The worst of both worlds in 2014
This is going to be a tougher year, financially. It looks like nobody will be left untouched.
Tag: economy
According to the proposal, the state officials who…
According to the proposal, the state officials who are entitled to a luxury car are: the president of the Republic and the House president, the attorney general and the assistant attorney general, the chief negotiator for the Cyprus problem, ministers, ministry undersecretaries (if they are appointed), the auditor general, the accountant general, ministry permanent secretaries, supreme court judges, the house permanent secretary and all former Republic and House presidents.
Central Bank of Cyprus says Bitcoin is dangerous. Really?
Mostly, I don’t really care what Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC)thinks. But sometimes, even I have to raise an eyebrow and say “Really?”. So happened once again today, when I read this bit in Cyprus Mail:
The Central Bank (CBC) has said use of virtual currency bitcoin is extremely dangerous, the Cyprus News Agency (CNA) said on Tuesday.
“Using any virtual money is extremely dangerous because they are not monitored by any authority, thus operating without control,” CNA said, quoting the CBC.
I can understand the dangers coming from the digital nature of Bitcoin – hackers getting control of your money, or breaking into your servers for some extra mining power. But saying that it’s dangerous because it is not controlled by the government? That’s a bit too far. Especially considering this year’s banking crisis in Cyprus.
In fact, if you look around for a second opinion, the Bank of America recently said that with the new Bitcoin dedicated servers, Bitcoin will be a serious competitor to cash. The article on Inc.com lists possibility of government regulation as one of the disadvantages to the new currency:
The risk of government regulation.
Bank of America says it is unlikely that the government will promote a new currency, especially one as suspect as Bitcoin. As the U.S. government is trying to figure out where Bitcoin fits into its tax and payment system, regulation of any kind would increase its transaction costs–offsetting one of its major benefits.
Are coders worth it?
‘What about somebody in a coal mine — wouldn’t you say he works as hard as you? Why should you get paid so much more than that guy?’
Bitcoin is a money platform with many APIs
Bitcoin is a money platform with many APIs
Bitcoin is much more than just a digital currency. It is a protocol, a network, a currency and a transaction language. Most of all, though, it is an application programming interface (API) for money. Nowadays, bathroom scales and fridges have APIs, so why not money?
Traditional money does have APIs, but they are closed. You can program the merchant API of the VISA network if you are a trusted merchant. You can send and receive FIX messages if you are a stockbroker or exchange. Regular people, however, don’t even have APIs into their bank accounts, let alone the broader economy. Bitcoin changes all that by not only offering an API for accounts (wallets) and transactions, but also making that API available to everyone.