By Douwe Miedema

WASHINGTON | Mon May 6, 2013 6:32pm EDT

(Reuters) - The top U.S. derivatives regulator is considering whether the Bitcoin virtual currency should be subject to its rules, a top official at the agency said.

Bart Chilton, one of five commissioners at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, said he had asked staff to explore whether consumers needed more protection from any mishaps with Bitcoin, whose value collapsed last month.

"Here's what I know for sure: we could regulate it if we wanted. That is very clear," Chilton told Reuters in an interview on Monday. The Financial Times was first to report on Chilton's plans.

Bitcoin, a digital currency that can be moved via computer or smartphone without a financial intermediary, has gained in prominence as people start to question the safety of holding their cash in the bank. It shot up in value in March, when investors took fright at the next turn of the euro zone debt crisis.

But the price of one "coin" plunged to $130 from a record high of $260 on April 10.

The CFTC's remit has been vastly expanded after the 2007-09 financial crisis when it was tasked with writing rules for the $650 trillion swaps market.

"There is potentially a federal role here, and we have to make sure that we're on guard that whatever is traded is appropriately regulated," Chilton said.

Chilton is an often outspoken Democrat on the CFTC's board, and the adoption of any regulation he is pushing for depends on the support of the others on the board, as well as what the CFTC's lawyers and other experts say.

A spokesman for the CFTC declined to comment.

The absence of physical Bitcoins meant people investing in the currency to speculate on a rise in its value could not be said to participate in cash markets, Chilton said, bringing them within the remit of the CFTC's mandate.

"If you're buying Bitcoin and you are hoping that their value increases ... and you could purchase something with them in a day or a week or a month or a year, that is clearly a derivative of the actual Bitcoin," Chilton said.

The U.S. Treasury Department in March said that Bitcoin exchanges would be subject to the same money laundering rules that govern money services business like Western Union.

(Reporting by Douwe Miedema; Editing by Eric Walsh)

source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/06/net-us-bitcoin-regulation-idUSBRE9450Y520130506

Dear xxxxx,

Shipping of our BitForce SC ASIC miners has begun!

You may have seen news reports of our ASIC miners in the wild and some of you may have already taken delivery.  It's all true.  We're finally shipping.  You will receive your order as we work through the shipping queue .

If you didn't know, you can check your order status on our website. Log in by clicking here. Use the same email and password you set up your account with.

If you don't have your password, use the Lost Password function to create a new one.

So what took so long?

This third generation of our SHA256 engine was a complex multi-year investment in bringing the latest semiconductor technology to bitcoin mining.

Developing a fully custom 65nm ASIC processor is not a casual undertaking. In fact, the new products have improved mining speed by a factor of 72. This much advancement doesn't come easy and it's fair to say that getting here has been eventful.

The key issue has been the engineering related to accommodating larger power draws than expected. A good example is the Jalapeno product. It was originally designed to be powered by USB but now consumes the power of a small light bulb (30w).

Consequently the power regulator, enclosure, airflow and PCB needed upgrading to suit. Although we are *very* aware of the undesirable dynamics of any delay, we were nonetheless obligated to make these updates in order to deliver a reliable product at the expected performance.  The same adjustments have been made with all products in the lineup.  You can see the adjusted product cases in our currently posted product lineup.  (The Mini Rig case will be double shipped to satisfy their orders which is why we've run out Mini Rig enclosure stock).
 
Final confirmation is required

Please be advised that due to the adjustments described above, we need your confirmation prior to release of your order into the final build queue and on to final delivery.  It may also be a good time to review your purchase altogether relative to the bitcoin market as this is the last opportunity to do so.  If your order is not confirmed, it will be canceled and your money will be refunded.
 
Thank you for your support and we wish you great satisfaction with your product!