Posts tagged 'Bitcoin'

Bricks of gold, bits of code: the worship of things shiny and useless

Izabella Kaminska joined FT Alphaville in October 2008. Before that she worked as a producer at CNBC, a natural gas reporter at Platts and an associate editor of BP's internal magazine.

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| Apr 15 17:33 | Comment |

If the meteoric rise and fall of the cyber crypto currency Bitcoin this month teaches us anything, it’s to what degree a market can be influenced by speculative flows pumped up by internet hysteria and viral marketing.

There is no intrinsic value to a Bitcoin. Read more

#000000 Wednesday

Paul Murphy is the founding editor of FT Alphaville.

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| Apr 10 20:28 | Comment |

In Bitcoinland. Click for interactivity…

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Bitcoin as fiat

Izabella Kaminska joined FT Alphaville in October 2008. Before that she worked as a producer at CNBC, a natural gas reporter at Platts and an associate editor of BP's internal magazine.

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| Apr 04 00:55 | Comment |

A quick update to our latest Bitcoin post, since it seems that some have an issue with the virtual unit being described as a fiat currency.

So here’s our rationale for calling it that.

The term fiat is foremost used in the post to differentiate a faith-based non-collateral-backed currency system from a collateral-backed currency system. Bitcoin, however, is described as the “fiat of all fiats” due to its decentralised fiat nature and because its value lies in the mutual interests of its users rather than a collateral pool. It is, in that sense, a fiat that supersedes all other fiats, because it depends on an algorithmic self-dictated “law” for authority. Read more

When memory becomes money; the story of Bitcoin so far

Izabella Kaminska joined FT Alphaville in October 2008. Before that she worked as a producer at CNBC, a natural gas reporter at Platts and an associate editor of BP's internal magazine.

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| Apr 03 19:13 | Comment |

Okay…

Requests have been made, so here is a quick “story so far” on Bitcoin. Consider this a perfect dinner party cheat.

First off, Bitcoin is best described as a virtual crypto/digital parallel currency that is completely decentralised and unregulated (for now) by the current powers that be. It is understood to be the brainchild of one Satoshi Nakamoto, whose identity is alleged to be an alias in its own right. Many people believe the paper behind the Bitcoin system to be some anarchic manifesto purposefully designed to disrupt and destabilise the current economic status quo. Read more

Ceci n’est pas un Bitcoin

Izabella Kaminska joined FT Alphaville in October 2008. Before that she worked as a producer at CNBC, a natural gas reporter at Platts and an associate editor of BP's internal magazine.

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| Apr 03 15:42 | Comment |

Here’s something to ponder.

Which of the following do you think is the latest Bitcoin price chart and which is the latest Google Trend indicator of Bitcoin Google Search interest? Read more

The problem with Bitcoin

Izabella Kaminska joined FT Alphaville in October 2008. Before that she worked as a producer at CNBC, a natural gas reporter at Platts and an associate editor of BP's internal magazine.

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| Apr 03 11:19 | Comment |

The value of Bitcoins — which trade on what is best described as an OTC basis — has been soaring of late. And suddenly everyone is talking about bitcoins. Yadda yadda yadda.

Here’s the latest bubblicious chart, courtesy of Bitcoin charts: Read more

Turning mobile money into M0

Izabella Kaminska joined FT Alphaville in October 2008. Before that she worked as a producer at CNBC, a natural gas reporter at Platts and an associate editor of BP's internal magazine.

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| Feb 18 09:54 | Comment |

In our previous post we explained why Jean-François Groff, CEO of Mobino, believes mobile payments systems could be a lot more honest and more money-like.

How does Groff’s company fit into it all? Well, his big idea really is to keep M0 (as economists like to call base money) exactly what it is, M0. Read more

Why central banks should take charge of their digital currencies

Izabella Kaminska joined FT Alphaville in October 2008. Before that she worked as a producer at CNBC, a natural gas reporter at Platts and an associate editor of BP's internal magazine.

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| Feb 18 08:49 | Comment |

The mobile money/virtual currency arena is getting more and more crowded. And the question remains: will the concept ever gain the critical mass needed to become the next big thing in finance?

From Bitcoin to M-pesa, Square, Paypal, Dwolla and Ven (to name just a few) … the number of new concepts is piling up. Read more

Space opera, beyond finance edition

Izabella Kaminska joined FT Alphaville in October 2008. Before that she worked as a producer at CNBC, a natural gas reporter at Platts and an associate editor of BP's internal magazine.

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| Feb 29 2012 12:26 | Comment |

FT Alphaville spent a lot of last week hanging out at Lift12, a Geneva-based technology conference exploring the social implications of new technologies.

We were particularly drawn to the Beyond Finance session last Thursday, which tried to take a peek at how technology might change the world of banking and money in the years to come. Read more

A currency trader’s take on Bitcoin

Tracy Alloway used to be deputy editor of FT Alphaville. Here she learned the details of derivatives, the absurdities of accounting and the various structures of ... erm ... structured finance. She now covers big US banks for the FT paper, including Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. She pops up on FT Alphaville every once in a while.

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| Jun 27 2011 12:41 | Comment |

A major exchange for Bitcoin — Mt.Gox — was hacked last week.

The cyber-attack sent the virtual currency’s exchange rate temporarily reeling from about $17.50 to pennies. More importantly it sparked some fresh concern about Bitcoin’s reliability and security. Read more

George Clooney roils the Bitcoin market

Tracy Alloway used to be deputy editor of FT Alphaville. Here she learned the details of derivatives, the absurdities of accounting and the various structures of ... erm ... structured finance. She now covers big US banks for the FT paper, including Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. She pops up on FT Alphaville every once in a while.

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| Jun 21 2011 08:53 | Comment |

Someone calling themselves George Clooney appears to have roiled the Bitcoin market, the virtual currency, reports FT Alphaville. Having recently gained some mainstream prominence and become the world’s fastest appreciating currency, Bitcoin has had to contend with political scrutiny, a Black Friday and now — a hacker-induced flash crash, of sorts. The attack on the MT.Gox exchange sent the virtual currency plunging from about $17.50 in worth to just pennies in a few hours, with an estimated $40m worth of bitcoins and more than 60,000 (MD5-encrypted) accounts involved. Some bitcoin participants believe the hacker may have been trying to bypass the daily withdrawal limit put into place by Mt.Gox, but for now the motives remain unclear. Read more

Bitcoin’s Black Friday

Tracy Alloway used to be deputy editor of FT Alphaville. Here she learned the details of derivatives, the absurdities of accounting and the various structures of ... erm ... structured finance. She now covers big US banks for the FT paper, including Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. She pops up on FT Alphaville every once in a while.

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| Jun 13 2011 17:56 | Comment |

When we first mentioned Bitcoin — the virtual currency — it was hovering at $8 against the US dollar.

Last week it reached $28. And we first mentioned Bitcoin last Monday — seven days ago. Read more

Virtual money, from real central bank mistrust

Tracy Alloway used to be deputy editor of FT Alphaville. Here she learned the details of derivatives, the absurdities of accounting and the various structures of ... erm ... structured finance. She now covers big US banks for the FT paper, including Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. She pops up on FT Alphaville every once in a while.

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| Jun 06 2011 12:30 | Comment |

What happens when you cross computer geeks with populist outrage at central banks?

Bitcoins happen. Read more