23 Jan 2014 / Yahoo Finance – Bitcoin is starting to get some high-profiled acceptance.
First was Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic. Then Overstock began accepting Bitcoin, taking in $126,000 in sales with the virtual currency on the very first day. On Tuesday, the Sacramento Kings – purchased last year by TIBCO founder Vivek Rendivé – became the first NBA team to accept Bitcoin payments.
Now, two Las Vegas casinos owned by brothers Derek and Greg Stevens, will be accepting Bitcoin: the D and the Golden Gate. Nonetheless, US government officials are taking an extremely cautious approach to Bitcoin due to it being the currency of choice for some in the criminal underworld. Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew, in an interview with CNBC on Thursday, said:
“Bitcoin is a phenomenon that we need more time to discuss… From the government’s perspective, we have to make sure it does not become an avenue to funding illegal activity or to funding activities that have malign purposes like terrorist activities. You know, it is an anonymous form of transaction, and it offers places for people to hide.”
Bitcoin, of course, had a meteoric rise in the past year. At the start of 2013, the currency traded at $13.50. By November 1, it was at $211 and saw $1,240 a little more than a month after that.
In recent weeks, Bitcoin’s volatility has softened a bit. Since December 27, Bitcoin has generally traded in a range between $800 and $1,000. On Wednesday, it was trading around $950.
That’s a good sign, says Talking Numbers contributor Richard Ross, Global Technical Strategist at Auerbach Grayson.
“This contraction in volatility is really what you want to see as an investor,” says Ross. “[It’s] maybe not the best thing for a short-term trader that makes his bread and butter from those big intraday swings. But, this really what longer-term – or even intermediate term – investors in Bitcoin want to see.”….. Read more
