In a new statement from New York Superintendent of Financial Services, Benjamin M. Lawsky, the state is now officially accepting applications for digital currency exchanges. The new exchanges will be regulated under still-forming rules that Lawsky plans to have in place by this summer. Today’s public order is the next phase in NYDFS’s public inquiry…
Make no mistake: Goldman Sachs doesn’t particularly like Bitcoin. But that doesn’t mean the investment banking giant doesn’t see some potential in the virtual currency. In a report published yesterday, Goldman’s chief markets economist Dominic Wilson noted that Bitcoin is not a traditional currency, and is unlikely to ever work as one. Without state control…
One of America’s oldest upscale retailers, Lord & Taylor, announced yesterday that it had entered into a partnership with Bitcoin-friendly mobile payment system Pounce. Pounce recently partnered with Coinbase to provide indirect Bitcoin support for the app, and L&T is the first of their large-scale retail clients to opt-in to the BTC payment option. The…
In a temporary order issued yesterday in Chicago by U.S. District Judge Gary Feinerman, all U.S. assets held by both Mt.Gox and CEO Mark Karpeles are frozen for at least the next two weeks. Bloomberg reports that all “money and property belonging to the affiliate, its ultimate corporate parent, Tibanne KK, and principal Mark Karpeles”…
Irish Bitcoin ATM company BitVendo was set to launch their first machine in Dublin this week, but thanks to the skittishness of their would-be bank, they’ll have to wait. The company had already faced one significant setback, as the cafe that was originally slated to host the ATM backed out as the machine was being…
Last week, hackers released a variety of potentially damaging internal Mt.Gox databases as well as a wallet-stealing virus disguised as a search tool. The hackers also claimed to have over 20 GB of Mt.Gox user data which they planned to sell “one or two times to make up personal loses from gox closure” for 100…
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) issued a “Fraud and Scam” alert about Bitcoin today, noting the “very real abuses and criminal activity associated with it.” Such a claim is interesting coming from FINRA, the privately owned, non-governmental organization charged with the self-regulation of member brokerage firms and exchange markets. FINRA has no authority over…
In the last few months, Bitcoin has gone from fringe tech curiosity to a potential dark horse in the race for the future of international commerce. Not surprisingly, it has caught the caught the attention of cautious U.S. regulators, skeptical central bankers and scapegoat-craving politicians. To ensure that the Bitcoin movement has a seat at…
Following the example of Wikipedia’s Jimmy Wales, Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff recently took to Twitter this morning to announce his new-found interest in Bitcoin. The message was simple: “Bought some bitcoin this morning. Buckle up.” The tweet follows a message on Sunday from Rascoff, where he mentioned he was “reconsidering my skepticism on Bitcoin” thanks…
Mt.Gox officially filed for U.S. Chapter 15 bankruptcy protection. Although Mt.Gox has already filed for bankruptcy in Japan, the U.S. filing will allow for additional cross-border protections under international law. With an outstanding debt of ¥6.5 billion and missing 850,000 BTC belonging to users the world over, the move to protect Mt.Gox’s U.S. assets is…