Bitcoin makes some TV appearances, drama over German gold, talk of European bonds “part-backed by gold”, a report on mobile payments in developing countries, AML enforcement and more.
Bitcoin makes an appearance on the National Geographic Channel. http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/videos/bitcoin-the-new-way-to-pay/
SilkRoad and Bitcoin make an appearance on Australian TV. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&hl=en&v=hmiBzvW4P40&gl=US
Last week a German court ordered the German central bank to audit its sovereign gold holdings, which includes its gold stored with the Fed in NY. http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-10-22/german-court-demands-bundesbank-audit-sovereign-gold-holdings
Then there were reports that in 2001 the German central bank “decided to voluntarily pull two thirds of its gold holdings held by the Bank of England.” http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-10-24/why-did-bundesbank-secretly-withdraw-two-thirds-its-london-gold
Report – 90% of consumers in developing countries interested in using mobile payments
“The study has also found that consumers’ needs for financial services in developing countries are far more sophisticated than previously believed and go well beyond the established transaction set offered by mobile money services today.”
There has been talk in Europe of handling debt issues by issuing new bonds “part-backed by gold” particularly in the case of Portugal and Italy has these countries have relatively large gold reserves. However, there are some legal issue as gold reserves are owned by the central banks, not the government. The two below links from The World Gold Council and BullionVault discuss these issues. http://www.gold.org/government_affairs/new_financial_architecture/gold_and_the_eurozone_crisis/
http://goldnews.bullionvault.com/gold-bonds-eurozone-102420122
Dwolla updated it’s iPhone app with “the added ability to view and pay money requests.” http://www.mybanktracker.com/news/2012/10/23/dwolla-mobile-option-pay-money-requests/
Financial Institutions: How Much More Will You Have to Spend on Anti-Money Laundering Programs to Avoid Criminal Prosecution?
“This June, the Justice Department brought criminal cases against a number of check-cashing businesses and their owners for failing to implement effective AML programs – remarkable because they are among the first BSA prosecutions brought against non-bank financial institutions and individual owners.”
An interesting piece from MoneyMorning Australia on Why a Return to the Gold Standard Could Actually Be Bad
“History tells you that governments will always try to fiddle with the money supply in order to pay for votes and wars… In order to fiddle with the money supply, the government needs control over the money supply. Most importantly it needs legal tender laws. Legal tender laws create a money monopoly that makes it illegal for people and businesses to transact in a competing currency.”
“Bottom line: if the US government could easily confiscate gold while most of the population still had a concept of sound money, don’t you think it will be much easier when 99% of the population has no concept of sound money? … And because returning to a gold standard would involve devaluing the currency … governments would only do this after it has confiscated private gold.”
They also note that due to “Part IV of the Banking Act 1959” gold confiscation is a possibility in Australia “when the Governor-General says so.” http://www.moneymorning.com.au/20121025/why-a-return-to-the-gold-standard-could-actually-be-bad.html
