Another week has passed and it is time to draw a line to look back on the most interesting and determining events of these past five days. The finish of January 2014 worked off the silence established at the beginning of the month. Many recent headlines are going to be engraved in the history Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. Cointelegraph browses the articles to sum up the most important news from 27th to 31st of January.
Number 5 – Bitcoin Inflames Wall Street
While financial experts and scientists argue on the future of cryptocoins and, of course, Bitcoin, traders from Wall Street and other global exchangers consider the virtual currency as an interesting option of investment. At present time collected experience and information on the matter allows many people to switch from traditional assets, precious metals and world leading fiat currencies, to conditional values that cannot be touched, but capable to provide millions. More on the topic, stories of success and oblivion can be found in the article from the 29th of January.
Number 4 – Bitcoin Price to Hit 10 000 Dollar Mark
The assumption is not a joke - Bruce Fenton, John Steinberg, Roger Ver and some other well-known specialists believe the price is going to be at least 5000 dollars, which will definitely create new millionaires clairvoyant enough to make investments now. To prove the estimations analytics went down and dug deep to determine the causal link between the current global events in economy. Their results, conclusions and simply interesting opinions are featured in the article from the 30th of January.
Number 3 – Bitcoin Considered as Money by Washington
Believe it or not – Bitcoin with his counterparts have been introduced to the definition of money by the Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) of Washington. The excessive press release shows the alterations in the local regulations, defines the terms of money and cryptocurrencies, and gives advice to companies how to treat virtual coins. From the 28th of January companies to start or continue businesses with Bitcoin have to obtain permission: “a license is required before the company can engage in the activity.” Read more on the topic in the corresponding article.
Number 2 – Countries on Strike
The example of Washington has not been observed by countries, which made revelations on Bitcoin this week. The most remarkable statement was provided by the Central Bank of Russia. Now virtual moneys are not just speculative matters carrying high risks, but are surrogates supporting money laundering and terrorism. Experts doubt the claim – Bitcoin is an international phenomenon, with no link to a country, organization or regulator. Two Northern countries decided to publish their comments also this week: Sweden sees the coin as an asset and Estonia links it to the Ponzi scheme.
Top leader – the Loud Echo of Silk Road
BitInstant CEO Charlie Shrem and Robert Faiella (aka BTCKing) were arrested on the 28th of January. The office of the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, James J. Hunt, announced that both of them are charged with a scheme “to sell over $1 million in Bitcoins to criminals bent on trafficking narcotics on the dark web drug site, Silk Road.” The accusations are enough for a sentence of 25-30 years. Actually, the top news was able to push back all other events and statements of the week. The Bitcoin community and people not engaged in online finance held their breath and followed the development of the case. Cointelegraph covered the story in detail and is going to report on it next week. Stay with not to miss anything out.