Daily Archives: December 21, 2014

Bitcoin Promoter Gets Two Years Prison Over Illicit Money Transmissions
Charlie Shrem, an outspoken supporter of bitcoins, was sentenced to two years in prison on Friday for indirectly helping to send $1 million in the digital currency to the Internet black-market...

By: WochitGeneralNews

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Bitcoin Promoter Gets Two Years Prison Over Illicit Money Transmissions - Video

Bitcoin St Petersburg Bowl Preview - NC State vs Central Florida Bowl Picks w/ Joe Duffy, Loshak
The Central Florida Knights may have a home state advantage when they face the NC State Wolfpack in the Bitcoin St Petersburg Bowl. Click on the link to read the article: http://www.sportsbookrevi...

By: Sportsbook Review

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Bitcoin St Petersburg Bowl Preview - NC State vs Central Florida Bowl Picks w/ Joe Duffy, Loshak - Video

BITCOIN WINS AGAIN
Made 4 TV Gecko aka Mr.iPad Chain is back to explain why "BITCOIN" will eventually be the winner of coins... "bitcoin" "bitcoins" "bit coin" "bit coins"

By: Famos Amos

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BITCOIN WINS AGAIN - Video

Bitcoin and the Blockchain
Get beyond the buzz. Discover the new business models, complex challenges, and immense unrecognized opportunities that bitcoinand the blockchain behind itcreate. Bitcoin the Blockchain...

By: O #39;Reilly

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Bitcoin and the Blockchain - Video

Tatiana Interviews Martin Davidson of CoinStation
I sat down with Martin Davidson of Coin Station at the grand opening of the Melbourne Australia Bitcoin Technology Center, MBTC for short! Martin fills us in on his path into Bitcoin and how...

By: Tatiana Moroz

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Tatiana Interviews Martin Davidson of CoinStation - Video

Silver Charts Bitcoin Bowl 2014.12.20
Sportsbookreview on Bitcoin Bowl https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_jf01OXJHI Directory for chart images used: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/b078571mzw25opx/12UtXWQree.

By: endlessmountain

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Silver Charts & Bitcoin Bowl 2014.12.20 - Video

The 12 Days of Bitcoin Song - YMB Christmas Day 7
Remember to visit http://YouMeAndBTC.com and subscribe! This is day seven of the Twelve Days of YMB Christmas! Today #39;s special features John Stuart #39;s fantastic new Bitcoin song, The Twelve...

By: You, Me, and BTC

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The 12 Days of Bitcoin Song - YMB Christmas Day 7 - Video

If you think oil had a rough 2014, consider bitcoin.

The digital currency has plunged 54 percent since the beginning of the year.

By contrast, Brent crude has fallen 44 percent; the ruble is off some 46 percent against the dollar.

The dramatic reversal bitcoin reached more than $1,100 in 2013 and is now trading at about $350 is prompting skeptics, who long said the currencys promise was overhyped, to say told you so.

I dont know that its on its last legs, but its not looking good, said Nathalie Reinelt, an analyst at the financial-consulting firm Aite Group in Boston.

Reinelt has written reports expressing doubts that bitcoin will become a mainstream currency.

Its not in a healthy state, Reinelt said.

There are still plenty of bitcoin die-hards out there. Silicon Valley investor Tim Draper remains a booster.

Conferences devoted to the so-called cryptocurrency are attracting droves of adherents.

Venture-capital firms are funding bitcoin-related startups.

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Bitcoin ends year in the dumps

Sydney real estate agency Forsyth Real Estate has begun accepting virtual cryptocurrency bitcoin for house deposits and property advertising, through a partnership with Australian bitcoin payments provider CoinJar.

The 115-year-old real estate agency on Sydney's north shore said that it took on bitcoin to offer another avenue for online payment to the influx of international investors and expats entering the prominent Sydney market.

Forsyth managing director James Snodgrass said the agency had become a strong supporter of the bitcoin economy recently, as it allowed overseas transactions with less fees and exchange rate fluctuations.

"Prior to launching, we had discussions with our financial division who outlined the risks and opportunities of bitcoin and we were happy with our findings," he said.

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But the director of Max Walls International Real Estate in Manly, Anthony Walls, said he was not convinced.

"I must tell you I'm very concerned about the bitcoin situation," Mr Walls said.

"I just don't need to deal with those [virtual currencies] and I don't need the grief."

Mr Walls was referring to the hacking of 850,000 bitcoins from the high-profile Mt Gox currency exchange worth about $US500 million ($548 million) earlier this month. The attack ruined Mt Gox, which was reportedly handling up to 70 per cent of the world's bitcoin transactions.

"I would need to be convinced and I'd want a whole team of lawyers sitting at the table signing off on it," Mr Walls said in response to whether he would ever accept bitcoin.

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Estate agent accepting bitcoin

BitInstant CEO Charlie Shrem is sentenced to two years prison time, despite asking to be let off free to "change the world."

BitInstant CEO Charlie Shrem has been sentenced to two years in prison in a case involving money laundering. Bitcoin

Bitcoin evangelist Charlie Shrem was sentenced to two years in prison on Friday after being charged with laundering money through the notorious online drug bazaar Silk Road.

Shrem pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and abetting an unlicensed money transmission in September. After striking this plea deal with the government, Shrem faced up to six years in prison. However, US District Judge Jed Rakoff decided two years would be sufficient. The judge denied Shrem's request to be let off without any prison time so he could "change the world" by showing he had learned from his mistakes, according to Bloomberg.

"I screwed up," Shrem told the judge in court on Friday, according to Bloomberg. "The bitcoin community, they're scared and there is no money laundering going on anymore. They're terrified. Bitcoin is my baby, it's my whole world and my whole life, it's what I was put on this earth to do. I need to be out there. If your honor grants me that, I can be out there in the world, making sure that people don't do the same stupid things that I did."

Prosecuting attorney Preet Bharara submitted a filing to Judge Rakoff on Wednesday urging the judge to sentence Shrem to prison time.

"The story of this case is not one of tragedy, but farce," Bharara wrote. "Throughout the year 2012, Charlie Shrem made a mockery of the anti-money laundering laws."

Shrem, who was the CEO of bitcoin exchange company BitInstant, was arrested in New York in January in a multi-agency crackdown led by the US Attorney's office, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Internal Revenue Service. Another prominent bitcoin figure, Robert Faiella, was also arrested in the sting.

According to the agencies, the men engaged in a scheme to sell over $1 million in bitcoins for use on the now shuttered underground drug marketplace Silk Road. From December 2011 to October 2013, the agencies say, Faiella was in charge of a bitcoin exchange on Silk Road called BTCKing, in which he took users cash, funneled it through Shrem's company and gave the users bitcoins in return.

Both men were initially charged with "conspiring to commit money laundering, and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business." Shrem was also charged with failing to report suspicious activity in violation of the Bank Secrecy Act.

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Bitcoin bigwig goes to prison in Silk Road case