Matonis, right as usual, good ol' chap!
http://www.americanbanker.com/bankthink/banks-get-one-last-mulligan-in-payments-1060670-1.htmlBitcoin exchange services like Mt. Gox, TradeHill, and CampBX are the primary way to purchase and sell bitcoin for national fiat currencies. They are mostly launched by technology experts who may or may not have any experience in the intricacies of federal and state anti-money laundering laws or know-your-customer guidelines. Exchanges depend on their banking partners to keep the funds flowing in both directions. But rather than provide expert counsel and cultivate a business customer relationship, banks have routinely pulled the rug out from under these new companies usually without warning.
Taking it a step further, banks could brand and offer bitcoin exchange services themselves, quickly becoming the de facto leaders because of their regulatory status and supreme customer identity procedures.
Banks are missing out on a huge and glaring opportunity in the area of exchange services, but it gets worse. Startup companies are springing up around the bitcoin ecosystem that replicate some of banking's other core competencies such as asset safekeeping and escrow services.
