The Greek Bank Run is Real - Bitcoin an Option?
So, as it turns out, people are trying to get all of their money out of the banks in Greece. We suspected this might happen. Everyone in the Bitcoin community is saying these people should convert to Bitcoin. Is that an option at this point? How can they get it if all they have is a currency that people increasingly do not want? There is a certain lack of fungibility in the Euro system; where it is obvious that a Euro was made for a certain country. This does not make it unusable in other countries, but if the whole country were to exit the Euro, then the Greek Euros might quickly become....
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In Athens, three Greek banks have been extorted by malicious hackers for the sum of 15,000 Euros to be paid in Bitcoin by November 30, 2015. The group Armada Collective threatened these institutions with the use of a Denial of Service attack or a DDOS. With a warning to the banks, the perpetrators seemingly were able to knock out electronic services temporarily. The Bank of Greece told the press it was a “serious threat” as they reported counter initiatives would be deployed. eKathimerini.com was the first to break this story with a few statements from the Greek banks told to Kerin Hope....
As if everything to do with money is not bad enough, Greeks no longer have access to their PayPal accounts, reports Quartz. Capital controls imposed by the Greek government mean that Greek citizens can only withdraw 60 euros (effectively 50 euros after ATMs have run out of 20 euro notes) and online payment service, PayPal, has been left crippled, as a result. PayPal relies on the traditional banking sector and credit card industry for all its transactions to flow. Announced by a PayPal spokesman today: Due to the recent decisions of the Greek authorities on capital controls, funding of....
In an interesting turn of events, a traditional bank has been experimenting with its own cryptocurrency. Citibank has developed at least three of its own cryptocurrencies based on the same principles as Bitcoin. This is on the heels of other major league bankers admitting that block chain technology makes some traditional financial services redundant. The traditional banking industry stands to gain a great deal by adopting Bitcoin into its strategy, and this is why it probably comes as no surprise to many readers that Citibank would experiment in such a way. Also read: The Greek Bank Run....
Bitcoin has enjoyed a pivotal moment, thanks to the ongoing Greek debt crisis, which resulted in capital controls and an influx of funds towards the cryptocurrency. Indeed bitcoin prices have eventually landed back above the $300 mark, following a long period of consolidation around $220 earlier in the year. The prospect of shifting back to a potentially worthless drachma has led several Greeks to move their money to bitcoin, as some websites have offered bitcoin loans and investments while others offered to purchase Greek products using the cryptocurrency. This could allow Greek citizens....
Early this morning European time, Greek financial ministers and Eurozone representatives reached an agreement after an all-night negotiation session. The deal will last three years and amount to $94 billion. "The institutions and the Greek authorities achieved an agreement in principle on a technical basis. Now as a next step, a political assessment will be made," said Annika Breidhardt, a European Commission representative. Also read: How Bitcoin Could Prevent a Future Greece. The biggest issues discussed revolved around Greek institutions not properly servicing their receivables, the....