Bitcoin hype worse than 'tulip mania', says Dutch central banker

Nout Wellink describes bitcoin as a bubble, and says 'at least then you got a tulip at the end'

A former Dutch central banker has said that the bitcoin bubble is as bad as tulip mania. Photograph: Alamy

Bitcoin exchange gains clearance to operate as a real bank in France

Bitcoin-Central is set to become the first Bitcoin exchange to operate as a real bank, thanks to new approvals from French regulators. Run by Paymium, Bitcoin-Central partnered with two French companies — the payment processor Aqoba and bank Credit Mutuel — to create a payment service based on Bitcoins. Customers will be able to deposit their funds into the service in either euros or Bitcoins, and they will be able to easily convert the funds between the two currencies.

Bitcoin Money

• EU exchange Bitcoin Central to operate as a PSP

  Paymium, operator of Bitcoin-Central exchange, will be operating that exchange following the regulations in the EU that apply to a Payment Services Provider (PSP).  This was announced in a post on the BitcoinTalk forum by David Francois, Paymium’s CTO.

  Bitcoin-Central, one of only a few Bitcoin exchanges that have been in business for more than two years, currently operates a BTC/EUR exchange market and their newerBTC/GBP market [update: Bitcoin-Central will be closing their BTC/GBP market and offering only BTC/EUR exchange].  Bitcoin-Central will not hold customer EUR balances, and instead the funds will be held by Credit Mutuel, a major French bank.  This service is made possible through Paymium’s partnership with Aqoba, a French PSP.

China’s central bank hacked; angry bitcoin traders may be to blame

As bitcoin halved in value after several Chinese exchanges halted yuan deposits, China’s central bank was the target of a hacking attack on Wednesday, with state media suggesting angry bitcoin investors may be to blame.