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I am an American citizen, wondering about this topic. My pipe dream was unite our people, we could benefit each other and we aren't too different. We could unite and work together more effectively against global issues.

I give it six months before Bitcoin is just a thing of the past. Several exchange nodes have been hit via cyberattacks. This is the most damaging attack on the currency system. I had predicted this to my friends, and looks like the prediction is coming true. I had a feeling if the currency was to fail or encounter major problems, it is not with the currency itself but the infrastructure and systems on which it is built is vulnerable to cyber attacks. If you understand fiat money is based on nothing, bitcoin is based on even less. Now about 750,000 bitcoins could potentially be lost. http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/mt-gox-shutdown-a-major-blow-for-bitcoin-1.2550256 This is the equivalent of a 'bank holiday'. A run on the exchanges would crash the value of the currency, so to prevent that, deny people access to their money. The attack on bitcoin has been global. China shut down exchanges operating out of China associated with Bitcoin. Leaving the Silk Road aside, people flocked to Bitcoin because it circumnavigates all main stream banks. No or very small fees, anonymity in exchange, no tax. I see this as a systematic attack from the banks on the Bitcoin exchanges as they have the most to lose with people moving to cryptocurrencies. Governments hate it because they cannot control it or tax it. Once they do they have to start treating it like a legitimate form of currency. The banks do NOT want this kind of thing to happen. So anyways, Bitcoin will die, but as a result I still consider it a success.

First heard this story yesterday, and I can't say I was surprised by it: HSBC receives get-out-of-jail-free card in a real-life game of Monopoly. The New York Times reports this week that megabank HSBC has escaped criminal prosecution for money laundering that probably funded terrorists and narcotics traffickers. Why? Because regulators and prosecutors were petrified that an indictment would undermine the entire financial system. The Times quotes anonymous government sources who confessed fears about bringing formal charges because doing so would be a "death sentence" for the bank. So they let it off the hook. That’s right, HSBC is officially above the law. Too-big-to-fail has become too-big-to-prosecute. So, there you have it! What many of us have suspected for years has finally been confirmed: under a fractional reserve currency system, banks are the creators of money, and as they become larger and more consolidated, governments will do nothing to stop them. And, many observers of the discreet, privileged banking system of anonymous numbered accounts in Switzerland and the Cayman Islands, have long been suspected of holding billions of dollars in profits from the narcotics trade that has created the War On Drugs and led to small time drug dealers and addicts spending their lives in prison. Should we have any remaining doubts that the other major banks are not in the money laundering business also? And so what if they are? They're too big to fail!