BitPhone Shuts Down Service, Cites Regulatory Issues
BitPhone, cryptocurrency based voice and video calling platform has shut down due to increasing regulatory pressure. Poorly drafted regulations have again started to haunt Bitcoin businesses. Many cryptocurrency platforms have fallen victims to the fiasco, choosing to either move away from a particular market/location or shut their shops entirely. BitPhone is the latest company to succumb to the injuries inflicted by regulations. The cryptocurrency-based encrypted voice and video calling platform has announced the end of its brief 1.5-year stint. According to BitPhone’s announcement, the....
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Bitphone recently announced to its users via email that service was being closed down, and Bitcoinist caught up with Gavin about the circumstances surrounding the startup’s untimely demise. Interview with Bitphone Founder, Gavin Stevens. Starting a new business is very difficult, and starting one inside of a new technological niche market is even more daunting. Gavin Stevens, the founder of Solid Cloud, created a new concept known as Bitphone in the spring of 2015 that created a new way for Bitcoin users to communicate online, creating an encrypted version of Skype, in effect. You could do....
Late on Tuesday, I received a very sad email from Gavin Stevens, founder of Solid Cloud, and creator of Bitphone, the first-ever encrypted, Bitcoin-accepting online video calling service. The contents were sad, but the tone was not of remorse, but of anger and frustration. They had contacted me, as a Bitphone user on their list, to alert me that they were shutting their digital doors for good due to “regulatory requirements.” Broke Bitphone’s Launch 18 Months Ago. Having gotten to know Stevens since the launch, interviewing him, and connecting with him on LinkedIn, this is a very sad event....
Blockchain technology presents significant opportunities to record financial transactions, identities and various legal operations. However, the technology is new and it therefore must be subjected to various studies, especially in the banking sector, which is highly regulated. A recent report from BBVA Research by Javier Sebastian, the Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. digital regulation manager, cites seven such regulatory challenges. The report is titled, “Blockchain in Financial Services: Regulatory Landscape and Future Challenges for its Commercial Application.” Seven Challenges....
The world’s largest Blockchain lending marketplace, BitLendingClub, has announced its sudden shutdown due to what it describes as regulatory pressure. The Bulgarian-registered startup has operated since 2014 and has funded almost 10 thousand loans worth in excess of $7 mln. Now, its operations are ceasing, with existing users retaining minimal functionality in order to move funds out. “We’ve worked extremely hard to build a platform and a community which is uniquely positioned to provide the Bitcoin ecosystem with a greatly needed service,” a blog post released today states. The company....
A not-so-known bitcoin exchange by the name of GoXBTC (launched in May of 2013) based in mainland China has announced they're ceasing operations as of January 18th. The announcement was made on the website's homepage, and cites both "operating costs" and "risk[s] of legal uncertainty" as the primary issues behind the closure. Users at the exchange are being urged to withdraw money - albeit it is quite short notice. GoXBTC says there is a possibility of the service re-opening, but as of current, the legal area surrounding bitcoin in the People's Republic of China is nothing short of....