Move aside Bitcoin, here comes HullCoin? March 31, 2014 Hull City Council is jumping on the wave of enthusiasm surrounding cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin and Dogecoin, with the launch of its own currency, HullCoin. Hyperlocal currencies are nothing new with the Brixton Pound, Stroud Pound, and Totnes Pound having all grown from a desire to protect local business by ensuring value stays within a local [...]
UK Bitcoin exchange shuts up shop March 31, 2014 Bit121 a UK-based Bitcoin exchange has suspended trading and will be closing temporarily from today. The exchange has not confirmed when it will reopen. Bit121's site functionality was removed on the 26 March. However, the site did provide the following exceptions: 1. Users will be able to view their account balance and account statement2. Users [...]
MtGox finds 200,000 forgotten Bitcoin March 21, 2014 Troubled Bitcoin exchange MtGox has said it has found 200,000 Bitcoin worth roughly £70m. Chief executive of the company Mark Karpeles said the Bitcoin were found in an online wallet, which MtGox believed held none of the digital currency. The exchange said: MtGox had certain old-format wallets which were used in the past and which, [...]
Bitcoins are more like “glass beads” than money says Danish central bank March 18, 2014 Denmark's central bank has released a publication stating that "unlike precious metals such as gold and silver, Bitcoins have no actual utility value". And on that basis, the organisation says that they aren't really money at all, and instead bear "closer resemblance to glass beads." Of course, the physical value of gold is far removed [...]
Bitcoin bugs invest $10m in China’s largest exchange March 17, 2014 Despite China's recent crackdown, cyptocurrency Bitcoin has been given a new lease of life in the world's second largest economy. The company that claims to be China's largest Bitcoin exchange by volume has announced a $10m Series A funding round. Venture Capital firm Ceyuan led the way and was followed by Mandra Capital, Ventures Lab and [...]
Nakamoto “unconditionally denies” Newsweek Bitcoin story March 17, 2014 The man Newsweek claims to be the father of Bitcoin has issued an unconditional denial that he had anything to do with the creation of the cryptocurrency, reports Reuters Felix Salmon. The American magazine claimed the 64-year old Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto was the same person as Satoshi Nakamoto who invented Bitcoin. Nakamoto has denied any [...]
Singapore becomes latest jurisdiction to clamp down on Bitcoin March 13, 2014 Singapore is set to regulate Bitcoin exchanges to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said in a statement that exchanges will have to identify their customers and report suspicious transactions to the relevant authorities. The MAS said in a statement: Regulation of virtual currency intermediaries pertains specifically to the [...]
Here’s what the Bank of England has to say on Bitcoin, Litecoin, and Ripple March 12, 2014 In a new primer on the nature of money, the UK's central bank has waded into the world of sterling-alternatives. Seeing "a wave of innovation" in the recent past, the Bank says in "Money in the modern economy" that alternative currencies are not widely accepted as a medium of exchange. Or at least, not as [...]
Bitcoin investor eyes Albemarle & Bond buyout March 10, 2014 ONE OF the world’s biggest investors in cryptocurrency Bitcoin is eyeing a deal to take control of stricken UK pawnbroker Albemarle & Bond. Fortress Investment Group, a Wall Street fund manager founded by ex-BlackRock executives, is understood to have made a move to buy more than £50m of debt Albemarle & Bond owes to its [...]
Bad news mounts for Bitcoin as Japan plans tax March 7, 2014 The bad new keeps on mounting for the world's most popular cryptocurrency Bitcoin. The Japanese government has said that Bitcoin is not a currency and some transactions using it could be taxed. Chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga, told reporters on Friday: If there are transactions and subsequent gains, it is natural…for the finance ministry to [...]