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European Regulators Taking ‘Wait-and-See’ Approach to Digital Money
By Bennett Voyles
printReady or not, Bitcoin is growing in Europe, even as European regulators struggle to figure out how or if they'll police the virtual currency. Currently, Bitcoin enthusiasts can spend the digital coins, which have risen in value by more than 6,500 percent over the past year, to purchase piano lessons, rent beach houses or buy other goods and services at over 500 locations throughout Europe, according to coinmap.org. Whether European officials believe such transactions merit regulatory scrutiny is unclear, however. In a 2012 report, the European Central Bank warned that virtual currencies "could represent a challenge for public authorities, given...
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