Coindesk recently published Citi Bank’s response to the UK Treasury’s call for information on digital currency, in which Citi Bank told the UK government it should consider creating its own digital currency. Citi’s Treasury and Trade Services Technology and Innovation Team stated, “[t]o be a key participant may mean that…
On May 29, 2015, after a lengthy criminal investigation and multi-week trial, Ross Ulbricht, the mastermind behind Silk Road—one of the most famous enterprises to utilize Bitcoin currency—was sentenced to life in prison in a Manhattan federal courtroom. In 2011, Ulbricht founded Silk Road, an anonymous, online marketplace where everything…
Overstock.com has been a leader in embracing digital currency, and now the company wants to embrace digital securities. On April 24th, Overstock.com filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) that explained that their future stock may be offered as cryptographically-secured shares. The filed S-3, which is…
On April 22, 2015, the European Securities and Markets Authority (“ESMA”) – the European Union’s (“EU”) securities watchdog agency – issued a formal call for evidence regarding investments using virtual currency or distributed ledger technology. ESMA is an independent EU authority responsible for safeguarding the stability, integrity, transparency, and efficiency…
Today’s computers encode data into bits – binary digits in one of two definite states, 0 or 1. Any calculation that needs to be performed with the bits is completed one at a time. Quantum physicists are racing to develop quantum computers, which use the various states of particles to…
Bitcoin continues to push deeper into the fabric of American society as it may now have an impact on who we elect as the President of the United States in 2016. Last week, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul became the first candidate to accept Bitcoin donations for his presidential campaign. In…
A critical but sometimes overlooked topic in the virtual currency world is the Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”) examination for registered money service businesses. Digital currency companies that meet the definition of an MSB must register and comply with the requirements of the BSA. This includes the implementation of an effective…
Recently, we had the chance to chat with Stan Stalnaker about one of the foundational digital currencies, Ven. If Bitcoin started as the rebellious, unstable youngster of the digital currency world, Ven, in contrast, is the environmentally friendly adult with a savings account. Ven was one of the early digital…
Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency, but it is not the only one out there. So what distinguishes alternative currencies from Bitcoin? And what purpose do these newer “altcoins” serve? Like Bitcoin, altcoins are based on mathematics. Unlike traditional currencies based on gold standards or fiat currencies that maintain their value…
All signs seem to point that digital currency is changing the way we bank. One example: according to the Millennial Disruption Index, 68% of millennials say that in 5 years, the way we access our money will be totally different, 70% say the way we pay for things will be…