Bitcoin: Bullish?
The volatile crypto-currency is again drawing
large investors, despite doubts that it will
always remain a peripheral player
Bitcoin: Bullish?
• Australian entrepreneur Domenic Carosa is
investing $30 million in the Future Capital
Bitcoin Fund
• Carosa will not invest directly but, taking a
cautionary route, will target companies
facilitating trade and exchange in Bitcoin.
Bitcoin: Bullish?
• Billionaire Virgin owner and space-tourism
promoter Richard Branson, and Yahoo cofounder Jerry Yang recently invested $30 million
into BitPay which processes Bitcoin payments.
• Customers are obviously purchasing and paying in
Bitcoin, hence the investment.
• About 20,000 merchants accept Bitcoin, stored by
customers in virtual wallets like Coinbase, states
the Wall Street Journal.
Bictoins: FYI
• Bitcoins are ‘stored’ in virtual wallets,
provided by companies such as Coinbase.
• There is also a Bitcoin wallet app for Android
phones.
• The value of a Bitcoin is whatever the two or
more parties trading in it, decide it will be.
• While paying with a credit card comes with a
transaction fee of 3% or more, paying with
Bitcoins gets you a 1% or less fee.
Some of Bitcoin’s 2013 Hiccups
• More like high-blood pressure driven strokecausing events really, than a hiccup.
• As WSJ notes, ‘In 2013, the FBI shut down the
[Bitcoin] platform Silk Road, which may have
earned $80 million in commissions from
allegedly facilitating more than $1 billion in
drug trafficking. The biggest Bitcoin
exchange—Mt. Gox in Japan—collapsed in
February.’
Bitcoin & RBI: A tale of unrequited love
• Bitcoin has yet to win over the nation’s fiscal
regulator.
• While RBI has decided not to pass any
regulations on Bitcoin, it has issued an
advisory cautioning against the use of cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin included.
Bitcoin in India: 2014 Bi-annual Update
• As of now Bitcoin may be bullish across leading global
economies but India is still very much on the fence.
• Nevertheless, India now has a Bitcoin exchange called
BTCXIndia – also featuring a live trading platform and wallet
service – which launched officially on 5th May in Hyderabad.
• BTCXIndia is aiming at providing secure and transparent
service, in view of the RBIs apprehensions on behalf of
investors.
• The company has a UK-based investor company at the
moment that is also its advisor.
• Excahnges such as Unicoin that had suspended operations as
a precaution last year following RBIs stringent cautions, have
since resumed operations.