地下毒品网络覆灭有望助比特币转正

    巧合的是，就在丝绸之路被迫关闭的前一天，新近崛起的证券交易所“第二市场”（SecondMarket）宣布，它将开始为一只仅持有比特币的投资基金筹集资金。这只名为比特币投资信托（Bitcoin Investment Trust）的基金据说将成为美国基金业的一次创举。通过这只基金，富裕的投资者可以方便地投注于比特币的期货价格——比特币通常都是在不受管制、位于在美国之外的在线交易所进行交易的。

    此外，丝绸之路的覆灭正值联邦和州政府监管这种货币的意图日益加剧之际。比特币的期货市场将必须遵守商品期货交易委员会（Commodity Futures Trading Commission）的法规；财政部已经针对虚拟货币设定了新的指导方针，还将要求美国境内的大多数处理和交易机构遵守各州的汇款法律。最近，出于对其他丝绸之路式操作手法的担忧，纽约州银行监管当局传唤了22家运营虚拟货币的公司和投资者，加强对这个行业的了解。

    所有这一切可能会吓跑比特币肮脏的一面，但目前还不清楚，这种虚拟货币是否能够重塑自身形象，告诉人们它不仅仅是一种匿名支付手段，还是说，它将作为一个法外之徒，继续隐匿在主流金融体系之外。（财富中文网）

    译者：任文科  

    Coincidentally, Silk Road's shutdown came a day after upstart stock exchange SecondMarket announced it would start raising money for an investment fund that will exclusively hold bitcoins. The fund, Bitcoin Investment Trust, is said to be the first of its kind in the U.S., giving wealthy investors an easy way to bet on the future price of bitcoins, which is generally traded on unregulated, online exchanges based outside the U.S.

    Silk Road's demise also comes as federal and state authorities are increasingly looking to regulate the currency. Futures markets in Bitcoin will have to comply with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission; the Treasury Department has set new guidelines for virtual currencies and will require most processors and exchanges in the U.S. to follow state-by-state laws on transmitting money. More recently, New York banking regulators, fearing other Silk Road-esque operations, subpoenaed 22 virtual currency companies and investors to learn more about the industry.

    All this may scare away the seedy side of Bitcoin, but it's unclear whether the digital currency will be able to rebrand itself as more than a means of anonymous payment, or if it will simply remain a virtual finance outlaw.