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
