This episode of Mad Bitcoins, recorded on April 22, 2014, covered the political, technological, and regulatory landscape surrounding Bitcoin, highlighting the rise of new market tools and the increasing acceptance of the cryptocurrency.
1) Main Topics Discussed
* Bitcoin and Politics: Discussion of the FEC considering formalizing Bitcoin donations to political campaigns, and the demand for the IRS to recognize Bitcoin as a legal tender currency.
* Technological Advancements: Coverage of the Dark Market Team winning a hackathon, debuting a P2P open market prototype, and the existence of a Bitcoin payment bracelet.
* Market Infrastructure: The announcement that Vaults of Satoshi launched a public proof of solvency service, urging all exchanges to follow suit.
* Coin Spotlight: Blackcoin was featured, noting its addition to Bittylicious and other popular charting sites.
2) Key Quotes
* "Money is now speech, so I expect candidates to be able to accept unlimited Bitcoin donations and I will settle for nothing less."
* "Trying to regulate Bitcoin by calling it a commodity is like trying to regulate email based upon snail mail regulations."
* "It is the currency of the internet, and thus the currency of the future."
3) People/Entities Mentioned
* FEC (Federal Election Commission)
* IRS (Internal Revenue Service)
* Vaults of Satoshi
* Kraken
* Blackcoin (Coin)
* Dark Market Team
4) Bitcoin Price
* Bitcoin: In the 490s (Last: 491, High: 499, Low: 487).
* Blackcoin: Last reported at 40,000 Satoshis.
* Lightcoin: $12 and $14 a coin.