There is now legal precedent as of 4th January 2013 that anonymous banking in Switzerland is coming to an end, paving the way for similar scenarios in other tax havens: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20907359
This was the spark of our initial conception of this idea.
Our purpose is not to facilitate "money laundering" rather the idea being that QBFS is simply a web service that facilitates anonymity via Bitcoin to deposit what we consider a commodity rather than a currency onto encrypted USB drives hidden in undisclosed locations, with withdrawals available upon request. But given that Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer commodity in our view, this is not the operation or process of a bank. Instead, QBFS is a new kind of financial service that has emerged by default, due to the nature of Bitcoin.
As it is still in it's infancy, considering BTC as a commodity, rather than a currency, it's value is always self-contained and co-existant alongside it's monetary value pegged to the USD.
Into the future, as we become known as a provider of a secure service, investment opportunities can then be tested via BTC, but QBFS capital rather than QBFS 'users' capital would initially be used in exploring these areas before any anonymous investment packages would be offered to you, the end-beneficiary.
The fundamental philosophy behind our service is a philosophy of ethics, that is multi-dimensional.
It is ethical on a human level as it demonstrates and raises awareness that people do not have to rely on banks that have shown in the past repeatedly to be irresponsible. The same premise is such for governments.
It is ethical from an environmental perspective because BTC is digital, so if in the far future BTC was the global facilitator of transactions, there would be no need for paper or plastic. This would save a lot of the planet's finite resources.
It is also ethical in the sense of perception, or rather the shift of perception, towards what money/currency/capitalism really is - the awakening of consciousness to the realisation that whatever the world considers as having value is the pillar or base of economics; and ultimately judgement on what is valued is based on the accepted collective world-view. Currently in 2013 that is money, whether dollars, pounds, yen, euros or what have you.
In other words human thought, self-awareness of life, awareness of the forward motion of time and thus by default an evolutionary need (rather than want) for the perceptual survival of the species as human-beings is the centre around which capitalism is based.
Common views towards money, whether due to scarcity or inequality, means that most do not realise that money is life as they regard it as a want, but whatever value placed into that money, whether paper or digital is ultimately what is responsible for the possibilities of a better future for human-kind. Therefore our aim is not profit, but the shift from want to need. Now it is obvious that every sane person is aware of a basic level of 'need' of money to buy food and water and shelter for survival, but beyond that, is the path less travelled and usually by individuals in pursuit of profit. Generally media attempts to blame bankers and greed, but ultimately as a species we must come to terms with the necessity of financial services, even in a decentralized economy like Bitcoin. Thus Quantum Bitcoin Financial Services is here to attempt to facilitate through anonymous services the creation of a motorway most traveled, but through greater awareness and propogation of BTC into business.
The anonymity principle is the most important reason and as such is the last discussed, for it is that principle that doesn't pose a threat to government i.e. tax evasion, but that it by default removes taxation from the role of governments entirely. Similar reasons also are true toward the effect on traditional banking institutions. Both groups have demonstrated irresponsibility, not just in economics but that is where it angers most people in particular, we are all humans and flawed in some ways after all. Bitcoin is by no means a perfect solution, but it cannot be stressed enough that the very fact that our fundamental process of operation is that of anonymity by default could instead be the savior of governments and banks alike.
The fact that BTC is purely digital and based on the internet, demonstrates not the possibility of an emergence of a truly global commodity of value that brings us collectively closer as one collective human consciousness, in a very socialistic sense, whilst being consistent with capitalism and economics as we have known it for centuries, but the fact that it is already demonstrated - and being demonstrated - because Bitcoin is already here. That is why the individual writing this has been so enthralled by the concept since it's creation, because it is so symbolically individualistic and collectivistic all at once. It by the sheer purity of the concept jumped over consensus reality and it's economics like a knight on a chess-board: [consensus-reality] with it's restrictions, taxation, divisions based on countries/region into various currencies; and instead repackaged that into a truly global peer-to-peer object of value that the internet as a global network could propagate to the masses.
Bitcoin at least to this author also describes human nature quite well, or rather the connotations and implications that Bitcoin could have on society in the future. Much like particle physicists have discovered that problems and divisions between their equations and theories from the tiniest particles, to the universe as a whole, become suddenly unified when viewed from a higher theoretical dimension (that cannot be seen, but described mathematically) and through application of or synthesis of two opposing equations with a third new radical theorem a solution is often found. Similarly, Bitcoins through the single work of one man, lifted the chains of capitalism from people that have been established by institutions, governments and so on for centuries, therefore as the influence of BTC grows, so too will resistance towards its widespread adoption from so-called official institutions.
But due to the internet, global awareness is at a point converging over a period of ten years and counting of global data networks toward a paradigm shift independent of anything other than the realisation that governments and banks and religion are all self-appointed forms of societal control. Ironically their traditional spearhead to achieve this - fiat money and capitalism - finally overcoming the unsustainable nature of communism and the Cold War - only to then emerge Berners-Lee with the internet and free information exchange, which has led now to the possibility of Bitcoin. Their spear-head of control has been blunted, not much thus far, but enough for it to be of concern to global politics and economics. So it becomes clear, and has almost become self-evident now communication is truly global, that capitalism does work - but that there are serious problems with it's traditional forms. That is, if you become aware and mindful of Bitcoin and it's value beyond that just of materialism.
These cyclic reforms of society and ideas increases faster and faster, no matter what field we are talking about and even more so due to technology; the fact that a global currency has now been added into the pile means we are at a critical stage in our survival as a species. That sounds extreme, but it is not an extreme idea, rather the fact and acceptance of globalism is the extreme idea that people in the 21st century will gradually have to come to terms with.
As an economic agent in these interesting times, individuals on both sides of the fence must be level headed about Bitcoin and it's extreme novelty, and if so-called official institutions do decide to attempt to intervene and regulate, it will severely damage and perpetuate further the problems capitalism already possess' but it would also demonstrate a clear breach of human individuality and human rights by whatever group decides to enforce regulation. That is why we are not afraid at all of creating what appears at first glance an attempt to create a bank in a decentralised economy. However by virtue of it's peer-to-peer properties, regulation is by definition unenforceable by any group or organisation. Including ours. That is why we are providing Bitcoin Financial Services, and some of the actions mimic that of traditional banks, simply because it is in the same sector. Due to it's decentralisation we cannot by definition be a bank. We are not sure whether governments and other organisations would share a charitable view towards BTC if it really did spread. That is why I urge any figure of government or bank or similar to read this in it's entirety, or at least the last paragraph, our basic tenant of anonymity.
Given the fact that governments may not be charitable is one reason for the formation of Quantum Bitcoin Financial Services, because a decentralised economy must surely if in the future governments or the like are genuinely trying to ban it; as a community we simply must out of of sheer pragmatism have our own trusted, well-known 'pillars of the economy' which are known to be the 'gate-keepers' of a large amount of anonymous BTC for a large amount of people. In other words they would target us and Bitcoin exchanges, before individual Bitcoin users, but in doing so it would demonstrate to the wider audience the contempt of governments to true free capitalism. That is not however the main purpose for establishing QBFS, for that would be deliberately self-defeatist, the purpose lies in the belief that central nexuses (note the plural, and acceptance that thus due to the nature of the internet and BTC, similar, services will probably spring up left right-and-centre if QBFS is successful) of encrypted secure wallets that ultimately authorities will never be able to find, it would be like a cat chasing it's own tail.
This is a further ethical humanitarian reason for this organisation, if well-established financial nexuses, like the exchanges, are 'gate-keepers', we are first in the firing line ahead of individual Bitcoin users if there ever was a global crackdown. The author does not want to comment on the speed at which BTC will propagate for the author does not have any experience in that area, it is simply written for purposes of posterity and the hope that individuals resist this eventuality if it did ever occur.
Again, governmental figures and the like if ever you happen to read this the essential tenant - that of our basis of absolute anonymity is the final paragraph and the most relevant to government and banking institutions and their lack of control by default of Bitcoin. That is a property that can never be altered of a global peer-to-peer currency if it were to become truly world-wide. Instead what matters is the humanity and altruism of powerful institutions and their willingness to alter the systems of control that otherwise not altered would mask the true potential of capitalism through BTC and the creation of truly remarkable things into this century and beyond.
As stated before, we believe financial nexuses like QBFS must alongside existing Bitcoin exchanges, such as Bitstamp, act as nexuses that people can send their BTC to safe in the knowledge that it is secure and anonymous and away from governmental/banking control or sight. This is ethical in terms of economics because in achieving this goal of becoming trusted nexuses our services will provide clear seperation from remote deposits onto exchanges as a form of storing BTC. In otherwords there should be a very clear seperation between using exchanges to store Bitcoins remotely, and using crypto-banks such as ours - to store 'live savings' amounts of BTC securely, the word crypto-bank coming into play because we cannot at any point regulate the market. We feel that a trusted service with a physical USB encrypted device for each individual that stores their BTC 'savings' rather than the 'pocket-money' in their own local client accounts, is actually necessary for the ultimate success of Bitcoin as a concept. The following few paragraphs are quite economically heavy in nature, but fundamental to understanding why we wish eventually that it will become standard practice for "Quantum Wallets" to be used with large volumes of BTC.
This [the need for remote physical USB encrypted wallets provided by a trusted service provider) is based on the hindsight - that exchanges such as Mt.Gox, and no disrespect towards them in mentioning them by name, by virtue of the largest exchange, is notorious for having been hacked - it's size relative to other exchanges is unquestionably a reason why it was seen by hackers as a honey-pot - but we must stress that Mt. Gox is by no means the only website to get hacked and have many people lose BTC. It has happened many times on different websites storing BTC online, since it's creation in 2009. Similarly however physical services like our concept of a "Quantum Wallet" could facilitate the potential for the people behind this website to simply walk away after accumulating a significant number of USB drives, and it must be noted that historically this has happened numerous times.
Let us pause a moment, and consider the above paragraph into two segments of the ethical philosophy behind why we are launching the "Quantum Wallet" which has the intention of seperation from deposits of large volume of BTC remotely to exchanges as a place of safekeeping - should one require the need to store BTC remotely. The answer is twofold whilst being quite multifaceted.
The main function of an exchange in real-world markets (e.g. forex) is mainly for speculation, with the exchange acting as a broker. Given the digital nature of BTC storing large volumes on a 'cloud' service (i.e. an online site, where you login with a username and password) it gives further incentive for exchanges to be targets for hackers, as the various exchanges hold vast quantities of BTC's by definition anyway: those of speculative traders. Exchanges overtime are more attractive targets for hackers, as the Bitcoin algorithm becomes ever more difficult, as was intended by it's founder. Thus Bitcoins should gradually rise in value. So it makes no sense unless one is using BTC for speculative trading that people use online websites, whether exchanges or simply online Bitcoin storage sites to store remotely large amounts of BTC, as over time those sites/services become more lucrative targets.
Thus, in attempting to market, brand and make known "Quantum Wallets" (encrypted USB drives individual and independent of another individual's) - which is not a unique idea at all by the way, it is reasonable to suggest that it would help stabilize the notorious volatility of the BTC market relative to USD. This effect would become more apparent the more widespread the use of "Quantum Wallets" become by members of the BTC community, based on two factors: first a much clearer seperation of remote BTC storage towards crypto-banks such as ours and hopefully the eventual use of "Quantum Wallets" as wallets containing large volumes of BTC.
Now a very fundamental and tasking point which is the greatest barrier we here at Quantum Bitcoin Financial Services have got to overcome is that of trust and the gaining of trust in the Bitcoin community, because it is well documented similar online websites or services attempting to provide remote and secure BTC storage have often after accumulating a large amount of BTC simply disappeared. Therefore the prevailing consensus currently is of suspicion towards remote anonymous storage. However the community actually having a trusted nexus for remote anonymous storage, may ultimately be a fundamental necessity and reason for the survival of BTC as something of value for future generations to derive benefit from. In recognition of the theory that adoption of our "Quantum Wallets" for large volumes of BTC would help reduce market volatility, as Quantum Bitcoin Financial Services would over time become an online "pillar" of the currency much in the same way the exchanges are. However, if a certain exchange is down one day, or for a week - or has been hacked - due to our Quantum Wallets - we hope - to eventually become the basis for remote storage of large amounts of BTC 'life-savings' amounts, then individuals could instead request a withdrawal from their USB drive, which would be granted, and sent to their local client. Alongside a clear seperation of large volume BTCs into Quantum Wallets rather than online cloud storage, market volatility could be much reduced. However a reason has still not been adequetely explored, as to why we would not just one day up and leave with all the USB drives.
That is why awareness of our future intentions as a financial service provider must also be discussed. We are mindful of general human decency and one code of practice that we are happy is that of transparency - up to the point it conflicts with anonymity. As it becomes self-evident that no matter how many "Quantum Wallets" are encrypted and stored, we for the purposes of anonyminity, would not hold records on the amount of BTC stored within, simply how many USB devices that are aquired, for our QW service which as the site is fully completed will be explained on it's own page, would incur a one-time fee for a USB device along-side a very small yearly payment from the account, for the privilege of remote anonymous encrypted storage. There is much more to gain doing that over the course of a lifetime than operating for a few months and simply disappearing into the ether. Alongside awareness of our website and future intentions (more on that below); the fact that over time it will become evident that whatever volume of BTC's one wishes to send for secure storage does in fact remain, when an individual holding a "Quantum Wallet" asks for a withdrawal, inevitably positive responses from Bitcoin forumites on the official forums and propogation of similar stories through other social outlets will emerge. Thus we become known as a trusted hub or 'well' for BTC that will not alongside the individuals running this website, one day get a pair of legs and disappear.
We also are helping online websites who accept BTC as a form of payment, to provide a place for these businesses to store their accumulated BTC. Which I think is an issue that also can be simply addressed by the provision of the services provided by a crypto-bank. The fact that we can operate without licensing is because we are not a bank, our practices are not the same as a bank, they mimic more the creation of a secure self-storage facility for BTC. The purpose is to evolve Bitcoin as an object of value - we are not sure whether to regard it as a crypto-currency, currency, commodity or digital good.
The point remains that whatever, or however one wishes to define BTC, it is clear that we cannot be liable by default in any legal sense anywhere for operating as a bank - people simply over time may or may not decide to choose to trust us, or test our services with a small amount of volume of BTC - for the organic propagation of BTC through a global peer to peer network is happening over time; and through QBFS and inevitably similar online services to do with BTC gradually emerge at certain points to evolve the continuation of an experimental crypto-currency that so far has been remarkably successful. The fact also that this author has grown up in the internet age, whereas most people in positions of power are relatively old in comparison, is a cultural difference that cannot be overstated to those with the powers of legislation and so on; for it is like you see younger generations through a mask of thick fog, by virtue of the time you were created and this author was created. So any attempt at regulation of Bitcoin is essentially not only a crime against the human/organisation in question but a crime against time itself, and ultimately the entirety of society through attempting to control something that must instead be allowed to grow organically, at most observed by institutions. As stated before, the cyclic time-frame in which ideas and counter ideas are formed is increasingly exponentially, and now a very capitalistic but very separate from establishment concept has been created, the responsible thing to do is see the benefits it could have alongside regional currencies and fiat money. Now on to the ultimate tenant that was sparked by the news article posted at the top, the ultimate foundation for any responsible financial service relies on is anonymity in a decentralized currency such as BTC. It is precisely because of it's p2p properties it has been so successful as a currrency because it attracts very aware and very 'free' capitalists, I do not like the word libertarian, because that is a political philsoophy that often returns back to the path less travelled for greed and profit, rather than the motorway for the masses that we are trying to create here at Quantum Bitcoin Financial Services.
Goverments and politics, it is clear to anyone educated in the field, is regarded by the masses with a gross distortion of perception. It is also possible to then posit the same must be true for governments and politicians, and the author says that very bluntly deliberately - that is the essence of our process and understanding of transparency here at Quantum Bitcoin Financial Services. The government and the people are one and the same but no-one is willing to point out at the giant elephant in the room, for fear of what might actually happen.
Obviously the problems we are beginning to observe with traditional capitalism via internet and freely true media have begun a spiral of Western society into information irrelevancy as Huxley predicted. The world in general frankly is in an appalling state given Western demands for wants that have almost become needs, and even in some to the extent it becomes greeds. Now as a fundamentally Western organisation, we do not want to see the decline of my culture, nor do we wish to see the rise of another take it's place, i.e. China. This is why ultimately anonymity is the base of our pyramid. The population problems that the West face are of depopulation, an aging population, whereas the third-world faces scarcity of resources alongside over-population. However over-population generally pervades all.
If Western governments, become concerned with the increasing use of Bitcoin, then they should watch it evolve, and develop systems to trade Bitcoin on the forex markets, and think of ways to regard it as valid as a dollar or a pound, it's just that it's globally accepted - in that sense we can slow down the effect of Bitcoin and the potential damage it may cause to conventional economics, given the amount of forex Bitcoin trading China and other populous nations could achieve.
At no point is this organisation willing to be in the position of telling Western governments of how to do their jobs - we are simply being transparent and honest about our perspective. Rather through acceptance of the right of absolute anonymity to individuals willing to use our financial products such as the "Quantum Wallet" precisely because no questions are asked, aside from internally, that are stored on hard-drives that would be smashed if the government were to intervene, because honestly it is 2013.
The threat is that in recognition that politics and finance is grossly misconceived, you have all in your various fields forgotten that your perception of the masses rights to self-govern themselves first have been lost over the years due to the struggle to simply survive, then the dialetical battle between Capitalism and Communism. Then the internet emerged, and new ideas are progressing almost dangerously fast.
Now we have a decentralised, unregulated crypto-currency that in a few short years has become the most well established. A good example of why we think ultimately crypto-banks must by default simply act on the fundamental basis of client anonymity, is that Bitcoins are fundamentally tumbled and difficult to track anyway, and if Western entrepreneurs exist in fear and decide not to create a crypto-bank based on the emergence of an unregulated crypto-currency, then I am sure somewhere in the 3rd world a service would eventually emerge. The reason no regulation by default is fact not right nor wrong simply neutral and logical is that a crypto-bank cannot spark government-debate on regulation, because that denotes a misunderstanding, how can an unregulated-cryptocurrency then have a crypto-bank that is regulated. It would simply kill or stunt the Bitcoin economy in the West where it has gained most traction precisely as a result of discouragement with the state of governance. That example is also demonstrate of the state of politics in the West, in the creation of a federal superstate the so-called E.U. I am governed by laws mainly created in a country other than my own. It precisely this process of this European macro-political circle gradually shirking away from real society into the realm of the esoteric imaginary, bureaucratic federal super-state that could denote a misunderstanding about crypto-banks vs. crypto-currency in the hypothetical scenario considered above, and is probably not far from the reasons why the West seems to have so much political disenchantment.
We would welcome any comments, questions, ideas from anyone interested in this emerging market, whether from government or fellow financial service providers in more conventional markets.