News from Techcrunch today regarding more backing for a regulated bitcoin exchange in the US:
Fresh from scoring a massive $75 million funding round, bitcoin payment firm Coinbase has revealed that it will open the first regulated bitcoin exchange in the U.S. on Monday.
The company, which added the New York Stock Exchange and USAA to its list of investors last week, told the Wall Street Journal that it has “regulatory approval” in half of all states, including significant areas like New York and California. (The New York Department of Financial Services has been very vocal in its call for regulation via a proposed ‘BitLicense’.)
Coinbase already offers exchange services in 19 countries overseas, and it said that its work accruing necessary licenses and approvals in the U.S. took five months. The company will only be able to offer services to customers that sign up in states were it is approved, but there are plans to gain approval in further states.
It's hard to reconcile the increasing infrastructure surrounding bitcoin with the reality that it is fundamentally and irretreivably flawed and destined for eventual collapse that nobody could have predicted. Because if recent years have taught us anything, it's that the backing of major financial institutions is a reliable sign that a bubble situation is impossible.