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one4many
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August 14, 2013, 06:06:21 PM |
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Hier der News Eintrag warum ... als Referenz, da wahrscheinlich nach dem 1. Sep. nicht mehr einsehbar:
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Why Bitcoin needs centralized regulation and why I'm shutting down BitServiceX
Submitted by jmk on Tue, 08/13/2013 - 10:18
As a European Bitcoin vendor I have experienced many difficulties and dangers trying to setup a legitimate Bitcoin business. I would like to share you my experiences and the reason why I will shut down BitServiceX.com on September 1st, 2013.
The problem with SEPA transfers
SEPA transfers, the new European standard for cross-border wire transfers, are in fact 'SEPA Credit Transfers' (SCT). As such, SCT can be recalled up to 10 business days by the client. For example, someone wires me 1,000 EUR from Germany on day 1 and I credit their account on day 2. They buy Bitcoins on day 3. Next, they can request their bank to perform a recall -within 10 business days (2 weeks including weekends)- and my bank is forced to return the money. So as a Bitcoin merchant I lose the EUR and the BTC. SEPA transfers are not a safe way to sell Bitcoin. Criminals can also use stolen web-banking accounts to perform SEPA transfers and buy Bitcoins. The victim will recall his money, but the Bitcoin merchants pays for this.
Problem: SEPA transfers can be recalled up to 10 business days, thus making SEPA transfers useless and unsafe for selling Bitcoin.
Solution: in Europe you can only safely sell Bitcoin in cash. However you can be robbed in real life, so you need to put a sniper on the roof and wear a bullet proof vest.
The problem with online debit payment methods
Several European direct debit payment methods are available, such as iDEAL in The Netherlands or Giropay and Sofortbanking in Germany. Although these payment providers officially promise 'instant, irreversible payments', that promise is a lie.
The case of iDEAL in The Netherlands. iDEAL is a direct debit card system which performs an instant national wire transfer. However, debit cards and their PIN numbers can be stolen. This means that criminals can abuse the iDEAL to purchase Bitcoin anonymously. After receiving too many frauds, our payment service provider legally shut off our contract.
The case of Giropay in Germany. Giropay works similar to iDEAL, and uses PIN/TAN numbers alongside a debit card as well. However, as a Dutch company we work with a payment service provider to offer Giropay. Giropay receives the money instantly, but delays payments to our payment provider up to 3 weeks. In case of fraud, we pay the damages. BitServiceX has lost over 6,000 EUR of profits because of this. Which is why we cannot offer Giropay.
Problem: European debit payment methods promise "instant, irreversible payments", but this is a lie. Also, after too many cases of fraud, our payment service provider has simply shut us off (to protect the victims - obviously I agree with their policy).
Solution: currently, there is no solution. Because Bitcoin is anonymous and irreversible, you simply cannot sell Bitcoin in Europe.
Why Mt.Gox is a bottleneck, just like every other exchange
Because Euro-SEPA transfers are actually credit tranfers and can be re-called up to 10 business days, Mt.Gox is forced to delay EUR deposits for 10 business days as well. This is not Mt.Gox's fault, but the way SEPA works. SEPA recalls have cost Mt.Gox a lot of money from prematurely crediting SEPA transfers.
According to Mt.Gox their only European bank in Poland has imposed daily withdrawal limits. Your EUR withdrawals enter a queue and can take 3-8 weeks to process. I believe this. European banks are required by law to prevent money laundering and financing of terrorism. The amount of cash Mt.Gox is withdrawing is suspicious. For example, corporate businesses such as T-Mobile would never need to withdraw so much cash back to their individual customers. Mass withdrawals are a strange and suspicious phenomenon in the banking world. The Mt.Gox outgoing cashflow is so suspicious that we should be lucky that it is even possible to get EUR out of Mt.Gox.
Why doesn't Mt.Gox simply open up multiple European bank accounts? Because most banks do not accept "Bitcoin businesses" at all. Banks have the legal right to deny business they do not understand.
"Oh, but surely, Bitstamp is the solution!" BULLSHIT. Once Bitstamp reaches high levels of outgoing withdrawals then Bitstamp's bank accounts will also be shut down, just like Mt.Gox's. Bitstamp operates within the European Union and must therefore comply with the same laws to prevent money laundering and financing of terrorism. Soon Bitstamp will have to deal with daily withdrawal limits from their bank. Bitstamp will face the exact same problems as Mt.Gox. There are no magical pills to solve real world problems.
Besides, even though BitServiceX maintains a Trusted account at Mt.Gox, we can only withdraw 10K EUR per day and 100K EUR per month, severely limiting cash flow back into BitServiceX.
Problem: exchanges with European bank accounts can never service mass withdrawals. At some point all bank accounts handling Bitcoin withdrawals will either be shutdown or severely restricted to prevent money laundering and financing of terrorism. The same thing happened to Germany's Bitcoin-24.
Solution: currently, there is no solution but to spread your assets over as many different exchanges as possible.
Why Bitcoin is failing consumers
Besides being a decentralized currency, Bitcoin transactions are anonymous and irreversible. This makes Bitcoin the perfect tool for criminals, scammers, frauders and money launderers. Honest businesses and honest consumers are the victim of Bitcoin fraud on a daily basis. Bitcoin sellers are ripped of by criminals with stolen bank accounts. Bitcoin consumers are ripped off by scammers.
Problem: Bitcoin is an innovation for money laundering, scamming, ripping, criminals buying drugs and financing of terrorism.
Solution: Bitcoin needs... centralized regulation and personal (non-anonymous) transactions.
The corporate future of cryptographic currencies
The future of cryptographic currencies is not "anonymous and irreversible" as Bitcoin. Anonymous currency will always be a criminal's currency. (By the way, fiat cash is not anonymous. If you pay cash in person then your face, clothing, language and location are known to the other party.) Instead, centralized banks will eventually distribute cryptographic "sister currencies" to their fiat currency. For example, the European Union may offer crypto-Euro's alongside paper and minted Euro's. The crypto-Euro's value will be fixed by the European Central Bank. This is actually a true innovation: digital cash backed by centralized authorities are much more stable than decentralized, anonymous criminal's currency such as Bitcoin. Also, crypto-Euro's can be exchanged back to paper Euro's anytime without any fees. Simply go to an ATM and upload your crypto-Euro's to receive paper Euro's. This is the future of crypto-currencies.
Bitcoin pioneered a succesful decentralized currency, but Bitcoin will survive only in a museum. By the year 2020 many commercial enterprises will have rolled out their own (centralized!) crypto-currencies. PayPal is already considering space payments with PayPal Galactic - their own cryptographic cash (why bother carrying paper money into space?). Visa and MasterCard will roll out a crypto-currency of their own to support their credit card operations. Major brands such as Nike will offer branded crypto-currencies usefull only to purchase Nike products. Amazon.com will push a currency you can only spend on Amazon.com.
You've heard of vendor lock-in? Now there's currency lock-in!
What's next for BitServiceX
I will let BitServiceX bleed to death and shut down this website on September 1st, 2013. Remaning funds will be refunded via SEPA transfer. From my personal experience most Bitcoin exchange users are money laundering criminals, scammers, drug users or terrorists. I want nothing to do with you people.
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