Bitbond uses cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin to bypass the Swift international transfer system to lend money across the globe rapidly.

German Radoslav Albrecht has founded an online bank that allows clients to transfer loans anywhere in the world using Bitcoin. Bitbond uses cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin to bypass the Swift international transfer system to lend money across the globe rapidly and at low cost.

"Traditional money transfers are relatively costly due to currency exchange fees, and can take up to a few days," Albrecht told Reuters TV in his office in Berlin's fashionable neighbourhood Prenzlauer Berg. "With Bitbond, payments work independently of where customers are. Via internet it is very, very quick and the fees are low."

Clients hold the loans in digital tokens like Bitcoin only for seconds or minutes until they are exchanged back into the currency of the country where they wish to receive the funds, avoiding the crypto currencies fluctuating exchange rates. Bitcoin has been used as collateral for loans, but never as a way of transferring credit in currency internationally.

Albrecht's service has been growing in popularity among clients since he launched the company in 2013. His office employs 24 people from 12 countries who manage loans for 100 clients amounting to around $1 million each month.

Most clients are small business owners or freelance workers, Albrecht says. Loans are relatively small and don't exceed 50,000 dollars. In 2016, Bitbond was officially licensed as a bank and has gained many investors since.

Adoption of Bitcoin has been rapid in Germany. It trails only the U.S., according to Bitnodes, which tracks the location of all the Bitcoin nodes that transmit data about new transactions.Bitcoin’s plunge back below $9,000 has the cryptocurrency facing a dreaded death cross. This occurs when the 50-day moving average breaks below its 200-day counterpart on a closing basis. As the name implies, it’s considered a bearish development. To be sure, there are some countervailing technical signals suggesting this event might not be so crippling. The 200-day moving average is still rising and served as intraday support Friday. In addition, Bitcoin is setting higher lows, with April’s trough higher than February’s.

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//economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/64145281.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppstSURAT: In a major development, Amreli Superintendent of Police Jagdish Patel was arrested by CID (Crime) on Sunday in the Bitcoin extortion case of Surat-based builder Shailesh Bhatt.

Patel reportedly has been called the chief mastermind of the entire case, however, law enforcement agencies are yet to confirm this fact.

This is the first senior-level arrest in the case. Earlier, sleuths arrested Amreli police station inspector Anant Patel for his alleged involvement in the kidnapping-extortion case from Gandhinagar.

Nine police officials of Amreli crime branch – including Anant Patel, two police constables Babubhai Der and Vijay Vadher – were named in the case.

Following Gujarat Home Minister Pradeep Singh Jadeja's orders, the case was transferred to ID (Crime) branch.

Bhatt, a Surat-based real estate developer was kidnapped from Gandhinagar by Amreli policemen, on alleged fake complaint that was planted by the cops themselves. He was allegedly held at a farmhouse and extorted bitcoins from him. Google said that it would ban ads for cryptocurrencies and related content such as initial coin offerings, crypto exchanges and cryptocurrency wallets. London: Alphabet Inc's Google said on Wednesday it was banning advertisements for cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings, the latest internet company to clamp down on the sector amid growing concerns about scams.

Google's action, which takes effect in June and follows a similar move by Facebook earlier this year, sent the price of the best-known cryptocurrency, bitcoin, down more than 10 percent to its lowest in a month.

Interest in cryptocurrencies has surged in the last year as their prices rocketed. That growth has spawned online advertising used by hundreds of companies trying to raise funds by launching new coins or encouraging people to trade the virtual currencies.

"Improving the ads experience across the web, whether thats removing harmful ads or intrusive ads, will continue to be a top priority for us," said Scott Spencer, director of sustainable ads at Google, on the companys official blog, The Keyword.

Under the new policy, Google said it would ban ads for cryptocurrencies and related content such as initial coin offerings, crypto exchanges and cryptocurrency wallets and advertisements providing trading advice.

In January, Facebook Inc said it would ban ads promoting financial products and services tied to cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings because of the risks to users.

Regulators across the globe have warned consumers about the risks of investing in crypto markets, but internet companies are introducing outright bans because they worry there is not currently sufficient protection for consumers.

"If an entity such as Google does not feel comfortable with exposure to these cryptocurrencies then it is right that they don`t promote it," said Chris Keshian, chief executive of APEX Token Fund, which invests in cryptocurrency fund managers.

The CEO of the UK arm of Coinbase, one of the largest bitcoin exchanges, said Google`s decision was a positive development that would not dampen demand, although he viewed the ban as too widespread.

"The Google ban is perhaps too broad as it is. It should be narrowed down" to companies that pitch cryptocurrencies as investments promising a return, Zeeshan Feroz told Reuters.

The price of bitcoin traded on the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp exchange fell almost 10 percent to $8,201, the lowest since Feb. 12. It was last down 8.7 percent at $8,337.51. Other large cryptocurrencies also fell on Wednesday.

Bitcoin has lost about 40 percent of its value in 2018 after rocketing more than 1,300 percent last year.

Google also said on Wednesday it would stop ads for financial products like binary options and synonymous products, contracts for difference, rolling spot forex and financial spread betting.

Companies wanting to promote those products would need to be registered with the relevant financial regulators before they could advertise again.
In a separate blog post, Google said it took down 3.2 billion ads that violated its advertising policies in 2017, nearly double the number of ads it removed in 2016.