Bitcoin Tracker | Week 18

By PYMNTS | April 3, 2014

PYMNTS.com Bitcoin Index: http://www.pymnts.com/data-research/ .

Link to live trading on the Bitcoin markets http://Bitcoincharts.com/markets/ .

Follow 189 Cryptocurrency Market Capitalizations here: http://coinmarketcap.com/ .

Bitcoin Tracker | Week 18

Where is the world is Bitcoin sanctioned as a legal method of payment? Finally, a complete list of each country and its standing with respect to Bitcoin. The news this week that China said no hit Bitcoin trading very hard and its valuation slipped before $500 this week. That said, Square market now accepts Bitcoin and there’s at least one investor who believes that Bitcoin will be worth $500,000 to $1M a decade from now.

Hope you enjoy, and if you have any news you’d like to share, please send it our way at contactus@pymnts.com.

On the Plus Side …

Bitcoin goes Square, Square Market, that is, which Square hopes will attract a whole new set of sellers and buyers. Bitcoin continues to ignite a whole ecosystem, which now includes Bitcoin Tax Accounting advice in light of last week’s IRS decision. And, there continues to be more momentum behind the notion that Bitcoin will be a huge catalyst for change in banking and in the way that money is sent to others.

April 2, 2014 – Finally! Here is a clear way to explain Bitcoin, as illustrated by the New York Times
April 2, 2014 – Just in time for tax day and in light of the new ruling that BTC is property, not currency, BitcoinTaxSolutions is here to save the day as a Bitcoin accountant!
April 2, 2014 – The CEO of Xapos, a Bitcoin startup that specializes in insured Bitcoin vaults, believes that in a decade one Bitcoin will be worth between $500,000 – $1,000,000. He also just raised $20 million in a funding round led by Benchmark, so he’d better be bullish.
April 2, 2014 – The US House of Representatives committee on small business held a hearing to discuss the growing use of Bitcoin by US small business owners and the pros and cons of using the technology.
April 1, 2014 – Federal Reserve VP and economist, David Andolfatto, agrees that Bitcoin isn’t stable enough to be money but attests that it does have other properties that will spark innovation in banking.
March 31, 2014 – BTC-e is allowing trading with offshore Chinese Yuan.
March 31, 2014 – Square Market now accepts Bitcoins.
March 31, 2014 – Bitcoin won’t be any good as a currency but economist and author Felix Martin believes that it can reboot the way money works.

On the Dark Side …

The US and the China might not see eye to eye on everything but they both seem to agree that Bitcoin is not a currency. All banks and payments service providers in China must end their involvement with cryptocurrencies by April 15^th and companies are scrambling to head offshore. Not surprisingly, the trading price of Bitcoin took a nose dive.

April 3, 2014 – Rumors of Coinbase being hacked were denied by Coinbase, they did confirm that less than one half of one percent of users email addresses were leaked.
April 3, 2014 – Chinese Bitcoin exchanges, BTC China and OKCoin, were suspended after it was reported that the central bank tightened controls on the digital currency.
April 2, 2014 – According to a Fitch Ratings Why Forum, Bitcoin is small relative to traditional payments processors and global currencies. Also, Bitcoin’s marketcap is less than 1% of total US dollars and is closer in size to a small currency, like the Guatemalan Quetzal. Check out a comparison of transaction volumes here.
April 2, 2014 – The first Bitcoin ATM in the US has already been pulled.
April 1, 2014 – Bitcoin is said to be one of the (if not THE) worst investments in the world this year, even worse than the official decline of the Argentine peso.
April 1, 2014 – Bitcoin April Fools’ Day decided to bank China!
March 28, 2014 – The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has ruled that all banks and payment service providers cease their dealings in the digital currency, taking effect April 15. The ruling also stated that Bitcoin isn’t going to be considered a currency. OUCH.