A new Bitcoin documentary was released this week, and Russian president Vladimir Putin has commented on digital currencies. Here are the cryptocurrency highlights of week 29:
- The Bitcoin documentary “The End of Money As We Know It” was finally released this week, one year after a successful crowdfunding campaign that raised about $13,000 needed in order to create it. The documentary has already picked up two awards at its world premier at Freedom Fest 2015 in Las Vegas.
- Russian president has weighed in on digital currencies this week on domestic TV network Russia 24. Despite the fact that fiat currencies are not backed by anything but trust, Putin emphasized that Bitcoins “are backed by nothing”. More positively, Putin did state the following: “However as an accounting unit, these ‘coins’ or whatever are they called, they can be used, and their adoption becomes wider and wider. As some kind of unit in some account, probably, it’s possible”. Putin continued to add: “We do not reject anything, but there are serious, really fundamental issues related to its wider usage, at least, today.” Overall is was a positive sign for Bitcoin in Russia, given that the cryptocurrency was initially banned.
- Also the European Union came a step closer to being a better environment for Bitcoin start-ups, as the legal adviser to the European Union’s highest court advised that “digital currencies like bitcoin should be exempt from value-added tax (VAT)”. The European Court of Justice was asked by Sweden to give it guidance on the tax status on Bitcoin, which is currently treated differently among its member states. The court has not yet set a date for a final verdict.
- Hacking Team, the Italian spyware vendor that was hacked ealier this month, appears to have been tracking Bitcoin transactions through its Money Module. Leaked documents have shown that the software targeted the wallet.dat file in order to do so. This file also contains crucial information with regard to one’s wallets including the private keys needed to be able to transfer the digital currency.
- After briefly touching a price level of more than $310 per coin, the price of Bitcoin started to decline this week after the EU finally managed to arrange a new deal with Greece. The digital currency lost more than six percent of its value compared to the previous week as a result, ending the week with a loss of $18 per coin to a current exchange rate of about $277.
