Sorry guys, but this isn't smart for the very simple reason that there are more people with $1.6 million in the bank, than there are people with $1.6 million in BTC. As a bitcoiner though, I would appreciate a guy needing to buy $1.6 million worth of bitcoins. That could only increase their value. Hey, wait! How come the price isn't in BTC?

I think the author is sponsored by the NSA. He wants to get rid of paper money to kill the underground economy, and make all businesses and transactions under government control. Gosh! I'd rather get rid of credit  cards, check books and the stock market than loosing cash.

You must avoid single deals worth 7 figure dollar amounts. You split it and make several transactions spread along a fortnight, or more. That, of course, unless you don't mind loosing $50,000 as a fee. Let's forget paypal, as the banking sector is more efficient, most fees are capped at 2 or 3 figures.

I can't believe what I'm reading!

A 5% fee IS huge. I thought bitcoiners hated paypal because of its high fees, but paypal's fee is less than that. Currency changes too, cost less than that, and now that bank wires are free at most banks (when there isn't a currency change), a 5% fee would take us back to the old days of western union. I don't want that.

No big deal. In Turks and Caicos, lawyers always have ready-made companies under their arm. A few guys walk into their office, and they leave with a new company, sharing ownership between them. Some paper work needed to transfer the shares, and it's a done deal. It's funny some people criticizes BK, Apple or Google are much more aggressive in theirs ways to avoid tax.

I like the opposite idea even more. This is the classic position of the investor who tries to corner the market, but if I want BTC to be successful, I want the BTC pie to get more spread out among the global world population.

5% fee is huge. I understand this is a way to prevent slippage but smart guys do not make large single trades.
I remember living in a country which had very stringent currency controls, and I had to cross the border one dozen times to slowly move some cash out of it. Sure, you can't move millions this way, but few people move millions.

That's not my point. What I mean as that many people are making a mistake believing the referendum in two weeks will turn Scotland into an independent country straight away. No. Even with 60% of votes, this will be a very lengthy process. The Clair oilfield, to name one, is 75 km west of Shetland, definitely in Scottish territorial waters. It's operated by BP, but like most oil fields, it has several partners (Shell, Chevron...). Right now, there is a contract between those companies and the UK, so the oil companies pay a share of their income to the UK. There's assuredly something in the contract which allows the oil companies to sell their rights to others oil companies, but I don't think there's a provision to transfer ownership of the fields from to the UK to another party. If something has to change, the oil companies will ask for a complete review of the deal to protect their interests. Don't underestimate the difficulty, they will bring an army of lawyers. There's no doubt Scotland will win the case, but England may want to slow things down, and the process may last five years. Without force, just to make everything legal.

Correction, Russian banks shall only hand over data regarding their American customers. And I bet there are not many American customers in Russian banks. If they don't do so, those Russian banks may lose the right to do any kind of business in America.

No, I'm not outdated on anything financial. I wrote "HAD" a bank account in Cyprus. I know they don't have it anymore, but I'm glad to learn Russians can have an account in $. I'm also used to hear Russian when I'm in Switzerland. Many Russians are banking there, too.

It's not a threat, it's a loss of sovereignty. Russian banks should have nothing to report to a foreign government. That's what the Swiss were saying, but they finally agreed to cooperate with the Americans, with the sad result that most Swiss banks nowadays do not accept American customers, simply because they want to avoid problems.

Anyway, I doubt there are many Americans with a bank account in Russia (unless they are of Russian descent). I'm not even sure you can have a bank account in a foreign currency in Russia. Otherwise, with the ruble falling down, it's better to move the money somewhere else. Even the Russians don't trust their banks, all the rich had a bank account in Cyprus. That didn't turn out good, but that's another story.

It would be political suicide. We're in the XXI° century. The Brits can't use force against the Scots anymore. It's a political issue asking for a political solution, and there's no force needed as the fields, if in Scottish waters, generate an income which goes straight into British pockets. It's the Scots who may have to use force to get that income to fall into their hands, and that will take years.

I've always been against anything centralized, BTC central bank or BTC country. Neither is needed but more transparency could help. MyGox's failure was a surprise to most onlookers because they had no idea on how that company was managing its daily business. Had they been aware that the company was doing some risky business, they would have moved their bitcoins elsewhere.

Self-regulation can be as effective as a central bank is properly implemented.

Make no mistake, I believe BTC's great because it's unrelated to any country, but it won't ever replace cash in daily activities. Then most bank wires are free. BTC is only great to send money where a currency change would be needed or if a bank's wire is expensive, say like sending money to a third world country.

I haven't checked how much's BTC's worth this month. Maybe I'll check next month. I've checked my wallet though, and my bitcoins are still there.

Good, it's about time someone stands up against Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Pity, all European countries act like chicken, but this is going to be IS versus the world, so the odds are bad, even with more than one billion muslims on the planet.

There's nothing like carrying a thick stack of banknotes in your pocket. Try it!
Then BTC is totally unusable without a computer. Smartphones? I'd rather shoot myself than carry a smartphone which would allow the NSA and the CIA to record my every move and know exactly where I am.

I will never use BTC for a face to face transaction. I'm barely using my credit card once a week, and I'll stick to cash. Nothing beats it. Maybe in Sweden or the US, credit cards rule, but in Switzerland, Dubai or China, cash is king. I don't want this to change.

The future on money? Unless you don't mind about your privacy, and having all your transactions recorded: cash.

By definition, gambling is risky business, so working in a casino should be risky too. I knew one guy working at a casino, and he wasn't working all year round. He was working a lot during summer months, but he had nothing to do in low months like November and February. With so much gambling moving online, nobody should be surprised to see some casinos closing. Then, it should be depressing to work in a casino. You see people loosing money everyday!

Political problems ask for political solutions, and there will be plenty. An independent Scotland could not join the EU right away and that is normal. This is a process which takes time, and it's a well-known fact that to prevent Catalonia from standing up, Spain will do all it can to block Scotland from joining but there are other options.

Look at Norway or Switzerland. Those two are not in the EU, but they enjoy trade agreements with it. That's because besides the EU, there are the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and the European Economic Area (EEA) which Scotland could join fast.


I'm not sure the world needs another currency, nor that Scotland would benefit from having its own. The one thing I know for sure is that it would not be easy to create one. And it would years, or more probably decades, before they could get an AAA rating. Like a new company starting business, bankers need time to trust it.