Monthly Archives: December 2013

Swiss banks agree to U.S. plan on tax evasion

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“Three Swiss banks have agreed to participate in a U.S. disclosure program aimed at lenders suspected of aiding tax evasion by Americans. Swiss banks had until Monday to tell the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority, the country’s banking regulator, if they would participate. The first deadline for the banks to notify U.S. authorities of their intentions falls at the end of the month.  The program is a key element in a U.S. effort to sidestep Switzerland’s bank-secrecy laws.  The program has met resistance from Switzerland’s financial sector, which has complained of the cost of complying, particularly for the country’s hundreds of small and medium-size banks.”

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/swiss-banks-agree-to-us-plan-on-tax-evasion-2013-12-10-194855051

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Swiss Clocks Ticking: Hidden US accounts soon to be revealed

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“A US ultimatum to Swiss banks has yielded results – with the first alpine hideaway giving up on centuries of total confidentiality. Washington is threatening fines and even jail time for any bank that doesn’t share information on American citizens. But it’s thought that some, will nevertheless stay defiant. RT’s business presenter Katie Pilbeam speaks with Rory Suchet about the possible ramifications of it all.”

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China bitcoin arbitrage ends as traders work around capital controls

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“The price gap between bitcoins trading in Chinese yuan and those sold for other currencies has evaporated in recent days, highlighting the porous nature of China’s capital controls.  A key driver of the price gap was China’s capital controls, which make it difficult for speculators to swap yuan proceeds from the sale of high-priced Chinese bitcoins into dollars.  Analysts say the price convergence also reflects the rapid evolution of the bitcoin market, which began with technology enthusiasts but quickly expanded to include those with the financial know-how to evade China’s strict capital controls.”

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/11/us-china-bitcoin-idUSBRE9BA0B020131211

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2013: Year Of The Bitcoin

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“Although bitcoin has attracted a lot of attention in the last few months, Babin-Tremblay pointed out that the currency actually started to gain popularity earlier this year as a result of the Cyprus banking crisis. In March the government of Cyprus announced a bail-in for banks, meaning that the financial institutions would have to impose losses on their shareholders, debt holders and even large depositors.  After the bail-in was announced people ended up rushing to their bank accounts to withdraw funds.  Many put the money into bitcoin, where governments could not touch it.  ‘Bitcoins were growing slowly until Cyprus. Cyprus was the catalyst for the big increase in the price,’ he said.”

http://www.kitco.com/news/2013-12-10/2013-Year-Of-The-Bitcoin.html

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KnCMiner Debuts Most Powerful Bitcoin Miner in History

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“The Neptune is KnCMiner’s first 20nm product and will be shipping in the first and second quarters of 2014. It has a minimum 3,000 GH/s (300,000,000,000 hashes per second) of hashing speed, five times faster than the speed of the company’s first Jupiter release. This incredible speed is accomplished despite a 30 percent reduction in watts used per GH.  Subsequent to selling out its production supply for December in just a matter of days, KnCMiner also sold out a $600,000 supply of upgrade modules in under five minutes to existing customers who already have rigs. KnCMiner has produced almost $45 million in total global sales of its Bitcoin mining rigs to 120 different countries.”

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/kncminer-debuts-most-powerful-bitcoin-210000931.html

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Is Bitcoin a Viable Currency?

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“We can’t know what the market will choose as a currency in the future, because it is entirely dependent on peoples’ values. We don’t even know if people will continue valuing U.S. dollars, much less bitcoins. But we do know that bitcoin possesses some of the fundamental properties that have made gold and silver successful currencies, and it even outperforms its competition in some categories.  It is no longer a question of whether or not people will accept bitcoins as a currency: They already do, and the community is growing. Will bitcoins continue to be valued in the future? Bitcoins certainly won’t rot, nor will the supply suffer from hyperinflation, but will these properties continue to be valued?”

http://www.fee.org/the_freeman/detail/is-bitcoin-a-viable-currency

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The Truth about Bitcoin and Alternative Currencies

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“Bitcoin has been making headlines for months. With the price fluctuating wildly, is it really a currency, or just a scam? To find out, we have to analyze its properties.  Gold and silver give us good examples of what properties make a sound currency, and bitcoins seem to measure up well. Will they ultimately outcompete the US dollar, gold, or silver? We can’t know, but with the Federal Reserve devaluing the dollar every day, it is only a matter of time before people start looking for an alternative currency.”

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Kryptokit Launches as Dark Wallet’s Biggest Rival

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“As a Chrome extension, the Kryptokit wallet is an open-source project. Users can create their bitcoin addresses by moving their mouse around the screen. This, along with a random number generator, creates each user’s address.  The system also has another tab, for secure messaging. This uses GPG (the open-source version of the Pretty Good Privacy protocol developed by Phil Zimmerman) to secure messages between its users.  The GPG key can be used to encrypt messages that are sent to other Kryptokit users. There are some key differences between Kryptokit and Dark Wallet. One feature that the Dark Wallet team is reportedly discussing is a trust-less mixing service.”

http://www.coindesk.com/kryptokit-launches-dark-wallet-rival/

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GoCoin raises $550k for Bitcoin Payment Service

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“GoCoin markets itself as a ‘PayPal’ for Bitcoin. The company will begin its expansion as the first true payment processing service for Bitcoin with an initial focus on South American & Asian countries.  The challenges of accepting credit cards and purchasing goods and services online between even neighboring countries can be especially difficult in these regions.  GoCoin says it will initially focus on providing Bitcoin payment processing for e-commerce, digital content and interactive/social gaming companies.  Other companies operating in this space include Bitpay and Coinbase. Bitpay has received a total funding of $2.51 till date and  Coinbase – $6.88 Mn.”

http://letstalkpayments.com/gocoin-raises-550k-high-profile-investors-bitcoin-payment-service/

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Korea decides not to recognize Bitcoin as real currency

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“Korean financial authorities said Tuesday that they have decided not to recognize Bitcoin, or cyber currency, as a real legal currency.  The conclusion came after a week of debate among officials of the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, the Bank of Korea, the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service.  Officials said Bitcoin, which can be traded between individuals online without going through financial institutions such as banks, does not meet standard regulations governing the transactions of currencies via the Internet or commercial institutions.  A Bank of Korea official said the currency has been facing high volatility as it does not have an ‘intrinsic value.'”

http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20131210000673

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