Billionaire entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson, whose Virgin Galactic airlines was the first to accept bitcoins for space flight, recently described bitcoin as “the pioneer of a global currency” in an interview in the April issue of Delta’s SKY Magazine. Branson clearly believes in bitcoin. Not only is he accepting it, but he’s invested in it as well. But his … [Read more…]
Oversexed and underbanked? Chase Bank recently informed hundreds of porn performers that the bank will close their accounts by mid-May. Apparently Chase has a history of discriminating against sex workers and the adult industry. When banks pulled the same thing on Washington and Colorado’s state-legal marijuana dispensaries, they quickly moved to bitcoin. Banks claimed to be concerned that though the … [Read more…]
Lawyers for the two men recently arrested in Miami for engaging in “too-large” bitcoin transactions are claiming that the men’s actions were legal because state law covers only money issued by the US or another country. Many in the bitcoin community are hopeful that this argument is persuasive, seeing money laundering laws as an attempt to regulate thoughtcrime … [Read more…]
The article is below. But here’s a bit of backstory first. I guess it was the week before last, I wanted to write a response to the ThinkProgress bitcoin privilege article. While pondering the matter in my head, I tweeted The worst thing is there’s actually a case to be made. But this is extraordinarily … [Read more…]
Super excited to announce that I’ll be speaking on a panel on bitcoin at this year’s CPAC! The panel is When the Fed Stops Building and the Mint Stops Printing: Rebuilding the American Economy After a Real Crash. It’ll be in the Potomac Ballroom (ya, the big one) at 3:30 on Thursday. I’ll be joined by Steve Moore, Chief Economist at the Heritage Foundation, … [Read more…]
Competing cryptocurrencies have been in the news lately. This VICE Motherboard roundup is a good list of some of bitcoin’s most promising challengers. But it makes a comparison which reveals a view often expressed but is probably misguided about the nature of cryptocurrency competition. “Is there room for more than one sheriff in town?” writer Alec Liu … [Read more…]
Authorities in Miami recently arrested two men in what may be the first instance of citizens being charged under state law for engaging in “too-large” bitcoin transactions. The two were contacted by undercover officers who were looking to exchange $30,000 dollars each for bitcoin, an amount which violates the state’s money laundering laws. According to Miami-Dade State … [Read more…]
This morning, I awoke to an individual on Twitter letting me know, in no uncertain terms, that bitcoin and social issues were unrelated. Since literally everything is related to everything else in some way, I’ll assume what he meant is that bitcoin and social issues are particularly far apart in terms of overlap. This is of … [Read more…]
When a venerated institution such as The Wall Street Journal dedicates a new section to covering bitcoin, you know an idea has hit the mainstream. Announced today, BitBeat: Your Daily Bitcoin Round-Up will aggregate news stories related to bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies the WSJ thinks its readers will find important. We are launching a new feature … [Read more…]
BitInstant CEO Charlie Shrem, along with alleged co-conspirator Robert Faiella, was arrested by federal authorities last week for allegedly laundering more than $1 million worth of bitcoins. This is a tiny amount compared to the largest drug-and-terrorism money laundering case ever. Yet when British bank HSBC was found guilty in 2012 of laundering billions, the firm paid a fine of $1.9 billion. Authories made … [Read more…]