Bitcoin Seized – Its Days are Numbered

 

U.S. agents have shut down what became known as the Silk Road Bitcoin Site where hackers and drug dealers sold their illegal wares using Bitcoins, and arrested founder Ross William Ulbricht this week on charges of money laundering, conspiracy to commit drug trafficking and other crimes.

The government is after Bitcoin and focus on concerns about criminal activity to justify taking down what they see as avoiding taxes. In August, New York regulators subpoenaed 22 companies active in the Bitcoin economy, including well-known venture-capital firms like Google Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz, seeking to uncover possible illegality.

I have stated before. I do not see where the government will sit on its hands when the G20 is already agreeing to hunting down money everywhere. They think if they can collect taxes, then they will retain power. That will fail. Nonetheless, we are in the age of Massive Deflation as government eats their own to sustain their own power.

Source: Armstrong Economics

US government shutdown: banks stockpiling cash

America’s biggest banks are stockpiling extra cash in their ATMs, amid fears that the government shutdown and the threat of a US default will induce a sudden panic among their customers.

Major banks have increased the amount of funds by around a third, and are holding daily meetings in sealed rooms to map out their contingency plans, according to well-placed sources.

In some cases, they are discussing the possibility of extending free credit to customers who do not receive the Social Security payments they would normally rely on, because of the ongoing services blackout.

The US government shut down on Tuesday, after the White House and the Republicans failed to come to an agreement over a stop-gap budget needed to keep scores of services running. Up to 800,000 public sector workers have been put on unpaid leave, and around 1m more are being asked to work for free, in what is the first shutdown for 17 years.

Tensions are now mounting that the faultlines exposed by the shutdown will also affect negotiations over America’s self-imposed $16.7 trillion borrowing limit.

Congress has until October 17 to agree a deal to extend the debt ceiling, or face an unprecented default on US sovereign debt, which could in turn trigger another global recession.

Source: The Telegraph