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U.S. Treasury cautions Bitcoin businesses on compliance duties

"The U.S. Treasury Department’s anti-money laundering unit has mailed roughly a dozen letters to businesses linked to the digital currency Bitcoin warning they may be money transmitters and be required to comply with federal law and regulation, a Treasury spokesman told Compliance Complete. These letters, sent in recent weeks by Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), are a form of 'industry outreach' aimed at making Bitcoin businesses aware of their potential anti-money laundering compliance obligations, FinCEN spokesman Steve Hudak said." Continue reading →

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China Bites Into Bitcoin

"China’s actions over the past weeks have put BTC China’s future in doubt. After Chinese regulators held a closed-door meeting to warn financial companies against working with exchanges, BTC China was swiftly abandoned by two payment processors. 'There are 300 payment processors in China. We’re going to go down the list and find one that will work with us,' says an optimistic Lee. He doesn’t think the government is trying to put him out of business but rather put the screws on Bitcoin to cut down on the rampant speculation. 'They haven’t declared exchanges illegal. That gives us room to maneuver, so there’s still hope.'" Continue reading →

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India may ease gold import curbs later this month

"Indian officials are in discussions to cut a record high import duty on gold and relax rules on exports, government sources said, after the measures helped narrow the country's trade deficit and now threaten to encourage smuggling. With three duty hikes last year to a record 10 percent and onerous restrictions tying purchases to exports, official arrivals shrank almost 90 percent in the six months to November, helping China displace India as the world's top gold buyer. The decision to cut the import duty is likely to be taken anytime this month, said one of the government sources, who has direct knowledge of the deliberations but did not want to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIndia may ease gold import curbs later this month

India may ease gold import curbs later this month

"Indian officials are in discussions to cut a record high import duty on gold and relax rules on exports, government sources said, after the measures helped narrow the country's trade deficit and now threaten to encourage smuggling. With three duty hikes last year to a record 10 percent and onerous restrictions tying purchases to exports, official arrivals shrank almost 90 percent in the six months to November, helping China displace India as the world's top gold buyer. The decision to cut the import duty is likely to be taken anytime this month, said one of the government sources, who has direct knowledge of the deliberations but did not want to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIndia may ease gold import curbs later this month

India Gets The (Bitcoin) Green Light

"Following a press conference organised by Bitcoins Alliance India, Unocoin, one of the largest Bitcoin exchanges in India has been given the green light allowing users to continue accessing their accounts as of today (6th of January 2014) with regular trading commencing on the 8th January. The conference was headed by India’s top taxation and legal expert Mr Nishith Desai, Founder & Managing Partner of Nishith Desai Associates. Mr Desai has meticulously analysed the techno-legal perspective of Bitcoin inline with current payment and currency laws and concluded that Bitcoins are in fact a legitimate currency and could provide many benefits to India’s economy." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIndia Gets The (Bitcoin) Green Light

India Gets The (Bitcoin) Green Light

"Following a press conference organised by Bitcoins Alliance India, Unocoin, one of the largest Bitcoin exchanges in India has been given the green light allowing users to continue accessing their accounts as of today (6th of January 2014) with regular trading commencing on the 8th January. The conference was headed by India’s top taxation and legal expert Mr Nishith Desai, Founder & Managing Partner of Nishith Desai Associates. Mr Desai has meticulously analysed the techno-legal perspective of Bitcoin inline with current payment and currency laws and concluded that Bitcoins are in fact a legitimate currency and could provide many benefits to India’s economy." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIndia Gets The (Bitcoin) Green Light

Taiwan’s Government Says No To Bitcoin ATMs

"Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) will not allow the installation of Bitcoin ATMs in the country because it believes Bitcoins are not a currency and should therefore not be accepted by individuals or banks as payment, said FSC chairman Tseng Ming-chung. U.S.-based company Robocoin planned to bring its Bitcoin ATMs to Taiwan and Hong Kong as part of its global expansion plans. Government attitudes toward Bitcoin differ widely throughout Asia, but the FSC’s decision is yet another sign that the cryptocurrency’s increasing mainstream acceptance also means it will come under scrutiny by more financial regulators." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTaiwan’s Government Says No To Bitcoin ATMs

All-Time High Unemployment: Depression In Europe Getting Deeper

"This week we learned that eurozone unemployment came in at an all-time high of 12.2 percent for September. Back in January 2012, it was sitting at just 10.4 percent. The funny thing is that the mainstream media will barely call what is going on in Europe a 'recession' even though the unemployment rates in both Spain and Greece are now much higher than anything that the United States ever experienced during the 'Great Depression' of the 1930s. A 25-year-old Spanish man with three college degrees that moved to London in a desperate search for a job is now cleaning up poop for a living. The economic collapse of Europe continues to march on, and there is no end in sight." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAll-Time High Unemployment: Depression In Europe Getting Deeper

Tracking IMF Money Manipulation to Pakistan and Beyond

"The Nation magazine recently posted a small article entitled, 'Pakistan gets second tranche of $553.5m from IMF.' We are so used to these kinds of announcements that they hardly register anymore. But this is how the entrenched corruption of our day is carried out. This is magic money, of course. It will bolster foreign reserves, help Pakistan battle the Taliban (that it actually sponsors), aid the state in supporting its economy (whatever that means), 'solve' an energy crisis (really!) and support increased tax collection efforts. A Swiss green company is in line to soak up a good deal of this IMF tranche." Continue reading →

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Keiser Report: Pickpockets Rule UK?

"In this episode of the Keiser Report, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss the beggar economy in which the biggest pickpockets rule. They look at the London Gold Fix, in particular, where every day for the past more than twenty years, pockets were picked every single day, according to the data. In the second half, Max interviews precious metals expert, James Turk, about his new book, 'The Money Bubble,' and about the dollar, gold and Bitcoin." Continue reading →

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