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Online Casinos Hobbled as Credit-Card Issuers Reject Bets

"Just as legal online gambling gets started in the U.S., banks and payment processors are refusing to play. Credit-card issuers Bank of America Corp., Wells Fargo & Co. and American Express Co., along with EBay Inc.’s PayPal, aren’t allowing the transactions, according to the companies. Delaware and Nevada permit Internet wagering, with New Jersey poised to become the third and biggest state on Nov. 26. The rejections threaten a nascent business with the potential to reach $7.4 billion in annual revenue in four years, the estimate of researcher H2 Gambling Capital. American Express and PayPal say they don’t process gambling transactions of any kind." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOnline Casinos Hobbled as Credit-Card Issuers Reject Bets

Jim Rogers on Price Inflation, Investing in Asia and China’s Boom

"As we speak, there is this meeting in Beijing on what to do about the Chinese economy. It's a plenary council, which only meets periodically. The first meeting was in 1978 where [Deng Xiaoping] started opening up the Chinese economy, which has certainly been the most important thing in the world economy in the past 35 years. In 1993 they had another one, which had dramatic results. The Chinese say that this meeting is going to have equally dramatic and dynamic results and come up with very important changes. It may be as important as 1993 or 1978, and if they do big things, it's going to be perhaps the most important thing affecting the world economy over the next 10 or 20 years." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJim Rogers on Price Inflation, Investing in Asia and China’s Boom

Monetary Madness

"In the Forked Tongue category, wannabe Fed chief Janet Yellen has now eclipsed Fed Chairman Bernanke for the first prize. In her testimony before Congress this week, she says little or nothing about the 2008 debt crisis, federal deficits, European debacles, fiscal cliffs or any others which were among her predecessor’s favorite excuses for the unprecedented money printing she vows to pursue. Nor does she talk much about a weak economy. Instead, her new rationale is that, although the economy has improved, it hasn’t quite improved 'enough.'" Continue reading →

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Read more about the article Federal Agency Responses Reveal US Government Attitudes to Bitcoin

Federal Agency Responses Reveal US Government Attitudes to Bitcoin

"The US Senate committee due to begin hearings into ‘virtual currencies’ on 18 November has released the responses it received to its August 2013 requests for information on the topic from a number of federal agencies. Until the actual hearings begin, the letters provide one of the most detailed insights so far into how various US government authorities view bitcoin and its contemporaries. The crime-heavy spotlight of the responses might be an indication of the US government’s overall approach to digital currencies such as bitcoin, with only the Federal Reserve and Treasury Department commenting that such payment systems could provide benefit and increase efficiency."

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US has Already Ceded Dominance in Bitcoin Trading

"Currently, the top four bitcoin exchanges by volume are located outside of the US, with the world’s leading exchange based in China. Less than 2% of worldwide bitcoin trading and real-time market making occurs within the US jurisdiction. All four of the world’s leading exchanges have demonstrated a capacity for serious, engaged banking relationships that would have been unobtainable in the United States. We have arrived at the point where the US jurisdiction must strategically evaluate a path going forward. Either they enable a climate that appeals to bitcoin exchanges and businesses or they maintain barriers that silently drive innovation in the space overseas." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUS has Already Ceded Dominance in Bitcoin Trading

Russian lawmaker seeks to ban US dollar, predicts 2017 collapse

"To protect Russians against the 'collapsing US debt pyramid', a Russian legislator has filed a draft bill to ban circulation of the currency in Russia. Once a Moscow mayoral hopeful, Mikhail Degtyarev, 32, likens the US dollar to a worldwide ponzi scheme which he says is scheduled to end in 2017. The bill would impose a ban on dollars within a year of its passage, and any private citizen holding accounts in dollars would either need to spend the money or convert it to another currency. There is no proposed ban on the euro, British pound, yen, or yuan. If one doesn’t exchange or transfer dollars within a year, the dollars will be seized by officials, and reimbursed in rubles within 30 calendar days." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRussian lawmaker seeks to ban US dollar, predicts 2017 collapse

Bitcoin Companies and Entrepreneurs Can’t Get Bank Accounts

"The Bitcoin banking casualty list is a long one: popular Bitcoin – USD exchanges Bitfloor and BitInstant, in New York; Tradehill, in California; and Bitbox, in Michigan, have been out of commission for months. All had registered as money exchangers with the Department of Treasury’s FinCen. Mobile Bitcoin payment company Coinapult moved from Colorado to Panama to avoid the 'murky, unpredictable, and onerous' regulatory environment in the U.S.. Capital One even shut down the merchant account for Mulligan Mint, a commemorative coin maker, when it started making physical Bitcoin silver coins; the business was not in fact dealing with Bitcoins, just making fake models of them." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBitcoin Companies and Entrepreneurs Can’t Get Bank Accounts

Bitcoin Companies and Entrepreneurs Can’t Get Bank Accounts

"The Bitcoin banking casualty list is a long one: popular Bitcoin – USD exchanges Bitfloor and BitInstant, in New York; Tradehill, in California; and Bitbox, in Michigan, have been out of commission for months. All had registered as money exchangers with the Department of Treasury’s FinCen. Mobile Bitcoin payment company Coinapult moved from Colorado to Panama to avoid the 'murky, unpredictable, and onerous' regulatory environment in the U.S.. Capital One even shut down the merchant account for Mulligan Mint, a commemorative coin maker, when it started making physical Bitcoin silver coins; the business was not in fact dealing with Bitcoins, just making fake models of them." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBitcoin Companies and Entrepreneurs Can’t Get Bank Accounts

Savers boosting bitcoin demand in China, exchange says

"A co-founder of China’s biggest bitcoin exchange on Friday said there were 'boundless opportunities' for the digital currency in the country because of the Chinese saving ethic. 'The main reason why bitcoin has become big in China is because Chinese people are savers, and more people are seeing bitcoin as a way to store and invest their money,' Linke Yang, vice-president of BTC China, told reporters on the sidelines of a conference in Singapore. 'There are boundless opportunities for BTC China and bitcoin in the next five years, you never know with the way the internet develops,' Yang said through an interpreter." Continue reading →

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The strangest bull market ever

"This bull market is really odd. The Dow and S&P 500 are near all-time highs. The Nasdaq is inching closer to 4,000 for the first time since the tech bubble did its best weasel impersonation and popped in 2000. Twitter (TWTR) surged on its first day of trading, despite the fact that it is not yet profitable. Snapchat has reportedly turned down offers to sell out to Facebook (FB) for $3 billion. This is a company that is not even generating sales yet. How are all those hot 'pre-revenue' Internet companies from 15 years ago doing? Are they still monetizing eyeballs? It looks like bears remain in hibernation and the bulls are ... wait for the Rage Against the Machine reference ... still on parade." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe strangest bull market ever