— Covering digital currencies, precious metals and online payments
Complementary currencies can help eradicate poverty.
Proving that may be difficult in complex economies, due to the high number of factors influencing outcomes. But in an African slum with little of the national currency available, supplying residents with an alternative currency has a positive effect that is obvious, immediate and incontrovertible.
One of the biggest problems currently facing the Bitcoin economy is the exchange market. The market suffers from continued concentration and price volatility. In order to maintain their links to the traditional banking world, these businesses have the unenviable task of attempting to shove Bitcoin into the world of bank accounts and anti-money laundering policies. New exchanges are joining the Bitcoin economy but regulatory compliance is no small barrier to entry. The few existing online exchange services continue to be significant points of failure for the Bitcoin economy.
A network of small, peer-to-peer transactions would likely bypass many of these issues and would be a fitting solution for the brilliantly decentralized Bitcoin network. But is such a thing possible? The guys behind MetaLair, a UK based start-up, think so and are working hard to develop the software and find the investors to make it a reality.
Late last week the Japan based exchange received an MSB license from US financial regulator FinCEN, license #31000029348132.
The exchange market leader had a run-in with US regulators earlier in the year when their US subsidiary, Mutum Sigillum LLC, had its bank account and Dwolla account shut down due to a lack of licensing. Soon afterwards the site changed their policies requiring all customers wishing to perform any USD withdraws/deposits to first verify their identity. As the majority of Mt. Gox’s businesses is in USD/BTC trades, their decision to appease US regulators is unsurprising.
As Bitcoin continues its move towards the mainstream and Bitcoin businesses experience rocky relations with bankers and regulators, now is a good time to look at previous leaders in the digital currency world.
In the late 90’s and early 2000’s, e-gold was the industry leader. As one of the world’s first successful online payment systems e-gold was a pioneer using many now standard practices such as SSL connections and API’s. Brought down by a run in with regulators in 2008 the e-gold story is required reading for anyone involved in the digital currency world.
Sent in by Wikipedia editor Cadwallader, below is a thoroug review of the e-gold story.
Update: Read the Bitcoin Foundation’s responce here.
Directly following last month’s Bitcoin 2013 conference event in San Jose, CA that brought decent revenue into the state, California’s Department of Financial Institutions decided to issue a cease and desist warning to conference organizer Bitcoin Foundation for allegedly engaging in the business of money transmission without a license or proper authorization.
Effective immediately, BitPay has temporarily stopped using Mt. Gox for determining the exchange rate for our invoices.
The rate calculation that BitPay uses for each invoice is now as follows:
1. Pull the full Level II market depth, on the bid side, from multiple exchanges.
2. Merge the market depths into one Consolidated Level II table.
3. Calculate the blended clearing price for the amount of the invoice, assuming an auto-routing market sell order across all exchanges, with zero commission.
BitPay is committed to offering the fairest possible rate to the buyer, while minimizing our counterparty risk.
In an announcement made late last week, Mt. Gox said that they have temporarily halted US dollar withdrawals from the exchange due to increased volume and the pressure this has placed on their banking partners.
Over the past weeks Mt. Gox has experienced rising volumes of deposits and withdrawals from established and upcoming markets interested in Bitcoin. This increased volume has made it difficult for our bank to process the transactions smoothly and within a timely manner, which has created unnecessary delays for our global customers. This is especially so for those in the United States who are requesting wire transfer withdrawals from their accounts.
Last month the GAO, Government Accountability Office, produced a report on ‘Virtual Currencies’ and tax compliance. The report urges the IRS to look into the use of virtual currencies and release guidelines on taxation of income earned via these currencies.
The report correctly notes that virtual currency transactions are similar to cash or barter transactions. There are no third parties involved whose responsibility it is to report the transaction and transactions of this sort making “underreporting, mischaracterization, and evasion” much easier.
This does signal that the IRS will be keeping a closer eye on the Bitcoin economy, but there is nothing terribly surprising here; the IRS wants a share of your income…however you earn it.
US authorities have begun to enforce regulation on Bitcoin businesses making some Bitcoin related services illegal or simply not feasible. Regulators have also expressed, and demonstrated, a willingness to prosecute off-shore financial businesses who do not adhere to their policies.
In this situation many Bitcoin businesses are faced with a choice, comply or go underground. But how can you run a business ‘underground’? How do you establish trust when there is no authority to give you a stamp of approval? How do you gain customers when your users know that you can simply disappear with their money?
In part two of a three part series on market manipulation GoldBroker’s CEO Fabrice Drouin Ristori interviews Jim Willie. Via GoldBroker.com
Fabrice Drouin Ristori: How long can the manipulation of the precious metal markets last ?
Jim Willie: Rather than focusing on the time spectrum, think instead on the event spectrum. Focus not on a sequence of time, but instead on an event schedule in a chain. Systems are sustained by the corrupt players, institutions, and policies. The Gold manipulation will continue until the Gold market is totally broken, until the big banks that control it are totally broken, or until the USDollar & USTBond structures are totally broken.
Read More about Part II of GoldBroker’s interview series on gold market manipulation
