Australian Government Tracks All Bitcoin to AUD Conversions

The Australian government is keeping a close eye on bitcoin, but not on the regulatory front. Rather, it is tracking every conversion from bitcoin intoAustralian dollars, and vice-versa.

The government agency doing the snooping is the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (Austrac). The centre is tasked with countering money laundering and terrorist finance, so it is only logical that it would track anonymous transactions.

Tracking bitcoin-related transactions

Austrac CEO John Schmidt told lawmakers that Australia collects data on all international fund transfers, including bitcoin conversions, ZDnet reports.

“At some point, a person will be purchasing bitcoin using Australian dollars, for example, and then if they are dealing in substances or services, will want to convert those bitcoins back into the legitimate currencies of where ever they are, so they can gain the benefit of them.”

This is where it gets interesting. Because the centre gets international transfer instructions, it is possible to identify transactions made by people purchasing bitcoins.

Schmidt added that most countries have the same capability as Australia, but it is unclear whether they use it. He added that some prosecutions have already resulted from intelligence collected by the centre.

The CEO argued that bitcoin is a commodity used to transfer value rather than a legitimate currency. When bitcoins are converted into AUD, Austrac can identify those transactions.

Bitcoin is not a threat, yet

Schmidt also issued a warning that if bitcoin gains more independence from fiat currency it will become more attractive to criminal organizations that need to channel money around. In that case, international cooperation will be necessary, as Schmidt points out:

“Because they will operate on servers in jurisdictions around the world, and use very sophisticated methods to move and hide their identities. It’s when you have the international cooperation [...] that is the answer to being able to stop that criminal behaviour.”

Interestingly, Schmidt pointed out that Austrac is still not able to quantify the size of the bitcoin market in Australia, but he doesn’t see it as a major threat. He pointed out that people are gambling on the prospective value of bitcoin rather than using it for transactions.

“At this point in time, when you consider all the existing threats we face from the criminal perspective, they are not top of the list,” Schmidt concluded.

Australian 100 Dollar Bill image via Shutterstock

Post Source: http://www.coindesk.com/australian-government-tracks-all-bitcoin-aud-conversions/

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Meltdown – The First Comic Shop To Take Bitcoin

Los Angeles’ Meltdown Comics became the first bricks’n'mortar comic shop to officially accept the digital currency Bitcoin as a method of payment.

The lucky purchaser was Bleeding Cool photographer (and so much more) Pinguino Kolb. She writes,

I used Blockchain on my iphone to buy Daniel Clowes’s Death Ray book. Francisco rang up the order on a tablet using BitPay. It was a smooth transaction, and a bit later I bought some stuff from his employee, who was super psyched to take a bitcoin order. I got a Black Business Protection Lucky Cat vinyl figure, Adventure Time Mathematical Vol 3, and some strawberry Yan Yan. That also went seamlessly.

And as for future reasons to pay with Bitcoin, manager Francisco said,

We’ll be the only comic book shop accepting Bitcoin. Down the line Bitcoin customers will start receiving special discounts, offers, swag, online shop, events, and more.;

 Post Source: http://www.bleedingcool.com/2014/02/04/meltdown-the-first-comic-shop-to-take-bitcoin/

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Hotels Now Accept Bitcoins

200,000 Hotels Now Accept Bitcoin Through Online Travel Agency CheapAir

California-based travel agency CheapAir.com has announced that it is expanding its service to allow bitcoin users to book hotel stays with the cryptocurrency.

CheapAir has been accepting bitcoin for flight bookings since Novemberwhen it partnered with Coinbase, however until today, users have not been able to pay in bitcoin for its extensive hotel inventory.

Speaking to CoinDesk, CEO and founder Jeff Klee voiced his enthusiasm for becoming the “first company in the US” to allow bitcoin users to book hotel stays with the virtual currency:

“Bitcoin gets a bad rap in mainstream media. What I found is that the people who use bitcoin are great, they’re passionate and they’re looking to solve a lot of the problems inherent in the economic system and the world.”

The news garnered a largely positive reaction on reddit and the BitcoinTalk forum, with ambitious bitcoin users even suggesting they would pass the news along to other travel companies that have expressed a cautious interest in bitcoin.

Better-than-expected return

“For it to become a really big part of our business, bitcoin itself needs to grow. We think it will.”

Klee indicates that the decision to expand its program to include hotels was due to a “better than anticipated” response from the community after it began accepting bitcoin payment for flights.

“We had no idea what to expect, however, it generated a nice enthusiasm,” Klee recounts.

Klee did not share specific numbers, but did say that bitcoin customers are more likely to become loyal than traditional customers, and that his company receives “a nice volume of emails from bitcoin customers”. Still, despite these benefits, he won’t call bitcoin a game-changer for CheapAir just yet, though he thinks CheapAir’s position could change as the currency gains more loyal users.

How CheapAir pays hotels

For CheapAir, paying hotels and flight providers is still a challenge, but one they find worthwhile given the currency’s dedicated customers and engaged base. Klee noted that in order to process transactions, CheapAir must accept the bitcoin and exchange it for fiat currency before paying hotels. This means certain hotels, those that require patrons to pay at checkout, will still be off limits to bitcoin customers.

Klee notes that “once in a while you’ll see a hotel on our site that won’t have a bitcoin logo by it”, but that the majority of properties on the site will see the bitcoin logo clearly displayed on its listings.

Source: http://www.coindesk.com/200000-hotels-accept-bitcoin-cheapair/

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