Mastercard hired 5 lobbyists to slam bitcoin in US Congress

[RawDog]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/perianneboring/2014/05/09/secs-investor-warning-on-bitcoin-could-stifle-innovation/

What a load of crap.  Why does MasterCard truly want to push down bitcoin?  Is it because they are concerned for the good of people?  Or is it they don't want competition? 

How could such a thinly veiled plan be effective?  Can congress be so dumb that they accept this bias position of MasterCard in their attempt to squeeze competition? 

Unfucking-believable that they are allowed to do this. 

Of course, bitcoin has no lobbyists.

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[hilariousandco]

On April 21, 2014 bitcoin got its first lobbyists, however a competitor hired them. DC lobbying firm, Peck Madigan Jones, registered not one, but five of their employees to lobby Congress on “bitcoin” and “virtual currencies.”  The client they are registered for is MasterCard, a transaction competitor to bitcoin.

Haha. all this shows is that they're scared. "Stifle innovation"? Bitcoin is doing the exact opposite of this. Bitcoin is innovation, not to mention all the innovative ideas and companies that are being spawned and built around it. What the hell are Mastercard doing for innovation exactly?

[bryant.coleman]

Bitcoin recently lost billions of dollars in revenue, when Putin kicked it out of Russia. So they are running scared to retain their remaining markets. Tactics like these might help them in the short term.

[bitcasino]

Instead of lobbying, they should implement bitcoin into their plastic cards. A plastic card is cheaper than a smartphone.

[HeliKopterBen]

Let the honey badger do its work.  The problem will take care of itself

[Lauda]

Bitcoin recently lost billions of dollars in revenue, when Putin kicked it out of Russia. So they are running scared to retain their remaining markets. Tactics like these might help them in the short term.

I guess that they are just scared of competition. In the future (soon) I can see cryptocurrencies taking over. Mastercard isn't that bad like the other competitors (WU, Paypal and such), but this move is really bad. I wonder if/when will Putin bring Bitcoin back to Russia.

[franky1]

for those that have not read the article. the SEC announcement is talking about investments. it does not talk about using bitcoins to buy retail products, thus there is nothing to indicate that mastercard was throwing its dummy out of the pram in regards to retail transactions

i simply read it as
don't trust investment companies run by basement dwellers that cant be arsed to be regulated, while still wanting to handle FIAT.

which is actually true.

no where does it say, stay away from bitcoin. just stay away from unregulated and shady investment firms.

the FDIC insurance part. it is true there have been exchanges that showed customer balances, yet there was no equal amounts of bitcoin in cold store to match the exchange database balances. bitcoins dont need insurance if they can show and prove they hold matching bitcoins to cover customer balances.

so i hope btc-e, bitstamp, etc all become VERY transparent and auditable and not be secretly spending bitcoins meant for customers holdings. as this is a 'form' of fractional reserve.
EG many people for months thought that MTGox had 800k+ bitcoins to match customers balances. and mtgox continued to trade even after admitting bitcoins had gone. who knows how long karpales was spending/hiding the cold stores for personal use.

[MrBea]

Mastercard should be scared and their lobbyists are scum.

[bryant.coleman]

I wonder if/when will Putin bring Bitcoin back to Russia.

Bitcoin users in Russia face no harassment, and the exchanges are operating openly there. The rumors about Russia banning the Bitcoin were proven false. The only thing which was banned by Putin was Master / Visa. 

[MrBea]

I wonder if/when will Putin bring Bitcoin back to Russia.

Bitcoin users in Russia face no harassment, and the exchanges are operating openly there. The rumors about Russia banning the Bitcoin were proven false. The only thing which was banned by Putin was Master / Visa. 

Good.  CC companies are low

[E-C.Guru]

I wonder if/when will Putin bring Bitcoin back to Russia.

Bitcoin users in Russia face no harassment, and the exchanges are operating openly there. The rumors about Russia banning the Bitcoin were proven false. The only thing which was banned by Putin was Master / Visa.  

Really? So.. umm.. what, really?

[franky1]

I wonder if/when will Putin bring Bitcoin back to Russia.

Bitcoin users in Russia face no harassment, and the exchanges are operating openly there. The rumors about Russia banning the Bitcoin were proven false. The only thing which was banned by Putin was Master / Visa. 

1. Russia did not ban bitcoins. they announced that it should not be used as legal tender
(meaning it WONT replace ruble, for tax purposes and where banks pay out in bitcoin instead of ruble)
ruble will still be there. there was no ruling to stop people exchanging it for private use outside of tax payments, court payments etc. all they said was rubles remain legal tender. and nothing else can be.. this does not affect bitcoins being bought, nor any other currency sch as euro's or dollars

2. america told mastercard / visa not to process retail transactions between russian retailers and russian banks. russia did not give the command

either way bitcoin is still tradable, but russian BANKS wont directly hand people bitcoins. BANKS can only hand people rubles. mch the same as banks handle rubles, and 'bureau de change' outlets handle the other currencies

[Nathonas]

"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win." More and more  true every day.

[Lauda]

I wonder if/when will Putin bring Bitcoin back to Russia.

Bitcoin users in Russia face no harassment, and the exchanges are operating openly there. The rumors about Russia banning the Bitcoin were proven false. The only thing which was banned by Putin was Master / Visa. 

Oh, I didn't realize this. That is good then. I don't think that Putin did the ban on the CC, maybe it was vice-versa?
They have been trying to use certain sanctions on Putin, but they don't seem to work. 

[bryant.coleman]

I don't think that Putin did the ban on the CC, maybe it was vice-versa?

The Visa / Master threatened Putin that they will take some of the Russian banks off their payment system. In return Putin told them to GTFO and introduced the new Russian card payment system. The government has asked merchants to stop accepting Visa / Master within the next 3 months.

[dwma]

Frankly, I am surprised this didn't happen a year or more ago.  Perhaps the MC executives thought "beanie babies".  I would not be surprised.

Also - The use of Mastercard and Visa as a weapon against Putin shows the problem with centralization.  Now MC and Visa are going to take huge hits over it.  Not that I particularly care as I find credit systems like these to be leeches upon society.

[Onicoman]

Let the honey badger do its work.  The problem will take care of itself

amen. The cat is out off the bag and what not - The amazing race is on

[jonald_fyookball]

so the next time I visit Moscow, I can leave my visa card at home.
Bitcoins will be easier to use than trying to get whatever Russian
credit card that is.

[jc01480]

so the next time I visit Moscow, I can leave my visa card at home.
Bitcoins will be easier to use than trying to get whatever Russian
credit card that is.

My Russian friend says St. Petersburg is a much better place to visit.  He seemed to like it a lot and he's from the Sochi area. 

I wonder if Russia still accepts American Express?  Lol

[Lauda]

I don't think that Putin did the ban on the CC, maybe it was vice-versa?

The Visa / Master threatened Putin that they will take some of the Russian banks off their payment system. In return Putin told them to GTFO and introduced the new Russian card payment system. The government has asked merchants to stop accepting Visa / Master within the next 3 months.

Oh I didn't realize this. This guy seems cooler and more powerful each day.
Mastercard deserved this. They will eventually be out of business anyway.