Posted in Bitcoin, Exclusive, News By Greg Matthews On September 18, 2014
In a recently released meeting summary, of the Federal Advisory Council (FAC), which is composed of twelve representatives of the banking industry, it became clear that their agenda moving forward will include the regulation of cryptocurrencies.
While the bankers do not yet perceive Bitcoin and other digital currencies as viable competitors to their financial monopoly, the bankers did state that Bitcoin “regulation is advisable”, citing various security concerns that could continue to hinder its adoption, like price instability and numerous exchange failures.
The bankers, however, did not rule out embracing the digital currency and did suggest ways in which the banking industry could engage and participate.
Should adoption accelerate, banking could participate increasingly in Bitcoin fund flows, especially as multicurrency accounts proliferate and reputational concerns subside.
It was recommended that Bitcoin be subject to the same anti-money-laundering laws, including Know-Your-Consumer, that banks are subjected to. Moreover, the bankers recommended that Bitcoin be subjected to the suspicious activities reports (SARs) in which banks must currently comply.
Bitcoin is a software-based online payment system described by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008 and introduced as open-source software in 2009. Payments are recorded in a public ledger using its own unit of account, which is also called bitcoin.
Nakamoto disappeared in early 2010 with over 1 million bitcoins that he had mined while maintaining the lion’s share of the network hashrate.
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MicroGuy
Greg Matthews is an internet pioneer and early domainer. After selling his ISP company in 2007, he began work as a researcher and advocate for digital currencies. In 2013, he created the popular digital currency community GLDTalk.org.
