движение навстречу
12:30 | 06-04-2012 | Economics, Internet, Lifeform | 1 Comment
еще об интернет-валютах (из очередной статьи о биткойнах):
More recent examples of online currencies include Linden Labs’ Linden dollars, which were used in its online game world Second Life. The reward points customers earn for spending with their credit cards are also becoming an online currency, as e-commerce sites like Amazon.com Inc. have begun to accept points as payments.
“With any of these [alternative currencies] they need to get a greater degree of legitimacy,” says David Furlonger, vice president and fellow at the research firm Gartner Inc. of Stamford, Conn.
Legitimacy is earned by widespread use, but also comes from the support of traditional institutions, such as banks, Furlonger says.
очевидно, надо читать последний роман Нила Стивенсона.
впрочем, дальше тоже инетерсно — и сразу видны будущие проблемы [emphasis mine]:
As Bitcoin acceptance grows, it could run afoul of federal laws prohibiting the creation of currency that competes with the U.S. dollar. Bitcoin users may also run into trouble with the Internal Revenue Service.
“As long as Bitcoin is a couple thousand mathematicians playing with each other no one cares, but when real transactions start to go on, that raises the question of how we tax this,” says Bruce Abramson, the intellectual-property advisory partner for Rimon Law Group Inc. of San Francisco.
Since one of Bitcoin’s chief selling points is its purported anonymity, there is also concern that it could be used for illicit purposes.
“The anonymous transfer of significant wealth is obviously a money-laundering risk, and at some level we are aware of Bitcoin and other similar operations, and we are studying the mechanism behind Bitcoin,” says Steve Hudak, a spokesman for the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.
рано или поздно, уверен, все это станет целым заслоном преград. и нам не прийдется слишком долго размышлять о возможных причинах.
[…] по частоте употребления слова “bitcoin“, именно это платежное средство и оказалось в первую очередь стимулом к такому […]