Bitcoin News Roundup – 20 June 2015
Posted by: DeepDotWeb
June 20, 2015
Recapping the week’s biggest Bitcoins stories from around the web.
The Ross Ulbricht series is still on. In spite of its lifetime sentence, his supporters are now organizing a fundraiser towards his appeal. According to Inside Bitcoins, the Crypto Show, a crypto-anarchy podcast initiated a fundraiser to raise funds for supporting Ross Ulbricht’s appeal. The bitcoin community members are donating certain amounts of money towards the fundraising, known as the StartJoin Campaign, and in return they get items or serviced offered by the people in the bitcoin community.
The Fintech 2.0 is the new adventure of the big financial institutions. As Giulio Prisco of Bitcoin Magazine writes, Santander, Oliver Wyman and Anthemis Group released “The Fintech 2.0 Paper: Rebooting financial services” to motivatebanks and financial institutions to capitalize on the huge advantages of the blockchain technology. The big three estimate that using distributed ledger technology will accelerate international payments. This is expected to save banks approximately $15 billion to $20 billion annually by 2022.
Polish banks limit business with cryptocurrency exchanges. As Elliot Maras of CryptoCoins News writes, Polish banks require online payment providers to cease doing business with cryptocurrency exchanges in order to restrict potential fraudulent bitcoin transactions. According to the bitcoinet.pl, a Polish bitcoin forum, express bitcoin transfers are no longer allowed on Cryptocoin.com, Bitbay.pl. and Bitmarket24.pl.The Polish cryptocurrency community opposes to these new practices and calls for cryptocurrency exchanges to take action.
Sand Hill, a Silicon Valley-based experimental bitcoin exchange got fined for allegedly violating the US Security Law. As Sarah Jenn of NewsBtc writes, Sand Hill Exchange got a $20,000 fine by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for allegedly selling swaps to investors outside thestipulations of a regulatory framework, which indicates how a securities exchange is properly registered to operate legally.Although the founders of Sandi Hill denied all allegations, Gerrit Hall stated on the company’s website “I personally accept all responsibility for any and all wrongdoing throughout the entirety of Sand Hill Exchange.”
Regulation
The Canadian Senate calls for a “regulatory light touch” on bitcoin and digital currencies. As Maria Santos of 99bitcoins reports, following a year of research the Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce has released a report in which it highlights the importance of following light rules in bitcoin regulation, In fact, the city of Ottawa has been instructed to follow “almost a hands-off approach”in relation to bitcoin and the virtual currencies to avoid preventing the growth of blockchain and related technologies.
Citizens of Indonesia should be cautious with the bitcoin and the virtual currencies. As Deepak Tiwari of Bitcoinist writes, the Bank Indonesia highlights the potential risks of using the bitcoin, which is not considered a legal payment tool and therefore it may pose a threat to the country’s financial stability. In response, Business Development Manager of Bitcoin Indonesia, SuastiAtmastutiAstaman states thatthe bitcoin should be treated as a commodity. People in Indonesia are allowed to make transactions in bitcoin like they do with gold“as long as it is not used as a medium of payment.”
Payments
Harborly, the Bitcoin retailer, announces expansion plans into the US markets. As Gola Yashu of NewsBtc reports, the Texas-based bitcoin company is aiming to attract the US investors through innovations in its platform, including the Locked Wallets feature. Locked Wallet will enable the bitcoin users to lock the price of their bitcoin in relation to the US dollar and other fiat currencies. This feature will offer protection to those investors who are afraid of the bitcoin fluctuations and they worry about the price volatility. Harborly is already operating in Canada.
Updated: 2015-06-20