Topic: [ANN][NOTE]DNotes - Celebrating DNotes 3rd Birthday - Forum Now Open - page 136. (Read 814539 times)

There is a great article out today on teaching law enforcement agencies about bitcoin.


"Bitcoin Groups and Law Enforcement Unite to Form Blockchain Alliance"

A group of digital currency companies and organizations, as well as a number of US law enforcement agencies, are establishing a new public-private forum in a bid to foster communication and education between the government and industry stakeholders.

Dubbed the Blockchain Alliance, the initiative is being spearheaded by Coin Center and the Chamber of Digital Commerce, with support from a range of companies including: BitFury, BitFinex, BitGo, Bitnet, Bitstamp, Blockchain, Circle, Coinbase, CoinX, itBit, Kraken, Noble Markets and Xapo. The Alliance will also draw support from several bitcoin developers and the MIT Digital Currency Initiative’s Brian Forde.

Government agencies and departments already taking part include the US Justice Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Secret Service, the Department of Homeland Security, the US Marshals Service and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. More agencies, including international ones, are expected to join in the months ahead.

Jason Weinstein, the former US Deputy Assistant Attorney General named to the board of BitFury in March, will act as the group’s first director.

Primary goals

Both Coin Center executive director Jerry Brito and Weinstein suggested one of the primary goals of the initiative is to help change the perception that bitcoin and digital currencies are “a currency for criminals”.

To do this, the Alliance will maintain a mailing list through which law enforcement officials can ask questions, host regular conference calls and, potentially, produce larger gatherings that bring industry members and government officials together.

Brito explained:

“Essentially it’s a public-private forum that’s going to make it easier to have a single point of contact with law enforcement; for people in the bitcoin industry, academia, developers, to have conversations about law enforcement on the bitcoin blockchain, to ask questions and to answer questions.”

Weinstein cited the companies involved as the main impetus behind the initiative’s formation and direction forward.

“The most critical thing here is that this is being driven by the industry,” he said. “This wasn’t LE coming to us and saying ‘Help us’, this was the industry going to law enforcement and saying, ‘Let us help you’.”

Forum function

Weinstein went on to stress that the Alliance’s function isn’t to help law enforcement conduct investigations into the industry. Rather, he characterized it as a forum for “high level conversations” that focus on the broader trends of the technology and how it’s being used in the world today.

In a statement, Chamber of Digital Commerce president Perianne Boring said the initiative will help spark discussion between the industry and law enforcement.

“It’s no secret that bitcoin has perception issues, which is a roadblock to mainstream adoption. Having an open dialogue with law enforcement and policymakers will help reduce anxiety about this transformative technology,” she said.

http://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-groups-and-law-enforcement-unite-to-form-blockchain-alliance/

Bravo, Aria. Bravo. Lol. The ransom article made my day. Gotta love the counter bounty approach. I hope they get him.

There is a great article out today on teaching law enforcement agencies about bitcoin.


"Bitcoin Groups and Law Enforcement Unite to Form Blockchain Alliance"

A group of digital currency companies and organizations, as well as a number of US law enforcement agencies, are establishing a new public-private forum in a bid to foster communication and education between the government and industry stakeholders.

Dubbed the Blockchain Alliance, the initiative is being spearheaded by Coin Center and the Chamber of Digital Commerce, with support from a range of companies including: BitFury, BitFinex, BitGo, Bitnet, Bitstamp, Blockchain, Circle, Coinbase, CoinX, itBit, Kraken, Noble Markets and Xapo. The Alliance will also draw support from several bitcoin developers and the MIT Digital Currency Initiative’s Brian Forde.

Government agencies and departments already taking part include the US Justice Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Secret Service, the Department of Homeland Security, the US Marshals Service and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. More agencies, including international ones, are expected to join in the months ahead.

Jason Weinstein, the former US Deputy Assistant Attorney General named to the board of BitFury in March, will act as the group’s first director.

Primary goals

Both Coin Center executive director Jerry Brito and Weinstein suggested one of the primary goals of the initiative is to help change the perception that bitcoin and digital currencies are “a currency for criminals”.

To do this, the Alliance will maintain a mailing list through which law enforcement officials can ask questions, host regular conference calls and, potentially, produce larger gatherings that bring industry members and government officials together.

Brito explained:

“Essentially it’s a public-private forum that’s going to make it easier to have a single point of contact with law enforcement; for people in the bitcoin industry, academia, developers, to have conversations about law enforcement on the bitcoin blockchain, to ask questions and to answer questions.”

Weinstein cited the companies involved as the main impetus behind the initiative’s formation and direction forward.

“The most critical thing here is that this is being driven by the industry,” he said. “This wasn’t LE coming to us and saying ‘Help us’, this was the industry going to law enforcement and saying, ‘Let us help you’.”

Forum function

Weinstein went on to stress that the Alliance’s function isn’t to help law enforcement conduct investigations into the industry. Rather, he characterized it as a forum for “high level conversations” that focus on the broader trends of the technology and how it’s being used in the world today.

In a statement, Chamber of Digital Commerce president Perianne Boring said the initiative will help spark discussion between the industry and law enforcement.

“It’s no secret that bitcoin has perception issues, which is a roadblock to mainstream adoption. Having an open dialogue with law enforcement and policymakers will help reduce anxiety about this transformative technology,” she said.

http://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-groups-and-law-enforcement-unite-to-form-blockchain-alliance/

All, here is this weeks bitcoin recap.

ACCC Investigating Australian Bitcoin Bank Account Closures
BitcoinPay’s OpenCart Plugin Enables Online Merchant Bitcoin Payments
DEA Agent Sentenced For Silk Road Corruption
Bi Wang Announces Bitcoin Miner and 14nm Chip for Consumers
Bitcoin Company Abra To Receive Investment from AmEx
China’s CAC Proclaims “Post-Bitcoin Era”
Bounty Offered for Perpetrators of Bitcoin Ransom Demand
BnkToTheFuture to Help Launch Bitcoin Mining IPO
Deloitte’s Watts and Others Make Strong Case Against Premature Bitcoin Regulation

http://dcebrief.com/bitcoin-weekly-recap-10-23-2015/

Competition is a good thing. Being a "me too" is an easy thing to do. On balance we are a tough act to beat because of the fundamental philosophy of our willingness to do more.   

Doesn't seem like a good idea not to have any physical money at this point, cryptocurrency aside, I would rather store my physical dollars in my safe rather than being required to have it entirely in the bank and controlled by government.

Very interesting article. In any large scale change to the ways we have been used to in global commerce, it's very helpful for a major player to take the lead. There are good signs that this may already be happening. Personally, I am not convinced that there is a clear leader at this time.

 

Very interesting. Looks like Europe ruled digital currency to be VAT exempt today as well.

Sweden to Become World’s First Cashless Country

A study by the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm shows that Sweden is on track to become the world’s first cashless country. Today, five of six major banks in Sweden are already refusing to operate with cash. As a result, and considering the latest Tax Authority guidelines, Bitcoin has the potential to become a commonly used currency in Sweden.

Fully digital

People are becoming increasingly accustomed to using bank cards to pay even for the smallest purchases in Sweden with four out of five purchases made electronically. Now, with the increasing penetration of mobile and P2P payment systems, the necessity to use cash is quickly becoming obsolete. 

Niklas Arvidsson, a researcher in industrial economics and management at KTH, stated:

"Cash is still an important means of payment in many countries' markets, but that no longer applies here in Sweden."

Moreover, the recent launch of mobile payment app Swish from several major Swedish and Danish banks is already revolutionizing the local banking system, says Arvidsson. As a result, several major banks are refusing to accept cash at all.

[...]

Considering the confidence displayed by the Swedes in electronic payments, bitcoin also has an opportunity to become a commonly used currency in Sweden, especially considering today’s ruling that Bitcoin exchange is exempt from VAT across Europe.

Back in May 2015, the country’s Tax Authority also published guidelines for Income Tax on bitcoin mining operations. This type of income would only be considered as economic activity, and thus subject to tax, if the miner “carries out the mining in a professional and cost efficient manner over a longer period with appropriate equipment,” or if “the activity is expected to create a surplus as measured over the full financial calculation period” and “the computing capacity can be expected to generate more than 25 bitcoins a year.” The only prohibited activity included the usage of bitcoin in waste and scrap metal transactions.

Moreover, as politics in Sweden also warm to bitcoin following the establishment of the BitcoinPartiet, the entry of foreign payment startups such as Stripe vying for market share, numerous Bitcoin-themed social events, as well as neighboring Denmark set to abolish the printing of cash by 2016, it will be exciting to watch which payment methods take off in Sweden and Scandinavia as a whole.

An interesting article:  http://cointelegraph.com/news/115452/sweden-to-become-worlds-first-cashless-country

Yep, and what makes our CRISP accounts most impressive is the fact that it is part of our total package. I'm sure there will be many variations of digital currency savings accounts to come.

Competition is a good thing. Being a "me too" is an easy thing to do. On balance we are a tough act to beat because of the fundamental philosophy of our willingness to do more.  

Hmmm, it looks like there is copying of the DNotes savings plan:  

http://cointelegraph.com/news/115438/coinbase-linked-bitcoin-savings-account-bshare-in-400k-investment

In my opinion, the State of Bitcoin is okay. No major surprises. It certainly has not been doing as well as we all would have wished. Again, nothing new to me, but it is a sad fact that VC funding for pure currency play has been drying up.

The typical “me too” phenomena continues. The key word is now “Blockchain technology.”  No doubt, the emerging Blockchain/FinTech industries will be massive and a few will do very well. DNotes will be a major player but we are taking our time to ensure that developing a viable business model with the right strategy is as vital as the technology itself.  


5 Facts from the Q3 2015 State of Bitcoin Report

Grace Caffyn (@GCaffyn) | Published on October 20, 2015 at 16:56 BST

Last week saw the release of CoinDesk's latest State of Bitcoin report, which gives a quarterly snapshot of the digital currency ecosystem.

Q3 was marked by a shift towards bitcoin technology's use in non-financial applications, for example settlement. Both startups – with products like itBit's bankchain – and large financial institutions – who are now investing in blockchain companies – drove this rhetoric.

Here, we've collected a few interesting tidbits you might have missed from the report – which weighs in at 87 slides.

You can view the report in full or check out CoinDesk's previous State of Bitcoin reports.

1. Trading and volatility are back up
Last quarter, bitcoin experienced an uncharacteristic period of calm, with a peak-to-trough percentage of 20%. This zen didn't last, however, as Q3 saw this figure rise by 13% (Side 12).

While it's still on the lower end of the volatility spectrum (Q2 2014 recorded a peak-to-trough percentage of 84%), the quarter did see a boost in trading (Slide 13).

In the latter part of Q2, monthly trading volume had been between 5 and 6 million bitcoins. In August, it exceeded 10 million bitcoins – the first time since April.

2. But investment is down

While traders were putting more cash on the line in Q3, investor interest actually fell.
VC investment in bitcoin companies dropped 41% from $145m to $85m – the lowest total of the last four quarters (Slide 30).

Despite large rounds from Chain ($30m) and BitFury ($20m), the average deal size also fell from $10m in Q2 to $6m in Q3.

This could be a seasonal slump, following a larger VC trend that slowed 5% in Q3.
However, the 2015 year to date total ($462m) is more than double that for 2014 (Slide 26), while the total invested in bitcoin startups ($921m) nears the billion dollar mark (Slide 27).

3. Despite the hype, no $ for emerging markets

Though emerging markets have been touted as the most likely places bitcoin could succeed, they have been the biggest losers VC-wise.

The Bitcoin Market Potential Index (BMPI), which tracks factors such as technology penetration and financial repression (Slide 54), ranks Argentina, Venezuela and Zimbabwe in the top spots.

In fact, 40% of markets in the BMPI's top 10 are in Sub-Saharan Africa, while 20% are in Latin America.
However, the State of Bitcoin shows there was no VC investment in African, Latin American or Middle Eastern startups in Q3 or Q2 (Slide 32).

It's no surprise that the US and Canada come top for VC investment, receiving 75% of all money in Q3 – nearly triple the rest of the world combined.

In addition, North America and Europe (which comes second in Q3's VC funding) are the destinations with the most bitcoin-accepting businesses (Slide 53).

4. Merchant interest slumps, again

While transactions (Slide 44) and wallet numbers (Slide 45) continue to rise, they don't paint the whole picture.

The two biggest merchant processors, BitPay and Coinbase, saw growth among new merchants halve in Q2 (Slide 48).

It appears last quarter's boost of 12,000 merchants may have been an anomaly, with numbers now plateauing at 6,000 per quarter – the same for Q1 and Q2.

BitPay announced it would cut staff in an effort to "reduce costs" and "better align with the pace of growth" in the industry (Slide 47). It is no longer offering its free tiered product.

Revenues are slowing too, at $190bn they are only up $2bn from June 2015, Q2. Companies, such as Expedia (Slide 49), say purchases taper off after time.

Those who appear to be holding fast during the slump are best geared to bitcoin's Millenial demographic.

5. New York's Bitlicense divided opinion

Q3 also saw the official deadline for bitcoin companies applying for New York's Bitlicense, in order to serve customers in the state.

The regulations, which had been on the boil since 2013, proved divisive for the community.
By today's count, some 22 companies applied for the license – with Circle the first to get it – while 15 others ceased operations in the state.

Many who left cited the large legal costs involved, $100,000 by Bitstamp's estimates, while others framed their withdrawal as a political statement, a backlash against what they termed 'overly invasive' guidelines.


Source:  http://www.coindesk.com/5-facts-from-the-q3-2015-state-of-bitcoin-report/