Economy

ED officials raided two bitcoin trading firm in Ahmedabad

"Days after the RBI issued a cautionary note regarding the use of popular virtual currency Bitcoin, Enforcement Directorate officials here raided two companies running Bitcoin transactions in India. ED officials told ET that on Thursday raids were conducted on the offices of rBitco.in and buysellbitco.in. This is India's first bitcoin raid and second globally after FBI conducted the raid in October, they said. As per the sources, the owners of the both the bitcoin trading firm would be booked under FEMA Act initially. However, after detail investigation of the data collected, if any havala transaction or criminal nature transaction is detected then they would be booked under the appropriate Act." Continue reading →

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FinCEN: Bitcoin Miners Need Not Register as Money Transmitters

"According to the letter, miners are still free to purchase goods or trade with exchanges with the bitcoins they produce whether operating as individuals or businesses. The news should come as a relief for smaller-scale mining operations. Jerry Brito, senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center, indicated that FinCEN wrotein a private letter last July that all miners would have to register as MSBs, and uncertainty had remained since then. This could have put many individuals out of the mining business with its range of compliance regulations, such as having an auditor on staff. The exact wording of the letter still leaves some room for interpretation, though." Continue reading →

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Paul Krugman Is Wrong: Bitcoin Isn’t Evil, But Monetary ‘Stimulus’ Is

"Krugman asserts that bitcoin is evil because it is a 'weapon intended to damage central banking' and makes it harder for states to tax and monitor people. He gets it exactly backwards. A weapon is a tool used to attack someone. But bitcoin users aren’t attacking anyone; they are avoiding an attack. As the tax burden grows heavier, and surveillance intrudes more deeply, it’s reasonable for people to seek shelter. They just want to protect themselves." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPaul Krugman Is Wrong: Bitcoin Isn’t Evil, But Monetary ‘Stimulus’ Is

Bill Bonner: Should You Turn Bullish in 2014?

"As far as we know, as long as the Fed keeps pumping, prices for stocks, Andy Warhol doodles and Manhattan apartments will keep going up. But that doesn’t mean any of them are good investments. Stocks, for example, are an option on a bigger Fed-induced bubble. But they’re not cheap. A simple look at the 12-month “as reported” P/E for the S&P 500 will tell you that. Could this continue? Yes, of course. Or, it could blow sky-high. Yes – 2013 was one for the history books; 2014 almost surely will be, too." Continue reading →

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Now China … Reasons for Printing Money Abound

"The tightening talk we're listening to is just for public consumption. The whole system of recovery is based on equity appreciation stimulating employment (which it does ineffectively at best). The big central banks around the world are all pumping money in unison. We will always be told that bankers are concernedly moderating money flows. But then, at the first sign of trouble, the taps are turned back on. In fact, they are never REALLY turned off. And there will always be a reason to push the volume of money even higher. They are planning a big Wall Street Party. The top men always seem to find reasons to print more. Until the world is swimming in currency." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNow China … Reasons for Printing Money Abound

Bitcoin exchanges shut shop in India

"BuySellBitCo.in CEO Mahin Gupta refused to comment on what would happen to the investment that went into BuySellBitCo.in. However, the exchange’s website pointed out that it was suspending operations until a clearer operating framework could be found. 'Post the RBI circular, we are suspending buy and sell operations. This is being done to protect the interests of our customers and in no way is a reflection of Bitcoin’s true potential or price,' the trading platform said. Another trading platform, INBRTC, claimed that the 'only option now was to suspend services until further arrangements could be made.'" Continue reading →

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Reserve Bank of India Issues Virtual Currency Warning

"There are a few exchanges and trading platforms in India and most of them were launched earlier this year. Although they tend to allow users to purchase bitcoin in rupees, none of them appear to have regulatory approval to do so. However, since India does not have digital currency legislation, it is impossible to get such approval, unless Indian regulators decide to apply existing foreign exchange regulations to bitcoin. For now though, India does not have bitcoin regulation and it is unclear whether the RBI’s statement will change anything moving forward." Continue reading →

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Nobel Winner: “No Reason To Fear Deflation”

"'Historically, there is no reason to fear deflation,' Nobel Laureate Thomas Sargent explains to Germany's Wiwo.de, 'we all benefit from lower prices.' That central banks pursue an inflation rate of around 2%, Sargent blasts, is because they consider it their job to 'make bad debt good debt,' adding that inflation is 'a major redistribution machine - reducing the real debt burden for the benefit of creditors and devaluing the assets of the creditors.' A return to a gold standard,he concludes, to prevent governments and central banks from limitless money-printing 'would not be foolish.'" Continue reading →

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Economist Mag Defends Fed With an Ode to the Dead

"Today, powerful people situated strategically around the Fed are protecting that institution and its members. But times are not what they were. There is the Internet to contend with and a mood of informed populism in the US that does not bode well for a continued Fed coverup. Thus, the Fed faces an institutional conundrum. The public pressure on the Fed in the long run will surely not let up. In fact, it may subside a little as the Fed tends to this latest stock market bubble, what we have called a 'Wall Street Party.' But when the party is ending and insiders (and hopefully you, dear reader) have drunk their fill of the bubbly and retired, there will be Hell to pay." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEconomist Mag Defends Fed With an Ode to the Dead

India Central Bank warns against Bitcoin use

"The Reserve Bank of India, on Tuesday, warned the public against the use of virtual currencies such as Bitcoin, pointing out that users expose themselves to potential financial, legal and security related risks. The public advisory comes after the borderless digital currency has begun to gain widespread acceptance in India, despite poor Internet penetration and a natural scepticism to assets not backed by tangible entities such as land. In its list of potential risks, the apex bank highlights problems such as losses arising out of hacking, no sources of customer recourse and the general financial volatility surrounding Bitcoins." Continue reading →

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