Bitcoin

Dark money: only 35 Bitcoin dealers are compliant with US law

"In the US, the virtual currency is subject to money transmitter laws at the federal level and in 47 states. The rules are not always clear, however, because they are written for money transmission services, not virtual currencies. The regulations are also in flux. New York is considering a special 'BitLicense' for virtual currency firms, for example. As a result, many Bitcoin companies have not registered at either the state or federal level. Only 35 Bitcoin companies have registered with FinCEN, the bureau of the US Treasury Department that has taken the lead on Bitcoin regulation, and the agency has reached out to several dozen more that it believes need to register." Continue reading →

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G. Edward Griffin on Globalism, Collectivism and the ‘Right Principles’

"I think the most important thing we can do today is to recognize that our opponents are not evil because of their political party affiliation. They're not our opponents because they're evil or because they have this, that or the other thing. It's because they have an ideal, a philosophy that they're following. People mistakenly often just attack them because of the party labels – 'Get rid of him. He's a Democrat!' or 'He's a Republican. Get rid of him!' Who's going to replace him? Somebody just exactly the same, with the same mindset. So it does no good to focus on personalities and names. We have to rise above that and focus on the ideas these individuals are pursuing." Continue reading →

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Cyprus central bank: Bitcoin use dangerous

"The Central Bank (CBC) has said use of virtual currency bitcoin is extremely dangerous, the Cyprus News Agency (CNA) said on Tuesday. 'Using any virtual money is extremely dangerous because they are not monitored by any authority, thus operating without control,' CNA said, quoting the CBC. In a written response later on Tuesday, Danny Brewster the CEO of Neo & Bee, the largest business in the world that is building infrastructure around the Bitcoin technology, said he had been trying for the past two weeks to reach and arrange a meeting with the CBC so that it could operate under the appropriate regulatory framework." Continue reading →

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European Union Warns on Bitcoin

"The European Union on Friday added to a string of recent warnings about the safety of using and investing in Bitcoin, the virtual currency that is not issued by any government. The union’s banking authority said consumers needed to be aware that they were not protected through regulation when paying with Bitcoins. The digital currency is vulnerable to hackers, might lose its value and any misuse could prompt law enforcement agencies to close Bitcoin exchange platforms and keep consumers from accessing their investment, the European regulator said, adding that it was looking into whether such currencies could and should be regulated." Continue reading →

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Bitcoins Fail Currency Test in Scandinavia’s Richest Nation

"Bitcoins were dealt a blow in Norway as the government of Scandinavia’s richest nation said the virtual currency doesn’t qualify as real money. 'Bitcoins don’t fall under the usual definition of money or currency,' Hans Christian Holte, director general of taxation in Norway, said in an interview. 'We’ve done some assessments on what’s the right and sound way to handle this in the tax system.' Norway will instead treat Bitcoins as an asset and charge a capital gains tax. While tax revenue from Bitcoins isn’t substantial, Holte at the Norwegian tax authority said he plans to work with other countries to hammer out the legal aspects of Bitcoin." Continue reading →

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Central Banks in New Zealand and Australia Issue Bitcoin Warning

"Representatives from the central banks of New Zealand and Australia have issued their own official warnings on bitcoin, terming the currency 'interesting, but risky'. John McDermott, assistant governor at the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ), said banks and businesses should 'tread very carefully' with the digital currency, in a report by the Wall Street Journal. RBNZ Governor Graeme Wheeler cited price volatility as a cause for concern. Next door, the governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia, Glenn Stevens, said he was 'still trying to understand' the cryptocurrency during an interview with theAustralian Financial Review." Continue reading →

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Bitcoin and Intrinsic Value: a Layman’s Response to Alan Greenspan

"Once upon a time, at the end of the last millennium, I founded and led the first games company to sell virtual goods or virtual currency for real money. We sold (and still sell) ‘credits’ – virtual currency that is bought for real money, which players can use to buy other things in our games. When I first started selling credits, a lot of people, including almost everyone in the games industry who was aware of what we were doing, thought it was ridiculous. The general criticism was along the lines of: 'Why would someone pay real money for a fake sword?' 16 years later, people are still buying these credits, and they’re even used to pay other people for third-party services around our games." Continue reading →

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China bitcoin arbitrage ends as traders work around capital controls

"The price gap between bitcoins trading in Chinese yuan and those sold for other currencies has evaporated in recent days, highlighting the porous nature of China's capital controls. A key driver of the price gap was China's capital controls, which make it difficult for speculators to swap yuan proceeds from the sale of high-priced Chinese bitcoins into dollars. Analysts say the price convergence also reflects the rapid evolution of the bitcoin market, which began with technology enthusiasts but quickly expanded to include those with the financial know-how to evade China's strict capital controls." Continue reading →

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2013: Year Of The Bitcoin

"Although bitcoin has attracted a lot of attention in the last few months, Babin-Tremblay pointed out that the currency actually started to gain popularity earlier this year as a result of the Cyprus banking crisis. In March the government of Cyprus announced a bail-in for banks, meaning that the financial institutions would have to impose losses on their shareholders, debt holders and even large depositors. After the bail-in was announced people ended up rushing to their bank accounts to withdraw funds. Many put the money into bitcoin, where governments could not touch it. 'Bitcoins were growing slowly until Cyprus. Cyprus was the catalyst for the big increase in the price,' he said." Continue reading →

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