[LINK] itNews: 'Bitcoin gets banking rights'

[Roger Clarke]

Bitcoin gets banking rights
Juha Saarinen
Dec 10, 2012 7:50 AM (1 hour ago)
http://www.itnews.com.au/News/325720,bitcoin-gets-banking-rights.aspx

Greater recognition of digital currency.

Paymium, the company that operates the Bitcoin-Central exchange, has 
been licensed as a payments services provider through a partnership 
with French financial institutions Aqoba and Credit Mutuel Arkéa.

The deal means the Bitcoin-Central exchange can operate as a bank 
albeit without being able to to issue debt money, Paymium chief 
technical officer David Francois said in a post on the Bitcoin Talk 
forum.

According to Francois, Bitcoin-Central users' accounts will now be 
covered by France's banking guarantee, and receive a standard 
International Bank Account Number.

Debit cards can also be ordered by users, Francois said, and the 
accounts can be used to receive salaries and pensions that can be 
automatically converted to Bitcoins.

Commenting on the deal, Bitcoin-Magazine's technical editor Vitalik 
Buterin told the BBC that it is a signicant step towards legitimacy 
for the digital currency.

Bitcoin is described as an open-source digital currency without a 
central authority that owns or controls it.

Unlike fiat money, the financial infrastructure for the Bitcoin 
currency is a peer-to-peer network of users and Bitcoin miners that 
use processing power and electricity to generate money.

It was created by an unknown person using the pseudonym Satoshi 
Nakamoto in 2009 and also has physical coins and notes.

Payments are made to Bitcoin addresses and fees for transactions are 
optional and the currency also has inflation-control built into it.

Several attempts at hacking exchanges and processors have taken 
place, with the US securities and exchanges commission currently 
investigating the Bitcoin Savings and Trust which was shut down in 
August this year with US$5.6 million (A$5.35 million) in debt, for 
allegedly being a pyramid scheme.

The currency is currently trading at A$12.849 with a total number of 
10,538,550 Bitcoins issued out of a maximum of 21 million. Its market 
cap stands at A$133,983,430.94 at present exchange rates.

Abbreviated as BTC, the currency is accepted by online traders of 
services and products, such as Bitcoinstore and blogging provider 
WordPress said in November its customers could pay in Bitcoins for 
upgrades.

Iran, which is under heavy economic sanctions imposed by the United 
States, is resorting to Bitcoins for transactions and money transfers 
with the outside world, Bloomberg reported.

-- 
Roger Clarke                                 http://www.rogerclarke.com/
			            
Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd      78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA
                    Tel: +61 2 6288 1472, and 6288 6916
mailto:Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au                http://www.xamax.com.au/

Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Law               University of NSW
Visiting Professor in Computer Science    Australian National University