No one is really sure who created it. Financial regulators, including our own Reserve Bank, do not like it. But its proponents believe it could revolutionise international monetary and payment systems, in the same way the Internet changed how the world communicates. It is Bitcoin, the virtual or crypto-currency that has gripped the imaginations of technophiles and
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Standard Bank has no plans to launch a Bitcoin trading portal after all. Bank spokesman Ross Linstrom has poured cold water on speculation that it is gearing up to launch the platform, saying it was part of a pilot project that was shelved
It appears that Standard Bank is developing a Bitcoin trading portal of some kind. A discussion forum on Reddit suggests that a company called Switchless developed a “full operational and integrated Bitcoin portal system” for the South African
It’s a familiar story: a young computer nerd creates a new online service that attracts nearly a million customers in a couple of years and has earned tens of millions of dollars. Except that the service in this case – Silk Road – was not only secret, it was also illegal. Started in early 2011, Silk Road was designed as a marketplace
In June this year, James McCarthy, a British expatriate living in China, was turned away at Seattle airport for not having sufficient funds to enter the US. This seemed odd considering he had arrived in the country to start a currency business. According to The Economist
All currencies are based on trust. In the days of the gold standard, that meant trusting that paper money was backed by bullion in a reserve. Centralisation was necessary in order to prevent counterfeiting and ensure money wasn’t simply printed on a whim. Of course, experience