Do You Trust Bitcoin or Bernanke?

  For those following Bitcoin, this interview with Gavin Andresen, the 46-year-old lead software developer for the Bitcoin project in today’sWall Street Journal should be of interest. The chief scientist for the digital currency talks about its appeal - and pitfalls - in a world of fiat money. Politicians and their appointees are entirely cut out of Bitcoin’s monetary loop, Andresen explains, adding that "Bitcoin or a similar technology could threaten the power of not just central banks, but banks, period." It is perhaps the coder's parting words that are most insightful, "I tell people it’s still an experiment and only invest time or money you could afford to lose. If only investors could as easily follow that advice with fiat currencies."

- Source, Zero Hedge:

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-05-04/guest-post-whom-do-you-trust-bitcoin-or-bernanke

Bitcoin Dealers Are Running Into Problems In Canada

Two Canadian businessmen recently got some bad news from their banks.

James Grant, owner of Canadian Bitcoins, got a letter.

Melvin Ng, proprietor of CADBitcoin, got a phone call.

Both men run online exchanges where you can purchase Bitcoins for Canadian dollars.

And both were informed their businesses' accounts frozen by Canada's largest banks.

"It's a weird situation," Ng told us by phone recently. "We're a normal Canadian business, we're registered with the government, and a Canadian bank can just block it off."

Grant was more blunt: "They just don't like Bitcoins."

- Excerpt from a recent Business Insider article, read the full article here:

http://www.businessinsider.com/canadian-banks-closing-bitcoin-businesses-2013-4

Bitcoin Facing Bank Backlash in Canada

"Joseph David has overcome a lot of challenges since starting up Canada’s first Bitcoin exchange two years ago but his latest hurdle is proving tougher that all the others.

Virtex, based in Calgary, is an online market that matches Bitcoin buyers with sellers, with about $13-million of trades under its belt.

But earlier this month Royal Bank of Canada quietly informed Mr. David that it would no longer do business with his company.

“They shut down our account without any reason,” said Mr. David, an ebullient entrepreneur with a background in technology companies. “They just said we have the right to refuse service to whomever we wish.”

For whatever reason, many in Canada’s small but fast growing Bitcoin community are suddenly dealing with the same problem: The banks have decided they don't like the cryptocurrency and they’re shutting down some of the accounts of businesses that deal in it."

- Source, Financial Post, Read the full article here:

http://business.financialpost.com/2013/04/27/bitcoin-canada-banks/

Canada to Tax Bitcoin Transactions

"Canadians using bitcoins, the decentralized crypto-currency that recently went mainstream, must report their incomes and pay taxes as with other earnings, Canada's Revenue Agency (CRA) confirmed following a media request.

The issue was clarified in response to a letter by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) ahead of the country's tax season.

Two separate tax rules are applicable to the electronic currency, CRA spokesperson Philippe Brideau told CBC in an email.

When bitcoins are used as money to buy goods and services, the transaction is treated as barter and is taxable as such. When they are traded at a market for profit, they may be taxed as capital gains.

"When bitcoins are bought or sold like a commodity, any resulting gains or losses could be income or capital for the taxpayer depending on the specific facts," the CRA ruled."

- Source, Russia Today:

http://rt.com/business/bitcoins-currency-taxable-canada-496/

Berlin Has the Highest Concentration of Bitcoins

The Kreuzberg area of Berlin has the highest density of businesses accepting Bitcoin in the world. The clip below is fascinating as it becomes readily apparent how excited both the merchants and the customers are about using this free market currency. As the owner of a bar called Room 77, Joerg Platzer, quite interestingly commented: “Every day we do not start using a free currency like Bitcoin, we actually actively vote for the current system to continue.”

- Excerpt from a recent Zero Hedge article, read the full article here:

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-04-27/highest-concentration-bitcoins-world-berlin

Bitcoin As Cryptographic Gold?

"The crypto-currency Bitcoin is still merely a speck on the global monetary landscape. It is young, experimental, and for all we know, it may ultimately fail to break into the monetary mainstream. However, on a conceptual level some are willing to call it a work of genius andarguably the most exciting development in the field of money for more than 130 years. The outcome is probably binary: Either Bitcoin ultimately fails and the individual Bitcoins end up worthless. Or Bitcoin takes off and Bitcoins are worth hundreds of thousands of paper dollars, paper yen, paper euros, or paper pounds. Maybe more. Those who buy Bitcoin as a speculative investment should consider it an option on the future success of the crypto-currency. We still consider gold to be the essential self-defense asset in the ongoing paper money crisis. The brand-new crypto-currency Bitcoin has to first earn its stripes as a monetary asset by proving itself as a ‘common’ medium of exchange. That is why we view Bitcoin very differently from gold, although the attraction of both has its origin in the demise of entirely elastic, politicized state fiat money. In the meantime, the debasement of paper money continues."

- Excerpt from a recent Zero Hedge article, read the full article here:

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-04-25/guest-post-bitcoin-cryptographic-gold

Adam Kokesh - Litecoin is MAGNITUDES More Secure Than Bitcoin

Adam Kokesh of "Adam Vs the Man" compares Litecoin to Bitcoin. He discusses how Litcoin is faster and technically more secure.

- Source, Adam vs the Man:

http://www.adamvstheman.com/

BitCoin Or BetaCoin? What The Venture Capitalists Are Thinking

"After a disastrous few days in early April, bitcoin is back over $100 and up on the month, the year and its short lifetime. ConvergEx's Nick Colas is intrigued and continues to believe that this phenomenon is the most provocative economic experiment since the invention of the euro and well worth watching. The next chapter of the story, he believes, will be the entry of a host of "Smart money" venture capitalists looking to build the currency's infrastructure. Money and currency are exactly the kind of large, scalable and complex opportunity that gets VCs very, very excited. Yes, it could all still end in tears, either by regulation or mismanagement. But bitcoin isn’t dead just yet, and it remains one of the most potentially disruptive forces in modern finance. In summary, bitcoin is what he calls a "Beta currency." How it all shakes out, however, will be both instructive to watch and potentially profitable for those on the right side of this very novel trade."

- Source, Zero Hedge, read the full article here:

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-04-22/bitcoin-or-betacoin-what-venture-capitalists-are-thinking

Keiser Report - Magic of Bitcoin Gathering

"In this episode of the Keiser Report, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss the role of market making in the orderly functioning of markets which explains the disorderly functioning of Mt.Gox, an exchange missing the vital market making function. They also discuss the virtual specialist technology, payments systems and DDoS attacks. In the second half of the show, Max Keiser talks to Tony Gallippi of Bitpay.com about money in the cloud and bitcoin in transactions."

- Source: Max Keiser.com:

http://maxkeiser.com/

Libertarian Party Is Now Accepting Bitcoins

"America's biggest third party is accepting donations of the electronic currency through bitpay.com, which converts the donations into U.S. dollars. Given that Bitcoin is sometimes called a "libertarian fantasy," it's not so surprising the Libertarian Party would make room for the currency in its fundraising efforts."

- Source, The Atlantic, read the full article here:

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/04/the-libertarian-party-is-now-accepting-bitcoin-donations/274935/

Bitcoin is On The Rise

"Virtual currency Bitcoin has risen in usage, notoriety and value in the past few months. A Bitcoin’s worth fluctuates with demand, and just like cash, it is free to use and very hard to trace. About $130 million of Bitcoins now exist, and the value has risen more than 6,000 percent this year."

- Source, Bloomberg Businessweek:

http://www.businessweek.com/videos/2011-06-20/virtual-currency-bitcoin-rises-in-usage-value

Rick Rule Discusses the Value of Bitcoin

Rick Rule, who is known as a legend in the gold and silver industry gives his opinion on what he thinks of bitcoin and where he sees it going.