I read the whole article from the beginning to the end, it consists no evidences about Tether financial inconsistency or signs of bankruptcy. On the contrary USDT real money equivalents holds in real bank on Taiwan. But one point mentioned in this article really deserves for investor`s attention - Tether third party audit may make sense.

Hong KoKong-based cryptocurrency exchange Gatecoin’s marketing chief has stated that bitcoin price, despite these boom times, is “undervalued.”

In a televised interview with Bloomberg today, Gatecoin’s marketing chief and head of business development for Asia Pacific Thomas Glucksmann was led onto the subject of bitcoin’s “fair value”, at a time when prices are nearing $10,000 – a remarkable 10x gain since the turn of the year. The bitcoin executive professed the market remains relatively “illogical” compared to traditional financial assets where price predictions are analyzed over usual valuation metrics.

Asked if it was “impossible” to determine bitcoin’s fair value, Glucksmann acknowledged and replied:

I would still argue that it is highly, highly undervalued. If you look at the long-term potential of the technology in the next 10, 20, 30 years, $10,000 is cheap in my opinion.

While bitcoin is now seen in the mainstream as a store of value among retail investors, it remains a peer-to-peer decentralized electronic cryptocurrency, a fact Glucksmann is keen to point out even if or when the cryptocurrency is valued at a million dollars. “Bitcoin is divisible up to 8 decimal places,” the Gatecoin executive told the interviewer, referring to the smallest fraction of a Bitcoin, also known as Satoshis (0.00000001 BTC – a hundredth of a millionth BTC).

He stated:

Even if one bitcoin is worth a $1,000,000, you could still have $1 USD worth of bitcoin which you could still transact peer-to-peer. It’s important to look at bitcoin in that way with that longer-term view.

At press time, data from CoinmarketCap reveals bitcoin price trading at $9,927 and topping $165 billion in the total market value of all 16.7 million mined bitcoins.



Gatecoin, which lays claim to being the world’s first exchange to list Ethereum’s ether tokens in mid-2015, suffered major operational disruption in recent months after Hong Kong banks abruptly froze its accounts, forcing the exchange to suspend HKD and USD deposits from customers at a time when the exchange had ‘tripled’ its customer base following bitcoin’s price gains.  The exchange found respite with new banking partners in Europe and is scheduled to resume bank transfers in December.

The exchange also added support for Litecoin this month, enabling users to buy and sell the alternative cryptocurrency with bitcoin, ether and the Euro. In his remarks today, Glucksmann underlined Litecoin as an “underrated cryptocurrency” that shares many similarities with bitcoin without suffering the same “scaling issues” that has often plagued its development and community.

https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/10000-bitcoin-price-cheap-highly-undervalued-says-gatecoin-executive/

Bitcoin's price "feels speculative," according to the chief equity strategist for Nuveen Asset Management.

Speaking with CNBC today, Nuveen's Bob Doll made the remark, becoming the latest traditional finance analyst to point to the speculation in the market. Doll's comments were driven by bitcoin's surge to a new all-time high, following its jump above $9,000 this weekend.

Speculative aspects aside, Doll added that "it's been an amazing run" for bitcoin.

He told the network:

"I confess it's an area of that to me feels speculative, but you might call me old or old-fashioned. It's been an amazing run, has it not?"

Doll also indicated that the cryptocurrency price ramp has gotten some quarters of the finance world talking, though what that interest will lead to remains to be seen.

"'With bitcoin, why do you need the stock market?' has been the saying of late," Doll quipped.

Doll isn't the first from Nuveen – which was founded in 1898 and boasts roughly $948 billion in assets under management – to comment on cryptocurrency markets.

In October, Nuveen announced plans to put some of its less liquid assets onto exchange-traded funds. According to Bloomberg, the firm remarked at the time that bitcoin's rise indicated an interest in new ways to transact currencies.

The firm also suggested that it sees blockchain providing "some real usefulness and potential in the market," though it cautioned that any potential applications of the tech in the finance space remain in development.

https://www.coindesk.com/nuveen-bitcoin-rally-amazing-speculation/

Derided by most financial analysts for years, Bitcoin has surged dramatically in 2017 and now has a higher market capitalization that most corporations, such as Disney, Mastercard, Boeing, IBM, and McDonalds.

One measure of financial worth for a person is computing the sum total of the monetary value of everything they own. In the high-flying world of finance and huge corporations, this is done by figuring out what is called market capitalization, which is a fancy term for the market value of a company’s outstanding shares. For many financial analysts, it must be galling to acknowledge that Bitcoin now has a higher market capitalization than most major corporations.

BIGGER THAN THE MOUSE HOUSE AND MICKEY D’S

For those lucky enough to have bought Bitcoin at the start of the year, the current price of Bitcoin is a very good thing indeed. Bitcoin had been worth roughly $800 at the end of 2016, but it recently broke $9,000 and now sits at $9,700.

So, what does that roughly $10,000 per Bitcoin translate into when figuring out the cryptocurrency’s market capitalization? The full worth of Bitcoin now sits at a staggering $160 billion USD. While this total does not put Bitcoin into the Top Ten companies with the largest capitalization, it does put them at number 35 in the entire world.

IF IT’S A FRAUD, THEN BITCOIN IS A $160 BILLION FRAUD

That sound you hear is the gnashing of teeth by many financial speculators and analysts that have denigrated Bitcoin for a long time. (They’re probably scrambling on how to get some digital currency as part of their investment portfolio now.) While Bitcoin’s market capitalization is not as big as Apple ($873 billion), Alphabet (Google – $715.8 billion), Microsoft ($640 billion), or Amazon ($531 billion), it’s still larger than many companies you’re likely very familiar with.

So, which major corporations have a smaller market capitalization than Bitcoin? Here’s a sampling for you to savor:

Mastercard ($158 billion)
Pepsico ($156.8 billion)
Boeing ($152.5 billion)
Disney ($151 billion)
IBM ($143 billion)
3M ($137 billion)
McDonalds ($135 billion)
Nvidia ($124 billion)
Nike ($96 billion)
Electronic Arts ($33 billion)
Target ($30 billion)

It does appear that some financial analysts are still wrapping their heads around the rise of Bitcoin. A senior market analyst at ETX Capital, Neil Wilson, said this after the Chicago Mercantile Exchange announced it would launch Bitcoin futures in December:

"The legitimacy this gives bitcoin as a tradeable asset is very important. The market cap of bitcoin now exceeds that of IBM, Disney [or] McDonald’s."

But he also added:

"But for traditionalists, it’s hard to fathom. Rather than a commodity or currency, bitcoin is like owning stock in a company that will only ever issue 21m shares and never pay a penny in dividends."

"The only way it has value is if the next guy is willing to pay you more for it – the greater fool. With no intrinsic value to bitcoin, it’s hard to see this as anything other than a giant speculative bubble."

Still, there’s no denying the madcap ride that Bitcoin has been on in 2017. Who would have thought a few years ago that Bitcoin would have a greater worth than companies like IBM, Boeing, Disney, or Mastercard?

What do you think about the $160 billion market capitalization for Bitcoin? Tell us in the comments below.

http://bitcoinist.com/bitcoin-now-worth-nike-disney-mcdonalds-ibm/

It is the first time when i see something like this in ICO. Indeed, real working product has to pass Alpha, Beta testing periods. For me, it is a good green flag about PayPie team and general state of affairs.

Монетка взлетела в 2 раза со времен ICO. Если не ошибаюсь ее стоимость по пресейлу ( а они все разошлись во время пресейла) была 0,30-0,35$. Если двойной навар вас устраивает, можно продавать.

On November 27, the bitcoin price achieved a new all-time high for the second time in the past 24 hours, surpassing $9,771 and moving closer towards $10,000.



Yesterday, on November 26, CCN reported that the price of bitcoin established a new all-time high at $9,060. Within 24 hours, the price of bitcoin increased from $9,060 to $9,771, by nearly $700 overnight.

Since surging to $9,771, the bitcoin price has stabilized in the $9,550 region. Short-term indicators such as the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) demonstrate strong short-term momentum for bitcoin, and analysts such as Max Keiser and billionaire investor Mike Novogratz expect the bitcoin price to surpass $10,000 within this year.

Why is Bitcoin Price Surging?

The CME Group bitcoin futures exchange launch is imposing a similar impact the bitcoin ETF had on the global bitcoin market in March. The difference between the March bitcoin ETF anticipation and the CME Group bitcoin futures exchange hype is that the latter is guaranteed, given that another bitcoin options exchange in LedgerX has already been approved and regulated by the US Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

To better understand the impact the emergence of government-regulated bitcoin futures exchanges will have on the global bitcoin market and the liquidity of bitcoin, it is important to acknowledge the fact that it is difficult for casual investors and new traders to trade and invest in bitcoin due to strict Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations

The month-long process of acquiring a bitcoin exchange account and the steps in transferring funds stored in exchanges to a personal bitcoin wallet can be difficult for new investors, especially those that have been in the traditional finance sector for the majority of the careers.

In most regions, bank accounts of traders are connected to stock brokerage accounts and investment firms like CME, Fidelity, and Goldman Sachs. In December, traders will be able to seamlessly move funds from their bank accounts to the bitcoin market, using the same infrastructure they have utilized over the past few decades.

As such, analysts like Bitfury vice chairman George Kikvadze expect tens of billions of dollars to flow in the bitcoin space in the short-term, larger than the figure provided by Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, $10 billion.

Where Does Bitcoin Go in 2018?

The adoption of bitcoin as a store of value and as a payment method is increasing at a rapid rate. If second-layer scaling solutions are integrated by leading bitcoin service providers by next year, businesses and merchants will be able to accept bitcoin payments with low transaction fees from their customers.

In countries like Japan, major retailers and businesses like Bic Camera, Peach Airline, and Capsule hotels have already started to accept bitcoin through strategic partnerships with cryptocurrency exchanges.

If the adoption of bitcoin as both a store of value and as a payment method surges throughout 2018, the bitcoin price will likely increase at a rapid rate.

https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/9771-bitcoin-price-continues-to-surge-to-new-all-time-highs/

New Development, Bulletproofs, Can Make Bitcoin Transactions Confidential

A new development could have a major impact on Bitcoin, Litecoin, and other similar platforms. A group of researchers at Stanford University, University College London, and Blockstream have announced a method for making transactions truly confidential. Known as Bulletproofs, this technology would not only enable privacy, but it would also aid in scalability, enabling many more transactions on the blockchain than is currently possible.

Bitcoin is the most significant crypto that could benefit from this development. It is often described as confidential, but in reality it is not. Tracing transactions is difficult, but possible. Some competing cryptos, such as Monero, Dash, and Zcash do have this capability. In fact, Monero’s ability to process truly confidential transactions is considered its most significant asset. The extent to which confidentiality will give these cryptos an advantage over Bitcoin in the long run is debatable, but nevertheless Bitcoin advocates have long sought to give BTC this feature.

There are already methods of creating confidentiality in Bitcoin, the two most notable being zkSnarks and ringCT. These methods, however, have shortcomings. For example, they require much larger transactions, which is a serious drawback given the scalability issue. Also, they require a so-called “trusted setup,” which necessitates both parties trusting that the transaction was properly configured. The team behind Bulletproofs claims that their platform eliminates both of these issues.

The development proposed by the Stanford team is one of several upgrades needed by Bitcoin as it faces increased competition from altcoins. Although Bitcoin continues to be dominant in the crypto space, there is no doubt that altcoins often have advanced features that many find desirable. It is for this reason that developers are working on modifications, some of which significantly alter Bitcoin’s original code. Segregated Witness is the best known and most controversial of these modifications. Others include the Lightning Network and the recently cancelled block size increase.

It is worth noting that some crypto advocates argue against adding anonymity to cryptocurrencies, asserting that traceable cryptos are preferable. They believe that transparency is needed for governments and the general public to accept crypto as legitimate. It is well known, after all, that cryptocurrency has a reputation for being used by organized criminals and other nefarious groups. Also, governments are likely to only support cryptos that cannot be used to evade taxes or launder money, making some type of transparency a must.

Bitcoin is not the only major crypto that is working on confidential transactions. The Ethereum team has already successfully tested zkSnarks, which will be added as part of a future upgrade. Litecoin and a number of lesser altcoins are also working on confidentiality. The issue of confidential transactions could also be impacted by atomic swaps, which will enable cross-chain transactions and are currently being tested.

The central issue of confidentiality revolves around the core ideals of blockchain-based currencies. Like decentralization, confidentiality takes control away from governments and central banks, and give it to individuals. It is all but certain that for this reason a truly confidential crypto will go mainstream. Bulletproofs could be part of what makes this happen.

https://www.crypto-news.net/new-development-bulletproofs-can-make-bitcoin-transactions-confidential/

The head of a major Iranian authority has revealed the state’s intention to welcome bitcoin, with caveats.

Iran’s High Council of Cyberspace (HCC) has opened up about its embracive approach to cryptocurrencies like bitcoin in the country.

Iran’s HCC, a prominent authority that could decide the legality of cryptocurrencies in the country, has welcomed the prospect of bitcoin in Iranian society, under well-defined regulations.

Speaking to Iranian news agency ILNA, HCC secretary Abolhassan Firouzabadi said in quotes reported by the Financial Tribune:


The official went on to reveal a robust bitcoin ecosystem in the country that sees the cryptocurrency utilized as a payment method, in financial services and even startups carving a space into a new industry altogether. “[M]any in Iran are dealing with Bitcoin, be it purchasing, selling or mining it, and even dealing with it in exchange shops, creating content and establishing startups,” Firouzabadi said. In light of its growing adoption and noteworthy price gains this year, the official confirmed that both the HCC and the Central Bank of Iran are studying cryptocurrencies to understand them.

Although bitcoin and cryptocurrencies continue to permeate into society in the absence of regulations, the central bank will soon clarify its official position on cryptocurrencies, the HCC secretary said, while adding that his agency will continue to study and evaluate the benefits and drawbacks of cryptocurrencies.

The official’s remarks come within weeks of the Central Bank of Iran’s deputy director of innovative new technologies Nasser Hakimi revealing the central bank’s foray into studying “all aspects” of bitcoin. The central banker also expressed “worrying” concerns about the “uncertainty and high risk” price fluctuations that come with bitcoin trading.

Nonetheless, the HCC secretary’s comments further underline a progressive stance among Iranian authorities in being open and even accommodating of bitcoin. Earlier this month, Iran’s Information and Communications Technology (ICT) minister Amir Hossein Davaee revealed the ministry’s research “to prepare the infrastructure to use Bitcoin inside the country.”

There’s a substantial reason behind the country’s forward-thinking views of decentralized cryptocurrencies. Iran was discarded from the global banking system after payments network SWIFT removed Iranian banks due to economic sanctions in 2012, a blockade that lasted four years to effectively isolate Iran from global commerce.

https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/welcome-bitcoin-regulations-says-irans-cyberspace-authority/

Zonto demo platform looks amazing. It has very friendly and convenient Ui/Ux, interesting social features. But project development may be accelerate, get more fund for team,  if tokens will be available for additional trading on various exchanges, other than yobit. Please think about it.

Сегодня токен стрельнул вверх на 50 процентов, после новостей в телеграмм о партнерских переговорах PayPie с некими кредитными союзами. Команда обещает уведомить когда переговоры будут завершены. Вообщем инвесторы отреагировали просто мгновенно, цена за пару часов выросла на 50%, а обьемы торгов на Езердельте в 4 раза. Интересно что токен болтался ниже цены ICO больше месяца, а расти начал только сейчас, причем стремительно, видно люди ищут куда вложить средства полученные от роста битка.

This day brings us not only significant 50% price increase for PayPie, it shows that coin is very underestimated. A lot of investors wants to buy this token at it`s current price nearly 50 cents, they just needed in some fresh development news from the team to start token buying and trading process. And we can assume with a great probability that price will rise with every portion of good news from telegram. It`s time to hold  this token firmly, project consist revolutionary idea for accounting, it can make you rich.

NEW DELHI: Experts involved or associated with the Bitcoin industry, maintain that it has emerged as a new attraction for Indians who are keen to augment their wealth, notwithstanding calls issued by the Supreme Court to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to put in place effective regulatory mechanisms to prevent money laundering in any form.

Commenting on the thriving bitcoin scene in India, Zebpay co-founder Sandeep Goenka said, "Investing in bitcoin has emerged as a significant trend in the past few months. We have enabled Indians to buy an international asset in a large scale and help them contribute to increase in wealth."

According to Goenka and others involved in this industry, the key benefits that most Indians see are as follows:

• According to leading crypto-currency exchanges in India, crypto-currency is gaining popularity, primarily as a financial asset.
• Many bitcoin startups in India believe remittances are a huge potential market for them
• Bitcoin transactions are more economical than digital transfers.
• Bitcoin allows people to buy goods and services and exchange money without involving banks, credit card issuers or other third parties.
• Despite an 8.9 percent drop in 2016, India has retained its position as a top receiver of bitcoin-related remittances worldwide, as per a World Bank report.

Read more: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/wealth/personal-finance-news/bitcoin-investments-new-attraction-for-indians-say-experts/articleshow/61700932.cms

Financial services giant UBS has no plans to get involved with bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies, according to one of its senior executives.

In an interview with Bloomberg, UBS chief investment officer Mark Haefele said that a lack of government oversight and "critical mass" around cryptocurrencies is keeping the company – Switzerland's largest bank – out of the market.

Haefele also said that the idea the government could crack down on bitcoin, citing its possible use for terrorism financing, has also dampened any prospects of UBS getting involved.

He told Bloomberg:


Because bitcoin isn't sponsored or backed by any government, it can be used to avoid being monitored, he argued. However, Haefele added that he does not think this situation will last.

He went on to say that the prevailing question around investing in anything is when to get out, asking: "So how do you know when to get out of a bitcoin investment?"

Haefele is not the first UBS member to openly express concerns about bitcoin. The company's chief economist, Paul Donovan, compared bitcoin to the Netherlands' 1637 tulip mania in a series of tweets earlier this month.

And the chief executive of UBS, Sergio Ermotti, told CNBC last month that he he far more bullish on blockchain than he is about cryptocurrencies specifically.

https://www.coindesk.com/ubs-cio-arent-getting-involved-bitcoin/

News.Bitcoin.com recently reported on the San Francisco–based digital library, the Internet Archive, ‘hodling’ its bitcoin donations and making some nice gains in the nonprofit’s yearly earnings reports. This week the Internet Archive has announced it will be accepting two more cryptocurrencies — bitcoin cash and zcash. 

The Internet Archive Now Allows Bitcoin Cash and Zcash Donations

On November 16, the Internet Archive revealed it will now accept bitcoin cash (BCH) and zcash (ZEC), alongside the bitcoin (BTC) donations it’s been accepting since 2012. The nonprofit explains the team has always been a fan of the cryptocurrency movement just as they believe in providing a free and secure internet backup for the public.

“We’ve been accepting Bitcoin donations since 2012, and starting this week, we are now accepting donations of Bitcoin Cash and Zcash,” explains the Internet Archive’s recent blog post.   

"It all started when ‘UKcryptocurrency’ tweeted us asking the Internet Archive to start accepting bitcoin cash — We love a good challenge and got that link up within hours."

Accessible Knowledge Forever and for Free

Founded by Brewster Kahle in 1996, the Archive has been a popular 501(c)(3) nonprofit headquartered in the U.S. The platform allows individuals to upload and download a vast cache of digital data while also managing a web archive called the Wayback Machine. According to Wikipedia, the Archive hosts the largest book digitization cache in the world.

Kahle has explained that cryptocurrency donations have been a big part of the charitable organization’s funding, and he’s even paid Archive employees in bitcoin over the years. The disruption bitcoin brings to the world of finance is very much tied to the evolution of the information age, and Kahle aims to keep the archive going for generations to come.         

“We are a non-profit organization with a huge mission: to give everyone access to all knowledge — the books, web pages, audio, television and software of our shared humanity — Forever — For Free,” the Archive’s blog post concludes.

https://news.bitcoin.com/internet-archive-has-added-bitcoin-cash-and-zcash-choices-for-donations/

Better they would have stayed where they are. Market only now have started to recover from Chinese ICO and Bitcoin prohibition consequences. As a communists their government will always be trying to control financial flows, digital or paper.

Monero in comparison with Bitcoin has completely invisible transactions. They are complitely private, monero coin will never have scalability problems. Transactions confirmed at least 5 times faster that in Bitcoin network. Monero underlying technology is better in every way, except one significant parameter - it must be adopted to the market. We all know that electric cars are reliable, ecologic, cheaper in exploitation, but the world continues to use old cars with petrol engines.

Bitcoin may collapse, when every housewife, student, school teacher, taxi driver invest their holdings into cryptocurrencies. This bubble have extremely large potential for growth. Only government restrictions can slow it down or significantly decrease the price.

Buying bitcoin just keeps getting easier, with vendors of all kinds adding support for the cryptocurrency. Just days ago, Square revealed they were adding the ability to buy BTC within their app. Now Hyosung have gotten in on the act by launching bitcoin ATM support. Soon, customers of the firm’s ATM machines will be able to buy bitcoin at the push of a button.

Bitcoin On Demand

Hyosung have announced they will add bitcoin transaction support with the aid of Just Cash. Once activated, the bitcoin ATM service will operate very similarly to a conventional One of the World’s Largest ATM Manufacturers Announces Bitcoin Supporttransaction. Instead of withdrawing fiat currency, digital currency will be despatched to the recipient’s wallet using a QR scan. While bitcoin is the first cryptocurrency to be added, there is talk of other coins being added in due course.

Hyosung are one of South Korea’s largest industrial companies, boasting over 25,000 employees and revenue of U.S. $17 billion in 2015. ATM manufacture is just a small part of their operations; the company also dabble in construction and chemicals among other things. Within South Korea however they are best known for their ATMs which can be found up and down the country.

First Korea, Tomorrow the World

South Korea’s love of all things bitcoin is well-documented, but Hyosung’s operations aren’t limited to their home turf; the corporation have a global presence, including a huge number of ATMs in the U.S. Hyosung don’t partner with banks to supply ATMs in America: instead, their machines can be found in convenience stores and gas stations, whose owners derive income from the fees generated.

In announcing news of bitcoin ATM integration, Hyosung touted a number of benefits that vendors can expect to enjoy. These include easy implementation, no hardware required, a new revenue stream, and the ability to attract new and repeat customers. Because the feature will be added to ATMs as a software upgrade, bitcoin compatibility should be rolled out quickly. Interestingly, it looks like there will also be the ability to exchange cryptocurrency for cash, although there is no word on how this reverse feature will work.

Bitcoin as a Service

There is no word yet on what the commission and exchange rate will be when purchasing bitcoin from one of Hyosung’s upgraded ATMs. Generally speaking, bitcoin ATMs are more expensive than other methods of purchasing the cryptocurrency such as via an exchange. Customers who struggle to obtain the documentation to complete lengthy KYC procedures, or who simply lack the technical knowledge, however, may find bitcoin via ATM an ideal solution. For those who bank on the cryptocurrency continuing to rise, a few dollars in transaction fees is a small price to pay.

Would you use an ATM to buy bitcoin? Let us know in the comments section below.

https://news.bitcoin.com/one-worlds-largest-atm-manufacturers-announces-bitcoin-support/

To those who understand it, bitcoin is a blessing, but not everyone shares that sentiment. From scaremongering CEOs to entrenched central bankers, bitcoin’s list of detractors runs long and deep. Elected officials reserve particular ire for bitcoin however, with leaders across the globe weighing in. While most governments seek regulation, others have gone further, passing laws that ban the use of bitcoin altogether.

Haters Gonna Hate, Legislators Gonna Legislate

Be it due to fear, ignorance, or protectionism, governments have a tendency to legislate against perceived threats. The first prerogative of every government is to govern, after all, and any disruptive technology that erodes their power is liable to receive short shrift. Governments that ‘get’ bitcoin, such as Japan, have passed legislation that protects its citizens whilst facilitating the free trade of the digital currency.

Sadly not all countries are as progressive, not just when it comes to embracing new technology, but in respecting basic human rights that people in developed nations tend to take for granted. In the most egregious cases, citizens have had their assets seized, accounts frozen, and been locked up. Governments can’t stop the blockchain from propagating, but they can severely hamper their citizens’ attempts to access it.

Ban the Bitcoin

Like banning drugs, alcohol, or the internet, banning bitcoin sounds nonsensical and unenforceable. Nevertheless, that’s exactly the case in five countries: Bangladesh, Bolivia, Ecuador, Kyrgyzstan, and Nepal. As news.Bitcoin.com recently reported, the Nepalese government has jailed almost a dozen cryptocurrency enthusiasts, with the latest pair seemingly guilty of little more than operating a small-scale bitcoin exchange.

In South America, bitcoin is mostly synonymous with Venezuela, whose people have been turning to the cryptocurrency as a haven amidst rising inflation and a failed economy. It is the continent’s most centralized country geographically, however, which has come out against decentralized currency; In 2014, the Central Bank of Bolivia banned bitcoin and the government has since sharply cracked down on its usage.

From Over the Counter to Underground

Prohibition, as decades of failed policy-making demonstrates, doesn’t curb vice, be it drugs, alcohol, or bitcoin: all it does is push the trade underground, exposing its users to added risks and abetting unscrupulous actors. Bolivia discovered as much last year, following a cryptocurrency scam in which investors were promised 300% profits within 60 days. The pyramid scheme swiftly broke down, culminating in angry investors rioting in the streets of El Alto.

Neighboring Ecuador, meanwhile, has outlawed bitcoin, not because it is opposed to digital currency, but because it wishes to control it and tether it to the Ecuadorian dollar. “Electronic money is designed to operate and support the monetary scheme of dollarization,” explained an economist affiliated with the government. Completing the naughty list of countries that have banned bitcoin is Kyrgyzstan, a tiny landlocked state in Central Asia, and Bangladesh. In 2014, Bangladesh Bank stated that anyone caught using the currency could be jailed, citing the usual excuses about money laundering.

The Right to Hodl

Ironically, as the rule of law breaks down in developing nations, using bitcoin becomes easier. With military coups to enforce and protesters to quell, dictatorial regimes such as that currently rampaging through Zimbabwe have more pressing matters to attend. Bitcoin regulation is the least of their concerns. For bitcoiners in first world countries, it’s all too easy to rail against ignorant officials trash-talking their beloved cryptocurrency. It’s worth taking a moment though to appreciate how good we’ve got it. Perhaps one day the ability to use bitcoin will be a basic human right.

https://news.bitcoin.com/five-countries-where-bitcoin-is-illegal/