"Stefan Molyneux and David Seaman talk about making the present incomprehensible to the future, the elimination of fiat currency, using Bitcoin to end war, and why you can't buy votes with Bitcoin." Continue reading →
"Please join us for a discussion with Jason Healey,Director, Cyber Statecraft Initiative; Kevin Houk, Bitcoin Miner; and Ronald Marks, President, Intelligence Enterprises LLC on April 11th at 10:30 a.m." Continue reading →
"Can you put in place effectively a system that identifies who is sending what to whom? In terms of virtual currencies that remains the same. [..] One significant issue is identification of the beneficial ownership of trusts, entities and companies, the ability of criminals to hide behind a corporate veil or some other legal instrument. That is a challenge we are dealing with. We have a new standard in place for that, and it will be tested in practice very shortly. That will require much closer cooperation between different arms of government that haven’t perhaps had to work together before. I would put that down as a significant challenge going forward." Continue reading →
"Asked what tools the ECB has remaining, Mr. Liikanen, who has headed Finland’s central bank since 2004 and is on the ECB’s 24-member governing council, cited a negative deposit rate as well as additional loans to banks and asset purchases. Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann didn’t rule out large-scale asset purchases, known as quantitative easing. Mr. Liikanen also said it was an option for the ECB and wouldn’t run afoul of rules prohibiting the central bank from financing governments. The Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan have aggressively used the policy to keep inflation from falling too low." Continue reading →
"Ross Ulbricht, who stands accused of running the Silk Road black market under the name 'Dread Pirate Roberts,' says that new federal bitcoin laws make the charges against him invalid. In a filing over the weekend, Ulbricht's lawyers defended him against charges of hacking, narcotics trafficking, operating a criminal conspiracy, and money laundering. The first three charges, his lawyers argue, are 'unconstitutionally broad' and can't be applied to the normal operation of a website, even one whose business is illegal goods. And the last charge, they say, makes no sense if there isn't actual money involved — a possibility implied by a recent IRS decision." Continue reading →
"Western governments have put in place banking regulations that could be 'mutually destructive' and undermine efforts to prevent bust banks from costing taxpayers billions of pounds, according to a report by the International Monetary Fund. Policymakers representing the world's biggest financial centres have failed to make the banking sector stand on its own feet by ending implicit subsidies and co-ordinating rescue plans when multinational banks go bust, the Washington-based lender of last resort said. Subsidies to the banking sector in some countries are as high as they were before the crash, amounting to $590bn (£355bn), with the eurozone the worst affected." Continue reading →
"The Canadian government has announced that it will end its MintChip electronic payment system, and that it will look to sell the business to the private sector. Announced in 2012, MintChip was not a digital currency akin to bitcoin, but rather a digital payment mechanism meant to function as an electronic cash that could be transferred between users. MintChip used a silicon chip with a unique ID as a store of value, which was then to be sent to brokers who would trade them to consumers and businesses. Users could embed MintChip devices onto USB sticks, wallets, laptops and tablets, or store their digital cash with a third-party service provider." Continue reading →
"At the moment, if HMRC want to seize your property or cash, they have to take you to court, win and then get a court order. Now, after a couple of warning letters and a phone call, they apparently can do it at the flick of a switch. Crucially, there’s no safeguard built into this system – where's the appeal process? To repeat, if HMRC decide you owe them cash, they just take it. If you haven't managed to reach agreement with them, then you'll just wake up one morning, check your bank account, and find the money's gone. We're told that 'a minimum of £5,000 will be left across debtors’ accounts.' That’s a very low threshold – especially for a business or a pensioner." Continue reading →
"The head of the European Union's policing agency warned on Monday that virtual currencies such as Bitcoin were being used for money laundering and called for police to be given more powers to identify criminal suspects operating on the Internet. 'We're seeing that virtual currencies are being used as an instrument to facilitate crime, particularly in regard to the laundering of illicit profits,' said Europol head Rob Wainwright, speaking on the margins of a nuclear security conference in The Hague. Wainwright said police should be given new powers to allow them to identify anonymous participants online and bring them to justice." Continue reading →
"The Danish national bank has released a briefing note firmly declaring bitcoin to not be money, noting that the currency is more like 'glass beads'. Denmark’s national bank is just the latest central bank to inveigh against bitcoin. In January, Malaysia’s central bank warned citizens that 'the Bitcoin is not recognised as legal tender in Malaysia… the public is therefore advised to be cautious of the risks.' In December 2013, the People’s Bank of China banned the country’s financial institutions from trading in the currency, shortly after the former president of the Dutch Central Bank said the currency’s boom was 'worse than the tulip mania'." Continue reading →