I wonder if any European venture caps will make a similar investment in Bitstamp. Bitstamp is not only the most mature European exchange, but unlike Coinbase (which can only transfer money to and from American bank accounts) people can use Bitstamp worldwide.
This isn't so much a bet on bitcoin as it is a bet on virtual currency. If another currency trumps bitcoin, Coinbase will become the wallet for that. So as a VC, if you buy the digital currency story, this seems like an intuitive investment.
virtual currency ? money as we know it is already a virtual currency made by institution you can sue. Bitcoin is a virtual currency made by a virtual institution no one knows. The only reason you'd like to switch for a new currency is because it is a more trustworthy currency i.e one that reflect more the real economy not one based on some crypto algorithm
As I understand it, Bitcoin is money, digital money to be exact and it has a payment system, which is the means by which it _may_ become or used as a currency. To say it's a currency at the moment is a bit of a stretch. It's might be an extremely small and niche currency. I think it's important to make this distinction between money and currency.
You're prefectly right. Last time I sued HSBC for money laundering and Goldman Sachs for maket manipulation I got a ton of cash and they learnt their lesson. Bringing the FED down to its knees was even easier.
I don't think it relies on any strong version of EM, just about comparative speeds of different information channels. The market's reaction could be wrong, but anyone likely to make big moves likely knew before you.
