— Covering digital currencies, precious metals and online payments
A member of the bitcointalk.org forum, Stephen Gornic, has compiled a list of notable Bitcoin legal events from the past few years.
Read More about List of Bitcoin court cases, complaints, regulatory actions, etc.
A few months ago Keynesian economist Paul Krugman wrote a piece criticizing Bitcoin. He compared it to gold and argued that Bitcoin would lead to “hoarding, deflation, and depression.” In the Keynesian world a lack of inflation = deflation = depression.
Deflation is commonly feared, but as Jon explains “Deflation is not a problem in the traditional monetary system and it will not be a problem in the bitcoin economy.”
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.
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.
As Hyperinflation continues in Iran, it seems that some Iranians have discovered a simple way out of the mess imposed on them by international politics, Bitcoin.
Bloomberg’s Business Week spoke to a few Iranians who have found a solution in Bitcoin. “Iranians are resorting to virtual currency to move money into and out of the country in a way that Western authorities find hard to detect.”
Read More about Business Week: Dollar-Less Iranians Discover Virtual Currency
Digital Gold Currency is a fantastic idea. Gold enjoys thousands of years of history as an excellent currency and store of value. It is a form of money that is constantly chosen by the market and that needs no legislation to support its value. Gold is stable, solid and cannot be pulled out of thin air. With modern technology gold can be used as a currency online without any more effort than it takes to check your email. Brilliant!
But as DGC’s were starting to take off and be recognized for their many benefits, the rug was pulled out from under the industry with the prosecution of e-gold. The old DGC business model is centralized and vulnerable to seizure, censorship and prohibitive regulation.
The Voucher-Safe system allows for a more decentralized, Anti-Money Laundering compliant way to anonymously exchange value. It’s DGC 2.0, a more flexible and resilient system where anything can be money. “The idea behind voucher-safe is that it isn’t about making just one thing money. Money can be gold, it can be existing national fiat currencies, it can be bitcoins, it can be silver, it can be anything of value that people want to exchange.”
Read More about Voucher-Safe, a Next Generation Digital Currency – Part I
WordPress.com is one of the world’s most popular websites, and this is amazing news for all fans of alternative currencies.
This is particularly exciting not only because an alternative currency is rapidly gaining online payment market share, but because the non-political, borderless nature of Bitcoin is being recognized and openly appreciated.
In fact these are among WordPress.com’s stated reasons for accepting the cryptocurrency. “Bitcoin has no central authority and no way to lock entire countries out of the network.”
Doug French is Senior Editor at Laissez Faire Club and a former President of the Mises Institute. In a new post he supports “Currencies of the Future” (i.e. Bitcoin) and argues that “The answer to the currency question may not be to reform government” but instead to make “an end run around the government’s iron grip on the monetary system.”
Shadow Life is a new website dedicated to “Privacy – how to protect it and why it matters.” The creators of the site are strong supporters of Bitcoin and recently put up a post detailing what they believe to be necessary conditions for the long-term success of Bitcoin.
Read More about Shadow Life: Necessary Conditions for the Long-Term Success of Bitcoin
