealing with bitcoins. D’Souza’s expectations for his device are high, as he says:

“We really want to rethink identity – we’re trying to do what the iPhone did for cellphones.”

3. Mevu

Another wearable tech gadget similar to the Nymi is the MEVU bracelet, which allows owners to pay for items in bitcoin – with a twist. With just a flick of the wrist, the Coinbase powered MEVU bracelet lets users pay for goods and services using their digital coins.

Though the device was designed to make smaller payments for things like a cup of coffee, its technology has room to grow. To make a payment, a user flicks their wrist in front of a tablet device, which reads the movement as a way to complete the transaction.

Transactions aren’t only made instantly, but save users time from having to type in credit card information or logging into a payment processing site.

Demonstrations of the technology can be seen at this link.

2. Bitcoin ATMs

Bitcoin ATMs are one of the quickest and most appealing ways to get new people to try out bitcoin. The first was installed in Vancouver, Canada and was made by Robocoin.

Other manufacturers like Lamassu, Genesis Coin and Umbrellab have also installed bitcoin ATM units all over the word, allowing millions of people to get acquainted with digital currencies.

Some ATMs revolve around other digital currencies, such as litecoin and dogecoin, but none of them would have come to pass had it not been for bitcoin.

Most importantly, bitcoin units are easy to use, making it simple for anyone with a smartphone to start investing. Using the machine’s kiosk, a user inputs how much of their local currency they want to convert into bitcoin. Then they just feed their cash into their machine, and bitcoins show up in their digital wallet.

Bitcoin ATMs are currently settled in places like the US, China, Canada, Japan, England, Singapore, Australia and more.

1. Bitcoin Miners

It can be argued that bitcoin mining equipment is perhaps the biggest hardware innovation to come from bitcoin. Why you may ask? – Because without mining hardware, there would be no bitcoins to do all this great fun stuff with.

Bitcoins have to be mined in order to make it to the hands – or wallets, of users. There are a total of 21 million bitcoins, and as of now, about half have been digitally dug up. As time goes on, the difficulty of mining out bitcoins increases, as it was designed to do. The ever increasing difficulty of bitcoin has sparked an increase in the fight to develop faster and more powerful mining machines than ever before.

Bitcoin mining companies, such as KnCMiner, design powerful machines that can handle digging up bitcoins, since such a process can be both time and power consuming. Their machines, as well as mining machines from companies like CoinTerra, make it so that mining is as fast and energy efficient as possible.

Bitcoin was created to make using money secure and easy. With its presence, bitcoin has sparked creative minds that seek to enhance bitcoin in an even more secure and efficient way.

Let us know some of your favorite things to come out of bitcoin. You may just see it on a future Top 5 article. 

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