November 24, 2014 - In This Issue:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why Some Retailers Are Accepting Bitcoin

Some of the virtual currency's unique characteristics have proven attractive to some businesses.

 

Bitcoin's broadest impact might happen outside payments, but some retailers are already finding value in accepting Bitcoin for goods and services. A panel of businesses that are taking Bitcoin payments discussed their experiences with the virtual currency at a Money2020 panel this month.

 

Surprisingly, security was one of the biggest benefits of Bitcoin for two of the businesses represented on the panel: Amagi Metals, a trading site for precious metals, and Newegg, an online computer and electronics retailer.

 

Typically, fraudsters want to use stolen credit card credentials to buy goods that can be a store of value (like gold, silver, or high-end electronics). Stephen Macaskill, Amagi's CEO, said his company is a constant target for fraudsters. "We always have people trying to make orders with fraudulent credit cards. We have to have a whole department to make sure that all of our credit card transactions are legitimate, so it is expensive for us. We catch people on a weekly basis."

 

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Mellon joins bitcoin advocacy group

A digital currency advocacy group has hired Matthew Taylor Mellon II, heir to the banking fortune, as its executive committee chairman.

 

The Chamber of Digital Commerce brings together individuals and businesses that support digital currencies and assets, such as bitcoin.

"Our industry faces serious regulatory threats in Washington. If anyone can help our cause, it is Matthew Mellon," Perianne Boring, the group's president, said in a statement. "We have been blessed with a powerful ally and are prepared to take the chamber to the next level with Mr. Mellon."

 
While the Mellon family fortune began with the founding of Mellon bank in 1869 - and continued with major investments in energy companies and other interests - Matthew told Fortune magazine this summer, "I feel like citizens are fed up with banksters."

 

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Bitcoin Liberates People Punished For Using Cash

What do Belgium, France, Italy, Greece and several other European countries have in common, other than proximity?

 

All are plagued with governments that seek out and punish those who make large purchases in cash. This forces people to either use banks against their preference, or live with the risk of punishment.

 

The states in both France and Belgium each forbid cash purchases in excess of  €3000 (or US$3700). In Italy, the declared cash cap is even less-only €999 (US$1200). The Italian state even goes so far as to forbid people from paying their rent in cash altogether.

 

If all of this sounds a lot like a bank's wet dream, that's because it is. Just as the insurance companies in America rejoiced that "Obamacare" would force people to purchase their services, so too have European banks rejoiced for the same reason.

 

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Bitcoin Picks: Another EBay CEO 'Very Open' to Bitcoin, will 'Likely' follow PayPal

EBay.com president Devin Wenig has stated he is "very open" to Bitcoin and that eBay "will probably experiment" with the digital currency in the future.

 

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Weng explained that PayPal's current activities in the space would be mimicked due to the companies' "long-term" ongoing cooperation. He said:

"Both eBay and PayPal are open to [Bitcoin]-PayPal is experimenting with it-and through our relationship we're likely to do the same. I am very open to it."

The declaration comes as the future of the eBay-PayPal relationship is in planning following the split earlier this year. Wenig makes it clear that corporate reshuffles are aimed first and foremost at "preserving and creating value for today's eBay Inc. shareholder" and that a complete divorce from PayPal would not achieve this.

"The separation has got to provide continuity of the relationship; that's all being worked out," he stated. "PayPal is going to be the dominant payment provider on eBay for a long time and we want it that way, and the separation will ensure that it is that way."

 

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