Rap Stars, Divorce Lawyers and Bitcoin

bitcoin

Bitcoin may become the hiding place for marital assets when relationships begin to head south, and Rapper 50 Cent is the latest “merchant” to accept bitcoin. The price of Bitcoin also even inched up a bit to $644.13 according to the PYMNTS.com Bitcoin Price index. Get caught up on the latest, including which digital wallet is likely to accept bitcoin very soon.

PYMNTS.com Bitcoin Price and Volatility index.

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Bitcoin Tracker | Week 27

Bitcoin climbed over the 600s week, climbing to $644.13 after reaching $562.95 last week, on May 29th, according to the PYMNTS.com Bitcoin Price index. Two weeks ago, reports said that bitcoin will overtake PayPal volume in 2014 and just last week John Donahoe, CEO of eBay said that “soon” bitcoin and other digital currencies will be integrated into PayPal, as part of an interview he did with CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin. That prompted Sorkin to say that this was the latest affirmation that bitcoin is the next big thing. Then again, he did suggest that the buzz could be due to Stockholm Syndrome. Or the fact that Rap Stars, like 50 Cent, accept it for payment for albumns. 50 Cent, we will point out, is .99 bitcoin. We still think that 50 Cent sounds much better.

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On the Plus Side …

Bitcoin has rallied, with the price up over 12 percent from last week. Parts of Europe seem to be warming to Bitcoin with a new ATM in Poland and businesses in Amsterdam accepting bitcoin. Rapper superstar 50 Cent will accept bitcoin for his next album and Apple has cautiously reopened the app world to accept virtual currency apps.

  • June 5, 2014 – Ebay CEO, John Donahoe, says that he sees bitcoin and other digital currencies playing an “important role” in PayPal. He believes that “We’re going to have to integrate digital currencies in our wallet”.
  • June 5, 2014 – BTCJam has brought bitcoin lending to emerging markets. It connects wealthy lenders with borrowers in developing countries like the BRICs.
  • June 5, 2014 – Investment in bitcoin startups by venture capital companies is already 30 percent more than it was in 2013 overall. So far in 2014, $115.2 M has been invested in bitcoin startups.
  • June 4, 2014 – Bitcoin is moving closer to obtaining an ETF that would trade the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust on the NASDAQ exchange.
  • June 3, 2014 – Apple has added a section to its developer guidelines regarding apps for virtual currencies.
  • June 3, 2014 – Rapper and business mogul, “50 Cent” will accept bitcoin for his new album, ‘Animal Ambition’.
  • June 3, 2014 – Parts of The Hague have turned into ‘Bitcoin Boulevard’ with about 15 cafes, bars and restaurants accepting bitcoin.
  • June 3, 2014 – The first bitcoin ATM launched in Poland.
  • June 2, 2014 – Boston University Economics Professor, Mark Williams’ prediction of the price of bitcoin reaching $10 by the first half of 2014 was proven wrong.

 

On the Dark Side …

The Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) received a lot of coverage and $50,000 dollars this week when they received a settlement for previous charges. The neutral territory of Switzerland wasn’t so neutral when the regulatory authorities blocked the instillation of a bitcoin ATM in Zurich. Citibank has released a new report where they assessed that digital currencies are still “wannabe assets” and “wannabe means of transactions”.

  • June 5, 2014 – The National Science Foundation Office of the Inspector General banned a professor for mining bitcoin with a supercomputer.
  • June 5, 2014 – The Hong Kong exchange, HKCex, faces allegations of fraud from customers who can’t withdraw their funds.
  • June 5, 2014 – The Swiss financial regulation authority, FINMA, blocked the launch of a bitcoin ATM in Zurich.
  • June 4, 2014 – Missouri Secretary of State stopped investment activity related to bitcoin related business in the state.
  • June 3, 2014 – The Securities and Exchange Commission announced charges against bitcoin marketing site FeedZeBirds and the operator of bitcoin betting site SatoshiDice.
  • June 3, 2014 – London divorce lawyers think that bitcoin could become the weapon of choice for divorcing spouses to hide wealth from partners during court battles.
  • June 3, 2014 – Bitcoin entrepreneur Erik Voorhees agreed to pay more than $50,000 to settle allegations that two websites he owned didn’t register with the SEC.
  • June 3, 2014 – A report from Citibank suggests that Bitcoin proponents still have to prove the value proposition of digital currency for it to take root.
  • June 1, 2014 – The future of bitcoin may lie in the hands of the users of bitcoin who are willing to log all transactions, report them and then pay a tax or engaged in tax fraud.