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“If Bitcoin Startups Don’t Self-Regulate, Government Regulation Could Get Insane and Hurt the Industry”

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Interview with Sebastián Serrano, founder and CEO of BitPagos

One of the highlights of this year for me has been to meet Sebastián Serrano, an unassuming yet deeply intelligent and highly confident young entrepreneur from Argentina who is determined to grab Latin America’s e-commerce and payments system by the horns.  And not let go until it’s completely upside down.  Read on for Sebastián’s insights on the big payments problem facing Latin America, his experience incubating BitPagos in Silicon Valley, and the challenges facing crypto-preneurs.

Juan: Please tell us about your background and how you got involved with Bitcoin.

Sebastián: I’m a software developer and entrepreneur.  Before BitPagos I ran devsAr, a software development company that provided services to technology ventures around the world.  I’ve known about Bitcoin for a few years now. I was initially intrigued by its amazing technology and started mining a little bit last year.  I bought bitcoins for the first time early this year when the price was at around $30, unfortunately not as many as I should have.  I grew up in Patagonia, southern Argentina, and have lived and worked near Buenos Continue reading →

2013-11-01 Crypto-Timeline

Here is a log with relevant legal, regulatory, law enforcement and business risk milestones in the crypto-currency race to maturity with links to trusted sources.

The  Key October 2013 Crypto-Events were:

• 10/1/2013 – New York Lawsky says “So Be It” if transparency dooms Bitcoin
• 10/2/2013 – Silk Road closed: Founder of Dark Web’s drug marketplace arrested
• 10/2/2013 – Bitcoin falls 15% following FBI’s Silk Road
• 10/3/2013 – Bitcoin prices recover after sliding on Silk Road bust
• 10/3/2013 – Marc Andreessen: Bitcoin is like the early internet
• 10/10/2013 – CapitalOne closes company’s bank account over mere mention of bitcoin
• 10/10/2013 – Dwolla shuts doors to bitcoin companies and virtual currency exchanges
• 10/15/2013 – Baidu, the Chinese “Google”, accepts bitcoin for security services
• 10/24/2013 – Swedish bank freezes customer’s account after she sells-5 bitcoins
• 10/24/2013 – Bitcoin endorsed by top hedge fund manager Continue reading →