As Grexit Looms, Greek Island Begins Testing Blockchain-Based Parallel Currency
Perhaps a blockchain-based parallel currency could provide a solution to the Greek crisis and be an alternative for Greece, Forbes reports. Lee Gibson-Grant, founder of U. K. -based digital currency consultancy Coinstructors, recently met with the Mayor of Agistri, an island in Saronic Gulf with a population of around a thousand people. The Mayor has....
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Earlier in July, Bitcoin Magazine reported that former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, who resigned after the Greek referendum on July 5, expressed his disappointment with the outcome of the Greek crisis. Now Kathimerini, a New York Times-branded daily newspaper published in Athens and distributed with the International New York Times in Greece and Cyprus, revealsthat Varoufakis was authorized by Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras last December to look into a parallel payment system that could eventually work as a parallel banking system. Before becoming Finance Minister,....
When Greece missed its deadline to the IMF last week and talks of an imminent euro zone exit dominated the newswires, several Greeks already started moving their funds to bitcoin. Capital controls imposed in the country made it difficult for the Greeks to secure loans or make investments, leading to the rise of sites lending bitcoin and buying Greek products. After the Greek referendum resulted in a resounding majority voting against austerity and the current bailout proposal, market watchers are starting to talk about the potential implications of a return to the drachma. This could mean....
The IMF has been left standing with its finger in it's mouth after Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras unexpectedly called a Greek referendum on whether to accept further austerity and encouraged the Greek people to vote "No". The prospect slams the possibility of a Grexit firmly on the negotiation table and Monday may see the unexpected turn painted red in market charts. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has called a referendum on whether Greece should accept demands by the country's creditors the IMF, ECB and European Commission. The decision comes on the heels of failed talks with the....
Greek voters have issued a surprisingly loud and clear statement of support to Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, and defiance to European authorities and the International Monetary Fund. In the referendum celebrated Sunday, an overwhelming majority of more than 61 percent of Greeks, with an impressive 22 percent lead over the 39 percent of Greeks who voted yes, have said no to the bailout deal proposed by the country's creditors. Opinion polls before the referendum showed the difference between the Yes and No camps as too close to call, and therefore the strong majority won by Tsipras....
Former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis has confirmed that he masterminded a “parallel” currency system while in power, which could be switched from euro to drachma “at the flick of a switch.” The scheme involved a covert team of five, Varoufakis ordering them to break into his country’s own tax ministry’s computers to access Greek nationals’ tax details. “This was very well developed. Very soon we could have extended it, using apps on smartphones, and it could become a functioning parallel system,” he commented to UK newspaper the Telegraph. “The prime minister, before we won the....