2014-03-01 Crypto-Timeline

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

Phew.  Short month, but no shortage of shocking news in February!

The  Key February 2014 Crypto-Events were:

• 2/1/2014 – Bank stops working with bitcoin exchange CampBX due to regulatory concerns
• 2/2/2014 – Law Library of Congress releases report on Bitcoin’s legal status worldwide
• 2/4/2014 – Bitcoin scam costs Wisconsin man $150,000
• 2/5/2014 – Kazakhstan Central Bank could ban Bitcoin to protect bankers
• 2/6/2014 – Apple removes the last remaining Bitcoin app from the Apple Store
• 2/6/2014 – Indonesia Central Bank takes new, more neutral stance on Bitcoin
• 2/7/2014 – Mt. Gox halts all bitcoin withdrawals, price drop follows
• 2/7/2014 – Florida targets high-dollar bitcoin exchangers without money transmitter licenses in the State
• 2/7/2014 – Russia banks Bitcoin as ‘money substitute’
• 2/7/2014 – Silk Road accused Ulbricht pleads not guilty, begins long defense
• 2/9/2014 – Australian Taxation Office weighs Bitcoin rules
• 2/10/2014 – Africa’s larget bank trials integration with Bitcoin
• 2/12/2014 – New Jersey slaps MIT Bitcoin hackers with subpoena -and they’re fighting back
• 2/12/2014 – Bitcoin exchange Bitstamp halts withdrawals citing attacks
• 2/13/2014 – Bank of Greece breaks silence on Bitcoin
• 2/13/2014 – Silk Road 2 loses $2.6 million in bitcoins in alleged attack
• 2/15/2014 – Mt. Gox announces downtime for bitcoin deposits
• 2/17/2014 – Ukraine to regulate Bitcoin businesses under existing laws
• 2/18/2014 – Canada bank cuts Cointrade accounts amid hostile government rhetoric
• 2/19/2014 – Israeli regulators issue joint statement on crypto-currencies
• 2/19/2014 – Estonian police target Bitcoin trading site BTD.ee
• 2/20/2014 – Brazilian Central Bank outlines digital currency risks
• 2/21/2014 – Thailand flip flps on Bitcoin, suggests exchanges are still illegal
• 2/23/2014 – Central Bank of Jordan blocks financial companies from Bitcoin
• 2/25/2014 – Bitcoin exchange Mt Gox goes dark in blow to virtual currency
• 2/26/2014 – US senator calls for bitcoin ban in letter to financial regulators
• 2/27/2014 – Japan pushes for international efforts on Bitcoin regulation
• 2/27/2014 – Federal Reserve chair: US Central Bank can’t regulate bitcoin
• 2/28/2014 – Mt. Gox exchange files for bankruptcy

For ease of tracking I’ve decided on the following discrete categories to classify all events:

1. Banking: Refers to decisions made or stances taken by banks and other traditional financial institutions with respect to crypto-ventures, including adopting a digital currency strategy and banking operators
2. Businesses: Includes decisions made by operators and businesses as a result of regulatory pressure or other risks facing them, as well as overall market-related news
3. Enforcement Actions: Includes actual law enforcement actions on virtual currency operators anywhere in the world
4. Rules & Regs: Refers to decisions made or stances taken by regulators, supervisors and policy-makers around the world

Please point me to any events that you consider important and would like to see on the log.