“Adam sits down with Richard Garriott about money, games, cryptocurrency, the intersection between MMO developers and national governments, Valve’s publish-as-a-protocol.”
http://letstalkbitcoin.com/e86-virtual-worlds-real-money/
“Solpower Corporation, symbol (OTCPink: SOCR) announced that it has started to roll out the beta version of its new billing platform to medical marijuana dispensaries with very positive results. The system allows individuals to purchase bitcoin, virtual currency using Solpower’s proprietary bitcoin server, and use those bitcoin to pay for healthcare products like medical marijuana without telltale information appearing on their bank statements or credit card bills.”
http://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20140220-909588.html
“‘The system is based on the concept of proof of work,’ explained David al-Achkar, a Lebanese entrepreneur and active member of the regional Bitcoin community. In December 2013 the Lebanese Central Bank issued an official warning regarding Bitcoin. ‘Transactions conducted with Bitcoins facilitate money laundering and the financing of terrorism,’ said a circular issued by the Central Bank. Regionally, the limited Bitcoin economy appears to serve more mundane purposes. Earlier this month Dubai-based restaurant The Pizza Guys began accepting Bitcoin payments. Over the past 10 days, The Pizza Guys has processed seven Bitcoin transactions.”
“The Wall Street Journal reports that Verizon Communications is investigating similar security breaches at two more as-yet-unnamed retailers that occurred around the same time as the massive Target credit card hack late last year. The two retailers affected by the newly-discovered attack have not yet announced the event to customers. Verizon’s Bryan Sartin did not directly link the newly-discovered hacking events to the Target breach. But in an interview with WSJ, he hinted that the same entity might have been involved in all three retailers’ attacks.”
http://gizmodo.com/report-targets-big-credit-card-hack-might-involve-eve-1531837565
“Not for the first time, Citigroup has stepped into a mess. The problem is that the lender has been cheated out of the cash in one of the most basic businesses in banking. That should worry Citigroup’s rivals, too. Citigroup’s latest slip emerges from the usually sleepy world of accounts receivable. This is the unit that makes short-term loans while clients wait for money owed to them by other companies to arrive. In this case, by the end of 2013, Citigroup thought it had lent Oceanografia, a Mexican oil-services firm, $585 million to cover any shortfalls while it waited for the state oil company Pemex to pay some bills. Citigroup has now worked out that only $185 million of the invoices were valid.”
“The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is expected to draft rules governing payday lending this year. But the conventional wisdom that will likely guide it is based on false perceptions about the working poor and the best way to serve them. So argues Lisa Servon, a professor at The New School in New York, who spent four months as a teller at a check-cashing business in the South Bronx and three at a payday lender in Oakland, Calif. Servon’s conclusion is that many low-income consumers fulfill their financial needs outside the regulated banking system by choice and in many cases are better off for doing so.”
http://www.americanbanker.com/video/why-the-working-poor-and-banks-are-a-bad-match1064854-1.html
“Field surgeries and hospitals treat the wounded, kitchens feed the crowds, blankets and clothing are distributed to those who need them, and people with vehicles shuttle everything around. Not only is this a major logistical and people-management feat to co-ordinate, but it must all be paid for somehow. So, expatriate Ukrainians around the world have joined the fight to campaign and raise funds to assist the struggle back home. PayPal only allows money to be sent out of Ukraine, while international bank transfers can take days to complete. Much of the time, transfers happen through friends and trust networks. This week sees a new campaign to raise funds directly via bitcoin.”
http://www.coindesk.com/hold-ukraine-protestors-turn-bitcoin-fundraising/
“In the spring of 1863, California created a law that allowed any business contract to identify the kind of money or currency to be used in the fulfillment of the contract. If the contract required payment in gold, for example, then only a gold payment fulfilled the contract. In the other states, greenbacks could be a substitute for gold or silver payments. By the time McCulloch was appointed treasury secretary, just 37 months after the Legal Tender Act, greenbacks were worth less than half of their original value. California’s hesitancy to use these demand notes as an equal exchange for gold was proving wise.”
“The California State Assembly has unanimously passed measure AB 129 declaring Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as ‘lawful money.’ To be clear, ‘lawful money’ is different from ‘legal tender.’ ‘Lawful money’ describes any currency that is legal to use in exchange for goods and services, but is not required to be accepted for debts, taxes, or any other dues. Before the passing of measure AB 129, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies were not deemed ‘lawful money.’ In the state of California, it is against the law to issue or circulate any currency that is not ‘lawful money,’ and doing so can result in fines up to $15,000 or 15 years imprisonment.”
http://bitterco.in/bitcoin-lawful-money-declared-in-california-assembly/
“Today, the Arizona State Senate passed a bill that would legalize gold and silver as legal tender, moving the legislation on to the House for consideration. If passed into law, Arizona could become the second state to recognize gold and silver as legal tender authorized for payments of debts and taxes. SB1096 passed by a vote of 18-12. A similar bill was introduced last year. The bill passed both the House and Senate and made it to the Governor’s desk – where Jan Brewer ultimately vetoed it.”
http://benswann.com/arizona-legislators-pass-bill-to-authorize-gold-and-silver-as-legal-tender/