— Covering digital currencies, precious metals and online payments
What was an incident now appears to be a trend. Banks are refusing to work with Bitcoin businesses…It would seem out of fear. In the latest example TransferWise, a business that offers low fee international money transfers, has announced that they will no longer be processing transfers to Bitcoin exchanges as their banking providers are “not comfortable with Bitcoin”.
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In a recent interview with USAWatchdog.com the always exuberant Jim Willie gives some very interesting predictions.
Jim sees the BRIIICS (that includes Iran and Indonesia) moving away from the US Dollar, the Yen and the Euro and adopting a USD alternative for trade. He believes the East will sell off its US bonds, continue to purchase gold (driving it up to $7,500) and perhaps adopt “gold trade notes”. As he sees it the consequences of this will not be inflation, but a “large widespread cut-off of supply chains” in the states as foreigners will not be willing to accept US Dollars.
The 28min interview is full of colorful commentary and interesting thoughts including the possibility of “bail-in’s” in the states.
Bitcoin – poorly understood and frequently talked about ignorantly – is a wonderful new financial tool… and a very timely one. But because of its virtues, it is about to be attacked.
Read More about Freeman’s Perspective: Bitcoin Should Get Ready For an Attack
GoldMoney and Bitcoin Magazine have worked together to produce a documentary that attempts to capture the thoughts and feelings of Cyprus residents after their bank accounts were frozen in March 2013.
The Cyprus “bail-in” model of bank rescue, which seems to be gaining popularity, is simply frightening. Fractional reserve banking is built upon depositors trust in their banks, “for fractional-reserve banking can only exist for as long as the depositors have complete confidence”. Financial regulators are destroying their own system by making depositors fear for the safety of their money… they’re either that stupid or that desperate. Frightening.
Joseph T. Salerno sees the silver lining here arguing that Cyprus may bring about the unravelling of the current banking system and expose “the true nature of fractional-reserve banking for all to see.”
Read More about Mises.org: Cyprus and the Unraveling of Fractional-Reserve Banking
“There’s a shift in power from the traditional to the emerging world.”
The move is seen as a way for BRICS to protect themselves from the US and Europe’s financial trouble and as a way to increase their global financial influence.
We’ll just have to wait and see, but it looks like they might try. In a ‘guidance’ issued in February last year FinCEN believes that a business may qualify as a Money Services Business “based on its activities within the United States, even if none of its agents, agencies, branches or offices are physically located in the United States.”
Read More about Will FinCEN attempt to regulate virtual currency exchanges outside the US?
“While European politicos negotiate in Brussels, deciding the fate of other people’s money in Cyprus, the free market has already moved in to help Cypriots get access to their money via other means.”
The Dollar Vigilante‘s editor-in-chief and Bitcoin ATM CEO, Jeff Berwick, is planning the first Bitcoin ATM. “If we did this now, and we are moving quickly to make this so, we would be the only functioning ATM on the island.”
The planned ATM will allow users to deposit fiat and receive Bitcoin as well as send Bitcoin and receive fiat in return.
Read More about DollarVigilante: World’s First Bitcoin ATM Heading to Cyprus
Commercial banking is a money making endeavour; literally. Sure there’s a complex set of rules, but the short story is commercial banks create money. A button is pressed and congratulations, your loan has been approved and $50k of brand new digital Dollars are now sitting in your bank account.
As you might imagine, creating new money is a very handy little trick for banks. In fact, the commercial banking business model is dependent on the variable nature of national fiat currencies which makes this possible. But this trick only works on fiat currencies, replace the US Dollar with Bitcoins, and the banking system as we know it today ceases to exist.
Read More about Bitcoin & The Banking System: Not Just Different, But Entirely Incompatible
This guidance was issued to “provide clarity and regulatory certainty for businesses and individuals engaged in an expanding field of financial activity.” Or put another way, FinCEN explains who exactly they intend to regulate.
FinCEN covers their bases here discussing “users, administrators, and exchangers… persons creating, obtaining, distributing, exchanging, accepting or transmitting” virtual currencies, both centralized and de-centralized, e-currencies and e-precious metals.
Summary below.
Read More about FinCEN Issues “Guidance on Virtual Currencies”
