Category Archives: Blockchain

Digital Payments and Currencies: Global Threat or Opportunity?

By Jason M. Weinstein on June 29, 2015 Posted in Blockchain, Privacy Regulation, Security Programs & Policies, Virtual Currency

On Thursday, April 23, I spoke at the Bretton Woods Committee seminar, “Digital Payments and Currencies: Global Threat or Opportunity?” The panel discussed the changes digital currencies and payment systems have brought to the market and the disruptive potential of a future in which they may become more conventional. An audio clip of the seminar… Continue Reading

Steptoe Cyberlaw Podcast – Interview with David Anderson

By Stewart Baker on June 17, 2015 Posted in Blockchain, China, Cybersecurity and Cyberwar, Data Breach, PCLOB, Privacy Regulation, Security Programs & Policies, Virtual Currency

Privacy advocates are embracing a recent report recommending that the government require bulk data retention by carriers and perhaps web service providers, exercise extraterritorial jurisdiction over data stored abroad, and expand reliance on classified judicial warrants. In what alternative universe is this true, you ask? No need to look far. That’s the state of the… Continue Reading

Are New York’s BitLicense Rules Good or Bad for Bitcoin?

By Jason M. Weinstein on June 9, 2015 Posted in Blockchain, Security Programs & Policies, Virtual Currency

It’s only been about a week since New York’s outgoing Superintendent of Financial Services Ben Lawsky released the long-awaited “BitLicense” rules for digital currency businesses operating in New York, but it’s not too early to try to assess the potential impact of those rules on the development of Bitcoin-related businesses and emerging financial technologies. The… Continue Reading

Why Bitcoin is Good for Law Enforcement – and Why Law Enforcement is Good for Bitcoin

By Jason M. Weinstein on May 12, 2015 Posted in Blockchain, Cybersecurity and Cyberwar, Security Programs & Policies, Uncategorized

Most people who’ve heard of “Bitcoin” know it only as a virtual currency sometimes used by criminals. But there are entrepreneurs, engineers, venture capitalists, and bankers who are betting big on the untapped economic potential of the “blockchain” – the underlying technology that makes Bitcoin run. In a sense, Bitcoin is just the first “app”… Continue Reading