As Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne has the tricky job of handling the U.K.’s financial policy in a time of both incredible economic pressures and uncanny technological innovations. When the Chancellor speaks about an economic matter, it’s destined to become major news across the country, and perhaps even the world. Today, Osborne is…
In the tiny, landlocked nation of Kyrgyzstan, bitcoin has recently become illegal. While most people in the bitcoin community could be forgiven for not even knowing there is a country called Kyrgyzstan (population 5.8 million), the ruling by the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic is nonetheless important. Not because of the ruling itself, but…
Bitcoin trading gained another foothold in the mainstream investment world yesterday, as Bloomberg Professional competitor Thomson Reuters Eikon added BTC/USD prices to its trading suite. The system is used by over 320,000 subscribers, including many professional and Wall Street traders. Eikon’s bitcoin dashboard includes current rates and trade volume data from BitStamp, as well as…
Last month, the long-troubled South American country of Ecuador came to the attention of the bitcoin community when the country’s Congress passed a new law that would create a state-backed digital currency, while at the same time banning the use of existing cryptocurrencies. The move struck many as extraordinarily preemptive, as bitcoin adoption in Latin…
Under a new proposal released by Russia’s Ministry of Finance, the use of cryptocurrencies in the already bitcoin-hostile country could become a criminal offense. The ministry released the proposal on its website last week. Bitcoin and other digital currencies are already “forbidden” in Russia, although the country has provided little clarity on what this means…
There are few personalities on the fringes of popular culture quite as polarizing as Alex Jones. The host of the syndicated The Alex Jones Show radio program is heard on well over 100 AM and FM stations across the country, bringing a mix of hardcore libertarian thinking, iffy conspiracy theories and news commentary to an…
After days of silence, Xapo has responded to customer concerns about the recently updated fee schedule for their recently released, bitcoin-backed debit card. The Palo Alto-based bitcoin wallet and “vault” service had promised a service with no additional customer costs beyond a one-time $15 activation fee and standard credit card interchange fees, but a revision…
Late last month, the French Senate’s finance committee held a meeting about the future of digital currencies in the country, addressing many of the challenges presented by cryptocurrencies for both regulators and the existing finance infrastructure. This week, the French Senate released a follow-up report, outlining a regulatory framework for bitcoin and similar networks. The…
In a story published by The Australian Financial Review (AFR), Visa’s CEO Charles Scharf said that the payment company could handle bitcoin-based payments in the future, although it currently had no plans to integrate such payments. Scharf’s was speaking at the opening of Visa Labs in San Francisco, and the comments were prompted by a…
The case against alleged Silk Road mastermind Ross Ulbricht is already causing a serious rethinking of what existing statutes mean in the age of cryptocurrency. While there is little doubt that the Silk Road was a haven for recreational drug sales and other decidedly illegal services, there are still many open questions about how existing…