Towards the beginning of April, two federal agents were accused of blackmailing defendants in the trial of the underground drug market “Silk Road” and stealing over $1.5 million dollars worth of Bitcoin. This week these two agents were charged.  These two agents were charged with money laundering, wire fraud, theft of government property, and a huge conflict of interest.  You can view the 95 page indictment if you are bored. Some of it is actually quite interesting! (View Indictment Here)

Coinbase announced in January that it had built it’s own exchange open to trading in a number of states but not all. They have been working frantically around the clock to get more states added to the integrated status. They just announced this afternoon that they had added Oregon to the list. Would you like to see if you can trade Bitcoin in your state? View their list of supported states here.

 The international Bitcoin exchange known as itBit JUST announced that it has been granted “trust” by the NYDFS (New York Department of Financial Services). What does this mean?!! This means that itBit is now allowed to accept customers from the United States while under compliance of state and federal laws!

“Our mission at itBit has always been to create a trusted, institutional-grade exchange, and regulatory compliance is an important pillar of that mission,” said itBit CEO and co-founder Charles Cascarilla in a statement. “Regulatory approval from the NYDFS allows us to serve as a custodian for our clients’ assets and expand our services to U.S. customers – the largest market of bitcoin traders in the world – and allows us to do so with the highest standard of care afforded by any Bitcoin company.”

Along with getting the proper licenses to begin working in the USA, itBit also started another series of fund raising and was able to pull in $25 million in their first round. Bitcoin has the potential to transform the world of finance as we know it today. They’d like to see itBit become the backbone of the Bitcoin ecosystem and help raise its importance in the finance and commerce world!

Bitcoin is at a lovely $237.05 with a nice jump in price thanks to the new itBit news. Have a great week everyone!