Bitcoin in a box

From Finextra -

Jean-Pierre Arens, Senior Vice President, Business Development, iGTB talks through the results of on-the-spot surveys concerning crypto-currencies and real-time payments conducted at EBADay in Amsterdam.

Watch the interview>>

Bitcoin's Regulatory Nightmare Is About to Get More Frightening

From Reason.com -



Let’s say you want to start a Bitcoin company in the U.S., chances are you’re going to need a Money Transmitter License, or rather 51 of them, because 47 states three territories and the District of Columbia each have their own permitting process for any business that handles money on behalf of its customers.



“Let’s say you want to start a Bitcoin company in the U.S., chances are you’re going to need a Money Transmitter License, or rather 51 of them, because 47 states three territories and the District of Columbia each have their own permitting process for any business that handles money on behalf of its customers.

This regulatory maze is thwarting the plans of many Bitcoin startups.

"Some [of our] applications have been in for over a year, and we're not able to determine the path forward because it's not a clear process," says Megan Burton, CEO of the Bitcoin exchange firm CoinX, at a May 16, 2014 public hearing of the Conference of State Bank Supervisors' Emerging Payments Task Force.”

Read more>>

The solution to Wall Street’s 1960s paperwork crisis could also save bitcoin

From Quartz –

“In the late 1960s, Wall Street had a paper problem. Every time a stock changed hands, a physical stock certificate had to be exchanged as well.

Back then, the securities business relied on a cottage industry of old men, often retired police officers and firemen, chomping cigars in trench coats as they schlepped valises, suitcases and even steamer trunks full of stock certificates—or bearer bonds, or cash—to and fro in lower Manhattan, in New York’s financial district. If a courier was out on the street with a particularly valuable suitcase, the risk manager—he was not a spreadsheet jockey, but rather the guy who managed the metal cage holding the firm’s valuable documents and cash—would ask the other couriers to sit tight until the transaction “cleared” and the other side of the trade was safely back in the bank.”

Read more>>

Treasury Report: UK's Bitcoin Startups React

From Coin Desk –

“This week's news that the UK government will seek to regulate digital currencies made waves in the local startup community.

The UK Treasury report, revealed on Wednesday as part of chancellor George Osborne's annual budget, outlined plans to curb criminal activity via AML (anti-money laundering) regulation and allow digital currency companies to opt-in to standardised consumer protections following May's election. The government also proposed injecting £10m into research on digital currencies as part of its larger pledge to innovation in FinTech.

While many of the 120 submissions that informed the Treasury's plans came from payment bodies, banks, academics, consultancies and fellow government agencies, bitcoin companies also weighed in on the future of digital currency regulation in the UK.’

Read more>>