ECB Analysis of Virtual Currency Schemes

New report here.

8 replies on “ECB Analysis of Virtual Currency Schemes”

This is a useful evaluation, by the ECB, of the fitness-for-purpose of Bitcoin and other virtual currencies.

A companion volume from Bitcoin on the fitness-for-purpose of the Euro would be interesting.

Bitcoin is hardly the biggest risk of the moment.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/11447805/Eurozone-faces-first-regional-bankruptcy-as-debt-debacle-stalks-Austrias-Carinthia.html

The interesting question is not the the inadequacies of the initial design of the euro which are by now a recognised fact of life but whether the retrofitting that has been carried out is sufficient to remedy them.

In all likelihood, the answer is yes. To quote Doctor Johnson “Depend upon it, sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.”

Draghi on Greece today.

“Is the ECB willing to allow Greece to issue more short-term debt, by raising the current ceiling on T-bill issuances?

We are a rule-based institution, Draghi replies, not a political one.

And there is a rule that bans monetary financing — governments printing money to buy their own debt. We are prohibited from doing that.”

James MacIntosh of the FT tweeted this as the best laugh of the day. But is it?

As are all the institutions of the EU; rules based that is!

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/mar/04/george-osborne-wins-clearing-house-ruling-against-ecb

Tsirpas, typically, gave a further indication that he does not have a clue, any more than his minister of finance, of how the EU works by contacting his CB governor in direct contradiction with the provisions of Article 7 of the Statute of the ESCB on the independence of its members.

http://intelligent-news.com/greece/economy/greek-pm-tsipras-held-talks-with-central-bank-governor-stournaras-on-the-phone,-sources-say

Varoufakis continues to put his game theory skills to the test!

http://www.corriere.it/economia/15_marzo_08/varoufakis-atene-non-chiedera-altri-prestiti-all-europa-e09010f6-c55e-11e4-a88d-7584e1199318.shtml

It is not clear what the referendum would be on. (The record has, apparently, been corrected to the effect that it is not membership of the euro he has in mind).

No decision from the Eurogroup is likely except on the basis of a detailed examination of the proposals at a technical level by representatives of the “Institutions”. In Athens?

After “Grexident”, the latest term in use – notably in the German media – is “Graccident”. The possibility of such is rising by the day.

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