regime uncertainty

Bitcoin’s complex and changing regulatory environment

"A compliant multi-state MSB needs all of the following: Maintaining a net worth greater than $1.5 Million; Securing millions of dollars in surety bond coverage to insure customer transactions in the event of insolvency; Completing a financial audit; Creating proper KYC, AML, and other compliance systems; Going through an independent compliance audit; Hiring a compliance officer with at least five years of experience; Extensive background checks and financial disclosures from officers and investors; Due diligence on every partner and intermediary that is involved in the flow of funds. After all these conditions are met, obtaining licenses can take as long as a year." Continue reading →

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Moody’s considers downgrading top US banks

"Moody's has warned that it could cut the credit ratings of the six biggest US banks, saying the federal government may be less likely to bail them out if they got into trouble in the future. Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo could be downgraded, the rating agency said on Thursday. The review by the second-largest rating agency in terms of market share follows a similar statement from rival Standard & Poor's in June, and comes as governments are reshaping the regulation of banking and trying to prevent a repeat of the bailouts of the credit crisis era. Lower credit ratings could raise the cost of capital for bank holding companies." Continue reading →

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Investors Nervous: Erdogan’s Witch Hunt Endangers Economy

"'Umut Keles,' a Turkish analyst with an American investment bank, removes the battery from his mobile phone, afraid of being wiretapped by the Turkish government. The investment banker believes that the government would take action against him if it knew his identity. 'There's a witch hunt underway here at the moment,' he says. Levent is Turkey's financial center, home to the offices of banks like HSBC and Deutsche Bank. They helped finance the Turkish economic boom in recent years, but now the government suspects them of supporting putschists and terrorists. 'We're all afraid,' says Keles. Some of his colleagues are thinking about leaving the country for good." Continue reading →

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Why Texas Bans the Sale of Tesla Cars

"Tesla CEO Elon Musk plans on opening 50 new Tesla stores in the next year. And taking a page from the Apple playbook, Musk is selling his product directly to consumers. No hard sell. No commission for employees. And uniform prices at every store. That’s a dig at the traditional middlemen in the car-buying experience: the car dealers. Musk wants to cut them out completely. So Musk is declaring war on car dealers, but car dealers are also declaring war on Musk. They have already successfully booted him out of Texas and there is anti-Tesla legislation pending in North Carolina, Colorado and Virginia." Continue reading →

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Dubai’s gold trade waits on India windfall

"UAE’s gold and jewellery trade aims to be a direct beneficiary as India imposes further controls on domestic consumption of the metal in all its forms. But the spin-off for local jewellers will not be confined to tapping demand from Indian shoppers who want to make use of the growing price differential. 'We have heard reports about new controls on gold purchases in Pakistan and higher taxes elsewhere in south-east Asia, all of which significantly raises the attractiveness of buying jewellery here and then taking it back to their home countries,' said Shamlal Ahmad, director of international operations at Malabar Gold and Diamonds." Continue reading →

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Only One Big Telecom CEO Refused To Cave To The NSA; Jailed For Years

"Former Qwest CEO Joseph Nacchio is currently serving a six-year sentence after being convicted of insider trading in April 2007 for selling $52 million of stock in the spring of 2001 as the telecommunications carrier appeared to be deteriorating. During the trial his defense team argued that Nacchio, 63, believed Qwest was about to win secret government contracts that would keep it in the black. Nacchio alleged that the government stopped offering the company lucrative contracts after Qwest refused to cooperate with a National Security Agency surveillance program in February 2001." Continue reading →

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Lavabit: The Latest Dead Canary in the Privacy Coal Mine

"Private data stored with a company which is US-based and/or has servers based in the US does not have strong legal or privacy protection. The US government can force that company to turn over its customer data while also preventing it from talking about it. Are you still entrusting your private data to a US-based company or a company with servers based in the US? If you are but you value your privacy, you need to move your data elsewhere. Otherwise, that company might be compelled to violate your privacy and give up your data to the US government. And they may never be able to tell you about it." Continue reading →

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Additional $2.1M Seized from Mt. Gox Accounts – Now Over $5M Total

"The executed seizure warrant for Mt. Gox’s account with Dwolla was published, showing $2.9 million was seized by the US government. According to documents obtained today by TGB’s research staff from the records of the District Court of Maryland, more than $2.1 million was also seized from two of Mt. Gox’ Wells Fargo accounts – totaling to more than $5 million seized from Mt. Gox accounts by the US government. One of the accounts at Wells Fargo was registered to Mutum Sigillum LLC, the same entity associated with the Dwolla account. The second Wells Fargo account seized was in the name of Mark Karpeles himself." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAdditional $2.1M Seized from Mt. Gox Accounts – Now Over $5M Total

Bitcoin’s Washington problem

"On paper, the popular virtual currency Bitcoin is the type of entity that traditionally would hire a powerful K Street lobbying firm to protect its interests in Washington, especially in the cutthroat world of financial regulations. But Bitcoin doesn’t exist on paper. With no public founder or organization behind it, Bitcoin isn’t in a strong position to defend itself from government scrutiny or lobby Congress on critical issues including privacy. As a fully decentralized network, the closest thing Bitcoin has to formal representatives are exchanges that facilitate the buying and selling of Bitcoins against other currency, and trade associations that represent them." Continue reading →

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Bitcoin: Understated benefits and overstated risks

"Built within the Bitcoin protocol are capabilities to develop other financial innovations, like notary services, encrypted communications, and 'smart' collateral contracts. Developers and businesspeople are still learning the myriad applications for this innovative technology. Just as the public debate understates some of the benefits of Bitcoin, it also overstates some of the concerns. The hypothetical crimes that Bitcoin may enable are traditionally committed with cash, but policymakers would never dream of criminalizing cash. Instead, they regulate the use of cash. Regulations targeting Bitcoin could adopt this time-tested approach." Continue reading →

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