It’s not just US banks; Canadian banks are refusing Bitcoin businesses

After a string of US banks closing the accounts of Bitcoin businesses, it seems that Canadian banks are following suit, well at least the Royal Bank of Canada, or RBC.

Two Canada based exchanges, VirtEx, and Canadian Bitcoins, have both had their RBC accounts closed…no explanation given.

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The Canadian Mint Announces Silver ETR, but ‘Redeeming’ Your Silver May Not Be So Easy

Last week The Royal Canadian Mint announced that it will make an initial public offering of $100 million in silver exchange-traded receipts.  This comes after the success of the Mint’s Gold ETR last year.

MineWeb reports that “The Mint will offer exchange-traded receipts, priced at $20 each, Proceedings from the C$100 million offering will be used to purchase silver bullion. … The silver ETRs will trade on the TSX and will be redeemable once a month for either cash or silver bullion.”

However, a careful read of the ETR’s prospectus, reveals that physically redeeming your silver is a complicated process that is subject to “suspension” and “Any declaration of suspension made by the Mint shall be conclusive.”

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