Video: Roundup of This Week’s Bitcoin News 23rd May 2014

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After almost a month, the price of bitcoin is back up to $500. Are you doing a little happy dance? So are we! (Don't worry: it doesn't appear in the video).

Check out some of the biggest headlines from last week leading up to the price rise.

37Coins plans SMS-based wallet: Startup 37Coins has created a universal bitcoin wallet that can be used on any cellphone. The service allows users to pay in bitcoin from any mobile device with SMS functionality via a ‘gateway’ in the user’s country of origin. This news is a step in the right direction to deliver worldwide bitcoin access.

FAC sees bitcoin as a 'boon' for global commerce: Minutes from a meeting of a US Federal Advisory Council surfaced this week containing some positive news on bitcoin. The minutes showed that attendees at the meeting discussed bitcoin's potential to boost global commerce.

Bitcoin price surges past $500: After a month-long dry spell, the bitcoin price has bounced back up and passed $500. This lift can be attributed to a long list of factors (and we discussed those last week when we are in Amsterdam) including BitPay's record-breaking Series A funding, Circle's product plans and the Bitcoin2014 conference in Amsterdam.

Bitcoiners celebrate the fourth anniversary of Bitcoin Pizza Day: Four years ago, a bitcoiner bought two Papa John's pizzas for 10,000 BTC, roughly valued at $5.12 million by today's exchange rate. Of course, here at CoinDesk we took full advantage of this occasion and ordered ourselves some lunch from Papa John's.

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