Yearly Archives: 2013

Federal Election Commission rules requested on Bitcoin campaign donations

"Coming soon to a political campaign near you: Bitcoin donations? The Federal Election Commission is poised to determine rules governing donations made in Bitcoins and how they apply to political campaigns. 'As increasing numbers of individuals trade in Bitcoin, political parties and candidates also wish to accept and spend this new currency,' Dan Backer of DB Capitol Strategies wrote in the request. The request lays out 24 technical questions for the FEC regarding the use of Bitcoin as political contributions. Backer told POLITICO that he expects that by 2014, many federal candidates will be interested in accepting the currency — and that many donors will demand it." Continue reading →

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UK downplays talk of regulating Bitcoin

"Reports the U.K. is 'actively considering' regulating the virtual currency Bitcoin are exaggerated, the country's financial watchdog has said. The FCA said on Thursday it was simply 'keeping an eye' on Bitcoin developments, rather than actively considering regulation. 'Whilst the FCA does not regulate Bitcoins, businesses providing services related to Bitcoins or other digital currencies should consider whether they are carrying on regulated activities,' a FCA spokesperson said." Continue reading →

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UK Bitcoin dealers seek official regulation for digital tokens

"Bitcoin dealers have told the British government that it should introduce regulation for the digital tokens so they can be used for new businesses and to promote growth. At a Downing Street meeting on Wednesday, smaller banks, finance houses and Bitcoin companies told officials that big banks are blocking the creation of business accounts for money remittance because of fears over financial crime. The meeting, attended by about 40 people, included high-level civil servants from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and other government departments interested in Bitcoin's potential, and more generally in how to encourage financial innovation in Britain." Continue reading →

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Paypal freezes $45,000 of Mailpile’s crowdfunded dollars

"The product aims to let users keep their mail local and under their own control rather than relying on Google, Microsoft, or another cloud e-mail provider. The crowdfunding campaign has exceeded its goal and things appeared to be going well for the company—until last weekend, when Mailpile's Brennan Novak awoke to a notification that Paypal was canceling his debit card and freezing his Paypal account, apparently on suspicion of fraudulent activity. Paypal will be keeping the funds frozen for a full year or until they have a verifiable 1.0 release of their product. Alternately, Paypal said, Mailpile could provide Paypal with 'an itemized budget and your development goal dates' for the project." Continue reading →

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‘More profitable than cocaine’: Peru is top source of counterfeit US cash

"Peru has in the past two years overtaken Colombia as the No. 1 source of counterfeit U.S. dollars, says the U.S. Secret Service, protector of the world's most widely traded currency. Over the past decade, $103 million in fake U.S. dollars 'made in Peru' have been seized — nearly half since 2010, Peruvian and U.S. officials say. The phony money heads mostly to the United States but is also goes smuggled to nearby countries including Argentina, Venezuela and Ecuador. Counterfeiters earn up to $20,000 in real currency for every $100,000 in false bills they produce after expenses, the investigator said." Continue reading →

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Mapping the Bitcoin Economy Could Reveal Users’ Identities

"The new research comes at a time when investment in the bitcoin economy is booming (see “Bitcoin Hits the Big Time”), and as it is being scrutinized by U.S. authorities. In 2013, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has seized a total of $5 million from Mt Gox, the largest exchange where people go to convert between bitcoins and conventional currencies. Last month, New York’s financial regulator subpoenaed 22 companies to gather information about their dealings with Bitcoin. 'The Bitcoin protocol still has huge potential for anonymity,' says Sarah Meiklejohn, who led the research project, 'but the way that people are using it is not achieving anonymity at all.'" Continue reading →

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How We Got Busted Buying Drugs On Silk Road’s Black Market

"To be clear, we weren’t caught by law enforcement–so far at least, our experiment last month in ordering small amounts of marijuana from three different Bitcoin-based online black markets hasn’t resulted in anyone getting arrested. But a few weeks after those purchases, I asked Sarah Meiklejohn, a Bitcoin-focused computer science researcher at the University of California at San Diego, to put the privacy of our black market transactions to the test by tracing the digital breadcrumbs that Bitcoin leaves behind. The result of her analysis: On Silk Road, and possibly on smaller competitor markets, our online drug buys were visible to practically anyone who took the time to look." Continue reading →

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Libertarian state senate candidate gets arrested at pro-marijuana rally

"A Libertarian candidate for the New Jersey Senate got himself arrested at a pro-marijuana rally in Philadelphia over the weekend. Don DeZarn, 46, was arrested for the second time in four months for marijuana possession on Saturday at the monthly SmokeDown Prohibition demonstration. After encouraging the participants of the rally to visit their representatives, DeZarn lit up and smoked a marijuana joint as police stood nearby. Six other people were issued citations for marijuana use at the demonstration, according to Philly.com." Continue reading →

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Local Television Beats the Internet?

"Television has the reach of nearly 89% of the total U.S. population. The only thing that comes close to matching television’s reach is the Internet — currently hitting 73.1% of the population. Local television websites continue to draw in new viewers, and ad dollars have followed. Local online advertising revenues nationwide are up over 175.19% over the past five years — 1.3 times higher than the overall growth of Internet advertising spending. Companies are using excess spectrum to roll out additional channels that are even more tailored to specific viewer groups. This sets up whole new revenue streams that advertisers and content providers are eager to work with." Continue reading →

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Another 1.8 Million People Just Ditched Cable TV

"Another quarter, another dismal set of numbers for the TV business. About1.8 million people ended their cable TV subscriptions in Q2 2013, according to analysts at SNL Kagan. Where are all the cord-cutters going? Here's one theory: As the availability of free WiFi increases, folks whose primary access to video and the web is on mobile devices and tablets — the young and the poor, in other words — have a less urgent need for subscriber services. The pay TV business is still huge, of course. But the losses in old-fashioned cable are not being gained by telco/internet suppliers who also supply TV." Continue reading →

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