Monthly Archives: December 2013

China’s Shadow Currency Addiction: ‘The Mother of All Bubbles’

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“The shadow currency in question comes in the form of bankers’ acceptance notes, or BANs, paper issued by banks that are, in some cases, as good as cash. BANs, which are essentially IOUs in the form of bank checks, are being used as a form of ‘wildcat’ currency to increasingly finance speculation as banks and corporations alike are running short of cash.  The issuance of BANs has more than doubled to 1.6 trillion yuan ($261 billion) from 636 billion yuan a year ago.  State-owned banks love them because stringent statutory requirements force them to maintain high loan-to-deposit ratios, but since BANs are recorded off the books, they can increase their leverage without appearing at risk.”

http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/chinas-shadow-currency-addiction-is-inflating-the-mother-of-all-bubbles

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Inside the bustling, dicey world of Bitcoin gambling

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“Bitcoin gambling has been around for as long as the currency itself, which was created in late 2008.  In fact, the timing couldn’t have been better. Two years earlier, Congress passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which prohibited casinos from accepting payments for bets made online. The move pushed online gambling into the corners of the Deep Web, where users are protected by the Tor browser. And it created a high demand for online gambling sites based in Europe and Canada, where the practice is legal.  In both cases, Bitcoin makes an ideal currency for bets placed, due to its anonymous nature and its low payment-processing costs.”

http://www.dailydot.com/business/bitcoin-gambling-just-dice-video-casino/

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South America Can Now Crowdfund With Bitcoins

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“While the rest of us are messing around with our PayPals and Amazon Payments, some folks in Argentina have created the first crowdfunding platform in America to take Bitcoin.  The platform, called Idea.me focuses primarily on artistic, musical, and retail projects although, as evidenced by the project photos, many campaigns have a philanthropic bent. The platform was ‘born in Argentina’ wrote Pia Giudice and is now in seven countries in Latin America. It is the area’s only regional crowdfunding platform. The platform has seen $750,000 in funding and should be raising $2.4 million in March 2014 in a Series A.  Idea.me has already funded 450 projects and seen $2 million pledged to backers.”

http://techcrunch.com/2013/12/17/south-america-can-now-crowdfund-with-bitcoins/

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Global Immigrants Send $500 Billion Back Home

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“International migrants are sending more than $500 billion back to family members each year, almost triple the figure since 2000, providing a major economic boost to less-affluent nations, a Pew Research Center study shows.  A rising share of migrants live in high-income countries, including the U.S., by far the most common destination, according to the report released yesterday. The U.S. has a fifth of the world’s migrants, up from almost a sixth in 1990. It’s also the largest source of payments, sending $123.3 billion in 2012, the Pew analysis of World Bank data shows.  The U.S. and Russia easily remain the top two destinations, while Germany has risen to third from sixth in 1990.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-17/global-immigrants-send-500-billion-back-home.html

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No need to panic over China bitcoin clampdown: BTC China

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“Bobby Lee, CEO of BTC China, says there is no need to panic after Chinese authorities blocked the country’s Bitcoin exchanges from accepting new cash inflows.”

http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000229171

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Bitcoin Value Sinks After Chinese Exchange Blocked

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“China’s biggest Bitcoin exchange was forced to stop accepting deposits in the Chinese currency on Wednesday, sending the price of the virtual money tumbling in one of its biggest markets globally.  The development comes less than two weeks after China’s central bank and four other government agencies that regulate finance and technology issued a joint announcement banning Chinese financial institutions from dealing in the virtual currency.  By Wednesday evening, the Shanghai-based BTC was quoting Bitcoins at about 2,300 renminbi, or about $380, apiece. That was nearly 40 percent lower than where they had traded on Tuesday.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/19/business/international/china-bitcoin-exchange-ends-renminbi-deposits.html

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U.S. Treasury cautions Bitcoin businesses on legal duties

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“Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has sent ‘industry outreach’ letters to about a dozen firms, regarding potential anti-money laundering compliance obligations related to Bitcoin businesses, FinCEN spokesman Steve Hudak told Thomson Reuters’ regulatory information service Compliance Complete.  The letters have had a ‘chilling effect’ on Bitcoin businesses, which are intimidated by the threat of civil and criminal sanctions for non-compliance, said Jon Matonis, executive director of the Bitcoin Foundation, an advocacy group. The firms, he said, may effectively be ‘put out of business in an extrajudicial manner.'”

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-rt-us-bitcoin-letters-20131217,0,4901569.story

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First Midwest Bitcoin Kiosk to Be Installed in Spring?

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“Rich Gatz, a liability claims specialist and bitcoin hobbyist, has formed a company called Windy City Bitcoin. He has ordered a kiosk from Las Vegas-based Robocoin, the only manufacturer of a bitcoin ATM that exchanges cash for bitcoin and vice versa.  Sue Hofer, a spokeswoman for the state’s Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, said Gatz is right that state regulation’s haven’t yet caught up with technology.  As for bitcoin-related state policy as a whole, Hofer said it is ‘on our radar, but we do not have new regulations about how it could work in Illinois.'”

http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20131218/south-loop/first-midwest-bitcoin-kiosk-be-installed-spring-south-loop-man-hopes

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Nashville businesses embrace Bitcoin

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“Several Nashville businesses are embracing the currency as a way to cut costs and be a part of a new wave of technology.  Nashville restaurant Flyte World Dining and Wine just stared accepting bitcoins this week, and has already processed a couple of transactions. Given the response on social media, Flyte co-owner Scott Sears expects to be able to report more transactions soon.  Sears was encouraged to try the new technology by Bill Butler, former CEO of Telalink Corp., one of Nashville’s first Internet companies, and who more recently created the advocacy site Music City Bitcoins to promote the use of the currency among Nashville businesses.”

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20131218/BUSINESS01/312180110

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