Category Archive: bitlicense

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Bitcoin’s Monthly Recap of August 2015

Welcome to HolyTransaction’s eight monthly recap for the year 2015. This past month of August has seen a divided community and increased discussion and involvement from all the Bitcoin industry; during that time, the bitcoin price fell from a high of $280.19 on August 1st to a low of $229.86 on July 31st, according to Bitcoin exchange Bitstamp.
 
Failed Bitcoin Exchange Mt. Gox CEO Mark Karpeles Arrested in Japan
Earlier this month, Mt. Gox’s CEO Mark Karpeles was arrested in Japan in connection with his failed Bitcoin exchange. Mt. Gox was notably Bitcoin’s first major exchange and its downfall in 2014 rocked the industry. Karpeles first claimed that the missing millions from Mt. Gox were taken by a hacker, but he has not admitted to adjusting and misusing customer funds. Now that Karpeles is in Japanese police custody, many are hoping that justice will be served and the truth will come to light.
 
HolyTransaction and other Companies Leave New York Due to BitLicense
HolyTransaction and many other Bitcoin companies, notably Bitocin exchanges such as BitFinex, have banned users with New York IP addresses. The infamous New York Department of Financial Services BitLicense required companies to apply by an August date. Instead of spending the money to pay this “troll tax” a handful of Bitcoin companies have decided to warn NY users away instead.
 
Bitcoin Gains Ground Down Under
The Australian Senate Economics Reference Committee released a report in early August that took a deep look at Bitcoin. the report was titled “Digital currency – Game changer or bit player.” Australia notably enacted then rescinded a GST tax on Bitcoin transactions, an action that curbed the growth of the Bitcoin industry in Australia for awhile. Australian Labor Senator Sam Dastyari commented on Bitcoin’s renewed opportunity in Australia: “Without a doubt, the main benefit will be the confidence and certainty that removing a GST will provide to our own digital entrepreneurs, and the foreign businesses who want to set up here.”
 
Blocksize Debate Rages Between BIP 101, BIP 100, and Bitcoin XT
Different companies, developers, miners, and full node runners have all voiced their opinion on how to raise the Bitcoin blockchain block size. While companies like BitPay and Blockchain.info prefer BIP 101 for the block size increase, mining pools are casting their votes for BIP 100. Meanwhile, Gavin Andresen and Mike Hearn are still pushing for Bitcoin XT. In reality, the Bitcoin network will make its decision the way it always has: through decentralized consensus. Most recently, Bitcoin’s developers (minus Andresen and Hearn) have signed an open letter to the Bitcoin community promising to come to a technical consensus on Bitcoin scalability.

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