In this case, the micro-banks would be the MSB, not the exchange because the micro-bank is in the business of exchanging bitcoin for USD.  As long as the micro-bank has customer accounts or is open to the public, it will fall into the MSB category according to FINCEN and will need to follow AML and KYC regulations and reporting.  Ripple gets away with this because it is peer-to-peer.  Each peer is serving a "friend" or another peer and not the general public.  I would say even Localbitcoins is classified as a MSB because they are acting like an exchange for buyers and sellers.

Here's an article reporting about the regulation headaches around bitcoin ATM's:
http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2013/05/robocoin/

Operating under the radar via small transactions and frequencies (e.g. < $1,000 trxns per day) is a fun topic to ponder.  I thought a lot about this before.

I believe micro-banks would fall under the money-laundering umbrella if someone wanted to use them to chop up a large transaction with small ones.  Micro-banks would be in the clear from government suspicion if it can prove the small transactions are not from the same source.  If the micro-bank cannot prove the source of the funds (i.e. from an individual), the micro-bank would likely be classified as an intermediary between the individual and the exchange and fall in the MSB (Money Service Business) category and subject to regulations and reporting like any other bank.

Western Union is a good model that represents this issue.  Exchanging $999 USD for EUR for example will prick up their ears even it is under the limit.  And they will ask for ID, phone number, etc. and enter the data immediately in their system for later tracking.  I laugh when bitcoin dealers say one can buy bitcoins anonymously through Western Union.  Sure, for a $50 transaction. 

If it wanted to, Western Union could fulfill the role of many micro-banks because they deal with government regulations already.  But they will start tracking transactions if they see a ton of them going to one bank account, including those owned by an exchange.

The closest I see to fulfilling the anonymous small trxn idea is the bitcoin ATM.  I'm waiting to see how bitcoinATM handles the MSB issue.  Building and distributing bitcoin ATM's is the straight-forward and "easy' part.  The hard part is dealing with the regulations that I expect will shut it down.  How many USD to EUR ATM machines are there in the US?  Zero.  It is illegal to own any foreign currency account in the US.  And I expect bitcoin will be labeled a foreign currency with respect to ATM's.

And Ripple?  Another wait-and-see.  I can't see alot of folks including myself mixing money with friends.  I still don't understand what happens when someone in a ripple chain doesn't pay back a loan let alone more than one.  The trust linkages will be quite fragile and weak in my opinion.

A decentralized exchange is the next holy grail after bitcoin technology.  It will take Satoshi-like genius to get it working IMHO.

A seller can do this on a site like Bitmit to handle the escrow.  Then use USPS certified mail to track and ensure delivery.  Disputes are handled by Bitmit.  The seller is protected because of the proof-of-delivery offered by certified mail.

Are you proposing something beyond this like further anonymity?

Yeah, controversial; bogus; and misinformed press is sometimes better.  Certainly attracts more attention.  The ignorant will believe it while the objective will become enlightened.

Look how long it took the masses to understand central bank money printing and the effects of inflation to the middle class and poor as well as the power of holding gold.  Bitcoin is not easily grasped.  Even so called currency experts jump to false assumptions and don't even bother to fully understand btc technology.  It will take some time but more and more folks will start adopting btc.  In meantime, enjoy the ride up.

At least Vircurex is keeping folks informed of their status via twitter.

https://twitter.com/Vircurex

It's always possible they can take the money and run.  But with Bitparking getting out of the alt-crypto-currency trading, Vircurex is the only game in town for PPC trading at the moment.  BTC-e has yet to implement PPC trading on their platform.  It would be a missed opportunity if Vircurex bailed out now.  PPC volume was their highest out of the other alt-currencies they support.  LTC was second which says a lot.

Bottomline:  It's all about trust and reputation in the anonymous-part of the bitcoin world.

Hello,

My source for Amazon claim codes (and gift cards) are now limited.  I only have approximately two months left of inventory I can acquire.  After that, I will no longer be able to offer them for sale to the bitcoin economy through Bitmit.net.  For those who want to begin cashing out some of their bitcoins after this meteoric rise, please take this into consideration.  Remember, these codes never expire.

https://www.bitmit.net/en/user/heavysteel

Thank you for contributing to the bitcoin economy.

Best regards.

<FYI, this message was posted on behalf of HeavySteel on his request.>

We can all start referring to it as PPC instead of PPCoin without the brouhaha.

LTC has a trust issue with me.  It's website litecoin.org still has no real names listed on it.  Bitcoin.org has always had Gavin Andreson's name along with three others, not including Satoshi's.  Someone has pointed out that Coblee (who is the main programmer of LTC) is Charles Lee b/c he represented LTC at a 2013 conference.  If so, he should put his name on the litecoin website to get more credibility.  At least PPCoin has real names on their white paper and Sunny King (main programmer) is an active poster on bitcointalk, fielding questions and misinformed statements.

LTC was suppose to deter GPU's as well as ASIC's but GPU's are the dominant way of mining.  And ASIC-proof?  If LTC does continue to garner interest, an ASIC will easily pop up having the BTC manufacturers cut their teeth with BTC ASIC's.  Then where's the difference?  LTC could end up acting as counterfeit BTC.  Building a cryptocurrency based on deterring specific technology like GPU's and ASIC's to make mining easier defeats one of the founding premises of BTC -- that is, BTC's mining technology is based on the concept of Moore's Law.  BTC does not target specific technologies; only that processing speed will follow along the difficulty of solving the increasing blockchain size.

LTC is based on specific technology with the assumption that ASIC's will not be used.  BTC is based on Moore's Law and independent of specific technology.  LTC was created to deter GPU's but now they are the dominant technology.  Once a LTC ASIC is made, the distinction between LTC and BTC will be close to nil.

And has someone with more tech savvy validated that the executable-to-download is indeed the same as the executable generated from the source code?

It would help increase the trust of litecoin tremendously (as well as the price) if Coblee put some real names on the litecoin.org site.  Bitcoin.org has always had Gavin's name along with at least three other real dudes on the site from the beginning -- at least as far as 2 years ago.  If Charles Lee is really Coblee, why doesn't he put his name on the site if he's already publicly known?

Alot of vendors use the weighted avg on Mt Gox.  Bitmit uses this I believe.  If buying and selling on this forum for example, the amount of bitcoins is negotiated; sometimes based on a timestamp to lock in an exchange rate.

Not sure how BitPay handles exchange rate risk for vendors who want to transact in btc but do not want the FX risk.  I would assume they use the same FX rate if the vendor takes this option.

Anyone earning profits trading on exchanges like Mt Gox better think about the taxman.  Mt Gox has all your info to track you down.

The miners' computing arms race is the natural progression for bitcoins and ASIC's are just a part of it.  Without them, they would not follow Moore's law which is a required part of the Satoshi's design of bitcoin.

It's why I don't understand the proclaimed "advantages" of litecoin.  Why force miners to use slower technology?  And how long will that last before someone overruns the blockchain with a litecoin ASIC?  Litecoin was designed to deter GPU's and ASIC's but now miners are using GPU's.  Next will come the ASIC's.  Then a litecoin crash?

Sell an Amazon gift card at a discount.  And use escrow.

Buy your bitcoins anonymously.  Anonymity is power, a benefit, and a safety net.  It will come in handy in today's world of money printing, stealing of depositor's money, and prying eyes from those who are really in power within our "democratic" governments.

I bet most coins have a seedy past and lose their virginity pretty quick.

I am Megaton Warrior.  My mission is to wreak havoc by providing awesome food for thought.  I have arrived.

Use HotspotShield or Tor to hide your IP address if you want to maintain anonymity.

Bitcoins only store transactions linked to public keys.  Someone can only find you if they track the use of your public key and your IP address or any info associated with the public key.  It's why it's always good to use a new public key on a frequent basis.  A lot of transactions with small amounts get drowned in the noise.  Large transactions can raise suspicion.