Re: Bitcoin-Central, first exchange licensed to operate as a bank. This is HUGE
I hate central bank charades as much as the next guy, but how the hell is bitcoin supposed to grow without interfacing with any other financial systems?
That's a great question for Satoshi! Perhaps, he will make a cameo, and explain how he planned for the Bitcoin infrastructure to avoid being bought out by the current banking systems he identified as the problem in the beginning. Maybe he already explained; have to search his writings again......unless of course, he was a banker trying to make a killing by starting the whole thing...
Nah; that just conspiracy talk... 
Nothing has been "bought out by the current banking system." To even suggest that Bitcoin can be bought out betrays a gross misunderstanding of how it operates. This French exchange, to the extent that it has partnered with a banking institution (again, not the same as being "bought out") has simply given you one more option in the manner by which you utilize Bitcoin. No options have been taken from you, only given to you.And as I said before, integration with the traditional financial world is A) inevitable, B) important, and C) not something to be feared. Everywhere integration happens, Bitcoin becomes more useful, and more valuable. Imagine if, today, Bitcoin was integrated with every financial system in the world. You'd buy your gas with it, you'd pay your mortgage with it, and you'd be paid by your boss with it. By this point, Bitcoin will have won, and we can all open a bottle of champagne (paid for with BTC) and celebrate, because the fiat system will have collapsed.
We should be encouraging integration wherever possible, and indeed that is what I spend much of my days trying to accomplish (90% of what BitInstant does is build these integrations).
I'm thrilled with this new development in Europe, it's amazing news, and wonderful precedent.