Anyone who has tried to explain bitcoin around their kitchen table knows that it is not easy to put your finger on what exactly the technology is. Because of their innovative nature, digital currencies don’t have obvious analogs or fit easily into existing categories. Bitcoin is part currency, part digital payment system, and part immutable ledger.
Continue Reading FinTech Bits: Are Bitcoin and Other Digital Currencies Securities?
FinTech Bits: Bitcoin and Terrorist Financing
Following the attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, polls show that Americans identify terrorism—more than any other issue—as the most important problem facing the US. In this environment, some media outlets have predicted a pending “crackdown” on digital currencies, particularly by European governments, because of the risk that the technology could be used to fund
Steptoe Cyberlaw Podcast – Interview with Catherine Lotrionte
Our guest commentator for episode 74 is Catherine Lotrionte, a recognized expert on international cyberlaw and the associate director of the Institute for Law, Science and Global Security at Georgetown University. We dive deep on the United Nations Group of Government Experts, and the recent agreement of that group on a few basic norms
Are New York’s BitLicense Rules Good or Bad for Bitcoin?
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.
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Steptoe Cyberlaw Podcast – Interview with Jason Brown
Our guest for Episode 69 is Jason Brown, the Assistant to the Special Agent in Charge of the Cyber Intelligence Section at the US Secret Service. We talk about the Secret Service’s Electronic Crimes Task Forces and their critical role in investigating data breaches affecting financial
Why Bitcoin is Good for Law Enforcement – and Why Law Enforcement is Good for Bitcoin
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”