Tag Archives: Greece

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Bitcoin regulation in Europe: “it’s too early”

bitcoin regulation

During a recent event held by the European Parliament, members talked about new technologies including the Blockchain and Ethereum and Bitcoin Regulation.

According to them, the European Parliament will have to regulate and monitor the new tech but “it’s too early to intervene at this stage, because we as legislators don’t yet see sufficiently clearly to know what the main issues are going to be – so in order to not to stifle innovation, we don’t want it to be now.””, said MEP Jakob von Weizsäcker.

So, the EU wants just to monitor blockchain and smart contracts in order to allow developers doing their job.

Also, MEP Eva Kaili from Greece explained that regulation is necessary to protect citizens, but EU doesn’t want to suffocate innovations.

“[In] 2008 when the crisis started in the European Union, especially in my country [Greece], people lost trust in banks and in the politicians. I woundn’t blame them because we didn’t protect them and the reaction was that some young people that we don’t really know discover this technology that actually makes unnecessary to have banks, politicians and intermediaries. So the potential is there, but it is still under progress”.

Also, she continues by saying the following:

“Blockchain is not just bitcoin and bitcoin is not just blockckhain. We need to understand how to protect citizens because if we help them trust this technology, they will actually start to using it. I do believe that banks will outsource a lot of their services,” she said.

Bitcoin regulation to regain trust by citizens

“We’ll have to educate citizens on how to use it […] Hopefully, [bitcoin regulation] will come and we’re going to try to protect the technology and not to stop it. I know that usually politicians and banks don’t want to change and they want to keep control, but I think this technology is unstoppable and we have to give control back to the citizens and maybe this way we can regain some trust,” Kaili argues.

Watch the full conference video here.

 

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Amelia Tomasicchio
chainthon

Chainthon – The Bitcoin and Blockchain Hackathon in Athens, Greece

Athens, Greece is about to have its first Bitcoin and Blockchain Hackathon, aptly named the Chainthon, on October 17th. The hackathon is a direct response to growing support for Bitcoin as well as growing pressures on the local financial system. The Hellenic Bitcoin community explained their situation in a press release:

This year, we are witnessing an economic crisis escalate into a humanitarian crisis. Hundreds of thousands are fleeing the war in the Middle East in search of a better life, only to find different obstacles in Europe. Many of the countries they travel through are facing a severe economic crisis, making it difficult to transfer money or receive donations.

The refugee issue facing much of Europe has reignited age-old tensions between ethnic groups that have been at odds for centuries. The growing amount of forcefully or willfully unbanked refugees and ex-pats is an immediate use case for Bitcoin technology. However, it is almost certainly the latter group of ex-pats, not refugees, that are currently taking advantage of Bitcoin. George Papageorgiou, the organizer of the event, laid out the main goal of the event:

The Hellenic Bitcoin community is hosting a hackathon aiming to increase awareness locally and tackling the more prevalent issue of value transfer in situations of socioeconomic crises. We will try to hack together, a practical and accessible system that can transfer donations to anyone without requiring a lot of education or an intermediary.
HolyTransaction is a digital currency company that believes in the promise of Bitcoin and blockchain technology. International payments, transfers, and people are our audience. As we’ve noted before, the Greek area is unique poised to benefit from the promise of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies because of recent economic crises and also the new escalating pressures.
Introducing newcomers, especially those with strong developing and coding skills, to Bitcoin is a crucial service that cannot be promoted enough. HolyTransaction believes that people just finding out about Bitcoin should focus heavily on education. Read the whitepaper! Check out good Bitcoin videos, as it’s often easier to listen to a charismatic speaker than it is to read a dense wiki.
If you are in Athens, please check out the first Greek Bitcoin and Blockchain Hackathon. HolyTransaction supports Bitcoin events and would love to hear about your upcoming Bitcoin or Blockchain hackathon.

Open your free digital wallet here to store your cryptocurrencies in a safe place.

Satoshi
Greece Bitcoin

HolyTransaction welcomes new users from Greece, Europe, and the World over

Everyone with a finger on the pulse of the world’s financial health has been keeping their eyes peeled for the latest on the potential “Grexit” (Greek Exit) from the European Union. With negotiations of a final deal once again bearing no fruit, the average citizen’s faith in the traditional financial system is eroding at an ever-increasing rate. A few years ago, it was Cyprus; now, it is Greece. Frankly, the rest of the fiat-using world is right to believe that they may be next. In times like these, interest in Bitcoin tends to spike. In just the last week, Greek Google searches for the keyword ‘Bitcoin’ have increased notably. Let’s not forget that historically we have always seen a trickling effect where new Bitcoin users find themselves researching altcoins in an attempt to get ahead of the next big thing. It is possible that the current economic turmoil in Greece is the next big thing that pushes interest in Bitcoin and other digital currencies.

We have seen fellow digital currency companies focus their attention and marketing on Greece and Europe, which is another indicator of the breadth of this event. The classical way to buy bitcoins is to use your bank. Unfortunately, with Greece’s banks closed for the next week and possibly more time after that, it is arguably too late for the Greek people to buy Bitcoin easily.

Since most Greeks have their money tied up in the banks that are currently shut down. The people on the ground can’t even buy Bitcoin through the banks. Bitcoin isn’t going to be accepted by Greece over night, but Bitcoin also isn’t going to be shut down by anyone over night. In the coming weeks, the contrast between digital currency and banks will sharpen for many onlookers. Observers the world over will be struck with a sort of enlightenment: their vision will clear. Bitcoin might not be able to help the Greeks buy a loaf of bread in their local economies tomorrow morning; however, Bitcoin and blockchain technology can and will be able to prevent similar economic disasters from happening ever again.

Author: Caleb Chen

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Satoshi