Everything You Need to Know About the New York Hearings on Bitcoin

Coin Desk ^ | 28 January 2014 | Emily Spaven

[Errant]

The New York Department of Financial Services is shortly to begin its hearing about bitcoin and other digital currencies.

Taking place in the 4th Floor Boardroom of 90 Church Street, New York, the hearing is set to begin at 11:30 (EST) today (28th January) and the second session will begin tomorrow at 10:00.

A live webcast of the hearings can be found here.

[PoloSec]

Excellent program, I couldn’t buy the education I got today, can’t wait for tomorrow.

[mmichaels1970]

So if bitcoin is considered ‘money’, where can I buy or sell a futures contract for bitcoin”

I use an exchange called btc-e.

There is a .2% transaction fee on all buying and selling but that's it.

I actually bought a few litecoins yesterday on a buy order while I slept. Got up this morning and sold them for $1.80/coin profit.

[TWhiteBear]

Thanks, and the BTC-E link was informative and has a spirited chat room.
A .2% fee(two tenths of a percent)is a lot less than credit card or commercial bank transactions(all fees included.
Can the .gov tell if you own or have used a bit coin?
TWB

[Errant]

I was actually surprised by how well some of these NY officials conducted themselves and by the questions they were asking. In all, a better job than a lot of the US Congress or Senate could have done were the idiot factor is high with more than a few.

[Errant]

Article summarizing today's meeting: Bitcoin Investors Ask For 'Safe Harbor' Exceptions In Proposed 'BitLicense' Regulations [Forbes]

[RinaseaofDs]

‘So if bitcoin is considered ‘money’, where can I buy or sell a futures contract for bitcoin”’

Good question. The answer?

Sort of.

Bitcoin isn’t like other fiat currencies. With bitcoin, anyone using bitcoin can download the books to see how much bitcoin actually exists. Bitcoin is ‘mined’ using computer algorithms that incentivize many different computer nodes exist in order to ensure these books remain open, and that the total amount of currency available remains stable as more people exchange it.

If you look at the bitcoin to dollar exchange rate, it doesn’t reflect the buying power of bitcoin at all.

If an apple, say, cost .0005 bitcoin today, then 10 years from now, that same apple will cost .0005 bitcoin.

However, buy an apple today at $1.25 an apple, and in 10 years it will likely be in the neighborhood of $4.00.

This is because the Fed is printing $80B a month. The Oregon state budget was $30B last year, if I recall correctly.

[Jumper]

Who here on FR has signed up for bitcoin? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanx.

[deltanine]

Yep, we're all feeling the effects of government overregulation with no end in sight. It's a good test for this new medium of exchange. Bring it on, IMO, let the free market make it or break it and the repressive governments of the world eliminate it, if they can.

If people are to ever wrestle control of the currency back from government and banksters, it will take a currency (medium of exchange) proven capable of withstanding anything that can throw at it.

You nailed it. This is exactly how I feel.

[deltanine]

I’ve been invested in Bitcoin for 2 1/2 years and believe we are a long way from the top.

If you are thinking the Bitcoin protocol is simply a currency you are already behind the curve. It’s real power is in its decentralizing characteristics which can extend to contracts, wills etc. etc. Imagine eliminating the need for third parties like large corporations, large governments and expensive attorneys with the use of mathematical algorithms.

If anyone is curious about Bitcoin this is one of the guys that explains it plainly and extensively:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0oDDIy0P2s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CI7XXzJDqo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6MGcE68-8g

For an idea of the greater roadmap ahead of us, see this:
http://ethereum.org/

[alrea]

Nice. Thanks for posting this.

[mmichaels1970]

Can the .gov tell if you own or have used a bit coin?

Unfortunately, I'm not that far into the learning process yet.

[mmichaels1970]

Who here on FR has signed up for bitcoin? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanx.

I'm currently mining Litecoin (bitcoin's little brother I suppose), which can be converted into bitcoin or USD. Check my posting history and I have several links you can follow to learn more.

[deltanine]

Can the .gov tell if you own or have used a bit coin?

Only if they connect you to your Bitcoin public key.