Bitcoin Arbitrage, Zynga, and China Affecting Bitcoins Again?

Since tanking in December, prices of bitcoins have been rebounding with the digital currency once again above $1,000 on MtGox yesterday. It’s been an interesting few weeks for digital currencies with plenty of news occurring during 2014.

Some of the major recent headlines:

BTX Trader launches – It may be called virtual currencies, but the launch of a new platform, BTX Trader, brought real $$$ gains to Nasdaq listed penny stock WPCS International. The platform provides cross-exchange connections which could become handy for traders aiming to take advantage of arbitrage situations in bitcoins.

Bitcoin rallies then sputters – Shaking away last month’s price declines, prices of bitcoins started off the year strong, as trading on MtGox surpassed $1,000 yesterday. However, Chinese news was once again in the headlines as the ‘Ebay of China’, TaoBao, announced that it would no longer allow sales of digital currencies starting next week. The news has been attributed to causing a drop in bitcoin prices today.

Hong Kong investors attracted to BitPay – While the Chinese government is applying methods to curb bitcoin in the country, interest from citizens remains high. According to leading bitcoin merchant processing firm, BitPay, Li Ka-shing, the world’s 8th richest man based on Forbes' magazine rankings, has invested an undisclosed amount in the company. The investment is through Ka-shing’s venture capital firm, Horizons Ventures.

Indian Regulation Regulation Like any other industry with a high net worth, the financial services industry is tightly regulated to help curb illicit behavior and manipulation. Each asset class has its own set of protocols put in place to combat their respective forms of abuse.In the foreign exchange space, regulation is assumed by authorities in multiple jurisdictions, though ultimately lacking a binding international order. Who are the Industry’s Leading Regulators?Regulators such as the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority ( Like any other industry with a high net worth, the financial services industry is tightly regulated to help curb illicit behavior and manipulation. Each asset class has its own set of protocols put in place to combat their respective forms of abuse.In the foreign exchange space, regulation is assumed by authorities in multiple jurisdictions, though ultimately lacking a binding international order. Who are the Industry’s Leading Regulators?Regulators such as the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority ( Read this Term – Many India-based bitcoin exchanges ended 2013 by halting their trading operations after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued a warning about virtual currencies and unregulated firms. However, following a period of communication between government officials and bitcoin operators, we got word today that Unocoin was slated to reopen on Wednesday.

Zynga testing bitcoin payments – After Overstock.com announced it would be initiating bitcoin-based Payments Payments One of the bases of mediums of exchange in the modern world, a payment constitutes the transfer of a legal currency or equivalent from one party in exchange for goods or services to another entity. The payments industry has become a fixture of modern commerce, though the players involved and means of exchange have dramatically shifted over time.In particular, a party making a payment is referred to as a payer, with the payee reflecting the individual or entity receiving the payment. Most commonl One of the bases of mediums of exchange in the modern world, a payment constitutes the transfer of a legal currency or equivalent from one party in exchange for goods or services to another entity. The payments industry has become a fixture of modern commerce, though the players involved and means of exchange have dramatically shifted over time.In particular, a party making a payment is referred to as a payer, with the payee reflecting the individual or entity receiving the payment. Most commonl Read this Term in 2014. Although Zynga’s stock is no longer near its hi-flying days of 2012, but the creator of Farmville is still one of the most widely known social games, thus providing additional exposure of bitcoins to a wider general audience.