04 Mar 2014 / CNN Money – Despite the collapse of Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox, digital currencies are one of the fastest growing, disruptive technologies of the past several decades.
Remarkably, it’s the two states that would benefit most from this innovation and from greater adoption of Bitcoin: the nation’s financial center (New York) and the hub of innovation (California).
New York’s top financial cop, Benjamin Lawsky, has railed against Bitcoin because of concerns about usage by criminals. He said that it is better to stop all possible money laundering before one knows it really exists than to let “1,000 flowers bloom on the innovation side.”
Related: ‘I lost money with Mt. Gox’
That line was immediately mocked by Bitcoin fans with analogies like “it’s better to let 500 car companies die than to let one car be used in a getaway”.
Meanwhile, California legislators are considering a bill that would legalize Bitcoin — which isn’t illegal in the first place. It’s clear that the state wants more control over digital currencies.
Imagine if California required all makers of 3D printers to first install software to prevent it from printing firearms before making them legal to sell. It wouldn’t. But by regulating digital currency, California may constrain it with far more rules than those governing cash or gold.
So shouldn’t there be a pro-Bitcoin voice in the U.S. pushing for how digital currencies can create jobs? Not to mention the issue that Bitcoin should have equal treatment to other currencies?
Because there isn’t, innovation is being driven offshore….. Read more
http://money.cnn.com/2014/03/04/investing/bitcoin-las-vegas/
