Banking – Page 5

“Powered by Monetas”

Julia Dixon on December 10, 2012

Monetas is building software for a decentralized financial and legal system that is less dependent on traditional bankers and lawyers.

The business’ founders, Chris Odom (Fellow Traveler) and Johann Gevers aim to make this ‘financial system 2.0’ possible by developing commercial versions of the Open Transactions digital finance library. This software will allow digital finance entrepreneurs to startup micropayment services, financial markets, community currencies, escrow services, and many others all without depending on the traditional banking or legal system.

Johann, Monetas’ CEO, recently shared with me his thoughts on finance, his belief in decentralized systems and his plans for Monetas.

Read More about “Powered by Monetas”

No Such Thing as a Bitcoin Bank

Julia Dixon on December 9, 2012

Bitcoin Central, a Bitcoin exchange based in France, has announced that they are the “first exchange licensed to operate as a bank.”

This is certainly exciting news for Bitcoin’s acceptance and ease of use, but one line in this announcement struck me. They clarified that they are not exactly a bank, but a payment services provider “which is basically the same as a bank, just without the debt-money issuing part.” That’s right; they can’t be a bank because they don’t create money out of thin air. After all they’re working with Bitcoins, it’s just not possible.