Pot & Kettle

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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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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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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Korea decides not to recognize Bitcoin as real currency

"Korean financial authorities said Tuesday that they have decided not to recognize Bitcoin, or cyber currency, as a real legal currency. The conclusion came after a week of debate among officials of the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, the Bank of Korea, the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service. Officials said Bitcoin, which can be traded between individuals online without going through financial institutions such as banks, does not meet standard regulations governing the transactions of currencies via the Internet or commercial institutions. A Bank of Korea official said the currency has been facing high volatility as it does not have an 'intrinsic value.'" Continue reading →

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Bitcoin hype worse than ‘tulip mania’, says Dutch central banker

"The former president of the Dutch Central Bank, Nout Wellink, has told students at the University of Amsterdam that the hype around bitcoin is worse than his country's Tulip mania in the 17th century. 'Sooner or later the facade will fall', Wellink said, calling bitcoin 'pure speculation' and 'hype' according to comments reported in the Dutch press. 'This is worse than the tulip mania,' he continued. 'At least then you got a tulip [at the end], now you get nothing.' Wellink's comments follow a warning from the Dutch Central Bank about the risks of virtual currencies like bitcoin, which fall outside Dutch financial supervision laws." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBitcoin hype worse than ‘tulip mania’, says Dutch central banker

Alan Greenspan: Bitcoin Is a Bubble Without Intrinsic Currency Value

"The former Federal Reserve chairman said Bitcoin prices are unsustainably high after surging 89-fold in a year and that the virtual money isn’t currency. 'It’s a bubble,' Greenspan, 87, said. 'It has to have intrinsic value. You have to really stretch your imagination to infer what the intrinsic value of Bitcoin is. I haven’t been able to do it. Maybe somebody else can.' 'I do not understand where the backing of Bitcoin is coming from,' the former Fed chief said. 'There is no fundamental issue of capabilities of repaying it in anything which is universally acceptable, which is either intrinsic value of the currency or the credit or trust of the individual who is issuing the money.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAlan Greenspan: Bitcoin Is a Bubble Without Intrinsic Currency Value

Bigger than Libor? Forex probe hangs over banks

"A global investigation into the setting of the London interbank lending rate, and related global benchmarks, has so far yielded about $3.6 billion in fines. Penalties for some of the biggest players are still to come. Traders have also faced criminal charges. As the extent of damage caused by Libor-rigging is revealed, lawyers say the probe into fixing currency rates could unfold in a similar way, and rival its impact. London is the center of the loosely regulated foreign exchange market, the biggest in the world's financial system with average daily turnover of $5.3 trillion. Proven abuse in this market would have a significant ripple effect, exposing offending firms to a host of legal action." Continue reading →

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Fmr. NSA chief: ‘Morally arrogant’ Snowden will probably become alcoholic

"Gen. Michael Hayden, a former NSA and CIA chief, shared a lot of opinions during a discussion at a Washington church Sunday, beyond his thoughts on terrorists' love for Gmail and the U.S. government's approach to the Internet. Discussing the 'tension between security and liberty' at St. John's Episcopal Church near the White House, Hayden criticized the reporting of NSA surveillance programs, argued that society must make a choice between security and liberty, and took personal shots at NSA leaker Edward Snowden." Continue reading →

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Obama will address country on Syria; calls crisis ‘threat to global peace’

"President Barack Obama, facing hardened international opposition to a strike against Syria and returning home to a skeptical American public, will address the country Tuesday to make his case. Obama said that he would tell Congress and the public in coming days that any American strike would be 'limited and proportionate.' He did not directly answer a question about whether he would go forward with an attack without the approval of Congress. Military officials on Friday told NBC News that the White House asked the Pentagon for an expanded list of potential targets in Syria, and one senior official warned that it could represent 'mission creep.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObama will address country on Syria; calls crisis ‘threat to global peace’

McCain blames Obama for U.S. losing credibility in the Middle East

"President Barack Obama’s failure to act amid spiralling violence in Egypt has led the US to lose all credibility in the Middle East, senator John McCain said Sunday. McCain compared US inaction to Obama’s policy on Syria. 'There is no policy. And there is no strategy. And therefore we react and we react poorly. One of the best examples is Syria where the president said Bashar al-Assad uses chemical weapons, that’s a red line. He’s used them and we have done virtually nothing in response to that. The centrifuges in Tehran continue to spin, Iraq unravels,' he said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMcCain blames Obama for U.S. losing credibility in the Middle East