Daniel RavenNest has started a thread over at SLUniverse with a link to a PDF report regarding virtual currencies, in their report they use two case studies, Bitcoin and Second Life. The PDF report can be read here. The report has misconceptions and inaccuracies in the Second Life section but I must admit that I get the heebie jeebies at anything EU related with Second Life, when Linden Lab introduced VAT to comply with an EU directive on electronic services I contacted MEP’s, MP’s, The UK government, The UK tax office and had communications with EU officials. They completely ignored the fact that the legislation they had introduced actually created the issue that the legislation had been introduced to prevent inside Second Life, namely Europeans being put at a competitive disadvantage due to tax laws. That such a basic concept went over their heads, gives me little faith in their investigations into virtual currencies.
However there are some valid concerns and although people may find claims of money laundering far fetched, it is feasible and it’s not just Europe that has concerns over this, The FBI have apparenly had similar concerns too.
Continue reading “European Central Bank Cast Their Eyes At Virtual Currencies”