Category Archives: Bitcoin
Bitcoin Price Falls to March Low, Rebounds Above $1200 – CryptoCoinsNews
Bitcoin prices fell below $1,200 for the first time in March, on Wednesday. The dent represents the sharpest drop to the bullish rally that began last month wherein the cryptocurrency scaled to new all-time highs for the first time in over three years.
Bitcoin dropped by nearly $100 compared to yesterdays prices when it struck a low of $1,160 today, losing about 7% in value on the Bitstamp Price Index (BPI).
Having started the day above $1,230, bitcoin peaked to the days high of $1,244 around 01:30 UTC. The decline came soon after.
Bitcoin price fell from $1,240 at 02:30 to $1,219 in an hour. The sharpest drop of the day occurred when price slumped from $1,222 at 04:00 to $1,190, losing over $30 in value in a 20-minute trading period. Although price recovered briefly to $1,217 a steady decline resulted in price sinking falling to the low of $1,160 at 07:00.
A resurgence has since followed with bitcoin resurfacing above $1,200 at 08:00 and staying on top of the milestone throughout the day.
At the time of publishing, bitcoin is trading to the dollar at $1,203 on the BPI, with brief respite above $1,225 near midday.
The downturn comes in the lead-up to the much-publicized ETF decision to be taken by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, with the deadline this Friday. One theory is that traders are selling off their bitcoin to avoid losses in the event of a negatory decision by the SEC.
Todays sharp fall coincides with the big three Chinese exchanges extending the month-long bitcoin withdrawal freeze indefinitely. In identical statements, OkCoin, Huobi and BTCC confirmed that bitcoin withdrawals will only be processed after approval by regulatory authorities. There are no details of a time-frame provided.
Bitcoin prices dropped sharply this time a month ago after the exchanges halted withdrawals, the last significant price influencer from China.
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Bitcoin Price Falls to March Low, Rebounds Above $1200 - CryptoCoinsNews
Wall Street Journal: Bitcoin as Terrorist Money is Exaggeration – CryptoCoinsNews
In the Morning Risk Report, the Wall Street Journal emphasized that law enforcement agencies and financial organizations that are describing bitcoin as a terrorism financing tool are exaggerating the risks involved in digital currencies including bitcoin.
Since the beginning of 2016, law enforcement agencies including the FBI and Europol have begun to describe bitcoin as a terrorism financing tool due to its use case in the dark web. However, these law enforcement agencies were harshly criticized for misleading the public, as fiat money or cash, which serves the global financial ecosystem as the base monetary system, accounts for nearly 97% of all criminal activities due to its complete anonymity.
Analysts and supporters of bitcoin expressed their concerns over governments and law enforcement agencies attribution of bitcoin to criminal activities, mostly because bitcoin is not completely anonymous as anyone can track down the flow of transactions using the public blockchain. When a criminal tries to sell bitcoin in a regulated bitcoin exchange, with KYC and AML systems in place, government agencies will be able to unravel the identity of the bitcoin user with ease.
More to that, criminals are always in search for better technologies and alternatives. Criminals utilize automobiles, cash, phones, and other technologies to supplement their operations. However, this shouldnt necessarily lead to the struggle of the general public. In other words, government agencies shouldnt attempt to ban every technology utilized by criminals across the world. If so, no one will be able to utilize the internet, bitcoin, banking system, cars, amongst many other technologies.
International defense and security think-tank Royal United Services Institute consultant and former US Department of the Treasurys Office of Terrorism and Financial intelligence official David Carlisle stated:
Treating cryptocurrencies as an exceptional threat creates the misleading impression that more conventional financial products are not already equally, or more, vulnerable to terrorist exploitation.
Essentially, bitcoin is a decentralized protocol built to facilitate payments between two parties with the absence of moderators or third party service providers. Everyone within the network has equal authority over each other and there exists no administrators who can manipulate, alter or delete transactions from the public blockchain.
This decentralized architecture of bitcoin prevents exploitation and manipulation of funds, unlike conventional banking. Over the past decade or so, banks have been exposed for leading fraudulent operations that have led to hundreds of billions of dollars in losses. In fact, it was revealed last week by Bloomberg that the worlds largest banks were fined US$321 billion in total since the 2008 financial crisis.
In consideration of this staggering number, it is dishonest and deceitful of governments to attribute bitcoin as criminal and terrorist money, when their most trusted partners have deluded the public for decades before being fined billions of dollars for their actions.
Carlisle also noted that terrorist groups including the ISIS have their own forms of money such as their unique minted gold coins as the unified currency. Thus, bitcoin or other digital currencies will not be a priority for terrorist groups especially if bitcoin is difficult to obtain without forfeiting user identity due to KYC and AML regulations implemented across the world.
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Wall Street Journal: Bitcoin as Terrorist Money is Exaggeration - CryptoCoinsNews
Bitcoin Doesn’t Need Your Stinkin’ Rules – Dealbreaker
One of the recurring themes in the socio-political experiment that is bitcoin is how the cryptocurrency community has slowly accepted norms and strictures that govern the fiat money system bitcoin was invented to supersede. As traders slowly grasp the scope of manipulation and grift that accompanies such an anarchic, anything-goes market, some have clamored for rules that might make the world of bitcoin as fair as it is free, from anti-money laundering safeguards to deposit insurance. Innovation recapitulates regulation.
FT Alphavilles Izabella Kaminska highlights the most recent such episodeof this sagain the travails of Daniel Masters, founder of the Global Advisors Bitcoin Investment Program. In Masterslatest investor bulletin, he recounts how his fund got knocked ten percent from its benchmark by a competitor practicing textbook price manipulation. He writes:
The matters set out above highlighted another issue with bitcoin trading, which up until this point we had not considered. After the price drop, one player emerged as totally dominant in the open interest of the futures contract. It seemed pretty clear to us as a result that this event was not just a normal version of a large liquidation, with which we are familiar, but was a premeditated attack. When the dust settled, one unidentified player was short well over half the open interest.
In a typicallyregulated market like, say, lean hog futures, position limits established voluntarily by exchanges (and later mandated by Dodd-Frank) would keep a market participant from amassing such a dominant, price-shifting position. But the techno-utopia of bitcoin trading refuses to shackle its citizens with these kinds of outdated contrivances. And for Masters, thats kind of a bummer:
We would therefore class this episode as clear market manipulation, and in fact it was not just momentary: for many days thereafter the basis was so weak that it seemed that the one attack was being followed up by periodic smaller attacks. As such we approached the exchange. They confirmed to us that there were no position limits whatsoever and that people were free to do whatever they wanted in their happy trading environment (yes, they used those actual words). We made it very clear that such activity, whether in a regulated environment or not, might amount to criminality in Hong Kong and would certainly do so in many other jurisdictions. Following a number of discussions, the exchange encouraged the rogue player to withdraw and things have now normalized.
Clearly, one mans happy trading environment is another mans viper pit, which is the ultimate tradeoff with bitcoin investing. You get all the excitement and arbitrage opportunity of a relativelyprehistoric market without the safeguards of the current one.
Of course, were talking bitcoin exchanges here, not bitcoins central coding community. Though exchange operators seem to have some of the same libertarian leanings as the currencys diehard core (see above), they also have incentives like making money and staying out of jail. Regulators tend to treat bitcoin trading as a commodity, which subjects it to a basic set of rules and safeguards that exchanges must follow. But regulatory pressures are less interesting that those stemming fromthe bitcoin community itself.
When OTC markets backfire, bitcoin edition [FT Alphaville]
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Bitcoin Doesn't Need Your Stinkin' Rules - Dealbreaker
Bitcoin Price Target For 2017 – Seeking Alpha
Bitcoin (OTCQX:GBTC) is a totally different investment asset type than traditional asset classes. Traditional analysis methods do not applying when forecasting the price of bitcoin. That's why we apply a more fundamental approach in this article in order to come up with a bitcoin price forecast for 2017.
How NOT to forecast a bitcoin price
Most readers would turn to the cryptocurrency blogosphere where they will read ultra-bullish bitcoin price forecasts for 2017 similar to this one from Coindesk. The issue with this approach is that those sites only feature bitcoin enthusiasts and entrepreneurs, so they offer a very biased view.
Traditional financial media, on the other hand, have their classic story telling format. That is not a useful approach either for investors. For instance, CNBC looked at the ongoing stream of articles that compare bitcoin with gold (NYSEARCA:GLD), and concluded that "the comparison is perhaps a positive signal that bitcoin is being commoditized. But bitcoin is not a commodity, while gold has been a commodity for thousands of years." That obviously does not tell anything about the future price of bitcoin.
Fortune.com explained how demand for safe haven assets have fallen since the elections "on a stronger dollar, signs of future interest rate hikes, and potentially business-friendly policies that may arise from the Trump administration. Those potential regulatory changes would raise the chances of higher-yielding stocks." That also is not useful as input for a bitcoin price forecast.
The most interesting headline comes from CNBC: "Bitcoin predicted to rise 165% to $2,000 in 2017 driven by Trump's spending binge and dollar rally."
There is obviously no correlation between the bitcoin price and the dollar or any other regular asset. Large investors simply don't pull money out of currencies, stocks (NYSEARCA:SPY) or gold in order to buy bitcoins.
A legitimate bitcoin forecast for 2017
We believe that a combination of price analysis and fundamental analysis is the most appropriate way to come up with a legitimate bitcoin forecast.
Fundamentally, the bitcoin usage data look great: Usage of bitcoins keeps on increasing, and that is exactly what it fundamentally is all about. Because of the fact that bitcoin is a form of money, the widening acceptance of bitcoin is the most fundamental data point to consider.
According to Statista, bitcoin usage keeps on growing as seen by the number of Bitcoin ATMs, which increased from 538 in January 2016 to 838 by November. Most Bitcoin ATMs, as of July 2016, were located in the United States (345) and Canada (108). The Bitcoin ATMs located in Europe as of June 2016 constituted 24.02 percent of the global ATM market share.
Moreover, several bitcoin charts confirm a growing usage and acceptance:
Last but not least, this research paper on bitcoin's big picture trends identifies 3 marked regimes that have evolved as the bitcoin economy has grown and matured: From an early prototype stage, to a second growth stage populated in large part with "sin" enterprise (i.e., gambling, black markets), to a third stage marked by a sharp progression away from "sin" and toward legitimate enterprises.
In other words, fundamentally, the picture for bitcoin looks very good. This is not only a market for speculators anymore, but one of real users.
We are confident, based on the objective data set outlined above that bitcoin's price rise is not only legitimate, but will continue. That results in a bullish bitcoin price forecast for 2017 and beyond.
From a bitcoin price analysis point of view, the long-term chart (courtesy: Finviz) looks very constructive. Readers should compare the steep rally in 2013 with the steady and solid rise in the last 2 years. As the price of bitcoin took out all-time highs, it suggests it has much more upside potential.
The only 'negative' is that the price rise has accelerated in recent weeks. Investors want to see a steady rise, not a parabolic rise. So we hope there will be a healthy correction sooner rather than later to cool off emotions. Ideally, bitcoin's price corrects to the $1,000 to $1,100 area in the coming weeks.
We could easily see bitcoin's price move to $2,000 in 2017.
This bitcoin price forecast for 2017 originally appeared on InvestingHaven.com
Disclosure: I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.
I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it. I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
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Bitcoin Price Target For 2017 - Seeking Alpha
The case against calling it a bitcoin bubble – Quartz
The worlds most famous cryptocurrency is trading at record highs, but is it a bubble?
Looking at a chart of bitcoins price as it climbed and eventually overtook its long-held, previous all-time high, set in the final months of 2013, its easy to see why some people think its a bubble in danger of popping.
But Vikram Mansharamani, who wrote a book about identifying bubbles, says the bitcoin market exhibits fewer than two of the five major features of a fully inflated bubble. He lays out his argument in a LinkedIn post, which Ive summarized in the scorecard below.
Another blogger has weighed in with his own interpretation of the market using Mansharamanis framework and concludes that trade in the cryptocurrency is a tad frothier. Whereas Mansharamani gives bitcoin half mark for reflexivitythe idea that an assets rising price increases demand for it, which investors like George Soros subscribe toSG Kinsmanns analysis gives bitcoin a full point for reflexivity. The argument for doing so? Transaction volumes and fees, which indicate demand, have risen along with the price.
Still, that puts bitcoin at just two out of five marks for bubble indicators.
Bubble or not, bitcoin investors are in for some price action this week. The US Securities and Exchange Commission only has five more days before it must issue a decision on a bitcoin exchange-traded fund, which could really open the floodgates of demand for bitcoinor bring the price crashing back down.
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The case against calling it a bitcoin bubble - Quartz
Chinese banks experiment with bitcoin-like system – MarketWatch
Chinese banks in two cities are testing a custom-built digital currency developed by the Peoples Bank of China, according to information gleaned from local media reports and interviews with two individuals who are familiar with the central banks thinking.
The digital currency, known to the broader world as ChinaCoin, but officially referred to inside China as digital renminbi, or RMB, was developed by the PBOC in partnership with other private and public entities.
Eventually, Chinese authorities hope digital RMB will help the government strengthen oversight of the countrys banks, while helping to prevent financial crime.
The reason theyre doing this is because they want to have more transparency to regulate how money flows between banks, said Patrick Dai, founder of the Qtum foundation, creators of the Qtum blockchain project.
In recent months, certain local banks based in Shenzhen, a financial hub in southern China, and Guiyang, the capital of a province in the countrys southwest, have begun experimenting with first using the digital RMB network for settlement and clearing of transactions in the countrys interbank bond market.
Chinas national media frequently cites transparency and efficiency as among the potential benefits of the digital renminbi project. However, in an interview with Caixin, a Chinese business publication, Peoples Bank of China Gov. Zhou Xiaochuan said it would take China approximately 10 years to fully embrace the digital renminbi. Chinas currency USDCNY, +0.0101% is interchangeably referred to as yuan and renminbi.
But once it is widely launched, digital RMB will be more convenient, protect citizens privacy and maintain social order, Zhou said. Eventually, the digital adoption will allow the central bank to make better-informed decisions about monetary policy by allowing it to more closely monitor the movement of capital through the Chinese economy, he said, adding the system could also make it easier to prevent financial crimes such as money laundering.
Zhou also emphasized key differences between digital RMB and bitcoin, arguably the best known cryptocurrency. While the digital renminbi will incorporate some elements of blockchain technology, like the cryptographic algorithms that help secure the bitcoin network, it will more closely resemble a permissioned blockchain a type of closed system that limits who can access and change information.
Read: This bitcoin rival nearly doubled in value in one week
The Chinese system will also be centrally controlled by the government, a concept that contravenes what bitcoin enthusiasts consider to be the cryptocurrencys most revolutionary innovation: the ability to maintain a monetary system that is resistant to centralized control.
The elephant in the room is how much it could potentially increase [the PBOCs] control, said Chris Burniske, Blockchain analyst and products lead at ARK Invest.
The price of a single bitcoin US:BTCUSD was at $1,280 in recent trade, just shy of an all-time high reached late last week. Part of the rise has been attributed to anticipation of the Securities and Exchange Commissions decision on approval of the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust, which is expected by the end of the week.
The PBOC isnt the only central bank thats exploring the feasibility of its own digital currency. The Bank of England joined with researchers at University College in London to create RSCoin, a digital currency for central banks. The Bank of Canada has also said it is developing a blockchain-based digital version of the Canadian dollar.
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Chinese banks experiment with bitcoin-like system - MarketWatch
We Love Bitcoin, But Stop Comparing It To Gold – Seeking Alpha
By Parke Shall
Those that read us know that we have been Bitcoin bulls for quite some time. With the price of 1BTC now approaching $1300, the question of whether or not we are staying in or cashing out has come up several times.
We wanted to write today to inform readers that not only are we staying long bitcoin, but we will, as we have been saying in the past, continue to add small amounts on any dips. We had a short term bitcoin price target of new all-time highs for this year that we reiterated in a previous article out in December 2016. In December of 2016, with bitcoin at $800, we stated that "Bitcoin Would Soar Through $1200 in 2017".
Now, it is time for us to focus on our multiple year long-term outlook for bitcoin. We don't believe that $5000 or even $10,000 is out of the question eventually, though it may take many years for the digital currency to reach that point. Needless to say, we remain bullish.
We know that bitcoin is becoming more and more of a news item over the last couple of weeks, as its price has run up significantly to now over $1200 per BTC. Anytime there's a price movement in any type of security like this, it makes the news. Many times, when penny stocks or other lesser-known securities rise in value, the media covers them without adequate understanding of what they are and how they work. Bitcoin is no different.
It has been getting more and more media coverage this past week yet the media, for some reason, continues to want to compare the price of one BTC to 1 ounce of gold. Yes, it is true that bitcoin has passed 1 ounce of gold in value. What does this mean? Absolutely nothing.
As bitcoin bulls, we would love to sit here and give you some convoluted meaningless answer as to why the price of one bitcoin passing 1 ounce of gold is meaningful, but there is really no common denominator basis of comparison between the two. You can put gold and silver on a ratio because you can reduce both metals to weight. You can't put bitcoin on a ratio with gold because one is a physical item with weight and a somewhat unknown but relatively finite supply and the other is a digital product that exists only online or in cyberspace.
So if you are a member of the financial media and are reading this, stop comparing the price of gold with the price of bitcoin.
Moving on, we could spend many paragraphs and many pages defending bitcoin as a storer of value. We could also, as generally Austrian thinking economists, make the argument that it has no value because it doesn't really exist. We think the answer for the short term is going to be somewhere in between. It exists because people are buying into it (not unlike Federal Reserve notes). It is a storer of value because it is limited in its supply. We have maintained in many of our articles that the major risk to bitcoin is the fact that it exists on an infrastructure that must be in place in order for it to be transacted. Whereas one person can go and hand gold to another person if the entire infrastructure of the world is brought down, bitcoin doesn't exist without our smartphones, our computers, and the Internet.
With this all said, we have written many articles over the last year talking about why would be buying the dip in bitcoin at various circumstances. After the Bitfinex crash, we came out and said that we would be buyers and after that, we wrote that we thought the digital currency was going to easily eclipse $1000 and then move through new highs. So far we have been right on.
Now let's talk about our outlook for the future. Despite bitcoin being incorrectly compared with gold, it continues to come up as both a hedge and a storer of value. Well you can take dispute with either of these, it is quite obvious that the public believes both of these to be appropriate. We do as well. Like any other financial asset that is in demand, it doesn't really matter what the ultimate product is, it only matters what the demand for said product is.
With the big banks and even the central banks working on different ways to incorporate the Blockchain into their business, it is obvious there has been buy-in on a major scale for a bitcoin. Many have argued that other digital currency's may come and take the place of bit coin and we actually believe just the opposite. We believe that because bitcoin was the original digital currency that it is going to have the most staying power and legacy status for many years to come. Other digital currencies may gain value on the fact that bitcoin has value, but there's only going to be one bitcoin at the end of the day.
In a world that is increasingly switching to digital, it is going to be tougher and tougher to make a case against bitcoin as long as large banks and governments continue to buy into the technology. There is no doubt that the blockchain technology is going to be the next step for a number of corporations and potentially a number of governments.
Investors need to realize that 100% of capital is at risk when they are dealing in such a speculative asset with very little track record behind it. With that said, we believe the bitcoin is going to remain in demand, become further accessible to retail spiking demand, and will have its credibility continue to improve going forward. While there are a varying group of long term estimated price ranges for bitcoin between $0 dollars and $1 million per bitcoin, depending on how seriously it is taken as a hedge against the financial system, we certainly don't think that the digital currency is going to stop growing in value anytime soon.
Over the course of its lifetime, we believe bitcoin is still in its extreme infancy and we would not be surprised to see the price eclipse $2000 by the end of the year this year. Further, our long-term targets for BTC remain between $2000 and $5000 for the next year or two. At this point, we may see corrections and we may see some stagnation but ultimately the most important point is that in the finite amount of supply and growing demand are going to continue to push prices much higher in the future. We remain long bitcoin.
Disclosure: I am/we are long BITCOIN.
I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
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We Love Bitcoin, But Stop Comparing It To Gold - Seeking Alpha
Bitcoin regulation: How India compares to the rest of the world in the regulatory approach to bitcoin – Tech2
Bitcoin has hit an all time high of$1,200 (approx Rs 80,000) based on talks of the first US Bitcoin exchange-traded fund getting approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission. In India, Bitcoin is selling for over Rs 1,00,000per bitcoin in Bitcoin trading apps such as Unocoin.Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor R Gandhi recently pointed out the risks associated with Bitcoin transactions at a FinTech conference.
Bitcoin prices are at an all time high. Source: Unocoin.
We can see that in these types of virtual currencies there is no central bank or monetary authority. They pose potential financial, operational, legal, customer protection and security-related risks, Gandhi said. My arguments against virtual currencies stem from two elements the concept of confidence and anonymity. The currency should be able to sustain these two elements forever. It will impair its exalted status once either of these two elements gets affected.
Amid the surging prices, a question was raised in the Rajya Sabha on 6 February, on the legal status of virtual currencies such as Bitcoin in India. Arjun Ram Meghwal, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance, in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, pointed out that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had cautioned Indian citizens against the use of Bitcoin.
Bitcoin transactions in India are legal, the RBI has just cautioned users about the risks of cryptocurrency trading. There are however no official redressal mechanisms, and users transacting with virtual currencies do so at their own risk. The RBI is monitoring the use of Bitcoin in the country, and is in the process of formulating regulations, including foreign exchange laws, and norms for payment systems. The cautionary note is based on a press release by RBI in 2013, when adoption of Bitcoin in the country was a lot less than it is in 2017.
The risks as noted by the RBI include a lack of a central framework for resolving problems, the highly volatile and speculative nature of the cryptocurrency due to a lack of backing by assets, trading across various jurisdictions with unclear legal regulations, and the dangers of being entrapped or associated withfinancial transactions for illegal and illicit activities. One of the biggest problems for the RBI is in the way the money is stored in digital wallets that are prone to hacks, malware attacks, theft and loss.
How cryptocurrencies are understood around the world.
China
Early this year, thePeoples Bank of China met with owners of Bitcoin exchanges, and cautioned the people against the use of Bitcoin as a currency. Officially, the bank considers Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as virtual commodities that do not enjoy the same status as currency. The bank has also cautioned users of Bitcoin, asking them to bear the corresponding risks and responsibilities. Banks and Financial institutions are prohibited from making Bitcoin transactions, and the Bitcoin trading activities are being monitored for violations of foreign exchange norms.
United States of America
In the United States, Bitcoin is treated as property, and Bitcoin transactions are taxed as if they were property transactions. Employers are required to report payment of wages to employees using Bitcoin, and these kinds of payments are subject to payroll taxes. Taxes on gain or loss of value based on transactions depends on whether or not the Bitcoin is held as a capital asset. Although bitcoin is commonly used as a currency, it is not recognised as legal tender in any of the jurisdictions in the United States.
United Kingdom
Initially, Bitcoin in the UK was considered a tradeable voucher, which was later reclassified as private currency, which reduced the tax liability.Transactions to and from Bitcoin are not taxed. There are taxes for Goods and Services sold for Bitcoin, based on the corresponding value of the legal tender to the cryptocurrency at the time of transaction. Income generated by Bitcoin mining activity is also exempted from tax.
Russia
The Bank of Russia, like the RBI, refers to cryptocurrencies as virtual currency. The Bank of Russia has issued a warning to Russian citizens, rising the same concerns as the RBI. The speculative nature of the currency, high risk of loss of value, and no entities that can be held legally accountable for settling disputes. The strongly worded warning alerts citizens of possible prosecution over cryptocurrency transactions as the financial activity can be considered as participating in a process that helps terrorists and criminals launder money. The federal Tax Service in Russia has noted in a letter that there are no legal mechanisms prohibiting Bitcoin transactions in Russia.
Australia
The Reserve Bank of Australia refers to cryptocurrencies asdigital currencies, and treats Bitcoin as property, similar to the regulations in the United States. Bitcoin transactions themselves are regulated by the bank, or subject to regulatory oversight. Bitcoin trades are treated as barter trades.As Bitcoin has a steady rate of supply, a limited availability, and cannot respond to seasonal peaks or sudden increases in Demand (say around holiday sales seasons), Australia does not consider any role of cryptocurrencies in the monetary policy.
University of Nicosia in Cyprus accepts Bitcoin for payment of fees.
Europe
The European Banking Authority has also issued a warning to European citizens on the hazards of using virtual currencies. The risks pointed out in the warning include the potential for loss on electronic trading platforms, there are no legal protections for the money deposited in cryptocurrency exchanges, the virtual currencies can potentially be stolen through electronic means, and the high volatility of the cryptocurrencies. The EBA has gone so far as to recommend that You should not use real money that you cannot afford to lose. Virtual currencies can be used to make payments without incurring charges, and without a bank acting as an intermediary. Value added tax, and capital gains tax may apply according to the country where the transaction is occurring.
Brazil
The Central Bank of Brazil has issued a clarification noting that there is no regulation for Bitcoin in Brazil. The notice points out that any regulatory oversight would put pressure on the cryptocurrencies, and that regulations from any authority from any country can potentially affect the prices of the cryptocurrencies, as well as the ability to trade in them. Brazil refers to Bitcoin and similar cryptocurrencies as virtual currencies, noting that they are different from digital currencies. The development of the financial instruments such as Bitcoin is being monitored by the Central Bank of Brazil, and it has said that it is open to legal interventions, if necessary.
Bangladesh
Bangladesh is one of the countries with the harshest regulations against cryptocurrencies. As the country has harsh anti money laundering laws, anyone conducting Bitcoin transactions faces a jail term. The use of cryptocurrencies of any kind, including Bitcoin, is banned in Bangladesh. Anyone found being involved with Bitcoin transactions faces up to twelve years in jail.
The Genesis Block, the first block mined, with 50 Bitcoin
Indian regulations
The process of formulating regulations in India is taking its own sweet time, and RBI seems to be focusing more on formulating regulations for the underlying distributed ledger technology called blockchain, rather than the virtual currencies such as Bitcoin and Litecoin that are based on blockchains. Waiting for toolong to introduce regulations is likely to disturb the markets, platforms, apps and systems that emerge before the regulations are in place.
The world over, in times of financial insecurity, Bitcoin is considered as a hedge.
For those who want to get into Bitcoin transactions in India, Unocoin is a convenient platformwith a monthly investment plan. BtcxIndia, Zebpay and Coinsecure are other Indian Bitcoin trading platforms. The prices per Bitcoin varies across the platforms. Over 500 merchants in India accept Bitcoin as a payment option.
Tags: Bitcoin, Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, RBI, virtual currency
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Bitcoin regulation: How India compares to the rest of the world in the regulatory approach to bitcoin - Tech2
Cyber criminals go digital, lay bitcoin trap for investors – India Today
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Cases of fraud related to bitcoins are becoming more frequent, officer said.
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Bitcoin is a digital crypto-currency that is computer generated and not printed
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Experts also claim that people in India are mostly interested in buying bitcoins
As more and more investors take to digital currencies like bitcoin, leading to a sharp rise in their prices postdemonetisation, cyber criminals are also exploring innovative ways to pick virtual wallets.
Last week, a Delhi-based businessman lost Rs8.5 lakh to an alleged 'bitcoin miner', the term used for an agent who generates digital currency, who promised him 10 bitcoins with an assurance that the investment will rise twofold within next six months. The businessman chose not to file a complaint with police as digital currencies are not recognised by the RBI, even though there are varied views on its transactional legality.
"Cases of fraud related to bitcoins are becoming more frequent," a senior crime branch officer told Mail Today. This is partly because many global companies have started accepting digital currency. "This has attracted many new investors. However, cashing on its rising popularity, some scamsters are also running fraud set-ups," said the officer, requesting anonymity.
"After demonetisation in November 2016, demands of bitcoins have gone up in the country and what gold was to the previous generation, bitcoin is to today's tech-savvy investor," he said, adding that it will be a big nuisance to crack such case as these currencies are not tangible.
WHAT IS BITCOIN
Bitcoin is a digital crypto-currency that is computer generated and not printed or minted physically like a country's currency. The denomination is created and held electronically in a decentralised system which means no single person, bank or authority has any regulatory control over it. It works as conventional forms of currency and is traded worldwide.
According to leading Bitcoin trading exchanges in India, there has been an increase in its user base by 250 per cent in last one year. Scamsters are also reaching out to new investors for dealing into other crypto-currency than bitcoin which includes TimeKoin, OneCoin, LitecoinNuBits, Tether etc.
"It is a popular currency on the internet where anything can be bought using bitcoins such as drugs, arms, pornography.
Even hackers demand digital currency in ransomware attacks carried in India. But, tracking crypto-currency is difficult on the web and beyond a country's boundaries is impossible," said Triveni Singh additional Superintendent of Police (Uttar Pradesh STF).
"Apart from Bitcoin, there are other 2,000 plus lesser-known virtual currencies and there are several cases of fraud related to virtual currencies these days," said Hitesh Malviya, a bitcoin expert.
Experts also claim that people in India are mostly interested in buying bitcoins and not selling them in the market in order to increase its valuation. Cops also claim that after the demonetisation announcement, many traders exchanged 'black money' for bitcoins.
Also Read
EXPOSED: The unrestricted bitcoins bazaar that helps dispose illicit wealth during demonetisation
Bitcoin hits highest level post demonetisation
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Cyber criminals go digital, lay bitcoin trap for investors - India Today
Bitcoin Scam Site Warning Coinomia – The Merkle
It has been a while since we last looked at bitcoin scam sites, even though they are even more common than ever before. Coinomia is another cloud mining Ponzi Scheme that aims to defraud users. The company makes some very bold claims which are not backed by any solid or credible evidence by any means. Avoid this company at all times and invest wisely.
A lot of companies who claim to be active in the world of bitcoin and cryptocurrency require a lot of budget to set up mining operations. That being said, it would appear there are so many companies active in the world of cloud mining bitcoin, even though there are very few legitimate offerings available. Coinomia is definitely not a legitimate mining company, as they provide no evidence whatsoever.
When one opens the Coinomia website, it becomes evident the company is trying to trick as many users into investing as possible. The company also claims to be mining since 2014, yet there is no proof of this claim being true by any means. It is possible this may have taken place under a different name, although it is unclear which company that would have been. Rest assured this is the first sign of Coinomia being a scam.
Users who sign up with Coinomia will get 3TH/s for signing up. Users who prefer to mine Ethereum will receive 0.58 MH/s of hashing power. It is rather unusual to see companies give away such large amounts of hashing power in exchange for US$100, as it requires a fair amount of hardware to provide these speeds. Then again, Coinomia has no mining hardware in the first place, and all of this free mining power only represents an update in the database.
To top it all off, the mining plan comes with 8% referral commission. The goal of Coinomia is to get users to invite as many people as possible to make sure the people running this cloud mining scheme can fill their pockets. More expensive plans are also available, ranging from US$1,000 to US$10,000. It is rather odd to see these prices not listed in BTC or ETH value, but then again, this is a scam site after all. More expensive plans result in higher referral commissions, which is absolutely bogus.
What is even more troublesome is how Coinomia positions itself as being a mining application, rather than a cloud mining company. They also claim any device or gadget can be used to mine cryptocurrency and earn these returns. That is a very strange business model, considering the company claims to have ASIC chips and mining equipment located in data centers around the world. If that is the case, why do users need to download this software? Very strange indeed.
Not much information can be found about the company itself either. Although Coinomia Technologies LTD has an office address listed on the website, it is doubtful that location houses any office related to this business. Moreover, there is no company registration number, although the team would probably be able to present a company number when requested. All it takes is a bit of cash and the paper is issued automatically. All things considered, it is best to steer away from Coinomia and not lose your money.
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Bitcoin Scam Site Warning Coinomia - The Merkle