"Stefan Molyneux looks at the rise of Bitcoin and discusses it's history, mining, fees, altcoins, regulatory hypocrisy, worldwide awareness, comparisons to gold, anonymous transactions, possible government attacks and what the future holds for the decentralized cryptocurrency." Continue reading →
"Last month, BaFin (the German ministry of finance) announced it does not consider bitcoin to be e-money or a functional currency. Instead, it referred to it as 'private money' and a 'financial instrument'. Just last week, Bitcoin.de received confirmation from BaFin that it has no objections to the exchange’s partnership with Fidor Bank. The partnership means customers will soon be able to trade on bitcoin.de in near real-time using a free FidorPay giro account. Elsewhere in the world, bitcoin companies have been facing problems when it comes to finding banking partners. For example, US company Tradehill recently had to cease bitcoin trading due to 'operational and regulatory issues'." Continue reading →
"Bitcoin has massive implications for markets that the current financial services industry has ignored or struggled to penetrate. Online commerce all but requires preexisting access to a credit card or bank account, yet according to the GSMA 1.7 billion people have a mobile phone and no alternative to the cash economy. As digital cash, Bitcoin appeals directly to consumers as an accessible payment alternative without the risk and fees associated with existing credit and debit networks. Rapid growth of startup payment networks like M-PESA in Kenya (founded in 2007 and now processing 30%(!) of the country’s GDP) are a great early indicator for both market demand and adoption." Continue reading →
"In the Bitcoin world, where banks no longer serve as intermediaries between people and their money, bank accounts have been replaced by online 'wallets' that people can use to virtually store and send bitcoins. Wilson and Taaki’s project is a simple wallet designed to be easier to use for people who aren’t tech-savvy; they hope that in turn accelerates the currency’s rate of adoption around the world. The wallet will be open-source and free to use. Eventually, Wilson and Taaki hope to create a vast stable of Bitcoin-related tools. The goal, for Wilson, is similar to what he tried to do with the Liberator: use technology to remove government intervention from his life, and from the lives of like-minded people." Continue reading →
"Complying with existing regulations and coping with future regulatory changes represent the biggest opportunity for startups to break into the potentially lucrative world of FinTech (Financial Technology), according to two seasoned FinTech players who spoke at The Wall Street Journal Tech Cafe in London. 'The easiest way to start a business to work within the finance sector is to look for a regulation that is coming down the pipe and develop a solution for that thing,' said Kirk Wylie, co-founder of OpenGamma, an open-source analytics and risk management platform for the financial services industry. 'Anywhere you see new regulation is always a way for startups to make money.'" Continue reading →
"Dwolla got its start from a simple idea: that credit card fees are too expensive for merchants and consumers. CEO and cofounder Ben Milne took his frustration really far, building an entirely new payment network to get around credit cards and PayPal. Rather than charge a percentage, Dwolla is free for transactions under $10 and just 25 cents for anything over that amount. Over a billion dollars has changed hands through Dwolla in 2013 alone, and the company has the backing of top investors including Union Square Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz. Plus, why it's keeping its headquarters in Des Moines, Iowa." Continue reading →
"The emerging cryptographic monetary standard entirely bypasses the age of fiat money and the age of central banking. It takes money out of the realm of public policy and central planning and places it in the hands of the people actually using it. Of all the features of Bitcoin, this one is perhaps the most beautiful. It has emerged from within the social order and was not imposed from above. How long will it take before the full implications reveal themselves? It took email some 20 years to go from obscure to common. Digital phone technology needed about the same swath of time. Bitcoin, however, could be different. Information travels farther and faster than ever before." Continue reading →
"Karen Hudes, a former 20 year employee of the World Bank, contends the U.S. credit rating is on very dubious ground. Hudes says, 'This is actually an underhanded move because they know the U.S. dollar is going to lose its status as an international currency.' What would that look like to the man on the street? Hudes predicts, 'Prices would change on a daily basis. They would double. The number of families that would be employed would be in the minority . . . there would be lawlessness.' Join Greg Hunter as he goes One-on-One with former World Bank lawyer Karen Hudes." Continue reading →
"If you look at bitcoin, it has all those same characteristics of gold in terms of it being easily recognizable, easily divisible and similarly, they both have a limited supply and can’t just be made out of thin air. Where bitcoin differs from gold is that it is easily transportable. You can send bitcoins anywhere on the planet instantly basically for free. It is incredibly expensive to ship gold around the world and if you do, you have to trust the shipping company or the delivery company, with bitcoin you don’t have to trust anybody at all. All you do, is send the bitcoins and they have been sent. So bitcoin has gold’s valuable characteristics as money but it is also transportable." Continue reading →
"Filmed at CAD Cafe in Bugis, Singapore, David Moskowitz talks with Steve Beauregard about Bitcoin, GoCoin, Start-ups and Singapore." Continue reading →