“Please join us for a discussion with Jason Healey,Director, Cyber Statecraft Initiative; Kevin Houk, Bitcoin Miner; and Ronald Marks, President, Intelligence Enterprises LLC on April 11th at 10:30 a.m.”
“The Internet Party, an unregistered political party in New Zealand founded by German-Finnish entrepreneur Kim Dotcom, earlier this year, has made clear that, along with cheaper internet and more tech jobs, the party wants to introduce a cryptocurrency for international transactions that would work in parallel with the existing New Zealand dollar. The Internet Party’s proposed cryptocurrency would be ‘safe, secure and encrypted, providing for instant international transactions at minimal cost,’ according to the party’s website. Vikram Kumar, Chief Executive of the Internet Party, said that the proposed currency would not be outside of the New Zealand tax system.”
http://cointelegraph.com/post/megaupload_founder_wants_official_cryptocurrency
“Can you put in place effectively a system that identifies who is sending what to whom? In terms of virtual currencies that remains the same. [..] One significant issue is identification of the beneficial ownership of trusts, entities and companies, the ability of criminals to hide behind a corporate veil or some other legal instrument. That is a challenge we are dealing with. We have a new standard in place for that, and it will be tested in practice very shortly. That will require much closer cooperation between different arms of government that haven’t perhaps had to work together before. I would put that down as a significant challenge going forward.”
“Bitcoiners may soon have a new way to use their cryptocurrency in the real world: the Cryptex Card, a new global bitcoin-to-cash ATM and debit card. The Hong-Kong based startup announced on Monday that it will begin shipping its cards in the next four to six weeks. The Cryptex Card works like this: instead of buying products directly with bitcoin, the cardholder sends bitcoin to an address linked with the card, which converts it to cash. The card can then be used to withdraw money at more than 90 percent of U.S. ATMs or at certain ATMs in 80 countries. The cards are tied to Chinese card provider Union Pay, which lets the debit card work anywhere Discover cards are accepted.”
http://gigaom.com/2014/04/07/new-bitcoin-debit-card-claims-to-work-with-90-percent-of-us-atms/
“U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder told a congressional panel Tuesday that bitcoin and other virtual currencies raise new risks for money laundering and other illegal activity. ‘More than ever before, the department’s law-enforcement work today must contend with new and emerging technology, including virtual currencies such as bitcoin,’ the attorney general said at a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee. ‘Virtual currencies can pose challenges for law enforcement given the appeal they have among those seeking to conceal illegal activity.’ In his remarks to Congress, Mr. Holder said federal prosecutors are working with financial regulators to understand the changing technology of money.”
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304819004579489373683252290
“An Irish company has begun paying its employees’ salaries in bitcoin. Dublin-based electronic repairs firm GSM Solutions, which hosts Ireland’s first bitcoin ATM, is now paying five of its employees partly in bitcoin instead of euros. ‘We set salaries in euros, so that the euro amount they get each pay period does not fluctuate with the price of bitcoin,’ said GSM Solutions’ Managing Director Alan Donohoe in a blogpost. Tony Vaughn, a small town sheriff from Kentucky, became the first US government employee to be paid in bitcoin. GSM says it hopes to convert the rest of its employees to bitcoin by the end of the year.”
http://www.coindesk.com/irish-company-now-paying-employees-salaries-bitcoin/
“The Chinese have already forged agreements amongst the BRICS and the ASEAN nations to use the yuan as the currency of trade, with countries such as Australia, New Zealand, and the UK agreeing to trade in the yuan in future. It may well be that China intends to sew up the world with yuan agreements, with the US as the last man standing, then pull the plug by simply by refusing outright to accept any further US debt of any kind. At that point, the US would be isolated and, in order to trade, would be forced to cave to the yuan as the currency of world trade. If this were to take place, the remaining question would be whether the dollar would remain as the US currency.”
http://www.internationalman.com/articles/the-next-best-thing
“I personally save a percentage of the profits of all my Bitcoin revenue I receive with no plans to sell. I have been offering every product that my companies offer for Bitcoin for three years now so I have been constantly squirreling away bitcoins. We have sold passports, offshore bank accounts and corporations, newsletter subscriptions to TDV and even condos that I offer through my company in Acapulco, AcaCondos and rentals at my hotel in Acapulco, Las Torres Gemelas Private Suites for bitcoins and as I stated my strategy is to keep a large percentage of my profit on those transactions in Bitcoin.”
http://cointelegraph.com/post/interview_with_finance_guru_entrepreneur_jeff_berwick
“Despite reports that the SFC could enact harsh restrictions on bitcoin – one report suggested it would go so far as to ban bitcoin transactions altogether, the SFC issued what amounted to a boilerplate warning to consumers, and blocked financial institutions from holding, investing in or brokering bitcoin transactions. The release indicated that bitcoin fails to meet the definition of a currency according to the criteria set forth by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as it is not backed by a central bank. Further, the SFC reiterated that digital currencies can be used for illicit means, including money laundering and terrorist financing.”
http://www.coindesk.com/colombia-stops-short-bitcoin-ban-bars-banks-sector/
