2012-10-30 The Economic Times (Reuters) - BTC Could Tarnish Central Banks' Image

[ben-abuya]

The growth of virtual currencies could make criminal activity easier and lead the public to blame central banks for failing to prevent it, according to European Central Bank research.

Virtual currencies such as Bitcoin are digital payments for goods which are often used for online gaming and are usually controlled by private sector developers.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international-business/virtual-currencies-could-tarnish-central-banks-image-ecb-research/articleshow/17011653.cms

This Reuters piece is the first wave of commentary on the big ECB Virtual Currencies paper which discusses Bitcoin at considerable length.

[Technomage]

It begins.

[hazek]

It begins.

My exact thought when I saw the title of this thread.

[kiba]

As always, sensational headline.

[Piper67]

Central banks tarnish Bitcoin's image 

[Ascholten]

Do not steal from the people.  Governments HATE the competition!!

This is all about the power,  if the 'central authority' does not control the flow of money, then it does not control the people.

I tell you what, with the world economy going to shit like it is,  paper money might soon be worthless.  Bitcoins and gold might be the only viable currency around, because bitcoins are not tied to any monetary system or anyone's failed banks, and because gold is universal.

To shut down bitcoins they'd have to shut down the internet world wide.  They can try but those who are savvy can get around any blockades.  As long as there are radio's and old modems around, you can communicate.

Aaron

[Esoteric]

The growth of virtual currencies could make criminal activity easier and lead the public to blame central banks for failing to prevent it, according to European Central Bank research.

Virtual currencies such as Bitcoin are digital payments for goods which are often used for online gaming and are usually controlled by private sector developers.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international-business/virtual-currencies-could-tarnish-central-banks-image-ecb-research/articleshow/17011653.cms

This Reuters piece is the first wave of commentary on the big ECB Virtual Currencies paper which discusses Bitcoin at considerable length.

Was that actually written by Reuters? It isn't a great piece. It is factual but offers no new information or opinion; all the information is already in the ECB report. "Point X gives Y... which you already know".

[Bitcoin Oz]

Do you think they bought any coins ?

[sunnankar]

To shut down bitcoins they'd have to shut down the internet world wide.  They can try but those who are savvy can get around any blockades.  As long as there are radio's and old modems around, you can communicate.

I read the entire ECB report and thought it was pretty good, objective and accurate when discussing Bitcoin. The 'trust central banks' slime oozed throughout though. The ECB shoulder shrugs about that in the report on page 43.

Furthermore, the global scope that most of these virtual communities enjoy not only hinders the identification of the jurisdiction under which the system’s rules and procedures should eventually be interpreted, it also means the location of the participants and the scheme owner are hard to establish. As a consequence, governments and central banks would face serious difficulties if they tried to control or ban any virtual currency scheme, and it is not even clear to what extent they are permitted to obtain information from them. In the particular case of Bitcoin, which is a decentralised peer-to-peer virtual currency scheme, there is not even a central point of access, i.e. there is no server that could be shut down if the authorities deemed it necessary.

[FreeMoney]

Wow, Satoshi really is a Japanese programmer, the ECB told us so. /sarcasm

[Akka]

IMO, not a good article (not a good writer).

He got the ECB report, cross read it and took out all the FUD.

"Given the legal uncertainty surrounding these schemes... they can be used by criminals, fraudsters and money launderers to perform their illegal activities," said the research, which was released on Monday.

The report from the ECB is neutral and very well written.

However, practically identical problems can also occur when using cash, thus Bitcoin can be
considered to be another variety of cash, i.e. digital cash. Cash can be used for drug dealing and
money laundering too; cash can also be stolen, not from a digital wallet, but from a physical one; and
cash can also be used for tax evasion purposes. The question is not so much related to the format of
money as such (physical or digital), but rather to the use people make of it

They take it and make a negative article out of it. I miss the time when press was just objective instead of printing their own opinion.

You can find the full report here: http://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/pdf/other/virtualcurrencyschemes201210en.pdf

[cunicula]

You can find the full report here: http://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/pdf/other/virtualcurrencyschemes201210en.pdf

Wow liked the report. Materials drawn from this report should form the party line on the 'deflationary spiral' nonsense.

[hazek]

IMO, not a good article (not a good writer).

It's a typical yellow pages propaganda hit piece.

[ShadowOfHarbringer]

It begins.

My exact thought when I saw the title of this thread.

[Ascholten]

To cut through all the bullshit.

We can't shut it down if we disagree with it, and can not control it ourselves and twist it to OUR needs.     THAT is the crux of their dislike of it, THEY don't own it, THEY can't easily stop it.  What are they going to do, outlaw bitcoins in the entire country?   It would not surprise me one bit to see any of these filthy little despots operating in the US now try something like that.

Aaron

[marcus_of_augustus]

The growth of virtual currencies could make criminal activity easier and lead the public to blame central banks for failing to prevent it, according to European Central Bank research.

Disregarding the fact that preventing criminal activity is not in ECB mandate, rather price stability (failed) and financial system functionality (failed) are .... the massive criminal activity in the financial sphere that they have been silent on like LIBOR rate riggings (and perhaps complicit with) seems to take a back seat in importance to bitcoin commentary ... 

[keynet10]

The growth of virtual currencies could make criminal activity easier and lead the public to blame central banks for failing to prevent it, according to European Central Bank research.

Disregarding the fact that preventing criminal activity is not in ECB mandate, rather price stability (failed) and financial system functionality (failed) are .... the massive criminal activity in the financial sphere that they have been silent on like LIBOR rate riggings (and perhaps complicit with) seems to take a back seat in importance to bitcoin commentary ... 

So true, people are starting to wake up to who the real criminal fraudsters in this world are. Jamie Dimon please stand up....................