Category Archives: Banks

National Bank of Romania Clarifies Its Position On Bitcoin

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In a press release dated the 11th of March 2015, the National Bank of Romania clarified its position on Bitcoin stating that it is neither a national nor foreign currency, that no-one is obligated to accept bitcoin as a means of payment and that is not a form of electronic money as defined by the law.

Referencing the risks associated with Bitcoin as claimed by the European Central Bank and European Banking Authority, BNR advises consumers to be mindful of such risks and finished by saying that the BNR will attempt to keep track of Bitcoin's progress.

Chinese Yuan Passes Australian, Canadian, Hong Kong Dollars in International Use

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A new report by SWIFT shows that the Chinese Yuan (RMB) rising in use for international payments compared to a number of other nationally issued currencies. This surge highlights the constant instability suffered by users of fiat currencies as the increased internationalization of the RMB makes it more difficult for the users of other alternative national currencies to market their chosen value token to new users. The RMB is presently the fifth most popular national currency for payments usage behind the United States dollar, the Euro, the Pound which was formerly Sterling, and the Japanese Yen. The Yen is particularly vulnerable to losing adoption and popularity versus the RMB as it is only 0.52% more popular as of the time covered by this SWIFT report.

Up To One Billion in Fiat Value Stolen From Banks

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Kaspersky Labs in a report to be released soon will allege that up to a Billion United States Dollars in fiat value appears to have been stolen in an operation that has persisted since at least late 2013. Unlike in many similar thefts, this one directly targeted the banks themselves rather than customer accounts. More than 100 banks spread across 30 countries have been affected. The thieves' modus operadi involves stealing up to 10 million dollars from each targeted bank before moving on to the next target. Continue reading →

Elizabeth Warren Balks on Opportunity to Act on Federal Reserve Criticisms

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Reason Magazine via the Wall Street Journal reports that freshman Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren has come out against legislation proposed by Kentucky Senator Rand Paul to audit the Federal Reserve. This is in spite of the fact that in the past she has called for investigations into corruption in the Federal Reserve banks. Continue reading →

HSBC Clients Victims of Probable Social Engineering Attack

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Private financial information on a number of customers of HBSC's Swiss operations have been leaked. The Guardian and the "International Consortium of Investigative Journalists" have latched on to the leaks in order to shame HSBC for providing financial services and to wealth shame HSBC customers for having money and desiring privacy at the same time. Continue reading →

TurboTax Stops Filing State Tax Returns Due To Massive Fraud

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United States tax preparation company TurboTax, a subsidiary of "financial software" developer Intuit, has discontinued its e-filing service for state tax returns due to concerns over massive fraud. Reportedly Utah was the first state to raise concerns to the company identifying 28 returns as fraudulent with a further 8,000 suspected fraudulent returns. Minnesota followed by refusing to accept state returns filed through Turbo Tax after users reported logging in and seeing TurboTax show their taxes already had already been filed for them. Alabama similarly flagged 16,000 returns as likely fraudulent and insists that their computer and network security practices are in no way connected to the existence of fraudulent returns. Continue reading →

Greece Taps Anti-Bitcoin Video Game Economist as Finance Minister

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One piece of fallout from the recent SYRIZA win in Greece's election is the appointment of Yanis Varoufakis, most notable for tinkering with Valve's Steam video game marketplace to the position of Finance Minister. Yanis Varoufakis is much less notable for in the spring of 2013 writing one of the many essays naively assailing Bitcoin as some sort of impossible fantasy incapable of anything, an essay that safely could have remained entirely without note. Unfortunately someone decided to promote him from advising ways for an arcade could extract more money from chumps to managing the finances of a populated area that is still by some miracle, in some form a sovereign state with a government. Let us consider some excepts beginning with the title: Continue reading →

British Banker's Association: Bitcoin A Threat to Sterling, May Aid Terrorists

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Just like the seasoned freedom fighter who decapitates his victim without hesitation, so too does Bitcoin. Riding high upon the war horse that is its network, a bitcoin dismounts so that it may grab a fiat currency by the hair so as to tilt the victim's head back before slitting its throat. As the life blood of fiat begins to drain away, its issuers and supporters cannot believe nor accept what is happening to it. Continue reading →

The SWIFT Institute Calls For Research Into Risks Faced By Third Party Payment Providers

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The SWIFT Institute, an organisation founded in April 2012 which receives funding and secretariat services from global giant SWIFT, is calling for proposals for research into the risks – money laundering, terrorist financing, gambling, fraud and phishing – third party payment providers using virtual currencies such as Bitcoin face. The selected proposal will be awarded a EUR 15,000 grant with completed research and a working paper to be submitted by August 2015. Continue reading →