THELOGICALINDIAN - MEGA
In a move evocative of that time WikiLeaks had all donation methods shut bottomward (except for bitcoin, of course), United States Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), who ahead wrote & sponsored legislation that would accredit China-style web censorship in the United States, activated aloof a bit of aldermanic beef to Visa & Mastercard (who in about-face leaned on PayPal) to finer block all bequest payments to one of the world’s better billow accumulator providers, New-Zealand based Mega.
TorrentFreak writes: “While abounding of the sites covered [in a address about “shadowy cyberlockers”] ability at best be advised dubious, the admittance of Mega.co.nz – the best scrutinized file-hosting startup in history – was a absolute arch scratcher. Mega conforms with all accordant laws and responds bound whenever agreeable owners charge article removed. By any accepted the aggregation lives up to the requirements of the DMCA.”
So what’s the affair then, if Mega complies with acknowledged requests to abolish copyrighted content? The problem, according to occasional Batman actor Leahy, is that Mega encrypts all files uploaded to it in a way that not alike Mega can appearance them; acceptation that users accept the adeptness to abundance copyrighted agreeable that may or may not accept been accurately obtained. Leahy, who has accustomed nearly bisected a actor dollars in political contributions from the film, TV, and music industries in the aftermost bristles years alone, seems to booty affair with the actuality that the admiral that be are, well, blank to busybody a user’s clandestine files and ascertain whether or not they are hosting the bookish acreage of others afore they administer the link. Leahy is about antagonistic that bodies deserve to be secure in their bodies and papers… and all this for a aggregation that is not alike based in the United States.
This is, as one Reddit commenter put it, like blame a hornet’s nest. Mega has added than fifteen actor barter about the world, abounding of them apparently application the armpit absolutely because of it’s different end-to-end book encryption feature*. Mega has been accepting bitcoin back 2013, but in an accomplished absolute apple archetype of the cryptocurrency’s durability, the alone way larboard to acquirement casework from Mega is application BTC. The ever-flamboyant architect of the site, Kim Dotcom tweeted “Let’s accord Bitcoin a addition 🙂 #Mega” anon afterwards PayPal alone them and anon afore the bitcoin amount accustomed an absolute addition [see the amount fasten on the 27th above]. A boilerplate armpit that accepts alone bitcoin is a appealing agitative prospect!
* Before anyone pulls the ol’ “if you don’t accept annihilation to hide…” card, book encryption is benign for a cardinal of reasons. Check out this abundant TED talk about why aloofness matters. And if you appetite to attending at the numbers, 99.7% of files stored on Mega are beneath than 20MB in size (i.e., way too baby to be films or TV shows).
MO’ FIAT MO’ PROBLEMS
Somalians active in the United States have absent their primary access of remitting money aback home. I anticipate it’s absurd that bitcoin swoops to the accomplishment in this case, as there is actual little bitcoin basement for money receivers to catechumen BTC to bounded bill in Somalia, but conceivably this accident poses an befalling for addition to advance a bitcoin band-aid for this accurate remittance corridor.
Things aren’t attractive so acceptable for Venezuela appropriate now: With aggrandizement aerial to a amount of 68 percent, the Venezuelan authorities are gluttonous to administer the bread-and-butter crisis with a circuitous web of three official barter rates. For instance, some basal appurtenances are alien at ante of 6.3 and 12 bolívars to the dollar, but a new amphibian amount of about 171 was alien aftermost week, finer absorption a abasement of about 70 percent.
“In what has been dubbed the “SwissLeaks” case, austere allegations accept been fabricated adjoin the Swiss analysis of British-based cyberbanking behemothic HSBC. The coffer is accused of analytical captivation in tax artifice and money bed-making to the tune of added than 100 billion euros. Jan Fritsche discusses how the tax artifice and money bed-making practices worked.” DW
In adverse to HSBC’s continued and acclaimed history of helping abyss acquit billions of dollars and accepting abroad with bang on the wrist fines, here’s what happens back a accustomed being attempts to acquit bush money: men with accoutrements fatigued will bang bottomward your advanced aperture and arrest you.
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. is advancing to allegation ample institutional barter for some deposits, citation new rules that accomplish captivation money for the audience too costly, according to a announcement advised by The Wall Street Journal and bodies accustomed with the plan. MarketWatch
Tim Draper’s son, Adam, had his coffer annual hacked and a $50,000 wire beatific to the hacker. Abruptness surprise, already the money larboard his bank’s easily (Wells Fargo), he was appealing abundant busted as far as accepting it aback goes.
The ECB is set to kick off a new annular of quantitative easing, to the tune of added than a abundance euros.
WHAT’S NEW?
This is not your father’s “Got Milk” ad campaign: A bunch of bitcoin insiders, including the Bitcoin Foundation, BitFury, BitGo and Tally Capital, assassin avante garde ad bureau TheAudience to clean the currency’s acceptability amid the accepted public. WSJ BitBeat
Japanese e-commerce behemothic Rakuten architect & CEO Hiroshi Mikitani said at a appointment in Tokyo that the aggregation is “thinking about” and “probably will” acquire bitcoin payments in the future. Rakuten Super Logistics U.S., an American accessory of the company, already accepts bitcoin, but the ancestor aggregation is the better online banker in Japan and ranks amid the better in the apple by sales. WSJ
Ecuador has amorphous arising new “digital dollars”… about a state-issued agenda currency. The aforementioned bill that accustomed the conception of the centrally-controlled funbux additionally banned bitcoin and added agenda currencies. In a country with a about ten percent benightedness rate, and fifteen actor people, alone 8,000 accept agitated to assurance up for the new currency.
RE/MAX London has partnered with GoCoin to acquire bitcoin for acreage rentals.
BITS & PIECES
Ryan Kennedy, additionally accepted as Alex Green, who ahead absconded with added than three thousand bitcoins from an barter he was running, was arrested and captivated briefly in the United Kingdom beforehand this anniversary in affiliation to the case.
JP Morgan is looking to appoint bodies abreast in bitcoin. And so is Intel.
Same day wire transfers are now accessible on Coinbase.
Coinbase additionally appear these comments on the latest BitLicense revision.
TAILS, the defended alternative of Linux advantaged by aloofness advocates about the world, now comes pre-packaged with the Electrum bitcoin wallet.
Here is address #2 from Princeton’s bitcoin chic on YouTube.
Video: How BitPesa Brings Financial Inclusion to Kenya.
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