Artikkelin koko otsikko on “Banks’ Bitcoin Influence May Rise as Dwolla’s Declines”. Tämä on itseasiassa varsin mielenkiintoinen artikkeli ja tässä on myös toimittaja tehnyt kotiläksynsä.
[i]"When the alternative payments provider Dwolla changed its terms of service earlier this month, it made it harder for users of the digital currency Bitcoin to use Dwolla as a funding source — and easier for banks to step in and benefit from the Bitcoin economy.
Bitcoin is a computer-generated currency that mimics the behavior of cash, in that Bitcoin transactions are largely anonymous and irreversible. Its long-term success remains unclear, but it is rapidly maturing.
Newer Bitcoin exchanges, which allow users to trade their cash for the digital currency, treat Bitcoins as virtual goods. Buying Bitcoins under this model is similar to buying songs on iTunes.
As such, this model should exempt Bitcoin exchanges from many of the regulations that have made it difficult for banks to participate.
“Bitcoin faces perceived and real issues with its legitimacy, and it won’t get what it needs until it has a bank anchor,” says Brian Riley, research manager in the cards and retail banking practice at CEB TowerGroup.
… Two new Bitcoin exchanges, GetBitCoin and Canadian Virtual Exchange, sell Bitcoin more as a commodity than as a currency. Both allow customers to transfer funds directly from their bank accounts.
As such, they function more like fixed-rate exchanges, which can duck regulatory scrutiny because they don’t hold customer funds the way floating exchanges do while they match buy and sell orders. (Mt.Gox, the largest Bitcoin exchange, functions as a floating exchange.)
… “A bank with a fixed-rate exchange customer would have less chance of being associated with an unregulated exchange or quasi-financial institution,” Jon Matonis, a payments industry veteran, consultant and blogger, wrote in an e-mail.
… “If the government can’t directly attack Bitcoin because it is decentralized, and there is no one person to go after, you attack it by shutting down the ability to process it,” Hoffman says."[/i]