Cyprus – a wake-up call: Rethinking money
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.
Bitcoin on a Roll
- As Bitcoin’s USD value shoots above $100, Bitcoin ATM is getting quite a lot of attention. CEO Jeff Berwick has made numerous appearances on financial news shows.
On Tuesday Jeff appeared on CNBS’s “Squawk on the Street” to discuss Bitcoin with Rick Santelli.
In an interview with Business Insider Jeff announced that Bitcoin ATM now has “orders for 300+ machines in 30+ countries and are moving quickly to handle the demand.”
- The BitcoinStore, a new Bitcoin electronics seller and self-proclaimed competitor to Amazon, has sold $500,000 worth of products and renewed its contract with its wholesaler. The contract with Ingram allows the online store to offer product at lower prices than retailers such Amazon and NewEgg.
- Western Union considers using Bitcoin.
GoldMoney discusses Bitcoin with Jon Matonis
I very much sympathize with the old school goldbug scepticism about Bitcoin. It’s very reassuring to feel the weight of your money in your hand, and I don’t believe that Bitcoin meets with Mises regression theorem. But even if you don’t see Bitcoin as a sound form of money, you have got to admit that it’s damned useful! Bitcoin is perhaps the best alternative available at the moment for those suffering under the fiat banking system. As such it’s great to see an increasing number of traditional goldbug institutions, such as GoldMoney, embrace Bitcoin.
In a new podcast GoldMoney’s Andy Duncan discusses Bitcoin with the Bitcoin Foundation’s Jon Matonis. They discuss Bitcoin’s volatility, it’s dependence on the internet, 1 yr and 10 yr predictions for the currency and the ongoing Bitcoin vs Gold debate.
Listen to the podcast here.
Bits and Pieces 29thMar13
- The BRICS nations, 43 percent of the world’s population, are working on a new “development bank” set to bypass the World Bank and the IMF.
“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.
- Russia to ban cash transactions over $10,000
- Bitcoin’s market capitalization briefly hits $1Billion!
- Texas want’s its gold back from the Fed.
Will FinCEN attempt to regulate virtual currency exchanges outside the US?
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.”
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DollarVigilante: World’s First Bitcoin ATM Heading to Cyprus
“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.
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Bitcoin & The Banking System: Not Just Different, But Entirely Incompatible
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.
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What FinCEN’s guidance could mean for Bitcoin
As you would expect the Bitcoin world is abuzz with commentary and speculation about the consequences of the FinCEN paper. Some of the more interesting theories on its implications are below…
FinCEN’s guidance may lead to Bitcoin businesses being required to obtain separate money transmitter licenses in 48 states; a difficult and very expensive task. Payment Source.
Could FinCEN’s target be Bitcoin’s anonymity? Might they target Bitcoin mixing services? The Ümlaut.
The guidance may imply that every person who has ever had any virtual currency and exchanged it for ‘real’ currency can now be considered a money transmitter. The Bitcoin Foundation.
FinCEN Issues “Guidance on Virtual Currencies”
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.
- FinCEN sees those dealing in virtual currencies as their regulatory responsibility
- Users, and Bitcoin miners seem to be exempt from regulation for the moment
- Buying or selling virtual currencies for “any reason” can make you a money transmitter and subject to FinCEN regulation
- Virtual currency dealers are NOT necessarily foreign exchange dealers
- FinCEN rules can also apply to those dealing in e-precious metals
- However, Prepaid Access rules do NOT apply to virtual currencies
Summary below.
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