Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis has hit back at criticism resulting from his appraisal of Bitcoin in a blog post last month, calling Bitcoin “too deflationary to work” while continuing to support its underlying technology. In yet another post on the topic of cryptocurrency, Varoufakis writes that those skeptical of his views on Bitcoin “reveal a powerful tendency to underestimate the ill-effects of deflation on a social economy.” He upholds his dislike of “Gold Standard-like” monetary systems, specifically the Eurozone, and controversially draws comparisons between the design of Bitcoin and the Euro. He writes: “[A]lmost paradoxically, the technology of Bitcoin, …

What will a Greek or Spanish exit look like for the European Union and what will be its implications for the global economic picture? The popular media has all but guaranteed a compromise with Greece that would include a debt restructuring and a promise that the union will stay intact. But despite this guarantee, there is presently a stalemate between Syriza and the rest of the European Union that may preclude a possible deal and increase the chance of a Greek exit (Grexit). Even if an agreement is reached as promised, it could have a ripple effect on Spain, whose …

A reclassification of how Value Added Tax (VAT) is to be applied in the EU will force merchants to log users' location, and make the user pay VAT twice. In particular, this could mean that from January 1 merchants could be forced to log identifying details about bitcoin users' identity in order to apply the tax correctly. This is a new chapter for the Europe-based tax, and comes after both Sweden and Finland have fought with the EU over bitcoin’s status as a taxable object. The changes to the Europe-wide VAT system have come as an attempt by the European …

This article will explore 2 questions: Has bitcoin bottomed yet? And, what does the aftermath of major bubbles bursting look like and its implications for price? Thursday, bitcoin had a relief rally in sympathy with most other commodities as the Swiss National Bank (SNB) de-pegged the Swiss Franc from the Euro. This was a surprise move by the SNB but was necessary as being pegged to the Euro has been killing the Franc as the Euro has been sinking against a strong dollar due to Eurozone economic malaise. A previous article written on this subject can be found here. There …