Governments and Banks Push Bitcoin Price to New Levels: Experts

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Besides the global influx of new users, government wars and restrictions against Bitcoin appears to be toughening the resilience and character of the cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin has exhibited a very strong price character so far in 2017 despite a number of setbacks. This is expressed by the manner in which its price has always shown good strength in recovery.

Alena Vranova, co-founder of SatoshiLabs / TREZOR, says:

“All those setbacks, hurdles and government restrictions are a blessing, making Bitcoin more resilient. The fact that Bitcoin hit $1000 for the second time in its short history also strengthened its position even more and set expectations quite high for this year.”

Two factors supercharging Bitcoin value

Simon Dixon, BnkToTheFuture.com CEO, believes that Bitcoin’s continued strength as a global store of value has been supercharged by two factors in 2017.

Firstly, Dixon notes that banks and financial instructions around the globe waved the Blockchain flag throughout 2016 and many more are starting to realize that Blockchains are pretty useless without Bitcoin’s proof of work.

The result, according to Dixon has been a wave of Blockchain applications that are worse than their existing solutions and a realization that Bitcoin is actually the only interesting thing about Blockchain.

Secondly, Dixon says that governments are essentially subsidizing the growth of Bitcoin, driving people to it by waging war on their national cash supply and adding more and more friction to fiat money in their war on money laundering that is affecting everyday people that are not laundering anything.

“These two factors are driving more and more people to buy some Bitcoin and experience what it is like to own their own money,” concludes Dixon.

Bitcoin is conquering new levels

Michael Vogel, CEO of Netcoins, describes Bitcoin as having a breakout year in terms of new users and continued adoption on a global scale.

Vogel tells Cointelegraph that 2017 is proving to be a very exciting year for Bitcoin, despite having seen major regulatory uncertainties in China with some exchanges halting withdrawals.

Vogel explains:

“Speaking from my viewpoint at Netcoins, a large portion of our customer base continues to be new customers that are discovering Bitcoin for the first time and have made the decision to load up their new Bitcoin wallet. In fact, January was a record month for traffic at our Virtual Bitcoin ATMs.”

Vogel thinks that the overall upward trend in Bitcoin price is as a result of the influx of new users globally. This is because, despite hiccups and negative press, the global Bitcoin trading and transaction volumes continue to grow. This is reflected in the 24-hour volume history of main Bitcoin exchanges over the past year. - The Cointelegraph

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Thousands of Child Sexual Abuses by Philippine Catholic Priests - Zero Conviction - Judges Paid: Aljazeera Doc reveals

Happy boys in the Philippines inside the Shelter Program provides 24-hour care for poor, vulnerable, abused and disadvantaged children in crisis. Their needs cannot be adequately met by their families and relatives or by any other form of alternative family care arrangement. Photo: LittleChildrenPhilippines.org

Philippine Catholic church abusers rarely prosecuted

Al Jazeera investigation reveals the growing problem of sexual misconduct in the Philippines' powerful Catholic church.

Sexual misconduct in the Catholic church is a growing problem in the Philippines, an Al Jazeera investigation has revealed, and priests suspected of abuse are seldom prosecuted.

Oscar Cruz, a retired archbishop overseeing the investigation, told Al Jazeera's 101 East programme that in recent years more cases had come to the church's attention.

"Yes, yes, yes... [there are] more reports on paedophilia and homosexuality," Cruz said. "It is a heinous crime, you know. And a priest at that? Violating a minor? Come on!"
For centuries, the Catholic church has wielded considerable influence in the Philippines, with more than 80 percent of a 100 million-strong population following the faith.

"If clerical abuse victims take on the most powerful institution in the Philippines, it is a David and Goliath battle," 101 East's Drew Ambrose, reporting from the capital Manila, said.

In an interview with Al Jazeera, "Imelda" said she was sexually assaulted by a priest three years ago, when she was 15.

After she filed a police report, two members from her village church paid her $150 to drop the case, she alleged.


 Video: Al Jazeera investigation reveals the growing problem of sexual misconduct in the Philippines' powerful Catholic church

"At first, I didn’t really want to accept the money because I already knew it was from a priest, but they were so insistent that I take the money," she said.

Jaime Achacoso, a lawyer and expert on the Catholic Church's canon law, said priests found guilty of sexual misconduct had not been removed from ministry.
Philippine Catholic church abusers rarely prosecuted
Al Jazeera investigation reveals the growing problem of sexual misconduct in the Philippines' powerful Catholic church.

Sexual misconduct in the Catholic church is a growing problem in the Philippines, an Al Jazeera investigation has revealed, and priests suspected of abuse are seldom prosecuted.

Oscar Cruz, a retired archbishop overseeing the investigation, told Al Jazeera's 101 East programme that in recent years more cases had come to the church's attention.

"Yes, yes, yes... [there are] more reports on paedophilia and homosexuality," Cruz said. "It is a heinous crime, you know. And a priest at that? Violating a minor? Come on!"

For centuries, the Catholic church has wielded considerable influence in the Philippines, with more than 80 percent of a 100 million-strong population following the faith.

"If clerical abuse victims take on the most powerful institution in the Philippines, it is a David and Goliath battle," 101 East's Drew Ambrose, reporting from the capital Manila, said.

In an interview with Al Jazeera, "Imelda" said she was sexually assaulted by a priest three years ago, when she was 15.

Innocent Catholic boys church goers in the Philippines are prone to sexual abuses by the pedophile catholic priests, with thousands of complaints from the remote islands of the Philippines for sexual abuses to the minors but of zero conviction because the Catholic churches seems to tolerate the wrongdoings by bribing the Judges to junk the complaints to protect them from national embarrassment.

After she filed a police report, two members from her village church paid her $150 to drop the case, she alleged.

"At first, I didn’t really want to accept the money because I already knew it was from a priest, but they were so insistent that I take the money," she said.

Jaime Achacoso, a lawyer and expert on the Catholic Church's canon law, said priests found guilty of sexual misconduct had not been removed from ministry.

About 80 percent of the 100 million Filipinos are Catholics [Reuters File Photo]

"Oh yes, they weren’t, unfortunately. And the inadequate investigations in the past have festered, so things have not been solved," he told Al Jazeera. "Priests continue to be there."

'Scale of abuse' unknown

Merian Aldea, an outreach worker helping victims of abuse, said some of them had barely started school and were often terrified to speak out.

"The youngest is six. They are afraid they will be cursed or 'God' will curse them if they go against these people."

Observers say that is just one reason why the full scale of abuse by Filipino priests may never be known.

The Vatican and the Archbishops of Manila and Cebu refused to comment on the investigation.

Among the most high-profile accusations of abuse was one from Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who has repeatedly said the church hierarchy are "hypocrites".

Duterte said that, during his teenage years, he and other male classmates were molested by an American priest while attending a Jesuit school in his hometown of Davao.

"This religion is not so sacred," he was quoted as saying.

He also said he was too young and frightened to file a complaint against the priest, who was later linked to similar abuse after he returned to the United States. - Aljazeera

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