Do Cryptocurrencies Such as Bitcoin Have a Future?

From The Wall Street Journal –

“Despite the mystery, the whiff of scandal, and general public unfamiliarity with the concept, somebody out there is buying, and selling, not just bitcoin but dozens of other cryptocurrencies as well. The total market capitalization for these unregulated electronic forms of payment was roughly $4.04 billion as of mid-February, according to coinmarketcap.com, a website that tracks trading in alternative currencies. More than 500 altcoins, as they are also known, were represented on the site recently.

Growing global demand for low-cost, swift transactions—by cutting out banks—is one of the main forces driving interest in alternative currencies in recent years. Another, of course, is pure speculation.”

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Bitcoin's rough start to the year may get worse

From CNBC –

“Bitcoin transactions could more than halve this year, Juniper Research predicted, as a lack of regulation and links with illegal activity hinder the cryptocurrency's ability to go mainstream.

In a recent report, the U.K.-based research firm estimated the value of cryptocurrency transactions would decline to $30 billion in 2015 from over $71 billion last year.

The bearish figures follow a rough start to the year for the controversial digital currency. Prices have been in freefall, trading below $250 throughout January compared with $1,000 at the same time last year, according to CoinDesk, a widely-watched price index.”

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FEDCOIN a possible US government cryptocurrency

Senior Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis researcher David Andolfatto has put forward the idea of a US government-backed 'Fedcoin' that uses a bitcoin-style protocol but the US dollar as the monetary object. This would combine the best of a cryptocurrency and cash.

Read his blogpost “Fedcoin: On the Desirability of a Government Cryptocurrency” or watch his presentation at the “P2P Financial Systems 2015” at the Bundesbank Frankfurt am Main Germany on 29th January 2015 (below).

'Bit-what?' Most Americans clueless about cryptocurrency, study finds

From Mobile Payments Today –

“Coin Center, a nonprofit research and advocacy center focused on public policy issues around cryptocurrency technologies such as bitcoin, has released data from its first Bitcoin Public Sentiment Survey.

The survey — "the first of its kind," according to a press release — measures Americans' perceptions about bitcoin. This initial study was based on five months of survey data collected between the beginning of September 2014 and the end of January 2015.

Approximately 65 percent of respondents in the survey said they're not at all familiar with bitcoin. Of those who do know something about the currency, more than 80 percent said they've never used it.”

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The Fed Backs Away from Bitcoin for Real-Time Payments

From Payments Source –

“The Federal Reserve appears to have looked at Bitcoin as a potential set of rails for real-time payments in the banking system but shelved the concept for now.

The agency’s white paper on improving the payments system, released Monday, coins a new euphemism for Internet cryptocurrencies (of which Bitcoin is by far the best known): "Digital Value Transfer Vehicles." These are defined as "decentralized digital stores of value that can be exchanged."

One such transfer vehicle, which goes unnamed in the paper, "was not considered a sufficiently mature technology at this time, but was identified for further exploration and monitoring given significant interest in the marketplace," the Fed said. Of the hundreds of cryptocurrencies that have sprouted up in the last few years, we're pretty sure the Fed is not referring to HoboNickels or PhilosopherStone.”

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How Prosecutors Might Nail Ross Ulbricht Using the Supposedly Anonymous Bitcoin

From Forbes -

“Many have quipped that the cryptocurrency known as bitcoin are really “prosecution futures,” because rather than being anonymous, bitcoins can be remarkably easy to trace since every transaction between pseudonymous addresses is publicly recorded. With the ongoing trial of Ross Ulbricht over allegations that he was the kingpin known as the Dread Pirate Roberts behind the Silk Road online drug marketplace, this may be put to the test.”

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