BTC

Blast from the Past – Adam Kokesh Interviews Charlie Shrem (October 2012)

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Last week, I wrote an article expressing my disgust at the selective prosecution of BitInstant CEO Charlie Shrem. The piece was titled, Some Money Launderers are More Equal than Others Part 2 – CEO of BitInstant is Arrested. The aggressiveness of the prosecution and the arrest itself reminded me of what has been done to countless … Read more

A Majority of U.S Technology Professionals Would Accept Bitcoin as Payment Reports WSJ

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There’s no telling exactly how accurate this survey is, and whether or not the participants are thinking in terms of part of their paychecks or the entire thing, but if the figures are anywhere near the reported 51%, it is a very positive signal.

People being paid in bitcoin represents a huge step in the process of the currency transitioning into something more akin to the role fiat money plays in everyday life. We may be much closer to this reality than many people think, particularly with the recent launch of the very innovative BitPay Payroll API, which makes it incredibly simple for employees to receive a portion of their wages in bitcoin.

From the Wall Street Journal:

A majority of U.S technology professionals would welcome being paid in bitcoin, according to a survey by event organizer Tech in Motion.

Out of 847 responses to a questionnaire sent to Tech in Motion’s 18,000 members, 51.12% answered “yes, absolutely,” to the question “Would you be interested in being paid for your work in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin?” A further 18.06% ticked “Maybe, let’s see where Bitcoin is in a year or two,” with the remainder saying that they would prefer to be paid in traditional currency. Just 9.92% rejected the option because they “do not think Bitcoin will last,” and 1.18% said they didn’t know what bitcoin was.

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Some Money Launderers are More Equal than Others Part 2 – CEO of BitInstant is Arrested

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No man escapes when freedom fails, the best men rot in filthy jails. And those who cried, “appease appease” are hung by those they tried to please.

– Anon

Last May, I wrote an article titled: Some Money Launderers are “More Equal” than Others, which likened the U.S. government to the pigs that ruled the roost in George Orwell’s classic novel Animal Farm. In that article, I decided to compare the way the “authorities” used money laundering laws against Liberty Reserve, versus the way they tip-toed around massive money laundering for Mexican drug cartels that HSBC engaged in. Since I wrote that article, JP Morgan has been fined tens of billions of dollars for a cornucopia of criminal activities. Meanwhile, we have yet to see a single executive arrested or put behind bars. Why?

I think it is quite obvious. The United States’ “economy” has devolved into nothing more than a state-sanctioned criminal racket. A handful of oligarchs and the corporations they control, are immune from prosecution no matter what they do. They have a complete and total license to steal with impunity. Meanwhile, if a peasant is caught stealing 10 dollars or found with a dime bag of weed, it is jail for life. ‘Merica.

So now I turn your attention to the breaking news that Charlie Shrem, the impressive, young and very talented kid behind Bitcoin exchange BitInstant, has been arrested. I had a chance to meet Charlie in person last summer at the Inside Bitcoins conference in NYC (I will be once again attend their next conference April 7-8). In my wrap-up article on the conference I wrote:

The event kicked off with keynote speaker Charlie Shrem, founder and CEO of BitInstant. For those who aren’t familiar with it, BitInstant is one of the more convenient ways to acquire bitcoins for cash. Incredibly, he is a mere 23-years old and started the company while still enrolled at Brooklyn College. He shared his experience of pitching venture capital firm after venture capital firm, and his subsequent rejection by each and every one of them. He eventually convinced his mother to seed him the $10,000 needed to start the company.

Shortly after the speech, I was able to chat with Charlie in the hallway and he couldn’t have been nicer. He immediately pointed to my “Bought with Bitcoin” shirt and told me he wanted one. The shirt’s in the mail man.

In light of the above, it makes sense that the U.S. government wants him in jail. It has become quite clear that the “authorities” are intent on either putting all our greatest minds in jail, such as Barrett Brown, or driving them to suicide, as was the case with Aaron Swartz, or forcing them into exile, as is the case with whistleblower-hero Edward Snowden. Meanwhile, it is open season for oligarchs to hunt peasants. USA! USA!

From Time:

Charles Shrem, who ran a New York-based Bitcoin exchange, was arrested Monday and charged with engaging in a money laundering scheme with a user of Silk Road, the notorious deep web black market.

In the federal criminal complaint, the Southern District of New York charges Shrem, the 24-year-old CEO of BitInstant, with three counts, including one count operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, one count of money laundering conspiracy and one count willful failure to file suspicious activity report.  Robert Faiella, a Silk Road user who operated under the name “BTCKing,” was charged with one count of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business and one count money laundering conspiracy.

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Banks are Running Scared – Wells Fargo Bans Staff from P2P Loans

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It’s extremely amusing to observe the welfare baby, bailout dependent, “Too Big to Jail,” parasitic legacy banking system squirm in the face of advancements in peer-to-peer financial technologies; whether they be Bitcoin, P2P lending or crowdfunding. It is becoming increasingly clear that humanity would do much better without this gigantic cancerous tumor on our backs, and we finally have the tools to move on. 

In fact, the largest bank in the U.S. is so concerned about peer-to-peer lending, it has banned its staff from participating.

We find out from CNBC that:

Wells Fargo has banned its employees from lending their own money through peer-to-peer loan platforms, in a sign of growing tensions between new “P2P” lenders and the largest U.S. bank by market value.

“Ethics administrators” at Wells Fargo decided to forbid staff from P2P lending after concluding “that for-profit peer-to-peer lending is a competitive activity that poses a conflict of interest.”

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Video of the Day – Milton Friedman Predicts the Rise of Bitcoin in 1999

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Back in the late 90’s, when Paul Krugman was busy predicting the ultimate irrelevance of the internet, another Nobel Prize winning economist was forecasting the advent of peer-to-peer electronic currencies. I have to say it is remarkable that Milton Friedman was able to provide greater insight into Bitcoin ten years before it was invented, than … Read more

Inaugural Interview with Hard Assets Alliance – India’s War on Gold, Bitcoin in China and More…

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This past week I sat down with Andy Duncan of the Hard Assets Alliance for an inaugural podcast and we discussed a variety of timely topics. From India’s “war on gold,” the emergence of new political parties around the world and, of course, Bitcoin. This is the first interview in which I discuss my view … Read more

Want to Buy the FBI’s Bitcoins? Here’s How…

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Yesterday, Forbes reported that a judge had signed off on a forfeiture order for 30,000 bitcoins seized from the Silk Road by the feds. This means that the coins are likely to be sold in the near future. So the question on everyone’s mind is how and where will they be sold. Forbes explains that: There … Read more

Why China’s Attack on Bitcoin is a Sign of Weakness

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For myself and many others back in the 2008/09 period, it seemed obvious what China should to do from an entirely nationalistic perspective on the grand geopolitical chessboard. With the reputation of the U.S. laying in tatters following a gigantic financial collapse and an utterly embarrassing, unlimited taxpayer bailout of the criminals that caused the crisis, the entire world (including Americans) was looking for something else. Something new, something more lawful. Something more just and more stable. The U.S. dollar and the Federal Reserve System had been exposed and entirely discredited in many people’s minds. One of history’s most bold and monumental geopolitical moves was ripe for the taking. China could attempt to back its currency with gold, something I discussed with Max Keiser in a May 2010 interview. Immediately, capital flows would flood into the country, Chinese consumer purchasing power would explode and a rebalancing of their economy would experience a traumatic, but monumental and necessary shift. They could have announced such a plan and then implemented it slowly and with safety nets for manufacturers. It wouldn’t have been easy, but the window of opportunity was open. Instead, they did nothing, and now I think it’s too late.

I think there are two obvious reasons why the Chinese authorities failed to take bold action on the world stage. First, many of the wealthiest billionaires and elites in China have benefited greatly from so-called “free trade” partnerships with the West. The ponzi relationship in which we print pieces of paper and give it to them for manufactured goods has resulted in fabulous fortunes for the Chinese power players. Not to mention their existing personal, social relationships with Western elites. So why rock the boat?

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Want to Receive Part of Your Paycheck in Bitcoin? Here’s How…

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I’ve covered Bitcoin payment processor BitPay on many occasions over the past year or so. The pioneering company provides an invaluable service to merchants that want to allow their customers to pay for goods and services in Bitcoin without taking on any currency risk. Well, they have now branched out into what seems to be a perfectly complimentary business, allowing employers that don’t deal with Bitcoin directly to pay their employees in Bitcoin should they so desire.

This will be achieved via the Bitcoin “Payroll API,” which is currently in beta release open to employers in the states of Georgia (where BitPay is based) and South Carolina. All 20 of BitPay’s employees receive some of their compensation in Bitcoin, and the project got kickstarted after many of BitPay’s own employees asked for something similar. CEO of BitPay Tony Gallippi receives 100% of his pay in Bitcoin.

However, this is not the only milestone for the company. A few days ago I pointed out that the company was signing up a staggering 1,000 merchants a week, and now it has been announced they have surpassed the 20,000 merchant threshold.

It’s interesting to think that a currency originally involved primarily in online gaming, which can be accessed at such venues as BitBet.com, has now spread so quickly into the mainstream with retailers such as Overstock accepting it.

This development is truly incredible, and allowing people to receive a small part of their salary in Bitcoin will only further its development as an genuine real world currency people and businesses want to both use and hold on to.

More from Coindesk:

What’s the easiest way to get bitcoins into your wallet? Answer: Get paid in bitcoin. BitPay, the world’s largest digital currency payment processor, now lets employees do that with the beta release of its Bitcoin Payroll API for employers.

American W-2 employees (see below) can elect to have all, or part, of their salary paid in bitcoin for every pay period. It works as a ‘net payroll deduction’, meaning taxes and garnishes are removed from an employee’s gross income first, and the bitcoin portion is deducted from take-home pay.

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Amagi Metals: The Place to Buy Precious Metals with Bitcoin

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Even those in the precious metals community who do not support Bitcoin, cannot deny two very significant facts. First, there is an undeniable overlap between many of those in the precious metals community and those within the Bitcoin ecosystem. Second, many of the early adopters of BTC have amassed sizable fortunes. So we have a … Read more