iVLG News Roundup Week 13 2014: Facebook Buys Oculus VR; Washington Passes Crowdfunding; Bitcoin Taxation

Facebook Buys Oculus VR; Non-equity Stakeholders Feel Slighted

After raising $2.4 million through a Kickstarter campaign that helped bring their virtual reality headset to real reality, Oculus VR sold to Facebook in a cash and stock deal worth $1.99 billion. The company announced it was joining Facebook because “[t]his partnership is one of the most important moments for virtual reality: it gives us the best shot at truly changing the world. It opens doors to new opportunities and partnerships, reduces risk on the manufacturing and work capital side, allows us to publish more made-for-VR content, and lets us focus on what we do best: solving hard engineering challenges and delivering the future of VR.”

The trajectory the company took to a $2...

— Gideon Dionne

Business Startup

iVLG News Roundup Week 10 2014: Bitcoin Turmoil and Creator’s ID?; CNN Flips Zite to Flipboard; SEC Employees Make Insider Trading Gains?

Bitcoin Turmoil and Creator’s ID Apparently Revealed

After the Mt. Gox bankruptcy unfolded last week, this week brought news that the CEO Autumn Radtke of First Meta bitcoin exchange died under suspicious circumstances in Sinapore. And Canada based bitcoin bank Flexcoin revealed it was shutting down after being robbed of $600k worth of bitcoin. The response to the Flexcoin theft was muted in wake of the ~$350 million Mt. Gox heist. And in response to the Mt. Gox debacle, Japan decided bitcoin is not a “cryptocurrency” and announced regulations and taxes that treat bitcoin like a tangible commodity.

What’s more, Newsweek revealed the apparent name and location of the alleged creator of bitcoin inviting ire from many, especially after the 64 year old California resident led press...

— Gideon Dionne

Business Startup

iVLG News Roundup Week 9 2014: Bitcoin Under Fire as Mt. Gox Implodes; Candy Trademark Abandoned; Personal Service Startups Take Center Stage

Bitcoin Processor Mt. Gox Implodes

The bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox imploded this week after the company failed to make it through the theft of approximately $473 million due to a security flaw in the company’s software. The bitcoin heist perpetrated by still unknown thieves sent shock waves through the bitcoin community; some regulators, including US Senator Joe Manchin, took a stance in response that seeks to ban the cryptocurrency. While it may be just the growing pains of a new bitcoin industry or that a rogue Mt. Gox acted without responsibility, or both, some nations, including Russia, China, Vietnam, and Thailand have taken steps to end bitcoin use. Mt. Gox filed for bankruptcy on Tuesday, which means the extent to which the Mt....

— Gideon Dionne

Business Startup

iVLG News Roundup Week 8 2014: Mergers and Acquisitions for Google (and Apple?); Tesla Celebrates in Seattle; Seattle to Host First Bitcoin ATM (not)

Google Continues Mergers and Acquisitions Spree Buying Spider.io to Protect Ad Revenue Web

Google announced Friday that it has acquired London based ad fraud detection group Spider.io, which is led by a small team of talented developers. The firm specializes in discovering pay per click ad fraud, which has for a long time cost web marketers big money. Terms of the acquisition weren’t announced. Considering Google makes money from clicks, it may seem like the fox is now guarding the hen house. But a more appropriate analogy is probably that Google’s Spider.io is now guarding its massive online advertising web.

Tesla Beats Washington State Auto Dealers and Does Not Deny Apple Acquisition Rumors

Tesla won a victory at the Washington State Legislature this week...

— Gideon Dionne

Business Startup

iVLG News Roundup Week 7 2014: Seattle Startups Invest and Expand; Bitcoin Regulation and Hacking; Seattle Business’ Trademarks and Parody

Seattle Startups Win Investment and Expand

Seattle based Frontdesk, a startup that makes business management and payment processing solutions for service based businesses, raised $4 million dollars in a Series A investment round that included venture capital firms Floodgate and Second Avenue Partners, as well as storied Seattle based entrepreneur Richard Barton. The company plans to use the money to expand.

Seattle based startup Tableau also announced expansion plans and are setting up more offices just down the street from ours in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle. The maker of data visualization software is taking over a gym and there is no word yet whether they will leave the basketball and squash courts.

Bitcoin Faces Regulatory and Hacking Challenges

Bitcoin users faced an assault on two fronts this...

— Gideon Dionne

Corporate Finance & Securities

An Overview of Laws Governing Bitcoin and Other Digital Currency

Bitcoin and other crypto currencies are currently subject to limited regulation. While lawmakers ponder the merits of new regulatory schemes targeted for crypto currency, we’ll take a look at some of the existing legal frameworks that could cause problems for Bitcoin businesses and Bitcoin users:

Money Laundering Laws

You can’t use Bitcoin to knowingly facilitate illegal purchases. For example, if you’re a payment processor and you know you are processing payments to facilitate purchases of heroin, you’re going to be subject to some serious penalties.

Washington’s money laundering law provides:

(1) A person is guilty of money laundering when that person conducts or attempts to conduct a financial transaction involving the proceeds of specified unlawful activity and: (a) Knows the property is proceeds of specified unlawful activity;...

— Kyle Hulten